The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-11-02 00:00:00

VOTE OF THANKS TO THE MAYOR.

Mr. Aklerman J. BRAMLEY MOORE then rose and said
—I beg leave, Mr. Mayor, with your permission, to sub-
mit a motion to the Council; and I don't know that on
any odcasion I rose with greater pleasure and gratification
than the present, for I consider it a privilege to be the
means of returning to you, Sir, on behalf of the Council,
a vote of thanks for your services during the past year.
It has been well-earned, well-deserved. You have, Sir,
not only conducted the office to which you were elected,
with great dignity and impartiality, during the past year,
but in addition to that of the Council, you have won the
esteem and affection, I may safely say, of every inhabitant
of the town (applause). I have never heard, , Sir, during
your mayoralty, any difference of opinion on this point ;
and you have ever afforded a ready answer and access to
all applicants at this building, whatever the occasion may
be. Your mayoralty, Sir, has not been distinguished like
former ones by a visit from royalty, but it has been graced
by the visit to the town of distinguished individuals. But,
Sir, you have most claim of gratitude on the town of Li-
verpool, by your discharge of the arduous duties which
devolved upon you by the affliction which the town expe-
rienced in the immigration of the poor Irish. On that
occasion, Sir, we all know what you had to undergo—the
labour which you had to endure—the patience with which
you did endure it, and the untiring exertions which you
made to relieve the town from the misfortune which then
befel it (applause). There are few events during the past
year to which it is necessary for me to refer, they are so
well known to all of us; but there is one which I cannot
pass over,—that is, the ready manner, and the promptitude
with which you recently responded to, the request of your
fellow citizens at a time when you were called upon, at a
moment's notice, to go and represent to government the
difficulties which surrounded the commercial classes.
,There is no doubt, Sir, although no. direct answer was
given on that occasion to the representations made by
yourself and colleagues, that they had very great weight
with government, and although not leading immediately
to an answer and response, they had very great influence
in bringing about the relief lately afforded to the com-
mercial community. (Loud applauie.) You have, Sir,
also maintained the dignity of the office of Mayor in the
discharge of the hospitalities of the town. These, Sir,
have been duly appreciated by all who have experienced
them, and that they had been general and wide, there can
be no doubt. shall not detain the Council onger, be-
cause I feel it would be a work of superrerogation, as the
ability with which you have filled the chair in the dis-
charge of your magisterial duties, are well known. I
therefore move that the cordial thanks of the Council be
given, and I wish you long to enjoy the honours you have
so well earned. (Loud applause.)
Mr. RATRRONE seconded the motion. He cordially
agreed with the enumeration of Mr. Lawrence's good
qualities. It was a satisfaction to him (Mr. Rathbone),
to think that he had been mayor to all the town, without
reference to class or station. He had been truly the dig-
nified humane mayor of the whole town of Liverpool.
(Applause.)
The MAYOR said—Gentlemen. 1 may indeed own that
I have had difficulties during my year of offiCe ; but I have
had none, I think, so great as the duty which has now
devolved upon me, of thanking you in adequate terms for
the great kindness which you have shewn me to-day.
Gentlemen the trust that I have this day to surrender is
one which the best and noblest of our citizens have pos-
sessed, and I still remember with pride the unanimity and
the kind manner in which it was conferred. But, Gen-
tlemen, the recollection of that day of my election would
be effaced soon—would be embittered—was it not accom-
panied now, at the closing scene of my labours, with the
honour, the acknowledgment which you have now paid
me, which has amply repaid me for any trouble or exer-
tion I have made. (Applause.) I do, indeed, thank you
sincerely. I have endeavoured to discharge the trust to
the best of my power, abilities and energies. But, Gen-
tlemen, I feel all my abilities and energies would have
failed in satisfying you but for the kind construction
which you have put on all my actions, and for the kind
support you have ever afforded me. (Applause). Gentle-
men, in supporting me permit me to add that you have
honoured yourselves by the assiduous manner in which
you have discharged the duties of the Council—by the
total absence of all political or party differencies—by the
dignity and decorum which has characterised your debates
during the present year,—a contrast in some respects
happily to former ones, to be forgotten. But whilst
thanking you, I must not forget to notice those outside.
All parties out of doors have united in doing honour to
your choice. (Applause). I think some acknowledgment
also due to the magistrates, who have received me at their
meetings with kindness, courtesy, and support, and it
would be wrong indeed if I did not thank Mr. Rushton
for the assistance and the support which he has always
afforded to me. (Applause). It was he who aided me
with those suggestions to the parochical authorities and
the government which enabled them to cope with the
evils and the horrors which the Irish immigration inflicted
upon the town. And whatever may have been the as-
sistance he rendered during other mayoralties, I must say
this, that those who merely limit their estimate of Mr.
Rushton's value to the onerous duties which he dis-
charges in the police-court, take a very slight view of the
services which he has rendered this year to the town at
large. (Applause.) Mr. Moore has been pleased to al-
lude to the mission which 1 took to London to represent
the difficulties and embarassments of the commercial
world. In regard to my predecessors, I know it has been
urged that the Mayor of Liverpool should stay. in Liver-
pool—that he should not attend parliamentary committees,
nor yet wait upon the Secretary of State ' • but the extra-
ordinary emergency I thought would justify the course I
took ; and when I found myself supported by such men
as those who accompanied me, I did feel that although
it was not a subject in which I was strong myself, it was
right for me to lend the influence which you had imparted
to me to aid in the objects which those gentlemen had in
view. And, gentlemen, although we returned dispirited,
I am vain enough to think, especially on the suggestion
of Mr. Moore, that we did not altogether fail ; that we
rowed seeds which led to the happy results which have
since distinguished the government's proceedings. Gen-
tlemen, I now return into your hands the trust which you
reposed in me. So long as I live I shall remember this
day—the honour, kindness, and support which I have re-
ceived from the Council, and from my fellow-townsmen
of all classes and ranks. (Loud applause.) [At the con-
clusion, the mayor appeared deeply affected].
The motion was carried by acclamation, and the Coun-
cil adjourned.

