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Leader (1850-1860), 15th March 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 242

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      Untitled Article

      purport and character . They were charged with proposing to M . CarrS to execute a will and a power of attorney to receive the dividends , and with substituting , by sleight of hand , one deed for another at ; the moment of execution . He then read from the plaintiff's affidavits several passages going to establish such a charge . Lord Cranworth said the acts charged were tantamount to a conspiracy , and such as might be made the , subject of a criminal proceeding . If the charge were substantiated , it would become his duty to direct the affidavits to be laid before the Attorney-General . Mr . Rolt proceeded to show that that the imputations against Mr . Holdstock and

      Mr . Cooke were of the most extravagant and incredible kind . To show also that these allegations had been got up for a purpose , he read a letter from Mr . Hamilton to a brother of M . Carre , in which he gave an account of the last illness of the latter , and also of the way in which he had disposed of his property , but did not say a word about any attempt having been made by any one to use undue influence on Carre in the drawing up of the will . Mr . Holt ' s argument—in the course of which he went over the whole of the affidavits , pointing out their

      inconsistencies — lasted till Wednesday . He was followed by Mr . Bagshawe , who vindicated the character of the Roman Catholics , whether barristers , priests , or laymen , from the slanders thrown upon them . On behalf of himself and those gentlemen , he cheerfully adopted what Mr . Cooke had said to him , that " if one-tenth of the charges were true , both he and Mr . Holdstock deserved to be hanged . " Mr . Bagshawe went on commenting upon the affidavits of Hamilton and Brown , describing the latter as the husband of a milliner in Bond-street , and the veritable Mantalini .

      On Thursday , Mr . Stuart addressed the court on behalf of Mr . Holdstock , as did also Mr . Campbell . The latter called attention to the fact , that the parties knew of their rights in 1847 , and yet had not filed a bill till January last . Mr . Malins , who appeared for the trustees , contended , that no case whatever had been made out to show that ihe fund was in the slightest danger . The trustees were most anxious to have the fund brought into court , but they did not wish to have the costs of the suit thrown upon it . The Vice-Chancellor said he hoped to finish the case yesterday .

      A , notable instance of the reckless way in which serious charges are brought against opponents by over zealous partizans is given by an Edinburgh paper . At the Free Church Commission in that town a Mr . George Lyon startled his Protestant audience with the following " Confessional-of-the Black-Penitents " -looking paragraph : — " Not many days ago , " said Mr . Lyon , a little excited in manner , " a cab stopped at the nunnery out the way there with three gentlemen in it and a wretched young woman . Two ladies were passing at the time . She was forcibly taken out of the cab , with shrieks that pierced the ears of those two females who were passing . She clung to the spokes of the wheels of the cab , but she was dragged from them and immured in the nunnery ; the gate was locked upon her , and the gentlemen , if

      gentlemen they could be called , were seen returning in the cab . A thrill of horror run through the reverend assembly at this statement . But one clergyman , more cool-headed than his brethren , immediately asked Mr . Lyon why he did go to the police-office , and apply for a warrant ? " He hoped their friend had not bottled the fact for the commission . " Mr . Lyon , rather taken aback at this common-sense way of viewing the question , said that " steps were in progress for procuring an investigation , ' nnd thus the matter ended , so fur as the ministers were concerned . But the reporter of the Edinburgh Mercury was not so easily satisfied . He instantly went off to the office of the Procurator Fiscal to learn what steps had been taken , when he learned that no complaint had been made on the subject .

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      A PROTECTIONIST MEETING . Fifteen hundred very silly individuals , including several members of Parliament , and a large number of country gentlemen and farmers , met in a barn at Newmarket on Tuesday , " to consider the evils resulting from free trade legislation . " The Earl of Hardwicke and Mr . BusfieldFcrrand were advertised to be present , but did not make their appearance . Ab a substitute for the northern Rubshekuh , Mr . G . F . Young did his best to perauade the agriculturists that the only way to nave themselves from ruin was

      by a return to protection . He Hpoke against the income tax , but told the fanncm that they must not seek for relief from any removal of burdens . "The rise of 1 h . a quarter in the price of wheat would benefit them two or three times the extent of the removal of the income tax . " To prove the existence of agricultural distress ho referred to the last poor law returns , from which it appeared that , taking three manufacturing counties , and thirteen agricultural counties , with an equal amount of population , the former had only /> per cent , of puuperH , while the latter had 73 per cent .

      Resolutions were passed in favour of the repeal of the income tax , a removul and more equal distribution of local and general taxation , und an import duty on foreign corn , flour , and cuttle .

