Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-08 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1859•

PITT-STREET WARD REFORM ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting of this society was held, last
evening, at the Bath Hotel, Upper Surrey-street, Mr.
William M'Millen in the chair. There were also present
—Messrs. Haylock,. Maginn, J. Steel, W. Bell, E. S.
Samwell, Leithrod, J. Carpenter, W. M'Millen, jun.,
and Thomas M•Mahon.
The Secretary, Mr. Evans, read the minutes of the
last meeting.
The Secretary then stated that, in. accordance with the
resolutions passed at the last meeting, he had forwarded
copies to the aldermen and the councillors representing
the ward, but the only one who had condescended to
reply was Mr. Graves, whose letter was as follows :
Sir,—l have to acknowledge receipt of your communication of
this day, conveying to me a copy of a resolution passed at a
recent meeting of the Pitt-street Reform Association. ,As one
of the representatives of Pitt-street Ward, I consider that I am
to exercise my unbiassed judgment on all questions which
may come under discussion in the Town Council. In reference
to my vote relative to the salary. of Mr. Garnett, I exercised that
judgment, and voted as I conceived was just towards an officer
personally unknown to me (but who was admitted by those
opposed to the increase of salary to be a most deserving official),
and in support of a resolution unanimously passed by the magis-
trates at a numerously attended meeting, and at which gentle-
men of ail shades of political opinions were present. The same
resolution was recommended to the favourable consideration
of the Council by the Finance Committee ; and reviewing, as I
now do, the whole case, I cannot really see how I could, without
a total surrender of my own judgment, have acted otherwise than
I did. I have not been In the habit of looking at questions before
the Council in a political aspect; and, with every respect for the
opinions of the Reform Association of Pitt-street Ward, I shall,
so long as I am honoured with the confidence of my constituents,
continue to exercise my honest judgment npoo all matters which
may be discussed' n the Council; and I shall, as I have always
done, decline to be the organ through which any party association
is to express its opinions. As, no doubt, the proceedings of the
Pitt-street Ward Association have received publicity, I am satis-
fied, as a matter of justice, the committee will do me the favour
of making public these my views. - I am, sir, your obedient
servant, S. R. Ga.AvEs.
The Grange, Dec. 5, 1858.

The Chairman said, he could hardly consider the con-
duct of the gentlemen who had not noticed the commu-
nication that had been made to them as gentlemanly or
becoming. (Hear, hear.) Had he been requested, for
those liscourteous gentlemen, to dictate replies, he
should, for the alderman, have said, "My secretary
baring received your note, I beg, in reply, to inform
youlhat, not being elected by the people, but by 'lffy own
party in the Council chamber, therefore I don't think it
necessary to take any nOtice of your letter." And for Mr.
Jellreys he would have said, in the plausible way of that
:gentleman, " Had I known your association was in exist-
ence, I should have been more careful how I voted ;
'but I trust you will traink better of my vote by November
next." That would be a good reply for him.
Mr. Ridley, by way of reply. might have said, " Not
having been long -elected, and not knowing my duties
exactly, and wishing to curry favour with 0/e folks there,
I did vote for Cm increase ; and I must 'be excused for
my inexperience, as I am tot an advocate for large
salaries, as people in my own employ Tan tell you,"
(Laughter.) Mt. Graves had replied, andvas, no doubt, a
very civil fellow, upon whose conduct some of the gentle-

Mr. Steel,-vice-chairman,of the association, addressea
the meetin? at some length,. As the mover of the rem,-

