The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-06 00:00:00

BIRM INGHAM AND GLOUCESTER

RAILWAY.

BIRMINGHAM, TUESDAY EVENING.—A meeting of
the Proprietors of the above Company, took place this
afternoon, at the Company's office, in Lawley street,
to confirm (or otherwise) an agreement entered into
on the Bth of February, 1845, between the
Directors of the Birmingham and Gloucester
Railway and the Directors of the Bristol and Glou-
cester Railway, on the one part, and the Directors of the
Midland Railway, on the other part, for granting a lease
in perpetuity to the Midland Railway Company, with
an option of purchase of the railway from Birmingham
to Bristol ; and to authorise an application to Parliament
to carry the said agreement into effect.
SAMUEL BOWLEY, Esq., of Gloucester (the Chair-
man), said the chief object of the meeting was to con-
sider the leasing of the line to the Midland Company.
Before, however, they proceeded to that part of the busi-
ness, he la ould move the following resolution relative to
the dividend :
" That a dividend of 40s. per 1001. shares, 10s. per
quarter share, dated prior to Ist of July, 1844; Bs. 4d.
per quarter share, dated Ist of August, 1844; 6s. Bd. per
quarter share, dated Ist September, 1844; and ss. per
quarter share, dated Ist of October, 1844 (free of income-
tax), amounting to 22,8031. 13s. 4d., be now declared, and
that it be mad• payable on the 6th inst."
The resolution having been carried,
The SECRETARY then read the agreement between
the two Companies :—" The Midland Railway Com-
pany to pay to the United Birmingham and Bristol
Company an annual rent, equivalent to 6 per cent.
on their united share capital of 1,800,000/. The
Midland Railway Company to undertake all the liabili-
ties up to the present time, &e. If an Act is not ob-
tained this session, the application shall be re-
newed next sessio-, or until an Act shall be ob-
tained, and, in the mean time, the Midland Com-
pany shall work the lines from Birmingham and
Bristol, on the same terms, so as, in any event,
to carry out the objects of this agreement. The
Midland Company to have the power of purchasing
the two railways at any time after the expiration of
three years from the commencement of the lease, by
giving six months' notice, ending with any half-year,
upon payment of 1501. for every 1001. stock in the two
Companies."
The CHAIRMAN, having stated the grounds upon which
the agreement was deemed necessary by the Birmingham
and Gloucester Company, proposed a resolution that the
agreement be entered into.
The motion was unanimously agreed to, after which
the Secretary read the report of the Company, which was
also received, and the meeting broke up.

RINGING THE CHANGES.—Master Jones rang on
Friday night several peels on seventeen different bells in Fitzroy-
square. This he cleverly effected, without any ;apparent fatigue, by
running from No. 1 to No. 17, and pulling the area•bells violently,
one after another. The tones were very distinct, and a beautiful
echo of each was heard in the drawlng-roome of the respective
houses. Master Jones, who is only nine years of age, wound up his
masterly performance with a grand triple bob-major on the visitors
and servants' bells of No. 18.—Punch.
Tuesday morning a shopman, in the employ of Mr.
Byefleld, operative chemist, of Exham-street, Paddington, was
seriously injured by the accidental explosion of a fulminating mix-
ture, which blew out the windows of the back warehouse, and knocked
the shopman down senseless. It is feared the young man will lose the
sight of both eyes.
The Rev. Mr. Tyler, Rector of St. Giles's, has
been appointed to the Canonry in st. Paul's, vacant by the death of
the ReY. §kineY Smith.

It is confidently reported that Mr. Gladstone will
return to the Cabinet, and hold an office in the Admi-
nistration yet higher than that from which he recently
receded. The Right Hon. Gentleman has, it seems, re-
considered the subject of the increased grant to May-
nooth College, and has intimated that he is prepared to
support both that grant and the other projected educa-
tional institutions of a liberal constitution, in Ireland.—
Evening Paper.

SPIRIT of tha PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAI.

