The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-08 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL UNITED LEGAL AND'
FRIENDLY, OR ROYAL OAK BURIAL
SOCIETY.

For the last few days the sayings and doings of this
extensive society have been repeatedly before the public.
First, from the memorable notoriety its officers achieved
by almost forcibly ejecting the representatives of the
Press from its general meeting of the subscribers, held on
the 28th ultimo, though it was the wish of all the mew_
bers present that the proceedings be reported; and
secondly, from the report of " the fracas" that took place
at that meeting, after the reporters were ejected, which
scene concluded in the police-court, when Mr. Mansfield
gave his opinion on the affair.

The members also feeling themselves aggrieved that
they were not allowed to express their opinions on the
condsct of the officers of the society in the management
of the affairs, and that their opinions could not be placed
before the public, determined to hold a public,meeting for
the purpose of making inquiry into the application of the
society's funds, and for other purposes.

Last evening, therefore, a very large number of the
members assembled at the Castle Hotel, Scotland-road, in
order to take steps for promoting that inquiry.

Mr. Joseph Shepherd, bookseller, of Scotland-road,
occupied the chair. Over the chairman's head was a
large handbill, on which was inscribed—" Working men
of Liverpool, will you stand this : 2320/ 9s 7d of the funds
of the Royal Oak Burial Society fraudulently voted away
at one sweep ?" The Chairman then came forward, and
was most enthusiastically received by the densely crowded
meeting. He said he was pleased to see so large a meet-
'

