The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-20 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sia,—With reference to a statement in the Northern
Daily Times of this morning, that Mr. Sudlow is a relative
of mine, I beg to say that I am not in the remotest degree
related to or connected with Mr. Sudlow.
I would feel obliged by your being good enough to insert this
note in your publication to-morrow.--I am, Sir, yours,
Liverpool, Nov. 19, 1855. CHARLES TURNER.

PRESENTATION TO CAPTAIN DEVEY,
OF THE SHIP MERMAID.

ACCORDING to previous arrangements, a meeting was held
yesterday morning, at eleven. o'clock, in the Underwriters'
Rooms, for the purpose of presenting Captain Devey, of the
" White Star" line of Royal Mail clipper ships, between
Liverpool and Australia, with a testimonial. The object of
the presentation was to signify public approbation of Captain
Devey's conduct in respect to his having prosecuted his voyage
homeward from Pernambuco, in the ship Mermaid, in oppo-
sition to the injunctions of Mr. H. Augustus Cowper, Her
Majesty's Consul at the above-named port.
The meeting was numerously attended by the principal
merchants and ship-owners of Liverpool ; and among those
present we observed the following gentlemen, viz.:—
Charles Turner, J. P. Palmer, P. Rawson, James Beazley, H.
Halhead, Thomas Robinson, [jun., Thomas Robinson, J.
Pilkington, H. T. Wilson, Robert Dirom, B. Darbyshire, T.
M. Blythe,—Black, William Moon,Thomas Morris, A. E. Byrne'
T. D. Anderson, Martin, Sutton, Kirkby, J. K •
Rounthwaite, and P. Maxwell, Esqrs.
The testimonial, which was a very elegant set of breakfast
silver-plate, consisted of two massive salvers, a superb and
beautiful tea-kettle and stand, a coffee-pot, a sugar basin, and
a cream ewer, of the Watteau pattern, all elaborately chased
and engraved. [An elegant silver teapot, of a somewhat
similar pattern, had been previously presented to Captain
Devey by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Sidney, and the
other cabin passengers, who were conveyed to Melbourne by
the Mermaid on her last voyage outward.] Each of these
pieces of plate bore the following inscription :—" Presented
to Captain Edward Devey, of the ship Mermaid, by the ship-
owners and merchants of Liverpool, in testimony of their
approval of the course he pursued in prosecuting his voyage,
under the trying circumstances in which he was placed at
Pernambuco. Liverpool, 1855."
The plate, which had been manufactured by Mr. Mayer, of
Lord-street, in this town, was displayed on a table in the
centre of The room, and at a few minutes past eleven Captain
Devey was introduced by Charles Turner, Esq., chairman of
the Dock Committee.

Mr. TURNER then proceeded to address the meeting. He
said that, in.the absence of Mr. Mann, whoee health, they were
all aware, was in too delicate a state to permit him to be
present, and whose absence he extremely regretted, he had
been requested, as occupying the chair of the Dock Committee
to say, on behalf of the ship-owners of this port, a few words
to Captain Devey on this occasion. In doing so, (continued
he), I must say that I never appeared before the public with
more pleasure to myself than now, when about to present, in'
the names of the subscribers, to Captain Devey, a memorials
accompanied by this handsome present, from the shipowner
of Liverpool, as a mark of their high appreciation of the
ability, judgment, and firmness displayed by him in prosecu-
ting his voyage from Pernambuco to this port, under the'
very trying circumstances in which he was placed. Those
circumstances have been lately so fully displayed in the form
of a judicial investigation that I need not go into details. It is
not for me to make any remark on the conduct of Her Ma-
jesty's Consul in the Brazils ; but this much I may be al-
lowed to observe, that this case affords ample proof that it is
most desirable that the question of remuneration to be de-
rived from the misfortunes of shipowners should be in-
quired into, and the custom abolished, in reference to. Her
Majesty's representative at that port ( Pernambuco). Ido not
say that the consul, in this matter, has been actuated by im-
proper motives, or that so large a sum as £lO,OOO, ( and from
that to £12,000 or £14,000, which might have devolved upon
him,) had any influence upon him on that occasion, (A laugh.)
It must, however, have been observed from the investigation
that the remarks addressed by the consul to Captain Devey
were calculated to have a great effect upon a man of less firm- I
ness and judgment than Captain Devey has proved himself to
be. ( Hear, hear.) Had he yielded to those representations,
the loss to the shipowners and underwriters would have been
extremely heavy : indeed, there is good reason to fear that if
the vessel had once gone into port there, she would never have
left it again. ( Hear, hear.) With these few remarks, and
heartily concurring, as I do, in the universal testimony borne
by every mercantile man and shipowner to the integrity of
Captain Devey's conduct, I feel great pleasure in reading a
ot ewsitliemr
so /al
ni adl whichb
ehr as sobf etch'
ei vuenryd
enr numerously
s ss
iogc ni
aetdi o by.n . slhti pi
s-
as follows :

Liverpool, sth Nov., 1855.
To Captain Edward Devey, Master of the Clipper Ship

Mermaid.

