The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-27 00:00:00

to the course pointed out in the "History of the Taxation
of England," a copy of which I have ha ,I the honour to
present to your association, as also to the views advocated
by some members of the late Parliament, and to the pri-
mary elements adverted to in this letter. That a great
and important adjunct is yet required, in the shape ot
fuller and more perfect statistical .account of the real
weabh of the nation, in every department of its vast
resources is certain ; and also that, with such materials,
which do not exist at present to any approximate accuracy,
a great and obvious lever would be obtained for an equit-
aVe adjustment of taxation. This can only be procured
through the medium of Parliament; but the information
is such as no Liberal Ministry will or can refuse. The first
care of the association ought,' therefore, to be to get those
members of Parliament, who are advocates of progress, to
move for and obtain such information, which, it may be
safely predicted, would be the foundation stone of a struc-
ture which will tend to increase incalculably the future
welfare and prosperity of all classes of people in this great
bat highly over taxed nation.—l have the honour t 3 be,
sir, yours most obediently, WILLIAM TAYLOR.
Fellow of the Statistical Society of London,
Author of the " History of Taxation in
England," &c:
Park skeet, Grosvenor square. Llndon,
March 27, 1837.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-SATURDAY.

I,LVERPOOL.
EPOMK. MANSPf ELD.

"Two OF A TRADE "—Bernard Nelson, a Jew, carrying
on business as an outfitter and money eXchangar, at 58,
Waterloo road, and fames Fleming, also an outfitter,
residing nett door, were charged with fighting. Officer
619 said he was at the Waterloo deck gate, when he saw
the prisoners engaged in a fierce fight at their own door,
and fie attempted to pacify then, and advised them
to desist and go indoors,,but Nelson refused, and he to
them into custody. The affair arose out of some private
difference, which his Worship advisad them to settle in
some other way than by fighting. Ho discharged them
with a canticn.
ASSAULT ON THE POLICE —Matthew Coleman, a salvage
man, was charged with having assaulted Inspector Wil.
son. The officer went in search of a woman, who, he
suspected, had stolen cotton from the Are in Sparling
street, when he was obstructed and assaulted by the pri-
sleet., who was drunk at the time. Tee prisoner was
fined ss,
SAVAGERY.—A fellow, named James Buchanan, was
brought up by, officer 765 on a charge of having nearly
bitten off the noSe of a person, named Daniel Matthewson,
in a. house of bad repute in NerbUry street. the earn..
plainant, whose face presented an
.awful appearance,
said he went into the house the previous night,
where be saw the prisaner and Some fem ales,
and the prisoner wanted him to go outside,
saying le had something to say to him. ,He refused at
first to go, bat subsequently went °meth the door with
tbe pH-sorter, who instantly knocked him down: He got up
and laid hold of the prisoner, who immediately. Baited his
his nose in his mouth and nearly bit it off. Surgeon Pollock
gave evidence as tts the injury, but he did mit think the man
would lose his nest. Mr: litansfield said it seethed now
aalays that fellovig fought like dogs and not like men.
This was the third or fourth case of biting and cutting
off noses that had came before him this week. He was
resolved to punish such ruffianism. He sent the prisoner
for trial.
" How ARE YOU OFF FOR SOAP ?"—A well dressed and
rather interesting young female, named Catherine Kelly,
and a very small boy, about seven or eight year's old,
named John Dillon, were charged with having stolen a
bar of Soap from the shop of Mr. Jones, Byrom street.
Mr. cluck defended the' prisoners. The facts were these :
