The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-10-11 00:00:00

THE DYING MISER.

•
Monday Mr. Banister, one of the inspectors of the Bdi or
of police, made a communication to Mr. Gregorie,. at Quemi
square, of a case of the greatest apparent destitution be '—
ever met with in his life.
It appeared from the statement that between seven and AI
o'clock. on Sunday evening police constable Burke, of
_t,lts.
division, No. was called upon, while on duty in the ve;pii
hall-road, by seine gentlemen, to remove -a crowd a bops as
women who were disturbing the dying moments of an old Itet
in an empty house, or, more properly speaking, a wretc%,
hovel, at a plaie called the "Five Chimneys," in the Vauxlrea,
bridge-road. The constable found a great crowd asseulb
and, with the assistance of some gentlemen and neighbours, b 0
seeded in getting the crowd away. On entering the hove'vey
found the old man lying on the bare boards, with a rag to co
him, and not a vestige of any sort of furniture in the b°ll'to
He was to all appearance in a dying state, and not a persqep,
assist him in his last moments. Nourishment was insvoedield
procured, as the poor creature appeared to be quite helpless:,,Ll
imbecile, and nearly starved to death. A young man natiei
Wise, who entered the house with a constable, in the ktO 00-
manner volunteered 'his services to sit up and assist the eit
man during the night; and a neighbour lent him a chair Leo
on, while others sent several blankets and sheets, for the to
man to sleep on, and he was for the time made as comfortiapr
as circumstances wculd permit. Monday morning, Mr., 00
nister hearing of the circumstance, went to the place, adu,d
quite astonished at the sight he beheld. The name of tile,'4o`
man is John or Thomas Bickerton, between seventy and allot*
years of age, and he appeared to be. dying in a state of Ide reri
imbecility. He frequently called out for Wise, who volunteeote,
to attend upon him, to get him change for a ten pound „be
and seemed as if in a state of unconsciousness. Shocked et ,00
sight, the inspector, after giving directions that every `et'
should be taken of him, hurried to the house of one of-the,° btr
seers of the parish, but was told that the case was not °t at
district; he then went to a second overseer, but he was Oise
home; he was gone to the workhouse. He then went to re,
workhouse, and was informed that there was no overseer per'
sent. Mr. Banister then left word that as soon as any edit
seer arrived to inform him at the station house, as hewisbeio
speak to him. No person, however, came to the station beoitll
and the inspectorfinding the difficulty he had to contend
ea it
in his individual capaqity in.procuring assistance, consider' dif•
his duty to communicate the circumstance to the sitting toss
trite. te
f
Mr. Gregorie, on hearing the statement, gave immedid
o

rections to-Woodberry, one of the officers of establisoo,
to go instantly to the parochial authorities, and inform the Ater
the wretched state of the dying man, and, added the mayis'
"if they will not remove him to some place of comfort,
must."
Woodberii. immediately left the office to obey his instructie°"-1:1
ft
Between one and two o'clock on Monday afternoon,
iittlt,
the various reports that were flying about, our reporter sychcoa
Bickerton's hovel in the Vauxhall-road ; the neighbour. 00,
appeared to be in a state of great excitement, and the placpe,
surrounded by a mob of persons. To describe this lOC -boll'
place is almost impossible. The hovel appeared to be 'lore,
half finished; there were three rooms in the wretched
no windows, and doors without either locks or hinges;roori
lower room without any flooring, covered with loose dust,,, d
tar, and old bricks.. Our reporter immediately ingulcett.
Wise if the old man had been removed by the parochial 0'0.6
His reply was, "There is no occasion now, sir, the poa„r,o1;1
ture died about hour ago, there, on that blanket on the nor
at the same time pointing to the place where lay the eraae;l:lll'
frame of an old man, the bones nearly protruding the., 0'
Wise had wrapped him up in the blankets, and placed It.° siso
one side of the room. The only article of furniture we sa'oict
a chair, which had been le.nt him by a neighbour. Wis;ta
that about half au hour after the poor creature had ex!'' nose'
cot arrived from the overseers to convey him to the wori hola
From the inquiries we made, we'understand that the parirse,
cers hadlieen iliforine7l of this poor man's ease some da,:,!tvlo'
He has been lying in the same dreadful state of imbecoi
some days, without a friend or acquaintance to come near vend
Without any covering, on the bare boards, and had it 11(1,
for the interference of some casual passengers, who in °le,
the police of the circumstance, the whole affair would have see
hushed up, and the unfortunate deceased would have heel'
A 0'
to the dissecting-
t. room. t
Bickerton firs made his appearance in the nejghbouti`
the Vauxhall-road about six years ago ; lie lived in the sode
penurious manner possible, not allowing himself even the„.oo,
mon necessaries of life. He was always about from lutheill;
till night, picking up bones, pieces of glass, rooting abaunotict;
of rubbish, and picking up anything of the slightest, t, vo,
which he used to sell to the marine store dealers. leo, VII,
withstanding this sort of avocation, he always appearednetrc
very superior sort of man, and a man of education. The tout
bouts never could imagine who or what he was, until ao„.i.tocA
years ago, he bought a freehold property, as we were ito!',,
for which he paid £3BO. The hovel in which be died tv'd,oP_,,
of the same. He is" said to be most respectably connecterocei,
that he had a brother living at Oxford in affluent circutus ;eves
and that another brother lives in London. It appears, Nor
that he had received a most liberal education, and that i'liboaq
his degrees at Oxford. The rumours abroad in the neillt.s thlt
hood are various. From one person we heard that he r,(llc
brother of a gentleman of rank and title, and that be '
roi"
the world, as a recluse, through unjust treament. es
err'
the close of the office Mr. Banister, will alieiffeb ;
himself in such a praiseworthy manner to alleviate Yetbat"
ings of Bickerton, entered, and informed Mr. Gregotle
had expired.

