The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-22 00:00:00

,y"s governmen

.etiak would take

it, and express
good care to st,

ms that

pplaus

state them:

the ri-ght-of
port of Liv(

a for all

Ind now theY prided

leed, from t

town, an

which belonged Pi

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1 with d

eyes many of legislators were upon
them, who were looking anxiously to see what
Manchester had yet to say in reference to that question.
(Hear, hear.) Now, he would venture to say that it would
be his fault, and because he did not know how to handle
the materials he possessed, if, 'when he sat down, there
was .a single individual in that room who did not concur
in the opinion expressed by the leading journal of the day,
after hearing or seeing the statements made by the right
honourable gentleman (Mr. Lowe) in moving for leave to
bring in the bill, that—,. the most astounding case is that
of Liverpool, not only for the peculiarity of the abuse, and
the effrontery with which it is defended; but from the fact
of its being of such a place, where it might be supposed,
if anywhere, commerce would defend its rights." (Hear,
hear.) He believed that when he had finished, they would
,e also in the opinion that, if he did not much mis-
'nformation which he should:submit to them, so
le right honourable gentleman in his able speech
having overstated the case, he had decidedly understated
the case which existed against the town dues of the Liver-
pool Corporation. (Hear, hear.) The Corporation of
Liverpool had been putting their hands into the pockets
other neenin
ieemed absolutely to

au afire
take, ti

far fromt:

t they

...cuce between meum and
- - -anti cries of Hear, hear.) They
appear to have the slightest idea them-
..es of what their title really was. They first
claimed upon prescription—they had abandoned that—
They claimed upon charter--they had abandoned charter.
They now claimed by right of purchase from the Molyneux
family ; and even the rector of Liverpool, at a public
meeting, declared, in as glib and flippant a manner as
--- a matter which could not not be doubted, that it
y purchased from the Molyneux family. He
orporation had wisely endeavoured to prevent
cue public meeting, which was to be held in their magnifi-
cent St. George's-hall, from taking place. Tin best thing
which could be done for them would be, not to have any
permission given to the inhabitants of Liverpool, innocent
and deluded as they were, to state what their title was to
the Town Dues ; for, whenever they ventured to make any
statement of the kind, they only showed the absolute rot-
tenness of their case. It was no wonder that that august
body, the Corporation of London, should have taken the
part they did, as appeared in the previous day's Times, for
no one, of course, ever imagined that that body woul I
assist the Government in dstroying old abuses, which
sprung up in the dark ages. (Hear, hear.) He then pro-
ceeded to state that the Corporation of London, in 1628,
bought about 1,000 manors, including Liverpool. In 1632,
they made a sale of the Liverpool manor to the Molyneux
family. In 1672 a lease was made of the town and lordship
of Liverpool, &c., to the corporation. Now, they declared,
one and all, that was their title. In 1695 the corporation had
some litigation with the freemen of London and Lancaster,
in reference to the town dues that being only twenty years
after they bad purchased the property. What claim did
they put forward? On that occasion—and the documents
had been sworn to, for it was in Chancery—.the title they
set up was, the broad title that they were a corporation by
prescription; that Liverpool was the sole port of the Mersey,
and had to be cleared and maintained at great expense, and in
consideration of that expense, which they had to incur for
the purpose, they had a grant from the crown of the town
fl ncla 7,- • At_.l.- e

was a Dropert
1 the

it be granted from time to time, and certain reasonable
_ _

be granted by the Crown where there were
c duties performdd,sbut if there were none performed
le, parties it would be unjust' and unconstitutional to
fr ally such privilege. (Hear,' hear.) The speaker
ncluded by strongly advocating the remedy intended to
be offered by the bill, as prepared and brought in by her
3g a hope that the
to in Unmistakeable
letermined no longer .to pay that
corporation of Liverpool. The speaker then
e resolution and resumed his seat amid loud

Mr. Batley, president of the chamber of commerce ;said
most cordially did he sedond the resolution which had,been
so ably proposed by the mayor of Salford. From that
hall in times past the constitutional principle had been
promulgated that no portion of the people of that country
possessses the right of taxing any other portion of their
fellow subjects. (Hear, hear.) That salutary principle
had been very generally received, and now they might

