The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-15 00:00:00

t that town and the

RD IS

turinq district

4 SECOND EDITION

MARKETS, and

s published at Half-past

Mails, containing the

ny news of importance that

,e in the course of the morning

Cirz Lthflpoot &tanbarb.

TUESDAY

MOR.

NING, FEB. 15, 1848

The Manchester Guardian sometimes throws off
some funny things, with a nonchalance and gravity
of manner, which would fain indicate, on the part
of the writer, a perfect conviction in his own mind
that he is not joking at all. Perhaps, however, if
we could enjoy a peep into his editorial sanctum
during the gestation of one of these articles, we

e to disc(

wicked wink of his eye,
with tolerable distinctness,
ged in forging a few argu-
ments intended to cut both ways, in order, for the
3boozle the good easy public of the
and subsequently to be enabled to
hat g

which would indicat

that he was only

)nce, to I

new " city,

which he can explai

easy public the ready tact with
in away positions, which more
old only be enabled to destroy

with a hatchet
An article

appeared in his publication, on

Wedn

headed the `Vest Indies and the
sugar duties, which, if not a piece of the wicked
humour above remarked upon, is one of the most
injudicious and, we may almost say, impudent per-
petrations of which we ever knew a journalist of
his standing to be guilty. After a quarter of a
column of badinage introductory about things in
general, and Free Trade in particular, our con-
temporary proceeds to twit, amongst others, the
agricultural party upon the failure of their pre-
diction as to what would be the result towards
themselves of a free trade in corn. He says :

The experience of the repeal of the corn-laws. and of
'ppa imnnrtnfinn of eon • •

nave proved
remarkable examples of the falsification of predictions.
While yet the country party' gloried in their sliding
scale of 1828, agricultural distress was a ' condition' of as
uniform recurrence as the other changes in the undustrial
cycle of this country ; but the last few years have pre-
sented a period of unusual duration of agricultural pros-
perity

tnd the ample means which free trade furnished
last year, of meeting the losses and inconveniences of bad

comparatively healthy and prosperous state, and dins to
ward off, or at least materially to modify, the distress
among farmers which has hitherto always followed con-

ime complete falsification, be says, bas
ect to all other classes of

rnercial misfortune
The si
taken place with

monopolists

after this fasi

special causes

ch.he proceeds to account for

T could perceive an analogy.
sifted,—when free trade pro-

tits, they always discovered some
ron manufacturer in England sur-
ugh the accidental introduc-

ivcd competition, only t

tion of railways ; ti

anents in r
-Fnmu

silk trade was saved by improve-

,ry ; the growth of wool by the dis'covery
1 could be worked to a greater benefit in
foreign wool. In like manner, agricul-

tural success, during the last two years, is attributed to a
failure of co-n harvests, and a rot of potatoes. There has
always been some special cause to account for the success

)f free trade

Now, it is not very clear to us on what grounds
the advocates of protection may not very fairly
plead special circumstances as having warded off
temporarily the injury which they anticipated from
Free Trade. Take the first case put by the Guardian
—the case of the farmer. That class is not ruined

yet. Prices of grain have not fallen beyond a pay-
ing point. They are, on the contrary, just now
only a shade below the average attempted to be
fixed by the Corn-law of 1842; and they have
touched, during the past year, a point nearly
double that average. The advocate of the agri-
cultural interest will urge, as the cause of its being,
as yet, in a condition of comparative pros,lerity,
the fact that continental harvests have been de-

ficient ; that Ireland, by the loss of her potato crop,
has had to be fed on a better kind of food at the
-late, and from private charity.
Again, the vast hoards of the New World have,
instead of being poured into ttese islands, been
diffused throughout the countries of Europe, whose
necessities have been as great as our own; and
whilst the American agriculturist and the English

expense of the S.

ble, by combination-and
,
Rtuitous circumstances, to force up prices, a large
portion of our farmers, the sensible portion of them,
opportunity of realising their stocks
eous terms. They may also
to meet the rush of breadstuffs from
America enorn

speculator have been a

RI unusually advai

urge tha

s prices were paid—as much at
ne time as 9s. per barrel of flour from New York,
rhich can now be imported for Is. 3d. to Is. 6d.
Has not the argriculturist a perfect right thus to
for his temporary prosperity ? Of course
In denying that he has such a right our
mtemporary either forgets, or wilfully suppresses,
the fact that the Free-trade party have a few little
falsifications of their own prophecies and promises
to account for; and that we find them adopting,
in the efforts, precisely the same reference to
"special causes." We all remember, during the

account
he has.

