The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-02-26 00:00:00

SKETCHES IN PARLIAMENT

We this day present our readers with the first of a series
of "SKETCHES IN PARLIAMENT," which it is our

intention to continue at intervals, on the occasion of

any important debate in the House of Commons.
They are the production of an intelligent gentleman,
who has numerous sources of htformation, and who
we doubt not will render the series not only interesting
but highly instructive.

atbrrpool gDtanbatt.

FRIDAY

MORNING, FEBRUARY 26, 1841

On reading the prolonged debates that have taken
place in Parliament this week on Lord Morpeth's Re-
gistration Bill, we have been disappointed at finding
so little said on that topic- which of all others enters
most deeply and essentially into the question. We
grant that it is an awkward subject in the•house ; but
it is not on that account the less important. With the
public press, however, there is not, or at least there

We allude to the
attempt to diacuss Irish questions, as it were conclu7
sively, yet without reference 'to the subject of religion.

ought not to he this squeamish

In so doing, Conservatives shew themselves vastly con-
ciliatory, and choose frequently a weak and unfavour-
able position, when they might, if they pleased, have a
strong and irrefragable one. Glance at this registra-
tion question in its first and most obvious point of
view, and if we agree not to perceive anything of reli-
gion in it, the consequence inevitably is, that we give
the Radicals a decided advantage. They ask for a
qualification for electors in Ireland-on the ground that
that country is poorer than England—and they shew
what vast numbers are excluded from the franchise by
reason of the present high rate ; and is not this a plaus-
ible argument ? We think it is, and we are not sure
that Conservatives can satisfactorily overturn it, so
long as they stand on political grounds merely.
They speak of the extreme poverty of the people,
and their consequent liability to corrupting influences ;
but might not a people be poor, and yet virtuous ?
Must poverty with all its other evils, necessarily bear
the reproach of being vicious and immoral ? Why
this is a libel upon human nature. And yet it is the
libel, oY• the doctrine, which the Conservative who fore-
goes religion in discussing the new enfranchisement of

Ireland, is necessarily driven to. That there is great
error here, will hardly be denied. We do not seek to
account for it; we rest :.imply on the fact. But let
the Conservative place himself directly, and at once on
the religious ground, and the case is completely altered.
As the champion of a Protegtant constitution, Church,
and Government, he then acts with perfect consistency
in refusing privileges and powers to men who would
use them for no other Purpose than to subvert those
great institutions—and he escapes from the dubious
and unenviable position of shutting men out from con-
stitutional privileges merely on the ground of penury.
But, it may be.said, this would be declaring open war
against Popery. Doubtless it would ; but are we to
be told that there is any Conservative Protestant afraid,
Or ashamed to engage in that holy war ? Ay, " there's
the rub." We do fear that this is too much the case—
that our Protestantism has been,infected and damaged
by Liberalism—and that there are many who think
that religion is not essential to a Conservative policy.
Hence all our difficulties with Irish questions.
This is a most unfortunate state of things not less

for this country than for Ireland. Popery we know to
he the bane and curse of that country--the true per-
turbed source of all its crimes, poverty, degradation,
and misery—the real exclusionist of the Irish, or of so
large a proportion of them; from political privileges ;
and yet English Protestants, men who have been hap-
pily delivered from the gripe of that foul apostacy, re-
fuse to tell the deluded Irish their mind on the sub--

ject---shrink from endeavouring to rescue them from
ruin lest they should hurt their feelings—speaking de-
licately and mincingly of the affair as one of mere

opinion—and, worse than all, absolutely vote away the
public money in order to maintain a Popish college for
the education of Popish priests in the heart of the
kingdom. This is really too bad-Lmost mistaken
kindness. •

What is it, let us ask, that Lord Stanley would by
his bill legislate in effect against? or'what that which
Lord Morpeth seeks by his to indulge and pamper?

In both cases it is one and the same thing—Popery.
And yet, in other respects, men who well know the
evil to be guarded against treat this same Popery as if
there were no favours too great to bestow upon it—no
crimes against the committal of which it needs any
restraint.

