The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-06-27 00:00:00

TO ADVERTISERS.

respectfully to call the attention of
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Ziyz Ranrpoot

`2l-ESDAY MORNING, JUNE 27, 1848.

PERFECT Godsend for our politico-economical
-;.:4-ophers has been the potato rot of 1846. For
7:tat-ever has gone wrong with us, the universal plea
--sc,:firis visitation of Providence. If we ask, where
• 412 c fulfilment of all the magnificent promises
NligAices were made to us at the outset of our free-trade
,--cFecr; why it is that, instead of universal prospe-
..l4, we see only universal prostration; why our
5,c3.-poets are declining, our mills are standing idle,
:,,.I)ouring population is only half employed,
knkruptcy is staring our trading community in
7.1,11 - .ee; why we have a revenue deficient by seve-
roZ millions, and increased taxation becoming inevi-
tZle;—the answer comes trippingly fromthe tongue
ear whatever political sage we address ourselves to,
7=4 as he speaks, he elevates his eyebrows as if in
-SlAr.er wonder at our amazing obtuseness—" My
,cetezz sirs, you quite forget that we have had a dis-
anthe potatoes, and been compelled to raise
4v,glit millions sterling for the support of the people
• Ireland." Turn which way we may, this rotten
3idx.:3loe argument is poked in our eyes at every step.
t flocs duty, either as a plea of not guilty, or a plea
:rditigation of their sentences for every conceivable
1320 t; of political impostors.
We have just had placed before us the finding of
a. Select Committee of the House of Commons,
-n pointed to enquire into the causes of the recent
mad present commercial distress, and especially into
connexion with the working of the Bank Charter
Act; and here, once more, we have the same into-
• 1e nuisance foisted upon us. The Report,
--en-ich has had the advantage of having been drawn
arfoy our present most talented Chancellor of the
>lLL:chequer, states that :

There has been a general concurrence of opinion

,nngst the witnesses examined before your committee,
tilet the primary cause of the distress was the deficient
especially of the potato crop, in the year 1846, and
eoessity of providing the means of payment in the
311mir 1847 for the unprecedented importations of various
I:descriptions of food which took place in that year."

So much for the " primary cause." We were
5.,...,ced suddenly, by a dispensation of Providence,
to do precisely what the Free-trader had been telling
that it was our interest to do permanently, viz.:
import a large portion of- our food. We sent
4:mt some thirty millions of money into the markets
4E: to world to buy corn; and, as a nation, we are
(40-rer by so much of that thirty millions as we have
z-..0t paid for in labour. The thing is palpable
4m,ough. The whole case may lie in a nutshell.
e. are precisely in the position of the farmer who
to the green grocer's for the vegetables he
421-kght to grow in his own garden; or, of the work-
man, who spends threepence a-week for shaving,
'Ellough he has a razor and soap at home. The
linzeign grower of corn has not taken our manufac-
Zter-ei goods in payment, at least in the first instance.
Z.P.has taken a considerable portion of the value of
-sr= im_ncrrts in specie ; and now let us see how the
mse stands.
e are poorer as a nation by, say half of the
,y millions which we have had to pay for food,
Other half having been paid in labour. We
71:::we lost directly fifteen millions of our capital.
'What is that to set against the depreciation which
1.. w taken place in every description of property,
=imitating, at the most moderate estimate, to two
,:scr three hundred millions ? It does not more than
the aggregate losses in foreign produce of in-
Er.iclual merchants during the last twelve months.
in itself such a sacrifice of the nation's capital
would be utterly incapable of creating the mass of
seeing which we see around us ; but•when we
3.3.6 k at that sacrifice in connexion with our existing
system of currency, and, above all, when we turn
16s,ck the page of history thirty or forty years, and
sottserve how, year after year, we lavished double
this sum in war expenses and subsidies to foreign
„.I.lowers, without creating anything like the present
ate of commercial disorganization, the cause and
effect stand out in bold relief, and must be palpa-
tic to every man not utterly infatuated with the pet
tateory of the bullionists, or not dishonest enough
to wish for a share of the periodical plunder which

