The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-06-21 00:00:00

(rt I
A.Aletcpui Lt-,$ at,

,ere been absent from the room for a considerable

and, a

ass's exan:

air. BROWN, parliamentary agent for the sitting mem-
bers, applied to the committee for an adjournment for a
quarter of an 'tour, observing that he had been running
about for three counsel for the last half-hoar, hut could
not find one of them.
THE WEEK. The CHAIRMAN said the committee had no objection to
that course.
WE have now reached the longest day, and entered William Quaile, one of the committee in Great George
Ward, ordered a glass of ale for a plumber before going
upon the season of Summer with more favourable
to the poll with him. For this another canvasser paid,
prospects than were apparent at the commencement but none of the other electors had any refreshment.
of Spring. The continuance of dry sunny weather
glass of rum at the Great George John M'Nally, examined before,was supplied with Tavern- on the poliinga
has compensated for the heavy rains which deluged day. for which he did not pay. He voted for Cardwell
the earth some months previous, and should the andtlea
'cr'a of rL
the Jonasws Gleave also gave him a glass of rum at
Swan.
forthcoming season realise present expectations, the Joseph Murphy, recalled, had a pint of ale at the George
harvest of this year may not be so unproductive as
Tavern on the morning of the election for which he did
not pay. A man named Gibson asked them what they
was at one time feared. The numerous ferry-boats would like to have. (Mr. Gibson was called in and iden-
tified by the witness )
been crowded with passengers,
Henry Harrison,landlord of a public-house in S.
places on the Cheshire James's-street, in Great Georg, Ward, deposed that ho
shore have been thronged with visitors, anxious to was a canvasser for Mackenzie and Turner. A
many sailmakers voted from his house in cars. He gave
escape, if only for a few hours, from the busy town them breakfast and liquor. He went to the Great George
to indulge in rural recreation—a devotion to Nature Tavern and got appointment from the committee for some
of them to be colourmen. He supplied all the refresh-
which is evident almost everywhere. merits on his own account, but he had spoken to Mr.
While the tedious investigation into the late Wagstaff, the hatter. Since the election had applied for
payment to Mr. Buckmaster at the central office, but he
election is detaining many of our townsmen in said he had nothing to do with it. If Mr. Buckmaster
London, numbers of others are attracted in a had had the money all ready, he should have asked for
contrary direction to the metropolis of Ireland, to Bold. He gave Crawley, a voter, ss. for about £7O. Had also spoken to Mr. Wastaff and Mr
carrying colours;
witness the manifold beauties of the Great Industrial John Davey ss. for the loss of his " day's time" after
Exhibition, the increasing attendance at which shows
Slagbearers ; they came he polled—all out of his own pocket. He paid £4O for
with cards. The money he paid
every day becoming more appreciated. himself came to £lO. He paid William Glass for the
loss of his time and several other parties.
the departures from The committee sat till nearly 5 o'clock.
this town were inure than ordinarily numerous,
owing THURSDA.Y, JUNE 16.
to the expected attraction of a grand military William Gibson recalled, deposed that he collected the
review in Dublin, but it did not take place. accounts and sent them to the central office; that he
knew nothing about the supply of a batch of blank voting
The arrival of the Cherokee, on Thursday, from
cards to any one ; that Mr. Wagstaff spoke to him about
the city of Toronto, on Lake Ontario, excited some the accounts, mentioning Harrison's account to him the
little attention, from the fact of its being the first dseaty,tflifttetro giee
centraleleetin
(4,Acheat.
katgtlate Harrison'sagm n were billt ando
re
vessel to England from the fresh waters of Canada. ceivo ss. a-day, hut he did not know where the money
was to come from ; that the amount of Harrison':;The vessel, which 255 tons burden, is a creditable
annoyed him ; that he thought he heard Harrison say t bill
hal
he charged for the flagmen us
be sent Harrison to Mr. flecisreas,—
he paid certain bills in the ward, having got the money
from Mr. Bold after sending in the bill to Mr. Buck-
master; that he repudiated Harrison's bill; that Mr.
Buckmaster knee nothing about it; that Lawson stated
what was wrong when he said refreshments had been
ordered by witness; that the refreshments were ordered
by the general committee; and that he had nothing to do
' with the breakfast.
Thomas Chapman was the next witness called, but he
did not answer to his name. The service of the speaker's
warrant upon him and the notice to attend having been
proved, the committee was about to report the matter to
the house that Chapman might be taken into custody by
the sergeant-sat-arms for contempt ; but, on the sugges-
tion of Mr. Freshfieid, the committee declined reporting
until the witness had been communicated with by telegraph.
Thomas Inman, a warehouseman at the Albert Dock
and a voter, deposed that he was the secretary of
Mackenzie and Turner's committee, which met at the
Royal Oak public-house, kept by William Crane, in
Park-road, corner of Upper Warwick-street ; that he
kept a list, which he gave up to Mr. Buckmaster after the
election; that during the progress of the canvass, he
made one report of the result of the canvass to the can-
vassing committee at the office of the central committee ;
that he went to the central °Alice once or twice to state
the progress which was being made in the ward ; that he
received the list of voters from the central committee-
room ; that some of the canvassers were paid and others
nut ; that he appointed 80 colour-bearers, none of whom
were voters ; that the landlord of the Royal Oak produced
his bill, the amount of which was £l2 or £l5 ; that he
did not think he paid any account but the flag-bearers',
which was £3O or £4O, or more ; that he received that
money from James Robertson, one of the canvassers; that
that gentleman was secretary to the two wards; knew wit-
ness would require money, and accordingly gave it to
him ; that Mr. Halliead and he were not occupied on
the polling-day in making out a list at the committee-
room in Park-place, near St. James' church ; that a
strange man presented him with a bill in the street, and
that he told the person he knew nothing about it ; that
the committee existed for municipal purposes, being self-
appointed ; and that he never sanctioned treating in any
Tay whatever.
John Wild'

