The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-17 00:00:00

CONSERVANCY OF THE MERSEY.

(From Wednesday's lecznehester Guardian.)
There is now before Parliament a bill (brought in by the
members for Liverpool, and promoted by the corporation
and dock trustees of that toive) for the conservancy of the
river Mersey, to which we think some portion of the atten-
tion of the inhabitants of Manchester may not unreasonably
be directed. We have now before us a copy of the bill, with
a series of amendments, to be moved by the Earl of Lincoln,
the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and which
amendments may be presumed to exhibit the intentions of
the Government in reference to the bill. The main object of
those amendments appears to be to vest the conservancy of
the river in a commission to be composed of the First Lord
of the Admiralty, the Chancellor of the County Palatine of
Lancaster, and the Chief Commissioner of the Woods and
Forests for the time being, who are to exercise all the powers
possessed by the admiralty for the maintenance of the navi-
gation of the river, and the removal of nuisances and ob-
structions therefrom. They are also to have power to ap-
point an acting conservator, with such subordinate officers
as they may consider necessary, and to pay such sala-
ries and allowances as they may deem reasonable and
proper. The active conservator is to inspect the channel of
the river at stated periods, and to direct such removal of ob-
structions, and such dredging and cleaning of the channels,
as may seem requisite. One of the clauses further requires,
that no person shall erect any pier, wharf, embankment, or
other work, by which the flow of the tidal water may be in
any way impeded, without previously giving three calendar
months' notice in writing to the acting conservator, and to
the clerks of the peace for the counties of Lancaster and
Chester. Such parties are also required to furnish plans of
their intended erections, which are to be lodged with the act-
ing conservator ; apd the commissioners may, if they think
proper, on application of the town councils of Liverpool,
Manchester, dr Chester, or of other parties interested in the
navigation, direct'the parties proposing to erect such works
as aforesaid, to transmit copies of the above-mentioned plans
to such town councils or interested parties, at the expense of
the latter.

The mode of raising the funds for working this bill (which
will be by no means inconsiderable) is at present very doubt-
ful; being merely shadowed forth in the following skeleton
of a clause (the
.24th), which we subjoin as it stands in the
printed bill:—
" And in order to provide a fund for payment of the ex-
penses to be incurred in carrying this act into execution,
over and above the costs and expenses to be specially pro-
vided as hereinafter mentioned, be it enacted, that it shall
be lawful for the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Liver-
pool out of their borough fund, for the trustees of the Liver-
pool docks out of the fund of their estate, and for

and they are hereby severally and respectively authorised
and required to pay to the said commissioners yearly and
every year, by such payments and at such times as shall
be required by writing under the hands of any two of the said
commissioners, such sums of money as shall be required
for the purposes' aforesaid, not exceeding in the whole in
any one year the sum of in the proportions
following; (that is to say) equal parts thereof by
the said mayor, aldermen, and burgesses ; other
equal parts thereof by the said trustees of the Liverpool
docks; other equal parts thereof by

and the moneys so paid to the said commissioners shall be
applied by them for carrying this act into execution."
Who the individuals or public bodies may be, whose names
or designations are intended to fill up the preceding blank,
we cannot offer a conjecture. Possibly, as the town councils
of Chester and Manchester are associated with that of Liver-
pool in a former clause, it is intended to allow them also to
join in bearing a part of the general expenses of working the

act.
Certain specified charges, including the expenses of obtain-
ing the act, are, however, to be defrayed solely by the town
council of Liverpool, out of their borough fund. Whv, we
certainly do not see; for, though the bill may have been a
private one on its first introduction, Lord LThcoln's amend-
ments, if adopted, will convert it into a public act for the re-
gulation and extension of the powers of the High Court of
Admiralty in the tide-way of the river =Mersey; and the ex-
pense of it ought to be defrayed by the public.