The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-26 00:00:00

SCOTLAND WARD.-MEETING OF THE'
FRIENDS OF MR. WOODRUFF.

Yesterday evening, a very numerous meeting of the
friends of Mr. Woodruff. the Conservative Candidate for
Scotland Ward, (in opposition to Mr. Thompson,) was
held in the large room of " The Travellers' Rest Inn,"
Scotland-road, for the purpose of hearing Mr. W. explain
to them the principles upon which he proposed to act,
and of forwarding his election at the approaching contest.
Mr. THOMAS HODGSON was called to the Chair, and
having explained the object of the meeting, pronounced a
high enlogium on the public character and good offices. in
the Select Vestry, &c., of the candidate, whom he intro-
duced, and who was received with loud cheers.
Mr. WOODRUFF said he was sensible that he was not
Possessed of the full abilities to discharge his duties as their
representative, and he would not have come forward but
for the solicitations of many of his brother tradesmen,.
and others in the ward, in which he had spent the greater
part of his life. He alluded to the paving, lighting, and
cleansing of the town, and to the sanatory bill recently
obtained by the Corporation, and said he should support
all measures relating thereto, that were not marked by
extravagant expenditure. Due economy was at all times
requisite, but especially at present, when the ratepayers
were so much pressed. He had received great encourage-
ment in his canvas, and he trusted that being a resident
of the ward, and consequently deeply interested in its
prosperity, would be an additional recommendation in his
behalf. Should they not deem him worthy of beinc, their
representative, he should, with the same feelings for the
ward, retire within his domestic circle.—(Loud cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN having stated that the candidate would
answer any questions, several were put to him. Ist..
Whether he would vote for Mr. T. B. Horsfall, if he
were proposed as mayor. 2nd. Whether he would vote
for the opening of the Corporation schools for secular
education, irrespective of religion. 3rd. Whether he was
favourable to the admission to the schools of the clergy-
men of the several denominations to which the children
belonged. To the first, he answered that he would vote
for the man as mayor whom he considered would best pro-
mote the interests of the town at large ; to the second,
" Decidedly no !" and to the third, Certainly ! They
had as good right as any of the burgesses." He was well
received, and one of his strongest interrogators expressed
himself perfectly satisfied with his replies.
A, resolution was unanimously passed, acknowledging.
him a reformer of all real abuses, and a fit person to repre-
sent the ward ; and another pledging those present zea-
lously to support him.
Mr. JAMES HOLME, being called upon by the chairman,
spoke at considerable length on behalf of the candidate,
noticing several large improvements that might be made
in the ,town, and pointing to the candidate as having
shown, by his conduct in the Vestry, that he was a prac-
tical man, of good common sense views, who would be a
great acquisition to the Council in promoting the welfare
of the ward and the town at large. They wanted working,
sensible men, and no addition of orators.
Votes of thanks were passed to the Chairman and Mr.
Holme, amidst enthusiastic applause. Three .cheers were
given for the candidate, to which he feelingly replied, and
all seemed to be prepared to give -him their best support
on Monday next. The meeting was the most enthusiastic
of the ward meetings that have yet been held.

The Bishop of London is said to be quite incapacitate
for public duty, by an attack of paralysis.
SUSPENSION OF A NEWCASTLE BANK.--The suspen-
sion of the Newcastle Union Joint-Stock Bank was an-
nounced on Thursday afternoon. The institution, it ap-
pears, opened at the usual hour, and business was
continued until the arrival of the south mail, when the
following was posted on the door :—" The Union Bank-
ing Company, in consequence of the difficulty in the ob-
taming discount, are under the painful necessity of sus-
pending payment." Much excitement is said to prevail.
The Union Bank was established 11 years back, with a
paid-up capital of £152,400, and not many months ago
its shares, on which £5 were paid, were at £8 to 10. The
number of partners is 505. An unfavourable liquidation
is expected, large advances, it is alleged, having been
made on collieries and other property of that description.
As in the other cases of Joint-stock bank suspensions
which have just occurred, its London agents (Barnett
and Co.) are entirely untouched by the event.
LILLIPUTION EXPRESS ENGINE.—On Saturday, an
experimental trial took place upon the Eastern Counties
Railway, to test the powers of a small locomotive engine
of a novel description, designed and constructed by Mr.
Samuel, resident engineer of the Eastern Counties line.
It is of two-horse power, runs upon four wheels, requires
no tender, and not only carries sufficient fuel and water
for its own consumption within the smallest possible
dimensions, but is also capable of conveying seven persons
(besides the engineer
,and stoker) in the afterpart, which
resembles an open Irish car. The total weight of this
little locomotive 'bijou is 22 cwt., its extreme length, in-
cluding boiler, Irish car, and all, is only 12 feet 6 inches,
and the height from the rails to the floor of the engine is
not more than one foot. At one time, the rate of travel-
ling was 43 miles per hour. It will be very useful for
newspaper expresses, as, owing to the small consumption
of coal, the company can afford to run the engine at one-
fourth the present charge for expresses.
WHAT WILL MINISTERS DO FOR COMMERCE ?—The
Times of yesterday contains a curious article, from which
we extract the following. Our contemporary does not
seem to write as if his opinions were official ; but that is
his usual custom :—" Notwithstanding the multitude of
projects for reforming the currency, and the quantity of
talk with which they areecommended, there is only one
question really before the public. It is conceivable,
though we believe most improbable, that a moderate addi-
tion should be made to the £14,000,000 forming the in-
convertible basis of the Bank of England issue. Undoubt-
edly there are many who shrink with proper horror from
a return to the depreciated paper of the war currency, and
who would never give up the principle of using only such
notes as are the actual and efficient representatives of gold ;
but who, nevertheless, have such confidence in the credi t
of the country as to think that the above step would not
violate this principle. They think that the country, even
now, could bear an inconvertible circulation of Bank of
England paper to the amount of £16,000,000 as well as
£14,000,000; and that, in point of fact. this addition to
the liabilities of the bank would not entail the probability
of a run for its gold. Should the proposition ever come
to be seriously extertained, and gain more influential ad-
herents than it boasts of at present, there would then be
some scope for variety of opinion as to the manner in which
this increase of circulation should be effected. Such a
change would certainly require some additional security
for the public credit, and would also justify a change of
hands. So large an addition to the resources and influ-
ence of the bank would not be universally palatable. Dis-
missing, however, these subsidiary questions, we will sim-
ply put the question of two or three millions of paper lent
to the commerce 0 the nation."