The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-02-17 00:00:00

in any ar

isle whatever; and, as we shall presently see, these
arguments will tell with fifty-fold effect against free trade in
But, because the editor of the Mercury is not a

landed proprietor, he cannot fe€l their force ; and, because
he is a literary man, and may, for ought that we know, be
preparing a volume for the press, he sees, as to literature and
books, the'ruinous tendency of " unfair rivalry" and foreign
speculation ; he may have literary property sometime or
other by which, of course, he may expect to subsist; and if
he should, he sees that he may be undone by "foreign specu-
lators," because the manuscript owner is " not protected !"
But this vT.y_ same scribe should not forget that his fellow-
.

labourer of the anti-monopoly club, Colonel Thompson, has
said, that " all protection means robbery ; " a doctrine which,
no doubt, is deemed by the editor of the Mercury as contain-
ing the quintessence of truth. Therefore, if this be so, he is
placed in the enviable position of advocate for robbery. It
is " unjust traffic," he says, to admit " French, Belgian,
and American copies of works," because the English pub-
lisher is under greatee.expense than the foreign speculator."
Indeed! and did the editor of the Mercury learn this doctrine
in the anti-monopoly school? Not he. But let him carry
his doctrine beyond the province of " copyright " and
" manuscript ; " let him apply it to the landowner and
farmer and it will turn out to be " unjust" to admit, duty
free, " French, Belgian, and American" corn, because the
English producer is under greater expense than the "foreign
speculator." The case of the two is precisely similar; yet,
with prodigious consistency, the editor contends that one
should be protected and the other not protected ! If there be
any argument in the above quotation that is worth a straw it
may be translated in favour of the agriculturist, thus :
"The legitimate sale of English corn has been contracted by
the sale of French, Belgian, and American corn ; and the
English landowner, though in many cases paying considerable
sums for land, and embarking his capital in other large out-
lays for farm-houses, barns, shippons, stables, carts, ploughs,
gearing, horses, cows, seed, plants (including tithes, poor-
rates, and various other taxes), &c, could not hope for an
entire possession even of the home market, where his ener-
gies are defeated, where he is not protected from unfair
rivalry, and where he is greatly undersold by foreign specu-
lators, who, not having so expensive an outlay nor so many
taxes, can defy competition as to price."
If the editor will be just, he must now see, if he never
saw before, that the landowner has at least equal claim to
protection with copyright owners. But the paragraph in
question asserts that which is not true, when it asserts that
the English publisher was not protected previously to the
" new" copyright act ; he was protected, and that amply,
from the native invasion of his rights. And, as far as the
" foreign speculator" was concerned, the editor ought to have
known that there was an import duty on books from abroad
of £2 10s. per cwt.; a duty, in itself almost equal to pro-
hibition ; especially, if it be considered that besides this the
" foreign speculator" would be saddled with many additional
expenses for freight, &c.

Of the " beneficial effects of the new copyright act," of
which the Meacury speaks I shall not say much. Some of
its clauses may possibly be beneficial to a few ; but not one
of these clauses contemplate the advantage of the public, or
the dissemination of knowledge among the people : and how
a more rigorous exclusion of competition can have the effect
of reducing the price of books, as the paragraph pretends, is
unfathomable. A very different doctrine is taught by the
Mercury's friends of the League, who invariably contend
that monopoly increases price:

One of the " beneficial effects" of the new Copyright Act
is, that the public must pay double, at least, for all those
works which would soon have fallen out of copyright during
the next seven years; and it ought to be borne in mind that
but for the new Copyright Act, the "immortal Waverley"
would have dropped into the hands of the cheap publishers
in July last ; but the " beneficial effects" of the new act ex-
tend the monopoly of this work several years further, and the
public now pay double what they otherwise would have had
to pay for it ; although, previously, it had been the instru-
ment of a princely fortune to its owners. So far from the
new Copyright Act presenting any " beneficial effects" to the
public, I defy the editor of the Mercury to show a single
clause even pointing that way. It ought to be regarded as a
job, and nothing but a job—a robbery of the British public,
and an iniquitous proscription of cheap literature; and justice
to the reading public demands that most of the new clauses
be at once repealed.

Hoping th.at these remarks may find insertion in your
useful paper, I am, sir, yours respectfully,

