The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-03-07 00:00:00

doing. Tea, at previous rates. Palm Oil and
Tallow rather lower.—To-DAY, the Sugar market
has been quiet, and the only sales reported consist
of 600 bags Madras, at 30s. 9d. ; 35 hhds. Cuba
and Porto Rico, at 355. to 365. 9d. ; and 130 boxes
damaged Hayana, at 21s. 6d. for yellow, and 245.
per cwt. for white. Nothing has taken place in
Molasses, Rum, or Coffee. The sales of Tea are
small, but there is considerable inquiry for common
Congou under ls. ld. per lb. Of Rice, 500 bags
Madras have been sold at 13s. 9d. to 14s. 3d. for
Barley grain, and at 15s. 3d. to 15s. 6d. per cwt.
for pinky. We have also to notice 50 bales
Bombay Hemp, at £26 10s. ; and 130 tons Cam-
peachy Logwood, at £8 ss. per ton.
WooL.—The transactions are so meagre this
week that there is very little to report, and the trade
indeed is almost at a stand still. Manufacturers
are only buying just to supply their immediate
wants, and dealers do not seem inclined to increase
their stock in the present unsettled state of affairs ;
sales are consequently very difficult to make, and
for most kinds prices have given way ld to id per
lb. Had it not been for the late government con-
tracts for army clothing, &c., there would have
been a general dulness throughout the trade ; but
they have tended to keep up the prices of short
stapled clothing wools, which are now rather
scarce ; with this exception stocks of all descrip-
tion are very plentiful. The London sales closed on
Saturday, and during the last fortnight there has
been a gradual decline from the opening prices, on
some long and ill-conditioned sorts as much as
21d. per lb., but the general average of decline is
about 11d. The total quantity offered was
54,000 bales. Imports for the week, 1,939 bales,
viz., 1,515 from the Mediterranean ports, 296 East
India, 34 Lisbon, 8 Peruvian, 13 Irish, 63 Scotch,
and 10 coastwise.

MESSES. WM. GREIAIB AND Co. in their monthly
circular say :
The transactions for the past month have again been on
a very moderate scale, without any material alteration in
prices. Considerable orders have been given out for
clothing both for the army and navy, and medium qualities
of wool suitable for these goods have in consequence been
more inquired for; but the present inauspicious aspect of
political affairs, coupled with the high prices of provisions
of every description, continues to have an unfavourable
effect on the market generally. East India wools, of which
the imports are again considerable, continue to be in great
favour; there is an active demand, and prices are fully
maintained. Good long stapled wools—such as Egyptian,
Turkey, Oporto, &c., are all in good request ' • but for the
lower qualities—Barbary, Crimea, burry and heavy Buenos
Ayres, &c., there is no demand, and prices are almost
nominal. English and Irish combing wools have also been
very heavy of sale, and, with the exception of bright-
haired medium qualities, prices must again be quoted
rather lower. The public sales of Australian wools, which
commenced in London on the 9th ult. will close on the
4th inst.; there has been a good attendance of the trade,
and, up to this time, the opening prices have been pretty
well supported.
Messrs. JOSEPH ROBINSON and Co. say

Notwithstanding the expectation of immediate hostility
with Russia, the Wool market has fully sustained the
buoyancy alluded to in the first month of the year. In
the districts of manufacture a large consumption is still
going on in low foreign Wools, in nearly all the branches
in which they are used, and few complaints are made of
want of orders ; the portion of the trade the most de-
pressed are the worsted spinners, owing to their almost
entire dependence on a large export of Yarns, which has
been sometime wanting, causing a considerable quantity
of machinery to be either standing, or working short
time; otherwise the trade of the country is healthy, and
prices of all classes, with the exception of English, are
firmly maintained. The auction sales that have been
progressing in London last month have certainly been a
drawback to business here ; however, the transactions
are to a fair extent.

LABOUR MOVEMENT.

MEETING OF THE SHOEMAKERS OF LIVERPOOL.

