The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-02-11 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

I We have all along been strongly impressed with absurd premiums, we venture to say that, as soon NOAH'S ARK AS A-MODEL FOR STEAMSHIPS
' —liament could never have in- as ever the present excite: (as die
-.ion, to delegate to the it will,) and their stock cea

on that I

ment dies a►va

CU about It may be remembered by some of our readers—nay, we
may say by a very large portion of the public of the United
Kingdom, for the passage extracted from our report has
.., readily ptunrecmh,a
sbeeafboiree %a'terypamr,anoyr
gone the round of the press—that at a recent course of
Nine-tenths of the existing completed lectures delivered at the Collegiate Institution, the Rev.
...,e oeen at discounts during the period Hugh M'Neile, who occupied the chair, in introducing
__ „,_____ _. „........,..,
a lecturerwtih to laeelone. of money to the parties dependent of their formation—some at large discounts. How, the l s audience, remarked upon an important
upon its favourable or unfavourable decisions, would then, can prudent men continue to carry on the
the subject of the lecteuorme ninuntileat
following t o
mi
ebr
me asr ing upon
be far too great to be submitted to a body, consti- present rash speculations with such facts before " I understand he intends to introduce to von this
tuted like the Railway Committee of the Board of their eyes. evening some remarks upon the deluge, and the wonder-
Trade—a body consisting, as was well observed by _ ful preservation of Noah and his family in the ark. lam
reminded by this of a very instructive incident which os-
Lord Howick on Wednesday evening, of "the noble We have before us some tabular statements,
'-'^-‘t of the Board of Trade, as its chief, prepared by authority of parliament, which afford us curvedt
e n s
e snh
ithispi)eTiedreyr
shipbuilders.
town irn
ilvi
sho ins t o(r?,
wasof one
iti foofrmoeut; et/tie
-
_ assist him, four gentlemen not one of whom data of some importance, by which to ascertain our other day by a gentleman upon whose veracity I can rely,)
jarcely ranks higher than the clerk of a department." exact financial position and the extent to which impressed with the fact of mistake after mistake having
Such a power, existing in any government office, government can safely proceed in lightening the been made in the construction of steam-vessels—that
tsoome weore made too broad for adequate rapidity—some
however well qualified by talent or honesty to dis- pressure of taxation. The most important of these
charge its functions, must he esteemed grossly un- is the " expository statement of the consumption of miodlita we
rectified,
for s safety f eatey d—t
going,otig hats
becametho a %lino t
andh r
becomesrris tak e s
constitutional, and invasive of the undoubted privi- imported commodities within the united kingdom, all, to the fountain-head of wisdom, he thought surely the
of both Houses of Parliament; and it is cer- and of the operation of the Customs' duties on such best instructions were to be obtained from the Divine
Architect, who had commanded the construction of the
-:s.r, that its decisions would never be sa- consumption in two years preceding, and in two
I,;ssel. Accordingly, as I have been told, he took his
tisfactory to the public, and very doubtful whether years following, the establishment of the new tariff."
Bible to the workshop, and on turning to the directions
the honesty and disinterestedness of the parties From this table we propose to show, as clearly as we given to Noah for the construction of the ark, and coin-
making them, would he permitted to remain free can, the precise working of that measure, and the paring his scale with the cubit, he took his description for
amount of encouragement which the result affords the building of a vessel, and the result was the construe-
us for further commercial legislatiou in the same lion of the Oriental—the best of any which now floats
direction. In the first place, we give the aggregate upon the ocean."
Surely this was a fact worthy of being communicated to
mean annual produce of duties under a classification a Christian audience; and strikingly illustrative of the
into the following seven heads, viz.:— perfection of the divine wisdom! It was narrated, how-
l- .., a. 4.0 1.1.... ...._ Mean An- Mean Annual ever, by the Rev. Hugh M'Neile; and, well known it is
half a-dozen or a dozen competing lines, transfer
nual produce produce in in this locality, how wonderful it would be if anything ut-
Number in two years two years tered by that rev. gentleman could escape the impertinent
fortunes from the pockets of one set of speculators
of preceding following malevolence of the radical press of our town. It did not
ff.
into those of another set—depress the hopes of a I Articles producing Articles, the tlaii(73.7 the;aBr,io4o do so. On the contrary, the Liverpool Mercu. yof Fri-
: 413478 .. .€,.9 whole district excited by the promise of a cheap I 1.. Less€►l fi 0 than
