The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-05-09 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have not a single copy of the STANDARD CODtailling
report of the Education Meeting.
The letter of " A Ratepayer and Sufferer" we will hand It;
the Watch Committee, who will no doubt inquire into t
circumstances

___--.-

Ebt Etberpool otateratlf.

TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 9, 1843.

We were prepared to see the government measure'
announced by Sir Robert Peel, fall short of that which
we have been in the habit of advocating as a measure
for " Church Extension." We were prepare& accord'
ing to the declaration of the right honourable baronet'
wade a few weeks ago, to find that the aid of the state
would be confined strictly to the endowment of ad'e
ro
tional ministers in popular districts, leaving the p-
viding of churches to the voluntary efforts of church;
men. It will be seen, however, from the exposition °'
the views of government by Sir Robert Peel on FridaY
evening, that the boon accorded, under the name of
Church Extension, does not reach even thus far' it
stops short of the recognition, by Parliament, of t"-n
principle that it is the imperative duty of the state t.;
provide for the spiritual education of the people;
proposes to afford no precedent for future and better
days, and is no more in effect—so far, at all events, 3
regards its principle—than an extension of the hither")
limited powers of the Ecclesiastical Commission.
An explanation of the plan of Sir Robert Peel will
best illustrate this position. The Ecclesiastical Cow'
mission, it will be rernembered,'was established wit
power, out of the surplus revenues of the Church—V
the suppression of canonries, prebendal stalls, thesioec
or quasi sinecure rectories, &c.)—to provide for o
adequate payment of a certain ill-remunerated 101%
of the parochial clergy, Against the propriety of stic._
a work there can be few to except ; and up to t ill;
time it will be found that considerable progress h..s,
been made in the removal of the glaring inadequacy
of the provision for the maintenance of the clergy'
in many districts of the country. The most preson;
evil, however, complained of by the advocates
iv
Church Extension, was to be found in the more p°Phe,
lous manufacturing districts, where it was not
existn;
mere act of increasing the remuneration of the
cl fu
lergy which was required—not the providing 0f 11_,(3,1g
the
livings of £3O to £4O per annum, with additional
—but the erection of additional churches, an-a
ta
endowment of additional livings, where the elis,ebe
means of religious instruction were inadequate. to
Ecclesiastical
Commissioners contemplated justicisle
the working parochial clergy • the Church Extensi°ll
' contemplated justice to the people! e
For the latter object the accruing means at the
posal of the Commissioners were inadequate' ; 601
could eflect nothing beyond a gradual aPPrO)I3I.-; the
of their funds to the purposes contemplated•
measure now proposed, however, the toacillitvis - con-
their hands is rendered presently effective. 'ning re-
templated to enable them to forestal their accr-nn loan
venue, to the amount of £600,000, to be taken;oted,
from the Queen Anne's Bounty Fund, and 14i
e g
of
at the rate of £30,000 per annum, to the Prcy",t-villiere
additional ministers in those populous districts
led by
spiritual destitution most prevails. It is calculattn-r ra'
thei Premier that, with this aid from the state `:1; be
t front the Church itself) private efforts rvillioreh
sufficiently powerful and active to provide t
accommodation ; and that at all events ruff' more
be effected to serve as an encouragement aby the
di
rect. effort, at some future period, to be made
state.
I e Pr°'
We are quite willing to admit the value of t
esti el
