The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-15 00:00:00

TFIE3 SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENINt4, OCTOBER 15, 11,1861.

LAW IIV2BLLIGENCE—(This Day.)

THE GREAT EASTERN.

Closing
Price.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

;mimes done

The senior Commissioner (Evans) was the Commissioner
of the day, but did not sit in court up to half-past twelve
o'clock.
The list was light, but there were several matters taken
upstairs before the registrars.
A meeting was held for choice of aosignees in the matter
of H. Kelly, a builder at Wandsworth, The preliminary
statement of Mr. Williams shows—Debtor to creditors,
£566 ; liabilities, £l5O. Assets—Gocd debts, £102; doubt-
ful, £26 ; property given up, £3OO. The losses are chiefly
bad debts, £3OO.

,THE NEW AC"..
Mr. Buchanan, Basinghall-street, obtained two adjudi-
cations under the new act—one agtinst Dod, of Rayner-
street, Clerkenwell, and James-street, Bedford-row, auc-
tioneer; and Reynolds, Henry street, Pentonville.l
The new rulesidirect that the statement required to be
filed in Court by any debtors presetting petitions against
themselves shall be verified on oath, and filed within three
days after filing such petition ; or wihin such further time
as the Court may under the circunstances allow, and if
not filed within that time the petitioi will be dismissed.

MIDDLESEX SESSIOIIB.--(This Day.)

(Before the Assistant fudge.)
THE BURGLARY IN. FOBEReS-PASSAGE.

Three men named Anson, Newmtn, and Somers, were
indicted for being concerned in a yurglary in Fobert's-
passage.

From the evidence of Police-constable 339 A, it appeared
that, on the 4th October, about a quarter past two in the
morning, he saw Anson and Nevnnai in front of a house in
Fobert's-passage ; and, knowing them to be well-known
thieves, he took them into custody. lie (witness) returned
to the house about four o'clock, and then, from certain in-
formation, he was induced to make m entry by the front
floor window, when he found Somers inside the house, and
a large quantity of property all tied ip ready for removal.
He took him into custody, and placel him with the other
two men he had taken into custody.
Evidence having been offered,
The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
The Assistant-Judge asked whether anything was
known of the prisoners.

Sergeant Holmes of the E division, said he had known
the prisoner Anson for the last fourteen years as a thief ;
his cognomen amongst his associaties was " Shiner."
(Laughter.) He had been previously convicted and sen-
tenced to seven years transportation. The other prisoners
were well-known thieves.

Somers—l don't know the two men beside me.

The Judge—You have told the jury so, and they don't
believe you. I entirely coincide with the decision they
have arrived at.

Somers—Well, it is very hard I'm not be believed.

COST OF IADI.4N COTTON.

The Judge—You don't mean to say you are not guilty.
You were taken into custody in the house that was so
nearly robbed.

.1,

Somers—Well, I must say I was in the house, but I
don't know the two others who the police say are thieves.

Newman said he had never been in trouble before.

The Judge said the police appeared to know them very
well. All had been previously convicted, and it was for
the protection of the public generally that the prisoners
should be prevented carrying on their system of plunder for
some time. He thought there was not the slightest occa-
sion to make any difference with respect to the punishment
each should receive, and he should therefore sentence them
each to 10 years' penal servitude.

Sir,—ln the Liverpool Mercury of the 9th inst. I
find a paragraph, taken from your paper, relative
to the last passage of the Great Eastern, the Persia,
and the City of New York, which, I think, requires
some comment.

No nautical man could come to the conclusion
that if one vessel met with a hurricane six days
before another reached the same latitude, both
must be exposed to the same adverse circumstances,
but rather that, as equinoctial gales only blow
from 24 to 48 hours, the latter vessel would find
calm weather, but probably a heavy swell
On comparing the log of the Great Eastern with
that of the City of New York, I find that on the
13th of September they were distant 1 deg. 30 min.
lat. N., and 6 deg. 50 min. long. W., the latter
vessel making only 82 miles; while on the 12th,
when the accident had not occurred to the rudder,
the Great Eastern made 283 miles through a strong
breeze and cross sea.

