The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-09-12 00:00:00

iment must not inter fere with " the freedom

of the labott

narket"

factoring capitalist to t

the immunity of the manu-
eat his living automita with

chinery

s consideration than he treats his ma-

e most striking facts are those furnished by

with respect to the deficiency of the

Ltions provided for by the existing
n this subject, Mr. Horner gives
statistics of the children employed

manufacturing districts of the
which we shall briefly state for

the cons
Ti

aeration of our read

number of children employed by these 591
3355 attended schools

872. Of tl

e factories t

and bye);

2,689

ttended

)Is, which are described to be

n in cottages, brought

I men or old women, who

icing incapable of

we mt

therefi

Scuoor

conr

;top to this dis

ay, hut without

The fact is, that at the present rates it i only the
high duty of 5 cents, or nearly 3d. per lb., levied
under the tariff of the United States, which
prevents our becoming exporters of butter to Ame-
rica ! The "prime dairies" of the United States
would, in case of an open trade on the part of that
country, be superseded in part by the best qualities
of our Irish. It does not, however, suit the object
of the anti-monopoly gentlemen to allow this fact to
be known, lest agitation should become an un-
mselves (of the cha- I profitable game.

But we are told that the 396 kegs in question are
to be spoiled, and afterwards used " as grease for
cart-wheels." Now with respect to this " spoiling,"
we must confess that we do not contemplate the
process with any great favour. It has been found

necessary, however, we imagine, to keep importers
honest, by rendering it impossible for them to pass
as grease what in reality is butter. It is quite pos-
sible that some less objectionable plan might be hit
upon. In the meantime, however, we console our-
selves with the reflection that it is not " human
food" which is thus " tarred" and " spoilt," but
rubbish, which some very "liberal" and enlightened
gentlemen, who are fond of reducing the people to
" a coarser kind of food," might otherwise be
tempted to dispose of as such ! We may remark,
by the way, that neither such butter nor " grease"
can be used for cart-wheels, as indeed any one less
wooden than a cart-wheel might easily discover.

We may add a word to our contemporary, the
Mercury, who has perpetrated a paragraph upon the
alleged enormity of this transaction. Gur contem-
porary says that he has tasted the butter, and that,
although a little salted, it is "in other respects equal
to our own butter at ls. a lb." Now this is surely
going too far; for if the article is worth Is. a lb.,
the importer could make the very handsome profit of
nearly sixpence per lb. by paying the duty upon it,
instead of having it spoiled as grease. But your
thick-and-thin advocate, who is not overhurthened
with information upon the subjects which occupy
his pen, is apt thus to blunder.

The Council proceedings of Wednesday last
afford us little material for comment. To one or

two points, however, which they suggest, we may be
permitted to direct a few passing observations. And
first, with respect to the proceedings of the Finance
Committee.
_ _

It does really strike us—and the conviction is
forcing itself elsewhere—that this Committee takes
upon itself a little too much. An observer of its
doings would imagine that the Council itself was a

merely subsidiary body, called together once a
month for the sole purpose of recording their ap-
proval of the acts of the Finance Committee, and
enabling a few talkative members to let off spirts of
oratory addressed to the reporters. The committee
is every thing—head, hands, spirit, and body of the

municipal machine—whilst the Council itself is a

mere shadow, inoperative alike to do and to design
for the common weal. The committee can decree
an expenditure of thousands, or determine upon the
sale of one-half of the Corporation property, and a
simple "Sic volo, sic jubeo, stat pro ratione volun-

tas," conveyed in a bland speech, is all the expla-
nation which it deems necessary to make, and b.l
the deference which it chooses to pay to the body
of which it is, or ought to be, only an importan►
member.