The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-04-04 00:00:00

the destinies of the world, that she will be contented
ith a humbler part,—then it is for this country to
is for this country to carry those words

say So

t : only let me not be the instrument.
Let me not, I say. be the instrument in carrying into
erect that which I should think to be the degradation
of the country ! " His lordship was, no doubt,
sincere in this.declaration ; yet. it is very doubtful
whether the Colonial policy of his lordship's ad-
ministration is not advancing the very result which
his lordship so much deprecates ; and whether, too,
that result is not more close at hand than either him-
self or the people of England generally imagine.

nto eft

We commented in our last upon the instructions
sent out from the Colonial office to our possessions
in America, suggesting to their legislatures the im-
position of restrictions upon emigration to this
country—restrictions which we showed to be un-
necessarily harsh, framed, as they obviously were,
to meet an evil which no longer exists. We showed
how those instructions were acted upon by the
legislature 'of a portion of those Colonies—the
Canadas ; that the measure suggested by them
was so increased in the severity of its pressure upon
the shipowner, as to put a stop entirely to the emi-
gration of British subjects to those Colonies ; and
thus to take away from the shipowner a valuable
outward freight, and to transfer it to his American
rival. But there was a further circumstance to
which we promised to direct the attention of our
readers, viz :—the animus displayed by the Cana-
dian legislature towards this country in discussing
the measure in question. It was sufficiently signi-
ficant of the feeling of the " Liberal" majority of
the Canadian parliament towards us, to observe at
what a low estimate they regarded the further in-
flux of a British emigration population into the
colony ; that they were ready to snatch at the plea
of a temporary evil—the distressed and sickly con-
dition of the emigrants who arrived there last year—
in order ,to put a stop to that influx altogether.
But the measure itself, as passed in. its pr

esent
form, against the earnest protest of the loyal and
Conservative body of that legislature, des not dis-
close the full extent of that feeling. Still more
violent-and stringent provisions were proposed by
the members of the ultra-Liberal, or anti-British
party,—the terms are synonymous—and were only
rejected by the influence of the leaders of that
party—the ex-rebels and present proteges of the
Colonial office, Messrs. Papineau and Lafontaine—
because these gentlemen saw that the measure, in
its present shape, was practically sufficient to se-
cure their present object; to prevent the hands of the
loyal population of the colony being strengthened by
a further infusion of British settlers into the upper
province; and, perhaps, because they conceived
that the time had not arrived for throwing down
the gauntlet openly to the mother country. The
opportunity, however, was not lost of venting a
torrent of abuse on our poor emigrant brethren, as
"the scum of Ireland," "the sweepings of England
and Scotland," as idle beggars and lazzaroni, unfit
to mingle with these republican traitors and Ame-
rican sympathizers.
The French Canadian
party had already been
rendered, by Whig-Radical policy, supreme in .the
Canadas ; and every effort had been added by the
quasi-Conservative ministry of Sir Robert Peel to
disgust the loyalists of the colony. This last stroke
of Earl Grey will tend to introduce a further ele-
ment of weakness into the hold which Great Britain
has upon her subjects in the North American con-
tinent, by alienating the shipowners and the Cana-
dian party at home. When the struggle comes for
separation between Great Britain and Canada—and
it is nearer than we dream of—it will be found.that
if Lord John Russell's has not been " the hand "
to strike asunder the connexion between Great
Britain and these valuable possessions, his col-
league, Lord Grey, has done his utmost to bring
about such a consummation.

But the influence of the policy of the" Colonial
Office, in producing disgust and disaffection
amongst our colonists, is not confined to the Ca-
nadas. It is in full operation in our West Indian
Islands, whose planters and traders are fast sinking
into a state of insolvency and beggary, as the re-
sult of the measures which have emanated during
the past few years from that office. " You," writes
a West Indian Planter, in a letter addressed to
Lord John Russell in the Morning Chronicle of
Friday last,
" You have had experience yourself as Colonial minister,
and gained golden opinions in that capacity, giving some
signs of independence on the Exeter-hall influences which
rule that very mischievous office—influences which have
cost and are costing millions to the country, with a cruel
waste of life and property (witness New Zealand and the
Cape), accompanied by the loss of the affections, and, I
must also add, the loyalty of the colonists. Some evidence
has been lately given of this feeling in one colony before
a committee now sitting, and much more might have
been obtained as to others; believe me, it is not confined
to the island in ;question; a deep sense of injustice and
oppression prevails, and a looking out for more conside-
ration elsewhere. What are the proper duties of a colo-
nial office

