The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-01-11 00:00:00

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

On Wednesday the usual monthly meeting of the
Council was held, and the Mayor, in opening the business,
alluded to the deaths of Mr. Alderman Bushby and Mr.
Elmes, the architect of St. George's Hall, on both of
whom he passed very high encomiums for their personal
qualifications and courtesies.
The Finance Committee presented their annual report
on the probable income and expenditure of the year, from
which it appeared that the nett income of the estate, from
all sources. could not be estimated for the ensuing year at
more than £143,850, and the obligatory expenditure at
less than £109,157, leaving a surplus of £34,693. The
continuance of branches of discretionary expenditure,
such as the schools, &c., was estimated at £1942, leaving
a nett surplus of £32,741, out of which the cost of the
following works must be defrayed :—Observatory. £lOOO ;
various improvements, £1050,; pediment of St George's
Hall, £2000; and the new baths in Paul-street, £790;
making a total of £4840, and leaving an available surplus
of £27,901. Out of this, the sum of £20,000 would be
required this year under the contract of St. George's
Hall, so that the actual sum at the disposal of the Coun-
cil would be £7901, to be applied for the public benefit of
the inhabitants, and the improvement of the borough.—
Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE said that when St. George's Hall
was completed, the whole surplus of £32,000 would be at
the unlimited disposal of the Council. He added, (with
reference to the donations from the Council to the public
charities); that the grant of £lOO a-year to the Royal
Institution had enabled between 16,000 and 18,000 per-
sons to visit the museum gratuitously, during the past
year, but he wished the directors would throw open the
doors a little wider. With reference to the appointment
of Mr. Wightman as architect to the Corporation, in the
place of Mr. Franklin, he thought that he (Mr. W.) was
entitled to £lOOO a-year, because he would give up all his
private practice and act as surveyor. architect, and estate
avent to the Corporation ; and he gave his reasons for
thinking that', the services of Mr. Newlands and the ser-
vices of Mr. Weigbtman should be kept perfectly distinct.
It was agreed that the financial report should be circu-
lated amongst the members of the Council.
Mr. ROBINSON moved that the sum of 300 guineas be
given to the dispensaries, instead of 157 guineas. This
was objected to by Mr. HARRORD, who said he thought
the dispensaries did more harm than good, and that no
person attended at the dispensaries, or, if they did, were
properly looked after, now that the parish surgeons did
their duty in all parts of the town. Several members,
however, spoke to the utility of these charities and even-
tually the usual grants to the various charities were car-
ried.

The Council then proceeded to discuss the propriety of
appointing Mr. Weightman as surveyor, at £l,OOO a-year,
Mr. EARLE and Mr. RATHBONE dissenting, in conse-
quence of Mr. Franklin not having received so much, and
because the sewers laid \down by Mr. Weightman were
not correct. They also argued in favour of the appoint-
ment of Mr. Newland.Mr. STEWART spoke strongly in
favour of appointing a gentleman of great local knowledge
and experience like Mr. Weightman, and said that very
much indeed of the prosperity of the corporate estate de-
pended upon the surveyor and estate agent.—Mr. S.
HOLME, like Mr. Stewart, observed that it was absolutely
essential to the prosperity of the corporate estate that the
surveyor should be a man of the most extensive know-
ledge ; acquainted; if possible, with every party wall and
every acre of corporate property. He contended that Mr.
Franklin had been an under-paid officer, and that the sur-
veyor ought not to receive less than 1,000 a-year. He
observed that Mr. Weightman was a man of great local
knowledge. If Mr. Weightman were appointed, he would
have the superintendence of the new gaol—a building
which would cost £150,000, aid if Mr. Newlands pos-
sesied superhuman powers he could not superintend the
erection of that structure and at the same time discharge
all the other business he had in hand as the surveyor to
the Health Committee. Mr. Weightman, upon the rail-
ways, would have his £2,000 or £3,000 a-year ; and if he
were appointed to the office now proposed a great saving
to the Corporation would be effected. The appointment
of Mr. Weightman was carried by a majority of 43 to 8.
It appeared that a friendly understanding had been
come to between the Town-clerk and Mr. Lowndes rela-
tive to the future payment of the magistrates' clerks' fees.
—Mr. DANSON, who originally mooted this subject in
the Council, delivered a long speech upon it. He im-
pressed upon the Council the necessity of insisting upon
Mr. Lowndes the propriety of paying for the printed
forms required in his office out of his salary of £4OO a-
year, and also, in the event of a national poor-law, or a
law of settlement, being enacted, that it should be com-
petent for the Council to reconsider the question.—Mr.
G. H. LAWRENCE stated that the thanks of the Council
were due to Mr. Danson for having brought this impor-
tant matter before them, as by his having done so much
good had undoubtedly been effected. He quite agreed
with Mr. Danson as to the necessity of re-considering
the appointment in case of there being a new law of set-
tlement, but he did not think it right that Mr. Lowndes
should be asked to pay for the printed forms used in his
office.—Mr. DANSON expressed himself satisfied, and: the
matter dropped.
The proceedings of the Watch Committee comprised

