The Sun.
London, England, 1820-05-19 00:00:00

Al LErING SIIIP•OWNERS.

A General Meeting of Ship-Owners was held
nn 'lnes,!ay at the City of London Tavern, Bi-
-1,149!):i,a,e-s!reet., fur ihe purpot:.e of considering
P i,tnn to Pailiatnent against any alteration in
the exi,,ing laws inat !nay he preindicial to Bri-
tish fleeting was very numerous
and 14,,pectable.
At 11' p4st one o'clock, on the motion of Mr.
Wit SOS, 7.1.1. P., _ .

J. VV. BucKLii, Esq. was called to the Chair,
whieli having ,alien, he read the advertisement for
caPitig the meeting. lie then went into a state-
mt
o of the object wiiieti the Committee of the
St ip-Owners' Society had in calling the Alton-
bets together. It was stated, he observed, in a
cot•vursation which tyok place in the House of
(..,•mtuous a few eve iiings back on a petition
which was presented from some merchants of
LoTolon, that many alterations might be matte in
the N4rigation Laws, which ouold be produc-
tive of. vets considerable bench 3 to the coctitry
at ktge• As those alterations, whatever they
vto-se V% ere not tiefiue,!, die resolutions and peti-
st-1,1,-lt would presented to the meeting
di nt.t I,fr to !loon, nor would he go into de-
tail t'espec lug them.'l'toey were only alluded to
in :4 gaoietal . One thing, however, bad oc-
coo t eel oit that evenieg, which called for the par-
ticular a' eotio“ of the meeting. It was stated
by the P,esitlent of the Board of Trade, t: at the
iiimeut ,were not unfavourable to a remis-
sion of some of the ditties imposed on timber
from the North of Eotto.-e. 'lbis he thought was
-a moat important question for the consideration
or shit,-owners, as their interests were likely to
he most materially affected by it. It was not
necessary tor him to go into any history of this
'ditty in support of he resolutions, but he thought
the present was a good opportunity for present-
in • to the meeting a short detail of the great
in cease of the timber trade, and of the ship-
pitig employed in it within a very few years.
Hr proceediol to conteud, that by the remo-
Nal of the restrietioos on the timber trade
W 1414 the northern parts of Europe, a most
set-ions injory would he done to this count' y-
.g.-oerally, to our owl, North American colo-
;tics, ansi to the ship-owners in particular. It
w %lid be hoolcss to imagine that we should get
the euslom of the Baltic Powers by opening our
-ports to th, m. They (omid not afford to deal
with 445. (.);.) ,his std jeer he would ,neutron a
tact was out perhaps kwiten, or, it known,
not takt-n folly l.tto consideration. There was at
the to-sent m oneot in the Cll5lOl-11 House iuu or-
der Irmo the "Ire tsury, reninti•ig the tonnage
s on all ships clearing out with any c:rgo,
IrlAever stban, tot Sweden or Fiolat,d. 'This was
an indulgence not atiowld with respect to those
vessels trading to tHe Colonis ; and the reason
assigned for remitting the duties was, that those
co-ntries were too poor to take our produce. But
if os ri,re the f,,ct, and he did !tut deny it, why
should •his cootory give up the trade with her
oWo colonies, in order to open it with ihose who
co to not deal with return ? Why should we
thus ihror, trout --ourselves the carrying trade,
fro •AHleit e alts ady tkrived so great a benefit
w:is not no,,' !he intention of the Committee
to sloe, to lov alteration in the Navigation Laws ;
it would he time enough when they understood
w•,at the nature of the intended alterations-was.
Ile did not, however, mean to say that no alters-
tionc sl,oalti ever he made in them ; for the time
might corn-, :and circumstances misty he so alter-
en, as to call for some alteration But though
the ,hipping ito,ete•t would never oppose any al-
let a'tott which mi.,,ht conduce to the public good,
they cumin not be satisfied with any alteration
h would Mime themselves.
Mt CLAY roposed first Resolution—

That the British Ship-owners arc at the present time labour-
ing ;;prat and serious diaivultie4, as well from the state
of urral depression of the commerce of the kingdom as
from the competition of foreign snip-owners.

