The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-05-18 00:00:00

Btstrirt Prius.

A factory operative at Heywood has confessed to having
robbed the box of the Oddfellows of £133, 21 years ago.
The collections at Christ Church, Salford, alter two ser-
mons by the Rev. H. Stowell on Sunday week, amounted
to £260.

TARLETON.—A day school for boys and girls is now in
course of erection at the Holmes, in the parish of Tarle-
ton, to accommodate 170 children; and it is intended to
have it licensed for divine service on Sundays.

A labourer at Blackpool was killed on Wednesday by.
lightning. When found, part of his clothes had the ap-
pearance of being burned, and part of an umbrella stick
was laid across his breast. The umbrella was shivered to
pieces.
SHORT TIME.—From a table in the Manchester Ea—
aininer, it appears that there were, on the Bth of May,
80,911 persons at full work in the Lancashire Cotton
Mills ; 83,850 employed on short time, and 21,625 totally
unemployed. Since that day there are 4,000 persons less
at full work, and 4,000 more unemployed.
WALKING INTO A TRAP.—OH Sunday night, a woman
named Elizabeth Heap succeeded in stealing a mantle and
handkerchief from one of the shops of Mr. Norman, pawn-
broker, Blackburn. She took them to another of Mr.
Norman's shops, with the tickets and private marks on
them. She was immediately given in charge.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.—On the night of yesterday week,
an alarming fire broke out on the premises of Mr. John
Riddlesworth, Queen-street, Wigan, within a few yards of
the railway station, which, in the course of an hour, de-
stroyed nearly the whole of the machinery and buildings
used as a bobbin-turning manufactory. The total damage
is estimated at £7OO or £BOO.
DREADFUL ACCIDENT FROM FIRE ARMS. -- On
Friday last, Dr. Elletson, of Fleetwood, was shooting
rooks in the preserves at Parrox Hall, near that town,
when one of them which he had shot fell in
a tree out of his reach. A boy ascended the tree
to get it, and the doctor attempted to push the lad higher
with the butt end of the loaded gun, when it went off, and
the contents were lodged in his breast. The doctor
lingered until the following day; when he died.
THE CROPS NEAR CHESTER.—During the last few days,
we have had an abundant fall of rain, and a most delightful
and acceptable change of .temperature. The cold has at
length left us, and all vegetation is bursting into life. The
wheat, though greatly thinned by the recent frost, is till-
ing up surprisingly, and the spring corn has quite regained
its colour. If the present temperature should continue,
Nye shall soon have an abundance of grass, and, in good
time, a large crop of hay. The country is beginning to
look perfectly beautiful, from the profusion of bloom on
the fruit trees, and the bright green of the woods and
hedges.—Chester Chronicle.

FLOOD IN MANCHESTER.—EarIy on Sunday week, that
heap of wretched dwellings, in a low, damp valley, almost
encircled by the black stream of the Medlock, known as
" Little Ireland," was the scene of a somewhat sudden
inundation ; the heavy rains of Saturday night causing the
river, which is crossed by flood-gates near Messrs. Birley
and Co.'s mills, to overflow and fill this little valley to
the height of from four to five feet above the level of the
ground. All the houses were flooded to the dep h of seve-
ral feet. The chief injury has been sustained by Messrs.
Birley and Co. The water rushed up the engine well into
the engine house of the mill, and thence flowed into two
rooms on the basement story (one containing 10,000
spindles, and the other 84 looms), to the height of between
five and six feet. _ _

