The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-22 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 12' ) , 1833. 7-- LIVERPOOL CORPORATION INQU/RI this a FOURTEENTH DAY. 11 4 " , ay (Tuesday) the commissioners entered _the tn C r ourt ceedesau°Lit half past ten, when Mr. Lowe, the solici __, or pro o: ration s with his statements relative to the claim of the C p ye ar I f !' town -dues. He said that he left off yester . day at the pa 45, when - an issue had been directed to be tried for e h r e l e ) ° , e of settling the question of the liability of the London so t'e,taongers-to the tolls . of the river Mersey. The trial came befog bar at the Court of Exchequer, on the 2.3 d appeared, 1701 by the a special jury of the county of Hertford, and it _ ot: pera,Sothen decree, that the verdict was in favour tried the C Isry`aylof London, A new trial, sued for and __ i __before a sates • the county of Berks ou the 25th October, 17)1 tenni heti. I _,a the same manner. 'He then adverted to what ho really rei s - e ve l ," to be the limits of the port, and he could scarcely cont isg th ir. Poster could have been serious the other day in sta - th s ,,at the Corporation had jurisdiction over all the waters of art ;tern t s s 3 1 ,, when, as be need not infurm the commissioners_ W e ar - .'''Y had seen the plan, those waters extended as lar . as chestreNton-bridge, cud even, in point of fact, beyond ‘l,?lonn iniiesr: It clearly appeared, from the return of . a commission S arie la the reign of Queen Elizabeth, for defining the bot - tr sta s of ports for Customhouse purposes, that a line drawn Is e, the Redstones or Hoylake, to the mouth of the . Alb- Isi ties e , the extent of the port for that particular fsa r lid se * With respeCt to the anchorage due, it would_ be lyeeti expressly mentioned in the old duchy lease to the .Mos or toix tan:lily, and as part of the purchase of the citizens c from King Charles, in 1632, as the custohl?f an town !e or keel -toll of the waters of the Mersey within eo th ii ! te,idend lordship of Liverpool, and not, as was now th at ,`,!, all . over the river. On this ground . he right, which, as far, cjaun-of anchorage was only a manorial hi ' 4 4 as i.t consisted of a charge to the lord of the manor fo; ithi e a lying upou the sand within his boundary, was reasoinn a ea t : 4°L O), and having some time ago been . engaged sht,.....respecting anchorage on the-other side of the _w e ti lt_ water, t, i ; i n o wai given in evidence that a gentlemanprof i for ‘,..sse.lord of the manor was in the habit of receiving dues t o be, els ling within his territory, he was strongly inclined ver gn u i eve that the original right of the Corporation of Ll ViiO 4 had been simply a share in common with others.- t sh6i respect to the town dues, Mr. Lowe then proceedted en Pla ce v ` f hat he termed the capricious variations which had a o ls o .s rap urt r _,°ln tim e to time in the scale of charges levied upon _g d also .L e ' colt of, and imported into, the port of Liverpool, which isere`r constant accession of new articles of commerce wh o i v t e r il ia , asecoming subject to the tolls, his charges being to t p w r Int esi'sstel there was no recognised scale of , .ex d cep I leet er ' . On an antiquated brass-plate - hung up Itelun the col litriit,',4l?d the list of commodities on which was exceedingly net h s i :o, it must remain with the receiver of the town d dues to ach' sanerbitrary manner the rate that -was to be paid upon iheil e as it was brought into or taken out of the port. He th,tereferred to the subject of the Corporation seal, and said ba s k s w as rather an extraordinary entry in the Corpora . tron 4f h .: The Town-clerk, in presenting them with an impression . Jsli t ,' 4 'eals had stated it to have been of the time of Henry or p,,,,' I• there of-that sort: on. the h August, 1611, i P Crs that there was an order made at a r c mmon halt, that 4a gree Tartruck should be elected town-clerk; and it was alsi o "ed that he should every New Year's-day give to the Mayor t s h:°rth of plate and at Midsummer's-eve £lO worth mos , u s „ °larked with 'a cormorant, the town's arms, which plate -• to t ie . th ere , delivered from Mayor to Mayor. Since that . time ti es "ad been much discussion amongst the Liverpool antique- Prs,; •B t ° what kind of bird it was. At length Mr. Gregson fin einced it an eagle, from seeing at the foot what . he took ias t .,, i e ‘ Word " Jovis," which, in fact, was only the tail of the ,- ouldun, for which the bunling artist who executed the sea ) ! th e . .uot find room round - the margin • whieh'iYas proved_ t y loieteal inscription, as set forth in the 21s1 vol. of the Arclice- Ses, i al Society's transactions namely, "Siyillum commune Bur . - v erc ," 4 Leverpoth, "-the common seal of the burgesses of Li ltar ;". Howeve'r, in modern times the cormorant had been lies ia,'Mued into a liver, a creature of the gull species, and so, I:sri, - ,, P ,Fased, the designation had been made to pass from the ultr' - on, as the components of the cuinorant system, to the Ssigefsses, who might more properly be represented by th e l 'i' Igull. [Mr. Lowe here read a number of entries from the syrn 17`2,°('',a of the Co . rporation, from dates varying front 1525 to Rta st :,"ich he had obtained by virtue of an order of inspeci . ion rsti s `' aim by Lord Brougham on the refusa of the Coipo is 1 . 11 to produce those books on the trial of the f t wn dues' case psre,sion. His object, through many of the entries i were rt a s p rese"LiK recited more to signalise his own and Mr. lobe 's iuse4praerabiiogst the records of the Corporation than for any Ile s , ~ e connexion which they seemed to have with the biisi- I s ti °I the court, was to show that the burgesses had from time . se e4 n a te been accustomed to transact their own business,. and his "'aly to depute others to do it for them.] Having finished h ear at c iate nte Mr. Lowe requested that-Mr. Maxwell might be eossid°° th e y question of the town dues, on which subject he had ~.i . o nside question experience. shill:George Maxwell was then examined.-Is a general meorr the I 's and has resided twenty-two years in Liverpool . . 1' hi s bast sixteen years has been in business, in partnership with . ti bast sixteen duringwhich period they have had large trausaL- Palrif:ri_the'truielves and others . They own sever!!! ships. Has !his s : , ; , s tne period of sixteen years, upwards of . £4OOO s town- H a traded le „•!tiollee particular trade, which was to Afrfa. s ets "Jun tip's with Mr. William Bothwell. . They . h . a n e d , ti o,, een . '11 1 ; ‘ , . enstvely engaged between May 1832 and had y . 1000 . rietts:..ad sent six vessels to Africa, and paid on the goods car tSt a those vessels, outwards town-dues to the amount of 4 aes 8. 7 40 tons of the goods 'consisted of salt, in which the lel , we lLe £29 12s. • They received from Africa, by these ves- Ot i S i‘u casks of palm oil, the town dues upon which were %her sa• added upon other articles. There were ti sm nouses extensively engaged inahe same trade ;and t li e e lirestisisn't Messrs. Horsfall sent out fifteen vessels ; and on h ti ft „ e '"Ption that the dues were paid for the cargoes, would ves,elainounted to £3lB 14s, 2d. Sir J. Tobin sent out three_ h ave a of 1149 tons. The dues, in the same proportion, would soave ateounted to £l5l 13s. 11d. Mr. Bourne sent four yes t.lo)l/9'itii a tonnage of 1267, and his dues would have been a iset s -•- • g• I o d. These establishments were engaged exten kesi ni other trades besides the African, but his state t° t 1 Y applied to the African trade. He had furth . er istssaate, that, in" the fluctuation, f .•the markets, it . was 14,..33ib1e for a non-freema.o to * compete in trade with a Is,trtan Be foreeoncluding he would state that he has a tua,, in Bordeaux who is 'a freeman of Liverpool by se aseol bri t never carried on business in Liverpool on his own I..h, e 4 at, and that the town du es u p on an ythin g he shipped to who srpo?lre,re annually returned to him. .H . e was one of those 101 l u 8 tne petitron, and he bore his testimony to the an t e .: ti sit. 8 genera ll y, and he concurred in the prayer of the pe i T i Ilia bug. OWR-Clerk asked whether Mr. Maxwell had given up wi n ,tr ae ,- k a in consequence of his * being unable to compete .7 others 1h w . • le Witness replied he had not. th e er Richard Edwards examined.-He was a magistrate of of h ides y, and a deput-lieutenant : was chiefly an importer had he s, and one in the y firm of Edwards, Hall, and Co. He t b ,e'lli a e ce rl u e .. n,gage,d in• that bnsiness thirty-three years, and had h ate d o . `" l ed• to pay dock and town dues on allgoods un- Ad r exported by 'the firm • in the year ending f 832 they duri Pai d Z 217 11s town dues and £134 Bs. 9d. dock dues, and dokildgut.,ll..e.present.year £2ll 7s 9d. town dues and £l6l 15s. 11d. ~ Th e s i'_a vvn Les t beisuo _elerk.-Have you any recollection of an applic.a -00 4 g trade to the Common Council to reduce the duties ate particular articles ? aseessile"----I recollect that the duty on hides, which was toThe v,e, was reduced iu 1825. you you not know that the action with t o soh are ?connected is to try the right of the Corporation Ai,. dues Da;vsistildealva;-I believe not. It is to try whether I am liable to t ota l A nether others are to be exeinpt. I wish to pay the il l %Le s . 1 t 0 e O4ll • . have no objection to do so, provided the rest t ' (4 101 inanity contribute in the same way.-( Loud cheers.) ..4t r t , t? say, that within the last thirty years I compute that P"tati o -- tu ari 1 :100.000 have been paid to the funds of the Cot exist b efore af roin the trade of the River Plate alone, which did not kr .----(Hear.) w ere • Bolton said that his views of the cause of the action tis to try tl- • talk 43 44 ,, . the right to the town dues, and if that right 0 "shed to try whether the dues were to be regulated by sel l o r v alue. If all persons had paid alike he should have 'So t. ne of the last persons to have disturbed the question of Mr. L Ne,, dowe.-And I for one should have been the last to be ‘thi e " i n any action to deprive the Corporation of those dues A ir vfere proved to he so beneficial to the town. (Hear.) er e t,: Sendars examined.-He stated that he was a corn pellka A nt, of the house of Sanders and Claxton, extensively ze, ti. in the Irish cor i n B g o rade, and th a. count of whose town tikti2 act been in 183 1 ) 19s. 7cl • in e 131 £859 Is 2d. ; in '74 1: . 