The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-03-04 00:00:00

FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 4, 1842

We were favoured yesterday with copies of the
Guiana Times of the 10th and 14th ultimo, containing
six days later news from that colony; and regret to say
that the state of affairs which they develope is amply
confirmatory of our worst anticipations. We noticed,
in our last article upon West Indian affairs, the dissa-
tisfaction which had been created amongst the working
population of British Guiana, and especially by some
of the recent immigrants, by the attempt of the planters
to reduce the cost of production to the level required
to meet the existing price of West Indian produce.
This dissatisfaction has not subsided : on the contrary,
it appears to have been fomented by the injudicious
tone in which the ordinances complained of have been
spoken of by the governor of the colony, Mr. Light;
and at length has grown to such a height as t 9 induce
that injudicious functionary to declare that no alterna-
tive is left to him except that of proposing to the Colo-
nial Secretary to send back to Sierra Leone; " in some
vessel of war, or other conveyance authorised to he
procured by her Majesty's government," such immi-
grants from that colony as have, or imagine that they
have, cause of complaint against the planting body.

Upon the exparte statements of the labourers them-
selves, Without the accuracy of those statements being
tested by any reference to their employers, the governor
has arrived at this determination ; and if such a hasty
course is listened to by the Colonial Oflice, we need
scarcely predict that emigration from Sierra Leone, or
any other quarter, must be entirely put a stop to, and
the ruin of our West Indian colonies sealed without
redemption.

We must confess we scarcely anticipate that Lord
Stanley will approve of the conduct pursued through-
out these unhappy differences by the representitive of
the Crown in British Guiana, and, least of all, that he
will adopt, without some stringent inquiry into the true
facts of the case, the step recommended by him. In a
recent despatch, his lordship has expressly recognized
the necessity, on the part of the planters, to regulate
the standard of wages by the value of produce, and
repudiated the notion that the immigrant has any right
to complain so long as such reductions are not exces-
sive. " The rate of wages in the West Indies," writes
the Colonial Secretary, " is liable to fluctuations, which
it is impossible to calculate beforehand, and every im-
migrant must take his chance of such fluctuations,
without any guarantee against the depreciation of the
value of his labour." Entertaining these sentiments,
therefore we trust that the attention of the government
will be directed to the instituting of a scrutiny into the
whole difficulties which now present themselves, in
this and other colonies, rather than be duped into an
implicit belief of the one-sided representations of the
governor and his satellites.

The question of immigration to the West

under the direct sanction of the government, must
now, we think, force itself upon the attention of Lord
Stanley. There can be no question as to the unreaso•
nableness of the course pursued, under the influence
of bad councils, by the immigrant labourers of British
Guiana; and so long as any governor of that colony
has the power of holding out, as a threat, in aid of
their extortions, the resort to a step which would as
effectually put a stop to all further immigration, the
unreasonable tone will be persisted in. Let Lord
Stanley concede to our 'West Indian colonies a similar
measure with respect to immigration from Sierra Le-

one, and other African parts, to that which he deve-
loped in the House of Commons, on Tuesday night,
so ably and satisfactorily, as about to be extended to
the planters of the Mauritius, and we venture to pro-
phesy that in those colonies all will go well, with the
immigrants themselves and with the planting body,
who will be benefitted by it. Such a measure may re-
ceive the opposition of a handful of pseudo philanthro-
pists out of parliament, and of a few gentlemen of the
calibre of Mr. Vernon Smith within its doors; but de-
pend upon it the great majority of the people of Eng-
land are tired of listening to the absurd twaddle of these
very absurd people. The question which presses now
for consideration is, "are our West Indian passessions
to be abandoned to progressive and rapid decay ?"
And if such a calamity is to be averted, his lordship,
we are confident, will not lightly be driven from the
adoption of the only measure by which such a consum-
mation can be secured.

The remarks which we offered on Tuesday, upo]
the position held by the British manufacturer in fo
reign markets, has somewhat ruffled the temper of ou
oracular contemporary, the Manchester Guardian. W
are certainly not heartbroken at this circumstance:—

" The flesh will quiver where the pincers tear ;"
and the world will not fail to draw the conclusion that
some deep sore must exist, when so gentle .an applica-
tion of the probe has drawn forth a howl of pain and
anger so wild as that uttered on Wednesday by our
Manchester contemporary : •

" We should have thought," writes this apologist of ' the
League,' " that with the exception of a few tory country
gentlemen in the House of Commons, who are silly enough
to swallow any cock-and-bull story that may harmonize with
their own prejudices, there was not a single animal walking
upon two legs, and calling itself a man, that would receive
the statements of Mr. Ferrand, Mr. Oastler, and other
worthies of the same stamp, with any other emotion than

that of utter contempt. It seems, however, that there

people out of the House of Commons, and out of Bedlam
who either believe, or affect to believe, that the manufac,
turers of this country are all either rogues, or so blind t(

their own interests as to make inferior and trashy goods, by
which they cannot obtain a profit, when there is at the same
time a demand for fabrics of a better character at remuner-
ating prices. Amongst others, a writer in the LIVERPOOL.
STANDARD of yesterday undertakes to read the manufactu-
rers a long lecture on this subject," &c. &c.

