The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-29 00:00:00

,A 1314

LONDON :
FRIDAY MORNING, JULY 29, 1312.

Mr. ROEBUCK'S Committee has ended in smoke. All
the labour is thrown away. The compromises were all
known before he began to inquire into them, and we are
not aware that his Committee brought to light any facts
importance, except, perhaps, the sums of money ex-
pended at the different places. Surely the bribery and
corruption at the boroughs in question were as notorious
as the sun at noon-day before Mr. ROEBUCK moved in
the matter. His Committee has autinnticated•the cx-
it,:lice of the corruption and bribery, and thrown an
oliiigation on the House of Commons to take measures
to put them down. Last night, tome% er, the House re-
fused-to assent to Mr. ROEBUCK'S resolutions, by which
it has taken on itself the responibility of shielding
the offences the Committee has exposed. The Commit-
tee inquired into an alleged criminality—the criminality
is proved, and the House refuses to punish the criminal,
or prevent future criminality. We did not anticipate
that Mr. ltoEnreK would succeed, and we were inure
surprised at the House granting the inquiry than at its
refasing to adopt his conclusions. A worse course it
could scarcely fellow. The House is now branded by
its Committee as the offspring of bribery, and it is
branded by itself as resolved to shelter and protect The
hi,!cous monster from which it springs.

It is so long since the plan of a compulsory exami-
nation for captains of merchant ships seas first brought
under public notice, that we supposed it was given up,
and we therefore preserved a discreet silence concerning
it. Last night, however, Captain FiTznol- obtained
leave to bring in a Bill to establish that species of exami-
nation. He is aware that it would be hopeless to attempt
to pass it this session, and therefore he only proposes to
introduce it, have it printed at the public expense, and
circulate it through the country, in order that the objec-
tions' to it may be fully considered.
lie proposes that Boards be appointed in England,
*otatland, and Ireland, consisting of three examiners each,
and a secretary. The system they are to act on is to be
appl-oved by the Trinity Board, and the whole placed
under the Board of Trade. The expense to be defrayed
by fees. All persons who wish hereafter to be masters,
or mates (,fships, must submit to be examined by them,
alll to pay for a certificate to command a ship in every
pale of the world, 3/.; to command a. vessel or vessels on
short voyages, 21.; mates 30s. and 20s. The scheme in-
volves, therefore, no inconsiderable amount of patronage,
and no inconsiderable extension of taxation. As a gene-
rdl rule, the country is already suffering from too much
of !•,f):11, end ought to be thoroughly and completely satis-
fied that, to extend them, will be of certain aid great
advaatage before it approve of any such scheme.
" It may nut," says Mr. Jonx PEAncuon., ,s ho is an
oplwarllt of this scheme, " be altogether undeserving of
yu,ir een,ideration the inflicting on shipping a direct
tax, in addition to the indirect delays, ob.-Aruetions,
Ta!,ing the shipping of the Empire at 30,000, which is
net tar from the mark, and the average fees at 31. 10s.
fur a master, and 11. 53, for a mate; the aggregate direct
tax, you see, is 142,3001. ! (less fur vessels under 60 tons)
and this not for once only, but constantly recurring, as
new masters and mates are required."
This expense is to be incurred because, as Captain
Frrzaoir says, there is now no examination of any kind
with respect to the qtrlifications of the captains and
mates' of merchant vessels. Captain 1 ITZROY deceives
himself and the public by a name. There is, in tact, a
practical examination, as much super:oi. to his proposed
examination by Boards, as Eding- a horse every clay to
ascertain his qualities is superior to seeing him for a fen.
minuted when he is well fed, tired and gingered, anti
trotted lbrth at a public fair.

