The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-08-02 00:00:00

THE TOWN- COUNCIL.

The usual monthly meeting of the Town Council was
held yesterday, in the Council Chamber at the Town-
ball. T. D. Anderson, Esq., the Mayor, presided, and
there was an unusually large attendance.
THE FINANCE COMMITTEE.

The proceedings of the Pinance Committee comprised,
Ist, a recommendation to anew the Mersey Docks and
Harbour Board to continue to take charge of and work
the chain testing machine for twelve months, from the
Ist of July last, the Board paying an annual rent of
£2OO, by..equalhaLf-yearly payments, on the Ist Jan. and
Ist July, for the use of the premises and machinery,
and guaranteeing the Corporation from loss, and keep-
ing the machine, buildings, and premises in repair.-
2nd.—Report on the Letter of the Secretary of State as

to the Salary of the Clerk of the Peace, referred to the

Finance Committee by the Council at the last meeting,
and recommendation that it is expedient that the Clerk
of the Peace for this Borough be paid by Salary, and that
the Secretary of State be recommended to fix the Salary
at the sum of £BOO per annum. 3rd—Recommendation
that the proposed buildings, corner of Lime Street and
Roe Street, be set back as shewn on the plan submitted,
the price of the Land being fixed by the Chairman of
the Finance Committee, as proposed by the Lessee
(Alderman Bennett).
Alderman STEWART, in moving the first recommenda-

tion, said the Council would reCollect that upon the
Mersey Dock and Harbour Board being constituted, the
Corporation gave them notice that they should discon-
tinue the use of the chain cable testing machine. To
afford time to the new board to make such arrangements
as they thought proper, the machine was let to them for
six months. That time having expired, and the Dock
Board not being prepared with their new establishment,
they had applied for a further lease for twelve months,
which it was now proposed to grant them.
Alderman TURNER seconded the motion, which was
carried.

Alderman STEWART then moved the next recommen-
dation in reference to the fees of the Clerk of the Peace.
The Council some years ago' agreed to pay in lieu of
fees.a salary of £BOO, upon the recommendation of the
then Secretary of State, Mr. Walpole ; but it was neces-
sary, pursuant to the act, that that arrangement should
receive the signature of the Rome Secretary. That had
never been done. It was annoying that it should have
stood over, but the question was now put in a train by
which he hoped it would be brought to an issue. He
was sure gentlemen would think that £BOO a-year, and
providing stationery and other expenses of the Clerk of
Peace's Office, a most liberal payment; but the Finance
Committee recommended it for the purpose of putting
the question at rest. •

Alderman TURNER seconded the motion, which was
embodied in a formal resolution, and carried.
The TOWN-CLERK said the arrangement would involve
a new table of fees, which he submitted, and whiCh had
been adjusted so as to meet the amount of salary and
the expenses of the office. In answer to Mr. Robertson,
he stated that the• fees were less than in the present. If
found inadequate to recompense the expense, they could
be revised at any future time by the Council.
Mr. JEFFERY—Do I understand that we have to
provide him with an office ?
The TOWN-CLERK—No; he provides his own office :
you provide him with stationery and printing, and a
repository in which to.deposit the records of his office.
That would be one of the record rooms in. St. George's-
hall.

Mr: GLADSTONE-But in the case of erecting new
Public-offices in Dale-street, would it not be well to
reserve the power of having his office there ?
The TOWN-CLERK said he had an office in St. George's-
hall during the sessions. At his present private office
he transacted very little public business.
The new table of fees was adopted:—ln moving the
third recommendation,

