The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-04 00:00:00

NORTHERN TIMES. LIVERPOOL, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4., 1856.

commenced reaping barley. Some, of the wheat
crops at Strathalbyn have proved so " heavy,'
that it has been deemed advisable to cut them for

During the quarter ended Sept. 30, eight ships
chartered by the Colonial Land and Emigration
CommisSioners arrived, bringing to the colony an
aggregate number of ‘:.t460 souls.
The Oriental ha's arrived after a very protracted
passage, bringing 261 Government emigrants, being
for the most part English. The vessel is in a
very fair state of cleanliness and order, and from
their appearance the emigrants appear to be
better selected than usual. Four deathS and two
births occurred on the passage, and no sickness
of any serious nature made its appearance, The
national and industrial elassiA,tation are as follows :
English, 212; Irish, 40. Married couples, 88;
angle men, 31 ; single female, 81. Female
servants, 81; farm labourers, 47 : carpenters, 8 ;
sawyers, 2 ; gardeners. 5 ; shoemaker, 1
1; carman, 1 ; wheelwrights, 2 ; shepherds, 3

currier

enItMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Gold at Melbourne on the 10th November WAR sellinc at
15s 34 the ounce. Duty hal been paid on 4289 ounceS
at the custom-house, the principal part of which was for
Calcutta.

The total quantity of gold by the Shalimar was as
mentioned above. of which the banks shipped a follows
Rink of Australasia . • • • 15,000 ozs.
Bank of New Smith Wales • 13.000 „
London Chartered Bank • - 10,000 „
Oriental Bank • 5.91 ~
/link of Victoria
English, Scottish, and Australian Chartered

52.691 ozs,

The receipts of gold during the week, from the 2d to
the 9th November, amounted to 43,710 ounces; and the
exnorts to 7302 ounces.. -

The bill of enti'v for the week ending 3d November
has been issued. The imports For that period amounted
to the declared wilue of £216,789. and the exports to
£122,572, the balance being against the port to the
amount of £94,217. The imports for the current week
have been small, and the exports above the average.

COUNTY COURT.-SATURDAY

(BEFORE JOSEPH POLLOCK, ESQ., JUDGE.)

FAnQunAn. E. BAINES AND Co.—This case was before
the court a short time since, and his Honour gave a

verdict for the plaintiff, who was a seaman on hoard the
Lightning, and brought the actiod to iccoier from
Messrs. James Baines & Co., on the order of Captain
Forbes, £l3 19s ld, being the amount of wages due to
him from the period of his leaving Liverpool in the
Lip,htning, on her first voyage to Australia to the date of
his volunteering on hoard her Majesty's ship Phantom.
Mr. Forshaw appeared this day dti behalf of the defen-
dant•, and applied that the judgment might be stayed
until the arrival of Captain Forbes, when the circuit-

warices under which the plaintiff left the Lightning, and
the order given, would be fully explained. He based the
application on the affidavit of Mr. Jas. tiatneS,*hicli set
forth the substance of the communications made to him
by Captain Forbes and the other officers of the ship on
the subject, and which were to the effect that, when the
Lightning reached Port Philip; a boat from the Phan3otnt
with an officer and forty Mariners, came on heard ;; that
on their leaving, the plaintiff was " induced " to go with
them, and, that it was only on a threat from the captain
of the Pl.nntom to fire into the Lightning, that Captain
Forbes gave the order on which the defendants were
subsequently sued. Mr. Forshaw continued to say that
there were many other eirenmstances connected with
the case which he Watt un*illing to introduce into the
matter, but which,. it stated, would make the affidavit
much stronger. Mr. Parr, who opposed the application
on behalf of the plaintiff, said that he, on the other hand,