The education of captain mirehaut vea;e's is, as
the rule, something to this elreet. The youth intended
for that service acquires at some of the emuercial acade-
mies what navigation is taught, the theoretical rudiments
of his art, and, at the a',-;e 9r 12 or 14, is
put to 'sea with or without being hound ap-

prentice. He immediately begins a practical educa-
tion ; he assists in all the work of the ship, learns to
stow the cargo, to go aloft to trim the sails, to steer,
&c., and, at the same time, he learns to keep the ship's
reckoning. Whatever practical knowledge the master
and the mates have, he may gradually acquire. After
. one or two voyages, depending on the length of time and
the influence the youngster has with the shipowner,
together with the character which his captain
and the mates give him; he is appointed a second
mate. After another voyage he is promoted to be chief
unite; and, after a practical education of five or six
years, or. more, according to circumstances, he is en-
trusted with the command of a ship.
Instead of there being no examination, he is through-
, out the whole period of his noviciate undergoing a very
rigid and close examination.- Day by day is he with the
master and mates—day by day is he exposed to the jea-
lous observations of rivals—day by day arc all his ac-
tions watched and noted, and his character and fitness
fur command, including not only his mere nautical abili-
ties, but his moral qualities, are known to a number of
persons ;veil qualified to judge.
But the ow ners of shipS, not the shipmates of the young
aspirant, appoint captains or mates, and they are not
good judges of their qualifications. In all cases not.
Very often, however, the owners of ships are also the
captains, or they are retired captains. All ship-owners,
may, at the same time, by inquiry, ascertain the quali-
ties of the young men whom they wish or desire to give
ships, and we believe that no ship-owner places a vessel
under the command of a man without first ascertaining
to some extent that he is worthy to be entrusted with
the important charge.
• Sometimes, no doubt, the ship-owner may be de-
ceived. From anxiety to provide for a son or a relation,
he may place in the command of a ship, one who is not fit
for the place ; but this is the exception, and the rule is
for the ship-owner to select persons brought up as we
have described, who are well qualified to command his
-ships. If he commit errors from partiality, the service
to which Captain FITZROY belongs shows, by numerous
examples, that Boards and examination are no protec-
tion against the appointment of very inefficient officers.
The ship-owner may, we think, be relied on to exercise
a sound judgment, because his property is at stake, his
income, which depends on freightf is endangered, and
merchants will not freight a ship badly officered. He is
liable, also, to pay damages caused by the unskilfulness
of his captains ; and, in the majority of cases, therefore,
the ship-owner has strong motives for making diligent.
inquiries into the abilities of those persons he employs ;
and for employing only those who have 'proved them-
selves qualified. In fact, a practical daily examination
actually takes place of all candidates to command ships,
and it rests with the owners, as it will • rest after the
Board of Examiners are established, to employ whom
they please.
The present mode of examination recommends itself
to us by two considerations- : it accords with the practices
orraen in other business, andexperience has proved that
it answers tolerably well. Merchants, manufacturers,
farmers, shopkeeper 4 attorneys, Svc., are all brought up
on a similar principle, and launched in life under simi-
lar auspices. There are no Boards to examine
whether a young man is fit to take charge of a
counting-house, to preside over a factory, to, look
after a farm, to manage a shop, or• to practise
as -an attorney.. The real practical education of
men in all the great businesses of life (and we will not
exclude those professions the members of which are
obliged to undergo an examination) is obtained in the
counting-house, or shop, or on the farm, and it is the
daily examination of their conduct which inspires their
parents; masters, or friends, with confidence in them,
and leads to placing them at the head of establishments.
The great scheme of practical instruction, without any
Boards, has produced merchants, manufacturers, and
farmers, as skilful as are to be found on the face
of the globe. Will Captain FITZROY say that
the practical education of merchant captains
has not answered equally well ? Where will he
find their superiors ? It seems bordering on gross
absurdity now to say, when our steamers only have have
crossed the Atlantic—when our merchant ships ha-
bitually visit the Southern Ocean, and almost reach the
Southern Pole—when there is no sea, however remote,
that is not visited and explored by them, while our
stormy coasts are habitually navigated at a very small
expense of life and property—when there are no ships in
the world better navigated than English ships, it borders
on gross absurdity to say that our system is not good, and
that we must substitute for it the system of France, though
its mercantile marine, compared to ours, is very inferior,
and has been very unsuccessful. There is, we admit,
one exception to the superiority we claim for our mer-
chant captains. They are in some points surpassed by
the Americans. The Tom Coffins of Nantucket have
almost driven our ships from the Southern whale
fishery, but we have never heard that there are Boards
of Examiners for the captains of American whalers, or
that they are trained and appointed in a manner very
di&rent from our own.

