The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-10-07 00:00:00

.., CHESTER SPECIAL COMMISSIONS. (From our own Reporter.) CHESTER, THURSDAY MORNING. The special commissions for the trial of parties connected with the late disturbances were opened yesterday afternoon. The judges are Sir E. H. Alderson, Sir C. Cresswell, and the Lord Chief Baron (Lord Abinger). The most serious case is the attack on Mr. Shepley's mill, at Brookfield, near Glossop, the prisoner being committed to this gaol, although the offence was committed in the county of 'Derby, it being within two hundred yards of the boundary of the county. About half-past eleven o'clock the learned judges returned from the Cathedral, and took their seats in the Crown Court, the Lord Chief Baron proceeded to deliver his charge. His Lordship commenced by observing that they were assembled at this unusual season to discharge a very pain ful, but a very important duty. He need barely re mind them that it was one of the evils to which states deriving their prosperity from commerce and manufacture were subject, that that prosperity should occasionally suffer great reverses. It was in the nature of things that when prosperity was at its highest pitch there would be great production, even to an overflow, and whenever a check took place, from whatever cause, the natural cause was stag nation—for a time, a diminutton in the price of produce; in the wages of the labourer, and very often distress and misery amongst the manufacturing classes. Could not view with out feelings of compassion the situation of those who, not having sufficient knowledge of the nature of their position, imagined they could dictate to their masters. Those men had been called upon to imagine that they were the fittest persons to govern the country. He was afraid the manufac turing classes had been the dupes of more designing men. A strange country would this be if those who had no property were to have the power of making all the laws for the protec tion of property. Why, the very object of civilised society was the preservation of property. The very existence of civilised society depended on the security of property. His lordship proceeded to remark upon the consequences which must follow the adoption of the mad schemes of the chartists—that it would lead to despotism in the government and end in the utter ruin of the country yet, be continued, It appeared that persons had taken advantage of the depres sion of commerce and manufactures, and the starvation which many were suffering, to induce them to refrain from work, telling them that was the only means left of obtaining the charter. Great pains had been taken to enforce those doctrines, and to encourage the force they had obtained by the multitudes towards that end. If they found, from the evidence which came before them, any who entertained such opinions, and who endeavoured to force them by popular tumult and insurrection, such parties were guilty of a very high offence. He thought, also, they would find it antis factorily proved that many had endeavoured to prevail upon the people to refrain from their work until the charter became the law of the land ; and he had no doubt they would feel it due to the country, if such a case were proved in evi dence against any one of them, to send them before that court for trial. There was another class of cases likely to come before them, and that was where persons had assembled together for the purpose of preventing others from following their lawful employment. This tyranny was intolerable. His Lordship then referred to those parties who would be indicted for attending unlawful assemblies, and recommended the Grand Jury to find bills against them, observing that if they were present at such assemblies, the onus probandi rested on them, to show that they were not present to en courage or take part in such assemblies. They would also find some cases where pasties were charged with a riot, and beginning to demolish, which, in the eye of the law, was felony, and there were others charged with going along with large bodies to demand money or provisions. If they had by intimidation or threats obtained either, it was clearly a robbery. After briefly describing the different classes of offenders likely to come before the Grand Jury, his lordship observed that should they require his advice or assistance, which be did not suppose they would, he should be very happy to render it. It was singular, he remarked, at a time when trade was reviving, when the laws relating to commerce had been placed on a more satisfactory footing, and were more settled than previously—when a sort of salient point had been established, from which prosperity was to take a start—it was at this very moment that the outbreak had com menced, but he trusted it was not too late to return to a more healthy state of things. His Lordship then dismissed the Grand Jury tc their duties. The grand jury, after some time, returned into court with a true bill against Wm. Moorhouse, Robert Wild, Jas. Wild, Stephen Shirt, John Fairhust, and Samuel Lees, and they were put upon their trial, charged with having cos.spired to gether, at Stockport, on the 26th July, with a number of other parties, to prevent the carrying on of certain trades or business whiah they carried on. The Attorney-General, (Sir F. Pollock,) the Attorney- General of the county, Mr. Jervis, Mr. Welaby, and Mr. Pollock appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Yardley for the defence. The defendant Lewis did not appear, and his recognizances were estreated. The Attorney-General spoke at great length for the prose cution, and two witnesses were called. THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND'S MISSION TO THE JEWS. —The Rev. Mr. Allan, from Pesth, in Hungary, (a mis sionary station of the Church of Scotland,) delivered an address, on Monday evening last, in St. Andrew's Scotch Church, Rodney-street, to the members of the Juvenile Jewish Missionary Association connected with the church, and to the congregation generally, on the present state of the Jews and the cheering prospects of the mission. The address of the rev. gentleman was full of most interesting and instructive matter, and it was listened to with deep attention. PUBLIC-HOUSE REGULATION.—On Friday, at the Police court, a number of informations were heard against beer house keepers for having their houses opened past the legal hour, and in the great majority of the cases conviction ensued, and a penalty of 40s. inflicted. In one case, where a defence founded on falsehood, was set up, the court marked their sense of it by imposing a fine of 60s. There were also a few informations against licensed victuallers, for selling liquors during the prohibited hours on Sunday. Mr. Rushton, in deciding on one case, said that the fact of a fine being imposed on the keeper of a house, which was ordinarily so well con ducted, would show the public that the magistrates were de termined to enforce the new act rigidly ; for it was an act which brought with it blessings to all parties. During the month of September, 500 persons less had passed through br;dewell than in the month of August, and all owing to the operation of the act for closing public-houses on the Sunday. PAID OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION OF LIVERPOOL. FIRST REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE, appointed by the Council, en the 6th May, 1842, to inquire into the present duties of the Officers and Servants of the Corporation, with their respective Salaries, and rep or t generally on any alteration or addition being made in any of the departments. In compliance with the resolution of the council, the se veral committees who were directed to appoint one of their members to form the special committee, proceeded to the selection, and the following gentlemen were appointed : Mr. Thomas Bolton, from the Finance Committee. James Lawrence, ~ Improvement „ James Proctor, PI Watch John Bramley Moore, „ Courts of Law„ John Kilshaw, „ Markets ~ Thomas Brockhurst Barclay, „ Town-hall „ John Buck Lloyd, „ Borough Court „ The committee, at their first meeting, on the 16th May, appointed Mr. John Buck Lloyd the chairman, and on the 19th May proceeded to inquire into the present duties of those officers and servants who are not under the immediate direc tion of any committee of the council. The committee believe that they are in possession of mate rials sufficient to enable them to make a full report on the following officers and departments : Tile RECORDER. James Clarke, Esq. was, previous to the passing of the Municipal Corporations' Act, and is at present, the recorder ; and by the provisions of the above act, he is the sole judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions. His salary is £525 per annum. There have been six sessions held in each year since 1836. It is contemplated to increase the number of sessions to seven or eight, in consequence of which th e recorder hag applied for an addition to his present salary, and the council has passed a resolution to allow .