The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-10-31 00:00:00

30. Gre!it George street, Westminster, Oct.-23, 1854

DearBlr,—in conformity With your obliging communi-
cation conveyed by Mr. Hughes, I beg to state that the near
completion of the Rivingtpn works renders it essential that
legislative authority shbuld be obtained in ;the coming session
of parliament for effecting various alterations and amend,
ments, which have bedome necessary by lapse of time, change
of circumstances, and the discovery of original and technical
defects in either the public or private acts relating to the
water works. The principal points upon which amendments
of the existing acts ere required Are as follaws = '
Ist—To enable the corporetion to make a deviation in the
pipe line, whereby the town of St.-Helen's and all its destruc-
tive manufacturnierefuse may be avoided, the heaviest pres-
sure on the main .pipes be considerably diminished, and an
intermediate reservoir constructed.
Id—To enable certain variations pt 11 indley and elsewhere,
to, be made in situations in which buildings and works have
been erected on or injuriously near to the original line.
3d—To enable a provisional arrangement with Mr. Taylor
for the avoidance of the_Eccleston estate tote completed.
4th—To enable arrangements to be made withthe Chorley
Water Works Compatiy, for the definition or merger of the
intermixed. rights. of that company and the corporation,
whereby all future contest and litigation will be avoided..
eth.--fro enable terms to be made with the Leeds and Liver-
popl Canal Company, for the substitution of the water,
amounting to 80%000 gallons of water per•diein, now required
• to' be discharged for the works of the corporation for the
supply of the River Douglas, at Wigan. By this arrangement
the corporation would save for. the use of Liverpool a quan-
tity of water (unjuetly taken from thetn)equal to the supply
of 40,000 people. ' ••
6th—To effectuate the appropriation on terms of adequate
compensation of the quantity of eight cubicleet per second,
directed by tlie act of 1847 to be thrown down the rivers Rid-
dlesvvorth and Dar wen, for the use of the millownere. This
water IV:exceedingly valuable for the supply of Liverpool;
but of very little worth for the power purposes of a few 'mills.
7th—To remove certain legal obscurities occasioned by the
public acts `and .model bills materially affecting the obliga-
tions connected with the completion of the •worke, and the
rights to arise and accrue to various parties upon such com-
pletion. The difficulty can; in my judgment, he best met by
making the general period of completion coincident with that
period, which will be necessary to enable the deviations and
amendments to be, not only properly effected, but also
brought into full and effective operation, with reference to
the conditions, restrictions, and obligations of the, contracts
for construction and otherwise. '

It is impossible to exaggerite the importance of a settle-
ment by Act of Parliament of questions so vitally affecting
the interests of the corporation in relation to water supply,
as those to which I have thus briefly alluded.
It is scarcely-necessary that I should refer to events and
contests which bave either hninediately or consequently
affected and deteriorated the water works, as designed in the
year 1846, and presented to 'parliament in the year 1847; but
it is important that I should state to you, in the most dietinct
terms, that it is my professional conviction that the supply
of Is population, greater or less by 200.000 persons, is involved
in the determination of the matters I have the honour to sub.
mit to you for the .consideration of the committee.—l am,
dear sir, faithfully.yours, ' - • T. HAWKSLES.

George Holt, Reg
On this letter` the comtnittee made the following recom-
mendation :—" That the suggestions contained in Mr.
Hawksley's letter are approved, and that it be recom-
mended to the Councal:to authorise the Town-clerk to give
notices, and take other necessary steps in compliance with
the standing orders preliminary to an application to par-
liament, at the ensuing session, for such of the purposes
referred to in Mr. Hawkslers letter as the Town-clerk
may deem advisable under the circumstances." _ _

