Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-24 00:00:00

informed in a speech, from the throne, that the
system under which ships paid passing tolls had been
the source of great complaint, and that a measure would
be introduced into Parliament for affording relief. Ha
made no complaint whatever of this step, for it was- an
acknowledgment of the greatness of the subject ; it was a
confession, and the public bill subsequently brought in
was a coroboration of the fact that is was not a subject for
the Board of Trade, acting in commttee-rooms of the
House of Commons, but it was purely a subject of minis-
terial interference, and one to be dealt with fully and
fairly on the floor of the House of Commons. On the 4th
of February, leave was asked to bring in a bill affecting
the right to levy and manage the dues derived from
the shipping at all the ports mentioned in the
report of the Royal Commissioners. He did not
find fault with the introduction of the bill, but
what he complained of was, that the government of this
country should have allowed a year to pass by and a
" department'' to deal, not in a very respectable or reput-
able manner with this question. He was free to confess
that the subject was brought before the House in a bold,
manly manner—it was intrcduced on a broad principle—
there was no petty carping—no attempt to attack one part
only ; in fact, as regards the Bill itself and the manner and
occasion of it, the measure was worthy of a government
who desired to deal with a question which they thought was
prejudicial to the public interests.
There had promised to be a flue clay of sport unequalled
since—

Earl Percy, of Northumberland, a vow to God did make,
His pleasure in the Scottish wood; three summer days to take.
But, unfortunately, many disaste7s occurred on this famous
sporting day, the principal of which was, that in which the
House of Commons declared that further information was
necessary, and in which Mr. Labouchere, a member of the
Government, declared that the sons of Zeruiah had been
too strong for him. Ultimately a select committee was
appointed, who were directed to inquire into, and report to
this house upon the several matters referred to the Com-
missioners appointed by her Majesty to inquire into the
local charges upon shipping in the ports of the United
Kingdom. And there was a second resolution, re'erring
the report cf the commissioners, which had been presented
to bath Houses of Parliament, by command of her Majesty,
to the Select Committee. At the present moment, there
was no authoritative declaration from any public body,
apart from the report of the Board of Tr.. de, upon the prin-
ciple of this or any other similar bill; for the Select Com-
mittee inquired only into one case—the case of Liverpool,
and broke up with this simple report—" that the evidence
taken up to the present time be reported to the House,
without any Expression of opinion ;" and the report of
the Royal Commissioners was in suspense. It was known,
however, that a report was proposed to the Select
Committee ; that it was rejected by cne vote only
—the vote of the Vice-President of the Board of
Trade ; and that it was strongly in favour of
the claims of Liverpool, and directly adverse to the
report of the Royal Commissioners. The learned counsel
here read the report proposed to the select committee, and
asked why if it was of such great importance, that the
views of the Board of Trade and the Royal Commis-
sioners should be carried out, the select committee he d not
been re-appointed. Parliament had re-assembled, and no
movement had been made with the view of accomplishing
that object, and let we were told that we had at present
a p:ime minister with one of the strongest Parliamentary
majorities which had been known for some time. Not-
withstanding that the ministry had committed themselves
in 1856, and then retreated trom their original position,
in order that Parliament should be supplied with better
information; no attempt was made in 1857 to revive the
inquiry, and obtain the information which the p:ime
minister declared to be necessary in 1856. What ren-
dered this circumstance the more remarkable was the fact,
that in the last session of the last Parliament a bill intro-
duced upon passing tolls, a charge which was wholly
different in origin and nature from town dues, wa t made
the handle for something more. It appeated that the town
of Ramsgate had been empowered by Act of Parliament
to levy rates upon coals for town improvements, and that
this fact had presented to the fruitful mind of eome agent
of the Board of Trade an opportunity for stealing a
march. They accordingly reported upon the biil that all
tolls in the nature of Town Dues should in future be
abolished, and, in so doing, they absolutely invented Town
Dues solely for the purpose of abolishing them. But what
had been the opinion of a parliamentery committee only
this session, upon the recommendation of the Board of
Trade ? In a bill promoted in another room, for the
redaction of certain tolls upon the river Weaver, the com-
mittee, entirely rejecting the report of the Board of Trade,
had unanimously rejected the bill. He felt called upon
to object, in the strongest terms, to the manner in which
the present bill came before parliament. If the committee
were to sanction the bill, what assurance had they that
the select committee of last year would not be re-
appointed, and come to a conclusion
.upon the whole
question, exactly opposite to the decision of the private
committee. It had been admitted to be a subject for
general, public, and ministerial inquiry, and it was there-
fore neither just nor proper that the Corporation should
be handed over to a private committee, to be worried and
carped at for such selfish objects as those by which the
promoters of the present bill were actuated. It would be
well that the committee should consider for a moment who
were the parties who were now set at Corporation by
the Board of Trade. They had been fortunate enough to
find in another quarter the assistance which they
lost at Birkenhead, having induced two railway
companies, and two voluntary associations in Man-
chester, to come for ward and promote the
measure ; and the names of Joseph Heron and Charles
Saunders were to be immortalised in history, as having
accomplished that which a Palmerston, a Cardwell, a
Labouchere, and a Lowe had been unable, in the face of
parliament, to accomplish. Mr. Heron, the permanent
agitator upon the subject, and the spirit of the opposition
to town dues in 1855, when none of the railway companies
took the matter up, but when, on the contrary, the Great
Western Company gave their support in parliament in
opposition to Mr. Miner Gibson, who advocated Mr.
