The Northern Daily Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-22 00:00:00

On "MoNnx anding Dook.—Appl chants, or Messrs. ( a Brunswll nnmodatio ex Rapp apply to IT particulars I M. HARNETT On P.7EBDA ex Columbia, from New Yor y never could h y to J. & M. ILIRNETT, Brokers limensions, are those lo have•perforrned the national wor lf. for On account of wh om it may concern. deprived of th e sources of ; On TIISS DAY n ex t, th e 26 t h i nst., at Half-past One o'clock, at Messrs, Golding and Nash's saleroom, Corn Exchanze. have an "- Brunswick-street 9 1 Clarigrego On WEDNESDAY E at the Pub, Apply to illes, ITLEDAL On WEDNESDAY next, .t Twelv 200 , Ba MADDEI TUB ANNvA DAILY TI Car A EARLY at Hock Eighl each m ouuwrioerS which. the disappoinTm A SUBf3C: FIRST EXHIBITION of the FREN( SCHOOL of the FINE ARTS in Liverpool, incluc MAD'LLE ROSA BONHEUR'S B. FRO )SHAM, Seer E4e Iltprn YIDAY, FEBR in St. Georg s's Hall to-da 0 ord coolness and moderation factious one It interests ev tants alike ly feel in this particular locality the gross injustice of being deprived of those legal rights win( ment measure proposes to sweep away, still th question to be disc national character whether our rule eh the Govern ussed is one of a point to be decided any more than Either can be f individuals age be it colour of lave or by tE therefore, have tho ieeting to-day, beware how the 'all into the dan clearly p 3ted out by ot OWNER OF P ITY IN I published yesterd Town Due; on In tins ( parchment, and the accut in which it .18 enshroud have iu this cot law, embodying and resting on *a can nev ace, and which we they indi not enders that of society— ciples of justi many a bloody down to Com mons of t —they must be reminded of t voice. It is enough for us to Itri the SoVereigns of this realm ha right to makE Town Du( grants as thi Led, and that purpo works of gY that right lave exercised f a cer it has 1, with as mueh ition possesses, for the good s for the benefit of the rate. this Borough. Time has luced has been appl lIICOITI honesty as a of the nat payers and created great 1 want d is rapidly aggrava- tang the evils of taxation pressure of inereas ed numbers On account of w )g beings upon our sources of supply, is ren— millions more precarious and, alm. But these are great natural emert, can only be met by moral means am legislation. We admit the time has arrived when I from all its remaining burd illowea r wr. - es whi have to combat are ti led forward by a The e policy the existence of st impossible. encies which llightened hake off its shackles, and ,c• go as free as the winds and the But thes lg season of blind and s of all memorable I Born of our ti point of English quen tly act in erences are t Monday) ader w 1 purchased that the Con By the Ganges, wt we have Constantinople news to the 10th Pasha was to bring the decree of the Suhat sanctioning the recent reforms in favour of the Christians. It was said that the Sultan was about to declare that Christians ght pro p ert y . Measur es were mibeing taken a hold res t Sebastopol to bl ow up the Russi an vessels in the port. The i ce having ceased i n the Sea of Azoff; the vessels The th e A llies were about to re - enter it. The German Legion had reduced the Bashi Bazouks to order at Sinope A Berlin despatch says that the Russian Govern: ment, in drawing up the budget of the Maritime Courts, has omitted the usual grants for those of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff. The omission t without importance s not without I at Marsei 1. lady of they( ,st rank was murdered this in the Champ. Elysees 3 (TOUT to murder her „ an attempt was made The police have not yet made s. A servant has been arrested ving done the crime. on suspicion world c only promised 'hile the Board of Trade c its am the land, etinitely ope P the 23rd, a Pacha so dil time to-tnorr irseilles to-mc 2g the same amount o for itself dues as In only expres- which will convince both Nhat its Siecle arliament that there is some'morality and som for the maritime and )olicy pro- 1, tar-seeing, and manly t ever so remotely, corn to with the intelligence and public probity FRANCE MN CORRESPONDENT.) IS, NV given to the t ins, and that instead of int Or nagnitud le State as eaving the ive assum calities whit them, to which the dues, m Tuesti have be( 1 trad ~.osition to invest. Mes;rs. ;4ilds , scription list to the new loan .g to-day at 2 p.m., there was considerable ex itement in the money market. In numerous cases lry high rates were paid by parties desirous making the required deposit. The applications 1 and nd werc tong ' sub! ..plus deposits, however, :rill be ,we.diately. The bidding for the loan take place at the Treasury to-morrow riday morning): at 10 o'clock. Business in ie Stock E4change will commence to morrow 10 o'clock, instead of the usual hour eleven o'clock. At Paris to-day the Three per `--+her redUction of 1 to 'Tier less confident. however, is not higher than At this date last year the premium mod at '32 per cent. This comparison will d some idea of the improvement which the -fighter aspect of polities has occasioned in monetary affairs. The Railway Share Market to-day, though still inactive, firm, with a tendency towards improvement, The closing quotations were as follows : Caledonian, 564 57. • Eastern Counties, 10. 