The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-04-03 00:00:00

" may be almosf
" Mr. Mes

said t

of As

ton, seconded the resolution

" —regret and all. Mr. TUOMAS FAIRBAIRN was all
" for energetic co-operation, now the good occasion
" was past. All these valorous gentlemen stood
" chuckling by while the battle with the Philistines
" was being fought in their behalf." Our cotempo-
rary has, it appears, discovered that there are
traitors to centralisation in the Alibanical City of
the North.

But Manchester's friend continues in a still
more reproachful strain :—" Mr. REYNER WOOD
" compared the present condition of affairs on the
" Mersey to that which prevailed on the Rhine in
• the good old times, when every knoll and hillock

I " on the banks of that celebrated stream had its

" castle, and each castle its robber-lord
" Manchester men complain that a large portion
of these dues, which are wrung out of their
" pockets, are coolly employed by theirJriends at
" Liverpool for the improvement and adornment
"of their own town. The Liverpool Corporation
" do not provide for the correct measurement of
" goods shipped abroad, and therefore throw the
" door wide open to deception and fraud. All this
" is very dreadful, very hard ;" and, what is more,
it is false, and a charge of so damnatory a charac•
ter ought to be proved, or denied, by its author.
But " why, in the name of all that is patriotic—
"why, in the name of all that is selfish,"—asks the
editor, " did not the wise men of Manchester say
"all this before, and strengthen Mr. LowE's hands,
" when he was urging these very arguments upon
" the House ? An immense amount of town dues
"is collected without a tariff. The arrangements
" for collecting the town dues at Liverpool are
" costly and cumbersome. * * * Very shocking,
"no doubt; but why was not all this said before ?
" These Manchester HAMPDENS may feel very sure

- -
"that the defeat of the measure was a cause of no

" small mortification to its immediate proposers,
" and of embarrassment to the Government. As
"they appear to understand so clearly the great
"principle that taxation and representation go
"together, and to be aware how grossly this
" principle is violated by the Liverpool Corpora-

" tion every day in the week, why did they stand
"aloof when the question was under discussion in
" Parliament ?" We feel constrained to offer some

apology to the reader for the unusual length of
these quotations, but we think it necessary, to
show the determined anti-Liverpoolian spirit which
rankles in the bosom of Printinghouse-square.
With regard to the unpardonable treason of
Manchester, we must also allow the same writer
to have the benefit of his own words. "Where
" were the Apostles of Free Trade while the ques-
" tion of open ports was under discussion ? Had
" there been a proposition for backing up the
" Russian CZAR, or taking part with any foreign
"power against their own- country and their own
" Government, we should have seen Messrs.
" COBDEN, BRIGHT, and GIBSON hurrying with the
" fiery cross through Yorkshire and Lancashire ;
" we should have heard of indignation-meetings,
" and of the wickedness and bloodthirstiness of
" our own people more than enough." All this is
certainly very amusing. The London Times care-
fully leaves out of sight the principle embodied in
Mr. LowE's property-destroying bill, and inquires,
" Does the West Riding wish for open ports ?" To
be sure they do, but on fair commercial terms.
They would accept the boon constitutionally. But
the manufacturers and traders of Yorkshire do
not want to see local revenues transferred to

Government boards, and by a system of municipal
plunder, of which they may be the very next
victims. Manchester is opposed to the centraliza-
tion spirit shown by the Government in their
proposed Counties Police Bill, and with respect to
all other rights of local self-government, except
seaports and shipping. If the West Riding of
Yorkshire wants " open ports," the whole of York-
shire—all England—wants them, and the national
boon can be obtained on simple conditions—
compensation coupled with a guarantee to ship-
owners and shippers, that after the opening of our
" ports " has been paid for out of the national
exchequer, that Passing Tolls and Dues will not
be continued for the special behoof of Mr. LowE
and other Ministerial hangers-on of the day.
We have seen provincial agitators and Town-
Clerks swell into really frightful dimensions when
a Dues, but the commiseration

speaking of To%

we feel for the agonies we have seen our Lanca
shire neighbours undergo, would scarcely induce
the shipping interest of the Mersey, and leading
seats of seafaring trade, to allow a wretched clique
of Ministerial spoliators to fatten in official rapa-
city on the revenues taken from local bodies. The
revenue derived from Town Dues and other local
tolls and the securities which represent the money
borrowed on them, are as much the property of
the public as the dividends raised for the national
creditor, and the stocks on which they receive
them. They date as directly from the wisdom and
the follies, the exigences and the corruption of
as all the other imposts levied

