The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-01 00:00:00

DECEMBER 1, 1857.

THE LATE O'VELAND MAILS PROM
INDIA.

•Itisto be regretted that-the last Overland Mails did
not reach London in time ta be delivered in London on
Saturday night and 'despatched into the country by the
evening mails of that gay. It.ceould not be helped,,how-
ever. A grrat .eff was made to obtain a ,BUCCeS3
similar to that achieved on several former occasions ;-
but the anxiety pr the Post-office authorities, it appears,
could not lull. Mediterranean gales, or effitct a quicker
railway-transit from 'Marseilles to London.
The bad weather male a long passage.for the mail
packet Vectis of. about 66 .hours from Malta to Mar-
ge lies, and the special train that left the latter place at
noon on Friday, did not. travel so fist as the expreis
train that left Marseilles for Paris two hours earlier.. It
was fully expected that this Vain would reach Paris in
rinse to dispatch the mails to Boulogne by 8 o'clock on
Saturday morning ; but it was nearly two hours after
that time, or at 9.50, that the train started, and then it
did not get to Boulogne before 10 minutes past three in
the afternoon. The mail packet,: Prince Frederick Wil-
liam, remained in harbour until the last moment, and
then steamed into the roads ; bat no time was lost at
Boulogne, 'or the 71 boxes of:,Cliina, Calcittta, Bombay,
and Australian mails (the largest number and the heaViest
that ever came via Marseilles) were -down on the beach
from the station, embarked in four good pilot boats,
and on board the packet in .35 minutes, although there
was a considerable stwell.on the bar. The vessel left
Boulogne Roads 43.45 ,and against a strong
E.N.E, wind and tide, and a:heavy head sea. arrived-at
Dover in two hourst' and eight 'minutes. Here everyl
.thing was in readiness and everybady eager to assist,
and Captain Isl'llwaine, the Admiralty superintendent;
Mr. James Walker, of. Georg -street, Westminster, • the
-Admiralty civil engineer ;464 Captain Jenkins, : the
Mail-Packet were.sPePial.4 pre-:
gent. Within-30 minutes the mails were in the special
train, and under the direction of Mr. Eborall, the gene-
ral manager of the South-Eastern Company. who went
down to Dover for the official purpose, the mails ran up
to London Bridge in 1 hour and 56 minutes, arriving
there at 22 minutes past 8 p.m., Mr. Knight. the
superintendent of the railway, having previously visited
all the stations to clear the way.

It will be seen that the efforts of the General Post-
office, the mail steam packet contractor, and the South-
Eastern Railway, were defeated by the lost time be-
tween Marseilles and Paris ; for if the mails bad reached
St. Martin's-le-Grand by 7 p.m., which they would
have done bad express speed been run by the special
train from Maneillas, the Post-office authorities bad
made arrangements even at that comparatively late hour
to deliver and despatch the letters the same evening.
The following table of number of miles from Mar-
seilles to Paris, Boulogne, Dover, and London, the time
occupied by railway and steam packet, aryl the average
number of miles performed per hour, will nearly show
how the ground was ran over

Average Railways
wiles &c.
Miles. Time. per hour
Marseilles to Pari5...624 21h. Om. 30 Marseilles
Paris to Boulogne ...169 )b. 20m. 31.7 N. of France
Boulogne to Dover... 30 2h. Bm. 11 Mail Packet
Dover to London ... 88 lb. 54m. 11.32 So.-Eastern
From Paris to London it will be seen that the ticae
occupied by rail and boat was 9 hours 22 minutes, and
including conveyance from railway station to packet,
and packet to station, &c., 10 hours 32 minutes. Had
the French railway trains travelled at the same speed as
the South-Eastern these mails would have been in Lon-
don more than nine hours earlier.

The route via Boulogne was well-ordered on this as
on previous occasions ; for had the mails been dispatched
via Calais, they could n At, with the strong E N.E. wind
blowing, have been embarked in the roads ; but, had
the wind been in the opposite quarter, no time would
have been saved via Boulogne. Special and mail trains
have run the distance from Paris to Calais in six hours,
which is at the rate of the South Eastern mail-train
speed, 39 miles an hour. At this rate, with one hour
and 30 minutes' sea passage to Dover, and two hour:
run from Dover to London, the mails could be con-
veyed from Paris to Landon, via Dover and Calais,
including the time of shipping aid unshipping, in ten
hours and a half.

It may be that from these successful experiments with
the India mailF, some permanent advantage will accrue
to the public in the acceleration of the mail services
between England and the Continent.

THE GLASGOW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND
THE BANK ACTS.

