The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-01-25 00:00:00

It is a matter

country, that goof
the system of II
wail in the enlistment f
terms of •

interminable period of twenty-one years. It will
have the effect of improving the character and ma-
terial of the profession, and of creating a reserve of
men disciplined to arms, in the country, who upon
midden emergency might be called out, and
d with but a small amount of training become
17 formidable body.

would. he better plans,
ly into effect, than the , most
_ _ Ins, and would have the addi-
_ivantage of causing, with a slight retrench-
nt irk the military and civil departments of state,
additional burdens to be placed on the shouldersof our now heavily-taxed people. As such arrange-
ments would involve no additional amount of
taxation, they might be continued as the regular

Such, t

we

improved for

peace establishment, although fully sufficient for
the fiercest war.

While, however, there is the greatest reason to
fear a war between France and England, yet who
can look forward to such a struggle without the
greatest grief, and a silent prayer to Heaven that
such a dreadful catastrophe may be overuled.
France and England, so nearly connected with one
another by the ties of commerce, whose people
have the same common love of liberty, whose laws,
manners, and institutions are so nearly similar—
will, should they rush into the heat of battle, shake
the earth to its base, and convulse the fabric of
nature. Nations will pause during the deadly
strife, and a spectacle will be presented to the world
more awful than can be conceived. How much
more honorable would be a generous rivalry in
arts, science, and literature, than the low ambition
of mutual conquest and extermination ? How much
good might be effected by a cordial cooperation
of these two greatest kingdoms of the world, in
spreading civilisation, diffusing knowledge, and
promoting the welfare of the human species ! and
how much misery will be caused to the present and
all future generations by their collision ! France
and England have been regarded as the guardians
of the liberty of Europe, and for a time Louis-
Philippe joined with the United Kingdom in efforts
favorable to freedom; and the abolition of slavery
and the independence of Belgium were the favor-
able results. Having, however, become an abso-
lute monarch himself, he has sought alliances with
tyrants, and is now employed with them in aug-
menting the despotic power, while England is left
as the only protector of the rights of man. Although
sincerely wishing for peace, if France should join
with the Northern powers in a war with England,
yet relying upon that spirit which pervades the
hearts of freemen, and the patriotism of our
countrymen—knowing the love they bear to the
institutions of our native land—we should not fear
for the result, nor tremble, if the confederated
world were in arms against us.

THE Dock Bill, altered in form to meet the
sense of the amendments passed at the last meeting
of the Council, will be brought to-day before the
consideration of a special meeting of that body;
and we understand that it will contain no clause
for rating any dock warehouses which may in
future be erected by the Committee. We regret
this fact. The public might have been satisfied
with, and the Council would undoubtedly have
approved, anv bill of the Dock Committee, in which
this reasonable concession to the interests of
owners of other property had been made. But
they can exercise no such forbearance towards a
measure which proposes to exempt the Committee's

property from Our ordinary local burthens. Apart
from all question as to the propriety of permitting
a public body to become traders, by the aid of
public funds, there can be little doubt that such a
body ought to contribute to those rates for which
individuals are held liable; and should the Com-
mittee persist in their refusal to make part of their
bill a clause binding them to such liability, we can