The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-07-17 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The letter of "T. C. C." is deserving of much attention, but
in the present state of our columns we cannot find room
for it.
In one portion of his remarks upon the onslaught made by Mr.
Hodson upon the Merciow'B proteg6, Dr. Hawthorne, our
contemporary has been betrayed into the utterance of a-very
unfair imputation against the former. gentleman. The Mer-
cury asks, "Who is the censor?" (of Dr. Hawthorne)
"Where did he get his diploma, or has he any to show ?"
Has our contemporary, we say, any ground for thus sug-
gesting that Mr. Hodson is not duly qualified ? If, as we are
certain he has not, lie ought not to have ventured upon the
insinuation without making enquiry.

LtbtrpDOl 4tantiarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, JULY 17, 1849.

THE world is at length officially informed of the
mode in which, within the last ten years, obscure
tradesmen have sprung up to the position of rail-
way kings, and reputed millionaires. The second
report of the committee of investigation into the
affairs of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Rail-
way has disclosed such a mass of jobbing and
" cooking," perpetrated by the once idolized Mr.
Hudson, and negligence, or connivance, on the part
of his brother directors, as was never before brought
before the notice of the British public. We were
ourselves prepared for something of this sort. When
everybody was striving after railway directorships,
and so many were ambitious of even the less in-
fluential post of provisional committeemen, it was
obvious to all, but the very blind, that there were
good things occasionally to be picked up by those
who were fortunate enough, by attaining such
posts, to be put into possession of secrets
worth knowing. In the memorable period from
1844 to 1846, what would not a speculator have
given to be put into early possession of the facts
that this railway project was to be bought off;
another leased ; a third guaranteed a good divi-
dend, and a fourth amalgamated with some good
paying line? Why, the Hudsons, the Russells,
and others of that day, could have assured fortunes
to their friends by a mere wink. Three, or four,
members of a railway board, at a five minutes'
sitting, by determining upon an increase of the
capital of the line under their management, in reality
created for themselves and friends a million or more
of money. The public heard daily of new issues of
half or quarter, eighth or sixteenth shares, in this
or that Leviathan company, and, no matter for what
purpose they were created, there were thousands
rushing to be possessed of them at whatever pre-
mium they might bear. Little wonder, then, as
human nature is constituted, that chairmen and
members of railway boards availed themselves of
the popular delusion to fill their ownpockets.
We believe most firmly that, were the proceed-
ings of one-half our leading lines of railway laid
bare to the world, there would be found very many
transactions of a nature which would not well bear
the light. The case of Mr. Hudson, however, in
his connexion with the York, Newcastle, and Ber-
wick Railway, is a Leviathan one. The extent of
his peculations is positively fearful to contemplate.
We shall briefly catalogue the discoveries announced
by the committee in this report, with a view to
offering upon them a few words of comment.
The first proceeding noticed in the report is in
connexion with the purchase by Mr. Hudson of
2345 shares in the Sunderland Dock. At a meet-
ing of the Dock Company, held at Sunderland, on
the 27th February, 1847, that gentleman expressed
himself so satisfied of the profitable nature of the
undertaking that he was willing to take the shares
of any party at par; and, accordingly, he was ac-
commodated with stock to the extent of 2345 shares.
The purchase of these was on his own account.
There is no minute in the York Newcastle and Ber-
wick Company's hooks authorising such an invest-
ment of the capital of that company. Yet the calls
upon. these shares were regularly paid out of its
funds, although never brought forward in the half-
yearly reports until February last, when all at once
the shareholders were startled by an entry of
£62,687 10s. on this account, Mr. Hudson having
transferred his unprofitable bargain to the com-
pany. The amount of their funds at present swal-
lowed up in this concern is close upon £lOO,OOO.
The committee very naturally recommend that Mr.
Hudson be compelled to take the shares to himself,
and pay up the money, they not having as yet been
legally transferred to, or adopted by, the company.
The next case opens out the secrets of the system
of allotting shares. The Newcastle and Berwick
Railway was originally proposed in 1844, as a portion
of the Newcastle and Darlington company s line;
and the capital was fixed at £700,000. The shares
were allotted proportionably to the holders of shares
in that line; and Mr. Hudson's proportion should
have been 625 of the new shares. The capital was
subsequently augmented; and Mr. Hudson signed
the deed, pro forma. for 8000 more, other directors
signing for 2000 shares each, to enable the pro-
jectors to comply with the standing orders of par-
liament. There was of course a further issue of
shares, to which holders in the Newcastle and Dar-
lington were entitled. None other of the parties, six
in number, who had executed the deed, pro forma,
(to the amount in all of 20,000 shares,) conceived
that they were acting otherwise than in trust for the
company, and none of them paid up the deposits.
Out of these reserved shares the committee now find
that Mr. Hudson has gradually disposed of 10,894
shares for his own emolument, receiving the scrip
from the secretary from time to time, up to August,
1845 ; and the profit which he must have derived
from these appropriations the committee estimate
at no less than £145,704. Besides this, there are
left in hand a large number of unappropriated
shares, which might have been sold at large pre-
miums for the benefit of the company, had their
chairman been as thoughtful of their interests as
his own. The committee remark very justly, in
reply to the plea, which may be put forward by Mr.
Hudson, that he had signed the deed for this large
amount.
" If the mere execution of the deed is to confer the
right upon Mr. Hudson to these shares for his own use,
why has he not taken 24,275 shares instead of 10,894 ;
for it will be observed that, after the passing of the act,
and to enable the solicitors to enforce some of its provi-
sion?, Mr. Hudson executed the deed for 16,275 shares
in addition to the 8,000 on which he now claims ; and it
appears to your committee that he might with equal
reason have taken the whole."

