The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-10-21 00:00:00

MEETING IN VAUXHALL, WARD.

Yesterday evening a meeting of the friends and sup-
porters of Thos. L. Hodson, Esq., was held at the house
of Mr. John Hayes, Vauxhall-road, for the purpose of or-
ganising the canvass and other preparatory steps for his
return. Amongst those present were Mr. Thos. Littledale,
Mr. Freme, Mr. Alderman Dover, Mr. J. C. Fernihough,
and other members of the Council. The room was densely
crowded. At about a quarter past seven o'clock it was
moved that Mr. W. Macgregor take the chair, a resolution
which was carried. Mr. Morris, an elector of the ward,
proposed Mr. Thos. L. Hodson, as a fit and proper person
to represent the interests of the rate-payers of the district;
and that, the meeting being fully satisfied with his past
con duct,pledge itself to support him. _ _ _

Mr. Alderman DOVER seconded the resolution in a neat
and appropriate address. He illustrated the benefits in a
sanitary point of view that the town derived from the
services of a medical gentleman, particularly from one
like Dr. Hodson, who, unlike many, had no crotchets in
his head; and expatiated on the able manner in which
Mr. Hodson had discharged the onerous duties reposed in
him. Dr. Bradley, who was about to contest the ward,
was a personal friend of his (Mr. Dover's), and a gentle-
he much respected, but the opposition was from Mr.
Bradley against Mr. Hodson, and not from Mr. Hodson
against Mr. Bradley. The speaker then alluded to the
present position of the Council, stating that the great
questions on which the members had differed being now
settled, he trusted the time was arrived when they would
vie with each other in promoting the good of all.
The resolution was about to be put to the meeting when
Mr. RICHARDSON proposed (in a very awkward fashion)
an amendment, substituting the name of Dr. Bradley for
that of Dr. Hodson, which was seconded by Mr.
M`Lauchlin' amidst cries of " Are they voters ?" " Turn
them out," &c. Every attention was, however, paid by
the chairman, and, on the amendment being put, seven
hands only were shown in its favour. The motion was,
of course, carried, but a large majority of the voters
present did not vote on either side.

Mr. THOMAS LITTLEDALE then briefly addressed the
meeting, eulogizing strongly the straightforward conduct
of Dr. Hodson during his term in the Council. (Cheers.)

A VOICE.--What good has Dr. Hodson done ? What
services has he rendered the ward ?

CHAIRMAN. I shall leave Dr. Hodson to answer ;
and I have no doubt he will readily do so.
MR. HODSON then rose, and, amidst cheers and some
slight interruption, detailed the course he had pursued
while representing the ward. He was, he admitted,
when elected, pledged on certain questions ; but circum-
stances had occurred that rendered it necessary that he
should relax, for the good of his constituents, in some
measure his original intentions; and he wished them to
judge of his conduct as a whole, and not on any one thing
in particular. When he entered the vestry and council
he gave his interest to the reduction of the rates, and
so far had it been successful, that they had been brought
down at least one-half, (Cheers.) He was not there
as a cottage owner or on the cottage owning question.
The gentleman opposing him wished to exempt cottage
property from rates to the poor, but it was by equitably
rating all property that Liverpool and the neighbouring
parishes were now saving' £30,000 a-year. In answer
to the question,—What had he done for the ward ?—Mr.
Hodson read a statement showing that while representing
it, a sum of no less than £8143 had been spent in paving
and £7087 in sewerage in the ward, and cited other evi-
dence to show that the interests of the burgesses had
not been neglected. He then alluded to the lodging.
house keepers' question, and concluded by stating that
he had no object in seeking their suffrages further than
that of benefiting his fellow townsmen—he had no object
to gain—and be the result what it might, he would be
satisfied.

Mr. HAYDOCK.—What about the £7O for four jour-
neys to London on the water question ?

Mr. HODSON explained that he bad been one, of a deputa-
tion to London ; he was there seven weeks and four days,
and having made nine trips up and down he paid no less
than £4O for railway fares, and £8 for car hire. The
charge, he said, was not £7O, but .£55.—(A voice : " Have
you charged for your own time ?"—Cries of No, No.)—
Dr. Hodson attempted to proceed, when an uproar ensued,
in which the name of Mahoney was several times dis-
tinctly audible, accompanied by cries of "go on."
Order being restored, the Chairman called on Mr. Ferni-
hough, who delivered himself of an eloquent but most ego-
tistical address, highly laudatory of Mr. Hodson and him-
self, but certainly not calculated to forward the cause es-
poused by themeeting. He ridiculed the idea of questioning
a councillor about expenses so trivial, and said that were it
not for the petty jealousy of other councillors of the ward,
the particulars of the £7O would not have been mooted, and
it was only through truckling it could have been known.
A VOICE.—See Liverpool Mercury, of sth December.
Mr. FERNIHOUGH.—The Liverpool Mercury has been
fed like you by scandal, and reports anything without know-
ing its truth. My opinion of the newspapers is pretty well
known they report that which is unimportant, and leave
out that which is important, to suit their own ends. In-
stead of being led away by clamour, they should set about
reforming the press, and then they would get honest and
true reports.

After Mr. Fernihough had concluded,
Mr. MURDOCK said, that in justice to himself and his
fellow-burgesses, he would distinctly state that they were
not led away by clamour. Dr. Hodson, three years ago,
was a gentleman totally unknown, and yet he was brought
out against that great philanthropist, William Rathbone,
Esq., and triumphantly elected. It was not by clamour
that that was done. The electors of Vauxhall Ward dared
to think. Dr. Hodson had made them certain promises,
and he had broken faith. _ _

A pause then ensued, and the 'chairman dissolved the
meeting. Mr. rioauchlin tried again to Epeak, but the
attempt failed.