. m)! walnuts; inc-raw.»

I

PUBLIC COMPANIES. TO THE EDITOR or THE LONDON TIMES.

0 has observed the course of events in London during the last 10 or 15 years cannot fail being aware of the undue facilities which eXist of creating joint- etock companies. The origin, rise, progress, and occasional fall of these concerns, in many instances, would form an iii- Itructive lesson to the public. The assurance companies, fire, life, and marine, reversionary, loan, endowment socie- ties, banks, colonial associations, and every species of joint- stock company, meme adVantagcs. erected in the new streets in the city, advertisements, to llorlll an idea as to t this traffic is carried on.

Long lists ofdirectors are appended to the prospectu each conpaiiy, compose

Sun—Every one wh

have given no sanction to the u

unlreqnently persons of respectability lend the use of their

names, without ever taking any charge of the concern, or their dependelns,

even having any interest in it. Then follows anoth tablished professing to have 500,000l., sometimes 1,000, or upwards of capital; and hence the public are sadly de ceived when it is found that a tenth part of the capital he ,not been subscribed for, and perhaps not a tenth part ofthe

mid up. This happens with companies which may haye en formed with bonofide good intentions, but in companies

of questionable origin there is often no capital at all. The Legislature might —the responsibility of directors, tel of the companies. This at first sight may appear a Parliament; but there are steps which might be taken whic would not be without a most salutary effect.

ln the first place, then, I would suggest, that no body of

proprietors should be entitled to establish or carry on an usiness whatever without such being duly registered at some Gove fice appointed for that purpose, and that certain earns, carr

As a second point, I would suggest that a formal writte

acknowledgment should be required on the part ofevery one who is patron, director, or trustee ofany company, stating his acceptance of such oflice,aiid specifying his ad- dress, profession, or occupation, and that on resigning any

such trust, it shall be incumbent on him under certain pena ties to notify the same to the Government oflice. ‘

In short, I should wish that there were established a re- gister ofpublic companies, on the same principle as a regis-

ter ofships, which should be open, as is the case with refe

ence to ships, for the inspection ofthe public. I do not go so far as to require that directors of public companies should be placed on the same footing as drivers of public carriages, and wear a badge with a number, but I think no man should be allowed to be a director in a public company without knowing the responsibility he incurs, and without the pro- prietors or those interested in the concern knowing who and

what their directors really are.

Having thus given an outline ofa plan which might be coupled with many useful suggestions, with reference to re- gistering the names and qualifications ofdirectors and other officers of public bodies, Government should then adopt some stringent laws respecting the capital subscribed, and

the capital paid up.

.There are certain rules laid down on this head respecting railway companies, but none, that 1 am aware of, form any check in this respect in the formation ofany otherjoint-stock

company. Parliament might with propriety insist upon

certsiurelative portion of the subscribed Capital being actu- ally paid up. One paint, however, should he insisted; upon

—thnt the actual paid up capital‘ of every company shou

be duly registered, and could be ascertained upon inquiry. 1 would allow-the public no longer to be, misled withjflumiug announcements of “ Capital one million,” when tFi‘eremay not be as many shillings in the concern ; and I wo'uld‘go so

far as torender it necessary for every company-to have board in their offices, with a printed list of directors and otb officers, and the amount of subscribed and paid-up capital

the company, subjecting the directors to punishment as a

' misdemeanour for every infringement of this law.

. __ It is true that the paid-uplcapital is not always a preventa— tive against loss or ruin, as we have seen lately in the afiiiir of the Bank of Manchester; but in that case the paid-up capital wa large, and was known to be so, and hence the deposttorl of the bank, although not the shareholders, are saved; but if the actual paid-up capital had been only 200,—

OOQL, instead of $0,000L, notwithstanding an immense su scribed capital, not only the shareholders, but the deposito might, in many instances, have been ruined. ' .. ‘ ow,,\yhat_l want is, that Government should bring some. legislative measure to prevent the public being misl and mystified: let'certain laws be passed for the benefit the community at large, for the regulation of joint-sto companies, and I am sure no more efiicient mode can

adopted than a public register of the names of their directors and officers, and a public register of the names of the pro-

prietors, together With a statement ofthe real paid-up, a

not the nominal capital ofthe company. These established,

let an eflicient code of laws be instituted on other poin

over which the directors should have control, and, proper penalties for the infringement of these laws inflicted; we

should then have a better state of things, a purer admin

Mien of public trusts, and many unfortunate individuals

and from min.

I have ventured to bring these general views to on

r no- tice. The Government or some member of Pn¥liament night do much good by studying the subject, without em-

bracing the wide fiold in reference to joint-stock banks it

their various bearings on the currency and trade ofthe coun- try, which that particular question involves, and introduce

some measure for the protection of the public in the admin mum of joint—stock companies in general. Oct. 26.

