The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-22 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 12'), 1833.

7--
LIVERPOOL CORPORATION INQU/RI

this a FOURTEENTH DAY.
114" , ay (Tuesday) the commissioners entered
_thetnCr ourt-
ceedesau°Lit half past ten, when Mr. Lowe, the solici
__,orproo:
rations with his statements relative to the claim of the C p
year If!' town-dues. He said that he left off yester.day at the
pa 45, when-an issue had been directed to be tried for
ehrele)°,e of settling the question of the liability of the London
so t'e,taongers-to the tolls.of the river Mersey. The trial came
befog bar at the Court of Exchequer, on the 2.3 d appeared,
1701
by the a special jury of the county of Hertford, and it
_ot: pera,Sothen decree, that the verdict was in favour
tried
the C
Isry`aylof London, A new trial, sued for and
__i__before a
sates • the county of Berks ou the 25th October, 17)1 tenni-
heti. I_,a the same manner. 'He then adverted to what ho really
reis-evel," to be the limits of the port, and he could scarcely cont-
isg th ir. Poster could have been serious the other day in sta -
ths,,at the Corporation had jurisdiction over all the waters of
art ;tern
tss 31,, when, as be need not infurm the commissioners_
Wear -.'''Y had seen the plan, those waters extended as lar. as
chestreNton-bridge, cud even, in point of fact, beyond ‘l,?lonn-
iniiesr: It clearly appeared, from the return of. a commission
Sarie la the reign of Queen Elizabeth, for defining the bot -
trstas of ports for Customhouse purposes, that a line drawn
Ise, the Redstones or Hoylake, to the mouth of the. Alb-
Isi ties e, the extent of the port for that particular
fsarlid se* With respeCt to the anchorage due, it would_ be
lyeeti expressly mentioned in the old duchy lease to the
.Mos-
or
toix tan:lily, and as part of the purchase of the citizens
c from King Charles, in 1632, as the custohl?f
an-
town !e or keel-toll of the waters of the Mersey withineothii!
te,idend lordship of Liverpool, and not, as was now
that ,`,!, all . over the river. On this ground. he
right, which,
as far, cjaun-of anchorage was only a manorial hi
'44 as i.t consisted of a charge to the lord of the manor fo;
ithie a lying upou the sand within his boundary, was reasoinn-
a eat:4°LO), and having some time ago been. engaged
sht,.....respecting anchorage on the-other side of the
_we
tilt_ water,
t, i ;in
o wai given in evidence that a gentlemanprof i
for ‘,..sse.lord of the manor was in the habit of receiving dues
to be, els ling within his territory, he was strongly inclined
vergnuieve that the original right of the Corporation of Ll
ViiO4 had been simply a share in common with others.-t
sh6i respect to the town dues, Mr. Lowe then proceedted
en
Placev`fhat he termed the capricious variations which had aolso
.s
rapurt r_,°ln time to time in the scale of charges levied upon
_g d
also .Le' colt of, and imported into, the port of Liverpool,
which
isere`r constant accession of new articles of commerce whoivter ilia,
asecoming subject to the tolls, his charges being to
tpwr
Int
esi'sstel there was no recognised scale of ,
.exdcep I
leeter'.On an antiquated brass-plate- hung up Itelun the col-
litriit,',4l?d the list of commodities on which was exceedinglynet
hs i:o, it must remain with the receiver of the town d dues to
ach'
sanerbitrary manner the rate that -was to be paid upon
iheil e as it was brought into or taken out of the port. He
th,tereferred to the subject of the Corporation seal, and said
basks was rather an extraordinary entry in the Corpora.tron
4f h.: The Town-clerk, in presenting them with an impression.