£5O to him for each session beyond four, that may be held during the year. The com mittee consider that the duties the recorder is called upon to perform, even if there were eight sessions in the year, are sufficiently remunerated at the annual salary of £525 ; but as the council have already agreed to make the allowance of £5O for each extra session, as above mentioned, the committee recommend that in future the sessions should be put upon the same footing as the assizes, and that the extraordinary requests of the recorder, in being furnished, previous to each session, with a copy of the depositions, which upon an ave rage, including the binding, cost the corporation £6 a session, and of having a clerk from the town-clerk's department pro vided for him, be disallowed. There is also another annual charge on the borough fund, which is incurred in providing refreshments at the sessions. When the mayor, with the regalia, presided in the courts, there was some ground for incurring this expense, but as the Municipal Corporations' Act made an entire change, the mayor no longer presiding there, the committee recommend that all refreshments at the Sessions-house be discontinued. The committee believe, if the council confirms the above r ecommendations, the borough fund will be relieved of an annual charge of, at least, £l2O. THE ASSESSOR OF THE BOROUGH COURT. Charles Crompton, Esq. fills this situation at a salary of per annum. lie succeeded the late Henry Roscoe, -nscl., in 1836. From the known high professional character of the assessor, and his standing at the bar, the business of the court has greatly increased, as appears in a subsequent part of this report. The assessor holds four courts in the year. TllEdward Rushton,E s STIPENDIARY D h l ot i l t s r tf l irp lS p l l A t ' m rE ent. He suc ceeded Thomas James Hall, Esq., in 1839, and has a salary of £1,300 p er annum. This is a new office since the Ist January, 1836. he stipendiarywhich magistrate presides in the Police-court, THE TOWN-CLERK'S DE PARTMENT, EMBRACING THE OFFICES OF THE TOWN-CLERK, CLERK OF THE PEACE, REGISTRAR OF THE B OROUGH CO , SOLICITOR. CLERK OF RT, PROSECUTING COM MITTEES, CRIER OF THE COURT OF QUARTER SESSIONS, SI JR . BAILIFFS AND THE CLERKS AND OTHERS EMPLOYED By THEM. It may appear to the outriiscsil,frrocr,n the above li s t o f offices, that the committee have cled n re persons together under tnight have been this head than is necessary, and that seveTl mitrteoernfind that they considered as in dist d mc d t t d i e e p s ar t t h m e e c n o ts . . , the confused mixture of o ffi ce s an— anud are obliged to consider the above cannot separate them, offices in one department. Throughout the entire of this department the committee much regret that they have to report the total want of sys ternand arrrngement, and that no check has been kept - ti the Treasurer of the Borough Fund on any of the fees re_ ceived. To arrange and digest into a concise form so large a mass of evidence, which the committee h as been obliged to take, comprising so many different beads of information , has been a work of no ordinary labour to them. The committee beg to ca 'll the serious attention of the council to the various topics that are embraced under this head of their report, as it is evident that no committee that has been formed, since the passing of the Municipal Corpo rations Act, to report on this department, have considered the duties which each officer has had to perform. but have or allowed the report of the officer himself on his oWD duties,.. of the he a d o f th e p ar ti cu l ar office to which he was attached, to be the substance of their report; and in cases where the salaries of officers and servants in this department have been increased since 1b36, they have been made on the value Which the officer or servant has put upon himself, without considering the duties he was called upon to discharge, nor inquiring how efficiently those duties could have been per formed by a person at a less salary than the parties applying for an increase, then had. The committee arrive at the above conclusion, observing that at the present time some of the provisions of the Muni cipal Corporations Act have not been carried out, and in the appointments made under the act, the respectisa offices, with the duties, have not previously been sufficiently consi dered and defined. The Committee consider the following persons to be con nected with this department Or •• • NAMES. Mr. Richard Rad cliffe William Shuttle worth Mr. Chas. Okill. Mr. Richard Rad cliffe, jun. .. .. Thomas Tyson . Richard Hughes James Abbott . Alfred Quick.. Charles Arron . Henry Walters.. Edward Fitzge rald .. John Forgham . William Campbell' John Parkinson . James Halsall John:M`Combe.. .: ~, Office or situation, as stated to the Committee. Town-clerk, Registrar of Borough Court, Clerk of the Peace, Clerk to the Commissioners of Wallasey Embankment, and Clerk to the Trus tees of the Woodside and Hoylake-road. By his appointment is called Assistant Solicitor and Attorney of the Cor poration, and to be De puty of the Town-clerk in his absence. He is commonly called Deputy Town-clerk and Prose cuting Solicitor. Clerk of Committees, with the custody of the deeds, &c. belonging to the Corporation. Clerk in Town Clerk's office. ,Clerk in Town - clerk's l office. Clerk to Prosecuting Soli citor. Clerk to Clerk of Com mittees, and is employed as an Engrossing Clerk or Law Stationer by the Town-clerk and Prose cuting Solicitor. Clerk in Town-clerk'sl office Ditto. Ditto. Clerk or Law Stationer in' the Town-clerk's office . Ditto. 'An apprentice in the Town Clerk's office Ditto, and is also em ployed occasionally the Prosecuting Solici-, tor's office. Crier of the Court of, Quarter Sessions ISub-Bailiff. Present Salary, per annum, 1542. £2,000. £BOO. £9OO. £250. £lO5. ,• li l ~ ~:.,j James Chalmers . Ditto. .Z2O 0 0 The committee consider that the town-clerk is legally responsible for all that is done by the persons above men tioned, with the exception of those duties which Mr. Shut tleworth and his clerk, Hughes, perform as prosecuting solicitor, James Halsall as mace-bearer and constable, and Messrs. M'Combe and Chalmers as constables. It is quiteOnCot the power of the committee to define the specific duties of each person in this department; for, in most cases, the individuals themselves have stated, that it was out of their power to give the committee the information. On investigation, the committee find, as before stated, such i a total want of system and arrangement, that the public has been put to the greatest inconvenience and annoyance by the delays which take place in the business of this department. To put the council in possession of the system which is carried on, the committee will take the labyrinth which, for instance, contracts and various other documents have to go through. One of the committees of the c ounc il, which neither the town-clerk nor any person in his office has attended, agrees with A. B. to do certain work, which ap pears on their minutes, kept by Mr. Okill. The c on diti ons come before the council for confirmation in the proceedings of that committee ; they return to Mr. Okill, who sends such particulars as he may consider sufficient to the Town clerk , they then go to the deputy town-clerk, who may be attending to his duties as prosecuting solicitor at the sessions ; he therefore places them in the hands of a clerk, and here they remain until the deputy town-clerk can find time to look at the rough draft. When this period arrives, be finds that his instructions are not sufficient, and he has to see Mr. Okill to explain, and afterwards to confer with the town clerk, whom he cannot meet with for some days, owing to his being otherwise engaged. The draft at last is prepared, and forwarded to the contractor's attorney, who considers it ne cessary to make alterations therein, and calls at the Town hall respecting them; and it happens to be the sessions, and the assessor is also sitting in his court. Mr. Okill and the surveyor may be seen by the attorney for the contractor, but they t are in compe t en t t o d ec id e th e points raised by him ; and a i al this p ar ti cu l ar t i me, h ow d oes h e fi n d th e t own - c lerk and others in his office performing Quick. the duties of clerk of the peace, with his clerk, Walters is sitting by th e s id e of the recorder, acting as his clerk; r. Ri c h ar d R a d c liff e , j un ., i s ac ti n g as registrar i n th ls Asessor's Court, with one of the apprentices assisting him; Fitzgerald is al s o it) the Borough Court, acting as crier; Mr. the apprenti ces , is at S te h n tipeworth, with Hughes and one of and other tim es the mg to th e p rosecu ti ons . At th ese committee find the general public busi ness of the town entirel y town-clerk's or his dep u ty 's y the committee may almost say, o to the simplest can give an answer, simplest question. The ' c ommittee may mention, that when Halsall is in the Recorder ' s Court, the courts are sitti ng , acting as crie r , an d M'Combe and Chalmers are in attendance in one or other of the courts, to prove the service of summonses on absent jurors. The next point the committee have to remark u •' f pon, is the loose and most unsatisfactory mode in whichthe ees received in the town-clerk's office have been checked, and the irre gular way in which they have been accounted for. Two or three of the clerks, as it may happen „attend to the Borough Court, and the fees received by them are placed in a wooden bowl in a drawer, which is not locked, and at the end of the day the contents of the bowl are counted, and a memo randum made of the amount. No particulars of these fees 1.