The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-17 00:00:00

the consummate modesty of the gentleman who thus
sets his opinion, as to the power conveyed by this
clause of the act of Parliament, against the opinion
of three eminent lawyers ; but we may suggest to
him that the legislature could never have intended
any such power to be conveyed by it, without, in
effect, intending to render the Watch Committee a
nonentity. Two justices of the peace might be
foun 1, we dare say, stupid enough to " think" a man
" unfit for the discharge of his duty because he
squinted, or cultivated a more than usual quantity
of whisker. Another couple of sapient personages
might " think" the accomplishment of whistling a
necessary ingredient of fitness, whilst a third pair
might " think" it imperative that the policeman
should be learned in thieves' slang or high Dutch.
Surely such absurdity as this interpretation of the
clause might give rise to could never be contemplated
by any sane legislative body; and we are bound,
therefore, to reject it as the conclusion of un-
learned commentators.
The Act of Parliament evidently referred in
the words " unfiit for the discharge of his duty "
to some legal or bodily unfitness, on account of
which any two Justices might dismiss; and it re-
mains yet to be decided whether the fact of a man s
being a member of an Orange society constitutes
such legal unfitness. Counsel learned in the law
have declared that, in the absence of any prohibi-
tion by the Watch Committee, being an Orange-
man does not constitute legal unfitness ; and we
place more confidence in their opinion than in that
of Mr. Edward Rushton, supported through he be
by the corroborating opinion of the Mercury and
his new ally the Liverpool Courier.
That such a prohibition of Orangeism in the
fore should form part of the regulations of the
Watch Committee, so as to enable the magistrates
to dismiss, the courier makes an attempt—feeble in-
deed—to shew. " The most serious and frequent
disturbances in Liverpool," he says, " have arisen
out of the differences, religious and political, be-
tween the two classes with whom the Orange-and
Ribbon societies are respectively identified;" and
he proceeds to argue that " in cage of an outbreak,
a police-officer who, in his private capacity, is in
friendly association with the rioters on either side,
cannot reasonably be depended upon for the vigo-
rous and effective discharge of his duty in restoring
peace and bringing the offenders to justice," We
must crave pardon for disputing the correctness
of this conclusion, so far at least as Orangemen
are concerned. The members of that body are
bound as individuals, independent of any obli-
gations which they may contract on entering the
police force, to cooperate with the authorities far
the preservation of the public peace. They are
prepared on all occasions strictly to perform
that duty. They have so performed it on all occa-
sions, and for having done so deserve anything but
the kind of treatment they are now receiving at the
hands of the magistracy.
And now, a word, and it shall be but a word, to
the Liverpool Mercury, who makes a rather clumsy
effort to be witty upon the subject. Our con-
temporary says, that the authorities, pro and con,
should have been stated thus :

The opinions of Mr. Ed- The opinions of Messrs.
ward Rushton and the Fitzroy Kelley, Cowl-
Parliament of Great ing, and Cardwell, and
Britain. the Editor of the Li-
verpool STANDARD.
We are really not aware that the Parliament of
Great Britain had ever pronounced any opinion
upon the subject, beyond what is conveyed in the
Act of Parliament itself. If our contemporary will
point it out to us, we will defer to such high
authority. If it only exists, however, as a bubble
of his own brain, the balance still preponderates
upon the side of the eminent lawyers consulted,
and Mr. Rushton kicks the beam.

