The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-10 00:00:00

(From the Liverpool Courier.)

We are glad to see that the Town-council is turning its
attention to, the opposite margin of the river, with a view to
taking advantage of the facilities which it affords for mer-
cantile acconimodation, in the event of Liverpool continuing
to proceed at her present rate of commercial and territorial
advancement. The report of the Finance Committee, to
which allusion is made above, referred to the subject of the
Birkenhead Hotel, and other property, with the right of
ferry, which the Corporation, it appears, have now an oppor-
tunity of purchasing, at the sum of £65,000. The quantity
of land, exclusive of the shore, is stated at 43,000 square
yards, the space available for docks, and capable of extensive
increase by means of purchases under parliamentary powers,
at 300 yards by 110.
It is greatly to be regretted that this purchase was not
made conjointly with the old one at Wallasey Pool, or ante-
rior to that period, when the entire estate of Birkenhead
might have been purchased for £lOO,OOO or under. It af-
fords another illustration of the good policy of anticipating
the wants of commerce, by purchasing land likely to be re-
quired for commercial purposes while it can be purchased
advantageously. The position of Birkenhead is one of
incalculable importance to the port of Liverpool. In
the event of new docks becoming necessary, it may be
a question whether Birkenhead would not present a more
eligible site than the remote extremities of the present
lengthened line on this side of the water. There are
a variety of ways in which the interests of the port might be
promoted by the formation of docks at Birkenhead. It
might be advisable:to remove thither the timber trade,which
now absorbs so much valuable space on this side ; or a steam
dock might be constructed, to admit the larger class of ves-
sels of that description ; or, thirdly, it might be made the
depot for Irish produce, so as to save the inconvenience and
expense of warehousing in Liverpool, previously to its being
sent up the country. To whatever purpose, however, it may
be applied, the reasons for the Corporation taking it into
their hands are sufficiently obvious. They involve, pros-
pectively, to our minds, the whole question as to whether
Birkenhead shall be a subsidiary. adjunct or a formidable
rival to Liverpool. Should. the Council let this opportunity
slip, other parties may get possession of the ground, and
form docks along it, to the serious detriment of the trade of
Liverpool. There seems to be a natural reason, too, why
the Corporation, as conservators of the river, should •be in
possession of the ferry, which may be termed, and is, we be-
lieve, so considered iu law,. the king's highway.
The sum :demanded is large, it is true ; but the time is
fast coming when it will be much larger, should the property
be even attainable at any price. Much of the uncertainty
which would formerly have hung over such a speculation is
now removed. Birkenhead is already a flourishing town,
and there are many certain indications of its future eminence.
It will very shortly be the terminus of a railway to Chester,
connecting the shores of the Mersey with the important
mining districts in that direction, and giving an impulse to
business in all its departments. It is extensively resorted to ,
as a ready and cheap retreat from the turmoil of the town,
and for those advantages of a pure and salubrious atmos-
phere which cannot so easily be obtained on this side ; and
new residences and public buildings for the accomodation of
the accumulating population are springing up on every side.
There can be no question, therefore, that this is the point
towards which the stream of prosperity is now setting; that
consequently, if docks are to be constructed on any part of
the opposite coast, it must be here ; and that, whether con-
verted to dock purposes or not, there can be no doubt that
the proposed purchase will prove ' a safe speculation.'