The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-01 00:00:00

O.L STANDARD.

nounce the aristocracy, answer the question. Thes
men who complain are tradesmen, shopkeepers, and ar -
tizans. They arc almost entirely dependent upon the
wealthier classes—they are better or worse off in the
precise ratio of the amount of income spent in the
metropolis. They ' condemn the taxes ; but these
people have been living upon the taxes during their
whole lives. If they deny this, or he unconscious
of the fact, then are they the greatest fools extant. The
monopolies of London are nearly annihilated, and trade
and commerce are upon the wing to more advantageous
out-ports. London has little or no trade of its own. Its
inhabitants are not a manufacturing population. They
do not occupy the centre of an agricultural district, but,
on the contrary, are surrounded by the most sterile tracts
.of land in all England. Their river is a source of wealth
and a channel of trade we admit, and so are their canals;
but the city itself is merely an entrepot, and as the trade
they once enjoyed leaves them, which it is doing rapidly,
then must the tradesmen become still more dependent
upon the wealthy residents with fixed incomes, upon the
body of pensioners and annuitants, and all those having
fixed salaries in public offices or courts of law. But do
they hold out any inducement to these wealthy residents

to remain in the metropolis, and spend their revenues
among the shopkeepers ? Far from it. With a strange
and incomprehensible infatuation they are stir ring heaven
and earth to expel the wealthy from the fashionable
squares and streets of London. Thousands of them have
already emigrated, perhaps never to return. Many thou •
sands of noble and affluent families are at present so-
journing on the continent, conferring upon foreigners
those benefits which were formerly and exclusively con
fined to the tradesmen of the capital. And why do they
absent themselves? Why ! we say again, let the politi-
cal arid other unions answer the question.

We refer to a case tried at the sessions on Wednesday,
in which two men were convicted, and sentenced to im-
prisonment, for obtaining money under false pretences
from a poor Irishman, who had arrived here with his
wife and five children, with the intention of emigrating
to Atherica. It will be seen that the prosecution was
directed to be carried on by government. We care not

how, or by whom the parties might be proceeded againg;
but it affords us much satisfaction to find that some check
is likely to be put upon a system which, in_ many cases,
appears to have been much more nearly allied to the
crimp or kidnapping system than anything else we can
mention. It very frequently happens that when parties
desirous of emigrating arrive at their port of sailing,—
and we do not speak of Liverpool as worse than other
places in this respect,—they.are met by a class of per-
sons not unaptly designated in the report of Wednesday's
trial as "hookers-in," whose occupation partakes very
much of the character of the sailors' crimp. We do not
think it worth while to extend our inquiries further into
the character and general proceedings of these men at
this moment ; nor shall we make any sweeping con-

clemnation of the class. That there are many of them
decent and well-conducted people we are inclined to be-

lieve. That there are many of a different description we
are quite certain; and our conviction upon that head has
too good a foundation to render any equivocation neces-
sary in expressing the opinion. In many cases we be-
lieve, too, that the proceedings of these "hookers-in"
are without the cognizance or sanction of the owners or
charterers of the vessels; and we have great satisfaction
in bearing testimony to the anxiety of many highly re-
spectable persons, to provide every possible comfort and
convenience to those who go out in ships under their
charge. There are other cases which we should have no
difficulty in mentioning, where the principals in fact are
principals also in the delinquencies to which we refer.
Every kind of deception is practised upon those unfor-
tunate creatures,—for such we must call them, at any
rate ',when they fall into the hands of people like these;—
they are delayed from day to day, often from week to
week, beyond the period fixed for the sailing of the ship
in which they have taken their passage ; thus the little
sums they may have provided, over and above their pas-
sage-money—with the hope of establishing themselveS
in some way when arrived at their destination,—are ex-
pended in sustaining themselves ashore previously to
their embarkation. We have heard of ships, which, if
not pronounced absolutely unseaworthy, have been pro-
tested against by competent parties as utterly unfit for
the purpose of conveying over sea the numbers of per-
sons stowed away in them. We say stowed away, but
we might use a stronger term; for when eighty-four
passengers, old and young, male and female, are put,
with a portion of their luggage, in a space of twenty-
six feet square, and fifty-four persons in a space of twenty-
six feet by seventeen feet, for long voyages, our recol-
lection is carried back to the Black Hole at Calcutta, or
the 'tween decks of an old slave ship, as the fittest sort of
comparison that could be made for such a mode of pro-
ceeding. We have, infact, heard of places thus stowed,
having their gangway so encumbered that exit or entrance
could only be effected by crawling upon the bands and
knees; with one of two almost certain results in case
of heavy gales—either the exposure of the passengers to
drowning from shipping seas, if the gangway or hatch
were left open, or to suffocation if it were closed. Much
more than all this have we heard, of which we shall, for
the present, decline speaking.
To such evils and inconveniences as these have many
of the poor creatures been exposed, who have left their

