Star. — London, England, 1820-05-25 00:00:00

CC,rillON COL .VCIL. A Meetirg of the Court of Common Council was held yesterday, at Guildhall, for the purpose of con sidering a motion, of which Alde r m an WAITIIMAN Lad given notice, resphting the office of Receiver of the Orphans' Dues. After sore preliminary busi ness had Leen disi.osed of, Tbe Lulu M.tvou stated to the Court, that he had received from Liam Curtis certain l'a;ers on the subject which was about to be discussed, and proposed that thee documents should be real. Alderman WAITIIMAN observed, that this was a novel proceeding, quite contrary to the practice of the Court. In his motion, there was nothing of a _personal nature against any individual. If it had been shewn that, ci.her on account of bad health, • absence from town, or any other unavoidable cause, a Member of the Court was prevented from attend- , Lrg, then a written communication from that inoivi dual might be received ; but as that was not the case in the present instance, and as they were bound to believe•that the Honourable Baronet voluntarily ahsented himself, he thought the Court could not listen to such a communication as that which it was now proposed to read. _ _ Mr. li'. SMITH thought, that as this communica tion was not a Petition, but merely a statement on the subject which was about to be discussed, it would not be proper for the Court to receive it, as such a course would tend to prejudge the question, before they had heard the statement of the worthy Alderman. Mr. IVII.I.IANIS also opposed the reading of this Faper, and said, that though the proposal fur sub mitting it to the Court came from the Lord Mayor, he had the courage to declare that such a course would be extremely improper. if any Member oil the Court chose to read these statements as a part of his speech, it was competent for him to do so ; but it would not be regular to hear them before the dis cussion had taken place. After some farther observations, the motion for reading these Papers was withdrawn. Alderman WA ITIINIA N then proceeded to state the grounds of his motion. He regretted the absence of the individual who was chiefly concerned with the subject of his motion, and stated his intention to steer clear of every personal imputation. But, at the same time, if any individuals were necessarily implicated in the transactie,as to which it was his duty to advert, the fault was ant his. The fact was, that, till sery lately, hardly an individual of the Corporation knew anything at all about the Or phans' Fund, and therefore, whatever invidious re marks might be made on the manner in which the Funds of `the Corporation had been managed, no thing at all could apply to that Court, for the ma nagement of this Fund was exclusively with the Court of Aldermen, and the Corporation of London knew nothing either of the management of the Fund, or of the nature and extent of the balances in hand. About eight or nine years since, a Committee of the House of Commons had investigated these Funds, and had made a very able Report thereon. He did not wish the business to rest upon his statement, but should chiefly rest his authority upon the Report of that Committee. It appeared that, from immemo rial custom, the Court of Aldermen was a Court of Record for the care and government of the Orphans; the Lord Mayor and Aldermen were invested with the care and custody of all Orphan Children while under age; they had the sole management of the estates of deceased Freemen, and could compel the Executors of the deceased to vest their property in the Chamber. It was therefore a matter of obliga tion, and not of choke. In the reigns of James I. and Charles I. large Funds had accumulated in the Chamber, which in the periods of public calamity that followed, were so entirely lost to the Corpora tion and their creditors, that they were compelled to declare their incapacity to pay to the Orphans either the principal or the interest of their debts. Iu the year 1689, and subsequently, they presented Pe tition; to Parliament for an Act to enable them to raise Funds for the discharge of these debts. It was not till the sth and 6th of William and Mary that. they were enabled to obtain an Act to raise money for this purpose. This Act, after levying a per manent Tax of £lO,OOO a-year upon the Citizens, also empowered them to levy a Tax of 101 per chaldron upon all Coals brought into the port of London, and which constituted this Orphans' Fund. The amount of the Orphans' debt was £747,472; and this Fund being insufficient to defray the interest, it was further increased to £90,000. Another Act passed 21st George 11. for the further relief of the Orphans, and by this Act the surpluses that had ac crued, together with all future surpluses that might accrue, atter discharging interest, were ordered to be applied for the reduction of the principal of the. eeht. After this, various Acts of Parliament had paiied, authorizing the Corpornion of London to rase large sums of money, amounting to £784,000, and for continuing the Orphans' Fund for the dis charge of these sums. Tire Commlttee of the House of Cemmisns, after investigating all the transactions ef the Corporation of London,. gave them full credit far the propriety of their conduct in the management of these public works, and also declared, " That all the details, both of receipt and expenditure, are kept with an accuracy, and checked with a vigilance which reflect honour upon all who have had any part in the superintendence of this Fund." This the worthy Al derman remarked, had been quoted by the present Eezeiver (Sir William Curtis) in approbation of his conduct ; but it must be seen that it had no reference v-hatever to him, or to the office of the Receiver; and e-en if it did refer to the office, it could not apply to him, as the Report had been made several years back, end very s.;an after his appointment to the office.