The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-10-30 00:00:00

THE PROLIFIC SOIL OF JAMAICA.

A HINT TO INTENDING IMMIGRANTS,
We have received the following interesting communication

--s, .wowing
from a gentleman, on whose veracity we can rely ;
" A few days ago, I cut a bunch of Plantains—commonly
known by the name of Maiden, containing the astonishing
number of ninety-six, weighing upon an average 1 of a pound
each-69 lbs. in all ! Now suppose three of these plantains
sell for 6d. currency, or 3d. sterling, which is the present
price in our market, we have one single bunch of plantains
producing a trifle more than 12s. Bd. currency. Then, if we
suppose that each able labourer is allowed the use of 1 acre
of land for provisions, and he chooses (as he frequently does)
to cultivate Plantains. anu that he plants each root 8 feet
square, which is 676 suckers, and each sucker produces a
bunch annually. If, then, we take the average number and
weight at about half the foregoing, we have 1 acre of land,
giving the enormous sum of £214 15s. sd. ! !!"
Who, after reading this, can feel surprised that the gene-
rality of our peasantry will not work, and that Sugar, Rum,
Coffee, &c. have sunk within the last few years to a mere
trifle ! Or who can feel other sentiments than those of dis-
gust and contempt for the fanatical crusaders who have hi-
therto visited our shores, and gone back again swollen with
the lies and slanders which they have managed to collect
from everrdisreputable corner, instead of disseminating the
true character of our peasantry—and the capability of the
soil. If such men have a spark of common humanity in their
breasts, how must they feel, in reading each account of the
starving thousands in their own country—many of whom, but
for their opposition and misrepresentation, might have, at
this moment, been in the enjoyment of equal blessings with
their " poor, oppressed black brethren !" Faugh ! such one-
sided philanthropy and mock compassion are enough to
rouse the bile of an angel! And yet these men are consi-
dered vastly pious and consistent characters by a large mass
of the English people : so true is it, that excessive gullibility
and excessive liberalism are too often found existing in the
same persons.

Since the receipt of the news from Monte Video
which we have already acknowledged under the head
of foreign intelligence, we have been favoured by the
same respectable firm with the following extract of a
letter of a later date than that which is given by the
Morning Herald:—

Monte Video, 17th Aug. 1840.
Since writing you on the 6th inst., business has been com-
pletely paralyzed by the following events. On the 9th a brig
of war arrived from Brest, which port she left 10th June,
informing us that an Admiral was immediately to leave to
treat with Rosas, or if negotiation failed, he would be pre-
pared with a sufficient force to take possession of Buenos
Ayres, and to bring the dispute to a conclusion. On the
llth inst. a vessel arrived from the Parana, with despatches
for Admiral Dupatel, advising him of Lavalle having landed
at San Pedro, 30 leagues from Buenos Ayres, that he had
mounted one half of his troops, and had engaged and defeated
a body of Rosas's troops, commanded by Pacheco, and in-
tended to march direct upon the city of Buenos Ayres. On
the 14th another brig of war arrived from Brest, which place
she left on the '24th June, bringing accounts that Admiral
Baudin had been appointed and would sail early in July with
a considerable force, and although we are much less sanguine
than we were, still we do hope that the blockade will be
raised in two or three months. The affair, however, may
take another turn. Rosas, if defeated, may take to the
country, and by a mantonera war may destroy Lavalle, as lie
did in 1829. We are most anxious for the arrival of the
packet now at Buenos Ayres, and trust she may bring us fa-
vourable accounts of the proceedings of Lavalle. The wea-
ther still continues very wet, so that little produce can be
brought to town. The Saladeras have not yet began to kill,
but may do in the course of two months. If the blockade
should, however, be raised in the mean time, it will imme-
diately cause a very great advance in the price of salt, and in
freights. Doubloons at Buenos Ayres had fallen to 340
dollars each. llere exchange has been done at 42d.

