Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-11-26 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES.--LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1857.

THE VOLUNTARY RATE OF 1853-4.

MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE.

A. meeting of the voluntary ratepayers appointed in
1853, was convened yesterday by Messrs. Hutchison and
Came, the late churchwardens, for the purpose of decid-
ing upon some steps for the disposal of the balance of the
voluntary rate still on hands, and hearing explanations
in reference to it. The meeting was held at ten o'clock
in the Parish Offices, Brownlow-hill. There were pre
sent Messrs. Hutchison, Carne, S. B. Jackson, Denton,
Luff. M`Bnight, Molyneux, and Shaw The Vestry-
clerk, Mr. Hart, was also in attendance.
Some preliminary discussion took place in reference to
the propriety of allowing reporters to be present. Mr.
Carne objected to the presence of reporters, but Mr.
Hutchison and Mr. Denton insisting on their being
allowed to remain, and no other gentleman raising any
objection. the wishes of those gentlemen prevailed.
Mr. M‘Knight moved that Mr. Hutchison take the
chair.

Mr. Hutchison said he preferred not to do so. A
meeting of the Voluntary Rate Committee was hell some
months' ago, at which reporters were present. He was
net there, but the proceedings of the meeting were
reported, and went before the public. Ho was then evi-
dently from what took place considered the culprit. Mr.
Came was present, and he (Mr. Hutchison) gained all
the obloquy of being the obstacle in the way of a
settlement of the question. Therefore, he wished to
make some explanations, and did not desire to fill the
chair.