native land in the hope Of finding elsewhere something

better than their former homes have furnished them with.
It is true that agents have recently been appointed by go-
vernment, by whose exertions the condition of emigrants
has been much improved, and a check put upon some of
the frauds and tricks, which the disreputable portion of the
principals and agents in these transactions have'been too
apt ,to practise. There is also an act of parliament for
regulating certain matters touching this class of ships.
But this act—the passengers' act, as it is called—(9th
Geo. IV, c. 21,) is a loose and most inefficient instru-
ment for the purpose which it is intended to accomplish;
and if any advantage is to result from legislative enact-
ment, or the exertions of the government agents acting un-
der it, a thorough revision and great amplification of the
provisions of the present law must take place with as little
delay as possible. What, for instance, can be more ab-
surd than to leave open to misconstruction the quantity
of that indispensable article, water, to be taken on board
for a long voyage ? What more improper than to allow,
in the first place, the taking of three passengers for every
four tons which the vessel may measure, without stipulat-
ing the extent of cargo which such vessel may also take ?
Two children under fourteen years of age, and three under
seven, being computed as one person. And yet these,,
and numerous other omissions and other incongruities,
stand prominently forward in the act in question. Upon
this point we could borrow with considerable advantage
from the laws of the United States. By those laws only
two passengers are allowed to be taken for every five tons
burden of the vessel, under penalty of 150 dollars for every
passenger exceeding that proportion, and forfeiture of the
ship if such excess should be beyond twenty passengers
in the whole. Of water the vessel is also required to
have on board
_sixty gallons, together with 100 pounds of
salted provisions, one gallon of vinegar, and 100 pounds
of wholesome bread, for every soul on board, without li-
mitation of age, over and above all stores shipped by the'
passengers for their own use. These allowances are for
a voyage between America and Europe, and in like pro.
portion for a shorter or longer voyage. Other useful re-
gulations-also exist in America on this head, well worthy
of imitation. The subject must, we repeat, be revised
here—promptly, and thoroughly, and judiciously revised.
Such is our unqualified opinion now; and we shall return
to the subject with a determination proportioned to the
extent of the evil requiring correction.
Since the foregoing was written, a case has been
brought to our notice of a vessel now in the river, and on
' the point of sailing for Australia, upon which we make
the few following observations. She is carrying out, be-
sides her crew and 8 cabin passengers, 138 other passen-
. gers, who are thus disposed of :
In a space of 11 feet 5 inches fore and aft, by 23 feet 6
inches across the ship, are placed 36 men and boys.
Twelve of the boys have to sleep in a space of 11 feet 5
inches by 6 feet—being 111 inches fur each. This hole

is immediately behind the
.foremast—so far forward, in
fact, that every sea the vessel ships must go into the
berths, if the hatch be left off, and, if battened down to
protect them from this evil, suffocation is almost inevit-
able. Immediately abaft this place arc stowed a number
of casks, chiefly ashes ; and then comes another space,
measuring 24 feet 3 inches on the starboard side, and 23
feet 2 inches on the larboard side, by 24 feet in breadth,
in which are placed 102 men, women, and children, with
their baggage, where they must eat, drink, and sleep.
The cabin is stowed with bale goods, wine, stores, &c.,
and a poop has been built on deck for the cabin passen-
gers. This vessel; -of whose condition we will not here
speak, is about to sail, in this state, on a five months'
voyage ! Were we wrong in stating above that such
things are calculated to carry back our recollection to the
Black Hole at Calcutta, or the African slave ship ? Can
such practices be any longer tolerated in a country pro-
fessing Christianity ? 'We think an answer in the nega-
tive must be given to both these questions.

