The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-25 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL

Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of business.
The most important matter for discussion was the report of
the Committee appointed to inquire into the receipts and
expenditure of the Corporation, distinguishing the different
sources from which they arose, and the salaries and fees of
the officers. .

Mr. JONES, the Chairman of the London Bridge Com-
mittee, brought up. the report of that Committee, which
gave a very satisfactory account of the improvements in
course of being accomplished in several parts of the City,
and required that the Committee should be empowered to
borrow the sum of 30,000/. to proceed with them.
The report was agreed to.
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

Mr. WILLIAMS, M.P. for Coventry, brought up the re-
port of the Revenue Committee, and moved that the report
should be received, printed, and circulated amongst the
members of the Court. There were three separate appen-
dices to the report. _ _ _

1. The City's revenue, .nearly all of Receipts. Expen.
which was raised by dues, taxes, £ s. £ s.
&c.
2. Taxes, rates, &c., raised by au-
thority
of Acts of Parliament 204,433 0 132,757 0
0. Trust funds

Received this year on account of the
1,000,000/. borrowed from the
Bank of England to make ap-
proaches to London-bridge, to be
repaid by a duty of Bd. per ton
on coals, &c

£659,733 0 676,122 0
By the first and second schedules it would be seen that
345,4641. was raised by taxes on the citizens, and a large
amount upon other inhabitants of the metropolis, with the ex-
ception of about 47,000/. derived from the rental of houses,
built principally on the site of the ancient city walls and ditches,
which was given to the mayor, commonalty, and citizens, by
the charter of Charles 1., adding to- which, fees and emolu-
ments received by officers and other persons appointed to
places by the corporation, amounting to 57,688/., which did
not appear in the City account book, amounting together to
49,153/. He would next give a statement of the cost of the
management of the municipal affairs of the City, including
salaries and emoluments of officers, law charges, &c.

Officers and persons holding situations by the ap-
pointment of the Corporation or its branches £93,684
Cost of the Mayoralty, already reported upon 25,034
Committees of the Common Council, for dinners,
fine money, and summer excursions £6,584 .(
7,410
Expenditure money on the Maria Wood 826
Besides the cost of building the Maria Wood, and
barge-house, which exceeded 6,000/.
Law charges, on an average of ten years 16,397
Ditto, on account of making approaches to London
Bridge
Surveyors, &c.

£147,662
Pensions to widows of aldermen, and other persons
connected with the Court of Aldermen
Pensions to officers, widows of officers, &e 11,821

£150,383

He considered that pensions given to the deputy Coai-
meters ought to be added, which amounted to 18,191/.
There were, Lesides, ten city tradesmen appointed by the
Corporation, many of whom were connected by relationship
with members of that Court. The library at Guildhall,
which was built and stocked for the benefit of the mem-
bers of the Corporation, cost 6,4381., and 200/. per annum
was allowed to be expended upon it, at the same time that
there was an annual expenditure exceeding 3,000/. on
Guildhall and its various apartments. He hoped that he
bad given the Court some idea of the municipal govern-
ment of a population of 122,300. M:. Williams concluded
by moving that the report should be received, printed, and
circulated amongst the members of the Court.
Mr. FLETCHER rose to move an amendment. He had
been on the Committee, but he had not had the opportunity
of attending it closely. The report contained much of what
was true, but it did not contain the whole truth. It was
extremely incomplete. After some further observations,
Mr. Fletcher moved—

" That by an order of the Court of the 17th October, 1834,
it was referred to a Committee to inquire into the duties, sala-
ries, and emoluments of the clerks and officers of this Corpora-
tion, and into the revenue and expenditure of this city ; and the
said order contained an express instruction to the Committee
to report to this Court whether any, and if any, what reduction
could be made in the several items of such expenditure.
" That in the report this day presented, the Committee, in
stating an account of the salaries of the officers, has set forth
the gross amount of receipts of office, without deducting mc-
nied charges and other disbursements payable thereout, whereby
an inaccurate impression is calculated to be made as to the
actual amounts of the emoluments derived by the corporate
officers from their various appointments. In the said report, a
statement of the duties of the several officers, as required by
the order of reference, is omitted, whereby this Court is de-
prived of the standard by which the sufficiency or exorbitancy
of their salaries might be justly measured ; that the said Com-
mittee has omitted to comply with the direct instructions of
this Court, by not setting forth in its report whether any, and
if any, what reduction can be made in the salaries of any one
of the officers upon whose emoluments it has reported ; in
consequence of which omission, the only practical beneficial
object of the appointment of the Committee is frustrated or
delayed.
" That the report be referred back to the said Committee to
amend the same, by setting forth and adding up, in separate
columns, both the gross and the net receipts and emoluments
of the several officers, and by setting forth their respective
duties ; and that the said Committee do, with all practicable
expedition, report their opinion to this Court, whether any,
and if any, what reduction can be made in the several items
of expenditure, both as regards the allowances to the various
Committees of the Corporation, and the salaries and emolu-
ments of its officers, it being the firm determination of the
Court to institute the most searching inquiry into all those
subjects, and to effect every retrenchment in the corporate ex-
penditure which may be proposed, provided such retrenchment
is compatible with the efficient discharge of the duties com-
mitted to its care, and is not inconsistent with a due regard
to the just rights of the various persons employed in its
service." _ _

Mr. PRIOR seconded the amendment.
Mr. PEWTRESS said that the amendment was most ex-
traordinary, and conveyed a direct censure upon a Com-
mittee which had been most indefatigable.
Mr. Ticknor, Mr. Anderton, and Mr. Jones supported
the amendment ; and Mr. Weston, Mr. Wilson, and Mr.
Hall the original motion.
Alderman MARSHALL supported the amendment.