'ast Lancashire, 71 72. Great Northern, 94. Ditto A., 76i 77g. Great Western, 1.• Lancashire and Yorkshire, 82. London with Western, 101 101. Manchester Shef- Lincolnshire, 242 25. Midland Stock, British, 29 30. York, Newcastle, v ^- 1 r and North Midland, ent Rentes c]os 70 70 L. _.. INTELLIGENCE. SECOND EDITION --0-- THE CONFERENCES 3ARIS, THURSDAY EVENING instant commence on Monday the Hotel of the Minister Ifterwar eign p l enipotentiaries, the ate and of the Legislative Leers of the Crown. _.• ntiary Aali Pacha was to 21st, at 8 O'clock. r Faris on the 1 to arrive here this 3TRIA. AND THE DIET E -THE TOWN DUES,-- Dim merce Will be Dr Town ETING OE E STPOW/lERN S—WEST DERBY BOARD of GUARDIANS. of this board, held on Wednesday, th e cnalrman gave notice of a motion for Mr. Callis, that he would, at the next board day, move the adoption of a peti• tion to the Commons House of Parliament against Mr. Lowe's objectionable bill for taking away the Liverpool town dues. BIRKENHEAD POLICE COURT, YBSTERpAY.--Joseph Browne, a person in the employ of. Mr. William Williams, a tanner, of Wollaston, was committed to take . his t r i a l at the next Cheshi re ass i zes , on a c h arge o f having crimi na ll y assaulted a child na me d J aue Wr ight, of the same township. The details of this case are unfit for the columns rg• - 01. I • t.Traves tne deputy er some discussion the associa a petition to parliament against ToWN D EIILBRE ISLAND.—The dock committee have purchased the fee-simple of Ililbre Island, which lies at the mouth of the Dee, and on which th e y h ave a t e l egra ph s t a ti on, from the EcclesiastiCal Commissioners, fcr £l5OO. It formerly belonged to the Dean and Chapter of Chester, and in the first instance the commissioners demanded £IBPO for it, thisbut ultimately consented to take the above sum. Before a. purchase, the committee paid, for the privilege of use of aPenalty of uhnvdienrg station on the island, £ lO a year, and were also £5OO. The Trinity Board also make the island, and pay a rent of £2O a year. IIiiIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1850. ERN TIMES.-LIVERPOO of bu q.tone in the Cotton rnotint of busin( 1,500 s done which hay uti Jur speculation and export 16th of a penny lower than on Frida Prices are )out the 14, Gbester and Chester 1-I Co 6 1 ties, . 9 15.16 3.16. Great s, 94 91. Great Lancashire and Yorkshire Stock. sby, and Southport, 15 15,14 Vestern Stock, 1011 1014. nd Lincoln, 24i 25g. Ditto per cent. . North 61 6e d. York, North StutFordshirE York and Midland, 254 20. Leedt Capital Stock, 1. Dutch Rhenish, 11-16 11-16 p. Ditto New 9 . 3-16 2 5-16 p. Great Western of Canada, q 4 3 1 p. Great Ditto Shares 9.1 WI 1 the Mo.nchesif foods market there has been iness done to-day, without n prit he directors of the Port Philip and Colonial i Mining Company have published their report ie proceedings during the half year, prepara. to their meeting to be held on the 25th inst. ppears that hitherto little business of a pro 01e character has been done, but they still forward to employing the funds at their dis- ienna contpin some interesting ion of snowing tnat the debts of the St a t e h ave )re than doubled during_the last ten years \ustrian National - Debt was 1,037 mil , nd now it has amounted to 2,417 he prin- sterling item in the increase was ounting to ational Loan 506 millions, with the inte .. , payab in specie. In this iea position the Austrian Minister of Baron Bruck - its apprehension views ire for w count of the extraordinary urns for the year )r the last month Av that we have every reason to selves upon th IN avigation re tailed return sitio❑ of The:exports of the whol es, amounted 1 1855 value in 1853 being These 7,184,726/, ifferenee between the )f war; but even is not real. It e clay of making receipts are lie. Adding we may !crease of about and a decrease ,ile .year is of the DUES gANcITESTE.74YxsTEitiu .EPORTER.) meting was convened by advertisement in Man. rnanufactur ict, foi the iiiirpos, of adopting a petition to the House of Commons rin favour of the bill introduced by her Majesty% Governmeht for the abOlitiOn of passing tolls gulation of the local dues on shipping, by the expenc I iti the p trade and commerce of the country, but. more especially of this district, will be re, passing of which, biil the lie ved .ona an unjust impost now levied by the corporation in the hape of t s, which t of Lhe and are,estimated to amount to about 150,600/ (so advertisement) per annum." The meeting was convened by the Mayor, and was held in the Town Hall, King street, at eleven o'clock. There was a very large attend _ The chair was taken by James Watt, Esq., the mayor of Manchester, and among the gentlemen present were the' town-clerk of Manchester (Mr. Heron), the mayor of Salford (Ur- Heelis), Mr. Turner and Mr. Hoss, chairman and vice-chairman of the Commercial association, Mr. Bazley and Mr. A - of the,Chamber of Commerce ; the mayor of Bolton, Mr &sanest, chairman and vic chairman Arrowsmith; the mayor of Stockport, the town-clerk of