it affords the capitalist, at the expense of the in-
4fristry and the enterprise of the nation. To pro-
4eure the required supply of food for our people, we
Tarted with that gold which we have declared
would always be pledged with the bank as a se-
,mrity for the circulation of the country ; and we
iced ourselves in the position of a community
without change. We had goods and property
.sigh of all kinds to sell amongst ourselves, but
One of us could give cash for his neighbour's five
ouni note. We could not balance our transac-
-ons ; and we had therefore to set about getting
tuck our gold from the foreigner to relieve our-
selves, or rather to unloose the knot with which
49:n. Robert Peel and the bullionists had tied up the
-lands of the bank. How was this to be achieved ?
Frieow was our gold to be got back ? How has it
IV:Jen got back ? By an indiscriminate sacrifice of
aiitish products in every market of the world; by
poling thirty shillings in materials and labour for
y sovereign we received.
The failure of the potato crop was the "primary
cause" of all the suffering we have had to go
ILtmough during the past two years. True, most
zmoz..llent philosophers ! Perhaps a few more pri-
m-zary causes might be discovered in the legislation
ta4 the last six years. But what was the great, the
main machinery which crushed us? When a
man pushes his neighbour under a cart wheel he
may be called the primary cause of his neighbour's
loss of limb or life; but the wheel must be taken
iato consideration. Admit, then, the potato rot as
ithe primary cause of our commercial suffering, and ,
IA the currency measures of Sir Robert Peel be the
Ttleel, and we have a tolerably fair solution of the
thole question at issue.
Of course the whole spirit of the Report is directed
to the task of whitewashing the Currency Bills; and
in their bungling effort to do so, the Ccmmittee has
laud to cast about, on every side, for ad captandum
:reasons for the distress of the country. They state
Airat

--
" Among other causes, the deficient supply of cotton,
'Ole diversion of capital from its ordinary employment
in
ztoimercial transactions to the construction of railroads,
i
Vie undue extension of credit, especially in our transactions
with the East, and ec
exaggerated expectations of enlarged
'W.Le., have been stated, by some of the witnesses, as hav-
jag contributed to the same result.
*" Your committee see no reason to doubt that these
-causes have in different degrees, in different parts of the
:retry, produced the effect thus ascribed to them."
Now, first, with respect to the deficient supply f
o
;cotton, we ask,—ls cotton, at this moment, dea
ir ?
save we, at this moment, any deficiency of t ?
No. We want orders and consumption for our
roods; not the raw material. We want remunera-
tin* prices for those goods. We want those markets
-which we have destroyed, and that commercial con-
foie:ace which has been shattered, in the effort to
-prop up a system of currency, which one day drives
ffie community to extravagant and mad speculation,
and the next robs industry and well-directed and
;wudent enterprise of its fair reward. Again, with
zaspect to our alleged unwise expenditure in rail-
ways, and our undue extension of credit in our
Imansactions with the East—these are results, not
We speculated and gave credit, because we
aim a plethora of currency; because the Bank, in its
.ping eagerness for profit, would discount
-.thingany-
in the shape of a bill.
The Bank led us into error ; pained the credit of
talic .nation; rushed, in its infatuation, to the very

brink of insolvency, in order, it is shrewdly sus-
pected, to produce a colourable and fictitious
prosperity, which might be pleaded as the pro-
duct of our free-trade policy, and as realizing those
"exaggerated expectations of enlarged trade" which
were held out to us ; and the Bank, in its effort to
right itself, has produced the evil of which we coin-
plain. Yet the finding of this intelligent Commit-
tee is, that the Bank is to be left alone ! We are
told, by one of the most thoroughgoing advocates
of the present system, the London Times—and it
is all the comfort we receive—that " the Bank has
acquired more feeling of its tremendous responsi-
bility, and a truer discernment of its real and ulti-
mate interests. No change is necessary to control
it in the exercise of its own enlightened discretion."
A more impudent assumption was never placed upon
record. It is, however, only an echo of the opinion
of her Majesty's very wise Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer.

