The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-05-01 00:00:00

MAY 1. 1838. that irtinfy f.revo its full weight in apolfuzising for the defalcations Of the is revenue when he brings his financial ,statement before Parliament. The measure has beep tried in Ihe-rtiost' adva ritikgra iri cTrcuin i sLrices in which it could have been in trodaPduifilEe the paqsing of the Reform Bill The death of the l iiiio 4ll o - Lraceession of the Queen, the new election, the rebelliottirr Canada, the discussions in and out of Parliament. the apti:slavery.aud anti ! endowment agitation, and numberless, other topics, general and local, having in the meantime been subje,cts of inviting newspaper interest. But with all these induil'ements, the increase in the consumpt has borne but a small 'prOPition to ihe decrease in the tax ; and the friends of the iali4u'ie:cannot flatter themselves that it has been at all successful, either as regards the-revenue or the public." MEETING OF WAREHOUSE OWNERS.—We this day_ present to our readers a copious report of the important proceedings at the - meeling of warehouse owners held yesterday. We regret that our space will not permit us to enter at present upon any minute analysis of the argu ment brought forward in opposition to the project of the Dock Committee. The several speeches delivered at the meeting will amply repay the trouble or perusal. They abound in statistiel details bearing Upon the question, and embody the mature views and practical deductions of Some of the most intelligent and experienced gentlemen in Liverpool. In fact, we do not see how the statements brought forward Yesterday can possibly be met by the advOcates of the Dock Committee scheme. The sapient airlerinen and. loquacious councillors, whO have already volunteered a justification of that scheme, will find that erfry position which they have assumed is untenable, and' that their empty declamation upon the subject is ceoMpletely over-borne by the force of reasoning and by 10.7rtri- • an unansw erable appeal to facts. It has been proved, as will g li il i erceived upon reference, to our report, that the a ggred'ate loss to the public from the erection of the pro posed warehouses on the Dock Quays will he far greater than any saving that can be pOssibly effected by the avoidance of cartage, &c. This we consider to be at once conclusive, and more especially so when we consi der.upon whom the loss would chiefly fall. The classes who would be injured by the.contemplatert scheme would be ten times more numerous than tho'se among'whoni the saving would he divided; and many - of those classeS must be considered as entirely dependent for their daily sup port upon the emolument arising frOm warehouse pro perty. lIOw many widows and orphans, now in receipt of a bare competency from this kind' of prOperty, - Would be reduced to a state of comparative penury by the un reasOnable competition of the ,Dock 'Trustees? Let us hope that justice and mercy will 'triiimph over selfish in terest and unfounded prejudices. NATIONAL. LOAN - FUND - AND ASSURANCE SOCIETY. " The public is more deeply interested, than •it is at all aware of, in the zealous efforts of .the catinguished founders of the National Loan,Fund and Lite 2%.,,surance Society. In the suc cess of this vast project, we can clearly perceive the seeds of a rich harvest of popular comfort--the germs of asocial and moral regeneration, the influence of which will in time pervade the humblest h'Ovel in the land. We believe it is now some months since we directed public attention to the prospectus, published by thi, able chairman - and original Founder of the Institution, 41r. T. Lauda: Aturray,. when .we stated that the whole scheme was by no means perfected, although it offered, to persons of limited income, inducements to the forming of, providential habits never before held out to them. We haVe now the outlines of the eotnpiete plan before us, and never was there a proj submitted to us so well calculated to benefit the humbler clasee Of society. pritiCiPal inducements which it uffers to prudent tend economical habiti; among the working classes are the fol- l owiug:---I.persnuiceisuring his lifefor any sum, no matter how small; say from' twenty years of age, may at the age of fifty, fifty_ five, or sixty, exchange it fora fixed annuity, to be paid to him during his life; or he may except in lieu thereof a fixed sum of money proportioned to the amount "of his past payments, and :not to the actual market priCe er his policy; or he may at any time, by depositing his policy with the society, borrow upon it two-thirds of: all the, meneyctire .ina b y have paid into the society without detriment, le hiatillWrest_io such policy; or, in the event ; , ,4hia4eath,typtiiiird„,s,nrvall the money he may have paid into thtiirtiety is made, reterriable to his friends or executors, for tie.betilit of his family Or legal heirs. To suit the convenience Rflat 9 ,4 - 0. the necessities of the humblest classes, the payments 'AillaVtlig(Policies may be made weekly, monthly. quartet ly, or AtiAllifill§;Nind that the pOorest may not be without a hope of •.bettering their condition, payments upon policies not exceeding sixpence weekly are contemplated! Now, there are ve , :.v few labouring men who —wet e they to frequent the beer-shops and publie-houseadess than they_ now do, to the ruin of their health,' their morals, and their families—tnight not pay into such au institUtion from a shilling to half a-crown weekly. This saving would amtiant to an independence in old age. A labourer aged twenty-three, by the payment of "a shilling a week out of his earnings, would on reaching the age of fifty, find himself in possession of an annuity of LS 16s 31 for the remainder of his life, which it., would be 4tianal with hinato exchange for £ll3 6s ,in money., This sum would pay the rent of his cottage, and 'enable hind to paisthe fest of his days with a comparative degree of comfort. A wiekly(payment of sixpence would produce half the benefit . ; a payinent of two shillings would double it—and so un in'proportion. Let it be remembered. that the advantages t held out by this Institution belong as a matter of absolute right I to the, assured, and its immense superiority to Savings Banks 'and Benefit Societies, as an engine for the moral -improvement or t h e peop l e , will be at once perceptible. This society lays no :claim to the merits of a charitable Institution, cal tied on 'under the maMigernent of a Committee of self-sacrificing philanthro .:Pisti:: .It doer not affect to be guided by'any principles but those of trade and' its'relatious with the public will be purely of a eonamercial character. It will not, like the Saving Bank, 'refuse poor uites - earnings; because they may have accumulated to something more than would pay.a rich man's glover's bill for a, year s neither will it, like the Trustees of a Benefit Club, in stitute any inquiry, should the assured require a loan to the amount of two-thirds of his payments. The following Notes to 'the " Tables of Deferred Annuities," which have been pub lished .hy ,Alr. Murray, tire Chairman, will place the several advantages offered to the labourer, the merchant, and the capi talist, by the Luan Feud Society, iu as clear a light as it is pus to put them A person, aged 23, by the payment of ls, per week, or .E? 12s. pehannam, will secure, on attaining the ace of 50, the Opti on o f an annuity of £8 16s. 3(t.., cash down £ll2 tis , or a tioliev on his life for 1.:17.15. "By one-halftime pa) meet, that is 61. pet week, or LI 6s. per 'nnum, he will secure the Option of half the benefits. By five - times the payment, he will be entitled to the option offive times thehenefits; and the same may be -extended to any other pro 'Portion. (All premiums to terminate with the period.). Two thirds of the, payments may at any time he withdrawn on de .:posit of the policy; and 'Should the party not survive, two thirds of his payments will be returned to his representatives." The substance of this note has been given above, but its re 'petition will serve to remove all doubts as to the correctness +with which we have given the Society's views. To-continue: A, nevem, aged 21, may secure, on attaining the age of 50, the ‘littirin of an annuity of £lO, Cash down £12811x., or a policy on his life for £2C2 Is. 6d. by the aonual payment of £3 35., or a single payment of 1:49 Ss.; or by payment of Ell Os. Id. for' ilisparity of age, he will be entitled to the sante benefits by the same annual payment at fur the age of 20, viz.; £2'9s. per •A 1.11 1 ,1 . An annuity - of £5O. or five times the other benefits, May be .sse,cured by 'five' times- the payment; and, in like manner, any . ,other annuity and corresponding heaeGts may be purchased by ,making the payment accordingly, A person, aged 25, by the payment of £2 12s. per annum, .will.secure,. on attaining the age of 55, the option of an Annuity cif £l2 95.