The Express. — London, England, 1855-02-22 00:00:00

TILE WAR. The Restburp Boersenhalle and other foreign journals received yesterday confirm the telegraphic asacenessuest, first made in this paper, of the forced lean and heavy requisitions just im_poseil by the Czar for the purposes of the war. The enactment of extraordinary measures fully confirms oar recent ecooonts of thu desperate condition of Russian finances, and must seriously aggravate the previously onerous burdens of the impoverished taxpayer.— Daily Sews. A telegraphic despatch, dated Berlin, 19th inst., states that the Austrian government addressed a note on the lit February to the Bavarian govern ment, formally announcing that Austria considers the placing on a war footing of the Federal army d Germany simply as a preparatory step to its mobilisation, the demand of which will shortly be renewed. THE CRIMEA. Th. French journals publish with expressions of satisfaction reporte of the improving condition of our army. The Debuts gives insertion to a letter dated Balaklava, Feb. 2, in which we read : Oar allies are now in full restoration as they phrase It. Provisions abound, the soldier has already forgotten that hs was sin epos half rations, the winter clothing is distri buted, and barracks are beginaing to cover the quay of lir, lablan. Keay of the men are dressed i• Hungarian fur coats, and wear immense waterpooof bone. The improved state of the weather hem greatly contributed tethers uselle name. The lately impassible gorge of Balaclava may now be travelled with little difficulty. The Ind transport ser ving, meireeser, is now executed with considerable rapidity. thanks is the rtieforeement of 260 .. niules brought by the steamer Trent, saagustioent animals from Alienate, under this eentrel of 46 Spanish and Maltese muleteers. I met • Ms of them yesterday, ear:yang up the materials of the wades hews. The Journal de Loiret publishes another letter from before Sebeatopol, by an officer of the 27. de Yon are aware that we have had to come to the aid Of the English, who are c►arged with one of the most impor taat polite of attack, and there was a rumour even that they were going to resign their works to us altogether, and become a oseps of observation. Bat whatever poet they occupy, they will do their duty at It bravely. If they srenot skilled in working with the pickaxe, they don't hang back OK the day when it comes to wielding their weapons. We ten depend oa them. Our trenches ate now at certain spots, and particularly in the third parallel, real works of art. Being at least tea feet deep, they are on the side next the fortress kept almost vertical by a facing of huge stones, quite as strong in their bond es the best masonry. Even with the n►tural level of the ground raw a narrow ledge or banquette for the sea. tinels to stand on, and they are perfectly sheltered behind the monads of earth thrown up from the ditches. At In tervula there ere wide flights of steps, that enable the men to go up to the top ; and lastly, by way of a finish, they have stretched iron wire all along up to the top, so that when the Russians wish to dash down into the trenches they will be tripped up and fall head foremost. This is not very courteous, perhaps, but It is a very fair reprisal ; thee' Ramiro gentry use a great away treks of their own. la order to make prisoners, they think every stratagem is fair, down to using nets, or even the lamo,with which they catch wild horses on their steppes. A few officer' have been caught in this manner, and, therefore, in order to avoid a similar mishap, I always carry about me a imp ions r. Wek the volunteers, have not been doing much daring ewe Mealight nights. We know quite as well as the EMIIIIIIIII that too good and sharp a lookout is kept to give 1126 tle lent dimes of makiag a surprise. The moon is giving tteerEM &net holidays, bat we lose nothing by that. We speed every third night in the trenches, and by Jove ! oily a few metres from the Russians : when there we exchange musket shots with them, not unskilfully, though often quite useleuly, bat at least they serve to kill time. The other night, when it wu rather cloudy and dark, the ambuscade was advanced a little. Just before dawn a cor poral went forward and told them to return and make a short round. In the meantime a Russian patrol came along and en leisurely, that the day actually broke just as it ding peered. What was to be dour? Return? The corporal had stowed himself away in the bastion-ditch of the Flag staff tower. if he came out, he would have been killed to a dead certainty. Ile remained where he was. Daring the day the Russian ambuscades were a little behind the promi nent part of the knelt. ; they could not see our man, and only our sentinels tould perceive him. When night fell, he returned without difficulty. He had had a narrow flellpt but pined a sharp appetite, and something is., for the general-in-chief has ROM) him 'medal. • ' • ' ' " The same journal gives the following letter, writ ten by a non-commissioned officer of the 27th: My company forms part of the battalion of picked men who ars named the Wan* perdu. (forlorn hope). Our duty consists in clearing the Russian ambuscades end bat tery in frost of our trenches by picking off their saes, which we do under the enemy's very now. We march with the moon, that is, we wait till she bides herself Won Mil 'make oar essay. We crawl along on oar stasasebe, sad amestamas are obliged to remain in that attitude for five or &hem tartest. Tight work ! The siege is going on tlpresely, and the army Is full of confidence. The guns dem limes keep up an incessant ire, but ours are ping to ifs* Mt very shortly, and the end of it all will be the rGli Sithentigel. We must have it, and we will have 11,4assiess send us bouquets. These consist of thirty or tarty petards enclosed in one whole piece, sad they bunt la every direction. All that must come to an end at last. We return them the compliment in like messure. OF THE WOUNDED. The following is an extract of a letter from Con stantinople : " I am not tore whether I told yea before that the Rar lien major who wee taken priaoser at Inkiness', sad sow vieted of raordeneg our wounded men, died** other day at Scutari, appanntiy conscience-stricken. Hie owa broths - It eaters petitioned to be removed from his society, as they 'pinta not associate with hint, and he pined away sad died without any apparent divisor." SPAIN. In the Cortes, on the 14th, a bill of indemnity to the ministers for having expelled Queen Christina was brought forward. M. Buono opposed it on the c: that the ministers ought to have given the np to justice instead of exiling her. The Minister of the Interior and General Ban Miguel contended that the ministry had acted in the only way that was possible in taking on itself to exile the Queen. It could not, they said, either as patriots or men of honour, have re quired Queen Isabella to sign a decree for her mother's banishment ; whilst the consideration due to Queen Christina as a woman, as the widow of the last sovereign, and as ex regent of the kingdom, rendered it unadvisable to take any more severe step than that of banishment. M. Nooodal opposed the bill, denounced the last revolution, blamed the army for its part in it, and concluded by declaring that he did not envy the glory of the Minister of War (O'Donnell). On this the Duke de la Victoria jumped up, and cried with indignation, "Know, air, that the Count de Luoesa and myself accept the glory of the revolution!" The Minister of War maintained that the expulsion of the Queen Mother bad saved both her and Queen Isa bella. This declaration created great emulation. The bill was voted by 210 votes to 2. The Clamor Public° announces the arrest of twenty Carlist con spirators in a house in the calla de lee dos Herman's, end of two colonels of the same party. It appears, it says, that the Carl at conspiracy at Madrid has extensive ramifications. The Diario sap that it results from the last accounts of the bank of San Fernando that it has only 73,000,000 reale in specie to meet liabilities to the amount of 227,000,000 realm immediately due. Some disturbances had taken place at Coruna, but had been put down. HA3(111:110, F. 20.