The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-01-15 00:00:00

VIE Llrlltp•®L STANDARD.

THE BOSTON PACKET-SNIP PARLIAMT!..7II•:IIs fine
ship is another addition to Messrs. Train ana ~.o.'o line
of Boston and Liverpool packets. She is built of the v;',Y.T
best materials, strengthened on the most approved prin-
ciples, and is sheathed with yellow metal and copper-fas-
tened. Her length of keel is 165 feet; length on deck,
175 feet; breadth. 37 feet; and depth of hold, 221 feet.
She is finely modelled, and is calculated to carry a large
cargo, and to sail well. Her bow and stern are both fine,
and richly carved and gilded. In every point--even in
details—the vessel is extremely well formed in every re-
quisite. She is commanded by Capt. Albert Brown, long
favourably known as one of the most popular captains in
the Liverpool trade. The Parliament has made the pas-
sage from Boston to this port in 17 days, though against
frequent east winds. She is loading in Waterloo Dock.

Ithe kingdom. A sanatory bill had been got in 1846, and
this was a bill to include some amendments which had
been suggested by experience.—The Town-clerk, in reply
I tci a question, said that the pith of the present bill was
an alterafide In the mode of laying the sewer rate.—The
several clauses of the bill being read over, Mr. Thomp-
son said he objected to the bill in Coto; and should n. eve
that it be reconsidered that day sit months. lie said that
if the town had not so much money they would not be
going every November for new Acts of Parliament. lie
read a statement showing that the law and parliamentary
expenses of the Corporation for the last 15 years had been
£lll,ooo—of which £23,827 had been incurred in 1848
alone. He considered the bill a measure of pains and
penalties against all house-owners ; and that it would so
increase the present heavy local rates as to drive many
parties out of the town. He complained of the harsh
laying of rates upon small cottages.—Mr. H. Hornby
considered Mr. Thompson's conduct most strange in
moving that a bill to be considered by them in all
its clauses should be entirely withdrawn. As to the
expenses alluded to. These were solely caused by the
opposition the Council had to encounter. He concluded
by saying that if the levying of rates emptied cottage
houses, the owners might, by lowering rents, find a
remedy.—Mr. Bennett was in favour of considering all
the clauses.—Mr. Thompson said that the rents of some
houses in Rodney-street had been reduced from 80 gui-
ners to £52, and surely that was enough for Mr. Hornby.
—Mr. Thompson's motion was rejected, there being but
three hands held up for it.—A deputation of the house-
owners' was then introduced. They asked that a sub-
committee should meet them, and discuss the several
clauses, before the bill was submitted to the general com-
mittee, and retired. The request was granted ; and Mon-
day (yesterday) was appointed for the conference.
DOCK COMMITTEE.—The usual monthly meeting was
held on Thursday, Mr. Nicol in the chair. The sub-
committee of works reported that they could not recom-
mend any change in the terms for letting land for :ship-
building yards to Messrs. Brook and Mills. Mr. Lockett
thought that every accommodation should be afforded for
the ship building trade at this port, as it caused conside-
rable employment for working men ; in proof of this, he
stated that a 500 ton ship would cost, for mechanical la-
bour, &c., fully £3,500. Owing to the want of proper
accommodation here for building, many gentlemen built
ships at other places. Mr. Fisher wished to know if there
was any plan for accommodating the shipbuilders at the
north end of the town, as much labour was lost to the
town in consequence of the want of the required facilities.
There ought to be permanent ship-yards for the trade of
the port. The Chairman agreed that every facility should
be afforded for shipbuilding, but the Dock Committee not
having land unoccupied at the north end, and the land at
the south being covered with timber, no general plan
could at present be adopted. He hoped, however, that
they would be in a position soon to give the shipbuilders
better accommodation. After some further conversation
on the subject, Mr. Fisher intimated that, on an early
day, he would move that the subject of giving proper ac-
commodation to the shipbuilders be taken into considera-
tion, with a view to the adoption of some general plan ;
he saw no reason why there should not be ship-yards to
the north and a large dock for launching. Mr. Bold said
that was part of a new plan which would be brought for-
ward. The Chairman intimated that a plan of the works
to the north, now nearly completed, would shortly be
submitted. The recommendation of the committee was
confirmed. The marine surveyor submitted a statement
of the serv'ces rendered by the life-boats. The lives
saved in 1849 had been 38 ;in 1848, 17. The Secretary
read a return of the vessels that passed inwards and out-
wards through the entrances to the port, during 1848 and
1849:—Inwards, 15,003; outwards, 14.912; total inter-
course, 1849. 29,915 ; 1848, 28,998. From a recent exa-
mination of the Victoria Channel, it appeared that the
least depth of water was eleven feet. There was no other
public business.

COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION.—The soirees continue to
be fairly attended,—the oratorios drawing crowded audi-
ences. The principal soprano, Miss Taylcr, has been
labouring under severe indisposition during the week,
which greatly detracted from the success of her efforts in the
Creation. The oratorio of Judas Maccabeus is announced
for Wednesday (to-morrowl, under the conductorship of
Sir Henry Bishop. It must be acknoNidedged that Mr.
W. H. Seguin is the chief of the party. His singing in
the Creation was beyond all praise, and richly deserved
the warm applause which it received. We expect a treat
on Wednesday, from his reading of the fine bass songs in
Judas Maccabeus. The chorus, as in the Messiah, was
most efficient, and firm as a rock, and again won the ad-
miration of its eminent conductor, Sir H. R. Bishop.
The accompaniments on the organ and piano-forte have
been given by Mr. C. F. Smith in a masterly manner,
and the fine Overture to the Last Judgment, by Mr. W.
Rogers and himself, was enthusiastically applauded.
LIVERRPOOL INFIRMARY.—The annual meeting of the
trustees of the Liverpool Infirmary, Lunatic Asylum, and
Lock Hospital, was held in the Board-room of the insti-
tution yesterday morning. There were present, John
Cropper, jun., ESQ. ; James Bold, Esq. ; J. A. Tobin,
E.3q. ; Reid, Esq.; 11. Banner, Esq. ; Alfred North,
Esq., &c. John Cropper. jun., Esq., being called to the
chair, commenced the proceedings by regretting that the
president, the Earl of Sefton, was not present. He then
requested Mr. North to read the report, from which it
appeared that the number of patients in the infirmary on
the Ist January, 1849, was 187 ; admitted during the year,
2,194: total, 2,381. Discharged cured, 1,543; made out-
patients, 129 ; left at own request, 331 ; irregular, 48 ;
died, 140; patients in the house Ist January, 1850, 190;
average number of weekly patients, 189; outpatients
admitted during the year, 264 ; severe surgical cases, 651;
increase in the number of patients during the year, 143,
and a diminution in the average weekly number of 2.—
Lunatic Asylum : Patients in the house on the lstJanuary,
1849, 68; number admitted, 38: total, 106. Discharged
cured, 19; relieved, and at friend's request, 1; removed
to county asylum, 1 ; died, 11; in the house on Ist January,
1850, 70; average weekly number, 68, being a decrease
in the total number of 68.—Lock Hospital: Number of
patients in the house on the Ist of January, 1849, 42 ;
admitted during the year, 512: total, 554. Discharged
cured, 402; relieved, and at own request, 102 ; sent to the
workhouse, 1 ; to the penitentiary, 2 ; to the benevolent
house, 9; died 1; in the house, 37; average weekly number,
44. The treasurer observed that it wasimpossible to furnish
a correct statement of the financial transactions, owing to
the circumstance of the meeting being fixed at so early a
period of the year, rendering it impracticable for him to
obtain the outstanding accounts : but he might say that
they expected there would be a surplus in hand. The
annual subscriptions amounted to £2400 Gs., which
shewed a decrease of £23 11s. 6d. from last year. The
donations were £617 Os. 6d., being a diminution from the
amount of the previous year of £353 15s. Church col-
lections £B9 12s. Bd. The most rigid economy had been
practised in the management of the funds of the charity,
which had been enlarged not only by the proceeds of the
Fancy Fair, but by extra subscriptions given in conse-
quence of that occasion. This source could not be
counted on in future, and therefore the annual subscrip-
tions must be their reliance. The decrease since 1846 in
the number of subscribers was 443. A series of resolu-
tions were then passed, which appear fully in our adver•
using, columns. Included in the resolutions was a com-
plimentary one to J. B, Moore, Esq., the late mayor, and
his lady. It was agreed that the resolution should be
engrossed on vellum, and presented by Mr. Cropper and
Mr. J. A. Tobin, (the framer and composer,) and Mr. H.
Banner, on Saturday next. The total number of persons
relieved during the year at the Infirmary and Lock Hos-
pital is 2706, a fact which sufficiently demonstrates the
usefulness of these institutions to the community.

