The Sun. — London, England, 1846-04-24 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. "'OUSE OF LOI-WS. April 23. The LCRD CHANCELLOR tuck his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'clock. THE SEES OF BANGOR AND ST. ASAPH. The Bishop of ROCHESTER presented a petition from the Dean and Chapter of Rochester against the ution of the sees of Bangor and St. Aaph. The Bishop of HEREFORD presented several peti tions to the same effect. The Bishop of BANGOR presented similar petitions. SALE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS ON SUNDAY. Lord KENYON presented a petition from the church wardens, the overseers, and guardians of the parish of Lambeth, praying that a better observance of the Sab bath might be enforced in the case of tradesmen. The B shop of S r. DAVID'S prescinted a petition from the parish of Swabey, in the county of Lincoln, to the same effect. The Marq&s of ANGLESEY presented similar pe titions. EMPLOYMENT OF DISCHARGED CRIMINALS. The Bishop of ST. DAVID'S presented a petition from the mayor, the aldermen, and town council of the borough of Carmarthen, praying that occupation might be found for prisoners on their discharge, so that they might not be thrown back upon their former vicious courses. Lord WHARNCLIFFE presented a petitiOn to the same efFect. CORPORATION FEES. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from the corporation of coopers in Glasgow, complaining that by the Act contemplated by the Government the enforcement of fees on taking up a trades in the city of Glasgow was done away with. The petitioners were thus exposed to the influx o f competition, and they had no power of checking such a ruinous extension in their trade. He (the Duke of Richmond) thought that while these fees were exacted in London,; Glasgow should not form the exception. Lord CAMPBELL would be happy to see that these fees were abolished over the country. The Duke of RICHMOND presented similar petitions from the corporation of hammerinen. Lord BROUGHAM presented similar petitions from the skinners and glovers. SUNDAY SPIRIT TRADING. Lord COTTENHAM presented petitions against the sale of intoxicating spirits on Sunday. THE CORN BILL. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from the ministers of the Presbytery of Lorn, in the Synod of Argyll, complaining that, as their stipends were de pendent upon the market pica of corn, the Government Bill would injure them, and they prayed, therefore, that such measu re s h ou ld not b e perm i tte d to pass into a law. TAX ON INSURANCES. The NOBLE DUKE then presented a petition fromForres, in the north of Scotland, prayinc , for a repeal of this tax. THE NEW POOR-LAW. The NOBLE DUKE also presented a petition from a place, the name of which wQ did not hear, praying thct in the New Poor-law Bill a c!attse might Le added making it imperative on the officers to provide a super annuation fund. THE CHARITABLE TRUSTS BILL. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from Pavensey, in Sussex, against the Charitable Trusts Bill. Lord KINNAIRD presented a petition from the Re ligious Tract Association against the same measure. Lord COTTENHAM presented a petition from the governor and officers of St. George's Hospital, praying that that institution might be exempted from the ope ration of the Act. Lord STRAD3ROKE presented a petition from a congregation offndependent Dissenters to the same effect. Lord STRANGFORD presented a petition from the Skinners' Company, against th , ! Bill. Lord DEN,UAN presented similar petitions from 33 Baptist and nearly 1,000 Dissenting congregations in England and Scotland. Lord CAMPBELL presented similar petitions from the Sailers' Company, and the Deaf and Dumb Asso ciated Charity. LAND TAXES. Lord GAGE presented a petition from Sussex, pray ing that rates on cottages of 61. annual rental should be levied on the land. RELIGIOUS DISABILITIES ACT. The LORD CHANCELLOR gave notice that he would, on Thursday neat, move the second reading of the Act for the ?era] of religious disabilities. _____ THE RAILWAY BUSINESS OF THE SESSION. Lord DALHOUSIE, in rising to introduce the Bill of which he had given notice on the last evening of their Lordships* sitting, together with the sessional order, would detain them but a very short time in opening up the provisions of the Bill, and stating the grounds on which he would ask their Lordships to sanction it. On the evening on which they had adjourned for the recess he had taken the liberty of stating to their Lordships what was the subject to which he wished to direct their attention, and to the complaints which had been made by individuals connected with railways, setting forth the evils complained of, and the pro position which he intended to make with a view of remedying them. He bad endeavoured then to trace the pro gress of the rise in speculation on railway undertakings for the preceding year, but now he would take their Lordships a little further back. He had stated then, that in the last year not less than from 1,200 to 1,300 railways had - beets provision ally registered as joint-stock companies, and out of this number there had been deposited with the Board of Trade, on the 30th November, 800 plans, which on th e very l ast d ay had only diminished to 7i.0. He (Lord Dalhousie) had, at the commencement of the session, thought it his duty to direct their Lordship? attention to the subject, and since that time the expectation of the public with respect to rail ways had entirely changed. It was expected at that time, in the first place, the test of the deposits would greatly reduce the number of Bills which stood for the consideration of Parlia ment, but nevertheless a sum within a fraction of 15,000,0001. was deposited with the Aecountant-General. It was also thought that in consequence of the extraordinary rapidity with which these schemes were got up that the stand ing orders would considerably diminish them, but that COI' mittee had only breathed light as a zephyr upon them, and the number reduced was therefore only twenty. It was now dis covered that in consequence of the application of the enormous amount of capital to ether branches of commerce, an uni versal complaint was poured in from every part of the country, and these complaints were not merely confined to those engaged in the ordinary commercial pursuits of the country, but extended to the very persons who were themselves concerned in railway speculations. It would not be necessary for him to enter into many details on this subject. Their Lordships would see by a reference to the stock of the various companies that what be had stated was true ; and that now, so changed was the public opinion on this subject, that the projects which were the more likely to pass the House were those which were most viewed with apprehension ; and in proportion as the scheme advanced through Parliament the index of the barometer receded until it got down to zero. He bad stated on a former evening that it was often replied to those who thus complained, that they should dissolve their com panies; but this they were unable to do, because they had not yet been constituted joint-stock companies, and unless those who held scrip were to give an unanimous consent the scheme must go on to completion. Their Lordships would see, that in consequence of the difficulty of getting this unani mous consent in a company composed of such vast numbers, Parliament was necessarily obliged to interfere. The Bill which he now held in his hand, and which he would have the honour of submitting to their Lordships, had for its object the applying a remedy for this evil by giving power to a certain number of the shareholders to dissolve their projects. With their Lordships' permission he would now proceed to state the main provisions of the Bill. On the requisition being presented , to the chairman of a com pany, and the meeting called in pursuance of the provisions of the present Bill, then the question of dissolution shall be put, and the business of the meeting confined to that alone. It is provided before the meeting takes place that due an nouncement of it shall be made in the newspapers and in the London Gazette, so as to give notice to all par ties interested. Regulations are provided for the appoint ment of chairman and the regulation of the business; but before the vote is taken scrutineers shall see that the vote is properly taken. The actual holders of stock, whether the original allottees, or the parties who hare purchased the scrip, shall be eligible to vote, and they may either vote in person or by proxy duly attested, before being forwarded to be used at the meeting, the scale of votes to be regulated according to the provi sions of the Joint-Stock:Companies Act. A clear majority accord ing to this scale of the whole stock of the company, if repre sented at the meeting, should be competent to declare a disso lution of the company ,•nit if the whole stock is not represented, t i t en s a lt e h i e en s t toe t k o for which the vote is taken three-fifths shall declare a dissolution of the company-- that three-fifths r epresented whole the meeting, being nut less than one - thu d o f k of the company. By this Bill ita w ah a s y n e ter p s a tr y t u th o tt ld e at h l eti stock of the company. By thls Bill it was sanders t ocsl that at lea s e t one-third of the to its proprietary disso lution. The object they had in view was that th ey allow any company to proceed in which tchfe f a unall e w sh er o e ul l 4 tk n e o ly t to ba destroyed by the interests h ear .) It was, therefore, provided that on twhe—ie' resolu tion of any company to dissolve, the funds of the om pany should be invested in the official trustees, and such was the effect of the 8.11 which he had to propose to their Lordships. He was aware that certain parties would be smite ready to put in their claims, but at the same time it should be recollected that certain parties might be made liable for deb , s to which they were only parties in common. And the effect of this Bill was to render both parties only liable accordin g to their individual responsibility. He was aware that, und er certain circumstances, the proprietors should have the right of winding up their affairs under the sessional order; but if the measures which they propose should meet with the approbation of their Lordships, and if it should meet with the approbation of the other Housii of Parliament, that they would accede to the request of the Government, and give such powers as would enable the shareholders to employ the te-t, and put a stop to any scheme which had not the approbation of the chief proprietors of the scheme. What he was anxious for was, that the majority of the proprietors should be enabled to put a stop to any scheme of which they did not approve ; but, at the same time, he felt it necessary to render the proprietors of rival schemes a power of adjudication. He believed that a sensible benefit would arise from this change. On the eveningbe!ore the reeess, although he was aware that a change took place from day to day in the state of these com p anies, t hat a great ad vantage would be obtained, yet. on the evening of the recess, he had moved, that on the presentation of a petition, t h e t re spective proprietorship of the shareholders shouhl be taken into consider a tion ; and that, on a derision of a majority, tit, company should be clo.ed, and enabled to wind up their affairs at a conseq uence of a decision of the majority. The hold ers o f stock are scattered all over the ceuntry. 