The Sun. — London, England, 1848-08-23 00:00:00

and ing Act the one yet, tl6 ft er the ion ep -cis! nee ed. her ar, aot m- ras ers no ras ied - - before the Committee of that House should lay facts before the House up on w hi c h they m i ght arrive at a conclusion On this subject, and he certainly thought that when the proper time should come for taking such decision, evidence of a valuable nature would be found to have been given. Ile had been glad, he must say, to hear some of the opinions which had been delivered the Right Hon. Gentleman. He was not, quite prepared, at'the same time, to accede to the accuracy of the Right Hon. Gentleman's account of all the evidence which he had hi might under their notice that even ing, and particularly of that which had been given before the Committee by the Governor of the Bank of Ireland, for that gentleman had said lie conceived that the Act of 1844 had given greater stability to the Bank and g r eat e r co nfid ence t o the publi c. —( Hear, hear.) Ile should rather, then, have ?said that his evidence was favourable, and not unfavourable, to the Act of 1834. The Right lion. Gentleman also stated that which certainly was not stated at the earlier periods of these discussions, viz., t hat the commercial distress of 1837 was in no degree traceable to the Act of 1844. But that was not the language that was held in the autumn of 1847, when the commercial distress was attributed to that Act. With respect to the report of the Committee of the House of Lords, it was certainly not ir. favour of the views which he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) entertained of the Act of 1844. lt said, h owever, and particularly in the ev i dence f rom Glasgow, that speculation—railway speculation— was very te in Scotland, where failure overtook the coin erci a I houses there, and that those is hich did fail in that part of the country were more or less engaged in that speculation. Mr. Gurney, too, stated most distinctly that, in his opinion, the Act of 1844 had nothing to do with causing the corn. tnercial distress in questien—and that certainly it had nothing to do with scarcely any of those great failures which took place before the month of September. It was come satisfaction to him, he must say, to find this confirms lien of the views he had himself expressed on former occa aiclos, and that, further than this, there had been evidence given which bore out the observations he remembered he had himself made, as to the injurious tendency of the want DJ precautionary measures on the part of the Bank of England at an earlier period of the year, than that at which t h ey were ultimately adopted. With respect to the time at which the Government's letter to the 13 ank of E ng l an d was i ssued, i t could not b e doubted that the result of the week in which it was issued showed that they were right in sending forth that letter. Mr. Gurney, t.ko, spoke fav ou rably of the principle of the Bank Charter ct, and anything he had said against, it was only in conic quence of the pressure that took place under it. As re gardeeJ the operation of the Act of 1844 in a drain of gold, all t he witnesses hefote the Committee of the House of Lords were agreed, and said that it was precisely that which, %en it that Act were not law, ought to take place. As to d:,:ase of its checking an issue arising from a speculative tf ga nd, if an issue of paper tended to produce speculation, Win restriction of the issue must b beneficial. The Act 1,e?e44 was admitted tri be useful in e limiting the issues of -at rY banks; and if an issue of paper by country bankers .I?.uld have the mischievous effect ot aggravating prevalent 211 s, similar issues, not bnsed on gold, by the Bank of ti g a n . d, would have produced the same effect. The e e l a . l .„ e s n,ee given before the Lords' Committee showed the e to - t 7 a ` r e i Of the crisis which took place in October last did h se from the want of circulation of bark notes, for m e re Were in the' hands of the public 4,000,0001. more than Csie•„cants of the country required. The evidence of Mr. was almost conclusive on that point. Horsley 4 , - I . :ier stated in his evidence that from the best l opinion he C ni ci e there were nearly 3,000,000/. in notes issued bn -r e'Y for the maintenance of credit, and not for the pur ierzasofbcuitrculation. He thought the Hon. Member for Mon ':se had correctl s re esented that period, not as a currency as a ) commercial crisis. —(Hear, hear.) The questi °4 was not what was the amount of paper which ouught to be substituted for gold, but the question was, wand afar were necessary for supporting public credit, and istfarenting the recurrence of an extreme state of panic and 0) Z a l t • Mr. Tooke was of opinion that nothing could be more of se n „ lie retis than the issue of paper for the mere purpose thi,;„ o "crting credit, and that the Bank never could do any com-,Z More injurious than to issue merely for the support of rill :I.:lees:elle: credit. The fact was that no fixed or certain g e F° 11 1(1 be laid down for dealing with such crises or emer hich were exceptions to all rules and all laws, lit lll must be dealt with accordingly.—(Hear, hear.) : ci not see how any fixed principle could be laid down e: r ah - s eal ing ve'th such contingencies—extraordinary cases de 0---"ed extraordinary remedies. Let them consider what °,ld have been necessary to support credit in 1847. But, tugs t oe first place, let them reflect on the sort of credit which would have been then called upon to support. He would ' lint read to the House a portion of the evidence of Mr. James A ndrew s aline ulty a? were Mr. Anderson was asked— d,,L4 What were the other causes to which you attribute the i f?unt great cause was the investment of a large of capital in railways, and the speculation concomi ztL with that investment. I mei:male purchase and sale— ' gambling, in fact, in shares of railways.. ,7,Was that speculation very rife in your part of Scotland? among all classes. 184 .. n ere those houses which have suspended payment during y e and 1 848 generally engaged in railway speculations?— ', almost in every case, more or less. Their accounts have, I suppose. a good deal come under ; 1 7 1 ',nt" notice ?—Yes ; t when I say railway speculations. I cause there say peculations in shares generally; be -7.41e there were speculations in other shares as well as spolor:P7..shares; but the railways were the great source of "Anon. rue _Did you find that parties drawing bills took unusual e s i i n a of obtaining money for the purpose of carrying on "a3‘ speculation ?—Yes ; a considerable part of the loss ,anstained by the bank with which I am connected arose ;Lon' that cause, trom parties ostensibly drawing bills t(!r failur e business transactions which turned out upon their th - g re 'to have been drawn ' against railway speculations; th ,J Were represented to be business b sh_j e Zere drawn in order to support speculations in railway e a , " Will you explain how that was done ? cotton mann turer connected himself with a cotton twist dealer, and the one drew bill s the other, which we supposed were for the Pur chaseof u t . :i n st for his manufactory; and it turned out to < lathe's n ofothinz the kind, but merely connected with specu in her " w this vras e t s fie description of credit which was prevalent M 18.16 and 1847—a fictitious credit. A drew upon B a nd 11 drew upon A. fur no real transaction of_any soi t, kind, °r d escription.—( H ear , h ear.) A system of credit was thus built f the most mischievous description, The moment the slightest check interposed in the facilities for obtain• ing money, the whole fabric tumbled to the ground— the bubble burst, and this was one specimen of a system of credit not based upon gold. Neither the Right Bon. Gen tleman th e M em b er tor Stamford nor the Hon. Gentlemian. the Member f o r N ort h W arwickshire had stated w amount of paper iss ue t h ey would have based upon ciceedirtt. It they had don e so h e would know how to deal with t but when they were told that the Act of 1814 had obstructed a fair support t o the commercial credi t of the ultittrey, he lik e d t o ca ll t h e attention of the House to the of credit which w as preva l ent at the period adverted to, and which was manifested by the evidence of Mr. .Anderson, Il e o bj ecte d to this proposal as vague and indefinite—he objected to it because it pointed to the relaxa. Tlion of the Bill of 1844, as the only possible remedy for h.YB commercial distress o r di scred i t which might exist in ...%c country. If comm erc i a l di stress and discredit took .11e coincident with adverse foreign exchanges, he thought , r e . __ e remedy of both Honourable Gentlemen ( Mr. Herries and naN_usedegate) inapplicable, according to their own admis se, f u r a contraction of paper issue would be the necessary to g o ence of adverse foreign exchanges. Again, adverting s eataits t u n ut e feo PM!ons of Mr. Tooke, he might state that Mr. Tooke pinion that a paper currency ought to be a mere subs 4 _ 3. and representative of gold —not the representative of , national debt or tax. If the paper currency was to have nj reference to bullion, and that it surely ought to have, wouldtake Place like to know under what circumstances it would th e Place if gold was unatt a i na bl e ? if paper was t o b e gold was of gold, why s h ou ld paper b e o b ta i na bl e w h en "I,lnwas not t o b e h ad? to Hox. MEMBER But there were fourteen millions l ,eup in the Bank. ts!sn.e CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was pre est to defend the propriety of obliging the Bank of Eng sos"..to limit its issue within a certain amount. But the ,7.uoti after all came to this. Both Honourable Gentlemen th'". l tted that the paper issue ought to bear some relation to t !ount of gold in the coffers of the Bank. Then what relay o, l °4 were they prepared to substitute for the present h ut I—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman opposite had al esiied to the case of Hatnburgh, in which he said paper it issued as a substitute for gold. In liamburgh th _ \ l as true they had a paper circulation, but all the paper b t i wita out was represented by silver in the coffees of the s " The b an k gave a receipt for the silver, which was atn..tlivalent to holding so m uc h money . N ow suppose a ghatof commerci a l di scre di t to occur in liamburgh, and it I,VIB proposed that the bank should issue a receipt for tleer which it had not received, would not that be consi ried a very rotten system? But it was ne ar ly th e same which to issue B an k o f E ngland paper in this country t _ issue w ou ld not b e based upon gold. With respect the recommendati on o f t h e C ommittee of the House of Lords, to which the Right Honourable Gentleman had ad vterted, it wa s t rue i t recommended the removal of the re strictive clauses of the Act of 1844, and the restoring to the Bank the powers of issue, and which would not tie it down to the amount ofgOld actually in it s co ff ers. Mr. Gurney had u p on this point truly stated that the removal of such a restriction would be a perfect abrogation of the Act of 1844, and if that question was to be discussed, it was better that the repeal of the Act of 1844 should be proposed to the House. But before that was dose, they ought to bear in mind what had occurred in 1840 and 1841. A Committee sat upon that subject in those years, and all parties were then agreed that the amount of issue o ug ht not to b e left to the unfettered discretion of the Bank of England. (Hear, hear.) Having bad the honour of being the chairman of the Committee then appointed, he must now I S ay that it would be most monstrous and inconsistent f) do that now w hi c h a ll rat i ona l men w h o had considered the subject then objected to. The Honourable Illern ,er for t h e West Riding (Mr. Cobden) had then stated _ ueE ound and just opi n i on u p on th e su bj ect — t h at b eyond the V'aXitnum amount issued u p on secur i t i es , t h e rema i n i ng no .ss e s _ u ght alone to take place upon gold. lie could see 11.,,,4yantage in giving Governinent the power of relaxation, u ' r l " Alr. Fullerton was of the same opinion. It was con -1.844 to what had been recommended by the Committee of 1 to leave the full discretion in the Bank of England—it :140 totally adverse to the Act of 1844, which, however, left i.