The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-06-07 00:00:00

poorer classes who may be brought there for vaccination, or
for gratuitous professional advice or assistance.
The memorial was referred to the Finance Committee.
EDUCATION IN THE CORPORATE SCHOOLS.
The following letter was read by the mayor :-
22, Bedford-street, Liverpool, June 4, 1839.
Sir,—l have the honour to hand you a memorial agreed to
at a meeting of the inhabitantts of Abercromby ward, (held on
Tuesday, the 2d April last,) for presentation at the monthly
meeting of the council tomorrow, the sth inst.
I am, respectfully, your most obedient servant,
RreHAND GRIFFITH, Chairman.
To the Worshipful the May llof Liverpool.
The DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK ther*read the petition as fol-
lows :
To the worshipful the mayor and town-council of the borough
of Liverpool.
Thememorial of municipal voters and others resident in
Abercromby Ward,—Sheweth,—
That your memorialists view with much concern and serious
alarm, the consequences likely to arise from the establishment
of ward schools, to be conducted on the plan now in use in
the North and South Corporation Schools in this borough.
Your memorialists deeply regret that a system so decidedly
opposed to the wishes and conscientious scruples of a majority
of those who contribute to the funds available for the schools
should be attempted to be established by the council in this
ward.
Your memorialists pray that a comprehensive national reli-
gious education be taught in the corporation school about to
be established in this ward; guarded by articles of peace, and
conformity to the established religion of this kingdom, em-
bracing the free and unrestricted use of the Bible, and with
a complete toleration of all dissenters from the established
church, without any limitation or exception, other than what
arises from the conjunction of dangerous political dispositions
with certain religious tenets—and being thus guarded, can be
visited and superintended by the ministers of the established
church.
That this system appears to your memorialists to be not
only the most just and liberal, but the wisest and safest the
council can adopt ; inasmuch as it unites the several perfec-
tions at which education ought to aim, viz. liberty of con-
science with means of instruction ; the progress of truth with
the peace of society ; and the right of private judgment, with
the care and protection of the established religion of these
realms.
Mr. GLADSTONE said he would leave the council to deal
with the petition as they thought proper. It was signed, he
believed, by between four and five hundred individuals, for
whose respectability he could vouch. It was far from his
wish to say any one thing that might tend to raise the angry
feeling that had been formerly exhibited in that council. if
any course could be devised by which they could grant
the prayer of the petition, and meet the wishes of the Educa-
tion Committe, it would be desirable.
Mr. DAVID HODGSON said it had been frequently asserted
that the Bible was read in the corporation schools. (Cries
of " Order, order.") He did not think any system could at
all be adopted by which harmony could be restored unless
the Bible
The MAYOR said that the question before the council re-
lated merely to the manner in which that petition was to be
disposed of. Mr. Hodgson was infringing on a subject on
which he would have an opportunity of speaking., when that
subject itself which. stood on the paper was brought forward.
Mr. GLADSTONE hoped the petition would be referred to
the Education Committee for them to report upon it. He
feared it was not of much use to express such a wish, but he
should like it to be referred to them and for them to take it
into consideration.
Mr. BLACKBURN said the petition seem to him to be alto-
gether unintelligible. Perhaps Mr. Gladstone would have
the goodness to explain what it meant.
Mr. GLADSTONE said the petition was nothis composition,
but he understood that it meant that the petitioners wished
such a system to be adopted at the corporation schools, as
would allow the clergy to be admitted, which was not the
case at present. There had, he believed, been already some
alteration for the better, for which he gave the Education
Committee great credit.
Mr. BLACKBURN said the Education Committee did not
wish for any credit which they did not deserve. He denied
that the system had been altered. The authorsied version
of the scriptures was as much read now as ever it was, and
it was as much read in the corporation schools as in any
schools in Liverpool. It could not be read more in any
school, unless they wished them to compel the children to
read the Bible whether they would or not. If gentlemen
wished them to compel the children to read the scriptures,
why did they not speak out.
Mr. GLADSTONE. said, that was precisely what he did want.
Mr. BOLTON moved that the petition should lie on the
table. The opponents of the corporation school system pre-
tended to court inquiry, yet it came out that they wished in
these schools to have the established church, and nothing
but the established church.
