The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-08 00:00:00

CITY OF LOND

The royal commission sat
ingdon-street, arid resumed
the Right, Hon. Henry Lab(
son. At the opening of thi

Mr. Payne, coroner of the city of London, appeared
to explain a portion of they evidence which had been
given at a previous sitting. He wished to state, with
regard to the assertion thai. the Lord Mayor was the
coroner of the-city of London, that this was an entire
mistake. The charter of Edward VI. said that the
Mayor and .Conitnonalty t)f London might appoint
whom they would to the Office of coronet ; and the
act of the 11th George 1., which regulated the City
elections, stated that the election of the coroner and
other officers should still remain in the Common Coun-
cil. Therefore, the Lord Mayor was not the coroner.
Again, it had been stated that the office of 'coroner in
the City was an annual office. He would take the
liberty of stating that •it was not an annual office, but
an office which was .held ditring good behaviour; and
this view was borne out by the decision of the Court of
Queen's Bench in the case of the Queen and Grimshaw;
in 1847, when Mr. Justice Patteson said that "a coroner
well in, was in for life, ad 'could not be displaced
without cause duly shown."
Mr. Sergeant Merewether, own clerk, attended, and
produced A lisV the 9fitces o e corporation which had
beers Purchaserby their pr,- -'t pOisessors or by their
• predecessors. They were as-follows : the two attorneys
Of the Mayor's court, the firreserjeant of the chamber,
the yeoman of the water-side,:the swordbearer's young
man, common huntsman's young man, the water-bailiff's
young man, thefruit meters, and the deputy oyster meters.
He wished to state that it was the intention of the com-
mon Council to put an end to the practice of selling
offices for the future. Mr. Merewether then reverted to
the subject of the sale by the corporation of Sir Thomas
Gresham's house to the Government in 1768 for a
ground rent of 5001, a year. He repeated that the cor-
poration had made no improvident bargain in effecting a
sale on these terms. Indeedkeonsidering the increased
w
value of the property since 1763, and the buildings that
had been since erected on the site, he thought that the
108;000/. which had been obtained by the Government
at the recent sale did notadequately represent that in-
creased value.
Mr. Anderton, under sheriff' for the city of London
and the county of Middlesex, examined. He said that
the under-sheriffs were appointed by the sheriffs: The
secondary of London was, however, practically speaking
the under-sheriff of London, for he discharged all the
duties of the office ; and the under-sheriffs were only
under-sheriffs for Middlesex. His own emoluments as
under-sheriff for the last quarter amounted to 1751.,
which was about a fair average. He had to keep up
some little state, viz., a carriage with a pair of horses—
he had to attend the sheriffs, and to contribute to cha-
'rifles. He was appointed under-sheriff by Sir John
Musgrove, and afterwards by Mr. Sheriff Wire, without
any solicitation on his part. He had to attend at the
Old Bailey assizes, and to accompany the sheriffs on all
public occasions ; but the work was for the most part
done by the deputy under-sheriff, Mr. Burchell.
The. Chairman—What is the use, then, of maintaining
the office of under-sheriff at all ?
Mr. Anderton—To indemnify the sheriff for any losses
he may sustain ; and for giving that indemnity the under-
sheriff receives the fees of the office. Mr. Anderton
then stated that he had to pay 2001. in the shape of in-
demnification during his last under-shrievalty. The
officers from whom he took security in that case failed,
as did also their sureties. •

The Chairman—ls there any necessity for continuing
the office of under-sheriff of Middlesex ?

