The Sun.
London, England, 1821-12-07 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL

Yesterday a Court of Corr,mon Council was
held for the dispatch of general business. The
'Loan MAYOR took the Chair at 12 o'clock. Af-
ter the minutes of the proceedings of the last
Court were gone through,
The LORD MAYOR informed the Court that the
Address to his Majesty on • his return to Eng-
land, agreed to at a former Court, had been pre-
sented in due form, and that a most gracious an-
swer had been given to the same. .A. copy of
that answer he now handed to the officer of the
Court. This document was read ; and on the
motion of Mr. Oldham, it was unanimously
uareed that his Majesty's most • gracious Answer
be entered on the records of the Court.

STATUE TO HIS PRESENT MAJESTY.
Mr. S. DixoN said, that as he understood it
was usual that a statue of the reigning Monarch
should be.placed in the civic hall, he should, on
some future occasion, call the atteution of.. the
Court to the subject.
Mr. OLDHAM observed, that it was not custo-
mary to erect a statue of the reigning Monarch in
the civic hall, until he had dined there with the
Corporation. As soon as his Majesty ihould
confer that honour upon the city, he (Mr. Oid-
ham) would be most ready to propose the erec-
tion of such a statue.—(The conversation then
dropped.)
THE CITY MARSHAL. •
Mr. Alderman BROWNE, after mentioning the
lamentable accident that had befallen the City
Marshal on a recent occasion when they wept to
prvsent the Address to the Throne, proceeded to
state, that other circumstances hail since taken
place, which he almost lamented as much—he
meant the disgraceful canvass which had been
commenced for his place. He knew that such an
'example had • been set before, but he must say,
that those with whom that example originated
could not be too severely reprehended.—(Hear,
hear'.)--He had himself seen the officer in ques-
tion last night, sitting up much more comfort-
ably than could have been expected, considering
the shOrt time that had elapsed since the accident
had occurred ; and he was happy to inform those
who had been carping for his place, that he had
little doubt, from ‘vhat had fallen from his medi-
cal attendants, that he would shortly be able to re-
sume the office which he had discharged with so
much honour to himself, and so much advantage
to the city.—(Hear!)—He was also requested by
that officer to say to the'Conrt, that he had sen-
sibly felt the attention which it had paid to him,
and the sympathy which it had sheen fur his
sufferings, and that he trusted they would extend
their, indulgence to him until he should be able
to resume the functions of Ms office.
Mr. 1-1 lot Corrutiorated this statement, and
here the subject dropped.
CRIMINAL LAW.
Mr.•Favcr.r. gave notice, that his worthy friend
(Mr. Oldham) would, after the holidays, intro-
duce the subjeCt of the Criminal Laws 'once more
to the notice of the Court.
DISTURBANCE AT. KNIGHTSBRIDGE.
A MemnEn, whose name could not be learnt,
brought up the report from the Committee of
General Purposes, upon the subject of the dis-
turbance which took place at Knightsbridge Bar-
racks, on Sunday, the 26th of August, which he
moved should be read.--It was.accord.ingly brought
up and read as follows :
" To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and
Commons of the City of London, in Common Council as-
sembled.
" We, whose names are hereunto Subscribed,.of your Corn-
mittee for General Purposes, to whom it was referred, on the
2Gth day of- October last, to take into consideration the letters
and copies of correspondence between Mr. Alderman Wraith-
man, late one of the Sheriffsuf this City and County of Middle-
sex, and the Right lion. Earl Bathurst; uric of his Majesty's
Principal Secretaries of State, relating to the disturbance which
took place at Knightsbndge, oh Sunday the 26th day of August
last, which were laid before the Court by the said Alderman,
and to report our opinion thereon, do certify, that for the better
understanding and coming to a right and just conclusion on a
subject so Momentous, as connected with the character and dig-
nity of an officer holding a situation of such responsibility and
importance as that of Sheriff of the County of Middlesex, we
have endeavoured to obtain the fullest evidence of. the circum-
stances which teak place on that, ay, and have been attended
by a considerable number of persons WhO were present at the
transaction above alluded to, and we have, with: great pains and
anxiety, to obtain the truth of the facts as connected with the
riot and disturbance, examined such persons, and caused the
evidence to be taken in short hand,—a transcript whereof is
hereunto annexed, for the information of this honourable Court.
" That we, your Committee, are of opinion. and feel it our
duty to report, that the statement and representation made by
Mr. Alderman Waithman, in his letter to the Right Hon.
Earl Bathurst, dated the 27th day of Aut2;ust last, is in sub-
stance folly borne out by the evidence which has been produced

