The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-06-27 00:00:00

MERCHANT SHIPPING LEGISLATION.

SOME weeks since we directed attention to the
comprehensive measure introduced by. Mr. CARD-
WELL for consolidating the various acts affecting
the mercantile marine, and we then pointed out
certain portions of the bill which would seriously
have -injured the shipping interests, particularly as
regards the rapidly increasing extension of steam-
navigation. The question was taken up with great
spirit and earnestness by the Liverpool Steara-ship
Association ; and, owing to the indefatigable exer-
tions of Mr. ROBERT LAMONT and Mr. THOMSON,
the secretary of that body—who attended •as a
deputation in London, and had several interviews
with the President of the Board of Trade on the
subject—several important alterations have been
,conceded, and the'bill as amended will be brought
'before the House-of Commons this day (Tuesday).
We have only space on the present occasion 'to
-allude to those alterations of the greatest conse-
quence, and it will be seen that they amply repay
the trouble which )has been taken, and may fairly
be accepted by fhe steam-ship owners as perhaps
the most equitable compromise that could have
been made, although not perhaps all that might
have been desired.

By the bill as originally drawn, it was provided
that, in estimating the tonnage of steam-ships,
three-tenths of the gross tonnage should be allowed
in the case of paddle-wheel steamers for the space
-occupied by the prgpelling power,.and two-tenths
in the case of screw steamers. It is now provided
-that, in the case of ,paddle-wheel steamers, where
-the space occupied by machinery and boilers is
-between twenty and -thirty per cent. of the gross
tonnage of the vessel, the allowance shall 'be thirty-
seven per cent. of such gross tonnage ; and in the
case of screw steamers, where the space occupied
is between thirteen .and twenty per cent., the
allowance shall be thirty-two per cent. of the gross
tonnage. With regard to other ships, it shall be
in the discretion of the-Commissioners of Customs
or the owners to have -the deduction made in the
same manner, or the space to be measured with
the addition of one-half in ,the case of paddle-wheel
steamers, and three-fourths in the case of screw
steamers ; but no provision pis made for the possible
event of the Commissioners of Customs-and owners
differing as to which mode of -ascertaining the net
tonnage shall be practised. Another provision
gives authority to the Commissioners of Customs
to order vessels already registered to be remea-
sured when store-rooms or coal-breakers have been
introduced into or thrown across the engine-room,
an alteration which will apply to most steam-ships.
This has beenobjected to as arbitrary and unneces-
sary, except in
.particular cases, Which should have
been specified; but the clause provides that all
such remeasurements shall be according to the
allies in force before the act comes into operation,
.or, if the owners ,desire it, may be done according
!to lthe new rules.

Another important point is with reference to the
presumed unlimited liability of shipowners in the
event of loss of goods and loss of or injury to
human life. It is now proposed that the owner
shall not be liable for any damages beyond the
value of the ship and freight, but in no case shall
the value be ,estimated at less than £l5 per regis-
tered ton. In affixing a value, the bill should
either have made the amount arbitrary, or stated
a maximum, which might be simply done by alter-
ing the words to " not exceeding" £l5 per ton.
It is also provided that the damageS payable in
each case of death or injury shall be £3O, leaving
it to either party to try the question by a special
jury before the sheriff, and after such inquiry
those who require more than the statutory amount
of damages may bring special actions.

Some alterations are also mntle in the pilotage
:laws, by which masters and mates, after examina-
tion, may be empowered to .pilot a particular slip
or ships ; and in the event of local pilotage autho-
rities refusing to grant such a certificate, the
Board of Trade, on being satisfied that it has been
improperly refused, is empowered to appoint an
ex3mination, and if the master or math be found
comretept, to grant him a pilotage certificate, and
renew it or withdraw it as the Board of Trade
may think fit. It may be questionable how far
such an ini,erferenee of the Board of Trade with
the local pilotlN
e authorities will prove advan-
tageous as far as ,loncerns the port of Liverpool ;
but much will, of coucse, depend on the manner in
which the authority is',exercised. We have thus
hastily glanced at the chief modifications in the
bill ; but there are several othors deserving consi-
deration, particularly the provision in clause 21,
that, in the measurement of tonnage, rfothing shall
be added for a closed-in space on deck sololY appro-
priated to the berthing of the crew, unless it exceed,
one-twentieth of the remaining tonnage of tho*
ship, and then only the excess shall be added, and
also nothing shall be added in respect of any
building erected for the shelter of deck passengers,
if approved by the Board of Trade.

