The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-13 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

Yosterday a court was held for the despatch of public
business.
RIGHT OF MEMBERS TO INSPECT DOCUMENTS BELONGING

TO THE CORPORATION.
Ur. MURRELL said he had a question to ask of very con-
siderable importance to every member of the court. Their
55th standing order was—" Every member of this court
now has, and always has had, the right to inspect the
books and papers belonging to the corporation, save and
except such as may be under the consideration of any of
the committees." He (Mr. Murrell) being desirous of in-
specting one of the leases granted by the corporation with
reference to a matter which he expected before the court
that day, had made the necessary application to the officer
having charge of the document, who informed him that he
could not show it him as a member of the corporation in
his individual capacity. He therefore wished to ask whe-
ther, under that standing order, he, as a member of that
corporation, was not entitled to inspect the document to
which he had referred ? (Hear.)
The RECORDER (after consultation with the Lord Mayor
and Town Clerk) said—My attention has not been called
to this matter before the last few minutes, and having had
no time to consider it, I should be very unwilling to bind
myself by any opinion. But the question raises a matter
of very considerable difficulty. Oa the one hand, no doubt,
under these rules, any member of the court has the right
to inspect all the public documents of the corporation. On
the other hand, it is quite clear that it cannot have been
intended to give an opportunity to members of the corpo-
ration which other parties have not, to look at those docu-
ments for private purposes. (Hear, hoar.) As the docu-
ment to which reference has been made may be considered
to refer to the title of a privato individual, I am not at
this moment prepared to say it is clear under this order
that every member of the corporaticn has a right to look
at it. (Hear, hear.) It is a question upon which I should
wish to be better advised before giving an answer.
The LORD MAYOR said that, although the learned l e-
corder had made a guarded answer to the question that had
been put to him, he (the Lord Mayor) considered that he
should not be acting right if he did not give his unhesitating
opinion as to what he considered to be the rights of a mem-
ber of the court. He conceived it to be the undoubted
right of every member of the Common Council to see every
document that he in his corporate capacity wished to look
at, whether the lease of premises or any other paper con-
nected with the affairs of the corporation. (Hear.)

- THE LORD MAYOR ELECT.

The TOWN CLVIK read a letter addressed to the Lord
Mayor by the Lord Mayor Elect, expressing his willingness
to undertake the duties of the office to which he had been
eleoted.

The letter was ordered to be entered on the minutes of
;he court.

CROWDED STATE OF LONDON-BRIDGE.

Sir J. DUKE asked the chairman of the Bridge-house
Committee (Mr. J. B.iley) whether, on account of the
almost impassable state of London-bridge, and the daily in-
creasing traffic over it, any determination had been come
to upon the subject of the project of constructing footpaths
outside the parapets of the bridge, and converting the ex-
isting pavement into carriage way ?
Mr. J. BAILEY said that the matter had been referred
to Sir J. Rennie and Mr. Page, whose report would be

laid before the committee on the following day, and forth-
with presented to the court.

THE NEW CATTLE MARKET AT COPENHAGEN-FIELDS.

➢lr. H. L. TAYLOR, the chairman of the Markets Im-
provement Committee, brought up a report recommending
the raising by bonds on the City's revenue 143,2211., the
remaining sum required for the purposes of the new cattle
market.
The report was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. LLOYD—When is it contemplated that the market
will be completed ?
Mr. H. L. TAYLOR—I have great satisfaction in answer-
ing that question. It cannot be too well known that we
hope to get the market opened by Christmas next. (Hear.)
Mr. LLOYD—And will the expense of it exceed the esti-
mate?
Mr. H. L. TAYLOR—I believe that the works contem-
plated in the expense and in the report to which the
court agreed will be either within or about the estimate,
but if there should be works beyond those contem-
plated in the report, of course there will be additional
cost.
Deputy LOTT—Have the committee coma to any deter-
mivationas to altering the market-day from Monday to

'nesday ?
Mr. EL L. TAYLOR —There will be a report upon the
subject, and it is an important one. Perhaps I had better
not say at the present moment how the committee have
decided.

Mr. MURRELL—When is that report likely to be brought
up to the court?
Mr. H. L. TAYLOR—I should think at the next court.

STEAM-BOAT ACCOMMODATION AT THE SOUTH-EASTEEN
SIDE OF LONDON-BRIDGE.

