The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-15 00:00:00

VINDICATION OF SCOTTISH RIGHTS.

IN our last number we gave a brief outline of the com-
plaints made by our Scottish fellow-subjects, stating also
that the grounds of these they allege to exist in an undue
exercise of its power by the Imperial Legislature ; in
which consideration of Scottish rights is, they say, over-
borne by the weight of English influence. The case was
very fully and very ably discussed at the great meeting
held in Edinburgh, to which our remarks had special refe-
rence. The addresses delivered at that meeting by the
various speakers have since formed a fertile theme for
criticism to that portion of the press which, inclined to
frustrate the objects of the meeting, yet unable to gain-
say the truth and justice of the claims set up, found a
ready expedient in sarcasms on verbal redundancies, and
in misrepresentations to divert public attention from the
merits of the question at issue. Scotland had unques-
tioned and unquestionable national rights prior to, and
at the time of her union with England. Preservation
of many of these rights was made the basis of the
agreement, and formed special articles of the treaty
by which that union was regulated and carried into
effect. The Scotch complain that many of these rights
have been grossly violated, and that others have
been evaded. That is the real question under dis-
cussion ; and it cannot be set aside by jests, however
droll; nor, if we understand the Scotch character aright,
will it be trodden underfoot at the instigation of bullying
dictation. The Scotch are a practical people, and are fully
alive to the fact that a contract involves the interests of
two parties, and cannot be discharged unless each receives
its share of the benefits, as well as of the responsibilities
incurred under the engagement. They refuse, for even
one moment, to admit as an answer to their complaints,
that Scotland has made great social progress since her
union with England; without impugning that allegation,
they demand to know if her social progress would have
been retarded, had the stipulated and violated conditions
of the union been complied with ? and they boldly an-
swer no ! So that even the poor plea of expediency is
wanting thus to justify the breach of agreement on the
part of the stronger power. Equally inapplicable to the
case, they aver, is the argument, that as Scotchmen have
occupied distinguished places in the imperial army, navy,
and civil administration, she has, therefore, no
national or public grievance to complain of. They
point with triumph to positions of equal .eminence
attained by their countrymen in the service of
other governments ; and admit, with a sardonic smile,
that if it could be shown that a rigid compli-
ance with the conditions of the union would have
prevented the indomitable sons of Scotia from attaining
the honour of so serving their sovereign and their country,
it might have been a question of consideration with Scot-
land, whether, like an indulgent parent, she might not
' submit to some violation of her own rights, rather than,
by insisting on their full recognition, retard the advance-
ment of her offspring ; but they indignantly deny that,
having furnished her with sage councillors, brave
soldiers, intrepid mariners, and erudite philosophers,
furnishes England with any pretence for trampling on
the rights of Scotchmen. The reverse, they say, must
ever hold If warriors and statesmen—if men of science
and of enterprise, leaving their own country, have lent
their energies and contributed their prowess towards the
aggrandisement of England, she has no right to plead the
pittance of their well-earned individual reward, as a
ground for the infraction of their country's rights ; on the
contrary, they claim the services of her sons as an addi-
tional plea for establishing their country in her lawful
privileges.
If, however, the question must be argued, not on the
broad and abstract principles of right and wrong, but on
the inferior and paltry ground of benefit received, how, say
they, would the question then stand? England, Ireland,
and Scotland contribute to the imperial revenue; in re-
turn they all receive such advantages as flow from an
administration of the law. So far, all are equal. Over
and above this benefit, England and Ireland receive large
subsidies out of the imperial revenue for the support of
metropolitan and other police, for the endowment of schools
of learning, apart from the Universities, and they have
also received heavy contributions for the establishment of
metropolitan parks and other recreative institutions ; they
have had large sums expended in the construction of their
defences • and in the annual outlay in the arsenals, dock-
yards, mid other government departments receive impor-
tant benefits from the imperial expenditure. In not one
of these benefits is Scotland allowed to participate : she
receives not one penny for educating or recreating her
sons ; she is compelled to defray the whole expense of
maintaining the integrity of their property; no defensive
work has been erected along her shores ; a government
ship is now a rarity in her waters; no arsenal or dock-
yard belonging to government exists within her boundaries;
no harbourof refuge opens its welcome shelter tohermercan-
-1 tile marine, although repeated applications have been made
for their.construction, and quietly shelved, by numerous
governments; nay farther, her own crownlands and other
national possesSions have been in many instances diverted
to imperial uses, while no recognisable portion of any
public or private imperial funds have been applied to her
benefit. 'While our Scottish brethren willingly, nay
cheerfully,admit that they have received great and lasting
benefits from their union with England, their native saga-
city and acquired intelligence make them resolutely refuse
to acknowledge that they have given nothing to England
in return. They repudiate the churlish argument which
recognises only one side of the obligation, and insist upon
stating that if fellowship with England has left them un-
molested to ,develope their national resources, it has also
enabled the English to do the same thing, for, in the con-
tention of mere annoyance, our Scottish friends were once
highly -respectable as foes ; and they remember with
strangely mingled feelings that for the general benefit
they have suffered sacrifices of no ordinary magnitude.
They point with no small degree of pride, and honest
pride too, to the fact, that the genius of a Scotchman,
PATERSON by name, gave us the Bank of England, for con-
.erring which benefit, they seldom fail to recount with a
sigh, how the recompenee he received was contumely and
a-broken heart. Their reminiscences teach them likewise
that a Scotchmen gave us the steam engine—that the
genius of another rendered it a practical instrument of
labour—while yet a third taught us to apply it to the pur-
poses of navigation. They have not to this day ceased to
remember that if their commerce has extended under the
negative influence of English non-interference, their great
national scheme of opening up the trade with the Pacific
by a canal through the Isthmus of Darien, was sacrificed,
crushed, ruined, to make way for advancing the pecuniary
interests.of the English East India Company.
Some ‘ingularly infelieitious, as well as inappropriate,
jests have been attempted on the subject of the Scottish
protest against the degradation of their national armorial
standard. How such jeers can be indulged in by English-
man, or English journals, we are at a loss to under-
stamd- What nation on the earth's surface has so high a
veneration for the symbol of its individual and collective
honour as the English ? or who would make greater sacri-
fices to uphold its purity unchallenged ? And is it be-
coming in such a people or its organs to deride the same
feeling of chivalrous pride in another and a loud red and
friendly nation ? Where is the Englishina who would
' atrium which a
phantly
Sedaroetchmt° inte iris an
patriotinsujt ptoridtel:e has 80
sung as the flag that has braved
--- athousand

