The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1873-12-23 00:00:00

TO THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN, AND
COUNCILLORS OF THE BOROI7OII
OF DORCHESTER.

GVITLIIIIIM— I bare already acknowledged through your
'roan Omit the receipt ol 01404 his report "on the origin
and preemt **whilen of the propped (or mooting the Faine
and Markets from the prment Fair and Market Ground to
Degrare Kum," (ebb c.pica 4 ',me of thr Couneirs rrsohl•
lions), and of ).,ur reedutkm of the ard day of December
inttant adulate.; It
. . . .

Being one of ..etween SOO and 400 of the memorialist, who
I')- thl" repa.rt are ihmacterizol as having unreel an objection
taith-ut onsbleration and with an taltito tontethalikest of
peat experience " I venture to ask, why copies of resolutions .
referring to • "themo (or a Fair, Market, and Reereatios
tiro tod • high fell thn.ugh IS year* is, have been appended
to Report. whilat thos• of the more material and later ones
relatio..; to the agreernent •ith the Duchy for • tense of the
twewid Fair iinanot, together with Mr. Itarbit Ptibitt, And the
• ovehlionve, etc., eta, Into Mr. Lambert's, and the real
~t ft....-euguplutb.ll, bare Out been appended, but on
the ootrary wit/a/odd liad they been appended, and not
aria Add.the, nAirht hay • thrown Sonto light os the following pm-
Kara; 41 In theitepert "limey howbeit perhaps.. hy tide arrange.
tient was never completed, and I thank. speaking from orlicial
lotosh.d:e ou the 'object, I may add that on account of Oa low
eltuation, and the impseibility of carrying of the aocumulto ,
1i.... of water which found It, way there by gins Ration, the ;
Council felt that the place we. not the most suitable. and in
hesitatol to undertake the responsibility." Is it admitted by
your adoption of thia parm-raph that your Town Clerk has •
iinowkalge upon matter vitally affecting the present sod
future welfare of the borough, and that you have not? It Old
wise to anticipate this Inevitable question, "why this srninge-
mem was never o.mpleted," in that you younwlves might I
mower It. Hut 101 l mestere.] by the mild. " I think I may '
..d.l" .4 y..ur Than Clerk? It in my opiol.n, awl I believe that Of
,Me than of the mernorallate. that the torm•raph we. both
written arel adopted "without oinsideradm, and with an
entire forgetful!..." of past experience." It all events, had
conk., .4 the resolutions and o.rrespendesce veidiArld been
added I. the Report, the Ratepayers "roan theo hare had
information before them upon which they might venture to,
form their own.. opt/Ikon. Again, Is it ahnittevi that
.

