The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-05-02 00:00:00

wields certainly, in the main, for the advantage
of the town, the maintenance of its churches and
charitable institutions, and for the various im-
provements and adornments which, from time to
time, are called for; the other,—the dock trust,
with a still larger income, which it expends in in-
creasing the dock space of the port, and in reduc-
tions, from time to time, of its charges upon
commerce and shipping. The very mode in which
the income of these two bodies is laid out—im-
provement of the town, or extension and cheapen-
ing of dock accommodation tends to attract

seeking employment, and to make the port of
Liverpool the gate of egress from the redundant
population of Great Britain and Ireland, to our
colonies, and to transatlantic countries. This port
is also the key for the Irish harvestmen and
labourers to the northwestern counties of England
and the manufacturing districts. And it is a well-
known fact, that many of these arrive on our quays
in a state of destitution ; many have to be main-
tained here in sickness; and multitudes to be
passed home as paupers. Yet all these burthens
have to be borne, not by the rate-payers of the
municipal borough of Liverpool._ who have the
control of the property of the burgesses, nor by
the constituencies, by whom the dock committee is
returned, but by the rate-payers of the parish of
Liverpool alone ; whilst neither of these two
wealthy and powerful bodies contribute a farthing !
There is something here evidently wrong and
evidently unjust ; and what is worse, the wrong
and the injustice are increasing every day. We
are now about getting an act of parliament to
authorise the dock committee to abstract from the
parish of Liverpool rateable property rented at
£60,000 a year, for dock and warehouse space,
with no certainty of such property contributing

We have

henceforward to our parochial revenue
been doing this for years past ; and every sucL
abstraction.increases in an inverse ratio the burthens
of the Liverpool rate-payers. We are driving by our
increased rates the population from some of our best
streets, into the suburban districts. Not within me-
emory have there been so many houses to be seen
throughout the town placarded " to be let," as at pre-
sent. And some, we have no hesitation in saying,
will never again be let in separate dwellings ; but
let off in rooms or floors, to working people, non-
rate-payers, the former occupants of the cellars and
courts, which we have found it necessary to our
safety to pull down. Here will arise a further
drain upon the resources of those—shopkeepers,
professional men, and others—whose avocations
equire them to reside in the centre of
which, however, will defeat itself, for a
vast mass of such people cannot at the present
moment bear their present burthens.

imperatively

We shal! doubtless be asked " how will you get
at the dock estate, to tax it at all ?" And we shall
be reminded that such taxation would be absurd,
inasmuch as we should thus tax the property of

the burgesses for the relief of the burgesses. We
say as to the first question, only this, that, where
there is a will to act justly, there is a way. With
respect to the second share of the objection, we
say at once—" No ! there is no absurdity in the
case." We are not seeking to tax the property of
the burgesses for the relief of the burgesses. We
are only asking those burgesses to have some little
consideration for the rate-payers of Liverpool, who
are unjustly burthened by the very circumstances

which are enhancing the value of the property of
the other townships, which form with Liverpool

the munic

it boro-ugh

_,
objection may,

and probably will, be

As considerable interst is attached to the result of the
experiments now in progress to ascertain the actual yield
of the wells sunk by the late Water Companies, Ns e have
endeavoured to obtain some information as to how the
inquiry is progressing. We learn that so far the calcu-
lations have been confined to the wells of the Harrington
Company, in the Pnrk, in Copperas-hill, and in Soho-
street, and that the yield of these three is found to be
nearly, if not quite, equal to the supply which, we believe,
Mr. Hawksley calculated would be obtainable from all the
resources of that company ; whilst the wells of the same
proprietary at Windsor and Bevington Bash remain yet to
be tested. We are informed that the three wells we have
mentioned are capable of yielding almost two million gal-
lons a day. •

The precise figures will shortly be laid before the
Council, and that body will, no doubt, come to such a
decision upon them as the necessities of tha town require.

The Niagara,—another of the splendid steam-ships be-
longing to the British and North American Company,—
arrived in the river yesterday, from Greenock.
SUDDEN DEATH.—On Sunday night, Jahn Bell, aged
40, who lodged at No. la, Hockenhall-alley, went to bed
quite well, and had never complained of ailment. He was
found dead in bed next morning. '

AWFULLY SUDDEN DEATH.—ADM Taylor, aged 51,
a servant to Mr. Christopher H. Jones, silversmith,
Castle-street, and whose residence is in Everton, com-
plained for some time past of pain in her side, and diffi-
culty of breathing. On Sunday, she was left alone in the
kitchen, and on the return of another of the servants in
a few minutes, she was found lying on the floor quite
dead.

BAZAAR IN PRESTON.—On Wednesday, Thursday, and
Friday next, a bazaar will take place in Preston, under
the patronage of all the distinguished ladies of the town
and neighbourhood, in aid of the funds-for the completion
of All Saints' Church, in that town. It will be held in
the Corn Exchange-rooms, and will be graced by all the
fashion and beauty which prevail in that district. Great
preparations have been made for the event, and we hope
that a large sum will be realised on the occasion.
ACCIDENT AT GEORGE'S PIER.—EXTRAORDINARY
ESCAPE.—On Sunday evening, shortly after five o'clock,
Robert Auld, (a pattern-maker, of Chester, who had for-

merly worked kor years at Messrs.. Bury & Co.'s Foundry
in this town), was in the act of descending the temporary
wooden stairs leading to the large landing stage, and had
got down only six steps, when his heel caught the edge
of a step and he was turned round, precipitated over the
outside of the stairs, and fell upon the deck of the flat
below, a depth of about 16 feet at that time of the tide.
He was picked up quite insensible by a police officer and
assistant and did not appear to breathe until the cab in
which he was placed had got half-way to the Northern
Hospital. He was there attended to, and ina short time

recovered so far as to s

Strange to say he only complained of a pain in the left
groin, and was found to have sustained no injury beyond
a few bruises,—though all. who witnessed the accident
concluded that he' was killed on the spot. The steps
alluded to are dangerous from their steepness, and ought

to be reconstructed, or in some way protected, if months
are yet to be expended in fixing the two intended pon-
derous bridges, which are to span the space between the
quay and the monster landing stage.
_ _ .

HISTORIC SOCIETY.—We understand that this society,
which has not yet come formally before the public, but
has had a practical existence since the end of last autumn,
has a prospect of unusual popularity and usefulness. Al-
•

ready donations have been received ; and several collec-
tors of antiquities, manuscripts, curiosities, objects of
natural history, and other articles illustrative of the two
palatine counties, have promised to place their stores at
the disposal of the society. In the neighbourhood of
Manchester, and in various parts of Cheshire, the litho-
graphed circular has been read with great enthusiasm ;
and among the adhesions already received are those of
many of the peers and baronets connected with the two
counties, knights bachelor, knights of the shire, borough
members, magistrates, clergy, lawyers, &c. Our late
venerable diocesan felt much interest in the subject, but
lie received the circular on the day that his official con-
nexion with the district was broken, and just as he was
summoned to London. An interesting fact connected

with those whose names are already received, is, that
more than twenty are men of letters, and favourably
known to the public in various departments of authorship.
Among the clergy who have expressed a willingness to
hinful and Rev. Chancellor

are the Wor

1 Institution School.