Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-14 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIME S.-LIVERPOOL, MON DAY, DECEMBER 14, 1857

to by a clergyman of the town, who is an honour
to the name of religion.
The Chronicle, in its usual style of meeting
facts, makes me say, " the licensed runners meet
the poor emigrants at all hours, care for them, and
protect them, for the paltry pittance of 4d. per
night." I said quite the contrary : but " that, for
commission received on their passage money,
they could not afferd to meet and provide them
with bed, light, and fire; with free permission to
cook their own materials."

With regard to the Rev: V. White's assertion,
that 30s. per head, at least, is spent by the emi-
grants for their little extras, any one really
conversant with the trade, who has not been gra-
tuitously supplied with incorrect information by
.the Chronicle, knows such a statement is mere
" moonshine." I can prove, on the most incontro-
vertablo evidence, that the Ities emigrants do
not expend lOs head on their outfit : they are
provided, in almost every case, with the few
necessaries required before leaving home. Tile
dietary scale and circulars of the Australian
brokers point out distinctly that 20s. are quite
sufficient to. supply every necessary required
beyond ship's allowance. If, than, 20s are quite
sufficient to procure extras for a twelve weeks'
passage to Australia, wily expend 30s. on a four
weeks' passage to America?
Sir, as we have had an immense outcry got up
by those adventurers from Castle Garden, and
advocates of an " Emigrant s' Home" in this town,
about the large per centaae paid the runners here,
and their treatment of emigrants, will you permit
me to call-the attention of the public to the eons-
missions paid the Castle Garde❑ officials, and the
general treatment of emigrants at that benevolent
institution. With this view I beg to place before
your readers an extract from a report of a special
committee. of the Common Council of New
York on the use of Castle Garden as au emigrant
depot :

Document No. 12.,
BOARD OF COTJNCILMEN,
March 17, 1850.

The following report of the Special Committee on the
use of Castle Garden al an Emigrant Depot, was received,
laid on the table, and ordered to be printed, together with
all the accompanying papers, and made the special order
for the first Monday in April.

C. T. McCLzNAcaArr, Clerk.

The Special Committee, appointed to examine into the
expediency of having the emigrant depot removed from
Castle Garden, and also to obtain all information, possible,
bearing upon the subject, in order that further legislation
may be had thereon, if necessary, respectfully

REPORT.

