The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-04-02 00:00:00

PROFITS OF MANUFACTURERS,

During the agitation of the corn-law question, the relative
profits of agriculturists and manufacturers have formed the
subject of much controversy ; it being affirmed on the one
side, and denied on the other, that manufacturing profits are
enormous ; and that it is the difficulty of employing the in-
creasing capital of the manufacturers,--increasing from these
profits far beyond the field for exertion;--which is the real
evil. The manufacturers, as Mr. Denison justly observed at
the Doncaster meeting, are suffering under a plethora of
wealth—and it is impossible that they can so employ their
surplus profits as to produce anything like the same returns
which their original capital has done.
We have this week some conclusive data to go upon, as to
the profits of manufacturers.
For some time there have been disputes between Mr. Wm.
Hirst, a celebrated manufacturer of Leeds, and his creditors,
which have been the subject of arbitration—the examination
of witnesses and the award being published in the Leeds
papers. This publicat,on, in Mr. Hirst's opinion, does not
embrace all the facts of the case ; and in the last Leeds In-
tellipncer we find a letter from Mr. H. containing various
particulars foreign to our purpose'; but the following is strictly
apropos. He says :
" My books will prove the first £25,000 worth of cloth
that I sold in- 1831, left a net profit of £6OOO, which cloth
was manufactured in less than six months from my com-
mencement in that' year. If any disbelieve this, lam ready
to accompany them to the• books. But as some_ have re-
marked that this is a large profit, I will adduce a stronger
proof of the correctness of that statement, by referring to
Messrs. Hirst and Heycock's books, now in the possession
of Messrs. Tanner and Young, from which it will appear,
that in the first six months of 1828, under my management
for Messrs. Hirst and Heycocks, I cleared them a net profit
of £lO,OOO •, if any dispute this, let them apply to Messrs.
Hirst and Hcycock's- books fur proof, and call them and
myself to explain fully."
Now does not this confirm—and more than confirm—all that
has ever been asserted with respect to manufacturers' profits?
And yet, whilst they are making their 25 to 30 per cent—they
grudge the farmer the small profit he makes upon his capital !
Verily they are a selfish set.—Doncaster Chronicle.

RADICALS.—Them English radicals are cantankerous-
looking oritters—that's a fact. As sour as vinegar, and
lookin' as cross and as hungry as a bear gist starved out in
the spring.—Sarn Slick.
In a recent battue in the Commune of Vouzon, near Or-
leans, a wolf, which had been hard pressed by the hunters,
on attempting to clear a broad ditch fell to the bottom. At
this moment one of the hunters jumped on the animal's
back, seized him round the body, and, pressing his jaws
tightly to avoid his bite, summoned his companions to his
assistance. The latter having speedily come up, the animal
was captured alive, gagged, and taken to Vouzon. He was
eight years old, and the largest wolf that for a length of
time had been seen in the country.
TRANSIT OF GOODS BY THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM

RAILWAY.—The spirited and resolute opposition made be-
fore the parliamentary committee by Messrs. Robins and. Co.,
to the monopolising system adopted by the London-and iiir-
mingham Railway Company in the conveyance of goods,_ has
terminated successfully. Whatever advantages may be at-
tached to this mode of transit, they have hitherto been ren-
dered nearly nugatory by its exclusive confinement to the
house of Pickford and Co., who are,. through the medium of
some secret compact with the company, alone admitted to
the use of the rail. It is now, hoivever, as it ought from the
first to have been, thrown open ;:thtt.4 securing to the public
all the benefits which may arise- froin the legitimate exercise
of fair and honourable competition.—Morn.
LORD. BROUGH Ay)fD !l+,lllritoll OF SCOTLAND.—
We understand, froth a lirßate, seurte, ;that the following
scene occurred in the Honse of Lbrds -:•-:•-•Sir Frederick Pol-
leek-Ira& opening the case of,tiie Presbytery of Auchterarder,
In fneir celebratediappeal before the /yid chancellor and Lord
Brougham., and in'the course:of-his Observations stated some-
thing, to Whieli Sirqohn:ciknltAbell, who is retained on the
other side, replied in ,au, Under: tone. Sir Frederick Pollock,
not relishing; We'iuppose, the remark of the attorney e-y- gene-
ral,,complained in the_conet of the interruption ,- on, which
ford BrAlim'Jlato exclaimed—`` The Church of Scotland .is
foUnded (ma rock;., the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it—much less the sneers of her Majesty's attorney-general."
—.Edinburgh Courant.
.
'A fisherman of Sarbey, in the Meuse, named Feron, wits
returning one night, some weeks ago, from Metz, after sell-
ing his fish, with a sum of 250 f., which he had wrapped up
in his•netsjastened to the tail of his cart. About .two in
the morning he missed his nets and returned back on his
road searching for them. At some distance he met a carrier,
who delivered him the nets, which he said he had found, but
protested there was no money with them; and he accordingly
made his way home, cursing by all his gods. On Wednes-
day last, • a little before the witching hour of midnight,
his daughter awoke him and told him that she had dreamt
that his money was brought back and placed on the window
sill. She had scarcely finished her ,words when a knocking
was heard at the window ! Feron hastened to open it, and
heard &voice which he thought he recognised, telling him
that a bag was left with something for him at his window.
Father and daughter sallied out and found the dream and
the voice both true : a bag was lying on the window sill with
50 50 five-franc pieces in it !—French paper.

PROPOSED SHIP CANAL ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF
PANAMA.--The following resolution; accompanied by a report
and voluminous appendix, interspersed with sundry maps
and diagrams, was presented to the House of Represent-
atives, from the committee on roads and canals, by Mr.
Mercer on Saturday, the 2d inst. The resolution was adopt-
ed by the House, and the report, &c., ordered to be printed.
" Resolved,—That the President of the United States be re-
quested to consider the expediency tif*opening or continuing
negociations with the Governments of other nations, and
particularly with those the territorial jurisdiction of which
comprehends the Isthmus that connects North and South
America, and to which the United States have accredited
ministers or agents, for the purpose of ascertaining the prac-
ticability of opening a communication between the -Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans by the construction of a ship canal across
the Isthmus; and of securing for ever, by suitable treaty
stipulations, the free and equal right of navigating such canal
to all nations, on payment of reasonable tolls: New York. pap.