The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-02-26 00:00:00

TO CONSERVATIVES.
ATE. LLOYD respectfully aunouuees his inten n to
.Al4,_. liver, THIS EVENING, at Seven ()Moe. , the Golden
Lion, Dale-street, a CONSEVATIVE LEC'I' E.
Tickets of admission may he had at the Standard and Courier-
offices.

V
----- - -
A T a numerous and highiy-resvectable M,';ETING of the
INHABITANTS of the TOWN and NEIGHBOUR-
HOOD of LIVERPOOL, convened by Public Advertisement,
in Compliance with a Requisition, by the Worshipful the
e
MAYOR, int he SkssioNs-ii Ouse. in Chapel-street, on the 25th
February, 1836, to Consider the Propriety I .: ~
ddressing both
Houses of Parliament, Plaviug for a Rep • of the Tax upon
Newspapers and all other 'faxes upon Kn iledge,
W ILLIAM WA L LACE CURRIE, Esq., Mayor, in the Chair;
It was moved by SAMUEL Hoek:, Esq., seconded by WILLIAM
BROWN, Esq., and
Resolved unanimously,—That the unrestricted knowledge of
human affairs, by convincing a People of the advantage of good
Laws and Institiitious, forms the best security for public order
and morality.
It was, moved by JAMES BRANCKER, Esq., seconded by the
Rev. JAMES MARTINEAU, and
Resolved,—'That as the Press is the great Instrument of Civi-
lization, the Stamp.Huty en Newspapers is peculiarly objec-
tionable, since, if it is enforced, it excludes the great body of the
industrious classes from social and political knowledge, and, if
it is evaded, renders the instructors of the • people violators of
the law.
It was moved by La wItt.:NCE HEY WORTH, Esq., seconded by
JOSEPH C. EWART, Esq., and
Resolved unanimously,—That in proportion as the people of
these realms are called upon to discharge electoral-and other
political duties, it is important that they should enjoy the
amplest means of forming a sound and independent judgment
on all questions affecting the well-being of society.
It was moved by WILLLIA M RaTinioNE, Esq., seconded by
WILLIAM STUART, Esq., and
Resolm4 unanimously,—That it appears to this meeting in-•
consistent in the Legislature to give annually £20,000 for the
Diffusion of -Knowledge, and to receive a Million by .Taxes
directly tending to its restriction.
It was moved by CitaisToenEtt Raw Do's, Esq.; seconded. by..
JAMES Mut.t.oti, "Esq., and . •
Resolved unanimously, —That no existing interest of capitalists,
and no fiscal considerations ought to prevent the total and itn-:
mediate Abolition of the Newspaper Stamp Duty, since the
smallest amount to ,khich it can be reduced would retain many
of its evils and require the whole of the present machinery for
its collection, and if retrenchment to the full amount of the tax
should be impracticable, an impost might easily be substituted
which should not make the revenue of the state minister to the
ignorance of the people.
It was moved by HENRY BOOTH, Esq., seconded by JAMES
MCLLENEUX, Esq., and
Resolved unanimously,—That the Petitions to both Houses
of Parliament now read be adopted, and that the same be laid at
the usual ulaces for Signature; and that the Petition to the
House of Lords be transmitted to the Earls of Derby and Sef-
ton, and the Petition to the House of Commons to the Members
for the Borough, for Presentation ; and that the Members for
the Southern Division of the County, and our Townsman, Thos.
Thornely, Esq., M.P. for Wolverhampton, be requested to
support the Prayer in the Ilt-use of Commons; and that the
Proceedings of this Meeting be Advertised once in each of the
Liverpool Newspapers.
It was moved by THOMAS Sauna, Esq., seconded by JAMES
RY LEY, Jun., Esq., and
Resolved unanimously,,—That the Thanks of this Meeting be
given to the_ Requisitionifts.
W. WALLACE CURRIE, Mayo'.

The Mayor having left the Chair,
It was moved by EGERTON SMITH, Esq., seconded by EDWD.
WI r.c►tetc, Esq., and
RaoLed unanimously,—That the cordial Thanks of this Meet-
ing be given to His Worship the Mayor for the readiness with
which he acceded to the wish of the Requisitionists, and for the
courtesy with which he has presided.