Mr.'Danton did not think that was a sufficient ob-
jection.
Mr. Hutchison : I am quite willing to do what the
meeting think right.
Mr. Denton: I second the motion, that Mr. Hutchinson
take the chair.
Mr. Hutchison: Very well—then I am willing to
do so.
Mr. Hutchison then took the chair.
The Chairman said the gentlemen present were all
aware that the settlement of the balance of the voluntary
rate collected in former years had been a vexed question
for a long time. There were reasons which prevented a
settlement, as he should explain to them presently up to
this time. With a view to the settlement of the question,
it had been thought desirable by Mr. Carne and himself
upon consultation, that they should call a meeting of the
voluntary rate ,committee, elected in 1853, and lay before
them a full statement of the case. Mr. Carrie and him-
self entered into office as Churchwardens at the Easter
of 1853. There was a voluntary rate laid at that
vestry of one penny in the pound for the purposes which
were then explained and laid before the meeting, and
Mr.aCarno and himself were nominated members of the
voluntary rate committee, in connection with several other
gentlemen. Although the names of the other gentlemen
were given in, and they were proposed, seconded, and
elected by name, Mr. Carne and himself, with the over-
seers, were only placed upon the committee by virtue of
their office. Iu corroboration of that statement, he begged
to call attention to the report of the proceedings of that
meeting, by which it would be seen that " Mr. Banner
proposed that the following should constitute the, equit-
able rating committee for the next year :—The &lurch-
wardens and Overseers, and Messrs. Banner, Molyneux,"
&e., &c. In the list of the members of the commit tee, as
recorded in the minute book of the voluntary rate com-
mittee, there appeared the names of all the other gentle-
men seriatim, and at the top the names of the churchwar-
dens and overseers, and at the side was bracketed, "as
churchwardens and overseers."
Mr. Hart : The question is—What is it in the Vestry
book ?
- The Chair Man . I presume it is the same as in this.
Mr. Denton: It is a very important matter, because
upon it hangs the constitution o the voluntary rate
committee,
Mr. Jackson: We were all elected together.
Mr. McKnight : No, the names ware distinctly and
separately proposed and seconded, with the exception of
the Ch irchwardens and Overseers, so far as I can
remember.
The Chairman begged to call particular attention to
that fact, and also to the dates as he went along, because
they would have a most important bearing upon the
colesti ,n in any further statement. Mr. Carne and he
were merely elected to the committee, as the Church-
wardens of the day, and they took charge of the balance
of the voluntary rate then in hand, £268, and the
collection of the rate during their year of office, only as
Churchwardens, and in virtue of a resolution which
was passed at the first meeting of the committee, which
entered upon office on the 19:h of April, 1853- It was at
that meeting resolved unanimously, "that Mr Church-
warden Carrie be appointed Chairman, and Mr. Churoa-
warden!Hutchison Vice. Chairman of the Committee for
the ensuing year, and that all cheques or orders for the
payment of money on behalf of the Committee be signed
by the Chairman or Vice Chairman, and also by the
Vestry Clerk." The meeting would see by that resolution
that Mr. Carne and he were recognised he their
official?..capacity only, not as individuals. At the
next meeting of the general vestry. in 1853, at
which the Committee was appointed, Mr. Cafferate brought
forward a resolution, which was agreed to unanimously,
to this effect—" That this vestry, h tying learned that a
further sum of money is due to some members of the
Parliamentary Parish Water Committee, resolved, that
the matter be referred to the Equitable Rating Com-
mittee, to pay them siich money as they naly eonsider
just and proper." Thus, it would be seen. that a certain
a meunt of discretion,was left to the committee, and that
the resolution did not commit them to pay over the motley
they had in hand, to the claimants in the water question.
Soon afterwards, a long investigation upon the subject
took place.
Mr. Carne : Of which I was chairman.
The Chairman said, after many weeks, or he might
almost say months, spent in the investigation, the com-
mittee arrived at the conclusion at their meeting of the
2ad of January, 1854, that the sum of -t'2.56 be paid to the
claimants pro rata.
Mr. Jackson': That is to the members of the Parish
Par iamentary Water Committee.
Mr. Carrie: Read the condition attached to that reso-
lution.
The Chairman said he would read it presently. 0,1 the
12th of April, 1854, a meeting of the Voluntary Rate
Committee was held, at which the Vestry-clerk submitted
a receipt for the amounts comprised in the several
awards. The receipt was dated the 2nd M troll 1854, and
ran thus :—" Received by the members of the Parish
Parliamentary Committee from the Voluntary Rate
Committee, per Mr. Charles Hart, the sum of £256, in
the following proportions," &c., &c., and concluded thus :
" which ,-um we hereby declare we receive in full dis-
charge of our claims respectively upon the Voluntary
Rate Committee, and that we will net again either
directly or indirectly bring forward the said claims in
any quarter." The receipt was signed by Dr. Collins,
Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Atkins, and Mr. Kinder Liversedge. In
April, 1854, the annual vestry was held. At that meeting
the question was not brought forward, but the vestry was
adjourned to the sth May, 1854 Mr. Hart read a
statement of the committee there, after which the Chair-
man, the Rev. Rector Campbell, declared the business of
the meeting to be at an end. It was requested, however,
by Mr. Bingham, he believed, that the General Vestry
might be considered as dissolved, and that the meeting
should be resolved into a meeting of the parishioners.
This was agreed to, and Mr. Campbell was requested to
take the chair, not by virtue of his office as Chair-
man of the General Vestry, but simply in his private
capacity. At that meeting Mr. Thomson proposed
a resolution, that the balance of the £549 in
the hands of the Voluntary Rate Committee be
paid over in fair proportioss ,to Messrs. Collins,
Atkins, Hobbs, and Liversedge. His resolution, after
very long discussion, was carried. It was, however, a
meeting nominally of the parishioners of Liverpool, who
had no more to do with the disbursement of that fund
than the ratepayers under the vestry. The real owners
of the money were, as he was advised by the lawyers
whom he had consulted, the contributors to the voluutary
rate, and nobody else. This was a very important point,
which the Committee would be good enough to bear in
mind, because it had very great weight afterwards, as
they would see when he had fully stated the position of
the question. Naturally enough, as prudent men, the
Churchwardens, seeing so many claimants for the money,
and so much difficulty in settling the question, took a
legal opinion, intending to be guided by it. Mr. Carrie
and himself consulted Me. Lowndes, a gentleman who, as
they all knew, stood very high in the community for his
personal character and his long experience of parochial
matters in Liverpool. Mr. Lewades' written opinion,
dated 6th June, 1854, ran thus—
TO THE cnuncriWARDENS OF TIIE PARISH OF LIVERPOOL.
Gentlemen,—ln answer to your inquiry, I beg to state
that I continue of opinion that no vestry, or meeting of
the inhabitants of the parish, can control the custodians
of the voluntary rate raised in the name of the equitable
rate fund, in its application ; and particularly that no
vote can oblige you to pay any part of the fund in hand
in satisfaction of disputed claims, from which the various
officers connected with the collection of the rates in ques-
tion were long ago discharged by the claimants themselves
by a solemn deed of release.—l am, Gentlemen, your most
obedient Servant, M. D. LowreDxs.
Brunswick-street, 6th June, 1854.
After having received that opinion, Mr. Carne and he
took no further steps at the time. The question remained
over until the Annual Vestry Meeting of April, 1856. It
so happened that at that time he was confined by illness to
the house, and could not attend the meeting, but he wrote
a letter to the Rev. Mr. Campbell, with a request that it
might be read to the meeting. The letter was as
follows; Liverpcol, 24th March. 1856.
My de tr Sir,—ln the Mercury of Friday last, I notice
the report of a meeting of the Voluntary Rate Committee,
on Wednesday, at which my name was freely used. Much
misapprehension appears to prevail; and as I shall be
unable to attend the vestry to-morrow, may I request the
favour of your explaining to the meeting. if necessary,
what I conceive my position to be with regard to the fund
in question.
On quitting office, last Easter,'l found myself, con-
jointly with my colleague, the unwilling custodian of
£577 5s 10d, which remained to the credit of the equitable
rating account.
When the Voluntary Rate Committee was last
appointed, Mr. Carne and myself were :elected to it, not