The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-10-22 00:00:00

al I export trade, we contended

Bests its powe

The town is divid

!edinto wards, obviously in ordet.

tnat the representatives of those wards may attend
particularly to their local interests, and promote
every reasonable requirement of their population.
Tne inhnhitantß of fh. f-..

)ught to insist upon the formation of proper
approaches to the centre of the town ; and they
rfectly justified in throwing political or party
questions overboard, in order the better to carry
out that important object, Other wards have
similar claims, which have been too long neglected
in the turmoil of party warfare. Let the

your to bind their representatives to seek the
removal of all local nuisances and grievances.
There will be a large field of exertion and useful-

pl-C.,Cillo Urlbl. .i. oe same may be said or Mr....
The Pacific Steam Packet Company are about Holme, his brother, whose election for St. Peter's
building four new steamers, and have contracted ward we believe is considered secure. Upon all
with Messrs. Napier and Co., of Glasgow, for two local questions Mr. James Holme, when formerly
of them. It is understood that the cost of each in the council, proved himself to he well informed,
and was justly regarded as a most valuable metn-
vessel will be £30,000. The company have their
office in Liverpool—their board meets here for the ber. Mr. Woodruff is to be opposed in Scotland
transaction of business, yet a Glasgow firm is suc- ward by Mr. Raymond Houghton. We strongly
cessful in obtaining the building of these fine ships. urge the constituency of this ward to sign the
The most extraordinary part of the affair is, that memorial to Mr. Houghton without delay, for Mr.
Messrs. Napier have, it is "currently reported, con- Woodruff has forfeited all claim to their suffrages
tracted with an eminent firm in this town to supply by his avowed advocacy of the unscriptural system
about five hundred tons of boiler plate for building of education in the corporation schools. No such
the vessels, which has to be shipped to Glasgow, and deserter from long cherished principles should have
yet they can successfully compete with our builders. a seat in the council chamber. Mr. Charles Turner
If all the four vessels are built at Glasgow, the will be a most worthy successor of Mr. G: H. Hors-
artisans and others in that city will benefit by the fall ; and will be, in every way, an accession to the
circulation of £120,000, which might have been council. The choice of Mr. W. P. Jeffreys for
expended here had our shipbuilders been provided Pitt-street is not a bad one; and we do not expect
with accommodation for executing the work. that he will meet with any opposition. Mr. Richd.
Other vessels are being built on the Clyde for Harbord is unopposed in Great George Ward ; and
although obnoxious to "liberalism" his past valua-
Liverpool firms, and in the face of such facts, we
_ ble services render him safe. Mr. J. A. Tohin's
think no time ought to be lost in preparing suit
able yards, to bring back the trade which has flown recent able advocacy of the case of the shipbuilding
away from the shores of the Mersey. trades, his services as a member of the
Education Committee, and his unwearied attention
WHEN the " Liberal" party first took in hands to the practical working of the system at the
the management of the affairs of the Liverpool South Corporation School, together with his un-
Corporation, it was the general feeling of the flinching maintenance of principle on other import-
public that great practical benefit to the town ant questions, render his re-election certain. Mr.
Fleming, who is nominated for the vacant seat of would accrue. Improvements on a large scale
were to be effected : our streets were to be Mr. George Booker, in the same ward, is not like
widened, efficient sewers were to he constructed, his colleague, a tried man ; hut is, as yet, unop-
and a splendid city was forthwith to he created posed, and is highly estimated by his friends. Mr.
upon the banks of the Mersey. On the eve of a R. C. Gardner, the retiring member for Aber-
municipal election, it may be worth while crombie Ward, has been unanimously requested by
inquiring how much of this vaunted progress his friends to stand again, and is unopposed. Mr.
has been accomplished. Gardner, during his occupation of a seat in the
The first great project of the party was the Council, has been a hard-working member of corn-
erection of the building containing the new Assize mittees,; and has especially devoted himself to the
Courts and St. George's-hall. Liverpool, it was superintendence of the working of the North Cor-
-stated, possessed no great hall for public meetings; poration School, of which, with Mr. Alderman
no handsome concert-room; no splendid work of
Chilton, he has been a constant visiter. The effi-
architecture which could hand down to an admiring ciency of this school is greatly attributable to the
posterity a correct notion of the taste, the wealth, exertions, and, we may add, the liberality of these
and the spirit of her merchant princes. The two gentlemen. Mr. Gardner's past conduct on
project took. Amateur architects and builders by general questions affecting the interests of the town,
the dozen discussed the respective merits of the and his views, as expressed last week, to his friends
a Grecian style and the Doric, the Elizabethan, or and supporters in the ward, have given unbounded
the more ancient Roman. The talent of the entire satisfaction. Mr. James Parker will be returned
- country, and even of Europe, was invited unanimously.to Even the Radicals are determined
compete for the planning and execution of this that no other man shall have a chance. Mr. J. B.
great work ' • and at length a plan, the production Lloyd is unopposed in Lime-street 'Ward ; and his
of the late Mr. Elmes, was adopted. The consti- return is regarded as secure. Mr. Eyre Evans is
tuencies, with a strange infatuation, looked on brought out for West Derby Ward, and is opposed
with perfect complacency. They were not to con- by Mr. J. M. Wood, who is in favor of dock rating
tribute the cost of the magnificent structure. This and opposed to the Rivington scheme. Mr. Evans'
was to be defrayed out of the funds of the Corpo- address, in which he offers to nearly all the electors
ration, and individuals were quite unconcerned as of the ward, and to a majority of the Council, the
to their disposal. most marked insult, ought to he sufficient to stir
The work was commenced, so long ago that we up an indignant rejection of his claims upon the
can scarcely look back to the period ; and every constituency, who, we hope, will have spirit enough
year it has gone on swallowing up the public to save us from the infliction of the c ntinual
money at an enormous rate. Alterations without wrangling, which his presence in the Council
number have been made in the original plan, and occasions.
the estimate is already doubled. What will be its We have omitted to canvass the respective
cost when finally completed he must be a sharp merits of the Candidates in a few of the opposed
man who can tell. wards, feeling it premature at present to do so, in-
In. the meantime, what has been effected in asmuch as some of those may save us the trouble,
by withdrawal before the day of election.. It is
-practical improvements of the town ? What fine
m
street have we to point to erected by the aid of the most desirable at the present crisis that everything
Corporate estate ? What approaches have been calculated to revive party animosities throughout
widened ? What noble charities founded and the town, and to direct the minds of the public
maintained ? We look in vain for any works of from measures of practical usefulness, should be
this kind. Year after year we have had to be told, avoided.
in reply to applications for Corporate aid, that
"there were no surplus funds." Our Liberal
rulers had been afraid, apparently, of their own
munificence, and provided this drain as a barrier
against its exercise.