Are they not to foster, Protect, and govern
the colonies on just and British principles ? And what
is the fact? When an application is made there, a grie-
vance stated, a remedy proposed—in lieu of a kind con-
sideration and even apparent sympathy and wish to afford
relief, a defensive attitude is assumed, a thorough disbe-
lief of all statements is implied, objections sought for,
and the applicant is repulsed with a conviction that he is
a sacrifice to cant and crochet, and the crude theories of
an obstinate man, who is said to be viceroy over you all."

His lordship may depend upon it that the above
is not an idle warning—the language of one who
has not weighed his words. Similar indications
of the feeling described are weekly reaching us ;
and we do not hesitate to declare our conviction
that the time is coming, unless steps be taken to
mete out justice to them, when it will not require a
direct blow from either his hands, or any other
statesman's, to strike asunder the connexion of our
colonies with the mother country. Our colonists
themselves will have saved his lordship both the
trouble and the odium of having been the direct
author of that country's dishonour and degrada-
tion in the scale of nations.

OUR TRADE WITH THE CONTINENT OF

UROPE

FOR 1848

We have remarked in an article in our leader columns
upon the prospect of an increased trade with the European
Markets, which was developing itself in the commence-
ment of the present year, until checked by the spread of
Republican movements on the Continent. Since those
remarks were written we have received the circular of
Messrs. Dufay and Co., of Manchester, dated the Ist
April, by which it will be seen our views are fully borne
out. These gentlemen say :
" It gives us great pleasure to be able to lay before our
friends, at this early period, a table of the exports of textile
fabrics for the first quarter of the present year, ending 16th
ultimo, compared with the corresponding period of 1847. At
this particular time, when one of the most valuable branches
of our export trade, namely, that to the continent of Europe,
(which is equal in value to one-half of our total exports to all
parts of the world,) lies prostrate, it may afford but a poor con-
solation to those interested in it to state that, prior to the
French revolution, (five weeks ago,) our commercial prospects,
as regards that branch of our trade, were highly satisfactory,
and that the expectations which were pretty generally enter-
tained at the beginning of the year, respecting a revival of our
commercial intercourse with the continent of Europe, were
fully borne out by the facts which we are now in a position to
submit to our friends. _ _

" Our statement of the exports of cotton yarns and manu-
factured goods, during the first quarter of the present year,
shows the following result :
An increase of 6,008,661 lb. in cotton yarn, of which about
3 millions went to Hamburgh To.the
11 millions went to Holland
Conti-
-1 million went to Belgium tent.
And 1,470,351 yds. in plain cotton 1 Chiefly to
And 1,366,886 yds.in dyed & ptd.do. I H'burgh.
An increase of 2,338,240 lb. in cotton yarn 1 To Turkey, lonian
And 6,135,732 yds. in plain cottons Islands, Greece,
And 6,135,732 yds. in ptd.&dyed do.JJJ and Malta
This increase, in every article, shows the increasi
of our trade to the Levant.
A decrease of 10,141,935 yds.in plain cottons ll To Brazils & other
And 6,761,920 y da. in dyed&ptd. do. f parts of S.A merica.
A decrease of 17,473,381 yds.in pin.calicoes tt To China,
an Manilla,
Sincapore

importance

Messrs. Dufay and Co. have the same anticipations
which we have expressed with respect to the probability
that a result favorable to the industry of this country may
be anticipated to arise fiom the changes which are taking
place in Germany, and the reduced duties which will pro-
bably be imposed upon manufactures from this country.