57 Is. Ild.; ' being ans average . of ' £766, or' about es ... e t the whle amount He also tha the u b ser e Sett unequalo and opp ress i ve, and that the complaine proc d eeds t d had not t0 4 4,k) Applied to proper purposes: he instanced the vote of t horse arty university, and the subscription of 190 guineas h.aee. By the assistance the Corporation bad given eltr4; lutroduction of horse-racing, they had inflicted as great a li e ina .Pou the town as it was possible for any body of men to do. for inelataiited that the dues were very capricious and unequal; 4 lity futence, oats, selling at 2s. 6d. per bushel, paid Is. 4d. ,Wir eat r every hundred bushels, which was Ils. 100. per cent. ; h"ash e i at 7 s. per bushel, paid also is. 4•1. for every hundred id R I , . which was equal to 4s. 6d. per cont.; flour, at 4Us. per sack, - 44 5. ''' per ton, which was equal to 3s. V. per cwt.; meal, at appeter sack, paid Bd. per ton, equal to 4s. sd. per cent. It appeared r t d from this statement that a cheap article like oats paid I trti e l in ner as mu,h as 'wheat, an d so it was with the other 1 , ,,!4 in th e same proportion. 44 1 4 w 11- clerk. -What proportion of the average of £766, Mr. M s T a w as paid o n y our own account ? N it z• iondars.-I,srorn £5O to £100; I should sa nearer . £5O hill i s • the greatest part of the business done in Liver- I', , uPon commission Liver re there any other curse or sin which you can liisti.y"Ztr coorntnweoled with the - corporate expenditure, during the ) Sri gn i t B ll %nda rs. .... I beieve therwas nevr an estate of such 'V tt 50 honestly and fairly administered. (Much cheer -1 t,,,?w0-clerk (to the commissioner.)-Will you take that, sir? l‘fr.le°ch °bilged to Mr. Sandars for his character. Mtn is,°,lotnissioner Wilkinson inquired if there were any others , C o t . .a s sl to furnish information respecting the town dues ? oere er,::%_lllllaras, the radical member for Ashton-under-lyre, , Th, j. and stated that he had a few observations to make. tJein. , _ nn unissioner req ueste d that he should be sworn; which /407, ' n te, the co l one l sa i d that he was a member of Pantie wisheal Magistrate for the county, and a free burgess. He W, hi s t, h t ° say a few words respeCtln s the Common Council, "o losk is e ,considered to be a packed body 6 and an oligarchy, and 'ervatw e g . upl)n it as a secret deliberative assembly for the Con tolihunt or she tie was a reformer; and, on one occasion, a gentle tiest , Coasmon Council, alluding to his (the colonel's) e " Y; but'c 'th)na, s aid, " Yes, you may call our Council a close Pini on a ,1 . ,vou were a member of it, 'you would be of the same th e exhr ' ?then people."-(A laugh) - He had pondered upon 'sold ' I ; ess ion, arid became anxious - . to see if the close body forth _ ot b e thou one oe opened,casiou a o n s d a hn repaired r to the Common Council bu gess, and demanded admission, e"e:- Pin'rl)"e of seeing what i : they were doing for the bur iff tu statehe Mayor refused to admit him; but sal out his bai- Ic 'try he c • that, not being a emher of the Council, he was t 4 c heck th 'uld gars had st not be admitt d m His (the colonel's) wish was e n)i'aPprouriatioen • f thepublic money. Mr. San . tne _ .exception f With the dted that the corpor a te o funds were well managed, peation of 1,1;1, d , but he (Col the two cases of misapplication he . had the • Williams) would mention another inisap °Oncil h 1 - P u blic money, which was, that the . Coirmon . 7 - e a' voted the sum of £BOO for painting the picture or n of their body e,nt in the for ' . erhap s it would be better to putt the state ,l,lth:t not som? of a question to the Town-clerk, and he asked the ""vn-elerk replied that he dil not know the amount of 4 Portrait whi h 410,....., .active and roo s t . c was that of Alderman Case who had been use(feulh,meresmier of the C - oluin , on Council for r,7,ttian 50 years. Rive I,p_nel Williams._ ors.) C 'm ,hs7,tirty pence for such ' ryas ,d not be expended l a, Council had • ht to o mon . no rig purpose; it was not their mone , , and (!":..attother instance of utfor the purposes intended. 'There 4 "It'll havinthe waste of pul-he money, the Common g voied • e suought that Mr. Canuing IWO for the stone of Mr. Canning. was not the model of a statesman to be held up . to the rising generation. (Loud hissing and groans, intermixed with a few faint cheers, which prevented the Colonel from being heard for souse time.) As soon as the noise had partially subsided, we understood the Colonel to say, that Mr. Canning was certainly a fit stateman to look after the affairs of a close borough, and the close borough in consequence made him their idol. ( Hisses.) Mr. Canning had professed origi nally to have taken his station by the standard of reform, and— (here the uproar of disapprobation drowned the Colonel's voice.) Ile'had understood that even the chairs of the Common Coun cil-room cost £l5 a piece, which was another piece of extia vagauce ; he did not see why the Common Council could not deliberate on the chairs of their ancestors. He wished to ask the treasurer if the chairs had cost that price ? Mr. Case replied that not having the books before him, he could not tell what they cost without reference. Col. Williams concluded by stating that he did not under stand the principle upon which the public were deprived of ad mission into the Common Council. The two houses of parlia ment were open to the public, and why not the collective wisdom of Liverpool? Mr. Thomas Leathom, of the firm of Leathom, Earle and Co. ' was then "examined with refere nce to the transactions of the Common Council and the Dock Committee on the subject of the graving docks, but his evidence was substantially the same as what ha. 3 been already detailed relative to that point. As the court was breaking up Mr. John Taylor wished to know if there would be any time for hearing complaints respect ing the conduct of the Mayor and Corporation at elections. Mr. Wilkinson replied probably on hursday. It being now time to adjourn, the commissioner said they should sit again on Wednesday at half-past ten o'clock. FIFTUENTH DAY. • a& - This morning the commissioners took their seats upon the bench at half past ten o'clock. The Town-clerk, addressing the bench, said, that in his for mer evidence respecting the patronage of the cbpel belonging to the School for the Ibud, he had previously stated that the senior rector, iu case of a future vacancy, held the power of appointing a clergyman to that chapel. He was then mis taken, although perhaps the mistake was not very material, as they (the commissioners) had been furnished with a copy of the act of Parliament. From that act it would be seen that the patronage of_the chapel was vested in the Mayor for the time being, the senior aldermen, and the two vice-presidents of the asy lum. A question had also been asked, whether the Corpora tion had not refused to grant the patronage of this chapel on any terms, excepting its being vested in their own body ? Now he held in his hand a letter, dated 22d of December, 1828, found in the books of the Corporation, from the Rev. Jonathan Brooks, who appeared to have been chairman of the committee of the Blind School at that time, transmitting to the Common Council the heads of the bill proposed for the asylum for the ap proval of the Common Council. The Town-clerk then read the letter containing the clauses in the bill alluded to, as adopted by the committee of the Blind School, one of which invested the patronage with the Mayor, aldermen, &c.; as stated before. In answer to a question from the commissioners, the Towa-clerk said, that the bill,passed in the 'form alluded' to and 'that the committee was formed from the subscribers tUtlrtqnstitution, elected at the annual meeting. Mr. Askew, the harbour-master, who attended understanding that souse questions were to be put to him, inquired whether he met the gentleman who intended to question him, as the Dock Committee, or on equal terms. He was bound to respect the Dock Committee; but he, perhaps, might be led to answer questions with some appearance of warmth. The commissioner replied that, upon whatever terms Mr. Askew might meet the gentleman, he should take care that no improper questions were put to him. Mr. Leathom examined.—He disclaimed all personal hostility to Mr. Askew, but standing here as he did, he had a duty to perform to the rate-payers in giving an account of his conduct. Shortly after he came into the committee discussion arose as to Mr. Askew being possessed of steam boats. It was said that the harbour-master's attention was so taken up by his own business, that his duty to the Dock Trust was very much neglected. This question was discussed in committee, and reference made to an order standing on the books, prohibiting Mr. Askew from having any connection with boats, river craft, or other business connected with shipping, under a penalty of £5OO. He was consequently much surprised, on entering the committee, to find such a violation of its orders. Mr. Askew's attention was officially called to this order by the secretary. He was sorry to say that Mr. Askew gave a most disrespectful answer, which excited in the mind of every gentleman present, excepting one, the most heartfelt disgust. lie was desired by the committee to reconsider his answer, and he sent an apology. The steam boats were ordered to be put down, but the order was not complied with till a late period. A representation was subsequently made to the committee of the imperfect state of the buoys and the land-marks, and he (Mr. L.) applied to the gentleman who gave him the information, who was a captain of one of the war-office packets, to put down, in writing, of what he complained, and he would place it before the committee. The captain promised to do so, but delayed, and witness asked him the reason. He said he did not like, in consequence of the terms in which the harbour-master had expressed himself to wards him. The captain ultimately did lay the compl a int before the committee; and Lieutenant Evans,in conjunction with the harbour-master, was to survey the channel; but that gen tleman} received so many impediments from Mr. Askew, that he ultimately left Liverpool; and he stated that Mr. Askew had spoken with the highest disrespect of the sub-committee formed to institute the inquiry. Two gentlemen were, event ually, sent down from the Admiralty to survey the channel, which ought to have been done before by the harbour-master and Lieutenant Evans. The harbour-master had boasted that he would do as he liked in putting down the buoys, or in the survey, as he had a majority in his faiCirar in the Dock Com mittee, in which he was so far correct, for he tried the strength of the committee by afterwards soliciting them to allow his steam-boats to go to Wales. 