to . € .t'solo' ) o . ,1;9,-2 ... 34,461 day week took the opportunity of delivering itself of the
railway communication, and buoy up another with lit. €5OO to €l,OOO :. 50 .. 69,, 32 .. 36,258 following comment, which we give at length :
the anticipation of a continued and permanent mo- IV. €l,OOO to £10•000 • • 109 • • 570.718 .. 3.117,4522 " What a pity it is that the rev. gentleman had not con-
itiessl.o,oocioooo..:. 255 ::
378096;90916 ::
3951:630 piltel.l‘ls 1.. Wilson himself, or, at the very least, looked
VI. ...::5100,00000t
intod e i
nopoly. It is physically impossible that the Board
Bible, before he told such a tale as this. Had he
of Trade or any other body, even with the facilities VII. .evo.ofie & upwards.. 17 .. 20,810,542 .. 21,417,462
Articles now exempted .. 196 .. the first, Mr. Wilson would probably have told him
afforded them by the ordnance survey in examining
levels, &c., could, within the brief space allowed Total Bl3 €22,637,494 €22,720,885 he would certainly have seen that the instructions given
them, arrive at anything like a satisfactory conclu- Each of these seven items is divided into five by God to Noah (Gen. vi. 14, 15, 16) for the building of
sion, with respect to the comparative merits of any classes, which classes show the following results:— the ark could have been of no assistance to Mr. Wilson
the building of a modern steam-ship. The ark was no
two competing projects; and although the result Mean Annual In the two doubt perfectly adapted for its object ; but it was merely
may, and will, undoubtedly shew that a few clear- produce in the years sub- intended to float upon the waters, without mast, sail, or
headed men may be able, in many instances, to ar- 2 years pre- sequent to
rudder, and therefore there could be no possible analogy
ceding the the New
rive at a correct decision, where so many of the New Tariff. Tariff. between the ark and such a vessel as the Oriental.
schemes submitted to them are palpably absurd in A. Articles in a raw state for ma- Leaving the difficulty as to the capacity of the cubit wholly
€2,195,080 €1,414,841 out of view, we find that the length of the ark was six
de-Ail, monopolising or annoying in the motive of B
B.
ri
Articlesufact
partiallyres
manufactured 1,051,229 611,488 times its breadth, and ten times its depth—viz., length
their projection, or purely speculative, there is just c. Articles wholly manufactured . 479,570 475,525 300 cubits ; breadth 50 cubits ; depth 30 cubits : the di-
D. Articles of food* 18,687,617 20,4,76,842
Bi-
as great a possibility that in many instances their mensions of the Oriental are, leng
th over all, 232 feet,—
decisions will be proved to be egregiously wrong. to any of these heads 223,998 102,190 for stowage, 206 feet 6 inches ; breadth, 36 feet within tbe
The merest tyro in engineering may take a map of s S.everal.articles are included in this item not properly food, paddle-boxes, 60 feet over them ; and depth of hold, 22
ass pices, wine, tocacco, &C. feet. It is, therefore, abundantly evident that if Mr.
Great Britain in his hand and say " this line belongs
Although the first table, therefore, shows a slight Wilson did take 'his Bible to the workshop,' he paid no
naturally to the South-Western, and this to the .
attention' to it in laying down the lines of the Oriental
increase in the productiveness of the Customs'
London and Brighton; this divides a district con-
andyet cin the supposition that he did, Mr. M'Neile
revenue since the introduction of the new tariff, a
veniently, and this accommodates a large town or says—' If this be true, it affords another proof of the great
two ;" but men at all conversant with railway traffic close examination of the latter places the success of value of the wisdom to be found in the sacred volume.
know quite well how fallible must be decisions thus that measure, so far as merely revenue purposes are We have again and again argued upon the wisdom of
summarily arrived at, where the peculiar determina- concerned, in a somewhat doubtful light. There the laws propounded in the sacred volume ; the only code
tion of traffic and the geological features and facili- has been a falling off under every head except that ofe elaiwt laws whimcheosttaonedmetoodthiies
that o
day,
whicha baffles
ein es
theve to
in-
ties of the country to be traversed are left totally an- of "Articles of Food," which shows an increase of fhile Jewish of
ish lawgiver on Mount Sinai.g And if J can be
explored, or taken only upon trust from the exparte about £1,400,000. We find, however, in going shown that the very best directions for building a vessel
into the details which compose this item, that the are those given to Noah,—which baffle the utmost inge-
madestatethents of interested projectors. Decisions so
duty upon our imports of wheat, in the .first two nuityf, the skill of the artisan,—here is another
can never have any real value, except as con-
years embraced by the returns, amounted to
