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

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

A correspondent suggests, as it is in contemplation to extend
St. James's Market to Parliament-street, that there sliculd be
a tight of steps as an entrance, and a greater incline than it
at present has, which would be a great convenience to the
adult and infirm.
M" is mistaken. Mr. Cock, our intelligent correspondent at
Pembroke, was formerly a very extensive shipbuilder at Dart-
mouth. He had two sons who were masters of ships out of
this port; his younger son, who was master of the Bencoolen,
died of the cholera at Manila last year, aLd his eldest son is at
present master of the Berbice.

Ely Aiberpool gPtanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, NOV. 12, 1844.

Mr. Alderman Evans, it would seem, is not con-
tent, on his retirement from the Council, to withdraw
.• as well from his occupation in the Dock Commit-
tee. With the instinct of Radicalism he clings, to
the last, to place and authority; and appeals, for re-
election, from the Council, which has cast him
adrift, to the dock-ratepayers, who, he hopes, will
not be so cruel. We do not complain of this. We
are perfectly willing to allow him the test of a popu-
lar election ; and, that it may be fairly administered,
we shall now endeavour to correct a few misappre-
hensions, which we find have gone abroad amongst
the constituency, with respect to the grounds upon
which Mr. Evans seeks their support.
We are told that some Conservatives are saying to
each other, " Oh, we must not turn out the Alder-
man after all. He has been a useful and active
member; and although we were not willing to go
all the length which he would have taken us in
support of his warehouse schemes, we must not re-
ject the entire principle upon which they were based,
by voting against him." And this erroneous view
of the grounds upon which the contest is to be
fought is sedulously fortified by the Radical party,
who are busy raising in his behalf the cry of " Evans
and Dock warehouses," whilst they represent his op-
ponents as the enemies of all improvement in the
management of the Dock Estate. Nothing could be
more false and calculated to mislead, than this view
of the question at issue; and we proceed to the
• proof. And first with respect to the alleged value
of •Mr. Evans's past services in the Dock Com-
mittee.
It will not be necessary to go many years back to
shew that, active as that gentleman may have been,
the beneficial direction of his activity is rather ques-
tionable. Mr. Evans entered upon his duties as a
member of the Committee with a magnificent hobby
in his head. He had made up his mind to grasp
for the Committee, by the erection of warehouses
upon the quays of all our docks, to be managed ex-
clusively by themselves, an amount of patronage
which must have placed the dominant party in the
Council and in the Committee—at that time the
Radical party—in a position to ride rough-shod
over the town. To advance this scheme the Alder-
man spared neither the public money nor the inte-
rests of the port. He threw away in its pursuit the
conservancy of the river; he enabled the Cheshire
landowners to achieve their independence of the Li-
verpool Dock Trustees; and even permitted private
'companies to acquire dock property upon our own
side of the river. All these sacrifices the port of
Liverpool paid as the pike of the hobby of which
Mr. Alderman Evans was in such reckless pursuit.
In a part of his scheme he succeeded. By a com-
promise with his opponents, he was permitted to
erect the Albert Dock, with warehouses on three of
its quays. Have the terms of that compromise been
adhered to ? Did it purchase peace for the town ?
We answer confidently, No !
Effort after effort has been made in the Dock
Committee and the Council to get again before
parliament for larger measures of experiment
in the same direction; and when, at last, the
indignation of the community overwhelmed the
domination of Radicalism in both these bodies,
the worthy alderman set himself to the work
of retarding the progress of wholesome improve-
ment, and became a drag upon the wheels of
the machine, since he was not permitted to drive it
over a precipice. Need we point to the proceedings
before parliament last year ? Need we point, as an
instance of his retarding efforts, to the opposition of
this " active and useful" commit (eman to the va t
extension of the dock space which the majority of
the body to which he belonged are providing for the
commerce of the port ? We need not :it is fresh in
recollection.
But it is said that, in voting against Alderman
-Evans, the rate-payers will vote against the principle
of warehouse accommodation being provided upon
the dock quays. They will do no such thing. The
present majority in the Town Council and in the
Dock Committee were never the opponents of such
accommodation; but they contended—and justly—
in the first place, that the erection of such ware-
houses and their management, by a public body,
• out of the funds of the public estate, and upon land
got for half its value from the property of the bur-
gesses of the town, was a tyrannical interference
with private interests, and with the value of property
erected by private individuals upon land fairly pur-
chased from that body, or from the Corporation,
and, moreover, a fraud upon the town itself. They
had no objection to the experiment of warehouses
upon the dock quays being tried; but they said to
the Corporation, " You have sold us inferior land,
at a higher price, for warehouse purposes; and you
have no right now to dispose of your best sites, at a
nominal value, to the Dock Committee, to enable
them to swamp our property. As well might you
embark the vast funds under your control in a com-
petition with us, as merchants or as tradesmen."
In the second place, the opponents of the alderman