St. George's-hall is now approaching its com-
pletion, and will certainly be an ornament to the
town; hut, with a singular blindness, we have not
provided even one respectable approach to it. An
opportunity was afforded a few years ago, by the
dropping in of the !ease of the Queen's Arms
Hotel, in Castle-street, to form a magnificent
approach, and, at the same time, to add another
lung to the town. The old plea, "no surplus,"
was urged ; the Bank of England offered a good
price for the site, and the opportunity was lost
for ever.

What has been the effect of this and other sad
errors committed by our reformed Corporation ?
We reply, to add vastly and unnecessarily to the
burthens of the town, and, by driving a portion of
our population to the outskirts to de-Tease the
productive value of the estate itself. Had our

local rulers gone to work in a sensible way, and
provided the useful instead of the ornamental, (or
at all events the useful first), the money squandered
upon St. George's Hall would have sewered our
streets, opened out good thoroughfares, and added
largely to the comfort, the convenience, and salu-
brity of the town, without their being compelled to
borrow :money, or to levy rates, for any of these
purposes;

- We might point out many similar acts of im-
providence on the part of our reformed Corpora-
tion; and to ruinous sacrifices of valuable property,
which have been rendered compulsory upon them
by the condition of financial difficulty in which,
from their first entrance upon the management of
the Corporate Estate, they placed themselves. An

with heavy losses to all the parties engaged in that
trade, and even with a foreknowledge of its pro-
•)able results. This is especially the case with the

ituu Known men, wno nave a stake in the property in which machinery is extensively employed.
and well being of the town, and who are acquainted Entire stoppage of working is the last resource of
with its local condition and requirements. The such manufacturers. Short time working, although
••• .• ~ . ._. ._
ultimately certain, by reducing stocks to the level
of the world's requirements, increases the cost of
every article produced, by adding to it the interest

upon the capital sunk in the unoccupied machinery.
WhLre neither of these remedies is resorted to,
the course is usually to throw the surplus, for

