Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-12 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES, SA'

.LEEns. We understand that it is intended to *hold ward
meetings :throughout the borough, to oppose the Govern-
ment Reform Bill. A borough meeting will also be held,
in compilation with a requisition to the Mayor, signed by
Reformers of all classes.—Leeds liercurk.
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF SOCIAL
SCIENCE.—The executive committee for working the ar-
rangements for the next meeting of the Association, in
Bradford, have resolved to recommend the council to invite
the Earl of Carlisle to be the president of the meeting.
BEDFORD.—At a meeting of the Reform Club of this
borough at the Swan Hotel, on Monday evening, Mr.
Alderman Hurst in the chair, a resolution, urging the
representatives of the borough to give their most deter-
mined opposition to the Government measure in Parliament,
was earned.
WESTERN ,RANK,OF SCOTLAND. RETURN OF PART OF
CALLS. —Between £2O and £3O per share will be
returned to those shareholders who paid in full the calls.
Of course those who compromised will not participate in
this return. ,On 'Change, at Glasgow, on Wednesday,
Western Bank shares, were considered worth £3o.—North
British Mail.
VRITISII ASSOCIATION MEETING. -The Town Council of
Aberdeen have passecl.a series of resolutions, expressive of
:their sense of the impertance of the association's objects,
their desire to give a .hearty welcome to the members, and
Toting 100 guineas towards the expenses of the meeting at
Aberdeen. Great preparations are already being made for
the meeting.
BRISTOL.—REFUSAL OF THE MAYOR TO CALL A MEET-
ING.-On Wednesday, &requisition to the Mayor, request-
ing a meeting at the Breadmead Rooms, was presented to
His Worship. It was signed by upwards of 700 citizens,
including many of the most influential merchants, lawyers,
manufacturers, tradesmen, &c. His Worship sought a brief
,delay, after which the deputation was informed that he
.declined the proposal. The meeting will accordingly be
under the authority of the requisitionists.— Western
;Press.
HEREFORD.—LCOIIfgeHee of the committee and members
.of the Hereford Earliamentary Reform Association, was
held on Monday night to deliberate upon the Government
Reform Bill. An animated discussion took place, and the
measure was vin•or
01154 denounced, ~ion the ground of its
exclusion of ta working classes from the franchise, and
because it
was believed to be totally unfitted for the
requirements of the tile. Resolutimas to this effect were
unanimously adopted, ae.d a committee was appointed to
prepare a petition to
measure. 4,l2posiion t o the
parliament 't
TILE K.4.c.b.. sco,risn
CtmtGEsiiip —We have no doubt •
the Lord-Advocate (Mr.
2illie) will claim the gown
vacant by .Judge Murray's"tLath, and that Solicitor-
General Mure succeedtooffice of the eormer. The
only difficulty in .cl
consist aiming even a shred of
independence for the electors of the
n
should they be asked to choose ,two
00unty of Linlithgow,
Crown lawyers to
represent them within so brief a sps'e,o, a neither of them
connected with the loeality. There will be a scramble for
the Solicitor-Generalship if the Ministry should remain in
office so long.--Scottish ,Press.
THE Pooa Rszes.---The total number of persons
England and Wales who are rated for the relief of the poor
In
as occupiers of property, is £2,230,000. The number Of
these persons who are rated on account of property of an
annual rateable value of
Less than £6 is
£6 and under £lO
£.lO and under £SO
£5O and upwards ~,,, .
The total number of separate tenements in respect of which
the :owners are rated instead of the occupiers, is 1,100,000.
The following table shows their value :
drier 970,912
a.n4£€ under 110
£lO and under £SO
630
£5O and upwards .......... i
data obtained in 1863
As these tables are compiled from
they are not, of course, strictly accurate at the present
inte,

