The Express.
London, England, 1851-12-19 00:00:00

ne Court.

! MEETING AT LIVERPOOL ON CUSTOMS

REFORM.

OSBORNE, TIICRADAT.
iler Majesty', Prince Albert, and the royal family Yesterday, at 12 o'clock, a very numerously at-
walked as usual in the gardens and grounds. tended public meeting was held he the Session--Louse, in
Sir George Grey arrived fre.a London, an I remains ca a pursuance of a requisition to the mayor, most reqwelaaly
visit to the Queen. I signed, calling on his °natio to e; oven. a meeting to
The Marthionesa of Douro, Sir George Grey, the Rev. consider what measures should ho mina to remedy tho
Mr. Protheno, and the R.N. Mr. Birch had the honour of evils which exist under the present Cleatom-house syatem.
b. ing included in the royal party at dinner. Precisely at the hour appoint( d '1'110:4A8
Esq., the mayor, attende-d by a gre at number of the must
Inßunitificomuiercial gentlemen of the port, catered the A deputation from the committee of deputies on the
:Metropolis Interments Bill, including Mr. J. IL hull aones MULL C.1:11i114 ; and his worship, haviui tawen the
(chairman), suet Air. Hull Terrell oectosty), had nn • chair, stated the oljects of the nquistionisu in a nest nit-
tires., expressing his concurrence these oinsets, and trust-
interview with Lord Seymour, yesterday, at the slice
Public Works and Buildings, in Whitehall-place. leg that the proceedings of the meeting would be eltarae•
tensed by good temper and moderation.
The Cambridge rativerstty Commission had a rev
yesterday at the official resolctic., of the First Lord as Mr. T. il. HORSFALL, President of the Lit erpool
'Treasury in Downing-street. Present : The Bishop a f Chamber of Commerce, rose to mote the find rtsolution.
Chester, the Dean of Ely, Sir John Herschel, the dee. old WOs nevit.al with gnat aPplau... lie cotatuenesel Ire
Professor Sedgwiek, and the Rey. W. B. Bab:sail , 14-4 deFohtut seeing so numerous and rt sjActahiu
(secretary). :na-m..ia re of the ntereleants rat Lieerpeel, anal hi. gr
The Mtrquis of Lansdowne (Lord President) has arrived tiaatiau tint the Mayor had comontni to plea::.•use r them,
not ooly iu his cip inty of chief magistrate of the b arounli,
at his seat, Bowood-park, Wilts, from Lord Ashburton's
seat, Thu Grange, Hants. hut as 4 most extensively engaged in ememereld
transaction., and who cotild t‘e revere synth:date with the
The Chancellor of the Bachelor? has arrived at his seat,
Iliekleton-hall, near Doncaster, from Halifax, I not of the mere 'utile community in tl.e griesane. s un
rter
which they suffered, iu teineque..ce et the pres.nt perid-
cious state sit the customs' system of this country. (Hear,
hear.) So for as Cie pray; at °fliers of customs at Live rised
were cemented, hu (Mr. llorsfa,l) vecuhl edmit that
there was little to complain of as claret. at them
officers personally; for they gave Lei: the fieiiitiaa in
their power to the trade of the einoist. nil,
with their duty to the crown. (Cusses.) Hat a• 11l
the fact that during the last year more than
three thousand disputett cases had Nen reported from
Liverpool abate to the board fit lemdetn, two thousand
five hundred of which could have been us well or
better &delta upon the soot, Allowed that the entire •y dem
was wrung, by whomsoever that system might be tolotinis-
Lied. (" Hier, bear, " anal &ea a..) Mr. Ithofal
nest referred to the secret reports mule to the honed
of Custom, by the abardinate ulticera, and :dated that a
Mr. Rothe ry le ul made et nein allegations to that le 'Aral
relative to the house with which ho (Mr. Hors-
fall) was connected. By Outwit an acrid, at, he
had obtain. d a copy et et ~ se allegations; and there
in the presence of the Mayor, on that spot, hefore his fellow
townsmen, he gave the most solemn and unqualified denial
to every sentence of the allegaqous nude by that Mr.