THE EFFECTS 0" THE ENGLISH CORN LAWS UPON LAND ESTATES IN CANADA.

V (Ham the Montreal Times.) The new: by the steamer of the 3rd inst., confirmst

anticipations largely entertained, that Canada produce would be included in the duty consequent upon a fall of the corn averages-and forbids the expectation, that prices can re- . _ The ablest English writers of the present day, with few exceptions, ad- init that Sir Robert. Peel‘s sliding scale has worked disas- troust for the dealers in corn; that it has bafl‘led the calcu-

tnrn to the point currently paid in the spring.

lotions of the most sngacious and intelligent merchants.

we wish to investigate the subject, we must bring to the en-

airy an acquaintance With the agricultural pretensions

t e continental nations; yet, if we were to limit our observa- tions to that extended sphere alone, we should labour under Ev it lon t e granary of the Roman Empire, yet retains has);l r’eputegasha

rtile and inexhaustible field for farming operations. She yet pours ber surplus food wherever a market offers; and when periods of scarcity enable the importer to incur the expenses ofa voyage from the east, or South America, each country reiiponds to the call, and presses her products upon the Eu- glish market—Every nation, having a surplus, seeks the most profitable mart; and, as such, England has long been .But English statesmen erected a toll gate, through which foreign produce was compelled to pass, ere it became free'to the consumer; that tell there gathered, va- ried in amount, at difi'erent epochs—qt fluctuating scale next

erroneous and unfounded impressions.

esteemed.

followed—end now we have the liding scale of Sir Rob

Peel—all partaking of one uniform feature—«namely, protection to the English farmer. We hold that were the corn laws abrogated, the value of land in England and on the continent, adapted to farming purposes, would assi-

milate in value—that in England it would decline, while the continent it would advance—rind the only difl'erei

between the two wonld be measured by the expense ofcon- veying fitrm produce from the bitter to the former. The

have sprung up, and all holding out im- We have only to look at the edifices and the almost daily he extent .to which

sof

d sometimes of gentlemen who do not exist at all; ometimes of those who do exist, but who so oftheir names; and not

or important point: a company is es-

surely deal with these two points, and the amount ofthe capi-

work beyond the reach of

under the form ofajoint-stock company, rnment of-

penalties should be incurred by all persons interested in such con- ied on without the requisite Government license.

ONE OF THE PUBLIC.

corn laws have not, however, been abolished ; they are. what writers term modified—and continental wheat can now enter England upon more favourable terms. The effect of this change must \ inevitably develop itselfin a gradual .do- preciution oflnnded estate in England, and the enhanced value ofcontinental’ property. Let us now turn to an ex- amination ofthe question, as nfi'ectiug Canada. The Lower Province is not a wheat growing Country—but our exports ‘ are drawn from the west, and the traffic thus fostered‘iiiter- sets us in the operation of the present laW. According to, i i

the present system, the averages are lower'hy ten shillings a quarter than under the former lawffour exports are con- sequently brought into closer competition With continental wheat in the English market—and the result has been to equalize the value of both to our prejudice. charges attending a tedious voyage across the Atlantic les— ' sen our profits. But we encounter a'further disadvantage:

-—the cost ofinanual labour, on this continent, and the Eil—

ropean continent, are essentially diffei'ent. Our scaiity'po-

pulation cannot compete with the redundant ll'ltlsses of

Poland, Russia and Germany, a mixture ofsei'l's and li'eeineu.

The lords ofthe continental soil controul the industry of and the only inconvenience they can ex-

perience springs from a diminution of their rent-roll. - The

value of farm produce might fall fifty per cent. below the

° present point, without materially circumscribiug their means

' of enjoyment. - It is otherwise on this continent: an impetus

s was imparted to the cultivation of the soil—the reclamation

‘ of the wilderness, arising trom the remnuerating returns se-

cured by the English market to the Upper Canada farmer-— and investments were freely made, under a belief that the

corn laws Would be maintained. For the future, the Upper Canada farmer must be content with lighter profits; but they share the decline with the English farmer, who must likewise submit to the policy of the day. It is not impro- bnble that landed estate in this colony must participate in the downward tendency which the products of Canada en- counter. 'I‘lie income derivable from a farm is regulated by the amount of money realized, after the. necessary expen- ditures in sowing, gathering, and bringing to market the crop. lfthnt crop does not return to the farmer of 1843 within twenty—five per cent. of what he previously obtained, his estate is only worth, in money, three-fourths the sum be obtained iii 1841. It is thus that we view‘the ques- tion as affecting landed estate. ‘ We may be told that labour will likewise fall in price. This we admit. But we, point to the wages usually paid on the European 'Contiuent as proof positive that even low wages cannot secure a higher value for landed estate. The truth will gradually but cer- tainly gain ground, that we must adopt a titesli point of de- parture—that with the introduction ofSir Robert Peel’s slid,- ing scale has followed a reduction in farm produce, landed estate, labour, and, us a natural Consequence, the means of paying for our imports ofmanufiicturedgoods. Our rpsent embziri‘assmcnts arise from the altered policy ofthe libperial Government; and though the merchant is apt to attribute his difficulties to an immediate and tangible pressure, he is but a minor agent in the exemplificntion ofa transition from one standard of value to another. The extensive dealer sufl'ers,.and must suffer, the most. withdraws from the contest, and remains a quiescent ob- server.