posed measure as far as it goes, and the sound"d our
some of
f its details; nay, we are ready to acc°' Still
hearty thanks to government in return for it'
to be
we cannot but see its insufficiency for the evil with
with, and one serious injury, atleast,to $
which it is pregnant. It provides, certainly'
op"'
limited extent, for the destitution of the densely Ph, the
fated and wealthy manufacturing districts; but rove'
meantime what becomes of the progressive itnrin the
ment which the Commissioners were effecting
d Vie",
conditionf of the clergy in the neglected al"' -i,soleer'
It applies an insufficient remedy for the gig' with;
but
-rich the state alone was capable of graPPliring t Pre'
nit in the meantime—so far at least as we ca-i at
a
sent understand of its proposed working--it `deeeplr
hundred minor sores to fester and irritate into
ce clue
seated wounds. In short, it sacrifices the ilisti.ch the
to the working clergy—the sole plea by %villa her
Church Was induced to consent to the diversion and
revenues—to, what we fear we must call, the 14".
liners of the state. *toati°ll
It is with pain that, in the degree of our esti who
of this bill, we are compelled to differ from 60111Civeg to
opinions we value. We cannot bring 0011e,tate'
.tview With satisfaction the feeling which has PrfLoods of
s author to resort to the already-insuffieient tit* to
resort it is
the Church itself for aid, instead of at once
the funds at the disposal of the state, whose (111„Yie---$
to provide for the spiritual wants of the Pe'''.
ort of
course
majorityln whichof pa
he would have
and of
avereceiveadathoevesrlaWktflog
the
appropriated from the revenues of
majority of the people. Sir Robert says that 0 all
the Cittirca lare,
encouragement to voluntary contributions, an. ens,
sum also derived from individual con
prove of greater service than a sum reluctantly of the
porti°lled will'
people." the house, and reluctantly paid by a
people." We believe Sir Robertan
respect to the alleged " reluctance" of the pe°cP_.,o3ol6
of
_.°ll'-ict, the
itself. ever it may be with respect to the House
Noise and clamour, such as that by wattaotedo
.educational measure of government has heeu
enttire t.),
we dare v
with thi
is not the voice of the people ; and
say. that for every ten men who are pleased
at prinevo
timid and hesitating half assertion of a Britain f
ple, there are a hundred throughout Great I"corient
would have hailed with delight the ann°ull
a measure, which promised more promptly 3••vers3'
y to probe to the root of so 01
ciousl
for the manufacturing masses.
admitted as is that of the want of spiritualbfourtrolotieea:.,:ot,ev,
atiall/11
100 tto
We would not for a moment seem to t resPce
upon the expectations of government, with by
by V 011.111,;
thet extent to which their plan will be aide We °Ds
Y contributions on the part of the pe°Ple. Lilt it i 6
that it •
buildi"few
littleti ungracious in the Premier to
will be so aided, and liberally
wrheefuture upon the' exertions of the Past o°4.
n a return so insufficient is held out for ther u.
n"" 4°l
tions• According to his own statistics the8 froto t
new churches consecrated in the eight years the eige,
to 1808 was 20 only ; the number M icleoC
A ev tha
Her- 00 ,
years from 1835 to 1842 was 5 ! d 04• hoy
it is true, of a vast amount of energ
indeed Wig" 'ill
part of churchmen. They have fear they
moved in the great work ; but we muc
rate s°lllel &Alt
be inclined now to require from the 8
ider
one,
too ;.subores for
more than this flattering pat on the eera .
ons dt3
them by the minister. The hulk of these c verY
• the et,
place in affe
be it remembered, have taken
they
to 000
tricts which his present measure is proP°B re, A
y ve-'
and how vastly insufficient in 00
we look at the amount of destitution to whop'
we need not say ; but have not those, u,
number tbf.e
reto

