The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-04-20 00:00:00

At the weekly meeting, on Thurs-
man, presided. The following
—Messrs. Shand, Moly-

neux, Robinson, Chaloner, Claxton, Barber, Lockett,
Mal- Righam, Robinson, Tobin, Bold, Rankin,
-son. A report was read from the sub-
tee of works relative to the liability of the dock
.er the levels and the sewers of the streets in
The report contained a resolution, come to by
- to the effect " That the alterations of
~eis presents. 1 by the health committee, not being
'*ry for the construction of the dock works, they
not be justified in recommending the adoption of
. alterations unless upon some agreement with the
lth committee for a division of the expense ; and
c,re recommend that such alterations be abandoned ;

->mson,

hol, and. G

trustees to al'

Wapping.
the aub•committee,

would

and that the formation of the new street be proceeded
with on such a plan that it may intersect such cross-
streets running into it from the eastward on the present
level and those cross streets respectively."—The Chair-
man remarked that the present was a subject of great
importance, and required to be dealt with promptly. The
alterations would incur considerable expense, and the
question at issue was upon whom were these to fall ? The
dock committee were undoubtedly liable for all such ex-
penses as might be incurred for the alteration of any
street necessary for the dock work ; but their solicitor was
of the opinion, in opposition to that of the town-clerk,
that they were not called upon to make the street in
accordance with the levels proposed by the health com-
mittee. The proposed levels were to be below the
streets, whereas the dock committee held that the street

iciently convenient on the
opinions of Mr. John Henderson,
fr. Cowling, barristers, were then
red in some considerable degree ;

rder that the healt

e committee of works reported
mmend the appropriation of 5,000
th end of the town, for the erec-

ng the Dock Coon

the protection of
ill of Mr. Labou

ream

police to

y means of what

was left v

A. Hend

MEETING OF THE CONSERVATIVE ELEC

TORS IN WEST DERBY WARD

ADJOURNED VESTRY
YESTERDAY.

On Friday evening a very influential meeting of the
electors of West Darby Ward was held at Marshall's THE VOLT.
s-bill Coffee-house. The room was densely crowded,
le proceedings were of the most unanimous
IVT 11.

The chairrr.

ijourned from

In a signation of their trust

Mr. Hart, Vest

lASSEM
FINAL

-..C..-.-

Mr. M. WHITE seconded the motio❑

s claim ?

Mr. LIVERSEDG

—I claim £641

hut S

MEETING

iTARY RATE AND THE LATE PARISH
PARLIAMENTARY WATER COMMITTEE.

The Easter Vestry meeting of the parishioners of Liver-

pool.
ac -
t those present were Councillors the Sessions-noose, on which occasion it was annount..
nd, and W. Horsfall, Messrs. that it was the intention of the Equitable Rating Committee
Al, William Whitby, T. 0. Cooper, to submit to their constituents a report and statement of
Monies, A. Byford, and the most nprm,r.tc „„ f„

was held yeste

attendance. The Rev.
amongst the gentlemen present we observed
Bradley, M`Knight, Smith, Jeffery, Liversedge, Gardne.
Denton, Clarke, Willmer, Luff, Bighorn, Molyneux, &c.,
most of whom are or have been members of the parochial
board.

here was an unusually small
Rector Campbell presided, and
_ _

ferls, read the following report

GENERAL
, I.

BLED, ON THE 25TH APRIL,' ~,,o, riUDMIT
REPORT AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT.
WITH REFERENCE TO THE MANAGEMENT AND DIS,
POSAL OF THE VOLUNTARY FUND.
Your committee bad already submitted their accounts to
previous General Vestries up to the 25th June last. Never-
theless they have considered it desirable to present, on this
occasion, their Financial Statement, as a whole, from the date
of their appointment, and showing their entire receipts and
expenditure in detail; and it will he seen that this statement
has been submitted to the examination and scrutiny of the
Official Auditor.
Included in the amount expended will be

