The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-10 00:00:00

TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS.

LIME-STREET WARD

twine(
fore
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that the

"J. CAMPBELL,
(Signed) " FRED. POLLOCK,
"T. STARKIE,
" WM. WIGHTMAN.

" Westminster, Nov. 7, 1840."
On the consultation which preceded this opinion, he was
advised that counsel expressly declared their opinion to
be, that the act which directed the returns to be made
by two o'clock, on the second day after the election,
was not conclusive but only declaratory. On this opinion
his duty was to advise the council to receive Mr. Kilshaw as
a member of it, leaving Mr. Blackburn to assert any right
whirls he might be entitled to, if he had any.
Mr. J. N. WOOD moved that Mr. ;Kilshaw be introduced
into the Council.

Mr. JOHN SMITH seconded the motion.
Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE asked wlkther he correctly under-
' stood the Mayor to say that Mr. Blackburn had signed the
declaration ?
The MAvott replied that Mr. Blackburn had subscribed
the declaration in proper time.
The TOWN-CLERK said, that at the time Mr. Blackburn
subscribed the declaration in pursuance of the act, only one
return had been made to and published by the Mayor, which
was that Mr. Blackburn had been elected. Mr. Blackburn
therefore was perfectly right in making the declaration.
Subsequently, however, the certificate of the alderman and
assessors, rectifying that return, had been published by the
Mayor ; and in due time Mr. Kilshaw made his declaration.
Mr. Blackburn could not have been better advised than to
make the declaration, because he thereby completely exone-
rated himself from any liability to pay the penalty incurred
for not making the declaration within five days. In the next
place, if the advice of counsel had been different from that
which he {the Town-clerk) had just read, it would have
saved the Council from a very embarrassing point, and that
was what should be done upon an extraordinary vacancy,
for if this opinion had not been in favour of Mr. Kilshaw,
and Mr. Blackburn had not made the declaration, the five
days would have expired, and there would have been an
extraordinary vacancy.

Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE was fully satisfied that Mr. Black-
burn was correct in taking the course which he had ; and he
felt alsd that he (Mr. Lawrence) was also justified in asking
the question. •

Tlie MAYOR then put the question whether Mr. Kilshaw
should take his scat, and it was unanimously carried in the
affirmative.

Mr. Kusnaw was then introduced by Mr. J. N. Wood
and Mr. John. Smith, and took his seat.

ELECTION OF MAYOR.
The MAYOR said the next business on the paper was the
election of a gentleman to fill the office of mayor for the en-

suing year

Mi•.EvANs then said he rose for the purpose of moving
that Mr. Thomas Bolton be the Mayor of Liverpool for the
ensuing year. His qualifications for the office, and his
claims to the high honour of holding it, were so well known
to all that he felt relieved from the necessity of going into
any detail of his merits. Mr. Bolton had passed a long
mercantile life in Liverpool, where he had acquired an inde-
pendence without reproach. The same persevering industry
and good judgment with which he had advanced his private
fortune, he had carried into the service of the public, for
whose welfare he had been ever ready, under all circumstances,
to devote both his time and money. Mr. Bolton was not
one of those who claimed public honour in right of their
private wealth, for he had ever acted upon the principle, that
the gloater the wealth the greater the responsibility—and
the more we should give of that wealth and of our time to
the service of that society which tolerated and protected
inordinate possessions. There could be no doubt that wealth
in its proper place was no crime, that it ought not to injure
any individual, but upon the contrary should always have its
due weight and influence in society. But when, instead of
being used to forward the purposes of society, it was used
against them, or was kept altogether in abeyance from their
benefit ; it became an evil to mankind, and almost a crime
in the possessor. He trusted that the high honour of pre-
siding over a great town like this would never be sullied by
any considerations of wealth unaccompanied by merit, in
proportion to that wealth, and adequate to the uses of it ;
and he hoped that every gentleman who was offered the ho-
nour of the mayoralty of Liverpool would be able to produce
his merits in his labours, public services, and character. •
Mr. JOSEPH HORN BY had heard with great pleasure what
Mr. Evans had said, as it relieved him from the necessity of
saying much in favour of Mr. Bolton. He was quite certain
that the council would be perfectly justified, both in its own
and in the eyes of the public, in selecting Mr. Bolton as the
mayor of Liverpool. For a long time he had devoted him-
self to the promotion of the trade and prosperity of the port,
and to the extension of those political principles which he
(Mr. Hornby) hoped the majority of the council still main
tained ; and he felt certain that, at the expiration of his yea'
of office, if it pleased the council to elect him, he would re.
tire not only with the good opinion of the council, but witt
that of the town at large
Mr