'No body knows who are the scrip- holders. hey have no means of communication with each other—they have 111, organisation among themselves. Some of them are holders for small amounts, and they do not. hinit worth while to trouble them • selves about th e matter ; an d a vast number, who are the most substantial persons concerned in them, would refuse to come forward order . in rested, to w ind up those concerns in which they, were 'intere s ted, cr e di t , and you h a a s ve it no w holdould have the effect of destroying th e whatever upon the smaller parties, who are scattered all ever the world. We propose, therefore, not to adopt the plan proposed before Easter, but we propose to adopt the recom mendation which has; without one exception , , b ee n made to us from the highest authority, ee stop all railway Bill s of every de scription, to allow no Bill to be react a t h ird time unless a peti tion, signed by a majority of scripholders o: 9 1 e company, should be presented to that House praying their Lorash;:: to pass such Bill. He considered such a course as that he had I proposed would be better than any subterfuge. It would only be acting in the more manly and straightforward manner, and not under cover of the imposition of conditions which it would 111 be impossible to comply with. We propose that no Bill should he read a third time lawless evidence should be given to that Ilouse that a meeting of the stock-holders of the company had been held—that meeting representing one-third of the , stock of the company, and that three-fifths of that meeting desired their Bill should pass. Lord BROIIGHAM—Are proxies to be admitted to vote? Earl DALHOUSIE—Proxies must be admitted, because the directors and other parties connected with the government of the company, who, having a vast amount of shares, would in every instance be able to rule the meet ing. For that reason they require that at such meetings there should be a quorum consisting of one-third of the sto c k o f th e com p an y. If such condition s were the were not impesed their Lo r d s hip s might spare themselves trouble of passing the propos e d Bill, as the meeting would be formed of the directors and their friends, who would rule the aand meeting.that was,B ut that it in was case nec essaryits tT pau ld s hrtehsearidtestthata u should e be applied, w desirous to go on, it would be necessary that ameesh ould e should should afu " be held, at which three-fifths of those then been pr esent rendereden n ex press an opinion to that effect. This such necessary by the fact that the circu mstances of the present as to call for it, and such as were time were of no ordinary nature , and , in fact, he might say 1 they were of an unprecedented character. The num ber of Bills sought for in the year 184 involved an outlay amount of 19.000,000/. sterling; and those for which f t u he fh s e anction of Parliament was sought in 1945 amounted to about 60,000,000/, so that in fact the amount of liabilities this session would amount altogether to between seventy and eighty millions. The number of Bills for railways which were to come before the Legislature this session amounted to about 519, which involved an outlay of about 300,000,0001. Now he need not say that that amount of money was not to be had • but there could be no doubt that a b ou t 70,000,00 X. sterling would be required. He would not now go into the question as to the amount of the surplus capital of the country; he merely wanted their Lordship a to look at those circum stances as they now really stood. He had heard it stated by a Noble Friend of his, that to so great a height had this rail way fever risen, that it exceeded by 50 per cent. that of last year. It had been remarked, why not let the parties to these companies bear the consequences of embarking in them ; but he begged to say that unfortunately they would not alone be the sufferers. Such was the state of the railway trade, that even in some of the very best lines parties were so unable to get in the calls made, that they had to g i ve up t h e sc h emes i n despair; and suc h a feeling had spread over the trade of the country, that it had been found impossible to procure capital to carry it on ; and as a friend of his from Scotland had observed in a letter of his, it was taking away the very heart of the country. On these grounds, then, he would ask, was it too much to ask that, in future, the parties to every railway should be satisfied of the utility and feasibility of the scheme, and of their ability to go on, before they should call upon the LEgislature for its sanction to those Bills? He would now conclude by reading - the resolutions he intended to submit to their Lordships, and which he would leave for their consideration until to-morrow night. Having read the resolutions, the Noble Lord went on to say that it had had also been endeavoured to provide against cases when a large proportion of shares had been reserved or held back—that clause was to the effect that all scrip issued should be paid for before the 31st of March. The necessity for this clause was apparent, when it was remembered that in massy cases parties would purchase, speculating on the winding up, and by which many would make one hun dred per cent. on the bargain. ( Hear, hear. ) The Noble Lord then road the resolutions, which are pre cisely the same as those proposed in the other House of Par liament; and, in concluding, said he wished to correct a mistake he had made in explaining the mode of winding up rail way companies. The subject was so complicated, that it was difficult to make it so clear as he was desirous of doing. The way proposed was to wind up the affairs in conformity with the provisions of the Bill he had explained; or if that course was dissented from, then the eumpany might be wound up under the provisions of the Joint- Stock Companies' Act of last session, and an assignee appointed at the meeting to act with the official assignee. He had now set before them the provisions of the present Bill, and also the sessional order which was to give effect to the objects of the Bill. The subject was a dry and complicated one, and in the statement he had made he had generally given the provisions of the Bill and the reasons why it should be adopted, in order that those companies that thought fit might be wound up with as little trouble as possible.—(Hear, hear.) es e had before stated his opinion, that if the subject were left le it now is, that one-third of the rail roa d pl ans w hi c h had bargn submitted to Parliament could not possibly go on this session. Lord BROUGHAM was quite aware that their Lordships were acquainted with the interest which he took in the subject of railway speculations. Nothing could have delighted him more than the luminous statement which the Noble Lord (Dal housie) had just made to the House. They were aware, also, of the interest which he took in the subject of railways gene rally; but, without more time to consider the business, he felt incompetent to come to any positise decision on this matter. He had repeatedly warned their Lordships of the effects of the railway mania during the last two years, and he must beg to remind them not only of the evils that were likely to arise to the commercial credit of the country, but also to the moral interests of the community at large. He regretted to find that, as he had anticipated not only was the spirit of gambling in railway shares experienced by the higher classes of society, but that it was extending to the middle classes, and further still that it seemed to have extended to the lower classes, whose livelihood was dependent on their industrial exertions. He had repeatedly warned their Lordships that it was likely to affect the morals of the whole of the com munity. He had stated instances in which poor clergymen and widows with small means had been deprived of all their subsistence, of ladies living upon their jointures and with small means, as well as of other individuals, who had been deprived of the whole of their subsistence by this mania. Many parties were exiled from their native homes in conse quence of their inability to meet the demands made upon them, or answer to theliability which they had incurred, but to a great degree this measure would prevent the evil from proceeding further. Great relief would be administered, by the Act of his Noble Friend, to the poor sufferers ; and he would fain hope tke mere statement which they had then heard, and the recep tion it had met with would have a salutary effect before the Bill would pass into a law, for there was a railway house else where—(Laughter)—which was admirably adapted for talking, though little so for aitting.—( Hear, hear.) There were some railway bodies so full of discussion that they could debate for twelve days without intermission. They could make speeches by the score, and obtain attention by the hour._( Hear, hear.) But there seemed to be amongst them an utter incapacity for business. He did not know to what it was owing. The Duke of RICHMOND—It is the directors' fault. Lord BROUGHAM—No, no, I did not say that. lain not to be caught that way. It arose from some bad constriction in the bady itself—they could debate for ever—they could argue fee ever, but as for coming to a decision it was quite another thing ; in truth, it was so much out of their power, that it was quite out of the question. But he most devoutly hoped that the bare promulgation of the plan would have a great effect in remedying the evils which existed. The course they were about to adopt of not reading a Bill a t'ird time was not a very usual one—to pledge themselves that no consideration would tempt them to read a Bill for the third time after it had become ripened, unless something was done out of the House by parties over whom they had no control, was certainly a proceeding exceed ingly dangerous, and requiring great deliberation before they should adopt it. But he was very much disposed to strain a point in this instance, as it would effect, he believed, a great good. He did not think the prope4ed measure would be effectual without some such order.--( Hear, hear.) If he were to state which of the two measures he thought would be most effectual he should prefer the order, but he did not see why he should be put to the selection. His opinion was they would both be efficacious, but there was oce quality in the order which the Bill did not possess. The one was certain and speedy, while of the other they were net sure that it would pass. He would not detain their Lordships. He could have desired that all these things had taken another course, he could have wished that all private legislation, including railways, canals, and roads, should have been transferred to another tribunal, and that Parliament should have made some arrangements which would have en abled all private business to be satisfactorily and cheaply done within a resorable time, so as to avoid the great expense and the anxiety consequent on the present system, and to avoid the inefficient manner in which of necessity (without implying any blame) the Committees of both Houses, but more especially the Committees of the other H ouse,i were obliged to carry qp that important branch of legislation. When they looked at the enormous amount of private business, amounting for this year in one department only to the enormous sum of 591,000,000/.