The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-11 00:00:00

COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.

ONE of the chief reasons for which the privilege of
limited liability was accorded to joint-stock compa-
nies, was the facility which would be afforded to mer-
cantile adventure, and the impetus which would be
given to the employment of capital in opening up new
channels for traffic and developing resources for which
a certain amount of risk would necessarily be in-
curred. It does not appear, however, that very much
has yet been done to render the new law available ;
but this may be merely a question of time. Almost
the first announcement was a new warehouse com-
pany for the sale of manufactured goods, but as this
is a pursuit so efficiently carried out by private enter-
prise, there could not be much need of calling in the
aid of the new law for the purpose.
It is well known that while the colonies of Aus-
tralia constitute the great source of our supply of
Foreign wool, the manufacturing towns of Yorkshire
are the chief markets for its consumption, and yet,
notwithstanding the fact that Liverpool enjoys greatly
the pre-eminence in shipping, for speed, regularity,
and capability, and is at the same time much nearer
to the Yorkshire towns than London, the latter city
has by far the great bulk of the Australian Wool
Trade, the periodical sales reaching 80,000 bales,
whilst those in Liverpool rarely exceed 10,000 bales.
Indeed, so strong seems the current towards the Lon-
don market in preference to Liverpool, that thousands
of bales imported here from Australia are sent by rail-
way to London as the better market, to be again sent
a longer distance by railway to the Yorkshire mills.
It appears strange that, on a bulky commodity like
wool, the enormous expenses of transit for about five
hundred miles by railway should be voluntarily in-
curred, when the same goods, if sold in Liverpool,
might reach their destination in less than a hundred
miles ; and the fact itself suggests an advantage to be
gained, which would not only add materially to the
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The anomaly to which we have referred can only be
attributed to the enterprise with which the London
merchants have, in a measure, forestalled the Aus-
tralian Wool Trade, and, by liberally embarking their
capital, secured the greater part of the business to
themselves ; so that the large quantities of wool they
have to offer at their periodical sales, by attracting
greater numbers of Yorkshire buyers, induces more
competition. The London men have not, however,
such magnificent vessels as those which sail from this
port, nor have they the same regularity as is here en-
joyed by means of the " White Star" line and the
" Black Ball" line, which perform their voyages to
and fro twice a month, with unrivalled speed, and
with almost the punctuality of a railway train ; whilst
the manufacturers, in addition to higher prices, have
to incur the additional expenses of the longer transit
by railway. If, therefore, Liverpool does not enjoy
the business in Australian wool which it is obviously
to the advantage of both importers and manufacturers
she should enjoy, because of being opposed by London
capital, the remedy is plain, and suggests itself as a
field for enterprise to which the energies of a com-
pany, on the principle of limited liability, might be
profitably directed.
For the operations of such a company to be'practi-
cally efficient, a capital should be raised sufficiently
ample to secure, by prompt payment, all the wool
available in Australia, and contracts for freight might
be entered into with the several lines'of packet-ships
upon terms mutually advantageous, so as to secure
cargo for the vessels, and a regular supply of wool for
the Liverpool market. The abundance of supply
would induce a full attendance of buyers at the perio-
dical sales ; and, if the prices paid in London are
remunerative with so many additional charges, the
profits to importers in Liverpool must be still greater,
and at the same time more advantageous to the manu-
facturers.

Nor would the profits to the company, as importers,
prove the only benefit to the carrying out of the
enterprise, inasmuch as the trade of the port of Liver-
pool would be considerably augmented, in the increased
receipts for Dock-rates, Town-dues, Brokers' commis-
sions, ships' freights, employment of porters, and other
items which make up the profits of a trading commu-
nity. Liverpool ought to enjoy the great bulk of the
business in Australian wool, of which she has been
deprived by the more liberal employment of London
capital ; and the way is open, by using similar means,
which may, perhaps, best be effected by a company, as
the capital required would necessarily be large ; but
as so many parties would be interested in its success,
the inducements for the formation of it are so much
the greater.
India offers another capacious field for embarking
the capital of a joint-stock company, and rendering
the new law available for extending commercial enter-
prise. The vast resources of that immense empire are
capable of development to an almost indefinite extent ;
and though London has long enjoyed the largest share
of the traffic, owing to the operations of the East
India Company, which was once a gigantic monopoly,
there is no legitimate reason why Liverpool should
not partake of the benefits in a far greater degree than
she has yet done. There are many who look forward
to India as a source whence much of our future sup-
plies of cotton may have to be drawn, and whence also
we may at no distant time depend for tea, in addition
to various other commodities, which railway extension
in that country will tend considerably to increase ;
whilst, as a market for our manufactures, Liverpool as
a place of export has unrivalled conveniences.
One of the most important means by which the
trade with India might be largely extended would be
the establishment of a line of packet-ships, which
should leave this port at stated intervals, with the
same regularity as do the lines of vessels to Austra-
lia, and possess similar advantages in capacity and
sailing qualities. Regularity in departure would do
much to ensure freight, while the same regularity in

the supply of the markets in India would tend to
improve the value of the trade, by removing a fertile
source of loss from alternate glut and scarcity. If
sufficient capital were devoted to the extension of the
trade with India, Liverpool would soon prove a far
more formidable rival to London, and full employment
be found not only for all the docks on the Lancashire
side of the Mersey, but also for the vast addition
which will shortly be made by the amalgamation of
the magnificent dock property which has just been
purchased at Birkenhead. The rise of Liverpool in
commercial importance has been signally rapid within
the last few years, but its future growth will be still
more so, if the suggestions which we have thrown out
should be put into practice.