The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Another Report has been made by a Coinmit-
tee of the House of Commons rsti the pressing
topic of the Poor Laws, front which an extract
will be found in another column. The branch of
the subject to which the Report refers is that of
eking out the wages of labour, whet! judged in.
sufficient to maintain the labourtr, by an allow-
ance from the poor-rates. This Israelite, which
had been long observed and highly disapproved
of in certain districts, was proved by a Commit-
tee in 1824, of which Lord J. Russell was
IC:wino-an, to be veky general, and to constitute a
great and increasing
.evil. Its degrading effect
on the class of labourers, in making them all
paupers, by fbrcing them to come on the parish
for a part of those wages to which they are fully
entitled from their employers,---by paying for
their work, not according tSj its value in the
market, but accordiug to the numerous family
or indolent habits of the party,—by compelling
them to incunalser themselves with family rela-
tions which they dislike, in order to plunder
snore effectually those whom they tonteive bound
to support them without a rderenceAo their in-
dustry or good conducti,,--- has been fully proved,
and is generally -acknowledged. In this respect
the present 'dtmument does little else than
repeat the Conclusions of the Commission of
1824, 'ettli the additional notification that
the putt:tree has not diminished fit those coun-
ties
where it then existed, and that it as ex-
tended to others which it did not then afflict:—
The great difficulty was to suggest a remedy,
a difficulty which unhappily the Committee of
1824 was unable to conquer. In cases where
the practice had become general, habitual, and
inveterate, the only alternative seemed to be to
refuse all assistance to able-bodied men, com-
pelling them to rely upon themselves for support,
whether their labour was in demand or. net; or
to support entirely by the parish-rates those who
claimed parish assistance on account of their fa-
mily incumbrances or temporary illness, leaving
the rest to enjoy, without competition from
pauper labour, t natural rewards of their ,in-
dus;ry. The former plan would create into-
lerable distress, and could not be carried into
execution ; the latter seems to be recommended
by the present Committee. The result of their
recommendation would be, to increase the burden
of parishes, by making them support a pauper
population, without having the benefit of cheap
labour. For this evil the. overseers would, of
course, constantly endeavour to relieve the rates
or the rate-payers, by employing the persons
thus placed at their disposal in such a manner as
to compete with the independent labourers, and
to reduce their wages•so far as to he inadequate
for their maintenance. We- shall afterwards
recur to the subject.—Tinzes.
The Meeting of the Silk Manufacturers the
other day was rather of a rude character. It
would appear that a. certain number of people
were resolved that no one should say a word in
opposition to certain resolutions, without being
clamoured •dowo. It' a measure will not bear
any thing being said in opposition, it cannot be
called a good measure. The old complaint Was
made of a stagnation of trade and a depreciation
of price, and that purchasers would purchase
nothing hut " jobs ;" that is, goods under the
fair price. But those sorts of complaints have
been made time immemorial by manufacturers -
The cause for the present depression of the silk
trade—if there be a depression, ',which we-much
doubt—is, that there are far 'too many goods,
made for the consumption. It' would appear;
from what transpired at the Meeting, that of late, ,
a double quantity of silk had been imported.
And if' a double quantity has been manufactured,
and a double consumption has not ensued, here
at once is the cause for the depression, and the-
fact that " jobs"--4hat is, goods under a fair.
price—are alone saleable. Let any one, how-,
ever, look back for the last 200 or 300 vears at,
the progress made in the silk trade. It com-
menced in Canterbury in the time of Queen. '
Elizabeth, when the French Protestant silk
.Ma-
nufacturers were driven here, front. that country
by the Catholics. It flourished for a long tirhe
in Canterbury. It. then found its way to Spital-
fields, where it remained a great length of
time—and where it would have remained,
but the Spitalfields' weavers could not be con-
tent with well doing, they must apply to
the Legislature for a law to regulate
the price of labour—the mode of making,
goods, &c. Noh; every man of sense knows
that law applied to any trade will drive away
trade to places where there is no law. So it was
with Spitalfields; the ' Legislature drove • the
Spitalfields' manufacturers 'to Macclesfield,
Congletou, Stockport, Manchester, Glasgow,
Paisley, and further North in Scotland ; and we
believe that the silk manufacture now extends to
Norfolk, Essex; the West of England, the mid-
land parts, as Coventry, &c. In fact, we should
think that where, fifty years ago, there was one
piece of silk goods made, there are 50, if not
100, made now. It 'is also well known that
people who were formerly manufacturers of cot-
ton now manufacture silk. But the cotton ma-
nufacturers might as well complain to the Lek,is-
lature of a falling off of their profits.. Thirty
years since a man might realise a guinea a piece
by all article of cotton manufacture, we cannot
now realise snore than 6d. a piece. Thirty years
ago, in silk goods, a manufacturer might realise
two sovereigns a piece, who cannot now realise-
more than 2s. If the silk manufacturers will
spread themselves all over- the country, and make
twice or thrice as many goods as can be sold at
the old-fashioned profits, they must; take .the
faz
consequences, and come down to fiewc-hioned
profits. In fact, they must submit toLdo,inthe
way of profit, as the woollen, linen, cottoo,- h.*
steel, and other manufacturers.. Invention of
machinery . and spread of manufacturers have
brought down the price of almost all. the manu-
factured goods of this coot!!!' There•always
was, at various periodS, giat depression
in all
branches of manufacture, and-there always ~Fill
he—even prosperity will bring about depression:
for if, in one year, trade is brisk, goods scarce,
and profits goods the nextsyear a gr, eater' quan-
tity of goods will be made;
.then Conies the de-
pression, because more,.:
goods made, than
the demand will' carry off. The only remedy for
the present depression is for every .manufacturer
to make one piece instead of two ;they would
then find that the demand would equal the'sup-
ply.
As
to the taxation of foreign silk goods,
i
they being articles easy to be smuggled into the
country (unlike wheat), we would, we had
any thing to do with the recommendation to the
Ministry, propose such a tax as should' not
throw the trade into the • hands of the smugglers;
and we should think that a tax of .351per,kent:
would be high enough ; to which, if charges of
importation, time for the outlay of money, ex-
changes, merchant's profits, and one. thing or
other, were added, of 15 or 20 per cent., we
should think that there would be quite enough
protection for the manufacturers; but if there

