The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-11-12 00:00:00

FEDERALISM.

To THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
It is somewhat laughable to behold the various shiftings
of the big beggarman of Ireland ; an oath he swears to-day
with unblushing audacity he will revoke to-morrow ; a
promise which, on his knees, he solemnly pledges himself
to perform one moment, lie will, without reserve, split
and render nugatory the next.
A few months ago Mr. O'Connell, the uncompromising
Mr. O'Connell, the resolute Mr. O'Connell, the firm
and unshaken advocate for repeal, the truthful Mr.
O'Connell ! spoke the following :--
" Ere the revolving year passed over their heads they should
have a Parliament in College-green."
" It is the duty of every
ilrishman to labour, and never to de-
sist from labOuring,till their independent parliament was restored
in College-green, independent of the British Parliament."
Proud boaster! who gayest thee authority to advise " It
is the duly" forsooth, and he first violates that duty.
" Stick to your banners" forsooth ! and it is he that first
deserts them. Oh, thou dealer in precept ! Stick to
your text, and teach your followers how to work.
O'Connell was just set free ; the injustice of faction,

and faction in the highest tribunal of the country too,
opened his prison doors, and his followers and himself
avowed that the final lift to repeal was given, that it would
now overbear all opposition, and " Ireland would be a na-
tion." Shouts of triumph resounded, O'Connell's tail
took it up, and as the sound went on it increased in loud-
ness ; but suddenly the great leader of all, the presiding
spirit and life of his tail, dropped repeal and gave way.
The tail: stood aghast, astonished, confused ; and their
loud shouts of triumph dwindled down to miserable
croakings for federalism. "0, how art thou fallen !"
the blusterer, some few months ago, in tones of magni-
tude, but now, now when "such a triumph as never hap-
pened" had been given to them by partial factionists,
now, when (as he said) their expectations were all to be
realized, now he strikes the banners of repeal and hoists
the puny flag of federalism.
In 1843 federalism was hooted from coalition, denounced
as a disgraceful course of dishonesty, yet, in 1844, the un-
blushing and cowardly liar is opposed to the ardent advo-
cates of his former professions on that very subject.
Once he professed the most enthusiastic adherence to
repeal and hatred for all compromise ; and with such pro-
fessions, and on consideration of uttering such professions,
his exchequer was filled with that which his countrymen
toiled day and night to earn. For repeal was it that he
said he would give them his head on a block if he did not
gain it in six months, yet he throws it overboard.
And, ye " simple repealers," will you suffer it any
longer ? Utter your manifesto ; let the demagogue know
that you will be trifled with no longer. Tell him, "We
gave you our money on consideration of your fulfilling
your agreement for repeal ; you have broken your pro-
mise ; you have dissolved the agreement as respects us,
dissolve it in all, as respects yourself."
Poor, pitiful children you must be, if you pass by this
latest breach of faith ; you love repeal, you have ever che-
rished in your minds a fond anticipation of gaining it.
Yon relied on, and gave your money to, Daniel O'Connell
to effect this object ; he swore he would : he cried, " No
compromise;" he made the most solemn protestations,
he uttered the most sacred vows for—not federalism—
that, said he, (then,) is a miserable shelter "under which
cowards hide their treason ;" that he abhorred—but for
repeal. And, lo ! where is it ? Aye, Irishmen, tell me
that ; where is it ? Oh, you are deceived ! you are cheat-
ed, miserably cheated • for where is it ? And echo an-
swers, " Where ?" The man has abandoned it. What
for ? " A miserable shelter for cowards"—federalism.

'Twas cruel of thee, Dan, to leave it ! 'Twas deceitful
of thee to make a split in the camp ; 'twas very cruel,
'twas very ungrateful, just at the very moment when the
trumpet of triumph sounded with renewed vigour, when
obloquy fresh was heaped on the friends of loyalty and
peace, when all was announced to be flourishing and
healthful, to desert the cause ; when thou badst pocketed
the money, pitifully to sneak out of thy engagements, oh,
'twas mean! 'twas cowardly ! Thy followers will desert
thee, and leave thy grey hairs to drop in ignominy to the
tomb.—Yours, &c., DELTA.