STANDARD.—The Property-tax Bill was last night con-
sidered
in Committee, and its clauses agreed to. Our sum-
mary will have shown the details of the night's proceedings,
which were singularly tame on the part of the Opposition,
though two amendments were proposed, to be defeated, how-
ever, by overwhelming majorities. One expression of Mr.
Muntz deserves to be noticed. " The Right Honourable
Baronet," said the Member for Birmingham, " had im-
proved, to a certain extent, the condition of the in-
dustrious classes at the expense of the other (i. e.,
idle) classes." We doubt whether a higher panegyric
was ever pronounced upon a statesman, even with a pur-
pose of eulogy, but in the particular case it is infinitely more
honourable, because offered with all the sincerity of a re-
proach. Sir Robert Peel has improved the condition of the
industrious classes; but this has been to a certain extent at
the expense of the idle classes. Must not this be always
the case, and ought it not to be always the case ?
There has been no general deterioration, but the reverse, a
great general improvement. The idle classes are no worse
off than they were, but a great deal better ; everything to be
purchased by money, except labour, is a great deal cheaper
than it has been within the memory of the existing genera-
tion. Ought not this, then, to be the golden age of the
wealthy ? But labour, though not yet as highly paid as it
ought to be, has been enhanced in value by Sir Robert Peel's
measures, at the cost, no doubt, of the profit, although in no
respect at the cost of the property of the rich. And is not
this just what the most perfectly wise statesman ought to de-
sire to accomplish ?
GLOBE.—Mr. Thornely's questions, and the answer they
elicited last night from Sir Robert Peel, respecting the admis-
sion of the cargoes already shipped—with more to follow—
from New Orleans of slave-labour sugar, the growth of the
repudiating State of Louisiana—throw fresh and strong light
on what Lord John Russell termed, with such perfect justice,
the " impracticable and illusory distinction" attempted between
the produce of free and slave-labour. According to Sir Robert
Peel's view of our subsisting treaty with the United States,
an Order in Council must be issued, admitting these car-
goes on the most favourable terms. These slave-labour
sugars will, therefore, come in on the footing of free-labour
sugars. Nay more, according to the new-fangled ad valorem
sliding scale (as Mr. Ewart pointed out) they will
come in on better terms than the growth of free-labour.
Mr. Ewart said—" He wished to know whether the Right
Hon. Baronet was aware that all the sugar coming from
Louisiana was brown muscovado sugar, and, therefore,;would
come into this eountry at the duty of 235., and not at 28s. ?
So that, in fact, this slave-grown sugar of the United
States would be imported at a lower duty than
the free-labour sugar of Java, Siam, and Manilla."
This is a prospect which Mr. Thornely contem-
plates " with great satisfaction. He begged simply to
state that the produce of sugar in Louisiana was such
as would give great profit on its exportation to this country,
and that there was every reason to believe the new trade
would be carried on to a very considerable extent."
The temper of some Liberal Members seems to be to
take alternately " the bit and the buffet" with edifying
patience. Parliament, under the magnetic passes of
the present Minister, appears to be quite suspended in
its faculties of discerning inconsistency, or resenting
injustice. The threat of Moliere's maid to her mis-
tress, " Vous serez, ma foi, Tartutliee," appears accomplished
in the transfused spirit of Peel through the British House of
Commons. We cannot participate the satisfaction at these
surprises on a partial and hollow policy. We cannot
comfort ourselves with cargoes of sugar for the exposure
of English sense to the world's mockery. It was only the
other night that the United States' evasions of subsisting
treaties, as regarded our products, were mentioned in
the House, and admitted by the Minister. For the sake then
of these slippery customers—for 'the sake of giving them a
protected market—of encouraging their exports at the ex-
pense of fairer dealers—we legislate. We legislate to admit
Louisiana to our markets, while we exclude Brazil. We
legislate to admit the evaders of treaties en a privileged foot-
ing, while we break off treaties with those who offered reci-
procity. And all for love of the African race.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
(THIS EVENING.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.
Their Lordships met at Fire o'clock.
A messenger from the Commons brought up a number
of private Bills, which were severally read a first time.
A NOBLE LORD presented a petition against the open-
ing of public•houses on Sundays.
HARBOURS OF REFUGE.

Lord COLCIIESI ER rose, pursuant to notice, to
move an address to her Majesty, praying that she may
be pleased to order that a copy of the report of the
Commissioners, appointed in April last to inquire into
the state of the harbours in the British Channel, be laid
on the table. As he understood that her Majesty's Mi-
nisters did not intend to offer any opposition to the
motion, he would occupy their Lordships but a few
minutes, in stating his reasons for considering it
important that the paper should be laid before their
Lordships. For one hundred miles of the southern
coast of England, extending from Portsmouth, there was
not a single harbour capable of affording shelter to ships,
or a place where a squadron could ride in security in
time of war. Such a state had been long complained of;
but the only attempt to remedy the deficiency was by the
construction of the Breakwater at Plymouth. On the re-
commendation of a Committee of the House last session, the
Commissioners were appointed to inquire and examine
as to the best positions for the construction of adequate
harbours of refuge, and their labours concluded with the
re ion which was the subject of Isis present notice. He
would only add, that ho concurred in the opinion of the
Commissioners, as expressed in the last paragraph of
their report—that in a matter of such great national and
commercial importance, pecuniary considerations ought
not to interfere.—The motion was agreed to.
LAW OF DIVORCE.
Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from a re-
spectable citizen, named Stephen Pierce, complaining of
the present law of divorce.
The NOBLE LORD put off the presentation of his
Bill for giving the Privy Council jurisdiction in cases
of divorce till next Thursday (this clay week).
COURTS OF COMMON LAW PROCESS BILL—
COURT OF SESSION (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Lord CAMPBELL Laved the order hf the day for

