The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-06-27 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

RUIN BY ACT OF. PARLIAMENT.

The coolness with which the theoretical legislators of
the present day sport with the property of individuals in
the effort to carry out their crude crotchets is truly as-
tounding. It is nothing to such gentlemen as Mr. James
Wilson, the new ministerial guide and authority, that
fortunes have been invested in particular pursuits on the
faith of the legislature of Great Britain. A column or
two in the Economist, and a few garbled returns from the
Board of Trade or the Colonial Office, dispose at once of
the guarantee; and a British minister, without a blush on
his face, dooms the unfortunate dupes who have trusted
in such a slippery guarantee to ruin. An instructive in-
stance of this nefarious conduct is to be found in the case
of Messrs. Reid, Irving, and Co., as stated by Mr. Blyth,
a co-inspector with Mr. Baring and Mr. Mc Chlery of the
affairs of that house.

Messrs. Reid, Irving and Company possessed five es-
tates in the Mauritius, and were the consignees of 18 others.
The crop of 1846-47 grown upon these estates was 8,800
tons, and the capital invested £815,000 ; the loss upon the
years produce was £40,000. Taking only £lO of the fall
of £l3 per ton, which took place in sugar between Jan.
1847 and January 1848, as caused by the competition with
slave labour sugar, under the act of 1846, their loss of
profit and capital upon 8,800 tons may be set down at
£BB,OOO. The estimate for the crop of 1847-48 is 8,500
tons, besides contract sugars to the amount of £1,200
tons—in all 9,700 tons; upon which a fall of £lO per ton
amounts to £97,000. The average annual loss upon the
two years is thus £92,500 ; and assuming their property
previous to the act of 1846 to be worth ten years purchase,
we have a depreciation of the property of this single firm,
of £925,000 ! Thus, it would appear, that Messrs. Reid,
Irving and Co., and the other parties connected with them
in the original investment of £815,000 might, but for the
depreciation of their property by an act of the legislature,
have been still the owners of valuable estates instead of
being ruined. By the same mode of calculation and the
same agency, the property of Messrs. Gower, Nephews
and Company, in the Mauritius, was depreciated .Elll,OOO,
and that of Messrs. Barclay and Brothers £soo,ooo—a loss
by three firms alone of nearly two millions sterling ! Yet,
the complaint of the British planter against the perfidy of
parliament is an unreasonable one, and may be sneered
and mocked at by such popinjays as Mr. Benjamin Hawes,
soap-boiler, and Mr. James Wilson, editor of the Econo-
mist, and collator of distorted figures and facts for her
Majesty's Whig government !

THE LIVERPOOL WAREHOUSING COMPANY.

It has always, and justly, been urged that the property
of the warehouse-owners of Liverpool, large as it is in the
aggregate, comprising about four millions sterling, is not
in a condition to protect itself from the competition of a
public body, such as the Dock Trust. Much of it is
owned by non-resident parties. Some of it affords the
sole dependence of widows and orphans, annuitants, and
others, from their position unable either to dispose of or
manage their property to the best advantage, or to work
it themselves with the requisite machinery and upon the
best system. With these views as to the position of the
wareliouse-owners as a body, we were disposed from the
first to regard favourably the project of a 'Warehousing
Company, by whom their property would be advantaged
by a central and economical management, and by the in-
creased enterprise and efficiency which such management,
in judicious hands, ensures.
The more we have learnt of the views and regulations
of the Company, the more we are confirmed in our own
first impressions. A brief detailed statement of these will
perhaps bring the merits of the scheme more forcibly
home to our readers than the statements in the original
prospectus, the more especially as, since it was issued,
the advantage has been afforded of more mature conside-
ration of the details. The plan is simply this—that such
warehouse-owners of the port as choose to embrace the
opportunities offered by the Company, shall in the first
instance hand over their property into its management.
A valuation is then made by the Company's surveyor,
upon the amount of which the owner derives his interest
of five per cent. on the 'property, and, at the end of
three or five years, his share in whatever extra profit
may have accrued from the entire property in the
hands of the Company. Thus, if A consigns to
them a warehouse valued at £5OO a-year ; B, another
valued at £4OO a-year, and so on ; A and B receive
their pro-rata shares on the whole amount under the
Company's management, whether or not the property
owned by them may have been let or employed by the
company. It is not proposed that all the warehouses
should necessarily be worked by them. Where good and
substantial tenants can be found they will be let off, the
company being merely receivers and guarantees. Where
they cannot be let altogether, they will be worked under
the central regulations and management. Thus there
can be no risk to individuals of their property producing
nothing, as frequently occurs at present ; and, on the
other hand, there can be none of its being let at such
rates as to injure property more favourably situated.
Yet, still each warehouse being valued according to its
locality and condition, there is no unfair advantage
afforded to one description of property over another.
Since we last referred to the subject, we are glad to
learn that the company has been formed, and that already
it has under its management property which exceeds in
value that now belonging to the Dock Trust, and that ac-
cessions to its strength are being daily made, from most
influential parties. It is fully expected that the manage-
ment, whilst more efficient, will be less than half the
cost of that of individual owners, whilst the security to
the public using its warehouses will be greatly increased.
The arrangements are now being matured; and we re-
peat our firm conviction that both by warehouse owners
and the mercantile body of the port, a large amount of
advantage will be reaped.

