The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-12-10 00:00:00

Dee. 10, 1844

TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS.

_l3n, Wednesday the usual monthly meeting of the
eunuch was held at the Town-hall.
FINANCE 'COMMITTEE.—THE LATE TOWN-CLERK.
,01:03h To wN - c LE R K read the proceedings of the Finance
c‘-b_ mittee, comprising a recommendation for the pur-
reease of Mr. Logan's premises, in Oldhall-street, and a
land' in for the sale of the reversion of a piece of
in Upper Islington, for the erection of an Irish
eePresbyterian Chapel. It appeared from the proceedings
this committee, that they had received a letter from
John Radcliffe, requesting that the late town-clerk's
salary might be paid to the expiration of the current
quarter,
namely, to the end of January next, and that
Rri recommended the council to refuse the application.
Go H• LAWRENCE,
adoptionseconded .by Sir Thomas
!tucker, moved the of the proceedings.
PROCTER asked whether it was true that the Fi-
nance.__ Committee had refused a quarter's salary to the
ly of the late town-clerk ?
The Mr' G. H. LAWRENCE replied in the affirmative.
Y had recommended the family to be paid all that they
we.lTrieeally entitled to and no more.
• PROCTER believed there was not a merchant in
„_7,errtrool who would have refused a similar application
Under 00l who would have refused a similar application
Mr the circumstances.
to .G.
LAWRENCE said the council bad no power
.vondeal liberally, and that they were.bound as a corpora-
ems'acting together under the municipal act, to do what
be right and no more. The surplus income could only
eanplied for the public benefit of the inhabitants and
c`aa_nemprovement of the borough ; and, therefore, the
-u il had no right to pay gratuities or recompences out
nt such a fund.
fir THOMAS BRANCKER said a merchant could do
ioaat he liked with his own, but that the council were
,bun by an act of parliament.
Parto HUGiI HORNBY observed that the feeling on the
of every member of the committee was to grant the
application if they could, but they were assured by the
town-clerk that, if granted, it would be contrary to law.
re. THE BIRKENHEAD PURCHASES.
IINNE said he had beard no mention made of the
payment
of the large sum of money for the Birkenhead
_nee purchases, and asked what reason there was for the ino-
wot having been paid ?
need'i),G. 11. LAWRENCE replied that no apprehension
_had be. entertained on this score. A draft of the leases
aPpro tent made out and submitted to Mr. Mallaby for his
engrolsea;e' In a few days the draft would be returned and
Paid, -4.- and then he expected the money would be
,h_ ,o here was no delay on the part of the council; and
,Z_aePed there would be no delay on the part of the pur-
. reel's la making the payments.
same. BIRKETT expressed a hope that, when the money
.ita."l(i.Atiwould not be a strong desire to catch hold of
laugh.)
...,,_l4r• WOOD said it was understood out of doors that
7el the money was paid the covenants in flee leases
would not be carried strictly into effect.
rThe Tower-CLERK said this was a mistake. The cove-
uts
in the leases would be the same as in the contracts,
loth the exception of the part relating to the payments.
every other re-pect the covenants would be the same.
THE SALTPETRE AND TRANSIT SHEDS.
Nicol, complained that the sheds erected for the
ceposit of saltpetre had been oppropriated to the stowage
'Of tobacco, and that those who imported saltpetre had to
.bee
k for places of deposit elsewhere.
Me, G. H. LAWRENCE said the
four sheds to meet the wants of the saltpetre trade, arid
that, when finished, it was ascertained that two of those
sheds were quite as much as were required, other parties
having in the meantime constructed sheds for specie!
-arehnuseing purposes. Consequently only two shed,
were anoroptiated for the deposit of saltpetre; the other
two were let to the collector for the warehouseing of to-
„„,"
bzie,an ; but, if the saltpetre trade was inconvenienced, the
-'eetor would ive up big two sheds when accommodationanould have been provided for him at the New Tobacco
Warehouse.
than that complained of, for the transit sheds at the
Prince's Dock were occupied with tobacco, to the great
inconvenience of the port, parties having taken possession,
and there being no means of removing them. They kept
Possession moreover free of all charge, in consequence of
a clause in the act which provided that no charge could be
made until after the goods deposited had pa-sed the scale.
Mr. TYRER agreed with Mr. Moore that the warehous-
ing of tobacco at the transit sheds was a serious evil.
The conversation here dropped, anti the proceedings
were confirmed.
MR. MILLER'S RESIGNATION.
The proceedings of the Watch Committee comprised a
recomteetidation of Inspector Henry Morley, The
anent as beadle of the par:sb.
gfso re appoint-
-übotii
a report, which contained the heads of the several reasons
head constable,' had' beets
for which Mr. Miller, the bite
considered incompetent to discharge the duties of the
•office. The report was to the effect that, during the time
-Mr. Miller acted as head constable, the printed rules and
regulations for the good conduct rif the police-force had
-not been carried,out ; that. Mr. Miller bad not made him-
'self acquainted with the duties of his office; that he had
not attended the bri '.ewells and stations at intervals dining
'the day end night; that since his appointment the force
hae declined in general discipline, pattly from the forego-
=ing causes, and from his having selected young and inex-
-perienced inspectors ; that he bad kept himself aloof from
=the superintendents and inspectors, and that his general
conduct and detneaneur had been so haughty and over-
:bearing as prevented intercourse with him ; that acts of
'insubordination and dissatisfactien in the discharge of
