The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-25 00:00:00

BOULOGNE.

CALAIS AND BOULOGNE RAILWAYS.
In our Gazette of last week we .gave a summary
of reasons why every wise man would prefer em-
barking his money in a railroad, from Boulogne to
Amiens, by Abbeville, than from Calais to Arras, by
Watten. Two of those reasons were founded on the
former being shorter than the latter, viz., that Bou-
logne is considerably nearer to Paris than Calais. We.
stated also that we would prove this by a reference to
the effects it has produced on the present and former
conditions of the two towns. We shall now do so.

Every person who remembers Calais ten or twelve
years back must recollect the air of bustle it wore,
the neatness of its streets, the life that animated
them, the tens of thousands that annually passed
through them, the independence and not over civility
that characterised the hotel-keepers, the splendid es-
tablishments they maintained—in fine the generally
prosperous condition of the town. What is its pre-
sent eondition ? The grass grows in its streets ! Its
hotels no longer exist ; its merchants are gradually
leaving it for Boulogne, whither some have already
moved, and others have and are forming branch es-
tablishments, preparatory to fixing there altogether;
the streets seem as if the spirit, of desolation had swept
over them. Why i this sad change ? Simply, tra-
yellers and foreigners no longer frequent it. Why
have they deserted it ? Because in itself it is dull,
dreary, and monotonous ; because at certain seasons,
when the east wind blows—which it does sometimes
for a month together—it is difficult of access ; be-
cause there is a town, neater, livelier, more acces-
sible at all times, and 24 miles nearer to Paris, for
all who are desirous of passing from the Coast to
Paris or the South. Calms has remained stationary
since 1814. As she was then, so is she now, and so
will she always remain, and tbr the best of all rea-
sons : nature has placed insuperable barriers around
her position, at the entrance of her harbour, in shift-
ing sands and banks ; inland, by desolating sands,
marshes, and fortifications.

Let us compare the Boulogne of 1814 to the same
town of 1842—can they bear a comparison ? No
more than Ambleteuse can be compared to Calais. It
is double in size and in population : it has arisen
like a Venice from the froth of the SM. Its fisher-
men's huts have disappeared and elegant houses sprung
from their ruins. Scarcely one, in 1814, possessed a
carpet ; now there is scarcely one so miserable, that
cannot boast of something in the shape. Officers that
came here, in 1814, could not he supplied at the hotel
they slept at with a silver fork; at present the silver
in some hotels exceeds 100,000 francs. The shops are
elegant, the habitations possessed of every comfort,
the streets full of bustle and energy, the merchants
rich and respectable ; convenient walks, beautiful
drives, handsome equipages, a harbour teeming with
an industrious population, and at times its quays
thronged with slipping, are the present characteristics
of Boulogne. Whence, then, the change ? From its
natural advantages that have been turned by science
and energy to their proper account; but perhaps to
no advantages more than its proximity to Paris, which
has become known to every traveller from the amelio-
rations of its harbour since the piers were erected,
ameliorations that make it accessible sixteen hours out
of the twenty-four.
We stated last week, first, that every' traveller pre-
fers a short cut to a round-about; second, that every
merchant prefers sending his goods by the quickest
conveyance, particularly if it be the shortest and
cheapest. Is not this realised by the geographical
positions of Calais and Boulogne ? In 1830 one
steamer from London visited Boulogne weekly. At
present there are six. At the former period Calais
counted four, she can do no more at present. 38,596
travellers in 1831 entered Calais, in 1841 they
amounted to only 21,019. Boulogne in 1831 rejoiced
in the arrival of 11,131, but in 1841 they amonted to
47,953. It may be stated, that taking solitary years
is an unfair mode of forming a judgment ; we will
then compare the arrivals and departures during the
five last years from 1837 to 1841 both inclusive.

