The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-04-17 00:00:00

THAT YOU WILL NOT BE TRAMPLED UPON BY THE MO-

NOPOLISING FACTION.

• THE "ALBION" AND Si PRANCIS BIIRDETT.—Our
contemporary of yesterday has devoted nearly a column
and a half in reply to the arguments of. the Courier and
ourselves in favour of the consistency of Sir Francis Bur-
dett% For our lives we cannot disco%er in the reply of
The Albion, a single statement which. rebuts .any of our
assertions in our article of Friday last. As to thein-
sinuation that the article in the STANDARD was written
after the writer had enjoyed the benefit of perusing
that of his Tory brother," we have only to declare that
we have not yet read the article in the Courier—not he-
<ause we do not appreciate the talent and admire the prin-
.ciples of our worthy senior, but we have purposely ab-
stained from reading the article is question lest the "ge-
neral coincidence of thought and occasional similarity of
expression" should be so " striking" as to lead to the in-
ference that we were fond of plagiariSm. As to the re-
marks of the Albion in reply to the Courier, we may
very safely leave the matter in the hands of our neigh-
bour, who will no doubt inflict upon the Albion a suitable
castigation. As to ourselves, we have little cause to
find fault with the Albion. The whole burden of our
contemporary's article amounts to this—" What right have
the Tories to entertain Sir Francis Burdett as a friend,
after denouncing him as an enemy ?" In answer to this
we would merely say, (without adverting to any modifi-
cation which may have taken place in the political opin-
ions of Tories or Whigs,) that Sir Francis Burdett never
was an enemy to the Church or to the Constitution ; but
that he was, unfortunately, for some time acting in concert
with those who were sworn foes to both. The moment,
however, that the worthy baronet discovered that the
sentiments of those with whoM he had co-operated for the
attainment of an object which did not imply either injury
to the Church, or destruction to the institutions of the
clontry, were not identical with his own; that moment
Ile denounced their conduct as hypocritical, and prepared
° join himself to the ranks of the Conservatives, among
whom he recognised several sincere reformers who ha d
made the same discovery as himself.
Where, then, is the inconsistency of -the Conservatives
to giving an invitation to Sir Francis Burdett? If they
denounced him in former tune's, they did so in the same
B:'nse that they declaimed against the Duke of Welling-
L"il, when he brought forward -the measure of Catholic
.tillaneipation—not bennse the Duke was an enemy to
Cl,ouurch, but because lie unwittingly co-operated with
1?..5,e who secretly wished its destruction.
the bitterness which has been
41 the reel
cause of all
10W by the Radical preSs towards Sir Francis Burdett,

Is, the conviction that his manly honest:), of purpose, and
unsullied integrity of character, are no longer capable of
being,rendeted subservient to the wily schemes of those
who pretend to the character of reformets,but.whose real-
object is destruction.

THE TIMBER TRADE.—As some very extensive and
important sales of mahogany are about to take place i❑
this town, it may prove interesting to some of our readers
to learn the following particulars respecting the asto-
nishing increase which has taken place, within the last
few years, in this branch of trade. From a pamphlet
written by Mr. Chaloner we find that within seven
years, say from January, 1831, the annual import has
increased fourfold, and the consumption nearly in the
same proportion, namely,—

Import. Consumption.
1831..260,000 feet-280,000 feet
1832-384,000 „ ..419,000 „
1833..428,000 „ —523,00(1 „
1834..475,000 „ —492.000 „
18.35..561,000 „ —551,000 „
1136..608.000 „ ..582 000
3-4ths o( the year. 1837..824,600 „ —818,900

" From the Customs' returns it appeared that of 15,860 logs
—the amount of Spanish and Honduras mahogany imported
into Great &Rain during four mouths of this year—Liverpool
had received 7068 logs. Notwithstanding the increased im-
port, the stock now remaining over is only 213,000 feet, against
211,000 feet, the average quantity which remained over at the
close of each of the past six years. .As a malt, Liverpool, awl
its system of business, is now preferred to every other port, and
is resorted to by the chief buyers and consumers of the United
Kingdom, and this becomes more manifest every successive
sale: France, Germany, Russia, the Mediterranean, and In-
dia, drawing, of late, supplies from this market."

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MONEY

MARKE'r

f( Prom the Sunday Times.)

