The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-02-07 00:00:00

TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS, An adjourned meeting of the town council was held on Wednesday, to consider the bill prepared by the committee for the affairs of the estate of the Liverpool docks, pursuant to the resolutions of that committee, adopted by the council at their meeting on the 2d of October last," and as a special council upon the following subjects :- I.—A motion, of which notice has been given by Mr. Henry Lawrence : " That the resolution of the council of the 2d October last, so far as relates to the erection, by the dock trustees.' of ware houses on the dock quays, be rescinded; and that the clauses for empowering the dock trustees to build such warehouses, Ind all reference thereto, in the preamble of the intended bill, be omitted." 2.—A motion, of which notice has been given by Mr. Al derman Booth : _ " That those recommendations of the Finance Couimittee, on the subject of the intended warehouses on the quays of the docks; which were adopted by the council on the Bth Of March last, be made part of the provisions of ; the: ne:. 4,106 . . act." THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE. The Maxon stated that as the. Queen's mftrriage was an nounced in the Gazette to take place on the 10th instant, the council would perhaps have no objection that the question of the festivities to take place on that day should first be con sidered. The committee had then prepared a report, which the town-clerk would read. The TOWN-CLERK read the following report : " That, in the opinion of the committee, her Majesty's marriage would be well celebrated by the application of money out of the surplus revenue in aid of the undermentioned pub lic charities—such assistance being much needed at present, and such as would clearly operate for the public benefit of the inhabitants. " That, with this impression, the committee submit the following recommendation, viz.:— " That the mayor, aldermen, and hurgesSes, by the coun cil, should grant £5OO to the Infirmary and the Northern and Southern Hospitals, the Dispensaries, and the Provident District Society ; and, in the event of the public subscribing to the same charities not less than £2OOO, the donation of the corporation he augmented to £looo—the whole amount from the corporation and the public being to be divided as follows " The Infirmary and Northern HOSpitals, one-third ; the Dispensaries, one-third ; and the District Provident Society, one-third ; and the subscription being to be closed by the meeting of the council in April. 44 That, in addition, the committee would recommend that the council should direct application to. be made to the com mittees of the Royal Institution and Botanic Gardens, that these institutions may be open to the public on the auspicious day ; that the bells should he rung; guns fired ; And colours hoisted on the public buildings, and on the vessels of all nations in our docks and river—to effect Which, the neces sary application to parties, and other measures, will have to be directed ; and that the royal arms should in the evening of the day be put up, illuminated, over the entrance to the Town-ball. " That the committee further recommend, that as the mayor has most liberally determined to give a ball in the evening to upwards of 1500 persons—a measure calculated not only to give satisfaction to the parties invited, but to afford business and employment to a portion of the indus trious classes—his worship, in addition to his ordinary may oralty provision, have the disposal, for the occasion, of wine to be provided by the corporation. " That it be further recommended, that addresses to the Queen and Prince Albert, from the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses, under the common seal, should be presented; and that t hel mayor should be requested, at the proper time, to proceed to London on the occasion, accompanied by two members of the council to be appointed by them." • Mr. CURRIE moved the adoption of the report. Mr. H. HOLMES seconded the motion. Mr. Alderman 1' ROME thought that, on such an occasion as the Queen's marriage, a sum (say of £500) ought to be granted to the mayor, to distribute in whatever way he should think fit—amongst others, to entertain the prisoners in the borough gaol, and the inmates of the workhouse. By doing so they should raise the character of the mayor, and by that means serve themselves. If the sum of 1:500 were thought too much, he should hve no objection to lower the sum to £3OO. Mr. Preme concluded by moving, as an ad dition to the report, that the sum of £ 3OO he granted to the mayor. to be disposed of at his discretion. Mr. LOGLAN seconded the motion. He should like to see the day a day of genuine festivity amongst the lower classes. Mr. ROBINSON was not satisfied with the amount pro posed to be given, and proposed that £l5OO should :be given to the charities, the funds of which, particularly those of the Infirmary, were in a very lamentable state. .Mr. ISAAC HOLMES observed that, if the £5OO were granted, with an understanding that the mayor would dis pose of the surplus to the public charities, that would obviate all objection, at least on his part. Mr.. BOLTON agreed in thinking that the prisoners in the borough gaol and the inmates of the workhouse should be regaled, and the entertainment might also be extended to the children iii the coiporation schools. One hundred pounds, however, would be sufficient to do all that was necessary. The workhouse, it ought to be remembered, was the parish business. _ Mr. D. HODGSON thought that, by entertaining the pri soners, those unfortunate persons were induced to look upon it as a right on other occasions, instead of considering the entertainment as springing from a feeling of commiseration for their situation. He referred more particularly to the criminal part of the inmates of the gaol. Mr. CURRIE opposed the amendment of Mr. Freme, and said, what was recommended by the report was sufficient for the occasion, although he was as anxious as any one that the occasion should be commemorated in a manner worthy of the town. As far as a small sum for the regaling of the paupers and the prisoners in the borough gaol, he thought that the committee would not object to go. The sum of £5OO had been termed paltry bs Mr. Robinson ; but the council were asked to say, that if the public would come forward, they ' (the council) would subscribe an additional £5OO. This he considered an excellent method for inducing those to sub scribe who would otherwise have kept their money in their pockets. A committee would be appointed to go round to those wealthy persons whose names did not figure in the lists or subscribers to the public charities (of whom there were many) and they would be ashamed to hold•back. If £3OOO were obtained, that would be a very handsome sum. Mr. liven HOUNBY, should certainly oppose the amend ments both of :Sir. Freme and Mr. Robinson. They had offered a very handsome sum to the charities, whilst they bad, at the same time, been actuated with a .:due regard to. economy. He bad no objection to the . prisoners in the borough gaol and the inmates of.the workhouse being enter tained; but it would be perfect insanity to vote £5OO that purpose. Forty pounds. *Mild be quite suffiCitnit fni that, and as Mr. Freme had nentioned no other objects, why should the council make the extravagant grant proposed ? Mr. Alderman Sum admired the spirit of economy which pervaded the speech of Mr. Currie. From that he augured well for the future management of the Finance Committee. He thought, however, that the proposal of Mr. Freme was a judicious one, and he knew of no man at whose disposal he would more willingly place a sum of money than the mayor. Mr. Alderman EVANS participated in much of the satis faction of Mr. Sheil at the speech of Mr. Currie, and greatly. regretted that such wholesome admonitions, contained in so few words, came so seldom from the quarter where they ought to prevail, which was the pulpit. He hoped that these remarks would go forth, in order that the rich might be taught to know that their conduct was not unobserved. There were in Liverpool many persons with ten, twenty, thirty, and forty thousand a year, who considered that they had done their duty when they put down a bookkeeper's guinea. He had heard one of those Millionaires declare, with great pride and indignation, that certain articles in the papers, which he thought directed at him, were altogether unjust and unfounded; for he subscribed to every charity in Liver pool. He (Mr. Evans) was, in consequence of that state ment, induced to look through the lists; and found that be (the person referred to) subscribed to many, though not all the charities •, but in scarcely any instance did his subscrip tion exceed that of a man who had but a few himdreds 'to provide for his family and his subsCriptions to the public charities. He quite agreed with Mr. Currie in thinking that before they contributed to the enjoyments of those who were confined in the Borough Gaol, they ought to regard those who were nobly contending, .by means of their own honest industry, against the casualties and hardships of life, who' were buried in cellars and lay upon straw, and who yet had resisted temptation, and had not applied to charities. To neglect these for the purpose of entertaining the inniates of a gaol, was to do a very wrong thing. They (the prisoners) ought to know no alleviation of their punishment. It ought to be to them an additional one to know that whilst others were rejoicing, they, through their crimes, were being kept in grief and seclusion. With regard to the debtors, he had bad some little experience, and he was of opinion that those who found their way into gaol on account of debt, arrived there, in nine cases out of ten, through th e i r own extrava gance and want of principle. He was quite content with the report, and hoped that no addition would be inade to it. Mr. GLADSTONE could not concur with what had fallen from Mr. Currie and Mr. Evans with respect to persons not co ..ing forward as they ought to have done. He mentioned it as a fact not generally known, that the charitable institu tions in Liverpool were all supported by a number of persons under two thousand. He thought that the council should not bargain w ith the public, but take higher ground, and at once vote £l3OO, leaving the public to do their duty. Surely, if the £looo:were needed 'by the charities in the event of the public subscribing £2OOO, it would be more needed if that sum were not subscribed; and-it would be a more honoura ble course to give the £lOOO without any condition. Mr. BUSHELL, with regret, differed from his friend Mr. Gladstone. Never, in his opinion, was an arrangement &nor, nict.iv to give sattsfsAion to the town at large than the Peop.).4ed in toe report. If that condition had not been inserted, the .t 3001) would not have been named at all; for, 5 '0 as con Idered by tbe committee as name as could be •.s 1 i : in tae hope that the charities would mate they slid, " Let us propose an Idditioual.f.:soo, It tie panne wall subscribe a certain suni. ' He was not prep ire to grant the proposed sum to the mayor. Mr J ORDAN perfectlyasileed with every word that had fallen from Mr. Unshell. Tnere were many people whom nothing but a sense of public shame would drive to put their hands into their pockets. Mr. RATIIDONE thought that the report contained by far been t he best plan which could have devised to raise money at this time. There were in the town rich men, and women too, who had given largely to tile publ ic charities and whose wealth no one begrudged; but there were also' rich men and whose money he would get whose wealth was begrudged, honestly if he could, but if he could he wou ld get it ,dishonestly, so that he could keep from them, not so hi sg neckget it, from the halter. —(Laughter.) Mr. MiLLott thought the plan was a good one to get £2OOO, for the charities, and he proposed that subscriptions should begin in that rooro. Mr. Cooeex agreed with Mr. Gladstone that the corpora tion should boldly conic forward with a aura of money, with out any condition. Ile also liked the proposition of the last speaker. The council could be very liberal with the p u bli c money ; let the public see whether they could be liberal with their own money. He should be very glad to put down his name as a subscriber. Mr. PLATT thought that many of the persons who did not now subscribe to the charities would do so if called upon. The TOWN-CLERK stated that he had thrown the amend. ment of Mr. Freme into the following shape, in order that the provisions of the municipal act might