Jslit,'4'eals had stated it to have been of the time of Henry or
p,,,,' I•
there
of-that sort: on. the h August, 1611, i
P Crs that there was an order made at arc mmon halt, that
4agree Tartruck should be elected town-clerk; and it was alsi
o"ed that he should every New Year's-day give to the Mayor
ts h:°rth of plate and at Midsummer's-eve £lO worth mos ,
us„ °larked with 'a
cormorant, the town's arms, which plate
-• to tie .
there , delivered from Mayor to Mayor. Since that
.time
ties "ad been much discussion amongst the Liverpool antique-
Prs,;•B t° what kind of bird it was. At length Mr. Gregson
fin einced it an eagle, from seeing at the foot what. he took
iast.,,ie‘Word " Jovis," which, in fact, was only the tail of the
,-ouldun, for which the bunling artist who executed the sea)!
the .
.uot find room round -the margin • whieh'iYas proved_ t y
loieteal inscription, as set forth in the 21s1 vol. of the Arclice-
Ses,ial Society's transactions namely, "Siyillum commune Bur.-
verc,"4 Leverpoth, "-the common seal of the burgesses of Li-
ltar ;". Howeve'r, in modern times the cormorant had been
lies ia,'Mued into a liver, a creature of the gull species, and so,
I:sri,-,,P,Fased, the designation had been made to pass from the
ultr' -on, as the components of the cuinorant system, to the
Ssigefsses, who might more properly be represented by
the l'i' Igull. [Mr. Lowe here read a number of entries from
the syrn-
17`2,°('',a of the Co.rporation, from dates varying front 1525 to
Rtast:,"ich he had obtained by virtue of an order of inspeci.ion
rstis `' aim by Lord Brougham on the refusa of the Coipo-
is 1.11 to produce those books on the trial of theft wn dues' case
psre,sion. His object, through many of the entriesiwerertasp
rese"LiK recited more to signalise his own and Mr. lobe 's
iuse4praerabiiogst the records of the Corporation than for any
Iles, ~ e connexion which they seemed to have with the biisi-
Is ti °I the court, was to show that the burgesses had from time.
see4nate been accustomed to transact their own business,. and
his "'aly to depute others to do it for them.] Having finished
hearatciatente
Mr. Lowe requested that-Mr. Maxwell might be
eossid°° theyquestion of the town dues, on which subject he had
~.i. onside question experience.
shill:George Maxwell was then examined.-Is a general meorr-
the I's and has resided twenty-two years in Liverpool.. 1'
his bast sixteen years has been in business, in partnership with.
ti bast sixteen
duringwhich period they have had large trausaL-
Palrif:ri_the'truielves and others. They own sever!!! ships. Has
!hiss:, ;,stne period of sixteen years, upwards of
.£4OOO s town-
Ha traded
le „•!tiollee particular trade, which was to Afrfa.
sets "Jun tip's with Mr. William Bothwell. . They
.h.aned
,tio,,een.
'111;‘, . enstvely engaged between May 1832 and had
y. 1000.
rietts:..ad sent six vessels to Africa, and paid on the goods car-
tSt a those vessels, outwards town-dues to the amount of
4aes 8.
7 40 tons of the goods 'consisted of salt, in which the
lel , welLe £29 12s. • They received from Africa, by these ves-
Ot iSi‘u casks of palm oil, the town dues upon which were
%her sa•added upon other articles. There were
tism nouses extensively engaged inahe same trade ;andtliee
lirestisisn't Messrs. Horsfall sent out fifteen vessels ; and on h tift„e '"Ption that the dues were paid for the cargoes, would
ves,elainounted to £3lB 14s, 2d. Sir J. Tobin sent out three_ have a of 1149 tons. The dues, in the same proportion, would soave ateounted to £l5l 13s. 11d. Mr. Bourne sent four yes-
t.lo)l/9'itii a tonnage of 1267, and his dues would have been
aisets -•-• g• Iod. These establishments were engaged exten-
kesi ni other trades besides the African, but his state-
t° t 1Y applied to the African trade. He had furth.er
istssaate, that, in" the fluctuation, f .•the markets, it . was 14,..33ib1e for a non-freema.o to *compete in trade with a
Is,trtan Beforeeoncluding he would state that he has a
tua,, in Bordeaux who is 'a
freeman of Liverpool by se
aseol brit never carried on business in Liverpool on his own
I..h,e4at, and that the town dues upon anything he shipped to
who
srpo?lre,re annually returned to him.
