Keeper or Clerk of the Hanaper Present Income Do. of Deputy 395 £. 2800 352 1800 Clerk of the Crown in Chancery 1100 £. 550 682 1000 1000 Clerk of the Patents 810 Clerk of the Custodies of Lunatics and Idiots NEW MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS. A MEASURE of very great importance has been brought forward in the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellor, in which the Reform Act has, for the first time, bestowed the a bill for giving municipal constitutions to those towns upon population of these towns is stated to amount to upwards of power of sending representatives to Parliament. The whole 1,200,000. The bill has only been read a first time, and will not be carried farther during the present session; but it is desirable that its leading provisions should be immediately made known and understood. The general principles of the bill are nearly the same with those upon which are founded the two bills of which we gave an account in our last Number for the reform of the existing corporations, and the establishment of others in the new burghs, in Scotland. The persons in each burgh having the right of electing the member of Parliament are to elect the common council; and the latter body is to elect the aldermen or acting magistrates. The members of the common council are to be elected every three years; the magistrates are to be elected for life. The boundaries of each burgh are to be the same as those established for the parliamentary election. The common council, however, in the new English burghs, we presume, is to be a considerably more numerous body than what is called the town council in the Scotch burgh. It will probably more nearly With regard to these several offices, it is provided in the London, however, the Alderman, and also the Lord Mayor, resemble the common council of the City of London. In new bill that, in future, the duties of the Clerk of Custodies instead of being nominated by this body, are chosen by the of Idiots and Lunatics shall be performed by the Lord Chancellor's Secretary of Lunatics, who shall receive on that suffrages of the citizens themselves-those of each ward account a salary of 2007.; those of the Chafe-wax and Sealer voting for their own alderman, and the whole for the Lord by the Purse-bearer to the Lord Chancellor, for a salary of Mayor. 501., in addition to his salary of the same amount as Purse-gistrates, is to have its own recorder, or criminal judge, Each of the new burghs, in addition to its ordinary mabearer; those of the Clerk of the Presentations, and of the who is to preside at the sessions, held once every quarter as Clerk of Dispensations and Faculties, for a salary of 100, at present, or more frequently, should it be found expedient, by the Lord Chancellor's Secretary of Presentations; and and composed of both the county and the burgh magisthose of the Clerk of the Hanaper by the Clerk of the Crown trates. As the bill stands at present, the appointment of in Chancery, for a salary of 2007., his income as Clerk of the the recorder is vested in the crown; but the Lord ChanCrown being also reduced to 8007. In another bill, which cellor intimated that the matter would be further considered was also read a third time, and passed on the 22nd August, before the bill was again brought forward, and that a right "for the regulation of the proceedings and practice of certain offices of the High Court of Chancery, it is enacted of concurring with the crown might possibly be given to the that the duties of the Registrar of Affidavits, and of the To secure the proper discharge of the duties of the office, corporations in the appointment of the officer in question, Patentee of the Subpoena Office, shall in future be per- it is to be enacted, that the recorder shall reside for a cerformed by an officer to be called the Clerk of the Affidavits, tain part of the year in the place, and further that he shall with a salary of 5001. And from the Solicitor-General's speech it appears that the income of the Clerk of the Patents not practise in his profession of a barrister, either at the is in future to be only 4007., and that the office of the Pro- frequently happens, that except when he comes to preside sessions or the assizes. At present, as is well known, it thonotary is to be abolished. in his court, the recorder is never seen in the burgh whose By these changes it will be found, that the duties of offices which have hitherto cost the country 22,2207. per annum, will henceforth be discharged at an annual expense of only 2,250l. The public, however, will of course only derive the benefit of this reform on the death of the present holders of the abolished places; who will continue to enjoy their present incomes so long as they shall survive, all except the brother of the Lord Chancellor, Mr. James Brougham, whose two places of Clerk of the Patents, and THE Committee for reporting on Public Petitions have issued Registrar of Affidavits, are to be given up by him imme-five Reports since our last publication, numbered from 35 diately. The saving of 22,2207., which will thus eventually be effected, will be disposed of according to the calculation to 39. The following is an abstract, upon a similar plan to of the Solicitor General in the following manner; about 90007. will go to the relief of the suitors by the reduction and abolition of fees; about 2,8007. will be paid into the Suitors Fund; and about 97007. will be paid to the account of the Consolidated Fund, to