be complied with : " That, taking into consideration the approaching marriage of the Queen, and the calls to which, therefore, the Mayor will be subject, beyond the expense already entered into by him for that occasion, the sum of three hundred pounds be placed at his worship's disposal, in addition to the ordinary mayoralty provision." - . . The report, to which the above was added, was then con- Orm ed. TAE NEW DOCK BILL—W ARE , °USES ON TUE DOCK QUAYS. The MAYOR having called Mr. Alderman EVANS said IgantMr. Evans, he rose, and be trusted for the last time, to move the adoption d of the bill prepared by the Dock Committee, and which been , submitted to the approbation of the council. The m'otic which he should make was not exactly in accordance with his opinion, was but in defereuce to the opinion which h g e . believed s _ ex pressed by the council at their last meeting . The resolution was as follows : "That the bill now_ submitted by the Dock Commit to the council, as trustees for the docks, for the of new dock, to the west of the Salthouse Dock, with Ware. houses on the quays ; and for the erection Of warehouses on the west quay of the Prince's Dock ; and for the management of such warehouses,. and for improvements in the government and regulation of the docks, be adopted, pursuantto the re gulation of the council of the 2d of October last, `lntbient tiv the separate consideration, by the council, of each clause of the bill ; and that the council do forthwith proceed to the consideration thereof accordingly." He remained of opinion that there was no good and sufficient reason for the withdrawal of the sanction of the council to the principles which were contained in that bill. They, no doubt, had had a new election, and were now proceeding with new members ; but he could not take that as any more sufficient reason. Mr. HODGSON rose to order. He would put . it to the Mayor whether this was not an adjourned debate. If this were the case, Mr. Evans, of course, was out of order, as he -had already spoken. The MAYOR. said he had previously consulted with the Town-clerk-on-the point raised by Mr. HOdgsbn, arid he (the Town-clerk) was of opinion that it would be perfectly right in him (the Mayor) to. call upon Mr... Evans to open the debate. Mr.. Alderman EVANS then proceeded.. He said that the fact of some new member having entered that chamber was not a much more suffiCient reason for reversing the solemn resolutions of 'the council than the return of a score of new members, which occasionally happened (hiring a session of parliament, would be for, reversing the resolution,s of the House• of Commons. The resolution of the 2d October had been affirmed by a majority, and he could not suppose that the advent of the new members was to dissolve all the ties and resolutions of that council. He had been so deeply im pressed with the idea that the council would not swerve from its usual and proper course, and on the last occasion he de clined going into the merits of the case. The bare idea of the reversal of the resolutions, and the negativing of the bill which was now before.them, made him shudder, not so much for the pecuniary loss which would continue to be inflicted on the commerce of Liverpool, as for the loss of character and moral influence which municipal government, the coun try's best hope, could not fail to sustain. He could not allow himself to believe, however, that that council, on the only occasion where its public virtue had been tried against private interests, would be found wanting. He could not think that corporation, the first and greatest offspring of reform, would be the first to offer obstruction to improvement. He could not believe that to that tide of improvement which was rushing past them in every direction, they would say, ".Thus far shalt thou go-and no farther." He conceived that to refuse dock warehouses was to commit some moral offence, similar to that of the ignOrant and infatuated weavers and spinners, who destroyed the machinery which so soon afterwards increased the employment which they were apprehensive it would Alestroy. He considered that the same cause of overwhelming advantage to the public that resulted to them from the superiority of railroads over common roads, and commanded their creation, held in the case of dock warehouses as compared with the ordinary warehouses. And, moreover, on this case, their formation was attended with ' this additional advantage, that . they (the council) usurped on no man's land, but_ made use of that which was their own ; and they could build warehouses at such a cost that no possible loss could be involved by their erection, but they would yield any return, almost any return, that the public might choose to require from them, and all without infringing on the rights, and facilities, and cheapness which, in other respects, they would give, and which they (the council) well knew were of the utmost importance to mer chants. As long as space-, time, and expense were admitted to be of the most. important consideration to commerce, he conceived that nobody could hesitate in acknowledging the great superiority of warehouses at hand, and in combination with shipping, to those which were at a distance. That council, he looked on it, incurred a most awful responsibility in rejecting the improvements now offered by the Dock Committee. They would unquestionably have the mortifi cation to see those piles of warehouses which were rejected springing up around other docks. Could it be believed, when it was very well known and ascertained, that they (the merchants) would not use every means in their power to obtain them elsewhere? Here would be not only a loss of moral character and of moral influence, but they would have to relinquish the dock dues, and • there would be a loss both public and private. What a wretched remnant that bill would appear to be, when gutted of its most important provisions ! If it went before a committee of the House of Commons in that shape, the clauses expunged here would be restored. there, by others divesting the corporation of all cantroul over the dock trustees. If, instead of going with the upright character and moral strength with which the dock trustees could go to parliament with the whole bill in their hands, they (the council) were to go there with any- • thing which confessedly relinquished the consideration of the interests of commerce, and denied to the public those benefits which were of incalculable advantage, they would go with a certainty of losing it. He would, for the present, discard all particular motives in the various assertions, and the false inferences drawn upon them, which had been urged against dock warehouses. If there had been no private ware houses, could it have entered into the head of any mortal man to bdild them anywhere except upon the dock quays ? Was it necessary, after that, to go into the mawkish details and arguments which were put forth, from either mistaken or interested motives, under the pretence of showing that the public interest could not really be benefitted by dock ware- houses ? (Hear, liear, hear.) 'Why, if the warellouse owners would take the straightforward and manly course, they would discard all this contemptible skirmishing. Let them come forward and try the issue of their right ; let them make out a case, if they could, to prove that the commerce of the port should for ever be denied the advantage of dock warehouses —to show that whatever may be the loss of time and injury to ships and merchants' capital which may arise from the perpetuation of this bad system, still that the commerce of Liverpool is to continue to endure it for all time. If they could make out a case of that sort, it remained for those who suffered to devise mearo for their emancipation. Now, he had heard the word monopoly bandied about. What did it aim at ? Monopoly was generally understood to be a raising of prices by individuals who had exclusive privileges, for the purpose, in fact, of robbing others. But what was the cry against them (the dock trust or council) in this instance? Why, that they were going to lower prices. That was the cry of the warehouse-owners. They (the Dock Committee) could afford to charge double the ordinary rate for their warehouses ; and if restraint were needed, it was in the upper movement, not in the lower one. Their monopoly would be one of advantage—one caused by location, and the public would derive the whole benefit. It was extraordinary how _ much might be said on a subject of this sort in refutation of what had been ten times refuted before ; but he apprehended that if any of the cobwebs which had been spun before, and brushed away, were replaced again, the gentlemen who would follow him in the discussion would not allow them to remain, or, if it happened that any escaped their observation, he be lieved thathe should he able to dispose of them in the last resort. It had been often said that 20 or 30 years ago it would have been quite proper to have the warehouses. But who would have opposed them ? Why, the identical interest that Opposed them now, and which would equally oppose them a hundredyears hence. Liverpool was yet in its course, and it had not' arri,ved.at 'Anything like its midway advance ment. lt bad such wonderful advantages that it was like a good soil—it required attention to its culture in proportion to its value. But LiverpOOl had its competitors, and it could not bear to be weighted without its progress being impeded more or less, in proportion to the obstruction placed in its way. Because Liverpool had gone on advan- Zing in absolute defiande of all advantages of this kind, that was no argument that now,, when a better mode of working sea-ports had been arrived at, she should not adopt it, and advance with greatly-accelerated speed in future. Amongst the contradictions and weak trash which it had been his lot to read , —for he declared that, having nothing but a single ness of purpose in his object, if he had met with anything to convince him he would have dropped it—he had met with nothing that was worth one straw in opposition to ware houses. (Hear.) All the great leading physical and moral elements—time, distance, and ,expense—were in favour of the scheme. It was no use going into minor details till logic had proved that these were elements which did not enter into commercial prosperity. He had heard about transit sheds, the cost of which would be about one-third that of the warehouses—which it was intended should pay nothing, and which, as every body thought, would answer very little to the purpose. Amongst other of the loose and contradictory as sertions ivhich he had happened to read in one of the fugitive productions on this subject, was an assertion that seemed to strike a very clever friend of his more than it struck him— namely, that the warehouses of Liverpool had contributed to its prosperity, never recollecting that it was commerce that created warehouses, and not warehouses that created com- coerce.—They.had had it urged, and urged too in an almost slanderous manner, that as the Dock Committee were not perSonally interested in the matter, they could not act hon.. estly in the administration of the dock trust. (No. no,) Was there ever such an odious principle as that laid down ? He envied not the man who entertained such opinions'. If such persons could become an inmate of his breast, they would find that he laboured under such a sense of responsibilty which they could never feel. Mr. BOLTON seconded the motion. He said that there were these applications to parliament for the power of erecting docks on the river Mersey, and every one of the plans em braced warehouses in connexion with the docks. There could not he a more conclusive proof of the necessity of warehouses adjoining the docks, and any committee of the House of Colb mons, impartially constituted would so think. The effect of dock warehouses would be to improve the value of pro perty in the centre of the town and he had not the smallest doubt, that the warehouses in Hanover-street and. Wapping would become more valuable when the proposed new dock was completed. The general property of the town would also increase ; and the advantages would extend to Lodge-lane and Spekelands. Mr. Alderman EARLE—That is a good one, however. Mr. H. LAWRENCE withdrew his motion in favor of that of Mr. Booth, reserving to himself the right of bringing his own forward, in case that of the other gentleman was lost. Mr. Alderman Bovril then proposed his amendment, ob serving that the council had, in his opinion, as much right to interfere with the decision of October last, as it had to inter fere with and negative that of March. He called upon the Town clerk to read the second report of the Finance Com mittee, on docks and dock warehouses, which was received and approved of by the council of the Bth of March. That having been d one , M r . B oot h moved his amendment, a copy of which is inserted above. He was of opinion that transit sheds and-cranes would afford-adequate. accommodation, en-. sure facility and despatch, and enable the docks to do at least double the duty now performed by them. Mr. Alderman EARLE seconded the amendment. He said that Mr. Evans was extremely fond of using harsh terms, such as mawkish language, trash, &c. They were all fools on the opposite side, and he (Mr. Evans) was an exceediugly clever man. Mr. EVANS.