Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-08-30 00:00:00

ild be repre-
paw

is considered ;dv

.ble, shOuld the -ehaniber'con-
resolution to the present -meeting, autho-
to do so. It is with mutt pleasure -that
repeat the obligations they are under to the mem-
br the borough and the socthern ditislaa
eir kind_ co-operation in promoting the

views of the chamber,

Trent of Wil
deprives the
they trust si
tens of impol

am Brown, Esq., late member for the cow
i of his valuable parliamentzry services;
1 to:be favoured with his aid and -advice in r
anee brought before them.

The CHAIRMAN then rose, and at the eeinmencemerrt
of his remarks, >said that it would have afforded the

le present mee
l,inhfieonl»7i

an interest, and which they had endeavoured to pro-
.
r,
ure, had received the assent of par-

mote in

liament awl become law ; but in consequence of tt,
political changes which had taken place during the past
year, they had net been able to bring many of those
measures under the notice of the house. The fault, however,
had not been theirs, but was owing to circumstances over
which they had no eontrol. One of the most important
of these measures was that relating to the consolidation
of the bankruptcy laws. That question had received
the most patient consideration of the commercial body,
both here and in otherparts 9f the kingdom; and after the
most thorough investigation of the whole question, a
bill had been agreed upon which Lord John Russell had
undertaken to bring before the notice of parliament, and
this bill contained several clauses introducing some
valuable improvements in the law relating to commerce.
There was, in the course of the discussion which took
place on the measure, some differences between the
various chambers of commerce in the country and the
commercial bodies in London ; but those differences had
been removed, and the bill, which had now been pre-
sented, had received the unanimous sanction of the
whole of those bodies. They still hoped that Lord John
Russell would continue to take charge of the bill in the
coming session of parliament, and that it would receive
all the weight which would attach to it as a government
measure, and thus be afforded the greater certainty
of being carried into effect. Amongst
legislative measures which had been held in sus-
pense, in consequence of the inability of parlia-
ment to take them up, were the United Kingdom
Writs' Bill, and the law relating to foreign debtors.
The chamber still considered them questions of im-
portance, and would be prepared to give them their
support when they came before the House. There had
been considerable difficulties in bringing bills of this
nature before the House, and Mr. Horsfall had expreesed
his desire to have the assistance of some legal members
of the- House, whose knowledge of commercial laws
would enable them to meet the objections which were so
frequently raised. If the services of some such legal
member of the House could be secured, there would be
much less difficulty in carrying such measures through
the House. At present, the only parties who might be
able to be possessed of this information were the law
Officers of the Crown, and they were generally so much
engaged in the business of government that they were
altogether unable to attend to them. He had no doubt
Mr. Ewart would bear him out that it was desirable to

the other

hcrever th

I, they endeavoure

:o enlist

:e of such gentlemen. Another question •of
equal importance was the bill for the sale of agricul-
tural produce by weight. This bill was introduced by
Mr. McCann, and the chamber believed that it would
meet with the unanimous support of all parties in the
House. The objects of the bill were so obviously bene-
ficial and useful, that he did not think there would be
any opposition to it ; but during the late session, in
consequence of the pressure of business, the bill was
withdrawn. The measure, however, would again be in-
troduced next session, and this council proposed to intro-
duce a clause into the bill, to which Mr. McCann had
agreed. This clause provided for the multiplies and
divisions of 100 lbs., and would be a great advantage to
many trades. It would also materially facilitate the use
of the rental, which was now in use in the corn trade, and
would enable all parties to sell by decimal divisions of
100 lbs., which at present they could not do legally.
If such a clause should be adopted, it would eventually
lead to the use of decimal weights altogether. The
council had had applications from othe.. chambers of
commerce for their co-operation in other matters relat-
ing to the general interests of trade. The Bombay
Chamber of Commerce had applied to them to support
the memorial which they had addressed to Lord Stanley,
remonstrating with them for levying import duties with-
out giving notice to the merchants. The chamber