b

y

n

i-

. . Tm: SPIRIT or TnAvsnLiNG.—Some years ago, on my way'to Paris, on some matters connected with our embassy, as l embarked in the steamboat ut the Tower, I met a rather showy figure at breakfast, who frankly enough told me that

luis on a speculation in buttons, and as a slight appendage to his speCUlation, to see France—which he congiéived would be perfectly effected by seeing Calais. ,'l‘liis'cou.ipre- thensive traveller out“ parted on Calais pier—he to liistt- tons and l to my journey. I liudiiot been four and twenty hours in Paris, when lfound him in the coffee-room ofiMau- rice’s, having exhaustedI Calais, and determined to~,-see a little more ofthe, world." lu‘two days, .1 set out, for Vanna, witli‘ 'despiitch‘esi-g Myfirst daymas spentid ' the A , sea- dor’s bureau {my second, in ’ rambling through the? uriosi- ties oftbat very curious city. In the evening, liappening‘to step into a coffee—house on the Prater, I saw ‘tnyfiirr‘duig- hum friend calmly discussing his cofi'ee-and cigar. ' Behold me that, having seen Paris in twelve hours, he thought he might as well annex Vienna-to his route, and have it‘ to say that he had seen something which his tbwnsirien had not seen. In"ei10thei' week,’_l Was on 'my way to Greece. found him engaged in a boxing match with a Greek among the pillars of the Parthenon. The combat ghaviiigc sed, (much to the disadvantage of the 'red-c’apped' and rug; ‘ countryman of Achilles, the man of buttons told me thpt he

had been driven out of icons, on finding it‘ crowded ,Kvitli

8 .

ld‘

8: er olz

b- rs, the some reason. *We then parted, as l presumed, for 'the . last time ; but, crossing Egypt,on my way to liidin,nnd iurii- in ed of ck be

the f00t of the Pyramid or Clieops but-,my travelling friend once more! His story was still the some. bound to Alexandria. nd

ts,

is-

at the sources of the Nile.—.7V'ew Monthly Magazine.

ad

is_ upon .both hands: and if we could contrive to suck oi

ED hand!

he glass in windows, and toWalk as easily‘along the ceilingso rooms, With their bodies downwards andtheir feet overhead

If and the glass or wall; of

to its body in the same proportion as ours are to our bodies

which they live. power ofclimbing, and of creeping with their bodies do wards along the ceiling of the room, and the means which they are enabled to do so are the same. large feet of those animals the contrivance is'easily observed

“In

ert climbing; but it is the very same, only upon a larger scale

on

ice mosphere, which causes the quicksilver to stand in the we

be hung at New York on der oer. Adams, printer a

of Jerome Bonaparte,- tlier of Napoleon, is t

'culturn airliest show of horses, &c.-—'l‘ Bonaparte, of Westphalia The necessary age now to have

lislied in the New'buryporl this public document. ,i vet, with ri depending large tasse

ed in a silver box or case,

He alone escapes who ,

he was the son ofa Birmingham n‘ianulhcturcr, going to Ca-'

1 during'the week, we are, in‘c’onsequenc‘e, compelled'to'go eish “ his townsmen; andtbat he was‘about to leave Greec fer

ing olfthe road to see the Pyramids, what should lsqe at

Sick of‘i‘lei‘ng haunted down by his countrymen, he had thrown himself into the first steamboat that had passed the Piraeus; it "was When I found him, he was in extreme ill-temper—the only habitable hut in the neighbourhood being hired a week'before by a party of his indefatigable townsmen. He was then in doubt wlietlier'lie'should go to India or Abyssinin—determined .Ato,bave it to say that he had seen some part of the world by' himself, yet almost making up hismind to the certainty of finding some buttons making friend already anticipating him, whether lie-pitched his tent on the summit of the Himalaya, or watered his camel

Passsnae or THE A'rsiosrueas.'—Tlie Weight oftlié at- mosphere is near fifteen pounds ,on every square inch, so that if we could entirely squeeze out the air between our bands, they would cling together with a force equal to the pressure of double this weight, beCause the air would press

squeeze out the air between one hand and the wall, it would be pressed on it with the weight of above two hundred pounds, near fifteen pounds on every square inch of the Now, by a late most curious discovery of Sir Everard Home, the distinguished anatomist, it is found that this is the very process by whittb fiie and other insects ot'a simi- lar description are con {ed to Walk upon perpendicular sur-~ faces, however smoot i, as the. ides '0!“ Walls and panes of