Salford, Mr. Gibson, 'Messrs. Langworthy, Beaucroft, Nicholls, Slater, Willett, Warnall,-:Ross, the mayor of Ashthn, and several other gentlemen. The Chairman said he had very great pleasure in calling a meeting upon that very important subject, and he was sure they would all feel very great delight that they were approaching a settlement of the question. He saw cen- a who ha come prepared to give the details of the question much better than he could, and he therefore called upon the Mayor of Salford to move the first resolution. The Mayor of Salford, Mr. Heelis, proposed the first resolution, whioh affirmed that the claim of the corporation of Liverpool to elcact town dues without being under any legal obligation to expend any portion of the amount in miantaining and improving the port was unreasonable, un constitutional, and unjust, and in th e opinion of the meeting ought to be abolished. The spe r said it might appear to'many that that was merely a commercial question and one which ought to he taken up by the leaders of commerce in that town. But when they came to look a little more closely iiverpoo nto:the question it would be found that the effect of this tax was not confined t ) any particular class, btit came home to the pockets and ti erybod, vas not a t a perso who went s not a female who passed along* the ree to the corporatio hid not contributed to ti d•what th leople of Ma 6S:s lio I a corporation. He d m followed b gentlemen ter than I s.commercial char- lould endeavour to ving relation question. That what niiYlncontrie ted * but igh an I show t •er, ,they d in the resolution the payment a anew what right there Corporation in the respect to 'the use of lore which extended from Dee to a place on the mouth of the blerse; entire of Mersey, and several miles upon the other side of it. Therefore the right to those dues seemed to him to be utterly incapable of proof. But he apprehended that the corporation of Liverpool would probably affirm their claim upon the ground of " prescription." NoW pre scription supposed a grant once made and afterwards lost add, therefore, nothing could laitned up, of prescription, which, in its nature, could not have been granted. What power which ever existed in that king dom could give to the Corporation of Liverpool the right to tax everything which came into the river, when, as he said before, the ground and the soil was not theirs, he was utterly at a loss to conceive. (Hear, hear.) He always thought that the power of taxation was one which must emanate from the House of Commons, and receive the sanction of House of Lords and of the Crown. (Cries of med here that'by means of some ained, the Corpor _...seed upon it that they had now a prescriptive .ght to those tolls. Upon a former occasion the Town clerk of Manchester had most ably shewn that no such right could be supposed to exist, and he (the speaker) felt quite satisfied that if the Town-clerk had to contest that question with the Corporation of Liverpool some 23 years ago, instead of its having been left in the hands of interested parties, a very different result would ,have been found to the litigation which was then on foot. (Cries of hear, hear.) Upon that occasion, Man chaster was beaten, but he stood up there that day, pre pared to contend that the terms upon which they were beaten, would at once show the vicious nature, and the utter worthlessness of the claims set up on the cart of the corporation of Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) That corpora tion said, however, that they had a prescriptive right to those tolls. Now, as a lawyer, he held it to be indispu table to the , maintenance of a prescriptive right, that the right must have been constant in its usage, and not varied. (Hear, hesr.) The sums which were now levied by the Liverpool corporation, were out of all manner of propor tion with the• sums which, assuming for a moment that they had a right to levy them, must have been levied at the time when the prescription commenced. 'lt must be borne in mind, that prescription commenced in the reign of Richard the First. Now, if the corporation of Liverpool levied on cargoes which came into the river at that time, such sums as they now levied, they must in fact, have confiscated ever vessel and all which she had on board. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) Therefore. as 'a lawyer, he' contended that the claim was rank and bad upon the face of it. (Hear.) He maintained that they were entitled to no more pennies —for they were only pennies— at this day than they were entitled to charge' at that time. But inasmuch as the charge had been since then increased, he thought he had the authority of the law for saying that that increase vitiated any right which they might origi nally have had. (Hear, hear.) If he could show, first of all, that the charge was unreasonable in the commence • and next, that it had been varithle in action, he t he should have shown enough to satisfy the mind "^, no such prescriptive right t.aught it could. be shown, at one time ;' hear, bear.) But it .s y had of use wh pool in y court a of pr lion of Liver- 'a vir ill its naturo not have been granted at the m il time. Now, how