The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-04-03 00:00:00

SPECIAL VESTRY.

oho,t 11, Tuesday a special general vestry was held in St Ni.
Church, for appointing overseers of the poor for the
tiistiing year, and for taking into consideration the Liverpool
()ek bill, recently introduced into -the House of Commons,
Particularly in reference to the loss to the parish in the wa
,?" y
I,"ates from the dismantling of the existing warehouses and
"_,M building yards to the westward of the Salthouse Dock.
The Rev. Rector BROOKS was in the chair.
Nlr. LOWNDES, the Vestry-clerk, having read the notice
'4)111,-i:fling the meeting,
r. SAIkIUEL HOLNIE proposed Mr. George Groom. Mr.
ASPINALL, seconded the motion.
th'3°lne objection being made by Mr. SLATER, on the ground
it Mr. Groom had resigned,
AseiNALL said, he had Mr. Groom's authority for
4)ring that he would serve again.
Mr. HoLmE objected to the Select Vestry nominating the
Voyerseers of the parish. He begged to say, that there were
eil persons as parishioners, and they, and not the Select
t estrY, had the right to elect those persons who, according
duties
their belief, would honestly and efficiently discharge the
'ties of the office.
SLATER said, the Select Vestry did not take upon
; 'elf to nominate the overseers; but when a party had been
4 office some time, and signified a disposition to relinquish
it, 1.1
Ze Vestry communicated that intention to the parishion-
s at large ; and there must be some significant reason for
'•
on Groom coming forward after having sent in his resigna-
-1,;;- ASPINALL said, he took upon himself the responsi-
:'tY for Mr Goom's coming forward ; and he id it for
ri-48°118 which. her would state. He very seldom interfered
Parish affairs, but he was induced to come down now, be-
N't?'e, a short time ago, an observation had been made in the
Ik'rett Vestry, that it was exceedingly ungentlemanlike, he
a2„l;eved, to interfere at all in asking Mr. Groom to stand
e"?: He was willing that any odium belonging to that ex-
t ,sion should attach to him, because he it was not
er„t'e• He had done hii duty in protesting against what he
i;nsidered an improper interference with the parishioners at
het (Hear.) There was another reason why he came
there, which was, to protest against a calumny which had been
in','o‘vn out against the Conservatives of Liverpool. He held
te Pis hand the Albion, in which they were accused of inter-
thll. too much with the Vestry, and wanting to make it all
tieir own. They knew their power, certainly—(hear)—but
co had not used it in the way spoken of. When Mr.
d ?in's resignation was mentioned, what did the other party
libri The Conservatives never interfered so long as an equi-
Ilyum of power was maintained, so long as there were two
erseers of one party and two of the other. But what did
Lille select Vestry do ? They proposed a third Reformer ; so
cult the parish was to have three Reformers and only one
evonservative. (Hear.) He said the parishioners at large
b
era ould ave interfered on the present occasion if this
attempt had not been made ; but he came there to tell them
that they would not submit to it. (Cheers.)
The nomination bein., parried, Mr. Win. Rushton, Mr.
lotnas Muncaster, and Mr. Joseph Gibbons were succes-
'ively
Qo proposed. The two former were elected without op-
Mr
fn. KNAPPER moved that Mr. Walthew be substituted
"r Mr. Gibbons.
4,1\1r.- SLATER complained that gentlemen who objected to
ti! undue preponderance being given to the liberals, were
o,:w giving an equally undue preponderance to the other side
Meetingnominating a third conservative, He appealed to the
if this was fair,
AsPINTALL.—You set us the example, and now you
Iwo can beat you, you complain of it, (A laugh.)
Hozarx said, though himself and his brother were
t4itclig the largest rate-payers in the town, he would not have
en any part at that meeting, had it not been from the
ovledge that the other party wanted to cram three radical
avow down down their throats; and he boldly and unhesitatingly
ht owed that he attended there for the purpose of putting a
to what he considered a nefarious proceeding. (Hear.)
j• KNAPPER'S motion having been seconded,
illhi::e.'ertaißsrAN called for a show of hands, and Mr.
hem °l.is was elected, about half-a-dozen hands only being
1,1111) in opposition.
Thr, e meeting then proceeded to the subject of the dock bill.
hay': Provisions of the bill, as stated in the marginal heads,
A,inrg been recited by the Vestry-clerk,
• PROCTOR said, as this a on invovin the
feerests of almost all classes inwasthe townuesti, he thought the
ia
lugstpu of the inhabitants at large ought to be taken respect-
lie therefore moved that the churchwardens should
)Iblic meeting and have it there discussed.
00,:er• LowNnts said, that was precisely what they had
d the meeting was there assembled.
that r. ritocrou then begged to move that it be adjourned to
for stllla week. He did not think the church a proper place
en meeting.
Dowee CHAIRMAN explained that the churchwardens had no
" call a meeting except in the church. He sincerely
bro;ed the law were altered in that respect ; •a
bill had been
hate",ght into Parliament for the purpose, but it had unfortu-
VY not been carried.
4,u
dr,.PltocToit, under these circumstances, would with-
.l4 5..„ motion,
t'ot,ted lotto said, he had a resolution to propose which he
of Would meet with unanimous approbation. By clause
tiav, , ke bill under consideration, the dock trustees would
graving-docks No. 1,2, and 3, together
41:tiltilitivPetirThalars:ethqeuantity of land, now occupied as ship-
ng Yards, or covered with buildings. This was very