They recommend that he should be made to ac•
count for the property thus improperly obtained.

. .
The next case has relation to the allotment of
the York and Newcastle shares, of which, after the
receipt of his proper proportion, Mr. Hudson
took an additional 500 shares in the names of some
of his friends, the premium upon which at the
time would be about £4OOO. Each of his brother
directors also took an additional hundred, the pre-
mium upon which would he about £9OO. The
small fry were beginning to ape their master in
peculation. Although Mr. Hudson's shares had
been sold in April, 1847, no deposit was paid upon
them until after the, appointment of the Committee
of Investigation; yet the dividends upon them had
been regularly received.
In the allotment of the Brandling Junction
shares the directors, at a board meeting, placed
2000 shares at the disposal of Mr. Hudson, who
took the whole, with the exception of 320, which
he divided amongst a few of his friends in the
concern. These shares were worth at the time £2l
premium. The Board therefore in reality made a
present to their chairman of the handsome sum of
£42,000, which in reality belonged to the share-
holders. _ _ _

The next case refers to a sale of iron rails to the
Company. It appears that in January, 1845, pre-
vious to the bill for the Newcastle and Berwick
Railway being submitted to Parliament, Mr. Hud-
son concluded a contract, for 10,000 tons of iron,
with Messrs. Thompson, Forman, and Co., of
London, at £6 105. per ton. In March of the
same year, tenders having been advertised for,
a contract was effected with Messrs. Thompson,
Forman, and Company, for a supply of 14,000
tons, at £l2 per ton ; and by a private arrange-
ment between the parties 7,000 tons of Mr. Hud-
son's rails were delivered to the company at this
price, netting a profit on the transaction of £38,500.
In addition to these malpractices, it appears that
Mr. Hudson had been in the habit of retaining in
his hands money received by him for the purpose
of paying for land. In one case referred to,
£40,000 was thus drawn out by him, and debited
to the company as paid. On the sth of May last,
however, after the appointment of the committee,
the whole sum was returned by him with interest,
it never having been paid at all to the parties, in
whose names the original cheques were drawn.
After the exposure of such transactions as these,
of course the character and standing of Mr. Hud-
son are irretrieveably gone. Should he even be
able to make good the large amounts thus impro-
perly obtained, he must be reduced to the con-
dition of a poor man, with the reflection haunting
him through life that he is also a despised one.

