The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-12-10 00:00:00

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o
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AFFAIRS OF THE WEST INDIES.
(31\14, NEGLECT AND FOREIGN FROYI-
' (p • • TIATION.
rum Rlackwood's Magazine for December.)

Arsons.
tan of ss the various fired preasing interests, the considera-
lbhar'iswhieh is now brought hoine, to the British empire,
to
cone which is of such paramount and growing im-
sta7oli the extension of our Colonial Empire, and the
tiknesti‘• 111
be
Riot our connexion with it. The more minutely and
aete:t that our social condition at home is considered, the
found that the inainteriatice, not only of our
tirbiy a: Prosperity but of our national independence, is en-
tia 4 Pendent upon promoting the groystiaand maintaining
other", nexura with-our colonies; and • that oar trade with
rao,untries; so far from being a source of strength, may
thencet__.b.e converted into the greatest cause of weakness
on
ake te:t occasion in which this country is engaged in a man-
%Sort's-
-I:atarnatest• The facts on this subject which are to be
,'rests
littleuk
our Parliamentary Reports are of the very highest
colsoi`inhsee, and perfectly decisive of the vast superiority of
foreign commerce. Nevertheless, that they are
'rests n(ltvn, even by those whose whole fortune and in-
Saki, are Wound up with the subject, appears in the most
4e dg manner from the astonishment which the facts con-
ate4gsvith this subject never fail to exajisi when stated to an
its ,pent and respectable assembly ; and, unless these facts
lesstsl,stantly brought home to the public mind, and come at
aliZti`:•_lo influence the treasures of government by the ac-
ilatetiated force of public thought, it may confidently be pre-
C th
aw. at a cata-stroplie, at some future and possibly not
t4tillar Tied, awaits the British empire, greater, perhaps,
ever.yet befallen any civilized nation. .1/4
tyaPeace; have now been so long in the enjoyment of profound
era 'ln in the possession of an export commerce to every
hOf the globe, that the older part of the present gene_-
,t'4at it ~.a.ve torgotten, expo ounger nevea have experienced,
ust, its "as tolave the t trade of England to nearly all
luta, however
colonieS closed by foreign hostility. Fortu-
raob,'.ol' nowever, the experiment has been tried, and a durable
clitaesl!mt remains of the consequences whin result to
all
law.oitii this county y from such a stoppage in the vent, for
d sacs 'lice. 'ln 'the' year 1811, the hostility of Napoleon
voile eu all the harbours in Europe against our commerce,
fat, e",le Americans, by a new intercourse act, shut us out
vas el'Y harbour in the United States. The consequence
1816, taat the exports of Great Britain, which, in the year
tat,,, amounted to forty-three millions, sank in the next year
talrebeiltY'severi ; and the fall in the exports and imports
%r.-
-together for the one year, amounted to no less than
th,aY ,six millions. Mr, Brougham, in terms no less just
Ur ce'°ll;ient, in the debate upon the Repeal of the Orders
134,, °ailed 18P,-thus described the state to which the
‹nllacturitia districts in England were reduced by this
LarchytY ,--"'Take for example, one of our great staples, the
kioar, 'and look to Warwickshire, where it used to
time` • - and its neighbourhood. a district
of
Lige, in taileS'round that centre, was- formerly but one vil-
400,00'nay say one continued workshop, peoPled with about
Shat of the most industrious and skilful of mankind. In
siieo state do you now find that once busy hive of men ?
rest t' till, and desolate during half the week;
fordsuring 'the
st of a .
teak., miserably toiling at reduced wages,
af e Y sufficient to maintain animal life in the lowest state
vietufort, and at all times swarming withunhappy persons,
anxious to work for their lives, but unable to find
cat7.Ylafiet. He must have a stout heart within him, who
sunch a scene and not shudder. But even this is not
art 'natters are getting worse and worse ; the manufacturers
th„‘"•iting for your decision, and if that be against them
kaf,, will instantly yield to their fate, and turn adrift the
whoin they still, though inadequately, support with
,°;Yrnent."—" In the West Riding cl Yorkshire, the ap-
th cas to the parish officers have so alarmingly increased,
fa:ttiitheY have given repeated warnings to the master menu-
Iltterr",- and I believe to the higher authorities, of their
fey
it Inability to relieve the inereasing distress,- or to answer
,narked consequences. Among other circumstances which
4%.1 this part of the case, there was one peculiarly affect-
lai'd`d° every oae who heard it. It had been proved that at
eatiae,rininster, where the great carpet manufacture is almost
taar7,lY destroyed, the wants of the poor became so pressing,
tore ."ley were forced to part with their little stock of furni-
fottZnich used to snake their cottages in some degree coin-
antii i.es, and • even the .clothes off their backs, to raise food,
,Lie pawnbrokers, having already loaded themselves
Nast such ,
sa"a'n ueposits, refused to issue any more tickets. But
"emeld the same feature recurred in a heightened and
ltrin',l,nore striking forth. -The workmen in the cutlery trade,
terTe to s
and
merchantsany ongeror their
brokersal usu market
refusing from
to purchase
the Inas-
aby dealers
vaitiation .for money' 419 r e, were compelled to pawn their articles at a very low
and even for food and clothes ; so that
tat! extraordinary state of things arose—the pawnbrokers
viT•e into the London market.with the goods, and there met
det,4 the regular dealer, whom they were able greatly to un-
Lasedil, in such wise ass to supply to a considerable degree the
th, ,Pn and other markets, to the extreme augmentation of
cistresses already so severely pressing upon this branch
• Erade ,r* .
