themselves who took part in them, and who were in fact the principal delinquents.

The evidence relative to other matters in this burgh is indeed somewhat contradictory. But your Committee conceive, that some of the ill effects of these bad practices are too apparent from the evidence to admit of any doubt.

It appears that Mr Fergusson was in the council of Cupar eighteen successive years, of which he was, during ten, successively Provost ;-that artifice has been resorted to, successfully, to prevent a fair and just exposition of the pecuniary accounts of the burgh; that persons not resident are frequently chosen into council, who rarely attend council-meetings, except on the day of the annual election ;-that the audit of the accounts of the burgh expenditure have not been regular, but have been occasionally delayed for several years. Your Committee, however, deem it of no great consequence to unravel and appreciate the contradictions of the witnesses in the case of Cupar. The proof, or rather the admission of the sale of seats in the council, and bargains between individuals, of alternate election and re-election, exhibit such a corrupt and improper practice in the formation and maintenance of the council, as to make the subsequent conduct of that body, in reference to the objects of this inquiry, a matter of minor importance. Whether the evils which have resulted from such proceedings be more or less, may in deed admit of some dispute; but there seems little doubt, that the system under which such evil practices have grown up and become matured into activity, and under which no adequate remedy is to be found for such evils, when detected, must be in some material points either unsound in principle or defective in operation.

Your Committee cannot conclude their notice of the evidence, without calling to the attention of the House the very extraordinary facts disclosed by Colonel Francis William Grant, a Member of the House.

It appears that Colonel Grant was Provost of the Burgh of Elgin, during the years 1816, 1817, and 1818; also Provost of Forres, during two of these same years, 1816 and 1817; and also in the council of the burgh of Nairn, from the year 1812 to the present time, inclusive.

It is required by the sets of three out of the four burghs, of which Co. lonel Grant was in council at the same time, that the members of coun cil should be merchants or traffickers within the respective burgh. It must be superfluous for the Committee to observe, that these four burghs are so far distant from each other, as to ren der the observance of this provision of the sets of three of them wholly incompatible with the facts detailed in evidence.

Whatever degree of culpable irregularity these disclosures may exhibit, your Committee are inclined to impute its existence rather to the defects of the system, as exhibited within these four burghs, and to the disregard to the strict terms of the sets, so preva lent in many of the royal burghs, than to any particular culpability in the individual here concerned.

The Resolutions of your Commit tee, alluded to in the former part of this Report, are as follow:

Resolved, That the Committee will examine, in the first place, into the allegations of the petitioners, as to the system of self-election.

Resolved, That it appears to the Committee, that the mode of election of the town-councils in nearly all the Scottish burghs, is founded on the general principle recognized by the

Act 1469, c. 30, viz. That the old council shall choose the new council, restricted, however, in its application by the set or constitution of each burgh, both in respect to the preparation of the old council eligible to reelections, and in the latitude allowed to the old council in selecting the members of the new.

Thus, the sets of some burghs, as Renfrew and Lanark, admit of the annual re-election of all the members of the old council to seats in the new. Those of the greater number of burghs limit the number of old councillors, who may be re-elected; but at the same time require or admit of a majority of the old council being continued in the new; while the sets of some others require, that the majority of the new council shall be different persons; and in a few instances, to such an extent, as almost entirely to destroy the effect of the principle of the Act 1469.

The sets of many burghs leave the nomination of the new members of the new council entirely to the old council. According to those of others, the old council must select a portion of the new, from lists furnished by the several corporations; or furnish lists from which the corporations themselves elect; or must shorten lists furnished by the corporations, who finally elect from these reduced lists. And, in a few instances, the corporations have the direct nomination of a certain number of the members of the new council.

Resolved, That the allegation of the old council choosing the new, urged by the petitioners to prevail in the town-council, does appear to the Committee to be generally warranted by the law and the practice of the burghs. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that the burgesses not incorporated have no control over the expenditure of the revenues of the

burgh, or over the sale of the common good or property of the burgh; nor any power of preventing the magistrates and council from contracting debts for which the common good is liable.