DISPOSITION TO RIOTING IN MANCHESTER, AMONGST
THE UNEMPLOYED.—VII Wednesday afternoon, a meet-
ing of the unemployed its various trades was held on a va-
cant piece of land in Rochdale-road, Manchester. At
one time there were present nearly 2000 persons. The
real object- of assembling seems to have been unknown,
nothing having been matured ; but it appeared that it was,
the intention of the principal actors to break into the mill
of English, Woolley, and Co., spinners, and compel the
workpeople, employed to turn out. The principal and
foolish argument used was, that if all were not employed,
none should be. Many (to their credit) retired on this
intimation, and the others were deterred from violent pro-
ceedings by the unexpected appearance within the pre-
mises of a body of police-officers. There did not appear
to be any arranged scheme of operations amongst the dis-
turbers, who, however, agreed that a general meeting of
the trade should be held on an early day,—probably, it is
rumoured, on this day (Tuesday). The borough inagis-
tracy met on Saturday to devise means to afford such re-
lief to the unemployed as the urgency of the case seems to
demand.
SANITARY CONDITION OF MA NC RESTER—lnquiries have
been made into the state of 150 common lodging houses
within the borough of Manchester, chiefly occupied by
Irish; and they were found to contain upwards 1,800 in-
mates, or an average of 13 to each house; the walls and
floors very dirty, the rooms generally small and badly
ventilated, the bedding and the clothing (if such rags
deserve the name) in an extremely filthy state ; and, as

might be expected, in several instances cases of fever and
other infectious diseases existing in the midst of these
densely-crowded and filthy dens. Besides these lodging
houses, there is another description of dwellings which
have not been overlooked,—cottages, in which some one
or more portions are sub-let by the occupants to other
families. OE these, upwards of a thousand have been
visited, and found to contain more than 6,500 inmates ;
and of these cottages more than three per cent were found
to contain sick inmates, in many cases supposed to be suf-
feringfrom fever. Seven-tenths of these cottages were
in such a filthy state, as to need whitewashing and other-
wise cleansing ; as may well be supposed, when it is by no
means unusual to find a room ten or twelve feet square,
tenanted by 12 or 14 persons. The evil effects on the
health of the inmates are still further heightened by the
want, in many places, of paving, draining, and ventila-
tion. And all this still exists, notwithstanding4he opera-
tions of the.building and sanitary regulations committee
of the council, through which nearly 1,8011 premises
(having.nearly 9,000 inmates) have had alterations made
in them to improve their sanitary condition ; upwards of
550 additional conveniences have been built, and nearly
200 ash-pits constructed. We have heard of one house
in which there are about 40 Irish paupers ; seven of them
sick, and a child lying on a table, having died of measles.
In the whole house there were only three filthy-beds, and
the little furniture most wretched in kind and dirty in
condition. In another house, thirteen beds werefountlin
three rooms ; one room, nine feet square, had fourteen oc-
cupants ;: and into this house from thirty to forty ledgers
were-received at night. It need not be matter for sur-
prise, then, that the visitors should find two persons sick
there, or that two others had just been removed thence
to the fever ward. To this house there was neither con-
venience nor ash-pit. In a cellar containing only one
bed; were found two families, in all eleven individnals ;
one man, his wife, and five children having to lie on the
cellar floor, without any covering but a few filthy rags.
Here, too, as might be expected. two sick persons were
found. In another cellar, a woman and four children
were found, all sick, and in a state of extreme destitution ;
the husband-had been removed to the fever ward.
INCREASE OF PAUPERISM IN WARRINGTON.—It ap-
pears from the quarterly abstracts of accounts just pub-
lished by the Guardians of the Poor, of the Warrington
Union, for the quarter ending the 25th day of March last,
that there has been In-door poor relieved 377-, and Out-
door poor 4680—making together 5057 persons relieved,
at &cost of £2697 93. 2d. ; being an increase in the num-
ber of paupers—ln-door 215, and Out-door 2284, to-
gether 2490 relieved at an excess in amount of cost of
£1404.125. 10d.. as compared with the corresponding quar-
ter of last year. Of this number there has been rel-eved in
the township of Warrington alone—ln-door 210, and
Out-door 1920—together 21.30_ At fin A.l,lit' I trt f

a ~,,, .• V,. ‘.ll
£lOlO 3s. id., or at a rate of more then £4OOO a-year.
The amount of county rate for the quarter has been
£934 17s. Od., being an increase over that of same quarter
in last year of £431 14s. 2d. The grand total of expen-
diture, inclusive of county rate, vaccination fees, and
esta'jlishment charges, is £3674 10s. Bd., and shews an
increase in amount of £1352 19s. 6d. over last year, as