—when they re flected that these Bills had power to inflict a most trans cendental injury—when they reflected that these Bills gave power to interfere with every man's private property, to re move his wood, to grub up plantations, to overthrow houses, to drive a road through a man's pleasure-grounds, to make a person's estate worthless to him, and incapable of being in habited by human beings; to compel people to part with their property whether they would or not, and that too, not at prices fixed by themselves, though that would be bad enough, but at prices fixed by others—when they considered that this branch of legislation, and of all the branches of legislative functions that could be named this was one which required to be entrusted to tribunals of a different kind then that of a Committee of this House, he hoped that the difficulties which the country and the Parliament had now got into would lead to some steps being taken by that House which, he must say, should have been adopted years before. There was some ground for encouragement even in the pre sent state of affairs, because, from the very necessity of the eve, better arrangements would be made for managing the private upon this subject, of for the th business of the H ouse . H e felt grateful to the Noble Earl f of e o e p a i n n d io o n u s r, aher s w ell a s Majest y 's Gov er ment vr .n the t h e una d orned and severely-fitting nature of the statements on the occasion. He felt thankful to the Government fur bringing forward so necessary a measure as the present. The Earl of WICKLOW considere d taking Bill s th rough b oth Houses of l' that the expense of prominent p art of consideration in the r iam!nt wou l d form a be held u n d er t h e provisions of the meetingsprop os ed that w ere to thought it n ecessary, for a right consideration of A , , et, and h e the case, that correct data of those expenses should be ac • cessible to th h ere. The Marqui s o f S ALISBURY had as railway m ania . He thought, however , e reat a orror of th e they would have some reason to dread the winding up of these affairs. Th one point in th e measure proposed by t he ere was Noble Earl to which he would ra il the attention It was proposed t o require t breeo.fif f ths their Lord s hi ps. holders to assent to th e w i nding up of the of the scrip meeting was to represent one - t hi rd o f the seriPcheonicern. 'I he ders of the company. It would req u i re t h ree -fifths of those assent to the petition' to their Lo r d s hi ps. It would , t , resarenefte, to empower two-fifths to preve n t t h e Bi ll passine, but they or would not have the power to wi n d up t h e concern. He would also be glad to know how the amount of the scrip present was to be taken under the arrangements proposed in the Bill? The Nlargeis of CL.%NRICARDE thought it a wise measure as regarded England, but when he saw that it extends to Ire land and Scotland he thought the proposed measure an indica tion of the disposition of the Government towards those countries —they were endeavouring to put a stop to what waa called the railway mania. The evils which had been described by the Noble - Earl who had proposed the Bill were sufficient to justify the sets that was about to be taken. But what was the ra , lwav mania? Why it was neither more nor less than that upon which dap, oiled the great communications of this great country. Railways, in a min ary point of view, were of the utmost importance, and the Legislature must be careful how they checked their construction. For some years past he had thought the Government ought to have taken some step upon this subject. If they had done SO yea rs ago the present railway mania never would have existed. At present; and under existing circumstances, the proposed resolutions were necessary, and, so far, he could not object to them ; but he would remind the Government that in Ireland especially it was their duty to take the railways under their care and control, and if they d.d so, there could be no doubt that railways would be made without embarrassing the country. The Earl of ROSEBERY rose for the purpose of putting a question to t he Noble Earl who had proposed the resolutions. Friend did no t intend this ded that his Noble He apprehen ded which Parliament ses sional order to become a standing order up on l was to proceed in future, hut merely as a sessiona l order for the reg u l a ti on o f the p r oceedings of the House during the pre sent session. It was desirable under existing circumstances te fitate the winding up of companies with as little incon venience as poeaL hie Lord ASHBURTON saL a _ it was useless to complain of what should have been done some time The real question they had to consider was the peculiar and anomalous position in which they found themselves placed, and the wisest course it behoved them to take. Taking that position int o con that as far as he understood th e Bsidilelrsautbtitt he must withed,say, the sessional order with which it was ac companied, it appeared to him the best means of relieving them from the difficulty in which they at present stood, and to meet the evil arising from the enormous demand on the capital and labour of the country, which stood in the way of the legitimate commerce of the country.—( Hear, hear.) He must, at the same time, remind the Noble Lords who sat on the Railway Committee, at the early period of the session, that he (Lord Ashburton) stated very similar views to those stated that night, respecting the difficulty in which they would find themselves placed.—( Hear, hear.) It was impossible to go on with the present mass of adventure, which was beyond the means of the country to accomplish in any reasonable time. A Noble Lord opposite had referred to the case of Ireland, and the relief which the construction of railways would afford in the peculiar circumstances of the country; but, however anxious they might be to relieve Ireland, they must recollect that if they went beyond the means of the capital of the country, instead of benefiting Ireland, they would clog all pro ceedings intended for that purpose, and defeat the very end sought to be obtained.—( Hear, hear.) He must say, con sidering the peculiar circumstances of the country, that the measure was a necessary one to meet the difficulties. His object was to insure the classification of these several schemes, and he thought that this classification ought to be observed—that is, that the several railway schemes ought to mt b h e iettd a ei l e i t F o r tt t iho io na n t e o d f ete i hr n et t a u inN cl o a b s lil s en e e s s . Lorod H usg e hwt hidaware,h f o prrt e ef tat rat the do undercoaan and w h o a t o s e the first class they recommended was that which comprised the lines of the national defences. The next class was that which was described as being likely to fill up gaps in established railways ; though, if the business were to be conducted as it was at present devised, there was little proba bility of obtaining their Acts during the present session. It was much to be regretted that such should be the case, as the passing of these Bills was likely to contribute largely to the advantage of the public. The next class was that which was called the offspring of the strong companies, more particularly those of the Great Western, South-Western, and the London and Birmingham, and others of a similar character, which com panies, from their enormous incomes, possessed all the ap pliances for carrying out their designs. lie was not aware of the precise feelings of the Government, bat he thought it was necessary to look to the results of such pre ference ; and he must say, that in the consideration of the Select Committees the object of the national benefit should be particularly observed—(Cheers)—particularly when the object of such companies was kept in view. Lord CAMPBELL was satisfied that the interval of the re cess had been advantageous in the consideration of the several plans which hail been submitted to Government, and for the regulation of private enterprise. lie was satisfied also that this direction of private enterprise would be advantageous in the improvement of the railway system. A great - evil had been complained of, but he thought if they st ere only to look to the Continent, the Government would have a very effectual cure, salutary as weal as effectual. But his reason for thus presenting himself to their Lordships upon this subject was, to ask the Noble Lord opposite whether it was proposed to insert any clause for the purpose of indem nifying those who should have become liable to the creditors of a rail Ray company ? At present a person might take an action against a member of the committee, and he had no means of indemnifying himself. Lord WHARN CL I FFE was of opinion that it was at pre sent premature to be discessing the meriis of the Bill not yet before the House. He had heard of the proposition of the Noble Lird in reference to the mode in which parties should proc , ed who were desirous of winding up a company ; but in cases set ere it might not be possible to procure the proposed number, would the n:eeting then have the power of disposing of the ques tion? He thought that if the number required were larger, they would be more likely to get at the real opinion of the sub stantial body of shareholders. What they had to dread was, that attempts would be made to get up these meetings for fallacious purpeses. He had already stated that he con sidered three-fifths too small, and he could wi , h that the number required had been somewhat larger. He would not detain their Lordships longer, but he hoped that the suggestion he had made would have the consideration of the Noble Lord. Lori KINNAIRD asked if the standing order would be concil,lered to-morlow? Lord DALHOUSIE—No; on Monday. It was exceed ingly satisfactory to him to find that their Lordships ap proved of the course pursued by the Government on the subject of the standing order and of the Bill. It would be necessary, however, that the Bill and the sessional order should go hand in hand. He would endeavour to reply to the various remarks made by the various speakers in their proper order ; and first he would refer to what had fallen from his Noble Friend beside him. His Noble Friend objected to the amount fixed as likely to be too small, and as likely also to open the door to a system of jobbing and fictitious meetings, which would be unsatisfactory, inasmuch as it would not really represent the sentiments of the shareholders in the companies. That objection had been carefully considered, and although the amount fixed upon appeared to look small, yet the Neble Lord would recollect that it was the minimum. But he would find, on looking at it in another point of view, that it would be amply sufficient. Supposirg, for instance, in such companies as the London and Birmingham and Great Western, which had each a capital of five or six millions that a meeting were called ender the operation of this order ; it would require a very considerable degree of exertion to ob lain that amount. Other companies, it was true, had advan. tages which these great companies had not ; but it would be found that even in their cane the sum in the Government pro position would be found to act very stringently. His Noble Friend who sat further down had offered a different objection. He felt that to ask the sanction of the three-fifths of the subscribers was to ask too much for the purpose of pi e venting the progress of the Bill. But when their Lordships looked to the circumstances of the