The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-02-06 00:00:00

TO COR.RFqI'oNDENTS.

A Cr,resnonfient complains s'-ror,.'y of the inconvenience
whir iu experienced At the Pa,senm.r, ,icing- House on the
Pierhead, in conseluenee of the room not being lighted with
gas.

We have received a letter from one of the paupers in the Work-
house who has requested us to express his grateful ac-
knowled:rments (along- with those of his fellow paupers) to
Mr. Woods .or his kind attention to Vied; on all occasions.
We cannol fully satisfy rm. correspondent Veritas. who requires
of ti whit It o the monthly maga7ines or peri.alicals is most
suitable for a young man, whose taste in lines to " Science.
literature and ge;,cral useful knowled,e " There is no one
periodical that we know of which coml,ines the three sub-
jects. Maelovood Fraser and the Dublin University. are the
best literary ntaKazines-- give much usettil knowledge besides,
and excellent pn;itical disquisitions. but science must be
sought in a pur:ly scientific punlication ; and at this moment
we cannot vint out the best. With respe, t also to "useful
knowledge," we should know first what our correspondent
considers useful.

Ein librrtionl

TUESDAY MORAING, FEB. 6, 1844.

We have no knowledge of what may be the policy
of government, or what its measui es in the coming
session of Parliament, beyond what we gather from
the somewhat meagre Speech from the Throne.
But there is one subject, which we do not see

touched upon there, to which we must implore the

attention of Sir Robert Peel and the Conservative
body in Parliament. That subject is the condition
of the working poor of the land. We must make
some great national effort to remove the abject po-
verty which surrounds us—which fills the cellars
and courts of our large towns with wretchedness
and vice—which is becoming daily and hourly more
intense, and threatens ultimately to dissolve the very
framework of society. Yes : we muse remove this
foul blot upon the British character—i he fact that,
with all our vast wealth, our vast resources, and the
industry of our people, we have amongst us, in the
very seats of our boasted greatness and riches,

masses of suffering and degradatioi , which cannot
be parallelled in the poorest nation tipt,.l earth.
Look for a moment upon the picture presented to
us hy the following extract from the metropolitan
police reports of last week :

ANOTHER RESULT of " BUYING IN THE CHEAPEST
MARKET."—At the Marlborough-street Police-office last
week, Mary Connor, a pale skeleton-like young woman,
was called in. She was the wife of a tailor, and had three
young children. Her husband was out of work, lying sick.
The constable reported that the appliranis bore the cha-
racter of very hard-working honest people, hut that they
had lately been reduced to great distress by the inability
of the husband to work. Mr. Hardwick asked the woman
if she had applied for relief to the parish ? Woman.—
Oh no, sir. We were certain to be refused out-door
relief ; and my husband and myself would rather submit
to anything than go into the workhouse with our children,
and be separated from one another. How do you usually
Support yourself ?—My husband is a tailor. We work at
making police trousers. What do you get for making a
pair ?—We get 10d. a pa'r, and find our own thread and
needles. How long does it take you to make a pair ?—lf
a person works hard at it a pair ran be made in about nine
hours. My husband could do better work if he could get
it, but there is none to be had. We have frequently
worked eighteen hours a clay on the police trousers work,
in order to get enough to buy food for ourselves and
children. Can you get plenty of this sort of work ?
Oh! no. There are hundreds employed in this work and
soldiers' trousers work. We are obliged to go three or
four times to the contractor, Mr. Dolan, to get the work,
and to beg and tray for it as a favour, on account of the
numbers of poor people who are fighting and struggling
with each other to get it. But solders' trousers work is
even worse, for we are only paid sd. a pair. All we now
want is a few shillings to keep us till my husband gets
round again, Mr. Hardwick directed the usher to give
her 61.

