The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-05-24 00:00:00

Xiberpoot #ptaaarb,

TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 24, 1853.

THE VOTE FOR MAYNOOTH COLLEGE :
DEFEAT OF THE MINISTRY.
WE begin to bare some hopes of the present
House of Ccernmons, despite the erroneous conclu-
sions to which they sometimes come, when party,
not principle, is the prevailing motive. OnThursday
last, in the ordinary SesQional business of voting
the Supplies, an operation so much a matter of
course, 'that it rarely commands more than a small
attendance, a vote of :€45,000 for public buildings
in Ireland was opposed by Mr. SPOON'EII, on the
ground that it contained an item of £1,235 13s.
for repairing and maintaining the Romish College
!f lisynooth, and he moved that the vote should
be reduced by that sum. In vain did Lord JOHN
ItBSELL utter some of his absurdities in defence
of the grant,'—for he has a mania on this subject,
Ivilioh experienced such a violent re-action in the
notorious Durham letter, that he has ever since
been more ardent in his Romanist tendencies than
e was before. In vain did 'the firebrand LUCAS,
With Sir JAMES GRAHAM and Mr. SIDNEY
x• ."I3ERT, come to the rescue : the Dissenters
tined with the Conservatives, and the vote for
zalaayds,ug
notrohlas refused by a majority of 76 to 56.
I
hut an instalment of justice to Eng-
' thilat',l,B tt step in the right direction, and shows
)0 diLne voice of the people, which has been so
-,110"1 expressed in condemnation of the mainte-
tbe-bee°! this hotbed di superstition, is beginning
textec..nearcl through their' representatives. The
the ;r1) must be to repeal the Endowment which
Hon
of Commons was induced to grant
PEEthrou,
" the plausibility of the late Sir RORERT
L'
and we shall then only have made small
towards rescuing our unhappy Irish fellow-
tieBJects from that spiritual thraldom and priestly
meP°tilvfn 'w
'' Bich keeps- them in ignorance of the
)„ 83ell truths of Christianity, in social misery, and
Political insubordination.