°_ reco mmendation of the Committee of 1841 untouched in 1 1 .p rov isions--natnely, that in extraordinary cases, as in 07,!.3ivind 1 847, there should be some department possessed 14 4 ev. era to act according to the circumstances of the emer kiBB,;,' Such, too, was the opinion entertained by Mr. Hus- Th e "' If ,those crises should again unfortunately occur eui Z must -he dealt with according to their peculiar cir of .r at toes; and he believed in the words of the Committee b e 'jeer. House of Commons, that it was far better it should Whe"l'mtpattehe discretion . of the Government to interfere for it might think fit than to attempt by law to legislate hot ant, Rte of circumstances which neither were known tisen_lcieated. Mr. Gurney, ' when asked what were the eetinulstances which would justify the Government in inter liencig:af.eplied that it was impossible to state them before guise an d in that he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) l t , ow er Mr. Gurney was clearly of opinion that this h it a exists where, it might and must be of a discretionary 21. cter. The ten ee3 remedy which under one state of circtitn poaitio,"learis be useful and availing, might, under another c.,ll3sion, but a Jed , wa " y ol fu ti n trs, be useless and unavailing. He had been further than he ought to have been with this dis etigh .hose topics had been broached, and as the 0pini0,,...0n. Gentleman urged the Government to give some tee t i o ",uPon them, he had. thus far trespassed on the at thatn f the Ho w h e __ v use. He had only to say, in concluSion, t v;e: ugohi . ti. ' . ; :ei er . this subject was brought forward with the W,lntsl belairdTgandanwdilllonmg ing to a practical conclusion, he to exptain his views ; but he ti,safloorurnnecriusipurnesent discussion would not lead to any prac yievr,s,a:ed therefore, as he remained unchanged in The amendment w m as u t s h t e m n move the previous question. dreish3rteileaour f o o u u se r Members rose simultaneously to ad t7,r• Spooner, left th • e e Speaker, having given precedence to se fora . few minutes, but Mr. vol ha ving been 80 absorb, d with the arrangement of his Ploan.riteya,e4,sa ohotce_tirmaedndtrse,ssa:ddvatreedvtaOuatulite table, and amidst a Peak yr) ltuse for the purpose. chair thus :—" Mr. " The laughter of the House called the attention of the lion. Gentleman to the absence of the Right Hon. Gentleman, and he sat down. When the Speaker resumed his seat, Mr. SPOONER said he was of opinion, notwithstanding what the Chancellor of the Exchequer had state:, that the Right Hon. Member for Stamford had laid a strong ground for the adoption of his motion. The Chancellor of the Exelo quer said that the Government would interfere to suspend the operation of the Act ( f 1844 when state of things similar to that which existed in 184; should again arise; but why should the country be ex pesed to an amount of suffering such as it then endured before a remedy could he applied? Was the Right Ho nourable Gentleman aware that the depreciation of pro. perty between 1816 and 1847 extended as far as 250,000,000/. ? The Hon. Gentleman then read several extracts from the evidence of Mr. J. Loyd, to show that that gentleman thought that in some circumstances a relaxation of the 13;11 which he himself had framed should take place. He objected to any system which the Government could deal with as they thought fit. This great commercial country ought to regulate its own monetary system, so that it should regulate itself, and not produce such fluctuations as had taken place under the law of 1844. But he would refer to the history of the ques. lion further hack than the period at which the Right Hon. Gentleman connoenced. Me was an anxious auditor of Ho debates on this subject in 1810 and 1811 ; and he would sun that in all the great principles laid down by Mr. Horner he concurred. The lion. Gentleman then reviewed the history of this subject, and deprecated the resumption of cash pay ments on the ancient standard. Previously to 1816 they had a double standard of silver and gold, and the debtor might pay in the cheaper metal ; but, by the alterations in the law, a more stringent system was adopted, the effect of which: had been shown in the subsequent commercial distress of thr country. After some observations on the effect of the Act of 1819, in necessarily causing fluctuation, the Hon. Member said, that his Hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth might ask him, as he had before, " What is a pound ?" ('‘ Hear," and a laugh.) He (Mr. Spooner) knew that a pound was a piece of gold of a certain value and fineness, stamped in a certain way ; but the question was, what ought to be a pound —(Hear, hear.) In 1819 the inquiry ought to have been, what was a pound in relation to the debt of the country, in relation to mortgages. and to the position of debtor and credi• tor; and it would not do now, after the country had been ruined, to turn round and, in a cold phlegmatic manner, to ask " What is a pound ?" It was in vain to attempt any al leviation of the distress so long as they relied upon any fluc tuating basis, any demand for foreign corn upon anything that should call upon the Bank of England to find gold tot its notes that were in circulation. It was then they com menced their onward course towards bringing the Bill of 1819 into operation ; and seeing the exchanges against them, they put out their paper merely to go the same round again of prosperity and adversity. If they were regulated by the exchanges, what were they to do next year? Did any man anticipate anything less than an immense import of corn ? How was it to be paid for? Some said by our ma nufactures ; but had not the bullion gone out before, and would it not go out again? To be brought back, it was said ; but at what a sacrifice. He pointed out the effect that the drain of gold would have upon the labourers in England, and in preventing this country rendering assist ante to Ireland. Unless the currency was extended, a heavy responsibility would rest upon the Government. He was asked, would he have an unlimited issue of paper, and unlimited speculation? His idea of convertibility was that a note was convertible into what a man wanted. If it were a legal tender, if it would pay all taxes and all debts, and purchase what any man required, that was convertibility, not into gold, but into all the practical neces sities and purposes of life. He implored the Noble Lord not to be led away by the vaain philosophy of the day, but, like Mr. Pitt in 1797, to rise above the trammels, and adapt his proceedings to the circumstances of the times. Let the gold go abroad to bring in food, but, at the same time, let there be a circulating medium representing all the property of the country, and then our labourers would find that we were not only able to feed them, but to dispense a large and liberal measure of re lief to Ireland, and turn that discontented population into a peaceful and loyal people, and meanwhile a stock of manu factures would be accumulating, which would enable us to get back our gold again. lie trusted that Parliament would not separate while Members had nothing to tell their con stituents but that when famine pressed, proposals for mea sures of relief were met with the previous question—that the Ministers were hesitating and doubting—that they had no opinions —and that at the approach of the storm they dared not pledge themselves to any course of conduct that might avert it. If that went forth among the people despondency would be the consequence, and there was no knowirg what might be the result. There was a remedy; let them apply it. Let them call forth the energy of the people and set the credit of the nation free.—(Hear, hear.) Sir R. PEEL—Sir, I was quite prepared to bear my Hon. Friend claim credit for entire consistency on the subject of the currency, and I, for one, am prepared to concede his claims. But I confess that I was not prepared to hear from him that he was a disciple of Mr. Horner. My Hon. Friend says that he disagreed with Mr. Horner in the practical con clusion lie came to that cash payments should be resumed in the year 1819, but that in the reasons and arguments which he used he entirely concurred. Why, Sir, if there be any communication between those who are living and those who are departed, Mr. Horner must now be shuddering in his grave at being represented by the Hon. Gentleman — (Laughter)—by an Hon. Gentleman who proposes that the circulating medium shall be represented, not by gold, but by the debt of the country—(Laughter)—so that if you have now an annual expenditure of 50,000,0004—and if you increase that expenditure to 60,000,000/., although you may think your resources do not justify that increase, yet you are to issue paper money, not convertible into gold. on no other foundations than your own necessities ; and thus you are to have a constant interest in incurring debt, from which the ready means of relief is to be, an issue, in proportion, of paper, which is to be always received into the Exchequer in liquidation of debts due to the State.—( Hear, hear.) So that you are to have a direct interest in indefinitely increasing the debt, and yourcurrency is to be in proportion to your debt.— ( Hear, hear.) But when my Hon. Friend goes further and proposes to convert the whole property of the country into circulating medium, and yet says he is the representative of Mr. Horner, I own that he does excite my surprise. Mr. SiOONER explained that his proposition was limited to the amount of Governtrent expenditure, for which the whole property of the country was liable. Sir R. PEEL—My Hon. Friend by no means mitigates m y alarm by his explanation—(A laugh )—for 1 think I remem ber to have heard him say something about property afford ing a fair and just foundation for the currency, and I own that does not diminish or alter my opinion as to the effect which the establishment of his system would have upon the currency in its relation with foreign countries.—( Hear.) But. when my Hon. Friend speaks of representing the opinions of Mr. Horner, I think he has forgotten what really passed in 1810. The seventh resolution, moved by Mr. Horner, pro vided that no contract undertaken for the payment of money in pounds sterling can be legally discharged,' except in gold coin of a certain specified weight; and that the promissory notes of the Bank of England were a stipulation to pay cer tain sums in pounds sterling. It does not appear that there was here any reference to the army estimates—(Laughter)— or the navy estimates, or the miscellaneous estimates or the amounts that might be voted for the ordinary expenditure of the country.—(A laugh.) On the contrary, all is referred to the pound sterling.—(Hear.) And the resolutions of Mr. Horner went on to state that, when Parliament suspended cash payments there was no intention to alter the value of those promissory notes of the Bank of England— that they borrowed money from the public creditor, telling hint that on the return of peace he should be paid in gold. Indeed, nothing otherwise was ever intended, and all those who lent money at that time were entitled to be paid in gold on the faith of that promise. Now, does the Hon. Gen tleman, who says he agrees in the argument of Mr. Horner —does he agree to that?—(Cheers and laughter. ) The re solutions of Mr. Horner went on to say that the state of the foreign exchanges must he taken, into account in regulating the currency. Yet my Hon. Friend blamed the report of the Committee of the House of Lords because it referred to the state of the exchanges in connexion with the question of the currency. Now, why did not my Hen. Friend in 1810, warn the country of the dangers upon which he has spoken to-night ?—( Cheers.) He says that he concurred in the principles of Mr. Horner's resolution—then why was he silent on the dangers which he says were to be apprehended from them ? Mr. SPOONER—I was not in the House in 1810. _ _ ... „...., .._ . Sir R. PEEL—My H on _ Friend says he was not in the House in 1810, but then he argues that it was possible in 1819 to have estimated the depression of the funds. I fully admit that that would have been possible—(Hear)—and we should then have paid some ss. or 7s. in the pound less. I am not saying that it would have been just, but that it was possible for Parliament to have done this. Parliament might have said, we have made a promise, it is true, but we cannot fulfil it. That, however, would have been very unjust.