THE ROSCOE CLUB CONCERT LAST NIGHT.

Whatever might have proved the amount of success of
this first effort of the club to cater for the musical taste of
their members and the public, it cannot be denied that the
spirit with which it was made deserved the utmost public
encouragement, and that it was admirably arranged
throughout. In addition to such stars in the musical
hemisphere as Mr. Sims Reeves, who, by the bye, may be
said to have gathered his first laurels in Liverpool, and Miss
Birch, one of the chastest in style amongst our English
female vocalists, the committee did not overlook native
talent in the person of that universal favorite, Miss Whit-
nall, or the claims of Signor Paltoni, who may almost be
called of Liverpool, being settled amongst us. In addition
the programme contained the names of M. Henri Lawson,
pupil of the celebrated German violinlst,Moligne. Mons.
Z. Herrmann conducted, and Mr. G. Eyton presided at
the piano-forte.
Notwithstanding a very unpropitious evening, we were
glad to see an excellent house, and many very happy faces,
chiefly those, no doubt, of the members of the club and
their families, with some of our usual musical amateurs.
On the whole it may be said that the concert was emi-
nently successful, and we trust that it will encourage the
club, in this time of dearth of enterprise, to repeat the
experiment.

We have little space, at the time at which we write, to
enter into much detail with respect to the performances.
The object of praise was the orchestra, than which a more
efficient one never played before a Liverpool audience.—
Its conductor, we have said, was Mr. Hermann ; the leader
was Mr. John Goodall, and placed in this capacity, for the
first time, before a Liverpool audience, with the exception
of his leading at the Roscoe Ball. he proved himself equal
to the highest confidence in this difficult line of his pro-
fession. Amongst the band, we noticed, also, some of the
best instrumentalists of our town. The first overture,
from Weber, was most splendidly played, as was Auber's
Massaniello, in the second part.
The vocalization was commenced with Mozart's duet
" Curdel Perche," by Miss Whitnall and Signor Paltoni,
which was very excellently given ; followed by Sir Henry
Bishop's song " Tell me my Heart," magnificently sung
by Miss Birch, and encored enthusiastically. Mr. Sims
Reeves sung a Romanza from Donizetti, " Se tanto in
ira," which was, also, encored. In our own opinion,
however, the piece in which he most distinguished himself,
in the first part, was the duet with Miss Birch, " Da quil
di," in which his splendid voice told with wonderful effect,
Miss Whitnall and Signor Paltoni were also very suc-
cessful. Of Mr. H. Lawson we cannot, from only hear-
ing his first solo, say much. His style is very ornate, and
he is artistically clever ; but we think he wants tone, and
occasionally stopped out of tune. We did not, however,
hear his second solo.

In the second part, we only had time to hear a scena
by Miss Birch, and Mr. Sims Reeves' " All is lost now,"
both magnificently sung.

We were favoured last night with the London evening
papers by the successor to Mr. Pearson, of the London,
Times-office, Lord-street.
Mr. Creed, the secretary of the North-Western Rail-
way, has contradicted the foolish rumour that " the state
of the works on that line requires immediately a large
sum for repairs." The works are now in the best possible
condition, and the company have neither the intention
nor occasion to create new stock.