before us.
" That we, yoUr Committee, observe with surprise and re-
gret, that although his Majesty's Government, apprehensive of
a breach of the peace, as we conceive, between the Life Guards
and the people, from the state of irritation in which the minds
of both parties were generally known to be, yet that no efficient
meroures were taken by the Government, or the officers corn-
mar.ding the troops at kruaightsbridge, to prevent the same, by
guarding against a collision of the irritated parties.
" That NIT. Sheriff -Waithman, in our opinion, took every
wise and neePssary precaution to prevent a breach of the peace,
unaided by any means but the constitutional ones he had power
to command, and without any ass stance or support from the
Magistrates of the County of .Middlesex.
" We, your Committee, are also of opinion, that the active,
praisevorthy, humane, and fearless exertions, as well as pru-
dent foresight of the Sheriff, prevented a scene of violence amid
bloodshed, and materially tended to allay the irritation of the
parties ; and that to his firmness and temper alone it can be at-
tributed. that no further mischief ensued.
"That we, your Committee, do feel,. and are convinced by
the evidence which has been produced before us, that a violent
...and personal outrage was ccramitted Sheriff W::.ithrnan ;

and, in his person,' on the high and important station which he
filled—thus tending to insult and interrupt him in the exercise
of the Civil Autheray with which he was invested.
" We beg leave further to certify, that it appears to us that
ti..e circumstances of the said disturbance were such as to call
iin, periwz4y on his Xaj?,sty'd Government to institute a stii:i
and niir,ute inquiry into its origin, progress, and termination.
" And although the Right tiOncurable Earl Bathurst, in his
letter to fur. Alderman Waithman, dated the 23th day of
August last stated, ' that he had given directonS for an inquiry
to be ni:ide into the: circumsnces of this transaction ;' yet we,
Committee, have not been able to ascertain from any of the
person.; who have been examined bd'ore us that such an inquiry
had been carried into effect.
" AB which we submit to the judgment of this Honourable
Cour'. Dated this Grit day of December, 1821."
The GENTLEMAN who brought up the Report
now moved that it be agreed to.
Mr. CLARE thought, that before such a mea-
sure was adopted, the Court ought to be put:into
possession of the evidence upon which the report
itself was founded ; and that it should know,
first,- how it had been obtained ; and secondly,
how far it was, or was not, of art ex-parte nature.
Ifs' should therefore move, as an amendment,
that the evidence should be printed, and a copy
sent to each Member of the Court. Thus the/
would be able to judge for themselves how far
the'inferences drawn in the Report from that
evidence were borne out by the evidence itself.
Mr. GRIFFITRS was of opinion, that the mere
this transaction was examined into, the more
credit it would reflect upon their late Sheriff:—
The present matter was of such importance as' to
demand of every Englishman to come forward
and support the Worthy Alderman.
The MEMBER who introduced.the Report said,
that he had no objection to the amendment pro
posed by Mr. Clarke, and would in consequence
withdraw his original proposition.
Mr. Alderman 13ItOWNE disclaimed, in the re-
marks which he was going to offer, all personal
hostility towards their late Sheriff; but at the
same time said that he should, in the discharge cf
his duty, use all that freedom of to which
hewas entitled. He admitted most fully,that an out-
rage on one of their Sheriffs was an outrage upon the
privileges of the City of London ; but the inference
