The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-05-13 00:00:00

10 CORRESPONDENTS,

should
them, I-

❑nications were received yesterday, and we
)een glad to have found room for one or two of
arrival of the steamer, and a multitude& other

isertion.
Simms, referred to in the Health Com-
mittee's proceedings in our last, was stated to be not appli.
cable to the holds of ships for expelling foul air. The reverse
is the fact, and we cannot tell how the unfortunate word,
imputing the contrary, was inserted in the eport.

,resented thei

Eln Rtinrpool OtaniaarTi,

TUESDAY NORNING,

MAY 13, 1851

IN the days of England's great statesmen, who
may be justly regarded as intellectual Titans, when
compared with the present pigmy race, there was
no object deemed more worthy of the attention of
the legislature than the building up and strength-
ening of a powerful commercial marine. As
the result of a long period of wise fostering; and
_ _

by the aid of " the Mariners of England,"w-e be-
came the first Laval power of the world, secured
for ourselves a vast Colonial Empire, and hare suc-
cessfully defended our liberties and free institutions
against every assailant. It has been the spirit and
end of our modern philosophy, however, to get rid,
bit by hit, of those wise measures of their prede-
cessors, which had at. length brought about so

.
glorious a result; and thanks, in the first place, to
the concessions made to rival powers by our reci-
procity treaties, hut, most of all, to; the crowning
blow dealt against the shipping interest by the
Navigation Laws Repeal Bill, they are now in a
fair way of achieving all that they meditated ; of
stripping their country of her surest defence in the
hour of danger and conflict, and of the greatest
earthly source of the prosperity, which she has
been permitted to enjoy.

•
There is one part of that measure which, although
its evil tendency is now developing itself palpably,
has been too much overlooked both by the oppo-
nents and supporters of the system which it de-
stroyed. We allude to the abolition, thrown in as
a sop to the existing body of shipowners, of the
system of apprenticing young boys to the sea.
Impressed with the importance of rearing un and
maintaining a constant supply of officers and able

seamen, the legislature had insisted that every ves-
sel going to sea should have on hoard a number of

~roportion to her tonnage, duly in-
tured and registered, to he taught to perform,
in time, the full duties of their avocation. The
requirement was for every vessel of 80 tons or
upwards one apprentice, at the least, for a vessel of
200 tons, and under 400 tons, two apprentices at
the least; for 400 tons, and under 500, three at the
least, and so on in proportion to tonnage, such
apprentices to be bound for not less than four years;
and a penalty of £lO, in respect of each apprentice,
was to be levied on every master or owner not ful-
tilling tnese conditions. Inns tar we naa a body
of men of good character and fair attainments
continually in training, from whom to select the
captains, mates, and other officers of our merchant
service. By the Act of Parliament, which came
into operation on the Ist of January, it has been
rendered no longer compulsory on the part of ship-
owners and masters to take apprentices at all; and
the result has been, just what might have been ex-
pected, that no apprentices are being taken. We
learn that at the Liverpool Sailors' Home, where
under the present regulations the ships of our first
merchants are chiefly supplied with hands, only
three apprentices have been indentured to the sea