We may hereafter, if necessary, enter more into
detail ; we content ourselves now with asserting that
Captain FITZROY'S whole scheme proceeds from a mis-
apprehension of the facts of the case, and from a confi-
dence in Boards and examinations which is not warranted
by experience. Mr. PEARCE, a ship-owner, thus speaks
of them :

A freight offers for one of our vessels, requiring dispatch, and
a master wanted; two offer,—one certified, but a man of mos;
questionable character ; the other uncertified, but of most ex-
cellent character. What is to be done? The vessel cannot
clear Custom-house with the latter: we are compelled to take
the other. The vessel proceeds; the captain gets drunk, loses
his reckoning, though a first-rate navigator, and the vessel is
lost. Does the Bill, I ask, work evil or good ? Shall it be said
that the examiners have been imposed on? Why, this is the
very condemnation of the Bill,—that whilst it allows " good
conduct, integrity, and sobriety," to be indispensable, the ex-
aminers it appoints can know nothing whatever of these essen-
tials but by certificates, which may be true or false; and of the
truth or falsehood of which they have, in the vast majority of
cages, no means of judging.

In truth, Captain FrTznov's Boards can at best but
ascertain the existence of nautical skill, and must leave
all the moral qualities of the candidates—by f'ar
the most important—to be learnt by the ship-
owners, as at present. Captain FITZROY'S scheme,
therefore, is a piece of legislative delusion, such
as afflicts us day by day. The plague of our time—more
destructive than the pestilence of the twelfth century—
is the interference of man with man by means of laws.
There is nothing, however wisd, skilful, and holy,
which can now escape the restrictions of igno-
rance. If a shipowner may nut sail his ship as he
likes, why should a farmer be allowed to cultivate
his farm without giving proof of his ability
ti the Quarter Sessions? Every day we hear if
negligent and unskilful farmers ;, arc they also tu un-
dergo an examination, and take out certificates ? Yes-
. terday we noticed a gentleman, in a public paper, de-
manding that captains and stewards of river steam-
boats have plates and numbers like cads and drivers of
omnibuses. Some petty annoyance is experienced,
and forthwith the Legislature is appealed to to regu_
late steam-vessels like hackney coaches. Where
and when is this pestiferous meddling of one man with
the concerns of another to stop ? How long is fright-
ened or timid ignorance to give laws to knowledge? We
will not pander to this mischievous meddling spirit; and
on general principles, as well as for the particular reasons
we have urged, we shall resist Captain Frratoit's Bill,
and every such scheme for substituting general legislative
rules in the management of the ordinary business of life
for living and active individual discretion.