£27 16 01 £2O 16 I£ls 0 q £2O 0 0 • ► y - Whether Salary raised since Ist January, 1936, and whether a new appointment since that period. Amount of other Emoluments l which are charges on the Borough Fund. There is a sum of £2O charged against Mr. Okill, in the Treasurer's accounts, since 1837, under the head " Gene ral Disbursements," for registering leases. This sum the committee find is paid to Mr. Abbott. As far as the committee have been able to ascer tain, in the year 1841 Mr. Abbott received for engrossing and copying done for the Town Clerk's office . ..£244 16 8 Prosecuting So licitor For registering Leases For copying spe cifications for the Surveyor's department (not ascer tained) Otit of Fees al lo'wed to poll clerks at elec tions, viz., those who Mr. Abbott had got appointed un der a private understanding with them that he was to have have half the fee 8 8 0 For work that he considers extra in Mr. Okill's office.. £347 7 2 This clerk received for what is called extra work in 1841, as far as the committee have been able to ascertain £25 1 6 Ditto.... £3 10-. Ild. Ditto.... £l7 4s. Od. In 1811, as far as the com mittee have been able to ascertain, this clerk re ceived— For work done for the town clerk £l2s 0 4 !Attending insol- _ _ vent court 1 10 0 For prosecuting solicitor 32 1 2 Also acts as crier of the Borough Court, for which he re ceives This clerk also acts as clerk to the sergeant-at mace, who pays him £5O, lout of his salary of £350. In 1841, as far as the com mittee can ascertain, this clerk was paid— For work done for the town-clerk £llO 11 8 For the prose cuting solicitor. 53 10 1 Is mace bearer, for which he receives £lO per an num, and is a constable in Mr. Dowling's de partment, at 25s.pr week. Acts also as a constable in Mr. Dowling's depart ment, at a salary of 255. per week. Ditto. £2,000. £ 900. £250. Was appointed in 1836: succeeded the late Mr. Thomas Foster, the po sitions and duties, &c. being varied by the pro visions of the Municipal Corporation's Act. Predecessor was first ap pointed in 1836, at a sa lary of £7OO. Mr. Shut tleworth, on his appoint ment in 1841, was in re ceipt of a salary of £BOO, as one of the Magistrates Clerks, and he entered on his present office at the same salary. On the Ist January, 1836, Mr. Okill's salary was £6OO ; increased in that, year to £7OO, and inl 1839, to £9OO. Mr. Falcon, who was a clerk is this department previous to January, 1841, received a salary, in 1836, 1837, and 1838, of £250. In 1839 and 1840 the salary was raised to £350. Mr. Radcliffe, Jun. has re ceived a salary of £250 from the Ist January, 1841. He has been in the Town-clerk's office since 1836, under arti cles of clerkship to his father, which expired in 1841. On the Ist January, 1836, his salary was £l5O. For about half a year in 1836 it was reduced to £lOO, without any reason being given, and the precise cause for the reduction the committee have not been able to ascertain, but subsequently the sa lary was again made £l5O, on the application of the Town-clerk, and the amount that had been deducted was paid to Mr. Tyson. Appointed in 1836. No clerk to Clerk of Com mittees previous to 1836. Mr. Abbott was ap pointed in 1836 as Clerk to Mr. Okill, at a salary of £l5O. In January, 1841, it was increased to £250. Appointed in 1836. Sa-' lary for 1836,1837,1838, 1839, and 1840, £BO, and in 1841 increased to £lO5 Appointed in 1836. Salary in 1836, £33, in 1837, 1838, and 1839, £4O ' • in 1840 £7O, and in 1841, £BO. Appointed in 1840, at a sa lary of £7O, which was increased in 1841 to £BO. This clerk ,sinceFebruaryl 1842, by a special ar rangement with the town clerk, is in future to charge partly per hour' and partly per folio, as the law stationers do, being guaranteed by the town-clerk that he shall not receive less than £BO per annum This clerk informed the committee that, since Fe bruary, 1842, a period of 4i months, he had received between £5O and £6O, but could not state the sum precisely. Appointed in 1836, and has been and is paid at cer tain rates per hour, or per folio, according to the nature of the work. ,This clerk is not required constantly in the office ; he is paid at certai n ra t es ) per hour, or per folio, according to the nature of the business. Under indentures for five! years, from Ist Septem ber, 1839. Salary £l5, with £3 16s. allowed for ! clothes for first two years ;1 £2O, and £7 16s. for; clothes for the third andl fourth years ; and £30,1 with £7 16s. for clothes, for the fifth year. Under indentures for five! years, from March, 1840, on the same terms as William Campbell. Appointed since 1836. On Ist January, 1836, was in receipt of the same salary. Succeeded Thomas Ro berts, in 1837, who had the same salary. Total PaYment out of the Borough Fund, as far as the Committee have been able to ascertain sinceSept.lB4o, to 31st August, ' 1841. are kept. At the end of the week, the clerk, who is con sidered as having the Borough Court department, but who, the committee find, by the clerk's own statement, is no more exclusively engaged with these duties than others in the office, gives the amount he finds received by the memo randum for Borough Court and other fees, to Mr. Tyson, who makes the entry in a sort of cash-book. Mr. Tyson, as cashier, (with various other duties to per form, including attending to the Borough Court, and the more laborious ones of preparing the freemen's roll and bur gess lists,) is considered to be the person to receive the gene ral office fees, which he records in a book, but without sta ting the particular matter for which the fees have been re ceived. The amount of the bills of costs for the leases come through the deputy town-clerk's department, in as unsatis factory a manner as the above-named fees, to Mr. Tyson. All fees thus received go into a general fee-book, which is kept by Mr. Tyson. This book has been turned into a pri vate cash-book for the town-clerk. It appears, from time to time during the year, that Mr. Tyson has to labour to separate the fees under different heads for the treasurer of the borough fund, who has never checked any account of fees from the passing of the Muni cipal Corporations Act, not considering it as his duty to call for the particulars of the summary of the fees delivered to him. Although these statements are made to the treasurer, no money is paid over to him until the •nd of the year ; and, last year, it is stated that the town-clerk had to pay over to the treasurer upwards of £BOO, after deducting his salary of X 2,000. There is another mixture of duties between Mr. Tyson and Mr. Hughes, the prosecuting solicitor's clerk, with re spect to the disbursements at the sessions. For this purpose Mr. Tyson procures a sum of money from the treasurer each session, giving a memorandum of the receipt. Tyson then timepaym i e s nt o lost f by what these i e s i s e due parties to t i h n em . after H ug h es a portion, to pay counsel's fees, and he gives a w r it ten order to the witnesses upon Tyson faj the eac session, and ou tdistinguishing m their accounts. Mr. Tyson then prepares the clerk of the peace's bill, and after some weeks the treasurer and Mr. Tyson arrange respecting the money procured by the latter, and he takes to account the clerk of the peace's fees, which are carried to the cash-book a l ready referred to as containing the town-clerk's private accounts. Besides the cash accounts above referred to, it appears that there is another account kept by Mr. Tyson, called the " town-clerk's