When a newspaper lends its aid to the development of
any system that has a tendency to promote the general
welfare, and admits into its pages a candid statement of
differences of opinion between those whose interests
suffer by violent changes, those little ebullitions of temper
which often creep in may be overlooked, because of the
good which often arises from the discussion of questions
which are of importance to all. But when ,we see a

public print condescend to become the pander to the
worst of principles, and echo the sentiments promulgated
to the world through the penny trash published at Bir-
minham, it ought to be exposed and treated with the
contempt it merits. The publication to which we allude
is filled with the most daring insinuations and the most
abominable and revolutionary doctrines ; and yet, after
the information which has been laid before the public
on this subject, here is a local journal of extensive circu-,
lation which aids in the promulgation of doctrines which,
if carried into effect, would soon sweep away the property,
if not the persons, of all its subscribers. We beg the
attention of the Croppers, the Browns, the Booths, the
Hopes, to a few extracts from the publication to which
we have alluded, and let them consult with the editor of

the Mercury upon the propriety and consistency of advo-
cating.those principles which recommend equality,—the
destruction of all who differ with them, and the general
spoliation which these writers are now expecting, and of
which they, no doubt, intend to have a large share. We
perceive in this publication a letter which appeared in the
last Mercury but one, and another which is, no doubt, to
appear in the Mercury of this day, purporting to be from
a master tradesman of this town, (which we take the
liberty of doubting ;) ',and, lest we should mislead our
readers, and our prognostications should not be verified,
we will give an extract or two, so that they may judge
for themselves, and that there may be no mistake. The
letter commences thus :

"Stn,—l have to acknowledge the courtesy with which you
have treated my last communication," &c.
And further on—

"I recommended my own men to enrol themselves at once,
and, if possible, to carry on the objects of the union to even a
greater extent than seemed then to be contemplated!"
We venture to say, that if the writer of this para-
graph be a tradesmen, he is one whom neither Whig
nor Radical would employ to build a pigstye ; for, if the
poor deluded men who are now paying the penalty of
their foolishness by starvation, have not gone far enough
already, we know not what remains except downright
robbery.

The last paragraph of this epistle runs thus :
"Labour, sir, is undoubtedly the source of all wealth," &c.

As our worthy contemporary of this day will, no doubt,

have it at full length, we merely glance at it to show
that we are not wrong in our premises; but, as there
are a few rich points in the publication in question which
we think he will not publish, we will do it for him; and,
singularly enough, thete is an attack upon the press in
general in one of the numbers, which contains a letter
previously published in the Mercury:—

" The artizan smiles at the insipid sophistry and the gross mis-
statements which eo frequently appear in your broad sheets.
Our sturdy cause is daily gathering strength. Now, in fair
play to your customers, you ought to keep a little near the
truth, because you induce masters to take airs before the time!
"If knowledge be power, then we have more knowledge, and,
consequently, more power, than our worthy masters; but

' They must dream of their might,
While we put them to right.'

"THE TIME IS NOT QUITE COME! but this you may take for
granted, the union is not so easily broken up. As to ourselves,
gentlemen of the press, if you knew the rising spirit of the
labourer—if you knew that the lava of the working mountain
will shortly scorch you up, should you obstinately retain your
present position," &c.

Look to it, worthy senior of the Merdury ! a " scorch-
ng" in the fire of republicanism will cure both you and
mndreds more, who are now the advocates of popular

systems.