rHE CHESHIRE FERRIES AND THE SHIPPING
ON THE RIVER.

Since the regulation, by which the whole of the ferry
steamers have been brought to the large landing-stage, it
has become a matter of the first importance that the river
immediately opposite should be kept as free from obstruc-
tion as possible; and that craft of all sorts should be
moored so as to allow of the freest approach to the central
point, from which such steamers have to make their de-
parture. This desideratum, however, we have frequently
observed, is not so much studied as it ought to be. Cer-
tainly, the letter of the river regulations is 'adhered to, so
far as regards sailing vessels and large steamers being
prohibited from anchoring inside the buoys, which mark
the space set apart for the ferry steamers ; but they are
very frequently moored in places very inconvenient for the
boats both north and south approaching or leaving the
stage. The Dublin mail-boat, tor example, is often an-
chored directly in the course of the Woodside steamers;
a fleet of tug boats have to he threaded by the Birken-
head, Tranmere, and Rock Ferry boats ; and the Sea-
combe and Egremont boats have to go out of their course
to get clear of vessels waiting to get into George's Basin
to be docled in Prince's or George's Dock. The want of
.ome stringent regulations on this head was most severely
felt during the heavy fog of Monday week ; and indeed
on other days during the past week. On Monday, when
it was with difficulty that any obstruction could be dis-
cerned at a distance of a boat's length, the Seacombe
boats had to thread their way through fi%e or six inward-
hound sailing vessels, anchored close to George's Dock
Basin, very conveniently for themselves, as economizing
the cost of haulage into dock as soon as the tide served,
but most dangerous to passengers to and from Seacombe.
But for extreme caution on the part of Messrs. Parry's
men, an accident must have occurred, as but one of the
vessels in questien—a foreigner—rung a bell during the
day or showed an efficient light at. night. We are not
precisely aware what particular officer it is to whom we
ought to look for a remedy of the present state of things.
We think, however, that it ought to be remedied at once.
It is dangerous enough to cross the river at all amidst
such a fog as that of Monday week, and to run the chance
of contfict with vessels under sail, without having to incur
the further danger of threading through vessels anchored
close to the landing-stage, and directly in the way.
We may add, that an efficient landing-stage for the
large steamers is imperatively required. The late altera-
tion of the small stage for the purpose of accommodating
these steamers is only a makeshift, and is unworthy of
such a port as Liverpool. The stage in question is barely
sufficient for the luggage-boats of the river.

THE EMIGRATION OF 1849 FROM LIVERPOOL

We gave, in our publication of this day fortnight, a
statement of the number of persons who had emi-
grated from this port during the past year. We have now
before us the authorised report, of which the following
are the details. The total emigration for the year was the
extraordinary number of 153,902 persons. Of this num-
ber 147,745 went to the United States, 4,630 to British
North America, 141 to the West Indies, 81 to Western
Africa, 46 to the tape of Good Hope, 13 to Hong Kong.,
and 673 to Australia. The whole were conveyed in 565
vessels, only 11 of which sustained damage, and but one,
the Caleb Grimshaw, burnt at sea, attended with loss of
life. Five of them met with accident before leaving the
Mersey, one off the coast of Ireland, and another off
Ardrossan. The passengers in these cases were forwarded
in other ships. Such a small amount of casualities speaks
volumes in favour of the emigration regulations, and the
class of vessels employed in the trade from the port of
Liverpool.

THE BANK OF FRANCE,
AND PAPER VERSUS GOLD.