nesoaryiiin of the Bible,, beyond the power
veying to a parliamentary committee that this or opfroinofidelity to gainsay. Aye, but V' the anecdote be
£854,739 ; whereas that of the last two years was
that particular line is more adapted to afford facili- untrue, and ' if' all this ' cannot be shown,' ex concesso,
ties to the government service, for post-office and £1,786,168 ; showing an increase of £931,429 in the infidel might turn Mr. M'Neile's own array of ' ifs'
other national purposes ; and beyond this, in our favour of those years during which the tariff was in against him, and that, too, in a very effective manner.
humble opinion, the inquiries of the Board of Trade
operation. Such increase, which cannot be depended Pity that the Rev. Gentleman
Ldeals not more in logic and
ought never to have been permitted to extend, unless
upon with any regularity in future years, can slapdashiesinthe
first
place, w beg
declamation."
eo inform the Mercury, that
very differently constituted, and conducting those scarcely be set down to that measure. Again, we if Mr. M'Neile had consulted Mr. Wilson as to the main
find an increase, in the last two years over the pre- facts of the statement, that gentleman's reply would not
inquiries in a very different manner.
Let us see how those inquiries are conducted. ceding two, in the duties upon East and West India have induced him to tell a different tale; and a reference
sugar, amounting to f 824,042 ; and as no altera- to Scripture
ir We have already stated of what materials the Boarditselfilso
n
stood confirmed
heer h himi
oil? t itshe
tion was made by the tariff in these duties, the truth.
is composed. It contains not an engineering name platform at.the time whenw he believe,made the statemment. He
apparent increase, shown in the first statement
of eminence; and two of its members, Mr. Porter
which we have given, is converted into a serious tomighmt perhaps
other vessel
erhaps have induced him to refer, as an example,
so
and Mr. O'Brien, are utterly unused to the consi-than the Oriental, in the construction
deration of engineering questions. Lord Howick decrease. of which, in consequence of her having to make long
informs us, from his own personal experience, that It is indisputable, therefore, that, thus far, the voyages, and requiring longer masts and yards, in case of
"
new tariff, in its working, has not answered all the damage to her machinery compelling her to carry sail, an
The promoters of a railway additional two feet of beam were added—(if Mercury
Y send in a short statement expectations which were entertained of it b san- could count his fingers, he would see that this is the whole
the necessary details are furnished to the authorities at
of its extent and direction, and in due time the plan and
guine people. Increase of consumption has not of the difference between the Oriental and the ark) ; but
the Board of Trade. When the promoters of the line to taken place pro rata with the decrease of duties. he would not have shrunk one iota further from the per-
which I refer had done this, they thought that the case of Of course, we cannot bring ourselves to believe that, feet applicability and correctness of Mr. M'Neile's state-
their opponents would be made known to them. This as the country increases in resources and population, went. Nay, it may even be questioned whether the case
bad been kept a profound secret until the 30th of No- the Customs' revenue, upon articles thus cheapened of this vessel is not the strongest that could be put ; for
the two feet extra beam were added solely because the
vember, when it was lodged with the clerk of the peace
to the consumer, will not reach its former level
for the county, according to the regulations, and after
that they thought that they would have been informed of but it ; Oriental might be compelled to act as a sailing vessel,
is abundantly plain that, for a time at least, instead of being merely a floating vessel like the ark.
the case of the opposite side, and that thus learning the we 'shall have to lean upon some extraneous substi- We can assure the Mercury, however, that the prin.
nature of their opponents' allegations, they would have lute to provide for the public expenditure. We ciple of the ark is no new one with these eminent builders.
been enabled to answer and refute them. The time, have this year a surplus, over such expenditure, of Th.ey. have constructed many steam-vessels upon this
however, passed over—the meeting of parliament was principle,adherence to the dimensions of the
£3,356,105.- £5,191,596 have been cpritributed to ark, and have never seen anything in their sailing quali-
near, and we began to think our scheme would be pro-
nounced upon without our having an opportunity of the national exchequer from the income and pro- ties to induce them to vary the proportions laid down,
learning the case of our opponents. I consequently ap- perty taxes, without which, therefore, we should where such steamers were intended to act as floating ves-