weekly disbursements." This account goes before the Finance Committee weekly, and Mr. Tyson re ceives the amount. From the little this committee has seen of these weekly disbursement accounts, they certainly con sider it their duty to call the attention of the council to them, as they are of opinion there are many charges inserted in them which ought not to be paid out of the borough fund. The committee have stated that some of the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act have not been carried out. In pointing out in what particular instance they find this to be the case, the committee will have to call the attention of the council to the appointment of Mr. Radcliffe as town clerk, and the retaining in office of Mr. Okill after the Ist January, 1836. It will perhaps be in the recollection of some of the meal hers now in the council, that in 1836 the council of that day thought proper to dismiss a considerable number of its offi cers, and among those officers retained the committee find Mr. Okill. To retain Mr. Okill in the situation be held, St, £597 7 2 £l3O 1 6 £B3 10 11. X 97 4 0 £lB3 11 6 £l(4 1 9 £27 16 0 is stated, to give information to the newly-appointed officers, the deeds and documents belonging to the corporate estate were of necessity continued in the custody of Mr. Okill. On the committee referring to the 56th section of the Muni cipal Act, they find this proviso :—" Pro vided always, that all the charters, deeds, muniments, and records of every borough, or relating to the pro perty thereof, I shall be kept in such a place as the council from time to time shall direct, and the town-clerk for the time being shall have the charge and custody of, and be responsible for, the same." Observing the importance of this proviso, the committee called for the resolutions of the council on the subject, and were much astonished on finding that there had been no direction given by the council, previous to the year 1839, in what place the deeds should be kept ; but the resolution does not appear to contemplate this provision of the act being carried out. It appears that the town-clerk had mentioned to some members of the council, previous to 1839, the anxiety he felt on this subject, and the grea t responsibility there was imposed on him by the municip a l c orporations act, as it was in the power of the council at any time to call for an account, in writing, of all matters committed to his charge by virtue of the act. On the committee calling upon the town-clerk to explain why he had not fulfilled the duty required from him of having the custody of the deeds, he stated, that owing to the subject not meeting with the approval of some of the members connected with the finance committee of former days, and out of deli cacy to the feelings of others, he had to the present time waived his right, but ha was of opinion that even upon the ground of convenience there was no reason why the munici pal corporations act should not be strictly carried out with respect to the deeds. The committee much regret that there should have been found members of the council who had been advisers of a breach of the law, and should have appointed an assistant to Mr. Okill at a salary of £l5O per annum, whose duties this committee consider are only those of an engrossing or copy ing clerk, which ought to be done in the town-clerk's office. In this anomalous position, the council of 1836 added £lOO per annum to Mr. Okill's salary, then £6OO per annum ; and the following resolution was also passed :—" That Mr. Okill's salary should be £7OO per annum ; that he should have a clerk at £l2O to £l5O per annum ; and that neither of those officers should be allowed to do any business on their own account." In 1837 £2O per annum was given to his assistant for registering leases. In 1839 a further addition was made to Mr. Okill's salary of £2O O per annum,making it at the present time £9OO per annum ; and in January, 1841, Mr. Abbott's salary, then (with the £2O above named) £l7O, was increased to £270. The appointment made in 1836 of Mr. Radcliffe to the offices of town-clerk and clerk of the peace, the committee wish to notice to the council, as the committee have great doubts whether the same individual is not debarred by the municipal corporations act from filling both situations. In the first place, the continuing of quarter sessions in boroughs after the passing of the act depended on the pro visions contained in the 103 d section being complied with, and the obtaining a grant from the crown for the holding of such sessions. The appointment of the recorder is vested in the crown, and the council have the appointment of clerk of the peace. 'With respect to the borough court it was differ ent ; for by the 119th section of the act, the council in every borough in which there was a court of record, were to appoint a registrar, except in boroughs where the town-clerk acted as such registrar. Under these circumstances the committee con sider that the legislature intended that the clerk of the peace should be distinct from the town-clerk, who was to continue the registrar of the borough court, or otherwise the same exception would have been made in those boroughs where the town-clerk acted as clerk of the peace. The committee do not come to this view of the question on the above ground alone, but on the wording of the act when referring to the two offices. In the 121st section of the act, as to the summonsing of juries, it says, " And the clerk of the peace and registrar of the court of record respectively, shall also cause to be summonsed, &c.," and again, in the 124th section, the council are to make a table of fees which shall be taken by the clerk of the peace : also, a table of fees to be taken by the clerk of the justices, and a third, of the fees to be taken by the registrar and officers of the court of record. Whether it be legal or not, that is a question for the council to consider, but this com mittee feel it their duty to point out the heavy expense which has been incurred in the past year owing to the town-clerk and his clerks being prevented, in consequence of his being clerk of the peace, under a heavy penalty imposed by the municipal corporations acts from rendering any assistance at the period when the late deputy town-clerk and prosecuting solicitor was unwell, and on this occasion Messrs. Harvey and Falcon were paid for their professional assistance £314 45., and to this committee's surprise, as no doubt it will be to the majority of the members of the council, these gentlemen's professional assistance was again called for when Mr. Shuttleworth was attending to the parliamentary busi ness in London this year. The general business in the town-clerk's and prosecuting solicitor's offices is daily increasing, but more particularly the prosecutions, which are a heavy expense to the borough fund. The following appears to be the amount of fees received by the treasurer of the borough fund in the six last muni cipal years : .4 0 td e 1 : ,3 ct . r, q g .. .. 7, 1 02, BEI oz. fk - o=ll - 2,';c l 6 . cq Fr . R 5 ?ƒ a o Fo - 7 • co 0 , ;=. .--1 C, CO CO , ...4 sJI 0-. cr. . to •• r• eD Cr CD ..10. 0 Ca 0 •4. (1::) C) C. tJ c, 00 ...s. co 8 '-' IF- i-• p -. 0 ....4 O. 1..7 1.4 ... Cr , 4. C, O ND V ...11 00 O v 0 o 1 , C) C.i. C h i Cn ...4 14- C , 0, 1..1 ..... ... 4 cr, -..t CO CO CoZ It is reported to the committee that in 1838 and 1839 the abolition of imprisonment for debt on the commencement of actions, the repeal of the power of the boro ug h cour t t o arres t absconding debtors, and the operation of the court of re quests act, raising the amount that could be recovered in this court from 405. to £5 ; reduced the number of causes in the borough court from 1856 per annum ( w hi c h i s t h e hi g h est number of causes in any one year between 1836 and the present year) to 1401, but this year the committee find the causes to have greatly increased, the number being, exclusive of actions which have not proceeded beyond the issuing of the writ, 2107. The committee find that the prosecutions at the assizes and sessions have so frightfully increased that it is needless to expect that the prosecuting solicitor can devote sufficient attention to the other important duties which at the present time he is required to perform. The following statement will at once shew to the council the increase of prosecutions o a r 1: cost of ~., c, v: Assizes n.. 2 P-. . Prosecu- T o p t : 0 1 s C e o e s , t i _ o f tions from and '5 '5 t; 74 lions Jan. 1837, to c? Sessions. 6 ~..,' g L'o' in Total. D e c. 1841, Z .5; `-' each year. inclusive. I — — . s. d, 1837 Assizes . 15 346 12 7 /I Sessions 338 1800 18 0 553 2147 10 7 1838 Assizes . 13 2090 6 6 ~ Sessions 305 1652 17 5 - 318 3743 3 11 1839 Assizes . 