The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-19 00:00:00

Zbursbay.

On THURSDAY next, the 21st instant, at Twelve o'clock, at he
Brokers' Office, 13, Exchange-buildings,
1,000 Bags Bengal RICE,
Now landing ex Security, from Calcutta, west side Prince's Dclk.
Apply to T. and H. LITTLEDALE and CO., Brokers

THE

Kibtrpoot :-)tanbarb.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1856

THE LIVERPOOL TOWN DUES.

THE Bill by which the Government proposes ,o
legalise the robbery of the Corporation of Liverpo)l
is now before the public ; and, notwithstanding tie
ambiguity of the language in which the clauses ale
expressed, there can be little doubt as to the intentiot,
supposing the legislature to be weak enough io
consent to the spoliation at the bidding of an ur-
scrupulous Ministry. The bill professes to have fcr
its object the regulation of local dues on shipping,
but the mover attempted to persuade the House cf
Commons into a consent to its passing on the ground
that the intention was to relieve the shipping interes
from charges which pressed unfairly upon it, an(
his argument for the relief was founded upon tilt
assumption that the repeal of the Navigation Law:
has rendered it necessary. We may start, then, witl:
the objection that, however great may be the alleged
necessity for relief, it is not afforded by the measure
now under review ; and, indeed, so far from this being
the case, shipping will in many instances be subject
to higher charges than it is at present. It will be
recollected that, in making the statement upon vfhich
he obtained leave to bring in the bill, Mr. LowE said
that in every instance in which the higher duties
payable on any Foreign ship or goods had been
abolished, compensation to, the receivers of such higher
duties had been paid out of the Consolidated Fund.
He therefore proposed to relieve the Consolidated
Fund from such payments, by the abolition of the
right of the claimants, and in so doing took great
credit for his financial economy ; by which, without
additional charge, the Government would be enabled
to discharge existing incumbrances, and thereby
assist in effectuating the false pretence of relief. A
reference to the bill will show that this saving to the
state is actually at the cost of the interest professed
to be benefited. The twenty-seventh clause of the
bill says :
" The proprietors of any dock, pier, or harbour,
and companies, out of the profits of which a dividend
may be paid to the shareholders and private individuals
entitled by reason of a private proprietary right, may
indemnify themselves for any loss they may sustain
by the abolition of differential taxes and rates, and of
compensation therefor, by raising their taxes on all
ships and on goods carried therein by such au amount
as will produce an annual sum equal to the average
annual amount received by them as differential dues
and compensation therefor during the ten years end-
ing with the 31st of December, 1855."
We now come to the twenty-eighth clause, which
relates to the charges for rendering services to ships.
He says :
" All such pilotage authorities and other bodies cor-
porate, bodies of persons, and persons as have here-
tofore been entitled to differential taxes or rates, or to
compensation therefor, in return for services rendered
to the owners of ships, or of goods carried therein,
may indemnify themselves for the loss of such differ-
ential taxes and rates, and of compensation therefor,
by raising their taxes and rates on all ships, and on
goods carried therein, by such an amount as will pro-
duce a sum equal to the average annual amount
received by them as differential dues, and as compen-
sation therefor, during the ten years ending the 31st
of December, 1855, or equal to such less sum as will
enable them to perform the said services."
This, then, is the great relief which Mr. LowE pro-
poses to afford the shipping interest, and for which
ship-owners ought to feel so grateful to a paternal
Government. The Consolidated Fund is to be spared
from paying the amount which has hitherto been
expended as compensation for the abolition of differ-
ential dues, and the loss is to be made good by
raising the taxes to be levied on ships, and on goods
carried therein. This is, truly, an Irish fashion of
affording relief, and worthy of the profound wisdom
from which it emanated. Another alteration, of the
same character, is proposed in the 31st clause, by
which all exemptions of freemen, of any borough, from
local rates on shipping are abolished, so that this
class, being owners of ships, or goods carried therein,
are actually made subject to taxation.
Sufficient has been stated to show that ship-owners,
generally, have a direct interest in opposing the bill,
inasmuch as they will, in no case, be spared from pay-
ments to which they are at present liable, the altera-
tion being chiefly as to the appropriation of the money
received, and the mode of collecting it, while, in many
instances, they will be subject to higher rates. Liver-
pool, however, has the greatest interest in that portion
of the bill which proposes to transfer to the Commis-
sioners of Customs the right of receiving those dues
which have, hitherto, been the property of the Corpo-
ration. On this point every inhabitant of the borough
has a direct concern, so as amply to justify that indig.
nant protest against the projected spoliation which
will, doubtless, emanate from the public meeting about
to be held.

If the question were simply a deprivation of that
large portion of the revenues of the Corporation which
is at present obtained from the dues levied on ships
and merchandise, there would be ample ground of
complaint and of popular indignation at the fraudulent
pretence under which it is attempted. We might
lament the final cessation of all improvements of our
streets and public buildings, the termination of the
handsome surplus at the close of every annual account,
and even the prospect of an additional borough-rate
when expenditure for a public purpose became
inevitable. But this is by no means the extent of the
evil, nor the whole of the loss to be endured. It is
well known that, in order to carry out the many great
works of public advantage undertaken by the Corpo-
ration, and in full reliance on the honour of Parlia-
ment guaranteeing the security of property possessed
by every -right which can be conferred by the law,
large sums of .money have been borrowed, and liabi-
lities incurred, .-which, as far as the public creditor is