. Alderman STEWART said the Council would recollect
that suggestions had been made from' time to time to
alter the line of street turning from Lime-street into
Roe-street, on the south side of St. George's-hall. The
subject had been brough,t again before the Finance
Committee; at its last meeting. He was not present,
but Alderman Bennett, who owned the land, had pro-
posed that if the Council would set back the projected
buildings to a new line, he was willing to receive such
compensation for the land as he (Mr. Ste Wart) should
fix himielf. He was obliged to Mr. Bennett for his
confidence in him ; though he should not shrink from
doing his duty, at the same time he should not have
desired to- have. had such responsibility thrown-upon
'him, frOm his position on the committee. It would be
fOr the Council to say whether' they would adopt the
improvement 'suggested. 'He concluded by calling atten=
Lion to a plan on which two lines were laid down, by
one of which. the buildings would be' set:much further
back than by the other, of course at greater cost.
Alderman TURNER seconded the motion.

MT:JEFFERY #ipressed his approval of that line, by
which the buildings would be kept back as far as pos-
sible from:St. George's Ball.
Alderman STEWART thought the best plan would hti
simply to move first an approval of the recommendation
that the buildings be set back ; the line might hereafter
be drawn and submitted.

Alderman lonN BRAMLEY-MOORE did not think the
question required any consideration. It was unfortu-
nate that Wheiever we had a fine building erected in
LiVerpoOl, there were always projections which shut
one-half .of it out 'of view. It was "so in Bold-street,
Parker-street, the Exchange, St. Luke's Church,—in
fact everywhere.
Mr. KITCHEN thought they should know the expense
before agreeing to any plan; and
After some conversation the matter was referred back
to the Finance Committee. •

Alderman Stewart having then moved the confirma-
tion of the general proceedings,

Alderman BRAMLEY-MOORE wished to put a ques-
tion. On passing St. Luke's Church that morning, he
observed there, not with surprise, because he saw some
intimation of an act of Vandalism about to be perpe-
trated on the beautifnl railings there,:—but he observed,
on coming round that morning, -that a -breach had
been made, -and the work actually begun. He
should like to knoiv what •was going to be
done there—by what authority. it was done—and whe-
ther the CounCil should not:have a voice in a matter.
Which had destroyed something exceedingly ornamental
to the town. If it was intended to put a lamp there,
perhaps the object might have been attained by an
iltumination of the-church dock. He' wanted to know
by WhOie 'duthority it was done, witbout the sanction of
that Council.

The MAYOR—Perhaps you will allow me to state that
there was a resolution of the Council passed three years
ago that this should be done.
Alderman BRAMLEY-MOORS thought, if it bad been
delayed so long, there were now so many new members,
they should hive the sanction of the present Council,
who might be men of better taste. He suggested that
measures be taken to stay further progress till the
opinion of the Council, as at present constituted, could
be made known.

Alderman PARKER perfeztly agreed with Mr. B. Moore,
but the-clergyinan had put in some injunction against
their proceedings. It was found out that they were
dealing with consecrated ground, and there would be a
monition from the Ecclesiastical Court, which might
put an end to it altbgether.
The TowN-CLERK observed that the work was pro-
ceeding under a resolution passed at the very last meet-
ing of the Council, and which he read.
In answer to Alderman Parker,
The MAYOR said that the Rev. Mr. Lawrence thbught
the Finance Committee should have communicated with
him before doing anything in the matter, but he was
now perfectly satisfied. The chairman of the committee
and himself had been appointed a deputation to see him,
to state that no discourtesy had been intended, but that
it was an oversight. Mr. Lawrence had called upon
him the day before yesterday, but as he was not in the
Town-hall at the time, he had seen the Town-clerk.
was quite satisfied the improvement should
go n
He now thought that it would not disfigure the church
at all,o. and
The TOWN-CLERK said he had added to that, that if
it should be found afterwards by the bishop that they
had not a legal right, they might have to reinstate the
railings.
a
The MAYOR said the committee did not think there
P, and it would
incur
tld
ante
expenseany difficultyorx
6wo t
with theet b
a is
fheultyo from him.o g
The portion of land dealt with was not consecrated in
connection with the church. ,

A plan of the proposed improvement was here intro-
duced to the room, and inspected for some time by the

members.