Mr. RICE said that the 49th clause applied to this case,
and he hoped, therefore, the Honourable Member would not
press his opposition.
Mr. IVO OEHQUSE protested against the supposition
that the landed interest entertained any jealousy of those who
supported railways, or of railways themselves. He had lived,
during the construction of the Norwich and Yarmouth Rail-
way, very near to it, and he had never sustained the slightest
inconvenience from it, and such had been the case with a
Noble Friend in his neighbourhood. In the case of a special
train, the adoption of the suggestion of the Hon. Member
would cause great inconvenience. In one instance, a phy-
sician's attendance was required at Yarmouth ; a special
train was taken, and, in consequence of there being no im-
pediment, he performed the distance between Norwich and
Yarmouth in a quarter of an hour, which would otherwise
have taken him nearly two hours. With respect to the jea-
lousy supposed to be entertained by landowners of railway
projects, he would beg to assure the Hon. Member for Wells
that he never was more thoroughly mistaken than in that
supposition.
Mr. TATTON EGERTON thought, in the cases of public
roads and highways, these gates were necessary, but that in
the cases of footpaths it would be a needless expense and
trouble to the companies.
Mr. ENTWISLE said that the object of this Bill was to
consolidate the regulations so as to curtail the proceedings in
Committees on Private Bills. In his opinion, the Hon.
Member for Cockermouth would find that the exceptions to
the rule which he sought to establish, would be so numerous
as to increase the business before Private Committees rather
than decrease it, and he, therefore, conceived that the adop-
tion of the words proposed would be the very means of de-
feating the Hon. Member's own object, and he therefore
trusted that he would withdraw his opposition. If the ex-
pense were increased to the companies, the public in the end
would have to pay it.
Colonel SIBTHORP hoped that the Hon. Member for
Cockermouth would divide the House at once. They talked
of the expense of railways; he thought that ought to occupy
little consideration. He entertained great jealcusy of all
these schemes, and he hoped the Hon. Member for Cocker-
mouth would persist in his opposition, and bring this clause
to a test.
Dr. BOWRING said that the excepted cases were the
many. He did not think that in more than one case out of
twenty would it be necessary to have a gate and a person
to watch it. They ought rather to legislate for the nineteen
cases than the one case.

GRIMSDIT di wanted to know by what words the
Hon. Member opposite (Mr. Aglionby) would get rid of the
objection that had been urged against the amendment.
Mr. AGLIONBY said that there was an entire misconcep-
tion of his argument and amendment. He did not mean to
put an end to all great railway schemes. The words which
he would introduce into the clause were, first, the words
" highway," and then, " except where otherwise provided
by the special Act." He thought that their first object
ought to be the public safety, and that expense
ought to be a secondary object. He considered he was more
correct in requiring that the public should be protected where
protection was necessary than the Hon. Gentleman near him
(Dr. Bowring), who said that they ought not to legislate for
one case because there were nineteen cases which did not
require legislation.
Lord G. SOMERSET thought that the tenour of the Hon.
Gentleman's speech was to afford protection, but that the
tenour of his clause would not have that effect. He
conceived that the public would have less protection
under the words which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman
sought to introduce than under the clause as it stood.
What he would propose would be this, that whenever a
public road, in a populous district, interfered with the rail-
ways going upon a level, a special clause should be intro-
duced to provide for that.
Mr. AGLIONBY thought that would do.
Mr. DARBY said that if the Honourable Gentleman
meant by his amendment to give the Committee the
power of allowing public roads to be crossed, without
the railway company being compelled to put up gates,
and to keep persons to watch them, he would do well to
persevere.—(Hear, hear.) But if that were not his object
he would advise him to withdraw the amendment, and pro-
pose it in a subsequent part of the Bill.
Mr. AGLIONBY said he had not intended to impute in-
consistency in a personal manner to any Hon. Member.
With regard to his proposal, as there seemed to be an agree-
ment as to the principle, and differences appeared to exist
only as to the means, it would be better for the present to
withdraw his amendment, and re-introduce it at a future
period.—(Hear.) His idea had been that clause 44 might
be expunged altogether if his amendment were agreed to.
The amendment was then withdrawn.

