The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-29 00:00:00

THE SHIPPING INTEREST.

A deputation of the principal shipowners of the
port of London, comprising Mr. James Anderson,
chairman, Mr. G. F. Young, deputy chairman, Mr.
William Phillipps, Mr. G. Marshall, Mr. A. G. Robin-
son, Mr. F. Somes, Mr. W. H. Tindall, Mr. Clifford
Wigram, and Mr. Bonar, secretary of the General
Shipowners' Society, waited upon Lord John Russell,
at the Foreign Office, on Friday afternoon, with the
view of ascertaining whether her Majesty's Government
intended taking any steps upon the report of the Select
Committee appointed to inquire into the laws affecting
merchant shipping ir respect of reciprocity and belli-
gerent rights.
Mr. Anderson, Mr. Young, and otlief frrembers of the
deputation, addressed his lordship, and, having anded
to the inquiry last session before the Select Committee,
and to their report to the House of Commons, said the
object of the deputation soliciting that interview was to
ascertain Wuether her Majesty's Ministers intended
taking any action Up Apti the report, and, if so, of what
char/ter ; or if it was to remain a dead letter. The
committee, in their report, remarked
" Having opened our ports to the unrestricted com-
petition of all nations, it appears that, although many
countries have in return thrown open their ports to
English shipping, there are others that have refused to
reciprocate. France, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium
belong to the latter class; and the United States decline
to allow Dritish ships to participate in their extensive
coasting trade on both the Atlantic and Pacific sea-
boards."

On the subject of reciprocity the committee further
reported :
" The question of the expediency of requiring foreign
Powers having colonial possessions to reciprocate every
advantage to our navigation, which Great Britain has
accorded unconditionally to them, is one which demands
peculiar attention. The British shipowners, who carry
on the present restricted and scarcely tolerated inter-
course with the colonies of France, El,pain, and Portugal,
find their ships placed at an immense disadvantage in
the unequal competition which they have to encounter,
while they have the mortification to see foreign ships
resort to our colonies and secure much higher freights
than our own ships, when chartered to a port in
Europe."

The report also stated that a considerable amount of
capital was invested by British subjects in the ships of
Spain and Portugal, and added :

" Exposed to greater liabilities and enjoying fewer
advantages than a foreign European national flag, the
British shipowner is tempted to make over his property
to the flag of a foreign State, by which proceeding the
maritime power of Great Britain is, pro tanto, dimi-
nished."

The committee stated that the retaliative clauses in the
act of 1849 had remained dormant and inoperative, and,
with regard to the indifference which had been evinced
to legislate upon this subject, the deputation called his
lordship's attention to the paragraph in the report :
" There has, your committee regret to state, been an
apparent apathy on the part of the Executive Govern-
ment to deal with this important question. It is
admitted that nothing has been done to obtain reci-
procity from foreign States, and that no decided steps
of any kind have been taken."
The committee further expressed their opinion in the
report—

" That no country which enjoys the benefit of an
unrestricted navigation with Great Britain and her vast
territories, together with the incalculable benefits of
our great and inexhaustible markets in both hemispheres,
would for a moment run the risk of jeopardising these
advantages rather than cede a share of that domestic
and colonial trade and navigation which they still
withhold with a commercial jealousy unworthy of
enlightened nations."

After the expression of such opinions by the committee,
it was hoped that the Government would adopt some
steps with a view of providing a remedy for this unfair
state of things. As an illustration of the working of the
present system, the case of a Spanish vessel and an
English vessel of the same size trading from a port in
Spain to England was cited, and that the Spanish ship
would make £5OO more profit in the year from the
differential dues than the English vessel.
Lord John Russell inquired whether it was suggested
that the retaliatory clauses should be enforced.
The deputation said they did not ask for anything of
the kind. They did not seek for any retaliation. All
they asked was that 'her Majesty's Government would
exercise their influence in inducing foreign Powers to
reciprocate, and to give British ships the same' advan-
tages in forcing ports as were conceded the foreigner in
English ports.
The deputation then drew his Lordship's attention to
the question of belligerent rights at sea, which was one
of great moment to the British shipowner. The subject
had come under the notice of the committee, who had
reported :
" From the evidence given by various witnesses it
appears that at a recent period, upon a mere rumour of
war in Europe, in which it was apprehended that Great
Britain might be involved, American and other neutral
ships received a decided preference in being selected to
carry produce from distant parts of the world to ports
in Europe, whereby. even' in a period of peace British
shipowners were seriously prejudiced."
The committee also considered it their duty
"To call the attention of your hon. House to the
great importance of this queAion, which if not solved
during a period of peace may cause incalculable embar-
rassment at the outbreak of a war. It is, doubtless, the
prerogative of the Crown to initiate proper measures to
maintain the honour and guard the interest of the coun-
try in this respect. Your committee, however, cannot
but express their opinion that a compact like the Decla-
ration of Paris, to which a great maritime Power has
refused to be a party, may, in the event of hostilities,
produce complications highly disastrous to British
subjects."
The deputation, therefore, suggested that the Govern-
ment should deal with that question as suggested in the
report, for the outbreak of another European war
would operate most injuriously upon the British ship-
owner.