DURING the debate, on Friday night, the Protec-
tionist leader, Lord George Bentinck again admi-
nistered merited castigation upon the Under Secre-
tary for the Colonies, poor Mr. Benjamin Hawes,
and held his face to the grindstone, whilst he ex-
posed further delinquencies in the dispatch-sup-
pressing line. Not one only, but three important
dispatches, from Colonial Governors, containing
evidence which would have decided the question
before the West India Committee, had been kept
back ; neither produced to the Committee when
sitting, nor referred to by Earl Grey in his state-
ment in the House of Lords. The case was evi-
dently felt by the Premier to be too flagrant to be
treated in the ordinary ministerial way. The nail
had been hit too hard on the head to be easily
wriggled away from. The Premier, therefore,
mounted the ancestral chair, wrapt himself in the
robes of the Russell that " bled upon the scaffold,"
and stood for protection upon the honour and
dignity of himself and his colleagues, betraying,
however, in the act a portion of the innate littleness
and nastiness of his mind, which is evinced in the
following mean sneer directed against Lord George
Bentinck

"Now, I must say, generally," remarked his lordship,
" with regard to these matters, quite apart from the con-
duct of my noble friend, and generally with regard to the
conduct of men high in public office, that these mean
frauds, these extremely dishonourable tricks, which the
noble lord imputes to them, are not the faults and charac-
teristics of men who are high in public office in this coun-
try. (Cheers.) They are characteristics of men who are
engaged in pursuits which the noble lord long followed.—
(Cheers, answered by " Oh, oh.") The noble lord very
greatly distinguished himself in deteeting a fraud of that
nature with respect to the name or the age of a horse—
, (great laughter, followed by loud cries of " Oh, oh")—in
which he showed very great quickness of apprehension.,
(Renewed laughter, and cries of " Oh, oh !") But when
the noble lord comes forward and imputes to a man of the
character of my noble friend—(some cries of "Oh," which
were immediately drowned in loud cheering)—when he
imputes to a man of the character of Lord Grey—(renewed
cheers)—fraudulent conduct, with a view of suppressing
the truth, with the view of evading the disclosure of the
truth, I say he totally misconceives the character of Lord
Grey. (Much cheering.) lie totally misconceives the
character of any man with whom I have been acquainted,
of any party who has been in high office in this country for
a long term of years, in throwing out those imputations,
utterly unfounded as they are—(cries of " Oh, oh !" met
by renewed cheers)—utterly unfounded as they are, I re-
peat again ; because to charge Lord Grey- with anything
like fraud—with anything like meanness—is an imputation
to which he, of almost all men, is the least liable. (Loud
cheers.) I say it is true, generally, that no such charges
can safely be preferred."

The " mean frauds" referred to ; the " extremely
dishonourable tricks," as we are glad to perceive
Lord John Russell admit these suppressions of
evidence to be, used not to belong to the conduct of
" men high in office" in this country ;- and we trust
that such men as Lord Grey are above their practice
still. But the " mean frauds"' and " extremely
dishonourable tricks" are practised by somebody,
nevertheless, and obviously for a purpose. If Lord
Grey's own hands are clean, as no' doubt they
are, it is his duty to see that those of his subordinates
in the Colonial Office—a suspected one, wherever
the case of the West India Colonists is in question
—are equally free from taint.
With respect to the personally offensive part of
the Premier's remarks, we leave him to writhe under
the keen and polished weapon of Mr. D 'lsraeli :
" I hardly know sir, whether I should deign to notice
some of the observations of the noble lord. (Cheers from
the opposite benches.) How one of his sneers against a
noble pastime of this country may be estimated by hon.
gentlemen in this house I stop not to inquire—(a laugh) ;
but this I know from his own admission, that the pro-
ceedings of my noble friend, in the very case to which the
noble lord referred, as on subsequent occasions in this
house, proved of good service—(cheers) ; and I believe
the same determined spirit of honesty- -(renewed cheers)
—the same indefatigable spirit of investigation, the same
courage that will not be cowed (hear, hear,) by any bravo,
whatever may be his position—(loud cheering)—the same
high spirit that will not be bullied either in the ring or on
the treasury bench—(cheers)—the same acuteness, and
the same courage, may be brought to bear with great
effect in an investigation of the manner in which our
colonial affairs are carried on. (Hear, and cheers.) I ask
you to remember that that case in private life to which
the noble lord the first Minister of the Crown referred
with such excessive taste and such perfect temper—(loud
cheers)—led to this consequence—that some of the gentle-
men of England. as great noblemen as any of the noble
lord's colleagues, met together to express their gratitude
to my noble friend for his conduct, and to thank him for
having vindicated the purity of a pastime which has de-
generated with the spirit of the age. (Cheers and laughter.)
And who, sir, was the chairman of that meeting ? His
Grace the Duke of Bedford. (Loud and continued cheer-
ing.) But, because the Duke of Bedford is a steward of
the Jockey Club, because he was the chairman of the
meeting which did honour to my noble friend, and
founded that contribution which my noble friend, unlike
other public characters, refused,—(laughter, and loud
cheering)—and handed to that club whose honest feeling
he wished to improve, as he wishes to improve the moral
tone and honest spirit of the Colonial-office--(laughter
and cheers)—is the Duke of Bedford on these accounts
disqualified for the office of a Privy Councillor ? (Hear,
hear.) Does the noble lord the first Minister of the
Crown shrink from his Grace of Bedford when any sub-
ject of importance, especially respecting the administra-
tion of our colonies, is concerned ? Does he never con-
descend to consult that man of great sagacity, experience,
and honour ?—or, when he meets him, does he say—
" Avaunt ! I and my colleagues are men of such high
character that we cannot condescend to speak to a man
who has been seen at Newmarket ? " (Laughter and
cheers.)

