The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-10-03 00:00:00

ANTI-MONOPOLY.

[lt is not our practice to insert communicatinns wlych
have appeared in other papers; yet as the following letter
contains so much practical sound sense, we have a,co in-
duced to deviate from our usual custom.]

Slit,-I had felt some regret that pressing engagements
precluded my attendance at the Amphitheatre, at the late
meeting on this subject, as I understood a lair discussion
upon it was to be allowed then ; but finding that the
chairman in his opening speech, had recourse to com-
mendation of the Irish repeal agitation, I not only can
readily divine of what description of persons the majority
of the audience was composed, but can imagine there was
little chance indeed of a hearing for any one who might
venture to differ with the League. I am, therefore, in-
duced to put on paper my sentiments on the principal sr-
guii.ents used on the topic.
The great object of the meeting seemed to be to attri-
bute all the high price of corn to the aristocracy—the
speakers being aware of the malicious pleasure that would
be anrded to those around them by a fling at the nobility ;
whether such was merited or not, very few of their audi-
ence were l'kely to trouble themselves to inquire. All
the obloquy of the high price of corn was ascribed to rent,
whereas those acquainted with the subject must be aware
that rent forms a small proportion of the cost of pro-
duction, and -hat, the burdens of maintaining the poor,
highways, &c., ~.ess so heavily on the British farmer,
that if he paid no rent at all he could never compete
with corn raised in Poland and other poor countries.
where wages to e accepted that Englishmen would spurn
at.

Every species of cajolery has long been using to set the
farmer at variance with his landlord, although their inter-
ests are identical and both in danger from the League,
which attempts to divide and subdue them one after the
other, divide et impera. One of the 2Vt;uments frequently
employed is, that the farmer and his family would derive
the most benefits by a fall in the price of corn, from the
reduction that would ensue in his expenses. But it is
quite overlooked that the farmer must produce many hun-
dred times as much corn as is consumed in his own family
to enable him to pay his way; and that you might as well
tell a hatter that it would be more advantageous to him-
self were he to sell his article cheaper, because he and his
sons would acquire such as they wanted for their own
wear on lower terms. The hatter might well reply, "It
requires a sale of many hundred hats to enable me by the
profits thereon to meet my various expenses, and it would
be absurd indeed for me to sacrifice the profit on these
hundreds of hats for the sake of two."

Likewise, it has been frequently asked by these wor-
thies, why the farmers should have a monopoly rather
than the village grocer or draper, and 1 answer, because
the first is a producer; the others merely dispensers, to
whom the prices are comparatively of little moment, pro-
vided they can obtain their articles as lom as their com-
peting neighbours.
I am also quite surprised that Mr. Bright should draw
any contrast between corn and iron, as both are treated on
an equal principle : iron being protected by a duty on the
importation of foreign, as well as corn. lam likewise
astonished at his attempted jocularity about Irish mer-
chants being attracted to Liverpool in 1515, because
" small custom" was then paid here, for it must be ob-
vious, the same rates of national du'. :s were then paid
here as at every other port in the singdom ; and the
writer quoted must have been alluding to some
local dues, principally on goods coastwise, which have
no bearing on the question at issue; and with regard
to the now existing opulence and extent of Liverpool
trade, it is very apparent that such has grown to its pre-
sent vast amplitude under the very system that Mr. B. is
deprecating. Therefore, why should a change be hazarded ?
and why, while he was contemplating its enormous rise
from being " a small fishing place," should he be so dis-
satisfied with a system that had been attended with such
splendid results?
But the sentiments he expressed on the sugar trade
seem to be more monstrous than any. When it is re-
flected that this cry for cheap sugar emanates from the
very same " clique' that were so strenuous but a very few
years since in preventing our own colonists in the West
Indies from using the only means of producing that com-
modity cheaply, namely, by slave labour (although slavery
under the British planter was in much more mitigated
form than it ever was, or is, with foreigners—we having
some control or influence over our own countrymen) ;
then, their language was, " Don't tell us that the planters
are enabled by slave labour to produce sugar cheaper, for
such slave labour is an abomination, and must not be
used at all ; " and now, having succeeded in depriving the
British planter of his slaves, they upbraid him with the
dearness of his sugar ; and argue that it matters not that
at Brazils, Cuba, &c., slaves are the producers of sugars,
so that the article is rendered cheap. Here is consistency
with a vengeance! It is like tying a man's hands and
then reproaching him with less ability to fight.
Speaking of the national debt, he observes, that "a
man's first duty is to take care of his own debts," which
i. intimating pretty plain that he does not consider such
national debts to be personally binding, and that Mr. B.
is anticipating that the " sponge" would soon follow his
schemes for precluding the minister from paying any
dividends.