On Friday a meeting of the members of the
Chamber of Commerce was held in the Merchants'-
hall, Glasgow, to take into consideration the acts
of 1844 45. Among those present were the "Lord
Provost, S.r James Campbell, W. Buchanan, Esq.,
Guild, Bailie Clouston, W. J.
Davidson, Esq., of Buclie, W Murray, -Esq., of
Esq., etc. Wm. 13alfour, Esq., Mwro. rißki!oawndus,,EsW. P. Paton, E;:q., R. Findlay, Esq.,
chair-
man of the Chamber of Commerce, presided.
D. SANDEMAN, Esq., read the following resolu-
tions, which he submitted to the meeting for
adoption :
" 1. That the arbitrary limitation of the Bank of Eug-
land's issues upon securities to 14 millions by the Act
of 1844 is insufficient Lt. the present requirements of
commerce in this country, and a large increased issue
is now urgently called for.
" 2. That the monopoly of banking now vested in the
Bank of England is inconsistent with freedom of trade
and with the advancement of agriculture and manufac-
tures, which would be greatly promoted by the formation
of joint banks of large paid-up capital, placed as bankers
in all respects on an equal footine with the Bank of
England,
security. and subject to necessary provisions for public
"3. That the Act of 1845 confers a monopoly on the
present limited number of the banks in Scotland, and
this monopoly may be brought within still narrower
limits by the winding up of the existing banks. This
monopoly is of itself a serious grievance, and is daily be-
coming more injurious' to the interests of all classes in
Scotland.
" 4. That recent as well as former experience proves
that the violent action on interest in the rate of discount
by the Bank of England, whenever gold beyond a cer-
tain amount is withdrawn from foreign countries is ruin-
ous to commerce by causing a great and sudden inter-
ference of Parliament, and it is urgently required to
devise some measure of relief, and not to trust to the
capricious working of the Bank Act.
" 5. That this chamber petition both Houses of Par
Foment to repeal or amend the Acts of 1844 and 1845
tor regulating the issue of bank notes."
Mr. BUCHANAN M. P , seconded the adoption of
the resolutions.
The DEAN of Gunn suggested that the phraseo-
logy of the last resolution should be altered to the
words "to consider the propriety of modifying or
repealing the acts."
Mr. SANDEMAN acquiesced in the alteration.
Sir JAMES CAMPSELL proposed an amendment
to the effect--
" That this chamber petition Government to consider
the monetary system of the country, and whether some
modifications in the provisions of the Bank Act of 1844
and 1854 be not advisable, more especially whether the
extended commerce of the country does not call for a
larger accommodation of paper currency based oa public
securities.

After some discussion, the amendment moved
by Sir James Campbell, and the resolution moved
by Mr. Sandeman, were put to the meeting, when
it was found that the amendment was lost.

NORTIIUI.IIB KR LAND AND DURHAM
DISTRICT BANK.

NE WCA STI4 E-ON-TYN E, SATURDAY.
This has been market-day, and, as is usual, the town
has bees crowded with county people and pitmen. The
local savings bank, which should have been closed to-day
for the yearly settlement of its accounts was; opened by
the manager to allay any apprehension that might exist,
but there were no demands upon it thy the depositors.
The managers of the National and Provincial Bank,
which has branches in North and South Shields, sent
a gentleman down from their head office in London,
with ample means to meet any emergency that
might arise through the sudden closing of the
id District," but not 2001. was withdrawn from either
of the branches, and the most liberal accommodation
was afforded by the bank to its customers. The
bank of Messrs. Woods, Parker, and Co. (the Union)
has also exhibited considerable liberality to its custom-
ers in Shields, and this morning the wages of the ship-
wrights employed in the yards at Shields and the work-
men employed in the glasshouses and factories in Shields
were all paid their wages in full, the Bank of England
having afforded the same accommodation to parties in
Shields and other places in the neighbourhood where the
district bad branches, as at Newcastle. Several iron
maeufacturers in Shields and neighbourhood paid off
several of their hands last night.
Messrs. Lambton and Co., of this town, will open a
branch establishment in Sunderland forthwith. A num-
ber of shipwrights wer. paid off at Sunderland yesterday.
It is stated to-night that Mr. Matthew R. Bigge and
Mr. Johathan Richardson, two of the directors, have
resigned, and that Mr. John Richardson and Mr. Priest-
mar, jun., since have taken their places.

The states of Mecklenburg have, for the second time,
rejected the proposition to establish civil equality be-
tween Jews and Christians.
BANKRUPTCY COURT COMPENSATIONS.—The following
compensations are now annually payable under the
Bankruptcy Court Act of 1831—viz,, to the Rev. T.
Thurlow, patentee of bankruptcy, 7,352/. ; to ex-Com-
missioner C. T. Swanstan, 2001. ; to ex-Commissioner
Turner, 2001. ; and to W. Learmeuth, the Lord Chan•
cellor's messenger, 2001.; making a total of 7,952/.
annually. None of the above persons, except Lear-
month, now hold office.

THE GOLDEN FLEECE.