a 00, .4 years
of ....._—.—___
The
baattnlecaanndfotirigeebtr,coerz breeze."
':ill deny, that it is
unspotted honour of three brave
the
of
collectively concerned ? Is this another
,aitniethe spotlessness. of whose honour all three are
insidious workings of liberalism for the debase-
..inadllii)ocillendnisaany
and
downfall of national spirit ? Aware that to
proveeeuld asndeaenr
assail the national attachment and loyalty to her chivalry
e mightw hie hdangerous task,
ethasekrie,
itihede
uasnnesd
i s a hopeless,
eilio
eono;7leidentit'isuea.ind•t Englislun
memory of a great and ancient people, as only " a geo-
graphical expression," and its levelling myrmidons endea-
vour to excite derision against the importance of its
separated emblems. If divide et impera be the motto of
such assailants, let that of every true-hearted Englishman
be justice and union,
"That the shamrock may bloom by the side of the rose,
And the thistle of Scotland for ever be green."
Scotland advances no unheard-of claim; her people
demand no new privileges. Her requirement is restitu-
tion, not creation of right. She was under the solemn
compact of a treaty admitted to a -union with England;
the terms of that treaty are distinct and explicit. She
avers that the fulfilment of these terms will satisfy her,
but she complains that, in many instances, these terms
have been violated, to the injury of her feelings, and the
detriment of her social position. She appeals to the jus-
tice of England, to the honour of high-minded English-
men, for an admission of those rights, which have been
mutually agreed on as her property. She conjures them
by the ties of brotherhood—by the community of noble
aspirations, and of gallant deeds—to fulfil the solemn

compact entered into by their fathers. Can such a claim
be dishonoured with a sneer ? Shall such an appeal, so
supported, be set aside by cold indifference, or rejected
with selfishness and disdain ? Not so long as it is the
proud boast of England that integrity is her law—that
injustice and dishonour are alien to her institutions, and
abhorrent to her spirit.

