The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-28 00:00:00

THE NEW DOCK BILL.

We hale been tafotied Itith a draft copy of the new
bill, " to enable the Mersey Deets altd ilarhear Peard
to purchase froin the Colteiatioa of liifelooi the
rerergioil in fee Of ocrtain leasehold lands of the tradtd
at birkelthedd i io eiteiid the Oiled for the Completion
of certain works at iiirkeiihericl, W enable the board
to improve the working of the clods ilia the' leading
and unloading of vessels."

Th. bill of forty nlonooo, and tho preamble
sets forth the power, taken by a former act, to purchase
froni the torpotation the dockyard at Birkenhead, with
ottier lands on the south side of the Great Float, adding
that the hoard Mid Cofpofaobh having been. unable to
agree as to the itiltid oil Which sitar p&OlinSe should be
effected, it has become expedient flint Comptisory
powers to effect such purchaie should be conceded td the
board.

By the fifth clause of the bill, the amount of purchase
-nronq is to' be determined by arbitration, the Board of
Tin& being enipoWeied to appoint en umpire, should
tiie eft-iiidt6fe ilegleOt to do' so: It is further pro-Tided,
by subsequent diatiseS, that the parChage money may
remain on security of the bonds of the Ward, or that a
rent-charge may be substituted for a sum in gtoss:
There is one point upon which, of course, the pit/-
Mater, of the bill will anticipate opposition. It relates
to the 06010 eitension of time for the completion of
the dock worki at tiititettbe'Eid, The clause in reference
to this is as follows:

" The period for completion of the whole of the ltdrlss
sifthl? mentiouefl in section six of the Mersey Docks
and Harbour (1V&Ics) Act, 1858,' shall be extended to
the twelfth day of July, one' fUOtteand eight hundred and
sixty-four ; and such Act shall, for al/ purposes what-
ever, be construed as if such latter date bed been
expressly mentioned therein as the period for the call,
of the work sixthly therein described."
The words itt /ittlfos are of course only provisionally
inserted, the actual figiifes and dates having to be
determined in commtttee.

The next clause is also one of considerable itUpollettee,
fu it soolts a now powor, whioh may bo regarded as the
frilitadott of an improved system of working the docks.
this is t 8 aftoint sitrveyors of cargoes and goods. It
relates likewise to ilia iiccrlsingr of master stevedores and
master lumpers. The bonds entered into by master
porters it is proposed to increase from £2(16 id AMO..
Master stevedores and master lumpers are also to give
bonds with nineties in £2OO. By the 19th clause,
iowever, it is provided that the owner or master of a
fessel Malt eritibiot the etew to discharge the cargo.
The 21st clause Is Els Tolle

•
"Every surveyor of cargoes Aid goods appointed by
the board shall, with respect to any Vessel Which may
be unloaded or discharged within the dock at district to
which he may be appointed by the board, carefully
otartine the stowage of the cargo of such vessel, and
fully investigate the nature and extent of the damage
(if any') *hi& sneh eargo, or any part thereof, may
hdfe stitstained, and also investigate the cause of such
damage ; and AA allso; when required by any one or
more of the owners at consignees of any such vessel or
her cargo, report upon and eettify to him or them the
state of such cargo in respect of its ltawage, and of the
damage (if any) which such cargo, or any part thereof,
may ttafe sustained, and of the cause of such damage."
_ _

For this 1i is to receive in return a reasonable fee
and power is given to these surveyors to go on board
vessels, and inspect every part of the ship or cargo :
parties obstructing them in the discharge of this duty to
be liable to penalty. Then it is proposed to make mas-
ter porters responsible, both to consignees and owners,
for the correct sleighing and measuring of goods ; and
sttitieqUent ttanses go to vaty the period for which
goods may retain on the dock quays.
It is known that for state time the board have bad in
contemplation the appointment of traffic managers; and
the 31st clause provides that

it In addition
to any other duties Of any) which Wray
be innaised upon all or any of the persons appointed by
the llo'ar'd vet as traffic managers, such traffic mana-
gers shall eXerdstS' a rs.eneral superintendence over the
whole traffic on the (Flays a'n'd piers within their respec-
tive docks or districts, and rliAe rt periodical report
thereon to the board, and superintend the /ttrious master
porters, master stevedores, and master larripere acting
ct einployed therein, and shall report to the board from
time to &aft alry neglect of duty on the part of any such
persons, and also fafel I,Seep a correct account of all fines
and penalties which shall have been incurred, and all
quay-rents which shall have beeollffirayable to the board ;
and for better enabling such traffic managers to perform
their several ditties, they shall at all times harve free access
to all: books; writings, and documents kept or made vs well
by finch P6irOps as by the landing clerks, porters, set.
wants, and °aid personS employed by them or any of
them, with full pow& te Make copies thereof or extracts
therefrom ; and if any master porter, master stevedore,
master lumper, landing clerk or other person shall in
any manner prevent or endeavour to preterit any such
traffic managers from having such access or front making
any such copy or extract as aforesaid, he shall for e/ery
such offence be liable to a penalty of not exceeding
fifty pounds."
The remaining clauses principally provide for technical
amendments of the existing dock acts, and amongst
other matters the time is changed for a revision of the
list of dock electors. This important bill, should it
become an act, is to be known by the short title of
" The Mersey Docks ;Corporation Purchase) Act, 1861."

ASSAULT ON TEE Poucc.--Joseph and Jane Thorpe,
and their sons Joseph, Thomas, and John, were fined
£1 and costs (12s. 6d.) each, yesterday, at the County
Magistrates' Court. for an assault on Police-constable
Moss. It appeared that the officer was called to put
one of the defendants out of a public-house on Christ-
mas Eve. In the struggle a combined assault was made
by the defendants on the police, and with great difficulty
they were removed in custody. In passing sentence
Mr. Preston, Ale presiding magistrate, said it was
parents' duty to assist constables to take their offending
sons into custody.