Mr. Anderton—No, if the corporation would under
take the risk themselves, as they do in the case of the
under-sheriff-uf.London.
The Chairman—Have you anything more to say ?
Mr. Anderton—Oh, a great deal. (A laugh.) I have
been a common-councilman for 17 years, and have stood
13 contests, but I never solicited a vote or spent a single
sixpence ito procure' my election. In the year 1846 I
was deputy-governor of the Irish Society, and I visited
the estates in the summer of that year. The corporation
have no more to do with the Irish Society than any
gentleman in this room. They do not receive a shilling
of profit from it, and their only connection with it is,
that they have a visitorial power over the estates. The
Irish Society has large estates in the north of Ireland,
but I never knew them to exercise any political influence
over their tenants. The land is principally let upon
leases, renewable for ever. Sivateberir Ferguson isorie
of their large tenants. lam not now a member of the
Irish Society, because we only serve for two years, and
usually retire when we have acquired a knowledge of our
duties. The committee receives "line money," and my
share of it amounted to 151. a year. This money is for
attendances. We had "good-fellowship" expenses be-
sides. The attendances to the committee have been much
reduced of late years. The governor is rarely removed
at the expiration of his two years of office. The present
governor is Mr. Alderman Humphery, who has been
annually elected to that office for many years past.
The Chairman--I find that in the accounts of the
society for the year 1832 the sum of 3,4601. is charged
for law expenses ; and I see by an explanatory note,
that a portion of that expenditure was applied in defray-
ing the expenses of Alderman Thorpe's election for the
borough of Coleraine,. Can you account for this ?
Mr. Anderton—l cannot ; but I am not surprised at
anything that may have occurred many years ago. The
corporation of Londonderry and Coleraine are bound by
their charter to submit their by-laws for the approval of
the Irish Society, and I believe they are agreed to as a
matter of course.
The Chairman—You say that the corporation have
nothing to do with the Irish Society. But does not the
society emanate from the corporation ; and in the case
of misappropriation of the funds, would not the corpora-
tion have the power to interfere.
Mr. Anderton—ln that case they have ; but the cor-
poration only regard themselves as visitors. When I
was a visitor the estates had not been visited for many
years ; but of late years the visits have been more fre-
quent. When I went I was allowed to spend 5001.
altogether, but I only spent 400 i. Our deputation was
seven in number, and we entertained the gentlemen of
the county, the clergy of all denominations, and the
principal tenants. We visited every estate, and gave
directions that every labourer should be put to work.
The society thought that we spent too much money in
our visit, but we gave invitations instead of accepting

them.
The Chairman find that in the year 1846 the total
expense for managing the society's estates was 2,0001.,
out of a gross annual rental of 8,500/. Does not that
sum for management appear to you rather large?
Mr. Anderton—l do not see Where you can reduce it.
The Chairman—But what do you think would be the
opinion of a private proprietor if he found the expenses
of management on his estate so great ?
Mr. Anderton—A private proprietor would not have
so many expenses Ito pay, as he
would live on the pro-
perty ; and besides, a private proprietor does not do
half the good that the Irish Society does on its pro-
perty. In 1846 we spent 3,451/. on purposes of educa-
tion, and 1,484/, on charitable purposes and public im-
provements ; making a total of 4,9651.
The Chairman—l find that
in the same year (1846)
the society's law expenses in Ireland were 3,2611., and
in England 3141. more ;
making, in one year, 3;575/.
out of an income of 8,5001.
Mr. Anderton—That was a very unfortunate year, as
the society had several law-suits to settle, all of which,
however, they were enabled to get rid of. The society
allows the corporation of Londonderry 700/. a-year to-
wards their municipal expenses. I believe they are en-
titled to something under their charter, and they re-
ceived this money as a sort of quietus, for they had
alwaya been picking holes in the society.
The Chairman—Do you know any other town whose
municipal officers are paid by grants of this kind ?
Mr. Anderton—No, but I know there are many others
who would like it. (A laugh.)
The Chairman—l find that the expenses of manage-
ment in 1853 were very heavy, including 5606. for the
attendance of members. Do you not
think that the
expenses of management are generally very heavy ?
Mr. Anderton—lf you or I, sir, had the manage-
ment of the expenditure of the House of Commons it
would no doubt be managed cheaper, you cannot ex-
pect public property to be managed as economically as
private property. We have done a great deal of good
in Ireland.
The Chairman—Oh, I do not for a moment dispute
that ; but my question is, as this property is only in-
tended to be managed for the good of the district,
whether greater means of doing good might not have
been obtained if there had been greater economy in the
management ?
Mr. Anderton—l think you might possibly have
saved a few pounds in the management, but I do not
believe you would have done so much good. If I lay
out a pound liberally I always get 255. back for it. At
the same time I admit that if t were to be appointed
a member of the society again, the experience I have
already gained would enable me to, look better after its
affairs.
The Chairman—Have you anything further to add ?
Mr. Anderton—l wish to say a word on Mr; Thom-
son Hankey's evidence in disparagement of the Lord
Mayor's annual banquet in the Guildhall. Whatever
may be Mr. Hankey's opinion of that banquet, it is quite
clear that Mrs. Hankey's opinion is very different—
(laughter)—because I have in my possession two letters
from Mr. Hankey to the Remembrancer, begging for
tickets of admission for Mrs. Hankey. (Renewed laugh-
ter.) Witness then controverted the adverse evidence
of Mr. Travers with regard to the respectability of the
aldermen and common councilmen, and afterwards ex-
pressed his hope that the Lord Mayor's show would not
be abolished.
The Chairman—Going back for a moment to the Irish
Society, do you not think that the number of gentle-
men composing the deputation to Ireland is too large ?
Mr. Anderton—Yes, I think it may be ; but every
member of the committee wishes to do his duty ; and,
moreover, there is a pleasant run into the country, (A,