The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-11-01 00:00:00

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42, SOUTH CASTLE-STREET, LIVERPOOL.

CHARLES MACINTOSH & CO.'S
WATERPROOF GARMENTS,

the spectacle of a trusty servant enueavouring to
display the property of his employers to the best
advantage before an intending purchaser. He was
enhancing the cost of the property of the water
works companies by showing their great capa-
bilities. Some, like ourselves, abstained from any
urgent opposition to the bill, under the impression
that the leading object of its promoters was to get
possession of, and to develope fully the capabilities
of, the existing sources of supply. And it is clear
that we were warranted in this idea, for we have
it acknowledged by Mr. Samuel Holme, in his late
speech at the Music-hall, that the original draft of
the bill, and its scope, as submitted to Parliament,
made it permissive only. The legislature itself
insisted upon its being imperative; and of this we
shall have to speak hereafter. The growth of the
opposition to the Rivington scheme, and the re-
cognition of the possibility that we have already
an abundant source of supply beneath our feet,
need not to be traced. The main facts are simply
that the former sticklers for a larger supply of
water became afraid of their pockets, and a few
parties attempted to make political capital of the
question. _ _

And now let us glance at the position in which
we at present stand, and which is a truly unfortu-
nate one. We have allowed ourselves—we say
allowed, for we had before us, previously to the
passing of this bill, nearly every fact which has
been urged against the Rivington scheme and in
favour of the existence of a local supply—we have
allowed ourselves to he bound by an Act of Parlia-
ment, containing heavy penal clauses, to carry out
a project against which the bulk of the community
protest as unnecessary and extravagant. What
is the proper mode of extrication ? In the first
place we have this ordeal to go through. An act
of parliament can only be repealed by another act
of parliament. Any bill for such a purpose would
in all probability be referred. to the same commit:
tee, before whom our statements, as to the de-
ficiency of local supply, and the eminent • scientific
evidence in favour of the Rivington project was
offered. We shall have to confess to them that we
have been mistaken, and to ask them to undo their
own work—to swallow their own words, and here
we have to remind our readers, that it was this
committee which insisted upon the bill being
permissive. To enable us to succeed in such
an effort unanimity amongst us is quite indis-
pensible ; .and yet. we have just thrown
away—or rather our Parochial Committee have
done so for us—the only chance which offered
itself of the pzople of Liverpool being placed in a
position to approach the Legislature as a united
community. An agreement was already effected
between this committee and the Special Committee
of the Council to submit the whole question, in-
cluding the testing of the existing sources of supply,
to arbitration by engineers appointed by each party,
whose decision was to be final. No plan, in our
present difficult position, cculd have been more fair
and more wise. Yet at the last moment that
agreement has been upset—we say not on what
grounds, although we have a strong opinion
on the subject, we prefer leaving our readers. to
form their own opinion from the proceedings in
the Council on Monday, and the expose with which
the public were favoured by Dr. Collins at the Spe-
cial Vestry meeting yesterday. It is perfectly clear
to us that the special committee of the council
acted together from the first in the most perfect
good faith to bring about an amicable settlement
of the question, which is the only kind of settle-
ment parliament will be inclined to listen to. Their
efforts were not met in this spirit.
Most deeply we deplore this unfortunate circum-
stance, as tending greatly to impede the realization
of what we believe three-fourths of the constituency
of Liverpool have at heart,—the avoidance of the
unnecessary expenditure which must be incurred
by the substitution of the Rivington for our pre-
sent supply. In our conscience we believe that
water, amply sufficient for all the wants of the
town, can be had, economically, from the red sand-
stone formation under our feet. That supply can
be increased beyond calculation, by the adoption
of proper modes of reception of rain water in our
dwelling houses. But whatever may be the issue
of the elections this day, we almost despair of see-
ing the wishes of the community carried out. We
have committed fatal errors in placing the manage-
ment of our affairs in the hands of parties who
have shown themselves to be most indiscreet; and
we are afraid that we shall have to lament, in time
to come, our egregious folly.

AN important currency fact is communicated in
the following paragraph from the New York cor-
respondent of the London Times in his letter by
the last steamer :

"A project is on foot for establishing a national paper
money circulating medium, based on the deposit of Go-
vernment stocks. This scheme emanates from a portion
of that party which is in power who are averse to the
working of the present system. It will, however, be
strongly, and no doubt successfully, opposed by that
large majority who dread the effects of an inflated cur-
rency, against which the sub-Treasury system has afforded
so great a protection."
This is another nut f,r the bullionists to crack.
To a great extent the proposed new American sys-
tem is similar to that proposed by the Liverpool
Currency Reform Association; and we are not at
all so certain as the Times writer that it is not
likely to be carried into operation. Our boasted
gold standard is obviously at a discount.