The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-10-07 00:00:00

is stated, to give information to the newly-appointed.officers,
the deeds and documents belonging to the corporate estate
were of necessity continued in the custody of Mr. Okill.
On the committee referring to the 56th section of the Muni-
cipal Corporations Act, they find this proviso:—" Pro-
vided always, that all the charters, deeds, muniments,
and records of every borough, or relating to the pro-
perty thereof, shall be kept in such a place as the
council from time to time shall direct, and the town-clerk
for the time being shall have the charge and custody
of, and be responsible for, the same." Observing the
importance of this proviso, the committee called for the
resolutions of the council on the subject, and were much
astonished on finding that there had been no direction given
by the council, previous to the year 1839, in what place the
deeds should be kept ; but the resolution does not appear to
contemplate this provision of the act being carried out. It
appears that the town-clerk had mentioned to some members
of the council, previous to 1839, the anxiety he felt on this
subject, and the great responsibility there was imposed on
him by the municipal corporations act, as it was in the power
of the council at any time to call for an account, in writing,
of all matters committed to his charge by virtue of the act.
On the committee calling upon the town-clerk to explain why
he had not fulfilled the duty required from him of having the
custody of the deeds, he stated, that owing to the subject not
meeting with the approval of some of the members connected
with the finance committee of former days, and out of deli-
cacy to the feelings of others, he had to the present time
waived his right, but he was of opinion that even upon the
ground of convenience there was no reason why the munici-
pal corporations act should not be strictly carried out with
respect to the deeds.
The committee much regret that there should have been
found members of the council who had been advisers of a
breach of the law, and should have appointed an assistant to
Mr. Okill at a salary of £l5O per annum, whose duties this
committee consider are only those of an engrossing or copy-
ing clerk, which ought to be done in the town-clerk's office.
In this anomalous position, the council of 1836 added £lOO
per annum to Mr. Okill's Salary, then £6OO per annum ; and
the following resolution was also passed :—" That Mr. Okill's
salary should be £7OO per annum ; that he should have a
clerk at £l2O to £l5O per annum ; and that neither of those
officers should be allowed to do any business on their own
account." In 1837 £2O per annum was given to his assistant
for registering leases. In 1839 a further addition was made
to Mr. Okill's salary of £2OO per annum, making it at the
present time £9OO per annum ; and in January, 1811, Mr.
Abbott's salary, then (with the £2O above named) £l7O, was
increased to £270.
The appointment made in 1836 of Mr. Radcliffe to the
offices of town-clerk and clerk of the peace, the committee
wish to notice to the council, as the committee have great
doubts whether the same individual is not debarred by the
municipal corporations act from tilling both situations.
In the first place, the continuing of quarter sessions in
boroughs after the passing of the act depended on the pro-
visions contained in the 103 d section being complied with,
and the obtaining a grant from the crown for the holding of
such sessions. The appointment of the recorder is vested in
the crown, and the council have the appointment of clerk of
the peace. With respect to the borough court it was differ-
ent ; for by the 119th section 'of the act, the council in every
borough in which there was a court of record, were to appoint
a registrar, except in boroughs where the town-clerk acted as
such registrar. Under these circumstances the committee con-
sider that the legislature intended that the clerk of the peace
should be distinct from the town-clerk, who was to continue the
registrar of the borough court, or otherwise the same exception
would have been made in those boroughs where the town-clerk
acted as clerk of the peace. The committee do not come to this
view of the question on the above ground alone, but on the
wording of the act when referring to the two offices. In the
121st section of the act, as to the summonsing of juries, it
says, " And the clerk of the peace and registrar of the court of
record respectively, shall also cause to be summonsed, &c.,"
and again, in the 124th section, the council are to make a
table of fees which shall be taken by the clerk of the peace :
also, a table of fees to be taken by the clerk of the justices,
and a third, of the fees to be taken by the registrar and
officers of the court of record. Whether it be legal or not,
that is a question for the council to consider, but this com-
mittee feel it their duty to point out the heavy expense which
has been incurred in the past year owing to the town-clerk
and his clerks being prevented, in consequence of his being
clerk of the peace, under a heavy penalty imposed by the
municipal corporations acts from rendering any assistance at
the period when the late deputy town-clerk and prosecuting
solicitor was unwell, and on this occasion Messrs. Harvey
and Falcon were paid for their professional assistance
£314 45., and to this committee's surprise, as no doubt it
will be to the majority of the members of the council, these
gentlemen's professional assistance was again called for when
Mr. Shuttleworth was attending to the parliamentary busi-
ness in London this year. _ _

The general business in the town-clerk's and prosecuting
solicitor's offices is daily increasing, but more particularly
the prosecutions, which are a heavy expense to the borough

The following appears to be the amount of fees received
by the treasurer of the borough fund in the six last muni-
cipal years :

1...• 0 td , it
El 2 F,•,.. '.152 Pd r tefq 11:1k
cD
cl,' 0 •—• 0. 0 -
c''' .--• • ,cs 2
. R° 7== ic 2w • =
c"22co

O v
~~ v
c. ~

....
Co 0