" EMPLOYMENT FUND " AND FRIENDLY SAKIETIES.
—REMARKABLE STATISTICAL FACT 'OF 1.1.1 n. LIVES
IN THE LATTER BEING LONGFA MAN ANY
OTHERS.—LIFE INSURANCE.—HCAV lIIHE MIDDLE
CLASSES HAVE ELEVATED THEYA.SELV-IrS, .
A SECOND expedient submitted by some. writers
on political economy to meet the detect existing in
the economy of the Working Classes, is that work-
men should engage with their employers for such
term of years as ,experience has ,shown ordinarily
covers the brisk and slack perioas of employment.
This in fact we6ld be similar to the practice of
hiring in rural industry. It has been suggested in
connection withtfais expedientthat it might be made
applicable to -piece-work ; the Iworkman conditioning
to receive an average weekly ,sum from his employer,
and the surplus of his earnings, if any, at the expiry
of his toontratt. Engagements of a similar nature I
may **serve though for kt different purpose, are
made by some employers in Sheffield at the present
duy., in order to secure the services of journeymen
for a lengthened period.
A 'THUD suggestion vas offered some few years
o by 41. Committee 'ld the House of Commons`'
;appointed to enquire into the state of manufacturer's
temployment. It was that societies should be
`formed,-called Enzployment Fund Societies, of which '
workmen of all tra4ies might become members ;
towards which each: member was to contribute
weekly or monthly a certain amount to the
society The chief advantage of such a society
asthis would be, that a secure fund would be pro-
vided from good times, against want of work in bad
'times. The amount and continuation of assistance
would of course be proportioned to his own previous
industry and forethought, and no idle or improvident
person would draw upon the means of others.
q't is a fact worth noticing here, that the best class
,of lives is found in what are called Friendly So-
eieties, consisting entirely of members belonging to
the working glasses. I have had some experience
•of knowing this, and can therefore speak with con-
fidence to the fact. Their average of mortality is
`better than that of the tables of the insurance offices,
notwithstanding the self-interested precautions of
their corporations in selecting their lives. The
Government annunitants also, who might be ex-
pected to sell their lives dear, are found in vitality
'to be below -the average of the Friendly Societies.
How are •we to account for this, it may be asked ?
I will explain. It is because these Friendly Societies
consist of the cautious and moral members of the
working classes. They are selected by no stronger
criterion than that of their choosing to belong to a
Friendly Society, anal exercising the self-denial
necessary to enable them to preserve their member-
ship. ,:,,We thus find their occupation and way of
living so conducive to health, and so little amenable
to disease, without peculiar Causes generally of their
own creation, that no class of the community has in
reality a greater command of life.
A mine of information, from which many facts
'tending tow support this view have been derived is
found in a volume written by that eminent actuary,
Mr. F. .G. P. Nelson. Along with his tables of
vitality of the members of friendly societies, he has
given others applicable to the Middle Class and high
Aristocracy. The shortest average duration of hu-
man life is found in the last division. The author
of the. enquiry says :
. "It could be clearly shown by tracing the various
classes of society, in which there exists a sufficient
means. of subsistence, beginning with the most humble
and passing on to the middle and upper classes
that a gradual deterioration in the duration of life
takes place ; and that just as such a life, with all its
wealth, (pomp, . and magnificence, would seem to
becomemore valuable and tempting, so are its op-
portunities and chances of enjoyment lessened. As
far as the result of figures admit of judging, this
condition would seem to flow directly from the
luxuriant and pampered style of living among the
wealthier: classes, whose artificial habits interfere
with the nature, .and the degree of those physical
exercises .which, in simpler classes of society are
accompanied .with a long life."
But, after all, without belonging to any society,
if a man .chooses he has it in his power to make
provision for years of scarcity of work, by resolving,
during a period of high wages, to deposit a sum
weekly in a 'Savings' Bank to accumulate against a
season of adversity. This would be far more
economical than to belong to any society, for all
societies, it is well .known, are attended with certain
expenses of management which must be paid by the
members. These would be avoided by contributing
to a Savings' Bank. It is true that such a mode of
saving is apt to be encroached upon for other purposes
than to meet deficiency of work ; but these are contin-
gencies which must depend on the fortitude of the party.
In short, whether to belong to a society, or to raise
a fund individually, is best, must depend on personal
character entirely..
There is a plan, however, which may be adopted
to raise a barrier against even these two common
weaknesses : and it consists in life-insurance. "It is
difficult," says a writer in Chambers' Information
for the People, "to estimate even the present bles-
sings of this system, and still more so to anticipate
the extent to which the progress of civilization,
industry, and wealth will naturally carry it. It not
only raises a wall of protection round the accumu-
•lating fund of the insured, tit enables him to
-anticipate the long tedious process of accumulation,
and guard against the calamity of his days being
cut.short before he has been ableto accomplish it."
hilts been well remarked, that even he who lives long
and paysa sum in premiums beyond what he has assured
is still a gainer. In the first place, 'he has actually
accumulated a fund, and he might not have done so
had he tested to his own combined efforts of self-
restraint. In the second place, he has bought ease
of mind from the commencement of the -insurance,
in the knowledge that he had made provision
against calamities which might have fallen
heavily on those near and dear to him. To a
tolerably well-paid working man ten shillings a'
qtihrter is a small matter—to almost every working
msnamn. oney hundred pounds is a serious and imposing
ande ta getn
quarterrr
tal,y, in a life between the ages of
twenty
shillings
willa liitntsluere lesson
nor
hundred more t
poundshan ten
And if the workman finds that his duty prompts'
him rather to, provide for his own oid age, than