Here, then,is where the squalid wretchedness which
meets us at every turn originates. Here, too, is the
mode in which it progresses. A " hard-working
honest man" is screwed down by the beggarly par-
simony of some " liberal" town-council or other,
who adopt in their dealings the boasted contract
system, to the slavery which must be endured, be-
fore he can support himself, his wife, and three
children, upon the poor remuneration offered for
making a policeman's trousers—tenpence a pair !
And yet even this, although to earn sufficient to live
by it requires the labour of eighteen hours a-day, is
better than the price paid by the government itself,
in its army contracts. Fivepence a pair is the price
paid for making soldiers' trousers ; and for this five-
pence there are " numbers of poor people fighting
and struggling with each other," as if it were wealth
itself 1 And then mark the sequel. Sickness Comts.
The slave has overtoiled himself, and can toil no
more. Has the law, in its wisdom, provided for the
emergency in which those dependant upon him are
placed. Does the public, to save whose pockets this
drudge has been consigned to the tender mercies of
the slopseller and the contractor, contribute now to
relieve his crying necessities. No, the law has taken
away that reliance upon the property of their country
which is the birthright of Englishmen. It has said
to the worn-out and helpless victim of the world's
avarice, you must toil on, or starve in your wretched
hovel, or in the streets, unless you are willing to be
imprisoned for life, separated from all that you love,
or by whom you are beloved, in the gloomy walls of
a union workhouse. Thus we torture first, and then
bold out to the victim's eye the prospect of a new
torture, to bind him to an endurance of his fate.
We furnish to the hard task-master a whip where-
with to lash his slaves to submission, and to fresh
sacrifices.

This must not be permitted to continue. A
Christian legislature and a Christian people must
not longer tolerate a law which so far outrages hu-
manity. Our suffering poor must not be left de-
pendant upon casual charity, or the poor's box of a
police office. The entire system of Somerset House
must be put down, and promptly, unless we wish to
drive the masses who now groan under the inflic-
tion of its heartless provisions to desperation. We
invite the earnest attention of Conservatives to this
matter, which must be handled resolutely and vigo-
rously, whatever the cold-blooded philosophers of
the day may say to the contrary.

The world has been cruelly deprived of light
during the past week ; but, .more than all, the
Council of Liverpool have been most despitefully
used. That body had an adjourned debate on
Tuesday, upon a most important subject, which
lasted from eleven o'olock in the forenoon until four
o'clock in the afternoon—at which several leading
members delivered their opinions at great length,
and one or two most ably,—and yet the whole pro-
ceedings have been cut down by the reporters to a
meagre outline, occupying little more space than
half a column of a newspaper. We grieve for this
on general grounds; and we must protest that it is
to us perfectly unaccountable. We grieve for the
fact, which it indicates, that the public has lost a
great portion of its wonted interest in the proceed-
ings of the Council, when the press neglects to re-
port more than a mere sketch of those proceedings.
Upon some of the speeches delivered, however,
we cannot afford to throw away the opportunity of
remarking; and, first, we turn to the speech of Mr.
Bushell, who contended, in opposition to the opi-
nions of all practical men, that increased dock
room was not much wanted, and that it was perilous
to attempt any large measure of extension. By the
lengthening of the Custom-house hours, the existing
docks might be made to do a third more work, and
to accommodate any increase of the trade of the
port which we have any right to anticipate for some
years to come. Mr. Bushell would have the land-
ing-waiters to work twelve hours a day instead of
eight. "Time," he urged, "is money." Be care-
ful of time, and you may do a large trade in a small
space; and this remarkable information he clenched
with a history of a fortune made in "Joey's chop-
house."

-----
Now, we dare say it is quite true that "Joey "

' 1 1

Idid make his fortune in a house very small com-
pared with that of some of his neighbours. But
we do not think that this is at all a case in point
with the case of the Liverpool docks. Ships are
not quite so expeditious in their movements as city
traders, who snatch their chop or steak in a tavern,
and run off with their crust of cheese and bread, to
munch as they hurry to the shop or the Stock Ex-
change. You might, perhaps, with an extra supply
of landing-waiters, and longer hours of working,
discharge a vessel in somewhat less time than at
present; but you must still provide some place for
the ship until she has another cargo on board and
is ready for sea again. No, no! Believe us, Mr.
Bushell, this project will go a very small way to re-
move the wants so much complained of by the ship-
owners and merchants of the port.
But, whilst we think its wisdom very questionable
in a practical view, we must protest altogether
against the philosophy upon which it is based.
"Time is money." Yes, it is money—for the
merchant. But time is the labluring man's ESTATE,
and you have no business to put that estate in your
own pocket. Extend the hours of the landing-
waiter from eight hours to twelve, and you take
from him a portion of that which should be devoted
to the affairs of his own family, and, perhaps, to
objects still more valuable. Let the landing-waiter
attend twelve hours, that the merchants may gratify
their inordinate thirst for money getting, and the
labourer's hours—the warehouseman's hours—the
clerk's hours—will forthwith be stretched to four-
teen or sixteen hours. Why, the factory system
would be nothing to this drudgery, to which Mr.
Bushell would consign one half of the industrious
portion of our community I

But turn we to the able review of the whole ques-
tion under consideration contained in the admirable
address of Mr. Nicol. This address, full of sound
practical knowledge of his subject, effectually dis-
sipated the cloud of sophistries with which Messrs.
Aikin and Evans, wfth their supporters, had laboured
to invest it; and if fully given to the world, as it
well deserved to be, would, along with the admirable
speech of Mr. Bramley-Moore, have fully satisfied
the most sceptical, of the wisdom of the course now
decided upon by the Dock Committee and the
Council.