which he drew from that admission was, that if
in any instance the Sheriff disgraced himself in tile
discharge of his duty, the disgrace also fell epoa
the city. It appeared to him that the reference
made to this Committee was a garbled reference.
What had taken place at the inquest ought to be
before the Court, as well as what occurred at
the funeral ; and if he had been in Court at the
time of the appointment of the Committee, he
would have moved an amendment to that effect.
He acquitted ,their late Sheriff of all intentidnal
misconduct. He credited him fur great warmth
and sincerity of feelings, but he thought that his
feelings had carried him a little too far ; and
that, however creditable it might have been to
him as a private individual to. appear at the in-
quest-on Honey, it.. Was quite the reverse to_hior
as Sheriff of London.
Mr. HvacoatuE rose to order. The toPics
which the worthy Alderman was introducing had
nothing to do with the reception of the .RePOrt.
He trusted, therefore, that the worthy Alter-
man himself Would see the impropriety of ptess-
lag them..
Mr. Alderman WAITHMAN also begged tO'say
a word to the point of order. As an individual,
he had no objection tohave his conduct upon this
or any other point submitted. to the strictest in-
vestigation. Still he thought, that if it *ere in-
tended to go into an investigation of his conduct,
it would be snore fair to introdUce a distinci'mo-
tion to that effect. If his Lordship should' be of
.opinion that the present was a proper occasion
for discus Sing such a question, Ise, for one, had
no objection; he should only claim it as a right
, to enter," in reply, most fully into all the circusn-
stances connected with the affair.
Mr. S. DIXON observed, that at present there
was no question before the Court. lie wished to
know whether the other side had. any objection
to having the Report printed, without entering
at Present into any discussion on the evidence
The Mover of the Report said, that he had
moved that very point.
'Another MEMBER stated, that as there appear-
ed to be 800 folio pages of esidence annexed to
the Report, it was fit that time should be' given
to the Court to peruse and consider them. The
question was now put, on which,
Mr. Alderman BROVNE again addressed the
Court.'• Ile thanked the-worthy gentleman who
had interrupted him ; perhaps he might
:have
been uncandid in the remarks which he had
uttered, and have taken the Court by surprise ;
but what had induced him to act as he had done,
was•a recollection that on those very matters to
which he had alluded the late Sheriff had received
the thanks of the Court. lie also was under the
impressiOn that the member who moved the Re-
port intended to enter at that moment into the
discussion of its merits.. He concluded by giving
notice, that he should upon another occasion
move that it be • referred to the' Committee of
general Purposes to examine into the conduct
of Mr. Sheriff Waithman on the inquest onk the
body of Honey. In.doing this, he again begged
to disclaim all feelings_ of personal hostility to
that e,entiernan.
The question, that the Report be printed,
copies of it distributed, and that it be taken-into
consideration ou some future day, was then. put,
and carried.
Rourtse BUSINESS.—The same Committee
then presented a Report in relation to the Court
of Requests, when it was ordered that the said
Court should, from and after the 19th inst., be
held in •-Aldermanbury,- instead of Staining-lane,
until the further order of the- Court..—Twenty
coal-market bonds of-1001., numbered from 141
to 160, both inclusive, were ordered to be paid
off and discharged.—The Court then, adjourned.

FOR THE SUN.

OFFICIAL REDUCTIONS.