().; lit-solution bring pot from the Chair,

PARING said, he hoped he might be per-
to offer a few observations at this stage of
the proceedings. He had not read the petition,
but tie took it for granted that it was founded
upon the resolutions. He begged to thank the
Committee for the opportunity they had given
him or attending ; for, as a -ship.owiier, he had
lOtle claim to interfere. He conceived that the
shipping interest must be looked upon as most
important by every one who valued the independ-
ence of the country in a commercial or maritime
point of view. He thought, therefore, that no
other interest ought to be looked upon as oppos-
ed to them ; and he trusted that merchants and
ship-owners would be considered as one great fa-
mily, all having a strong interest in the prosperity
of the other. He was glad to. see so numerous
and respectable a body looking with a jealous eye
on measures which might affect their great inte-
rests ; but he was sure the present meeting were
too respectable to think that because the mer-
chants or agriculturists hall petitioned, they (the
ship-owners) were intended to be injured. He
hoped they would look upon themselves as not
separated in interest from those other classes, but
that where they could assist each other they
would. It the ship-owners were in danger of
being injured, be considered that the other classes
world not do their duty if they did not support
them. It the question before the meeting refer-
eed solely to the timber
,trade, he should not
have felt it necessary to offer .any observations;
but lie hoped, as referring to the petition which
he had recently presented to the House of Com-
mons, he would he allowed to say a few words as
to the probable result of-that petition. First, be
should observe.. that the petition was not of his
drawing up. Ile had never seen it until it was put
into his hands to be presented. Undoubtedly it
was very ably drawn up. It laid down some prin-
ciples on which it was, said our trade should be
reguiated4.: hot he would admit, that many of those
were toe general in their nature, nod therefore it
was mar iit•al that they should be looked upon with a
jealouseye. They were t Oer of too sweeping a
ellyeactrcr„ and might perhaps apply Netter to a new
country thou to one which had a long experience
ot previous -regulations. He thought therefore,
OW it should not be considered without consult-
in,g other ioterests:besidessthose of the petitioners,

and he wolild never support it if be was satisfied
that such support would injure the ship-owners
((lear !)—Before he introduced any measure upon
the subject to ti,e House of Commons, he would
wait to see what other petitions-there were from
different parts of the country on that subject.—
What he was anxious to call the attention of Par-
lietneut to was, the removal of certain restrictions
under vthich commerce laboured at present.—
These were of a generel nature, and affected all
classes. Indeed all classes felt the distress ; all
were heavily burthencd ; and he was sorry to fitel
this distress so general in almost every part of
the country. It appeared to him, that at the
end of the war some revision of our com-
mercial regulations was necessary. We were
at this moment in competition with nearly the
whole world ; and with so many rivals, it was of
the utmost itpportance that we should be prevent-
ed hoot falling further below that supetiority
which we had truce enjoyed. Jo Come to par-
G-nlass, i?e mention an ex:eusion of our
Indian wile, and our trade to the Pacific Ocean.
This would be a twist important benefit to the
ship-owners, and to the cotiatry generally. 01
its advantages every Getritanan in the meeting
most he fully aware ; but thi... there might be an
obstacle sand in its way, in the compact made with
the East India Company. The first thing we had,
therefore, to do xas to see what it was we want-
ed, and what they could give without injury to
themselves as a body ; and he was snare the loditi
Company, as part of the tame great family, to
which be bad before alluded, would Hot refuse
their concurrence in any measure which might
beeetit the country at large when they could do
so with hoot injury to ;Lemselves. T, ,e next thing
that he would suggest would be an entire freedom
of the transit trade. That weeld also, he con-
ceived, be a most material benefit to the ship-
owners, as .well as to commerce in general. lie
wouid open our ports wide ; but certainly with
out intending to intethre with those trades which
were carried on by particular charters. When
this subject was before the House of Commons
upon one occasion, several Irish Members oppos-
ed the tiansit of German linens, as likely to
injure the 1: kit trade : though he looked upon
the objection as ill-founded, yet there was some-
thing of a case made out for it. It was suited,
that as our vessels sailed with convoy, and had so
much the command at sea at the time, if we did out
allow those linens to be sent, wher countries could
not send them. But the case was quite different
now ; for, though we might not send them, we
could pot prevent other nations from doing so.
By Admitting. the tree transit of these and other
articles, our merchants would have the benefit of
assoited cargoes, which weie touted so very advan-
tageous in the foreign market. This, he main-
ained, would be a stimulus to the ingenuity end
industry of our own manufactorers,, who might
eventually succeed in substituting their own goods
for those of Other Countries. On the sehject of
the Navigation Laws, he believed he 111 d touched
upon them very lightly in the House of Com-
mons. He did say that some alteration might he
medelo them, but not such us to affect their ge-
neral principle. It was a general rule of those
Laws, that the hoods of any country could only
be brought in ships of that country. He would,
however, suggest that tt,:e produce of every coun-
try might be exported from this country to any
foreign port, but in British bottoms ; at the same
time he would consent to no regulations wnh
could be proved to him to be injurious to the in-
terests Of the Ship-owners. With respect to the
question before the meeting, he did find that the
case of the shipping engaged in the timber trade
was much stronger than he had before thought it
to be.--(Hear, hear !)—Yet be did not under-
stand how only one hied of our vessels could find
employment in the Baltic timber trade, if a re-
laxation of the duties took place. He would
admit that the state of the British shipping em-
ployed was such, that any alteration respecting it
should be touched with the utmost delicacy. The
exclusion of the Baltic timber was, he thought,
injurious, inasmuch as it had made us many ene-
mies ; though lie would not deny that the coun-
tries on the Baltic were too poor to be good cus-
tomers to us. In looking at the question in Par-
liament, lie should be always ready to attend to
any information which the Committee of the So-
ciety of Ship-owners might be pleased to com-
municate.