apprent
den

ces, in

since the new act came into operation !
But it will be said, " lads do go to sea neverthe-
less, even under the present system." They do ;
but on what terms, and with what prospects ? A
captain outward-bound, engaging hands for his
ship, picks out, amongst those offered for his selec-
tion, a stout lad or two, to put to rough work and
drudgery, at the lowest rate of wages, often merely
nominal; and, when the vorage home has been
completed, he is sent adrift, 'to find another ship,
and to seek engagement on the same terms. He
Las learnt little. Nobody on board has been bound,
or felt it his interest, to teach him. He has pro-
bably received more cuffs and kicks than good
counsels, and the chances are against his ever
reaching to a higher position than that of an " or-
dinary seaman." Should he even do so, he is not
unlikely to transfer the ability, which he has at-
tained, under circumstances so discouraging, to
the American or some other service, where it will
be more valued than by his own country, now be-
come so neglectful of her best protectors. Already
the best of our able seamen are to be found man-
ning the ships of our powerful rival, the United
States ; and if we go on, as we are doing at present
—harassing those who remain with the oppressive
restrictions of absurd seamen's acts, whilst we ne-
glect making any provision for a future supply of
efficient hands—we shall, in a few years, have only
left available to select from, the men of had charac-
ter, the offscourings of their class, and a host of
lubbers, little removed from landsmen, who have
been driven to sea either by the mere love of de-
sultory roaming, or because every other channel of
employment was closed against them.
We are well aware that the owners and masters
of our mercantile marine have a full right to say
to us—" Yon have submitted us to an arduous
competition with the untaxed foreigner ; and to
enable us to do so successfully, we claim to have
all restrictions which bear upon our interests swept
away, and to be allowed to buy our labour, as well
as everything else, in the cheapest market." True ;
but a wise legislature would say, you shall not, in
achieving cheapness for yourselves, endanger the
institutions and sap the future security of the
country. Such a legislature would ask the all-
momentous question—" Under this policy, ope-
rating as it now unquestionably is, how, in an
emergency which may any moment present itself,
are we to procure seamen to man our fleets?" And,
unless the Question could be satisfactorily answered,
it would insist, whatever might he its predilections
in favor of a Free-trade policy—whatever might be
its love of cheapness—that this great stronghold of
the national defences must not be tampered with.
The great text writer of the Free-trade party, Adam
Smith, has left on record his opinion of the naviga-
tion laws, as they existed in the times ofthe Common-
wealth, and of the Second Charles—" It is not
impossible that some of the regulations of this
famous act may have proceeded from national
animosity. They are as wise, however, as if they
had all been dictated by the most deliberate wisdom.
National animosity, at that particular time, aimed
at the very same object, which the most deliberate
wisdom would have recommended." The object re-
ferred to was the strengthening of the naval arm of
England, and of its mercantile marine as the nursery
of its seamen. That great man would have de-
nounced as the work of madmen such a measure
as that is, upon which modern statesmanship prides
itself; a measure which, sooner or later, must leave
this great empire without a defence against its
enemies.

WE have again, this month, a flourishing of
trumpets upon the subject of our increasing pros-
perity, the returns of the Board of Trade up to
the sth of April, serving as the text. The writer
of the city article in the London Times of Wed-
nesday last, says _ _ _ _ _

" The returns of the Board of Trade for the month
ending the sth of April were issued this morning, and
present singularly favourable results, considering the
complaints that have been for some time circulated of
the depression of trade in the provinces. The declared
value of our exports shows, as compared with the corre-
sponding month of last year, an increase of £1,181,444,
and of £1,599,533 as compared in 1849. This increase is
again diffused in a striking manner through every branch
of production, and the only falling off worth notice is in
machinery, which would seem to indicate a renewed de-
pression of foreign enterprise, caused probably by the
uncertainty of political affairs in France. Cotton, wool-
len, silk, and linen manufactures, all exhibit largely
augmented totals; and the same is the case with the
other various articles requiring the greatest exercise of
skill, as well as those in which we are especially liable to
competition. To represent that these exports are to be
attributed in the mass to anything except a healthy and
profitable business is at the present moment out of the
question, since there has been neither undue speculation
nor a pressure for money to cause goods to be forced off
as a general rule at unremunerative prices. The decline
in cotton and other articles of raw produce can alone
account for any sacrifices that may have been made, and
these circumstances are not only wholly irrespective of
any general question as to the soundness of trade, but are
actually favourable to its extension and stability for the
future.
We must take the liberty of denying the sound-
ness of the conclusion, at which the Times arrives.
That we have exported more goods and produce in
this particular month than in the corresponding
month of last year may be accidental. In the
month preceding we exported less than last year;
and although there is a slight increase upon the
quarter, it remains to be ascertained that it shows
the existence of "a healthy and profitable busi-
ness." Manufacturers and producers generally
must find markets for their commodities some-
Where; if the home market been limited, as it