the .necessary proceedings preparatory to laying a watch
rate upon the parish of Liverpool, the townships of Ever-
ton and Kirkdale, and those parts of the township of
West Derby and of the extra-parochial place of Toxteth-
park which are within the borough.—Mr. LACE moved
the confirmation of the proceedings.—Mr. Dowling wrote
to say that fifty policemen with cutlasses had been ap-
pointed to take charge of the outskirts of the town, with
a view to the prevention of any additional highway rob-

A long memorial was read from Messrs. Sand. Griffith
zd ThOs. Thistle, clothiers, complaining that they had

,en deeply injured as tradesmen by certain acts of the
catch Committee with reference to a certain contract
Bich had been entered into by them for the supply of

is divided into two dwellimis. Like the Dock cottages,
each dWelling consists of three rooms,—kitchen, parlour,
and bed-room, or two bed-rooms. The kitchen is 131.
by 9ft 9in. ; one bed-room 92ft. by 7ft., the other 9.1-tt.
by 6tt. The kitchen is provided with a grate and oven.
Adjoining the kitchen, by a well--fitting door, is a water-
closet, and there is an abundant supply of water for all
purposes, from large cisterns at t"e top of each block.
Gas is also supplied, and there are duct shafts, through
which all dust and dirt is swept, and tills into a (lust-

Jar, from which it is regularly removed

Each room is

one, admitting air below, the other, tiear the ceiling, for
the egress of vitiated 'air. Our author considers these

dwellings will be sanitary. He supplies (from the owners)
particulars of the cost, and the returns. The coat of the
64 dwellings, belonging to Mr. Laird, was £7943 ; the
returns (with deductions) £366. The r.-nts of the cot-
tages are on the ground floor 4s. 6d. per week ; first floor,
4s. ; second floor, 2s. 6.1. ; third floor, 3s. ; the gross

,
rental of the 64 being £624. The deductions, amount-
ing to £258, are for window taxes, £127, township rates,
water, insurance, &c., £l3l. Our author considers these
buildings too expensively finish-- 1. otherwise they would
have cost 30 per (Tut. less. A fa sum for each, not in-
cluding the ground, would b, ..pout £7O, which would
give a return of 6 per cent.

- The great drawback (says the writer of the article) on
buildings of this description, is that most grievous of all
losses. the window tax. it is withant rinnht th. moat

means o

preven

comfortable habitations being erected for the labouring
classes ; and so long as it exists we need never look for
cheerful, well-aired, or well-ventilated dwellings. As a
matter of course, this tax falls upon the tenant in the
shape of rent.
The net rental of Morpeth Buildings is £366, or a
little over 44 per cent—not an adequate return. The
window tax is more than 20 per cent.. on the net rental.
The same tax on the Dock Cottages is £6OO. per annum.
Our author thinks, that if this tax cannot yet be relin-
quished, a new mode of assessment should be adopted.
Mr. Hickson, he says, suggests that for every 100 cubic
feet covered in for habitations, there ought to be a cer-

lation, and that these should be charged for whet per
opened out or not. Our author thinks this plan would
not be beneficial, but the contrary, and suggests that
instead of such a mode of taxing, a certain per -tentage
should be charged on the rent of every house exce,ding
£l5. in this way. there would he no object in decreas-
ing either the dimensions of dwellings, or diminishing the
number of windows, and the benefit would be felt by the
working classes, whose houses seldom exe ed in rental
£l5 per annum. On this point we are ourselves of opi-
nion that it is possible to abrogate the obnoxious tax alto-
gether. Why not substitute for it another tax or taxes,
bearing upon the luxuries of the competent without
trenching upon the humble comforts, or rather neces-
saries of the working classes. Surely a clever Chancellor
of the Exchequer 'night immortalize himself by devising
some plan to remove the present crying evil-

—the
air of

sition of a tax for the enkiyment of the light and

Heaven