20 694 11 1 „ Sessions 262 1525 16 0 282 2220 7 1 1840 Assizes . 27 726 12 5 „ Sessions .182 3016 3 7 509 3742 16 0 1841 Assizes . 35 1963 14 8 „ Sessions 644 3641 6 0 679 5605 0 8 .€. s. d. Total .!2141 — ---- 17,458 18 3 I, The committee find that the council has the power of pt6'- ing fixed salaries in lieu of fees to all their officers, except the clerk of the peace. By the 19th section of the local act 6 and 7 William IV., chap. 135, the counc il h ave power to pay fixed salaries in lieu of fees to the town-clerk and all the officers of the borough court. The committee also ascertain that, by the 6th section of another local act, Ist Victoria, chap. 98, the council are empowered to fix and pay salaries to the clerks, to the justices, in lieu of fees ; but they cannot find any power the council at present have to pay the clerk of the peace by a fixed salary, and the council may deem it requisite that information should be given why this omission has taken place. Mr. Richard Radcliffe, jun. has informed the committee that he has attended to private practice; and he is the only person in the department, the committee have been able to ascertain, who has done what may be termed private busi ness, with the exception of Mr. Abbott. Mr. Abbott, in the face of the resolution of the council passed in 1836, which expressly states that Mr. Okill and his assistant are not to transact any private business, has carried on the busi ness of a law stationer in the town, employing, according to his own statement, no less than from twelve to fourteen clerks. Beyond this the committee have ascertained that Mr. Abbott has been in the habit of getting persons ap pointed poll-clerks at the elections, with a private under standing that he was to divide the fee with them. The coun cil being aware of the poor class of persons who fill the situa tion of poll-clerks, and the exposed places in which they have to remain during the day of the elections, will pass their own remarks on Mr. Abbott's conduct in this parti cular. _ The committee cannot but feel how much anxiety the town-clerk must have had respecting the custodyof the deeds and muniments for which he was responsible, he having, for the faithful performance of his duties as town-clerk, given a bond to the council, with two sureties in the sum of £5,000. The committee have been informed that the repository, con taining so much of value to the corporate estate, has been left open when Mr. Okill was not in town, and Mr. Abbott absent from the building, and a person found there who was not connected with the town-clerk's office, but a clerk f rom the private office of Mr. Abbott. The Council will observe by the amount set opposite to the names of the clerks in the town-clerk's office who have fixed salaries, what has been paid to them for the year 1811 for extra work; beyond this the committee find that refresh. ments have been provided for all the clerks if detained after five o'clock. These expenses are passed in the weekly dis bursement account. That the present position of affairs in this department cannot much longer exist, must be evident to the council, on mature consideration of this report. The public business de nands that the department should be reorganised, and that in every particular branch of it a responsible and effici ent person should be always in attendance during the public hours of business, viz., from nine to five. The committee will also come to the same conclusion which the committee does that it is impossible for the town clerk and prosecuting solicitor to conduct the daily in. creasing business of their respective offices in that manner which the public requires, or with any degree of satisfaction to themselves, with the inefficient staff provided for them. The committee, therefore, recommend for the considera tion of the council the following alterations and additions in this department, which is drawn up to meet the view the committee take as to the legal difficulty that presents itself respecting th e o ffi ces o f town - c l er k and clerk of th e peace being held by the same person ; and also to avoid in future Duties of Principal. Legal Adviser of, Council, Legal A dviser of the Mayor, Legal Adviser and Clerk of all Com mittees (except the Gaol Finance Com mittee), Registrar of the Borough Court, Parliamen tary Solicitor, Le gal Adviser of all Returning Officers at Elections, Legal Adviser and Clerk of Revising Court, and to have the conducting of all other matters that may arise, or may be connected with the legal business of the Corporation, excepting such as the Committees may from time to time direct the Bo rough Solicitor to take charge of. The Town-clerk will be required to find security to the Council, as hereto fore. Clerk of the Coun cil, Legal Adviser and Clerk of the Gaol Finance Corn. mittee,Prosecuting Solicitor, and to have the entire re. sponsibility of the Conveyancing and Leasing Depart ment. Will be required' :o give security. To do all the duties of the office ; to provide, if neces sary, the crier of the court, his own clerk, bailiff for summonsing the juries, and his own office and station ery ; and to ac count after each session to the trea surer of the Bo rough Fund for all fees. Salary to be fixed b . ating the office from The committee have attached two engrossing -clerks to the to the town-clerk's office, and one to the borough solicitor's, and they recommend, in consequence of the present offices being found too small, that one of the rooms now occupied by the joiners and porters in the basement of the town-hall should be fitted up for these clerks. The committee further recommend that the town-clerk and borough-solicitor should have the appointment of the clerks for their respective departments, subject to the approval of the council, but with full power of dismissing them, without any previous application to the council. As the committee have fixed a high scale of salaries, it must be understood, on the engagement of the clerks, that the hours of attendance are to be similar to those of solicitors' offices in the town, viz., from 9 to 7, one hour being avowed for dinner. That no allowance in future is to be made for extra work or refreshments, the clerks, on entering on their duties, being made aware that at times the business to be transacted may require their attendance beyond the general office hours, and each clerk should be required to enter daily in a book the particulars of his day's work. The committee have thought it necessary to make these few remarks respecting the clerks, as they find there is great irregularity iu their attendance; and although it is stated that the hours are from 9 to 5, without any time being al lowed for refreshment, the committee have ascertained that the clerks do take some time in the middle of the day for that purpose. It will be necessary that a messenger should be attached to the town-clerk's and borough-solicitor's offices, but the committee wish to reserve their recommendation on this point until the Town-hall establishment is considered. In carrying out any scheme that the council may here after approve of, the c o mm itt ee recom mend that a distinct room be selected, i n w hi c h th e b oroug h c ourt business shall be transacted, as it has been loudly complained of that no regular place h as b een appo i n t e d, i n cons equence of which the attorneys have suffered much inconvenience and annoy ance. It has been stated to the committee that in appointing constables to fill other situations which have no connection with the police establishment, much inconvenience has arisen—as in the cases of Messrs. Ilalsall, M'Combe, and Chalmers. The former, as before named, is each session engaged as crier of the court, and the two latter, previous to the sessions, are employed In summonsing the jurors, and afterwards attending court to prove the service of the sum monses if required. If, on the passing of the municipal corporations act, proper consideration bad been given to the change which was then made, it would have occurred to those whose duty it was to carry out the provisions of the act, that the bailiffs of the borough, who, previously were required to act as coroners and to summons the jurors, did not then exist, and as the act removed them, it would consequently remove the sub bailiffs. In their character of sub-bailiffs Messrs. M'Combe and Chalmers have summonsed the jurors for the town-clerk, in his double capacity of registrar of the borough court and £2O 16 0 £9O 0 0 .05 0 0 £B5 0 0 0 1 co the expense that has bei town-clerk or any of his c cutions at the sessions. The following offices, s to be distinct : ;en incurred, in conseiluence of the Clerks being engaged in the prose- rith their respective establishments, Chief