ing, and it gave him greater pleasure to see so many of
the females present. He would, therefore, address them
as ladies and fellow working men. At the outset he
wished to be allowed to make a few observations before
the business of the meeting was proceeded with. He had
'no doubt but that all those then present were members of
the " Royal Oak," as the society was better known by
that name than any other, or of some other similar
society. He therefore wished it to be understood, that
they were about to enter into an inquiry of the most im-
portant kind, and in commencing that inquiry he
wished it to be borne in mind, that they must do
so free from all prejudices, and without any ill
feeling towards one party or another. It must be a
full, free, and fair discussion.7i (Hear, hear). This
society is (he said) a most important society. It has
upwards of 50,000 members, and the great majority of
those members belong to the working classes, all of whom
had only what they obtained by the sweat of their brows
It was to that class that the money belonged, and he con:
ceived that it was only right that those men should know
how their hard earnings were expended. (Hear, hear).
Before he sat down, he thought he should be unable to
prove:;that the funds of the Royal Oak Society had not
been properly appropriated, or to the purposes for which
they were originally intended. (Hear, hear). The
society had been in existence upwards of eighteen years ;
it was founded in Liverpool by Thomas Hardwick:Taylor,
and it was then agreed that it should be held at the Royal
Oak Tavern, in Scotland-road. From that time it went
on and prospered, but until within the ltst fourteen years,
he did not know much about its management, as he was
not in its early days a member. About fourteen
or fifteen years since, however, he entered the society
as a member, and not very long afterwards
he was admitted as a member of the committee. At that
time the collectors were allowed three halfpence in the
shilling for collecting. Then the sub-treasurer received
no salary. The committee received one shilling per night
each member for sitting on committees. He would also
tell them at that time the collectors were none of them
ever permitted to sit on the committees, or to be present
when the committees were sitting, except when they were
called in to answer questions I Then the collectors had
no power of influencing the committee or to take any part
in the conducting or management of the business of the
society. Then their chairman was Mr. Donaldson, who
had since died, but he only received 5s for his services,
which was to attend and see the money paid over to the
treasurer once a week. From that time up to the present
the salaries had been constantly increasing until they
had reached the enormous amounts at which they now
stood. The managers first got the wedge in by increas-
ing the collectors' salaries from lad to 2d, and then to 21d
in the shilling. (Shame.) Let them bear in mind at the
time the last increase was made, there was a law to the
effect that they should only have .2tl in the shilling. At that
time, he (the chairman) was not on the committee, and,
therefore, did not know what was going on. However,
their salaries were increased to 3d in the shilling for col.,
letting, and he attended at the meeting that was then
held to oppose it, but the meeting was packed with the
wives, sisters, aunts, and nieces of the collectors, and the
vote was carried. Well, it would appear that the salaries
were not sufq.cient, so they voted the sub-treasurer 308
per week for receiving the money, and the president 25s
per week, although the former had done the same work
forss. They were not satisfied even then, but in the year
1851, they granted the fourteen or fifteen collectors 25/
each for Christmas boxes, and then voted themselves
101 each, for granting it. There was one man, Mr. Shaw,
who would not receive it. (Hear, hear.) He had the
honesty to refuse the 101, for which he was kicked out of
the room. Besides this, the committee were paid for
each of their attendance on the committees, and some of
them got as much as 31 per week for their trouble. They
would also recollect how he had exposed their expendi-
ture of no less a sum than 1301 for holding a meeting at
West Derby. •It was in consequence of such proceedings
as these that the Press was excluded from the meetings
of this society. They had afterwards called a meeting,
but such a vast number had attended, that the room in
which it was held would not hold one half of the mem-
bers. What dodge did the officers resort to then ?—Why,
they adjourned it, but did not name any day, therefore
it was that they cou'd not hold another meeting until the
following year, and no accounts were rendered to the
members for two years. This he conceived to be a
decided "dodge," as the members had no opportunity of
ascertaining how they were plundered, for he certainly
called it a decided plunder. (Hear, hear.) He would next
come to the meeting held at Clayton :Hall. He (the
Chairman) had attended that meeting for the
purpose of exposing their nefarious doings—,he might say
their plunderings. That meeting was also packed with
the wives, daughters, nieces, and great-grand-children:of
the collectors, but, notwithstanding, he had then:asked
what had become of the 1,0001. Curry had belonging to
the society. At that time Curry held 1,0001. of the funds
of the members of the society. (Shame.) He was told
that two sureties had been found of 5001. each, and that
he was to pay 5 per cent. interest foe the money 1 That
was all nonsense. The interest has never been paid—it
was a dead letter, as well as was the sureties for the
principal. They would never get either. Notwithstand-
ing this, that Curry had had the 1,0001., it was reported
at the last meeting that he had 851/. 33 Hid in hand. He
next passed a high eulogy on Ihe press, the representa-
tives of which he wished to be present at all meetings,
and said that such would be the case if the business was
always conducted fairly and honestly. He next alluded
to the case of assault which had been tried in the Police-
court before Mr. Mansfield who had devoted much time and
attention to it, but who, he said, could not have arrived at a
different conclusion to which he had, considering the con-
flicting nature of the evidence adduced. He then con-
cluded by saying, that after the last meeting the members
had decided upon employing Messrs. Fletcher and Hull,
two most respectable attornies, to investigate the
whole of the affairs of the society. A t the meetings which
had already been held, he (Mr. Shepherd) had been ap•
pointed the ChaiEman• of that investigation committee,
while Mr. H. Taylor was to act as treasurer, Mr. MPhil-
lips as secretary, and Messrs. H. Smith, F. Burns, F. Mil-
ler, James Devine, and Henry Shaw, as committee-men.
He hoped that the appointments would be confirmed, and
that the investigation would lead to the society being
purged of its abuses, and its management taken from the
hands of designing men. (Great applause.)
Mr. M'Phillips, after offering a few remarks as to the
absurd manner in which the business had been conducted
by the present president, Moses Cullen, went on to say,
that besides his salary the sub-treasurer received
301. per annum as the rent of a small room at the
back of his house, which was called the office, which,
inclusive of the pay for attending the committee-meetings
amounted to 1751 per annum. The president 78.4 and the
secretary 1581, while the collectors made about 2501 per
annum, besides their profits on the laws, the rules, and
the reports. All this, he said, was contrary to the laws
of the society. He then proceeded to read the following
minutes of the proceedings of the investigation committee,
which had first been formed after the general meeting held