— The Committee toudenined, in the strongest terms, the practice of retaining balances in hand. By the above Act the surpluses were ordered to be applied, on giving six months notice to the creditors, to the Foidation of the debt; but the Chamber, under the conti out and management of the Court of Aldermen, :titer the half-yearly receipts had been paid in, gave six months notice of the payment, leaving the said balances during ail that time in hand; and the Leport cf the House of Commons stated, that " It appears from the next account from the Chamberlain's Office, and of the state of the balances in that office, that in each of the four quarters in the last five Teas; a balance, on an average, of £20,000 has re stained unapprepriated in the hands of the said , ' Chamberlain, or his sub-accountants—a practice which your Committee consider .prejudicial to the progress of the liquidation of the debt, and the less 1 warrantable as it seems calculated to afford an in- I direct advantage to some one or more persons charged with the management of the receipts and expendi ture of the Fund, who, in their opinion, if not fairly compensated by the salary and per centage annually charged in the account, amounting to nearly 1:1,000, should be remunerated by direct charges appearing in the account of the said Funds." Here, then, was the strongest condemnation of the practice of retain ing such balances. He did imagine that this lair balance did include the balance in the hands of Sir William Curtis, the receiver; bu't upon investigation he found that was not the case, and it did not appear by the Report that a knowledge of the balance in his hands ever came under the view of the. Commit tee of the House of Commons. It appeared, then, that in addition to the ab ove b a l ance o f '20,0001. L which, he believed, had since bee n in crease d t o 50,0001. in the Chamberlain's hands, a balance also remained in the hands of the receiver, . Sir William Curtis, which averaged, during the last nine years, upwards of 11,7001. There was also in his hands a further balance of between 2,000/. and 3,0001. upon the coal-metage duty ; and it appeared that this esti mate was made from the end of each month/whereas the money being paid in weekly, would increase those balances 1,5001. more, making in the receiver's hands upwards of 15,0001. and altogether, he be lieved, with the amount in the Chamber, there was a balance of 40,0001. unappropriated. Nor were these the only balances, for another Alderman, Sir John Earner, who was Collector of the Orphans' Duty on Wine, had also in hand a balance of 1,0001. `The balance in the hands of the present receiver would, in ten years, at compound interest, realize 10,0001. in twenty years it would realize 30,0001. and had all the balances been applied, from the cem menceinent, they would long since have paid off the Orphans' debt, and all. the sums berrowed on that Fund. Having stated these facts in a manner which, he trusted, would be plain to the understanding of a child twelve years old, he should now take notice of the kind of defence which had been set up for this practice. It had been said that there was a great deal of trouble in the coll&tion, and a great deal of risk, for which the receiver gave security— to which he had one pl'ain answer to give, that Mr. Drummer, who had an office worth GOO/. per annum under the Corporation, did all this duty for 1001. a-year. Mr. Drummer collected this money on one particular day each week, and paid the same on that very day into the haudsof the receiver; and, as the weekly amount was something under 1,0001. this was all the trouble and all the risk that were incur red. Sir William Curtis then received an allowance of 1501. per annum, and all these immense balances in hand, for the trouble of receiving 1,000/. once a-week, and making one payment in the month into the Chamber. It had also been said, that other Aldermen had had the like appointments. This had certainly been the case ever since the year 1752 ; but fcr the last twenty-five years, since the office had undergone a new regulation, the receiver had been relieved from the risk and the trouble, and during that period, up to the appointment of the present receiver, they had never retained more than two months' balances in hind. The present receiver had uniformly retained three months' collection in hand till he (Alderman Waithman) had brought this subject before the notice of the Public, since which time it had been reduced to two months' collection. He had confined himself in these observations to a statement of facts, and he did not know that he had anything more to say; but he submitted it to the Court, whether these practices ought to be conti nued, especially in the present embarrassed state of the funds of the Corporation, when they were con stantly under the necessity of borrowing money.