unquestionably has, exportation is the natural and
invariable result. The question to be decided
has this increased importation been "healthy. and
profitable ?"—and the Times would be puzzled -to
name any one great foreign market, in ••which
British goods have not been selling this year at a
ruinous sacrifice. The merchant and the •manu-
facturer, we beg to assure him, are just now quak-
ing in fear for the result of this very extension of
their exportations, which the 7imes regards with
such great complacency.
Of our imports the Times remarks
"The evidences of prosperity conveyed by the above
comparisons are confirmed by the importation and con-
sumption of articles of food and luxury. Wheat and flour
still show an enormous increase, and as the quantities
produced at home are all in like manner-consumed, the
consideration cannot be too often enforced as to what
would have been the difference in the position of our
population, and in their general health and efficiency, if
these supplies had been inaccessible to them. In the
consumption of other articles also there is a steady but
not excessive increase. Salted provisions show a falling
off, and coffee furnishes the usual sign of its inability to
compete with untaxed chicory and dogbiscuit, but sugar,
tea, cocoa, wines, spirits, fruits, and spices have all been
in improved demand."

In the first place, we repeat that this increase
may be accidental. We have experienced a very
open spring throughout Europe; and produce of
all kinds has come forward early. The prices pay-
ing in our market for cotton have caused that raw
material to be poured in upon us in increased quan-
tities. Thus in the month ended April sth this year,
we received of cotton 884,113 cwts. against 261,821
cwts. in 1850, or more than three times the quan-
tity. Surely the Times does not mean to argue
that such a chance circumstance is any sign of in-
creased, or assured prosperity! We have received
893,983 cwts. of silk against 498,298 cwts. in 1850.
Is that a test of the increased prosperity of the
silk manufacture ? Why, the fact has been de-
clared on the most assured authority—Messrs.
Littledale's Circular—that, in the very month when
we were receiving these large importations, the mar-
ket had

" Been marked by a want of demand for all raw and
thrown silks not known for many years previous at this
season of the year, particularly as importers and dealers
have evinced a disposition to meet the wishes of the
trade.

" Amongst the causes of the depression there has
been an inability on the part of manufacturers to sell
their goods, and a considerable falling off in the exporta-
tion of raw and manufactured silks.

" The large arrivals of China silk have been early this
season, which may in some measure account for the pre-
sent heavy stock, and prices generally have given way."
The same increased importation has taken place
with respect to the article Woo/, and from the same
causes, and with the same result also, viz., dull
markets for that article. The Baltic, and the
rivers of Europe and America, from which we re-
ceive our supplies of grain, were open unusually
early; and hence the increased imports. Surely it
cannot be said that we have, on this account, been
eating at double or treble the rate! We imported
in the month referred to 14,835,620 lbs. of Tea,
against 3,298,970 lbs. in the corresponding month
of last year. Has every man, woman, and child,
in this kingdom, been drinking above four times
his, or her, usual quantity f We imported double
the quantity of Tobacco ; and we are not aware
that the smoker has had a pipe or a cigar the more
for it. The whole argument attempted to be based
upon the increase of imports in any particular
month, or any particular quarter, over another, is
absurd and worse—it is mendacious. The Times'
writer knows well, besides, that nearly every item
of these increased imports has arrived at a bad
market.

The same conclusion is sought to be drawn from
the increase of tonnage, both inwards and outwards,
exhibited in this return. Obviously, if more goods
have arrived in the month referred to than previ-
ously, they would require more ships to bring them.
Three times the quantity of cotton would require
three times the number of ships. And, if three
times the number of ships have been entered in-
wards, the probability is that they would have to
go outwards again, at whatever freights they could
catch. We have a proof of the extra supply this
spring of American vessels, most of which have
come out extraordinarily early, in the fact that,
notwithstanding the immense extent to which emi-
gration is going on, passages from this or any other
port were never lower. Besides, the question de-
serves to be answered,—has none of the increase
of shipping set down in the returns been employed
in bringing foreign products to the Great Exhibi-
tion ?

A SHORT while ago we noticed as a somewhat
anomalous fact that, in a community like that of
Liverpool, largely engaged as it is in the exchange
of commodities with every quarter of the globe,
there were men to he found, reputed as intelligent,
and shrewd in their dealings, by whom, if you
mooted the question of money, the instrument by
which exchanges are effected, you would be told,
with a shrug of the shoulders, that the question
was one which they had never considered and could
not understand. These gentlemen were, perhaps,
taking infinite pains to ascertain the probable
crops of cotton, corn, indigo, and other com-
modities, in order to guide them in their operations ;
but with respect to the probable " crop" of money—
its abundant or deficient supply, by which prices
are regulated, they never inquired.