LOVE LETTER EXTRAORDINARY.--The followint. i 5 I,ly 9'
copy of a " love-letter" lately sent to "Mr. W. M., posbo
" Deer William,—the most amiable of your sex, wer tol
ble for the powers of utterance to reveal the fonSenletic.,d chot
pervades my sole, the great anksity of gloing hoapes ;',05 het
fears rules my breast by turns. You need no other somoie.oot
this peeper to Evince you of the purity and ardor the 'Jot!),
'kindled in my Breast—vour but y fills mc with wunOef.th 06,00
understanding with ravishment and your goodnessin 'ot
tion. Suffer me lovely anther of my feate to breath ; or)/
murmurs my passion to your air, and to beer theyl;feeblee
consoling tong, and to banish or ever the most intooi
pence from the busom of your inraptund friend. ?I Will
present from your deer, and afectshonate lover.--J),Pe hart, 07
the very thouts of yourleaving Coulboy breakes riolier:e"
grass is green, the rose is red, the vilets blue, there.
love so sweet as you, if you love me, as well as IlOWeja'atte. „
thing but death-will part you and 1--tiue" iiry 100
•
Stewart' i De.ipatch.

OcTopEtt 11, 1833.

SUGAR TRADE;

tHR EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL ,STANDsIRD.

SIR —I th 20th 7 a remarks contained in the STANDARD of the
Britaillint., respecting the trade
.in sugar as it affects Great
_ it is very justly described as an article of first rate
__oPortance, My attention has-been lately turned to an endea-
!eitr to arrive at some definite conclusion as to what is likely
to the future course of this trade; and lam induced to ad-
ss to yo.o a few obServations on this point, of which you can
a,ke anv use von please,,---if, indeed, you think they are worth
"slug 94 la
lasis'he commerce in sugar, with its dependent products, too-
cs and rum,—which must be taken into consideration at
thed same time, for if the production of thi principal article is
• ulunished, the quantities of these will also fall otf,—forms so
114Portatit'a portion of the trade of the united kingdom, that an
inquiry as to its probable future progress, and as to the conse-
be quences Which may follow the'alterations at present about to
made in our slave colonic's, from whence so abundant a
the is now received for the consumption of this country and
.e continent of Europe, cannot but be very interesting.
It ,wi/1 he useful, in the first place, to see how these things
stiula at present. • . ,
?lIn-the reort-of the-committee of the House olCommons on
ie West India colonies, (Parliamentary paper, N 0.381, 1832,)
me total consumption of sweets in the united kingdom is stated
as wider, for the year 1831:

Sugar—British West India 3,428,365 carts.
•Mauritius

East India

Molasses

3,869,140

'13050

4,005,990
389,500

Cwts. .4,395,49 t)
V.htming the consumption of sugar, independent of molasses, to
'lave been 200,000 tons, or about 450,000,000 lbs. There is not
aY imported article of which the consumption is -nearly so
vreat. Cotton-wool is the next in quantity, and that does not
teach to very much more than half the consumption of sugar.
With respect to revenue, the following is taken from a volume
" Papers compiled from official returns," lately published,
finder kndthe authority of government.
Net produce of Customs, 1831: •
Sugar 4,650,590
Molasses
Rum 1,629,881

£6,437,35 I
Shia *aro being more. than. oue,third. of the whole amount of
Vustoms' duties inwards collected in that year, £17,936,304.
Froui the same authority, we, learn that the imports of the
articles in question, in 1831, were as follows