liana for home consumption
in enlarged quantities, upon the foreign markets,
in the hopes that the issue may produce the mini-
mum amount of sacrifice.
It is seldom, however, that this over-export is
continued over so long a period as it has been this
year to the East Indies and the United States. To
the former, in the face of bad accounts by each
overland mail, the exports from the manufacturing
districts were kept up at an increase over those of
previous years until a crash was obviously impend-
Tie new council, aria indeed many coun- ing, and those markets are only now beginning to
cils to follow, if both themselves and constituents be relieved of the vast accumulations of goods
would take this common sense and proper view of forced upon them. The markets of the United
their respective duties. States, influenced, no doubt, to a great extent by
We are glad to observe that thus far the proceed- the abundance of money, and the generally pros-
ings of the committees of the various wards have perous condition of American population, main-
manifested a disposition to look to the qualifies- tained something like buoyancy up to a later period,
tions of the candidates selected, as practical men, and surprised the most sanguine by the extent of
fully informed of our local wants, rather than to their power to consume. "It is the last stone,"
their possession of more flashy abilities, or to their however, says the proverb, " which breaks the
strong partisanship. Thus in the Toxteths Mr. camel's back." America is at length succumbing
Samuel Holme and Mr. Matthew Gregson, will beneath the pressure cf the burthen which our
probably be returned without opposition, the con- manufacturers have been forcing upon her; and
stituencies grounding their selection upon the with the announcement of this fact comes an expo-
known opinions of both gentlemen with respect to sure of the sacrifices, by submitting to which the
pressing local questions. Upon general grounds, immense importations of British goods into her
however, we hail the return of Mr. Samuel Holme markets during the present year have been got rid
to the council with gratification. His intimate of. We quote the following upon thi'm subject from
acquaintance with the property of the whole town, some remarks in the New York Courier and En-
ani of the wants of our population of every class, quirer, of the 9th inst., under the head of "New
together with his ability of pressing his views upon York dry-goods market :"
the attention of the council and the public, render "In comparing the business during the month of Sep-
his presence in that body peculiarly desirable at the ternber just past with that of last year, wa learn from
Mi.-

good authority, that the sales did not amount to three
quarters of those last year. This must surprise many,
when they consider that last year the cholera was pre-
vailing over a great part of the United States ; that the
wheat crop was a bad one, crippling trade in the western
section, whilst this year everything looks healthy and the
cereal crops have not been better for years. An attentive
reader of oar weekly reports, however, will have found,
that we predicted this all along in words not to be mis-
understood, and we have warned importers, jobbers, and
other dealers that such a state of things must come, if
they did not adhere to their legitimate business. The
importation this year has been overwhelmingly large, and
the consequence has been that in face of rising prices
of the raw materials and of manufactured goods in Eng-
land, and on the continent of Europe, goods were sell-
ing all the season long at much less than they could
be imported or bought for at the places of production.
Yet notwithstanding the low prices which were taken
at. private sale, we still see the auction rooms filled with
goods, end a short visit to the public Wes will convince
everybody that there must be some who suffer severely.
But who the sufferer is, remains in nine out of ten cases,
a secret between the auctioneer and the merchant, evi-
dently because the latter fears that his credit may be in-
jured. Within a few days we have heard of several failures
in the West and in the East, and part in our midst, but
not to sufficient extent to affect the public confidence."

Thus, then, the fact of our increased exports
having been sold at all, is not a proof of any legiti-
mate demand, but rather arises from "importers,
jobbers, and other dealers," not having "adhered
to their legitimate business." Speculation has
been largely at work. Brother Jonathan, acute
in his generation, has been keeping up the produc-
tion of the millowners of Lancashire, and encou-
raging those millowners to buy his high-priced
cotton, by buying up their cotton gnodsf—at his
own price though—for we are told that "goods
were selling all the s2ason through at much less
than they could be imported, or bought, for at the
place of production !" What a rebuke of the
boasted sagacity of our manufacturing friends is
contained here. But, more important still, what a
proof of the utter deceptiveness of tables of ex-
ports g and imports, as tests of prosperity !
While our Manchester friends, and the government
themselves, were pointing with such a triumphant
air to the great increase in their shipments of cot-
ton goods to the United States, a great proportion
of those goods were being sold, on their arrival, at
less than they were worth in the country where
they were produced.