SIR,—We the, undersigned merchants, shipowners, and
others, of the port of Liverpool, desire to convey to you our
hearty concurrence and congratulations on the decision which
has been come to by Captain Robertson, R.N., the Inspector-
General of the Board of Trade, and Mr. Mansfield, the
stipendiary magistrate, after the full and lengthy investigation
which has just taken place into your conduct, in consequence
of the charges brought against you by Mr. H. Augustus
Cowper, Her Majesty's Consul at Pernambuco, and now proved
to be unfounded.—Jas. .1. Bibby, Chas. Turner, Cunard, Brett
and Austin, P. Magee, John M. Walthew, G. H. Fletcher and
Co. John S. De Wolf, John Lockett, Thomas C. Wilson, N.
Waterhouse and Sons, W. P. Fernie, Samuel Bright, Thos.
Sands, James Aiken, James Beazley, J. R. Groves, W. J.
Lamport, T. M. Blythe, Thomas Harrison, Benj. Chisholm,
Henry Fernie, John Jardine, James Alexander,`James John-
son, J. Longton and Co., Joseph Robinson, Holderness and
Chilton, Rankin, Gilmour, and Co., David Jardine, Hilton
Halhead, Owen Jones, Henry Sharpies, W. H. Anthony,
Thos. Robinson, jun., John Farnworth, Miller, Houghton, and
Co., L. H. Macintyre and Co., Benjamin Derbyshire, Brice,
Friend, and Co., W. Sinclair and Co., Charles Moore and Co.,
Willis and Co., David Cannon, Sons, and Co., Andrew Byrne-
and Co., Geo. P. Oxley and Co., Charles Wigg, Edw. Higgin
and Co., Edw. Thompson, Dirom, Davidson and Co.
Having presented the elegant and valuable coffee service to
Capt. Devey,
Mr. TURNER continued :—I trust, sir, you will long enjoy
the approbation of your fellow-townsmen, as it has been thus
expressed, and that you will long continue in command of the
vessel in the navigation of which you have proved that you
are capable of attending to the interests of the mercantile
community. (Cheers.)
Captain DEVEY, in acknowledging this handsome recogni-
tion of his services, said he humbly thanked the merchants
and shipowners for their kindness, and the owners of the
Mermaid for their approbation of his conduct, which in them-
selves would have been ample reward for the anxiety and
misery he had endured on the passage from Pernambuco to
this port. He did not, he confessed, anticipate so valuable a
testimonial in addition to their approval. It was quite un-
looked for. In the course he had adopted, he had nothing
more in view than the proper discharge of his duty, and be-
cause it was incumbent upon him to pursue that course. The
knowledge that he was discharging a duty had been the means
of carrying him through. (Hear, hear.) As the case had
already had so much publicity, he need not refer to the facts
as they bad transpired; but he would point to them as proof;
that it was the duty of shipmasters generally to use their own
discretion and judgment, and to do all in their power to attend
to the interests of the shipowner. (Cheers.)
Mr. TURNER requested to read the annexed letter which
had been received that morning from the manager of the
Western Insurance Clubs :
Topsham, Nov. 17th, 1855.
Captain E. Devey, Ship " Mermaid," of Liverpool.
Sin,—Although we have no Insurance on your ship, we feel
it a duty to acknowledge your praiseworthy conduct in oppos-
ing the authority of the British Consul at Pernambuco (a
andplace
bringingk known
yt
oo
mall h
iunderwriterst
onfothoerrioudsegftoinraitmiopno,sitthioenrs)
e.
by saving a large sum which must otherwise have been ex-
pended. As a testimony of the estimation in which we hold
your conduct, I enclose a cheque for £lO, which please accept.
I am, sir, yours, very respectfully, •
JOHN HOLMA ?f,
Manager, Western Clubs.
_

Mr. TURNER, in conclusion, stated that the underwriters with
whom the ship was insured had determined to present Captain
Devey with £l,OOO. This might seem a very large sum, but
when they reflected that the Underwriters had been saved'
ten, perhaps more than twenty times that sum, by his conduct,
on this occasion, he was sure they would feel that it was not
undeserved by Captain Devey.— (Cheers).
This terminated the interesting proceedings here; but
we learn that the Society of Underwriters in Glasgow, to
mark their approbation of Captain Devey's conduct, have
voted a gold medal to him.

COMMERCIAL and MONETARY NEWS.

MONDAY NIGHT.