I also may ask, upon what ground he can contend, that
were we to take more of the productions of America, more
British manufactui.'s would be called for to pay for the
former, seeing that the balance of trade is against this
country already ; that we receive more zoods from Ame-
rica (as besides the cotton, tobacco, and rice he enumerates,
there are turpentine, seeds, salted meats, and a variety of
other articles) than, with all their vaunted liberality, they
take from us ; consequently, we have to pay them a balance
in cash, without our taking any corn at all from them :*
and, notwith.atunding repu,li
of duty are
so much applauded, it is a fact that upon cheese and many
other articles the duties are lower in Britain than is
America.

I will not further occupy your valuable columns by
commenting on Mr. Bright's boasts of his success in the
agricultural districts, it being well known that the mobs
of large towns always form the majorities on such oc-
casions ; nor shall 1 expatiate on the valid ground for
apprehension, that if Britain renders herself dependent
on foreign countries for supplies of corn, by throwing
large quantities of her own poor lands out of cultivation,
she may rue her subjection to the caprice of foreigners.
But simply adverting to Mr. Bright's concluding compli-
ment to the merchans of Liverpool, in comparing them to
monkey worshippers,—l remain, yours, &c.,

CAMILLUS.
* And many of their ships that bring their produce
hither go back in ballast.

ROBBERY OF PLATE.—On Saturday, a youth named
John Roberts—an old offender—was placed at the bar of
the police-court, on a charge of robbing a shop of a quan-
tity:of plate. Mr. John Bond, pawnbrober, 22, Scot-
land-place, said that about seven o'clock on the previous
night, a little girl came into the shop and told him some
men bad broken his windows and carried some things off.
He looked, and found that a portion of one of the panes
had been cut out, and that several articles of plate, which
he had seen there at three o'clock were missing. Police-
officer Gristicwaithe said that on the same evening be ob-
served the prisoner and two others passing along Man-
chester-street. He went up, and suspecting that the pri-
soner had something on his person, from his appearance,
he took hold of him, and held him till another officer
came up and searched him. The others escaped. In the
prisoner's pocket were found 2 silver table spoons, 2
silver butter-knives, 2 pair of silver sugar-tongs, and
some other articles of plate, which were stated by Mr.
Bold to be worth in all about £3. The prisoner, who had
before been convicted, was committed for trial at the ses-
sions.

THE SC77NCE OF AGRICULTIIKE.—We are much gra-
tified to le n from an agricultural gentleman and eminent
botanist in our neighbourhood (to whom we are occasio-
nally indebted for valuable information relative to the
crops,) that many of the landed aristocracy throughout the
kingdom, who had previously devoted but little of their
attention to obtaining a personal knowledge of the culti-
vation of the soil, have recently seen the propriety, if not
the necessity, of not only more intimately acquainting
themselves with its details, but of leading those who are
to succeed them in their estates, to the acquirement (em-
bracing all modern improvements and discoveries) of the
science of agriculture, chemically, botanically, and prac-
tically. With this view many of our nobility and gentry.
have of recent years sent those scions of their families
who are destined to become country gentlemen, to exten-
sive farms cultivated by enterprising and skilful indi-
viduals, where they witness and take part in all the
operations of tilling the field or the garden—drain-
ing, ploughing, sowing, planting, &c.—than which a
more honourable, a more worthy, or a more nation-
ally beneficial occupation cannot fall to the lot of even
the highest of the high in the human family. The time
was when such employments were deemed beneath the
dignity of the " lords of the soil," and the whole of their
early lives were devoted to the exclusive acquirement of
what were deemed " gentlemanly accomplishments"—
including laborious translations of musty Greek and Ro-
man authors, rarely available for good, often for evil—
whether as regards morals or religion—and generally but
crudely attained, and speedily forgotten. Without a de-
sire to disparage classical studies—which, if well applied
have their unquestionable utility—we hail with great sa-
tisfaction " the change that has come over the spirit of their
dream." In the growing intelligence of the age, me-
chanically and chemically, they find the middle, and even
the humbler, classes treading closely at their heels in the
march of scientific improvement; they find that the mere
possession of land without the knowledge to cultivate it to
the best advantage will neither confer high honour nor secure
(by trusting to stewards over whom they can have little
check) great emoluments ; and they have wisely set about
instructing their own class in the craft and mysteries of
their own proper profession as agriculturists,—becoming
aware that " under the master's eye the horse fattens.
They have resolved to patronise agricultural " colleges"
in rural districts, as well as those of Oxford and Cam-
bridge. The Odes of Horace, or the Iliad and Odyssey
of Homer, may be all very well in their way; but a field
of wheat, oats, or turnips, of double the weight that it
formerly yielded, is perhaps quite as profitable : and if
they want a " classical" excuse for diverging from their
preconceived neglect of husbandry, they may refer to the
beautiful Eclogues of Virgil. We shall hear Innen less
uttered against the corn-laws, when we have improved
our own soils to their utmost extent. We understand
that the old aristocracy—the most truly liberal, generous,
and hospitable—have led the van in this noble movement;
and we anticipate that those of minor standing and degree
will speedily follow. We have the additional satisfaction
of stating, that many of our landed proprietary also give
more encouragement than formerly to their tenantry, in
draining and improving their lands. These are gratifying
" signs of the times' ; and induce an assurance that,
excepting in very unpropitious seasons, we shall long be
enabled abundantly to feed an immense population, with-
out depending for a precarious and costly supply upon
foreign countries.

