The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-02-07 00:00:00

THE REDUCTION OF THE DUTY ON TEA.
The abolition of the Excise duty on soap and the modifica-
tion of the stamp duties are subjects which have been
advocated by your Council, and which have been conceded in
the last year's Budget. •
EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CHARTER.
A deputation from your Council waited on the President of
the Board of Control, in company with one from Manchester,
to urge upon Sir Charles Wood several points in regard to
the future Government of India ; but it is a matter of regret
that very few of the suggestions received any attention.

DOCK AItRA:s:GEMENTS.
Your Council are firmly of opinion that the prosperity of
this port greatly depends upon its export trade. It is, there-
fore. with regret that they have to state, that though many
months hive elapsed since they transmitted to the Dock
Committee their report on the clock arrangements required
to facilitate this important branch of our commerce, scarcely
any steps have been taken to remedy the evils complained of.

. -
DECIMAL CURRENCY.
Your Council still give attention to this question, and, at
their instance, a town's meeting was lately held on the
subject, at which resolutions were passed expressive of a
strong opinion in favour of it. A petition to the House of
Commons has also been prepared, which is now in course of
general signature.

RETIRE:4IIMT OF DIRECTORS-
During the year the Council regret to say that they lost the
services, by death,of Mr. Winch and Mr. Casey. The vacan-
cies thus occasioned were filled up by the election of Mr. J.
E. Naylor and Mr. George Casey. The following directors
retire by rotation, and are ineligible for re-election this year:
Mr. Arnott, Mr. Bouch, Mr. Boult, Mr. Casey, Mr. Crosfield,
Mr. Forwood, Mr. Littledale, Mr. Laird, Mr. 3lalcomson, Mr.
Potter, and Mr. Smith.
In accordance with the rules, your Council have to announce
having made an alteration in the by-laws for arbitration,
which is calculated to facilitate references. The usual return
of the attendance of directors is laid on the table.
In closing this report the Council desire to state, that they
continue to receive every assistance from the members for
the borough and the southern division of the county ; and
they beg to tender their best thanks for the valuable services
rendered to the Chamber by those gentlemen.
The report having been read,
The TREASURER read an abstract of the income and
disbursements for the past year ; from this it appeared
that the income, arising from various sources, had
amounted to £634 3s. 9d., while the disbursements were
£558 Os. 7d., leaving a balance on hand of £76 3s. 2d.
Mr. Boucar, in moving the adoption of the report,
said, although only four years had elapsed since the
Chamber of Commerce had been called into existence, it
had already done a great deal that was valuable to the
public, not of Liverpool alone, but for the interest of
commerce in general. From what had been done it was
not he considered too much to anticipate, that the time
was not distant when the voice and influence of the Liver-
pool Chamber of Commerce will not be confined to this
kingdom, but will extend all over the mercantile world.
During the past year he was happy to know that the
Chamber of Commerce had received an accession of fifty
members ; and many of those enrolled on its list
were gentlemen whose names stood pre-eminent among
the merchants of Liverpool and of the world. As
to the subjects which had been under consideration of the
Chamber, from the report it would be evident that a
reform in the Custom-house system had occupied its very
serious attention. The reform of that system, so far as
concerned the port of Liverpool, had been much forwarded
by the exertions of the Chamber, which, within its own
walls, and among its own members, had originated sug-
gestions, many of which had eventuated in most valuable
improvements on the working of the system. Of these
he might be permitted to instance, that in cases of
dispute with the Custom-house authorities, instead
of having to meet and to combat them in courts
of law, where, even if successful, the litigant would
obtain no costs against the crown, there had now been
appointed a court of commission, entitled to deal with
I 1 sums of £lOO, in which, if successful in his suit, the
merchant would recover costs, as in any other court, and
against any other opponent. More than that, the
Government had conceded that, if dissatisfied with the de-
cision of the commissioners, appeal can be made to the
county court, which has been appointed as a court of
appeal. Instead of the varying classification of our ware-
houses, also, we have now been put on the same footing, in
this respect, as the warehouses in London. This, in re-
ference to losses on such stock as spirits, is of great con-
sequence, as we have now the option of having a bond
given by the warehouseman, and the merchant is freed
from all further trouble concerning it. On another point,
that of the customs search of export goods, much
has been obtained. Goods, under the former regu-
lations, although they merely passed from one ves-
sel to another, for the purpose of being re-exported,
had to be examined by the Custom-house authorities. Now
no such examination is necessary, the Custom-house
authorities only reserving to themselves the right of ex-
amination to prevent fraud. We have also obtained an
important improvement in the regulations for unloading
such free goods as cotton, the arrangements being such as
to allow almost of our own convenience in so far as
time is concerned. One subject connected with this
matter he approached with reluctance, and must mention
with regret. We thought we had obtained an exonera-
tion from the forms of entries on all kinds of free goods.
In that conjecture we have been wrong. To us this is a
matter of no small importance, because much of our com-
mercial traffic is in free goods ; and sometimes, in such
articles as cotton, when there are as many as twenty-five
consignees, we require to have twenty-five-separate entries
by examining clerks. An arrangement for abrogating
this was so far entered into, that a clause providing
for its abolition was actually in print, to form part
of the bill for the regulation of the Customs' re-
forms. The Shipowners' Association, however, step-
ped forward and opposed the proposed change, on
the ground that, if it came into operation, they would
be called on to pay the amount of the dock dues. Thus
declaring, that they were unwilling to trust the merchants