ittio iiii Amount of individual ki4 has n s lia Cantrie
ilill
"Uted, 4 right to expect, from a minister who admits
b4te Y the duty of the state to lead the way in Church
Ingion, at least the prac:ical recognition of that
duty? We think they have; and, moreover, we fear
thatvii in many of the districts most requiring aid, indi-
ual munificence will be found to hare done its
utmost.
W
hastye have not space at present for more than these
a't`i first
cannot impressions as to this measure ; but we
omit noticing one of its features, to which we
trust accor
o d our entire satisfaction. It is the intention
ef governme
en in nt, we perceive, not to withhold clergymen
el places where churches do not as yet exist. In
i'lry respect this is gratifying; but the more particu-
-07 LB°, 411 Nye trust that it is significant of the firmness
~._tile government with respect to the proposed mea-
"Re're of education. It was rightly suggested by the
Education McNeile, at the late meeting in behalf of the
additional BA that additional schools would require
~, "at ministers to see to their religious teaching;
b'euut here
we have a guarantee that these ministers will
1,. 11.rnished, as
-,i dissent' Well as that we are not to be deprived
rewired to
11'9 clamour of the field upon which they are
labour.

;neeWe are prepared to acknowledge the vast import-
::tlt' 10 Great Britain, of her commercial and menu-
inif interests. We admit the inevitable neces.-
_",Y under Which, as a nation, we are thrown, to main-
that
t'illti those interests in a healthy condition ; and to
of
toper
at' 44: far as is practicable with the prosperity
; trePortatit
interests, no impediment be suffftereeidr atr "41° ht the way of the full development o br:"th.
th tut when we are asked to prostrate othert
as ,z 1 —es at th feet of the manufacturing interes
sole
_ the are askew
ttiletiPendenc; by
1 8 taCitly ofaclltibte corn-law repeaters ; to risk the
nation upon a power which, they
, , cannot exist, without being pamin-
P_.7'eci with tne rain of class after class embarked
otot..nber 1)441148 _
we
; are bound to take care thisthdatcon.
talkie e'favoured interest is internally sound,
h within itself no elements hostile to the moralnn and
aPrnYsleal welfare, or to the peace of the community,
et! °ll4Bt Which it claims to be established in absolute
_
IlliPterercacy. Te
Ai prosperous manufactures, or anu
the
pro,iti c°rntserce, are good at all, they are good as
If 'leers of national happiness and national power.
~o wealth be a national good, it is so only when fencedit
~owed by the love of the masses amongst whom
ter
keicistl) and used for the amelioration of the character
eiiii Condition of those masses. But wealth, mrnmbe-
i:d_l; uanufacturing, or agricultural, is valueless,
dse unstable as water, if surrounded by an insurgent,.stru.
41 ernoralised, or a starving people ;
in
lue-
leselltalitY bY Which such wealth is produced is '
and the
d e less
i.
f c°-existent With the growth of crime and a the
oraion, mora, intellectual, and physical, of the
btlulan race
~tame
so
11te important branches of the manufacturuinng.
h: t of Great Britain are thus valueless and. e
of
will scarcely be denied, after the experience
stiff past Year, and the exposures of vice and
~ Tering, attendant upon their existence, which
the
recentt
ratuatnentary documents have brought before
b.
pub
hlij
eye, We Pointed, in an article upon the stuin tet';,,ast week, to a few of the circumstances, affecting
Ur Jevenile classes, attendant upon the lace ma.d
and
awf" °f this country. We sheaved the rapi
andul deterioration taking place amongst those classes;faets
jilt, we propose now to disclose a few further
the
6yasttrative of the absolutely
eaetil'
AUP" which L murderous character of
is
that particular manufacture
corded, 'rl ; and from these to point to a few obvious
,
nelusions,
!earryie tt
act_
in,_
allugra:teurcease of the population employed in the
dray ,
mg, ' " threading,"
from childhood (when engaged in
or
it/la:tore years, we me to that of the embroidery of
" winding") up to their
which is carried on Principally by young women,
and, to
ployme some
extent, by
lit the hours of labour the labour
married women. In this ern-
_
itselfirl.s
.extensi
long ;
vely
, productive of diseases of various
,s d , and the remuneration wretched in the extreme.
41%,,,r0a c"sequence, one
Witness informed the Children's
„,_ Pl°Yrnent Committee that the young women em-
ss.eawr.Yed, unable fro 4totle of life, In their wages to procure the nece h
" almost all became prostitutes, though
refers 'unit/ion streetwalkers." And another witness
il to li. rernark made to her by a large capitalist
4°l skis had been lamenting the cruel privations
heto
to
tempie ,a verY clever and not ill-looking girl, whom.
to
1)d as a " lace runner," was obliged,
tart. nadequate remuneration, to submit. " I am very
owing
tliatY 44' her, observed this worthy, "but the fact is,he
~,,,,ta lace runner
