CHAPTER VII. THE TOWN COUNCIL.
The council chamber in the Town Hall has of late years undergone many alterations. In my early experience it occupied only part of the present site, and at the eastern end we had a luncheon room. It was a shabby chamber, badly heated and ventilated; the Mayor's chair was placed on a raised dais at the western end, and the members of the Council sat at long mahogany tables running lengthwise. It was a comfortless room, and very cold in winter.
The Council met at eleven in the morning, adjourned for lunch at one o'clock, and usually completed its labours by four or five o'clock in the afternoon. But we had periods when party feeling ran high, and obstructive tactics were adopted. At such times we not infrequently sat until ten o'clock at night. Most of these battles took place upon licensing questions in which the late Mr. Alex. Balfour, Mr. Simpson, of landing stage fame, and Mr. McDougal took a leading part.
It was the practice to deliver long and well considered speeches. Some of these were excellent, many very dreary. The present conversational debates would not have been tolerated. We had some very able speakers, of whom I think the most powerful was Mr. Robertson Gladstone, the elder brother of the late Premier. He seldom spoke, but when he did he gave utterance to a perfect torrent of eloquence which seemed to bear everything before it. He was a remarkable man in many ways, very tall of stature, and broad in proportion, he wore a low-crowned hat and used to drive down in a small four-wheeled dogcart. He delighted to give any old woman a lift, and every Saturday morning he visited the St. John's market, and took infinite pleasure in bargaining with the market folk. Mr. J. J. Stitt was also a very fluent and effective speaker, perhaps too much after the debating society style. Mr. J. R. Jeffery was a good speaker, so was Mr. William Earle. One of the most useful men in the Council was Mr. Weightman, who had been the Surveyor to the Corporation, and became a most efficient Chairman of the Finance Committee. One of the most laborious members was Mr. Charles Bowring, the father of Sir William Bowring, Bart. Mr. Bowring was for years Chairman of the Health Committee. He had a big and difficult work to do, but he did it well, and was always courteous and considerate. Mr. Beloe was at that time Chairman of the Water Committee, and was largely responsible for the Rivington water scheme. I think Mr. Sam Rathbone was one of the most cultured and able men we ever had in the Council. He spoke with knowledge and much elegance, and everything he said was refined and elevating. Mr. John Yates—"honest John Yates"—was a frequent speaker, and always with effect. Mr. Barkeley Smith was our best and most ready debater, Mr. Clarke Aspinall our most humorous speaker.
The first important debate which took place in the Council after I entered it was on the proposal to purchase land from Lord Sefton for the purpose of making Sefton Park. It was a prolonged discussion and the decision arrived at shows that the Council in those days was long sighted and able to take large views and do big things. Not only was power taken to purchase land for Sefton Park but also to make Newsham and Stanley Parks, costing in all £670,000; and this movement to provide open spaces has continued to this day, and has been supplemented by private munificence, until Liverpool is surrounded by a belt of parks and open spaces containing upwards of 1,000 acres, and in addition many churchyards have been turned into gardens, and small greens have been provided in various parts.
I have often been asked if the work of the city was as well done with a Council of 64 as it is now with a Council of 134. I think the smaller Council took a more personal interest in the work. The Committees were smaller and better attended, and the Council more thoroughly discussed the subjects brought before them. With the larger Council and larger Committees more work and more responsibility falls upon the chairman and the permanent officials. I fear the larger and more democratic Council scarcely appreciates this fact, also they fail to see that if you want good permanent officials you must pay them adequately. We have fortunately to-day an excellent staff who do their work well with a full sense of their responsibility.
One peculiarity of the larger Council is the time given to the discussion of small matters, and the little consideration given to large questions of policy and finance. This I attribute to the fact that the Council contains many representatives who have not been accustomed to deal with large affairs, and who refrain from discussing what they do not fully understand. In this respect I think the present Council shows to some disadvantage.
An immense work has been done municipally during this period in re-modelling and re-making Liverpool. In the 'sixties the streets of Liverpool were narrow and irregular, the paving and scavenging work was imperfectly done, the system of sewerage was antiquated, and the homes in which her working people had to live were squalid and insanitary; cellar dwellings were very general. To change all this demanded a great effort and a large expenditure of money, but in the 'seventies and 'eighties we had men in the Council capable of taking large views.