plied to the Board of Trade for a hearing on behalf of the have had a deficiency of nearly two millions. It is sets merely. We will give our coctemporary a list of
promoters of this line. I was received by the right hon. clear, from this, that we can anticipate no very some of these, (most of which he can examine at leisure
gentleman with that courtesy which distinguishes him. material reduction of taxation to take place at in our docks,) with the dates of their construction, and
exact dimensions :
We went there knowing nothing of our opponents save
present, without its being accompanied by the When built. Name of steamer. Length. Breadth. Depth.
the plans and details which in common with ourselves
they had sent in. Their arguments in favour of their I rather unpalatable announcement that the imposts 1835 City of Limerick .... 150 25 15
project, their objections to ours, we were totally ignorant removed are to be compensated for to the exchequer 1836 Athlone ..... 150 25 15
of. We stated our case in the interview which ensued, by the permenency, or the continuance for a length- 1837 Royal Victoria
which was limited to haft' an hour's duration, and we de- ened period, of the income tax. We doubt if any 1839 William Stanley
tailed the reasons which we hoped would have induced 1841 Lady Mary Wood
the Board of Trade to give our line the preference. In items of taxation can he found, the relief from 1841 Duke of Cornwall
the course of the conversation which took place, one gen- which the country will be ready to purchase at such Of one of these vessels, the Athlone, we may state, that,
tlemsn observed, that he had expected we should have a price. The financial statement, however, which although she has been upon the station between Liverpool
been called upon to reply to the arguments and objections is to be brought forward on Friday, will enlighten and Belfast for the last seven years, she has never once
of our opponents. To this observation the right b put back from stress of weather, or refused to face a gale;
gentleman the President of the Board of Trade replied, on. us upon the subject. and the whole have displayed excellent sailing powers and
' that the point was of no importance whatever, inasmuch sea-worthiness.
as it was physically impossible for the Railway Board to MINISTERIAL CHANGES. Surely this ought to be satisfactory to our contemporary,
listen to the comments and arguments of conflicting par. and relieve him from the fear, under which he appears to
ties.' " The following are the ministerial arrangements conse- labour, of this striking evidence of the wisdom of the
Can anything be more conclusive thAn this, as quenteet ond ththe secession. of Mr. Gladstone from the Cabi-
retiregoeunste?f Lord Eliot through being ncrreeta tgroaefhfortdhin g food fur
nothing
scoffr infidel.of;mthero a
e
A t
thetl the showing the unsatisfactory character of the inquiries called to the Upper same omniscientediwreacstinons forgtvhee pyropoprtions of a thatvessel
and the evidence upon which the Board gives its Pres. of B. of Trade.. Lord Dalhousie, vice Mr. W. E. Gladstone, which was to float upon the waters, should apply through-
decision. They have before them, in the first place, Vice Do. Do: .. sir Geo. Clerk,' „ Lord' Dalhousie. out all time. A steamer, be it remembered, is but a float-
Master of the Mint .. Ditto,
plans and sections of two or three competing lines, Secretar for Irelan , Idlorr.dio
w. E. ing vessel propelled from within.
(and how often these are incorrect every member of Secretaryy atWar,with d.Sir T. Fremantle, , Lord
parliament knows ;) they have next, we presume, seat in the Cabinet. Hon. S. Herbert. „ Sir T Fremantle.
traffic tables, not worth a rush until tested, and LsotrSdeoci osfdAmdimraiirtaylty...Rt
Lord
TcyCn rry „
1111to7josn..1frerier.
Corry.
further, perhaps, the exparte case of the projectors. Sec. to the Treasury. Mr. E. Cardwell, ~ Sir Geo. Clerk.
a.. ar of Lincoln,
Half
an hour was allowed to Lord Howick and Seathis in the Cabinet.. El Chief Commissioner of
co-directors to explain the merits of the line in Woods and Forests.
A rumour has been afloat that Sir E. Knatchbull is
which they were interested; and vet upon these about to retire from the Government, but we believe it
imperfect data the Board reported, conceiving it as has originated merely from the absence of the right hon.
"a point of no importance whatever," and, more- baronet from the recent sittings of the Cabinet, in
sCon-
over, " physically impossible" to test the correctnessequence of the illness of his daughter, who has since
of the conflicting testimony before them ! Can dieldt.is said that Mr. Dawson (brother-in-law of Sir R.
anything be more preposterous than this ? Why Peel) will be Chairman of the Commissioners of Customs,
that such a Board should exist—with power to make in the place of Mr. Deane, retired.
reports upon such loose testimony, whether such
reports be conclusive or not, so long as we know
that they do influence the transactions of the share

