The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-06-06 00:00:00

BY DR. DUNCAN.

The following table shows the progress of the epidemic.
I add the deaths from diarahcea and dysentery, as these af-
fections appeared along with fever, and prevailing in the
same localities, and under the same circumstances, may be
regarded as forming the same epidemic :
Average Weekly Deaths in the Parish of Liverpool.

1847. All causes. Fever. Diarrhoea,
&c.
January
February 237 18 28
March 285 27 39
April
May 3Bl 124 59
June..
July 470 194 60
August 5Ol 183 109
September
October
November
December
1848.
January
February
March . 184 22 0
April
May (average of two 1 151 13 8
weeks)

The maximum weekly mortality from all causes was 537;
from fever. 215.

The general mortality has now (May, 1848) come down
to its usual standard, having been for the previous two years
higher than the average. The mortality from fever is also
reduced nearly to the average.
The total deaths during the year 1847 were, from all
causes, 17,262; fever, 5,239; diarrhoea, &c., 2,220.
The general mortality was thus in the ratio of one in
fifteen of the ordinary population, and the deaths from
fever amounted to the large proportion of thirty per cent.
of the total deaths. Of the deaths from fever. 1,952 took
place in the public hospitals; and 3,287 at the patients'
dwellings.

As illustrating the origination of the fever in the worst-
conditioned districts and its subsequeht extension to the
better portions of the town, I may state that of •1323
patients who died of fever at their own dwellings during
the first six months of the year, 673, or more than one-
half, resided in Exchange and Vauxhall Wards, which
are well known to be the worst in the whole borough in a
sanitary point of view. During the subsequent six months
—the epidemic being more generally diffused—the pro-
portion of deaths furnished by these wards was only 748
out of 1961. In the two best-conditioned wards of the
town, (Rodney-street and Abercromby,) with a popula-
tion nearly equal to that of Exchange and Vauxhall
only 140 deaths from fever took place throughout the
year—i.e., 47 in the first six months and 93 in the second.
Exchange and Vauxhall Wards furnished 1421 fever deaths
during the same space of time. Of the total deaths from
fever at the patients' dwellings, nearly one-seventh oc-
curred in the four worst-conditioned streets in Liverpool,
viz., Lace-street, Crosbie-street, New Bird-street, and
Brick-street. In Lace-street alone, 378 deaths took
place during the year, of which 141 were from fever; and
to these we may add nearly 100 more for the deaths of
patients sent from this street to the public hospitals. It
will give additional significance to these figures if I state
that Lace-street contains 109 houses, (51 of which are
situated in filthy courts,) and that its ordinary population
is between 1400 and 1500.

The epidemic, on its first outbreak, was remarkably
mild in its character, but it gradually assumed a more
' aggravated type, until, if I may use the expression, it had
passed its perihelion. I calculate that, during 1847, about
55,C03 persons suffered from fever, being one-fourth of
the entire population of the parish in 1841.
It must not be supposed that this was an imported
fever, for, contrary to the general belief, very few, indeed,
of the Irish (probably not more than one in 5000) were
suffering from the disease when landed here. Besides,
the epidemic did not make its appearance for fully two
months after the commencement of the influx, when the
overcrowding in the district first invaded had reached the
fever point. The circumstances, in fact., were such as to
enable any medical man to fortell the result almost as
confidently as an astronomer would predict an eclipse.
In a report on the health of the town in the beginning
of February, when the mortality from fever was as yet
scarcely raised above the average, I stated that, " should
the destitute Irish continue to flock into Liverpool as they
are still doing, there can be little doubt that what we now
see is only the commencement of the most severe and
desolating epidemic which has visited Liverpool for the
last ten years." I did not then anticipate that within
little more than four months from that time, the morta-
lity from fever would be raised 2000 per cent. above the
average of former :;ears!
But over-crowding, although the prime agent, was not
the only agent at work.' It was not simply over-crowding,
but the huddling together of a host of half-starved va-
grants., in miserable dwellings, in the worst-conditioned
districts of the town—over-crowding in filthy, ill-venti-
lated houses; confined, abominable courts; and dark,
damp, underground habitations, affording, in many in-
stances, not more than 30 or 40 cubic feet of air to each
inmate. I ant aware that there are some who will think
the mere destitution of the subjects of this calamity a
sufficient explanation of the facts which I have described ;
and I confess I am not one of those who think the sani-
tary cause promoted by concealing the truth that poverty
exerts an important influence in the production of disease,
and more especially in the propagation of fever. But 1
would simply ask such objectors whether they really be-
lieve that if these destitute Irish had been lodged in clean,
well-ventilated, wholesome habitations, such as could be
commanded by proper sanitary regulations, with 300 or
400 cubic feet of air to each inmate, fever would have
prevailed among them to the extent it did ? Or, do they
suppose that, crowded together in the dwellings I have
described, the dietetic regimen of a London alderman
would have materially diminished the register of deaths ?
In connexion with this point, also, it must be remem-
bered that the resources of the public purse and of private
charity were distributed with a liberal hand, and that no
one ascertained to he really destitute was allowed to waut
the necessaries of life.