To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled.
The humble Petition of the Inhabitants of Liverpool in Public
Meeting assembled,
SHOWETH,—That in the opinion of your Petitioners the dif-
fusion of knowledge and the general spread of intelligence have
a direct tendency to improve the moral and social character of
the People.
That in a free State, where a large proportion of the Inhabi-
tants are invested with political functions, the discreet exercise
of which is essential to the healthful constitution of a Represen-
tive Government, it is peculiarly important that every facil
all
ity
should be afforded for obtaining the fullest information ou
Questions of National Interest.
That it is the bounden duty of the Ministers of Government,
if they are unprepared to carry into effect a System of National
Education, at least not to impede the Progress of Knowledge, nor
to place difficulties in the way of the People educating themselves.
That the Tax on Newspapers (the most convenient vehicle of
general intelligence) having the effect of doubling their price to
the purchaser prevents the People obtaining that information
on a variety of subjects political, social, and judicial, which, as
citizens of a free state, it is for the wellbeing of the state that
they should possess ' • and that such tax moreover operates as a
premium to the venders of unstamped, and therefore cheap but
illegal publications, which, besides supplying very imperfectly
the information sought for, produces an injurious moral taint,
by familiarising both buyer and seller with an habitual and
known violation of the law.
That the revenue, hitherto derived from the tax complained of,
may be provided for either by economy and retrenchment in the
public expenditure, or by some other tax which shall not be
liable to the two-fold objection ; —that is not only a pecuniary
grievance, but a check to the social and intellectual improve-
ment of the people.
Your Petitioners therefore pray that your Honourable House,
taking the premises into your consideration, will remit alto-
gether the impolitic and obnoxious Tax on Newspapers.
And your Petitioners will ever pray