A BOOKSELLER

February 16, 1843

JOINT STOCK BANKS.—During the past week or ten days
there have been several meetings in the country of joint-
stock bank proprietaries. The Dudley and West Bromwich
Bank at the annual meeting declared the usual dividend of
10 per cent. with £4,000 added to the guarantee fund mak-
ing the reserve £38,000, notwithstanding, as stated, that a
" considerable diminution of profits had taken place for the
last year." At the meeting of the Bilston district Bank a
dividend was declared of 7 per cent. out of profits, but only
leaving less than £203 to be added to the guarantee fund,
which would then amount to £4,680. It must be observed
however that the dividend was clear of income tax, whilst a
fair allowance was made for bad debts. It was noticed pro-
perly as a singular circumstance that, notwithstanding the
" trying nature" of the times during the year not, " a single
bad debt had been incurred." At the eleventh annual meet-
fng of the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Banking Com-
pany a dividend was declared of 10 percent.. clear of income
tax, for the half-year ending march Ist, the dividend of the
previous half-year ending with September having been 7 per
cent. A surplus of profits remained of £4,528, of which it
was calculated that one-half would be required to meet bad
debts sustained during the past year. The guarantee fond of
£25,000 was untouched, and the directors conceived that the
resolution at a former meeting, for appropriating all the
future profits beyond 17 per cent, to the establishment of a
second guarantee fund not to exceed the first in amount, was
judicious and would be rendered available. At the annual
meeting of the Leicestershire Banking company at Leicester
a dividend was declared of 12 per cent., free of income tax.
The capital of the company was stated at £64,950, whilst the
guarantee fund amounted to £32,829. At the meeting of
the York Union Bank a dividend was declared of 10 per
cent., leaving a surplus to be added to the guarantee fund
which the❑ amounted to £16,922. At the meeting of the
Yorkshire District Banking Company a dividend at the rate
of 3s. 9d. on the old and 5s 3d on the new shares. The sum
of £47,416 had been written off the bad bebt account during
the past half-year as loss, so that there remained a " balance
of £72,273 at the credit of that account." At 'the meeting
of the Leeds Banking Company a dividend of 6 per cent.
was declared, and a " handsome" sum carried to the reserve
fund. At the meeting of the Barnsley Banking Company a
dividend was declared of 8 per cent., and £6OO carried to the
reserve fund. At the meeting of the Leeds Commercial
Banking Company a dividend was declared for the half-year
at the rate of six per cent. with a " satisfactory" report of
progress.

STOCK EXCHANGE PRACTlCE.—Circumstances have oc-
curred from time to time which have led to a feeling among
the members of the Stock Exchange against business in the
securities of any character whatever being transacted out of
the house. At length, a difference between two of the mem-
bers, arising out of a dealing of this sort, has brought the
subject before the committee, who have been deliberating
upon it for the last two days. It appears that a broker who
had some Great Western Railway shares to sell met, as he
was leaving the market, another broker, and their conversa-
tion turned upon the business. The consequence was, that
the second broker bought the shares. The partner of the
first broker, in the meantime, not being aware of this trans-
action, and hearing that the firm was empowered by a prin-
cipal to sell Great Western shares, concluded a sale with ano-
ther broker in a public market. The number of shares sold
in both these transactions was the same. When the first
broker, who had sold his shares out of doors, returned to his
countinghouse, he found that a similar sale had been effected
by his partner in the house, at a lower price. The conse-
quence was, that an endeavour was made by the firm to set
aside the bargain concluded in the house in favour of the one
concluded out of doors, a priority of sale being the reason al-
leged. The broker, however, who had bought the shares in
the public market, would not consent that the sale to hill
should be annulled, inasmuch as he had operated against his
purchase in the course of his subsequent transactions. As a
discussion involving the principle of the strict fairness of
doing business out of doors was raised among the members
of the house, it was thought expedient to refer the matter to
the committee, the feeling generally being that the transac-
tion of business out of doors was injurious to the members of
the establishment. The committee, after consideration, have
declared the sale in the market to be an absolute sale, in spite
of the priority of the other, and that it cannot be set aside.
The consequence of this decision has been, that the seller
has been obliged to re-purchase the shares at a higher price
than that at which he sold them. The committee, in the
notice which is posted in the house on the subject, recom-
mend that in future all business for the benefit of the public
shall be transacted within the walls. This recommendation
will apply most forcibly to a course of business which is very
prevalent, and which consists in some of the members carry-
ing on extensive transactions in their coanting-houses, or
otherwise privately, instead of coming iota the open market.
It will also prevent the recurrence of such differences as that
just recorded, arising more from the defect of a system, than
from any fault of the parties immediately concerned.--
Times.