We have received a brief account of a meeting held in
the neighbourhood of Burnley, to take into consideration
the case of a number of poor men, who, it would appear,
had been committed, to the county gaol of Lancaster for
non-payment of poor-rates. The requisition for the
meeting was numerously signed, and on being presented
to the Constable of the district, he convened a meeting
of the inhabitants on Monday last, when the chair was
duly taken by a rate-payer, and resolutions were passed
strongly condemnatory of the conduct of the vestry, and
also the committing Magistrates. If the statements in these
resolutions are correct, a more harsh and unwarrantable
stretch of power, we will venture to say, was never exer-
ei;ed, even by a country Justice of the Peace. The un-
fortunate men are described as paupers (not, we should
conceive, in the strict sense of the word), but the
miserable paltry sums fur which they were arrested
prove that they must have lived as paupers, one of them
beiNg committed fur non-payment of a rate of Is. I Id.,
another tor I Id., and the rest for similar trifles. It is
stated, also, that the men were dragged from their
homes, placed in a dungeon, and on the following morn-
ing were conveyed like felons to Lancaster Castle, a dis-
eanca of 44 miles, bound in chains. We have these
facts on the authority of a bookseller of the place, who
(4.ive.s his name and address; and as the meeting was
held under the sanction of the local Magistrate, and was
sttended by great numbers, many of whom must have
been acquainted with the proceedings, there can be little
doubt that a series of gross outrages has been com-
mitted. The Home Secretary, notwithstanding his
high opinion of the discretion of Magistrates and Police-
constables, cannot sanction such cruel persecution as
this ; and it would be, therefore, advisable to draw up a
memorial on the subject for his consideration. A peti-
tion should also be transmitted to Parliament, setting
iic y
forth all the facts of the case; and if they are as stated in
resolutions, we doubt if an one Member of the
Ilouse, however he may slight the sufferings of the pT),,,
could rare his voice to screen the oppressors. It is im-
,mssible to justify measures by which a rale-payer,
a and Whose rate is only lld., is chained like a felo

committed to prison. Those who framed the law never
contemplated that it would be enforced by acts which
would be reckoned disgraceful even in Russia and
Turkey ; and it is the duty of the Government, there-
fore, to see that they do not encourage a breach of the
peace by abetting such practices.

The French Journals received supply the details
of the opening of the Chambers, on Tuesday, which
will be found in another part of The Sun. The
poor KING was deeply and painfully affected when
alluding to the irreparable loss Which he had sustained
in the death of his chivalrous son. In reading the ac-
count, the lamentation of another bereaved Monarch,
that of DAVID, when apprised of the death of
ABSALOM, seemed to ring in our ears. The
stern Monarch, who had passed apparently unmoved
through so many stern vicissitudes of fortune, " lifting
up his voice and weeping aloud," was a sight calculated
to move a less impassioned assembly than the French
Chamber of Deputies. " The KING'S emotion," says
Galignani's Messenger, " was so great that he found it
impossible to give utterance to his words. He made the
attempt a second time, and again he was unsuc •
cessful. He at last found utterance, but his voice was
thick, husky, and broken, with agitation. At the word
" consolation" the KING could no longer withstand the
torrent of his grief ; he laid down the printed speech,
and burst into tears. Again he resumed, and his voice
became stronger, until he spoke the words mon fill (my
son), where it again faltered. At mu tenG'resse, tears
again prevented his proceeding. At the end, his MA-
JESTY sunk back in his seat, and sobbed convulsively,
hiding his face in his handkerchief." These few
brief sentences present a picture of parental afflic-
tion hardly less moving than that recorded in
Samuel, to which we above alluded. " The KING
covered his face, and cried with a loud voice, 0 my son
ABSALOM! 0 ABSALOM my sun, my son! Would to GOD
I had died for thee, 0 ABSALOM my son, my son !"
That in the presence of such genuine grief the audience
was deeply moved is not surprising. We can, therefore,
well believe those eye-witnesses who inform us that they
never beheld so atlixting a spectacle as the Chamber
presented during the delivery of the Royal Speech.
But, moved as were the Deputies with the grief of the
KING, We learn that the Opposition are resolved not to
content themselves for this session with the passing of a
Regency Bill. They propose beginning with the now
usual mode of impeaching Ministers, that is to say,
voting that they have not the confidence of the
Chambers. Rumour affirms that M. GUIZoT and
his colleagues are quite prepared to stand such
a test, and that they rather court it than other-
wise. If it be made at all, the sooner the better.
There is some talk that the Opposition will propose
M. ODILLON BA altOT for the Presidency of the
Chatnlier ; the Ministers of course will support the
claims of the ex-President, M. SAUZET, who we have
no doubt will be re-elected. A section of the Opposition
were for bringing forward M. Durist, but the irrita-
bility of his temper, and the causticity of his
gibes, have obtained for him far more admirers than►
friends among the Deputies. It .was therefore soon dis-
covered that his chance of ever again being elected was a
very poor one indeed. Ministers calculate that the effect
of the KING'S appearance at the opening of the session
will decide the votes of numerous waverers in favour of
the Cabinet, and we entertain a similar opinion. If the
Opposition strike their grand blow before the first im-
pression made by the KING'S appearance wears off; there
is little doubt of the triumph of the Cabinet for the
present.