Clerk. Common Law Clerk. Book keeper and Cashier.' Clerk. Clerk. Clerk. Clerk. An Ap prentice Chief Clerk. Clerk. Duties of Clerks, Fixed Sala ries, j per ann urn Who, under the directions of the Town-clerk, is to take the general routine manage ment of the office, except as to the business of the Borough Court. Will be required\ to find security. Under the direction of the Registrar, is to devote his whole time to the business of the Borough ,Court. Will be required o find security. To keep a particu lar account of all fees received in the Town-clerk's de partment, a list of which is to be de livered to the Tres surer of the Bo rough Fund weekly, and every month with the Treasurer to check over all the accounts of fees which he has re ceived, and pay the amount over to the Treasurer ; to at tend to documents requiring the May or's signature ; to keep the coach proprietors' and drivers' books, and to attend to the freemen's books and the examina tion of the free men's and burgess lists. Will be required :o find security. To be employed generally under the directions of the Town-clerk and his chief clerk, and must be a person in whom reliance can be placed for the examination of all documents when engrossed or copied by the engrossing clerks. To be in the Bo rough Court de partment, in as sisting the common law clerk and book keeper. Engrossing and copying. Engrossing and' copying. To be employed in such manner as the Town-clerk may direct, whose sa lary in the fifth year will be To be employed under the direc tions of the Bo rough Solicitor i❑ the Conveyancing and Leasing De partment, and the general matters of the office, and to keep the cash ac counts of the de partment ; to re turn a list of all fees weekly to the Treasurer of the Borough Fund, and check over all fees monthly with him, and pay over the, amount received. ITo attend to the! proceedings con. nected with the prosecutions. 1 Clerk. An Ap- Iprentice. Engrossing and copying. To be employed as the Borough Soli citor may direct. whose salary in the' fifth year is not toi exceed the Council when the quesi that of Town-clerk is decideC .X2OOO clerk of the peace. With respect to the first-named court, there is a question for the council's consideration whether the bailiff appointed by the sergeant-at-mace, or a person selected by the registrar, is entitled to the fee authorised by the table to. be paid in each cause for the summonsing the jury. It will appear in the committee's report on the office of serjeant-at-mace, that the serjeant has take❑ the fee re ferred to, and Messrs. M'Combe and Chalmers have done the work. In this position the borough fund has paid twice for the one fee. It has been mentioned that there is also a table of fees to be taken up by the clerk of the peace, " for the payment of " which the borough fund is to be liable." The question is, whether the borough fund is to be charged with the salary of an officer to take out the clerk of the peace's summonses beyond the fee of XI Is., allowed by the table for "striking lists of jurors, summonses for them, and instructions to offi cer ns to service ?" There is no fee in the table for the service. The above points must be settled by the council before the committee can recommend what change should be made with respect to the summoning of jurors. The other duties, stated to be performed by M'Cornbe and Chalmers as sub-bailiffs, are in procuring carts, at the regu lation prices, for soldiers on march through the town. The committee find, on further inquiry, that these duties are at tached to the office of constable. The committee, .on referring to the table of fees for the clerk of the peace, observe, that the fees which a crier gene rally claims, such as, " For every witness sworn to give evi dence to the grand jury" are payable to the clerk of the peace. The council, therefore, will have to consider whether, by the change made by the municipal corporations' act, the office of crier was done away with. In this case the borough fund has been paying twice for the one fee. It would have been satisfactory to this committee, if they had bee❑ able to state in this report what has been the ex pense of this department since the passing of the municipal corporations act. Owing to the mode in which the trea surer's accounts are kept, it would require a considerable time to select the charges, and place them to their proper accounts. Beyond the sum of £5,609 Bs. 10d. which the committee have ascertained was paid to the parties connected with the whole of this department in the municipal year, 1841, (which does not include the sum of p£3l4 4s. paid as above men tioned,) it would be requisite, to ascertain how much of £l,BOl 14s. 2d., stated in the 'treasurer's account, to be for " stamps and general disbursements on professional busi ness ;" also, how much of the sum of 2,012115. 11d. for par liamentary and " miscellaneous business," and of the sum of £9ll 15s. 2d. for printing and stationery, ought to be placed to the debit of this department. The committee have con sidered the bill for extra work presented to the council by Mr. Tyson, amounting to £165 2s. 4d., which they recom mend to be paid, on the ground that the other clerks have been already paid for extra work, and the town-clerk had di rected Mr. Tyson to keep an account of similar work done by him, which the town-clerk promised, from time to time, to lay before the finance committee. --- If the council adopt the committee's recommended altera tions in this department, the public will have their business attended to in a much more satisfactory manner, the town clerk and borough solicitorviill have most efficient assistance in conducting that business, and there will be a saving to the borough fund of, at least,' 500 per annum. SERGEANT-AT-MACE AND HIS BAILIFFS, CRIER OF THE BOROUGH COURT, AND MACE BEARER. Mr. William Stanley Roscoe is the present sergeant-at mace. He succeeded Mr. Timothy Parkinson, who was in office on the Ist January, 1836. Mr. Roscoe's appointment is dated the 12th August, 1836, anticipating by a few days the passing of the act of parliament (6 and 7 Wm. IV. chap. 35) for amending the proceedings and practice of the Borough Court and Court of Requests, which act received the royal assent on the 20th August, 1836. It appears that the sixth section of this act is the one which an'thorises the council to make the appointment to this office, and one of the recitals in that section states, 'that the duties of the sergeant-at mace should be defined and made analagous to the office of sheriff in counties." The sergeant-at-mace has, by the same section, the patronage of appointing and taking security from the bailiffs and officers who are to execute the process of the court. He also has the appointment of " proper and fi persons for carrying the mace, and for acting as crier in th court, and for performing other the duties heretofore per formed by the said sergeant-at-mace." He is responsible fo all parties delivering process t.O him, or his bailiffs or officers and by the seventh section of the act he is required to ente into a bond with the corporation, with two or more sureties for securing to the suitors in the court the due execution of his office, by himself, his bailiffs, and officers. By another section of this act, (19,) the council have the power of paying the town-clerk, and the other officers of the Borough Court, (except the bailiffs of the sergeant-at-mace,) by fixed salaries, in lieu of fees, but requires the officers to receive the fees, and pay them over to the treasurer of the borough fund. The bond given by Mr. Roscoe and his two sureties to the corporation, is, himself in £4OOO, and his sureties, jointly and separately, in £2OOO. Mr. Roscoe has appointed three bailiffs, namely, Messrs Kirby, Lawton, and Hilton, taking bonds from them re spectively, with sureties, the amount being, themselves in £2OOO, and their sureties in £lOOO. The following, as far as the committee can ascerta account of the original warrants which have passed geant's seal in 1841. Total on precepts Cases in which Defendants directed to the debt and costs gone to sergeant to take have been gaol. the person of I paid. defendants. 549 in, is an the ser- not exe cuted 284 0.- 1 ~.. Ii 4 1r) ,-. —en 61a 1 -c3 0 ,-. „; "cs . .a) "' ' - 0 ''..,;;.'G cl . 1... cs•-• ,i; ..= 01 ° , •- • -cs . - 0 , ? 4 : 1 IL ) -c$ C. ',... --,-. Qi . ....-cl., 0 4, c m , .I'.',. 5 .. ) ~..t- co L, a. o . =..... c , . .. -E 0 ,F, = › o m.w E o -ci tr, t,' 0 c u 4, o te, en —.., :6: 3 1-„. .13 = -4-. 0..., D. ~... .o_o 6, -a . 0 GO - 0 cn c . . p. . c , 4 -. + + 4 6, 0 - 17,^ _._, 4,8 es G , ==l.. 0 W . m w - : L 0 ; Ll.