.H. e was one of those
101 l u 8
tne petitron, and he bore his testimony to the ante.:
tisit. 8 generally, and he concurred in the prayer of the pe i
T i
Ilia bug.OWR-Clerk asked whether Mr. Maxwell had given up
win,trae,-
k a in consequence of his *being unable to compete
.7 others 1h w. •
le Witness replied he had not.
the
er Richard Edwards examined.-He was a magistrate of
of hides y, and a deput-lieutenant : was chiefly an importer
had he s, and one in they firm of Edwards, Hall, and Co. He
tb,e'lli aecerlue..n,gage,d in• that bnsiness thirty-three years, and had
hated o .`"led• to pay dock and town dues on allgoods un-
Ad r exported by 'the firm • in the year ending f 832 they
duriPaid Z 217 11s town dues and £134 Bs. 9d. dock dues, and
dokildgut.,ll..e.present.year £2ll 7s 9d. town dues and £l6l 15s. 11d.
~ The si'_avvn
Lest beisuo _elerk.-Have you any recollection of an applic.a-
-00 4 g trade to the Common Council to reduce the duties
ate particular articles ?
aseessile"----I recollect that the duty on hides, which was
toThe v,e, was reduced iu 1825.
you you not know that the action with
to soh are
?connected is to try the right of the Corporation
Ai,. dues Da;vsistildealva;-I believe not. It is to try whether I am liable to
total A nether others are to be exeinpt. I wish to pay the
ill %Les . 1
t 0 eO4ll • . have no objection to do so, provided the rest t ' (4101 inanity contribute in the same way.-( Loud cheers.)
..4t rt, t? say, that within the last thirty years I compute that
P"tatio-- tuari 1:100.000 have been paid to the funds of the Cot-
exist beforeafroin the trade of the River Plate alone, which did not
kr .----(Hear.)
were • Bolton said that his views of the cause of the action
tis to try tl- •
talk 43 44,, . the right to the town dues, and if that right
0 "shed to try whether the dues were to be regulated by
sell or value. If all persons had paid alike he should have
'Sot. ne of the last persons to have disturbed the question of
Mr. L
Ne,, dowe.-And I for one should have been the last to be
‘thie" in any action to deprive the Corporation of those dues
Air vfere proved to he so beneficial to the town. (Hear.)
eret,: Sendars examined.-He stated that he was a corn-
pellka Ant, of the house of Sanders and Claxton, extensively
ze, ti. in the Irish corinBgorade, and th a. count of whose town
tikti2 act been in 1831) 19s. 7cl • ine 131 £859 Is 2d. ; in
'74 1:.57 Is. Ild.; 'being ans average. of '£766, or' about
es ... et the whle amount He also tha the u-
b sere
Sett unequalo and oppressive, and that thecomplaine procd eedst d had not
t044,k) Applied to proper purposes: he instanced the vote of
t horse arty university, and the subscription of 190 guineas
h.aee. By the assistance the Corporation bad given
eltr4; lutroduction of horse-racing, they had inflicted as great a
lie ina.Pou the town as it was possible for any body of men to do.
for inelataiited that the dues were very capricious and unequal;
4lity futence, oats, selling at 2s. 6d. per bushel, paid Is. 4d.
,Wireat r every hundred bushels, which was Ils. 100. per cent. ;
h"ashei at 7s. per bushel, paid also is. 4•1. for every hundred
id RI,. which was equal to 4s. 6d. per cont.; flour, at 4Us. per sack,
-445. ''' per ton, which was equal to 3s. V. per cwt.; meal, at
appeter sack, paid Bd. per ton, equal to 4s. sd. per cent. It
appeared rtd from this statement that a cheap article like oats paid
Itrtiel inner as mu,h as 'wheat, and so it was with the other
1,,,!4 in the same proportion.