E LATE ACCIDENT AT THE ALBERT DOCK.

We last week reported the particulars of the lamentable
accident. a trle woiks of the Altuat Dock. by the explo-
sim, r:+- floe of the st 'Hot-hoher, by which one man
(Joseph Greenwood) was Si much injured that he survi-
‘ed only a short time, and two others were injured,
liolv well, a labourer, hurt in the spine, and whose
else Was deemed very precarious, and Joseph Green, who
had tin' care of the engine, who was apparently less hurt,
aid of whose recovery the house-surgeon of the Southern
flospit,-.1, then (on 51 onday last.) entertained no doubt.
The hirer individu 1. indeed, was apparently so little in-
jured tlpd lie waiked to the hospital, arid talked of the ac-
cident as it nothing had happened to himself. On Tues-
day, however, he was seized with delirium, never after-
wards rallied. and died on Thursday. The adjourned in-
quest on Saturday therefore included the deaths of both
the sufferers; but as our accoant—derived from the prig
cipal witnesses and a personal view of the spot—was cot
rect in every particular, we need but furnish the facts that
transpired on Saturday bearing on the cause.of the catas-
trophe :

Michael Wiley, a labourer, stated that he was present
at the works at the time of the accident on Saturday
se'nnight. He WAS passing the engine in question, and
stopped to talk to the deceased, (Greenwood,) when he all
at once heard an explosion, and a quantity of bricks and
smoke was scattered about, and his bat was knocked off
his head. He got out of the way as quickly as he could,
and directly after there followed a loud report, and the
boiler of the engine was thrown abOut twenty feet from its
original position, and the flue within it burst. As soon as
the steam and smoke cleared away, he saw four men, in.
eluding the engineer, lying on the ground. They were all
removed as quickly as possible, and he did not see deceased
(Greenwood) again until he saw him dead at the Southern
Hospital. It was the duty of the engine-driver (Green)
to see the boiler properly fed with water. Deceased
(Joseph Greenwood) was forty years of age. The testi-
mony was corroborated by James Riley.
Mr. John Miller, foreman of the works under Mr.
Hartley, surveyor fo rthe dock trustees, stated his respon-
sibilities, and stated that he was at some distance from
the engine, when he heard an explosion, and hastened im-
mediately to see what had happened. He found the flue
of the engine had collapsed, and that the boiler was thrown
out of its place about 20 feet. A quantity of bricks and
other materials were scattered about, and he ascertained
that deceased (Greenwood, end others were hurt. Joseph
Green had charge of the eLgi e. He bad seen it about
half-an-hour previously, and all then appeared safe. The
deceased had had charge of the engine since July of last
year. It was the duty of the deceased (Green) to see that
the boiler was properly supplied with water. If any thing
was wrong with the engine or the boiler deceased ought to
have informed witness, and it would have been immedi-
ately rectified. The boiler was quite sufficient for the pur-
pose for which it was used, and was thoroughly repaired
prior to its being put up at the dock. The collapsing of
the flue in the boiler could not have taken place but for
the want of a sufficient quantity of water. The boiler was
in all respects sound. That tee explosion took place from
the deficiency of the water in the boiler was distinctly
shown by the appearance of the metal afterwards, which
showed by its colour that it had arrived at a red beat over
six inches of its surface. (The witness very intelligent)
explained the general cause of the collapsing and subse-
quent explosion of steam-boilers, by accident or neglect,_
such as the present, but this was not taken in writing.
When the plates of the boiler, or the interior of it, (the
flue,) become red-hot by want of water, cold water intro-
duced at such a crisis becomes suddenly decomposed, and
produces hydrogen gas, the most explosive of all gases,
and hence arise such casualties.)
Charles Fuller, a labourer, was 30 or 40 yards distant
when he heard the explosion and saw the boiler blown out
of its place. He found deceased (Greenwood) being lifted
out of the rubbish. Deceased spoke to him ; gave him
4s. 6d. out of his pocket, and told him to give it to his
wife.