Lord G. SOMERSET thought the Hon. Gentleman had
exercised a very sound discretion. The object of all who
had taken part in the discussion was, he believed, the same.
It would be much better to propose the words upon the con-
sideration of clause 44.
Clauses 33, 34, and 35 were then agreed to.
On clause 36 being read,
Mr. WAWN said he understood it was the intention of
some of the companies to abandon branch lines which had
been projected. In such cases they would be compelled to
place the roads in the condition in which they found them.
Lord G. SOMERSET said that when application was
made to Parliament to sanction the abandonment this point
might be considered.
Clauses 36 to 41 inclusive were then agreed to.
Clause 42, was agreed to, with a few verbal amendments,
as was also clause 43.
Lord G. SOMERSET then moved that the Chairman re•
port progress, and the House adjourned at a Quarter-past
Four to Five o'Clock.

The House resumed at Five o'clock.
SOUTH WALES RAILWAY.
Mr. PHILPOTTS presented a petition complaining
that the standing orders in the case of the South Wales
Railway had not been complied with. The petition was
referred to the Select Committee.
TRENT VALLEY EXTENSION.
Mr. MARE PHILIPS brought up the Trent Valley
Extension Bill, which was read a first time and ordered
to be read a second time.
BLACKBURN, ACCRINGTON, AND COLNE
RAILWAY.
General LYGON presented petitions complaining that
the standing orders on the Blackburn, Accrington, and
Colne Railway had not been complied with.—Referred
to the Select Committee.
HEYWOOD WATERWORKS.
Mr. STRUTT brought up the report of the Select
Committee on the Heywood Waterworks. It stated,
that the standing orders ought not to be dispensed with.
SHREWSBURY AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.
Mr. ESTCOURT brought up the report of the Select
Committee on this railway ; and it also stated that
the standing orders ought not to be dispensed with.
Mr. SPOONER moved for the report of the Select
Committee on the London, Worcester, and Staffordshire
Railway.
The HONOURABLE MEMBER also moved for leave to
bring in a Bill for the London, Birmingham, and Staf-
fordshire Railway.
Mr. BROTIIERTON presented a petition from the
inhabitants of Heytesbury, the purport of which we
could not catch.

—MUSEUMS OF ART.
Mr. EWART said that he rose for the purpose of
moving for leave to bring in a Bill to enable town
councils to establish museums of art in corporate towns.
The merit of the measure was almost entirely due to the
Hon. Member for Taunton, who had acted with him on
the Committee which sat upon the subject. That Com-
mittee recommended the establishment of schools of de-
sign, and first of all it recommended the establishment of a
central school in the metropolis. It also recommended
the establishment of schools in the various manufacturing
towns in connexion with the central school. Only one
thing was wanted now, and that was, that the central
school should be devoted rather to the purposes
of a normal school for making masters, than
for the purpose of elementary education in art.
That was the original design of the school, as his Right
Hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, to whom the
country was greatly indebted for his exertions with
regard to this subject, would well remember. But
that design had not been fully carried out. As
yet, the central school in London was not
a Normal School of Art, but he trusted that
they were making advances towards that more
perfect system which existed in foreign coun-
tries. Another recommendation of the Committee was,
that exhibitions or galleries of art should be established
in the various manufacturing and other large towns
of the country. It was not intended that those
exhibitions should be limited to the temporary
purposes of mere ephemeral exhibitions.—(Hear, hear.)
The Committee were anxious that those mu-
seums should contain specimens of antique art, of me-
daaval art, and of modern art. That recommendation
had not been carried into effect ; and it was
to remedy this omission that the present Bill
was proposed. The Committee had hoped that the Go-
vernment would have assisted, if not by the formation
at least by lending its co-operations with those who were
willing to form these provincial museums, by
obtaining perfect casts of the best specimens
of antique and modern works, and distributing
them to the various manufacturing towns to be deposited
in their museums. In London such a gallery bad been
established, but it was by no means perfect. He under-
stood it would be necessary to procure for that gallery
new casts of the various works of antiquity. But
the object of the present measure was to diffuse
these various specimens of art throughout the country ;
to send them to the museums of Manchester, of Glasgow,
of Birmingham, of Coventry, sad of all the large manu-
facturing towns. He asked them to pass this Bill in
order to enable tho town councils to defray the
the expenses necessary for these museums by the im-
position of a small borough rate, so as to admit the po-
pulation
ertiownue rpoutehsdy to aideeasiest
in h
possible ttere formationms.Many
per-
sons of
these museums either by the subscription of
money, or by presenting them with works of art.
It was to encourage these exertions that he ventured to
propose the present measure to Parliament. There were
peculiar circumstances at the present time which allowed
a facility for the diffusion of works of art throughout the
country, which had never been enjoyed in times past.
By means of their railways they could send casts
of improved specimens of works of art to the
different manufacturing towns, and it would be
the fault of the Government if there was a single
manufacturing or large town in the country deficient
of a museum of such a character, as might give
a sound taste in art to the population of that town, and
thus enable them to apply the skill they would obtain in
the arts to manufactures. He trusted, therefore, that
they should see before long the system of schools of
design perfected throughout the country, and that the
central school in the metropolis would become what the
Committee recommended it should be. It was well
known that, till the Romans had such an abundance
of statues in Rome, that the mind of the people was
improved through the eye, they never became aware of
the value of the arts ; and it was the same with the
people of this country. It had been said, that England
wouln not make any great advances in the arts,
because it was a commercial nation ; but he
believed, if they adopted the recommendation
of the Committee, that like Venice, the large manufac-
turing towns of this country would be quite capable of
appreciating the value of the fine arts ; with this view he
called on the Government to assist in promoting this
object, and to wipe away the stain that hung upon
the artistic reputation of the country.—(Hear, hear.)
He had now shortly stated the principle of the subject
he intended to bring before the House. He did not
think it necessary further to dilate upon it, but would
conclude by moving for leave to bring in a Bill to enable
Town Councils to establish museums of art in corporate
towns.

