The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-10-17 00:00:00

FIRE POLICE

Au account of the Fire Police Department, signed by
Capes Ashlin, was read, showing that the income for the
past year had been £2,607 9s. 6d., and the expenditure
£3,254 7s. 7d., leaving a deficiency of £646 18s. Id.,
which, according to the Act of Parliament, had been paid
out of the borough fund.
Mr. PROCTER proposed a rate of a half-penny in the
pound. He entered into some explanations of the ac-
count, stating that in consequence of extraordinary ex-
penses for new engines, &c., the sum to the credit of the
department in the borough fund would be reduced from
£2.400 to £1,600. _ _ _

Mr. THORN HILL seconded the motion, which was car-
ried unanimously.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A SAILORS' HOME.

The MAYOR said the next subject on the paper was a
motion of which notice had been given as follows, by Mr.
Aikin :—" That it be referred to the Finance Committee
to consider and report on the assistance that can be given
by the Corporation to A Sailors' Home, by appropriation
of land, or the use of a building, subject to resumption or
otherwise." Prior to this motion being regularly brought
before the Council, he begged to read a memorial from the
shipmasters and seamen of the port, which had been
adopted at a meeting held at the Queen's Theatre, on
Wednesday evening last, and forwarded through the
chairman, Mr. John Smith. The memorial was here
read at length. It set forth the anxiety felt by the sailors
to have a Sailor's Home, Registry-office, and Savings'
Bank speedily established, and the grievance under which
they laboured in having to pay, the masters 2s. and the
seamen Is. per month, to the Merchant Seamen's Fund
without being able to receive corresponding benefits.
They stated that the fund now amounted to £50,000 in
Liverpool alone, and that that sum was now lying idle ; and
they concluded by praying that the mal-administration of
the fund might be taken into serious consideration, and
that a committee might be appointed to watch over their
interests generally.
Mr. WOOD contended, that the shipmasters and sea-
men were much mistaken if they supposed that the trust
was improperly managed in Liverpool, inasmuch as the
seamen of the port were better off than they were else-
where, and as there were two or three times the pensions
given here which were given in any other town in Eng-
land. He believed that, to the administration of the fund,
the most strict and constant attendance was given, and
that, if a visit to the office were only paid, the mast satis-
factory account could be rendered. Mr. Horsfall was the
President in Liverpool, and Mr. Sandbach the Vice-pre-
sident. The accounts were regularly published. The
orphan children of a shipmaster received 3s. a week, and
others were paid in proportion ; but, at the same time, it
was undoubtedly true, that the Act of Parliament pre-
scribed that no man could become a pensioner on the
funds unless he were twenty-one years on the books, and
that his family could not receive any benefit unless, he
happened to be killed, slain, or drowned.
Sir T. BRANCKER expressed his belief that the council
had not any jurisdiction over the seamen.

Mr. ASPIN ALL thought that, if there were a surplus of
£50,000 in Liverpool, it ought to be given to the poor
men.

Mr. HENRY HOLMES said that the interest was given,
and that many widows were in the habit of receiving
£4O and £5O each, according to the number of their
children.

Mr. Am): believed that the prayer of the memorial
could not be granted, because the committee, even if they
were appointed, could not exercise any control over
the fund. He wished not to have the memorial mixed
up with the motion of which he had given notice.

Mr. BRAMLEY MOORE thought it, would he as well to
suggest to the memorialists, that the Council was unable
to do anything for them, and that the most proper course
for them to pursue would be to apply to parliament. He
believed that there were many very serious objections to
the bill of which they complained, inasmuch as they were
compelled to contribute to the funds without. in several
instances, deriving any advantage. He understood that
the new act upon the subject was a great improvement
upon the old one, but that experience had shown, since
it came into operation in 1825, that although it worked
tolerably well, yet it pressed rather heavily upon the
sailors.

The MAYOR thought the subject very'important, and
that, according to the memorial, there appeared to be great
abuses pervading the system. One, for instance, was,
that if a sailor died a natural death, his family could not
receive any relief unless the man himself should have
been twenty-one years on the books.
Mr. AIKIN inquired whether the Mayor had not, at a
previous meeting, presented a memorial to the Council,
signed by 9,000 seamen of the port, in favour of the
establishment of a Sailors' Home?

The MAYOR replied in the affirmative : it had been
signed by 9,402.

Mr. Ktxix said, it would be his duty, before he re-
deemed his promise on this very important subject, to
present another memorial to the Council, signed, he be-
lieved, by almost all the respectable mercantile men of
Liverpool ; indeed, he was stronely of opinion, that no
memorial had ever been presented to that, or any other
great body, which contained a greater number of respect-
able signatures.

