The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-08-16 00:00:00

place on Sunda
MIDLA.N,

he 214 instant.
--,lllr. Bell, the secretors' of th

IiAILNVAI

Midland Company, will, it is said, early in autumn, take
seat at the board ; to be succeeded as secretary by Mr.
yalars, the general manager. The office vacated by Mr.
-s will be filled by Mr. Aliport, at present the ma-
.ger of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire. These
changes, it is added, may be expected early in autumn.
LONDON AND SOUTII-WESTERN RAILWAY. —The half-
yearly meeting of the London and South-Western Railway
Company was held on Wednesday. The report. of the
directors was agreed to, and resolutions declaring a divi-

dead of 3t per cent., and authorising the construction of
a double line from Dorchester to Exeter, and a double line
from Southampton to Exeter, were agreed to. The half-
yearly meeting of the New South-Western Steam Navi-
gation Company was held immediately afterwards, when a
dividend of 5 per cent. was declared.
FIRE IN LONDON.—One of the most extensive fires that
has occurred in the metropolis for some time broke out on
Wednesday morning, a few minutes before one o'clock, in
the premises of Messrs. Kirkman, piano-forte manufac-
turers, Dufour's-place, Broad-street, Golden-square. Pro-
perty valued at several thousand pounds sterling was laid
in ruins, and between seventy and eighty workmen were
deprived of their tools and thrown out of employment.
The flames, which raged five hours, communicated to
several of the adjoining premises. The cause of the con-
flagration is not known.
THE OMNIBUS TRADE.—Few who have not specially
considered the subject are aware of the importance of the
omnibus trade as a means of conveyance, of traffic, and
even of revenue. In the London trade alone there are
1200 omnibuses, employing 12,000 horses and 6000 omni-
bus servants, including cads, ostlers, helpers, &c. The
yearly wages paid to these men amounts to no less a sum
than £-136,800, and the yearly consumption of corn, hay,
and straw amounts to £501,800 per annum. The revenue
received by the government from the omnibuses is very
considerable. Each omnibus pays a yearly license which
costs three
guineas, and a mileage per omnibus which
amounts to £l2O per annum.—Morning Herald.
Thu COMMISSION OP INQUIRY into bribery at the
Canterbury election has closed its sittings. A curious
fact came out during the proceedings. Mr. Coppock, in
his examination, produced a brief, Which he said was the
one prepared for the defence of Sir F. Kelly, in 1843. He
Produced it to show that it was intended to prove that the
expense of the election was only -f,500, when it was in
reality much more. Sir Fitzroy Kelly said he believed
This paper to be the brief prepared for his defence, which
was 'placed in the hands of Mr. (now Sir Alexander) Cock-
burn. It was lost from the committee-room on the third
said,
E CRYSTAL
explainedl hereafter.
LPALACEeom .—The first ordinary
T u
day of the sitting. How it 'came into the hands of Mr.
Coppock, the solicitor employed against him—how a
sisolicitor could come into possession of his opponent's brief,
and not immediately return it to its proper owner, must,
he
general meeting of this company took place on Monday
last, at the London Tavern, Mr. S. Laing, M.P., in the
COMPANY:
chair. The secretary, Mn. Grove, read a report, which
stated that with regard to the state of the works and the
general progress of the undertaking, the directors had
only to repeat their conviction that everything was pro-
gressing towards a favourable result. The only operations
of any great importance remaining to be accomplished in
the building were'those connected with the covering in of
the central transept, which had been alreruly commenced,
(
and one of the ribs fixed in its place. The statement of
accounts to the-7th of. July last showed that the receipts
amounted to £501,1595 12s. ld., and the payments to
£440,550 6s. 9d., leaving a balance of £61,045 ss. 4d. The
chairman, in moying the adoption of the report, said there
was not the slightest doubt that the building would be
completed and ready for opening by the time specified.
THE FRENCH EMPEROR AND THE FOET.—The poet
Jasmin dined on-Saturday at St. Cloud. In the evening
he was asked'by the emperor and empress to recite some
verses.. He improiised, as is his wont, in his native
Languedoc patois, then translated into. French, and after-
wards repeated his composition in the original Languedoc.
The peculiar beauties of Jasmin were thus, in a great
measure, made intelligible to his audience, and made a
great impression upon their majesties. When the poet
perceived that his august hearers were in a melting mood,
'he suddenly asked-the emperor for the unconditional par-
don of his fellow-townsman the ex-quester Baze, a native
of Agen. The emperor paused for a few moments at this
-unlooked for, and-as it might have been supposed (for
Napoleon 111. is not-in the habit of improvising pardons)
ill-timed boldness, and then said—" Jasmin, I grant your