-7 d.; Cash down £ll3 65.; -or a Policy on his life fur £2OO 1s: A person aged 25, may secure on attaining the age of 55, an _annuity of £lO, with the _other options, by the annual payment of £2 Is: 9d., or a single payment of £34 10s. '3d.; or on pay - Aleut of :£8 18s. 4d. for di: parity, he will he entitled to the same -itenefits by an annual payment of £1 415., the same as for age 20. A person, aged:s, by the : payment of a 12s. per annum, Rill secure on attaining the age of 60, the option of an annuity „fit' £2O 13s. 4d.; cash down £202 Is: ; a policy on 4iis life fur "" £259. A person, aged 26, may secure, on attaining the age of 60, an annuity of - £l4/, .with the other options, by the annual pay 'Anent of 'ZI 6s. 9d., sir a single .paytaent of £22 I7s. 3d.; or on vay ut ,. u t, o f £6 14s. 3d. for disparity, be will he entitled to the Name benefits by an annual payment of 18s. ltd., the same as for age'2o. • A person, aged. 23, by the payment £2 12s. per annum, will • r !Pcnre, on attaining the ;lip' of 65, the option of an - annuity of Elo Si.Ss 21. ; cash down, £333 is.; or a policy pn his life for £393 15s. .A person, aged 30, may secure, on attaining the ag e of 65, an annuity ref £lO, with-the other options. by the annual pay ment of 19s. Gd., or a simple payment of £l6 7s. Id.; or on pay ,3oent of .Z 7 3s. ltd. for . disparity, he will he entitled to the same benefit s ,' by an annual payment of 1 0 s. lid. ; the s ame as for age 20. These are advantages such as are not to be inet with by per sons in an humble, or even a moderately respectable walk of life, in any Assurance-oflice, SavingS'-bank, or Benefit-society yet established. Extend it so as to include the great majority Id the labourin„► population, and we shall hear no more about the anarchical designs of the working classes. The moment the Working man is Made to feel that he has an interest in the maintenance of established institutions—that revolutionary 'tharelty, or national bankruptcy, threatens the loss of the little a nnuity to which his parents, his friends, and his family, have Leen looking forward for so many years—from that Moment may the State rely upon the honest zeal of his endeavours to keep up its credit and preserve its tranquillity. The best antidote against revolution is the diffusion of a feeling of indiVidual in tivpendence, having constantly in view the certainty of the _ . . „. s. by 11,,ne , t intlividualeYiertion. ludepen t',..l‘ol,e I..4req„ ... o 7 respeet, and that is the key Co every virtue sustiwt‘ • " "' ,• MEETING OF THE IVARE HOUSE AND LAND ASSOCIATION Yesterday, at one .o'clock, a u►eeting of the owners of law and warehouses ; and others interested, was held at the Cia►en don-rooms, S•nith John-street, " to adopt measures to n )se thi resolution or the. Duck Committee, relative to the buildinj; of winehn-ses on the yerge of the docks " The meeting was - 'Very numerously attended- by the warehouse holders and laud owners of the town. Soon after one o'clock Mr. James Braucker was moved into the ehair. The CHAIRMAN then said—Gentlemen, as the object of the meeting is pretty well understood by all the gentlemen here, there is no occasion to enter into any long lig u m ents on the subject. I believe there are some motions p pared, and some gegtlemen have observations to make. The Chairman then celled upon Mr. Buiithby • but Mr: Boothby not having arrived, Mr. - BUSHBY said, it had been intended that Mr. 13oothhy should move the first resolution "That the committee be fully authoriSed to oppose any bill which the Dock Trustees may bring before Parliament, having for its object the building of warehouses on the verge of the docks." Mr. Busby continued —lt Was not my nitention to have obtruded myself upon the meeting, but feelin! , the absolute necessi t ty acontradictingsome statements which have been made by the promoters of the mea- sure in contemplation by the Dock Committee, and the inten tion of a friend of mine. Well acquainted with the trade of the town and the nature of the subject before the meeting, to come forward publicly to express his opinions, which entirely coincide with my own, I have been induced to make an endeavour to answer some of the fallacious arguments which have been used to induce the publiC fo sanction a measure likely, if carried into effect, to be ruinous to numerous individuals, as well as' the corporate estate of the town. And first, as to the remark of the Deputy Chairman of the Dock Committee, that the committee was desirous of erecting warehouses, "as there was a great want of warehouses." Now, when it is notorious that the warehouses in the town have been nearly half empty for six months past—when for four years they have scarcely been full—when rents (in proof of this assertion) have fallen considerably—when new warehouses have been built in anticipation of a demand for them, so that no complaint has ever been made during- that time of a deficiency of room fOr the deposit ol\produce ; when all these considerations render it quite palpable that the assertion of the Deputy Chairman is incorrect, we much wonder that the dock committee should gioutrd their proceedings upon such a weak foundatibu. The assertion was, perhaps, made in ignorance—but this cannot be an excuse, because the4ock committee avoided receiving any deputation from the warehouse committee, although the ware. .house committee requested an interview, when they would. have given the dock connnittee'such information as might have al- tered their views; theNock committee, however, - decided the great question without affording the warehouse committee an opportunity of being heard, but they positively sent an invita- Lion ... non to the warehouse committee after the decision, invitir them to a conferencea conference was then useless, and I not admitting a deputation before the decision of the question their ignorance as to theSiitte.lifthe, Warehouses was a voluntary ignoi ance, and their neglect to hear the reasons which would have been adduced in opposttibn to the measure s a very reprehensible imtsmossding;—Next,• the, Deputy Chairman asserts, that there Is not a wareh o u se in Liverpool sufficiently light for examin ing-indigo—lila:tit could not be properly exhibited in the pre sent warehouses, and that conseqeently that trade was falling off in 'Liverpool 1! This is a tissue of very bold assertions. Will auy one who looks at the noble range of warehouses oppo site. to the Prince's . Dock, and commanding a strong western lightsserionsly.says that there is not light'enough foisthe exa mination of indigo? Can any one with truth assert that those warehouses which have been tilted tip for tea with glass windows in every room, would not be suitable in every respect for the storing of indigo. One would really. think that the stock of in digo- in this port was so large, that it was difficult to find suit able warehouses in which it could be deposited. And what is actually the amountef the present stock? Why, not 300 chests, and the import - for five years has never in any one year been more than 2100 chests and 2700 aerons, and the stock perhaps never 1000 chests at any one tine, not enough to fill one large warehouse. Can new warehouses be necessary for such a quan tity ? We contend that there are warehouses large enough, and suitable in every respect for chewing indigo, and therefore that any new warehouses for that purpose are unnecessary. The Indigo : trade has been long established in London. the great hn porters live there, - and London has everyadvantageof Situation, old connection „ large dealers, and experience in the trade; whereas, our ' , is comparatively new, and it must require much time tst : ae increase of the trade, but our contiguity to the inanutic ring d istricts authorises us to expect an increase of the trade as manufacture extends ; but London presenting to the importer of indigo, two markets, the hone and Con tinental, will, ,most certainly, always have the preference of this •part 'of our trade. He also asserts, that the London and Y orkshire . dealers were deterred from coming here to buy:indigo, on account of the insecurity of the present ware houses, their liability to pilferage, and their want of light. Now it must be known to every one who has ever attended an indigo sale, that so. tar from this being the cage, the sale is generally wellsattended, and every chest sold at a fair market price, if the holders choose to accept the value of the day. All these alleged disadvantages of the warehouses, therefore, do not deter the buyers of indigo from coining to this market. Another asser tion. is, that the Yorkshire buyer would wit pay £lO. per cent. deposit, because he had no security for the safety of his deposit. In reply, I must recal to the recollection of gentlemen, that last year a great number of East India merchants entered into a resolution that they would not deliver any goods be fore payment was made, and to require a deposit of 10 per cent. at the time of . the sale. This being an - innovation on the old custom, was resisted by the kis-e1.:47 who contended that at that perilous time they had as much right to refuse trust ing their money' to the merchant, as the merchant had to refuse trusting them with the goods. Altercation arose between buyer and seller, and the new plan was at length abandoned. The refusal, therefore, of the buyers to pay the 10 per cent. deposit, did not arise from .any fear anout the warehouses, but front the refusal of the - importers to give an order for the delivery of the go" - until the whole motteY be paid—the' distrust between buyer and seller at that period prevented the scheme being car ried into effect, and not the insecurity of the warehouses—this will be evident, when we reflect that immense advances of. mo ney arescunsfantly made on the faith of a warehouse-keeper's accepted order s —and that this transfer of propertS is deemed a sufficientsseeurily by men of business. The imputation, there fore, upon the security of the warehmises, as far as respects this deposit, is an unproved assertion. Charges of pilferage have. also been brought forward as beim: an objection to the present warehouses—that pilferage to a small extent may sometimes take place must be admitted, but what proof have we that pil ferage does not take place also in the London Docks? None. We know that until the nature of malt is altered, thefts will stametiines occur. Considering the vast amount of property warehoused in Liverpool, the pilferage is so trilling as scarcely to excite a complaint, and when we consider that the warehouse keeper is responsible for any pilferage where due care is not taken, and that a custom-house officer keeps the keys of the warehouse, and Must attend to see the g oods delivered, we have all the security which can reasonably b expected.. It. is assert ed, also, that the trade from the Brazils . to Liverpool is dimi nished in consequence Of oar preSent warehenses;and that it would be much increased it' we had warehouses such as they have in London. Well, let us see what an immense import has been attracted to London by their envier! warehouses. Why, last year they imported 4500 chests and 5800 -barrels; and in Liverpool, trifling as our import was, it amounted ,to 2300 chests, which is a moiety of the uumber of chests imported into London. As much has been said on the advantage which the Brazil houses would have if theie warehouses were built by the Duck Trustees, we may remark . that, if they were to charge the rent which they ought to do, and which must be charged on Brazil Sugar, as well as on other goods, if the warehouses were let to individuals, the Brazil importer would lose more by the rent than he would save by the cartage. - Is it not clear, that as long as Foreign sugars are subject to a prohibitory duty , and the - English.refiner is traminelled by restrictions which prevent his competing with the Foreign refiner, that Foreign Sugar