The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-05-28 00:00:00

_-- - -
The consequences are already beginning to be felt.—
We are assured, upon undoubted authority, that some of
the most extensive and intelligent merchants of Liverpool
have already countermanded all their orders for the West
Indies. They have told the manufacturers not to send
theta any more goods. They have determined to place
an interdict upon their exports ; and this, we have no he-
sitation in saying, will be severely felt before many weeks
are over. But this is not the worst as concerns indivi-
duals. There are thousands of persons and families in this
country who receive fixed annuities from property in the
West Indies. We learn, on the same unquestionable
authority, that formal notice has been given, in numer-
°us instances, within the last few weeks, that these an-
nuities will no longer be paid. The source from which
they were derived is exhausted, and dependants upon
that source of income must now turn themselves to some
other quarter; for we venture to say that not another
Penny will they ever receive. The ministry of the day,
and the malignant faction whose slaves ministers are,
have much to answer for; but we fear that even if they
were condemned as traitors to-morrow, the whole burthen
of their follies, and of their pernicious policy, would fall
.upon innocent victims, in our own fatherland, too help-
less to demand redress or enforce justice.

—.Tau
Some people talk of the consistency of our liberal and
"17 consistent member, Mr. EWART. We shall here give
an admirable specimen of it.
It is already well known that he voted with ministers
°II Sir Wm. Ingilby's motion for a repeal of the malt tax,
4ad against ministers on Sir JOHN KEY'S motion for a re-
Peal of the assessed taxes. In other words, he voted for
ministers when they were weak, and against them when
they Were strong, and when it did not matter two straws
which way _
he voted. The reasons which the honourable
In
ember assigned for voting in this singular, if not sus-
srmakneri'were—first, that the repeal of the malt
`4 Would have afforded relief to the farmers, a class of
Persons
in whom Mr. Philosopher EWART takes no inte-
rest' and to this repeal our honourable member was on
these grounds decidedly opposed. His second reason
that he did not wish to embarrass his MAJESTY'S mi-
nisters, and therefore he voted against them in favour of
the repeal of the assessed taxes ! This is what certain
amiable persons call consistency!
For our parts, we can see nothing in this conduct on
th F
trick and
of our honourable representative but a paltry
I• andjuggle. Where was Mr. EWART on the night of
r
, "14141. WHALLEY'S motion ? That motion was strictly
confined to a repeal of the house and window duties. It
;asnot mixed up with the malt tax, as the former motion
as, and therefore every consistent man who voted for
thels former was bound to vote for WHALLEY'S motion. But
here Was Mr. EWART on the night in question ? We are
enable to tell whether he voted against the repeal, but
The
see by the published lists that he did not vote for it.
e honourable member, therefore, was either designedly
sent from the house, thus neglecting his duty and the
Zerests of his constituents, or he was present and voted
in th rninisters, in opposition to his already recorded vote,
Violation of all consistency, and in open scorn of the
341"8 Prayers and petitions of the very persons who
eat him to parliament.
We leave Mr. EWART to reconcile these unseemly con-
loredictions, and this extremely suspicious conduct, to his
tender conscience, and give, at his leisure, the best
explanation he can to those who returned him.

