The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-10-14 00:00:00

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To 11fL EDIII9 R or las Stirftrii S.
Ste—The Managers of Covent-G*llone The-
atre liaritig asserted that the profits of the last six
sears was only 6 per cent. upon an avetage,- I
beg to subunit a few thouglih to show the folly and
f yof that *sterilise. They state that this
was the profit ois their capital, but mark, they
have forget to state what that capital was. If I
tinderstaud any thing of bonnie's', I conceive the
!louse, Scenery, Wardrobe, and Patent, to- be
their capital, which it has been asserted, and 're-
IllainS un,aantradicted, was bought by Mr. Har-
ris for 60,0001. some years ago, so that, accord-
ing to their own statement, their average profit
being 8.5.151. 6s. td. has paid upon the capital
upwards of firirteen per cent. Now, it is
clear, Mr. Harris may divide this capital
into shares, and sett theist at very high Prices,
in consequence of the Patent- (alias mono-
poly) being attached to the concern, bat is
V.:. to be called capital? Certainly nut ; for imp-
pose for a moment, fouls were to be found,. who
would give 300,0001. for these shares, are _the'
public bound to pay a price fur admittance,' to
etilislesec;: Proprietors to realise an adequate prat
tit upon such capital.? It.wasn't bear a question.
Computio; on this fallacious principle, 'it is
possiide. brat some of the prase*, Proprietors may_
not have receised much stn thin 6 pa Ceoe”,
having este a larger ;spriest fur their shares.
than they were rakishly worth, in proportion tp
the original ' Biltlart -theg nOste
mend remuneration .1? This is a must anifiagg gee
gement. The feet .stands thus—the public, cat
their representatives, grant them a Patent under
certain implied conditlons—osonopti(y; this the
Proprietors sell, for a sum far exceeding their
actual invested capital, and now attempt to force
the Public, by a barefaced system of dragooning,
to reimburse the purchasers, for what . they (the
Public) had previously given aieny for a very
small consideration. Again, in their statement
they have included the season 1808-9. and,
of course, have deducted from the profits the
losses they risrlairted by the fire, and by perform.
eng at other Houses ; this, I contemt, they hare
no right to du. If they bad intended to proceed
with that candour which they cunningly affected,
and only affected, we ought to have beets told
the Futile of the years preceding the fire :—fix
instance, If a mats has been in business twenty.
five years, sad.realiz.'il a pri.fit of 25,0001. but at
last sustains a leas by lire of 6,0001. are you to
reckon the average of this man's gains by the
average of the sit List years, including that its
which this loss by fire nag sustained ? Certainly
kf we were to rah:elate in this
manner, It is dear he would have had no profit
at all. These appear to me to be the principal
hinges that the premat dispute, as to the advanced
prices, ihoald tern upon. Then again, their
new house will limit more money, even by their
account—is nut this a' argument against them-
selves ? Does it 'not clearly spew the rapurz:ons
menacing disposition of the Proprietors ? Tney
are most promptly to oblige the public in
those cases where concession runs collaterally
with their interest. 'thus they bare cancelled Ca.
table'ss engagement and pocketed the salary which
they were to have paid her—what hind-hearted
soak—how disinterested !
The niblicks
.geticral Humid have been glad to
.ilaclunso tataluni Ot the old prices ; so that
they tune taken advantage, every way, of Jolts
Bi tar "heir best, and in truth, only friend. As
to the owls taken by their Treasurer to the ab-
stract of the.aceounts, it were a waste of time to
argot) on a document, in which the sweeping re-
servation of " EitkOß.i EXCEPTED" confers
upon it a value precisely equivalent to that of a
piece of blank paper, or an uld play-bill.
OLD Patce, & PUBLIt. SUPPORT.
October IS,

Mr. CaNNimc's statement, which we published
yesterdiy, was drawn up and circulated among
his friends immediately after the duel ; hut it was
withheld from publication until his raignation of
the Seals of Office. This chews that it was not
written in consequence of the animadversions on
the tittir that have recently appeared in some of
the papers, which have their origin in a quarter
that may easily be guested.
Deputy Commissary - General Bisset. arrived
early yesterday morning, at the Svcretary of Slate's
Office, with dispatches from Sir Ex as Coot's, at
Walcheren.
It is said, that several Meetings have been held'
lately by the Hackney Cuac Masters, in oilier
to prepare a Bill for the meeting of Parliament, to
stop all the short Stages round London, Chelsea,
Hammersmith, Islington, Hackney, &c.. The
last Bill fur regulating Hackney Coaches stands
greatly its aged of revision. _ _

By tut Officer just arrived from Walcheren,
we arc li4ry to learn, that on Friday week the
return of sick in that island was nine thousand
four hundred and fifty-seven, out of fourteen
thousand men which had been left there in garri-
son. It is now said, that the physicians sent to
inquire into the causes of the disease that sweeps
away so many of our soldiers, are inclined to at-
tribute it to their food, rather than the climate of
the island; for, since the evacuation of South
Bevelaittl, our troops arc supplied with salt meat
only. This occasions a devouring thirst, which
they attempt to quench by drinking at once the
whole of their allowance of gin, or hollands, a
pint per day, as spring water can no where be pro.
cured. But the liquor, instead of allaying, only
serves to increase the painful affection, and they
art. at 14,t compelled to have recourse to tan
stater of the most noxious description, which.
breeds the fevers that waste our meu. We node,.
stand, that the 31edical Staff in the island arc un.
der great apprehensions, or rather in fearful ex-
pectations of the scurvy's wring its appearance
among our troops, un AV: of the total want
of fresh provisioos.
inn
A few days ago, in cutting a drain in Church.
street, Lancaster, the remains of a Roman pot-
tery were discovered. Several coins were also dug
up.