The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-03 00:00:00

THE CORPORATION OF LONDON.

REPORT OF THE CORPORATION TO THE CORPORATION
INQUIRY COMMISSIONERS.

The following report,. which was agreed to by the
Court of Common Council, with suggestions for the con-
sideration of the Court, with the view of submitting them
to the commissioners appointed to inquire into the state
of the corporation, was on Monday handed in to the
commissioners in Abingdon street.

" To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen,
and Common Councilmen of the city of London, in Com-
mon Council assembled.
" We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, your com-
mittee of the whole Court of Common Council, to whom,
on 9th day of February, it was referred to take the neces-
sary steps for carrying into ,effect the resolution of this
honourable court in preparing and submitting for the con-
sideration of the commissioners suggestions for the amend-
ment of the constitution of the corporation, and to report
such suggestions for the approval of this court, do certify
that we met on several days, and from time to time, to
consider as well the provisions of the bill laid before Par-
liament in 1852, as also resolutions of the reform committee
embodied in their report of June last, and likewise sundry
suggestions by members of this court ; and having fully
deliberated upon the same, we report to this court the fol-
lowing suggestions to be recommended to her Majesty's
commissioners as consented to by this court.
" 1. That the Election Acts of 11 Geo. I. cap. 18 (ex-
cept the 17th and 18th sections), and the 12 and 13 Vic.,
cap. 94, be repealed.
" 2. That every male person of full age, and not subject
to any legal incapacity, who shall have occupied within
the city of London, or the liberties thereof, for a period of
a year and a day next previous to the tat day of September
in any year, either solely or jointly with any other person
or persons, any house, warehouse, counting-house, office,
chambers for business, or shop, and shall in the case of a
sole occupation be rated to the police rate, in respect of
such premises, in his own name, in or to an amount of not
less than ten pounds per annum, or in the case of a joint
occupation be rated in the several names of the occupiers
on or to an amount which when divided by the number of
occupiers shall give a sum of not less than IW. per annum
for each and every such occupier, shall, whilst continuing
to occupy the same, be entitled to vote in any election for
alderman or common councilman, or ward officer of the
ward in which such premises shall be situate, with provi-
sions as to the nature of the premises, the title to them,
and the preparation of the lists of voters.
"3. That every person entitled to vote as aforesaid, and
who shall not have declared himself or have been declared
to be bankrupt or insolvent, and shall not have taken or
applied to take the benefit of any act for the relief of in-
solvent debtors, and shall not have made any composition
with his creditors, shall be capable of being elected a com-
mon councilman for the ward in which the premises occu-
pied by him are situated ; or an alderman for any ward,
or a sheriff of the city of London, any law, custom, or
usage to the contrary notwithstanding. Provided always
that if any person who may have declared himself or been
declared to be bankrupt or insolvent, or may have taken
or applied to take the benefit of any act for the relief of
1nv.).,-,,,4. kleli, 3,, ~i :,,,,y .i, ~;:: .:,:., 'lil2,- o H.0.p0,:ti,,a wi h
his creditors, shall afterwards pay all his debts in full,
[
such person shall be capable of being elected an alderman
or a sheriff, or a common councilman, in the same manner

" 11. That the number of common councilmen be con-
stituted as at present.
" 12. That if any person holding the office of alderman
or common councilman for the city of London shall declare
himself or shall be declared bankrupt or insolvent; or shall
apply to take or shall take the benefit of any act for the
relief of insolvent debtors, or shall make any composition
with his creditors, or shall altogether absent himself from
his duty more than six calendar months consecutively
(unloss prevented by illness or any other reasonable cause),
or shall be convicted of fraud or of any crime, then, and in
every such case, such person shall thereupon immediately
become disqualified and shall cease to hold the office Of
alderman or common councilman, as the case may be, and
the office shall become vacant. But any person becoming
disqualified and ceasing to hold such office by reason of
having made any composition with his creditors shall, on
payment of his debts in fall, be capable (if otherwise quali-
fied) of being re-elected to such office, provided always that
any act done by any such alderman or common. councilman
so becoming disqualified as aforesaid previously to his
office becoming vacant, shall have the same force and
validity as if such alderman or common councilman had
not been so disqualified."-:-r
" 13. That the Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen shall
be continued as a separate court only for purposes connected
with the admistration of justice, police, gaols, and mainte-
nance of any court of law or equity, now by charter or
otherwise, under their separate jurisdiction. That the
Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen shall have no separate
power or authority to draw upon or order any payment
out of the City cash, and that for all municipal legislation
and other purposes connected with the City affairs, the
same may be henceforth managed and transacted under
and by the authority of the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and
commons in Common Council assembled.
"14. That all acts whatsoever authorised or required to
be done by the Common Council, and all questions of ad-
journment or others that may come before such council,
may be done and decided by the majority of the members
of the council who shall be present at any meeting, the
whole number present at such meeting not being less than
one• fifth part of the number of the whole council, and at
all such meetings the Lord Mayor, if present, shall pre-
side ; and in the absence of the Lord Mayor, such alder-
man, or in the absence of all the aldermen such councillor
as the members of the council then present shall choose to
be the chairman of that meeting, shall preside, and the
chairman shall have a second or casting vote in all cases of
equality of votes.
"15. That the chamberlain shall be elected by the Court
of Common Council.

