The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-05-04 00:00:00

THE PACKET STATION

The question as to the most suitable port as a station for
the West India packets being now open, an opportunity is
afforded for putting forward the claims of this port to the
award—claims which have been, in a most unaccountable
manner, overlooked heretofore. In the Glasgow memorial,
indeed, they were recognised; the several intelligent and
disinterested judges, who signed that paper, acknowledging
that " in looking with impartiality for the most desirable

port of departure, Liverpool occurs at once, not only as being
the most central, but as most accessible to every part of the
kingdom ;" but no adequate means have been used to second

that recommendation

The good people of Bristol, we perceive, have started for

the prize, and have had their claims advocated with much
zeal and ability by their representatives, particularly by the
senior member, Mr. M. Berkeley ; but we do not conceive
that their port would make a very formidable rival to Liver-

pool; indeed, it has been already rejected in such a way by

the contractors as to render its renewed entrance for the
prize quite a hopeless business. In looking over Mr. Ber-
keley's enumeration of the attractions of Bristol, however,

we were-gratified to perceive that there was no one men-
tioned by him in which Liverpool could not compete, whilst
many of importance in such an affair he was altogether silent
about, of which Liverpool can boast the possession in an
eminent degree. " Bristol," he alleged, " represents one-
sixth of the whole West Indian interest of Great Britain."
We are not quite sure upon that head, but we are satisfied
that Liverpool's share in the representation is not at all in-
ferior. " Bristol affords the advantage of a plentiful supply
of coals." So does Liverpool, and coals also of the very
best quality. " The merchants of Bristol have given proof
of their ability in building steam-ships." So, we appre-
hend, have the merchants of Liverpool. "No city had such
ample means to build and repair steam-ships as Bristol."
We cannot concede this unparalleled advantage to Bristol,
whilst Liverpool possesses such an iron-foundry as Fawcett's
—such splendid docks and shipbuilding yards, which have
turned out such a number of magnificent vessels. "As re-
garded the Post-office, Bristol was closely connected with
Ireland by the ports of Cork, Waterford, and Dublin,—the
immediate outlet of South Wales, connected by railway with
the midland counties, and nearer by admeasurement to Bar-
badoes than either Portsmouth or Southampton." But as
regards the Post-office, Liverpool is not only as much con-
nected with Ireland, but much more so—Belfast and Derry
being included in her ports of communication ; and in all
oilier respects possesses advantages the most marked and
transcendant, which at once suggest themselves upon a mere
inspection of the map. And, moreover, Liverpool "is by
admeasurement" considerably nearer to Antigua (which the
Glasgow memorialists have recommended as the port of
rendezvous across the Atlantic) than either Portsmouth or
Falmouth is to Barbadoes. But, having received a commu-
nication from an intelligent correspondent, who has made
this matter a subject of much and attentive consideration,
we shall waive any further observations of our own for the
present. Our purpose is to tall the attention of the great
mercantile body of Liverpool to the subject; and the several
points contained in the following paper will, we think, along
with others which will readily suggest themselves, suffice for