We are glad to learn, however, that an oppor-
tunity is about to be afforded to the few, who are
now thus careless of their own interests, and to
the many who have become enquirers, to arrive at a
true knowledge on the subject, especially as bearing
upon the present unfortunate position of our com-
mercial and industrial interests ; and we respectfully
urge upon these parties to attend the lecture on
the subject to be given on Monday next, by Mr.
Jonathan Duncan, of London, at the Cotton
Sales Room, over which, we are glad to observe,
that Mr, F. Shand has consented to preside. The
lecture will be specially addressed to the mercantile
interest.

Two other lectures will be delivered by the same
talented gentleman at the Concert-hall on the
Tuesday and Thursday following, with special re-
ference to the true interests of the working classes.
The admission on each occasion will be gratuitous.

We beg to direct attention to an appeal to the
public, which appears in our columns to-day, from
sixty-five poor emigrants, who are left in a state of
destitution in this town by the master of a Swedish
vessel, in which they had embarked as passengers to
Buenos Ayres. The vessel, it appears, sailed on
the 4th instant ; and, after nearly wrecking all
hands, put back to Liverpool for repairs, the pas-
sengers being assured that, as soon as these were
completed, she would again proceed to sea, and in
the meantime subsisting upon the stores provided
for the voyage. Upon the ship being ready for sea,
they are informed that the captain has deserted
her, upon whom whilst here was their only legal
claim for the expenses of their detention, the
government agent, Lieut. Hodder, whose kindness
on all such occasions is well known, advising them
that, the vessel itself, being a foreign one, the law
has no control over her. Under these circumstances,
and as it requires a sum totally beyond their means,
having been robbed of their all, to enable them to
proceed to their destination, they appeal to the
public ; and announce that Lieut. Hodder has con-
sented to receive subscriptions in their behalf.
Now it is true that the law cannot interfere even
in a case so flagrant as this ; and it is, at the same
time, lamentable that, under our present arrange-
ments with foreign countries, similar frauds upon
the most unprotected of our own countrymen may
become things of every day occurrence. Surely the
legislature, which has opened our ports to these
foreign ships, ought to insist that, with respect to
emigrant ships, the sufferers shall be provided
with an efficient remedy. A hint conveyed from
the Foreign-office might be very effectual in ensu-
ring this. But we despair of any such decided
step on the part of the present government.

On Sunday, after sermons in St. Jude's Church, by
the Rev. J. B. Lowe and F. Barker, the sum of £42 was
collected in aid of the schools.

The preparations for the experimental proof of the
earth's rotation at the Sailors' Home, according to Mr.
Foucault's discovery, are rapidly progressing.
The Earl of Derby, Lord Lieutenant of this county
has appointed James Bourne, Esq., of Heathfield-house
and James Heald, Esq., to be deputy lieutenants.

ST. THONfAS' CHURCH SCHOOLS.—After a most elo-
quent sermon by the Rev. Dr. M`Neile, on Sunday even-
ing, in which he appealed with great earnestness on behalf
of the children of the poor who crowd our streets in this
densely populated district, exposed to crime and its con-
sequences—the sum of £4l 17s. was collected in aid of
these schools. The rev. gentleman urged those present
to enable the committee to erect a permanent school to
meet the requirements of the neighbourhood. He hoped
that the owners of property not resident in the neighbour-
hood would respond to the appeal; and that the tradesmen
and others resident in the district would aid to their ut-
most, that the wants of the poor children Ray he supplied.

COMMERCIAL AND MONETARY NEWS.

Monday Night.

The advices from America, received to-:day, have, again
had a depressing effect. The price of cotton in the-States,'
it will be seen, had declined, and the receipts were again
on the increase. The sale of manufactured goods at. New
York was very dull, and purchases were effected at prices
which entailed a serious loss on the original producers;
and, although this was the case, there was no. prospect of
any improvement—on the contrary, prices were expected
to be still lower.