The memorial was here opened by Mr. AIKIN, and by
him and two or three other members conveyed to the
Mayor. The document was several yards in length, had
evidently been signed by some thousands, and owing to its
unwieldy dimensions, attracted general attention, and also
caused much amusement.

The MAYOR read it at length. It stated, that several
meetings of the memorialists had been held in an interval
extending over the last four years, with the view of im-
proving the condition of sailors and securing to the ship-
owners a plan for the more efficient manning of their ships.
The result was that they conceived a Sailors' Home should
be provided, combined with a Registry and Savings' Bank,
and that subscriptions had been obtained for this purpose
to the extent of £2.000, sufficient to show the interest
which had been excited, but not sufficient to carry out the
object in view. Various circumstances had combined to
impede the progress of that object ; but, recently, public
attention had once more been particularly called to it by
the complaints of the seamen themselves. In conclusion,
the memorialists prayed the council to take the subject
into serious consideration, and to grant a building for the
purposes of a Sailors' Howe; Registry-office, and Savings'
Bank.

Mr. AIRIN then proceeded, at some length, to state the
reasons which had induced him to submit the motion, of
which he had given notice, and which had been previously
read by the Mayor. He commenced by expressing a hope,
founded on the memorial which had just been submitted,
and which was signed by so many of the wealthy and re-
spectable classes, that, at last, they would be enabled to
do something for a class of men for whom more might be
done than almost for any other, and yet for whom so little
had hitherto been attempted. He knew there was a feel-
ing afloat, and that it existed in the minds of some of his
most intimate friends, that the nature of the profession of
the sailor, added to his recklessness of conduct, rendered
it an almost hopeless task on their part to attempt to re-
deem him. From that proposition he dissented altogether.
He believed that sailors possessed feeling and desires si-
milar to those of every other class, and that if they saw
an attempt made to redeem them from the position to
which they were sunk, or to save them from the plunder
to which they were exposed, their habits might be im-
proved as well as the habits of any other class in society.
He then proceeded to state some of the wrongs and evils
to which the sailor was exposed, the causes which had
produced those evils, and the most effectual remedies
which ought to be applied. He said it was matter of
daily occurrence that, the moment a vessel reached the
port of Liverpool, the sailor was besieged by a number of
persons who paid their court to him, made promises, took
him to a lodging-house, and, as his wages were due, gave
him credit. He treated them in return, and in the warmth of
his heart, perhaps spent more money than prudence would
justify. This continued to go on for some time. Jack
was in Elysium, with his smiling lass and flowing jug.
But, after the lapse of a few days, when he received his
wages, he generally found accounts pouring in upon him
from the slopseller, the lodging-house keeper, and other
parties, greater than he expected, and then he began to
suspect those professions of regard which were showered
on him upon his arrival. He then sallied forth into the
street, met with a damsel who commisserated his position
and denounced the base conduct of the vile and selfish
creatures of whom he complained. He then went home
with her, but he (Mr. Aiken) would not detail to the
Council what passed there—(great laughter)—further
than to say, that the unfortunate fellow, when he awoke
in the morning, oftentimes discovered that he was not
only pennyless, but that, in fact, he was without a rag to
cover him, his money as well as his clothes having been
abstracted. He (Mr. Aikin) knew an instance of a poor
sailor who bad been left in this condition, and who, find-
ing that he had not a remnant to put on, absolutely took
up the bed and bed-covering and sallied forth into the
street, thus making a capture of the only things within
his reacb. (Continued laughter.) In ninety-nine cases
out of a hundred, however, such instances of plunder never
were heard of, for the poor fellow himself, being stripped
of all he possessed, baying no means of redress, and not
knowing where to apply for it, was obliged to fall hack on
the people who first received him ; and they, in turn,
commiserated his fate, got him to mortgage his exertions
fora month, and either sold or transferred him to any
master or sh.p they pleased. He vra. not a free agent
under such circumstances ; be was unable to choo'e his
captain, his ship, or his voyage; but I,e was obliged to go
to any part of the world, no matter how dangerons the
I voyage or fatal the climate, for the purpose of rettin(r,
I clothes on his beck. These were tome of the evils to

