The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-01-11 00:00:00

Yitliipa crlcstaitVitt-V.

TUESDAY 31ORNING, JAN. 11, 1853.

THE WEEK.

THE dulness which characterises this season of the
year on most questions of public interest, apart
from the ordinary festivities which we alluded to
last week, has been scarcely enlivened by the few
contested elections, by which the return of the new
Ministers to Parliament has been disputed. It was
a very close run at Halifax between Sir CHAS. WooD
and Mr. EDWARDS ; but as the loss of a President
of the Board of Control would not have been a vital
one, it was deprived of much of its interest. By
far the greatest excitement has been created by the
contest at Oxford University, where a dead set has
been made at Mr. GLADSTONE by two parties—
the High Churchmen, who view with apprehension
his Radical associates, and the Protestant party,
who very properly object to his Tractarian tenden-
cies. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL was also opposed
at Southampton, and Admiral BERKELEY at Glou-
cester; but both without success. The County
elections have yet to take place, and Mr. SIDNEY
HERBERT will be opposed in South Wilts by Mr.
GRANTLEY BERKELEY, who comes forward OR
the Landed interest. There are also contests anti-
cipated in Ireland; so that the Ministerial organs,
who enlarge so complacently on their success, are I
rather premature in their congratulations.
At the meeting of the Liverpool Town Council,
on Wednesday, the right of the whole body to veto
the acts of the Dock Committee was brought into
active exercise on the question of constructing the
intended new works at Wapping. It appears that
the Committee, departing from their previous prac-
tice of carrying out the works by means of their own
surveyor, advertised for tenders for them to be exe-
cuted by contract, with the reservation that they
did not hind themselves to accept any of the ten-
ders. This proviso has usually been understood,
and acted upon, as a safeguard against being com-
pelled to accept a tender at an extravagant rate, or
from a person incompetent to perform the work.
It was so understood in the present instance, and
the Committee appeared so to view it by inviting the
attendance of Messrs. BAKER and SoN, whose com-
petency is not disputed, and the amount of whose
tender is not deemed unfair, even when compared
with the estimate of their own surveyor. Notwith-
standing these preliminaries, necessarily attended
with expense to the parties preparing the estimates

. .
upon which to found the tender, they were rejected,
and the committee resolved to entrust the work to
their own surveyor. This very naturally led to a
remonstrance on the part of Messrs. BAKER and
SON, who deemed themselves unfairly treated, and,
as they could obtain no redress from the commit-
tee, the subject was brought before the Town Coun-
cil, who resolved by a majority of 43 to 11 to veto
the whole proceeding. It is not denied that the
works already carried out by Mr. HARTLEY, the
surveyor, have been executed most efficiently, but
their excessive cost has long been a subject of great
complaint, which it was believed would in this case
have been obviated by resorting to the mode which
was adopted, by advertising them to be done by
contact. It is not charged against the members
of the Committee, of whom there were 14 to 5
who voted for the rejection of the tenders, that
they were parties to a job, but bearing in mind the
great expenditure which has been previously incur-
red, the majority of the Council are very properly
anxious that the funds of the Corporation should
receive the full benefit of being expended under the
restrictions which would necessarily attach to a con-
tract with a competent and responsible firm. At
the special meeting of the Dock Committee, on
Saturday, they indignantly repudiated the charge
of having acted dishonourably, questioned the lega-
lity of the veto—of which the solicitor's opinion
was, that though within the letter, it was not within
the spirit and intention of the law—and by a reso-
lution, carried by 15 to 8, re-affirmed their previous
decision. In order, however, to allay some of the
opposition which arose out of the presumed injus-
tice to Messrs. BAKER and SON, it was referred to
the Sub-Committee of Works to inquire what
expenses that firm had incurred.
The dinner which was given on Tuesday at the
Adelphi Hotel, to Mr. IN GERSOLL, the new Ame-
rican Minister to this country, by the American
Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool, drew together
a distinguished party, worthy of this important
mart of commerce. The guests on the occasion
included not only the worthy representative of the
United States, but also that distinguished nobleman
the Earl of DERBY, who is at the head of the great
Conservative party in this country, the Earl of
SEFTON, the Lord-Lieutenant, and the members of
Parliament for the county. The speeches on both
sides breathed nothing but good-will, and though
subjects were alluded to which formed matters of
diplomatic difference, the courtesies of the hospitable
board softened the expressions of opinion on them
to sentiments of the most friendly disposition.
The electors of Liverpool should pay no atten-
tion to the assertions so gravely made by a Satur-
day contemporary, that Mr. MACKENZIE had
offered to resign his seat, and that Mr. TURNER
would not defend his. These reports emanate from
the enemy, who wish to alarm the friends of the
sitting members into a dread of incurring expense.
The petition, however, is in itself a forlorn hope ;
for all the prospect of proving bribery arises out of
the fact of the men who were employed to carry
flags, banners, and other election paraphernalia,
having been voters on the right side.
The weather during the whole of yesterday was
rainy ; and, as this unfavourable state of the atmos-
phere has followed immediately upon a change of
the moon, the prospect of a return to fine weather
seems indefinitely postponed. Should this be the
case, the most serious apprehensions are enter- i
tamed for the agriculture of this country, which
in the weather will have a new enemy to add to
the Farmer's difficulties, occasioned by Free-trade.
Much sympathy has been expressed for the
sufferers of the sad catastrophe which we reported
last week, of the explosion of the brig Lily, off the
Isle of Man. At St. Paul's Church, Prince's
Park, on Sunday forenoon, upwards of £6O were
collected by the spontaneous contributions of the
congregation, and several other sums have also
been raised towards this benevolent purpose.
Our friends of the Manchester school are bitterly
mortified at the non-appearance of the names of
COBDEN and BRIGHT in the list of the new
ministry. The difficulty, however, has been as to
where to place them. It is said, and there is no
doubt of the fact, that overtures were made to
Mr. COBDEN to lend his valuable aid, but that he
modestly declined. Why ? It may be that he
doubted his powers ; but his friends say his answer
was to the effect that he would not accept office
with the present Government, but that if the for-
mation of a Cabinet was placed in his hands, the
case might be different '
The Rev.
addition to hisHUGH S T.O WEL L, of Manchester, in
at the Orford Irte for Mr. DUDLEY PERCIVAL,
tversity Election, has addressed a
letter to the Protestant Electors of the University,
in which he calls on them to follow his exampl.
" Mr. GLAnsrroNort:, he says,

~ Appears to have been all his life on a voyage of dis-
covery for ecclesiastical as well political opinions ; nor
can any man say where he willa4l,tb
laster find his moorings,
unless it be on the banks of the
.se, an under current
despite of all the eddies of his cow._ In that direction,
seems still to be bearing him."
He concludes with the following z--

" Let us not be deceived by flimsy Pretences. Com-
promise from a ministry composed like the present is an
inevitable necessity. The extremes of which it is com-
posed must force surrender of principle on the one hand
or the other, and no man that knows aught of Popery wilt
for a moment suppose that, whatever nominal Protestants
may suffer or
their surrender, the Pope and the Jesuits will
forego
Purposes or fail of their prey. Let Oxford
do her duty, then' and dis-
locateaccomplished
the cooly much will be acplished to
ion and avert the danger.y,