CITY, Sanitibiv.—The intelligence received front the
li-T i S u_tet..., tales to the 20th ult. is,' we regret to state, notAry
satisfactory. The uncertainty which continued to prevail;4as
• to whether the banks would resume specie payments in the mid-
dle of May,.:keoell mercantile operations in a most uncertain
state.' The orderi which haVe curiae to hand for British goOds
are conSequentlY'very small—indeed, much more so than was
calculated upon. The adrices state that the consignments
which had been received out were principally upon new account.
Many of the manufaCturers in England have shipped goodsupon
their own risk,- and upon which serious losses would take place
unless a marked change in the aspect of things soon 'arose.
The receipts Orthe.public revenue of America were declining
rapidly, and the President would have greatly to increase the
amount of bills issued from the Treasury to meet the defficiency.
The receipts in duties at the custom-houses of New York, Bal-
timore, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, in the first three
months of the present year would not be more than about one
half as great as in the same period of 1837. The issues of notes
by the Treasury department have already been to he extent of
5,000.000 dollars, and it was estimated that seWral millions
more would be put into circulation before the end of the year.
The value of specie was on the decline at New York. The
Americans continued to look forward for large supplies of gold
from England and France. To realizes the current prices in
England the planters and merchants were shipping off their
produce with eagerness. It appears by the latest letters re-
ceived from New Yolk that, up to the 16th ult., there had been
exported front the United States 663,000 bales, whereas at the
same date of 1837 only 572,000 bales were sent off, and but
580,000 bales in 1836.

We cannot yet quote any revival of consequence in the prin-
cipal articles of domestic or foreign produce. The export trade
41 the country is, however, very gradually increasing in activity.
The consignments of manufactures to the United States are
confined to supplies merely sufficient to meet the more pressing
wants of parties on the other side of the Atlantic. The public
sales of colonial and foreign produce which have 'been in pro-
gress this week, have generally gone off at very dull prices.
The public sales of Tea have occupied the attention of the mer-
chants, brokers, and others interested, during the whole of the
present week. Of the 174,400 packages which were originally
declared for public competition, only 88,000 have yet passed;
and of these, probably not more than 31.000 package• have
been actually sold. The prices have, on the average, declined
(the various quantities considered) from twopence to threepence
per pound.
The prices of English Funds have advanced again this week
to the extent of e to 1 per cent. The Bears or speculators for
a fall, were caught on setting day (Tuesday last,) and had not
stock to deliver to the amount they had before sold. The mar-
ket was in consequence raised upon them, thus increasing their
previous losses. On the following day the differences were
paid prouiptly. To the abundance ofcapital is the rise we have
already quoted to be attributed. The highest price of Consols
obtained this week was 931, both fur Money and Account; but
on Thursday afternoon there were sellers at 63g. The Stock
markets were closed yesterday, it being Good Friday. The ad-
vances in the other public securities have not exceeded I to
per cent. this week. The demand for stock has not been to any
great amount. The premium of Exchequer Bills has been up
to 69, and of India Bonds to 74 ; but on Thursday, a slight fall
took place. East India Stock has been sold at 2614 and Bank
of England Stock at 2054 to 206.
The prospect of a contract of a new loan for the Spanish go-
vernment, as communicated in the advices received the day-be-
fore-yesterday, has not produced any beneficial effect upon the
prices -of the stock, which have fallen from 211 to 201. Por
tuguese Three per Cents have been on the decline; the Five
per Cents were sold on Thursday at 251; and Three per Cents
at 201 ;•.these rates being 1 te a per cent. lower than Monday
last. The French funds have been heavy this week ; the Five
per Cents have fallen front 109 to 107-25; the Three per Cents.
to 80-50; 'arid the Four per Cents to 101.75; Exchange 25f. 50c.
The , Dutch Two-and-a-Half. per Cents have rallied a trifle,
having fetched 54,1 on Thursday ; and -The Five per Cents were
saleable' at 1001. There is not anything yet known upon
which reliance may be placed, relative to the progress of the
negociation respecting Belgium and Holland. Belgium bonds
have been steady,, at about 10324. The prices of the South
American Securities have been .on the decline; Mexican
Stock has fallen to 28; Columbian, to 271; and Peruvian,
to 201.
There does not appear to be much disposition at present to
engage in any fresh speculations. ' The Asphalte Shares have,
however, reached 17 or 15 prem. A new company is about to
be formed under favourable prospects. British iron Shares
are still heavy at 141- to 15, or 351 to 35 discount. The Bail-
way Shares have been in a heavy state all this week. The
latest prices of the London and Birmingham are 179, or 89
prem.; of the Great Western. 931 or 281. prem.; of the
Brighton 14h or, 21 prem. ; of the Greenwich 16%, or 3 dis 7
count; and of the Southampton 46 or 4 discount. An ina-
pi ovennent may be noticed iu the Joint Stock Banking Shares.
British North American Bank Shares advanced 211, or 11
prem.; the London and Westminster to 21, or 1 prem.; and
the Colonial Bank to 261, or 11 prem.
TwecvE o'CLocK.—Consols have advanced to both for
money and account. Exchequer Bills are at 67, and India
Bonds at 7 premium. New Three-and-a-Half krer Cents, are
at 101%._ _ _