.: ti~.

ADMISSION OF DISSENTERS TO THE

UNIVERSITIES.

A LONG discussion took place in the House of
Commons on Thursday, on the motion of Mr.
HEYWOOD, for the admission of Dissenters to the
University of Oxford, by a clause in the University
Reform Bill declaring it unnecessary for any per-
son on matriculation to take more than the oath of
allegiance. Notwithstanding the opposition of the
Ministers, the clause was carried by a majority of
254 to 163, and Mr. HEYWOOD then moved a
similar clause with reference to persons taking any
degree. Upon this Lord JOHN RUSSELL declined
any further opposition, but Mr. WALPOLE showed
that there was a great distinction between the
two, inasmuch as while the first admitted Dis-
senters for education, the latter gave them a right
to a share in the government of the University.
Another division then took place, and the second
clause was thrown out by a majority of 207 to 198,
Mr. HEYWOOD expressing his intention to try it
again on the motion for the third reading last
night. Whatever may be the opinion of the dis-
senting body and liberalising Churchmen on this
question, a gross injustice would be committed on
the positive rights of the Church. The Universi-
ties of Oxford and Cambridge are essentially and
really seminaries-expressly belonging to the Church
of England, and designed for the education of its
members. , In any other respect the nation has no
claim on them whatever, and therefore to interpose
the authority of Parliament is merely a legalised
violation of right which is a disgrace to the lower
House of legislature. We have, however, no ap-
prehension as to the result. In the first place, the
House of Lords, to whom the measure must be
submitted, has very slight infusion of Radicalism
and Dissent, which alone could sanction an innova-
tion ; and in the next place, supposing both or
either of the clauses to be carried through Par-
liament, the admission of students would still rest
with the authorities of the University, and we
believe they have too much regard for the sacred
trust reposed in them to open their doors to any
but members of the Church.

THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION
OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS,
AND ITS ASSAILANTS.

WE had intended noticing at some length the slander-
ous statements and unchristian attacks which have been
recently made upon the Gospel Propagation Society. This
defence, however, was officially and triumphantly made
(as the following extracts will prove) at the annual meet-
ing, or 153rd anniversary, held in London on Wednesday
last, and presided over by His Grace the Archbishop of
Canterbury, when, amongst others, were present on
the platform, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishops of
Ripon, Bangor, Oxford, Llandaff, Chichester, Lincoln,
ifown, Cork, New Zealand, Adelaide, Natal, Graham's
Town, London, and St. Asaph ; the Dean of St. Paul's,
the Earl of Powis, Lord Galloway, Lord Robert Cecil, the
Rev. Lord Bayning, the Rev. Lord John Thynue, Sir R. H.
Inglis, Sir T. D. Acland, Mr. A. J. Beresford Hope, &c.

APPROPRIATION OP FUNDS AND ALLEGED FAVOURITISM

OP THE SOCIETY.

On this subject, the Secretary read the following
report, in answer to the objections made, that a large
share of the society's funds is expended on the other
colonies, and that the society confines its efforts to the
maintenance of clergymen in British settlements, while
the vast field of heathen missions is left to other societies.

