The Sun. — London, England, 1846-06-17 00:00:00

After that prorate, he (Lord Stanley) naturally concluded that the ISoble Lord W 3.4 about to direct his atten• tion strictly - and exclusively to the speech of his Noble Friend, but he had listened with the deepest attention, and he might venture to say, that " not the whole. nor the greater part, nor the major part, nor a considerable part, nor a large portion, nor, indeed, any portion whatever, had been directed to the question at issue."—(Laughter.) The Noble Lord began by regretting that one like himself, not in the prime of life, had to deal with the question ; but he ( Lord Stanley) considered that the Noble Lord had done himself in justice. Indeed, he reminded him of a line in Milton : " Anon, a smiling cherub he appears, • So well he feigned." But not to delay their Lordships longer, he would say, that if they were not empowered to make an amendment, it was useless for them to have the Bill before them, and he considered that it was no infringement upon their Lordships' privileges to say that they could not alter the Bill without re jecting it altogether. To say that they had no voice in the settlement of the measure, because the alteration of a single clause was fatal to a money Bill, was not treating their Lord ships fairly. What was the use of having the measure before them, if they could not modify it when they considered it ne cessary, and especially when it so much affected their own in dividual interests ? When the Government proposed; on a Lew resolution of the House of Commons, to suspend the opera tion of the present corn-laws, a remonstrance having been made on the impropriety of such a course without consulting their Lordships, the Government acquiesced in it. His Noble and Learned Fr.end alluded to the Reform Bill, but he had forgotten the circumstances that attended it, though he was then one of the Government. The Reform Bill was lost, for it was carried by a majority of 1, and the Government thought it right to appeal to the country. It was not thought in those days either inexpedient or unconstitutional to refer to the sense of the country—(Hear, hear)—and the country did main tain the Government. The Bill was sent up to their Lord ships, and they made an amendment in it which was fatal 'o it. A new Bill was then sent up, and their Lordships ultimately agreed to it. Now, he did not see what parallel there could be drawn between the two cases. And another precedent of the Noble Lord had failed him. His Noble Friend went on to say that the price might be in creased ss. and more than ss. in the event of a fixed duty being imposed to that amount. He (Lord Stanley) did not un derstand that argument. He could not understand how the Noble Lord could state that a duty of ss. would increase the price of corn more than ss.—( Hear, hear.) He would new allude to the conclusion of his address, where he referred to cer tain combinations against this Bill. These combinations and coalitions he entirely disbelieved, and so far as the party `with whom he acted was concerned, he absolutely repudiated and denied their existence. He agreed, however, with the Noble Earl, who sat down before the Noble Lord, that the measure was supported by a strange combination of parties in both Houses—a majority of whom he sincerely be lieved disapproved of the measure, and he agreed also in the discretion of the Noble Earl who said that he would risk his chance of going to an election on this measure.—( Hear, hear.) He agreed with him also in thinking that the Government would have a strong disinclina tion to exercise a similar discretion.—( Loud cheers.) They rested their case upon ream', justice, and upon public opinion, and they would not be deterred from canvassing its merits from any apprehension they might entertain of the fate of the sugar daties, the Coercion Bill , or an y worse chance of defeat to which the Government might be subjected.—( Loud cheers. ) Re supposed they should be overpowered, but if they should be they would place before the country their case, and also pla ce before it the admissions made by two Noble Lords on the other side —that but for the fortuitous combination of parties this Bill would never have been brought forward. His Noble and Learned Friend said that Government would not resign. That appearded to him ( Lord Stanley) a very strange assertion of the Noble Lord. His Noble Friend, how ever, spoke like a man who thought the Government were strongly settled in power ; but though he did not doubt the since rity of the Noble Lord he had very serious doubts whether his anticipations would be realised, and if they were not he did not think the country would suffer by the change.—(Loud cheers. ) He would now state the reasons why he supported the principle of the fixed duty, though he did not altogether ap prove of it. At an early period of his life he had expressed an Opinion in favour of a fixed duty, but in consequence of the h'emmunications he at that time had with Mr. Huskisson, be had been persuaded by that Gentleman to adopt the principle of the sliding-scale, and his experience had since enabled him to say that the change had been a good ?Ile- The sliding-scale was productive of good to the producer in times of abundance, and to the consumer in times of scarcity; and if he were now called upon to choose a measure of protec tion, he would infinitely prefer the sliding-scale to the fixed duty. If the amendment now proposed had been brought forward at an earlier stage of the Bill, holding the opinions he did Upon a fixed duty, he would have opposed it ; but, under Present circumstances, he should support it. Their Lordships oad rejected a proposition for a sliding-scale, and they Were now called upon to vote for a fixed duty. Under these j eircumstances, therefore he should vote for the latter. In n addition, however, to its other advantages, in point o f revenue a fixed duty was not to be overlooked. He agreed With the Noble Lord, who stated that danger was to be appre hended in charging the principle of indirect to direct taxation. If they were to go on reducing) their surplus revenue, and sacrifice it year after year, and with a view of making reduc tions on the present duties, that danger would be inevitable, and the consequence would be that instead of a three years' income tax of the present amount, they would have an increased And a perpetual one. He warned them, therefore, against the dangerous nature of the present measure. They did not know Who the Government might be at the expiration of • three years, and notwithstanding the assurance of the Noble Lord, he doubted very much whether t he present Government would occupy that position. They ll might have an entire new Parliame n t, and hefore this ,"'""„ came into operation there mig h t als o be a new Govern 7cen,t• Why not wait till that period — the right of the people "' tnis country demanded it—and if ever there was a right Most dear to the people, it was a right to be consulted on a question of this maenitude. They had a right to a voice on such a measure, and if they had at all a right to be appealed t o now was the time. —( Cries of " Hear, hear.") -He agreed with the arguments of the Noble Lord on the cross-benches, that this measure would never have been brought forward but for the combination of parties alien to the principles of the party who proposed the measure, and who first brought it forward for other motives than that of passing it into a law.—( Cheers. ) The Marquis of LANSDOWNE hoped that the House ' would soon be delivered from the present discussion, and ' proceed with other important business. The •Neble and Learned Lord had addressed their Lordships that night in ' language peculiar to himself on the chimerical fears of those whe opposed this measure, but the Noble and Learned Lord had chimeras of his own . ( Hear, hear, and lau g hter. ) He (the Marquis of Lansdowne) had not sought his information from the same channels as his Noble and Learned Friend. His Noble Friend had stated that a meeting was called in a private house with regard to this Bill and for the purpose of adopting measures by a coalition of parties for the defeat of the Ministry ; and, of course, for t.be purpose of also dfeating the question before the House. ' 'eve. he could say that the meeting at that private house was not in any way connected with the present question—it was connected with the Coercion Bill.—(Hear, hear.) The sub ject entertained at that meeting was to agree not to protract the discussion upon the Coercion Bill ; and he would not allow his Noble Friend, at whose house that meeting was held, to be Tie subj ec t o f m i sre p r esentation with regard to that meeting. e entirely agree d with the arguments of his Noble Friend, the late Secretary for the Colonies, on many points. He Wo uld adher e t o the course which he had always expressed, and which he thought the proper course to take on any great question—namely, that that which would confer the greatest amount of benefit on the people Ras that which s hould be adopted with respect to the present question. He "nsideredt hat the final settlement of the measure was of per.. be importance.—(Hear, hear.) It was one which should le Placed on such a basis as would leave no room for a luture cause of complaint. He had never supported anything like a fixed duty in any other sense than as a fixed duty or the purposes of revenue. His Noble and learned Friend in 1825 opposed the sliding-scale ; he said he cared not for that scale, he cared not for it at all, and he wanted none of it. He thought at that time that a low fixed duty must be desirable for a revenue, but now he objected to that course.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord who spoke last, and the Noble Earl on the cross-benches, said that they proposed to adopt the child of those who supported the measure. Now it was well known that if they were to adopt that child, and that it were to fall into the tender mercies of the Noble Lords, it would, under their nurture, be found that in less than six months it would cease to have existence at all. The Noble Lords would adopt that child for the purpose of repeating the present measure, for if the amendment before the House should be adopted there would be a chance of altogether throwing out the Bill, and reit there would be a chance of a dissolution of Parliament.—( Hear, bear.) He was ready to make sacrifices for the ,purpose of settling the question. He would prophecy that after the lapse of a few years the question would not be left in the position it now was, for it would not be possible to raise any discussion on it then, if, its effects would be such as he expected If, how ever, the effects would n ot be such, and the landed interest was seriously affected, then be believed there would be no difficulty in inducing the L e g islature to reconsider the question, 20 as to effect an altera tion favourable to the agricultural in terests. He supported the Bill, not because he thought it would cause a great or sudden depreciation in the price of food, but because it woul d o p erate to p revent an y great rise in the price of that article. —( Hear.) He for one had no fear of any sud den importations of foreign grain taking place, such as to disturb to any extent the markets ot this asstcount They had Ireland lyin g by them, with cheap labour, so inundate them with prod uce reduced in value, and yet that had not taken place. en Ireland they had 1,100,000 cultivators of the land, which raised about fourteen millions in value yearly, while in this country there was a less number of agriculturists, anti yet they raised the produce to the amount of thirty-four millions, so that five Irish labourers did not produce more than two Eng lish ones. There was, therefore, no danger from Ireland ; and if there was cone from that quarter, they need not apprehend any from countries that were much more distant.