Spanish Consols are worth 204 ; Portuguese Three per Cents
201 ; Brazil Stock, 76; and Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cents

Shares ate without alteration.

CORRESPONDENCE.

LORD MULGRAVE'S

IRISH TRANQUILLIT

MURDER OF MR. COOPER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL ST4NDARD.

SlR,—The assassination of the late truly amiable and respect.
able Mr. Cooper, by the iron-hearted miscreants of Tipperary
is a crime of •so bloody and merciless a nature, as to excite in
the minds of alt• who do not entertain sentiments with and
kindred with the barbarians theinselves, feelings of deep exe-
cration and honor. And this impression on the public mind
must be associated with another of an equally solemn character.
While we execrate the fiends in human shape who have perpe-
trated the atrocious deed, let us also feel a manly and high-
toned indignation against those, be they the vassal placemen
of the Irish demagogue, or the literary hacks of the Irish press,
who have been seeking to bolster up a bad cause and a worse
government, by fictitious narratives of returning tranquillity
and peace, for the purpose of palming on the credulity of an
honest English public, a representation of an improved and
improving state Of Ireland, under the new radical regime, which
is as false and as corrupt as its authors are designing and un-
principled.
But 1 would beg leave to ask these Ilohenlhes of modern
legislation, hOw they will be pleased to reconcile this late act of
savage authority with the vaunted miracles of amelioration
effected by my Lord Mulgrave ? Why, the echoes of his own
pompous and Oflf;gratulatory address, in reply to Earl Roden,
have scarce passed'away; the ink has scarcely dried upon the
emphatic declaration of certain itinerant. Irish judges, and that
all was morality and absence of outrage; and thatthe calendars
were light, though the jails,were crowded; above all, the cry—
the triumphant announcement is yet ringing through the three'
kingdoms--"NUT ONE CAPITAL CONVICTION IN IRELAND ;"
and yet, ere we, have had leisure to ponder over statements so
novel and eitraordinary, after the turbulence and disaffection
of centuries, the startling, the horrifying intelligence reaches
us of a most deliberate and cold-blooded murder, openly perpe-
trated by a band of armed ruffians; and, further, that when the
tidings were telegraphed to a neighbouring fair, the gratifying
news was.passed from lip to lip with a smile of savage and
ferocious exaltation. _

