Weekly national intelligencer., 1847-09-25

is said that nearly one-half the quantity now con-
sumed here is smuggled and there would be little
temptation to introduce it surrepttously n the duty
was moderated. The Heath-of- Towns" bill.
as introduced by Lord Morpeth last session, would
scarcely receive the sanction of Parliament 1t is
good OASIS however, upon which to build up
sanatory bill which would be productive of the best
eHecls. IL should be accompanied with repeal of
the window tax, and Of the duties upon soap. tim
Der, and bricks. This would lead to great improve
menls in the building and construction of the houses
oil the lower classes, and TO their better ventilation in
crease OF light, and general salubrity The greater
part of these reforms will be attempted
There has been terrible work on the Corn Ex-
change. Scarcely market day has passed for
some weeks without the announcement of one
or more failures. The suspension Of the house of
w. IL. Robinson a. Co. caused great deal of ex-
cltement which arose, however, more from the cir
cumstance OF the senior partner being the Governor
OF the Bank Of England than from the absolute
magnitude of the liabilities Of the firm These La
bilities amount, it is said, to about 100000.
The failure is attributed to speculations in wheat
1t is feared that the extent of failures in Mark Lane
is not yet known.
The failure of Governor of the Bank of England
is not in itself, very novel occurrence. The
Times says that, within the last eighteen wears, no
less than six parties have failed who either at the
time OF their failure occupied, or previous thereto
had occupied, the position of Governor of the Bank
of England. The Times further says that the ma
Jority OF these persons showed, by the winding up
OF their affairs, that they had conducted their bus
ness for a long time with recklessness and a mis-
management such as is rarely met with in the ordi-
nary course OF mercantile disasters. The frequency
OF this position occurring to the Governors of the
great moneyed institution of England has very ma
turally led to an inquiry into its probable cause.
That is, however, not very easily ascertaned, but
the failure of six Governors and Ex-Governors out
of nine, who have held the office during the last
eighteen years, points out the necessity of more
Judcious selection of persons to fill that important
station. Probably increased care in the appoint
ment, and an extended period of tenure of office,
(now only two years,) will be adopted.
The Government is attending to the construction
OF roads in the East Indes for the purpose of con-
veyng the cotton raised in the interior to the sea-
board. This will remove one of the principal OBJ
stacles which have hitherto mpeded the success of
the India cotton trade. There appears to be a con-
siderable falling off in the expectation of the four
staple articles of English manufacture, viz cotton,
woollen, linen, and silk goods. In the five months
which ended June 5, lS45, the expectation was
9!5,sO2,l9l; in the corresponding period of ls47
only gl4,s3l,47s
AUGUST 3l.-Among other results of the late ge-
neral election may be mentioned the fact that So
members returned from 26 boroughs by an
average OF l73 votes for each. or these % were
Wings, % Conservatives, and friends of Sir Ro-
bert Peel.
That really unusual circumstance of steamboat
accident on the Thames occurred last week by the
bursting of the boiler of the steamboat Cricket,
which piled between Hungerford and London
bridges, carrying passengers for the low price of
one hafpenny each. Four persons were nstanta-
Ivy Had .,xlx L.. y. -.
dozen were conveyed to the hospitals seriously
injured. This accident occurred pretty much as
most similar ones have the Mississippi, &c-at
starting. The boat was an iron one, the engine
on the hgh-pressure construction and the boiler of
the tubular description. 1t is rather remarkable
that in a work on the Steam Engine" which was
published about six months ago, by Mr.. PoRTwINE,
the author mentioned the danger of explosion to be
apprehended as regarded this Identical boat the
Cricket, and two others in the same line, the Bee
and the .4nt. About two hundred steamboats,, of
all descriptions, now constantly ply on the Thames,
and it is said that at least fifty thousand persons
from the metropolis take excursions in them every
Sunday. Steamboats, have been in use on the
Thames almost since their first invention and yet
either owing to good luck good management, this
is only the fh explosion which has taken place on
that river.
Ireland is not the only country which has to COM
plain of absenteeism. A late return published by
the French Minister Of the Interior shows that on
the lst Of August instant there were $4,000 Eng
sh residents in France, of whom 35 900 were at
Paris and its environs and 1000 at Bologne. The
average annual expenditure of these absentees
amounted to upwards g5,OOO,OOO. This does not
include mere tourists or temporary visters.
The London papers will have informed you that
Lieut. Munro, who killed Col. Fawcett in duel,
about four years ago, has had sentence of death
recorded" against him. There has never been the
least idea that this sentence would be carried into
effect, and there is no doubt an almost universal
wish in the public mind that he should receive free
pardon; but il is by no certain that he will
do SO. The usual punishment inflicted upon per-
sons against whom "death is recorded" is trans
poration for life. Lieut. Munros fate is vet uncer-
tain at present he is confined in condemned cell
in Newgate, and placed, like the greatest criminal,
upon prison allowance. 1t is hoped that this seve-
rity will have tendency to diminish the practice
of duelling. In this instance, however, the victim
to the laws decree isregarded as being more sinned
against than SHINING.
The weather has now assumed something of an
autumnal character, the harvest is all off the ground
round London, the foliage Of the trees is taking
russet tint, autumnal fruits are ripening, and au-
tumnal flowers are fast approaching maturity Now
is the season for pedestrian excursions, and young
men buckle on their knapsacks and start for Wales,
or the Lakes of Cumberland, the Wolds of York