The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-24 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

Yesterday a Court was held for the dispatch of a great
deal of public business.
CONTINUATION OF NEW FARRINGDON•STREET.
Mr. R. L. JONES, the Chairman of the London-bridge
Approaches Committee, brought up a report "For sealing
a bond to the Chamberlain for the advance of 25,0001. by
the Bank, being the amount authorised by Act sth and
6th of her present Majesty, and paid to the Commis-
sioners for continuing the street from New Farringdon-
streee to Clerkenwell-green." It stated that the Remem-
brancer having received a communication from the Soli-
citors, of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, stat-
ing that the Lords of the Treasury had given their con-
sent that the sum of 25,0001. should be raised by the
Court. to be paid to the Commissioners appointed by the
3d and 4th Vic., c. 112, for opening a street to Clerken-
well-green, to be applied by them towards the expense of
making and completing the said street, the Committee
proceeded to ascertain upon what terms the Governor
and Company of the Bank of England were willing to
advance that sum ; that they had agreed to ad-
vance it at the rate of 31 10s. per cent. per
annum, which rate of interest had been approved by the
Commissioners of the Treasury, and their Lordships
had issued a warrant directed to the Court, authorising
the Court to raise that sum, and directing that it should
be paid to the Commissioners. That the sum of 25,0001.
and interest were to be charged upon the improvement
fund next in priority to the sum of 40,000/. raised by
the Court, and charged upon the said fund for the pur-
chase of the block of buildings between the Bank of
England and Cornhill; they had much sutisfaction in
anticipating the speedy conclusion of that important
improvement of making a spacious avenue from Black-
friar's-bridge to Clerkenwell-green, which the Court had
commenced, and carried into effect so far as the juris-
diction of the City of London extended ; and that the
Committee had given directions to the Comptrollers to
prepare a bond for the sum of 25,000/. for these pur-
poses, and recommended that the City seal should be
affixed thereto.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.")
The report was unanimously agreed to, and the bond
was accordingly sealed.
THE LAND-TAX.
The report on the reference relative to petitioning
Parliament in respect of the land-tax, was brought up.
It stated that the Committee considered it inexpedient
to ketition Parliament on the subject at the present time.
Several of the members opposed the report, and re-
commended that Parliament should be forthwith applied
to on the subject ; but ultimately the report was
agreed to.
THE VAGRANT POOR OF THE METROPOLIS.
The discussion upon the motion of Deputy Corney,
" That it be referred to the Parliamentary Committee
to consider the propriety of petitioning Parliament for
an Act to better the moral and physical condition of the
vagrant population of this metropolis, and report their
opinion forthwith to the Court," was resumed. The
following is an abstract of the whole discussion :
Deputy CORNEY said it was unnecessary for him to
tell the members of the Court, that the street beggars
formed a most intolerable nuisance in the streets of the
metropolis. In the City, the difficulty felt by the au •
thorities was, in what manner to relieve one locality
without burdening another. The existing law provided
no remedy nor mitigation of the evil, and the ward of
Broad-street, to which he belonged, unfortunately sup -
plied him with a very painful experience upon the sub-
ject, as it happened to be infested more than any other
quarter of the City by those who traded in mendacity.
The City Magistrates in adjudicating on the cases
brought before them, generally punished the offence
with fourteen days' imprisonment, or discharged the
offender upon promise not to ply in his vocation within
the City. Persons brought up in habits of what might
be called the industrious idleness of begging, were not to
be removed so easily from the extensive district in
which they had all their lives found a home and support.
He had traced families regularly trained up for thirty
yeais in the art, and most diligently bringing up their
children in the same occupation, by the most inde-
fatigable manoeuvring. Habits so inveterate, and recom-
mended by parental exaMple, were not to be altered by
any process which the present poor-law provided or
senctionec.l.—(llear, hear.) He recollected that Sir
Matthew Wood had, in his anxious and commendable
desire to relieve his fellow-citizens, made an experiment,
but failed. It was to be hoped, that as a revision of the
Poor-law Bill was intended very soon to be made,
the Government would get a clause introduced to
meet the evil by which particular localities
were overwhelmed. Formerly the poor obtained relief
through the instrumentality of the monasteries which
had long since been absorbed by noble families, such as
the houses of Bedford, Cavendish, and Tavistock, with-
out producing any good, as a substitute for the charity
which was in days of old dispersed, except the getting
up of a few Liberal Members of Parliament.—(Laugh-
ter.) Now the poor crowded into the City, and exer-
cised in some instances importunities, in others threats,
to obtain that which they had never attempted to earn.
It was not his intention to presume to suggest any defi-
nite plan. He should leave that to the wisdom of Par-
liament, but he felt convinced that something could be
devised by which, as was expressed in the terms of his
motion, the moral and physical condition of the labour-
ing population would be improved. Mr. Corney con-
chidediey reading his motion.
Mr. Herm. seconded the motion, but he wished that
the Deputy who introduced it had given some outline of
a plan for accomplishing. the very desirable object be
wished to attain. He believed that in the new poor-law
there was not any provision made to throw upon the
unions generally the cases which were at present con-
fined to one.--(Hear, bear.) He believed, however,
that it was the intention of Sir James Graham to cause
the exrenses of the maintenance of the poor to fall upon
the unions generally.