There was a moderate business in the cotton market
to-day. 3,000 hales were sold to the trade, at a id. re-
duction on Friday's prices.
The share market has been very -flat all week, with
scarcely a momentary reaction, and during the last two or
three days prices have declined considerably from a pre-
ponderance of sales. These sales have been, however,
chiefly speculative, some few only (of the more timid) of
the public having been amongst the number of sellers.
The speculators, it is said, are acting in the expectation
that the public will sell from disappointment at the traffic
rourns since the opening of the Great Exhibition. Some,
however, are of opinion that the holders of shares gene-
rally did not look for very large traffics until the latter
end of June, July, and August, and that these speculative
sellers have miscalculated their time, and will, in conse-
quence, suffer severely. The market to-day has not been
without symptoms of an inclination to rally, and there is an
evident scarcity ofstock. We annex this day 's quotations :
Aberdeen, 14; Caledonian, 144 a 14 ii 14 4 ; East Lanca-
shire, 16 151 ; Do. preference Quarters, 8 ; Old Leeds,
61 2 ; Do. Fifths, 61c1 ; London stock, 1264 7; Do. new
Quarters, 44p ; M'chester Shef and L'ccln, 321; Mid-
land, 61 2 ; Do. Halves, 14 s 131 d ; Old Dovers,
261 411 -11-. s ; York, Wewc. and Berwick unpaid-up pref.,
2d ; York and North Midland, 254 -1 Dutch Rhe-
nish, 41d ; Bank of Liverpool, 19 z ; Borough Bank, new
£lO-shares, 4 ; Gas, 188.

EXPRESS NEWS.
BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

LONDON, MONDAY NIGHT

THE LIVERPOOL MAGISTRACY.—The Globe is authorised to
state that there is no truth in the statement that the office of
Stipendiary magistrate at Liverpool has been offered and re-
fused by many gentlemen of the bar. The town council of
Liverpool have as yet made no application to the Secretary of
State to appoint a successor to the late Mr. Rushton. Until
this is done, and the amount of salary fixed, no appointments
can be made. The nomination, however, rests not with the
council but with the Secretary of State.

THE EXHIBITION.—Her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Prince
of Prussia, and the Duke of Wellington visited the Exhibition
early. The morning was gloomy and heavy rain fell during the
day, but the attendance of visitors was again large.
THE GREAT MATCH : Even on the Flying Dutchman.—
SOMERSETSHIRE STAKES : 7to 4 agst The Ban ; 4to 1 agst
Cheerful ; 10 to 1 agst Terpsichore.—DEßßY : sto 1 each agst
Teddington and Hernandez ; 12 to 1 agst Marlborough Buck ;
14 to I agst The Ban; 16 to 1 agst Prime Minister; 18 to I agst
Theseus; 20 to 1 agst Heart Breaker and Constellation; 40 to
1 agst Black Doctor and Newminister ; 50 to 1 agst Hyppolytus
and Glenhawk.—THE OAKS : 5 to 1 agst Aphrodite; 7 to 1 agst
Hesse Homburg, and 7 to 2 agst Payment.
Additional Arrivals at York.—York you're wanted, Abdallah,
Colt by Sir Hercnles out of Lantern, Knavesmire Witch, Post
Tempore, King of Trumps, Azeth, Mona's Pride, Paginitta,
Eliza Middleton, Slang, Filly by Melbourne, Miss Sasinia, and
Chantry.

ROME, 29T11.—Count Reconati, ancient Deputy of the Con-
stituent Assembly, lately arrested by the Austrians, was con-
demned to death by the Tribunal of the Consulate.
PARIS, SUNDAY.—The journal La Patrie contains a dis-
avowal of the constitutional plan for abrogating the electoral
law of May, which it regards as the standard around which
the party of order must rally. The revision of the constitution
and the fusion question are the only topics of discussion. The
funds are 15 centimes lower, being quoted 90} for England.
ST. PETERSBURG, MAY 2.—A steamer has to-day, for the
first time, made the passage from Cronstadt to town. There
is no ice to be seen to the westward of Cronstadt.