And now, what practical lessons are we to draw from
this visitation ? Had it occurred a year later, or had the
Sanitary Act come into operation a year earlier, there is
no doubt that we should have been better prepared to
meet it. All that the health committee of the Town
Council had power to do under the circumstances was
promptly done. Ar9nfiements were made for a daily
i
supply of water n the infected districts; the streets, and
courts, and passages were cleansed daily ; and filthy
houses were whitewashed wherever practicable. The
parish authorities, with the assistance of government,
provided hospital accommodation for 1600 patients, and
made efficient arrangements for freely supplying the
wants of the necessitous. But unfortunately, the most
important powers conferred on the health committee by
the Sanitary Act were unavailable at the time when they
were most required. These powers, however, have since
been most energetically enforced. Seven thousand eight
hundred and forty condemned cellars have been closed ;
within the last four months, 1616 filthy houses have been
cleansed by the owners on notices under the Sanitary
Act ; the streets and courts in the poorer districts of the
town are daily visited by the scavengers ; a better supply
of water is about to be introduced; additional baths and
washhouses are to be immediately erected ; an efficient sys-
tem of sewerage and drainage is being carried out in!dert he
direction of our talented borough engineer; the inferior
lodging-houses are placed under proper regulation, a maxi-
mum number of lodgers being fixed for each ; nuisances, of
all kinds, prejudicial to health, are dailysoug-htout, and re-
medied ; and everything promises that, at no distant day,
Liverpool will present an example of the benefits which
may be derived from sanatory legislation.

REPORTFROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON

SUGAR AND COFFEE PLANTING.

The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the
present condition and prospects of the interests connected
with, and dependent on, sugar and coffee planting in her
Majesty's East and West India possessions and the Mau-
ritius, and to consider whether any and what measures
can be adopted by parliament for their relief, and who
were empowered to report the minutes of evidence taken
before them from time to time, to the house, and also
their opinion thereupon, have agreed to the following re-
report :

Your committee have taken the subjects referred to
them, and have agreed to the following resolutions :
Resolved,—That it is the opinion of this committee,
1. That great distress undoubtedly prevails amongst al!
who are interested in the production of sugar in the Bri-
tish colonies.

2. That distress has partially existed for several years ;
and though it has been much more severely experienced
within the last twelve mouths, it cannot be exclusively
attributed to causes of only recent operation.
3. That slave emancipation was carried into effect with-
out sufficient provision having been made for providing
many of the colonies with an adequate command of frce-
labour, and the rate of wages therein has consequently
been very high, and the cost of production unduly . en-
hanced. _ _

4. That the late fall in the price of sugar has led to a
considerable diminution in the wages of labour in many
of the British tropical colonies, which has been submitted
to except on the part of the Creoles of British Guiana,
who, it may he hoped, will speedily follow the example
already set them by the African and Portuguese immi-
grants of that colony. And with respect to Jamaica,
there is an absence of official reports as to any presci.t
reduction of wages, and the evidence is limited to partirl
success on particular estates.