ESTR Y
' THEIR

foam] the lar

item of £1350, which has been paid to the Parish Parliamen-
tary Water Committee, since their claim was discussed by the
Special General Vestry on the 28th July last.
The duty of dealing with that claim had been to your com-
mittee a source of great and serious difficulty. Airing a
period of nearly two years the subject in some form or other
had occupied their attention at no fewer than 35 of their
meetings. On one side there was the opinion of the legal
advisers whom your committee consulted; and on the ether
were the direct votes of two General Vestry Meetings—the
same authority which called your committee into existence,
and even the Voluntary Rate itself. At length, acting under
the advice of Mr. Lowndes, and with certain indemnities pre-
pared by him, your committee decided to pay, so far as their
funds would permit, such a portion of the claim as to them
seemed legitimate and reasonable. 'fence the payment of the
£1330; leaving still to be paid, under the arrangement entered
into, a further sum of £3OO, if hereafter at the disposal of
your committee. The payment, however, of so large a sum
is shown by the statement to have exhausted nearly the whole
of the Voluntary Fund.
Your committee cannot too strongly urge upon the parish.
loners the necessity for the revival of this Fend. Every rate-
payer, to whom the amount which lie is csiled, upon to pay is
of consequence, is deeply interested in its continuance. To
show this in the most effectual way, your committee would
simply revert to a few of the objects which have engaged their
attention, together with the results and conse:inences.
Ist. The Triali immigration and fever crisis, besides the in-
jury inflicted upon Mr. Blanchard, since repaired by the Vo-
luntary Rate, and the irreparable injury sustained by the
widows and families of so many of the parochial: officers then
cut off by the fever, cast upon the parish, burdeno exceeding
£70,000! To tweet this heavy requirement, the. ratepayers
were called upon to pay Is. in the pound twice repeated, in
addition to their ordinary contributions; and although. by
active instrumentality, your committee succeeded its inducing
the Government to institute measures to remedy the' evil, the
immigration of Irish- pauperism into the parish, though in a
greatly mitigated form, is silently but systematically going on,
and will have to be' vigilantly guarded against to prevent a
repetition of the former disastrous consequences.
2nd. The Dock Warehouse Bill, as originally promoted by
the Dock Committee, was successfully opposed by your com-
mittee so far as to secure the insertion of the Rating e!anse.

rendering the extensive warehouse property of the Dock Com-
mittee contributory to the local burdens, notwithstanding- the
most energetic endeavours for its exemption.
3rd. The rating of the Corporate Estate, one of the great
objects for which your eonmuttee were appointed, has been
virtually attained by an arrangement with the corporation,-te
avoid the expense of parliamentary proceedings. Under this
arrangement, the ratepayers are now benefited to the extent-of

.-elO,OOO annually—a sum equivalent to 3d. in the pount
whkh, during the last three- years, bet for this arrangement,.
would have been added to the rates; and also equivalent to•
total contribution by the corporation up to the present time of

Thus, without further enumeration of your committee's
labours, it will be seen how largely the. ratepayers have bene-
fited by tile application of the-Voluntary Fund to circumstances
in which the law makes no provision, and consequently, but
for which Fund those benefits would have been lost. The
ratepayers of this, the greatest parish in-the kingdom, cannot
neglect the Voluntary Rate without detriment to themselves.
Legislative measures affecting their intezvsts are continually
being introduced into Parliament, Frit' may at any sudden mo-
ment require steps to be taken as well for their protection as
their benefit. General laws, which-may lie-suitable elsewhere,
may net work beneficially for thew The Non-Removal Act,
passed in 1845, added to their burdens,s4s,ooo annually, to
the advantage of other towns.. Liverpool in its magnitude and
its position with regard to Ireland, requires special considera-
tion. 'I he law of Settlement and Removal—the law of Rating,
including docks and other public property—besides other great
questions- of vital moment to Liverpool—will, doubtless, be
shortly dealt with by Parliament ;. but the ratepayers cannot
be effectively served with regard to them except by the instru-
mentality of the Voluntary Ride.

