The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-10-11 00:00:00

ALLEGED CRUELTY T 3 A CHILD.

Relieving-officer Lythgoe brought up a case which
had been presented to him by the police-sergeant of the
constabulary force, charging a labourer, named Richard
Boyes, of Cherry-lane, Walton, with various acts of
cruelty to a child, an intelligent little boy, the illegiti-
mate, son of his wife before marriage. The board
ordered a warrant for the apprehension of Boy )s, and
the ease will be heard before the county magistrates in
due course.

ALTERATION OF THE BOOBS TO CRIMINATE THE

doirEaNdit.

The Clerk then lead tettl4 ti•bni
.9 • •
qi*o.h. the Cloi,enix4iif the Worktioitsq th 6 diineted
0 , ,• •, . • Will •
Stalcinent of alterations iiad been made in the
entries of one of the books kept by him, amidst the
greatest exclamations sf surprise and indignation from
the guardians present :
West Derby Workhouse. Oct. 18.
GENTLEMEN,—Mr. Roberts has discovered that the provision
receipts and consumption account as made for the June quar-
ter, has been tampered with and altered, making the balance
against me £3B 12s. more th,n it should he, as shown on the
otker side ; and as the book has been in bis custody since it
was so made up, and not accessible to any one except when
laid on the table of your board, I can only conclude that it
was done there, for some malicious purpose ; and of course
for my own safety and vindication; I must leave the issue of
this in your hands.—l am, gentlemen, your most obedient
servant, EDWARD Govan.
Statement Awing the alterations made.
Ist. The qualitity of oatmeal in stock being 1 ldad
138 lbS. fl,gure 1 has. b •nintertdd, making
it 11 loads Os ; difference 10 loads; the
Value Shicli j 8 '' • • .r;
26a. tiie tilitinlite above dat; to d
ree4l, figure 1 las been inserted
3rd. In the shilling column, opposite 'meat, the
figufe 1 is inserted
4th. In the pence column, opposite arrowroot, two
figure ones (11) have been inserted
sth. In the pounds column, opposite pepper. the
figure 1 has been inserted before £2 15s 9d,
making. £l2 13s 9d lO 0 0
6th. The value of tobacco in stock has been altered
the same as the pepper, making £2 95 6d into
Zl2 9s 6d .............
7th. The value of snuff in stock being .15s Ilkd.
figure 2 has been inserted in the pounds
column, making it Z 2 15s llid .. ...

0 0 1

0 1 0

0 0 11

10 0 0

2 0 0

"i 3 1i 0

The Cifmail/ix—The books haVe been altered and
tampered with. That is clear. It is a most diabolical
act, whoever has been guilty of it.
The bookkeeper was sent for, and he soon attended
with the book in which the alterations had been niacie,
which he presented,to.thp .chairniart gilardianS for
inspection, At the. same time pointing out the figures
which had been added, which vere quite apparent to
any observer, at a casual glance.
The CHAIRMAN—HOW long has the book beeni in
your possession ?
The BOOKKEEPER—Seven weeks—ever since they
were made out, and they have never been out of ,my
possession, except when they are placed upon the table
at the meetings of the board, after which they -are taken
away by myself.
The CHAMMAS—It Is a most diabolical mffeitop. it
is a very
,priotts, mAttet. atia it t 6 codld maket
who the peisen is that has done it.

Mr. SHAW—Such an act cannot be too strongly
condemned.

The CHAIRMAN—When did you discover the altera-
ions ?

The BOOK-KEEPER—Last week.
Mr. LEDGER Could those alterations have been
made in the workhouse ? _ _ _

