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

ELECTION OF ALDERMEN.

The M A von observed thnt the next business of the council
vrould be to elect oight gentlemen, in place of those retiring,
to serve as aldermen for the respective wards.

- Mr. Councillor Bot.Tos said, that before proceeding to the
election, he should like to make a few remarks relative to the
character of one of the gentlemen who would be put in com-
petition. Much allusion had been made during the late
election, verbally as well as by placards and paragraphs, to
Mr. Thomas Holt having defrauded the excise, and if it
could be shown that he was guilty, he was unworthy and unfit
to sit in that room, and he (lCir. B.) felt assured that the
council would so think. He should briefly gu into facts, to
chew the falsity of the assertion that had bee❑ made. In
1820, Mr. Holt purchased a sixth share of some glass-works
at Sr. Helen's, for which he paid £2200, and, by never inter-
fering in the management, was what is called a sleeping
partner. He attended once or twice a-)ear, when a general
statement of the affairs of the concern was submitted to him
and the other partners, and the profits, by these statements
(although none were actually pnid), always appeared to be
very moderate. In 1828, an information was laid by the ex-
cise that frauds bid been committed on the revenue, and
proceedings were instituted in the Court of Exchequer for
recovering the penalties. These continued some time—three
of the four partners making strong affidavits of their inno-
cence. The books were placed with Mr. Holt, who examined
them most minutely, with the view of ascertaining the amount
of the fraud that could have been committed whilst he was
a virtner ; and after much labour, and with the best informa-
tion he could collect, he came to the conclusion that the go-
vernment might have been defrauded to the extent of £5000;
but so large an amount was denied by the managing
partner. At the• end of 1829, or beginning of 1830, Mr.
Holt was introduced to Mr. Huskisson, when that gentle-
man was so satisfied of the innocence of Mr. Holt, and with
the accuracy of his statements, that he agreed to accept
£s,(iOi) as a fine to the concern, to end the matter, and it was
so ended. Mr. Holt and two of the partners then became
most urgent to obtain a dissolution of the partnership, which
being opposed by the other partner, application was made to
the Chancery to ter tninate it, and, after considerable delay,
the dissolution was agreed upon, and the accounts left to re-
ference; the referees agreed upon were Mr. Banner, Mr.
King, and Mr. Lawson. In addition to the original cost of
Mr. flolt's share, he has paid £3,529, making in all £6,329,
which may be reduced about £l,OOO when the buildings are
sold; and from the commencement of the partnership Mr.
Holt never received anything back, either as principal,
profit, or interest. He (Mr. B.) would only further add,
that from a long and intimate connexion with Mr. Holt, it
was his sincere conviction that that gentleman would not
knowingly injure or defraud any one to the extent of the
smallest fraction. He need say no more to clear Mr. Holt
from the foul aspersions which bad been cast upon him, and
to the truth of the statement which he had made he defied
contradiction.

Mr. Councillor RATHBOME returned his thanks to Mr.
Bolton for the bold way in which he had come forward to
meet the assertions contained in the placard alluded to—a
placard of the most false and malignant character. He felt
personally obliged to Mr. Bolton for meeting it in the way
he had done: for it was just and right that they should be
jealous of the character of those persons whom they intro-
duced into that council. It would have been wrong to have
elected any man on whose character there remained any such
aspersions. Whatever the political feeling of gentlemen
might be, he trusted that every member of the council would
always feel that only by only maintaining its moral inte-
grity could its high character be supported.
Mr. Councillor NV A I.NISLEY begged to offer his testimony
to that which had been already offered in support of the truth
of the statement made by Mr. Bolton, and as to the unstained
character of Mr. T. Holt. He had himself made inquiries
on the subject from persons cognizant of the whole particu-
lars, and therefore he spoke unhesitatingly. A gentleman
of high legal attainments, and whose character as a magis-
trate was known and appreciated by the whole community—
he alluded to Mr. Hall, the present stipendiary magistrate—
had been concerned in the affair alluded to between Mr.
Holt and the excise; and that gentleman had stated as his
decided opinion that Mr. Holt came out of the transaction
with Kis character not only unsullied but unsuspected, and
that he had acted throughotit in the most honourable, up-
right, and straightforriard manner.