Mr. Alderman Evans is aground. His reign over
the Dock Committee, and his domination over the
Council, are at an end ; and " having in vain en-
deavoured, through official channels, to prevent the
consummation of the measures for dock extension,
recently carried by majorities in " both these bodies,
the poor bewildered gentleman " thinks it right to
appeal to that out-door influence, which is still
sufficient, if not to prevent, at least to abate, the
worst part of the impending zvil," resulting from a
persevering refusal to believe in the absolute wisdom
of himself and his small knot of worshippers. The
Alderman has, in consequence, addressed a letter to
" the merchants and traders of Liverpool," which
appeared in yesterday's Albion; and, upon the
arguments in that letter, addressed to the "out-
door influence" which he has so long defied and
scoffed at, we venture to meet him ; not, however,
as the authorised and chosen champion of those
merchants and traders, but in our humble capacity
as independent journalists.
And, first, let us look at the premises of Mr.
Alderman Evans. Speaking of the Harrington
purchase, he remarks

" The wants of the timber trade were, at first, set forth
as the ground for requiring dock extension at the south ;
but, this ground not having proved tenable, the expediency
of removing the timber trade further south and relin-
quishing the Brunswick to general trade has taken its
place. I shall, nevertheless, keep to the original ground
and examine the plea for timber dock extension. To this
end I beg the public to observe, that 1843 was a year of
national recovery—of commercial, manufacturing, and
agricultural prosperity. The consumption of timber in
that year should, therefore, be taken as a fair standard by
which to estimate the consumption of succeeding years.
"The state of the timber trade, as tested by consump-
tion, may be judged of by the following extracts from
Messrs. Dempsey and Froste's circular, of Ist February.
I take the first and last years therein given, and confine

the analysis to square timber, as being that for which wide
quays are required, and, from the magnitude of its con-
sumption, in comparison of other articles of timber, being
the proper statistical test.
Baltic timber taken for con-
sumption „ „ in 1839 was 352,000 ft.
Ditto V f „ in 1843 was 364.000 ft.
British American timber „ in 1839 was 5,735,000 ft.
Ditto in 1943 was 5,480,000 ft.

" Here is not only no increase, but a positive falling
off, in consumption; and it is surely unnecessary to insist
that importation must finally be governed by consump-
tion. It is clear, therefore, that, for timber, no dock ex-
tension is requisite, and that any peculiar value ascribed
to the Harrington property, as affording dock accommo-
dation to the timber trade, has no existence."

Now, upon this question of the wants of the timber
trade, we must say that Mr. Evans is too jesuitical
for our taste. It is true, indeed, as he states, that
the year 1843 was " a year of national recovery; "
but that fact scarcely constitutes it a year of national
health, such as would warrant us in taking it as
"a fair standard by which to estimate the consumption
of succeeding years." And, moreover, in the article
of Baltic timber, it cannot—consumption cannot—
be taken as an estimate at all ! The consumption
in 1843—taking the Alderman's figures as correct,
which they are as nearly as may be,—was only

12,000 feeL more than in 1839. But it must be
remembered that the last reduction in duty only
took place in October of that year;—too late to
render Baltic timber profitably available for build-
ing purposes, for which it is mainly fitted; and,
partly owing to this circumstance, it will be seen by
the reader who will refer to any of the wood
brokers' circulars, such timber was superseded by
the red pine of our own colonies.
And, again, with respect to colonial timber, it
must be remembered that, after all, according to
the Alderman's own admission, this was only " a
year of recovery."
But notwithstanding that we are told importation
must finally be governed by consumption, in this
year we cannot recognise the truth of such a princi-
ple. The question before us is one of dock facili-

ties ; and Mr. Evans, therefore, would have done
better to give us, instead of the data of consumption,
those of importation. Had he done this, he would
have found that, instead of having to provide dock
space last year for 364,000 feet of Baltic timber, we
had to find such space for 651,000 feet, whereas the
average of the preceding five years was only 306,200
feet; and although a large amount of this import is
left on hand, that fact, as we have already remarked,
is accounted for by the duty having only been re-
mitted in October, after the building season had
concluded.