YESTERDAY forenoon (being St. Monday with the trade),
a meeting of journeymen shoemakers of the town was
held at the Concert Hall, for the purpose of extending
their trades' union, and advocating the extension of a sick
and burial fund in connexion with such societies through-
out the country. The Hall was not half-filled. About
half-an-hour after the time announced for the commence-
ment of the proceedings,
Mr. SINNOTT was called to the chain He explained the
object of the meeting to be to consider the best means of
furthering a more complete organization of their trade,and
extending the power and influence of the union through-
out the country, by establishing a sick and burial society
in connexion with it. The last time that they had met
in that hall was to organize, so that they might get an
increase of wages. In that he was glad to say that they
had succeeded, and their object now should be to pat
themselves in a position to prevent those wages being
reduced. (Applause.) Many parties had left their society,
thinking that, for the payment they made, something
should be allowed in cases of sickness and death.
Mr. DONOVAN was then called upnn to move the first
resolution, which was, "That in the opinion of this meeting
it is the interest of every journeyman boot and shoe
maker to enrol himself a member of a trade society; and
it is further of opinion that the only security we possess is
in a general organisation of our trade." He said, to show
the necessity of organization, he need only call attention
to the admitted fact that some of their trade were the
worst-paid class in the country; and they might rest
assured that, if they rested on their own resources and did
not join the society, they would fall considerably lower.
It was a duty they owed to themselves, their families, and
the general good, to come forward at once, for whilst the
other trades of the country were progressing, they surely
should not retrograde.
Mr. RICHARDSON seconded the resolution in a very
poetical speech. The labourer, he said, was worthy of his
hire, and that maxim was certainly not fulfilled when an
industrious and honest shoemaker might labour from
morning to night, and not earn sufficient for his sub-
sistence and the education of his children. The masters
sought their own interests, and why should not the men
seek theirs ? The masters sought to undersell each other
at the expense of industry. (Applause.)
The Chairman then put the resolution to the meeting,
when it was carried unanimously.
Mr. LEWIN moved the second resolution, which was
declaratory of the expediency of introducing a sick fund
throughout the entire trade. - To show the value of a sick
fund in connexion with a trades' union, he adduced' the
instance of one in connexion with their own (central
trade society) in the town. The societies at the out-dis-
tricts did not adopt the principle of a sick fund, and the con-
sequence was that the members had left, and the societies
were languishing. The low grade that journeymen
shoemakers were brought to in this town was not the mas-
ters' fault, but to the want of union among themselves,
and it was doing an injustice to those masters who would
pay the fair wages if they did not unite. In the north
district, last week, there had been some dispute, in which
the men obtained the advantage, from their determination
and union. In his experience, wherever in any town the
trade society had been stable, it had been the sick fund
which had made it stable. (Applause.) At Norwich there
was no society, and young boys and girls were set to work
almost as soon as they could walk, and they were paid for
the single pairs of shoes that were made but by the dozen.
(Laughter.) Those shoes found their way to the mercer's
shops, where they sold for 3s. 6d. each, and were of such
inferior quality that they would actually burst in trying
on. This would show how the public were imposed upon,
and how the journeymen shoemakers suffered from their
want of union. He begged to move—" That, in order to
guard against the casualties of our nature, it is necessary
to establish a general sick fund, and this meeting pledges
itself to use every exertion for that purpose."
Mr. Triontsox seconded the resolution. To show the
advantages of the sick fund in connexion with the trade
society, he instanced, also, the society in the central dis-
trict. There they paid one shilling every four weeks ;
sixpence of that went to support the sick, twopence to
bury the dead; £5. was paid on the death of a man, and
£3. a woman; and 6s. a week was paid to any man who
might fall sick. There was another society, unattached,
but still in some connexion with it, by which, when they
were sick, they might double the 6s. and get 12s. This
sick and burial fund had wrought well, and they had
found it to combine the men remarkably together. There
was one feature of the society that he might mention.
They were 16Q strong, sometimes less, but he never knew
a man attached to that society, or his family, who had
ever applied to the public or parish for relief. (Loud
applause.) The es. was only paid in full to the sick for
eight weeks. They had, however, an old member who
fell sick when he was eighty years of age. He had ex-
hausted the time of benefit. As he had always
been a good member, the society resolved to give
some assistance, but rather than infringe their
rules, they raised a subscription, and there was hardly a
week till that member died that he did not get 10s. a week.
(Applause.) That would show how they stood by each
other. (Applause.) Alluding to the divisions that they
had sometimes in their trade clubs, the speaker next said
that the worst way to improve a society was to forsake it.
It might have its faults, but if they would persevere, what
was right would be carried at last. The working man, he
contended, had po means of raising himself but by a
trades' union, and therefore they should cling to it. They
had inquired throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire, and
found that all the shoemakers' trade societies there had
established a sick fund, and the effect had been, that
instead of decreasing the number of members they had
rather increased. He recommended the two local branches
to attach a sick fund, and they would find that it would
cement them more firmly together. If they did so they
would not find themselves twopence the worse for it at
the end of the year. (Applause.)
The motion was then put and carried.
Mr. THOMAS JONES proposed the third resolution. The
working classes in this country, in his opinion, had them-
selves to blame for a vast deal of the poverty that they
had to undergo, When he looked around the hall, and
saw the comparatively small attendance, and contrasted it
with the number of shoemakers in the town, he might
ask if the shoemakers were justly entitled to an advance
in the social scale ? It showed that they were indifferent
to their own interests, and, if so, they did wrong to com-
plain in bad times of destitution and the masters' tyranny.
They were slaves of their own making, and deserved no
better fate.
(Applause.) The resolution which he had
to move was, That
we have the power in our own hands
of effecting our own emancipation, through the medium
of co-operation, and that power this meeting is resolved
to employ for our social elevation." Mr. Jones, who is,
we believe, a Chartist orator, at great length then pro-
ceeded to review what he considered the condition of the
working classes in this country, past and present. For-
merly, he said, the working classes were the serfs of the
landowners, and now they were the slaves of wages. For-
merly they were kept in good physical condition,beeause it
was their masters' interest that they should be 80; but now