times—when they looked to the consequences which would result from any considerable ad dition to the railway projects which had already passed the House of Parliament—when they recollected that a vast num ber of these Bills were forced through Parliament contray to the wishes of the proprietors, he thought they would find that the objections urged by his Noble Friends were untenable. Wherever there was a doubt, Parliament should throw the doubt on the side of the negative. With respect to the ques tion of the Noble Earl, he order was only sessional—of a pe caller character it was true, but it was intended to apply to an extraordinary crisis—it was to expire with the session. It might be in the recollec'ion of their Lordships that her Ma jesty's Government, at the commencement of the session, ex pressed an earnest desire that every possible indulgence should be shown to those Bills which had for their object the construc tion of railways in Ireland. But he did not think his Noble Friend would wish that Irish Bills should be excepted from the operations of the order. He was anxious to say that there. should be no obstacle thrown in the way of those Bills. They should receive their third reading in that House, and they should not come under the operation of the order until they went into the other House, and he was accordingly prepared on the 27th, to move the third reading of all those Bills which had arrived at the proper maturity. With respect to the other Bills, he wished to mention that they would receive no additional delay. Lord CAMPBELL wished that something would be said in reference to the indemnities to be granted to shareholders. The Earl of DALHOUSIE said that whatever liabilities were now imposed on the parties, would remain. The lia bilities would remain exactly as they were at present. Lord CAMPBELL—The liabilities will remain, but the in demnity will be gone. The Earl of DALHOUSIE said that creditors would have the same security as existed at present. The Bill was then read a first Case. The Earl of DALHOUSIE then moved that the sessional order be taken into consideration on Monday.—Agreed to. The second reading of the Boroughs (Scotland) Bill was postponed until Monday. The house then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMOAS, April 23. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. REPORTS. The following reports were brought up, the amend ments and alterations agreed to, and the Bills ordered to be engrossed, viz.:— West of Scotland Junction Railway. Exeter, Topsham, and Exmouth Railway. Eastern Union and Harwich Railways and Pier. Stint Austell Small Debts. Western-super-Mare Pier. Numerous petitions were presented, some in favour of, and others against, different railway Bills. Mr. LABOUCHERE moved that the report on the Rugby and Huntingdon Railway Bill be presented this city, notwithstanding the resolution of the [louse of the 7th of April.—The motion was agreed to. THE SUN, LONDON, 'RID AY MORNING, APRIL 24, V 46. METROPOLITAN 'EWERS. Sir It. INGLIS presented a petition from the Dean and Chap.er of Westminster resptcing a Bill which was now pending before the House for the better regulation of the Metropolitan Sewers. The petition complained that the deposits of the common sewers were very noxious and productive of great disease in the metro polis. _ _ _ Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition from the in habitants of Coventry, expressing their satisfaction that a Bill had been introduced into the House for the entire removal of the penalties and di , abilities to which per sons professing the Roman Catholic religion were liable. Sir G. STRICKLANI) presented three petitions in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill. EDUCATION IN IRELAND. Mr. MILES presented a petition from the Church of England Association in the town of Shepton Mallet, in fairour of Church Education in Ireland. BISHOPRIC OF MANCHESTER. The HON. MEMBER presented a petition in favour of the establi,diing a bishopric in Manchester, without en croaching on the resources of the Welsh diocese*. TUE LAW OF SETTLEMENT. The HON. MEMBER also presented a petition from the guardians of the poor in Wellington, complaining of the Law of Settlement brought forward by the Government. G 0 VERN M EN T FREE-TRADE. MEASURES. The HON. MEMBER further presented a petition from the county of Somerset, against the commercial mea sures of the Government. RAILWAY BUSINESS OF THE SESSION. Sir R. PEEL rose and spoke as follows:—Sir, I gave ' notice, two days since, that I should feel it my duty to call the attention of the House to the state of the rail way business now pending before Parliament. No one is mere impressed than I am with the conviction, in the ordinary current of affairs, of adhering to the great principle of permitting, in a com• Inertial c , )untry, the free application of individual I enterprise and capital, and although, in the application ' of capital fer purposes of commercial enterprise under the exi:tii,g law, it has been the practice of Parliament fisour inchoate companies who applied to Parliament for large powers, still the general principle is so valuable, even in respect to commercial enterprise, that were he circumstances 'of an ordinary character I should nut seek or deem it necessary to interfere. The better rule is in the application of capital in individual enter.. prise, and the usage of Parliament has been to grant powers for the formation of railway companies where no strong opposition from landowners was given, and where o competing lines urged reasons sufficiently strong why such powers should not be given. Even in respect to those I should not deem it, under ordinary circum stances, an advisable rule for Parliament to i n • terfere. But at the same time, at the risk of in order thatts capit a l epraeral Parliament m e n publict should depart inconvenience,frolm those s principles mitd advisable in may not be needie . applied to railway specula. tions which confer no s all other commercial enga,prn,r!ts. In doing so it will be necessary, before asking sl). great benefit, and which would paralyse you for that qualified interferenco with this rail- ' way sp , culation, for me to detcrihe the circum stancss, and detail the - reasons why I think it necessary to depart from the ordinary course observed in such matters, in order that what I now propose may not be taken as a precedent on future occasions. In the first place I shall state to the House the amount of ca pital already pledged for the Railway Acts already ob tained from Parliament; and also the amount of capital which would be necessary for the Bills now pending. in order to carry out into effect those projects. I find that in 1844 the number of Railway Acts which obtained the sanction of the Legislature was thirty-seven. The capital authorised to be raised by share amounted to 13,900,0001., and that authorised to tie raised by loan amounted to 4,600,0001, being a total amount of capital authorised to be raised by share and loan, by Bills passed in 1844, of 18,500,0001. In 1845 the number of railway Bills were 180, and the share capital authorised to be raised by those Ac•s amounted to 45,585,000/. ; and the total amount of loan was 14,635,000/. ; being a total am stint of capital authorised by Acts in 1845 of 60,400,0001. I have a return of the names of those Bills which were under the consideration of the Committee, and I find that the number of Eng lish Bills amounted to three hundred and sixty-nine ; that the number of Scotch Bills were one hundred and seven, and that of the Irish there were forty-three, being a total of five hundred and nineteen Bills for the United Kingdom. I find from these that ninety English Bills havecapital to the amount of 184,000,0001., and, supposing they received the sanction of Parliament, an additional loan of 58,000,0J0/. might also be raised. The capital proposed to be raised by the Scotch Bills amounted to 28,500,0001., with a loan of 9,500,0001. By the Irish Bills it was also proposed to raise 18,400,000/., and loans to the amount of 5,000,000/. would be sanctioned. Se, therefore, the total amount of capital authorised to be raised by English, Irish, and Seoth Bills amounted to 231,322.0001., and the total amount of capital authorised to be raised by loan amounted to 72,000,0001., making a total, independently of invested capital authorised by Acts in 1345, Of 304,000,0001. I know it is quite true that many of then , Bill, are delusive, that ratans of them are of a competing nature, and that tee canning out of many of them would be unnecessary for the public interest. But a very great reduction must be made of that total amount ; and certain it is that Parliament will reject many of the Railway Bills submitted for its considera tion and approval during the present session. In shert, many of the Bills are incompieible with the wants of the public; still, whatever ds duetion is made in the number of Bills during the present se-nion, the total amount of capi tal, if there be no interference of Parliament—the total amount of capital which will be sanctioned in the course of the present session will be much greater than, having a due regard to the public interest, ought to be applied construction btiru b number b o ff Bills,ra l sv a u y n s ie s s N tb o e w r , e I be to owingthe totlmostam inquiry by the committees appointed to inquire into the subject, 1 fear that at the end of the session, Bills will pa s ss hich, under ordinary circumstances, would riot receive the sanction of Parliament.—(hear, hear.) Now I will proceed to- state what amount of capital has been paid up out of the amount which has been authorised to be raised by the Bills which have already received the sanction of learliament. Now, in respect to Bills which passed before the year 1844—1 am speaking of the Bills which passed before the session of 1844—the sum of 20,867,0001 has not yet b. en called up upon the shares in the rail ways which obtained before this period. Again, that must not 'be taken as the real amount of capital autho rised to be raised and ready to be called in, but never theless remeining unpaid, because, in many cases, money has been raised on loan on the security of out standing shares—a course which has been frequently adopted instead of calling upon shareholders fir pay ment for the shares which have been issued to them. What proportion does the amount, raised by loans, bear to the amount of shares on which the capital has not been pa.d? I can only state the fact that there re mains, an unpaid capital connected with railways, which received the sanction of Parliament before 1844, to the amount of 20,867,000/, suppes tug no loans to have been raised on outstanding shares for the purpose of completing works. With respect to Bills passed in the session of 1844, the amount of capital stock that is still unpaid is 5,293,000/. In respect to the railways which passed in 1845, 118 in number, on the capital stock or shares authorised to be raised, there remains an amount of stock which is still unpaid c f nearly 28,000,000/,or in more general terms 27,900,0001. whish, added to the amount remaining unpaid on Bills which were passed before 1844, gives a total amount of capital stock to be paid up of 33,242,000/.