The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-02-13 00:00:00

The third.period is the period of emancipation—a pe-
riod inevitable, because brought about by a law of na-
ture.- When that period arrives, Wisdom (if Lord
Brougham may be taken as her exponent) dictates that
the colony and the mother country should part on good
terms; because, according to the noble and learned
lard's argument, on the character of the parting, de-
pends the nature of the commercial relations that are to
follow—relations which, if properly managed, ought, in
Lord Brougham's opinion, to be more valuable than any
relations springing out of the dependence of the co-
lony.

To this latter argument Lord Melbourne replied, with
admirable acuteness; that its value might be doubted—,
inasmuch as we parted in anything but a friendly spirit
with the United States; and yet the advocates of eman-
cipation were never weary of extolling the lucrative na-
ture of our preent commercial connexion with the
United States!-

In reference to Lord Brougham's first argument—as
to the beneficial influence exercised by colonial posses-
sions at an early period, in stimulating the domestic in-
dustry of a country—we would observe, that the indus-
try of Great Britain never required to be stimulated ;
and that now, our industry requires not to be stimulat-
ed, but to be protected. It is not in a country where
children, eight years old, work in factories fourteen hours
a-day; it is not in a country where silk-weavers work
sixteen hours a-day for the reward of twnpence-lalf-
penny, that we can listen to.any talk about the advan-
tage of stimulating industry ; and although never till
now was industry the drug in the market which it now
is, still the industry of England never wanted •S stimu-
lus. No : industry in Eugiand has always required pror
teCtion; and never ha 4 industry required protection so
much as now. It is because colonial connexions tend to
protect industry, -that they are chiefly valuable. They
ttati protected native and colonial indtistry. in times
past ; they are fitted to do so in time to come.._ _

'As to the argument that the Canadas are of less va-
lue than our West [ndian colonies, becanse the proprie-
tors of Canadian estates do not spend their rentals in
England, as the West Indian planters very generally
do—that argument_ possesses little intrinsic value.—
True, Canadian proprietors reside in Canada ; but so
lung as British producers possess-a monopoly of the Ca-
nadian markets, the wealth of these proprietors finds its
way to England as certainly as if every shilling of that
wealth were spent in London. That wealth may, un-
doubtedly, in the first instance, enrich the Canadian
producers who supply the wants of the Canadian land-
owners; but so. long, we repeat, as -England enjoys a
monopoly of the markets of Canada, so long must the
increased wealth of all classes of Canadian producers
constitute a source of increased wealth to the orders of
British producers, who supply the consumption of Ca-
nada.

If, in like manner, our lirest Indian planters., instead
of residing in England, resided on their West Indian
estates—the difference: to England in point of revenue,
would, we apprehend, he absolutely nothing—so long as
we retain the monopoly of the West Indian markets.—
So long as British productions only are consumed, it can
signify little, as it seems to us, whether they are con-
sumed in England by our colonists—or in Canada anti
the West Indies!

JOINT STOCK BANKS.
(From the Manchester Guardian.)
We find that the bill which has been introduced into •
the House of Commons, by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, for the ptiil/41)ose of remedying the inconvenience
resulting from the late decision in the Court of Exche-
quer in the case of Hall v. Franklin, has a retrospect-
ive operation, extending not only to •unlitigated cases,
but also to those in which actions have been already
commenced. But it is provided that in all.such cases
the plaintiff's shall pay. the costs of the defendants,.at
such time, and on such terms,-as shall be determined by
a judge of, the court in which the action shall be depend,
lag; and in case of a refusal to pay such costs, the de-
fendant may .avail himself of any plea whieh•he might
have used before the passing of the act. The-following'
are the material enactments of the bill, which, we un-
derstand, will be passed through Pa:rlianaent with all
practicable despatch:—