of Liverpool the trifling sum representing the dock dues'
although they were quite willing to give them credit for
the whole of the freight. On this ground they procured
the annihilation of the proposed measure. He (Mr.
Bouch) was sorry he had been induced to speak on this
subject with so much earnestness of feeling, but he did so
under the conviction that it was intended to confer on the
shipowners powers to secure, over the cargoes, the whole o f
the dock charges as well as the freight. Many complaints
had been made to this chamber, as to the delays occa-
sioned by difficulties encountered at the dock offices.
The abrogation of the difficulties to which he had just
referred would have been a great boon to all parties, even
to the shipowners themselves ; as it had been adduced,
oftener than once, by parties having cotton ready for
landing in Liverpool, that they need be in no haste to
relieve it, as the shipowner could not rid himself of it till
the consignee had effected his clearances. He hoped and
trusted that the Shipowners' Association and the Chamber
of Commerce would be enabled to act in a harmonious
and friendly manner, for their mutual benefit. This hope
he was the more desirous of making known, as the Lords
of the Treasury had expressed their willingness to bring
in supplementary bills every year till the whole should be
found to work in harmony, and satisfactorily toall interests.
The law of partnership, as had been properly stated
by the Chairman, had occupied an important share
of the attention of the Chamber, but the labours
of the sub-committee had not been sufficiently diges-
ted to allow the Council to offer any definite re-
commendation on the subject to the meeting. Another
subject of vital interest connected with commercial ar-
rangements was that of arbitration. A committee had
also been appointed to consider the best means of effecting
so desirable an object as the establishment of tribunals of
commerce. In reference to the dock arrangements, he
(Mr. Bouch) felt assured he only spoke the sentiments of
the Chamber when he said, they were prepared to co-
operate with the Dock Commissioners in everything con-
ducive to the public good. The decimal coinage move-
ment, in its present form, he might say, had originated in
this chamber ; it was a movement which all competent
authorities concurred in advocating the propriety of. The
Chamber of Commerce, he might also say, was entitled to
the credit of having greatly forwarded the abolition of the
soap duties. Before concluding, he might take the liberty
of again expressing his conviction of the desirableness of
the other great commercial associations joining with the
chamber in its endeavours to secure the public good ; nearly
all of those bodies now sent representatives to this cham-
ber, and he hoped for a still growing cordiality between
them and it. The day had now gone past, if it ever ex-
isted, when the Chamber of Commerce was to be regarded
as an organ of political feeling. The chamber, he felt war-
ranted in saying, was truly cosmopolitan in its objects,
interests, and feelings, as became the representative of
the commerce of the greatest commercial community the
world ever saw.
Mr. PownEs seconded the motion for adopting the
report.
Mr. ;ii FIE supported the motion, and, in doing so,
observed that the report was far from being an over-
statement of the exertions made and advantages con-
ferred by the Chamber. In addition to those named, it
would be easy to refer to others; he might, for example,
allude to Mr. Levi's visit and interesting lectures, from
which much benefit, as well as instruction, had been
derived. That gentleman, who was unquestionably a
man of much ability and learning, might be said to have
been indirectly the means of founding the Chamber. He
might also allude to the very small sum which had been
paid as allowance to deputations. This was a source of
legitimate expenditure, which he feared was not ade-
quately met by the small sum set aside for it.
Mr. MaclvEß said, as he meant to move an amendment
on the motion under consideration, he wished to offer a few
words in explanation. In the report now before the meet-
ing, allusion had been made to a report by a committee
of this Chamber, which recommends certain alterations
in the existing law of partnership. If the present mo-
tion is carried, and the report of the council be adopted,
it will go forth to the world as the opinion of the mer-
chants of Liverpool, backed by all the authority this
Chamber can confer, that we are in favour of limited lia-
bility among partners. That expression 'does not repre-
sent the feelings of the merchants of Liverpool. He
would put it to any gentleman present to say if it were
not a libel on the merchants of Liverpool to say they re-
quired such a provision. He for one would not be a
party to aid in drawing a distinction between a man's
moral and his legal responsibility. It had been,
he said, a custom to represent the company, of which
he had the honour of being an humble member, as en-
joying privileges akin to those of chartered companies,
because they received payments from Government. He
was there, and would tell the meeting that company
was not a chartered company, and that it never got a
pound from Government for which it did not render
twenty shillings' worth of hard service. He would
put it to any man, however, to read the last three
or four lines of the second paragraph of the sub-
committee's report, which says, " it," that is the law of part-
nership, " prevents men, possessing special aptitude for the
management of business, but without capital, from exer-
cising their acquirements or skill to the best advantage,"
and say whether it might not be said with propriety of a
pickpocket. Had not many a promising enterprise, he
might ask, had the bottom knocked out of it by gentle-
men with no capital, but with special aptitude For business;
yet such a principle it was proposed should. go to the world
under the sanction of the merchants of Liverpool. He
concluded by moving that the portion of the report having
reference to the law of ' partnership be omitted.
The chairman in explanation said the subject was felt to
be one of such importance that the council had agreed not
to decide on it, but to leave it for consideration of the
Chamber.
Mr. MA.CIVER said he could not for a moment concur in
an opinion which would imply that a cursory meeting of
the Chamber of Commerce was a suitable place for de-
bating so great and important a question. As a Liverpool
merchant, he had to say that the report of the sub-cm•
mittee did not ;oprenut 141 sentiments,