The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-06-29 00:00:00

El): Etinrpool otaiti3aM

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TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 29, 1847.

We take the following from the London Times
of yesterday :
Notwithstanding the Hon. C. P. Villiers is likely to be
nominated for South Lancashire, nothing has yet been
said of his intention to decline the representation of Wol-
verhampton. The probability is that he will remain faith-
ful to his first love, and that the electors of South Lanca-
shire, after going through the forms of an election, will
be compelled to solicit the services of some other favourite.
If there be any ground for this anticipation of our
contemporary, we apprehend there is a fine open-
ing for the introduction of a Protestant candidate
to the constituency of South Lancashire.

On Thursday last, an adjourned meeting of the
Conservative Association was held at their rooms,
for the purpose of deciding upon the selection of
candidates to contest the borough. The meeting
was well attended, and the proceedings at that, as
at all the previous meetings, were most harmonious
throughout, notwithstanding the assertion to the
contrary of a Saturday's contemporary. The whole
of the gentlemen present manifested the greatest
willingness to forbear pressing any personal predi-
lections in favour of any particular candidate; and
not an angry word, or the semblance of any differ-
ence of opinion, or split, was observable. Nothing,
however, of a conclusive nature was determined
upon; and the meeting was further adjourned to
yesterday at half-past two p.m.
The meeting was accordingly held yesterday,
and was most influentially and numerously at-
tended, the same earnestness and unanimity being
displayed which had characterised all their former
meetings. It will be seen from our advertising
columns that the result was the adoption of Reso-
lutions declaring that Sir Digby Mackworth, hart.,
should be invited to offer himself to the constitu-
ency, and that Sir Howard Douglas, hart., should
be requested to come forward again, A deputation
was appointed to wait upon Sir Digby, who is at
present staying at the Adelphi Hotel; and it will
be seen from his advertisement in our columns,

and upon the walls, that he has acceded to the
wish of the Conservative body, and to-day, at
half-past two, will make his appearance on 'Change
and address the electors. A. depUtation also pro-
ceeded to London to wait upon Sir Howard
Douglas, who it is confidently expected will with-
draw, at their request, his intention of retiring
from the representation.
We congratulate most heartily the Conservatives
and the Protestants of Liverpool upon this happy
selection of men to represent their interests and to
protect the interests and the institutions of their
country. In Sir Digby Mackworth, as will be seen
from his address, we shall secure a conscientious
and unflinching supporter of the principles of our
Protestant Reformation ; a friend to the mainte-
nance of a fair protection to the national industry,
and one who will not be betrayed into the suicidal

folly of undermining that great interest which has
contributed so greatly to avance the reputation,
the security, and the commercial and naval power
:of Great Britain—her shipping interest. Sir Digby
is resolutely opposed to any tampering with the
navigation laws, by which British shipping is pro-
tected against the foreigner; and is disposed to
receive, with the high consideration which they de-
serve, any suggestions from this important com-
mercial constituency with respect to the Currency
Bill of 1844 and all other commercial questions.
Of Sir Howard Douglas we need say nothing in

praise. He has been tried in stormy- times; and
when so many others wavered, Sir Howard was
found true as steel. As a man of business, ever
Active to press the claims and to protect the inte-
rests of this constituency, he is second to no mem-
ber of the House of Commons, and has given satis-
faction to every deputation from Liverpool which
has waited upon him for counsel or assistance.
He is a man, moreover, of acknowledged high
persOnal honour and integrity; and his influence
with men of all parties in parliament or in power
is, deservedly great.
The great consideration, however, which should
weigh with the Protestant electorS•uf Liverpool to
put forth their most strenuous efforts to return
triumphantly Sir Howard and Sir Digby, is the
position in which their principles. place them be-
tween the Protestant institutions of the country
and the advancing tide of Popery and Infidelity.
There is.uothing which will more • strengthen the
hands of the defenders of the church and the con-
stitution Of the country than the declaration to the
world, by the free burgesses and the electors of
this great and loyal commercial constituency, by
the return of two such men, that they are not pre-
' pared to sacrifice their Protestant consistency for
any mere temporal consideration—that they are
-resolved that no further concession shall he made
to agitation, and that whilst they are willing to
remain tolerant, they are not prepared to aggran-
dize and endow, what the laWs of the country and
the voice of their church have declared to be dan-
gerous error and abominable idolatry.

Wheat, qrs.,
Barley
Oats.
Rye
Pease
Beans
Maize
Buck Wheat .
Bere or Big...

