The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-05-22 00:00:00

LOCAL MEETINGS.

BIRKENHEAD, LANCASHIRE. AND CHESHIRE' JUNC-
TION RAILWAY.—On Saturday afternoon a special meet-
ing of the shareholders of this company was held in the
Town-hall, Birkenhead, Alderman James Bancroft, chief
director, in the chair. There would, as advertised, be two
bills submitted,—first, a bill to authorise the company to
abandon part of their line, to form a new line to join the
London and North Western, to make some alterations in
construction, tolls, &c.; and, secondly, a bill to enable the
company to sell or leave their undertaking to the London
and North Western, the Chester and Holyhead, or the
Shrewsbury and Chester companies. The attendance was
but small. The solicitor read the marginal explanation of
the first bill. The chairman then detailed the history of
the steps taken for the revision of capital, &c. The bill had
been strongly opposed, but the objects justified them in
pressing it, if possible, to a successful issue: He would move
that the meeting, after a full conversation on the subject,
should be adjourned for a fortnight, to afford parties time
to decide how to proceed. He then entered into various
details relative to the opposition they had met with from
the Birkenhead Dock Company, who insisted on expensive
works being done there, to which this company was
adverse, and also explained several other new arrangements
relating to the traffic between Walton and Manchester.
He concluded by moving that the meeting, at its rising,
should adjourn to Saturday, the 2d of June. Mr. Brown,
hanker, of Glasgow, seconded the motion.—Mr. H.
Winch protested against sacrificing the property of one
section of the proprietors for the benefit of another, and
moved an amendment to the effect that as the bill was
unjust in principle it be not approved of, and that there
be introduced into it clauses to prevent the application of
money raised from £3l shares, to the purposes of the
Chester and Birkenhead acts.--7 Mr. Webster seconded
this, in a speech complaining of the principle sought to
be carried out.—The Chairman replied, and submitted
details of the matters under consideration.—Mr. Everill
said that the directors would accede that the £3l shares
should be reduced to £2O, all other difficulties were minor.
3e also complained of the recent call of £loon the Cheshire
Junction sharer, which might have been spread over twelve
months.—The Chairman said the money could not come
in faster than it was wanted ; for they had now 1500
men at work on the line, which, in a few days, would pro-
bably be augmented to 2500.—Mr. Webster thought that
by reducing the £3l shares to £2O the board would ob-
tain more money from the call.—Mr. sharebroker,
of Liverpool, was also in favour of the reduction of these
shares. He remarked that with the adjustment of capital
he proposed the £3l shares should be reduced to £24 10s.,
the £27 103. to £22, and the £22 ahares to £l7 10s.—
The motion for an adjournment, as proposed by the chair-
man, was then carried by a large majority, only seven
hands being shown against it.

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL

A special meeting of the Council was held on Wednes-
day, for the purpose of considering the sewer-rate, paving-
rate, water-rate, and general rate for the year 18-19-50,
submitted by the Health Committee.
A memorial was read from 300 inhabitants of Toxteth-
park, within the borough, asking the Council not to levy
the proposed rates on that township for the coming year,
on account of the heavy parochial burdens which they
had to bear.

Mr. TINNE, in rising to bring the subject of confirming
the rates before the Council, said the Health Committee
bad made many reductions, and hod also excluded from
their calculations everything of an extraneous character,
and nothing had been included but what was actually
needful. He then stated to the meeting the total
amounts of the proposed rates for the ensuing year for the
several townships, as compared with last year. In Liver-
pool the rate was Is. sd. against is. 7d. last year; in
Kirkdale it was 2s. 4d. against 2s. 91 last year ; in Ever-
ton ls. 91, last year 2s. 6d.; in West Derby ls. lld.,
last year 2s. Bd. ; and in Toxteth-park 2s. 9d., last year
2s. 10d. The rates'would have been still less but for two

or three circumstances. One of these was the reduced
per centage of rates likely to be collected this year. The
total number of unoccOied houses was 9613.
On the motion of Mr. TINNE, the sewer rate for Liver-
pool, for the ensuing year, was fixed at Id.

• •
TINNE then proposed, seconded by Mr. Honsow,
that the paving rate for Liverpool, for the year, be 9J. in
the pound.
Mr. THOMSON, seconded by Mr. WoonnuFr, moved as
an amendment, that the rate be 6d. in the pound. He
urged that the mode of paving was expensive, and that the

. • - •
with its staff cf surveyers and other officers, unjustly fell
upon the warehouse-owners and shopkeepers.
Mr. KAYE, referring to the practice named by Mr.
Tinne, of certain landlords misleading their tenants and
telling them they were not liable to the rates, said it was
a well-known fact that all property was liable to the rates.
He said they ought at this time to study economy, and if
eightpence in the pound could be considered as sufficient,
he should be glad to support it, but he could not support
a rate of Gd., because he knew more was required. (Ap-

plause.)
The rate of 91. in the round was, after two atnend-
inents had been negatived, carried, 17 voting for it, and 9

against it

-The water rate of ld. in the pound was next put and
carried.

Mr. TTNNE was proceeding with the general rates, dur-
ing which several members retired from the Council; and,
on the motion of Mr. TuoassoN, there was a count out.
The consideration of the whole of the rates for the out-
townships, and the general rate for Liverpool, conse-
quently stands over to the next monthly meeting.