Alexander Hearld, foreman of the millwrights at the
new dock, corroborated Mr. Miller as to the cause of the
accident, and the strength of the boiler.
Mr. J. W. Metcalf , house-surgeon of the Southern
Hospital, being cali,d. said that the deceased, Joseph
Green, was injured 'Mout the head and face by scalding.
He got better the first two days, but afterwards became
affected in his mind. He never rallied, and died on
Thursday morning, at one o'clock. The deceased (Joseph
Greenwood) had sustained a compound fracture of the
right leg, and was scalded all over. He never recovered
from the injuries and the shock, and died on the Sunday
morning after the accident.

The OitoNER, in addressing the jury, said that when
they first met on that inquiry, they had adjourned in the
hope of that day hearing the evidence of Green, the en-
gine c: fiver, but it had pleased Pr-vidence to call him
hence also. It was a general proposition of law that if the
owners or head managers of an engine, or any other dan-
gerous apparatus or machinery, were aware of any flaw or
defect in it, and did not make it known to the party in
immediate charge of it, so that be or others was or were
mortally injured, they were accounted guilty of man-
slaughter. There was an instance of this some time ago
in the town. A house had been built by some parties,
and was surveyed by the corporation surveyors, and pro-
nounced to be sufficiently strong and secure. The parties
afterwards, however, ran up a flue, without giving notice,
and without attaching hooks or other support to the wall,
and it fell, and a man was killed in the ruins. The case
came before him, and a verdict of manslaughter was re-
turned, of which offence they were convicted on trial. The
same verdict would apply to the dock surveyor in this
case, were he equally culpable ; but it appeared that be
employed t.n intelligent foreman, and, under whom, a sub-
foreMan over each of the several engines, whose duty i
was to make mown any apparent detect, when It wouli
be remedied. He had been more particular in this inquiry
in consequence of the engineer (Green) having used the
expression in the hospital, before his delirium came on,
of Oh, that engine!" but this, it appeared, arose from
the suffering of the moment, as he hal made no•complaint
previously of its insufficiency. The foreman had stated
that the engine was a good one •, that it was the duty of
the deceased (Green) to supply it, and that, in his opi-
nion, the explosion arose from want of a sufficiency of
water. It a for them to say whether Mr. Hartley was
to blame- ; alecnan who, from his long standing, re-
speetabil, knowledge of such matters was, he (the -
coroner) t., lit, the last nian who would endanger the
lives of any of his men. His foreman, too, stated that if
any suspicion of defect arose the engineer ought to have
named it to him, and it would be rectified. The case was
a melancholy one, and had naturally excited much painful
interest out of doors, and they would give it their best
consideration. They had the power to lay a deodand on
the engine if they thought proper.
The jury, after consulting some time, returned a verdict
in both cases, to the effect that the deceased came to their
death accidentally, in consequence of injuries received by
the explosion of the flue of the boiler, and that that ex-
plosion was caused by want of a sufficient supply of water.
The survivor (Holywell) is still in a very precarious
state. Little hopes, indeed, are entertained of his recq.
very.