lutions Asi,

he was called upon to say a few words -in reply to the
letter of Mr. Graves. Ile had been told that the
language used in the rese'lutions was too strong, but he
did not tiiink so ; he thought it was moderate, because
some said it did not go far enough, while others said it
went too far. He considered at the last meeting that the
conduct fof Mr. Graves in the council had been :repre-
hensible, and he moved a resolution to that effect, which
was carried unanimously, a fact that proved he did not
use terms that were considered 'too strong by the gentle-
men assembled at the meeting. Ile considered the conduct
of Mr: Graves in voting an additional £2OO a yearsalary to
Mr. Garnett, without its being aiked for, was reprehensible
conduct, because he believed MT. Graves would not have
acted' in the same way if it had concerned his own pocket.
(Hear, hear.) The increase was brought about through
the !proposition, at a meeting of magistrates which was
not !called for the purpose, by Mr. J. B. Lloyd, in whose
employ Mr. Garnett had been. Mr. Jeffery did not
offer a determined opposition' *0 the proposal when it was
before the magistrates, but said he might have an oppor-
tunity 'of voting against 1t in the Council, but
when the question came to the Council, the
motion for Malay, the salary of Mr. Garnett £7OO
instead of £5OO was carried, though no increase had been
asked. In the present state uncertain as it'was of the
finances of the borough, such a lavish waste of money
was unjustifiable, and those who voted for it ought to be
censured (hear, 'hear), for na Mr. Stitt observed, they
Might, instead a bringing lower up to the higher
salaries, have 'to reduce the higher to the lower.
Mr. Graves had a right to his judgment and
opinions, and .so had the burgesses, and if Mr.
Graves acted in away burgesses did not'like they were
' justified in saying so, and would no doubt bear every
instance of the sort in mind. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Mans-
field, who had £1,200 a year, and was 'himself well
acquainted with the law, did not want a gentleman at
£7OO a year to advise him, and would manage very well
with a gentleman at £3OO. Mr. Wyburgh did not sit as
the clerk in 'Mr. Mansfield's court, but in the second
court before Ley magistrates ; and when there
was a third court, Mr. Anderton, a gentleman
at £l5O a year, acted as clerk, and was found com-
petent to advise the magstrates; why, then, should
they pay another ,person for performing a similar duty
£7OO a year ? The thing was absurd, and those who
voted for it and especially as it was neither naked nor
required—did not faithfully represent the interests of
ratepayers. (Hear, hear) Mr. Graves was brought
out by the Tories, acted as a Tory, and voted
in •the Council as a Tory. And haw did
Mr. Graves attend to his duties ? Out of thirty-six
divisions in the Council, he was present at nineteen, in
seventeen of which he voted —fourteen times with the
tories and only three ,times with the liberals. (Hear,
hear.) Did that gentleman suppose the burgesses -were
a set of noodles ; that they were to be satisfied by such a
letter as had just been read ? The letter talked of
no party ; but there was, and always had been,

party in the Uounen, ana the ourgesses usa
a right to say, and would say, what things they ap-
proved, and what they did not approve—they would not
be slaves either politically .or otherwise. (Hear, hear.)
The Tory party wanted to 4uonopolise all, but it would
be the fault of the burgesses themselves if they allowed
themselves tole either deceived or dictated to. (Applause.)
He acknowledged the courtesy of Mr. Graxes, who an-
swered the letter that was addressed to him ; but it
seemed that the other gentlemen connected with the ward
were not acquainted with the ordinary courtesies of re-
spectable society. (Hear, hear.) He moved the adop-
tion of the minutes.

Mr Evans, id seeonding the motion, said Mr. Graves
could talk liberally enough when he thought he had a
chance of becoming M.P. for New Ross, and he would
be mistaken if he thought he could disregard the views of
the ratepayers-

The Minutes were confirmed.
Mr. Haylock said they should make every reasonable
allowance for Mr. Graves, who had much business to
attend to; and he moved that they acknowledge that
gentleman's courtesy in answering the letter that had
been addressed to him.

Mr. Steel seconded the motion, which was carried
unanimously.

Thig concluded that part of the business which was
public.

TOXTETH PARK LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH

A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Toxteth
Park Local Board of Health was held in Mr. Avison's
office, 18, Cook-street, at half-past ten o'clock yesterday
morning. The gentlemen present, were —Messrs.
Hughes, Alpass, Siddeley, Smith, Boult, and Walker.
The chair was taken by Mr. Hughes.
Mr, Alpass said, the business for which the Committee
was called together, was with reference to the Smithdown-
lane sewerage, regarding which they had received a
memorial from several occupiers of houses, objecting to
being rated for the cost of the sewer. The first question
was, therefore, whether they would comply with the
prayer of the memorial, or would exercise the compulsory
power, which the Act of Parliament gave them,
to sewer the property notwithstanding that
memorial. He had had an interview with
the architect of the "Workhouse, Mr. Culshaw ; and had
conversed upon the subject with many. persons well
acquainted with the question, and the majority said that,
looking at the state of the locality, the Board had no
right, as a public body, to comply with the prayer of the
memorial, but ought to make the sewer upon sanitary
grounds, as it was required upop. sanitary grounds.

Mr. Walker said lie should like die-letter of Mr.
Stanistreet to be read, beeause that letter stated that they
were going upon wrong conclusions, and that they had no
right, under the new Act of Parliament of 1858, to go
upon a sectional part of the old act of 1848, which, in his
opinion, did not apply to his case at all.
Mr. Avison, the law-clerk, begged, in the first in-
stance, to read the following letter from Mr. Newlands,
the borough engineer:—

4, Clare-terrace, Jan. 7, 1859.