THE obstacles which ministers had to encounter in fill-
i
ng up the vacant secretaryship of Ireland, after the resig-
natie onn of Sir JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE, show that it is now
,4,°.,ssy task to carry on the government in the spirit of
-b"gePendence. These obstacles, however, were created
by the men who complain, and who feel their inconveni-
re. They were warned at the time, but they took no
eed. The mania of reform was upon them, and they
despised all the admonitions of experience.
It
is understood that the secretaryship, after being
hawked
about like stale mackerel, was accepted by Mr.
ITTLEtoN,upon conditions which might safely be ranged
nkler the bead
of .bribery and corruption. We do not
!oean to assert that the office was sold, for it happened to
be one of those
purchase unenviable situations which no man would
; but we have cogent reasons for stating that a
bonus
Was offered or given in order to tempt the adven-
turous candidate to run the hazard of a new election. Mr.
anEncitomßi,, the member for Edinburgh, had refused
; Mr. SPRING RICE, the member for Cambridge, had
refused it ; Mr. BONHAM CARTER, the member for Ports-
Incith, had refused it ; and one or two other honourable
tnernbers had smelt at, but had not bitten, the bait before
It ,
was offered to and swallowed by Mr. LITTLETON. Thus
i
that coronets are thrown away ! It is a proof of the
virtue of the age in which we live, when we see so many
tn. hlio men of the Whig school declining the honour of a
1111°ffioe, and the felicities of a snug salary.
"N'as courageous on the part of Mr. LITTLETON to
rwept that which the three worthies before named had
het:,used ; but he happened to have, or he believed that he
th4', a more pliant constituency in South Staffordshire,
znan is to be found in Edinburgh, Cambridge, or Ports-
pr°llth• This is the whole secret. The ministers are at
Ports-
Ares in so bad an odour all over the country, that they
nont induce one of their old supporters to poril his re-
electione fot £2,500 a-year. They were consequently
xunVelled to confer the vacant office upon Mr. O'CoN
z
LL's nominee for the Speakership ; upon a man who has
fife the gauntlet through every administration for the last
da en Years; who has truckled to every minister of the
w3rivi who has fawned upon the Tories, slobbered the
igs, guzzled with the Radicals, and danced round the
t4L'enlour and the red night-cap with the Repeaters and
fbestructiyes. For such a statesman it is impossible
at Lord GREY can entertain any feeling but that of con-
beraPt--contempt mingled with regret that he could not
„ stow the situation upon a member of his own family-
17t even
on Mr. EDWARD ELLICE of Coventry. But
pat could the unfortunate premier do ? The blunders
;11 Lord ALTHORP have lost him the favour of the mob;
hhe protocols of Lord PALMERSTON have raised against
n the indignation of every merchant in England; the
follies of Lord GODERICH and Mr. STANLEY have arrayed
aagainst him the whole of the West India interest; the
bannersPoliation plan of
of the Lord PLUNKETT has raised the sacred
Church against him; the defeat of Sir Wm.
Itu
iray's motion h as incensed the farmers and agricul-
labourers ; so that from the Needles to the North
Pole not a man is to be found to prop the falling fortunes
ot3
f the GREY administration.
It is calculated that Mr. LITTLETON will be returned
for South Staffordshire. This, however, we are happy to
Say, is by no means a settled point. The Northampton
emerald states

. " Whatever Mr. Littleton may imagine, we learn from good
.authority
that his return is not by any means certain. There
is
`strong feeling throughout South Staffordshire against him;
all parties unite in despising a person, who is usually spoken of
. political weathercock.' A very general wish prevails
that Lo ed
r
be almost certain Ingestre should come forward. His success would
rThere is one reason for rejecting Mr. LITTLETON,
rentle• iel? we beg leave to submit to that gentleman's private
i Should he fail in his election, his peerage is se,
ghat The arrangement, we confess, looks very like
is called a cross, for it is the interest of the candi-
lose. The case of Lord WESTERN is taken to be
rale as regards
Well Mr. LITTLETON. If be be returned,
Ind good; but should he be rejected,
nr ft, L._what then ?
1,,' " ""e Lionourable member would gain by his loss,
,47 start up froln an humble commoner into a peer of the
1,04143. His friends, therefore, who esteem Mr. LITTLE-
hi:""id are an4OUS to do him a favour by gratifYing,
41uhition. arse beund to vote against him; or abstain-
tbrn , -
..";"4 "hog altogether. What a pleasant reflection torus
'o'4 red that whatever way the wind bloWs there is office
The
One hand and a coronet on the other !
zj)erib
,'`e edue ministers must have been bard pressed before they
, as we are assured they have, to these
bumf-
esog conditions„ It .is natural,___therefere, that. they
44 tad be
1, desirous to avert these mortifications for: the
,ix..trei and for this purpose it is proposed that meb
41`ge government, when moved from one
situation to
ii:use ther mers
, shall not be required to vacate their
seats in the
deal
of Commons, and exixse themselves to the or- '
a a new election. This would certainly be very
I

