The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-01-25 00:00:00

rzufacturinq district

TO OUR READERS AND THE PUBLIC

A few weeks ago, u

were waited upon by several

the newspaper proprietors of this town, to ascer-
tain our views as to the propriety of raising the
Our reply to the ad-
that we were willing to
ngement to be generally

ce of the STANDARD

rde to us u

acquiesce in

which we should be secured a:sufficient
rz for the risk and expense to which we

are subjected. The arrangement proposed was
not perfected, owing to a little delicacy existing in
the minds of some of the parties, to which we
need not further allude. Our late contemporary
of Tuesday—the Times—however, has now volun-
teered the lead in an upward movement, which we
have no hesitation in following, as we are certain
that it will conduce infinitely more to the public's
than to our own individual advantage, by enabling
us to devote increased talent and expense to the
improvement of our paper. We beg leave, there-
fore, respectfully to inform our readers, that, on
and after Tuesday next, the price. of the LIVER-
POOL STANDARD will be FOURPENCE. IA the

are making arrangements, by which

trust we

hall be enabled to introduce into our

columns some new features, and to impart to them
additional interest, both for commercial readers
and for circulation as a family journal.

TO CORRESPONDENTS,

mot insert the communication relative to the case at

Lbstance o

letter about

rolice in the rural districts

the mom

Ebe Etherpool ginanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, JAN.

25, 1848

TILE project of increasing our army to a consi- anticipate no other conclusion from the meeting
derable amount, we view with great suspicion, as to-day than the peremptory rejection of such bill.
the faithful guardians of the liberty of the people, It is a pity that such an issue should be ha-
since such a force at the disposal of the government zarded, on account of—as far as we can gather the
facts—a mere ecru
would completely control the country, and would ple. The Dock Committee have
be a formidable weapon in the hands of ministers, a noble career of usefulness before them. They
to make themselves independent of the people. In have it in their power to make this the first, if it
the present state of commercial distress and priva- is not already the first, port in the United Kingdom.
which the country is placed, the govern- They have within their reach the means of fur-
bound rather to study retrenchment in the nishing to our commerce facilities and cheapness
nenditure than to increase the intolerable of which no other port can boast. Yet they run
ation under which we at present labour,
the risk of being compelled to surrender their corn-
-
mentation of our national debt. We manding position, by grasping at more privileges
-,re, agree in the propriety of making than are intent cons with the welfare of the public.
The dock warehouses already built are, they tell
non the defences of our kingdom,
supposition of a French inva- us, an amply remunerating property. If it is so,
-4 position of France shews we say " build more"—" surround our existing
ch an enterprise. The pros- and our future docks with such conveniences for
ends more upon her freedom the general trade of the port. But act fairly in so
_eon artificial defences; and the doing. Do not appropriate as a profit what you
..iwark which we can erect for her pro- shirk paying as your legitimate share of the public
burthens. Do not, either, become traders and
...en is by the consolidation of her resources and
the diminution of her military burdens. While, competitors with any portion of the community."
however, we take this view of the subject, we would We might go a little further than this and insist
not be thought the advocates of the passive non- upon the Committee's becoming warehouse owners
-licv which seems to be so fashionable in merely, and leaving warehouse management to
• for although we believe that as other and private enterprise. We might ask
''v
• •on advance, mankind will be-
whether the Dock Estate would not be equally
'ted in the social compact, and benefitted, and the public interest equally, well
universal, yet we consider served, if the existing warehouses were let to .the
ITTIIR and leaving ourselves highest bidder, or a portion of them were so let,
..,. .._ the most unlikely way of and a competition beneficial to the interestm of the
~ng this happy consummation. The moment public was thus created. But we will not trench
upon this ground. We leave it to the Committee
our weakness would be seized.by other powers
with avidity ; and so far from imitating our exam- to decide by whom their property can be best
ple, they would convert it into the period of our managed. But we must protest against the doc-
ruin. The proper and legitimate defence of the trine that the docks of Liverpool are the property
kingdom is our first duty; and while to involve of any persons but the people of Liverpool; and
the country in heavy debt would be prejudicial to that they ought to be excused from the payment
our interests, to fall into the opposite extreme of those rates to which other property in Liverpool
would be attended with consequences equally fatal. is subjected. Our docks bring us trade it is true ;
The promotion of increased discipline, with a higher and ought to be cheapened to the uttermost. But
rate of .remuneration among our seamen, the em-
our docks bring us also burthens; and a fair share
ployment and commission of all our old vessels,
of such burthens they ought to bear. Merchants,
of course. such as some wma ho maywe find sitti on
and the immediate commencement of building
the Dock Committee, ys, " Cheapenng the
others upon better and more scientific principles,
accommodation afforded by the port at all hazards,
ma
appdeear
in to
the us theprospect safest
of a w prepar
aratiwith France, ons which can
and .be
and increased business will follow." But the rate-
would be most available if the fears of an invasion payers, who do not participate in the profits of
should ever be realised. We have ever considered brokerages, &c. know well enough that the trade
of a port may increase—its imports and exports
the navy as the natural protection of the country,
and have viewed with regret its declination in effi- increase—and its poor rates and highway rates in-
crease in the same proportion. We have not all
ciency, of late years, while those of France and
America have been so steadily improving. the fortune to possess country houses and drags.
We think the wish which seems prevalent, to We should really be happy to see the Dock
nit the safety of the kingdom to a standing Committee reconsider their position. If they do
not, we can confidently assure them that nothing
army rather than the navy, is based upon erroneous
but defeat is before them. We are sure they do
principles, and that money devoted to such a pur-
_ not wish to dragoon their fellow-townsmen into
pose would be a dead loss to the country. Ana
submission to their plans. But, at present, ill-
tional militia, entirely remodelled, and called out
tempered people might assert as much without
regularly and frequently for exercise and discipline,
any great fear of being confuted. A quiet sub-
would be quite sufficient for the purposes of inter-
mission to the force of public opinion is what we
nal defence ; and while formidable to the enemies
should urge upon them, for their own sake and the
of the country, would not be dangerous -to its
interests of the town.
liberty. Much money to the country might be
saved, and the military converted into ,a. More
powerful body, by accustoming them to. manual
labour, while the soldiery might receive much
larger pay than at present. The Roman legions
were ever employed, and it is worthy of remem-
brance that they never visited any country but
left behind them some monuments of their industry;
some works of public usefulness. The soldiery of
Peter of Russia and Napoleon Bonaparte were
inured to labour, and there seems no just reason
why we should support ours in idleness and,inac-
tivity. The British soldier is not more inclined
to be slothful than any other, and would gladly
hail any opportunity of bettering his condition by
the fruits of his labour. And surely he would not
be less able to wield the sword because he had
clenched the hammer, or undergo the fatigues of a
'4h less fortitude because he had expe-
-eed the toil of the workshop. To keep an army
anemployea is the surest mode of effeminating
them, and the country can expect but little protec-
tion from a host of men so enfeebled themselves.
By employing our army, we should change a con-
ble number of men into a
.1 class, and instead of being
-quital,. the useless drones

