The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-22 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS

(This Day.)

The adjourned meeting of the members of this board
for the election of a chairman took place to-day at Bur.
lington•house. Mr. Nicholay, chairman pro tem, , in
the chair.

There was a full attendanoe of the members of the
board, but few of the public were present.
The list of candidates contained the names of 18 gen-
tlemen.

Mr. WILKINSON (hon. secretary) read the minutes of
the former meeting, which were confirmed by the meeting.
A letter was read from Sir B. Hall, in answer to an
application to him by the hon. secretary, for the pur-
pose of permitting the use of Burliagton•house for the
meetings of the board till further notice, and a vote of
thanks was in accordance passed to the hon. baronet
for his kind permission.

The names of the members of the board were then
called over, and but five only were found to be present.
Mr. ens& FEW rose, and was proceeding to make
some remarks relative to the proceedings of the last
meeting respecting the salary to be paid to the chair
man, but was reminded by

The CHAIRMAN that the first thing to be done at
this meeting was to elect a chairman.
Mr. FEW then withdrew his remarks till a subsequent
period of the meeting.
Sir J. SHELLRY called attention to a letter he had for-
warded to the chairman, retiring from the election of
the chairmanship, in consequence of the resolution passed
at the former meeting, believing a gentleman who was a
member of Parliament would not be eligible. Ile
therefore preferred retaining hie position as a member of
Parliament than becoming at the expense of that seat
the chairman of the board.

Mr. H. L. TAYLOR said he considered Sir J. Shelley
misunderstood the intention of the board. No objection
would be made to a member of Parliament as chairman
if be possessed the required qualification for the office.
Sir J. SHELLEY said he had not canvassed for a single
vote. If he bad known at the former meeting that
Mr. Roebuck would have become a candidate, he (Sir J.
Shelley) would not have had the presumption to have
offered himself a candidate in opposition to that
gentleman.

A letter was then read from Sir John Shelley, M.P.,
addressed to the Chairman, intimating a wish that his
name might not appear In the list of candidates, and as-
signing as a reason for that request the resolution come
to by the board at their meeting on Wednesday, the
effect of which was, as it appeared to him, that no one
engaged in the public service was eligible for the ap•
pointment. _ _

Sir J. SHELLEY !aid he still withdrew his name.

The Hoo. SECRETARY then read the following list of
gentlemen who had forwarded their names as candidates
for the offize of Chairman :—Messrs. Barker, Booth,
Buckton, Burch, G. F. Carden, Sir C. C. D'Crespeigny,
Mr. Corrie, Deputy Harrison, Messrs. T. Hawes, R.
Jebb, W. J. Neale (barrister), G. Offer, Hon. Joseph
Percy, M.P., J. A. Roebuck, M.P., A. Syrnond,,, J.
Thwaites, and T. Turner.

Mr. BAKER withdrew his name, and the following
gentlemen having no mover or seconder, were erased
from the list :—Messrs. Booth, G. H. Buckston, Sir C.
C. D'Crespeigny, Neale, and Symonds.
Sir J. SHELLEY moved, and Mr. CHALMERS seconded,
Mr. G. F. Carden.

Sir J. SHELLEY moved, and Major LYON seconded,
Mr. Corrie.

Mr. HILL moved, and Sir J. SHELLEY seconded, Mr.
Deputy Harrison.
Sir J. SHELLEY proposed, and M r. MORLAND seconded
Mr. T. Hawes.

jelblbr.. HUNT proposed, and Mr. PASCAL seconded, Mr.

Mr. Howse moved, and Mr. Scow seconded, Mr.
Offer, who, however, withdrew with the convent of the
meeting.

Major LYON proposed, and Mr. CHALMERS seconded,
the Hon. P. J. Percy, M.P.

Major LYON proposed, and Mr. HUNT seconded, Mr.
Roebuck, M.P.

Mr. DIFANGER moved, and Mr. COLLINSON seconded,
Mr. Thwaites.

Captain BURBLEM moved, and Mr. CORRIZ seconded
Mr. Turner.

