The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-24 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS

The STANDARD is regularly forwarded to Wigan by the first
post, and if our correspondent in that town does not duly
receive it, the fault rests with the post-office there.
VERITAS.—We are much obliged to " Veritas" for his good
opinion, but will he favour us with a few facts? We are
in possession of an old tale or two that will perhaps sur-
prise him. We care very little for what evil men think of
us—still less for threats. When we are sufficiently in
possession of the doings of certain people we will not spare
them.

Ebr 7.olJrrpool &tanbarb.

FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 24, 1842

With the debate in the House of Commons on
Monday night before us; it is impossible to deny the
present propriety, both as to principle and time of
adoption, of the course taken by government with re-
spect to the light gold coinage at present in circulation
throughout the realm. For the last two years, it has
been urged upon the late and the present government
that the gold currency of the country was seriously
deteriorated, and ought promptly to be withdrawn from
circulation. On the 20th of January in the present
year a memorial was addressed to the Lords of the
Treasury, signed by twenty-four of the leading bankers
of the metropolis, suggesting "that power should be
granted to the Bank of England to clip such sove-
reigns as should be presented to them under the pro-
per weight; and that arrangements should be also made

with the Bank to take in all light sovereigns at the
Mint, at the price of £3. 17s. 10Id. per ounce." At
that precise time, however, the state of our foreign ex-
changes would not permit of the immediate adoption
of the suggestion in question but so soon as the op-
portunity offered of the exchanges being favourable, the
order, so much commented upon of late, was issued
by the Treasury.
Thus far, therefore, the course pursued by govern-
ment was obviously warranted. But it has been urged
that the Treasury, and not the holders of light coin,
should have been the parties mulcted in the amount of
the existing deterioration, estimated at about £90,000.

But what a bonus, we reply, would thereby have been
held out for further " sweating," "plugging," and
those other illegal practices by which the gold in cir-
culation has been deteriorated ! If the state would
consent to take, at their full weight, clipped coin, what
an incentive to further clipping ! It is urged again
that notice should have been given ; that a day should
have been fixed after which light coin should be with-

drawn from circulation. What ! to enable a game of
shuffling and palming to be practised upon the unwary
throughout the kingdom ? To have paralyzed for a
time the entire circulation of the realm ? Certainly
this, whether the government or individuals were to
be the ultimate sufferers, would have been a ruinously
unwise course ! It was obviously impolitic, therefore,
as well as unjust in its operation, that the state should
be made the sufferer, or that the course pursued, to fix
the loss sustained upon the actual holders, should be
any other than the peremptory and sudden step adopted
by government.

It is quite certain, however, that this step has been
attended with serious inconveniences and losses to the
public, many of which might have been avoided ; many
of which ought to have been avoided ; but the whole of
which could not. Individual holders have been left too
much at the mercy of interested dealers in the precious
metals and of fraudulent tradesmen and capitalists.
The arrangements of the Bank of England do not
seem to have been perfect; the arrangement of the
branch banks, especially, do not seem to have afforded
the conveniences which they might have done. We
are not convinced either that the public are insured
against the reissue of light coin, upon which the allow-
ance has already been made by these banks themselves.
By the money dealers and by tradesmen it is notorious
that light coin has been freely passed after its detec-
tion, and after allowance having been made. This
evil and this loss to the community at large we think
.might have been avoided, by the peremptory enforce.
ment of clipping by the branch banks, and by the ap-
pointment of authorised receivers in every large town;
and until some stringent measure of the kind is adopt-
ed the difficulty under which every honest trader at
present labours may be continued for an almost inde-
finite period.

It is perfectly well known that at the present moment
a large harvest is being reaped by a certain class of
traders, arising out of this order of the Treasury. In
our own town, although the absurd panic at first raised
has passed over, and the community are assured that
the heavy deterioration urged does not exist, the over-
charge made upon the exchange of light gold by these
traders is double, and even threble what it ought to be.
The bullion offices in Liverpool deduct sixpence per
sovereign, and, in some instances, much more, if it be
the slightest particle deficient ; and some tradesmen
take even a greater advantage. We would respectfully
caution our readers against submitting to these impo-
sitions, in whatever way they are levied. The banks in
Liverpool, we arc informed, have come to a determina-
tion to exchange all light sovereigns at 4d. each, and
half sovereigns at 2-d. ; and it will, therefore, be the
interest of our townsmen to take their gold to these,
the regular channels, rather than allow themselves to
be tempted either by those dealeis in the precious me-
tals, by whom the pretended real value is given, or by
those shopkeepers who profess to receive them, without
any deduction, for the wares which they sell.

In few cases, we believe, is the actual deterioration
of the sovereign above threepence. In many cases,
although the coin may appear light by the ordinary
balances in use, it is, in reality, what will be received
by the Bank of England as the standard weight. The
overcharge, therefore, of the bullion dealers, who de-
duct' .1-nPnce, ninepence, and sometimes a shilling, is
evident, as is that of the traders who, in reality, deduct
double that amount in the trashy character of their
goods : whilst the dranetinr, x‘r thn private banker is
obviously a fair and reasonable one.