As this is the last opportunity which is left us of al-
luding to the approaching municipal elections, we shall
embrace it for the purpose of laying before our readers
a comparison of the merits and character of the dif-
ferent candidates. But, first, we may be allowed a few
words of general application.
On no previous occasion has so important a result
been attached to any party contest in Liverpool as that
which hangs upon the issue of the elections of Monday
next. A gigantic effort is now making by the whig-
radical party to secure to themselves the unchallenged
control of the corporate funds. To effect this object
no means, however disreputable, have been spared,
and no exertion, no fraud, no trickery, will be spared.
The most lavish expenditure was resorted to, in order
to foist upon the registers in every ward a horde of
their slavish dependents, whose votes would enable
them to trample upon the respectable portion of the
constituency ; and when baffled in this attempt by the
conservative spirit of the inhabitants of Liverpool,
they fell back upon the mean and miserable expedient
of disfranchising, by a factious and prolonged opposi-
tion, the whole of those parties who would this year be
entitled to be enrolled on the burgess list. They have
openly and deliberately allied themselves with an alien

Popish party ; they have feasted its truculent agitato.
at the table of their mayor, and contributed largely to

the fund by which he is enabled to run riot in his
mendicant and traitorous career. In every popular

movement the Whig-radical members of the Council
have been found busily and slavishly exerting them-
selves to fraternize with the mobocracy. Their voices

mingle in every ruffian howl which is raised against the

established institutions of the country. They are
amongst the bitterest enemies of our Protestant

Church : the defilers and defamers of our illustrious

peerage, and the personal slanderers of our clergy :
and they only offer up the filthy slaver of their adula-
tion to the Throne so long as its occupant is an instru-
ment in the hands of a reckless and unprincipled
faction.

The result of the elections, which take place on
Monday next, will decide whether such a party is to be

allowed any longer to fasten their unclean presence
_ _ _

upon the town of Liverpool—to infuse their infidel and
republican principles into its social institutions—to
banish the religion of the Protestant Church from its
public schools, and to allow Popery and Deism to en-
trap the minds and pervert the principles of our rising
generation. Upon the issue of the elections of Mon-
day it will depend whether the Council of this once
loyal borough is to reassume its ancient and dignified
position as the firm ally of the Throne and the Church
—the pure fountain of Protestant truth—a spot of sa-
cred ground upon which the tree of British liberty may
wave its lofty arms and defy the blighting breath which
issues from the cesspools of republicanism around; or
whether it is still to remain a thing of reproach, of
contempt, and of loathing, in the estimation of our
fellow-countrymen—a hotbed of utilitarian doctrines
in politics and of sectarian and infidel doctrines in re-
ligion.

Such is the broad basis upon which rests the gene-
ral question between the conservative and whig-radical
bodies in the approaching struggle for municipal ho-
nours. Let us now proceed to test the merits of the
different individuals who stand forward as the cham-
pions of their respective parties.
The wards to which the greatest importance appears
to be attached by both parties are Scotland, Castle-
street, Pitt-street, and Lime-street wards, in all which
we may anticipate that the contest will be waged with
unsparing zeal. The retiring candidates in Pitt-street
and Lime-street, Mr. William Rathbone and Mr.
Blackburn, are great guns amongst the whig-radical
party : the former being a restless and determined ra-
dical, a furious and foulmouthed opponent of the
Church of England, and perhaps the most bitter and
bigoted enemy of conservatism in the borough ;
whilst the latter has distinguished himself as the leader
of the crusade which succeeded in virtually expelling
Church of England Protestantism from the Corpora-
tion Schools. The retiring member for Scotland-
ward, Mr. Thornhill, may be viewed as a kind of jackal
to his party ; is styled a useful man ; and is a very use-
ful man when any Whig-radical job is to be perpetrated
in the Council ; whilst in his own ward, and amongst
his constituents, he figures as a small tavern oracle—a
pocket edition of the statute for regulating weights and
measures, bound up in greasy calf-skin. Mr. James
Aiken, the candidate for Castle-street Ward, in the
room of Mr. Pilcher, who retires from public life, is
also a great man with the whig-radical party. Mr.
Aiken is a feelosopher of the Scotch school, a corn-
law repealer--in which character, he had last year, the
honour of making an egregious ninny of himself be-
fore Lord Melbourne—and has all but declared himself
a repealer of the legislative union between Great Bri-
tain and Ireland.

