The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-12 00:00:00

t -
result of t,e; a.te ; tee:s ave r i ittal in favour
of the cempeey. In his repave Mr. Te.,,,e justified every
act done by the comPanyne reeve them credit for hiving
(Lone their duty to the public. At the subsequent election
of Commissioners, all those who opposed the Water and
Gas Bill were thrown'out, and the other parties elected;
the town in that manner giving a strong proof of the
opinion it entertained of the measure. It should eleo bs
borne in mind that they had no limit to their price for gas,
and that yet, in the face of a small dividend, they had
voluntarily reduced the price to the consumers from 105
to 83 4d, then to 6s Si, and again to 5s 10d; and he would
state, in behalf of the company, that theyeereprepa-ed to
go still lower; and would have done so, had it not been f
the enormous increase in the price of fuel, amounting to
no less than eV,500, and the rise ef labour, and of every
material used in the manuf teture of gas. lt might be said
that thsy had spent a large amount of money in the multi-
tude of pipes laid down, but that would be justified by the
state of the town in 1842: At that time there were only
three Macadamised streets in the whole town, but as he
had given a pie .lge that no person should want gas, he had
faifillel that pledge to the utmost, and pipes had been
carried to every part of the township, as well as to Tran-
mere, Oxon, Holt Hill, &c. Groat st ess had been laid
upon their ring to such a distance, and it was urged that
there should be a different rate for Birkenhead, as com-
pared with the rtves charged in the out-districts. Now he
was pt.( pared to contend, looking at the expenditure of
throe districts, that they yielded as large a source of inceme
as any other district through which the company ran its
mains ; and they could nor, as honest men, sanction any
arrangement whereby the inhabitants of Birkenhead would
be benefit ted at the cost of the suburban districts. He came
now to another question—the necessity of taking further
steps to give to these ineceasing districts a larger supply
of water. When he (Mr. Jackson) first took the late Mr.
Stephenson over the district, before he commenced opera
tions for boring for water, and fixed upon the identical
'spot whore the works were now
,placed, that gentleman
observed,' "surely you never expect Birkenhead to come
up this far." He replied that ho did ; upon which Mr.
Stephenson rejoined, "you are always sanguine, but neither
you nor I will live to see that day." He was then advised
to come lower down for his borings, but he now regretted
that he had not gone further lip. They had, however,
given a supply of water equal to twenty gallons per head
to the population, which he thought was about as fair an
average as that given by any water company in the king-
dom ; but they felt that there was a necessity for an
extension of the supply of water: They got the best
advide they could in the matter.' They knew thtt,
in 1847, Mr. Flawksley had been consulted by the
commissioners—they 'ltuew that at that time no man
stoorthigher Mangle did, and they accordingly sought his
assistance.- 'He went oast the whole district, and he
advised them, to obtain it certain piece of land
in the possession of the commissioners as
being the best suited for the Perpose of supplying
water. Application was accordingly made to the corunats-
eioners; who, however, refused to part with the land
unless some arrangement was come.to as:i6 the price to be
charged for,the future for gas and water. As tbey could
not in justice enter into any such arrangement, the com-
pany waited until the tithe arrived when they could apply
to Parliament to obtain by . compulsory powers those.
privileges which were denied to them by private treaty.
In January, 185 i, they first made the Application, and on
its refasal, they, in November in 1856. gave notice of a
bill, which was now before Parliament. In that bill there
were two clauses, but one of them, the directors intimated
to their parliamentary agente, that they did not intend to
pursue—he m:arkt the-ca!titdisation of arrears of dividend
after-a certain period. That claulte wis gi-en ; but
the other, the creation of £5O stock yielding ten per cent.,
itito £lOO stock. yielding fife per cent, which was the
same thing, they did intend to pur,ne, add particularly so
in then face of an offer from other parties to which he had
already allud. d. 'j hey should to very glad indeed if thty
could learn from the niss,,nting parties what it was they
wanted. These matters might as well he settled down
here as in London, but, they had never yct been able to
bear from any party what it was they wanted, except what
was to be learned through the medium of the petition.
He felt it his duty to write the letter which he did. Ha
did it in the hope that it would prevent any animosity
between the authorities, the consumers, and the company.
