The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-04-08 00:00:00

TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS

The monthly meeting of the Council was held on 'Wednes-
day, the MAYOR presiding.
Mr. BIeHAM, before the usual busi ess of the Council was
proceeded with, requested to make some allusions to an impu.
tation which had been made in the Mercury against certain
members of the Town Council for signing a petition in favour
of the reinstating of a pilot who had been dismissed from his
situation on account of drunkenness. In the article, from
which he quoted, fourteen members of the Council were
charged, he said, with using their power as Town Councillors
in an improper manner, and with attempting to reinstate a
drunken pilot "on the truck and barter system." In reply to
the imputation, he had to say that the persons who signed that
petition made inquiries at the Pilot-office, and found that
Richardson (the dismissed man) had been fourteen years a
pilot, during which time not a single complaint had been made
against him for drunkenness or misconduct. It was evident
that envy, malice, and disappointment had influenced the
person who had written the article which he had condemned.
—Mr. WOOD, the chairman of the Pilots Committee, was
about to.make some observations, defending that committee
from what he deemed the attack of Mr. Bigham, when the
MAYOR decided that with the statement of Mr. Itigham, exo-
nerating himself and those who had signed the petition also,
the matter ought to drop.
Before the ordinary proceedings commenced, it was thought
desirable to dispose of a discussion in connexion with the
Museum Bill, inasmuch as the bill was now before parliament,
and if the Council did not decide to-day upon what its provi-
sions should be, some inconvenience might follow. The gene-
ral principles of the bill were agreed to, except the 12th clause,
which was altered in accordance with a proposition made by
Mr. FERNIHOLYGii, that the sum of .e7OO a-year for the support
of the institution should be taken from the museum rate.

The proceedings of the Finance Committee comprised the
acceptance by Mr. Archibald Tweedie of the situation of Chief
Clerk in the Treasurer's office, at the salary of .4'200 per ann.;
a resolution of the Dock Committee, that the site of the Baths,
George's-pier, will be required tor dock purposes; and a re-
commendation to pad• Mr. W. K. Tyrer the sum of x• 113 for
land in London-road, required for the improvement of the
footway there.
The proceedings also contained the particulars of the nego.
ciations of the Finance and Dock Committees jointly with the
American Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. HORNBY narrated to the Council the nature of the pro.
posal which was made to the committee by the American
Chamber of Commerce, which proposal, he stated, the com-
mittee could not agree to. In the course of every able address;
he said :—The ultimatum of the members of the American
Chamber was to the effect, that they would allow the Council
to retain a veto only in the question of a reduction of the dock
rates, but this subject to an appeal to the Board of Trade.
The other proposals were, that the committee should consist
of twenty-four members, twelve elected by the Council, but
six of these must necessarily be qualified as dock rate-payers
(laughter): and that the committee should annually elect their
own chairman.
it Such were the proposals made by the Ameri-
can Chamber, must be distinctly understood, however, with-
out prejudice to themselves. Now, he (Mr. Hornby) believed
the Council would agree with him that such terms as these
were altogether inadmissible; for his own part, lie would ra-
ther relinquish the dock trust altogether than accept them—
(hear, bear); and he thought it would be more to the credit of
the Council to do so too. It was most desirable that the con-
nexion between the dock estate and the corporation should be
preserved inviolate, more especially at the present moment,
when the bond debt upon the dock estate amounted to four
millions; when such extensive docks were in progress by the
Dock Committee; and when they considered the rivalry which
existed, and the great exertions which were making to compete
with them on the other side of the Mersey. He had been asked
whether that Council, as trustees of the docks, considered
themselves answerable for the payment of the principal and
interest due to the dock bondholders? Certainly not—(hear);
but emergencies might arise when it would be not only the
interest but the duty of the Council. and the interest, too, of
those whom they represented, to do everything in their power
to support the credit of the dock estate. (Hear,' hear, and
cheers.) He looked upon this support as analogous to that
which ,a wealthy merchant frequently afforded to a friend or
relative engaged extensively in commercial transactions, but
who might be in temporary difficulties. The nricnant did not
guarantee his friend's debt, but afforded to him that support
and assistance which enabled him to maintain his position
until the embarrassments had passed away. This was the
connexion which the American Chamber of Commerce rashly
wished to dissolve. And what was the pretext for this extra-
ordinary step? As far as he could understand, it was because
the constitution of that council was not satisfactory to the
American Chamber. (Hear, hear.) The representatives of the
burgesses of Liverpool were not considered by the members of
that chamber as fit persons to exercise those' duties which, by
the existing laws of the land. were entrusted to them; and,
therefore, parliament was to be appealed to in order to entrust
those duties to others who enjoyed more of the confidence of
that association than did the present members. of the council.
He did not understand that any accusation wasbrought against
them for want of honesty; but he believed they we're not sufli-
cientlyaristocratic for the members of the American Chamber
of Commerce—(hear, hear)—that there were too many shop.