—( Hear.) On these grounds he must support the Bill before the H ouse, and resist the amendment proposed by the Noble Earl ( Wi cklow ). Lord BROUGHAM rose to explain. When such personal allusions were made as had been by the Noble Marquis who had just sat down, he felt it his duty to occupy the House a short time in explanation. The Noble Marquis greatly misappre hended him if he thought tha T t h h e e l ( i Lord Brougham) meant to cast any reflection on him. he (Lord Brougham) had obtaine d oble Marquis had said that information of passed irs private habitations in aa surreptitious mwahnantehr—ad that he had derived it in Secret u ht oandu publishing u jnusswt whatiefir able way. To that statement gasb, ld had passed in private dwellin what if there were reporters at the rrivate meeting re tecr the length and that molrength of ferred to, or, if not reporters, at least actually a report of the meeting appeared, half a column, in a newspaper, on Mende (Hear.) He at least had read a report of that length , setting forth what had passed at the meeting, and the parties vehoetwtin" present at the meeting. It might have been improper to report ere the proceedings, or the report might have been incorrect, still there was no doubt of its having appeared. A friend came to him with the report, and expressed great alarm at the de cision, only he stated that it was privately determined to delay the Coercion Bill as much as possible in the House of Commons till the Corn Bill was secure.—(Hear, hear. ) He had seen two others who gave another version of the proceecing, but who admitted something was kept back from the published report, and that the feeling of those present at the meeting was, that though no resolution was agreed to, they would take care that the Coercion Bill debate should not c.ose till the Corn Bill was safe through the House of Lords. Such was the information, which was not ferreted out of a tri tate dwelling, but was to be met with at the club, houses, au I every other public place of political resort.— (Cries of ".ilivide, divide.") If they would persist in crying out to interrupt him, he should move the adjournment of the House, and speak on the motion then. His object was to set himself right with the House on the subject ; He must detain their Lordships a few minutes longer. He did complain that there was two hours' debate, and that during the whole of that time they had spoken so wide of the subject before them, but he was much more surprised at the very serious charge which the Noble Lord had made against him, and which, if he did not explain or retract, he ( Lord Brougham ) should most indignantly repel, cast from him, and repudiate the insinuation with which the Noble Lord closed his remarks. He (Lord Brougham) did state that he believed the present THE gUN, LONDON, WEITINESDAT_ EVENING, JUNE 17, ma. that should be incompatible with the. inTeresli of the public and the companies concerned. Now these were the simple conclusions at which they had arrived. And the Hon. Mem ber opposite would bear in mind that, in the first instance, the Caledonian was considered to be the best for Scotland at large, and they left the question as to the best railway accommodation for the western district to a future decision. They were de cidedly of opinion that that district should be immediately pro vided with railway accommodation.' lie had felt himself called upon to lay this short statement. of facts before the House. Mr. ESTCOURT rose, and was almost inaudible in the gallery, but we understood him to say that he was glad he had heard the opinions of the Chairman of the Committee last year. He begged the House to recollect that that Com mittee had given its decision on evidence such as was laid before them, and the facts as they were there stated no doubt appeared to justify that decision. Both schemes went into Committee, and that Committee it seemed preferred one of them on the grounds then laid down. But that Evi dence was also introduced, no doubt, by the Niths dale Company, and that was the time when the Caledonian ought to have opposed it ; now to come in and oppose it, however good a line it might be, however convenient for the country, was too much. All that had been done by the Com mittee of this year was, that they disallowed one expression used in the decision of last year's Committee, "that there was not sufficient traffic for both lines," and gave it as 'their opinion in the decision they had come to, that there was traffic enough for both lines. Mr. AINSWORTH said that an impression seemed to have been made on several Members of the House that the Com mittees of this year refused to hear evideive ; such seemed to he the iinprersiom made on_the Hon. Alernber for Perth. _ . IVllathacibeen said in that Committee was simply that they were ready to receive all information that might be offered on the merits of the line, but they had nothing to say with ought that had been done by a Committee of last year. They listened with the greatest attention to the whole of the immense quantity of evidence adduced before them in order that they might come to a just decision on the merits of the Bill. It had been stated that theCaledonian and Nithsdale were rival lines, but this was not so, and he considered the distinction drawn by the lion. Member for Oxford was a fur one. The Caledonian was given last year as a direct line to the north, and without the slightest regard to affording railway communication to the eastern and western districts of Scotland ; it was not granted with any view to intersect those rich mineral and agricultural dis tricts. They had the evidence of parties from Kilmarnock and from the mineral districts, and of every landed proprietor, all of whom were praying that the Nithsdale line might be made, as it would promote the interests of the country at large ; in short, they had the evidence, it seemed, of the whole population, whose prayer was to the same effect, and the country from Dumfries up to Kilmarnock had been illumninated by the decision of the Committee.— ( Hear, hear.) And there could be no doubt that it would he a very great benefit to the whole country at large. It appeared to him that the Committee last year looked forward to this Caledonian line as connecting the South with the North of Scotland, and the Committee this year viewed it in this light when they refused to pass the North British Railway, as they c:msidered it would compete with the Cale donian Railway; but . they could not take that view of the Dumfriesshire line, as no reason was adduced why the im portant districts of Dumfriesshire, Kilmarnock, and Ayrshire, should not have the communication with the Dumfries line. —(Loud cries of" Divide, divide.") Mr. LOCKHART considered that the Committee were justified in passing the Dumfriesshire project, but that they were not justified in cutting off branches projected by the Caledonian, which in the aggregate amounted to seventy miles. !gr. ENVART said, as he represented the district which the Nithsdale Railway was proposed to traverse (Dumfriesshire), he wished to state that upon its success depended in a great mea sure the prosperity of those large districts. He would not say one word more, except to express his hop e , t h at a f ter the unanimous opinion of the House and of the Honour able Member for Oxford in favour of the project, the Hon. Member (Mr. H. Johnstone) would not per severe in his motion. (The Hon. Gentleman sat down amidst loud cries of " Divide, divide, ") Mr. CURTEIS wished to ask the Honourable Member for Renfrewshire whether he was a reader of the Edinburgh Ad verti,f,r.--(Cries of " Divide, divide.") He wished to ask the Honourable Member this question, because he thought it a most unbecoming thing for any lion. Gentleman to go to a public meeting and say that the decision of the Committee was a partial one, for that was what the remarks of the Hon. Gentleman amounted to. lie stated that the Committee had been dazzled by the case attempted to be made out by the promoters.—( Loud cries of " Divide, divide.") He did think there was something very im proper, and indeed something very unfair, in the remarks made against the chairman o f t h at C ommittee. He did not care one farthing whether they set aside the decision of the Committee or not; he did not care in the slightest degree whether or not they upset the vote of the Committee; but he would say what was the use of sending Bills before a Committee when the decision of that Committee was to be opposed in that House by Hon. Members for no other reason than that they differed from that decision? All the Scotch Members in that House were up in arms against the d ec i s i on o f t h e Committee.—(Great confusion.) He believed that there was a Gentleman who had just entered the House who expressed himself very strongly at a public meeting against the decision of the Committee, and he believed that the Hon. Member went so far as to say that the decision of the Committee was not a fair one. He would not allow any one to say that he had been influenced by any but the most impartial motives in voting in that Committee, and he would take the first opportunity of fully contradicting that imputation when he met that gentleman in private. He thought such conduct was most unprecedented and unworthy. He wished to know if the lion. Member had read the report of that meeting in the Edinburgh Adertiser. He would hand the paper to the Hon. Member for his perusal.—( Loud cries of " Divide, divide," during which the Hon. Member handed the paper to Mr. P. Stewart.) The Hon. Member proceeded amidst great confusion. Hon. Members ought not to go to public meetings where all were on one side, and there attack a Committee who could not be present to deny or contravert what was stated.—(Hear. ) Strangers were then ordered to withdraw. On our re-admission, after an exclusion of nearly two hours, we found that the numbers were— For the motion that the report be considered ... 119 For the amendment .. Majority .... . . —2 Mr. HUME then objected to the votes of some Hon. Mem bers, as they were interested in a pecuniary mariner in the railway. A long discussion then ensued, and the House again divided, when the numbers were— For the motion For the amendment Majority against the Bill —4 11r. EW ART suggested that the motion should be post poned for a week. It was in vain for the House to purify its Committees if it admitted of such verdicts in its own body ; verdicts obtained by the most indirect motives. After some remarks from Mr. GREENE, which did not reach the gallery, Mr. CHRISTIE said that under all the circumstances this second division must have been anticipated. The motion was lost by a majority of two, and it appeared that there were two directors of the Caledonian Company amongst the majority. The House ought to allow further time for consideration. Mr. WARD said that the observations made by the Hon. Member were most unfair. 121 Members had voted on one side, and 119 on the other. How many Members did the Hon. Member require to give their votes in order that the sense of the House on a private Bill might be ascertained? Lord PALNIERSTON suggested the adjournment of the debate,' which would more fairly meet the views of all parties, and concluded by moving the adjournment of the debate. The SPEAKER' t h en put the question, and after some further conversation, Mr. LABOITCHERE strongly urged upon the House the necessity for supporting the decisions of its Committees, and should be most happy to let the House have another opportu nity of considering this question. Mr. PAKING TON agreed with the Hon. Gentleman that it was most important for the House to support and respect the decision of its Committees, but this was a very par ticular case. It in fact established a dangerous precedent, and showed the inconvenience which resulted from a Committee of this year reversing the decision of the Committee of last year. For his part he was ready to agree to an adjournment, but he confessed he felt strongly disposed to s upport the Committee of last year.—( Hear, he ar. ) Mr. AINSWORTH po i nted out to the House that the evi dence brought before the Committee of last year was entirely different to that which induced the Committee of this year to pass the Bill. He should support the motion of the Hon. Member for Kilmarnock. Sir T. COLERROOKE complained that their legislation with regard to railways was most defective. There was no principle to guide them, and the consequence was the decision of one Committee was not binding upon another. Something ought to be done to render their system more binding and uniform, and more in accordance with the principles of common sense. The House then divided on Lord Palmerston's motion for retur i t adjournment, when th ere appeared— For the moti on Against n to the galle r y w e f oun d Maj,wity in f avour o f i t On our Mr. PARKER suggesting that both the Bills should be postponed for a twelvemonth, and then parties would have an opp Irtunity of reconsidering their respective positions. Mr. HU lIE said there had been a good deal of crimination and recrimination indulged in in the progress of this discussion on the part of some lion. Members, but being the humble indi vidual who suggested that the votes should be tested, he begged to assure the douse that he did it upon principle, and without the slighest intention of wounding the feelings of any Hon. Member.