5. That the British possessions have capabilities for the
supply of sugar far exceeding the probable consumption
of the United Kingdom, and that their ultimate pros-
perity must therefore depend upon the means of success-
ful competition with foreign producers, rather than upon
any permanent protection of their produce in the British
market.

6. That the change made in the sugar duties by the act
of 1846, without any accompanying remedy for the diffi-
culties of production by free labour in the British colonies,
has precipitated the ruin of these possessions, by aggra-
vating the pressure under which they laboured from the
foregoing causes.
7. That many estates in the British colonies have been
already abandoned, that many more are now in course of
abandonment, and that from this cause a very serious
diminution is to be apprehended in the total amount of
production. That the first effect of this diminution will
be an increase in the prices of sugar, and the ultimate
effect a greater extension to the growth of sugar in slave
countries, and a greater impetus to slavery and the slave
trade.

8. That if such diminution of production takes place,

the richer estates remaining in cultivation will have the
several advantages of a larger command of labour, of
lower wages, of a lessened entire cost of production, and,
if such exists, of a higher price. That a share of the
advantages of a higher price in this market by the foreign
producer is a consequence inseparable from the policy of
reduced protection, estalilished by the changes in the
sugar duties by the acts of 1844, 1815, and 1846.
9. That the greatest necessity exists for an immediate
application of relief. _ _

.10. That from the evidence taken by the committee, it
appears clear that the present mode of levying the duties
on sugar imposes a great practical disadvantage upon
many of the producers in the British colonies.
11. That whereas considerable time must elapse before
any measures proposed for securing an ample supply of
labour, or laws to be enacted against vagrancy and squat-
, ting, can be carried into eff,ct. and the success of those
measures will depend mainly upon the co-operation and
assistance of the resident planters and agents, and the
state of distress to which the planters are now reduced is
such as to preclude the possibility of any outlay on their
parts for the reception, still more for the payment or
maintenance, however short the contracts. of any immi-
grants placed by the government within their reach ; and
whereas they are unable at present to bear any portion of
the expense of enforcing laws for the suppression of va-
grancy, and the removal of persons from lands of which
they may have illegally taken possession, but, on the con-
trary, they have in many instances, in order to prevent
further loss, already determined upon abandoning their
own properties. To meet these difficulties, your com-
mittee recommend a differential duty of 10s. in favour of
sugar the produce of British possessions for a period of
six years ; being of opinion that this temporary encourage-
ment would have the effect of preventing the immediate
and otherwise inevitable abandonment of the majority of
the estates, and secure time for bringing into operation
the intended measures of relief.

12. That your committee are of opinion that in any
system of immigration which may be adopted, great care
must be taken by her Majesty's government to prevent
any renewal of African slave dealing.—May 29, 1848.

THE COTTON TRADE.

The following able resume of the state of the Cotton
market since the French Revolution, its present condition,
and future prospects, we extract from Messrs. T. and H.
Littledale's circular of the 3rd instant:—
" The article of Cotton, and the position of all branches
of this important trade, have suffered perhaps more than
any other, from the extraordinary political events, com-
mencing with the French Revolution in February last,
and the consequent disorganization of commercial rela- •
tions in all parts of the Continent. The exports of Cot-
ton from the United States to France, and.the markets of
the North of Europe, have since that period been all but
suspended, and credits and exchanges have been com-
pletely disorganized—so sudden a ,check to the regular
course of business in the height of the shipping season
ln.s been much felt in the United States, and the appre-
hension of what might be the position► of this country
under the circumstances caused a complete panic, and a
great fall in pm ices of the staple in all the American mar-
kets. On a full re-assurance of the soundness of our in-
stitutions, and the credit of this country, large shipments
of Cotton have continned so be sent forward, either in
the execution of orders at the lowest limits, on consign-
ment, or as remittances.