cannot live by lace running, and
Aer c-,g,)°„" the town (7.) as others have gone before
'Now'
thin'pause for an instant and look at the state of
be kßthil here eahibited. The lace trade is admitted to
it o,.;°tlgst the leading branches of our manufactures
illeentliiPies a large amount of the manual labour of our
ill a d e PoPulation ; and here we have it proved that,
ato,t4eParttnent of it requiring consummate skill i
etbpiotrYing to the bodily frame, the young females
out tje,d " cannot live" by their labour, but must eke,
five haeir scaraY earnings by the wages of prostitutionf.
ficielit ve heard of a state of things, in which the insud
111) etitretnuueration of agricultural labour was made
but ati of the poor-rates, and that was bad enough
f;
‘vage, Ykthing more revolting than this eking out o
be , 'Y the sacrifice of female chastity is scarcely to
uric.:
A 'iVed
; lit the
.
41 thiti "udition of the married female employed
IVe are of the lace manufacture—what is it?
telltale: informed by the report before us that such
4041 b who are mothers become not only incapable,f
attemi qilY Weakness and constant occupation, o
te the co t° their domestic affairs, but are even driven
hildre—ttbission of systematic murder of their infant
lingha°' One witness examined, a chemist in Not-
('odfte4)„' asserts—ghat the practice of administering
the 4100:' Cordial and Laudanum is commenced by
their 'hers ill three four weeks after the birth of
lit childre or .
'be, o. 11, and i 5 continued, if the children should
the , two , ,
ft4eY at Years. I Ile majority, however, die before
111 ‘l'l ILtilt age (!) The laudanum is given to still
for ), ',' . me mothers are working." The coroner
io ottt e
eatt,,
.4.0
ng
" aril
states—but we will give his evidence
tle h
I'letlt% ook.s held," he said, " a considerable number of. i.n-
tt4tioo oi Volts, who have died suddenly from the adminis-
4ett -`
°Pion in sotneorreor other. Believes that in the
tr
‘erri4jority of
: to k these cases the laudanum has been given in
tees thst
tekel) the infants quiet. The excuse has frequently
,: had
,s_ge
.ntother was obliged to adopt this plan becauseedin
Bwikrlc
l'ioaitime to attend to the child, being eng,a.ngfants,
Z4i:l, fAcit,
t4:trono reason to believe thahteldmai
Perishi y
more
etiti:ret4.ll:ricier:l7:_°:ihwel7ansdnitih'neisitrriauteixo.l:t aofre. laudanum. Has
thiic Pit ~,,I,° going. to a house to hold an inquest on
elptreo
or
the sand
nad died from laudanum, that other young
ish• ,oe, ah,,ssroe parent had a peculiar vaca.nt. and
Nie' coori," 1/50 countenance and emaciation of body,
led b "ced Witness, from his experience of the effects
east l' the aut
virti owed to t, ern, that these children also. had been ac-
4, ea ha- beenge Ilse of laudanum ; and on inquiry this con-
tt h ' confirmed by the parents.
444 41e!toe to h. ,_ , in
ence of inquiries
%.,: elprele_ . is anowiedge, consequence Llt:'rey,,,
ent`dYist? ascertain the fact, that a large quantity of
4i).!ltiired hi_ I..is preparedre in this town.. One druggist
one year,
ceen
ot.:u. that has made up bimseiA. I"
is
it 04,ed
of
trrediveiph, _ ...
. of treacle into cordial,
,which
tp.4lranat
._ eacie and dissolved opium. Godfrey 's cordial
ko‘tlee Of'44,tire.l! eehstuned by infants. Knows that the
that effitaciolirein.stering pure laudanum to infants, as being
of 4,•the comic
slid the cordial, is very prevalent. Knows
ev_ alh, an, . od laudanum are given to infants on the
14'4. ke: that even it is prepared in readiness for that
;,,fr'ro tliwar.„of 44 inquest lately in which death took
apps , 184 he,--use on the second or third day.
l'4reati held an inquest on an infant four months old,
Bit 9 Et c en, i .ine health child, to I the mother had
14eil,
andthe foreboo Y
,r,m
was pro-
44tiat, Ultitil,t, 1 ti, a dose. of cordial ; stupour
telpi ttiee
w.. e y, after six hours had elapsed, medical
,tv"Y v‘i,hd"tiProcured but not by the mother, whoa pPa
,(1 eed in frot,leehild to perish. By proper treatmeut, per-
ttsewas
„restored 8 P-In. until after 12 at night, the child
iot• ,ctioo 4 tu °Pen his eyes and to cry. The surgeon.
skid 8 that the child should be kept aroused and in
etie et have Cold
sr, 4 fleets h._, . water dashed on the face till thenanr-f
tot
lee
titter
t'ho stibettled. Instead of this, in a quarter
tilit,,eel) aort di! surgeon left, the infant was allowed to sink
111,444, that ,:iit The medical attendant, Mr. Wilstohne,
tetoeld.
41,‘ 100 that the
~,4. the 04 w tention to the directions given to
(mid have recovered.witness's
It
was
to 111"-
k I.44ter :
t, e ease against the mother amounted _ a
ing
o,:'!e dote "
_ .!eordiet ivas, ' Died in consequence of
mother.'
~
etii,
ascertain,,ioq,dry,°rti Godfrey cordial administered by the m h r
iNtilireo ha
d
other
d that beside this one, four b
a_
k I.> fro— leg auddenly, of whom one was killed by an
isl"
sot k el 4 Cart •
,lieirp , , the causes of death in the other case
;`p,,,,,
' Pre
."Ing that some two or three millions an-