MEETINGS OF THE SELECT VESTRY.

The usual fortnightly meeting was held on Tuesday, the
Rev. Rector Campbell in the chair. There were present
the Rev. Archdeacon Brooks and twenty-four other mem-
bers. A letter was read from Mr. Brown, Government
Inspector of Schools, highly approving of the Kirkc:ale
schools as a seminary for training teachers, and making
some suggestions.—Mr. Hart read the report of the spe-
cial committee appointed to inquire into the charges
brought by Mr. Callis against Mr. Riding, the late chair-
man of the Workhouse Committee. One of the main
charges was, that while he was churchwarden (three years
ago) he pocketed 20s. of discount received by him from
Mr. Bewsher on paying him a bill for organ tunicg. Mr.
Riding did not deny having pocketted the money, which
he considered was an usual perquisite of churchwardens.
Other items of a similar nature were also alluded to in the
report, showing carelessness in Mr. Riding as regarded
the parish contracts, (none having, in some cases, been
made,) and favouritism in giving orders to his friends for

workhouse supplies.—Mr. Earle moved that the report
be entered on the minutes, which was seconded by Mr.
Denton.—Mr. Riding said he was unconscious of having
done anything wrong, and denied having received any dis-
count or commission on goods supplied to the parish.—
Mr. Ferguson said, in reference to the 20s. received by
Mr. Riding from Mr. Bewsher, that when he discovered
the fact he called upon Mr. Riding to pay the money
back, as he believed it to belong to the parish, but Mr.
Riding refused to do so.—Mr. Earle said that Mr. Riding,
as a member of a public board, and employed by the pa-
rish, had no business with any beneficial employment,
because it was the parish money they were dealing with
and not their own. As to the report, it very properly
contained the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.—

Archdeacon Brooks said that, excepting in one case, and
that a most unfortunate one, it could not be said that Mr.
Riding had obtained money from the parish.—Mr.Rieing
said,—l beg to tender my resignation as a member of the
board from this day. I cannot but feel that lam quite
innocent, and that I have not been fairly used by the
committee.—The Chairman regretted, with the Arch-
deacon, that Mr. Riding should have committed the in-
discretion of receiving the money from Mr. Bewsher. He
said at the time that it ought not to have been received ;
but it was treating. Mr. Riding rather hardly in bringing
it forward now.---The meeting then adjourned.
On Thursday, a special meeting was held at the parish
offices, Lime-street, to receive a report relative to the

evils arising from Irish Pauper immigration, and the
crowding of persons together without proper accomoda-
tion on board the L•ish steamers.—The Rev. Rector
Campbell occupied the chair, and stated what had been
done. They had made attempts, but in vain, to induce
the Home-office and the legislature to abate the evil. A
deputation had waited on the President of the Board of
Trade, who declined to interfere, on the ground that it
would be an interference with the liberty of the subject to
prevent Irish labourers from seeking work as cheat
they could, and as numerously as they pleased. I

represented to him that it was not the immigration of
labourers of which they complained, but of those only who
came to beg and steal—and of decrepit men and womei in
a state of famine and disease—also helpless children, &c.
On discovering, however, that by the 4th George IV.,
c. 83, and other acts, steamers were restricted from carry-
ing over a certain number of passengers, without a cus-
tom-house license, Mr. Labouchere decided to send down
Lieutenant Denham to make inquiries, and that gentle-
man had expressed a hope that the practice of exporting
paupers from Ireland to Liverpool like pigs, without
proper acccommodation, would be at least restricted, if
not prohibited. He adduced some evidence showing
the horrors on board the steamers which carried so many
passengers without the least shelter. He referred to the
recent cases in which several persons had perished from
cold and exposure. Liverpool had been made, by its im-
ports of the wretched and diseased from these vessels, the
hospital and cemetery of Ireland, because the Irish steam-
boats, according to the testimonies of our medical officers,
eve-witnesses, have imported into our town the dying and
the dead, women brought to bed on the passage, and
wretched creatures in every stage of exhaustion, from
drunkenness, hunger, and disease. He had obtained an
audience with Sir G. Grey and Mr. Baines, but the re-
sult as not very promising. If the paupers arriving were
even dealt with as vagrants, it was no check, for it was no
punishment to commit them to an English gaol. He con-
cluded by saying, that with every wish to be charitable to
the Irish, it was not just to make Liverpool an Irish poor-
house and an Irish gaol, and they had a right to legisla-
tive protection. Rather than the present system should
continue, it would be better that we should contribute to
a rate in aid to support them at home.—Mr. M`Knight
considered they were greatly indebted to Mr. Rushton for
his admirable letter to Sir George Grey. He moved the
thanks of the Vestry to that gentleman, which was adopted
unanimously.—Mr. Ferguson complained that the Go-
vernment might restrict the number of pauper immi-
grants, but would not do so. He moved that the report
be received and adopted.—Agreed to.—A general opinion
was expressed; that when the report became known, other
large towns would assist this in gaining the object•they
desired.—A•-motion was agreed to, to the effe,,-1-that other
towns should.be solicited to cooperate.—Thsmeeting then
adjpurned..