. , .
• Sugar . 5 366,262 cwts 268,000 tons.
Molasses 332,876 cwts
Rum 7,892,722 gals.
the whole .
exceeding in value any other imported article, except,
perhaps, cotton-wool, as also in weight and bulk, every thing
except timber.
I have briefly stated these facts as a justification of the asser-
tion' pat forward respecting the importance of that article of
'commerce now under consideration. It is of importance to the
Veople at large as a necessary of life; to the government as a
source of great and easily collected revenue,. and very important
as au article of trade to the commercial and shipping interests.
The statements of the importation and consumption of sugar,
'nay be thus dissected:—
Re-exported to Continent
Bri •Imported from Consumed. of Europe.
matuill . West Indies .... Ton 205,000 .... 171,000 .... 34,000
uritnis 26,000 •. • . 22,000 .... 4,000

231,000 193,000 38,000
East India Company's p
- IZOOO .• • . 7,000 ..„. 5,0(10
Po7esisgi°ttilEast Indies
• • • ••••
Foreign West Indies and
...• 25,000
22,000 .. • • South America

268,000 200,000 68,000
nieshe,y!oportion of this importation afforded by the slave colo-
°, this country is 231,000 tons, all of which is placed in
all PardY by the measures now in progress, and it is agreed by
Persons that some great diminution of this production will
certainly y take place. It has been estimated as high as one
.11;ird, but I will take it at 60,000 tons, or about one fourth part.
.`"?‘v this amount deducted from the importation above stated,
denying out of the question the foreign sugar, which is merely
in transit, the duty completely precluding its entering into the
consumption of this country—leaves only 183,000 tons, 171,000
colonial, and 12,000 East Indies; being less than the present
amount of consumption 'by nearly 20,000 tons of sugar.
When the consumption of any article exceeds the quantity
offering for sale, the competition purchasers,—none of
th
era wiling to be the first to givAlikluse of what they have
been accustomed to—produces of course an increase of yprice,
he Progress of which may be stopped by its reaching so high a
trate as either to bring into action fresh sources of sugply, or to
effect a reduction in the quantity consumed.
With reference to the former of these effects, the only place
to which this country could look for an increased supply of
sugar is British India, and it is therefore necessary to consider
What price would be sufficient to draw from that country any
such increase of supply as would be required, remembering that
froth
amount it would then be necessary for this country to draw
"'QM Hindostan is more than twice as much as the whole quan-
tity we receive from thence at present. To enable some deci-
sion to be formed on this point, the following statement, ex-
tracted from Messrs. Trueman and Cook's "State of the Com-
Mere° of Great Britain in 1830," is offered. It shows the price of
.Bengal white suar, without duty, for fifteen years subsequent
to the opening of the East India trade.—
Mean Price. Mean Price.
1814-75 to 100 .. 87 6 'cwt. 1822-31 to 41 .. 37 6 'cwt.
• • 5-65 75 .. 70 3-27 37 .. 32
- • .-42 , 60 51 4-27 34 30 6 •
• • 7-48 62,.. 55
5-34 40 .. 37
• • 8-48 51 .51 6-35 39 .. 37
• • 9-37 45 41 7-33 37 .. 35
.20-34 43 38 A 8-34 40 .. 37
1-29 42
.. 35 ‘g
It is not my intention, on the present occasion, to enter
pito any consideration of the causes which, as I think, render
it highly improbable that any considerable surplus produc-
lon of sugar for exportation should take place in Hindostan,
unless much higher prices could be realised than are now
•current for that article in the markets of Europe. All the
reports of the servants of the Company, as to the abundance
of sugar which could be procured in Bengal, contained in
the papers published by the East India Company, in. 1822,
are founded. upon the supposition of a much higher price
being obtainable. For the present. it is sufficient to remark
that the high scale of prices which appears in the fore-
going statement did not cause any material increase in the
quantity of sugar imported into this country from Bengal;
though these prices were not realised for one or two years only,
or at intervals and accidentally, but continued for a series of
Years, at a time when attention was directed to the subject, and
when private merchants, experienced in the East India trade,
;vere anxious and ready to take advantage of any opening in
business which may offer.
The duty on East India sugar. being 325. per cwt., I think I
Have a right to infer that no price under 70s. per cwt. would be
B°Meient to cause any great increase in the importation of that
It is true, the situation of British India is on the point
Ns° ii3eing materially altered, and that alteration, it is alleged,
di, ••ainong other effects, cause an increased production, at a
~,ilinished cost, of sugar and other articles of export; but,
do ti should this take place, which may perhaps admit of ques-
" et until after a
at all events,
certain as to the extent aticipated, it cannot take
number of ynears.
House
Mr. Buxton's evidence before the late committee of the
ruse of Lords, on the West India colonies, among other
ea p raent respeting e extt of the production o sugar in
is, hes refers to ath paperen printed by order of the House of
t..Trnons No. 320, 1831 in which it is stated that the expor-
M2ll of sugar by sea, from Calcutta, amounted, in the year
8-9, to 4`29,723 bazaar maunds, equal to about 16,000 tons.
If this is put forward to prove any increase in the export of the
article, I apprehend the following information from the reports
of the external commerce of Bengal, comprized in the papers
respecting sugar, published by the East India Company in
18,52, will prevent its having that effect. It is there said that
the total quantity of sugar exported from Bengal, in 1799-1800,
exceeds 21,000 tons. When it is considered that for the five years
preceding 1799, the price of Muscovado sugar in England was,
speaking generally, above 60s. without duty; whereas, in the
• Years preceding 1829, the price was little above 30s. per cwt.
Without duty ; the quantities of sugar exported from Bengal, at
the two different periods, is a fact which, in my opinion, strongly
, corroborates the position I have attempted to establish, that
the resources which British India professedly possesses for in-
creasing her produce of sugar, cannot be profitably brought in-
to operation without a considerable advance in the price of the
article.
Adverting to the other point of inquiry, whether the con-
sumption of sugar would not be lessened by the value rising so
high at, the price abovenamed, let us consider the following state-
ment respecting the consumption of sugar in Great Britain, at
two different periods :
TOTAL AVERAGE PRICE.
1801-1805 68s. ad. per cwt., 7.312 d. per lb. • •
1806-1810 675. 6d. per cwt., 7.232 d. per lb.
1821-1821 578. 4d. per cwt., 6.1424. per lb.
1826-1829 598.3 d. per cwt., 6.318 d. per lb.
CONSUMPTION.
1809 2 504,507 cwts.-1829 3,495,709 cwts.
1810 2,900,000 cwts.-1830 3 600,000 cwts.

