The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1875-06-01 00:00:00

-
sOil he made some astounding disclosures of the circum-
stances under which public property is managed and
burlesqued, in what he colic,' the
Qtrenhorough. in the Isle
i
t.imtihsnreoicipatlyrgiorfritionw.. tentof Queenhomogh.
New Romney,
and New Woodstock.
of property. The corporation became bankrupt in 11445,
Sheppey, was returned n lasi% an possessing £l6.oeu • year
and then made over thew property to seven of their own
ber by a ivrivate Bill, to he held until the debt was
off. an then to revert to the original sixteen of the
corporation voeeeborouch was a corporate town before
the famoua visit of Queen Philippa. When Queen Philippa
visited that town she was shocked by the sight that met
her eyes. The purr of the town, being a thatcher by
trade, was engaged in thatching a roof, and the Queen
observing that his breeches were rent at the seat-
(lanahter)-pregented the town with ten shillings a year in
order that the Mayor night he provided with a pair of
breeches. and that ten shillings the Mayor still received-
(laughter). The corporation still impose" heavy duties on
all goods coming into Qmteenllarough. which was now a
coal depot of the London, Chatham,. and Dover Railway,
and of the foreign cattle trade. The town sergeant, when-
rowed out and demanded
Qusetiborough kept no
heLerfheoescawTshhoiptlwarr...orcgtail,ft.
of
accounts-daaghtert HO precedent might have been
followed by an august meeting of sergeants held Thurn-
day, at which it aas resolved that if there were to be no
nines sergeants the property should he divided among
those now living-(laughter). Certain funds belonging to
tie charityrough
an reaciy and singular way. Every boy in the
of the Ismrough were distributed in a most
Sheppey workhouse got sixpence • year-ffaughter).
ru
Whether it did him touch good or not he could not say.
Every widow of a fnentan got thirty-six shillings a-year.
Twenty-live pounds a year were raised fora jollifica-
tion to the Mayor, and this was raised from
the poor-rates, but the Guardians of Sheppey Union re-
fused to collect the rate, and the Mayor of m:ueenhonmngh
, had to make a special poor-rate of his own in order to get
the money. A comillon of valuable grazing laud had been
entamed within the last few years la, the Mayor, Captain
Cumming. mvho hail al., appropriated the common fishing
righta. One !line., Webb, who set up a claim, was tried
ley the mogresson themselves and conintitted to ('sober-
bury gaol. New Romney was governed under forms inure
tuagniticent in their solemnity than those of any other
corporation on earth. On the eve of a municipal election
horns were blown and solemn proclamation was made
calling the anumonalty to answer to the need of the
corporation. On the morning following horns were again
sounded, and a procession of the corporaticu officers and
the commonalty set out to the church where the election
was held round the tomb of a gentleman who had be-
queathed his tombstone to be used as a table on such
OCCaSiMIS-(laughter). That gentleman had given an air
of respectable antiquity to bin name by spelling it
Stubbynnes ; but he (Sir Charles 'Nike) believed that the
old gentleman*o descendants adopted the modern form of
Stubbios. The Mayor was there in robes which had been
manufactured on the occasion of the funeral of the Duke
of Wellington. The Town Clerk solemnly called upon the
commonalty of New Romney to proceed to election. The
commonalty was represented by one person, who together
with the six corporation officers doctorial themselves a
public meeting, having first taken care to exclude the
public by lucking the doors of the church. The corpora-
tion thus elected produced no accounts, and showed no
balance-sheet of any kind. There were ge acres of valu-
able corporation land which were held entirely hy means
of the corporation and its officers. 'When Major Donolly
was sent down from the Home Office to inquire into
the disposal of the funds and the constitution of the
corporation, the corporation refused to answer him.
Ile ascertained that t:ffill per annum out of an income of
.L(MO was legitimately and properly disposed of. The
" Village Hampden," who woo present, asked the town
clerk what Was done with the rest, and received from that
official the reply, "I shan't tell you "-(laughter). There
was a hospital in the town whose income was .1:105. Of
this 1.21 Ram. Ind. was lipoid in repairs and refreshments-
(laughter)-and certain payments enjoined by the founders
will having 'wen made, a balance of 1:1115s. 1,1. "for the
use of the governors "-(laughter)-was left. The governor,
by the founder's will, Was to teach two boys English, but,
" instead of doing so, he paid 2d. a week for their instruction
I at the National School-daughter). His predecessor did
I the same thing, reporting to the Charity Commimioners
I that "the boys are taught elsewhere, where probably they
are better taught than they would be by myself." In the
neighbourhood of New Romney certain bills circulated
Freely, and one of them called " Pumpkin's Catechism,"
coutamed some inconvenient questions as to the property
in the town. In it the mayor, Mr. Walker. was always
alluded to as llookey, whiter Mr. Stringer, the town
clerk, was called Billy. One question was, "What is
considered indispensable for affiniasion to the corpora-
tion r The answer was " Relationahip, the surrender of
private judgment, and a promise to obey implicity
Hookey and all his friends "- (laughter). The doctrine of
trusteeship of pulgic money was also well expLainel.
