New-York daily tribune., 1858-09-01
CANADA.
p.eu Ou ovb Cerss15rSLt

n ~ nmsrc, ID character. The Uedry ave usoe'
We. ,ons fcr hsr relaxation. Tie e1ass, P'en-
wGy eopfsea 10 III per cent, vii esfss''eio % q
Ihr.y 70 chyge seveo, beside sIodrS co nu's'''h'
oct u al Decessry foY say Csoer p'rp 40 'h,a -
che cut their profits Tbese tOmalssicns are oo'
psx bu. !. il the f.s. .ire they have been d'rscaj
sADc,ioped By legal .u:soiiy. Ae"y u our
banks have numerous agencies ID d hefeh' pA'ls %
The cosptry. Teey hsus soDe OF IheH h''os pay
.hL, a, one agency and some az another; aud tney
Ill M. even take their own no.es at par az one
sasnc, when they are payable az another. Ihey
rsa roe a commission for taking them IN paymen. oi
d..%nts Then they make a variety OF commits
,ioIs for The sake Of the profits they create. A
merchant residing 10 Toronto goes 10 baok or
agency Of bank here and ssks discount ior
a certain amount. He is told they are net
d.seounting there; he mnst make nis note
,ayable al Hamilton or Kingston or Brock
vile. Having done this they charge BIN
commission for getting the discount at the other
agency az is pretended; and when the bill tails
due they charge another comInlssiOn Tor transmit
ting funds 10 the agency where IT ls payable. Uh-
der the law Of last session. they will DC aole 70 get
On discounts between and per cent; per
cent being psid in the shape OF interest, and the
remainder made up in useless but legal commissions.
But this is not all nor the worst. Several of the
banks are pot0rousy connected with brokers', TO
whom they give money for the purpose Of shaving
notes at enormous rates. Paper which the banks
refuse TO discount directly, at the legal raes Is az
counted by them through brokers' az "hat
are legal rates for brokers, but forbidden To
banks This system of shaving has been ex-
tensyeIy carried on through the en1re cn-
sis: and from 20 to SO per cent per annum have
been no uncommon rates With this class OF snarpers.
1t IL needless to say that no business can anOrd
profit 10 Justify such rates as these, and those VINO
olf,nt tunH H,roat rnaH N
pecuniary rum.
Another measure passed during The late session
ia Of considerable Importance TO Canadian
creditors. everywhere, and consequently 10
American manufacturers and Wholesale merchants
n the Canada trade. j sllude u measure
Scr putting stop TO the practice OF bank
upt traders making preferential assignments
the preference always being agsinst the foreign cred
tor. The abuses of preferential assignments had
gone 90 far az TO excite great attention ia E0gsnd,
and there came theIco demand for sucn au alera-
ton Of our commercial laws as should put stop TO
this practice. This demand came at time when
public attention had been directed 70 the evil IN the
Province, and there was no besitstlon IN accedlng
10 IT, One Of the most notable cases of this con
denied practice is that of Ross Mitchell g. Co., in
this city and London. They had failed three times,
promising each time compositions which were
never paid before the next crash came Final
Iy, they fai.d last Fall a third time for
nearly two millions OF dollars and they secured
certain Canadian creditOrs--the banks, believe
10 full thus reducing the composition available for
the other creditors The transaction caused ter
sble explosion in England the whole of the dlurnal
press OF London denOuncIug il in the severest
terms. There will, hereafter be an end to this un-
fair and dishonest practice; for by law OF the
late session il is strictly forbidden. The same act
contains provisions intended to guard against the
abuse Of imprisonment for debt. Heretofore any
ha had 81 claim of z iO aualnSt another pOuld
throw HIM into jail on making affidavit of his belief
that the creditor was about to leave the country
for the purpose of defraudlng him out of lis just
due. 1t is astonishing with what unc0nsclOnabe
facility such afidavits are made, frequently
ut the suggestion of lawyers whose only OBJ
iect is to make costs. The number of persons
now in jail in Upper Canada for debt is frghtful.
Nor is this the only effect Of the fatal facility with
which arrests for debt could be made. Large num-
bers Of debtors fed the county ~ fear OF arrest AT
Detroit there Is colony OF tnefe refugees, VINO
have fed from Canada for fear OF the debtors
prison. In Lower Canada, entirely different
law prevailed and the result s, in that section OF
the Province there is only one person confined in
iail for debt while the prisons of Upper Canada
swarm with reckless, unfortunate, or dishonest
debtors-most likely mixture of all three.
The customs tariff has been increased, 1t being
necessary to raise larger revenue than was obtained
under the old rates Another object has been aimed
at in the readustment of the tarh-encouragemen
To domestic industry. This object was professedly
subsidiary to the main object of an increase of rev.
enue and the way of efiectng 1t passes here under
the name of incidental protection Mr.. Buchanan,
the largest importing merchant in the country is IN
favor of customs union with the United States on
the principles Of the German Zollverein. The duff
culties in the way of realizing such scheme are
very great if not insuperable. The assent Ot En-
GLAND TO a scheme which would discriminate against
her manufactures could hardly be expected while
she goes TO the cost OF protecting us against exter
nal fees. " would be practical annexation TO the
United States; and il is clear that if there were no
other difficulty, Congress would take some time to
consider such question.
Beside the bills passed there are two addresses TO
the Queen of no little Importance; one on the sub
ect Of the Hudson's Bay Territory; the other claim
ing Imperial assistance in the construction Of an
inercolonial railroad to connect the British Prov
inces, and of which ii Hsifax should be the Atlantic
port. All the Provinces interested have come t. an
understanding regarding this project and it remains
to be seen what the Imperial Government will do i'll
the premises. My own impression, which l think
will not be found astray is that it will consent to do
nothing in the matter at present. The address 10
the Queen on the Hudson's Bay question claims of
the Imperial Government an adjudication as TO the
Gdity Of the Companys charter, and hints that that
Government refuse she Canadians may take up the
question; that the Queen or the Goyernor.General
ought TO have the power 10 grant trading, mining
or fishing licenses 10 other persons thsn the llud
son's Bay Company and that for any portion of the
territory Canada may require she ought not to be
expected 10 pay. simultaneously with this address.
company has been Incorporated for the purpose OF
opening up the Red River and theSaskatchewanc coun-
try by means of road. Ii is contemplated to place
n steamer on the Saskatchewan as scon as possible
next Summer if it be found practicable to do So
The capital of the company is 100000, aud as the
Hudson's Bay Company has no exclusive right 20