First, with respect to the society's expenditure in
North American and West Indian colonies, it would
be seen by the report for 1843 that the expenditure
for that year, in the diocese of Toronto, was £6,500,
while in 1853 it was only £3,100 ; and that in the
six dioceses of British North America there had been since
1843 a total reduction in expenditure to the amount of
£5,000, while the number of missionaries during the same
period had been largely increased. The reduction in the
society's expenditure in the four West Indian dioceses,
within the same period of ten years, had been from
£11,200 to £2,G00. To the other mis-statement, that the
society confined its operations almost entirely to people of
British descent, and took little or no part in missionary
efforts for 'the conversion of the heathen, the following
was the short and conclusive answer. The single diocese
of Madras (southern India) had received during the past
_year the sum of £10,150, or more than the three Canadian
dioceses put together; while the diocese of Calcutta (be-
sides a large grant from the jubilee fund) had received
the sum of £8,900, or more than twice the aggregate
amount of what was contributed by the society to the four
Australian dioceses and Tasmania. In short, the East
Indies and Ceylon had received during the past year more
than one-third of the society's whole income, and the total
annual expenditure on missions to the heathen could not
be reckoned at less than £23,000.

VIE PRIMA.TE'S UNALTERED ATTACHMENT TO THE

PRINCIMES OP THE SOCIETY.

The ARCHBISHOP, having opened the proceedings by
prayer, said that, although it was necessary sometimes for
the person who presided over a meeting like the present
to give some account of the society over which he' as
presiding, and which he desired those whom he addressed
should support, it was unnecessary for him to do so on this
occasion, because he was sure that most of those assembled
were acquainted with the objects and operations of the
society. The society was founded on the principle that it
was the will of our heavenly Father that His revelation
should be made known by those who had received it to all
who would not otherwise receive it, and the propagation
of the Gospel throughout the world was provided for in
this way. There were natural feelings which necessarily
led to this—feelings of gratitude and sympathy ; and they
found that the Apostles, though directed by Divine com-
mand, were not devoid of those sentiments, and acted
under those impulses. In cases of bodily affliction, which,
he grieved to say, often met with more ready relief than
the -concerns of the soul,—if a person, for example, afflicted
with blindness had been relieved, if he met one similarly
afflicted, he would not withhold from him the remedy by
which he had been cured or relieved. If he did so, he
would be thought to be devoid of the common feelings of
humanity. These were grounds on which the society
proceeded—those blessed with the Gospel desired to com-
municate its blessings to those who would be otherwise
strangers to the covenant of promise. About 150 years
ago the society was founded, for the purpose of supplying
the spiritual wants of those who left this country for lands
in which no such provisions were made, for persons who,
from their circumstances, were not likely to be able to
supply themselves with the means of obtaining spiritual
instruction. This was the principle on which the society
was founded, and on, which it had acted from that time to
the present. If there were reasons 150 years ago for a
society like the present, it needed no argument to prove
how great was now the necessity for such a society; for
those who founded it talked of plantations, while in the
present day they talked of kingdoms, for the British colo-
nies had increased in number and extent of territory far
beyond that which could have been contemplated 150
years ago. Under these circumstances, he hoped the
officers of the society were justified in calling attention to
its objects and means, and he trusted that support would
be received commensurate to the increased demands made
upon its funds.

THE ARCHBISHOP OP DUBLIN ON THE FALSE STATE-
MENTS OF "THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER."

