Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-16 00:00:00

both the outgoing Ministers and the Emperor
himself may reconsider their intentions at the
eleventh hour. Meanwhile signs of war are always
in the ascendant. The event of the day is an article
in the Siecle, which takes the bull by the horns with
commendable courage, and people are wondering
whether the Government will notice or contradict
it. " What we wish," says the Siecle, "is the com-
plete exclusion of Austria from Italy." It also points
out the interest which France must feel in the
Italian question, and makes dexterous use of warlike
passages in. the Emperor's Speech, and of the
circular of M. Delangle. As for the diplomatic
" means of conciliation," and the note of
the Moniteur, the Sleds disposes of them
in a style which must make the Patrie
and other papers turn pale with amazement.
on the other hand, correspondence from Berlin
says that r. report was in circulation which, if con-
firmed, will tend greatly to strengthen the hopes of
the friends of peace. It is asserted that Baron
Budburg, the Russian ambassador at Berlin has
communicated to the Minister of _Foreign Affairs a
despatch from Prince Gortschakoff, in which the
latter pronounces himself in a pacific sense,
and promises to support Prussia and England. in
their_ endeavours to procure a peaceful solution
of the pending difficulties. The Russian Cabi-
net admits, •it adds, the necessity of
the maintenance of treaties, but advises a revision of
the separate treaties of Austria with the small
Italian States,. It is added that young Prince Gorts-
chakoff, who recently passed through Berlin on his
way from Warsaw to Paris, took a despatch to
Baron Kisseleff identical with the one communicated
at Berlin. The visit of Prince Souvarovvto Paris is at-
tributed to the same cause. The -Paris correspondent
of the Dag!, News says: "I am sorry, to say that
the Senate, that generally useless and now noxious
body, has made a grand demonstration against free
trade. You will see, by the Moniteur, that on
Saturday last the Senate, on the motion of M. Ch.
Dupiu, voted by 110 against 3, that the petitions
on their table relating to the corn laws should be
referred ,to the five ministers principally con-
cerned, for their consideration. This decision
was come to by the above immense majority
in the teeth of a speech by M. Baroche, who was
present to • represent the
,government. The peti-
tions in question were all in favour of the re-estab-
lishment of the sliding scale, which the Emperor
wishes to abolish definitively. - I understand that
the committees on the budget have this day com-
municated to. Messrs. de Morny and Baroche their
unalterable determination to vote for the suppression
of the Ministry of Algeria and the Colonies as a
cumbrous fifth wheel of the state coach.
The . trials of the Phamix Club prisoners have
concluded at Kerry. The jury after being locked
up for twenty-two hours were discharged, as there
was no probability :of their agreeing to a verdict.
Itis stated that the numbers were ten to two.

branch of the Legislature," and "it will not be very_
long before Mr. MILNER GIBSON will put the House
to the test."

Let it not be forgotten, that the branch of the
Legislature to which belongs the privilege of grant-
ing the supplies has already resolved and recorded,
" That the maintenance of the Excise on paper, as a
permanent source of revenue, would be impolitic."
And, for the sake of its own character—for its own
credit and consistency the House must give
effect to its own resolution and record. It
would indeed be most derogatory to allow
such a declaration to remain inoperative. At
most, therefore, it can only be a question of time;
and, for the interests of the people, we are decidedly
of opinion that, in such a case, there can be no time
like the pre'sent.

A QUESTION OF SHIPBUILDING

The charge against the first and second engineers
of the Bogota steamer, for having caused the death
of a fireman on board, as already reported in our paper,
was investigated yesterday, at the Police Court, and
lasted over five hours. It caused much public atten-
tion. There was a great mass of evidence given, and
it went to show, that the deceased was tied up near
the fires, and that he was heard to call for mercy.
The medical evidence _was of a conflicting nature,---
as medical evidence mostly is. Two facts are
proved at all events---first that the man was tied up,
and second, that he died, not from " roasting,
but from the effects of the fire. The magistrate
however, had only one course to adopt, and that was
to send both the prisoners for trial for manslaughter.
The details of the case will be found in another
place in our paper, and will be read with interest.
It was not stated what had been done with the
money and other property of the deceased.
A small "scene" occurred yesterday at the meeting
of the Toxtech Board of Guardians, which met for
the election of two medical men to the Union, which
we shall notice hereafter. To-day we have only
space to refer to the report.

come to the conclusion that " there had been a

THE NORTHERN TIMES WEDNESDAI, MARCH 16, 1859

Who seldom remain more, than two, years in office,
and are constantly altering the plans of their

predecessors."