Mr. WYSE seconded the motion. Every day's expe-
rience showed the necessity for diffusing education not
only in great towns but in the provinces. Establish-
ments had been formed in many principal towns, and
the best effects had been produced. Taste, however,
for art, 'was not sufficiently diffused in the country.
Many of the schools of design had not the means of
availing themselves of the contributions in books or
works of art which might be given them, by reason of
their having no place sufficiently extensive to receive
them. Without granting the power to Town Council to
raise such a fund, how could they expect to create
a taste for the arts in the country, for
they knew how little guarantee to the success
of an institution arose from the exertions of private in-
dividuals. They were aware that there were institu-
tions to which individuals were willing to contribute
works of art, valuable books or specimens of natural
history, but from the circumstance of there being no
building in the locality capable of holding them,
those who would have so contributed were obliged to
retain, on their own premises, those articles which they
would otherwise have given to the public, and thus an
impediment was created to the advance of the fine arts in
this country. He was anxious with his Hon. Friend to
provide a remedy for this evil, and he had some
years ago introduced a Bill for a similar purpose. He
did not expect any opposition to the introduction of
this Bill, and ho would defer any remarks of his to a
future stage. lie would second, with great pleasure,
the motion of his Hon. Friend.
Sir W. JAMES thought the motion was highly
worthy the attention of the House. He was gratified
to state that an Honourable Friend behind him had
given to an institution at Hull a large collection of
classical casts, and that their value was appre-
ciated. With respect to corporations, as re-
modelled by the Municipal Reform Bill, he was
glad to see that they were becoming anxious to pos-
, gess collections of works of art. But he remembered
that when they were first reformed, most valuable works
of art, some of them the pictures of Sir Joshua Reynolds,
and others of high eminence, which had been presented
to the old corporations, and also antique plate,

WHAT IS A POUND ?
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—The Government having in the speech from:the throne,
announced its intention of extending the present banking
system of England to Ireland and Scotland, it becomes es-
sential that we inquire whether this system is as perfect as
its votaries would induce the community to believe—whether,
in fact, it is based on correct principles, or whether its po-
pularity is not owing to its not being understood.
It will be in the recollection of every one that when the
Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Govern-
ment introduced the present system of banking to the notice
of Parliament, be began by asking, what is a pound? and
.he defined the pound to be a quantity of gold of a given
weight, and of a certain degree of fineness. Now, I am not
inclined to quarrel with this definition of a pound, but I could
have wished the Right lion. Baronet had gone one step
further, and after having told us what the pound is, he then
would have informed us how it gets its value, or in other
words, how money g.ts its value? and I think it will be
found that, on this last question, and not on the first, the
whole theory of the currency hinges.
To reach the first principle of a currency (and thereby as-
certain how money gets its value, and to deduce therefrom
its true nature) is the object of this letter, and I think I
shall find it more easily by searching for it amongst the
simple transactions of primitive life, than it I attempted to
trace it amidst the complex relations of our own marvellous
country.