—I am sure I only followed your example. (Laughter.) Mr. EARLE.—AIIow me to say that he has not. He has written on the subject, and I have not; and I must say that -he has written some trash, too, if he will allow me to say so. It was an extraordinary doctrine to hold out that the new should be e :: e a tl ffi y rm coincide f withthey the opinions members previouslyenterwindethhahtacdouncil (the new members) did not like anything that had passed, had not they a right to exercise their own judgment, or were of Mr. Evans, that ware houses and nothing else would do? As to the spinners, the they to be bound to the ipso davit weavers, and railroads, those were no parallel cases. Rail ways were undertaken by private individuals; but here was a great trust, with the public money at their disposal, not caring whether they expended one hundred th ousand or two hundred thousand pounds, nor whether they realised one or twd per cent. Mr. EVA:Ns and Mr. BARCLAY both rose to order. Mr. EARLE—I can answer you, Mr. Barclay, and Mr. Evans too. Mr. BARCLA Y protested against the broad charge b rou ght against th e Dock Committee by Mr. Earle. The MAYOR advised Mr. Earle to keep as close to the subject as h e could; fine speake Mr. EARLE—He was not going to quarrel with Mr. Bar clay, who was a very (Laughter.) They would - Al r, .• I(Mr. Earle) in that. (Laughter.) Ile was a and let him have his turn. agreeht" him r 'and had a large private interest, Which he would 3 W ne b defend 'ut if it was absolutely necessary for the public "; his • tere•it should suffer, it should suffer • h goodut he ldtnaott have interest suf fer on the mere assertion of Mr. Evans. lie denie la d v t e h l e cor rectness of th., statement made by the alderman at the meet ing of Saturday, with respect to the value of the warehouse property in Liverpool. He had yielded then to Mr. Evans because he thought that a person Correcting' hat be termed a mis-statement would take care to be correct ; but be had since ascertained that the original estimate was very nearly, if not quite • e orrect. In 1837, the warehouse property was rated at £152, 411 ; that would show a value . o • t about three millions, which was more than Mr. Evans's estimate, at any rate. ut a person wh o was as capable of judging as Mr. Evans, had estimated that the p resent value was about four a rental of £250,000 at s i x millions,. and that it would yi eld per cent., a higher return th an some warehouse _property vive; he had some that did no t p a y so much. The same -person had stated ihat there were mo rt g a g es on warehouse property to the extent of £2,400, 000 . He bad never said that the Dock Committee had interested motives, and that they were devoid of honesty ; but he contended that the strongest inducement for persons to exercise their talent, in genuity, and attention, was to have a pecuniary interest themselves ; and he believed that if the docks were et to private interests, the town and trade would get on a great deal quicker and better. (Hear, hear.) This was the very essence of things in London. Mr. Earle theiftuoted from a newspaper a speech of Mr. Currie on this subject, delivered in moving the adoption of the report of the Finance Commit tee, and alluded to that gentleman's change of opinion. Mr. H. Noel' supported the original motion. He repeated the statement made by Mr. Evans on Saturday, relative to the value of warehouse property, which he estimated to be about one million and : three quarters. Mr. Alderman BENN said it was the practice, in former days, for the merchants to have their counting-houses con tiguous to their private dwellings. In consequence-of this we found innumerable warehouses in Henry-street, Duke ,street, and other situations extremely inconsistent with the convenience of trade: Merchants had removed to their coun-- ley houses, and would also remove their warehohses to the neighbourhood of the Exchange, but finding-that they - could not, they called upon the public to cart goods to their ware houses. Now, this, in the present day, was extremely uh reasonable. A new race of merchants had risen up : they. had come here from London and various places abroad, and when they saw the situation of the present warehouses, they said, "We have no interest in them ; we expect you to find us with warehouses upon the dock quays where we can con veniently transact our business." They naturally pointed to the large vacant plot of ground on the west side of Salthouse • Dock, and said, " here you have an opportunity of building warehouses upon the same plan as the dock warehouses in London and other places, which are found to work to great advantage." And this appeared to he very reasonable, be cause these parties found they could not pursue their business in Liverpool with the same facilities as in London without some such exertions. If they placed goods in a Liverpool warehouse, the buyers from London and the manufacturing districts would not purchase them, because they had no re liance upon the mode of warehousing. By the present, if a shipment of goods were damaged it was not fairly reported to the buyers, because the only parties employed to examine and sample them were the servants of the owners of the goods. The consequence was that by these goods, which when sold by auction, were required to be taken with •all faults, were found by the buyer, on going into the warehouse to take them away, not to have been fairly sampled—that the injured portion .had not been introduced into the sample —and that there was great injustice in the mode of sam pling. The buyers had no redress ; consequently they— particularly buyers for export and drysalters—had become so disgusted with the present system of things, that they had ceased to buy in Liverpool. In London the dock companies examined the goods in the warehouses ; they searched out !samples to the brokers ; when the goods had been so sampled, the weight of them was 'ascertained, and the companies held themselves liable for their delivery. But in Liverpool there were innumerable instances of pilferage to a large extent ; and he believed, Mr. Sands would say, that indigo was often stolen. He himself (Mr. Benn) only a few days ago, was called upon to pay duty upon a cask of coffee he had imported, which, when taken from the warehouse, was found to be nearly empty—for the coffee thus pilfered from the warehouse he had to pay the duty, although the sale had been made two or three years ago. There was a petition against the mea sure from a large number of porters, carters, and others, whose occupation it was said would be gone if this proposi tion were adopted ; and it would; if the erection of the ware houses would not bring that large increase of trade which they must necessarily do. There must be at least as many, or more men employed in the examination and weighing of the goods lodged in the warehouses as at present, and, if there should be a diminution in the number of horses em ployed, he considered that would be a national good. The carters themselves, if need be, must find occupation in some other way. (Hear, hear.) Another point was, that the mer chants who came here to settle—foreigners as well as En glishmen—come for the purpose of profitably transacting their business, they wished to have an opportunity of bring ing back to Liverpool returns for the goods they exported from Liverpool; but, as matters now stood, a large portion of those returns went either to the continent or to London. Now those returns should be invited to come here, and he believed they would, provided there was the means of placing them where they would enjoy the - confidence of buyers, and In which there would be no difficulty in selling them. This branch of commerce would certainly then be very large. With regard to wine.( and spirits, it must be -obvious that vaults, possessing the greatest possible security, were much wanted in this town. Wines, in particular, under the present system, were continually being opened andcon sumed by persons who frequent the bonding warehouses — for the bonding warehouses were theleast secure in the town. Now, it was .he duty of the council and of the Dock Com mittee to endeavour to lessen the disadvantage under which the town laboured in this respect. The Dock Committee had considered the matter in every point of view, and they were decidedly of oainion, that .without these warehouses they could not afford the security and the facilities which the public asked for, Be it remembered, there was such a port in the kingdpini is which the making- of docks and the build ing of warehouses did not invariably accompany one another, no matter what the price of land might be. As to the ex pense in this case, he believed the returns from making a dock, without warehouses, on the west side of Salthouse Dock, would be exceedingly small, but with the addition of warehouses it would return about £8 per cent. upon the out lay, including the charge for the laud. As to transit sheds he granted some slight advant age might be derived from them, as they might enable a ship to work one or two .hourelater in the evening, but what followed? Why, if goods were landed in the evening, they must be removed the following morning, before the vessel could recommence, consequently, transit sheds would do no good whatever. The great objec tion to these sheds was, that you would still, be under the ob ligation of removing the goods .to a distant warehouse whieb could not he done during rain, consequently the s hip inns; necessarily be detained until the goods could be-remov..ed. The great evils of exposure to the weather and pilferage would remain ; what good therefore was to result from transit sheds he was unable to . perceive. Under _these eircumstances . he. did not see that anything had been suested to render un necessary the course proposed by the Dock Committee, and he earnestly trusted the decision of the council would be in favour of it. Mr. JOHN SMITH said that a close and impartial conside ration of this important question in all its bearings arid rami fications, since it was last fully discussed in that council chamber, had not, in the slightest degree, wrought any change in his mind as to the inexpediency, the, impolicy, and the injustice of erecting these warehouses. (Hear, hear.) He still retained the opinion that to delegate to the dock trustees, as a public body, having *individually no special interest. at stake, and, consequently, no personal liability, to incur, the power of bringing the public purse to bear upon private capital was to institute a monopoly of a most dangerous de scription—a monopoly which must have a direct tendency in its results seriously to injure and depreciate a large and valuable - property in the town. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Bolton and Mr. Holt had told them that private interests ought to give way to public good. He (Mr. S.) was ready to admit the truth and soundness of this position to the very utmost extent; but, he had yet to learn by what twisting of argu ment, by what distortion of reasoning. it could be made to appear that the sacrifice of four millions of rateable property in the town of Liverpool would he of public advantage. (Hear, hear.) He would acknowledge himself second to none, either in that room or out of it, in feelings of zeal and anxiety to promote the cemmercial prosperity of this great community. But he contended that this favourite project, this ill-judged scheme of the Dock Committee, was not at all calculated to produce any beneficial result—on the contrary, he felt tho roughly convinced that if they permitted this measure to he carried into effect, the only harvest they would reap for their pains would be bitterness of feeling, and grievous disappoint ment—bitterness of feeling on the part of those whose pro perty they had been instrumentalin destroying, and grievous disappointment to themselves when they discover, but too late, that the revenues accruing from their experiment would not pay even the common interest of their outlay. These were his honest and 'conscientious opinions, and he would act up to the• spirit of them by voting against the motion of Mr. 