The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-06-15 00:00:00

s, although it has hero

ght, and tr

o keep itself from

)n by lo

winded,

g on through the twenty-four hours,"

great difficulty managed to get through the little
work it had to do, but with awful slowness and doleful
tediousness. Even the culminating antics of unfortunate
'''

has wit:

O'CONNOR have partaken of the general cha-

'holy to rouse a I

atop. Yea, the very

nave been forced to halt altogether, or to

in obec

ce to the all-ruling

would be difficult to

decide
and

cevv Or'

plands

lother hands the power which, for good or ill, he has held
over the unsettled, discontented, and all-disturbing

spirits of the country

FEARGUS O'CONNOR is in the Tower; start not, good
reader ! the unfortunate demagogue is not in the ancient
State fortress, where formidable agitators used to be sent
to keep them quiet, and which they seldom left before
they were reduced shorter by the head, but in the tower Of
her Majesty's New Palace of Westminster, assigned for
the safe keeping of gentlemen who come under the dis-
pleasure of " her faithful Commons." There the Hon.
Member is subjected to the anti-phlogistic regimen of beef
steaks 77 /

indiscretion, and pills, draughts, and composing
mixtures ad libitum. The House has voted FEARGUS

mad, and striking reason they had for coming to that con-
clusion ; but it appears to me that the great Chartist cham-
pion is only nor-nor-east mad, and that he knows a " hawk
from a heronshaw" as well as any one who keeps outof bed-
lam. It has alwaysbeen held bythe faculty a strong proof of
sanity to be able to take care of one's money, and in this
particular red FEARGUS has been remarkably sane. Not-
withstanding the non-payment of rent by the Snig's-end
" ruffians," as he politely calls his fraternal tenants, he
has contrived to stuff his fob with not less than £1,200 in
bank notes—a goodly sum, which will keep him in steaks
and brandy for many a long day to come. I should be
glad to hear the opinion of lunatic doctors, whether the
miserable dupes who entrusted their money to such a
scamp, and on such a scheme as his land-humbug, are not
fitter subjects for a madhouse than the crafty projector of
the bubble and receiver of the money. The imprison-
ment of FEARGUS has brought to light one very curious
trait in Irish character—l mean Irish representative cha-
racter—which is highly amusing. When he was first
locked up, and when it was thought he was a poor insane
devil, without brains in his head, or money in his pouch,

it was remarked that he bad not a single "friend" in the
world to feel an interest in his welfare, and that his com-
patriots especially avoided even looking at the tower in
which he was caged. But the moment it got wind that
the sum of £1,200 was found stowed away in his fob,
Neigh, presto I " troops of friends" started up, and the
Irish members so vied with each other in offering their
services, and pressing their disinterested attentions, that
half-a-dozen " affairs of honour" were at one period ap-

pretended to arise out of this generous contention.

Talking of affairs of honour, the part taken by Capt.
VIVIAN in startling the respectable old cock pheasant at
Weybridge lately, has cost him the sweet voices of the
free and independent, but decidedly anti-duelling, electors
of Bodmin. Such an abhorrence have these peace-loving
burgesses of even the smell of gunpowder, that they will
not even look at one who ordered pistols and coffee for

two on a May morning, on any account. Truly, the age
airy has passed !

We have had another Wagner and Lumley case ; now it
is Catherine Hayes and Beale who are on the tapis. The
cause of quarrel is the same—exorbitant demands and
broken engagements. When will these singing birds of
prey be tamed to order ?

CO3I3IERCIAL AND MONETARY NEWS.

MONDAY NIGHT.
THE accumulation of the precious metals still goes
on, rendering money a drug, with every prospect of
its continuing so; for, notwithstanding the tempta-
tion held out by low rates of discount, and the
anxiety of both the Bank and private capitalists to
make use of their funds, no speculative feeling tend-
ing to their increased employment in commercial
transactions has as yet been excited. The rise
which has taken place in the produce markets can-
not be considered the result of speculation ; for even
now the bulk of the sales making are below the
average cost of the stocks held. This hesitation of
the mercantile public to avail themselves of the faci-
lities offered them is to some extent, no doubt, attri-
butable to the remembrance, on the part of the trading
public, of the commercial losses of last year; but
chiefly to the circumstance that domestic consump-
tion is not increasing with sufficient rapidity, if at
all, to warrant the hope of prices being kept up,
whilst it is known that in a few weeks any material
advance would bring in supplies from all quarters.
The increased facilities now existing for the trans-
port both of merchandise and information—our
steam ships, our clipper ships, our overland mails,
our railways, and, greatest of all, the telegraph,—
have caused a complete revolution in commercial
affairs; and henceforth we shall probably never
again see a merely temporary plethora of money
inducing extensive speculation, with any tolerably
reasonable hope on the part of prudent men of a
successful result. It is still inevitable that a
gradual appreciation of all commodities must go
on, as the result of the certain depreciation of gold,
checked however from time to time by the increased
production which an extended monetary circulation
must create in every country.