That no contract heretofore entered into, or which.before
the end of the' next session of parliament shall be entered. into,
by
.any such association or copartnership, shad be deemed .or
taken to be illegal or void, by reason only of any such spiritual
person as aforesaid being or having been .a member, partner, or
shaieholder, of or in the same; but all such contracts shall and
may be enforced in the same Manner to all intents and pur-
peseS as if no such spiritual per Sen had been or was a tnember,
partner, or shareholder, of or in such association or copartner-
ship.
That in all actions and suits which shall have been brought
or instituted by or on behalf of an such association or copart-
nership before the passing of this act, it shall be lawful for the
court in which the same shalt be depending, or any judge
thereof, to make such order. on the plaintiff for payment to the
defendant or defendants, or any of them, of all or any part of
the costs of such action or suit, at such time and on such terms
as to such court or judge may seem meet ; and in case default
shall be made in payment thereof, the defendant or defendant;
in any such action or suit shall. be entitled to the same benefit
of any plea or other defence to any such demand which he or
they tuight have had if this act had not passed."

THE IRISH POOR LAW -BILL.
(From the Dublin Evening
The Irish Poor Law Bill has had a second reading, and
stands for committal on Fridtky, at Which mage
O'Connell will move his amendment that it be read a
third time on that day six months.

This gentleman has little sympathy with the poor,
either of the manufactdring classes, or the agricultural.
He remained from Parliament in Dublin to libel and to
level the tradesmen, and his first exploit. on arriving in
London, is to vote against the peasantry.
Is not this the development of a true demagogue's
character? An aristocrat in heart—a democrat in sem-
blance—he would use the people as tools for his own
aggrandisement, and trample them to the earth for his
subsequent ease and convenience. He counts the cost
of the tower which his ambition is about to build—cal-
culates the wear and tear of his instruments, as well as
their original price—and charges it, with interest, to the
account of his adventure—and'when they, through hard
service, have become useless, or when the accomplish•
ment of his own purpose has rendered them superfluous,
he casts them aside, or sells them to the first chapman—
whether he be the old " cast clothes" man, in the Jewish
gaberdine, or the still more venerable purchaser, in.lrish
rage, of " bits of brass—broken glass—old iron"—who
bids the highest penny.

It is satist'actorv, lii;wever, to add, that whilst the prin-
ciple of poor-laws for Ireland k conceded by the house,
the details of the bill now before it are liheiv to en-
counter, in a more eifectual form, the objections which
we have never ceased to urge against them, and to un-
derga such amendments as will considerably improve the
original measure.

THE WHIG MINISTRY.
(From the S tandard.)

If we are to trust the opinions of the greatest sup-
porters of the ministry, the Cabinet would seem to he at
its last gasp.
The leading Whig journal in North Britain, as every
one knows, is the Scotsman. Both in point of circula-
tion and of character, it stands at a much hipirer eleva-
tion in that part of the "empire, than the Chronicle or
the Globe do in the metropolis. Its opinion and its
statements are constantly quoted by the London minis-
terial prints. The most prominent passage, horvever, in
its last publication, we have been unable to find in either
Globe, Chronicle, or Courier: It ought not t.) he lost to
the London public, and we shall therefore give it a place
in our columns. The London correspondent of the
Scotsman writes—
" I do not like to croak too loudly or unnecessarily, but I
cannot help thinking the liberal party is in a very bad way.
Every hour the ministers appear to me to be sinking lower and
lower in the public estimation. Their own partultave no longer
confidence in their firmness or good intention. Their reputation
for ability is destroyed. No matt speaks well of them. And, dif-
ficult as it-is for the to-its to seize an opportunity for outvoting
them—strong as is the support they receive from the Court—
ministers who hare lost their hold of public opinion, cannot long
retain their hold of office!'

We are not aware that either Radical or Conservative
print has yet spoken in terms
.of stronger condemnation.
Yet the Scotsman is neither Radical nor Conservative,
but pure-Whig.
The Scotsman, however, is not the only journal, by
some dozens, that has fallen into this positive despir,of
the ministry. Turning southwards, we findthe Brighton
Guardian, a, paper in Caps ain Pechell's and Mr. Wigney's
interest, using equally strong language. It obsesses on
the Canada debate—
" The m:nistry, with faces quite as demure as Mr. Ellice's,
having wade up their minds to the peculiarities of their situa-