The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-01-15 00:00:00

BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING.

- -
EXTRAORDINA ItY PROCEEDINGS.

A portion .4 the following dlorwedon appeared In the Expecte
Tlte..dav lad; bet the whole proceeding,. are .4 been an
: igattl.e, that we lune thought It adrbtahle to
puhl..l, tl.ttu on the prenott tit:v.lon at gnat& length.'

A mueting of the Board of Health was held on
Mcmlay week, Jan. 7th; the members present were
the Mayor ; Aldermen Nlanlielil and Ceondis ;
Councillors Frond, Devenish, Lock, Bennett,
Mason, Stanton, Aldridge, Halpin, Bishop, and
Andrews.

The CL/EltIL read the minutes of the previous
meeting.
The Leserievon reported to existence of several
nuisances, and steps were ordered to be takeu fur
their remoral.
The SeliveTort presented his report. He recom-
mended that gullies be placed at -Fordingtea and
other parts of the town for taking surface water
into the sewers, at au estimated cost of £l6, and the
work was ordered to be carried out under the
superintendence of the General l'urposes Committee.
The boiler and steam pips, at the water works were
ordered to be covered with non-conducting felt,
on the recommetelation of the Surveyor, who
reported that the, leakage of the reservoir was the
same now as it was when he last reported thereon.
Tile SUiLVEYOU, in reply to Mr. Stanton, said that
he had expended .e:l7 his. teL fur labour and material
in stopping the leakage of the water pipes. The
sum retained in the bawls of the Board fur that
purpose was £5O.
The CLERK also, in reply to a question from Mr.
Stanton, stated that according to the opinion of
counsel which was taken on the subject, the Board
was primarily liable to the several parties claiming
payment for surface damages, and that the cuutractur
was liable to the Board.
Mr. STANTos said that the amount paid for surface
drainage and etatpping the leakage of this main
had already &w anted to about .tBO, for which the
Board had retained only 4:50 in its own hands to
pay. Under the contract, Mr. D. elson IWO also hound
to put the roads in a proper state of repair, but he
contended that they had been cut up and spoilt, and
had not been completed according to the terms of the
-c-•utract, and that the Board ought to call on the
truineto of the estate to make good the damage
•dune by the contractor.
The SURVEVoIt said he had not seen the roads
when the works were commenced, and he was there-
fore unable to give a direct estimate of the damage
duue by putting in the drains and water pipeo. As
far as lie had seen, the roads had been put in as
veel repair aa was generally the ease wheu such
works were carried on:
Mr. ALDERMAN MANFIILLD then rose to propose
the motien of which he hail given entice : —" That
the Town Clerk be directed to furnish and send
copies of his letter to the General Board of 'heath,
sent by the direction or with the approval of the
General •Purprwee Commit-toe, and the answer
of such General Board thereto, to each
qiember of the Town Council, such copies to he en-
clostol in an envelope and marked 'private' and
sealed with the 'cal of the Board." As &member of
• the Board he thought he had a right to see the
contents of these letters. Individually, to him
they were matter of little moment, but he held
that in print of law and equity they bad no right to
withold them from him, and that to do eu was to
virtually turn him out of the Ci-uncil, as it was im-
pesible for him to vote on the question while
being thus kept in the dark. The Town Clerk,
at their laid meeting, told them that he hail ehewn
these letters to the Mayor and es-Mayor, and he
assumed that no other member of the Baird was ac-
quiainteil with their content& He himself knew not
what their contents were, and he had %indent... 4
that the Town Clerk hail declined to show the letters
toolbar .meuilisos. Now he was a member of that
Board, and here was an Oberst- communication be
tween their Clerk and the General Board ; and
he presumed lie had as great a right to see it
as any other member of the Board. He had no
doubt that neconling to the contents of the letter
received from the General Board, the law was against
the Corporation. but whatever it was he held it was
illegal to withhold the information from the members.
He tlid not see why Mr. Devenish or the Mayor
should have the right to give his advice upon the
course U. be adopted by the Town Clerk, any more
than he had. That Board was couiposeil of the
Mayor, aldermen, and WWII councillors —some-
thing after the constitution or this country of King,
Lord& and ))))) lions. He would admit that the
mayor was their king, but lie was at the same time
one of the repreeentatives of the borough, a comieil-
lor, while the aldermen might be likened to the
Lords, chosen by the corporation, and the members
of the council might be likened to the cumulous, who
were chosen by the people. Now this being so, be
held that his vote was equally as good in every re-
spect as the vote of the Mayor, whom
lie could not allow to be superior in any
respect to himself ill that council chamber, or
poroessed of greater authority than himself, farther
than that of -being their president and having the
right of giving a casting vote. Ile had 1111 doubt
that the Mayor and the Town Clerk would do their
best in this matter, but he thought that the council
should pause before they delegated their authority
on so important a question as this was, to two men.
Besides, lie thought that as representing the rate-
payers, they ought to have everything open and
above board. He hoped that they did not think
that if he were defeated he would resign his seat in
the council, because he did not intend any !limb
. .