On .the propopition of 11tr. How, seconded by Mr.
Alderman Coo Plat; the first recommendation contained
on the summons paper was carried-nem,
Mr. Hoar said the next recommendation was for, au
application to parliament for the deviation of the pipe
line and other purposes. It was a veryimportant matter,
and Mr. Hawksley would have been, an. attendance per-
sonally, had he not been placed, under, peculiarly distress-
ing circumstances, caused this painful .anticipation, of
Mrs. Hawksley's death, The; proposed deviation at St,
Helens was . the.`same they sought to obtain in 18.52,
when, however, they were defeated in parliament by the
great landed proprietor„, Sir John Gerrard, whose agents
contended that the pipes .might be laid through St.
Helens without disadvantage. Subsequent inquiry,
however, had proved that, independently of laying the
pipes in that direction, in consequence of the greater
length of piping.; requited, the large deposits.of chemical
works would be 'so injurious to, the metal as to ren-
der it, very ;undesirable, indeed to obtain a deviation
of the line. , In carrying this object out, the com-
mittee would no doubt endeavour to make an ami-
cable .arrangement with the . present Proprietor of the
land through which the line would go: Connected
in this matter was 'la provisional `arrangement with Mr.
Taylor, whose estate=the Eccleston estate—adjoining the
other ;land. , Zf they*, obtained the deviation of the pipe-
line, applicgtibn would be made to avoid Mr. Taylor's
estate, Iby going along ,the i9O, so as to meet his
wishes, and at the same time save the compensation for
which a demand might otherwise be made.' At,Hinckley,'
it was also proposed to make the department in order to
go on a greater distance from a fish-pond belonging to Mr.
Pemberton Leigh. The suggestion with regard to the
Chorley Water Works Company was not pressing, but it
was thought desirable to pursue the course recommended,
in order to avoid the possibility of litigation. (Hear,
hear.) The works ,of that company, and the Cor-
poration, were at present in a Very intermixed state ;
the great pipe conveying the water from the
Chorley reservoir passing under the Corporation reser-
voir, which was
:obviously very undesirable. Having
referred to other 'points in Mr„ Hawksley's letter, the
Chairman observed . with regard to the time for the
completion of the works that it was desirable that the
engineer should not consider them finished, in a legal
sense, until they had been twelve months in operation, or
a sufficient period under the presenre of the water, in order
that it might be tested by actual trial that the work was
prosperously and efficiently executed according to con-
tract. There Was no present intention, on the part of the
committee, to apply for additional finances.
Mr. Alderman COOPER seconded the proposition.
The MAyon, at the suggestion of Ms. Picton, read the
following memorial :

To the Mayor, Aldermen, end Members,of the Town Council

Of LivecpCOl:
for power to
Gentlemen,—There being a notice on the books of your
proceedings, pursuant to which it is probable a motion will
to
Parliament,the etrect lthatn ttilliee C.eopusulg should -
cbdaeet:iinoanatdeteirom the pipe line fixed by the existing Act
Parlia-
ment for carrying the water frOm Rivington to Liverpool,
and for other purposes. we, the undersigned burgesses, do
iagnit =ugly eatreat, that !should tucb intiton be RAO, ng

Mr. EARLS • I was a member, sir, of that committee,
and I will not be insulted by observations from you, sir,
or any other gentleman.
Mr. Alderman BEN NETT did not wish to implicate the
committee as knowingly being parties to the great blun-
der, but what he meant to say was, that they trusted too
much to Mr. Hawksley, considering him to have too much
integrity and honour to deceive them.
Mr. HOLT : You should suggest a remedy.
Mr. BENNETT : And so I would, sir, but the whole is
so bad that I fear it cannot be patched up. (A. laugh.)
Referring subsequently to the suggestion in Mr. Hawks-
ley's letter with respect to the Chorley company, he
maintained that these things should be left to the common
sense of the Council, and not to the dictation of one in-
dividual. They were told that the Chorley Water-works
went under their reservoir. What then ? Aye ! " there's
the, rub !" The Chorley people took the best water from
the other side, which we ought have in Liverpool. He
said "best,"—but bad was the best, as the people of
Chorley knew to their cost. There was an entangled web
connected with the Chorley scheme, and the more they
looked into it the worse it would be. It was, therefore,
far better to ascertain their real position at once. The
whole scheme had been a series of misconceptions : it was
the most unfortunate affair that had ever been brought
under discussion in that council chamber. That the ori-
ginal estimate would be greatly exceeded he•had no doubt;
one cause, which was said to lie in the levels having been
erroneously taken by Jackson, necessitating alterations
that would cause a very great additional outlay.
Mr. EA.EDE.—Now, Mr. Bennett, we shall have some
observations to make ; we can't let you say everything
yourself. (laughter.) . •
Mr. HODSON.—I don't wish to interrupt you, Mr.
Bennett, but --

Mr. i3ENNETT (peremptorily.) Then, sit down
(laughter.)