ROBERTSON GLADSTONE then rose. He said that
without venturing at all to enter into the comparative quali-
fications of the gentleman who had just been proposed as
mayor for the ensuing year, and of the gentleman whDm he

was about to name, he should say little more—for there was
no necessity for saying more—than that the name he was
about to propose did, in the very strongest manner, recom-
mend itself to the notice of the council. (Hear.) If inde-
pendence of character, if sterling and honest worth, if—and
he begged to be understood that his remarks applied merely
to the individual of whom he spoke—a gentleman in mind
and a gentleman in manners, a liberal in his actions rather
than in his professions—(applause)—and, if still more was
required, he might add, although it was unncessary, great
interest in the growing prosperity of Liverpool—a man, too,
strongly attached to the institutions and liberties of this town,
as well as to those of his native country—if these were quali-
fications for the high position of mayor of Liverpool, no fur-
ther comment was required from him when he told the coun-
cil that it was his intention to propose Mr. John Shaw Leigh,
as a fit and proper person to fill the office of mayor for the
ensuing year. (Hear, hear.) He should not attempt to oc-
cupy the attention of the council at the present time, more
than to remark upon a hint which appeared to be thrown out
by the gentleman who proposed Mr. Bolton. From what
that gentleman had stated it might almost seem that to pos-
sess wealth—though he agreed that it increased responsibi-
lity—was absolutely a curse. From the manner in which the
subject was hinted Pt, he presumed that if Mr. Leigh pos-
sessed wealth, and any other gentleman possessed less wealth,
that was a disqualification instead of a qualification. (Hear,
hear.) Now, whether Mr. Leigh was a rich man, or whether
he was a poor man, was a question which ,had not occu-
pied the minds of those with whom he (Mr. G.) acted for
one moment. Bad as they might appear to be, they had not
made wealth their leading star. (Hear.) They wished only
to see a gentleman possessing the qualifications which he had
enumerated filling the high office of mayor; and he and his
friends were unanimously of opinion, that such a man was
Mr. John Shaw Leigh. He, therefore, begged to move that
that gentleman be elected mayor of this borough for the en-
suing year.

