The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-09 00:00:00

THE TOLL-GATE QUESTION.

Last evening a public meeting of the ratepayers
of St. Mary, Lambeth, was held at Wilcocke's
Assembly Rooms, Westminster •bridge-road, for the
purpose of considering the proposition to abolish the
toll-gate on the Surrey and Sussex Trust, and place
the expense of keeping the roads in repair upon
the ratepayers. The question has given rise to con-
siderable interest in the district, and the meeting
was well attended.

Mr. G. Hill, having been called to the chair, in-
troduced the subject by stating that in Lambeth,
where they had a highway rate of nearly one shil-
ling in the pound, there were connected with the
parish seven and a half miles of road, which were
under trust, and as that trust would expire by the
end of next session of Parliament, unless it were
renewed, the expenses of maintaining that extent
of road would fall upon the ratepayers, and which
would increase the rates to at least £lO,OOO for the
first year, and £6,000 for every subsequent year.
He might state that three years ago the vestries on
the south side of the water took up the question,
and committees from each were appointed to
consider and report upon it. That committee
reported that the parishes were not in a
position to dispense with toll-gates, and they
went before the Royal Commission, which was
at that time sitting and did their best to im-
press upon it the views they had come to
on the point, and that commission seeing that while
it may be desirable to abolish the toll-gates, yet,
on the other hand, it would Owe a great additional
burden on the ratepayers, came to no decided opi-
nion on the subject, and just left the matter where
it stood. In that state, therefore, matters had stood
up to the present time, but now the Secretary of
State had written to the Secretary of the Surrey
and Sussex Trust, which had the management of
the roads in question, asking him to get the opi-
nions of the vestries as to what they intended to do
in the matter. Newington Vestry had at once spoken
out and decided that the toll-gates should remain ;
Camberwell Vestry had come to a different conclu-
sion ; and a committee of the Lambeth Vestry had
recommended the retaining of the gates. The rate-
payers would, therefore, have to fight the battles in
Parliament, and the object of that meeting was to
strengthen the hands of the vestry in preventing
this additional burden coming upon them.
Mr. TURNER t hen moved a resolution to the effect
that the Lambeth ratepayers were of opinion that
the Turnpike Road Trusts which had been provided
by the Legislature for the purpose of relieving the
ratepayers, were just in principle, and approving
their retention.
Mr. HARDING, from Camberwell, contended for
the removal of the gates, as their other roads and
streets were cut up and destroyed in consequence of
parties using them in order to avoid the toll-gates.
Mr. GILEB held that it would be unfair to place
the additional burden on the ratepayers, which the
abolition of those gates would inflict. It would not
be less than an addition of fourpence or fivepence in
the pound, and he hoped the Lambeth vestry would
in this matter stand up in behalf of the ratepayers.
The resolution was then put from the chair and
agreed to.

Captain Arthur MeHersh, R.N., who has been
appointed to the Forte, flagship of Rear-Admiral R. L.
Warren, will leave England for his station by the next
packet from Southampton.—Army and Navy Gasettf.