—The Second Danish Cham ber, not admitting the constitutional legality of the Grand Council, common to the two ?emboss of the , kingdom, rejected yesterday the credit demanded for wino; the amiss relattve to that body. FRANCE. (PION THI 00/121111POODIXT Of TIM DULY NIRO PARIS, WIDNIIIDAT EVONINO. The state of negotiations with Prussia is less satisfactory than it was thought to be two or three days ago. The report mentioned by several English and other foreign jour aids, that the treaty was as good as signed, was but the echo of the belief openly expressed by this government. This week, however, new difficulties have been raised by the Prussian envoy, and Colonel d'Olberg, who had but just returned, his again been sent by Baron de Wedel to Berlin with despatches applying for further lustre°. Lions. I have reason to believe that the King of Prussia, who, it is sufficiently notorious, will not enter into the Western alliance if he can possibly help it, avails himself of the rumour of Napoleon llL's departure for the Crimea as a pretext for further hesitation. But in truth, if I may believe private letters from Berlin, M. Dronyn de Lhuys was too sanguine from the first when he thought he had caught the shy bird. Weak, vacillating, and rash withal, as the King of Prussia is, I doubt whether he has for • single moment seriously entertained the possibility of en gaging in a war with Russia. Re is used by th e Czar as an instrument to befool the Western powers. Whe the Prussian diplomatists are on the point of signing a treaty offensive and defensive with France and England it is because they fancy they are assured beforehand that the Czar will accept terms of pesos satisfactory to the Vienna conference, and therefore that the engagement will never be obli gatory. Within the teat few days the King received a letter from his sister, intimating that he had been going too far in his coquetry with Paris, and this letter, I am assured, is at the bottom of the present hitch in the negotiations. The question of the Emperor's journey remains nearly as uncertain as yesterday. All is ready for his departure at an hour's notice, but according to private information I have reason to think that the project is adjourned indefinitely. The state of the negotiations with Prussia would safficiently account for this postponement, because it was hoped that, simultaneously with the announcement that the Emperor would in person bring the w.ir to a glorious conclusion, it might have been said that all the great powers of Europe were coalesced against Rus sia. It is confirmed that remonstrances against the expedition have emanated both from England and Austria. Among the ministers and his Majesty's intimate advisers there is much difference of opinion, or at any rate of expression of opinion. The men who pass for being his true and tried friends, such as Peraigny and de Morny, do their utmost to divert him from his purpose. But there are courtiers who I feel so certain that be will have his own way that they are eager to range themselves early on the right aide. The Director of Public Safety has made • very favourable report of the political state of the country, with a view of proving that the Emperor may safely leave. As reports, however incredible, so frequently turn out to be true, I must not omit to mention the latest I have hea rd, which is that the Guards will leave on the 27th instant, and the Em peror on the sth of March, but that the Monileur will merely announce in the first instance, that he has gone to Chalons. The Moniteur de l'Armee announces that the Imperial Guard is about to be augmented. There will be created a new regiment of foot artillery, a sixth battery in the regiment of horse artillery, a third battalion of the regiment of gendarmerie, a fourth battalion in each of the two re?iments of gre nadiers and the two regiments of voltigenrs, a second company of engineers, and a squadron of the waggon train. A sixth squadron of the waggon train of the line, and a fifth company of the workmen connected with that branch of the service, will also be created. There was a great improvement at the Bourse to day, owing to a report (I believe a false one) that a treaty with Prussia had been concluded, and also in consequence of a prevalent belief that.the Emperor's project of • journey to the Crimea had been aban doned. The Rente rose 86e., closing at &gr. 75c. Credit Mobilier rose 18fr. 75c. The Lyons railway rose I lfr. 25c., and the other principal lines from 7fr. 60c. to 10fr. A great deal of business was done in the railways. Lord John Russell arrived in Paris at eleven o'clock last night. PIEDMONT. Turin The Opinion* of ri pub liehee the following letter from King Victor Emmanuel to the Intendant- General of Genoa: Oar falthfal and well-beloved—grief is added to grief, and sorrow to sorrow. Oar belorsd brother—he who was wont to accompany us in battle, and to aid us constantly by deed and counsel—ha to whom we were no less attached by thisbonds of blood than by the mon powerful sentiment of ardent mutual friendslOp, is no mono . He expired yesterday at about 10 o'clock. With • bleeding heart we announce this new meow to you, nor do we doubt that it will be deeply felt by this whole nation, which not only admiral in the Duke of Genoa • high-minded prince, of undaunted valour, but likewise saw in him a brilliant example of all virtues. We request you to address the among communications to the intendants of the pro mote, and to the mayors of the communes, of your admi nistrative division, and all, we are confident, will offer up fervent prayers for the repose of that noble soul, and for our consolation. Whereupon we commend you to the holy protection of God. Turin, on the 11th of February. Vicros Einuitusr.. NAVAL AND MILITARY. ADMIRALTY. FZB. twat' C. 8. Titters (1846) to the Vulture, 8, paddle wheel steam frigate, of 470-horee power, for particular service; and T. W. Bennett (18.54) to the Himalaya, iron screw stems store ship, of 700.horso power, at Portsmouth. Bergson H. T. 8. Beveridge to the Hawke, 60, maw steam ship, at Shaman. Paymaster G. Teat (1855) to the Arethsaa, 60, Mediter ranean Station. _ _ blerki-in-eisige, J. &Idea (1848) to the Weser, and B. W. White (1848) to the Recruit. PORTSMOUTH, Fss. 21. The 42 gunship, of 1,100 tone burden, /Eolus, built in 1826, was brought down the harbour to-day and placed in the fitting basin for the purpose of being eon sorted into a shell megssine for the Baltic fleet. The Centaur, 6, peddle wheel frigate, Captain Clifford, was muted yesterday. The Ariel, 9, serew sloop, of 60 horse power, tried her , engines at the meuared mile yesterday. She realised en average of rather over 10 knots per hour. The Dee, steam vessel, sailed to-day for the eastward with seamen for the ships fitting then. The Rolls, naval appreatiees' training brig, has taken up ►er old moorings to resume her summer service. The Neptune, 120, Captain F. Hutton, is completing for sea. She Le still reported to be intended to convey the Wiltshire Militia to Corfu, as aloe drafts of other regiments. The °bores, 3, steamer, having completed her refit, bad her compasses adjusted to-day. It is stated, la letters from Hamburg, that the English government hare just purchased at Bremen the steamers Hansa mad Germania, which lately plied as packets between that city and the United autos. Major-General Bentiock will resume his command in the Crimea early neat month. We believe that the cavalry will be plated under the command of Major-General Scarlatt. It was stated yesterday at the clubs that the Hon. Captain Gordon, son to Lord Aberdeen, would shortly cease to be Deputy Quartermaster• General in the East. • NON-ARRIVAL OF TUE AMERICAN MAIL STEAMER. -1.1•117.00 L. WIDNESDAT, Five P.ll.