This most illustrious quadrumvirate is opposed by
four staunch conservatives—by Mr. Thomas Murray
Gladstone, in Scotland Ward, by Mr. Peter Hope, in
Castle-street, by Mr. Toulmin, in Pitt-street, and by
Mr. Kilshaw, in Lime-street Wards—all good men,
and loyal Protestant subjects.
In Everton Ward, Mr. David Hodgson, a member
of the conservative body, a sound churchman, and a
useful member of the present council, vacates his seat;
and is opposed by Mr. William Brown, formerly a
member of the council, and in politics a thorough
going ministerial hack. The contest in this ward Will,
we have no doubt, be close ; but if the conservative
party, and especially the Church of England party, do
their duty, the result is not at all doubtful. The pro-
ceedings of the radical faction, during the late church-
rate contest, will, we trust, not be lost sight of by the
electors on Monday next. In Vauxhall Ward, the
retiring member, Mr. W. Preston, is opposed by Mr.
Henry Copeland, a conservative, and unless the electors
allow their intellects to be bemused with wash, and
their principles to be drowned in the tap-tub, the
radical spirit-merchant will,' e think, be relieved of
the necessity of distilling his sweet wits in the council
chamber.

In St. Paul's Ward, a radical member retires, and
the vacant seat is contested between R. B. Hollinshead,
Esq., a member of one of the oldest families in Liver-
pool, and Mr. J. R. M'Guffie, a gentleman with whose
existence we had, until within the last few weeks, the
misfortune to be entirely unacquainted. We are in-
formed, however, that Mr. M'Guffie—euphonious
name !—is no small man in his own estimation, and is
calculated to furnish—if elected—an ornament to any
mayor's feast, and to occupy a large space in the coun-
cil chamber. We are sorry, however, to hear that
there is little chance of the electors of St. Paul's Ward
rejecting the claims of a candidate like Mr. Hollins-
head, and swallowing such a bolus as is prescribed to
them in the person of this worthy dispenser of mint-
cakes and jalap.

In the Exchange Ward, the retiring candidate is
Mr. Thomas Sands, a conservative, deservedly popular
amongst his constituents, for his excellent character
as a merchant, for the attention which he has paid,
whilst a member of the council to their local interests,
and for the sound judgment and firmness which he has
displayed upon every question affecting the general
interests of the borough. The candidate opposed to
Mr. Sands is Mr. Wood, a merchant of Whig-radical
principles, whose influence we believe is considerable
with the " lads of the flags," and who is just now
striving hard, we hear, to increase that influence by a
liberal shower of patronage amongst them of sampling
orders from the firm of which he is a member. Whe-
ther a judicious application of these, and sundry other
baits of a similar description, is complimentary to those
to whom they are addressed, and will materially advan-
tage the success of Mr. Wood, is at present doubtful ;
but we trust that there is public spirit enough in the
ward to enable the conservative candidate to laugh and
despise them.

In St. Peter's Ward, the retiring candidate, Mr.
John Priestley—a thorough-going Whig-partizan,
opposed on the conservative interest by Mr. Ebenezer
Rae, a member of the Scotch Church, and a firm
supporter of our Protestant constitution. This ward
has been hitherto considered one of the strongholds of
Whig-radicalism ; but we are confidently informed that
on the present occasion conservative principles will
assert their supremacy, and Mr. Rae, will be placed,
on Monday next, by the exertions of his friends, in a
proud position upon the poll, and succeed in attaining
the object of his laudable ambition.
In Great George's Ward, Mr. Cooper, the retiring
member, a conservative, is opposed by Mr. Thomas
Taylor, a radical, whose claims upon the respectable
portion of the ward we are at a loss to know. We
have, however, the satisfaction to learn that, with mo-
derate exertions of his friends, Mr. Cooper is perfectly
safe.

In Rodney-street, Mr. W. Lassell, the retiring Whig
member is succeeded by Mr. Charles Holland—a gen-
tleman of the Whig-radical politics, who is esteemed a
rising man amongst his party. Mr. Holland, however,
has opposed to him a thorough worker, Mr. Birkett,
who, in his capacity of churchwarden, has shown that
he possesses claims upon the ward which a mere talker
like Mr. Holland will, we trust, compete with in vain•
In Abercromby Ward, Mr. T. Todd, the retiring
member, is opposed by Mr. Procter, an able conser-
vative, who is, we rejoice to say, considered perfectly
safe.

