The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-07-09 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL. STANDARD.

of beggars, who voted against us. A more raffish ma-
jority never was counted in that or any other assembly.
Well, are we displeased with this triumph of the de-
structives ? No; surprised, but not displeased; a little
disgusted, but as ready as ever to enter the lists on the
side of the calumniated freemen, and quite confident that
we shall rescue them from the meditated attack upon their
liberties.
• The battle then has to be fought over again. Be it so ;
and now that the principle is recognised of trying the
living for the delinquencies of the dead—of damnifying
the pure by the misdeeds of the rotten—the matter can-
not stop with Liverpool. The electors of Westminster
whom BURDETT and the RUMP have bribed for the last
twenty years, as stated by Mr. HmktE—the rotten
liverymen of London, whom Sir JOHN KEY carried
drunk to the hustings—the electors of Berkshire,
among Whom the proprietor of the Times news-
paper spent £40,000 of his honest gains—the peo-
ple of Manchester, Blackburn, Hull, Leeds, and various
other places must, if there be any justice on earth, be ex-
posed to the same ordeal with the burgesses of Liverpool.
The whole transaction is so marked with injustice that
it requires no ordinary share of temper to discuss it calm-
ly. The present is an attempt to trample upon the very
principle upon which the advocates of reform based their
bill. They told us over and over again that the reform
they contended for, and which, after a desperate struggle,
they obtained, was to be indemnity for the past, and se-
purity for the future. These words were perpetually on
the lips of his Majesty's Ministers. Reform was to ex-
terminate bribery and corruption. It was to expel from
our municipal and political institutions every vestige of
impurity. It was to restore the ancient forms of a con-
stitution which had been the admiration of the world. All
old wounds were to be healed up—all grievances were to
be blotted out for ever. It was to be an act of oblivion
for past offeneesi Of every kind whatsoever.
We appeal to every man if these precise expressions
were not contained in the exordium of Lord JOHN Rus-
SELL'S speeches when he introduced his bill or bills into
the House of Commons. He declined to legislate on past
corruptions—he refused to insert any clause to restrain
or punish bribery—solely on the ground that the bill itself
was an efficient corrective of these evils. Such being the
case, it is a glaring and flagrant violation of good faith on
the part of the reformed parliament to retrace the pages
of history, to dive into forgotten secrets, to rake up the
filth of past times, to stir up angry passions, and personal
quarrels, in order to gratify the ambition and the paltry
resentment of a disappointed faction. Such, we say, is
the only object which the enemies of the Liverpool free-
men have in view. Bitter enmity against their fellow
men, and these men too poor to defend themselves, and
boundless selfishness as concerns themselves, are the
motives which urge the THORNELY party to this inquiry.
They care not whom they offend, or what bad blood they
may inflame, provided they can rob the poor, and seat
themselves in power.