NOw • •
tO• th. , in order to appreciate the misery that would ensue
tha"„18 country from a similar stoppage in its eapert trade at
ereresent time we have only to reflect upon the vast in-
take of exports, imports, and population, which have since
whist's, ,Place •, we have only tb recollect that our exports,
to :" tri 1810 were forty-three millions, had, -in 1838, risen
ahille hundred and five ; and that our imports,
in 1809 were thirty-one millions, had risen in 1838 to
fia.‘l"cne millions"; and that
_our population, which at the
Nowel:;Period was seventeen Millions, is now twenty-five.
ilaceri"' such wide-spread and heart-rending misery was pro-
facta,.-",wlen, what would be its effects now, when the mann-
tagettlg establishments of the country have nearly tripled,
tiaa'allr manufacturing population•has advanced in a propor-
ad:2lnheard of in 'any. other age or country? It may cow.
c0,.,1,Y be affirmed, that the MiSery,
begdeastation, and social
aerluisions that would ensue, would greater than ever yet
experienced in the world.
forei we look at the jealousy with which we are regarded by
4titiP MverS, and the general aspect 'of the political world
tt,Titlss tirie, we shall see to reason to believe that the ele-
tll4t °t
strife are awanting in the political atmosphere, or
sathe time is far distant when war, even on as great a scale
areas"s waged With 'Napoleon, must be undertaken by the
are i empire. With Russia, it is universally admitted, We
tiaa '1 a state closely bordering on hostility ; it is only a ques-
rceri of time when that gigantic contest is to arrive. The
aing. aspect of the Baltic, of .the thirty ships of the line
g ready, and thirty thousand land troops ready at a mo-
vheellt's'. warning to embark in them—of the Dardanelles,
at tlie fifteen British ships of the line are constantly stationed
wherae back door of the Russian empire—of Affghanistan,
tiasse,twenty thousand British troops are permanently sta-
Za in the very heart of .Asia,—all demonstrate' that both
h-l•les are preparing- fors a;reat contest, and that it will
tieete,arried on on a scale that will render the world itself the
:of battle. And on whom are we to rely for maritime
eurr rt suet f a contest ? Is it on the Austrians, who.
11 lot furnish a ship of the line ar two frigates to save
tagand.froin destruction ? or on the French, who, what be-
haail dread of Nicholas, and separate interests at Algiers,
hie_cadi awn off from the alliance at the very first out-
/silo's', of hostilities in the Archipelago ? or, the Americans,
cunt government is so weak, and their hostility to this
for so inveterate, that thousands of armed pirates have
the ;-`,O Years back kept up an almost incessant warfare upon
than 'frontier? • Everything indicates that a great
arri, ,ITne contest is not far distant, and that, when it does
0w r' will have to depend almost entirely upon our
Fsources for our defence.
str'"-etnn are these resources, then, particularly our maritime
eall/4elgth, in such a state as to warrant ns in an reasonable
ol,ecations•that we shall be able to maintain our maritime
blu4l°,ritY in the contest, and avert the evils of actual
the 'toe from the British harbours ? The preparations of
line ,e,n,emY are well known : they have thirty ships of the
I:latti-ceu eighteen frigates constantly in commission in the
Rally fifteen ships of the line and twelve frigates con-
whiel?ilp readiness in the Euxine. In considering the force
Stich Aigland has at her command to resist aggression from
days enemy, we shall not go back to the higher palmy
haek Yr British exertion during the war; we shall not go
hundred the year 1809, when the British navy consisted of two
Ices and forty-two ships of the line, and a thousand and
te" armed vessels of all sizes. We shall content oar-
vit thwith reverting to a humbler and more parallel period,
hesoia, e state of the British navy in 1838 compared with 1792.
and .the revolutionary war commenced, and when the naval
•to•whitarY establishments of tbe country were on the scale
'll,. Joseph Hume always refers n
as the me pita ultra
oth_. 9! economic perfection. Now, upon turning to
i,eoie.• documents, viz. the returns of the navy in 1792,
the ,_!?y. Mr. James in his Naval Historyal' we shall tind that
peziise7stsoivo-ednaasvfalolleosrsb:l_ishments of the country at the-two
Line in Frigates in . Line, ordinary
1792
Commis. Commis. and building.