— ( Hear, hear.) But I will tell my Hon. Friend, who adheres, lie says, to the principles of Mr. Horner, that although a man who owes a pound and pays only 15s. will gain something, yet all that will not alter the currency as regarded all future transactions. Alter the paper as you will, practically the same state of things will arise—whether the note be worth 12s. or a pound, there will be the same obligation to keep your promise ; and the effect will be the same as to the pres sure upon commerce at particular times and the difficulty of obtaining money.—(llear, hear.) Sir, my Hon. Friend says he is in a small minority in this House in his views G e n ut ti ol s of 1844, that majority question. But I very much doubt whether, of those Friend.":" th w in h k o are anxious for an alteration in the Act those minor questions the great • • Act, and that their n in B are not with my Honourable those persons care very little about involved in the opposition to that currency. restricted currency I think theainl hope is of an unlimited foveaar as c lui rk upon those who wish for unlimited paper as tiaraoennZ public enemies, and those who are benefactors. There was one witness examined, Mr. Salta, geenhtren champion of the opi- Right H n who expressed his nions of Birmingham, and ess even exceed lejonlc:nin their accuracy opinions with a boldness and wTt a n t ess m — y which commanded our atte—, in g that ascribed to him by the Gentle man the Chancellor of the Exchequer. itoinaoutrrable Honourable Friend seems almost ashamed of h i ls e (A laugh)—but he was examined at some length, a n d among the rest I asked him:— " Will you state whether I correctly understood yo u a s saying that that national paper should be issued ad libitum till the period when prices were remunerative, and every industrious able-bodied man found full employment ?----- Certainly, " When that object had been achieved you would fix your standard at that point ?—Yes. " Tilt 3 , 0 u had achieved that object, till prices were remu nerative, and all able-bodied industrious men had employ ment, we should have an unlimited issue of paper ?—Yes ; the only reason that I say that is, that, under the present system, we have so far departed from what is right in the basis; we have had such extraordinary fluctuations, that we cannot now tell where we are. It is necessary, therefore, to take observations ; but the great principle is, that the labourer should have his wages, the manufacturer his profit, and that the creditor should have his due; that the labourer should have his value for his labour, as well as the wealthy man, the creditor the value for his money. " Do I correctly state your views, when I state that you would propose that national paper should be issued without limit, or without any reference to any metallic standard of value, until that period should have arrived when the prices generally should give to every able-bodied industrious man full employment ? —You correctly understand me." I then afterwards asked the witness:— " 13 there not an association in Birmingham on the subject of the currency ?.. 7 ,Yes. "Are the views which you have expressed the views of that association ?—lres. "Are you a member of it ?—Yes. " Though some individuals may differ from the views which you have expressed, are they not the general views of the association ?—They are. "Did you ever bear any one dissent from them think not ; at any rate, those who have dissented have ceased to dissent. " But did you ever find anybody successfully contend against those views ?—No ; I never heard anybody attempt it." —(Laughter.) I wonder much ifmy Hon. Friend thinks that Mr. Salt is a disciple of Mr. Horner.—(Laughter.) My Hon. Friend says that he is in a small minority in this House; but among all the great writers and talkers about the currency, depend upon it ithat_he is sympathised with is • all which he says about returnng to the old system. With respect to the motion now before us, my Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Herries) invites the House to enter into a pledge with respect to what its proceedings will be next Parliament; but, although the promoters of disaffection and of disloyalty to the present system throughout the country derive little , ati-faction from his former motion, they will not feel better , atisiled with the present. He does not ask the House to alter the law; he merely asks it to take the subject into its serious consideration next session, and serious, no doubt, it will be; but what advantage can be derived from adopting such a pledge. Now, I address myself to those who disap prove of my views upon the subject of the currency. 1 . think the credit of the House does not stand high as regards the adoption of great practical reforms. We have shown rather a taste for discussion—(Laughter)—than for practical legislation. We are now arrived at the 22d of August, not having made much progress with practical measures, not, in fact, having fulfilled our indispensable engagements, and vet we are asked to draw a bill at six months on the next • , ession. And under what circumstances was the House asked to give the pledge? 1 was one of those that my Right Honourable Friend referred to as having retired from active service. I attended, however, last Tuesday, in order to be present at the discussion. My Right Honourable Friend said that there. was an intense anxiety throughout the country on the subject of that motion. Why last Tues day I found thirty-five Members present at the time my flight Hon. Friend should have brought on his motion. To night I returned, 'and there were only forty-two Membcrs present, when an Hon. Member moved that the House he counted. Is it likely that any recommendation of a House that shows so little of that intense anxiety which my Right Hon. Friend referred to, will have much weight with the country? My Right Hon. Friend, indeed, indulges in figu rative language, and says, that the House, " like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along " At all events, let us not give ourselves the air of the boa constrictor, and end the pa rallel by enacting the needless Alexandrine. The Right Hon. Baronet proceeded to say that he was unwilling to in cur the charge of whiffling discussion. When the proper time came he should maintain to the utmost of his power the policy of preserving the restrictive clauses of the Act of 1844. He believed that these clauses prevented the country from having in April last superadded to commercial distress the danger of political convulsion. Without these clauses he believed the Bank would have persevered from April to June, as they had done from January to April, in extending their securities at the time the gold was leaving their coffers. At the proper moment he would take up the Lords' report and put aside the Commons' report, with which lie agreed. He would be prepared to impeach the Lords' re port, and do all he could to show that the most impolitic arrangement that could possibly be made would be to invest the Bank of England with a discretionary power of relaxing the restrictive clause of the Bank Charter under the con ditions proposed. He would endeavour to show that it would be infinitely safer for the country to reserve the discretionary power in the hands of the Government, to be exercised upon their responsibility to Parliament. The Right Honourable Gentleman then proceeded to specify the conditions under which paper money could be circulated in the three kingdoms without any deposit being required of gold. 33,000,0001. in notes could be issued without the dep( sit of a single ounce of gold. To meet the monetary exigencies of the country more was required, and the ar rangement was that notes might still be issued, but in order to secure their convertibility it was required that an equal amount in gold should be deposited. A paper currency of 48, , 00,000 was available on a deposit of 15,000,000 of gold. It bad been said that the 15,000,000 was a dead weight, and that it was lying idle. It was no such thing; it formed the guarantee for the convertibility of the 48,000,000 of paper money. The necessity of this precaution was well shown by the facts which carne out in connexion with the great failure of 1847. These facts showed the great risk which existed of credit being abused, and he thought it could be easily shown that it was owing to the restrictive clauses in the Bank Charter, which enabled the directors to mitigate the distress by acting with the liberality which they had done. It was impossible to overrate the importance of preserving the convertibilityofthebank note. The experience of all countries had shown that the nearer they approached the English practice, the less was the variation in the rate of interest, and of discount, and the less the amount of annual discredit. He thought the greatest calamity that could befal the country would be to entertain the notion that, in times of pressure, the true way to mitigate the calamity was to issue more paper money. Depend upon it that such a course would prove a mere postponement of the evil. Then with respect. to the Lords' report, continued the Right Hon. Gentleman, I rejoice that it has been adverted to, because it gives me the opportunity of warning the people against being misled by the doctrine which it promulgates. Ido not deny the ability with which it was drawn up. Ido not know who wrote it; but whoever is the writer, it is evident that he is anxious to bring prominently forward every defect in the Act of 1844. It is not friendly to that Act. I do not say it is unfairly hostile or adverse ; but there are great omissions made. It is said that the Acts of 1844 and 1845 contained many provisions that were judiciously calcu lated to secure the convertibility of the bank-note. Objec tions are indicated, but they are not specified. An alteration indeed is suggested in the ratio that ought to exist between tha issue and the deposit of silver ; but I think that very little would he gained by an alteration. The chief recom mendation is the one which goes to confer a discretionary power on the Bank to relax, under certain contingencies, the restrictive clauses. I assert that to grant such a power will be in the face of all experience. You only passed the Bill of 1844—passed as the Right Hon. Gentleman truly re marked, with such general concurrence, because you were im pressed with this conviction, that the directors had possessed a discretionary power, and had not wisely exercised it in time of pressure; and in 1825, 1837, and 1839 the Bank, hav ing a complete discretionary power, the result of three years' inquiry was that the discretionary power so possessed could not be safely left where it was, and you imposed the restraint embodied in the present law. The report proposes that the discretionary power should be conferred under the condition that it shall only be exercised when the exchanges are fa vourable to this country. if the discretionary power be right and proper to be given, the restriction as to the exchanges is a very unwise one. By agreeing to the recommendation you make it next to impassible for the Government to act again as it did in October last, because the answer to Parliament would be, that the Bank directors were the parties entrusted with the exercise of the discretion. In fact, the adoption of such a change would practically be to augment the restric tion which already exists. The exercise of the power which the Government put forth in October is no impedi ment whatever of the Act of 1844. That Act is governed by principles, and so long as they exist the rule is obeyed; bat when a state of things arises which defies principles, ordinary rules cannot apply. Mr. Huskiss on stated that it was impossible to frame laws to meet every case; and when I introduced the Bill of 1844 I made the same admission. The same thing happens in the operations of nature. You take precautions against all ordinary dan gers, but dangers will arise which could not have been foreseen, and against which prudence could take no precau tion. An officer on a railway, in charge of Smith O'Brien, found a train which he desired to proceed to Dublin. The man in charge of it told him he could not comply, a, lie was under orders to go to Limerick ; upon which the officer produced a pistol, and threatened to shoot him if he did not obey his orders. I approve of the act, and I am satisfied the House would indemnify the officer, if indemnity was ne cessary. But although I say this, Ido mean to pass a law authorising any man to act as this officer did he 3 Parliament da explosionsoccur, under similar circumstances. Circumstances