YORK AND NORTH OF ENGLAND ASSURANCE
COMPANY.
HE Directors of this Association having had theirattention
Xcalled to a Memorial, presented to the Council of the Bo-
rough of Liverpool, from certain Fire Insurance Companies,
whose names are thereunto appended, feel it due t. themselves
to make some observations upon a document, whic is calculated,
by implication, to throw discreditupon the Cu any with which
the are connected.
The Directors are quite content to leave to the inhabitants
of Liverpool, to decide, without comment 'Om them, upon the
justice of the charges brought bv 'the M:' orialists against the
civil authorities for having failed to a. ipt "such measures of
recaution for extinguishing fires, as w • e so long expected from
their patriotism and foresight"—" f. not having yet taken
sufficient measures for a supply of et"—and for not having
obtained au Act "to give the powe • f recovery of the expenses
of extinguishing a fire against the p .prietors of the property on
tire, and that immediately endangered." They also leave it to
the same tribunal to decide upon the fidelity with which the
effects of the late awful conflagration at New York have been
so pal hetically described by the Memorialists, and the extraoi di-
nary accuracy of the statement, that the space devastated by
that appalling calamity was "quite as large and well built as the
warehouse district of Liverpool."—The Merchants of Liverpool
will not fail to perceive that one great object of these Memorial-
ists is to prove that the premiums demanded by them are not
greater than the risks fairly deserve • and, consequently, that
the call, whieb has been so long and loudly made fur reduction,
is unreasonable, and cannot be complied with.
The Directors of this Association feel, however, that these
Memorialists have a second object in view—not quite so obvious
perhaps, but equally important to them if a conviction of it`
truth could be forced upon the Mercantile Community of Liver-
pool;—they say, "The Premiums now charged are inadequate
to meet an extensive conflagration in the warehouse diateict."
The cautious mode of expression in this paragraph is worthy of
notice. They do not say " inadequate to meet the losses of past
years," nor "the probable losses of those to come, on the aver-
age," but •‘ an extensive conflagration." This may mean the
destruction of one-third, one-half, or the whole of the ware-
houses in Liverpool, with their contents, amounting to a sum
which twice the present premiums would not make good in fifth
years. The inference which, doubtless, it is hoped the public
will draw is this, that if the premiums charged by the Mentos
rialists are inadequate, an office doing business at lower rates
must be doing so to a certain loss, and therefore must be unsafe,
and unfit to be trusted. To repel this unjust and unwortqy in-
sinuation, the Directors submit the following brief statement to
the Merchants of Liverpool.
The Memorial in question is signed on behalf of sixteen Insur-
ance Companies, of whom fourteen are London and two country
offices. Of the fourteen London offices, two, with singular
modesty, have signed it who have no agent in Liverpool ; of the
remaining twelve, only four had agents in Liverpool prior to
1803. There are now thirty-five agents in Liverpool, repre-
senting twenty-two offices, of whom eighteen have been esta-
blished in or since the year 1803—most of them at a mnrh more
recent period—and they are now publicly challenged to disprove,
by a candid statement of their receipts from, and payments to
Liverpool, since 1803 to the latest quarter-day, the assertion
which is hereby made, that three-fourths of the premiums now
demanded by the London offices, if paid during the whele of
that period, would have been sufficient to meet every claim, and
to leave a handsome profit to the offices.
The Directors hope, that, upon this subject, the public will
bear in mind the fact, that of those offices who are parties to the
Memorial, several have, within the last two years, advertisCd
returns of part of their profits to parties assured for five years,
the average premium for that period being upwards of 20 per
cent. less than that which they now declare to be inadequate -
It intsrelessise desirable-to refer to the Circular issued by the
London offices in February, 1833, the principal palliest° which
were the present Memorialists- That circular announced the
. combination of those from whom it emanated to raise the Pre-
miums from 7s. to 12s. per cent. on Floating Risks ; but it
also stated that, so soon as the town shall be more amply sup-
plied with water, and an efficient Fire Police Establishment
provided at the public expense, the rates then determined on
should be revised. It is believed that these points have been
fully attended to—it is certain that less fires in proportion have
occurred since the date of the circular—yet these high rates are
persisted in, while the only reason (according to that circular)
for their adoption has ceased. It would seem, therefore, that
the parties are either not aware of the present state of Liverpool,
or that they have forgotten that which they wrote in 1833 ;—it
may base been that either this circular or the memorial was has-
tily drawn up.
That the losses by fire in Liverpool will, in future, be greatly
under the average of the last thirty years, no one can doubt,
who bears in mind the powers now possessed and acted upon by
the Council, of making Bye-Laws for the prevention of tires in
warehouses, and for the punishment of offenders, and who is
acquainted with the organization and high state of efficiency of
the Fire Police Establishment, of which such honourable men-
tion is made by the Watch Committee of the Council, in their
report dated 3d February, 183 G. Looking at these circum-
stances, the Directors feel perfect confidence that the rates
charged by them, which are on the average above 22 per cent.
below the London rates, are fully adequate to meet the probable
losses, and to leave a fair profit the Company—without which
they have no desire to do business--having none of that patriot-
ism or philanthropy which, it would seem, induces the signers
of the London Memorial to continue agencies in a place like
Liverpool, where, instead of realising profits, they are yearly
diminishing their Capitals, for the sole advantage of the Mer-
cantile portion of the Community !
The Directors, in conclusion, beg leave respectfully to state
that the YORK AND NORTH OF ENGLAND ASSURANCE COMPA-
NY come before the public without any inflated pretensions to a
preference either on the score of an enormous nominal Capital,
or of high sounding names as their (generally irresponsible) Pa-
trons—they profess to be associated for the purpose of doing a
business profitable to themselves, as well as advantageons to the
public—their Proprietary are numerous and respectable—their
paid up and available means are equal to meet any probable
eontingeney-eand la case of need they will be found as able and
as willing,. to discharge, ..promptly and liberally, every claim
npOo them, as tiny office the kingdom.--Their Rates ef 'Pre-
unams are moderate ;—their Patrons are the Public -and to !a!
continuance of that patronage, for which they are very grateful,
they look alone Tor success.
girctrder of •t he Board of Directors,'
- maxima BA RLOW, Actuary and Secretary.
KATTHRW WOTHERSPOON, Agent fur Liverpool,
7, ludia-buildings.
York, 22d February, 1836.