—( Hear, hear.) After a few words from Mr. BOUVERIE, . =1 Mr. HUDSON expressed it as his opinion that the question ought to be discussed, not in the light of a private measure, but as a matter of public policy. He protested against being thought to have any shares in this undertaking. At the same time he believed that shareholders, if there were any in the House, and if they voted at all, would vote on public grounds, and consider only the public interests. The Hon. Gentleman sat down amid cries of " Divide." After a few words from the mover and seconder in reply, the House divided, when there appeared— Against the amendment In favour of it Majority against the amendment The debate was accordingly adjourned till Tuesday next. Messengers from the Lords brought up several Bills, which were ordered to lie on the table. BATTLE OF THE GAUGES. Mr. GREENE presented a petition from a number of 1 carriers of the metropolis praying the House to adopt some 1 measures to secure the uniformity of gauges. Sir G. CLERK rose to call the attention of the House, pursuant to notice, to a case of considerable importance, the question of uniformity of gauge, and to devise some means for obtaining a gauge throughout the country of a uniform charac ter. A commission was appointed last year, upon the motion of the Hon. Member for Stockport, to consider what measures should be adopted upon this subject. A report had been made by that Commission, and the Board of Trade were requested to consider what practical measures could be adopted for carrying their resolutions into effect. Their report had been laid before the House. No person could doubt the inconvenience of having a diversity or break of gauge. At the same time, when it was considered the large sums of money which had been ex pended by these companies in constructing their lines, it was hard to compel these parties at their own expense to alter the gauges. It was also a measure not to be entertained that the charge should be made at the expense of the Crown. Several ingenious mechanical con trivances had been laid before the Committee for the purpose of obviating these evils. The Government had to consider the whole bearing of the case, both with respect to lines al ready-constructed or those about to be constructed. The Com. missioners considered that the South Devon line, which was merely a continuation of the Great)Western Railway, should be allowed to remain a broad gauge line. They also thought it desirable that the South Wales should be allowed to be con structed on the broad gauge. There were two lines which were passed last year by the Parliament in which clauses were inserted compelling the parties to lay down, if it was required , a narrow g au g e u pon these lines. These lines were the Oxford and Rugby and the Oxford, Wor ceer, and Wolverhampton. It was proposed by the Com missioners to compel the parties f ort h w i th to lay down the narrow gauge according to the terms of their Acts. With regard to all railways hereafter to be sanctioned, the Board of Trade proposed that the Government should nn permit any line to rnaie upon any other than the gaugo of 4 feet 8L- inches. This recommendation the Government pro- , posed to carry out with certain modifications, which could be seen from the resolutions he was about to submit to the House. He knew it would be difficult to resist the application, which • would doubtless be made, for making lines in connexion with the Great Western. He hoped however, that it Lee House should sanction th e resolutions which he would propose to the House, • that it would effectually prevent parties frum coming forward to construct broad gauge lines in the country north of the Great Western Railway. It was owing- to the utter im possibility of effecting any uniformity of gauge by any equable mode of proceeding—either by compelling the Great Western to lay down the narrow gauge on their line, at their own expense or at the ex pense of the Crown —that the Government felt it their duty to propose for the consideration of the House the resolu tions of which he had given notice. The House most bear in mind that the Great Western Company had led the way in all the great improvements which had taken place in railway tra velling. The narrow gauge had now nearly come up to the speed of the broad gauge. Taking all the circumstances into consideration, he was not prepared to state that there was any superiority in the case of the broad over the narrow gauge. He would, therefore, mova the resolutions of which he had given notice:- 1. That no line shall hereafter be formed on any other than the four flet eight and a half inch gauge, excepting lines to the south of the existing- line hams London to Bristol, and excepting ,mall branches of a few nsil , s in length, in innisdiate co:lnes:ion with the Great Wester n Railsvay ; but that no such line as above excepted sh a ll Lr c „ m „ t i o „ eti Parliament, un l ess a wei a l report, shall have been male tiv the Committee on the Bill, cetling f-irth the reasons which have lad the Committee to advise l!nat such hoe should be formed on any other than the four feet eight. and a half inch gauge s. That, unless by the consent of the Legislature, it shall not be permitted to the directors of any radway company to alter the gauge of such railway. 3. That, iu order to complete the general chain of narrow gauge communication from the north of England to the southern coasts, and to the port of Bristol, any suitable measures should be promoted to form a narrow gauge link from Gloucester to Bristol, and also from Oxford to Basing stoke, or by any shorter route connecting the proposed Rugby and Oxford line witk the, South-Western Railway. 4. That the South \Vales line, and its branches to Mon mouth and Hereford, should be permitted to be formed on the broad gauge, as sanctioned by their Act. 5. That the Rugby and Oxtbrd line, and the Oxford, Wor cester, and Wolverhampton line, should be permitted to be formed on the broad gauge, as sanctioned by their Acts : that the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade shall exercise the powers conferred upon them by the several Acts, and shall require that additional narrow gauge rails shall forthwith be laid down front Rugby to Oxford, and from Wolverhampton to the junction with the Birmingham and Gloucester line; and that if it should hereafter appear that there is a traffic requiring accommodation on the narrow gauge from the Staffordshire districts to the southern coast, any suitable measure shall be promoted by Parliament to form a narrow gauge link from Oxford to the line of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. Mr. LA BOUCHERE said that the question which the Right lion. Gentleman had submitted to the House was one of the most important with respect to the railway interests of the country that could be submitted. He confessed that if he thought that it was necessary for the public interest of the country that all the railways throughout the country should be on the narrow gauge, it would not be the expense of the alteration of the gauge that would deter him from supporting the alteration. He did not wish to enter into any discussion of the merits of the two gauges. But any one who had travelled on the Great Western must have felt that it was an easy mode of travelling, and that the railway was a great un dertaking. Look, again, at the effect of competition on rail ways of different gauges. Taking these circumstances into consideration, and looking at the fact that the railway system was still in its infancy, he should feel no difficulty in pronouncing an opinion against the broad gauge. He thought there were evils in a diversity of gauge, which would in duce the House to say, (We, is paribus, that railways of different constructions to the present might be created. There was one part of the resolutions on which he would venture to throw out some hints for the consideration of the Right Hon. Gentleman. There was one point which recommended that both the broad and the narrow gauge should be constructed on the same line. He was of opinion that that double system should be admitted only in special cases. In the case of the Birmingham and Ox ford, and the Birmingham, Dudley, and Wolverhampton Rail ways, he would suggest to the Government whether it might not be allowed to establish the double line, and also in cases of the like description. He held that the decision on the gauges should be decided by public opinion alone, and that no board, whatever might be their authority, should be suffered to pronounce a dictum which could not be appealed from. The Hon. Gentleman then briefly adverted to the ex ercise of the powers conferred on the Boat(' of Trade, and concluded by saying that he was of opinion that the Govern ment had adopted the best course under the circumstances that it was possible for them to adopt. Mr. HUME could not. agree with the Government in the course that they were now taking. He would fully confess that formerly he was in favour of the broad gauge, and it was only since he had perused the report of the Board of Trade that he was at all altered in his opinion. He thought the Commissioners had come to a wise judgment—they had stated that a break of gauge was a great inconvenience. The broad gauge had been carried on with great public spirit, but still he was not satisfied that it was the more proper. The railways extended, he believed, to 2,200 miles, and he wished to ask himself whether it was possible to have a universal broad gauge? He thought that every additional mile that was added to the broad gauge, was only increasing the difficulty of rail way legislation. He hoped that the House would agree to the first resolution of the Commissioners, that the gauge of rail way should not exceed four feet and a half. He thought the intentions of the Government, if carried out, would only in crease the difficulty in which the gauges were already enve loped. Perhaps an intermediate gauge might be found, in after years, to be superior to either the broad or the narrow gauge. The opinion of the House ought to limit, at least for the present, the construction of railways to the narrow gauge alone. He would submit, in answer to the motion of the Right Hon. Gentleman, the following amendment :—That the gauge of 4 feet 8 inches be declared by the Legislature to be the gauge to be used in the construction of all railways, in after years, in Great Britain. Sir - G. GREY thought, in order to prevent the Great Western Company from completing their continuous line to the Western Coast, by means of the Cornwall and South Devon Rail way, it would be necessary to allow the Right Hon. Gentleman's motion to pass. With regard to the third resolution, he was not prepared at present to carry cut its provisions. It would only increase speculation in the market, and he thought that until some tangible schemes were produced, the House should suspend its judgment. He should decidedly object to the fourth resolution. The South Wales Railway had already been passed, and the broad gauge line had been declared to be the proper gauge for it.. The same remark applied to the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line, with the excep tion that the Board of Trade possessed the power of com pelling the company to lay down rails on the narrow gauge. With these exceptions he was prepared to support the substance of the resolutions. Mr. E. ELLICE had adjourned the Committee of which he was chairman that day in order to get at the opinion of the House with respect to the gauges on the Bristol and Birmingham line at the Gloucester and Stonehouse Junction. The Midland Company proposed to alter the broad gauge between Stonehouse and Bristol to the narrow gauge ; hut such a proceeding was contrary to the spirit of the resolutions of the House. He had been teased with the opinions of counsel on the subject, and had heard a multitude of witnesses, but could not form a competent opi nion. He bad adjourned his Committee for the opinion of the Government, so that he might be guided in coming to judg ment on the subject. Mr. CHARLES RUSSELL said, it was his intention to support the resolutions of her Majesty's Government, and should oppose the amendment. It would be a great injustice to compel the supporters of the broad gauge to alter their gauge to the narrow line, after the immense sums they had expended in the broad gauge. He had no objection to the repot tof the Board of Trade ; it