The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-31 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL TOWN COUNCIL

LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY. - The last meeting of
the town council for the municipal year was held to-
day. Sir John Bent, the mayor, presided.
Before the ordinary business of the council was
proceeded with, a memorial from the inhabitants,
very numerously signed, was read, calling upon the
council to become the prosecutors in the inquiry
about to be held before the Earl of Carlisle into the
conduct of Mr. Ramshay, the judge of our county
court. _ _

Mr. Councillor SAMUEL HOLME, in moving that
the council adopt the prayer of the memorial, and
become the prosecutors in the inquiry, commenced
his observation' by remarking that the circumstances
under which the memorial had been presented were
entirely without precedent. Happily for this country
there was no precedent—at least it was 200 years
since a case at all resembling the present had hap-
pened. It was one of the blessings which vie enjoyed
that the laws in this country were administered with
rectitude, and with a due regard both to the Crown
and the people; the balance of justice was so evenly
maintained that all cavilling at our judicial tribunals
was rendered mute. They all knew that in their
courts of law prejudice on the part of the judges
was not allowed to prevail, that their temper or per-
sonal wishes were not allowed to sway their judg-
ment, and in the full confidence of their wisdom and
integrity of purpose, the people of this country com-
mitted with perfect safety to their judicial tribunals
the rights, the privileges, the property, nay, the lives
of all those who resorted to them for justice and pro-
tection. Every man in the country had, conse-
quently, an interest in upholding the dignity of
their judicial pibunals, and it was therefore with
great sorrow and pain he saw that in this town a gen-
tleman should (he believed for the first time in the
history of the country) have so conducted the busi-
ness of the County Court of Liverpool as to have
aroused the entire community.—(Hear.) Under
the present extraordinary and unparalleled circum-
stances in which the town was placed, the bur-
gesses had exercised their undoubted right of memo-
rialising the council to take a part in the inquiry
which was about to be held. It was on public
grounds that he (Mr. Holme) supported the prayer
of the memorial which had been read. He never saw
Mr. Ramshay until a recent occasion, which he had
already named at a former meeting of the council.
He bad scarcely ever heard of him until the recent
proceedings before the Earl of Carlisle, and
therefore it could not be said of him that he
had any private feelings to gratify in the course
which he was taking. It had been said that the pro-
ceedings going on against Mr. Ramshay were simply
the result of tt popular cry, but he believed that the
council would do him the justice to say that such an
observation could not be applicable to him. This
question was one vitally affecting the public of this
community; and it was because he believed it to be
his duty to urge upon the council to act upon this
memorial, that he thus ventured to bring the question
prominently before them. After referring at consi-
derable length to the circumstances in connexion with
Mr. Remshay'e proceedings, which are already so
familiar to the public, the speaker went on to contend
that the council was the proper party to conduct the
inquiry on the part of the town. The council was the
representative of the burgesses, who were the ag-
grieved parties.—(Hear, hear.) If houses became
a nuisance to the community, it was the business
of the council to remove them. It was the busi-
ness of the council to provide courts of law, and in
many instances to pay the salaries, all being for
the benefit of the community ; and by a parity of
reasoning, he maintained that that council was
the legitimate channel through which these pro-
ceedings ought to be conducted. It might be
e
said that the council had nothing to do with
it. Then, he would ask, who had to do with
individualsrow o upo n ttoh,,havem . hee
?—(Hear,ntir h e eoanru.;
He thought not. Itgl m • tbe said that to vote any
portion of the corporatieiuud
.towards conducting
the inquiry would be a maladministration of those
funds; but he thought that m was an idle argument,
because, if they were so
disposed, they might even
double the allowance of their chief magistrate. They
could vote money to welcome a stranger, and thou-
sands to do honour to their Queen, and therefore he
thought it was a fallacy to say that they had not the
I power to devote any portion of their funds in ()vier