That your Committee, by advertisement of meetings
and service of notices and subpoenas, have obtained a
mass of evidence which is weighty, and cannot be other-
wise than convincing to every candid and unbiased mind
of gross wrongs upon the community, and the emigrants
particularly, under the present system of receiving and
" booking" those who seek our shores ; together with
other facts more particularly requiring the attention of the
Common Council, and immediate legislation thereon.
Your Committee desire to confine themselves strictly to
the evidence before them, and presents the following
points :
[The first, second, third, and fourth resolution s are
omitted here, as they refer solely to the depreciation of
the Corporation and private property in the vicinity of
Castle Garden, and the danger of public health.]
Fifth : The hardships and disadvantages to which the
emigrants are compelled to submit, rest ltine from the
present system as carried out at Castle Garden, by the
Commissioners of Emigration. These are numerous, and
your committee will refer to but a few as testified to ; Mr.
J. C. Shutte, deposes, that he held forty dollars, in trust
for John Leiser, who arrived at New York, August 3rd
1855, in the ship " Mary." and on application to one of
the Commissioners to enter the garden and deliver the
amount he held, was denied, and told that Mr. Leiser, had
not arrived, whereupon, said Leiser and family were
compelled to go .to a boarding.house, having no
money to pay their passage hence, and stayed twelve days,
incurring a debt of thirty dollars. for which a portion of
their baggage was left as bonds or security. Mr. Shutte
farther deposes, that " Mr. Garrigue, one of the Commis-
sioners told him, that Mr. Kennedy would not tell the
emigrants, cn purpose, where they could get their money,
because he wanted to compel Air Shutte to buy the tickets in
Castle Garden." Dennis Tracy, testifies he has "known
of passengers being robbed inside the garden," and there-
fore they cannot be exempt from that ez,il. J. W. Bennett,
lieutenant of the Third Ward police. states, that the ship
William Nelson remained three days and as many nights
in a poor condition, destitute of bedding and
cooking utensils, without being given an opportunity to
land the emigrants, other vessels being given a preference
in disembarking their living freight ; the suffering for
food was also great ; this witness further deposed that the
treatment of emigrants at the garden is anything except
humane.
Sixth : The outrages committed by the Commissioners
of Emigration in compelling emigrants to purchase tickets
at the garden, if going from the city, and charging a large
advance on the real prices: this is one of the most start-
ling facts that your committee have to present, and would
deem the same an error, merely, had they not over ehelm-
ing testimony to the contrary. An emigrant landing at
Castle Garden, if going west, is compelled to purchase a
ticket or pass, before he can leave the Castle grounds,
and for which he must pay about thirty per cent. additional
to the price charged by the company. Mr. Shutte testifies,
that thirteen dollars and thirty-five cents is charged in
Castle Garden, for a pass to Milwaukee, when the adver-
tisements of railroad prices are ten dollars and seventeen
r cents. leepold Lorenz, swears, that the Pennsylvania
railroad charges twelve dollars and fifty cents to St. Louis,
and that the Commissioners charged for the same tickets
fifteen dollars ; that emigrants are charged sixteen dollars
and fity cents if they go by the Frie railroad to St. Louie,
and they make no time thereby. Isaac Newton, swears,
the Commissioners charge twenty per cent. upon the
passage money and amount of freight furnished to the
railroads; E. Heim, also testifies that an emigrant had but
nix dollars, when he landed at Castle Garden, and wanted
to go to Cincinnatti, that the officers at the garden wanted
eight &liars and twenty-five cents, and would not give
him a ticket ; that after leaving the Commissioners, he
went to Mr. Newton's office and procured a ticket for six
dollars. The faro to Crestline, Ohio, is five dollars and
forty-one cents. Freeeriek Hanselman, deposes, that the
Commissioners charged him seven dollars, that after leaving
Castle Ga-den, he saw he had been defrauded, and de-
manded restitution of the overcharge, or a return of his
money for the ticket, in accordance with the regular
advertised rates in the public newspapers ; when he was
told by the vendor of the ticket, "he did not care for the
papers, and would not pay the difference, nor take back the
ticket." Baggage is charged at the rate of twenty. five
cents per one hundred pounds, to Albany, thirty cents is
charged at the garden. Andrew Feigel testifies, that he
paid two dollars fifty-five cents for eighty-five pounds
over-freight, from New York to Crestline, Ohio. It also
appears that a system of brokerage is carried on, in Castle
Garden, which certainly, at the rates allowed, must be a
profitable business. By examining the testimony still
further, we find that 'Mr. R. Crittenden, the cashier at
Castle Garden, swears that twenty per cent. is retained of
price paid for railroad tickets, to pay expenses at the
garden ; thinks he has received from ten thousand dollars
to fifteen thousand dollars in this way, since the opening
of the garden by the Commissioners; Mr. Crittenden also
swears to these words, "1 cannot get a ticket any cheaper
at the railroad offices than they can at the garden." In
view of the above testimony of emigrants and others, this
certainly is a remarkable sentence, and worthy of note,
more especially when stamps are placed on the tickets,
be ;ring the words, "Agent, Crittenden." Your committee
do not deem it necessary to peruse the testimony further;
in this respect, it is voluminous.
Seventh : The general conduct of officials at
Castle Garden. Dennis Tracy testifies, that the
emigrants are given preference in landing to
those who arrived before them, providing they have
money ; this was the case of the ship, William Nelson,
whose passengers suffered so intensely for three
days, for the want of food, and the necessaries of life.
By turning to the testimony of J. W. Bennett, we find
the physician refusing to attend the sick and dying, he
being otherwise engaged." Mr. Bennett states the emi-
grants are frequently neglected at the garden, and detained
there for days, sometimes in a destitute condition; and
again, emigrants are turned out of the garden, at times,
because they have no money.