and his party objected to the magnitude upon which
the experiment was proposed to be tried. They
maintained that it was rash to venture so largely in
a new, and, so far as this port is concerned, an untried
direction. They had placed before them schemes,
whose execution would absorb the surplus revenue,
increase the debt of the estate, and tie up the hands
of the Dock Committee for years to come; and, like
wise and prudent men, they refused to embark in
anything so wild, and perilous to the best interests
of the port.
A third party, too, there was, and an influential
party—the shipowners of the port and their repre-
sentatives:in the:Dock Committee—who opposed the
rash and headlong projects of Mr. Evans; and we

do not know whether the same party may not, with

perfect consistency, oppose similar projects in time
to come. These parties attributed much of the

-inconvenience of the Liverpool Docks, as compared
with those of other ports, to the greater difficulty
experienced here in procuring Landing Waiters;
and expressed their demands in the words used by
Mr. H. C. Chapman before the Select committee on
British Shipping. "We do not," they said, "want
warehouses upon the margin of the docks ;
reduce our dock rates and give us sheds." And
how, pray, were these reasonable demands of an im-
portant body complied with by Mr. Evans and his

Party ? They gave them the present Transit sheds

On the west side Prince's dock. They constructed

them, and have managed them apparently with il;
express intention of leading those shippers to de-
mand warehouses, or any thing, rather than con-

...
tinue the use of such abortive and trumpery

erections.

The rate-payers are not, therefore, in voting
against Mr. Evans, opposing any improvement in
the docks, either by the erection of dock ware-
houses or otherwise; they are not d2ciding that
the principle contended for by Mr. Evans shall not
be tried. It will be so tried; and, if successful, it
will be extended to the utmost extent of which it is
usefully, prudently, and honestly susceptible. For
this the experience of the enterprise and ability of
the present majority in the Dock Committee should
furnish a sufficient guarantee.

And now—having, we trust, removed the objec-
tions urged against the dismissal of Mr. Evans to a
private station—let us adduce a few reasons why
such dismissal would be beneficial, and is, indeed,
necessary. The Dock Committee are now proceed-
ing rapidly and energetically with the execution of
works of great magnitude, to which, from their first
projection, a petty, though an exasperatina and in-
jurious, opposition has been offered by Mr.' Evans ;
and we contend that no valuable co-operation is
likely to be Offered, in their execution, by that gen-
tleman. Mr. Evans has sufficiently shown already
that, unlike his colleague, Mr. James Aikin, he
cannot, when defeated in any object, divest himself
of his bitterness towards those who have defeated
him. Such being the case, we contend that it is
only fair, towards those who have confided to them
the responsibility of these great works, to release them
from the continual and annoying interference of an
opponent so obstinately perverse. But, upon ano.
ther and an important ground, it is necessary that
they should be so released from the presence, as one
of their body, of a man who, in public and in pri-
vate, scouts their management of the estate com-

tnitted to their charge. It must be shown to the
country—it must be shown, also, to the legislative
body—that they possess the confidence of the mer-
cantile portion of the town, their constituents; that
the rate-payers appreciate and approve of their mea-
sures and their honesty ; and no blow against them
can be imagined so damaging as the return, by those
constituents, of a gentleman so avowedly hostile to
their views.