I will, therefore, take a tribe of naked savages, roaming
the forest without any other means of subsistence than that
to which chance directed them. The principle of progression
being innate in the human character, even these unfriended
beings would not always remain in this degraded state, and
the first step theAwould take towards ameliorating their con-
dition would be to protect themselves from the inclemency of
the weather; they would build themselves huts, they would
clothe themselves with the skins of the animals they took
in the chase, and they would cultivate small plots of land
around their huts. In the nature of things one man would
be the more successful cultivator, and another the more
successful hunter, and the natural consequence of this would
be, the hunter would have some of the spoils of the chase
to spare, and the cultivator would have some of the pro-
duce of his field to spare. These two, seeing they respec-
tively possessed a superabundance of that which the other
wanted, would naturally be desirous of effecting an ex-
change. I will suppose the hunter saying to the cultivator—
" Winter is coming on, I have more skins than I want ; you
have more corn than you require; I will exchange my skins
for your corn." " Granted,' says the cultivator, " but how
are we to exchange ; my corn has required the labour of half
a year to bring it to perfection, whilst you can procure a
quantity of skins in a few hours • my corn is therefore of
more value than your skins." They would, however, ulti-
mately come to an equitable adjustment, and effect their ex-
change with reference to the labour represented by the re-
spective commodities.

As their little society progressed, they would find it neces-
sary to have a regular medium of exchange—money, in fact;
but, being ignorant of the metals, they would be obliged to
substitute something else for their medium of exchange ;
for argument's sake, I will say the beaver skin. So the
beaver skin would become the money of this tribe, its value
being based on the trouble it would take to procure it, and it
would exchange for other commodities with reference to the
labour they represent.
I would here direct attention to the distinction I am en-
deavouring to establish, and which, if I succeed in establish-
ing, will strike at the root of what I consider a popular de-
lusion respecting money ; it is, that money is not both the
medium of exchange and the standard of value too, but that
it is only the medium of exchange, and that labour is the
true standard of value—a standard by which money should
be estimated equally with every other commodity.
Let us test this by what is going on around us ; a yard of
cotton, which can now be bought for a shilling, would, fifty
years ago, have been worth two shillings; so that, if we
«•anted to buy a sovereign with cotton, we should have to
give twenty yards for it, whereas, before, it might have been
bought with ten yards. Why is this? The improvements in
machinery have enabled us to dispense with sixty or seventy
per cent. of the labour that used to be worked up in cotton.
Cotton, therefore, not representing the same quantity of la-
bour, has become depreciated in value, and we have in con-
sequence to give a greater quantity of it for those things
which represent an unvarying, or nearly an unvarying quan-
tity of labour. _ _

Again, if a mountain of refined gold were to be disco-
vered, gold would immediately become cheaper, and the
twenty yards of cotton might purchase two sovereigns; not
that cotton had become dearer, but that gold had become de-
preciated. But why, under such circumstances, should gold
have become depreciated, seeing that its value in use had
remained precisely the same? Simply because it would be
more easily obtained, because less labour would be used in
obtaining it.
The concurrent approbation of mankind has selected gold
as the chief medium of exchange on account of its inde-
structibility and hardness, but there was not any inevitable
necessity for its having been selected. The concurrent ap-
probation of mankind might have selected tin or iron as the
medium of exchange ; yet no one will contend that this con-
current approbation would have given to iron or tin the
same value as gold ! . But why not? Because they would be
more easily obtained, because less labour would be used in
obtaining them. If we do not make labour our standard of
value, we are absolutely without any standard by which to
estimate the value of gold ; and, then, when we ask how
money gets its value, we are told that is the concurrent ap-
probation of mankind which gives it its value, or some other
reason is assigned equally absurd and unphilosophical.
If I have succeeded in showing that labour is the origina-
tor and standard of value, it follows, as a natural sequence
that the circulating medium representing such value should
expand with the creations of industry, whilst the new system
of banking is based on the directly opposite principle, that of
limiting money without reference to production.
The practical effect of this change must inevitably be, that,
as production increases, each unit of money will represent
a greater quantity of the creations of industry, and that
prices must continue to decline so long as production conti-
nues to increase.

This would not be of so much importance if society were
in a less artificial state ; but, as it is constituted in this
country, the new banking system will act most severely on
the producing classes for the benefit and advantage of the
non-producing classes. It will greatly increase the value of
all fixed incomes. The owners of estates having annuities
to pay out of them will find this measure will increase the
real value of those annuities, inasmuch as, though the money
value remains the same, it will command a greater quantity-
of those productions which spring
.from and give value to
their estates. On the same principle, it will increase the
interest of the national debt, and increase the value of all
salaries paid to public officers.
It must be a self-evident proposition that a very low range
of prices and a very high rate of taxation cannosttahlleeonorgte.dtcuboc:
exist. The sweeping change which has been made with,
respect to agriculture will render other
tcilanges appropriation in e- i tooaffb.laheleee
which are now scarcely dreamed on—such asuetbhte,
national estates (except those which are requisite to maintai
the splendour of the throne), an,d
and
ae
proceeds to the liquidation of the National
national. These are som
official
no!
stablaeriienst,erbesotthoenoutnhtey daenbat
of the fruits which will ultimately_ spring out of the
reduction
legislation of the last four years..-1 am, Sir, your obedient
servant,
A CONSErtvATT‘r—

LineOlnsbire, Feb. 28, 1843.

