The Sun.
London, England, 1835-05-23 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL POLICE BILL.

Lord SAND ON having moved the second reading o! this
Bill,

Mr. EWART presented two petitions from the town arid
neighbourhood of Liverpool, numerously signed, against the
said Bill. In accordance with the petitions he felt it
his duty strenuously to oppose this Bill, which, though
it was called a Police Bill, was intended for
no less a purpose than to provide for the payment of the
Clergy out of the Corporation funds.—( Hear, hear.) The
payment of the Clergy was now to a certain extent control-
able by the public, but the real object of this Bill was to take
it out of the public control.—( Hear.) He reminded the
House that when this Bill was first submitted by his Noble
Colleague, it was entitled a Police Bill, and the Hon. Mem-
ber for Wolverhampton and himself rose at once to ask
whether or not that bill contained a clause to authorize
the payment of the clergy out of the funds of the Corporation,
and it was found that such was the design of the Bill which
was so introduced under the assumed name of the Liverpool
Police Bill.—( Hear.) What was the reason that this Bill
was brought forward ? Because the promoters of it seeing
that the refusal of Church rates was becoming general,
sought by this means to seek an exception from the
general rule of all those great measures of Reform in the
Church which were about to be introduced.—(Hear, hear.)
He could not see why Liverpool should be exempted from the
benefit of those great measures by any such attempt.—(Hear,
hear.) It was an unquestionable fact that the Clergy of
Liverpool had already received immense sums out of the
Corporation funds. The House would scarcely believe, but it
was a fact, that during the last ten years there had been paid
out of the funds of the Corporation of Liverpool, for the
building and repairs of churches, no less a sum than 120,0001.
Of all this immense sum not one farthing had been given to
assist the expenses of the Independent or Roman Catholic
places of worship, and he would ask the House whether it
would add to this enormous expenditure by passing this bill ?
—( Hear, hear.) He saw no reason why one religious sect
should set up a claim in this way more than another, and
he thought himself completely justified in opposing tile.
Bill, which was to place the Clergy upon the
funds of the Corporation, and not to establish a police.—
( Hear.) If either object were to be attempted, let them be,
kept distinct from each other. But, allowing that the title of
the Bill correctly described its purpose, he denied that it went
to make any provision for the establishment of a police, for
there was a- police already established, and the mo-
ment an addition was required it would be necessary
to bring in a Bill for that purpose.—( Hear, hear.)
Another objection he had to this bill was, that if it passed
through the House as a Police Bis, it would require a consi
derable sum of money from the Corporation of Liverpool to
carry its provisions into effect. It so happened, and it would be
in the recollection of the Member for Middlesex (Mr. Hume)
and of the Hon. and Learned Member for the Tower Ham-
lets ( Dr. Lushington) that they introduced a Bill last year
enabling local communities to provide for themselves, and cri.'
their own option, establishments of local police. If the abet-
tors of this bill had thought proper, they might have adopted.
the provisions of that bill, and therefore, unless some sinister
object was in contemplation, the proposal of this bill for esta-
blishing a new police was totally unnecessary. What, he begged
to ask, was the real object of this bill ? He hesitated not to say
that it was introduced for the purpose of anticipating—if not
of defeating--the provisions of the Municipal Reform Bill, and
in order to exempt the Corporation from the influence of po-
pular control. He therefore held that it was the duty of the
House to resist this insidious Bill, which he was confident was
framed with no other view than to benefit the Clergy, and to
enable the Corporation to appropriate a portion of the public
funds to their support, and which, he hoped, was not attempted
to be forced upon the people by the aid of the funds of the Con-
servative Club.—( Hear.) It was for that object he (Mr. Ewart )
was induced to think that his Noble Friend opposite (Lord
Sandon) had brought in this Bill. He had no difficulty its
asserting that the Bill was introduced for the purpose of throw -
ing a veil over the system of corporate jobbing, that has so
long prevailed in the town of Liverpool. Against the influ-
ence of that Corporation—against the talents of his Noble
Fiend opposite—against the Conservatism of that House, the
people of Liverpool had entrusted him with the management of
carrying on the opposition to this Bill. He hoped, therefore,
that the House would not permit a Bill of this description to
pass ; and he therefore moved that the Bill be read a second
time that day six months.
Lord SAND ON rose and made some observations in rep).-
to his colleague which excited some laughter, but the purport
of what he said was not heard in the gallery. He proceeded
to say that he believed in his conscience, apart from all parte
considerations, that the Bill was necessary for the welfare of the
people of the town of Liverpool. lle would be obliged to
trouble the House with some details, however disagreeable they
might be to Hon. Members, but it was necessary, for Hon..
Members could not judge of the merits of the Bill without
being informed of its details. Last year, when the Admi-
nistration of Earl Grey was in power, a measure was introduce 4
to abolish Church• rates, and it, therefore, became apparent to
the people of Liverpool, that for such of their Clergy as were
paid out of the Church-rates, some other measure was necessary
to be introduced for their maintenance. With that viem
a deputation came to London, and had an interview with the
then Chancellor of the Exchequer (Lord Althorp), and his
(Lord S.'s) Noble Friend the present Secretary of State for
the Home Department (Lord John Russell), for the purpose
of consulting how the clergy of Liverpool should be provided
for, and they agreed at once that a measure of this kind wasnecessary.
When Liverpool from a hamlet became a village,
the clergy commuted their rights for an annual stipend of I 00/1
and a house and garden ; subsequently they gave up the house
and garden for another 1001. Thus the sum devoted to the sup-
port of the two rectors was only 400/. a year. In process of thee
that sum was found insufficient, and then it became necessary
to vote them a sum annually at the public vestry. The con-
sequence was that 1,500/. was voted for the support of, and
distributed between two Rectors and four Curates. The duties
these gentlemen were called upon to perform were very ardu-
ous—they had two churches to attend to, were obliged to
preach four sermons every Sunday, and in addition, discharge
the arduous parochial duties that a parish containing 70,000
inhabitants devolved upon them. So convinced were the
Noble Lords ( Althorp and Russell) of the necessity of some
measure to remedy this inconvenience, that they actually,
concurred in some of the provisions contained in this Bill.
In consequence of the public opposition made to this measure
it was not persevered in, and the consequence was that on va-
rious occasions, applications had been made to the Corporation,
to concur in some arrangement. How his friend and colleague
could say that the present Bill was brought forward in a clan-
destine manner, after it had been submitted to a full vestry, ho
could not understand.