We entreat, therefore, of the rate-payers that,
however much, personally, they may respect the
ability and character of Mr. Evans, they will not
allow private feeling to guide their conduct upon
the present occasion. The question is not a per-
sonal one: its result will be regarded by the country
as a test of confidence or no confidence in the Dock
Committee : the return of Mr. Evans will be re-
garded and boasted of by the Radical and anti-local
party as a triumph over their Conservative oppo-
nents the most signal which could have been
achieved. We trust that no such result will take
place. The Conservative gentlemen of Liverpool
would have been up in arms against their represen-
tatives in the '!'own Council if they had permitted
this, or any other Whig-Radical, to retain his posi-
tion as an alderman ; and they will, surely, not
commit the folly and inconsistency of returning him
to a'position where he may be infinitely more dan-
gerous than in his place in the Council.

The elevation of Mr. James Lawrence to the
office of chief magistrate of Liverpool is an event
upon which we heartily congratulate not only that
gentleman himself, but the Council and his fellow-
townsmen. The former, by his assiduous and
anxious attention to his public duties, as Chairman
of the Watch Board, and a member of various other
important committees, has well earned the highest
dignity which the latter could bestow; and we are
confident that they will receive their reward in the
fidelity, zeal, and public spirit, with which the office
will be filled, and its dignity maintained by its pre-
sent occupant. .
Of a character scarcely less gratifying to the pub-
lic are the rest of the appointments made on Satur-
day. The principle followed in the selection of a
portion of the Aldermen from amongst the most
consistent and deserving of the members of the
Council is, we are convinced, in the spirit of the
Municipal Act, and at once a compliment to the
gentlemen selected—Messrs. David Hodgson, J. S.
Leigh, and the late Mayor, Mr. Sands—and to the
wards which they have severally represented. A
happy choice has also been made in filling up the
other three vacant seats by Mr. W. P. Bushby, Mr.
T. B. Horsfall, and Mr. Anthony Swainson. More
unexceptionable nominations could scarcely have
been made ; and from the high standing, character,
and ability of all these gentlemen, the Council will
derive real benefit and increased power to discharge
and discuss satisfactorily the important local- and
commercial questions which come, from time to time,
before its cognizance.
The legal appointments are also of a highly satis-
factory character. From the intimate acquaintance
possessed by Mr. Shuttleworth of all the duties of
town-clerk, and his past great experience in all the
various departments of that office, together with his
great natural talent and untiring industry and zeal,
we are satisfied that in him the Chief Magistrate and
the Council will find a safe adviser, and the public
an efficient and faithful servant. The duties of the
Clerk of the Peace, formerly discharged, along with
the Deputy Town-clerkship, by Mr. Shuttleworth,
devolve, by the unanimous vote of the Council,
upon Mr. Peter Wright, a gentleman whose high
professional standing and character render him in all
respects worthy of the appointment, and by whom
its duties will be performed with credit to himself
and satisfaction to his fellow-townsmen.
We congratulate all classes of the people of Liver-
pool upon the now increased efficiency of their local
legislature, and the manner in which all its chief
offices are filled. The public business will now, we
trust, go on without any of those factious interrup-
tions and contentions, which, for years past, in a
more balanced state of parties, we have been doomed
to witness ; and be guided by an earnest desire to
employ aright the great resources at the command
of the Conncil, and to promote the improvement of
the town and the greater comfort and security of the
inhabitants. It is true we have still in that body a
small remnant of the old leaven of liberalism. They
are not, however, the worst samples of their party;
- and although we would be very far from imposing
upon them an absolute and silent submission to the
will of the majority, we do hope that, seeing the
utter futility of opposition or • obstruction upon
merely party grounds, they will see the advantage of
uniting cordially with that majority in forwarding,
or even in originating measures, having for their
object the public good. The natural effect of the
Municipal Act, and especially the kind of instru-
mentality by which it was carried, rendered the
Corporation of Liverpool, what no Corporation was
ever intended to be, a political body; and although,
to some extent, it must perhaps remain so in its
composition, the time is surely come when its deli-
berations may be conducted as if no such-differences
of feeling existed amongst its members.