must justify or the case vbiaeilberleym. but nt o ap: f naitraprode m tnal dyelnaesicaachvssn. whose prevented,or s a ' e . condemn the act; laws cannot meet every contingency. In t is d i t and it is impossib le t v o h e when t hey convince t hatt in the strong hand must be ban, t etv a oto k ter r e dl go n e i.oen‘m t , e o lterthdn r eie e sd c ei t b impossible a f3 py : l (alpss a ri n ai on ( i rcs principle, to pi mitigate ttrrheei esi y tv e t n hhaie monetary he et h m et3h a e y commercialm are much better not to foresee them or to attempt to provide for s tra n t tne o seb: t ti heir interference was necessary. The report is • highly complimentary to th e di recto r s of the Bank of England. I think they deserve it. I think that the directors who were examined before the Committes of both Houses gave evidence which show ed that they l c o a d ll a e called might be entrusted with a wide yfi numberve We e w called b that they had entitled themselves to the utmost c le r n e ' dit and i t competent for the Committee to call any number:of wee c tfioncsr,tthiel though pleased, a w s eed mightu but t a y v o o n o l y The Lords have declared that they place the greateset p leased. confidence in the discretion and prudence of those genri n e s m m en " ; but when I look at their evidence—when I r e f er to t h e tes timony given by Mr. Morris, Mr. Palmer,n Mr. Cotton , and Mr. Norman , I find them all declaring anadvising that the Bank Act of 1844 should not be relaxed. It is true that Mr. Horsley Palmer dissented, and that he expressed him self in favour of a relaxing power; but when asked whether that power should be entrusted to those for whom restrictions were intended, he said, th a t to give the power to the Bank of England would be a violation of the law, as it would be absurd to restrict with one hand and to relax with the other. The Bank says that it is a commercial community, and that, as it is subject to pressure, it is necessary for it to have the autho rity of the law to enable it to resist that pressure. I hope you will continue the restrictions they ask you for— that you will not confound the issue of paper money with the capital of the country, and that you will not believe that it is in the power of the Bank of England to diminish or raise the rate of interest to the extent that some people suppose. I hope you will bear in mind that trade is carried on with capital, and not with paper motley, except so far as paper is the representative of gold, and that the carry ing on trade with credit means only that you trade, not with other persons' credit, but on their capital.—(Hear.) I trust you will recollect that the greatest advantages which a coun try can have is a fixity in the value of its money, and a seen rity for its convertibility ; and that, unless you have that fixity, you will not have a security for that convertibility. Remember, also, that if you have not those advantages , there is not any lass in this great community which will not suffer. All concerned in commerce and manufactures must suffer, but those chiefly will suffer who depend for daily subsistence upon the wages of labour.—(Hear, hear.) Depend upon it, if the currency is to be reduced in value, there will not be at first any corresponding reduction in the value of the articles to be purchased, but the two shillings and three shillings a day of the labourer will become gradually of less value than heretofore.-s(Hear, hear.) Depend upon it, there is not one class in the whole community who has a rnore fixed and p ermanen t i n t eres t i n t h e arrangem ents w f _ a which give to p a p er money as muc h as poss ibl e t h e c h arac t er cmetallic currency than the labouring portion of the poPulation.—(Hear h ear.) I hope that when you approach the consideration o this important subject, you will bear in mind those pressure in great nne Ninciples, and that you will not think pressure, ear l y and salutary—that is necessarily an evil. That law may be 'utary—that pressure com p e ll e d by remedy again s t • complai n ed of by some , b ut i t i s the only increased for securing the disasters, and the only guarantee (Loud cries of " Hear, hear convertibilit y of your paper currency.— ) Mr. MUNTZ was strong ly o f Gentleman who had just sat o d p o inion that the Right lion. rescind his declarations of that nighwt,na I d vnuld, before long, case of the corn-laws, that his former n confess, as in thin sound and ought not to be adhered to.—(Lau ghter.) were not Right Hon. Gentleman had alluded to the opinions The Horner; but surely the country was not now to be shoundlsr; the very improper transactions of that day. It was never ' contemplated when the first Bank Act was trained that restrictions were to last for ever; but since that period the circumstances of the country had undergone a great change, and the working and industrious classes, who had increased taxation and a doubled national debt to pay, were sacrificed to the money interests. Mr. Horner defore his death ap peared to have taken a very wise view of things, for he said, "In no case attempt to set questions of currency right without taking into account and fully appreciating ' the new circumstances which have arisen, and the vast and new obligations contracted since cash payments were abolished in 1817, will inflict great misery on the people." He did not quarrel with the Right Hon. Baronet as to the measure of 1844, for he approved of it at the time as a' necessary part of the Bill of 1819. And here he might be "excused for reminding the House that he bad proposed :Vie, principle of that Bill four years before the Right Hon. 'Baronet proposed it. (Hear, hear.) In the year 1840 he was examined before a Select Committee of the House, and on being asked what descrip tion of measure he would propose, he replied that there was no difficulty in the matter, as the easy remedy would Stll' , LONDON, 'WEDNESDAY EVITNING, AUGUST 22, 1848. I be to compel the Bank of England to keep half its cir culation by it in bullion.—(Hear, hear.)' What did the Bill of 1844 do but that? Upon that occasion he was asked by the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether such a measure would cause pressure in the London and country markets, And he replied in the affirmative, as he believed the effect of it would be to place the country in a position of restriction. With regard to the Bill of 1819, his remained of the same opinion, that it would inflict great injustice until prices were reduced to the continental level. The principle of the Bill of 1819 was not half carried out. The price of land was scarcely touched, but the time was coming when he would have continued prices and continen tal importations, and when the landed interests would he placed in the same position as they were in fifty years ago. Let them stick to the Bills of 1819 and 1844, if they wished—let them be carried out to the letter of the law— but depend upon it they would blow themselves up. as everything of unsound principle did.—(Hear, bear.) If a just and proper alteration were made in the currency it would confer great benefit upon the industry of the country, as it would give an advantage in the foreign markets with respect to nominal prices. The fact was, that taxes would be taken off industry and placed on property. Conve, ti bility was the great point by which a paper circulation was regulated, and convertibility was nothing more than the be lief that we could do a thing which we could not do. It was said that the Bill of 1844 had not. aggravated the distress of ' the last few years, but if it had not aggravated the distress, how did it happen that its provisions were relaxed ? it must have surely had some connexion with the distress, for as soon as it was relaxed relief was afforded, and the distress was comparatively banished.—( Hear, hear.) His opinion was that the Bill of .1844 greatly exaggerated the distress, because it made the Bank withhold accommodation, and it induced persons who had money to retain it in the hope of getting a higher price for it. The fact was the money had got into the wrong hands, and it would have remained there, to the great detriment of public trade and commerce, if the Act had not been relaxed and the money released.—(Hear.) It was distressing to have a law which required touching every now and then to make it act properly, and it was dis graceful to the country and the Government. The country, however, entertained the opinion that the Government had acted very indiscreetly in interfering with a law of which they evidently knew so very little. That interference had caused him considerable regret, as he was sure it would en tail much misery on the country.—.(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME confessed that the explanation of the Right Hon. Baronet was exceedingly unintelligible. The motion of the Eight Hon. Gentleman the Member for Stamford did not require any allusion to the Act of 1819. The statement of his Right Hon. Friend was quite clear, and the question the House had to consider was, whether the Committee hp d arrived at a correct conclusion. Twenty witnesses had given evidence against the Acts of 1819 and 1844, and ten of the number were for modifying those Acts. He maintained that the Select Committee of the House of Com mons had arrived at a verdict altogether irreconcilable with the evidence.—(Hear, hear.) The 'report of the Lords' Committee, on.the contrary, he believed to be a fair and honest one, and his only objection to it was, that its recommenda tions were not sufliciently intelligible. The principle of the Right Honourable Gentleman's Bill of 1844 bad not worked well, neither could it be expected to do so, when the whole commercial affairs of this kingdom were to be left to the discretion of a single man. Why, the Chancellor of the Exchequer might • be a fool—(" Hear, hear," and laugh ter)—and the First Lord of the. Treasury might be a fool—(" Hear, bear," and laughter)—and was it to be endured that the property of millions of persons was to be jeopardised by the ignorance or prejudice of one or two men.—(Hear, hear.) He was of opinion that great credit was due to the Right Honourable Gentleman the Member for Stamford, who had brought forward this measure, and he hoped the fact would go forth to the country. He considered this a question of the greatest importance. Let them look at its effects in Scotland. Never wait there such a piece of unnecessary legislation as this with regard to their country. There had been no loss during the last fifty or sixty years ; the people were content; there was riot one pe tition for change. No man could read the evidence taken with respect to Scotland without seeing the evils produced by this law.—(Hear.) A great deal of the evil arose from the erroneous opinion held by the Right lion. Baronet (Sir Robert Peel) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the lat ter of whom had been talking to-night of unlimited circulas tion, limited currency, and all sorts of exploded ideas), that country bankers could issue as much as they liked, and deluge the country with paper. That notion was utterly untrue, He denied that there had been any material pressure in the agricultural districts, or in Scotland and Ireland ; but it was quite obvious thilt the Bill of 1844 prevented any assistance being given by them to the metropolis. He would not say that Bill caused the distress, but it infinitely augmented it, the people being afraid to part with their money lest they_ s h o uld not get more. H e agree d with the motion of the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Her ries) that it was right that the attention of the House should be called to it as early as possible next session. He did not however, wish to bind the House, as nobody could know what might take place in the course of six months, but the Bill of 1844 must be reconsidered, and he believed that the Right Hon. Baronet would eventually be of tbat opinion. Mr. HERRIES was willing to withdraw:his motion, after what had been stated in this debate, and particularly by the Right Hon. Baronet ( Sir R. Peel), from which it was clear the House could not allow this subject to remain long with out making an attempt to come to the merits of the subject. That he thought was the opinion of a majority of the House. and he was aware that the 22d of August was not the time to propose to go into the whole merits of the question. The Right Hon. Baronet had said that in the next session lie should be prepared to maintain the Act of 1844 in all its in tegrity; and he (Mr. Herries) also would pledge himself to attempt to obtain an alteration in an Act which has brought all the evils from which we have been suffering on the coun try, and fulfilled the worst expectations of unfortunate re sults which its opponents entertained.