many a could articles of import and export were there at this present time which were utterly unknown to their forefathers for centuries after the period when it was stated th e prescr i ptive right had commen^ - There were new articles of commerce, rich had been :introduced subsequently to the the grant must be assumed to have been made, — .fore, under that grant the corporation .1 not claim to tax. There .2 , prescription obtained many of and wl- pod c at that time for turnips duced into England subs tion commenced. Apply and potatOe which were intro- quent to the time when prescrip that rule,• and they would find rpooteould not possibly have he guano, their cotton, vul XII they did nose articles is point America, which were —en were indigenous to iit.trely new, and were utterly un iinown at the time the prescription commenced. It was alleged, also, that the Corporation of Liverpool were under no obligation in regard to the expenditure of the funds which they raised to such an enormous amount.. Nqw, he was there to deny that allegation, and to main taih that it was necessary there should be some corre sponding obligation upon their part. (Cries of Hear. hear.) He maintained :that when once they disclaimed that obligation, they disclaimed the right also, because their right rested upon an obligation to do something for it. (Hear, hear.) He also contended that the right which the Corporation of Liverpool claimed was an unconstitu tional one. (Hear, hear.) If the Corporation of Liverpool had a discretionary power, by which they could tax trades to the extent of 1/ or 501, they could tax them to the extent of 1,0001. or 50,000 i. There was no limit where the public could strp the m , an d say, " t h us f ar s h a lt th ou go and no farther.' (Hear, hear.) There could be no right acquired to taxation in any way unless with the consent of the Queen, Lords, and Commons. Their ancestors fought to the death f or a vast deal less t h an th a t w hi ch was now levied upon them as an impost by the corporation of ' Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) They fought for shiplioney, and fought for it because in point of fact it involved a large principle—the question of taxation by the Crown alone, instead of the assent of the nth„- L _ „,,... uey say that their title _„„..., .... miler branches came from the Molyneux fanny, when twenty years after vim % of the legis7 a r," r ` e " a (Hear, h e ar.) And be maintained that the purchase of the property they put their other claim at the present day Wit was unconstitutional and unjust to exactl“shi pnme _ , ,, Y forward in a court of law, as the only title udder which they to attempt to exact a toll from them state as a fact, which he defied them to contradict or it would be onconst i tut i ona l and unjust, even oft he Crown, could claim the town dues ? In addition to that; he would for the neighbouring port of Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) • disprove, that sixtyyears before the corporation ever dreamed That, then, being the case, the corporation of Liverpool of obtaining anything from Lord Molyneux, before Lord or could have no stronger right than that granted by the Molyneux had purchas e d f rom th e corporation of London, Crown. Th ere cou ld b e no do u bt th at a certain privilege in his dre )ool v and certainly streets whose ,y"s governmen .etiak would take it, and express good care to st, ms that pplaus state them: the ri - ght - of port of Liv( a for all Ind now theY prided leed, from t town, an which belonged Pi lobb 1 with d eyes many of legislators were upon them, who were looking anxiously to see what Manchester had yet to say in reference to that question. (Hear, hear.) Now, he would venture to say that it would be his fault, and because he did not know how to handle the materials he possessed, if, 'when he sat down, there was .a single individual in that room who did not concur in the opinion expressed by the leading journal of the day, after hearing or seeing the statements made by the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Lowe) in moving for leave to bring in the bill, that— , . the most astounding case is that of Liverpool, not only for the peculiarity of the abuse, and the effrontery with which it is defended; but from the fact of its being of such a place, where it mi g ht b e suppose d , if anywhere, commerce would defend its rights." (Hear, hear.) He believed that when he had finished, they would , e also in the opinion that, if he did not much mis 'nformation which he should:submit to them, so le right honourable gentleman in his able speech having overstated the case, he had decidedly understated the case which existed against the town dues of the Liver pool Corporation. (Hear, hear.) The Corporation of Liverpool had been putting their hands into the pockets other neenin ieemed absolutely to au afire take, ti far fromt: t they ...cuce between meum and - - -anti cries of Hear, hear.) They appear to have the slightest idea them ..es of what their title really was. They first claimed upon prescription—they had abandoned that— They claimed upon charter--they had abandoned charter. They now claimed by right of