The CHAIRMAN, in explanation, observed, that
the reason why only one-third of the present
amount of shipping which were engaged in the
American trade, could find employment in that
of the Baltic was, that they could go more fre-
qoently to the latter place. They might go four
times in the year to Prussia, two to the Baltic,
and six to Norway. He begged to ask the
Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Baring) whether
the proposed alteration of the Navigation Laws
was to be confined to the produce of Europe ?
Mr. BARING teplied, that certainly it was only
to Europe.
Mr. MAP.RYAT, M. P. thanked the Honourable
Gentleman (Mr. Baring) for the manner in which
he had viewed this question, and for his qualifica-
tion of the prayer of the petition presented by
him to the House. He was sorry to hear the
President of the Board of Trade announce any
intention of relaxing the duties upon Baltic tim-
ber. The duties were imposed, not from any
hostility to the Powers of the Baltic, but arose
out of their hostility to us. In 1811 they con-
fiscated our ships, and imagined that we should
be obliged to submit to it. We then looked to
our own colonies, which we had before neglected,
and it was too much now to complain that we
continued to give the preference to those colo-
nies. It those Powers lost the- trade, the fault
was their own. iVhen it was considered that
this branch embrated one-seventh of our whole
carrying trade, and that one of its greatest ad-
vantages consisted in the profit of freights, it was
of too much consequence to the country to
be slightly given up. As w the article from the
Baltic being cheaper, 'he conceived that that
article was ei•eapest which brone,ht molt money
tq us, and prevented our profit fri,rn tailing into
the_hands Of foreigners. The lion. Gentleman then
contended, that it would be unjust to our Colo-.
nies, whom we prevented from trailing with any
but ourselves, to give now a preference to those
who, even otter opening our ports, would not deal

with us ; for he maintained that, if to-morrow we
should take the produce of their country, (hey
would, instead of purchasing our goods, draw
bills upon us, and go to other markets where
they could get goods cheaper. lie further main-
tained, that by discouraging the Timber Trade
with our North American Colonies, we should op-
pose the greatest obstacle to emigration, which
was considered, in the present day, absolutely ne-
cessary, in order to find employment for our su-
perabundant population. Besides, it should be
considered that the ships generally used in the
Timber Trade, so many of which must he with-
drawn, if the proposed remission took place, could
he employed in no other business; for they were
generally put into this trade when they were not
of ranch use in any other.
Mr. Wit_soN, M.P. supported the Resolutions,
and promised his most cordial support whenever
the subject should come before the House of
Commons.

drier some further observations from Mr.
Baring, Mr. Marryat, „Mr., Yo►►ng, and some
other Gentlemen, the Resolutions, and a Petition
founded on ttu were agreed to.

[For the Petition and Resolutions► see TUE SUN of yes-
terday:l

MANCHESTER MERCHANTS' PETITION.

The following Petition hos been alre'sdy signed
by many of tike principal Merol,ants in Manchester,
and will be presented to the House of Commons
in a tew days :
The humble Petition of the undersigned Merchants. Ma-
nufactnrers, and other Inhabitants of the Towns of
Manchester and Salford, and their immediate Neigh-
,
hourhood,

SIIEWETII—That the alarming state of distress in which the
trade of this counary is at present involved, of alike
the merchant, the manufacturer, and the labouring classes,
and also threatening the most fatal results to the agricul-
tural and funded interest, imperiously calk upon the Legis-
lature for efficient means of relief.