will naturally go to the Continent, the place of , its consumption. without coming round by Liverpool (except rarely) to incur all tin expenses of lauding and transhipment. • Besides, London has local advantages, of which we cannot deprive her. She is so contiguous to Hamburgh and . Holland, that we cannot ac quire the advantages which she} possesses in point of despatch, freight, and iusurauce of goods shipped from London to H am burghs-hence the command of the continental trade must con tinue principally with London, and our distance from Ham burgh must continue to prevent onrsuccesSfully competing with London, even if we had warehouses built agreeably to the Dock Trustees' plan. The same argument would apply to Indigo, Fo reign Coffee, and other produce which is imported into England for the purpose of transhipment to the Continent. ;Having, now, I trust, removed the objection to the present warehouses, I will proceed to the other [whits connected with the question. The Dock Trustees say they intend to erect fifteen warehouses only, and that this is too small a number to cause any alarm, for if they did not build them, some private individual would build an equal number. These fifteen warehouses are to con taiu 35,000squj'e Yards*lvhich is equal to thirty moderate sized warehouses' of six stories high. Now, these fifteen thick ware houses will always be full; it is notorious that the present ware houseshave.been half empty, for six months, and what would have been their state, had produce covering 35,0(X) square yards been withdrawn from them, and housed its the dock warehouses, Which would.have. been the case if they had been now in exis tence? Were individuals to erect these fifteen warehouses the case would be very different, they would have to buy the land, prohably sell for nearly £lOO,OOO, as 17,500 sqeare guineas it square yard, would come to nearly the which would the buildina garde, ath,nin a t t ; five .an(l 8 might cost £100,000: thus .these . warehouses, would cost, when built, 000,000, which must let for £lO,OOO per annum, to pay five per cent. interest, or more .thau s £6so per annum f or eac h w a r ehouse, whicif u u s r e i t s y to general warehouse owners would not be underlet, and there' mould be a fair cowl ) t w h ° a u t 1 i d he'S 6'e e fifteen.a warehouses a re s h e o c etitien between all warehouse property. But should the Dock Trustees become the builders anti owners of these fiftesiti warehouses, what 'security have we that they will not let them for half price, and thus injure all other warehouse property in the town ?—because it will affect the rate of rents. We do not think it fair that such a body should have such power to depreciate the value of an immense property held by other warehouse owners. It is evident that the rate of rent must be dependent entirely upon the discretion of the Dock Trustees; and is that a sufficient security to the owners of the other warehouse property of the town ? Can it be maintained that the building of these Warehouses would not be a preach of public faith, al -lhougit. no sealed document can. be produced which hinds them not to build? But that,such a public faith has grown up cannot be denied; and the consequence of the shock which has been given to public opinion, by, the late resolution of the Dock C om mittee, may be seen by the depreciation in the price of land contiguous to the 'docks, and suitable for building warehouses upon. Let the valuation of such land be now made, and compare it with the valuation of a few months back, and I feel confident that the difference would be immense. This circumstance shows what was the general confidence in the non-interference of the Dock Trustees, and that a kind of deception has been practised -upon the purchasers of corporation au lds, who would never have given the prices which they have given had the Dock Trustees ever announced the intention of themselves% becoming builders of warehouses: - As they state that they may want more dock room. let them adopt the plan which has been suggested to the trustees by one of their own body, who clearly shows, by a pro per arraitSsement the present dock space is sofficieut to accom- - • modate all the shipping frequenting port. He shows-that the eel ships at any time in The port average number of square - rig; does not ',exceed about . 570, and that there is at preSent dock space for 850. If at any time complaint is made of a want of docks, it will be. found to apply only to two of the favourite docks, and if the trustees would examine the power which I be lieve they possess, Of dispersing the vessels over the different dosks, that at all times the present accommodation would be found sufficient : but let them enlarge the P r i n c es D ock , and convert the basin into half-tide docks, and additional accommo dation, perhaps to the extent . of 250 or 300 vessels, which the presentunoecupied space in time dock will give. room for nearly 500 vesselS more titan on an average are in the pot t. Fire has been dwelt upon ; but it has been answered, that in case of fire ' the vessels might haul off to the other side. Suppose the dock s to lie full; how are they then to, haul off? and they could not haul off except at high water; and in the event of fire the most . dreadful consequences would ensue. The despatch given to the discharge o - . . f is in London. has been urged as one of time vess e ' strongest reasons fur our adopting this satoe.system.s One,would imagine that Liverpool was one of the slowest 'wits' Of the*l4- dote in the discharge of vessels. and vet is it not notorious thttt the Atuericita4i.it4ets hay,. generally 'welt eel-brated for their quickness lellll,llll , hut I believe sonic , .4ettileinan ,tt the tneoting , vill enumerate instances of great des- - . patch in toe ilisejtar,ze v,sseis, showing that with proper ar 11111gOilents quay'aml on board t ht,ir St; Fps, : every ikSpaictii required may be obt•tioed. We admit that des patch iu the dtscnar of ships .rs desirable, but 'that it is a question • nut net:essarily connected with the building of new warehouses. ;The delay arises front other causes—front the en tries • not being - passed in proper time at the Chstom-house- - from the want of inure landwaiters, where there is a large in dux of vessels--from the limited number of working hours allowed. by the Custom-house; • and front the clumsy tackle used in discharging•the goot.ts. •Tnese are the causes of delay, and not any want of warehouses, for it will not be pretended, that when goods are once landed on the quay, that there are not carts enough to take them away as fast as landed. Great inconve nience arises trout the • length of time which outward-bound vessels are allowed to occupy quay berths during their progress 'of loading; to remove this objection, let a shed be built on the west side of Plince's Dock, fur the reception of goods intended • to be shipped on board vessels loading in that dock; when about halt the cargo is stored in the shed, the vessel may haul opposite to that part where the goods are deposited, and after taking-them on board, haul off to make room for another vessel; by this mode,,vessels loading will not require one-fourth of the quay room which they now occupy. The duck trustees should negociate with the Custom-house . for au alteration in the attendance of the landwaiters, both as to hours and number. of officers, and it should be considered whether Some remuneratiisti should not be made per package to the landwaiter, to stimulate his exertion in discharging the vessel quickly—it should be made his interest to discharge the vessel rapidly—at present, the industrious and indolent officer are equally rewarded. Then, as to some improvement in the construction of private warehouses, let the cot poration have plans of warehouses drawn by their own surveyor, combining every advantage of size, light, and every other accommodation which they may think requisite, and let them oiler some lots of theirland by auction, in suitable situations near the docks, adapted fur the warehouses. Let the conditions cf sale be, that the buyer shall build according to the surveyor's plan—thus will.the dock trustees enable the port to aequire that description of warehouse which they recommend so strongly. In proposing that private individuals shall build according to the corporation plan, it inust4te agrecd that nei,her the dock trustees nor the corporation shall themselves build warehouses, otherwise so few, if any individuals would venture to purchase and build on the corporation plan. If the warehouses are to be built on the very brink of the docks, so as to allow no quay room, how are vessels to be dis charged when the -warehouses are full ? Raving now replied to the different argumentsof the adyo -eutes of this projected plan,. and 'having,. I trust, proved that the building of these warehouses is unnecessary. I think just eause.has.been shown why the measure should be opposed iu parliament. Mr. WM. EARLE, Jan.—l would ask Mr. Bushby, if in his endeavours to ascertain points, if he has ever found this 'ilea-, sore . in.-contemplation by the old corporation ? There were souse very laborious exertions took place, I recollect some mer chants of Liverpool made great exertions. • • Mr. BUSHBY—.=Me.- Horridge presided on that occasion, and have made inquiries for him to get the papers relative to it, but have not '4uctteeded. Mr. MONTGONIER Y—l was one of the committee, and resolu, tions were entered into on that occasion to oppose the measure. Mr. Ha anotto- - -4 would beg to state also that a Mr•. Hume, connected . With the Board of 'l2ratle; - a great advocate for bonded warehouses, and+sr•ho has advocated the principle in London short tune afterwards when it was determined that these ware houses should not be built, a gentleman took hint round the docks, and he said after seeing such an immense muss of -ware. house property, he should never open his mouth upon the sub; ject again. Mr. MoNTGomkaY—ln consequence of what. Mr. Hume said, the warehouses were altered to the bonding system, and it was agreed that all warehouses built within 6UU yards of the docks should have the advantage of blinding system. lu consequence of that agreement, a number of individuals embarked - au mr• meuse SUM in 'the: erection of warehouses on the faith of teal promise. Mr. BIRKETT—I believe the papers were left with Mr. Hol linshead, the -chairman. • Mr. MoNTuosicitY begged to second Mr. Bushby's motion. The CHAIRMAN put' the resolution, which was unanimously adopted. Mr. lie LAM begged to move "that for the purpose of defray ing the necessar y expenees; a subscription he now entered into , and placed in the bank of Arthur Heywood & Co. subject to the resolution of the committee. Mr. War. EAKLE—I should beg before that is passed to know iu what way the subscription is to be raised, because 1 under derstand that some gentlemen last time • refused to subscribe guinea for the expenses of the room. It is unfair to pay for those. who don't choose to 'pay. lam quite wilting to pay my share. Mr. It:LAN—A very trifling rate Would do it. Mr. EARLE—But trilling as it is, I think if they will not come forward with their guinea, they will not pay. Mr. HARBoRD-1 beg to say, as treasurer , that 1 received sufficient to pay all expenses; and I. have been also spoken to by many of the warehouse proprietors, and many or teem have consented to subscribe 5 per cent. upon the rental, but I should think if we suberibe 3 per cent. it will he sufficient.' Mr. MONTGOMEn Y. —What would three percent raise? Mr. Hocsic.