purchase from the Molyneux family ; and even the rector of Liverpool, at a public meeting, declared, in as glib and flippant a manner as --- a matter which could not not be doubted, that it y purchased from the Molyneux family. He orporation had wisely endeavoured to prevent cue public meeting, which was to be held in their magnifi cent St. George's-hall, from taking place. Tin best thing which could be done for them would be, not to have any permission given to the inhabitants of Liverpool, innocent and deluded as they were, to state what their title was to the Town Dues ; for, whenever they ventured to make any statement of the kind, they only showed the absolute rot tenness of their case. It was no wonder that that august body, the Corporation of London, should have taken the part they did, as appeared in the previous day's Times, for no one, of course, ever imagined that th a t b o d y woul I assist the Gove rnment in dstroying old abuses, which sprung up in the dark ages. (Hear, hear.) He then pro ceeded to state that the Corporation of London, in 1628, bought about 1,000 manors, including Liverpool. In 1632, they made a sale of the Liverpool manor to the Molyneux family. In 1672 a lease was made of the town and lordship of Liverpool, &c., to the corporation. Now, they declared, one and all, that was their title. In 1695 the corporation had some litigation with the freemen of London and Lancaster, in reference to the town dues that being only twenty years after they bad purchased the property. What claim did they put f orward? On that occasion—and the documents had been sworn to, for it was in Chancery —.the title they set up was, the broad title that they were a corporation by prescription; that Liverpool was the sole port of the Mersey, and had to be cleared and maintained at great expense, and in consideration of that expense, which they had to incur for the purpose, they had a grant from the crown of the town fl ncla 7,- • At_.l. - e was a Dropert 1 the it be granted from time to time, and certain r easona bl e _ _ be granted by the Crown where there were c duties performdd,sbut if there were none performed le, parties it would be unjust' and unconstitutional to fr ally such privilege. (Hear,' hear.) The speaker ncluded by strongly advocating the remedy intended to be offered by the bill, as prepared and brought in by h er 3g a hope that the to in Unmistakeable letermined no longer .to pay that corporation of Liverpool. The speaker then e resolution and resumed his seat amid loud Mr. Batley, president of the chamber of commerce ;said most cordially did he sedond the resolution which had,been so ably proposed by the mayor of Salford. From that hall in times past the constitutional principle had been promulgated that no portion of the people of that country possessses the right of taxing any other portion of their fellow subjects. (Hear, hear.) That salutary principle had been very generally received, and now they might ir 0 vernment .e about to continue in giving' a Wie.tical adoption to Abuses unquestionably continued to exist, and exactions were made contrary to that rule of justice which they all wished td see fully established.. The seaports, espeeially, were guilty, in his opinion, of taking tolls and taxes to which they we±e neither entitled by prescriptive, nor by any other law. Probably no port in the United Kingdom had witnessed greater irregularities or sanctioned greater acts of injustice than the neighbouring port of Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) In the exaction of town dues he believed that tolls had been taken from persons who had neither moral, equitable, nor any other right to pay thera i pat these dues when taken were mos t improperly expended, and that such tolls should continue to be exacted without any remonstrance was indeed a reproach to the public. (Hear, hear.) He bepeted that the days of that unjust' exaction were already , numbered, and he thought Mr. Lowe for his spirited bill and for his spirited determination to annihilate those dues or to see them properly expended and appropriated was ontitled to their thanks. (Hear, hear.) With one com bined effort, he believed they would cease to have their merchandise subjected any longer to such improper exactions. (11ear, hear.) Why had: Liverpool established a:nUrsery in which young men were received, it was said, to learn something of mercantile duty. but to claim exemption of any future toll of the kind? Why should thr people of the United Kingdom by called Iv taxes which' certain indlvidttals, called freemen, were exempted from ? He wished to know whether the indi viduals, who arrogated to themselves the nameof the old freemen, possessed duties to compensate either the public at large, or the revenue of the country, for the peculation of which he contended they were guilty ? (Ch eers .) Of the large amount collected for town dues. some 20 per cent, at least, he believed did not enter into the local exchequer of Liverpool ; but the freemen of Liverpool, and in various parts of the country, by the exaction of what they called their privilege, took little less than 30,0004 per annum in' the :way of tolls upon the mer