The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-05 00:00:00

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1 ..- 11% The motion was putby the Chair.
APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR OF :..1
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HOUSES AND MESSENGER. _

The Court to-day proceeded to the al, Inointment
of persons to fill the above situations. In the case of
the former, Mr. W. Wylde was elected, and ;.n the
latter, the choice of the Commissioners fell upon
Mr. H. Heaps.

PRIcE..... ..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

CITY SEW ERS CO2IIIIIISSION.

,f this commission met as usual
yesterday f
,on for the despatch of public busi-
ness. The
members e
Mr. Hen t e
ry De Jersey presided.
THE G is QUESTION IN THE CITY.
AtTh
the meeting of the commissioners on Tuesday
last the questi an of the gas supply to the city was
brought under consideration, and the recent deci-
sion by the Con of Common Pleas in favour of the
a r n c c
Great
that Cnt
me rea :ting, . COmpany was also freely discussed.
A
bybill counselwh which
had
been introduced by the
in consequence of the opinion ex.
e
on the subject, it was resolved
eommh':sion to exempt the citizens from the opera-
tion of the Metropolis Gas Act should be withdrawn,
and it was subsequently referred to the City Solici-
torthe to obtain 'counsel's opinion as to the desirability
of further proceeding with the case which had
been decided. upon by the Court of Common Pleas
by taking it, to the Court of Error.
_Mr. CHA IMES PEARSON (City Solicitor), in accor-
dance wit.ta these instructions, to-day reported that
he had t aken the opinion of the Recorder (Russell
Gurney , Esq.), Mr. Bovill, Q.C., and Mr. Pollock,
bd ettluragh they entertained the same opinion as
Lore expressed, that the Metropolis Gas Act of
Lao did not repeal the act of 1851, yet after the
unanimous opinion of the Court of Common Pleas
to the contrary, they stated that they did not con-
sider it would be expedient to raise the question in
the Court of Error, as there was no probability of
Obtaining a reierstil Of the judgment given by the
Court of Common Pleas.
The CHAIRMAN observed that the City Solicitor
having acted in accordance with the instructions
given to him at a former meeting, it was now for
the Court to decide what further steps should be
taken in reference to this subject. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. H. L. TAYLOR said that this was an impor-
tant question, and it required, he thought, some
further consideration. He was of opinion that the
Court should not heedlessly enter into a large ex-
penditure of the public money, but notwithstanding
the opinion of the learned counsel read to the Court,
he thought they ought to take the opinion of the
Court cif Error upon this important matter. But,
before recommending the Court to adopt that
course, he should like to know what the
_probable
expense would be.
The CITY SOLICITOR said he thought it would be
within £2OO.
Mr. MURRELL asked whether this sum included
all the charges that would be incurred.

The CITY SOLICITOR said he was of course speak-
ing of the costs of the commission alone. In the
event of their being unsuccessful theywould of course
be much larger. (Hear, hear.)
Dr. ABRAllAM—Supposing we were unsuccessful
with the writ of error, do you suppose the expenses
would exceed X5OO ?
The CITY SOLICITOR—I do not think they would.
(Hear, hear.)
Dr. ABRAHAM said his opinion was in accordance
with that expressed by their counsel, that they had
not yet had the law of the question decided, and he
therefore thought they ought to go on and obtain
the law, so far as they were able. The opinion of
the gas consumers of the City was very strongin-
deed, and it had been very strongly expressed to
him, within the last three days, as against the
course which had been adopted by the Court in
withdrawing the bill from Parliament. Their legal
advisers were not satisfied with the decision
already obtained, and imagined that the law was
still on their side, and that the decision which had
been given had not been according to law, but ac-
cording to the principles of what was thought to be
the equity of the question. (Hear.) But this ques-
tion, in his opinion, ought not to have been raised
in that Court at all, for he held that what they
went to that Court for was to get a clear interpre-
tation of the clauses, and the intention of the act
of Parliament decided. He thought the clear and
obvious duty of the commission was to proceed to

the Court of Error and see if the decision of the
court below was confirmed or not. In conclusion,
he begged to move that that course should be taken.
Mr. C. YOUNG seconded the motion, and ex-
pressed his opinion that the commission ought to
do its duty to the ratepayers, and proceed with the
case to the Court of Error, and endeavour to get the
decision of the Court of Common Pleas reversed.

...
Deputy PILCHER also expressed an opinion
that the course recommended to be taken by Dr.
Abraham was the right one.

Deputy WHITEsiDE thought the Court ought to
proceed with the writ of error, as while the proceed.
ings in that court were pending, it was not at all
likely that the Legislature would entertain and dis-
cuss the bill which was being promoted by the Great
Central Gas Consumers' Company.
Mr. H. L. TAYLOR said he thought it was quite
evident that the Great Central Gas Company were
in doubt as to the validity of the judgment of the
Court of Common Pleas inasmuch as they were pro-
secuting their bill in Parliament, and he thought
the commission ought to offer every opposition to
that bill.

The REMEMBRANCER (Mr. E. Tyrrell) said that
the bill introduced by the Great Central Company
had not yet passed the standing orders of the House
of Commons.

Mr. S. WATERLOW—And are we in a position to
oppose it ?
The REMEMBRANCER—Yes, (Hear, hear.)
After a few words from Mr. SAUNDERS,
The REMEMBRANCER explained that the bill
which had been introduced by the Great Central
Company was to remove any doubts that might
exist with reference to the Metropolis Gas Act ap-
plying to the city of London.
Dr. ABRAHAM, in reply, said that the commis-
sioners would, perhaps, recollect the circumstances
under which the bill which had been referred to
was applied for. As a matter of courtesy the com-
mission invited the representatives of the Great
Central Gas Company to attend the committee and
hear the opinion that had been given by the Re-
corder, the Common Sergeant, and Mr. Bovill, with
regard to that particular clause—the money clause
I—in1—in the Metropolis Gas Act, as affecting that com-
' pany. When the chairman heard that the opinion
of their legal advisers was against their view of
charging 4s. 6d. per 1,000 feet, the return they re-
ceived for the courtesy they extended was, that the
chairman went immediately to his solicitor, the soli-
citor to the Parliamentary agent of the company,
who gave notice of the bill referred to some 17 or
18 days after the time allowed by the standing
orders of the House of Commons. Of course, when
the Court found out what steps had been taken by
the company, they felt it to be their duty
peti-
tion against the bill. At present, however, the bill
would consequently
had not been before the Standing Orders Commit-
tee, and the question to
again
come before the Commission. He thought that if
the bill should pass the Standing Orders Committee
of the House of Commons, it would be the duty of
the Commission to oppose it with the view of get-
ting clauses introduced into it that would rectify
some of the injustice that had been done by the
Metropolis Gas Act. (Hear.) He thought clauses
should especially be introduced with regard to the
testing of the gas, and also to prevent the company
making up dividends of six years back; and also,
further, a clause to define what was meant by the
company being permitted to raise the price of gas
from 4s. 6d. per 1,000 cubic feet to ss. and to ss. 6d.
"from any circumstances affecting the company."
He thought they ought to know what was the mean-
nfeoerr
twhheeleng
ahlein(llt
err..
iAnbgraohf
atmh)osaeskpeadrttihceulßarenaNNe'morbdrsa,
retation of the words, his reply was, that it was
difficultp to say what such words might not be made
to comprise. Was it right that the company should
I be allowed to secure to themselves a dividend of 10
Pper cent., through any sort of management, either
good, bad, or indifferent, and to do this by increas-
ing the price of
gas supplied to the consumers. He