But it -is- also necessary that: the Voluntary Fnnd, if revived
by the ratepayers, should Lie• placed upon anew footing. Its
objects should be clearly defined. The merle of applying a
discretionary power in sudden and urgent cases, not met by
the strict definition, should be properly, explained and agreed
upon, and, the accounts should• be annually reported.—By
order, CHARLES ,HART, Secretary.
Pari.PkrOftives, Aprill7, I s 2

Appended to the report was a statement of accounts,
from which it appeared that the total receipts of the vo-
luntary rate, since the committee held (ace (from 1848),
amounted to £3442 ; and there had been paid for adver-
tising, law expenses, expenses incurred bye: deputations,
and miscellaneous charges,.£32sl, showing a balance re-
maining in hand of £I9O.

The CHAIRMAN asked if there was any person present
prepared to move the adoption of the report.?
Mr. Jbnrr SMITH• said there were several members of
the Equitable Rating Committee present, but they con-
sidered their duties as at an end ; and it would be for the
parishioners at that Vestry to decide whether they considered
the voluntary rate so useful as to desire its continuance,
and if so, to nominate the parties to manage it, and to fix
its amount. The committee had been long anxious to pre-
sent their report, but, in consequence of a certain series of
claims. which threw difficulties in their way, they had not
been able tott do so till now.. It would be in the memory
of tha parishioners that after Mr. Stephenson's report on
the water question, a number of gentlemen in the town,
who, backed by a loud expression of the public opinion,
took an active part in opposing a scheme for supplying
the than with water, thought it proper to desist ; but
other gentlemen took up the matter, and it was an
undeniable fact that a resolution was passed in the
public vestry, though. it had no legal effect, that
the funds of the Equitable Rating Committee should
be appropriated to paying the proper expenses of that
effort. A claim for X 2,700 had been made, but the
committee, after anxious deliberation, had resolved to
pal. of this amount £1,650. £1,350 had already been
paid, and the remaining .£3OO they wish to be, so soon
as there were funds a7ailable for the purpose. The volun-
tary rate had been the means of achieving much good for
the perish ; and it was for the meeting to say, if a rate
were to be laid, whether it should be a halfpenny or a penny.
After some discussion on a point of formal order,
Mr. DENTON moved that the report hi approved of.

In answer to a question from Mr. Bigham, Mr. P. S.
FOGERTY said the 41,650 would not ewer all claims by a
very large amount.

Mr. BIGHAM thought the balance on hand of £l9O
ought to be paid over to the Parish Parliamentary Com-
mittee, in preference to the gratuity of ,6100 voted to Mr.
Wainwright at the former meeting of the vestry.
Mr. JEFFERa said it should be understood that the
Parish Parliamentary Committee had no legal claim what-
ever upon those funds.

Mr..BiunAac—They have been advised differently.
Mr. JEFIMAY, said they had taken their own course at
law, and were so far unsuccessful that they had not
thought it right to proceed. The Equitable Rating
Committee,. however, felt bound in, honour by the reso—
lution passed by a former vestry, and considered, after
strict inquiry,, that the Parish Parliamentary Water
Committee had legitimately spent 41,650.
Mr. Tzvku.saiDGE wished to show, if £lOO out of the
£l9O was paid to Mr. Wainwright, the position that it
would place him in. The Equitable Rating Committee
had agreed to, pay £1,650. The. first payment was to be
.£1,200, and the second £450, if they had so much at
their disposal. On the payment of the 41,200-,
although they acknowledged that the money which he
was out of pocket was nearly :6,1000 and that the claim
was legitimate, yet they had bound him by arrangement
to pay out of that £l2OO, and to satisfy other claims
£llOO. This he agreed to do on the promise that he
should get the other £450, and he thought the Eqaitable
Rating Committee ought in. justice to hand over to him
the £l9O. His claim was• for money lent. The Parish
Parliamentary Committee was appointed in June, 1850.
Of course they were to have their funds from the Equita-
ble Rating Committee. They applied for £5OO to go on
with, but got no answer. The time was urgent ; they
must at once take steps to secure a locus standi,
or resign their trust.. They borrowed till they got
to the extent of £BOO. Something like 30 or 40 per cent.
was charged for the interest of this money ; and he sug-
gested, to avoid that heavy payment, that each of the
members of the committee should advance £lOO. That
was not responded to, and the result was, that he took
the matter into his own hands, and advanced the £BOO,
although it was inconvenient to do so, out of his business.
This was not all, for there were in addition several actions
at law commenced against him, all of which lie had to
defend. One for £525 had been settled for £lBO, and
another for £6O had been settled for £4O.