chandise belonging to the reanufacturin.g and commercial counties of England. If any circumstance were needed to :condemn the exaction, he believed that exemption alone must at once place the question in that point of view to:show the legislature the whole practice was a privilege -hich ought not to be continued. (Loud cheers.) `he corporation of Liverpool defended themselves r that they bought from, Lord Molyneux's family -- meeting dues from the merchants entering the With the mayor of Salford, he affirmed aat if the corporation had' obtained that'privilege, there were duties to be performed in consideration of the privi annexed to it. They might say they performed the which their predecessors performed, but the m had, gone on in an increasing ratio, and they had - deed to the' revenue of Liverpool, themselves upon'being exempt from and the payment of other local taxes, by which the economy of their town ought only to be sup ported. (Hear, hear.) All others of the towns of Lan 'ashire, the p - eople paid for their own public works. They ~ id-for all their public conveniences out of taxes fairly I equitably levied upou the respective communities in , h.the exactions were made. But, in Liverpool, they ed hitherto the privilege of taking &Om the merchan t of that country alone, but of every country, and, pon to pay world, the means of . of carrying on all the public ,Juliarly to the administration of .4ulations, and had saved their own pockets Jnse extent. (Criei of hear, hear.) The public of Manchester would, he hoped, give an efficient suprort to the government, and to those of their in Parliament who were - now seeking to them from that unjust impost. (Hear, hear.) But ipon the part of Liverpool the most determined effort was low being made to retain the exaction of the spoils which hey had hitherto enjoyed. (Hear, hear.) He was told omonsat present were ..puties from Liverpool, who took unwar .erties with members, misrepresenting the facts mug for pledges, to continue to Liverpool the exac .,os of those town dues which the public were determined to annihilate. (Hear, hear.) The trade and commerce of the country, the trade especially of Manchester, had been relieved from many important taxes, many impor tant imposts, and why they should continue to the sub jected to the town dues of Liverpool, he thought no reason could be given. He had observed with some surprise, so lately as the previous day, that the Rev. Rector Campbell stated at a meeting in Liverpool, that cotton was only subject to the small charge of 4d. per bale, and peculiar emphasis, he observed, was laid upon the smallness of the demand. But, if the demand was small for them to pay, it was as small for the Corporation ofLiverpool to receive. (Hear, hear) As it was so unjust _an exaction, it was only a small amount to give up. (Hear, hear.) But he much feared that the Corporation of Liverpool would presume to claim compensation for the withdrawal of the privilege which they had unjustly enjoyed for so many years. If compensation were to be given he submitted that it, was those who were injured who ought to receive it. (Cries of hear, hear, and laughter.) He utterly repudiated the idea, that the plunderers who had taken from their pockets that which did not rightly belong to them, should receive compensation, and he declared that they should rather be compelled to give back at least a portion of what they had taken, than be compensated for the future loss of their unholy p gains. (Hear, he ar , an d loud applause.) He hoped their excellent town clerk, would continue his invaluable exertions. (Cries of hear, hear.) On behalf of the chamber of commerce, he would unhesitatingly de clare, that there, should not be any relaxation of the efforts of that body, to assist in the annihilation of the torn dues of Liverpool. (Cheers.) It was their duty to strengthen the hands of the government. It was the duty of every man in Lancashire, for the sake of justice, and for the sake of industry, to resist the continuance of the Liverpool Town dues, to which they had been so long injustifiably subjected. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Baxley' con cluded amid loud applause, by seconding the resolution. The Town Clerk, Mr. Heron, rose to support the resolution, and was received with loud applause, He proceeded to say, that he considered that the present was about the most important public meeting which had fever been held within those walls. The - of their ' I the corporation of Liverpool was dealing illegally and tin" lawfully with what they called their town dues. He r contended that if they had a title, there must be some duty attached to it. No c or po ra ti on , an d no monarch, h a d ever , earned the right t o t ax t o an y ex t ent they or I re think fit, the whole commerce of a country without lacing compelled to return one farthing of value those those whom they taxed. (Hear hear.) He referred' to the case of the Corporation of Exeter v. Warren, in. ! while Lord Denman s a id th a t f or t h e valid i ty o f a royal.' grant or franchise, with a right to collect port dues or petty customs, a consideration was necessary, and Lord Denman went on to say