The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-05-31 00:00:00

CITTJRCH-RATES.

THE vexed luection of Church-rates was'brought
before the House of Commons on Thursday, and
'the Ministers were content to ,postpone the discus.
sion on the Budget, in order that a decision-upon it
might be pronounced. The motion was for .leave
-to bring in a Bill to alter -and amend -the law
respecting Church-rates, the -Chief provision-being
I• that persons giving notice of their being. Dissenters
should be exempted from 'payment. To this an
amendment was moved for a Committee to. consider
1-whether Church-rates shouldnet be abolished;.and,
rafter an animated discussion, the original motion
'was rejected- by 208 to .187, and the amendment
stet a similar fate by 222 to T7=4. There is-some-
thing refreshing in the return to a better feeling in
f-the House of. Commons, as,thown by these votes,
lifter the numerous approaches to latitudinarianism
-Which the. Lower House of, Legislature has too fre-
quently exhibited. It is mere 'cant for'Dissenters
te assume that. any point of.oonscience is involved
•in the payment of Church-rates. It is • simply a
,charge upon,house property,.with -which the tenant
has,in reality no more concern than in the destina-
rtion of other taxes, or even of ;his rent, and the
application is for- the maintenance of the fabric of
the 'Church and -the administration of parochial
affairs. The motion, however, did not only attempt
to reduce the Church to the level ofa religious sect,
whiohowas the aitn•cf many of,iaa-supporters, but-
it would have perpetrated a tenfold, greater mischief.
By making the profession of dissent a ground of
exemption from payment, a premium would have
been diked for defection from the,Church, and the
burden of -maintaining those sacred edifices, which
are the glory and the safeguard of our nation, would,
have been thrown upon .the pious fewohose con.'
sciences would have been above the temptation.
We can hardly conceive a greater evil than.making
religious belief a test for taxation, yet this
must have been the alternative, or the Church
would be reduced from a national institution
to a mere voluntary association. At a time like
the present, when there is too great a tendency
to:allow worldly interests -to monopolise all other;
considerations, when amongst the vast masses of;
our-teeming population there is an immense amount
of indifference to all religion, except under the
excitement of theological controversy, the carrying
out of such a scheme would have been a heavy
blow and great discouragement to the church, the
only real bulwark against the errors and encroach-
ments of Lome. The temptation of saving the
payment of rates would have been too strong to be
resisted, and numbers would have availed them-
selves of the privilege, not because they contributed
to other forms of worship, but in order tosecure them-
selves from any payment whatever. The defence of
Churchprates is not based upon any wish to bind-the
consciences of others, but England, as a State, recog.
nises Christianity as developed in her own Church,
and secures the proper means of Divine worship in
maintaining the structures which the piety of our
ancestors has raised. It is not fitting that this
should be thrown upon mere voluntary aid, as in
too many instances it may amount to nothing, and
it would be far worse policy to make hostility to
the Church a ground of exemption, lest the oppor-
tunity should be too readily seized, and lukewarm
Churchmen converted into avowed Dissenters, but
practically men of no religion whatever.

THE DOCK-YARD INQUIRY.--
WHIG-RADICAL PURITY.
THE Select Committee of Inquiry into the alleged
abuse of patronage in the Dock-yards, by the late
Board of Admiralty, have presented their report to
the House of Commons; but so far from arriving
at any decision or pronouncing any opinion, they
have been contented with describing the principal
facts detailed in evidence, and left the Parliament to
form their own opinion and pronounce their own
verdict, if such a result be necessary. This open
verdict, if we may so call it, has been eagerly seized
pp m by the organs of Liberalism, And much vixtuous