was aware of, ir.ctinistarices which gave the story an
alto ;ether different complexion. The fact Was, that
when the Lightning reached Port Philip, Capt. Forbes
flew a pennant from her mast-head, and when this viola-
tion of naval etiquette was observed, a boat was
despatched from the Phantom, ordering him to pull it
down. Captain Forbes sent back word, that if it were to
be pulled down, the captain of the Phantom might
come and do it; whereupon the boat returned with an
officer and forty mariners, and the flag was then hauled
down (Laughter.) On the return of the Lightning,
Captain Forbes was impounded by him (Mr. Parr) as
Queen's Proctor, hut, on apologiSing for the act, and
alleging that he had hoisted the flag,ncit in, disie,spect of,
but out of loyalty to her Majesty, he was let off on pay-
ment of costs. (Laughter.) His Honour said it was
clear that, when a seaman volunteered into one of her
Majesty's ships, the captain was bound by the act to
give him an order on his owners, for the amount of
wages then due to him. The affidavit stated that the
officer came on board with forty men—no doubt a large
number of persuaders, (laughter), but it did not state,
that the plaintiff did not leave of his own accord, and,
therefore, as Captain Forbes was bound to give the order,
the application of force in compelling him to do So,
would not vititate it. He gave no opinion as to the
validity of an order obtained under such circumstances,
in the case of a seaman taken by force from his ship,
hut as that was not the case in this instance, the verdict
should stand. Mr. Forshaw observed, that on a future
occasion, they would have to discuss the 4uestion referred
to by his Honour, eta there were six other cases to come
before the court.
CHARGE OF EXTORTION AGAINST SOME OF THE BAILIFFS
OF THE COURT.—After disposing of the above application,
his Honour proceeded with the inquiry, which he had
fixed for that morning, into the charge of extortion
against certain of the bailiffs of the court, and the cir-
cums:ances connected with which we detailed in our
impression of Friday. For the proper understanding
of the matter, and because it is of importance to the
poor and working classes, that they should for their own
protection, thoroughly know their legal obligation, we
re-publish the statement of the circumstances, out of
which the charge, the subject of the present inquiry,
arose :—On the Ist of May, 1855, a person named
Martin M•Mahon, brought an action against a person
named Bromilaw, in the court for I7s 6d. He got a
verdict for that amount, with 2s 11d costs, making
£1 Os sd. It appeared that three weeks after Mr.
IVl'Mahon was paid by the son of Bromilaw 2s 6d. Mrs.
Bromilaw, on the 30th of May, paid him 15s, so that he
had been paid the whole of the 17s 6d, and there .was
left due 2s lld for costs, and nothing more. Nothing
was heard of the matter until the week before Christmas,
when he asked Mrs: Bromilaw for that amount, which
she was not able to pay him. On the Ist of January he
ordered an execution to issue for the whole original
amount. The execution was issued on the 2nd of Janu-
ary, and on the 7tla of January, a man named Kinehan,
one of the bailiffs of that court, with Lloyd, an assistant
baliff, and a person named David, a carter, came about
twelve o'clock to her, and required £1 4s Id, being the
amount of the original sum, with 2s 9d costs, and is
possession fee. She subsequently went out herself to
get it, and in her absence, a neighbour came, and offered
it to the bailiffs, who refused it unless they were paid
£1 8s ld, being 4s additional for waiting an hour or more
in possession. She was obliged to send out and borrow
the additional 4s. and paid it over to the bailiffs. They
had told her previous to this that unless they got the
additional 4s they would keep the worth of it from her
Roods on the cart. She gave them the 4s, and Mrs.
Bromilaw asked for a receipt, saying that this trouble
had come on her, because she had not got a receipt
from M'Mahon when she paid him the 15s and 2s 6d,
upon which the bailiff's told her they would give her
the trouble of coming down to the County Court office
next day for a receipt. She came down the same even-
ing and got a receipt from Mr. Jackson for £1 4s 1 d, not
£1 Ss ld. She now brought an action against M'lllahon
for the amount, and obtained a judgment against him
for the money she had overpaid. On these facts being
made known to him, his Honour directed that an inquiry
should take place into the conduct of the bailiffs, and
fixed Saturday for it. The point to which the inquiry
was naturally directed was very simple, namely, whether
or not the bailiffs extorted the fee of 4s for waiting
until eleven or twelve o'clock until three o'clock ? Be-
cause, though the warrant should not have issued for
the amount stated in it, still that impropriety was
M'lllahon's, not theirs. Mrs. Bromilaw and her hus-
band were examined on oath, and they very positively
denied that they had made any agreement with Kine-
han or Lloyd, to pay 4s or any other sum, as one day's
wages for the man remaining in possession, until they
had been enabled to borrow the amount of the warrant
from their neighbours. Not a word was said about any
such charge, until the LI 4s Id had been handed over,
and then it was demanded by and paid to Kinehan,
under threat of a portion of the goods being detained in
case of refusal. Mrs. Stivens, who was present at the

