The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-29 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION

Sr An Evening Edition of the NORTHERN DAILY
TIMES is now Published every Afternoon, at Three o'clock,
containing the Markets, together with all the News of the
Day, up to the hour of going to Press.

FIRST EXHIBITION of the FRENCH
SCHOOL of the FINE ARTS in Liverpool, including

MAD'LLE ROSA BONHEIIR'S

GREAT PICTURE OF
"THE HORSE PAIR,"

Is NOW OPEN at the Liverpool Academy Rooms, Old Post-office-
place, Chnrch-street. Admission ls. Catalogues, Gd. Gentle-
men's Season Tickets, 51. Ladles' Ditto, :3s Ed.—Open from Ten
till Five o'clock.

B. FRODSHAM, Secretary.

fi74e Antern firrits

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1866

THE great Russo-Turkish war has at last
dwindled down to an armistice and a diplomatic
conference, in which profound secrecy appears to
be the sole remaining hope of success entertained
by one and all of the conferees. Their Excellencies
Hum and Mum, aided by the diplomatists liusEr
and SILENCE, have completely eclipsed Field
Marshals and Commanders-in-Chief We are
still at war, however, and on the skill, coolness,
and determination, of our representatives in the
Council of Nations, depends our future triumph,
and the restoration of the world's tranquillity, on
a just oard enduring foundation. Our Generals in
the Crimea have had to contend with and overcome
little beyond that which is incidental to the
iuvasion of an enemy's country. They triumphed
and won immortal renown by that coolness,
dogged determination, devotion to their country,
and love of justice and humanity, which the
representatives of France and England are now
expected to shew when fax?. to face with those
men who, if they do not share in the authorship of
the bloodshed we have witnessed, have joined in
the cries of war, and directly participated in its
enormities. Lord CLARLNDON stands at this
moment in a more exalted and responsible
position than any which a CASTLEREAGH or a
PLANTAGENET ever filled. To him is confided the
duty of placing a price on the thousands of heroes

slain, to preserve the honour of our heroic army
in the field, to secure to the millions of the East
that repose, and release from bloodshed which
common humanity demands, and to obtain for the
industry of his native land access to those
markets which an all-wise PROVIDENCE has created,
and which despotism alone had dared to close
against us.

Diplomatic hyperboles and unintelligible clap-
trap, such as are resorted to in courtly circles to
confound an inquisitive butler or talkative foot-
man, will not be received as the language which
ought to be employed in such a mission. Lord
CLAIIENDON must speak out boldly and distinctly.
If the independence of the SULTAN, and the ame-
lioration of his Christian subjects are to be
guaranteed, the terms of that guarantee must
admit of no double reading or equivocation. If
Russia or Austria is not further to interfere in the
affairs of tho Principalities—if the banks of the
Danube arc to be cleared of military defences, and
all the Russian arsenals swept from the rivers
and streams of the Black Sea, ani the navigation
of those waters thrown open to the commercial
shipping of the world, there can surely be no
difficulty in putting the very few points they
embrace, in concise and plain language. As
for talking of exchanging Kars for the positions
won by the Allied armies, at such terrific cost, and
held by such appalling sacrifices, itwould be offering
an insult to the memory of those heroes who have
fallen in the Crimea,
trust Lord
to those who have sur-
vived, which vie Lord CLAUIENDoN will hurl
back upon those who broach it, with all the
contumely it deserves.
In discussing 4,44:3
affairs of War, questions of

finance must inevitably arise, either directly or

And here the British Envoy should
1 _
remember that England was a heavy loser by the
terms of peace agreed upon by CASTLEREAGH, at a
Conference which was also held in the French
capital. It may be that Lord CLARENDON Occupies
a seat in the same chamber, iu the identical spot,
and at the very table, at which CASTLEREAGH con-
sented to England's being saddled wish 200,000,0001.
Lor d

I indirect

Such another

compromise

CLARENDON can scarcely expect his countrymen to
submit to ; and therefore he would do well to keep

his mind clear on this point, and not suffer his
head to be addled, as the astute TALLEYRAND
bothered the brains of our Hibernian Ambassador.
Secresy cannot always be maintained, with respect
to what transpires at the Conference. Parliament
expects to hear from it the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth, as soon as its labours
have been brought to a close. And when the House
of Commons has the whole of its deliberations
brought before it, they will become the property of
the subject, and the people will be at liberty to
form their own opinions of all they disclose.