yen, the cusediartiof the vv7e-lfant of the Borough, and
t 4 the intereautof the hatelayt re, alter mach discuslon awl
ewitskleration of, ant deliberation upon, 43 Ike adorn=
and d iand rts yreelr.minita of &MIK, and
ei rot not,' nn, attendant therton, made • se...Arad In 1864 for
a inane of the Kosent Fair Fit:W./to, and nisequently shirked
it. lac:gum forw.oth you heritated to undertake the reopen-
ntbliittm ed You, deliberate obligation. If this. too, be admitted,
may not I, and the Hatepayers of the - orough generally, draw
Inference that in resuscitating the Beggars' Knot, ahouse you
tried " without coraideratiou and with an mike forgetfubms
Si pest experieoce I*
May not I and my Codnemoriallets also draw the inference
front the report that in the autumn of the yaw 1872 you had
arrival at that unsaable locality the illougk of Despond, end
becoming there so fearfully Impressed with the perils Si
your wankel, you "deemed it imper!dve to procure a
of the proposed imam of 184 applied the
°lnert for that petrprae, and was iLllnned, in answer to
that appilleaUon, "that If you had finally leckied to favour of
the present ground the Lease would be granted as had bees
proposed by you."
Nut what Inference can I and my Ce-memorlailisu draw foes.
Ma paragraph of your report, when coutmeted with a whim
quent one beginning thus—. The memoriel eddremed to 250
by torten Ratepayers of the Borough, mat which irelasiy
been under your consideration,* in which it is elated "1 em
maroon thiek that the marembilists could have been aware, and
I have good rennet for believing that many were not aware,thsi
the Tenure of the present Fair and Market ground Is so pre.
MMus tell is." "AIM that If Mr. Team were removed by death
you would have no Fair or Market ground whatever." In ets•
paragraph we ate informed the Lease of the present Fair Mid,
etc. would be granted If you desired it, and in mother that
the Tenure Is bit precarious that if Mr. Tooke were to die we
should have no Fair or Market Ground whatsoever
Those litatementa appear to certain ratepayers" and myself
to be In such utter contradletita as to be beyond our uninformed
minds to reconcile. You mutt not be surprised, therefore, If
I ask what your position would have been as to a Pair end
Market Ground if "Mr. Tonga had been removed by death "
between the years 1864 and 1872 Had you carrlesi out your
arrangement of 1864 you ooukl have rwallsed by • as:render of
Mr Toone'. life Policy • sum ndatelent to meet the ont/ay In
bulkllngs requirol by the Duchy on the present Fair and
Market Ground, and saved the annual premium of £4B ea lid.
payable on the Policy. If that premulm had been sit apart at
that time at a sinking fund, It would now eunice to pay about
a fifth of the sum charged on the Town Hall, ha By them
means you would have been enabled to reduce your wsssnt
annual payment for Interest treat about £145 to about &LI%
thus @ants( LS a year.
It gives me pleasure to askew your report that the proposed
removal to Beggar's Knap Is tat a new schema; on the Men
trary, I believe It woe • flourishing infant from its birth down
to the year 1858, when it died prematurely Rom a cruel shock
It ma 'opposed at that time to have received from one Mr.
Robert Gardiner. That the late Mr. Harland mad his influence
and exertions from the time he was so ounplimentally tinned
Alterman and during his Mayoralty to procure Beggars' limp
Fair, Market, and Recreation Ground, is beyond contradiction.
But that which might have been dedrable in the yea's 1857 and
1858, may, by the al brake of cireumatmoss, became undesirable
In the yoar 1873.
A compliment had been paid Mr. Nantleki by the Council,
which I believe has never been paid to any other gentleman
either before or since, via, that oil electing him, when not
holding • mat In MO Connell, to be an Alderman of the
Borough. I know that he felt the compliosent more than he
ever expressed to the outer world, and I know It we. his
intention (anti that was the rascal of his udeg all his
and influence) If be could have purelweed Kn7il
pe
t It to the Town for a Fair market and Recrentioni
At that time, however, the Fairs of the B7e"ki g
were widely different to what they are now. Palm of et,
aurtion on market days had not then been fully dcreloped in
this Ilorongh, whilst the number of animals sent to the fairs
was double that of the present day. Indeed from theme dr-
ctunstaocee It may be anticipated that at no very distant
period the fairs of the lb 'rough will boom.* (es fairs in many
Ow, have) " thlnea of the putt,* whilst the number of
etoek sales by auction on gaol days that are continually
springing. up In neigh noun ng Towns anti Owns, and throughout
the country generally, may tend to create • doubt, whether
any ench extend.'n as that evnternplated by the ' Knap
scheme can now 'medal el outlay that would be
more than wise neonomy In 3 wealthy Corporation, might be
rank extravaxanee na n-or one, Minlened with debt. Ihi.
Indite, the toroth,t, what was the Financial condition of the
Iwnaktil in the sear. not intot as crotrested with
the ire.ont The printed accounts foe the borough show for
the you ending the let of September, lasi, an aggniaLt.,
bsionce in Its femur of 4-518 and upwards, for the follogrlng
year, 187, of CI% and inwards, and for the next year, 18.4.1,
C!.tft awl onward., heekles arrears Inc to the (oniteil since
that le nod lartroe sums If moue) have been borrowed
by the Council at interest, and spent, and I have
Oh, many ter-salons when in the Council, a• you
know, endow toned by my humble voice as well an
by my tote to prevent that caproditure, nod with what
el, it you slot kbow. Aldennan Galpin (who to my knowledge
has given ma much time and attention to the Financial Unmet-
ment or the (Comet] as any member of it, and who from the
thanks be has received from ratepayer., will have Incited
menthen teho had net previously done so, If there were any,
to take up the ',object of your Finance) a short time ell.]
POMO, reminded you that none of your borrowed monies had
yet heen paid, nor had any effitrt been made to pay them, and
that over arid alone your mortgage debts you were indebted
g... 100 and tti.wanla ,01 your general amount. The present
Indebtedness of the Council may therefore he fairly taken to
in between CA,OOO and .C 4,000. I reeve !anion. whilst on the
subject of Finance, to bring to your notice that • reference to
the Terrier of the Borough Property will ahow that the Isms
of the Curdy Hall awl .4 the tiny office., etc., adjoining, have
about 17 'cars to nut front the Ist of • tetober next, anti that
the ttarlt nets th,roon resentsi amount to erl Is. The
intoned.. .4 my, If net ratepayer, mmeraily cualshiens MO to
tato. • Ills my which others/ch., I would not presume totake
sic. to n-k ,Intmti.n. whether the County would not
purchase th, e... 1 thin Property at a cum beyond what woukl
pay all Vollf de•l4A, aol have a Faience to your credit? Your
revolution Math,: that the " Menioriai had bens prepared by
the memorialist. with on perfret the actual 1.4-
Mon of the Council in pearl to the present Fair Ground,
inamouth as to insure the nocupation of that site for the use
MOO Town after the pate lite upon which it held 'ball