Average..... 2,702,253 cats.—Average. 3,547,854 cwts.
POPULATum.
1811 .12,609,864-1831 16,537,398

. . ANNUAL CONSUMPTION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL.
1811 ............ 2-1.0011b5.-1831 24.0271b5.
Note .—ln 1810, sugar was used in distilleries,—quantity,
3,489,312 cwts. ; the quantity inserted is an estimate of consul:l4)-r Con independent of distilleries, being rather more than that of
1808, 2,812,813 cwt., the largest quantity previously consumed
in one year.
The returns of sugar consumed in 1830, including the whole
of the United kingdom, I have put down the amount stated as
an estimate of the consumption of Great Britain.
thlt appears from this, that though for some years previous to
last "flu stated period, the price of sugar has been lower, the
crease ituption, as compared with the population, has not in-
d beyond the limit it bad attained at the end of ten years
. nen the prices reached very nearly to 70s per cwt. Consider-
ingingll classes have w been for so Many years habituated to the
taet anal es
and the consequent disinclthation they must feel
/ thjlektgo the
enjoyment of what is become a necessary of life,
forward we
rnaY argue that if a sufficient supply could be brought
dueed ,_,,t about that price, the consumption would not that suZlow its present extent; at. the saute time it bearsapp
Any ! wonld rise from its present value to the height staed.
whilea Price lunch higher would probably lessen the consumption,
in„ T have lower price, if I am correct in the facts and reason-
il'lns„.,_,lldsv advanced, does not seem likely to draw forth increased
ienfrom the !:mly source open to Chia country to resort to.
2()°131,&111tog the price should so rise about 10 per cent.•this on
then woulnietlitehquantity consumed, would be £2,000,000. Such
Kingdom,
and
t.,enhanced charge to the
.people of the Unitedt
upon the cont s. effec upon the trade in sugar, consequent
e colonies r
eniPlated diminution in the produce of the British
imPortation and• he effect which any great diminution of the
consuru
and trade of the county ption would produce upon the revenue
et therefore, ri!!.
_there is Y. must be apparent to every mind, and,
not any occasion to lengthen this communi.,
total cessation at.Py remarks upon these points Should that almost
persons, B:elirlq:arlifiPere4uction, which is .anticipated by seine
Ject, take place ci to for.n a correct judgment on (he sub-
increased in 'allam the effects referred to would be prodigiously
010 de rat e liet,
and have argu7d upon the stippesitiep that

things in the colonies will go on quietly and well, and with but
a small diminution of the export of sugar.
I have assumed that the duties. on sugar generally coming to
this country will remain as they now stand. This is a part of
the subject of great importance to those connected with the
slave colonies ; and .1 may in a future communication make
some remarks upon it: and also upon the effect which a cessa-
tion of the present export of colonial and East India -sugar
from this country, would have upon other European markets.
I beg .to remark I do not profess . that all the statements in-
cluded n this communication are accurately correct, but 1 be-
lieve them to be sufficiently so for the purpose I offer them :
in the consideration of subjects of magnitude 'minute errors
are not of-great importance, so long as• they• can make no
change in the conclusions to be drawn.
A WEST INDIAN.
Liverpool, r 7, 1833.