The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-12 00:00:00

CHURCH RATES IN THE PARISHES.

KIRKHAM—The quiet town of Kirkham, in Lancashire,
has been for some time past agitated with the church-rate
question. There is a suit now pending in an ecclesiastical
court as to the validity of the last rate ; the question raised
being the liability of the 15 townships of which the parish
is composed to a rate for the parish church. Notwithstand-
ing this the parochial authorities have demanded another
rate. There was a large attendance at the vestry-meeting
on Thursday, and much discussion. It was proposed that
there should be a three months' adjournment, to await the
decision of the suit in the Consistory Court of York ; also
that all items should be struck out of the estimate except
those for repairs, which amounted to less than £lO, out
of £64; and further, that there should be six weeks' ad-
journment, to raise funds by some other means than a rate
Tho vicar put all these proposals, which were lost, and then
a poll took place upon them, and upon the motion for a
rate. It:was an exciitng affair, lasting from ten in the morn-
ing until eight at night, and the result was the rejection of
all the propositions except that for the rate, which was car.
ried by 409 to 263. The Roman Catholic ratepayers voted
with the anti-rate party. The promoters of the rate had
the advantage of previous preparation, and brought up to
vote ratepayers wbo knew so little about the matter that, to
make it plain, the question was put, "Do you vote for the
church or for Mr. Knox ?" Though the rate is carried
there is likely to be a continuance of the most pertinacious
opposition.

STAPLEHURST.—For some time considerable excitement
has prevailed in this parish on the above subject occasioned
by the determination of the churchwardens to carry with
a high hand the rate to its utmost extremity. On Thursday
last five parties who had received summonses appeared
before the bench at Cranbrook to show cause why they
refused to pay. The Rev.:E. Bailey, Independent minister,
was the 'lust called on to show cause why he refused to pay
three shillings, the amount of his church rate. Mr. Ben •
nett, of Serjeant's•inn, ably conducted the defence, and
urged two objections, first, that the summons issued was
for a rate made on the 10th of January, whereas he
should prove that no business of any kind was done
on that evening; and, secondly, that the bench had no
jurisdiction, inasmuch as the rate had been disputed as in-
valid. A meeting, on November the Ist, of ratepayers had
been convened, and a proposition was made that a sum of
threepence in the pound should be granted as a church-
rate, whereupon Mr. Jull moved as an amendment, " That
the expenses attendant upon the church be defrayed by
voluntary contributions;" this amendment the chairman
refused to put to the meeting, and therefore the bench had I
no jurisdiction, inasmuch as a bone fide objection had been
made as to the validity of the rate. The bench retired for
a short time, and on their return their worships said they
considered the objection bona fide, and had decided that the
case must be dismissed, as they had no jurisdiction, The
other summonses also fell to the ground.
SMA.RDEN.—According to notice, a vestry-meeting was
held on Thursday, the 30th lilt, to consider the subject of
a rate. After some discussion, a penny rate was proposed,
no counter motion was submitted, but the proposal was
simply negatived by a majority voting against it. After
the meeting a voluntary subscription was started to defray
the expense necessary to keep the parish church in order.
The Weald of Kent Chronicle mentions as a good effect of
this way of disposing of the question, that soon after the
vestry, a meeting was held for the purpose of framing rules
and electing officers for the Mutual ImprovementlSociety.
It was convened in the school-room, readily lent by the
rector ; side by side stood the churchwarden and the Baptist
minister, co. operating in the kindest spirit in conducting
the business of the evening,

