from Aberdeen in 1875, when the Association agreed to petition Government to issue a royal commission to inquire into the working of the Bank Acts, 1844 and 1845, and especially to the reserve of gold kept by the Bank of England now sufficient for this country. Whether it is consistent with sound policy to maintain an Act of Parliament which requires occasional suspension, and if so, to what authority in the State should the power of suspending an Act of Parliament be committed. To inquire why, since 1844 and 1845, the fluctuations in the rate of discount have been many times more numerous, sudden, and extreme than during any previous periods on record in times of comparative peace? To inquire into the constitution and actual management of the Bank of France as compared with the constitution and actual management of the Bank of England.

COMMERCIAL LAWS.

That the Act 28 and 29 Vict. c. 86, be amended, so as to remove the existing uncertainty as to the liabilities incurred and rights acquired by a law which enacts That a participation in the profits of a trading concern, in remuneration for capital advanced or services rendered, shall not of itself be deemed to constitute partnership.' That, in the opinion of this Association, the evident intention of the Legislature in framing that Act will be attained, while the interests of the public will be secured, by the enactment of a law enforcing perfect publicity as to the terms on which such capital shall be advanced or such services rendered, and by provisions for the different liabilities of acting or unlimited partners and those of limited or commandite partners. That it is highly desirable that every company incorporated under the Limited Liability Acts be required annually to file with the Registrar of Joint-Stock Companies a copy of its balance-sheet for the preceding year. That the laws for the punishment of fraud in connection with public companies should be made more efficient.

That the state of the laws relating to merchant shipping is unsatisfactory and imperfect, and that in order to place them on such a footing as will meet the requirements of our own commerce, as well as lead to their adoption, either partially or entirely, by other nations, this Association respectfully urges Her Majesty's Government to make a full inquiry as to the construction of merchant vessels, alleged unseaworthiness, overlading, improper deck loading, and the means of increasing the supply of sailors for the mercantile marine, and any other questions affecting merchant shipping, with a view to early legislation thereon.

That the best and most reliable principle of loadline calculation is that which is based on the actual buoyancy or displace

ment of the whole ship to the maindeck, and which provides that a certain proportion or reserve of this buoyancy, sufficient to ensure safety, shall be kept above the line of immersion, and that in lieu of the old freeboard calculation, this principle should be adopted in all future legislation on the subject. That a maximum load-line should be fixed for every ship upon the principle contained in the preceding resolution, and that the maximum load-line should be conspicuously marked on the ship, and that it should be a misdemeanour on the part of the shipowner or the captain to load the vessel below that line.

In 1865 the important desiderata on the subject of bankruptcy were described to be provision for the safe economical and speedy realisation and distribution of the estate. Provision for the adequate and certain punishment for insolvency arising from the wilful and reckless incurring of debts to an extent beyond that which the bankrupt had reasonable expectation of discharging, as well as for actually fraudulent bankruptcy. The appointment of a chief judge to secure uniformity of decisions and greater facilities and economy in cases of appeal. The administration in the Court of Bankruptcy of the estates of deceased insolvents. The abolition of the limitation under the 221st section of the Act of 1861, by which an offender is only punishable for a misdemeanour if committed within three months prior to bankruptcy. The assimilation as far as practicable of the Statute Law of England, Scotland, and Ireland on the subject. The provision of means for the recovery of British bankruptcy assets, situate in any part of the British Empire, and the endeavour, by negotiation or otherwise, to obtain means for the recovery of British bankruptcy assets situate in foreign countries. The abolition of the rule by which secured creditors are permitted to vote for deeds of composition in respect to such part of their claims as is secured, and the consolidation of the entire Statute Law on this subject into one Act.

That the operation of the Factory Act, 1874, section 4, sub-section 2, which provides that a child, young person, or woman shall not be employed continuously for more than four and a half hours without an interval of at least half an hour for a meal, is productive during the winter months of much discomfort and of serious loss and inconvenience both to manufacturer and workpeople, and that a memorial from this Association be presented to Her Majesty's Government, praying that in any future legislation upon the Factory and Workshop Acts a discretionary power be given to the factory inspectors to permit the continuous employment of children, young persons, and women engaged in textile manufactures for a spell of five hours during the winter months.

That the General Carriers Act, 1 Will. IV. c. 68, by which railway companies and other carriers are relieved from their

common loss liability for the loss of uninsured parcels of the value of 10l. and upwards, containing special classes of goods, is most prejudicial to the manufacturing interests of the country and requires amendment.

That experience having shown that the operation of bills of sale is, in the majority of cases, fraudulent and injurious to the trading community, besides being the worst form of preferential security, this Association is of opinion that they should be abolished.