'The boats continued to be em ployed by the harbour-master, or his nephew, whom he con ceived to be one and the same person. The boats continued to ply daily between Holywell and the port of Liverpool. He thought the Dock Estate ought to be entrusted to the hands of gentlemen more interested in commercial business, and that would prevent negligence in their servants. He had several papers in support of the opinions lie had given, from captains of war-office packets, that the navigation should be better understood by pilots and other mariners. Mr. Leathom here read several letters from captains of vessels, addressed to him self, complaining of the buoys and landmarks not being suffi ciently distin,,,uttislitible_inie of which was from Captain fown ley, of the Thetis, war-office packet; another. from Lieutenant Phillips, of the Comet; one from Captain Emerson, of the Etna; and one from Captain Gill, of the Mona's Isle.— Mr. Leathom here stated that from the exertions of the two surveyors from the Admiralty, they had now two channels open for the accommodation of navigators, but which they might have had years before. What he had stated was brought for ward to show, that owing to the support this servant of the Dock Estate received from the members of the Common Council, he had been paying more attention to his own business than that of the Dock Estate. Cross-examined b the Town-clerk.—The harbour-master had put, down the buoys; but Lieutenant Evans had sur veyed the river, and had pointed out where the buoys were to be taken up. Lieutenant Evans would have accompanied the harbour-master to take up the buoys, and place the others; but he had not informed him when he was going to do so. The fifth buoy was placed erroneously, and the harbour master was informed that :t was in a wrong position. The position of the buoys had been advertised in the London Gazette and nearly all the papers in England, and the buoy was subse quently placed in the position as advertised. The sub dock committee advertised the buoys, and they were ordered to be put down according to the survey of Lieutenant Evans. The harbour muster did not place the fifth buoy according to the dii ections iu the survey. The Town-clerk.—ln consequence of this negligence of Mr. Askew, did you introduce a motion in the committee for his dismissal. Mr. Leathom.—No • end the reason was, that the rate-payers were perfectly aware if they had, they could not have been able to carry the motion, as the members of the Common Council would have been opposed to them. By the Town-clerk.—ls not a shipowner himself; flit John Tobin, Mr. Horsfall, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Sandbach, mem bers of the Dock Committee, are as considerable shipowners as any in the port, and Sir John Tobin one of the largest. Mr. Myers is not a shipowner; Mr. Hornby has a few ships iu the Baltic trade. Mr. Dixon ? he believed, was only connected in steam-boats. In point of interest Messrs. Horsfall, Gladstone, Sandbach, and Tohin, had as much at stake as any rate-payer in the port. Witness's partner, Mr. Earle, is a member of the Common Council, but is not a shipowner. The members of the Common Council possess no other privileges but being exempt from the town dues. Town-clerk.—ls it your belief, Mr. Leathom, that if those gentlemen named, who possess so much interest in the ship ping, believed that the ham bour-master had been guilty of the culpable neglect imputed to him, and so placed their vessels in jeopardy, that they would not have made a motion for his dismissal ? Mr. Leathom.—l do not think they would; they might have reprimanded him. The Town-clerk inquired whether, since Mr. Leathom's con nection with the Dock Committee, he had found the members of that body from the Common Council cause any thing detri mental to the Dock Estate ? Mr. Leathom replied, that they had been the cause of many discussions, but he could not say any thing detrimental to the estate had arisen from the present constitution of the Committee. Mr. Askew, the harbour-master, after repeating a portion of his former evidence relative to his connection with steam-boats, and his sale of them. by.order of the Dock Committee, stated, that before he was appointed to the situation of harheur-mas ter, he was a ship-clialidler and an over-looker, but be relin quished both on obtaining the situation, although' he was allowed to use his money in any other way. He belonged to the Egremont Ferry, which in summer time was very much frequented; the Ferry had cost him £21.000, which had proved a loss. In 18'27, he field a situation as surveyor of the red-book shipping, but gave it up without being ordered by the Dock Committee, finding that he had enough to do to attend to the duties of harbour master. Mr Nicholls succeeded to the sim ation of surveyor of Shipping to the red-book. He had for merly carried on the coal-trade, and supplied the government packets and other vessels with coals. He was in partnership with Mr. Sotherne, who now carries on the business. lie (Mr. Askew) had no interest in the coal business whatever at the present time, or in any coal flats. Is the owner of an hotel on the other side the river. Mr. Askew here said, he should like to put a question to Mr. Brown, to show there was no party feeling existing against him one way or the other. He would ask Mr. Brown, through the court, whether he had not, on one occasion, met him in the street, and exultingly said, "We have given you another rap on the knuckles in the committee tc-day ;" at the same time saying, that he (the witness) had either been enjoying himself at Newton Races, or attending to the steam-boats ? Mr. Brown admitted th a t h e had. Mr. Alderman Ilrancker stated, that he had been a member of the Dock Committee for thirty or forty years, and had con siderable opportunity of observing the conduct of the harbour master. He had been out with him to inspect the buoys at different timos over the channel, except the new ones, an d h a d invariably found gr ea t accu r a cy in their situation, and if any thing was wrong it was investigated, and set right the next day. He thought Mr. Askew a very efficient man for the situa tion he held; and the many testimonials which he produced when appointed to the situation, from captains of men of war, almost proved it. He did not think that Mr. Askew's connec tion with steam-boats prevented him from fulfilling the duties of his situation as harbour-master. Sir George D inkwater also bore testimony to the efficiency of Mr. Askew, as harboUr-nLaster ; and said that most of the magi , trates, including_the worthy chief magistrate, could speak to his being a mcst excellent servant of the trust. Mr. Rad , liffe hoped the court would see that it was not a part of their case to attack the character of the harbour -master; they wished to show that the constitution of the committee was such, they had not the p:mat of governing their servants well. Mr. Leathom here, in answer to a question from Mr. Askew respecting lieut. Evans entered into a long e;planation of the manner in which the Dock Committee had entered into an en gagement with that gentleman to survey th e c h anne l s , and said tha . t. Mr. Askew • was disagreeably surorii e d a t seeing Mr. Evans, the sub-committee not deeming it necessary to consult him on the subject. . - Mr. Askew, :n reply, s tat e d th a t the c ha r t ma d e by Lieut. Evans was an incorrect ere; that he had ascertained a certain part of the channel was only four feet six inches water, whereas THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, boat drawing eight feet water had passed through. The in tricate channel was not to be described by two buoys, as was the plan of Mr. Evans. Mr. Evans had never passed the chan nel until he (Mr. Askew) had done so. Lieut. Evans had offered to sell to him the copyright of the chart, together with all the fees he expected from the Dock Committee for £ lOO , and the sub Dock Committee had given him £350 for his services. he Commissioners said it was not their duty to inquire into the relative merits of Mr. Askew and Mr. Evans. Mr. Askew said that a charge had been made against him for procrastinating the business respecting the buoys. He had not done so, but he wished the survey had been postponed until spring, so that he could have done the business more effectually. Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson inquired whether Mr. Askew s bond in £5OO had ever been executed ? The Treasurer replied that it had not, but could state the reason why. The Town-clerk remarked that the terms of Mr. Askew's engagement were that he should not carry on business under a penalty of I:500; but he the Town-clerk) had never received instructions to prepare the bond. Mr. Leathom was of opinion that if the harbour-master had devoted more of his attention to the vessels coming in, seeing that they were not kept out of dock an unreasonable time, he would probably have prevented the bribery and corruption amongst the dock masters, which, he was sorry to see, had been carried on. Mr. Leathom, in answer to some questions from Mr. Rad cliffe, stated, that although the members of the Dock Committee alluded to before were not shipowners, they were great ex porters and importers of goods. He was also of opinion that facility of accommodation in the port for the import and export of gotids was likely to increase the business of Liverpool. fhe port was situated in the centre of the principal manufactur ing towns in the kingdom, where manufactured goods, coals, salt, earthenware, &c. were to be had in abundance, which was an inducement to the London, Scotch, and Irish merchants to choose it as the port for exportation, in consequence of which, it was desirable, for the growing prosperity of the town, that the dues of the port should be less expensive. The new tracl, with the empire of China and South America, and the increas ing trade in all parts of the world, would, he thought, lead Liverpool to look for increased accommodation for shipping, and he hoped it' such was the case, that the general good would be looked to, and not private interests, in the building of extra docks—that they would be built in a more convenient situation. He trusted that the result of the inquiry would tend to produce harmony in the Dock Committee, and that instead of discus sion, they would all unite to promote the general welfare of the town. Mr. Myers confirmed the opinion of Mr. Leathom with respect to the facility of despatch in the port being likely to increase the business, but he thought when the present docks were completed, that there would be no want of space. Mr. Askew cross-examined by Mr. Duncan.