long agitation for repeal of the Corn-laws, the pro-
mise, constantly held out to the working classes,
a cheap loaf," "a big loaf," &c., &c. Now,
e have neither had, during the average of the first

year of Free Trade, either a very "cheap" or a
very "big" loaf. We have neither at this moment.
Of course the reply of a Free Trader to admit of
this disappointment would be a recapitulation of
the causes as above urged by the farmer. We
were promised, as the result of our admitting the
corn of other nations to consumption in the British
Isles, a vast extension of manufacturing industry
and of employment for the working classes—in
fact, a surfeit of prosperity. We have had instead
factories stopped or working short time ; the con-
struction of railways all but suspended ; mercantile
and tradesman's bankruptcies taking place on every
between man and man destroyed,
and the interchange of commodities for money re-
stricted to the bare wants of our daily consumption.
Of course, for all these sad falsifications of the
pledges of our philosophers, we have, once more
"special causes" pleaded. Most consistent Free
Traders, in the magnitude of your offences of this
sort, as compared with those of which you accuse
the Protectionists, how well do you illustrate the
adage, that "one man may steal a sheep, and another
be hanged for only looking over a hedge !"

confic

With respect to one important result of our
recent policy—the infliction of serious injury upon
the property, and alienation of the feelings of their
population,—the anticipations of the Protectionists
have been proved to be in every way correct, whilst
the Free-trade party are driven to whining apologies,
and even misrepresentation of facts.
The Protectionists stated boldly that the with-
drawal of adequate protection from our colonists
would spread suffering, vast sacrifice of property,
and ultimate ruin amongst a large class in some of
the colonies, who had embarked their capital in
those colonies, on the faith of the security afforded
by British laws ; and that with respect to another
great rising state, we should find, should we ever
unfortunately have to claim aid of their loyal
services to protect the interests of the mother
country, that our approaches, if not indignantly
and altogether rejected, would be met by coldness
and the utter want of that noble enthusiasm which
its inhabitants have hitherto displayed towards the
country of their birth. The first portion of our
colonies referred to are our sugar-growing pos-
sesions in the West and East Indies. The other

portion is our British American colonies.
The Free-trade philosophers, on the other hand,
either denied, in toto, that such results would oc-
cur, or else hedged themselves behind assurances
formed upon the data of men utterly, the hulk of

.
them, ignorant practically of our colonial system,
and of tropical cultivation, that with increased per-
sonal attention to their planting on the part of the
_ .

vners

Dnial property, combined uith econ,)-
of agriculture, improved machinery,

sh energy would ultimately rise victorious
to which it was to be submitted.
uuulv to the British consumer was

We wall-important thing to which

eration was to give w

who went the length of d

to be derived from the vpos:

ivies at all; and who would fi:eely
ern up to, the first powerful country

osecl to take

lem into its pro-

in the American phrase, to "annex

to our sugar colonies, we shall have

to refer to them in another article. Of the almost
entire ruin, however, of the West India portion of
them, men seem pretty generally agreed; whilst it

ircely

shown that t the inefficient r

iust proposed for their restoration to prosperity are

less a mockery

and affectation of

thy, on the part of the Government, towards
the West India population, of every class, from the
planter to the emancipated negro, as it would be

to offer to an exhausted dying man the assistance
of a wheat straw to enable him to climb to the
summit of a mountain. If our eastern planters are
not as yet so far on the road to destruction, they
are at least steadily progressing on that road.
With respect to Canada, we learn by each succes-
sive mail that a large portion of its loyal population
are already beginning to canvass the amount of
advantage derived from their present anomalous
connexion with Great Britain, whilst the republican
French faction in the lower province are busily en-
gaged in sowing the seeds of an insurrection, of a
similar kind to that which, a few years ago, before
the heart of her mother country was turned from
them, and the eyes of her legislators were blinded
with the dust of the anti-national Free-trad' )hilf

sophy, her hardy and gallant settlers so nobly put
down, without any other than the aid of their own
strong hands and determined loyalty.