TUESaIY

MORNING, JUNE 21, 1853.

on the Mersey have

and the variou

pleasant

hat it

On Thursday and Friday last,

;pecimen of

nial shir

ilding adapted to inland

navigation ; and this commencement of a trade,

e had paid them ;
rn

ent ; tha

t is hoped, may I

"”an-

laPy

tageous, is owing to the enterprise and perseverance

of Captain GASKIN, the owner and commander,

whose services

are so well appreciated at the port

from which he sailed, that tha authorities enter
tained him at a public dinner previous to his

iepar-

ture, as we stated a few weeks since

one landlord of the Hawarden Castle,
.6 not answering to his name, and the
4peaker's warrant upon him having been
.1:io of a notice to attend in May, and that he
had several times since had notice to attend before the
-omtnittee decided to report this man for

I was nest called, b-*
service of tl.€

committee, the

contempt to the house
Susanna Jones, wife of Evan Jones, landlord of the
Old Oak, 279, Bedford-street, deposed, that on the
polling-day voters were carried from their house in
'busses; that Mr. B. Jones was there, helping them away;
that she paid three or four men what they had, for their
day's wages, on Saturday, her husband having left the
cash with her ; that she paid each man 55.. paying five or
six in all, to the best of her recollection ; that her husband
paid a few in her presence on the Saturday night and in
the beginning of the folic:mi.-1g week, ten or twelve per-
%apS ; that her husband had not been paid for this in her
he herself had received nothing; that
supplied at their house on the day of

gad and beef

the election ; that

e received no order

wave trona her
caw that she believed her husband kept I bill,
bad never seen it, and believed her husband had

destroyed it.

Evan Jones, the former witness' husband, deposed that
he made out the list of all who were to go from his house,
and gave it to Mr. Jones ; that about twelve wore paid ;
that Mr. Jones promised to pay the men for loss of time,
and ordered witness to pay all the men who voted from
his house; that Mr. Jones did pay him the money, both
for the men and the refreshments; that the bill might be
£26 for refreshments, and £l2 for wages ; that Jones
told him not to give the voters any drink till after they
had voted ; that he paid some of Mr. Jones's own men,
end also gave them refreshments.
Felix M'Cleary : I voted from the Old Oak. I went
there at eight o'clock, and had my breakfast there. I
returned to the Old Oak in the evening. I had something
to drink at the Old Oak.

Mr. SMITH here objected to the examinatio❑ proceeding
until the agency of Mr. W. B. Jones had been established.
The CHAIRMAN said the committee were of opinion
that there was not sufficient proof to establish that Mr.
B. Jones acted as an agent.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

AsSociation," Liverpool, stated that he had ascertained
from tho poll-book the number of voters in the West
Derby Ward. He had the return of the district No. 5,
St. Anne's-place, Edge-hill. There voted for Mr. Card-
well 311, for Mr. Ewart 319, fcr Mr. Mackenzie 394, and
for Mr. Turner 407. He had also a return of the total
number of freemen upon the register, amounting to 2,219,
of whom 1,901 polled, leaving 318 who did not poll. Some
of the freemen had qualifications as householders also.
Tho number who had no qualification, except as freeman,
was 1,583; and of these 1,344 polled; 1,022 voted for Mac-
kenzie and Turner; 275 for Cardweil and Ewart ; 15 for
Cardwell and Turner; 2 for Cardwell and Mackenzie ; 1
for Ewart and Turner ; 3 for Ewart and Mackenzie; 10
plumpers for Cardwell; 2 plumpers for Ewart ; 5 plumpers
for Mackenzie ; and 9 plumpers for Turner. Total of
freemen voting for Cardwell, 302 ; Ewart, 281 ; Macken.
zie, 1,032 ; Turner, 1,047 ; that was of freemen who up-
' peered upon the register, having no qualification except
; as freemen.