were not, in particular cares, of course the fo-
reign silk goods would have the preference, and
would be imported ; but, even supposing such.
an occurrence, England must scud to the Con-
tinent, in return, woollen; cotton, irtill, ot some
othtt English gds itt pAyiliettL As to Eng-
land, it Matters UM; Whether her people make
woollen obit, bzi exchange for silk goods, or
whether they make silk goods, • and forego the
making of woollen goods, in order to pay for
silk goods. We hope that the Ministers will
always keep in mind the following rile--namely,
that on such foreign goods as can lie imported
by smugglers, Hever to lay Well high duties
upon them as might Induce smugglers to step in
and run away with both tax and trade. If Mi-
nisters give way to the silk manufacturers, these
evils will arise-:—smugglers-, coast blockade, laud
blockade, thieves, prisons, vessels to transport
thieves, hangings, of which is attended
with great .expense, that is to be met only by
taxation Ming Herald.
An Evening Paper states, on the authority of
a letter from Paris received yesterday, that pro-
posals had been made, or were contemplated,
by the French Ministry to our own, to admit
certain of our goods at reduced duties, provided
we would reduce the duty on French wines to an
equality with those of Portugal. We confess
.we should regard such a proposal as a matter of no
small curiosity, for it would be the first, so far as
we know, in which the reciprocity system has
been met, even in appearance. There can be no
doubt that if France accept of any productions
of ours for one of hers which we cannot produce
on fair and equitable terms, the advantage to each
party must be in the direct proportion of their
purchases. Wine we cannot produce, and cer-
tainly there is little in the recent transactions of
Portugal which should particularly incline us to
favour the austere produce of the Douro at the
expense of the bland and healthy beverage of
the Garonne. Should the above project have any
foundation in reality, we hope Ministers will
therefore give •it every consideration. There is
only one circumstance of which we must forewarn

