The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-05-31 00:00:00

Ifiberßomi g4tanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING,

MAY 31, 1853.

THE WEEK.

THE Whitsun Holidays are over, but the resump-
tion of business, and the return to work, have not
added much to the news of the town, for Liverpool
is comparatively deserted. A considerable section
of its inhabitants are in London, in the all-absorb-
ing business of the Election Petition, which is now
before the Select Committee of the House of Corn-
There have been a variety of reports cur-
rent as to the proceedings of the petitioners, and
the list of alleged bribed and bribers has undergone
much comment. Names have been inserted of
those who had little or nothing to do with the
election, and others have been omitted who took a
most active part in the canvass. It has been said
that the Radicals have been hard pressed for money,
and have been sending round the begging-box for
supplies. On Thursday some difficulty was expe-
rienced in getting off the witnesses, owing to their
not being furnished with sufficient funds to pay
their expenses ; and other evident signs of weak-
ness are reported. A number of our townsmen
are also in Dublin, viewing the wonders of the
Great Industrial Exhibition, so that between the
counter attractions of London and Dublin, Liver-

mons

pool is shorn of its fair proportions.
The arrival of the screw steam-ship Genova, from
the Et. Lawrence, after a very brief passage, is a
very favourable opening of steam traffic between
this port and Canada. A new trade is also being
commenced with the Fresh waters of Canada, the
Cherokee, under the command of Captain Gaskin,
through whose enterprise it has been undertaken,
having been despatched from Toronto to this port,
where he may shortly be expected. It will be seen
by a paragraph in another column that Captain
Gaskin was entertained by the authorities of Toronto
with a public banquet as a testimonial to his spirited
exertions.

Our neighbours at Birkenhead are in the heat of
a contested election, and indulging in all the humour
of personal squibs. It is not, however, all of so
innocent a character, for one elector complains that
after being ten months in Mr. Laird's employ, he
has been discharged, for no other fault than having
a Blue bill in his window. There are numerous
bets depending on the issue, and the latest odds are

against the Reds with few takers

LIVERPOOL ELECTION PETITION.

PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE SELECT

COMMITTEE.

(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)

The Parliamentary Committee, which was sworn in on
Friday, met on Saturday, at one o'clock, in room No. 25
of the new Palace of Westminster, for the purpose of pro-
ceeding with the long-pending inquiry into the charges of
corrupt practices at the Liverpool election. The com-
mittee, as we stated last week, consists of Mr. Robert
Ingham, (Whig,) M.P. for South Shields, chairman ; Mr.
James Williams Freshtield, (Conservative,) M.P. for
Penrhyn and Falmouth ; the Hon. James Pierce Max-
well, (Conservative,) M.P. for Cavan ; Mr. William
Williams, (Radical,) M.P. for Lambeth ; and Mr. John
Ball, (Radical,) M.P. for Carlow county.
The counsel for the petitioners are Sergeant Kinglake ;
Mr. Kenneth Macaulay, Q.C. ; Mr. Bodkin, Q.C. ; and
Mr. Paget : and for the sitting. members Mr. Edwin
James, Q.C., Mr. Montague Smith, and Mr. hunter
Radwell. The agents for the petitioners are Messrs.

•
Fearou and C:abon, of Great George-street, London ; and
for the sitting members Messrs. Thompson, Ebenham,
and Brown, and Mr. Bremner.
For a considerable time before the doors of the room
were opened the lobby was crowded by professional gentle-
men and strangers, who appeared to take much interest in
the proceedings. Among these were several gentlemen
from Liverpool, including Mr. J. B. Lloyd, Mr. Thomas
Bold, Mr. William Earle, Mr. William Rathbone, jun.,
Mr. Nelson Wood, Mr. J. R. Jeffery, Mr. William
Rowett, Mr. J. Shaw Leigh, Capt. Evans, Mr. Stephen
Court, (civil engineer,) Mr. Messiter, Mr. Ronald, (one
of the petitioners,) Mr. Highfield, Mr. Rowland, secretary
of the Pilots' Commissioners, &c. ; also Mr. Brotherton,
M.P., and Sir Thomas Birch. Mr. Charles Turner
entered the lobby a few minutes to one o'clock, and
remained in conversation with Mr. J. B. Lloyd and his
other supporters until the door was opened. The room
was soon crowded, and considerable confusion reigned for
a brief period, caused by the general scuffle for seats by
the numerous reporters who were in attendance. The
committee, with Mr. Ingham in the centre, sat at a table
at one extremity of the room, parallel with another appro-
priated to the use of the learned counsel and agents for
each side. Mr. Turner occupied a chair near the com-
mittee, but Mr. Forbes Mackenzie was not present.
Captain GossErr, the deputy sergeant-at•arms, having
read the petition which complained of " an undue elec-
tion and return for the borough of Liverpool," and the
usual forms having been gone through,
The CHAIRMAN, addressing the petitioners' counsel,
asked if they had delivered in the list of cases charged.
Mr. Sergeant KINGLAKE : I don't know, sir, whether
you will allow us until Monday to complete the lists. It
was not expected that the business would open to-day, or
that the lists would be required to be delivered before
Monday. The greater portion of them we have now here.
The whole of them are in a very forward state; but there
is one class of cases which we have not yet completed.
Mr. JAMES : We are entitled to have the lists ; for
without them we cannot tell what cases we shall have to
answer. There has been plenty of time to prepare them,
and it is hard upon the parties to be put to expense for a
delay that might well have been avoided. It cannot
surely take long to select the cases upon which you mean
to reply.

