The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-06 00:00:00

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• _.P110.16 ./..

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 6, 1844.

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.
On Thurslay a Court was held for the dispatch of
public business.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE.

Upon the motion of Mr. R. L. JONES for sealing a
bond for 5001. to the Bank of England, in further
part of the loan of 70,0001., a desultory conversation
:rose with relation to the conference between the
Government and a deputation from the Royal Ex-
change and Gresham Trusts Committee, upon the
sub:{ct or adding to the spire at the eastern end of
the new edifice.

• Mr. HaamsoN asked whether it was the purpose
of the Committee to aband..ll the idea of widening
the spaCe, or to act upon the views of Alderman
Humphery and others, in making further attempts to
interfere with the property in that ♦icinity? To the
latter project Mr. Harrison had candidly admitted,
from the commencement of the recent proceedings
respecting the approaches to the building, that he was
opposed from interested motives, but these motives
were certainly combined with the persuasion that the
public would not be benefited by extending the
eastern area of the Royal Exchange. He took occa-
sion, also, to state that there had been some slight
departure from the original plan of the building it-
self, for which he should wish to know the reason.
and he suggested the propriety of endeavouring to
effect a great public convenience by opening a com-
munication between Cornhill and Broad-street. •

Mr. It. L. JONES stated that the departure from
the plan merely regarded the steps and one of the
columns of the building, and was caused by the de-
sire to increase the public oonvenience, and certainly
added to the beauty of the structure. With respect
to the other question, it was known that negotiations
were still going on upon that subject.
Mr. Sheriff MOON condemned the interference
with the property at the ei;stern end of the Royal
Exchange, and said that the Committee had presumed
to communicate with the Commissioners for Metro-
politan Improvement without the sanction of the Cor-
poration.
Mr. R. L. JONES denied that the Committee had
in any part of their proceedings committed or coin-
promised the Corporation, or that they had at all ex
ceeded the powers given to them by the Court.
There was a misunderstanding between Mr. Sheriff
Moon and Mr. It. L. Jones with regard to the part
taken by the latter in respect of the Conference; but
it was speedily removed by the interposition of the
Lord Mayor.
Mr. LAWRENCE assigned, as a cause for the unim-
portant deviation from the original plan, that before
the Act had passed for taking do•rn•n the buildings
the Exchange itself had been built above the pave-
ment. He defended the whole of the conduct of the
Committee.

Mr. PEWTRESS declared that the public feeling had
been strongly expressed in favour of opening the
eastern end or the building. The Committee sounded
the Government upon the subject, and stated that the
Corporation had no funds to appropriate to the accom-
plishment of an improvement so deirable That was
the whole extent of the course pursued by the depu •
tation, and nothing could have been more fair and
honourably.

Mr. JONES deelired that it was a high gratification
to state that he had not heard a single complaint
uttered against those who had conferred with the Go-
vernment, except by interested parties.

The seal was-then set to the bond.
THE LONDON ALMSHOUSES.

Mr. KING, in expressing a wish for the early pro-
duction of a report relative to the London Almshouses,
took the opportunity to state that these places of re-
fuge had been built at an expense of 4,0001., 1,500 of
which had been contributed by the Coroporatian of
London. The finances of the institution were most
deplorably low. In fact, the establishment must fall
if the Court of Common Council did not take it under
control and support.
Mr. BOWER (the Chairman of the Coal, Corn, and
Finance Committee) said that the only person who
was opposed to such interposition as had been sug •
gested, was one of the trustees, a member of that
Court. Nothing could he done for the advantage of
the institution without the consent of that trustee,
and he hoped that the gentleman might soon be
induced to give up an opposition calculated to do so
much injury.
Mr. KING trusted that for the honour of humanity
a change might take place in the opinions and views
of the trustee alluded to.

RENEWAL Or THE COAL ACT.

Mr. BOWER brought up the report recommending
an application to Parliament for the renewal of the
Coal Act.

