The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-05-21 00:00:00

LITIRPUL STANDARD,

A NEW STAR IN THE POLITICAL HORIZO N

Who is Mr. Mitchell ? was our exclamation on reading
the debate of Tuesday night last in the papers of the fol-
lowing morning. What country, what borough, or what
county lays claim to so brilliant a philosopher ? Small
constellations rise and set, appear and disappear, without
greatly disturbing our equanimity ; but Mitchell is a very
comet,—a wonder in the age of wonders, ;—a phenomenon.
Mitchell has discovered that " since the introduction of
free trade, the consumption of bread has increased one-
third." Prodigious ! Wonderful, if true! Unfortu-
nately there is an awful fact connected with this enormous
increase of bread-eating, which staggers our weak com-
prehension, viz., the fact that the consumption of tea,
coffee, sugar, &c., commodities which people, who live on
bread, eenerally use to moisten that article of food, has
fallen off rather considerably of late. This fact, however,
is nothing to such a philosopher as Mitchell. We pro-
ceed, therefore, to the conclusion which he draws from
his assumed fact. "How then can wages have decreased
in proportion to the price of bread, if there has been a*
increase of (me-third in the consumption of that necessary
of life ?" D,o.ar Mitchell, let us examine the correctness
of the deductiouin your own case. You feed luxuriously,
no doubt, at ther Reform Club, or at your own elegant
domicile, wherever it may be. Allow us, however, to ask
you how you woulS diet yourself, with a wife and five or
six children, upon, say, a pittance of Bs. or 9s. a week.
What would be Sundays dinner ? Not turtle, Mitchell ;
not chops, with potatoes and stout, even ; but, perhaps,
bread 6d., tea or coffee al., sugar 2d., a cut of indifferent
beef or mutton ls., and 2d. for porter. The other six
days would, perhaps, behold the alternate luxuries of
bread and a red herring, bread and cheese—no, that would
be extravagant,—bread and something cheaper then ; bat
bread to every meal, if the cravings of hunger are to be
satisfied, and the week's rent is to be paid. Mitchell,
however, must be well off, for see what an increased quan-
titY of bread he eats !

Another discovery our philosopher makes. He says,
" There can be no doubt that the facility of importation
has caused prices to fall." Equally true it is that if the
sky should fall we might catch larks. Again, he reminds
us that " prices have increased ss. a quarter within the
last fortnight ;" and that this is not all to be attributed
to " a scarcity, or to an unfavourable state of the weather.
It is wholly to be attributed to an increased consumption."
How the consumption can have increased so tremendously
during the last fortnight, as to produce this effect, or how
increased consumption can influence prices, except by
producing scarcity, or the fear of scarcity, passes our com-
prehension. Finally, Mitchell " was glad to see the recent
advances that had taken place in the price of wheat."
Ergo, he thinks that the consumer has been too comfort-
ably off with his low-priced loaf. What strange absurdi-
ties weak-headed men sometimes perpetrate !

PRICES OF CORN IN 1835 AND 1850,

The free.trade journals are continually throwing the
year 1835 in our teeth ; reminding us that wheat fell to
355. in that year, and that therefore the farmers can be

no worse off -now,

Mr. Sandars, however, in Tuesday's debate, enlarged
our view on this subject considerably. He remarked, that
all the comparisons with 1835 were confined to the price
of wheat,—forgetting that the prices of all other kinds of
corn were far higher then than now. To set this in full
day-light, we will just place the averages of 1835 side by
side with the averages we have given above :-
1835. May 11, 1850.
395. 4d. .. 38s. Od.
295, 11d. .. 225. Od.
225. lid. .. 15s. 3d.
30s. 4d. .. 19s. Id.
355. Od. .. 245, Bd.

Wheat
Barley
Oats..
Rye ..
Beans

To show the immense difference between the two years,
let us take 100 quarters of each of these articles of pro-
duce, and see the result. It will astonish some, perhaps,
who are ignorantly fancying that 1835 was a year of prices
as low as those we are now experie--:--

,:ncing

The produce of 100 quarters of each of these five arti-
cles, in 1835, and at the present moment, would be as

follows

£787 5s

£595 Os. Od

And yet there are writers who perpetually cry out,

" Why 'make such a hubbub ? Prices were as low in
1835 as they are now, and yet the farmers survived the
depression."

Why, so far from 1835 having been a year of prices as
low as those we are now experiencing, the mere difference
between the prices of 1835 and those of 1850 would of
itself ;)e ruinous to the farmer !