they were used for the purposes of an employer, and then 1
thrown away regardlessly. The genius of Christianity
had released them from the first condition, and now he
must be released from the latter by the power of co-
operation. (Applause.) Suppose 1,200 shoe-makers sub-
scribed 6d. a-week for forty weeks, that would raise
£1,200, with which they could open six goods shops, and
employ 600 men. When they did, then let any master
dare to make an attack upon their wages. They could
draw the men out of his shop, and put them into theirs,
without having to send them upon tramp as now. That
(Mr. Jones said) would be much better than a strike.
Strikes had done great injury to the working classes, al-
though he regarded them as a necessary evil. Ten strikes
(which he enumerated) within the present century had
cost not less than £2,166,000. He concluded by arguing
strongly in favour of the principle of co-operation, as
they might then be able, with their own shops open, to
set their employers at defiance.
Mr. HENRY SMITH, of the Tailors' Institute, seconded
the motion, giving the full particulars of the co-operative
body with which, as manager, he is of course so intimately
acquainted. He stated that the tailors had commenced in
1850, with a capital of only £5, but their business had
gradually increased. From Jan. 1852, to Jan. 1853, they
did work to the amount of £564, and paid £227 in wages ;
from 1853 to 1854 they did work to the amount of £1,069,
and paid in wages £451, whilst now their capital was
£69 10s. They would shortly require larger premises.
(Applause.) Mr. Smith denied that there was identity of
interest between the employer and employed, and said
that the former were often only investers of capital, and
having no knowledge of the trade in which they were en-
gaged, they could not possibly have any sympathy with
the workmen. He said if the Tailors' Institute were
properly supported by the working men of the town, they
might employ all the slop-shop hands, and give them two-
thirds more for their labour; and it was their intention
to apply for some of the large contracts, although it was a
fact that at present our wise corporation were getting
some of the police clothes made in London.
The resolution was put and carried, the CHAIRMAN
remarking, that the subject of co-operation was one which
they might take up at a future time, an executive being
appointed to carry it out.
Thanks were then voted to the chairman, to the reporters
present, and to Mr. Smith for his address, and three
cheers, not very hearty, having been given for co-operation,
the meeting broke up.

THE BIRKENHEAD HOSPITAL AND
DISPENSARY.