It is indeed, surprising that the emigrants are not well
cared for; the officials are well paid, and the affair must be
money making; if the emigrants are so extensively
assessed, and compelled to pay whatever be the demand,
and no redress within their power, surely they deserve to
be well cared for ; as to seeking redress when defrauded
of their money, it would be well nigh impossible: A poor
emigrant going to court to join issue with a mone➢ed cor-
porate body would be simply ridiculed, more especially
when he knows not against whom to complain. Mr.
Crittenden, the cashier, testifies that he deducts twenty
per cent. from freight on luggage, whieh has amounted to
a sum of from eight thousand dollars to eighteen thousand
dollar.. The closeness of this calculation is remarkable ;

again, the premium on foreign coin has amounted to about
seventy five dollars per month.
Your Committee will urge that undue means were used
to obtain the use of Castle Gorden as an emigrant depot.
Mr. Conklin's, (the lessee of Castle Garden,) remarks that
a large fortune arou'd be made, that it was necessary to
obtain money and proceed to Albany, &c., must be
allowed to have its own weight on the minds of those who
have examined the subject.
Your Committee have stated sufficient herein to convince
any candid mind of the gross mismanagement and constant
impositions practised at Castle Garden. Emigrants are
defrauded of their money, ill treated and imposed upon by
those who profess to be their temporary guardians and
protectors. That the lease of Castle Garden has been
perverted, there can be no doubt ; that the interests of the
city are adverse t, the continuance of these evils at the
Emigrant Depot, bringing dishonour and disgrace on the
city, and injurious to the treasury, is self-evident, and
the removal of the evil becomes not only necessary, but
compulsory.

The cashier asserts that the funds collected in the un-
warrantable manner hereinbefore set forth, are deposited
in the Phoenix Bank, on his own personal account;
a glowing example of the management, in its every phase.
There is an imperative necessity for the removal of
this depot; it is opposed by the inhabitants of the ward,
who daily feel the danger to which they are exposed,
nd the diminishing value of their property and residences.
Your Committee, therefore, submit the testimony they
have taken in this matter, and which is the sole basis of
their report, and urge immediate action a the Board in
concurring with the Board of Aldermen in the adoption of
the resolutions annexed to the report of their Special
Committee.

Resolved—That this Board concur with the Board of
Aldermen in the adoption of the two resolutions appended
to their report in relation to the use of Castle Garden as
an Emigrant Depot. _

JACOB L. SMITE!,
J. W. T. VAN RIPER, Special
E. C. Mamma., Committee,
C. S. COOPER,

The perusal of this document will put the
public in possession of the aim and object of those
gentlemen from Castle Garden, and' heir supporters
here, who so disinterestedly advocate the establish-
ment of a home in Liverpool in connection and
co-operation with that at New York.—l remain,
sir, your obedient servant, FREE TRADE.

ADDRESS OF THE LIVERPOOL FINANCIAL
REFORM ASSOCIATION.