Lord John Russell admitted the importance of all
that the deputation had urged, but he presumed that
they did not anticipate that he would give an immediate
answer to the questions that had been submitted to him.
He might say, however, that they were matters that had
and would have the serious consideration of Her
Majesty's Government.
The deputation then thanked his lordship for the
attention and courtesy he had shown them and retired.

MUSICAL, DRAMATIC, LITERARY, AND

ARTISTIC NEWS AND GOSSIP.

The celebrated tragde'ienne, Mrs. Caple, better known
to the theatrical world as Miss Goddard, is now lying
dangerously ill at South Shields. Her health and
spirits have been gradually sinking ever since the death
of her late husband, Mr. John Caple, in June last, and
exposure to the recent severe weather has served to
accelerate the present attack. In the early part of the
week her life was despaired of, but, through the skilful
treatment of her medical adviser, hopes are now entec-
tained of her ultimate recovery.
Managers, says the Era, are now beginning to vary
their bills with additional novelty, and looking to
further attractions as the freshness of their Christmas
productions wears off. The approach of the London
season, which may be dated from the opening of parlia-
ment, with the return of many aristocratic families to
town, will further benefit the theatres; and:though the
competition for public favour has become greater than
ever, evidence is not wanting that, if some sufficient
inducement be provided, the steady patronage of metro-
politan playgoers may be calculated upon as surely as in
the dramatic days of old. It must, however, not be
forgotten that audiences are not to be satisfied with the
simple fare that formerly sufficed them. They require
now to be entertained with a true regard to the higher
standard of their taste, to be startled as well as amused,
and if literary excellence be combined with spectacular
embellishment, managers would find no lack of support.
Readers of Mr. Dicken's books, for whom his charac-
ters have been identified with the portraitures of Mr.
Hablot K. Browne, will receive with satisfaction the
announcement of Messrs. Chapman and Hall of a new
edition, in monthly volumes, of Mr. Dicken's works,
with the whole of the original illustrations.
The "Lounger at the Clubs" says:—Mr. Doxat, the
oldest London newspaper editor, both in point of age
and press service, has just retired from the Observer
newspaper. With this journal Mr. Doxat was connected
for the long period of 54 years and six months, a term
of service in an editorial capacity, it is believ( d, un-.
equalled in the records of English journalism. Mr.
Doxat, who, I am happy to say, retires in perfect health
and with a handsome fortune, was, in years long gone
by, the responsible manager of the Morning Chronicle,
fulfilling at the same time his editorial duties not only

in connection with the f• bserver, but likewise the En-
glishman, a paper long since defunct, but then enjoying
a❑ extensive circulation.

Great geniuses flower late, gossips the writer of
"Literature and Art" in the Illustrated _Yews. Sir
Walter Scott bad passed the perilous age of 40 ere he
became prolific in immortal fictions; and Mr. Anthony
Trollope seems to have waited for the cutting of his
wise teeth ere he burst on the public with a succession
of capital novels. The next ,literary venture of this
versatile writer is to be a serial story entitled "Orley
Farm," the first number of which is to appear on the
Ist of March, under the auspices of Messrs. Chapman
and Hall.

It cannot be too generally known that the restrictions
which have so long prevented ladies from participating
in the advantages offered by the Royal Academy of Art
Students have at length been withdrawn. At the
council in June last the best drawing sent in by candi-
dates for the studentship proved to be the work of a
lady, and on the recommendation of Sir Charles East-
lake she was at once admitted. Since then three other
ladies have been equally successfully. On Monday last
fourteen drawings were approved by the council, and in
this case also the best drawing was sent in by a lady,
who, with five other successful competitors, made her
drawing under the superintendence of Mr. Thomas
Heatherley, of the School of Art, in Newman-street,
the able successor of the late Mr. J. M. Leigh. All
impartial lovers of art must rejoice at the practical refu-
tation which the Royal Academicians have thus made
to the charge of exclusive tendencies, by this spontane-
ous recognition on their part of the right of woman to
be treated on an equal footing with men.