them. By reducing the duty on French wine, they
must look for a decrease of revenue. There
is a jest of Dean Swift's about Custom-house
arithmetic, which Mr. Brougham has told the
House of Commons seventeen times within the

last four years, with a view to tickle Ministers
into a reduction of duty on various articles, and
sometimes with effect. But, though there be
some truth in the remark, that in the case of
taxes two and two do not always make four, no
assumption can be more unfounded than that by
reducing a tax we, shall in every case augment
our income. The case of wines is one precisely
in point. It might have been, imagined that
when the duties were reduced there would be a
mightily-increased consumption. But bow stands
the fact ? The following is the number of gal-
lons of foreign wines imported for the home
market during the last five years :

1823
1821

5,509,36 I
5,111,79te

In 1824, the present low duties came into ope-
ration, and that, combined with the trading
mania of 1825, led to an enormously increased
importation, which however began and ended
that year. ,

1825

9,1140573

1826
1827

5,869,414,
.5,938,106

It will be seen from the above statement, that
though there has bceu a small increase, yet the
reduction of duty .has .by no means affected the
wonders that were anticipated from it. The
reason is Rot far to seek. Wine is drank only
.by one class of the community, and that class
being composed of persons who have money, or
the means of raising it, they %%ill not be kept
from their habitual enjoyment by any increase of
its price; and being, at the same time, men of
Go tne education, and regardful of decorum, they
will not' be tempted to exceed their stated enjoy-
ment, by any, reduction of price. This is the
cause why nearly the same quantity of wine was
dratik in 1822 as in 1827. A taste for wine,

however, might be generated, were it cheap
enough to be commonly accessible, and the ques-
tion to be decided will be, whether the profits of
the extended importation which may be expected
will cover the the deficiency.—New Times.
An article in our Paper of this day, under the
head of " Wine Rooms," affords an apt illus-
tration of the mischief likely to result from the
exercise of the power which the Legislature has
chosen to confer on • any two Magistrates in the
granting of licenses under the Hotel-keepers'
Act, and of the ruin which may be inflicted on
a numerous and 'most respectable body of men,
without ahnost the possibility of their being
aware of it until there is no redemption. Against
this clause of the Act we protested from the be-
ginning, as did also the Committee appointed to
watch over the interests of the Licenced Victual-
lers ; but in vain. Certain persons in the Legis-
lature were determined to make a commence-
ment in throwing open the trade, and every sug-
gestion and request for an augmentation, of the
number of MagistrateS necessary to grant a valid
license was repelled on the frail grounds of the
purity of the Magistracy, and the impossibility
of their mistaking the intentions of the Legisla-
ture. There were likewise two other important
points which we should have liked to have seen
settled on a different basis from what they. now
are, and to which we also invited the attention
of all parties ' interested in the matter—we
mean that no hotel-keeper should have been
considered as coming. within the operatiOn of.'
the Act, who had- not been an hotel-keeper,
and had not kept his house as an hotel, pre-
vious to January last; and, secondly, that the
meaning of the term." hotel-keeper" should have
been strictly defined in a note appended to the
Act, in the same way as Mr. reel has very
wisely done in the numerous Bills which he has
introduced to the notice of the Legislature ; and
had
these' suggestions been attended to, it must
be evident to every one, that the case which ex-
cited such lively. interest yesterday at the Man-
siOn-hnuse, would never have borne a moment's
hearing. To come to the point, however, the
case which came before the City Magistrates •
yesterday, for adjudication, was not one in
which there was, any question
concerning cha-
racter, as in that of
.Chapman, or concerning
as in that of
wealth or poverty,
circumstances of
Cable—it
was a., question whether the whole
ttrrot
of the Licensed Victuallers should noti, h
open—their property depreciated to an incal-
culable extent, and themselves and families
ruined !—and all this for what ? In order that
those who have been 'committing gross breaches
of the law for years past, and doing them material
disservice, might be enabled.to do them still greater
injury This was the real question :at issue;
and though, we consider the Legislature. as
having been greatly in fault in the first instance,
in not rendering the consent of a greater number
of Magistrates imperatively necessary to the,
validity of a license, and defining strictly what
was meant by the term " hotel-keeper," we are