Our readers will find in another colustEn a letter from
the Rev. H. M`Neile on the subject of Maynooth Col-
lege, in which, we are happy to perceive, he demolishes
that rhetorical artifice of Mr. Sheil's, whereby he suc-
ceeded in proving, last year, to the satisfaction of some
persons too easily convinced, that to touch that Popish
institution would be a violation of the articles of union
.
between the countries. Those who regard its main-
tenance as a foul blot upon our history will be glad to
find that the supposed violation is all mere moonshine.

There is fortunately no such contract in existence as
that attempted to be set up by our Popish Vice-PreSi-
dent of the Board of Trade ; but there is a contract in
existence—a contract by which every Protestant ought
to feel himself hound, not to maintain, but, as soon as
possible, to dissolve that connection by which we stand
nationally in the relation of institutors, guardians, and
supporters of one of the chief nurseries cf Popery in
the sister island.

The late dreadful catastrophe off Holyhead has ar-
rested public attention, as one might expect an occur-
rence so extraordinary and so fatal would do. Some
of the circumstances connected with it are curious,
and some almost inexplicable; but taking the transac-

tion as a whole, it suggests the necessity there exists
for some better understood, or better defined, regula-

tions with regard to two points, namely, vessels carry-
ing such a number of passengers, and putting up lights

by night

On this occasion the steamer had lights up, whilst
the lost vessel had none—a fact which shews the un-

certainty that prevails as to the practice, and serves
also, we conceive, fully to account for the calamitous
accident. It is true that the collision might have
happehed even though both the vessels had carried
lights ; but the chances of avoiding it would have
been multiplied thereby. The Governor Fenner might
have seen the steamer, and actually did

her, in

time to prevent a collision, had she been able to put
about; but it is not at all conceivable that the steamer
saw the Fenner with similar advantage, or she would

have made use of it

It is something curious and interesting to consider,
that neither vessel altered her course in the slightest
degree up to the moment of the fatal rencountre, and
that if we look at a chart we may mark, by the inter-
section of two lines, the spot where it took place, just
as if it had been pre-ordained, when each vessel left
her respective port, that there they should meet—that,
wide as is the ocean and roomy the way, there they
should cross each other's path, and there, in the twink-
ling of an eye, the "one should be taken and the
other left." Scripture assures us that a " sparrow
cannot fall to the ground" without the permission of
Omnipotence ; but the necessity in which all things are
thus involved is benevolently kept out of sight, because
it was not intended that our knowledge of that truth,.
in the abstract, should abate our energies in the pro-
motion or employment Of secondary causes. Yet, oc-
casionally the providential ordainments of Omnipotent
power—the express appointments, as it were, of the
Almighty Ruler of events—are brought before us in a

most striking and impressive manner, serving imme-
diately to remind us of the lesson so forcibly inculcated

by the apostle :"Go to now, ye that say, to-day or
to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue
there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain ; whereas
ye know not what shall be on the morrow for
that ye ought to say, if the. Lord will, we shall live,
and do this or that." The instruction is for all; but

it surely ought to reach with especial application those
who " go down to the sea in ships."
With regard to the almost instantaneous disappear-
ance of the Governor Fenner, it is difficult to account
for it. Had she been perfectly sea-worthy, it can
scarcely be conceived that the concussion with the
s'eamer would have sunk her under the surface of the
deep, with all her cargo, with a rapidity so terrific and
destruction so complete. On this point, however, there
are extreme opinions both ways. A London contem-
.porary asks, "if there had been any examination into
the sea-worthiness of the Governor Fenner before she
sailed from port, crowded with those ill-fated emi-
grants ;" and argues on the hypothesis that it was
imperative on any emigration superintending officer,
appointed by our government, to inquire into the
matter. It is on this very point, however, that we ap-
prehend there is some deficiency in our regulations,
and that an amendment is called for.