" For what was the corporation instituted r was asked,
and the answer wax, "For the benefit of Houkey and
lii, friends "-(laughter). New Woodstock corporation
con.-isted of live aldermen elected for life, who took
it in turns to be mayors, and 11l self-elected councillors,
who held office for life, and elected the aldermen.
These five men were torough magistrates, having
conoiderable jurisdiction. The property of the curpor
ation was valued ut CPO or .1:101) a year, and it had to
deal besides smith considerable charitable funds. Muir
Donnelly held an inquiry in this place also, and the
mayor told him that a Dissenter haul never been a Mein-
Is-r of the corporation he was glad ts, say -dam:lib:Q.
The clove trade which was the only manufacture in the
town, was not represented on the council, because
the principle glove lookers were Dissenters. At the pre-
sent time there were 21 freemen ; hut ar only three person.
had taken up their freedom since 1b..12, they would pro-
bably become wholly extinct, and to one witne. toll
Major Donnelly with great awe, in answer to his inquiry,
what would then happen ;-" there would be noloaly left
to elect a Mayor "--(laughter), The present Mayor Wai a
publican, and rented Isis home (non the corporation at a
sum amounting altogether to .1:5 per year, the house being
rated at 135. The laws, to clewing was constantly broken
there he teas told, yet no sumnionsesavere issued, although
other publicans in the town were tined for I,s offences.
Last December a number of people were drinking in his
house with the doors locke,L and the police broke in and
tismk the moues of the principal offenders. Nothing was
done, Imo ever, in the matter, until the inhabitants raised
such an outcry that ten were • al and eight ear
victel. The attention of the chief constable was then
collet to the fact that the Iloilir luol not leen punished,
alid after some time lie ovas sumo ~,,, el and tined by his
moon edleagues. Ile worship then made a opees-h in court
in which be soil, " I !mace always haml a greet respect for
the iodic°, hut I mutt Cr shall have msain"--(laughter). He
thought lie haml made out a strong case for inquiry. The
chief officers of the emrporations pooseseed considerable
jurisdiction over persona clmargel with offences, :mud yet
they were not appointed by the Crown ; the chanty funds
net,, mismanaged, and the valuable properties if the ter-
imnitions were ler-let, and consequently under-rated,
thus throwing a heavier Norden on the other inhabitant..
On these groundo he thought he was entitle' to the inquiry
for which he aslo.sl--(cheers),
Lord It. Cmloluuuii.L saiil he would give the House the
Main facts 031 to the case of which so -11 har been made.
The Foresters were meeting one evening at the hotel kept
by the mayor, and the business Was of NU unusual') heavy
and complicated a character-(laughter) -(hat the hours
laid down by the Excise did not suffice for its transaction
-oaughter). The police gave information V. the chief
constable, and but for the lamentable accident at
Shiptim, which occupied his time, the summonses would
have leen immediately issued. They were issued as soon
as that accident was settled, and the Mayor was fined XI,
and the Foresters 2ui, Oil. As to what was said almut the
police, be was told that the Mayor sail he had always
thought very highly of the police, but that f that time
forward he should think more highly of them titan ever--
(moud laughter). So that the whole case was most credit-
able to Womalstock-and they might almost exclaim
parapbraoing the words of Henry IV, on learning that
Chief Justice Gascoigne hail committed his son to prison,
" Happy w is the ton that too such a corporation "--flood
laughter). The property of the Woodstock Corporation
was in no sense public property. About one-third was
held under charitable trusts, the remainder bad been
acquire% partly charter. partly by devises, and partly by
prudent inanagement. It was expendel almost entirely
on public works in Woodstock. Ile denied Woodstock ,
was a close corporation. Ile (Lord IL Churchill) did not
know of any Dissenters being on the corporation. but he
could tell the lion. baronet that there mvere three men
belonging to that body who entertained liberal opinions-
the town clerk, the coroner, and • Scotchnon, who, he
need hardly say, held the most advanced opinions-
(laughter). It had always been the laudable custom of
the corporation for ages pad to recruit their members
from the most respectable and wealthy portion of the
, inhabitants, and, as in more borough* than Woodstock,
wealth and resptetability were found to coincide with
Conservative opmnions-(cheent and laughter). 'The noble
' lord concluded a clever speech by remonstrating with Sir
. Charles %hike in a tone of friendly earned ness for not
batter employing his great talenta than in devoting them
,to "the cruel vivisection of an unfortunate Mayor," and
, to the carrying on of a series of petty onslaughts on Cor-
r ',orations as ancient as they were obtrusive, and as harm-
; less as they were respectable and respectel.
Time proposed return was, after some remarks trom Sir
,it. IlaimiLu.Lor and Sir IV. HARCOURT, agreed to.
I Mr. E. JENKINS then illoVed for the appointment of a
Royal l; ~,,, to inquire into the application of plo-
t perty of time late church of Ireland, which according to the
I detailed statement by which the hon. member supported
I his motion, were "marked by prodigality if not corrup-
tion."