BANKRUPTCY COURT—RE ROBERT HlSCOCK.—Yes-
terday this bankrupt came up before Mr. Commissioner
Perry for his certificate, and was opposbd. In delivering
his judgment, his Honor said that the alleged misrepre-
sentations to his partner, as to his assets and liabilities, he
did not think had been fully sustained against the bank-
rupt ; but the endorsement of bills in the name of the
firm, the proceeds being for his own private purposes, was
an objection which should be marked by some punish-
ment. After some further observations, his Honor sus-
pended the bankrupt's certificate for two months.
THE CROPS, &c.—We rejoice to state that the crops,
generally, never gave, at this season of the year, greater
promise of abundance, the weather having lately been
highly propitious—fine refreshing showers, and succeeding
ardent sunshine—sometimes for days together. The wheats
in this neighbourhood look well; and the slight blight or
black ear,' which we here and there noticed, is beginning
to disappear. Oats and barley look first-rate. Turnips
and mange's, so far, never looked better. Hay grass will
be much heavier than was anticipated a few weeks ago.-
4. good deal has been cut, and some bay secured ; but what
awteprso,rtainodn aefhtehavisy
erraiepn yi
se sstteirlld aeynaifttseri
engoson; .andL,ucaks iltyhae
lies in the field may be somewhat injured by the frequent
gshreo
glass now (Monday evening) is under but slight depression.
we may hope for dry, sunny weather, which wlil redeem
all. Mr. Littledale, of Liscard, has just cut some beauti-
ful Italian rye-grass—and second crop this year. In the
early potatoes, a touch of the rot has appeared, but it does
not amount to much ; and we must hope for the best as
regards the late crops of this useful vegetable. All pro-
ductions of the garden are luxuriant, and there is a good
show for fruit. We have seen some "monster" goose-
berries and strawberries, grown at Wallasey. Though the
weather has, during the last seven days, been fair for the
country, the temperature has been variable. Thursday was
a scorching day, with a clear sun, and scarcely a breath of
wind. The following day was comparatively cold. Sun-
day was fine throughout, as was yesterday, up to about
four in the afternoon, when the rain alluded to fell.
CHARGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT.—Yesterday, at the Po-
lice-court, before Mr. T. Booth, (in the absence of Mr.
Rushton,) a man, named Thomas Lyndham, a clerk, was
charged by his former employer, Mr. John Collins, vinegar
manufacturer, Richmond-row, with having received va-
rious sums from his customers, which in place of paying
over and accounting for, he had appropriated to himself.
Mr. Davenport appeared for the complainant, and Mr.
Yates for the prisoner. Mr. Collins said he had engaged
the prisoner in September last, and had employed him as
bookkeeper and collecting clerk until the 24th of January,
when he discharged him for neglect and another fault.
Since and before he was discharged, he (prisoner) had
called upon several of his (complainant's) customers, and
obtained money due from them, which he had not paid
over. Prisoner's duty was to pay the money over every
night, to receive a receipt for it, and to enter the amount
in a cash-book—produced. The witness also showed a
list of the debts, (about £20,) which he alleged the pri-
soner had thus collected, amounting in all to £l6 15s.
6d. A printed receipt' or check-book was produced, and
complainant said that a similar one was missing, and he
believed the prisoner had made away with it. He added,
that to some of the receipts given to some of his cus-
tomers, prisoner had written, or forged, his (complain-
ant's) name, which he had no authority from him to do.
The prisoner, by himself and counsel, stated that the
charge against him was merely trumped up on account of
his going into the employ of another person in the same
line of business, who had formerly been in partnership
with the complainant, and which firm he had served
faithfully for five years. He also produced some receipts
for money from the complainant, of which there was no
entry in the cash-book produced. A larger amount was,
however, charged against the prisoner, and complainant
said that if the sums were not entered it was prisoner's
duty to have done so. These receipts would not make up,
he said, anything like the deficiency. Three
.cases were
then taken (for one indictment) against the prisoner. In
one, he had, it appeared, received from a Mrs. Law 18s.
Bd. ; in another, from a Mrs. Martin 235. 4d. ; and the
third, 235. 4d. from Mr. Redfern, of Kent-street. The
other cases were not entered into. Mr. Critchley, the
former partner of Mr. Collins, and till now the employer
of the prisoner, gave the prisoner a good character for
honesty as far as he knew. The prisoner was committed
for trial, and on his applying to be admitted to bail, as he
could offer respectable men then in court, the magistrate
said a day must be taken to consider it. The complainant
admitted that he knew nothing of bookkeepine.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.
(BY EXPRESS.)

IMPORTANT TO BIRKENHEAD.

BIRKENHEAD DOCKS COMPLETION BILLS.

PROCEEDINGS YESTERDAY.- DECISION OF
THE COMMITTEE.