—The Dock Commissioners elected by the rate-payers were extensive rate payers, and consignees of goods; Liverpool being situated in the vicinity of the. manufacturing and productive districts, ex ported eartheuware,_salt, hardware, coat, copper, &c. including, the productions of Ireland and Glasgow, to every quarter of the globe, and it was of importance that every facility should be given to the shippers of goods; having lately been at Lon don, he was aware that the rival dock owners there were doing every thing in their power, by affording every facility, as well as by low charges. to interfere with the trade of Liverpool; it was natural to suppose that the opening of the China trade, in addition to the extensive markets of South America, would in a few years give this port the greatest portion of the commerce of the world, and by that means render the present dock room inadequate to the demand; he hoped any future docks would be, when needed, obtained in a central situation. (Hear.) The establishment of steam vessels had brought the greatest part of the trade of Glasgow and Ireland to Liverpool, which were then transhipped for foreign ports, and by means of the railway, goods could be ordered from Manchester and shipped iu less than 48 hours when necessary. In answer to a query from the Town-clerk, as to the shortest time in which vessels flad discharged, loaded, and sailed, Mr. Askew said that he had commanded vessels in the Jamaica trade for twenty-three years, during which time he had never cost the Underwriters one shilling, and had dis charged, loaded and sailed the " Benson," a large vessel of 4)0 tons, in six days. A vessel of Messrs. Barton and Co. of the same tonnage, had performed the same in five days; these, how ever, were extraordinary instances of despatch. Mr. I'. Bolton said - that the despatch alluded to was not the ordinary time in which vessels unloaded. He had a vessel of GOO tons recently come into port, which had to wait a week be fore she could get a berth. When the docks were partially empty there was no delay in getting into dock, but when the dock was full they had to take their chance. Mr. Radcliffe here recurred to the subject of Mr. Bourne, the solicitor, and read a prote.st, signed by seven rate-payers, against his appointment. Mr. Hassell, the partner of Mr. Cornelius Bourne, examined Mr. Leathom as to his grounds of objection to Mr. C. Bourne. Mr. Leathom.—His only objections were on account of his youth and inexperience; he had seen little of the young man since he had been appointed. Mr. 11yers had never heard Mr. Bourne deliver an opinion until Thursday last, when he gave an opinion upon an act of Parliament, and then he was wrong;—he referred to the right of purchasing the Graving Dock No.l, under act of Parliament. Mr. Commissioner Wiikinson.—Then, according to your opinion, it would not be safe to entrust Mr. Bourne, unassisted, with the soliciting of a bill through Parliament. Mr. Myers.—lt would not. Mr. Sandbach and Sir George Drinkwater spoke in high terms of the ability displayed by Mr. Bourne as clerk to the magistrates. 'I he Town-clerk differed iu opinion with Mr. Myers as to the great difficulty of an attorney's business being to solicit an act of Parliament. It was almost the least difficult. A great deal of assiduity and perseverance was requisite s but little more. Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson.—But with regard to framing the bill ? _ _ _ Town-clerk.—Why, if the secrets of the profession were to be known, he would state what was well known to professional men,•that a solicitor seldom framed an act of Parliament on his own sole judgment, but called in the assistance of an experienced conveyancer. Mr. Radcliffe.—What the Town-clerk means by perseverance and assiduity I suppose is bowing, scraping, and, waiting upon members of 'Parliament. Town-clerk.---I confess that is one half of the business.— (Laughter.) Mr. Radcliffe asked how it was, if the procuring an act of Parliament was such an easy business, that solicitors were al lowed double fees when engaged in that business ? Town-clerk.—That is to keep up the dignity of the House of Commons. (A laugh.) A solicitor ought to be paid more for attending the Imperial Parliament than a common court of law. (Laughter.) Mr. T. Bolton, in answer to a question from the commission ers, stated, that he would not have disturbed the town dues question, had the town dues been placed upon an equality.— Before the erection of docks, and the imposition of tonnage cuties, the town dues were collected for improving the port. Mr. Chalmers, surgeon, wished to know when the commis sioners would enter into the manner in which burgesses were made, as he and his family had resided in Liverpool for 150 years, and they had been burgesses of Liverpool, whilst he had not; he thought he had very strong claims, and could make out a very strong case. The commissioners stated that Mr. Radcliffe intended opening the cases of bribery at elections on the morrow, when the case would form part of incidentally. Mr. William Rathbone examined.—Had been a merchant and burgess twenty-five years; was a burgess by . birth. As chairman of a committee, having been requested, in company with his friends, Messrs. R. E. Harvey and Wyberg, to proceed to Loudon, in furtherance of an inquiry respecting the parlia mentary and municipal elections of Liverpool, by the House of Commons, he begged leave to hand the court a copy of the report which was the result of that inquiry, with a request that it might be read; also, to furnish the commissioners with a copy of the evidence upon which that report was founded, to which, with their permission, he was desirous of adding a few observa tions. The Town-clerk having read the report, Mr. ltathbone resumed.—lt was with deep regret he asserted that, within the last 25 or:30 years, near a quarter of a million had been spent in election purposes. The evil had been so extended and general as almost to have ceased to be considered to be wrong; and he was so far from wishing to attempt to conceal, that he con fessed in his younger days he himself did not escape the conta gion. Ile thought the corrupter was worse than the corrupted; but the money he so spent was his own, not raised by any indirect means, and used to oppose those who had the loaves and fishes to &ive,- -not, therefore, with any view of profitable investment, imparting in return a provision for children, relations, or de pendents. This evil was extended so widely as to infuse itself into all relations, political, commercial, and social, so as to re quire no small degree of moral courage to maintain indepen dence or even integrity of conduct. This state of things, it was the object of the gentlemen with whom it was his honour to act, to try to amend since the passing of the reform bill, which might be done without . punishing those who had been more sinned against than sinning, as the elective franchise was within the reach of all. A cellar was let for 3s. per week: Is. per week more in addition would give the qualification of a LW householder, which would be a fair test of the qualification ,• and if connected with the right of electing local governors and making them responsible to the public, would raise the charac ter of the electors and the elected, and greatly promote the re spectability and real welfare of every class, high and low, rich and poor, in this great community. He was the only member of his family that was free, although his father was a freeman, owing to a curious circumstance, which was, that his mother's health wee so bad at the time of her confinement that she could not bear to be removed. which of itself was a proof of the ab. surdity of the present state of the elective franchise. The commissioners having intimated their ir tention to finish the dock business the first,thing in the morning, and then pro ceed upon the inquiry, the court adjourned at three o'clock. SIXTEENTH DAY Yesterday morning, the commissioners resumed their labours. They entered the court a few minutes after ten o'clock. Lieutenant Morrison rose and inquired whether it was the intention of the commissioners to investigate the subject of the Seaman's Hospital? He had understood that a building for seamen was commenced building in the year 1G77, to which the seaman paid 6s. per month, and he understood that the Corpo ration were connected with it, inasmuch as the Common Council held the funds. The cammibsioners, after consulting with the Town-clerk, were clearly of opinion that the hospital was not within the jurisdic tion of the commission. Mr. Jamei Molleneux rose to ask the Town-clerk a few ques tions relative to the appointing ot the clergyman to St. Michael's Church, in July 1830. He had understood Mr. Foster had said, that the gentleman appointed had no connection with the Common Council. He begged lease to ask if a petition signed by one half of the congregation of the church had not been pre -seated to the Common Council against Mr. Johnson's appoint ment. The Town-clerk was at a loss to know what inference Mr. Molleneux had drawn from his previous statement, hut he re eated, if he had said it before, that it was his firm belief Mr. Johnson had neither a relative nor any connection whatever in the Common Council. He could not state whether there was a petition of the kind alluded to presented; but a reference to the books would show. Mr. Molleneux replied, he should wish to see the petition, that the commissioners might be aware of the objections of the congregation. He had heard that, from some natural impedi ment in the speech of Mr. Johnson, he was not audible to the congregation. After the Petition was brought forward, it was his intention to ask if there were any pews to let in the church prior to the appointment, and how many were to let at the present time. The Town-clerk said he would endeavour to procure a copy of the pet tion by this day. His conviction was, that Mr. Johnson had no opponent for the situ a ti on . Mr. Radcliffe said - the object of Mr. Molleneux appeared to be that he wanted to show an abuse of the Corporation patronage. Mr. Molleneux.