In St. Anne's Ward, Mr. J. Davies, a conservative-
of the old school, opposed by Mr. William Slater--
ex-draper—in the place of Mr. Edward Segar, who
retires. St. Anne's Ward, we trust, will not lose
sight of the insult heaped upon the member of her
choice last year; but will show that, in returning Mr.
Jones on that occasion, there was " no mistake," and
that in the present election her constituency are re-
solved upon doing their duty. Mr. Davies, the con-
servative candidate, is a gentleman well calculated to

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perform efficiently, and honestly, the duties which will
devolve upon him.
In West Derby Ward, Mr. G. H. Lawrence, the
retiring conservative, is opposed by Mr. Lawrence
Heyworth, jun., a worthy scion of the king of the tee-
totallers. We know little of the latter gentleman,
except that he professes to be an enemy to the strife of
party which has formed hitherto so prominent a fea-
ture in the proceedings of the council. That this is a
bait thrown out to catch the stray votes of a few mo-
derate men in the ward, we have no doubt ; but we
think that Mr. Heyworth's hatred of party contention
might have been more fitly shown, than by obtruding
himself to contest a ward, in which he ought to have
no earthly chance, against a member possessing the
qualifications of George H. Lawrence.
In the Toxteths the retiring candidates are both of
the subservient Whig-radical class, and are opposed by
zealous and orthodox Protestant conservatives. Mr.

Sheppard, the candidate for South Toxteth, fought
last year a drawn battle in the ward ; and we have full
assurance that this year, opposed to such a candidate
as Mr. John Platt, he will be triumphantly returned by
the good men and true of the ward. Mr. Richard
Harbord, the conservative candidate for the North
ward, is well worthy of the support of that loyal and
patriotic constituency, and we trust will not ask their
support in vain. The scandalous jobbing of the whig-
radical party in these two wards is notorious ; and we
believe we are not far wrong in anticipating that the
day of retribution is at hand.
Upon the whole, the personal qualifications of the
conservative candidates may, we think, be fairly tested
ag4inst those of their opponents; and if we bear in
Id the result of last year's contest, we are fully en-
titledil to hope for a triumphant result, leaving out of
question the reaction which it is well known has taken
place amongst the respectable portion of the consti-
tuency during the intervening period. In nine wards
out of the sixteen, the conservatives were successful
last year by good majorities ; and in three wards—
Everton, Exchange, and South Toxteth—the whig-
radicals were only returned by the casting votes of the
presiding aldermen. In the whole of these twelve
wards we anticipate a victory this year for conservative
principles; and we believe we may add to these at
least two more wards in which the present whip-radi-
cal candidates will be sent to bestow their talents upon
their own private affairs.
To secure this gratifying result, one thing only is
necessary, an active and persevering effort on the part
of the conservative candidates and their friends. Our
enemies are active and perfectly alive to the dangers of
their position ; they will spare no exertion, hesitate at
no fraud, and reject no weapons likely to advance their
cause. We are far from advocating a resort on the
part of the conservatives to any of these unworthy
practices ; but we must impress upon our friends the
necessity of counteracting them by continued watch-
fulness and energy. The present contest, we repeat,
is one of overwhelming importance ; and it will be
abundantly disgraceful if it is lost by any neglect or
cowardice on the part of conservatives.

We avail ourselves of the last opportunity which
offers itself, prior to the approaching municipal elec-
tion, for appealing to the conservative electors of Li-
verpool, and urging upon them the necessity for
prompt and energetic measures, in order to secure the
return of a majority of conservatives on Monday next.
Before we proceed to speculate upon the prospects
of the conservatives this year, we shall lay before our
readers the final state of the poll in each of the wards
for the last four years. In doing so, we shall take the
highest number of voters recorded each year in those
Wards in which there have been two candidates. The
following was the return for 1836 and 1837
FINAL STATE OF THE POLL IN 1836 AND 1837.
1836 Majority. 2837 Maj.
WARDS. C. R. C. C. C. R. C. R.
Everton ..
Scotland l9B 168 30 0 217 230 0 13
Vauxhall lO7 89 18 0 92 114 0 22
St. Paul's 138 116 22 0 115 163 0 8
Exchange
172 173 0 1 204 193 11 0
C!istle-street.
St.
r, Peter's . . . . . .
192 199 0 7 168 192 0 24
f.ritt-strect 192 151 41 0 208 229 021
Great George
~,t3
.wdbey-street 217 193 24 0 247 261 0 14
Abercromby
Lime-street 275 295 0 20 252 328 0 76
St. Anne's
West Derby
South Toxteth lOO 109 0 9 129 134 0 5
North Toxteth 133 195 0 62 191 232 0 41