— It might, indeed, be said, that the Corporation had no controul over this fund, and that it remained with the Court of Aldermen. He had used his endeavours in that Court, but had not beer, able to find even a seconder ; but they had, on the contrary, come to the resolution that there could not be a better or more useful mode of collection—(A laugh). He did hope, however, that the inquiries of this Court would lead to a different result, and that they might be fortunate in their discoveries. So long as the Court of Alder men acted as the guardians of this fund, they might say that this Court had nothing to do with- the mat ter; but when the Corporation applied Parliament for grants of £150,000 on the security of the Orphans' Fund, the Corporation by that act had an interest in the protection of the Fund ; they were in some degree responsible for its preservation, and had a right to go to apply to Parliament to enable them to dispose of it in a proper manner. Upwards of a yeai had now elapsed since he first gave notice of a motion oa this subject in another Court, and, of whatever motives he might have been accused, it was evident that he had taken up the question long before such motives could have existed. A printed paper on the table of the House of Commons had first given him insight into the matter ; and, seeing that abuse existed, he had thought it his duty, as a Representative of the City, to - bring the subject before that Court and the Public, and he trusted that his Lordship would be actuated by similar feelings. He knew of no objec tion that could be urged against the motion which he was about to submit, unless it was that the ques tion did not fall within the jurisdiction of the Court. It might, at all events, be worth while to refer it to a Committee, to inquire whether his statements were correct, and whether a better plan could not be de vised for the receipt and management of the Funds? The worthy Alderman concluded, amid loud and general cheers, by proposing the following motion : " That it be referred to the Committee for General Purposes to inquire into the nature and duties of the Office of Collector and Receiver of the Orphans' Dues and Metage Duties on Coals, with the allowance for the collection of the same ; together with au account of all balances retained in his hands, and the mannes in which the said dues have been paid into the Chamber; and to consider whether any butter or more beneficial mode of col lecting and pafiag the said dues may be adopted; and to report to the Court thereon ; also, that it be referred to the said Com mittee to make like inquiries, and to report, respecting the Orphans' Duty oa Wine." Mr. WILLtAms seconded the motion, and highly commended the candour with which the worthy Al derman had stated the case; It was a matter of the deepest regret that this question had been so long neglected. Ile believed that the thing would Lever be pat an end to, ”. lless this Court put an end to it and he would a,k, why the Aldermen ought to look to such rewards when they accepted their office?— Let those who looked for them retire, and it would be seen that there would be others who would corne forward, actuated by more liberal motives. Mr. Di xolg concurred in the motion ;.as did Messrs. GRIFFITHS and OLDHAM. Mr. JAMES, in also giving it his support, :bought it would be much more to the honour of the Alder men, that no such office was held by one of their body, and that, instead of balances being left in hand, the Court ought to grant salaries. Mr. FAVELL regretted the absence of the Honour able Baronet, as that individual had attacked him . openly on the hustings, and had asked him bow he " dared" to say so and so of him ? " Nov," said Mr. Favell, " had he been here, I would have to-day shewn him, that ' I dared do all Becomes an honest man!' And I should have therefore dared to ask the Baronet, why he had used such epithets in allusion to me?"— The worthy Gentleman then recapitulated the state ment he had formerly made in the Court of Common Council, as to the refusal of the loan of E5OOO at five per cent. by Sir William Curtis, though that Baronet had such large balances in his hands. Mr. 'l'. N. WILLIAMS thanhd the worthy Alder man for bringing this motion forward so candidly and dispassionately, and hoped the Court would never see Sir William Curtis there again, unless he came to defend himself. lie was ji.s , .ifieJ in saving so, after the vote of censure s o recently p asse d on the Baronet. Mr. JACKS 'highly commended the manner in which the motion had been bwt:i_- . 