assist in the general expenses of the government. Another important change will also be effected by the second of the two new bills we have mentioned, by which it is enacted, that the ten Masters in Chancery whose incomes at present average 39007. a-year each, mostly derived from fees, shall, after the deaths of the present masters, be paid by salaries of only 2500l. each. The incomes of their chief clerks, it is also enacted, shall be reduced from the present amount of 1300?. a-year, to 1000l. a-year each. And various reductions are to be made in addition to these, which it is unnecessary at present to detail, bringing down the whole expense of the Masters' Office, from 86,500l. to 51,4507. annually. The Masters, also, who are at present appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and whose places are the most valuable he has to give away, are to be in future appointed by the crown. Coals. The export duty on coals, culm, and cinders, has undergone considerable reductions within the last three years. It is now in no case higher than 6s. 8d. per ton, which is on being exported to foreign countries in foreign ships, not belonging to States with which we have treaties of reciprocity; and is only half that amount in other ships. The duty on small coals, culm, and cinders, is now 2s. per ton, in British ships or ships of States acting under treaties of reciprocity, and 48. per ton in other ships. When exported to any British possessions, the whole are duty free. Under the previous scale, during part of 1831, small coals and cinders were subject to the same duty as coals. The following are the exports for the last three years, with the amount of duty thereon. Quantities Exported. Coals and Cinders. Tons. 137,193 do. 7,203 10,095 1830 255,169 1831 328,123 1832 370,282 Bankers.-A return was ordered by the House of Commons, of all joint-stock banks, and all private banks in England that have suspended payment, or become bankrupts since 1824, distinguishing those within sixty-five miles from London, from those beyond that distance. The return presented states that "there is no return or information in my office, whereby I am enabled to state the nature of any bank, whether it be one of joint stock or not; nor can I tell when any banker has stopped payment, except as it is evidenced by the lodgment in this office of documents for the issuing of a commission or fiat in bankruptcy." By this return it appears, that from Jan. 1824, to June, 1833, there were 39 dockets struck against banking firms in London, and within 65 miles thereof, and 120 beyond that distance; and commissions or fiats were issued in every case except three. It should, however, be added, that separate dockets appear to have been struck in several cases against the same firm, and against the different members of the same firm. Another return gives the amount of the dividend hitherto paid by the London bankers who have been declared bankrupt in the period abovementioned. By this, it appears that there has been paid by Fauntleroy and Co., 8s. 4d. in the pound; Chambers no dividend; Sikes and Wilkinson, 18s. 8d.; Pike, Howell, and Pike, 4d.; Gordon, Army Agent and Banker, 64d.; Marsh, Navy Agent and Banker, 158. 6d.; Fry and Chapman, 3s.; Remington and Stephenson, 10s. 10d.; Gray, formerly of Hartsheath, near Mold, Flint, Wine-merchant and Banker, no dividend; Macdonald and Campbell, Army Agents and Bankers, no dividend; Bond and Pattisall, 11s. 8d.; Maberley, 28.; Duckett and Morland, 6s. Joint Stock Banks.-The following is a list of the jointstock banks established under the act 7th Geo. IV. c. 46, with the number of partners in each bank and the places in which their business is transacted. Bank of Birmingham, 203 partners; Birmingham. Excise Licenses.-The number of licenses issued in England and Wales, under the provisions of the act I Will. IV., c. 64, was, in the half-year ending March 31, 1831, 29,558; in the year ending March 31, 1832, 31,300; and in the year ending March 31, 1833, 33,738. The number of public houses licensed for the sale of beer, ale, and spirits, was, in the half-year ending March 31, 1831, 45,886; in the year ending March 31, 1832, 46,359; and in the year ending March 31, 1833, 47,286. The number of public houses licensed for the sale of beer and ale only was, in the halfyear ending March 31, 1831, 5120; in the year ending March 31, 1832, 5254; and in the year ending March 31, 1833, 4821. Revenue of India.-General Abstract of the Revenues and Charges of India for three years, according to the latest advices, showing the Net Revenue, the Amount paid for Interest on Debts, and the remaining surplus Revenue. 1828-9. Bank of Manchester, 578; Manchester and Bolton, in Lancashire, Bengal and Stockport in Cheshire. Madras Bombay Expenses of St. Helena 113,054 Bengal Madras Darlington District Joint Stock Banking Company, 274; Darlington, Stockton, and Barnard Castle, in Durham; Northallerton and Stokesley in Yorkshire. Gloucestershire Banking Company, 130; Gloucester. Leeds Banking Company, 496; Leeds. Liverpool Commercial Banking Company, 104; Liverpool. Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Company, 857: Manchester, Liverpool, Oldham, Ashton, Warrington, Bury, Preston, Blackburn and Wigan, in Lancashire; Stockport and Nantwich in Cheshire; Hanley, Stafford, Cheadle, Lane End and Rugeley, in Staffordshire; Market Drayton in Shropshire, and Glossop in Derbyshire. Bombay 5.415,587 2,421,443 21,695,207 Net surplus Revenue £1,138,238 |