`• The prediction of a small crop in the States, from the
effect of an unusually late spring, seems to have failed—
the picking season has been interrupted, and the yield
appears now to promise 2,250,000 to 2,300,000, although
little more than 2,200,000 may reach the ports, and the
present prospects for the growing crop are very favourably
reported of.

Our home trade has continued steady, and rather
improving ; and the accounts from li.dia *and China have
been, on the whole, more satisfactory. Spinners feel the
want of the usual demand for yarns for the continent,
which, as welt as goods, are now lower than at any
former period. At the corresponding prices of the raw
material (also as low as at any previous time), they
do not seem to fear some accumulation of stock. Up
to this date our consumption of cotton, which has in-
creased this year 4,658 bales per week, being of American
19,000 againstl4,B9o; total, 21,234 against 19,730 last year,
which is satisfactory. The market, which was looking
more steady in the early par; Of May, has gradually -be-
come more and more heavy, at declining prices. The ex-
port demand, which sustained the better qualities, has
now nearly ceased, and the wealthy spinners and capi-
talists, low as prices are, do not at present shew any dis-
position to interfere. The salc:s in the list five weeks
amount to 151,130 bales, for export 12,330, on speculation
6100—leaving for the trado 132,800, or 26,600 per week.
" The import has been very heavy, amounting to
294,948 bales, of which 274,000 are from the United
States, and there are still at sea for this port 160,000.
The stock of American is increased to 361.380 bales
against, 358,200 this tune last year. Total stock 520,060, -
against 499,800 bales.
" Of East India-Cotton we have not much more to ex-
pect before the autumn. Consumption has fallen off,
and prices are almost nominal beyond retail sales. 9200
bales have been sold in five weeks. The import has been
5600 bales, and the stock is now 66,000 bales, against
81,000 bales.

" The following is the table of the receipts, in the Ame-
rican ports to last dates :--

1 North , Other!
Shipped to
•:France, of I
For. 1
Gt. Britain , Fu; 0)321 Ports!
1818 870335 2757921 97180 I 1205:4;'
1847 598770 i 190160' 41201 I 77006 j
1846 .. .. I .. I • •

Stocks

Tcial IReceipts

130141 2024-170
917385 1650928

517'744

The future course of the roar7,:et must depend on circum-
stances; it is probable the present unusual depression and
extreme low prices may not be of long continuance, and
that the apparent necessity of imparters to sell without
reference to cost may be only temporary."

LATEST FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.

INSURRECTION AT PORT-AU-PRINCE.

