The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-04-13 00:00:00

In order to the

'own Council carrying out

suggestion of the lace Mr. Rushton for the reformation of
juvenile delinquents, the present North and South Cor-
poration Schools could, at little immediate outlay, be
converted into excellent Reformatory Schools, the one
for boys and the other for girls, of the unfortunate class

referred to. The yards might be laid out as play-grounds,
each having a flower border three or four feet broad, and
well stocked with currant and gooseberry trees, &c., for
the moral training of the children, as well as for physical
and industrial advantages. As the juvenile reformatory
committee of the Council have not yet come to any public
decision on the question, this suggestion may not be in-
opportune. Trusting that the public may soon have the
gratification of seeing or hearing of the Council causing
schools to be erected belonging to their churches, and the
"North" and "South" into reformatories,—l remain,
your's truly, JAMES GILLESPIE.
Liverpool, April 10, 1852.

[We insert the above from our knowledge of the sin-
cerity and good intentions of the writer ; but we cannot
consent to give up either the North or South Corporation
Schools, in both of which an excellent scriptural education
is being afforded to some hundreds of the children of our
working classes.—E. L. S.]

STATISTICS AT A DISCOUNT.

..-----...0.,•------

THE ltlanchester Guardian, of Wednesday last, con-
tained the following piece of information :

" Amongst the letters which have been received by Mr.
G. Wilson, chairman of the Anti-corn-law League, du-
ring the past week, is the following from Mr. James Wil-
son, the editor of the Economist

Fontainville, Westbury, Wilts, April 2, 1852.
My dear Sir,—l have a hard contest here, but even in
a comparatively agricultural borough, the big loaf and
cheap sugar will carry me through. lam told you have
published some very useful hand-bills. There is one
many people tell me of that they have seen, a big and little
loaf, of which they are anxious to have some. Will you
have the goodness to send a few. We must urge a disso-
lution at once ; delay will assist the Protectionist minis-
ters, who work through the pocket.—My dear Sir, yours
truly, JAMES WILSON."
Very candid, Mr. Economist ! The old " cooked" dish
of statistics won't go down. But the " big loaf and cheap
sugar" dodge will carry Mr. James Wilson through West-
bury ! The honourable member's friends want to see " a
big loaf and a little loaf." We beg to suggest that, to
meet Mr. James Wilson's own peculiar case, the " big
loaf" should be styled the " official loaf ;" and it might
even have a price affixed to it—" £1,200 a-year," being
the amount of Mr. Wilson's salary, when the Whigs are
in. The " little loaf" might be called " the apposition
loaf ;" and it might be made as crusty and sour as the
loss of such a salary may render the honourable gentle-
man. Its value might be rated at the nett annual profits
of Mr. Wilson's newspaper, the Economist ; and its
nauseousness will be sufficiently vouched for, if it has for
a wrapper half a sheet of the statistical compilations of
that very amusing journal !

MR. CARDWELL AND THE INCREASE OF THE
AMERICAN COTTON MANUFACTURE.

The Liverpool correspondent of the Manchester Guardian
remarks as follows upon Mr. Cardwell's unhappy assertion
as to the decreasing consumption of cotton in America:—
" A great diversity of opinion exists with regard to the
consumption of cotton in the United States. According
to the returns published in the annual circulars from 1845
to 1819, there seemed to be a gradual increase, from
389,000 bales to 518,000. In 1850 it decreased to 487,000
bales, and in 1851 to 404,000. Mr. Bramley Moore
stated, at the Amphitheatre, that the consumption de-
pended solely on the price ; when cotton was dear, the
astute Yankees sent it here—when cheap, they worked it
up ; and, from some New York circular, he ascertained
the last six months' consumption was 312,000 bales, or at
the rate of 800,000 bales a year; and this, he says, " is
conclusive." Now, any one at all conversant with the
cotton trade (Mr. Moore, to do him justice, is not in the
trade,) is aware that apparent consumption and real con-
sumption are as far removed as light from darkness.
Doubtless low prices stimulateconsumptioninall countries
—in none more than our own ; and it is quite clear the
American spinners have been supplying themselves pretty
freely, though I should doubt very much whether to the
extent stated. If they have, where are the means of
working up the great increase? Another question pre-
sents itself—how is the consumption ascertained ? Simply,
I believe, by taking the quantity exported and the stock
remaining, and assuming that the balance is consumed.
It sounds very like the sapient calculation of taking the
height of a ship's mainmast to ascertain what cargo she
will carry. There is every reason to believe that a gra-
dual increase of consumption is taking place in the United
States, but not to any very alarming extent, as the figures
I have already given show ; and it is unfortunate that
public men should make these off-hand statements, which
thousands take for gospel."
It is a fact, then, that the American consumption has
increased of late years, and is gradually increasing : that
is an important admission made. It is a fact, too, that
the dearness of cotton checked consumption in the United
States last year, and a portion of the preceding year.
Merchants interested in foreign markets are well aware of
this. Last year the Brazilian, the East India and China,
and other foreign markets, were deprived of their usual
supplies of the heavy domestic cloths of America. This
year they are being glutted by them. With respect to
the authority upon which Mr. Bramley-Moore made the
statement, that the last six months' consumption of cot-
ton in America was 342,000 bales, it was the New Orleans
statement, regularly posted, on the arrival of every packet,
on the Liverpool Exchange. As to the mode in which
such estimates of consumption are made, we presume
that there has been no material change of late. Mr.
Cardwell was satisfied with it, whilst he thought it told
in his favour; and we are not aware that the Guardian
ever complained.