The Sun.
London, England, 1833-06-24 00:00:00

REPORT from the SELECT COMMITTEE

on MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

(O.I.TFRED, HT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, TO BE FRIETI
JUNE 4.)
REPORT.

The Select Commiree appointed to inquire into the Sta.,.
of Municipal Corporations in Englaud and Wales any;
Ireland, and to report to the House whether any sod
what defects ex'st in their Constitutions, and what
measures it airy e in their opinion most expedient t
adopt for remedy thereof; and to whom sever.' poi
tions respecting Municipal Corporations presented t,.
the House in the present Session of Parliament were
referred, and who were empowered to report the Mi-
nutes of Evidence taken before them to the House ;
have proceeded at some length into such Inquiry, awl

have agreed upon the following Report :
Your Committee were of opinion that they should best
discharge the duty imposed upon them by inquiring how far
the Municipal Corporations in England, Wales and Ire-
land, as at present constituted, were useful and efficient
instruments of local government, rather than by seeking to
detect past abuses, with a view to their exposure or pu-
nishment. Your Committee were required to ascertain
whether any or what defects existed in the constitution of
corporations, and what measures were expedient to he
adopted for the remedy thereof, and with that view the
required, in the first instance, the attendance of the chief
magistrate and the town-cletk, as being the officers best
capable of giving inf wmation respecting the constitu-
tion of the different Corporations with which they were
respectively connected. The Committee state with pi-a-
sure that they have found a general readiness on the part
of the municipal officers whom they have examined to afro, d
the information they have required, and they have, in n
instance, been obstructed by captious or formal objection.,.
It was, however, impossible not to be aware that, from
the absence of local information, the inquiries of the Com-
mittee must be defective, and that many facts material
to be known must escape unnoticed. In some instance•
persons unconnected with ,the Corporations were exa-
mined ; but this course led to a conflict of testimony
which could only have been met by summoning witnesses
from a distance, with inconvenience to the parties, at a
peat expense to the public, and would have involved the
Committee in a most protracted inquiry, and with no
certainty that in the event the result would have proved
satisfactory. The consequence is, that the information
which the Committee have received has been mainly derived
from corporate officers ; but even on their testimony they
have no hesitation in expressing a decided opinion, that
the defects which have been disclosed are such as to to
quire that a further and a searching inquiry should be in-
stituted, with a view to the adoption of a sufficient re-
medy. Having come to this conclusion, your Committee
are not enabled to offer any final suggestions as to the re-
medies which ought to be adopted ; and being further of
opinion, that from the defective nature of their inquiry,
even those cases which they have examined ought to be
subjected to further scrutiny, they have thought it de
sirable, with very few exceptions, to abstain from point-
ing out particular defects, or animadverting on indi.i-
dual testimony, while there is a possibility that a different
colour may be given to the case by future investigation.
They propose, however, to state in general terms some of
the leading points which they think justify their recom-
mendation that a further inquiry should be instituted,
and to suggest some remedies which they deem to be en-
titled to consideration.

The jurisdiction of Corporations is defective in some
oases in consequence of the town having been extended
beyond the limits of the ancient borough ; and in other
cases it is objectionable, from extending to places that are
distant, and more properly lulling within tne jurisdiction
of county Magistrates.
The principle which prevails of a small portion of Cor-
porators choosing those who are to be associated with them
in power, and generally fur life, is felt to be a great griev-
ance. The tendency of this principle is to maintain an
exclusive system, to uphold local, politic.il, and religious
party feelings, and is destructive of that confidence which
ought always to be reposed in those who are intrusted
with control, judicial or otherwise, over their fellow-
citizens.