It is now an acknowledged fact, that nothing so power-
fully contributed to the restoration of order in France,
after the expulsion of Louis Philippe, as the issue by the
Bank of France of 450,000,000 of francs, subsequently in-
creased to 525,000,000, guaranteed by the republic, to re-
place the specie which the panic had withdrawn from cir-
culation. It was the unemployed ouviers of Paris who
overthrew the monarchy ; and the same bodies throughout
the departments were relied upon to establish the domina-
tion of the socialists and red republicans. The action upon
the currency, and the creation of a mass of paper money to
supply the place of the specie exported, or hoarded, saved
the republic and Europe from universal convulsion. In-
dustry was employed ; and the sanguinary demagogues,
whom revolution had aved to the surface of society, were
left without tools to work out their monstrous theories,
and crushed with scarcely an effort. _ _

The operation, at the present moment, of the system
resorted to in order to meet the emergency, is most in-
structive; and ought to be well weighed as going far to
solve one of the most important problems presented by
the aspect of society in this country : viz., the tendency
of wealth accumulating in the hands of a few, whilst the
masses are sinlcing in the social scale. La Reforme—a
paper which expresses the views of the republican party in
France—regards the return to a pure metallic currency as
" a return to the monarchy and the reign of brokerage
and usury," whilst a paper money, well regulated, binds
the people:to the:government and the institutions, by
w ich it is guaranteed. Our French contemporary says
of the idol of the Jones Loyds and Sir Robert Peels of
France :

" Specie accumulates more and more in the cellars of the
Bank ; as a sign of exchange, it has, more than ever, a marked
tendency to become useless ; this is a fact that we announce
with pleasure ; to those of our friends who might be frightened
at seeing some days the value of more than 2,000,000 f. rendered
utterly sterile for France, we will intimate that of this capital
not a single centime will be lost, and that considered as mer-
chandise, we shall always have the resource of employing gold
and silver for the various purposes of industry. Money—for-
merly the absolute monarch of the circulation—at a later
period attacked in the exercise of this privilege, first by the
creation of the bill of exchange, the spontaneous expression of
liberty, and afterwards by that of banknote, the anticipated
formula of equality—now seeks to maintain its ancient sove-
reignty by means of a sort of constitutional compromise, the
only object of which is to turn the use of paper money to its
own exclusive advantage ; but the people now know that the
use of specie as a symbol of exchange is irreconcilable with
economical reform ; thus, they wish to abolish for ever that
instrument of the tyranny of capital. By the establishment
of democratic credit, by the abolition of taxation and of usury,
they now know how to establish freedom of circulation and
equality of exchange; and thus to ensure to the operative the
integral price of his produce, and render possible the solidari-
sation of all interests."

It is a remarkable fact, as shewing the increase of con-
fidence in the paper money of France, that whilst its cir-
culation has now reached the large amount of 449,500,000
francs, specie to the amount of 432;506,800 is lying a dead
weight in the bank, and is steadily increasing, as with
ourselves. In other words, paper money is displacing
specie by the preference given to it by the French people ;
for no one can doubt that the bank would gladly force into
circulation its. &act weight of,gohk and silver.

PETTY TYRANNY OF OUR C irT STOII.I HOUSE

OFFICIALS.

From what undiscovered region such strange bipeds are
found, as those who are, from time to time, foisted upon
this port by the Board of Customs, it would require a
philosopher to tell. Shakespeare, however, who has
sounded every depth of the human heart, must have had
them in his eye, when he exclaimed :

A RELAXING POWER WANTED IN OUR
DOCK REGULATIONS.

'^here are few laws enacted by human intelligence which
she occasional interposition of a dispensing
nur dock regulations, in parti-
,Priouslv call for

do not require
power. With rest to
cular, circumstanceg dial % 86Efff MIA"; v.,
such a power. We shall giie With
the correctness of the opinion bele' exkursed. A testa