—(Hear, hear.) The relaxation of the Government was a condemnation of the Bill itself, as a means of relieving the pressure of panic. But what created the panic ?—that was the question. Why, the apprehensions created by the Bill.—(Hear, hear.) Tne evidence was full of it. Mr. Gurney had stated that in his opinion if the Bill of 1844 had not passed—if there had been no division of the departments of the Batik, the alarm of 1847 would not have occurred, and the pressure would have passed over without difficulty. The Bill, then, not only aggravated the distress when it came, but it caused the pain , . —(Cheers.) He condemned the report as an inaiduous ore, the concluding paragraph suggesting the idea that it was founded on the evidence. But he could show that it was not so founded—that it was contrary to the evidence—and that was his motive for brinking forward the question. The Go vernment had met it by moving the previous question—they did not venture to deny that the sub ect must be recon sidered early next session. That being the case his views in proposing the motion were fully answered; and if no one more competent took up the subjr ct, he intended at an early period next session to draw the attention of the House to a matter of such vital importance.—(Cheers.) The motion was then negatived without a division. CHARITABLE LEGACIES. The Legacies to Charitable Institutions Bill, which stood for a second reading, was postponed until next session by Mr. Raphael, who had introduced the measure. CONTAGION AMONG SHEEP. The Sheep, &c., Contagious Disorders Prevention Bill was read a third time and passed. IRISH COURT OF CHANCERY. Sir W. SOMERVILLE moved the second reading of the Taxing Masters Court of Chancery (Ireland) Bill. There were at the present time 1,764 bills of costs to be taxed in arrears, and the object of the Bill was, to increase the effi ciency of that department. There was at present one Master with a salary of 1,0001., and one assistant with a salary of 400!. a year. It was proposed in the Bill to have three Masters, one at 1,0001., and two others at 800 i., involving an increased expenditure of 1,200/. a year, which would be money well spent in increasing the efficiency of that Court. Mr. GOULBURN opposed the Bill and called attention to the disposition there was in Ireland to increase legal offices. If " arrears" were to constitute a sufficient reason for increased offices, reasons would be as plentiful as black berries. He denied, however, that there ought to be any arrears. There were formerly two Taxing Masters,: and it was found that they never worked more than three hours a day, and one of the Masters, Mr. Clancy, had said more than that would kill any body with hard work. Upon that one officer had been abolished, and the work was not really too much. Mr. NAPIER supported the Bill. If there was no change in the present system it would be practically a denial of justice. Au HON. GENTLEMAN here moved that the House be counted, and Only thirty Members being present the House adjourned at Five Minutes to Two o'Clock. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. SOUTH-EASTERN. [The following reports have been omitted for want of room.] The half-yearly meeting of this company was held at the Bridge House Hotel, London-bridge, on Thursday, Mr. T. M. Pritchard, the deputy chairman, presiding. The CHAIRMAN said that, owing to the absence of Mr. M Gregor, occasioned by severe illness, principally brought on by his exertions in the service of the company, the share • holders would join with him in wishing that gentleman a speeedy recovery, that he might again till the chair which he (Mr. Pritchard) then occupied.—(Cheers.) The honourable gentleman then called upon Mr. HERBERT (the Secretary) to read the notice con vening the meeting, and the following report:— The accounts of the South Eastern Railway, for the half year ending the 31st of July, 1848, show that the receipts of the company have amounted, during that period, to 219,365/. ss. 6d.; and that the working expenses have been 67,102/. I Is. sd. ; the rent of the Greenwich Railway, and o f the Whitstable Railway, 21,572/. 10s.; the rates and Govern - ment duty, 17,9701. 6s ; making the expenditure on revenue account, 106,6451. 7s. sd. The balance carried to account of profit and loss is 112,7191. 18s. Id.; and that account shows an amount at the disposal of the proprietors of 108,836/. 14s. 10d. On reference to the statement of receipts and expendi ture on capital account during the half-year, the p roprietors will observe, that the sum of 713,146/. 13s. 4d., has been received on account of calls; and during the same period the sum of 457,141/. ss. Id. has been expended on construc tion account, and 176,7501. for mortgage bonds and loan notes paid off. It will be in the recollection of the proprietors, th a t t h e di re ctors, in their last report, stated their unwillin gness to ur ge forward the works of great speed , being only too sen sible of the severity of calls; this will, in some measure, ac. count for the delay in the opening of the North Rent line. The directors, on reviewing the state of the comPanv's affairs, considering that to pay interest on so large a sum of unpro d uc tive capital as the No. 3 and No. 4 shares represent is prejudicial to th e interests of the company, have resolved on finishing the works with as much rapidity as is consistent with economy and durability. The directors have to announce to the proprietors that they have ample means for completing the whole of the works of the South-Eastern Railway Company. The agreement made with the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company, alluded to in the last report, bas been sealed by both companies, and the tolls usually intro duced into the accounts are now excluded. In consequence of the near completion of the North Kent Railway, the directors have considered it necessary to pre pare for a l arge acce ssion of traffic, and have in consequence, given notice to the London, Brightoi, and South Coast Railway for the division of the London-bridge station. '1 he necessary alterations required on the part of this company will cost a sum no t exceeding 40 , 000 /. The directors feel confident that no objection will be offered to the carrying out of this arrangement on the part of the directors of the London, Bri g ht on , and South Coast Railwa y; but, on th e contrary, exp ec t rom them the same co-operation as they have shown in the recent negotiation; and your directors will on all occas i ons meet t h em in the same spirit t o carry out any mea sures o f econom y they may contemplat e . The directors have received an intimation from the en gineer-in -chief of the Great Northern Railway of France, that the 26th inst. would probably be fixed for the opening of that line, an d, i n conse quence of this intimation, your directors lo s t no ti me i n co mpleting An arrangement w i t h the South-Eastern and Continental Steam Packet Company, to place steam-ships on the station between Dover and Calais From the opening of the Great Northern Railway of France great advantages are expected; as from an understanding 0 your directors came to at Paris with the directors of that line, arrangements will be entered into to book through from Paris to London, and vice versa, and thus bring on the South-Ea:t ern Railway a traffic which has hitherto gone by water to London. The two years, 1816 and 1847, present a remarkable di minution upon nearly all kinds of commercial traffic of the year preceding. This diminution was probably caused by the commercial crisis which existed in England, and which sensibly affected all other countries. In conclusion, your directors have the pleasure of per ceiving, that, notwithstanding the disastrous effects which the French revolution has brought about, the traffic of the South-Eastern Railway has maintained a comparison of mileage with the same period of last year that must be sa tisfactory to the proprietors. The engineer's report states of the NORTH KENT LINK.—The construction of this portion of the company's lines has not progressed so much as it other wise would have have done, arising from the unavoidable delay in obtaining the land for the deviations already men tioned. The whole of the land between Plumsteadand Graves end is with little exception, in the hands of the contractors, and also the principal portion between London and Charlton. In the district of fifteen miles between Woolwich and Gravesend the works are far advanced, the tunnel and the principal cuttings .being so near completion that this portion of the line may be opened for traffic by Christmas with ordinary exertion, at a further expenditure not ex ceeding 50,000/. in works. In the upper portion, between London and Charlton, the two principal works are the Greenwich ♦iaduct, or widening, and the Blackheath tunnel of 1,700 yards; the former of which is fast approaching to completion, seven-eighths of the brickwork being finished, and the latter having the arching turned on above one half of its entire length, and is pro ceeding very satisfactorily. The other intermediate works, which are comparatively light, are at the same time progressing rapidly, and the whole will be finished in six months, with fair exertion on the part of the contractor. The line may then be opened, with the exception of two miles though Woolwich, the traffic on which may be temporarily carried on by omnibuses, with so little loss of time that the greater portion of this traffic will be secured. BRICKLAYERS' ARMS Jrixcnon LlNE.—This branch forms a connecting link between the North Kent and Greenwich line and the Bricklayers' Arms station, not merely for the purpose of the goods traffic, but will yield also a considerable revenue from passengers. It commences at the crossing of the Surrey Canal under the Greenwich Railway, and descends by a gradient of one in 125 to pass under the Croy don Railway, and again ascends by a gradient of one in 140, forming a junction with the existing Bricklayer's Arms branch at Corbett's• lane. The principal work on this branch is the brick viaduct from the Surrey Canal to the Croydon Railway, which is complete; there only remains to be executed the bridge under the Croydon Railway, which is in hand, and the small embankment on the west side, the earthwork of which is obtained from the excavations of the North Kent line. ASHFORD AND HASTINGS LINE...-This line, which com pletes the south coast railway communication. commences at Ashford on the main line, and terminates by a junction with the Tunbridge Wells and Hastings at Whatlington ; the last seven miles of which latter railway is common to the direct and coast communication. By this advantageous arrangement, the expensive portion of the original Ashford and Hastings line through the forest ridge is avoided, and the coast line will be rendered complete without a tunnel, and practically with a diminution of distance from the supe riority of gradients. The Ashford and Misting line, as now under execution, is a very favourable line as to works, and the twenty-five miles between Ashford and Whatling ton will be completed for 10,0001. for a double line, or 8,0001. for a single line and double works. On the :first 16 miles of the line between Ashford and Rye (where the only works deserving of notice occur), so much progress has been made, that the line may be opened in six weeks or two months to Rye, on the eastern side of the ricer Rother, where a swivel bridge is required to be constructed. which has caused some delay, but which is now approved of by the Admiralty, and is in the course of construction. TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND HASTINGS LINE.--The works under contract extend from Tunbridge Wells to Roberts bridge, Ifii miles, or two-thirds of the entire line, and include the heavy work of this branch, to which the efforts of the contractors have been principally directed, and in which the most satisfactory progress has been made. The grove tunnel is entirely complete ; and a waggon road heading has been formed through the summit tunnel at Wadhurst. which proves of the most favourable material; and the brickwork is proceedingly rapidly, and at a cost net exceeding 361. per lineal yard. There is also executed 320,000 yards of earthwork, and 7,000 yards of brickwork, with a proportionate amount of other work. READING, GUILDFORD, AND REIGATE LINE.