indignation is expended in denunciations of the
' principal offender, Mr. STAFFORD, and his too easy
chief, the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND. There is
something almost amusing in the thorough absurdity,
and disgusting in the contemptible cant, of Whig-
Radicals pretending to political purity. There is
not a dirty act for political purposes which they
have not committed, nor have they ever hesitated,
in order to accomplish their ends, whether for party
or personal advantage, to resort to the most unscru-
pulous means, the most unblushing falsehood, and
the most deceitful trickery, and yet with barefaced
hypocrisy they profess profound horror at a
Conservative Minister preferring a political friend
to an opponent in the bestowal of patronage
belonging to his office. The case, however, has
broken down, as shown by the voluminous report,
without an opinion ; for, had the evidence only
decentlysupported the charge against Mr. ?FORD,
Lord SEYMOUR, the Chairman of the Committee,
was not a man to stick at trifles to prevent him
from carrying out the views of the party at whose
instigation the Committee was appointed. And
now that every disappointed official, and all who
had anything to do with the case, from the late
Prime Minister downwards, have been examined
and cross-examined with all the ingenuity which
Whig-Radical malevolence could suggest or legal
skill effect, what does the charge amount to ? That
Mr. STA.VMM), as Secretary to the Admiralty
Board, and an avovred member of a Conservative
Administration, bestowed the patronage belonging
to Ms office upon men holding Conservative
opinions in preference to those of opposite politics,
and in so doing assisted in the return of Conserva-
tive representatives for Boroughs connected with
t'he Government Dock-yards. " The head and
front of his offending hath this extent, no more."
011,1'-say the champions of Whig-Radical purity,
" but Ate public service is injured, for appointments
and promotions should only go by merit, and the
Whig-made rule should be adhered to, of all recom-
tnendations coming from the respective superinten-
dents of the several Dock-yards through the Sur-
veyor of the Navy, and these men are all so impartial
and unbiassed that no political feeling could possibly
have any influence." All this sounds very fair, but
let us look how it operates. For a long series of
years, ever since they had the opportunity, the
Whigs have been pursuing silently and insidiously,
but not the less surely, the very course for which
they now pretend such hypocritical horror. They
have filled all the working departments of the
Government offices with their creatures and depen-
dents, from the Surveyor of the Navy down to the
humblest Dock-yard labourer, from the Secretary
of the Post-office down to the worst paid letter-
carrier, and yet, when a Conservative Administra-
tion was called upon to perform the duties which,
throngli iheir acknowledged inability, they deserted,
they had the folly to ',expect their successors to
adopt all their arrangements, and the ill-grace to
feel angrybecause official patronage did not continue
'to flow in Whig-Radical channels. If the Earl of
I)ERITy is to be blamed, it is for not giving more
-solidity-to his Government by making 'it, in all its
-essential elements, one of tonservative principles.
He did not do -so, but,-with more chivalrous honour
than political wisdom, allowed all -the working
departments to be -retained by those who had been
appointed'by .his opponents.; and yet, 'because Mr.
'STAFFORD, in 'his .Official capacity, -exercised his
right of patronage in .favour of his own principles,
these double-dyed 'hypocrites, whom-no-experience
can teach and 'no sense of 'honour cenbind, have
opened-up a cry of political corruption, at which we
could feel 'indignant were it not too ,absurd to
-excite anyotherfeeling. than contempt. The whole
affair has presented a -curious compound, at which,
however, we ought not-to feel surprised, for when
Lord SEYMOUR pretends to political honour, and
the runes to consistency, 'Whig-Radicals may pre-
tend to anything.