—lt would produce £7260.. Mr. MONTGOMERY. -1 hope that would not be required. Mr. HAIthOUll.-1. 1 it should not be required le,go to Parlia meut, it will be returned:to the parties subscribing. Mr. BoorrißY..—lt will always happen that some will not sub scribe; but , a sum of 1.:0000 or £7OUO will ceitaiuly be required if we go to Parliament, , V a ud those wh o put d o wn th e ir udaii 6 for three per cent, of cutuse, could not be called upon for auy further demand. • • Mr. HA 1:1.E.-1 merely object to the word " subscription," I would rather that there was a rate levied. Mr. 11A ItHORD.-4 oeg to state, that the committee thought of a per centage.;• but SSA'. thought it lather a delicate subject, and at the same time some gentlemen were ready lo subscribe more than three .per cent. : . • Mr; 1.300 , 1'H8Y:,--- , 1 think three per cent will be sufficient front the majority of •warehouse owners,-cud if the others won't sub scribe we can't help it, Mr. BARLR.—I only want to know what we are to come down. I have no objection to subscribe my quota; if there are individuals shanby•enough to leave us to protect their property it cannot be helped. Mr. 11,6teoiro.—I beg to state, that an indiiidual says he will give £5O, and it it should be required, though he can ill ali'ord it, will l i n n n:n 'ill t. .. u gi ß i t e: es tt A et g h to 111 r, nut to make ho ,t 1 aw e o t ula s e n . liberal tsubb ob servations, m ri ue aguinea the other day. ou sh t ri h r t t , e a n nt t i lLe l rate discussion, I move that a l of r. B t ( 11 1 ( r ) e r e 'l H per y. c— ent rents he sub m ribm d, mu the place of a subscription. - This was seconded by Mr. lal.ara, and The CHAritmAN struck out the hist part, of the resolution, relating to the subscription , and substituted the amendment fur it, and tt.was put and carried uuaninsously. Mr. MotsadostEtty rose to mauve as au amendment, that two and half per cent. be the rate. This motion was out seconded. - Mr. DovErt said, I rise sir, to give stinte.account of the ware honses in Liverpool. It was necessary that the public should be put in some measure in possession of the facts o r t h e case. The warehouses in tie town, it was well known, belong to -pri vate individuals in a majority of cases. (Mr. Dover, who was proceeding ,to read front a document, was here interrupted by) The CUAIRMAN, who said, Mr. Dover' had some very f m , portant.matter to read c which it was desirable should fora/ a part. of the proceedings of the meeting. Mr. BOOTHBY.-1 am fearful, if we get iuto a long essay on warehouses, there may be a difference of opinion amongst us'. • Now, agreeing as I do, that the bill should be opposed,Tmay:. not agree altogether in what Mr. Dove' is stating. In 1819, 1, as a Brazilian merchant,. feeling the inconvenience.-of some-, times two-lengths cartage to bond warehouses, was a party in the application ro the dock committee for the erection of such warehouses in the immediate vicinity of the docks, andthat application failed. Neith er the cor p oration nor the dock estate, nor the merchants gener all y , did su p port it. It was sup ported by a few, and I was one who applied. Now, the very circumstance of having applied at that time for the building of those warehouses, certainly commits me and others to what ' would have been a convenience to the trade of the port at that time. But it also furnishes a very strong argument against the corporation now going to Parliament to do that now which they refused to do some years ago. (Hear.) Because, by so doing, they have induced we and others to build bonded warehouses, perhaps on the corporation land,—(hear,)—compellin,g, us to build our. own warehouses or to take others on lease. Now, they say we see this ought to have been done twenty years ,ago: after inviting me and others to build , t h e y would now destroy our property. (Rear.) l merely wish:to show, that, having taken that former step, I cannot altogether agree with - Mr. Dover, that it will not be a convenience to the trade; but they are not for the sake of convenience to the trade of a few-iudivi duals, to sacrifice the property of the warehodse owners. The dock trustees mire the couservators of the property of the town, and they- have no right to consult the individual interests of persons like myself. No person can deny that it will be a great saving to the merchants to have warehouses close to the docks if it had been done originally; but not having been done, the corporation has no right to destroy the property which arose in c ß o o n Aoi s t e rh q b tl yi e s i i i: al . , e ,B . osiat ( Di ß (r e: Ai r .i . ) t r h . Chairman, h s . a ii , r i m n a g, n, w il e ft i e n r u h st av k in n Lii , ea th rd at w i l i mt ware houses be built by the town council, they must be adopted on some system. li they are to be carried on on the system ado:it ed by the poll of London, they would. notwithstanding what has been said of the port of Lonrho., be subjected to 101) per -cent. higher charges in many instances, at all events, not less than 2.5 per cent. if conducted by that united body. No,-f, com petition has brought things so low, I have papers in my hand, and find that the charges of the port of Liverpool, taking them generally, are lower than any other port in the kingdom,. but 'more - especially the port of London. I hear that the docks there ate of three times the extent that they are here, and are invari ably half empty, and that that, therefore, gives the greater fuel-. lity: I have made inquires whether it is general to have such facilities to have a cargo discharged in a few days, and they say, "it is only when our hands have nothing to do, when ad our hands are applied to the discharge of the vessels; if this was not the case, we could discharge no quicker than you could. Mr. Doyda.—l have been requested-to go into some particu lars by the committee. 1 am fully aware that they must be very uninteresting; but I beg to state that the charges brought avinst the warehouse keepers have never yet been answered, and I do say that they should be. Mr. Booinisy was of opinion they should not go into minor points, house owners, who had built on the fai th of things existing as but keep to the important o ne of injustice to the ware they are. This was an irresistible argument; but if they went into details as to the cost of a chest of sugar they should never all agree. - 1 ' Mr. MowrooriEßY miived that Mr. Dover should proceed. After a rather lengthy,-discussiun, in which Mr. DOVEIi said he had written out his statement merely to ensure accuracy on points of important information which he bad been re quested to get by the committee, and not from any difficulty its communirating his opinions in speaking. It was also contend ed by other gentlemen that it was important that these facts should be laid before the public through time medium of the press. Mr. Dover was requested to proceed. Mr. Doves said—l rise, sir, to give some account of the general management of warehouses in Liverpool. It is neces sary that some statement of the kind should be made in order that the public may be put in possession of a true statement of the case, and that they May be able to form a just : opinion of the differences that at present exist between the gentlemen for Ming-this meeting and the Dock Trustees. The Warehouses in the town, as it is well known': belong to private individuals, in the majority of cases, out of business ; lint some lielimg to merchants, who fill them with their own produce; in the former case, the warehouses are let to brokers and warehouse-keepers, the latter being a new class of persons that the great increase of trade in the port has given rise to — of which lam one and which has sprung up mainly within the c v t d i t l : a a . 