Mr. KITCHEN said that the corner which it was pro-
posed to round was at present one of the most dangerous
in town, and he hoped the Council would not listen for
one moment to the objection.
• Mr. STEAINS stated that Mr. Earle, the chairman of
the Improvement Committee, very much approved of the.,
plans ; and after some further conversation the proceed-
ings were confirmed.

THE SMOKING CABMEN.

Mr. CLINT, chairman of the Hackney Carriage Com-
mitte, said that as it was seldom that there were forty-
three members of the Council present, it would be well
to take that opportunity of moving the alteration of the
bye-law prohibiting car-drivers from smoking while
attending to their cars on the stand.

Mr. STITT said the object of the regulation was to
Prevent what was conceived to be a nuisance, and sug-
gested that the London regulation inflicting a penalty
on any cabman continuing to smoke on his box, after
having,been requested not to do so, should be adopted.
Mr. BRAMLEY-MOORE thought a cabman had 'as
much right to smoke in the street as he bad himself, as
long as it was not a nuisance to others. Re thought
that if any person hiring a cabman begged him to desist,
it 'was not unreasonable to expect him to give it up.
Mr. CI,INT said the object of the memorial was to get
the bye-law repealed altogether, and as the Council

seemed to be in favour of it, the committee thought it
their duty to comply with the opinion of the Council.
Mr. ASPINALL remarked that gentlemen smoked in
cars, and the smoke of cabmen was no worse than that
of gentlemen. He had no doubt that Mr. Bramley-,
Moore enjoyed his cigar when going home in an evening.
Mr. BRAM-LEY-MOORE, then formally proposed that
cabmen, continuing to smoke after being requested to
desist, should be liable to a penalty of 40s.
Mr. SIIEIL gave notice that he should move that the
penalty be applied to passengers instead of to cabmen.
(Laughter.)
The amendment having keen lost by 19 to 2.5, the
bye-law was altered as recommended by the committee.
The bye-laws relating to omnibuses were also agreed
to.

THE POWERS OF THE FINANCE COASHITTEE RESPECTING

CORPORA.TV PROPERTY.

The next business was-the report of the Finance
Committee on the powers, duties, and obligations of the
Council with reference to the property of the Corpora-
tion.

Mr. Alderman STEWA.UT said that, in his position as
Chairman of the Finance Conimittec, he never rose on
any occasion which more materially affected the interests
of the Corpoiation, - and he would endeavour to meet
the question with the candour which, he. thought, a
subject of that importance required ; and he hoped and
trusted it would receive from the Council that attention
which the subject demanded. He considered it to be a
question of the greatest importance which could possibly
be brought before that body. Since the formation of the
present Council on the Ist of January, 1836, the Council,

acting upon the advice of the Town-Clerk of that day, Mr.
Ratcliffe, and since then of his successor, Mr. Shuttleworth,

appropriated a certain amount of the sums received from
the leases of property, which they called sales, and also of
the fines arising from the renewal of the leases. They