BIRKENHEAD COMMISSIONERS.: THE
APPROACHING CONTEST.
To judge from the-activity with which the prepare-
one for the approaching election for Commissioners
of the township of Birkenhead are being carried on,
and the number of exciting appeals which,are issued
almos daily, under the auspices of the. respective
Blue and Bei parties, it would appear that the con-
test bore more of ,personal character than the
prime movers on either side would be inclined to
acknowledge. Thia,,however, is owing rather more
to the spirited energies of the acting committees
than anyseal personal feeling, as there can be no
doubt that the future prosperity of Birkenheadis, in
a great ,measure, if not wholly &pendent on -,,the
manner in which the electors on this occasion-exer-
cise their franchise. Indeed, so paramount is this
view of the case, that the names of the respective
candidates form a very unimportant element in the
affair, their chief .value.49pending on their adhe.
rence to that particular set of opinions on Birken-
head affairs which are recognised :under the
respective titles of Blue and Red. .It, therefore,
becomes a matter of serious, consequence that each
ratepayer should give his vote for the whole num-
ber of candidates in the list .which he approves,
.without reference to personal ,considerations, and
then there can be .no doubt as to a successful
termination to the .contest. We published last
week the substance of the statements put forth by
the,charnpions of each,party ; and we would, now,
especially direct the most careful attention to them
by those upon whose Notes the issue will depend.
It must be unnecessary toxecur to the extraordinary
movement which was made some years since to
raise Birkenhead into the position of an important
commercial town, for which, byriatural advantages,
and her
.proximity to Liverpool, she was so well
adapted. ,It will be fresher in the memory of all
who take all interest in her welfare, that, during
the last four cw Ave years, Birkenhead has suffered
the stagnation of a reaction which held out little or
no prospect of improvement. Her fine river front-
age was a desolate heap, her streets were deserted,
her houses were uninhabited, and despair had
taken the place of hope in the breasts of almost all
her inhabitants. The Commissioners, in whom was
vested the local government, did but little to effect
improvement; the Dock Trustees, who were chiefly
composed of the Commissioners, did, if possible,
less, and melancholy seemed to have marked
the town of Birkenhead for her own. It may be
asked had party feeling nothing to do with this, or
had hope, long deferred, paralysed all energies until,
with little money and less credit, nothing was done
because there was nobody to do it, and nothing to
do it with. It may be sufficient to state that the
Red party was all this time in power, and it was
only after the election in 1852 that a favourable
change became perceptible, and the long night of
depression seemed drawing to a close. It was then
that the inhabitants exerted themselves to effect an
alteration ; and securing a Blue majority in the
Board of Commissioners, changed the constitution
of the Dock Trustees to a similar hue. The result
was speedily apparent, and affords, perhaps, the
most intelligible argument in favour of the Blue
party being the one most conducive to the welfare
of the township. They succeeded in conclud-
ing an engagement with Messrs. BRASSEY and
M'CouNticK, the eminent contractors, for the com-
pletion of the outer-wall, which is now being rapidly
proceeded with, and should the termination of the
approaching contest retain the Blue party in their
majority in the governing Board, considerable fur-
ther progress will be made. It is only within the
last few days that the above-named contractors, in
conjunction with Mr. JACKSON, M,P,, and Mr.

PETO, 1.P., as will be seen in a letter in our
advertising columns, entered into a conditional
agreement, that should the Blue party be successful
in the forthcoming election, they are prepared to
make a contract for the completion of the whole of
the Docks within three years, and by that means
realise the long-deferred expectation of Birkenhead
becoming an important commercial port. This, it
might be supposed, would be sufficient of itself to
enlist the support of all who are interested in the
prosperity of the township. The mere construction
of the necessary works will, of itself, give an impetus
to trade, for more than two thousand men will be
employed, and when completed, they will, from the
great facilities of railway communication, prove a
source of commercial activity which will give value
to house property, and business to the shopkeepers,
and by multiplying the inhabitants, materially re-
duce the local rates. There cannot be a second
opinion as to the vital consequence to the owners
and occupiers of houses in Birkenhead, of arriving
at a correct decision on this question, and though
statements and counter-statements are put be-
fore them in almost bewildering multiplicity, they
may still fall back on the simple fact that Birken-
head's prosperity depends on the completion of the
Docks—that the Red party, though in office, did
nothing to accomplish this end, while the Blue, in
the short time they have had the ascendancy, have
made a most important beginning, and have the
means, should they be retained in office, to complete
the good work. But, it may be asked, have the
Red party no answer to this case ? The answer
may be supplied from their own bills, which pro-
claim, as though it were a host in itself, that the
Dock Trustees have served the Dock and Warehouse
Company, who own the land, and constructed the
walls on the sides of the Docks, with a notice that the
conservancy rests by law with the Trustees, and can-
not be interfered with without their consent. But
this is no novel exercise of power, for when the Red
party was in the ascendant the same authority was
exercised, and the present Trustees have declared
their willingness to entertain favourably every ap-
plication to deal with the property in order to facili-
tate the carrying on of trades and manufactures.
It would appear, indeed, to be a mere party
manoeuvre, favoured by the circumstance of the
Dock and Warehouse Company being on the side
' of the Reds, and so long as they persist in asserting
a right which by law belongs to the Trustees, and
which it has not been proved the latter have exer-
cised to the prejudice of the Company, the onus is
thrown upon the Company of showing that the Blue
party, after all their exertions, both present and
prospective, for the welfare of Birkenhead, are
really inimical to its interests. The facts are all the
other way, and we cannot believe that the electors,
who on Tuesday next will be called upon to pro-
nounce their decision, will be so oblivious of their
own interests as to reject the Blue list, and by so
doing, throw the.township hack into that slough of
despond from which she has now such a fair chance
of being rescued.