Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

ROYAL COMMISSION.

LONDON CITY LIVERY COMPANIES'
VINDICATION.

CHAPTER I.

The more than questionable origin of the Royal Commission-Sir Hardinge Gifford defines the promoters' purposes-The Companies' rights incontestably shown and proved through early stage of the Commission sitting-The Commissioners' acknowledgment of fairness of the Companies' returns-The Inquiry: triumphant results to the City Companies-Virulence of the Companies' enemies' attacks -Proved strictly private character of the various Companies' propertyThe Companies' faithful discharge of duties in the past on a par with present admirable business management-Governing bodies' devotion to duties of their trusts without parallel-The late Lord Derby and Lords Eldon and Lyndhurst would have exerted their eloquence on side of the CompaniesExpression of hope that Lord Derby and the Duke of Bedford may in dealing with their large properties manifest like sense of duties seen in the City Companies' acts--Messrs. Firth's, Beale's, and Phillips' attacks increase in virulence-The Companies' permitting attacks to pass unchallenged adding to their boldness-The Secretary of the Commission, instead of an unbiassed instrument, proves to be an active partisan-He issues an authorized private Circular as coming from the chairman and his colleagues with object of promoting active agitation-Further assigned purposes through wrong usage of the Commissioners' authority-Unauthorized usage of the Lord Chancellor's name by the Secretary-Intimation that the Lord Chancellor will not oppose any Government measure based on the Commission's recommendationsMetropolitan and Provincial press to be induced to agitate against the Companies-The dignified silence maintained by the Companies the cause of agitators' adoption of a course resulting in their overthrow-Secretary Warr's conduct brought under notice of House of Commons-The Secretary of State's explanation-Labours of the Commission an ordeal resulting in honour to the City Companies.

NEVER has any Commission issued under England's Royal Mandate been Great public beforehand heralded so noisily, or impressed from first to last with so interest atgreat amount of national interest and public expectation, as attached to taching to the the Parliamentary Inquiry under the presidency of the Right Hon. the City of LonEarl of Derby, into the Properties and Rights of the Ancient Guilds of don Livery Companies' London, under title of the London City Livery Companies' Commission. Commission. For a long series of years prior to the Commission's appointment, the columns of the least respectable of the metropolitan newspapers had been used by the promoters as channels for disseminating charges against the Companies, such as by continuous repetition could hardly fail to impress belief that there existed good grounds for at least a fair moiety of the charges being worthy of credence. The prosecutors, though apparently known to be men not of highest standing, had secured the public ear. Of the result of the inquiry, it may with truth fearlessly be asserted there never was the smallest need of legislation to secure any better usage Origin of the the properties controlled by the various Companies, and that the inquiry more than was "conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity." None but parties inter- questionable ested in a possible scramble moved in the matter, yet this really insignifi- nature. cant but very persistent clique created in the first instance a clamour by inventing and disseminating utterly unfounded charges against the

of

Commission of

various Companies, involving gross malversation of charitable and other monies, the continued repetition of which with increased boldness and envenomed falsity, eventuated in the public and Parliament accepting the baseless charges as presenting sufficient grounds for a Commission of Inquiry.

As the Inquiry progressed it became more and more evident that no case existed against the Livery Companies, that the agitation was nothing more than an openly avowed attack upon property by persons of small standing, before whose cunning and rapacious eye dangled a glittering prize as the likely reward of successful agitation, and that the general public or portion thereof really most interested in what might be deemed a more popular expenditure of the various Companies' revenues, none came forward to back up the allegations, and consequently it was left to the conspirators themselves to establish, which they wholly and entirely failed to do, any one of the wild charges preferred. It had been boldly declared by one of the leading revilers, that "the conduct of the Companies has been such in their trusts as, if "they had been private individuals, would have subjected them to be "treated as criminals," to whom Shakespeare's anathema,

"His only gift is in devising impossible slanders," is not without application.

Foiled and discomfited as they were, Mr. Phillips, one of the conclave, in reply to Lord Derby, Chairman of the Commission, did not hesitate to declare before the Commission that his mode of dealing with the private properties of the Liveries would be to gather the whole into "what he termed a "hotch-potch," "Sell the Halls, every one of them," and hand over the proceeds to somebody not very clearly defined. Sir Hardinge Phillips' term " hotch-potch" has been thus analogously alluded to by Giffard defines Sir Hardinge Giffard, the late Solicitor-General, who has characteristhe promoters' tically observed, purposes.

Mr.

"They often heard about improvement, development, and sphere of "usefulness. Those were delightful phrases. When he went home a "gentleman might ask him for his watch, and tell him that he required it "to develop it into a new sphere of usefulness. Whether he yielded to the "man's pressure or not would, of course, very much depend upon whether "he could keep the watch or not. He would rather keep it, but if the "forces were too strong, he would give it up for a time, but then he should appeal to the learned judge. If A was deprived of his property, he "would very likely think he was badly used, until B suffered the same fate, and so down to Z; and if all was to be placed in hotch-potch, some "of them would not very much object. Fortunately, they lived in a "society which recognized that there were such things as truth, right, "property, and law, independently of a number of voices which might

[ocr errors]

be got to cry out in a particular clamour. There were eternal principles "of truth and justice, and no society could exist unless they equally "respected the rights of all."