On the 14th the City of New York made only 126
miles, and this performance of a vessel, considered
by nautical men to be a very good model, and
the finest ship of the " Inman" line, ought to go far
to disprove, instead of substantiate, your conclusion,
"that the weather in which the Great Eastern was
disabled was nothing unusual at this season of the
year in the North Atlantic."
The disabling of so many of the Channel Fleet,
and the logs of vessels sailing near us during the
gale, tend to prove that it was not the usual
weather, as the harbour at Queenstown might
witness. Among many there alongside us, the John
Davis put in disabled, with no less than three crews
on board, picked up at sea.
Had not the accident to the rudder occurred,
placing us at the mercy of the winds and waves, the
Great Eastern would have more than upheld her
former prestige, as her great 'superiority is most
shown when heading a stiff breeze and head sea,
and her log bears favourable comparison with " the
September and October passages" of any vessel
afloat. Requesting your insertion of this note, I
am, Sir, yours obediently,

JAMES WALKER, Commander.
Steamship Great Eastern, Milford
Haven, Oct. 11.

A new apprehension appears suddenly to have struck the
cotton trade. They have hitherto relied unwillingly, it is
true, but still relied, upon high prices attracting a supplY
of Indian cotton to our shores, sufficient at least to save us
from the horrors of a cotton famine. Surat is not the cot-
ton they like, and in whatever quantity it may come, they
will still regret their shipments from the South, but brown
bread is far better than starvation. But what if the cotton
should not come after all, if high prices should for once lose
their efficacy, if, in short, the difficulties of transit should
prove absolutely insuperable at any price the dealers can
profitably pay ? In that case, we should be reduced to the
produce of the coast districts, and there are signs that three-
quarters of a million bales is the maximum quantity those
districts can afford. It is an odd thing, we hear it re-
marked, that previous high prices should never have
brought us the yield of new and untapped cotton-fields.
We will not assert that we can answer all these questions
peremptorily, or with the amplitude of information Lord
Canning could secure upon the spot ; but we can, we believe,
give an approximate estimate, and proofs of that estimate,
sufficiently accurate to form a basis for reasonable calcula-
tion. The points to be settled are, we apprehend first, what
price will attract cotton froin the interior in any quantity
and with certainty of supply ? and secondly, will the means
of carriage suffice for a demand wholly without precedent ?
1. The:district from which new cotton, i. e. cotton in
excess of the coast supply, must come, may be most readily
defined as Berar. Berar is not the only great cotton field,
but it is the largest, the richest, the most centrical, and for
many reasons the one which affords returns least favourable
to buyers in Europe. It is, for example, as far from a port
as a district in India can possibly be, is only partially under
British rule, and is occupied by a comparatively untrained
race of cultivators. The central depot of Berar is Hingun-
ghat, and at Hingunghat the price of packed cotton must
be taken at 3d alb all round. Much lower figures aro some-
times given, but they are all, we believe, for unginned cot-
ton. Mr. Mackey gave 21c1 per lb as his estimate for Gaze-
rat, and we know of nothing which should make Borer
cheaper. Wages also have increased more than 50 per cent.
since his time, our taxation is heavier than the native, and
we must allow for an excessive demand. Altogether the
figure given in the official report for 1854-3 d. per lb.—
must, we fear, till European buyers live on the spot, be ac-
cepted as accurate. This cotton generally travels by a fair
weather road to Mirzapore, on the Ganges, at an expense
estimated by Capt. Haig, the singularly able engineer of the
Godavery, who, in 1856, predicted the very calamity which
has occurred, and pointed out the means of remedying it,
and who was in possession of all the information obtainable
on the spot, at 80 rs. a ton. or in round figures Id. a lb. At
Mirzapore the fibre is transferred to boats, and though the
subsequent voyage to Calcutta adds but a fraction to the
actual carriage, still the exposure, and the frightful propor-
tion of accidents—a proportion which has broken up the
native insurance or bema system—adds at least another id.
We have then to add Calcutta profit at 25 per cent., and
freight t 3 England at £4 10s. a ton, and the account will
then stand thus :