THE CAMBRIAN CHOIR.--We beg to call the attention
of our readers to an advertisement under this head in
another part of our paper. The choir, we are given to
understand, consists of about seventy-five persons, and
although they .sing without any accompaniment, they
are remarkable for the precision and spirit with which
they execute the most difficult pieces. Our musical
friends may expect a treat of no ordinary kind.
OPEN AIR PREACHING.—A meeting of clergy was
held in St. Mark's Church, Duke-street, on Friday, " to
consider the propriety of adopting open air preaching as
an instrument for improving the spiritual condition of the
inhabitants of Liverpool and its neighbourhood." The
circular convening the meeting was signed—" John
Jones, Hugh M`Neile, Frederick Barker, William Pol-
lock, D. D. Stewart." We understand that the proposi-
tion met with general approval. It was, however, consi-
dered that the campaign should not be commenced until
the spring, when the weather will be more genial.
GRAND CONCERT.—We perceive that a grand concert
will take place on Thursday, the 7th November, in aid of
the funds of St. Anne's Dispensary. The splendid band
of the 52d Regiment will lend its efficient services, and
many of the leading vocalists and instrumentalists are en-
gaged. No doubt the public will be glad to forward the
object of the promoters, as the charity is in need of all
the funds that can be obtained. The poor in the district
have for a length of time received the most substantial
benefits from the institution, which, we trust, will not be
allowed to have its sphere of usefulness curtailed.
In another part of our paper will be found the ALLEGED ILL-TREATMENT OF A SEAMAN ON BOARD
details of two assaults one committed in Ranelagh-st. SHIP.—An inquest was held yesterday before the borough
w vreoyneearr,sof on g
tette, who died in the Northern He body of Henry Walden, a sailor,o Hospital on
twenty_
by a fashionably dressed ruffian, who was provided
with a confederate, and another in Bold-street, by the 18th instant. Deceased was shipped as an able seaman
the same fellow, upon Henry Cleaver Chapman, on board of the ship Maid of the Mill, at Valparaiso ; but
Esq. In the first assault, although Mr. Reynolds soon after he came on board he was taken ill, and accord-
was severely struck, by the aid of the byestanders, ins to the testimony of John Wilson, the mate, Alexander
the fellow, whose name it seems is :Kenny, was Wilson, the captain, went down to him and threw two
seized and conveyed to Hotham-street Bridewell, buckets of cold water upon the man as he lay in bed.
This, it appears, was done under the impression that the
the keeper of which refused to take the charge, on decease
d was skulking. After this the deceased was
the ground that no policeman had witnessed the obliged to stand at the helm, though the day was cold ;
assault. The attack on Mr. Chapman was made he remained there about four hours; he still complained
about half an hour after that upon Mr. Reynolds, (foc illness,o tandlywealisubsegeeenetelsye:lllhouwdetdets remain in bed
ill-usedon s sincei ;
under peculiarly daring circumstances, viz. :—in he landed Let the :Captain had starved and P
the presence of a number of gentlemen belonging he made a similar statement to the surgeon the hospital,
to the Palatine Club, Bold-street, with whom who gave it
as his opinion that dropsy was the cause of
Mr. Chapman was conversing at the door of death, which might be induced by exposure to cold. After
that institution. In this instance, the ruffian some deliberation the jury returned a verdict to the effect
knocking him that death was the result of natural causes, but passed a
met more than his match, Mr. C. censure on the inhuman conduct of the captain.
down twice in succession, and finally, by the STREET PAVING.—On Saturday an important ease was
aid of some of his friends, presenting him at the argued at the County Court, in which the Corporation
Hotharn-street station a second time. The same sought to recover from certain inhabitants residing in
refusal to book him was returned on the same Park-lane, Toxteth-park, the cost of paving the street.
ground. He was subsequently taken to the main
The case was argued by Mr. Aspinall and Mr. James,
barristers.. The road was roads in. 1841, and a certificate
bridewell, and there was admitted to be booked of its being properly done was given by the H ghway
only as drunk and disorderly. Board. Mr. Aspinall very strongly contended that, after
With the public spirit and manliness which the lapse of ten years, it was an extremely harsh pro-
characterise Mr. Chapman, he appeared yesterday ceeding on the part of the Corporation to call upon the
morning to prosecute the charge, and to complain owners of property, who had many of them acquired that
after the making of the street, under the im-
especially of the conduct of the Bothatn-street propertypression that it was a highway, to pay for making it into
bridewell-keeper. Our readers will scarcely believe one. The judge decided in favour of the plaintiffs, and
the fact, elicited from Mr. Rushton, that such are that •the question of hardship was one with regard to
the instructions laid down "by a lawyer of which he had no power, nor was he disposed to enter ino
eminent legal talents, who, had he lived, would it. The Corporation, in taking the course they had done,.
have been before now on the Bench," for the police had a public duty to perform, which was .exceedingly
apbo
iret apnr
force of this country. A ruffian may deliberately testuomthpetioinnhoaugbitants of the town, and ever
ht to de in their favour. We
reason-
knock you down in the presence of a hundred understand that similar questqons are pending with
spectators; and yet, unless the offence is witnessed respect to many streets in Toxteth-park, involving a large
Jo saouoppto oto Sums zanaktoq 'now aollod v A amount of money.