The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-08-27 00:00:00

clerk for all the divisional business of that district. In
the itar tfll3, it was considered necessary that a stipen-
liaq magistrate should be appointed. The first stipen-
diary who was appointed was Sir William. David Evans,
and he appointed Mr. Milne to be his clerk. The present
stipendiary magistrate, Mr. Maude, had also appointed
him, and he acted in the same capacity towards that
gentleman also. The magistrates appointed under the
borough commission commenced their sitting in Brown-
street, Manchester, and in pursuance of the provisions of
the commission, appointed a Mr. Hinson as their clerk.
They proceeded to discharge within the new borough all
the duties which had been discharged by the magistrates
at the New Bailey, and Mr. Hinson received all the emolu-
ments which Mr. Milne would have received but for the
charter. An objection was made to the validity of the
charter, and an action was brought by the county coroner
against the borough coroner of Manchester, which was
tried at the Liverpool assizes in 1839. Various legal
questions arose upon that occasion, and ultimately the
matter was pending before the House of Lords when an
act of parliament was passed upon which the present claim
was based. He alluded to the sth and 6th Vic., c 111, which
recited that, since the passing of the municipal corporation
Act, doubts had arisen respecting the validity of the said
charter, and then proceeded to legalize the several charters
of incorporation and all acts done in pursuance of the
same; and then, for the very purpose of meeting the par-
ticular case of Mr. Milne and any gentlemen similarly
circumstanced, who were not deprived of their offices,
but who suffered in the diminution of their fees, it pro-
vided that every officer of any such borough, county, or
division of a county, who was in any office of profit at the
time of granting the charter of incorporation, and whose
office should have been abolished or removed? es who
'should nave been deprived of any part of the fees and
emoluments of his office in consequence of any such
grant, should be entitled to have an adequate compensa-
tion, to be assessed by the council, for such part of the
fees as he should have been deprived of. This act
received the royal assent in August ; and in the fol-
lowing October or November, Mr. Milne applied for
compensation. The town-council of Manchester then
summoned him before them, and, after having cross-
examined him at some length, came to a resolution that
he was entitled to no compensation at all ; upon which
Mr. Milne applied to the Court of Queen's Bench for a
mandamus to compel them to assess compensation. The
matter was argued in the Court of Queen's Bench, and,
without hearing the counsel for Mr. Milne, the court di-
rected the mandamus to issue; and now the corporation
had returned that Mr. Milne was not an officer of any
division of the county, and that he was not deprived of
any fees or emoluments in consequence of the different
grants made to that borough. Mr. Milne traversed that
return ; and the question for the jury would therefore be,
whether he was an officer of that divisio I of the county,
and whether he had lost any portion of his fees by reason
of the grants. He (the Solicitor-General) would prove
that there was a division of the county called the Man-
chester division—that the office or appointment of clerk
to the magistrates acting in that division was an office
within the meaning of the act—and that Mr. Milne was
actually the officer who performed the duties of that
office. It would be necessary for him to show that in
.consequence—not by the grants themselves—but in con-
sequence of the grants, Mr. Milne had been deprived of a
portion of his fees and emoluments ; and this he believed
he should be enabled to do in a manner satisfactory to
the caurt and jury. He should be really ashamed of him-
self were he to occupy more time. He believed, by means
of a witness, and admissions on the other side, he should
prove his case and entitle himself to a verdict, there being
no question here as to the amount of the fees and emolu-
ments, but merely whether Mr. Milne had lost any fees
or emoluments, and whether he was entitled to compen-
sation under the provisions of the act of parliament.
Mr. Wm. S. Rutter was the first witness. He deposed
that he was one of the coroner's for the county, and that
he was formerly in the office with Mr. Milne. He de-
posed generally to the nature of that gentleman's duties—
the Manchester division of the county, and the several
other material points referred to in the Solicitor-Gene-
ral's opening speech.
Edward Gorst, Deputy-Clerk of the Peace for the
county, was the next witness, and he produced a table of
the fees payable to the clerks of the justices at petty
sessions.
The charter, the commission, the act 53d Geo. 111.,
the sth and 6th of Vic.' and other documents were here
put in, and the case for the plaintiff terminated.
Mr. KELLY then addressed the jury for the defence.
He said he had the honour to appear before the jury as
counsel for the Corporation of Manchester, who, in the
discharge of a public duty imposed on them, had felt it
necessary to put the present case in the course of legal
investigation ; and he concurred with the Solicitor-Gene-
ral that it was not a case which could occupy any con-
siderable portion of the public time. There was, in reality,
no one fact in dispute between the parties ; and the only
question to be determined was a question of law, which
might be decided by his Lordship here, or might ulti-
mately be decided by the Court of Queen's Bench, or the
Court of Error. Mr. Milne, as they had heard, was em-
ployed for a very great number of years, as clerk to cer-
tain magistrates acting for the division of Manchester,
and there was no doubt he had discharged many impor-
tant duties, and that after the grant of the charter of in-
corporation, a very considerable diminution of fees and
emoluments had taken place. Mr. Milne had, under the
Act of Parliament referred to, made a claim against the
Corporation of Manchester for the sum of £31,000, for
the loss or diminution of those emoluments. The Town
Council of that Borough had little or no personal interest
in the question ;_ but, inasmuch as bad they at once com-
plied with the demand, they would have ill discharged
their duty to the inhabitants of the borough, for whom,
in that respect, they were mere trustees ; because if Mr.
