The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-06-28 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

tempt to prove that MARY MAC DALEN was a virtuous ivo-
man ! It is to be presumed, however, that the time con-
sumed by them was spent usefully and agreeably, and
in as much mental cultivation as the mind of the noble
lord, distracted by great national questions and political
problems, would permit. His lordship, probably, now
and ton endured a rubber at ecarte, or sketched a pat-
tern for a lace cap, or cut out an idea of a new lappet im-
ported through the Foreign-office, or whistled the last
new waltz to my lady's bullfinch, or discussed the vul-
garity of flounces, the only way of dressing trqifies, the
monstrous affectation of despising jewels, the dangerous
prevalence of measles, and the christening of "little
BRINSLEY."

Now, we venture to assert, without the fear of contra-
diction, that a minister of the crown might be much less
innocently employed even when attending to the affairs
of state. That Lord MELBOURNE preferred social con-
verse in the quiet seclusion of domestic life, to the tur-
moil of political warfare, the exciting struggles of party►
the tedious representations of brewers, soap-boilers, and
drawling deputies from Aberdeen or Penzance, is a proof
of his refined taste, and bow admirably fitted be is to pre-
side over a whig cabinet and a popish cabal. No wonder
the nation has prospered under his auspices. He has
shown what may be done for a great people, simply by
the minister not interfering in public matters, but by con-
fining himself to private kindnesses, and unostentatious
acts of benevolence.

That Mr. NORTON is grateful or ought to he thankful
is quite another question. He obtained office, and he
bas quarrelled with his wife. He has foolishly suspected
his patron and lost his case. He tried for damages, and
has been flung in costs; but so long as the prime mi-
nister is protected from oppression, and is permitted to
set so admirable au example to the country, Mr. NOR-
TON'S pecuniary or copartnery loss is of no earthly im-
portance.

Our " popular member," as the tumblers of Clayton-
square call Mr. EIVART did that, on Friday night last, in
.the House of Commons, which, we venture to predict, he
will regrgt befoie he is many months older. He had suf-
cient influence to induce the government to order all
their subalterns and bangers-on to join the Irish rump
and whip in a majority to reject the Liverpool Docks
Bill. The factious manoeuvre succeeded, and the bill was
lost. The rate-payers and bond-holders of the Dock Es-
tate, seeking nothing but an act of justice—seeking only
the protection of their property—were driven out of the
house by the ignorant scrubs of the public offices and by
twenty-four persons who know just as much about Liver-
pool or the question under discussion as they do about
the precedency of buttons in the celestial empire.

Mr. EWART and his heartless faction must be made to
answer for this. The precious time of the most able and
independent merchants of Liverpool has been devoted
for months to the carrying of the bill through the house—
the borough funds, the property of the burgesses, have
been uselessly expended in furthering the narrow Views
and the monopolizing designs of the corporation-4 te-
dious investigation was instituted before 4ti intelligent
and independent commhtee, and a bill received the,stiner-
tion of that committee which would have given 'complete
satisfaction to the rate-payers, bond-holders, and all per-
sons interested in the docks; but because- the Town
Council of Liverpool did not approve of the bill—could
not grasp all the power and patronage—were not allowed
to job the police, and rob the docks for the benefit of
other parties—they muster a radical majority in the
House of Commons, and throw out the bill altogether !
The mean and disingenuous part which the govern-
ment have played in this transaction will nut soon be for-
gotten. Mr. Under-Secretary E. J. STANLEY has ren-
dered himself eminently conspicuous for the vile spbser •
viency and party spirit he
,has shown throughout. The
clause which he introduced, contrary to the advice of the
speaker, and which had for its apparent object the ex-
emption of certain ports in Cheshire from dock dues, was
devised solely to render the bill obnoxious, and afford a
pretext for opposing it. Mr. E. J. STANLEY may now,
perhaps, be chuckling at the success of his manoeuvre ;
but it is not, creditable even in him—it was a paltry trick
—a mere effort of low diplomacy—of vulgar cunning
and hypocrisy—persisted in without the slightest regard
for decency or candour.
But the next Consideration is—in what position'are the
bondholders of the Dock Estate placed? We answer at
once—they are in the unhappy position of creditors who
have claims :upon an estate which is in Chancery. In
November next'the Dock Estate Trust will cease to ex-
ist. Unless an act of parliament be passed in the pre-
sent session, vesting the trusteeship and receivership in
some party or other, there will he no trust, no power to
receive or compel the payment of dock dues, and, as a
matter of course, no interest can be paid on the bonds.
The municipal act is as clear on this subject as any thing
can be. The act in question regulates all other trusts
connected with corporations but that of the Liverpool
Dock Estate, with respect to which there is a special
clause, the 74th, which is in these words :
" Provided nevertheless that nothing in this act shall be con-
strued to extend to the body corporate of the trustees of the
Liverpool docks, but that every person who at the time of the
passing of this act shall be a trustee of the Liverpool docks, and
none other, shall be continued to be such trustee until the first
day of November, 1836, and no longet." _ _