WE regret to state that a very serious difference has
occurred amongst the subscribers and governors to this
excellent charity. At the general annual meetinc, on the
30th of January last, Messrs. Jeannette and Hamilton,
two of the late medical officers, were elected consulting
surgeons. The meeting was a very small one, and a
majority of the committee or board who manage the
institution took up the opinion that the election had not
been regular, and in compliance with the 14th rule, which
prescribes that such appointments shall take place at
"the next meeting after the resignation of such officers"
—a condition it was contended which had not been strictly
complied with. They therefore determined to exercise the
powers with which they are vested of calling a special
general meeting of the governors to reconsider the
question. _ _ _

The meeting took place last night at the Town-hall,
in Birkenhead, and the extent of interest felt in the matter
was shown by the very numerous and respectable attendance.
The Rev. Mr. Knox, the president, occupied the chair,
and Mr. W. W. St. George, the secretary, read over the
minutes of the previous meetings. Letters were also read
from Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Jeannette, returning thanks
for the honour of their election, and protesting against the
steps taken to disturb it.
The CHAIRMAN expressed himself opposed to the view
taken by the committee, and thought that the appoint-
ment had been perfectly consistent with the laws.
Mr. POWELL said that his best wishes were with the
institution, but he contended that the terms of the 14th
rule had not been complied with, and, therefore, moved
"That the proceedings at the last annual general meeting,
for the election of consulting surgeons, were irregular and
illegal, and that such election was null and void."
Mr. WILLOUGHBY seconded the motion.

Mr. J. W. HARDEN began by expressing his detestation
of the anonymous communications which had been circu-
lated on the subject, and. pledged his reputation as a
lawyer that the election had been perfectly legal. He also
quoted the opinion of Lord Ellenborough and others
who had decided similar cases. The rule he contended
was permissive, and not prohibitory.
Mr. POWELL, after what Mr. Harden had said, with-
drew his motion, which was then proposed by Mr.
Willoughby and seconded by Mr: Hoare.
Mr. WATSON spoke at some length, amid considerable
confusion and cries of " Question," in favour of the•
motion. At the annual meeting there were only eleven
or twelve members present, and he thought that some
notice should have been given of' the proposed appontment,
that parties might have attended.
A very long, confused, and irregular• debate followed,—
Mr. Harden, Mr. Bell, solicitor, and the chairman con-
tending that the only question for the meeting to decide•
was the legal construction to be put upon the rule, and'
the other party maintaining that the whole question of
the appointment should be gone into.
• Mr. Macon., one of the consulting: surgeons, was amongst
the latter, and persisted in canvassing what the qualifica-
tions of a surgeon should be, but was put down by the
chairman. _ _

Mr. LITTLE asked whether rale• 6 had been strictly
adhered to, which required that their officers should be
elected by ballot ?
It was stated that that rul. not apply to tho pro
sent case.

Mr. BARBOUR thought it would be best for the pros-
perity of the institution to consider the last meeting as
null and void, and reconstruct the rule.
Mr. PORTER expressed a similar view.
The Rev. Mr. LUNDIE spoke against the motion; and
Mr. PERCY and Mr. DOVE in favour of it.

The CHAIRMAN, after expressing the interest which he
felt in the prosperity of the institution of which he had
been the founder, and hoping that the present proceedings
would prove no injury to it, then put the motion, after a
few words from Mr. Willoughby.
A question then arose as. to the qualification which
should be possessed by gentlemen to entitle them to vote,
when the Secretary stated that no subscribers of less than
£1 a-year could vote, and none who had been a subscriher
in 1853.

As it was found, impossible to take a show of hands with
any satisfactory result, the gentlemen present separated
and went to separate sides of the room. The secretary
then counted the heads, when, after considerable delay, it
was ascertained that the motion had 26 supporters, and
that there were 28 opposed to it.

The proceedings of last general meeting were con-
sequently confirmed, and the election declared valid—a
result hailed with loud cheering mingled with hisses.
The meeting occupied not less than two hours.

THE LATE COLLIERY EXPLOSION
NEAR WIGAN-THE INQUEST.