The timber trade of this port must sustain an in.
crease, notwithstanding the somewhat hardy asser-
tion of Mr. Evans, that the reduction of duty, of
which so much has been said, will have no practical
effect upon the consumption of timber, inasmuch as
what has been relinquished, as duty,has gone, in the
shape of price to the importers, with whom it will
probably remain as remuneration, of which the
hitherto bad state of their trade had long deprived
them." Every authority acknowledges the prospect
of a large increase of trade in this article; and it is
acknowledged that, so far, the reduction of duty has
not gone into the hands of importers, who, during
the past year, have not been carrying on a profitable
trade. One circular before us, indeed, distinctly
states that " in October Baltic timber further re-
ceded to the extent of the reduction in duty; and we
believe that authority—(Messrs. James Houghton

and Co.)—quite as readily as we believe the sophis-
tical Alderman Evans.

Again, the Alderman says—

" The general trade of the port is as fairly accommo-
dated as it has ever been for many years, and the Albert
Dock and Basin will provide amply for any increase of
business which can reasonably be hoped for during many
years to come ; but, should the proposed steam dock be
made at the north, three docks, the Coburg, Clarence,
and Trafalgar, now occupied by steamers, wilt be given
up to sailing vessels, which will then have redundant
water space at the north, (for which they show a decided
preference,) unless it is rendered dear by increased rates,
the inevitable result of improvident expenditure of dock
resources."

Now, the Albert Dock contains ten acres of water
space. The water space of the present docks is 108
acres. The addition is, therefore, 10 per cent; and
this cannot be brought into use for two years from
the present time. The proposed north dock, how-
ever, is to throw open to sailing vessels the Coburg,
the Clarence and the Trafalgar, now occupied by
steamers; and this addition to the present accom-
modation of the port is, in the eyes of Alderman
Evans, quite sufficient for all emergencies. But
what, pray, are the facts connected with the increase
of the dock requirements of our town ? Commerce
from the year 1800 ; and we find that in 1811 the
tonnage requiring accommodation is increased by
36 per cent; in 1821 the increase is more than 87
per cent; in 1831 it is more than 254 per cent; in
1841 it is more than 439 per cent I The per cent-
age, therefore, according to the tabular statement
before us, has been doubled in 24 years, trebled in
30 years, and quadrupled in 40 years. But, most
extraordinary of all, it has been trebled within the
last 18 years !
How is it then, we ask Mr. Alderman Evans, that
we are now to stand still ? What is to interfere with
the further developement of the wants of our port?
What is to enable us to carry on our business—our
increasing business—with the paltry 10 per cent ad-
ditional accommodation which the Albert Dock will
give us,—two years hence,—or even with the addi-
tional accommodation which will be afforded us by
the north docks, some 6 or 8 years hence e He
would be a wise man indeed who could tell us ; and
Alderman Evans is not that man.

But come we to the giant bugbear, with which
Mr. Evans endeavours to " fright the town from its
propriety." Come we to the Alderman's " slight
sketch of the account current of the dock estate,"
which, by a great stretch of probability, on the cre-
dit side, he assumes to be permanent—a "credit side"
which has gone on increasing in the enormous ratio
shewn above This credit side he represents as
amounting last year to £216,461; and he says—

" Against this will appear
The Interest on £1,798,000, the present debt, as
it stands ••••••

£73,815
_ _ _

:nterest upon £475,000, to be still raised for
Albert Dock

18,904

Interest upon cost of land and proposed new
docks, £1,300,000
Lighthouse, telegraph, lifeboats, &c.
Management, police, dock gatemen, &c., for the
old docks and Albert Dock
Lamps and miscellaneous expenses for existing
docks and Albert Dock

... 44,796

31,685

Annual repairs and casualties on existing docks
and Albert Dock

Proportion of repairs, casualties, and other ex-
penses which accompany dock extension, on

Proposed new docks -

39,000

£288,093

Deduct interest on Albert Dock ware-
houses £12,000
Balance of rents to be acquired from
yards, &c., north and south, less
£7OOO, to be lost on Messrs. E. Chal-
loner and Duncan's yards l,BOO 14,000