was plain, short, and above all it was prac ticab!e. The broad gauge was to have possession of one side of the country, and the narrow gauge the other; and the report ordered that in particular cases the narrow gauge should be laid down in addition to the broad. The Government he thought had acted wisely in not binding themselves to either gauge:; that was in not ,expressing itself in favour of the narrow gauge. The broad gauge had advantages over the narrow, independently of speed and power. It afforded more accom • modation to trade, and was far more convenient for passengers. He admitted that a break of gauge was attended with some degree of inconvenience, but he thought the evil, if evil it could be called, had been greatly exaggerated. They had as yet only the experience of one break of gauge, and that occurred at the junction of two lines whose proprietors were opposed to each other, or rather the narrow gauge company adopted a policy antagonistic to the broad gauge company. The broad gauge, it had been proved beyond a doubt, could be worked more economi, , ally than the narrow, and this enabled a broad-gauge company to carry passengers cheaper than a narrow. Under these circumstances, he thought the narrow gauge line, the only narrow gauge ine which existed in the Great Western district, ought to be changed. The Great Western Company had done all they could to effect that object, bnt hitherto without success. They had offered to convert the narrow into the broad gauge, or to lay down an additional line on the broad gauge, but it had been refused. Still, how ever, the Great Western Company did not object to the reso lutions, and he, for one, should give them his most cordial support. Mr. CHOLMONDELY said it was important that some tribunal should be established to whom should be referred dis puted questions as to the applicability of either gauges to par ticular districts, or great injustice must eventually be inflicted on many parties. He would mention a case where injustice would be done through the, want of such a tribunal, or rather through the decision of the Board of Trade. The House was aware that the Great Western line already went to Oxford, while last year a Bill was passed for extending it on to Wor cester and Wolverhampton. Now after, or perhaps before, the passing of that Bill certain parties suggested that it would be a gre t public advantage, particularly to Irish traffic, if that line were continued on from Worcester, through Wales, to Portdynllaen, but it was discovered that the traffic of the district was of so meagre a character as not to justify the construction of such line by an independent com pany. Ultimately, however, the Great Western Company, seeing the necessity of shortening the communication between the metropolis and Ireland, were induced to take up such a scheme, and last session it was sanctioned by a Committee of that House, and it stood in the other House in the position of a pri vileged Bill. Now, if these resolutions were carried, the line could not be made upon the broad gauge, and might in con sequence be altogether abandoned, or at all events, if it were carried out, it would involve another break of gauge at Worcester. Now he thought this was a hard case, and it served to convince him, and he hoped it wouldconnrvitnricbentnhael House too, of the necessity of establi s hi ng some boat dto whom such cases as these could be referred.—( Hear. Mr. M. GIBSON said th e P ort d yn ll aen Railway C) ompany having obtained an Act from that House to make the line on th e b roa d it could not, or a t l ea:t i t ought not, gauge he tho ug ht to interfered with by these resolutions. But he rose for the of law h purpose o r a f askingr than question, which m i g h t per h aps be a question a question co m i ng un d er these resolutions. He w t an e ted ia to know if a railw a y company, having obtained power to make a line on the broad gauge, had thepower of making it on the narrow as well as the broad, although there is no mention of the narrow gauge in their Act? He asked this question because last year a branch railway was sanctioned on the broad gauge from Yeovil and Taunton, and now he understood that the Great Western Railway proposed to carry their line to Yeovil, and the South- Western which was on the narrow gauge , pro posed to carry th e i rs to Taunton, and the consequence was the promoters of the branch passed in the last session were anxious to make it upon the narrow as well as the broad gauge. Sir GEORGE CLERK said he had not legal know ledge enough to enable him to justify his answering the question of the Honourable Member. He begged leave to state also, in answer to the Honourable Baronet the Member fur Devonport, who ask ed, in reference to the Oxford and R ug b y line, w h ere power was already given to lay down r a il s on the broad and narrow gauges, whether it would be necessary to receive again the sanction of the Legislature, that any additional sanction was unnecessary. The Member for Coventry, th e c hairman of the c om p an y for the construc tion of th e connecting trunk of railway between the north of England and the south coast, a line from Rugby, suggested that 3 --- _ Gowernw eet would not fulfil the wishes of these who desired r thing which ceery Englishman required. The decision which to' see a change—that there would, in fact, be no change in the ; the Committee had come to in June this year was precisely Government, and yet his Noble Friend took upon himself to ! different to the decision: in July, 1845, when the two make a mist groendiess insinuation against him. He took lines underwent an investigation for six weeks, ending upon himself to state that no doubt he ( Lord Brougham) in the approval of the Caledonian Company, and he showed, by the zeal of his defence, that he believed that the rejection of the other. He stated at the meeting that he was Government would not go out. That statement was cheered sure the Committee were not aware. of the merits of the case, by some Noble Lords, wh o k new n o t the facts ; it was cheered ! else the y, not have come to such an unjust decision. by some profoundly ignorant o f th e t r ansaction of the last He stated also that there was still the report to be considered ' seven years with regard to protection. both in and out of Par- when the House of Commons could be appealed to on the sub liament ; it was cheered by those who bad not the ! j ect ; and if such re p orts were not to he considered in a bona same means of k now i ng the facts which his Noble Friend 1 fide manner, to bring them before the House under that name had or might have.—( Hears) His Noble Friend had not a ! would be a mockery. If this consideration was not successful, shadow of a shade of ground for making the imputation, that reversing the derision, he said they had then the House his( Lord ferougham's)motives in defending the measures of the of Lords to apply to, where any aristocratic witnesses present Government arose from the knowledge that they did that might be taken would only be estimated at the intrinsic not intend t o go ou t o f o ffice. He would ask their Lordships value of their evidence. He stated this, because one Noble what he had ga i n ed by taking the part lie had in aid of the Duke. who was adverse to the Dumfries line last year gave present Government? He called upon Noble Lords who sat i evidence in its savour. this year. He said then that if justice upon the Ministerial benches—from his Noble and Gallant was to be done, this decision must be reversed. When the Friend the Noble Duke opposite, who knew to what he ( Lord I Committee met, they seemed to have been under the impres- Brougham) alluded, down to the latest admitted into the sion that they were proceeding to a new trial of an old subject, Cabinet, who knew less —to say whether his 1 and, accoldingly, the other party moved for the evidence of defence of the present Government arose from any last year. interested motives.—( Hear, hear.) He called upon all of An Hoer. MF.MBER here rose to explain, but was called to them to come forth and state whether his motives in defending order. their conduct were not of the purest kind. It was no fault of Mr. P. M. STEWART continued to say that he had his in theirs ; it was his own fault that he was now out of office, formation from those who were better acquainted with the de although he supported the present Government.—( Hear, tails than himself, and he certainly was informed that counsel h ear .) The Government was no sooner formed than he —he thought Mr. Cockburn—applied fur the evid e nce of last declined, firmly, but respectfully declined, the most high and year, but it was refused by the Correnittee. What, then, brilliant offers of emolument. This should not have been he asked, were those facts which had affected the decision of the wrung from him, but from the imputation which had been con- Committee of last year ? There were two schemes proposing veyed, and he believed unintentionally conveyed, in the state.. to Iroceed into Scotland by Carlisle ; these two were brought ments of his Noble Friend. He certainly had chosen before the public—Commissio n ers were appoi n ted by the Board to be unconneeied in office, to hold no office whatever, either of Trade to investigate both of them—the very same schemes judicial or other, under, or in connexion with, the present as were now before the llouse. 'Those Commissioners Government, for reasons of his own—for reasons applying to having made their investigation, gave their decision in favour his personal convenience, and from no disrespect to the mem- of the Caledonian, as the best of the two schemes. That Corn hers of the Government. He deemed it fit that the debate mission was appointed in 1841, but it was not till 1844 that should not close without making this statement. His Noble subscriptions could be get up sufficient for the company pro- Friend opptsiie, doubtless, did not mean to cast any reflection ceeding with their operations. Here lie claimed the help of the upon his • statements, but simply that he had acted Board of Trade , for they had interfered in a most obvious improperly in di sc h a rging his humble duty in de- manner. The Board gave their decision in favour of the Ca fence of the Government. Now one word more, and ledonian, because, in their opinion, there was not traffic suffi he had done. He had never cast any imputation cient for both lines. Both schemes, however, were now upon the motives of the protection party ; he had merely brought before the House. He would not mention the sums blamed them for not acting with better party motives in their expended in the contest ; for he thought it would cast a slur on attempt to defend this measure. His statement was, that that House, that public undertakings must be burdened with there was not likely to be any change in the Government. so great a cost. The Caledonian passed both Houses last year, Nothing could be fairer, more open, and more well-principled and on the 31st July it received the royal assent. Since than the conduct of the protection party with respect to this then contracts had been entered into, as many as 10,090 measure.—( Hear, hear.) He once more begged to men were employed on the line, and as much as apologise to their Lordships for not entering upon 200,0001. had been laid out, although the other scheme had the ss. duty, but he might shortly state that he believed been put forward as not being a competing line ; .but the that it would not operate well for the interests of the country. chairman of the Nithsdale Company said at a meeting of that He also begged to apologise to the Noble Lord opposite for company that they might rejoice, for they had broken the the remarks which he found himself called upon to make with back of the Caledonian at last. The map was faith respect to the insinuation he had made to him. fully drawn as regarded the districts through which this line The Earl of BESBOROUGH felt himself called upon to was proposed to pass. Was there anything, he would ask explain that the principal, perhaps the sole object of the meet- the Hon. Member, required in a map beyond showing dic ing at Lord John Russell's, was to consider what course should tinctly the juxta-position of the railroad ?