The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-17 00:00:00

‘:.l,l.,tronbl'ibitttott

SUN OFFICE Three o'Clock.

The state of the manufacturing districts still '
causes uneasiness, not on account of any serious
apprehensions of another outbreak, but from the
want of demand for labour, the lowness of wages,
and the consequent starving condition of the
working population. At Manchester, Salford,
Glossop, and some other places, a feeling of irri-
tation against the masters prevails to a great ex-
tent, many ofthe hands refuse to work without an
advance of wages, and in some instances acts of
violence have been repressed only by the active
interference of the police and military. This state
of the manufacturing districts would give less
cause for regret if there were any well-grounded
prospects of improvement in trade, but even the
operations of our own tariff, and the passing of
the American tariff, seem to produce little effect
on the market. In some places there has been
an increase of business, but not to a great extent;
the supply in general far exceeds the demand,
the manufitcturers are unable to find employ-
ment for the workmen, many mills have been
closed, others are only partially at work, high or
even average wages cannot be paid, and the un-
fortunate operatives are compelled to work almost
night and day to make up a miserable subsis-
tence, or are walking the streets as mendicants in
the hope that the masters will at last be
obliged to take them on at better wages. Under
present circumstances, we fear this is a vain
hope; for what ground is there for expecting
better wages without better demand? The sys-
tem of "strikes" has now been tried for years,
yet without producing any other result than ad-
ditional poverty and wretchedness, or wasting
the little property that the more prudent and in-
dustrious had laid up against accidents or bad
health. The amount wasted in this way must
have been very great, though we have no accu-
rate means of ascertaining it; but according to
a statement made by the Secretary of Dele-
gates, at a meeting held lately in Manchester,
upwards of 3,000,0001. had been expended by
mechanics during the last fifteen years in an
endeavour to advance wages, and without suc-
cess. This is a lamentable picture, not so ►such
for the loss of property as the hopeless condition
of those who have been driven to the necessity
of making such a fruitless and desperate experi-
ment. No strike, so far as we are aware, has in
the end benefited any considerable number;
for though the masters in some peculiar trades
may, for a time, be compelled to yield, a bad
feeling prevails; and unless they find it for their
advantage to retain the hands, owing to brisk-
ness of trade, they take the first opportunity
of lowering the wagea or engaging other hands.
Wages, in fact, are regulated by the demand,
and the two bear exactly the same relation as
cause and effect. A little reflection," says " A
Friend to the Working Classes" to the mill ope-
ratives of Stockport, " will convince you that
the manufacturers arc bui the instruments or
agents by whose means the market value of your
labour is ascertained, and the remuneration of it
conveyed to you. In the event of an increased
demand for the production of your industry, they
could no more prevent, even if they wished it,
an increased demand for your labour, than
they could prevent the ebb or flow of
the tide." This is a fact about which
there can be no dispute, and for the sake
of the distressed operatives we recommend it to
their earnest consideration. Even if the masters,
out of humanity, or for the sake of preserving
peace, were to work their mills at a loss, they
could not long sustain a competition on such un-
equal terms, and consequently would either be
ruined, or compelled to transport their capital to
another district, or perhaps another country. In
the mean time, the unfortunate people, who
have in general displayed such patience under
suffering, must not be left to starve, or even
beg in the streets. By the work of their
hands they have raised the value of
property around every manufacturing town
to an enormous extent, and it is only just and
merciful to make the owners contribute out of
their wealth to the necessities of those by whose

labour they have been enriched. The Poor-law
Commissioners have the power of relaxing many
of the restrictions of the new. Act, and never on
any occasion was there a concurrence of cir-
cumstances that could so fully justify them in
adopting such a course.