In once more directing the attention of our read-
ers to the effort now making for the improvement
of the condition and character of British seamen,
by the erection, in this port, of a sailor's home, we
feel that no necessity is imposed upon us of holding
up to their contemplation any picture of the hard-
ships, the temptations, the iniquities, to which that
gallant and, unhappily, too thoughtless class of men
are subjected when ashore, and from which the pro-
posed institution is intended to furnish for them a
protection. We feel assured that we do not overrate
the kindly feelings and susceptibility of our fellow-
townsmen and townswomen to the calls of charity
and benevolence, when we assume that they are al-
ready prepared to respond to the eloquent appeals
which have been made to them, from sources far
more entitled to their confidence than any upon
which we can draw. Our object is an humble one
—a business object. We wish to speak to them
about the steps to be taken to carry out the good
work, the necessity and value of which we may now
conclude to be universally admitted.
In a few days the committee purpose, we under-
stand, making public their proceedings thus far, the
plans which they have in view and a list of the sub-
scriptions put down ; and we need scarcely remind
the friends of the sailor how important it is that the
latter should be as large as possible. By the amount
of the funds placed at their disposal and in prospect,
those who have imposed upon them the carrying
out of the object in view must be guided in regu-
lating the extent of their plans. To them an im-
posing list of benefactors must be most encouraging,
and calculated to inspire them with a determination
that their plans shall not be unworthy either of the
magnitude of the benefits sought for, or of the town,
by whom they are about to be conferred. And the
effect produced upon the public will be equally in-
fluenced by a flourishing or a meagre list to com-
mence with. Let the public once be convinced that
we are in earnest in our endeavours, and support
will not be withheld.

On every ground, then, we entreat of those, who
purpose giving the committee the benefit of their
names and contributions, to forward them withoUt
delay, in the conviction that, by so doing, they will
materially advance the cause of humanity and the
social and eternal welfare of England's seamen. -

We commented briefly, in our last, upon the dis-
reputable character of the opposition offered by the
Radical party to the Conservative candidate in Pitt-
street Ward, and much regret to find that, in doing
so, we have provoked the very modest Mr. David
M'Clellan to commit an act of very great foolishness;
in short, to lay aside the yard-stick and wield his
pen for our overthrow. Alas, that men will not
know their own vocation !

Mr. M'Clellan, in the letter which he has ad-
dressed to the Courier, repudiates, in his capacity of
" Chairman of the Reformers, Pitt-street Ward,"
any connexion with the opposition in question; and
so far as the nomination of Mr. White is concerned,
he is perhaps correct. The Chairman of the Re-
formers did not personally aid in inducing that gen-
tleman to come forward as a candidate. The Re-
formers' Committee, as a body, never countenanced
his claims. Its members, however, enjoyed the pro-
ceedings, treated it as an excellent joke, and took
no steps to withdraw themselves from connexion
with its originators. So long as Mr. White was in
the field he was the candidate of the Reformers;
and Mr. M'Clellan admits in his letter, " Had he
gone to the poll, no doubt many Reformers would
have voted for him," a fact which no one acquainted
with the factiousness of Radicalism can for a mo-
ment doubt.
With respect to any connexion with the claims of
Mr. Allen, the second candidate, or as Mr. M'Clellan

more elegantly calls the poor man, " the second
feature in the opposition" to the Conservative can-
divate, the " Chairman of the Reformers" does not
so clearlf prove his case. The address of Mr. Allen
bore on the face of it the sanction of the Reform
Committee of the ward, and we cannot consent to
" infer" " from the state of the poll merely," that
he was not brought forward, or urged forward, by
the Radical party in the ward. He was in a ridiculous
enough position, it is true; but that might arise
from the indisposition of the respectable men of the
party to abet proceedings so utterly factious as was
his nomination upon so hopeless a chance of success.
We cannot infer it, either, from the candidate being,
in the sublime estimation of Mr. David M'Clellan,
an "individual" of whom he informs us that " those
who know him will not be surprised at his putting
himself up, or at his being so speedily put down."
Mr. Allen, we believe, is a slop-seller, in Wapping,
whilst Mr. David carries on the same business in the
more aristocratic locality of Price-street. Mr. Allen
and his haughty fellow-tradesman are equally excel-
lent grammarians and logicians ; and when we see the
air of absurd pretension with which the former
washes his hands of the latter, it is with difficulty
that we can repress a disposition to smile at the sil-
liness displayed. If one dealer in red flannel and
callimanco may be permitted to lord it, on paper, as
" Chairman of the Reformers of Pitt-street," there
can be little derogatory to so respectable a body in
another vendor of the same wares seeking to repre-
sent them in the Council. Radicalism is not gener-
ally so particularly nice in its choice of utensils.