the State,

on trade

and industry, and if one species
of taxation is to to be swept away, let
all share the same fate. Is this what
Mr. LOWE and the London Times would advocate ?
Would they pass a Municipal Encumbered
Estate's Bill for England, and confiscate all con
porate property before any defalcations have been
proved ? And open the door for a few SADLEIRS
to manipulate Parliamentary titles, to wlat has
for centuries formed a portion of the entailed
property of the subject ? We wish the promoters
of such schemes their due reward, but we question
their success. The authors of the nefarious bill
in question, and their supporters, were sorely
disappointed at the reception it met in the House
of Commons, and the influence of the PAL MERSTON
Administration will be utterly lost if they
should attempt to revive it, except they throw
aside all dissimulation with regard to the actual
benefit to be conferred on the shipping interest,
and undertake to compensate those for their loss
in surrendering their property for the public good.
The London Times thinks the propitious moment
for doing a great national wrong has past by. May
it never return, say we ; but the Liverpool Corpo.
ration must not suffer its vigilance to be relaxed
by any suh assurances. We have the entire nation
on our side, with the exception of Manchester, Mr.
LOWE, and the London Times, and from these three
foes we have little fear, where truth and honesty
always prevail.

THE NORTHERN TIMES.-LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 181)6,

MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL.

FRANCE.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, TUESDAY EVENING.
The grand event of the day has been a review
of the imperial guard, of the garrisons of Paris,
and of the detached forts and the troops in the first
military division, passed by the Emperor in honor
of the celebration of peace. The troops as usual
were-drawn up in lines in the Champ de Mars,
and presented a brilliant appearance. To English
people not familiar with the military paygeants of
France, the sight of such a host, in
cased uniforms, with swords and breast-
plates and bayonets glittering in the
sun, with flags flying and bands playing, must in
particular appeared perfectly marvellous, and must
have inspired them with reflection on the awful
responsibility which weighs. on the one man who
is master of such a mighty force, and on the sad
waste of money and enterprise which, in time
of peace, keeping up of it occasions. The
Emperor was attended-at the review by his cousin
Prince Napoleon, by all the Marshals and Generals
now in Paris. by his military household, and
by one of the most numerous and brilliant staffs
ever seen in this city—a staff which comprised
Russian, English, Sardinian, Turkish, and Austrian
officers, in uniforms of every cut and every hue.
The English scarlet blazing prominently amongst
them. As far as I could judge from what I heard
said about me, the sight of the English seemed to
afford the most pleasure to the crowd, but for my
part, I paid most attention to the Russians.
Count Orloff is a good looking old fellow, but
his suite, chiefly young men, looked marvellously
like our aristocratic make-believe soldiers, without,
however, their frank open bearing. The review
was what such things always are—that is to say
the Emperor and his suite passed down the lines,
and the troops then filed off before him ; but
from the number of men on the ground the opera
tions occupied about two hours and a•half. The
review was favoured with splendid weather, and an
immense multitude, " all Paris " in fact, turned out
to see it. The Fmperor was loudly applauded. The
number of troops was about 60,000. After the review
cigars were, I am informed, distributed to officers
and men.

By Imperial decrees, Count Walewski, Minister
of Foreign Affairs, is nominated Grand Cross
of the Legion of Honour, end Baon de Bourqueney,
Ambassador at Vienna, is appointed Senator, with
30,000 fr. (X 1,200) a year. Both these nomin-
ations are made as a reward for their services in
the Congress.

The news of the conclusion of peace was yester-
day formally communicated to the Senate and the
Legislative body by the Minister of State in the
name of the Emperor.
There has been another serious decline on the
Bourse to-day, both in the Bente and in all kinds
of securities.

The soldiers of the class of 1848, who were de-
tained in their regiments in consequence of the
war, though having completed their seven years'
service, have been discharged.
Baron Brunnow has made known to the French
Government that the interdiction on Russian
nobles visiting France has been removed.

The Journal des Debate has an article expressing
its gre9t gratification at the conclusion of peace,
and expressing the belief that in peace, as in war.
the alliance between England and France will
continue.

I am informed that the Emperor has this; day
ordered, that the condemnations on the Figaro
shall not be acted on. It will consequently escr)pe
the suppression with which it was menaced. The
Emperor's indulgence to it is caused by its having
addressed a petition, half serious, half burlesque,
to the baby Prince Imperial.