4414w11-clerk.-What proportion of the average of £766, Mr.
Ms Tawas paid on your own account ?
Nit z•
iondars.-I,srorn £5O to £100; I should sa nearer
.£5O
hill is • the greatest part of the business done in Liver-
I', , uPon commission
Liver-
re
there any other curse or sin which you can
liisti.y"Ztr coorntnweoled with the- corporate expenditure, during the
)SrignitBll%ndars.....
I beieve therwas nevr an estate of such
'V tt 50 honestly and fairly administered. (Much cheer-
-1 t,,,?w0-clerk (to the commissioner.)-Will you take that, sir?
l‘fr.le°ch °bilged to Mr. Sandars for his character.
Mtn is,°,lotnissioner Wilkinson inquired if there were any others
, Cot..assl to furnish information respecting the town dues ?
oere er,::%_lllllaras, the radical member for Ashton-under-lyre,
, Th, j. and stated that he had a few observations to make.
tJein. ,_nnunissioner requested that he should be sworn; which
/407, 'nte, the colonel said that he was a member of Pantie-
wisheal Magistrate for the county, and a free burgess. He
W, hist, ht° say a few words respeCtln s the Common Council,
"o loskise,considered to be a packed body 6 and an oligarchy, and
'ervatweg. upl)n it as a secret deliberative assembly for the Con-
tolihunt or she tie was a reformer; and, on one occasion, a gentle-
tiest , Coasmon Council, alluding to his (the colonel's)
e"Y; but'c'th)na, said, " Yes, you may call our Council a close
Pinion a ,1. ,vou were a member of it, 'you would be of the same
the exhr ' ?then people."-(A laugh) - He had pondered upon
'sold 'I; ession, arid became anxious- .to see if the close body
forth _ ot be
thou one
oe opened,casiou aonsd
ahn repairedr to the Common Council-
bu gess, and demanded admission,
e"e:- Pin'rl)"e of seeing whati: they were doing for the bur-
iff tu
statehe Mayor refused to admit him; but sal out his bai-
Ic'try he c • that, not being a emher of the Council, he was
t 4
check th'uld
gars had st not be admitt d m His (the colonel's) wish was
e n)i'aPprouriatioen • f thepublic money. Mr. San-
. tne _
.exception f
With the dted that the corporateo funds were well managed,
peation of
1,1;1, d , but he (Col the two cases of misapplication he. had
the • Williams) would mention another inisap-
°Oncil h 1 - Public money, which was, that the
.Coirmon.
7- e a' voted the sum of £BOO for painting the picture or
n of their body
e,nt in the for ' . erhaps it would be better to putt the state-
,l,lth:t not som? of a question to the Town-clerk, and he asked
the ""vn-elerk replied that he dil not know the amount of
4 Portrait whi h
410,.....,
.active and
roost . c was that of Alderman Case who had been
use(feulh,meresmier of the C-oluin, on Council for
r,7,ttian 50 years.
Rive I,p_nel Williams._ ors.)
C 'm
,hs7,tirty pence for such '
ryas ,d not be expended la, Council had • ht to
o mon. no rig
purpose; it was not their mone,, and
(!":..attother instance of utfor the purposes intended. 'There
4 "It'll havinthe waste of pul-he money, the Common
g voied • e suought that Mr. Canuing
IWO for the stone of Mr. Canning.
was not the model of a statesman

to be held up. to the rising generation. (Loud hissing and
groans, intermixed with a few faint cheers, which prevented the
Colonel from being heard for souse time.) As soon as the
noise had partially subsided, we understood the Colonel to say,
that Mr. Canning was certainly a fit stateman to look after the
affairs of a close borough, and the close borough in consequence
made him their idol. ( Hisses.) Mr. Canning had professed origi-
nally to have taken his station by the standard of reform, and—
(here the uproar of disapprobation drowned the Colonel's voice.)