One of the consequences of this system of close elec-
tion has been, that publicity has been rarely given to the
amount and ap,,lication of the funds belonging to the dif-
ferent Corporations. It is prub .ble, that if in this respect
the Corporators had acted under the influence and con-
trol of public opinion, their debts would have been less in
amount, and more benefit would have been conferred on
the community. It is desirable, therefore, that the ma-
nagement and expenditure of Corporate funds should be
subjected to a systematic and efficient control.
The powers vested in Corporations for the administra-
tion of justice, both criminal and civil, ate various and
extensive, and are among the most important objects of
inquiry. In some cases the choice of Recorders has been,
both in practice and in principle, highly creditable to the
Corporations ; in other cases Recorders have been chosen
of unexceptionable character, but selected rather on ac-
count of their rank and station, than from a regard to
their fitness to discharge the duties of the office. The
way in which the juries are summoned seems to be left
too much to the discretion of the parties whose duty it is
to summon them. Tuere are no regular lists of those
liade to serve on juries, and there is no control over the
discretion of the officer, who selects, from among those
qualified by law, such as he pleases. The civil courts ap-
pear either to have fallen entirely into disuse, or to have
been but little resorted toe According to the evidence
given before the Committee, the Admiralty jurisdiction
belonging to the Corporation of Yarmouth, is one which
has not been administered advantageously or usefully, and
that, and others, if such there be, ate very fit subjects for
future inquiry and improvement.
The privileges and exemptions from tots and dues
which are enjoyed by freemen, give them, in some cases,
very considerable advantage, in the conduct of the ordinary
affairs of life, over those who are not freemen. It is stated
that two persons engaged in trade in Hull, and in all other
respects being equal, except that the one is, and the other
is not, a freeman, the exemption from port and other dues,
will give an advantage to the freeman to the amount of 1001.
per annum. It may well be questioned whether such exemp-
tions rest on any public principle sufficiently strong to corn-
pensive for and justift an interference with that equality of
rights which ought to be enjoyed by members of the same
community. In most considerable places, Private Acts of
Parliament have been obtained fur the purpose of watch-
ing, paving, and lighting the towns. Thus some im-
portant functions of police have been transferred to bodies
independent of, and unconnected with, the Corporations,
and as the Committee did not consider that under the
reference made to them, they had power to inquire into the
efficiency and administration of those Acts, as regards the
police of the respective towns, they have abstained from the
inquiry. It may he remarked, however, that it is pro-
bable, that if the Corporations had been more popularly
constituted, and bad enjoyed a larger share of public con-
fidence, they might have been invested with a greater, if
not an exclusive, control, over the execution of these Acts
of Parliament. The rates levied by the authority of the
Corporations for public purposes, and which in some cases
have been to a considerable amount, constitute another fit
head of inquiry. Complaints have been made on this
subject, and even if no complaints have been made it
seems to be expedient that some better and more efficient
checks than exist at present should be established for the
benefit and protection of those who are to pay the rates.
Only two Corporations in Ireland have been inquired
into, those of Dublin and Belfast. It may, without exag-
geration, be said, that Dublin has been hitherto an
exclusively Protestant Corporation, and consequently
cannot be supposed to nave commanded the respect,
or obtained the confidence, of those who are syste-
matically excluded on account of their religious opinions.
This state of things is the more to be deprecated, when it
is recollected that this Corporation is invested with large
and extensive influence and power, and that Dublin being
the seat of the Courts of Law, Juries in all cases are sum.
mooed by the officers of a body so exclusively composed.
Belfast is a Corporation entirely close ; and now that the
Sovereign and his colleagues have ceased to choose the
representative to Parliament for the town, they do not
appear to exist for any public or useful purpose. In Eng.
land your Committee did not enter into any particular in•
quiry respecting the charitable funds belonging to the
Corporations, because they came within the scope of the
inquiries now making by the Commissioners appointed for
that purpose. In Ireland there are no such Commission-
ers, and the evidence given with respect to the charitable
funds which have come into possession of the Corporation
of Belfast proves how imperiously inquiry is demanded.
In the selection of the cases that have been inquired
into, an effort was made to obtain examples of towns
varying in their Size, circumstances, and the constitution
of their Corporations. In a majority of cases, the prin-
ciple of self-election prevails; Berwick is the must popular
in its constitution, but not the most faultless in its practice
Bradninch is an agricultural parish in Devonshire, which
has been incorporated by charter. No reason appeared
why it should have been separated from the other parishes
that surround it ; am!, on the contrary, your Committt e
cannot hesitate to express their opinion, that the condition
of the parish would be improved by being placed under
toe ordinary jurisdiction of the magistrates of the county.
The inference which your Committee draw, from the cases
into which they have inquired, is, that little difficulty wilt