The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-04 00:00:00

THE EXHIBITION OF 1811 e
TO THE E.DITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—The notice taken or my letter on the sub-
ject of prohibiting the affixing of prices to specimens
in the Exhibition of 1851, and the very unexpected
reception accorded to it, impose on me beyond doubt
the necessity of a reply.
And first, by way of obviating the possible itupwi
tation of inattention to the previous collectiZof bpi- - - ,
nion in quarters where deference was due, letetieY.:
protest in the most unqualified manner, that in my"-
simplicity I had no more idea of the necessity for
asking any, previous question, than in the only two
cases which present themselves as in 'any degree pa-
rallel. If the Archbishop of Canterbury had been
found declaring his anxiety to turn over the duties of
his office to the Cardinal Legate ; or if Ministers had
announced their determination to advise the reigning
Sovereign to make a transfer of the powers of the
Crown to the individual who is writing letters from
America to Members of Parliament end others, de-
claring himself the legitimate descendant of the
Stuarts by virtue of a second unexpected appear-
ance of issue like what gave rive to our ancestors'
suspicions of the waradng-pan, and holding out the
abolition of the national debt as his lure,—the same
individual probably, who after the Three Days of
July, presented himself at the office of the Westminster
Review as a descendant of the exiled family, and
though an officer in the King's service or calling
himself so, wanted to cball.Pin,re the conductors of that
work for having used the phrase "the obsolete
tyranny of the Stuarts," and who is described is
the Quarterly Review of a few years ago under the
title of " The White Eagle." Either of these
events might have led a simple-minded man into
precisely the state of astonishment which was my
own. It may be necessary to beg pardon for the
digression attendant on introducing these parallels,
but as the claim of the living Stuart to the throne
rests on the same basis as those of the Cardinal to
the episcopates, the next event es ill naturally be
that they will be found hunting in couples, and there-
fore little points of history are interesting.
To return! then, I felt so perfectly undoubting that
the admitted prosperity of Bradford since the aboli-
tion of the corn-laws rested on the fact of its manu-
factures being the medium selected by foreigners for
return cargoes for goods furnished from abroad, and
that the prospect of entering a collection of the world's
products with the good articles in one hand and the
low prices in the other; would have been hailed with
ecstasy by every boy who greases a wheel and every
girl who tends a spindle ;—that the one thing which
would have raised a tumult in Bradford would have
been that somebody should have whispered, " You are
not to be allowed to send your prices ; the foreigner
is to send his alpacas and his merinos, as handsome
and as good it may be as your own, but you are not
to be allowed to state that your price is half of his ;"
—that the rich would have joined in it for the sake of
completing the prospects of affluence to themselves
end their children already opened to them, and the
poor in defence of their share of the general prospe-
rity ;—of all this there was such an absence of any
shade of hesitation on my mind, as I hope will at all
events free me from any intended act of presumption
or of disrespect.
And now what do the objections on the other side
amount to ? As collected from quarters distinct
from those indicated in your paper, they amount to
the dislike of particular wholesale-dealers to let their
prices be published, lest a cry should be raised of the
excessive magnitude of the profits of the retail-dealers
(a cry in which no man with Ale smallest idea of the
workings of the commercial machine will join), and
the retail-dealers shouldeake'measures to avenge them-
selves. sTo which is to be added, an equally unfounded
fear of the comments of the working classes, on the
proportion between prices and wages. To obviate
which it is demanded, not that the affixing of prices
shall be a thing left to the option of the exhibitory,
but that a prohibition shall be laid on that other
portion of the commercial community, who with -
the general public besides, are interested in
publicity. Aud this is what, if there is no
mistake, is advanced es a system of non-interference
between Protection and Free Trade. "By no means
interfere; therefore let there be the prohibition ;" it
strikes me such is the:argument. Other reasons have
been urged, such as that prices vary. Does not a
price-current do the same ? And if prices vary, could
not the exhibitors alter them if they chose ? But ex-
hibitors may put wrong prices. Does anybody pay
more than a qualified attention to any man's state-
ment of his prices, and would not the same reasoning
shut up the Post-office, lest men should send decep-
tive accounts of their prices ? But the Commissioners
are responsible. Who made them:responsible ' • and
who accounts them so ? And if there is any shadow
of responsibilities:would it not be obviated by a decla-
ration on the part of the Commissioners, prefixed to
their catalogue or other publication, stating that they
have no means of testing the accuracy of the state-
ments of prices affixed to the goods, and therefore
leave the public to the same means of precaution as in
other cases ?
And now, having asked some bold questions in my
time, I will ask another, and that is, whether the
reasons urged for the prohibition are such as the
Commissioners, with due regard to their standing
before the British public and foreign nations, ought to
admit as their rules of action ? There is a responsibility
on the Commissioners, very different from what there
is upon the applicants for prohibition. The last may
plead the difficulty of escaping from the influence of
particular views of gain. The others are to be •
specimen to posterity, of what a Royal Commission
could do for the public interest in the middle of the
nineteenth century.
One point more. In all operations, a moderate at-
tention should be paid, to whether the opponents have
not the means of counteracting in their hands, and
so leaving the:attempt without the deed. In the pre-
sent case, what reason is there to suppose, that the
individuals interested in their prices being known,
including the mass of foreigners who have prepared
articles for the express purpose of showing what
articles can be had cheaper by the British public
through the intervention of Bradford trade, and
the united public whose interest lies the same way,
will not without delay prepare a list of
the articles whose owners ere anxious the prices
should be known, and press it upon carriage and foot
passengers at a small price, as near the doors of the
Exhibition as they can contrive ? And if this is
done, or if strange and extravagant ways are taken
to prevent it, I ask who will in any imaginable re-
spect stand better than they would have done if the
affixing or not affixing of the prices had been left to
the option of the exhibitors, a just compromise which
it is still in the power of the Commissioners to secure ?
To conclude, I have done what I thought a pale
pable duty for the interests of my constituents, and
think so still. If they do not concur, my appeal must
be to the next generation of commercial men, who I
doubt not will view the proceedings of their prede-
cessors in the same light as we now regard the opi-
nions of our ancestors on the benefits of Protection
and a high price of corn.
I am, Sir, your obedient, servant,
T. PERRONET THOMPSON.
Blackheath, Dec. 3, 1850.