Do not let us, however, exhaust the whole of our
indignation against Mr. Hudson. Some of it is
due to his brother directors; some of it to the
whole system ; and much to the cupidity of the
shareholders themselves. Whilst the Railway King
was creating millions by a stroke of his pen, the
latter were netting their premiums, and the gullible
public scrambling for them. When Mr. Hudson
made a contract, or bought up a railway, the share-
holders never attempted to enquire whether the
bargain was a good one. All that was thought of
was the premium bearing stock to be created for
its payment. The world worshipped this vain
man ; yet not one of his worshippers could be
blind to the fact that, whilst contributing to put
money in their pockets, he was filling his own.
Not one of them could imagine that the mere sanc-
tion of his name to any undertaking could alter
its character, or that he could bestow proper
attention to one-half of the concerns in which he
was engaged. The whole affair was a delusion, for
which it is hard to say whether the public or Mr.
Hudson was the most to blame.

It is surely time now that steps should be taken
to prevent the recurrence of such a case as this.
We shall shortly have upwards of £300,000,000 of
the realized capital of the British people, of all
classeS and conditions, invested in railway pro-
perty; and we know how powerless individuals, or
even combinations of individuals, are to control or
to procure a proper investigation of the proceedings
of great companies. Some efficient and compulsory
mode of audit has become a national necessity.

THE opponents of the proposal to subject the
Dock and Corporate property of Liverpool to a
participation in its local burdens are felicitating
themselves, no doubt, in the idea that the move-
ment for that object has received its deathblow.
'We believe, however, that we are just now progres-
sing towards a state of things which will render
that, or some other large measure of relief, impera-
tive, unless we allow the tradesman and middle
class inhabitants of the town to be driven out of it,
or into a condition of insolvency. We have already
a poor's rate of 3s. 2d. in the pound ; and from
the additional burthens, which are unjustly press-
ing upon us, the prospect is that, before long, we
may have double that amount to meet. In addition
to Irish pauper immigration ; in addition to the
presence of a disease which, under any circum-
stances, would be most costly to the town, a go-
vernment board has got its fingers into our pockets;
and we know well how clean such officials pick the
bones of their victims.

A. local journal, whose conductors were intent
upon puffing into notoriety the nostrum of a pre-
tender to infallibility in his treatment of the cholera,
some months before we had any serious visitation
of that scourge, proclaimed its existence in Liver-
pool; and the first result was a serious interruption
to our commerce by the infliction of quarantine
upon our shipping in foreign ports. More recently
we have been subjected to the supervision of the
general Board of Health ; and the cost to which
that body is putting us is very little known to the
public. Independently of our own efficient staff
of parish surgeons, and the liberal aid of our hos-
pitals and dispensaries, we have a distinct corps of
medical men forced upon us by the Board of Health,
under the management of a doctor despatched from
that body, who is entirely unacquainted with the
town, and whose capricious regulations threaten to
swamp our whole income. Hospitals are to he pro-
vided in every direction. Houses of refuge are to
be fitted up, into which every alarmist may fly, and
which may be filled as fast as they are opened by
the destitute immigrants from Ireland. Expendi-
ture the most lavish is going on, to prevent, or
check, which the unfortunate ratepayers of Liver-
pool are utterly helpless.
Under any circumstances the prospect before us
would be deplorable; but it is doubly so when we
look at the daily changing condition of the pro-
perty of the town, upon which these increasing
burthens have to be levied, and the condition of
the occupiers of that property. We see street after
street, once the residences of our respectable mer-
chants, deserted, and the houses, unless let at
greatly reduced rents, standing empty. All build-
ing is nearly at a stand; and the little that is being
done is the erection of cottage property, for which
rates can, at the best of times, scarcely be collected,
and from which some ofit is entirely exempt. Our
mercantile aristocracy inhabit the suburban locali-
ties, and are rateable only for their counting-houses
or warehouses. Their clerks are following them;
and the increasing burthens of Liverpool, the weight
of Irish pauperism and imported filth and pesti-
lence, are left to be supported by the depressed
tradesmen and shopkeepers, and those whose avo-
cations compel them to reside in immediate proxi-
mity to the commerce of the port. Can this be
borne ? We assert our firm conviction that it can-
not, without the ruin of hundreds of those parties.
Either the commerce of Liverpool must be made to
bear a portion of these burthens, or parliament it-
self must be appealed to for relief.
In what way, however, are we to proceed, in
order to bring about the object, which the advocates
ofadock rating have in view ? We must confess
that we have little hope of relief from parliament..
A rating bill, brought once more before the house,
would be hurked at once by the Manchester party
and the free traders. Liverpool is expected to bear,
without assistance, what in reality is a national
burthen—the expense of providing for the mainte-
nance of whatever amount of pauperism Ireland
may throw upon our shores—in addition to her own
proper burthens. There is one mode, however,
in which the object which we have in view might
be legally effected without seeking the permission
of parliament at all. At its next monthly meeting,
the council will be called upon to elect members to
sit upon the Dock Committee, in the room of five
gentlemen who retire by rotation ; and it is worth
consideration, whether an effort ought not to be
made to secure such parties as will really represent
the opinions of the majority of the Council and the
town upon this vital question.