—Some one who went into the shop of Mr. Jones, asked
the yonth, who happened to be behind the counter, if he
saw a boy take a bar of scrap, and he replied not, when the
little boy (the prisoner) was pointed out to him as having
taken one. The lad was followed, and found in company
with the female, and when questioned about who she
was, he said she belonged to him, but afterwards denied
it. The officer sail he found the soap on the boy. Mr.
Block cross examined the officer, who said he went to the
place where the prisoners lived at No. 21,
Chisenhale street, and searched the house. Mr.
Bluck : And did you get away anything very sus-
picious there ? Witness : Yes. Mr. Black : What was
it ? Witness : A horse rug: Mr. Block : And a horse
rug is a most suspicious article ? Witness : I think it
is (laughter). Mr. Black : Do you swear that ? Witness :
I do. (Renewed laughter.) Mr. Block : Pray what did
you do with the suspicious horse rug? Witness I took
it away. Mr. Bluck : You will be rather a lucky fellow
if I don't have you in that dock on a charge of felony,
What right had you to take away the property out of
the house ? Why, sir, you might as well have carried off
the beds, chairs, and tables. Who told you, sir, to do
any such thing ? The officer, after a great deal of fencing,
said Mr. Gardiner, one of the inspectors, told hint to do
so. Mr, Bluck said he"iiad some doubt on the point of
a respectable and intelligent inspector giving such au
order. A person from Mr. Jones' shop came forward,
and proved that the bar of soap belonged to his employer.
On cross examination by Mr, Block, he adini,ted that he
could not tell whether the soap was Mr. Jones' or not, as
there were some thousands of bars in Liverpool like it—
all he could say was, that it was crown soap at 41 per lb.
He did not see it taken away, nor did he see it taken from
the prisoners. Mr. Block then, in strong terms, addressed
the court for his clients, and urged their discharge. Mr.
Clough asked for a remand, in order to produce farther
evidence, and the prisoners were remanded for a week.
BEFORE MESSRS SHE:L AND PARKER.
DETAINING SEDIEN'S MONEY AND CLOTHES.—WiIIiam
Mawson, a boarding-house keeper, residing at 6, Conway
street, was summoned under the 236th section of the
merchant shipping act, for having detained about £lB in
money, a watch, and some clothes, belonging to a sailor
named John Ashe. Mr. Tyndall was for the prosecution,
which was instituted by the Board of Trade. The defend-
ants wife appeared foe him. It appeared that from 1855
down to January last, the complainant from time to time
lodged with the defendant sums of money to over the
amount of £5O, and he also left a watch, value £7, with
him, together with some clothes. He drew from time to
time money, leaving a balance of £lB odd in defendant's
hands, and when he demanded this MUD, together with his
watch, he was refused both, the latter being pledged for
£3, the wife of defendant giving him the ticket. The
magisr.rates said it was a bad case on the part of the
defendant, and made an order for the paymeet of the sum
claimed, the watch and other things also to be returned,
and at the same time inflicting a penalty of £5 on the
defendant, hoping it would be a warning to boarding-house
keepers not to illegally dnain property belonging to sailors.

TliE NORTHERN TIMES. -LIVERPOOL, MONDAY

THE BIRKENHEAD AND CLAUGHTON GAS AND
WATER COMPANY. -

On Saturday, the usual half yearly meeting of this com,
pally was held at the officeq, Birkenhead, but it was imme-
diately adjourned to the 11th of M-.y. In the meantime
the shareholders have been supplied with the report to be
presented to them, and as the proceedings of this particular
company are at present attracting emsiderable attention
on the Che9ltitt side of the water; we deem it of sufficient
interest for publication in our columns. The following
is the REPORT.