that although it might be a question whethe r non-performance of that duty would be a defence for an action for dues, the long enjoyment would warrant the, presumption of the fact necessa r y t o ma k e t h em legal. Bn.c, what did th e i r f r i en d s o f Li verpoo l say ? they now dec l a red —and by that declaration they would be bound before Par-- liament--that there was no legal obligation whatever - anon, them to exp e nd one f ar thi ng o f th e i r d ues for the b ene fit of commerce. He quoted a passage from Lord Hale in support of his argument in reference to the duty attached to the taking of dues and petty customs. He replied to leading' articles in the Liverpool Mercury and Liverpool Time i f advocating the right of the corporation, and added that ae to the right of the freemen, no voice was raised, even ra Liverpool, for them. The speaker then proceeded to animadvert at considerable length upon the manner is which, as he stated, the corporation of Liverpool transferre the entire discharge of those duties which originally' attached to the town dues over to the dock dues, w hil e they" still retained possession of th e f orme r . H e contende d t hat having admitted their full responsibility t o spen d t h e mo ney . thus raised for the benefit of comm erce , th ey tota lly an d entirely failed to carry out what they themselves bad admitted to be their duties. He contended that the trustees of the . dock estate had made use of the powe r w hi c h th ey posse ssed to increase the corporate property at the expense of the trade and commerce of the port, and alluded to the fact that when the Liverpool vestry sought to obtain power to rate' the docks for the relief the poor, and a portion of the dock trustees desired to oppose the bill, and petition against it, the chairman refttsed to put the seal to the petition until the' time for presenting it had passed over, and the council: gave him their sanction in that course. He read an a: tract from a speech of the former town clerk of Liverpool , Mr. Foster, before the municipal commissioners sent dove to inquire into the affairs o f the municipal corporation in .1833, in which that gentl ema n stated th a t, b y f a r, the greater portion of the du e s was de ! i ve d f rom p erso ns not residing in Liverpool; wh o were t h us ma d e to con t r ibuts to the comforts of the p eo pl e o f Li ve rpool. He alsoread the following passage from the evidence of Mr. Brai nie r Moore, M.P., then chairman of the dock t i nist, before committee of the House of Commons in 1807 I total amount of town dues, after paying all exp,'nne i s, about £91,000. The council do nothing for the or the dock estate with that money. All that C. receive is appropriated entirely to the borough. Th' dock estate pays a portion of the expense 0 ' watching and lighting, about 16,000 a-year' The dock estate repairs the streets along the' quays, The expense of that is very considerable. These streets are public thoroughfares, and not merely for the use of the docks." Upon cross examination, .Mr• Bramley-Moore thus re-iterated his statement • 4 , I d o not: see that the town dues have been in any manner beneficial to commerce. They have been expended in the improtie went of the town, and in other things connected with tha town, for the benefit of the town • but I am not aware of any special applicati on t o th e dock estate. The application of the town dues in widening the thoroughfares of Liverpool has been to the benefit of all the inhabitants." The towo clerk read the following passage from the evidence of hfr , Henry Cleaver Chapman : "The dock estate has been made: subservient entirely to promoting the interests of the corps - i ration estate, and the two have'been in a state of antagoniaa for years. The dock estate has been plundered to an ' enormous extent, and it will be more so. It has been made a sort of milch cow to aggrandise the great corporation estate." (Cheers.) The town clerk read another passage from the evidence of Mr; Bromley-Moore, to show the amount of land to which, in the construction of the docket the corporation became entitled, and stating that the profit to the borough fund from the dock estate was about £100,000; and passages from statement of Mr. Hartley, to the effect, that the quantity of land given by the corporation of Liverpool to the dock trust was about . 56 acres, and the land formed at the expense of the dock trust, and now held by the corporation 47 acres. He also' quoted from Mr. Hartley to show that the landing -stage was constructed at the expense of the dock estat:R. was only constructed for the advant age o f f erry steamers, an d was , if anything, rather inj ur i ous t o general navigation. referring to the new landing stage about to be constructeu for sea-going steamers, he contended that the money it would coat would be worse than thrown away, and that it would be far better to spend that money upon the other side' of the water in making docks which could be entered at all times of the tide. He asked it Liverpool had ever know" the delights of a borough rate, for which Manchester, with a smaller valuation, paid £BO,OOO per annum. Eve ° without the dues, however, he