The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-03 00:00:00

MEETING OF MAGISTILI7L'S.

A meeting of the borough magistrates was held yesterday,
at half past one, in the Session House, for the purpose of
swearing in the recently appointed new magistrates. Mr.
J. R. Jeffery, Mr. E. Heath, Mr. J. A: Tobin, and Mr. R.
Sheil had the usual oaths administered to them, and were
duly installed into office. Mr. J. A. Tinge and Mr. Thomas
Earle declined to accept the responsibility, aid sent inti.
mations to that effect.

A full meeting of the magistrates was held at two o'clock,
when the following gentlemen were present :--The Mayor
(in the chair), Messrs. D. Hodgson, Hamilton, C. Parker,
Challoner, T. Bolton, J. A. Tobin, R. Bean, J R. Jeffery,
It. Gladstone, G. Maxwal, J. Stewart, T. B. Barclay, E.
Cropper, Heath, T. D. Anderson, J. H. Turner, S. Holme,
William Bade, R. Sheil, William Rithhone, William
Brown, M.P., James Aiken, H. Earle, and G. Eel',
The Mayor intimated that the members of the press were
in attendance, and wished to know the feeling of the
meeting in ref‘rence to their admission.
A discussion took place, during which it was urged that
as the first subject for consideration was the desirability of
augmenting the police. force of the borough, and that being
a subject in which the public were not directly interested,
the press might be admitted when the matter had been
decided. This appeared to be the general feeling of the
meeting.
The question of augmenting the police force to the extent
of nineteen men was then brought under discussion. It
involved, in substance, a suggestion of the watch committee,
and it was thought it did not come in that shape in which
it could be dealt with by the magistrates. The matter was
therefore not entertained, it being urged that it was the
province of the watch committee to appoint, and that of the
magistrates to dismiss. In fact, the general feeling
appeared to be that the magistrates had no right to
interfere. tinder the circumstances, the appointment of any
addition to the police force was left entirely in the hands of
the watch committee.

We may state that the number of police appropriated to
the docks is 314, and the number allotted to the borough is
572. The last augmentation of the force took place in
1852, when the population was 380,000, whilst the
population is now 440,000.

THE LICENSING SYSTEM.

The next subject in order was as to the propriety of
urging on the Government an alteration of the present
licensing system.
The Mayor, however, intimated that the meeting
should first decide the question as to the admission of
reporters.
Mr. William Rathbone said, that although, generally
speaking. favourable to the admission of reporters, ho would
prefer on the present occasion that the magistrates should
resolve themselves into a committee, with a view if
possible to soma conversation, preparatory to the admis.
sion of the press. Each magistrate v.ould then be better
informed upon the various sabjects which were to be
discussed.

Mr. J. 11. Turner objected to the press being admitted,
chiefly on the ground that it was not usual, and no prece-
dent existed for it.

Mr. It Gladstone moved that the rep' rters be admitted.
The motion was seconded by Mr. T. Bolton.
A division was then taken by a show of bands, and the
proposition of Mr. Gladstone n .ga`ived. In so numerous a
meeting it would be difficult to ascertain the result of the
voting with accuracy, but the folowing gentlemen voted
against the motion : —Messrs. C. Parker, Hamilton, D.
Hodgson, J. H. Turner. S. Holme, Anderson, E. Cropper,
J. Stewart, and T. B. Barclay. Amongst those who sup-
ported the motion were Messrs. Benn, Bolton, Jeffery, R.
Gladstone, Maxwell, and Heath. Several members did not
vote at all, and Messrs. H. Earle, G. Holt, and James
Aikin were not in the room during the division.
Mr. Wiliam Brown, M.P., opened the subject, stating
that he himself had brought the matter prominently before
the House of Commons, who appointed a committee, of
which he was made chairman, to consider the question,
That committee took the evidence of a large number of
witnesses, to whom they put 10,000 questions, and their
resolutions were printed in the " Blue .13)ok." The leading
features in these resolutions were that the licensing system
was to be thrown open, security being given for the good
conduct of the house, and an annual payment being made
according to the population. The committee recom-
mended the discontinuance of the sale of beer in beer
houses, vindicated open competition with character as the
only qualification, the excise making out the licenses,
which were to be renewed annually, the payment going to
the crown. Every hotel keeper was to have two sureties ;
and in the event of such hotel keeper being fined, the
magistrates were to have no power either to mitigate the
penalty or relieve the sureties ; that no certificate should be
given to a party three times fined ; that the proprietor was
to reside on the premises, and that no debt for tippling was
to be recoverable. He concluded by moving a resolution to
the effect that the attention of government should be called
to the report of the committee of the House of Compions in
the last session of Parliament, that the evils complained of
still continued to exist in a frightful degree, and called for
immediate action on the part of Government.
Mr. Tobin thought the sum paid for the licenses ought
to go towards the maintenance of the police of the borough
instead of the imperial exchequer.
Mr. Turner thought the magistrates should retain a power
of veto over localities.

Mr. Hardman Earle objected to the scale of charges pro-
posed by the committee.
Mr. James Aiken proposed the re-appointment of the
committee of magistrates named last year, but it was ulti-
mately agreed to adopt Mr. Brown's resolution.

LIVERPOOL BANKRUPTCY COURT.

DETERMINED SUICIDE OF THE CBIEF
WARDER IN MILLBANX PRISON.

On Thursday morning, Mr. C. St. Clair Bedford held
an inquest at the Millbank Prison. on the body of Mr.
John Jackson, aged 45, the principal infirmary warder,,
who committed suicide on Tuesday lasf, by taking prussic
acid. The following was the principal evidence. Wm.'
Bailey, Esq , the physician to the prison, stated that he
was nell acquainted with the deceased, who in his life•
time was an exceedingly good and acive officer, but
sometimes he presented the appearance of a person
whose mind was confused by drink, although he (Dr.
Bailey) never saw him intoxicated. Oa Tuesday morn-
in the deceased looked very strange, and was much
flushed in the face. Witness asked him if he had been
drinking, and he said, " Yes, but only a pint of beer
with my dinner." About half an hour after that, a
prisoner named Higgs ran into the surgery, and said
that Mr. Jackson was taken ill. He accordingly at once
went to the room occupied by the deceased, and found
him lying on the bed, apparently suffering from the
effects of poison. The stomach pump was used, but the
deceased expieed while the pipe was in his throat. _A
bottle was handed to him, which contained a few drops
of prussic acid, by which poison be (deceased) had no
doubt wised his own death. Mr. James Clarke, the
dispenser, stated that he missed, on Tuesday, a full bottle
of prussic acid, containing about one ounce. The bottle
found in the deceased's hand was the same one; By the
Coroner: The deceased being chief infirmary warder,
he had free access to all the medicines, and, of course,
to the poisons. Other evidence having been given,
which showed that for the last few days the deceased
had appeared rather singular in his manner, the jury
returned a verdict of "Temporary insanity." -