It appears that there are no less than ninety-six unreformed
Municipal Corporations in England, elected usually by co-opta- tion, and dealing with the corporate property as if they were owners, and not trustees. Sir Charles Dilke on Friday week, in a very amusing speech, called attention to this abuse, and asked. for papers, which the Home Secretary very grudgingly granted. It appears that the Mayor of Woodstock, one of the unreformed boroughs, is a publican, and one day kept open rather late. The police prosecuted him, and he was fined, whereupon he either said that he should never think highly of the Police again, or that he should think more highly of them than ever. A correspondence arose between the inhabitants' of Woodstock and the Chief Constable of Oxfordshire upon the matter, and Sir Charles Dilke wanted copies of it, but Mr. Cross did not like to give them. A compromise was at last made that everything the Member for Chelsea asked for should be given as an unopposed return except this correspondence, which, to judge from the anxiety not to produce it, must be amusing. What is the treason involved? Did the Woodstockings blaspheme the Duke of Marlborough, or what?
Previous page