—The United States mail steamship Pacific, Captain Ezra Nye, which was to have left New York on the 7th, is now in her fifteenth day out, and her arrival is anxiously expected. Up to the present boar no intelligence bas been received of her, and it is extremely probable, should she not tarn up to-sight, the usual Saturday mall for the United States will be delayed, as the Pacific was appointed to carry it soros the Atlantic. It is believed that the Pacific did net sail on bar day, and her voyage prolonged by easterly winds. "TAXES ON KNOVVLEDGE." The annul meeting of this society was held yea terday evening at Exeter-hall, and was very fully at ended. So numerous were the applications for admission, that the gates were closed shortly before eight o'clock, and thousands went away disappointed. The chair wa taken by Me. Mamas Gamow, M.P. ; and there were also present on the platform Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, Mr. Gilpin, Mr. Apeley Pellatt, M.P., and s al other feMods of the movement. The CIIALINIAN, in opening the proceedings, gave an outline of the history and progress of the moiety, the objets they had already effected, and those they bad still in New. They had, he said, sueceeded in practicing the repeal of the advertisement duty, but the other " tones on knowledge" still remained on the statute-book. These tuts had ben laid on in former times to restrain the diffusion of know ledge, and could hardly be suited to the present age, whet the thirst for intellectual enlightment was so general. They had prejudices and interests to contend *Main theW present struggle, but they bade great public object in view—the prat motion of the general public interres—and would, part therefore couregeous4 persevere, sacrificing all ial views to the common national interest. They had been supported in parliament by men of all political parties, so that one great feature of the question was, that no party feelings were elicited in the course of its advocacy. Lord Stanley had recently contributed • most valuable paper on the removal of the newspaper stamp ; but he (Mr. Oibaoo) must say that they had not received any very warm support from the established newspapers. (Hear, hear.) Even some of the unstamped papers bad opposed them, but the promoters of the movement bad followed the single beacon of the public interest, and he believed they were now approach ing the day of their ultimate triumph. A bill had been in troduced by the government for the repeal of the newspaper stamp, and having seen it in manuscript, he would take leave to inform the meeting of the nature of in provisions. The Chancellor of the Eschequer—he was afraid be must say the late Chancellor of the Exebecuer—had laid on the table the bill, which proposed, in the tint place, to abolish the compulsory stamp altogether. It proposed that all printed matter up to the weight of four onset should be capable of transmission by post at a charge of one penny for each transmission. (Cheers) It further abolished the security system altogether (cbsers)—that detestable system first es tablished by Castlereagh, In th e legislation known as the Six Acts. (Hear, hear.) Tnese were the leading provisions of the bill ; but there were clauses in it which had evidently been introduced out of regard to what might be called the vested interests of established newspapers. It had been matended that the privilege of re-transmission was very much valued by existing newspapers, and the bill proposed to give them that privilege for seven days from Me date of publication, on such of their number Si they cline to stamp, and to continue that pri vilege to them for the space of ten years. As • rule this privilege was to be conceded where Cweight of the paper dial not exceed four ounces, bat es Owe were some large papers, and one well-known journal, whisk exceeded that weight, there was a clause la the bill (sanding that papers containing • certain number of super- Mein inches should, even where they exceeded the stated weight, still enjoy the privilege. (Oh, oh.) The privilege was, as he had before stated, to be seven days for each pub- Station and to last ten years from the present date. These were the contents of the measure, which was of the nature of a compromise with publications now existing. He should have preferred • more simple measure ; but the government plan, while it was most favourable to the established papers, which retained all their present advantages, yet effected two great objute—the abolition of the compulsory stamp, and the termination of the system of securities. Should there be any opposition to this scheme, he could only ex plain it on the hypothesis that there was a fear of the cheap penny newspaper; and it was for the lake of that penny newspaper that he supported the bill. The society thought that the poor should have the news as fresh as the wealthier classes, and thus obtain the means of forming accurate opinions of the passing events of the day. It was seen that the opposition of the established church and other religious bodies stood in the way of the education of the people, and therefore it was desirable that the poo d le should educate themselves; and there was no education so important as an accurate knowledge of the news of the day. (Hear, hear.) That knowledge could only be given through a cheap press, and a cheap pram could only' be obtained through the re moval of fiscal obstacles. (Hear, bear.) He believed that this bill, although a compromise, still contained a world of good, and that the public were much indebted to the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, he believed, bad yielded to conviction, and not from any notion of political expediency. (Hear, hear.) Before they left the subject of Ma newspaper stamp, he must offer terms in peace to their old enemies, the Board of Inland Revenue. 'They all resellested Mr. Thum and Mr. Keogh ; but in justice to thus academes it mut be said that the fault lay in the system, and not In their mode of administering it. Let by pass be gones. (Cheers.) The Attorney-Oeneral, the representative of • liberal constituency, must be rejoiced at the introduction of this bill. He oeuld have no wish to figure at any time in a prosecution against the pie-s ; but new, when our army was perishing in the Crimea, for the Attorney-General to come into court to prosecute per. sou for circulating intelligeace of that brave army amongst their relation in this country must more than ever be dis agreeable to a man of advanced opinion. They were now about to get the rope sl of the stamp, but the society would not relax in its efforts until it had procured • repeal of the paper duty also. (Cheers.) They had hopes that the period of repeal was not far of It might be said that a time of war was unfavourable to the repeal of a duty ; but the amount to be raised was one thing, and the mode of raising it another; and the society contended that the paper duty was an objectionable mode of raising reve nue. (" Time.") The Chairman proceeded to quote the opinions of Mr. Gladstone against the duty, and concluded by calling on the public to persevere in their efforts until they had procured the repeal of all the taxes and restric tions on knowledge. The SECRITARY (Mr. Collet) read the report, which showed receipts for the past ear, 8901. 