By By Differepee,l9aa.
Boulogne. Calais. your oflouiogne.
From and to Ramsgate 10,312 6,673 3,639
~ London 191,017 46,265 144,752
Dover... 69,265 64,370 4,895
Sailing Boats 3,879 1,216 2,663

T0ta1........... 27.1,473 118,524 155,949
Thus then, from official returns, it is evident that
since the port of Boulogne was deepened and its piers
formed, 155,949 travellers have preferred its harbour
to that of Calais, although the latter is nearer to
London, and has the advantage of mails to it, from
Dover every day, having two boats five days in the
week; whilst Boulogne has only been served by the
Dover steamers who found it their interest to go
there, from the preference given to it by the traveller.
Again, Boulogne has been only the medium of transit
for passengers in France, for whom the railroads are

. . _
intended, whilst Calais has been tne:resort, not only
of travellers for France, but also of those persons
who do not think of stopping in Fiance, or of tra-
velling in the interior, but land there in the way to
Belgium and the North. of Europe But let power-
ful packets start from LondOn and Dover to Ostend,
and that voyage from London be completed in ten
hours, and from Dover in four hours and a half, as,
they ought, and assuredly, before long, will be, how
many travellers will then patronise Calais, or prefer
a round-about tour to Arras and Lille, to :visit Bel-
gium, when they can start from London and sit down
in Brussels within 14 hours ? Whereas, if the Dover
train is only 34- hours on the road from London, and
Mr. Napier's boats one hour and three quarters from
Dover to Boulogne, and seven hours and a half occu-
pied from Boulogne to Paris, the traveller will be always
certain of accomplishing his journey fronrLondon to
Paris in thirteen hours—an impossibility, if he should
land at Calais and proceed then to Arras. So much for
the preference given by travellers to a shortened route
to Paris from England, and the effect upon the two
towns such preference has occasioned. The letter o 1
a correspondent at Ostend will be found in another
column, and the statement of fares ss. from London
to Ostend. How many travellers for Belgium and
the North of Europe will pass through Calais Whilst
such fares exist ? Thus are the 'Calais cobwebs blow-
ing away already.
We cannot
.conclude these observations without
saying a few words on the relative distances to Paris
by the Calais line and that proposed by Boulogne,
particularly as what we stated in our last number has
given occasion to a misconception as to .the actual
lengths of the two lines. It is a point that should be
clearly understood.
The Chamber. of Deputies has passed a law by
which Amiens is the point through which the rail-
road from Paris to Belgium shall pass. Whatever
line therefore progresses from the coast, its terminus
ought. to be Amiens. •We have shown that commerce
and passengers are more favourable to any line pass,
ing through Boulogne and Abbeville to Amiens, than
one direct from Calais to Amiens through Arms ; let
us now 'examine the two lines, one from Calais to
Amiens, the other from Boulogne to Amiens, and see
the relative distances of the two lines.

Metreg.
Distance from Calais to Amiens by Arras is 166,000
Do. from Boulogne to Amiens by Abbeville 121,000

Difference 45,000
Here is at once a difference of more than 28 miles
in favour of a line from Boulogne to Paris. Let the
expense of constructing these'2B miles be considered,
the saving of more than an hour in the journey, the
advantages arising from the harbour of Boulogne
being accessible 16 out of the 24 hours, the prefer-
ence given to it by travellers, the merchandise it
commands that the Calais line could never obtain, and,
we ask, what man in his senses would ever think of
embarking money in any other line than one proceed-
ing direct from Boulogne by Abbeville to Amiens ?
Boulogne Gazette.

5

•••
.SHE SUN, LONDON, WRDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 25, 1842:

THE HAIYA-RDEN COLLIERS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—My attention having been, for the first time
to-day, directed by .a. friend to a letter which appeared
your, paper -on the 7th inst., purporting to come
from a workman., in which it is stated " that the col-
liers," as far as the writer is able to know, " by no-
, means wish to dictate to their employers who shall, or
shall not conduct their, business, but that Mr. Staley
is supposed by the workman •to have suggested,
and carried into practice a scheme for reducing
the colliers' wages from 18s. to about • 12s. per week,
by enlarging the meshes, of the screens that screen the
coals, so as to admit one-third of the coals, for. which
they were used to be paid, to pass through Ahem as
slack ; the strike is, in fact, to prevent an actual re-
duction of 33 per cent."
I beg to state, in reply to this gross misrepresen,
tation, that the riddles in use by the colliers, before
the turn-out, had meshes of one inch and a half square,:
and that the size of the meshes in the new riddles
were one inch and three quarters only, being an in-
crease of one quarter of an inch. It is, therefore,
manifest that the loss to the workmen by the new
riddles, could not possibly be anything like one-third
of the coals ; it could only be equal to the difference
between the large and small meshes, which differ
only one quarter of an inch in size.
I also beg to add, that the Ewloe Colliery Com-
pany are now paying. more for the cutting of their
coals than they were at .any .' time during the war,
when wheat was selling 'at 20s. a bushel, and coals at
that time were selling at 10s. per ton on the bank ;
they are now selling coals at from ss. to 6s. Bd.
per ton.
This fact shows most clearly that Messrs. Rigby's
have no disposition to oppress the men, and it is ray
determination' wherever I rimy be concerned, to see
the workman fairly remunerated. •
To prove that the attack' was personal towards my-
self, I have only to state tliat the dispute, in reference
to the riddles, had been , settled to the satisfaction of
the ;men before the as:mita-was committed ; and I have
since discovered that reports to my prejudice, en-
tirely fitist, were industriously circulated amongst
them.
Although in this instance- I have replied to an
anonymous Corresporident, in order to correct a most
barefaced falsehood, it is not 'My intention in future
to notice any letter to which the writer is ashamed
of-affixing his own name.
Your insertion of this, letter in your-very excellent
Paper will much oblige yo}}tr.very obedient servant,
;BENJAMIN STALEY.
Hawarden, May 18, 1842. -
P.S.--I beg to add that our men are now all at
work, and quiet.'