"Man, vain man, days ago an emigrant vessel, the C.oriimbus, had to nn
Placed in a little brief authority,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven back with loss of bowsprit, and was taken into Nelson
As make the angels weep." Dock, in which, at the time, there was but one vessel
We give, as a sample of the doings of the genus "Custom besides herself. Her poor emigrant passengers bad of
House officer," the following incidents. It is well known course their stores on board ; and many of them, as is
that the vessels in our docks are not allowed a fire on usually the case, were without other means of sustaining
board for cooking or any other purpose. Captains, mates, life. Neither light nor fire is allowed on board vessels in
and other officers, however, who are required to spend a dock ; and these poor beings had to tramp the quays to
considerable portion of their time in their vessels, whilst keep themselves warm, and to subsist, nobody knows how,
discharging or loading, require now and.then a luncheon. until the vessel was repaired and ready for sailing again,
We have ourselves, as also have many of our readers, en- Another vessel in the Brunswick Dock was found to be so
of
tfohweerd
ballast that s hbeedw
tabs notbe
shiftedi n proper ; sailinged b
thetrim.
joyed a slice of cold ship beef, or ham, on board vessels in
our docks ; and naturally presumed that it was quite legal
that such eatables should be cooked on shore, as they were
not allowed to be cooked on board. Our Customs.' offi- I moving some boxes of tin she heeled over and became in
on ; and her consignees applied tor leave to have lights to
cials, however, have it seems determined to put down the danger of coming on her beam ends. Night was coming
wenaoyrmprietyvioouf enable them to get her properly on her legs. The request
was refused, as being in contravention of the dock regula-
tstiLiumdmlames,boofrethtoebsyenotnea
salyeaapiltoawinedcoboikmin.g ILliassotwwneevkic,tuwaelsleienrtnh,ecoanply.
of the Custom House Dogberries as contraband ! Capt. tions. They had, in order to save the ship and cargo, to
Ferris, of the " St. George," sent another, which was
b"eBha boiled,n n°
n when,Shannon," American
it was seized liner,
takeleave. Surely there should be some officer empowered
stopped, but not seized. His cook, however, was informed
that the next case would be visited by appropria • tion of the to relax the laws in cases such as the above.
article. The duty upon each of the hams in question
would oe about 81, and we shall no doubt see the pro-
ceeds of the sale of Captain Ludlam's ham, which was
seized,—about 3s.—duly credited for by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer in his next financial statement.
Seriously, we ask of every Engishman,—is this not
paltry ? Is it not sufficient to make us appear contempt-
tible in the eyes of every foreign nation ? We profess to
be a free trading people. We court the commerce of the
world to our shores. Yet, here we have two American
captains—gentlemen in every sense of the word, and in-
capable of any such mean evasion of the revenue laws as
smuggling a small ham to save eightpence or ninepence,—
insulted by a petty "Jack in office," authorized to degrade
the country he belongs to. At whose suggestion, we ask,
are these paltry proceedings resorted to ? Certainly they
do not emanate from the gentleman who is at the head of
the Customs' establishment of this port. We can scarcely
think that they are the result of special instructions from
the Board in London. If they have arisen from the un-
prompted officiousness of the officers themselves, it is high
time that our respected Collector had a little more con-
trolling power over them

THE UNPOPULARITY OF RAILWAY

INVESTMENTS

The London Times of Saturday contains some observa-
tions upon this subject, which are well worthy of the
serious attention of those who, on account of the failure of
a portion, are ready blindly to decry all railway property

as a secure subject for investment. Notwithstanding the
decrease which is taking place just now in railway traffic

A portion
>rocoss of

ggrituiturat mat *ortfrulturat

and retu

great measure b

the inactivity of

COLUMN

Horticulturists are greatly indebted to Mr. Marnock,
the spirited curator of the Royal Botanic Society's Gar-
dens, for the many useful experiments which he has
made in the ornamental culture of plants. At the com-
mencement of last year, we called attention to the beau-
tiful Azaleas in the great conservatory of the Royal
Botanic Gardens, and now Mr. Marnock has published a
description of a pyramidal Pelargonium, which was made
to take that form by systematic training and pruning, the
result of which has realised every expectation, and satis-
factorily proved, that with patience and perseverance, the
Pelargonium may be made to take much more natural
and beautiful forms than the fan shapes of the London
exhibitors on the round compressed bushes, which have
been fashionable with us, from the Gardener's Journal.
We extra, the particulars of the mode of culture pursued
by Mr. M`Ewen, who acted under Mr. Marnock's di-
rections :

