The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-09 00:00:00

ebtrb Nttition

THE FUNDS (CI
BRITISH

,OSING PRICES).
FUNDS.
Bank Stock
_. ... :... ...... ... —. Indian Stock Pm.
3 per Cent. Red..... ....... Ditto Bonds ........
3 per Cent. Cons.
3% per Cent. Re-I ...
New 3% per Cent... 102% Ex. Bills, 1,0001. 1%d... 72 pm.
New 5 per Cent. Ditto 5004 72 pm.
Long Annuities to expire Ditto 5ma11...... ......... 72 pm.
Jan. 1860 Bank Stock for Acct.... 197%
Oct. 1859 lndia Stock for Acct.... 282
Jan. 1860 — ,Consols for Acct ..... .... 95%
FOREIGN FUNDS.
Austrian, 5 per Cent .... ..... 115 IPortuguese, 5 per Cent —
Belgian, 5 per Cent — Ditto, New Ditto —
Brazilian Bonds
Buenos Ayres, 6 per Cent — Russian, 5 per Cent
Chllian, 6 per Cent ..... ....... (Ditto, Metallic —
Colombian, 6 per Cent: l47' Spanish, 5 per Cent 25%
Ditto, 1824 Ditto, 3 per Cent 35%
Cuba Bonds, 6 per Cent...... 93 'Ditto, Deferred.— .......
Danish, 3 per Cent
Greek, 18,5, sPer Cent — 'Exchange —f. —c.
Mexican, 5 per Cent . ..... ... ::6 'French, 3 per Cent —f. —c.
Ditto, 6 per Cent., 1837....... r Dutch, 2% per Cent 5654
Peruvian, 1825, 6 per Cent... 30% Ditto, 5 per Cent 10136
SHARES.
Birmingham and Derby (100 paid) 62%
Ditto Thirds (25 paid)
Birmingham and Gloucester (100 paid).. .......
Bristol and Exeter (70 paid) 72
Chester and Holyhead ( 5 paid) 6%
Eastern Counties (23 paid)
Ditto New (25 paid)
Ditto Extension (13s. 4d. paid)
Edinburgh and Glasgow (50 paid) 62%
Ditto Quarter Shares (12% paid) 15%
Gravesend, Rochester,and Chatham (2% paid)... 2A
Great North of England (100 paid) 98%
Great Western (75 paid)
Ditto Half Shares (50 paid)
Ditto kifths (12 paid) l9
Harwieh (Braithwaite) (2 paid)
Harrowgate and Knaresboro' ( 3 paid) 3
Hull and Selby (50 paid) 6l
Ditto Quarter Shares ( 6 paid) 94
Lonion and Brighton (50 paid)
London and Blackwall (161. 13s. 4dl) t
London and Birmingham (Stock)
Ditto New Thirds (2 paid) 4l
London and Greenwich (I.:t. 15s. 4d. paid) 5%
London and Guildford Junction ( 5 paid)
London and South Western (41/. Os. )od. paid)
Ditto Eighths (Iss. paid)
London and Croydon (Trunk) l7
Lancaster and Carlisle ( 5 paid) 66(
Manchester and Leeds (70 paid) ll6
Ditto Quarter Shares ( 2 paid) • 10
Manchester and Birmingham - 45
Midland Counties (100 paid) 93
Ditto Quarter Shares (15 paid) 23
Ditto Fifths ( 2 paid) 3%
North British (214 paid) 3
Norwich and Brandon ( 2 paid)
Northern and Eastern (4) paid)
Ditto Quarters (12% paid)
North Midland (100 paid)
Paris and Orleans (20 paid)
Paris and Rouen (20 paid) 34
South Eastern and Dover (50paid) 36
Ditto Scrip (25 paid) 38%
West London Thames Extension 1 2 paid)
Yarmouth and Norwich (1i paid)
York and North Midland (50 paid) l2B
Ditto New Shares (20 paid)

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.