WIGAN, MONDAY (YESTERDAY).—The inquiry into
the cause of the late accident (adjourned from Friday),
was resumed this morning, by a continuance of the
examination of

Mr. G. E. Elliott, viewer for the Marquis of London-
derry, at Newcastle. He stated that, when he inspected
the mine, he found the ventilation in a satisfactory state.
The air would not be so pure when the men were at
work, and when shots were being fired. Having carefully
examined the mine, and the mode of working it, he did
not think he could make a suggestion for the improvement
of its ventilation. He did not consider it necessary to
sink another shaft to increase the ventilation.
Mr. T. E. FORSTER, manager of several coal works at
Newcastle, gave a general corroboration to the testimony
of the preceding witness. He repeated the statement he
had made twelve months ago, that the arrangements of
the mine were good, and reflected great credit on Mr.
Darlington, the manager.
Mr. J. Dickenson, government inspector of mines, in
the course of a long examination, gave evidence to the
effect, that he believed the explosion to have been caused
by the firing of a shot, or more likely to the sudden erup-
tion of gas into the workings. He expressed it as his
opinion that the system of working the mine in an intri-
cate series of workings, like that pursued in the Arley
Mine, was likely to cause explosions ; and stated that some
alterations he had recommended in reference to this par-
ticular, at the time of the previous explosion, had not
been carried out. He had no hesitation in saying, that
all the explosions which have recently taken place in this
district, have been in pits where a mode of working,
similar to that adopted in this mine, have been in use. It
is not the system generally adopted in Lancashire,
although largely acted 'on in the vicinity of Newcastle,
and the most extensive explosions have taken place under
it. After what has taken place, he would recommend that
no gunpowder be used in the pit ; and above all, he would
recommend an alteration in the workings; and further,
he considered the proprietors had reached the verge, and
ought not to proceed further without sinking another shaft.
Mr. W. Price, manager to the Earl of Balcarres, had
viewed the Arley Mine, at the request of the coroner, and
found the workings quite free from gas, and would have
had no hesitation in taking a naked candle through the
works. No explosion could have occurred from a gradual
fouling, and the accident must have arisen from a sudden
outburst of gas. Witness considered the Arley Mine coal
the most explosive seam in the Lancashire coal fields.
After what had happened he should hesitate to employ
gunpowder in the mine. He. did not consider the mode
of working the Ince Hall Arley Mine unsafe; nor did he
think it one of the best ventilated mines he ever saw.

Shortly after seven o'clock the inquest was further
adjourned to Thursday morning, at ten o'clock, when Mr.
Wynne, the other government inspector, will give his
evidence, after which, the coroner will sum up, and
the jury will consider their verdict.

LITERAILY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.—The usual
fortnightly meeting of this society took place last night,—
Mr. McAndrew presiding. Dr. Hume intimated that, at
an early meeting, it was intended to bring before the so-
ciety specimens of the Saxon Antiquities lately purchased.
He next drew the attention of the chemical section of the
society to the extraordinary statement made by Dr. Price,
relative to the diffusion of gold in the waters of the ocean.
A letter was read from Mr. Richard Spence, by Mr. San-
som, relative to the cryptogamic botany of the upper region
of the Amazon. The letter was dated San Carlos, del Rio
Negro, 27th August, 1853. A paper was read by Mr. F.
W. Bloxam, on the "Minor Poets," in which, after glancing
generally at the principles which regulate the poetic art,
and making illustrative allusion to the poets of antiquity,
he reverted to the early English poets. He then traced the
practice of those of the Tudors, Stuarts, Queen Anne,
and the Georges ; and adverted in complimentary terms to
Longfellow and Poe, although he maintained that Ame-
rican literature had no claim to the possession of a great
poet. He dwelt in very eulogistic terms on the poetry of
Tennyson and Mrs. Browning, and severely stigmatised
that of Alexander Smith. He concluded his paper by a
general complimentary apostrophe to poetry. Dr. Hume,
while differing from some of the conclusions of Mr.
Bloxam, complimented him on the interesting paper he
had read. Mr. Boult and Mr. Reddish followed, expres-
sing both acquiescence in, and difference from, some of
the principles laid down in Mr. Mourn's paper,