The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-11-01 00:00:00

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Nov,l, 1 536
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advocacy. The radical rump having succeeded, by large p!o-
-fessioes, in unseating their political antagonists, autl in taking
possession of their places, found themselves in full authmity'at
the Town-hall, but carrying more sail than ballast. They con_
sequently looked around them for a skint leader, versed in
Corporate affairs, and, the "temper" of Mr. Win. Earle being
what horsedealers call queerish, the lot fell upon M. Currie,
and he became the "first reform mayor of Liverpool."

And-we willingly avow that, with the discordant and hetero- I '
geneous materials composing the first council of reformers, he
has-got through well enough. U upleasant must have been his
retrospective glance when he was officially engaged in quelling
the bitterness of personal strife, and biting must have been his
mortification when, mayor as he was, he humbly sat down at
the dictum of Mr. Thomas Bolton ! He knows, full well, that,
as men of honour, aye, and of business too, the talkative spirits
who have for the last ten months occupied the council-room are
not to be compared with the men they have for a time dislodged;
and the shadows of the past have often flitted across his mind
as he compared the sayings and doings of the old council, who
were in every sense of the word gentlemen, with those of their
successors, whose dignity has been scurrility and their inde-
pendence blackguardism. But Mr. Currie, possessing polished
manners and gentlemanly feeling, has kept what order he
could. The coachman was skilful and sober, but the steeds
were restive. Some were kickers and some bolters—some shied
—others plunged—the road was newly Macadamised and full
of ruts, and the outside passengers were impatient and saucy.
When we say, however, that the vehicle on the whole has been
well driven, notwithstanding all the obstructions, we are saying
as much as need be said, and we feel convinced that Mr.
Currie will retire into private life a wiser and perhaps n better
man for his experience of democracy. •
We believe him to be placed in a false position; a secret -
friend of the monarchy, he is working hard with the' eputrlican;,:
an advocate for the independence of the peerage, he is harnessed,
with the steeds who are snorting for its destruction ; the friend
of the established church, he is yet colleagued with the unitarian
and the papist—the factious dissenter and the infidel. It is an
anomaly painful to reflect upon ; but the mayor is not singular
in his positien., On one occasion he did display himself as a man -
of honor. When Itathbene and his clique essayed an insult to
the respectability of Liverpool, and sought to blight its charac-
ter by introducing the bane and curse of Ireland to the chief
magistrate of the town, the mayor refused to take the calumnia-
tor of Britiih females by •the hand, and O'Connell retired
abashed from. the Town-hall, only to be hissed and scouted from
the-Exchange hooch. i❑ this respect Mr. Currie displayed the
Englishman; for men in an official. capacity should never pros- •
titute the dignity of their office by giving either hand or heart
to men who are covered with moral degradation.
Ur. - Currie is no doubt sick of office, and whilst we willingly
pay hint the tribute of praise due to him, we hope his successor
May fill his responsible situation with equal dignity and credit.
We wish it was in our power to say as much in praise of the
council es a body. ' Mr. Walmsley has done his feeble best to
throw a rag or two over their deformity—to hide their jobbing,
and to blind the eyes of the unthinking to the shameless disre-
gard of their professions.
That honourable councillor has had many throes before he
was delivered of his famous speech.
Much is said about their savings, but nothing about their
squandering:. Can Mr. Walmsley point out an improved
thoroughfare,—a widened street,—a public edifice, not project-
ed and partly, if not mostly paid for by the old Corporation.
Their published accounts do indeed shew a police station or
two, in which the lazy louts who perambulate the streets are
sheltered from the sun and rain, and where itinerant lecturers
on abstruse sciences can hold forth at the public expense. But
what of these? The old Corporation accounts were debited
with £120,000, but the public had the benefit of that sum in the
widening of Lord-street. During the very last year of their
office nearly £50,000 was paid for widening Pool-lane, and other
thorough fares.
In these respects we may ask,

"What have the Council done ?"