—Certainly, and I shall take another oppor tunity of alluding to the subject. and produce Mr. Lawrence, the churchwarden to give evidence. The Commissioner said he would take the evidence on Fri day morning. Mr. liathbone put in a copy of the petition presented to the House of Commons, praying for the disfranchieement of the bur-gesses, on the grounds of bribery and corruption. Mr. Sudlow read the petition. Mr. Thomas Chalmers, surgeon, having been sworn, stated that he was a surgeon, and had resided in Liverpool for forty years. The object he had in view was not to bring charges against any one, nor to deprive the burgesses of the privileges they - enjoyed either by servitude or birthright; but he sought, through the means of the commissioners, to report to the government of the country the present situation of a great number of the respectable inhabitants of the town of Liverpool. From the nature of the present charter, by which the burgesses were made, a man could not acquire his freedom of the borough excepting by three modes, which were by birth, servitude, or from the gift of the Common Council. No length of residence, nor respectability of family, could give him the right of free dom. There were upwards of two hundred gentlemen of the same profession as himself, whose periods of apprenticeship were five years ;—they seldom commenced their terms of ap prenticeship until the age of sixteen, and the remainder of their education was completed at the universities, or at the public schools of the metropolis. Thus they (the commissioners) would see that by the nature of his profession, he and others were shut out from obtaining freedom by servitude. Had he (Mr. Chalmers) been induced to have served seven years' ap prenticeship, he doubted whether in the whole town he could have found a medical man in Liverpool possessed of his freedom as a burgess. Out of the two hundred individuals in the pro fession now in Liverpool, he believed that only seven possessed the franchise of a burgess, and out of those live had had their freedom granted by the Common Council for long and valuable gratuitous services to the charitable institutions during the time of sickness, and the other two were free by birthright. There was no necessity for him to pass any eulogium upon these gen tlemen, but he believed that they yielded to none in zeal and ardour to obtain medical knowledge for the service of the insti tutions and their profession generally. He did not think it was vanity when he stated that he thought gentlemen who had re ceived a good education in a liberal profession were equally as capable of judging of the propriety of who should be Mayor of the town, and who should be the parliamentary representative, as the blacksmith who had served seven years to a handicraft trade, and who might not during the whole of that period have received more knowledge than to know how to make a hiss with a red hot nail, as it required no talent or ability beyond the mere servitude to entitle him to the freedom act burgess. He, (Mr. C.,) and his family might be said to have been inhabitants of the borough for the period of a century. His grandfather was a merchant in the town, and he believed was in the same office as the alderman who sat on the commissioners' left, (Mr. Bourne.) His grandfather, on his mother's side, was a mer chant and a burgess, and his mother and all his brothers and sisters were born free burgesses of the town. (Laughter.)— He meant that his mother was a free woman. (Loud laughter.) Their descendants were all free, and himself, although descended from persons who had been a whole cen tury in the town, was not a burgess. The commissioners would here see a strange anomaly ; they would perceive a family on the father's side not free, and on the mother's side all free. From the formation of the present charter the bulk of the inha bitants of the town were deprived of the freedom of the borough, and there was no cause or reason for the exclusion of the rest of the inhabitants, excepting the present charter, which stood between them and their freedom. He hoped, through the pre sent inquiry, to see an extension of the charter, and that being his impression he had taken the liberty of making a few re marks. As the charter was at present constituted, if he had gone upon the hustings at an election he would have been told that he had no business there, not being a freeman. Mr. John Taylor rose and said that he wished to state his sentiments relative to the mode of elections in the borough of Liverpool. In opposing his opinion to that of others he might as well state the fact, that he had frequented the Liverpool market as a buyer of cotton for thirty . -five years, and had been a purchaser to a considerable extent; in addition he had resided in Liverpool for seventeen years, during which time he had been a householder, and he was quite certain that under the pre sent cir , rter there was not the least chance of his obtaining the borough suffrage. Ha new charter was obtained he hoped it would be enacted that there should be no tax for the admission of voters to receive their elective franchise, and that the votes at elections should be given by ballot, which would be the means of doing away with the pernicious system of bribery, corruption, and intimidation which had been carried on at elections. The elec tions' for Common Councilmen and Aldermen should be annual; and, at the displacing of these Aldermen and Common Council men, they ought not to be re-eligible until the expitation of a year, nor the commission of justice of the peace be permitted to continue with the Aldermen and Common Councilmen at the expiration of three years. The Mayor and Bailiffs ought not to remain returning officers in sending members to Parliament; and an express prohibition should be made against members of Parliament interfering in any way with appointments to situa tions of emolument or otherwise in the borough of Liverpool. The property of the present Corporation ought to be divided into separate trusts, according to the distinct manner of appro priation, and committed to trustees for each purpose; those trus tees to be elected every three years, by parliamentary voters and burgesses. Mr. Tayior then went on with a lengthy statement of what he should wish to he done under a new order of things, resulting from the inquiry, amongst which were, that all the functions of the existing Corporation were to cease and pass to other persons. That no person should pay £22 for being admitted a burgess, as it was an inducement for poor men not to take up their freedom until some candidate for the borough did it for them. He need not, he said, detail the advantages to be derived from the vote by ballot to the commissioners, as he had no doubt, from their edication and profession, they were fully aware of them, and of the pernicious in fl uence of canvass-. ing for votes. He then alluded to the mode of electing repre sentatives, which, he said, was not sufficiently open, he having been denied entrance to the hustings at the late election, which he partly attributed to .‘ the powers that be," and partly to the Whigs being afraid he should propose another Whig in opposi tion to., Mr. Ewart, he having, on a previous occasion, brought Mr. Denison in for Liverpool, when the Whigs and the Tories were coalescing. (The announcement of Mr. T a yl or h av i ng returned Mr. Denison was received with roars of laughter.) Mr. Taylor concluded his speech by stating that the present Corporation were not worthy of the station they filled ; and he hoped they would, ere long, return back to that obscurity in society from which they emerged. (Laughter.) The Commissioner inquired if Mr. Taylor was deputed by any body of his fellow-townsmen to come forward and make the sta:ements he had. Mr. Taylot replied that he was not, but he was convinced that he had stated the sentiments of a great majority of not only the working people, but the gentlemen of the Exchange —(a latigh)—the working people he considered, in many instan• ces, to be more respectable than those who called themselves so. Mr. Woodward denied that the gentlemen on 'Change enter tained any such opinions. Mr. George Green asked Mr. Taylor if he had not been in the habit of attending public meetings ? Mr. Taylor reptieethat lie had attended a few. Mr.• Green ailed if he recollected the meeting where lie made a motion and was left in the minority, having one vote. (A latish.) Mr, - ,.Taylor did not recollect. Mr, Thomas Thornely rose and stated, that although the statement of Mr. Chalmers needed no confirmation, he begged leave:to make a remark as regarded himself, on the subject of excluding the respectable inhabitants from the freedom of the borough. He was born in Liverpool, and his father was a resident of the borough for nearly sixty years; and his object i n r i s i ng was to say that - himself and the bulk of the house holders of Liverpool were precluded from the power of voting for the election of magistrates to administer justice in the bor oug h. That right was exclusively exercised by a limited number of persons, who were the present burgesses. He might also add that he paid town dues, whitth was matter of complaint, Whilst others were exempt on account of their free. dom, and he thought similar sentiments were entertained by a majority of the inhabitants of the town. Cross-examined by the Town-clerk.—ls in- the American trad e , Cannot state the amount of town dues paid by his firm. Th e a mount of dues paid on his account were very small. The due s were paid on account of correspondents in America, Man chester, Birmingham, and different parts of the world. It was the practice to charge those dues to the correspondents. A lar ge proportion of the business of Liverpool was done upon commission, but does not know the proportion. There had bee n a great reduction in the price of salt within the last 20 years, and it is now about half the price it was at that period. Amougst the gentlemen in the Common Council there are a great many extensively engaged in trade, and as eminent mer chants as any in the town. Town-cleik (to the commissioners), probably you are aware that Mr. Thornely was a candidate for the repiesentation of the borough on a late occasion, Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson.—Yes, we are aware of that fact. Mr. Radcliffe asked Mr. Thornely if the prosperity of the town did not depend upon the large manufacturing towns and other places he had named. Mr. Thornely replied that it did. Mr. Alderman Horsfall iose and said that he was the Mayor at th e election Mr. Taylor had referred to. The hustings were a very confined space, and, with a view to accommodate tt II par ties a quantity of tickets was sent to the committee of each can didate, so that the committee and the candidate's friends should not be excluded. He recollected the circumstance of Mr. Tay lor endeavouring to gain admission without a ticket, when the police ; officer very properly told him that he was placed there to Prevent any person passing up without a ticket. Had they al owed all the voters to have crowded to the hustings, there wouldl not have been room for the candidates. On hearing that it was Mr. Taylor who was making the disturbance, to- prevent any thing unpleasant he immediately sent him a ticket,• which he understood Mr. Taylor tore up and trampled upan. Mr. Taylor gained admission, and came up to him (Mr. Horsfall) in a very violent manner, and in fact held his fist up to him. He, how ever, did not take any notice „cif Mr. Taylor's conduct, but if there was any complaint at, all he thought that it was himself - (Mr„lifirsfall) who should" have complained. He had once or twice been - to a hustings in a similar way to Mr. T. and was re fused. admission, but he had not, in consequence, stormed the Torn-hall and insulted the returning officer. (Hear.) He should have forgotten the circumstance and never have again mentioned it if Mr. Taylor had not alluded to the subject. The Town-clerk said that he had not alluded to the cireum stance, because it was so notorious in the town, he did notthink it worth while troubling the commissi , ners with a relation of the facts. He did not admit every statement that had been made in the court, because it had been uncontradicted and nuex bours, lon g plained ; h a d th at b een the case their (the c omm i ss i oners) le as they had been, would have been twenty times longer. :With respect to exclusion from the hustings, lie would appeal to any one, but Mr. Radcliffe in particul ar , w h et h er it had not i nvar iably been the practice to accommodate the can didates and their committees in the hustings in the best possible way. Air. Radcliffe.—Decidedly. Town -clerk.—Great facility in taking the poll had resulted from persons being admitted to the hustings by ticket only : Mr. Radcliffe said he never found any difficulty in o btaining tickets at the election, and he never observed niore anxious im partiaity in his life than that displayed by Mr. Horsfall and the bailiffs (the three returning officers Mr. 'not nely said that there was some difficulty in obtaining Taylor, w h o t hi eatene d to b r i ng th e M ayor b e f ore th e H o use of !-%errt mons. ). - -(Cheers.) _ Mr. Alderman Bourne spoke to the violent conduct .of Mr. entrance at one door, but when it was known that the applicants were the candidate and his friends, it was immediately opened. He thought it would be better if the electors were not so much cooped u in the Town-hall—if a mor e efficient place could be found. With respect to the conduct of the returning officers, he and his friends were so well satisfied with them that they deemed it their duty to wait upon the Mayor and thank him for the impartial conduct displayed. (Cheers.) Mr. Taylor ackm;wieclgeethat, when excited, he was not one of the coolest men in the world, but he considered that he had, according to the King's writ, a right to go to the hustings with out a ticket. Lieutenant Morrison here said that he was turned rudely back, because he had no ticket. He was of a similar opinion to Mr. Taylor; he would either go in on his right as a voter or keep out. Mr. Horsfall said, it might be inferred from what had been stated, that the voters had to go thro ug h th e d o or by which tho se who went by tickets entered. The voters went another way to vote and *there was not the least obstruction to them. The Town-clerk remarked that the time alluded to by Mr. Taylor was at the nomination of the candidates, not at the e:e: Con. _ _ Mr. Radcliffe now resumed the subject of the Dock Estate, and ieferied to several acts of Parliament authorising the Dock Estate to build docks, which building had materially improved the property surrounding them belonging to the Corporation ; the Corporation ha' ing reserved for themselves in all the acts of Parliament the Dower of building warehouses and enclosing the land about the Docks. Mr. Radcliffe's object was to shew the necessity of the separation of the two estates from each other, for if, he said, the two estates had been distinctly represented, might it not be supposed that there would have been sufficient foresight on the part of the Dock Trustees to have secured the right to the valuable land, which they must necessarily have made by the erection of those docks. Before the erection of the docks, the land upon which they built them, and which now surrounds them, the property of the Corporation, was ,useless, and belonged to the river Mersey. If the trustees of the docks had had sufficient care and foresight, they would never have resigned that land to the Corporation. However the trust might have been previous, the Corporation having ceased to be owners of the docks, there was now a necessity for a distinct separation. The amendment bill relating to the docks was no amendment, beyond that it admit ted eight rate-payers into the committee to watch over the pro ceedings, but six of the rate-payers seeing their inanity, from the opposition they met with, were almost prepared to resign unless some alteration was made in the constitution. Mr. Rad cliffe concluded a long argument, for which we have not room, by disclaiming any unfriendly feeling towards any members of the Common Council in thus discharging his duty to the rate-payers. Mr. Cyrus Sierran, formerly examined.—Was a member of the Duck Committee, and was delegated, in 1811, to obtain the act of Parliament for the erection of the docks. in conse quence of the support that he and others had given to obtaining the bill i n 1811, the Common Council gave hint the freedom of the borough, together with Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Lawrence. The opponents of the bill were proprietors of laud at the south and north ends of the town. He attended in Loudon. in 1825, to endeavour to obtain that bill, and he was reappointed to the Dock Committe by rotation. He was of opinion that, in the constitution of the Dock Committee, the present members were not the same, as he thought quite proper ; but there were rea sons why the Common Council should be connected with this committee, as there were interests in the port which could not be represented without them. Previous to the Canning Dock being made a dry dock, it was exclusively used for the coasting trade, and in consequeuce of the alterations, the coasting vessels were partially excluded He thought the trade of Li verpool had suffered much from the want of accommodation for craft in the river trade, as they depended upon them for the goods they exported and the goods they imported. The reason he thought there should be a greater infusion of men of business in the Dock Committee was, that the men of business, but not in business, would balance the conflicting interests in the committee. He had understood that the intention of the Corporation bad been to convert the Graving Dock into an accommodation for the river craft. He differed in opinion with those gentlemen as to the expediency of the G raving Docks forming a part of the Dock Estate, and as a member of . the Dock Committee he should have opposed it, as it would have extracted from their means a large.sum to little purpose. He does not remember, excepting on two accasions, of there being much confliction in the Dock Committee. The one was on the constrifetio - n, of the act of Parliament relative to the Queen's Dock, and some land attached to the dock. They were of opinion that this land, although invested in the hands of the trustees by the act of 1811, it was not the intention of that act it should be so. The other great difference of opinion related to the reversionary interest of the Corporation in certain houses near the Salthouse Dock, which, by the act of 1825, were ordered to be taken down for the purpose of making a street. The altercation was as to which should bear the expense of taking them down; and as the Dock Committee were to take them down, they thought it was not too much to ask the Corporation for the reversionary interest, which the Corporation would not grant. There was some other altercation respecting the admission of a reporter • and he (Mr. M.) advoc a t e d th a t a reporter should be admitted. 'The late Mr. Irlam was agaiustthe admission of a reporter, and said that that moment they admitted a reporter, his lips would be sealed, as he had no objection to give his best advice to the Committee, but he would not suffer to have every word he said criticised and handed about the town in a newspaper. Most of the Graving Docks are in a delapiilated state from the soft kind of stone used, and it was M. Hartley, the surveyor's, opinion that they should be built of harder materials. Mr. Morrell here asked Mr. Hartley if he did not think that it had been the fault of our ancestors in building the docks, to look to the moment instead of the future? Mr. Hartley replied, not in all the docks, but in some instances. Mr. Morrell said, that if merchants were left to themselves , without any controlling power, they might be induced to look more to the present moment for accommodation than to the future lasting of the docks. He had heard great stress laid upon the various frauds in the Dock Estate previous to the appointment of the rate-payers to the Committee, but he did not perceive there was any check now provided. During six years lie hail been in the D oc k Committee, neither he nor his colleagues had ever measured a piece of stone or weighed a piece of iron, but it had been left to servants, in whom they paced the utmost confluence. With respect to the audit commissioners, they in spected the accounts, and one of the body read aloud the bills and the sums which the articles cost. Cross-examined by the 'rown-clerk.—ls aware of the pro ceedings which led to the act of 1825. Mr. Lace was the pro fessional adviser of the estate. Was not a party to any of the propositions made to old housekeepers relative to the constitu tion of the committee. Does not know of any detriment arising to the estate from the constitution of the committee. Does not recollect an application to Parliament, in 182'2, for a bill. Mr. Hartley examined by Mr. Duncan.