IRELAND.

THE CORPORATION.
DUBLIN, TUESDAY MORNING.—With a quietude and
decorum to which the walls of the city assembly-hoses
have been long unaccustomed, Mr. Alderman Guinness
was yesterday unanimously elected by his fellow-citisena
to the office of Lord Mayor for the ensuing year. All
parties hail the choice of the Town Council as the ad-
vent of the reign of decency in the conduct of municipal
government.
" LOYAL CATHOLIC AND REPEAL ASSOCIATION."

Under the above title " the Hall" was formally ra
baptized yesterday, Mr. John O'Connell and Father
Gilligan standing as sponsors at the interesting cere-
mony. In the course of the proceedings the former an-
nounced that the word " Catholic" was to remain ea a
prefix until: the intended persecution of Lord
John Russell and the bigots of England was effectually
repelled. In a financial point of view the additional
cognomen of " Catholic" appears to have been, so far, o►
failure, the rent having yesterday declined from 141. odd
shillings, the previous week's receipts, to 91. 19s. ld.

FIRE AT MANCHESTER.—A fire broke out yes.'
terday morning, between two and three o'clock, in the
bleach-works of Mr. Thomas Holmes, of Douglas-mill, Pen-
dleton, one of the largest works of the kind in the immediate
vicinity of Manchester. The building stands on the left
banks of the river Irwell, near the race-ground, and is six
stories in height. Unfortunately there were no engines on
the spot, but is a short time the Salford fire-brigade was
present, as were several of the powerful engines from Man-
chester, accompanied by Mr. Thomas Rose, the active su-
perintendent. So rapidly had the fire spread, however, that
the place was nearly gutted, and only a few mangles could
be saved from the ruin. The attention of the firemen was
then directed to a bleaching shed, and a small warehouse
adjoining, both of which were saved. A large and very
valuable dash-wheel, which ;drove part of the machinery,
was also saved from destruction. The main part of the
building is a complete wreck, and the extensive stock of
bleaching calicoes, shirtings, &c., amounting to some 6,000
or 7,000 pieces, is also consumed. We have heard the loss
estimated at from 8,000/. upwards. The building and stock
were insured in the North British office for 1,5501., and in
the West of England for 4,000/. The mill, which WAS
erected a century ago, was one of the first spinning esta-
blishments in the coanty, and had only recently been con-
verted into a bleach-works by its present owner.
FUNERAL OF LADY JOHN HAY.—We believe it is
intended that the remains of her Ladyship will be conveyed
from the Royal Dockyard, Devonport, to Leamington, War-
wicashire, to be interred in the family mausoleum.
HUNGRY GEESE.—One day last week a poulteret
within the sound of St. John's bell haVing imported from
the country a large number of geese, let them loose into his
cellar, and next morning sent a lad to feed them. The
yoath willingly went on the errand; but ore many minutes
had elapsed he was back again minus his unmentionables,
with a face like a ghost, and almost speechless. It appears
that stung to madness by a long fast, or not liking a jailer,
the boy had no sooner entered the condemned cell, than
the whole flock was upon him ; and, ere lie could turn
round and effect a retreat, bad almost the last shred of his
corduroys safely stowed in their insatiable na\ays.—Path'
shire Advertiser. .