The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-21 00:00:00

TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 21, 1840.

We have received a copy of the Newfoundland
Times of December isth. It does not contain any
news of importance. It is chiefly occupied with com-
ments on the affairs of Canada and the Chartist pro-
ceedings in Great Britain.

We have received'a file of the Sydney Commercial
Journal to the 24th of August, inclusive. These pa-
pers do not contain much that is of interest to the
general reader. The leading articles in each number
enter into very strong animadversions on the Govern-
ment estimates for the year 1840, with every item of
which, almost, the editor finds fault.

The Commercial Journal of August 17 states, on the
authority of a gentleman of considerable property in
the Mudgee and Davey country, that those parts of
the country swarmed with an armed banditti, most of
whom were mounted, and who levied contributions at
will ; no less than sixteen drays having been robbed
by them within six weeks. A man named Lambert is
reported as being their head. Great fault was found
with the mounted police for not exercising greater
vigilance.

From the district of Yass accounts had been received
at Sydney of the great prevalence of catarrh among the
sheep, and that considerable numbers had been lost
owing to this disease.
It was generally believed at Sydney that the Home
Government had repented of the premature act of
raising the minimum price of crown lands in New
South Wales, and that it had been reduced to seven
shillings and sixpence : but before long it was expected
that it would be reduced to the original standard of
five shillings.

Port Phillip, according to the last accounts, promises
to become a whaling station. The Port Philip Gazette
states that seven whales had been seen in the bay in
one morning. Mr. Harding, an old whaler, succeeded
in striking one of them with a bayonet, fixed in the
manner of a lance. It was found to be fifty-five feet
in length. It has generally been supposed that Port
Phillip would never offer any chance of success as a
whaling ground ; the above instance, however, is a
proof to the contrary. It was expected that a whaling
establishment would soon be formed at this colony, and
that thus another important source of wealth would be
opened up to the citizens.
The colonial markets, both at Sydney and Van Die-
man's Land, were in a prosperous condition. Flour
was quoted, at the former place, at from 60s. to 755.
per 1001. At the latter place, wheat was selling at
18s. per bushel; potatoes, at £l3 10s. to £l4 per ton;
coals, £2 per ton; beef, 6d. to 9d. per lb.; mutton,
61d. to 71d. per lb. ; pork, 7d. to Bd. ; and veal, 81d.
to 10d. per lb.

The shipping at Sydney was very considerable, and
many of the vessels were of very large tonnage. The
colony, on the whole, seems to be in a very prosperous
condition.

By the North America packet-ship, Captain Lowber,
which arrived here yesterday, we have received New
York papers to the 2nd instant. They do not add
much to the intelligence received last week. They
bring us an account of another furious gale in the
vicinity of Boston, which was attended by great de-
struction of property. The shipping, in particular,
seems to have suffered very great damage. The list
of disasters occupies nearly two columns in the Daily
Express of the Ist instant.

There is very little that is novel in the money mar-
ket intelligence. The banks of Philadelphia were dis-
counting little or none. A majority of the banks did
not issue their notes at all, either substituting the bank
notes of other stated, or those of the -United States
Bank. It is vtated that the banks were curtailing,
both with a view to the action of the legislature, and
so as to bring about a resumption. The money mar-
ket at Philadelphia was rather worse, and it was feared
that the recent explosion of the Schuylkill bank would
retard a general resumption for some weeks, and pos-
sibly for some months, as the debt to the East was still
very large. It :was believed that the United States
Bank would not declare a dividend in January.
On the Ist of January a further reduction of duties
took place on all articles on which the duties previously
exceeded 20 per cent. on the value. The reduction
was one-tenth of such excess, as it existed on the 2nd
of March, 1832. A reduction of one-tenth had also
been made in the years 1834, 1836, and 1838. The
last reduction, therefore, makes four-tenths in all. A
further alteration is to take place in the tariff on the
Ist of January, 1842, when three-tenths are to come
off, and on the Ist of July in the same year, when the
remaining three-tenths are to come off; after which,
no article of imports, according to the existing laws,
will bear a higher duty than 20 per cent. ad valoreni.
A statement, exhibiting the value of imports and
exports of the United States, in six successive years,
had been appended to the treasury report, as commu-
nicated to Congress. The amount of imports during
the past year seems to have surprised every one; being
greater than in any former year, excepting the great
speculation year 1836. On the other hand, the amount
of exports has been greater, on the year ending on the
30th of September last, than in any former year, ex-
cepting 1835 and 1836. The total amount of imports
for the last six years was as follows :—ln the year 1834,
116,521,332 dollars ; in 1835, 149,895,742 dollars ; in
1836, 189,980,035 dollars ; in 1837, 140,989,217 dol-
lars ; in 1838, 113,717,404 dollars ; and in 1839,
157,669,560 dollars. The total amount of exports for
the same period was as follows :—ln the year 1834,
126,521,332 dollars; in 1835, 149,825,742 dollars; in
1836, 189,980,035 dollars ; in 1837, 140,989,217 dol-
lars ; in 1838, 113,747,404 dollars ; and in 1839,
157,689,260 dollars. This statement shews an increase
of about forty-four millions of dollars in the imports
and exports of the last year, as compared with the pre-
ceding.

