I94 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Is there not an office on the quay where any complaints are heard against coal- Richard oulton, meters ?—' There is; my office is on the quay, where I am ready to attend to any v ^ v complaint, and if I refused doing so a complaint can be at any time made of me ( 2( 5 May.) to the Guild. Have you ever refused to redress any complaint made to you against the coal- meters establishment ?—- Never; so far as lay in my power, and in any case that I could not do it effectually, I regularly reported It to the Coal Committee, and Mr. Howard does the same. When a complaint is made to you or the inspector, does not one or other of you go immediately on board the ship to have it redressed ?— When a complaint is made, either Mr. Howard or I go on board the ship to see the cause of complaint, and if it is the fault of the master porter, he or I take him off the ship immediately; suspend him ; put another master porter on, and report to the Coal Committee, who investi-* gate the complaint; if his conduct is such as requires dismissal, the Committee report him to the Guild of Merchants at large. Have the Coal Committee ever refused to listen to such a complaint?— Never; they sit once a month, or oftener, if necessary, to hear complaints. Does not that Committee act gratuitously?— They have no emolument whatever, nor has the Guild of Merchants any emolument, except something on the election of the coal- meters. Does not the Corporation of London exercise the right of appointing coal- meters? — They do. Does it not derive a considerable emolument from the metage on coals?— Very considerable. You have returned upwards of 250,000 tons of coals, as sold by measure in Dublin, in each of the last three years; if the same quantity of coals were sold by weight, what difference would it make as against the consumer, between that and the measure, at the average price of 215. a ton ?— It would make a difference of about 154 per cent on the entire. You think the Citizens of Dublin, then, would lose about 26,000/. a year, if a different standard for the sale of coals was established ?— If that alteration was made and no fraud was practised, they wouid lose about 26,000/. a year. If wetting, and other frauds were practised, which captains and others might do, it would perhaps run up to 60 or 70,000 /. a year. Are you yourself a coal- meter?— No, indeed, I am not; I have no emolument but what I stated before. Do you receive half the fees for a ship?— No, I do not; nor ever did. Have you any emoluments whatever from the metage, except what you have already stated ?— I have not. Directly or indirectly?— None, but what I have stated already. Have the coal- factors in Dublin ever made any complaint to the Committee respecting the conduct of the coal- meters in their yards?— They have complained ; but 011 investigating it before the Committee they found there was no ground for complaint whatsoever; but the great complaint of the coal- factors I have alluded to against the master porters is because they would not allow them to send what measure they pleased out of the yard. They wanted to send out deficient measures, and the coal- meters wanted to send out good measure. Did they make any complaint of the personal conduct of any individual?— Yes, I believe they did; I believe they complained once of a man of the name of Ross, which on investigation proved to be quite incorrect. The question was investigated ?— It was. They have complained of many master porters, and it is on the face of the books where there are different investi- gations before the Committee respecting coal- meters. There is a man of the name of Ross, a coal- measurer?— There is. What duty does he do?— He attends the duty of measuring coals at Ringsend, and any other efficient duty that I want him to attend to. Does he do the duty of Mr. Howard, the inspector ?— No ; he never does. Is Mr. Howard required to do his duty?— He is delicate at present, as I stated before; but when in health he does his duty most efficiently. Are the ships that are put on more than sufficient to pay Ross his salary?— They do not pay it, and I was in advance to him on my leaving Dublin. . With respect to the Cork Coal Regulation Act, there is one circumstance I beg to mention relative to it. It does not answer the expectations which were held out there. The coals the consumers were formerly in the habit of . getting were from Newport, i