MEETING OF THE ROYAL BANK SHARE-
HOLDERS.

At eleven o'clock, on Saturday, a meeting of the direc-
tors and shareholders of the Liverpool Royal Bank was
held at the Bank; Mr. Josias Booker in the chair. Mr.
Alderman Thompson, of London was present, and a largo
number of gentlemen of wealth and eminence in the town.
The first business was the receiving of the report of the
committee, appointed at a meeting of shareholders held
on the 23d ult.

The report states that the main feature was already
matter of notoriety—the absorption of a large portion of
the paid-up capital of the bank by one house—Messrs.
Barton, Irlam, and Higginson ; the fact being, that the
manager, having advanced a large amount upon assurances,
which were not fulfilled, would have then brought the ac-
count to a close, but was not supported by the directors of
the day in his strongly expressed opinions ; and during an
absence of a few months, from illness, Sir Thos. Brancker
acting as manager, the advance reached an amount which
put at hazard the existence of the bank.
There were other instances of large advances made upon
securities of so unconvertible a character as to be una-
vailing for banking purposes, and at a period of general
pressure such accounts increased the difficulties of the
bank.
The committee look upon the bills of exchange, and ob-
ligations of the bank by endorsment, and the letters of
credit outstanding; also the special securities held by the
bank, with confidence, though they cannot pronounce
absolutely upon their value and effect.
Messrs. Barton, Irlam, and Higginson had sent in a
statement, on Thursday night, and the shortness of the
time precluded such an examination of it as would enable
the committee to form an opinion of the result of the
estate.

According to a synopsis (below) it appears that the
assets of the bank far exceed its liabilities ; but whatever
may be the decision of the shareholders as to resuscitating
the bank, or placing it in liquidation, the committee re-
commend an immediate call of £lOO per share to meet the
claims of the depositors, and hope the shareholders will
feel it a duty to respond to this call. Every facility was
given by the directors and managers to the committee in
their inquiry, and the books were found to be kept in an
efficient state.

Statement of the Affairs of the Royal Bank of Liverpool,
22nd October, 1847.
Capital paid up
Reserved surplus fund
Contingency fund
Valuation of Bankbuildings .. .. £65,000
Less amounts not liquidated .. 30,000 __ _

40,000 0 0
Profits since June, estimated at .

£860,475 1 8