The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-28 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS ~1* THIS DAY.
CITY, FRIDAY EVENING.

TIMES.—We have received a communication from
Messrs. Rogers, Olding, Co., stating that the night fol-
lowing the robbery committed on their premises, Mr.
Holler dispatched his principal clerk to the Continent,
to stop the circulation of the stolen notes, and that that
gentleman has just returned, after having visited the
chief commercial cities of France, Belgium, Holland, and
Germany, in all of which the various bankers, money-
changers, tavern-keepers, and traders have been served
with notices, legally authenticated, so as to render any
one of them " who," as it is said, "might unfortunately
change a note " personally liable for the loss of the
amount. The communication concludes by adding—
" Independent of this, the assistance of the British Con-
sulate, and police of each town has been readily and
extensively given in furtherance of the object." The
gentleman who undertook this task must have had a
very arduous duty to perform, and the only wonder is,
how, in the course of so short a time, he was able to
surmount all difficulties, and get the entire communities
of the places lie visited so securely within the grasp of
the law as the statement above alluded to would lead us
to suppose. It therefore appears that no clue to the
robbery or the disposal of the proceeds has at present
been traced. One thing is commonly noticed in respect
to this matter, which has afforded much room for com-
ment, and that is, that little or nothing is heard of the
activity of the Forresters in the business.
Annexed are same remarks made by a correspondent
on the new Royal Exchange, which, as they refer to an
inconvenience capable of a vory simple and easy remedy,
will no doubt have attention paid to them
:
On a visit to the Royal Exchange I was astonished
to find the entrances were without doors, and that a
sharp current of air must be produced even on a calm
day.
It is true the old building had four entrances in the
same position, but they were protected by doors, which
were occasionally shut, and Sweeting's-alley and Castle-
court have vanished into open space.
" Pray call the attention of the authorities and the
public to this evil, and I am sure its cure will save the
lives of many."

The returns of the circulation of the private and joint-
stock banks in England and Wales for the four weeks
ending N0v.16, 23, and 30, and Dec. 7, as published in the
Gazettes, when added together, form the aggregate cir-
culation of the month ending ie 7th December instant,
and give an average circulation as follows :
Private Banks £4,437,557
Joint-stock banks

Total average of private notes in Eng-
land and Wales £7,516,117
On a comparison with the return for the mouth ending
the 9th of November, this shows—
A decrease in the notes of private banks of £197,484
A decrease in the notes of joint- stock banks of 141,611

Total decrease last month £339,095
And as compared with the month ending the 9th of
December, 1843, it shows—
A decrease in the notes •f private banks of £95,491
A decrease in thenotes of joint-stack banks of 82,473
Total decrease as compared with the
same period last year . .

The fix,.d issue alloed by law to the private and
joint-stock banks in England and Wales, as given in the
Banking Almanack for 1845, is as follows :
Private banks allowed to issue £5,153,407
Joint-stock banks allowed to issue

Total £8,648,853
From a comparisOn of this statement with the above
monthly averages, it appears that the
Private banks are below their allowed issue £715,850
Joint-stock banks below their allowed issue 416,886

Total below the fixed issue £1,132,736

A few banks hare made arrangements for issuing
Bank of England notes since the publication of their
fixed issue in the Gazettes, and this causes the fixed
amount as quoted monthly in the Banker.' Magazine to
be somewhat under the limit above stated.

HERALD.—Money continues in great abundance in
proportion to the demand, and first, and even a good
deal of what is usually considered second•class paper,
is discounted daily below the Bank of England rate.
The consequence is, that all descriptions of solid secu-
rities are buoyant, and, as customary in such a state
of things, speculators take the advantage, and extend
the stimulus to many that hare no solid foundation
whatever.