4 t i t t e e . M last ten years; formerly the trade, so to speak, wasmarried on ital iu a sled by the brokers • but, latterly, " keeping warehouers" has be nof t es to it, many pon,..o ns i o n rg di e, : . i hh d ia u cv a hi l u s devoting their whole tine-fourth by the useraraots; one-fourth wg.ara e hina tbfl large the 1%1)1 THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD and one-half ,by ,tike yvt,trehonle i keepers. The system pursned by the warehOuse-keeoer‘ is 'this: in stone cases he lets out to the. merchants, tii ,WllOlll lie gives tip, pitsse . :q.jon of th . e keys; auit. ,in others, ho Bikes in goods, upon a weekly rent, Ity the packo , P. Li general he •is only the store-keeper, the inerch:iut doing all porterage, cartage, Sic., himself. The 1 1 11!,/ exception (as far as my themory serves) is in the case of tea, when, getter:illy, the warehOu,e-keeper does the whole work from the ship's side—porterage on the quay, cartage to .the warehouse, and pot terage, cooperage, laving out for sale, Ste , in the warehouse, for which and fur rent he receives a tixedsum rrom the merchant. It has been the custom, from the commencement, for the warehousg-keeper to be 'timely the store-keeper, with the fore going exception, why, I cannot say ; the merchant has been satisfied, and we have gone on in the old way; but latterly there has been some expression of discontent, especially on the London houses, who have—it- is natural—a predilection for the London system. Now this discontent is not general, and I give as my opinion that, if it were put to the vote, merchants generally would be against it ; and the Dock Trustees,will find . that, if they.sake the partial expression of dislike to our present system—of which we have heard so much of late—to be the getiefal. opinion, . they will .find themselves mistaken. The merchants generally have been taken by surprise•they have ' not had How to think about the. matter, and, at least, we may say that public opinion is not up to the mark that they have anticipated it—if you can correctly so speak of a thing that may , never come to pass. But, whenever the time arrives that it is the general opinion that the old system should be given up, it will be found that the warehouse-keepers will be very glad to come into the arrangement.' However, at this stage, I . hope the Dock Trustees will not take it amiss if I tell them frankly that the proposal must not. Come from them; it roust emanate from some other source; and, if I might be allowed to name that source, 1 should say the different mercantile associations in the town—that, however de sirous they may be to bring the system into operation, it will not succeed without the aid of these bodies. The arguments in favour of our present system are, that it allows every man to look after his own affairs, and do his own business, and some think, too, that it is an economical plan. Here,.Sir, -I must protest against the position that our oppo- - nents take against us. They say, you are interested in the question; we cannot attend to what you taay ;' your opinions are of no weight in this matter. Beautiful reasoning this! Who would defend our property if we did not ! Could we expect any one else to take up the cudgels for us if we did not defend our selves ? Surely not. We have a right to do so; if we did not, we.should be worthy of the robbery and wrong meditated against us. We should be out of the path of,duty if we did not. We owe it to• our families--we owe it to ourselves,' —nay, we have the authority of hs4 l st writ, that we. should 'be more than blameable if we did r.0t. 9 `.` He that provideth not for his own, and those of his own household, is worse than an infidel." Nor can we allow of the assumption, that the dock trustees are .qualified to be our arbitrators, for, from their almost exclu sive connexion with ships, they are apt to overlook all other in terests than that of the .ship, pwners. It is possible that self-in terest, love of patronage; 'Ur &Sire of change may have some ‘eight•in their deliberations... They have little or no interest in the warehou'ses ; :they, therefine, may risk their experiment: if it answers—well; if not, theyile no losers. - - We' object to the dock trustees building warehouses, on the ground, that they area public body, and that it is not fair for them, with the ~public money at thir command, to come into competition with private individuals Their powers are already Sufficiently great, tnonopolising the sole privilege of making docks:in the town, shutting out from that privilege the whole extent of the shores of the Mersey, from the sand banks of Crosby-to the rising town of Runcorn—from the bold shores of New Brighton to the fair dOmains of Sir Thomas Stanley at Eastham —all must bow before them. Now, Sir, are you pre pared to allow them to increase this almost unheard of monopo ly? -Is parliament prepared to increase it? Are the Cheshire members likely to increase? I should say nut. We.cannot meet them upon the same terms. If to increase the value of their estate, to allow, for the sake of argument, that this scheme would increase it, they are allowed to build ware houses, why should we not be owed to make docks? They m f t ay erect warehouses—we can claim the privilege of taxing them ; but if we were to make ks, we should be obliged to pay their rates. I say, on that ground, we are not on a fair fhoting. But, Sir, we object to their scheme of erecting ware -houses on another ground. Warehouses at present are over • done ; and as I wish to assert nothing but what I can prove, I 'have taken the trouble of extracting from the brokers' circulars the account of the stocks for a period of several years past, on the 31st Dec. each year. I have taken cotton and sugar as an example, forming, as they do, the bulk of our stocks, and they may be ' as an average of the comparative stock of other - produc :1827. i. - 828. COTTON -BA I.F.S. 1829. 1830. 1831. 1832. 313.000 293.000 203,000 258,000 212,0(X) 198,000 • 1833. 1831. 1835. 1836. 1837. .... .180,000 145.000 184,000 204,000 170,000 1328. 1829. SUGA I I 43 - 0. 1111 " 1831. 18.32. 1833 8,000 n ILOW 11,000. 10,500 10,700 10,500 13,000 /834. 1835. 183 G. • 1837. 9,000 11,000 17,000 7,000 These details are rather dry, but I think you will agree with me that it is necessary to go into them. We wish, Sir, to conceal nothing; we'are desirious to put the public in possession of facts that they may be able.to fiirm a just opinion of our case. From these tables, it will be seen, that in the article of cotton there has been a falling off in the stocks; that in the year 1827, the stock was more than double than in the sear 1837; and in sugar. the stock was something less; and it is a notorious fact, that since 1827 . the warehouses have increased one th 4; bat, it will be asked, are there not goods now stored in the town that we had not in 1827? to whirls we answer—yes—tea—but how many warehouSes does tea require? Why, Sir, not ten ware houses; there are not, at the present moment, more than six warehouses full with that article, and what are six out of about 1200 warehouses, for there are, at least, that number of ware houses in the port. A 'statement was put forth by one of our dock trustees, show ily? by the return of the increase of tonnage of vessels, that the trade of the port had increased, and hence their conclusion, that more warehouses were required. It cannot be denied, that the trade of the place has increased, but that has u.,thina to do with the warehouses. Warehouses ,are : affected, not by the quantity of goods imported, but- by the quantity stored, that if the imports were increaied.one hundred fold, but if the goods are not stored; or if they were stored, and did not long remain -in the warehouse, there' would be uo necessity for additional Warehouses. Independently of the result shown by my statement of the stocks, I way mention, that it is a fact well known to every one connect ed.with warehouses, that at the close of the last year, they Were not one fourth fell—that they have not been full for several 'l!eatt,t , pas t, - antlpthat; if nut - oue , tnore , is erected. there will be' rio'searvity fcirnseveral year s. to come. In one part of theyear'.lB27, - the'-Stock of cotton 4,50,000 bales, and, taking- into account the. increase of warehouses, we have now accometadation for 600,000 bales; that is, we have room for at leaStl,4oo,'ooo 'bales more than the stock at the close of the last 'ear. And if further proof of the abundance of warehouses is Wanted, it will be found in the prese nt low price of storeage; showing lB2s-it a i falling "ow off (1 " f r a t i n n ' : in cotton, for instan ce , th e. ren t was Id.. per bale, per - week in s cons e quence of thi s state o f t hi ngs to all connected with f 25 toe's'7;Peeerk e s e o n g t o , i ‘ t n v l haast will a b s ethe ware houses? ruin abcoltileTiiiii if some change does not soon take place. To the warehouse owner a falling off lu his income, aiready of a heavy percentage, and a further falling off if things do not speedily mend. Whilst to the warehouse occupier, his business, which for several bests has nut been worth following, will bring him, if he continues in it, to bankruptcy. Yet, in the face of these things, the dock trustees are about to erect from 20 to 25 new warehouses. Great stress is laid upon the saving of cartage,—now, sup posing that these 20 or 25 warehouses were to displace an equal number of the old warehouses, the saving of cartage would he about £6OO. per annum, but the loss of interest on the property thrown out of employment, would be £1,511) ; and thus there would be a positive loss against the public, of neatly £lOOO. per au 0001. • It will scarcely be credited that the amount of cartage in wards, that is, from the ship to the warehouse, on all produce, does not amount to £30,000. per annum : and if, by the plan of erecting warehouses around the docks,.the whole of the present warehouses. were thrown out of employment, and the cartages saved, there would be a loss against the public. For instance. the warehouses are valued at £200,000. annually, from which dedUct the cartage £30,000. you have a deficiency of £170,000. per annum; for surely the warehouse owner is as much entitled to be considered a part of the public as the merchant. But it will be said, that the whole of the warehouses will not he thrown out of use, but suppose half, then von have a loss of £85,000. or suppose a fourth, you have a loss of £42,500. Now take the advocates of the measure, upon the ground of their often re peated axiom; that " private interest should give way to public good" you have a result, in this case against themselves, that the measure would be against the public good.. • It is said, further, that there are .no warehouses on the dock quays,—now, if these assertions were made by persons not ac quainted with the town, or made to persons who were not resi dent. we should not he surprised, but, when they are made by those who are well acquainted with the localities of the place, and to those who reside in it, we are surprised. Why, sir, there are at least, 114 warehouses on the dock quays, on the east side of the Prince's there are 25 warehouses, 'George's - pock 32, Canning, Dock 15, Salthouse Dock 2 0 . King's Dock 17, Queen r 4 Dock 5; with space to erect three tunes the number, at least, -when they are wanted. Indeed, on the far greater part of the land the owners are tied down by the corporation to erect-ware- • houses, and warehouses only. It is further said, however, that there are warehouses required, for particular descriptiOns of goods, and great importance is laid upon the necessity of erect ing warehouses for Indigo for which, it is asserted, there is a great want. The stock of indigo both here and in London, on the 31st of Dec. last' was 26,00() chests, now, suppose we were to, get the whole of the Indigo trade, there would notbea'sufficient quantity to fill half a dozen warehouses; Indigo, however, being so valuable, cartage is no object, therefore, it is about the last thing for which there is a necessity of having warehouses on the dock side. We assert, .however, that there are already warehouses in which indigo is stored, and against which I never heard a tan gible complaint; but if there really ass wanting a warehouse for indigo specially, I have, myself, inure than one warehouse, near to the north docks, and to the Exchange, for that is re ally an object, as that article is viewed in bulk by the pur chasers; •I say, 1 have more than one warehouse that I sin ready to devote to that purpose, whenever it is required,—a warehouse, which for light and security, will vie with any ware house in London. The warehouse, of which I speak, was erected purposely for tea, but which, to my cost, tea has not ' been in for many months; the warehouse room for that as for every other article having been sadly over done. But, sir, if this is not enough, I beg leave to mention to you a circum stance that occurred a short time ago. . . .