TO THE CONSTITUENCIES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
Fellow Countrymen,—ln the name of a numerous body
of individuals, associated for the common good of all, we
have, within the last twelve months, taken the liberty of
issuing two addresses, one to the public generally, the
other to the members of the newly elected House of Com-
mons. In the former, we endeavoured to convince all
classes of the community, but most especially those de-
pendent upon commerce, manufactures, agricutture, and
labour, that their agitation against the Income Tax was
most unwise, and that their true policy lay in seeking, not
the repeal or reduction of a tax which, however oppressive
and unjust in some of its details, is sound in principle, but
its adjustment and extension, in other words, the substi-
tution of an equitable system of direct taxation, making
every man contribute fairly according to his means, for a
most costly and anomalous jumble of systems which tram-
mels commerce an I fetters industry in all their operations
whilst it extracts the great bulk •of the revenue
from the luxuries, and even from the necessities,
of the masses, leaving those best able to bear
the burdens of the State comparatively untouched.
We then pointed out the probable result of that agitation,
and our forebodings have since been fulfilled. Yielding to
an injudicious popular clamour, Government reduced the
tax which does reach the wealthy, but, at the same time
it increased, or rather, it arrested the pending redaction of
the Judos on eAfee, sugar, tea, and other articles of gene-
ral consumption. So far, therefore, our protest was tin
availing ; but we have the satisfaction of knowing that the
recognition of sound principles of taxation is daily extend-
ing, and we believe that the day will yet come when justice
and the general welfare will constitute both the basis and
the superstructure of our fiscal legislation. The exhorta-
tions to members of Parliament, contained in our second
address, wore prcdactive of no fruit as regards the,legisla-
tion of that session. The Government staved off matters
of grave import for another year, under the pretext that
there was no time for their discussion, and then devoted
week after week to queetions comparatively unimportant,
which would have much better borne postponement. Here
again, however, we have ground for encouragement; for
though we may appear to have spoken in vain to the body
colectively, individual members of it have been so strongly
impressed with the justice of some at least of our recom-
mendations as to become subscribers to our association,
whilst others have both acted on our suggestions and
afforded us valuable assistance. The good seed has
been sown, and it will in due time, and with proper
care, produce the harvest. Parliament being now
again convoked at an unusual period, we feel called
upon to make a few observations to you, the makers
of one branch of it, in relation to your duties and powers,
being most fully convinced that if you do not discharge
your obligations to your country, your representatives will
be equally inattentive to theirs ; whilst the Executive
Government will bs left, as heretofore, to deal as it pleases
with all national concerns, foreign and domestic, subject
to little beyond a nominal responsibility to Parliament,
which is annually becoming less and less of a reality. In
what is conventionally called the Queen's Speech, you
have before you the ministerial programme, both for the
winter session and the ensuing year. For dearth of
meaning and clumsiness of expression, it may bear away
the palm from most of its predecessors. It is most vague
and unsatisfactory, serving only to show, as we think, that
on not one of the great subjects to which it alludes—
excepting, perhaps, the Bank Indemnity Bill—had her
Mejesty'e Ministers been able to make up their minds.
As regards India, they only promise papers, and invite
Parliamentary consideration ; as regards the reform of
Parliament itself, they give no explicit indications of their
intentions, if any they yet have formed. To each of
these three questions—Bank, India, and Reform—
and to seine others rot mentioned from the throne,
we now most respectfully solicit your at tentioft.
Wneut entering into any of the complicated questions
involved in our monetary laws, we think it must he self-
evident that there is something radically wrong in a system
under which the country expeziences constant convulsions,
paralysing to commerce and manufactures, and throwing
thousands of the industrial population out of employ,
whilst its real substantial wealth rem .ins unimpaired.
We know that many have fallen through improvident
trading, and reckless speculation; but these are individual
instances, not sufficient to account for widespread national
calamity. There are many others who, with real wealth
sufficient to meet all the demands upon them twice over,
have become bankrapt, or suspended payment, because
that wealth could not be made immediately available in
the shape of its representative—money. Whether the
Act of 1844 be right or wrong in principle, it is palpably
absurd to suppose that the amount of circulating medium
which sufficed then is sufficient now, many millions
having been weed to the population, and the trade of
the country having been nearly trebled in the interim.
The necessity of a searching and thoroughly impartial
investigation of a subject so important, on which there is
such a conflict of opinion, must be obvious to all. It is
also clear that this investigation ought to be conducted by
an adequate tribunal, composed of men capable of weigh-
ing all the information already on record, and taking
additional evidence—men from whom all suspicion of
interested bias, and above sinister influences of any kind,
who would examine deliberately, and decide conscientiously
according to the facts. From a committee so constituted as
to warrant the belief that its object was the establishment
of a foregone crnclusion—a committee sitting in secret,
and brow-beating witnesses whose evidence may be un-
acceptable to the majority,—no satisfactory results can
be anticipated It is most deeply to be deplored that,
upon this ques' ion, Government should invariably be guided
by the advice of men who, having acquired enormous
wealth under, and in consequence of the present system,
are, of course, strongly interested in its continuance, how-
ever disastrous it may be to the rest of the community
Barely glancing at the present most improvident arrarge
meats between the Government and the Bank of England,
and at the national folly of giving to a company of pevate
capitalists all the advantages derived from the manufacture
of money, which ought to belong exclusively to the State,
we think it your manifest interest, as well as yenr duty,
to pour in petitions from every city, town and county in
the kingdom, calling upon your representatives Jo demand
a strict impartial investigation of the whore subject,
before any farther legislation upon it is attem,ted. With'
regard to the deplorable events which have occurred in
India, we see in them only the results—the practical
results—of another gigantic monopoly, urder which the
government of territories containing five times the popu-
lation of the United Bindom, has been confided to a
mere company of private traders. It has been
alleged, indeed, and that by no less a person than
the Earl of Derby, when first minilter of the Crown
that, since the last revision of tle Charter in 1833,
the East India Company has ceased to have
any interest or control whatever in the affairs of
India ;" bat this is notoriously contrary to the fact. The
directors are lords of the soil ; iley have the appointment
of all officers, except that of tie Govetnor-General; the
administration of what is millet justice, is wholly in their