10s.: and expendi ture, 6901.7, Id.; leaving a balance in hand of 2e. lid. The amount of the balance in hand created considerable laughter. Dr. WArn moved the following resolution :—" That the paper duty is a to on knowledge ; that, by hindering the use of new raw materials, it limits the supply, and enhances the price of paper, and thus restricts the field for the em ployment of capit al and labour ; and that the increased ex penditure of the country imperatively demands that a less injurious mode of raising money be resorted to, than an sidle duty on so important • manufacture." He contended that the paper duty was as mush a tax upon knowledge, as would be • tax upon pig iron a duty on all the fine and astly articles into which steelpiad iron were manufactured. Knowledge was principally communicated by means of paper, and therefore a tax upon paper stopped the diffusion at knowledge at the fountain-head. The amount of the tax was about four-fifths of a million, but that sum gave no idea of the extent of the burthen on the people. As a general rule, and taking an avenge, the duty was one. sixth of the coat, but the trader required his profit on the among of his capital invested in the duty, and nit went wa saniannladng profits through various hands, unit the paper onms at MK to the consumer. He believed that ningeffine oho aos et ppaper was raised to the consumer to Me taMemt of . Having given some familiar illus ional= of the oppressiveness of the duty, and the inconve wheal of the =cue of levy, the speaker concluded by mov- Mg_the resolution. Mr. A. Pou.srr, M.P. seconded the resolution, draw ls, kern the experience of his own trade an analogy as to tgles~ e fi r seenvenlenc• sad oppressiveness of the excise duty on Tke resolution was then put and agreed to. ' Mr. CONDON, who appeared to be suffering from a severe end, ses to move the following resolution : " That this has heard with satisfaction that • bill was Intro dwell 6M night by the government, to abolish the compel way stamp and the security system, and to admit all poi eSmetier to • cheap raw of ." Is the first piss% he heaped sangratulase all who took ea he. beset la Me speaks ea the megilierat Manias, ettbst oesaise. He had asseaded panstaallp et a taw mdannes Were eight o'clock, sad had Ike *sod ; snit hod Mast been able to esallemo Ike that he Tams of :thee perfenems, be weld lave /mad it ta mable to shads en salueses, 141. laugh.) He assepted that mails, net falba &NM spirit to which saes of his talisegase midst_ le tempted, and who bawls; so long addressed lalf-end Wadies might sow my "ear triumph is at hand, and there are plenty ready to Jek us in the victory." No, it had always been the way in Mls mustry. There was always a vast amount of latent amtvisais seedy to come out at the crisis of a question, but tibia M pillage would not have been convenient to develop is the gnsviims agitation. Now, when the government W tikes leis matter is hand, and when the vigilance of the pulls was assessary to see that it was properly dealt with, they mastered be all their majesty, and he tMught them iris elms* emegli in that meeting to ensure the idumphiat padeg eftlM amasurs. (Cheers.) He viewed rIY ralleletimelsoperauttoocially, educationally and , that he see should never rest until be had ISIS ii WOW, the law of the land. (Hear, hear.) When be int heard that the Chancellor of the Exchequer in tended to bring forward the measure, he said, " Dou't be tee sure, there's many a slip betwe en the cup and the lip," ' but he little dreamt when he said that, that within 48 hours 'the right hon. gentleman would have awed to fill his im portant office. (Hear.) He regretted his secession exceed ingly, because he had groat respect for the financial ability and character of Mr. Gladstone. (Partial cheering.) He did not think, however, that the circumstances would endanger the safety of the measure, for Mr. Gladstone was s statesman wham convictions you could nosh ; as a statesman he hod • seessienc• ; and whim ease yon bad convinced his uniersteading, you I sow sun to have his support whether la Wise or out of it; gal MOW es he did the very Wiest rank la the Homo of Osman sinuses% be would give the semen seek aid, almillre Is atonal of it, es lame same les tricrat L lll Mit i6l 4 l44 ll=rk t t id WRY, melmeasa la Mese rap liMeldesseekkagss pwwwasat. (Loud cries of " Seem Isar . o f we were searoppoll in a tremendous war abusal, it was not 41111111 en half so vigorously as die ilemestie war be Its 'Ohm. Really, if them salmis. were es best ea destroying and slaying seek etber, we sisal INS be obliged to propose a foreign enlistment bill to jam vide us with cabinet ministers. (Cheers sad laughter.) He did not thick it necessary ea that osessism Ming that Slue was a bill on the table of the Sams of Onaihoos THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 22, 1855. *hick reogaised the wisdom and expediency of all they had boa advocating, to go late a long argument to show the necessity of repealing the newspaper stamp. His right bon. friend the chairman had alluded to certain clauses In the bill. He (Mr. Cobden) had expected these clauses, but had always said, " Let us see the compulsory stamp abo lished, and the security system destroyed,which was founded on the odious assumption that the moment a min invested his capital in t. pet, and began a huilases which of all ethers ministered most to the moral progress of the commenity, he became • scoundrel, ready to slender anybody and every body, and must, therefore, give security that he did not in tend to follow the trade of a literary assassin. Let us see an end to all that pernicious legislation commenced in the dark days of Csatlereagh and the Six Acts, and 1 will not quarrel with a few clauses offering temporary conciliation to ciaistiag laterals." He cared nothing about an extra quarter of an o unce , if it carri ed off the oppo- 1 orlon of a powerf u l organ ; ne i ther did he care ' n t advantage—he d b :s u pv t , o r ec t one wh s ich eyw hi !l a shgn pat h ga .a u t a rm h h e p riv ile g et ts o d w h pt i oi h d nu i t ctihfaohoenos any t e ar t y : io gp ti ran g a l Winkteste pa pe r . r ded . was e tan (He ar, h ear.) a u ' such eorganTvree;aor T h e re Peoe ple rgt f h :e ge et t: meat used ie favour of this, that it wee a great public ad vantage, papers by post when they cot firepeece„ because papers were then a luxury which only the rich could 4441 on the first day, while others most wait. But that would not be the case when newspapers were cheap. He had once asked en iutelligent American what he saw in England that most reminded him of his being in an old country, and his friend replied that what most struck him was the notice stock up everywhere, i• Yesterday's papers at half price," adding that in America nobody would have yester day's papers at any price. (Hear, hear.) That would be the case in England when a totally free press had free scope. People did aot buy old clothes when they could get new ones, and neither would they buy yesterday's papers when they odd get to-day's—they would rather buy to-morrow's if they could get them. (Cheers and laughter.) Another class, of persons who he was told were present in considerable numbers—he meant the newsvenders—feared that the proposed change, by intro duciog penny papers, would do away_ with their profit. Now, he had no doubt that if he could meet those persons a few yore hence they would acknowledge that their extreme susceptibility to the interests of their pockets had exceedingly blinded their mental vision, and that they had been completely deceived is their anticipa tions. The advocates of the reform did not propose by changing the law to abolish the sale of good newspapers. He was of opinion that the Times would sell as many or more after the stamp had be, n removed as at present. They might or might not take off the penny as they thought fit, bat the paper would then, as now, go to the wealthier classes. Thep would, however, be a new clam of papers altogether suited to • new clue of readers, and soling alongside of the present