Price of packed cotton
Bullock carriage, 420 miles to Mirzapore
Boat to Calcutta .. t !I
Profit to merchant 1 „
Freight i per lb.
4 7)

Total price on board ship
Add the English importer's profit, and the enormous addi-
tion great pressure for carriage makes to the price of bul-
locks, and cotton from Berar is not, at less than 51d per lb.
a very profitable article of import. As a matter of fact, we
believe Calcutta dealers aro apt to look in times of pressure
for 6d., a figure the Indian cotton has just touched. That
price once secure, we believe Central and Southern India may
be swept of its crop and its hoard ; the latter, we believe—
and we are partly supported by Mr. Mackey—larger than
is commonly supposed. The merchants must, however, be
made tolerably secure, for the interval between the issue of
the order in Calcutta and its fulfilment is at least ninety
days—a long time to stand the chance of a breach in the
American blockade. The money must go from England, for
Calcutta has not the capital, and, besides, looks to quicker
returns.

2, That price, then, we believe, on the best information
we can collect—and Capt. Haig's is absolutely reliable—
will suffice to bring all cotton now grown to England ;
there remains the means of carriage, a point upon which
no man alive can give an absolute opinion. But there is one
broad fact patent to everybody, and that is, that whatever
the crop, it does already go somewhere. The means which
disperse it all over India will carry it to Mirzapore. Prices
may rise, and drivers may grow contumacious, but we have
allowed for their rising 200 per cent., and Indians knew
their own interests. Government might in this matter do a
good deal—its commissariat being accustomed to such little
arrangements as preparing 15 miles of carriage to travel 200
miles ; and a strong hint to the magistracy to keep a horse-
patrol on the road, and flog every policeman who levied an
illegal transit duty—i. e. every policeman on the line, un-
less watched—would do yet more. There may still be diffi-
culty, but not, we believe, greater than would cause a delay
of perhaps two months in the regular despatch of the crop.
It is not the conveyance of masses of goods, but the time
taken in conveying them, which puzzles Indian speculators,
and the area over which export would extend is equal
to a good many Irelands full of flourishing and bullock-
keeping villages.
The quantity obtainable has still to be ascertained, and
upon this point all assertions, except one, must be mere
guesswork. The exception is this, that the minimum pro-
duce of India is always sufficient to export to England and
China 600,000 bales, without sensibly affecting the regular
supply left to clothe two hundred millions of natives. The
supply is a good deal more scattered than can be pleasant to
dealers, but there are no provinces so far from available
water communication as Berar—though the Godavery in
American hands would be a thronged highway—and for
whatever cotton there is, the native certainly cannot, and
for one year will not, compete with his English rival. In-
deed one reflex consequence of a real pressure for cotton in
India would be an enormous increase on the demand for the
English manufactured article, and the development of a
trade which contains possibilities that might startle even
Manchester. There is one little certainty connected with
Indian commerce which to us has always seemed to bear
slightly on the condition of England, and it is this : If
India took head forhead the amount of British goods, which
Ceylon takes head for head, our export trade to India alone
would be 300 millions sterling, or greater than our exist-
ing export trade with all the world. There is no difference
of soil, climate, population, or anything else, except that
Ceylon was never under the company, that English and
Roman laws make life and property tolerably secure, and
that the island is owned by British settlers.—Spectator.

DEATH OF MAJOR SIBTHORP, M.P.—We regret
to announce the death of Major Sibthorp, M.P. for Lin-
coln. The hon. and gallant gentleman died suddenly yes-
terday, and fell into the arms of Mr. Beresford Hope, with
whom he was conversing.

RESPITE OF THE MURDERER FRASER.—The
Lord Provost of Glasgow received on Sunday morning a
respite, until the further signification of her Majesty's
pleasure, of Daniel Fraser, who was sentenced to undergo
the extreme penalty of the law at the recent Court there for
the murder of a man named Patrick APTienny. His
Lordship immediately proceeded to the North Prison, where
Fraser is confined, and intimated to him the receipt of his
respite.