'Alderman Evans. Mr. SANDBACH rose, as a merchant and a shipowner most anxious to have warehouses upon the dock quays, to oppose the bill recommended by Mr. Evans. If the proposed ware houses were erected and worked by the Dock Committee, they would be in the position of having warehouses in the very best situation. but under the worst management in the town, which he insisted must necessarily be the case under the inanagenient of .the Dock Committee. He meant no reflection upon the capabilities or the integrity of the gen tlemen composing that committee, but the fact must be so from the nature of the case. They had their, own private interests to attend to, they had their own partiCular interests to protect ; and when a large body of men were associated for the promotion of that in which they had no interest—the - responsibility being oonsequeetly divided, however well cal culated they might be to make general reeuletions, experi ence proved that they were not efficient in detail.. (Hear.) Indeed it had been admitted to-day, that the docks might be made much more useful than they were, and that a much larger number of ships might discharge at the same time under a better system. (No, no.) He would prove it. More ves sels used to be in the docks two years ago than there were now, and he was a member of the Shipowners' Association, which year after year had been in the habit of memorializing the Dock Committee to erect additional cranes and throw off the vie inertia. that always belonged to such a hotly; No cranes were erected for years, and when the committee did move, they did not erect them to the extent they might and ought to have done. He knew that a ship would frequently wait two or three days in order to get a position under a crane, which proved there were not sufficient ; and only yesterday he was near one which broke for want of strength. These circumstances, he considered, established his position, that the Dock Committee could not work the Docks with the same advantage to the public as individuals might. The reason why warehouses had not hitherto been erected upon the dock quays to meet the exigencies of the case. should be borne in mind ; it was because the corporation would not permit them to be erected—because they would not either sell or lease their land for such a purpose. lithat refusal were now with. , drawn, and. the laud could be had, there was quite enough of private enterprise and capital to build warehouses in the situa tions where they would best pay. It appeared to him that this was a case, of all others, in which the principle of supply and demand was applicable ; that if warehouses were demanded, you would have them built to the extent and Of the kind that was wanted, and no further, thereby meeting fairly the oh jections of the warehouse-owners. As to profit, his opinion was, that the dock estate would derive more profit from leas ing the land to build warehouses upon, than by working the warehouses themselves : besides, it was a fact worth bearing in mind, although it had not yet been alluded to, that this plan of the Dock Committee, of erecting warehouses, bad not been approved of by any one of the public associations in Liverpool, although it was well known that many mercan- tile men desired warehouses there, but, on the contrary, se-- veral of these associations had memorialised against them. Another point he would press upon Mr. Evans, namely, that he could not carry this bill through parliament without meet ing with very strong opposition—an opposition involving great expense, both to the Corporation and the individuals disapproving of the project. Why should all that money be wasted ? With regard to transit sheds, he admitted they would not be so useful or desirable as warehouses ; hut, ne vertheless, he would accept them as being preferable to ware houses under Mr. Evans' bill, and as a step to warehouses under a better system of management. There are many gen tlemen in the Council old enough to remember what to him was matter of history —an attempt to separate the Dock Estate and the Corporation That was a great struggle, and it ended in the present constitution of the Dock Estate. What position would the Dunk Committee be' in when they appeared befote parliament, opposed by the ship-owners, and merchants, 'and warehouse-owners, to resist an. attempt to' separate the two estates? It seemed to him worth pausing a little, to consider this point before they went any further. In conclusion, he should most str en u ous ly op p ose t h e mo tion, and support the ainendinent, althoUgh he wou ld ra th er have warehouses on the dock quays. - Mr. ROBINSON , thou g h he had no private interests to p r o- -mote,.Should vote for the amendment. He had long been convinced 'of the inconvenience endured by shipowners, in' - the discharge of the vessels upon the' quays; and when the if erected, brought him to a different subject first broached, he thought warehouses were very desirable, but further reflection. Incase continuance of o r f eh e o a o s s t e e s ly and an n conclusion. be choked up with produce, and would, in all probability, accumulation accommodation would still be wanting. He found this fact fully proved in the evidence given before the Finance Corn-I. tuittee, by Mr. Tyrer and Mr. Clint. Ha had read over the of of arrivals, a whol e o f t h e ev id ence, an d i t c l ear ly proved that, notwith standing what might be said of the superior cheapness of London over Liverpool, with all its present taxes, the balance, of cheapness in removing produce' was in favour of this pprt. In the cases of Messrs. Taylor; Potter; ea& Co:, be found 0 comparison between London and Liverpool. In : Bengal sugar the expenses of lauding' in• London was stated - -at per cwt. less than in Liverpool, whilst for loading Mauritius sugar in Liverpool the expense was about Id per cwt. less in London. He had.known all instance of a ship arriving at Liverpool from Calcutta, the expenses were £l9 more than in London. But nn the other hand he had an instance him-, self of a vessel of 300 tons from the West Indies going to London, the expenses of which, in dock rates and other charges, amounted to £B3 - 18 s 2d; but in Liverpool, where the expenses were greater in consequence of 'the higher rates, the charges for that vessel 'of 300 - tons were only zC7S 5s 7d, making a difference in favour of ,Liver pool of £l. Upon 'the - cargo 'of sugar to which' heliad alluded, lie found the *hole difference-of expense in favour of Liverpool was about £l4 , 16s. Then there would be a new risk created by the erection of warehouses. upon the dock quays.- The insUrance'upon a -vessel 44e. , nerally terminated when a -vessel, we* ,into. dock; 'would say he should be borne out in stating that the owners never dreamed of renewing an insurance iiporitt vesspl'vrkilst she was in dock. :But if yon brought warebortseitcitthetharr , gin . of the dock you increased the risk of the vessel. He would remind the council that there were already warehouse; upon the King's Dock quay, in the occupation of Mr. Mont gomery, and he had himself landed a cargo of produce in them. There were, at this moment, only three of them that were half full; yet they were close to the margin of the dock, and there were three others nearly in the same situation ! As to the insurance of vessels coming into dock, it would be 2s. or 2s. 6d. per cent. upon the value—thus creating an addi tional charge of £10; in this respect, therefore, the proposed act would be oppressive and tyrannical towards the ship owner. Mr. Robinson then referred to reports from Mr. Okill, clerk to the committees, and Mr. Franklin, the sur veyor, to the effect that there had been no applications for land on which to erect warehouses for some years, to prove that the present accommodation was sufficient without addi tional erections ; and to Mr. Aikin's evidence, to show that most of the goods in the warehouses upon the dock quays would have to be soon removed, or be subjected to an addi tional rent from the time they had been imported. . - Mr. EVANS said there was no provision of this sort in the bill, and that Mr. Robinson was arguing upon. imaginary things. Mr. ROBINSON said he was en:dein - owing to show, 'from the evidence before-the Watch-Committee,:that there was no necessity for these warehonses, and to lay his conclusion' be fore the council. He should now conclude, hoWever, by ex pressing his intention to vote for the amendment. Mr. SHELL, in a very long speech, replied to the remarks of Mr. Robinson and Mr. Sandbach, and entered upon the merits of the general question 'on the grounds advanced by Mr. Evans. If the warehouse-owners suffered an injury, it would be for an object which would greatly benefit the gene ral interests of the community.. He should support the original motion. , i‘lr. D. Honosost hoped, from the discussion hitherto had, to be able to take such' a view of the question as would prevent the time of the council being occupied by a continua tion of details which he respectfully submitted did not bear upon the question. The question was one of principle, and he -for one was resolved upon that principle. He was not going to dispute whether warehouses were wanted or not. That they were desired he thought there could be no ques tion ; but he was not at all disposed to enter upon that point, He meant merely to ask this question, and it was curious he should have to ask it from those who called themselves libe rals and reformers; whether they wished to perpetuate a mo nopoly ? If they were to have a monopoly of warehouses, why not have a monopoly of ships ? Why not compete with the public in ships upon tho same grand scale as would suit the notion of the gentleman who spoke last? If he (Mr. H.) could conceive. the Dock Committee to be possessed of all wisdom and all capability, and that they were unbiassed in all their acts, he would say, without hesitation, " confide the monopoly. to them by all means ;" but he meant not the slightest reflection upon them when he declared, that from their position they were an incompetent body and ever must he. He was surprised when he heard it broadly stated that there was no political question in the present matter, He happened to know, the sentiments of some of his old friends, who were most anxious to support the dock estate under the old corporation, but a change had taken place in their senti ments. So far from being actuated by a political spirit, he believed he should be followed bysome gentlemen who would say they should like to have the corporation as it was for po litical purposes—for the advantage of the party now in power. He meant to give no offence to any individual, but he would now throw aside the political part of the question. He con sidered the Watch Committee incompetent for the best ma nagement of the warehouses, should they be required; that up to the present hour they had not done that which had been in their power, which would have facilitated the business of the port, and - have tendered the expense now called for for making new docks quite unnecessary. He had no hesitation in saying that a stimulus necessary for carrying on business with suc cess would have been given by charging vessels only in pro portion to the accommodation they. enjoyed. Whatever the .clecisiow.might be, be could not help thinking that a large proportion; of the gentlemen who had recommended this course had. scarcely any interest - in warehouse property.. -The • value of it, according to the mover of the resolution, was £2,430,000. Now he (Mr. Hodgson) would venture to ask that gentleman -what proportion of that sum belonged to those who acted with him ? He (Mr. Hodgson) very much questioned if it amounted to £40,000. Now, he had no warehouse property ; : therefore, when he was speaking of thoSe places which had the beau ideal for their momentum, he could not be accused of having any private interest of his own. When they found themselves in a position to inflict upon the owners of that description of property in the town a roost 'uncalled-for and serious injury, such man, he thought, who wotild - ProPose it,' must have a considerable degree of :confidence in hirnFelf, very nearly approaching to presump tion. - He ' did not mean to give offence ; but he did think that witlii the opinion • expressed heee, as it would he by the . diVision„,with the. opinion of the different public bodies, With . the opititOii-Of the Warehouse proprietors, with the opinion, ,galning ground day by .day, that a better Rystetn:of dock ma , nagemetit Neff' la' adopted than that - ripe.