The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-03-03 00:00:00

The directors of the Grand Junction Railway are shortly
about to comply with the request of the merchants of Li-
verpool, praying for a morning express train. It will
leave at six in the morning, and reach London about
twelve.
THE RECENT FAILURE.—On Monday last. the credi-
tors of 'Messrs. Stockdale and Sons had their first meet-
ing, and the disclosures have taken the mercan'ile world
by surprise. The liabilities are £250,000, and the assets
to meet them are set down at £132,000. The firm, in
matters of trade, are indebted principally to importers of
palm oil, the highest debt being about £19,000 ; the ave-
rage amount due to individual houses, however, not ex-
ceeding £B,OOO. But the most astonishing fact had refe-
rence to the Borough Bank. The debt due to this bank
is £126.000. For £26,000 securities are held ; for
£lOO,OOO there is no security. The banking house is said
to meet this loss without any inconvenience, for it has a
reserved fund of upwards of £lOO,OOO.
STATE OF C RIM F. IN LIVERPOOL. Mr. Parkinson,
the active and industrious keeper of the main bridewell,
has completed his returns under this head for the past
year. The number of prisoners in 1814 was 15,284 ; and
in 1815, 16,143. In the number of prisoners for felony
there has been a great diminution. In 1814. the number
for felonit.s was 4 582; and of those 3,138 were wales, and
1.444 females. In 1845, the male felons were reduced to
2,509, while the female appropriators of neglected trifles
was 1,380,—a diminution in the latter of 64, and in the
former of 629. In 1814 the cases of drunkenness were
7.376; last year, 9.365. In 1811 Mr. Rushton fined 3,385
of them in the sum total of £944 12s- Gr..; in 1845 he im-
posed penalties to the arnountol.tl,64B on 6,239 drunkards.
The fine is ss. each, and the number of repudiators mho
went to prison was 3,216. The number of cases to be
heard during the past year was i❑ all 13,611 ; of which
16,713 were cases of prisoners, 10,931 informations for
penalties under the dock and local laws, and the remainder
for assaults and sundries. _

HIGHWAY BOARD.—At the meeting on Thursday, a
report from a committee was adopted, recommending that
the wages of the reasons in their employ be increased 4d.
per day, and of the labourers 2d. per day. This increase
will cause the wages of the masons to be 4s. 4d., and the
wages of the labourers 2s. 10d. per day ; the employed in
future, to be paid on Friday evening in each week. A de-
putation from the Grand Junction Railway was admitted.
They staeed that the company in consequence of certain
improvements which they were making „at the sta-
tion in Lime-street, wished to interfere with the pro-
perty in Gloucester street. Owing to the rise in Glou-•
cester-street, all their carriages had to come in and go out
at the same gate, and to obviate this, they wished to take
a certain porti9n of the street, and make a level entrance
from Lime-street to the end of their tunnel. The ar-
rancernent would interfere afew feet with Gloucester-street;
but they intended to make every thing as convenient as
possible, and the work would be surrounded by a hand-
some iron railing. It would be a great public advantage
if the board would sanction it. A committee was ap-
pointed to confer with the directors of the railway and to
report.
CoNNExioN BETWEEN POVERTY AND CRIME.—On
Saturday, at the police-court, a grown-up lad, who had
evidently been respectably brought up, was charged with
having broken one of the street larr.ps on the previous
night. " I admit,'' said he, " the charge. But why, why,
Mr. Rushton, have I committed the offence? I was hun-
gry—l was ill. I called twice at the Parish-office to pro-
cure a pass to my native land, Ireland, but, without giv-
ing me time to tell that I was ill, I was ushered out cf
their office and forced into the street. I then sought the
Police-court, sir, to make you acquainted with my suffer-
ings, but the police-officer on duty at the outer-door re-
fused me admittance. I made a second attempt to get
in to you, but he repulsed me. What, then, could I do?
Driven from the Parish-office and the Police-court, what
was I to do ? Why, wandering about the streets, last
night, friendless and hungry, I bethought myself of
breaking a lamp, in order to draw public atten-
tion to my case. The result is known : I broke
it ; and here I am, in the last stage of distress."
This story excited the sympathy of all present, and
Mr. Rushton having made enquiry, and found it to be
true that the prisoner had been repeatedly repulsed from
the court, said that no person, however wretched must
again be impeded from coming before him. Both the
magistrates and the parish authorities sat daily, and the
most wretched of the whole community have a right to
come before them and tell their tales of distress. He
would not punish the prisoner under the circumstances,
though he had done wrong. He then ordered that the
prisoner should be taken care of, and passed hone to
lie!and without delay. The prisoner seemed much 1,
affected by the kind treatment of his case by the magis-
trate.

LIVERPOOL LICENSED VICTUALLERS' PROTECTION.
—On Tuesday evening, the first annual dinner of the
Licensed Victuallers' Protection Society took place at
Eastwood's Royal hotel, Dale-strect. Mr. Timothy
Parkinson, the chairman of the society, presided, and
Mr. Wightrnan and Mr. Godfrey, acted as vice-chair-
men. About seventy-five members were present. The
dinner was excellent, as were the wines; and Messrs.
Stott and Andrews enlivened the evening's amusements
be the exercise of their vocal talents. Tire chairman, in
allusion to the late triumph of the British arms in India
gave the toast of " The Dread of Foteign Powers, and
the admiration of the World—our British Army arid
Navy," which was enthusiastically received. "The
Mayor and Magistrates of Liverpool," in conjunction
with the " health of James Aspnall, Esq., and the other
Members of the Town Council," %‘-.s next drunk with
great cheering, Mr. Godfrey remarking that Mr. Aspi-
nail was one of the greatest fiends the publicans ever
had. The Members of the .Borough" followed. The
Chairman, in proposing " Success to the Licensed
Victuallers' Protective Society," remarked that the so-
ciety was not instituted to oppose the magistrates, but
to lay cases in their true colours before them ,—not to
kohl up the spirit of protection illegally, but with
the object of caming on their business in a legal
manner, and of shielding none but the legitimate trader.
Tire toast was drunk with nine times nine cheers, followed
by the glee of " Will;e brewed a peck o' maut." Mr.
Godfrey ably responded to the toast. The society was
established to protect its members from frivolous and
vexatious informations, assaults, and depredations. It
had already been joined by 300 members, and had ef-
fected a great benefit to the trade at a small expense.
Many cases had been successfully defended. After al-
luding to the great disparity in the number of licensed
public houses in this town as compared with other large
towns, the committee be said hoped that a check would in
future be put to the indiscriminate system of granting
new licenses in parts of towns where they were not re-
quired. As one of the originators of the society he felt proud
that in its first year, its success had exceeded their most san-
guine expectations. One object of the society was to watch
the proceedings of the legislature, and interpose in any
case of emergency; and it had joined the United Town's
Association, which would do away with useless deputa-
tions to London. Another object was, to obtain that de-
gree of parliamentary influence which their numbers, as a
body of tradesmen, entitled them to possess. With re-
gard to local matters, their attempts to place members in
the Common Council, favourable to their interests, had
been very successful, and he had no doubt but that, at the
next election, they would be enabled to send some of their
own body into the local legislative chamber. The health
of the Chairman was received with warm plaudits, and
eloquently replied to. Mr. Godfrey, on his health being
given, also tasponded in an animiated strain. The
health of Mr. Atkinson, the secretary, was also drunk
with enthusiasm, and that gentleman replied at some
length. taking a review of the society's proceedings since
its commencement. Many other appropriate t..asts were
afterwards given, and ably responded to, aad the meeting
separated about eleven o'clock, highly gratified by the
proceedings.