The Daily Express of January 1 states that private
letters received in Montreal, Nov. 25, from Quebec,
contain accounts that the border troubles had recom-
menced, on the disputed territory, between New
Brunswick and Maine.

The Queen's speech, which appears in another co-
lumn, is an exceedingly meagre production. Its con-
gratulations are almost outnumbered by its regrets ;
and, if the truth were told, it ought to have been, from
beginning to end, an uninterrupted string of sorrows
and lamentations. Passing by the notification of her
Majesty's intended marriage, as an affair in which she
is personally and chiefly concerned, we can see nothing,
in any of the topics alluded to in the speech, that calls
for any expression of satisfaction. This announcement
occupies the first paragraph. We sincerely hope that
her Majesty's anticipations may be fully realised in her
prospective union with Prince Albert, and the event
may be over-ruled by Divine Providence for the wel-
fare and prosperity of her Majesty's loyal subjects.
The second paragraph insinuates the necessity of
making a suitable provision for her Majesty's consort.
This intimation must be any thing but welcome at the
present crisis, with a diminished and a rapidly dimi-
nishing revenue. Time was when the whole radical
press would have been in arms against any additional
grants towards the maintenance of any one con-
nected with the Royal Family : but tempora mutantur,
et nos mutamur illis. The radicals, with the blatant
demagogue O'Connell at their head, are now the most
clamourous for " a liberal allowance" to her Majesty's
future husband. Be it so : but let our radical con-
temporaries bear in mind that their precedent will not
be forgotten, and may be quoted against them on fu-
ture occasions.

The third paragraph contains the usual sing-song
declaration, that the Queen continues to receive from
foreign powers assurances of their unabated desire to

maintain with her the most friendly relations. We
must rest contented with this assurance, we suppose ;
but it is certain that some of the foreign powers have
a very singular mode of testifying their friendly dispo-
sition towards this country. Look, for instance, at
the restless intrigues and flagrant encroachments of
Russia on the frontier of our Indian Empire. Look,
again, at the repeated insults offered by France to our
national flag. Look, again, at the aggressions of the
latter power upon the property of the British merchants
trading with Buenos Ayres. We presume that we
must consider these as indications of an amiable dispo-
sition ; but we must be allowed to add, that they are
somewhat queer and novel modes of displaying a
friendly feeling.

The allusion, in the next paragraph, to the civil war
in Spain, is peculiarly unfortunate. Her Majesty is
made to felicitate Parliament upon the alleged conclu-
sion of the war, which, it is said, has been accom-
plished " by an arrangement satisfactory to the Spa-
nish government, and to the people" of the northern
provinces. It is. a pity that it could not have been
added that the arrangement spoken of was consonant
with the principles of justice and honesty, and satisfac-
tory to the people of England. It is well known that
the adjustment alluded to with such warmth of con-
gratulation was brought about by an act of treachery
in which the character of the British Government was
most deeply implicated. To boast of this traitorous
trick is rather overstepping the bounds of modesty.
The hope expressed, that the affairs of the Levant
will be brought to a settlement, in such a manner as
to uphold the integrity and independence of the Otto-
man Empire, and to give additional security to the
peace of Europe, appears to us utopian in the extreme,
until something be done effectually to check the ambi-
tious views of the Russian autocrat. It is well known
that Turkey is the grand object of Russian encroach-
ment. All the territorial additions which, during the
last fifty years, have been made to the empire of the
Czars, have been subordinate and subservient to the
ultimate possession of the Ottoman Empire. It is,
therefore, useless to calculate upon the integrity and
independence of Turkey until Russia is effectually
baffled in his gigantic schemes of preliminary plunder
and self-appropriation.
A hope is again held out that the differences between
this country and the court of Teheran will soon be sa-
tisfactorily adjusted. What foundation there may be
for such an expectation we cannot say; but looking at
the determined attitude of Russia, and her influence
over the court of Persia, we see very little reason for
entertaining this hope. As long as Russian intrigue
and Russian gold exercise the potent influence which
they now possess, we may expect nothing from Persia
and its allies but a continuation of hostilities, which
cannot be carried on by this country without a lavish
expenditure of money, and a frightful sacrifice of hu-
man life.