convenient for the present men ; but would it not be a
greater inroad upon the privileges of the people than
that of the old system of close boroughs ? Parliament
was reformed in order that the ministers of the crown
might be more under the control of the people, and the
representativq of the people more under the control of
their respective constituencies. If, however, offices un-
der the crown could be filled up at the will of the minister,
and without consulting the sentiments of the electors,
the people would be divested of every shadow of control
over their representatives. This would, indeed, be pay-
ing dear for our whistle, and making reform the cradle
of despotism. If ministers were permitted to carry a bill
for this object through Parliament, what would prevent
them from perpetuating the present Parliament during
the lifetime of its members ? We are convinced that the
one measure would follow the other. The house at pre-
sent is composed of the servile adherents of the Whigs,
not one out of ten of whom would be again returned if
Parliament were dissolved to-morrow. Ministers are
aware of this ; and it is their interest to keep together
the present herd of retainers to the last moment. The
only difficulty is with respect to the appointment to offi-
ces. If the re-election could be dispensed with, that
would be one step gained towards the perpetuity of Whig
tyranny, and the next, the perpetuity of Parliament it-
self; would follow as a matter of course. Oh, WILLIAM,
King of England, what a minister hast thou !

Mr. STANLEY may live to rue the day when, overlook-
ing the strict duties of his station, lie assailed the whole
body of colonists in a tissue of abuse, exaggeration, and
falsehood, well befitting men to whom we will not more
particularly refer; but little in accordance with the claims
to respect which the right honourable gentleman had put
forth in some of his earlier efforts; but which he has la-
mentably, for his own character, forfeited on the present
occasion, and from the effects of which he will not easily
or early recover.
If Mr. STANLEY and his colleagues are incapable of
appreciating the value to this country of her colonial
possessions, they stand alone among the governments of
the earth. There is no country, of the lowest grade in
Europe, which does not know that, to her colonies, and
to the political and commercial influence and advantages
which those colonies have afforded, is Great Britain
mainly indebted for her high rank in the scale of nations.
There was one man—the most deadly enemy that Eng-
land ever had—who well knew their importance ; who
knew, also, that so long as we had a superiority in those
essentials of our state—" ships, colonies, and commerce"
—all his efforts to injure us would, as they did, recoil
upon himself. That man was NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE
He well knew that the British isles, from the limited ex-
tent of their superficies—the moderate qualities of their
soil—the inferiority of their climate—and the compara-
tively small numbers of their population, would have been
incapable, with such inferior physical powers, of sustain-
ing a conflict with him, when controlling the resources of
the greater part of Europe, had not the country possessed
other and mightier resources—morally, in the nature and
character of her government and constitution—phy-
sically, in the superior activity and industry of the "lit-
tle hive" assembled under the protection of the benefi-
cial institutions of the state; and from having succeeded
in uniting with herself, for purposes of mutual support
and aggrandizement, the most splendid colonial empire
in the world. How were those colonial possessions
sustained ? By " ships and commerce." What con-
tributed chiefly to the maintenance of that marine,
and of the commerce of which it was the vehicle ? The
" colonies." Deprive the country of her colonies, or,
which is just the same thing, destroy the advantages
hitherto derived from them, and what will be the conse-
quence ? A lasting and irreparable injury to ships and
commerce. Is it on slight grounds that we make this
assertion ? Our readers shall judge for themselves. We
have been at some pains to investigate the affairs of our
West India possessions, and have carried back our in-
quiries to the close of the American war, a period of
exactly fifty years. What the West Indies have done
for us within that period—as nearly as it has been pos.
sible to arrive at the truth, and we believe there is not
the slightest exaggeration in any part of the statement—
is as follows :