CITY POLICE. I who, not having realised their expectations of irn-
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE i proved fortune, I restored, having parted with them
CITY POLICE FORCE FOR THE YEAR 1843, in the hope that they would better their conditions.
(Delivered to the Court of Common Council Feb. 15, I, "As the cost of the City police, especially when
1844 ) contrasted with similar appointment=, is also made

Mr. BURN wished to know whether it was the in-
tention to apply septennially for the renewal of the
Act, or to endeavour to obtain a permanent Act. The
public ought to know, after so long an experiment,
-4hether the wild of coals by weight or by measure
was the preferable mode. . _ _

Mr. BOWER said it was the intention of the Com-
mittee to apply for a permanent measure, as the pre-
sent system was decidedly the more eligible.
The report was agreed to.
Mr. STEVENS brought up the report on the ex-
penses of public prosecutions at the Central Criminal
Court. It stated that, since the subject was under
consideration,. arrangements had been effected to ac-
complish the object desired, by a reduction in the
allowances heretofore made to counsel and witnesses,
as far as the existing state of the law would admit, by
which means it was confidently expected that the
annual expenses of prosecutions at the Central Crimi-
nal Court would be much less than they had hithert(
been.

Read, and ordered to be printed in the Minutes of
Proceedings, sent to every Member of the Court, and
the same is as follows :

"26, Old Jewry, Jan. 24, 1344. j
" My Lord Mayor,—l have the honour herewith
to inclose, for the information of yourself and the
Court of Common Council, the statistical returns of
the City Police Force for the year 1843, with a con- 1
trasted representation of the preceding year.
" As the present appears an appropriate occasion so
to do, I beg to invite your Lordship's attention, not
only to the results which these returns afford, but
else to some suggestions, the groa th of experience
and oleervation, which I venture to think, with the
sanction of the Corporation, may render the City
Police still further contributory to the health and
comfort, as well as.the security, of the persons and
their property confided to our care.
"I am the more anxious to engage your Lordship's
attention to these returns, as the most exaggerated
statements have gone forth of the number and mag-
nitude of the robberies committed within the City
during the past year. When we consider the vastness
and variety of the property which is placed in our ob-
sure warehouses and exposed in our public shops,—
the tens of thousands of persons, many of them
strangers, who deify traverse our streets, the careless-
ness of some, the vicieus indiscretion of others ; when
we consider how many hundreds of persons of both
sexes repair hither daily and nightly, expressly, and
with the utmost practised dexterity, to seize what is
unguarded, and to trepan the unwary ; when we look
at the increasing evidence which these returns afford
of deserted houses crowded with portable and costly
property, to which may be added the censurable care-
lessness with which persons are taken into confi-
dence, respecting whom little or no inquiry is made ;
I own it does amtear to me a matter of surprise as well
as of congratulation; that the total amount of property
actually lost during the past year, the value of which
is always appreised by the losers, for the most part
under the influence of excitement and alarm, is less
then 201. a day! Of the 1,229 robbe. ies of all descrip-
tions which occurred in the City during the • year
1843, it will appFar not one amounted to 3001. in
value, only six exceeded 1001.- ;-607 not exceeding
51., and 4.26 under .ss. Of these petty robberies it
may be correctly remarked that the far greater num-
ber occur among persons and in neighbourhoods in
which small properties change possession with very
slight regard to rightful claims, and at hours and
under circumstances little calculated .to awaken the
sympathy of the fiiends of morality and order.
"The number of persons brought to the station-
houses upon charges and under circumstances too im-
material to .call for mag'sterial interference is very
great, and largely upon the increase; which I think
in a considerable degree may be attributed to the in-
ducements held out to the idle and dissipated, who
flock from the remotest parts of the country to
London, under the impression that food and lodging
are easily and gratuitously to be obtained.
" That many persons so coming are objects of
merited commisseration, and entitled to less pre-
carious regard, is obvious to all who have attended to '
their cases ; and I am induced to think that the
places now open for the relief of the houseless and
indigent are at once too lax and indiscriminate to-
wards imposition, and too transitory and indifferent to
the claims and circumstances of unobtrusive and patient
suffering. Let not even the semblance of want be
overlooked, once, twice, or even thrice, but there ia
something obviously vicious in the system, and ex-
tremely hazardous to tho security of persons and pro-
perty, which inundates our streets every morning
with hundreds of persons who prowl about in every
form of affected distress, seeking and seizing whatever
may come in their way.
" Crime ought not to be countenanced, nor suffer-
ing so slurred over. Arrangements are required to
test the pretensions of applicants and for their legiti-
mate disposal.
" About two' years since I attended a Board of
Guardians at the Western Union of the City, and
with a view to this subject suggested that every
person who applied for relief a second time should be
detained and employed fora period sufficiently long
to ascertain the truth of his narrative ; and that in-
stead of passing persons to a great distance at a se-
rious cost, suitable places in the vicinity of the metro-
polis should be provided for their reception and occu-
pation at the charge of, and enforceable against the
parishes to which they belong, and when no local set-
tlement can be traced, which is the case in
many instances, the total expense of main-
taining such persons should be paid rateably
by all the parishes in England and Wales upon a
return to be made to Parliament for that purpose.
The principle of this rule might be advantageously
applied to Ireland. Unless something of this sort be
attempted, London, and especially the City, will be-
come the universal emporium of misery. and of
wretchedness, as well as of merchandise andof wealth.