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      THE LONDON DOCK COMPANY . The Board of Customs having put the London Dock Company upon its trial before the Court of Exchequer , the Company has put the Board upon its trial before the public , by a petition to the House of Commons , in which it complains of the unjust and vexatious treatment it has received from the Board of Customs . After describing the wholesale system of plunder which went on , previous to the formation of the London Dock Company , the petition goes on to state what advantages have accrued to the revenue , as well as to trade , from the establishment of the Company , and complains that , notwithstanding all these services , it has , ever since the commencement

      of last year , been exposed to a series of vexatious and litigious proceedings on the part of the Board of Customs , of the most harassing character , to the great interruption of its business , and the injury of its reputation both at home and abroad . As regards the legal proceedings which the board has instituted against the Dock Company , the petition complains that the course taken has been the most perplexing which could be devised . It appears that there are sixty-seven cases altogether pending against the company ; that , out of these sixty-seven , the board gave fifty-three notices of trial on the 22 nd of January last , for the 1 st of February , and that , on the 29 th of January , notices of countermand were given in all the cases except eleven .

      Up to the morning the counsel and solicitors for the defence were not able to ascertain , though they had made every effort to do so , which information the law officers of the Crown would try first ; and during the whole of the trial it was found impracticable to ascertain upon what specific ground of forfeiture the Crown relied . Indeed , the whole conduct of the proceedings appeared to have been done with the special object of giving the greatest conceivable amount of vexation , annoyance , and expense . A summary of the principal facts which the late trial elicited , in justification of the Dock Company , is also given , and the petition prays for redress from Parliament , on the following grounds : —

      " They submit that a great damage has been inflicted , not merely on the reputation of this company , but on the reputation of that commercial community of which the directors of this company form a considerable portionthey submit that this has been done without the slightest provocation on the part of this company—that the investigation of any charges which might have reached the Board of Customs against any person in the company ' s service might have been made without the least interruption of the good feeling which has hitherto prevailed between the said board and this company , and without public scandal .

      " They submit that , so fur from deserving such treatment at ihe hands of the Board of Customs , this company was entitled to be viewed as a most useful and efficient instrument in the protection of the revenue They submit that the conduct of the Customs herein discloses the want no less of u practical knowledge of commercial affairs , than of a true perception of the real intercuts of the Crown committed to its care . " They think it right , in conclusion , to state , that they have omitted no opportunity of exposing to the Board of

      Customs the nature of the course it was pursuing . They proposed to the board , in the month of May hint , that u perhonal conference should tuke place on these iniitterH . The board stated that it did not consider that any benefit could urise therefrom . The company subsequently addressed a representation to the Board of Trade in which it . suggested that two or three members of t . ho Board of Trade and of thn Treasury should look into the whole of these mutters , with the view of putting an end to this unprofitable coutcut , but the ( suggestion wa » not adopted . "

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      THE CHICORY QUESTION . Sir Charles Wood ' s sapient resolution to let the coffee and chicory trade remain in its present unsatisfactory state , has been formally condemned by the public voice . For some time the complaints on the subject have been growing stronger and more numerous , till at last a public meeting on the subject was called . It was held at the London Tavern , on Monday , and was presided over by Mr . T Baring , M . P . In introducing the subject , he said Ministers seldom knew so well all about the prosecution of any particular branch as those who were engaged in it , and therefore it was sometimes necessary for the parties interested to meet and state their grievances openly . He went on to say that he was engaged in the coffee trade , and felt interested in making it a fair trade— "in seeing that things should be sold under their proper denomination . " If a substitute for coffee could be produced , more agreeable to the public than that beverage , then let that substitute be sold as cheaply as it could be afforded . But let them , not have the substitute palmed off upon the consumer at a higher price than it could be afforded under the name of coffee . During the last few years a great decrease had taken place in the consumption of coffee . Now the mass of the people had been better off during the last two years than for some time previous . There had also been a great increase of temperance habits ; so that the only conclusion he could come to was , that chicory and other substitutes had been sold under the name of coffee , to a much lnrger extent than was commonly believed , The object of the meeting was to urge upon the Minister the necessity of giving to coffee its fair chance as an article of

      commerce . Mr . Moffatt , M . P ., proposed the first resolution amidst much opposition from the retail dealers , who had mustered in great strength . He said the object of the resolution was to bring back things to the same state as they were previous to the Treasury minute of 1840 . Before that the retail dealer was at liberty to sell chicory , but not to mix it with coffee . The effect of giving the grocers liberty to mix coffee and chicory had led to such a system of adulteration as to cause a very great falling off in the demand for coffee , the deliveries to the trade , in 1850 , having been 6 , 245 , 313 lb . less than they were in 1847 .