WE have at length before us what may fairly be
called the Ministerial Supplement to the Naviga-
tion Laws Repeal Bill; and, although we cannot
at present express a decided opinion upon the
whole scheme, our minds are fully made up with
respect to the merits of that portion of it, relating
to the light dues and pilotage, which it is proposed
to hurry through the house this session.
Mr. Labouchere proposes, with the assistance of
the Trinity House, to effect a reduction of £lOO,OOO
per annum in the dues now levied upon merchant
shipping, or nearly one-third of the whole amount
of that impost, which was last year £318,000, ex-
clusive of the Scotch and Irish lights. Of this
sum £145,000 was received from coasters, and
£173,000 from over-sea trailers. It is intended, in
the reduction made, to give the largest amount of
relief to the coasting trade, which is the most

severely burthened. £70,006 is to be taken from
the amount paid by this class of vessels, or nearly
50 per cent. of the present dues, the reduction to
come into effect from the Ist of October next.
There are lights on which double tolls, that is tolls
both inwards and outwards, are now paid. These
double payments are to he abolished, and will effect
a saving of £27,000, or 16 per cent. upon the dues
paid by over-sea vessels. We can have no ground
of complaint of this portion of the measure, which
will be, to a small extent however, a boon to the
shipping interest, both British and foreign, whilst
it can be conferred, without m the slightest degree
impairing the efficiency of our coast lights.
The other portion of the measure, however,
altering the law of pilotage, we regard as one of a
most mischievous and dangerous character; indeed,
so far as Liverpool is concerned, a ruinous one.
Like most similar measures of the present govern-
ment, it is conceived in gross ignorance; and we
do not believe that it has been called for by any
considerable portion of the public. In setting
out, Mr. Labouchere betrays a great want of cor-
rect information. He says—

"At present, as some hon. members no doubt were
aware, the coasting trade enjoyed an exemption from the
system of pilotage; from that burden the coasting trade
hid some years ago been exempted ; but vessels enraged
in the foreign trade—the over-sea trade—were still obliged
to take in pilots ; though the master and mate might both
be excellent pilots and well acquainted with the harbours
to which they traded, they must nevertheless take in pilots,
or at least pay for them."
- - - -

The obvious conclusion which would be drawn
from this is that all vessels engaged in our coasting
trade, are exempted from pilotage. The exemption,
however, only applies to vessels under 100 tons
burthen, those above paying a half-pilotage of 4s.
per ton. Amongst this class we have our fine coast-
ing steamers, a great portion of our colliers, and
other vessels. It may be presumed, however, that
Mr. Labouchere will repair his error by giving in
his bill the exemption spoken of to the whole of