Mr. R. DIMSDALE, in seconding the motion, said
he thought the report must on the whole be consi-
dered very satisfactory. It was indeed more than
they could have anticipated a few years ago. The
dividend they were able to pay was more favourable
than in the ease of many similar societies. The
Salopian at the end of the fourth year was not able
to pay any dividend, and the Worcester Society had
not paid any dividend for seven years. The ques-
tion was raised last year—how were they to pro-
vide for the future extension of tka society's opera-
tions. They were at present very much confined to
the town of Hertford, and there was a difficulty in
extending the area of their operations. They did
not intend to build more cottages, and therefore they
must convert old houses into better ones. They did
not however intend to go hunting about the county
for property to convert, though they were quite
willing to look at any which people might like to
offer them. He was of opinion that the only way in
which they could hope largely to extend their ope-
rations was by:the formation of district associations.
They had not yet been in a position to carry out this
plan, but he hoped they would be so in course of the
present year. He had received from Bishop Stort-
ford and Baldock assurances that they would be
glad to aid in the formation of societies on this
principle, and he hoped also to receive co-operation
from other quarters. He referred to this subject,
because one of their great difficulties had reference
to the mode in which the operations of the company
could be extended. With regard to the model
cottages which had been erected, he must speak
frankly to them. They had not felt able to bind
the builder to his contract, owing to the rise which
took place in the cost of building materials after
the contract was entered into. They, therefore,
threw the building open to competition, when there
was a difference of £4OO between the highest and
the lowest tender. That of Mr. Ekins was accepted,
and it was only justice to him to say that he had
executed the work entirely to the satisfaction of
the directors. The cottages having been erected,
the next thing to be considered was what should
be done with them. It was proposed to let them
for £5 or £6 a year each, and he believed that £5
was as large an amount as they should call upon
agricultural labourers to pay. Mr. Robert Smith
(the gentleman who sold the land on which the
cottages were built), however, wrote to ask if
they were willing to part with the cottages,
which were near to the model farm he purposed
establishing ; and bearing in mind the liberal
manner in which he had acted towards the com-
pany, they were anxious, if possible, to dis-.
pose of the cottages to him. They, therefore.
took the expenditure and added to it £2O, which
was not much, as it very little exceeded the
premium they had paid for plani, and sold the
cottages to Mr. Smith for £650, (Hear, hear.) At
the last meeting a gentleman said It would be satis-
factory if they got 5 per cent. for cottage property
in the town, and 2 yer cent. in the country. Now,
if they had retained these cottages in their hands,
they would have received more than two per cent.
He referred to this, because Lord Palmerston, in his
speech at Romsey last year, expressed a doubt
whether such property would ever pay a per ten-
tage at all. There was a great need of model cot-
tages like these which had been erected by this
company, as a means of inducing gentlemen to build
on their estates, and to attach cottages to their
farms. The great evil of these times was the ten-
dency to pull down cottages and drive the labouring
population into the towns, where they crowded the
courts and alleys. Now, it had Veen stated by a
farmer at one of the large meetings held in reference
to the question of labourers' dwelling, that he was
willing to pay an additional rent of two per cent. if
the landlord would attach cottages to the farm, and
place them in the hands of the farmer—a sufficient
proof this of the importance which was attached to
the housing of labourers near the spot where their
work was. But the Company, in building the four
model cottages, had completed this part of their
work. They would be glad to build other cottages
on the same terms if they could got land on the
same terms—(hear, hear)—but he thought that
their proper work now chiefly lay in the courts
and alleys of the town, where much of the house
property had fallen into the hands of specula-
tors, who had got as much out of it as they could,
without caring for the residents; and if the Com-
pany could get this property out of their hands
it might do a great deal of good. (Hear.) They
had purchased a plot of ground in Butcherly-green,
on which there were three cottages, one of which
they had improved and enlarged, while they had
pulled down a second, and erected two comfortable
cottages in its place, which they had let at rents paid
for houses of an indifferent character. (Hear.) Last
year they were fortunate enough to obtain the ser-
vices of an honorary architect (Mr. T. Smith), who
had produced two cottages at a cost considerably
less than any that had come under the notice of
the directors, and at a sum less than the estimate,
which was £195 per pair, while the actual cost was
only £l9O. The Company propesed to go on, as
opportunity occurred, purchasink a larger and
larger amount of similar property. At Worcester,
the local society had bought up a whole district
similar to Butcherly,green, and converted the
miserable dwellings there into good substantial
houses ; and the directors of this Company looked
forward to the time when they should be able to do
something of the kind. They had at the present
moment several offers, of some of which they hoped
to be able to avail themselves. They were, how-
ever, necessarily limited by the small extent of their
funds. To do good on a large scale, they must have
greatly increased funds; and the fact that they
were now dealing with a locality which was a
household word for being what a place of human
residence ought not to be, gave them a strong
claim on public support. One of the inevitable
improvement of the dwell-
consequences of the
ings of the poor would be a reduction in the
poor's rates, and in the amount of crime.
Their object was therefore one which com-
mended itself both on moral, social,
and even on
pecuniary grounds. They must make an appeal to
the public for a larger measure of support, and when
the company showed that tho improvement of a
neighbourhood, and the diminution of pauperism
and crime were not inconsistent with a fair dividend
on the money expended, he thought they had good
reason to hope that this support would not be with-
held. (Chee.cs.) Mr. Dimsdale concluded by read-
ing a letter from Mr. Cowper, who, he said, took a
deep interest in the company, and would have pre-
sided to-day, if official business had not required his
presence in London. (Cheers.)
After some observations from Mr. J. W. Ches-
shyre, the resolution was agreed to.

