The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-29 00:00:00

the said burgesses should not hereafter be aggrieved or other-
wise disturbed by any officer or minister in any of their fran-
chises or judicature. It further stated that those letters patent
should be law. There was no mention made in any of the
charters of gifts or grants made to the Mayor and Burgesses,
and it appeaaed that the King had given the Corporation no-
thing, and they had a right to hold what property they had pur-
chased by the power conceded to them by the charter. It had
been given in :evidence before the commissioners, what
the nature of the Corporation property was ; and no evi-
dence had, or could be brought forward before them, that
the Common Council had procured any portion of their
present property by gift from any individual, or from the
King himself. (Cheers.) Neither could it be shown that auy
trust had been violated, or property applied, contrary to the
intentions of the donor. Whatever property the Corporation
had acquired, they had acquired it the same as a private indi-
vidual, which ought to be protected by virtue of their charters,
as the law of England protected the property of private indivi-
duals; and the estates of the Corporation in the town of Liver-
pool were as much their property as were the estates.of the com-
missioners their own property ; and uo evidence had been brought
forward to show that such was contrary to the fact. The consti-
tution of the Common Council, as granted by the charter of
King William, was enjoined to the future electors to be the
same as before the charter of Charles the Second. The Commis-
sioners had asked the other day for copies of extracts, and he
now produced those extracts, which showed that, before the char-
ter of Charles the Second, it was the custom to elect the Common
Council in the same manner as after the charter of William the
Third. In the decisions in the courts of law on therecords of the
Corporation, there were two trials in the King's Bench, and they
established that it was the custom of so electing them before the
charter of Charles H. These two decisions had proved that it
was not the custom to elect the Common Councilmen in the
Common Hall, and stated in what way they were to be elected.
The present members of the Common Council held their offices
by the same mode that the Common Council had always been
elected in the borough, which proved that there had been no
usurpation, and he did insist that the present members of the
Conuuon Council did not owe their election to any
.usurpation
whatever, but were elected in the saute manner.as it appeared
by the books of the Corporation, had been the practice for years
past, and uo evidence had been brought forward to the con-
trary. It appeared that in the charters the Common Council
were called by different names, sometimes they appeared
as Common Halls, and at other times as congregations
and assemblages, from which it seemed that, in former
days, the transactions of the Cominon Cwincil were not con-
ducted with all that minuteness of detail as at the present
time, and they (the commissioners) could not, 'after what they
heard in evidence, he was sure, in their report to the King, state
that there was any usurpation with regard to the mode of elec-
tion at the present time. (Cheers.) Mr. Bolton had coin-
plained that no Dissenters were members of the Common
Council, and he admitted that there were no persons in the
Comuion Council who dissented from the doctrines of the Esta-
blished Church. ( Hear.) Mr. Bolton had also stated cor-
rectly.that the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts took
place in 1828, before which no Dissenters could be admitted into
the corporate bodies, in consequence of their being unable con-
scientiously to comty with. the oaths requisite, prior to their
becoming members of the Corporation. Mr. Bolton had said,
that after the repeal of those acts no Dissenters, were admitted
into the Common Council, and alluded to the eleetion of Mr.
Horsfall as being the first to be elected after the passing of that
act. The second person elected was himself, and he could,
Consequently, answer for all elections since that period.—
He could state that no Dissenter had been put in nomi-
nation in the Common Council. He could not, therefore,
conceive upon what Mr. Bolton founded his opinion, that any
person had been refused because he was a Dissenter. Mr. Bol-
ton had further stated that nothing had been given to the Di.s-
sewers by the Corporation iu the exercise of their patronage;
but he had subsequeetly corrected himself, having found that
there were instances of gifts by the Corporation to both Dis-
senting schools and chapels. With regard to the ecclesiastical
patronage of the Corporation, he admitted that they had erected
churches and not chapels; but he could not conceive that the
Common Council could be accused of a remissness of their
duty because they had given what they had to give to the es-
tablished religifai ; and it could not be imputed to the COr•pora-
lion that they ha
.1 done wrong by giving the preference to the
Church of Engla
id. The mode in which the patronage was
dispensed would be laid before them; and he lamented that
exaggerated statements respecting that patronage had been
'Mue, which this inquiry would tend to remove. No evidence
lad been brought before them of any unworthy object having
been appointed to the churches under the patronage of the
Corporation. The only thing that had been urged related to
the Rev. Mr. Johnson, who, by refeiriug to the evidence of the
Rev. Mr. Brooks, the rector, would be found a worthy pastor
of his flock, and a most excellent parish curate. Ha (the
Town-clerk)' had previously stated, that he thought_Mr. John-
son had no competitor for his situation ; but he had since found
that Mr. Fisher and Mr. Johnson were the only candidates,
although Mr., Goddard was mentioned; but there was no for-
mal application to the Common Council by Mr. Goddard, who
did not come forward as an open candidate as had been stated.