The Radical press, writhing under the defeat of
its party, flies to the slander of its opponents with as
much aptitude and apparent relish, as the old ladies
of Billingsgate, in their contentions, rush to the use
of foul language and street mud. Scarcely a publi-
cation has of late issued from this office in which
we have not had to correct some malicious invention
directed against members of the Conservative party,
or to reprobate some disgraceful language directed
towards them; and it would seem that we are not
to be spared a continuance of the use of such
weapons, which, however, we feel assured that none,
save the very dregs of the party, can sanction with
their approbation.

An instance of such abuse of the legitimate power
which the press possesses, occurs in the following
paragraph, which we extract from a Radical paper
of Saturday last.
" As the municipal majority have places to bestow, as
well as honours to distribute, it is perhaps not unnatural,
amidst the jarring of rival aspirants, all hungering after
the flesh pots, that these unseemly squabbles should
arise ; but it is somewhat singular, that in nominating
their Mayor this year, circumstances, involving serious
personal charges against the candidate, should interpose,
as they did last year, differing certainly in form from
those which met Mr. Sands on the threshold of the office,
but still implying the absence of that spotless discretion
which we look for in the Chief Magistrate of this great
community."
We need scarcely say that no one ever heard any
such "circumstances, involving personal charges"
against Mr. Lawrence, as are here insinuated. We
never heard even the shadow of an imputation
against that gentleman; and we cannot designate
the assertion of our contemporary as anything better
than a silly invention, although perhaps it might
deserve a worse appellation.
The same writer goes on to state that—
" Mr. James Lawrence is twitted with a breach of faith
in the matter of the South Toxteth Ward, and with
having, before the election, exacted a promise from Mr.
Jones that, if returned, he would support his pretensions
to the Mayoralty. The worst feature in this case is, that
the electors of the ward had offered the representation to
Mr. Josias Booker, who requested two days' delibera-
tion, and in the interim Mr. Lawrence launched his
pledged candidate."

To this we reply that Mr. Lawrence never ex-
acted any such promise from Mr. Jones, upon any
condition ; and that no man of common sense, who
knows the high character of Mr. Jones, would be-
lieve that he would accept a seat in the Council, as
the result of so degrading a compact. The latter
part of the paragraph is equally incorrect. Mr.
Lawrence waited upon Mr. Jones, by the expresS
request of the committee of the ward. We do not
believe that any such offer as is spoken of was
made to Mr. Booker, from any body of the electors,
or that he was ever named as a probable candidate
for Fouth Toxeth, although he was so named for
Abercromby and Rodney-street Wards. Further,
we know that, so far from entertaining a disposition
to thwart the just claims of Mr. Booker to a seat in
the Council, Nir. Lawrence was, and is at this mo-
ment most anxious for his election as a member of
that body.

At a large and influential meeting of the Con-
servatives of West Derby Ward, held, last night, at
Marshall's Coffee House, Edge Hill, it was unani.
mously resolved to nominate Josias Booker, lsq.,
as a candidate for that ward in the Town Council ;
and the electors present pledged themselves to use
the utmost exertions to secure his return, which,
from the known loyalty of the ward, and the cha-
racter of the meeting, may be already considered as
placed beyond a doubt. In Exchange Ward, we
understand, the candidate will be Thomas Haigh,
Esq., the brother-in-law of the excellent member for
South Lancashire, Mr. Entwisle, against whom we
do not anticipate any opposition—certainly none
which can defeat his claims to the support of the
constituency. William Atherton, Esq., of New
Brighton, is brought forward for Everton Ward
under influential auspices, and from the well known
character of the ward, may be accounted as certain
of election.