OPENING OF THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS

This favourite place of amusement was opened last
night, the subject selected for dioramic representation
being a model of Mount Vesuvius during the great erup-
tion of 1849. Remembering the first spectacle presented
by Messrs. Atkin, which was an eruption of the same
volcanic mountain, and which was justly considered by
the public an effort of scenic display previously unequalled
in this town, and not surpassed in the metropolis, we
were induced to pay a visit to the Gardens, and inspect
the scene by daylight ' • and we can, conscientiously assure
those of our readers, to whom. a visit in the evening, when
the pyrotechnic display imparts fall effect to it, is not
permitted, that a more delightful specimen of art cannot
be witnessed. Tn the foreground is the bay, filled with
shipping of the class characteristic of the country, fishing
boats, B‘c.; and from its shores rises the giant mountain,
with, in the background, the Appenines, studded with
villas and vineyards; and, in the gorges, hamlets, the
smoke of which is indistinctly seen rising to give a show
of life to the otherwise unbroken solitudes. The illusion
is perfect, and cleverly executed. In fact, so well is the
perspective managed that the spectator might conclude
that, in gazing upon the mass of mountain peaks which
meet his eye, hie vision was extended over an expanse of
some miles of area.

The view is taken from the Bay of Naples, and is
strictly in keeping, in drawing and in its-accessories, with
the luxuriant climate and soil of that classic land. The
very plants which adorn the villas and terraces in the
foreground transplant us to the locality itself. The
trees, the vegetation, are not of our cold clime, but of the
sunny south, and stimulated in their growth by the addi-
tional heat imparted for the soil from the fire which has
been for ages smouldering beneath it. As a mere picture,
seen by daylight, it will be viewed with delight by every
visitor of the Gardens.

As a spectacle, illuminated by the pyrotechnic art of
Mr. John Atkins, it is most striking and gorgeous ; and
the incidents introduced are, we believe, perfectly true to
nature, and given as they occurred during the eruption of
last year. A rumbling sound, accompanied by detonating
shocks in the heart of the mountain, gives notice of the
coming scene of devastation;.: and at length the vast crater
opens its jaws, and the fiery stream of lava is seen to
descend down the sides of the mountain, bringing in its
coarse vineyards and villas, farmhouses and hamlets, in
one common conflagration and ruin. The whole is most
artistically managed ; and the spectator can scarcely be-
lieve during the period of the display that he is not
gazing upon_the fearful reality._ _ _

This excellent picture hat; been painted by a young
townsman, Mr. F. Lloyds, connected, we believe, with
the scenic department of the Theatre-Royal, and does
him infinite credit; and the modelling, erections, and
machinery of the whole picture, which is of great extent,
reflect great credit upon Mr. John Atkin, by whom they
have been designed and executed.

On this occasion the excellent band of the 62nd Regt.,
led by Mr. Carey, will, by the kind permission of Col.
Reed,. C. 8., perform at a grand military promenade con-
cert, to be given in the Great Concert Hall, which has
just been entirely repainted and decorated. Amongst the
other attractions provided are—the skeleton of the ele-
phant Rajah, the centrifugal railway, and the camera
obscura, with the menagerie, which has recently been
augmented. The gardens are in fine condition, and only
want a little more foliage, which the trees and shrubs will
acquire as the scason advances.

A BOLD CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

Sir Charles Wood is certainly a bold man, if, indeed,
his boldness may not with more truth be styled impu-
dence. Few men of ordinary power of face would have
dared to say what the Chancellor of the Exchequer said
on Tuesday evening last, during the debate on Mr.
Grantley Berkeley's motion, that "he defied any
honourable member to stand up in that house and say
that distress was pressing upon all parts of the com-
munity ;" or to ask the question—" Who would get up
and say that the manufacturing districts were suffering
the slightest distress ?" We ourselves should be glad to
see any honourable member stand up in the house and
inform us what class of the community—a few placemen,
pensioners, usurers, and men with fixed incomes excepted
—is not sufering distress. Are the owners of the 250 or
300 millions of money sunk in railway investments not
suffering distress ? Are our colonial proprietors not
sunk in the lowest abyss of suffering ? Are the shop-
keepers and artizans in our agricultural towns and vil-
lages prosperous ? Are those in our large towns, even,
doing a satisfactory business ? Are our merchants im-
porting, or exporting, with a profitable result ? No man
of ordinary information believes any of these classes to be
in a satisfactory condition. But our wise Chancellor of
thq Exchequer, snugly ensconced in Downing-street with
his head crammed with returns and statistics, relies with
'official placidity upon the fact, as conclusive of the satis-
factory state of the nation, that fewer persons have re-
ceived parochial relief, so far during the present year,
than in the corresponding period of last year. We are
well off, inasmuch as we have not yet reached that ultima
Thule of human suffering and degradation—the work-
house ! _ _

There is not " the slightest distress in the manufac-
turing districts," he assures us. The circulars of manu-
facturing and mercantile houses, then, are guilty of the
Whig frailty—" enormous lying." Spinners and manu-
facturers are working short time; and prices of goods
cannot be got to advance in proportion to the advance in
the raw material—cotton. This, however, let it be borne
in mind, does not, in the opinion of a Whig Chancellor
of tho Exchequer, constitute distress. Neither spinners
nor manufacturers, nor their workpeople. have, as yet,
reached the workhouse : ergo there is no distress. Go
ahead, most sapient of chancellors ! Verily, you will
arrive at the extremity of a people's patience before
long !