their duties had been more frequent in the force under
--Mr- Miller than before, end that there was a greater desire
1/n the part of the men then ever to quit the force
that the cause of much of the insubordination amongst the
--?c
eta might he traced to an injudicious system of drill
introduced by Mr. Miller. The report was signed by the
.Inayor as chairman of the Wetch Committee. It further
appeared that subsequent to his resignation, Mr. Miller
.pad applied for a copy of the evidence taken, in his case
before the
refused u sub-committee, and that his application was
pon the ground that, as his resignation had been
!a'aeeted there was an end of the matter. The proceed-
lugs further contained a full report of the evidence taken
V.Ore the rnag;strates with reference to Mr. Parker's
age d interference, the resolutions of the magistrates
thereon, and the subsequent resolutions of the Watch
Committee.
• 'the a Mr. HODGSON. seconded by Mr. ASPINALL, moved
doption of the proceedings.
Mr. NIcoL said he observed by the proceedings that a..1111-eornmittee bad been appointed to inquire into the ef-
-c'eneY of the force, bet that the general tenor of the
evidence taken before them appeared to refer entirely to
he conduct of the late Head Constable, Mr. Miller. He
during
to know if Mr. Miller wes allowed to be present
',„'surine the inquiry, to cross-examine the witnesses, or to
o
any explanation ?
The MAYOR replied that Mr. Miller was not present
when the other witnesses were examined. He was pre-
sent only during his own examination. His resignation
!as sent in prior to the termination of the inquiry. Had
It been otherwise, he would have been afforded an oppor-
tunity of hearing the evidence, and making any explana-
tion„er in his power.
Mr. I-I itBoRD said that had there been a formal charge
against Mr. Miller, the sub-committee would have re-
questedbut there was no specific charge
againstattendance;
him. The facts before the council were obtained
by the sub-committee when making their investigation
into the condition of t he force.
Mr. NIcoL asked whether it did not appear somewhat
-singular that the proceedings against him should be nub-
liely read in the council now, six weeks after Mr. Miller
had resigned ? Those proceedings would go forth to the
Public, and perhaps prevent the man from getting another
esitnation.
Mr. BIRKETT agreed with Mr. Nicol. The proceed-
ani: contained a most unmitigated comdemnation of a
reti,„l„in servant. He did not mean to say that it was not
Hied e* hut he thought when the couticil allowed him to
resign, they should have washed their hands of him alto-
gether. Tee fact was, lie ought not to have been allowed
to resign ; he ought to have been dismissed.
Mr. ASPINALL said he was absent from the Watch
Committee when the report hal been ordered to be in-
serted on the minutes; but he was quire sure that that
report would never have been inserted if Mr. Miller had
not voluntarily come forward, and ptiblished a letter in
'be Public prints, coetainine a series of misstatements.
- :be report was inserie I in jusiification of the course pm--
1,1" by the sub-committee. Trie Mayor would tell the
, tjeJ,.lTheil that, from first to last, Mr. Miller's letter con-
wined a tissue of misstAtements. •
The MAYOR admitted the fact.
ire" MAGISTRATES AND THE WATCH COMMITTEE.
th "r LACE tliooght the duties of the magistrates and
e hatch Committee so distilicr that a magistrate ought
In to be a member of the Watch Committee. It was
fieintended that the police force should be under
fie; SoutPetintendence of the Watch Committee. The of-
, Mr abnlagistrate was merely that of a judge:
been-. aoe're Et rose to order. Certain magistrates had
laslected memb.•rs of the Watch Conimittee upon the
ItleinYt and on that occasion,' and not upon the_ present,
Mr•lee should have risen and made his objection..
will'eL'ltee. said lie was aeseet from tbe last council. He
lea e" to record it as his opinion that if they looked at
of theonstitution of the Watch Committee and the position
shoerenlaeistrates. it was inconsistent that any magistrate
Aire sit on the Watch Committee.
serioe' linati HORNBY thoug'it that if Mr. Lace had any
Mitt °. /JjeCtiOti to magistrates being on the Watch Corn-
If Nl', ne ought to give notice of motion on the subject.
r.,li'ace could show that it was unfitting. he (Mr.
'm•
esh(' as a magistrate would willingly resign his mem-
Was 'P of the Watch Comtnittes ; but at the same time he
Ett a loss t know how a erson
erebee was unfit to a
Aistrat;. of the Watch Committee because heted was abe ma-
ile-11, PACE
objected to the term " unfitted ;" the word
bringla urd was inconsistent. He then promised to
* the
dro subject before the next Council: and the mat-
Pted'
anneo °tern rose to express his greet satisfaction at an
Ver,,neen'eni, in the proceedings, of the termination of
ettte_'.ot~ althappy affair, which had
of late painfully At'.racted
termination' desi, able in itself, and which, he
ftopeeet%:°lll(l be satistact.ory to all parties, because it, in
rnprised everything flint, as a body, the Council
latee'tnha'je expected or enforced. He sincerely congratu-
to a e council on the result. For himself, he begged
seoliseY that U was doubly. gratifying, because, under a deep
be tia,Pf. what was due to the council on such an occasion,
eubLe Intsnded to express himself very strongly on the
thaeev,et, and to have moved shes, which he was
te oefei
gatkfalso would be
arid he was sere council .
Via,. . now to be relieved from. Thus happily ths-
Illg in from one duty, lie felt that he should be want-
Prese-artne degree to another, if lie omitted to take the
coesia_ oPportunity of exeressing an opinion to which
he
ration of the whole sulject had led him, upon t e
Nieatjt circumstances between the magistrates and ths
" Committee, and he felt bound to declare that that