Ma. EnlToa—lt may, perhaps, be matter of
surprise with some of your readers, that since
the time your columns were first so liberally
opened to discuss the propriety of reducing the
Salaries of Public Officers, so little use has been
made of them by those who are principally con-
cerned in the question. But it must not be sup-
posed that, because little has been said through
this medium, the, Officers have little to say. The
truth is, they have a good deal to say, and also
very much to the purpose. It must be obvious,
however, to every reflecting mind, that when chal-
lenged, or invited, publicly to justify their pre-
sent demands on the public purse, they cannot
step forward with a bill of partioulars. It
only a charge of round general items they can
hold up to the public eye. To his Majesty's
Government, it is, that they must detail the
particulars of their case. Since, therefore, they
cannot lead the public through the divisions of
off►ce, and explain their various duties—the eco-
nomical improvements that have already been
made—how business is conducted, check upon
check—the great additional trouble occasioned
by this system of management, and so on : as it
is impracticable to do all this, they must be con-
tented to remain altogether silent before them,
or confine themselves to such statements as give
but a general and indistinct view of their situa-
tion. But as public clamour has done something
towards placing the Officers,in their present pre-
dicament, it seems fair that some explanation
should take place, in justice to all parties con-
cerned. For this purpose, several communica-
tions have already appeared in your Paper. I
would, with your indulgence, give a few additional
observations on the same subject.
Inquiry and Economy, two grand Inquisitors,
have been, for some time past, particularly busy
in the Public Offices, ransacking all before them.
Their grand object is to save money ; and with
this in view, they seem to be making a new va-
lction of of vial talent, labour, lime, and inie-
agritg. How important it is, in this valuation, so
formally annortnced, to carry with them a right
standard ! and how important also it is that their
first estimate should be a just one. In having
once set down the value of a few offices, it is
very likely that the ideal standard applied to
them will be either thrown away or neglected,
and that the salaries fixed for these offices will
be used as a standard by which to measure the
remainder.

It seems that, in some departments, it is de-
signed to reduce the salaries to the level of the
year 1792. I can hardly imagine there are any
offices under Government that would now be
sufficiently paid by the salaries of 1792. For,
assuming- that they were then adequate to the
times, and that on comparison it is found that the
priceof some of the maidarticleSollife are much
the same as they were O. years ago, yet it will
be found that many other expences are much
higher Man does not live by bread alone."
House-rent is higher—Taxes are heavier. The
state of society is different ; there are many
things now classed, with the nicessaries or com-
forts of life, which at that time were not with-
drawn from the catalogue of its luxuries. How
different in every rank of life is the style-of edu-
cation, of dress, of furniture, &c. &c. The offi-
cers of Government are a component part of the
British Public, and as thegeneral state of society
rises, they ought likewise to rise and preserve
their rank. Supposing, therefore, for the sake of
argument, that the officers were sufficiently paid
in 1792, the differences just enumerated are suf-
ficient of themselves to justify the salaries being
higher now than at that period. _ _

..But these are circumstances which affect him
in his private character only,—without the walls
of office Has a member of society at large. Let
us now pa'ss to the interior of oilice, and take a
passing view of things there, and see .whether
they remain the same as they were thirty years
a.,;(). Is there not a higher rate of talent and of
education employed in most departments under
Government? Is it not likely that the country
has been benefited, in many respects by this ac-
cession of ability in their servants ? Has not
their trust been heavier—their responsibility and
cares, have they not increased in proportion ?
Have not the attention to economy, the schemes
to check accounts and prevent frauds, and the
vastly augmented 'concerns of Government,
heaped upon them, time after time, considerably
more labour and.difficulty ?—lf these questions
may justly be answered in the affirmative,—and
I will-appeal to any man -Wert informed-u-pon the
subject, whether they may not be so,—why then,
(leaving entirely out of account the reasons be-
fore-mentioned affecting him in his private cha-
racter), they form an overwhelming argument
against paying the Officers of the year 1821 with
the salaries of 1792.

A PUBLIC SERVANT.
(To he continued.) •

ORIGIN OF THE Enna LINEN MANUFACTORY.
—When WENTWORTH, Earl of STRAFFORD, was
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he, at his own ex-
pence, imported and sowed a quantity of superior
flax-seed, and the crop succeeding to his expec-
tation, he next year expended 1,0001. for the
same purpose ; erected loonis, procured work-
men from France. and Flanders, and at length
was enabled to ship for Spain, at, his own risk,
the first investment of linen ever exported from
Ireland. Exulting in the success of this fa-
vourite scheme, he foretold that it would prove
the greatest means of enrichment which Ireland
had ever enjoyed ; and his sagacity is amply at-
tested by the industry and wealth which the
linep-manufactory continues to diffuse over that
portion of the empire.—(Strafford's Letters.)