thing. bat be held that it masa duty they owed the
ratepayers that they should make themselves
acquainted with the merits of the case, that if they
were liable. to. pay the compensation claimed they
should pay it, instead of going into an expensive law•
suit,w bile on the other hand, if the opinions of the
General Board were against the claim, the parties
seeking compensation might withdraw their claim
And thus put an end to the dispute.
Dr. A 1.11141DG X said he would be happy to second
the resolution. but he did not think it set forth the
exact state of the case. If he understood the
matter sightly Mr. Symonds did not write on the
suggestion or advice of the General Purposes Com-
mittee, but that finding what their wishes were, he
took it upon himself to write to the General Board.
The etaliK stated that when the General l'ur-
poses Connuittee met in the other room for the pur-
pose of settling the question of compensation, they
were met with claims made by Mr. Stanton, Mr.
Davis. and Mr. Robinson on account of drains hav-
ing passed through their lands. The Committee
agreed to recommend the settlement of the Llatisis
for surface ilionage, hut with regard to these claims
of Mr. Suuitoti and others, they felt themselves
quite at fault, and it was suggested whether it would
not Ise well to take the advice of the General Board
out the matter. Ile stated that as but was going to
London in a slay or two he would, if they wished,
mill at the office of the General Board and ascertain
their opinion. When he milled at the office Mr.
Taylor was not within, and when he came back,
without waiting to see any members of the General
Purposes Committee, lie wrote to the General Board.
Ho received a reply to his letter on the 6th or 7th
December. and the Mayor anti ex•hlayor promiscu-
ously cot aa itt g in just as lie received it he showed it
to them. 'When he came to their last meeting, as it
was open for any gentlemen to ask hiui how he sue•
ceedesl in I,onslon, he felt lie had a right to state
what he had done and what the result was, and to
ask the Board whether they would have the letter
. read. and they decided that it should not.
Mr. =, I-DENMAN COONlat coulsl understand the
Omni...tiny for • ithholding the contents of the letter
from certain individuals who were interested, but
he coulsl not see why they should be kept from the
general lastly of else Council.
Mr. Sri '4.ms thought the resolution was properly
worded. The Town Clerk hail written his letter to
the General Board in his Abend capacity.
Mr. NI AEI said, what lie asked for was— the
letter the Toss Ii Clerk wrote to the General Board,
and the answer lie receivesl to that letter.
Mr. Coomrei mid if there was soy doubt about the
resolut. ,he would pecond it as it stoisl.
Mr. G AIX'S Stated, that his reason for taking the
part he slid oil the former occasion was, that be saw
the question was one of a very serious nature. lie
disl not eonsisler the parties seeking compensation
for the mains running through their lands and pre•
muses lad sustained any real damage, only an
imaginary one, and that there were at many other
parties through whose property the mains had run,
that if all claimed compensation as Mr. Stanton
and two or three others had done, the town could
not possibly meet the claims. The question was
therefore • very serious one, and involved a prin-
ciple of so great importance that they ought Co act
in a most careful manner. Ile was not aware
whether the opinion of the Board was in favour
of compensatisin to the parties or not, hut he
thssuglit perhaps, the letter might contain such in-
formation for the guidance of the Town Clerk,
which if their opponents obtained it, might be frus-
trated. He concluded by movin as an amendment
—" That in the opinion of this the claims
now wade for other than surface e involve a