The Sun.
London, England, 1827-09-29 00:00:00

ABUSES IN TRADE.

(From a Correspondent.)
The system' of fraud carried on by many of
the shopkeepers of the metropolis, and the de-
liberate efibrts made to break down the honest
tradesman, are aniongst the chief causes that
obstruct the improvement of the public morals.
The practice which we shall here expose, and
which has tended to make bankrupt the fortunes
and hopes of hundreds of industrious men, is
infinitely more criminal than the dangerous eta.
ployment of the pickpocket, inasmuch as it en-
courages robbery
.in its most extensive branches,
as much as the calling of the receiver of stolen
goods encourages it.' It is only to be lamented
that. the plunder attained by the practice is en-
joyed with impunity, and countenanced by per-
sons of rank and fortune. It is well known that
numbers of individuals purchase goods at Man-
chester, 'and other manufacturing towns, with
bills. If, as is most frequently the case, those
dealers happen not to be able to take up their
bills, there are numerous houses in great busi-
ness ready to purchase any articles of a vendible
nature,,whieh they have facilities of selling at a
considerable' profit. A deduction of 15 or 20
per cent. takes place upon the goods. They
are sent to various cheap shops, as they are call-
ed, about the town, by the opulent London
purchaser, and the seller is accommodated with
cash, with which he carries on any game he
pleases, regardless of the obligation upon him.
embarks without capital, and is of course sure to
lose nothing,—no,' not even character ; but at
the close of two or three years, takes his natu-
ral station in the Gazette. In cases of this
kind, the manufacturer is directly robbed by the
foul conspiracy between the first purchaser and
the second. The latter well knows what must
be the consequence of a sale so enormously
below prime cost, but he coolly accommodates
his customer with a recompense, which in the
case of a notorious fence would be a testimony,
by Mr. Peel's act, of the capital crime. The
manufacturer cannot long resist this desperate
mode of attack. He fails ; .and the loss then
falls upon the merchant who
,imports the raw
material, and who finally is ruined through. these
atrocious means, while the two robbers go on
'with their trade, and appear every day amongst
men of business, without being pointed at by
honest men or hunted after by the thief-taker.
It is impossible for the fair trader to keep his
ground at the west end of the town, while en-
couragement isgiven by the nobility and gentry
to this species of dealing. We know it. to be a
fact, that many members 'of the legislature, who
insist upon a long credit from their tradespeople,
—who will, perhaps, discharge no part of their
bills before the expiration of three or four years,
—are in the habit of running about with their
ready money to the shops which are thus sup-
plied from the plunder of the unfortunate manu-
facturer. Nay, at the doors of those receivers
are. to be seen the carriages of many merchants
and wholesale dealers, who, by countenancing this
gross description of fraud, contribute in no slight
degree to their own losses and misfortunes. Can
it be wondered at that shopkeepers are robbed
by those who .are about them, who are witnesses
and parties to the transactions we have de-
scribed ? Often has it happened that an un-
fortunate shopman or agent, upon being ac,
cused before a magistrate. of some petty act of
dishonesty, which is vindictively followed up by
the prosecutor, as if to gisi the public a high
notion of the integrity of the principal, has re-
taliated by alluding to the nefarious trade of his
employers ; and yet hundreds of thousands are
daily turned in this metropolis in this manner,
while the man- whose capital and labour have
been plundered and abused wants a loaf of bread
for his family, and seeks refuge in the workhouse,
or in the grave. Many of those prosperous vil-
lains employ persons to assisollem in othei ims
positions, which are calculited'-to injure the
honest trader. It is notorious that some of the
overgrown houses employ manufacturers to ma-
nufacture goods of an inferior description, to the
great disgrace of the boasted manufactures of the
nation, and almost to the destruction Of the fair
tradesman. It is well known that a tradesman
cannot bring out any new article of good quality
without exciting, not'an honourable competition,
but a base imitation, and drawing after him into
the market, which foreign nations are thus en-
abled to excel, a commodity of comparatively in-
considerable
value. There is another practice,
too, to which the dishonest shopkeeper has con-
stant recourse. While the tradesman in the city
is glad to receive 5 per cent. profit upon the
sale of his goods, the west end of the town shop-
keeper, who is able to give a greater extent of
credit, actually pays 5 per cent. and more to the
butler or the lady's maid for the custom of the
family.. Certain it is, that there are many shop-
keepers who disdain .to recommend themselves
in this way ; but they are invariably
losers by the independence Of their con-
duct. A gentleman of our acquaintance, in
describing this practice, stated that his servant
came to him one morning, and showing a hand-
ful of .oats,. said, " Sir, there is no use in deal-:
ing, with Mr. A., ,your horses will not eat his
oats. Allow Inc' to give an order to Mr. B."
This was very odd sort of intelligence, but
scarcely had it been given, when our friend re-
ceived a note 'from Mr. A., regretting that be,
could not afford to pay 5 per .cent. to the groom'
for his custom, and hoping that such a per cen-
tage would not be sanctioned. But besides this;
profit, the servants have other inducements to
rccoininerid certain tradesmen. Dinners and
balls are given to those pampered menials by their,
obliged. servants, the shopkeepers, and not one ot
them makes a morning call without tasting of
champagne, or hock,- or Burgundy. The power-
ful effect of, thus bribing the servants is well
known to all the shopkeepers at the west end of
the town. In wealthy and expensive families, a,
principal servant will net 5001. or 6001. a year,
by patronizing the tradesmen, and he becomes,'
besides, an important member of the family
circle, to whops he is associated by the great tie'
Of interest. To break up this connection, as
well as to discountenance the flagrant and ruin=
of deriving an enormous profit by:
theusi systemiti
purchase -of goods of which the manufac-
turer has been plundered in the manner de-
scribed, is imperatiVe upon those Who now au-
thorise or sanction it. Let the poor thief be,
corrected for his own sake; but let those bloated!
thmiscreants
cwt cionoafl e
the odni
et as tt e and
manufacturer 'be pimished for the sake of set
Times.
arl ince] rns
t rpiloi shi
ul