The Bill for Transferring the Powers of the Commis-
sioners to other parties, pursuant to adjournment went
again before the Select Committee of the House of Com-
mons on Monday (yesterday). The selected members
present were—Lord C. Wellesley, (chairman), Admiral
Bowles, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Forster, and Sir George
Strickland. The local members present were—Sir Thos.
Birch, Mr. Cardwell and Mr. Tollemache. The counsel
present were—Mr. Hope and Mr. Goldsmidt for the pro-
moters, and Mr. Johnson for some of the frontagers.
The Chairman and Solicitor of the Liverpool Dock Trus-
tees were also in attendance.
Mr. GOLDSMIDT said he was now in a condition to
state to the Committee the nature of the Bill as it had
been agreed to by all parties, the Commissioners, the
Landowners, and the Crown, which had withdrawn all
objection to the measure. The arrangement with the
Crown for the advance of a certain sum of money to com-
plete the works, having been negatived by the Committee
it was no longer proposed, by Crown, to have any
power with regard to the nomination of trustees. When
the Committee last met, it would be recollected that the
Crown desired to retain some power in this respect ; but
they had since waived their proposal. It was now pro-
posed therefore that the new Trust should be thus
constituted to be elected by the Landholders 6,
by the Birkenhead Commissioners 4, and by the
Wallasey Commissioners 3, making thirteen in the
whole. It was further proposed that not more than four
directors of the Dock Company, and of the Railway Com-
pany, in order to avoid any preponderating influence upon
their part, should be capable of being elected trustees at
one time. It was also proposed that the meetings shank'.
be held at Birkenhead, unless specially called elsewhere,
and then they might be held in London. As the bond-
holders, and probably the parties nominated by them,
were not likely to be resident at Birkenhead or Wallasey,
it was further proposed that the trustees should be
at liberty to vote by proxy ; but the chairman and
deputy chairman were always to be resident at Birkenhead,
or Wallasey. Then, as the Commissioners consented to
these arrangements, and gave up. so far, the power which
they had hitherto had, it was proposed to introduce a
clause indemnifying them from the liabilities they might
have incurred by advancing monies in the wav of loans to
the Improvement Commissioners of Birkenhead and the
Dock Commissioners. The trustees named in the bill
were to remain in office until August, 1851, and then the
bondholders, the inhabitants of Birkenhead, and the in-
habitants of Wallasey would each elect their set of trustees.
It was also proposed, and it had been assented to at the
last meeting of the committee, that, as the arrangement
with the crown had been negatived, and as there were not
sufficient funds to carry on the works, preferential bonds
should be issued, with the consent of a meeting of the
bondholders, to be called for that purpose to the extent of
£50,000. The scale of voting by the bondholders at the
meeting for the election of trustees and other purposes
was to be the same as that adopted by railway companies
generally under the Companies Clauses Consolidation
Act. These were the main features of the bill as now
altered. There was, however, another matter which it
would be important to 'mention, as it had often been re-
ferred to in the course of the investigation. It was pro-
posed that the level in the Pool should be kept up to
thirteen feet, unless where otherwise directed by the con-
servators of the River Mersey. This being the present
state of the bill, he had the satisfaction of informing the
committee that there had been a meeting of the bond-
holders at which these several arrangements had been
approved of, and the bill not being objected to by any
party, and being assented to by the crown, he trusted it
would now receive the final assent of the committee.
The CHAIRMAN requested that the Committee might
be furnished with copies of the bill in its present shape.
This having been done,
Mr. GOLDSMIDT said the noble lord would remember
that at the last meeting two alterations in the preamble
had been objected to on the part of the crown. One was
to the omission of the recital that it was of great public
importance, that the sea wall and other outer works should
be completed without delay. This was retained, and the
preamble now stood, in this respect, as originally proposed.
The other alteration referred to, was the withdrawal of
the control of the crown, in consequence of the money ar-
rangements with the crown having failed. This was as-
sented to.
The CHAIRMAN.—The Crown, then, has no ob-
jection to those alterations ?
Mr. GOLDSMIDT.—NO, my lord.
Mr. PEM DERTON.—There may be some verbal altera-
tions on matters of detail to be made in some of the
clauses. _ _

------
Mr.- GOLDSMIDT.—Just so •, but to the preamble there
is no objection, and I trust the committee will now de-
clare it proved.
After a short consultation, the Committee declared the
preamble proved.
The clauses were then proceeded with. Several of
them occasioned some dissension, but eventually they
were all passed; and the bill was ordered to be reported
to the house.

MONEY MARKET—YESTERDAY.
The greatest excitement is caused in the city by the extraor-
dinary intelligence from Paris. The effect on the Stock Ex-
change was to depress the funds. Consols declined to 8.2 i to 3,
and it is matter of general surprise that the fall was not more
considerable. They have now recovered to 83 to I for the
opening. Reduced Threes are 831 to f. Three-and-a-Quarter
per Cents., 84i to Exchequer Bills, 38s. to 41s. premium.
Bank Stock, 189 to 191. We have had some brisk sellers of
Consols this morning on speculation.