The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-11-13 00:00:00

TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS.

The first meeting of the new town-council was held on
Friday, at twelve o'clock, in accordance with the provisions
of the municipal act, for the purpose of appointing the mayor
for the ensuing year, for the election of eight aldermen in
lieu of those who retired on the expiration of their third
year of office (being those who had the smallest number of
votes at the election of the 16 aldermen in 1835), and for the
re-appointment of the various committees.

ELECTION OF MAYOR.

The MAYOR (Mr. W. Rathbone) said, the first business
which would come under the consideration of the council,
was the election of a gentleman to act as his successor in the
mayoralty.
Mr. Councillor D. HonGsoN then rose and said that it was
unnecessary for him to do more than

to name

le gen

whom he meant to propose. trir—mn-tolstation,
and property, all parties must admit that he was well quali-
fied for office, •thougb, unfortunately, his name wasmot in
what might he called the raffle of yesterday, according to the
account they had of it. He, therefore, was not placed with
them as an awkward competitor for office, but was perfectly
free and unshackled, being uncommitted to any course what-
ever. He felt great pleasure in nominating Mr. John Shaw
Leigh as a fit and proper person to till the office of mayor
during the ensuing year.
Mr. Councillor J. SMITH said, that on no occasion had he
ever risen with greater pleasure to second a motion than he
now felt in rising to second the nomination of his excellent
friend. If the possession" of a great stake in the town—if
urbanity of manners, seldom equalled and never excelled,
and if integrity of conduct and honest independence of char-
acter, such as, he might boldly assert, Mr. Leigh could lay
undoubted claim tn, formed the requisites for the office in
question, then he thought that gentleman was in all respects
eminently entitled to the high station for which he had been
nominated. (Applause.)
Mr. Councillor W. W. Cult ti is rose to propose a rzentle-
man whom be thought not inferior m all the qualifications
which had been already named, for whom he felt a great
respect, whose urbanity of manners—(sbould he enumerate
again the different qualifications which had been mentioned
in favour of Mr. Leigh ?)—a gentleman whose urbanity of
manners, whose property, education, station, general con-
duct in council, whose regularity in the discharge of all the
duties which had fallen upon him, must have attracted the
notice of every membor of the council, and eminently en-
titled him to their most favourable considration. He felt
great pleasure in nominating Mr. Hugh Hornbv. (Cheers.)
Mr. Alderman BENN seconded the motion With a great
deal of pleastire.
The Maxim after having made the enquiry, waited a few
moments in order to ascertain whether any other gentleman
was to be put in nomination, and no member having risen,
was about to proceed with the voting, when

Mr. Counciller HIGGINS rose to ask whether they were to
vote by name, or simply for or against the amendment.
Mr. Councillor Boi.roN observed that no other had been
named because perhaps another amendment might be pro.
posed, and that was the time to propose any one, before they
went to the vote. (Cries of "Certainly.")
The Mayon replied that another candidate might still be
put in nomination, if any gentleman wished it. If so, that
was the proper time to do so.
Mr. Councillor MoitEcaorr immediately got up and said
that he should beg leave to propose a gentleman whom he
thought every way entitled to be elected to the civic chair.
When he mentioned the name of Mr. Joshua Walmsley he
was sure that a great number of gentlemen would bear testi-
mony to the ability and zeal with which he had served the
public during the last four years. (Applause.) He need
not say any more, but would simply propose Mr. Waliusley
for the office of mayor.

A short period of silence hereupon ensued, and
The Ms. You at length asked if any person would second
the !notion of Mr. Morecroft.

No reply was given; but after another pause,
Mr. Alderman EVANS at length rose and said, that he was
not present at the preliminary meeting asserted to have been
held the day before, and he certainly should not have been
present in the council chamber that day, had he not wished
it to be distinctly understood that be would neither refrain
from giving his vote nor expressing his sentiments. He had
the highest respect for Mr. Hornby, and be had the greatest
confidence in his executing the duties of the mayoralty in the
best possible manner; but as two gentlemen had been actu-
ally brought before the council, and nominated to the office
of mayor on the ground of their private worth, be considered
himself bound to say that they ought not to look so much to
private virtues—though certainly they ought to look to pri-
vate vices, if they did exist—as to public conduct. Under
these circumstances, and without wishing to shrink from the
question, he begged leave to second the nomination of Mr.
Walmsley.