time, awl Mrs. Guy, who paid the money. also deposed
an oath to the charge of 4s being demanded by Kinehan,
and paid to him under the above threat. It early appeared
that neither Lloyd, who is not an officer of the court,
but was merely out, to use his own expression, " on
spec," to be employed in any seizure, nor David, who
both were present when the charge was made, took any
part in the extortion, and that the matter solely rested
with Kinehan, and they were accordingly at once re-
lieved from the inquiry. So also was Mr. Jackson, who
was bound and would be justified in giving a receipt
only for the amount mentioned in the warrant, and who
was led to believe that the charge of 3s 6d or 4s (for the
amount was also disputed) was a matter of arrangement
between Kinehan and Bromilaw. On the other hand,
Kinehan maintained an oath that the Bromilaws agreed
when possession was taken, to pay 3s 6d to the bailiffs
who would remain in charge if the goods were not re-
moved until the evening, by which time they hoped to
have borrowed the money, and that he had received only
3s 6d,not 4s as stated by the other side, which he in the
evening paid unto Mr. Jackson, who handed it over to
Lloyd, the bailiff, who remained for the day. It is just
to Kinehan also to state that Mr. Jackson asked Bromilaw
if he did not say at the time they were disputing about
the receipt, "never mind, Mr... Jackson, these women
will talk, but I arranged it with the bailiff." Bromilaw
replied that he did not remember the remark, and then
repeated in the same positive terms as before that he had
made no arrangement whatsoever with the bailiff. Mr.
Hime, who appeared to watch the proceedings on the
part of the high bailiff, then proceeded, with the per-
mission of the court, to comment on the case as laid
before it. It was plain, he said, that Mr. Jackson had
not profited one farthing by th; overcharge which had
been made, and that on giving the receipt for the
amount of the warrant he had fully discharged his duty.
As to the high bailiff his instructions were that all
parties against whom executions were issued should he
dealt with as leniently as possible, and with that view he
adopted a rule which prevailed in Birmingham and other
that the goods seized should not
be immediately removed if the parties were willing to
jurisdictions, namely,
pay the charge of having a bailiff in possession, and
there were reasonable grounds that in a short time they
will be able to raise the amount of the levy. That was
a great boon to the poor in many instances, for the act
gave the power of instant removal, and he was prepared
with a return to: shew that the result of that
system bad been a very material decrease in the amount
of fees which the high bailiff received in three
months in 1854 he had received only £8 14s, when in
the same period of previous years he bad received
£l5 6s 3d, and within the same time the appraisement
fees had fallen from £9 13s Id to £4 10s, being a loss of
50 per cent. As to the legality of the possession fee of
6d in the pound, charged in the warrant he confessed
that he had great doubt. His Honour : I do not see any-
thing about possession money in the act. On what do
you rest your claim to this fee? Mr. Good
(clerk in the high bailiff's office) replied
that it was charged in every court in England_ His
Honour : It is not in the act, and the sooner every court
in England goes back to the law the better. Mr. Hime
said that he was informed it was sanctioned in the
Treasury orders, hut as it was not the subject then
before
it.
retheHeios iiurt,ohnoisurHsoaind houtra might
wataskpeertifmecetlyto
con-
sider
satis-
fied in the case, which had become a very unfortunate
one to the Bromilaws, that a sum of money had been
extorted by the officer Kinehan, employed under the