Not so fast, gentle brother,—not so fast ! Let us
just whisper in your ear the fact that there are " ani-
mals walking on two legs, and calling themselves
men," who, nevertheless, do not " receive the state-
ments of Mr. FERRAND, Mr. OASTLER, and other
worthies of the same stamp, with utter contempt ;"
and, amongst these " animals," not the most insigni-
ficant is the man "of gentlemanly habits" who does
the dirty business of the league in the columns of the
Manchester Guardian. Our contemporary certainly
appears, to us and to the world, to view the statements
of the gentlemen in question with anything rather than
contempt ! He has condescended to get into a passion
with them ; they have ruffled his " gentlemanly ha-
bits ;" they have extorted from him a coarseness of
tone which is, at the least, very unbecoming; and
these effects are not ordinarily produced by things
which are in themselves only contemptible. We are
quite willing, therefore, to be ranked amongst the
" animals " in question, seeing that we have our con-

temporary with us.
It is said, however, by the Guardian, that " there
are people out of the House Of Commons and out of
Bedlam who believe, or affect to believe, that the ma-
nufacturers of this country are all eil;her rogues.or so
blind to their own interests as to make inferior and
trashy goods ;" and amongst these people out of Bed-
lam is classed " a writer in the LIVERPOOL STAND.

ARD," or, in more courteous and " gentlemanly
terms, the editor"of that journal. W e beg respectfully
to decline the honour intended us hi, the classification
in question. We never said or thocght that all the

Anuftlettsrera wove 4ito

believi

r, rmatld

neva bald so 1 Oastior r,ever said

so. All this, moreover, the (juardiaa knew when he
imputed such opinions to us and them ; and we leave
that shifty lover of the " lie by implication" to rub
shoulders with the Rer..Muggletonian Member for
Salford. They are "par nobile fratrum."

But let us see with what arguments or facts the

Guardian meets our remarks upon the inferior status
of the British manufacturer in foreign markets. We
quote from his article at length, premising that the

italics are our contemporary's own

" That in the finest qualities of printed calicoes, which
require not only very great taste and skill in design, but also
a very large amount of manual labour, the Swiss and French
have a preference in some markets, no man can deny ; and
the present restrictions on the import of food, by increasing
the expense of manual labour in this country, seem likely
enough to perpetuate that advantage. But every other de-
scription of cotton goods (with the exception, perhaps, of
hosiery) are made in England not only cheaper, but of better •
quality, than in any other country under the sun. No doubt
there are many inferior goods manufactured here ; but those
who desire to have the best qualities may find as many as
they want. Now, under these circumstances, supposing that
English manufacturers were foolish enough to export goods
of wretched quality, by which they get little or nothing, how
happens it that merchants—and Liverpool merchants too—
should commit the same folly? Why do not they buy and
export better fabrics ? Even if these were not to be pur-
chased in the ordinary markets, they could be made to order,
of any quality required. Why, then, do not those very
clever and discerning merchants avoid the error into which
the manufacturers fall? Perhaps when the Standard favours
us with the details which he promises, and which we have
great curiosity to see, he will add some explanations on this

,oint."

Let us entreat the earnest attention of our readers
to these 'quibbles of the oracle of the league ! We
do not, he says, rank equally with the Swiss or French
manufacturers in foreign markets. This fact then,
which we contended- for, is admitted. In articles
which require "very great taste in skill and design, as

well as a very large amount of manual labour," we are
excelled by the manufacturers of 'these countries; and
we are told that we shall continue to be so excelled, so
!ong as restrictions on the price of food " increase the
expense of manual labour" in Great Britain. After all the
shuffling negation of the league, the fact then is here at
length allowed to come out, that free trade in corn—

the grand panacea which is to restore our manufactu-
ring interest to its former prosperity and to supremacy
in every market in the world—is to be effected by a
reduction in the price of labour ! We are not told how
manufacturing " taste and skill in design" are to be
promoted. The free trader contemplates no such te-
dious steps as would be involved in the attempt to raise
the reputation of British fabrics in foreign markets to
a level with that of our manufacturing competitors;

but openly proclairns to the world that the course
which he contemplates is the reduction of the price of
manufacturing labour to the continental level, to enable

him to acquire—not superior excellence—not superior
fabric of beauty or design—but CHEAPNESS ! The
native agriculture of Great Britain is to be laid in
ruins—not to increase the comforts of the manufactu-
ring labourer—not to introduce into his wretched home
a greater quantity of food, as the reward of his inces-
sant toil—but to enable the millocrat of the league to
screw down the money amount of wages, and to deluge
the markets of the world with his cheap and trashy
commodities _ _