M. Sergeant KINGLAKE : They are all but prepared,
and those which are ready you may have forthwith ; but
we cannot begin the case, T apprehend, before Monday ;
and probably it would be better that the committee should
now adjourn.
The CHAIRMAN: You ought to have had the lists
ready ; but I don't see any objection to the course you
propose. How soon will you have the lists completed?
Mr. JAMES : You see, sir, unless we have the lists
before us, we know not what evidence we shall require to
rebut the charges. Surely the parties on the other side
can let us have them complete in a very short time.
Mr. CLABON, (the agent for the petitioners) : In refe-
rence to the great body of the cases I am expecting the
list every minute. It was not anticipated that the com-
mittee would commence the inquiry to-day, and we are
not altogether prepared. The list that is still incomplete
is confined entirely to one class of cases, and does not
exceed twenty in number. _ _ _

Mr. JAMES : I see my learned friend Mr. Bodkin has a
large brief before him, and surely that must contain some-
thing about the case.

M. BODKIN

Not about these cases.

Mr. JAMES : Let us know what we have got to answer.
You say you are prepared to hand in a general list. Can
we have that now ?

Mr. CLABON : I can promise within five or ten minutes
to hand in a list of the whole of the cases contained in that
"huge brief."

Mr. JAMES : That will do. Let us understand, then,
that they will be handed in by three o'clock to-day.
Mr. CLABON : Oh, yes ; certainly.
Mr. JAMES : Well, that will do, and we shall have the
twenty, I suppose, on Monday. We had better, there-
fore, adjourn till then.
The CHAIRMAN : What I understand is this. Mr.
Clabon says that within five minutes we shall have the
great bulk of the cases, so far as they are completed, and
that all will be included in that list except about twenty
of one class of cases. and that these will be furnished in
the course of the day.

Mr. CLABox : NO, sir ; not before Monday, I think.
I promise the committee to do my best, and, if possible,
they shall be furnished to the other side to-night.

Mr. JAMES : The committee will remember that this
case has been in preparation many months, and that but
for the adjournment of the House until Thursday, it would
have come on on that day. Certainly I think they ought
to be prepared with the complete list of all the cases some
time during the day. We are entitled to it, for without
it we don't know what we have to answer, or what evi-
dence we may have to get up to meet the charges brought
against us. We may take this incomplete list and bring
evidence to rebut all the cases it contains, and on Monday
we may find twenty more cases brought forward against us
of which we know nothing. It is most unfair to the
sitting members fo place them in such a position.
Mr. Sergeant KINGLAKE : We can always relax the
rule, Mr. James. As the substantial commencement of
the case does not take place until Monday, and as then he
will be in possession of the whole of the cases, he will
have ample time to answer them.
The CHAIRMAN : It is certainly important that the sit-
ting members should know what cases they will have to
meet. Of course Mr. Clabon will give all the accommo-
datio❑ he can, and will deliver in the lists already come in.
You say you will give in the lists as far as you know them ;
but as to the others—those which you do not now hand
in—l think you ought to give an undertaking that the
cases not specified to-day should be called last in the pro-
gress of the inquiry. Will that be satisfactory to you, Mr.
James ?

The following list was then handed to Mr. James :
Mr. JAMES : Satisfactory, sir ? Am I to understand
that, in addition to the long lithographed list which has
just been put into my hand, we are to receive another ?
That is what I want to know ; and, also, what number of
cues will be contained in that list, and what class of cases.
We shall have to get up one case to meet the charges in
this list ; and, on Monday, we shall have to get up another
case to meet other charges, of which at present, we know
nothing.

Mr. —CLABON : I have already said there is only one
other class of cases, and that the list of those cases will
not exceed twenty names.

The CHAtamAs: When will you be ready to supply
theta ?

Mr. CLAnoir : On Monday morning.
The CHAIRMAN : Why, three o'clock this afternoon
was all the time you asked.

Mr. CLABON :.Not for this list ; but I will do it as soon
as I can. I cannot, however, undertake to get the list
ready by that time.

Mr. JAME% Will you say that it shall be delivered
before eight o'clock to night ? We ought to have it before
post time, in order that we may have the opportunity of
sending by post for the necessary evidence to rebut the
charge._

_
Mr. BROWN, (the sitting members' agent t) By the six
o'clock post. We ought to have it by then.
The CHAIRMAN : Then we shall have the complete list
here on Monday. If that is the wish of the committee,
you (Sergeant Kinglake) will comply with it ; and, under
any circumstances, those cases which are the last furnished
will he the last called.

Mr. Sergeant KINGLAKE : Exactly. We will do our
best to furnish them to-day; at all events, they shall be
supplied before the committee meet on Monday.
Mr. JAMES : Very well ; let that be understood.
The CHAIRMAN : Then we shall proceed to consider
the case on Monday ; and we will now adjourn until
that day, at eleven o'clock.
The committee accordingly adjourned until Monday, at
eleven.