We have been kindly favoured with a copy of the
New Tariff Bill, as it has passed the committee of the
House of Commons ; and give in this place an abstract
of its principal clauses, for the information of our
readers :

Prohibition to importation of cattle and meat repealed ;
also in respect to fish brought by foreigners, if cleared at a
foreign port.

Turbots of foreign taking not to he landed without entry.
Tobacco, the produce of Mexico, Columbia, the Continent
of South America, St. Domingo, or Cuba, may be imported
from British possessions in packages of 801bs. weight ; and
negro-head tobacco, from the United States of America, in
packages of liOlbs.
Particular weizlit and tare of tobacco need not be marked
upon each hogshead, &c.
Separate manifest for tobacco not required.
Tobacco and other goods not worth the drawback, entered
and brought to the quays for shipment on drawback, for-
feited.

Foreign goods importing into the United Kingdom or
British possessions, with names of British makers, forfeited,
after sth January, 1843.
Spirits may conic in stone bottles, not exceeding one quart
each.

European silk manufactures may be admitted at South-
ampton.
No allowance to be made on sugar damaged on voyage.
Gods detained for being undervalued, can only be so dealt
with in the space of seven days in England and ten days in
Scotland after final examination.

Warehousing bonds to continue in force longer than three

years.
No abatement of duties on account of damage on cantha-
pepi
ertea, sugar, tobacco, wine, Sze.,
found derelict, jetsam, flotsam, or
troidbes e, madecoco COCOA,
on costfueceh,
when
wreck.
No drawback to be allowed on goods entered out on mer-
chandise
be of less value than the
amountoefrdrsat:rbeaC whichclaimed.k lm"
Penalty of £2OO, or treble
the amount claimed.
Goods exporting on drawback to give bond for due landing
at thei place entered for.
ofne for officers the royal navy may be shipped at
l
I
Liverpool on drawback.
No books whatever, reprinted abroad from original British
publications, allowed to be imported, except when the copy-
right ha,s.expired: , . _

Prohibition not to take place unless notice of copyright
and date of its expilation be given to commissioners of cus-
toms.

e°o4g, the produce of any British postestion abroad (ea•
cot tha terrltorlea of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay), not
to have the benefit of such unless the goods are mentioned
in the official documents.
Lords of the treasury empowered to regulate
certificates
of produce.
Timber and wood to be piled at the expense of the impor-
ter, so as to enable the officers of customs to measure it, and
no allowance to be made for interstices in the pile.
But deals, batting, boards, and planks may be measured
by the piece, and taken account of separately.
Vessels that required licenses as being under 200 tons by
the old mode of admeasurement, not to require such if under
170 tons by the new.
Vessels from which goods are thrown overboard to prevent
seizure, liable to he seized.
Act for regulating registry of vessels in Great Britain shall
extend to vessels belonging to British possessions.
Repayment of duties on barilla, used in the bleaching of
linen, repealed.
Lords of the treasury to have the power of reducing local
duties and charges upon foreign goods and vessels, in cases
of reciprocity.
Salted beef and pork may be exported without the restric-
tion of a-special bond or declaration.
Commissioners of customs may remit the duties on any
goods in bonding warehouses lost or destroyed by unavoida-
ble accident.

Any goods (besides woollens, linens, silks, or cottons) may
be delivered from the bonding warehouses to be cleaned,
under the regulations of the commissioners of the customs.
Committee of sugar-refiners to provide sample loaves of
patent sugar; and sugar entered for bounty, not equal to
the standard sample, forfeited.

Drawbacks on silks, and on wood used in the mines of
Devon or Cornwall, to cease after the 10th October next.
Goods, the produce of British possessions abroad, to be
certified as Such upon the clearance.
No foreign gold or silver plate to be exposed to sale. un-
less stamped or marked at a British or Irish assay-office.

Upon the schedules of duties we have here nothing
to remark, as we have already had ample opportunities
of expressing our opinions respecting them. We may,
however, venture a few remarks upon some of the re-
gulating and declaratory clauses which are now for the
first time before ns in an authentic form. And first
with respect to those which peculiarly affect the port
of Liverpool:—

The regulation for permitting drawback to be granted
upon wine shipped at the port of Liverpool for the con-

sumption of officers of her Majesty's navy, serving on
board any of her Majesty's ships, will effect the remo-
val of what has long been complained of as an anomaly
and a grievance. Viewed in this light even, as a con-
cession to the claims of justice, we are thankful for it.
But we would gladly entertain the hope that there is
meant in it far more than this. The advance of steam
navigation as one of the main sources of the national
safety and strength; its application to our foreign mail
service ; the comparative annihilation, by theformation
of railways, of the advantages possessed hitherto, upon
the score of easy and swift inland communication with
the seat of government, by the southern ports of Eng-
land ; the known superior facilities possessed by Liver-
pool for the outfit and repair of steam ships :—all these
warrant, at the least, a hope that this first mercantile
port of the empire is destined ultimately to become,
and that the Government which has made this conces-
sion looks forward to its becoming, an important station
for vessels employed in her Majesty's mail and other