When we have such facts as these fully and undeniably
before us, is it any wonder that the. feeling of horror, which
revolts and shrinks hack from the tale of blood, Should be in-
stantly succeeded by the throb of bitter execration against the
nolitical miscreants, literary and official, who have been this long
time past, trumpetting, forth their reiterated forgeries about the
present happy
_condition of Ireland, under the united auspices
of the whig-radical radical-triumvirate_olMulgrave, Morpeth,
and O'Connell. But these feelings of horror and indignation,
however commendable and natural, would be of very little use,
unless they were productive of strong and permanent effect.
Englishmen ! let the melancholy fate of the good but the un-
fortunate Mr. Cooper, prove a salutary lesson, as well as a
wholesome warning, to you in your connection with Irish politics.
Let it convince you how thoroughly the caitiffs lie in their base
bad hearts, who would tll you that the reckless propensity to
sacrifice human life, ou4heir own wild principles of false expe-
diency or lawless vengeance, is at length eradicated from
amongst the Irish peasantry; or that they have yet become so
humanised in feeling as to forget the tiger-instinct that revels
in the shedding of blood for its own sake. Let it satisfy you
that it is nothing better than a system of the grossest cajolery
and deception to represent to you that the wide-spread and
secretly-banded conspiracy, which has so long and so securely
existed against the obligation of all law and the observance of
all authority, and which is ever to break forth into open and
contemptuous combination against the ordinances of both, un-
less hacked by an armed soldiery and police, and enforced by
the bayonet, is at length crushed in Ireland. In a word, En-
glishmen, that it is utterly and, for its object, most perfidiously
false to assert that the covert disaffection, the broad disloyalty,
the guilt, the treachery, and the violence, which have entailed
poverty, misery, and perennial famine, as the hereditary curses
of the Irish people, hid even for a fleeting moment, in realitg,
ceased to pollute the soil and blast the prosperity of a country,
which Providence in its charity seems to have graciously destined
for a paradise, but which its own people, in their perverseness,
have successfully laboured to mar into a hell. Believe it- not,
people of England ! Such statements are but potiticalartifices
invented for your deception, and prictised for others gain.
Credit one who knoWs the condition of his wretched country
well 4 !hall however Speciously fabricated the cloak may be

which the inflaence and :tie power of a revolutionary au4ocrat,
secondiug the corrupti.ais 01 self-aggrandisiug placemen,- may
have thing over the prostrate and diseased state.of Ireland, the
corrtil>lions and the plague spots are still festering beneath,.and
when' the covering of the hypiwrites is torn aside it will he fouud
that it was the outward manifestations which were veiled from
public view, not the inward causes which
.were eradicated.
It is idle—it is worse, criminal, to assert that Ireland presents
any other aspect at this moment. Why, let any man of com-
mon sense reflect upon the matter for an instant, and he
see the glaring absurdity of the thing. A country for centuries
racked by intestine commotious—her population the prey• of
every violent passion that can goad on to the most reckless
deeds7-ber past history but a catalogue of murder, iucendiarism,
midnight maraudings—aggregate gatherings of the peasantry
iu open day in avowed and armed resistance to the constituted
authorities—desperate and sanguinary conflicts between daring
bodies of insurgents and the civil forces, in which whole troops
of the.-latter have been cruelly immolated. Well, in such a
state of things, (and every one must admit the foregoing in the
picture of Ireland as she has been,) growing and maturing for
ages, is it to be believed that any single individual, coming to
the head of a vice-regal administration, could be enabled at
once to heal the wounds of the past, reconcile the enmities and
jealousies of parties, restore confidence and harmony to all
classes, and, finally, so reform and redeem a lawless and turbu-
lent population, that whereas a few years ago the gibbet reeked
with the number of its victims, there is now not a single tenant
for the gallows. And all this effected without the production of
a single wholesome measure—without one real political benefit
being conferred on the great bulk of the people; nay, without
an effort being made to free them from the very grievances •
about which they are clamouring ! Why, it is monstrous to •
think upon it; and yet it is what every ministerial and radical
journalist in the kingdom has been prating about since the
accession of lam] Mulgrave to power.
But there are other considerations connected with both the
assumea and the prelendesL tranquillity of Ireland, which the
murder of Mr. Cooper suggests to one intimately acquainted
with the state of his country, and which may be of some impor-
tance in the present crisis of political events, to lay before the
_English public. I mean the causes of the late show of quiet—
the means adopted to produce the .external calm—the agents
etnplused in the work of deception—the secrets of the machi-
nery by which the late Agree of the "Nn CAPITAL coNvicTioN"
was got up, and some other details which may not be found.
uninteresting. But I have already trespassed too much on
your kindness, in the present letter; should you, however deem
the subject of sufficient value as to give; me space ,for future
communications, I shall devete my best attention to its con-
siduratiou.—l remain, your obedient servant,.
A TIPPEIIARY; MAN.
Liverpool, 12,11, April, 1838. ,