valuable, and would yield a large return to the corporate
fund ; at a moderate estimate, not less than £200,000. or
£250,000. He had looked the bill very carefully through,
and he found nothing said as to the appropriation of this
money. He should therefore move a resolution to the effect
that the Select Vestry do petition Parliament to insert a
clause into the bill, making it lawful for the corporation to
apply this £230,000. or whatever other sum might be realized,
in liquidation of the present bonded debt. He thought they
would agree with him, that so large a receipt ought not to
pass into the hands of the corporation, to be disposed of ac-
cording to the whim or caprice of the party who might.be in
power. He would call their attention to the manner in which
the corporation had already disposed of whatever funds they
had become possessed of, and the expedition with which they
had emptied their coffers. He had taken the last three years,
not thinking it worth while to go further back, as they had
only been four years in office. He had extracted from their
general accounts the extraordinary receipts of money; and he
would show that they had had a very large receipt indeed,
and that the balance in August last was very trifling in com-
parison. The account between the corporation and their
treasurer for August-31, 1837, shoWed the following extraor.
dinar), receipts :
Cash in Bank and in the hands £ s. d.
of the Treasurer 16,872 2 9
Cash borrowed on Bond £31,600
Less paid in liquidation
of Bond Debt.

. 145
31,455 0 0
Received for declining to serve
office under the municipal act 50 0 0
Sale of the Advowson of St.
Luke's Church, and Interest 1,621 11 I 0

1838.
Sale of Reversions 1,76.1 0 0
Received on account of Advow-

sons 96 0 0
Ry amount boil-owed on Bond 56,650 0 0
Interest from Trustees of En-
dowment Fund..... ..

1839.
Received for fines for declining
to serve 0ffice....... ' 177 0 0
Sale of Reversions 1,105 0 0
Sales of Advowsons 12,509 2 0
From Trustees of the Clergy En-
dowment......
Less paid in liquidation
of Bond Debt..

47,180 0 0
Interest from Trustees of En-
dowment Fund ..
Cash borrowed on Bond

. 2,984 11 8
... 39,350 0 0

s. d.

