Star.
London, England, 1809-09-06 00:00:00

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COAL r.RADE: •
TO THE EDITOR' OF THE STAIL
Ut res seata-rst, narrabo online. • •
Sta—The Editors of many of the daily aitd weekly'
publications have reprinted from the STAR-the state-
ment of Facts given in Answer to the kJ nquiry of
Londinensis, As to ahe cause of the high"prices of the
best Coals. From their desire to give this subject ge-
neral publicity, it may be presumed that ther consider
it a matter of some importance to their readers,l shall
therefore offer some further observations to the public,
which will enable them better to appreciate the merits
of a question, which involves in the event their per-
manent interest in the price of an article of daily con-
sumption.
To develope the ground of the present dispute be-
tween the proprietors of the best Coals on the banks
of the Tyne and the Wear, and the.. owners of
ships employed in the Coal Trade, it is necessary to
revert back to the state of that trade in the year 1796,
when the best Coals were sold at 16s. per Newcastle
chaldron. In the latter part of that year they were ad-
vanced to 120 s. In the year 1800, the price was 24;.,
and at the close of it 275. per chaldron. In 1801 it
was increased to 30s. And laql% , in February 1809,
to 345. which is now the chief cause of the present
Opposition between the parties. These advances were
made by the proprietors collectively., at regular stated
periods as appointed by agreement, without deigning
to assign any reason or cause for the extraordinary
increase, or by making any attempt whatever to
justfy their proceedings. They certainly depended
upon other causes for the attainment of their
views. They considered the Ship Owners, on whom
these burdens were first to be laid, as they truly were
—a large body of men, actuated by a variety of in-
terests and opinions, without unanimity among them-
selves, or any great influence in the State, ho,
(although they had made several attempts) had never
I been able to offer any effectual opposition to their
imeasures, except in one single instance in the year
1808,, when two particular Collieries, (Walls-end •
and Hebburn /vLin) attempted an advance of 2s. per
Chaldron, which failed, because not supported by the
other Proprietors. Emboldened by continual success,
and misled with blind confidence, they have continued
to stretch the system from tittle to time, until it has
' broken with its weight. The Ship Owners, goaded
on by repeated impositions, to which there appeared
to be no end, boldly determined to unite and oppose
the practice, whatever ls‘ss they might suffer in the,
struggle. ThiS , resolution, taken up on the last ad-
vance, they still continue to persevere in with patrio.
tic fortitude. Their immediate interest has suffered
very considerably these six, months, in bringing the
middle and inferior sorts only to market, which not
being generally, used in London, have been sold at
low prices. They have now, however, passed through
the ordeal trial, so far as regards their own interest.
—The Reduction of the Vend, or Import of the best
Coals, has now advanced the prices of the middle
and inferior sorts as high as the former would have
fetched, had the whole trade continued open as usual,
and the prices must continue to advance until the
contest he ended. The struggle must now be be-
tween the proprietors of the best coals and the pub-
lic.—There is a great superabundance of the best
coals lying.in a wasting state by exposure to the wea-
ther, and the ships are losing time in the hal-bours of
the north, whilst ,he inhabitants of the metropolis are
in'want of a necessary article of consumption, by the
obstinacy of the Coal Proprietors in enforcing an un-
justifiable advance of price for the best coals. Great
and powerful as these men are, they will ultimately
find, that the interest of the public is the paramount
consideration with the Legislature ; and that it can-
not be trifled with to serve their avaricious views with
impunity. • * •
It is presumed that thematterdoesnotescapethe usual
perspicacity of the Corporation, who
,are the natural
guardians of the rights and interes.s of the
(ants; and whose duty it is to watch and counteract'
every atte*sp: to impose upon their kreow-citizens,
improper and exorbitant charges in the necessaries
of life.
These are the leading circumstances of the case,
which are all that can be given without encroaching
on the limits mad cOnvenience of yriar Paper:- If your
Readers are desirous of pursuing the "subject in detail.
let them look into the pages of the IleweastleCourant,.
where the advocates on each side have carried on an
interlocutory contest, and stated it in all its hearings.
—That controversy will prove whether the Shp
Owners have made this opposition inconsiderate-of,
or have been driven to the measure as a last effort to
free themselves and the Public for a continued sys-
tem of opposition Re: :pa ludicat.
September 1, 1809. CARBONARIUS.
iko. In addition to what has been stated by our
Correspondent, we cannot refrain from impressing en
the consideration of the more opulent' inhabitants of
London, that for.the present they silt-mid order their.
coal-merchants to supply them not with the bat, but 4
with the second or inferior qualities. The price is pro.
portioned to the quality, and by following this con-
duct for a few months, the attempt now made to en-
hance the best to a most unreasonable disproportion
of price, could not fail to be completely frustrated.—
This remedy the inhabitants of London have within
their own power, and it is a duty which the opulent
owe to the mechanics, whose trade cannot be carried
on but with coals's:if a peculiar quality, to refrain from
the use of that kind till the price Come to its fair level.

For these several days paat,Ahe fist omen have been
employed in raising the hulk of the Walpole East In.
diaman. By tying cask; on her to set her afloat, they
have succeeded in bringing her six feet nearer shore;.
but the tides at present are not so very high, they are
obliged to wait till the spring tides, when they are in
hopes of getting her on shore. She is copper bottom-
ed, and of gseat value.
THE COURSE OF EXCHANGF.
Amsterdam, 31 4 2 U • ralertro, 110 Pence per oz.
Ditto at sight, 30 9 Leghorn, 60
Rort,rd.n, Yl5 2 U Genoa, 53
Hamtnrgh, 29 0 2t U Venice, 52 Liv. Piccolo
Altona, 29 1 2 U ineffective par I. sta.
! parie 1 day's da. 20 1 VS. Naples, 42
• Ditto,..4 Us. 20 5 ° '3. Lisbon, 67
IYotaideituz, do 4Q`''6' 1,....,110,,0pnrt0, 68
" •VS Eljett:—bublin, 101 t.
Cadiz, s 5 L.• Cork,
.1
41 -Effect. • New Dollars ss. Se.
Rio Janeiro 71 Malta 56 Gibialtar 416 i.
I. Portugal Gold in Cola 01. 03.—kiew Nubia:en, 41. !a. id.

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