CHRONICLE.—An opinion is entertained amongst
those interested in the proposed lines of railway, that the
Government intends to issue a Crown commission, for
the purpose of instituting an investigation, by commis
sioners possessed of adequate practical knowledge of rail-
way science, into the merits of each line, including the
probable cost of construction, taking into view the loca-
lities through which they would pass, the public advan-
tages which would result from their formation, the in-
fluence which they would produce on capital invested in
the competing lines, the reduction in fares, and all rela-
tive contingencies. The adoption of such a step would be
tantamount to a supersedence of the functions of the Rall-
y. ay Department of the Board of Trade, and would be
attended with an inconvenient delay and suspension of
railway business in Parliament, as the various Commit-
teec, to whom the immense mass of applications for new
lines must be referred, could not usefully proceed
with their labours until such time as the report of
the supposed commission was placed before them.
The appointment of such a commission has,
probably, been sug Bested by the apprehensions
entertained respecting the fitness and qualifications
of the gentlemen forming the railway department of the
Board of Trade, to discharge with efficiency the im-
portant duties confided to them. The reasons which
have caused so much anxiety in the 'Alblic mind on this
subject are now familiar to those interested. As they
do not take due evidence, nor can be supposed to have
examined personally the districts through which the new
lines are to be made, it is to be feared that a report
emanating from such sources cannot be the groundwork
for solid and impartial legislation. These objections are
not without weight. A report from the Board of Trade
hostile to any of the numerous competing lines, either
as respects the sufficiency of the estimates, the engineering
difficulties or other points, adopted without personal exa-
mination, and based upon no other evidence than the plans
and sections, or other voluntary information given by its
promoters, may be attended with much injustice. A fa-
vourable report upon any particular line, grounded upon
such incomplete materials, may be also equally unjust,
and it is not enough to know that such injustice or de-
fects in the report of the Board of Trade may be reme-
died before a Committee of the House of Commons. The
parties concerned have that tribunal open to them, it
is true, but they would appear before it in a disabled
state, and would incur much labour and expense in re-
covering their position. But the railway department of
the Board of Trade are, no doubt, perfectly aware of all
this, and will make it their study to avoid any statement
in their report which is not based upon corroborative
facts. They must set forth in the preamble of their
report, or in an appendix, a succinct account of the data
on which it is drawn up, and should it appear that their
conclusions are not warranted by the premises, full oppor•
tunity will be afforded to those who may have reason to
complain, to take steps in order to get the obnoxious
passages expunged.
It would be premature to condemn the powers granted
to the Board of Trade with respect to railways,
before we have seen how they perform their work.
That they are entrusted with extraordinary powers,
and that immense interests are involved in the stakes
which they have in their hands, is a truth well known,
and must have impressed thole who hold the scales with
a deep sense of the responsibility which attaches to their
office. There is every reason to suppose that they are
fully alive to its importance, and we shall therefore ab-
stain from pre-judging the manner in which they may
execute the duties entrusted to their keeping. If no such
tribunal had been established, had no preliminary forms,
at least in the shape of provisional registration and de-
posits on shares, been enforced by Parliament, it is very
plain that, during the prevailing thirst for speculation
which has existed for some time past, multitudes of vi-
sionary schemes and bubble companies would have been
set on foot, and a monetary crisis, accompanied by the
usual disastrous revulsions, would have been experienced,
which has been prevented ; and for this escape from
panic the public is much indebted to the stringent action
of the Legislature, through the authority assigned to the
Board of Trade in the last session of Parliament.

POLISH FRONTIER, DEC. 14.—Some time ago a
report was spread in the German newspapers of
arrests which were said to have taken place in the
kingdom of Poland, and of an extensive conspiracy
there. A letter which we have just received, from a
quarter to be depended on, gives satisfactory accounts
on this subject. It states that Russian Commissioners
are engaged at Peysen, a Russian Polish frontier
town, in endeavouring to trace a revolutionary asso-
ciation among the inferior Polish nobility. This
association is stated to have ramification even in Cau-
casia, which would confirm and account for the state-
ment lately given in a German paper, that a consider-
able number of Poles had embarked in an Italian
pert, with the intention to proceed to Circassia. The
Russian authorities describe the matter as follows :
Two Polish noblemen, P--- and A--, living as
fugitives, under a false name, on the frontier of
Russia and Poland, were engaged in smuggling
foreign books into Poland. M. Von Suchorzewiski,
a landowner on the frontier, had received from Paris
three packets, which these noblemen thought of
smuggling into Poland. They arrived at Peysen, the
town above-mentioned, opposite the Prussian frontier
town of Witzemburg, on the 20th of October, at two
in the afternoon. They remained there in company
of the frontier officers till midnight. They were
equally fortunate in reaching the Polish town of
Landeck, where they breakfasted, and were enjoying
their cigars, when an inspector of the excise came in,
and, smelling the cigars, said to himself, " These are
Prussian cigars," and immediately caused search to
be made in the carriage of the two noblemen. The
result was, that the three packets of books and
pamphlets were discovered, and the carriage, with its
contents, the horses, and the coachman, were taken.
The two noblemen escaped, and it is not known
whither they have fled. Many noblemen have been
arrested and carried in chains to different parts. It
is said that noblemen in the Prussian territory are
implicated.
We regret to learn that his Grace the Duke of
Beaufort has been seriously indisposed during the last
few days with an attack of gout. The Noble Duke has
been obliged to remain at Hampton Court Palace since
Monday last, the day on which his lamented relative,
Lady Anne Culling Smith, was interred at Egham.