Total grain

-IT is not often that we find ourselves agreeing in
opinion upon questions of commercial or social
policy with our Whig contemporary, the Morning
Chronicle. Just now, however, we have that gra-
tification ; and most cordially beg leave to express
our thanks to the Chronide for one of the most
- damaging blows levelled against the modern panacea
of free trade, which has recently been dealt. It is
true that there is nothing particularly new in our
contemporary's discoveries. They have been again
and again advanced by ourselves and others. The
novelty, and the telling quality of the remarks,
consist in the circumstance that they come from a
Whig authority.
Our contemporary refers to the fact, as one of a
most dangerous tendency, that, whilst our exports
of late have been equal to those of preceding years,
being, up to the sth May, this year, E 16,157,969,
against £15,873,858 to the same period last year,
our importations have largely exceeded them, thus
creating a balance against us which threatens
speedily to absorb the entire available capital of the
country. Those importations, moreover, consist, in
a vastly increased degree, of articles of consumption,
whilst the importation of articles intended for re-
production—raw materials, &c., which our industry
can convert into capital—has considerably fallen
off. The former class of articles, our contemporary
remarks, " when consumed, is absolutely gone for
ever ; it leaves no representative behind to com-
mand or exchange for a future supply." Not so
the second, which " replenishes our workshops and
our warehouses, and is always 'to the fore' to per-
form the same good offices again. The following
ttitAe, which the Chronicle has taken from the
columns of the Economist, .chews the comparative

activity with which we have been importing the
two classes of articles :

IMPORTS FROM JANUARY 5 TO MAY 5.
1845. 1846.
15,273 450,971
100,401 44,994
48,752 87,673
295 30
6,043 31,078
36,525 76,872
19,096 128,284
660 572

1847.
333,336
328,596
293,595
16,839
51,562

132,893
1,093,364
15,737
491

qrs. 227,045 820,474 2,266,414

Flour and Meal, cwts 15,764 717,632 1,893,456
Provisions, do. 43,836 61,826 115,765
Cattle, No ...... . 2,791 14,753 25,060
Butter, cwt 61,730 49,354 82,928
Cheese, do 76,229 _ 77,936 100,739
- . _ . ___

, .
Rice, dO
Sugar consumed, do. 1,496,404 1,617,084 1,903,942
Coffee, lbs.
Tea, do 14,191,359 15,214,805 15,750,907

There is an increase here in nearly every article.
Our importations of raw materials, however, shew
a very different result :

IMPORTS FROM STH JANUARY TO STH MAY,

1845. 1846. 1847.
Sheeps' Wool, lbs 14,229,276 13,762,516 7,699,419
Cotton Wool, cwt 2,385,054 1,534,715 1,399,651
Flax, do.
Hemp do 130,488 95,139 77,885
Silk raw, lbs.
-, thrown, do.

There is a further decrease in the importations
of a number of articles used for working up these
raw materials, such as dye stuffs, gums, &c. We
shall allow our contern,lorary to make his own de-
ductions from his premises :
" It is most apparent then, that while the pantries and
larders of the United Kingdom have been supplied with
the most unusual quantities of foreign provisions, our
workshops and our warehouses have been greatly neg-
lected. As a nation, we resemble an improvident shop-
keeper who lives upon his stock. His goods are sold,
and the proceeds, in place of replenishing his shelves, are
exhausted in his housekeeping-book. His purchases
(imports) are of eatables and drinkables received through
the area gate, in place of hardwares or dry wares through
his shop door. In ancient times, and in distant parts of
the country, before any village was furnished with its
shops, the wants of the country were supplied by itinerant
dealers, who visited at stated intervals the thinly scat-
tered houses in remote districts. ' These dealers were
called packmen. Some of the ancient accounts of this
class of dealers are amusing and instructive enough.
The thrifty and the provident are described as returning
regularly to their head quarters to replenish their packs.
They then paid for the venture with which they had
started, and were trusted with another. But it ap-
pears there were then, as now, many who were im-
provident and prodigal. The ife of a packmen ex-
posed him to loose and irregular habits, and it
sometimes happened that he continued upon his
journey until he spent principal and profit, and his capi-
tal stock was exhausted. In the phrase of his time, this
man was said to have "perished his pack." This is not
It unli the process which the official accounts of the trade
9f present year show to have been going forward in
.61. country. The United Kingdom has been "perishing
its pack." Our goods have been exported, and not only
principal and profit, but all the ready money we could lay
hands on, have been exhausted in furnishing food for
immediate use. We are buying more and producing less
than ever. In Ireland alone, some ten millions, by this
time, have been expended, for which no return will ever
be made. In the manufacturing districts, with food at
double its usual cost, employment is more scarce and wages
lower than ever. There is, in fact, a rapid exhaustion of
capital going forward; our means are expended in supplying
our daily wants, and not in replenishing our empty ware-
houses and idle workshops, with the materials of future
wealth. OUR MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS ARE
LIVING UPON THEIR CAPITAL, AND NOT UPON THEIR
PROFITS ; AND OUR ARTIZ ANS AND LABOURERS UPON
THE REMNANT OF THEIR FURNITURE, COMMITTED TO
THE CARE OF THE PAWNBROKER, EKED OUT BY THE POOR
RATES, INSTEAD OF UPON WAGES."