hands ; and they are, in reality, the rulers, as well as the
landlords, of some one hundred and fifty millions of
human beings. Much has been said t f the justice and
beneficence of their rule, in comparison, at least, with that
of the native princes, whom they have superseded ; but on
this point one single fact is conclusive. The great bulk of
their revenue is raised from three most objectionable
sources—let, from a grinding system of rack-rents, ex-
torted by middlemen which has reduced the inhabitants of
whole provinces to a condition only comparable to that
of the Irish peasantry, in the days of their-deepest afflic-
tion ; 2ndly, from the cultivation and sale of a deadly
poison ; and 3rdly, from a most exorbitant tax on salt, the
only condiment to the food of the great mass of the popu-
lation. We hava now had woeful experience of the re.ults
of this system of Government ; and we see no pros-
pect of any adequate remedy, save in its utter abo-
lition—in the integration of India as part of the
British Empire—in the enactment of wise and just laws,
to be properly administered—in the free sale of land—
and in the throwing open of the country to the operations
of British capital, skill, and enterprise. We therefore re-
commend you to petition Parliament, also, for the abolition
of the East India Company and its monopoly. Another
kindred monopoly is that of the Hudson's Bay Company,
to which the Queen's Speech makes no allusion, although
it was specially reported upon by a select committee of
last session, and on which you have hitherto been strangely
apathetic. In virtue of a charter, granted by the most
profligate of our monsrch3, and believed to have been
invalid from the first, a few private traders claim to be
absolute proprietors of new ly half the continent of North
America—that is to say, of territories comprising, with
those held under special license, between five and six
millions of square miles of land, now -nearly in the same
desert state as in the days of Charles the Second, though
much of it possesses the greatest natural advantages, and,
but for this monopoly, would now have been peopled by
British subjects, and covered with thriving communities.
These magnificent territories the Hudson's Bay Company
has turned to no better purpose than a game preserve. The
sole object of its policy has been to encourage beasts and
exclude civilised man, and all for the take of a paltry
traffic, yielding some three or four hundred thousand
pounds annually, to be divided principally amongst
nine individuals, that, we believe, being the namber
of persons constituting the Hudson's Bay Company.
If this shameful and most senseless monopoly be not done
away with, we give just ground of disaffection to our Can-
adian fellow subjects, and we, moreover, incur imminent
risk either of losing the best portions of this magnificent
country just as wo lost Osegon, or of becoming involved in
still more serious boundary disputes with the Americans,
who are fully alive to its value, and neither understand,
nor will submit to, a policy which gives to beasts that
which was intended by the Creator for the beneficial occu-
pation of man. But the monopolists, though few in num-
ber, are strong in interest; and they will be gratified, at
all risks, by the continuation of their monstrous privileges,
unless the country shall speak out, through you, and
through your representatives, demanding jusece in the
name of all. We, therefore, most earnestly recommend
you to petition Parliament for the abolition of this mo-
nopoly also. There is a topic connected with one brief
passage in the Royal Speech, most deserving of your at-
tention. You will have observed that, whilst it its there
stated that the estimates " will be framed with a careful
regard to the exigencies of the public service," the cus-
tomary assurance about " attention to economy" is not
there to be found. The promise is one never kept when
made; but its ommission on this occasion may be
most significant. We have, on many occasions,
exposed the reckless manner in which your re-
presentatives are accustomed to vote away the
public money; the boundless extravagance of the Govern-
ment; the non-existence of any real control by the House
of Commons ; the shameful waste of Public stores ; and
the utter worthlessness of the accounts rendered to Parlia-
ment—accounts thus described by Mr. James Wilson,
Secretary to the Treasury, whose authority on such a point
must be considered unimpeachable : —" The accounts now
presented are not accounts either of ieett or gross proceeds
of the revenue, but are more confused than ever." Is it
not most disgraceful that a great commercial nation should
suffer its affairs to be so conducted ? Many of our com-
plaints were fully established, by official witnesses, before
the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Public
Moneys. That Commit ee, in its second report, made
several excellent recommendations ; but if these were all
carried into effect, there would still be no real Parlia-
mentary control without a standing Finance Committee
of the House of Commons, to investigate the receipts and
expenditure of one year before provision is made for the
next ; to examine the estimates carefully before they are
submitted to the house ; and to see that intelligible accounts
are rendered of the disposal of the public money. Every
other representative body in the kingdom, hating the
disposal of public funds, takes care to appoint a special
commi tee on financial affairs—the House of Commons
