The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-21 00:00:00

SELECT VESTRY.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the select Vestry was
hell at ten o'clock yesterday, in the parish offices,
Brownlow hill. , Mr. Churchwarden Woodruff presided,
end the Other, members in attendance were—Messrs.
Crawford,. Denton, Mellor, Satchell, Taylor, Shaw,
Jones, Chesney, Jackson, Richardson, .Cook, Owen,
Cri,,;hley, Whitby, Bairstow, Svred, Smith, Hand,
Whitty, Brancker, and Ltd.

WORKHOUSE COMMITTEE.

The proceeding of this committee were read. It
appeared that the numbers admitted into the vagrant
sheds during the past week, were— 298roales, 56 females,
and 8 children, in all 362. The number of sick cases in
the hospital on the 14th instant, was 798, including 81
fever and 45 itch. The total number in the house on
the 14th inst., was 2,604. No further application had
been received for the office of assistant medical officer,
and the application of Mr. Walsh had been withdrawn.
The appointment was therefore postponed for a fort-
night, and advertisements ordered to be inserted in the
Tim,s, Lancet, Leeds Mercaiy, and other journals. A
c:),:iplaint was made by the nurse of the lock
waris, that Dr. Leather, the medical officer in charge,
hen frequently made entries in the medical officer's time
hook to represent the amount of time he had attended
upon the patient, whereas he had not seen them at all
`on the day which the entries represented. The charge
was proved in reference to one day, and Dr. Leather was
informed that the coinmittee -were highly dissatisfied
With his conduct; that for the future he must devote
more time and attera better to his patients than he had
'done; and that the present case be recorded against him,
and suh:eitted to the Poor Law Board, upon any recur
-
rem', of such conduct on his part.
Mr. Shaw moved the confirmation of the proceedings,
Which was seconded by Mr. JAckson, and carried.

INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS COMMITTEE.

The proceedings of this committee did not contain
anything of importance. Mr. Bairstow moved their
iconfirmation, which was carried without discussion.

FINANCE COMMIITEE,-RECTOR'S FEES•

, The finance committ( e had had this question under
'discussiOn on the 9th instant. Several motions and
'aimndments were proposed. Mr. Mellor proposed that
the offer of the Rector to take is 6d be accepted.
Mr Nickson proposed that a legal opinion be taken
with a view to getting the decision of the Court
of Exchequer. It was also moved that a meeting
of the parishioners be convened to decide upon a
P,Oale of fees. The further consideration of the question
was adjourned to the 16th inst., when it was resumed.
A motion was proposed by Mr. Owen. to the effect that
that the committee felt no legal or moral obligation to
Tecogniza any new. claim, and, therefore, ordered the
payment of the customary fee. It was finally moved by
Mr. Denton, seconded by Mr. Satchell, and carried by a
mall majority. "That the sum of one shilling in respect
to each pauper interment in Walton Cemttery be offered
to the Rev. Rector as a payment in full of all fees due to
'the Rector appertaining to each interment."
ThP following letter upon the subject was read from
Rev, Rector Campbell.— . _ _ _ _ _

Liverpool, January 19, 1857.