papers would train s new clam of future readers for the latter. (Hear, hear.) In his right hon. friend's committee they had examined Mr. Horace Grimly, the editor of the Ness York Tribune, and that gentleman told the committee that in New York all the workmen took in a daily paps just as regularly as the bankers and merchants did here, and it was as regularly left at their houses as it was at the counting-houses in , Lom bard-street. Now, if London should sell as matey papers in ' proportion to its else as New York, the newsvenden might depend upon it they would have plenty of business, and quits as much profit as now. Since he had engaged in this agitation he had learned one or two things which he had not known previously, and which he hoped he should not then undergo a censure for mentioning. He found that the newspaper press, which he had been accps towed to look upon as an abstraction was something in which ordinary fi nk and blood and ordinary human frailty was concerned, and that the parties connected with news papers were very susceptible when they thought that any thing was about to be done which wee likely to impair their interest. The advocates of this reform had been moiled by individual organs of the press in a way fur which they were totally unprepared ; for, when he first entered the arena of politics, those very newspapers were his felloolabouren in the caw of free trade is corn. (Cheers.) But the very mo ment he proposed to make free trade in newspapers from that moment they became protectionists. (Laughter.) He bad been astonished at the unmerited tone of censure In which they had attacked the supporters of this movement, end he had no hesitation in saying that if popularity was the sole object of public men, he and his friends bad consulted their own interest by the course they had taken. They had been singled out by writers in the Rainbters4 Review, men whom he knew both In Scotland and London, men who, he was ashamed tosay, having co-operated with him in his attempts to procure free trade in corn, now turned round on the principle when it was proposed to apply it to their own business. He be lieved that in a few years those gentlemen would feel as the landowners did now; and that in their present conduct they took a very short-sighted view of their own interest. He had also found that newspapers were sensitively alive to criticism, although they themselves lived for the very purpose of criticising the oondoct of pub lics men. He believed that he was himself, next to the late Mr. O'Connell, the best abused man in the king- 1 dom by the papery, and yet he had shown any sus ceptibility under the criticism. But what he was astonished at was that these gentlemen, who were every day dealing in censure, should be so sensitve when even a word was said touching the fallibility of the press. They had a curious way of meeting any attack by • public man on any given journal. They assumed it was an attack on the whole body, and immediately set up • cry of the liberty of the pram (Hear, hear) He had oace brought great obloquy oa himself by saying at a York shire mechanics' institute, when endeavouring to in duce the conservative patrons to permit of newspapers being brought into the room, that what the people wanted was news—fon—not leading articles. For that innocent re- 1 mark, be was secured of a disposition to gig the press, and it was added that he disliked leading articles because the papers trimmed him op from time to time. (Laughter.) He suspected that in promoting these reforms he should be creating more free criticism than ever, because he believed that in a few years there would be three times as many newspapers in England as at pretest, and further he believed that public men were all the better for the criticism they received, and that, on the whole, they got quite as good treatment as they deserved. (" Ques tion.") One point connected with newspapers had recently been broached in a pamphlet published by Ridgeway, to which he would just allude. In that pamphlet it was urged that all writers should put their muses to their article, ; but all he could say wee, that if any law were proposed such as bad passed during the republic in France, he, for one, should give his vote against it, although he was not quite sure that • newspaper did not have more salutary influence when it was knows who conducted it. He was sure that public mien would not be half so useful if they spoke behind a mask. (Hear, hear.) He looked to the repeal of the stamp as calculated to produce equality between the London and provincial papers, and to give a local paper to any village in the country, and he had sufficient coefidenoe in his countrymen to believe that in the hag ran the best coadneted repo s would everywhere Meet With the greatest saccem. (Cheers.) Mr. Batas: had been asking binned( what was the object of their meeting that evening some thasmsde stream for they had treed that the ladle in they wen engaged was already wen: the essay, if set ealeumfambek was at least esoverlsd, sad Mae fame le their elle. (Cheers ) He wee at the misellmiee et the speedos they had heard ; for 11ceee1f, he MI ost Sid it eely M make a speech when he Mew in his owe obi Net the t ing be asked for was already panted. They were amt s however, entirely without perms who might desire information, as there were some who thought that the measure which was about to be graded was not one ealeuleted to advance the public weal. Hs ingested *le perms had never truly examined the quietism. He believed that, whether they took it es • question whisk :elated merely to a branch of industry, or as a question of a greater end higher eharaeter, they would find Nit there were insuperable objections to the laws which regulated the press; end that those laws were discreditable to them as • people, and disgraceful to the parliament by whisk they were enacted. Let them treat it for a moment se a matter of industry. He held in his hand a copy of the Times newspaper of the day before. The bare mat of making the paper, the material of it, was three farthing ; on that the government imposed a tax of one hrthing, or 33 per cent, on the value of the paper—a very high rate indeed compared with any other tax levied at pre seat. But that was not all ; when the newspaper editor (who would hardly believe they were his friends in trying to relieve him from thee* burdens) took it to his office and prepared to run it through the prom, he was not allowed to do so until a government officer entered his premises and compelled him to fix in the corner of it a stamp of a.pieu liar mbar, form, a peculiar and of a eery peculiar mini& mace. Th e original three farthings had already been taxed oae farthing, or 33 per amt. Ala: of Id. or 133 per cent., was thee added, so that by dm time it was ;lady for printing the tax on the original cost wee not less than 1(6 per cent. Until last session, and then hi seasequience of the exertions of that association, if the Muse happened to inform the weird that some respectable soma was anxious to be engaged as a cook where a footman was kept—(laughter)—or that a poor widow's eon wanted a situation as emend boy, every insertion of every such paragraph would have 'been hold of by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and eighteen penes exacted for each of them. They could not, however, regard it entirely as a branch of industry. The news pews were very shy of them ; one or two articles appeared in the Dispatch and Exammer, and thine who did not like to unite against them themselves transferred those absurd articles to their columns, as if they could thereby do any damage to the greet cause in which the association was en gaged. Me did not pretend to advantage the interests of the existing press. If they derived any benefit he would be glad of it ; but there were thousands of