nu4i)y art, #1340 to th tstovit of our nati4piA
this inannfactupof lace,--two or three millionfg distri-
buted in a very few hands, whilst the workers are
pressed down so close to the brink of famine that they
thus become the absolute murderers of their own otf-
spring—can we as a Christian people, value wealth so
acquired ?—is such a system, we ask, productive of
such results, one into a dependence upon which we
would deliberately plunge an additional portion of our
industrial community ? The answer of every right-
minded man will be an indignant "No I" As the lace
manufacture is at present carried on, such a consum-
mation, it is manifest, cannot for an instant be contem-
plated. This, at least, is not one of those manufac-
turing employments which are capable of absorbing the
surplus labour of the agricultural districts, unless it
can be thought a desirable object to submit the infant
portion of that surplus to a process of speedy and tor-
turing extinction. Rather give us absolute serfdom in
the pure air and the healthful employments of agricul-
ture—rather the Worst paid drudgery of the farm or the
highways—rather let our population be sent to dig
holes and fill them up again—than plunge them into
the hovels or the streets of Nottingham and Leicester,
reeking as they are with vice, and stained as their em-
ployments are with the blood of murdered infants.

We are told, indeed, than an ultra free-trade policy
will give prosperity to this and other similar trades ;
that it will give cheap bread and full employment to the
workers. Phis may or may not be. But granting the
former, for the sake of argument, what is the prospect
offered ? More food it is true for all—for o time—
until the increased amount of labour attracted to the
market brings down the wretched pittance paid as
wages (and upon which those employed cannot live
without the extraneous aid of prostitution) to its present
relative proportion to the price of the necessaries of
life ! An increased demand for labour; but what la-
bour? I PANT LABOUR? More "drawers" to
wear away their infant health and strength in dreary
toil from sunrise to midnight—more " threaders,"
more " winders," to fill the streets of our manufac-
turing towns with juvenile profligacy—more " lace
runners," who cannot subsist upon their unaided earn-
ings—more mothers stained with the revolting crime
of infanticide! This is the state of things which we
are urged to extend in this Christian land, and which
we do extend at every step which we take in the direc-
tion of free trade, without the path being first cleared
of the impurities which deform and defile it.
We are progressing towards the extension of these
plague spots upon the frame of society. We are pro-
gressing in the extension of our ill-regulated manufac-
turing system ; and it is but too apparent, now, that
we must continue in such progress. But this, we con-
tend, is the imperative duty of a paternal government
before voluntarily taking a step further. A powerful
and caustic curative must be applied to the system it-
self. Infant labour throughout every branch of our
manufactures must be emancipated ; and we see, there-
fore, with pleasure that it is the intention of Sir James
Graham to extend the provisions of his factory bill to
the children employed in the lace manufacture. The
state must do its duty, not only rs an educating power,
but as a parent to its people. And should it even be
as the result of such a policy—over which "liberalism"
(the mammonism of the present age) would doubtless
grieve—that such branches of our manufactures as that
of lace would thereby receive " a heavy blow and great
discouragement"—sl►ould no longer be able to exist in
the race of competition with which it would be met by
the foreign manufacturer ;—we can contemplate with
far more equanimity the entire loss of such a manufac-
ture, and the transfer of the capital and labour em-
barked in it to some other branch, by the wages and
profits of which adults can exist awl females be per-
mitted to retain their innocence and purity, than the
further extension, or even the existence, in its present
shape, of a system so unnatural and revolting.