The above views are precisely those which we
have all along held as to the operation of Free
Trade measures. The country is indeed "perish-
ing its pack." Our legislators say to us we will
allow you to increase your consumption of foreign
bread stuffs, of tea, of luxuries of every kind, for-
getful of the fact that such increased consumption
is so much abstracted from the income of the
people, which would otherwise be devoted to the
purchase of articles, the produce of the industry of
the British artisan. The Chronicle has shewn us
that our exports are not deficient this year, as
compared with last. Yet our factories are stand-
ing. The weaver is idle. Tradesmen of every
description are cramped in their means, and com-
plaining of the stagnation of their business. What
wonder, when we see how we have been gorging
ourselves with foreign produce to the extent above
shown.

IN the remarks which we have, from time to
time, felt called upon to offer upon the question of
the proposed Water supply from Rivington Pike,
we have been actuated by no motive or feeling
other than that which doubtless actuates the mem-
bers of the Health Committee—viz., a desire to
advance the true interests of the town. We had
arrived at the conviction, after mature considera-
tion of the subject in all its bearings, that the com-
mittee were rushing into an expenditure greater
than the amount of benefit to be derived warrants;
that the Rivington Scheme is a hasty one, based
upon erroneous data and certain to be productive
only of disappointment. We have adduced facts
and figures to prove the correctness of these
opinions ; and as yet they have not been rebutted!
in one essential particular.
An attempt has been indeed made by the Liver-
pool Times, to show that we were in error in stating
that the whole available water shed, provided by
the Bill, was not limited to 8,200 acres, This fact,
however, was deposed to by Mr. Bateman, the
engineer to the Manchester Corporation, and by
other competent parties, whose testimony, more-
over, was fully borne out by measurements made
upon the Ordnance maps ; and so strongly were
the committee impressed with its truth that it was
for some time in doubt whether on this very
ground they would not be justified in rejecting the
Bill altogether, Ultimately, we believe, the pre-
amble was only passed on the quantity of water
space, 8,200 acres, being assumed by the com-
mittee.

We pointed out the large quantity of water to
be deducted from the estimated supply, for com-
pensation and for the supply of Chorley, Wigan,
&c. ; and the immense cost of maintaining the ne-
cessary works for this purpose. We have as yet
seen nothing to shake our position, with respect to
this part of the question. Again, with respect to
the estimated rain-fall of the district, we still be-
lieve that the calculations of Mr. Hawksley are
overstrained ; and perhaps the particulars we give
in another column, as to the experience of the
Edinburgh Water Company, may tend to confirm
our views.
We observe that the Mercury has stepped for-
ward to instruct W us with respect to the missing
clause in the bill requiring a constant supply of
water to be kept in the mains at high pressure. On
this point, however, our contemporary, the Journal,
has so handsomely aided us, that we feel it unne-
cessary to say more than that we were perfectly
correct, and the Mercury as perfectly wide- of the
mark.