`ASSAULT OF ARMS" ! ! OF THE ATHEN2EUM

CLUB

We entered upon the perusal of a paragraph in the
Manchester Guardian, under the above startling heading,
with no slight wonder what an " Assault of Arms" could
have to do either with the Athenaeum Club, or with the
pacifically-disposed people of the city of Manchester.
Remembering some little of Mr. Cobden's recent diatribes
as the absence of all necessity for fortifications, arms or
armies to protect our shores, whilst we live under the
millenium of free trade, the idea of getting up a tourna-
ment, we thought, denoted one of the most singular
changes of public feeling hitherto evinced in this Jim,
Crow age. On getting through a few lines of the para-
graph, however, we find that it referred to an exhibition,
by the pupils, of their skill in fencing and single stick,
to encourage proficiency in which offensive and defensive
sciences some public-spirited and patriotic citizens have
presented the institution with two silver
meaals, to be
yearly contested for by the members. This, of course, is
all harmless enough, although rather out of keeping with
the opinions, as to the necessity of being taught either
small sword or broadside practice, generally understood

to be entertained by our neighbours ; and, moreover,
pregnant with some danger of loss of valuable business
time, as tempting the juveniles to convert occasionally
their yard sticks into foils, and take measure of each
other for suits of sables instead of measuring either
ginghams or fustians. We were a little shocked, how-
ever, to notice that " the intervals between the conflicts
were filled up with rounds of boxing." The sports of
Moulsey Hurst, within the.san:ie walls, w!lich have echoed

to the refined eloquence of D'lsraeli, Dickens, Lincoln,
and other literati ! This is a sad declension. But the
worst has to be told. Our reporter proceeds—" The
meeting, which was very numerous, a great many ladies
being also of the company (!) seemed highly pleased with
their entertainment, and, by applause and clapping of
hands, &c., encouraged the combatants in their struggles,
pointedly marking any clever cut or thrust" ; and
also, every case of •` first blood" or " knock

doubt les

or " cross buttock,
The ladies, too, tat

,'
king
ginflicteddelight by
itt

such amusements ! What will come next to surprise us ?
A bull fight, or on the next annual fencing and single
stick match, " the intervals between each match being
filled up with a round of"—Bolton purring or genuine
Rochdale up and down.

Fie, ladies, fie ! We had rather see you stitching or

knitting

PREVENTIBLE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY
IN LANCASHIRE,

We have received a highly important table, issued by
the Health of To ocns Association, on the preventible
excess of sickness and mortality, and the consequent
expense, created in this county. It is founded on the
returns of the Registrar-General for the year 1841. It
gives the population of the several towns in Lancashire,
the number of deaths and births in each town in the year,
and in proportion to the inhabitants ; also, the number
of deaths of infants under one year, which shows, from
their susceptibility to' the influences of the atmosphere,
the high ratio in which the rate of mortality is placed in
many of our towns. The average length of life in Ulver-
stone is 41 years 8 months ; in Ormskirk, 27 years 3
months ; in Warrington, 26 years 7 months ; in West
Derby, 21 years ; and in Liverpool the average length of
existence is much shorter than in any other town in Lan-
cashire, being only 20 years and 5 months. The deaths
of infants under one year are in Ulverstone 1 in 11 ; in
Ormskirk, 1 in 10; in Warrington and West Derby, 1 in
6 ; in Liverpool, lin 4. Thus the proportionate loss of
years of life, preventible in each district, compared with
Ulverstone, is—in Ormskirk, 14 years 5 months ; in
Warrington, 15 years 1 month ; in West Derby, 20 years
8 months ; and in Liverpool, 21years 3 months. Where
.
there is premature death, there of necessity premature
and often lengthened sickness ; indeed, for every case of
death in excess, it is calculated that there is an increase
of at least 28 cases of sickness, and averaging these at £1
per case, the annual cost unnecessarily incurred over that
expended at Ulverstone, from want of sanatory measures,
for sickness alone, is—in Ormskirk, £1,932 ;in Warring-
ton, £5.628 ; in West Derby, £17,752; and in Liverpool,
£lOl,lOB. The loss arising from the deficiency of pro-
ductive labour is estimated to average 7s. Gd. per week
each, male and female, and the funerals £5 each,
which will give a total loss on the year's deaths, in sick-
ness, funerals, and labour, in Liverpool, compared with
Ulverstone, of £834,815; in Manchester, so compared,
of £677,533 ; and in Lancashire, again so compared, of
£4,080,905.

