The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-03-27 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The letter signed "G. R. Chappell" is unavoidably postponed
until Friday.
The same remark applies to the communication relpecting the
Postoffice.
The case of the Irish Clergyman recommended to our notice
shall appear in our next.
The letter of " G. A." will be noticed on Friday.
"J. R." is thanked. We have no room to notice the circum-
stance to which be alludes.

Ehe Eiberpool *tanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 27, 1838.

t;.. The Publication of the STANDA RD commenced this morn-

ing at 5 o'clock.

LATEST FROM BUENOS AYRES.—Accounts were yes-
terday received in Liverpool from Valparaiso via
Buenos Ayres, of the refusal on the part of the Chilian
government to ratify the treaty of peace between that
republic and Santa Cruz.

The Chilians are understood to have been very much
annoyed at the ignominious termination of the war, af-
ter all their blustering; but it is supposed that they will
ultimately have to agree to the treaty.
The British minister at Buenos Ayres had been re-
quested by Santa Cruz to use his influence in negotiat-
ing a peace between Peru and Buenos Ayres.

THE CORN LAWS.—The Mercury of Friday last has
devoted a column to the discussion of this subject. The
article is one of those special originals, to which we are

occasionally treated in grandpapa's journal, of which it
is difficult to say anything in the way of criticism. The
absurdities concentrated within the compass of the arti-
cle are so_numerous, that we should have left it to sink
into oblivion by the force of its innate dulness, had not
the editor of the Mercury ventured to cavil at the logic
of the Standard, and to pronounce our arguments on the
subject of the repeal of the corn laws as false positions
dogmatically asserted. We shall shortly prove that the
Mercury displays the most superlative ignorance on the
subject—that it seeks to delude its readers by partial
statements and distortion of facts—and that it .is as de-
ficient in logic as it is in common sense or honesty of
principle.

All the radical journals, in common with the Mercury,
while descanting upon the presumed benefits which are
associated with a repeal of the corn-laws, take especial
care to avoid every semblance of reasoning on the sub-
ject, but deal exclusively in vague generalities, confident
;assertions, and declamatory appeals to the prejudices of
the " people." This renders it difficult to reply to any
article on the subject with which we meet in the columns
of our liberal contemporaries. Thus the Mercury la-
ments the indifference of the people on the subject of
the repeal of these laws; and attributes that indifference
either to " an imperfect acquaintance with the baneful
operation" of those laws, or to " a sullen conviction that

is useless to address Ibeir petitions to an assembly who

have a direct interest ,in the perpetual ion of a monopoly
most injurious to the general prosperity." After such
strong language as this one might reasonably expect
that the editor of the Mercury would endeavour to prove
that the corn laws were " baneful in their operation,"

~.
~.

and that they " perpetuated a monopol_v roost injurious
to the general prosperity." He, however, does nothing
of the kind. Any attempt to do so would have only ex-
posed still further his consummate ignorance. Again,
the Mercury observes that the tax upon corn is one
which " bears incomparably heavier upon the poor and
laborious classes than upon the rich and inactive part of
the community." This can only be true in the sense
that all taxes indiscriminately must bear heaviest upon
those who are in the worst condition to meet them. But
it is an utter falsehood to assert that this is " a tax,
which, whilst it grievously enhances the price of bread
to labourers and manufacturers,. at the same time, by

crippling our trade and manufactures, diminishes their
means of purchasing the staff of life." We say that
this is a plain untruth. It is sheer humbug to say that
the labourer would be in a better condition if the price
of bread were much lo Ner. He certainly would expe
rience the benefit of a reduction in the price of bread, if
he could always command the same rate of wages; but
where is the man that is such a fool as to maintain that
the rate of wages would not be regulated by the price of
corn ? The fact is, that cheap bread so far from being
an advantage to the labourer, it is a serious evil. The
testimony of all ages will bear us out in this assertion.
There was a time in the history of our own country when
as much bread could be had for a shilling as can now be
procured for twenty-four shillings, or, in other words,
when a good family loaf could be purchased for a penny.
Those must surely, according to the theory of our radi-
cal philosophers, have been glorious days for the labour-
ing classes. They must have enjoyed, in a degree to
which our present starveling race of English►nen are
total strangers, the blessing of abundance. Far from
it. The period to which we allude was one of unparal-
leled distress. The fare of the labourer was then much
worse than it is at present, and for this simple reason,
that the wages of a labouring man were then only a penny