STRIKES AMONG THE LABOURING

CLASSES.
TH
. E/re seems to be an insuperable obstacle to
°llecessful legislation for the great mass -of the
Ipopulation, 'however skilful the design or plillan-
toPhic the intention. When the hirelings of the
!'o4- "i'CornLaw-League were agitating the country
!hr the repeal of the Corn-laws, they indulged in
e rnostmagntlonueut promises of the great bless-
Illgs which were to he enj
Free-trade polio oyed under a system of
talent 'was to be '. 'Food was to be cheap, employ-
universal, and wages were to be
might
knPka 'so that every working man and his family
-enjoy 'the comforts which were previously
11.°11filledto•the classes above them. Englarid would
i'lllelv.no want, the prisons were to be empty, and
the Wor-khouses useless. Such was the day-dream
pictured in glowing colours before the unreflectingi
;:assesen :Years
the treachery of a Consfrvativel, inis-.
ir assisted to put the realisation to the .
thettes
-even have since rolled by, and thouga Xtraordinary discoveries of gold in California
hand
blistralia, w v.? iith the mania for emigration to -ch
boldY }lave given rise, 'have filled up the outlines so
-IY drawn by e Free-trade enthusiasts, the
latter
the
Dr , Claim all the results as the fulfilment of their
-4-e,"lietions. The last year-and-a-half has witnessed
state
of commercial- activity and prosperity almost
4"Patalleled, food has been comparatively abundant,
tzeld
ll
wh eMplooyment has been at the command of every
tbae was willing to labour. But where. are
."Proofs`that such a coveted state of things are
productive of the blessings which were anticipated?
itat.rnigration h
,:_,-ae taken off the portion of the popu-
tol" \v`yn Was said to be redundant, and added
become
demands ,upon
industry, but the truth is
4 e"lig otrikingly apparent that the happiness of
thapteople
deco is beyond the control of legislation, and
are 3 meBPite the most favourable circumstances, men
Ivii. endowed with human passions and impulses
tlieloc! stet at nctiht all the calculations of political
times The working man complains of hard
cai:?' of dear food, and of ruinous competition
his 3,,,,14g1°1v Yeager and uncertain employment. All
kik-'lllPlaints are redressed. Tree-trade has given
thin abundance of cheap food, emigration has
eti.l,l;e the ranks of his competitors, commercial
does LtY has found him full employment ; and how
101 he ,receive the boon ? From manufacturing
tti 'llB, ro. busy s„portk, and even from ruralfdiscl
deete the
,reports are multiplied of workmen o
for
i teriPtione joining in strikes and turn outs
or
filrereased waves, or for reduced hours of labour,. is
theadditional advantages ; and in some places i
that. • high rate of
owing to the present wages,
days a
men refuse to work for more than -three
aea
took, content to remain in their present state, or
4:041 to descend lower in the scale of social position,
This they may enjoy the luxury of idleness.
Inrotnii: a melancholy reverse of a picture which
Izight Zia, 5° fair; but, after all, it is no more than
of • --., been expected. Necessity is the parent
indllStry, aR the
latter
Which i • -4e latter is the parent
I,l4)vertY ; and a Producea indolence, which leads to
'NI tbp in
Was only the constant demand
144) - energies oe
1 Englishmen, the fertile source
14 pitellanY
,complaints, which raised this country to
eoalbi °I national greatness, Circumstances have
Iltirecillbed 443 mitigate much of the grievances en-
to an Y our industrious classes—we have laboured
atm ,g4lent their means of physical enjoyment—
directln. modern legislation has been all in the same
41 len, by
e -, removing the burden of taxation from
great
'Doti ~ mass of the consumers, and throwing it
t "le landand
tit, in
teal
et. doing this, we have also removed the only
414 Imulus to industry, and the fruits are begin-
-4,,
6 to b
, .arit_ e apparent in the general tendency to take
It ii Zge of the increased demand for its exercise.
c4pitsitua commencement of a struggle between
intere` and labour, in which, though the former
Illtinl:t may he the first sufferers, the latter must be
Vain
,telY the worst ; and though it may be in
Vain
raise a warning voice where duty has to
Illit h ti with inclination, we shall at least have done
coil
nart in calling attention to the subject. The
the
e for a time be stayed by the concessions to
de
It ea -iands for higher wages, which seems pretty
a,
etreetsrotillY to have been adopted, but the ultimate
it is dust be to increase the mischief; and though
h m'iteult to suggest a remedy where the only
; °lle of :
'll - its realisation is the good sense of unthink-
; l4
4 en, We must not forget that to be forewarned
to e
we forearmed,

MR. GLADSTONE'S FINANCIAL POLICY.
THE consents to accept the new stocks devised by
the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER for the
reduction of the interest on the National Debt,
have come in day by day in such infinitesimal doses,
—in such ridiculous disproportion to the magni-
tude of the sum proposed to be dealt with,—that
even the partisans of the patchwork Cabinet cannot
help pronouncing the scheme a decided failure.
Notwithstanding the immense advantage which was
anticipated from the adhesion of the PEELITE sec-
tion to the used-up RussaLL faction, finance seems
likely to prove as dangerous a stumbling-block as
ever. This first essay of Mr. GLADSTONE'S
financial skill ought not, however, to be without its
uses. It should make men more cautious how
they accept that ingenious scheme known as the
Budget, and cause them to hesitate before they
adopt statements on the mere faith of a reputa-
tion which nothing has yet occurred to justify.
One of the vaunted items of the conversion scheme
was the proposed Exchequer Bonds, which were to
form such eligible securities for investment ; but
the returns of acceptance on several days have been
entered " nil," and the whole amount agreed to be
taken is no more than many a Liverpool merchant
could conveniently do with his spare cash. But
the failure has not been for want of advocacy, for
the Times has studiously endeavoured to earn its
bribe of £26,000 a year by recommending the ac-
ceptance of these Exchequer Bonds in every pos-
sible variety of seductive recommendation, though
all apparently without effect. The total amount of
stock for compulsory conversion is about ten mil-
lions ; and, as the whole of the assents at the
South Sea House, up to the close of last week,
realised only £125,815 Bs. lid., there is a heavy de-
ficit of dissentients to be paid off. No provision has I
been made for the creation of new stock to provide
for the -deficit ; and, as the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER, when questioned on this subject,
alluded with seeming confidence in their not being
wanted to the balances in the Treasury, we pre-
sume that they will have to be devoted to this ob-
ject, or an application made to Parliament for
powers to amend the defects of the previous ar-
rangement. Some Conservatives lamented the de-
fection of the PEELITES, but in Mr. GLADSTONE
we have lost no great amount of financial ability.
The following is the return of the total amount
accepted up to Saturday night at the Bank of Eng-
land, and at the South Sea House, distinguishing
the several kinds of new stock :