had invariably set apart £20,000,_ which was the pro-

bable estimate of the amount, which ought to be appro-
priated to the general revenue of the Corporation. It
had been thought necessary by the Finance Committee
to call for a statement, from 1836 to 1859, of the seve-
ral amounts received each and every year from the
source he had named; and it was found that the Corpo-
ration might safely put forward in their estimate as
applicable to revenue the sum of £26,000, which was
stated in the annual estimate as the average amount
which could be applied to ordinary purposes of income.
It would ill become him to offer any opinion on the con-
strtiction of acts of Parliament; but an opinion had
been taken of a gentleman eminent in the legal profes-
sion, which opinion put an entirely new feature upon the
case, and was exceedingly strong. But they had had very
strong opinions from as eminent men, which had been
set aside. He said that the amount derived, both from
the renewal of leases and for tines, was properly appli-
cable, and ought to be applied as income accruing at the
time of its being received, that no part of such
amount ought to, or indeed could, be appropriated as
capital or as a reserved or sinking fund (hear, hear) ;
and that the whole amount appeared to be rents and
profits within the meaning of .tbe 92nd section of the
Municipal Act, and should be received by the treasurer.
and carried by him to the borough fund, and applied
accordingly. Nothing certainly could be stronger than
that; but he thought that the position in which the
Corporation would be placed, would be attended with
extraordinary inconvenience and difficulty. The deal-
ings of the Corporation were of a compound nature.
What they called a sale of property, was merely a lease,
for which they received in anticipation seventy-five years •
rent for property which had always. yielded income to
the Corporation to a considerable amount. There was.
another class of property, the lease of which terminated
and reverted into the hands of the Corporation. They
effected a sale, as they called a lease, and received a fine
for it. Under these circumstances, in occasional years,
—as, for instance, this year,--when they - had a very
large sale of, property, the amount was much more than
it was likely to be in other Years. Probably the
amount received this year would be something like
£lOO,OOO. Now, what would be the consequences if
the. Corporation were to apply the whole of that sum
to the purposes of the present year. They could net
carry anything forward to meet the deficit of the next
year, when they should probably only receive £11,600.
They would have to lay a borough rate because they could
not appropriate the six and twenty thousand pounds for
each year ; and they never could prepare an Estimate of
the Corporate revenue having no certainty as to the
amount they would receive. It appeared to him that
the legislature had dealt with corporations with unne-
cessary stringency. According to the opinion, they
could anticipate seventy-five years' rent of all their pro-
perty, and that rent became revenue. If they sold the
fee-simple of that property, instead of a lease for
seventy-five years, if they had got the consent of the
Lords of the Treasury to sell it, they could not touch
one penny of the money. But because
,they created an
estate for seventy-five years approaching to 94.-t- per
cent. of the value of the freehold, instead of the whole
100 per cent., yet they had to resolve that into income
for the current year. On the occasion when the estimate
of £26,000 was prepared, the average was taken ; and
from the result of that return, which ho had before him,
it appeared that the lowest amount which had ever
been received was £8,71T 4s. 4d., in 1850. They
had frequently received £ll,OOO, £15,000, and so on.
They had a large bonded debt, upwards of a million of
money, and'the money in excess they had applied to
InYing off such bond creditors as wanted the money.
The bond debt was provided for by the present arrange-
ments with the Dock Board, who had to pay at the time
the act was passed £1,100,000, by payments of £lOO,OOO
every six months. This was a larger sum _than fell due
within the six months, and the question then came how
they could extinguich the bonded debt da the shortest
possible time. They would find that in a year and a-half
tile Whole of the bond debt of the Corporation would be
extinguished. The great question for that Corporation,
and one of which he had always felt the importance,
one on which he felt the well-being and the durability
of that Corporation would very mainly depend,
was how they were to' make the best pAsible income
out of the excess of capital—money which would remain
to them after the bond debt was extinguished, and which
'ould be something like half a million of money. His
opinion was that it would be desirable to make the
income of the Corporation as uniform as possible.
(Hear, hear.). .He thought they might safely apply the
six and• twenty thousand pounds, year by year, as
revenue; but, at the same time, he was not desirous
that the Corporation should act in violation of the law
of the land. If the opinion which they had received
was to' be acted upon, they would be in the position of
being rich -one year,* and having a deficit the next. He
concluded by proposing a resolution to the effect that,
as the report of the Finance Committee on the powers,
duties,
,and obligations of the Council with reference to
the property of the Corporation, and the income thereof,
and the disposition thereof by lease or otherwise,
involves very important considerations, especially in
regard to the uncertainty of the revenue of the Corpora-
tion, it be referred to the Finance Committee to consider
and report as to the course the Council should pursue to
obviate the difficulty which may arise from that uncer-
tainty.. - - _

Mr. Alderman J. H. TURNER seconded the resolution.
Mr. J. R. JEITERT said it was now two years since
that question was first brought before the Council, and
that day the chairman of the Finance Committee had
said it was a subject of very much importance.