Our contemporary tells us that goods are made in
England (excluding the finest printed calicoes) " not
only cheaper but of better quality than in any other
country under the sun." We perfectly agree with
him ; and the reason why these cheapest and best goods
do not sell is because we also manufacture goods in-
trinsically dearer and worse in quality than those of
any other country. Our contemporary admits this
fact. He is not ignorant of the flour paste and china
clay frauds practised upon the foreign buyer of our
goods; and it is therefore a piece of gratuitous inso .
lence, in him, to ask, why Liverpool merchants are
found exporting these rascally compositions of plaster,
in preference to the best descriptions of manufactures ?
The reason is palpable., We cannot in any foreign
market realise the value of the best description of Bri-
tish manufactures. The very name which they bear is
a hindrance to their acceptation by the best classes of
consumers; and the merchant who would be mad
enough to attempt their introduction, although he
might perhaps, in time, succeed in overcoming the com-
petition of the foreign manufacturer, would, with too
grad certainty, be elbowed at every step by tl4 un-
principled venders of British trash, whose fraudulent
practices are rife in every market. We bear through-
out the world a tainted name- We have the reputation
of dealing in miserable rags; and until that reputation
is cleansed (and it will take years of self-denying ho-
nesty to effect it) we never be able to take up
that position in the markets of the world which honest
traders would wish to occupy.
.

We shall not fail to favour the Guardian with the
promised details about which he affects to feel so ear-
nest a longing, although, perhaps, when we have done
so he will scarcely thank us. In the meantime, may
we request of him to mend his temper ?

The Liverpool Times has always especially prided
himself in the extent of his information upon econo-
mical and commercial questions. With all the myste-
ries and intricacies of foreign tariffs and commercial
policy—with all the secret.opinions; even, of foreign
governments upon commercial questions—our sage
contemporary imagines himself to be perfectly and
exclusively acquainted ; and his. readers, who, being
only the wise ones of the world, are lamentably few in
number, have, we dare say, often wondered why so
manifest a Solon was not treading in the footsteps of a
Canning or a Huskisson—illuminating the darkness of
the Board of Trade or the Foreign Office, instead of
wasting his vast stores of knowledge upon the obtuse
inhabitants of the banks of the Mersey.
Of late, however, some doubts have come over us
with respect to the quality and source of our learned
brother's wisdom. We have doubted whether he was
Minerva herself or only Minerva's bird ; whether he
was himself the fertile source of the light which he
shed abroad, or only a dispenser of the borrowed corn
modity—a sort of tin reflector of the lamp of some
other philosopher—a crammed repeater of some other
sage's profundities. The last publication of our con-
temporary has converted doubt . upon. this point into
certainty ; and the painful task devolves upon us of
exposing to the world the cheat which has been so
long practised upon its credulity.
In a lengthy article, on Tuesday last, upon the sub-
ject of " Sir Howard Douglas's maiden speech," the
Times has succeeded in crowding within the space of
three-quarters of a column a greater quantity of con •
ceited insolence and sheer ignorance than was ever be-
fore accomplished by any journalist-in ten times the
compass. Upon the insolence and conceit in question
we have at present, however, no intention of remarking
at any length. The inflation of the small journalist,
who presumes to prate about the " ignorance and folly
of the honourable and gallant member for Liverpool,"
wit h respect to matters of international policy, is too
'close an imitation of the frog in the fable to need any
other castigation than has already been bestowel upon
it by the fabulist. We shall confine ourselves, there-
fore, to the task of holding up to the observation of the
public one rare specimen of his profound ignorance of
the subject upon which he professes to be an especial
luminary.
There is no question upon which more has been said
of late by the organs of the anti-monopoly party, and
by our contemporary in particular, than the effect of
our present commercial system upon the fiscal policy
of the United States. Sir Howard Douglas, as have
other men before him, doubts strongly whether any
alteration of our import duties would have the effect
of indaCing the government of the United States
to reduce their present almost prohibitory tariff upon
our manufactures. On the occasion which has drawn
forth our contemporary's pert remarks Sir Howard
" asserted (very truly)" says the Times, " that the peo-
ple of the United States were anxiously looking to the
course which England would take; informed the house
(very unnecessarily) that the Americans would not
reduce their duties lower, which is likely enough to be
true, seeing that an ad valorem duty of twenty per cent.
is all that remains," &c. Could the world, we ask,
have believed that a journalist in the port of Liverpool,
.professedly conversant in all the details of its foreign
commerce, and especially in those of its vast trade with
America, would give utterance to an assertion displaying
such amazing ignorance ? Would any man have inn-