The following will at once spew the urgent necessity
for the strenuous exertions of our Health Committee in
the promotion of sanatory regulations ; for, taking Ulver-
stone to be perfect—and there can be little doubt that
even its condition might be improved—the expense ari-
sing yearly from want of drainage, want of water and
ventilation, would do much to effect the obje,t :—Total
number of adults prematurely dying—in Liverpool, 2106,
or 94 to every 10,000 of the population ; Ulverstone, 128,
or 48 to every 10,000. Number of all classes killed by
epidemic, endemic, and contagious diseases—Liverpool,
1677, or 75 to every 10,000 of the population; Ulverstone,
35, or 13 to every 10,000. Deaths of all classes from dis-
eases of the respiratory organs--Liverpool, 2539, or 114
to every 10,000 of the population ; Ulverstone, 105, or 39
to every 10,000.

Liverpool. Ulverstone
Proportion of deaths to the 1839 lin 30 lin 60
population of 1841..... 1840 lin 27 lin 56
{lB4l lin 30 lin 56
Proportion of births to the j' 1840 lin 30 lin 31
population of 1841. .... 1. 1841 lin 29 lin 31
Proportion of marriages to j' 1840 lin 69 lin 159
the population of 1841.. 1 1841 lin 67 lin 161

If it be said that a town is necessarily more unhealthy
than the country, may it not reasonably be asked in reply,
can we not remove, or at least mitigate, the causes which
pertain to the locality, and which we ourselves have ori-
ginated ? It was well said the other day by the Times,
" Man made the city, and man can do much to improve
hiA own work, and render it not less salubrious—may we
say still more so ?—than the village, the mansion, and
the farm." It was shown in the last return of the Re-
gistrar-General, that a London child of 15 is twice as
likely to die in the course of the next quarter of a year as
a country child of the same age ; and among men the
chance of dying is increased from two in the country to
three in London, and, if so, " the liability to suffer from
epidemics is raised still more." The ravages of the in-
fluenza are described as much worse in the districts where
filth abounded—elsewhere as " mild," " fatal to few ;"
and again, to quote from our contemporary, " these
ravages are mainly in effect the ravages of closeness, filth,
and stench ; the ravages of bad sewerage, bad ventilation,
bad food ; of profligacy, and other human plaguei. So it
appears from the comparison of London with the country,
i and so t appears further from a comparison of the several
metropolitan districts one with another. Taking London
altogether, the mortality during the last six weeks of the
year was 80 per cent. above the average. Lewisham, in-
cluding Blackheath, Svdenham, and Eltham, is one of the
healthiest districts of London. Here the increase was
only GO per cent. on the usual low average. St. George's-
in-the-East is one of the unhealthiest districts, and it
suffered four times as much from influenza as Lewisham.
This is an extreme case, but, on a comparison of all the
districts, it appears that the epidemic'—we are quoting
the words of the report—' killed twice as many people in
the insalubrious parts of London as it did in those less
unhealthy.' Hence, whatever the origin or character of
the pestilential element, its lethal force evidently depends
on the local conditions with which it is combined. Hea-
ven speeds the arrow ; man envenoms the barb."

WEST DERBY BOARD OF GUARDIANS.-At the weekly
meeting, on Wednesday, Mr. Sheppard took the chair.
Mr. H. S. Taylor, surgeon to the Fever Hospital, reported
that fever was on the increase. Mr. Smith moved that
the clerk of the board be requested to write to the Poor-
law Commissioners, respectfully entreating from them an
early decision on the case of the required division of Tor-
teth-park from the township of West Derby, as expressed
by the resolution, adopted in the presence of Mr. Austin,
poor-law inspector. The board divided, when there ap-
peared for the resolution 5, against it 4. The motion, as
proposed, was, of course carried, and the proceedings

.eviiinated

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