Mr. STEWART- —This question was never before the
Council till now. I did not know the law was such.
Mr. JEFFERY thanked the chairman of the Finance
: were dawn the law
that, those violating the
law.
Committee for that admission ; but said that on the
occasion to which he (Mr. Jeffery) referred, the chair-
tmaßt ofth
ewFhionoapncpLedhs Committeeidid I
motion
re

Mr. STEWART—. T spoke on the authority of the
Town-clerk.

Mr. JEFFERY said Mr. Stewart spoke on his own
authority, and caused the division of the Council to be
two to one, because, when he replied, he advanced new
arguments. He was not surprised that there should be
a misunderstanding on that question. The question of
granting leases was altogether distinct from that of the
debt due to that estate. He did not think that any
gentleman would say that the money to be received
from the dock estate would be capital, and he hoped
that no gentleman who had considered the question
would say that money received from rents was not
clearly revenue. 'When he ventured to. enurciate that
doctrine, he was contradicted by the chairman of the
Finance Committee. They had a legal opinion before
them, which laid it down unmistakeably thatit wasincome.
Then what 'became of the opinion that guided the
Council on the occasion to which he 'referred? That
opinion was taken in January, 1859, and was not laid
before the Council till that day. Why was it withheld?
If that opinion was different to the one on which the
Council acted, ought it not to have been made the
property of the Council ? Upon what authority, nay,
he would go further, how dare the Finance Committee
withhold that information ? The Finance Committee,
whoever were members of it at that time, ought to
have brought it before the Council at the. first meeting
of the chamber.; instead of which, not only had they
been kept in ignorance of it, but the Council had acted
in defiance of it more than once since. If any
ether committee of that Council bad followed
such a course, what would the Council have
said, and what would the Finance Committee have
said ? He could not see how such a course
could possibly be justified. On a former occasion Mr.
Stewart had said that in no instance during the
existence of that Council had any expenditure been
made out of the sale of leases or. tines for leases. That
was in his reply ; and though he (Mr. Jeffery) thought
it an extraordinary doctrine, he had no opportunity
contradicting it. But Mr. Stewart had told them that
000 might be calculated upon from their
day that so far from that being a fact that anaveragoef
orefve4n2u6e, and, therefore, that the annual increase
in the value of the- corporate estate was six thou-

sand a year. Mr. Stewart had also stated that as
there was no expenditure from such revenue there
could be no deficiency. These were_the arguments that

brought the Council to a decision, and it was judicious
and legal to act upon the principle of the commutation
for the sales of the leases. lie (Mr. Jeffery) asked the
Council on that occasion not to come to a hasty decision,
but the division was hastened on by the Chairman of
the Finance Committee, who said that he had a par-
ticular property at that moment to which the principle
could be applied with a considerable amount of advantage.
Mr. Stewart asked why they should be obliged to invest
the amount derived from an absolute sale of tbeil- pro-
perty when they were not obliged to invest that which
amounted to 941 per cent. of the proceeds. The
reason was that in the one case the rorres remained
intact, while on the other they received the proceeds of
that corpus. They leased it for a given time, at the
expiry of which the corpus, with all its improvements,

came• back. He agreed with the observation, that it
would be desirable to have a uniform income if possible,
but the estate did not belong to a private individual, it
belonged to the burgesses of Liverpool, and he argued
that the burgesses of to-day were entitled to every penny
that might be derived from the estate that day, this
year, next year, or last year. It appeared to him that
Mr. Stewart appeared desirous of founding the wealth
of a Rothschild, and he could understand no more
ready or certain mode of accomplishing that object than
that proposed by Mr. Stewart, but it would be done at an