Mr. S. B. JACKSON moved, " That this Vestry, having
heard the report of the Equitable Rating Committee, and
seeing that the existence of a voluntary rate is essential to
the interests of the parish, recommends that the voluntary
rate be again asked for, at a penny in the pound, and that
the earlier engagements of the committee be first dis-
charged by the committee to be elected to-day."
Mr. Wit. CRITCHLEY seconded the motion.

Mr, BIGHAM believed there was a strong feeling in
town in favour of Mr. Liversedge particularly being paid
his money.

Mr. SMITH said it was the wish of the committee that
Mr. Liversedge, who had presented a fair claim, should be
paid.

Mr. JACKSON thought the report ought only to be
received, but after some discussion it was unanimously
received and approved.
Mr. GEO. ATKINS said there was a considerable sum
above £3OO, and the Parish Parliamentary Water Commit-
tee would be glad to submit them to any impartial tribunal,
but they considered that the Equitable Rating Committee
were not impartial judges, inasmuch as many of the
members had been members of the Old Water Committee,
and the appointment of the new committee was like a vote
of censure upon them.
Mr. BIGIIAM asked if £3OO would cover Mr. Liver

Mr. JEFFERY indignantly denied the imputation thrown
out by Mr. Atkins, and proceeded to show the character
and amount of some of the claims sent in. Dr. Col-
lins had charged for his services for fourteen day.
guineas a day, and others had charged foi Y-h- lays a guinea a day. The total amount of claims ,nt in

twenty-four

Mr. BIGHAM said there were some of those on the
Parish Parliamentary Water Committee who were there for
the sake of their pockets. Some of thin had made out-

rageous chLrge

, and the public had no sympathy with
her of the committee, had

Cireen, a me

After some fuith

ackson mod

fled hi

motion to simply moving that a voluntary rate of a penny
in the pound be laid.
The CHAIR:IIA

observed that the rate ought to be
ned to strictly parochial purposes. He should never
ibute to the rate, if it was to be wasted in the abomi-
: way in which it had been was
question. (Applause.)
The motion having been agreed to,
Mr. SMITH proposed that a comr
the following thirteen gentlemen, be
to th

upon the Ovate:

the man

Hugh MOiyn

ilittee, composed of

formed, in addition

Johnson, 1
... P;,...nr,

I'. 'K

ht, Brown,
aorneley, Jack-

and Bradley

ITCH LEY secon

I the :notion, which

-as carrie

Mr. Smut'' in the way of definition as to how the
money raised by the rate should in future be applied,
moved as a.standing order, That the following be the pri-
mary objects of attention on the part of the Equitable
Rating Committee: to secure justice to all classes of the
parishioners, by enforcing the due valuation and rating of
all property which ought to contribute to the local paro-
chial funds; to watch the local and general applications in
parliament that might affect the interests of the parish,
with the view of promoting those beneficial, and opposing
those which might be prejudicial; to afford assistance to
such public objects and such persons as the parish was in-
terested in assisting on clearly public grounds, but for
which the law had perhaps not provided funds,—no grant
of money, however, being authorised till two-thirds of
the committee present had recorded a vote in favour of
entering upon the subject.
Mr. M'lCNlonr seconded the motion, which was at
once agreed to.

After some further talk, it was agreed, on the motion of
Mr. Bigham, seconded by Mr. Jeffery, that the £lOO to
Mr. Wainwright, and £3OO to Mr. Liversedge, should be
paid out of the funds in hand, and the first reeApts from
the new rate.—Agreed to.
Mr. ATKINS moved, and Mr. FOGARTY seeendecl, an
amendment, that inasosoch as there were claims equally
as legitimate as Mr. Liversedge's, these, if approved of,
should be first paid out of the voluntary rate now to be
collected ; but, on a divislm, there were only three hands
shewn in favour of it, and' the original motion was there-
fore serried by a considerahle majority.
Mr.. SMITH was about to' move a vote of thanks to the
chairman, when Mr. FOGARTY intimated that the Parish
Parliamentary Water Committee had their report to
present.. This was handed in by Mr. Hart. It took
credit for the committee hawing obtained the clause
restricting the money to be borrowed on the Pike scheme
by the Corporation to £4Bo,ooffrand stated that there was
a balance still due to the committee from the Equitable.
Rating Committee of £1,228, which it was respectfully
requested that the meeting would order to be paid.
Mr. Crtroqutoy charged Mr. Liversedge with having
withdrawn £3OO which he had lent the committee at ten
per cent., that he might charge a higher interest himself
(Laughter.) This Mr. Liversedge denied
Mr. FOGAW,Y moved, and Mr. A'
the report, be received