The Vigil, a Dieppe journal, says,—" People talk much of
act approaching visit of the king to Eu ; they even pretend that
he will pass three months there. These reports should seem to
be in some measure correct by the presence of M. Fontaine,
architect to the Court, at the Palace of Eu. It is certain that
the workmen employed in the palace are proceeding with the
greatest activity."
We have received the Monileur Algerien of the 20th of July.
A general order of Lieutenant-General Bugead, dated the 17th
of July, communicates to the army the telegraphic despatch
which announces the death of the Duke of Orleans. The
Monitcur Algerien publishes two general orders, one
appointing General Changarnier to the command of the
provinces of Medeah and Milianah, comprehending the
ex-Caliphats of Sidi, Embarrak, and Berkani, and fixing
his official residence at Blidah. The other general
order, which is addressed to all the officers of the African army,
the Governor-General recommends the utmost caution in their
intercourse with the Arabs. As their submission has been
forces►, they cannot, he remarks, sympathise with the French
population for a considerable length of time, and they may
seize on what they conceive to be favourable opportunities to
break what they call their chains. The utmost caution is,
therefore, says General Bugeand, to be practised. The order
says :
Let not your soldiers even pass the advance post without
arms, and in strong detachments. Always keep a picket ready
t o march at a moment's notice. Let no Arabs be' permitted
to enter your markets or quarters armed. Watch unceasingly,
and try to have amongst them some friends who may give you
information of any plots against you. Never forget that mis-
trust is the mother of safety, and never he remiss in any point
of careful service. Never send any detachments but when
they arc dispensable. I prefer that the service of couriers
arid ordonnanees should be made by the Arabs. In this way
you will take care of your soldiers' health, and will nut be ex-
posed to untoward accidents."
BOURSE—PARIS, TUESDAY, JULY 26.

First Highest Lowest Last
Price. Price. Price. Price.
French 5 per Cents 117 50... 117 65... 117 50... 117 55
4 per Cents 101 35... 101 35... 101 35... 101 35
3 per Cents 77 60... 77 65... 77 55... 77 65
Bank of France 3190 ...3195 ...3190 .. 3195
Laffitte Bank I,ooof 1020 ..1020 ...1020 ...1020
Belgian Fives lO3 ... 103 ... 102 i ... 104-
1840 lO3l ... 1031 ... 103 k ... 103 i
Spanish Active 22i ... 22i ... 22 ... 22i
Passive
Portuguese Fives 271 ... 274 ... 271 ... 274
Roman
RAILWAY SHARES.

Versailles, R. B 290 ... 290 ... 290 ... 290
L.B 95 ... 95 ... 95 ... 95
Rouen
Orleans. 550 ... 350 ... 550 ... 550

Strasburg to Bale 2OO ... 200 ... 200 ... 200
BELGIAN 10 UNDSBRURSELS, JULY 26.
Actual Debt. 254 per Cent.
Ituthschild's Lean, 5 per Cent lOl%
Loan ofThirty Millions, 4 per Cent. 914
3per Cent.... —

.(I S4O) lf ‘.2
Loan of City, 1.'32, 4 per Cent... ....... .. .....
Society of Corrirricree. 4 y; per Cent F6
flank 01 Belgium, 5 per Cent 73
National Society —
Exchange on LondBs (short) .... .........
—Brussels Papers, July 26.
AUSTRIAN FUNDS.—VIENNA, JULY 16
tiveper Cents. Metalliques
FO,arperCents. li or 4
Three ia,r Cents.
Bank shares .................. "...."•..... . t 95

Thirty.scven.

