The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-13 00:00:00

; anew' to committees is excessive iu amount and misohieoh,
one in their application.
" 2. The cost and efficiency of the department of c rpo-
ration business which is conducted by the committees were
inquired into by the former Royal C iminissioners, who
reported of the COMIIIOII Council and its cennuittees.
Whatever opinions mac oe eta: relweting the con•
stitution of toffs
•thole:011)er in which its duties have
been exercised 4.mi11/A to h :Ye given satisia,ctiun with very
exc;eptioi.s 5,, it c‘matituents and, as it appear .to us,
justly so. The sys Len of conlinii tees in parti.ulakssems
to operate very successfully, and to combine in a reixiarkaAfri "--
ble degree the requisites of power and liability to control. -,,vlrtifty
" At the date of that former inquiry the four standing
committees received certain allowances in cash, called line
money, which was dlstriented e }u ally at the close of the
year among the imeneers who had 'UCCJI present at the time
their names were called over. Besides these sums they had
certain stipulated allowances to be expended in dinners or
other refreshments for members. We present in a tabulated
form the allowances to the committees at the date of that
inquiry, as well as those of the rreF,ent time. We have
likewise set out the average amount of the allowances at
the commencement of the present century, when the in-
fluence of the merchants and bankers was felt in the ad-
ministration of the affairs of the corporation. We have
also set forth the amount of the revenue under the manage-
ment of the committees, as nearly as we have been able to
ascertain it, and the average number of meetings of the
committees in the course of the year. This table is as fol-
ows, viz. :

Average of Years.
1802. 1832. 1852.

