Middlesex Sessions, Frida...
The Times, 1824-01-19T00:00:00

?n1~appa? a~ gainLa Oii~ctOflt te Vornpany in 200L, for takin up 00 suare$e~~pvemet inPa'rk-lane, obtained by the Vesty ofMarleboe atMarboroRh.treet Office, in November. e drappelMts' a'nd Mr. Aley and 31r. Adblphuts for tlie Ivestri -who supported the convictions. Some- iinuteobjktions against thenoticesand recogTizances werc taken bythe counsel for thevestry, but whiclktheChairman overraled IUr. ALLEY, in support of the cotlviction, then stated that it was obtambedlunder arL act fo rtll,c parish of AMarylebone, bv whnich tbe .vestry ofMfarylebone cre intrusted withl the control of the pave- menats of Oxford-road, and also ofthe streets opening into it on the south side as far as the side fronts of' the corner houses of those streets, and also under the lMetropolis Paving Act. And as, not- rveithstanding.these aets, the Iniperial Gas Comppnv had takenf up lG uare ectofpavement at the north end of P -arklane, abutting on.Oxford-roda, for tie purpose oflavingdiown some newmainn pipes, without consent of .1Larylebone vestry, they ba(l incurred the pe- nalty given by the conviction. He then called Johin Ejerton, sur. veyOr of pavements, who proved that about 50 feet down Park-lane was paveinent laid by Marylebone parish, which the Imperial Gas Company had disturbed. On cross.examination he admitted that all the remainder of Park. lane was under the trustees of the Kensington reads: that those trustees Beta lamp on the pavement, within 12 feet of Oxford-road: that the Compary had the consent of those trustees to lay the pipes; and that the pavement had been well relaid under the direction of those trusteeL, at the expenrse of th.e Companv. Mr. Sergeant V-AUGHANZ was then heard for a-ppellants. It was a contestbetween light aind darkncss...bet ween prejudilce and imnprove. m:eit. 11aryleGgn Vestrr, thclugh very ysq nnmbe.we comparedto the vast, noble,and wealthypopulation of tbeparish. in- cluded many honourable men and as he perceived, several of the cmpntym trates. Bueoftenma ninority controlled puiblfc, and especi. aly paroc hal astairs; and the.mosthonourable but inattentivemcem bers of a board were censured for acts wvhich they would have disap. .Provedi, bt1t were too negligent to interpose andI prevent. To such cir. ctmstances he attributed the illiberal conduet of the MinryleboI Vestrv towardo the Company, their ouwt intabitants,ind the public. The 0smaliany,itoDrporatrts y Preliame,t,had the excsuve right to illumi awline gas ra ce'tnln district of tne hd ctropol. They baidn ereated at Efackney vast works, withi a roble apparatus, and now v I'l sightte a onsiderable part of London; and fron the vicinity of Rosetdarysltnt i n the East, along tbpiesackney, Newington, ars lo. I way. aln Radopwtn a roads on bth north, to Notting.hill on the wnth, hod were proccedinz towards the south to Kensington, Broapt oh, Chielsea, gild those parts wlhere the; were bouind to supplv '. Par this ptrpose a line of'pipes Iwas necessary, innd they had aeretially obtain. ed permission from all the tristees ofi the roads through which they passed. Tocompletethelineandsupplythesouth-westerLlnside f this district, it was necessary thiat pipes8 sliouldI be laid across Oxford. road and down Park-lane, both which are turnpike-roads, and the licenre of the trustees to lav the pipes had been obtained. Boit the MUarylebone Vrestry now unlawflyitroeamnfsii stra-nge antipatby to light. Tlheirparish being in the district!of the Compan y. they had repeaedl offercd to iluminatethatpoari.s5 on liberal terms. Theireappl icatibnis had been suipported by nmemorials andI petitioiis fromi thousands of the inhabitants of the parishi. Thisce oRTrs hiad been harshly declined. They p referred darkness to light,-the dim oil lamps, whllich just mane darkness visible, to the briiliant light emitted by gas,' while the rest of London was advan. taged by this great improvement introduced into all large towns, sjtreadingitsradiance to Edinburgli and Glasgew; and the regions of