Their feet,. when examined by a microscope, are foiiud to have flat skins or flaps, like the feet of web-footed animals, as ducks and geese; and they have, by means of strong folds, the power ofdrawing the flap close down upon the glass or wall the flylwnlks on, and thus squeezing out the air completely, so as to make a vacuum between the foot . The consequence of this is, that the air presses the foot on the wall with a very considerable force, compared to the weight of the fly; for ifits feet are

since we could support by a single band on the ceiling ‘of the room (provided it made a vacuum) more than our whole weight of200 pounds, the fly can easily move on four feet in the same manner, by help ofthe vacuum made under its feet. And it has likewise been found that some of the lar er sea animals are, by the same construction, enabled to clii b the perpendicular and smooth surfaces ofthe ice hills amona

Some kinds of lizards have the s'm‘é

,w

And in the

ofthe toes and muscle; by which the skin ofthe foot is pili. iied down, and the air excluded in the act of walking for

with the mechanism ofa fly’s or a butterflv’s foot; and both operations, the climbing of the sea-horse iipon the ice, and the creeping ofthe fly upon the window or the ceiling, are performed exactly by the same power, the weight of the at-

ther glass, the wind to whistle through a key hole, and t 6

UNITED STATES. , ‘

olin C. Colt, who was sentenced to Friday the 18th Nov. for the mur- nd pnblislher, and gho is stiitttt‘tat‘ll ral a )ers to have been actual y execute ., comini inlaid: aslioi‘t time before the hour nppomted for his death. ‘ JEROME BONAPARTE.——-Jer0me Napoleon Bonaparte, son formerly King of Westphalia, and bro- he Chairman of a Committee ot an Maryland, to award premiums for be American fiiriner, Mr. i'obably, as Jerome ll., King llowed such a person-

Soicmn or Coma—4

b l5

Society in

is as happy it man, p could be, bad events a existence.

'l‘anATsr.—-A letter from Mr. Cusliing, pub-

Hernld, gives. a description of s the treaty is fairly engrossed, volume offolie ruled paper, bound in crimson vol- bbons to tie the covers-together, when closed ; from which, by two silver or silk cords, With ls of the same materials, is the seal, five or eix ‘ neter, and an inch thick. I stamped on the cover With a bean- tiful raised impression ofthe British arms, and represents Queen Victoria on horseback, with a page holding the horse, and surrounding the figures the legend -“ Victoria Der Gratin

' Fidel Defensor.” The signature to

Britanniziruiii Regina ’ ‘ . . the ratification, by the Queen, is in a large bold hand, Vic-

toria R. A Curious Caste of

THE BRITISH

lt say u a thin

inches in dint

Female Deception.—One of those strange and almost unaccountable cases ofdeception which we hear of once or twice itian age, was developed at the Police CE- fice on Saturday afternoon. Aperson who has for the last four years followed the business ofa tinker and teamster alternate- ly in this city, and who is well known to many of our citizens, was brought up before Justice Osburn, charged With hang- ing out false signals—being not exactly what outward ap- pearances would lead honest and unsuspecting persons to believe—sailing under false colors. About two weeks since this person was married to a very respectable and hard work— ing girl, who by her industry had laid up a considerable sum of money. The poor girl found out in a few days that all‘is not gold that glitters—that appearances are deceitful-Tin short, that her dear husband was a woman! This fact being fully established to the satisfaction oi all parties, the faith- 'less svvain—or rather deceitfuljnde—was arrested, examined at the police office, and sent tojail. A crowd ofthe curious fol- lowed ber ladysliip to her new lodgings, making many origi- nal and spirited remarks, called out by the novelty of the case. No other reason can be assigned for this strange mar- riage alliance, except the desire on the part of the husband to possess himself ofthe money which the object of hts‘afi‘ec- tions had saved up from her hard‘earnings and unwenried iii- dustry.—-fllbany Citizen.

VERA CRUZ, October 19, 1842.4Yesterdny at 11 o’clock, p. m., the expedition which is to march against the insurgents onucatan embarked for their destination, under the com- mand ofBrigndier General Jose Vincent Miiion.- It appears that Santa Anna, under the plea of continued ill health, has surrendered 'the post of General-iuécliief of the Mexican tir- mies to various subordinate chieftains,'nnd intends abstain- ing from all personal supervision ofthe hostile operations in which his force are engaged. His principal reliance is placed in General Bravo, whom he has ordered his soldiers to obey by solemn proclamation. '