§ The Petition of William Cobbett, of Kensington, in the County of Middlesex,
§ "Most humbly sheweth—That your honourable House have, since the first day of the present month, passed an Act for the more effectually repairing, widening, and improving the road from Hyde Park Corner to Counter's Bridge, and certain other roads in the County of Middlesex, and for lighting, watching, and watering the said roads.
§ "That this act contained in its preamble, the following words, to wit:— 'And whereas the Trustees, appointed by or in pursuance of the said two first recited acts, have repaired and improved the said roads, and have made great progress in carrying into execution the powers and authorities thereby vested in them, and although they have paid off and discharged part of the said monies borrowed on the credit of the Tolls authorized to be taken upon the said roads, a considerable sum still remains undischarged, and cannot be paid off, and the said annual sum of one thousand pounds be paid to the said Committee of Paving for St. George, Hanover-square; nor can the said roads be effectually amended, widened, improved, and maintained in repair, unless the term and powers granted by the said two first recited acts be continued, and further provisions be made for that purpose:'
§ "That the said act was sent by your hon. House to the right hon. the House of Lords; that it was read a first and second time in that right honourable House, and was then referred to a Committee; that the said Committee, after having examined witnesses for the Act, and after having also examined the accounts of the said roads, decided, that the preamble of the said act had not been proved; that, thus, the House of Lords declared hot to have been proved that 794 which your honourable House had actually enacted as having been proved; and that their lordships did accordingly vote, on the 12th instant, that the said act or bill should be re-committed on that day six months. That the above quoted part of the preamble of the said act contained an unqualified falsehood; seeing that the Treasurer of the said road had a balance of upwards of four thousand five hundred pounds in his hands at the moment when he and the other petitioners of the bill (all of them Trustees of the road) were declaring to your honourable House that they could not, without a new act, pay off a debt of one thousand five hundred pounds; that your honourable House were, therefore, grossly imposed upon by the persons who petitioned for the bill, and by the persons who came before your Committee to prove the preamble thereof:
§ "That the Petitioners for the bill were—Samuel Everingham Sketchley, Chairman, George Vardy, Henry Rowed, William Forstein, Henry Wilmot, William Thornton, Richard Chase, Frederick Platt Barlow, John Groome, and George Barke; that these petitioners state in their petition, that they are Trustees of the said road; that the petitioner, S. E. Sketchley, states that he is the Chairman of the Trustees; that it was proved before the said Committee of the Lords, that he is also Treasurer of the said road:
§ "That all these petitioners ought to have known, and that the said S. E. Sketchley must of necessity have known, the true state of the pecuniary affairs of the said road; and that, nevertheless, they in their said petition make to your honourable House the following false statement, to wit, That although the Trustees have proceeded in the execution of the said trust reposed in them with the utmost care and frugality, yet they find, from the great increase of expense for labour and materials for repairing the said roads, the produce of the Tolls at present authorized to be collected is not more than sufficient to enable them to pay the said annual sum of one thousand pounds, and the remaining debt due as aforesaid, and effectually to amend, pave, and drain the said roads and foot-paths, and keep the same in good repair, and to light, watch, and water the same, as required by the said acts, and to effect certain improvements on the said roads and foot-paths which are necessary, by widening the same, and otherwise for the convenience and safety of the public, 795 and to defray the several other expenses attending the execution of the said Act, and that, unless the present tolls are continued, and further powers given to the said trustees, the several purposes aforesaid cannot be effected:'
§ "Your humble petitioner prays your honourable House to observe the following facts:—
§ "1. That these petitioners here assert, that the produce of the present tolls is not more than sufficient for the purposes of the road; and that those purposes cannot be fulfilled unless the present Tolls be continued by a new act:
§ "2. That their own surveyor, Mr. Francis, declared upon oath, before the said Committee of the Lords, that the road might not only be kept in proper repair, but that many houses might be pulled down, and several streets widened, and yet, that the present tolls might be considerably diminished; an oath in direct contradiction to the allegation of the trustees in their petition to your honourable House:
§ "3. That the bill, as finally passed by your honourable House, does, in one of its enactments, make a considerable reduction in the present tolls; an enactment in flat contradiction to the preamble of the bill itself:
§ "Your petitioner presumes not to express an opinion with regard to the punishment due to persons who have thus knowingly and premeditatedly employed statements for the manifest purpose of imposing upon your honourable House, and of inducing you to pass an act, the principal enactments of which are at irreconcileable variance with the preamble, while the preamble is at open war with the truth; but, as the means of protection, for himself and others, against dangers such as that which they have now narrowly escaped, he prays that your honourable House will be pleased to adopt such measures as you, in your wisdom, shall deem most meet for effectually preventing similar impositions in future. And your petitioner will ever pray.
§ "WM. COBBETT."
Mr. Byngdefended the conduct of the trustees, and contended, that there was no foundation for the charge against them; their only object being the improvement of the line of road under their superin-tendance.
§ Mr. Humereplied, that his hon. friend must be wholly ignorant of the matter; 796 since it appeared, that the trustees had practised the grossest falsehood. They had stated, that they were unable to pay their debt, at the very moment at which it was proved, that they had 4,500l. in their possession. No ingenuity could excuse such conduct.
§ Ordered to be printed.