Mr. FEW was then called on, and said it appeared
to him that the feeling of the last meeting was werthy
of consideration, to get a modification of the clause
relative to the payment of the Chairman, and moved
the following resolution :—" That before proceeding to
elect a chairman, this board desires to record its opi-
Mon that it is expedient that the provisions in the Aot
(18 and 19 Vic. c. 120), compelling the election of a
paid chairman should be repealed, and that any candi-
date for that office be required to give a pledge, that if
elected he will resign his po.ition as chairman in the
event of Parliament repealing the provision i❑ question.
(Cries of "Oh, oh.")

The CHAIRMAN ruled that the resolution could not
then be entertained. The ehairman must be first
elected before they could proceed with other business.

The Hun. SECRETARY then rend the application of
Mr. Carden, and called upon the mover and seconder of
that gentleman to address the meeting in favour of that
gentleman, but these gentlemen declined; and Mr. Carden
having been called on, addressed the meeting in support
of his claims to the office.

Major LYON, the seconder of Mr. Corrie, said a few
words in support of that gentleman.
Mr. Connie asked the support of the board on the
grounds cf his being a professional gentleman, be-
cause p3inte would daily arise requiring the gen-
tleman wbo filled the office of chairman to have
a knowledge of law, to prevent mistakes from
occurring. If not a qualification, they would, he
trusted, be of opinion it was not a disqualification his
being a lawyer. Secondly, that his prosent position as
a magistrate and his abilities to fill that office, was proof
of his capacity to discharge the duties that would de-
volve on their chairman. He considered the act unless
modifications were made in it by Parliament would ulti-
mately increase the amount at present paid by the rate-
payers. He thought the chairman should be a gentle-
man unconnected with the representation of the country.
If they elected him he would devote the whole of his

life to effectually discharging the duties of the office.
He valued the position the office would confer on the
holder more than the salary.

Mr. H. L. TAYLOR, asked Mr. Corrie, if he were elected
f he would resign his present office a 3 police magistrate.
Mr. CORRIE—Yes.

Mr. HALL urged Mr. Deputy Harrison's claims to the
office as being a useful man. That gentleman bad been
for years connected with public boards and had bad ex-
perience as a member of that board, who had carried out
considerable improvements in the City of London. Ho
was also one of the Commissioners of Sewers for the
City. He was a man of strong common sense and emi-
nently qualified for the office.

Sir J. SHELLEY the seconder was called on to address
the meeting in his favour, but declined setatng, he
only seconded Mr. Deputy Harrison as a matter of
form.

Mr. Deputy laiutraorr said he looked upon his no-
n.ination to tbati lace as a desire on the part of those
gentlemen to pay a compliment to the City of London
He detailed his experience on public works connected
with the City of London, from the re-building of Lon-
don•bridge to the present time. Objections might be
taken to his appointment to the chair from his being in
business, but if they elected him he promised them faith-
fully that he would devote the whole of his time to the
duties of the office,

Mr. T. HAWEB' (a former chairman of the Metropoli-
tan Commissioners of Sewers) name was neat placed be -
fore the meeting, and a letterlfrom the candidate, stating
his qualifications for the office,lwas read by the hon.
secretary.
Mr. Monar,AND, his seconder, having introduced him
to the meeting in a few words,
Mr. HAWES as briefly addressed the meeting, pledging
himself efficiently to discharge the duties of the office.

---
Mr. HUNT advocated the claim of Mr. Jebb, Chair-
man of the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers, to his
appointment to the office of Chairman of the Metro-
politan Board of Works. That gentleman must be
better acquainted with the various schemes and plans
that bad been brought forward relative to the carry-
log out of works such as would devolve on them,
than those gentlemen who had been proposed for
the office unconnected with that Commission.
Mr. P►SCAL also advocated Mr. Jebb's claims to the
appointment.
Mr. JSBB, in addressing the meeting, begged to dis-
abuse the minds of the board from certain statements
that had been made relative to who he was. He
was a distant relation of Colonel Jebb not his
eon. Ile was Chairman of the Metropolitan Com-
mission of Sewers, and repudiated having used
his influence as tutor to the Duke of Cambridge to ob-
tain this appointment, assuring them that he relied
alone on his qualifications to fill that office to obtain
their suffrages. He was by profession a barrister. His
special claim on them arose from his thorough knowledge
of the sewerage and drainage of the metropolis.

[We will gin the conclusion in our late edition.]