1 t e:/, and 'ave it 'his support. Aft - ei a :lon reply from Mr. Alderman WAITII. MAN, it was unanimously agreed to. The Court adjourned at lour o'cicck. LAIV INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, MAY 24. CLAYTON V. POPE. This was an action by the plaintiff, as occupier of a set of chambers, No. 3, Lincoln's Inn New-square, against the defendant, an Overseer of the Poor, in the Liberty of the Rolls, to try whether those chambers were situate in the Liberty of the Rolls, or in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, and thereby to ascertain whether the plaintiff was liable to pay '1 towards the support of the Puor in the Rolls Liberty. As is usual in cases of this description, a mass of ' documentary evidence, consisting of grants, leases, descriptions, rate-books, &c. were put in; and parole evidence, as to the boundaries of the Parish and the Liberties, and to prove customs, were called on each side. The case occupied the attention of the Court and Jury for upwards of four hours ; as it was one in which the interests of the Benchers in Lincoln's Inn were concerned, it excited the attention of the Bar to a more than usual degree. After a most im partial summing up on the part of the LORD CIIIEP JusrlcE, the Jury found a verdict for the defendant, thereby establishing the liability of the plaintiff to pay the rate for the 'Liberty of the Rolls. / THE DUKE OF BEDFORD V. PAGE. This was an action brought, in fact, by the lessees of the Noble plaintiff, against the defendant, who is a market-gardener, in oruer to try the right to certain tolls claimed upon the sale of potatoes, in a particu lar part of Covent-garden, called the potatoe-market. The present proceeding was the fourth of the same nature.--The Jury, alter differing for some time, found a verdict for the plaintiff, establishing the toll at two-pence per sack, upon all potatoes sold within that particular part of the market, upon which the question was raised. These two cases occupied the Court from nine in he morning until six in the evening. COURT Or EXCHEQUER, MAY 24. ELD V. BORNE, SHAW, AND OTHERS. Mr. JA Rya stated, that this was a most important case; it was an action to recover the amount of a quantity of silver plate that was sent by the Chester Mail, of which the defendants are proprietors. It ap peared that, in the latter part of June, last year, the plaintiff, who is a most respectable Gentleman, re siding near Eccleshall, in Staffordshire, sent an order for a considerable quantity of forks, spoons, dcc. to Mr. Thomas Wilkinson, a silversmith in Piccadilly, which was accordingly packed, and sent to the Golden Cross, Charing Cross, directed for " Wm. Eld, Esq. Brocton House, near Eccleshall, Staffordshire: to be forwarded by the Chester Mail." There was not any notice given that it contained articles of value. It, however, never was received, and Mr. Wilkinson having recovered the amount of his demand against the present plaintiff, he sought to recover of the coach . proprietors _ _ A lad, of the name of Rigg, was examined by Mr. Potr.en, and proved the delivery of the box. There was also the receipt of the Coach-office Clerk. In his cross-examination by Mr. CLARK, who, with Mr. COMYN, conducted the defence, he distinctly swore that he did not see the notice-board which was placed in the Office, and which was produced in Court. The next witness called was Mr—Wilkinson. lie proved the packing of the box, and its being addres sed as before described. A very close cross-examina tion of this witness took place by Mr. COMYN ; nothing, however, was elicited to serve the defen dants. He, as well as the preceding witness, had been several times to the Coach-office in question, and he most positively denied s ever having read the notice beard, or even haiing heard that any notice had been given by the defendants. He never insured any goods unless they were so ordered to be, he considering that coach proprietors were, and ought to be, liable for all goods intrusted to their care. Here Mr. CLARK took an objection to the form of the declaration, it being at variance with the addreA on the box, that describing it as being to be left at. Eccleshall," and on the box, " to be near Eccles hall," without ordering it to be left anywhere. The CHIEF BArtoli said, he should make a note of the objection. The main question, however, was, whether persons taking grow to Coach-otlices were bound to see the usual notices given by coach pro. prictors, by placing boards, itc(:nainting poson s sending goods by their coaches, that they would not be answerable beyond a certain amount ? 1k was of opinion they were not compellable to see sod' notices, and a verdict was • taken for the plaintiff fin £79. 