MT. M. S. LONGMORE moved :
C. Dimsdale, Esq., Itobt.
"That IV. R. Baker, Esq.,
Dimsdale, Esq., and E. H. Hoskins, Esq. (who retire by
rotation), be re-elected directors of the company."
Mr. Longman expressed his great satisfaction with
the report, and said the thanks (11 the directors were
specially due to Mr. Robert Dimsdale for his great

The Rev. RUSSELL seconded the vote of
thanks in an effective speech, remarking on the
necessity of showing that investments of this kind
would insure a moderate return, and on the benefit
which would accrue to landlords from the diminu-
tion of the poor's rate. He urged the importance
of extending the operations of the society to the
villages and smaller towns.
The CHAIRMAN, in acknowledging the vote, re-
marked that the present law of parish rating was a
hindrance to the erection of cottages in villages.
The greatest assistance that could be given to the
company, and to the object they had in view,
would be by a law substituting union for parochial
rating. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
The proceedings then terminated.

THE SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION.

Yesterday, at two o'clock, a public meeting, con-
vened on a requisition to the Right Hon. the Lord
Mayor, signed by upwards,..of 150 noblemen and
gentlemen, was held in the Egyptian-hall of the
Mansion-house, to adopt measures ',preparatory to
the forthcoming annual meeting of the National
Association for the Promotion of Social Science,
which is to be held in London soon after the open-
ing of the Great Exhibition. The requisitionists
include, among others, the names of Lord Brougham,
Earl Russell, the Earl of Carlisle, Earl For-
tescue, the Bishop of London, Mr. Adderley,
M.P., Vice-Chancellor Sir W. Page Wood, Sir
John Kay Shuttleworth, the Earl of Shaftes-
bury, Lord Stanley, Lord Lyttelton, Lord Cal-
thorpe, Lord Talbot de Malahide, the Honourable
W. Cowper (the First Commissioner of Works),
Earl Thiele, and Lord Ebury. Among the gentle-
men on the plattorm were the Right Hon. Sir John
Pakington, M.P., the Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, M.P.,
Sir F. Goldsmid, M.P., Mr. Hanbury, M.P., Mr.
Angerstein, M.P., Mr. W. Murray, M.P., Mr. S.
Gurney, M.P., Mr. Alderman Salomons, M.P., Mr.
R. N. Fowler, Dr. Binney, Mr. Russell Gurney
(the Recorder), the Common Sergeant, Mr. S.
Morley, Mr. S. Teulon, Mr. M'Cann, M.P., Mr,
Alderman Rose, Mr. W. Humphery, Mr. J. F.
Goldsmid, Mr. A. Edgar, Mr. I. Howell, Mr. Thos.
Winkworth, Dr. John Lee, Mr. George Godwin,
Dr. Farr, Mr. Craufurd, M.P., Mr. Cave, M.P.,
Mr. ITO, M.P., Mr. Pollard-Urquhart, M.P., Ad-
miral Sir Thomas Hastings, Mr. Dudley Fortescue,
M.P., Sir Joshua Rowe, Air. Longworth, M.P., Sir
Andrew Agnew, M.P., Mr. James lleywood, Mr.
William Cotton, Deputy Obbard, and Mr. W. C.
Fowler.