Mr. SANDS said—no--they only wanted the corporation
to adopt such a system as would not keep the ministers of
the established church out of the schools.
Mr. Bolton's motion was agreed to.
MR. ROWLAND HILL'S SYSTEM OF POSTAGE.
Mr. SHELL said, since he had given notice of his motion,
a declaration had been made, which might appear to render
a petition to the government unnecessary. But as they did
not know what might be the ultimate fate of the measure,
he would submit to them a petition in favour of postoffice
reform, which he proposed to have presented to both houses
of parliament. After the rapid progress which the proposed
measure had made in favour with all classes, it would be
needless loss of time to trouble them with arguments in sup-
port of his proposition. He would therefore submit the
petition.
The DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK read the following petition :
To the Honourable the Commons of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament
assembled—
The humble Petition of the Mayor, Aldermen, and
Burgesses of the Borough of Liverpool,
Humbly sheweth,—That your petitioners, convinced that
the present high rates of postage cause many and serious
evils to the public, but especially to the middle and poorer
classes of society, have learned, with great satisfaction, that
it is the intention of her majesty's ministers to propose, to
your honourable house, a resolution in favour of an uniform
cnarge of one penny for the inland postage of each letter
not exceeding half an ounce weight.
That your petitioners are of opinion that Mr. Hill's plan
of post-office reform can only be fully and fairly carried into
operation by the postage being paid in advance ; for if an op-
tion be allowed whether to pay in advance or not, much of
the expensive machinery of management must be retained,
which otherwise might be dispensed with.
Your petitioners, therefore, beg of your honourable house
to enact that letters may be sent from any post town in the
united kingdom to any other, at an uniform charge of one
penny for each letter not exceeding half an ounce weight,
and that the same be payable in advance.
And your petitioners will ever pray, &c.
Mr. SHELL moved the adoption of the petition, and that it
should be presented to both houses of parliament.
Mr. JORDAN seconded the motion.
Mr. MELLOR said he thought the petition should contain
something on the subject of the high charges made for mer-
chants' own letters. Even when they came by their own
ships, the charge was in many instances enormous.
Mr. BOLTON said, Mr. Mellor ought to know that con-
signees' letters were always free under a certain weight. He
would observe that the adoption of Mr. Rowland Hill's sys-
tem would cause a loss of a million a-year to the revenue.
If a million a-year could be spared, he thought it would be
much better to take the duty off soap, or to relieve the com-
munity of the window-tax.
Mr. GLADSTONE said, it did not follow because the pre-
sent system was a bad one, that Mr. Rowland Hill's must
necessarily be the best that conld be devised. It seemed
preposterous that the same price should be paid for carrying
a letter from the Land's End that was paid for carrying it to
Manchester. He thought, but he was speaking off the book,
that they might have a maximum postage of, say 4d. or 5d.,
and each letter might pay one penny tax.
Mr. EARLE said the whole cost of carrying a letter from
the Land's End to John o'Groat's house was not the half of
a penny. How, then, was it preposterous to charge a high
price from Manchester, when they were also paying a profi-
table sum for carrying to the distant place.
Mr. CASE said the council were arguing the matter as if
they had the power of legislating on the subject. All agreed
that the present state of postage was too high. It had been
stated that there would be a considerable loss of revenue. No
one, however, could guess how much this would be, for no
one could tell what the increase of the number of letters
might be, and how near this might bring them to the present
revenue.
Mr. BLACKBURN believed it was a new thing for gentlemen
to be objecting to the repeal of a tax. He, for his part, had
no sympathy with those persons who would not let the lower
classes be relieved from a tax like this which pressed so
heavily upon them, and restricted the intercourse of relations
with each other. He conceived that the measure would be
a great advantage to the poor and to benevolent societies. If
the chancellor of the exchequer thought he could venture to
let the measure pass, he thought they ought to accept the
boon.
It was agreed that the petitions should have the seal of the
corporation affixed to them, be signed by the mayor on be-
half of the council, and be forwarded for presentation.
The remaining business in the paper was postponed. The
council adjourned at half-past two o'clock to eleven o'clock
on Friday (this day.)