VATIVE.

THE SALT-HILL MURDER.
The trial of John Taw], charged, upon the coroner's
inquisition, with the wilful murder of Sarah Hart, at
Salt-hill, on New Year's Day, will take place next week
at Aylesbury. An application will be made, on the part
of the Crown, as soon as the commission is opened, for a
day to be fixed for the trial, in consequence of the
immense number of witnesses who will be examined

ELECTION NEWS.—As a proof of the importance
which is attached to the Registration, we may mention that we saw
at the door of a marine store shop, an iron grate, having on it in large
letters the word " Register."—.Punch.
LONDON JOURNEYMEN BAKERS' PROVIDENT INSTI..
TVTION.—On Wednesday evening a meeting of the members and
friends of the Surrey and Kent Auxiliary of this Society, for-
the purpose of explaining its objects, was held at St. George's
Hall, Webber-street, Blackfriars-road. Mr. Neckey was called
to the chair, and the meeting was addressed by the 'Se-
cretary, who said that the necessity of the meeting was pro-
duced by the circumstance that there was dissension endea-
voured to be thrown among the friends of their society, by the esta-
blishment of another institution, which would be productive of
serious evils. 'the present institution was formed some years back
for the purpose of supplying a fund for the members in sickness,
granting of pensions to their widows and orphans, and for ele-
vating their moral character by supplying means to afford them
the advantages of lectures on intellectual subjects. After some se,
yore strictures on the proposed institution, the basis of whose cons:l-
-tution was, that none of the trade should marry till they could take a
shop, the speaker concluded amid considerable applause. Several
other speeches in the same tone were delivered, and resolutions to
support the existing, and to discountenance the proposed institution,
were unanimously agreed to. After which the meeting separated.

STEAM-BOILER EXPLOSION AT
BLACKWALL.

(ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.)

The names of the sufferers are as follow :
Killed—Thomas Wright, Richard Grimes, James Chapman•—all la-
bourers.

Scalded and wounded—Jonathan Smith, fitter; Joseph Baddomp„
smith ; George Neale, boiler-maker , Thomas Whltcombe, engine-
driver ; William Ingledew, labourer ; Alexander Mahoney, labourer ;
Joseph Vincent, labourer ; and Mr. Lowe, the manager of the works,
who experienced a very narrow escape when the explosion took
place on board the steam-ship Gipsy Queen, in November last, when
ten lives were lost.

As many erroneous statements have been already given relating to
the terrible calamity of yesterday, and the causes which led to it, we
are induced to lay before our readers the following correct version of
the facts:—

At the mouth of the Elver Lea (there Called Bow-creek).
and close to the Thames, is a range of factories, which steam
navigation and other improvements have called into being.
The most prominent are the Thames Plate Glass Company's Works
and the steam-engine factory of the Sannida Brothers, one of whom
was killed by the explosion on board the Gipsy Queen last November. •
The business has since been carried on by the surviving brother, Mr.
.Joseph Sammie, a gentleman of the Jewish persuasion, whose name
and that of his brother, as connected with many improvements in the
arts and sciences, and particularly with the atmospheric railway sys-
tem, is well known. The factory, dwelling-house, and workshops oc-
copy an area of about an acre and a half on the banks of the Lea.
The machinery of the factory was put in motion by a steam-engine,
or rather two of eight horses power each, and the steam.was supplied
by a large tubular boiler, which first begun to work about three
months ago. This boiler was originally intended for a new steamer. •
and was tendered with the boat in which it was placed. The •
boat was built by Messrs. Fairborn, the engineers, and the boiler was
manufactured by the same persons front a design of Messrs. Milner '
(formerly Braithwaite and Milner), of Bath-place, City-road. The
engines of the boat were made by Messrs. Milner. After the re-
Jection of the boat by the Waterman's Company, the boiler was pur-
chased for the low price of 30 guineas by Messrs. Saumda, for the
purpose of supplying steam to the engine in their factory at Black.
wall.