Mr. JAMBS HOLM thought that if theywere to adjourn
the discussion to the Rivington Works they would soon
all become of a mind.

Mr. BENNETT' in continuation, contended that a full
inquiry would place that poor and much-injured man, Mr.
3I 'Donald, in a true light before the Council.
Mr. BIGIIAM.—(Hear, hear.) _

Mr. BErixarr.-IHowever tliat man's predictions had
been slighted by many, they had been borne out, and more
than borne out by facts ; and he (Mr. Bennett) envied the
the position of the injured man much more than the
eminent hydraulic engineer who was carrying out
these works. (Hear, hear.) M`Donald had frequently
asserted that, at a very trifling expense they could
obtain an abundant supply from their own red sand-
stone ; and experience had borne out that assertion,
as the supply from that source, instead of decreasing year
by year, as predicted by Mr. Hawksley, had year by year
increased. (Hear, hear.) He had been informed that the
Corporation had been offered a large sum of money, either
by Manchester or Bolton, • to take these works off their
hands, and he thought it would be highly desirable that
such an opportunity should not be allowed to slip away.
He concluded by moving " That the town-clerk be in-
structed to take such preliminary steps as are absolutely
necessary preparatory to an application to parliament for
the purposes proposed ; and that no further expenditure
be incurred in the prosecution of such application until a
return is laid before the Council; in accordance with the
prayer of the memorial presented this morning." (Hear,
hear.) That memorial, though only signed by two per-
sons, he was convinced, represented the general feeling
and wish of the town. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. BIGHAM seconded the imendMent without remark,