Our Paris Correspondent stated yesterday that
the Conference commenced with a little squab-
bling, between Lord CLARENDON and Count ORLOFF,
with regard to the terms of the armistice, which
the Russian diplomatist contended ought to have
extended to the blockade of the Baltic and
Euxine, as Russia has little or no need of an
armistice by land, but seeks to have her ports

elieved fi

m the bl

ockade. From this, it
appears that the Count's Imperial master has
no wish whatever to stop the effusion of blood. All
he asks i 3 the removal of the blockade from his
ports that he may be enabled to get in ammuni-
tion and other supplies to carry on his unholy
work ! Lord CLARENDON is said to have firmly
refused Count ORLoTr's modest request, and in
this the noble earl may rely on the unanimous
support of his country. If Russia does not want
an armistice we certainly do not, as the present
numerical strength of our army and navy, together
with our wonderful financial elasticity, prove
most conclusively. With anything like a great
martial spirit in the Crimea, the Allies might
sweep the Russian hordes off the face of the
earth, while our fleets could lay waste the entire
Russian seaboard. We were never better prepared
for aggressive and defensive warfare, and if Lord
CLAP.ENDON should consent to terms which will not
satisfy the justice and humanity of our cause, he

will find the popular opinion of England and
Europe generally less in his favour than if he
were to retire without ceremony from the Confer-
ence, leaving England to carry on the contest
single-handed, and against all odds, The public
must not, however, place too much reliance on any

rumours emanating from Paris under existing
circumstances. Should the Conference be aban-
doned, we shall not know it until it takes place—
and should peace be the result of its labours, we
must wait for its official announcement before we

can judge of the justice of its terms, or the pos-

Bible length of its duration

THE Limited Liability Bill now before Parlia-
ment possesses the unavoidable disadvantage
common to all legislative measures. It is full of

verbiage, technicality, and repetition
which the law-maker has, from time immemorial,
employed to convey his ideas and to give effect to
the complex machinery by which he hopes to
work them out. The principle embodied in an
Act of Parliament, like all others which are really
intelligible, lies within the compass of a nut

shell. The difficulty with which a large majority
of men can detect the diminutive essence of such
productions gives rise to an endless confusion of
ideas and much heated vituperation, where the
utmost simplicity and straightforwardness form the
leading characteristics. In the whole course of
our experience, we scarcely remember a case in
which these remarks would apply with greater
force than to the present discussion. It must not
be forgotten, however, that Parliament, by the bill
of last year, recognised the justice, and actually
established the principle, of Limited Liability
The arguments employed on that occasion, both in
and out of Parliament, swept away long-cherished
prejudices and overpowered all opposition.
Few greater triumphs were ever gained in the
Senate than that which led to the Royal assent
being given to the bill of last year. The principle
embodied in that statute has become a
portion of our municipal polity, and all that is
sought now is to introduce such changes as will
render them really operative and more generally
beneficial. At first it was proposed not to extend
Limited Liability to private partnerships. But
this has been found to give the Joint Stock system
incalculable advantages over private or individual
skill, industry, and enterprise. It has been found
that men would not advance money to private con-
cerns as sleeping partners, or on any other terms,
when they could embark a certain amount as share-
holders in a public company, in which they could
only be made liable for the actual sum for
which they subscribed. The law of last session
could not, therefore, be left as it was, in common
justice to private firms and individual traders
requiring additional capital. It is, consequently,
proposed to extend the simple principle of limiting
;
the liability of capitalists and shareholders to the
actual sum they agree to embark in any
undertaking, to private partnerships, as well as
Joint Stock companies; and the real question is
simply whether this principle be really equitable
and just to all parties.
The means by which that principle is to be
extended roust, as a matter of course, occupy many
pages of print, which must contain the usual
per tentage of legal verbosity and parliamentary
mystification. But while few will be found openly
to deny the justice of the principle, there are many
who attack it stealthily by laying hold of the
wording of particular clauses, and who would lead
us to believe that the measure will create
a " pecuniary interest diametrically opposed to
" moral duty." Those who speak of the morality
of the present law of partnership ought, in common
fairness, to dwell a little on its palpable injustice,
and the license it affords for companies to incur
debts to four times the amount of their capital,
and then shake off their liabilities altogether, and,
not unfrequently, after carrying away the lion's
share of the wreck which they themselves
had caused. Under the new law, we shall know
who and what we are dealing with. If a company
or a firm starts under the new Act with a capital
of 10,0001. or 100,0001., the public will know that
beyond that amount it is not entitled to credit, and
that those who go beyond the registered means of
any concern do it at their own risk, and not as
they do at present, relying on making innocent
shareholders and capitalists liable for the delin-
quencies and extravagances of those in whom they
have been led to confide. It was this base
system which prevented capital from flowing
freely into the channels of trade, and which
induced men to resort to false and fraudulent
estimates of profits, to induce the people to embark
in public works which cease to be a national