BAN-K OF ENGLAND.
Three and a half per cents £ 120,1788 8 6
Two and a half per cents 1,301,479 11 0
Exchequer bonds

T0ta1.... .
SOUTH SEA HOUSE.
Three and a half per cents £30,824 3 6
Two and a half per cents
Exchequer bonds 6;935 0 0

Total. £125,815 8 11

TRANSFER OF LAND.

AMONG the many grievances which have from
time to time been brought before the attention of
the Legislature, the one which has appeared the
most hopelees of a remedy is that of the difficulty
and great expense attending the transfer of landed
property. To acquire an ownership in the soil
seems to be an ambition almost universal ; but the
transfer has -become so loaded with accumulated
legal requirements, that the cost of transfer in
minor cases is almost as great as the value of the
property to•be conveyed ; so that land, instead of
being a marketable commodity, is in reality in the
hands of but•few owners, because those who would
willingly become small proprietors, are debarred
from investing their limited capital in this direc-
tion, through-fear of incurring the heavy legal ex-
penses which are inevitable. This is an evil which
has not only- been seriously felt, but proposals for a
remedy have' been anxiously discussed both in and
out of Parliament. No sooner, however, has one
great legal authority suggested a simple form of
conveyance, which shall apply to all cases, and be
comparatively inexpensive, than another luminary
equally renowned for his legal experience discovers
grave objections, which he deems fatal to the pro-
posed alteration. It may be that he casts a long-
ing lingering look behind on the ample bills of
costs which gave some substantial value to his pro-
fession, and views with regret any attempt to dimi-
nish them for the future ; or it may be that he
really foresees in the stern simplicity stigested a
fertile source of future litigation on disputed titles.
Such was the course of argument in the discussion
on the Registration of Assurances Bill, which pro-
posed to establish. a register of each man's title to
his landed possessions ; and the caution of the ex-
Lord Chancellor, -who raised the objection, has
,met with a cordial .response from many a sage,at-
-torney long practised in legal technicalities, and-the
:glorious uncertainty which is said to be the charac-
teristic of English jurisvudence. It is far easier,
however, to raise objections than to remove them..;
And, white lawyers dispute as to the practicability
of a remedy, the evil remains unremedied. It was
so in Ireland to a far more ruinous extent than in
our own country ; but Parliament cut the Gordian
knot,which it could not unravel, and established an
Ineumbered Estates Court, which superseded all
previous axioms of law, and "selling property thus
transferred to the highest bidder gave the purchaser
an Act of Parliament title„---the best, because the
simplest. A bill with a similar object in view has
been introduced into the House of Commons by
Mr. WINCE-KT SCULLY, and now waits for discus-
sion. It is,entitled "A Bill to facilitate the Trans-
fer of Land in Ireland ;" and it proposes to super-
sede and virtually continue the expiring powers of
the Commissioners under the Incumbered Estates
Act, by establishing a Land Tribunal, to _consist of
three judges, before whom any land in Ireland may
be brought by.application of the owners. It is to
constitute a court of registration of titles and in-
cumbrances ; and one of its main features is the
power to issue debentures on estates brought
within its jurisdiction, not to exceed ten years' net
annual value, and to be repayable within the same
period. These debentures are to be granted under
the authority of the proposed Land Tribunal to the
owner, and form negotiable instruments similar to
bills an 3 promissory notes. It remains to be seen
whether the Legislature will sanction this plan of
raising money on landed property made easy ; but
it has seriously been debated whether the time is
far distant when some such a system will be wanted
for England as well as Ireland. The discussion on
the Registration of Assurances Bill shows that the
legal difficulties attending disputed titles are almost
insurmountable. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM fell
a sacrifice to the law expenses on mortgages and
similar proceedings eating up princely possessions ;
and the active operations of Freehold Land Societies,
though avowedly with a political object, go to prove
the intensity of the desire for the acquisition of this
species of investment, and the bar which exists to
its realisation. It is a subject which well deserves
the serious attention of the Legislature ; and it is
to be hoped that some of our legal luminaries will,
ere long, introduce into Parliament a bill to facili-
tate the transfer of land in the United Kingdom.