An announcement was made that the evidence for the
petitioners was at length closed.
On the application of Mr. MACAULAY, the committee
adjourned till twelve o'clock on Saturday.
The CHAIRMAN inquired as to the witness 'Williams,
whose contumacious conduct was reported to the House
of Commons last night, and who would be brought to
London in custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms. He cer-
tainly thought that the committee ought to have been
made aware that there was no intention to call him.
Mr. MACAULAY offered an explanation to the effect that
they found, subsequently to the application of the com-
mittee yesterday, that Williams's evidence was not mate-
rial, and they had since learned that he is labouring under
ill health.

Mr. SHARPE, the Southampton solicitor, who has been
employed in Liverpool getting up the case, stated that he
had seen Williams in Lieerpool yesterday, and that, when
he mentioned the subject of the election petition to him,
he became suddenly worse. (Laughter.)
It was understood that, under the circumstances, an
application would be made to the house to discharge 'Wil-
liams from the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms.

SATURDAY, JUNE 18.
The court met at twelve o'clock.
The CHAIRMAN said he had a great objection to making
any reference to what had been stated elsewhere, but he
understood that Mr. Turner wished to be called as a wit-
ness. The objection would arise, that a person who had
been present during the proceedings could not be ex-
amined ; but he had no doubt such an objection as that
would be waived. There was another circumstance to be
considered. If Mr. Turner was called, everything that
would follow upon a witness being called must attach to
1 his evidence. Before Mr. Turner gave any evidence, be
thought it most desirable that he should consult his own
counsel as to the propriety of taking such a step.
Mr. JAMES was obliged to the chairman-for the sugges-
tion, and said that after his learned friend (Mr. Macaulay)
I had concluded his address, lie should have an opportunity
of consulting with Mr. Turner, and would on Monday
announce the course he intended to pursue.
Mr. MACAULAY then proceeded to run up the evidence
on behalf of the petitioners. He said, although unques-
tionably the inquiry had been unusually protracted, it has
not, I think, been protracted beyond what its importance
demanded. The committee will have observed, lam
sure, that it is not a mere question of intimidation, or
bribery, or treating, that is involved, but a question
respecting the character of nearly the most important
constituency in England. The inquiry, the committee
will have observed, affected the character of a very large
portion of this constituency, in number exceeding fifteen
hundred, and those being the most popular portion of that
constituency. It was not, then, for the mere purpose of
accumulating evidence upon evidence, to prove one par-
ticular point, that those I here represent have, by pro-
ducing such evidence upon evidence, protracted this in-
quiry to the length it has extended ; their motives were
for beyond the mere question of the success or defeat of
any particular candidate, at any particular election; but
because they feel that the character of their borough is
concerned, that they have determined, at all risks, to lay
before the committee as large a body of evidence as they
can, so as to enable the committee to judge what really is
the character of the electoral body of Liverpool. The
object of the petitioners is twofold : first, to obtain the
decision of the committee as to the validity of the last
election; and, secondly, to put them in a position to do that
which, under the statute, they have the power to do, to pass
special resolutions and to make a special report to the
Crown. Taking the first class, bribery, and calling attention
shortly to the individuality and character of the indivi-
duals concerned in this bribery, it will be found, in refe-
rence to the evidence on that head, that escape as regards
one special circumstance, affecting the sitting members,
to which I shall hereafter have occasion to advert, and to
another, and their special resolution affecting, not the
behaviour, but rather the manner of a gentleman of high
respectability who now sits on my left hand, Mr. Bremner.
With the exception of these two instances, the bribery
has been transacted by five or six persons ; these are
B. Jones, Fisher, Birchall, Jonas Gleave, M'Keverigan,
and Rowett. I do not include the names of others who
were mere go-between the parties who gave and those
who received the bribes. With regard to three of them
you have had no occasion, in the course of the inquiry,
to be called upon to say whether the prima facie case of
bribery has been shown, those three being M'Keverigan,
Fisher, and Rowett. And as there is no special necessity
for it in reference to the case as it affects Buckley Jones,
Birchall, and Jonas Gleave, by acts upon which we are
about to found the probability, it will be waste of time to
look superfluously on the evidence, as it refers thus to
the other three. There is no doubt as to the agency of
M'Keverigan and Rowett, whatever there may be about-
that of Fisher. It would seem that. whether freeman or'
householder, if be were in a certain position of life and
willing to take the money, there was no difficulty in any
