NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Ir is compiled that half a,million of persons were stationed on the banks of the Thames, or afloat in vessels, when Prince Albert, acaompanied by his two elder children, sailed down the river from Wliitehall, on Tuesday last, to open the Coal Exchange. In the Exchange itself were gathered the chiefs of the State and City—the Duke of Wellington, Lord Jdhla Russell, Sir Robert Peel, and the Lord Mayor. Of course all this' pageantry-and' thiS 'concourse- of notables were not to do homage to the mere masonry, excellent as that may be, but to the extendibi of a great branch of commerce : will *attention thtis concentrated on the subject lead to a flirther'.opening of the coal-trade ? It should do so, in these Free-trade times. The chief perking assembled on Tuesday were Free-traders, the City has always supported free trade, and the new building cannot be intended as an exchange for the convenience of monopoly and taxgathering. For the coal-trade is an opprobrium to fair and free trading. A combination is kept up to maintain prices ; and there can be little doubt that the combination exists under the shelter of the City sanction; the Corporation probably fearing that if the trade were thrown open, its own heavy taxes upon coal would be endangered. The total effect is, that coal is made very dear to the middle class, while for the poor the only-fuel Of London is converted into a:scanty luxury. Sanatory reformers may step in here, with testimony to the:had influence which dampness, cold, and a ventilation unaided by fire, exercise upon_the health. All these considerations are as notorious as the sun at 'noon- day ; and the opening of the Goal Exchange, with its concentration', its increasing traffic,'end its eclat; can hardly fail to cause a fresh move in the direction of relieving and opening the coal-trade.
