The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-22 00:00:00

THE BUTTER TRADE

The following letter on this subject, and with reference to
a paragraph inserted in our last, has been addressed to the
" President of the'Committee of the Merchants of Cork."
Sir,—l have forborne, as long as forbearance was compati-
ble with a due regard for my commercial character, to make
any comment upon the subject of the extra meeting of the
Committee of Merchants, held on the 28th ult., the avowed
object of which was to put a stop to some new frauds, as they
were pleased to term them, iu the butter trade ; the old
frauds having become sanctioned by long continuance, so
that the consciences of those engaged in them are no longer
wounded by the practice of them.

.
They met, however, to consider upon some communica-
tions received from their own agents in Liverpool, respecting
the introduction into that port of foreign butter, having the
brand " Cork," meaning Cork fashion ; as the word " Ber-
wick" is here used on Pork made up in a peculiar manner to
suit the London market ; but with far less chance of deceiving
the buyer, inasmuch as the butter is entered and sold in bond,
and could not possibly be mistaken for home produce by any
one whose skull was not as thick as the heads or the hoops
now used by those who are adepts in trimming their firkins—
and all other kinds of trimming.
Shall 1 speak of the custom of branding " Prime Mess"
on measly pork and inferior beef shipped under a fictitious
name ? or of but let the rest pass. I would not draw a
precedent from the more notorious frauds, (the word is their
own) practised by those very men who stand forward, with
shameless effrontery, to discountenance even the semblance
of wrong, forgetting that at this moment Cork butter will
not he bought in Jamaica until the &king are stripped.
But how did those honourable men act towards us? Did
they call upon me, as one of the firm of Casey Brothers, to
inquire into the cirainstances. or invite me to that board of
which I was so recently a member, to afford me an opportu-
nity of explanation, and of removing their feigned appre-
hensions? No—they chose, first covertly, and afterwards
more openly, but not less assiduously, to fig their slander—
but they were interested parties, and did not wish to know
the truth. Not so, however, with the disinterested tribunal
before which the 'case was investigated in Liverpool—l mean
the Board of Customs, where we were highly complimented
for our prompt -and satisfactory explanation, it appearing
quite evident to those, her Majesty's officers, who were on
the spot, who could see the butter, and learn all the circum-
stances connected with it, arid who had no private end to
serve, nor feelings of jealous rivalry to gratify, that there
could be no intention of fraud, nor possibility of com-
mitting it.
Foiled in this attempt.
they vote £3O to defray the ex-
penses of one of their staff, whom they sent in the capacity of
bellman to Liverpool, to assure the easy, simple folk there
that butter brought from Germany was not the produce of
the County Cork ! and to warn them that it could not, by
any means, stand a tropical climate without receiving the
mystic scratches which be could give it at Mallow-lane, and
there only; but the main and the mean object of his mission
was to write home slanders, which may appear in print—all
which he has most creditably accomplished—and it appears
from his last letter that now he has nothing to do, and when
that is done he'll come home.
In conclusion, I would advise the gentlemen, -now that
their double rose is defiled by foreign contract, to adopt the
lily as the fitter emblem of the immaculate purity of the
butter trade of Cork, and assign to those in the Hamburgh
trade the thistle and its motto—" Nemo me impune lacessit ."
Sir, while I address myself to you, in your official situa-
tion of president, I beg to assure you individually of my
highest esteem ; and, with great respect. I remain, Sir, your
obedient servant, GEORGE CASEY.
To J. J. Murphy, Esq.