for children who are likely to be supporting them-
selves before he leaves them, he may, by a like pay-
ment of small sums from time to time, buy for
himself a superannuation annuity. Nay, so far
does the science of statistical calculation apply itself
to all the demands of society, that should he desire
to provide for the old age of his partner during life,
as well as of himself, he can easily find a respectable
office that will contract for a superannuation
allowance to be paid to both or to the survivor.
Without seeking to dwell further on any of these
suggestions, I would only observe this much, that
unless the working classes themselves will adopt
measures for securing their own welfare, no
power on earth :can do it for them; and before
they can do this, they must seek to make
themselves acquainted with some of the principles
on which their welfare depends. In a word, they
must seek to gain through knowledge that power
which can alone tend to- produce their elevation.
Union is not strength, if it is allied to ignorance.
The workman will irever gain his proper place in

society, by assuming that rude uncivilised freedom
which ignorant men mistake for genuine indepen-
dence. No-; -the slave may *bow before a display
of physical strength, and the serf may worship
him who, wanting sense to be afraid, gives him-
self out as one possessed of undaunted courage ;
but men of cultivated minds will honour
none but these of superior moral and intellectual
worth. ",Only give us a nation of intelligent men,"
remarked a speaker once, " and although their num-
ber may be comparatively small, their influence will
be s-uclvasto lead the world after them." To lead
the -world, I repeat, not to drive it. A mere con-
'queror of bodies may drive the world as it has been
driven before, bat it'requires a conqueror of minds
to lead it. Force conquers because it maims and
• kills, intelligence because it cures and keeps alive;
force subdues by trampling on the rights of others,
intelligence by rendering their -rights more secure
that overcomes by converting hatred into
sullenness, this by changing hatred into
friendship. Much unquestionably has been
done for the Working Classes, but much more remains
yet to be done by themselves. Their condition after
all is not so favourable as it-ought to be ; but still it
might be worse. As has been observed there is a
"-lower deep " still ; from a cottage they may
descend to a cabin, from white bread to broWn. They
should make a stand in time therefore and on some
ground.; •for, if once trampled down, the spirit and
power -to rise are lost.
Again then I say to the Working Classes let them
exert -themselves—let them take a lesson from the
Middle Classes, and mark how they have advanced
their condition. And how have they accom-
plished it ? Not let me tell them by
standing in fierce and hostile array against their
superiors—not by declarations of inherent inalienable
natural rights'—not by ruinous combinations and
strikes —not by dictating to employers, and intimi-
dating willing workers at inferior remuneration. I
say it was not by any of these means, nor yet was it,
-on the other hand, by fawning flattery or unworthy
compliances ; for these arts may raise individuals,
they can never raise classes. No ; the upward pro-
gress of the middle classes is to be attributed to the
increased value of their labour--to the skill which study,
industry, and regularity have endowed them with ;
to their general feedom from those grosser vices
which reduce a man's value in the productive world ;
to the intelligence that has enabled them to rear
their children to those occupations where there is
room for them, avoiding those which have been
overstocked; to the prudence and self-restraint
which have taught them that all their gains are
not the mere instruments of immediate luxury
and self-indulgence, but are entrusted to their
hands for the education of their children, and for
smoothing, so far as a parents' aid can do so, the
passage of the. new generation through life. To
these and to the countless other productive virtues
which follow the steps of conscientious industry
and active beneficence, must we attribute the posi-
tion of that middle class which, when all the
varieties of this chequered human life are examined,
is found to have more of the sunshine and less of
the shade, than any other lot which the world has