—( Hear, hear.) be taken with reference to the Irish Coercion Bill. Lord And as regarded the traversing of the country, and the juxta- John Russell distinctly begged of those present at the meeting position of the railroad, he would maintain that not unnecessarily to protract the discussion on that Bill. the map was sufficient for every purpose of that nature. It was Lord BROUGHAM—My informant seems to have been alleged that it represented the line as too near Dumfries, and pretty nearly correct. too far from Carlisle. The original plan of the Caledonian Their Lordships then divided, when there appeared— was laid down by Mr. Locke, the engineer, and Annan was in- For the amendment Against it ... Majority The House then resumed. springing from the main trunk line at Carlisle, and a north The CHAIRMAN reported progress, and obtained leave to sit branch near Glasgow. But what had they done ? They had again on Friday next, awarded the construction of those branches to their opponents. The House then adjourned at a Quarter to Two o'clock. Now he would ask the House to consider this most impor tant expenditure of 2,000,0091. on the construction of one line. It had been plainly stated that there was traffic only for one line, and that the Caledonian line was merely a Es per cent. line with all its expenditure. The Committee appeared to have acted in a most anti-Caledonian spirit,—a spirit for which he ' could not account. Fur a length of seventy miles there was a strictly Caledonian line. By this fell swoop of the Committee they had refused to give the Caledonian, for a length of seventy miles, one single branch.—( Hear.) It hail been reported by the Board of Trade that there was traffic only for one line. The Caledonian had faithfully discharged their duties. Why were they not permitted to go on and finish their work ? And if they did not properly carry out the spirit of their undertaking, let Parlia ment visit them with all the vengeance they could exercise, but let them not pretend to say that this line was not a competitor. He would ask them to say whether between 300,0001. and 40.1,000/. had been expended by the Caledonian Company ? He asked whether that was the way to dispose of the public money without any reasons being assigned ? He asserted that he was not interested in this matter, further than being a director of the Caledonian Company, and he was glad to be able tc afford that information to his Hon. Friend, who appeared to feel no sympathy for him. He had no interest in it beyond that. His constituents and friends were strongly in favour of the line, and last session he presented a petition from them in favour of the Bill, but after the Legislature had given its decision in favour of the Caledonian, all the constituents on earth should not induce him to play so foul a part, to turn round against those who, under the sanction of Parliament, had em barked their capital in the undertaking, and support their old competitor, who, like a snake, had been lying in the grass for the last few months. In truth, the present Bill was the same as the one which came before the House in the last session of l'arliament, only it was under a different name, but he trusted the House would not allow it to pass, and at the same time require the Caledonian proprietors to complete the task which they authorised them to take in the last session of Parliament. Mr. HUME wished to ask whether the Committee were unanimous or not? Sir W. CLAY was understood to reply that they were per fectly so. Lord JAMES STEWART said it was not his intention to have addressed the House, but after what had fallen from his Hon. Friend the Member for tZenfrewshire, who appeared anxious to support a huge monopoly, he felt it indispensibly necessary to trouble the House with a few observations upon this important Bill. His flow Friend had told the house that the Committee upon the Caledonian Bill sat for six week', and that at the end of that period, after carefully consi:fering the matter, the Committee came to the decision that time preamble to the Bill had been proved; but his Hon. Friend carefully avoided stating that the Committee was not unanimous in that opinion. He did not tell the House that the Noble Lord the Member for Plymouth was opposed to the decision of the Committee. Now, with regard to the merits of the Bill itself, let him remind the House, that Ayr was one of the most important counties in Scotland,—a county which abounded in rich minerals that were rapidly and daily becoming more and more developed; and he had no doubt the knowledge of this fact weighed with the Corn mitteee in coming to this decision. The line, too, passed through the whole of the important towns of the district who had peti tioned strongly in favour of the line. Most of the principal landed proprietors were favourable to the line, and to show the estimation in which it was held, he might mention on its being made known that the Bill had passed it was made the subject of a general rejoicing. Mr. FOX MAULE said, before the House divided, he must be allowed to say a few words upon this important subject. He was connected with neither company, and was only interested in obtaining the best trunk line from 'England to the North of Scotland. In 1839, it would be remembered, a Commission was ap pointed by Government to examine the county, with a view of discovering the best trunk line from England to Scotland. The Commission discovered, after a very careful investigation, that the county was exceedingly poor, and that any line of railway running through it must depend upon the through traffic to Edinburgh and Glasgow. They were, therefore, in clined to think that only one line could be maintained, and they reported what they thought would be the best and proper line. In 1841 the line laid down by the Commissioners was adopted by a company who enrolled themselves under the name or title of the Caledonian Company, and in the course of time an oo r t h t e i t r l e c o o m f t p h a e n yp Glasgow,res e nte Duott s e fr l e t s o , a t o h d e c c o a u r l n i s t l r e y R u a n i d l w e r ay t h . e name these schemes were considered first of all by the Board of Trade, who came to the same opinion as the Commissioners, that the country would not afford a sufficiency of traffic to maintain two great trunk lines ; and they decided that the line which ought to be selected and adopted by Parliament was the Caledonian Railway. The Committee, after sitting for six weeks, and taking time most voluminous evidence, came to toe decision that theCale donian was a right and proper trunk line to be given to Scot land. They rejected the preambles of the other Bills, because they found that the country would not admit of two railways. In 1845, after great expense and a contest of six weeks in the Committee of that House—he could not say how long elsewhere—they attained their Bill. They were now employ ing 10,000 men on their works ; they had entered into engagements for a million of money in their con tracts, and there was also a large sum for which they were engaged. The present company was one not ori ginating in wild speculation. It was a bona fide company, acting upon the faith of Parliament, entering upon their works, and earrrying them on with the greatest possible speed. The Caledonian Company requested to be allowed to produce be fore the Committee evidence of the best possible nature, namely, the evidence given before the Committee last year ; that application had not been granted.—( Hear, hear. ) From a report which he held in his hand, it appeared that Mr. Sergeant Wrangharn made this application, for some reason unknown to him. That evidence had not been received. If the House concurred in the decision of the Committee, the effect would be to deprive the half of Scotland of a trunk line. He hoped, therefore, that Hon. Members would exercise that power vested in them of reviewing the de cisions of their Committees. If the House consented to aban dont its right to do so, there was an end to the matter. He en treated the House to take it into their serious consideration. He thought if such a decision was to be acted on, it would risk the carrying out of the railway system throughout Scot land, and materially interfere with the application of capital. An HON. MEMBER, whose name we could not learn, spoke in favour of the decision of the Committee on the Nithsdale line, as it would open an imporiant mineral and agricultural district, at present overlooked from the absence of railways. The mineral riches of Ayrshire at present were very great, D t h o e r ot e being r i 3 t 4 e i w r o o nfur o i dh n e a furnaces sg great blast, and the a tsery service in b r i connexionwith the oo al and iron of the former county to the latter, and in taking back agricultural produce to the manufacturing districts of the west. Sir THOMAS COLEBROOKE said that on the present question it was important that they should have before them the grounds of the first decision on the merits of the two lines. He did not wish to consider the question as a shareholder, but on public grounds, and he appealed to the Chairman of the Committee of last year, when the whole question was fully considered, to state whether the inquiry went to show that the country was too poor to support the two lines of rail way. If the fact were so, no alteration, he pre sumed, hid taken place s i nce l as t y ear to justify . another decision. 'They must, it the joint decision was the right one. and if the Caledonian was the best to supply the general wants of the country, support it, and reject the Nithsdale scheme. Mr. PARKER, as he had been appealed to, rose to explain. It was not his intention to have spoken on the question, but after having been so pointedly ap pealed to, he felt it to be his duty to rise and offer an explanation as to the proceedings of last year. It was perfectly true that the Committee of last year were divided Oil this subject. The four Members for Winchester, Cheshire, and Barnstaple joined with himof 'la thatrk e w r ) in s the opinion, that f or the general purposes to say for local traffic—( Hear, hear ) t 1 e y considered, Scotland,P. and he calculated to accommodate all parts of a national line, and one Caledonian was the best trunk there was to be a saw no reason why he shoul now change his opinion, that as line.—( Hear, hear. ) , to consider what they had Caledonian line, then population situate in the was to become of that most important for which dis the north of Scotland, If the therefore, considered with respect to last year the Dumfries. He was sorry to be forced to say that two lines could t m ri i o n t er s a h l oo d l i d st , ri i c o t pinoiothteewfefsateot,f bSecotland, a line Committee came to the conclusion that these ue the gn h. not exist together.— consider it as well ad ( ap li te e d ar ;o h r e t a h r eira li ffi e e of w present sir mmstances to state the reasons of that d n e t d h e e r i r s o i The Committee thought that they were called upon to sanction t h h w it a w s o o u f ld a the Caledonian and reject the other, not dfr pass,er different The opinion thought t member hat b both hr linesly atsahseb districto t u h n e d y u did mi whouk • could exist at the same time. The' heref we, with Committee, t , the view of leaving the whole matter to another decision, con eluded that the decision on t h e b ranch to Dumfries sbould a be postponed. They did no t w i sh to sanction a scheme HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 16. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. GL ASGO W, DUMFRIES, AND CARLISLE RAILWAY. On the motion for the further consideration of the report on the Glasgow, Dumfrif , s, and Carlisle Railway Bill, Mr. HOPE JOHNSTONE, moved that it be taken into consideration upon that day six months. From the noise that prevailed it was very difficult in Vie, gallery to catch the precise import of the Hon. Gentleman's obser vations. He was understood to call the attention of the House in the first place to the report of the Board of Trade on the railway communication afforded by the Caledonian line. The Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to read extracts from a printed paper to the following purport : The Caledonian Railway follows the route which, on public grounds, was preferred by the Government Commissioners in 1841, and by the Board of Trade and Committees of both Houses of Parliament in 1345, as giving better trunk com munication fur all the more important streams of traffic.' "It was unsuccessfully opposed before all of these tribunals by the promoters of the Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle scheme. ' In their report of the 13th of March, 1845, the Board of Trade stated that ' it is quite clear that the trhffic from Scot land to the south would not be sufficient at present to support two competing systems; and that if the one be sanctioned, the other, or so much of the other a s directly competes with it, must be rejected. In this point of view, the Caledonian and the Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle linei are absolutely inconsistent with each other.' " The decision of last year was arrived at by the Committees of both Houses of Parliament after the fullest inquiry, nearly one hundred witnesses having been examined in the House of Commons ; and it having been admitted by both parties throughout the proceedings that the traffic was insufficie n t to justify the construction of both lines. " Thereafter the Committee on the Bill, in their report to the House, stated—' A Report by the Board of Trade has been referred to your Committee, and the decision of your Com mittee appears to be substantially in accordance with the se commendations contained in such report.' " Nevertheless, the Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle scheme has been again brought for ward this session, and the Committee on the Bill has declared the preamble of the Bill proved, thereby directly reversing the deliberate judgment of the Le gislature last session, and of the other tribunals before referred to. They have also rejected certain branches proposed by the Caledonian Company, for the accommodation of the lateral traffic, on which their calculations of last year were founded, and have thus deprived the Caledonian Company of all lateral traffic for 70 miles of their line, Leing the portion between Carlisle and Lanark. " This decision, if confirmed, is calcUlated, more especially during the present pressure on capital, to inflict serious injury on the Caledonian Railway, which involves an expenditure of upwards of two millions sterling, and which is new being exe cuted with all possible expenition, upwards of ten thousand men being at present engaged on the works. " Under these circumstances, the present appeal is respect fully made to the House, for the protection of a great national work which was undertaken and contracted for on the faith of the preference awarded to it by the Legislature last year, and on the distinct understanding that the opposing scheme would not receive the sanction of Parliament. The question is, whe ther the decision of the Legislature last year, or the decision of the Committee this year, is to be sustained, the latter being entirely inconsitent with, and subversive of the former." It was quite impossible that the report referred to of the Board of Trade on that Bill could not but take with the public. It was very certain that that report was calculated to make a great impression on the public mind. After the full inquiry that had been made, the decision of the Committee was totally inconsistent with the decision given by the Committee (luring the last session, and also with the report of the Board of Trade. He would beg to impress on the House the difficulty of reconciling the present decision with the verdict re turned by the Committee last year. On the works already in progress by the* Caledonian Railway 10,000 men had been employed, and upwards of half a million of money had been actually expended. The Hon. Gentleman then alluded to the speech of the chairman of the company, at a meeting held after the decision of the Committee, in which he remarked strongly on the proceedings of the Committee, who, after having induced the complainants to embark their capital, at a great risk, had deprived them, by a recent decision, of some of their anticipated returns. The Committee in arriving at a decision had made an election in arriving at their verdict which had turned out to be a most unfortunate one. He thought it right to state these things, because from 2,000,0001. to 3,000,0 tOl. had been expended by the Caledo nian Railway, in order to meet the wants of the very district to accommodate which the Committee had passed another line to its great and serious injury. He did not think it was consonant with true policy to cansant to such a competing scheme. On these grounds, which he feared he had stated most imperfectly, he was unwilling, considering the state of public business, to trespass longer on the House, and would, therefore, conclude by moving as an amendment, that the report be considered that day six months. The motion having been seconded, Sir WILLIAM CLAY said, as he was the chairman of the Committee, the decision of whom, with respect to this Bill, they were called upon to reverse, the House would, perhaps, expect that he would trouble them with a very few observations on the subject. He had the strongest impression that that House was not the proper tribunal for trying those questions which were remitted to Select Committees up stairs. He might, however, be excused if he alluded briefly to a matter personal to himself and to the other members of the Committee. The Hon. Gentleman the Member for Renfrewshire (Mr. P. M. Stewart), whom he saw in his place, had thought it right, at a public meeting of the Caledonian Company, to cast very grave imputations on the Members composing that Committee. He had thought proper to state that the report of the Committee was unjust, and that if the House confirmed the report of the Committee, that the public would withd raw a ll t h e i r conf i dence in its : deci sions, and that no property would be secure while the House was sitting, but that there was a House of Lords, where the opinions of certain Noble Dukes and Marquises would be taken at their intrinsic value, and where, no doubt, the decision of the Committee would be reversed. He regretted that the Hon. Member had so far forgotten himself as to make such an observation, because the Members of that House had most arduous and important duties to discharge, involving immense interests, and it was not right that they should be rendered more anxious and annoyed by any such painful im putations cast upon them, and especially when they did not deserve them. But if there was wanted any fresh proof of the extreme inconvenience of dis cussions on the decisions to which Committees of the House had arrived, that proof he held in his hand in the shape of a map, sent by the Caledonian Company to the members of the Committee, in the hope of endeavouring then to reverse their decision. This was a document which no one should h av e dared to present to a Committee of the House of Com mons, as it was wrong in various particulars, as it made to it, and in addition P t f the Solway Firt h termin t a o ta o a th t er Du m m is fr r i e es re i s n e s o te ta a t d io o o f s g s o e i t n f g or u th p shorter whereas nerline' the in Carlisle to G las g ow that the line through Niththansdaiethweascnaloetdoania rea l distance from Carlislewas 15 donian line only 1251, and h t line passed this w t h o ilst Gla t s h g e ow N b i y ths t d h a e ie Ca w le a - s th e distance would bt , year, ther they should be pre even byreducednstonlrl6 miles. The ques Lion they had to consider w as, vented from acceding to the cons had expended capi t a l in minst ruc ti ng a li ne on ly accommodating a ground s , b ecause the Caledonian Railway w tr h u e ction of a railway on local There were n o di ssen ti e nt landowners to t p h o e r N tin i n th o s f d t a h l e e t p li r s o t j r .e ic e t t . , and it would intersect great mineral, agricultural, and com lmineeraciraelgtisirtreictetbs,y• the ed wantswhether of they ddistricts, r w i c e t were simply o hn r i e ) f y use to sanction offer whie h that h a • l because lines cutomaimlwoadation, wished to have no compe • throughCthaelierdonian a d ,:been sanctioned by Parliament, but which did not traffic y . competition. The The Committee sat for fourteen broke down with respect to 1..1m Nithsdale would interfere with it. ful and anxious considerationui-teen days, and after the most cat e esifonthoenwhole evidence, they una nimously came to the conclusion was required for th e wants of the ditshtre' s.ubject that the line further add that the p romoters of the line had completely ma d e out a strong case of loc a l t ra ffi c, and that'ittdilidenowtouinldterofnerlye em atter in the with the Caledonian line. H o would leave h hands of the House, with th e fi rm impression tha see the propriety of not inte r f er i ng w i t h the decisiontthey would of the Committee. Air. P. M. STEWART wished to make a few observations in explanation of the question before the House, and in refer ence to what he had said at a meetinX of the shareholders a fortnight ago, and about which there was some misunderstanding. What he stated was rather a compliment to the Committee and the House than otherwise. He stated that he was sur. prised at the decision of the Committee, and that if the Com mittee and the House understood the real state of the question they would not agree with the decision which had been some to, All the Caledonian Company wanted was fair play, a - "M.,. -7, 4 7 .0.11.7- . 4-.OA the terms of the resolutions should be more general. He (Sir G. Clerk) thought it would be better for him to ap ply directly to the Board of Trade on the subject, fur the line betwixt Gloucester and Bristol was peculiarly circumstanced, and he was certain the Board of Trade would give it their earliest consideration. Mr. LABOUCHERE, who concurred in the views of the Government, thought, however, it would be more convenient if they would consent to adjourn the present debate and recon sider these resolutions, for he thought after the discussion which had taken place any amendments that might be introduced would be very defective. He thought that too much witsleft to the discretion of Committees, and that more s h ou ld depend directly on the sanction of thei House. His principle was, that the broad gauge ought not to be extended ; always, of course, presuming that no engineering difficulties interfered to prevent the construction of narrow gunge lines. But in the resolution proposed, exceptions were made in favour of certain short branch lines running into the Great Western, which were to be permitted to lay down the broad gauge. Now, there was a short line connected with the South Wales Railway—a short line from Portsmouth to the Bristol Channel—but it ap peared to him most vicious to lay down that line on the nar row gauge. He mentioned this only to show the House how these resolutions would operate in certain eases. Sir T. WILDE said, it was the general opinion that the object of the resolutions was to avoid a break of gauge, and that these resolutions should be reconsidered. Defects in them had been suggested which he thought attached to them, but lie had heard no answer given upon the subject. These r,2soluti,ms ought be reconsidered, for in his opinion they were defleient. The second resoltition, for example, made certain exceptions, yet in reference to these excepted which had already got the sanction of the Legislature, it vat said that th e y were not to alter their gauge without the sanction of the L eg i slature, lie did not understand what was meant; they had already obtained the sanction of the Legislature, and they were compelled to apply for it again. Again, by t h e fourth resolution , the S out h Wales line and b ranc h es i nto Hereford were to be sanctioned on the broad ga uge . Wh y, h e asked, should these lines sanctioned again when they had obtained the sanction of the Legislature already. The effect of the sth resolution was equally irregular. For if the House intended to do somethine, as the resolution presumed, why should the Board of Trade recommend them to do that—why should the House be com pelled to do that which it was willing to do ? Surely, he said, the propositions might be stated in a manner more worthy of the dignity of the House, and, therefore, the resolu tions might be reconsidered with advantage. The last resolution was most unparliamentary, for it proposed that the House should compel the Board of Trade to do some thing recommended by the Gauge Commission. The Learned Gentleman proceeded to comment upon the first resolution, il lustrating the inconvenience which would arise from it if car ried out. The Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line, he said, joined the Great Western at Oxford. Was that line, he wished to ask, to be considered as a connexion with the Great Western Railway, and would that be among the exceptions allowed in favour of some short branches running into the main line of the Great Western ? It was doubtful whether they would so consider it. But if it were, he submitted that branches of a few miles in length, though not directly connected with the Great Western, yet running into the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line, were