AMONGST the addresses to
.Constituencies, is-
sued during the past week, one of the most inter-
esting is that of Mr. Richard Cobden to the
electors of Stockport.. The public have naturally
been anxious to learn how the present posture of
affairs in the commercial world, following so closely
upon the carrying out of his favourite policy, is
viewed by the great apostle of Free Trade. The
following are Mr. Cobden's rather apologetic re-
marks upon the subject :
" I deeply regret that you will be called upon to exer-
cise the elective franchise-at a period of great manufac-
turing depression. It is no consolation to generous minds
to know that their sufferings are shared by others ; but,
unhappily, almost the whole of Europe is mourning over
deficient harvests, amid privations, which, for severity
and extent, have no parallel in the present century. It
. is possible that to some of my friends, who rejoiced in the
brighter prospects afforded by our recent commercial re-
forms, the existing distress may have brought feelings of
doubt and discouragement. Free trade cannot avert a
sudden and calamitous visitation of Providence ; it can
only alleviate its pressure. But the present crisis has at
least this consolation, that it has brought from all quar-
ters proofs of the. soundness and beneficence of our prin-
ciples ; for we have seen the governments of the continent,
with hardly an exception, abolish their multiform regula-
tions of the corn trade at the moment when, if their in-
terference be ever efficacious, it was the most needed ;
and we see them now relying upon the energies of eman-
cipated commerce alone for saving their people from the
horrors of famine."
At last, then, we have it confessed that there is
something which Free Trade cannot accomplish.
It; caonfnoitrao\v,eidenrtace.,,_
sudden and calamitous visita-
tionlt cannot either prevent
failing harvests visiting at once more countries
than our own, a fact which Mr. Cobden might
have considered before pressing forward measures
which are calculated to render us less dependent
on our own soil for articles of food than we have

heretofore been. When Mr. Cobden says, how-
ever, that Free Trade alleviates the pressure caused
by the visitations of Providence, he says what has
not yet been proved. It will bring us increased
importations of foreign corn no doubt, and greater
cheapness ; but it has not as yet brought employ-
ment to enable the masses to buy that corn. On
the contrary, it has thrown into derangement all
the arrangements and the machinery of our com-
merce, our finance, and our industry.
The next paragraph is even more unsatisfactory.
It shows that Mr. Cobden is a little afraid of the
operation of his own measure :
" It must, however, be acknowledged that we enter
upon the new commercial era under unfortunate circum-
stances. Ido not allude merely to the present scarcity
of food, which, in all human probability, will be of short
duration, but also to the possibility of a sudden reaction
in the opposite direction, which may protract for a time
the transition from the restrictive system to the more equa-
ble state of freedom. The present exorbitant price will
cause, as in former times in England, a greatly increased
production of corn. At the same time the agriculture of
the whole civilized world is under tne stimulus of famine
prices ; and, should we be blessed with a succession of
good harvests, we may anticipate a glut of corn, not as
the result of free trade, but of the present scarcity. A
similar process, to be followed, possibly, with like results,
is going on with another important interest. The present
enormous cost of freights, by which not a few of the
shipowners of the Mediterranean will clear the value of
their vessels in this year, is everywhere causing large in-
vestments of capital in ship-building. Judging from for-
mer experience, it is not, therefore, improbable that these
two interests, which have been the least favourable to
free trade, may be ere long simultaneously exposed to the
effects of a reaction from their present excitement. If
there be any force in these views, they furnish the strong-
est motives to the friends of free trade for sending to the
next Parliament, during the existence of which the pro-
cess I have described will in all probability be passed
through, representatives of tried convictions, who will
guard with firmness the great measures of last year from
[ the dangers to which they may be exposed in their transi-
tion state."

Free Trade, therefore, is to subject us to. the
oscillations of a sort of see-saw, instead of insui-
ing us, as was promised, steady prices. This year
we have the bulk of the available capital of the
country withdrawn from the usual commercial
operations, and rushing into the grain markets of
the world, thus forcing up prices to an unnatural
height. Then, tempted by those prices, capital
sets itself to the work of cultivation and brings
about a glut of food, with the usual ruinous re-
sults. Every year that we have to import largely
our shipowners and foreign shipowners are to be
in a state of plethoric prosperity ; and then capital
will be directed towards an immense increase of
our commercial marine. When we cease to import
largely, of course the shipowner is to suffer a
reaction. Mr. Cobden winds up his apology by
urging the necessity of having "' representatives of
tried convictions," (what are these ?) " who will
guard with firmness the great measures of last
year from the dangers to which they may be ex-
posed in, their transition state." Why, by his own
confession, not the " great measures of last year"
but every interest and class in the country are to
be henceforth in a constant state of transition.
We are to be constantly travelling. between glut
and famine prices of food ; inordinate stimulation
of agricultural operations and agricultural ruin.
We are one year to have our ship-yards busy and
our fleets bringing grain from all the markets of
the world, and the next year the same fleets rotting
idle in our docks.

OUR CORN MARKET, YESTERDAY-ARRIVAL

OF THE HIBERNIA..