Mr. W. EARLE regretted that he would be compelled
tolisten to a lecturer in whose nostrums he had no .faith,
because, on one occasion, in his calculations, he made the
town of Prescot as high as Mont Blanc. (Laughter.) The
misfortune they had to deplore was the squabble in the
town : that had caused the whole mischief, in which Mr.
Bennett, and several others he could place his finger on,
were prominent performers. That squabble'resulted in a
very full inquiry into the merits of the scheme ; and when
such men as Stephenson, and other eminent engineers,
had declared it to be a. valuable scheme, and worthy
to be' proceeded with, he thought they would not
place too much confidence in Mr. Bennett's opinions.
Mr. Hawksley had fallen under that gentleman's censure,
but he thought the only thing in which Mr. Hawksley
was to' blame -was, for not declaring positively that he
would not be responsible for the work unless the contracts
were placed in the hands of able and practical men. He
had no doubt that the Rivington works would have been
finished, and that they would have had the water in the
town, four or five years ago, had it not been for their own
squabbles. (Hear.) Strenuous exertions were made to
have the works under the management of 'the private
company; and it would ultimately have proved a most
advantageous speculation to the parties engaged in the
undertaking. (Hear, hear.) As sueh, he advocated it as
being a good thing' for the town of Liverpool ; and the
day would yet come when this would prove to be the case.
(Hear, hear.) -As for Mr. Bennett; he would not give a'
pinch of snuff for his opinion. For goodness sake! let
them have no more speeches from that gentleman on the
subject of water supply, for he unhesitatingly declared
that he knew nothing about it.. (Laughter.) That the
red sandstone was not to be depended upon, was just now
being • proved in London, where the wells of the great
porter brewers were on the decline, and they were sup-
plied from -the same source. (Hear, hear.) Much' had
been said about the large well at Green-lane. No' doubt
they had a good supply there but how obtained ; why,
at the expense of the whole neighbourhood, for they had
'drained the whole country in the district of water, in
order to supply the town of Liverpool. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. JAMtI3 HOWSE was sure the events of the last few
days must have taught them all a very severe lesson; for,
notwithstanding they had a very ample supply of water
(at the fire), habelieved that, to obtain it. they had been
obliged to deprive a large number of the inhabitants of a
daily want. For himself, as a practical man, he should
be sorry if the council at the eleventh hour threw impe-
diments in the way of this, great work. It was- only
necessary for members to visit the place 'to be satisfied,
notwithstanding the eloquence of Mr. Bennett upon a
scientific subject, of the necessity of proceeding vigorously
with the works, in order that they might have the water
supply as soon as possible. If it was thought desirable
'to get rid of the' works, he believed that overtures would
speedily be made, by which they might get £2 for every'
L 1 they had expended upon them. (Hear, hear.) He
-was convinced that, if no impediment were thrown in the
way, the works would be completed to the satisfaction of
the council, and the town at large. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BIGE(All thought the terms of the amendment
were so reasonable, and would so little interfere with the
work*, that he could not anticipate any opposition to it
on the part of the Council. He reminded them that Mr.
Hawksley had committed himself to two opinions as to
the red sandstone; the first being with respect to Liver-
pool, that the red sandstone rock was insecure as a
basis for' it water supply. Ever since that assertion
was made the supply from that' source had increased,
the only difficulty at Green-lane now being the excessive
supply of the water. The second opinion was delivered
by Mr. Hawksley, when called in to assist the ratepayers
of St. Helen's. He advised them to dig to, the-red sand-
Stone rook, and they would have enough of water for their
present or any future supply. (Hear, hear.) The autho-
rities of St. Helen's sank a well 60 feet, and they had
since been absolutely overwhelmed with water. (Hear,
hear.) There were several weighty questions involved in
this' matter, not the least important being—Could the
water be conveyed without accident to Liverpool, and if it
could, and when it was brought, would the people drink
it ? (Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. A. VICTON spoke in favour of the amendment,
taking exception tolfr. Picton's sweeping mode of criticism.
Mr. Tuosison- hoped the- chairman of the committee
would agree to the amendment.
Mr. Hodson controverted the arguments of Mr. Bighorn.

--..
Mr. Alderman PAR/EB.R opposed the amendment, as
likely to impede the whole worlds. He had the greatest
confidence in the result, believing that when the works
were finished, a more.magnificent reservoir would hot be
foun'd in her Majesty's dominions., . •
' ' Mr. WOODRUFF, as a member of the Water Committtee,
having no secrets to conceal, and; believing that inquiry
wouldeventuate in still greater confidence in the scheme,
would vote for the amendment.
Mr. MAxN, though hitherto an advocate of the scheme,
had heard so much about the supply of water to be
obtained from the. red sandstone, that he thought the
time had arrived when they .should obtain all the in-
formation they could. He should, therefore, vote for the

amendment.
Mr. FERNIIIOUGII observed that the committee had
already borrowing powers to the extent of £480,000, and,
fearing that this bill was merely the precursor to another,
next session, to increase their borrowing powers, thought
they should have a full explanation from the Water Com-
mittee. He should, therefore, support the amendment.
Mr. ANSON, as a member of the committee, had no
objection to the amendment.
liAlizza hoped the council would adopt the amend.

The report of the St, George's-hall Inauguration Com-
mittee, gave the following brief financial statement, on
the result of the musical festivals at the opening of St.
George's-hall :
Total Receipts £3,366 4 0
Payments already made
Cash in hand
Outstanding accounts 755 1 9
Deficiency 520 4 9

Mr. Alderman J. H. TURNER, in briefly moving the
adoption of the report, made reference to the: additional
expenses to which the mayor had been put, in conse-
quence of the recent meetings of the British Association.
When they visited Liverpool in 1837, the sum of £39015. 6d.
was paid the then mayor (Mr. W. Earle) for the expen-
ses so incurred by him on that account. He (Mr. Turner)
ventured to say, that the reception which had been given
by the mayor to that learned body on the recent occur-
rence, was quite equal to that which was given by Mr.
Earle. On that occasion, and again on the occasion of the
visit of Prince Albert, they had a precedent:for defraying
the civic expenses by making an additional allowance to
the mayor. He, therefore, begged to move, " That for
the purpose of defraying the expenses incurred in the
opening of St. George's•hall, and also for the reception of
the British Association in this town, the salary of the
mayor be increased in the present year, by the sum of
£1,000." • •