as much to be looked upon as branches of the Great Western as those which fell into it immediately, and therefore to be made excep tions under the resolution. He therefore thought that the words of that resolution ought to be general, and he was sure that the Right Hon. Baronet would lose no time, and would consult the general convenience, if tie withdrew the resolutions that they might be reconsidered. Mr. E. DENISON said the House seemed to be almost unanimous in thinking that the last three resolutions ought to be withdrawn, and that the first two should be amended as had been suggested by the Honourable Member for Devonport He wished to insert the Board of Trade in the resolutions. He thought there could be no objection to this course. With that slight alteration he thought the resolutions should be allowed to pass. Sir R. PRICE thought it unfair that the broad gauge lines should be confined to the narrow limits assigned to it by the report of the commissioner s . He hoped they would shortly see one of these broad gauge lines going to the north with double the speed, and carrying three times the load which the narrow gauge company could. Mr. DENISON thought that there should he no time lost in deciding this question. He had the honour of being chairman of a Committee in which one portion of country between Exeter and Yeovil was contested for by the broad and the narrow gauge . If it was the pleasure of th e H ouse th a t on l y the narrow line should be laid down on this district, they would of course know what to do in the matter. Mr. W. COLLETT considered that, although the broad gauge had been a very pretty and successful experiment, and had produced a spirit of competition among railways which had been of great advantage to the interests of the public, yet with reference to the statements of the Hon. Member for Reading (Mr. Russell) of the economy of the broad gauge, he would say that it was a stateme n t u tt er ly unsu pp orte d b y evidence. The Commissioners had decided quite the contrary in their report. After hearing all the evidence which could be adduced before them, they declared that the narrow gauge was the more economical of tlVitwo, and better adapted for the interests of the public. He hoped the House would at once come to some re so l u ti on upon the matter, and not allow the present state of uncertainty to hang over the Committees having to decide upon the railways brought before them. Mr. HA YTER considered that with reference to the South Wales Railway the present resolutions would prove highly ob jectionable, as the Tenhy and Saundersfoot, and other branches belonging to the South Wales, must be constructed upon the narrow gauge if the resolutions were carried out in their in tegrity. The same would apply to the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton, and even to the Great Western Railway itself. He hoped the Government would make those resolu tions more perfect and more adapted to the circumstances they were req,uired to meet. Mr. F. SCOTT wished to know why the three resolutions had been abandoned. He thought the whole of the resolu tions should have been passed as they were first proposed. Sir J. CLERK stated that objection was taken to the word ing of these resolutions. Mr. F. SCOTT—Does the third resolution stand as originally proposed? Sir J. CLERK—It does not. Mr. F. SCOTT—Then I object to the alterations the Right Hon. Baronet intended. He was supposed to adhere to his second speech. Dr. 130 SkRING wished to know whether the short branches of railways from the South Wales lines, running towards the sea, would be allowed to be constructed on the broad gauge. The sea would be an effectual boundary, and they could not run into the narrow gauge country. Sir G. CLERK said that provisions had been made in the resolutions for that circumstance. Under all the circum. stanees he saw no reason why they should not be constructed on the broad gauge. Mr. HAWES - thought that it was of some importance to conclude the discussion on these resolutions as early as pos sible. He could not help remarking that during the whole evening not a single Member had supported the amendment of his Hon Friend the Member for Montrose, yet the system pro posed by him was one of considerable value. The Board of Trade had taken into consideration all the circumstances con nected with railway companies, and had come to some deter minations with respect to the broad and narrow gauge. It was most desirable that the Government should press these determinations upon the attention of the House. Colonel ANSON said that the gest of the argument of his Hon. Friend was, that some discretionary power should be left to the Government to continue the double line further than was conveyed in these resolutions. He would be glad to sup port such a plan, but at the same time he thought that no mixture of the gauges should take place ; but that the lines should run entirely and strictly separate. Lord PALMERSTON said that he had heard of a curious invention for the purpose of obviating the inconvenience of a break of gauge. The principal inconvenience arose, not from the transfer of passengers from one gauge to another, but from the transfer of goods. It consisted of a waggon, the trunk part of which was separable from the truck part, and the trunk part when loaded could easily he transferred to another truck on the broad gauge. In this manner a merchant could load his own waggon and send it down by the ordinary waggon to the railway, where it would be transferred to the truck on the line. He thought that the House should have some report upon this subject, in order to see how far the principle was applicable to break of gauge. Mr. HUME said that he would not then press the motion he had made to a division, but he would allow it to remain upon the paper to mark his sense of the conduct of the Govern ment. The first resolution was then carried, with the exception of the words " South Wales " being inserted after the words " Great Britain." • The second was then proposed. After a few words from Lord PALMERSTON, Sir G. CLERK consented to add the words " that it is the; opinion of this House that no directors shall hereafter alter the gauge of their line without the consent of Parliament," before the words " that no line shall hereafter be formed." Sir R. PEEL suggested that the best way of wording the resolution would be this—" That it is the opinion of this House provision should be made by law to prevent directors of rail ways from altering the gauge hereafter."—( Hear, bear.) After a few words from Mr. Ricardo, Sir T. Wilde, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the suggestion was adopted, and the resolution as amended agreed to. On the third resolution being proposed, Mr. T. BARING said he was afraid the spirit of the reso lutions might be misconstrued, and parties who were promoting particular schemes, such as the Manchester and Southampton line, seriously injured by such misconstruction. He wished, therefore, to add these words to it, " Without prejudice to the formation of any other railway connecting the north of England with the southern coast." A short discussion ensued upon the propriety of more spe cifically defining the line from Basingstoke to the south, or rather the part in the south, whence it should be carried. Colonel ANSON moved that the words specifying the line from the north to the south should be omitted altogether. Mr. C. RUSSELL said the resolution was sufficiently plain and explicit, and he was prepared to support it as it stood. Mr. B. HAWES supported the resolution upon the same ground. Mr. E. DENISON protested that he would divide the House upon the resolution, if it were persevered in, fcoorntstwear-s understood at an early period of th e evening, that its id p a t h i e o i n t y w t o h u e l d linebe t p e o s vi t p h o i e n h e d, it n h de d. viewa of definin g more ex- It was the knowledge of this fact, which induced him to resist its adoption now. Mr. HAY TER hoped tha . t the Right Hon. Baronet would not submit to any alteratio in the original resolutions. Colonel ANSON said he would withdraw his amendment if the Right lion. Baronet would consent to the reconsideration of Sirthe resolution. G . the narrow CL ERK gaugete sa cl id xf w er h d a , t a t n h d ey ra p i r s o posed bothw Mr. HAWESsaidsomthee narrow gauges along artp eh of en t thei was o t n o r t d do a w mi n h h a rmonis e esuttehte: bl I t he two gauges, so that the country should be shared between them. He granted that the narrow gauge had got the lion's share. Yet a line had been fixed of demarcation between them, but the effect of the resolution of the Hoe. Member for Portsmouth would be to break in upon that. it was afterwards agreed to ad j ourn The galleries were ordered to be t c h le e a d re e d ha f t o e r . a division, b u t Mr. HUME moved f or leave to bring in a Bill for procuring by all accou nts of receipt and ex p enditure persons administer . Mr. FREWEN moved bring in a Bill for th e administer ing charitable trusts in England.—Agreed to fl to. more effectual a dmini4tration of justice.=Agreed to. Captain PECHELL postponed his motion for ts.king into consideration the petition of the rate-payers of the of Winkfield, complaining of the conduct of the Poor-law Com missioners, and the proceedings of the board of guardians of the East Hampstead Union, till a future day. The Honourable Member then moved for a copy of the minute record ing the dissent of one of the Poor-law Commissioners to the issue of the Order of the Bth day of November, 1845, pro hibiting the employment of paupers in workhouses in pounding bones. Also, a copy of a report of the Secretary of the Poor law Commissioners on Bone-crushing.—Agreed to. CHURCHES BILL. The second reading of the Churches' Bill was postponed till :his day. COUNTY WORKS PRESENTMENTS (IRELAND) AMENDMENT BILL. The consideration of the report on this Bill was postponed till Thursday. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Half-past One o'clock. -----.,=-7nnenmenimonoo PARLIAMEN TARY BUSZNEOA. n (From the Votes'and Proceedings of the Rouse of Commons. TUESDAY, JUNE 16. STANDING ORDERS' COMMITTEE. The following resolutions were reportd from this Committee:- 1. That; in the easy of the 'Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole Rail way (Methley. Askern, and Oakenshaw Branches) Bill, clause ard amendments on third reading, the clause and amendments are of such 2 a na . Tturehat as may be the case o the Wif th orcester New Gas Bill, amendmentSe House shall think fit. • t on in pt f third . reading, the amendments are of such a nature as maybe adopted, if the House shall think fit. 3. That, in the case of the Birmingham, Lichfield, and Manchester Railway Bill, clause and amendments on third tea ding. the clause and amendments are of such? nature as way be adopted, if the House shall think lit. 4. That, in the case of the Eastern Counties Railway (Stations Enlargement) petition for additional provision, the standing " del ' s ' so far as relates to the first clause, ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to introduce the additional provision ac cordingly. Fourth resolution agreed to.