A retrospect of what led to the Commission's appointment excites a general expression of surprise that such an inquiry should have been deemed necessary on such instigation as ruled in the case, the more remarkable seeing that really national matters of vital importance are left to work out their urgent problems unaided, the which may have been advantageously solved through the means and large expenditure involved in this investigation of the London City Livery Companies. The only parties really benefiting by the inquiry are the Companies themselves, who from first to last, under great aggravation and insult, have observed more than refraining endurance and great dignity. Even the enemy who for purpose of despoil heaped false charges on their heads the

better to disguise their own ends, now realize that men who could thus bear themselves are of a class from whom no other course should have

been expected.

The case of one Guild was the case of its brethren; each was forcibly The various and honestly stated before the Commission. One and all asserted Livery Comthat their property was private property, not the less private property panies' right because held by a body of joint owners. The leading Companies proved of property incontestably such to be the case, and that they have held it for centuries without adverse proved. claim or question. They have proved their free sale and purchase of other property in its place whenever such was deemed by them desirable, often from the Crown, i.e. from the Government. They have clearly shown that the funds with which these purchases have been made have arisen for the most part from savings of income, from contributions by members of the respective Companies, or bequests by deceased Liverymen. They have also made plain that a portion, though a comparatively small one, of their property is held under special trusts, which, like all other trusts, are under the control and supervision of the Courts of Justice; and what is of equal moment at a time when their possessions are threatened by a gang of would-be spoilers, they incontestibly show that those Courts have over and over again decided that as regards the bulk of their property the Companies are in no way whatever public bodies amenable to be recalled to their duty by the Crown. They prove themselves to be mere private owners, and that though originally private and voluntary guilds formed upon an extremely ancient type of association for common aid and comfort and for common festivities, yet their continuity is unimpaired. Some obtained from the Sovereign charters and licences without which this continuity could not have been preserved, and in return undertook the supervision of the particular trade to which their members belonged, and it is from these the present Companies are proved to be descended. As a rule, however, the duties they discharged are long since dead or become obsolete, as much so as the onerous military tenures upon which such estates were formerly held.

powers, and

the Com

made in

After long and exhaustive probing of every matter the Companies' Outline of the enemies could suggest, extending over several years of investigation, this Commission's High Commission has brought its sittings to an end, and a record of its doings filling several folio volumes, of many hundred pages each, is the missioners' result. The Commissioners' instructions were to inquire into the "circum- public acstances and dates" of the foundation of the Livery Companies of the knowledgment of the ability City of London; the objects "for which they were founded; how far and frankness those objects are now being carried into effect; and into any Acts of of the various Parliament, charters, trust-deeds, decrees of Court, or other documents returns of the founding, regulating, or affecting the said Companies, or any of them." Companies The aim of the Commission was to ascertain the constitution and powers obedience to of the governing bodies of the Companies; the mode of admission of the usual freemen, livery, and other persons constituting them; and the gains, forms and privileges, or emoluments to which such persons are entitled. All facts circulars sent as regard the salaries and other emoluments; the mode of appointment, out by them. and the duties of officers and servants; the real and personal value of the property of, or held in trust by, each Company, were objects to be inquired into by the Commission. They were also commanded to judge as to what measures may in their opinion be necessary for improving or altering the constitution of the Companies, or the "appropriation or administration of the property or revenues thereof." To enable the Commission to form a "sound judgment upon these premises," they were empowered to adduce the evidence of those who, "by reason of their situation, knowledge, and experience," should be deemed competent to give information upon the subjects of the inquiry. The circular

Triumphant results of the Inquiry without parallel in any other such tribunal.

Acknow

titude of the

panies in rendering

addressed to the Companies was of the most searching and exhaustive
character, and was replied to with more than a ready frankness-but
with becoming protests against the jurisdiction of the Commission. In
sending to the Royal Commission the returns demanded, the Companies
generally state, in the most formal and emphatic manner, that their
readiness to assist the Commission is due to the respect which they owe,
and wish to pay, to the Crown from which the Commissioners derive
their authority, and is not to be taken, now or hereafter, as an admission
on the part of the Companies that their private affairs may be inquired
into, or their private property dealt with, otherwise than in due course
of law. As in the times of Richard II., the Commission was "armed
with ample powers of discovery;" but now, as then, the Companies,
though ready and willing voluntarily to give every information on the
points of inquiry, yet wisely and properly dispute the jurisdiction of
the Commission. The Commissioners acknowledge frankly that returns
were received from nearly all the Companies, and generally compliment
them in regard to these returns, which they state were, "as a rule,
prepared with care, and, as it appeared to us, with candour." The
report states that
many were admirably drafted. This observation
applies not only to the returns received from the great Companies-all
of which have made returns-but to those received from many of the
minor Companies." Every reader is struck with the more than candid
manner in which the various Companies replied to all queries of the
Commission. They have been more than willing witnesses in every-
thing concerning their affairs, and have furnished not only full and
minutely detailed circumstances under which the Companies were founded
in ancient days, but have stated in lucid manner the purposes for
which their vast properties have been acquired and so carefully husbanded;
so also are they frank and explicit as to every penny of expenditure.