That to indulge an expectation that other countries will
take the manufactures of this lorigdo:n without our receiving
in return such articles as they produce, is delusive, and in-
jurious to our best interests.
That the more extensively we import foreign produce, the
greater will be the reasonable probability of au extensive ex-
port of our own ; and as our ability to consume such foreign
articles must be proportionate to the beneficial employment
of our population, it is of the highest importance that an
impulse should tie given to trade by the removal of all such
restrictions on imports as can he relinquished without injury
to the agriculture and manufactures of this country.
That the imposition of heavy duties on those raw materials
which form the basis of our manufactures, is in the highest
degree impolitic, evidently tending to diminish the labour and
reduce the wages of our industrious population, on the full
employment and adequate remuneration of which the pros-
perity of the State essentially depends.
That it is of vital importance to the commercial and agri-
cultural interests of the Empire, that the utmost efforts should.
be exerted to secure a vent for our, ,manufactures in those
countries from whence we import articles of luxury or ne-
cessaries which our own soil and climate do not produce, by
forming arrangements for a reciprocal trade subject to a mo-
derate scale of duties. •

Your Petitioners, therefore, humby yet earnestly submit
this most important subject to the serious consideration of
your Honourable House, in full confidence, that, in its wis-
dom, such measures will be adopted as are best calculated to
advance and secure the true commercial and agricultural in-
terests of this Empire, which your. Petitioners feel convinced
must ever remain perfectly identified. -
And your Petitioners, &c.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.;

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, MAY 13.

(At Nisi Prius, before the Lora:. CHI eF-J usTI cE.)
ASSAULT.

Y.ELDEN AND WIPE V. JOSEPH AND GEORGE GAPE.
This was a case of assault. There were two
records : the one charging -an assault upon the
plaintiff's wife, to which the plaintiff himself was
of necessity a party ; the other chargine, an assault
committed upon the plaintiff alone. It was agreed,
• in order to save :he time of the Court, that the two
actions should be tried together.
Mr. GURNEY, on the part of the plaintiff, stated
his case as one of peculiar hardship. His client,
the Learned Counsel said, was an industrious
pains-taking. hawker, who obtained his living by
vending his commodities at fairs; and the defend-
ants were gentlemen of property, residing at
.Sr.
Alban's. It happened that, upon the 26th Marcie,
1819, the plaintiff and his Wife were attending
the fair of St. Alban's ; and upon the evening of
that day, which was the last of the fair, were
peaceably packing up their wares, in order to their
no less peaceable departure, when the two de-
fendants, who were wont from time to time to
amuse the inhabitants of the town with a row,
thought fit to make these poor persons the sub-
jects of their dexterity. Those gentlemen, upon
pretence of dealing, came to the booth of the
plaintiff ; but, instead of making purciliases, they
indecently insulted and assaulted the wife, and
proceeded, by way of satisfaction, to beat the
husband for interfering. During a period of nearly
three hours the defendants continued to annoy and
ill-treat the plaintiff and his wife : they broke
down the booth, and endangered the loss of the
goods ; and when the subjects of their sport re-
treated to an adjoining house, they followed them
thither, and threatened their lives. The Jury
would naturally suppose that some attempts to
protect themselves had been made by the plaintiffs.
Such attempts had been made. Mr. Yelden said
.to one ot. the defendants, " I will complain to
the Mayor." "'Then you must complain to me,"
answered the assailant, " for I am the Mayor, at
leas( I was Mayor last year." A constable was
called, but he " dared not touch Mr. Gape."
The gentlemen, the Learned Counsel believed,
had tl►e excuse of intoxication for their conduct ;
but if a man behaved ill when he was drunk, he
must pay for it when l►e was sober. The present
action bad not been brought until very moderate
recompenie had been refused ; and it was to be
hoped that the Jury, in giving heavy damages to
the plaintiffs, would at the same time give a va-
luable lessen to the defet►dauts.
Sophia Mausfield lived at the Swan public

