The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-02 00:00:00

GLORIOUS

CONSERVATIVE
TRIUMPHS.

The Elections which have just concluded may with justice
be regarded as the last struggle of the Whig faction for
supremacy in the direction of our corporate affairs. Since
the passing of the Municipal Reform Bill, which gave them
unlimited controul in the Council, the Conservative party,
by unremitting effort, and, above all, by the influence which
character, talent, and honesty in the possession of any body
of men will always at length assert for themselves, have,
year after year, succeeded in weakening that power which the
community in its first delirium of " Liberalism" had erected.
Year after year the majority of " the philosophers" has been
slipping from under their feet; and, for the last two years,
they have only been able to exercise their mischievous domi-
nation by virtue of the sixteen votes of their own-elected
and irresponsible aldermen. This year, however, eight o
these votes were placed in peril. One half of the sixteen
quasi-hereditary aldermen retire, by reason of the expiration
of their six years lease of office ; and the gain or loss upon
the whole elections involving the question as well—whether
the retiring Whig aldermen should be re-elected or eight
Conservatives introduced in their places—the struggle became
of greatly-increased importance to both parties, and might,
hi fact, without exaggeration, be termed, on the part of the
Whig-radicals, a struggle for actual existence. Successful in
this, they might be able to weather a few more years in cor-
porate authority ; but beaten now, they are extinguished—
swamped—" done for" for the present century at least !
That it was viewed in this light by the Radical fiction it
needs no great discernment or information to tell us. " No-
thing for nothing," is, we believe, a standing rule with your
modern " Liberals ;" and it was most assuredly not out of
pure affection that the thousands of pounds which now ap-
pear on the credit side of the names of some two thousand
gentlemen in the town's books, (who have never been ac-
customed to have such an honour paid them in such locali-
ties,) were extracted from the breeches pockets of the Whig
aristocracy. The Cassidys and Murphys would have slept
none the less soundly ; the hod or the barrow have been
wielded none the less cheerfully, from the circumstance that
these enlightened individuals have paid rates for cellars
which they never were called upon to pay before, and will, we
much fear, never be inclined to pay again. But Wm. Rathbone
and his fellow-protectors would have stood a little lower on
their respective polls. Radicalism would have been deprived
of the opportunity of making its last kick ; and Whig gold has
accordingly been abundantly poured out to make the best of
this opportunity. A system of glaring and wholesale bribery
has, during the last two years, been introduced amongst the
municipal constituencies ; fictitious constituencies, in fact,
have been manufactured ; the professing admirers of purity
have shone forth as the apologists and practisers of corrup-
tion ; and we need scarcely, therefore, be at a loss to con-
clude that on this occasion whig-radicalism has thrown its
whole strength into the contest ; for most assuredly it has
not spared any means, honest or dishonest, to effect its ob-
ject; and, with the result before us, we must, at the same
time, be equally convinced that from henceforth the con-
temptible thing will never be permitted to erect itself, from
its present prostrate and abject position.
We are assured, indeed, with their usual want of truth by
the whig party, that the scandalous malpractices complained
of were introduced originally by the conservative party ;
that they took the first step in paying the rates of their poor
voters. It is scarcely necessary for us now attempt a serious
refutation of assertions so grossly untrue. We may remind
our readers, however, that the excessively pure Whig faction
have not only shown throughout a disposition to defend these
practices, which conservatism have never yet done, but even
attempted to legalize them by act ofparliament It is per-
haps not so generally known as it ought to be that the bill
of Lord Morpeth to amend (?) the present system of regis-
tration in Ireland had a clause smuggled into it expressly to
legalize, in Ireland, the payment of rates for the voter by
other parties ; and that the very clause was denounced by
Mr. Emerson Tennant as intended to make wholesale bribery
the rule, and not the exception, and moreover as borrowed,
by its noble author, from the practice of the Protector So-
ciety in Liverpool !
Of the members who retired this year (sixteen in number),
nine were conservatives and seven radicals. Although con-
siderable bustle and enthusiasm prevailed throughout the
day, we have not heard of any breach of the peace, but be-
lieve that the police have been fortunate in maintaining order
in every part of the town.
Prior to entering into any statistical detail and comparison
as to the voting during this and previous years, we will sub-
mit a brief statement of the polling in the respective wards
last November :

Wards
Everton

Majority

Mr. David Hodgson (C).. 308
Mr. William Brown (It).. 287
Scotland Mr. T. M. Gladstone (C).. 214
Mr. W. Thornhill (It).. 215
Mr. FI . Copeland (C).. 108
Mr. W. Preston (R).. 86 ..,.
Mr. R. B. Hollinshead (C).. 177
Mr. J. R. M`Gutlic (It).. 107 —lO
Mr. T. Sands (C).. 199
Mr. W. Wood (It).. 169 30
Castle-street Mr. Peter Hope (C).. 206
Mr. J. Aikin (R).. 22S 22
Mr. E. Rae (C).. 137
Mr. J. Priestley (R).. 157
Mr. I. Toulmin (C).. 189
Mr. W. Rathbone (R).. 188
Great George's Mr. J. Cooper (C).. 175
Mr. T. Taylor (R).. 173
Rodney-street Mr. W. 11,rkett (C).. 269
Mr. C. Holland (R).. 211
Mr. J. Procter (C).. 314
Mr. T. Todd (R).. 277
Mr. J. Kilshaw (C)... 391
Mr. T. Blackburn (R).. 387
Mr. J. Davies (C).. 188
Mr. W. Slater (R).. 192
Mr. G. H. Lawrence (C).. 156

Vauxhall

St. Paul's

Exchange

St. Peter's

Pitt-street

Abercrornby

Lime-street

St. Anne's