The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-10-20 00:00:00

h stands p

not against

hat Whig-Radical opposition is levelled, but upon
Samuel Holme, the lover of his Church and his
Bible, and the supporter of the Qucen and her

any length the alleged
le for a seat in the Council on
Dent, under Mr. Tomkinson,
acute the brick-work of St. George's Hall. It
i 6 clear that his connexion with that building never
rought him within the letter of the law excluding
►terested parties from entering that body; and the
girit of the law, it seems to us, would, as interpreted
Mr. Holme's detractors, exclude, equally with
en, the party who furnished Mr. Tomkinson with
or erected his steam-engine. Mr. Ho!me,
, betrayed a nice sensitiveness of honour
when he formerly resigned his seat on account of his
-ork ; and now, that his por-
. few rows of bricks of com-
see that he should, for a
CG punctilio, be deprived of an object of ho-
arable ambition, or his fellow-townsmen of his

v of Mr

oweve

:onnexion with th

of it is wit

we c

,ble ser

w well which would lose
tely be goaded into the
he storm with which he

assiduously

Infinitely, indeed, are
for his " honour !" Mr.
good care of thatcommo-

py his present high posi-
of his fellow-townsmen.

tv, or he would not ore

tam pretence—for it is but
opposition to Mr. Holme, and to
...le real inducing cause of his opponent
.g brought forward as a candidate on the Whig-
adical interest. The committee of that gentleman
onestly confess, in a placard with which they have
corned the walls, what is that cause. It is nothing
rsonal to Mr. Holme ; no objection to him, as a
an, a gentleman, or a man of honour. It is
'se state of the Register !" There's with-
mask for you with a vengeance. "The
'tzister affords fair grounds for the re-
' '" and hence to the winds with all
ling politics, and choosing men
'ness capabilities only
aituency not only in this
a town, to do their duty
ible principle of choosing
principles, political as well
as social, they coincide the nearest, and to distrust
as hypocritical and designing this new doctrine of a
defeated party, that business fitness is alone to be
considered. Do they want the council chamber
made into a debating room ? Then reinforce the
strength of Whig-Radicalism in that chamber, and
you will be gratified. Do you want the meetings
of every committee to be interrupted by a faction
fight ? Again, reinforce the Whig-Radical section
in the council. On the contrary, do you wish the
vast and increasing business of the town to be per-
severingly and uninterruptedly attended to ?—do
you wish the vital necessities of your population to
be studied and patiently cued for, their health im-
proved, the condition of their dwellings bettered,
and their social and moral character raised, keep
your present high hand over afactton, which is never
industrious except when in pursuit of some object of
its owl—never at ease, unless it has all who, presume

for their pra,

call ur

ery war

men in whose entir

to differ from it, under its feet. " A more equal
division of parties," indeed ! rather say honestly,

" a wrangle on a large scale once a month, and as
many small wrangles as there are committee meet-
ings." Far better give up the whole than a part.
The council might then possess something like the
usefulness of a metropolitan parish vestry ; and
spend half its time in usurping the functions of one
of the three estates of the realm, and the other half
in parish affairs ; one hour in debating a question
of national politics—the corn-laws, the state of the
libel laws, or whatever other crotchet was upper-
most; and the other in determining what portion of
the borough funds should be devoted to the repeal
rent, or the Cobden testimonial. Such a council
would at least do something to make itself notori-
ous. A council equally divided in politics would

_
only talk.
Indeed, we are not at all sure that, under the cir-
cumstances of a much stronger infusion of radicalism
being let into the Council, the total withdrawal of
the Conservative members would not naturally
follow. Those who remember the consequent
badgerings, the personal abuse, tile bawling and
clamour, which the Conservative minority in our
Council had to undergo, during the few years of
Radical supremacy, will agree with us that such
persecution could only have been borne by hardy
men, conscious that it would endure for a time, and
that the Augean stable was shortly to be cleansed.
We have before us at this moment an instance of
the whole Conservative party in the Council, at the
improving town of Sunderland, shrinking from so
harassing an ordeal, and retiring from all inter-
ference in the municipal affairs of that borough.
The first of these, Mr. Crozier says, in conveying to
the constituency his intention to retire from the
Council :

" Since I have represented you in the Council, it has
been my study conscientiously to perform my duties,
without being biassed by any political feeling ; but, in
consequence of the treatment of persons who, like myself,
profess Conservative principles, we have considered it
our duty, to our constituents and ourselves, to withdraw
from a body, in which any efforts of ours for the benefit
of the town are met, not only by the opposition, but the
vulgar abuse, of a majority who make the Council board
a low political arena, and whose conduct we cannot
imitate."

Another gentleman well known, and of high per-
sonal character, has been induced to follow this
course, not only from his own convictions, but by
the advice of friends, who think that he " can
longer continue in connection with a Corporation
governed by an unscrupulous majority, influenced
by political and private spleen, whose meetings are
characterized by gross personalities or degraded by
vulgar abuse, and which, as at present consti-
tuted, can never be of any service to the town of
Sunderland."