—There are four 'graving docks in progress; they have been in progress about two years; they are building of granite, but the Runcorn stone is confined to one graving dock ; the working of granite takes a longer time than Runcorn stone. Mr. Bolton here read a list of the Corporation, giving the names, relationship, and connection of each corp or ate offiver with another, after which the court adjourned until ten o'clock this day. amENiingi --~ EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE. A St. John's (N. F.) paper of the 20th ult. relates the following particulars of the dangers and delays of a voy age from Cork to that port, which, if it came from a less satisfactory source, would almost appear incredible; The annals of th trade, says the St. John's writer, cannot, we believe, furnish a second instance of a vessel having been driven by the ice, a distance of 900 miles from her track. The schooner Maria Eliza, Captain Hughes, which arrived here on Saturday last, from Cork, via Greenland, has been a missing vessel for some months past. She sailed from Cork on the 15th of March, for this port, with a cargo of pork,' butter, potatoes, & c ., an d on th e 11th of the following month fell in with the field of ice by which she very shortly became sur rounded. From that period the vessel became the sport of the wind, and current, and ice, untilon the3Oth of April, she wa s driven (still locked up) towards the land, which it was ex tremely difficult to distinguish from the immense islands of ice by which it was bound. After considerable exertion, the crew succeeded in getting the vessel through, and found to their great astonishment they were on the coast of Greenland, soine of the natives having pushed off in their canoes. On the 15th May, they entered a small harbour called Nennorfeiik, about four miles east of Cape Farewell, very much exhausted from their sufferings in the ice, and having no fuel or water remain ing, received hos y itable reception from the Danish factor th ere. After some days delay at this place they proceeded along h • shore, which was only clear of ice to the extent of a mile, to the principal port, Julian a h a bh, in lat. 61., the residence of the governor, wh o ren d ered them every . aSsistance in his power. About two months after their arrival at this port, a Danish brig, which is annually despatched from Copenhagen with sup plies for the factories, arrived there, and Captain Hugh es then finding it w ou ld be impossible for him to get clear of the coast or the ice without assistance con cluded ou remaining till the brig was read y to sail. On the 31st August he sailed in com pany with the brig, and arrived •at this port on Saturday last, Just six months from the time of her leaving Cork. There were two gentlemen passengers on board, Mr. Hickson and Mr. Propham, whose friends had long since mourned for their loss. During the vessel's detention in Greenland, the agents of the several Danish factories were ever ready to offer them kind as sistance, and the nativ e Esquimaux, who appear a simple, honest race, afforded very acceptable services. While the vessel was coasting :long shore, it was frequently found necessary to tow through the floating ice, which was done by skin boats, rowed by the native women, who were also very . useful in providing articles of clothing for the crew. The winter had set in very severely previous to the departure of the Maria Eliza. Lord Manvers has reduced the rents of his tenants in the North 16 per cent., to commence from Lady-day last. The mother of Marshal Bourmont is now in London. His wife and the other feufales of the family are in Paris. It is rumoured that the Earl of Mulgrave wishes to return to England, on the ground that the climate of Jamaica does not agree with the Countess. No successor has yet been named to succeed his lordship, should he resolve to come home. Considerable importance i attached to the deliberations at the Cabinet Council, held on Monday, at. Brighton, and many reports were in circulation at the club-houses. Among others, that of a partial change in the administration was most freely spoken of. PENANCE.—On Monday, the' Ist ult., two children, on ten, the other eight years old, were sent from Newcastle to Rath keale, to do penance for going into a Protestant church to witness a funeral service perforMed. The unfortunate children would have actually perished on their return, the night being so extremely boisterous and wet, were it not that they were met by some benevolent persons, who gave them refreshment and brought them home.—Limerick Herald. BA LLINASI.OE.—On Friday the remains of a Mrs.. Lake, of Ballinasloe, were attended to the churchyard in the suburbs of the town by a large number of people. On their arrival'at the churchyard-gate, they were met by the mother and three sisters of the deceased, who threw themselves before the bids, and de clared they would not allow her " bones to lie in a strange place, nor with the relatives of her husband," on whom they made a violent attack, and loaded with abuse. They then procured a sheet, in which they placed the coffin, and each seizing a corner of it, they set off for St. John's, a - distance of about fifteen miles from Ballinasloe, unaccompanied by a single individual. A DANCE.—On Thursday a servant-girl from Houston ar rived in town to make some purchases at' the fair for her mis tress. After getting her merchandise packed up, together with a half-crown, a shilling, and some pence of a balance, she de termined before leaving town to have a reel. In she went to a house where she heard the sound of a Cremona, and seated her self beside a demure looking damsel, na med Rebecca, of whom it is enough to say, th a t th e rest of her history is written in the chronicles of the police-office. On being invited to dance, the country girl gave h er b un dl e o f mer chandise and her black silk bag to Rebecca to hold. During the first reel she kept a pretty sharp eve on Rebecca, but finding that she was an ho nest girl, she at the second reel relaxed her vigilance, and gave her attention wh o ll y to th e d anc e. Rebecca did not let so fa vourable an opportunity slip, but slipped off with the black sick bag and the bundle of merchandise, leaving the dancer to dance home to Houston with nothing heavy to carry but a heavy heart. Paisley Advertiser. ietcs IN Al.;. Ta DE.s.—A young aspirant to the ministry of the church of Scotland was called upon to hold forth, in a neigh bouring parish church so frequently andunexpeeted!y, that he at length b ega n to find .some difficulty in causing the work or composition to furnish a supply equal to th e d eman d . B ut i although he was lacking n sermons, it will be seen he lacked nothing in wit. Accordingly, that the produce might keep pace with the onsump . tion, he Caine to the" conclusion that there could be no harm in borrowing from wiser heads ; and in due time began, among, others, to quote more than largely from Blair. All this might have passed off very well, had it not turned out that, among his most attentive auditors was an "mild Judas o' a wife," who had happened to get hold of a stray volume of Blair—with the contents of which she was as familiar as her name. He got smoothly enough over matters fir the first Sabbath; but on the second—kuribile dictu—what was his surprise, on giving out his text, to behold, with a side glance of his eye, the old woman sitting in a sly corner, and with most provoking composure, open up the very volume whi c h contained, at least , the gist of his discourse. "What did you do in such a critical dilemma?" inquired a sympathising reve rend brother, to whom the preacher (now a most respectable minister of the church) had many years afterwards been telling the story. "What did I do?" he replied, "why I quietly stole a ward) on the old woman—l just turned owre twa leaves, and after that she coudna cast saut on my tail."—Stirling Journal. VIOLENT ASSAULT UPON THE PROPRIETOii NEWCASTLE JbUi.-114. We have received by express, from our Newcastle c respondent, the proceedings before the Niayor of that town, in the case of the assault committed by the friends and agents of Lord Durham, and other wintirers of ttle liberty of the press, upon the proprietor of Luc ....wtAiacce Journal. • MAYOR'S CHAMBER, NEWCASTI.E-UPON-TYNE, November 18. —This morning, John Coull Carr, Esq., the Eari of Durham's coal agent at Sunderland ; Francis Raiushaw, Mr. Ca: r's groom; John Permit Kidson, Esq., the Earl of Durham's law agent at Sunderland; Witham Ga,ley, Esq., of Sunder ; and David Jonassohn, Esq., merchant, of Sunderland, appeared before the Worshipful the Mayor, and a i.ench or magistrates, to summonses for charges of assault, committed at the office of the Newcastle Journal, upon the person of Mr. Heruanian, the proprietor of the establishment, under the circumstances debtil edni the subjoined evidence. Mr. Philip - son, solicitor, appeared for Jr. Carr and his ser vant, Krancis Hauishaw. Mr. Stoker, solicitor, was in attendance for Mr. i.idson, Galley, and Jonassohu. Messis. Stoker and Philipsou pressed upon the bench the propriety of nroceecliug by surinarv.canviction, and a cons er sation ensued on this subject, beCween Rios.' gentlemen ;;;:d Henry Bell, Esq., Mayor, and Messr s . Alder men Reed brand ling, Hood, aud others. Eventually the bench consulted to gether, and Mr. Alderman Reed announced it to lie their deter mination, as the matter appeared to be a very serious one, to send it to the sessions for trial before a jury. Messrs. Stoker and Philipson again argued that the case ought to be fully gone into, aud at once dismissed. air. John Brown (Magistrates' I.;,ere.) nose,-red, that the parties had been summoned to appear for the purpose of enter ing into recognizances to answer the charge at the sessions, the magistrates who signed those warrants having decided, before hand, that it was a proper case for the decision of a jury, and not for summary conviction. Mr. Alderman Brandling could not see what the party had to fear in the case being sent for inquiry at the quarter sessions ; trial by jury was the pride and boast of Englishmen. Mr. Alderman Reed again observed, that the magistrates had decided, in this important case, not to take upon the,u selves the functions of a jury. All that was necessary, the. e fore, in the present stage of the proceedings was to satisfy themselves that an assault had been committed, and by whom. They were anxious to do justice to all parties; and they were satisfied that that object would be best accomplished by leaving the decision to a jury of Englishmen. Mr. Hernaman, the proprietor of the Newcastle