The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-06-18 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL PROSPFCTS.

From a friend, who has just returned from a fortnight's
tour through the midland counties and the north of Eng-
land, undertaken with a view to ascertain the condition of
the agricultural community, and the prospects of the
forthcoming harvest, we have received some information
which may be interesting to our readers. Throughout the
whole of the district visited the crops of every description
exhibit the most healthy and promising appearance. Un-
til the recent seasonable weather set in, the opinion was
generally entertained that the harvest, although promising
well as to abundance, would be at the least a fortnight
later than usual. The extraordinary impulse, however,
which has been given to vegetation during the last three
weeks has materially altered the state of affairs. The
anticipated lateness of a fortnight has diminished to a
week, or four or five days in many cases ; and the proba-
bility is admitted that a harvest to be reaped in ordinary
season may be expected.

It is a fact worthy of mention—and indeed most impor-
tant—that there has seldom been, in the districts visited,
a larger share of wheat and other grain unthrashed in the
barnyards. Every farmer, who conld afford to hold, has
kept his stock back from the market, in the hope of rea-
lizing, ultimately, better prices; whilst every other de-
scription of produce has been pressed forward to market,
in order to meet claims for rent, &c. Sheep shearing was
going on at a rapid rate, and the clip was being forwarded
to market for immediate sale. Indeed, a stand was being
made against the marketing of grain, the produce which
farmers principally rely upon as the index of their pros-
perity or adversity •, and every available shift was being
made to avoid its being forced out of the hands of the
growers. This feeling has been greatly promoted by the
vaticinations of the free traders that prices had reached the
lowest point, and that higher rates might be expected ;
to realize which it is well known in mercantile circles that
free trade capitalists went, a few weeks ago,..ther frooly
into the markets as purchasers on speculation—with what
bpernotfitian our warehouses.bleresultwekn from their stocks lying at pre-

Complaints of depressed times, our friend found to be
universally prevalent ; and the fact was generally admitted
that rent was only able to be paid out of capital. The few
free traders even to be found amongst the landowning
and farming class are in desponding and wondering plight
at the result of the experiment, which they expressed their
confidence in being able to sustain ; and many have wholly
changed their views upon the subject. Of a nobleman in
Lincolnshire—well-known for his ardent advocacy of free
trade, and his railway enterprise--we have most pitiable
accounts. His lordship is represented as bearing himself,
under his present combined inflictions, like anything but
" patience on a monument."

In the agricultural towns our friend found every evi-
dence to corroborate the distress which we have described
as existing amongst the farming class. Shopkeepers'
stocks were lying on hand, with no demand, and dete-
riorating by going out of season. The expenditure of the
agricultural class was felt by every interest depending
upon them to be rapidly and grievously diminishing.
And, what is more, that class was being made to feel, even
in the interior of the country, the disastrous effects of that
competition with the foreign grower, to which we in the
immediate seat of importation have long been submitted.
In the town of Derby, the centre of an agricultural dis-
trict, the most extensive shop our informant met with
sold exclusively American provisions—hams, bacon, lard,
&c.—cured and forwarded, as the occupier candidly in-
formed him, by " his relatives in the United Stales,

CORRESPONDENCE.

-*-
THE TUBULAR BRIDGE.-HOW TO RAISE THE

MONEY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,
was struck by the importance of the suggestion
thrown out by Mr. Bancks, in your last, showing how
the Guernsey market was built, by means of paper money,
as it may be said, for nothing—at least nothing but the
labour of the artificers employed.
I was the more struck by this, as being over here
(Beaumaris), to see the floating of the great tube at the
Britannia Bridge; the pecuniary embarrassment of the
railway company, and the heavy loss they are destined to
endure by the completion of this great work, which is to
every Englishman a matter of so much national pride,
caused me considerable concern, as it must every man
who gives the matter a thought. I asked myself, why
should not Government issue three hundred thou sand
one pound notes, which should be, on the face of them,
declared LEGAL TENDER in payment of taxes due to go-
vernment, and also in liquidation of all money obligations
between debtor and creditor, in private transactions, and
thus relieve the Company from a most serious' burden.
No bullionist can aver that £300,000 would inflate prices
over the whole country; and the experiment of issuing a
paper money—which the one-pound notes issued suddenly
and without notice, in 1825, shew may be done- without
the least suspicion of doubt—would be tested, and afford
an example for future trials in the same direction.
Whilst on the subject, I must express my concern that
the CURRENCY aspect of the PROTECTION questionos
posed to FREE TRADE, was kept so much in the back-
ground by the speakers in your great meeting at the Am-
phitheatre last Thursday. Unless Proteotion is linked
indissolubly with the question of- money, no progress can
be made, and the Protectionists are committing the same
error as the Free-traders—that of legislating for PRICE,
and leaving out of consideration MONEY.
I am, air, &c. J. 11.
Beaumaris, 13th June, 1850.

THE CITY OF DUBLIN STEAM PACKET

COMPANY.

TO-THE EDITOR OF SAUNDERS'S NEWS-LETTER.
SlR,—Observing in your paper of this dq a report of
the proceedings of the select vestry in Xverpool with
reference to the influx of Irish pauipsr; and some mis-
statements therein which convey an • pression unfavour-
able to this company, and which should he contradicted,
I have to request your insertionpf the following :
In those proceedings it is sgted that, although steam
boat companies brought owe the poor Irish at the low
rate of 4d. a head, they refused to take them back for less
than 55. a head. In reply I have to say that this state-
ment is quite unfounded, as far as the Dublin Steam
Company is concerned, as they have never in any instance
refused to take deck passengers back to Dublin at the
current rate of the'day, which is no more than 2s. each,
generally at a looker rate, and sometimes even so low as
3d., in conseqfience of the opposition now carried on
against them.,
Again, infhose proceedings, and in reference to the
large number of deck passengers carried beyond what they
are allowe to do under the regulations of the Board of
Trade, it s stated that in one instance this company's
vessel, tl Birmingham, of 223 tons register, on Sunday,
the 9th ' stant, brought 350 deck passengers from Dublin,
and the this exceeded the number she was allowed to
carry. ;This also is erroneous ; the fact is, that the Bir-
mingham left this port on Saturday, the Bth, in company
with one or two other of the company's vessels, and that
the entire number of tickets sold for that day was 320, and
which number was divided between the three vessels.
Isn anxious it should be known that this company
have strictly adhered to the regulations of the Board of
Trade.—l am, sir, yours truly,
P. HOWELL, Secretary.
15, Eden quay, Junel4th, 1830.