compared with same period. It further appears that 'the
average cost of the In-door poor (in the two Union Poor-
houses) has been 3s. Oid. per head per week for provisions
and clothing alone. The account, however, exhibits a
decrease in the amount expended by several townships in
the rural districts of the Union, and which i
to be the effect of

by whic

New Removal Ac'
the whole of their non-re

Who have resided in any township five years, have been

cast on the manufacturing townships
the passing of the act upwards of 100 permanent pauper
cases belonging to townships in the rural district of the
Warrington Union were transferred over to the township
of Warrington, as a legacy ; they. having resided there
five years, according to the opinion of the Solicitor-
General ; and the cost of their relief is estimated at £450
a-year and upwards. It is found that the change in the
Law of Removal alone, has entailed an additional charge
on the township of Warrington £l4OO a-year. The great
increase in the number of Irish mendicants which daily
infest the Overseer's and vagrant offices, has rendered it
necessary that more extensive premises be provided for
their accommodation, which are now being fitted up under
the directions of the Guardians ; and the present House
of Recovery for fever easesis found insufficient for the
reception of the numerous patients which re4uil.eretnoN'al.
The number of Irish 'who had located in the town : the
hundreds of inhabitants thrown out of employment by the
stoppage of the cotton mills, and the Very 'high' price of
provisions, afford but gloomy prospects of a better state
in the parochial affairs for some time to come.

inmediately after

CORRESPONDENCE.
THE APPROACHINu. ELECTION

TO THE EDITOR OFTIIE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

Six,—The signs of a dissolution of the present parliament
are too palpable to be misapprehended. A new electio IS
hand, and we shall he very shortly called on to prove to the
minister that is, or is to be, the complexion of our politics and
the character of our principles, by. the selection of a represen-
tative fur this the second borough in the empire.

What steps may have been taken to secure a fitting candi-
date, I know not. From the quietude that now reigns, it to
be feared we are relying on the same broken reed that has vio-
lated the implied commercial and religious compact which,
without incurring the surrender of that liberty of thought and
freedom of action legitimately appertaining to the representa-
tive character, may he assumed to have been voluntari.y en-
tered into by the senior member of our borough when he under-
took the task of representing, as well our religious as our poli-
tical and commercial principles, in the COmmons' House of
Parliament. 7 hat my Lord Sandon has been indefatigably

industrious, will not fie denied; that he has been equally at-
tentive, impartial, and courteous to the personal appiicationi
of his constituents, irrespective of party, will be admitted
that he possesses a fair modicum of mercantile knosCedge
will be conceded ; that he has a competent grasp of mind t(
grapple with the details of a vexed and complex commercia
question, may perhaps be generally undisputed; and that hi
maintains a comparab!e and adequate position in the house, ii
undeniable. All these ure advantages essential to our jute•
rests, and their possession may be at once, currente axiom°,
conceded to the heir of the house of flarrowby. And yet, not-
withstanding all this, we may be improperly represented in the
great council of the nation—nay, we may be misrepresented, in
fact betrayer!, Oespite of all these attributes.

When iltalpriticiples are put to issue, and we see those we
have placed in power pitted against us; when our antagonists
can approve and applaud the conduct of our advocate, it is
quite clear there has been a dereliction of duty, a swerving
from the compact made with those who entrusted their jute.
rests to the fidelity of his advocacy. Principles are eternal,
and cannot with verity or consistency be put off and on like E
garment. "He that is not for us is against us" : this is ar
axiomatic declaration of the highest authority, made by Hut
who was truth itself; and if Lord Sandon's conduct, in speak,
ing against and yet voting for the abolition of the corn-laws
and his countenance and support of Watson's Popish
this, I say, be satisfactory to the loyal and reli

us portion of

„
the Liverpool constituency, why, all that remains to be done
is, to write ” Ichabod " over the portals of the returning offi-
cer's official mansion, and quietly surrender the choice of a
future representative into the hands of those who will, as they
always have done, set an example worthy of all imitation, in
choosing one who, submitting to no compromise, will carry
out their own views at all hazards and at every sacrifice. What
confidence can be
.placed in any man who can argue one way
and vote another--in one who can bind himself with slavish
obedience to a leader who has so repeatedly betrayed his sup-

