The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-12-06 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

CON7'EMPOIIIRY PRESS.

After sundry bullying and vehement denouncements of I
" tory' lying," on the part of the whig-radical journals,
as to the result of the west-riding registration, out comes
the Leeds Mercury, to the surprise of everybody, with a
loud lament in the strain following :—" It is a most pain-
ful duty, but one absolutely imperative upon us, to make
it distinctly known to the reformers of the west-riding,
that the registration and revision of the riding voters
have this year been shamefully neglected by the leaders
of that party, whilst the tories have been doing all that
vigilance, money, and legal skill can do to better them-
selves on the register. The consequence is that the to-
ries objected to about 3000 votes, and the reformers to
only about 1200 in the riding ; and that at the close of
the revision, purely owing to the total absence of any re-
gular effort on the part of the reformers, they will lose
several hundred votes on the register ! These votes are
absolutely thrown away from pure negligence. If any-
thing like proper exertion had been used, we are confi-
dent that the reformers would have stood better than the
tories.on this year's registration, in addition to their for-
mer great majority."
The Mercury is a great professor of truth-telling, yet
seems incapable of speaking the whole truth on any con-
troverted subject; and it generally fibs so clumsily that
none but the stupidly-blind fall into the trap.
We have already stated the result of the west-riding
revision. The conservative majority this year is 736;
to which add the large number struck oft' last year, and
the whig majority at the late election vanishes, without
taking into account the change of feeling visible in every
direction. The conservatives may with much propriety
claim the better half of the additions made .to the list
since 1834.

Now it is utterly untrue that the " reformers," as the
men of the movement are termed, were either indifferent
as to making claims, or negligent in the revision. They
displayed their accustomed activity ; and the best advo-
cates they have were specially retained and sent from
place to place to support on the one.hand, and strike off
on the other. If any evidence were needed of their
zeal, it is to be found in the amount of the spurious
claims sent in. Alt! no; there was no want of a dispo-
sition to fight, but there is a great and increasing falling-.
off in the means of warfare; that is to say, in the ma-
terials out of which whig-radical voters are made.
In Leeds a very solemn and amusing farce is going on
relative to the representation of the borough.
The rampant radicals have fixed their revolutionary af-
fections upon Sir Wm. Molesworth, the rejected of East
Cornwall that is to be, and although their acquaintance
with that politically-mad baronet is only of the newspa-
per sort, they declare that they will force the whigs to
take him by the hand, or split off and permit a couple of
conservatives to come in. The genuine whiggamores of
the party are desperately angry at being coerced into
spending money for the purpose of placing Sir John
Beckett at the head of the poll, and making an exhibi-
tion of whig weakness and truckling. But the radicals
are to be blinded and tricked. Ward meetings have been
held, at which Molesworth has been vociferously nomi-
nated and approved of, in conjunction with Mr. Baines,
if, as the latter himself phrases it, no better or more in-
fluential man can be found in his stead. On Tuesday there
is to be a meeting of ward delegates, when the question
is to be submitted to another test. • After that it will be
urged that the sense of the constituency ought to be ta-
ken ; and a sham canvass will be made, '• two or one,"
but only one of the two will be named, and the canvass
would mean nothing were it even prosecuted bonajide,
which will not be the case. The process is simply one
of staving off; a scheme for humbugging the raaicalS,
who, generally speaking, lash themselves to the whig
car, and, as they are trailed through the- mud, make a
great noise and persuade themselves that they are dicta-
tors instead of tools.

It is probable, however, that there will be a contest;
vet it can only be between whiggery and radicalism. Sir
John Beckett will be at the head of the poll again, but
with a larger majority than 138, his majority on the last
occasion.

As to Sir William Molesworth, he must be silly in-
deed to come here with the certainty of being compelled
to effect a precipitate retreat after the manner of Mr.
William Brougham.—Liteds Intelligencer.