The Boox-itEErnn---No, I believe not. They Were
always kept lock pd u atia
.the key,.*est.ltept itty•
possessidii. • 044- Cotild tidt have been altered
there. It .is quite clear the alterations have been pur-
posely done.
-The guardians then examined each entry that had
been altered, the chairman observing that each altera-
tion was plain and unmistakable. , • It
pr heard Uwe aid
Mr. ABRAHAMS said he ;UV—. .1%
.shameful, or 6ivarilly
.aCt in his ate. tt vas
evident it-was the work of some scoundrel who was an
enemy to the governor of the workhouse; and all he
hoped and trusted was, that .this would be a lesson to
him, and that he might be discovered. He was of opi-
nion that any . man who could be guilty of such an
abominable act, would not mind going behind Mr.
Gough, and stabbing him in the dark. (Hear, hear.)
Who ever he is, if the individual is present, he trusted
that this would be a warning to him, .and that his con-
science may so prick hint that he ttay rider Again be
guilty of such au aet. tie hoped he Might be dis-
covered.: Ile tritsted that evefY lidife4taildd ,
his uttniist and bring him before
the board and to justice. Such an infamon scoundrel
ought to be severely punished.. It was a most singular
thing that the alterations made began with the item
flour. The next item was pepper, and •so on. He
begged to move that the letter be forwarded to the
Poor-law Board, that they- might see how the' books
had been tampered with.
Mr. SHAW—Why not have an inspector down ?
Mr. LEDGER.ftilly -egreed. in all the remarks that had
been made by Mr. Abrahams, nor could he use saki-
ently strong terms to denonttce„such, a dastaldly;.eo*-
ardly, and malicious get.:, It Was 616ai that, Something
must he done to prfeient. the recdrietice of such a,thing
for the He *Old iiiove. thdt, 111 niFlster'S and
books lie not laid upon ;,lie Utile kir the ftittire,
and that if any guardian felt aggrieved at not being
allowed to inspect the books let him apply to the P.,or-.
law Board, and their justification for taking such a
course would be what has just been discovered. All
shoed use -their utmost exertions to discover the scoun-
drel who had. committed such an act. Every honest
man at the board would do their utmost to do that he
was sure. If they had any suspicion they had a right to
make it knot*_ that the guilty paftY riiight be Brought
to justice. • He concluded by moving that all guardians
should be excluded from having access to the hooks
without the especial permission of the board. There
was no doubt but that the books had been tampered
with for a long time, and such a system must be, put a
stop to.

Mr. JEFFERIES—There ought to be a handsome-
reward offered for the discovery of the'offendcrl
Mr. IsottEnif_4.said it *as quite clear that. it *as . the
*OA of one of the guardians. It *as a most serious
thing. It was the work of the guardians themselves,
no other persons could do it; let it he discovered if pos.
sible who the party was. If he was found out, let him
he brought to justice, whoever ht Might We: • Let
reward be offered, to see 5f the coilid be caught.
Mr. LlMCiElt—q-id °light to, be punished for a felony
or tylisdeiileanour.

Air. ROBERTS said he was as likely to be charged with
the offence as anybody else. Therefore, let a reward be
offered. It was a most serious thing to them all, and
if practicable he hoped it would be discovered who the
offender was.

niMr. Sitiov said he thoug.lit the best way to proceed
would be to send down an inspector from the Poor-law
Board, and let him investigate the t 1 At the same
time he would say that lie shridid ferlnife hi see
books every t *hitt ask respectfully
to see
than.
the &AIRMAN—The hooks have no right to be here
at all if Mr. Ledger's motion is carried.
Mr. LEDGER—II will prevent the books being }moue:ht.,
here at all. If any guardian felt aggrieved, let liitq
apply' to the Poor-law Board, and when required for a
reason for adopting such a course, they could point to
the alterations which had been made in the figures• and
to one of the guardians having on a petvioils occasion
rent a leaf mit, and torn tip It
. Mr. PllllNet—tet no guardian see the books without
the permission of the hoard.
The chairman then put Mr. Abrahams' motion, for
referring the letter to the Poor-law Board, which
was
seconded by Mr. Roberts, and unanimously carried.
• Mr, Ledger's motion, that no guardian have access
to the books without the special permission of the
board, 'was seconded by Mr. Isaac gdWards, and carried,
Mr. Shaw being the only dissentient.
Mr. ItotittaTs--Itow about the reward
The Citmalcor•—That eetttiot be tarried otit, its we
Kaye no power to Ilse the ratepeyete; money for such
purposes.
A letter from Mr. Glover, the senior overseer for
itirkdale, was read, but the consideration thereof was
postponed for the present.
Mr. ABRAHAMS moved for a roturn of the assessments
of every township in the union for the years 1850 and
1860, which it was agreed should he supplied.
After transacting some routine business, the board
broke up.