The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-05-06 00:00:00

TUESDAY, MAY 6, 1856

THE usual summonses for a Quarterly Meet-
ing of the Council, to be held to-morrow, have
been issued. And we find the first subject
to which the attention of the members will
be called is a " recommendation" from the
Finance Committee " to grant to the Lancashire
" and Yorkshire Railway Company, a lease in
" perpetuity of the site of the Old Gaol and
" adjoining land in great fioward Street. "
Now, we have always understood that since
the passing of the Municipal Reform Act
corporations had not the power of making
arants of land in perpetuity, which means alienat-
ing a portion of a corporate estate, without obtain-
ing the sanction of the Lords of the Treasury to
its being sold by public auction to the highest and
fairest bidder. But, apart from laW altogether,
what does common honesty and discretion
suggest in such cases ? There are few more valu-
able spots of land in this Borough. With a large
thoroughfare and dense population on every side,
it would be exceedingly valuable for a variety of
purposes, and being so close to the Docks, and the
centre of the town, there could scarcely be a better
site for the erection of warehouses. We shall not,
therefore, be much over the 'mark if we estimate
its worth at 51. the square yard.

It might fetch at a public sale twice that sum►
but 51. a yard will suffice to expose the character
of this proposed job. Five per cent. on such a
valuation would produce a yearly rental of ss. per
yard, and for less it ought not to be leased, and
then only for the ordinary term of years, and not
in perpetuity. The idea of granting a per.
petual lease of such a rich and improving slice
of the Corporate lands at any price can
be nothing but a job, and one of that very
order which the Reform Act was specially meant
to put a stop to. The " recommendation" does
not state what the consideration is, or, in plain
English, the rent, which the Railway Company
have offered for the land. If the Company are
ready to pay for the site they seem so anxious to
obtain, let it be sold in the usual way, and as the
law directs. No one could reasonably object to
ctusb. a 0,3,11,:ta butt Wa priltilgt. iu the name of the
Ratepayers and Burgesses, against that valuable
piece of land being worse than given away to a
public company, some of whose Directors are
Council men.

The history of one of our Markets is pretty
well known, and the public voice must be with
us in expressing a hope, that we are not about
to witness a second transaction of the
kind. If the Finance Committee have the
Burgesses interest in view, why have they
not mentioned the rent offered, as well
as the term for which the lease is to be granted ?
It would not have incurred much additional
expense or labour, to have inserted in the notice
that the price agreed upon was two shillings and
sixpence the square yard per annum ; but we
suppose this important fact is suppressed for
weighty reasons, and after mature deliberation.
When the Finance Committee make any " recom-
" mendation," it is generally adopted by the Council
as a matter of course ; but in this case, it is to be
hoped the proposals of the committee will be
fully discussed. The Borough Fund is not likely
to be in a very flourishing condition at
the close of the year, and if the Ministry
should succeed in depriving us of our
Town Dues, we shall want all the available
property we have, to get rid of a portion
of the debt the centralisation of the Dues will
leave behind it. But, leaving these considerations
wholly out of the question, there must surely be
some men in the Liverpool Town Council, who
conceive it to be a duty they owe to their
constituents and townsmen generally, to look a
little after the manner in which their substance
is disposed of.
Every man in the Council Chamber cannot be
tied to the chariot wheels of jobbery. There will be
somebody to make the Finance Committee explain
the exact nature of their " recommendation:,
The whole affair wears a very singular complexion
at the present moment, and the public will certainly
expect to know all about it at the Council Meeting
of to-morrow. The Finance Committee were not
aware, perhaps, that we should direct attention
to the matter, or that the inhabitants of the town
would feel any interest whatever on the subject.
This notion must now be abandoned, and the entire
transaction with the Railway Company explained.
There is ample room for a magnificent job, one after
the fashion of the " good old times," on the site of
the Old Gaol. If we were to speak of its value, we
question if Mr. SAMUEL HOLME would be able to
form anything like a reliable estimate of what it
would be worth at the expiration of the ordinary
term of a corporation lease, to say nothing of a
grant in perpetuity. We cannot, however, do more
at present than fix the attention of the Council
on the proposal of their Committee. If they
do their duty at to-morrow's meeting, we will give
our financial functionaries the full benefit of the
applause to which their explanations may entitle
them, and the independent Councilman who will
satisfy all parties that no job will be attempted,
is sure to earn that praise and respect which
ollows the man who looks after the public weal.

True Poolt LAW BOARD.—Mr. R. W. Grey, M. P.,
will, we believe, succeed Mr. Grenville Berkeley as
Secretary to the Poor Law Board.

SLIGO ELECTION COMMITTEE.—The committee to
enquire into the validity of the last return for the
borough of Sligo, against which a petition was presented
by Mr. T. P. Somers, the unsuccessful candidate, was
struck yesterday. The members arc, Mr. George Butt,
chairman ; Mr. H. R. Clive, Mr. E. Lascelles, Mr. L.
Gower, and Sir J. Hanmer. It is understood that the
first meeting of the committee will take place on Thurs.
,day next the Bth inst.