" 16. That in any alteration of the existing wards, it is
desirable to adhere as much as possible to the present
limits to unite the smaller and divide the larger wards, so
as to mike them more equal in the number of occupiers
and amount of rateable property.
"17. That all extra-parochial places within the limits of
the city should be included in the city of London for all
municipal purposes.
" 18. That the bye-laws of the 15th April, 1606, and
th© 4th July, 1712, restraining persons not free of the city
from carrying on trade therein be repealed.
" 19. That the street tolls should be abolished.
" 20. That the powers of the several city courts should
be consolidated and amended, that there should be only
two such courts for the trial and hearing of civil causes
within the city, namely, the mayor's court and the sheriff's
court, as regulated by the small debts act.
" All of which we subm,it to the judgment of this hon-
ourable court. Dated this 22d day of February, 1854.
" JOHN WOOD, Chairman."

Resolved,—That this court cloth agree with the com-
mittee in their report, and it is ordered that the town
clerk do transmit a copy thereof to the commissioners ap-
pointed to inquire into the state of the Corporation of
London.

Motion—To agree to suggestion No. 9.
Amendment—To strike out the words "for life," and
insert " once in every seven years."
The court divided : For the affirmative, 30 ; for the
negative, 49.
Motion—" To agree to suggestion" No. 11.
Amendment—" To limit the number to 160."
The court divided : For the affirmative, 15 ; for the
negative, 37.

SATEEN COTTAGEs DESTROYED BY

FIRE AT BLACKWALL.

Last night, about half-past eight o'clock, an electric
telegraph message was forwarded to the London fire
engine stations, that an extensive fire had taken place
near Messrs. Mare's steam-ship and engineering works
at Blackwall, in the North Woolwich-road. The mo-
ment the news arrived, engines of the brigade from
Wellclose-square, Schoolhouse-lane, Jeffrey-square, and
Farringdon-street, started towards the spot, followed
by that of the West of England office. It is to be re-
gretted that as the engines were proceeding along the
Commercial-road, two unfortunate accidents occurred,
and within a few yards of each other. One took place
in thi% way. Mr. Jones, the engineer of the West of
England engine, in order to ascertain the exact
locality of the fire, made an attempt to get off the
engine before it was fully stopped, and being unable
to obtain his footing, he fell under the hinder-
most wheel, which passed completely ever his
thigh. The horses dragging the heavy machine were
stopped as soon as possible, when it was found that
Jones was so much injured as to be unable to proceed
any further. The Victoria Dock Company, in order to
provide lodgings for a number of their workmen and
their families, had erected a series of double and single
cottages in the marshes adjoining the brick field, be-
tween Messrs. Mare's works and the North Woolwich
road. Each building were formed of bricks, timber
lined inside, and thatched roof, and consisted of from
two to four rooms in each structure. Last night, it
appears, a girl living in one of the cottages struck a
lucifer match in order to light a candle, when, by
some unforeseen accident, the window curtain became
ignited, and before she had time to extinguish the
fire it travelled to the roof, set the thatch in a blaze,
and the wind blowing stifly at the time the flames
were drifted to the cottages right and left of the
one in which the misfortune commenced, so that
in a space of•time comparatively brief the destructive
element had seized upon six double cottages and four
single ones. The scene at that time became quite dis-
tressing, as many of the poor occupiers had their chil-
dren sleeping in the humble habitations, and in order to
rescue them the most strenuous exertions were required.
One poor woman, to save an infant, was obliged to get
through the window, whilst, the fire dropped from the
roof upon the cot in which the child was sleeping. The
poor creatures next made an attempt to remove their
humble furniture to a distant place for protection, in
which endeavour to some extent they were successful,
but the majority of the occupants have lost all they pos-
sessed ; for by the, time the London engines could reach
the scene, the fire had done tremendous havoc, and with
the exception of about a dozen cottages on the same
estate, the others, numbering in all 16, were burnt out.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN MANCIIESTER.