A more critical time thati the preient, Mr. Editor, never
dawned on the constituencies of the kingdom. The next par-
liament is either for weal or woe—for the maintenance or the
destruction of the balance of the constitution in church and
state. We are on the eve of great and important experiments.
Principles have been sacrificed, and large inroads made on
fundamentals: The wedge is inserted—the Jesuits are at work
—the Church must be destroyed, and Popery become domi-
nant. The Navigation Laws must follow the sacrifice of the
other sources of our commercial greatness : Hume has de-
clared, and Peel decreed it. All must now go by the board—
delenda est Carthago. And what is to stay this flood of de-
struction? The constituency of Liverpool alone cannot do it;
but the electors of the United Kingdom at large may. Let
Liverpool, then, do its duty. Let it test the candidate, who-
ever he shall 'be, by the Peel standard. lam now assuming
that we have done with Lord Sandon, of whom I shall say
nothing further. I consider him politically defunct ; therefore
de mortuis nil nisi bonum. He must be succeeded by another
that must be called on to declare himself on certain questions :
he must be bound : on these both the representative
and: 1, represented must be agreed : that agreement once
understood, must be kept with alrtidelity. Ibis is no sacrifice
of liberty, neither is it dere'ict of independence. '!'here are
tried men now in the House, who would feel flattered by an
invitation. if the House of Commons can be supplied with a
majority of such men as Finch, Inglis, Plumptre, and Ferraud,
there is yet salvatioa for both church and state—yet protection
against that tendency to throw us into the crushing arms of
Popery; but if we are to take on trust, without any binding
obligation, any candidate, 1 care not whether gentle or noble,
on his -own simple declaration of general agreement with us on
ordinary questions, we shall be open to the same shameless
turpitude that characterises the Peel members of the present
parliament. It is late to go into the field, but not too late if
we set about it in earnest. Let a meeting be promptly called
to select a candidate for nomination; to dr.tw up a declaration
for his subscription to; and let that declaration embrace the
fewest possible requirements—three probably would be suffi-
cient, namely—Protection to our Home Trade; Protection to
our Shipping Interest, by refusing all interference with the
Navigation Eawa on which that interest is based; and, I'rotec-
tion to the Prottstant Church of England as by law established,
to the total exclusion of alt further concessions to, or endow-
ment of, Popery. These are three essentials the observance of
. .

which ought to be insisted on, without alowin
alternative of opinion : nor can such obligation

left for the:exerCiseof free and unfettered ftiaL,,in"e7t.

from interfering with, such obligation would

ly protec

the liberty of our representative from the temptation of to,
" government influence," which creates a new and pestiferou
atmosphere in the. House of Commons, that robs so many
members, of whom better things might be expected, of that
moral independence and free agency which they, as candidates
on the hustings, have conscientiously considered as impregna-
ble, but which, as members, give way and fall before the im-
portunity of the minister.
I know not, Mr. Editor, how far your own individual feelings
may turn in favour of Lord Sandon s re-election for Liverpool;
but even supposing them to run in his behalf, I have that con-
fidence in your impartiality and patriotism as to indulge the
hope of this letter finding insertion in your greatly-esteemed
and widely-circuiated STANDARD.
I have the honour to be. sir. your obliged servant.

UNION OF THE ATLANTIC & PACIFIC OCEANS.
We have more than once, in the STANDARD, suggested
this union for commercial facilities between the western
coast of South America and Europe, as well as the United
States. We may now state that the object in view is at
length, in all probability, about to be accomplished.
,It
appears by the accounts received by the Cambria, that
the Vice-President of the United States has determined
that, in any treaty of peace with Mexico, a right of way
is to be secured across the isthmus of Tehuantepec
(Darien), to connect the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific
by a ship canal of 135 miles in length, in order to abridge
the tedious and long voyage round Cape Horn. Five
great routes for crossing have from time to time attracted
attention, but, through want of enterprise and skill, no-
thing has yet been undertaken. Mr. Dallas, the Vice-
President alluded to, states that all would prefer a ship
canal to accommodate vessels of every size, and that the
cost is variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty-five
millions of dollars. A smaller canal would also have its
advantages. He adds, that after the war the States'
treasury will be in a condition to appropriate a considera-
ble sum towards the project, and that his government do
not desire to monopolise the uses of the canal, but to
throw it open, on liberal terms, to other nations--that,