It is a matter of every-day experience that the self-
interest of owners and other parties concerned is not a
sufficient gu rantee to the public against rash or even
desperate experiments being made. The desire of gain
is not unfrequently stronger even than that of self-
preservation, and requires the constant exercise of a
controlling power over its enterprises when the public
welfare is concerned. Upon the whole, we trust that
good will result from the attention which this calamit-

ous occurrence has drawn to the points adverted to,
and will eventuate in regulations conducive to the
safety of ships and voyagers on the seas.

Since the above remarks were written, we have re-
ceived the following letter from the Captain of the
Governor Fenner :

TO TUE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

" Stn,--Observing in this day's Liverpool Mail a letter
from Captain Stewart, of the Nottingham

anner, corn-

meriting upon my letter addressed to

Messrs

North and

Orred, I beg to state that I am prepared to establish, when
necessary, what I therein asserted. Anxious an, lam that
the public should be acquainted with every fact connected
with the collision, yet I cannot, consistently my duty
to the owners of the Governor Fenner and of tL• . goods on
board her, go into a detail without their permion,'as by
so doing I may possibly prejudice their interest ; and I must
content myself at present by saying, that I have neither pub-
lished nor authorised any one to publish in the public prints
any account of the collision, and that those statements which
have appeared in the public prints are in many essentials in-
correct. Amongst other things it is said that the Governor
Fenner was not seaworthy. To rebut this assertion I refer
to Lloyd's agent, and Messrs. Graysons, the shipbuilders,
of this port. Even Captain Stewart says, in his letter, that
my crew saw the Nottingham lights from 15 to 20 minutes
before the collision ; but he does not say from whence he got
the information, and appears to have overlooked the fact that
my crew were, with the exception of the.mate, all unhappily
lost. I advert to this simply to shew the vague and incor-

rect statements which have appeared.
" Your obedient servant,

" Feb. 25th."

" S. E. ANDREWS

We observe that many of our contemporaries have
expressed considerable doubt as to the seaworthiness
of the Governor Fenner; and though we have no
wish to make any remarks which the circumstances
of the late melancholy disaster do not justify, we
deem it a duty we owe to the public to call the at-
tention of the legislature or other proper authorities to
the facts connected with the collision, in order that

some steps may be taken to prevent, if possible, a rcpe-

tition of such an unfortunate occurrence

The Morn-

ing Herald of yesterday, justly remarks—

IF blawe in this instance exist anywhere (and that ques-

tion we cannot pretend, at present, to determine,) then is
the responsibility in official quarters most tremendous. If it
do not, no harm CAN ensue. Much good MAY follow from
a determined and strict investigation into all the particulars
and relations of this melancholy catastrophe. We were, for
our parts, very unwilling that the passing excitement of po-
litical questions should withdraw public attention from a
matter of such deep but of such mournful domestic interest."

It is laid down by a Whig journal of this town—fa-
mous for its discovery of mares' nests—that Tories

have no right to complain of the New Poor Law Act,
because in Parliament Tories as well as Whigs assisted

in the passing of it. This is his editorial whig law,
which, however good in itself, we fear, he will not find

so efficient in its sanctions as he might desire. For
our part, though we allow that for our sins we must

sometimes submit to the infliction of Whig legislation,
we know of no right that a Whig gentleman of the

fourth estate has to 11

.ke laws for us, and we appeal

against his jurisdiction. Let it be a rule for Whigs to

persevere in ill-doing, if the fates will have it so ; but
for Tories, we claim the right of Tetractation and

amendment when they

perceive that there has been

error in any of their proceedings

We are now threatened with a brace of nuisances
against which the inhabitants of Liverpool ought, in
our humble opinion, to make every resistance, at least
in their own behalf, let others do as they may : we al-

lude, certainly, in the first instance, to the introduction
of the New Poor Law Act into the borough, and, in
the second, to the extension of the powers of the pro-
posed commission under LOrd Normanby's Building
and Drainage Bill within our jurisdiction.