He submitted a propoition, which in his opinion wes a fair
one, and be con fe,sed he exptected a different reply from
that received. If the commissit nere had said, "We do not
know whether we are about to buy a thing that is worth
will send our engineer and accountant to
goir
omvere
money
—we
-orks and books with your engineer and
accountant, and than we will make an offer"—had the
commissioners said that he could have understood it, and
would have said that the offer was a fair one. That was
the course which he would still recommend to them, but
until they adopted it the company should be excused from
giving any information which might prejudice their position
before a committee of the House f Commons. Mr. Jackson
concluded by flaying the resolution.
Mr. Mallaby seconded it.
Mr. Laird asked if in the bill they were about to abandon
the arrears?
The Chairman replied that they were not. They would
withdraw the clause capitalising the arrears, but as to the
arrears themselves, they would remain as they were, the
public being still indebted to the company for them.
Mr. Laird asked if they intended to charge- the maximum
rate for water ?
The Chairman replied that it had been erroneously
stated that they had exacted the maximum rate for water.
They had not done so except in a very few cases. It was
only, he believed, in Hemton square, where himselfand
Mr. Brassy were the largest proprietors, that the maxi-
mum rates were levied. They had endeavoured to have
an uniform rate on the rental rather than follow the Act
of Parliament. They had exacted 15.1 on one class of
property and 161 on another. They had taken the rentals
from the rate-books, and had levied the rate as equitably
as possible.
Mr.
under th Stieirtt as
acted what was the rate they were entitled fee
The Chairman replied that it varied, the clattees running
wide. He considered that the publjr: 'tied beets re-
very
£3,000 a year from the company
ceiving a boon equal to
iu their not exacting the full. rates for water, and in not
gas in the face of an enormous in-
increasing the price of
crease in He considered they would have
the cost of fuel.
been justified had they thought again to Os Bd. proper in raising the gas
Mr Laird said that he should object to the doubling of
the capital, and also to any increase in the charges for gas
or water. He agreed that it would be desirable to ap-
point a committee to meat the commissioners. "With re-
gard to the petition, he did not think it well to
enter at this time into a subject of that kind,
but he had no doubt. the commissioners would be•
able to substantiate it before a committeeof the Commons,
if the bill were taken there. He would rather not get into
a personal discussion, though various hints had been
thrown out for the purpose ; but coming to the accounts,
in the examination of which he had received every attention
and facility from the treasurer, he found in the early
minutes of the company a statement of the SUM paid for
the purchase of the land, works, &c , and also for " com-
pensation for good will" to the present chairman. Now
he was not aware that there had been anything paid to
Jackson for good will, but he found in the minute of
the first meeting of the company a resolution to that effect.
He should like to know what proprietors were present at
that meeting when that resolution' was passed ?
The Chairman replied,that if Mr. Laird was there simply
as a shareholder, and not as Chairman of the Commis-
sioners of Birkenhead, he might probably obtain the infor-
mation he sought, but under the circumstances he, as
Chairman, could not sanction such details being given.
Are. Laird said that he would ask for nothing to which
he was not entitled as a shareholder. But he found in the
minute of .the meeting in 1841, a resolution directing that
,
bills be made to the amount of
&C.,
utof £5O 000 to purchase from
W
Mr.. Jackson the land, w
and for compensation
foe good will to be paid to him. That was signed by Mr.
aser eshaharirenlhoainti
t hee r
e (g
wMhaalltaboyth
prer.seLnatird) wished to know
The Chairman : Does not the minute state it ?
Mr. Laird : No, ,does not.
The Chairman replied that they would give every infor-
mation required by the act of parliament, and that they .
were prepared to justify all their acts before the proper
tribunal.
Mr. Laird said that he did not ask the information as a
special favour, but as a right to which he thought every
thareholdee was entitled.
Mr. Perrey suggested that Mr. Laird's end would be
answered by reading the resolution.
The Chairman replied that Mr. Laird had it alrecdy.
He had not seen the minute fu. 16 years, and yet he vas
now asked to sey who was present.
Mr. Laird : Were there not only three shareholders in
the et mpany at the time ?
The Chairman : Yes, only three—myself, Mr. John
Jackson, and Mr. Malleby.
Mr. Laird : Then the only shareholders that could have
been present beside yourself were Mr. John Jackson, and
Mr. Mallaby ?
The Chairman : The whole company was present, acid
every one who knew Mr. 'Wallaby knows that he was not
the man to make a bad bargain,.
Mr. Laird said he would like to be informed what was
the detailed first cost of the work, how much was paid for
the works, how rauci for good-will, &c.
The Caairman declined to give the information.
Mr. Laird said that when he entered the company he
had no i tea that he was payin4 Mr. Jackson for his good-
win. On the contrary, he had always heard it alleged the