A statement of the capital account, of the outstanding
assets and liabilties, and of profit and loss, from the 30th.
September, 1856, to 31st March, 1857, is annexed. It
was deemed advisab'e by your directors to call up the
£16,000 referred to in their report of 23rd August, 1856.
Wi h the exception of £2 398 12s 51, the call his been
paid. Of this last instalment of c apital a considerable
amount still remaits unexpended. It will be seen. ft em
the annexei account that the stem of £7,561 10a 11d
remains applicable to the extension of works, after
providing for all liabilities, including the amount of
£7,091 is l ld, earned by and due to the proprietors. The
appropriation of this amount will be for the decision of the
general meeting. Your directors consider the financial
popition of the company to be satisfactory ; and if the
price of coal and materials becomes more moderate; it
will improve more rapidly then it has already done.
The necessity of providing for the increased and increasing
demand for gas and water has been a soured of great
anxi-ty. The demand for gas has been provided for by
enlarging and extending the mains, and the present works
have afforded a suiffient supply daring the past winter ;
but, in order to provide for next winter, the works met be
considerably enlarged daring the summer months: Tour
directors have given the requisite orders to effect this.
The supply of water is a- question of greater difficulty: The
present available capital of the company would hare been
sufficient to have provided an ample supply of water to the
Birkenhead district, if the commissioners of Birkenhead
had consented to sell the plot c f land on Flaybrick Hill,
to which allusion was made in the report of August last,
and which has been pointed out by the commissioners
themselves as the most suitable fqr the purpose. A copy
of the correspon lone° on the Subject is given in the ap-
pendix to this report, and from it the proprietors will see
that the commissioners declined to sell the land in ques-
tion, except on the terms of regulating the whole proceed-
ings of the company as to the time and manner of the
supply. and even as to the rates to be charged, not only
for water, but for gas. To such terms your directors
considered that they could not, consistently with their
duty to the proprietors, assent. This attempt having
failed, it became necessary to look for other sources of
supply, and as these could only be obtaleed beyond the
limits to which your Parliamentary powers extend, the
question arose whether it would not be beneficial to the
districts through which the new mains would have
to pass, to obtain power to give them a supply of water;
and it could riot be' expec'e I that any townships would
consent to see Birkenhead supplied with water obtained
within their limits, while they themselves remained un-
provided for. The area of your operations being thus en-
larged yourdirectors deemed it advisable that your powers
for etippliing water should be co-extensive with those for
supplying gas, and have accordingly given the necessary
notices, and taken the preliminary steps towards carrying
a bill through parliament, to enable the company to effect
these purposes in a comprehensive manner. Your directors
have received no official communications on the subject of
this bill, either from any public bodies or any private indi-
viduals, from which they might learn what objections are
entertained to it, and either by concession or explanation
remove them, and thus save all parties mach expense.
Several petitions have been deposited sgeinst the bill, to the
provisions of which your directors call particular attention.
The proprietors will observe that under this bill
the company seek for no additional advantage for them-
selves, inasmuch as it is proposed to dispose of all new
shares by public auction, and to apply any premium which
may arise from their sale for the benefit of the consumer,
and also to limit the Jae &t on the now stock to five'per
cent. It was also considered advisable that the new com-
pany should start de novo, and therefore it was proposed
to cancel the existing arrears of dividend, by creating in
lieu of them deferred shares to an equal amount: As these
deferred shares are net to receive any dividend for five
years, and then not until. the full amount of dividend
al'owed by the act has been paid on every share in
existence, before the expirat;on of that period, ,it must be
seen that the value of these deferred shares will be contin-
gent on the success of your undertaking, and that the
proposal is not open to the objection that it will turn a
contingency into a certainty ; but as the course is somewhat
new, your directors have arranged to withdraw that hart of
the bill, care being taken to preserve all the rights to which
you at present are entitled. In order that future capital
may be raised at as low a rate as possible (thus especially
benefitting the consumer), it is proposed that the dividend
on the new shares shell be limited to an average £5 per
cent., these shares. being, for convenience, of the nominal
value of £lOO each ; and in order to simplify the accounts,
