Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1848-12-23

very formation of he social system, il is the very
head and front of all her difficulties, il is the point
% which her legislators mus promptly and eff
cenuy turn their attention. ere the amount of suf-
! feripg and misery becomes too grea, to be any
longer bowed down beneath, and one mighty ava
anche OF tae popuiace, siung to madness b. the
sharp toedh of want, shall break through III n at
stands between them and the food and raiment anc
shelter which they have so long been deprived nc
Tbs needs not TO be dreaded at present: but The
course OF passing events has most assuredv sucb
calamity in its train Ii is for patriots and states-
men, for the benevolent the wise and the good mon
OF our land to unite their wisdom and their yrtnes
and arrest so terrible an evil We know that our
fellow-citizens in your abundant and prosperous
land desire TO have correct notions of English so.
ciety and the condition of the English people, and
they cannot obtain these unless they have some
faint idea of the condition of London as respects
mendcity. have only attempted to describe some
OF Its effects upon looker-on, who is, perhaps,
more strongly impressed by it from his long resi-
dence in country where neither his eye nor his
ear was panied by any thing resembling or ap-
preaching to whatsurrounds him here at almost every
step. would not libel my native land by any of
my descriptions | know that she stands in the
foremost rank for her noble charities and her BE-
nevolent institutions of every kind and for the re-
lief of every i'll which humanity can suffer but
the number and extent of these charities give la
mentable proof OF the necessity for them, and the
thousands of miserable beings which even their al
most prlncely revenues not sufficient to relieve
show that England's poverty is yet far ahead
of Engand's benevolence. The evil must be boldly
and resolutely and promptly grappled with. Twenty
millions sterling conferred (abstractedly) very
doubtful boon upon the negroes in the West Indies
and well near ruined their masters. Twenty mil
lions sterling spent upon lettering the condition of
the white man at home would have worked miracles
in the social position of England and saved an in
calculable amount Of sin and suffering. That sum
OF money, or larger one, will still have to be APP
piled to arrest this evil. All mere temporzing ex-
pedents are worse than useless they are mis-
chevous, because they only roll back the troubled
wave for brief interval, without providing for the
increased force of its returning swell.
CoTToN cultivation in India has received an i'm
portant aid, by mechanical invention lately ex-
hibited at Calcutta by which the churka or cleans
ing machine of the Hindoos has been very much
improved. The principal objections to the cotton
OF the East have always been its short staple and
its imperfect cleansing The former may perhaps
be remedied by scientific agriculture and an i'm
proved seed, but it cannot be removed by any in
stantaneous process. For the latter it is thought
that remedy has been found in the machine
have alluded TO. 1t was hoped that the cotton gin
of the United States would have successfully ac-
SoPIlSHcu VIC Cledls9 pIOCeSs, Out IL Is stated III
a publication by very skilful and competent per-
son THE late Mr.. OWEN PoTTER) " that the saw
gin will not answer with short-staped cotons
and where manual labor is so cheap as it is in In
Ola II possesses no advantages whereas its dis
advantages are that it trays, harnesses, and renders
shorter staple, the greatest fault of which is its
original shortness." The improved machine is
an invention of Mr.. MATHER, who was formerly
an engineer at Liverpool; and it is said t" to turn
out the cotton unnjured in its staple, considerably
improved in the regularity Of its fbres, and quite
as clean as it is desirable to have it brought to the
mill" The experimental trial of this instrument,
and which thus established its efficiency, took place
at Calcutta so late as the Odd Of last September,
before large meeting of official and scientific per-
sons and the fact has been most emphatically veri-
fed by the testimony of Lord DALHoUsIE, the
Governor General. The introduction of this ma
chine mnst have great effect upon the experiment
of raising cotton in India, and of course corre-
spending one upon the consumption and the price
OF one of your principal staples
The election Of Gen. TAYLOR to the Presidency
will, we suppose, open again the discussion of the
relative advantages and disadvantages of high and
low tariffs. The prospect of diminished market
for cotton in Europe may cause some people on
your side of the water TO look with more compla-
cency upon the establishment of market at home.
The manufacturers of Manchester and other Lam
cashlre towns are taking steps TO remove another
great obstacle which now stands in the way of East
India COTTON that is the getting it from the interior
to the seaboard. subscription has been opened
for the immediate commencement of system of
railroads and other modes of internal communica-
ton in India. In the discussion upon this SUBJ
ect at Manchester il was stated that the population
of British India amounted to one hundred and thir-
teen millions and that although our exports to that
country had lately increased, they did not at pre-
sent exceed I'D. per head per annum, whereas with
Brazil we had an export trade which amounted to
IS. per head.
Our GRAIN MARKET has lately been much de-
preciated in price, through large importaons parti-
cularly of wheat, from France. 1t is not supposed
that there is any very great surplus that country
they do not, however, feel any want at present. but
we are afraid the pressure for money is urgent and
needs immediate relief. But if the price of grain
has been diminished through the introduction Of
the foreign article our public funds and securities
Of all kinds have received very decided upward
impulse through the introduction Of foreign capital.
No less than half million sterling has been re-
mtted to this country from the continent of Europe
during the last few weeks for safety and investment
here. The whisper is, and notupon slight founda-
tion that the greater part has been on account Of
the sovereign and roya family Of Prussia for secu-