immediate sacrifice. What would be the result of the car-
rying out of Mr. Stewart's motion ? and here he must tres-
pass upon rather delicate ground. No one interested in
the port of Liverpool could view the financial position of

the Dock Board otherwise than with deep sorrow and
great pain and great anxiety, The board was tied
hands and legs, and was unable to proceed with what
it considered to be its duty by an act of parliament
obtained by pressure, brought b bear by parties on the
other side of the water, exceedingly to the prejudice of
Liverpool. It must be painful to every one who took
an interest in the well-being of Liverpool to consider
that before the expenditure on the other side of the
water was brought to a conclusion, something like five
millions would be absorbed there. Would any member
of that Council say that the trade on the other side of
the water'was likely to justify such an expenditure ?

The MAYOR did not wish to stop Mr. Jeffery, if what
he was saying would lead to any point in the discussion,
but it looked as if he was travelling out of the subject.
It would of course bring an answer from the chairinan
of the Dock Board.

Mr. JEFFERY--Very proper ; and I apprehend the
chairman of the Dock Board quite agrees with me.
Mr. TURNER—As far as Mr. Jeffery has gone, it will
bring no reply from me.

Mr. JEFFERY was sure that Mr. Turner would agree
with him when he stated that it was most unjust
that their hands should be tied with regard to this side
of the river, while they were driven to an extravagant
expenditure on the other. One of the nominees of
Government recently mooted that an additional expen-
diture should be made on the warehouses on the other
side, because they were not in want of money to spend
there as they were on this. Parliament, judging from
the proceedings of the past, would have no mercy
on the corporation of Liverpool. They had hitherto
had none, and seemed to consider it a fair goose to be
plucked. They considered that anything they could
abstract from the ratepayers for the benefit of commerce
was perfectly a fair game; and if Mr. Stewart's motion
were carried out, and if what he might call a
profligate expenditure on the other side were carried
on, the dock estate would be brought to a financial
fix, the Government would use its best endeavours, in
all probability successfully, to take the management of
that estate into its own hands, would declare that the
Liverpool Dock Estate and the Corporate Estate were
all one, and would take the money of the Corporation of
Liverpool to relieve the pressure. They must not accu-
mulate wealth in the hope that they were doing it for
the ratepayers, when in reality they were doing it for
the docks. If gentlemen wished for more time to con-
sider the matter, he should offer no restriction, but if
they were in possession of the necessary information, he
urged them at once to set in operation the resolution
recorded upon the books of the Council, and in doing so
he was sure they would be promoting the best interests
of those who sent them as their representatives in that
chamber.

Mr. CHARLES TURNER did not think that council was
a place for discussing the propriety of plans ordered by
Parliament, or whether the money to be expended at
Birkenhead was properly expended or not, and he pro-
tested in the strongest terms against the anticipations
indulged in by Mr. Jeffery. He saw no reason to
believe for one moment that the dock estate would not
have sufficient finance to carry out everything that
Parliament had put upon them. The trade of the port
had increased, and would continue to increase ; but shculd
the estate ever get into difficulties, he was glad to find
that they would have the assistance of so powerful a
body as the Corporation. (Laughter.)
Mr. PICTON thought the question before them had
been unnecessarily complicated by the mixing up of two
questions, which ought to be distinct. Both the modes
of raising money were pronounced, upon the highest
authority, to be income; and he was rather astonished
that some members appeared surprised at this opinion,
when the very fact stated by the chairman of the Finance
Committee, that they had recommended £20,000 a-year
to be taken as income, showed that they had the dis-
cretion. There was nothing, therefore, new in the
legal opinion which told them they had a right
to do what they had always been doing. They had a
large surplus, and all they had to do was to consider the
best mode of dealing with it. If they expended the
money in property elsewhere, he thought they would be
doing their duty to their constituents, but if they went
farther, and said—" We will sell the property for
£100,000," and expended it in pulling down houses or
widening streets, it became a question whether expendi-
ture of that sort was legal. He thought himself it
would not be.