Ile'had understood that even the chairs of the Common Coun-
cil-room cost £l5 a piece, which was another piece of extia-
vagauce ; he did not see why the Common Council could not
deliberate on the chairs of their ancestors. He wished to ask
the treasurer if the chairs had cost that price ?
Mr. Case replied that not having the books before him, he
could not tell what they cost without reference.
Col. Williams concluded by stating that he did not under-
stand the principle upon which the public were deprived of ad-
mission into the Common Council. The two houses of parlia-
ment were open to the public, and why not the collective wisdom
of Liverpool?
Mr. Thomas Leathom, of the firm of Leathom, Earle and
Co.' was then "examined with reference to the transactions of
the Common Council and the Dock Committee on the subject
of the graving docks, but his evidence was substantially the
same as what ha. 3 been already detailed relative to that point.
As the court was breaking up Mr. John Taylor wished to
know if there would be any time for hearing complaints respect-
ing the conduct of the Mayor and Corporation at elections.
Mr. Wilkinson replied probably on hursday. It being now
time to adjourn, the commissioner said they should sit again on
Wednesday at half-past ten o'clock.
FIFTUENTH DAY.

• a& -
This morning the commissioners took their seats upon the
bench at half past ten o'clock.
The Town-clerk, addressing the bench, said, that in his for-
mer evidence respecting the patronage of the cbpel belonging
to the School for the Ibud, he had previously stated that the
senior rector, iu case of a future vacancy, held the power of
appointing a clergyman to that chapel. He was then mis-
taken, although perhaps the mistake was not very material, as
they (the commissioners) had been furnished with a copy of
the act of Parliament. From that act it would be seen that the
patronage of_the chapel was vested in the Mayor for the time
being, the senior aldermen, and the two vice-presidents of the asy-
lum. A question had also been asked, whether the Corpora-
tion had not refused to grant the patronage of this chapel on
any terms, excepting its being vested in their own body ?
Now he held in his hand a letter, dated 22d of December, 1828,
found in the books of the Corporation, from the Rev. Jonathan
Brooks, who appeared to have been chairman of the committee
of the Blind School at that time, transmitting to the Common
Council the heads of the bill proposed for the asylum for the ap-
proval of the Common Council.
The Town-clerk then read the letter containing the clauses
in the bill alluded to, as adopted by the committee of the Blind
School, one of which invested the patronage with the Mayor,
aldermen, &c.; as stated before. In answer to a question from
the commissioners, the Towa-clerk said, that the bill,passed in
the 'form alluded' to and 'that the committee was formed from
the subscribers tUtlrtqnstitution, elected at the annual meeting.
Mr. Askew, the harbour-master, who attended understanding
that souse questions were to be put to him, inquired whether he
met the gentleman who intended to question him, as the Dock
Committee, or on equal terms. He was bound to respect the
Dock Committee; but he, perhaps, might be led to answer
questions with some appearance of warmth.
The commissioner replied that, upon whatever terms Mr.
Askew might meet the gentleman, he should take care that no
improper questions were put to him.
Mr. Leathom examined.—He disclaimed all personal hostility
to Mr. Askew, but standing here as he did, he had a duty to
perform to the rate-payers in giving an account of his conduct.
Shortly after he came into the committee discussion arose as
to Mr. Askew being possessed of steam boats. It was said that
the harbour-master's attention was so taken up by his own
business, that his duty to the Dock Trust was very much
neglected. This question was discussed in committee, and
reference made to an order standing on the books, prohibiting
Mr. Askew from having any connection with boats, river craft,
or other business connected with shipping, under a penalty of
£5OO. He was consequently much surprised, on entering the
committee, to find such a violation of its orders. Mr. Askew's
attention was officially called to this order by the secretary.
He was sorry to say that Mr. Askew gave a most disrespectful
answer, which excited in the mind of every gentleman present,
excepting one, the most heartfelt disgust. lie was desired by
the committee to reconsider his answer, and he sent an apology.
