The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-06-22 00:00:00

that we

portion to the reductiori which you make in your dock
and harbour dues, ' will you increase the trade of
those merchants and manufacturers who pay for and
deal in those articles which are to be reduced. In

placing this subject before you, I will first draw your at-
tention to the manner in which this reduction will be
likely to affect the shipping interest, and, secondly, to the
financial statement and the estimates on which we rely
for our ability to carry out this project; and, if in dealing
with the financial statement and the estimates, I should
fail to establish my case, I beg you to understand that
the fault will be mine,—the error will be in my inability
to make myself clear on the subject, and not for any lack
of good and accurate data on which to proceed. If the
cause which I now have the honour to advocate should
unfortunately miscarry in the hands of a feeble pleader, it
will, of course, be for the Council to reject, if they choose,
the entire scheme; but if, on the other hand, the accur-
acy of the principle which the Doc;:
_Committee seek to
establish should be demonstrated 4.-
bly, and unmistakably bare—

.Iv, inte

-hen I cor

tly call

upon you for a confirmat
them, that principle WI

their pro

iit" to its hill
tse the trade,

extent, will be carculat

commerce, and prosperity of the port more thantny act of
this Council during the past ten years. But whether the
Council adopt the proposed reduction or not, I feel
strongly in the opinion that the proceedings of the Dock
Committee have been grounded on views the most sound
and correct by which mercantile men could be guided.
As regards this reduction of course there will be a diver-
sity of opinion on those items which will be brought be-
fore you—it is natural that it should be so—and as we do

not propose, at present to reduce the dues on all arti",les
admitted into the port, some will be found to find faul'
with this part of our plan and some with that ; bu
things considered I am of opinion that we have selec,
out of the mass those articles, any reduction on which—
no matter however small—will operate as a benefit to
trade and the working classes of the town and country.
Before proceeding to the consideration of the main fea-
tures of my statement, allow me sir, to notice one or two
of the observations made by Mr. llornby. With regard
to the notice to the public, I may say that in the first in-
stance notice was given to the public that cert.-

in reduc-

tions would be made in the dock rates after a certain
date—that notice was a public one and was intended for
all the world. After that the various interests likely to
be affected by our project entered into communication with
us—the Iron interest, the Cotton interest, the Coal
interest, and the Salt interest communicated with
us, and from them we learned the feeling of the several
interests likely to be affected by the alteration ; and having
acquired all the information which we could glean from
every authentic source, we founded our resolutions ac-
cordingly. In calling attention to this branch of the
subject, I might, if I chose, pay a compliment to the
dock committee for the consideration which they mani-
fested for the interests of trade, as evinced in the small
amount which they have taken off the shipping as com-
pared with the facilities afforded for the import and export
of all goods calculated to advance the manufactures or the
enterprise of this port. A very large reduction is pro-
posed to be made on the article of cotton ; and why ?
For the best of reasons. It is a leading article in the
manufactures of this country, it is raw material which we
cannot ourselves produce, but which deeply affects the
town and trade of Liverpool. It is an article on the
manufacture of which a large portion of the people of this
country depend; and the more facilities you give to the
free importation of an article like cotton, the more yon
will increase the trade of the town. (Hear, hear, hear.)
It has been urged that it is the only article which pays no
duty coming into the port, and, therefore, that it should
not be reduced. That, however, is not my opinion ; and
if you were to take the manufacturers of Lane-

\at every _
n of the raw material is
general. It is well
cotton, the Americans can

as a fair criterion you would find t
no matter how small in itself—t
a boon conferred on th
known that, in heavy fab

r centage--

cut us out ; and I know that, if you approximate as closely
as you can to their rates, you will be enabled the more
effectually to compete with them in any foreign market
to which you may send your goods. You are aware that
in such a case, where the labour required in the manufac-
ture is but small, that even a fraction per cent. on the raw

material is an advantage,
nufacturer. With regard
to occupy your attention for even a moment
posed reduction will be very IC '
fifteen pence on long voyages i

, to the r

It is unnecessar

The pro:

Inaeea
ly one-

what is charged in most of tl

come to the article of coal, the rates en which are
proposed to be reduced to one penny per ton. This
is an article which presents a more curious history
than one at first sight would imagine. There is no article
more worthy of being reduced than coal ; for, from its
first discovery, in Newcastle, in 1234, to its introduction[
to London in 1381, and down to the present time, it has
contributed more to the advancement of manufacturing
skill and scientific kuowl `-e. and commercial prosperity,
than any other. Betw ,eriods to which I

Life p. - have
alluded, so prejudiced were the people then against the
use of this article, that it was publicly complained of as a

by the authorities of the day. But erom the date of its
discovery to the present time it has gone on increasing in
importance, until now there is no more important article
comes into or leaves the port. But owing to the chimsy
manner in which the export trade in this ar is :
on from this port, and the prohibitory operation of the
dock dues, we have scarcely any such thing as an export
trade from Liverpool. So that in reducing the article
of coal I feel that we are doing that which will mate-
rially tend to the increase of our shipping. I need
not remind you of the importance of coal to the shipping
interest. Let me suppose that a ship is waiting here for
an outward cargo to any foreign port to which she may
be destined; that she wants to get away in time for some
important appointment, and that she cannot get an out-
ward cargo, what would you

1? WI

steam is now plying. over every part of the world, and 't
am quite safe in taking Tel as ballast, for I can always
find a ready market for it—no matter into what clime I
carry it. Under these circumstances, the benefits to be
derived from the reduction is so manifest, that I need not

tnded to

on it ;