—Report to lie on the table. RAILIVAT BILLS (GROUP 5 , 3). Report, That the parties opposing the Bristol and Birmingham and Midland Railways Bill, and the Bristol and Gloucester and Bir mingham and Gloucester Railways Bill, had stated to the Committee that the evidence of John Wodley Ifit,ghes - was essential, to enable then to establish their case before the Committee ; and it having been proved that his attendance could not be procured without the intervention of the House, the Chairman hail been instructed by the Committee to move the Rouse, that he do attend the said Committee to-morrow, at twelve of the clock. Also, Report, That the parties opposing the Itr:stol and Binning ham and Midland Railways tun, and the Bristol and Gloucester and Birmingham and Gloucester Railways Bill, had stated to the Com mittee that the evidence or George Tate was essential, to enable them to establish their case before the (7ommittee ; and it having been proved that his attendance could not be procured without the intervention of the House, the Chairman beet been instructed bv•the Committee to move the Ilotts, , , that he do attend the said Committee to-morrow, at twelve of the clock-. Also, Report, That the parties opposing the Bristol and Birming ham and Midland Railways 11111, and the Bristol and Gloucester and Birmingham and Gloucester Railways Bill, had stated to the Com mittee that the evidence of Humphrey Browne was essential, to enable them to establish their ease before the Committee ; and it having been proved that his attendance could not be procured without the intervention of the House, the Chairman had been instructed by the Committee to move the House, that he do attend the said Committee to-morrow, at twelve of the clock. Alsb, Report, That the parties appearing on the petition of Henry Glynn, against the Bristol and Birmingham and Midland Railways Bill, and the Bristol and Gloucester and Birmingham and Gloucester not beaTtt That iai dt l ' aihr a-Ve Bill, had stated to the Committee that the evidence of William llur,;ess was essential, to enable them to establish their case wbefodrethe Committee and it having been proved that his attendance Ch ul airm procured jtioiheinsa ss mi • t i l, t o h ed o ol i , :t the intervention of the House, the 'id o l had been instructed by the Committee to move the House, i that he ' clock. .runittee to-morrow, at twelve of the Browne, and William Y Hughes, George Tate, Humphrey 58 of Railway Bills, Burgess do attend the Committee on Group tomorrow, at twelve of the clock. P ARLIAIVIERY DIVISIONS. (From the roles and Proceedings of the House of commons- ) TUESDAY, J UNE 16. GLASGOW, DUMFRIES, AN!) CARLISLIII RAILWAY RILL. Report considered ; Motion made, and Question proposed, " Th a t the amendments made by the Committee to the Bin he now word s second time ;"—Amendment proposed, to lea ve out from the " That the" to the end of the Question, in order to add the words " Report be" taken into further consideration up on thi s day six months," instead thereof :—Question put, " That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question:" The House divided. Numbers reported by the tellers : .MLNORITY-AYES, 119. A'Court, Captain Emlyn, Viscount Oswald, James Marc, Viscount Entwisle, W. Paget, Colonel Ainsworth, P. Estcourt, T. G. Palmerston, Vis. Alexander, N. Evans, William Philips, Mark Archbold, Robert Fitzmaurice, W. Plumridge, Captain Arkwright, G. Forman, T. S. Polhill, F. Arundel, Earl of Forster, Mathew Price, Sir Robert Baillie, W. - Gardner, J. D. Ilashleigh, W. Baine, Walter Gill, Thomas Rawdon, Colonel Baldwin, C. B. Goring, Charles Scott, Francis Bell, John Greene, Thomas Shelburne, Earl Of Bentinck, Lord 11. Rale, R. B. Shirley, E. J. Blake, Martin J. Hamilton, G. A. Smith, J. A. Bouverle, E. P. Hayter, W. G. Somerset, Lord G. Bowring, Dr. Hildyard, T. B. Spry, Sir S. Boyd, John Hobhouse, Sir J. Stansfield, W. R. Bright, John Holland, Robert Stuart, Lord J. laroadwood, H. Holmes, W. A'C. tnart, V. Bruce, Lord E. Hamby, John Stuart, J. Bruges, W. H. L. Hume, Joseph Strickland, Sir G. Buckley, Edmund Hutt, William Strutt, Edward Buller, Sir J. Y. James, William Tancred, H. W. I3usfeild, W. Jermyn, Earl Thornely, Thomas Carew, W. H. Pole Jocelyn, Viscount Towneley, John Cholmondeley, 11. Johnson, General Trelawny, J. S. Christie, W. D. Labouchere, Henry Turner, Edmund Christopher, R. A. Langston, J. 11. ' Villiers, Charles Collett, John Lascelies, E. Villiers, Viscount Collins, William Layard, Captain Vivian, J. E. Colvile, C. R. Lemon, Sir Charles Waddington, H. is, Connolly, Colonel Lindsay, Captain Warburton, Henry Curie's, 11. B. Loch, James Wawn, J T. Dalrymple, Captain Mackinnon, W. A. White, Samuel Davies, D. A. S. • Maitland, Thomas Wilde, Sir Thomas Denison, E. B. Marsland, Henry Wodehouse, E. Dennistoun, J. Mitcalfe, H. Wyse, Thomas Divett, E. Molesworth, Sir W. Yorke, Henry R. Duncan, George Morris, David Duncombe, 0. O'Brien, Timothy TELLERS. Dandas, Admiral Ord, William Clay, Sir W. Ellice, Rt. Hon. E. Oswald, Alexander Ewart, William MAJORITY—NOES, 121. Allix, J. P. Etwall, Ralph Marshall, William Anson, Colonel Finch, George Masterman, J. Antrobus, Edmund Fitzroy, Lord C, Matheson. James Astell, William Fuller, A. E. . "Meynell, Captain BMHie, Colonel Gaskell, J. M. Mundy, E. Miller Barnard, E. G. Godson, Richard Neeld, Joseph Bell, Matthew . Gordon, Captain O'Connell, Maurice Beresford, Major Gore, Montague O'Connell, M. J. Bodkin, W. 11. Granby, Marquis of Ogle, S. C. Boldero, 11. G. Grimsditch, Thomas Pakington, J. S. Borthwick. P._ Grogan, E. Palmer, G. Bramston, T. W. Halsey, T. P. Pechell, Captain Bretherton, J. Hatnilton, W. J. Pennant, Colonel Brownrigge, J. S. llastie, A. Powell, Colonel Buck, L. W. IlayeS, Sir E. Protheroe, E. Carnegie, Captain Hill, Lord E. Ricardo, J. L. Cavendish, C. C. . Ilinde, J. H. Richards, Richard Cavendish, G. 11. Hodgson, F. Rolleston, Colonel Chandos, Marg. of Hodgson, Richard Round, C. Chu: chill, Lord A. S. Horsman, E. Round, John Chute, W. L. W. llouldsworth, T. Rutherfurd, A. Clifton, .1. T. oward, C. W. Sandon, Viscount Clive, Viscount Howard, E. G. Scott, R. Colebrooke, Sir T. Hughes, IV. B. Seymour, Lord Compton, 11. C. Hussey, T. Smith, Abel Coote, Sir C. Inglis, Sir R. Smythe, George Cripps, W. Irton, Samuel Sinollett, A. Pestles, W. . Jones, Captain Spooner, Richard Denison, J. E. Kemble, 11. Stewart, P. M. Dodd, G. Knight, F. W. ~. Tollemache, John Douglas, Sir H. Lcgh, G. C. Trollope, Sir J. Douglas, Sir C. Lockhart, A. E. Trotter, John Douglas, J. S. Lockhart, W. Ward, 11. G. Drummond, H. Long, W. Williams, W. Dull, James Lowther, Hon. Col. Winnlngton. Sir T. Duke, Sir James Macaulay, T. B. Worcester, Marquis Duncombe, T. Mackenzie, T. Wrightson, W. B. Duncombe, A. Mackenzie, W. F. East, J. B. Maher, N. Easthopo, Sir Jelin Mangles, It. D. Elpliinstone, IL Manners, Lord C. Escott, Bickham M tumors, Lord J. TELLERS. Johnstone, Hope Maule, Fox NINETEENTH REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON RAILWAY BILLS CLASSIFICATION. The Select Committee appointed for the Classification of Railway Bills, according to the Resolutions adopted by the House, have further considered the several matters referred to them, and agreed to the following report : Your Committee recommend that the Limerick, Ennis, and KiHalos Junction Railway, and the Mountmellick Junction Railway, be re ferred to Group No. 66. Your Committee recommend that the Larne, Belfast, and Bally mena Railway be referred to Group No. 62. Your Committee recommend that the Sheffield, Asliton-under- Lytle, and Manchester Railway (Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canal Purchase) be referred to Cronp No. 59. RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS. MANCHESTER, JUNE 16. STOCK EXCIIANGE.-The sales arc-Blackburn, Clitheroe, Stc.., 1 3-16 dis.-Blackburn and Preston, 4', p.-Chester and Manchester Direct, 255. dis.- Clitheroe Junction, 1 dis.-Derby and Crewe. 4 13-16-East Lincolnshire, lA-Glasgow and Dumfries, % dis.- Great Grimsby and Dock Extension, 2 3 /j Q. dis.-Lancashire anti North Yorkshire, 16s. dis.-Leicester and Bedford, is. Gd. diS.- Liverpool, Onnskirk, and Preston, 11-16 p.-London and York, dis,-Manchester, Buxton, and Matlock, , !4p. - Manchester and Leeds Extension, 2 1 / 2 c.- Manchester and Southampton, !,.., c. dis. -North Eastern, 3j.-North Staf f ordshire, 3 15-16-North Western, t, p.- Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction, Is. 6d. p.-Sheffield and Man chester Quarters, No. 3, 1 ,4 c. p,-Shropshire Mineral, 1% dis.-Sonth- Eastern and Dover, Halves (No. 4), 3-16 c.-Welsh Midland, 1% dia. -West Lancashire Coast, dis.-West Riding Union, 51s. 3d. p. LEEDS, JUNE 16. p.-Ambergate, p. Nottingham, and are - Eastern 135. di s. -London . and Croydon: 1% p. cash-Leeds and Tffirsk. .51. _ - liEs.x g.-LeedsCll A N GE . -- Ll:ie Bradford, sales are 2 -6 York and North Mid tenSsTiLeK, land (East and West g* Newark, and Sheffield, 19s. dis.-Bradford. Boston, 1% dis.-Boston, . Buckinghamshire 5s Wakefield, and Midland, 208. dis.- , • IL-Cli -21% -North British, Riding), Branch, 9 9s. Lancashire and Airedale Junction, las ells. -Exeter, 17s. 6d. dis.-East 7 6d. dis.-G t Eastern . . -Great and -Exeter, Yeovil, and Dorchester, . theroe Junction, 235. dis.-Derby and Crewe 3% p.-Direct North ern, Bedford, Is. dls.-Lincoln, York, and Leeds, 235. 6e, Leicester an 1 Ormskirk, and Preston, 10s. p.-London and Man.. Western, 31s. 6d. Ws. -Lancashire l an s d North Yorkshire, 153. dis.-- dis.-Liverpoo , cheater 393. dis.-Manchester, Buxton, Matl oc k, and Mid., land, i3T e p n ! .) -korthumberland and Lancashire Juncticni,:a kdbisn.r•-n North Staffordshire, 31. 16s. Gd. p.-North Western, is. 6d. p.-Welsh Midlands, 275. dis.-West Riding Union, 41. 4s. HULL, JUNE 16. Junction, 255. 6d. -Lei- STOCK EXCNANCE.-The sales arc-Eastern Counties, Yo:At Ex tension, 205.-London r:tl.ndi,lst.i_rinninn,gidhearns)fl, el i d 'ift a l i ls d , s 2 h 4 e l tni r d, j e 1 1Zi rw - e N n' orth British, Carlisle, 345.-BuckinghamsPire t h41,15'124s Carlisle, d 6 i s d . . echeiter (Remington's), 14s. Junction, clertebry and dd Bedford, 20e. 3d. - ee t s l t la e .s r go a N n v d , D rr it a tr.:•' N\ ile - oor ra a n n d d Union o: 4 1 1 3 5 5 : L 11 ° 1 1 1 , 1 (1 1 o a n n a d n ll d ai‘rinsaill L 1 li on - do G n M.-Molten and Drifficld Junction, 49a, 9 ( 1 . .. and Matlock, 2/. 175.-North gtaffordshirc 6 Manchester, Buxton, land, 30.5, Cal.--West Riding Union, 4/. 105.', 641. 1. 45. Gd.--South Mid sliErriEi I) JUNE • • , 16 STOCK EXCIUNGt.-The * Sales are-Sheffield and Manchester. Quarter Shares, No. 3 (ser• )tp 4s, rimsby and Sheffield Exten sion, 20s. dis.-Sheflicht and Lincoln • ems - litre, 6d. dis. YORK, JUNE 16. STOCK ',.. E XCHANGE,-The sales are-Grand Union (Nottingham and Lynn), 12s. 6 d.-Leicester and Bedford, 11. 31'.-London and York, 21. ls. - Newcastle and Darlington Extensions, 8% -North British, Carlisle Extension, 1/. 13s. (M.-North Staffordshire, 61.-West Riding Union, 4 3 ,; - York and North Midland, New (East and West Riding), 10%. ll.—Caledonian and GLASGOW, JUNE 15. arc—Airdrie and Bathgate, 828. STOCK ExcllANGE.—Tho sales —Caledonian, —, Dumbartonshire Extension , . East In -9,. 6d._Kainbzugh and Glasgow, 75 %_Edinburgh (M.—British and 1V1.7n1n. 2 4 1 2 :_. Glasgow General Terminus, 8% Glasgow and Belfast Union, sls.—Glas,,row, Dnmfries, and Carlisle, 38s. Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardrossan, 28s.—Lesmahagow, 495. Gti. —Northern and Southern Connecting, 13s. —Perth and Inveniess 32, &I—Scottish Central and Caledonian Junction , /0 s • • ' and djan P ß ee a rs a , Y 3 ' ls. ild . ~ B.—._ tiding and Dunfermline, 305. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —'fiIe Atrapilatory, or Liquid Hair Dye, the only dy e th at really answers for all colons, and does not require re-doing, but as the hair grows, as it never fades or acquires that unnatural red or purple tint common tc all other dies. Ross and Sons can, with the greatest confidence, recommend the above dye as infallible, if done at their ester. blishment ' • and ladies or gentlemen requiring it are re . quested to bring a friend or servant with them to see hew it in used, which will enable them to do it afterwards without the chance of failure. Several private apartments devoted en. tirely to the above purpose, and some of their establisinnett having used it, the effect p roduced can be at once seen. They think it necessary to add, that by attending strictly to the in. structions given with each bottle of dye, numerous persons have succeeded equally well without coming to them. Address. Ross and Sons, 119 and 120, Bishopsgate-street,London, the ce. lebrated Perruquiers, Perfumers, Hair-cutters, and Hair•dyers. A most important addition and improvement to Ross and Sons' Liquid Hair Dye. Ross and Sons most respectfully in. form the public that they have succeeded in producing a Po. made, that after the hair has once been thoroughly dyed by their Atrapilatory, will keep it in the most beautiful order, and prevent it again showing grey, with no more trouble than ar. p' ying any other sort of grease to it. This most astonishing invention is only to be had of them, as above. [ADVERTISEMENT.]--DROPSIES.—ANY CASE OF DROPSY MAY BE CURED BY HOLLOWAY'S PlLLS.—Females at a cer tain period of life are subject to this dangerous complaint, which first makes its appearance by the swelling of the feet, legs, and hands, and so gradually making strong inroads on the constitution. Hundreds of dropsical patients, even when their cases are pro nouncr_il as hopeless, are cured by taking Holloway's Pills: instance Air. Robinson, the wealthy farmer and grazier at Wootton, Bed fordshire (and which at the time was made so public): this ge n . tleman cured himself by Holloway's Pills after he had been told by his medical attendant that lie cruld not survive three days.—. Sold by all druggists, and at Freleseor Eitablisiunent, 244, strand, Lendou. ~fi.-- I