If Mr. Johnson's appointment, therefore, was to be brought for-
ward as a charge against the Corporation, he would refer to the
other side of the question, when the Rev. Mr. Prince was ap-
pointed by the Common Council to the evening lectureship of
St. Paul's, on the recommendation of the congregation; and
the same conduct had been pursued by the Common Council
in the appointment of Mr. Cardwell to his church. With regard
to the offices of the Corporation, the treasurer, he admitted, was
one of their body, as was also the receiver of town dues; and
the treasurer had invariably been a member of the Common
Council, although the receiver of the town dues was not always
so. They wou'd find, by reference to evidence given, that those
gentlemen found sufficient securities tit the faithful discharge of
the duties of their offices; and lie would ask what there was so
peculiar in the character of a Common Councilman, that would
render hint incapable of doin
,g the duties of such offices? The com-
missioners would find that those gentlemen were compelled to
account in as strict a manner, and with as much punctuality, as
any merchant would be anxious to do on his own account;
and he thought he might say almost more so. The commis-
sioners would not find upon their notes that there was any
evidence whatever, that money, the property of the Mayor and
messes, had. been aquandered away for .election ,purposes.
Neither did they find the Corporations,-as a body, interfering in
the election of any candidate, although the individual members
of the Corporation exercised their privilege of voting as they
thought proper. On the contrary, the candidates and their
friends, at the termination of an election contest, whether success-
ful or otherwise, were always invited by the Mayor to the enter-
tainments at the Town-ball ; and he ( the Toa n-clerk) recollected
sitting next to his friend (if he might call him so) Mr. Bolton ;
and their motto appeared to be—to, make use of the observations
of a celebrated squib-writer of former times—to forget all the
folly, and laugh at the fun. (Laughter.) Aud they haul no
evidence on record, or ,witness brought, to prove that the Cor-
poration had taken any part in the election contests, excepting
individually, in having. espoused the cause of their favourite
candidate, as was the right of au Englishman. Ile would not
descant upon the political principles of the Common Council,
as he should despair of doing it with that accuracy and justice
which the gentlemen on the opposite side of the table hind la-
boured to do. ( Laughter.) He thought, however, that, in
these times, it was exceedingly difficult to discover, the political
opinions of any one ; and yesterday they had a proof of 4.