suppressed newe -1 paper editors, many in that room perhaps, for there was no trade in which fir the numbers engaged there were to many disastrous failures ; he wished to Ball these mss from their failure, their obscurity, and metope their ruin. There were many young men even then 'tidying in college endowed with brain and heart to insthttot and teach their countrymen. These he would call from some narrow and badly paid portion of industry, and place them on a high and broad platform, where men could hear and follow them, and where no Chancellor of the Exchequer or Board of Inland Rs should suppress their efforts to benefit their fellow men. (Loud cheers.) There was mach higher question than one of trade they could not leek on a news paper as a mere =attar of wade; it exercised an enor mous power for the public weal or harm. The people of this foosaffT were P ' eren to taking a very high view of their own obit :agaaad their owe character; they were given a good deal of late to basting of their great and in creasing population, their wonderfal industry and vast wealth, churches and chapels were rising on every hand, bat yet it should be admitted that a very large portion of the population were in I, state of grow and painful igen ranee. (Cheers.) There were such • number of Sunday and other schools, that be believed there was no child, even of the humblest cla.ses, that did not at some time or other attend some kind of school ; but it appeared to him that the number of men and women who were able to read and write did not bear a fair proportion to the number of boys and girls at school. How was that to be accounted for? Let the boy attend school till he was 10 or 11 years of sge ; suppoes he read then even imperfectly; take bins away, and put him to the plough, or to labour in • mine or factory, for eight or ten hours • day ; let him eame to a home where books were scarcely to be seen—con s:der the disadv.ntages of his position, and it was not wonderful that a large proportion of the children who left school almost entirely lost, as they grew up, the art they bad learned to so me extent at school. (Cheers.) They wished that this great and useful instrument of education should be t don to every house, like the water or gas— like gas, for it would be life and aliment to the souls of the working people; things would be different from what they were; and it would be • greater glory for them than those present and hiatosical ones about which they sometimes boasted. It was said it was only a penny ;as if it was be low notice because it was not a shilling. A penny was all the difference between something and nothing. If it was proposed that every child who went to school should pay a peony, would not every ma n an d woman revolt against such a hideous proposition ? Yet • weekly or daily paper would come in, if the penny was not there as a her as complete to the gradual education of the family as a penny tax wo u ld be if imposed on th e c hild a t school. (Cheers.) There was the Manchester Daily Times; it was not half cheat(' ache Tines, yet it had to pay the same tax ; that was contrary to any just rule of taxation. Take even the War Ply Sheet; that would be taxed • penny, although it was not worth • half-penny ; it could not be sold at all if it paid the tax, se no one would give twopence for such a paper ; those who could afford that would get a better paper. The tax was most unjust and prejudicial to the public interest. An article against them had lately appeared in a paper of a high literary character, the EMMONS!. He wished the writer of it was in that room. He did not know who the writer was. He might have met him that day in Pall-mall. When they had anything to say to the public, they cause before their countrymen, and let them see their faces and hear their voices, and they were ready to answer for everything they said or did. (Cheers.) He wished the writer was hero, for he spoke of Mr. Gladstone as " yield ing toe limited but active agitation, in which we do not believe that any considerable number of the intelligent working men throughout the oeuntry, or of the edu- I wed in any Glass, has sympathised. Mr. Gladstone made up his mind, in consequence of the im portunities of Mr. Milner o.bson, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Cobden to put an end to the unrestricted free trans ! 1111/Sioll through the post granted in this country to all newspayers. But this was to be done in the form of a popular concession—as a repeal, in short, of an existing tax." The writer dwells on the fact that the government will not allow the papers to paw free, but be conceals the fact that government would enable the paper to reach thousands that it could not now on account of the tax. The same paper was a great p.dvecate for the removal of the stamp some years ago, when it was fourpence instead of a penny. In consequence of an agitation the then Chan cellor of the Exchequer, the present Lord Monteagle, re duced it to • penny. What did the Examine . say of the penny ? "This inconsiderable remnant of the most impo litic impost ever devised. The restriction was one against principle." He believed the Examiner was still in the same hands and under the same influence as then. He wished the writer was present ; be could tell them if it was a limited agitation that brought thousands together in the midst of the meet inclement weather known in London for years. Perhaps the Examiner was growing old ; they had had of late a good deal to do with old people. (Laughter.) He believed that if they succeeded in their agitation it would tend more than any other measure to incorporate the great body of the working classes with the intellect, the life, and the progress of the country, and give greater power and more direct operation to public opinion than it had had of late. It would be unjust of him act to say that if the measure WAS carried, it would be carried through the admirable elo quence and irresistible. logic of his right hon. friend the chairman in the House of Commons. It was impossible for the house, on • question of this nature, to hear such speeches as his right hon, friend addressed to them without coming to the conclusion that it was utterly impossible to find a decent defence for the law. It would be equally un just of him not to mention the services of Mr. Novelle, and their secretary, Mr. Collett. His friend Mr Cobden bad said to bins a short time since, "I wonder what Collett will turn his hand to next ?" He hoped he would undertake something, for it would be a pity if such wonderful tact, good nature, seal, and intelligence were not always employed in the service of his country. (Chun.) They had heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer was no more—(laughter)—no more as Chancellor. He regretted it for this reason, that he always found him pre-eminently aoressible to reason and open to the influence of argument, specially on this very question. If the measure was carried, to Mr. Glad stone would belong the same credit as Lord Metcalfe had acquired in the establishment of a free press in India. To Mr. Gladstone would belong the credit that, at a time when the public difficulties were thickening around, and the pub lic voice was making itself beard in no very harmonious tones, he had dared to come forward with a measure to make the ore of this country as free as the platform, and to admit the public intelligence, the public reason, and the public voice to dictate with increased power to cabinets and retoplaution. rliaments. (Loud cheers.) He begged to second the se Mr. OEOIIO3 DAWSON supported the resolution. He was connected with the newspaper pros, and wished to say a few words on its behalf. It wee very pleasant for a noble I lord to be supported by a paper, then he praised the press; bat, if a paper said the noble lord had made himself exces