THE SECOND ROYAL LANCASHIRE MILITIA assem-
bled yesterday morning, at nine o'clock, at the depot,
Everton, for a month's training, under the command of
Col. Sir Thos. Geo. Hesketh, Bart. When the roll was
called over the greater proportion of the men were present.
The day was occupied in preliminaries, and it is not ex-
pected that the regular exercises of the corps will com-
mence before to-morrow.

THE BIRKENHEAD DOCK QUESTION-
ELECTION OF COMMISSIONERS.

THE exciting contest which is now going on in
Birkenhead, for the election of Commissioners, out
of which body are chosen four Dock Trustees,
tends to justify the remarks which we offered last
week, as to the advantage and necessity of trans-
ferring the Birkenhead Docks to the Liverpool
Dock Trustees, so that this description of property,
on both sides of the Mersey, may be under one
efficient management, and the public, as well as the
proprietors, be spared the mischief and expense of
useless litigation and senseless disputes. For the
eight vacancies in the Board of Commissioners,
there are as many candidates on each side, ranged
under the respective colours of blue and red, and
long addresses from the opposing partisans are
issued almost every day, with all the ardour of a
Parliamentary contest. It must not be supposed,
however, that the colours which have been adopted
are in any way indicative of political bias, as the
Blue, which, in Liverpool would enlist much Ra-
dical sympathy, is here adopted by a party of can-
didates who are nearly all Conservative, whereas
the Red list, which, on our side of the Mersey would
be a Constitutional symbol, contains in Birken-
head many of Radical politics. Party politics are
therefore altogether eschewed, and the votes of the
rate-payers, who number about two thousand,
are solicited upon grounds which solely apply to the
unhappy disputes about the Dock property. On
behalf of the Red party, Mr. CARMICHAEL, who is
one of the candidates, has put forth an address, in
which, as a shareholder of the Dock and Ware-
house Company, he complains of the obstructive
course which he says has been adopted towards that
company by the Birkenhead Dock Trustees, in
which the Blue interest at present predominates.
They have lately made, he says, great exertions to
let their land on the margin of the Float to manu-
facturers, shipbuilders, and others, and he cannot
conceal his indignation at the Dock Trustees
coming forward on the threshold of improvement to
contest the right of the Dock Company to a free
control of their property, and threatening a suit in
Chancery if they remove a stone from their own
walls, which he states were built at the sole
expense of the Dock Company ; and further,
that it was entirely owing to the money ad.
vanced by the Company to the Dock Trus-
tees to excavate the Great Float, that the walls
have been made accessible. He professes his
desire to afford every inducement to shipbuilders
and others to locate themselves on the margin of
the Float, and adds an expression of his anxiety to
have the contract with Messrs. BRASSEY and
M'Conmrox, for the completion of the outerworks,
carried out as early as possible, which, however, he
says, must take several years to accomplish. In
reply to this, Mr. A. W. POWLES, the chairman
of the Dock Trustees, has published a letter, in
which he says that the Company set up a claim to
deal with more than a mile in length of the Dock
walls, the conservancy of which rested with the
Trustees, whO have simply resisted an invasion of
their rights—rights in which the township of Bir-
kenhead is deeply interested, and which, so far from
being now asserted for the -first time, have been
equally asserted by their predecessors in the Dock
Trust for years past. He asserts that, so far from
being influenced by feelings .of hostility, the Dock
Trustees have on two occasions--the 23rd of last
month, and the I4th of this-month—written to the
Dock Company, proposing a meeting for an amica-
ble arrangement of the matters in dispute, but to
neither have they received any reply. He denies
that the Dock Trustees are opposed to the estab-
lishment of manufactories on the banks of the Pool,
and contrasts the course of policy pursued by the
present Trust with that of their predecessors, refer-
ring to the one great fact accomplished—the re-
sumption of the works; and he expresses his con-
fident expectation that, before their term of office
shall have expired, they will have entered into
contracts for the entire completion of the works,
unless -the result of the forthcoming election—by
which be means the success of the Red party—shall
have the effect of restoring to the Board the same
elements of dissension which before rendered them
a byeword. He states that in four months from
this time the dam will be across the entrance of the
low-water basin, and the outer works will be finished
by October, 1 555. He concludes by affirming that
the interests of the Dock Trustees, the Dock and
Warehouse Company, and the Township of Birken•
head are identical ; and expresses his regret if the
Company should continue to resist a friendly
settlement.