In the Number of the Quarterly. Review just
published, there is an article on the policy of
Sir ROBERT PEEL, in which that policy is lauded
to the skies, as exhibiting the highest order of
statesmanlike sagacity. The Reviewer is •par-
ticularly struck with the Budget, which he says,
" is as striking for the novelty of its principle, as
f'or the admirable simplicity of its structure,
and, as we believe, for the ultimate convenience
and efficiency of its practical working." The
"striking novelty" of the Budget is a phrase
perfectly preposterous, when we bear in
mind that its two leading features, the
Income-tax and the Tariff, are both Whig
inventions, and that the former is a stale, hack-
pied prqject, which has never yet fulfilled the
sanguine expectations of those who conceived it.
As for the future efficient working of this impost,
on which the Reviewer calculates, we have no
reason to expect that it will work better hence-
forth than it formerly did; true, it will return
a handsome revenue to Government, and so far
will answer its purpose; but, on the other hand,
it will occasion a world of perplexity and annoy-
ance to the people; engender countless
discontents and heart-burnings; and go far to
destroy whatever confidence the majority of the
middle classes may have till now had in the
principles of a Tory Government. We con-
fidently predict that the Income-tax gatherer
will prove a more formidable foe to Sir ROBERT
PEEL'S Ministry, than all the Whigs, Radicals,
and Chartists combined. The Reviewer goes on
to observe :—" The principle of an Income-tax
is this, that in great emergencies, which in
an especial degree endanger property, it is
just and natural to ask property to make
special exertions to protect itself. Hitherto
such emergencies had arisen only in war, but ten
years of Whig misrule had brought the public
revenue and public credit into a more serious
jeopardy than our most gigantic war had done.
We had had for six or seven years a growing
and accumulating deficit—a deficit larger than
• that which bad occasioned the first Revolution
in France—a deficit which, if not extirpated,
would, like a cancer, have eaten into the vitals
of every species of property." The impudent
spirit of exaggeration that pervades this passage,
is by no means its chief characteristic, for it is still
more remarkable for the cool effrontery of its
mis-statements. In the first place, the Reviewer
observes, evidently with reference to the present
Income-tax, that its principle is to make pro-
perty protect itself, by inducing it to furnish Go-
vernment with the ways and means for carrying
• on the business of the nation. This would be
a perfectly just principle, if restricted in
its operation to property, which certainly ought
to make sacrifices in seasons of emergency; but
unfortunately the principle is not so restricted.
Not property only, but income, is taxed—in-
come, too, of the most precarious and fluctuating
nature, which, in a great degree, is at the mercy
of the chapter of accidents, and which is placed
on the same level with substantial, permanent,
bona fide property, and called on to make an
equal amount of pecuniary sacrifice. Now this
is a crying injustice, yet it forms, notwithstand-
ing, the " fundamental feature"—to quote Lord
CASTLEREAGH'S refined expression—of the Tory
income-tax. The Reviewer's remark that the
Whig deficit is g. larger than that which
occasioned the first Revolution in France,"
is an unblushing perversion of fact. in
1789 France was not simply deficient in her
financial resources, but she was absolutely bank-
rupt. The machine of Government stood stock-

still, and nothing, was left but to assemble the
States-General, and proclaim a national bank-
ruptcy. 'rite remainder of the article is penned
in this careless and exaggerated spirit, with the
exception or some observations on the Tariff,
which display not a little cool and judicious rea-

SOD lug.

The following extracts from the Paris journals
of Thursday, include the oly news they contain
of any interest:—

We find the following statements in a report made
by Captain Andoir, of the ship Diane, which has ar-
rived at Bordeaux, from Monte Video, which place it
left on the 16th of June :

" The Argentine army, under the command of
General Oribe, was at la Bajade de Parana, threaten-
ing to invade the Orien4.-,al territory.
The Argentine squadron, commanded by Brunn,
aften appears, and anchors before Monte Video, in
order to induce the Oriental squadron, which remained
at a►►chor, to come out of port.
"The English merchants had just advanced to the
Government 600,000 piastres, and had obtained from
it permission to establish a line of steam-boats; under
their own colours, on the river Uruguay. This pri-
vilege is for fifteen years, under the direction of Messrs.
Stanley, Black, and Co.
" The English Consul, and the Oriental Govern-
ment, continue to be on the best terms,
where a certain coolness was manifested to-
wards Rosas ; the reason is plain enough, for they
have something to obtain of `Tonto Video, and after
having so powerfully contributed to bring about the
treaty of 29th October, to exclude French influence,
they are going to exert themselves to arrange the dif-
ferences existing between the two Governments. There
is no doubt that to indemnify themselves, they will
take possession of the island of Martin Garcia, which
commands the mouth of the Uruguay and the Parana.
An English Minister Plenipotentiary has just
arrived on the shores, which to thi§ time had been
closed against all nations."
The Marseilles Journal of the 12th announces the
arrival in that city of the family of General Bugeaud,
who are going to Africa.—Commerce.
BOURSE—PARIS, THURSDAY, SEPT. 15.

HALF .PAST TIIREE.—the following were the prices
at the close :

French Five per Cents. 119 t, 118 f 95c., 119 E 20e. ;
Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 106 f. 50c. ; Three per
Cents., 80f. 30c , 25c., 20c. ; Bank Actions, 3,270 f. ; Obl.
of the City of Paris. 1,285 f. ; Rente de Naples, 107 f. 20c. ;
Roman Loan, Fire per Cents., 104 k ; Spanish Active,
22k, 22, 22i ; Belgian Loan (1840), 105 ; Belgian Bank,
760 f. : Haitian Loan, 520 f.

Exchange on London.--One month, money, 25f. 45c. ;
three months, paper, 25E 35c. ; money, 25f. 35c.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DAY.)