-2 -1 - -... = 13 i., c cs „7 ......' ms .4 i . „wiz; 0 cc .L. gi 0 •-•0-' 0 ' r: , ~.. c c 4 .2 0 ,.. - 48 2' ~. V, '' a'z' °L E -E 13 if IT , 8 all 9 l g '" .' Can "'- ' l ' . lift' ' 1 s -=•-•&) 12 *--•ea , , U,' ''. 5., w r „.„00.,,,,, a= E. Z 1 = 1.. , Z .4 e —, 413 148 2 1 X305 9 8. £42 114 I 377 6 I 162 The fees, which the committee can find have been receiv by the bailiffs on the above warrants placed in their ham The fees, which the committee can find have been received by the bailiffs on the above warrants placed in their hands, amount to £216 15s. These fees do not come into the bo rough fund, nor are they included in the returns made of the sum received for debt and costs. The committee find, by the treasurer of the borough fund's accounts, that Mr. Roscoe has had, since his appointment, £350 per annum as a fixed salary, in lieu of fees, but the council in granting this salary attached the proviso that Mr. Roscoe should keep a clerk, and pay him £5O. The result of this appointment, with the condition attached, in the con sideration of the committee, is, that the clerk does nearly all the work, which is merely to fill up thc warrants, (which are in blank printed forms,) and to them and the assignments (the latter being prepared by the plaintiff's attorney) attaches the seal. As before named in this report, Edward Fitzgerald, in the town-clerk's office, is the sergeant's clerk, and the committee' find that a desk is provided in the same office for the sergeant. Upon the subject of the fees, Mr. Roscoe could not give the committee much information, nor did he know exactly what fees he was strictly entitled to as sergeant, nor could the committee, on referring to the treasurer of the borough funds account for 1841, make out what the fees were. The treasurer's account says,—" The sergeant-at-mace, W. S. Roscoe, £350, less balance of fees, £l9 Os. 8d.—£330 19s. 4d. The committee then sought the assistance of the treasurer to explain what " less balance " meant, and to give the gross fees which ought by section 19 of the local act to be placed " for account of the borough fund," but he was in as great ignorance of how the sergeant's account of fees was made out as the committee, nor could he state the particulars of the deductions made from the fees. The committee, not feeling satisfied, proceeded to make a searching enquiry into this office, and most curious is the result : Although section 6 of the local act recites, that the duties of the sergeant are to be analagous to the office of sheriff, the committee conclude that the analogy is limited to the duties set forth in the enacting part of that section, which only refers to the execution of process out of the court to him delivered, and in appointing bailiffs and officers to execute the process. The sheriff of a county summonses the juries by his bailiffs or officers. In this case the committee, on re ferring to the 12Ist section of the municipal corporations' act, (5 and 6 William IV, chap. 76,) find, that the registrar of the court shall cause to be summonsed persons to serve as jurors, and, as stated in this committee's report on the town-clerk's department, M'Combe and Chalmers, by the direction of the registrar, summon the juries, and not the bailiffs appointed by the sergeant-at-mace. Ois searching further, the committee ascertain that the fol lowing are the particulars of the fees which Mr. Roscoe has accounted for to the treasurer : Debt or damage Debt or damage— O ther , not exceeding not exceedin g: £5. £2O. cases. Summonsing jury .. is. Od. 2s. Od 3s. Gd. Calling p'ff on nonsuit Os. Gd. is. Od , Is. Gd. There is also a fee of LI Is. which the sergeant charges on the seal being put on assignments : By the sergeant's book, the committee make, for the municipal year of 1841, the gross fees, which includes fees on 14 assignments £23 4 10 And the deduction, being two bills for printing 2 2 6 Leaves ;C2I '2 4 as the balance, which the treasurer calls £l9 Os. Bd. On observing " summonsing jury," an act which neither the sergeant nor his bailiffs do, the committee were led to re fer again to the Municipal Corporations Act, and i❑ the 124th section they find, that the council is required, within six months next after their election, to make and settle in those boroughs in which there shall be a court of record, a table of fees to be taken by the registrar and officers of such court, and such tables of fees shall be submitted to one of his Majesty's principal secretaries of state," and if approved, " the fees therein mentioned may thenceforth be lawfully taken by the person therein named to be entitled thereto." The committee called for the table of fees above referred to, and to their great surprise find that there is not any fee payable to such a person as the sergeant-at-mace. The table is signed by Lord John Russell, and came into operation at the end of 1836, or beginning of 1837, and has at the head of it this notice :—" N.B.—The following fees are only to he taken for the performance of duties required by the rules and practice of the particular court, and no fee is to be al lowed which is not hereinafter mentioned. The fees which Mr. Roscoe has claimed as his, under the table, are payable to the bailiffs, viz., for summoning jury and for calling plaintiffs on nonsuit ; the fee of £1 ls., which the serjeant has charged on assignments, the commit tee consider has been taken illegally, as it is not included in the above-mentioned table of fees. There are two points which the committee wish the council to consider, which are, first—is the serjeant-at-mace an officer of the borough court ? If he is not, then the section in the local act, 19, cannot be acted upon. Secondly, if the serjeant-at-mace is found to be an officer of the court, can the council still act upon this section, and pay a fixed salary, the consideration for the payment of which is, according to the section of the act of parliament, to be in lieu of fees ; and that all fees receivable in the said court shall " be received by the officer to whom such fees have been heretofore payable ; and every such offi cer shall pay over such fees to the treasurer of the said bo rough, for account of the borough fund, provided that nothing herein contained shall extend to the payment of the bailiffs of the serjeant-at-mace of the said borough." The committee cannot find that from any source the ser jeant-at-mace is entitled to any legal fee. The serjeant-at-mace, the predecessor of Mr. Roscoe, and in office before the Municipal Corporations Act and the local act above named passed, received a salary of £l3O per annum from the corporation, for which he carried the mace, and acted as crier of the court. He also found security, and provided his own office. He took certain fees as crier. The scrjeant-at-mace at the present time is not in so res ponsible situation as formerly, in con sequence o f t h e aboli tion of arrest for debt. In the present position of the serjeant-at-mace, the coo - have nothing to recommend before the difficulties are removed, which are now brought before the council for con sideration. CRIER OF THE BOROUGH COURT. The table of fees does not recognise such an officer as crier of the court. lxiooo By the table, the registrar and are the l t only parties to whom fees are allowed, therefore, if the registrar procures a person to do part of his duties, such as swearing the wit nesses in court (a fee for this act being allowed him by the table,) he would have to pay such a person so deputed. In the present case, the registrar has a fixed salary in lieu of fees, and still beyond this the borough fund is charged with £25 per annum, which is paid to Edward Fitzgerald, as be fore-mentioned, for acting as crier. The committee consider the present crier's position is si milar to that of the sergeant-at-mace ; he has the situation, by appointment of the sergeant, under the Gth section of the local act, but is improvided with any legal fee. The committee consequently find nothing to recommend respecting the crier, before the council have removed the difficulties that he is in. The mace-bearer, James Halsall, appears to have £lO per annum for carrying the mace in the mayor's processions. He is also crier of the court of quarter sessions, with a sa lary of £l5 per annum, and is a constable in Mr. Dowling's department, for which latter duty he receives 255. a-week. James Halsall is, therefore in receipt of £9O per annum, payable out of the borough fund. As mace-bearer, he is appointed by the sergeant, under the said section G. He is certainly not an officer of the bo rough court, nor entitled to any fees by the table. It will, therefore, be necessary for the council to consider this ques tion, and whether the £lO per annum has been legally paid. If he is a corporate officer, the committee think that the council have a just cause to