_ .
request, and if M. Baze should ever intriguf, against me,
I shall bold you and your poetry responsible.
TITS END SANDTrITIES TITE "J. Bonus,
Presbyter," the idol-priest of " Our Lady of Grace of
Acton," whose characteristic appeals to the " charity" of

the " faithful," have been occasionally noticed in our
column* in a letter to the Catholic Standard, adverting
to what he conceives-to have been a "quiet sneer" on the
part of the editor -respecting " our lotteries and raffles
which are art favourit-
the.P- "

Ineticbi

of " raising t

apists, delivers himself of the following' dictum 01
Jesuit morality :—" With regard to the principle of such
affairs, I question if your condemnation of it would be
quite as strong as his whose name' is subscribed; but it is
Eten highly legitimate to ;profit by the toleration of a
lse principle, otherwise .our wisest and holiest men,
secular and ,ecclesiastical, 'are as mistaken as my poor
little humble felf." The edit3r in a nostscript—evidently

n a great fright lest his orthodoxy should be questioned—
leclares that he, has never " said one word against lotteries,
~,afiles, or any . other such mode of raising , funds for

PASSIxci TOLLS.--A letter frDni the Hon. H. Manners
- Sutton to the Home-office, statee the reasons which have
induced the Shipping Dues Coutniissioners to defer their
report •on Taping dolls. -Mr. Sutton; after explaining
that the commissioners had visited Dover, Whitby, and
Bridlington, and stated that they deemed it premature to
_make suggestions as to their future management, thus
proceeds :—" We art:indeed of opinion that, in each of 'the
three.eases which we have investigated, the " Passing Toli"
is a sp4cial tax levied epon parties wk.) do not receive from
the application of the tax any adequate benefit. These
tolls are, however, in each instance, burdened with heavy
debts, incurred under the authority of :acts of parliament,
and for these debts, in two . cases out of the three, the
"Passing. Tolls" form practically the sale security. But
the question as to the mode in which unjust or impolitic
dues, thus lurdened, should be dealt with is one of great
magnitude. We believe that there are elsewhere charges on
whips, or on %goods carried in, ships, levied upon parties
who do not receive from the application of these taxes any
adequate benefit, but which form a part, if.not the whole,
of the security for debts contracted' under 41 statutable
authority, and :it is probable that the amount of these
'elterges and debts is considerable. We :have not, 'indeed,
as yet, had. either time 'or opportunity to .obtain accurate
information upon this subject, but it is clear that the
principle upon which any suggestions with regard to the
" Passing Tolls" and the debts secured upon them might
be founded, would be likewise applicable to the other
charges to, which we -have referred. Again, in two ,cases
out: of the three, the future maintenance of the liar-
boUrs, no less than the -lights of the creditors, .depends on
'the " Passing Tolls," and it would, in our judgment, be
premature to enunciate a principle of dealing with 'har-
bours thus situated, until we are more accurately informed
With regard to the number -and the nature of the cases -to
which the application of such a principle wordd extend.
We think, moreover, that it would be desirable to- submit
to her Majesty at the same time, and in the same report,
bur recommendation with respect to all the charges on
ships, or on goods carried in skips, which are levied at
each of the harbours to which we have referred, as well as
those which are collected elsewhere for their maintenance.
At Dover, both fees and duties are levied'on ships, and on
goods carried in ships, which form part of the borough
fund ; and at both Dover and at 'Whitby a local „coal duty
is collected in aid of the rates for paving, watching, light-
ing, &c. Each of these taxes forms part of the security
for the debts of the corporation, and lighting and paving
commissioners respectively. Now the system which town
dues, &e., are levied on ships, or on goods carried in ships,
and applied to town or municipal purposes, prevails in
many, if not the majority, of the principal ports of the
United Kingdom. The annual amount thus levied and
expended is-not at present accurately known to us, but it
may probably be estimated at approaching half a million
per annum ; and the debts secured on these town dues,
&c., are undoubtedly large, probably proportionate to the
revenue. This subject, then, is one of great importance,
not only to shipowners, but to the public ; and we feel
that at this early stage of our inquiry, and with the in-
complete information which we at present possess, it
would be premature, and might prejudice the deliberate
consideration of the whole subject, if we were to submit
any specific recommendations with regard to the above-
mentioned charges levied at Dover and Whitby, forming,
as they do, but a small branch of an extensive and com-
plicated question." The report concludes by stating that
the commissioners are busy obtaining information on the
points referred to above, and that they vvera about to pro-
ceed on a tour 4f inspection ty th‘_vat optports,-.-Sunder-
land News.