a day!
Again, there was a period within the memory of the
editor of the Mercury, when bread was thrice as dear as
it is now. Surely that must have been a time of great
suffering and privation to the poor labourer. Far from
it. How could that be ? Wages were double what they
are at present.
We dwell the more particularly on this point because
an attempt was made at the last election, and no doubt
will be renewed hereafter, to delude the labouring classes,
by raising the cry of " cheap bread." Our readers will
remember that a large and a small loaf were carried on
poles at the head of Ewart and Elphinstone's procession,
to indicate that these gentlemen were willing that the
poor should fare better than the conservatives wished
them to do. With equal justice might our conservative
friends have carried at the head of their procession two
bags of money, one a small one, and the other a large
one, to show that the radicals would diminish the amount
of the wages of the labouring man, whilst the conserva-
tives wished to keep it up.
But it may be urged that although a reduction in the
price of corn might be followed by a diminished scale of
wages, still the stimulus which the repeal of the corn
laws would give to our manufacturing interests would
make work more abundant, and render the labourer more
comfortable in his circumstances. We deny this also.
Even supposing that our " crippled trade and manufac-
tures" were free from the supposed disadvantage of hav-
ingto
wouldcontend b
against the
eolcoi nmula:lii,s,wtohresepotshiatuionit oisf
labourer the
un-
der the present system. Let us take it for granted
ante
that
d
a repeal of the corn laws would be followed b
reduc-
tion of one-half in the price of corn. is there a labour-
ing man in Liverpool so stupidly blind as to imagine that
his employer would not take advantage of the circum-
stance to lower his wages ? And it should be remem-
bered that, although corn might be procured for half the
money it costs at present, other articles, especially those
of foreign production, such as tea, coffee, tobacco,
would retain their present prices; so that the condition
of the labouring man would be much worse than it is at
present.
But even on this point the advocates of the repeal of
On.rcsaiabMllMKlAtaciluthßufeensnty ictirn
olinnsuisttoenocyo.f
price. If such be the case, what becomes of the argu-
it
ment of those who say that the repeal of the corn laws
is necessary in order to enable us to compete with the
low price of labour on the continent ?
Of course we deny that the corn laws have operated
injuriously upon our foreign trade. On this point the
Mercury quotes the following passage from Mr. Villiers'
speech :
Mr. Villiers observed, that "his charge against the corn laws
his charge
that they limited the foreign trade of this country; and
charge against the legislature was, that they were pursuing
for the last twenty-five years, a course which was injurious to
the manufacturers of England. He hoped the manufacturers
would speak out on this occasion. In private the manufacturers
had no hesitation in saying that the corn law was destroying
their trade. He hoped, theu, they would declare openly what
was their candid opinion ou this question ; for they had now
come to this point, that they must make up their winds whe-
ther they would abandon their foreign trade or their corn law."
Now, the official returns afford no justification %%fiat-
ever of this language. These documents, in fact, tell
us quite a different tale. They demonstrate that our fo-
reign trade can not only exist, but flourish and increase
with unexampled prosperity, notwithstanding the exist-
ence of the corn laws. The official value of the manu-
factures and produce of the united kingdom, exported in
the three veers 1814, 1815, and 1816, was £116,867,034,
being an average of £39,955,678 in each year. The
official value of similar exports
beingi an
intleyears 1834, 1835,
and 1836, was £237,438,119,averag1e05;
£79,146,039 in each year. Thus it appears that in
twenty years, notwithstanding the operation of the corn
laws, the quantity of our exports has more than doubled
But if we confine our observation to the most important
branch of our manufactures, we shall find evidence of a
still more conclusive nature to prove the fallacy and ab-
surdity of the positions advanced by Mr. Villiers, and
echoed by the Liverpool Mercury. The quantity of
raw cotton used in spinning in 1817, according to the
estimate of Mr. Kennedy, was 110,000,000 lbs. lii the
year 1837, the quantity upon which duty was paid was
376,019,680 lbs. How does this bear out the rigmarole
of the Mercury as to this " injurious monopoly ?"
On the other hand, we maintain that the repeal of the
corn laws would be manifestly injurious to our manufac-
turing interests. This will be evident to every one who
reflects for a moment upon the consequences which
would result from the ruin of the landed interests. That
our readers may form some idea of the magnitude of
these interests, and of the amount of property which

would be placed in jeopardy by the abolition of that pro-
tection which is at present enjoyed by the British corn-
grower, we will place before them the following
statements from the statistical writings of Mr. Montgo-
mery Martin :