We take, as a common ground of objection to these
twin Whig blessings, that here at least we stand in no
need of them, and may well claim to be exonerated
from their bestowment. We do not say that in other
places the Building and Drainage Act, when properly
modified, may not be found useful ; nor is it at all ne-
cessary for our purpose that we should go at length
into the questio vexata between the new poor law and
the old. Enough is it for us to contend, simply, that
Liverpool is sufficiently well able to take care of its
own poor upon the existing system and principle of
self-government; and as to the building and drainage
measure, that if it required one, Liverpool would na-
turally prefer a local act for itself, to being compre-
hended in a general enactment such as that projected.
It is, we conceive, nothing less than an insult to include,
under the centralising administration of Government,

Commissioners, a city of the magnitude, importance,
and character of Liverpool, as if it were incapabl: of
self-government ; and we think that the more wealthy
and intelligent classes of its inhabitants ought—not for
this reason only, but for the prevention of great prac-
tical evil and injury to the poor especially—to use every
exertion that the operation of these bills may be kept
without its boundaries.

As to the Bastile system, and its grinding economy,
enough has been said to make every man who feels for
the poor of the neighbourhood in which he resides
both anxious and alert to save them from such a cala-
mity; and, as to the Building and Drainage Act, even
in that case also we are called upon for the sake of the
poor still further to stem the torrent of Whig tyranny
and injustice. Some of the clauses of that act inter-
meddle with the concerns of the poor and the rights of
Englishmen in a manner which we trust will never be
endured either in legislation or in practice in this
country.

Lord Normanby proposes to settle by act of Parlia-
ment the size of rooms and the height of windoms.—"No
room in any house built after the passing of this act in

any .such town or village, having only one room on the
ground floor, or having four rooms in all, shall be less
than 8 feet in height from the floor to the ceiling; and
in every such house there shall be at least one room of
not less dimensions than twelve feet from the back to
the front in the clear thereof, and 12 feet from one side
to the other side in the clear thereof, exclusive of any
space which may be taken of for any closet or stair-
case."

And, "In every room containing 144 square feet of
flooring in any house built after the passing of this act
in any such town or village, there shall be at least one
window, the dimensions of which shall he not less than
4 feet 9 inches in height, and not less than three feet
wide in the clear of the sash frame ; and every such
window shall be either a casement window opening
on hinges, or the sashes shall. be double• hung, opening

both at the top and bottom."
If this becomes law, not only cannot a man build,
but we suppose (if there •is to he any consistency in
the thing) he cannot alter or divide a room in his house
without running the risk of having it pulled down ;
yes, incredible as it may appear,. pulled down.
By the 29th and 30th clauses, any two justices of
tha peace are enabled to declarea house " irregularly
built" a common nuisance, and to order it to be

abaterror taken down "..at the owner's expense

" This reckless and wanton invasion of property and
liberty," justly observes the Times, in commenting on

this bill, "is proposed by a liberal government in the

nineteenth century, and in a country where every man's
house' was formerly said to be his castle.' Any un-
fortunate workman who may wilfully, carelessly, or
negligently" make a window an inch too short, or a
room a foot too small, is to be visited with heavy pe-
nalties; and public surveyors are appointed, to whom
`,every master workman or other person who, after the
passing of this act, shall build, or cause to be built,
any house, or any addition to a house, in any such town
or village,' will be obliged to give notice, before it is
begun, and after it is finished ; and these public sur-
veyors are authorised to take the whole direction of
the works into their own hands, (and to demand a fee
for so doing,) and are required to inform against any
deviation from the statutable dimensions."

Such being the extraordinary provisions of this mea,
sure, well may we wish that Liverpool should be ex
empt from its operation.

In another part of our paper this day will be found
a report of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne, and
Manchester Railway Company. The very satisfactory
statements made in the report cannot but prove highly
gratifying to the shareholders. When this line is com-
pleted it will doubtless be a very profitable one, as it
will command not only an extensive carrying trade,
but the numbcr of passengers upon it will be very
great. Seven or eight miles of the line will be opened
this year.