TAXES ON- S-0i.,16-11,S AND
ATTOA.NEYS,
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
wish to call the attention of the public,
through the instrumentality of your paper, to a tax
imposed of late years upon a particular class of men,
who, if they perform their duties well, cannot
be considered as enemies to the commonwealth, and
should not be made the objects of special taxation.
The celebrated Magna Charta was supposed to
secure various privileges to the English people, and
amongst others, that of appointing confidential agents
to represent them in the'liing's Courts, to sue for and
defend their just property and rights. Since that
statute was enacted these agents have existed under
the denomination of attorneys and solicitors. For
five hundred years they had been enrolled ; and after
this long lapse of time the Legislature considitrs them
fit objects of special taxation : they are to be taxed
specially every year before they can enter upon
duties necessary for the execution of the laws !
If there be a class of men who are taxed without
mercy, it • surely must be those who are called to
the ancient and honourable degree of an attorney-
at-law. They are taxed in their clerkship, 1201.
being levied on their articles ; taxed on admission
as Attorneys to the amount of 50/. more, before
they are duly qualified for all the duties of their
office ; taxed annually either 8/. or 121., in fine, taxed
for life.
Against this last life-tax, Mr. Editor, I protest,
and if it is continued' with the Income-tax, which is
about to receive the sanction of the Legislature, the
lawyers are indeed a proscribed race.
The tax is partial,. confined to one profession, and
to one branch of that profession; it is unjust; because
confined to those whO are frequently employed in pro-
tectinc, the rights of other professions ; and. the
amount of duty imposed is perhaps for some time
more than is actually earned. It is of little benefit to
the Eichequer, disgraceful to the solicitor, and indi-
rectly injurious to his clients.
It is commonly objected to the removal of this im-
post that attorneys are by no means immaculate
characters—that their emoluments are great, and-the
tax itself popular. If a just and equitable tax were
not generally the reverse of one that is popular—if
the woressional earnings of solicitors and attorneys
were really lucrative-if they, as a body of men, were
more reprehensible than members of other professions,
or their offences less open to speedy punishment, there
might be some ground for these objections• .but all
..this remains yet to be proved.
The fact is, they are Officers of the Courts at West-
minster, subject to the arbitrary jurisdiction of the
Judges who there preside : they may be fined, im-
prisoned, struck off the rolls; and effectually controlled
within the bounds of justice. Their emoluments are
limited by statute. _They alone are liable to have
their bills taxed by functionaries specially appointed
for • the purpose, and this duty is rigorously and
punctually discharged. ,
To many supporters of the tax the members of the
legal profession are obnoxious on account of the
severity of the laws, or the hardship with which they
press on particular interests ; vet these do not reflect
that by such a tax they make men accountable for
efkts, over which they can have no controul. It sel-
dom happens that a solicitor is -a legislator. Others owe
them a grudge, who have suffered from the unjust
decision of a suit at
law or in equity ; yet, these
matters are determined by a judge or a jury, and. of
the latter, a solicitor cannot be a member. Others
again complain of trivial vexatious law-suits, whilst
they utterly forget that .no solicitor can be engaged
in legal proceedings, without the retainer of a client;
and, it is seldom that an honest claim can be • sup-
ported and enforced by dishonest means. But should
a suitor have engaged on his side an unprincipled
practitioner, he ought not to bestow promiscuously on
the whole profession the blame which attaches to his
own selection.
This tax is a stigma.upon the profession ; it oppresses
them, it degrades them, and is calculated to bring the
law itself into comtempt. To degrade men in their
own eyes and before the public, is sometimes bad
policy, though they may offend in something. Teach
them to respect themselves, and they will frequently
amend their faults, exalt' themselves in the social
scale, and do honour to their fellow citizens. This
good the tax will never effect its results will be of
an opposite nature, and' thus the public suitors and
clients will eventually be injured by it.
May 19th, 1842. MANCUNIENSIS.

