The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-14 00:00:00

We are informed that the Duke of Portland having resigned
his office as Lord-Lieutenant or Custos Rotulorum of the
county of Middlesex, the Marquis of Salisbury will be ap-
pointed in his place.—Times.
Tiix LATE Mn. CLOUGII.—We trust our musical friends
will not forget the cniwert this evening, to take place at Mr.
Lassell's Rooms, for the benefit of the widow and infant son
of the late Mr. Clough. The programme is well selected and
most attractive.

POST OFFICE PLACE GALLERY.—This delightful place of
public resort is, we are sorry to find, positively to close on
Saturday next. Those who have not been must really lose
no time, and those who have should take " a last fond look."
WEST INDIA MAILS.—As the West India steam-packets
do not take the mails until the Ist of January next, an in-
quiry was addressed to the postoffice as to whether the
steam-packets sailing from Southampton previous to the Ist
of January would be allowed to take letters as ship-letters,
to which the following answer has been received:—
" General Postoffice, Dec. 10, 1811.
" Sir,—ln reply to your inquiry, 1 beg to inform you that
the Postmaster-General has authorized ship-letter bags to be
made up and forwarded by the steam-vessels about to sail from
Southampton for the \Vest India Islands, prior to the com-
mencement of the new arrangement of the transmission of
the regular mails to the West Indies.
" I am, &c.,
" THOMAS LAURENCE, Assistant Secretary.
" Messrs. Powles, Brothers, and Co.,
13, Austin Friars."
THEATRE ROYAL.--it will be seen, by the advertisement,
that Mr. Slaiter takes his benefit to-morrow evening. We
are sure this unpretending, clever, and humourous actor--
the best country boy, by the way, on the stage—deserves the
support of the public. He has been attached to this theatre
some years. Monday next will be the last night of the sea-
son, when Mr. Clarke will have his benefit. Many will go
on that occasion to take leave of one who has so long and so
successfully administered to the amusement of the public.
He retires with honour to himself, and in it is a beacon for
the younger members of the profession, to show them what
perseverance, and industry, and uprightness will do. We
cannot but think that the profession ought to show him some
little token of regard, in a manifestation of which numbers
of Mr. Clarke's wellwishers would gladly join.

CHARGE OF ROBBERY .-A female, named Julia Cambrin,
was yesterday charged at the Police-court with robbing a Mr.
Dillon of his purse, containing twelve sovereigns and sonic
silver. It appeared from the complainant's evidence that he
had treated another female, and afterwards the prisoner, at a
public-house. The former went out, and did not return.
The prisoner, after the other had gone, asked him to search
his pockets, and see that all was right, which he did, and
missed his purse, which he had not shown to either of them.
The evidence being inconclusive against the prisoner, and
nothing being found upon her, she was discharged. Mr. D.
then preferred a charge of want of courtesy and rude lan-
guage towards him by the keeper of the Vauxhall Station-
house. The charge was but trivial, and was to a considerable
extent explained away by the accused. Mr. Rushton said it
was the duty of all officers to conduct themselves civilly to
everybody. The parties then left the court.

PROPOSED JUNCTION LINE THROUGH MAN-
CHESTER, BETWEEN THE MANCHESTER AND
LIVERPOOL AND THE MANCHESTER AND
LEEDS RAILWAYS.

Our contemporary of the Railway Times is this week a
little severe upon the directors of the Menchester and Liver-
pool Railway Company, on account of their declining, for
the present at least, to hurry on the formation of the pro-
posed junction line between their present terminus in Water-
street, Manchester, and the Manchester and Leeds line, for
which, it will be remembered, the requisite powers have
already been obtained. The Liverpool and Manchester
directors allege, it appears, as one of their objections to
going on with the junction in question, that, on enquiry,
they have found the estimates of the traffic likely to come
upon it very much overrated; and our contemporary—dis-
satisfied with the allegation itself, and with the means as
well, by which the estimates are said to have been tested—
calls upon the directors either to employ the same means in
examining the estimates as those used in framing them, or,
as the alternative, to give up the powers of their act of par-
liament for executing the line into other hands.
Now, with due submission to our able contemporary, we
cannot see that the directors of the Liverpool and Manches-
ter line are bound to accept either of these two alternatives,
or to proceed with the junction line as at present laid down,
without being fully satisfied as to its being the best commu-
nication that can be formed through the town of Manchester.
Upon this point we are not at all so well satisfied; and con-
sider, besides, that circumstances and measures which are at

this very moment in contemplation, may contribute to render
the profitable working of any junction line whatever through
the town of Manchester very problematical. The principal
benefit which has been held out as likely to arise from the
formation of a junction line has been the saving to be effected
by merchandize and produce being forwarded direet'from Li-
verpool to the manufacturing towns upon the Leeds line—the
saving of unloading and reloading, cartage, porterage, &c. The
supposition upon which the companies have ever gone has
been that Liverpool was to continue the depot for bonding
this produce; and now, when it has become almost matter
of certainty that the privilege of bonding is about to be con-
ferred upon Manchester itself, and that a portion at least of
the foreign produce for which the consumers in the manu-
facturing towns upon the Leeds line have heretofore looked
upon Liverpool as their market, will in all probability, before
long, be deposited under bond in Manchester—this saving by
through carriage is no longer so practicable, or the advantage
and profitable working of a junction line so evident.
But eve►► conceding the fact (which we are quite prepared
to (10), that a junction line must ultimately be made between
the Manchester and Leeds and the Liverpool lines, are there

not, we ask, other lines from Manchester to the south and

north which have a claim to be considered in the formation
of such a junction ? The Manchester and Sheffield and
Manchester and Birmingham lines seek, as well as the Man-
chester and Leeds, a connexion with Liverpool ; and we think
it must strike our contemporary that if it is possible to pro-
ject a line which will satisfy the wants of these companies
and the reasonable claims of the Leeds Company as well,
that line it is which, under existing circumstances and exist-
ing prospects, ought to be taken up by the Liverpool and
Manchester Company. _ _

That such a line can be made has already been shewn—a
line, we believe, even less expensive than the present pro-
jected line ; and we are not perhaps far wrong when we state,
that to the prospect ultimately of uniting themselves at once
by this line with the three railways which seek a communi-
cation with them, is to be attributed this justifiable unwil-
lingness to be dragged into the formation of a junction with
the Leeds and Manchester solely.

EFFECT OF REDUCTION OF RAILWAY FARES,

We have been favoured from an official source with a
comparative statement, showing upon a small scale the effect
of a reduction of railway fares. The lino upon which the
reduction referred to took place, is the Canterbury and
Whitstable, six miles in length. On the Ist of February,
1841, the fares were reduced from 9d. to Gd., and the follow-
ing is the result :-
1840. 1841.
February
March
April . 538
May Bl6 .. 2,168
June
July
August 1,468
September
October
November ..

T0ta1...... £9,388 £23,719
Balance in favour of low fares, £14,331.—Railway Times.
Satisfactory as must be the above statement, as to the in-
crease of gross receipts which results from the reduction of
railway fares, the example would be far more likely to be
followed if a better arrangement could be come to with the
government with respect to the mode of levying the passen-
ger duty. The amount per head charged by the revenue
ought surely to be proportioned to the amount levied by the
company ; and we would suggest that railway directors
could not be better employed during the approaching session
than by impressing the justice of such an arrangement upon
the present Chancellor of the Exchequer.