viewed the question in this light :—They concluded
that the government wanted the money, and could not
do without it ; but the matter was one of very

to write to the Bombay government, asking them if
the money could not be raised without indiscriminately

levying import duties to the injury of trade; and he
hoped they would be able to propose some means by
which the money could be raised from other sources,
without injuring the resources of commerce. The
chamber had also had communications from the River
Plate respecting the differences between the Argentine
Confederation and the Buenos Ayres Government. The
government had promised to send a representative there
to bring about a more settled state of things. The trade
to that country was large, and depended upon a continu-

ante of peace there. lae therefore hoped that the remon-
strances of our agent there would be successful, and enable

had occupied the attention of the chamber was the state
of the law with reference to collisions at sea. The
chamber had had this subject brought before them in
consequence of a case with which they_ were, no doubt,

in which one vessel ran down another. It appeared that
in this case the restrictions of• the Merchant Shipping

Act did not apply to foreign property; so that the owners
of the Tuscarora, being a foreign vessel, were not only
liable for the ship and freight, but for the whole amount
of damage to the property thus injured. This was felt
to be a great injustice and an anomaly, and the
chamber suggested that the law on this sub-

ship should be placed in the same position as a foreign
vessel, and subject to the same liability. The chamber
were of opinion that it would have the advantage, as in
this country, of limiting the liability. The American
law was founded on our own ; and it might reasonably
be supposed that any law by which British ships were
placed on the same footing as foreign, would induce the

American Government to return to

s in oth

the post-office in Liverpool-=on which the chamber felt a
great interest—was still an open question. The change of
government had interfered with the final settlement of
the matter; but he was aware that the present Chancellor
of the Exchequer had promised to give a speedy answer
to the council, and they might reasonably conclude that
on an early day it would be finally decided. He understood
that it was the intention of the excise to carry on their
department in the same building AS fhnt uy11.."1, :4

-c, --. ....,...., .• 11.11 . Wt.
proposed to allow the post-office; and should that be the
case, it would doubtless be a great public advantage,
and beneficial to commerce ; because, the fact of having
all these establishments under one roof, would give
USAGES AND CUSTOMS OF TRAM
great commerce
A facilities for carrying on the trade and
•
A standing committee of your council has been appointed to of the town. There was a question on which a com=
considersae this question, with the view of codifying the various
co-operationacuosftotyle ,sin the different tradeel in the port. The mittee was appointed at the last half-yearly meeting,
,ximmercial associations has been invited,
and your council trust they may succeed in the object. which had not yet done anything, but he hoped that m
future its labours would result in something advan-
SALE OF GRAIN •"•.'" "-- ' tageous to the trade of the port. It was in xeference to
Your council presented , ....C, aILI. (CENTAL.)
in favour of this 1311, a petition to the House of Commons
for
f the sale of grain,f the town. They knew that
avoirdupois, the ger,- &c., by the pound
ton of 2,000 lbs. ; 1,,t„0
with the suggestion that a measure '
201b5., the eental of 100 llis., and the
hould be createdof 1 the period between the cental tthheerceuhstaodmbse
en and
considerableusmisunderstandings rospect-
eso
sATing, however, to the
kJ , lbs • mg it, which had led to legal proceedings. If there was some
and ton being considered to " to those usages it would be well, for it
shortness of the eessiTOlin,EthCAel7)Vl.ffl.4ewlTa.Els.STlON.drawn. digest
well for them=
~.ented to the chamber, in February L to make such arrangement as would work
Mr._
would' enable persons pueprsaosns who were strangers to these usages
TOM-
,d. into parliament, having for its 'obje4 selves, as well as for the trade of the port.
,yerpool sanitary Act of 1854, Which 1 linson had taken the matter tip, and perhaps he would

or council repe
bill without the

mt the interests of commerce being sa
bill has, however, passed; but you]
•eccivcd a copy of it, they are unable
er of their petition has been conceded

Since the report I
a bill has been intro
the amendment of the I