[ocr errors]

The annals of the British Parliament contain nothing analogous to the Report of the City of London Livery Companies' Commission, whether considered in reference to the circumstances under which the inquiry was instituted, the vast elaboration of details, the exhaustive extent of their investigation and prosecution, and certainly not least in the triumphant result it makes matter of history, i.e. a signal and complete refutation in every point, of the legion of falsehoods and palpable inventions which had been the creations of jealous and evil-purposed enemies through many years, and upon whose foundations these crafty and designing men have erected the fabric of misrepresentation through which the Commission. was called into life.

[ocr errors]

The full Commission, in the report signed by the whole body of Commissioners, thus express their sense of the care evidenced in the compilation of the various returns, and of the general candour of the Companies :"The Grocers' Company, the second of the 'great' Companies of the ledged promp- "City of London in order of civic precedence, had, a few days before various Com- your Majesty's Commission was issued, appointed a Committee 'to "search their records and prepare a report upon the constitution and in"come and expenditure of the Company, and the general management returns to the of the Company's business.' The report of this Committee was pre"sented to the Court on the 2nd of February, 1881. We shortly after 'received this report in such a shape as to be in conformity with the "forms which we had sent to the Company. These were the first "returns which we received from a great Company, and they were "drafted with much ability.

Commis

sioners,

"From this date we continued to receive returns from the Com"panies, and in the result, by the commencement of 1882, we had received returns from nearly all the Companies. They were, as a rule,

prepared with care, and, as it appeared to us, with candour. Many "were admirably drafted. This observation applies not only to the "returns received from the great Companies-all of which have made "returns-but to those received from many of the minor Companies. "The result has been to lessen to a material extent the difficulty of "analyzing the contents."

enemies'

One of the chief agitators against the Companies was appointed on the Virulence of Commission, and in that capacity was in a position to press his hostile the City views through the evidence of friends if possible more advanced than Companies' himself, men chiefly distinguished for bitter attacks extending over years attacks. in the columns of certainly not the most reputable or high-toned journals. To quote passages from the writings of Mr. Firth, Mr. Beale, Mr. Gilbert, or Mr. J. R. Phillips, vilifying the City Companies, is to degrade this record of their arraignment. Their attacks were often couched in such language and with adoption of such grossly unfair conclusions as to be altogether without the pale of ordinary criticism. Such were the leading prosecutors in the indictment, and it is mainly through the aid of these men that their friend and coadjutor, Mr. Firth, was enabled to develope their objects before the Commission, taking some little care so to moderate their language and epithets as to secure admissibility, though unable to conceal their communistic propensities.

as to the

vate nature.

The testimony recorded by this Commission is of the highest national The Commismoment, seeing that the Companies' benevolence finds channels of flow sion's concluthrough all parts of the kingdom. It has been conclusively and without sive showing any or the least flaw proved that the properties of the City of London Companies' Companies have all and every known mark of private property, and in properties' their case that the one seriously objectionable feature, the power of strictly pri exclusive individual enjoyment, is utterly non-existent. It is beyond question that this entire absence of all personal power and selfishness is a peculiar and grand feature in the holding of their possessions, though it has doubtless brought upon them jealous and envious enemies who prosecute with ceaseless and untiring vigour every possible means likely to lead to seizure of their properties under the wicked plausible pretence of their diversion and redistributive application for "more popular objects and purposes."

duties in

a par with

in modern

The evidence and facts disclosed before the Commission bring out into The Compaclear light that the governing bodies of the Companies have, through long nies' faithful past ages, as now, been conscientiously loyal to the good men of old who discharge of solemnly bequeathed their properties to their keeping. The records of past ages, on this Commission point to them as true exemplars of a religious and scrupulously thorough devotion to the duties devolving upon them their admirathroughout long bygone generations, during every one of which faithful- ble business ness to trust is proved to have been their sole aim and guide. Their management perfection of business management, as their unsullied characters, is times. grandly brought out by the various showings of their descendant representatives, the Courts of the different City Companies. Their individual self-sacrifice stands forth in boldest relief, as without any precedent, defying all question, and as entirely beyond the power of the most painstaking researches of lawyers and historians to produce any other like instances of devotion and faithfulness. They nursed and built up, under circumstances of fiery trial such as would overwhelm ordinary men, amid scenes of great political violence and public rapacity and wrong, the properties confided to them, and which now exist as monuments of their fidelity without parallel, and hopelessly to be sought in the histories of any private estates.

Kings have from time to time, it is shown, laid ruthless hands on their holdings, as have mob Parliaments in bygone ages despoiled them, but

« ElőzőTovább »