The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-05-27 00:00:00

WALLASEY IMPROVEMENT ACT.

On Friday evening a meeting of the ratepayers of Poul-
ton-cum-Seacombe was held at Parry's Hotel, Seacombe,
to consider the propriety of selecting a list of ratepayers,
duly qualified, to serve as Commissioners under the
Wallasey Improvement act, preparatory to the election on
the 2d of June.

Mr. BItYCEW was called to the chair, and stated that the
act required that twenty-one commissioners should be
elected, and it was thought a fair division that Seacombe
and Liscard should each nominate eight, and Wallasey,
which was of small population, five.
Mr. WOODWARD moved a list of seven names. ,
Mr. LEWIN said that each ratepayer in the township
should' vote for twenty-one. He submitted a list of
twenty-one names.

Mr. OKiLL, Mr. HILL, and other gentlemen, thought
a meeting of the whole of the townships should be called
for that purpose, and, after a spirited discussion, a motion
to that effect was agreed to.
Last night, in accordance with the above resolution, a
meeting of the ratepayers of the parish took place in the
same room.

On the motion of Mr. HALDANE, Mr. JOSEPH BRYCE
was unanimously called to the chair ; and he stated that
a list had been prepared of gentlemen eligible to serve as
commissioners. The list had been drawn up with the
greatest possible care, in especial reference to the duties
the commissioners would have to perform, and he believed
that the majority of the names would be found those of
persons extremely suitable for the office. Few of them,
he believed, had any selfish interest to subserve They
were men who would act for the aggregate benefit of the
community and not for individual advantage—(hear,
hear); and he trusted the list would be sufficiently po-
pular on the day of election to subdue or remove all
chance of contention or opposition. He hoped, too, that
it would prove conclusive with reference to the attain-
ment of the objects in view. (Hear.)
Mr. MEADOWS then moved that the following twenty-
one gentlemen be recommended to the ratepayers as fit
and proper persons to serve as commissioners under the
Wallasey Improvement Act :—Messrs. Henry Winch,
Henry Meadows, John Halliday, Jqhn Parry, G. H.
Crump, Joseph Brice, Gideon Dare, S. F. Symonds,
William Atherton, Harold Littledale, Joseph Ewart,
Charles Holland, Thomas Dean, Robert Edwards, James
Leay, John Ripley, John Bewley, William Healing, Wm.
Dickenson, Thomas Webster, and Samuel Carter.
Mr. WOODWARD said he had great pleasure in second-
ing the motion ; but he certainly would not pledge him-
self to vote for every one upon it, although he thought a
better list could not have been submitted.
Mr. DALEY agreed that the list was a good one with
reference to the number of ratepayers in the parish, the
number qualified to vote in each township, and the num-
ber qualified to act as commissioners. In November last,
when the bill was being applied for, of ratepayers, from
£1 and upwards, there were—

In Liscard....
In Poulton-cum-Seaconabe
In Wallasey (township)

Total ratepayers.......... 886
Of ratepayers, under the act, £lO and upwards, there

were—

In Liscard
In Poulton-cum-Seacombe
In Wallasey (township) ...

Total 717
These were bona fide voters. Of those qualified to act
as commissioners, there were—
In Liscard. . ...
In Poulton-cum-Seacombe
In Wallasey (township) l9

Total ... 219
This table showed that Wallasey had but a very small
population of qualified persons, but it also showed the
necessity for Seadombe and the adjoining parts of Egre-
mont not to go so far as New Brighton, but to be as
unanimous as possible, for if they were not united parties
would come in who who had been active in getting the
bill, but who would improve their own property at the
expense of the rate-payers. Every rate payer ought to
be upon his guard, and endeavour to secure men who
would keep the rates as low as possible so as to induce
parties to reside in the parish. By this kind of policy
the place would become more populous, property would
increase in value, there would be a greater number of
rate payers, and, as a necessary consequence, the expense
of improvement would fall very light.
Mr. MEADOWS, as the mover of the list, here made
some observations to the effect, that it would be abso-
lutely necessary to prevent the landowners from gaining
an ascendancy in the board of commissioners.
Mr. MAWDESLEY repeated a suggestion, which he had
thrown out at the meeting on Friday. the substance of
which was, that each township in the parish should be as-
sembled to name its commissioners. A fairer repre-
sentation would thus be acquired, whilst no township
would be deprived of the privilege to which it was entitled.
Mr. LEWIN, in reply to this suggestion, contended that
it was not competent for the meeting to pass lists for each
township, but only one for the whole parish. The act
constituted the several townships into one parish, and the
list must, consequently, be passed entire. The great
point, in framing the list, would be to avoid putting on
too many landowners, whose interest it was to obtain im-
provements at the expense of the ratepayers ; but it was
decidedly irregular to divide the list into townships.
Mr. MAWDESLEY—I suppose a parishioner isnot com-
pelled to vote for this particular list ?
The CHAlRMAN.—Certainly not.
Mr. HUGH BANNER. said that without meaning any-
thing personal he would move that in the places of Messrs.
Meadows, Symmons, Dean, and Webster, the following
be put on the list :—Messrs. George Wilson, Willy,
Odell, and Leicester.

Mr. BALL also proposed that Mr. Hugh Banner's
name be inserted.

The CHAIRMAN decided that the list as originally pro-
posed must be put, and if it were carried by a majority
no alteration could be made in it. He then put it and
declared it to have been carried by a considerable ma-
jority.

Mr. HILL moved that the following gentlemen be ap-
pointed a committee, with power to add to their number,
to carry out the previous resolution :—Messrs. Garratt,
R. Parry, Thos. Lewin, Hill, Watson, Manlove, Peake,
and_Daley.

Mr. MEADOWS seconded the motion, and it was car-
ried unanimously.

Mr. DALEY then reminded the meeting that all poor-
rates must be paid on or before the 2d June next, other-
wise the parties would be disqualified.
The chairman was then thanked for his conduct in the
chair, and after a collection had been made to defray the
expenses, the meeting separated.