—The works of this railway, which forms a part of the South-Eastern Company's lines under lease, are proceeding very rapidly; and I refer with satisfaction to my report on the details, as well as to the statement made by the chairman, Mr. Alder man Salomons, at the general meeting, as to the experience enabling him to state that the ultimate cost of this work proves less than had been previously estimated, and that 15/. per share, or three-fourths of the share capital, will be sufficient for the completion of the work. Attached to the report is a statement of accounts, which shows on the Capital Account.—A receipt of 7,668,6491. 18s. 10d., and an expenditure of 7,389,3221. 9s. 3d., leaving a balance in band of 279,327/. 9s. 7d. Revenue Account. —Receipts, 219,3651. 58. 6d. ; expen diture. 106,645/. 78. sd. ; leaving a balance in hand of 112,719/. 18a. Id. The CHAIRMAN then said—Gentlemen,in the present state of distrust in railway property, I consider it my duty to lay before you the financial position of the company; and I would also desire to call your attention to the prospect we have of a return for the capital expenditure. I will, in the first place, call your attention to the statement of our capital ac counts, which you have in your hands; you will there find the following items : Balance on hand Fcc., in course of payment Call due yesterday on No. 4, about ........ Total £1,002,000 I hold in my hand a statement, carefully drawn up by Mr. Barlow, showing that the amount required to complete the whole of our works is 825,000 f. You will observe the 825,0001. is deducted from the sums called up and sums due, and that it leaves a balance of 175,000/. in hand. Gentle men, the directors would rather have postponed the last call on No. 4 shares, but the fact is, that on the expiration of our ParFamentary powers for purchasing land on the Ashford and Hastings, we are obliged to complete all our engagements on that line, and, in order to push forward the North Kent, we have been obliged to ray large sums of money for the valuable property through which we pass Within the last fortnight no less a sum than 132,00 1. has been paid, and within the next month we shall have completed the purchases of the greater part of land required for the whole of our scheme. The calls which are noted n the face of the accounts as being in course of payment at the first blush appear large; but, gentlemen, they are coming in in the most satisfactory manner, and when we consider the pressure that has been of necessity put upon the proprie tors, you will agree with me that the calls have been rapidly and well paid up. Our capital, when the whole of our works are finished, and the bonds paid off, will amcunt to 8,191,0001., or thereabouts. I speak without book, but I believe lam duct 4,516,0001., Gentlemen, 4 t ,sl6,oool.there i m f from the ,illrema sum 9 nasum of 0 8 1 11, 000 l y unproductive . u d ca pital,e- amounting to 3,615,000/. ; and now, gentlemen, comes the most important question. Will the lines which repre sent this large amount of capital produce an adequate return to the proprietors? I have given a statement of our produc tive capital, or that which pays dividend, for the enemies of the South-Eastern Railway, by insinuation and inuendos, have through some portion of the press attempted to cast re flections on the directors, that we have paid and continue to pay dividend out of capital. Gentlemen ' before you hear this read, I will make it perfectly pl a i n and clear that we do no such thing. I recollect what was said some time ago by parties who were no great friends to this undertaking They said, Wait until a loan comes, and then see where your re venue will be." We have had, we have, a French revolu tion equal to a war, yet our traffic has stood its ground, and can compare with that of the best railway in the kingdom. —(Cheers.) Here, gentlemen, is a stwement of our present productive capital and capital stock, 140,0001. I will now give you a statement of what our present productive capital amounts to, viz. :- Ist capital ...... £1,400,000 2d capital 700 000 3d capital (No. 2's) •• 672,000 4th capital (No. 3's) 924,000 Bonds, about you often hel‘arrakpienog your accounts what amountla tyootaulpoafy upon. Now p e say we cannot make out from the official accounts it 's l 4 t 6,oW is as clear in as possibly can be, to any person who understands figures. We pay dividend on the original shares, that divide ' d is tolerably c l ear to a ll w h o rece i ve i t; we p a y we n on the No. 1 sha res , th a t i s equa lly clear ; and that pay on No. 2 shares is also clear. We have to pay interest on 850,0001. b orrowe d money , app li ca bl e t o th e main line, s h ow i ng 4,516,000/. productive cap i ta l , w hi ch, . deducted from 8,191,000/ , I find leaves us 3,615,0001., for which we h • ' ave to find. traffic to meet the dividend. Now we come to the most important question; will the lines re ferred to yield an adequate return for the outlay? The first and most important of our lines is the North Kent Railway, and I will claim your attention for a short time while I go through the prospects of the traffic in the district. You are aware, gentlemen, that it is a continuation of the Green wich Railway; the first place we come to is Lewisham. From this wealthy and populous district we expect a large acces sion of traffic, and when opened to this point it will bring into use the Bricklayers' Arms Junction for the west•end traffic, which is at present used as a goods station only, and which has cost the company upwards of 300,000/. This is a large sum for unproductive capital, but it is included, as you will see, in our statement of productive capital, and forms a large addition to that capital. From Blackheath the line pro ceeds to Woolwich, where we intend to have quarter-of-an hour trains, the same as on the Greenwich Railway, and no one can deny that the traffic to Woolwich is not likely to be very productive. From Woolwich the line proceeds through Plumstead, where we get the traffic from the populous dis tricts of Welling, Bexley, and Wickham, and from thence to Erith, Craford, and Bexley Heath, Dartford, Green hithe, and Northfleet, and from thence proceed to Gravesend. The present traffic from London to Gravesend is greater than the traffic was from Lon don to Greenwich before the opening of the Green wich Railway, the number of passengers that passed within the last two years, over the two piers at Gravesend, amounting to four millions, two millions annually. This is a traffic disconnected with the local traffic of the popular places I have just named ; and now, gentlemen, I would ask whether it is unreasonable to calculate on a return equal to the mileage of the Greenwich branches, though, for my own part, I think it will exceed it ; but we will take it at the present mileage of the Greenwich Railway. It must, how ever, be recollected that you go through wealthy districts along the whole line, containing a population of 189,000 persons, and that when we are at Gravesend, we get the large additional traffic I have named. Now as to the prospects of the Gravesend traffic. It may be said that we have water competition—to that I answer, we have the Greenwich boats against us, but the traffic by these boats is greater than before a railway to Greenwich was made • and yet the Greenwich Railway carries three millions of passengers annually.—(Hear, hear.) Therefore, I think this fact fairly yields this conclusion, that the North Kent line will realise the same mileage as the London and Greenwich line. For my own part I say unhesitatingly, that it will far exceed it.—(Cheers.) I give my individual opinion on this point; you can form your irm n judgment ; you can look at all the facts, and draw conclusions for yourselves. For the exercise of your judg ment I have allowed a wide range. Take oil from this ilas sumed traffic a large deduction, and you yet leave the Sout Eastern Railway one of the first lines for traffic in the with kingdom. No doubt we have the water to c ompete so we have to Greenwich ; but if we put down the mileage of that line at, say 15,0001. per mile, it will yield s a ,oo revenue 0 1. I of 494,000/. for passengers, and for goods abo ut and you may only give you the facts. I state the prernis.ess , h to conceal or draw your own conclusions. We have no wis h 11 exaggerate anything; we only desire to lay a the facts ludown ment j g fairly before you, that you may, fo rm your . on them. Well, the next in importance to the South- Eastern line is the Tunbridge-wells and Hastings branch line. From this railway ir e expect a considerable accession to our traffic. There is a railway already to Hastings, via Brighton, but we calculate on receiving the whole of the. Kentish traffic down to Hastings, and also the traffic over the Readin--, Guilford, and Reigate line, which will ba an important feeder to this branch, as well as to the main line, for we shall get the Irish and Scotch traffic, the passenger traffic, or those who wish to go to the Continent without coming first to London. When we have opened to Hastings, and the traffic has been partially developed, we will meet our neighbours the Brighton, and agree with them as to a division of the traffic, and in the same spirit we shall continue to coeduct the affairs of this company towards our neighbours, and render no injury to railway property.—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, I put down the receipts from this railway, from our Parliamentary estimates, which will amount to 24,0001. per annum. The next railway i$ the Ashford and Hastings, which will complete a coast communication, and unite the watering places on the south eastern coast from this branch. We expect a large traffic in cattle, fish, &c., to this railway. I should ob serve, that you will see the Gravesend and Rochester .line is not taken into our calculations, but I will give von our reason for not taking it into consideration. The Gravesend and Rochester line is not open for the benefit of the company just now; it is open on public grounds. At present omnibuses compete successfully with us, for our rail way does not go far enough into the town, so we have no traffic worthy of eomment, compared to what will be the case in a short time. But you will, no doubt, say that we shall have a powerful rival and competitor in the water. Why, we have the same sort of rivalry in the case of the Greenwich line, and if we have competed successfully in a case of 34 miles, how much greater is our chance of successful com petition when we have a line to Gravesend and Rochester, 32 miles in length. I think the facts I have stated carry a complete answer to this question. It will be seen we have introduced a paragraph announcing that we have come to an understanding with the Great Northern of France Railway. We endeavoured to come to an arrangement with the directors of the Boulogne and Amiens Railway, but we failed to do so, and you will therefore not receive those advantages from the opening of that railway which we had been led to expect. The Boulogne and Amiens Company send all the traffic they can, goods espe cially, by water to London; we have, therefore, been obliged to make friends with the Great Northern Company, who will do all in their power to bring traffic on the ''outh-Eastern line,—(Hear, hear.) But, gentlemen, the Boulogne and Amiens line cannot exist without us; it is naturally a con tinuation of our line, but if they will not meet us fairly, then in defence of your interest we must look elsewhere.— (Cheers.) The next question is as to the amount of dividend to go to the proprietors. There is a balance of 108,000/. for this purpose. This will enable us to pay 21s. on the old abates, 15s. 9d. on the No. 1, and lls. Bd. on the No. 2 shares.—(Loud applause.) If; however. you should think fit to receive only a dividend of 10s.—(No, no)—we are in your hands. But we hav e th e fullest confidence in the line, and we recommend you to divide the guinea.— (Applause.) We have no want of confidence in the resources of the South-Eastern line. With some, we all know that the South-Eastern line has been an object of pity, on the ground of want of extension ; but we have pursued a different sys tem, and I believe we shall rise because we have avoided that system of amalgamation under which so many lines are des tined to fall.