They found Dr. Collins and Mr. Jordan at variance, although
previously supposed to entertain similar political opinions. Ile
would say that there were gentlemen on the Common Council
who embraced different opinions, and had taken all sides in the
party politics of the town. Another charge.against the Com-
mon Council was the relationship with each other. It reminded
him of a book that was put into his hands in his earlier days,—
which the commissioners were doubtless well acquainted with,,
but which, from their long experience, they now, perhaps, had
seldom occasion to consult-- called BlaCkstone's Commen-
taries. In that book be found a table of consanguinity
of large dimensions, and most accurately drawn up; but he
thought they (the commissioners) had upon their notes a far
more extensive table of consanguinity, derived from the gen-
tlemen opposite, than Blackstone ever contemplated. He did
not know how those gentlemen had exercised their ingenuity in
tracing the genealogy of the Common Council, or whether they
1,,d traced them down to an ancestor well known to them all as
Dicky Sam; but they had carried the consanguinity of cousins
and cousins-in-law to a greater extent than had ever been con-
templated either by Blackstone or any other writer.—( Laugh-
ter.) To be serious, however, he thought that a certain por-
tion of the town, by this table of genealogy, were very much
neglected, and had just grounds of complaint against the gen-
tlemen opposite,—he meant the ladies of the borough,—
(laughter,)—as they must, hereafter, never marry a man
who had a cousin or a cousin-in-law in the Common
Council ; and although Mr. Bolton had no father nor
grandfather, he had sons, grandsons, and grand-daughters
in. the borough, who, he 'supposed, would be interdicted from
connecting themselves with the cousin, or the cousin-in-law, of
any member of the Common Council. (Laughter.) He (the
Town-clefts) was before stating that there' were various parties
in politics in the Common Council, and they had had no evi-
dence before them of any corruption by the council as a body,
nor of any act done by them, as applying to themselves, as it
had been stated that the Corporation had bought from and sold
to themselves at improper prices. The commissione rs had
very properly called fOr a statement of the prices for which
this property was, bought and sold; and they had uo proof
whatever of corrupt practices in any one of the transac-
tions. Out of 2169 leases granted within the last twenty-
two years, there were only sixty under building leases to
members of the Common Council; and the only purchased
leases in twenty-two year's by the Common- Council were
eight; so that, out of the forty. members of the'Common
Council, that number only were interested; and during the
same period the only purchases of freehold property from mem-
bers of the Common Council were eight. '1 hese facts were
correctly taken from the books of the• Corporation ; which
showed 'that there was no foundation for any eofnplaints against
members of the CommOn Council. He held in his hand the
total amount of the sale of land and premises made by the Cor-
poration in 23 years; which amounted to the sum of £668,503
16s. 9d.—and the total amount of that sum sold to members of
the Common Council appeared to be £22,032 15s. 3d. In 1828,
the estate in Cheshire was purchased from Sir John Tobin-and
Mr. Laird, which had already been stated to be purchased for
£B-1,000. He had the detailed particulars of all the purchases
made by individuals from the Corporation, giving the names of
the parties; but he thought he was not called upon to expose
the private affairs of the persons who had bought trona the Cor-
poration. He should, therefore, refrain from naming the par
ties, and entering into the details, unless the commissioners
thought it necessary.
The Commissioners here said they should leave it to the
Town-clerk's discretion; and the latter consequently said he
should decline entering into those particulars.

With regard to the Wallasey- Pool sale, it was meant to be
Melted that Sir John 'robin had been favoured by the Corpo-
ration. He would, however, leave them to judge whether-such
was the case,. when he stated that a member of the Common
Council had purchased a portion of that land from the Corpo-
ration. at fifteen shillings per square yard, and a part at ten
shillings per square yard. On the first of July, a plot of laud
in tho Waterloo-road was sold to a gentleman who paid nine-
teen shillings per square yard for it. Another lot had been sold
on the Bth of July for twenty-one shillings per square yard ;
and two lots, in the same place, were Sold at the. same
time to Sir John Tobin, a member of the Common Council,
at twenty-five shillings per square yard, which plainly showed
• that there was no favour to any member of the Common Coun-
cil, neither had there been any evidence to prove that there
was; but he advanced this to prove the direct contrary. With
regard to the complaint against the freemen, which had been
alluded to in a petition put in, and in the evidence given by
Mr. Peter Woods, the particulars of which were now before the
House of Commons, he would not say more than this—that, as it
was under investigation by that house, he had no doubt that the
legislature would deal with the subjeet with justice, and as it de-
served. He was not aware that, with regard to the Corporation, he
had much more to state in denial of the allegations which had
been made. There had been no evidence to prove the allega-
tion of Mr. Bolton, that there was a profuse expenditure of the
funds cf the Corporation, or that the Common Council was con-
, stituted for one party in politics, and one sect in religion. He
thanked Mr. Bolton for the admissions he had made regarding
the efficiency of the public officers ; from which the commis-
sioners might see that the charges made against them by others,
in their statements, were not true. He also felt obliged to Mr.
liathbune and Mr. Thornely for the admissions they had made