•._ A gentleman, having, land in a convenient situation, was about to erect a warehouse, and -thinking that one might he wanted for indigo, he called upon the itiiporters of that article, telling them, that he would erect a . watehouse for the reception of indigo solely, upon an improved plan, if they would patron ise it, asking them at the same time to sign an agreement. to that effect. But what was the result ? they all declined doing In corroboration of which, I. with your permission, will read a - letter which I received from him upon that sub . Jest. [Here Mr. Dover read a letter from Mr. Lancelot Graham.] 1 am afraid that I shall tire you,. but really it is very import ant 'that we khould•go into these details. It has been said by one of the Dock Trustees, that if you had warehouses generally on the dock quays . , you would save the expense of cartage, &C. on goods that were reshipped; at first this sounds very - plausi ble,, but when you conic to examine into the matter you find it not practicable; suppose, for instance, the goods were dying in the• P r inc e 's Dock warehouses, and the vessel was in the King's'Dock ; is it at all likely that she would haul out and run the risk of going down into the Prince's . Dock ? why the expense,- not to mention the danger, would prevent it ; the ex p-etse would be greater than the cartage Do the goods. If the vessel happened to be in•the same dock, tHi5 might, perhaps, be done—though I say only perhaps—as the inconvenience and even expense would nut be encountered readily by the ship. WV net.. But the chances are, the vessel wouht niit he in the same stork, as it will be recollected that there are ten different docks, having no communicatiim, one with another. But we are, haprily, in this case, not lef, to reason from theory. It is well known to all, the tobacco warehouse is on the quay side of the Kind's Dock, and, frequently, that article is ex ported or sent coastwise; and I have taken the trouble to as certain whether, in this case, the vessels do take in this article from the Kintes Dock Quay; and I find, that they do not; that tobacco is almost invariably carted from the tobacco ware house to vessels. The exceptions would not amount to 1 per cent. in '2O years.—l state this on the authority of an officer of the tobacco warehouse. • . Complaints are made against the systematic pilfering going on, as t hey say; in the warehouses,—which is not thtl case in Lon don. Now, for thesake of argument, admit that there is more pil fering here than in London; is it not notorious that the London chatges are higher than mars? and I think that it is more than probable that the difference will more than cover what may be lost by the merchant iu that way. But as a rule, Ido not admit that the pilferage here is greater than in London. Another charge brought against us by the Dock Trustees is, that we, as warehouse-keepers, do nut take any care of the goods put under our charge; and one,-an alderman,—went so far as to say, we were regardless of every thing except our own interest. In one sense he is correct, for if we keep in view our own real interest, we will look well after the property intrusted 4 f to us, and if he meant the assertion in that sense I plead ugly —meaning bat if his was, that we look after our own i a'est only, to the neglect of that of the merchant—in my case, or I can only answer for myself,--I must be allowed to say, unequi vocally, that it is not true. if I did not take care of people'S property under my charge, I should render myself liable for any loss, either from pilferage or otherwise. One alderman tells us that he has suffered loss from the in solvency of the warehouse-keeper, that his goods were distrained upon for the rent of the whole warehouse. But who is to blame for this, surely himself, he should be more paTticular as to the person to whom he intrusts the charge of his property. The same thing might happen to him in the case of his broker, or ally other person whom he might employ. But if it is.the general feeling that warehouses should be put under the management of companies for the better security of goods, there-can be no objection to it on the part of the ware house-owners. Mr. BIRKETT said he would read an article from a news paper, (the,. London and Liverpool Price Current, of April 27th, 41:6,) stating the reason fur the decay of the port of London:— ?.711!!‘'A second cause of this decay is, that merchants in the out ports have greater facilities and advantages than merchants have in this port. There a merchant has his own special bonded warehouse, and can warehouse his own pro's, which must be a great rantage and a saving of expenses in rent and charges; here we have little else but docks; and our merchants are subject to all the rent and charges which such establish ments exact. - Formerly, most merchants had their special 'bonding warehouses, but they have been discontinued for the protection of these great dock companies. " A third cause is the high navigation charges and port dues to which merchants are liable here. Look at the 'charges all the way up the river, and look at the port charges here, and if compared with those of the outports they will be found to be much higher. This will be found to drive trade away, for men will go to the cheapest port; and hs railways are now in-pro gress to transmit goods'all over the kingdom, obstacle - BWhich be_ fore existed to going to these ports are removed and rethoving.' , Mr. Haanotto next rose.and said,—now, gentlemen, you have just beard sonic of the' statements of the London merchants read; they are discontented with their arrangements; I think when I come to show you, that our charges are less than the charges in London, we shall be satisfied to remain as we now are. I beg to state that the measurement of the London Docks are 1,221,049 square yards, and Quay room of 21,796 yards. lu Liverpool the dock space is 417,625 square yards 74,060 yards, making in London, three times the extent of dock space, and twice the extent of quay room. In the West India docks I made the inquiries there of some practical men, and they said it was by no means that they did business so quick as we Liver .pool folks presumed, that we .were a sad grumbling set, though they should by no means like to do business in the same petty fogging way as we do here.—lt was anticipated that-St. Cathe rine's dock would yield a very handsome per ventage, but the original proprietors don't receive above 2to 2 per cent. on . their investment, though those who purchased below par re- ceive 4 per cent. I shall show that the merchants having these dock-warehouses, have to pay, to use the vulgar expres sion, "through the nose" for their accommodation. I have the account sales of a Liverpool house, and when I give you the figures you will see how the matter stands—for as Liverpool folks, we know what figures are concerning pounds, shillings, and pence. In the article of tea, I hold in may hand the account sales connected with a Scottish aud Liverpool house. A vessel went to St. Katharine's docks, and bad on board 8,500, chests of tea, the charges on which amounted to the enormous sum of £2,095 6s. Od. Mr. BIRKETT.—Does that include duty. Mr. 11 A RBOILD.—No sir, it is merely manageinent of the docks and charges. Mr. BOOTHE v.—Does that include all brokerage charges and so forth ? Mr. R SOU D.- I will read you the charges. Management rate Extra coopering materials Warehouse rent 3 0 ,4 10 9 2,095 6 0, Mr. BooTnnv.—The warehousing appears to be £3Ol. Are the merchants obliged to have their management ? Mr. Bilt K ILTT.—Yes. that is what they complain of. Mr. Hat: noun.-1 now give you an account of the sales of some teas landed in this port. There were 3,139 chests of tea, managed in the same way as that lot I have just mentioned, which only amounts to the small Suns of (exclusive of the dock and town dues) £3lB 7s. 6d., making a difference against Lon don of 200 per cent. Mr. Dovca.—For the same time? Mr. Anrsoun.—Yes, for a similar time; for rent and for doing the same things; they are exactly upon a par for the mana , rement and for the rent. In addition to that, putting on one side these sales' accounts, I have the printed documents here of St. Katherine's Docks, showing what it is per cent.,.and, with the printed rates of the Katherine's Docks, taking. it per chest, it is just 200 rer cent. more than Liverpool. Mr. Boortin v.—Allow me to state that.the dock charges in clude the expenses of re-shipment, and therefore the charge made to the seller may also include charges which might attach to the buyer. Mr. H Amon.---I am fully aware of it, Sir. The charges mentioned here do not form any part of those charges. The Liverpool management is three-eighths of a penny per pound, and we deliver to the purchaser the same as they do in London. It - is on the seine principle as in London, and my charges are less than London by 200 per cent. The St. Katharine's Duck Ciimpany's charge for management, landing, warehouse rent, s ett i ng o ut for sale, &c., is no smaller a sum than 6s. Bd., for a bohea chest'oi tea, and is. additional if shipped. Now these documents are available to any gentleman who may wish to see them, at my office; they are par a ll e l cases w i t h L ondon. 