the subject of animadversion, it is desirable that the
pablic, and especially the rate-payers, should he dis-
abused in this respect. The total cost of the City

pike (including some serious items, which it is
hardly lair to place to our annual Expenditure) is
41,351/., which, including Commissioner, officers and
men (543 in all), is 761. per head; while the cost of
the Marylebone police (181 men) exceeds 1121. per
head. If the force of the City police were restricted
to the number orig:nally proposed (300) when the
amalgamation of forces was under consideration, the
total cost would be many th,usands per annum less
than at present, so that in fact we have nearly double
the strength at a far less average charge than what is
imposed upon the important district of the metropolis
just named.
These, my Lord, are only a few of the useful re-
sults which examination affords, and I do hope that
the notice reeently given, but since withdrawn, by the
Chairman of the Police Committee, to inquire into
the duties and responsibilities of my office, will be re-
newed; for inquiry is alike due to the public, the ser-
vice, and myself.
" I have tile honour to
." My Lord Mayor,
" You: most obe,lient servant,
" DAN. W. HARVEY.
" The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor."
[Here tbllow some statistical returns referred to in
the report, and confirming the statements of the Com-
missioner of P.dice.]

THE ANTI-STATE CHURCH ASSO-

" I am quite satisfied a plan might be devised by
which the maintenance of the poor would be less
costly to the rate-payer and less harassing and un-
kind towards the objects of relief, and in no place
could the experiment be bo appropriately made as in
the City of London. The present system is bad, and
is becoming alarmingy worse.
" Two very material subjects have recently been
brought under my notice by the desire of your Lord-
ship, which had previously engaged my attention : I
allude to what is appropriately termed the .` Omnibus
Nuisance,' and the state of our streets and thorough-
fares. Very shortly after my appointment to the
office of Commissioner, I established a line of men
from Temple-bar to Aldgate, for the especial purpose
of putting down the nuisance complained of; and
for a time the plan worked so admirably that acknow-
ledgments of its efficiency flowed into the chief office
from every quarter, and in a little time the evil would
have been abated.

EXPENSES OF PASSING SCOTCH AND IRISH PAUPERS

CIATION.
(From the Morning Herald.)
The Anti-State Church Association, like a log

cast into a stream amid driftwood, is rapidly attach:.

ing to itself the restless and whirling spirits of the
age. Dr. Cox s:ts astride upon it in all the majesty
of patron and founder, both steering the craft, trim-
ming the sails, and studying the chat laid down by
the anti-church-rate and other defunct institutions. In

the approaching conference, which has been long
threatened, and in comparison of which all previous
meetings have been but preliminary flouri,.hes of
trumpets, each " representative," we are told, is to
have a ticket of admission, and an outline of the
weighty business which " the executive committee"
arc to submit to the conference; one only test is de-
manded—what do our readers opine is this august
" open sesame" to so august a brotherhood ? It is none
of those old fashioned and obsolete tests embodied in
articles, creeds, and confessions : these are unworthy
of such a measure and such a man. Is it immersion,
as might be surmised ? No, it is this :
" The only limit imposed by the Committee in the
exercise • of that discretion intrusted to them, is the de-
termination, that each representative shall, on taking
his seat, give his assent to a distinct declaration of his
conviction, that the union of the Church with the State
is derogatory to the kingly character of Jesus Christ,
contrary to the principles of the New Testament, and
injurious to the interests of religion ; that it is, there-
fore, his bounden duty to employ every legitimate means
ler promoting the separation of the Church from the
State."