After some cursory remarks the writer proceeds—" Ig-
norant imbeciles! we will shortly have it in our power to
change conditions with you, and to tell you that the lot
is yours." Then follows a most heroic piece of declama-
tion—" The working man rises with the sun ;" so do
thousands from choice. What hardship is there in early
rising ? We presume masters rise with the sun a 4 well
as workmen. " The eye of the overseer is upon him all
day long ;" and so it should be, for experience has shown
us that men, in general, will not do a fair day's work
without being looked after. " His scanty meals are de-
voured in haste, and without comfort." We have alway s
understood that there are regular and stated hours allowed
for meals, and we think there can be no doubt of it. "His
babes are reared in ignorance, and his wife enjoys no
peace." If the children of any man, be he rich or be he
poor, in this age of schools, and magazines, and insti-
tutes, be reared in ignorance, it is the fault of the parents
alone. An abundant provision is now made for the
education of all, and especially for the children of the
artizan ; and we, therefore, set down the former part of
the paragraph as a downright lie.
That " his wife enjoys no peace," we can better under_
stand. How should any respectable and decent woman
enjoy peace when her husband is swilling and spouting
at the G-arrick's Head, day after day, and night after
night, earning nothing by honest industry, but degrad-
ing himself by accepting, like a common beggar, the alms
and contributions of the charitable ? His home is not
the centre of his delight,—his family not the scene of his
exertions. He is filled up with fancied notions of his
own degradation, and is degraded by the very means he
is adopting to shake off' his imaginary yoke. Numbers
of women who deserve better things " qnjoy no peace,"
because that which ought to feed and clothe their off-
spring is spent at a dram shop, and their husbands quit
the employ of respectable masters, and submit to the un-
merciful lash of a club, which is a thousand times more
arbitrary than any master would dare to be.
As to the master manufacturers of Leeds, all the threats
which human ingenuity can invent are directed against
them. "Their case is to be settled without difficulty or
trouble, their families are to be broken up, they are to be
marked as long as they are inhabitants of time, and their
names are to be recorded, for the curse of all future ge-

nerations ! 1"
And this is the nauseous, abominable stuff poured into
the ears of the mechanic, and these are the objects at
which certain individuals are aiming. But the moral
force of the country is overlooked, and we venture to
levelling,p that all these fine schemes of "equalization,
labour notes," and such phantasies of Mr.
orvpElN'e
'sey brain, will soon come to nought. Every man in
the country, (no matter what may be his political opi
nions,) who possesses a shilling to lose, or domestic com-
fort to forfeit, must of necessity be the uncompromising
enemy of such systems as these. Based in fraud, and
reared by those whose only object is spoliation—they
must come to nought. The discussion of the question of
trades' unions will only throw more light upon their
deformity, and show the gulph to which they are leading
the population of the country.
But this cannot last—no man can serve two masters,
and, therefore, he cannot serve the public and the union
at the same time. Hundreds of the better disposed have
seen this and returned to their employment; and as Choice
and free-will are yet left to us, to a certain extent, let no

3 ~~~

NOVPMBER 1, 1833.

man be employed who subscribes to an union fund ; let it
be resolutely opposed by every respectable man, and the,
cure is certain. Thousands have paid to it who will
pay no more ; and every man who has once got loose from
its tyrannical trammels, breatheS in freedom a purer at-
mosphere, and feels thankful for his liberty.
As long as it is the ordination of Divine Providence
that the bulk of mankind shall earn their bread by the
sweat of their brow, and as we know "that the poor shall
never cease out of the land," it is in vain to talk of equal'
ization. Men may as well attempt to level the moun-
tains, to fill up the rivers, or to pluck the stars from their
courses, as to destroy the ordinations of Providence. The
state of man admits of amelioration undoubtedly ; but 29
long as rebellion and drunkenness go hand in hand, as
long as idleness and dissatisfaction remain an incubus
upon the land, so long will there be partial distress►
which no desire' of the benevolent—no enactment of the
legislature, can reach; and just as crime and punishment
go hand in hand, so do rebellion and contempt, idleness
and want.

We would not have the working classes suppose that
by opposing the system we are inimical to their interest;
—quite the reverse. But whilst we shall always defend
them when they are in the right, we shall as decidedly
Oppose them when they are in the wrong. The systete
they are upholding is a theory of which the only results
yet developed are,—support to the idle—countenance to
the abandoned—diminution of funds to the industrious'
d
a stoppage of circulation which is injurious to
a recognition of principles which are destructive of free
trade, and which will at last end in a reduction of wages
to all who are members of it. The best advice we ea°
give to those who have been so ill advised as to abide by
it is, " Come out from among them, and be ye separa.te,
and touch not the unclean thing; for whilst they promise
you liberty, they are themselves the servants of coffer

If the writer in the Mercury be really a master tracle9:
man, and has been giving the advice to his men which 15
there detailed, it would be well for him to furnish t•111'
public with his name, that they may form a correct esti
mate of him, and he will no doubt receive from them sub'
support as his pacific advice seems to merit. The trades
man who can advise his men " to carry on the objects ()f
the -union to even a greater extent" must be A ver',,
honest sort of fellow, and one deserving of every enc();
ragement, and would make an excellent chief niagigra
for Sydney Cove. We beg to recommend him to Ifrj
GREY, who no doubt will put him into commission. :lA,.
letter was; no doubt, received on Thursday night too lawa
for insertion in the Mercury of Friday, but a copya
been forwarded to Birmingham early enough for ('
tion in the Penny Magazine.