£274,093

" If to this," he continues. " we add anyexpense which
may, however absurdly, be imposed for disposing of the
mud taken from the docks, we may, possibly, have an
annual outlay of somewhere about £290,000; from which
deduct the present revenue of £216,000, and a deficit ap-
pears of above £70,000 per annum, which, unless trade
increases, must be provided for by increased dock-rates."
Now, let us see how the Alderman can substan-
tiate these figures—these most outrageous figures—
these most dishonest figures I In the first place, he
puts down the interest upon £472,000 " still to be
raised for the completion of the Albert Dock,"
amounting to £18,904 ; and only deducts £12,200
as the revenue of the warehouses, which were to
have paid we don't know how much per cent. The
dock itself is to pay less than nothing ! Then we
have " cost of land and proposed new docks,
£l,3oo,ooo—interest, £52,000 ;" as if the whole of
these docks were to be built at once, the money
paid at once, and the docks to bring in nothing
We have next an increased sum for the " mrnage-
ment, police," &c., of the old docks and Albert
Dock ; additional " lamps and miscellaneous ex-
penses " for ditto ; additional " annual repairs and
casualties" for ditto ; and a perfectly unintelligible
item under the head of " proportion of repairs,
casualties, and other expenses which accompany
dock extension, on proposed new docks, £39,000."
And all these charges to drag upon a trade carried
on with our existing docks :—repairs of docks not
built—cost of docks not built—management of
docks not built—placed per contra to the revenue
of the present estate, acknowledged to be insuffi-
cient to the trade of the port, and to be utterly in-
sufficient to the lowest estimate of its future trade!
But, in addition to all these wild calculations,
Mr. Evans takes upon himself to say, that the cost
of the whole of the proposed scheme will be
£1,300,000. But will the whole be made at once?
Will the proposed graving docks, for instance, be
made ? Not until wanted ; and then they must pay
Will the two steam docks be made? One only will
be made at first; and, when two are wanted, they
will pay. Will the two timber docks be made ? One
only, at first ; and, when the other is made, both
will pay. Besides, Mr. Evans leaves quite out of
his contemplation—We fear advisedly—the fact that
the Dock Committee will have 3 to 400,000 square
yards of the land purchased to sell; and that the
original estimated cost—which, most unwarrantably,
he over-estimates—is reduced by the agreement of
the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company to pay for
the cutting of their junction.
From these few remarks it will readily be perceived
how Mr. Alderman Evans arrives at his deficit of
£70,000 per annum. We ask our readers, however ;
we ask that public " out of doors" to which he ap-
peals—if they will be bamboozled by such transpa-
rent fallacies ? The Alderman has arrived at " the
sear and yellow leaf" of his influence in the towns
affairs; and such another appeal as the present will
place him even lower than, at present, he stands.
As a clever man, though with wrong views, we have
always looked upon Mr. Evans; but we can look
upon him with even this indulgent feeling no longer.
We may, however, return to this manifesto of
Mr. Alderman Evans. He may possibly afford us
another opportunity of canvassing his statements and
his vie% s of dock matters ; and at all events we shall
do him justice —more than he has as yet done to his
previously established reputation as a man of judg-
ment and common sense.

RAPID LEGISLATION.-Our friends on the other side
of the Mersey are marvellously energetic and clever in
whatever they attempt; but we were not prepared for the
following extraordinary announcement, which appeared
as a leading article in the Liverpool Times of Tuesday
last. We give it entire.
WALLASEY DOCK BILL.
We understand that this important bill will be read a
third time in the House of Commons on Friday evening
next.

Some wicked wag, we fear, has been bamboozling our
contemporary. Possibly Mr. Samuel Stansfield has been
exhausting upon him his large stores of exclusive know-
ledge, and mistaken the capacity of the recipient. Cer-
tainly, however, it will be information to the world to

learn that a bill of such importance asi the Birkenhead
Dock Bill could pass throng h. the Standing Orders Com-
mittee, be referred the Committee on Private Bills, be re-
ported and read a second and third time—ALL IN THE
BRIEF SPACE OF 24 HOURS

THE ALBION—ON MATTERS IN GENERAL.—We
fully intended to have said something in reply to the
amazing wisdom of our yesterday's contemporary. We
have not been able, however, to read his lead-ere as yet,
or to digest them if we had read them. Lead is lead,
however you may disguise it ; and lead we cannot com-
fortably swallow. Will our contemporary kindly indulge
us for a week ?