Bothers.. Whoever he utiaht be —there was uat oste word
sit truth in his tusertions from beginning to end. (Loud
and lung continued cheering.) After sense other ulna-
vations, uhish drew forth relented plaudits, and esfusing
the injuries to coon:were iatlicod by the present unjust and
often ridiculous system of Customs' colleenott, Mr. llorsfall
coutlueled by leaving a roulutitat to the viten that in Cm
opinion of toe meetiug, the present system of colle eting tho
Customs reeenw. is attead. allay great ..nd vests:. to Lys
and WalleCeNs try a xp mse, aad calling upon eAvee onion to
introduce a measure for the remedy of the evils complained
M. (Loud :ld protracted • heerite..)
Mr. 11. HOILSBY, in a brief but practical speech, se-
cooled the resolution, lacing put to the mee;ing
by the 31aJor, was unaniutuualy udopted.
Mr. E. ...HAND, Chairman of the West India Assoc.; ;than,
moved the trend roolutiea, depncating the iajurious
effects of centralisation in the matlagetnent of the
customs, and which ma:ailed censidsrabie hots upon the
British merchant.
Mr. W. ILITitBONE, jun., Chairman of the American
Chamber of Commerce, briefly remanded the nsolution,
whieh, like the former was carried unanimously.
Mr. JOIIN IN (in the absence of Mr. Pcoulcy-
Moore, chairman ui the liratiiieo Anewiation), nun, a! a
resolution for the appointment el a deputation to wait mint
lord John Itusuil, with a view to Kamm an eilleient
measure of Customs a Minh, including an improved consti-
tution of the chief board in London (the chairman of which
it was urged should have in suet in parliametit), and tho
establishment of local boards with ude,otate woven in the
chief ports of the kingdom. (Hoar, hear.) 'the speaker
detailed numerous inataitees of great grievances end losses
arising out of the present system, not only to individuals
but to the reeenue; in one tnstatiee, he showed a losi to
the revenue of 5001., by the officers unjustly taking possession
of a ',tweet of watches which lent 111-0.1 fairly val..-al lay !he
consignors; another was of a somewhat ludicrous character.
Thai Customs had made a false seisuie sit balla brandy, but
discovering their error soon after, they wnate to the owners
natant; that as no fraud was hitt aded, the board hail re-
duced the fine to 10f. (" Hear," and laughter.) In reply,
the owners S rote to tea treason., praying that the tine
might he altogetlit r :hued. Lot tie only consul:diva
they olaained was that they heel to oily the flue, and all ad-
ditomal fee of three guiii,oes fur haviag aoplied to the trea-
ouryr. (Shame.) The speaker advocated fewer commis-
sioners and ereuterhtdiridual responsibility, and concluded
by moving that the following ge talcum' aorta a deputation
to wait upon Loral John Russell upon the subject
of Customs Reform The Mayor of Liverpool;
T. 11. Moeda% Esq., chairman, anal Hugh Horn-
by, Esq., viee-cliainuan of the Liverpool Cham-
ber of Commerce ; F. Shand, Esq., Chairman of tho
West India Association : Wm. Itathhone, jun., Esq., chair-
man of the Ainericsa Chamber of Commerce ; J. Brumley-
Moore, Esq., riaairataan v.' the Itratihan Association ;
Rank, Esq., chairman of thu Shipowners' Aso.ciation ; and
J. H. Turner, Esq., chairman of the East India ASSOCLII•
tioll and of the Duck Committee.
Tho resoluthm, leaving bucn seconded, was adopted una-
nimously; and, after none pertineut remarks by Mr. l'or-
wood and Mr. Maxwell—the latter of whom stated that ho
hail a demand made on him tale morning for 30/. 10s.,
upon a bond dental in ISIS, more them 30 rare previotudy
—n vote of Wanks was passed to the Mayor, briefly
acknowledged, and the meeting separated.
Precious to the de manure of the as.einbly a gentleman
I endeavoured to introduce the subject of ranse reform, but
the Mayor decided that it was foreign to the objects of the
present meeting.