The LORD MAYOR, on taking the chair, briefly
explained the purposes of the meeting, and com-
mented upon the public importance of the objects
which the society aimed at achieving.
Mr. G. W. HASTINGS, the hon. secretary, read a
paper, stating that the association was founded in
1857 to aid the development of social science, and
to guide the public mind to the best practical means
of promoting the amendment of the law, the ad-
vancement of education, the prevention and repres-
sion of crime, the reformation of criminals, the
adoption of sanitary regulations, and the diffusion
of sound principles on all questions of social eco-
nomy. The association aims to bring together the
various societies and individuals who are engaged
or interested in furthering these objects ; and, with-
out trenching upon independent exertions, seeks to
elicit by discussion the real elements of truth, to
clear up doubts, to harmonise discordant opinions,
and to afford a common ground for the interchange
of trustworthy information on the great social pro-
blems of the day. Five annual meetings have been
held—namely, at Birmingham, Liverpool, Bradford,
Glasgow, and Dublin, all of which have been most
successful in their character, and have resulted in
the collection of a large amount of valuable in-
formation on the social condition of the United
Kingdom, and in a number of practical improve-
ments, adopted in consequence of the suggestions
made at those meetings. It is expected that the
London meeting in 1862 will be attended, not only
by the bulk of the ordinary members of the Asso-
ciation, but also by a large number of foreign
jurists, economists, statisticans, and philanthropists,
more especially as the " Congres de Bienfaisance,"
a body with somewhat similar objects and constitu-
tion, which has already met in Brussels and Frank-
fort, will this year assemble in London, and will
hold a conjoint meeting with the Association, in
the same building and under the same arrange-
ments. It is most desirable that an adequate recep-
tion should be given to the association at its London
meeting, more especially to the foreign members,
and that an effort should be made to combine the
different sections of the metropolis for this purpose.
It is conceived that the City would appropriately
take the lead in such an undertaking.

Sir JOHN PAKINOTON, M.P., who WAS cheered on
rising to speak, bore witness, on moving the first
resolution, to the thorough appreciation of the aims
and objects of the association which had been mani-
fested by all intelligent people in the great provin-
cial towns in which it had held its meetings, and
anticipated that its reception in the great metropolis
would not be less cordial. He spoke of the unmixed
satisfaction he had felt, at the gatherings of the as-
sociation in the great centres of industry, to seamen
of all political parties and of all professions meeting
together to communicate the results of their expe-
rience and knowledge on great social problems for
the common benefit of their fellow-countrymen. He
also adverted to the delight with which at those
meetings he had seen thousands of the artisans of
Birmingham, Liverpool, Bradford, and Glasgow,
deriving enjoyment and instruction from the lips
of men so wise, enlightened, and philanthropic as
Lord Brougham, Earl Russell, and Lord Shaftes-
bury. Presuming not to comment on the manner
in which tho great leading objects of the asso-
ciation had been handled at those gatherings, he
could not, however, help adverting to that in
which he himself took a more immediate
interest, and which would be confessed by every
intelligent man to be one of the first and greatest
subjects to which the thoughts of the community
could be directed—he meant the great question of
the education of the people. (Hear, hear.) While
feeling that in England this great question was not
free from difficulties, he had had the satisfaction,
when at the meeting of the association at Glasgow,
to see distinguished members of the Established
Church and of the Free Kirk assembled together in
the same room discussing the differences which had
kept them apart, and that in a tone and manner
which led him to feel that the foundation was laid
for amicable action in future between parties who
had hitherto been so much opposed. (Hear, hear.)
He had not the good fortune to be present at the
Dublin meeting last year Abut he had been informed
that, under the able and distinguished guidance of

