§ A Petition of Arthur Morris, bailiff of the liberty of the dean and chapter of the collegiate church of St. Peter at Westminster, in the county of Middlesex, being offered to be presented;
§ Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, by 585 command of his royal highness the Prince Regent acquainted the House, that his Royal Highness, having been informed of the contents of the said Petition, recommends it to the consideration of the House.
§ Then the said Petition was brought up and read; setting forth,
§ "That all precepts for the election of citizens to serve in parliament for the city and liberty of Westminster, are directed to, and returned by the petitioner; and that, by the report of a committee of the House, appointed to enquire into and examine the nature of the office of high bailiff of Westminster, and the duties and burthens incident thereto, it appears that the net annual income of the office is wholly inadequate to bear the necessary expences of such elections, and which, until the period of the petitioner's appointment, were uniformly defrayed by the respective candidates; and that, by the refusal of such payment at the contested elections in 1806 and 1807, the petitioner was placed in a situation of unexpected difficulty and risk, and sustained a clear actual loss of 1,269l. 10s. 2d. and therefore the same committee, considering the peculiar hardships under which the petitioner laboured, recommended to the House, that some certain provisions should be made for defraying those expences, as appears by such report, printed the 11th day of June 1811, and to which the petitioner begs leave to refer; and that, in pursuance of the said report, an Act was passed the 9th of July following, whereby it was enacted, that the expences of hustings and poll clerks should be defrayed by the candidate or candidates at all future elections for the city of Westminster; and that, in consequence of the refusal of the two members returned at the last election for Westminster, in October 1812, to comply with the provisions of the said Act, on the ground of their not being candidates at such election, the petitioner caused an action to be commenced against the hon. lord Cochrane, one of such members, who having suffered judgment by default to go against him, the petitioner obtained a verdict from a jury, under the direction of the sheriff, for 225l. being one moiety of the expences proved by the petitioner to have been incurred by him in and about such election, and which sum has been received by the petitioner; and that the petitioner was under the necessity of bringing his action for the other moiety against sir Francis Burdett, the other member returned, 586 wherein the petitioner was non suited, and which nonsuit has been confirmed, after solemn argument, in the court of King's-bench, on the ground that sir Francis Burdett, not having interfered, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such election, or sanctioned the same otherwise than by taking his seat, could not be considered a candidate within the meaning of the said Act; and that the petitioner has thus incurred a further loss of 225l. amounting, with his former loss of 1,269l. 10s. 2d. to the sum of 1,494l. 10s. 2d. exclusive of very heavy costs, making a total of not less than 2,000l.; and that such expences have fallen upon the petitioner in the due and zealous execution of writs for the return of members to the House, and not in consequence of any incorrectness on his part, but of the inadequacy of the act of parliament to protect him against the novel and unexpected manner of eluding the provisions thereof; and that the just and benevolent intentions of the House to afford relief to the petitioner have thus been frustrated, leaving him still a sufferer to an amount exceeding the whole net profits of his office during the seven years he has held the same, and more than his private fortune is equal to bear; and that it was the intention of the petitioner to make application to the House early in the present session, but was not able to obtain the sanction of the lords commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury until after the time limited for receiving petitions for private Bills had elapsed; and praying, that leave may be given to present a Petition for the purposes aforesaid."
§ Ordered, That leave be given to present a Petition as desired.
§ A Petition of the said Arthur Morris was accordingly presented and read; containing the same allegations as the last preceding Petition; and praying the House to afford him that remuneration for expences incurred in its service, which he trusts have been satisfactorily proved by the report of the committee before whom the principal part of the foregoing allegations were substantiated by evidence.
§ Ordered to lie on the table.