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

Yesterday a court WlB held foe' the despatch of
business.

DEATII or LIMES STEEL, ESQ.--James Steel,
Esq., proprietor and editor of the CarliVe Jaar.lal, died
at his residenee, Victoria-place, Carlisle, on Tuesday last.
A correspondent says: By his own ability and persever-
ing industry Mr. Steel had raised himself to a position of
great influence, not only anionght his fellow-citizens, but
throughout the county f Cumberland generally. In every
movement mime, ;ea with the lacality which had Mr its
object the promotion of the public weal he bore the most
prominent part. In every measure of public importance
his counsel and aid were deemed indispensable. The ser-
vices which he rendered to the cause of reform were of the
most signal character, and his death will be felt as an irre-
parable loss by the liberal party. Ile was the leading
spirit amongst the reformers of Cumberland during the
agitation which preceded the pawing of the Reform Bill,
and during the movement which resulted in the abo-
lition of the broad monopoly; and it was mainly
owing to his strenuous personal exertions and his
writing in the Carlisle Aurae, that Sir James Grain=
was ousted from the representation of Cumberland when
the right hon. baronet had turned his hack on the cause of
reform. Since the passing of the Municipal Reform Act,
Mr. Steel had been a member of the corporation of Carlisle,
and for two sw c,...sive years he filled the honourable (Alice
of mayor. Unlike many public benefactors he had lived to
find his labours duly appreciated, and substantially acknow-
ledged. Some years ie,o the people of Carlisle subscribed
lib.ually, and had his portrait placed in the Town-hall,
where it will doubtless long remain, and contribute to per-
petuate the recollection of ids public services suit exemplary
private character."

PRESENTATION OF .t PORTRAIT TO THE MAN-
enzsirm EORPORATION.—A number of gentlemen in Man-
chester recently subscribed to have the portrait of Mr.
G. Wilson taken. Mr. Alexander Henry, M.P. for South
Lancashire, was chairman of the committee in this move-
ment, and a splendid full-size likeness has been painted by
Mr. George Patten, R.A. The committee having, obtained
the portrait, the next question was where it should bo
placed as a public memorial, and they determined to offer it
to the corporation. The question came before the town
council at a meeting on Wednesday, when Mr. Alderman
Watkins, °need the ex-mayors, proposed that the portrait
of George Wilson, Esq., by Mr. George Patten, R.A., this
day presented for the purpose of being placed in the Town-
hall, be and the same is hereby gladly accepted by this
council. That the best thanks of this council are hereby
given to Alexander Henry, Esq., Ml'., mad the other sub-
scribers, for their acceptable gift ; and that they be as-
sured that this council feels much satisfaction in thus haw-
ing the opportunity of testifying its high estimation of the
services rendered to this great community by Mr. Wilson,
to whose disinterested labours and untiring zeal (in con-
junction with Mr. Alderman Neild and Richard Cobden,
Esq., M.P., and our lamented friend the late lair Thomas
Potter) this borough is mainly indebted for the successful
application for the grant of the charter of incorporation,
and fur the blessings of sadf-government which have there-
from resulted. Mr. Watkins seconded the proposition, and
after some discussion the motion was carried by a majority
of 27 votes to 16. . _ _

STRAN(.I.: RAILWAY PARCEL.— Last evening, Mr.
Payne held an inquest at the Crowe and Cushian, London-
wall, on the body of a male iufant, which came lx:fore the
court in the following manr.er. :—Mr. Richards, of the Ex-
change Dining-rooms, 42, New Broad-street, stated that on
Wednesday afternoon, about five o'clock, a man, having
the appearance of a railway porter, delivered a parcel to
him at his house, stating lie had brought it from Padding-
ton, and demanded 6d. for porterage. Mr. Richards rot
being in the habit of receiving parcels, hesitated to take it
in, but eventually did so, when the man walked off as fast
as he could. On taking the parcel to the back of his pre-
mises and unpacking it he found a small box, about 16
inches long, covered with paper, and ou lifting the lid to his
surprise lie saw the body of a male child ; he immediately
called in a police constable, who took possession of the box
and body and conveyed it to the station-house. Mr. Lloyd,
surgeon, of Broad-street-buildings, who had been called in
to examine the body, and had since in:ale a post mortem
examination, stated that the body was that of a seven
months child, was perfectly healthy us every part, and,
although the lungs were collapsed, he believed that it was
alive at the time of birth: Tho body was quite fresh, and
must have been placed in the box not more than too hours
after birth. Police-constable Bath. 125, said iso trace could
be found of the man who had left the parcel. The coroner
said he thought it would be useless to adjourn the inquiry,
as it was not probable that any further evidence would be
forthcoming. The jury returned as their verdict, " That
the child was found dead, but whether it had been born
alive:or not them was no evidence to show."
LANCASUIRE AND CLIL'iIIIRE JUNCTION RAILWAY.
—The meeting in this matter for a compromise o
pony's affairs was yesterday adjourned to Januar ......
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