IiSTISIATED WEALTH OF THE LANDED INTEREST.
3,000,000 labourers depeudant upon agriculture
at 10s. per week
250,000 farmers whose iucumes average £2OO cash
yearly
30,000 landed proprietors, rental averaging £3OO
each yearly

Amount of income annually dependent on agri-
.... £151.900,000

Per annum.
50,000.000 quarters of grain, raised annually in
the United Kingdom, at 365. per quarter £90,00,000
50,000,000 quarters of grain, requires for each
quarter, 16s worth of manual labour to raise it 40,000,000
20,000,1)00 acres of tillage land, requires an outlay
of £5 per acre yearly 100,000,000
2,000,000 of horses in the United Kingdom, ave-
raging £l2 los. each
7,000,000 horned cattle averaging £6 10s. each., 45.000,000
32,000,000 sheep, averaging £1 Ils. 6d.
Swine, poultry, game, &c., estimated at 10,000,000

Total value of stock in the United Kingdom E 139,0007000
20,000,000 acres of tillage land, fee simple at £4O

per acre 800,000,000
40,000,000 acres of pasture land, do., at £3O per
acre
10,000,000 acres of wood land, do. at £l5 per acre 150,000,000
10,000,000 acres of waste land, at £5 per acre 50,000,000

Fee simple of the land of the United Kingdom£2,2oo,ooo,ooo

The above, Mr. Martin remarks, is independent of mansions
on estates, of farm houses and buildings, and agricultural im
plements, the value of which, if taken into account, would of
course be considerable. But there is another point in which
the importance of the landed interest may be viewed—that of

i*Lißtit 1, 1831:i.'

population. The population of the united kingdom, as before
stated, may be taken at 26,000,000; and from the jug, Tres of
Mr. Martin, it has been satisfactorily ascertained that 20,iJ )0,000
—nearly four-fifths of the people—are dependent on agricul-

tine.
VITe may, therefore, will demand of what benefit it
would be to the manufacturing interests to annihilate the
the greater portion of our national wealth ?
As the Mercury has ventured to sneer a.! " the politi-
cal economy of the statesman of the Crescent" we will
afford him a few corroborative proofs of the soundiwss of
that political economy. In support of our views v. -; shall
quote the three conservative papers of the largest crcu-
lation out of London, each of them published in on -:the
principal manufacturing and commercial towns the
United Kingdom.