49,998 14 7

69,322 0 0

103,30313 8

222,626 8 3

Cash in Batik and in the hands
orthe Treasurer
Total expenditure over and above
the amount received as ordi-
nary income. £189,321 16 6
So that in three years they had got through the enormous
sum of £189,321 16s 6d. He might, therefore, safely say,
that if they got the £250,000 from the sale of this property,
in two or three years nobody would know where it was.
(Hear.) He called their attention to this system of making
away with money, no matter what its amount. They were
capable of getting through it to any extent. (A laugh.) He
believed the first act they had contemplated obtaining was
for power to borrow £250,000; and a portion of this they
had borrowed at several sums amounting to £127,455 in three
years ; consequently, they would have £122,455 to borrow,
to complete the amount. If, in addition, they got from the
dock estate £250,000, they would have somethinglike £370,000
to spend during the next few years. This was too much.
He held in his hand a bill called .the Liverpool borough fund
bill, to enable the Corporation to raise money. Could it be
believed that a body of men with such funds at their com-
mand, would be applying to parliament to borrow money ?
If this were " reform," he hoped " reform" would never
again be coupled with "retrenchment." (Hear and cheers.)
Reform and extravagance would be a more appropriate com-
bination. With something like £400,000 in view, they wanted
additional facilities for raising money ! Mr. Ford here read
one of the clauses of the bill. He believed the people would
lend them any quantity, and for this reason, that the estate
in their immediate possession was not the only estate liable
for the payment in case of deficiency. They could lay a rate
to tax every inch of property in the borough. (Hear, hear.)
He should like them to have set this forth ; but they had
not the candour to do so. There was another point. As if
to gull the public, they had inserted a very curious clause,
empowering the council to create a sinking fund to repay the
money, at the rate of £lOOO per annum for every £50,000
they borrowed, besides interest. Suppose they were to go
on borrowing for ten years at this rate, as he had no doubt
they would, from the sample they had had of their proceed-
ings, he fancied they would find themselves somewhat in the
condition of the man with the wooden leg chasing the hare—
the more he ran, the more he was left bhind. (Laughter.)
Mr. Ford concluded by moving a resolution to the foregoing
purport.
Some conversation arose as to whether the resolution fell
legitimately within the scope of the preamble of the bill ; and
the vestry-clerk gave it as his opinion that it did not ; it
would be grafting upon a dock bill a measure relating to the
corporation, and the two were perfectly distinct.
Mr. FORD withdrew his motion, and proposed, in lieu of it
that the churchwardens be empowered to oppose any clauses
in the bill that inizlit appear to them injurious to the interests
of the parish, and to apply for the introduction of such clauses
as they might consider advantageous to it.
Mr. KNAPPER conceived that not only the proposed ware-
houses ought to be assessed and rated, but likewise the new
docks. He considered it a grievous thing for the parishioners
that the dock estate should pay no rates, when two thirds of
the pauperism was brought by the docks.
Mr. BiRKErr observed, that the shipowners would not
be the least sufferers by the proposed act. If the corpora-
tion, instead of building warehouses themselves would allow
private individuals to build them, one quarter of the money
would suffice.
The CHAIRMAN having risen to put the question to the
meeting,
Mr. HOLT thought the parishioners ought to know more
distinctly what they were going to spend their trnoney about.
Mr. liQI,Alf, said, the object was to prevent the dock
trustees having power to erect warehouses out of the public
funds, and obtaining the power of discharging vessels, and
employing coopers, and becoming master porters and master
carters, doing that which would be much better done by -in-
dividuals, and in which they would have no pecuniary interest.
The bill would destroy property now rated to the parish, with-
out diving any equivalent.
Cooyant directed Mr. Holt's attention to the "rating
clauses. He had contended in the council for a clause im-
posing all the parochial rates. But what did it turn out?
They had agreed to pay the poor rates, but forgot the paving
and sewerage, and watching and lighting rates.
Mr. HOLT said, the dock trustees paid these out of their
own puree.
Mr. DOVER admitted they did so : but were not the goods
from the warehouses to be sent along the streets, and who
was to pay for the wear and tear of the roads thus occasioned ?
(Hear.) On the subject of the dock warehouses a great deal
of delusion was studiously kept up. No man could have a
higher respect for Mr. Holt than he had; but he would ask
Mr. Holt if he would consider it fair for the corporation to
build offices to his property in Water-street, Mr. Holt was
a most respectable cotton-broker ; but could he sell cotton
against the corporation? (Hear, hear.) He could in one
way, because his concern was worked much cheaper, but he
would be in the Gazette before the corporation would give
in, because they bad a sinister end in view, and they would
carry it on to the end of time, though at a loss, because of
the patronage it would put in their hands. (Cheers.) Such
was the grasping disposition manifested by the corporation,
that on reading the bill he had looked anxiously forward till
he should come to a clause empowering them to supply the
town with boots and shoes. (Hear, and a laugh.)
Mr. ISAAC HoLmE spoke at some length against the mea-
sure, and reprobated in particular one clause, by which the
Dock Committee was authorised to seize any goods not
entered within forty -'eight hours after a vessel had been re-
ported. The warehouse scheme would do incalculable
injury, not to warehouse owners only, but to all owners of
property adjacent to the docks. Ten guineas had been
offered for land for which £3 could not now be obtained.
Mr. HoLmE corroborated the latter statement of the last
speaker, Land on the cast side of the Salthouse Dock sold
some time ago at £lO a square yard. At a sale by the cor-
poration on Thursday last ,two lots of land had been put up;
the highest offer for one was £4, and for the other £3 10s.
This showed the mischief arising even from the agitation of
the subject. The whole property must be reduced in value,
and consequently contribute less to the parish, by the com-
petition of dock warehouses.
Mr. Foap contended that the new dock would be more
for the benefit of Manchester than Liverpool, especially if
the people of Manchester succeeded in obtaining the privi-
lege of bonding.
After some further discussion, of a desultory character,
the Chairman suggested that Mr. Holt should move an
amendment.
Mr. HOLT declined; and the motion being put from the
chair, was carried with only one or two dissentients.

33,304 11 9