His Lordship will, by this time, agree with us
that he had better have been quiet.

The Chinese junk Keying will shortly be brought round
to this port.
Mr. Jackson has been chosen manager of the new
bank in the Isle of Man, which is to be called " The
Bank of Mona."

The Baptist connexion are endeavouring to create an
interest at Birkenhead. With this view they have taken
the Craven-rooms as a meeting-house.
We regret to hear that Mr. Sheridan Knowles is in a
bad state of health. He accompanies Mr. Driver, of this
town, in August next, to Madeira, to pass the winter.
On Thursday, a little boy, named Dalim, was drowned
in the canal through falling from a flat, of which his father
was a boatman.
Mr. Simpson will open the Theatre Royal on the 10th.
of July, with the new play of "The Wife's Secret."'
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean will appear.
About three week's since Daniel M`Monniss, living
with his parents in Prescot-row, was so severely burnt,
his clothes having caught fire during his mother's absence,
that he died in the Dispensary on Sunday week.
The Mail says that legal proceedings have been taken
against Mr. Henry Watson and Mr. Ravenscroft, to re-
cover the sum of £5OO from each, for having acted as
Commissioners for Birkenhead without being duly quali-
fied. - - - -

•
TFIE NATIONAL CONFEDERATION.—Meetings have
been held in several of the districts of the town last week,
for the purpose of organizing ward committees, and afford-
ing a working staff in connexion with this excellent asso-
ciation.

A deputation on Birkenhead Dock business, consisting
of Baron Goldsmid, Mr. Bailey, jun., M.P., Mr. Laird,
Mr. Pike, Mr. Cole, Mr. Maynard, and Mr. Waln, had
an interview with the Commissioners of Woods and Fo-
rests on Friday.
DERBY HOTEL.—We perceive that this commodious
house, near the Zoological Gardens, has been taken by
a new tenant, who appears determined to make the whole
of his establishment available in the best possible way for
the comfort and entertainment of his guests.
Cotrwry VOTES.—Persons who are qualified to vote for
county representatives may be usefully reminded, that
from the 20th June to the 20th July is the period within
which claims must be sent in to the overseers of the town-
ships in which their respective qualifications are situate.
MANSLAUGHTER.—On Wednesday, an inquest was
held, in Birkenhead, on the body of Thomas Evans. who
was killed from a blow he received whilst fighting Joseph
Sherlock, the principal, and Samuel Pownall, William
Minshull, and William Sherlock, were committed by the
coroner for manslaughter.
On Thursday evening, some persons who had engaged a
coach near St. George's Church were thrown down by the
breaking of the pin which connects the carriage pole. The
horse took fright, and plunged madly down Lord-street :
he struck one or two lamps in his progress, but was stopped
in Whitechapel without having injured any one.
The District School, at Lane-End, in Waberthwaite,
near Ravenglass, after having undergone a thorough repair,
and been converted into a boys' and girls' school, was
opened on Monday last, by Mr. and Mrs. Fenby, late of
Chatham-street, Liverpool, who have been appointed to
conduct the respective departments, and under whose able
management the school is expected tQ9e tco, great *or-
' tauce,—initehaven Herald,

REV. F. CLOSE.
THE NEW TRAINING COLLEGE AT

CHELTENHAM.