tion in

p 111311 C
load of

a large outlay I

upon th
1

mon,
the irr

mossitnnty ot 8
'and del

present da;

civilisation and

will I

ti our
)11(1 }F •

THE condition of the industrious and the com-
mercial classes throughout the country, is at length
beginning to attract the serious attention of the
reflecting portion of the public. We have been
told, when complaining of the non-fulfilment of 1
all the bright promises held out to us, ascertain to
result from the adoption of free trade, to wait
awhile. The advent of summer was to bring us a
revival of confidence and of business ; yet summer
came unattended with the slightest glimpse of
sunshine. Autumn was next to repair the omission.
It brought us a good harvest, which has generally I
been the accompaniment, and, in a great Measure,
the cause of. prosperous commerce and well ern-
' ployed industry ;. but the usual result has not fol-
lowed. Then Christmas, or the new year, was to
*usher us into a brighter state of things. Our mills
were to resume their wonted activity, and at length
we were to approach the halcyon days which were
predicted for us. We arc now nearly at the end of
the first month of that new year ; yet what do we
see around .us A prostrate commerce ; mills
working half time, or not working at all ; railway
enterprise 'suspended ; credit and confidence almost
universally destroyed, and suffering pervading all
classes, engaged in the pursuits of commerce and

campaign wr

productive aria

.ome useful and indus-

of the km

industry. There is not a solitary bright feature in
the whole landscape ; not agleam of approaching
sunshine ; nothing to afford a hope of recompense
in the future for our present and past endurance.
Even the boldest of our prophets have ceased to
predict the day upon which the tide will turn in our
favour: _ _ _

)-f the enormous military

sevent

'-live per c

, whil

estim

',mg twenty-five per
cent. would, added to the produce of his labour,
the soldier the best instead of the worst-paid
'le kingdom. The defenders of our
sed to hardship, and used to the
rise, would become more in-
ul applying their practical
;s of their profession
of art the most invete-

t manual exe
than ever,

How is this state of things to be accounted for ?
The effect of the potato rot, we should think, ought
to have been got rid of by this time. We have
food of every sort in abundance, and cheap. Our
investments in railways may, in part, account for
the commercial embarrassments under which' we
labour at home ; but they certainly cannot be urged
as the cause of the almost total absence of foreign
demand for our industrial products. We have no
high price of. cotton to complain of ; no famine in
the raw material of our most important manufac-
ture. The Continent of Europe is inundated with
the money which we have paid for its breadstuffs ;
America is fulllot English gold and bills ; from the
Steppes of the. Caucasus to the backwoods of the
New World, we have been eager buyers of the
chief necessaries of life ; yet nothing flows back.
The produce of our spindles and our looms, our
mills and our forges, our factories and our work-
shops, are neglected, and seem almost to, have
ceased to be essential to the comfort or the use of
the human race. Again we ask---how is this state
of things to be accounted for ? Again we remind
the politico-economical philosophers of • the day,
that we ate in the possession of the boasted sove-
reign cure of all commercial ills—Free Trade.

considerable moment to the
ent has so recently abrogated
,d slavery which used to pre-
Or the service, and that short
w substituted for the almost