" SINGULAR TRANSFORMATION."—Under this heading
a contemporary informs us that " the old cockpit at Ain-
tree is about to be transformed into a place of worship in
connexion with the Established Church." The transfor-
mation is not only singular but gratifying in the extreme.
We have seen many transformations of an opposite kind,
in which places of worship—our own St. Nicholas's
Church, for instance—have been transformed into cock-
pits by liberal and dissenting brawlers at Easter Vestries.
WHO IS HE ?—The Mercury of Tuesday states that at
Runcorn, " on Friday evening, the 24th instant, Mr.
Smith, of Liverpool, delivered a lecture in St. John's
the Bottle,' as illustrated' by Cruik-
in the name of all that is mysterious, is
sShcahnoko.l, School-room,
Who, o n
Mr. Smith ? Louis Philippe, we know, in selecting a
travelling name for his passport, thought that John Smith
would be a puzzler sufficient to drive his pursuers from
their scent. But Smith ! Smith, without a Christian
name to distinguish him from the countless family of
Smiths ! We cannot conceive a more vague index to the
identity of any human being. The family of the Smiths,
however, are benefitted by the modesty of this Mr.
Smith. Any Smith can appropriate anything that may
happen to have been good in his blank relations lecture,
and deny anything of a contrary description, without fear
of detection.. We trust that the lecture was not
,a failure,
for the sake of the average reputation for cleverness of the
Smiths.

MEETING OF PORTERS LAST NIGHT.

Yesterday evening, a meeting of the porters and others
of Liverpool was held at the Music-hall, Bold-street, to
agree upon a petition to bring their grievances before
parliament. The meeting was called for half-past seven
o'clock, at which time the hall was filled by a most
orderly and respectable assembly—as different from the
rabble who took advantage of a recent occasion to crowd
the Exchange area in the character of porters as can be
conceived. We have seen many assemblages of the
working classes in that room, and we cannot call to mind
an occasion on which we observed one of a character more
worthy in appearance, as a mass, to have their complaints
and statements respectfully listened to by their superiors
in worldly station.
At the opening of the meeting it was proposed that Mr.
Richard Woolley take the chair, who very ably addressed
the meeting. directing their attention to the grievances
under which they laboured. It was well known that for
years the work of loading, weighing, and discharging
vessels was wholly conducted by the servants of the
merchant, in whom he placed implicit confidence ; but
the Dock Committee, for some unaccountable cause,
took the power from the merchant; and invested it in the
hands of a master porter, and the only advantage gained
was a decrease in the value of labour. But to the mer-
chant there was a corresponding loss from breakage and
carelessness—for excellence was now sacrificed to expedi-
tion.. If there was any additional speed now obtained, it
was owing to there being less delay in landing-waiters,
and more punctuality in entering goods. The object of
the Dock Committee was not to advance trade, but to
carry out a few crotchetty ideas of their own. Mr.
Woolley, in the course of his speech. went very fully into
the anatomy of the question at issue between the advo-
cates of the old and the new systems, and concluded by
calling upon the next speaker to move the first resolution.
Mr. JAMES RAY, then alluding to the hardships they
(the porters) had endured throughout the winter, from a
system most tyrannical—that of Master Porterage—moved
the following Resolution :
Resolved—" That the present system of weighing and load-
ing of goods from the Quay, by placing the entire Cargo of a
Vessel under the management of one Master Porter, after hav-
ing had a fair trial, is found to be most objectionable and a
great grievance, as it has deprived the porters of their former
employers, and placed them under the surveillance of a class of
middlemen, who neither study the inteYests of merchants or
workmen, having but one desire—to get amount of work done,
no matter how great the destruction of property, life, or
limb ensuing upon such a mode of porterage."
Mr. James M'William seconded the resolution.
We had prepared a report of the speeches made by the
movers and seconders of the following and other resolu-
tions, but have been compelled to withdraw it.
Resolved—" That the only advantage that the greatest advo.
cate of Master Porterage is able to advance in favour of the
system is the speed with which vessels are discharged; and we
pledge ourselves to prove from numerous and indisputable
facts that this advantage is far more than counterbalanced by
the destruction of property through breakage and waste, and,
ahoy e all, frauds of the most bare-faced character, which are daily
occurring in the operation of this unhappy system as it now
exists."
Resolved—" That the dispatch with which the discharging
and loading cargoes can now be effected, is not at all attributa-
ble to the Master Porter System, but to the change in Customs'
regulations, arising
from the new Tariff, the former delays,
which have been unjustly ascribed to the old system, being in
reality attributable to the conduct of Custoi., House officers."
Resolved—" That this meeting hereby pledge themselves to
persevere in the agitation of this question until the local
authorities aid them in the total and absolute Repeal of the
system altogether."
The fifth Resolution was for the appointment of a
Committee to draw up a Petitiqn to Parliament.