His GRACE, in moving the first resolution, said, this
was not a society merely for distributing Bibles, or for
merely telling to the heathen that their rites were super-
stitious and absurd, and that Christ brought the light of
the Gospel into the world, though such efforts were most
desirable when nothing more could be done. But this
society provided for the propagating, establishing, and
diffusing of the Church to which they belonged, by sending
out its authorised ministers. He felt himself called upon
to advert to accusations which had been thrown out
against this society, particularly from the part of the
country from which he came—that the society abetted
Romanising principles and supported the views of a par-
ticular party in the Church. There could be no doubt
that, so long as there were parties in the church, there
must be in every society more or less of an admixture of
such parties ; but as the society was not in itself faulty,
the most obvious remedy against the evils complained of
was to urge as many as they could to join and to support
the society, in order to keep it free from those infections
of religious error which they so much dreaded, and not for
them to aid in the bringing about their own prophecies
by leaving the society in the hands of those to whom they
objected. (Cheers.) He was happy to say that the sister
island's statistical documents had refuted these misstate-
ments, the authors of which had expressed their regret
in private, and he hoped they would do so in public. He
said " public," because he did not think that men who had
trumpeted forth their accusation should only whisper forth
their recantation. He believed that there was no country
which owed more to the society than did Ireland, and he
had therefore always supported and endeavoured to make
its objects and claims as much as possible known among
the inhabitants of that country. He regretted one
circumstance connected with the society, as it in some
instances tended to mislead people : it was called the
" Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts," from which some persons believed that its labours
were confined to the conversion of the heathen. God for-
bid that he or any one should be indifferent to the spiritual
welfare of any of their fellow-creatures, but, such being
the name of the society, people argued that they ought
first to reclaim those at home, as there was much to be done
in their own country. But what was meant by foreign parts?
Could they include under this category 30 dioceses abroad
in which this society exercised its functions and which be-
longed to this country, and the inhabitants of which were
British subjects? Their first cares ought to be for their own
people—not merely those within these islands, but those
included in the colonies of the British empire. (Cheers.)
He spoke of this with strong feelings, on account of the
guligratiO which had of late ,year§ t4kcn Place from Eng,

land, and still more largely from Ireland, and the evils or '
benefits which would result from the way in which these
'vast numbers were enlightened or left in darkness would
bewilder the mind to contemplate. Their efforts ought,
however, to be partly directed to the conversion of the
heathen, but this was far from being incompatible with the
furnishing of means of grace to their own people, for the
two objects were most infinitely connected. Every settler
in a foreign colony was a missionary to the aborigines—of
evil, if unenlightened and irreligious, spreading and
adding the vices of civilised life to the ferocity of the
savage ; but if enlightened and religious, a missionary of
goodness and truth, which he taught in a most effectual
manner, through the influence of his own example.

CHARGES AGAINST THE COLONIAL BISHOPS SIET BT

THE BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND.

The BISHOP of NEW ZEALAND, in moving the second
resolution, said, that after twelve years' absence from this
country, he had returned to make the report of his own
diocese with mingled feelings. He would rather have
presented his report in the Jerusalem-chamber, or wherever
the councils of the church were carried on ; but, as he
owed his own appointment chiefly to a meeting which had
been held in this very room, he was not one to raise an
objection to the fitness of the locality, and hoped that the
object for which they had met would sanctify the plapp.
It was true that the society had not only done much
for the colonial church, but also, on account of it, borne
much unmerited reproach; and, as regarded himself,
whatever portion of reproach had been hitherto borne for
him by the society, he was now come among them to bear
it for himself. It was not without surprise that he had
seen it stated in print that the colonial bishops, with but
two exceptions, were hindering the spread of the Gospel.
For his own part, he met such charges with the most
perfect good humour, as he believed they had never been
made when there was any person present to refute them,
and he would forgive all who brought such accusations
against himself if, instead of bringing them before the
tribunal of the newspapers, they would bring them before
the authorities of the church. (Cheers.)

We shall not add a line to this straightforward and
conclusive justification of the management and operations
of a society which has stood the test of more than a cen-
tury and a half, and on the existence of which the Colonial
Church may be said to depend.

THE SOCIETY'S PRESENT POSITION.

The following is a brief but comprehensive statement
of the society's present position:—

Though for upwards of a century the society's ope-
rations had virtually been limited to the North American
and West Indian colonies, yet, within the last thirty
or forty years, they have been extended to India, Aus-
tralia, Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, South Africa,
and Borneo, and within the same period 25 additional
colonial bishoprics have been founded, and in 21 of these
the society has missionary stations. The total sum ex-
pended by the society during the year 1853, for the main-
tenance, in whole or in part, of 447 missionaries, and 700
catechists, schoolmasters, and theological students (over
and above funds specially appropriated by the donors) was
£56,000.