in fact, he would give it " the unchangeable character of
a public highway of nations." The press of the United
States are loud in their laudation of the scheme. The
New York Herald says ;
" In the immense value of the enterprise lies the hazard of
the achievement. We must accomplish it speedily, or the right
of way may be lost. England and France, by the next steamer
will be apprised of the tremendous commercial advantages de-
pending upon this enterprise, and the return steamer may
bring us an opposition bid or two, which, unless the bargain be
clenched i❑ the interim, may endangerthe success of the scheme.
* * * The ship canal across the isthmus
of Tehauntepec, making it a straight western voyage almost
from Havana to the south of China, will throw at once into our
hands the commerce of Asia anti Australia, a commerce of
500,000,000 of people, and a new market to nearly that extent
for our produce and manufactures. It will vastly contribute to
the colonization of New Holland, New Zealand, and the Indian
islands. Like the application of steam to navigation, the re-
sults of such an acco.nplishment may be foreseen but cannot
be estimated.

" One thing is novrcertain. The United States must secure
this passage, or Great Britain, or France, or both combined,
will secure it and appropriate it. The tolls of this continental
intersection must either be theirs or ours."
Jonathan appears to be wide-awake to the advantages
of the enterprise, while we have been lying on our oars.
What the British government ought to have done long
ago, was to obtain a sufficient strip of land across the
isthmus for a canal or railway, or both, (but especially
the former, to save transhipment of goods,) by purchase,
not by aggressive conquest ; and it is now perfectly clear,
that if we do not bestir ourselves in the matter, Joint-than,
notwithstanding his modest and " liberal " proposition to
admit the passage of all vessels on payment of a toll, will
monopolise the whole, and impose such amount of toll
as he thinks fit. Our possessions on either continent of
America are comparatively trifling—in fact, within the
tropics, mere specks. The United States are creeping
over immense countries to the south of their own legiti-
mate territory, having already, turning from " repudia-
tion" to " appropriation", taken unto themselves Cali-
fornia, and put themselves in a fair way of possessing or
coercing the whole of Mexico. If they obtain undivided
possession of a canal across the isthmus, " the balance of
power", if we may so term it, will decidedly be against
Europe, and especially against England. Vessels round-
ing Cape Horn, with many additional months of wear
and tear, can never cope with those passing through by
the proposed canal: and we deem it imperative, as a
wholesome check and a decided national advantage, that,
our government should instantly despatch an expedition
to Darien, with powers to negociate with the local autho-
rities for the purchase of the requisite land for a large
canal, survey the several suitable sites, &c. We feel that
confidence in British integrity that we are certain wa
could afford to be quite as liberal as the United States to
other nations in the matter of toll. Our own West India
colonies are, moreover, at stake.

THE SEASON

AND THE CROPS

The improvement in the weather continues, and from
the great abundance of rain which has fallen during the
last week, the spring corn is placed out of danger from
the drought, by which it was so much impaired last year.
A continuance of such weather as the present will ensure
us good crops of barley and oats, in this (wintry ; and if
on the Continent it should be of the same kind, the rye
crop, which is the great support of the pebple, can
scarcely fail to turn out well this season. With all spring
corn a good start is more than half the race, as they grow
d rapidly, and are comparatively safe if they can once cover
thy the ground with a tolerably thick herbage.
)oor A very full report of the appearance and