1838,
26 52 124
21 9 70
• Frigates, ordi- Total Total Grand Total a
1792
nary and build. Line. Fr
igates. of all Vessels.
153 115 411
1838: 84 But 90 99 363
"Pabl ePerhaps it will be said, that though the British navy
wits in ~t2t. meeting an enemy, is not thus one-half of what it
ride 92, yet this is because the resources of the country
so
maintainfallen off, that it was not able at the latter period to
at th_the defensive establishment which was in existence
exauleinteornier. • To ascertain whether this is the case, let us
a4d un- what was the state of the population, our exports
the „a_PLOrts, at these two periods, as affording a measure of
eaut`cian ailtnre, manufactures, and general resources of the
rY• They stood respectively as follows::
population of 1792. 1838.
f Great Britain
p.x
nand Ireland 12,680,000 27,250,000
rts.
0fficia1£24,904,850 £105,170,549
'"oris. value
aaana,.. Official value £19;659,358 £61,268,320
hu.' .................... 1,540,145 2,785,387
• tish ss, it appears that since 1792 the population of the Bri-
tripl'esdands has more than doubled, the imports more than
the
ei4l exports more than quadrupled, and the commer-
of was Y.increased about seventy per cent., while the ships
sta,z4'.aln all branches, have sunk to nearly half of their
When 4- in' 1792. This, too, has taken place during a time
Plied tilce, colonial empire of Great Britain has been multi-
`ve are brvoe five-fold, and the chances of hostility with which
hate beei nght in contact at different points over the globe,
svhig..r4seiaaereased in a similar proportion. We invite the
talsey caanl I writers to examine and contradict these facts if
11 the I:,and submit them to the deliberate consideration of
of °tier reasoners and of all the intemperate admirers
It • ocratic wisdom throughout the realm.
mlteta Possible for any one who is a friend to his country
alarm plate such a state of things without the most serious
experiean alarm which is only rendered the greater from the
ayeats aced difficulty of getting such future and contingent
this 0'11‘t?. crest the attention of government or the nation in
considered a , • But, "dims- aae above all, if the matter is seriously
tt •
, a_na .r?
it we reflect upon the imminent hazards of a
British -llama the miserable state of preparation in which the
ha the is to meet it, and the awful effects which will
i curs a stoppage of trade, and the blockade of our har-
IVorsa "stile squadrons, it must be evident that no more.
atte • nt subject
utaio ss of consideration ever was submitted to the
JeOt with the
a thinking nation. And we dwell upon the sub-
''tl' a whole
is
more earnestness, because, when our situation
is 1y
, . I fairly looked in the face, and the policy which
i 11_ and interest alike
fa " ground prescribe, is adopted, there not only.
tare ~ for alarm, but the most satisfactory prospects of
to be
and welfare are opened on all sides to the
be f•„mir:A!s.in our colonies that this source of strength is
alatitic it is in our descendants on 'the other side of the
i'l_nliPacific, that we are to look- alike for the only
e.te.trieritsn7 et for our produce,' and the only undecaying
;',l"jeet Were rt. strength. Some very striking facts on this
the occasion brought forward upon the late !dinner given upon
heealaritt, at Glasgow
the embarking of the first emigrants to New
dore, as xY4,la_agovs ; and we willingly give a place to them
e, she incalculabinle importance of the British colonies,
'stem" oTtitio the extension, but to the independence and ex-
t};‘ Let us e 1
mother country.
e itn no loner strain," said Mr. Sheriff Alison, " after
0f... pr
th aeticahl
t, e tors attempt to disarm the commercial jealousy
,ae fa c,„ direct
states ; but, boldly looking our situation in
Varai;:ancareict our main efforts to the strengthening, donci-
be f4ar,;ienereasing of our Colonial Empire. There is to
';tl,ere ars", bone of our bone, and the flesh of our flesh.
satiaoh. q to be found the true descendants of the Anglo-
tast rdce ;there '
es, the people, who, already imbued with our
ceuta • "r habits, our artificial
nee, t__ wants, must be chained for
agricultural or pastoral employments, and can

Ja , * Parliamentary Debates, xxiii. 548.
424, mess Naval History, H. 404 ; Barrow's Anson, App.
18381:qtees Parliamentary Tables and Finance Accounts for