A VALUABLE HINT TO THE WORKING CLASSES

At a period when onr distressed labouring classes are
exposed to the seductions of demagogues and sponters of
sedition, anxious to lead them into disorder and outrage
as the remedies for want of employment, every exhortation
addressed to those classes, calling upon them to weigh tne
characters of the men who would first mislead and after-
wards betray them, is valuable. The following descrip-
tion by the London Times, of the sort of people who con-
stitute the executive department of agitation amongst our
working classes, is worthy of being studied :
" There exist everywhere amongst us men who have quar-
relled irreconcileably with their friends or their employers—
men who have only half learnt their trade or Trofession—men
of desultory and useless abilities, with their heads full of
schemes applicable to every other state but their own. Such
men are generally beaten in the race of life by steady and in-
dustrious worth. They are usually at the tail, while plodders
are at the head of their society. Therefore, their only chance
is a row. When labour is disorganized, when large populations
are committed to ruinous strikes, the same folly that causes
myriads to starve raises such persons as we have been descri-
bing into wealthy and comfortable men. They are Just the
sort of people to be the presidents and vice presidents of union
lodges, of course with the management of the funds, and with
no end of meetings and deputations. As long as there are many
such men, there is always the material for sedition ; and there-
fore it is necessary in times like these for the working classes
to be put on their guard."
The intelligent portion of the working classes will rea-
dily recognise tie above description,. as applicable to se-
veral of the gentry who are in the habit of declaiming
against aristocracies and the unequal division of property
—fellows who have through life had au overpowering in-
disposition to work at any honest calling, and an equally
overpowering inclination to live tiponthe earnings of their
more industrious neighbours.

ADJOURNED MEE'I ING OF THE LIVERPOOL

BANKING COMPANY,

[As our reporter was not allowed to.be present at the meet-
ing yesterday, we are indebted to a gentleman there for the
following outline of what took place.]
The adjourned meeting of the shareholders of the Liverpool
Banking Company was held yesterday, at which Mr. Ward and
Mr. Coward, the two auditors appointed at the recent meeting
to investigate the accounts, presented their report. That do-
cument was extremely short, and will be found in our adver-
tising columns Thereupon a long and stormy discussion
ensued, and eventually a motion was submitted by the Rev. F.
Parry, to the Effect that the present directors (seven) continue
in office, and that it is inexpedient to increase their number.
This was met by an amendment, which was moved by Mr.
Ward, and seconded by Mr. Coward, " that the present direc-
tors be requested to resign." Mr. Ward entered into a long
detail of alleged mismanagement by the bank, and amongst
other things he stated that shares to a considerable extent were
held by parties who had never paid a farthing up to the bank's
stoppage—that the great bulk of the capital of the bank had
been let to parties on securities which were at present unavail-
able—that discount had been effected with parties whose com-
mercial standing did riot justify such advances being made, and
that the stoppage of the bank bad been occasioned by discounts
being granted to parties who were not regular customers, and
who, in some instances, had been introduced through channels
which ought reasonably to have excited suspicion. M length
the motion of Mr. Parry was carried, the directors votingwith
the majority, and the meeting terminated. In the course of
the proceedings the two auditors offered their shares at .e 8
discount. We are informed that the auditors are about to pub-
lish a statement in elucidation of their report. This statement
will be looked to with considerable anxiety by the public as
well as the shareholders.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.
0311 EXPRESS.)

THE LIVERPOOL STANDAIB.