The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-08-10 00:00:00

when he ma,

ie recommendation

Pledge, to mortgage the present Sessio
Bridewell, to pay for the Courts of Law. Was Sir Tho-
mas serious in that ?

Sir T. BRANCKER.-.

The MAYOR.—This was discussed the other day, and
the matter was referred to the Finance Committee purely
on financial considerations.

Sir T. BRANCKER said he was unprepared to give much
information relative to the supply of gas, because the
Watch and Markets Committees had to do with that sup-
ply, and all the Finance Committee had to do was to pay
the bills.

The MAYOR said it was true that a contract had been
entered into for the supply of gas six or seven years ago.
One company had then offered to supply it at 42 per cent.
discount, and the other at 45 discount. And very easy it
was for the two companies to make that deduction, seeing
that the deduction came not out of their own pockets,
because they were strong in the belief that they would
still make their dividend of 10 per cent. ; and therefore
the deduction came in reality out of the pockets of the
consumers of Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) It was a question
whether the Corporation should be supplied at a cheaper
t"- 'l -- 1 body of consumers, seeing that, after

rate than the genera
all, the sufferers wer

It was on this ground, and this ground only, that no far-
ther diminution was now made from the prices of the
present day.
Sir T. BRANCKER said that, with regard to the mort-
gaging of the Sessions-house and Bridewell, the fact was
this--that there were only two modes of finishing St.
George's Hall. The one was out of the surplus income,
year by year, as surplus arises, or by mortgaging those
properties which would be set at liberty by the erection of
the new building. Now, the money which would be bor-
rowed upon these buildings would be applied to the finish-
ing of the hall, and when they were leased, the debt would
be paid off.
Upon the motion of Mr. BENNETT, Mr. Samuel Holme
was appointed a member of the Finance Committee, and
the proceedings were coufirmed.

DOCK COMMITTEE

The proceedings of the Dock Committee having been

read,
Mr. BRAMLEY-MOORE moved their confirmation. He
said it would no doubt be expected that he should give
some explanation of the negotiations which had been go-
ing on relative to the purchase of the North Shore for a
timber dock. The plan had been lying on the table for
the inspection of the Council since Saturday last, and it
was, he believed, so generally understood that it was un-
necessary for him to enter into detail about it, further
than to state that the time for making the four blocks and
streets, marked thereon, for the Earl of Derby, would be
—six years for the first block, ten years for the second,
fourteen years for the third, and eighteen years for the
fourth and last. The making of these blocks would, in
point of fact, be the cost of the purchase of the ground—
there would be no other outlay of money. Theimpor-

tance of the timber trade in Liverpool was well known,
and it was proved by the fact that the Brunswick Dock
had paid to the Dock Estate in one year the sum of
£46,000. The question which.had long agitated his mind
was the desirability of preserving that trade in Liverpool.
It bad long occupied his attention ; and in framing the
present plan the advantage of preserving that trade here
would be secured, and the trade would be carried on at a
cheaper rate than it was at any other_port in the kingdom

with the exception of Lancaster and the Clyde. He begged
to acknowledge how much he was indebted to Messrs.
Chaloner and Fleming, and other gentlemen connected
with the timber trade, for having afforded him every pos-
sible information as to their wants and their present re-
stricted and confined condition. The plan showed how
small and diminutive a space would be left for that trade

after the present alterations had been coma
there was an absolute impossibility of continuing it where
it now existed. There was also an impossibility of carry-
ing on the works at the Harrington Dock, and going on
with excavations there, in consequence of the crowded
state of the timber trade. Liverpool had the largest tim-
ber trade in the kingdom, and it could only be limited by
limiting its accommodation, because all the great imports
came here, and would continue to come here if accommo-
dation were afforded. A good deal of misapprehension
existed as to the charges in Liverpool, and a great deal of
pains had been taken to make out that Liverpool was
a dear port. He would just call attention to the charges
at present existing for a ship of 700 tons coming into Li-
verpool, discharging a cargo of timber, and going away
again in ballast, and he would contrast the charges here
with the charges at Birkenhead, Lancaster, London,
Bristol, Gloucester, Hull, and the Clyde. At present a
ship of 700 tons going into Birkenhead with timber, and
storing it for twelve months, would cost the importer
£4B 2s. I Id. more than it would cost him in Liverpool—
consequently there was not much inducement for him to
go there. (Hear.) At Lancaster it would cost him £143
less than in Liverpool; at London, £145 more; at Bris-
tol, £25 more ; at Gloucester, £lll more ; at Hull, £135
more ; and in the Clyde, £162 less than in Liverpool.
When they got possession of the land at the North Shore,
he should be greatly mistaken if they were not able to
reduce their charges at Liverpool by a great deal less than
one-half their present amount. The charges on removal
would be reduced. Labour would be lessened. In point
of fact there would be no labour ; and, as Mr. S. Holme
just informed him, it took five horses to do now what two
would do upon the new ground. Besides, carpenters and
shipwrights would then be afforded plenty of accommoda-
tion, and at so moderate a rent, that they would not be
able to obtain it at the same rate in any other locality in
Liverpool. Rents were now 15d. and 18d. per yard ; then
the Dock Estate would be able to afford them land at 2d.
per yard. (Hear, hear.) Consequently there would be
an enormous reduction effected for shipbuilders, and this
was very important, because shipbuilding had declined
here very considerably, and the yards were dwindling
down into nothing more or less than pitch yards. The

Meted, and

North Shore would, moreover, enable timber to be either
piled or floated, and the whole of the stocks could be seen
there at one view. Besides, there were two railway ter-
mini in the vicinity, and, by connecting the rails with the
yards, timber could be conveyed away to any part of the
kingdom, thereby abolishing the use of the great ugly
carts which now crowded the thoroughfares of the town.