ir 0 vernment

.e about to continue in giving' a Wie.tical adoption to
Abuses unquestionably continued to exist, and
exactions were made contrary to that rule of justice which
they all wished td see fully established.. The seaports,
espeeially, were guilty, in his opinion, of taking tolls and
taxes to which they we±e neither entitled by prescriptive,
nor by any other law. Probably no port in the United
Kingdom had witnessed greater irregularities or
sanctioned greater acts of injustice than the neighbouring
port of Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) In the exaction of town
dues he believed that tolls had been taken from persons
who had neither moral, equitable, nor any other right to
pay theraipat these dues when taken were most improperly
expended, and that such tolls should continue to be exacted
without any remonstrance was indeed a reproach to the
public. (Hear, hear.) He bepeted that the days of that
unjust' exaction were already , numbered, and he
thought Mr. Lowe for his spirited bill and for his
spirited determination to annihilate those dues
or to see them properly expended and appropriated was
ontitled to their thanks. (Hear, hear.) With one com-
bined effort, he believed they would cease to have their
merchandise subjected any longer to such improper
exactions. (11ear, hear.) Why had: Liverpool established
a:nUrsery in which young men were received, it was said,
to learn something of mercantile duty. but to claim
exemption of any future toll of the kind? Why should thr
people of the United Kingdom by called Iv
taxes which' certain indlvidttals, called freemen, were
exempted from ? He wished to know whether the indi-
viduals, who arrogated to themselves the nameof the old
freemen, possessed duties to compensate either the public
at large, or the revenue of the country, for the peculation
of which he contended they were guilty ? (Cheers.)
Of the large amount collected for town dues. some 20 per
cent, at least, he believed did not enter into the local
exchequer of Liverpool ; but the freemen of Liverpool,
and in various parts of the country, by the exaction of
what they called their privilege, took little less than
30,0004 per annum in' the :way of tolls upon the mer-
chandise belonging to the reanufacturin.g and commercial
counties of England. If any circumstance were needed
to :condemn the exaction, he believed that exemption
alone must at once place the question in that point of view
to:show the legislature the whole practice was a privilege
-hich ought not to be continued. (Loud cheers.)
`he corporation of Liverpool defended themselves
r that they bought from, Lord Molyneux's family
--meeting dues from the merchants entering the
With the mayor of Salford, he affirmed
aat if the corporation had' obtained that'privilege, there
were duties to be performed in consideration of the privi-
annexed to it. They might say they performed the
which their predecessors performed, but the
m had, gone on in an increasing ratio, and they had
- deed to the' revenue of Liverpool,
themselves upon'being exempt from
and the payment of other local taxes, by
which the economy of their town ought only to be sup-
ported. (Hear, hear.) All others of the towns of Lan-
'ashire, the p-eople paid for their own public works. They
~id-for all their public conveniences out of taxes fairly
I equitably levied upou the respective communities in
,h.the exactions were made. But, in Liverpool, they
ed hitherto the privilege of taking &Om the merchan-
t of that country alone, but of every country, and,

pon to pay

world, the means of
. of carrying on all the public
,Juliarly to the administration of
.4ulations, and had saved their own pockets
Jnse extent. (Criei of hear, hear.) The
public of Manchester would, he hoped, give an efficient
suprort to the government, and to those of their
in Parliament who were - now seeking to
them from that unjust impost. (Hear, hear.) But
ipon the part of Liverpool the most determined effort was
low being made to retain the exaction of the spoils which
hey had hitherto enjoyed. (Hear, hear.) He was told

omonsat present were
..puties from Liverpool, who took unwar-
.erties with members, misrepresenting the facts
mug for pledges, to continue to Liverpool the exac-
.,os of those town dues which the public were determined
to annihilate. (Hear, hear.) The trade and commerce
of the country, the trade especially of Manchester, had
been relieved from many important taxes, many impor-
tant imposts, and why they should continue to the sub-
jected to the town dues of Liverpool, he thought no reason
could be given. He had observed with some surprise, so
lately as the previous day, that the Rev. Rector Campbell
stated at a meeting in Liverpool, that cotton was only
subject to the small charge of 4d. per bale, and peculiar
emphasis, he observed, was laid upon the smallness of the
demand. But, if the demand was small for them to pay,
it was as small for the Corporation ofLiverpool to receive.
(Hear, hear) As it was so unjust
_an exaction, it was
only a small amount to give up. (Hear, hear.) But he
much feared that the Corporation of Liverpool would
presume to claim compensation for the withdrawal of the
privilege which they had unjustly enjoyed for so many years.
If compensation were to be given he submitted that it, was
those who were injured who ought to receive it. (Cries
of hear, hear, and laughter.) He utterly repudiated the
idea, that the plunderers who had taken from their pockets
that which did not rightly belong to them, should receive
compensation, and he declared that they should rather be
compelled to give back at least a portion of what they
had taken, than be compensated for the future loss of
their unholyp gains. (Hear, hear, and loud applause.) He
hoped their excellent town clerk, would continue his
invaluable exertions. (Cries of hear, hear.) On behalf
of the chamber of commerce, he would unhesitatingly de-
clare, that there, should not be any relaxation of the
efforts of that body, to assist in the annihilation of the
torn dues of Liverpool. (Cheers.) It was their duty to
strengthen the hands of the government. It was the
duty of every man in Lancashire, for the sake of justice,
and for the sake of industry, to resist the continuance of
the Liverpool Town dues, to which they had been so long
injustifiably subjected. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Baxley' con-
cluded amid loud applause, by seconding the resolution.
The Town Clerk, Mr. Heron, rose to support the
resolution, and was received with loud applause, He
proceeded to say, that he considered that the present was
about the most important public meeting which
had fever been held within those walls. The
- of their '