Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-03 00:00:00

THE DAY'S NEWS',

Yeaterrlay the monthly meeting of the Town
Council was held. It was resolved t 1 fat the new
landing-stage should be accepted•by the Finance
Committee, and they would have the opinion cj
the Surveyor of the Corporation, and 3lr Hartley,
who would determine what works we re necessary
for traffic; such works would be con strutted, and
the stage would then be handed over to the new
Deck Trust. Some exceptions was taken to the
length of the bridges from the • Tier
Head to the stage, which Mr. Woo druff averred
were rather short. Mr. Hornby in moving
that a sum of 1,0001. be voted to the T( )ern Clerk for
his exertions in connection with the Mersey Con-
servancy Bill, lately before Parliament, alluded at
some length to the objects of this bill., and anim-
adverted in rather strong terms on tb,e conduct of
the Board of Trade during the pie aracted pro-
ceedings. He had no hesitation in ex pressing his
opinion that the conduct of her Majesty's ministers
was most • unjustifiable. Mr. Aide man Holme
seconded the motion, but Mr. Woodru if demurred,
He admitted the zeal, ability, and judgment of
the Town Clerk. If Mr. • Shuttiewort h had been
unremitting in his exertions, and had worked
• hard during the past twelve month 6, the very
result of shis labours would be that for the future
he would not have one-half the hesines s to attend
to that heretofore came under hie dir action; and
he thought, therefore, that the Council were not
justified in. voting away a weir. of 1,0001. His
salary was large, 2,5001. per annum; besides, if
he was entitled to that sum, were there not
others who had exerted themselves equally with,
the Town Clerk ? And had they .no claim on the
Town Council ? If one deserved a gratuity so
did the other, and he would therefore move an
amendment against the resolution. There was no
seconder, consequently the motion was carried.
The proceedings of the Watch, St. George's
Hall, and Market Committees were approved of and
confirmed. There seems to be now. some chance
of the erection of the new Public Library build-
ing being proceeded with. The tender of
Messrs. -Holm° and Nicol, have been
accepted for its construction. ilia report
of Mr. Duncan to the Water Committee. was read.
Ho reports that he had tried a number- of experi
ments by different methods, for the filtration and
purification of the water, and his conclusion is, that
in consequence of the dietance between .the works
at Rivington an 1 Liverpool, the water assumes a
more brown appearance than when it leaves Riv-
ington ; that the open reservoirs are favourable to
the developemeet of organic matter ; that in spite
of the utmost care that car. be exercised, animal-
culte do and will find their way into the
cisterns and pipes connected with storage
and distribution in Liverpool, and that of
anything is to be done to improve the Rivington
water it must be accomplished at the Liverpool
end, immediately before distribution to the inha-
bitants. He makes two recommendations—first,
to introduce a system of filtration at Liverpool, as
well to improve the colour of, and render the
Rivington water alone sufficiently clear and palata-
ble for all purposene second, to adopt the alterna-
tive of laying a separate system of pipes fur .the
supply of unmixed well water for table use, and
the Rivington for manufacturing, S;c., purposes.
The latter scheme is the one which Mr. Duncan
thinks best, "for doubtless the time will arrive
when all the water which can be procured at home
and from Rivington will ihe required. Mr. Spencer's
report avers that hia experiments fully warrant him
in stating that the tinge of colour now contained
in the Rivington water may be altogether removed
but that the filtering beds 4.--hould be close to Ken.
sington reservoir. The reading of these reports—
as well as a letter from Dr. Lngus Smith, of Man-

ch,mter, on the quality of tho Rivington water,
which he flO adenine—was followed by Mr.
Alderman Parker moving :that the Wate-
Committee be instructed to supply the in-
habitants with spring water, without any
admixture of the Rivington water. Mr. J. R.
Jeffrey seconded the motion.. Mr. Robertson
would not subscribe to the opinion that the
Rivington water was unfit for household purposes,
until every means had been tried to filter the
water. He instanced several terms which at first
bad been supplied with water much worse than
that from Rivington, .and now that filtration had
been attended to, •the quality was of the first
class, Mr. el. B. Jeffery said that the council had

in the month of May, pas3ed a resolution that the
Rivington water was unfit for dietetic purposes, and

what -means had the Water Committee taken to

render the supply satisfactory? He would support
the experiment of supplying the town, three days a
week, with red sand-stone water. Several other

gentlemen spoke on the question, including Mr.
Bennett, who concreamed the Rivington water with
great force, and said the water engineer's report
was a valuable document, and did Mr. Duncan
great credit. Ultimately an amendment of Mr.
Aikin's—that time be allowed for the Water Com-
mittee to consider and report upon the communi-
cation of Mr. Duncan and the others, and to receive

such further information as they might deem
necessary to enable them to report thereon to the
Council at their earliest convenience ; and that it
be an instruction to them to report at the same
time on the practicability, and, if practicable, the
cheapest and best mode of supplying the well
water for drinking purposes, and the Rivington
water for other purposes, pending the further time
8,n4 trial which are demanded before deciding upon

the two sets of pipes—was agreed to, and the
meeting broke up, after resolving to meet again on
Wednesday next.