THE FUNDS.—SATURDAY NIGHT.—The Consol-mar-
ket is steady, though the dealings of the day were unim-
portant. For money the final quotation was 991 to 1;
and for the account, 991. Exchequer-bills closed 745.
to 765. premium ; and India Bonds, 945, to 965. premium.
In foreign securities there was not much alteration.
Prices, however, were generally firm, and Spanish main-
tains a steady position. The Five per Cents. closed 24k
to a ; and the Three per Cents., 341 to 351; Portuguese,
451 to 461 ; Peruvian, 241 to 251 ; Mexican, 351 to 36 ;
the Deferred, 154 to ; Dutch Two-and-a-Half per
Cents., 624 to I ; the Five per Cents, 1004 to ; Danish,
89 to 90 ; Colombian, 14 to 4 ; Chilian. 102 to 104 ;
Buenos Ayres, 34 to 36; Brazilian, 864 to 874 ; and
Belgian, 103 to 104.
WEST INDIES.—The Royal Mail Steam Packet Com-
pany's ship Tay, Captain Hayden, arrived at Southamp-
ton on Saturday. The West India papers received by her
bring little news. They are almost entirely occupied by
reports of the debates in Parliament upon the Sugar Du-
ties Bill, which they still seem inclined to regard as ruin-
ous to the West India interests.
SINGULAR COINCIDENCE OF OPINION.—Our contem-
poraries the Manchester Guardian and the Liverpool
Mercury, are just now engaged in an amicable exchange
of compliments, upon the subject of an alleged incon-
sistency, on the part of the former, in having expressed
an opinion upon the subject of the late monster trials
similar to that of a Conservative paper—the Courier.
This contest we, of course, leave them to fight out with-
out interference. We may remark, however, that if the
alleged " coincidence" of opinion between the Guardian
and the Courier on this subject is curious, the coincidence
of sentiment, and argument too, between the Courier and
the Mercury upon the question at issue between the Jus-
tices and the Watch Committee is quite funny. It must
be admitted, however, that, in this case , the Mercury is
not the inconsistent party.
THE IRON TRADE—The Birmingham Herald says—
" The market for metal shows a reduction in the value of
British iron in the Clyde, and for cargoes in Wales,
which is ss. per ton below preceding rates.—Spelter is
rather lower, 150 tons being reported to have been sold at
£2l per ton. East India tin is rather higher and in de-
mand, and quicksilver remains at 4s. 6d. per lb." The
Glasgow Herald on the iron trade of Scotland has the
following.—" The fluctuations which have taken place in
the price of Scottish pig-iron, as indicated by quotations
which have appeared in scme newspapers within these few
months, are well calculated to excite curiosity regarding
the causes which produce them. In February the price
is quoted at 405., in June, 705., and a paragraph on the
trade, which appears in a Saturday paper, would have us
to believe that the maker's price is now 50s. and likely to
go lower, and that a large sale has been made at 40s. On
making inquiry, we find that maker's prices range from
555. to 605., and no trace can be found of the 40s. sale;
the party who is said to have made the sale denies all
knowledge of it. Misrepresentation such as this has, we
believe been resorted to by some speculators, from whose
operations the trade has always suffered to a considerable
extent; their hands are now clear of stock, and they want
to buy in again at a low figure. Such trickery, however,
we are glad to say, is rather too late of showing itself to
produce the desired effect, as at a meeting of iron-mas-
ters, held here on Wednesday last, measures were agreed
to which will cut off the facilities for speculation hereto-
fore unsuspectedly afforded by them to buyers of iron, and
to put down that system of reckless and unprincipled
gambling which has proved so injurious to the interests of
the trade.
SIR JAMES GRAHAM'S MEDICAL BILL.—On Satur-
day, a special general meeting of the members of the
Liverpool Medical Institution was held, for the purpose
of taking into consideration " a bill for the better regula-
tion of medical practice throughout the United Kingdom,"
introduced into the House of Commons by Sir James
Graham. Shortly after two o'clock the chair was taken
by Dr. Jeffreys, of Great George-square. Mr. George
Millet Davies, surgeon, of Great George-street, acted, as
usual, as secretary, and read the bill throughout to
the meeting ; whereupon a long and animated discussion
took place, in the course of which it appeared, that some
diversity of opinion prevails amongst the medical profes-
sion throughout the kingdom, as to the merits of the
proposed measure. It was eventually resolved to convene
a general meeting of the medical men cf Liverpool, at an
early day, to be advertised in the public papers, with
view to the adoption of such proceedings on the subject
as might be then considered advisable. Several en-
quiries were made as to, the nature, ultimate bearing,
and mode of working out the various objects contem-
plated by the government measure. Unanimous expres-
sions of regret were made as to the double injury to so-
ciety likely to accrue from the legalizing of quackery in
every reprehensible shape in which it may be found now
or hereafter • first, an injury to the public at large, as
composed of multitudes of men and women whose other
callings in life render them unequal to the formation of a
sound judgment on matters touching their own good or
bad health; secondly, an injury direct to that body of
men whose education, and devotion of mind, and whole
being are directed to the elucidation of the laws which
govern health, and every deviation from it, upon which
basis alone the true theory of cure, or even judicious alle-
viation of incurable suffering, can be built up—which
study requiring unintermitting research, and the practical
application of the knowledge thus acquired, absorbs the
whole man, and claims at the hands of the public a cor-
responding appreciation of the devotion which banishes
the medical practitioner from the walks of mercantile
speculation and gain, and gives him, therefore, a right to
proportionate protection from a paternal government. Such
protection, however reasonable and fair, is sought for only
so far as to balance the legislative enactments grant-
ing protection, by penal award, against infringement of
the privileges of certain classes. Yet, by this bill, the
medical profession, whose duty ranges second only to the
clerical, and equal, if not superior, to the legal, inasmuch
as life and health are more precious than property, this
class was left unassisted by government to struggle with
the hydra-headed monster—quackery, in a combat where
duplicity and lying ignorance too often, in the urgency of
the desire for life, proves more than a match for truth and
conscientiousness. We cannot but express a hope that the
public voice will do this justice to itself, as well as to the
guardians of its dearest blessings—life and health—and
obtain in the senate-house a respectful attention to the
firm, though loyal, remonstrances of the profession,
against a hasty legislation won interests g.,) 'Mal to society.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.