The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-09 00:00:00

council was present.
Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE rose and said, before proceeding
with the order of the day, he would venture to draw the
attention of the council to what he considered to he a ques-
tion of privilege, inasmuch as it related to the election of an
alderman just previous to the late municipal elections. He
considered that this was one of the Questions which ought to
have precedence over every other subject in their delibera-
tions. He could not see Mr. Robert Ellison Harvey occu-
pying the seat of an alderman in that room without renew-
ing the protest which he had felt it his duty to make at the
close of the last meeting, upon the ground of ineligibility in
the candidate. It would be for the Mayor or the Town--
clerk to show the grounds upon which they had ventured to
induct Mr. Harvey to an office in which he had incurred
penalties by acting. But it would require a strong opinion
indeed to induce him (Mr. G. H. Lawrence) to wave the
opinion be had formed ; it would require very strong grounds
to justify him in coining to any other than the common-sense
conclusion that though he was ineligible to serve as a burgess
or to vote as a town councillor he should be qualified to vote
and occupy a seat as alderman. He could not believe there
could be such an anomaly in the reform act as that, that there
could be such a distinction as he had heard alleged between the
name being upon a list which had never been revised, and the
biirgess roll, from which alone the aldermen were to beelected.
With Mr. Harvey he had no fault to find; but he thought
this council was bound to see that the title of each member
to his seat was without suspicion ; and it was not to be left to
par ties outoldoors to bring the questions before their considera-
tion. It was for the council, and for the councilalone if they had
done wrong in any instance to set the matter right. With these
expressions of his sentiments be begged to call upon the
Town Clerk to explain the grounds upon which he justified
the course which had been adopted, and io point out to the
council the mode by which lie could purge the seat from the
doubt which hung over it.
Mr. Alderman EARLE believed the Town-clerk had taken
a legal opinion on the question, and that it was in favour of
Mr. Harvey's right to his seat. He suggested that this opi-
nion be read.
Mr. Alderman EVANS bad heard with great regret the
unnecessary speech of Mr. Lawrence. 'He could not help
conceiving that it was in a great degree tinged with an acri-
mony that he had not expected from Mr. Lawrence. The
matter was one of pure law, and he thought Mr. Lawrence
had most unnecessarily given it a kind of undue colouring
to the matter as if there was a collusion, and as if a great and
scandalous wrong had been inflicted.
The MAYOR, as the question of privilege had been raised,
thought it necessary to state the part he had taken in this
matter. He was not quite sure, though he was under the
impression, at least, that the Town-clerk was of opinion that
this question would have been best raised after the election
of the new Mayor. (Cries of " No.") If it were the plea-
sure of the council the question should be raised whilst lie
occupied that seat ; he was quite satisfied, but the Town-
clerk was impressed with the opinion that the first and only
business he (the Mayor) had to do, was to preside till the
election of the new mayor.
The MAYOR asked whether it was the pleasure of the
council to proceed now to the election of mayor, and after-
wards give any member an opportunity of bringing forward
the election of Mr. Harvey ?
Mr. H. LAWRENCE,--it is understood that we receive his
vote in the election of mayor under protest.
The MAYOR.—I should rather that that were not men-
tioned at all. (Cries of " No, no.")
Mr. 11. LAWRENCE.—No, certainly not. If we mean to
insist upon it, that he is not properly elected, now is the