Mr. Councillor JOHN SAitrit handed in the following me-
morial, which the TowN-ct.ERK said that it would now be
the proper time to lay before the council. lle accordingly
read—

"To the Worshipful the Mayor, and Council of the town of
Liverpool, in the county palatine of Lancaster.
" The memorial of John Walker, of Liverpool aforesaid, Chair-
man of the irest Derby Ward Conservative Association, and
a burgess of the said town,
"Sbeweth,—That the majority of the burgesses of West
Derby Ward are in their political opinions conservatives,
which has been proved by their having elected three gentle-
men of similar principles as their representatives in the town-
council, notwithstanding every effort used by the reform party
to return gentlemen favourable to their principles, and who
were in every respect eligible for seats iu the town-council,
a fact corroborated by your electing three out of the four who

has. thus-unsuccessfully_ appealed to the constituency of that
ward, as aldermen, on their rejection by the ward.
"That at the last election John Sh.sw Leigh, Esq., a con-
servative, was a second time returned to the council unop-
posed.
"That the election of aldermen by the town-council from
the reform party alone, and more particularly from those who
had been unsuccessful in their attempts to obtain seats there
through the instrumentality of the votes of the burgesses, has
tended to keep alive the feeling that political opinions were
the only standard of eligibility to a seat in your council, and
that the object of reformers in wishing corporate reform was
not, as was formerly stated, that no party should alone mo-
nopolize offices of trust, but that all parties in the state should
be equally represented.
"That hitherto the actions of the council have been in di-
rect contradiction to the professions of the reform party on
advocating municipal reform, inasmuch as, without noticing
the fact that sonic of the wards have returned a majority of
conservative councillors, vet the council have in all cases ap-
pointed aldermen favourable to reform measures, treating with
disregard the voice of the people thus declar,•d, and creating
a system of exclusiveness which it was the object of the re-
folio bill to prevent, and which tends, more than any other
thing at the present time, to keep alive a spirit of bitterness
and acrimony which all parties admit and regret.
"lour memorialist therefore prays, that at the present
election of aldermen you will be p;eased to take into your con-
sideration the claims of West Derby Ward to a conservative
alderman, thus evincing a desire to soften and allay the as-
perities of part•, that at future elections of councillors the
burgesses may be induced to select the individuals most eli-
gible, without reference to their political principles.
"JOHN WALKER.
" Liverpool, oth November, 1838."

The Town-CLERK said that the method of electing the al-
dermen would be for each councillor to write down, at length,
the names and residences of the respective gentlemen for
whom they voted, and to hand the document personafly to the
mayor. . .

Voting papers were then handed round, and as these had
first to be filled up by each member of the council, and were
afterwards read over seriatim by the mayor, the proceeding
was necessarily a very tedious one, and occupied a consider-
able time. Fifty-one papers were handed in, and seven coun-
cillors who were present abstained from voting. The result
was as follows: Messrs. T. B. Barclay. Eyre Evans, T. Holt,
James Moon. Thomas BuLey, and W. I'. Freme were re-
elected, and Messrs. William Earle and Enoch Harvey were
elected in the room of Messrs. George Robinson and 0. Hey-
north. LWe may observe that nearly all the voting papers
of the liberals were filled up with the same names, and in the
same order, showing that they had been copied from some
previous arrangement ]
The voting was as follows :

Votes
Mi. William Earle, jun.
Mr. J. Moon
Mr. E. Evans
Mr. T. B. Barclay
Mr. T. Holt
Mr. T. miney
Mr. W. 1) Frerne
Mr. E. Harvey

• 36
36
36
35
31

Mr. W. Dixon, (Great George street) 14
Mr. H. Lawrence
Mr. J. Gibbons l3
Mr. G. B. Ham
Mr. R. B. H. Blundell
Mr. John Walker 5
Mr. Edward Gibbon ..
Mr. Adam Hodgson
Mr. W. Dixon (Evertol))
Mr. T. Bolton
Mr. John J. Blackburn
Mr. John Cropper
Mr. 0. Heywurth 1
Mr. R. W. Wood, (West Derby)
COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS.
_ .

Minutes of the proceedings at the last council, and of the
various committees, were then read over by Ihe Deputy
Town-clerk.

DOCK COMMITTEE.

On the motion of Mr. Alderman LEATHOSI, seconded by
Mr. Alderman BENN,—Mr. Alderman Evans, Mr. T. 13.
Barclay, Mr. Thomas Holt, and Mr. H. Holmes were re-
elected membets of the Dock Committee; and Messrs. Geo.
Holt and Robertson Gladstone were elected in the room of
Messrs. Rawdon and Walmsley, the former of whom had
ceased to be a member of the conned, and the latter having
signified his wish to resign the office.

MAYOR'S ALLOWANCE,

Oo the motion of Mr. J. Elo►.MEs, seconded by Mr. T.
BOLTON. it was decided that the Mayor's allowance should
be £2600, as had been settled in 1836.

Mr. ISAAC Hor.mlis wished to know what was the allow-
ance fur keeping the Mayor's carriage. Ile understood that
it was C 700; and if so, it was a great deal too much. £5OO
was enough, in all conscience.
It was here intimated to Mr. Holmes, that if he did not
intend to follow up his remarks by a motion, he was nut of
order ; and if he did wish to do so, the proper time would be
when the Town-hall establishment came under notice, to
which the item of kqeping the carriage belonged.