Mr. Alderman SHEIL wished to have it generally under-
stood how the votes were to be taken. Suppose that the first
person on whom the votes were taken were to have a majo-
rity, more or lees, was he to be considered elected, or that
person only who had a majority of the whole of the council-
lors present. He thought that if they wished to prevertt
misunderstanding, and to ascertain what their position really
was, they ought to come to a decision beforehand; and he
thought that the proper way would be to declare that that
person only could be considered as elected who had a majo-
rity of the whole number ibf persons present in his favour.
Mr. Councillor JOHN SMITH observed that the question
was already decided. The act of parliament made it impera-
tive that the mayor should be elected by a decided majority.
After some further conversation it was arranged, that in
the event of none of the three candidates having a decided
majority of the councillors present voting for him, the ques-
tion should be put again between the two highest.
The voting was then proceeded with, and when it came to
the turn of Mr J. S. LEIGH to declare for whom he voted,
that gentleman begged that he might be permitted to refrain
from voting altogether.

The MAYOR said, that as he (Mr. L.) had remained in the
room, he could not now be permitted to escape. He was
quite assured that Mr. Leigh would prefer not voting; but he
thought that it was now incumbent on him to vote, since be
had remained. Mr. Leigh might surely vote for himself;
for there could be no impropriety in it whatever, as he had
allowed himself to be pnt in nomination.
Mr. Councillor LEIGH, having no alternative, reluctantly,
atlengtb, consented to vote in his own favour.

The result. of the division was—For Mr. 11. flornby, 36;
for Mr. J. S. Leigh, 16; for Mr. Joshua Walmsley, G.
The members voted as follows:

For Mr. Hornbii—Councillors J. Holmes, Thornhill, Pres-
ton, Frankland, Mellor, H. Holmes, Bolton, Pilcher,Wahns-
lev, Bright, Priestley, Lassell, Harvey, Carson, Blackburn,
Mason, Coglen, Jordan, Platt, J. Cropper, junior, Ramsdell,
Duncan, Currie; and Aldermen Sheil, Booth, Roskell, Lea-
thorn, Hall, Jones, Benn, Moon, Buller, Barclay, Robinson,
Herworth, and the Mayor.
Poe Mr. Leigh.—Councillors Hodgson, Houghton, I.
Holmes, Shand, Case, Barton, Wright, Sands, Bibby, C.
Lawrence,Wood, Gladstone, Smith, G. H. Lawrence, Cooper
and Leigh.
For .11r. Wahailer/. —Councillors Woollright, Hornby, llig-
gins, Morecroft ; and Aldermen Hornby and Evans.
Abeent.—Councillors Hey worth, J. Lawrence, Segar,
Brecklehank ; and Aldermen Holt and creme.
Mr. Councillor RaTrieose then declared Mr. Hugh
Hornby to be duly elected, and after having addressed a few
words of congratulation to the new mayor, Mr. H. Hornby
took the chair, amidst manifestations of applause.
The TOWN-CLERK having administered the usual oath to
the newly elected Mayor,—
The Mayon. said that he could assure the council, with
perfect sincerity, that he had no•wish to occupy the chair to
which he had been elected. He was quite conscious of the
arduous duties and deep responsibility which attached to the
office, and he knew that a comparison would be made be-
tween his performance and that or his immediate predeces-
sors, which could not fail to be greatly to his disadvantage.
At all events, the example of his valued friend, Mr. Rath.
bone, had proved that by strict impartiality, and au assiduous
and conscientious discharge of the dutices of his office, the
Mayor of Liverpool might hope to obtain the good opinion of
all classes of his fellow-townsmen. He considered the uni-
versal approbation which had been bestowed upon Mr. Rath-
bone as scarcely less creditable to the good feeling and
candour of the inhabitants of the town, and he alluded par-
ticularly to those who were opposed to Mr. Rathbone in
political opinion, than it was favourable to himself and to the
part v of which he was so distinguished an ornament. (Much
applause,) No exertion on his (Mr. Hornbv's) part should
he wanting to justify the choice which had been made, and
he should ever consider the testimony of their esteem as one
of the most valuable anti flattering rewards that could have
been couferred upon him. In presiding over their delibera-
tions, he hoped that he might expect the co-operation of every
member in enforcing a strict adherence to the standing or-
ders of the council, without which there could not be that
order and regularity in their proceedines which should cha-
racterise the deliberations of such a hotly, and which was ex-
pected by the electors who had sent them there.