1 give you the charges on \Vest India sugar —the sales' accountof 'lOO hogsheads of sugar in London. The charges amounted to £soBs. Bd. The parties were desirous of ascertaining, what the charges were in Liverpool, and the following is. the re sult :—ln•Liverpool, the charges on 100 hog, , sheads of sugar. re maining in the house three months, amounted to £3l 18s. 6d., making a difference in favour of Liverpool of 15 per cent. Mr. THOMAS FREME.—Does that include cartage? . . Mr. 0 A RBORD.—Yes sir; it is the whole expense the Hier- Chant W0.11(1 have to incur in Liverpool, and the whole he would have to incur in London. This is another glarin , Net. because this information was obtained in consequence of the dissatisfac tion as to the charges of Liverpool, and the party obtaining the particulars contended that the cha,g es in• London'were mode rate, and * t hey were enormous in Liv er p oo l: and would not 'submit for ' until after an investigation. He took a cargo of .Maurit t gar, and compaied the London !rites on it with those of erpool, and said, after trying the expbriment, “ We have Mauritius sugar 15 to 20 per cent. lesili Liverpool than in London, and .Molasses. 25 per cent." "This I have front a very respectable broker in this - town, who is ready to prove the fart if needful. I wrote to Bristol for the charges there, and obtained rather a laconic reply. The rent upon sugar in Bristol, is, in some cases, from 50 to 70 per cent more than they are at this port. Say, 4s. 6d. per hhil.; 3s. 3d. per tee. ; Is. Id. per brl., fur three months, and we think ourselves very well off if we get Is. 9d. per hhd. (Hear.) I think this information will be satisfactory to those gentlemen who are in terested in warehouse property, because it will show that there is no just cause for complaint. I have also investigated into the Hull Dock charges. Here I have a list of their rates and 1 find in no insta.ncedo they manage their business at a cheaper late than we do. Now there is a mixture of interests. I he Dock Committee take part of the management, but if . the suer chant wishes,. he can have the management of his own business. It is not a port we can quote; but looking at the rates, the charges there are not less than those of LiverpOol; although, be it remembered, that trust is assessed very heavily for the re lief of the pour. In addition to which, I also made an inquiry as to the length of time it took to discharge a vessel of 100 to 150 tons, and was informed, it would take from four to six days to discharge a vessel of that tonnage in Hull. I have also been requested by the committee to state the despatch given to borne vessels in this port, and, in addition, to show the cause or causes for some of the detentions which have occurred. The l'hcenix cargo was landed here not long since in five days. belonging to Messrs. Strands. It was a general cargo from Calcutta; the same was landed and weighed in that period, (not as they do in London,) between 8 and 9,000 packages, besides [putting 30,000 bricks on board towards her outward cargo. The Brilliant discharged, as we a-e aware, through the medi um of the press, not many days since, about 550 packages of West India sugar, coffee, and rum, in the short space of twenty hours,.which is as much as they can do at London docks, all of which was weighed, and sampled, and - ready for sale.. Now, I have particulars .of three other vessels discharging in Liverpool. We have often heard of detention; and it is a great pity when we have heard so many accusations of those in the town coun cil, who must have been ignorant of the trade of the port, if ,a worse motive has not been the instigation, or they would not have made so many unjust accusations. A friend of mitre, who is owner of a vessel which arrived here nut long since, with a cargo of fruit, and who had an export cargo ready for this ves sel as soon as the import cargo was delivered, this cargo was kept. one month on board, while the merchant or dealer was hawking the samples about to sell the cat go, and thereby making a warehouse of another person's vessel. Now, the warehouse keeper cannot be blamed for that. The cargo has never gone into a warehouse, but,th vessel has occupied dock space, and created detention to O H m W' • essels. I have another friend who 4 ,, is part owner. e catty e re with a cargo of wheat, and though entitled to demurrage . ' he never got any : he was kept here a mouth, when his vessel might have been discharged in four days after her arrival here, therefore .no fault could attach to the. warehouse. keepers in this instance. We should have been glad to receive the cargo into the warehouses, for we should have had the best part of a month's rent, which •yre have, course, of lust. (Hear.) Another friend of mine, who was also inter-, ested in a vessel called the Manly, front Monis - emit, discharged from her 308 hogsheads of sugar in the West India docks in the usual way so termed, and she was fr, m the 13th to the 16th of March discharging her cargo. I think we can manage as much, if not more, in Liverpool. I have another vessel dis charging in St. Catherine's Dock. Mr. Ilarbord then read a letter from a friend stating that in answer to his inqUiry, from 4 to 500 packages had been discharged in two days. The delays were considerable, and it was three weeks before they-could ob tain an account of the cargo, which prevented them making sales and settling freight. In Liverpool you are aware that 9 days are sofficient. Twere is only one subject that we have to . grapple with here, and that is we are told that we detain vessels in Liverpool an enormous time, and invariably keep them the best part of a month. I heard a gentleman .complaining of-a vessel, and I took the trouble of searching the whole of the do cuments about it, and I found, although it was stated that she was detained in Liverpool '29 days in discharging her cargo, the fact was, it was Only 16 days, and if they had haul covered vans, the custom-house °Meetswould not have prevented them taking part of the cargo to the bonded warehouses, where the goods could have been weighed and sampled, and she then might. have been discharged in 4. or 2-thirds the time. I found she was boarded on the 21st of Nov..and. reported on the 23d. Now this unfortunate vessel we ale accused of so 'detaining had not at this time got round We rock. They had dated the detention • from the time , . . . . - . - . • -4•,.-. - ~-,,,„, , ,st.vf:!•\ . . ti-v. tide waiter was p .. put iirt board. Ihe vesiel4:44artg - fr r . - fir• , ;,)„, of water to dock till the `.3714,. load dant , - :it*Owiliit.‘. - 4 .••.. latolin,..; .salter and quay berth two da9p•4ur • aridiOLf.;tbW.,:l , ,"7:: T el, cargo wa, delivered it took imtli;erdav filf - loi ir t v t t ryieairiltg 10.•-•-•'"/ days for tile discharge of the ciii-g;1", - "irtfli'll it -. taightititirts , , , been reduced to , oue half of I hat time if we tikaAiltaif - oyereik vans and conveyed the cargo away the same as teß:,:t *jive do : " statement of the charges upon 100 chests of indigo it . udon-. ) ) 1_? at 19s. 6d. which amount to £97. 10s. and in Liverpool I would , . be just £5O. this is 100 per vent. in la‘ - rour of Liverpool. I think: if after th:s Mr. Benn is so much in favour of Loudon, he can' not do better thau go. there altogether. 1 have been informe.i of another rapid discharge of cargo,in this port since those t mentioned: the Gipay discharged 6400 chests of tea and 100 boxes of silk in 23 hours. ! • ' _ __ Mr. SAMUEL flobsre said—l have . been requested, Mr. Chairman, to attend here this day by the -committee, but the proceedings have been extended 31 , much by the necessary de tails, that I shall nut occupy your attention long. I believe the question is one of •more- than ordinary importance. I don't know, in all my experience, that I Have ever attended a meet ing in which questions of more primary importance have been brought forward. It would be quite hypocritical in me to say that I have no, personal interest in this matter, for now I do that which I believe to be the right of every man, endeavour to protect my own property. 1 wilt yield to no man in my desire to see my native town progressing, and - every facility given on behalf of commerce ; and when necessary for the to make a' sacrifice fur the 'iodic g ood, I trust I shall be always ready to do so; but when I find a measure brought forward which un settles mortgages, and in which faith is broken with, owners and lessees of warehouses, without any fair equivalent, I must op pose such a measure. I believe the Seundation of all property, to be lasting must be based on the principle of justice; for whets a measure is propounded on the principle of expediency alone, it ought always to be looked on with jealousy, for it is alwaye liable to suspicion. -The dock trustees intend building fifteen warehouses, but can they stop there? Will they pledge then: selves that they will stop at that number? I apprehend not,. sir. When I sin told that the average number of vessels discharging in the port of Liverpool is generally from two to three-hundred, and when I tied that only fifteen merchants' eeuld be accommodated at one time by the warehouses to be built, I ask if the remainder of the vessels to be discharged' are to wait for the accommodatiou, because if that is to be the case, it will unly• aggravate the evil which this measure is pro posed to cure. If you adinst the principle that the Duck Com mittee have a right, wielding the public funds, to compete with' individuals, the elan must be extended, and it is ridiculous to. say that they 'wilt stop at erecting these fifteen warehouses. think it is wrong id principle to compete against private indi vidaals. It may be sport to them but it is death to us. It will establish a monopoly—it will lessen the value of the great bulk. of property— it will be a breach of faith—and I think the Dock Trustees . would-he much better employed than in parliamentary' litigation, and in endeavouring to ruin a great portion of the warehouse owners in the town. It will fetter instead of setting free the operations of commerce; - and I am really surprised than gentlemen who came into power declaring that trade and every thing - shouldhe free as the wind, can yet sanction a measure which will shackle that trade. (Hear.) I trust that those gen-' tlemen• who are proposing that measure will never again, for consistency's sake, : rail against the privilege of the East India - Company, or the monopoly -of She Bank of England. It will lesseu the value of property; •and I state from my own know ledge that 'sales of land are almost at an end; a difficulty is found in . borrowing an equal sum .