The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-11-14 00:00:00

than during the whole time of the
sliding scale. Then followed the ha

drop, within a few days, of
shillings a quarter ; so that, witi

more than twenty

ord, the
or of all

nation joined in thanksgiving to the Auth
good for the blessings of
been showered upon them in such profusion. Not
a month elapsed before wheat rose in price all that
it had fallen land now it is dearer than it was at
any time during the greatest apprehension of
scarcity. If we look for a cause for this sudden
dearness, we are told that the country had been
previously exhausted of its stock of food, and,
therefore, in the absence of importations, the last
crop, notwithstanding its abundance, was inade-
quate to the demand. This brings us to the third
part of the promise, which has been falsified equally
with the others ; for England, so far from being
the granary of the world, has empty store-houses
and is carrying on a hand-to-mouth trade, sug-
gesting the most dismal ideas as to what might
have been our fate had it not been for that
abundant crop with which we were blessed by
Providence. The people may well complain of the
price they have to pay for their food, and it may
induce the consideration whether Free Trade has
really conferred the benefits which its advocates
claimed for it.

butidance whic

h had

We come now to the repeal of the Navigation
Laws, which, by some undefinable process, was to
benefit Shipping and Commerce, by throwing it
open to competition with all the rest of the world.
We say nothing of the frauds to which British
merchants have been exposed by entrusting their
goods to the vessels of irresponsible shipowners,
from whom no remedy can be obtained, but we will
confine our attention to one point wit
to the War now being carried on with Russia

reference

will be remembered that, at its commencement, a
proclamation was made contrary to former prece-
dents, that free bottoms made free goods, and,
therefore, that any vessel belonging to a neutral
state, provided she was not sailing to or from a
port of' the enemy, incurred no risk of capture,
whatever might be the nature of her cargo, except-
ing only goods contraband of war. This proclama-
tion was hailed by philanthropists as a concession
to the interests of humanity, depriving 'war of
much of its terror and giving a boon to commerce,
which was thus rendered comparatively free from
interruption. But, mark the effect. No sooner
were the Russian ports in the Baltic closed by the
Allied Fleet, under Sir Chas. NAPIER, and a blow
thus attempted to be struck against the export
trade of Russia, which would alone enable her to
find resources to prolong the war, than it was
completely frustrated by the crafty policy of
Prussia. That State has cunningly contrived to
avoid taking any part in the contest, assuming a
convenient neutrality, and under this pretence has
enabled Russia to carry on her export trade
through Prussian ports, and by Prussian vessels,
as though no war existed, and, by this means, to
render nugatory all the labours of the costly

armament in the Baltic Sea. The readiest solution
of the difficulty would be, an imperative demand on
Prussia to declare herself on the side of the Western
Powers, or on that of Russia, and, in the event of
the latter decision, to extend the blockade to
Prussian ports. Our Ministers have, however, as
yet refrained from this course through fear, we
suppose, of exciting the hostility of the rest of
Germany ; but it is clear that some course must be
taken, or Russia, with the resources derived from
her export trade through Prussia, will be enabled
to prolong the war indefinitely. This brings us to
the gist of the question. By the Navigation Laws,
as they stood before the column of Free Trade
obtained its crowning capitol, no foreign vessel
was allowed to import any cargo but the produce
of the country to which she belonged ; and had it
not been for the repeal, a vigilant exercise of the
law would have been sufficient to put a stop to the
manner in which, by Prussian connivance, Russia
evades the consequences of the blockade, which has
cost this country so vast an outlay.