Heron's views, now stated that he had been addressed in
the first instance by the railway interest. The Chairman
of the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction
Railway having called upon him at the end of October,
and the Great Western Company having followed shortly
afterwards, to induce him to take part in the promotion of
a bill. Ultimately it appeared to have been agreed that
Mr. Heron should take charge of the case, and employ
what he was pleased to call leis occasional parliamentary
agents. Accordingly Mr. Heron, having at his command
the representatives of the Manchester interest, patched 1.113
a union between them and the railway companies, and
hence arose the bill. Now, strangely for Manchester,
the two commercial associations—the Manchester
Chamber of Commerce and the Manchester Com-
mercial Association, two voluntary associations—were
not to contribute any thing towards the promotion of
the scheme. Mr. Bazley, the Chairman of the Chamber
of Commerce at Manchester, who might be taken as the
true exponent of the views of Manchester, told the Com-
mittee that the Town Dues were a grievance, because they
were a charge upon shipping, but he denied that the
Customs Duties, levied on the same goods, were a charge
upon shipping. Indeed, he went so far as to say that it
would be better that the South Carolina planter should put
the 2d into his pocket than that it should be received by
Liverpool, and applied to a great extent in improving the
port and providing the most adeouate accommodation for
the shipping. Finally, Mr. Bazley assured the Committee
that such was the loyalty of the people of Manchester that
they would cheerfully submit to anything which parliament
might sanction, provided that it was in accordance with
the views of the Commercial Associations of Manchester.
In point of fact, the bill was a bill of the Great Western
and Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction
Railway Companies, promoted and paid for by them, and
simply ornamented by Mr. Bazley and Mr. Turner, as the
representatives of the Manchester Commercial Associa-
tions. The learned counsel then adverted to the
rival schemes proposed by Liverpool and Birkenhead.
He pointed out that from the evidence of Mr. Rode, and
of the witnesses of the Great Western Company, Mr.
Abernethy's plans were preferable to those by Mr. Rendel,
which to some extent were impracticable, and drew the
attention of the committee to the fact, that the p.ans of
Mr. Hartley now promoted by the Corporation, were
not near so revolutionary in their character as those by
Mr. Abernethy. He also quotes the evidence of Mr.
Robertson, who, as one of the Great Western engineers,
had expressed an opinion that the half tide basin of Mr.
Abernethy, would give the Railway Company much
Mr.som eßeonfdethhe These
e the amalgamation
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contract was entered into, the Great Western Railway
Company were served with a notice that the alleged lease
of land on the south reserve by the Dock Trust to them, was
illegal and void. The preamble set forth that the amalga-
mation was made and expenditure incurred by the Groat
Western Company on the faith. among other things, that
the Birkenhead docks would be completed substantially
according to the plans then before parliament ; secondly,
that in those plans the corporation intended to destroy the
South Reserve, on which the Great Western were to be
accommodated. Now, if that were true, Mr. Boyle was
not speaking truth. But he had spoken truly, for they had
it in evidence that the Great Western Company were made
acquainted with the position of things de die in diem ;
and even Mr. Saunders admitted that notice of the inva-
lidity of the lease was received long before the agreement
to support the Liverpool Corporation was made.
The learned counsel next proceeded to analyse tke evi-
dence of Mr. Saunders, and had not concluded address
whop ti mmittee rose, at four o'clock.