Mr. BELOE felt that to be the most important ques-
tion which that Council, in their position of representa-
tives of the inhabitants, could possibly have to decide.
He quite agreed with what Mr. Pietr"• had stated, that
they could afford to put aside the law of the case and
look at it as one of expediency. It was quite clear that
there was one legal charge which must imperatively be
mct—the charge on the corporate estate. Let them
stop that unfortunate deficiency in the water accounts,
and thus prevent the levying of a borough rate of six
per cent., with which the inhabitants were threatened.
He looked with very great jealousy and distrust at the
accumulation of large sums of money which
.had
been,
and might again be, foolishly and lavishly expended. If
the Prince of Wales, on his return from Canada, came
to Liverpool, he had no doubt that the Council would
vote £20,000 to entertain him according to the style of
the good old town of Liverpool. A great deal had been
said about the £26,000 a year, and the uncertainty as to
income to be derived from tines upon leases. If the
return so often asked for by Mr. Gladstone was supplied
any accountant or estate agent would tell them to a
shilling what their income was.
Mr. ROBERTSON GLADSTONE thought it exceedingly
discreditable that that Corporation should have been
more than a quarter of a century old before it attempted
to grapple with the great question of its finance, and to
ascertain what were its actual resources. He must say
that he could not understand the manner in which Mr.
Stewart had dealt with the question, when he blended
together things which appeared to him to have no con-
nection. What, in the name of conscience, had the dis-
cussion to do with the corporation bond debt ? The
very fact of their being a changeable body led to the
conclusion that they were bound to convert all monies
to the good of the public so long as they remained there.
They were told by legal opinion that they were to apply
this money to the public good ; and what had they been
doing ? How many times had they heard within those
walls that they were bankrupt, and yet. all the time,
they had this £26,000 a year, and did not know they
had it. Mr. Stewart said they would be rich one year
and poor another.. Was that the management of an
intelligent body which a great town like this could pro-
duce for its good government? Could they not so
arrange their expenditure that this would not he the
case ? He thought there had been a want of candour
in the withholding of the opinion and among the com-
mittees generally, in making small items known to the
Council.

• Mr. Avisoisr suggested that the matter should be
referred to a special committee, consisting of members
of the Finance Committee and of the Council.
MI. MOZLEY supported the motion.
Mr. BOWRING proposed that the question should be
referred to a special meeting of the Council, to be called
at an early day.
Mr. AVISON seconded the amendment, which, how-
ever, after some further discussion, was lo;t, by 46 to 3,
and the general proceedings were then confirmed.

THE NEW PUBLIC OFFICES AND TOWN IMPROVEMENTs.
The following two subjects stood next in order upon
the Council summons : _

Report of the Special Committee to consider plans for
new Public-oTfices, Dale-street, the consideration whereof
was postponed at the last monthly Council, until after
the consideration of the report of the Finance Com-
mittee as to the powers, duties, and obligations of the
Council as to all corporate property, and the disposition
thereof, by sale or lease.
Report of the Improvement Committee recommending
certain improvements, at a cost of £300,000, the con-
sideration whereof was postponed at the adjourned
monthly Council, held on the 11th April last, until the
report of the Special Committee, in referince to plans
for new Public-offices, has been decided upon by the
Council, and at the last monthly Council, until after the
consideration of the report of the Finance Committee as
to the powers, duties, and obligations of the Council as
to the corporate property, and the disposition thereof by
sale or lease.

Mr. JEFFERY asked if he understood the Town-Clerk
that these two subjects Would now drop, as a matter of
course, till there had been a further report on the sub-
ject of the corporate property.
The TOWN-CLERK did not say that the form of the
reinhitions was conclusive as to their 'not taking thenf;
but the resolutions had bean passed in that way,