F. MVI :10)00f, sTANDA f?

occasion

~~ ~ +

NEW MAGISTRATE- —At the present ,quarter sessions for the
hundred of Salford, James Taylor, Esq., of Tochnorden flail,
by,taking the necessary oaths.
A LONDON CALL—One of these vehicles termed a vie a vie,
onus the Londoners term it a wis a we, is on the Castle-street
hackney-coach stand. It is, we believe, the first brought down
to Liverpool.
We understand the induction of the Rev. Hugh Crichton

will take place to-morrow, (Wethiestlay.) at the Scotch Seces-
sion Church, Mount Pieasant. The "Rev. David King, and
other ministers from Glasgow, are expected to assist on the

. 'rne regiment of King's Cheshire Yeomanry will assemble at
Liverpool; for six days' duty, on the 26th of May, under the
command of Lieut. Colonel Wilbraham Egerton. The dif-
ferent detachments will march on Friday, the 25th, to Warring-
ton, Latchford, Wilderspool, and Sankey.

HIGH CONSTABLE FOR THE HUNDRED OF SALFORD.—H.
Newbery, Esq., of Pendleton, and John Hargreaves, Jun., of
Newport House, Great Bolton, appointed at the January quar-
ter sessions for the hundred, have been sworn as high constables
at the present sessions.

WRECKERS.—On Saturday, five men were brought before the
Rev. Miles Formby and Mr. Rawson, magistrates of the county,
charged with having plundered the schooner Tyro, recently
wrecked off Formby, of part of her cargo. They were com-
mitted to the House of Correction for two months, the magis-
trates expressing their determination to punish allsuch offenders
with the utmost severity.
MAN DROWNED.-011 Thursday morning a young man was
found drowned o❑ the Bootle shore, in heightabout five feet five
inches, and of light complexion. He had on a pilot-cloth coat,
dark valentia vest, and plaid trousers, shoes nearly new, with
some money on his person. The body lies at the BOotle Coffee
House. If not owned shortly after the ooroner's inquest, it will
be interred. Mr. Orme, overseer, Bootle-cum-Linacre, can
give further information.
REMOVAL OF THE ALKALI WORKS.—We understand that
in consequence of the alkali works of this town being about to
be put down, it is contemplation by a few spirited individuals,
connected with those works to establish a similar concern in
Runcorn, on the most extensive scale, for the manufacture of
British alkali, where at present this business is carried on with-
out the least molestation from the .inhabitants or neighbour-
hood—Mercury.

AIELANCHOLY SUICIDE.—On Thursday night, about half-past
11 o'clock, a young man, respectably connected, put an end to
his existence at his lodgings in Pilgiim-street, by shooting him-
self throng-h the head with a pistol. lie died instantly. The
pistol, it appeared, had burst, and severely wounded his hand
when it went off. Habits of intemperance are said to have
been the primary cause of this miserable catastrophe.

PORT OF C liESTElt.lt is with great pleasure we notice the
increasing manifestations of a revival of trade in this port. On
\londay list no less than sixteen large vessels from London,
\Vales, Ireland, &c., besides numerous small craft, were lying
at our wharfs. This looks well, and argues much in favour of
the improvements of the depth of the Dee, made by the exertions
of the River Dee Company; and we hope that the time is not
far distant when Chester will present the appearance it once
did, and the flags of all nations will be unfurled in our port.—
Chester Gazette.