The vacancy in the Chairmanship of the Watch
Committee, caused by the elevation of Mr. James
Lawrence to the Mayoralty has, we are glad to find
been filled up by the unanimous appointment of
Alderman Hodgson. If the past exertions and ef-
ficiency of Mr. Hodgson as an individual and pri-
vate member of the Committee may be taken as a
guarantee of his future exertions as Chairman, we
know of no member in the Council by whom the
place of Mr. Lawrence could have been better filled
up. This is no light pfaise. Every member of the
Board, and a great portion of the community, know
that it is the highest that can be paid.

THE FUNDS, SATURDAY NIGHT.—The public secu-
rities have been steady and firm, without much business,
and prices rather show a tendency towards advance.
Consols for money, in consequence, left off 1001 to -a. and
for the account 1008 buyers ; Bank Stock closed 204 to
205 ; India Stock, 286 to 288 ; Three per Cents. Reduced,
99; ; Three-and-a-Quarter per Cents., 102 k to 1. Long
Annuities, 12 1-16 ; and Exchequer-bills, 645. to 665.
premium. In the foreign funds Mexican experienced an
advance of nearly three-quarters per cent. on the report
of the amount intended to be remitted from Vera Cruz,
but retained by stress of weather. the. Actives rising to 351
to 1, and the Deferred to 1513 to 8. The other descripti-
ons were firm at about previous prices. Spanish Five
per Cents left off 211 to 13 ; and the Three per Cents. 36
to ; Russian, 118 to 119 ; Peruvian, 241 to 251 : Por-
tuguese, 55 to 56; Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cents ,
6213 to ; the Five per Cents., 99k to ; Danish, 89 to
90 ; Columbian, 13k to 14 ; Chilian, 101 to 103 ; Buenos
Ayres, 36 to 37.; Brazilian, 86 to 87; and Belgian, 101
to 102.

REPEAL OF THE MALT TAX.—The agitation of the
question appears to have commenced in earnest. A most
powerful and active organization is going on, and a system
of appeal to every parish throughout England is about to
he established, in order that it may be brought before Par-
liament as a question for grave consideration in the ensu-
ing session.

SATURDAY EVENING CONCERTS,—The second musical
and literary entertainment for the season, for the working
classes, took place, on Saturday eveninglast, at the Nelson-
street Assembly Rooms, and was much more numerously
attended than the first. The vocalists were, Miss Holden,
Mr. Ryalls, Mr. Crank, and Mr. Hornby, who all sung
well, and were frequently encored. Mc. Alexander Hay
gave a very excellent recitation, " The Spanish Cham-
pion," by Mrs. Hentans. An able essay was al-o deli-
vered by a member of the Committee on Education, as
connected with the institutions for the information of the
people. We understand that Mr. H. Russell, the much
admired singer, will appear on the next occasion. The
concerts are patronised by his Worship the pi esent Mayor.

STRAWBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES IN WINTER.—
THE WEATHER.—We have before us a few fine ripe
strawberries and raspberries, of a good size of their kinds,
just gathered (this 11th inst.) from the garden of Mr.
Dunlop, of Hill House, Garston. About a pint in all
were found in equal perfection. This is the more remark_
able, inasmuch as, though we have had some mild, fine,
and sunny days during the present fall, we have also been
visited by a very fair average crop of high chilling winds
and cold rains. Yesterday morning, about two o'clock, a
heavy gale set in from the northward and westward,
accompanied, shortly after its commencement, by a tre-
mendous downfall of large hail-stones. The haze, too,
was thick, and several vessels got on shore in the outward
channel, and one in Bootle Bay, which was afterwards got
off; but we have not heard, as yet, of any loss of life. Two
life-boats—one of them belonging to Liverpool, and the
other to the Magazines—were kept in readiness near
George's Dock Basin great part of the day, in case of
casualties. The tide shortly before twelve was at its
beght, and the spray washed over a great extent of the
parades along the sea-walls. Tire scene on the river, which
was tossed into a rough sea-way, was for some time truly
animated and magnificent.