the Wigan and Liverpool lines, and to be connected with Lancaster by a recently projected line from Preston, whence also another line has been projected to the port of the Wyre. Of the latter class are the Manchester and Leeds, for which an Act of Parliament has just been obtained; the Manchester and Cheshire Junction, of which the object is to shorten the route to Birmingham and London by the Grand Junction Railway; the South Union (a rival line to the former) passing by Stockport, Macclesfield and Leek to Burton-upon-Trent, and thence by other lines to Birmingham and London; the Manchester and Sheffield. The expense of the existing lines connected with the Manchester and Liverpool Railroad was— This road has been purchased by the Grand Junction Company, for £60,000, to form a part of their line. PART IV. CHAPTER I. The Municipal Government of the township of Manchester is committed to the Boroughreeve and two Constables, who are elected at the Court-leet of the Lord of the Manor, Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., M. P., by a Jury of the most influential inhabitants, summoned by the Deputy Steward of the Manor. The Boroughreeve exercises the powers, without enjoying any of the external distinctions, usually pertaining to a Mayor. He is the representative of his townsmen in all their public transactions. The Constables take special cognizance of the Police of the town, directing and generally superintending those operations the active routine of which is intrusted to a Deputy nominated by them and paid by the town. Mr. Thomas, formerly of London, has held this important and responsible post for years, at a salary of £400 per annum. The day police, under his direction, consists only of thirty men, a force by which, though inadequate to the extent of the duties to be performed, the property of the inhabitants has hitherto been efficiently protected. The Police-office is in the TownHall, where a lock-up is also provided. There are other lock-ups, in Swan-street, (Shudehill,) Kirby-street, (New Islington,) Deansgate, and London Road, and one is in course of construction, at an expense of £1,260, in Oldham Road. The nightly watch is in the hands of the Police Commissioners, of whose powers and authority mention is hereafter made. It consists of about one hundred and twentyfive men, under the general superintendence of Mr. Thomas Davis, whose salary is £100 a-year, with an assistant superintendent, at wages of 18s. a week, and nine inspectors at 24s. per week. The average wages of the watchmen are 17s. per week. There are also a body of "supernumerary" watchmen, whose services are required at certain seasons of the year or may be called for by some temporary exigency. The wages of the entire body of men, according to the estimates for 1835-6, are £6,483 8s. The total outlay in the watch department of the town's service is, according to the same authority, £7,164 8s., including the rents of lock-ups, the salary (at 30s. per week,) of an Inspector of hackney coaches; and deduting £100 for penalties recovered from offenders. The fireengine department is under the direction of a highly experienced Superintendent, Mr. William Rose, whose salary is £200 per annum. His force consists of forty-one men; their wages amount to £223 per annum, and the total cost of this most important branch of the Police, after deducting £190 subscriptions from fire-offices, is £433. There are besides, under the control of the Police Commissioners, five Inspectors of Nuisances, at wages of 24s. a-week, Twenty-eight men are employed, at aggregate wages of £1372, to light the lamps of the town; and lastly, about eighty men, under the control of two Inspectors, are engaged in the "scavenging," at a total cost of £1,266. These various departments comprize the police of the town, all of which (save those first enumerated as under the management of the Constables) come within the control of the Police Commissioners. Their head officer is Mr. Thomas Wroe, who, as Comptroller of Police, receives £250 per annum. He is also Clerk to the Boroughreeve and Constables, in which capacity he receives £50 per annum from the leypayers; and he is allowed from the Gas Directors £250. The Police Commissioners, two hundred and forty in number, are a representative body, elected under a high qualification, and do not consist, as in other townships, of all persons occupying tenements of a certain annual value. This used formerly to be the case, but the body of Commissioners was so numerous, and their meetings were by consequence so undeliberative and uproarious, that the principle of representation was introduced. Prior to the change of system, at a meeting in February, 1828, debate and party-spirit ran so high, that the Boroughreeve, C. Cross, Esq., who presided, was assaulted and forcibly ejected; the parties offending thus grossly being subsequently bound over to take their trial for a misdemeanour. The Commissioners are elected in districts, in the manner elsewhere defined. They hold a general meeting in every sixth week, "for the despatch of business," but the real business of the Police is transacted in and by the Committees, of which there are five, "the Lamp, Scavenging, Fire Engine and Nuisance," the "Watch and Hackney Coach," the Finance and General Purposes," the "Paving and Soughing," and the "Accounts." The first and second of these Committees meet weekly, the third upon summons from the Chairman, the fourth fortnightly, and the fifth weekly. They have all very extensive powers. The total estimated expense of each section of Police for the year ending 24th. June, 1836, was— 66 The following tables furnish useful information respecting various departments of the service: ASSESSMENTS TO THE POLICE-RATE FOR THE THREE YEARS ENDING JUNE, 1835. TABLE SHEWING THE AMOUNT PER CENT. COLLECTED FROM DECEMBER 16, 1824, TO JUNE 24, 1835, OF THE POLICE RATE ON PROPERTY ASSESSED AT 10 AND UNDER, AND ABOVE £10. |