THE CHEMICAL NDISANCES.—Upon the principle, we sup
pose, of making hay while the sun shines, the proprietors o
these works are making the greatest possible use of them dur-
in.. the brief spare that', after the recent' verdicts, they will be
allowed to keep them open. They are working by. day and by
,night; and 'emitting the celebrated white vapour in, apparently,
'greater quantities than ever. Nor will the works, we hear, be
stoliped until towards the middle of summer. The delay iii
stopping them arises from the impossibility of bringing Mr. Mus-
pratt up forjudgment next term, an impossibility stated by Mr.
Cresswell, as -well as• front an implied promise, on the part of
that gentleman, when certain parties consented to plead guilty
to the indiclinents against them, that they should be allowed a
reasonable time Jo abate the nuisance. The Corpora-
tion, the prosecutors in these cases, are determined to follow up
the prosecution, and, should the parties hesitate or refuse to
abate the nuisance, to bring them up for judgment.
GLASGOW AND LIVERPOOL IHON STEADIER.—TO expedite
the communication between . London and Glasgow, a line of
iron steam-vessels is in progresi of being built fur the Liver-
pool and Glasgow stations, to sail every day at a regular hour
front both stations; and so perfectly adapted is their construc-
tion to be for, the Liverpool and Glasgow trade, that they will
arrive at or depart from, the Broomielaw at any state of the
tide. The peculiarity of the construction introduces a new and
very important improvement in shipbuilding. The hull of the
vessel is to be divided into five sections, with strong partitions
of iron; so that if by collision with any other vessel or striking
on a rock, or other accident, one or -even two of the sections
should be shattered and filled with water, the vessel would con-
tinue buoyant, the other sections being entire. They will thus
become safety vessels, not only as regards fire, but other acci-
dents at sea. Their speed is guaranteed to be considerably
greater than any steamer at present entering the Clyde; and it
is calculated that, when established, the communication be-
tween Glasgow and London; via the Birmingham railway, will
be less than 30 houis.—Journal.
OPENING OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM HALLWAY.—
The line flout Birmingham to Rugby, pursuant to announce-
ment, was opened on Monday morning, at nine o'clock; the
intermediate stages between that place and Denbigh Hall, a
distance of 36 wiles, being performed by coaches engaged for
that purpose, and the remainder by the railway. The general.
office in front of the station, is of a magnificent character, and
intended for meetings of .the directors, and the offices of their
secretary.; About sixty carriages, including first and second
class trains, were arranged in order under the station-house.
At tour minutes past nine the first train, consisting of four first
class and five second class carriages, and containing about 130
passengers, the engine No. 12 being attached, slowly inoyell
from the station-yard, amidst the cheers and congratulations of
those assembled.., On arriving at the station-house at Rugby,
the passengers alighted, and ample accommodation was prepar-
ed to convey those who intended pursuing their route to London,
to Denbiei. Hall, from whence they would go by railway to
town. The scene here was most animated and delightful, the
station-vard presenting the appearance of an amphitheatre,
Surrounded by equipages and horsemen, and crowded by groups
of wady dressed holyday, people, who .greeted the passengers
with enthusiastic cheering. Here every eminence, and any
place that could command a sight of the interesting spectacle,
was occupied. In about ten minutes, nine coaches and omni-
buses drove off in spirited style, conveying about. 100 passengers
for the metropolis In half an hour's time, everything being
properly adjusted, the carriage containing the luggage started
off. At Rugby, all was life and animation. l'he inhabitants
appeared highly delighted, and the day was kept as a general
holiday.

LIVERPOOL STEEPLE CHASE.—The next display of the
highly popular diversion of a steeple chase will be more than
usually attractive in this town, especially when it is made
known that its promoters, with alitudahle desire to keep pace
with other counties more celebrated for this description of
sport, have paid a visit to some of the most renowned fields of
actiou, and succeeded in enlisting a glorious band of stanch
supporters of the " neck-or-n'tithing" school. The parties al-
luded to, while at Cheltenham, made strenuous efforts to ac-
quire auxiliary aid, and were eminently successful, having ob-
tained. the names,ollhe Duke of .13eaufort, Lord Segrave, Earl
of Chesterfield, Captain Lamb (the owner of Vivian), and a
number of other influential sporting gentlemen, not only as
subscribers to the forthcoming steeple chase, but accompanied
by a promise to exert their influence in furtherance of the de-
sign, by making it one of the most splendid affairs of the sort
ever got up here. The list already boasts of 22 subscribers, in-
cluding the noblemen above named, therefore a very.strong
entry may be safely booked. The aristocratic character of the
muster will not, however, be confined to the bipeds, as the
" nobs" have promised the attendance of their quadrupeds as
well as of themselves. To sum up the whole of these pro-
inking things. we arrive at the grand climax, by being enabled
to state that Viscount Molyneux will be the steward for the
occasion; and, we need scarcely add, that his acknowledged
fitness for the post will be a 'sufficient guarantee for the com-
pleteness of the arrangements that will be necessary on the day
of running. These " means and appliances," if not broken to
the hope, we have little doubt will be the cause of attracting a
a host of fashionahles -to the "goml old town," thus giving
greater eclat to such meetings than has hitherto attended them.

