The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-10-31 00:00:00

THE WEST RIDING ELECTION,

Mr. William Rand, of Bradford,—a gentleman who is
far mor. ',bled by his charitable disposition and integ-
rity in the relations of life, than by his undoubted
wealth, beg addressed an able letter to the editor of the
Yorkshiret.?,n, in which he propounds the question which
he adopts as title—

"WHAT SORT OF MAN DO WE WANT AT THIS PAR-
TICULAR JUNCTURE? AND WHAT OUGHT TO BE
REGARDED AS THE 'QUESTION OF THE DAY?"

After adverting to the retirement of their valued mem-
ber, Lord Morpeth, from the representation of the West
Riding, in consequence of the demise of his noble father,
at a period when the country is in so deplorable a state
of commercial, manufacturing, and general depression
and distress, he states that every thing is now sacrificed
to cheapness, and proceeds :
" Whether this tendency to the lowest possible price,' which
seems now to be a settled order of things, leaving no margin
for profit at all, is in any degree traceable to the operation of
'lle Bill of 1844,' as it is termed, is a matter on which dif-
ferent opinions will be entertained ; but I am of opinion with
Hume, Herries, Wilson, and Brown, and other members of
parliament, that it has exercised a most fearful and deleterious
influence on prices, and, consequently, on the general prospe-
rity of the country, and that a great modification of this mea-
sure is necessary, if we are to indulge a confident hope of re-
turning prosperity and better times ; in fact England has set
up a god called cheapness,' and everything in the shape of
industry is to be sacrificed to it. Consumers, it seems, must
buy cheep; no matter by what means that cheapness is at-
tained. It is considered by the political economists an unn.ixed
good; but it is a great and serious delusion. Real prosperity
consists in all being employed, and selling the products of in-
dustry for more than they cost. Let, then, this question be
made a prominent matter in the coming election, and most
sincerely do I hope that no rigid upholder of this Act, calcula-

ted only to advaiee the interests af mere wealth at the expense
of industry, will be permitted to represent the West-Riding of
Yorkshire.

No one (he continues) can deny that (whatever be the
effect of " Peel's Bill,") we are surrounded by social
evils of a most serious and extensive character, and that it
is a question of the highest moment how these evils are
to be removed or alleviated. " Chartism" had again

arisen, in

London and

ae manufacturing d

istricts.

undoubtedly had its origin in a deep and long endured
distress, of which designing demagogues had taken ad-
vantage for selfish ends. The want of employment for
the people, too, in the rural provinces had swelled the
stream of immigration into the large towns, requiring an
amount of poor-rates for their relief which was absolutely

ruinous. There was but one remedy, and that was
employment, but whether that could be procured in this
country or not was a matter of opinion,—though our
legislature should be so shaped as not to throw impedi-
ments in the way.

If the report; of the agricultural societies be correct,
agriculture presents a field in which to employ every idle
labourer in the country. They all express an opinion
that the land of this country, under proper cultivation,
would yield much more food than at present,—some
stating that it might be doubled. If so, why is it not
resorted to ? After referring to the wretchedness of the
manufacturing and other classes of labourers, from short
hours, &c., he adds,—" Nothing will reach and remedy
this evil but employment, and agriculture seems the only
field which affords the necessary scope for it."
After stating that the peasantry are rather decreasing
in number, being driven into the towns, he says,—
_.

•
"WE MUST HAVE AN EQUAL NATIONAL Pooit RATE. It
must not be put in the power of any man, much less ought the
temptation to be held out to him, to free himself from these

charges on poverty by pursuing aponcy or extermination, ror
it deserves no other name. A national poor rate may have its
difficulties—all plans have difficulties; but the maintenance of
the poor is a national and not a local duty, and the difficulties
must be met and surmounted. The present system in fact
offers a bounty to the man who drives a fellow-being from his
home and his hearth, and imposes a burden on the place that
shelters him. Had we a national poor rate we should find cot-
tages building in the agricultural parts of the

people would be more uniformly spread over the country ; the
peasantry would live near thefields they cultivate, and the result
would be a largely increased production, an increased home
trade, and a much more satisfactory state of feeling among the
working-classes."
He concludes as follows :

"The want of such a measure as an equal national poor rate
lies at the very root of our greatest social evils. Let the elec-
tors of the West Riding, especially those in the large towns,
reflect that their poor rates (in addition to large and continu-
ally repeated subscriptions) are in many instances ten times
more in the pound than the average rates in the agricultural
parts of the kingdom, and that they will continue to increase
if the present system of local rating is persevered in ; let them
reflect that while since 1811 the entire population of England
and Wales increased six millions; that the population employed
in agriculture has considerably diminished si" that period
and then let them ponder upon the fact. 0 'and

..,,„, —la the . .of this
. ~..
country is capable under just cultivation of a vastly increased
production, and they cannot fail to perceive where the true
remedy to improve the condition of our labouring classes—the
most important Question of the day—is to be found.,,

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE

-CIRQUE NATIONAL

DE PARIS

We stated last week, that Mons. Dejean, the respected
director of the Cirque de Paris, had received three
wounds while fighting against the insurgents at Paris in
June last. He received two musket balls in his thigh and

one in his groin.
el 'O% 5.% /111 V% 44“,

We now have the pleasure to further