blame the framers of the act of parliament, for suffering the appointment to be taken from them, and in vesting it in the sergeant-at-mace. The bailiffs, appointed by the serjeant at mace, under the before-mentioned 6th section of the local act, the committee find they have received only certain of the fees set forth in the table, and the serjeant has taken and returned to the treasurer of the borough fund the tees for summonsing juries, and calling plaintiffs on nonsuit, as before stated, which, of right, belong to the bailiffs, as directed by the table. Upon this part of the question the committee have to call the at tention of the council, finding that the registrar has directed ' other persons than the above appointed bailiffs to summons the jurors, who have received a fixed salary. If the bailiffs appointed by the serjeant can claim the fees, and not the per sons who have, to the present time, summonsed the jurors' then the proviso in the 19th section of the local act would ap pear to have been violated, and £2O per annum to have been illegally paid to M'Combe and Chalmers, the committee con sidering that half of what they receive may be taken for ser vices rendered to the Borough Court, and the other half taken for their duties connected with the quarter sessions. It will be for the council to consider whether, for the last five years, the following salaries are a legal and justifiable charge on the borough fund, viz.:— The serjeant at mace The crier The mace-bearer The sub-bailiffs, 4,10—a moiety . . . . £350 per annum. .... 25 „ 10 .„ 20 „ £405 JOHN B. LLOYD, Chairman. LIVER THEATRE. MR. WILSON'S FAREWELL ENTFRTAINMENT. grills present FRIDAY EVENIN , the 7th instant, at Eight o'clock. SON GS.—The Flowers o' the Forest Sally in our Alley— The Laird o' Cockpen—The Fine Old Country Gentleman— Wha wadna fecht for Charlie. PART IL—My Boyhood's Home—Canst thou Love ? The Postilion's Song—Young Agnes, my beauteous flower— The Fra Diavolo Scena. PART 111.--Bide ye Yet—Lizzie Lindsay—Duncan Gray —Get up and Bar the Door—Tullochgorum. Tickets and Programmes to be had at the Box-office. ROYAL ASSEMBLY ROOMS, GREAT GEORGE-STR. • GRAND MISCELLANEOU S' CONCERT, Under the most distinguilpatronage. MISS E. HAMIL ON RESPECTFULLY announces to h er F r i en d s a nd the Public that her CONCERT, at the above fashionable Rooms, will take place on THURSDAY EVENING next, the 13th instant, on which occasion she has secured the valuable services of our talented townsman, Mr. WILLOUGHBY WEISS. who will sing several of his favourite Songs, assisted by Miss WHITNALL, Mr. HARRISON, (the ad mired Tenor, from the London Concerts,) Mr. HORNBY, and Amateurs. PIANIST AND CONDUCTOR—Mr. E. F. SMITH. Doors to be open at Seven ; Concert to commence at Eight precisely. Tickets to toe Body of the Room, ss. ; a limited number to the Gallery ; to be had of Miss E. HAMILTON, at her Residence, 27, Norton-street, and the principal Music Shops: CIA) Zibrrpool &tanbarb. FRIDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 7, 1842. The length to which our reports of the Town Council meeting, and the meetings of St. Peter's and Castle-street Wards, have run, will prevent our re marking at any length upon the proceedings of the former body. Upon one subject, however, we feel impelled to offer a few remarks, which must of neces sity, however, be very brief. We fancy we can perceive, on",the part of a section of the Council, a disposition to convert the recent calamity which has befallen the town into an occasion for the revival of what has been termed " the ware house question." That restless gentleman, Mr. Alder man Evans, would fain be at work. His fingers itch for patronage ; the appointment of inspectorships and sub-inspectorships, warehousemen and porters, floats before his vision ; and in imagination he is already, as chairman of the warehouse committee, invested, in something between the character of a turnkey and a monarch, with the absolute control of the great bulk of the property of the port, and the po'wer to lock and unlock, discharge, and arrange, the goods of other men at his own magnificent pleasure. The committee just appointed to enquire into the state of the ware house property of the port, with a view to the preven tion of fire, must, the wily alderman suggests, take into their consideration the question of the " location" of such property—must, in fact, if they would put themselves under his guidance, convert themselves into a committee to devise a new scheme for the erec tion of warehouses upon the dock quays. We might have passed over without notice Mr. Evans's attempt to revive his favourite hobby; but we cannot so easily pass over the inclination displayed by other gentlemen " to get up and ride" with him. Amongst others, we see that Mr. George Hall Lawrence has expressed his opinion —a new one, we believe— that the warehouses of the town " must in future be built round the docks," and directly intimated that the trustees must be at once, by an act of parliament, invested with their control. Mr. Lawrence assumes that, in such a location they would, independent of the alleged advantages of cen tralization of management, be less subject to the dan ger of fire ; but is this the case we ask ? Is it so very certain that the quays of the docks are the most safe sites for the erection of warehouses ? Some people, quite as well qualified to form a judgment as either Mr. Alderman Evans or his convert Mr. Lawrence, maintain, that by such a location not only will the warehouses be more unsafe, but that the shipping it self in the docks so surrounded will be endangered. A reference to our report of the clock proceedings will •spew that serious doubts are felt upon this subject. The insurance companies of London have declared that they will not insure property in the warehouses at present building by the dock estate. They are at this moment rejecting insurances in St. Katharine's Dock Warehouses; and they have recently raised the insurance upon the :lipping in that dock from 2s. 6d. to 7s. We rather imagine that, with these facts be fore him, Mr. Lawrence will be induced to reconsider his opinion. We have no means of ascertaining how many of the gentlemen appointed upon the committee entertain the sentiments of Mr. Lawrence with respect to this question of warehouses round the docks ; but from the circumstance that Mr. Evans himself is one of them, and the reputation of that gentleman as an excellent persuader, we fear most strongly that their labours will not result in effecting the object for which, in reality, and not to advance Mr. Evans's projects, they were appointed by the Council. We publish to-day a document which we are con fident will excite the amazement of the world. We refer to the Fi rs t R eport o f t h e S pec i a l C omm i ttee appointed by the Council to enquire into the duties and salaries of the servants of the Corporation. Peruse it carefully, reader ; ponder over the facts which it discloses ; and you will rise from the task, able, perhaps for the first time in your life, to explain the meaning of the expression " Municipal Reform !" You are a plain man, perhaps ; you have read Walker's dictionary, or Johnson's, and imagine that " reform" and improvement are synonymous. You never were more mistaken. Whig lips may have prated in your ears of the "scandalous, rotten, corrupt old Corporation of Liverpool," and boasted of the Consummate Purity, the Excellent Management, the Rigid Economy of the new—the " Reformed Corporation." You have now before you the materials for arriving at a correct idea of their truth. If the old system was bad, this you will say is rotten through all its veins. If Toryism of old offended,—if jobs o ccasionally soiled its hands,-- if sinecurism and favouritism were ractised,—modern Whiggery, at any rate, has far outdone it in offensive ness. 'e shall not for the present offer a word of com— ment upon the report itself, for which we and this. community owe a heavy debt of gratitude to Mr. Lloyd, the originator of the committee, and to the gentlemen who were its members. They have per' formed, thus far, their duty fearlessly and well. Let them go business reputabl, tElanagen 48 'llea I or a mar To the &port Von the We hE readers t, evinced and yesti form er w of the t° have s of th e el f eloquent t heir can re garded occasion, 84 biect, c laim to didates i IP n the Cc In Ca receive IV a similar the evide Was full t titutionz electors I 4 lost ear earnest i fortress f 13 talcv, (Friday): fairs i the last Ti October,( °l ' Sunday THE Lc the Lord Lord and in this to Ireland, his lordsh STAFFI the rioter: br. W aS Proce, Oster, wa! t he Prism, _ N a crb r co .... . co c.) ~.. CO .I CO N , ll t= An t CO C) 0 1 C . ' _ I . . 00 I 4. 444 i Ov W 4.; 43.