SURVEYORS OF HIGHWAYS Fou WEST DEanY.—On Thurs-
day a petty sessions was held at the Court-house, Kirkdale, at
n bleb Sir Thomas Branker and Messrs. Aspinall and Rawson
magistrates for the county, were present. After disposing of
some unimpoitant.business, the annual accounts of the survey-
oisof the highways for the township of West Derby were laid
before them foi the purpose of being passed. It may be recol
lected that at the late meeting of the ratepayers of the above
township it was resolved, on the nuo'ion of Mr. Hardy,
that the surveyors' accounts should not pass; but as the
sanction of the magistrates in petty sessions was neces-
,sva:ryd,tionl carrythis
otcbcea
sresoluti
ono
into
submit e
theirff e effect, s
et hteo
tphaerdtreeesisciaonnieof ftohre-
tench. Mr. Sandars, law-clerk for the township, said that, ob-
eacpcorouvnitT so
Da os
opfptohre-
jt cntiitoyn
wahaving w beenFo
rictileadd,e
ato g
rteheeasbul etyoo rtsh'
highway act, of stating them before the magistrates. He then
asked if any persons present objecfed to the surveyors' accounts.
Mr. Hardy said he did. The books and vouchers of the sur-
veyors being produced, Mr. Hardy said he was prepared to
prove that, instead of the surveyors having a balance of £l3 13s.
in their favour, they were indebted to the township no less a
sum than £318195. 7d., and he was convinced the ratepayers
might recover to that amount. He then objected to au item of
£3U odd, the balance of an account, for which, as we under-
)3tood him, no receipt had been given. Mr. H. Sandars, in
explanation, said -all the moneys collected had been paid into
'the bank; and the reason why the last - bank cheque did not
appear in the book was, that he held the balance of it in his
-hands after paying a collector's salary. Some delay having
occurred in consequence of Mr. Hatdy's objections, the magis-
trates took the books into their own hands and examined them,
after which Sir Thomas Braucker told Mr. Hardy that he was
wrong in his estimate of the- surveyor's defalcations to the ex-
tent of £lOB His. 3d., a sum which he bad first included in their
receipts and ihen aded to another account. Mr. H. Sandars.
—lt is merely a Political maNement. The Magistrates.—We
,can't hear any thing about that. Mr. 'l'. Smith remarked that
Mr. Hardy had reckoned twice. Mr. Hardy.—l admit the
mistake. 'The Law-clerk said that either party had the power
of appeal. In answer to Sir T. Brancker, Mr. Hardy said he
took all his objections from the surveyors' bank-book. As the
bank book, it appeared, contained sundry private accounts,
which were blended with those of the township, the magistrateS
said they did not see they had any thing to do with it. The
only question for their consideration was, were the surveyors
correct in their -accounts of receipts and disbursements. This
was all the ratepayers had to ascertain. If the overseers chose
to carry the money in their pockets, no one could object, so
long as they were accountable for it. Mr. Hardy attempted to
prove by ddiereot statements of figures that there was a great
discrepancy betwixt the amount the surveyors had actually re-
ceived and that with which they had charged themselves. One
of the surveyors said they had books and vouchers for every
farthing of their accounts. Mr. Rawsou said, after examining
the books, the magistrates found that £l5 odds were due to the
surveyors from the township. Air. Hardy was next asked to
point out the charges he objected to. He mentioned three or
four, amounting in the whole to £37 10s. The principal one
was a sum of £22 10s., which the surveyors had paid to the
assessors, and which, be contended, the magistrates- could not
possibly sanction, it being in direct opposition to the highway
act. The magistrates wished to see the clause he referred to ;
hut after searching the pages of the act for a considerable time,
he said that he could not find it. A second charge to which he
objected was an account of £9 paid to a paviour, of which no
entry had been made in the books, though a voucher was pro-
duced. The Law-clerk read au extract from the act, to the
purport that it was discretionary with the magistrates whether
they allowed the charge in that form or not. The magistrates
over-ruled all the objections. Mr. Hardy nevertheless con-
tended that a balance of £212 would still remain due to the
township, and it was for the surveyors to show how_ it had been
expended. Sir. Thomas Brancker ended a tedious and, towaids
the close, a personal discussion by stating that the magistrates
had considered the items objected to by Mr. Hardy, and found
that they were satisfactorily accounted for by the surveyors;
that the charges objected to were reasonable, and that there-
fore the surveyors accounts do pass. Thus " vanished into thin
air" the party meddlingS of this unctniet