Dear Sir,—l am confined to the house by illness, and on that
account unable to attend the meeting of the executive commit-
tee ; but Mr. Sadler will be in attendance to explain the plans,
&c., if necessary.
But even if I were well enough, it is a question with me whether I
should attend any committee at which there are no ,vporters
present, as I have a statement to make and documents to produce,
showing that Mr. Hughes has made charges against me on data
which are purely the fabrication of his own brain— that his facts
are fictions, and his figures mere coinage.
The whole of the money, for instance, paid to the Health CoM-
mittee for surveyors end draughtsmen is £6B 2s 114. Mr. Mon a

house and his predecessor, the clerks of works, have acted
directly for the board, and their employment has been rendered
necessary simply because of the total inefficiency of the " fine
young man," who, it seems, is my rival in position and ability,
in Mr. Hughes' estimation. _ .

Be so good as to assure the board that I consider the interests
at stake too great to permit petty resentments to interfere, and
that 1 shall give them, as heretofore, my best advice and assist-
ance. I am, dear sir, your s faithfully, JAS. NEWLANDS.
I send statements showing the work done and the money paid.
To Thomas Avison, Esq.
The Chairman : Are we to receive that letter without
making any comment upon it ?

Mr.alpass : Of course you can comment upon it.
The Chairman : Mr. Newlands, like several other
gentlemen perhaps, misunderstood me as to the expenses
to which the Board had been put with regard to
engineering. I never did accuse, nor do I accuse' Mr.
Newlands of having received the money, which has been
paid by the Board, for the- expenses incurred by his
directions. What I maintained is—and I have no doubt
it will turn out so in the end—that the expenses we have
been put to would fully and amply pay an officer, who
would be our own. I am still of that opinion, that we
are paying an officer his wages, and that we still
have no right to call him our own. I am alluding,
of course, to Mr Monkhouse. If I am wrong,
I wish to be set right. Where there is "so much con-
fusion, it generally happens that statements will be some-
what misunderstood. I never wished it to be considered
that Mr. Newlands was receiving the money, but I
maintain that there was a vote last summer, in which, so
far as my recollection goes, we all appeared willingly
inclined to join—to hand him a sum of money by way of
compliment. .

vv
14
r. Alpass : The sum of money alluded to was paid
him for money out of pocket during his services in
London, with regard to the railway bills before Parliament.
The Chairman : Ido not mean that. I may recall to
to your mind that you were chairman at the time
when the motion I speak of was brought forward,
I believe, by yourself. In consequence of the ser-
vices Mr. Newlands rendered to the Board, for which

he could receive no fixed salary, it was thought to
be our duty to pay him a compliment by voting him a sum
of money. Now, I appeal to you, whether you did not
brink that before the Board ?
Mr. .Alpass : I assure you, you are mistaken; .amd if
vor

,u, 1-eferto the minute book, it will be seen. It was
some time in the fall of last year we voted him the
amount he had expenged.
The Chairman : £lO. I am not alluding to that at all.
Mr. Alpass : I ktpow of no other sum of money.
The Chairman: I may, perhaps, refresh your memory.
I believe Mr. Newlands did not receive tke money which
every member of the Board was willing to vote him, in
conseauence of cur want of fends. That it would not

appea; in the minutes of the Board is very probable, in
•consequence of that fact ; but I appeal to the Law Clerk,
who must certainly have been present, 'whether such a
motion was rot brought before the Bard by our then
chairman.

Mr. Alpass : I have to' recollection of it. I have
mentioned, in conversation at the Board, that it ryas

necessary It. ,e should make some aeknowled,genient to

Newlands for the services he had rendered: But I have
no recollection of proposing any SUM of money to be

Mr. Anson: No; there was no sum proposed. There
was mention made, soveral times, that we should have to
do it seme time. The difficulty arose in this way. When
the Health Committee and the Council consented that
Mr. Newlands should assist this Board, as consulting
engineer, they expressly declined to allow him to receive

in'any otherposition but as exclusively their own.
officer, and if he received a fixed salary from us it might
be considered as tantamount :to a division of his labour.

Mr. Walker remarked that, in the Council, Mr. Picton
expressed great surprise at the position Mr. Newlands
occupied regarding that Board.

Mr. Avison : There can be no doubt that the position
is anomalous.

Mr. Boult said, if they were not prepared to go fully
into the accounts mentioned by Mr. Newlands in his
letter, they had better go on with their ordinary business..
,(Hear, hear.)
•
The following letter was then read :

Liverpool, 6th Jaxuary, 1859.
Dear Sir, —With reference to my communication to you of the
30th ult., on the subject of the proposed sewer in Smithdown-
lane, I beg leave respectfully to add, that the inability of the
local board to assess the whole of Toxteth Park to the expense
of a sewer required for the hew workhouse, cannot afford a.
reason for charging such expense exclusively upon a PART ONLY
of the rural district,—the agricultural land of Lord Sefton and
others cannot certainly be benelltted by the contiguity of the new
workhouse, and I am not aware of any principle on which it
ought to be comprised.in a separate rate. It would seem that.
the area of taxation for such a purpose ought at least to be co-
extensive with the entire district under the authority of the
board.—ireinain, dear sir, yours respectfully,
To: hos. Avison, Esq., JOHN &ANISTREET.
Clerk to the Toxteth Park Board of Health.