The return from the Bank of England for the
week ending the sth June gives the following re-
sults when compared with the previous week :

Public deposits
Other deposits
Rest .. ..

X 6,119,961 ; Increase £553,662
13,030,750; Decrease 151,632
3,065,992; Decrease 11,036

On the other side of the account—
Government securities £14,174,572 ; Increase 300,000
Other securities.. .. 10,697,573 ; Decrease 7,072
Notes unemployed .. 12,666,945 ; Increase 124,660
The amount of notes in circulation is £21,685,315,
being an increase of £40,485 ; and the stock of
bullion in both departments is £20,838,720, show-
ing an increase of £152,203 when compared with
the preceding return.

In our Share Market we have had an increased
amount of business, with prices generally sheaving
a decided tendency to advance. The improvement
may be ascribed to the continued abundance of
money, and the extreme buoyancy of the Consol
Market, together with the difficulty in finding any
employment for money. On Saturday a most
marked rise took place, stock for the settlement
proving scarce, it being manifest that a consider-
able amount of real stock was about to be taken
this account. Gold Shares continue very dull. We
annex the quotations for this day :—London and
North-Western, 1231 44; Midland, 681
o,c 14c Lancashire and York-
shire, 751 Ditto Fifth Shares, 3:ld ; East
Lancashire, 18 17 15-16 c 181; Caledonia, 19 5.16 c;
Blackburn, 6; Sheffield Stock, 3.21.; Ditto New
Pref, ; South-Eastern and Dover, 214 yI.
PRODUCE.—We have had a steady business tran-
sacted during the past week in our colonial market,
and prices have been supported. The demand for
sugar continues unabated, and both grocers and
refiners operate with an avidity unusual for many
months past. Prices have, therefore, not only been
well maintained, but show a further upward ten-
dency. The sales since the publication of the
broker's circular comprise 285 hhds. Barbadoes, at
31s. Gd. up to 425. Gd. for grainy; 160 hhds. An-
tigua at 345. to 365. 6d.; 35 hhds. Vacum Pan
Demerara at 345. to 375.; 3,200 bags white Benares
at 395. to 40s. (3d.; 450 bags Dates at 33s ; nearly
800 bags grainy Bengal and Cossipore at 395. 6d.
to 40s. 6d., besides 300 chests low brown Bahia
for refining at 16s. 9d. per cwt. Several sales have
been made in molasses; we notice small parcels of
Barbadoes, ex quay, at 16s. to 16s. 6d., and 230
puns. to arrive at 165. Gd. 20 puns. Demerara
rum have brought previous rates. The only sale
of coffee reported is 450 bags St. Domingo
at 40s. 6d. per cwt. The tea trade remains
unaltered. The China mail which arrived this
morning brought dates from Canton to 23d, and
Shanghai to 13th April. There is very little doing
in Rice; 250 bags Bengal are reported at los. to
los. 3d. per cwt.; 30 boxes. Pearl Sago have
realised 225.; and 30 bags Sago Flour, 14s. 9d.
per cwt. We also report 20 bales Gambier at
ss. 6d., arid a small lot of Shell Lac at 38s. per
cwt. Jute is in limited demand; for 400 bales
offered by auction on Friday, there was no bid.
COTT&N.—The Africa's advises have caused a•
temporary pause in the market. Speculators deem
it prudent to restrain their operations, whilst the
trade being pretty well in stock begin to buy
sparingly ; prices, howe-ver, are not lower. On
Friday, 12,000 bales were sold of American; 5,000
were for speculation and export. On Saturday
8,000 bales—one half being on speculation and for
export—changed hands. To-day,the cause indicated
above restricted the business to 4,e,,00 bales, nearly
all to the trade. The market closed tamely, but
without any symptoms of giving way in price. The
imports this week will be large, seeing that so many
cotton ships are arriving. The following were the
quotations of Friday last, for the three descriptions
of American "fair :''—

d. per lb

. .
I Irnport sin •. ce Ist Jan.. 1,098,946

,473 bales
~210 „

—mere was a good attendance of the
the public sales held here on Wednesday
and for East India, Egyptian, Oporto, and
kinds of Buenos Ayres, high prices were
ied. English and Irish combing Wools are

.s eagerly boug

ana our n,
s to market, at very sati

ory rat.

TO THE CONSERVATIVE FREE-TRADE

ELECTORS.