Journal, was then sworn, and deposed as follows : On Wednesday morning last, the 13th instant, a little before 12o'clock, I was engaged at my own counting-house in Pilgrim-, street, at a desk at which Mr. Waltim, my assistant in that part of the business, was also engaged—William Train, an apprentice, being in another part of the office. I - observed a number of gentlemen enter, at the head of whom I recognized Mr. John Coull Carr, and Mr. John Pexall Kidson. Mr. Carr and Mr. Kidson were followed very shortly by 'William Galley, Mr. David Jonassohn, and others whom I did not know. Carr inquired if Mr. Hernaman was within. I replied " Itiy name is Hernaman," and immediately left the desk and walked round to the counter for the purpose of communicating wiar Mr. Carrand his friends. Mr. Carr presented a hand-lull befie me—which bill I have—and inquired if 1 was the printer of it ? I replied that I was, as my name at th e b o tt om o f th e bill indi cated. Mr. Carr then inquired the name of the author. My re ply " I was not prepared to give up th e name o f t h e authur; that it was not my custom to give up the authors of publica tions committed to my charge; but that I was prepared, by myself, to sustain the consequences of any legal proceed ings which he or his friends might think proper to take." Upon that, Mr. liidson and the other gentlemen loudly de manded the name of the author, saying I was bound to give it hp. I replied, in general terms, that I had no answer to make ex cept the one I had already given. The whole party continued to demand of me the, author's name with extreme violence of speech and gesture; and I then repeated I had no other answer to make without giving the matter consideration. They then loudly exclaimed, "Mill you give up the author's name? " B. - fore, however, I had time to reply. Mr. Carr reiterated, with extreme violence of speech, "'1 lieu you refuse to give up the author's name, do you?" I replied, I do;" upon which At . Carr lifted a large stick which he had in his hand, and struck .‘ violent blow across my left arm. That was the signal for the ?Atte party to fall upon me. M. Galley and another gentleman jumped upon the counter ands ruck me in various parts of my body, ?Phis sticks and whips. I fell back against the wall, and took up a small ladder which was standing there for the purpose of parr , - ing off their blows. Mr. Walton then came round to my as sistance from the desk, and I let the ladder drop, my left ann was so much injured by the blow I received from Mr. Carr. A this time the counting-house appeared full of gentlemen armed with sticks and whips. (Laughter from Mr. Galley.) They were heavy sticks, I think, for the most part. I ought to aiR I was in a very confined space. I moved towards the door for the purpose of calling assistance. In passing to the inner door leading to the printing-office, the gentlemen again tea upon me with their weapons, one of them inflicting a very hea vy blow on my left arm between my shoulder and my elbow ; and I received another heavy blow on my right shoulder, an also one on my left shoulder. I got out of the counting- house into the printing-office or house, for it is both, and went to some smiths who were working there. I brought them down wit me, but when I returned to the counting-house, the party had left. Mr. Phillipson.—Ramshaw was not there; and I now put a question whether Mr. Ilernaman prefers a charge against hin . Mr. Hernaman, upon looking at Ramshaw, said, I em to t prepared to swear that he was one of the men who committed assault, but I have other testimony. Messrs. Stoker and PhiLipson again contended that the ma gistrates could not decide what course they ought to take, with out hearing both sides. They also claimed a right to cross-ex amine Mr. Hernaman. Mr. Hernaman said, that in that case, he should request per mission to send for his professional adviser, as he had not come prepared to expect that, in the present stage of the proceedings, more would be requisite than to prove that the assault had been committed. Mr. Stoker, addressing the Bench, observed—Am I to un derstand you decidedly refuse to grant permission to cross-ex amine Mr. Hernanian? Mr. Ingledew, who had just arrived as Mr. Hernaman's soli citor, said, if the magistrates had made up their minds not to convict summarily, there is an end of it • I do not see of what utility, iu this sta g e o f th e a ff a i r, w ill ite. a cross-exami nation. Mr. Kidson.—Do you meati to swear that I shuck you at the time mentioned in the examina:ion ? Mr. Hernaman . —l do swea r th a t M r . K;d son s t ruc k me. Mr. Ingledew.—l object, on the part of Mr. Hernaman, to anv cross-examination being gone into at this time. Mr. KidEon.—With what weapon, if any, did I strike you ; and at what time, and in what manner, and when ? Mr. Ilernamau.—Actinu under the advice of my solicitor, I decline to answer any pies:ions. Mr. Ingledew.— Mr. Ileruaman declines being cross ex amined at this time. Mr. Jonathan Walton was then sworn. He deposed—l am assistant to Mr. Hernaman. On Wednesday. the 13th instant, about twelve o'clock, Mr. Hernaman and myseif were i❑ con versation at the Journal-office, at the desk, and two gentlemen came in and asked for Mr. Hernaman. [Here Mr. Walton looked round and pointed out Mr. Carr and Mr. Kidson as the two.] Mr. Hernaman stepped from the desk to the counter. — Other persons then im►nediately waked in separately, one of whom was Mr. Jonassohn, who spoke to me; another of them is the gentleman standing there—(pointing out M'. Galley] .There was also a man, wearing a large blue cola, who, I have no doubt in my own mind, was - this man—[pointing to Francis lianishaw]. I never saw the man before that time, nor since, until now ; ►ut if I had described hint when absent, should have said he was an older man ; but froze► his ge neral anpearance, I believe him to be the same. Here I beg to ob. serve, the attack was so very sudden and furious, as to prevent me from taking particular noti; eof the parties. Either hl r. Kidson or Mr. Carr wanted to know if Mr. Hernaman was the publisher of a handbill, which they laid on the counter, and inquired vi Mr. Hernaman would give up the author? Mr. llernanian said it would require some consideration. "Do you r9fuse to gn e up the name of the author ?" again demanded one of the gentle men; and added, "then you refuse, do you ?" and they ►n►rue diately assaulted Mr. Hernaman on all sides with sticks and whips, two of them off the counter, anti two of them upon ii, whilst Jonassohn aimed his blows across the desk and 'struck me. In a few seconds Mr. Hernaman made his escape from the office. Jonassohn and another of them continued to strike me over the counter, and then the whole of them walked out. Mr. Stoker.—Did you, before Mr. Jonassohn struek you, hit him with the ladder in your endeavour to strike Mr. Kidson, or otherwise ? Mr. Walton.—l did not strike Mr. Jonassohn with a ladder, before he struck me. Mr. Jonassohn struck me before I touched the ladder at all. Mr. Philipson.—Did you see Francis Ramshaw striking any body? Walton.—The man who had the whip, whom I believe to be - the man now present, who calls himself Francis Ramshaw, struck Mr. Hernaman. I will no! swear to him positively. By Mr. Philipson.—There were several others came in, butt do not know whether they were of the same party. By Mr. Stoker.—To the best of my belief Mr. Kidson had a whip or stick. William Allen Train, apprentice to Mr. Hernaman, was then sworn. Ile deposed as foitows:- On Wednesuav last, I was. writing at my desk in the Journal-office, at, rthink, about twelve o'clock, alien one or two gentkinen same in. They-- first inquired for Mr. Hernanwn. Mr. Heinaman was writing;• at his own desk, and he came round to speak with them, dur ing. which time other gentlemen came in, whch augmented their number to five or six. One of them produced a 4nd asked Mr. Heruaman if he was the printer of it? whit h he an swered by saying, "it was printed at. this office." Mr. erna- • man was then i , ked to deliver up the author, which he said was not customary, and he must have some consitleration. He was asked " what com:ideratien ?" and he said, he meant some time. for reflection about the Jiropriety of giving up the author. He was then asked if he refuse.' to give up the authte, and on his . saying he was not inclined to give up the name, he was struck a severe blew on his are, or shouidet, am not certain whi c h. Upon this, 1 immediately ran up stairs, seeingshouting all th e way as I went, to alarm the pr:nttis. They, instant:) tame down stairs, and I followed, but I c'id not get tuto the office for a short ti me, b ecause the entrant e was blo aed up by M r. Her naman 's men. When I did get in the assai.ants had disap peared. Here the witness was told to look iouud amongst the people in court, from whom he selected Mr. Carr and Air. Kidson. knew th em b ecau s e they were chief spokesmen. These two (ha added, again looking round) arc the only two that I remember to have seen or heard speak. . _ . Mr. Kidsou (to the witness)-11ad I any whip or stick ? The witness looked at Mr. Kid on earne4tlr, and, after a shot t pause for consideration, said, " I thii.k you had a stick ;" and then, turning to the Bench, 64 He had a stir k to the best of ray knowledge and belief." Mr. Phillipson wished to state that Ilatnshaw was not the groom of the Earl of Durham, as had been, for au obvious pur pose, asserted, but the servant Of Mr. Carr. The Magisttates thought there was not sofa, ient evidence to warrant their binding amsbaw to two ar ut the ses,ious; but the other patties must enter into recogniza.nect', the princitals in £-►U each, and two euretie in £2oeach, to answer the chat ets of assault at the Sessions, and also to keep the peace in the mean time towards Mr. Heruatnan. Mr. Stoker applied to the Minzistrates to Lind the pailieeever to appear in tho Northumberluiid County Court instead of the Sessions to suve expenses. Mr. Ing!ectew said it would'he competent for the parties to re move the trial by writ of certiorari, and if they preterttd that course let them co so. The Bench decided that they would not be justified in depart ing from the usual course. Air. John Coult Carr, Mr. John Pexall Kidson, Mr. David Jonassohn, and Air. William Gulley, thoi entcr,d - into the re quired recognizances, and the party left the court. Belzoni's widow, it is said, still lingers ir v - ar.! ; rot much to the credit, we should say, of thoc who have ample means to bestow on far less deser ving objects. a