Our good Mercury—more power to him !—has dis-
covered a mare's nest ; nay, a real and astounding case
of grievance ! It appears that, at this particular mo-
ment, there exists in Liverpool a more than ordinary
demand for warehouse accommodation. So, at least,
says our contemporary ; and, for anything that we
know, he may be as well informed upon this as he is
upon all other subjects. Our merchants are actually
puzzled as to the whereabouts to bestow their accumu-
lated commodities ; and, if we may credit the moving
picture presented to us, are in about ab pitiable a plight
as a community of laying hens afflicted with a scarcity
of nests. In this emergency, and, as a last resource,
their attention has been directed to those pretty and
most convenient buildings, which ornament the west
side of Prince's Dock, and, if we remember right, were
intended for " transit sheds ;" but, on application for
the use of these commodious premises, it has been dis-
covered that the Dock Committee are empowered to
charge, for the most limited period of occupancy, a
month's rent, and now comes the mare's nest and the

appalling grievance !
There exists in this town, notwithstanding the pre-
sent deficiency, a considerable amount of warehouse
property; and this, like most other property, has ow-
ners, and is represented in our council. Ergo, it must
be these warehouse owners who have originated the
oppressive clause in the act of parliament, which pro-
vides that the transit sheds shall not be made use of,
as a merely temporary expedient upon terms which
cannot by any possibility be profitable to the public
estate. Such is at least is the conclusion of the Mer...
cure. The warehouse owners (Mr. Birkett being one)
are labouring under the weight of Whig-Radical displea-
sure ; and upon their heads, of course, must be visited all
the opprobium, just or unjust, which Whig-Radical
journalism and mercurial wisdom can foster upon
them !

Of course, we cannot presume to have an opinion in
opposition to such an authority. There are one or two
queries, however, which we should much like to have
answered. 'We are told that this obnoxious clause was
foisted into the bill by the influence of the warehouse
interest. By what sort of conjuration, we ask, was
this effected ? We always imagined that local bills
were pretty smartly watched ; and we have never heard
that warehouse owners had any peculiar facilities for
mystifying either a Committee cf the House of Com-
mons, or that very keen-sighted nobleman, Lord
Shaftesbury. The most important query, however,
which strikes us is, whether the alleged grievance dis-
covered is a grievance at all ! We are told that it is
hard that merchants are to be charged a month's rent
for a day's occupation. Why, what a forced issue is
this ? 'What merchant warehouses goods for a day,
or what owner of property would he at the trouble of
opening his warehouse doors for a day's rent ? Under
ordinary circumstances a month may be too long a
time to charge for; but let it be borne in mind that these
sheds were built for a particular purpose,—were in-
tended to be in some respects penal in their operation,
and, however, those parties, fur whose use they were
contemplated in their original destination as " transit
sheds," may have cause to complain, most assuredly
men have little such cause who voluntarily seek their
accommodation.

In the meantime, however, we must congratulate
our contemporary upon his cleverness. Few men
could make so much out of such small materials.

The sack and sugar so out of all proportion to the
" halfpen'orth of cheese" in Falstaff's tavern bill, or
the " Flourish of trumpets and enter Tom Thumb,"
is nothing compared with our contemporary's achieve-
ment, and the cockcrowing with which he is announced
to the world.