_ ..
This clause was specially framed for Liverpool. Mr.
RUSHTON, we understand, left the question to he settled
by an act of parliament, and, as the present difficulty was
neither foreseen nor provided for, the trust will expire in
November next, and with it also the right to collect dock
dues. The bondholders will now see the delightful di-'
lemma in which Mr. EWART has placed them. We are
only stating facts when we assure them that we know
merchants who will not pay these dues except to parties
who shall be duly authorised by act of parliament to re-
ceive them. In the meantime litigation is inevitable. The
il
gentlemen who have been treated in this insulting map r
iampr
by Mr. WM. EIVART will not tamely allow him or hist•
ters of the corporation to overreach them by any assump-
tion of power, by any illegally appointed receiver, or by
any usurped right. While there is a court of law or equity
open to them, they must oppose the pretensions of
.the
corporation. It is not only their duty to do so in justice
to the bondholders, but in fairness to the commercial in-
terests of the pelt, They must never hazard the mer-
cantile facilities of Liverpool by mixing up the income
of the docks with that of the town, or in paying for a
police to protect shops by imposing or continuing a rate
upon ships. Because the reformed corporation have, by
creating new, costly, and unnecessary otifces—bv the ex-
pense of stipendiary law—by new appointments and ex-
traordinary jobs, involved themselves in liabilities be-
yond their means or their credit, that is no reason why
the Dock Estate should be warped into similar difficulties
and compelled to make up the defalcation. On the con-
trary, the very fact that the corporation are so involved
by the very excess of their liberality towards themselves
and their political partizans, ought to supply a reason for
greater care on the part of the merchants and shipowners
that the docks are extricated entirely from the perils that
threaten the property and the creditors of the corpora-
tion. If a borough. rate be requisite to save the corpo-
rat ion from bankruptcy, let it be imposed by all means.
We have no objection whatever to 2s. 6d. per pound on
the rental, or more if necessary. The people would have
municipal reform, and surely they will be honest enough
to pay for it. To impose a tax for this purpose would
not be unreasonable; but to have the trade of die port
hampered for ever by exorbitant dock dues, and the
revenue arising therefrom applied to pay the Mayor
£l,OOO for six scurvy dinners per annum, or Mr. HALL
£1,300 a-year for law that would be dear at any price,
and so many hundreds to some third-rate attorney who
.
cannot write a mad-dog advertisement with common
grammatical accuracy, would be a perversion of justice'
and an insult to the inhabitants of Liverpool.

Since the above was written, we perceive by the vote
lists that no less than twenty-three members of the go-
vernment supported Mr. EwAßT—besides all the most
prominent joints of the tail. These are our legislators !
HumE, we perceive, still talks, as old NoL used to do,
of the " Commons of England." The phrase, for the
sake of common sense, should be dropped altogether.
It should be in future the Commons of Ireland