Mr. STEVENS brought up the report of the Com-
mittee to consider the return laid before the Court, of
the amount of orders on the Chamberlain for the re-
moval of Scotch and Irish paupers, paid in each
quarter since the first establishment of the poor-law
union. It represented that, since the month of Oc-
tober, the number of Scotch and Irish
paupers were
materially reduced, and a decrease of about 1201. per
month had taken place in the expenses of passing then
to their homes or parishes, which was mainly attri•
hutable to the general revival of trade in the manu-
facturing districts, and to the improved regu
lations adopted by the Court of Aldermen in
appointing a weekly rota of magi-strates to investi-
gate the several cases of pauperism previously to thE
making of orders for removal, and it was considered
that the reduction in the expenses of passing vagrants
was likely to be permanent.—(Hear, hear.) 2:lr.
Stevens, in presenting the report, said it was the
opinion of Mr. Gill, the City of London pass-master,
whose duties necessarily engaged him in a frequent
intercourse with the poor of both countries, that the
Scotch and Irish paupers exhibited the most sincere
readiness to return to their work in the several dis •
tricts which distress had obliged them to abandon.
The report was ordered to be printed.
Mr. ASHURST _brought up a report, recommending
the increase of the salary of Mr. Bullock, the Cor_ ..
missioner of the Central Criminal Court and the judge
of the Sheriffs' Court.—Ordered to be printed.

Each dissenting congregation, we are also told, is
to choose representatives to the grand conference—
one of the representatives being, we presume, from
the lists already published—the " minister." He
may complain at the meetings of tithes and church-
rates in strains of immortal eloquence—he may
complain of the union between Church and State,
under any symbols, however recherchees—he may
inveigh against lawn sleeves and silk cassocks—he
may thunder against prelates in Parliament, or
against chaplains in workhouses; but if he utter a
syllable against lord-deacons looking daggers from
the pew at the pulpit, or against the semi-starvation
allowance of•the voluntary system, or against any
other grievance within the walls of the chapel, he may
expect either to be turned out instanter, or to be
starved out in six months. This will keep the depu-
ties as quiet as mice on some matters, and make them
as garrulous as Dr. Cox on others. Dave these
Anti-State Church agitators, however, no
abuses to rectify at home—no corrup-
tions to get rid of? Are they so perfect
that they can spare time to make Quixotic
attacks on windmills, with which they have nothing
to du ? They are not united with the State. Why,
then, complain of what they have no concern with ?
If the Church of England feels oppressed she can say
so, and should she call in the aid of such doughty
champions as he of Hackney, it will then be time fur
the Doctor to harness himself for the battle. But, on
second thouglat, it is very kind on the side of Dis-
senters to become voluntary curates for the Church
of England, and shed gratuitous tears for her, and
cry aloud on her behalf, and do their part so well
that an indifferent spectator would suppose the
Church must be " Free" and the Dissenters in
" Erastian " bondage.
The American deputation of the Scotch seceders,
having spouted violent voluntaryism in Philadelphian
meetings and pulpits, have been summoned to join
this great movement; but the Witness, very wary as
long as an Episcopal penny is likely to be turned,
and trimming its goods to the market, thus replies
across the Tweed to Dr. Cox and his enthusiastic
compeers
Would it be safe, would it be expedient, would it be
' catholic (Phil. in. 15, 16) to adopt any course which
would necessarily exclude from this union so many mi-
nisters and professing followers of Christ ? We do not
call on our friends to assert Establishment principles—
why should they call on us virtually to assert the Volun-
tary ? Besides, the Free Church is not the only body
in the empire which holds the Establishment principle
beyond the pale of the Establishments. Nearly a mil-
lion of Irish Presbyterians are like-minded with us on
the subject. The myriads of Wesleyans are the same ;
and in the kindest terms, therefore, we would ask again,
isit wise, is it expedient, is it catholic, to adopt a basis
for any public movement which must exclude all these
denominations, as well as the sound and catholic
members and ministers of the Established Church in
England ?"