—(Elear.) Of course in addition to the amount of capital which will be authorised to be raised iu the course of the present session. Therefore, even with regard to this amount of capital, may we not safely take the opinions of those parties, who have entered on these speculations, and be guided by that opinion which shall determine whether or no these speculations shall go on before they get sanctioned by Act of Parliatneet. There is one reason for doing this, and foricalling for the rotractation of these parties after mature inquiry and conside tion. There has been a great change in the circumstances of these projects since many of these par ties had committed themselves. In the first place, I must refer to the opinions of a Committee appointed by this House in coming to a decision on a Bill which was brought before them. I understand that when Mr. Brunel—a gentleman whose name must be fami liar to you for the great ability, great ex perience, and great acuteness exhibited by him, when you heard him, in bsing examined before, I think, the Committee on the Londr.:n and Oxford, and London, Worcester, and Rugby Railways, gave this evidence :—" The prices are so increased, that the lines mentioned (the London and Oxford) cannot be can structed at their settled prices. The materials for the construction of railways is now 50 per cent. higher than at this time last year." At this point of the pro ceedings the Chairman said that the Committee thought it unnecessary to hear any more evidence on the London and Oxford line ; and after the room had been cleared for a few miautes, the Committee declared that the preamble of that Bill had not been proved. It' the expense has so materially increased on those kinds of materials necessary fur the construction of railway—such as iron, land, and labour—of course the estimates of the rail way company must be affected, the cost of executing the line must be increased, and the prospect of profit must be diminished. I do not say that these circum stances alone would warrant a withdrawal of their pro posals, but it must justify our giving these parties an op portunity of saying whether or no, on first consideration of the circumstances in prospect, they can still wish to go before Parliament for the construction of their lines. I find also in the paper to which I am referring, by an advertisement from the London and York Railway Cumpeny, that the increase in the cost of many of the articles necessary in the construction of railways hes produced an effect with respect to the value of stock on many companies. I find it stated, that in the case of several railway companies the premium on the shares in 1845 before the Bill was obtained, decreased to a discount in 1816, when the calls w ere being made ; and I think, on mature con sideration, that in some of the cases where Bills have been obtained, and where in consequence of increased cost, or increased competition, and where there is a material differenee between the prices paid and those which can now be realised, that the pal ties purchasing these shares ought to have a fair opportunity of consideration. It 'appears from this statement that the shares of the Caledonian Railway, with 101. paid up, et re at a pre mium of le/. before the passing of the Bill. Since the Bill has been obtained the shares are, however, at a discount of 31. 6s. There are several other railways in a similar position, according to this statement. I will not detain the House by reading to it the names of these railways. But in every case shares in railways, which bore a considerable premium previous to obtain ing the Bill, have since they have received the sanction of the Legislature, fallen to a very considerable dis count. This is the case of Bills which have already ob tainsd the sanction of the Legislature. With re spect to the Bills now before the House, I am of opinion the same apprehension applies. It is clear, however, that there are many railways, first projected in the month of October, 1845, with respect to which the same sum could not now be obtained on the sale of shares.—(Laught+T.) This state of thing=, therefore, differs moat materially from the state in which they were placed in October, 1845. I apprehend that our object is not to encourage enterprises unprofitable to the parties engaged in them ; and that is, I cinsider, one reason why we should give to the parties interested an tpportunity of re .considering their position, and apprising us of their opinions upon the subject. Now I have mentioned these considera tions, which I think should have some sv eight with this House. The first reason to which I have alluded is the enormous amount of capital which, with whatever reduc tion you may make in the amount o: Bills, must be pledged by the Legislat ure t o ra il wa y enterprise. The second reason why I think we are called upon to interfere is the greatly increased price in the articles reauired for the construction of railways, and the great difference in the present value of shares,compared with that which they bore when the projects were originally started. The third reason, I apprehend, is is be found in the fact of the anxious to desire o f many parties I . eve themselves from! their . engagements and liabiliti es . With res pee. to theie enterprises, I und.•rstand that a great number of the • tekings entertain les connected with these under part oppor tunity afforded ntZ verysincere desire to have the oppor etigagements.—(fiz of releasing the -Ives from their ) I must say, that in the present state of the Irelating laws to inchoate railways, some alteration is necessary.—(Bear, hear.) Th e l aws relatin g to inchoat e railway companies no t having received the sanc tio n o f th e L eg i s l ature i s not one which law the liaeilitiusho;ld long continue. By the pre sen t Power of the directors l'ar .t s he "-e ro ‘ vl 7 i 3 O ' nf - committee and the very great. Si far an as c a n judge, there is no effectual centrolover the acts f'• • 1 • • and the provisional cornuit.,et.rr. , .n directors. I hav e rece i ve d l etters f rom var i ous persons, I shall not give their names— est any IlonourAbl . e . Membe can it r see the original letters, and the at .atements contained in teem be correct, there are proceedings on the part of those which do most certainly require some Parliamentary interference. This gentleman a states, in a letter which I received yes- Vrday, that had been holdoreatbaPt.r k op l ortiou of the new companies iumbsirs of their shares for the purp ose ,f t.• e the market. In one hi nge-In,' stance out of 49 oshares 8 000 were kept back. 00 . In another, out of 100,000, , 10 0000 were kept back, and in another' out clear half of the shares were reserved and sold out when the ranged high. But the last st atement in this markets letter is really must extraordinary. It is stated that in the case of one railway which is mentioned several thousand pounds were taken out of the b an k er ' s hands to ray th • market, that is to say, out of the 10 per cent ! st by shareholders as de posits, money was • - p t . or thewithdrawn purpose of being invested in the purchase of shares to raise the price of the scrip.—(llear, hear, and laughter.) In the case of some companies it is mentioned that when parties applied for shares they were told that all the shares had been allotted and taken up, while in truth not a single share had been issued.—(Hear, and laughter.) I am Tito sure that no respectable company could have been guilty of such proceedings as these, but still it is confi dently asserted that these practises have been indulged in by many of the existing companies which ere now before the public.—(Hear, and cheers.) Really, if parties will not take care of their own interests, it is impossible for the Government to take care of them. (Hear, hear.) Ido not think that they will gain any thing by the withholding of their names ; but, really, if Parliament gives them the power of releasing them selves, and they do not avail themselves of that privilege, then I think they will not deserve any of our sym pathy or commisseration.—(Uheers.) All that we can do is to give them an opportunity of stating fairly, " This was a moment of excitement, in which I specu lated to the extent that I have done, and if Parliament gives me the opportunity of repenting, and of re leasing myself from those engagements, I will gladly do so." And I think that no false sense of shame should prevent them from doing so. But this I do say, that if provisional committees or directors continue to traffic in these shares we shall be called upon, in justice to the public, to subject their conduct to strict inquiry, for I do not believe that per sons acting under such circumstances are exempt from Parliamentary inquiry —(Loud cheers)—and that in quiry will be the foundation of future legislation in respect to these inchoate companies. I really believe that it may be necessary for us, as the foundation of such legislation, to expose these transactions— (Cheers) —and to lay them bare before the world as a guide to other parties who shall be inclined to speculate in such matters.—(Cheers.) Now, Sir, the law is in a very un satisfactory state with respect to (base inchoate railways.—(Hear.) I do not believe that with re spect to a company which has not obtained its Act—l very much doubt, I say, whether such parties, before they have obtained the assent of the Legislature to their Bile have it in their power to dissolve their company.--(Hear, hear.) I b, lieve the general principle of the law to be this—that those matters are guided,' not by the State, but by the com mon law ; and if either shareholders or scripholders were unanimous as to the expediency of dissolving their company before they obtain their Act, that they have it in their power to do so. But I believe that without a perfect unanimity to that effect it is impossible for them to do so, because, in the first ph.ce, the original shareholders may not be the holders of the presentshares ; and I believe that no case of this kind has as yet been settled that a company can under such circumstances dissolve itself without the consent of the whole of the shareholders. Now, it may be in some cases that power • has been providentially taken to dissolve a company before they have obtained their Act.—(Hear.) I believe that in many cases there is no remedy as to the time in which that assent shall be given, and it would rot at all follow that the rejection of a railway Bill in the course of the present session would enable the directors, or any other parties in a company, to dissolve that company.—(Hear, hear.) If such be the case, and that the deed did not contain a special clause to the contrary—and I need not say that it very seldom happens that these deeds do contain such special exceptions—if the power of the directors be so imperfect as not to enable parties to a company to retire if they should deem fit, then I say that state of things requires a remedy.—(Hear, hear.) What may be done hereafter upon this subject will depend on future circumstances, but I am now dea'ing with the state of things as I find them at present, and I do think that the state of the law in this respect is sueli as to require the interference of the Legislature.— (Hear, hear.) There have been se veral discussions in the courts of law upon the powers of joint-st. ek companies, particularly in reference to railway companies, and there was an Act passe d in the month of December, 1844, which conferred some very important powers on joint-stock companies. That Act, in one of its clauses, provides that companies hall proceed with what is called provisional registration before they can do any other act ; but in respect to Companies which did not require the sanc:ion of Par liament, that Act requires what is called comp'ete re gistration, and until that be done .the power of the di rectors is circumscribed. Provisional registration applies to all companies, but in railway com panies complete registration is not necessary, for the sanction of Parliament stands in place of that. But then this important question has urs , n in the country, namely .