Resolved,-That it is alleged by most of the petitioners, that the community are liable in their property and persons for debts contracted by their magistrates; but the Committee have not been able to ascertain whether such allegations are founded in law or not, the Committee not having found any decision of any court upon the subject.

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that the burgesses and corporations have no power to compel their magistrates and council to account for the management of the revenues and funds under their charge.

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Committee, it has been clearly proved in two instances, about ten or fifteen years ago, that seats in the council of Cupar have been sold; and from the evidence before the Committee, there is reason to believe that several other instances have occurred, the last of which took place six years ago.

Resolved,-That, in the opinion of this Committee, the practice prevails generally in the burgh of Cupar, for each of the thirteen merchants' councillors to have what is called neighbour councillors, who alternately elect and re-elect each other by individual choice, which, as a point of honour, continues during the lives of the parties; and, in many cases, this agreement of alternate election has extended, in case of death, to the sons or nearest relations of the deceased neighbour councillor.

Resolved,-That it does appear, from the Report of the Committee last year, and the evidence then taken, that a waste and mismanagement of charitable funds, placed in the hands of the magistrates as ex-officio trus

tees, has taken place, to a great extent, in the burgh of Aberdeen; to a smaller extent in the burgh of Dundee, as detailed in the said Report: That in the burgh of Edinburgh, where there are also considerable charitable funds under the management of the magistrates, either as sole or joint trustees, there does not appear, from the evidence before the Committee last year, any ground for supposing that those funds have not been properly administered; neither does there ap

pear any ground for so supposing, in either of the other two burghs, whose cases have been examined by the Committee in the last and present year. From the secrecy, however, with which the pecuniary transactions of the councils are generally conducted, it cannot be known whether such funds are well or ill administered. Such abuses may exist without detec tion; but when the abuse is discovered, a remedy is afforded by law as in other cases of breach of trust.

Very little fluctuation of prices occurred till March, when wheat, barley, and oats, began to experience some advance, which was supported, though with little increase, through April, May, June, July, and August. In September a fall commenced, which was much greater and more rapid than the rise had been; wheat having declined in that month 7s. the quarter, and 6s. more in October. By the end of November it had sunk to 56s., and continued still falling in December. The highest weekly average price of wheat for England and Wales was 73s. for the week ending 5th August, and the lowest 54s. for the week ending 30th December. The quartern loaf in London varied from 124d. to 10d., and in Edinburgh from 12d. to 9d.; but the highest prices were only for a few weeks, the general prices being 10d. and 11d.

This state of the market, we think, clearly establishes the fact, that our own growth, including that of Ireland, is fully equal, in favourable years, to our consumption. The imports from Ireland were indeed considerable, amounting in all to 1,425,058 quarters, of which 409,283 were wheat, 88,343 barley, and 918,362 oats; whereas the whole exports from Britain to Ireland were only 12,806 quarters; but there is no reason to doubt that this surplus will be maintained, and even in creased by the extension and improvement of cultivation in that country.

The growth of Ireland has been steadi. ly increasing for these twenty years, and very rapidly within the last three. In the present year, all the foreign corn imported was carried to the warehouse or re-exported, excepting oats, for which the ports opened in August, the very blameable manœuvre of some interested individuals having raised the average one penny beyond the import rate of 27s. the quarter, which admit. ted into our consumption 726,823 quarters. The price of this grain, however, fell immediately after, and it was excluded again from all parts by the averages taken in November.

During the whole of this year, livestock and butcher-meat maintained a higher price in proportion than corn, though before the end of it they had experienced a reduction of about 20 per cent, as compared with the prices of 1819. In 1818 and 1819 it seemed evident, that owing to the two unfavourable years preceding, the usual number of cattle and sheep had been somewhat diminished; and this deficiency appeared still to be felt in 1820. The demand for wool, of which the price was not materially lower than in 1819, also contributed to maintain the value of sheep; and to this we may add the abundance of grass during the greater part of the summer and autumn, which kept up the price of grazingstock, and afterwards the large produce of the corn crops in straw, as well as of the hay crop, which occasioned a