From the Manchester Courier we extract the folkiw-

ing
:
"But is there any reason to suppose, if our corn-lays were
repealed, that foreign powers would remove the restrict. )ns
Which they have imposed upon our manufactures? If the aci,o-
cates of repeal could produce some proof that a relaxalisa; of
our system would be followed by corresponding liberality on
the part of foreign nations, they would be armed with a as :ch
stronger argument in favour of their object, than is tote fs) nd
in the indulgence of vituperative attacks on the Linde.] iuf
But no such proof is offered. The fact is, that foreigt, ststes
are as anxious to encout age domestic manufactures as ;re -.re;
and they adopt the usual means of encouraging native ents.-, -se,
by imposing duties upon foreign prepuce.
One of the most extraordinary passages in the speech uf
Villiers is the following :
'rile (British) manufacturer has only a protection of `;'' or
at most 30, per cent., whilst the landowner has a proteseis -,
80, if not 100, per cent.. The manufacturers of Great Bri,
do not wish for protection; they repudiate the principle of
nosing duties in order to give their productions an undue re-
ference over those of other countries.'
"It is laughable enough to see a person talking of a duty of
20 or 30 per cent., as a mere trifle, a proof that our manufactuis rs
do not wish for protection. But the question is not whether '
re
protecting duty be 10, 20, or 50 per cent. : but whether i Je
sujicient for the purpose. The fact that the smallest of 1.. -3,3
duties is large enough to protect one branch of our tr-;de i 10
proof that it would be equally effective for the protection of a o-
ther. It is a gross fallacy, however, to maintain that toe it. d-
owner has a protection of SO or 101) per cent. That it b::s sn
as high within the last two or three years is true ; but outlet •
very same law by which the duty has risen to 100 per cssto
upon the market price, it has fallen as low as one shilling
quarter. The truth is, the British grower has the least protet 0, a
from foreign competition at a period when, in consequenz )f
the failure of his crops, he has the most need of it. But s: e
legislature have taken care to guard the public from the effe 6
of those circumstances which are likely to raise the plies )f
bread, by lowering the duty upon importation as the market -1"
vances. This is a fact which those philosophers wbo are c.
tinually complaining of the partiality of the legislature to e.e
landed interest carefully keep out of view."
In the Newcastle Journal we find the following
" But what are the motives which induce these urea to wale
war against the wealth, intelligence, and influence of the co; -t'
try? Our foreign trade, as may be seen by a reference to
tables of exports, has been steadily increasing fur the last sea
years; to America, our exports have been doubled within t'ss-t
period, -whilst to Russia our exports have advanced Wiz
£1,800,000 to £2,300,000, and a similar improvement has tak,os
place in all our exportations to corn-growing countries. Neill =r
is this state of things attributable to or consequent upon a la; ;e
importation of corn; for it is proved by the same tables that
in those years when our importation of corn has been greatcst,
our exportation of manufactured goods has been least—a f.. et
which proves more sat isfactorily than the most subtle reasonin.o
of Mr. Villiers, or the philosophical disquisitions of Sir Willissal
Molesworth, that the existing corn laws do nut act injuriouily
on our foreign commerce.
"But let us turn our attention to the effect of a repeal of Cie
I corn laws on the manufacturer- and tradesman at home. It
must be plain, that if the demand created by the consumptioa
among twenty millions of people, which as we have shewn 111.0
dependent on agriculture in this country, be abstracted frill'
our home markets, our manufactures would be seriously ia..11-
red, if not wholly annihilated. Besides, from whence are our
muuufacturing population supplied? It is a fact which i/
i proved by observation and experience, that the disposable Pe:
pulation of this country—those engaged in the cotton mills a•
t
I Manchester, in the woollen factories at Leeds, and at the forges
_in Birmingham and Wolverhampton—are principally emigrants
from the rural districts and country villages. And, indeed, the
great mortality which annually takes place in the large menu'
factoring towns iii the kingdom, renders such a source of keep'
up the numbers au indispensable auxiliary to the system. How'
eet r
paanolrzotmanufacturesagft
stifromoenthesc withocountry,
e,
onocutor begot
blrf. continued
sc—n leasingttut i
country—Lo
thee d
otust hitusoreroni
aatc:wereigleueolsedudt
arroipi
dealings
ld
e'Lo Bbr Iprlaunrv!P Y:a
diudni ;s.:t
n
re-
salt in a few
ceobuentmrieedse, Iroamndwtihieenrcee.
furies, and all classes thereon dependent. Agriculture is in-
deed essential to the prosperity of the country, and whilst that
jAsbuurscsatenitecChsehes:osir
fsi
got
shfhuetppainorenr
a:industry,esduorfienosa
renewachttieiocdnh against
l i sp rr prosperity
legislature,q
pin:
etierrneiatedype
apprehension
rvi
etbe
hensehena
shall
lti
laee
important interest, in demanding what is granted to other
ur
receive our fostering care and most zealous support."
The last authority which we shall quote is the Leeds
Intelligencer, in which we find the following re'
marks :
" The argument of the advocates for opening the port is, that
the foreigner would lay out in manufactures the money he re-
ceived for corn : that, consequently, our trade would increase:
and that, by getting his work done at lower wages, the home
manufacturer would be able to put the foreign manufactures out
of his own market. To the working classes, as we have said,
the bait of more work and cheap bread has been held out.
nnr
alwaystaoa fcr
entertained
sh
" With regard to the first point, we think that the foreigner
would much oftener take his money home than lay it out is
England; and a portion of that money would soon be employed
in raising manufactures in countries where there are at present
few or none arising from want of capital.
"We are still more confident on the second point. Foreign
Governments would take good care that their infant manufac-
tures were not beaten down by the importation of English goods,
for duties would he laid upon them in proportion to their cheap-
ness ; and thus we should receive no compensation whatever for
the injury done to the home market by the ruin of the English
agriculturist, and the " heavy blow and great discouragement"
inflicted upon the land-owner.
" The question as regards the workpeople we have already
disposed of. If bread were cheaper, wages would be lower, and
they would occupy the same relative position.
"We are for no divided interests. " Live and let live," is a
good motto. England cannot afford to lose her agriculture any
more than her manufactures and commerce.
These three papers were all published the very day
after the Mercury denounced the statements of the
STANDARD as " absurdities." We can only asssure
our venerable grand-papa that we shall always take a
delight in sharing such a charge with such respectable
journalists as the editors of the papers which we have-
quoted.