—W hether the transfer of shares in an inchoate company, or in other words, the sale of scrip was legal. In a certain case a party brought an action against another to when he had sold scrip. The defendant alleged, that under the 7th and Bth Victoria railways were included, and that therefore in this case there had not been a com plete registration ; but the court decided that the Act exempted railway companies, and there fore the plea was overruled, and that the sale of scrip in a railway company was a legal transfer. Some doubts have been entertait.ed in equity whether the decision is strictly proper ; but the transaction has, in consequence of that decision, been invested with a legal character, and has obtained a legal sanction, Seeing the defects, however, which have attended these transactions in scrip and the defects which have been found in the law respecting railway matters, and seeing also the defects which have resulted from improvident speculation, her Majesty's Government have thought proper to originate a measure for the purpose of putting an end as far as possible to this state of things. This is the time when such an in terference becomes necessary, and had we attempted it before, we would have laid ourselves open to the charge of having done so prematurely. We do not propose to throw any arbitrary obstacle in the way of the promotion of any schemes the: may tie attended with public advan tage, but to ascertain the wishes of parties who have railway Bills before Parliament. The very expression of those wishes may operate as a check against many schemes which are not of a bond fide character. We pro pose to bring in an Act of Parliament to provide that with regard to all companies, no matter how cir cumstanced, all railway speculations, a power shall be given to scripholders to dissolve the company under cer tain conditions. This we propose to effect, first by Bill and then by sessional order. We shall propose to enable a number, and a very small number of the share holders, say five, to addre's requisition to the directors or managing committee of the company, requiring them to call a meeting of the subscribers, for he purpose of ascertaining their lieWs as to proceeding with the Bill or giving it up. We propose that it shall be obligatory on the managing committee to call that meeting. We shall take pre cautions that due notice of that meeting shall be given. If the managing committee should refuse to call the meeting, we shall introduce provisions which shall ensure its being called. We shall then propose that at that meeting a number of scripholders, either of original shares or shares that have been sold, holding shares to the amount of more than one-half of the whole shares originally issued, shall determine whether the company shall proceed or not. But, as it must be very difficult to have a meeting which shall re present one.-half of the capital stock of' the company, we propose that a meeting of shareholders, represent ing one-third of the capital stock issued, shall be capable of dissolving the company, provided that the persons present holding three-fifths of the shares in value, those persons voting either personally or by proxy, shall signify their desire to dissolve the company. We take, therefore, this security that the met Ling shall not be packed, as we shall require that the stork represented at the meeting shall not be less than the third of the whole capital. It may be that at that meeting the amount of stock represented will not be one third, and in that case there will be a power of adjournment to another day, after due notice of the ultimate result of the two meetings, provided that one-third of the capital stock be re presented, and should the majority voting shall consist of three-fifths of the meeting, shall be taken as decision. In order to prevent the applications of re served shares to an undue influence at the meeting, we propose that the scrip to be represent, d shall be scrip that was issued prior to the 31st of March. With re spect to scrip, in regard to which purchases have taken place, the only security which we can take is to require that that also shall have been issued before the 31st of March. Now, connected with this Bill an ancillary to it is the sessional order which I have now to propose. I believe that some such resolution is absolutely necessary in order to give due effect to the Bill, because it is impossibi.c not to foresee that some time must elapse before this Bill: is passed into a law. Unless each House of Parliament makes some regulation with respect to their assent being given to these Bills, in some companies, which I am sure are no specimen of the general class of companies, the directors and parties interested may press their Bill unduly on the consideration of the House. It is manifest that many of the parties have a direct in terest in passing their Bill into a law. This, I say, is to be expected under the circumstances. I believe that in-many cases, if the Bills should receive the sanction of Parlia ment, the first thing that would take place afterwards would b 3 to dissolve the companies, fie' it is my belief that many of these lines of railway are not' intended to be made. Well, then, if that is to be the ultimate result of many of these schemes, is it not, I say, best that they should not come before Parliament at all ? 'propose that this shall be remedied by having such a meeting of each company as I have already stated, and that at such meeting, if it shall be carried that the Bill is not to be proceeded with, then I say this want of sanction on the part of the shareholders must be binding. I shall not trouble the House by reading the Bill as length which her Majesty's Ministers propose fur their con sideration. I presume you are already ac quainted with its provisions. I believe there are many Bills entirely unopposed, and I am of opinion that many of them might pass without Par liament interfering at all, from the very fact of there be ins no opposition. I believe that many of the Bills will not be of any public benefit, and the country can sustain no loss by such schemes being abandoned. I can state that there is a valley through which eleven different railways are contending to pass, and there are eleven companies specifically registered for those lines. Now it is well known that Parliament will not pass more than one line. I think that unless we have the evidence of the sanction of the scripholders, as proposed by this Bill, for carrying on the sc h eme :, we should not allow them to proceed. Now, Sir, I admit that this is a subject of the greatest importance ; but, insulter of again proposing a Commit tee to make a distinct list of Bills, which ought, in their estimation to receive the sanction of Parliament, during the present session, her Majesty's Government, with a deep sense of the inconvenience which may ensue if there is no interference with the speculation which has taken place—with a deep conviction of the advantages which will be gained by the course they have adopted, namely, that the renewed consent is perfectly legiti mate—that it is no dangerous principle of interference with private capital, and if sanctioned by the House, is likely to release, for investment in profitable business, end in other dealings, a vest amount of capital eye( locked up from the purposes of trade, leading to unpro fitable expenses—namely, in payments to engineers, and in payments to solicitors—(Cheers)—in a mass of Bills which will not finally receive the sanction of this House.—(Hear, hear.) I commit these resolutions to the consideration and decision of the House • and whatever may be the result of th a t d ec i s i on, I shall feel satisfied that her Majesty's Government have do; e their duty in permitting no time to be lost in 'ringing these matters before the House.—(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Baronet then resumed his seat, after proposing the fol lowing resolutions : I. That this House will not read a third time any Bill that empower any company (whether intended to be incorporated by , such Bill, or already incorporated by Act of Parliament, to construct a railway, unless three clear days before the third reading, there shall have been deposited at the Private Bill office, there to be open to the inspection of all parties, a cer tificate signed and authenticated in a manner hereinafter mentioned, and comprising the particulars hereinafter ex pressed, and stating the following facts, &c :- 1. That a copy of was submitted to the con sideration of a meeting of the scripholders of the com pany, or (in case of a company already incorporated) of the shareholders or stockholders of the company, spe cially called for that purpose. 2. That such meeting was called by advertisements, inserted once in each of two consecutive weeks in the Lawton Gazette (if the railway be an English or Scotch railway), in the London and Dublin Gazettes (if the railway be an Irish railway), and in each case in at least three London daily newspapers, and not less than three times in each such paper, in each of such two con secutive weeks. 3. In the case of the company being intended to be incorporated by the Bill :—Thai such meeting was con stituted of persons producing thereat, scrip or the com pany representing not less than one-third part of the whole capital proposed to be raised by the company under the Bill (such scrip having been actually issued, or the deposits in respect thereof having been paid before the 31st of March in the present year.) 4. In the case of the company being already incor porated :—That such meeting was held, except so far as is herein otherwise provided, according to the constitu tion of the company, and was constituted of shareholders or stockholders thereof competent to vote at the ordinary meetings of the company, and representing either per sonally or as proxies not less than one-third part of the whole capital or stock of the company. 5. That at such meeting the Bill was epproved of by persons producing thereat scrip equal to at least three fifths of the total amount of scrip produced at the meet ing; or, in the ease of a company already incorporated, by three-fifths at least of the meeting, the votes being given and computed acco r di ng t o th constitution of the company. 11. That for the purposes of this order it shall be compe tent for the chairman of any meeting called in pursuance thereof in the event of the above prescribed quorum of scrip shares or stock (as the case may be) not being represented at such meeting, to cause the votes of the persons consti tuting the said meeting, approving or not approving of the Bill, to be taken and recorded, and then to adjourn the same to some day, hour, and place to be declared by the chairman, such day not being less than three days, and not more than one week, from the original day of meeting; and such day, hour, and place. being in the meantime advertised twice in each of three London daily newspapers; and at such adjourned meeting it shall also be competent to the chairman thereof to cause to be taken and recorded the votes of such of the persons constituting the same as have not voted at the original meeting; and the total amount of votes given at the original and adjourned meeting shall be received as if given at one and the same meeting. 