to offer.
[These articles being Copyright, the Author reserves
to himself the privilege of further publication or "

FOR the attainment of habits of punctuality—for the
regulation of theusual routine of business and every-day life—
tor the Morning's timely arousement, and the Evening's sufficient
repose—and for other and innumerable purposes of convenience,
necessity, and pleasure, much in reality depends on the judicious
selection of a Timekeeper; and even the character of a young man
has been known to be much influenced by the quality of his Watch,-
the possessor of an accurate timekeeper becoming ambitious to
emulate its excel ence, and thus gradually requiring habits remark-
able for punctuality.
THOMAS BUTT AND Co.,
WATCH AND CLOCK. MANUFACTURERS,
71, ST. JAMES'S-STREET, LIVERPOOL,
AND
102, CHESTER-STREET, BIRKENHEAD.

The Timekeepers, so well known for accurate performance, can
only be obtained at the above Establishments.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH WATCH

AND CLOCK CLUB.
THE Public are respectfully informed that the Twenty-
Fifth Watch and Clock Club is now commencing, at 71, St.
James's-street. One of the most striking characteristics of the age
we live in is the growing business habits developing themselves
among all classes of the people. Every one who has any pre-
tensions to improvement—wishes to rise in society, or even to fulfil
with eclat the common engagements as private individuals, must
have the means of ascertaining the correct time ; hence the great
demand in a commercial town like Liverpool for good clocks and
watches. As one means of satisfying this demand, THOS. Borr
and Co. have instituted their Watch and Clock Clubs, by joining
which persons may obtain first-rate articles at the lowest cash
price, and pay for the same by easy weekly instalments, upon per-
fectly safe and equitable principles. The plan, summed up in a
few words, is the following : —T. B. & Co. undertake to provide
good patent lever watches, capped and jewelled, with maintaining
power to make them go while winding up, hard enamelled dials
with seconds, double-bottom cases, in every respect good and ser-
viceable articles, each of which is warranted for £5. Now, if each
person wanting a lever watch were to put by individually 2s per
week, each person would be fifty weeks, or nearly' twelve months,
hefore he or she could purchase a watch ; but, by joining together
in a club, there may be sufficient to pay for one every week. We
will say there are fifty members-2s from each makes a fund of £5
each week, just sufficient for a watch ; consequently a watch can
be had at the lowest cash price every week during the fifty nights
the club continues. Each night it is determined by ballot who
shall have the watch. The person winning the first night gets a
bondsman, has his watch, and of course his name not put in again,
but goes on paying 2s each week during the fifty weeks. The
second week all the other names are put in, and some one else gets
one, andso it goes on until all ate supplied. It will be seen, by
this method, that the person who ma be so unlucky as to be the
last, only pays for it before he has it, the same as he would have
done had he not joined. Members may pay as much more as they
like, or pay up at any time.
Clocks or Jewellery can be had in the same manner, and articles
of higher value by paying the difference. Thus a £lO gold watch
would he 4s per week, a £l2 lOs ditto 5s per week, a £l5 ditto 6s
per week, or in that proportion according to the amount.
The management of the club is entirely in the hands of the
members.
Any further information may be had by applying at 71, St.
James's street, where a great variety of watches and clocks may be
seen as specimens of work, or 102, Chester-street, Birkenhead.
Be careful yov apply at the riyltt :bop, Beware of Imitators,