High Bailiff, and that sum was 4s, and not 3s 6d, as
sworn to by him. The case clearly showed what
arrangements of the kind as that attempted to be set np
were liable to, and that when they departed from the:
Clear legal rights of par4es, there was no end to the
imposition that might he practised under pretence of
priiate arrangement. Poor people, no' doubt, would
often be anxious not to hive their goods taken away,
and would rather pay a man's wages for the day, to gain
time to collect the money than have them removed. He
did not say there would be anything illegal, and cer-
tainly nothing harsh, in such an arrangement, but here
it was denied, and he believed it, that any such arrange.
ment had been made with the bailiff, but that the money
had been extorted by compulsion, and under threat of
retaining It portion of the goods. That the bailiff—he
spoke only of Kinehan—had no right whatsoever to do
and he (Ills Honour), wat Convinced that he received
the 4s, and having handed, over 3s 6d to Lloyd, pocketd,
himself, the other 6d.. With regard to the possession
money, he entertained great doubt whether any Well
claim could legally be put for Ward ivy the High Bailiff;
but as he was told it was a custom in ail ether courts in
Vinland, he would give it his attention, and see
Whether or not the claim was right in point of law. As
then advised, however; he saw no right to the possession
money when the goods were not renioied, though he
had no doubt that the High Bailiff belteved himself
entitled to it under the sanction of the Treasury circlets.
As regarded Mr. Jackson, he merely received 7s 7d,
which showed that be knew nothing of Kinehan's bar-
gain, and gave a receipt for £1 4s ld, having handed
over the balance to the man who remained in possession.
He Would have acted more wisely if he had given a full
explanation of the foots to the parties, in the first
instance, but still he (His Honour), did not see any
reason to attach blame to him. As regarded Lloyd, he
was not an officer of the court, and he could not deal
with him; but being satisfied that the money had been
extorted, and that Kinehan had told him a falsehood on
oath in the matter, he should direct that he be dis-
charged from all employment under the court at the
end df ofie fortnight from that date ; that an order be
made upon him to repay the 4s extorted by him. and all
costs of the inquiry—(and he Should enforce it, if neces-
sary, by commitment to prison for the longest period
the law allowed him to intlict)—and that he be never
igain employed in any execution, or in anything by
meang of which he could obtain money from peoole on
whom hb exeCtited the process of the court. His Honour
further directed that, for the future; no bailiff should act
without a written order from Mr. Stone, of be, appointed
until he (His Honour), was first informed of the char-
acter and description of the persons to be employed, and
that a list of all the bailiffs so appointed be always kept
in Mr. Stone's office for the court's inspection. This

concluded the inquiry.

POLICE COIJET.gaTt

OMAR MR. T. BOLTON.)

THE CHARGE AGAINST A. Baokatt. '--zi:Patriek Burns,
who keeps a broker's shop in Greetham-street, and who
had been remanded on a charge of having stolen batter
in his house (a repOrt of which appeared in Saturday's
paper), was again brOught up. Mr. Chilton appeared
for the prisoner, and offered the same defence as urged
by him on Friday. His worship said he was not satisfied
with the account given of the butter, and fined the
prisoner £l, which was paid.
CHARGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT.—A respectable looking
person, named Richard Egan, was brought up by bride-
well-keeper Campbell on a charge of having embezzled
d sum of 14s 11 d, the monies of Messrs. George
king and CO , 'Water-street. Mi. Shaw, from the office
of Messrs. King, appeared td sustain the complaint, and
in reply to Mr. Bolton, he said " If you look at the cash
book kept by the prisoner, you will see he has em-
bezzled £37 14s I Id, and in another entry he says he
received Hie money but did not account for it with us."
Mr. Bolton: What was he in the employment? Wit-
ness: He was quay clerk to George king and Co.- in the
Newry department of the Dublin and Liverpool (screw)
Steam Packet Company. Mr. Bolton : What proof
have you that he embezzled the money ? Witness :
His own statement—he confesses that he received it.
Mr. Wybergh : lie confesses having received money and
did not account to you for it ? Witness : Yes. Mr.
Wybergh : That is not embezzlement, there is no
charge of that nature. Mr. Shaw : We want to deal as
lightly as possible. lie is a very good wan, but he has a
very bad wife. Mr. Bolton : The fact is,' he owes you
the money; lie was not your servant, he received money
for you, and did not pay it over. Will any of the parties
who paid him on your account, be here on Monday
Mr. Shaw : I presume they will. The prisoner, in reply
to the charge, said there was an entry of upwards of
£23, but he had only received £l3 of that sum. lie
had entered the first sum, although £lO of it was due
by a man named James Campbell, who would not pay
till Tuesday. Mr. Bolton : Why should you enter money
before you received it ? Prisoner : lam in the habit of
entering money before I receive it, for the sake of the
head book-keeper, to show as little outstanding as pos-
sible. Mr. Shaw : We should be glad to give him every
indulgence. That LlO will reduce the sum • we do not
wish to press the charge of felony against ?him. Mr.
Bolton : You must take your course for recovery of the
money in the County-court; there is no embezzlement
here. Discharge the prisoner.

MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE IN LIVERPOOL

CORONER'S INQUESTS.

On Saturday the coroner held an inquest on the body
of a person apparently about 28 years of age, whose
name was supposed to be iVilliam or William Henry
Moffatt, a native of Newry or Drogheda. The case at
present is involved in some mystery, but it is supposed
that the publication of the following facts may reach
some of the unfortunate man's friends, so that the affair
may in some measure be cleared up. It appeared that
on Thursday night the deceased arrived in this town, but
from what place no one at this moment can tell. He
went to lodge for the night at a boarding-house in the
neighbourhood of Queen-square. lle talked mildly
and seemed to be labouring under some strong excite-
ment; he said he was about going to America or Aus-
tralia, but he could not tell which. He accused himself
of being a bad man. He had not much luggage, but was
well dressed, and even in his excited state, his manners
and language were those of a gentleman. He left on
Friday, and took lodgings at the house of Mr. Hallwell,
No. 1, Bridport street, saying he was about going to
Australia, but he could not tell when. In a conversa-
tion which he had with Mrs. Hallwell, he said he came
from Newry, and was a very wicked man and had been
spoiled by his parents; that he had left a young woman
in a state soon to be a mother; and that his conduct
generally had broken his mother's heart, and he could
not bear it any longer, so he ran from there and was
now on his way to America or Australia. Mrs. Hall-
well tried to compose him ; and he went to bed
about half-past nine o'clock much quieter in his deport-
ment. He requested to be called at an early hour in the
morning, (Saturday), for the purpose of going to Man-
chester by the train, to do some business there. He was
called and got out of bed, but he was excited and said
he was ill, and not able to go out. He was advised to
get into bed again, and he did so, and Mrs. Hallwell
sent him some tea. He requested to be called again.
The lady of the house went to call him again, when she
found him lying on the floor in a pool of blood, and his
throat cut with a razor, which was also on the floor.
She raised an alarm, and sent for a surgeon and the
police. Police-constable William Ward, 248, arrived
very soon, and raised up the deceased, who was then
alive. He asked him " who did this ?"and the deceased
said, " I did it myself," " why did you do it ? " inquired
the °Neer. " I don't know," was the answer, and he
died immediately after. His trunk was found to con-
tain some respectable clothes, and in his pocket there
was a copy of " Punch's Almanac," and his name with
some figures. In the pocket of the book were three
letters, two black envelopes, and a bill of the Australian
ship Mermaid. One of the letters was a testimonial,
signed by several gentlemen in Drogheda, and amongst
these, the rector and curate of the Established Church.
The document spoke strongly in his favour, and expressed
a wish that he should obtain the appointment he was
seeking. It was a general testimonial, not addressed to any
one. The next was a letter from the secretary, or some
official belonging to the Drogheda railway company,referring to some inclosed testimonials which were.
returned to the deceased, and regretting there was not a
vacancy in the office that he could fill at the time. The
third letter had some unintelligible (at present) reference
to the Canada railroad, and the sappers and miners. A
small brass plate, such as would be found on a hat ease.
was discovered, on which the following was engraved—
" The Rev. C. J. Moffatt, navy." There was no money
found about the deceased. These were all the facts that
could be collected at the inquest, and the jury returned
a verdict that deceased died from the effects of wounds
inflicted by himself, whilst labouring under temporary
insanity.
The Coroner held the following inquests also --
On the body of a child, named Samuel Hulm. e
that was accidentally smothered in bed. Verdict accord.'
ingly. On the body of John Curry, a labourer, twenty-
eight years of age, who died In consequence of injuries
received, by falling into the hold of the ship Plymouth,
while he was at work on Thursday. Verdict accidental
death. On the body of a boy, named Edward Owens,
eight years old, who died suddenly. The child had not
been in good health for some time past. Death was the
result of natural causes. Verdict accordingly. On the
body of a child, named John Nyland, three and a-half
years uld, who died from injuries received by his clothes
having accidentally caught fire. Verdict the same as in
the previous case. On the body of Michael Grady, a
labourer, thirty-four years old, who was killed on board
the ship John Cottle, by a bale of cotton falling on him.
Verdict accidental death.