The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-26 00:00:00

SPONDENTS

)m " W. H. H.," " A Member of St. Jude's
m," " Gubernator," and " J. C.," were in
hands, but we were obliged to withdraw them
)m for the account of the conservative meet-

Ethrrpool attantrarb.

SDAI

I ORNING, JANUARY 26, 1841

its day will commence the parliamentary ses-
-1841. On this day the usual speech will be

royal lips; and in common with nine-
of her Majesty's loyal subjects, we are

) conceive upon what topic her ministers
the shamelessness to allow their youthful
rn to dilate, with the satisfaction which is the
Does her Majesty
most friendly assurances from

)1e of such productions
e to receive the

' ? We imagine not. Are we at peace
)rld ? Is our commerce flourishing ?
in a state of prosperity ? Are her sub-

Alas, upon none of these
ajesty flatter her assembled lords and

d and happy ?

her M

! If truth must be told—if a "plain, un-

I tale" can by any chance find its way into a
ech, prepared by a Whig-radical ministry, we

1 upon the ear in tones of bitter and

fortification, rather than of glad congratu-

—that it will resemble more a dirge sounded over
en glories of England than the Io pan of vic-
) which from such lips we would so gladly listen.
have not a doubt that the utmost will be made

,übjects upon which Whig-radical pretension

We shall be told of St. Jean

of the capture of Chusan—the capture of a

Wild be equally " germane to the matter"—
Majesty &s subjects will be assured that, if re-
er fleet could just as easily have battered down
elf, and hung up the august " brother to the
noon," at the yard-arm of one of their seventy-

subjects, perhaps, may ask in reply to
simple question, " Cui bono ?"
r Majesty's ministers, we opine, will be at no
litEculty to furnish a satisfactory answer.
is always been understood that the true object of
!h from the throne at the commencement of the
of parliament was to direct the attention of the

adilisms th

.e to the various subjects requiring their con-
]. What these subjects may be in the opinion
Melbourne and his colleagues we have at pre-

onception, further than that we are told that
et of a decimal coinage has received the con-
of some eminent wiseacres, and that in future

s are to be tenpennies measure, we sup-
reparatoty to a Repeal of the Union. We are
o that an immense saving is to be effected by
ng the worn-out pens in the various public
and selling them for the benefit of the revenue,

Imanack frames are to last for seven years
wing burnt for firewood as heretofore. But

we fear that the most important subjects re-
the consideration of parliament will he precisely
rich will he most anxiously kept in the back
We shall not be told, for instance, how soon
sty's ministers will require parliament seriously
ler the propriety of kicking out, as dangerous
their own. proper selves. We shall not be
quire why a traitor, who would be a rebel if he
3urage, should not at.once be saved from the
by being humanely lodged in bed-
nt out as a fellow-clerk to John Frost. We
told nothing of these things, and yet they are
upon which her Majesty's loyal subjects

greatest amount of curiosity.
r we are—and we doubt not many of our
also—in a most uncomfortable state of per-

ind wonder, which, we suppose, we must put
for another twenty-four hours, until the enigma
solved by the production of the forthcoming
rt of Whig-radicalism ;n the " art and mystery"

waking !

g, in'a late publication, the extreme de-
s of abolishing the stamp duties upon policies
insurance, we had no wish to put in an ex-
zini the shipping and commercial interests,

!nee to that of other classes of the comtnu-
e regard this particular duty as objectionable,
ever levied, as being a discouragement
f the exercise of a measure of pre-
calamities to which every de-

roperty is liable ; and our principal, rea-
ilarising its pressure upon marine insu-

cause it is, as respects these, not only ex-
udicial to British underwriters, merchants,

, but almost unproductive to the reve-

;e regret that we have no means of determining
exact proportion of the produce of this tax, which
aid upon marine insurances, as compared with that
in g from fire and life insurance. That it ought to
onsiderable, judging from the value of our annual
31:7..pd imports, there is no doubt ; and yet we
ify-latheye that, in reality, it is not one quarter the
t. 4

amount which, taking these as his data, a financier
would calculate upon.

A great portion of the trade of the country

well known, is insured at Hamburg and other conti-

Nearly the whole of our German and

Baltic trade, and a considerable portion of our colonial
trade, find underwriters in these towns. Our imports

from and our exports to the United States are almost
exclusively insured in New York, thus evading the
payment not only of the usual policy duty, but avoid-
ing, at the same time, the necessity of having a stamped
bill of lading for every shipment. The merchant of
large capital, whose Operations are not confined to ca-
sual adventures, but consist of regular periodical ship-
ments, effects the same saving by becoming his own
insurer. But to the merchant of humbler means nei-
ther of these alternatives are open.