We had little doing yesterday in our corn market the
hour at which letters and papers by the- Hibernia were
delivered being too late to allow them to- produce their
effect. It was, however, a prevailing opinion amongst
those who are well informed, that the prospects of large
supplies from the States must operate seriously upon
prices here. The fine weather of the past few days is
also exercising its natural effects ; and should it happily
continue for the requisite period, as there seems just now
every prospect of its doing, we shall perhaps see our
grain markets fall as rapidly as they have risen. In all
the internal markets our advices notify a decline last
week; and in some it is considerable. The farmers, it is
observed, are bringing out their stocks, which, although
not very extensive, must, if pressed, and with the pros-
pect of a harvest not so late as was a short while ago
spoken of, assist the downward course of-prices.

COURT OF CHANCERY, LINCOLN'S...INN, JUNE. 22a.
DALE V. HAMILTON (JUDGMENT).

This decree from an appeal of Vice-Chancellor Wigram
was argued before his lordship a few days back. The bill
was filed by the plaintiff, who in and previous to the year
1045 carricd vn the nusinezb ur a surveyor and land agent
at Birkenhead, and stated that in that year a person of
the name of M'Adam, since deceased, proposed to the
plaintiff that he should select and purchase a suitable
quantity of land for the purpose of joint speculation, arKI
that the plaintiff and M'Adam should be mutually inter,
ested in such purchase, on terms stated.
The Lord Chancellor on Saturday delivered judgment.
He said, in the conclusion, that " all that would be clone
would be to direct a sale of the property, unless the par-
ties came to some arrangement, which it would be far
better for them to do, as most likely it might not be the
most advantageous course to sell the property directly.
The decree must, therefore, be for a reference to the
master, to inquire whether, consistent;with a declaration
that the plaintiff is entitled to one-third of the profits of
the land, under the memorandum of. the 27th of October,
1838, it would be advisable to sell it, unless any other ar-
rangement were made by the parties themselves."
A discussion then took place between the council re-
specting the costs of the appeals, and
The Loan CHANCELLOR eventually gave the plaintiff
the costs of the defendant's appeal.

IMPORT& OF GRAIN FOR THE MONTHi

ENDED FIFTH JUNE.

From the parliamentary paper Net published we learn
that the total imports of corn and grain for the month
ended sth June instant were, from foreign countries,
1,012,112 qrs. 5 bus..; from colonies, 1,177 qrs. 1 bus.;
total, 1,020,289 qrs. 6 bus. Meal and Flour—foreign,
723,072 cwt. 0 qrs. 11 lbs. ; colonial, 10,539 cwt. 0 qrs.
17 lbs.: total, 733,611 cwt. F qr. 8 lbs. Quantities ad-
mitted to home consumption of corn and grain—foreign,
1,019,957 qrs. 4 bshls. ; colonial, 1,170 qrs. 5 bshls. :
total, 1,021,121 qrs. 1 bshl. Meal and flour, foreign,
739,337 cwt. 1 qr. 15 lbs. ; coienial, 12,222 cwt, 01r. 5
lbs : total, 751,559 cwt. 1 qr., 2 lb. The total quantities
remaining in warehouse are, grain and corn, 18,707 qrs.
5 bshls., and meal and flour, 30,316 cwt. 0 qr. 11 lbs.