the coasters. Let us see, therefore, how this will
affect the security of our navigation, and the inter-
ests of that most efficient body of men, our pilots.
We will take the case of our own port.
We have here built and maintained, at the cost
of the body of pilots twelve boats, which are ad-
mitted to be the finest craft to be found in the
world, most expensively constructed, and well
found in every requisite for the trade. Every full
branched hand must have been two foreign voyages
at least, in a square-rigged vessel, have served a
seven years' apprenticeship as a pilot, and have
passed through three distinct examinations. As a
body, they are considered the best regulated and
most competent in this or any other country; and
their duties are known to be attended with great
hardship and continual danger. Unlike the pilots
of Deal or Dover, who may be summoned from
their beds by the fire of a gun when wanted, those
of Liverpool must cruize in all weathers, outside
the dangerous banks, by which the entrance of our
river is impeded ; and must be prepared to board in
any weather, all vessels by which they are bailed.
Mr. Labouchere proposes to take from these men,
first the coasting trade, the dues upon which make
up from a fourth to a third of their income, and
next to take from them a large portion of that de-
rived from over-sea vessels. Now, what would be
the result ? Obviously the present efficiency of
the service would not be maintained. The present
race of pilots are nearly all qualified for under-
taking the situation of captain or mate, in the
merchant service; and many of them would, no
doubt, fly to thatlservice for subsistence. We should
see the introduction of a lower class of men, and
of boats, and perhaps we might be driven into such
a diminution of their number as would very mate-
rially effect the security of shipping.
But Mr. Labouchere says that the captains and
mates in our coasting trade are familiar with the
navigation of our river, and therefore it is hard that
that they should have to pay for a pilot, whose ser-
vices they do not want. To some extent this may
be the case. Many of these parties could bring up
their vessels in fine weather ; but there is not one
in a hundred who is not anxious to have a pilot.in
cases,of stormy weather. In many instances of con-
trary winds in ordinary weather, both captains and
mates are worn out by fatigue and want of sleep when
they reach the pilot's station, and absolutely unfit to
encounter the difficulties which present themselves
on entering our river. Besides, how can it be ex-
pected, if these vessels are to decline taking a pilot
in fine weather, that the latter will be willing to
place his life and the property of his boat in jeo-
pardy when it is blowing a gale? We should see
him constantly putting in for shelter at such times;
and the banks and shoals outside strewed with
wreck and human bodies,

Mr. Labouchere proposes further that our Pilots'
Committee should be allowed to authorise masters
and mates of oversea vessels to be their own
pilots, on proof being given of their competency
and local knowledge; and as an inducement re-
minds us that his bill is only permissive. He does
not compel us to grant licenses to these persons.
This portion of the measure, we can inform him,
will remain, so fur as Liverpool is concerned, a dead
letter. In the first place, the Pilots' Committee of
this port have already the power, which Mr. La-
bouchere imagines he is conferring for the first
time ; and, althongh composed of shipowners and
merchants, and entirely uninterested in the earnings
of the pilots, they are satisfied that it ought not to
he exercised. They are well aware that it would
not be consistent with the safety of life and cargo;
and that few insurers would take risks in vessels so
piloted. Its very position places Liverpool in a
different category with most other ports, with re-
spect to such a measure. Our changing banks and
channels require a daily familiarity with them, and
such sea boats, and active and experienced hands,
as can only be provided by a body of regular, well
organised, and well paid men, making pilotage
their sole occupation.
Crude and dangerous as this measure is, it seems
very likely to pass through the House of Commons,
almost before its provisions can be known, and before
those interested can make their protest heard. We
trust however, that, our own representatives will feel
it their duty to demand a little breathing time for
those interested in this port; and that their hands
will be strengthened by some representation, from
our Pilots' Committee and merchants, of its inju-
rious nature. The bill may appear to those unac-
quainted with the whole circumstances a compara-
tively harmless one, affecting only the interests of
the pilots themselves; but we feel convinced that
in reality its effects will be most damaging to
the whole of our mercantile marine.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.
(BY EXPRESS.)

BERLIN, JULY 12.

The armistice between Denmark and Pru.ssia has been
concluded for six months. At the end of the six months,
notice may be given of a renewal of hostilities, but hosti-
lities cannot even then be actually resumed until'after the
lapse of six weeks more.

In consequence of the death of James Pattison, Esq.,
which took place rather unexpectedly, on Saturday, a
vacancy has been created in the representation of the City.
of London. The Lord Mayor is proposed, and an oppo-
nent is spoken of in the person of William Bevan, Esq.,
one of the unsuccessful candidates at the last general
election. Besides the above-named gentlemen, the names
of 'William Baring, Esq., Mr. Alderman Saltnons, and
others have been mentioned. There seems no doubt that
a contest will take place.