solutely, or by implication, deciding the fate of th

months are

railway bi

Is broug
)lace.

In before them for examination

even under,
rniltv,vro tin

the trust

loss of mil

Vice• pr
and_ to

tai n, mo

from imputation.
It has been, therefore, with surprise and alarm
that we have seen such an absurd importance at-
tached to these decisions, by speculators and railway
boards; and the mere announcement, in the Gazette,
of the Board of Trade's P- • .In, as to the merits of

FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES

The several documents from the Treasury Department
which have been laid before Congress afford a detailed
view of the financial condition of that government, which
is highly prosperous. We make a short extract :

ESTIMATED RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1845.
dots.
31,945,018
2,139,856
120,000
7,857,379

Fr:
lm Customs • • •
From sales of public 1and5.......
From miscellaneous and incidental sources
Balance in Treasury, July 1, 1844

Total amount .
Expenditure (included in this sum is about
£16,000,000 public debt paid off) during
the year ending the 30th of June, 1845..

42,062,253

BANK OF ENGLAND.—The following is the position of
the principal items in the Rank of England return for the
week ending the Ist of Felnuary, and the variations as
compared with the week ending the Ph of January :

35,019,431

market to an extent almost unimaginable—is an
absolute encouragement to fraud and dishonesty.
A Board of Directors have only to submit to this
tribunal a line of railway with false levels, exagge..
rated traffic, diminished estimates of cost and dis-
tances; and a favourable report of the Board of
Trade will put a few hundred thousands in their

Leaving a balance in the Treasury
on the Ist of July, 1845 7,042,822
Value of imports and exports during the year ending
the 30th ofJune, 1814 :
Imports, free of duty, to the value of
Imports paying duty
Sum total of imports .......... 1

Circulation of notes.
Public deposits.... ,
Private deposits ...
Seven days' bills..