But let us come to the operation of these duties upon
the interests of the shipowner, or, more properly speak-
ing to the effect produced upon these interests by the
practice of insuring abroad, in order to evade them.
It is well known, to Commercial readers at least,
that the rate of Insurance in all cases depends upon
the class of the vessel in which the merchandise to be
insured is shipped, and in many instances upon the
ability of the Captain, the description of the crew on
board, and the circumstances of the vessel being well
or ill found in stores, with other circumstances which
can only be known to those acquainted with the parties
or with the vessel in question. In the case then of
merchandize shipped on board a British vessel, and in-
sured by foreign underwriters, any particular claims—
other than those of her mere class—which such vessel
may have, to the confidence of insurers, is necessarily
overlooked ; and hence the encouragement, which a
liberal and spirited shipowner would otherwise have,
to provide for efficiency in every department of his
vessel is, in part at least, taken away. But is it not
natural also, that in the case of vessels belonging to a
nation enjoying a treaty of reciprocity with Great
Britain, the preference pro rata as regards Insurance,
should be given to the foreign over the British flag ?
We are inclined to believe that this is the case. A
vessel belonging to Hamburg or New York will, we
believe, be insured in their respective ports—other
advantages being equal—on lower terms than a British
vessel ; and the shipping of foreign states is thus fur-
nished with an additional source of strength in the
race of competition with the British Marine.

To add, however, to the encouragement thus afforded
to the foreign shipowner, it must be borne in mind,
that with respect to some portion of our commerce at
least, the system of insuring abroad operates almost as
a positive disability against British shipping. In our
transactions with the United States, in particular; it is
the practice of Merchants to open floating policies of
Insurance, to cover the amount of all merchandize
shipped for a definite period, in consideration of some
fixed average rate of Insurance. In such policies, as
a matter of course is specified the class of vessels to
which that rate applies; and generally, we believe,
those vessels are stipulated to be American ; for we are
much mistaken in our estimate of American vanity if
such policies upon their own ships arenot effected upon
more favourable terms than they could be upon British
ships. To enable the shipping to the United States
therefore to avail themselves of the advantages thus
contracted, for, American vessels alone must be select-
ed for their shipments, except occasionally, in parti-
cular seasons, when a British transient ship may
perhaps be favoured at a very low freight, with a few
bales of coarse merchandize, or a cargo of trivialvalue—
coals or salt—in the nature of ballast.

As a proof of this position let any of our shipowners
put up, in Liverpool, for loading to any American
port, a first class British ship of unexceptionable
character, in opposition to an American vessel of
similar class : and thus ascertain what his chance will
be of securing a paying cargo. Exclusive of what he
may get for his passengers' berths, we venture to say,
that of cargo he will not be able to secure more than
will pay his port charges, and the wages of his crew.
We are far from asserting that this can be attributed
exclusively to the causes we have alleged, for we fear
that an ill-judged parsimony in the manning and out-
fitting of a portion of our commercial marine, has
some connexion with the disinclination of merchants to
ship valuable cargoes on board British vessels, espe-
cially when speed of transit is an object ; but we have
very little hesitation in expressing our belief, that a
portion at least of the disinclination in question, springs
from the circumstance of the parties having fresh In-
surances to effect in England upon Merchandize so
shipped, and which is consequently not embraced by
the terms of their existing policies.
In 'fine then, our objections to the continuance of
these duties are,-Ist. That they press unequally upon
different classes of Merchants, and in every instance
to the disadvantage of the Merchant of small capital,
as compared with his wealthy rival.-2ndly, That from
the circumstance of their being evaded by the great
bulk of our foreign trade, they are almost unproduc-
tive to the Revenue, and-3rdly, That they are highly
prejudicial to the interests of the shipowners of this
country, inasmuch as they subrrtit to the prejudiced
judgment of foreign capitalists, to decide upon the
character of our shipping ; and thus place in their
hands the power of holding up a Bonus, in the shape
of a reduced rate of Insurance, in favour of the em-
ployment by British subjects of the Merchant Navy
of other and rival nations.

We must confess, that in offering the few remarks
which we have lately hazarded upon the subject of a
revision of our present system of taxation, we have
little hope of immediate benefit as the result. From
the present ministry we have decidedly none ; and any
future one we fear will, in the first outset of its career,
find sufficient employment in repairing the dilapida-
tions, and providing for the surplus expenditure en-
tailed upon them by their predecessors. Still, we do
trust that no long period of time will be allowed to
elapse, before an enquiry into the system, with a view
to ascertain its working and pressure, will be under-
taken in a candid and impartial spirit by the legislature;
and in the mean time we would strongly urge upon
the Mercantile community to be prepared to put in
their claim to relief, in a distinct and intelligible shape,
and with this object to bring at once the weight of
their experience and extended information to bear
upon the subject.