liinis seconded, that

The motion was warmly opposed both by Mr. JEFFERY
and Mr. BIGRAN ; and after some further discussion, the
motion was lost by a large majority,- two persons only
voting in favour of it.

The meeting, after the usual compliment to the chair-
man, then broke up.

CHESHIRE AND WALES.

WM. WESTWOOD, a collier, of Hyde, has been com-
mitted to Knutsford sessions, charged with,having bitten
off the nose of Mr. Charles Lancashire.
A CommissvoN of Lurracy, held at, Kinmel, has
found Lord Dinorben to have been of unsound mind since
the 27th of January, 1846.

CHESTER CHEESE, FAIR.—The April cheese fair is
fixed for to-morrow, (Wednesday,) the 21st instant ; and
the cattle fair for the following day.

SHIP-BUILDING ON-THE BANKS OF THE ,DEE.—Mr.
Cram is progressing rapidly with his operations in the
yard near the Roodee. He hopes to lay the keels of the
first iron vessel in abor.t a fortnight, and then speedily
commence the pleasant clang of industry, employment
will be afforded to many men, and through them the
business of the city must be increased.—Chestepehronisle.
CHESTER AND HOLYSEAD RAlLWAY.—Traffte for the
week ended the 11th April, 1852 :—Chester and Holy-
head Main Line : Passengers, £1194 2s. 7d. ; parcels, H.
C. & D., £66 Bs. 3d. ; goods, cattle, &c., £4541105. 6d. ;
£575.—M01d Plissengers, £35 3s. 9d. ; .parcels,
£l3ss. 7d. ; goods, cattle, &c., £7l 15s. Id.---Steam-
boats : Passengers, £l6;:e >los. 6d. ; parcels, -CTI. ls. 4d.
—Total, £2586 17s. 7d.

'WIRRAL GUARDIANS.—The only places in this union
where any contest took plaee were Birkenhead and Tran-
mere. For the former there were ten candidates, and for
the latter three. the folio-wing were elected for Birken-
head :—Messrs. R. Harwood, H. Gough, C. Coo!, and W.
Henderson. For Tranmere the votes were—W. &ewart,
390 i (elected ;) W. W. Perrey, 143 ; T. S. Eddowes, 356.
The two latter refused to serve on the day of election,
consequently Tranmere will only be representediby one
instead of two guardians.

PINGRATION TO AUSTEALIA. —Woodside aiip, on
Wednesday evening, was the scene of mucls, bustle
amongst a number of persons (about 200, it was said) who
had landed from the Princess Royal, from Glasgovr, and
who have been selected by the Government agents-for the
purpose of being despatched to Australia. The emigrants
were chiefly young men, with a sprinkling of married men
and their families. They. are principally agriculturists,
and appear to be a respectable class of persons. Shortly
after landing they were drafted to the Government depUt
at Birkenhead, where they will remain until tha:vessels
are ready to convey the: to their destination. Other
parties of emigrants, from different parts of the kingdom,
who, have been carefully selected, are daily expected to
arrive in the Mersey, and will also be drafted to the depot
until vessels be provided for their transit.

SUPPOSED TRACES OF SIR JOHN

FRANKLIN'S SHIPS

EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENT.
N.circumstance has been made public last week; which
it is thought possible may lead to some conclusions rela-
tive to the missing arctic az pedition
1h March last it came to the knowledge of Mt. Shore,
second master of her Majesty's ship Sampson, that, ac-
cording to the report of a Sunderland captain, two three_
masted vessels had been seen on an iceberg off Newfound-
land, in April, 1851, by the brig Renovation, on her pas-
sage to Quebec. -It being surmised that these might, by
possibility, be Sir John Franklin's ships, Mr. Shore made
&communication to the lords of the Admiralty, who, not-
withstanding the improbability attaching to the circum-
stance of a matter of such interest remaining so long un-
revealed, immediately instituted a most rigid, investi-
gation.