The steam boats were ordered to be put down, but the order
was not complied with till a late period. A representation was
subsequently made to the committee of the imperfect state of
the buoys and the land-marks, and he (Mr. L.) applied to the
gentleman who gave him the information, who was a captain of
one of the war-office packets, to put down, in writing, of what he
complained, and he would place it before the committee. The
captain promised to do so, but delayed, and witness asked him
the reason. He said he did not like, in consequence of the
terms in which the harbour-master had expressed himself to-
wards him. The captain ultimately did lay the complaint before
the committee; and Lieutenant Evans,in conjunction with
the harbour-master, was to survey the channel; but that gen-
tleman} received so many impediments from Mr. Askew, that
he ultimately left Liverpool; and he stated that Mr. Askew
had spoken with the highest disrespect of the sub-committee
formed to institute the inquiry. Two gentlemen were, event-
ually, sent down from the Admiralty to survey the channel,
which ought to have been done before by the harbour-master
and Lieutenant Evans. The harbour-master had boasted that
he would do as he liked in putting down the buoys, or in the
survey, as he had a majority in his faiCirar in the Dock Com-
mittee, in which he was so far correct, for he tried the strength
of the committee by afterwards soliciting them to allow his
steam-boats to go to Wales. 'The boats continued to be em-
ployed by the harbour-master, or his nephew, whom he con-
ceived to be one and the same person. The boats continued to
ply daily between Holywell and the port of Liverpool. He
thought the Dock Estate ought to be entrusted to the hands of
gentlemen more interested in commercial business, and that
would prevent negligence in their servants. He had several
papers in support of the opinions lie had given, from captains
of war-office packets, that the navigation should be better
understood by pilots and other mariners. Mr. Leathom here
read several letters from captains of vessels, addressed to him-
self, complaining of the buoys and landmarks not being suffi-
ciently distin,,,uttislitible_inie of which was from Captain fown-
ley, of the Thetis, war-office packet; another. from Lieutenant
Phillips, of the Comet; one from Captain Emerson, of the
Etna; and one from Captain Gill, of the Mona's Isle.—
Mr. Leathom here stated that from the exertions of the two
surveyors from the Admiralty, they had now two channels open
for the accommodation of navigators, but which they might
have had years before. What he had stated was brought for-
ward to show, that owing to the support this servant of the
Dock Estate received from the members of the Common Council,
he had been paying more attention to his own business than
that of the Dock Estate.
Cross-examined b the Town-clerk.—The harbour-master
had put, down the buoys; but Lieutenant Evans had sur-
veyed the river, and had pointed out where the buoys were
to be taken up. Lieutenant Evans would have accompanied
the harbour-master to take up the buoys, and place the
others; but he had not informed him when he was going to do
so. The fifth buoy was placed erroneously, and the harbour-
master was informed that :t was in a wrong position. The
position of the buoys had been advertised in the London Gazette
and nearly all the papers in England, and the buoy was subse-
quently placed in the position as advertised. The sub dock
committee advertised the buoys, and they were ordered to be
put down according to the survey of Lieutenant Evans. The
harbour muster did not place the fifth buoy according to the
dii ections iu the survey.
The Town-clerk.—ln consequence of this negligence of Mr.
Askew, did you introduce a motion in the committee for his
dismissal.

Mr. Leathom.—No • end the reason was, that the rate-payers
were perfectly aware if they had, they could not have been able
to carry the motion, as the members of the Common Council
would have been opposed to them.
By the Town-clerk.—ls not a shipowner himself; flit John
Tobin, Mr. Horsfall, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Sandbach, mem-
bers of the Dock Committee, are as considerable shipowners as
any in the port, and Sir John Tobin one of the largest. Mr.
Myers is not a shipowner; Mr. Hornby has a few ships iu the
Baltic trade. Mr. Dixon? he believed, was only connected in
steam-boats. In point of interest Messrs. Horsfall, Gladstone,
Sandbach, and Tohin, had as much at stake as any rate-payer
in the port. Witness's partner, Mr. Earle, is a member of the
Common Council, but is not a shipowner. The members of the
Common Council possess no other privileges but being exempt
from the town dues.