house in St. Albert's ; was at the fair last March!
Mr. and Mrs. Yeldenhad a stand in the market'
house directly opposite the Swan; saw the del:
(laws about eight in the evening go to the boot('
of the plaintiff; one of them took up a toy, an.c
asked what it was ; Mrs. Yelden replied that
lA
was a dog ; " Dog ? Dog be d—d !" rewrite'
the defendant ; " it'a a queer dog, without ad
hair upon it."
,
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE wished tnat toe WIN
ness would either raise her voice or go back if/
St. Alban's. If she would talk as loud as thougi,
she were at tea with some of her female acquaiti#
lance the Court would be benefited.
The witness resumed—One of the defendants'
she thought Mr. George Gape, then threw the 1,
down, and broke three of its legs off, Mr. Ye
den then came up, and desired them not to inter;
fere with his property ; defendants cried, s
row, a row ! me, hut there shall be a rove"
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE—WIIO said a row'
a row ?
Tb
Witness.—Both the defendants said so,
then struck plaintiff's wife, •and knocked
down. Plaintiff's. wife ran over with witness (r/
the Swan public-house, and was locked into':
room. The defendants came over and tried to gel
into the house, threatening to murder plaintiff's°
his w
J. Cunvin was at St. Alban's fair on the 00:
ing of the 26th March. Saw the defend,nts CO°1"
to Yelden's stall ; other persons were wita !sett;
One of the defendants took 'up a doll of the sic
(" it was one of them dolls that you. pull a string°
and they 'lance in all manner of shapes
and held it up to Mrs. Yelden, and moved it
kind of way that a as not (witness thouefo) (lacer;
before a married woman. Mis. Yelden snaretto
the doll away, and put it inr 0 a box. Defeadat'g
pushed her away, and took the doll out again.'"
yt:lden then came up. and told defendant rot t...°
in err opt his wife, and defendant knocks d
&Inn. Then pi i 's goods began. to fly
..laL'?';
An ill.looking sort of a chap that was stantiio;: "7
kee.ned to :iirtcy some of them. Witness bid hius,
keep off. Did nut -know the defendants by 11'76
Christi an tlatne9, Plailo if/ :vas glad to Until 13-;
nrOperty IWO his boxes tarry how, aid sersoo
hurt ied hint over into the Swan. i)ciendaros
lowed, challenging plaintiff to fight, and
ing his •ite.
A ()umber of witnesses were then called,
corroborated the evidence of Curt in and
and W.len that detendanis act so (OP
to the plaintiff', booth from time to time, arid se
peated their •tSsaalta.
Mr. SCARLETT. for the defendants, half avg(
heard a more inconsistent case tha'n that made 01,
by the plaintiff's witnesses; even suppo,ing,whic:
be was far from being iirelirred coneecie, th':
those persons were entitled to implicit credit. 111-,
learned friend (Mr. Gurney) had not even g"4l,
[IMMO) the ordinary forms 01 an action of assault.'
he had not closed his case lea calling the doctor'
'['he plaintiff' had not even laid out sixaenre ttt;
the purchase of a plaster : probably lie had foot
the prescriptions of the attorney best sui!ed
the nature of his case. The defandatos
persons of the very first respectability ; and
should be able to show, not only that the pit4i'e,„
tiff had given the first blow, but that Mr. Georg'
Gape had received very considerable injury. lb!
learned counsel then proceeded to explain awsf
the evidence which had been adduced by
plaintiff; and relying upon a verdict in his fias'°'' ,
as to the assault upon Yelden, trusted that tl'r
Jury would give very temperate datnitges for tbe
trifling inconvenience sustained by his wile. ,
A considerable body of testimony was then 0';
duced on the part of the defendants, whoa, *ten
to spew that the assault and ill-treatment waif, ,0
fact, heen•sustained by them. It was not ihoril
however, that the Messrs. Gapes Lad address`
" some jocular observations" to the woe of s
plaintiff, and that they had in the same 3nesll3s
mood returned three times, without any eppsre°
business, to his stall.
Mr: Goarassr, in reply, retorted upon Mr. Sc 'j
lett's case the charge of inconsistency, and aiti,°o
upon the improbabiliy ,fiat the plaiwiff, wiros,
It
trade it was to attend at lairs, and whose
hood consequently depended *root) consiliariag
inhabitants of the towns which he trequente
should wantonly, and without cause, insultCP
,
most powerful family of the place in which oe -
dealing.
The LoRD CHIEF•JUSTICII, in summing up, 'I
formed the Jury that they ust find• distioet.ve:
m
diets spun each action. The second verdict, hosre-
eves, would, he thought, depend io a great tnee.sl!
upon the first. In causes of the present describe,
Iron great cossistency of evidence could not •
expected the matter indeed, to itself, was a sce:l6.
of confusion ; he thought, however, that there "I.
at least as much consistency in the plaintiff's C 6
as had appeared in that of the defendants,
thg
The Jury found for the plaintiff in both j
actions, with 1001. damages upon the first, al.
501. upon the second.—(The Times.)

PRUSSIAN ECONOMY.—The King of Paw-54,
has succeeded in introducing a very extensive ec'e,
nomy in his military service, amounting, -to se`lio
ral millions of francs. In every regiment of _to
line, unlimited leave of absence has been givell,o,
lO men in a company, and after the next reviet'
the same leave will be extended to forty men ii
compapy.

BIRTH. P
e
On Wednesday evcnin?, at liis Lordship's house, in non
garet-street, Cavendish-square, the Viscountess Dunca'
of a son.
_------""