The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-12 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

YesterLlay a court was held for the despatch of public
business.

THE OFFICE OF RECORDER.
The LORD MAYOR said he was requested by the Court
of Aldermen to place before the Common Council a reso-
luticn passed on Tuesday by the former, adopting the
report of the General Purposes Committee of the Court
of Aldermen, the purport of which was, that "the town
clerk having laid before the committee for their ieforma-
tion a copy of a report from a committee presented to the
hon. court on the sth of September, 1850, in reference
to the duties of the office of Recorder, and also a report
from the committee in relation to officers and c'erks,
presented to the Court of Common Council on the 17:h
of September, 1350, on the reference to them to con-
sider the duties and emoluments of the office of Recorder,
and this committee having attentively considered the
duties set firth and defined in such reports, the com-
mittee were of opinion and recommended that the duties
should remain the same, and they had caused a state-
ment of such duties to be hereunto annexed for the in-
formation of the hon. court. The town clerk bad laid
before the committee a return of the number of courts
held, and the number of causes entered and tried in the
Mayor's Court from the year 1851 to the present time,
whereby it appeared that the Recorder's duties as judge
of that court had very materially increased, and were
likely still to increa,e, in consequence of the court having
been thrown open to all attorneys to practise therein ;
but, ou the other hand, the passing of the Criminal
Justice Act (18 and 19 Vic., cap. 126), empowering
justices at petty sessions to punish persons charged with
1 larceny, &c , summarily, had had the effect of reducing
the number of days of the sittings at the Central Criminal
I Court. Under these circumstances the committee are
of opinion that the salary of 3,0001. per annum, as
settled by the Court of Common Council in September,
1850, should not be altered."
Mr. U L. TAYLOR said be thought any dictation by
the Court of Aldermen respecting the salary of the Re•
corder
the docurnener"lBs6,
was trenching upon the prerogatives of the larger
body of thes
dated eel corporation. The last report, which was
the Recorldr:3rorhl;e
additions to said—" As it appears from one of
a laid before us, and numbered two, that the
the ancient s l of 1201. per annum to
before a ary
to the su
from the ,been made by the Common Council
no
of the present time, amounting to-
getherhiooo/. per annum, exclusive of fees
on cases laid
we abstain from givinw, on behalf of the corporation,
salary, the additions made to opinion on the subject of
Council." Re (Mr.
o it resting with the Com-
monjudicioue paragraph, and Taylor)would have
thought this a very
have accepted the present have been delighted to
i men if it had been similarly reportwordof the Court of Alder-
!nervier was most anxious to doed. He believed every
most important offices of the corpjoruasttice to one of the
ion, but they must
have perfect liberty to consider all the circumstances of
the appointment, and they must not have it dictated
them by the aldermen that 3,000 i. was the salary to give
to the Recorder. He therefore wished the report to be
withdrawn.
Mr. Alderman HALE said he had not the least ob-
jection to move that it be referred to the officers' and
clerks committee of the Court of Common Council to
consider the amount of salary.
Mr. Deputy HARRISON urged that if the Common
Council followed the course we took upon the last occa-
sion, in Sept., 1850, they could not do very much amiss.
They should refer it to their committee of officers and
clerks, to consider the duties and emoluments of the
office of Recorder, and stay the election till the commit-
tee should hive reported upon that subject. They should