that purpose
The grounds on which Liverpool seems to me entitled to
the preference as the packet station for the West Indian
steamers, may be classed under the heads of—
I. Advantage to the public at large ; and,
11. Advantage to the shareholders of the company, and
the local interests of Liverpool.
The first is a consideration of a general nature, and one
that will be widely felt. The other is necessarily more con-
fined in its operation ; but what it wants in extent of applica-
tion, is amply made up in importance to individual interests.
No one, I think, will deny that for the whole of Scotland,
the Northern and Midland Districts of England, and the
whole of Ireland, Liverpool is the most centrally, and, there-
fore, more: advantageously situated than any of the ports in
the English Channel; and this, with the facilities of com-
munication she possesses with all parts of the kingdom, point
her out as peculiarly well adapted for the purpose in view.
The respectiNe advantages set forth by each of the ports of
Dartmouth, Falmouth, and Southampton, seem to me to be
combined in a very high degree by Liverpool, in addition to
other grounds of preference, in which she stands unrivalled.
Falmouth claims the distinction, because the nearest port
in England to the open sea ; but this, though certainly a
great advantage when sailing vessels were employed, loses
much of its force in the case of steamers, and is entirely
neutralized by the long and expensive land journey to be per-
formed by 99 out of every 100 passengers, going by that
route to the West Indies, as is already abundantly mani-
fest by the very small number who subject themselves to
such an inconvenience. On the other hand, Southampton
founds its pretensions on its convenient situation and rapid
communication with the metropolis ; however, the commis-
sioners do not seem to have attached a great deal of weight
to this circumstance, inasmuch as the sunshine of their fa-
vour appears to have lighted on the port of Dartmouth, pro-
bably on the principle, that in mediis fulissimus ibis.
Facility of getting to sea is possessed in a higher degree by
Falmouth—rapidity of communication with the metropolis,
belongs in an especial manner to Southampton ; yet Dart-
nouth, though considerably more distant from London by
inze than even Liverpool, .(having no railway communica-
ion,) very nearly as distant from the point of depar-
ture in the West Indies as Liverpool ; possessing no suitable
lock accomodation, nor any of the other local advantages
in which Liverpool is so pre-eminent, has been preferred,
ror no other ream that I can learn, but because the harbour,
from its depth of water, is said to be accessible at all times
of tide : but allowing this, its full force, let us examine the
extent of the comparative inferiority of Liverpool in this re-
spect. Our bar can be crossed by ordinary steamers at the
lowest water of spring tides, and by the largest steamers at
two or three hours' flood ; and in case of their arrival in the
offing just at that particular time, which is nearly always com-
municated by telegraph, small steamers are always in readi-
ness to convey her letter-bags ashore. Is not the regularity
of the arrival and departure of the Halifax steamers, which is
quite proverbial, a sufficient answer to the objection ?
At Dartmouth, too, the expence of the formation and sup-
port of a post-office packet establishment would have to be
incurred, while here the arrangements already in force for the
Halifax mails are capable of being easily made amply suf-
ficient for this additional service, to say nothing of the advan-
tage of centralization and simplification in so important a
branch of bur domestic economy.
I will just allude to one other point on this part of the sub-
ject—it is that so clearly pointed out in the Glasgow memo-
rial to government, where it :is shown that by adopting either
of the E. Channel Ports as the station, London will have the
undue advantage of being able to answer letters by the return
packet, while all the rest of the kingdom will have to wait for
the succeeding one,—for, as shewn by the prospectus of the
Mail Steam Packet Company, a steamer leaving the English
Channel on the Ist or 2d June, may be expected to return on
or about the 29th July, and letters by her would be in Lon-
don on the 30th. which would enable the merchants there to
write in reply by the mail made up on the Ist August, while
the rest of the kingdom would be too late. The plan sug-
gested by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce provides
against this unjust preference of any particular locality, and
affords time for every part—of any consequence—in the king-
dom to answer their letters by the return packet.
2. I come now to the enumeration of the particular ad-
vantages to the shareholders, and the public of this town,
which would result from its being fixed on as the packet
station ; and, as I have already occupied no much space, I
shall be very brief in stating them. One of these is the ex-
cellent dock accommodation now afforded here to vessels of
the largest size, both for the ordinary purposes of loading
and discharging, and for the occasional but indispensable sur-
veys and repairs of .the halls and machinery, an advantage,
particularly in the latter case, which neither of the three ports
already alluded to can afford.
Another obvious advantage presented by this port, is the
abundance and cheapness of that all-important element of
consumption, coal, for which, in the Channel ports deptrts
of the article, brought at a great expense from the northern
collieries, would have to be formed, causing an enhancement
of price on so large an item of the expenditure, as most seri-
ously to detract from the expected profits of the undertaking.
With regard also to all sorts of stores necessary for the out-
fit of the steamers, and supplies for the passengers, none of the
English Channel ports, with the exception of the great naval
arsenals of Plymouth and Portsmouth(which, however, seem
not too have been contemplated as packet stations) can at all
compete with a port in which steam navigation forms such a
leading feature as in Liverpool. The fact that the vessels of the
Peninsular and Oriental Company, though under engagement
with government to take their departure from Southampton,
actually come round here to take in their supplies of coals
and other stores, and undergo the needful refit, is a convin-
cing proof of the superiority of Liverpool in this respect.
The recent change in the " British Queen's" port of arrival
and despatch is also a fact worthy the shareholders' notice.
[Surely with such advantages as these, and more might be
enumerated, it is worse than criminal to overlook the inte-
rests of Liverpool. Is there no association to take this mat-
ter up ? Are the claims of Dartmouth, Bristol, Falmouth,
and other places, to be pressed upon the government, and
those of Liverpool not ?]

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

UNITED STATES

The royal mail steamer Acadia, under the temporary com-
mand of Capt. Lott, (Capt. Miller having been left at Boston
recovering from an attack of scarlet fever) arrived at this port
at half-past six on Sunday evening. She reached the en-
trance tothe Victoria Channel before two o'clock, but could
not cross the bar, for want of water, until half-past five. She
left Boston at four o'clock on the afternoonof the 17th, and,
after a stay of seven hours, Halifax on the morning of the
20th ult., and has made the passage in 14 days and 20 hours.
She has brought 73 passengers, a list of whom will be found
in another column.