We perceive by a report in Felix Farley, thatthe
mayor and corporation of Bristol have very properlY 3'o
spiritedly refused to furnish the itinerant commissienle
with any information relative to the management of
Dock estates of that city. How these learned gentle,
~,
men came to claim the right of inquiry into this de,
scription of property we are utterly at a loss to orlieg,
ture. Surely they could have had no positive instiller
tions to push their invidious and unconstitutional-W/o
tigations so far, and therefore we are willing to a-4611
that to ignorance and over zeal which we should othebt;
wise characteristic in less gentle terms. They
with as much reason and propriety, inquire into the n;
nagement, and demand a sight of the accounts of t
Liverpool and Manchester Rail-road Company,' or ant
other joint stock concern.. •
Will a similar attempt be made to pry into the Live;
pool Dock estates when the commissioners open tit
court next Monday, and, if so, will the attempt be
sisted here as it has been in Bristol ? We know not'
On the subject of corporations, now that we are advertef:.
ing to them, we observe an admirable article in the Pro
sent number of the Quarterly Review. The conduct
the ministry is freely and ably discussed, and the c°or

missions are thus briefly and pithily noticed:—
" It is an inquisition' wholly inconsistent With our allele/It
liberties. King William the Fourth is now made. to ielOth:
claim of visitorial power over the corporations of the reallii,Lf
assertion of which, by James the Second, was one of the "v,
justifications of the elevation of William the Third. i"t-
have been astonished that any corporation has subraitte",:
this inquisition. We are surprised that the several- recol:
have not acquainted their colleagues, that when the King has °l'c
constituted a corporation, he can only visit it through his Court f),,,
King's Bench. But some corporations have submitted ft°'-g
weakness, because there is no longer any counterbalancit
power left in the country. to which the oppressed can aPPe3.I,O
others from not having the means of maintaining an exPensla
legal contest for rights that are now shadows; but the vaa.i%ei
from a proud feeling that, as they have done no wrong, I-000
would not have the appearance of resisting inquiry !—a generd
motive; but we doubt whether generosity is the quality which she
be exerted when the national institutions and public liberty ar
e•
danger. If the amiable and disinterested Hough and his Pe die'
able associates of Magdaline College had listened only to ti,etter
tates of personal feeling, they would probably have been tot
pleased to have evaded all controversy with King Jan'es;,
public duty led these quiet but honest men to a resistanci
which the illegal commission was defeated, and the tyranslica
quisition of an arbitrary chancellor overthrown."
We respectfully submit these reflections and historles,
reminiscences to our own and other corporate autliorit'tbe
There are some persons who flatter themselves thatito
House of Lords, the conservative assembly of the ri3tora-
will never permit any Violence to be done .with c°rP the
tion charters. But we are afraid they are rnakin„O'
wish stand father to the thought. Supposing this c'etoe
cleric° in the Lords were justifiable, is that anY e% itl
for a neglect of duty on the part of those who roP°s:oo
Because the watchman will do his duty, is that anY °Do'
why we should leave our doors open, and invite thc,
filar, with his dark lantern and crowbar, to igsrec-
premises?
T, IIS "
But we deny that this reliance upon the lip#
either reasonable or justifiable. How did their I,c)rusbill?
act on the first grand concession bill ?—the ref°lll/3tioo
—the church 'Swamping bill?—the bishop anoilli oel'
bill ? They yielded in the most pusillanimous 1115-tiier
And what security have we that the Lords will act °6005
wise when the bill for spoliating the ancient corp°l3ll be io
is brought- before them, as most assuredly it 'Steil
the n3xt session of Parliament, if the present
rpin Al
be in office ? None whatever. Shut the door, tbeliti',
we, against all inquiry, for if the. battle is to he 1 r°oli be
better to fight it outside the threshold., Nothing cht to
more clear than that the corporations have the rigve
resist inquiry, and that. the KING and Commons opt°
right to enforce it. Let the House of Commons legfestef
as it pleases, if in the dark so much the better, for gertio4
will be the tyranny and injustice, the blacker the
and the more near and certain the day of vengeallee.