After communicating with Mr. Shore, the Secretary of
the Admiralty addresaed a letter to the Commander of
the Coast Guard, at Sunderland, directing him to make
minute inquiries. The informant of Mr. Shore was a
Capt. Storey, of the Agnes, who at once confirmed the
report, and referred, as his authority. to Capt. Coward,.
of the Renovation. Capt. Coward, it was ascertained,
bad recently sailed for 'Venice ; upon which: Capt. Storey
gave the following, &Allis recollection of Captain Coward's
statement

" When near the east edge of the bank,. in latitude 45,
deg. 30 min. N., wind N.E., fresh breezes and clear
weather, as much as I could carry foretopmast-studtling-
sail, fell in with icebergs, one of which was-very large,,
with field ice attached to it, in which there were twa
three-masted ships, having their masts struck and. yards
down, and all made snug; to all appearance they, had
passed the winter together in the ice. At about rive
o'clock in the morning, when within one mile of thetn,
the mate called to me to see the berg and ships :. by-the
time I got up and dressed, and on deck,, my ship was
abreast of them ; took spying-glass and carefully exa-
mined them, to• see if there was any one on board', but
could not see-any one. At the time. I did not think of
Sir John Franklin's missing ships ; anxiety to get ahead
out of the danger, while the weather was clear from fogs,
and being too far past before I could make up my mind,
caused me not to reduce sail and examine them more
accurately. lam since of opinion they might possibly be
the missing- ships."
It being- further ascertained that the wife of Captain
Coward and his brother (a respectable surgeon) were
living in, 'the vicinity, they were called upon,. and corro-
borated the above statement. They also referred to the
then mate, Mr. Simpson, who had sailed as master of the
Queen, for Limerick, to take out emigrants,and to an Irish
gentleman who was a passenger in the Renovation. Capt.
Storey also mentioned Mr. and-Mrs. Cleugh, of the Pearl,
as being present when Capt. Coward made his statement.
The whole of these parties have confirmed the original
statement of Capt. Storey ; and Capt. Coward, master of
the Renovation, will have on board the log of that vessel
in which the occurrence ought to have been entered.
Many remarks have been made for and against the pro-
bability of this story. It has been suggested that Capt.
Coward probably saw his own brig reflected from two
faces of the iceberg ; but to this it is replied, that those
seen were three-masted full-rigged ships. An evidently
well-informed correspondent of the London Times says :
—" If two such vessels were seen (and I take it no man
can doubt that they were), and granting that they were
the Erebus and Terror, from what part of the arctic
regions did they come ? Not, surely, from the head of
Baffin's Bay, we have searched there ; nor from Barrow's
Strait, as far west as Melville Island, in 117 deg. west
longitude ; nor from the region of Captain 0-mrnanney's
explorations, now called Prince of Wales's Land ; nor
can they have come 120 miles down 'Wellington Channel.
The only solution of the difficulty that I sce is, by sup-
posing that Franklin has penetrated up the Wellington
Channel far to the northward of the limit of our search
for him, and that he has there met with some land in
which animal life was abundant, and in. which he may
still be discovered ; that his ships have been frozen in, in
the same manner as Back was in the Terror, and that, on
their `icy cradle' breaking away, Sir John and his com-
panions have taken to the land, with all the boats and
provisions they could get together; that the berg has
taken the course pursued by thousands of others; that
is, through the sea to the northward of Spitzbergen down
the east coast of Greenland, and so into the Atlantis
still more probable, by the route the'
shown with such apparent good r,

n
be searched for in the early spr
bla and Spit-1--

nen."

THE SLAVE TRAD
mons has been printer
barked on the ennqh.

, or,
Mr. Petermann has

between

Nova 2

in each

in 184;
I. 1.500

; in 184
1. 5.000. T

—A return to the House of Contt-
_, •

),000 ; and in Ibsl

0),U00 ;