services

Another regulation, which we must notice, is one in
which the claims of Liverpool, as well as those of the
public, are, we think, somewhat overlooked. The im-
portation of the silk manufactures of Europe has been
hitherto restricted to certain specified ports in Great
Britain. Of these, Liverpool, although one of the
largest ports in the kingdom for the importation of the
manufactured silks of India and China, has not hitherto
formed one ; and by this act, although the privilege is
conferred upon Southampton, the title of Liverpool to
be similarly favoured is not admitted. Why South-
ampton, we ask, be made a recipient of the manufac-
tured silks of Europe, and not Liverpool ? What great
silk market is Southampton the channel for ? Not to
that of London, certainly, from which the trade of the
South of England is supplied. Not to any other de-
mand, except that of the fashionable lady smugglers of
the southern watering places, who will still, we venture
to say, prefer the illicit channel and its delightfully
exciting hazards. On the other hand, Liverpool is the
port of the central market of England for manufactured
goods -; of the market to which the retailers of the en-
tire kingdom repair : and certainly, if it is proper that
she should be permitted to import the silks of every
other quarter of the globe, she ought also to be per-
mitted to share in the import of the silk goods of
Europe ! By the way, this is not the first time in which
this port has had to concede to the very inferior con-
sideration of Southampton. Can any off' our readers
suggest the reason why the latter is so signally favoured

and Liverpool so held in disparagement ?
To those regulations which affect the commerce of

the country generally we must take another opportunity
of referring ; but we cannot omit here, on behalf of
the literary world, our thanks for those regulations
provided for the protection of British authors from the
introduction into Great Britain of foreign copies of
their copyright works. For years past, the act of the
3d and 4th William IV., by a clause in which this
practice was attempted to be put down, has been con-
stantly evaded ; and especially in the case of works not
reprinted in the united kingdom within twenty years,
and which by that act were permitted to be introduced
for private use. The continental press has teemed
with such piracies ; and the bookshelves of half the
literary men of Great Britain have been loaded with
the works of their fellow authors from the publication
of which no benefit of copyright has been derived. By
the present measure, however, those particular clauses
which have, in operation, favoured the abuse in ques-
tion, are repealed after the Ist of October in the pre-
sent year ; and the stringent adherence to the law of
British copyright, by foreign booksellers, is insisted
upon. It will be seen, however, that as a condition of
this protection it will be necessary for authors or pub-
lishers "to give notice in writing to the Commissioners
of Customs that a copyright exists, and in such notice
to state when such copyright shall expire."

We have received a copy of the Western Australian
Journal, of the i sth Dec,ember last. We find in it a
summary of the tenth annual report of the Agricul-
tural and Horticultural Society. As it is a document
upon which some reliance may be placed, we present
its chief features to the notice of our readers. It con-
firms the general opinion, that the past season has been
one of the finest experienced for agricultural pursuits,
the crops of grain being beyond the ordinary average;
at the same time, the regular succession of favourable
seasons for the growth of grain and other commodities,
left it a matter of deep concern that the colonists were
prevented from availing themselves of the great re-
sources of the colony, and to a very considerable ex-
tent, from the absence of sufficient hands to bring its
productive qualities into use. This want had in some
measure been reduced by recent arrivals, but they had
not been adequate to the means of employment.
The lambing season is spoken of in the most favour-
able terms. The fleeces were said to be got up, owing
to the healthy condition of the flocks, and increased at-
tention of the tlockholders, in better condition than
usual. The greater part of the wool of the year's clip
would be forwarded to England by the Elizabeth, and
there was every expectation of receiving favourable
returns.

The subject of the price of land being rated equally
with those of other colonies is discussed, and the sys-
tern of the uniform sale of lands at 20s. per acre is
deprecated as prejudicial to the general interests of the
colony.

M111......r..... .

Under the head of torticulture, the increase in the
culture of trees of all kinds is favourably noticed, and
a recommendation is advanced of the introduction of
German and Moravian families, their attention to be
particularly directed to the management of vineyards.
The soil and climate are well adopted for the growth of
the vine, and the experience of years has confirmed the
general impression, that at no distant date this will be-
come a wine-growing country. There are in the colony
nearly 500 varieties of grape vines, many of the most
delicious flavour ; and, it is stated, the whole would be
esteemed if the opportunity of conveying them to India
and adjacent ports were afforded. The supply of hor-
ticultural productions would exceed the demand.

Our columns this day contain a notice of another
of those gratifying results of the faithful preaching of
God's holy word, which have of late blessed the
anxious and unremitting labours of the clergy of this
town and neighbourhood. On Sunday last, a respect-
able professional gentleman of the noinviist persuasion
publicly read a recantation of the dark errors of that
pestilent creed, in holy Trinity Church, Birkenhead;
and was admitted, by
the Rev. Joseph Baylee, into the
communion of our Protestant establishment ; and
several other Rotnanists who witnessed the solemn and

affecting ceremony, and who have been Sor :3oine ti►rn
in communication with this zealous minister 111 Chritit