his friend Sir John Lefevre, when Ultramontane
Roman Catholics met some of the most zealous
Ulster Protestants, and when an outbreak of party
feeling was rather apprehended, the Irish system of
education was discussed in a spirit from which the
best results were to be augured. The right hon.
gentleman concluded by moving:—" That this meet-
ing, strongly approving the objects of the Associa-
tion for the Promotion of Social Science, desires to
express its earnest hope that the sixth annual meet-
' ing of that association, to be held in London in
June neat, in conjunction, with the Congres de
Bienfaisance, will receive the hearty support of the
City and of the whole metropolis."
Mr RUSSELL GURNEY, the Recorder, in seconding
the resolution, said he thought there never was a
time when a society such as this was more desirable,
for whatever might be the faults of the present age,
we could not number among them any want of dili-
gence in searching out existing evils or of boldness
in facing them. The great aim of the association
was to direct public attention to evils in our social
system, and to sift the various remedies of which
they might be supposed to be susceptible. The mem-
, hers of his own profession would not deny that there
were obvious and great blemishes in the law, and
that for some of them it was exceedingly difficult
to find an appropriate remedy. Of that the re-
formation and punishment of criminals furnished a
striking instance. No subject was more important
in the present day, and none more difficult of treat-
ment. On this matter, as compared with some
other countries, we had been somewhat behindhand.
For a long time we had a system of punishment
which enabled us to hide the evil out of sight, by
sending our criminals to distant lands; but that
system could prevail no longer, for as soon as every
colony was strong enough to resist it refused any
longer to be the receptacle of our moral filth. (Hear,
hear.) The consequence was that we had to keep
our criminals at home, and therefore the consider-
ation was forced upon us as to the best mode of
reforming them. (Hear.) No judge, perhaps, had.
ever passed sentence on a convict without feeling
that, although he might thereby carry terror into
the minds of those exposed to temptation, and per-
haps ready to yield to it, he was in all probability
taking a course which would render the criminal
himself worse than before. (Hear, hear.) It was,
therefore, desirable for properly qualified men to
consult together as to the most effective modes of
prison discipline and reformatory punishment, and
especially to consider those of foreign countries.
For these reasons he could not refuse to hear his
testimony to the usefulness of the aims which this
Association had proposed for itself, and to the ad-
vantages likely to accrue from the meeting about
to be held in the metropolis.
The motion, which was briefly supported by Mr.
CAVE, M,P., was then put and carried ; and then,
at the instance of Sir F. GOLDSMID, M.P., seconded
by Mr. Alderman ROSE, a general committee of
noblemen and gentlemen was nominated in order to
make the necessary preparations for the meeting,
and to afford an adequate reception for the nume-
rous foreigners who are expected to attend.
A resolution was also passed, on the motion of
Mr. S. GURNEY, M.P., seconded by Admiral Sir
THOMAS HASTINGS, authorizing the opening of a
subscription list to defray the expenses of the Lon-
don meeting of the Association in conjunction with
the Congres de Bienfaisance.
Mr. S. MORLEY, in a brief speech, commended
the Association, as affording a platform on which
earnest men, widely differing in opinion, might meet
without compromise on various subjects bearing
upon the well-being of the people;
Mr. HAsTiNus, the secretary, stated incidentally
that the First Commissioner of Works had granted
the society the use of Burlington-house and the ad-
jacent grounds for the purpose of holding their sec-
tional meetings.
The proceedings then, on the motion of Mr.
Alderman Salomons, M.P., terminated with a vote
of thanks to the Lord Mayor for convening and
presiding over the meeting.