On Saturday evening last the Popish Repealers of
Liverpool had a gathering at their usual place of ren-
dezvous, the Queen's Theatre, where a " public dinner"
was given to Mr. John O'Connell. Among the nota-
bles who attended this " public demonstration " we
look in vain for the name of a single individual of any
standing in the town. The chairman on the occasion
was a Mr. George Sherlock, who was supported by the
illustrious guest, Father Wilcox, M'Carron, and
Mr. Hugh Bullen. In addition to these there were
three Popish priests, and a small sprinkling of middle
class tradesmen—importers of " murphies," eggs, and
bacon. The rest were composed of a motley assemblage
of " hereditary hodmen," pig-drivers, and peripatetic
oyster-Mongers. The speechifying on the occasion was
just what might have been expected in such select so-
ciety. The first toast that was responded to was that
of " Her Majesty's Ministers,"—a very dubious sort
of compliment, certainly, to our Whig-Radical admini
stration. A red hot Repealer, of the cognomen o
Smythe, undertook the task of thanking the audience
for the enthusiastic manner in which the health of Lord
Melbourne and his associates had been drunk. He
waxed quite eloquent in the course of his eulogium on
the policy of the ministry. According to Mr. Smythe's
estimate they are " infinitely better than the govern-
ments of former times"—they are prepared to give
" justice to Ireland"—they are the friends of educa-
tion—and the decided advocates of civil and religious
liberty. These extravagantly exaggerated compliments
to the ministry from a professed repealer we should
consider any thing but complimentary. We wish
Lord Melbourne joy in his new allies.
After lavishing his praises upon the present ministry,
Mr. Smythe indulged in a strain of unmeasured abuse
of Lord Stanley and his registration bill. In the course
of his diatribe he said that "if there were one thousand
fraudulent electors to be found throughout Ireland—
if he thought there were as many fraudulent electors to
be found throughout the whole country as were to be
found in Liverpool—he would join Lord Stanley."
Has this insolent libeller of the electors of Liverpool
read any portion of the evidence laid before the House
of Commons on the subject of the Irish registries ? If
he has, we do not know of any epithet too strong to

characterise his reckless disregard of truth. If he has
not, we beg to inform him that hundreds of the most
respectable and trustworthy witnesses have proved on
oath the existence of unparalleled fraud in Ireland.
We recommend him to peruse the testimony of these
creditable witnesses. This will save him from again
making such a fool of himself as he is reported to have
done on Saturday evening.
Mr. Bullen's part in the farce of Saturday evening
was that of responding to the atheistical toast of " The
People, the true source of legitimate power." We
wonder that even a Roman Catholic priest should sit
quietly when such a blasphemous toast as this was
proposed.

Mr. John O'Connell next figured on the stage. His
speech was a mere re-hash of the. vulgar declamations
of his father, divested of their usual quantum of abuse
of the " Satanic Saxons." Repeal formed the staple
of Master John's oratory. He took occasion to re-
mark that " the reformers of England were honest
men, and he expected every honest man would soon be
a repealer." We suppose that the converse of this
must hold true. If so, every reformer that is not a
repealer must be a dishonest man. According to this
dictum the editors of the Morning Chronicle and the
Globe must be superlatively dishonest.
We have frequently said that the object of the Re-
pealers is a treasonable one. They wish to dismember
the empire by asserting the independence of Ireland.
Mr. John O'Connell has distinctly proved that this is
the secret aim of the Repealers. He endeavoured to
show the absurdity of permitting the British Parlia-
ment to legislate for Ireland by asking whether any
honest Englishman would like to be governed by a
Parliament sitting in France ? What was the object
of this comparison, unless it was intended to show
that Ireland ought to he as independent of England as
England is of France ? The treasonable designs of
the Repealers may also be inferred from the significant
manner in which Mr. John O'Connell asked " what
would be the consequence supposing England desired
to go to war and Ireland did not ? Why should Ire-
land go to war if she did not wish it? Why should
Ireland pay for the expences of a war, or send her
sons to assist in a war, of which she does not ap-
prove ?" There is only one inference to be drawn
from these queries. It is as clear as noon-day that
the repealers wish to sever Ireland from England.
One of the concluding expressions of Mr. John O'Con-
nell is still more conclusive on this point. He said
that " Ireland had a vow, a vow before high Heaven,

that she would accomplish her independence." This
asseveration was greeted with loud and continued
cheers. Are the people of England prepared for such
an extremity ? Are the ministry prepared to deal
honestly with this repeal agitation ?
We learn that Mr. John O'Connell " had arranged
to meet a few of his friends on Sunday afternoon, at
Mr. Bickersteth's, Christian-street, for a friendly con-
versation on public affairs, and afterwards to drink tea
together." In accordance with this arrangement
nearly one thousand persons assembled in the street,
opposite the above house, in the course of Sunday
afternoon. It was then deemed advisable to open the
doors of the Queen's Theatre and admit the people.
This being done, Mr. John O'Connell addressed the
crowd on public topics. This is the way in which the
Papists desecrate the Sabbath. Popery is everywhere
the same. Whether on the continent or in Ireland, it
pays no regard whatever to the sanctity of the Sab-
bath : but it is rather a startling novelty to introduce
these Sunday political displays in one of the most en-
lightened towns in England. Where were the police
on the occasion ? Why did they not interfere to pre-
vent this flagrant outrage upon the feelings of a Pro-
testant people ? Their right to interfere cannot be
doubted for a moment. Mr. John O'Connell is not a
licensed dissenting teacher, nor is the Queen's Theatre
licensed for Sabbath orations on any topic whatever.
The whole proceeding was clearly illegal, and ought to
have been promptly suppressed.