The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-02-09 00:00:00

wheat has undergone a depression of 7s. a quarter ; and in
Suffolk and Essex a fah of Bs., on barley is noticed. Ths
spect of supplies from abroad is also much brighter.

pro
The relaxation of the navies

use the Dutch ships in the ports of_Amsterdam

America, Where they. can carry Ja

the Bankers' Circular states, that-in the most prolific
corn yielding district of Holland the farmers have sold
scarcely any of their last crops. The arrivals of grain in
Liverpool are already enormously great, exceeding in. the.
two pr‘st weeks 580,000 barrels of flour ; 200.000 bushels
and 10,000 quarters of wheat 390,000 bushels. 43.000

7 7
sacks, and 12,000 quarters of Indian corn
btrrels of Indian corn meal.
CARRYING BUSINESS—MEETING IN BIRMINGHAM.
A numerous and influential meeting of the m

Id 45,000

-uers, aria manutacturers of Birmingham was held
on
Tuesday, at the public office in that town, for the purpose
of considering whether any, and what, measures should be
taken for averting the monopoly in the carriage of goods
by railway companies, and for preserving and improving
the means.oCeanal communication._ jr. J. Browne pre-
sided. In. stating the objects for which the meeting had.
been convened, he commenced by observing, that on
public groundsowhilst they were desirous of doing, away
with railway conveyance, they wished that every facility
should be given to- the conveyance of goods by canal or

)therwise

.
At present, he believed, great imustice had
been done to the carriers, a body of men to whom, it was.
needless to say, the tradesmen and merchants of- Bir-
mingham were particularly indebted for the great consi-
deration they had ever given to their wants, wishes, and.
convenience. It was then moved and carried unanimously,
" That a .moitopoly in the carriage of goods by railway
companies ought to be averted. —Mr. W it. Lloyd.
said he well knew how the interests of the merchants,
traders, and manufacturers of Birmingham were involved.
in the question,—parties of greater influence than himself,.
—but he might be allowed to say that freightage was a
very important article in his trade. Having seen the im-
portance of railways in extending the trade and traffic of
Birmingham, he was extremely anxious that they should
be continued • but he was at the same time an advocate

1.411 CAMS
for competition. lie need' not remind any gentleman
present that many trades were fostered, if not absolutely
created, in Birmingham, by the low price of freightage.
Already, the cost of carrying some descriptions of heavy
goods to the coast was greater than the cost of carriage
across the Atlantic. The speaker proceeded to allude to
the amicable arrangement likely to. take place between the
London and North-Western Railway companies, by
which he contended that, having " laid their heads toge-
ther," they would be enabled to divide the plunder be-
tween them, to the great injury of the carrying, trading,
and manufacturing interests. When such a monopoly as
this existed, or in all probability would exist,—,A mono-
, poly which over-rode Queen, Lords, and Commons,—it
was then time that the public should interfere. After di-
lating on the injustice to the public of all railway mono=
polies, he proposed the following resolution, which was
carried unanimously, " That the serious attention of the
Government should be directed to the fact of the enor-
mous amalgamations of railway companies with each
other, which are, in the opinion of this meeting, matters
of grave importance, not only to merchants, traders, and
manufactuters, but to the public at large, inasmuch as
such amalgamations tend to create an absolute monopoly,
by placing under the absolute control of the few indivi-
duals composing the direction of a railway company the
only existing means of support, both of passengers and
goods, and without the possibility of competition."
After a few words from Mr. Blewes and Mr. Whillock,,
it was resolved, " That such being the opinion of this
meeting, it is expedient that strenuous exertions be made
to maintain the canals of the kingdom, and to prevent
canal companies, amalgamating with railway companies,
in all cases where the canal forms a link in a chain of canal
communication.' The fourth, fifth, and sixth resolutions,
all of which were carried nem. dis., condemned the ine-
quality of tolls carried by canal companies, as being inju-
rious to their interests, and recommended that the atten-
tion of canal ,proprietors should be directed to the consi-
deration of the best means by which the traffic and transit
on their, lines might be improved ; and after deprecating
the loss and, inconvenience incurred by the public, by the
unsafe and irregular manner in which goods were con-
veyed on railways, pledged themselvei to encourage by
every means in their power the einployment of water in
preference to, railway carriage for such purposes,