Dowager Lady Carrington arrived at Mivart's
Hotel, on Monday, from Bath. Her Latlyshiphas been staying
the winter in that city.

The Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Geogra-
phical Society was held on Monday. Of the two gold medals
to which her Majesty's annual donation of fifty guineas is ap-
propriated, the patron's medal was awarded to Dr. E. Robin.
son, of New York, for his valuable work on Palestine, &c. ;
and the founder's medal to Captain James Ross, R.N.for his
researches in the Antarctic regions, in which he had approached
the South Pole to within twelve degrees. The accessions to
the library since the last year were 360 volumes, and 542
maps and charts, of which latter there were 392 sheets of the
great survey of Bavaria, presented by the King of Bavaria.
The total receipts of the past year, including the sale of stock
to meet the extraordinary demands, were 2,590/. 7,, l id., and
there was a balance in hand. of 241/. 7s. 50

expected
TIIE SPITALFIELDi. WEAVERS' BALL.--It will be
yr a
attended. HouseHouse t oibhmyi
This
,to-morrow reiol
invitation
no
seen by the police regulations, issued by Colonel Rowan, that
ryatnutnhieerrOmis'el
(turztsotwwillhacideloimi;
intdiagothilt theirbe
t h case,eßoy a
as her Majesty and her Royal guests
House,intend totcb) e present.
ttohebebavlel
oisf the Noble
The Duke of Wellington gives a grand entertain-
ment this evening, at Apsley
Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Duchess
was pleased to take
of Gloucester, when a distinguished circle will have the honour
Grace is the Director for the evening.
TIIE Two BROWNS.—A. circumstance of rather a
novel character occurred last week at Stockton-n/I_l,om
opa and
mod yeGe theatilnl agnNttleebilre Duke.Ro
Dukeya lAlftit eo4ritthdneilsAeictiheen Ancient Royal
It
unto himself a wife in the county of Kent, about two
years
ago. Since then his vessel having made several voyages to
Stockton, a report some how or other reached the ears of
appears aptly tar, named Thomas Brown,
his loving spouse and her father, that her " gude man"
had actually got married again, in the above-named. town;
to another woman. The incensed father, having every
reason to believe the report to be true, 'immediately
offered a reward for the apprehension of
his apparently
faithless son. in-law for the crime of bigamy. This wee‘, how-
ever, application having been made to the Vicar of Stockton for
the marriage certificate of the supposed transgressor of the
law, ittuyned out That the Thomas Brown married at Stockton
is not the Thomas Brown Married in Kent, the one being a
sawyer and the other a sailor, and the report alluded to had
been circulated in Kent by some wags. " All to astonith the
Browns."— Halifax Guardian.
Prince George of Cambridge, on taking his fare-
well of the 12th Lancers, in which he had served three years,
entertained the entire regiment at dinner, including the women
and children of the corps. His Royal Highness gave a half-
sovereign to each colour-sergeant, five shillings to each non•
commissioned officer, two shillings and sixpence to each female
belonging to the regiment, and .a quart of ale to every one of
the men.

PARLIAMENTARY

PRICE or WHEAT.—Corn is rising in price. The
speculators hold back the grain now in bond. The food of the
people is, in fact, as much as ever the subject of gam-
bling operations. We ask only for another fortnight's valie-
rience of the .working of thi new scale to prove to the most
sceptical the truth of what we always asserted, viz., that the
present law is an insult and a mockery of a suffering people? To
our readers we say, in the meantime, oblige us by watching the
weekly averages.— Liverpool Chronicle.
The Earl and Counts of Brownlow and the Ladies
Cust have arrived in town from Leamington Spa, where they
bad been sojourning since their departure from Torquay.