But let them beware ! Hitherto we have treated them
leniently. We could not believe that they were quite in
earnest; for we did not believe that they could be deli-
berately Unjust. We made allowance for the excitement
of .the moment and the acuteness of their feelings; and
while we smiled at their folly, we left the result to their
sense of shame and their " second thoughts." Now,
however, that they have returned to the charge more like
confirmed madmen than sober citizens, maliciously in-
tent upon embroiling Liverpool in a party feud, wilfully,
wantonly, and, unnecessarily, we beg to inform them that
we shall make reprisals in a way they little dream of, and
the consequences of which they will repent while they
live. We know what their evidence was on the former
committee, but we passed it lightly over for the sake of
peace. It would have been easy to prove. by numerous
and respectable merchants that some of the witnesses
whom they examined, and on whose evidence much of
their charge rested, would not be believed on their oaths
in any court of justice. It is now necessary that this un-
pleasant duty should be performed.
The committee have resolved in their inquiries to go so
far back in search of bribery as the contest in which
BROUGHAM and CREEVY were defeated. It would be odd
enough if they should find flaws or specks in the- Loan
CHANCELLOR'S purity. As for CREEVY, he is dead, and
therefore it will be easy to invent some lies abput
Some Mrs. ROBINSON might be found to swear a penSion
for life against him. Mr. HUSKISSON too is in his grave,
He, therefore, would be fair game for RATHBONE and Co.
How easy would it be to find some sharp-eyed fellow who
knew Mr. HUSKISSON by the back of his coat, and saw
him bribe a shoemaker with his hands on the other side of
his body. There need be no lack of evidence in this re-
trosp?ctive inquiry. •The dead tell no tales, and ghosts
cannot be brought from the charnel house as in the olden
time, to confront modern liars. If one tenth of what is
likely to be told, ay, and sworn to for sixpence a word, is
believed, the freemen have already polled their last votes.
If such an investigation is to be tolerated, no man is safe.
Bribery will procure witnesses to swear to bribery.—
Rogues there are in abundance to slander the ashes of our
predecessors. The living will trade upon the reputations
of the dead, and a bounty be offered by modern liberals
for the encouragement of perjury.
But who is to pay for all this folly, pollution, and
crime ? Forty seven witnesses have already set off for.
London. Here is a thousand pounds gone at one draft.
If they proceed at this rate, a hundred thousand pounds
will not pay the expense of the proceeding. This money
must collie out of the taxes, and the people must bleed in
order that two or three upstart and conceited persons
may ride rough-shod over the necks of the burgesses of
Liverpool. It is a disgraceful business, and the public
shall hear more of it.

The conspiracy against property and the project for pro-
ducing pauperism and idleness, still continue to throw a
blight upon industry. So long as the wages of iniquity are
paid, the workmen will remain unemployed and adhere
to their illegal clubs. So long as poor dupes can be
fleeced of their half-crowns, and so long as contributions
can be levied upon the active labourer, just so long will
the schoolmasters, the clerks, and other dissipated black-
guards, hold their.nightly revels and keep up the game of
plunder and delusion.
. .

Themasters,iowever. have at length issued an address,
which should have been done sooner. They have re-
solved not to employ any workman who is a member of
these unions, and we shall soon see whether the em-
ployer or the operative is the master in this business. It
is of the utmost importance that the employers should
unanimously join in these resolutions. If any stand
aloof, they are striking a d'ath blow at their own pros-
perity, promoting insubordination, and encouraging in-
dolence, insolence, and illegal oaths. If unanimity
prevail, the combination will be broken up in a week.

It is calculated that there are EIGHT THOUSAND
workmen, members of these unions, who are at present
unemployed in Lancashire alone. These men have
hitherto earned at least 20s. per week. Should the com-
bination continue for a month it will be as if upwards of
thirty thousand pounds were thrown into the fire ! How
many a poor wife will have to pledge her clothes—how
many poor children will want bread—for this folly !
The retail trad6smen are beginning to feel the effects of
the combination in a serious way. Old scores remain
unpaid—new purchases cannot be made—and of course
all credit is stopped. The owners of small houses can-
not obtain their rents, and the articles of furniture are
disappearing. They are pledged, like WM. BROUGHAM,
and not likely to be redeemed.
The revenue, too, will speedily be touched by this com-
bination. In the artiCleS. of timber, bricks, glass, &c., as
there is no consumption, no duties will be paid. The erec-
tion of houses that were contracted for has been postponed
until next year, and there will consequently be many hun-
gry masons and many shoeless joiners before Christmas.
Before the 10th of. October the then Chancellor of the
Exchequer, whoever he is, will look rather blue at the
" unexpected" decrease in the Customs. The Excise is
far enough behind already, but it will be farther before
October. Men cannot drink ale or spirits conveniently
with Out a sixpence in their pockets. The folloWing is a
copy of the oath administered to all the members of the
unions:—

" I do before Almighty God and this Loyal Lodge most so-
lemnly- sonar that I will not work fur any master that is not in