extent of the
crops, in about 150 different parts of the country, pub-
lished in the Gardeners' Chronicle, contains a satisfac-
tory account of the appearance of the wheat, oats, and
barley, and of the quantity of each of those kinds of grain
which has been sown this year. In Lancashire the wheat
is exceedingly thin, but Lancashire farming is, at the best,
indifferent. The oat crops, on the other hand, look very
well in this neighbourhood. It is too early to say any-
thing about the root crops; but the weather could not
possibly be more favourable, either for turnips or pota-
toes, than it is at present. The pastures and meadows
are improving wonderfully.
A correspondent of the Times, 'who has just travelled
through the northern and midland counties, says—" I
commenced my journey with rather a foreboding of evil,
fearing that the cold and damp weather which we experi-
enced about a fortnight ago, and previously, might have
injured the wheat plant; but I have been delighted to
find that such has not been the case, and am happy to
say that upon the whole the promise of an abundant, if
not an early, harvest is most gratifying. On some lands,
which are undrained, and in the wheat fields which were
last year clover, the plant certainly looks rather thin, but
the very warm and genial weather which we have experi-
enced for the last three or four days has given it a luxu-
riant appearance, and the tillering-out or extension of
the plant is taking place most satisfactorily. The oats
and barley are well up, and perhaps in no previous year
has the promise of abundance been greater or more en-
couraging."

WORKING OF OUR PRESr.NT 1 RISON REGU-
LATIONS.

The defective operation of imprisonment as a punish-
ment for crime has, for some years past, attracted the at-
tention of statesmen and humane men. Yet hitherto,
although much has been attempted, little progress has
been made in the work of improvement. Our prisons
still act as the nurseries of crime. The hardened offender
comes out of them at the expiration still more hardened ;
the offender for the first time leaves them in general a
confirmed criminal, with an increased knowledge of the
art of securing impunity for his crime. In almost every
instance, deterioration takes place;. and' the prospects of
thoSe Whose characters we have endeavoured. to reform,
are blighted beyond redemption.
We have before us a pamphlet by Air. Joseph Adshead,
of Manchester, entitled " Our present Gaol System
deeply depraving to the Prisoner, and a positive Evil to the
Community, with some remedies Proposed," which ap-
pears to us to contain some statistics and views upon the
whole subject, which are worthy of serious consideration.
The pamphlet in question has been printed for private
circulation, and copies furnished to the members of both
Houses of Parliament. The subject, however, is so vi-
tally interesting, and the great pains bestowed upon it by
Mr. Adshead so evident that we should not be doing our
duty by not lending the influence of the press for the pur-
pose of circulating his views amongst the public at large.
We shall therefore proceed to give their substance, with

n extract or two

The writer traces the increase of crime and the ineffi-
ciency of imprisonment as a punishment, to the absence
and indeed the impossibility, of proper classification of
offenders in our bridewells and prisons. The uninitiated
in the practice of crime is in the former, when apprehended
for a first offence, thrown into contact with the confirmed.
offender; and even after committal, and before any of-
fence is proved against him, and when the law presumes
him to be innocent, he is submitted to the same sort of
contact in the day-rooms and yards of our prisons, and
his character in almost every instance seriously deteriorated.
Connexions and acquaintanceships of the worst descrip-
tion are here found. A knowledge of the modes in which
goods stolen are disposed of, and of the various instru-
ments, resorts, and practices of the thief or the burglar,
when beyond the walls of the prison is here acqu;red. In
many instances robberies are planned here, to be executed
when oncetnore restored to the world ; and appointments
made by which the parties were to meet each other when
their various periods of confinement were expired.
Mr. Adshead gives a number of cases which he has
derived from his own enquiries, of the corrupting effect
produced upon juvenile offenders, even where some sort
of classification is attended to. The following two are all
for which we shall have space.
"W. T , aged 13. I have been in 17 Yard twice, 15
once, 13 once. I now work in Wool Roam seventy or eighty
chaps at work; all men, except sel, S—, and two others.
I know a good many chaps that have been here, and they'll try
to get me to go wi"em again; I should be glad to work, but
boys always jawing about being in Prison.' This boy
referred to his extensive prison acquaintance at another gaol :

got to know many chdps at (a classification prison).
I war at 0:d Offenders' Ward. I knew S and 1)- ;
used to talk what they would do when they went out. There
was an Irish chap and some others used to plan things ; said
they'd had `jemmys,' and `jakes,' and night protectors' to
knock anybody down. S and D- wanted me to be
at outside of prison gates aged they come out; said would try
their luck at Dublin.'