opinion was decidedly, and absolutely, and altogether in
favour of the Watch Committee—(hear, hear)—whose
conduct throughout appeared to him, and he believed it
would appear to the council as a body, to have been
marked by very much forbearance and good sense, con-
trasting strongly and advantageously, as he thought, with
that of the magistrates, who appeared to him to have mis-
undersoiod their proper course. (Hear, hear.) Their
latter proceedings especially—their resolution was, as he
thought, misconceived, while he thought the direction
that it should be read to every member of the police force
was most offensive and in vety bad taste. Indeed, one
could not but see inlhe whole proceeding, a determina-
tion to revive a recent grievance, and a petulant attempt
to damage the Watch Committee, rather than a dignified
rebuke of a grave offence. - (Hear, hear.) If the magis-
trates had expressed their own opinion on the facts be-
fore them, and they could have hardly expressed it too
strongly, and conveyed that opinion cautiously to the
Watch Committee, whose sole and undoubted right it
was to act upon it they would have had the approbation
and thanks of the whole community, whereas the very
reverse was now the fact, an undue sympathy to meet the
offence having been created by their own very injudicious
method of dealing with it. He had felt that in some
form the expression of some such opinion as this, under
present circumstances, was eminently due to the Watch
Committee, and he hoped it would be received as his
apology for introducing the subject to the council. (Hear.)
Mr. Mime thought it was neither the province of Mr.
North nor that of the council to sit in judgment upon the
magistrates. Mr. North admitted that the magistrates
were in duty bound to take cognizance of the very grave
offence, but thought they might have done it in a more
dignified manner. Now he (Mr. Aikin) was present at
the first meeting of the magistrates, and he must take
this opportunity to state that there was more of provoca-
tion then than met the eye—that there was something con-
nected with the look, tone, and manner, of Mr. Hodgson
calculated to provoke far beyond the use of words. He
believed that Mr. North would do no great credit to him-
self by making an attack, nominally ott the bench of ma-
gistrates, but in reality on the Stipendiary Magistrate,
than whom a more honourable man never existed.
Mr. NORTH, in explanation, said that he had purposely
abstained from reading the newspapers on the subject,
sod that, so tar from waking any attack on Mr. Rushton
individually, all he looked at was the resolution of the
magistrates in their collective capacity.
Mr. HODGSON thought that Mr. Aikin had no parti-
cular ri..ht to complain of an attack on one individual,
when he converted it into an attack on another, with a
degree of virulence hardly exceeded by the stipendiary
himself. He (Mr. Hodgson) was not going to reply.
He was wiling to leave the whsle case to be judged of by
the public; but he persisted in saying that a less moving
cause for action on the part of the magistrates was not to
be conceived than that of Mr. Parker. It now appeared
that he (Mr. Hodgson) had provoked the ire of the ma-
gistrates—that his awful looks—his provoking looks, had
disturbed the whole bench, the stipendiary into the bar-
gaia, who himself was so highly gifted with mild looks
and submissive gestures—(loud laughter, and cries of
hear, hear.) Certainly this was a power lie (Mr. Hodg-
son) never fancied he posessed b fore,—(c,aitinned laugh-
ter.) He took his own views of the duties of men boil-
ing Her Majesty's commission. He thought tiff y should
be uninfluenced by either heat or cold, or warmth of pas-
sion—that they were particularly called on, as judges, to
execute right and justice, not to become informers, and
to he free from the spirit of advocates.
Mr. Hugh HORNBY hoped it would not go forth to the
public, that the council looked at the alleged interference
with the police as a light matter. • He admitted that the
resolution of the magistrates was drawn up hastily, on
the spur of the moment. He thought then, as well as
now, that it would have been better to adopt the plan of
Mr. North—that of expressing a str, ng opinion about
the interference, and having such a iesolution submitted
to the Watch Committee. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. HODGSON called attention to the circumstance
that Mr. Earle, the unsuccessful opponent of Mr. Parker
at the last election for St. Anne's Ward, was one of the
magistrates at the first meeting, and that 'he Commis-
sioner of Police was forbade to communicate with the
Watch Committee.
Mr. HARBORD said that if the Watch Committee were
to yield to the interference of the magistrates, then the
former body might as well be dissolved at once.