HUMBUG.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SlR,—The other day, while sauntering along the streets,
thinking of nothing, my reverie was disturbed by the loud
talking of two men, which was wound up by one telling
the other that John Snooks was a regler humbug. This
instantly diverted my thoughts into a new channel; I had
scarcely time to consider what humbug really was, ere my
attention was again arrested by hearing a lad say to an-
other, " Never mind him, Bob, he's only humbugging
you." A little further on, I observed two women stand-
ing by a gin shop, wiping their mouths, " I tell you what,"
said one of them, " it's all humbug to say he can sell good
stuff at that price." At the door of a charity school, a
little girl stood yelping and crying, I inquired what was
the matter, she said, ' it was all humbug sending her to
school; she couldn't, and she wouldn't learn her letters,
and she'd tell her mother so, when she got home." Well,
thought I, this humbug is a curious thing, when I was
once more aroused by a friend tapping me on the shoulder
and saying, with a rueful countenance, " It's all up with
me, that humbug, Sam Earwig, has humbugged me out of
my money, by humbugging me into buying his cursed
jerry-built houses." I had just fairly got into motion
again, when I waa accosted with, " Well, Dick Bore has
humbugged me out of my vote by the promise of a £5
note, and he actually laughed in my face when I told him
he was a downright humbug. Why,' said he, with a
vicious grin, you surely are not so jolly green as not to
know that electioneering is sheer humbug from beginning
to end ?' " So, thought I, I'll just get out of this hum-
bug, and take a cup of coffee. I had just raised the be-
verage to my lips, when a customer said to the waiter,
" Why, you confounded humbug, what the d—l do you
call this stuff ? it's nought but chicory." I involuntarily
dropt the cup, and rushed out of the house. Humbug !
humbug ! I thought I, the world is surely made ap of
humbug. Men do not go courting, but they humbug
their sweethearts, and wives humbug their husbands.
Merchants and tradesmen make their money by humbug •
the statesman gets on by humbug; the newspapers keep
up party spirit by humbug; clerks progress with their
employers by humbug; books are puffed into sale by
humbug; lawyers humbug their clients till they humbug
them out of the oyster •, speeches ia parliament are all
humbug ; the very children take in humbug with their
mothers' milk. I have always blundered on in a straight-
forward course, and been soundly humbugged, and yet
never seriously thought of humbugging in return ; I must
begin ; upon whom shall I make the first essay_ ?
W. G. P.
Toxteth-park, sth November.

BUILDING SOCIETIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SlR,—Among the many and various schemes that the
mania for joint-stock companies has engendered, none
have been more successful (in obtaining shareholders at
least) than Building Societies. This is not to be won-
dered at when we consider the smallness of the monthly
subscriptions, and the other inducements held out to that
class of the community least able to detect the fallacies of
their delusive reports.

That too many of these societies are mere gambling
speculations, without the fairness of games of chance, is
easily proved ' • for what other name can be given to pro-
jects, where three-fourths of the profits are dependent on
the chance of the poorer shareholders being unable to
pay up their subscriptions.
It would occupy too much of your columns to copy a
prospectus, but they all promise the same thing, viz.,—
that for every 10s; paid monthly, or £6 a year, for a term
of ten years, £l2O will be returned at the expiry of that
time—thus doubling the capital. That this is impossible,
unless by means of fines and forfeitures, the following
calculation will show ; and as it would be invidious to
name any particular society, I will suppose an imaginary
one of 200 shares
£. s. d.

200 shares, at 10s. each per month, is XlOO ;
this monthly for ten years is.
And they promisethat the profits will be .. 12,000 0 0

Thus in ten yeari the stock will be.. 24,000 0 0
But £lOO paid monthly for ten years, with
interest and compound interest at 5 per
cent. (deducting the very moderate sum
of £5O a year for printing, stationery, se-
cretary's salary, and other expenses,) will
only amount to . .

Leaving a deficiency of £ 9,175 8 0
The above calculation is far too advantageous to the
society, as I have made it on the supposition that each
payment bears 5 per cent. interest from the very day it is
paid—that they borrow no money—that all their securi-
ties are perfectly good—that they have no lawsuits, and
of course no law expenses—and, indeed, that they suffer
no losses of any description. Now every one conversa,lt
with these societies is aware that they are all subject to
one or other of the above drawbacks. Had I allowed for
them, the balance would have been considerably more.
But, with all these advantages, there is a deficiency of
£9,175 ; and how is it made up? By fines and forfeitures.
The fines are heavy, and increase in geometrical progres-
sion ; in some societies they amount to one thousand per
cent. per annum. The tradesman who, "from being out
of work, sickness, or other causes," neglects for some
months to pay up his subscriptions, finds, upon returning
to the society; that they have a balance against him of
fines, fines for nonpayment of fines, &c., &c., far above
his means to discharge. He perhaps struggles on for a
few months, but, finding the balance still increasing, re-
tires in despair. Consequently, all his previous payments
are forfeited, and go to swell the pockets of his richer
neighbours, who, in solemn conclave assembled, report
that the society is in a very flourishing condition !
As to the borrowers, so far as I have had an opportu-
nity of observing, they do not pay much above 5 per cent.
for the money (always supposing that the society only
lasts ten years). Thus they are pretty safe ; and, as the
Scotch say, if they are pleased lam pleased. The Chi-
nese have .a. proverb, " He that borrows to build, builds
to sell ;" and I doubt many will find the truth of it who
have borrowed money from Building Societies.
And woe to them should the societies last eighteen or
twenty years ! They can easily calculate what their pro-
perty will cost them in that case. That some of them
will last that time, or even longer, 1 firmly believe, and
hereby prophesy.
Your obedient servant,
NEWMAN NOGGS.

THE EARL OF DERBYERP v. THE IMPROVEMENT
OF RIVER HE

" No obstacle shall be thrown in the way of this railway on my
part; on •the contrary, if absolutely necessary, they may make
tunnel beneath my very drawing-room." Marquis of Bristol's an•
seer to the applicaticn from the direct Loudon and Norwich Rail-
way.—Bury Journal for October, 1844.