The next paragraph states that events have happened
in China, which have occasioned an interruption of the
commercial intercourse between that country and the
subjects of Great Britain : but care is taken to avoid
any description of those events. Their nature is not
even alluded to : their effects alone are specified.
Would it not have been more honest to stigmatise the
conduct of those who, with the connivance of our Go-
vernment, have brought on the rupture between this
country and China, by endeavouring to carry on an
illegal traffic with the Chinese, by persisting in contra-
vening the laws of an empire at peace with us, and
anxious to cultivate our friendship ?
The paltry manner in which the speech recommends
to the consideration of Parliament the state of the mu-
nicipal corporations of Ireland shows that ministers
were by no means anxious to court any discussion on
that vexatious question.
The conclusion of the speech is somewhat more me-
lancholy in its tone than the introduction. Her Majesty
deplores that the commercial embarrassments which
have taken place in this and other countries are sub-
jecting many of the manufacturing districts to severe
distress. No hint, however, is given as to the neces-
sity of providing some remedy for the prevailing dis-
tress. The last paragraph in the speech is rather an
odd sequel to the recent proceedings at Monmouth.
Her Majesty relies upon "the power of the law" for
the maintenance of order. Little reliance can be
.placed on the " power of the law" when we find the
Queen's Attorney-General declining to prosecute five
traitors, against whom true bills had been found. It
is idle to talk of putting down Chartism by "the law,"
if the law is to be administered after the fashion of the
Whigs.

The meanness of the Whig Ministry is only equalled
by their treachery and concentrated selfishness. Fear-
ing to incur the displeasure of the mob, by proceeding
to open Parliament by commission, they must needs do
violence to the feelings of the Queen, by urging her
personal attendance on the occasion, and that the very
day after she had received news of her aunt's death.
The presence of the Queen was found indispensibly
necessary to screen the Ministers from open disgrace,
and no considerations of propriety or good taste were
allowed to weigh with them, for one moment, against
the expediency of the case. Her Majesty is not to blame
for this outrage to decency. It is not her fault that she
is not now received, as she was wont, with the joyful
acclamations of admiring thousands of .her loyal sub-
jects. The silence with which the royal procession on
Thursday last was allowed to pass was not intended as
a mark of disrespect to the Queen. The Ministers were
the real objects of public scorn ; and if her Majesty had
not been present they would have been hooted as public
traitors!

Fas est ab hoste doceri. The inestimable blessings
of municipal reform are now duly appreciated, and the
following sample of Radical testimony to their worth
is sufficiently amusing.
" The proper course to be taken at the next Council would
be to pass a vote of censure upon the Finance Committee
for their jobbing propensities, and to remodel that precious
essence of double distilled boobyism altogether. Delenda
est Carthago. The Finance Committee, as at present con-
stituted, is a disgrace to the Council and the town. It is
the Corporate Refuge for the Destitute to which they send
all the members who are fit for nothing else."

" If the Council confirm this scandalous job of the Finance
Committee the game is up. The present people will go out
of power amidst a storm of laughter and derision, and we
shall return to the ' paltry and shabby' dog-days of which
some of our ' HONEST' Councillors now speak with such in-
effable contempt."—Liverpool Chronicle, Jan. 17111, 1840.
There, reader ! If that is not honest testimony,
where shall we look for it ? We have often stated that
the present Corporation, from their first induction to
power, have been actuated by a jobbing spirit. They
filled up all their appointments from the office of the
Reform Association ; and to make a situation for Mr.
George William Crooke, the Solicitor to that select
body, they called into existence a new birth, unheard
of in older and honester days, and forthwith the Town-
Clerk appeared with a smirking footman, who receives
£7OO. a year (we think it is) for decorating the Town-
hall with his genteel figure, and reading the radical
prints which inundate that jobbing establishment.
Our contemporary is certainly honest and speaks out
fearlessly, and there is much truth in what he has said.
We have taken the trouble of looking at the list of the
Finance Committee, and we have put all the ;" double
distilled boobies" on record for the benefit of our read-
ers, it being observed that two-thirds of the number
are Liberals of the first water.

Mr. " BOOBY" CURRIE, Chairman.
Mr. THOMAS BOLTON,
„ JOHN HOLMES,
RICHARD HOUGHTON,
„ J. S. LEIGH,
„ J. MOON,
WM. THORNHILL,
31 THOS. BLACKBURN,
EDWARD PILCHER,
HUGH HORNUT, •
THOMAS CASE,
„ G. H. LAWRENCE,
N. WOOD,
„ ENOCH HARVEY,
„ R. ROSKELL.

We have only one request to make of our contem-
porary, viz., that instead of directing his ire against
Mr. Okill,—who is, without exception, the best and
most valuable servant the Corporation possesses, and
without whom the new-fledged Councillors would have
found themselves in a quandary,—he would ask the
Council whether Mr. George William Crooke might
not be dispensed with; for he may rest assured that