-to that advanced on warehouse 'property ; and a state of distress Will be the conse quence. .1 o s.ty that much' of this is imaginary, and that those warehouses cannot to that mischief—but will they hind themselves to those? No, sir, the wedge most be inserted at the 'thinnest point, and it will afterwards be driven home. It' ought to he resisted at the-outset as a vicious principle; the doCk committee have no right, as a public body, to compete with private individuals; it they want sheds, let them have thgin, and no oue will object. I believe £2O or £30,000 have aieaily been expended by the dock trustees to give that accent nrodat ism which the merchants seem to•want; but if they go on with the system of warehouse building, the whole of that sum ot money would be thrown away, for'the whole of these sheds must be razed to the ground. (Hear.) F contend that lam very near the amount, when I slate that the value of the warehouse property of Liverpool is about £4,150,000. I have made this= calculation of the value of property before this measure was proceeded with; but if this. measure be carried on , I have ura hesitation in sa)ing, that instead of four millions the warehouse property of Liverpool would not letch three. Very near two millions and a half of this is mortgaged. The warehouses are; worth more than three times as much as the Liverpool and. Manchester Railroad, the mortgages are about double that amount, and the whole of this property is to be lessened, and for what purpose? for carrying out what may be a speculative theory, and not based on any good foundation. Now, sir, there was one gentleman in the emitted who stated that he was a ware house owner, and was nut against the measure. I entertain for him the highest respect. I believe he, is not a very extensive warehouse owner, when I state that he does not hold more thatx one or two warehouses. I am informed that this gentleman' (Mr. flornhy) was obliged to lower the rent of one of his warehouses in the Goree Piazzas limn about £3OO to £l5O. Mr. Horne then proceeded to state that viirrehouse property' was generally depreciated in value. They had erected some warehouses in Great Howard -street, which they had been' obliged to let at a greatly reduced rent. Corporatists land had been recently bought by gentlemen by auction which, if now, put up would nut fetch two-thirds or what the Corporation paid for it. He had himself bought sonic hind near the Queen's' Dock, for the erection of warehouses, for which ht had given: £3 per square yard, and he would not now give more than , 30s. a square yard. Mr. Alderman Evaus, who might be called the father of this measure, ha I talked of laud in Bath-street selling at £1 per squaw yard. Ile believed that was a mis take. Ile remembered Bath-street for twenty years, and never remembered lifud selling there for less than £5 a square yard. He did not believe that land there, which Mr. Aldei man' Evans said was worth £l2 per square yard, would new sell for £B. He thought. if thismeasure of the Dock Trustees were per severed in, the warehouse owners would be entitled to compen sation, and the Dock Trustees ought iu common justice to com pensate them. If this measure w ere carried it would increase the rates of the shopkeepers and the town generally, because the rents of the warehouses must come down, and they paid one-fifth of the parish-rates ; the warehouses, at lowered rents,. could not be assessed at inure than the rack-rent, and the additional tax would come upon the shopkeepers of the town. If the Dock Trustees were too plethnric of money, and did nut know where to lay it out to advantage, there was au opening fur them at the west side of tho henhouse DoCk. At the• west side ,of Wapping, there was nearly 40 statute ttereA• of land close to the Custom-house, and in a very advantageous , situation, which nobody seemed to think of. If a company 'of merchants were to purchase this land, the site of the present Sallhouse Dock, and a large quantity of land which forms an eddy in the river, and created an injurious depetite, 'two parrallel docks might be here built, and a 40 or 50 horse power steam-engine erected at each end to o 'iriis(Lint char l ss it e i th h e is, v b e e s c S a e u ls se b a y steam; and he could trot see any de number of individuals would then compeKAithliudividdala. Mr. Holmes concluded amidst general applaite. Mr. Dov Er. stated, that complaints had beitr made that Lon don possessed superior advantages to Liverpool, in allowances being made to wine-merchants and others, for deficientes - : iu strength in their imports. He had no doubt, it 'strung Tepse sentat ions were made from Liverpool, thatihe same allowances would be made to Liverpool. On the mot; , un of Mr. Tirofass FRENIE, tiseete of thanks was passed to Mr. Harbord and Mr. Dover for their strenuous ex ertions on behalf of the warehouse holders; and on the motion of Mr. Thmnas Freme, seconded by Mr. John Leyland,4 vote of thanks was given to the chairman for his conduct in the chair. Tne meeting then separated at shortly before four o'clock. TRADESMEN'S CONSKRVATIVE ASSOCIATION.—The monthly meeting of this association took place last evening, at the, 'York /lotel—lt. Gladstone, Esq., Vice-president, in the chair;;; who commenced the business by introducing the names of 48; new members. The chairman. in a very able speech, brought forward several subjects for the future consideration of the members. The meeting was also addressed by Mr. Cooper, Mr. T. Glazebiook, Mt. J. Parke, Mr. Penington, and Mr.• W. E. Gladstone, who made some excellent remarks upon the utility of such a society. it gives us great pleasure to witness the steady progress of this body. The admission of new mem bers upon the two last occasions, amounted to 107 persons. CHESTER THEATRE.-Mr. Raymond commences his Spring citnipaign at the above theatre on Monday next. The principal piton of the Liver company are engaged. • BURGLARY. —On Saturday night or Sunday morning some thieves effected an entrance into the house of Mr. Myers, at Aigburih. They succeeded, we are sorry to say; in obtaining considerable booty. They got in by the back kitchen window, and carried off a gold watch, a considerable quantity of plate, and about £5O in money. I-AVM:1'001, RIDING SCHOOL—In compliance with the re quest of Nimrod" we have inserted the letter of "J. M." which appeared originally in the Mercury. We are equally surprisettwith the writer that no adequate encouragement has been hitherto given in Liverpool to the establishment of a riding school. We understand that Mr. Smith, of Lime -streets is the ouly professed riding master in the town, and that, although his 'style of riding is acknowledged to be fitst-rate, he has nut met with that support to which we believe him entitled. It is to be hoped that this stigma will soon be removed from the character of our " good old town." LONDON AND RIRIDINGII.AM RA itwAy.—The number of pas sengers taken hem Birmingham during the second week was One.half greater titan that of the first ; and we hear that one or two additional trains will shortly be started, to provide accom modation for the increasing traffic. Under this arrangement, the Lancashire passengers will be forwarded at au cattier hour, allowing only such an interval as will be desirable for refresh ment, after a journey of nearly five hours, and previously to another of nearly nine more. The passengers have lately been intituully transferred from and 10 the respective stations of the London and Grand Junction Companies along the tine of com munication, with their luggage.—Birmingham Derail. DEATH OF THE.DOWAGEH COUNTESS OF WAHWlCK.—llen rietta, the Countess Dowager of Warwick,Flaughter of Richard Vernon, Esq., 'by Lady - Evelyn Gower, seventh daughter of John the first Earl of Gower, and widow of John the first Earl of Ossory,) died on Friday last, at her residence in Brighton, after an illness of considerable duration. Her ladyship was born iu August, 1760, and consequently in - her 78th year. , • MELANCHOLY EVENT.—Au inquest was held on Thursday last, at the Angel Inn, in riacup, on the body of Grace Law, 9 weeks old, who was smothered in a tutu-up bed. It appeared that the father of the deceased, who was a shoemaker, and worked in the same room where the bed stood, before commencing work On Wednesday morning put the bed up, not knowing the child was there; anti it was half an hour afterwards before the mo ther discovered the fact. When taken nut, it was quite dead. Verdict, " Accidental death." • THE LATEST Gossip.—lt is privately whispered, (hate cer tain Young actor, who has recently been highly successful in histrionic assumption, is the most likely person to win the heart and hand of a certain young lady,, whose tecent immense acquisition of a ealth, owing t o t he death ',fa celebrated duchess, has excited so much sensation in the great world. It is well . known that the lady has added the tiagedian's name to her visiting, list; and we are given to understand ; that, one even ing, a p a tty was given by the parents of the young heiress, to which moans' fashionables were expressly invited for the purpose of being introduced to the successful astor. The report goes,- that the wedding will take place at the termination. of the gen tleman's present engagements.— World of Fashion, DEATH OF A Cow c INTOXICATION.—Last week Mr.. Castle, farmer, of Nortillionrne, whilst brewing some strong, a le, left a portion of it in what .is called the well lodge. to cool.. when one , of the cows got front the farm yard into the place,' and drank so plentifully of the potent beverage, that she was shortly taken ill.; a farrier was sent for,• who administured the , proper remedies, but to no effect, for in a few hours the peer tiniinal died in astate of intoxication, a warning to drunkaids.— K e ntibh.Chruniele. . • A CAUTION TO MOTHEES.—On Monday morning the wife of Joseph Hudson, a weaver, in George-lace, Middleton, had oc casion to go to a wedding breakfast, abouta mile from h-r own. house. -She took with her an infant, nearly four mi n hs old, wrapped up in a cloak; but nu arriving.at the wedding-house, she tound that her child, a fine boy, was dead—no doubt, in con.- sequence of her wrapping it up tit protect it from the inclemen cy of the weathet.—Chester Gazette. ,