IMPORTANT CASE.—A trial of considerable interest to
merchants, occurred in Dublin last week, before the Court of
Common Pleas. It was an action brought by a merchant,
named Rish, against the Messrs. Scovell—who are the lessees
of the crown of the Custorh-honse stores, where bonded goods
are placed—under the following circumstances :—lt appeared
that in the month of May last there were between two and
three thousand chests of tea in bond in the stores of the de-
fendants, and on the ground floor, under the lofts where they
were, a cargo of oranges had been placed. Amongst the tea
thus stored, the plaintiff Rish had 159 chests. Some of the
merchants, upon taking parcels of their tea out for sale to
their customers, found that it had imbided a strong flavour
of the oranges, and in some instances it was sent back to them
as unsaleable. Amongst those so circumstanced was the
plaintiff's in the present action. Inquiry was at once set en
foot about the matter, and tea tasters from London anti Liver-
pool were brought over to ascertain if the complaints were
well founded. The oranges were removed in the mean time,
and, upon an examination of the teas, it was found that the
whole two or three thousand chests had more or less imbibed
the orange flavour ; but that the finer qualities had been ef-
fected in a far greater degree than the coarser. It was then
agreed between the Messrs. Scovells and some of the mer-
chants, that their teas should be sold by public auction, sub-
ject to the fault complained of, for whatever they might bring,
and that the Messrs. Scovell should make good the difference
between that and the London price of the day, on the first of
June, which was the period when the alleged injury was din-h 13
the Minatarees wleon t ie p,
covered. There were several other merchants, amongst whom uamong
tio
ins
siouprrio, EFFECTSd :te rad k A
grNkE
W 5 P AyP E 8;
n::::::1::9—daTinll nut
was the plaintiff, who did did not come in under this arrange- Missouri, by taking from p
Comrarneracia Adoer liner,
edited by n
ber of the New
went, nor did it clearly appear, in the course of the trial, why
it was that they were excluded. The teas were sold in Sep- was mad, when they saw
tember last, when the prices were higher than in June pre- I‘4iunastatoregeether with my eyes fixed on its pages. They i..
ceding, and notwithstanding the injury complained of, they differentr
and various conjectures aboutmost currer
generally brought within three-halfpence and twopence a kind and tsritehdofurgiehntdoCaotlolnel Stone, was extraornary .
of which was, that I was looking at it to cure my sore eyes
raez
pi ni
at ei
nr
epdr e;t ed
after
pound of what those of similar characters, perfectly sound, and they called it the "medicine cloth for sore eyes"' I w
brought then in the London market, and some jew parcels length put an end to this and several equally ignorant con-
of the coarser qualities brought just as much. Besides the
novelty of the case, there was a very important legal question
at issue, namely, how for the liability of warehousemen gene- which it was looked upon as a much greater mystery than
rally, and storekeepers' holding as lessees under the crown, before, and several liberal offers were inad me for it
which
j; ehctemur,esa,ndbyttheeadsiungb j
I was obliged to refsse, having already received a beautifully
extends. It was alleged by counsel for the defendants, thatepcatssuogfesthineiptiipwehricAlwlye,
the fact of their being lessees of the crown gave theman in- garnished robe for it from the hands of a young son of
nstaev,d,
demnity not extending to common warehousemen ; but that Eseulnpias, who told me if he could.employ a good interpre-
was at once overruled by the Chief Justice, who, by consent "pt. t. esplain Emmy thing-in it, he coald travel shoat among
the Nissterees, end Mandans, and Sioux, and exhibit it
of counsel on both sides, submitted the four following ques-
tions to the jury :—First, did the plaintiff's teas receive any ow I was gone; getting rich with presents, and adding
injury in the defendants' stores ? Secondly, did that injury grosely to the list of bis medicines, as it would make him a
result from the teas having been stored, as appeared in eoi- veg. mart:hi:len-
emwasnp.apelrl;elatnwiitibe
sthe b
ep
fooorre fleldloewpahrtisedpali
his
_mystery or medicine-
dence, upon lofts over where a large quantity of oranges had robe sad
been placed ? Thirdly, were the defendants guilt► of 1107 him unfolding it to show to sonic of his friends, when
negligence or culpable ignorance, beyond Moat Trait exist .'s took from around it some eight or ten folds ti) f birch bark
the part of a reasonably skilful and prudent owner, in "toting and dear skins ; all of which were carefully enclosed in a
his own teas? And, fourthly, what was the amount of inierY, ' sock made of the skin of a pole-cat, and undoubtedly des_
if any, sustained by the plaintiff? The jury, after delibera- tined to become, and to be called,
ting for about an hour and a half, returned a verdict for the bag,—Caillis on the Norab-A ' inertcan Indians.
defendants, with costs,

BnAzii..—Freneh diplomacy in Brazil has accompl
the following arrangetnent :—The disputed boundar,
between Brazil and French Guiana has to be settled i
cession to France of 80 leagues of the Braziilan ter!.
The marriage of the Prince de Joinville with the Pr
Jenearia is resolved on ; and as by the law of Brazi
princess cannel leave the empire until her imperial 13]
shell have issue of his twit to the Crows, the Prince de
/ills will be appointed Governor of Franck Guiana, to
side in the province of Brazil nearest to that French c(
It is proposed that a corps d'armie shall be station
French Qaiena to give eclat to the Royal Government
to aid to tick ether purpose.s as events may render
Ovens It
to French interests in South America.

added that the French Minister at Rio has yet procured
the Brazilian Government a promise of preferential duti,
Preach fabrics; the result of the forthcoming debates of
auger daties in the French Chambers will doubtless gr
influence any decision On that otestion. The Print!
Joinville had not at tile latest dates arrived at ktio ; ho
royel highness was anxieesly expected there from
Gambia, where he had been inspecting the insigniti
settlement the French have its that river