111. That such certificate shall also comprise, in a tabular form, the following particulars:— _ 1. The day:lime, and place of the meeting, and of the adjourned meeting (if any). 2. The dates of the insertion of the advertisements for the meeting, and the names of the newspapers in which they were inserted. 3. The names and addresses of the persons producing scrip at the meeting. Or, in the case of a company already incorporated :-- The names and addresses of the shareholders or stock holders present at the meeting. 4. The denoting numbers, and the amont of the scrip respectirety produced by the persons so producing the same at the meeting:— Or, in the case of a company already incorporated : The respective amounts of shares or stock held or represented by the shareholders or stockholders attend ing the meeting. 5. The fact of the approval or non-approval of the Bill (as the case may be) by the several persons pro ducing scrip at the meeting, or by the several share holders or stockholders attending the meeting. 6. The total amount of scrip produced at such meet ing, and the amount thereof produced by the persons approving of the Bill, or in the case of a company already incorporated, the total amount of shares or stock represented, either in pers+aa or by proxy at the meeting, and the amount thereof so represented by persons approving of the Bill. 7 The total amount of the capital proposed to be raissd by the company under the Bill ; or in the case of a company alreadi , incorporated, the total amount of the capital or stock of the company. IV. That such certificate shall be signed by the chair man of the meeting, and by one of the solicitors of the com pany, and the authenticity of such certificate shall be verified by the signature of the Parliamentary agent depositing the same. Mr. F. FRENCH rose to make some remarks with respect to Irish Bills. The House would remember that at an early period of the session the Right Hon. Gentle man referred to the railway Bills connected with Ireland, and stated that their Bills should be first sent to the House of Lords, and then to that House. At the present moment there were forty-three Irish Bills before the House of Lords, five of which were waiting for a third reading, and although he had not the slightest objection to the course pursued by her Majesty's Government, he coula not help stating that the promoters of these Bills would be sub jected to consider a b: e hardship it t h e resolutions, as now worded, received the sanction of the House—for instance, the three Bills to which he had alluded would be unnecarily retarded. All her Majesty's Government had a right to call upon the pro moters of a railway Bill to do was this—that prior to the thi r d reading of a Bill, or its passing, that the decision of a majority of the shareholders should b e obtained to its passing. He would recommend that all Bills that originated in that House should not be detained for their third read ing, but that it should be competent for them to pro ceed ; and that the same principle should be fairly carried out in referernte to the Irish Bills that had com menced in the Lords—namely, that they be allowed to pass there, and not be tied up from proceeding for the space of three weeks, as such an order would be the source of vast inconvenience to all parties. He asked for nothing that was unfair to any party. But the Hon. Gentleman should be aware that there was a reaction going on among the scripholders, and that a number of persons were buying up scrip for the purpose of compelling the companies to come up for their own purposes. He did not consider that such jobbers were entitled to much consideration. The board of directors never knew who were the scrip holders, nor were they bound by any re gulation whatever to a bid e by their wishes. The original shareholders had disposed, as far as they were concerned, of their interest in the original un dertaking. They had disposed of all their prospects of gain, and nothing but the liability remained to them, and of course they must be anxious that the affairs of the company with which they were connected should be settled. The only persons who appeared to him to have a legitimate right to give their Opinions as shareholders were the persons to a horn the original allotment of shares was made. There was a gnat facility of giving annoyance held out by the Right Hon. Baronet to per sons who richer had, or represented themselves to have, some interest as shareholders, and it was only experience that would make him aware of that circumstance. The Right Hon. Baronet said that, if a meeting composed of a certain number of proprietors was called, and ex pressed its wish for a dissolution of the company, the directors should be bound by that wish. The number of prepretorswas to be on e -thi r d , aid if three-fiftt's of the meetin g wished for a dissolution, the dissolution was to be carried. How would the Right Hon. Baronet act if another meeting of one-third of the proprietors were to be called in another place,and three-fifths of that meet ing were to express awl. h to go on with the undertaking? In conclusion, he trusted that no unnecessary delay 'would be allowed to take place in the passing of Irish Bills. Sir ROBERT PEEL could not speak for the House I of Lords, but he proposed that all Bills before that House, which stm,cl for the third reading, should be postponed till a meeting had been held, in conformity with his resolution. With respect to the question which the Hon. Gentleman put to him, that if a meeting were held of only a third of the shareholders, three-fifths of whom might agree that the Bill should not be proceeded with, and afterwards another meeting of another third of the shareholders took place, who would agree to have the Bill passed, how were they to decide whether they should read the Bill a third time, he (Sir R. Peel) could only spy that the latter third of the shareholders, to obviate this difficulty, should take care to be press nt at the first meeting. Mr. BERNAL regretted that these resolutions had been brought forward so late in the session ; had a similar step been taken at an earlier period many of the evils which they were now suffering would have been prevented. But even now, why were they to allow the contingent expenses of committees and second readings to be incurred ? Why were they to suffer parties to be at the expense of bringing witnesses from all paris of the country, and providing for them at taverns for a long period of time ? He dared to say p a t. o r k u - n c d o r n a e n r to Victoria-park, there could that, at the present moment, fronmotH3'dbee. by the Ri gh t respectable tavern.—(Hear.) u H n e oc c c o u f p ite ie n d de b d ed ,th a a t t t a h n e y course Hon. Baronet was not fair to the country ai . large. proposed if h late mania themselves to great difficulties int e that Right lion. Gentleman felt that the . public had sub jected of railway gambling, he might have proposed some other remedy better calculated to meet these cases. If he understood the proposition of the Right lion. Baronet, it was to the effect that if the holders of one-fifth of the shares in a railway under taking should, at a meeting to be advertised, come to the conclusion that the Bill now before Parliament, to authorise their trojects should be withdrawn, the Bill should not then be allowed to be proceeded with ; but take the case of the representatives of 900,0001. in a railway company, would it be just or reasonable that the holders of 180,0001., which was the fifth of that sum, should be allowed to decide the fate of the undertaking. The Right Hon. Baronet had very truly stated that the state of the law on this point was very uncertain and undefined, and the oppressions that parties had been subjected to in consequence of that uncertainty had been very great. In fact, he had a letter from one gentleman, whose name he did not think proper to mention, who had ac tions co mmenced against him which would involve him in expenses amounting to 90,0001. The House would probably have read the account of the late action of Wooliner v. Toby—a new trial had been moved for and obtained, and the consequence would be that most probably, for the next eighteen months or two years, the public would be left quite in the dark as to the real state of the law o- this quefitien Under tto se te•oiutions no Bid, either English, Irish, or Scotch, could pass. There would be power enough to carry the second reading and the Bill to the Committee, and in that time suffi cient expenses might be incurred to ruin a great many people. Those were considerations which be would venture to throw out for the consideration of the RiAht Hon. Gentleman, and he would suggest to him the propriety of taking steps for facilitating the winding up of railway companies, as few of the Bills had reached their second reading. The SOLICI TOR-GENERAL rose to support the proposit:ons which had been submitted by his Right Hon. Friend. The first matter which they had to consider was. ss hat were the evils which they were seeking to remedy ? The first great evil was thet which had been alluded to by his Honourable Friend who had just addressed the House, that these companies were totally new insatutions—something which had not before exist d, and therefore the law respe sting them was most cone t licated. The questions of law which arose were most embarrassing and difficult, in conse quence of the extent of the transactions, and the num ber of persons engaged in them. He found, from the statement which had been rex le to the House, that the railway Bills which had been passed the year before last, and last year, would, for their completion and carrying into effect, require uewarr's ef one buttered millions. It was the general complaint of the commer cial community of this Country, that before these Bilis could pass into a law, and the greater proportion of capital called in, the locking up of the deposits would keep out of the circula tion of the country a sum amounting to from ten to twelve millions of money. That would seriously interfere with the commercial operations of the country, in every one of its branches. They had heard this from the Noble Lord the Member for Liverpool, who had presented a petition contain ing complaints from Manchester and other parts of the country. They heard the loud complaints in the City, and in Scotland, that all commercial operations, large and small, from the opulent banker to the small tradesman, were depressed to an alarming degree by the want of that capital which constituted their means, and which wa' token from their hands and from the country by the continued deruant's of fitrther oii these schemes. How was this to be remedied? It had been sug gested and urged upon her Majesty's Government when this state of things was beginning to be felt, before the meeting of Parliament, that some measures should be adopted for selecting from the numerous sc homes brought under the attention of the Legislature those which might seem most necessary and reason able. He could not think that those who offered that suggestion had properly considered the difficulties of selecting from 500 schemes those which ought to be submitted. When they considered the numerous