The Express.
London, England, 1853-12-09 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMO.V COUNCIL. !

The Common Council of the City of London met
yesterday for the despatch of business.:

FREEDOM OF TIM CITY.
Mr. lit tat brought up the followiii.e report, and moved
that the court agree with the committee, and that it be re-
ferred back for execution.

To the Hight Hens the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and
Commons of the Ci•y of London in common council assem-
bled :—We, whose nanice are hereunto subscribed of your
fre. dons committee, to whom on the 24th day of November
last was referred to consider the communication then made
by ,Ir. Chamberlain, as to proceedings before him relative
to the employment of eon-freemen, do certify that having
taken into consideration the said eefereuce and coniniuni-
ettion, and also the statement of the. investigation before
Mr. Chamberlain upon the case referred to in such corn-
municition, and havieg been attended by him, and having
also consulted with Mr. Solicitor thereon, and having re-
ferred to the bill introduced by your hon. court into
the House of Commons last year, for regulating elections
in the city of London, and conferring rights and privileges
upon persons occupying and rated to premises therein, and
particularly to the preamble of such bill ; and also having
considered all the WM01313=1;5 befere us, and the fact of
I..tral proceedings having been instituted against freemen
carrying on business in the City of London for employing
non-treemen, we beg to recommend the imme du•e repeal
of the second section of the act of Common Council made
a•td passed on the 4th day ot July, 1712, which prohibits
the employment of such non Ire .men; and that the law
officers should be direr ted to prepare a bill to that effect.
Yens commit.ee have also taken into consideration the pro-
visions of the act of Common Council made and passed on
tie I•ith de, of April, 160 d, recited in the bill of led year,
which prohibits nun-freemen from carrying on trade in the
City of London; and also other provisions of the act of July
4, 1712, relating thereto, as well as the act of C• mmon
Council of the 22nd of November, 1750, for ansendiore the
said acts. And we, your committee, beg further to submit
our opinion that it is expedient that these acts of Common
Council should be altogether repealed, the same being insp.
pliceble to the present times and eircutustanem, irjurious
to the occupiers within the City, and in restraint of trade "
Mr. DL axe supported the recommendation of the com-
mittee, and related the fallowing circumstance: Ali,ut •
levels eminth ego a man of the name of Joseph Meets, in
the employment of a master butcher in the neighbourhood
of Whitechspel was complained of by another piety as
being a non-freeman employed by a freeman, and the
master, a Mr. Woodley, was threatened with proceedings in
the Mayor's Court if he continued that person in his em-
ployment. Mr. Woodley,lllolbus to avoid *prosecution of
this. nature, came to the Chamberlain's of and took up
kis workman's freedom. Ile was told in the Chambi r-
lain's sates that that would not save him from tee eun,e-
quences of the penalty he had already incurred, and he ac-
cordingly went to an attorney of the Mayor's Court, and
with the consent of the informer paid a sum of three
guineas to stop further proceedings. With the con-
sent of the workman. the master retained a por-
tion of his wages to repay himself. A short
time afterwards, the man demanded an increas..
of wages, and received it. In July an altercation took
place in the family of Mr. Woodley, which resulted in the
dismissal of thu man deers, who left his place in August,
and who two days afterwards g eve his late master notice ot
action for retaining another nun-freemen in his employ-
ment. Mr. Woodley then tome down to the Chamberlain's
office and te:•k up the second person's freedom, agreeing, as
in the last case, to retain a portion of hit wages to repay
himself. A short time afterwards a third information was
laid against Mr. Woodley, who was again obliged to take
up another man's freedom. Within a few weeks of the pre-
sent time the man Meers, having been thrown out of
work, came and threatened Mr. Woodley for refusing to
employ him, he (Mr. Woodley) at the time having non-
freemen iu his employment. Upon this Mr. Woodley came
to the Chamberlain to represent the hardship of the case,
when that officer, in the exercios of his authority, went
so far as to refuse the emo:oyment of his name is
the action upon the ground that it was not brought with
the bona fide view of enforcing the act of the Common
Council, but for the purpose of gratifying malice and ex-
torting money. It could hardly have been supposed that
there was still in the statute book an obsolete law which
had been suddenly revived for the oppression of the citizens.
(Hear, hear.)
Deputy Hutt referred to the allotment of the revenues
arising from freedoms taken up as funus for the support
ot the orphan school, and thought it was too much to ex-
pect the corporation to giro them up.
Deputy HALL thought the committee had taken the
court by surprise, and opposed the report.
Mr. 'Voce° was of Deputy llolt's opinion.
Deputy LIRDFORD thought it would be a disgrace to the
corporation if the report were adapted.
Mr. H. L. TAYLOR referred to evidence which had been
given before the It eyed Commission, and said ho would not
fear the result of that inquiry had there not been gross
falsehood stated before it in evidence.

Upon this Mr. Elliot demanded if Mr. Taylor referred to
him, and although told by thatgentleman that he was not
in his thoughts at the time, persisted in demanding an
explanation.
The Lonu MAYOK having stated that be considered
Mr. Taylor's expl►nation eatisfactary, the discussion went
on, and in the end the court accepting an amendment by
Deputy Holt, adopted the first paragraph of thb report, re-
jecting the rest.

3IEETIAG OF MIDDLESEX SIAGISTRATES.

Yesterday a court of the magistracy of Middlesex
was held at Cierkenwell, to dispose of business connected
with the county. Mr. POW PALL presided, sod there was
a full attendance of magistrates.

TYE CITY

AND THE COUNTY.

Mr. WOODWARD called the attention of the chairman to
the evidence of Captain Williams, the inspector of prisons,
before the royal commission on the corporation of London,
in which Captain Williams said—" It tends to the credit
of the corporation that they have supplied considerable
sums of money from the Orphans' Fund, which is created
out of the coal duties, to the promotion of objects of public
importance in Middlesex. Ten years ago they voluntarily
voted 11,0001. from that fund for the erection of the Mid-
dlesex Sessions House, and 5,500/. for the Guildhall at
Westminster." Now, he was one of the members of the
court conversant with the accounts, and he read this state-
ment with astonishment, because there was no entry of any
such aid having been rsceived from the City, and he there-
fore wished to ask whether there was any statement of such
money being received in the public accounts of that court.
The CE•Ist••• said there was • very great mistake In
the statement refined to. Instead of ten years, the matter
occurred eighty years ago, and the payments were made
under an act of parliament, 18 Geo. 111., c. 67. By that
act the magistrates were required to pull down Hicks' Hall,
which was given to the county as a Sessions House by Sir
Baptist Hicks, in the reign of James 1., aed was situate in
the centre of St. John-street, Smithfield, and the City Cor-
poration was directed to psy to the county the sum of
11,0001. out of the Orphan Fund towards the erection of
another SesaionsHouse, in consideration of which the county
gave up the site of Hicks'-hall to the public. In the same
year, by chap. 2, the Orphan Fund was shown to he
more than suSdent for the purposes provided for under
the original act, and the City was directed to pay out of it
the sum of 5,5001. to the trustees for the Guildhall at West-
minster. That sum was paid at the time, but since then no
money whatever had been received from the City for
county
_turprses.
Mr. WOODWARD was very glad that this explanation
had been given.