- •nriiirise f l,. the present might be characterised as a rash attertifi . tlo'ptema.. turely ceeeetbat Whibh"&nild tic/Ont.:reed in parlianifit, and thiNt which would continue to be - a vexatious atid'it l eitiwin ,, ' ' tion - !' '•-With' these fielinga he v.-as . prepared tri'vbte . fOit' „ - amendment. tv.i,,,-4L •,,, r. HonNur did not rise to reply:to-what had been said ' nst warehouses on the dock .quaysi-botito,putt.hg r efitm n ; 7cyXight in one ImpOrtant point. ''lt Siiiitiliati - lot or*of the public associated bodies were in faVour,of the pro position. It was desirable the 'council shrinld know that at a.meeting of the •Shipowners' Association this "morning, .• they had pasied a resoint!cn.approving of it, • Mr. .E,,\ amq. 7 -Does the resolution suite that they_akro'Ve, of the warifiobSe,!i being under the rn/nagetrient Of the "dock i trustees? - - -.' : . :-, .- .-:. . Mr. Hoaxay.NO, it does not. -. .:, . • Mr. EARLIf.-460110f,thit " that is mere hnportarif. ... Mr. Ronxer'said the tipinion 'of the assOciation waS;jhat . . . the-warehortses should he leased, - and not worked by the dock trustees. Mr. Hodgson see/44' to think that those gentle- men who had been favourable to - separating the dock estate from the council were inconsistent; now he (Mr. Ilornby) could see no inconsistency in those gentlemen. Mr. BOLTON said he was connected with the American Association, which had sent in - a resolution-approving - of the mode of management under the dock trustees. Mr. W. W. CunniE, at some ' length, defended himself from the imputation of inconsistency ; he said the speech of his friend Mr. Hodgson was of. great importance in one point, arid it ought to sink deep in the minds of the dock trustees, . • for it was'indicative of an intention, somewhere, to attempt to separate the dock estate from the corporation. Mr. HoliosoN.:---Honi sort qui mal y pense. Mr. Cunn/E.HIs there any gentlemen here who did not receive that speech as a kind of knell or warning of an in tention existing somewhere to separate the dock estate from the corpoMtion? Mr. HODGSON.—I must deny any such inference. Mr. CuantE would put the question to any gentleman Whether such an inference must not be drawn. if he was wrong he was sorry for it, but - be never before heard aSpeech Which so much held that inferenCe in terrovem. Mr. SANDS--I had no - mid; impression. Mr. Cunntr.—Perhaps you did not hear the words. Mr. SANDS—Oh yes, I did. Mr. CURRIE would never consent to diminish in any man ner the property of' the corporation, therefore he, for one, Was prepared to resist the attempt, whenever it should be made, to separate the dock estate from the corporation. Mr. SANDS said, all he had heard had only served to 'con vince him of the propriety of the course he had taken upon a formeroccasion, when this subject was before the council.—= From what Mr. Currie had said he was satisfied the amend ment he proposed - would have met with the approbation of the town at larie. Mr. Sands Went on to say tlia't his house had lost nothing material in indigo by the Present system of ware housing, and to say that Mr. Benn was in error in his asser tion to the reverse. Hi's opinion was that the proposed ware houses would be worked much better by private hands than by the trustees of the dock estate. • Mr. Bt.AcKau RN ' followed, and in an address of consider able length, took up all, or nearly all of the arguments in fa vor of the proposed warehouses, and strongly urged them upon the council. They would be attended, he said, with an extension of the commerce of the port, and having this im pression, he should give his 'support to the original motion. Mr. BUSHELL said he rose with feelings of great diffidence, and with considerable distrust to address the council upon the momentous question which agitated them. He had these feelings in a higher degree, in consequence of seeing arrayed against the view which, dispassionately and without prejudice, he felt himself called upon to take a powerful combination of the talent in that council. But, as in private matters so in public, no personal considerations ever had, or ever should, influence him in the course he should take wnen he felt he was doing right. He stood before them then perfectly inde pendent, to oppose the objectionable clauses in the proposed bill which the Dock Committee had called upon the council to support. He was desirous, in discussing this matter, to avoid all personal allusions—to avoid expressing any. senti ment which could, by any possibility, give personal offence ; therefore, he had taken this opportunity of disclaiming any such intention, if in the warmth of debate he should acci• dentally fall into an error of that nature. Before he - littered such sentiments, he begged to disavow them. He held in hiS hand a pamphlet on this subject, a copy of which had been presented to him by its very talented author. He confessed, that upon the first reading of this pamphlet he was almost led to believe that Mr. Evans had found out a panacea for all the mercantile ills with which Liverpool was affected, and that he could scarcely see the possibility of opposition to a -scheme so just and rational. But when he came to reflect — when he came to digest and analyze the propositions ad vanced in that pamphlet, he arrived at a totally different con clusion from that.which he had in the first instance hastily formed—a circumstance which showed the effect of ad cap. .tandem arguments upon the.mind before we .gave ourselves an opportunity tO.,consider.the entire - question.. If he could have brought his mind to believe that all the advantages enumerated in that. pamphlet could ever arise to the -town of Liverpool by the adoption of its propositions, he would be . one of the first to 'say, " let us have then] by all means, pro vided we can get them 'without a sacrifice of public • principle:.on the part of thi s. body might, with ou t offence be permitted to . term the contents of the pamphlet " Evans'S (Laughter.) In it the talented author had advanced a great deal of mere parable—a great deal on which it was not possible for the Council to, agree. But be hOped that this municipal heal-ail would never be permitted to bear the . government stamp. (Hear, hear.) He would first address himself to Mr. Black burn, in language which that gentleman could not fail to'un derstand...He would ask him, whether it were the custom among respectable practitioners - to foster a disease for the sake of profit? Would .any respectable pra,ctitioner be so base as first to extend the malady it was his duty,to cure, and then coolly turn round to the patient and say,- 7 " It is true I have done nothing for you ; it is true I have . got_ pay and profit by you; but I have not applied those simple re- Medics to your case which I might have done, and now it has become so had, that nothing is left for us but ainpiltatiori ?" Mr. Blackburn's views on this question were exactly those of a man who, having fostered • a disease for many years, without applying a single remedy towards checking it, turned round, as the last resort, and said to the unfortunate patients; the warehouse-owners,—" We will treat you like co many hospital patients, and practise our experiments upon you, in the hope to benefit the community at large. (Hear, hetie;) Did Mr.• Blackburn approve of this course of action ? lie (Mr. Bushell) would declare, that during many many years, which it had been asserted to -day in this Council, and not denied, the acts of the old Council were biwling uponoie new ; and if they applied that principle to the present 'sys tem, they must apply it to all times. Now we had it on re cord, and the fact could not be controverted, that - the old Council did foster and encourage the building of warehouses, for the s a k e o f their own profit. Could they believe that, if the present warehouse-owners had Considered it poSsible that they shotild ever be competed with by ,a public bOdy lilts the Corp Oration, which public body had been obtaining profit by selling land on ,lease for these very purposes, would they have dreamed of paying the enormous prices for. the land sold to them for that.special purpose—namely, the erection of warehouses ? Would any man, possessed of common sense, have' thought for a moment of paying such prices as were then demanded ? For this reason he asserted that the Council had fostered and promoted the disease (if disease it be) ; and now, when they had found it out, they turned round and said,—" We Will not apply the simple remedies we ought to have applied long ago, but we will go at once for amputa tion." .(Hear.) He (Mr. Bushell) had no interest in Warehouses, ifor he did not hold a single brick in Liverpool— he•wished lie did: but, at the same time, he should be happy to he convinced if he was wrong in his opinions, and he might • vef, • like Mr. Currie, turn round and speak the other way (Hear, hear.) He now claimed their attention whilst he read some curious , extracts from Mr.. Evans' pamphlet, and he Would Cali' Winn them to 'observe : carefully the way in which !the talented writer spoke • . : " Warehonie,;;;. if :cr e ete d , .1.0441 afford such _shelter that the incrtiitte§hips the docks would n'eet• difficult." " The,despatch which warehouses.on the dock quays wottl(J give to the discharging of ships laden with foreign produce will, in effect, be equivalent to increased dock-room. Ware houses will pay for themselves, and commerce will escape the burden of making and maintaining new docks, which, with their aid, will then, to a less extent, be necessary." " The:security of public stores will bring with it the prac- tice of warrants and -certificates, by which. goods will, with out expense, be transferable, and, rendered into active capi tal, become almost as available as money itself." " Shipowners will avail themselves of the warehouses for depositing unclaimed or disputed goods, and for securing their freights by holding a sure lien upon the cargo." " Dock warehouses will reduce fire insurance more than 80 per cent. upon the premium now charged upon Liverpool warehouses, which is 10s., whilst, in London, it is only Is. Gd. per cent. " Let,Liverpool provide proper warehouses, in their proper place, and it may soon become the chief emporium of the East and West India trade, as well as of that of South America." "The means which this town can put into action would give it a large portiOn of the inland trade in sugar, tea, in digo, drysalteries, &c., now held by London." "The ability to 'supply foreign and domestic produce; at the cheapest rates, would, in like manner, draw hither the trade of the South of Europe and of the Mediterranean." It was in this chOice mode that Mr. Evans spoke throughout his work. All the advantages which he enumerated were entirely suppositious : they all depended upon ifs and shoulds and moulds. - (Hear.) Would not the council concede that it was very desirable, in so important a scheme, yet to be adopted, that Mr. Evans should have stated facts instead of opinions only ?; With all his talent. which he (Mr. Bushell) should be proud to pogsess, he must take the liberty of say ing that Mr. Evans 's opinions were by no means infallible. (Hear.) A word now to Mr. Blackburn, who had told the council it was possible he might lose his seat for his opinions upon this question. What did that circumstance prove ? Why, that the opinions of the town were against him (ap plause)—that, by erecting these intended warehouses, they would be thrusting them down the people's throats when they did not want them, and when the exigencies of -com merce did not need them. (Applause.) Mr. Blackburn, therefore, had advanced one-of the very strongest arguments against the motion — Mr. BLACKBURN.—It is a misrepresentation : I did not conceive I should lose my seat for my opinions on this ques tion, but that I might be taunted with them. Mr. BUSHELL.—I give Mr. Blackburn the benefit of his explanation. Mr. BLACKBURN.—That is all I want. Mr. JORDAN.—Go on. Mr. BUSHELL would go on, and repeat that Mr. Black burn had thus advanced one of the very strongest arguments it was possible to use against the proposed measure. (Hear, hear.) Having, then, fairly demolished Mr. Blackburn,. (hear, hear,) he would advance against Mr. Evans. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Evans had told the council that the competition which it was intended to offer in these proposed warehouses was, avowedly, intended to produce the effect of depreciating prices —that was, to lower the rates of porterage, rents, and all the ordinary warehouse charges. In the face of such a bold assertion as that, was it possible for the warehouse owners to feel at peace with the scheme? No. (Hear, hear.) It had been asserted, that thirty years ago the owners of warehouse property were the opponents then, as now, of a similar system to this, which was then proposed. Yes, and properly so. But he would ask the promoters of the scheme why the corporation for the time being, and the cor poration subsequently, had not opposed the lurking disease, which they saw going on and'spreading itself? (Hear, hear.) Why did they not say to the purchasers of land, when they made application for it, " we will sell you land if you wish, but we will not allow you to build warehouses upon it, be cause WE intend- to erect them ?" That would have been a just and upright line of condUct on the part of the corpo ration (hear, hear); . but to foster _and encourage the build ing - of warehouses, -to get as. large a price for their land as they could, to insist upon the erection of warehouses upon it; and then turn round to• ruin the property they had helped to create, was aline of conduct in which he could not for one moment concur. (Applause.) Railways and canals had been quoted, as parallel cases to that before the council; hut - he contended • there was no analogy- between them. (Hear.) Railways and canals were not fostered by any pub lic bodies like this corporation ; on the contrary, they were left to the spirit and enterprise of private individuals. But in this case the council themselves had been the foster fathers of the present system, and now they were its opponents for the same reason—to promote their own interests. (Hear.) If any thing was a parallel to it, he conceived the slave com pensation to be that parallel. What was the case there ? We found that the: slave trade had been encouraged by Go vernment for many years ; when the Government found a cry came from the nation—and a proper cry—saying, " will not tolerate this odious system any longer," - they said, " we will do away with it; but, as we have fostered it for the benefit of the community at large, of - course we must give compensation to the slave-owners." Now here was exactly _ a parallel case. .If the Government gave compensation to those iwhose property they injured by the change, this Coun. ell mist givecourpensation . to the warehOuse-o*tiers . : for the (;injury`. ~upon them.. If they. were not prepared to do that, they must incur the odium of having been guilty Of the grOsansrinjtfStree..• • . .• • . Mr tkhlerinan BENsk,:here intimated his dissent from the parallel by laughing at it. Mr. Btstt.t. said Mr. Benn might laugh if he thonglit proper at the injury that would be committed by the pro-. posed scheme; but it Was no laughing matter for the Unfor tunate werehOnse owners to find their property ruined by the cisrporation. He (Mr. Bashell)-trosted,that, notwithstand ing,.gr. Benn's laughter, the council would take a just and , cominon sett view of the question:There' , were -many per mot;i in..oestfoaricil who were advocates of free tratlei434, was.aled. ; and he would ask them what had their free _trade led them to They told us that' their sole motive in wishing - to build. these warehouses was to increase the,trade of Livers• pool, and to further the interests of the port. - Now, he said, they were grossly inconsistent in their conduct. When it was proposed by Mr. Poulett Thomson, then President of the Board of Trade, to introduce a bill for establishing the system of inland bonding, they stood by passive •speetators. Yes, when a measure was.proposed by the government which would have had the effect of taking away one half of the trade of Liverpool they were passiVe— A COUNCILLOR.—Oh, Qh-! • • Mr. BusriELL.,--0h.,. .011! Aye, it was "oh, oh!" (Laughter.) He repeated; that, although that measure would have destroyed half the commerce of Liverpool, these gen tlemen hadnot stirred to interfere.. (Hear, hear.) The ef fect upon his own trade would have been to ruin it, or at least to have compelled him to maintain two establishments, one here and another in Manchester. (Hear.) He would therefore ask:upon what 'principle this council, whose duty it was to support and protect the trade of the town, could be passive when war, to the.very knife, was declared against it? (Hear, hear.) It might be expected, as he had alluded to it, that he should enter upon the'effect which the inland bond ing system would - have upon the trade of the town - Several COiiNcfsiOns--" Question, question." Mr. BUSHELL.--Why inland bonding bore most distinctly - upon the.question—s(hear,:hear)—and he could readily prove in.what way it would affect the trade of Liverpool. If it were adopted,. the manufacturers of Manchester would be come merchants;, and we, instead of being merchants and brokers as we now were, should become little better than a community of ;forwarding agents. (Hear, hear.) That would he the.effect -of the inland bonding system upon the trade of this town, and he would leave the council to decide whether it had no reference to the question. (Hear.) He wished to tell those gentlemen that they were inconsiderate advocates, of the trade of Liverpool, when they were passive a at time when that trade was to be taken from them, and active only :when they had this bantling of a warehouse scheme, which they were so anxious to nurse into maturity. With regard to the simple remedies which ought to have been applied, before they attempted to commit the injustice Which they were about to perpetrate upon the warehouse owners, he would read an extract from Mr. Clint's evidence, given before the finance committee. Mr. Alderman EVANS.-1 wish you would call Mr. Clint again. - Mr. BusnEt.L.--If Mr. Alderman Evans wished for that, it showed that ..powers had been at work out of the dock committee to effect a change. He would not say that powers had been at work with Mr. Currie, but he must be permitted to say, that that gentleman's first impressions were most likely to be just and correct, when he was staggered at the evidence, showing the injustice of the contemplated measure. That time, however, had gone by. Mr. Currie had changed his opinions of the evidence ; but he (Mr. Bushell) imputed no motives to him on that account. Mr. Alderman EyANS.---Tilen second thoughts are not always best. Mr. BUSIIELL would admit that his first impression of Mr. Evans's book was different to that he now held, and he had explained the cause, but then he did not leave his room until he had read it twice, and upon the second reading his opinion changed. Mr. Currie, on the other hand, had been some time in operating the change in his sentiments. To return to the evidence, Mr. Clint said "The next evil is, that the docks are badly conducted : Prince's Dock and George's Dock are the two central docks, and most merchants wish to have their vessels near their own warehouses or offices ; and the dock masters are anxious to get the docks crowded. I do not find fault with the servants of the trust, for they are all gentlemanly men, [Mr. B. : But we don't want gentlemanly men, we want working men,] but with the system. When the Prince's Dock is so full that there is not room to work the vessels, a merchant comes to the dock master, and says, You must let this ship in.' The dock-master says he cannot, .because the dock is full. ' no,' says the merchant, ' there is a small corner there; just let her in.' The dock -master, being anxious to oblige, does so ; and thus that dock, is crammed, whilst others to the right and left are comparatively empty." Now what would the council say of that system of manage ment which tolerated the employment of such servants? Here we saw that influence was at work with the dock mas ter to induce him to find room for a vessel although he had only a few moments before positively asserted the dock was quite full ! (Hear.) This, be it remembered, was the opinion of Mr. Clint, whose evidence before the Finance Committee was in favour of the scheme, although his opinion was against it ! But c.% little more of his testimony Thereis another thing I would mention : the dock-master (I will take the Prince's Dock, for instance) has not suffici ent hands to navigate it." " A great deal could be done, but it would be beginning , at the wrong end, to build warehouses on the present docks. This was enough from Mr. Clint's evidence to shew that the council had not adopted the simple remedies which, in com mon justice, they were bound to use in order to cure the disease. They had not petitioned Ole Board of Customs, as they ought to have done, for an increase in that establish ment—a measure which would have been attended with great benefit to merchants and shipowners ; the Dock Committee had not taken every means to improve their system of ma nagement by adding new cranes and other facilities; and, without resorting to the milder remedies, which they ought to have done, they had at once proceeded to the extremity of amputation. (Hear.) He might go on and enlarge upon the inefficiency of the system ; but he would first ask, what had Manchester done that she should have deserved the spe cial patronage of this corporate body ? (Hear.) Mr. Alderman EvAsts and OTHERS.—Oh, oh ! Mr. BUSHELL, begged to assure those gentlemen who had interrupted him,. that be would not be put down by their exclamations of ".0h,. - oh!" '(Cheers.) They must really listen to him, whether willingly or otherwise; and he hoped they would, as members of that council, pay him the cour tesy of listening in silence. (Hear.) He would again ask, what had, Manchester done that they should throw this sop to her ? Was there not something like government patron age at the bottom of the,scheroe.which had been proposed in Manchester?, (Hear s hear.) He believed that if the inland bonding plan had been proposed by any' other government than the present "liberal_" government, this council would not have been so passive as they had been-=• . A COUNCILLOR (Mr. RATHISONE, we believe).—Oh, oh ! Mr. BrisHELL.—Oh. oh ! sir, but you must listen! (Ap plause.) As tax-payers he should have thought - the council would have felt their individual interest affected by the con- ' cession of this question, seeing that there must be, in that case, a second custom-house establishment—one here, and the other in Manchester. (Hear.) A word or two now to Mr. Evans, on his statement- that some means must be devised for emancipation. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Evans could not, in the exercise. of his well-known ingenuity,. have hit upon a better • word - % to suit his . (Mr. Bushell's) purpose. He would, therefore, s tell Mr. Evans that the • only honourable. or fair aneans of -emancipation - was -by • compensation.' (Hear, hear.) If the council were not prepared to give compensation, they could not. justly carry - emancipation. • Now, with .regard ,to enonopoly, - •which 104 Been spoken of, he maintained .they.were inconsistent again.. Their advocacy of, free trade, in the_ case of the Inland bond- Inesystem, was. totally .at variance with • monopolizing the business of warehouSe -occupiers,: carters, porters, , &c. (Hear.) if they were inconsistent with regard to free -trade . ,only, he might have been satisfied ..perhaps .but he had proved that they were - grossly inconsistent in endeavouring to give free trade to Manchester whilst they aimed at esta blishing a monopoly here. (Hear.). Now he came to that which was at the bottom of the whole scheme—namely, pa tronage. (Hear, hear.) He defied any body of men to deny that if this proposed system were introduced, patronage would be the result, He was not imputing that this patronage would he abused ; but he knew so much of the 'constitution of public bodies that he would net give patronage to any of 'them ; and if the constitution of this council were changed (and he. hoped it would be changed ere long), he would op pose any plan for giving into its hands the power which would necessariiv exist if the proposed plan were permitted to be carried. He need not tell the council, what indeed was well known to the leaders of the liberal party in the - town, that if these warehouses were built choice would be .given to men of their own political sentiments, and the effect would be that the representation of the town would be in the bands of the dock trustees. (Oh ! oh !) Now he must con 'tend that it was the duty of this council, before proceeding to the last extremity, to adopt the plans of sheds and cranes, `to improve the dock accommodation, and to procure an in 'crease of the custom-house establishment.. If they would ' try this system, say for a period of ten years, and it was not ' found to answer, he would then turn round; like Mr. Currie, and assist them. (Hear.) . • Mr. Alderman LEATHOM said, the Custom-house esta blishment was not under the control of the dock trustees. Mr. Busa ma. was quite aware of that tact, but the dock committee might have petitioned for the increase, and no doubt the request would have been granted. The question iwas, had they, the dock committee, done all in their power to improve the trade of the town. He contended they had not; that Mr. Clint's evidence proved the dock management to be inefficient ; and that it was a very bold proposition to come here and attempt to destroy the warehouses which they had fostered. He called upon gentlemen to pause before they decided this question, for otherwise they would certainly be sacrificing the interests of a body which ought to have the protection of the council, inasmuch as their warehouses had been fostered by them. Mr. CußatE said great stress had been laid upon the fact that the old corporation had fostered the building of these warehouses. There were but two members of the old council in the room, and he appealed to them if it was the fact, that the old corporation did foster the building of warehouses. The old corporation had sold their land without any restric tions whatever of this nature. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—The old corporation did foster it so far as this -- they guarded against warehouses being built round the docks ; therefore Mr. Currie must not say that. At any rate they sold land at £6 per square yard, and required that it should only be used for warehouses. Mr. BUSHELL had it before him in evidence, and a letter from Mr. Montgomery, that such was the fact. He would also ask the Town-clerk whether leases of land had not been granted by the corporation, in which it was expressly stipu lated that warehouses, and nothing but warehouses, should be built thereon, and that within the period of two'years ? (" Hear," and a cry of " Adjourn.") The MAYOR said, the member for Abercrornby Ward had spoken of him as a political partisan : he knew it was in his personal, and not in his official, capacity. But he (the mayor) would add another word, due, he thought, to the council. He had been a member of the Watch and Dock Committees before he 'occupied that chair, and he would assert that political patronage had never in any degree been exercised by any individual in his public capacity as a mem ber of those committees or of the council. He trusted, therefore, that the idea of political patronage being exercised by any portion of the council would be abandoned. Mr. BUSHELL explained, and, in the course of his obser vations, paid a high compliment to the courtesy and impar tiality observed by the mayor. Mr. ISAAC HOLMES said that he should not have made any political allusions ; but as Mr. Blackburn had thought proper to make allusion thereto, he could not avoid it. The gentle men on the other side might disclaim any wish to interfere politically with any of the individuals who might be appointed to situations under the Dock Committee, but it was, in the natural course of events that they will use their influence with those voters who would be placed under their control. Could it be disputed that there were market-lookers who were mem bers of the Reform Association ? He stated it as a fact, that there were superintendents and inspectors of police who had been solicited to join that association. If the dock trust did not wish for patronage by this measure, why had they not in serted a clause in their bill, to prevent any person employed by the Dock Committee from voting or interfering at elec tions, either parliamentary or municipal ? It was notorious that they woad employ five or six hundred individuals in the capacity of coopers porters, warehouse-keepers, &c., and he (Mr. Holmes) had no doubt that the preference would be given to those who had voted for the reform candidates. .The act of parliainentto prevent custom-house-officers, &c., from voting at elections, was in very few words, " Be it enacted that, to pre,serve the purity of election, that such custom honse-officerS; &c., shall abstain from voting or interfering at elections tzniler - aleavy penalty. ", He would refer to what had fallen from Mr. Currie, the chairman of the Finance Committee. He . was astonished to find that that gentleman intended to vote against -his' 'own measure—that he would abandon his own offspring. He (Mr. Holmes) would have thought that when the Dock Committee took the bantling of 'his:brain- mkt' whipped-and scourged it, that he of all others swould have protected the child. - But no ; he had cast it off, and he now sent it to be protected by those who were not its 'father. „Whence cOuld this - thzinge• originate ? how could this Curious conversion • have °emit - red ? Perhaps th ere wa s a source, there taught be, a cause. IrWC•could enter into those regions Inge, where cherubim And seraphim go sing their strains, - - • ''Rejliiblitle ttiriT - Atrength and power,-- . • There i 9 • the place where discord ceases, Where councillors change th e i r v i ews , • And acquiescent to the ruling powers become. He would now reply. to the observations of Alderman George Holt—a gentleman whom he highly repected ; but yet he could not concur in his opinions. - That gentleman instanced railroads : .he said that competition was allowed in railroads, and therefore that owners of warehouses mist also expect. competition. But was it not a fact that there was a railroad projected from Liverpool to Leeds, passing close by Man chester, but that parliament would not entertainthe measure, as they considered it was an improper interference? Those gentlemen who wished to try experiments in warehouse build ing. had better go to the projected port of Fleetwood ; for, as to this port they could not' alter it: Warehouses were already erected, and it would be an act of injustice to•the warehouse owners to build warehouses in competition with those already existing. What was the proportion of the warehouses now sought for? There were 320 bonding warehouses at present in Liverpool. The number the dock estate now wanted to build would bear the proportion of about 140 to 320 ; it would of course destroy that property. Hewould,however,instance what might be the case : if there was in a place 100 warehouses, and only 90 wanted, what would the owners of the 10 untenanted warehouses do ? They would offer at a lower rent, to induce some of those who occupied the others to change their tenant-, cies, and thus they would continue to offer at one price or other until rents were reduced about 30 per cent. As to warehouses facilitating the discharge, it. was known that if there were no impediments from the Custom-house or from some other source, vessels could readily he discharged. He (Mr. Holmes) might mention, that he was authorised by Mr. Samuel Perry to say, that let him take horses to any vessel of 500 or 600 tons, having an assorted cargo on board, and he would discharge her in twelve hours. (Laughter.) Gen tlemen might laugh ; he himself smiled when Mr. Perry made the assertion ; but that gentleman went on to assert, that if two steamers were to arrive in the morning title, with from two to three hundred tons in each, they could not only discharge them,, but they could load them, and have them ready to go out at the evening's tide. Mr. Mates also instanced the dreadful situation in which those persons would be placed who had mortgaged warehouses. One indi vidual had said, " I own warehouses to the value of £30,000, but have mortgages of £20,000 upon them : it this bill should pass, I shall be beggared.". Mr. Holmes noticed the re marks of Mr. Evans as to the''yalue of the warehouse pro perty in the town. Mr. Evans said it was only about two millions instead 'of four. If that were the fact, it increased the proportion of `warehouses sought for : instead of a small per tentage, they wanted - 25. per cent. But Mr. Evans said that there was consolation to the warehouse-owners in this reduced estimate : they had only two millions to lose instead of four. Why, would it be any consolation to a beggar, to tell him there were only 1000 beggars instead of 2000? It was an insulting expression. The TOWN-CLERK, in answer to Mr. Bushell's question, said it was perfectly clear that in the leases of land it was co venanted that warehouses should be erected within from two to three years. The leases referred to would be found ac curately stated in pages 43 to 46 of the Finance Committee's report. In those covenants the parties were bound to erect warehouses ; but. there was no pledge as to how the corpora tion would deal with their other property near the docks. He had thought it his duty to advise the Finance Committee that there was no such pledge•--' 2 •-no ground of charging the corpo ration ivith a breach of faith, nor any ground on the part of the warehouse-owners to ask for compensation. Mr. COOPER strongly objected to the original motion. He was not a warehouse-owner himself; but he should oppose, he would not say the building of warehouses at all on the dock quays, but the building of them by the dock trust out of the public funds, to the injury of private enterprise. Mr. Holt had endeavoured to bring down the value of the ware house property to a very low ebb; but it had been clearly shown that bonded cellars, such as those under the Royal Bank, had been left out in the calculation which had been put forth by the warehouse proprietors, and it had also been clearly proved that 1.:2,4x10,000 had actually been borrowed on mortgage on that property. Mortgagees never lent more than two-thirds of the real value, so that this would give a clear value of £3,700,000. Mr. Masrumt rose to speak, but as the council were grow ing very impatient, he asked whether they were willing to a& journ. The question was replied to by loud cries of " No, no." Mr. M. then briefly expressed his opposition to the original motion. The. proposal of the Finance Committee, that transit sheds should be so erected that they might after wards be raised in-height, and become, in fact, warehouses, would have perfectly met his view. Mr. DUNCAN said that as he could not bring forward an amendment, as he had intimated, he should not vote either for the motion or amendment. Mr. EVANS having replied, the vote was taken. The amendment of Mr. Booth was negatived by a majority of al to 27. For the amendment there voted — Councillors—Hodgson, J. Holmes, I. Holmes, Houghton, Preston, Sandbach, Frankland, Wright, Barton, Sands, H. Holmes, Cooper, J. Lawrence, Robinson, H. Lawrence, Wood, Gladstone, Bushell, Rigby, Jones, G. H. Lawrence, Leigh and Smith. , Aldermen—Booth, Jones, Earle and Freme. Against the amendment — Councillors—Quayle, Thornhill, 'Mellor, Pilcher, Bolton, Priestley, Woollwright, Bright, Rathbone, Hornby, Yates, Blackburn, Morecroft, Seger, Coglan, Platt, WlCee, Jor dan, Duncan, Currie and Mather. Aidermen—Sheil, Hornby, Roskell, Leathom, G. Holt, Benn, Moon, Evans, Barclay, Bulley, T. Holt, Harvey, and the' Mayor. Absent—Messrs. Case, Lassa", and Carson. • For the original motion there voted 33; against it 28. The voting in, this instance was reversed, excepting in the case of Mr. Duncan, who voted against the motion as well es the artiendment. The principle of the measure having thus been .affirmed, Mr. Lawrence intimated that he should not, as he saw that it would be useless, press his motion ; hut he should avail himself of the right to oppose the question of management.. Mr. EARLE inquired whether the council would have the pOWer to object to the management'of the warehouses, now that the principle was affirmed. It was important that they should have a clear understanding on that point. The Ma.ygit replied •in the affirmative; but Mr. Earle wished that the 'town-clerk should give his opinion. The TowN..