sively small, then he calls it a "ribald press." A successful tribune saiclit was • "venal press." He believed it was neither venal nor ribald; if he thought it was either be would not support the agitation to increase it. We should have newspapers as universal as they were in America. The press at present could keep down the big wigs in Lon don, but they wanted the big wigs in every little village to be kept down too. Till the press had spread to every comer they could not hope to put down humdrum tapery and routine. (Hear, hear.) They should educate the working classes in politics —a branch of education they could not get in the mechanic' institutions. There was nothing fogydom dreaded so much u that the working classes should enquire a know ledge of politics. In all these institutions the rule wu, ', all polities are to be excluded." Take even the rules of a Young Men's Christian Association—(uproar—great con fusion ensued, audit was some time before the speaker could make himself heard amidst the storm of cheers and hire; when order was restored he continued)—if the reference did not please he would withdraw it. He hoped they would , not Geese until they bad made every working man • politician. The resolution was then put from the chair and carried. I Thanks having been voted to the chairman, the meeting separated. SIR JOHN WNRILL, G.C.B. There will be but one opinion in Scotland as to the choice made by her Majesty's ministers of a distinguished public officer to preside over the commission of inquiry Iwo the administration of the commissariat of the army in the Crimea. . Sir John M'Neill has many eminent and some peculiar qualifications for the duty to which he hu been appointed by the unsolicited act of Lord Palmentoa's government. Daring the fourteen years which he passed in the East— first as Aseistant•Envey, then as Secretary of the Embassy, and lastly, from 1896 to 1844, as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of Persia—he became thoroughly aoquaintsd with the habits, policy, an d resources of the Asiatic nations; and the signal ability with which thus early be denounced the aggressive designs of Russia was acknowledged even by those who were unable to share all his apprehensions of danger. Soon after his return from Teheran, Sir John was placed at the heed of the board appointed to snperin. tend the working of the new Scottish Poor-law Act of 1515 ; and the prudence, energy, and complete SUMO with which he has discharged ' the duties of this arduous and delicate aloe are known to all Scotland. The special inquiry into the condition of the Western Highlands and Islands, which he:conducted in the year 1861, abundantly demonstrated his fitness to discover the true springs of mischief in system, however they might be perplexed by multitudinous points of detail, or confused and obscured by partial or con tradictory assertion. The circumstances of the case mast be fresh in the recollection of almost all our readers. That there was considerable suffering in the more remote shores of the Highlands was agreed on all hands; but there was a wide diversity of opinion not only as to the causes, but also as to the extent of that suffering. The popular ear was startled on one side by stories of the wholesale cruelty and barbarity of landlords and factors, and harrowed on the other by individual instances of privation, dis use, and death by famine. Sir John lelleill was not lees successful in applying a prompt and effectual remedy to every case of real distress, than in expleding the mass of fiction and delusion by which the qustion at issue had been well nigh overwhelmed. While his brief and masterly report suggested measures of permanent redress for all that could be redressed, it swept away at once and for ever all the picturesque exaggerations of "our own rev roopondent," the hearsay horrors of credulous philanthropy, and the impudent frauds of interested imposture. • Su John who is now in his sixtieth year—being one year younger than his distinguished brother, the Lord Justice-Qeneral of Scotland—received the Persian order of the Lion end Sun in 1834, and in 1839 was created a civil Haight•Orand Cross of the Sub.—Edinburgh Courant. CRYSTAL PALACE, FIB. 21.—SHILLING DAT. —Admission at the Goon, 706; admistion by MY= deems, 266; total, 971. BEATII4O AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.—The lower lake at the Crystil Palace has been earefully swept, cleaned of snow and rough ice, and watered ; and is now one of the best pisses of water mosesible from London. Refreshments and attendants to put on skates are provided. Yesterday some hundreds availed themselves of them advantages, which are free From the unlashes of a riotous crowd. MIDLAND RAILWAY. Yesterday the half-yesrly meeting of this company was hold at the railway station at Derby; Mr. Jelin ELMS in the chair. An abstract of the accounts appeared in the Daily New on eaturday. The report of the directors was read. It stated that •• the balance available for dividend is 239,6271. 18s. 3d., viz,, 229,1951. 16r. 7d. fr, en the path of the half-year, and 10,4321. is 84. from the account of the previous heftiest.. The directors recommend that • divi dend (less income tax) be declared payable on the let day of March neat, of 1/.17s 6d. upon each 1001 eons dideted stock ; U. 3a. 94. upon each 1001. Coniulidated Birmingham and Derby stock 3i. upon each 1001. Consolidated Preferential stock ; II 10s. upon each Ere wash Valley share ; de Old. upon each 161.135. 44. share, being half a year's interest at the rate of 41 per cent. per annum, neon 8/.135.4d., and 153 days upon 31., leaving a balance of 32,2881. 19s. Sd. to be carried to the credit cf the account for the current half year. It is the intentton of the directors to alter the time for the payment of the dividends upon the 51. shares, hitherto payable on the 24th of April and 24th of October in each year, and after th pey.nent on the 24th of April next, to make them pay able at toe same time, and calculated to the same period as the ordinary L A If- yearly dividends of the company. The working expenses, calculated as !termite's), have been 411. lls. 32. per cent., as against 421. 15s. per cent., for the correspondlzg half-year of 1353." Toe CILI I axAN, in moving the adoption of the report,con gratulated the shareholders on the 'attain ory state of the ac counts, and the result of the half-year's working,which must be as much a matter for pleasure on the part of the share holder, as it undoubtedly was felt to be by the directors. Mr. Sanest. Beaux, the deputy-chairman, seconded the motion, which was all but unanimously adop ted. By a subsequent resolution the directors were empowered to raise a ioniser sum by way of debentures, amounting to 235.000/. Powers were taken to conallidate the Erewuh Volley shares into stock ; also the Leeds and Bradford, the 181. 13s. 41. fifty pound shares, and the Leicester and Ritchin five pound shares—all to be converted into stook. Mr. Samuel Beale (the deputy chairman) and the other wiring directors were re-elected. The proceedings :terminated thereafter with a vote of thank, to the chairman end the board of directors. OXFORD, WORCESTER, AND WOLVER HAMPTON RAILWAY. Yesterday the ordinary half-yearly meeting of this company was held at the London Tavern, Bishopegate street, to receive a report of the directors, to elect directors in the place of two who retired by rotation, and for the general business of the company. Lieut.