GLOBE.—The proceedings of the Athlone Tories,
and "their political connexions resident in London,"
against Mr. Collett's return for that previously safe
Conservative borough are, probably, unequalled in the
annals of political faction. The petition got up last
year against that gentleman's return, and which was
persisted in to the last moment, will not be speedily
forgotten. The Committee selected by the House to
try the merits of that petition assembled. The counsel
engaged to defend the return ; the agents and wit-
nesses for the sitting Members were all in attend-
ance ; when the agent for Captain Beresford ap-
plied for a postponement, on the ground that Mr.
Cockburn, who was to have appeared for the peti-
tioners, was " gone to the Derby !" The Corn
mittee refused to entertain the application—its desti-
tution of all claim to regard was, indeed, obvious to
every one. Had anything been wanting to Complete
the proof of its paltry character, it would have been
supplied by. Mr. Cockburn's letter to the public jour-
nals, on the following day, requesting them to state,
that though at his chambers until ten o'cloctk the
evening previously to the day appointed for
trying the merits of the petition, no brief had
been sent, nor any instructions given, to him, to
appear to support it before the Committee. This
trifling with the privileges of Parliament—this per-
version of the authority of the House of Commons
to the purposes of mere party malevolence, was com-
mented upon by us at the time. We called upon
the House to visit the conduct of the parties who
had thus acted, with some tangible mark of its
displeasure. Had this • been done ; or had the
Committee pronounced the petition against the re-
turn "frivolous and vexatious "—as it might and
ought to have done—and thus fixed the petitioners,
or their securities, with the costs incurred by
Mr. Collett in defending his return, thus ground-
lessly called in question, the new and, if possible,
yet more disgraceful experiment—made, as we verily
believe, and as the evidence goes to prove, for the
purpose of extortion, would not have been ven-
tured upon. The first abortion alleged corrupt
practices against the sitting Member, or his agents,
at or before the election. The second was framed
and presented to the House of Commons under
the new election law ; which, in cases where corrupt
payments were made after an election, allowed
the return to be questioned within twenty-eight
days after the making of such corrupt payments. This
new move was performed under the direction of a Mr.
Moss, who described himself to the Committee as
" resident in London, but politically connected with
Athlone." This gentleman, whose description of
himself seemed to afford considerable amusement
to the Committee, admitted, in his cross-exami-
nation, that "he had advanced money for the
purposes of this petition ; that he had re-
ceived 2001. from Messrs. Wimborne and Collett,
the solicitors of Chancery-lane, who had taken up the
petition ; that he (Mr. Moss) had advanced money
out of friendship towards Mr. Beresford; and that he
expected that any person who went down as a candi-
date on the Conservative interest, and who should be
successful, would bear the expenses of this petition."
Such being the questionable position of the concoctor
of the petition, and his admissions as to the worthiness
of the objects for which it was projected, we now come
to the petitioners, and the parties who were called to
give evidence. The former were thus described by
one of their own witnesses :—" Kelly is one of the
petitioners. He is not worth fourpence. Fallon;
another petitioner, could not give his family a din-
ner of potatoes and milk. All the petitioners to-
gether could not pay half the expenses of my
coming to town." These poor creatures were,
by the depth of their poverty rendered more
easily accessible ; and were more likely to
escape the consequences of becoming parties
to the scheme. The witnesses who were ex-
pected to prove the accepting of money for their votes,
were repudiated by those who adduced them. They
failed to prove—indeed, they completely negatived,
having received any money, or anything else, in the
way of consideration, for voting for Mr. Collett ;
but one of them did let out that "he
had been offered 451. to vote for Captain Beresford."
We trust that the evidence will be printed by an
order of the House, and that some Member will
bring the subject before the House on a question of
privilege, or in some other form, in order to ascertain
how far such proceedings as those which have
been prosecuted against Mr. Collett's return for
Athlone, are consistent with the freedom of repre-
sentation or the privileges of Parliament. More
than one party whose names appear in this affair
ought to be called to the bar of the House, to answer
for their conduct, in thus employing the forms of
the House to serve the purposes of election jobbery.
If so signal an instance of utter disregard to the dig-
nity of Parliament be passed over without inquiry,
with a' view to prevent, by, the punishment of the
offenders, a repetition of the offence—such prac-
titioners of the trade may ply their traffic without
fear. No more flagrant instance can occur • and
having allowed impunity to greater, the House
cannot proceed against lesser offenders against its
privileges.
STANDARD.—The speech of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer last night, in proposing the conversion
of the Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Stock, received
the unanimous applause of the House of Commons—
and it deserved it, for the speech is a model in
its kind, for it is simple, clear, and unpretend-
ing ; rare merits indeed, if not singular, in a
financial statement. It is proper to say so
much of the speech in order to protect it from
the common fate of financial statements, the
being put aside unperused by the majority of news-
paper readers. The plan which this most able and
satisfactory speech developes has, however, no small
share in the merit of the address. It is easy, the
lawyers say, to make a good speech with a good case ;
in such a case all is gentle downhill work, nice gal-
loping ground ; there are no objections to be an-
swered, no bye-roads to be pursued, no halting
apologies to be dragged along. Mr. eoulburn's
merit is, however, not the less than his task was
light, when the task was lightened by his own ar-
rangements, as a statesman and financier. His
speech was easily made simple and satisfactory, be-
cause his plan is simple and satisfactory ; he needed
neither bye-ways nor apologies, because he has pro-
posed to himself neither bye-ends nor anything
for which an apology is necessary. The Right Hon.
Gentleman's plan of conversion is as follows :
There are about two hundred and fifty millions of the
public debt (somewhere about a third of the whole)
which now pay three-and-a-half per cent. inte-
rest, while the remaining bulk of the debt pays
but three per cent. The effect of the , high
character of the public faith of the country,
and the confidence in the stability of the present
Government and in the continuance of general peace,
has caused a very extraordinary rise (more than 10
per cent.) in the price of these securities since Sir
Robert Peel's accession to office, a rise which is the
more remarkable because it has been (as the improve-
ment in commerce and manufactures demonstrate),
concurrent with the application of an immense amount
of capital to activ trade ; the fact being, however, that
the security of British faith has attracted
large investments from every part of the world.
From whatever cause arising, it is certain that the