That considering the absolute dependence of the commerce of the country on its railway system, and the dissatisfaction generally felt in numerous manufacturing districts at the inequality of the treatment experienced at the hands of the railway companies in charging unfair and disproportionate rates of carriage, this Association is of opinion that the time has arrived for giving individual traders the same privileges possessed by railway or other companies in applying for relief to the railway commission.

RAILWAY, POSTAL, AND TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION.

That it is expedient and necessary for the more efficient management of the telegraph system that it should be assumed by the Government, and placed under the management of a department of the Post Office, and that a reduction should be made in the charge for registering letters, and in the rate of postage charged on circulars and other printed matters from this country to the Continent of Europe, and also in the postage rates to foreign countries and to the colonies.

That it is desirable that in the tariff of telegraphing communication with the Continent the rate for the transmission of messages to and from all towns in the United Kingdom should be the same as is paid for similar services in the metropolitan districts, and that the attention of the Post Office authorities should be called to the anomalies existing in the charges for the transmission of telegraphic messages to and from the Continent.

That greater postage facilities with France should be given, viz., that inasmuch as the half-ounce is now recognised as the weight of the single letter from England to every foreign country excepting to France and to Spain, through France, and the half-ounce weight is already in use between England and France, its equivalent being reckoned as 15 grammes, it is desirable that the single rate for letters to and through France should be extended to the half-ounce or 15 grammes.

INCOME TAX.

In 1871 the Association resolved to petition the House of Commons to appoint a select committee to inquire into the

mode of assessing the income and property tax, and the principle on which such tax is now levied in industrial, professional, and precarious incomes, and also on incomes derived from life annuities, mines, and other sources, where a portion of the principal, as well as of interest, is annually consumed or included in the yearly returns liable to taxation, also into the present mode of including gross income, without allowing for depreciation in railway, manufacturing, and other concerns, also in the mode of collecting the said tax, and the remuneration paid to surveyors, clerks, collectors, and other servants, and also in the constitution and duties of the central and local boards of income-tax commissioners.

That this meeting should represent, by deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer or other department of the state, the desirability and fairness of allowing an equitable deduction from profits for depreciation of machinery before assessing those profits for the purpose of paying income tax.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

That the rapid progress and high excellence of continental manufactures are, in the opinion of this Association, mainly attributable to the schools for technical education which have for many years been established in Germany and other parts of the Continent, and by means of which the art of design and other valuable scientific knowledge has been very generally acquired, to the great advantage of industrial pursuits; and that in order to enable our manufacturers to maintain the pre-eminence they have so long enjoyed, this Association insists upon the importance of establishing institutions in this country for the extension of technical education.

METRIC SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Resolved in favour of a decimal standard of weights and measures as greatly calculated to promote facilities in commerce and prevent fraud, and expressed their opinion that the continuance of great irregularity and uncertainty in the weights and measures of the country is pernicious to trade and contrary to all sound principles of commercial policy.

That whereas decimal and metric weights and measures have been made legal, but no such standards, as yet, exist in the United Kingdom, this Association resolves to memorialise Government to provide such standards of weights and measures, and at such places as may be deemed expedient, and further, that the teaching of the decimal metric system be introduced into the upper classes of schools receiving Government grants.

CHAPTER III.

CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES AND ITS INFLUENCE ON BRITISH COMMERCE.

Relations with the United States.-Difference between the Northern and Southern States on the Tariff.-The Slavery Question. -Election of Abraham Lincoln.-Hostilities between the North and the South.-Blockade of Southern Ports.-Granting of Belligerent Rights.-The Efficiency of the Blockade.-Trade with Confederate States.-The Alabama' Dispute. ---The Finances of the United States.

THE great insurrection which, towards the end of 1860, threatened to sever into distinct portions the great republic of the West could not fail to have an injurious influence on British commerce and industry. For some time past a marked division was apparent between the industrial and agricultural states of the Union both on the question of free trade versus protection, and on the limitation or extension of slavery supremacy in the Republic.

When the constitution was first framed, all the states being purely agricultural, and all equally in need of foreign manufac tures, the duties levied were exceedingly moderate. But the war with England altered the industrial position of the respective States. And as the Northern States took to manufactures, and the Southern gave themselves to agriculture, the Northern speedily manifested a reliance on protective duties. The Southern States at first did not offer any strong objection to the raising of import duties, not, indeed, because they had any faith themselves in the benefit of protection, but because they held that any special disadvantage which might fall on the Southern States was counterbalanced by the benefit they enjoyed of sharing in the national prosperity. They felt, however, that the Northern went too far, when, not content with a fair amount of protection, they wished to establish a complete monopoly. When, therefore, in 1823, a large increase was proposed on many of the existing duties, the Southern States refused to submit to it, especially as the measure had been carried by the small majorities of 107 to 102, in the House of Representatives and by 25 to 21 in the Senate. In 1832 a more formidable difference occurred on the same subject. There was then no excuse for imposing a high tariff