" But I regret to say that the manoeuvres and
combinations of the masters and their men, who felt
the pressure of the plan, were regarded with so much
favour in quarters whence steady co-operation was
to be expected, and our zeal and toil were met with
so much coolness, approaching, indeed, in some in-
stances to censure, that the impunity of offenders
trampled over all our efforts, and the plan was aban-
doned. Under your Lordship's sanction we are par-
tially reviving the former system, which is greatly
aided by the more frequent adjudication of the cases,
and it would still further promote the object, if the
cases were disposed of day by day as they arise. Ac-
cumulated charges disposed of at intervals, give rise
to singular stratagems which defeat the ends of jus-
tice, and divert the constables from their ordinary
duties.
"The importance of the other subject, the state of
our streets, it is scarcely possible to overrate, and I feel
assured it will be gratifying to your Lordship to hear
that it is at the present time engaging the attention
of a 'Board of Health ' now sitting at Gwyd r
House. I have recently received and answered a
series of questions bearing upon this measure from
this Board, to which I subjoined an additional ques-
tion sent to the inspectors of the City Police, which,
with their unanimous reply, I transmitted to Gwydyr-
house.
"The questions transmitted to this office were
eight in number, all having relation to the public
health and comfort, which were variously answered
by our officers ; but the ninth question which I added,
Do you consider the thoroughfares would be more
free from nuisances if the streets were under the in-
spection of the police ?' was at once and by all an-
swered, Yes, most decidedly.' When I returned to
the Board of Health the answers to the inquiries I
had been requested to make, I observed, You will
perceive I have added a question (9th) which,
with the answer, will be found to bear materially
upon the objects of your inquiry. The state of our
streets generally, and especially the narrow and more
confined streets, alleys,
and courts, is very unsatis-
factory, and calls for daily supervision, which none
could so efficiently give as the police. That it would
cast serious additional duties upon the police estab-
lishment is obvious, bu,t. this ought to be no' con-
sideration when the public health is concerned, and
when great saving in the e financial expenditure of the
City might be effected. "
Should your Lordship and the Corporation en-
tertain the suggestion of placing the supervision
of the public streets under the police, I should
earnestly stipulate for undivided responsibility.
Many of the great inconveniences and nui-
sances which are to be found in the high-
ways and byeways of the City, arise from the ab-
sence of this control. We
i have surveyors of pave-
ments and street-keepers n abundance, and plenty
of occupation for them but their duties are wide-,
fined, and their responsibility too general, to be effec-
tual. Though I am fully aware of the great accession
of toil and trouble it would cast upon this office, yet
if placed here, and suitable encouragement given, I
will engage to give the citizens far greater satisfac-
tion, at considerable lese cost, than does, or can arise,
from the present system.
"I beg to invite your Lordship's attention to the
return also herewith sent, setting forth the number
of officers and constables who have joined and left
the City Police Force between the Ist of January,
1840, and the 31st of December, 1843, as it serves
to silence the insinuations of that portion of the
weekly press which finds its profit in malignant mis-
representations. It has been asserted that nearly the
whole force Ira 3 been changed by dismissals, and re-
cruited by their restoration, whereas it will appear,
that of 1,068 men, not a few of whom I found in the
service, not placed there exactly for their qualifica-
tions, only 176 have been dismissed, while 272,
nearly all of whom -have- been appointed by. me, -re-
tired expressly to assume superior situations ; while
during four years only 33 men have been re-ad-
mitted, not one of whom had been dismissed, but

The Dissenters have been milked dry. Mr. Noel
has given them an introduction to his brethren, and
the Church of England must first be pumped before
they break loose on her. The Patriot, the organ of
the Anti-State Church Association, far less meta-
physical and much more honest, replies to the Witness
in these words :

" One word, before we conclude, as to the declara-
tion' which is made the condition of a seat in the Con-
ference. It is alleged by some of our friends that this
barrier excludes them. We cannot see why or how it
should, if they have any real desire to be included. Is
it not their conviction, that the union of the Church with
the State is derogatory to the kingly character of Jesus

TIIE FREEDOM OF THE CITY TO LORD DUDLEY
STUART.