which the sailor was exposed. but there were a great many
others, one of which was, that he was not only robled
during his lifetime, but that he was robbed in anticipation
of his death ; for the parties with whom he thus dealt
either got him t make a will before he went, or made one
for him in his a osence ; and then, the moment his death
was announced, badministered to his effects, and robbed
him again. The evils of which the shipowner and captain
had to complain were very mach caused by the evils under
which the sailor himself suffered ; for Jack was not a
reasoning animal • he felt that the world had plundered
him, and he sallied forth on the first opportunity for the
p rpose of revenging himself by plundering the public.
Hence he deserted a ship when he reached a foreign port
and could obtain a higher rate of wages, and in this man-
ner broke the agreement upon which he had originally set
out. But, another great evil was, that a captain never
knew. until be got to sea, whether he had got sailors
or lubbers on board ; and the misfortune was, that
the law afforded the captain no relief in such a case,
when he found himself in the middle of a dan-
gerous channel, without having, perhaps, a sufficient
number of hands on board to navigate the ship. (Hear.)
He (Mr. A.) had paid a great deal of attention to this
subject, in common with many others, and, without go-
ing to the length of saying that his remedy would enable
the sailors to jump from vice to virtue, he nevertheless
believed that the foundation could be laid for a gradual
improvement. (Hear, hear.) He concluded with the
motion of which he had given notice.
Mr. BRAMLEY-MOORE seconded the motion. He con-
tended that there was no class of men in England more
deserving of our sympathy than the merchant seamen ;
and that there was no other body to whom the nation
owed a deeper debt of gratitude, not excepting the navy,
notwithstanding the brilliant achievements of the latter
in every quarter of the globe. He dissented from those
who alleged that sailors could not be tamed. If they had
found a Van Amburgh to tame the lions, he believed that
if they succeeded in getting sailors into the prepared
building, they could not only tame, but reform them.
From the year 1835 to 1841 no fewer than 13,000 sailors
had been boarded and lodged in the London establish-
ment • while. in the course of one year. the large sum of
£23,000 had been paid into the same establishment. He
then referred to the manner in which Greenwich Hospital
had been supported for a number of years by the contri-
butions of merchant seamen, without any of them having
been ever known to be pensioned there ; after which he
alluded to the debt of gratitude which the town of Liver-
pool in particular owed to this deserving class of men.
He said that England had given the sum of twenty mil-
lions towards the emancipation of the negroes. and yet
that during the late fire at Kingston the blacks looked on
with apathy, and refused to render any assistance. This,
he observed, was the gratitude which England had re-
ceived from these worthless beings, while, if the same
amount of money had been expended on the reclamation
of the British sailors, the latter would not only have been
thankful for the boon, but many of them would have been
saved from ruin here, and ushered into a happy eternity
hereafter. (Hear.)
Mr. EVANS suggested to Mr. Aikin and those who
acted with him the propriety of prevailing on the ship-
owners, as they cleared their ships, to give a halfpenny a
ton towards the accomplishment of the object in view.
So far as he was himself interested in shipping he would
be willing to contribute in such a manner.
Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE assured the Council, that the
Finance Committee would willingly undertake the duty
which the motion, if carried, would impose upon them ;
but, still, be thought it would be too hard to ask the Cor-
poration to put its hand into its pocket and hear the ex-
pense of the proposed scheme, while memorialists, by pay-
ing the tax suggested by Mr. Evans, or by putting a sum
of £5 or £lO opposite their respective names, could ma-
terially assist the object in view, and render the institution
prosperous. (Hear.) Mr. Aikin had said that his proposal
would not render necessary any demand upon the borough
fund; but, if they were to give up the building, which
afforded a residence to Mr. Whitty, they would have to
find another residence, and to bear the contingent ex-
penses, which would involve an outlay of £lOO a year at
least. This, however, would he an expense which the
Corporation would not oppose if they saw the good Mr.
Aikin anticipated likely to be realized. He maintained,
that a great improvement had taken place amongst sailors
in late years, and that the establishment of shipping offices
had effected a great improvement when compared with the
system which had previously existed. He concluded by
expressing his willingness to forward the object in view.
Mr. BUSHELL could not exactly agree with Mr. Law-
rence. He thought the Corporation ought to become the
originators of such a scheme as the present, and that they
were bound to set the example to the town, and to give
funds in order to form a nucleus, around which others
might exhibit a disposition to carry out so desirable an ob-.
ject, _

Mr. PARKER thought it might be necessary fora " little
mind" on rising, to make some apology, particularly when
he meant to strip the discussion of some of the gaudy at-
tire in which it had been covered by preceding speakers.
He looked upon the sailors as highly respectable and wor-
thy of their situation. (A laugh.) There was no class he
felt more for. But the Council were assembled, not for
the purpose of upholding the interests of the sailors in par-
ticular, but those of the community at large with which
they were connected. They had the poor porters at the
docks for instance, who did not earn ss. a week on an
average, while the sailor received his £2 a month, and got
plenty of employment and good food. _

Mr. BLACKBURN lauded the exertions of the Seamen's
Friend Society, and referred to its advantages to the
maritime interest of the port, coupled as those advan-
tages had been with the prevailing spread of temperance
and total abstinence among the sailors themselves. He
had been told that it was the intention of the parties who
sought for the institution in question to have a chaplain,
perhaps a paid chaplain, but a chaplain at all events. He
quite agreed that religious instruction ought to be pro-
vided ; but, then, the subject was surrounded with diffi-
culties, for who was the the chaplain to .be?
Mr. BIRKFTT : A clergyman of the Church of England.
Mr. BLACKBURN contended, that, if they only appoint-
ed one clergyman for one denomination, they would be
guilty of a violation of the plain and obvioui meaning of
the Municipal Corporations Act, and the borough fund
should never be appropriated for anything of an exclusive
character.