The subject is one in which,-of course, the whole
country must be deeply interested. But in such a
town as Liverpool- it has a peculiar interest, from its
connection with the great staple of its commerce, as
a place of the foremost maritime importance in the
kingdom. Whether as regards the question of docks
or of shipbuilding, there are those in such a
community as ours who possess a prdctical knowledge
which, could it only be brought to bear upon the
affairs of the Admiralty, might in no long time save
the country, not merely thousands, but millions in
its expenditure.

IF, in the various and necessary avocations of
Her Majesty's Gel, ernment, the business of ship-
building must unavoidably be included, since
Ministers cannot themselves be expected to know
anything of the art and mystery of the ship-
carpenting craft, they at least ought to take care
that the officials who have to direct its operations
know something about it. Yet the effect which,
not only the discussion in the House of Commons
the other night, but almost every discussion in
Parliament on the subject of our Admiralty affairs,
produces, is an impression that there is a manifest
want of practical knowledge of ships and ship-
building among those who have the chief control of
that important department of the public service.
Admiral Sir CHARLES NAPIER could pay the compli-
ment of saying—and so far it was very satisfactory
—that " the present First Lord of the Admiralty
had not acted badly, taking all things into account—
considering that he knew nothing whatever of naval
affairs." But then he was: constrained, in justice, to
add, that " he 'conceived it impossible for any
economy to exist in the navy so long as the Minister
at the head of it was changed with every Cabinet."
This being the case, one cannot wonder to find it
declared, as it was by Mr. LINDSAY, that " without
meaning to cast reflections on the First Lord of the
Admiralty, or upon the Surveyor of the Navy, he
was certain that if the system which prevailed in
the private dockyards was adopted in the Govern-
ment dockyards, seven millions of money expended
in the construction of ships would go as far as ten
millions would at the present time." Now this, be
it known, is .the declaration of a practical busineSs
man—of a member of the Shipping Interest—who
knows, from personal experience, a good deal, not
only about dockyards, but about the construction of
the ships also which occupy them.
It is a question which here in Liverpool cannot
but be well understood. Ours is a community which
need not to be informed of the importance of- those
who take upon them to have to do with shipping
and with docks, knowing something, nay, a good
deal, about them practically, if they are to avoid
burning their fingers. And when one hears of 500
sailing ships in our Navy having been pronounced of
no use, and having therefore, in their present con-
dition to be abandoned, involving, as it needs must,
an enormous loss to the country, it is impossible to
resist the conviction, that in the business manage-
ment of such an affair, in order to secure its, being
done, we will not say with advantage, but with
justice to the people, whose means are so largely
exacted. for such expenses, there ought to be reliable
practical business knowledge. brought to bear upon
it. Take the method of disposing of such ships of
the Navy as, under modern improvements in naval
architecture, and naval tactics, have had to be laid
aside and superseded—that of attempting to adapt
them to such improvements : hear what the same
practical shipowner whose opinion we have already,
quoted took occasion the other evening to "remark,
while maintaining that the system of converting old
ships into what they called new ones was a bad sys-
tem":—" The fact was, he knew -from experience, -that.
they could not convert an old ship into anything like a
good one. There was no better instance than that of a
five-barred gate. The five-barred gate was framed
of cross-bars, and if they attempted .to patch up that
gate by putting new timber into it they could not
join the old and the new so that it would be safe or
useful. It was the same as regarded a ship.. If they
drove a new plug or a new fastening into the hull of.
an old ship, he did not think it would be secure. He
was opposed, therefore, to the system they had of
converting these old ships _ into new ones, and_ he
considered that so far as the navy was concerned-
their. better system would be to sell. the old_ ships
and build new ones." And yet have the Admiralty
been spending thousands and tens of thousands in
this very objectionable, not to say impossible thing,
of attempting to convert old ships into new-ones !
The statement of Lord CLARENCE PAGET, in the
discussion we have referred to, must have made a
deep impression upon the House of Commons,
although it did not, at the moment, succeed• in
accomplishing its object. He is hiinself a naval
man ; and having, as he assured the House,
over the estimates for the last four years with a view
to ascertain the money spent in shipbuilding; and
upon the other hand, been to the dockyards to
ascertain what they had to show for it,"—he had

The Earl of Malmesbury has appointed John Elliott
Hyndman, Esq.„.to be agent :at Dublin for the issue of
foreign office passports.

" gone

The next competitive examination of candidates for,
admission to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich,
will be held on the sth of July and following days.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Major-General.
Robert Henry Wynyard, C. 8., to be Lieutenant-Governor
of the Cape of Good Hope.

THE NEAPOLITAN EXILES.—CORK, Tuesday.—The Daily
Reporter, of this morning, states that upon yesterday the
ex-Mayor, Alderman Donegan, accompanied by Captain
Brine, F. Woodley, Esq., and some other gentlemen,
waited upon Baron Poerio, and presented to him a letter
from C. J. West, of Ruthin Castle, North Wales, expressive
of hisdeep sympathy with the exiles, and enclosing a note
for £lO. The _Reporter also states that fifteen of those
gentlemen will leave for London to-day, and ,that many
others will follow them soon.