Christ, contrary to the- principles of the New Testament,
and injurious to the interests of religion? No doubt it
is; then wherefore hesitate to make the declaration?
And if such is their conviction as to the awful
nature and extent of the evil, does it not immediately
become their bounden duty to employ every legiti-
mate means for promoting the separation of the two
things whose unnatural and unscriptural conjunction is,
in their minds, fraught with consequences so fearful to
contemplate ? To this question, also, we cannot but
anticipate one loud and unanimous affirmative. What
then ? Is it the conference they stumble at ? Why
should they ? What reason, that will bear looking at
for one moment, can they assign for objecting to
it ? Of whom will it be composed ? Of whom,
but of persons like-minded with themselves ? Every
man in that assembly will be there because, and only
because, he deems the union of Church and State
the same flagrant evil and wrong that they deem it, and
feels it to be his bounden duty to employ all legitimate
means for its removal, as they feel it to be theirs. Do
they really object to confer with such persons on such a
theme ? Incredible ! Impossible ! Either they do not
see the evil to be so great as others see it, or they do
not feel it to be their duty to assist in its abatement and
removal; fur, if they did, they could not hesitate to con-
fer with those, and none but those, who do."
We thoroughly agree with the views of the Patriot
as to the very low landmark between honest and bit-
ter voluntaryism, and voluntaryism professing to re-
tain the principle of an Establishment only to be
quoted when Mr. Noel and other stray ministers of
the English Establishment are to be inveigled. A
private letter from America, inserted in the Patriot,
will show the Patriot and the extreme voluntaries that
a very little patience is all that is necessary in order
to secure the entire co-operation, if not incorporation,
of the Scotch seceders. This letter will also set Mr.
Noel right as to his very ridiculous assertion at the
free secession gathering in Exeter-hall, " that Dr.
Chalmers holds now at Morningside, near Edinburgh,
the very same sentiments he advocated in the Hano-
ver-rooms?' The letter from America states—
" The deputation from the Free Church of Scotland
have opened their commission in some of our cities, and
have obtained a fair supply of pecuniary aid—which I
suppose will be increased. You will not be surprised
that they have avowed themselves to be inflexible Vo-
luntaries, and have promised, on behalf of their associa-
tes, to renounce the unholy alliance with the dragon's
beast' for ever. Had they not discarded the foolery
which Dr. Chalmers promulged in London a few years
ago, they would have found the truth of our cardinal
doctrine in this country, that the union of the Church
and State is the great Bohun upas in the religious
world, which is an incurably pestiferous source of
danger, disease, and death, to all who breathe its un-
hallowed atmosphere, unless they take plentifully of the
Gospel antidote. I cannot be certain that some of the
Free Churchmen would have said amen to all that Drs.
Brurns and Cunningham have advanced; however, we
believe their doctrines, and give them the dollars to sus-
tain their earnest contention ' for the faith which once
was delivered to the saints.'"
As we stated before, we lament the existence of
this Association, on account of our desire to have no
quarrel with every faithful missionary of the
_Gospel, however defective the _ ecclesiastical polity to
which ho belongs. We rejoice, however, that
the more respectable dissenting Ministers refuse to
identify themselves with this mischievous crusade.

Mr. PEACOCK gave notice of a motion for the next
Court-day, " That the eminent and unwearied ser-
vices of Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart, in the cause of
public charity for the relief of distressed foreigners,
as well as that of the British people, entitled him to
the marked approbation and esteem of the Court, and
that the freedom of the City be presented to his Lord-
ship, to evince the sense which they entertain of such
services, and the proud example which he displays of
true English nobility."