• PARIS, MONDAY EVENING.
The morning newspapers publish no details of interest
respecting the signing of the treaty of peace beyond what
I was able to communicate to you yesterday. But I
have obtained, from a private source, some additional
particulars, which will be read with interest. Each of
the Plenipotentiaries was accompanied by his secretaries,
but the latter were left in an adjacent room. The pro-
ceedings commenced by the reading of the treaty by
M. Benedeth, Secretary of the Congress. The signing
took place at a small side table. M. Feuillet de Conches,
chief of the protocol department in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs,, presented "the pen--the famous plume
d'aigle. As soon as all the signatures were put to the
first treaty, it was sent to the Emperor at the Tuileries,
then by the Plenipotentiaries to their respective govern-
ments ; Mr. Ponsonby, Lord Clarendon's private secre-
tary, was charged to convey ours to London. After the
Congress had terminated, all the Plenipotentiaries were
conveyed in state carriages to the Tuileries, and received
by the Emperor. The pen with which the treaty was
signed, has been enclosed in a glass case, accompanied
with a declaration by M. Feuillet de Conches, In these
words (in French) :—" This pen was plucked by' me
from the Imperial eagle of the Jardin des Plantes, and
served to sign the treaty of peace of Paris, of the 30th
March, 1856. In proof of which I sign the present."
These lines are surrounded with the arms of the'Pleni-
potentiaries and of their respective countries.

I am told that, as the ratifications of the treaty cannot
take place for a month, and as, until it does, the treaty
does not officially exist, a formal prolongation of the
armistice to the '2Bth April has been agreed on. I hear
that the questions which remain to regulate are
tolerably important, though it has been determined to
consider them as " mere matters of detail "—they are, I
am assured, those relative to the Black Sea, to the posi-
tion of canals in its ports, to the Principalities, and to
the internal regime of Turkey, as regards the Christians.
The Congress has not held a sitting to-day. To-mor-
row the Plenipotentiaries are to attend a grand review,
which is to take place in the Champ de Mars. The
Emperor has specially wished Count Orloff, and his
military suite, to accompany him on horseback. On
Wednesday the congress will sit. This evening the
Plenipotentiaries will be entertained at a grand dinner
by Count Walewski, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The illuminations last night were very numerous, but
on the Boulevards not so brilliant as they might have
been. To-day some houses, here and there, have added
to the French and English flags, with which they are
decorated, those of Austria, Prussia, and Russia.
With the exception of the semi-official journals, only
one, the Union, publishes an article on the peace.
These papers are, of course, delighted.

Strange to say, there has been rather a heavy decline
on the Bourse to-day; but this is owing to the state of
the market.

The Bank of France has reduced its rate of discount
to 5 per cent.
Although nothing is of much interest at present,
apart from the peace, I may mention, that the Prince of
Capua, husband of the famous Penelope Smith, is
intriguing incessantly against his brother, the King of
Naples ; also, that he wrote a pamphlet, so full of calum-
nies against him, that he could not find a printer to
print it.

THE WATER Coton ExinniTtoN—We have been
favoured with a private view of the beautiful collection of
water color drawings, which will be opened for the inspec-
tion of the public to-day, at the exhibition rooms, Post-
office-place, and, we can safely say, a more choice selection
was never before brought together; and, whether we look
to the amount of good likely to result to the arts, or the
benefit certain to accrue to our deserving charities by the
exhibition in question, we are equally pleased at the effort
being made, and we sincerely hope the expectations of the
gentlemen interested may be fully realized. To review the
merits of the works themselves would be premature ; it is
sufficient to say,, hat we have never seen in London, or
elsewhere, so superb an exhibition, or one every way re-
dounding so much to the taste of the collecrors.
HANDSOME TESTIMONIAL FROM THE AMERICAN GOVERN-
MENT TO A LIVERPOOL CAPTAIN.—A very gratifying scene
took place in the board room, at the Sailors' Home, yesterday
afternoon, in the shape of a testimonial presented by the
American government to Captain Ferguson, of the Liver-
pool bark Emperor, for an act of gallantry and humanity
performed by him to some American seamen in distress.
The members of the board present were Messrs. James
Aiken, Joseph Mandel, and Tomlinson, besides the
officials. Mr. Aiken, in presenting Capt. Ferguson with
the testimonial, said that he and the other members of the
board felt proud at being chosen the medium of carrying
such a valuable gift to one who so well deserved it. Capt.
Ferguson, who is a man far advanced in years, and hat a
countenance on which benevolence is strongly stamped,
appeared to be too much overcome by his feelings to attempt
any formal reply, but expressed his gratityde in brief, yet
heartfelt, terms. Such acts of international eludes), as
the above testify far more traly to the real state of feelings
entertained between ourselves
and the American people,
than whole columns of bullying inuendoes and coarse
braggadoc,ia,
ia, occasionally indulged in on both sides of the
Atlantic, for mere party purposes. A letter was read,
enclosing £5O, forwarded by the new American Ambassador,
Mr, Dallas, to Lord Clarendon, and by the latter to the
Local Marine Board at this port, with a request that the
views of the writer:might be earned out ; it expresses, in a
manner highly creditable to all parties, the nature of the
whole transaction.