The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-19 00:00:00

from the exposures which had taken place, the
Parties guilty had been severely punished. lie

Felt that, by the opprobrium and digrace which

had fallen on them, in consequence or these dis_
closures, they had, in fact, been more severely
punished than any judge would like to punish

,hem." This is a doctrine to which we cannot

subscribe, and one which we are sorry has been
uttered by a Government official. The senti-

ments of Nit. HOLLAND tend to lower the Govern-

ment in the public estimation, seeing that no re-
liance can be placed upon it in a matter which

affects the nearest and dearest ties of the entire
community. On the ground of j ustice, aye, and
expediency, we protest against Mr. HOLLAND'S
idea that the exposures which have taken place
have sufficiently punished the guilty parties. As
well might he argue that the disclosures con-
nected with the dishonest career of PAUL, BATES and
STaAca.ts, the studied hypocrisy and cheating
designs of REDPATII, or the more recent develop-
ment of the fraudulent Directors of the Royal
British Bank should not have been brought into
the courts of criminal judicature. Yea more, the
full extent of Mr. HOLLAND'S principle amounts
to this, that a cgroner's inquest, and the dis_
closures made thereat, would have been punish-
ment enough for a PALMER and a DOVE.
_

Punishment has a twofold object—the satisfac-
tion of an offended public, and an admonition to
:he entire community, that acts of criminality will
incur certain and severe penalties. Mr. HoL_

LAND'S views would completely annul such
wholesome and judicious principles , and the
upshot would be that " peace, law, and order"
would be upset, and crime and outrage go " Scot
free." But this is a thing we cannot endure, and
although Mr. HOLLAND may feel desirous that the
Low-hill Necropolis delinquents should not be put
on their trial, we say with Mr. WOODRUFF' and
Dr. MACINTIRE that the public will not be satis-
fied with any thing less. Fraud—deliberate and
well-planned fraud—has been perpetrated, the
feelings of the entire community have been out-
raged. That which all well-regulated minds—
every order, sect, and class in the community
respect and revere—the last resting-place and
the remains of their dear and departed friends
has been desecrated and outraged. Shall such
hidden deeds of darkness go unpunished ? Shall
these perpetrators be allowed to escape with
impunity ? Certainly not; and we earnestly
hope that no more of Mr. HOLLAND'S cant will be
circulated, and that the Health Committee will
not relax in their efforts, so well and ably
executed by Mr. M‘Gow.AN, until each and all
who can be indicted for the Necropolis abomi-
nations, will be in that particular spot where
they -must answer the enquiry of the Clerk of
Arraigns " guilty" or " not guilty."
Respecting the future disposal of the Necro-
polis, it is vtith regret that we are compelled to
state that the movements of Mr. LACE, who acts
as legal adviser to the Trustees, are open to seri-
ous doubts as to the sincerity of the Committee
to make any atonement for the abominable prac-
tices carried on by their paid officials. His
proposal to transfer the future management of
the ground to the Central Burial Board was, to
say the least of it, disengenius, and evidenced a
desire to throw a little legal dust in the eyes of
Mr Hum,. But this was promptly detected; and
we think the latter gentleman was quite justi-
fied in denouncing the singular sluggishness
which had been evinced by the Trustees ; and
that no matter .how respectable they were, was
no reason why they should not be held up to
public opprobrium if they did not discharge the
duties which they professed themselves willing to
perform on the 18th of March. With respect to
St. James's Cemetery, we shall have something
to say on another occasion.

THE PRESTON TOWN COUNCIL AND THE LIVERPOOL TOWN
Dens.—At the last meeting of the council, a letter was
read from Mr. Heron, the town-clerk of Manchester, asking
the c mncil to adopt a petition to the Commons in favour
of the Mersey Docks and Live: pool Town Dues Bill.
The Mayor introduced the discussion which followed, ex-
pressing himself favourable to the :eduction of the dues.
While the town dues were devoted to the improvement of
Liverpool, the want of dock acemmodation was forcing
the shipping to Southampton. Preston was taxed to the
amount of £3,000 a year for town dues. Mr. Liv,ey
moved a petition in support of the bill, which was seconded
by Mr. J. B. Booth. The motion was suppored by Mr.
Threlfall, Mr. Goodair, and Mr. G. Smith. Mr. Parker,
Mr. Walmsley, and Mr. Armstrong opposed it, arguing
that Liverpool had a right to the dues, and that, if the
corporate property were to be interfered with, the Liverpool
Corporation must be compensated. The motion was lost
by 10 to 20 votes.

THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER.—PainfuI rumour; are
abroad with reference to the Duchy of Lancaster and its
administrators, who are responsible to the public. It is
maid that a very peculiar system is at work behind the
double-doors of a certain department presided over at
present by Mr. Msthew Talbot Baines, but recently by
Lord Granville, and still more recently by Lord Harrowby.
The public has long been aware that the vast national
property, including some of the richest coal-mines in the
kingdom, known as the Duchy of Lancaster, is a stronghold
of secrecy, and therefore a focus of suspicion; bat it is
perplexed by the question—who is inte,ested in keeping
up the mystery ? All we can tell is, that an enormous
revenue is deposited Heaven knows where, disposed of
Heaven knows how, fir the benefit of Heaven knows
whom. We say the revenue is enormous, although it does
not appear so in the returns ; but that is one of the dark
corners of the subject, There extensive estates are repre-
sented as yielding only £41,048 per annum, or less than
the revenue of the Temple. Nearly fifty per cent. of this
amount is set down as the cost of collection and disburse-
ment, including certain questionable benevolences ; the
other fifty per cent flows into the privy purse of the
Q'ieen. There seems to be some jugglery here. Ordinary
landlords do not pty nearly half their rents to stewards,
bat two or three glances at the estimates explain this part
of the difficulty. The Chancellor has £2,000 a-year ; his
clerk has £1,342: the Right Honourable Lord Waterpark,
" axe-bearer, and master of the game at Needwood
Forest," receives £2OO a-year for bearing an axe that has
neverbJen seen, probably, since the days of Robin Mod
but the Clerk of the Crown is content with twenty-five
shillings per quarter, while 'the three learned Counsel of
the Palatine divide only £3 3s. V. between them—that is
to say, they are supposed to divide only that amount. But
how is it that public lands, forests, and mines, yield less
than private mines, forests, and lands? Or are the
accounts jobbed? What noblemen hold estates under the
Duchy ? Do they pay a proper rental, or are they enriched
out of that fund to which Burke attributed so prodigious a
power of corruption?