Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-23 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL IN 1859.
THERE has probably been no previous instance, in
the history of the world, of such rapid commercial
progress, and such advancement in all that it is
calculated to produce, as the case of Liverpool
presents, in this year of grace one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine. When we regard it in its
maritime and its mercantile interests ; when we

consider the extent and value of its shipping, and its
merchandise,—the tonnage of its vessels, the amount

of its exports and imports, the compass of its steam

navigation, the extent of its emigrant and passenger

trade; the lines of railway and canal communication

it possesses ; its docks and. warehouses ; its popula-
tion, property, and income ; its general public
works ; its public places of business ; its commercial

associations; its collegiate and other educational
institutions ; its churches and public charities,—with
all those " appliances and means to boot" of which
there is a proportionate abundance,—one cannot but
marvel at the thought that all this, which combines
to make Liverpool second only to the metropolis
itself of this great country, has been the work
of but a few generations, and that within the memory
of living men it has actually attained its present

high position.
The fact, so wonderful, is accounted for upon the
simple ground, that " Liverpool owes its position
amongst the great communities of England entirely

to its commerce and shipping." These are not only
the great civilizers of nations, but the most powerful
expanders and enrichers of communities. And yet it
would appear, that "no other seaport of the United
Kingdom has risen to so high a point of wealth and

population by those means only,;' as Liverpool has

done.

It is a circumstance this as creditable as it is

singular. Doubtless there have been great natural

advantages co-operating with various fortunate

occurrences and concurrences. But there must have

been the skill and the ability, as well as the oppor-
tunity, to turn it all to account, as it stands
confessed that it has been in so surprising a degree.
The case is a very remarkable, a very peculiar, if not
also a very rare one, in the whole history of
mankind. " London, which alone rivals Liverpool

in the greatness and extent of its commerce, owes its
position, above all other cities, not only of England,

but of the world, to a variety of powerful causes, of
which its great and flourishing commerce is only one,
though probably the most important, as well as the
most permanent. The seaports of the United
Kingdom, though many of them flourishing in wealth,
and some of them, aided by great manufacturing as
well as commercial activity, have all been surpassed
by Liverpool." So that the case is one which has
apparently no parallel, either in this or any other
country—either in ancient or modern times.
This singular and at the same time wonderful
condition of Liverpool is brought vividly 'before the
tic mind by the work (*) from which we have
;,a,d.y quoted two or three sentences, and the title
vhich is that we have given to these remarks. It
• book of facts such as, take them for all in all,
could not be adduced of any other place in Europe,
or iu the world. The reputation of Liverpool, for its
vast maritime and commercial resources, is world-
wide and most exalted. Strangers who visit the
town are struck with wonder by the evidences of its
mercantile greatness and prosperity they behold on
every hand. But the details of the case, As brought
out by such a work as that we refer to, are calculated
to enhance that feeling in no slight degree ; and the
more particularly when regarded in connection with
the rapidity of the progress through which it has
been attained.

pub.
alret
of

The commercial pre-eminence of Liverpool is
amply proved, we say, by the details of its case.
The common idea, we believe, is that London far
surpasses it as a port. But this is not the fact.
" London and New York," it is observed, " stand in
the same rank as Liverpool, as commercial cities, but
in some respects, as a place of commerce, it surpasses
even the great capitals of the Old and the New
Worlds." It excels even London, for instance, in
its shipping and navigation. The amount of tonnage
registered at, and belonging to, the port of Liverpool,
is greater than that belonging to any other port of
the United Kingdom—London not excepted. For,
as is shewn by the Annual Statement of the Trade
and Navigation of the United Kingdom issued by the
Board of Trade, while the burden of the vessels
registered in the port of Liverpool amounted
to 936,022 tons, that of the vessels registered in the
port of London was but 836,140 tons,—thus
giving Liverpool a superiority of 76,882 tons. Ano-
ther fact, too, is remarkable, —that no other port in
the United Kingdom possesses even the half of this
tonnage. And in addition to all this shipping that
is registered in the port, Liverpool is resorted to by
several millions of tons of shipping, in the course of
the year, belonging to other British ports, or to
foreign countries,—drawn to it by its extensive
market for foreign produce, its unrivalled export
trade, arid the great crowds of passengers and emi7
grants who sail from the river Mersey to all parts
of the world, but more especially to the United
States, Australia, and British America.
In nothing is the progress of its maritime com-
merce seen more strikingly, than in the gradually
increasing extent of its dock accommodation. To go
no further back than thirty-five years, we find that
at that time the water space of the Liverpool docks
only covered an area of 501, acres : now it covers an
area of 2121 acres, with upwards of 23 acres of dock
basins. Then there are the docks on the other side
of the Mersey, which, when completed, will add a
further area of 158 acres—thus increasing the water
space of the docks of the Mersey to nearly 400 acres,
which is eight times the size of such water space only

* Liverpool in 1859. The Port and Town of Liverpool,
and the Harbour, Docks, and Commerce of the Mersey in
1859. By Thomas Baines. London: Longman and Co.