Before this comes into the hands of the greater part of
our readers, the subject will have been explained by the
Rev. Mr. Close himself to the friends assembled to meet
him, at the breakfast announced for this morning at the
Adelphi. But as mauy more of those interested in the
subject of national education, through the instrumentality
of our national church, may be expected to attend the
meeting at the Concert-hall this evening, than could
make it convenient to be preseni in the morning, we
deem that a word or two may not be out of place in the
meantime, were it only to account for the apparent
anomaly of as:{ing Liverpool, already burdened with the
weight of numerous, and some of them insufficiently sup-
ported, educational establishments herself, to contribute
towards the erection of an additional one in Cheltenham.
First of all, though Cheltenham happens to be the site,
the operations are designed to be national, of the insti-
tution projected, at this moment, and for some time past,
actually in operation, but still requiring something to-
wards its final "completion, by the Rev. Mr. Close.
The two great educational bodies in the country,.are the
National Society,. representing the Church, and the
" Lords Committee of Council on Education," represent-
ing the country at large. The importance of training
schools is felt and acknowledged ; and the Committee of
Council are willing to give every encouragement to the
establishment of such schools, and are most liberal in the
amount of grants ready to be bestowed, when -the party
making application for them is able to satisfy the condi-
, tions required by the Committee, in order to the perms-
nancy of the institution, and its efficiency towards pro-
moting the object for which it is designed. Besides the
training schools in London; in connexion with the Na-
tional Society, and thus aided by government, there are
but two other Diocesan Tiaining ehools, we believe,
through the entire kingdom; established on a similar
footing. This is manifestly insufficient for the increasing
demands of the Church throughout the kingdom; especially
when it is borne in mind, that these schools must ere long,
from their superior excellence,enloy the monopoly of sup-
plying masters and mistresses for.the whole church. No
master;, after a while, will, or ought to, have a chance of
employment, but one trained in one of those accredited
institutions.

A series of circumstances, thatwill be detailed by Mr.
Close at the meeting, led to the formation of a school by
him in his own parish of Cheltenham,• of a something
higher character, and on a somewhat'larger scale, designed
to supplrmasters and mistresses to-the Church schools in
the neighbourhood, or through the diocese. This led to
the present effort, when the ministers-of the privy council
held out the-hope of sanction and encouragement. A sum,
however, of £12,000 was required forthe•erection of suit-
able buildings-, &c., &c., and an annual subscription list,
of a specified amount, in order to the school being taken
into connection by the committee of council. This latter
is nearly complete, and, by means of the subscriptions
already received, the schools are now partially in operation.
During the lastyearMr.Close, with untiring perseverance,
has succeeded in raising £6,000 ; the committee of conneil
have promised £4,000 ; leaving the work-incomplete until
£2,000 additional be forthcoming. Birmkrgham, Brighton,
Bath, Bristol, Clifton ,Worcester. &c., &c:, have responded
generously, and now the appeal is to be made to Liver-
pool, which has hitherto taken a lead, and' whose zeal has
provoked many.. We have no doubt that the meeting will
be well attended and we hope that, notuithstanding the
pressure of the times, and the other numerous demands,
a suitably generous response will be rendered to this appeal
on behalf of an object so important. The Rev. Dr.
MilsTeile takes the chair, which is in itself a sanction suffi-
cient to the objects of the meeting.
We perceive that Mr. Close is also to preach in St.
Barnabas' Church, Parliament-street, on- Wednesday
evening, when, doubtless, he will be greeted' by a nu-
merous and attentive congregation. His efforte certainly
deserve the amplest measure of success.