Mr. BUSHELL rose to second the nomination. Concur-
ring fully as he did in the sentiments uttered by his friend
Mr. Gladstone, he had great pleasure in seconding the nomi-
nation of Mr. John Shaw Leigh. (Hear, hear.) And he
thought he should be able to bring forward' some arguments
in favour of the election of that gentleman, and in favour of
those principles which ?4;. Leigh had ever held, and which
he trusted he ever would hold, which, as there were certain
members pf the council who were not bound down to do as
they were dictated to, and who had yet left to them the high
privilege of exercising their own judgments, although they
entertained different opinions to Mr. Leigh, would induce
them, for the reasons he should state, to give him their votes.
(Hear.) He felt that this was not an improper time to enter
into some details with regard to the present position of the
council ; and, in endeavouring to enter upon those details,
he should do so with that good feeling which, he trusted,
would always govern his remarks, however much the senti-
ments which those remarks embodied might not be in ac-
cordance with those of the majority in the council. In
undertaking this subject, he felt it his duty to go hack to the
position of the body which formerly occupied the council
chamber. Charges were alleee.4 against that body, whether
rightly or not he did no now, pretend to say, which might
be embraced in the following terms—exclusiveness, self-
election, and' extravagance. (Hear, hear.) It was for him
to enter now into an exposition of the acts of the present
body, in order to shew, as far as it was in his power, how
the very same charges, brought by the men a majority of
whom now filled the council chamber, against their prede-
cessors, had been acted upon, and been the mode of action,
of those very individuals. Let him go back to the first
election of the reformed council. 'When the majority en-
tered the council-chamber they found a gentleman filling the
office of Town-clerk with credit to himself, and satisfaction
to the town at large; but what 94, their first act ? Inveigh-
ing bitterly against eNclnsiveness, against bigotry, and
tyranny, their very first act was to displace from the seat
which be occupied the gentleman who then filled the office of
Town-clerk. (Hear.) What did it serve, although it might
be said " we have given you a gentleman of high integrity,
of strict honesty, of unbending impartiality, and of great
legal talents?" What said it in favour of the appointment,
if seeking, as they had doubtless sought, a willing and time-
serving tool, they had been disappointed, and the town had
had reason to rejoice in the honesty, the integrity, arid im-
partiality and talent of the present Town.-clerk ? (Hear.)
Because Prussia had been blessed with a benevolent and en-
lightened Sovereign, egnld that be used as an argument in
favour of despotic gevernment? The principle was the same.
The next act of this council, still inveighing against exclu-
siveness, was to appoint aldermen exclusively of their own
political opinions. (Hear.) What was the object of that but
to raise up an influence within the council-chamber, which
should, in effect, be the means of putting the votes and
voices of the town at large at defiance ? (Hear, hear.)
What was their next act ? It was to nominate magistrates
for the appointment of the crown, wile entertained exclu-
sively the political opinions of those by whom they were re-
commended ; and what was here the motive ? To create such
a municipal 'and parliamentary influence, as, it was hoped,
would prove an effectual barrier to conservative aggression.
(Hear, hear.) And to judge from the acts of those ma-
gistrates, he should say that we had found among them men
who, being bound by their position to be protectors of the
law, unless they were much belied, had become themselves
the breakers of the law, by making others the Protectors,
(Uproar and cries of " Name, name." What was their
next act? Having the power, they had the disposition to
shut out from the committees gentlemen who had been re-
rurned to the council, of high talents, of great integrity, and
whose position in life was equal to. that of' any other gentle-
man in that council. (Hear, hear, hear.) What was
the intention of that? The intention was to show
to those constituencies, who dared to send into that cham-
b'er representatives of political opinions opposed to those
of the majority of that body, the contempt in which they

Yesterday the first meeting of the Town Council, since the
municipal election, was held in the Town-hall. Both parties
were present in formidable strength. Indeed there was only
one member absent, Mr. Sandbach.
Sir JOSHUA WALMSLEY took the chair. He said, that
previous to the commencement of business, he had one
request to make from the council, and that was for permis-
sion to take a copy of the painting of Liverpool in the Town-
hall. The, request was immediatey granted.

I tie MAYOR said that the Town-Ciel:k had taken the opi-
nion of counsel upon the erroneous return for Lime-street
ward ; and, in compliance with his advice, he (the Mayor)
had thought it his duty to sign the certificate of the election
of Mr. Kilshaw, which was made by the aldermen and the
assessors, and place it on the outside of the Town-hall. He
had also sent for Mr. Kilshaw and Mr. Blackburn. Mr.
Blackburn had previously signed the declaration; Mr. Kil-
shaw had done so this morning, and was now in attendance.
He (the Mayor) now called upon the Town-clerk to read the
opinion of the Attorney-General, the late Attorney-General,
Mr. Starkie, and Mr. Wightman, Which he had taken.
The TOWN-CLERK commenced by stating that the return
as originally published for Lime-street ward, gave a majority
of two for Mr. Blackburn ; but on the application of a bur-
gess, the voting papers were examined, and in the result
there appeared to be, on the face of the voting papers, a
majority of six for Mr. Kilshaw. Under these circumstances,
he (the Town-clerk) deemed it his duty that the Council
should be prepared with the best advice that could be oh-
Js to the proper course to be pursued. He had there-
.aken the opinion of the present Attorney-General, the
Attorney. General (Sir Frederick Pollock), Mr. Starkie,
Mr. Wightman, which was as follows :
We are of opinion that the best course to be pursued, is,
Mayor should publish the certificate of the Aldermen
_assessors certifying the mistake in their former declara-
,n ; so that Mr. Kilshaw, who had the majority of legal
votes, should be permitted by the Mayor and Town-council
to make the declaration, and take his seat for Lime-street
ward, leaving it to Mr. Blackburn to take such steps as he
may be advised.