A clergyman of a certain city was lately viewing
the works on the Witham, when he was familiarly taken
by the button by a chap who probably Was more free that;
welcome. " Hah ! Sir, I know You, Sir ; you're By!
chaplain." " Indeed, pray how have I the honor to 11
your chaplain ?" "0, I know you very well, Sir, because
you was my chaplain. when I was in the gaol like,--and,
amazing fine sermons we used to have.--I never loiked ony
sermons so well as your'n, and I'll be ---- if I doant get
in again."—This curious resolution was actually executed
More a fortnight. Lad elapsed. —.Lincoln Paper.

~,7;~;iy

SPORTING INTWIGENCE.

LINCOLN RACES.-THURSDAY, SEPT. 27.

The City Purse of 01., for all ages. Heats, two miles.
Mr. Golden's Robin Hood, 3 yrs 0 1 1
Lord Fitzwilliam's Dina, 3 yrs 1 2 2
Mr. Morris's 1) fby Tiresias, 3 yrs
Mr. Capp's Swallowleek Lass, 4 yrs
Sweepstakes of 10 sovs. each. Heats, two miles.
. .

Aspinall's 1) In by Bellerophon, 5 yrs 1 1
Mr. Bird's Velocity, 6 yrs 2 dis.

Ten paid.

The following are expected to start for the Gold Cup
to-morrow :—Fleur de Lis, Ultima, Pedlar, Jessy, Srieep-•
stakes, and Hobgoblin.-3 and 4. to 1 ou Fleur de Lis.-
13 have paid.

OSWESTILY RACES.—IVEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26.
Sweepstakes of 15 sovs. each. One mile.
Mr. Thompson's Orthodox, 6 yr-s
'Sir T. Stanley's Joscelin
A Sweepstakes of 20 sovs. each. One Mile and a half.
Ni. Mytton's hr c hy Master Henry
Sir W. W. Wynn's ch c by. Champion 2
A'Cup, value 501.; the gift of Sir W. W. Wynn, added
to a Handicap of 5 sovs. each. Heats, one mile and a
half.
Mr. Thompson's Predictor, 4 yrs... 1 2 1
Sir W. Wynne's Sangredo, 4 yrs... 2 1 2
Mr. W. Gore's Job, 3 yrs ...... 3 3dr
The Town Subscription Plate of 50/. Heats, three miles
' and a half.
Mr. Mytton's Euphrates 1 1
Mr. Thompson's Cymbeline
Sir W. W. Wynn's May Fly S dr

HEATON PARK RACES.TuEsnAy, SEPT. 25.
Tie Heaton Park Stakes of 15 sovs. each, h. ft. Once
round and a distance. (Handicap.)
Mr. White's Alecto, 6 yrs
Mr. Grosvenor's White surrey, aged
Mr. 13. Hoghton's Bella Donna, 4 yrs
Three others started—One paid.
Match, 50. Two miles.
Mr. Wainwright's Panther, 3 yrs
Thompson's Billy, 3 yrs
The Stanley Stakes of 10 sovs. each, h. ft. A.F (Han-
dicap.)
Mr. Thompson's Falcon, aged. 1
Lord Wilton's Gleade, 6 yrs 2
Mr.„White's Harriet, 5 yrs 3
Three others started—Two paid.

The (bona fide) Hack Stakes of 10 sows.' A.F. (Handi-
cap). The.winuer to be sold for 70 sous.; under the
usual conditions.
Mr.' White's Plutarch, 6 yrs 1
Mr. Porter's Gift, aged 2
Mr. Chaides Stanley's Elinor, 6 yrs fell
One paid.