te north, while lIeland, amidst her politicalglooms, rejoiced at its s lustre; and while at Paris the most scientific men reported on its security and benefit, the antiquated oligarchical Vestrv of Mary'e. bone chose perversely to enwrap thenselves in a twilight gloon. They had the pourer to refuse the benefit, .ind unhappily for their inhabitants and the pnblic they exercised the pover. But he com- planed that not only they rejected the benefit, but endeavoured to prevent other districts from the indulgence of a more enlightened taste. They thought, that under their local act they coald prevent even a conduct pipe to another district from being laid across one of their streets, and therefore would exercise their power to prohibit any light froni being conveyed to the south. wesgtern district of thiis town.- Fortv.uately, ho,wever, they o-ver- calculated their rights. Under their own local act they bhad no power to punish persons who took up the pavement. They therefore were -ompeoled to try to amerce the Imperial Gas Comi. pa-ly under the Mletropolis Paving Act, but a clause in that act nulli- fied their claims, as it totally exempted all turnpike-roads, whether paved or uupaved, from the operation of that act. It had been al- ready proved that Par,-ltane was a Iturnpike-road; and although Marylebone was hound to pave fifty feet of the roadt, it Conti- nue a turnpike-road i and the Metropolis Paving Act, under which they renewed this proceL-lirg, in which tbe.' had been twice before defeated, and under which they sought the penalty of 2001., did notapply. He then proceedqd toread all the acts of Parliamenit from the 14th Geo. ll. to 61st Geo. III., by which Park-lane, home to Oxford-riad. was made a turnpike-road, un- der the trustees of the Kensington roads, by which, they were compelled to repair and light that road. In addi- tion to those acts, he proposed to call the clerk and surveyor of those roads, to prove that Park.lane was a turnpike-road un:ier their jurisdiction, and that authority had been given to iay the pipes, from a desire to obtain the benefit of the livht in these roads, and totfacilitate its introduction to Chelsea and od'ier contiguous districts, where it was ardently desired, Hie tbh called Ur. Francis, the surveyor; but Mr. ALLEY then stated that lie would admit that the Companv had the consent of the trustees of the roads, bat denied that it would sutfice. He then proceeded to address the Court in support of the conviction. He conwarred with the Vestry of Mllarylebone in their antipathy to gas. It was no improvement, and its exclusion was a public good. They had a right and a power to maintain their opinion. He then contended that the exemption clause as to turnpike-roads was not applicable to such cases. As to the amount of the penalty, he had oft'ered to aceept only 40s. if the Company would concede the question of right. That for 1is proposition the vestry and allthem)agistratesshoul(contend, because the Company had in another case maintained, that Oxford-street also was a turnpike-road; and then innumerable convictions for of. fences committed there under the Metropolis Paving Act wcre ille. gal, and very inconvenient con asuences might result. The CHAlRttAN then said, eRme case was intricate and import. ant: it was a mere dry legal question of right under opposing acts. But he, however, thouht that as the Marylebone vestryhad yaved 50 feet down Patk-lane, they had there a control; and that, therefore, in strictness their consenr should have been ob- tained, and that the conviction muLst accordingly be confirmed, though he presumed ithe nominal amount would never be required. JM!r. Sergeant VAUGHa. then suggested that the matter required further consideration, and applied for a case. The Cosrity unanimously concurred in that suggestion, and the matter will, thterefore, be re-agitated in the Court of King's Beneb. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS. Frida. ..an. IfL 4pPEAL OF THE 13' ,PiAL GAS C-OMP&NY AGMAIST CON- VICT Z. OF J. E. COANT. ESoQ