IF the value of the Public Funds be taken as a
test of the state of public feeling on monetary affairs,
the week has been characterised by quietude, for the
fluctuations have been but slight, and prices have, on
the whole, been fairly maintained. This quietude
may be partly attributed to the uncertainty which
continues to prevail as to the turn which affairs are,
likely to take, so that most, persons are deterred from
speculating, either for a rise or for a fall in prices, and
something may also be attributed to the contradictory
influences which prevail. On the one hand, the speech
of the Premier at the Lord Mayor's banquet led-to
the inference of a continuance of the war ; and the
present high prices of foreign and colonial produce
will, no doubt, stimulate increased importation, and
thereby lead to a demand for money. On the other
hand, advices have been received of more than a
million sterling in gold being daily expected from
Australia, which, in the absence of further demands
from the continent, may tend to lighten the pressure
upon the Bank of England resources, and relieve the
Money-market. The accounts from Australia are also
favourable as to the further supplies of gold, and, as
in a short time we may anticipate a return through
the ordinary trade channels of the large quantities of
specie which have been lately sent abroad for the pur-
poses of the war, it is not surprising that considerable
doubt should exist as to the state of monetary
resources for a little time to come.

We have recently commented at some length on
the injurious influence upon mercantile interests of
the Bank Charter Act, which has been not inaptly
compared to a man being compelled to wear a suit of
clothes which were made for him when a boy. Were
it not for this, there would be nothing in the state of
commercial affairs, or even in the requirements for
the purposes of the war, to excite any feeling of appre-
hension ; but so long as the operations of the mercan-
tile community are fettered by restrictions which
were only meant to apply to a very different state of
affairs, there exists a grievance which demands the
serious attention of the legislature. On Wednesday
'last, the Governors of the Bank of England had an
interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in
Downing-street, and it is rumoured that the object of
the conference was to authorise the Bank of England
to increase their issue on securities beyond the present
limit of fourteen millions. By the act- of 1844, the
government is empowered to authorise the extension
of the issue to two-thirds of the amount of the issue of
other banks, which may have been withdrawn from
circulation either by failure or the substitution of Bank
of England notes. This amounts to about £700,000,
so that the increase will come to something under
half-a-million, a sum far too little to have any sensible
effect.

The Bank returns, published on Friday last, present
but few changes of importance. There is a decrease
in the stock of bullion to the amount of £65,196, but
as there is also a decrease in the circulation to the
extent of £333,765, the reserve of notes unemployed
has increased £238,740, so that the total is £4,883,205;
a margin which, in the face of expected receipts of
gold, might be considered ample for purposes of ac-
commodation, without imposing such heavy rates of
discount. The Bank directors may, however, have
over-reached themselves, for the returns show a de-
crease in private deposits and private securities of
upwards of a million, from which the evident inference
may be drawn that discounts are found easier else-
where than at the Bank of England. In the considera-
tion of this subject it must always be remembered that
the stock of bullion in the Bank is by no means a safe
criterion of the position of monetary affairs. An excess
is sometimes caused by a dulness of trade, and a de-
ficiency by increased activity, as well as by demands
for exportation ; while the latter may be influenced by
a fluctuation in the state of exchanges, which may be
merely of a temporary character ; and, at the same
time, it must not be forgotten that steam navigation
offers facilities for the transmission of specie which
were not possessed during the last war, and which
must materially influence the fluctuations in bullion,
as far as our foreign trade is concerned, as the cost of
transmission constitutes an important element in the
question.
The arrivals of specie during the week are estimated
to amount to about £300,000, and it is computed that
the exports are fully equal to that amount.
Business at Manchester has been tolerably active
during the week, the demands for export being to a
fair extent; and prices have experienced little altera-
tion, notwithstanding the commencement of a strike of
the operatives, which, it is hoped, may be averted by
a timely concession of the masters to what may be
owned a fitir request on the part of the men. In the
Woollen trade there is an average amount of business
doing, and late prices are firmly maintained. In the
Hosiery and Lace trades, though no improvement can
be noticed, there is a fair extent of business done, at
previous rates.
' The return from the Bank of England for the week
ending the 17th November gives the following results,
when compared with the previous week
Public Deposits ... g 3,605,358; Increase ... £235,374
-Other Deposits ... 11,166,069 ; Decrease ... 528,131
Rest ... ... ... 3,208,587; Increase ... 30,414
On the other side of the account :

Government Securities.. £10,124,848; Decrease... £76,428
Other Securities 17,879,564; Decrease... 475,984
Notes unemployed ...... 4,883,205; Increase ... 238,740
The amount of notes in circulation is £19,763,090,
being a decrease of £333,765, and the stock of bullion
in both departments is £11,234,438, showing a
decrease of £65,196 when compared with the preceding
return.