FIRST SYMPTOM OF THR APPROACHING ELRCTION-
EBBING CONTEST.—Yesterday, a large red placard ap-
peared on the walls of the town, thus printed :—" ELEC-
TORS OF LIVERPOOL Vote for no Candidate who
will not pledge himself to support a modification of Sir
Robert Peel's Bank Bill of 1844.
THE WEATHER has, on the whole, been highly favour-
able for vegetation, since our last publication, with
showers and occasional sunshine, though rather cold at
nights and mornings for the season. The crops continue
•to look extremely well. Wheat, oats, and potatoes, are
rapidly progressing, and if warm sunny weather succeed,
an early harvest may be expected. A considerable quan-
tity of hay-grass has already been cut, and some of it, in
early fields, dried, and gathered in.
At a meeting of the Marylebone vestry on Saturday,
Mr. Williams, M.P., said that he had received letters
from Liverpool, showing that the baths and washhouses
there had failed. We wonder where the honourable gen-
leman received the information.
GREAT TROTTING MATCH.—On Saturday afternoon an
extraordinary trotting match came off' at Bellvue Gardens,
Manchester. Mr. Burke, of Birmingham, undertook to
trot, tandem, 16 miles in an hour, for £lOO to £2OO.
Before starting, the odds were in favour of the racer, but
towards the close of the match the odds turned against
Mr. Burke, and 2 to 1 was freely offered in favour of time.
The whole distance was performed in one hour and three
minutes, the driver thereby losing by three minutes.
THE ELECTIONS AND THE DISSENTERS.—A long ad-
dress appears in yesterday's Times, signed by upwards of
a hundred and fifty leading dissenters (among whom are
Mr. Thomas Blackburn, Mr. C. E. Rawlings, and Mr. c
C. Robertson, of this town), calling on the non-conform-
ists
to express their opinions on " state interference with
religion' and act accordingly. They recommend their
fellow dissenters to " refuse to take part in the contests
which allow them no opportunity of bearing witness
against the ecclesiastical policy recently pursued by par-
liament."
LIBERALITY.--A reverend gentleman who had arrived
here from the neighbourhood of Wigan, yesterday morn-
ing, with a large number of poor school children, chiefly
from factories, applied to Mr. S. Willoughby, of Birken-
head Hotel, to know what he would charge for the use of
a steam-beat to treat the youngsters to a trip, as they, had
never seen a ship, and felt anxious to have a sail. Mr.
W.,with his accustomed liberality, promptly replied,—
" here is a boat at your service, and I will charge you
nothing !" Such disinterested generosity deserves re-
cording.
LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.—Last evening, the
24th anniversary meeting of the Liverpool auxiliary of
this society was held at Great George-street Chapel.
The meeting was numerously and respectably. attended.
The chair was taken by Samuel Job, Esq. The Rev.
Dr. Raffles read a statement of accounts for the
past year, from which it appeared that the receipts
of the auxiliary were £l,lOO, upwards of a thousand
of which had been transmitted to the Parent Society.
The Rev. Dr. Legge, a missionary lately returned
from China, gave a very interesting detail of the opera-
tions of the society in that country. The Rev. Dr. Han-
nay, of Manchester, moved a vote of unabated confidence
in the society, and the motion was seconded by-the Rev.
Dr. Hamilton, of Leeds. The Rev. Mr. Bath, a mission-
ary from Tahiti and the navigators' Islands, the Rev.
Mr, Birrell, and the Rev, Zr. VOrsoe* were the sllbse,
• ,quest, speakers,

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

CLOSING OF THE BIRKENHEAD DOCKS.-
IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE DOCK
COMMISSIONERS.

Yesterday, an adjourned meeting of the Dock Com-
missioners was held in the Board-room, Birkenhead, for
the purpose of hearing a statement of the progress of
the deputation which had been recently sent to London
for the two-fold purpose of negociating for a further loan
of £50,000, to enable them to carry on the works now in
progress, and also to watch the passing of the two local
bills now before Parliament.

The Board sat at the usual hour, and there was a very
full attendance of commissioners, four only being absent.
The following members were present :—William Laird,
C. Bentham, J. H. Hind, Alexander Thompson, J. Hick-
lin' J. H. Nichols, C. A. Watson, H. Fox, R. Bryans,
J. R. Pim, J. H. Greene, Wm. Pike, Barber, Cole,
Gilbertson, and Joseph Mallaby, Esqrs.
The CHAIRMAN, Mr. Mallaby, having taken his seat,
asked the Town-clerk to read the minutes of the last
day's proceedings.
Mr. WM. LAIRD objected on the ground that as the
present was merely an adjourned meeting; and as they
were met to transact a particular business, it was not ne-
cessary to read the minutes of any previous meeting.
Mr. HICKLIN suggested that as several gentlemen were
not present at the last meeting, it would he well to have
the minutes read, in order that they might thereby be
made acquainted with what had been done.
The CHAIRMAN thought that. with regard to financial
matters, they would understand better what had been
transacted from the minutes than from any other source.
Mr. HICKLIN wished to be informed if there was any
reason why the information to be derived from the minutes
should be withheld from them.
The CHAIRMAN knew of no such reason.
Mr. COLE supposed, if they related to financial matters,
they could not be read while the reporters were present.
After some further discussion, it was agreed that the
minutes should not be read, and
The CHAIRMAN proceeded to say that, at the last meet-
ing, he took occasion to remark that, from the informa-
tion which he then possessed, they, (the Commissioners,)
as a body, had no funds whatever on hand to enable them
to conduct the works, or to pay the contracts, the wages,
or to answer the other obligations of the trust. True-
some of the contracts were not yet due, but many of them
were nearly so, and would require soon to be taken into
consideration. There were also other rontrecte which,
although not yet completed, it would be necessary to com-
plete soon, in order to sustain the works now in progress.