Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-05 00:00:00

so tar as

he had

Mr. SATCIIELL' in reference to the contract for port
wine, said he had a plain, straightforward,,ractical

ti of far

they were all aware, that g the last.. meeting of the
board, tenders for various articles, some ,for 'three and
some for six months,, were opeued, and decided upon ;.
and they were decided upon the uniform principle that,
the lowest tender should be ,accepted, provided the
ies tendering were respectable; and the article
To this ,system, in contracts amounting to
something. like £lO,OOO, not the slightest exception was
made. For wine and spirits, there were three tenders
sent in,—from Messrs. .Davis and Staunton, Messrs.
Baty and. Searight, and_Messrs. Bennett and Son. Mr.
BairstOw had moved that the samples of wine be tasted

Pl -
suited

amples were laid On thE

and were tasted

,
, .
fourth Was the best. On the tenders being opened, Mr.
Bennett's lowest tender was £400.; Messrs.:Baty and

ht's, £435 ; Messrs. Dayis a
'did Mr. Bennett's lightest tender

Staunton, £43t
s £493 4s

He (Mr. S.) moved that Messi:s. Baty and Searight have the
contract ' • Mr. Denton seconded the motion, and it was
about to be adopted,. when Mr. Bairstow-rose and moved
that Messrs. Bennett's highest tender be accepted, the

quality being so much better

Au immediate change on

took pl:ice at the board, as great as any effected by
the Wizard of the North,; and Messrs. ,Bennett and
Son's tender Was accepted. ~In his experience, he (Mr.
Satchell) had never heard an instance,in which the same
Party had sent in two tenders for the same article:, If
they admitted such a principle, it might be, attended
by'great abuse. If the- Vestry were disposed to spend
00 more in wine, let.
,theM do it; but let every com-
petitor have a chance.r, Tie moved that the resolution
come to at the lait meeting, to give the contract for
spirits—and wine to Messrs. Bennett and Son, be
rescinded ;' and , that it be given to Messrs. Baty and

Searight. • , • .
Mr. J. WI ITRY seconded the motion

Mr. BAIRSTOW replied at some length to Mr. Satchell.
Messrs. Bennett and Son's was declared by every
one to be the best wine; and he proposed the
acceptance of the tender, on the ground that, if they
were to give wine to their sick,poor, let than give them
a good article. He believed there was no advantage in
poor wine, and their duty was to provide the best medi-
cine, the best remedies for the restoration .6f their sick.
Mr. SCOTT said some of the samples of wine he should
be ashamed to offer the people. He thought, as mem-
bers of that board, they could exercise their discretion,
and take the best article, even if the tender was not the
lowest.

Mr. CROPPER said gentlemen tendering for the supply
of wine came to the workhouse and saw the quality of
wine supplied up to that time ; but, he thought, they
had made a mistake in allowing any gentleman to send
in.two tenders. lie should support the motion for re-
scinding their decision. That they had cliosen"the best
wine, however, he had no doubt, and it ought to- be, for
its price was very_much more than the others.
. Mr. DENTON maintained this was net a question of
philanthrophy to the poor, but a,question; of principle--
the principle of taking the lowest tender, provided it
was from-respectable men: The error was in allowing
One to tender for a higher class of. wine, and not giving
to others the same privilege.
Mr. OWEN thought it would be better to fix a price,
and then get the best quality of wine they could for
that amount.

Mr. BAIRSTOW had no . objection to rescinding the
resolution, if they went fairly into the market to make
their purchases. -
Mr. JONES said they had virtually accepted a tender
for, some. hundreds of pounds without competition ; for
it appeared they bad other tenders for the same quality.
The motion for rescinding was put, and unanimously
agreed. to ; and after some conversation, it was resolved,
on the motion of Mr. Cropper, that the three firm's
named should be requested to tender for port wine sepa
rately, not to exceed in price 14s. per gallon ; and that
the other. spirits be tendered for as a distinct contract.
The Vestry then adjourned.

, .The Vienna correspondent of the Times says that,
among the eighteen " Men of confidence" appointed in
Lower Austria " who will have to take part in the con-
sultations respecting the new Municipal Law,", is Louis.
DObler, the well-known professor of legerdemain. M.
Dobler is' the' proprietor of a nice little estate, and bur-
gomaster of two small towns..

FRTGHTF,UL SUICIDE DT A 13 A RRISTER.—On Mon-
day morning, Mr. Wakley, received information of the
death of Mr. John Hicks, who resided at 6, South-
crescent, Bedford-square, London, and who has com-
mitted self-destruction. The unfortunate gentleman
Was a member of the legal profession, and for some time
has been suffering under_nervous. debility. On Satur-
day a report of fire-arms was heard. On the inmates
repairing to his bedroom, they were horrified to find him
lying on the ground weltering in a pool of blood, with
his head nearly blown from his body, and the finger of
his right hand partially burnt, and within a few inches
of a large horse-pistol, which had been recently dis-
charged. A surgeon was sent for, but life was extinct.