The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-06-12 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

If we complied with the suggestion of "Liber" each of our
literary notices would be charged by the Stamp-office as an
advertisement.
It is not always convenient or prudent to allege a reason for
the non-insertion of correspondence, but we always endea-
vour to find room for as much as possible, and we are cer-
tainly as liberal in this respect as any of our contemporaries.
We did not forget the proceedings to which "A Friend" alludes,
but the omission of the intelligence was occasioned by the
inability of the Telegraph Company to supply us with the
report, for which we had male arrangements. This was not
the first time we have met with a similar disappointment.
We wish we deserved the flattering encomiums of " A Distant
Reader." He will find, as he anticipates, that the intended
rise in the price of newspapers in this town will infuse
increased life and energy into every department, and we
hope that, as lie observes, the public will be the first to be
thankful for the Clange.

Zi)z &tanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 12, 1849.

WHENEVER, even during a period of general
depression, a demand is made for reductions in va-
rious departments of the public expenditure, we are
met with the plea of " vested interests." This or
that secretary or clerk, was appointed to his office,
sinecure or otherwise, under the expectation that
he was to enjoy it for life without reduction, what-
ever Might be the changed circumstances of the
community by whom he is paid. Ergo: to disturb
this pleasant arrangement—to reduce the employe
from the enjoyment of his little villa at Twicken-
ham or Hampstead, and his phaeton and pair of
greys, to the more modest position of a residence
at Kensington and the diurnal " bus" to and from
town—is an injustice, which a reformed (!) Parlia-
ment shrinks from with llorror. Dock a slice,
however small, from the pay of a secretary of state,
an official of the Board of Trade, or any other of
the numerous tribe of cousins and hangers-on of
lords of the treasury, and all Belgravia and the
lobbies of the Downing-street are up in arms.
Even the Manchester school of economists cannot
put up with the enormity. Cobden himself says
that he cannot see why, every body else being put
upon shorter commons, the salaried employes of go-
vernment should not be permitted to enjoy rations
increased by the very measures which have pros-
trated the industrious and producing portion of the
community ! _ _ _

Let any of the victims of our new-fangled policy,
however, complain, and forthwith Downing-street
and its organs are convulsed with a fit of agreeably-
mingled tittering and sneering. The farmers' just
complaints are " bucolical grumblings ;" the ship-
owners are baffled monopolists; and the West In-
dia proprietors are beneath the regards of such en-
lightened statesmen as a Grey or a Russell. Yet
what have been the sacrifices which the last-named
class have been called upon to make, at the dicta-
tion of our ultra-liberal and anti- national politi-
cians ? We shall give one instance, amongst the
many which have, unfortunately, only been made
public through the medium of the reports of pro-
ceedings in our courts of bankruptcy. The case
we refer to is that of Messrs. Cruickshank, Mel-
ville, and Co., the partners in which appeared be-
fore the Court of Bankruptcy in London, for their
certificates, on Wednesday last. The following is
a statement of their career in business, as given in
the report of the official assignee :
" The above bankrupts commenced business as mer-
chants under the firm of Cruickshank, Melville, and Co.,
on the Ist January, 1840, with a capital amounting to
£31,204 2s. 9d., which was increased the following year
to £53,364 15s. 9d. They continued to carry on their
business as East and West India merchants, trading
also largely with New South Wales, until the latter end
of the year 1845, when they commenced winding up ; and
with the exception of a bill of exchange for £7,800, drawn
by Cruickshank, Melville, and Co., upon Messrs. True-
man and Co., bearing date, September 3, 1847, (which
bill was discounted by the Bank of England, who are now
the holders, and the petitioning creditors under this fiat,)
it does not appear that any new mercantile transaction
was entered into by this firm."
The following is a statement of the. losses which
accrued upon the realisation of the assets of
the firm in question, as stated in the balance-sheet
made up on the 19th Dec. 1848, although the
statement made at the period of their giving up
business, at the close of 1845, sheaved a surplus,
being capital, of £36,000 odd :-
13v West India estates, being a difference
between their cost and present value . £90,535 2- 1
Ships .. .. 20,573 2 8
Bad debts .. .. 68,359 15 3
Adventures to Sydney and elsewhere .. 10,560 16 7
Merchandize, &c. 6,756 10 3

£196,785 6 10
Now this is clearly not one of those cases, so flip-
pantly referred to by the defenders of our present
commercial policy, of a firm trading upon fictitious
capital, or speculating beyond their means. Messrs.
Cruickshank and Melville retired from active bu-
siness, possessed, as they presumed, of tolerably
ample fortunes. £36,000 was what they anticipated
being able to retire with. The report of the official
assignee explains why it was that this anticipation
was Tut realised :
"Ii explanation of the great deficiency arising in the
realization of the above debts and properties, the bank-
rupts state, that in consequence of the depreciation in the
value of West India sugars, and the admission of slave
grown sugar in 1846 and 1847, many of the debtors to
whom they had made advances on account of their crops
grown on the West India estates, became totally bad by
reason of the produce not paying the expenses of cultiva-
tion, and the estate becoming of mere nominal value."
We cannot resist quoting a portion of the eloquent
appeal of the bankrupt's counsel, Mr. Laurance, on
the certificate of the senior partners being opposed
on account of a single irregular transaction, com-
mitted by a junior member of the firm :
" Here was a house a first-rate respectability, which
bad carried on a most extensive trade with different parts
of the world—which started with a large capital—which
for more than 20 years carried on a most prosperous busi-
ness—which could not be accused of wild or excessive
speculation—which kept its boons in the most regular
manner—and which had a name and a credit scarcely
second to those of any British merchant—here was this
miner t firm completely crrshed and ruined. And ruined
by what ? By an act of the Legislature. Did he state
anything novel—was the case of this house singular ? Not
at all; but the wonder would have been if, amongst the
general wreck, his clients' credit and fortunes could have
survived, He would refer His Honour to an admirable
work which he had had often occasion to quote—the Com-
mercial Crisis, by Mr. Evans, and in the second edition
of that work His Honour would perceive the awful extent
of the calamity and the enormous sacrifice of property
that bad taken place in consequence of the Sugar Bill.
He would read to His Honour the following authentic
tabular return, showing the depreciation which had
occurred in West India property :