Since the intelligence by the West Indian mail which
appears in another column, was printed, we have learned
that just prior to the Severn steamer sailing from Ja-
maica, the Haytien schooner Warrior, from Pert-au-
Prince, brought the following very serious intelligence
from St. Domingo :
" An insurrection commenced at Port-au-Prince on the
23rd of April, with a large body of armed men marching
into the capi:•al and parading the streets, giving it out- as
their intention to depose the President and appoint ano-
ther in his place. This was immediately met by the Pre-
sident sending a messenger to the insurgents, accompanied .
by a detachment of soldiers and two hundred horse •
guards ; but, every effort to effect a compromise proving
abortive, a serious conflict took place, which ended in the -
defeat of the insurgents, with considerable loss on both
sides. The bodies of those who fell belonging to the Go-
vernment were removed during the night, while the re-
mains of the insurgents were exposed on the following
morning as a public example, their heads being chopped
off and their bodies hacked about in the most horrible
manner ; many in whom life was not extinct being sub-
jected to the same treatment. For several days after not
a person of colour was able to walk the streets without
being immediately assassinated by the Government troops,
to whom the utmost licence was given ; the bodies of
those so assassinated were carried off in cartloads to the
beach, and there buried in deep trenches. The houses of
the British and French Consuls were crowded to excess,
anti such protection as they could afford was readily given,
but the absence of a British shin of war was severely felt.
These proceedings in Port-au-Prince were shortly followed
by an insurrection in the south, to quell which the Presi-
dent Soulouque had marched, it was reported, at the head
of 6,000 men, but the result had not transpired. Another
disturbance broke out at Miraguane, to which the Presi-
dent forthwith rep ired at the head of a considerable force,
and meeting the insurgents on the 30th of April, routed
them with little trouble, and was thence on his way to
Aux Cayes. A proclamation had in the meantime been
issued ...)y the Governor denouncing the following persons
as traitors, to be seized and shot without the slightest
ceremony, viz., Preston,—Colonel Guignard Margione
Bance, Chicitte, Barrott, Blockhurst, Paul Emile, Archer,
St, Armand (a barrister,) Mondcsir, Sanilouge, Dnmai
L'Espinasse, and Solomon Zamor. Most of these, how-
ever, are understood to have effected their escape. Among
the number shot by order of the President at Port-au-
Prince were Dr. Marlet, H. Brouard, Landon, Le Mr-
monien, Francois Esteve, L. Cerisier, Commander N.
Basquinat, Colonel Ize, and General Destouches. Some
of the condemned insurgents had succeeded in getting on
board the the French corvette Danaide, 22, lying at Port•
au-Prince."

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.—DISLOYAL MACHINATIONS.—
From Cape Town journals of the Ist of April, it appears
that Sir H. Smith had found it necessary to issue a ma-
nifesto, addressed to the emigrant colonists in the terri-
tory beyond the Orange River, warning them against the
criminal designs of some interested persons, and express-
ing his determination to maintain, by arms if necessary,
the British sovereignty/and carry out the proclamations
that have been already issued. The 25th of March was
observed as a day of thanksgiving throughout the colony
for the restoration of peace.
WHOLESALE HORRIBLE IMurenEßs.—Advises received
on Saturday at the home Office, from the Governor of
New S u 1 Wales (Si Charl(sFitzroy), communicates the
particulars of several revolting murders, alleged to have
been perpetrated by Mr. Thon.as Coutts, one of the most
wealthy settlers in the colony. The shocking transactions
took place at Grafton, in the district of the crown lands.
Early in the year 1840, Mr. Coutts arrived in the country,
and took a very large allotment of ground, which he stocked
with from 800 to 900 head of cattle, and 5000 sheep. For
the first two years the natives evinced the most sincere
feeling towards Mr. Coutts, but subsequently became dis-
contented. Two of Mr. Coutt's agents were waylaid and
murdered, and also a tine intelligent boy. The stock was
either missing, sold, or killed and boiled down. Other set-
tlers fuff.:red proportionately to the extent of their stock.
These losses, coupled with the horrible atrocities named
above, led to a feelin' of revenge agaiust the aborigines
on the part of the English settlers, and, it is stated,
though not clearly substantiated in evidence, that, all
means to detect the ringleaders having failed, secret
poisoeibg wilS' had 14,c,our(ii, to, fina a ghat maily,
larly on Mr. Coutt's estate, have fallen a sacrifice.
Numerous suspicious deaths occurring, a searching invest' -
gation was entered into, the result of which was the instant
apprehension of Mr. Coutts. In a camp on Mr. Coutts's
land were disc3vered eight dead bodies, whose deaths, it
was ascertained, were the result of poison—arsenic, it
was supposed. Several other bodies were found itoth
parts. On the 7th of February, the prisoner was 14,Tot)g`ht • Pti
up before the Chief Justice, Mr. Sergeant Mannia4,e. cIN DA, k n
admitted to bail in very heavy penalties—himself A
4:1000 and two Securitiee of X5OO each. •
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