DEAR MR. WOODIIIIFF.—As I understand there is likely
to be a discussion respecting the Rector's fees, to-morrow,
in the vestry, I shall not attend, and as you will probably
ho in the chair, I am desirous to send through, you a state-
hient of my views. And first, with regard to the fee for
'registration in Sr. Martin's cemetery, I am informed that
my old friend, Mr. Thornely -has laid-before the public his
decided opinion that I can have no claim to it, as paupers
need not be registered. This is discouraging ; the opinion
of so distinguished and successful a lawyer as Mr.
Thornely cannot but be entitled to the profoundest reve-
rence ; but, on the other side, I have the opinion of Dr.
Travers 'Twiss, Vicar General to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, a lawyer of some small reputation in London,
at least, though not so well known in Liverpool perhaps as
Mr. Thernely, and he says as follows :—"As the registering
of burials is as imperative on the officiating minister as
he performance of the burial service, I am of opinion
that the fee of 61 for registering a burial in Sr.
Martin's CeMetery is one of the fees which may be
exacted for such burials, under the 26th and 28th sec-
tions, as a 'fee payable at the parish church." When two
such great lawyers disagree, it may be presumptions to
decide which is right, but it is just possible Mr. Thornely
may be wrong. But then, though the 523 Geo. 111, e 146, and
10th Geo. IV, c 11, s 23, compel me to register all, whether
tich or poor, and make me guilty of a misdemeanor if I do
rot, and the 10th Geo. IV, confirmed by 6th and 7th
William IV, c 86, secures to me the fee of 6.1 for
registering as 'the customary fee, Mr. Pashley says the law
does not direct the Vestry to pay, it, and the practical
result of his advice, on a very one sided case which was laid
before him, is as follows :—" The Rector makes a new
'claim—refuse to pay him. If he brings an action in the
Ecclesiastical Court, stopbim by prohibition in the Queen's
Bench, and whatever the issue of the trial may be, the
auditor will probably allow your expenses ;" or, in other
words, when a man has executed a commission for you
which he is forced by law to execete and asks 'payment, do
not enquire, into the equity of his claim, reject his offer to
refer it to arbitration, and tell him to bring his action ;
intimating that if he sues you in one court, you will, drive
him into another : and that if you are beat, your expenses
will be paid out of a public nurse, while, if he is, beat, ho
will have to pay his own." This is what the Finaece
Committee have done to me.. I offered to refer my claim to
the arbitration of the auditor and the Poor Law Board.
They rejected my offer, and refused to recommend the
payment subject to that arbitration, But it may be asked,
why did we not claim the fee before To which my answer
is, 1 thought we had claimed and received it. My friend,
the la'e archdeacon, received the fee., , and paid the
half over to me, and I imagined we received the full fee,
when,-in fact, we only received half. But the reason for
this was obvious. Tee workhouse chaplain performed the
funerals, the parishioners had beep very liberal, to our pre-
decessors, and continued very liberal to us. They gave us
an ample church rare, and paid us £720 a year, and the
corporation £7OO, and in 1829 they made ,a very consider-
able augmentation of the fees. Now they only pay me
£2OO a year, and the corporation £350, so that, including
the interest of money paid for the rectory, the
parish and corporation are richer 'by £1',200 a
year than they were in 1829, when the fees were
raised. The rector, in future, will have to depend for hi.
income mainly upon fees, and it is but fair that he should
have all that he is entitled to by law, which previously we
had conceded for obvious reasons. That we did so unwisely
the result has proved. The same course, it appears, is
likely to be recommended with respect to the Walton
parochial burying ground, though I trust the Vestry will
not be led to adopt it. On the plea that the Walton
burying ground is an extension of St. Martin's Ce-
metery, instead of being, as it is, a substitute for the
ancient parish churchyards, it is said I can only claim
the same fee there that. I received at St. Martin's ;
but this is a plea utterly groundless. St. Martin's
Cemetery was brought under the powers of a local
act, and the freehold was vested in the rectors
and churchwardens jointly. The Walton burial ground
was brought by sanction, of the Church Commissioners
under the powers of the Church Building Acts,—it is made
part of the parish of Liverpool for burial purposes by
these acts, the freehold is vested in the rector atone,: and I
am advised that I can claim in it the same fees that I could
claim in the ancient parish churchyards before they
were closed. The clauses of St, Martin's Act have no
connection whatever with Walton Cemetery, and even if
they had, they would give me a legal right to Is for every
birial, and is 8d for opening every grave. But I am
sorry to argue the question on legal grounds. I want
nothing for iny successors but what is fair. The fee for
pauper funerals in Stmithdown lane is Is. 61., Ca 1 I do not
see why, in fairness, it should be less at Walton. If the
Vestry have airy legal doubts,, the bast plan would be to
refer them, not even to so great a provincial lawyer es Air,
Thornely, but to the Court of Common Pleas, or the Court
of Exchequer, on a special case stated without pleadings,
by which considerable expense would be saved, and the
question settled. Or, if avoiding law altogether, they
will consent, in good• faith, to recommend a new table
of fees to the ' General Vestry, and the 'whole body
of the parishioners c ould be induced to take such
an interest in the matter as to go to the poll, I think
stuh a new table of fees, or some such payment in lieu of
fees,.might be agreed to as would satisfy the bishaa ; the
existing parochial burial ground at Walton might be put
under the*same maeagement as the Cemetery intended to be
purchased by the Burial Board, and this unseemly squabble
be brought to, an end. Earnestly deprecating all hostile
proceedings,
and trusting to the good feeling of the
parishioners, I remain, yours faithfully,

AUG. CAMPBELL.

The Chairman said it would scarcely, be necessary to
make at/ remark in moving
.the confirmation of the
proceedings:especially as the Rector had, in his le.tter, so
fully stated his impressions on the subject as to his claim
for fees. The finance committee had occupied, consider-
able time in investigating the subject, and the vestry would
perceive from the various resolutions proposed that thera
was great diversity of opinion. However, the majority
of the committee adopted the opinion that it was desira-
ble on many grounds to offer the Rector one shilling as
his fee for each pauper interment,' in lieu of all claims
from him for burial in Walton cemetery. He thought
that if the Rector would accept the oiler, it would be
satisfactory troth to the vestry and to the 'parishioners.
It Would save the necessity of a troublesome law
suit, involving a very large sum of money. (Rear.)
They must not forget the fact that whatever opinion
some gentlemen of that board might have, and gentle-
men also outside, for whose opinion on many matters he