A third gentleman, Mr. John Brunton, retires
" mainly from witnessing the repeated disputes
which have taken place at the Council Board,
commencing upon questions of local interests, but
too frequently terminating in political and personal
strife;" and of the Cuncil's acts, he adds, " that
measures are settled more by the influence of po-
litical and party feeling, than the true merits of the

queltion."
We trust that, to some extent, even Radicalism
is better mannered here than in the locality of
Sunderland. But the instincts of a vicious animal
are the same, whether reared in the drawing-room
or in a stable. It is quite possible to be annoying,
and even insulting; and yet to convey your meaning
in the most refined English possible, arid accom-
panied by the most elegant of court salutes.

We have in another column noticed at some
length a work written by Mr. M`Geachy, crown
surveyor, Jamaica, in which he propounds a plan
of rapid communication by steam navigation and
railways, between the eastern and western hemi-
spheres. The author has evidently devoted much
of his attention to the subject, and his suggestions
appear to us to be well worthy of the serious con-
sideration of the Board of Trade, and of the general
mercantile community. The plan embraces in the
first instance, what it is assumed may be accom-
plished by continuous lines of rapid steam-ship and
railway communication, along the coast of North
America, from Halifax to Tambo Bay, on the West
side of Florida, thence to Havana, across the island;
thence to Jamaica, and thence to the isthmus of
Panama, which it is proposed to cross by railway,
and thus obtain ready access to the Pacific ocean.
He properly considers, that if such a scheme were
carried out, (either by a great joint stock company,
or by the coneorrent operations of the respective
governments, through whose territories the lines of
railway would pass,) Panama would Lecome the
grind point of commercial concentration.

' - The subject recalls to memory a project which
we have entertained for many years, and which,
though much less comprehensive than our author's
would we think accomplish more effectually one of
the prime objects which he has in view, and if com-
pleted under British auspices would be of incalcu-
lable advantage not only as regards our trade, but as
affecting our national and colonial security in refe-
rence to the whole of the western world. A rail-
way, (as proposed by Mr. M‘Geachv) across the
isthmus of Darien would undoubtedly be highly
advantageous, but our plan would comprise, in ad-
dition to this—or rather as the more important—a
canal of sufficient size to admit of the passage of the
largest ships. The idea is by no means new, and
we had long hoped that our government would have
taken the project up, but though it has been fre-
quently talked of from time to time over a series
of years, it appears to have again fallen into abey-
ance. Some years ago the Admiralty ordered a sur-
vey
of the ishmus with a view of forming a commu-
nication between the two mighty oceans, and the ;
late Captain Foster, R.N., of the " Chanticlear" '
gun-brig (son of the Rev. Mr. Forster, of Wood-
plumpton, near Preston,) was appointed to conduct
the expedition, which he did successfully to a cer-
tain point, when his death* deprived his country of
his further services. We are not aware of any fur-
ther effort having since been made on the part of our
government to renew the survey, and arrange for
the purchase of the requisite land. All travel-
lers, however, who have crossed the isthmus, and
amongst them latterly Captain Liott (the superin-
tendent of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company)
concur in opinion that a railway may be formed at
no very extraordinary cost, and there can be no
doubt but that, with the engineering experience and
appliances of the present day, an ample ship canal
may be formed, a choice of several points more or t
or less eligible, also presenting themselves. The
difference in the levels of the two oceans (of, we.
believe, about seventy feet) would form no obsta-
cle,
as locks might as readily and safely be
employed in our ordinary canals, notwithstan4-
ing the respective breadths of the two oceans.
The isthmus is but 30 miles across at one place, and
the highest land not above 640 feet above the level 1
of the Pacific. It is said that a company of French
gentlemen contemplate the project of a communica-
tion between the two, but it does not appear that',
they have yet commenced operations, and it is high i
time that England should adopt the motto, "carpe
diem," and bestir herself while she may. She has
but few possessions, and these comparatively minute
and far between, on the South American continent
—namely, Demerara and Esequibo, British Guiana,
and Honduras.. The recent " doings" of the
United States of America, and their grasping at
t new territorial dominion in Mexico, California, &c.,
render it imperative in us to. endeavour to obtain,
by fair means, a further 'footing in that country.
Our proposition, therefore, is, that a strip of land,
of some considerable breadth, should, after survey,
be selected for a ship canal across the isthmus,, and
that negotiations should be made by our govern-
ment for its purchase, and, if possible, its integrity
under the flag. The canal might then readily be
formed either by the government or a joint-stock
company. The purchase coul.l, in all probability,
be easily effected, for the government of Panama is
proverbially poor, and the commerce which such a
canal would bring to themselves would be an induce-
ment to accede to moderate terms.

The advantages of such a project appear to us to
be so obvious as to supersede the necessity of

detail

We should, in the first place, hold the key to the
Pacific and its boundless shores on the west of both
the American continents, and a ready access for
European shipping would be afforded to all the
norts in the North and South Pacific, from Cali-
fornia (or even farther north) to the southern extre-
mity of Chili. No ship, sailing or steam, bound
direct to Valparaiso, Lima, or Guayaquil, would
require to double the stormy apex of the South
American continent—Cape Horn—if this canal were
opened out to them. To reach most of the principal

* This amiable young man was drowned from a canoe in the
Rio Chagre, but whether through the treachery of some of the
natives, or by accident, was not precisely ascertained,