15s. the ansount sought to Le recovered. OLD BAILEY SESSIOYS. Yesterday, Samuel Davenport was indicted In: ern. bezzling £47. I2s. the property of his master, Bell jamin Whitaker. The prosecutor is a Solicitor, and the prisoner was, at the time of the robbery, a clerk in his employ ment. In the month of September last the prosecu tor had occasion to leave town -and during the pe riod of his absence the prisoner received from Mr. Poundle, another Solicitor, the sum reerit:oned in the indictment, being the amont.t of a bid of cn•.ts in an action, w Lich had been decided in favour of a client of Mr. Whitaker. • Upon the return of the pre . secutor to town. he found that his de: k had 4- sconded, and heard nothing of him until the March, when he was apprehended and committee No defetsce was made by the prisoner, and the jury found a verdict—Guilty. The Commos; SERJEA NT then, after an approprfat admonition, sentenced the pi i.orler to fourteen years . transportation. George Pelld was convicted capitally for stealirg, in the dwelling--house of James Francis, a glass c see. containing pocket-books, pencil-cases, and other ticks. Some witnesses gave the prisoner a geed character, and, in consecpence, he was recommended to mercy both by the Jury an.f prosecutor. John Johnstone, a boy of tender age, and More Downes, a woman of ahout the age of forty, were st:- verally indicted, the oae.tor stealing a scarf, belong. mg to Mr. Baker, of F.:1: am, and the latter for re ceiving, it, well-knowing it to T)e stolen property. The principal evid,:nce in this case was that of the sister to the 1:1.1. 6!:e had herself stclen the tcarf, at I the instr anon cf her, 'o-other, the latter stood sy_;:r. The girl, while deli.:ciing her testimony, cs very much, so as to b-.;- ~casctiy able to spe,:k, and seemed much aticcwd by the unfortun.,te situation of her. little brother. The scarf was fourd by a constable in thl possession of the female pri soner, who keeps a shop for all kinds of linen and woollen stuffs. It was inime.iately given up. The Lcarf was worth ES, and she gave 6s. for it. The male prisoner said nothing in his defence. The female prisoner professed her innocence. At the tine the scarf was brought to her, she took it because the parents of the boy who brought it were in very, great di stress. To the character of Mary Downes some wi:nesses were called, and proved her hoilesty and iespect..!,i lity. Mr. Smith, a coachmaker, of Cleikenweil; Mrs. Maynard, a shopkeeper, of Hammersmith, and others, had known the prisoner well. She had once fired in the family of the Duke of Kent. The (lummox SERJEANT said, in summing up, that, tlivu,:gh defect of evidence, the charge against the lad was reduced to a clergyable 'oance, and therefore, in the event of a conviction, his life would not be and ingered. This was, pethaps, a fortu nate circunistance, considerieg the tender age of the prisoner. The Jury fodnd a verdict of Guilty against John stone and acquitted the female prisoner. The Jury wished the lad to be huminely disposed of, either in the Penitentiary, or some other such place. The prosecutor, being questioned by the COMMON S%P.JCANT to the character of the lad, said that he was a very bad boy, and that there was scarcely a shop in the place which had not been robbed by him. The COMMON SELIJEANT.—Then he must be sent cut of the country. The Jury wished that the unfortunate girl who had given her testimony should be dLposed of in some manner. The COMMON SER:EANT observed, that the girl had discharged her duty to the Public, and that she was now out of the hands cf the Court. • Mr. Sheriff RoTivittr, here observed, that he had made application for her to be recLivcd into ti:e Re fuge for the Destitute; he hoped he sliould Succeed in this endeavour. Mary Downes stood again indicted for receiving a pair of breeches, knowing them to be stolen. tile was, however, again acquitted. The following were also acquitted M. Cotton, J. Austin, Elizabeth Wright, and Ann Linnell. An extensive burglary was committed on the premises of Mrs. BALDY, in James's-square. Margate, on the night of Thursday last or Friday morning. It is not ascertained in what way the entrance into the Louse was effected, nor does any suspicion, at present, attach to any individual. It would appear that the villains w ere perfectly well acquainted with the Fremises, as every room in the house was visited, wirh the exception of those which were tenanted. All the plate, a watch, and money from three different places, has been missed ; some plated goods were left, after an evident examination. Three wax candles were hBlited; and so deliberate were the operations of the parties concerned, that they even emptied a decanter of wine, which they met with in the cou:se of thei r depredations. May i, Sir Wtn. Newry Clerke, Bart. to Mary Elizabeth, eldest daughter of G. W. li2ndlizh, Esq. o' Mertyn, Flintshlne. Thursday, at Norwich, 'Mr. Itlbinson Cruso, wine and spirit merchant, to Miss Cur:is, daughter of the late Mr. W. Curtis, brewer, of Lynn. DIED. On the 3d January, wL:n on her passafte from Calcutta to Anjengo, in the 27th year of :aer ace, Amelia, wife of &Linz. B. B. l'alby, of the 7th liei!ment ol 2.l..dras infantry. At 'Trincomalee, on the 6th rf October, Caroline Godsalve, the infant daughter, and on th e 20 t h N ovem b er, aged two yeas and seveil months, Thomas Montague Wharton, the only sur viving child of lA.titenant itty:Ves, of the 73d Regiment. March 25, at T0i3.40, in •!.le Wept-Luties, Liciltcuant Isaac Baer, or King's own Rei;im.:itt, and seventh son of Mr. Beer, of Canterbury. At Dlegn, Va!!ey, Trinidad, on the 234 of Januarv, after a pittful and Engerng illness, Robert Davidson, late sur geon in Paisle;r, in the tl.'7th you of his age. ('O.t I. Mlt RK ET, MAY 24. Ships at Market. Ships S4)11. Price. 1044 Newc: , -;!Ie 786 30s 0:1 to 37s 6.1 13 tittn:it•riand 11 -22 s 041 to 32. 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