THE APPROACH TO THE L.,4_IVDTVG-

STAGE.

A PETITION, roost numerously signed, has been pi•e-
sented to the Dock Committee, praying for better ap-
proaches from James-street and across George's Dock to
the Leviathan of the Mersey—the great Landing-stage
It is certainly a reproach to Liverpool, amidst the many
improvements which have been and are being effected,
that the most frequented thoroughfare, and the one tra-
versed by visitors of all classes, should be in such an inef-
ficient and even dangerous state. We are aware that
there are many difficulties in the way of accomplishing all
that may be desired, bat it could hardly be in a worse state
than at present, with wide crossings, bad, pavement, and
no protection from horses and vehicles for the many foot
passengers who are constantly obliged to find their way
to and from the ferry-boats. We do not agree in the pro-
posal for a high-level bridge, for such a remedy is more
often worse than the disease; but a better foot-path might
be laid, protected at intervals by posts, and the numerous
vehicles might be confined to a narrower range than being
allowed, as at present, to turn at once off the dock bridge
on to the quay. A better arrangement might also be
made with reference to the Dock bridges, so that a near
one might always be available, while the one on the
direct line is open for the passage of vessels. Consi-
dering the enormous amount of traffic, which is every
day increasing, it is an improvement which is imperatively
demanded, and ought to be no longer delayed.

IRON HOUSES FOR AUSTRAILA.

ONE of the most extraordinary features connected with
the rapid growth of our Australian colonies, is the means
which have been adopted for providing dwellings. The
country being almost bare of -building materials, the
settlers at first resorted to the primitive method of dwel-
ling in tents, and speedily arose a literal canvas town, not
more comfortable nor picturesque than the collection of
wigwams which cofistitute an Indian village. The next
step was the importation of wooden-framed houses, con-
structed in England, and sent out in pieces like a four-
post bedstead; but a still further improvement has taken
place, and the great source of England's manufacturing
greatness—iron—is now brought into use, for this pro- -
Pose, 'with very great . success. A structure of this
kind has just been completed by Messrs. Taylor and Co.,
at the Britannia Iron-works, Birkenhead; and they have
also in course of erection one of ranch larger dimensions.
The finished house, which is about to be shipped for Aus-
tralia, has some pretensions to beauty as well as utility.
It has a frontage of 23 feet, and is 38 feet in depth. The
ground floor consists of a spacious apartment the whole
depth of the building, but narrower, by the width of •
the passage which communicates with the back premises
from the side front door. The front makes an elegant
double shop, with doors in the centre, and above is a
light balcony, supported en brackets. The first floor is
approached by a circular stair-case of iron, and di.
vided into six commodious chambers, well lighted;
while above, to the inside of the ridge, is a dry and safe
store-room. The walls and roof are composed of galvanised
corrugated iron fixed to a framework of iron securely
bolted and' screwed, and the inner walls are lined with
wood. The desiderata of lightness and strength are thus
successfully achieved, and such houses must be invaluable
in a place where safe custody is so necessary among the
thieves and the temptations which abound. Some difficulty
would be found in cutting into an iron house, and if vio-
lence were attempted the walls would ring like an adarum
bell. We understand that in the mansion just finished
there are above 16 tons of metal, including . six tons of
sheet iron, and also about 30 tons of timber in doors and.
window frames, flooring, partitions, wall-lining, &c. The
large iron house in course of erection is no less than 80
feet in width of frontage, 40 feet in depth, and 20 feet in
height to the eaves, capable, therefore, of containing about
1600 tons of measurement goods. At the same works is
being prepared a boomerang propeller for Her Majesty's
steam yacht Fairy.