The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-11-03 00:00:00

TO OUR v.a

We have to apologise to many hundreds of our readers
for the unprecedented delay'and irregularity in the
despatch by post, and in the delivery:of the STANDARD.
of. Friday la.kt ; but we feel confident that when they
look at the immense lingtk:ef the reported proceedings
of the PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION, and bear' in mind
that the demand for-the paper. was so great that it is
not even yet exhausted,• they will for once hold us ex-
cused,
~:Some delay. also took place on thelGth Octo-
ber, die day after the Conservative ,Meeting at New-
ton, for which we have'likewise to express our regret ;
but we have 7tow made such arrangements as will, we
trust, in future, prevent the recurrence of any such
interruptions.

iiibErpool *tatiVarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 3, 1835

Our attention. has been called 'to., an advertisement
Which appears in the. Liverpool
.Chronicle of Saturday
Week, in Which a redundancy of slander and -abuse, bOr;.,
rowed from an American paper,. is -heaped -upon this
journal. We 'freely. exonerate, the. proprietors of- the
Chronicle from all ;participation in the libel, so far as we
*re concerned, for nnaerstand,sinserted it as an
advertiserne.nt in- the regular` •course of business. We
wish others wborri they hive been made the medium of
attacking may be equally chaTitable:
.
.The article has reference to sdive observations which
veAtought it our dutyto make some time ago with re;
Sped 'to certain emigrant agents in America who sign
themselves Douglas, Robinson; and Co., and who profess

to draw bills upon a firrii here 'who are styled " Robinson'
Brothers, Bankers, in Liverpool." As we know of no
such bankerS in Liverpool, and no house here of that
name, who has the leash pretensions to'be bankers, we
cautioned, emigrants against *ling implicit confidence
in such parties. We were the-More induced to do this.
inasmuch that.we pereelved in most of the American pa-
pers flaming advertisements setting forth that this cele-
brated firm of merchants and bankers were about to start
a new. line of packets between New York and Liverpool
—that the ships were all to be of 500 tons and upwards,
commanded by experienced captains who had been ap-
pointed--and other matters relative to safety and comfort
well calculated to deceive the. unwary and impose upon
the ignorant. The parties even went so far as t o give
names to their imaginary . packets, and their advertise-
ments generally concluded, after - this flash display of
wealth, by assuring emigrants settled in Canada and the
United States, that 'if they wished to make any remit-
tances, to their relatives in the mother country the drafts
of Douglas, Robinson, and Co, passed all over England,
Scotland, And Ireland precisely as if they were bank
notes! This was too glaring .for us to swallow, and .too
much, calculated to mislead poor people for us to endure;
and we accordingly called the . attention of emigrants to
the subject. For this wearetns
.we have said,..most vilely
abused by some hireling of .the New York press. But
we can stand abilse, although we do not choose to :coun-
tenance imposition. We shall say no More. at present,
.for we understand. that the libel will engage the attention
of a corirt of law in vindicatiOn-of -a gentleman: who -has
rendered eminent and lriVOi4ble serviceS to emigrants;
and has dc,tie more. to.- suppress fraud in this port than•
any man. we know.' He al:least might have been spared;
but no, the coffin navigat44the land of_ liberty attack
all who stand in the way of their nefarious traffic.
. .

We are now beg,inning-to comprehend what was•meant
by reform, and what reformers mean by bribery corrup-
tion, and trafficking for seitsin the House or COmmons •
Day after day is letting fresh light in upon the dishonest.
and fraudulent artifices of tht rebel who calls himself a
patrfot, and who, truth to tell, is little better than a—we
were going to say swindler, but, for-the sake of ears po-
lite, we leave that term in abeyance until we have stated
our case.

It is of a huge reformer we are about to speak-,--a man
admired by thonsands—the, idol of an Irish mob—one
who, strange to say, has time-followers and more politi-
cal influence than any other demagogue, simply because
he has deceived, robbed, and imposed upon -more men
than any other, person in -the present age or in these
realms. In treating, therefore,. of such a patriot, it is
indispensably necessary that we should arm our words
with a coat of mail, and leave nothing to be challenged
but what is unassailable.

Now for our case. We will assume, reader, for the
sake of argument, that you are a merchant, and that you
wish to purchase a ship, and that you make this; yoUr
wish, known'to a select number of your friends. You
are accordingly waited upon by a ship-broker, a man of
fair repute, who is constantly in the habit of buying and
selling vessels, and against whim professional character
yOu'never beard anything to shake the confidence you
are disposed to place in him. This broker informs you
that the house of MAGUIRE, Fu.4/4, and Co. have a barque
called the car/ota, which he is empowered to sell for
£2,000, the terms being cash. You, knowing.some-
thing of theyessel; offer £1,500, but lie will not take it.
You offer £l,oo—Still he.refuseS. At length,' thinking
you have a good bargain; and:that MAGUIRE, FINN, and
Co. are actually making a sacrifiCe for the sake of ready
money, you purchase. the -Cariow,,and hand over to the
broker £2OOO in bank notes.

-We shall not here enter upon the question as to the
_sea-worthiness of the ship. We shall not offer a word
as to the difficulty 'yeil had 'in Obtaining possession of her;
the short time she waslO•your hands, andthe seizure 4,
her by ether parties, to -whom she rightfully beionged,'.
and not to MAGUIRR;.Fisk '.arid,-Co., as your broker r 6.+.
presented...! We shall'paseover,all this, and, closing the
book'opon a mass of infamy and'villany, take for granted-
that you. are still in possession,'- arid-that the Carlow, rot.
ten, and ill-fOund, and condemned though she be, is still
your property.
~But what would you say if you learnt
that of the £2,000 Which: the broker received from -you,
only some £3OO or £4OO in cash were paid to MAianißE,
FINN, and Co., and that the balance was made up with
two bills of £BOO each,, drawn, at 'very long dales, the
broker being the dracyer,.aome- near relation or man of
straw the acceptor, and that M4ontax, FINN, and Co.,
knowing the wretched condition of the vessel, Were ex.
Ceedingly glad to part with her even on these terms, and
taking the fearful risk of the bills not being honoured
when at maturity? . ,:. . 4 •
Would you not lay do*ri your pen and raise your eyes
in inexpressible rage and disgust ? Would you not cal,
your broker a seoundrer?,---would •you not proclaim • him
to be a scoundrel to all. your- commercial acquaintances
and-to the whole world ? Would you not say that you
bad been made the dupe of a swindler ?—that the broker
and the house of MAGUIRE had 'conspired to rob you ?
.and that you ,had. been -plundered of your £2,000 as
adroitly 'and as .felaniously as' if your . pocket had been
picked of. that sum While passing through Clayton-square.
during some radical meeting, at noon-day ?
We have said that you had:confidence. in your broker.
•Nodoutit'3;ou had, or you ' WOrild not have trusted him.
But supposixigthat he desetved your confidence at the
time—that he had previoristy'fierrie an irreproachable re:-
putation—that this was his .first detected '' fraud ; still
would it not be enough to eXclude bitn, for ever from the
society of all honourable men..i lirouldhe not be branded
as a cheat, hissed out of the Exchange-rooms, driven
from the very bypaths of business, and compelled to hide
his'infamy in obscurity, or seek shelter amid 'some corige-
nial cOnfrateinity of scamps in a free country,' "Where ,