Mr. BIRKETT regretted that Mr. Blackburn had intro-
duced a subject which, as a matter of course, must create
contention. He believed that public worship was gener-
ally conducted on hoard vessels, at present, on the Sab-
bath day, although the reverse was the case when he was a
boy ; and he thought that much more might be done for the
sailors if the shipowners took pains to ascertain the cha-
racters of the captains. He held it be for the general
advantage that the people should be instructed in the
doctrines of the Chnrch of England, believing, as he did,
that the Church of England taught the way of God in
truth • that every man who taught the principles of the
Establishment did his duty to the country and the town ;
and that those wbo taught dissent were, in proportion,
enemies to the country and the town.—(Laughter.) He
did not make this remark with any feeling of disrespect
towards Mr. Blackburn; but lie certainly thought, that,
when a man was brought up to the established religion,
he was sure not to be a Radical ; and they all knew, that
to be a Radical was to be a discontented, unhappy being.
—(Great Laughter.)
Mr. itiODGEMN thought, that, if the captains and mer-
chants had done their duty, the sailors would not have
been in their present lamentable position. He contended,
that, in the important matter of religious truth, the ma-
jority of the council should pursue one plan only, and that
they, in this Protestant country, could not unite in that
mixture, that olla Podridda, which some would have them
to support. Upon the religious side of the question he
should vote in favour of the principles of the Church of
England. He concluded by expressing his regret at their
having got into any personality on that occasion, the more
particularly as there did not appear to be any occasion
whatever for it.

Mr. AIKIN briefly replied, after which the motion was
unanimously agreed to. -

PORTRAIT OF MR. RATHBONE

The MAYOR announced, that the last subject on the
paper was a letter from Thomas Booth, Esq., proposing
that a portrait of William Rathbone, Esq., should be re-
ceived by the council for the council-chamber. He said
he should like to receive the instructions of the council as
to the reply he was to make to the letter, which had stood
over now for some time and also as to the course that
was to be followed. (A pause.)
Mr. HORNBY, as the mover of the reception of the pic-
ture in the first instance, said he had no authority what-
ever to withdraw the offer, as it had not been made by
him, or any one in connexion with him. He should de-
cline to take any further part in the business, except to
state, that he had done all he could, but ineffectually, to
induce the parties to withdraw the offer. He thought the
council had better avoid discussion and proceed at once to
the vote.

Mr. ATKIN proceeded to remark on the general praise
bestowed upon Mr. Rathbone, by both parties as well as
by the tory press, for his impartiality and ability when
acting as chief magistrate of the town, and said that it was
in consequence of such public expressions of approbation
that a number of the members of the council were induced
to subscribe for his portrait, and to present it to the coun-
cil_at the present time. _ _

Mr. BLACKBURN suggested that they proceed at once
to the vote ; and moved that Mr. Booth's offer be accepted,
and that the painting be placed in the Council-chamber.
Mr. HODGSON objected to the Council being tongue-
tied by any member. There had been a great deal of skill
in the mode of bringing the subject forward ; and if the
picture itself was not a work of art, the manner of offering
it was very artful. (A laugh.) Divesting the proposition
of all attempts to deceive, it was impossible not to view
it as a party proceeding. They were called upon most
especially to consider the political character of Mr. Rath-
bone, and not his gentlemanly conduct whilst filling the
civic chair. He had been elected Mayor of the borough
solely because of his political opinions being in accordance
with those of the majority of that day ; and how could
the Council, constituted as it was at present, receive his
picture, when he had himself tried constituencies out of
doors who would not have him ? The Council would be
quailing in the performance of their duty if they com-
mended Mr. Rathbone in his public capacity. They were
a political body, and could never exist without acting in
and for a party. What evidence was there that the liberal
party, when in the majority, would have accepted of the
portrait of one of their opponents ? On the contrary, had
they not filled all their offices with persons representing
their own political views ? and had they not displaced Mr.
Case's picture in order to have Mr. Currie's in the beat
light ? (A laugh.) He thought the discussion on this
subject would give increased strength to the tory party at
the ensuing election ; and he concluded by moving, as an
amendment, that the Mayor acknowledge the reception of
Mr. Booth's letter, and that the portrait be respectfully
declined.

Mr. PRIESTLEY seconded Mr. Blackburn's motion.
Mr. ISAAC HOLMES referred to the time when some of
the tory majority of the Council were excluded from the