OPPOSITION Rumouns.—A rumour (from a source of
high authority) has just reached us, which is very signifi-
cant of what is brewing. It is to the effect that in case
Lord John Russell should be called upon to form an
administration—which, for England's sake,. God forloid !
the following gentlemen have offered their services, and

have been promised places in the Cabinet : —Mr. John
Bright, Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Mr. Milner Gibson,
Secretary of State for the Colonies; Mr. Ayrton, Secretary
of State for India ; Mr: Roebuck, President of the Board
of Trade, with a seat in the Cabinet ; and Mr. Horsman,
Chief Commissioner of Works.—/Iforning Herald.

system of extravagant expenditure on the part of the
shipbuilding department of the Admiralty which
ought to be looked into." It is a state of things for
which the present Administration is no more
accountable than any of its predecessors,—or, in
truth, so much so,—and Lord PAGET, whilst denoun-
cing the system pursued, could not forbear, it
appeared, " praising the right hon. baronet (Sir S.
PAKINGTON) for having inaugurated a new system,
by taking the House of Commons into his confidence."
But more than this is requisite,—:-or, rather, the
principle of it requires to be fully carried out. The,
object of Lord PAGET was to place on record a
resolution whereby the House of Comnions might
have the same control over shipbuilding as it has
over the building of barrack 3, or docks. And it will
evidently come to this. The very system which it
is admitted the present First Lord of the Admiralty
has " inaugurated," must of- necessity lead to it ;
as it is probable Sir JOHN PAKINGTON meant that
it should. •

As respects keeping a check- upon the expenditure-
in that important department of the public service,
we believe, with Sir JOHN' FAKINGTON, that the
great point is to look closely to the Naval Minister
of the day. And Sir JOHN himself would appear to
have no objection to be looked closely to. For his
part, he gave the assurance, he should make a
practice of frankly stating how he proposed to spend
the money for which he asked. This is ingenuous
and just. But it does not go to the root of the evil.
What seems to be wanted, we think with Sir
CHARLES N.'"t.P‘lE ft, is some better system of construc-
ting the Board Admiralty,—" the great evil being
the constant (;),, the Lord 4 of the Admiralty,
, .

A I.IIIERINANE ON THE EAST COAST—SEVERAL SHIPS
Losz.—Teleg,ranis, posted yesterday forenoon at Lloyd's,
communicate the raging of a fearful storm on the eastern
coast during Monday night and yesterday morning, amidst
which several ships were lost. It appears to have been
most severely felt at Shields, where in the course of the
night three vessels were dashed on the rocks, and were
totally lost. The following are the names : —The Elizabeth,
Captain Palmer, from Boston, with a cargo of wheat,
bound to Newcastle. The crew were snatched from a
watery grave by the Nortlofiields life boat.. The brig
George Reid, from Harburg, in ballitt. Only one man
saved out of the whole crew ; the vessel bas broken up.
The Sir William Curtis, of Yarmouth, also entirely broken
up ; crew saved by the life-boat. Other fatal losses are also
reported on various parts of the coast.

ACCESS TO THE GARSTON RAILWAY. —lt would be seen
by our report yesterday of the further proceedings before
the committee of the House of Commons, on the bill for
leasing the Warrington and Stockport Railway to the Lon-
don and North-Western Company, that an unsuccessful
attempt was made by the promotep of the measure to set
aside the running powers which the committee had decided
to give, over the line, to the Birkenhead company ; although
such powers are not to be exercised during the time that
the present agreement of the company with the North-
Western is in force. If this arrangement should contribute
to keep down the spirit of monopoly on the part of the
North-Western Company, it may prove a desirable one.
But it would have altogether been much more satisfactory
to Liverpool, had the opportunity been taken to secure some
more effectual guarantee against the line from Garston being
placed entirely at the mercy of a company whose interests
may be So affected, by its affording free access from Liver-
pool to other lines, that the public may be deprived of
its full benefit. The more outlets by railway
there are, the better for the general interests of the town ;
and the want of one to the lines from Garston is at present
severely felt. But, then, to give the town the full advan-
tages of such a communication, it ought by right to form
an independent competing line, so as to operate as a
wholesome check upon the other companies that have
already got access to Liverpool. We are no advocates for
any unprofitable competition ; for such a course never really
serves the public interests, in the long run. Yet we cannot
but look with suspicion, to. say the least of it, upon the
acquisition—in fact the monopoly—by an already over-
powerful. company, like the North-Western, of a line to
Garden which, in independent hands, might be so much
more safe and serviceable_to the public at large.