Mr. BAILEY brought up the joint report of the Bridge-
house Estates and Thames Navigation Committees, to
whom the question of placing a floating pier at the lower
stairs on the south side of London-bridge had been re-
ferred, and moved that it be entered on the minutes of the
court.
Mr. MURRELL said, that, considering the important na-
ture of the report, together with the fact of the small num-
ber of members present, he felt it his duty to move that it
be printed, and taken into consideration at the next court.
When the subject of the increasing traffic over the la'
was considered, he thought that the court ought no to lose
any opportunity that presented itself of relieving it.
Mr. Ross seconded the amendment, being fully con-
vinced that every member should have a printed copy of
the report before coming to any decision upon this all-im-
portant subject.
Mr. DE JERSEY hoped that the court would not agree
to postpone the consideration of the matter. The steam-
boat companies had taken advantage of the silence of the
corporation with reference to the qualified consent that
had been given, and had acted in direct violation of the
printed laws, rules, and regulations of the corporation.
He did not think that so flagrant a case bad ever before
been brought under the cognisance of the court. The
steam-boat companies had not only driven piles into the
bed of the river, but had made a complete platform under
. the arch, and ed placed a gangway extending from the
lowest stair to the dummy. They had, therefore, done
that which they had been refused permission to do when
the matter was under the consideration of the Navigation
Committee and the law officers of the corporation, and
they had acted in direct opposition to the opinion of those
who conceived that the fleeting pier would not be of any
public convenience. (Cries of oh ! oh !) A more flagrant
piece of impudence had never been perpetrated ; and he
(Mr. De Jersey) therefore hoped, as the steam-boat com-
panies had taken the law into their own hands, that the
court would uphold their own independence and not be-
come parties to acts done not only without their sanction,
but in defiance of their positive orders. (Hear, hear.)
The LORD MAYOR said it was his duty to inform the
court, that, as conservator of the Thames, he had from
time to time made inquiries on the subject to which the,
discussion referred, and had that morning received a re-
port from the properly-appointed officers, stating that the
floating pier caused no obstruction whatever in the
Thames. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. THORPE was of opinion that nothing could be more
reasonable than that the report should be printed and cir-
culated before its contents were discussed, especially as
the advice and even directions of the court were asked in
connection with it. (Hear, hear.) Parties who supposed
that the question could be got rid of in a hurry, and
without due deliberation and consideration, would find
themselves very greatly deceived, as a great many members
of the court were most anxious that the whole subject
should be fully discussed before any decision was come to.
(Hear, hear.)
On a show of hands being taken,
The LORD MAYOR announced that the amendment was
carried.
Mr. J. Low then said that, as the further consideration
of this question was postponed till the next court, he would
not until then present a petition, with which he had been
entrusted from the free watermen of the river Thames,
against the proposed erection, in order that the two mat-
ters might be considered at the same time.
Deputy CHRISTIE presented a petition from the Commit-
tee of the St. Botolph, Aldgate, Infant and Sunday Schools,
for pecuniary aid.
Referred to the Coal, Corn, and Finance Committee, to
examine and report.
Deputy HOLT presented a petition from the Committee
of the Farringdon General Dispensary and Lying-in Cha-
rity, for a grant of money.
This petition was also referred to the Coal, Corn, and
Finance Committee.
The court then adjourned.

DEATH 07 DAVID ROBERTSON, ESQ., OF GLASGOW.—
The appearance in our obituary of the name of Mr.
David Robertson, bookseller to the Queen, will fill many
hearts with profound sorrow. Few of our fellow-citi-
zens were better known ; none were more respected and
beloved: He was the friend of Andrew Henderson,
Kennedy, Motherwell, Carrick, Alexander Rodger, and
numerous other kindred spirits. His love of Scottish
song was intense, while his exquisite sense of the ludi-
crous imparted a peculiar unction to his relish for wit
and humour. In " Whistle Binkie" and " The Laird o'
Logan" he gave full scope both to his taste for lyrical
poesy and his lively appreciation of the facetious. Ttre
publication of these works, particularly of the former,
supplemented as it was by an admirable collection of
" Nursery Songs," brought him into correspondence
with nearly all the minor poets of Scotland, over some
of whom he exercised an almost parental care. On
Thursday night Mr. Robertson went to bed in his usual
health ; shortly after midnight he was seized with the
terrible distemper which still appears to be lingering in
the midst of us ; and at half-past two o'clock on Friday
our friend had ceased to exist.—Glasgow Herald.
THE LATE LIEUT. BELLOT.—Two of the eldest sisters
(who are of age) of the above gallant officer, who
perished in the Arctic Seas, have just been married at
Paris. The public subscription in this country for a
testimonial to his memory amounted to upwards of
2,0001., and the committee, after setting apart 5001. for
the erection of a granite obelisk, on the wharf of the
Royal Hospital at Greenwich, divided the remainder of
the money equally among the five sisters the gallant
deceased had left to lament his loss ; to provide the two
eldest with the means of support, whilst the subscrip-
tion was in progress, the committee paid certain sums
to them ad interim.
GALLANT CONDUCT.—During the gale on Thursday
morning last, a labouring max, apparently somewhat
intoxicated, got into the Mersey, near Otterspool, to
bathe. The tide carried him out of his depth, and,
beginning to sink, his cries attracted the attention of
Mr. Algernon Sidney Grenfel, a youth of 18 (son of
Vice-Admiral Grenfel, of St. Michael's Hamlet), who
was•shooting seagulls near the spot. Without a mo-
ment's hesitation ho threw down his gun, and, not wait-
ing to rid himself of his heavy coat and shot-belt, swam
out to the drowning man, seized him by the hair, and
succeeded, with difficulty, ia bringing him to land, which
he reached completely exhausted by his gallant exploit.
STATISTICS OF CANADA.—It appears from the trade
and navigation returns of Canadafor the year 1853, re-
cently submitted to the Canadian Parliament, that the
exports for the last year amounted to 23,801,303 dols,
and the imports to 31,981,436 dole. The exports to
Great Britain were 11,455,408 dole, and the imports
therefromlB,4B9,l2l dole ; exports to the United States
11,725,455 dole, imports from ditto 11,782,147 dols.
Exports to North American colonies 1,380,465 dole ;
imports, 632,660 dole ; to British West Indies, 20,184
dols ; from ditto, 3,479 dols ; to other countries,
209,791 dole; from ditto, 1,074,029 dole. The increase
of the aggregate imports and exports since the preceding
year lepe.ol per cat,