time.
The TOWN-CLERK said the first course to-day was the
election of mayor, it being understood that a protest was
made against the legality of Mr. Harvey's seat. When the
proper time came, after the election of mayor, he should be
ready to give every explanation in his power. (Hear, hear.)
The MAYOR.—Then the first business before us is the
election of Mayer. If any member has a gentleman to pro-
pose, I shall now be happy to hear him.
Mr. ROBERTSON GLADSTONE then rose, and said, Mr.
Mayor, I rise with feelings of very great gratification to propose
Mr. John Shaw Leigh as a fit and proper person to fill the
high and important office of Mayor of this borough for the
ensuing year. In doing so, I am well aware that the oppor-
tunity is afforded me of making some remarks as to the
great change which has taken place since some of us last met
in this room. I allude particularly to the present relative po-
sition of the two parties in this Council ; but 1 purposely
abstain from making such observations, believing they are
not in themselves necessary, and that they are not calculated
to promote that good feeling and harmony which it is so de-
sirable to see in all the proceedings of the Council. (Hear.)
I have, sir, already upon a previous occasion had the honour of
proposing Mr. Leigh as a candidate for the chair you now
fill. To most, I may say to every member of this coun-
cil Mr. Leigh's qualifications and character are well known.
(Hear," hear.) It is fortunate for the town that such an in-
dividual can be selected, for I may truly say that his well-
earned reputation is indeed most ably sustained by his own
individual high honour, unquestionable integrity and standing
in the town ; and that in venturing to name him as a candidate
upon the present occasion, I am confident, that it his ap-
pointment should be confirmed by the council, it will be
one that will confer honour upon the council, and at the
same time be most acceptable to the community at large.
With these remarks I beg leave to propose that Mr John Shaw
Leigh be elected mayor of this borough. (Hear, and loud
applause.)
Mr. CHRISTOPHER BUSHELL.-Mr. Mayor, it became
my duty last year to second the nomination of Mr. John
Shaw Leigh, he having then been proposed by my friend Mr.
Gladstone. We did this, last Year, not with the same hope
that we have this year of electing him to the high office you
now hold Sir, I quite agree with the explanations which
have fallen from my friend Mr. Gladstone, as to there being
no necessity whatever for entering into any detail with re-
gard to the position we now occupy in this council. The
town has determined that, and therefore it is unnecessary to
repeat it here. lam equally. anxious with my friend, Mr.
Gladstone, that there should be no observations made which
would tend in the least degree to excite irritable feelings, and
I trust that the future proceedings of this council will be
characterized by that desire for the general good, which can
never, by posibility, be promoted by any of those exhibitions
of differences which have unfortunately sometimes pervaded
this Council, (hear, hear.) In seconding the nomination of
Mr. John Shaw Leigh, I believe I am seconding the nomi-
nation of a gentleman, who, if elected, will hold the scale
with firmness, and who will incline the balance to the side
of justice and strict impartiality, (hear,) with these observa-
tions, I beg to second the nomination, (applause.)
The MAYOR—Has any other member of the council a
gentleman to propose ?
No answer being returned,
The MAYOR said, I then declare that Mr. John Shaw
Leigh. is unanimously elected Mayor. (Great applause.)
Mr. LEIGH was then conducted to the chair, by his mover
and seconder, amidst much applause.
The TOWN-CLERK having administered the usual declara-
tion, and the necessary forms having been completed,
The MAYOR said,—Gentlemen, having gone through the
formal ordeal of assuming the high position which you have
been so kind as unanimously to impose upon me on this oc-
casion, 1 cannot allow the opportunity to pass without ex-
pressing sincerely the feelings I entertain for the expressions
of that sentiment which you have now evidenced in placing me
in the position in which I now stand. I can say I shall feel
it my duty to act to the best of my discretion in every occur-
rence that may take place, both as the chairman of this as-
sembly and in my judicial duties in connexion with the office
you have just now placed me in. I do hope that the same
unanimity which has been now shown to a great extent in
this room may be evinced in all our transactions through the
approaching year, which, of course, it will be my strong de-
sire to promote to the utmost of my power. I beg leave,
gentlemen, to thank you most sincerely for the honour you
have conferred upon me. (Applause.)
The aldermen whose tenure of office now terminated then
rose to retire : in doing so,
Mr. JOSEPH HORNET said—Mr. Mayor, good morning.
(Laughter.)
The MAYOR.—I am very sorry to lose sight of you, Mr.
Hornby. (Renewed laughter.)
ELECTION OF ALDERMEN.
The council then proceeded to the election of eight alder-
men in the place of those just retired. The following is a
list of the gentlemen proposed, and the number of votes for
each.

William Nicol
Edmund Molyneux
Thomas Chilton.—
J. B. Moore
R. S. Crooke
J. H. Turner
Raymond Houghton
Richard Griffith ..
T. Booth
Geo. Holt
R. Benn
T. Blackburn
R. Roskell
J. Hornby ...
H. Hornby
R. Shell
Wm. Rathboue
C. H. Jones ......
Charles Horsfall ,
Hardman Earle....
The first eight, all of whom arc conservatives, were de-
clared duly elected.

01• • ... 5
4
2

MEMORIAL.
A memorial from the owners and occupiers of houses in
Bridgewater-street, was read, and referred to the Finance
Committee.

CONFIRMATIONS OF PROCEEDINGS.
The proceedings of the last special council, and of the se-
veral committees since that meeting were then read and con-
firmed.

APPOINTMENT OF MR. HARVEY AS ALDERMAN

It being understood that the Town-clerk had taken the
opinion of counsel on this question, he was called upon by
several members to state the result. He stated, in effect,
that after the election of Mr. Harvey, by a majority of
thirty-three to thirty, and the Council had broken up,
Mr. G. H. Lawrence, accompanied by several other mem-
bers, came in and protested against the election, on the
ground that his name was not in the burgess list at the time
being. The objection was that his (Mr. H.'s) name was
not in the list for 1839, and as the list for 1840 was not re-
vised throughout, and the old list of 1839 fallen back upon,
that list therefore remained in force till Ist November, 1841,
and Mr. Harvey was elected on the 30th Oct., while the list
for 1841, in which his name appeared could not come into
legal operation till the November following. It was there-
fore contended that Mr. Harvey was not duly qualified to
sit as alderman. He (the Town-clerk) thought at the
time the objection was fatal, and had he been then asked his
opinion, he should so have stated it. There were two lists
required—one by the overseers, to be completed in August,
called the burgess list—and another, revised by the mayor
and assessors, coming into force on the first November,
called the burgess roll. The opinion, however, which
he had first entertained against Mr. Harvey's eligibi-
lity, was considerably shaken by his attention being
called, by a barrister, to the words " entitled to be (at the
time of election) on the Burgess List", the other being
called the Burgess Roll. He had finally been led
to the conclusion, from several clauses of the act, the words
referred to the overseers' list, and he therefore had formed
an opinion favourable to the election in question. He then
stated that he had drawn out the case of Mr. Harvey as
clearly os possible, and submitted it to eminent counsel, Sir
Frederick Pollock, Attorney-General. Mr. Starkie,-and Mr.
Crompton. Their reply was, "We are of opinion that Mr.
Harvey was entitled to be on the burgess list at the time he
was elected alderman." _ _

..- -
A long and rather stormy discussion then took place as to
whether the Council should proceed to have the question
decided in the Court of Queen's Bench, or should leave the
matter to rest on the opinions obtained.