From the report of a meeting in Manchester, in
reference to the intended operations of the newly
formed Oriental Inland Steam Company, we
understand that the company are about to com-
mence the steam navigation of the Indus, by means
of flat bottomed boats of twenty-four inches
draught, trains of which will be towed by steam-
boats of 200 horse-power ; and under terms of
a concession from the East India Company,
which was tantimount to a guarantee of 10
per cent. on the outlay. Manchester enterprise
was invited to co-operate for the extension of the
scheme of the Godocry and other rivers, with view
of increasing the supply of cotton. Resolutions
were passed unanimously recognising the im-
portance of the scheme, and appointing en influ-
ential committee, for the diffusiOn of information
on the subject, and aiding the London Board in
the prompt erection of the enterprise.
Mr. Charles Dickens has published the results
of the entertainments given in remembrance of
the late Douglas Jerrold. The audited accounts
show that the Various performances, readings, and
lectures, have realised, after the payment of all
expenses, a clear profit of 2,000./. This .sum is to
be expended in the purchase (through trustees) of
a Government annuity for Mrs. Jerrold and her
unmarried daughter, with remainder to the

survivor.
Respecting the anticipated vacancy in the
representation of Greenwich, we learn that Mr.
Montague Chambers has been requested to allow
himself to be put in nomination should a vacancy
occur. This latter event may not take place, as by
an act passed in the reign of the late George
111., a year may elapse before abankrupt member
. is disqualified from holding his seat. He is, how-
ever, incapable of voting or sitting for a year
unless within that time the proceedings are
superseded, or the creditors paid the full amount
of their debts, and the entering into a bond with
two sureties for the payment of disputed debts, if
recovered, is to be considered as payment. If
within a year the fiat is not superseded, nor the
debts paid upon a certificate from the Commis-
sioner to the Speaker, the seat of the member is to
be declared vacant. The act in question has
reference to parties becoming bankrupt after their
election as members of Parliament. For a borough
the qaalification is a clear annual estate of ,300,
' and before a member takes his seat he must deliver
• to the clerk of the House a paper signed by himself,
containing a description of the estate or quali-
fication, and then take and subscribe an oath of
its value.
Mr. Arthur Russell, nephew of Lord John
Russell, and late private secretary to that nobleman,
is, it is said, to take the place of Mr. Byng in the
representation of the borough of Tavistock. There
will of course be no opposition, as it is a pocket
borough belonging to the Bedford family, of which
Mr. Russell is a scion.
The calling out of only 7,000 of the Militia by
Government, is looked upon as most unsatisfae
tory. It is true that Lord Palmerston is said to
have declared, that if the next news from India
was bad, he would embody every Militia regiment
in the kingdom, and send every soldier to India
But what has he done'? He has simply ordered
another battalion of the line, and has embodied
seven Militia regiments. "We must have a
reserve of trained soldiers,' says the Daily News,
" old enough to stand the elimate and the fatigue.
That reserve must be drawn from the Militia, and if
it is to be drawn from the.militiaethe government
must know to call out only seven regiments is mere
mockery." The same authority states that we
must execute a terrible vengeance, and that.
promptly, on every human being who has put his
finger to those atrocities which disgrace humanity,
which our recent accounts by the Overland Mail
have so minutely described—but we must do
more. We must not only restore order within our
own territories ; we must overawe every potentate
of the East. We must teach the nations—Nepaul •
and China, Affghanistan and. Persia—that our arms
are not yet paralysed, that we . can still wield the
.sceptre and the sword. The only instrument to
achieve these results is an army of 80,000 men,
and this army must be recruited from the militia
ranks.
Of foreign news this morning we have very
little. The French squadron has sailed from
.L.larseilles for the coast of Corsica and Tunis.
The measures taken by thoßey of Tunis against
the authors of the late outrages-are considered
_insufficient, and other guarantees have been
demanded.
The Sias says that the/real question of difficulty
between England and Persia does not relate to the
evacuation of Herat, but to the position of the
British consuls in Persia. By the recent treaty it
was stipulated that the places in which the British
consuls were to reside in Persia were to be deter
mined by convention, and in respect to their
organisation, England was to be placed on the
:"oozing of the most favoured nation. This nation
is Russia, and it is Russia which is now ofrerin!.e,
objections, and urging Persia to require a modifi-
cation of the terma of the convention.
The Peninsular 'mails have arrived at South-
anapton in the steaener Sultan. Sir Morton Peto
has settled the definitive contract for the construc-
tion of the railway between Lisbon and Oporto.
Mr. Hislop, the original contractor of the Eastern
Railway-in Portugalehas issued a protest against the
Portuguese government and Sir Morton,Peto. Th©
electric telegraph will.shortly be opened between
Lisbon and London. Count Lavraiclo is to proceed
to Berlin from London on a special mission about
the King of Portugal's marriage. The submarine
operations for clearing the Douro are progressing
satisfactorily.