grounds and various ingredients which entered into an inquiry of that kind, as, for instance, which of the projected lines was the most direct, which passed through the most populous district., and other investigations of that nature, it was impossible to go through all these In quiries without exercising all the functions delegated to Sub- Committees. In fact, it was found impossible to make such a selection. All the commercial men and others who have given their attention to the subject were unable to make any practical suggestions that the House could safely adopt. There were four distinct classes wish whom they would have to deal. The first class was the provisional committee, or - directors, or the governing body. The second class was the original subscribers, who had subscribed the deed, bat had ceased to possess an interest in the project - The third class was the holders of scrip ; and t/ se fourth class those who had given credit to the compa' oy, and who were creditors in many cases to a large amor int. They now saw the state in which they were situated. It. was better that a plan should be submitted which would allow Parliament to select the best scheme, and this Bill would have that effect. As he said before, the promoters of many of those Bills were placed in great difficulty, for there was now no 'means of dissolving these schemes without the sanction of the m iginal shareholders, many of whom4sad parted with their mdse. If there were no means of dissolving those schemes, what would be the consequence of companies dissolving themselves? If there was a company—and he was sure a great majority of them were so—in which the great majority of the direrems were ho nest, and a great majority of the shareholders were honest, where they would be willing to dissolve, they were under this diffirmlty, that they were not legally able to do so, for they were 130und by their contract deed to carry out such works. They could not dissolve, they must proceed with the object of those. deeds or they might be proceeded against by actions in Ch aneery. they being bound by the various covenants into which they had entered. He could state on his own knowledge, th ere 'were many companies who were willing to give up, but for being so bound ; and they were thus compelled to go into Committee and incur great expense by employ ing engineers and witnesses in the inquiry. During the prevalence of the wild mania of speculation, cern-• panies which were supposed to have immense sums of money,. were projected, the unfortunate speculators in which, by ven turing to purchase shares, and by paying the deposes, rendered. themselves liable for the expenses, and if the Bills should pass , into law to subsequent calls hereafter, and possibly to the full amount of the company, or that portion of it for which they had subscribed their names. In some 150,000 ~ and one company, he knew 200,000 L were paid in to the Accountant-General, and there . was locked up not only from general circulation, but beyond the reaclz, as the law now stood, of those wife!' unate persons who had subscribed it, who had no power to abolish the company, so that their money was for ever away from their hands, and was ilobject to the Act of Parliament being obtained. But it was evident that three out of four of the Bills before- Parliament could not, on any reasonable foundation, hope to. receive the sanction of Parliament. Even if they were well advised to stop they were unable to do so, or to obtain their money from the Accountant-General,. and in the meantime the provisional directors, 10%0 alone had any control over the fund so deposio were obliged to continue their exertions in the chance of ob taining the Bill. Then, again, it was not the rejection of the Bill that would enable the company to dissolve itself,, and obtain the money from the Accountant- General. for distribution amongst the shareholders. The Bill so ight be rejected, and, although introduced into suce•assive Parliaments, might not stand the slightest chance of 'success, but yet in the face of all this the promoters must go on with the project in the endeavour to get the Bill in a future session. Still the money was locked up, expenses increased, and there vas no means of putting an end to them. The law, as his Hon. Friend stated, gave them co power to disso.ve. In the existing state of things they would have managing com mittee-men bringing actions against allottees and subscribers, and allottees arid subscribers against committee-men; but in the present state of the law it was impossible to say whether these actions would be maintainable or not. There could be no doubt, however, that these parties 'would go on bringing actions against each other, the one relying upon the decision of Wilmer arid Tobin, which he contended was no decision at all,. for the learned judge pronounced•no opinion upon it, and what he did ray was incorrectly reported in the newspapers, and the consequence was that upon the faith of the verdict in th& case, 300 actions were commenced by three companies alone,. and the other relying upon the decision of Walstead and Spot tiswode. Thus speculation having ended in railway shares. the parties commenced speculating in actions at law;; and really in his opinion there would be no end to the litigation and mischief. That all these evils could be re moved by Legislative measures it was in vain to hope, but he ventured to entertain a strong expec tation that if parliament hereafter adopted the Bill which would be submitted to them by Government, etim t o e t the hodl e oaf the subscription m proceeding reand in the m eant i me t h e present resolutions, the evils them selves m i g h t not i ndeed altogether be abolished, but they would at all' ev en t s rece i ve a most salutary cheek.---( Hear, g hear.) N ow , w h at would this Bill be ? Without going into the a dg l i n number , g of deed v shareholdersit h at of n shares hde the und e r tton obtaining akciow , between details, he mi g ht i n a f ew words possess the House ofthe sub fsnaeoecsteine m stantial parts o f t h e Bil l. In the f i rst place power would be given t of the A c t of Parliament, th rough the managing' s c i o d m er mit t t h e e propr i et y er e,to signi n g call It was proposed, that when the meeting should be convened, that proper machinery should be provided for taking by proxy, or personally, the votes of the shareholders, and if they so choose they might come to the resolution to dissolve the com pany at once, the number required to vote for that resolution being at least three. fifths of the whole. Proper provisions would also be made to enable trustees and all persons of an official cha racter to vote as such meetings, and if the required majority came to a determination at once to wind their affairs, their concern would be brought to a termination in the sense' anner as all partnership concerns were wound up. The directors would have power of possessing themselves of the funds' of the corn ! patty, which they would have to dispose of, in the first place, in the discharge of all I:abilities into which they had entered ; and, in the second place, they would have to pay the surplus in a fair proportion to such as were bona fide holders of shares in the company ; and he had hopes that there would he large surpluses in most cases. The pro posal of the Right Hen. Baronet would create no new liabili ties, it would only give relief to suoh as were desirous to re lieve themselves from the engagements which they had enteted into in a time of great excitement.—(Hear, hear.) The present proposal would involve no new difficulties ; its only object was to prevent the waste and useless ex penditure of the money of the public in foolish undertakings. It was obvious that some time must elapse before this Bill could pass, and what was to be done with the three or four hundred railway Bills now before Parliament, during the few weeks that must elapse before this Bill could pass into a law. To let these Bills go on without any check, would be allowing the evil to go on at the period of time when it was most pressing • , but, on the other ha n d, were t h ey to ta k e th e course suggested by his Hon. Friend ? His Hon. Friend suggested that they should do more than ela , sify these Bills; he proposed that they should at once suspend all th ese Bills from further progress, until some reaso na bl e time should e lt la w p s o e u d f o r be better the to allow in these m i e ti ngs to be called at once, and the Bills to be stopp e d. I n the first place, before theg of this Bill.—( Hear, hear-) petitions could be framed, it was necessary to have recourse to serious operation., which were certainly attended with some difficulty. Most extensive interests were involved in many of these schemes, and the proprietors, in some cases, would be compelled to relinquish their projects without having had any opportunity of express lug their assent or dissent. It would, perhaps, be advisable to postpone the consideration of some of these Bills to a future period, when sufficient time might be had for the pro prietors to decide on the course most prudent to be pursued. It was dpedroposed b y these resolutions, in case the company inten to be incorporated, that such meeting was constituted of persons producing scrip of this company representing one-third part of the capital proposed to be raised under this Bill, and it would appear, unless one-fifth should signify their assent, they would be overborne by the remaining shareholders. But then the Hen. Gentleman (Mr. Bernal) asked, would they prcceed on the assent of so small a number? To that he would reply, that by these resolutions an opportunity would be given to all the acripholders to come torwasd to express their sentiments on the, subject. If, however, four-fifths of them held back, and only one fifth came forward, that circumstance proved that it was a fit Bill to be entertained. No doubt cases might be cited where four-fifths of the, holders not coming forward showed an opposition on their part to the Bill, hut they would have again an opportunity of petitioning against it ; and it was competent to the Committee afterwards to reject the Bill on sufficient grounds being shown why they should come to such a decision. The assent of one-fifth went the length of inducing them to entertain the 8.11. When they considered that these resolutions would operate on every Bill, and that no Bill in the present state of public feeling would be entertained without a compliance with them, he considered that the most beneficial results would be the consequence. Various objec tions were started, and one with regard to persons who had a right to interfere, but who, by these resolutions, would not be ena bl e d t o do so. It was only those who could show that they . had really paid their deposit who ought to have a voice in assent or dissent at those meetings. It had been said that they ought not to take away the right of the original shareholders in voting at such meetings. He could by no merns agree to that view of the case. If they hat paid on their shares with the hitention of becoming bona fide shareholders, if they had taken up their scrip with the view of becoming investors in the undertaking, they would have stood by the schemes whether sue.cesstul or not. The fact of many of the original shareholders, however, having disposed of their scrip, they had no interest whatever from the Act cf sale. If the scheme turned out a beneficial one, it was not