-ni,ilk said that it appeared to him that neither in the resolutions of the 2d of October, nor in the motion of Mr. Evans, was there any thing conclusive as to the manage ment, and therefore the question might be gone into. The MAYOR intimated that the council would then adjourn until the following morning, at half-past eleven o'clock, when the clauses of the bill would be taken into separate considera tion. To this there was some objection on the part of Mr. Earle .and others ; who were desirous that the council should be ad journed until Friday, in order that they might have an oppor tunity of consulting with their friends as to what course should now he pursued. The members of the Dock Com mittee, however, : stated that there was not a single day to and -the council ultimately decided-.to adjourn until - Thuisady morning, at half-past eleven o'clock. The council did not break up Until a quarter to five. ADJOURNED COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS. • The adjourned meeting . of the. Town-council took place, according to -appointment, yesterday morning, at half-past eleven o'clock. There were about forty members present. Mr. H. LAWRENCE said—We are met to-day to discuss the clauses of the bill, the propriety of introducing which occupied us the whole of yesterday. We have not seen the bill, and the abstract has only been in our hands a few days. We are given to.anderstand that any delay will prevent the bringing in the bill; I say nothing about delaying the subject to the last moment. The Town-clerk, who is your legal ad viser, has said that the clauses may be considered as read, and, that, if required, any clause must be read. To be pro fessionally consistent, I cannot assent to any clause which I have not had an opportunity of considering, as there have been instances of marginal abstracts diametrically opposite to the clauses to which they refer. If I insist upon reading every clause, it will be attributable to a wish to delay your proceedings, and, as I cannot make myself responsible with out so insisting, and from the organization of the ranks of our opponents 1 cannot expect any impression to be made upon them, I will not unnecessarily protract discussion, but prefer retiring from the debate. The TOWN-CLERK wished to observe, before Mr. Law ' rence left the room, that it was his opinion that if the coun cil unanimously determined to consider the reading of the heads of the bill, with liberty to call for the reading at length of particular clauses of the bill that might be wanted, as a de facto reading of the bill, then the council might proceed in that manner. The council unanimously agreeing to that course would be equivalent to a reading of the bill; and he believed that, in the courts of law, and especially in the courts of equity, such a course was considered a proper one, and frequently followed, as Mr. Lawrence himself must be aware. Mr. H. LAWRENCE remarked that he was not disputing the propriety of the course suggested by the Town-clerk ; he only said that, professionally, he could not give his assent to any clause that had not been read, and, as he was not willing to take up the time of the council in demanding that each clause should be read, he should at once retire. if lie stopped he must insist on the reading of the whole bill. The TOWN-CLERK said that if any gentleman insisted on the reading pf the bill, it must be read. The MAYOR observed that by the motion of Mr. Evans, agreed to on the preceding day, it had been decided that " each clause should be taken into separate consideration, and that the council do forthwith proceed to the consideration thereof accordingly." Each clause would therefore, as a matter of course, be read, unless the council unanimously agreed to dispense with the reading. Mr. H. LAWRENCE.—Then I must go away ; for I cannot dispense. The MAYOR.—It is exceedingly desirable, I think, that the clauses should be read. Mr. H. LAWRENCE.—You will find many differ from you, I think. Mr. LEATHOM here handed to the Mayor a letter from Mr. G. Worthington, which was read. It is as follows : " Morley's Hotel, Charing Cross, sth February, 1840. " SIR,—I have the pleasure to inform you that the bill has passed the standing orders' committee. I hope to hear to-morrow morning that the division in the council has been favourable to the bill. The committee on the Herculaneum bill is fixed for Monday, but will be adjourned till the follow ing day. Whether it will be proper for me to remain here till Tuesday, or return in the interim, will depend on the di vision of the council. 1 hope to receive the petitions against the Herculaneum and Harrington bills, for non-compliance with the standing orders, by the mail in the morning. " I have the honour, &c. " GEO. WORTHINGTON." Mr. BUSHELL would merely express an opinion that, as the principle of the bill had already been conceded by the di vision of yesterday, and as that principle formed the chief point of their. objection, he did not think that any good would result to those who thought with• him, if they were to combat the bill clause by clause. The principle having been admitted, he should give up all opposition, except as to such clauses as he did not approve of. Mr. IsAnc HOLMES agreed in the course about to be pur sued by Messrs. Lawrence and Bushell. He now plainly saw that the only place in which the bill could be opposed was in parliament. Whether he himself should oppose it in that place he would not then say ; but most probably he should be one of those who intended to do so. The majority in favour of the principle of the bill was composed entirely of aldermen, to whom even the shadow of representation could not belong ; and he should therefore withdraw himself from the council, and allow them to proceed unopposed in their course. Mr. BUSHELL then asked whether any other business would be brought forward ? The MAYOR.—This is a quarterly as well as a monthly meeting. Mr. BUSHELL asked whether, as many gentlemen had an ticipated that not only that day, but the ensuing one, would be taken up by the consideration of the clauses, it was not desirable that all other business should be postponed to some future day: The MAyon thought that they had, then, better read the leases first, and afterwards proceed with the clauses. They might then adjourn to some other day. Some members named Friday, others Saturday, and others Wednesday. Mr. Alderman SHEIL asked why they could not then go on ? Every member bad had full notice that a council would he held that day, and they ought to be prepared to attend. Very heavy calls were made on members, who were neces sarily detained from their business, and they ought nit to throw away a day for any trilling reason. • Mr. BRIGHT was of the same opinion.. He had come pre, pared to •g 6 on with the business that was to come before them. The TOWN-CLERK- said that there was very important and pressing business, and it wits desirable that no time should he lost. . . A Mr. BustiELL said that he had only spoken on behalf of those gentlemen who .were away. If there were important and pressing business, he should not press the adjournment. The council decided to, go on as far as possible with the business. Nearly all the conservative members then left. the . room. • THE NEW DOCK BILL—CONSIDERATION OF THE CLAUSES. The clauses of the bill were then severally read. The TOWN-CLERK first read the preamble, which recited that it was desirable to enable the trustees of the docks to erect warehouses on the west quay of the Prince's dock, to make a wet dock with warehouses on the quays, and to con struct -.. other works, to raise a further sum of money, and for enlarging the powers of the several acts relating to the docks .- and harbour of Liverpool.—On the motion of Mr. LEATEOM, seconded by Mr. BENN, the preamble was agreed to. The first clause was next read. It was to the effect that the acts recited in the preamble, except where altered, and the present act, should be construed as one act.—Mr. DUN CAN asked whether the questions under this bill would be carried by a majority of two-thirds of the council ?—The TOWN-CLERK replied in the affirmative.—Mr. DUNCAN - then moved that the council should. have the same control ling power, so far as related to the building of warehouses, over the Dock Committee, as they had over the other corn mittees.—Mr. HENRY HOLMES seconded the motion.—it was opposed by Mr. EVANs, Mr. SANDBACH, and the TOWN-CLERK, and eventually withdrawn.—The clause was then carried. The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and other clauses up to the thirty-sixth, being principally the usual clauses authorizing and facilitating conveyances of the property on the west side of Saithouse Pork, and settling the amount of purchase money and claims by a jury or by arbitration, were next agreed to. The 37th clause, " that if the trustees should not, within seven years after the passing of the act, agree for and pur chase the premises, the right of compelling the sale thereof should cease," was carried without remark. The 38th and 39th relative to the construction, &c., of the new dock, were also carried. _ The 40th clause requited that the expense of erecting. repairing, and managing the warehouses, . should be defrayed out of the rates.—Mr. SANDBACH moved an amendment, to the effect that these warehouses be let by auction, which would secure competition for them. lie stated that Mr. Bolton was in error yesterday, when he mentioned that the American association approved of the bill. They approved, not of the •bill, but of the principle of having warehouses upon the dock quays—in which he (Mr. Sandhach) concur red, But so far from the American association approving of the management of the dock warehouses they expressly stated that they ought to he private property. Upon this ,point, therefore, the council would have the opposition of all the • associations. There were various ways in which the manage ment might be arranged —one, for instance, he had proposed. —Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE seconded the amendment.—Mr. HORNBY opposed it, but spoke in favour of leasing the pro posed warehouses.—Mr. Alderman BENN supported the clause as it stood.—Mr. Alderman EARLE supported the amendment ; and Mr. G. Hour ridiculed the idea of placing the docks and the warehouses under different managements. —Mr. Alderman EVANS at great length vindicated the clause.—Mr. Alderman BooTH said he would never consent to take the management out of the hands of the dock corn- „-• trtittee.—Mr. Bot,ToN opposed the amendment, and made • some explanations as to the wishes of the public associations. —Mr. SANDUACH, seeing the feeling of the council against him, withdrew his amendment, and the clause, as it originally stood, was carried. Clauses from 41 to 71 were carried after a short uninter esting discussion upon several of them. Clause 73 em powers the dock masters to charge 2d per ton in addition to the usual rates and duties, upon every vessel remaining in the docks longer than four months. It was carried unanimously. • The 75th clause gives power to appoint two or more harbour . masters, and the 76th further powers to expedite the more speedy entrance and exit of vessels from the docks. The application of the penalties authorised in the 80th clause, was referred to the consideration of the Finance Committee t 1 —the question being whether they should be applied by the joi Dock Trustees, in the same manner as the rates and duties, or be handed over to the borough fund. The 83d clause, ' - ‘,O which also provided for the application of penalties, was re ferred to the same committee. . The 85th clause empowered the trustees to borrow money, and Mr. LEATHOM stated, it had been estimated they should want £956,000. The 91st clause, which required that the limits of the respective estates of the corporation and Dock Trustees should be set out by three persons, was referred to - the Finance Committee. The 95th and 96th clauses related to the union of the dock police and the borough police, and it was referred to the Watch Committee. The remaining clauses related to the custody of the common seal of the trustees, the interpretation of the act, the expenses of the act to be paid by the trustees ; and the 100th and last clause declares the act to be a public act. The reading of the bill occupied upwards of three hours. A resolution was next adopted to the effect, that, it be a fur ther reference to the Finance Committee of all the matters re maining to complete the bill,also to make all alterations neces sary to he made in its progress through parliament not affect ing the principle of the bill, of which alterations the finance . . committee is to be immediately apprised by the Dock Solici- ,et tor, the deputation of the Dock Committee having a discre tion as to the necessity of such alterations when the time will not permit the Finance. Committee to be consulted ; that the Finance Committee do report from time to time as circuity :', g 3.,, stances may render necessary, but that this reference isnot",vi,', to affect the several references upon the Town-clerk's repot' or the adjitstment of the bill.. ~„, „ The council. then adjourned (at fourt&clock) eleveis''' a iso,„ o'clock this morning, when Mr. Okill's matter will bevarsj i s/s9; • sidered. -• : • • :-;f;•es .44 • • - • !,;1 1 , 10 SHEFFIL LI) BA.:ex Cos : mks:v.—A t the .antual - f0ct,714 ing of proprietors of thi -- eompari);; 'held .on Friday'(nit Pot, a favourable report was .presented, and a dividen'd ifecl44 of 81 per cent. upon the subscribed_ capital. The ttiiti rep ;J.: 0 0f ing directors - were unanimously re-elected. The dividtitV s was announced payable ou the 17th of Febrttary.—Sheel‘ , Patriot: I \~