alone has none. If any corporate body were to allow its
town clerk, its head constable, its surveyor, and other
functionaries, to prepare and present their own estimates;
to take the money they asked for their several departments
to spend money voted for one purpose on another ; to keep
up a running system of loans and re-payments amongst
themselves ; and then to present accounts which nobody
could understand—such a body would be considered either
dishonest or insane, and cashiered as wholly undeserving
of its trust. Yet this is exactly the way in which your
representatives deal with public funds end public servants.
Such a system we believe to be attended with frightful
abuses, and we therefore recommend you to petition for a
standing Finance Committee of the House of Commons.
The necessity of some further measure of Parliamentary
Reform being now admitted on all hands, the Premier—a
man in nowise liable to the suspicion of revolutionary
tendencies—having endorsed it by a voluntary pledge to
introduce such a measure, and the Queen's Speech having
called the attention of Parliament to the subject, this is no
longer a mere party question. It behoves us all to con-
consider " what amendments may be safely and benficially
made " in the laws which regulate the representation of
the people. In our opinion, the intended bill ought to
have been now prepared, and introduced during the pre-
sent Session, in order that there might be full opportunity
for.weighing its provisions during the recess. As diis has
not been done, it is your obvicus duty, through public
meetings, petitions to Parliament, and communications
with your representatives, to let her Majesty's ministers
know what sort of Reform it is that you expect, and
without which you will not be satisfied ; for, if you
remain acquiescent, and apparently apathetic, you cannot
rationally expect that men wended to the present system,
and interested in its continuance, will voluntarily make
any material alteration in it calculatel to insure really
responsible governmeA. If you leave the matter wholly in
their hands, it is far more likely that the proposition of our
present rulers will be an abortion, making the representa-
tive principle a still greater mockery than it is at present,
although scarcely ore in ten of the adult male population
has now a voice in choosing these who impose taxes and
make the laws. When Lord John Russell proposed to
reduce the legislative power of the large towns by giving a
third member, to be chosen by the minority, what can you
expect from Lord Palmerston, whose leanings are so well
known, and who never yielded excepting to national
pressure, if you leave him to take his own course, under
the impression that you really care little or nothing what
it may be ? We have no great faith in the p. esent House
of Commons, though we believe it will do its duty if it see
that you are is earnest It was chosen during a period of
national excitement, produced by a false issue, which
seems to have passed into total oblivion. Not a word is
now whispered in any quarter on a matter which, some six
months ago, agita'ed the whole country from end to end,
dissolved Parliament, and produced a general e'e ction.
The questions really to be determined then were, whether
your representatives, the Commons House of Parliament,
had any right to express an opinion on the proceedings of
the Executive Government or its agents abroad, and bad
proper!), exercised that right. You decided both questions
in the negative with a degree of ingratitude only matched
by ifs folly ; you discarded the two great champions of
free-trade—honest, able, and truly patriotic men, who
were neither to be cowed by the frowns of power or
seduced by its blandishments ; and with them
you dismissed many more of your true and incor-
ruptible friends We hope that you have now seen
your error, and will seize the first occasion for rectifying it
But, with or without Parliamentary Reform, the House of
Commons must always be such as you are pleased to make
it. If you, regardless of character, talents, patriotism, or
fitness for the business of legislation, send thither men
whoiu you would not trust with the management of any
important private concerns of your own, confiding to their
superintendence the affairs of a mighty nation, together
with the guardianship of your own riehts and liberties, it
matters very little how limited or how extended the elec-
tive franchise may be,—how distributed or how protected,
what sort of a Reform Bill, or whether any, is offered to
your acceptance. The very best system of representation
that could be devised by consummate wisdom, combined
with perfect honesty, would be vitiated by folly and cor-
ruption on the part of the represented of the question.
It is on yourselves, therefore, after all, whether this country
shall, or shall not, be well, wisely, and honestly
governed really depends. You should ro,,ard the elective
franchise as a solemn trust deposited with you, to be
co'nscientieusly discharged, under a deep sense of respon-
sibility to Gcd and your country—not as a private
privilege of your own, to be exercised or forborne as pique,
caprice, favour, or any personal motive whatever, shall
dictate. Of two candidates for Parliamentary honours,
one of whom you know to be qualified to serve his country,
the other less qualified, or not at all, you are bound in
honour, conscience, and patriotism, to vote for the best
man, though he should be your bitterest enemy, the other