      Mr . Frith , who seconded the resolution , could hardly obtain a heaving , owing to the interruption he experienced from the chicory dealers , who moved an amendment to the following effect : — " That the renewed enforcement of the act 43 rd George III . is not required by the present condition of the British growers and importers of coffee , the importation of colonial coffee having increased rapidly since the operation of the act was suspended by a Treasury order ; that it would be highly injurious to » he dealers by

      bringing upon them the vexatious surveillance of the excise ; that it would be unjust to the public , especially to the poor , by preventing them obtaining at a cheap price a wholesome and nutritious beverage , such as coffee mixed with chicory is found to be ; and that the public revenue as well as public morals would suffer by the extensive and costly system of inspection which would be required to prevent the evasion of the law , and to carry out a measure so opposed to tlie tastes und wishes of the community . "

      This amendment was seconded by Mr . Newsom , of . Southwark , who said he had been compelled by the competition of his own neighbours to sell coffee mixed with chicory . His customers preferred it so , and if he hud not given them chicory they would all have left him : — ' Notwithstanding the accusation that the grocers were dishonest men , he was bou . d to say that they were as desirous of acting honestly as any other traders in the kingdom . ( Cheers . ) What was the effect of the admixture of chicory with coffee ? When he sold genuine coffee he obtained 2 s . per lb . The bulk of his trade was 2 s . coffee , and he gained no more profit , perhaps , than he did then . ( Loud laughter , and cries of' Hear , hear . ' ) The poor man could now get half-a-poumlof coffee for 6 d . " An Individual : No , not coffee , but chicoty , sawdust , and horse beans . ( Laughter . )

      "Mr . Newsom : What would be the effect if the Excise were to go into the premises of the groccrfl ? Why , the poor man must give Is . for half a pound of coffee . ( 'No , no , ' and ' Yes , yes . ' ) It was notorious that chicory when mixed with coffee , added to its strength . ( Laughterand cheers . ) The poor man had a right to have hi » coffee mixed with chicory . " An Individual : And he shall have it , ( Laughter . ) " Another : Let him mix it . himself . ( Cheers )

      " Mr . Newsom : The poor man had no convenience for mixing it himself . If he hnd to go to the baker ' s shop for an ounce of chicory , it would be too much trouble . ( Laughter . ) He should be glad to know from some gentlemen what was the reason of the isHiiing of the Treasury order of 1840 . Was it not that the ( iovernment found that when the grocer kept chicory on his premises it was impossible to prevent him from mixing it ? ( Laughter , and cries of * That ' s honest ' . )"

      Mr . Dciiue , of Sliorediteh , who supported the resolution , was on the point of making some revelation as to the vile Hiih . ttunccH which an ; mixed with , coffee- by virtue of the Treasury protection , but ho could not be induced to name the sutmtanctiH he referred to . " Last week an intelligent man came to bin shop with an article composed of burnt peas , dry biscuit , and powdered earth , und another article which he . would not dc-

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      242 3 TI ) £ ! Leairet % [ Saturda y ,

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      THE BAGGED SCHOOL UNION . Lord Ashley presided at the annual meeting of the Westminster Juvenile Refuge and School of Industry on Wednesday . The statements made regarding the good effected by the association were deeply interesting . There were no less than 170 candidates for admission last year , of whom 127 were admitted , the others having either declined to embrace the opportunity offered them , or been deemed ineligible . Many of those who entered the institution , were so extremely destitute of friends and home as to render it absolutely necessary to provide for them lodging as well as food and instruction . In some cases the luxury of a bed had not been enjoyed for six or eight months

      prior to admission . Of the boys who had been apprenticed all were going on satisfactorily . During the past year fourteen boys and girls had emigrated . Lord Ashley read a letter from two of them , who had gone to the United States . They stated that they were in good employment , and receiving five dollars each per month , in addition to food and clothing . It was stated that the committee are in treaty for some spacious premises , with a view to form a Ragged School Emigrants' Home for children from all parts of the metropolis . This will depend , however , upon how the benevolent may act , as Lord Ashley stated that the institution stands greatly in need of funds , and that , " without increased pecuniary assistance , there is a probability of its doors being closed . "

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 15, 1851, page 242, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1874/page/6/