The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-02-16 00:00:00

prejudice against. Lieut. Low. It .‘Y1.11; hotVever, he sa-
tisfactory to the public to know, that this gentleman has
receitied testimonials of appro‘ al from the local authori-
ties,-who have had the best upport unity of judging of
his conduct and estintating the value of his sera ices.
We Intimated in our last that a pamphlet has very
recently been pnislished, under the iitle"of " A Letter to
Lieut. Low, by a Passenger Broker." If this pamphlet
is intended for a vindication of the conduct. of the emi-
gration brokers, it is• a miserable failure. The records
of the police-court, as well as the books kept at the go-
vernment ollice, prove beyond all controversy the guilt
of many of these parties. During the year 1837 no less
than 2866 complaints were lodged at the govfrnment
office, and
"redress obtained for 894. Now, how :does the
writer of this pamphlet meet this charge ?• by
declaiing his belief that the 894 cases were the only ones
requiring redress! This appears a very convenient
mode of getting rid of the charge ; but ad who are ac-
quainted with the nefarious system adopted by many of
these brokers know that com iction is only obtained by
the most careful and persevering inquiry. In many in-
stances the restitution of the money wrested from the
poor emigrant has been enforced hr the authority of law.
The sum of £523 ls. 84(1. was recovered between May
7, 1533, and December 31, 1837, during which time two
prosecutions took place at our assizes, on both of which
convictions were, obtained. This speaks volumes in fa-
vour ad Lieut. Low's administration, not to mention the
adVantages and comfort secured through his interference
to the unfortunate emigrants.

We must now proceed to notice the pamphlet more
particularlt. The writer appears most anxious that the
mist which haSso lung obscured the perception of the
public through"the fallacious representations of news-
paper reports should be dispelled. Now we claim for
ourselves and our contemporaries the public confidence
with regard to the various statements which have ap-
peared on `the subject of emigration. We have endea-
voured to actiMparrially, and in this spirit we have, on
several occasiOh's,O'peried our eolumns to both parties.
Our- -reason for.discontimaing the practice was, that we
found the variotrs-chargesmade.against Lieut. Low were
quite groundless„and that the complaints made by Lieut.
Low were confirmed by the records of the police court
and other incontrovertible evidence. These books are
open for the inspection of the public, although this is
denied by the «rites of the pamphlet before us in the
following pa rag a :

" The &unrifled newspaper stated that Lieut. Low's books
were open to the vublic, and, in consequence of that declaration,
a person called at his uffice and politely requested to see them.
Ile WdS asked by what authority he called there, and replied
that he had a friend in the emigration business, and that, if he
could discover that his friend had been guilty of the crimes at-
tributed to the passenger brokers, his friendship for him would
beiminediatel annibi.ated. Ile was then informed that if be
had come with a note front a newspaper office he might have
had the permission to see them; but, as he had no authority for
seeing them, he could not be allowed that privilege. This is
only a part of the same system., So then, the people connected
with the press may see his libellous books, in order that the
libelling system may still continue in full force against us. But
why are we, or our ft lends, who are most deeply interested in
the matter, to lie deprived of a sight of them ? Ilere is justice.
Whi not reveal to us the secrets of those mystical books, which
resemble Pandora's box, with all manner of evils therein, but
nut tike hers; with hope at the bottom ? Why not allow us to
read our crimes in their most hideous aspect and with their
most frightful trappings, that so he may cherish the hope or.ur
amendment? But the misfmtmw is that, if we all amend these
will be no need of his services. Thus, the system is admirably:
concocted, and has hitherto worked well. It we see the books,
"the cat might get out of the ba:.r." But ne wish for an open
investigation of those books; not a partial examination, but a
minute scrutiny. If they have been fait!). kept, there is no cause
of fear." •

The statement here made is, in our opinion, false
from begitrning 'to end, and for this Siople reason, that
in a conversation we held with some of the brokers con-
cerned in the publication of this pamphlet, they allotted
that the books were kept for a public inspection. But
these men know the general indiffetence of the public to
these matters, and hope for concealment through such
neglect. We had our attention called a short time since
to a paragraphAlhich appeared in the STANDARD, repect-
ing a summons which had been obtained against one of
these brokers for Swindling some poor emigrants. The
paragraph was headed "Swindling Emigrants." The
broker,_in consetpteri.ee,:paid • us a visit, in order to re-
monsirate with Ili on the improPriely of inejudging the
question. He stonily asserted his own innocence—
boasted of his moral integrity, and stated that he never
even had been suspected of such base conduct. He shud-
dered as he related a 'Scene which occurred at his own
house, when the charge was understood, and described
in glowing ter os the indignation of his amiable vs ife,
and the sympathy of. his: children. This most affected
narrative tadtmally 'moved its to pity, ani we regretted
that so worthy an individual should stiffer unjustly. But
a few boors banished, this feeling ; for on our visit to
Lieut. Low's office we were surprised to find the name
of this individual in almost every Evrge of the book of
complaints. He has since deemed it necessary to enter
an action'against us for the better vindication of his cha

racter. And yet such men are loud in their outcry
against being exposed to the public censure ! They tell
us they court inquiry—full inquiry—minute inquiry—
an impartial, patient scrutiny. And to give strength to
their assertion, they challenge. Lieut. Low to produce a
single•instance of direct swindling, and to name the per-
sons who were swindled. Now this appears very fair
and honourable, but we doubt if the publication of these
facts would be unattended with injury. Let these brokers
who hale written the pamphlet accept our challenge,
and testily to the world their wish to have the matter
fairly investigated. Let them give us a, guarantee that
we shall not be subject to legal prosecution for the pub-
lication of the facts, and we will produce numerous cases
of fraud, and name the parties %%Ito have been defrauded.
Further, we are anxious to do justice to those tnokets
who are not engaged in this system of villanous imposi-
tion, and therefore we will throw open our columns to
publish any instance of fraud practised by the emigrants
upon the brokers, pros ided they be confirmed by un-
dunbied testimony. We must, however, dismiss the
subject for the present. The approaching season of the
year in which emigration takes place to a very considera-
ble extent, has led us to notice more particolady the
pamphlet before its. And we would urge it on the at•
tention of onr friends to recommend emigrants to the
office of the government agent, where they are sure of

protection. There are se% etal cases fur Ilia] at the en

suing aAsiZei C?lll:Weted wills this question, which will
afford the public the opportunity of judging, more eor
reedy of the:eharacter of the pretensions put, forth in the