BROTHER ELECTORS,—As I know that many of you
are placed in the dilemma of conflicting opinions as re-
gards the course to be pursued at the coming election, I
will endeavour, briefly, to shew that we (for I am of your
number) are not compelled by the consistent advocacy of
the principles of that commercial policy which we have
adopted, to vote against the return to Parliament of those
gentlemen who ask our suffrages as supporters of Lord
Derby's Government.

Is free trade, as a principle, as the basis of our com-
mercial policy, in danger ? I answer unhesitatingly, No.
As regards the " bread tax," Lord Derby has said that
he will not attempt to reimpose it without the consent of
the country, and he has also said that he does not expect
the country will sanction it; a pretty significant hint that
it is not his intention to propose it. But does the reim-
position simply of a duty on corn involve the destruction
of the principle of free trade' Not to mention that many
eminent reformers and free traders have advocated a corn
duty for the purposes of revenue, the very idea of the
thing is absurd, though it suits well our opponents to deal
in such false logic. The " major premises" in their syllo-
gism, though unexpressed, is as follows :—" Any change
or modification in existing arrangements involves the
destruction of the principle of free trade." The fallacy
herein contained is transparent. Why, many ultra free
traders would be glad to modify present arrangements so
far as to make reciprocity the basis of the free admission
of foreign ships to our ports. By parity of reasoning,
then, they are as great enemies to free trade as the man
who would reimpose a duty on corn.
The truth is, that free trade is not limited either to corn
or the question of the Navigation Laws, but embraces the
whole industrial energies of the nation. It really means
unfettered industry and unrestricted intercourse. The
fact then becomes undeniable, that in a country burdened
with an annual national expenditure of £70,000,000 abso-
lute free trade cannot exist, and the real point at issue
under the specious name of free trade is,—how can the
industry of the country be taxed, with the least detriment,
to this amount. Some perhaps will urge that real pro-
perty and accumulated capital are the sources whence we
must seek to draw our taxes. 'Without entering into any
discussion as to whether accumulated capital is or is not the
product of industry, will any one be bold enough to aver
that the industry of a nation, so circumstanced as we are,
ought not to be taxed at all. If so, let them at once claim
the immunity ; but I imagine this doctrine will be held
by few, jind that most will admit that industry must pay
its quota to the support of the state. Well, then, this
merely alters the point at issue, to the best means of tax-
ing that industry to the amount of its fair quota.
A revision of taxation, therefore, does not in itself
necessitate a return to Protection, even though involving
the reimposition of a corn duty, but might simply imply
an expression of the opinion of the authors of that policy,
that industry did not contribute its fair share to the
public revenue. The correctness of that opinion is alto-
gether another question.
Much the same thing, in other words; is involved in the
question of direct and indirect taxation ; for it is clear that
direct taxation is not of universal application at present,
and cannot well be brought to bear upon the masses ;
and as the Chancellor of the Exchequer observed in his
budget speech, it is absurd to go on repealing all indirect
taxes, till you hit upon some expedient to render the
application of direct taxes universal, unless you are pre-
pared to exempt industry, in the main, from taxation
altogether.

Now, the policy of most of our so-called Free Traders
is simply this—the continual reduction and removal of
all indirect taxes—and the progress in Free Trade, of
which they loudly boast, is the carrying out this system
to its utmost limit.

To this a stop must be put, in the present state of
financial science, as regards direct taxation ; and, indeed,
I am inclined to the opinion that, under any circum-
stances, it is by indirect means that you can, with least
advantage, tax the industry (as distinct from the wealth)
of a country.

In supporting those, therefore, who will put a stop to
this system of the eonstant repeal of indirect taxes, we are

not, necessarily, as our opponents would represent us,
supporting the reversal of the principle of Free Trade. I
admit such might be the case without involving a logical
absurdity, but no expressed opinion of Lord Derby can
lead to the conclusion that he will advocate a return to
711,

what is more correctly a restrictive system, even though
he were to propose a 53. duty on corn. His support of
Sir Robert Peel's policy, down to 1845, is sufficient proof
on this point ; and it is no argument, against any line of
conduct we pursue, that others do so from different
motives.

I have here endeavoured to show that neither a duty
on corn, nor a revision of taxation, involve, in themselves,
the downfall of Free Trade as the basis of our commer-
cial system—and that, therefore, we are not necessarily
guilty of any dereliction of principle in supporting those
who advocate both, though we may not hold altogether
the same opinions ourselves. This, I admit, is but a
negative reason for supporting, in this juncture, Lord
Derby's administration ; but it deals with the stumbling-
block which I know stands in the way of many. Next
week, I will endeavour to give you some positive reasons,
drawn from the consideration of a political question which
has been almost shelved during the present struggle.
A FREE TRADER AND CONSERVATIVE.
Liverpool, 12th June, 1852.