Yesterday morning, soon after the men employed in the factory had
returned from their breakfasts, and the works were in nal operation,
the boiler gave way with a loud explosion, dealing death and destruc-
tion around. Every wan in the engine-house was either killed or
wounded, and the steam-chest and outer casing of the boiler were
shattered and distributed in all directions. The explosion was distinctly
heard along the whole line of the Blackwall Railway, fl-om Fen-
church-street to the East India Docks, and in Greenwich, Woolwich,
Bow, Bromley, Stepney, and Limehouse. The mischief done on the
premises, and in the immediate locality, was terrific. The engine-
house was in an instant reduced to a heap of ruins, and the principal
part of the materials hurled to a considerable distance. The premises
of the Thames Plate-glass Company's works, the Crown Tavern, and
numerous tenements adjoining, are damaged, and the windows and
frames blown out. Portions of the boiler were found in the Plaistow-
marshes, ou the opposite side of the river, about 150 yards from the
factory. In the same place the body of one of the unfortunate suf-
ferers, which had been blown across the creek, was picked up in a
mutilated condition. It is believed that he was on the top of the
boiler and in the act of easing the safety-valve when the occurrence
th,oaill,opreisited.
L, dlaiiiedothert)ie3p
, victims
outer easing of the boiler, and the steam-chest, are completely
wereaetsed to hra7e nbdecelnoskieltl oedthlestwh whore
instantaneously.th
the
destroyed, and the 'top row of tubes bent, and thrown over on the
side. The other rows of tubes, wills two or three exceptions, hare
escaped Injury. The destruction of the engine-house was complete.
It was a building about 100 feet square, and not more than nine feet
high. The engine itself did not sustain much damage.
There appears to be only one opinion as to the cause of the acci-
dent, and as it has been given by more than one practical man, there
can be no harm in publishing it. It is necessary to premise that the
steam-chest was found divided in three pieces. One piece, and the
largest of the whole, weighing about half a ton, was carried a
distance of 200 yards towards the premises of Messrs. Turner and
Co., of the tar and turpentine works, carrying
away in its Pro-
gross a portion of the parapet wall of a house, and passed over
the road, where it tell against the side of a warehouse door with such
tremendous force as to shatter the doorpost, and demolish portiona uc
of the brick-work. The next largest piece, about six cwt.,
waslass car-
riedCom-
in an opposite direction towards the Thamesila
of
some premises on the
materials fell into
opposite side of the road. A quantity of the fallen
pany's works, and the piece where the connexion the steam-pipe
was made was found in a field in the rear of
the boiler were found in the
sy
d yards
the rear of the adjoining
bolts, and
tantditeserbeawas, cootnntehcoteedrowiwnth
in the groun
the Creek,aanndd pieces of iron, nuts,
Tarorn,
computation there were not less than
premises. At a m°der•atgelass broken by the concussion. The
five thousand panes
d. werebr:
khe
emeii,.
l,shatteredThe residence
riens i severaldene
of
lir.dwellings,jol, and,iow.tarhan,
dwelling-horse of Mr. Lowe, the manager
.IVaonrsktas,nseldtuactoensnideareratbhlen
tl
of the works, s
and the parapet was blown
imi.iirin,di
tousar•o-frdalsnpi el
as u
window
was
siate at oner corner of the yard, also suffered, and
The windows were all broken,
damage. grin"rrooff atiirme. STailanuludesst'srirt(e-mgli:e"s
down.
Mr. Joseph Samuda, the surviving partner of the firm, NM at
Croydon, on business, when the explosion took place, and a mes-
foreman
rt
.hse ai himufidlla °sct ofen 'tit' rre
dbortnilneite which
senger was sent after Lim innnediately afterwards, lie appeared
le:"eesr3t: rn corner
brother,
lnlad(liicasnaonftsorlilnogwhiedime
atio ,muchclosee, raeffoepneeteteuidi
lei on
iirt
30. ro.hearinghssit.ii
deprivedo3 ft
do with the manufacture of the boiler, and that he purchased it merele
to drive the works of the factory, because he had not time to make a
new one, and that It had not been used more than five or six times
when it came into his possession. He stated that he believed the
water had got very low in the boiler, and that gas was generated
instead of Steam, and an explosion was the consequence.
There were various rumours in circulation, and statements made
by the men employed on the premises respecting the pressure of
steam on the holler. None of theta, however, can be depended upon.
The boiler was certainly capable of bearing a great pressure, but there
is great blame to be attached to some one, and the deplorable acci-
dent on board the Gipsy Queen, last November, when Lowe narrowly
escaped with his life, does not seem to have operated as a warning to
him. Ile has, however, the reputation of being a very careful and
skilful man.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, March 5.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock.

Mr. WRIGIITSON presented-t; petition from Don-
caster against certain clauses in the Yorkshire and
South Midland Railway Bill.
The Ulster Railway Bill was brought up, read a first
time, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow.
PROPERTY-TAX.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER appre-
hended, from what the Bight llon. Gentleman had said
in the beginning of his speech, that it was not necessary
for him (the Chancellor of the
.Exchequer) to follow
himthrQugli fill his topics, Neither would he follow