LONDON, SEPT. 17.—Wind this day at noon
Southerly, light and fine.
DEAL, SEPT. 16.—Wind E. to E.N.E., moderate.
Arrd., Ant, Williams, Quebec; Jane, Westward;
Ocean, Koch, Rio Grande for Altona; Sophie, betels,
Batavia for Hamburgh; Edouard, Harkema, Bata-
via for Rotterdam ; Elizabeth, Tucker, Barbadoes ;
Experient, Gefle to Monte Video ; Louise, Bremen
for Philadelphia ; Argo, Hamburgh for Africa. Sid.
Gilbert, Munro, Mauritius ; Mary, Taylor, Demerara.
OFF DUNGENESS, SEPT. 14.—St. Bartholomew,
Brazil for London ; Eliza, Meyer, for Hamburgh,
out 134 days.
PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. 16.—Wind S.E.—Sld. City
of Derry, China.

•
FALMOUTH, SEPT. S.E. to E.S.E.,
light.--Arrd. Helen Maria, Maitland, Rio, for Ham-
burgh. Arrd. off, Penrith, Russell, Rio; Achilles,
Marshall, Mauritius.
BRISTOL, SEPT. 16.—Arrd. Druid, Brown, Quebec.
HULL, SEPT. 16.—Wind S., light.—Arrd. Eliza.
beth, Miramichi ; Endvmion, and Forster, Quebec.
Sld. Genessee, New Orleans.
SHIELDS, SEPT. 15.—Sld. Spartan, River Plata;
Norden, Rio.
Conic, SEPT. 13.—Arrd. Desdemona, Halifax.
LIVERPOOL, SEPT. 16.—Wind S., light.—Arrd.
Perseverance, Manilla ; Kingston, Broadfoot, Cal-
cutta ; Harriet L. Picot, Mauritius ; Surprise, Bahia,
sld. July 27; Cantab, Rio Grande, sld. July 10;
Helen Hamilton, Nichol, Maracaibo, sailed July 23 ;
Alecto, Ayshford; and Glengariff, Sullivan, Jamaica;
Belvidere, Charleston; British American, Richards,
St. John's, New Brunswick ; Circassian, Fenwick,
Montreal; Companion and Covenanter, Quebec;
Kellermont, Cleverly, Africa, sailed from Fernando
Po May 20. • Sld., Statesman, Port Philip ; Lady
Flora Hastings, Calcutta; Mary Ellen, and William
and Elizabeth, Barbadoes ; William and James,
Havannah ; Indefatigable, Savinnah ; Lancaster,
Charleston ; John Munn, Mobile ' • Ohio and Roscius,
New York. Arrd. off, Laurel, Bay Chaleur ; Au-
gusta, St. John's, New Brunswick; Ayrshire, Que-
bec ; Shakspeare, St. Vincent; and Theresa Jane.
PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. 16.—The schooner George,
of London, abandoned, was passed Bth instant, in lat.
47, lon. 11, by the Christiana, arrived at Portsmouth.
ELSINORE, SEPT. 10.—The Zufriedenheit, 'from
Guernsey, to Copenhagen, has put into Sandefurd,
leaky, and must discharge.
SUMATRA, MAY 9.—The New Orleans, Hall, sailed
from Kabagnon, for Europe, about the Ist of May,
Naking badly.
HAVRE, SEPT, 14.—A vessel, capsized and dis-
masted, apparently brig rigged and timber laden was
fallen in with near the Banks of Newfoundland, on
July 24.

MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS.
- CITY, QUARTER TO THREE.
The improvement in the prices of the Funds con-
tinues, though but little has been done to-day. Con
sols are 93 for Money, and 93A- for the Account ;
New Three-and-a-Half per Cents., 1011 ; India
Bonds, 36 ; Exchequer Bills, Old, 53 ; New 49 51 pm.
Business in Foreign Securities has been rather
more brisk. Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cents. have
been sold at 52i; the Five per Cents. 1021 ; Danish,
83i ; and Brazilian 67k.
The speculators for a fall in -Mexican Bonds have
been operating extensively, and succeeded in driving
the quotation down to 341 ; it has, however, since
rallied, and is now 35k.
The Share Market has been inactive. Brighton
have changed hands at 33k; South Eastern and
Dover, 33i ; and Manchester and Birmingham at 23.
A single bargain in Spanish Five p:•r Cents, at 161
is all that has been done in the Bonds.
The quarterly average of the Weekly Liabilities and
and Assets of the Bank of England, for the twelve
weeks ending on the 12th instant, shows a large in-
crease on each item, when compared with the return
for a similar period, terminating on August 13th :
LIABILITIES.

Circulation Now £19,714,000
Last time £18,952,000
Increase
Deposits Now £9,833,000
Last time £9,330,000
Increase

£503,000