The royal mail steamer Columbia, which sailed from this
port on the 4th ult., arrived at Halifax on the 17th, after a
passage of 12 days and 12 hours. She would reach Boston
on the 20th. ‘N hen the Columbia sailed hence, the Presi-
dent had been over due above a week. The news of her non-
arrival at this port had caused a great sensation at Halifax

on the alarming fact becoming known there.
The intelligence brought by the Acadia is not of any gene-
ral interest. President Tyler appears to have given great
satisfaction so far as he has had an opportunity of showing his
talents for government. He had issued " a recommenda-
tion " that Friday, the 14th of May should be observed as a
day of fasting and prayer by such religious services as may
be suitable on the occasion, " to the end that, on that day,
we may all, with one accord, join in humble and reverential
approach to him, in whose hands we are, invoking him to in-
spire us with a proper spirit and temper of heart and mind
under these frowns of his providence, and still to bestow his

gracious benedictions upon our government and our country."
Lord Sydenham had issued a proclamation, calling together
the united parliament of the Canadas. The Montreal
herald has the following on this subject :

From the character of the members returned at the late
general elections, Lord Sydenham will have a good working
majority of men who will do their utmost for the good of
the country—men of independent principle, who will be
guided in their proceedings by a spirit of pure and not spu-
rious patriotism, as unfortunately formed the characteristic
of the late House of Assembly of Lower Canada.

Secretary Harrison had been sworn in Deputy Governor
of Canada, in the place of Sir George Arthur. The French
Canadians will have nineteen .representatives of their class
in the House of Assembly. Lord Sydenham had been
alarmingly ill with the gout, which it was feared would have
reached his heart, but he was better by the last accounts.

It will afford considerable pain to many to learn that Gen.
Jackson is involved in pecuniary distress. We copy the fol-
lowing particulars from the New York Herald and the Louis-
ville Journal.

SAD NEws.—lt is said that General Jackson is so em-
barrassed in his circumstances, that he cannot raise cash to
pay a debt of 100 dollars. This is too bad. There is no fun
in being President. We would not exchange places with
Mr. Tyler even. If " Old Hickory," with all his faults and
virtues, will take a hundred dollars, we'll pay the debt for.
him.
A few weeks ago we saw a letter from General Jackson to
a gentleman who had drawn on him for one hundred dollars.
He acknowledged that the money was due ; but stated that
he was so miserably embarrassed by his security debts as to
be utterly unable to raise the small sum necessary to meet
the draft. He said he had some blooded stock which he was
willing to give up to the drawer of the draft, but that hun-
dred dollars in money was out of the question.
Business had remained without change since the departure

of the British Queen. The money market was easy. ln the
share market most kinds of stock had declined in price. The
shares in the Bank of the United States, which had advanced

..--- ... ..
on the publication of the Report of the Committee of inves-
tigation, had declined to their old quotation, namely, 17 at
New York and lit at Philadelphia.

The transactions in foreign exchanges for the Acadia had

been extensive. The rates were from 107 to.loB per cent. :
the chief business had been done at 107/ to 10a. The ex-
treme price was given for prime New York bills. There
were, however, Charleston bills, with New York endorsers,
in the market, which were limited to 108. On France, for
which a large business had been done, the rate was sf. 281,
and some bills at sf. 27/ : on Amsterdam 391, Hamburgh 35/,
Bremen 76 to 761.

NEW ORLEANS COTTON MARKET, APRIL 3.—The news
by the steam-ship Caledonia, which came to hand the day
before yesterday, has exercised a favourable influence on the
cotton market, and the trasactions since then have been on a
very extensive scale. On the same day 6000 bales changed
hands at full prices ; yesterday the inquiry became exceedingly
animated. and upwards of 16,000 bales were disposed of at a
farther improvement of 4-c., thus making the total advance
during the week 4to I. The total sales for the week ending
last evening amount to fully 50,000 bales ; a larger business
than we ever remember to have been transacted here in the
same space of time. The purchases have been principally
for the English market.

CHARLESTON COTTON MARKET, APRIL 9.—The transac-
tions comprise 4809 bales, at from 9 to 114 c. ; Sea Island at
from 23 to 35c. ; stained, 121 to 18c. per lb. Rice has been
comparatively quiet. Sales, 987 tics. ; inferior to fair, 2k- to
2; good to prime, 3 to' k; choice would probably bring 3
dollars per cwt.
FREIGHTS.—To Liverpool engagements have been made
at id. for round and square bags. To Havre we quote Li
for cotton in square bags, and 3 doilars for 600 lbs. for rice.
To New York, for cotton, 75 to 100 c. ; for rice, 75c. per tce.
There is nothing offering for Boston.