....... .. -.- ... -.........

Totals.... 2684 2731 205 252 2946 3093 91 238
Prom this statement it appears that the total number of
votes in 1836 was 5415, and in 1837, 6039 ; showing an in-
crease of 624 votes.
The following was the return for the year 1838 :
Polled for.
Voters. C. R.
Everton 705 273 279
Scotland 535 228 195
Vauxhall 3ll 125 103
St. Paul's.
Exchange. .
Castle-street 674 No contest.
St. Peter's.
Pitt-street
Great George
Rodney-street 637 265 274
Abercromby.
Lime-street 790 286 348
St. Anne's 487 175 220
'West Derby 470 No contest.

South Toxteth . .. 355 102 145
North Toxteth. 693 No contest.

Total 8581 2340 2565
On this occasion the conservatives returned six and
the radicals ten councillors, whilst the radical gross
majority on the polling was 225.
In the year 1839 the contest resulted more favoura-
bly for the conservatives, as will be seen from the fol-
lowing statement :
CLOSE OF THE POLL IN 1839.
Wards. Conservatives. Radicals.
Everton.... Mr. F. Shand..... 303 Mr. G. Quayle. .. 304
Scotland ... Mr. R. Houghton.. 232 Mr.H.T.Atkinson 191
• Vauxhall... Mr. H. Saudbach.. 110 Mr. T. Chalmer.. 91
St. Paul's.. Mr. J. Barton 178 Mr. J. Deakin . 177
Exchange .. Mr. A. Lace 192 Mr. J. Me110r.... 193
Castle-st... Mr. P. Hope 222 Mr. T. 801t0n.... 245
St. Peter's . Mr. T. F. Roskell . 0 Mr. R. Bright.... 0
Pitt-street.. Mr. J. Bibby..
Gt. George. Mr. T. Robinson
Rodney.... Mr. .1. N. Wood 274 Mr. G. L0ch..... 225
Abercromby Mr. C. Bushell 3lB Mr. H. Ripley.... 310
,Lime-street. Mr. R. Rigby 405 Mr. V. Higgins ...371
St. Anne's.. Mr. R. Jones 192 Mr. J. Mason.... 173
West Derby. Mr. J. Smith 164 Mr. E. James.... 102
S. Toxteth.. Mr. J. Sheppard
Ditto .... Mr.T.M.Gladstone 141 Mr. W. M'Kee .. 144
N.TOxtetb.. Mr. R. Harbord 233 Mr. D. Mather .. 257
SUMMARY.
Conservatives 9
Radicals

Total number of conservatives polled 3342
Do. do. radicals 3148

• Total number of electors polled
Total conservative majority 194
Our readers will thus perceive that the conserva-
tives, with a little more exertion, might have carried
twelve or thirteen wards last year ; and as the polling
this year is on the same register, there is no reason
why they should rest satisfied with a smaller number
than " a round dozen" at least. We shall feel greatly
disappointed if they do not secure a majority in four_
teen of the wards.
As so much depends upon the issue of the approach-
mg election, it may be naturally expected that the ra-
. dick' faction will not leave a single expedient untried
for the sake of retrieving their recent losses in the re-
116ing courts. Bribery and intimidation are among
the most conspicuous weapons to which they have
already had
recourse. But we understand that the
plan on which they chiefly rely for. success is that of
~
bottling" the conservative voters, in those wards
especially in which the radicals are conscious of their
weakness. The machinery for carrying this notable
scheme into effect is already in full operation. It is,
therefore, incumbent upon us to warn the conservative
voter, lest they should fall into the trap which has
been
ti so cunningly laid for them. Let them not suffer
themselves to be called from home on Monday next,
tihtil they have previously recorded their votes in fa-
vour. of the conservative candidates in their several
wards. Let them not listen to any idle tales which
*day reach them, in order to prevent them from voting