DEFECTIVA WEIGHTS, SCALES, AND MEASURES.-
On Thursday his Worship the Mayor held a court in the
Sessions-house, for the purpose of adjudicating in the
cases of parties summoned by Mr. Atkinson, inspector of
weights, &c. No fewer than thirty-nine individuals, in
all, were on this occasion called upon to account for-de-
fective weights, scales, or measures; also for selling coals
by measure, am' similar offences against the byc-law re-
gulating the dealings of traders. In every case a defence
was set up-such as " accident," " ignorance," or the
like; though it is somewhat strange that the scold is
are never in favour of the customers. it must be admit-
ted, however, that some few of the parties, from their long
standing and good repute, were probably ignorant of the
defect charged in one particular weight amongst many
which were correct, and it is but fair to assume that in
some of these cases the defect was attributable to the
carelessness of servants-for which they, being amenable,
were not excused, though the fine was mitigated. It is
but justice, too, to state, that it did not appear that the
parties had before been found to be at fault, though their
premises bad been frequently visited. The Mayor pa-
tiently heard every case, and remarked upon each accord-
ing to its character, in a most impartial manner, strongly
cautioning the parties, and taking the part of the poor,
who were the principal sufferers by such defalcators. The
following are the names of the parties, with the fines, &c.,
imposed :-Thomas Graham, provision-dealer, Canning..
street, St. James's, a scale 1 oz. short; fine 2s. Gd., and
costs 29. Gd. John Newell, Marlborough-street, coal-
yard, scale 41b. wrong ; ss. and 4s. 6d. costs. Thomas
Smith, provision-dealer, scale requiring lox. to balance,
ss. and 4s. 6d. Jane Addams, stall St. John's-market,
scale 2oz. to balance ; 2s. 6d. and Is. William Tilburn,
do., scale 3 oz. to balance; ss. and 4s. Gd. John Herne,
potato-scale with a loose balance of 21b. (loose weights to
balance not being allowed); 2s. 6d. and I=. Catherine
Carr, shop Brownlow-hill, a loose piece of 240 z. to ba-
lance a scale ; ss. and 2 Gd. Wm. Robinson, a potato-
scale 341 b. short, and balanced with a loose piece of iron;
2s. 6d. and 2s. 6d. Alexander Sowerley, coal-yard, Pa-
radise-street, scale equiring 71b. to balance, but the weight
to balance it taken away at the time to drive nails ; 2s. 6d.
and Is. Matthew Cotham, shop in Mill-street, a half-
penny found under the scale to balance it; ss. and 4s. 6d.
Edward Williams, yard Nash-grove, scale requiring 31b.
to balance; 2s. 6d. and Is. Nicholas Twigge, provision-
dealer, Warwick-street, two scales with a halfpenny under
each to balance, 108. and 4s. 6d. Mary Jones, yard in
Newhall-street, scale requiring 41b. to balance, 2s. Gd.
and Is. N. Hingley, iron cable-manufacturer, Wapping,
four 561 b: weights more or less short : defendant said
these weights were not under ; ss. and 4s. 6d. (The
weights, in all cases when short, were forfeited.) Henry
Pearson, shop Renshaw-street, one weight loz. short;
2s. 6d. and ls. John Marsh, shopkeeper, Gt. Howard-
street, a small scale 2 drachms short ; 2s. 6d. and Is.
Martin Stafford, shop Stewart-street, three small weights
short; 4s. and ls. Peter Murphy, shop Canning-place,
a weight 4 oz. light; Is. and Is. Elizabeth Coglan, stall
Pownall-market, a quart measure for cockles, &c. short;
ls. and Is. Francis Jones, shop Great Crosshall-street,
a quart measure for fruit with a false bottom of iths of
:.n inch in depth ; 10s. and 4s. 6d. Li.:artha Clayton, stall
St. John's-market, a quart measure short ; Is. and is.
Elizabeth Power, do., a quart measure half a gill defi-
cient ; Is. and Is. John Stringfellow, shop Sidney-place,
a measure not stamped but just ; Is. and Is. Ann Jones,
stall Pownall-market, deficient quart measure; 2s. Gd.
and is. Elizabeth Buckley, stall Islington-market, quart
measure short; 2s. 6d. and Is. John Bethel!, for selling
coals by measure instead of by weight, in Berry-street;
2s. 6d. and ls. Edward Forrest, for alike offence, 25.60
and Is. John Hardman, do.; is. and Is. Ed. Gotha%
do., in a yard; ss. and 4s. 6d. Wm. Beaman, for
same, was acquitted, there being no proof of sale.
Ann Taylor, do. ; acquitted. Margaret Hardmar
ls. without costs. John Oliver, two measures wi'
stuck on the bottom of each ; 2s. 6d. and is
Heyworth, St. John's-market, for obstructing +
tor in his duty, was fined 2s. Gd. and costs.