frank to own that we cannot conceive by what
obliquity of vision an Act which was so gene-
•rally understood to have been passed for the
relief of such houses only as those of Fenton,
the Bognor Hotel, should have been con-
sidered as including such a one as that of the
applicant yesterday. The Act was passed for
the relief of houses, with the visitors of which
residence is the principal object, and, as was
justly remarked by Mr. Law, eating and drink-
ing the incidental; and not for such as
that of Mr. Hillary, where drinking is the
principal object, and residence the incidental,
if indeed it be any object at all beyond
the mere time- which the parties visiting it
may deem necessary for the consumption of
their wine. The Lord Mayor and Alderman
Thorpe, who were in such haste to grant a Li-
cense to Mr. Hillary, appear to have come off
second best in the matter ; and to the spirit with
which Alderman Thompson and Alderman
Wood stood forward in defence of the Licensed
Victuallers, do the latter owe the hitherto suc-
cessful result of their efforts to obtain a just in-
terpretation of the Act. Both stood forward in
the most manly manner in behalf of the Licensed
Victuallers; and we doubt not that through their
exertions;such a broad, clear, and distinct mean-
ing will be imprinted on one of the most indefi-
nite Acts that ever came from the hands of the
Legislature, as will discourage all future appli-
cations of a similar nature. We shall return to
this subject to-morrow.—Morning Advertiser.
We do not know that it is necessary for us
to make' any further remarks on the circum-
stances of the Wine-room case at the Mansion-
house, of which we gave a report in our Paper
of yesterday ; but an observation fell from a wor-
thy Alderman in the course of the discussion
which deserves to be exposed and reprobated.
The remark to which we allude was, that it
would be paying a bad compliment to the Lord
Mayor and Alderman Thorpe mere their brother
Magistrates to refuse Mr. Hillary's licence. This
may be very true, seeing that these gentlemen
were guilty of such indecent haste in availing
themselves of the authority vested in them by
the new Act, as to have induced a belief that
they were particularly desirous of granting the
licence ;• but the compliment was not a worse
one than it would appear was intended to be
paid to Alderman Thompson—and even if it
had, when the rights and interests of a large
body of men would suffer most materially by the
compliment, we think it is really carrying courtesy
somewhat too far to say that its claims on the atten-
tion of the Magistrates should supersede those
of justice. Compliments, forsooth ! when the
compliment would cost a numerous and respec-
table body of men hundreds of thousands ! Acts
of Parliament, it is said, are sometimes passed
from flivour ; but it is too much to ask of the
public that the same rule should extend to their
Interpretation ; and in the present case we trust
the Magistrates will keep in view not only the
original intention of the Legislature in passing
the Hotel-keepers' Act, but the importance of
the question on which they are about to give
their dceLion. With them, in fact, and with
their interpretation of the Act, does it now rest,
whether the trade of the Licensed Victuallers
shall be thrown open—their property greatly de-
preciated in value—and the trade itself deprived
of that respectability to which it has attained, or
whether their rights shall be insured to them ac-
cording to the intention of the Legislature—
and their property preserved inviolate from the
intrusion of parties, having no moral claim to
share in their profits.—/bid.

POOR LAWS.

EXTEACT FROM THE REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE

ON THAT PART OF THE roos. LAWS RELATING TO THE