And as readily repIy,—JUST'NOTHING.
It is quite easy for them to suspend public works and then
boast of "saving."
The Councillor in the conclusion of his speech asks vaunt-
ingly " who now ventures despite his secret wishes to advocate
the system of self-election,—the family compact,—the strict
plan of perpetual exclusion." We answer unhesitatingly,—
THE ItRYORMED COUNCIL! Did they not advocate the system
Of self-election, when they promptly elected every one of those
Men Aldermen, who had been rejected by a majority of the
people as Couuciilors ? Did not the secret conclaves at the
angel
.sinelU of self-election or something very like it, when
Measures and men too, were decided on, there in Cimmerian
darkness, and the. reformed Council gulped their pills without
one contortion? Will they deny that Mr. James Brancker's
"'denunciations" have had no effect on them ? And then "the
family compact" forsooth. As if there were no ties of friend-
ship or of, interest equally strong with those of consanguinity.
What Were the appointments of Ratcliffe, and Crooke, of Wy-
bergh and of Roscoe, but appointments of political and personal
Predilection ? What meant the nomination of
,young Ilult to
a public:placeWas there no family coMpact between BOlton
andliolt 7 Fatigh !, With Liberals, interest is religion, and
assertion'sYbOnymous with falsehood. , •
"'Perpetual exclusion" too ! Why is it not notorious that
the` earliest thought at break of morn and the last before sinking
to repose, is, how they may best exclude "THE TORIES," and,
coneequently,
.every thing honourable or respectable. If the
radical prints are to be believed, tke exclusion of every man
who advocates ConservatiVe priticiples is to be "perpetual."
For thii they strain every muscle—for this they labour and live
—for this they lie without ceasing, and for this they threaten
and bluster.. Not a subaltern in their employ who drives a
quill-7sweeps a market, or scavenges a street, dare now avow
his political opinions. The Albion, of yesterday only, contains
a humble explanation, that certain market-lookers in the em-
ploy of the Corporation, who, it appears, had been charged with
the heinous crime of having been at the Tradesmen's Dinner at
the Amphitheatre, had net been there. Poor wretches! they
are now serving hard task-masters, that they are not to dine
where they please, lest at last they should have no dinner at all.
Yes! it has come to this, that there is to be "perpetual ex-
• elusion," and if Mr. Wahasley did not know it, •he was a dolt
for writing that which he did not comprehend. But the vanity
of some men leads them into strange vagaries.

To "keep out the Tories," then, no man who wears the
livery of the Corporation or eats their breed; is. any longer to
ha.eo a Will of his own. "0 liberty!'" said the victimized
Frenchwoman, '" what crimes are committed in thy name."
Yea! the Caffre enjoys more liberty than the slaves of the li-
becalsorporation, when, after the toils of a long day, under a
verticalsun,:lre can stretch his limbs under his own shingle, or
walk where he pleases. Liberty of thought—liberty of speech
—liberty of movement—is denied to every man; from the Town-
clerk itoirn to the policeman, who receives his pay frdm tke
Treasnrer's-office. It is degrading to British spirit, and must
not be submitted to any longer. We hope that the election of
this day. will scatter to the winds the presumption of those who
would thus chain down the human mind—who have filled our
schooli with papists, and thus propagate error at the public ex-
penseLwho have fostered more jobs during 'their short reign
than their preeteessors did in -a lif&time,,and who have disap-
pointed the hopes of hundreds who were deceived by the spe-
ciot.4ness of liberalism.

We have thrown together those few remarks in reference to
the Corporation generally.
_

The speech of. Mr. Samuel Hope will require a longer com-
ment than we can now devoto to it. It shall, however, have our
attention On Friday neat—merely premising ad interim, that if
this nondescript gentleman in his allusions to the remarks of
the STANDARD, respecting the sale of land in John-street, mea-
sures our opinions by his own, he labours under a mistake; and
we shall probably undeceive him by unmasking our batteries,
as we are in the habit sometimes of unmasking hypocrites and
would-be patriots.

MUNICIPAL ELECTION.

This day, the Ist instant, the election of sevent
Will take place, sixteen to supply the vacancies
/umbers who go out by rotation, anal one to suE
Caused by the death of Mr. Sharpies. All th,
fiercely contested. We subjoin a list of the ref
and of the names of the candidates on both side!

een Councillors

s occasioned by
ply the vacancy
to wards will be

irinemembers

WARD. GOTZDI our.
Evrtn & Kirdl *C.
2 Scotland-road Richard Shiel..•l
3 Vauxhall-road J. D. Thornely+
4 St. Paul's.... 'John Barton
Exchange.... James Mellor
6 Castle-street. Thos. Bolton.:
7 gt. Peter's.... Richard Bright
8 Pitt-street.... W. R. Preston
9 Gt. George's.. James Aikin+
10 Rodney-street Thomas Holt..
11 Abercromby. T. Broeklebank.
12 Lime-street.. R. Roskellt
lx St. Ana's.— Richt!. Alison+
14 West Derby.. *Jos. Sandars+
15 S—Toxteth: 1 Francis Jordan
Wm. Sharpies:-
16 North Toxteth Chas. Tayleur+
The members going out mark
, 1 , • + Members who re

CONSERVATIVIIB

Jas. lieyworth.
R. llousghtml. .

Wm. Shand.....
John Barton....
Thomas Sands.
John Wilkinson

N. Litherland I
John Bibby
Chas. Lawrence
J N. Hood

Thomu Kaye ..
Ambrose Lace...
John Wright. ..
!John Smith.
T. M. Gladstone.