The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-19 00:00:00

likely they will listen to the capitalization— Council, we should probably have heard something
more about raising the cannel price of gas for
scheme.
What then will be done ? Will the 4,0001. per quarter or half cannel light. Still, in that gentle-
annum which, the London newspaper says, man's absence, it was well to hear from Mr.
America now pas in dues be thrown on British HIIMBEB.TSON, that Mr. SALISBURY had attached a
Y shipping and merchandise ?Is English to take condition to the proposed scheme of gam
the whole out of one hand and put it into the tion, to the effect that " the price should be raised
other to give Denmark " the staff of life, by which, to 55." It is well for the cononsumtheer toamalgamation
have this on
"as a nation, she exists?" If English vessels are to the authority of a leader
be piratically taxed when navigating the seas to side, as it will enable them to see what they have
support Denmark what becomes of her indepen- to expect. As the question now stands, however,
Bence, with which the British Bondholder is to we
fear e consumer and ratepayer d
s are oomed
sympathise so strongly ? The London Times tells us to ss. a thousand for a commodity which they do
that,—" There is nothing that excites so much sym- not receive—that is, cannel gas ; and whatever the
" pathy in the breast of a bondholder as the pros- friends of monopoly, with their extortionate prices,
"pect of the utter loss of his security, principal and may lose in any other way, we do not see what
"interest altogether." This is simply playing !s to compensate those who are to pay in hard cash
with the weakness of a limited class, and trying to for light. The next debate which takes place in
raise a mountain of interests where there the Council on t subject will, we think,
their
be a
is not a molehill of right, or a particle of warm affair ; buht,e unless the citizens put
justification,--except that " Denmark has shoulders to the wheel meanwhile, the amalgams-
" borne the crushing weight of an over- tionists will gain the day for monopoly, exorhitant
" whelming debt with the utmost dignity, prices, curious meters, and all that is delectableand in
" has always scorned repudiation, and kept faith connection with that modern blessing—good
" with her creditors to the last dollar," with the cheap gas light
money taken from British trade and industry ! A
swellmob's-man, who picks one's pocket, is gene-
rally a very dignified gentleman, scorns repudia-
tion, and would, no doubt, keep faith with his
creditors to the last farthing, if he was only
allowed to dip deep enough into the pockets of

THE

AFRICAN MAIL

PrAntourn, Tuesday.—The steamship Gambia,
Capt. Rolt, arrived here this morning with the mails
from the West Coast of Africa. She has brought
1,948 ozs. of gold, a full cargo, and 20 passengers,
among whom are eight distressed British seamen.
She left Fernando Po, Feb. 7 ; Lagos, 11 ; Acra, 13;
Cape Coast, 14; Liberia, 20 ; Sierra Leone, 25 ;
Bathurst, 29 ; Goree, March 1 ; Teneriffe, 7 ;
and Madeira, 11.
The coast waslhealthy, and quiet prevailed, except
at Cape Coast, where a disturbance had occurred
between the natives, 30 of whom were killed and
70 wounded.
The King was deposed, and had taken refuge in
the fort. The military did not suffer. The towns-
people had been fined for the riot. Trade was
dull at Lagos. Oil slow in coming forward,
although large quantities were in the hands of
traders. Her Majesty's ship Hecate had grounded
on Lagos bar. The Bloodhound left Fernando Po,
2nd February, to assist her. The steamer Puffin
was totally wrecked in endeavouring to recover the
Hecate's guns. Dissatisfaction prevailed at Lagos,
and disturbances were expected in consequence of
a resident having farmed for the King certain
duties imposed on exports.
Business was dull at Sierra Leone, and ground
nuts were scarce. The colonial engineer had died
a week prior to the arrival of the Gambia. Governor
Hill was still effecting sanitary improvements.
From Bathurst we learn that Governor O'Connor
was at Mearthy's Island. The Antelope left Clar-
ence en route for England, Jan. 31. The African
mail-packet Niger left Teneriffe March 3, outward
bound.

wayfarer,

a Americar

s have, howev

up in a prope

" nuisanc

spirit

and since
they have allowed Denmark, from the 14th of
April to the 14th of June, to abolition the Dues, it
would be well for our Government to wait to see
whether the United States are to be wholly freed
from their payment or not, before they sanction a
gross injustice being done to our shipowners, for
the benefit of the holders of Danish bonds ; and
whether Great Britain is to pay most dearly for
privileges which are to be conferred upon other
nations as a simple matter of justice, and without
the payment of one cent !