City Lands Committee :
Allowance
Expenses
Bridge House Committee :
Allowance ..... .....
Expenses
Navigation Committee—
Allowance
Expenses
General P urposes Committee:
Allowance 2oi)
Expenses
Average amount of revenue
under management of
committees
It will be observed that at the present time the line
money formerly allowed to the principal committees is no
longer paid to them. That allowance was abolished ; and
the other payments were regulated by an order of the
Court of Common Council in the year 1836. The commill"
sioners, in their report, questioned the propriety of such s
payment, amounting, as they say, to only 3s. 9d. for
each attendance, as it might be said to place common
councilmen in the invidious position of managers of busi-
ness paid out of the funds under their own control. A
great difference of opinion prevails on this subject. Some
persons think that, like the directors of the Bank of Eng-
land, the joint-stock banks, dock companies, insurance
offices, and other public establishments, it would be better
to pay the committeemen for their attendance in money,
leaving it to be expended in refreshments or any other
mode that might suit their own convenience ; but, in ac-
cordance with the judgment of the majority of the mem-
bers, the line money was discontinued, and the allowance
for tavern expences was moderated, but retained.
" Although the vast augmentation in the revenue an .l
expenditure of the corporation has rendered the creation
of additional committees necessary for the convenient di-
vision of labour, and filthsigh the number of meetings has
been proportion..tely intro tsed., vet the aggregate amount
of the allowances to all the committees in the present day
is less than it was at eit' er of theformer periods embraced
in these returns.
" 3. The salaries of the officers of the corporation are
stated by some of the witnesses to be excessive.
" The remarks we have just made as to the committees
I may be likewise applied to the officers. The commissioners
thus express themselve.. with resnect to them ;
" ' It is 8. common practice with the antimon C eincil,
when Offices of tray in' tort um. b.3-01n..3 vacant, to refer to
a coinalittee the imuti,,,ms of ex:iteiniug int. 3 the duties of
the otfioe. -Ant reporting whe.,ll-r they ,:hoill 1 ho charged,
whether the ~fl,:e itself shoul.l b. 3 aboli-died or consolidatent
with any other, wiether the sal try should be altered, and
questions of a similar kind. The reports which have re-
sulted from these inquiries furnish most valuable accounts
of all relating to the office, tun.' many most important se-
forms have been ._•:‘fe3te.l fro,l ti,,t 3 t , ii .t 3 with a very
scrip ,utous re ;.,, .1 to o ,(i:: i, 3; int. r..:' e. We bel ve fh ,t
the hi,t .ry 0: n., ~H,., .. ,3:, , (ye t, - - , ~1,:,. li..t, tor-
able t.3,tt ~ ,-,i,,' ‘ t .1 , i•; . - ' ;-. '-,:, ,ftll.l.;u,;tiots
of its legislatt vt3 body.'
" In the time of our predecessors in the last century the
corporation offices had been bartered and sold, some with
and some without the power of alienation' and with the
right to remuneration from fees and emoluments, which
were undefined. It is, therefore, impossible to state with
any precision what the amount of their emoluments may
have been, but the commissioners thus report of the offices
as they existed in 1832 :
" 4 With respect to the salaries in general, we have to
observe, that they are undoubtedly framed on a very
liberal scale, but we are of opinion that the question of
their amount is one which may safely be left to a civic
legislature fairly chosen.'
"The practice of the corporation described above has
since the date of the report been constantly observed.
The officers state to us that their labours, cares, and reepon•
sibilities have been augmented, as the account of the re-
venue and expenditure of the corporation have increased ;
notwithstanding which we believe that their net income is
less than it was at the date of the commissioners' report.
We have no desire to screen those gentlemen any more
than ourselves from the fullest inquiry upon this point,
and we have directed them to submit themselves for exa-
mination upon this and every other matter upon which the
commissioners may think it right to inquire, Returns of
the particulars and accounts of their salaries made out by
the officers, will be delivered to the commissioners, from
which they will be able to compare the amounts payable
to them at the two points.
" Fourthly—Amongst the items of revenue and expen-
diture under the management of the Common Council to
which exception has been taken, the City police and the
sewers' commission are named, not on account of the man-
ner in which these services are conducted, but principally
because it is assumed that, if amalgamated with the cor-
responding establishments of the metropolis, those func-
tions would be more economically and more efficiently dis-
charged. We will make a few observations upon each of
these subjects :
" POLICE.—It is well known that in ancient times the
watch and ward of London, and other ancient cities and
towns, were performed by the male inhabitants, bearing
their lot in turns, their duties extending to the night only.
Instead of rectifying the inconvenience of this system by an
act of the governing body of the corporation, which might
have been amended from time to time as experience called
for alteration, an act of Parliament was obtained (11 Ge 0.11.),
by which a nightly watch was established. Watchmen were
to be appointed, their authority to act was limited to their
respective wards, and their duties were confined to the
nocturnal hours. The want of a day police, for which
this act made no provision, having been pressed upon
the Court of Aldermen they established, about 25 years
ago, an effective day police, consisting first of 68 and after-