Mr. FEararrouGrr seconded the proposition. (Oh, oh.")
Mr. HODSON had no objection to the expenses incurred
by the Mayor, being defrayed out of the corporation fund,
but he was opposed to such a course being pursued, or
with reference to the Special Committee appointed for the
opening of St. George's-hall, who, he maintained, should
pay the penalty of their own mismanagement. A more
miserable failure he never knew than the opening of St.
George's-hall„ which reflected anything but credit or
honour upon the town. The inhabitants were slighted
and all but insulted, and they, their representatives were
exceedingly scurvily used. (Laughter.), What was the
-fact ? Why, in one room refreshments were provided for
a select and favoured few, while ladies were allowed to
stand out in the rain, to obtain a little refreshment.
(Hear, hear.) - He was shocked to see Lady. Derby among
those who were thus left unprovided for ; as it was not
until he bad pointed this fact out to Mr. Samuel Holme,
that her Ladyship received proper attention.
Mr. J. H. TuartEa.—l asked her myself if she would
take refreshment, and she declined. (Hear, hear.)

The MAYOR explained that he had caused enough to be
provided for visitors from a distance, observing that it was
absolutely impossible that he could have made provision
for every person who attended the concerts. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Honsox would have had refreshments for every
person in the hall.
Mr. EARLE reminded Mr. Hodson that the object was
to hand something over to the charities. (Hear, hear.)
If people went therelto " guttle," instead of to hear music,
it would have been another thing entirely. As he had
stated in the Council before the arrangements were com-
pleted, the former festival never paid itself : it was the
ball that was the remunerating source entirely. (Hear.)
In restricting the entertainments to a musical festWal,
loss.was sure to be the result:
Mr. Alderman PARKER, as one of the-committee, main-
tained that' they had merely carried out the instructions
of the Council ; and that, instead of censure, they rather
deserved thanks. (Laughter.)
Mr. BIOICAM, having indulged in some severe strictures
upon the committee, whom he charged with keeping him-
self and Mr. Picton from the sub-committee, in order to
carry out their exclusive policy in all their arrangements,
observed that, on the night of the reheasals, members of
the Council were refused admittance into the hail, while
thirty or forty ladies and gentlemen, some strangers re-
siding out of the town, had obtained ingress by the aid of
passes furnished by members of the sub-committee. Some
of those favoured persons also had free admissions to all
the.concerts. Thus was it that the powers given to the-
committee. was misdirected. He should move a direct
negative to the proposition. ,
After some remarks from Mr. PICTON,

Mr. J. H. TIIRNER observed. that, if every member of
the committee had paid the same attention to his duties
as he had done, the result would have been different. He
had made use of no free admissions, having paid £35 15s.
for his own friends. (Hear, hear.)

' The motion was then put to the vote, and carried by a
majority of 29 to 14. The voting was as follows :
Eor the motion—Messrs. Aked, T. D. Anderson, J. R.
M`Gnffie, C. Turner, Avison, Banner, Fernihough, James
Holme, Mann, Wagstaff, A. Shand, J. B. Brancker, W.
Earle, Picton; HOughton. J. Stewart, W. J. Hors-
fall; J. Robertson, Halhead, M. Gregson, Bennett,'Bold,
Parker, J: Cooper, J. H. Turner, R. C. Gardner, J. Bram-
ley-Moore, Sir J. Bent, and the Mayor.
Against the motion-:-Messrs. S. M. Mellor, Bigham,
Woodruff, Moss, W. Nicholson, Godfrey, W. P. Jeffreys,
Fleming, R. Gladstone, J.. Johnson, T. L. Hodson, J.
Nicholson, Beckwith, and Alderman Toulmin.