The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-02-18 00:00:00

THREATENED_ STRIKE
_OF SEAMEN IN

LIVERPOOL:

The resistance to thi Mercantile Marine Bill has thiS
week assumed a more definite shape, and, on Monde).
morning, the town was startled by a procession of seamen'
several hundred strong, carrying aloft a Janus-faced OM
of Mr. Labouchere. A partial strike has taken place, aril'
several hundred seamen have refused to ship under the
new regulations—depositing their register-tickets with thea
committee appointed at the late public meeting, as a prPel
of their sincerity and determination. We understand the
the leading boarding-house keepers have mutually pledged
themselves to maintain gratuitously, for three weeks, those
of the sailors lodging with them who may choose to strike;
and a subscription has been set on foot to organize agite:
Lion against the act. Each day since Monday the wile"
who are out have walked through the streets in procession"
preceded by a band of music, and men carrying union
jacks.

Several meetings have been held during the past week,
at which the grievances under which the seamen labour
were fully detailed. At one of these, Mr. Rowett made
a very long address. In the course of it, after maul
remarks on the noble and disinterested character of the
British sailor, he said, in allusion to the Mercantile
Marine Bill of Mr. Labouchere :—Tf this apple of discord
has been merely thrown up for some kindly motive.
towards the Sailors' Home, why should there be any want
of union between the homes of three hundred seamen tt
the Sailors' Institution, and the homes of six thousando
men who are scattered over this town ? Will the Sailors
Home provide for seamen who, from a hundred mod,
are often without the means of living, as the boarding',
house keepers have frequently done, in anticipation of
payment out of future earnings ? Is it fair that a multi-
tude of boarding-house keepers, lodging six thousand meth
should be condemned and ill-used because there are some
improper characters among that class ? The board surely'
overlooks the justice that is due to them, and also their
influence over the 6,000 men who are constantly in close
intercourse with them. It must be remembered that this
class, who contribute largely to the local rates, are under
large expenses, and cannot afford to have passed upott
them such stigma—such sweeping condemnation—as the
antagonistic position taken by the local marine board,
and sailors' home board, so unwarrantably implies. The
element thus provoked, it must be admitted is most
dangerous to the peace and welfare of the town at large.
But the board of trade was not content with setting these,
parties in hostile attitudes with each other. The Zr
shipping masters of the port—gentlemen authorized I)/
license from the board of trade—have also been loaded
with indignities and contempt, their influence among the
seamen also forgotten. And to make the attack on these
gentlemen complete, without any previous notice they are
by the Board of Trade deprived of their licenses as ship-
ping-masters ; their business monopolized by Govern:
went; and, tho' many of them have for 10, 15, and 20
years carried on their business with credit to themselves,
and great advantage to seamen and the shipping interest,
at large, they are now, by Act of Parliament, deprived of
their legitimate business, and thrown on the wide world
to get their living as they best can. This is another ele•
ment of discord which ought never to have been inflamed
by the Government. The influence of these gentleraee,
with seamen might have done much to allay some 01
the minor objections to the maritime bill,—especially
that of the ticket,—which you now learn are going by
hundreds, or perhaps thousands, back to their author,
with a polite intimation to Mr. Labouchere that they will
not wear his badge of distinction. We, as master mariners'
deeply deplore this state of things, and to remedy the
untoward position into which the 'Board of Trade 119.5
forced the mercantile marine of this country, and to re.
scue one class from the utter destruction with which we are
threatened—the association—we are met this day to fool,
will, we trust, under God's blessing, be instrumental
averting. The mercantile business of the country cannoli
long be carried on according to the present law, it is clear
to your minds ; and when from outward pressure the
Board of Trade is compelled to yield in one point, the
time has arrived when the whole of its provisions should
be remodelled, according to the wisdom and practical ex'
perience of the entire marine body. The positioninto which
a few days will bring the case is this—Government re'
quires the ship's articles shall be signed before the col•
lector of customs can legally clear the ship ;—the articles
must be signed in presence of a Government officer, ati
the office of the local marine board, and no seaman or,
officer can sign articles unless he produces his "ticket'
to the Government officer, and cannot possibly be shipped
without this ticket. But the tickets, being sent back to
Mr. Labouchere by the seamen, cannot be available for
this purpose ; and therefore men, however willing to earo
their bread, cannot legally do so. Capt. Rowett went on
to denounce other portions of the bill, and contended
that old experienced captains and mates ought not nogt
be called on to undergo an examination, though they were
not afraid of having their qualifications put to the test. lie
concluded with the following resolution, which was carried:

THE BRITISH MARINER'S ASSOCIATION.
"That, under this name, an association be now formed'
consisting of masters, officers, and seamen, employed in the
merchant service, for the purpose of maintaining and defendial
their interests and rights from the various and repeat!,
attacks that are being made upon the privileges they bate
hitherto enjoyed, and under which they have been bless
with, and still enjoy, pre-eminence among the nations of the
world. To make their defence effectual, it is essential that ti
permanent board be established, and entrusted with the repre-
sentation of this important body of her Majesty's loyal al'',
jects. At the meetings of such board every shipmaster in WA
being a member of the association shall be entitled to sit Or
vote thereon. By this means, all who awe absent, it is consl'
dered, will be as fully and faithfully represented as any means
could devise. That the expenses of carrying on this associatilv
with effect are to be defrayed out of voluntary contributions,
and the subscriptions of its members, which have been deter-
mined on as follows :—Masters of vessels, 55.; mates, 45:,;,
second mates, 3s. ; third mates, 25.; carpenters, 2s. ; seamen'
cooks, and stewards, Is. per annum. No subscriber is to
responsible beyond the amount of his subscription or copal.,
bution, and a card of membership is to be given to eac/
subscriber. As the efforts of the association are at present
specially called into active operation by the well.ko
Labouchere's Merchant Seamen's Bill, which every practics
seaman must know is, alike to the shipowner, master, officers'
and seamen, oppressive, vexatious, and calculated to do serious
injury to the class for whose benefit and advantage it is said t.,v
have been intended, and which, if pursued, must result.l;
incalculable damage to the state, as well as to the shipPit!„,'
interest in particular, every master, officer, and seaman
therefore, or who have at any time been in either of sag,.
capacities, are hereby earnestly requested, as they value the's.
narnesas British seamen, to enrol themselves at once on the boa.,
of the association, as the only constitutional means of obtaiell
from Parliament such practical, reasonable, and efficient lads
for the merchant service of this country, as will conduce to
the welfare, interest, and happiness of all parties concerned.

On Friday Mr. Stuart Knox was elected for the borough
of Dungannon, vice Lord Northland resigned.
The Tablet announces that a meeting ofßoman Catholie
prelates of Ireland is to be held immediately to petition
against the Papal Aggressions Bill of the ministry.
An unexpected opponent—Mr. Houghton, the. free:,
trade farmer—has come forward to oppose Col.
for Bedfordshire.
The bill brought in by Mr. W. Williams to prevent:
trading on Sundays applies• only to the metropolis. la
enacts that all Sunday trading is to cease• at nine, an
goods exposed for sale may be seized.
On Wednesday one of the French war steamers,, whieb
arrived at Jersey on Monday, on return from St. Helier,
captured 11 oyster-boats, which were dredging on the
French limits, and took them to Granville.
At noon, on Saturday, a meeting of the members and
friends of the Cambridgeshire Protection Society was he',
at Cambridge. There were not less than 800. person;
present. The Earl of Hardwicke, Lord-Lieutenant of tb
county, took the chair.
Captain Beechv attended at Hull on Saturday, and met
a great body of the seamen at present on strike. He 01
however, unable to produce a favourable impression, $ll
the reports from the north were of a nature calculated t 0
strengthen the determination of the sailors to hold out_%,
A deputation, consisting of Rear Admiral Vernon 11a
court, Captain Bague, Mr. J. B. Ryder, and Mr. T. ~
Young, waited upon the Bishop of London, at Londe;
House, by appointment, on Saturday, to present an
ad
dress of the Protestant laity of the parish of St.
Chelsea, against Popish practices in the Church, which
had been unanimously agreed to at a public meeting held
at the Commercial Hall, King's-road.
THEATRE ROYAL, WILLIAMSON-SQUARE.—The ceh,.
brated actress, Miss Helen Faucit, made her first apeei:
ance, to fulfil a short engagement, at this theatre leo,
night, in the part of Merianie,4in a new drama written''
expressly for her by Mr. Marston, the author of Strat,
more and other favourite modern pieces. She was ently.il,
siastically received by a fashionable, although not son
be
merous an audience as we could have wished to see,
action of the drama is laid in the stirring times of PPI4,
Augustus, of France, and is full of historical inter,
Mr ivlh
ani
ttoionk the
thelapsat three
part of the lli
months,ona therch.
at St" Bar
STRANGE.—Within
Cross
ANYSu
GE.v
Keys Inn, Orange Grove, in this eviittr he:
from time to time, complained of pains in different Peros
of her body, and she has been under medical treat Mets,
for the same. To the surprise of her medical atteudatio
within the last month, no fewer than 23 needles 118,0
been extracted from her knees, three having ben
out yesterday : two perfect and one broken.. She s'%.
exhibits symptoms of having many more to, be yet fog
tracted. She has not the slightest recollection of hall.
at any time swallowed any needles, and her usual occullso
tion has prevented her from making much use of tb°
implements of female industry.—Bath Chronicle. ,ge-
. LODGINGS FOR THE GREAT EXHIBITION.—The
chanic'-house," near Thames-bank, now being fitted tiff
is a large warehouse of most lugubrious aspect, formerly
called the " Thames-bank Depository," in Ranelegere
road ; at present a very unapproachable district. 13 tot
are two floors in the main building 250 feet long. t`l.
about 50 wide, besides other, buildings ; the whole ee'r,
culated to provide nightly accommodation for 1,000 P 00
sons. The separate rooms (one for each lodger) are 11;0
formed by partitions seven feet high. There is te,ot
general dining-room and reading-room, and many exce"
arrangements are being talked of. We should, be
therefore, to discourage a speculation whicl

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