Town-clerk.—ls it your belief, Mr. Leathom, that if those
gentlemen named, who possess so much interest in the ship-
ping, believed that the ham bour-master had been guilty of the
culpable neglect imputed to him, and so placed their vessels
in jeopardy, that they would not have made a motion for his
dismissal ?
Mr. Leathom.—l do not think they would; they might have
reprimanded him.
The Town-clerk inquired whether, since Mr. Leathom's con-
nection with the Dock Committee, he had found the members
of that body from the Common Council cause any thing detri-
mental to the Dock Estate ?
Mr. Leathom replied, that they had been the cause of many
discussions, but he could not say any thing detrimental to the
estate had arisen from the present constitution of the Committee.
Mr. Askew, the harbour-master, after repeating a portion of
his former evidence relative to his connection with steam-boats,
and his sale of them. by.order of the Dock Committee, stated,
that before he was appointed to the situation of harheur-mas-
ter, he was a ship-clialidler and an over-looker, but be relin-
quished both on obtaining the situation, although' he was
allowed to use his money in any other way. He belonged to
the Egremont Ferry, which in summer time was very much
frequented; the Ferry had cost him £21.000, which had proved
a loss. In 18'27, he field a situation as surveyor of the red-book
shipping, but gave it up without being ordered by the Dock
Committee, finding that he had enough to do to attend to the
duties of harbour master. Mr Nicholls succeeded to the sim-
ation of surveyor of Shipping to the red-book. He had for-
merly carried on the coal-trade, and supplied the government
packets and other vessels with coals. He was in partnership
with Mr. Sotherne, who now carries on the business. lie (Mr.
Askew) had no interest in the coal business whatever at the
present time, or in any coal flats. Is the owner of an hotel on
the other side the river.
Mr. Askew here said, he should like to put a question to Mr.
Brown, to show there was no party feeling existing against him
one way or the other. He would ask Mr. Brown, through the
court, whether he had not, on one occasion, met him in the
street, and exultingly said, "We have given you another rap
on the knuckles in the committee tc-day ;" at the same time
saying, that he (the witness) had either been enjoying himself
at Newton Races, or attending to the steam-boats ?
Mr. Brown admitted that he had.

Mr. Alderman Ilrancker stated, that he had been a member
of the Dock Committee for thirty or forty years, and had con-
siderable opportunity of observing the conduct of the harbour-
master. He had been out with him to inspect the buoys at
different timos over the channel, except the new ones, and had
invariably found great accuracy in their situation, and if any-
thing was wrong it was investigated, and set right the next
day. He thought Mr. Askew a very efficient man for the situa-
tion he held; and the many testimonials which he produced
when appointed to the situation, from captains of men of war,
almost proved it. He did not think that Mr. Askew's connec-
tion with steam-boats prevented him from fulfilling the duties
of his situation as harbour-master.

Sir George D inkwater also bore testimony to the efficiency
of Mr. Askew, as harboUr-nLaster ; and said that most of the
magi,trates, including_the worthy chief magistrate, could speak
to his being a mcst excellent servant of the trust.

Mr. Rad,liffe hoped the court would see that it was not a part
of their case to attack the character of the harbour-master; they
wished to show that the constitution of the committee was such,
they had not the p:mat of governing their servants well.
Mr. Leathom here, in answer to a question from Mr. Askew
respecting lieut. Evans entered into a long e;planation of the
manner in which the Dock Committee had entered into an en-
gagement with that gentleman to survey the channels, and said
tha.t. Mr. Askew • was disagreeably suroriied at seeing Mr.
Evans, the sub-committee not deeming it necessary to consult
him on the subject. . -
Mr. Askew, :n reply, stated that the chart made by Lieut.
Evans was an incorrect ere; that he had ascertained a certain
part of the channel was only four feet six inches water, whereas