After some farther conversation,
Mr. PARKER said it was not. his intention to say a word
on the subject. He left his case in the hands of the
council ; and if they thought him unworthy, he should
resign his seat [IA appeal again to his constituency.
The proceedings of the Watch Committee were then
confirmed.

DOCK COMMITTEE.
The proceedings of the Dock Committee were read and
confirmed. A letter from Mr. Alderman Hars!all, re-
signing his seat as a member of the Dock Committee, on
account of pressure of business, was also read ; but, at
the request of Mr. Moore and Mr. G. H. Lawrence,
Mr. Horsfall was induced to withdraw hie letter and to
cantinue a member of the Dock Committee.
In reply to a question from Mr. KAYE,
Mr. MOORE Said that the site for the intended new fort
had been submitted for approbation, and that aleport
was expected.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE.
The attendance at the Corporation Schools for the last
month was reported as folloas
:
North. South.
Bays 251 179
148 133
Infants....

551 506
The numbers on the books were—North, 712; South,
611. The proceedings were confirmed.

HEALTH OF THE TOWN OOMMITTEE.

The proceedings of this committee having been read
and confirmed,
Mr. ASFINALL reported that plans for the new baths
had been prepared and would be ready for the next coun-
cil_meeting. _

Mr. BLACKBURN complained that the scavenging of
the streets was being very much neglected.
Mr. PARKER said there were 7,000 cellars occupied
contrary to the act—that Liverpool was in consequence
the most unhealthy town in the kingdom, and that the
co ma were indirectly the cause of the deaths of hundreds
of thousands of their fellow creatures. He promised to
submit a motion on the subject at the next council.
Mr. BIRKETT said that, until last Monday, Mr. Parker
had not attended a meeting of the Health Committee for
a period of four months, and that it was exceedingly
wrong for him to make the statements he had just uttered.
The tact was, the committee were doing all they could,
but the act w,,s beset with difficulties.
Mr. PARKER said there was not a court in his ward
that he had not been in—(loud laughter); and, therefore,
he was not quite so inactive as Mr. Birkett would have
the council to suppose.
CORONERS ACCOUNTS.
The Coroner's accounts, amt*unting to £lOl 10s. 2d.,
were read and referred to the Finance Committee.
Mr. PARKER.—Toe amount is higher than ever.
Mr. MOORE.—Yes ; it's the month of November. (A
laugh.)
HUSKISSON'S BRONZE STATUE.

The M'AYOR read a letter from Mrs. Huskisson, in
which she returned thanks for the sanction the council
had given to her request, and said that Mr. Gibson, on
his return from Rutne, would select a site in the open
area, at the Custom-house, for the bronze statue of her
lamented husband.
The letter was ordered to be recorded on the minutes.