wards of 100 men, properly clothed and accoutred, to act
over the entire city during the day only, under the Lord
Mayor and Court of Alderman. The cost of this corps of
police amounted annually to about 7,0001., anti was main-
tained at the corporate charge. Some time afterwards an-
other advance was made in the improvement of the system.
Government had provided an adequate police force under
commissioners to act both by night and by day over the
remainder of the metropolis, Which up to that time had
been entirely without any (1,17 police. A parliamentary
committee investigated fully the whole matter, and a bill
was brought in by the corporation, and passed with the
approbation of P:,rlie.,,tent, to repeal the old act establish-
ing the nightly watch, and enabling the Common Council
to form an efficient force for the protection of the cityboth
by day and by night. Under this act it is efficiently pro-
tected having every portion covered. By subsequent acts
and additional regulations, the metropolitan police anti the
city police, the aldermen of London and the stipendiary
magistrates of the home counties, have interchangeably the
rawer of acting and executing warrants within the several
jurisdictions as often as the public service may require.
There are peculiarities in respect to the City force that dis-
tinguish it from the metropolitan police.
" The men are picked men, both as to age and height,
and they are all required to reside within the City, so as
to ensure prompt and vigorous united action in cases of
emergency, in consequence of which both officers and men
are allowed a higher rate of wages. The force is likewise
required to be more numerous, in proportion to the area
and population of the City, than any other part of the me-
tropolis. It is necessary that the ground should be more
closely covered, both bynight and by day. Thevast number
of vehicles that pass and repass through the streets of the
City, and the multitude of persons who continually have
resort to the bank, where 24,000,0001. of dividends are an-
nually paid, the Post-office, the Royal Exchange, the Stool[
Exchange, the insurance offices, the banking houses, d_
other commercial and monetary establishments, many
anoflitr
:hoe::
them with property of greatgr valueeater
nabuomutoettrhheoeifrrapii:lrtme,
vqiugilireantth,eadnaid
these circumstances do not occur. And
metropolis, wlhtyrueserestrwviocerthay.amen than any p
by night a much larger force than underan
ss ordinaryin
n tchi re c
City u na -
stances are required ; because, although there are in the
banks, counting-houses, warehouses, a
cash securities and goods of immense value, these estab-
lishment tht she
ea
arcie
propertydai almost l
tdeserted
pr
rdoo
fut
ern
men
nteign onot ht
oe
fa hthouersp
superioroolif c neoi.teg he
rTt ,o,
the control of their own officers, the corporation con-
leaving
under
secure
ttrihebuentetioruethoefdyth.eTirhfeunodosveorneem-foeuntrtlhikoefwthseepaanyneunale-cofesutrtohf
of the cost of the metropolitan police, in return for which
they have a right to employ the men for especial govern-
mental purposes, not only within the metropolis, but also to
send them, as they have often done, to any part of the
country where their services are required. We respectfully
urge, in answer to the charges that have been made Against
us on this head, that the general interests of the metropo-
lis cannot in any degree suffer from the independent exer-
tion of two co-operative forces, acting, as they do, in har-
mony with each other for all purposes where co-operation
is required, and acting separately only in the instances
where special circumstances require a special treatment.
" SEWERS.—The objection to an independent commis•
sion for the lighting, paving, and sewerage of the City is
founded upon the same arguments, and is to be met by the
same reply. The affairs of both the sewers and the police
are superintended by members of the Common Council,
selected by the inhabitants of each locality, whose wants
and wishes are known to, and attended to, by their repre-
sentatives with a diligence and intelligence that it would
be impossi' le to impart to a central body acting for the
entire metropolis, covering 80 square miles of territory,
and representing two millions of inhabitants. Upon the
score of united action with the Metropolitan Commissioners
of Sewers in all matters where union is required, there can
be no pretext for destroying this ancient and useful com-
missioa in the City, or for merging it in the larger and
already overburdened body which has charge of the rest of
the metropolis ; for under the act of Parliament the Com-
mon Council appoint four representatives, to act as me-
hers of the metropolitan bosrd in all cases where 00112111 n °,.
action is required ; and it has been proved by the
. bodycxpii
ence of several rears that the members of the united
other for
can act in conformity and harmony with
the benefit of the whole community,
andth respectivelyce nt 1r
al. e -
while eachlsoth sections
have special regard for the interests they
abnedf theire an
d since
x ri
the "
formation
mshould n 7f tthbee
Metropolitan
thattan
i3eb oa
rt IA
nt of the City.
into execution
eocfguteeion
commissioners have Board of Health, the City commissioners and
have been diligently engaged in
organic improvement of the
extensive measures for the
servers, and
the
lastfor thfeewfsanitarYthiemprovenle
expense, having to form
con-
structedfa re s
within
their
eir milesjurisdiction.
f years
These sewers,th em.
u necessarilyunder
r at a very great
the crowded thorough-
sewers having been
substantially constructed, wil last for many years, and
by some of the witnesses were to be carried out,
the rates on the citizens will be reduced. If the change
proposed
the citizens may be assessed to defray in other localities
1.

£2OO £2OO £4OO
1,000 500 -

200 200
300 -