contended that Liverpool with economical management, might never require such rate. They had accurnruulated, partly out of the industry of Manchester, such a property as carefully managed would', prevent the necessity of it. What was their property Heaven only knew—he did not believe any of themselves knew. Mr. Robertson Gladstone had repeatedly applied to the corporati on t o h ave a statement of t h e ir , property prepared that every gentleman might see what a ma gn ifi cen t l an d owner he really Ive s ' He was un success f u l two or three times, but at I.:qt hr succeeded. Wh at were the grounds of objection to tha t return ? That i t wou ld ta k e a large and expensive staff o f clerks a peri o d o f something like three years to make out it schedule of th e property possessed by the corporation 0 ' Liverpool. B u t h e thought, however, th e y wou ld h a ve t° a make out that re t urn in shorter tim e . (H ear, h ear. ) Ile' thought they would as k e d b e b y the House of Commons to what extent they h a d accumu l ated corporate estate at the expense of the trade and commerce of the country. hear.) There was not much encouragement for prophet° now-a-days, or he would be disposed to ask, with an hon ourable friend o f th e i rs, " what next—and next ?' (Laughter.) He thought, however, he might venture to se/ that the ':next" would be the extinction of a most in' iquitous and unjust tax, and no compensation given for those who had been inflicting upon that district, for so molt years that they might be almost calculated by centuriegi something like black mail. (Cheers.) The town clerk, after some closing observations, resumed his seat, having, delivered a speech o f an h our-and-a-half's duration, o' which the above is, necessarily, only the merest outline. The resolution was then put to the meeting, and carried unanimously. Mr. Arrowsmith, ex-mayor of Bolton, proposed a second resolution, expressing the warmest approval of Mr. Lolwe ! bill, and pledging the meeting to use every possible effort to support it. Mr. Turner seconded the 'resolution, which was also carried unanimously, amid loud applause. Mr. Ashurst proposed that a petition in favour o f the bill be entrusted to Mr. Lowe for presentation, and that the support of the city members be requested. In proposing the motion, Mr. Ashurst addressed the meeting at consider able length. In the course of his remarks, he compared the claim of Liverpool to town dues to the exactions of a self-styled Sheik of an Eastern village from defenceles a European travellers. Alluding to the uses to which the' dues were devoted, he satirised the construction of Saint' Hall, for the p ur p oses of public justice, and public amusement combined, the seat of criminal justice and the orchestra of a ball-room, being placed nearly side by side. The Mayor of Stockport seconded the resolution, which was carried by acclamation. The petition, which was not read, merely embodied the effect of the resolutions. On the motion of the Mayor of Ashton, seconded by g r i Alderman Nicholle, a ,committee was formed to carry 00 the views of the meeting, and it was agreed that the resole' tions be published in the London and Manchester neics" papers. A vote of thanks to the Mayor, which was carried by acclamation, closed the proceedings. CHESTER TOWN COUNCIL, THE COUNTIES AND BOROUGHS' POLICE BILL , AND THE SHIPPING DUES BILL. A special meeting of the Chester town council was held yesterday (Thursday), for the purpose of taking into C° ° / sideration these two bills. There was a large attendance ° members, and the mayor (Major French) presided. P ea ; tions to the H ouse o f C ommons against the passing 0' either of the bills, were unanimously adopted, and a co n : mittee was appointed to wat c h th e i r progress, and, if necessary to proceed t o L ondon to act i° concert' with the deputati ons from other boroug hs and places in opposing their passing. The Pl,, tion respecting the "Local Dues on Shipping lbr3 , was to the effect that,if the bill p asse d, mun i cipal cor po , tions would be d e p r i ve d (without receiving any COMW)TISa tion or equivale n t a d vantage) of property to which tu , y ec, were legally entitled, and that such a measure was contraia to all the principles which had hitherto been followed in legislating with respect to property, and 'would tend af weaken the security of all property, especiallY ujoa property belonging to corporations. The petition with with respect to the police bill, stated o f the proposed alteration in the regulation co the police force was an unconstitutional interfereco with the r ights and p r i v il eges of boroughs• that it wet i t o unjustly deprive municipal corporations of their rig h i . oe , control over the organisation and expenditure of the P ( ''' in direct violation of the principle of local self-aovernm e , n _, , recognised and established by the Municipal Corporati..7l Act ; that so great an interference with the managentent_r, the police was uncalled for ; and that it was an unnecessarily inroad upon their independence, which they valued) % P r , also upon the privileges. they would never willingly render. II tn 4 , l a s 41E