During the last 50 years our Imports from the West
Indies (including the Mauritius), have amount- Sterling.
ed to. £320,000,000
The Duties paid on them to 270,000,000
Our Exports to .
The Expenditure of the surplus income in this
country, by the proprietors, has been 160,000,000
The value of the Colonies, in Land, Buildings, and

Negroes, is about 140,000,000
The Shipping engaged is of the firstclass of Vessels, consisting
of 95U Ships, measuring 210,000 Tons, and navigated by about

20,w0 Seamen. The population of the Colonies is composed
of White Inhabitants, about .
Free Persons of Colour, about 45,000

Negroes, about.

800,000

Persons supported at home by the Manufactures and
Produce exported, and by the Import Trade, about ..500,000
Believing in our conscience that every part of the
above statement falls below the truth, we would ask of
what materials are those men composed who, as mem-
bers of the Government, would stake such interests
against the mere loose opinions of a body of enthusiasts—
whose enthusiasm is only exceeded by their utter igno-
rance of the real merits of the question—and who are led
by men, of whom the greater portion seek to create a
name for philanthropy, rather than to accomplish a be-
nefit for any of the subjects at stake, animate or inani-
mate, black or white, or to advance the welfare of the
country at large ? Is it against such men and such mo-
tives that the most mighty interests of the empire are to
be put into the scale, the balance being held by one
whose conduct in the incipient proceedings has too clearly
shewn that he is possessed of none of the attributes of
justice except her blindness ? To remove the bandage
from the eyes of that individual and his colleagues, and
to dispel the mist of delusion which has for a long period
hung round too large a proportion of the people of this
country, the meeting of yesterday in London was called.
At that meeting the truth will have been promulgated.
By the numerous, powerful, and influential classes of our
fellow-subjects, of whom it would doubtless be composed,
justice will be demanded of the Government—the rights
of property and the maintenance of the laws will be
insisted upon—and woe be to that government which
shall inflict, or to the people which shall submit to the
infliction of such acts of glaring wrong and injustice as
are now threatened against the colonies. From the
hour that those threats are carried into execution—if
after the evidence afforded, and to be afforded, such an
attempt should be made—from that hour will all the
rights of property, real or personal—land, buildings, or
funds—in the British Empire, be set at nought and ab-
rogated.

We have heard some facetious persons call the present
the pauper parliament, while others dignify it by the title
of the 'bludgeon and pledge parliament. As we have a
particular respect for the honourable member for York,
and have no wish to quarrel with the honourable member
for Pontefract., we sink the two last titles, and adhere to
the first. Our reasons for this partiality are easily ren-
dered. •

We pass over all the inferior and commonplace beggars
which the house. contains. It is enough that it counts
among its members such eminent persons as Mr. DANIEL
O'CoNrtELt., of Dublin, and Mr. JAMES SILK BUCKING
Ur, of Sheffield— The first has levied contributions in a
way that would put Bamfylde Moore Carew, if he were
alive, to the blush ; and the latter we would back against all
the Edieochiltries and blue gowns". of Scotland. O'CoN-
explCits wish the begging box are so notorious
that we need not dwell upon them. Sufficient to the day
are the alms thereof. He has condescended to take shil-
lings froM those who never had pounds, and pennies from
those who never had:shillings. In fact he has begged
.from the very beggars.
But we should do injustice if we were to attribute ex-
clusive excellence in this science cr art to DANIEL
O'CoNNELL. In our country we have men who have
distinguished themselves as worthily, and who have had
the chivalry to contest the palm of beggary with the great
liberator of the kingdom of Kerry, and the honourable re
presentative of all Ireland. Mr. BUCKINGHAM has stood