Mr. Alpass : I think Mr. Stainstreet does not under—
stand the interests of his clients. We are proposing not
to tax his clients at all.

The Chairman disclaimed any personal interest what-
ever in opposing the proposed scheme, and begged it to
be understood that he.had no property to be:affected by
it. It was in fact quitelthe reverse—the plan he wished
-to be adopted would rate him.
Mr. Alpass -said, he had been seeing Mr. Ciilaliaw, that
-morning, and some members of the building committee,
and they halo a, long discussion as to how tar .the work-
house would ?require a fewer. It would have to be
brought up beyond the margin of the cemetery, -or near
eto Wellington-road. -If they decided not to.carry it any
further, the whole cost would have to be paid by the
morkhouse. If they decided to carry out -the scheme
marked upon,tlit plan before them all the property -.would
have to contribute.
The Chairman said, those who thought with him :held
that that was not the right principle to go upon. They
maintained that Smithdown-lane was a public thorough-
fare, and one of the principal entrances into Liverpool.
They also maintained that a public institution, belonging
to the public strictly and entirely, ought, as far as their
own district was concerned, to have the cost of ita sower.-
age subscribed for by the public at large. The gentlemen
for whom he spoke were willing, when the sewer came up

to Wellington:road, tc pay fora sewer along that road,
but they objected to be taxed for some hundreds of feet of
sewerage from which they could by no possibility receive
the smallest benefit.
Mr. Walker also opposed the scheme proposed.
After a lengthened discussion, •

Mr. Alpas-s moved, that the Zxeeutive Committee
recommend the Board to carry out the drainage as
shewn on the plan before them, and form a district to
repay the cost of it, as marked upon the general plan by
the consulting engineer.
Mr. Boult seconded the motion.

The Chairman said, it was the intention of the inhabi-
tants, to carry the motion before one of her Majesty's
principal Secretaries of State.
Mr. Alpass : That is quite right.
The motion was then put and carried.
• This concluded the business.

BIRKENHEAD FREE LIBRARY

PRESENTATION TO MR. ROGER DUTTON

The presentation of a testimonial to Mr. Roger Dutton
which we announced as in prospect, took place in- the
Birkenhead Free Library, last evening. Mr. Dutton, as
well as being deputy law clerk to the Birkenhead com-
missioners, acted in the capacity of honorary secretary to
the library committee, and by his energies and persever-
ance, mainly contributed to place the free library in its
present useful and flourishing condition. Mr. Dutton is
at present about to leave England for New Zealand, and
a large body of gentlemen, who appreciated his exertions
in reference to the library, thought it fitting that some
mark of gratitude on the part of the public, should pre-
cede his departure. The testimonial consisted of a
splendid copy of Collier's Shakspere, in six volumes, and
a silver drinking cup. Each volume bore the following
inscription —" This copy of Shakspere (together with a
silver cup), is presented to James Roger Dutton, Esq., by
the committee and other friends of the Birkenhead
Free Public Library in token of their esteem for his
private character, and admiration of his indefatigable
services as Honorary Secretary for more than two years,
during tile formation- and organization of the above
institution, with their cordial wishes for his future happi-
ness and prosperity." The inscription on the cup was—
" Presented by the Committee of the Birkenhead Free
Pablic Library, to their valued Honorary Secretary,
James Roger Dutton, Esq., on the eve of his departure
from England, Jamiary 3rd, 1859." The. ceremonial
took place in the Reading Room, of the Free Library,
which was handsomely and tastefully decorated for the
occasion. The chair was taken, upon the motion of Mr.
Verelst, by Mr. George Harrison.
The Chairman opened the proceedings in a few words,
in which he expressed his sense of the loss the public of
Birkenhead must suffer, by the departure of Mr.
Dutton for a distant colony, and uttered a
confident hope that many now present would live to hear
of Mr. Dutton's success, and of his placing himself in a
very prosperous position in the country to which he was
about to emigrate. The Chairman glanced at the estab-
lishment of the library (to which, he declared, they were
greatly indebted to the energy of a gentleman near him,
Mr. James), and showed how much its growth and its
sure foundations were due to the assistance the committee
had derived from Mr. Dutton.
Dr. Baylis then in an eloquent and feeling address
surveyed some of the services rendered by.ll_fr. Dutton to
the public in the organisation and establishment of the
library, and then presented to him the testimonial, which
had been prepared for his Meer:
ceieceived with loud
Mr. Dutton—on rising,