Increase.
221,320

Decrease

2,852', 1 24

4,514,519

1,7)3,690 676,370
1,085,065 69,99

24,766,082
83,688,620
08,454,4'02

On the other side—

pockets, although they may never carry their project
a step further!

Domestic produce exported.. 100,183,497
111,128,278
Foreign merchandise ditto .. 10,941,781

Bullion
Gov. securities .. 13,541,692 1,972
Other securities .... 8,652.751
THE FUNDS.—SATURDAY NIGHT.—The funds have
been pretty steady to-day, and the amount of business
transacted le s proved exceedingly limited. The feature
in the market is the continued decline of Exchequer-bills,
which have gone down to 555. to 58s. premium. Bank
Stock left off 213 to 214 ; India Stock, 281 to 283 ; Three
per Cent. Reduced, 100 to s ; Three-and-a-Quarter per
Cents., 103 a to ; and Long Annuities, 1.2 - In the
foreign market little change has occurred. Quotations
are much the same as they were yesterday. and the ten-
dency of the market is decidedly against purchases.
Spanish Five per Cents. were finally quoted 271, to 28 ;
the Three per Cents., 401 to 41 ; Russian, 119 to 120 ;
Peruvian, 31i to 32& ; Portuguese, 59 to 60; Danish, 89
to 90; Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cents., 627 to 63*;
the Five per. Cents., 99 to 4 ; the Four per Cents., 987
to ; Chilian, 100 to 102; Buenos Ayres, 40 to 42; Bra-
zilian, 89 to 901; and Mexican, 351 to 361. In Railway
shares business has been rather dull to-day. The report
of the Board of Trade has not created so much excitement
now it is evident that all projects will have a fair and
unprejudiced hearing before Parliament. Waterford and
Kilkenny support 2 premium ; South Wales were yester-
day 6 premium ; to-day they have declin• d to 3 premium,
notwithstanding the Commissioners favourably counte-
nance the line.

We have not approached the consideration of this
subject with any intention of questioning the pro-
priety of the Board of Trade's decisions, with
respect to any particular line. We have no wish
those companies whose lines have been

2,774,245

The Royal Mail Steam Ship, Cambria, which would
leave Boston on the Ist, and Halifax on the 3d inst., may
be expected to reach this port on Friday or Saturday next.

The Grand Junction Railway Company have decided
not to proceed this session with the application to parli•
arnent from Kekewick, in Cheshire, to Huyton Station,
which was intended to cross the river Mersey at Marsh
Gate. This important step was agreed to at a meeting of
the directors on Wednesday.

THE BISHOP OF ELY.—The greatest alarm a few days
since pervaded the palace and town of Ely, in consequence
of its being ascertained that the Right Rev. Prelate was
suffering from a serious attack of apoplexy. His lordship
had, it appears, been found by a domestic stretched on
the door of his bedroom, seemingly lifeless, and medical
aid )1:

being instantly ea
restored to sensation.

led in be was, in some measure,
Up to Friday night he remained in

a very precarious state

APPEAL.—Yesterday an appeal was heard before the
Recorder, at the Sessions, brought by Mr. Heyes, a
publican, against a decision of Mr. Rushton, a short time
ago. The appellant was then fined on an information for
selling liquors on a Sunday, within hours contrary to the
local act affecting publicans. The evidence of a witness,
who had not appeared before Mr. Rushton, was adduced,
,and it was of such an exculpatory nature, that the Re-
corder quashed the conviction.

THE WEATHER.—Since our last publication we have
had a pretty fair crop of winter severities. Up to Thurs-
day we had cold easterly winds, and the streets were in a
worse condition with mud and wet than we remember to