METROPOLITAN INTERMENTS BILL-

RIOTOUS PROCEEDINGS

A public meeting in favour of the Metropolitan Inter-
ments Bill, now before the House of Commons, was held
on Monday night in the great room of the Wellington
Club (late Crown and Anchor,) for the purpose of diffusing
information as to its main provisions, and correcting some
misapprehensions which appear to have gone forth as to
the manner in which it will affect certain existing circum-
stances. It was throughout of a most disorderly and up-
roarious character, the confusion being altogether caused
by a few, persons apparently stationed at different points
for the express purpose of interrupting the proceedings.
Lord R. Grosvenor, M.P., took the chair and the
noble lord was surrounded by a considerable body of the
members and friends of the Metropolitan Sanitary Asso-
ciation. Among them we observed Viscount EbringtGn,
M.P. • Mr. Mackenzie, M.P. ; Mr. G. Thompson, M.P.;
Mr. Vityld,.M.P. ; Sir E. Pearson, and many others.
Before the proceedings commenced an individual from
the body of the meeting asked the noble lord in the chair
whether the object of the meeting was to consider the
principle or the details of the measure ? This inquiry
was the signal for the commencement of clamour, and
before it could be answered it was manifest that some op-
position was intended.
The Chairman said they had first to consider the princi-
ple of the measure, which was that the interment of the
dead should be carried into effect by those who had no
pecuniary interest in it. (This raised a perfect storm of
disapprobation.) The noble lord, in speaking, declined
going into the details of the measure, but Mr. Mackinnon,
M.P., who next addressed the meeting, proceeded to do
so, awl contended that the undertakers would not lose by
it.—Here another outburst of collision and violence
ensued. Several undertakers in the body of the hall who
persistedin interrupting the speaker, and raising disturb-
ance, were subjected to rather severe handling. The
utmost efforts of the Chairman to restore order were un-
availing, and for some minutes the speaker proceeded in
dumb show with his address, without succeeding in making
a word of it audible. When the tumult had in some
measure subsided, lie proceeded to say that the bill would
be productive of immense advantage in saving to the poor
man in the enormous expense which he is now put to in
burying his relatives. He declared he had known Poor
families who had been almost ruined by the charges they
had been obliged to 'undergo, and which sometimes con-
signed them• to the workhouse. (Cheers, and cries of
"No, no !'') Would they, as Englishmen, continue a
system by which the bodies of relatives were sometimes
kept for three weeks unburied. (" Oh, oh !" " lt's not
true.") Aye, sometimes for five weeks. Many would
agree with him that such was the fact.

An undertaker, who had long distinguished himself by
the violence of his demeanour, here started up and ex-
claimed " Its false. Will you bring a single proof of what
you say'?" The appeal was responded to by a gentleman
who advanced to the front of the platform, and amidst a
storm of cheers and hisses, said, " I will give you a proof.
My name is Joseph Smith. I am a surgeon in Whitecross-
street. I was sent for about a fortnight ago to visit a poor
person, a woman sick of fever. I passed through a narrow
dirty staircase into a room twelve feet square, in which
there was a large firs burning. In one corner of the room
there was a four-post bed, on which the sick woman lay ;
and in another corner was the dead body of a man who

had died six days before of small pox, and the persons
present said they would be unable to bury the body for
another week at least." This statement was the signal
for another scene of violence of the same duration, and
similar in character to the last.
Some degree of order having at length been restored,
Lord Ebrington, M.P., Mr. Wyld, M.P., Mr. G. Cruik-
shank,• and others addressed the meeting, amidst occa-
sional uproars. At last a frightful conflict broke out at
the lower end, to which, of course, all eyes were directed.
Glasses and forms were heard breaking, hands (some
with sticks in them) and arms were uplifted, and blows
were struck, whilst cries of " police ! police !" " Turn
him out !" and "Shame, shame !" reverberated from all
parts of the room. It is impossible to describe the con-
fusion that prevailed, or to depict the anxiety of the
ladies, of whom there were a considerable number who
occupied chairs in front of the platform. At length the
barrier of men which separated the combatants from the
peaceable centre was broken, and a couiplete panic en•
.
sued. Those who had kept quiet among the main body
were quickly overpowered. The
reserved seats"' wereandnext invaded, and a vast mass of human beings, male and
m rolled like a huge wave against the table appro-
priated to the reporters, who, for safety, iumped upon the
platform. The panic by this time had extended even
there; all order was immediately and hopelessly lost;
and, in the instinct of personal safety, no respect was
paid to persons. Innumerable bats, coats, Ind umbrellas
were missing or destre,yed, awl several ladies were gal-
lantly rescued from, the mob, below the platform in a
fainting state. We, fear that some were hurt. In this
state of things Lrod
Robert Grosvenor, after expressing
his regret at whVi ha oaeurred,,dissolvect the meeting. -