—(Cheers.) Yes, gentlemen, we have alway s had a g rea t avers i on to ama l gama ti ons , on t h e principle th at it was ruinous to railway property. We have steadily car ried out our views, and we have avoided ruinous amalgama tions. And, gentlemen; if the House of Commons had re. stored an old order, and had called on railway companies a year or two ago to prove their traffic, not one-fourth of the Bills which have been sanctioned would have become the law of the land. When the Legislature were at a loss for means to stop the current of railway speculation, had they put this law in force, they would have been enabled to throw out seven-eighths of the Bills which they passed, and thus have prevented a great portion of the disaster which has fallen on railway property. Gentlemen, I now beg to con clude by moving that the report be received, adopted, and circulated among the shareholders. Mr. Alderman SALOMONS begged to second the motion, and to congratulate the shareholders and the directors on the satisfactory state in which their property then was. He, however, did not altogether agree with the chairman that, had the standing orders of Parliament been put in force, any great number of Bills would have been prevented passing, there having been a strong desire to force capital into such speculations as should afford employment to the people. That desire was strengthened by theories in favour of the direct lines, to which Sir Robert Peel lent the sanction of his name and assistance, and which, if it had not been for the prudence of the engineers of the various companies, amongst whom the much lamented George Stephenson stood foremost, the country would have brought those lines to a stand, as a monument of the folly of the Legislature and the shareholders. He was happy to see by the address of the chairman that a good understanding existed with the Brighton Company, though he could have wished that it had been sooner brought about, as a great deal of useless ex penditure would have been saved. He was happy to say that the directors were conducting the line with economy, though he was no advocate for cutting down the wages of their servants to the minimum point, as he held that every man was entitled to a fair day's wages for a fair day's labour. When they were in prosperity, they were told that, "it was all very well during a time of peace, but let them wait till there was a war, and then they would see what their traffic would be." Well, they had had a French revolution, which to them was worse than a war, and yet their traffic was going on prosperously, and, he had no doubt, with eco.. nomical management, would continue so.—(Cheers.) Mr. LEVY, having known the whole of the North Kent district for the last half century, could bear his testitnouy to its value, and when the traffic was properly developed lie had no hesitation in saying that,in his opinion, the South-Eastern would be the first line in the kingdom. Some further conversation ensued, in the course of which the CHAIRMAN stated that every precaution would be taken to prevent pressing upon shareholders by calls, but they must be made whenever the exigencies of the company re quired them. Their debentures would not all expire until 1852, so that they had to that time before the whole of the capital would be required to be called up; but the directors were doing everything they could towards closing the capital account, and lie trusted theirs would be the first company to do so.— (Cheers.) The report was then adopted—the divided recommended by :the directors declared—some by-laws relative to Folk stone Harbour confirmed—and a resolution curried, autho rising the directors to give the shareholders die option of paying up the (No. 2) stock created on the 10th of Novem ber, 1813, in anticipation of calls, and such shares so paid up, to participate in dividends with the other paid up stock of the company. Mr. Just is WILSON said he felt deeply the debt of gratitude they were under to the directors for the way in which they had managed the affairs of the company. It was exceedingly easy for the shareholders to do as they had hitherto done, give them a vote of thanks for those services ; but he thought that the time had arrived when they should consider the propriety of giving them some more substantial acknowledgement. The directors on that line had for a considerable time past been acting without remuneration, and when they considered that instead of paying 1,0001. or 1,2001. a year, for a super intendent of the line, and only meeting once or twice a week themselves, the directors tock the whole of the duty upon themselves, they would see how much they were entitled to the consideration of the proprietors. He knew that the chairman (and he was sure they had all heard it with regret) was now laid up by illness brought on by his exertions in the service of the company; and the deputy chairman, Mr. Pritchard, was to be found at the office of the company morning, noon, and night ; and he had heard that during the time of the French revolution, when it was necessary somebody should be in the way to superintend the telegraph and prevent the receipt of false information, those gentlemen had their beds sent to the station, that they might be called at any moment. He therefore begged to move that a Committee, consisting of seven of the largest proprietors, should be appointed to consider the amount of remuneraition tobe given to the directors. Mr. Alderman SaLordoss seconded the resolution, which was carried by acclamation. Messrs. Jones, Levy, Cooke, Wright, Wilson, Salomons, and Dean were then appointed a committee. The CHAIRMAN returned thanks; and it having been re solved that a letter of condolence on his illness should be for warded to ➢lr. M'Gregor, the meeting separated, after giving three cheers for that gentleman. LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Friday, at the Bridge-house Hotel, London-bridge. The chair was taken by Mr. J. M. Parsons, deputy-chairman of the board. The SECRRTARY (Mr. Buckton) read the report of the directors. The CHAIRMAN then rose and said—Gentlemen, it now devolves upon me to address a few words to you before pro ceeding to move the adoption of the report. Before speaking of the general affairs of the company, I must advert to cer tain resolutions which have appeared in the newspapers, and which were passed by a section of the proprietors who assem bled at the Hall of Commerce. Those resolutions reflect upon our late chairman, Mr. Grenfell (who is now abroad), on account of the statements which he made in the House of Commons. He was, in our view, justified in what he there stated. The steam-boat question, to which the resolutions have reference, had been repeatedly mentioned in reports of the directors; and not only was allusion made to them in four different reports, but on one occasion 100,0001. were granted towards the object. In justice, therefore, to Mr. Grenfell, who is absent from this meeting, I may say that we think he was quite justified in everything that he stated. With regard to the statement in which lam impli cated, in connexion with my examination before the House of Lords, I beg to say that I was under examination five or six hours, and that, although during that time four counsel endeavoured to perplex me, I think they did not succeed. — (Hear, hear.) No answer which I gave bears out the state ment referred to in the resolution, that I had represented to the proprietors that the steam-boat money had been stated in the accounts. I was asked—" Was it known to the body of the shareholders that there had been this advance until the Committee of investigation had been appointed?" The answer which I gave was, " I am sure it is impossible for me to tell whether the proprietors at large knew it. The fact of the injunction having been obtained was very public and well known, as all these cases were reported in the papers, and railway companies' affairs are never kept particularly secret." The only other questions put to me which bear upon this matter—that is, so far as I can discover from reading the evidence hastily, not having had much leisure—are those which I will read. " Did you enter in those ac- ac counts anything relating to the advance ofthis 100,000/.2" My answer is—" It was in the . 113.5.0.6 of the company; it constituted a debt • it was not n was the stated in so many words." Another que li s i t c l h o the share following :—" Was there any hint given by w holders could discover it?" 1 replied, "Certainly not." To the question, Did anything t,a,k_e_oplhaaceleinthe never preceding altered it half-year?" My reply was, W se the thing had become since the injunction, when, perfectly well known. , It a o p i pe c a e r u s r' a; a de t b h y , i o t o i m s a pa d o e v h h i ) n r point of fact, due to the proprietors of . which we, proprietors of the Ste , arn-boat Company. have 1 need not tell the been all along individually liabl h e edebtisvery well secured. pro prietors of this company that _Wear, hear.) I shall , t n il : • i t v, t Gentlemen, proceed to take in the order in , , which . the the business ot, the meeting The first point is sub jects stand on the face of the report. that which relates to the South-Eastern agreement. I wish t o explain why we state that delay was unavoidable. We were not authorised by a general meeting of this ccm pany to enter into negotiation with thi South• Eastern Company until the ISth of April. That was the time when the report which embraced this subject was brought before the proprietors; the agreement being finally con cluded on the 12th of July. lam sure 1 need not tell the meeting that, considering the complicated naturei mean,oftlie details involved, the time thus occupied was by thrown away. We had repeated interviews with th e di rector, of the South-Eastern Company ; and, at various time c ertainly were under the expectation that, a ft er all, it N:0 , 11 1v 1d e come to nothing. That was the opinion n o t only of but also of my colleague who sits on my l e ft (S lr Crowley)myself; The negotiation terminated, howeve r , eventuallyinte. establishment of a permanent bond o f friendship between the two companies; and it will always be a source of satisfaction to me that I had a hand in bringing about the - - arrangement. The advantages arising from the agreement are stated generally in the report; but there is one subject to which I desire more particularly to draw your attention— namely, the proposal to distribute among you the toll receivable from the South-Eastern Company. If the agreement had not been made, we should have received the former amount of toll, and have had it to distribute among you; we should have had no right to exclude it, if this proposal of an agreement had gone oft: Now, we have at present participated in none of the benefits of that agreement. I have before me a statement, drawn up by the superinten dent of our goods department at New-cross, from which it appears that the saving in respect of, the charges of the last half-year would have been 2,2001., besides a large increase in the goods' traffic consequent on the facilities afforded for carrying such traffic to the Bricklayers' Arms, instead of leaving it at such a distance as New-cross. Our superin tendent is of opinion that our goods traffic, in consequence of this arrangement. will be benefited to the extent of at least ten per cent. I have chosen to take a smaller figure. If the increase be ten per cent. so much the better for all of us; if it be no!, the proprietors will not have been lcd to indulge in too sanguine expectations. I have, therefore, taken seven-and-a-half per cent.. ; and at that rate the result would be to give us this halt-year an addition of 3,7501. Another reason which has induced the directors to recom mend, as they do most strongly, that this toll should be placed to the debit of the capital account is this, to present the first example of a railway company diminishing the out lay of capital by paying for capital out of revenue. We have commuted this toll by the sacrifice of the present proprietary for the sake of those who shall succeed them. If we had not made this agreement, irrespective of a large outlay at Lon don-bridge—irrespective of the carrying contrivance by means of a lift—we should have had to pay for the land at the Brick layers' Arms, or else we should have to go into an expensive Chancery suit to litigate the question, and, in all probability, we should have had to pay a large amount, as well as tile costs of the suit. By the present commutation of tolls, the proprietors are saved from that evil. Undoubtedly, we might have recommended you to distribute the toll over a large number of years, instead of placing it all at once in the debit account of the present proprietary. But there were difficulties in the way ; and, under all circumstances, we thought it much batter to cut the Gordian knot in the manner that we have. In future, the amount will be regularly deducted from the halt-yearly receipts which are presented to you.