Milne were entitled to any sum at all, whether £34,000
or any larger or smaller sum, it was not the corporation
but the inhabitants, who contributed by a borough-rate
to the borough funds, that must satisfy the demand. It
was, therefore the bounden duty of the Corporation to
resist the claim—a claim which, according to the advice
they had taken, was altogether unfounded in law. Ac-
cordingly, Mr. Milne applied for a mandamus to the
Court of Queen's Bench ; the mandamus was issued, the
claim made, and resisted. The ground of objection to
the claim was this—that Mr. Milne was net, within the
meaning of the Act of Parliament, an officer of any divi-
sion—that he was not the officer he stated himself to be
—in other words, that he was not a Clerk to the Magis-
trates of the county at sessions held for the Manchester
Division; and that, supposing for a moment he was an
officer within the meaning of the Act of Parliament, and
the officer he described himself to be, still the loss of pro-
fit and emolument he sustained, was not a loss of profit
and emolument within the meaning of the act. Those
were three questions of law, and presented nothing for
the jury to consider or determine. He should call wit-
nesses to prove that, in point of fact, there were, during
the whole or a great part of the time, other petty sessions
held by other magistrates, within the Manchester divi-
sion ; and this would show that Mr. Milne was incorrect
in calling himself the Clerk to the Manchester Division.
The JUDGE.—There is an alias to that.
Mr. KELLY admitted that there was. The alias was—
"otherwise called clerk to the justices of the petty ses-
sions held for said divisions ;" but he (the learned coun-
sel) denied that he ever was such clerk. He had officiated
as clerk te certain justices, who had held petty sessions
for that division, but that did not constitute him a clerk
to the whole body of justices. There was no such office
existing in law as that of sole clerk to the special sessions
held for the Manchester division ; any magistrate had a
right to appoint his own clerk ; the clerk appointed, who-
ever he might be, only officiated on and for the single oc-
casion when the magistrates sat; his office ceased when
they adjourned : and any three or four of them might join
in the appointment of a clerk. IThe learned counsel
argued this point to a considerable extent, contending all
through that when the business of the day was over, the
appointment of the clerk closed, and that a new clerk
might be appointed by the magistrates, or a majority of
them, on the following day. In the present case, he said
there had never been either a written or a verbal appoint-
ment, and, that as Mr. Milne had not received any sala-
ry, weekly or even daily, he was no servant or officer
within the meaning of the act. He apprehended that a
party entitled to compensation must be an officer of a di-
vision, and that the office must be of a continuing nature,
not ceasing when the business of the day was over. He
must, moreover, be acting as clerk at the petty sessions at
the time the charter received the Royal assent, or he was
not an officer within the meaning of the act. He knew
not whether the court meant to decide the law points on
the present occasion.
The JUDGE.-1 shall adopt the course of a lammed pre-
decessor of mine, who heard a long argument, and then
said—" I am very much obliged to you for your opinions,
but I shall not decide the question in dispute." Neither
shall I ; I shall express no opinion upon it. (Laughter.)
The following witnesses were examined for the defence :
—James Smith, of Leigh ; Mr. Henry Coppock, town-
clerk of Stockport ; Mr. Parte, solicitor, Wigan ; and Jo-
seph Walker, after which the case for the defence closed,
Mr. Kelly remarking that he had no objection to a spe-
cial verdict.
The JUDGE then charged the Jury. The first question
for their consideration was, whether the petty sessions
held at the New Bailey was a petty sessions for that divi-
sion of the county. If it was, then he advised them to
find for the crown ; if otherwise, then their duty would be
to find for the defendants on that issue. The second euesd-
tion was, whether the plaintiff had sustained the loss, an
been deprived of the fees and emoluments, in consequence
of the grants ; and upon this point they would have little
difficulty in finding that
he had sustained a loss of profits
and emoluments. The grave and serious question was,
whether a clerk to the magistrates, under the circum-
stances mentioned, was an officer of that division of the
county within the meaning of the statute.
The Jury returned a verdict for the Crown—damages
One Shilling. His Lordship certified for a special ver-
dict.
LIABILITY ON A BILL OF EXCHANGE.—FARRER V. DE-
FL/NTNE—(Special Jury.)
to
eplaintiff
whethertiff
to the
treat
defendant
him
mant as was
a partner
liablertne r t
in
o
This action, the circumstances of which are well known,
the case having been tried at a former assizes, was an ac-
tion to determine the liability of the defendant on three
bills of exchange, accepted in the name of Todd ; and the
questionthe plaintiff on those bills, either as an actual partner,
under the firm of Todd and Co., or under circumstances
hie was
as
th
that concern. The parties are all
manufacturers, carry-
ing on business as salesmen in Manchester.
Mr. Baines, Mr. Dundas, and Mr.
which
Cowling were for
or-
the plaintiff; and the Solicit G
entitled
eneral and Messrs.
Watson and Brandt for the defendant.
Mr. BAINES went briefly over the facts of the case, and
then proceeded to call
witnesses : and after several had
been examined, the Court adjourned.

•
CROWN COURT.—SATURDAY.
MURDER OF A WIFE BY HER HUSBAND.
Wm. Swanton, 40, was indicted for the murder of his
wife, Ann Swanton, at Wigan, on the 7th instant.