The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-10-14 00:00:00

HEALTH COMMITTEE,

The usual weekly meeting of this committee was held
yesterday. Mr. Alderman LANGSDALE in the, chair. The
other members present were Messrs. Henderson, Fleming,
Moss, Beckwith, Nicholson, Godfrey, Johnson, Henderson,
Clayton, Bigham, and Hodson.

THE SMOKE NUISANCE AND THE COUNCIL

Mr. Moss, in laying before the committee, a letter which
he had received from Messrs. Barclay and Perkins, on the
subject of the consumption of smoke, remarked that he
would engage the attention of the committee for a few
minutes. He was not in the council yesterday, previous to
the proceedings of the Health Committee being brought
under consideration, and he must confess he was exceedingly
mortified to find in to-day's papers that the recommendation
of this committee, with respect to the particular matter of
the smoke nuisance, received a veto from the Council yester-
day. He could only say, being the originator of the ques-
tion, as to the propriety of taking this into consideration,
and the subject having received the full consideration of the
Health Committee, they thought proper in their wisdom to
appoint a sub-committee, to take the whole matter into con-
sideration. That sub-committee consisted of himself (Mr.
Moss,) Mr. M'Nicol, Mr. Godfrey, the deputy chairman,
and the chairman of the Health Committee. They investi-
gated the subject with a view, if possible, to abate, if they
did not altogether expect to remove so great a nuisance.
This sub-committee had given themselves a great deal of
trouble. They had had several meetings, they hadhad extensive
correspondence with many localities, where the subject had
been comparatively successfully dealt with. After the result
of the correspondence was known, and after having received
invitations from various localities and parties to inspect the
successful application of the process, they came to the reso-
lution that it was advisable to appoint a deputation to go
and see those various localities. That received the sanction
of the Health Committee, and he again repeated his regret
that that sanction had been yesterday vetoed in council, on
the motion of Mr. Alderman Bennett, seconded, he thought,
by Mr. M'Guffie, by a majority of 15 to 14. He (Mr. Moss)
could only say that, personally, he considered it the duty of
every man, if he possibly could, to leave the world
better than he found it, and to make himself useful to
his generation. With that sole object he brought the
subject before the committee. What had been the result?
On the mere dictum of Mr. Bennett, the wise
and salutary recommendations of the committee had been
completely frustrated, for he thought the committee would
agree with him, there could not be a more appropriate time
than the present, when the whole attention of the town was
directed to cleanliness and sanitary proceedings, for this
committee to have taken into consideration so important a
subject as that of endeavouring to abate so great a nuisance
as the public complained of arising from smoke. Look at
the river, and look at various par; of the town, and see
what a crying evil it was, but still this thing was com-
pletely put in abeyance and extinguished by Mr. Bennett.
Mr. Bennett imputed improper. motives to the gentlemen
ferming. the deputation. He (Mr Moss) did not mean to'
impute improper motives to Mr Bennett ; but he could im-
pute to him very execrable taste and very bad feeling. He
had been' told on very good authority—he believed it came
from the Town Clerk—it was the very first instance of a de-
putation, appointed by a committee, being vetoed by the.
Council. He (Mr. Moss) was absent when the matter came
under consideration, and he would tell them- why he was
absent. He listened for a very long time to the tedious
and dry harangue of Mr. Bennett until he could bear the
thing no longer. That gentleman—and he wished to say
nothing which he would not repeat if necessary—he looked
on that gentleman as the complete Bassanio cif the Council.
(" Hear, hear," " oh, oh," and " order"). Mr. Bennett was
a man who talked an infinite deal of nothing, and had very
little consideration for the feelings of others.
Mr. ARTHUR HENDERSON rose to order.
Mr. Moss did not know what Mr. Henderson was saying.
(Hear, hear, and laughtFr.)

-Mr.' HENDERSON continued to say that Mr. Moss had no
right to attack Mr. gennett in his absence, when he was not
present to defend himself. The question was not befora
them.

Mr. Moss requested Mr: Henderson to address himself to
the Chairman, and had only to say in conclUsiOn, he felt so
strongly on the subject, he considered it a personal insult to
the gentlemen appointed, and a petty pique on the part of
certain individuals in respect to the Health Committee.
(Hear, hear.), Why, he did not wish to be severe on the
subjeet,but as the Chairman of the Committee,he would have
nothing more to do with it ; he tendered his resignation, and
he would no longer take an active part in what he consider-
ed to be an important subject:

Mr. GODFREY conceived that the smoke nuisance could
be by no means cured. The..committee had met two or three
times about it, and at one of those meetings the Town Clerk
stated that Mr. Mansfield was prepared to convict all parties
if it were clearly shown to him that they did not use tho best
means for preventing this nuisance. It was well known that
the late Mr. Rushton would not convict in such cases; and,
in fact, if Mr. Mansfield's views were now to be carrid out,
every. manufacturer in Liverpool should close his concern,
inasmuch as he would subject himself to a conviction every
day in the week. No one had cured the .nuisance, nor had
any means been pointed out by which it could be done.
With reference to the veto of the Council on the appoint-
ment of a deputation by the committee, he could not
know what the feelings of Mr. Parker and Mr. Bennett
might be, but he had been told that their opposition had.
airsen from some personal dislike to Mr. Moss. It well
known, however, and the committee well knew, that ever
since Mr. Parker and Mr. Bennett had been ousted from the
committee, they had at every time, and in every way, en-
deavoured to oppose it. With regard to the deputation, if
it had been proved that the smoke cure had been anywhere
carried out successfully, he should not be opposed to it; but
if the committee gave instructions that informations on this
ground should be laid against parties before Mr. Mansfield,
he (Mr. Godfrey) should then move that another committee
be appointed to inquire into the whole matter.
Mr.' HENDERSON (as we took him) objected to unworthy
motives being attributed to Mr. Parker and Mr. Bennett for
the course they adopted in this matter, and observed that
the committee were not bound to find out the means for pre-
venting the nuisance, by showing parties how they could
consume their own smoke; they had merely to carry out the
aot of parliament.
The CHAIRMAN would be sorry to believe that the oppo-
sition to the committee arose from personal motives, but
when that opposition was not confined to one:or two instances;
but was constant, he did then believe that the matter
was as stated by Mr. Godfrey.