-Colonel 11118nour, M.P., the chairman of the company, presided. The report, of which the following are the material per 'lion% was taken as read. It stetted that" the expenditure has been on a very reduced scale compared with that of former half years, which is attribut.ble to the main line being nearly completed. Of the entire expenditure during the half year of 77,0001., no less than 34,0001. has been spent in plant. The necessity for this outlay was ascertained in September and October, at which time it was found that the engine stock, supplied by Mr. Williams (the contractor for working the line), was inadequate in quantity and con dition to maintain the weekly receipts of the undertaking, and that he was either unable or unwilling to furnish further engine power. The revenue account shows a groin receipt o rateol. The gross earnings for the half year are let the o f 1,0001. per mile, or per week of nearly 401. per mile ; and tins earning has been obtained upon a line 93 miles in length, of which 27 us single, which is not yet provided with any connexion with a canal in the mineral district of S.Aith Staffordshire, and which ia without adequate working plant. The line from Dudley to Wolverhampton was opened on the let of July last, but had not then, nor has it now, any goods station at Wolver hampton, nor any means, except to a very limited extent, of getting the heavy mineral trade of the country on the rail way at any point between Stourbridge and its northern ter minus. The rate of the working charges fur the half year is considerably in excess of antecedent half years, amounting to 64 per cent., whilst you directors trusted it would not have exceeded 47g. Your directors have made arrangements for the issue of the remainder of the redeemable preference shares, and as the proprietors were advised in February, 1854, a resolution will now be submitted to them that the borrowing powers consequent thereupon be exercised to the amount of 166,6661. On the requisite authority being given to issue debentures for that sum your directors believe that they shall be able to complete the undertaking, to stock it with plant, to develop its resources, and make it produce results adequate to give a reasonable return to the proprietors for their hitherto long unproductive outlay. The directors have introduced three bills into parliament, which iu due course will be formally submitted to the proprietors for their approval. The first is a measure to enable the com pany to effect a variety of modifications and enlargements of their stations and works, urgently called for by the ne cessities of their trade, and not in the aggregate involving any material outlay. The seobnd, to postpone the comple tion of the broad gauge, is merely an alternative measure, introduced as a matter of precaution, to await the decision on the application for the larger relief sought by the re maining bill. The third measure may be properly described as an application to parliament to relieve the company from the effect of enactments which changes and alterations have rendered inequitable as regards the company and inexpe dient as rapine the public ; and the bill consequently asks the legislature to repeal all the provisions in the company's acts relating to the broad gauge, and so to relieve the com pany from an unproductive expenditure of nearly a quarter of a million of capital, and alien remove the only pretence for that constant interference on the pact of the Great Western Railway Company with the internal regulations and course of action of this company, which has proved the source of so much litigation and has so impeded the directors in their efforts to extend the interchaege of traffic with their various neighbours." The motion for adopting and circulating the report wan then agreed to ; and a dividend after the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, fur the half-year ending 31st Dec. last, upon the preferential shares, was declared, and ordered te be paid on and alter the 23rd March next. On the motion of the CH•IRMAN, a resolution was agreed to empowering the directors to raise on mortgage, by debentures, a sum not exceeding 165,6641 , under the bor rowing powers of their act of parliament. The vacancies in the direction were filled up, and the meeting concluded. LONDON AND BLACKWALL RAILWAY. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Tuesday et the London Tavern ; Mr. J.:l. DANIZLL ia the chair. The Sec zzzzzz read the report, an abstract of which has appeared in the Doily Nem. The CMAISMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said they were going on improving, but not at a rapid rate. They had made preparations to accommodate any very large amount of traffic that might come upon the line. They were in negotiation with other companies for an accession of traffic, and when the third line of rails was completed, they would be able to accommodate an amount of trail: far beyond what they could reasonably expect. The dime tors expected additional traffic from the opening of the Victoria Dock, both in passengers and goods. Their policy mac to open the gate to as much traffic as possible. The traffic from the North London Railway had quite answered their expectations. The Tilbury line bad also come up to what they expected. They had been somewhat distils• pointed in not having traffic from the Eastern Counties Railway; but, as the latter paid them 2,5001. a year for the station accommodation in Fenchnrch-street when they chose to use it, they must have had some motive for not bringing passengers to them. He had no doubt they would do se when they could get additional traffic by coming over their line to Fenchurch-street. They had as yet brought no trellis from the Eastern Counties over their line. The Victoria Dock would be open in the summer, and they hoped that the Tilbury line would be opened nearly to Southend at about the nesse time. It was satisfactory to notice the pre geese they had made sines they removed the fixed engine and rope for working the line, and substituted the ordinary mode of traction by mesas of locomotive power. The divi dend in 1860 was 2s. per share ; in 1851, ts. 61. per share ; in 1852, 6s. per share; in 1853, 6s. 6d. per share; and in 1854, 7s. 9d. per share. This he thought was a satisfactory result. SMITH said the comparison was not correct, be i cause the circumstances were different. On alt former °eta 'ions they paid the dividead clear of income-tax. Bet new they proposed to deduct it. He viewed with great dis appointment the course adopted by the Hutern Counties Company in not using their line and station at Fenchurch street. The CHAIRMAN said, with regard to the income-tax, it had been doubled, and might be quadrupled. They were following the example of all other railway companies by deducting it from the dividend. They could not expect the Eastern Counties Company to bring traffic on the line unless it suited that company to do so. They very much preferred the residential tra ffi c to the long traffic from that railway. Resolutions were passed adopting the report and coconuts, declaring a dividend of es. dd. per share for the put half year ; authorising the directors to raise 130,0001. on deben tures ; re-electing Mr. J. N. Daniell and Mr. Munaughten, the retiring directors; and electing Mr. thintsbury an auditor, in the room of the late Mr. Valpy. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors. BRISTOL AND EXETER RAIL WA I. The directors' report for the half-year ending the 81st December, 1864, etetes that the gross trafile receipts (including the sum of 2,9691. 17s. 6d. received on the Baiter and Crediton Railway, and due to the Bristol and Exeter Company) smount to the sum of 164,8821. IN. Id., which is 19,2451 IN. 44. more than in the corresponding half of the pier 1853. Ths working expenses charged to revenue during the same period, including those of tbs Exeter and Crediton Railway, r " •• - - Angnit) the Somerset Central 85,3611. 7s. 81., or 50.86 per cent. o 7291. lls. 9d. per mile on 117 7111. 61. 10d. per mile on the worked for the half-year, wiles. The amount actually Wt-yea was 96,8t81. 6s. 11d.; end (froii the 28:117,1' 1 &Mem t to of the i ;It s bat 10? MOM! irl 1 i