TESTIMONIAL OF ESTEEM.—It is with much pleasure we
learn that the Rev. John Park, of the Scotch Kirk, Rodney
Street, has been presented by the young men of his congre-
gation, in testimony of their esteem and regard for him as their
pastor, with a beautiful bible written in eight various languages,
viz. :—Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, Italian French, Span-
ish and English; with an appendix containing the Peschito
edition of the Syriac New Testament and Prolegomena; which
forms one splendid and unique volume, sumptuously yet taste-
fully bound in Turkey Morocco. The Bible was accompanied
with that very excellent work by the Rev. S. T. Bloomfield,
being a critical digest and synoptical arrangement of the most
important Annotations on the New Testament, exegetical,
philological and doctrinal. This work, which is in 8 vols., is•
also very elegantly bound for the occasion. The presentation
is as highly creditable to the young gentlemen as it is gratifying
to the clergyman, who is so much respected by his bearers, as
well for the able and talented manner in which he discharges
his public duties as for his many amiable accomplishments and
private virtues.
Loss OF THE ELVIRA, INDIAMAN.—We regret to state, that
this fine vessel, for Calcutta, which left this port on Friday last,
in tow of a steam-boat, having on board a cargo estimated, we
believe, at £BO,OOO, struck oh the outward bar in the new chan-
nel. The captain and pilot then determined to return to Liver-
pool, but not having water to come back the way they went out,
they bore up for the Horse Channel, and the passengers then
returned to Liverpool on board the steamer which had towed
out the Elvira. Notwithstanding every exertion to bring the
vessel into port again, the water gained rapidly upon them, and
at half-past five she was telegraphed in great distress near
Spencer's Gut buoy. About this time she was seen by the
Mess's. Atherton, of New Brighton, with a signal of distress
flying and sinking; and these gentlemen proceeded, we under-
stand, in their steam-boat, with as little delay as possible, to en-
deavour to find the vessel and save the crew. After some diffi-
culty, owing to the darkness of the night, they fell in with the
wreck on the West Wharf, the poop and masts only being above
water. As it would have been dangerous, in consequence of
the heavy swell, to have laid the steam-boat alongside the
the Post-office mail boxes, ship's letter bags, seamen's
hammocks, some luggage and stores were transhipped in boats
without damage. Shortly afterwards, however, the water rose
breast high in the poop and cabin, and all bands then left the
vessel and took refuge on board the steamer, and were safely
landed next morning at Liverpool.
DEATH OF 111115. HEAD.-1115 lady whose productions,
in prose and vsrse, nutter the signature of K. H., have ap-
peared, during the last twelve years, in the columns of this
journal, died, we lament to say, on Sunday, at her husband's
house, in Great Mersey--street, Kirkdale. Her health has been
declining for some months, but s'he was taken seriously ill about
six weeks ago only. The last lines from her
pea aeared in the
Albion of Monday, the 12th instant: they were addrppeked to her
brother, Mr. Edward Browne, the celebrated'llutist, we":
at once solemn and affecting. Mrs. Head was a woman of grelh
versatility of talent.—Albion.

MA am 27 138.