In spite, however, of all the trickery and low prac-
tices to which the radicals may have recourse, we
confidently maintain that the conservatives have the
battle in their own hands. They have within their
reach the elements of certain success. They far out_
number their opponents. The last municipal contest
may he adduced as a conclusive proof of the truth of
this assertion. All that is necessary is, that they
should be true to themselves and to the sacred cause
in which they are embarked. It will be a lasting re-
proach to the conservative electors of Liverpool if they
suffer their enemies to steal a march upon them. The
magnitude of the interests at stake—the unprincipled
manauvres of the enemies of rational liberty—the
nefarious conduct of the party that has so long
had the ascendancy in the Town Council—and the
consciousness of superiority among the elective
body, ought to stimulate our conservative friends to
redoubled exertions, in order that they may inflict a
blow upon the hideous monster, miscalled liberalism,
from which, in the town of Liverpool at least, it can
have no chance whatever of recovering.

To the conservative merchants, in particular, we may
say, " Set an example to your humbler brethren, by
going to the poll the first thing on Monday morning.".
We regret to say that the wealthier classes of conser-
vatives in this town hare, as yet, been too lukewarm
in the good cause. They have not displayed the same
alacrity in voting for the conservative candidates as
the tradesmen and operatives. The great mass of
unrecorded votes, at previous elections, will be found
to be those of the wealthier classes. • This ought not
to be any longer the case. If there' be a class more
imperatively called upon to come forward boldly and
unequivocally to place their sentiments on record, in
the struggle for municipal ascendancy, it is the mer-
cantile class, whose interests are so deeply involved in
the great questions which have been so long at issue
between the "tyrant majority" in the Town Council
and the influential classes of the electors. We call
upon the merchants to come forward manfully in the
approaching contest.
Let the electors of Liverpool look at the conduct of
the majority of the Town Council on Monday last.
Look at the daring and even insulting manner in
which these overbearing tyrants urged forwards the
warehouse project on that occasion. They well knew
that sixteen of their numbers would have to vacate
their seats in one short week from that day. They
knew, moreover, that there were strong probabilities
that the constitution of the next council would be very
different from that of the present. They dreaded that
a further infusion of conservatism into the council
might deprive them of their vaunted majority on the
dock warehouse question. Hence their indecent haste
to carry their ridiculous scheme into operation, per fus
et per nefas. Hence the insolent contempt with which
they have treated the electors, whom they have sought
to deprive of an opportunity of adjudicating upon the
question. Such has been the conduct of those men
who have constantly made such loud boasts of their
deference to the " popular voice." Once in power,
they immediately set that voice at defiance, and laugh
to scorn the remonstrances of their constituents.
The warehouse project has already caused an expen-
diture of nearly twenty thousand pounds of the public
funds of the town. An expenditure for what purpose ?
Merely to augment the patronage, and thereby increase
the political power of the whig-radical faction,
Are the people of Liverpool prepared to submit to
this ? Will the electors pass over unrebuked such a
gross and deliberate insult as that which was offered
to them on Monday last ? Will they tolerate the rule
of men who have set public opinion so utterly at de-
fiance ? Let them answer these questions at the hust-
ings on Monday next, and let the answer be one which
will strike terror and dismay into the ranks of the
pseudo-liberal faction.
" A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether,"
ought to be the motto of the conservative electors of
Liverpool, while preparing for the contest of next
Monday. If they succeed in returning twelve mem-
bers, there will be a majority of conservatives in the
town council before the expiration of 1841. Let this
stimulate them to increasing activity. Above all things
let them record their votes early in the morning. The
evil of delay was never more strongly exhibited than
in the case of Castle-Street Ward, last year, when, at
the very last moment, a body of conservatives, suffi-
cient to turn the scale, were waiting round the booth,
but whose votes could not be recorded. Let this
egregious mistake be avoided in future. Once more
we call upon the conservatives of Liverpool to be true
to themselves, their country, their Queen, and their God.