The Prince Albert pelargonium was an old leggy plant when
spring
itnogo ko
ftloBt4r7ayi tolui to
.8
es
eav
eplrag int
ii,( I h
r 1
e. w
out ;annk
ideait was f earlyhay inign t theree
pelargoniums. lat once set about it, and chose the tallest, cut
them into one stem, and had them tied to stakes as straight as
practicable ; they of course very soon showed a tendency to
throw out laterals, and for a time I pinched them oft, until the
idea suggested itself that it would be well to have a variety of
forms. So the pyramidal was tried ;it was observed, and
approved of. We then threw several into pyramids, amongst
which was "Albert": arid, though it was the most unpromising

at first, turned out the best. In the same year it was a fine
object, whilst in the summer following it was a model.

Aster this, it WAS consigned to the care of Mr. A. Bar.

our internal industry, and the state of transition which is
limiting the means of our agriculturists to expend money,
our contemporary adds :

scribes its progress and ultimate perfection.

" Still, railway shares are in most cases actually, if bought at
the present prices, paying a higher rate of interest than other
investments, and it is this very circumstance which gives such
a peculiarity to the disrepute into which this class of property
has fallen. To take an instance, the capital of the London and
North-Western Railway entitled to dividend is nearly the same
as that of the Bank of England. On this capital the hank this
year divided 7 per cent., and its stock is at 202 ; the railway on
the like capital declared, for the last two half-years, the like
dividend, and yet its stock is at 112. Guaranteed railway shares
pay 4,4 i, and 6 per cent., and yet Consols are in favour almost
at par. There is actually a superabundance of money, and an
eager demand for investments. the tank is full of bullion; 8
or 10 millions will be this week paid in dividends, and every-
thing promises still further cheapness. Yet, (although under
the influence of all these prospects the funds during the last six
weeks have risen five per cent., railway shares have positively
fallen!"

The following is the treatment which I gave the Prince Albert
pelargonium :—lt was potted in a 12-inch pot (or what is gene-
rally called No. 8) about the end of September or beginning of
October, 1848. Tue soil appeared unsuitable, the plant became
too dry, appeared sickly, and made no roots. On the 18th of
the following February, (1849,) on which day you put it into my
charge, seeing that it was not thriving, I turned it out of the
pot, and found that it had made very few roots. I therefore
shifted it into an 18-inch pot, using rough loam, dung, a little
peat, and a good quantity of silver sand—the principal parts
being loam and dung—taking care to rill) the dung well between
my hands before using it. I may mention here that there were
three inches of drainage at the bottom of the pot, and a good
quantity of crocks amongst the soil in the pot. It became very
healthy, and commenced flowering about the Ist of July, and
continued in bloom till towards the end of August. I may say
that after potting it I gave it no water for three weeks, when
began to give it a little, increasing it as the piant grew, and
adding a little liquid manure, consisting of sheep's dung, which
had been some time fermenting in a large tub. I turned this
plant and the others three times a week, and thus kept them
from " drawing." On the 9th of July this prince of pelargo-
niums might be said to be in perfection, when there were tipon
the plant, of perfect full-blown flowers, 1,021, and of trusses
325. The plant was seven feet in height; and at two feet above
the pot it measured four feet in diameter.

It may safely be predicted that this state of things is
not to be continued long. Let the various companies only
close their capital account and evablish an efficient
system of audit, so that shareholders may be enabled
from the weekly traffic returns to calculate precisely what
railways are actually earning, and what should be the
dividend paid by them, and capital will flow into the share
market and raise this description of securities to its just
position.

To produce a Pelargonium with 1,021 expanded flowers,
or 325 truses, is in itself a triumph ; but to have it of a
perfectly symmetrical form, resembling that of a small
Thuia, must have added greatly to its beauty. As to
standard Pelargoniums, it is now well known that they
can be produced in great perfection, especially with some
of the scarlet kinds, which must greatly enhance their
value as conservatory plants, where, in the arrangement of
groups they wili be particularly useful. Several clever
gardeners around Liverpool are now trying their skill in
forming standard Azaleas, and we doubt not they will
soon have the Geranium under similar treatment.

PAPERS ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.