voter, at any one of these wards where certain of these
individuals were acting, obtaining five shillings on the
day of election. Some of these cases have undoubtedly
been put as payment of a day's wages without regard to
the men holding any situation or employment, showing
that it was perfectly frivolous to contend that there is
anything short of a corrupt motion. I mean where you
find Gleave and Birchall making bargains for a day's pay,
and Rowett and M'Keverigan making the same bargain.
You find they are not standing in the situation of em-
ployer and employed, and it is clear there was an intention
to bribe and to receive a bribe. But these cases are not
so numerous as the cases in which Fisher and Gleave figure.
This unquestionably is now clear, from Mr. Fisher's own
statement, that the payment of five shillings was confined
to workmen who were voters ; and that if any one had
come and asked for the five shillings who had voted for
Cardwell and Ewart he would not have obtained it. Evan
Jones says distinctly, " I was to pay all who voted from
my house, whether they were his (Buckley Jones's) men
or not ;" and in another part of his examination you will
find he states that a considerable number of persons voted
from his house who were not the workmen in the yard of
Buckley Jones. Again, Buckley Jones was at Evan Jones's
house on the day of election, busily engaged in bringing up
voters to the poll ; and he must have known that persons
were paid by Evan Jones who were not in his yard. I
have next to call the attention of the committee to the
proof of bribery as regards M'Keverigan and Rowett. On
the first day's sitting of the committee we had the evi-
dence of John Breckon, who was a workman in the esta-
blishment of which Mr. M'Keverigan was a partner. He
is canvassed by a foreman of M'Keverigan, named Hum-
phrey Smith, who says he will guarantee to the witness a
day's pay if he will go and poll for the sitting members.
Breckon did poll for them, in pursuance of that guarantee.
and be was paid by M'Keverigan himself. Thus, you
perceive, M'Keverigan's foreman gives the guarantee with
the authority of his master, and that WKeverigan fulfils
it. Then we have one Davies, another foreman of M'Ke-
verigan, bribing Peter Bryce. And it is material to ob-
serve that Peter Bryce was not only not in the employ.
ment of M'Keverigan, but was actually a man of a different
trade. And all these go to M'Keverigan's yard. M'Ke-
verigan himself hands the money to Coward, and Coward
pays the voters the stipulated sum. We have proved with
regard to M'Keverigan the same facts which have been
proved as to Buckley Jones, Jonas Gleave, and Birchall
and M'Keverigan has been shown to take part in the elec-
tion so near the sitting members or their undoubted respon-
sible agents, that the sitting members must suffer by his
illegal acts if they have been in a situation to profit by his
legal acts. You have a central committee, with Mr. Buck-
master and a number of subordinate ward committees;
and the first step to establish the agency of a person con-
nected with a ward committee is to bring that ward
committee in connexion with the central committee.
Let us see, then, if the ward committee to which M'Ke-
verigan was attached as a canvasser, for he is not put down
as a member of the committee, was not closely allied to the
central committee, so that the acts of that ward committee
were in fact the acts of the central committee. Mr.
M'Keverigan's ward was the Great George Ward, of
which Mr. Gibson was the principal manager and sec-
retary ; and Gibson has proved by his own evidence that
he was in close and distinct alliance with Buckmaster.
That this ward is a limb of the central committee is, I
think. most clear and indisputable. Now, Quaile, in his
evidence, states distinctly that be remembered M'Keveri-
gan perfectly, and that he was never absent when the com-
mittee met ; whilst Gibson admitted that he was a can-
vasser, and that up to the last moment he was engaged in
bringing up voters to the poll. Now, just look at the facts
as they regard Rowett. There was acommittee-room for
the West Derby Ward at the Edge-hill Tavern, and a per-
son named Johnson says that Green asked him why he did
not vote. His reply was, he was like the old horse
waiting for the load. Green said, we are not giving any.
thing hut a day's wages. This induced Johnson to vote
for Turner and Mackenzie. Now, that is a distinct act of
bribery. On the following Saturday this mart went to
Rowett, and here we see the system in which this part of
the business was carried on. Green shows them. in
to Rowett one by one, and Rowett pays this man and
three others a sum of money, he of course having
been previously furnished with a list. Rowett is en-
raged
in the West Derby Ward, which is in close
contact with the central committee-room, and the evi.
deuce relating to that is that of Downes, a paid agent,
or sort of assistant-secretary and canvasser, who had de.
rived his authority from Buckmaster, and who was paid
by the chairman of the ward the amount of his claim. Of
that committee Rowett was an active member, and the
canvass was carried from the ward-room to the central
committee. He was seen at the central committee-room,
and his presence there was spoken se - venal
respectable witnesses. The next rise that

tarried on by Birchall and Gleave

er under 1
ch'a eviden,

Well, it ap