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.
PARIS, JULY 27.

The Opposition, though consenting to present no
amendment on the Address, nor to go to any division on
the Regency, have still resolved to bring forward a mo-
tion for overturning the Ministry.
M. Guizot is not reluctant to accept the challenge.
M. Barrot is the Opposition candidate for the Presi-
dency. The Ministry will support Sauzet.
The Chamber of Deputies is occupied to-day in the
appointment of presidents to the bureaux, in which the
Conservatives have a decided advantage. The return
of M. Emile Girardin is contested.

MADRID, JULY 20.—The Infanta and family proceed
to Santander, not Seville.

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.
Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of public
business.
THE OFFICE OF HIGH BAILIFF OF THE BOROUGH

OF SOUTHWARK.

Mr. WIRE said it was necessary to appoint a gentleman to
perform the duties until the election should take place, and
the person deputed to act temporarily, must be one who had
no idea of becoming candidate himself.—( Hear, hear.) He
then moved that Mr. Charles Pearson, the City Solicitor, be
requested to act as High Bailiff of Southwark until the election
should occur.

The motion was unanimously agreed to.
The CITY SOLICITOR rose and said, he should with pleasure
discharge the duties of the office, and that he felt obliged by
the renewed evidence of the confidence and esteem of the
Court.—( Hear.)

THE DISTRESSED COAL-WHIPPERS.
Mr. STEVENS submitted a motion for the suspension of a
standing order of the Court, in order that he might bring for-
ward a petition without the ordinary notice. The petition was,
he said, from a number of coal-whippers of sober and indus-
trious habits, who complained that they had no chance of em-
ployment while a single coal-whipper who was of drunken and
profligate habits was unemployed. The petitioners declared
that great numbers of them were in a state of actual starvation,
and besought the Court to establish an office, to be under the
control of the City, where they might be employed, and paid
one penny per ton. They also prayed for some pecuniary as-
sistance.

The Court would not permit the Standing Order to be sus-
pended in the case of the petitioners' but will, upon a future
inquiry into the merits, no doubt afford all the assistance
in their power to the poor families.

A Report was brought up from the Coal, Corn, and Fi.
nance Committee, recommending that the sum of 100 guineas
be granted to Alt. Abraham Francis, formerly the owner of
the European Coffee-house, opposite to the Mansion. house, as
compensation for l,sscs sustained by him whit q occupying that
house.

A Report was brought up from the same Committee, re-
commending that the sum of '2O/. be paid to Elizabeth Hern,
the widow of a ward beadle of Farringdou, and who had lost
his life by coming in contact with a dangerous obstruction in
the place in which he was attending to the duties of his office.
THE ROYAL NAVAL BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

Alderman Lucas presented a petition from the Royal Naval
Benevolent Society, an admirable Association. established at
the commencement of the Revolutionary war, for the aid of the
widows and families of gallant men who had fallen in battle, or
become victims to the climates in which they had served. The
venerable Alderman most feelingly and effectively advocated
the cause of the families of those in whose behalf the petition
was presented, and succeeded in getting it referred to the Coal,
Corn, and Finance Committee, by a very large majority.
After some other petitions had been presented, which were
referred to Committees, the Court adjourned.

GIZEAT NORTH OF ENGLAND RAILWAY.
Traffic taunts for the week ending July 23, 1812 :
Passengers
Merchandise 44S 13 11

X 1,435 1 5

Corresponding week last year ...X1,425 8 2
Darlington, July 27. W. O'BRIEN, Secretary.