and to avoid confusion from haviog two denominations and
two values of shares, it is proposed to convert the present
£5O shares into shares of £lOO, which being subject to the
reduction in the amount of profit from £lO per cent. to .£5
per cent., will make all the shares of an equal market value,
without in any
,way affecting the public. The nominal
capital of any joint-stook undertaking is prac uniin-
portant, because the only criterion of its value is the
dividend which it yields, and no argument is necessary to
show that as 10 per cent. on £133,000 is £13,300 per
annum, and 5 per cent. on £266,000 is also E 13,300 per
annum, the proposed change is no gain to the present
proprietors, and the nominal capital in respect of which the
profits ate divided is a matter entirely for the company,
and cannot be said to affect the public in any way whatever.
The rates for water proposed in the .present bill are the
same as those s inctioned by parliament in 1811. The
company, under their present act, are not subject to restric-
tions as to the price of gas (except for that supplied, under
agreement, for the_public lamps in Birkenhead), and must,
of course, take precautions to prevent their being fettered
by any limits which will endanger their earning, the
dividend of 10 per cent., to which they have been
entitled from the commencement of their operations.
Your directors find,- from the petitions which have been
presented against the bill, that while one township objects
' altogether to water, another requires parliamentary
guarantees as to the time 'within which the supply meet be
given, and the improvement commissioners of Birkenhead
threaten to oppose almost everything in the bill, and ask
parliament to impose restrictions on the company, which
would inevitably cripple its operations in any other town-
ship. It is for the'proprietors to decide how far, in the
face of this opposition, and with such heterogenous require-
nients pressed upon them, they will think it advisable to
proceed with the bill. It may be necessary to remind the
proprietors of the fact, that in the year 1840, the commis-
sioners of Birkenhead (under the powess of the Birken-
head Improvement Act, 1833) granted to Mr. William
Jackson the exclosive right of supplying the teweship of
Birkenbead with gas for the peried of 75 years. The
stipulations contaieed in the deed by which this grant' was
made, are :-Ist. The payment of an annual rent, com-
mencing at £6, and 'increasing' £5 each year during the
whole term; and, 2ndly, That the public lamps in Bir-
kenhead should be supplied with gas upon the same terms
as the public lamps in Liverpool, but no restrictions as to
the, price to consumers are included. This grant was
assigned to the company by Mr. Jackson. The rent paid
in J-nuary, 1857, was £Bl. The commissioners of Bir-
kenhead, in 1817, and again (by their parliamentary
notices) in 1856, have shewn a desire to become the pur-
cha.sers of your 'undertaking. Your directors having. no
doubt as to their views on the subject, and having given
it fall consideration, authorised your chairman to write
to the commissioners, distinctly offering the concern to
them. .His letter is contained in the appendix to this
report. Your directors recommend the proprietors to
confirm the offer contained in that letter. Without
reference, however, to the measure before' parliament,
your directors have thought it prudent (acting under
the advice of Mr. Hawkesley), to enlarge the bores
of the present wells, and also to procure a second
engine they are, thus doing everything which the means
at their command Omit of, to afford as large a supply
of water as the present site will yield, and to prevent
the risk of interruption in the supply, 'from any accident
happening to eine machinery, of which there is always
danger when everything depends upon' a single engine.
Up to the present :time the rites allowed by the act of
parliament for water have never been fully exacted by the
cempany, and although the price of coal has been increased
nearly cent. .per cent labour has risen twenty per cent.,
and every material used in the Manufacture of gas become
much dearer during the last few years, the company hive
not made any addition to their charge to consumers. If
the maximum rate for watat be demanded, and the last
reduction in the price of gas withdrawn, your directors
calculate that a net increase of profit to the extent of
£3,000 per annum might be earned. This, also, will be a
question for the consideration, of the meeting. The over-
seers of the poor have increased the assessment of your
property to an amount to which your directorehave deter-
mined not to submit, as they consider it most unjust. On
the poor rate depend the improvement and watching rate.
They have therefore appealed in the regular manner. In
the meantime they have agreed to pity the old rate, both'
to the overseers and to the commissioners (without prejudice
to the question in dispute). It is expected that the appeal
will be heard before the next half-yearly meeeng.--Signed,
by order, Wet. JACKSON,
Chairman of the Directors.
Birkenhead, April 20, 1857.