Mr. KING said it was quite evident that the objects of
the mover and seconder were quite different—that of
the one being to improve the moral and physical condi-
tion of the poor; while that of the other was to divide the
expense of maintaining them, without reference to their
moral or physical condition at all.—(Laughter). He
considered it to be his duty to move the previous question,
for. he regarded the proposition of the mover as a most
monstrous one. It was, in fact, nothing at all, or worse
than nothing, and, the Corporation would certainly be
laughei at for going' to Parliament for such a purpose.
Zfr, nicuARH TAYLon supported the motion. What,
beAlikod, 'would- be more worthy of a reference to a
Committee than such a question? Was it not an
appeal .made fur 'charitable purposes, and cal-
culated to alleviate existing distress?—(Hear, hear.)
Lord Ranelagh had said that nine-tenths of the vagrants
of the metropolis did not belong to the metropolis, but
that., they came from the-rural districte.—(Hear, hear.)
They came by fifties and hundreds from the neighbour-
hoods of the estates of the Duke of Buckingham and
th 6 Duke of Richmond,' and other noblentetr, ivhe derived
benefit from the destruction of the monasteries to which
Deputy Corney. had alluded.—(Laughter.) They
poured in upon the City from ate country, and the laws
were rendered futile by elle operation of the measures
which were so strongly deprecated by the peOple. What
destroyed the efficacy of the poor-law ? The corn-law.
—(Loud cries- of " Hear, hear," and " No, no.") The
cxelusion of foreign corn deprived the people of food,
and thronged the streets of the metropolis with rural
beggars. He had read with horror' the -observations of
of a Chairman at •a- quarter sessions,• as to the incen-
diary fires Which, going OR from night to night, showed
the _miserable
_condition of the population, who, hav-
ing no other warts of emanifesting their condition,
adopted that. dreadful course. That appeared on
the charge to the grand jury. The. Times spoke of great
facts. lie called . the. prevalence of incendiary' fires a
great fact. It was horrible to think -that the people
should resort to such secret and dreadful means to show
what their real condition wase•but scr•it was--(Hear,
hear, And murmurs)—while these things were known of
the agricultural population, and while it was known that
the employment given by'the farmer to We labourer was
so precarious that the latter was discharged when the
sveathei proved inauspicious, what was to be expected ?
What was the Parliament doing at the present moment?
Why, endeavouring to plunder than of all the common
lands-by an Inclosure Bill It was pretended that com-
pensation was to be given for the loss, but compensation
given to the present poor who had only a life interest in
the benefit would leave the succeeding generation strip-
ped of all advantages.—(Hear, hear.) As well might
the members of that Court take off the money from the
Chamberlain's-office. No greater robbery could, in
fect, be committed, and it was going on ever since his
birth. (Cries of " Hear, hear, and murmurs.")
They had seen • the people getting worse and
worse, as they got rid of their commons.
The poor could, formerly, do a day's work
in procuring fuel, but now every bit of ground
was taken away, and the poor man's cow or
horse, if caught grazing on the road-side, was shut up
in pound. To expect a syste of morals from such a
Plan was monstrous. Tm
here was much talk about
education, but the more education the poor received, the
more palpable would the injustice with which they were
treated appear to them. The Christian religion never
taught
e people to put up with starvation.—(Hear.)
Lewnexce supported the amendment. He
could not understand what the mover of the resolution
meant by the moral condition of the poor; and as for
their physical condition, which was, indeed, bad enough,
the worthy Deputy had' not suggested anything like a
remedy. The guardians of the poor
were the persons
who would most properly appeal to Parliament, for they
were armod.with facts; and now that the _ Act as about
to undergo, some change, they might apply with advan-
tage, but that Court could do nothing in the matter.
Mr. JUPP said the allusion to the Inclosure Bill re-
minded him of what a lady said about a robbery which
took place in the country. "Oh dear !" said she,
" what brutes they must have been to steal away the
geeselrom- the common!" Now all he had to do to ex-
press his sentiments on the subject was, "Oh dear!
iibat brutes must they be who want to steal away the
4On'imon from the geese!"
Mr. ANDERTON said it was quite obvious to him that
if corn was ever so plentiful there would be abundance
4.fpaupers. If the beggars were taken out of the streets
baday they would be in the streets to-morrow. If
Deputy ,Corney proposed the consideration of some
sanatory regulations for the City of London, founded
upon the admirable report of Mr. Chadwick—the attene
bow of the members of the Court to which, lie most
earnestly recommended—he would most assuredly join in
Carrying out so beneficial an object.
L. JONES said the proper authority to enter
iiPon such a topic was Parliament itself. He was anxious
to see an amalgamation of the expenses of all the City
earishes, so that all would be equally benefited. It was
notorious that the poor put forth all their strength and
industry in rich• parishes, and returned exhausted to
lookin their extremity for
with people as indigent as themselves.—(Hear.)
Mr. ASICaRST declared that if he thought a proposi-
tion such as had been brought
the poor,
forward were likely, in
any manner, to benefit thpt)ou rt 1, he would support it with
notices of the kind
the greatest omptitude
; uniformly
ended
idedadw imposing always found that
. Posing some