This difference between two influential bodies,
thus brought to the issue of a popular contest, does
but confirm the opinion we have previously ex-
pressed, that it would be advantageous to all par-
ties if such an important property were removed
from the arena of rivalry, and placed.under the same
efficient management which has rendered the Liver-
pool Docks the wonder and admiration of the com-
mercial world. There is no real ground of anta-
gonism, and the rapid increase of trade to the port
will fully require the occupation of both sides of the
Mersey. For the present, however, the question is
left to the ratepayers of Birkenhead, many of whom
will, no doubt, be
,guided in their votes by the
,chnple fact that to the blue party who have at
present the ascendancy in the Dock Trust is owing
.the progress which is -now being made to render the
dock property more available by completing the
outer works. We can quite agree with Mr. POWLES
that the interests of all parties are identical, and it
is to be hoped that this feeling will not be kept out
of view in the forthcoming election.

WORKING MEN'S CHURCH ASSOCIATION,

-
THE object of this association is to provide additional
Curates for Liverpool and the neighbourhood, whose
week-day labours are to be limited to ,pastoral visitation,
and who are to be engaged on Sundays in forming new
congregations amongst the working classes. So successful
have been the operations of this association, that it has
already more than thirteen hundred families of the work-
ing classes who are subscribers, and two new districts
have been formed in Liverpool—one at the North Docks,
entitled St. Aidan's, after the College at Birkenhead, of
which the Rev. Dr. Baylee, the director of the associa-
tion, is the principal, and another out of the districts of
-St. James's and St. Bride's, under the joint superinten-
dence of the Rev. fi. Hampton and the Rev. W.
Falloon. Exertions have also been made to extend the
working of the association to the district of Birkenhead,
and with such success that the income of £lOO a-year,
required to be raised by weekly subscriptions not exceed-
ing 2d. each, in order to secure a prior claim to an ap.
pointment , is very nearly accomplished, At the ordina-
tion held by the Lord Bishop of Chester, on Sunday, at
Chester Cathedral, four students—one from St. Bees'
College, and three from St. Aidan's College, Birken.
head—were admitted to holy orders, for the work of
this association, three of them, for Liverpool and one
for Birkenhead. The success of this association reflects
the greatest credit on the working classes of Liverpool
and the neighbourhood, who have raised the pecuniary
means for the spiritual instruction of themselves, and we
recur to the fact in order that it may stimulate those who
have the means to assist in the good work.

GRATIFYING TESTIMONIAL TO AN OVERSEER OF
THE POOR.—On Monday evening, the 16th instant, the
inhabitants of Newton-in-Mackerfield testified their
respect to Mr. Richard Owen, overseer of the poor of that
parish, by presenting him with a superb silver teapot,
together with a silver goblet and a purse of gold, as a mark
of their esteem. The teapot bears the following inscrip-
tion, a similar one is also engraven upon the goblet:—
" Presented to Mr. Richard Owen a silver teapot, together
with a silver goblet and a purse of sovereigns, (by the
ratepayers of Newton and friends,) for his faithful and
efficient services as assistant overseer and collector of rates
in the parish of Newtoo-iP4loaerAeltl for pearly thirty
yore."