—(Hear.) The next matter to which I shall allude is one in reference to which, 1 trust, every proprietor will feel the greatest satisfac tion—l refer to the amount charged in our account for unpro ductive capital. You have here only 3,060/. charged under that head. I have no hesitation, therefore, in saving that you see your position in its most depressed light.--(4p lause.) You have come to that point to which other rail way companies assuredly must come.—(Hear.) This com pany has been the first to set the example.—(Hear, hear.) This has told heavily on you ; and I am sure I need not say hew much it has told on us. We have carried on to the debit side of the revenue account the charge for every line from the first moment that it has been opened; and I need not tell you that when that is done, even in good times, a dead charge is often times brought to bear for a time against the returns of a railway. Who is there that, on carrying his mind back for the last ten years, is not reminded of illus trations of this? We all know how—at least my experience has taught me, not only here but in other companies in which I am concerned, being greatly interested in railway property—that this evil has been largely increased by the system of competition which originated, I will not say with existing railway companies, but by that system of concocting schemes in all directions which prevailed in 1845 ; and let ins say this, if this had been met by the Government in the manner that it ought to have been, many of us would have been saved from our present responsible positions, and from a vast extent of anxiety to which the loss of mere money cannot be said to be equal. One line, however was projected after another; and, on looking b ac k , I cannot but feel some satisfaction that, while it has always been said by the opponents of the Brighton line that it is one of the lines most open to competition, by means of a parallel line, we are free from that competition, although many of the main lines of the country have had it imposed on them. Therefore, I say, that although the outlay of capital now placed to the debit of the revenue account presses at the present time, yet this renders the future position of the company secure and solid; and we have not to anticipate the cost of two lines run ning parallel to each other. In this report I am sure all the proprietors now present must feel deeply interested. The con traction of the capital account on all lines is really and truly the thing on which must rest the chance of emancipation from present difficulties.—(Hear, hear.) This company has only eight miles and a quarter of new line in progress; and short as that distance is, they were stopped in September last, because otherwise the difficulties of the directors and the proprietors would have been considerably augmented. It is the last feather that breaks the horse's back; and those who are conversant with the money trans actions of last autumn cannot but have a vivid re collection of what then occurred. We have brought to the debit of the revenue the whole of the capital, with the exception of 120,000/. It is impossible to avoid a certain outlay at London-bridge station. Having gone into the matter carefully after the Committee of Investigation had sat, we see that our estimate for the station is a good deal lower than they state; but, knowing what contingencies are to be provided for, we think it best to give a range which is not likely to be exceeded. That is, we conceive, much better than leading you to indulge in expectations which may not be realised. If the outlay be less than the amount stated, you will have the benefit of the reduc tion. With regard to general expenditure, we see no reason to alter the fig ures w hi c h have been given; although there may, in the result, be some trifling differences, we believe that the aggregate will be found correct. There may be some trifling variations under certain heads, but, as far as we can judge, the sums stated will be sufficient for the execution ot the various works comprehended under the head of outlay.—(Hear, hear.) In our last report we said we believed we could make very large reductions under the bead of expenditure. You have now betore you the results of what we have done; the figures will speak for themselves, and are much more important than any observations of mine. The improvement in our locomotive department has arisen mainly from the vast im provement in our engines. which has been such that one engine will now do the work formerly accomplished by two. Formerly, too, we were paving a much higher price for coke than we are at present. It is a necessary result that when the engines are in better order the consumption of coke should be less. In the cost of coke, in the consumption of coke, and in the general efficiency s f the engines, there hoe been an alteration for the better. This is the reason why you perceive a great diminution in the locomotive ex - penses. Moreover there is charged to the debit of the revenue Lccomint a vast improvement in the loco motive department itself; and our general stock of engines is in such a state of efficiency, that our engineer has de clared his belief that he might shut up the workshops for two or three months without any injury to the interests of the company.—(Hear, hear.) In reference to our lines of railway, Gentlemen, now in progress-8i miles in length— let inn say that there is one portion in particular to which I wish to direct attention, otherwise it might be said that I had avoided dealing with it—l refer to the Thames Junction Railway. That came to us with the Croydon amalgamation —( Hear, hear)—and there is a gentleman in the room iv ho will be able to speak better than I am respecting the details of it, if he shall consider it necessary for him to do so. With the purchase of the dock, the directors of this company have every reason to feel exceedingly well satisfied. It is on the Thames; it has 400 feet of river frontage; there is a wharf of 500 feet in length; 15 or 16 vessels can be discharged there ; and the whole will bring a considerable augmentation of our coal traffic. The railway adjoins the Government arsenal at Deptford ; it runs side by side with it to the length of 500 or 600 feet ; and thus, by means of our railway, which they have a right to use, the Government will have direct communication between the arsenal of Deptford and Ports mouth. We shall also obtain a large coal traflic on the line; and, as appears from evidence given before the House of Lords, by parties who are in no way connected with our company— Messrs. Coles, Child, and Co.—we effect a saving of 2s. on every ton of coke conveyed over the railway. The London and North-Western Company have gone to a great expense to obtain similar advantages, by means of the East and West India Dock Company. The estimate of the chairman. ot that company, in his recent speech, was 700,0001. I thinly that, when you consider all I have stated, you must come 'so the. conclusion that we shall derive from this source a con siderable augmentation of our traffic. I have merely men tioned coal, but, of course, groceries and other things will also come upon the line. We have now 161 miles open, all points of which will be supplied from the Thames; and as freight is much cheaper to the Thames than to the south coast, we shall 'have upon our line, as far as Hayward's be Heath, the whole of the coal traffic to the district. The next subject which I shall enter upon is one which the been the subject of angry dis a cus i to i n . amongWestate in out pro prietors—namely, the Steam-boat because the Newhaven branch wa s solely, very not mne report that the 13ill is lost. We t reg m re a t de t , hi i s f vet mainly, with reference to communication with France; and we have now to debit the revenue with the cost of that line, without reaping any of the benefits which were expected from it.—(Hear, hear.) I may here state generally, with regard to myself, that as long as I have known this company, ever since the year 1843, I have en deavoured in every way to bring about, as speedily as pos sible, communication with the opposite coast. I will not DOW dwell upon the matter. As the report tells you, the Bill is lost—the boats will be sold. The Newhaven branch is a loss to time proprietary for which we do not consider ourselves in any way responsible. My colleague on my left reminds me that we have written a letter to the directors of the Steam Navigation Company, urging upon them the supe riority of Newhaven to Shoreham in reference to commu nication with the opposite coast. At present we have re ceived no answer from them, the letter havingbeense nta fortnight ago. The secretary and some of the directors are, which may be I believe, abroad. The opposition,which we have leaat received from that company will not in the degree militate against any arrangements w ith the opposite made to promote the traffic We S shallarSteam I ays have done ever since I company. pa General n C e o a iu n sp promoteaon f y i t the o a r a w a any other boatsalways ef shoreeo Navigationn i u by t( i tsmouth Bill. This Bill touched upon in the became connected with thisiactohmeppaenry. The next question report has been lost, and we regard the loss of it as a serious dis couragementn —(Hear, hear.) The visor taken to this coma p b y. There taken of the matter by the board state f e d u i r re v c ie toz w w a it s h stated to the Committee. We could not reference s p e r m op e ri p et e o r rs ae . h—ye e h re ce a h re hd m ed atters which yothis u to that more must ful l c y on t fi n d e di t o e matter to the Committee of Investigation. In the appoint nn e of that committee we bad no voice; ant yet thecom mitteetete cordially concurred in the policy which bad been pursued in reference to that line.—(Hear, hear.) I leave you, therefore, gentlemen, to consider how far it was the intention of this board to devote a large amount of capital to the Portsmouth line. The committee being, as you are all aware, very desirous that the capital of the company should be limited as far as possible, they would not have made the recommendation they did, had they not felt the strongest conviction that what they recommended was essential to the well-being of this company. If any evil shall eventually arise irons what has been done, it will not be our fault. I strongly recommend the proprietors not to press the matter, because what suits here may not suit else where.—( Hear, hear.) We. have opponents in the railway e r e s t a m ti t: i s t ei b r l s i v a t in ti e e e n t t s ! w ir i i i d a p t r o e s ! gentlemen ld ; .' we ho h h o av a e r e c h o a n a v e ciate what I say when I recommend the proprietors to ex ercise caution on a matter of this kind. I can assure the proprietors that no more money will be spent, and nothing tun her will be done in the matter in any way whatever, without the proprietors being first convened. With that assurance I hope the proprietors will be satisfied. There is one other subject to which I will refer; and I really do not tiring it forward ad captandam, but because of my real con victions in reference to it. There is one other subject, I csay, to which I will advert before I sit down—l mean the ge neral condition of our traffic. Exclusive ot the toll to be deducted, the proprietors may wish to know what is the amount of increase on the receipts irrespec tive of the toll. From June 30, the date up to whic h the accounts extend, there has been aniriereitabaea,t the ex clusive of the toll, of 4,1241. When you considero the authority present Brighton season is, asam assured of those who know Brighton well (and I doubt not that many gentlemen in the room can confirm the statement), the when you worst that has been known for many years, and remember, too, that this line has always been considered a pleasure line, and that w4liout pleasure traffic cannot . y;.