your most intimate friend, or gracious benefactor. To vote
for the worst man, through intimidation—as many are
driven to do by the want of adequate protection to the
voter —is an act of meanness ; to vote for him for
the sake of a bribe in any shape, is an act of downright
dishonesty ; and he who corrupts the voter by administer-
ing a bribe, is worse that the receiver of stolen goods.
Pickpocket, highwayman, and receiver only injure indi-
viduals ; bat electoral corruption affects the interests of
the whole nation, and may prejudice those of the world.
It is greatly to be feared that many of you have hitherto
been most lax in the appreciation of your responsibilities.
You must discharge your duties honestly, if you expect
your representatives to perform theirs. Nothing is more
reasonable than the supposition that ho who buys the vote
of an elector, means to sell his own—nothing more pro-
bable than that he who owes his seat to intimidation will
himself be the subservient tool of men in power. If you
could, and did, discharge your own duties well and wisely,
we should soon witness a most substantial reform of
Parliament, even without the introduction of any specific
measure on the subject.
To make the theory of representation more of a reality,
for the protection of voters, and to increase the sense of
responsibility in your representatives, by rendering them
accountable to you at shorter periods ,—a Reform Bill is,
however, necessary. We therefore earnestly recom-
mended you to make your desires known, in time, to your
representatives, and to the Goyernment. Lot there be no
pretext for saying that you are apathetic, and, therefore,
that the question may be postponed; not only for another
year, but indefinitely, until there shall be an unmistakeable
national demand for it, and until Parliament having
nothing else to do—shill have leisure to think seriously
about its own amendment. Do not rely too oonfl Jently on
ministerial promises, for suk promises have been hereto-
fore evaded, and may be so again.
In order to insure economy in the public expenditure,
honesty in all departments of the State, and due observance
of constitutional principles, in the granting and disposal
of public money, we again earnestly advise you to demand
the appointment of a Finance Committee of the House
of Commons, and the substitution of an intelligible system
of public hook-keeping, for one which, as you have seen,
has been officially described as nothing better than "confu-
sion worse confounded. "

We also once more counsel you to insist upon the
abolition of those twin monopolies—the Hudson's Bay
Company and the East In iia Company ; and, with regard
to that of the Moneyocraoy, we again advise you to call
for an open, impartial, and thorough investigation, such
as wo have suggested. Finally, we recomme❑d you to
study the question of Direct versus Indirect Taxation, in
the fall assurance that when you find, as you certainly will
do, that you are now paying much more indirectly than
you Would ever have to pay directly, under a proper system;
that the industrial classes, nay the very poorest of the
poor, ate now taxed unjustly for the benefit of the rich ;
that the operations of commerce, manufactures, and
industry ere greatly impeded by a fiscal system, whose
abolition would give incalculable development to them all ;
and that amongst the results of that system are adultera-
tions, fraud, and crimes of still deeper dye, which fill our
gaols and occasionally find occupation for the hangm in,
you will join with us in demanding the adoption of " a
simple and equitable system of Direct Taxation,' as well,.
as "rigid economy in the expenditure of the Government,"
which are the two gr?nd objects of our Association.—By
order of the Council. (Signed,)
ROBERTSON GLADSTONE, PrOSPell
6, York-buildings, Dale-street, Liverpool,
D3c, 7, 1857.