Scottish Court of Session Decisions

By the City of Edinburgh Trust-estates Act (passed in August, 1833), for realizing and distributing among the creditors the disposable property of the city of Edinburgh, it is inter alia provided—“That, until the rights of the said lord provost, magistrates, and council, and the said trustees respectively, to the said estate and effects, shall be fixed and ascertained, the whole revenues of the said city shall be collected by the chamberlain of the said city, and the other collectors thereof, as heretofore; and it shall and may be lawful for the said lord provost, magistrates, and council, from time to time to apply such part of the monies collected by the said chamberlain, or other collectors, as aforesaid, as may be required to enable the said lord provost, magistrates, and council to defray the annual expenditure of the said city: Provided always, that if any difference shall arise between the said trustees, and the said lord provost, magistrates, and council, as to the amount of the said annual expenditure, until the rights of parties shall be fixed and ascertained as aforesaid, the said trustees, and the said lord provost, magistrates, and council respectively shall, and they are hereby authorized to settle the same by compromise, submission, or judicial reference, or to apply to the Court of Session, in either Division thereof, by petition, and the arbiter or arbiters in such submission, and referee or referees in such judicial reference, are hereby required and empowered, summarily, and failing such submission or judicial reference, then the said Court is hereby required and empowered summarily, and without awaiting the course of the roll, to consider and ascertain what sum of money will be necessary to enable the said lord provost, magistrates, and council, to defray the ordinary expenditure of the said city for the year then current, and upon such sum being so ascertained, to grant warrant and authority to the said lord provost, magistrates, and council, or their chamberlain, to pay and apply the same accordingly, out of such part of the revenues as shall not have been previously found to belong to the said trustees.”

Several questions having arisen between the town council and the trustees as to what parts of the property of the city were available for the liquidation of the debts, and they not having been able to settle by agreement the yearly amount to be allowed for the ordinary expenditure of the city, the magistrates and council, in February, 1834, presented a petition to this Court, praying to have it found that £20, 719, 7s. 6d. would be necessary to defray the ordinary expenditure for the year ending at Martinmas, 1834; and, in December thereafter, they presented a similar petition, praying to have it found that £19, 047, 11s. 1d. would be required for the year ending at Martinmas, 1835. Answers having been given in for Irvine, W.S., clerk to the statutory trustees, objecting to various parts of the proposed expenditure, the Court ordered replies and duplies. The debts of the city (exclusive of £240,000 secured on the docks and harbour of Leith, and £72,000 charged on the ale-duty trust) amounted to £359,000. The proper city revenue was estimated at £19,599, while that of the college trust was £856, and of the ale-duty trust £2607. The estimateof the annual expenditure, which, as above mentioned, was £19,047, 11s. 1d., included £3878, 14s, 9d. properly chargeable on the ale-duty trust, and £1369, 19s. 4d. on the college trust. Objections were taken by the trustees to a variety of items, but it is only necessary specially to mention, 1. The usual allowance to the lord provost, which had, previous to the trust-estates act, been £1000 per annum, but had now been reduced to £500. 2. The salaries and allowances for house-rent to which the professors in the University and masters in the high-school had right, in terms of their appointments. And, 3. Several slump estimated sums for litigation, tradesmen's accounts, and contingencies.

In regard to these it was objected, 1. To the lord provost's salary, That however proper for the maintenance of the dignity of the city, if in flourishing circumstances, it could not be considered necessary expenditure to warrant a deduction from the amount available to the creditors.