IT ij at all times a delicate and unpleasant
duty for the public journalist to final fault with
the conduct and actions of magistrates sitting
on the Bench for the purpose of administering
the laws. Painful although the task may be, it is

imperative that the least appearance of one-
sided and partial decisions should be exposed, so
that their repetition shall not be agan attempted.
There is not any duty connected with the office
of the magistrates which is so unpleasant to

them, and which, by the way, gives such general
dis3atisfaction as that relating to the granting of
spirit licenses. If the law regulating public-
houses requires immediate and extensive
alterations, that by which the granting of licenses
is authorised is equally ripe for change and
amendment.

Our readers are aware that the Licensing
Sessions hare been going on during the course
of the present week, and that the proceedings
have been more than usually interesting, from
the fact that a couple of " scenes" took place—
one on Monday, and the other on Tuesday. To
these matters we shall now refer, seeing that
they are of too important a character to be
passed over in silence. Administered as the law
for granting licenses now is, the magistrates
consult together in their private room after hear-
ing
the case made out for and against the appli-
cants. No reason is assigned for the refusal, so
that the party who has gone to the cost of
preparing his claim, and feeing a lawyer to
enfoge its validity before the Bench, is denied,
withtut any reason for the refusal. He is placed
in precisely the same position as the borrower
who goes to a Loan Society, or an Insurance
Company, to obtain a monetary accommodation.

Re pays the " inquiry " fee, and offers undenia-
ble security, but the loan is refused, the directors
declining to state the reasons for refusing the
application. One can understand the commer-
cial policy of a Loan Society keeping their secrets
to themselves, lest it might injure their business ;
but it is perfectly inexplicable, as well as
egregiously unfair, that a Bench of magistrates
shall sit in secret conclave and deliver judge-
ments
affecting the rights and pecuniary position
of their fellow-townsmen, without having the
manliness to declare the reasons which have
influenced them in their decisions. This is
something like the Star Chamber practice of
bygone days—times which reflect no honour
upon the generally unspotted character of
Britain's history.
It was upon this objectionable practice of
deciding against applicants for spirit licenses
without assigning a reason that Mr. J. R.
JEITERY addressed the Bench, and although it
may suit the views of some of our coteinporaries
to designate his conduct as " indecorous," and
his speech a " clap-trap appeal to passion rather
than reason," we cannot find that Mr. JEFFERY
said one word which he had not a right to urge.
He maintained that the magistrates were then
sitting as justices for the administration of a
certain law, and that, as such, it was their bounden
duty to discuss their decisions on the bench, and,
failing that, the parties concerned and their advo-
cates should be present in the magistrates' room
during the private consideiation of their case. This
was the main point of Mr, JEFFERY'S address
whicho ffended the dignity of the majority of the
presiding magistrates, and which led both Mr.
BOLTON and Mr. AIKIN to be somewhat warm
in their reply. The remarks of Mr. AIKIN par-
ticularly, imputing improper motives to Mr
JEFFERY, were an evidence that he felt the force,
aye, and the truth, of all that that gentleman
had advanced. It was no justification for per-
sisting in a bad and improper course to allege
that the Bench was only doing what had been
the practice carried out at the Licensing Sessions
for years. Although Mr.JEFFERY and Mr. SHELL
were not successful in their efforts on the present
occasion, we trust that they will not give over
the further agitation of the question. It is con-
trary to the spirit'of the English law to deliver
magisterial decisions under the cloak of secresy.
The vote of every magistrate who votes for or
against the granting of a spirit license should be
as patent as the names and opinions of the judges
of the land, when they pronounce judgment on
any great and controverted point of law.
Secresy in matters of the kind never fails to
create a want of confidence on the part of the
public, who well know that instances not a few
are on record where personal influence alone has
procured the applicant his license.

But in the discussion provoked by Mr.
JEFFERY, and subsequently alluded to by Mr.
ASFINALL, there is another most important
matter involved, namely, the extent of power
assumed by the Bench in deciding for
or against a license. Hitherto the Bench have
admitted into their consideration the wants of
the locality and a variety of other matters refitting
thereto. Mr. JEFFERY maintains, and he is.
upheld in his legal view of the Act of Parliament,
by more than one member of the Bar,
that all that the magistrates have to decide upon
is the suitability of the house and the unim-
peachable character of the applicant. Now, if
this reading of the law be correct—and we are
convineed that it is, notwithstanding all the
special pleading and legal verbiage uttered by
Mr. AIKIN—we say the magistrates, by the
course which they have adopted, are exercising a
power which is antagonistic to the letter of the
law. A flying visit through a ward will not
enable any man to form an opinion as to the
wants of a locality. Its population, the habits,
and means of the people are all to be considered ;
and this, supposing Parliament authorised it, is

not work for a brief discussion in the magistrates

vivate room. We trust that some steps will be

alien to bring about a change in the law for

granting spirit licenses. As now administered,

is objectionable in principle, and entirely faulty

'and injurious in its practical results.