A fire, more destructive in its consequences than any
which has occurred in Manchester for many years, took
place on Wednesday night in that city. The invoice
and order clerks in the employ of Messrs. Rylands and
Son, general warehousemen and shippers, were just
about to leave the warehouse in High-street, about
ten minutes past ten o'clock, when one of the men
who had to watch during the night, smelt fire, and
seeing smoke proceeding up a flight of stairs which
led into a cellar containing grey calicoes, he went to
ascertain the cause, bat was driven back. One of the
clerks also went down, and saw fire upon the coun-
ter, as he thought, glimmering among a very dense
body of smoke, which nearly suffocated him. Attempts
were made to quench it with water, but the smoke over-
powered the men, and they left the place in trepidation,
merely seizing some few odd books that were scattered
about. Mr. Rose, the conductor of the Manchester fire
brigade, received intelligence of the fire from the police-
man on the beat at twelve minutes past ten, and being on
the spot in nine minutes he found flames issuing from the
cellar of the warehouse, and evidently proceeding from a
very large body below. He had at first great hopes of
extinguishing the fire, but it all at once sprung into great
activity, having reached a gas meter, from which a flame
2 feet in diameter and 6 or 7 feet long projected the mo-
ment the soldering had been melted. The building itself
was, perhaps, the most extensive in Manchester. The
fire raged fiercely, and soon mastered the efforts of the
firemen, although they played most gallantly from high-
pressure main jets, which discharge about a ton of water
per minute, and before one o'clock in the morning it
had destroyed the whole of the building to a very small
portion, bringing down much of the walls. The wind
blew from the east, carrying the sparks and live embers
across the streets. Bread-street being so narrow, as the
fire advanced along the blazing building the firemen had
no space to work, and were compelled to retire, and the
flames soon caught the windows of a large warehouse on
the opposite side of the street occupied by Hammond,
Turner, and Co., and set it on fire. The men strove hard
in this new difficulty, but the narrowness of the street
baffled all their efforts, and the fire completely gutted the
building, passing through into Bridgewater-place, another
street a considerable distance from the original scene
of conflagration. It was eventually stopped by the in-
tervention of some strong party walls in the buildings,
but not until after two o'clock in the morning. The
loss caused by the destruction is immense. Messrs.
Ryland had a stock of at least 100,0001. worth of goods
in their warehouse, and all is destroyed with the excep-
tion of the salvage, which may amount to 10,000/. They
are ingrirerl in the Alliance for 5,0001 ; Anchor, 2,0001..
Atlas, 5,0001. ; County, 5,0001. ; Equitable, 3,000/.
Guardian, 5,0001. ;London, 5,0001. ; Monarch, 5,0001.
Phcsnix, 10,000/. ; Star (taken by Manchester officer

The Princess Royal and Princess Alice took a drive in
an open carriage and four.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, their Royal
Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess
Mary, his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, the
Hanoverian Minister (Count Kielmansegge), the Marquis
of Breadalbane, Lady Fanny Howard, Baioness de. Speth„
-the Earl and Lady 11-nstatir:e Groivenor, Sir G: Couper,
Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Woodford, Baron
Knesbeck, and Lord William Paulet, hvi the honour of
dining with the Queen.

The band of the Royal Horse Guards attended in the
Palace during dinner, and played the following selection :,--
Overture, " Brides of Venice"
Fantasie Militaire Mercadante.
Waltz, " Nymph of the Wave"
War March of the Guards
Selo:A-ion' " Figaro"
Galop, "Etna" D'Albert.

The Hon. Matilda Paget and the Hon. Mary Seymour
have succeeded the Hon. Eleanor Stanley and the Hon.
Beatrice Byng, as the maids of honour in waiting to her
Majesty.
Mr. John Wood, chairman of the Board of Inland
Revenue, had an interview with the Chancellor of the
Exchequer yesterday, at his official residence in Downing-
street.