TPE Gas Quest:on is assuming portly dimen-
sions in Chester. Every meeting of the City
Council adds something to its gravity. At the
Corporation gathering held on Friday, in the
Exchange, these, among many other proposals,
were discussed :—" That the capital of the old
"company, after such purchase, should not exceed
" 50,000/. of capital paid up to the time of the
" arrangement. That the company should enter
" into an an obligation to supply gas to public and
" private consumers of the best quality, to be aster-
" tained by the usual tests. That the price of gas
to private consumers should not exceed 4s. 6d.
" per 1,000 cubic feet. That the charge for public
light should not exceed the sum specified in the
" schedule. That the company should, at their
" own cost, provide apparatus for ascertaining the
" quality of the gas, to be fixed at a place hereafter
"to be determined upon. That the company
" should not manufacture gas at the works
the Chester Company after a date
.‘ to be fixed upon. That the Council should
"have the power to test, by au inspector, all gas
That if the clear annual profits

meters

amounted to 10 per cent., or upwards for three
successve years, the council should be at liberty
" to re-consider the conditions regarding price, and
"to reduce it." At the first sight all these condi-
tions appear very straight-forward ; but it is difficult
to understand why the gas monopolists of Chester

)uld require 30,(

to suppl

2,500 consumers

n the light jobbers of Liverpool hav€

ed 610,0(

to illuminate upwards

ustomers, and after a most eminent gas engineer

has estimated the cost of erecting entirely new
works to sply the demand of this Borough at
300,0001. Now 201. for each consumer is rather a

gh figure for sane men to pay for gas works to

light a town in these days.
To demand 4s. 6d. per 1,000 for light, where the
raw material lies close to the spot, is also too much
of a good thing. Gas is made in the city—at the
Chester Railway Station—for 2s. 6d. the 1,000 feet;

and how comes it that the supporters of the amal-

gamation job require 2s. extra per 1,000 for the
distribution of light made by the Gas Companies ?
The charge is so monstrous, however, that we may
safely leave it for the citizens to deal with. When
the MAYOR found it necessary to allude to the coal

employed in the manufacture of light in his city,
he let slip a very important fact, namely—that only

a portion of Lancashire cannel is used by the
present companies. If this be so, how do those
monopolists venture to ^ charge the cannel

20 per cent. more

price, and 6d. or J.-
per 1,000 than Liverpool consumers are
now paying after all the extravagance, bad
management, and unscientific work which
has been going on here for nearly thirty years ?
The Liverpool company can get 1.0 per cent from
their business, after losing immensely by the
largeness of the demand ; and since some distin:
guished chemists are of opinion that there are
several descriptions of coal which would produce
more gas than cannel, we think the Mayor of
Chester might have suggested the propriety of
analising the coals of Cheshire, with the view of
saving his constituents the expense of taking the
raw material from Lancashire. We believe that a care-
ful inquiry into the gas producing qualities of the
several descriptions of coal to be found in different
parts of the country, would show that can-
nel is purely a " fancy" article among gas com-
_

panies, for which they charge a " fanc
But before monopolists are suffered to make such
charges, they should be made to prove that they
use the right material, and not tax the public for a
commodity made from coal which they declare to
be worth less ! The Amalgamated Companies,
undertaking to supply the town with gas of the
" best quality, to be ascertained by the usual
" tests," when the raw:material required to make the
" best" gas is only " partly" used in Chester, is
clearly a sheer hoax. The Corporation may be
gulled into a belief that Chester has light of the
" best quality," so long as its manufacturers supply,
and are allowed the management of, " the apparatus
" foraseertaining its quality." There is no end to
conjuring in this branch of trade; and our advice
to the gas-consumers of Chester and every other
large town is, to have nothing whatever to do with
inspectors of meters." Such glaring folly is
quite now in the North. It dates from London.
But what have the metropolitan public gained by
it? The same meters they had in use years ago
are still employed. Competition alone has lowered
the price to the consumer; andwherever
has followed the establishment of
r i a v
aln y
elooras
panics, it has been attributed solely to extrava-
gant management, jobbery, peculation, or bad
engineering, one and all of which are certainly
not cardinal virtues, for which private consumers,
and others ought to pay, either in meal or malt.
Among all the opponents to the Chester scheme
iof amalgamation, Mr. CUTTER and Mr. MUSGROVE
appear to understand the matter best. As for Mr.
ROBERT FROST, he loves both hare and hounds
and would fain keep in with both. All this their
! respective constituents have, doubtless, discovered
before to-day. Had Mr. SALISBURY spoken in the

price