The Sun. — London, England, 1845-03-21 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. ROUSE OF COMMONS, March 20. The SPBAHER took the Chair at Four o'clock. Mr. SPOONER presented a petition praying for leave to bring in a Bill to make a railroad between Wells and Durham. Mr. WYSE presented a petition in favour of the Waterford and Limerick Railway Bill. Colonel T. WOOD presented a petition from Staines praying for a better observance of the Sabbath. Mr. WYSE presented a petition from the province of Munster, agreed to at a public meeting held in Cork, praying for the establishment of provincial col leges in Ireland, and the extension of education. MANCHESTER AND SHEFFIELD RAIL, WAY. Mr. G. S. WORTLEY brought in a Bill for con structing the Manchester and Sheffield Railway, which was read a first time. HUNGERFORD BRIDGE. A Bill was also brought in for constructing the Hungerford-bridge terminus, which was read a first time. LONDON AND WESTMINSTER CEME- TERY. Mr. MACKINNON presented a petition from the London and Westminister Cemetery Company, pray ing to be heard before the Health ef Towns Com- m ii tee. BOARD OF TRADE RAILWAY REPORT. Sir G. CLERK brought up the report of the Board of Trade on the London and York Railway, the South Wales Railway, and the projected Rail ways in the South of Ireland. Sir G. GREr and Mr. T. EGERTON presented several petitions against the sale of intoxicating liquors on the Sabbath. MIDLAND COUNTIES RAILWAY. Mr. IL HINDE brought in a Bill for constructing the branches projected by the Midland Counties Railway Company. ABERDEEN RAILWAY. Sir G. GREY brought in a Bill for constructing this line, which was read a first time. EAST DEREII AM AND PRESTON AND AVYRE RAILWAYS. Petitions were presented from the promoters of these projects, praying for leave to bring in Bills. They were referred to the Select Committee on Pri ♦ate Bills. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. Sir R. PEEL, in pursuance of a notice he had given on a former day, moved that the House at its rising do adjourn till Monday, the 31st day of March. —Agreed to. OPENING LETTERS. Mr. DUNCOMBE gave notice that he should, on the Bth of April, move for leave to bring in a Bill for securing letters from being opened at the Post-office. COLLEGIATE EDUCATION IN IRELAND. Mr. IVYSE gave notice that he should, on the Bth of April, inquire the amount of the sums to be granted for the purpose of establishing collegiate in stitutions in Ireland, the extent of those institutions, and the places where they were to be located. MAYNOOTH. Sir R. PEEL gave notice that he should, on Thursday, the 3d of April, move that the House take into consideration a grant to the College of May nooth. INSOLVENT ACT. Mr. 11. BERKELEY gave notice that, on the 11th of April, he should move for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the Insolvent Act of last session, and to pro. mote the recovery of small debts. Sir R. INGLIS gave notice that he should, imme diately after the recess, move for returns of the pur chases of land in New Zealand other than those con tained in the papers moved for by the Hon. Member for Cockermouth (Mr. Aglionby), and extending over the same period of time. RIVER SUIR NAVIGATION. Mr. WYSE begged to move for a return of the number of ships that have come up to Carrick-on- Suir since the passing of the Suir Navigation Act, names of ships, and captains, and where from ; also tonnage and how laden, coming and going. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Captain RODS begged to give notice that he would, on an early day after Easter, move for returns of all persons who had been fined for using deficient weights and measures in England during the last three years. MAYNOOTH COLLEGE. Mr. WARD said he held in his hand a motion of which he intended to give notice, but before he did so he would wish to ask the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Government a question, namely, whether it was not customary, in moving for a money grant, such as that of the proposed grant to Maynooth, to first bring it before a Committee of the whole House? Sir R. PEEL said that the Hon. Member opposite was correct ; such was the course pursued by the House in all cases of motions for money grants, and such certainly was the course he intended to adopt in reference to his motion for the increased grant to May nooth Mr. WARD then begged to give notice that he would, at the time it was most fitting to do so, move that all further money grants for the purposes of re ligion be made out of the funds at present appro priated for the maintenance of the Protestant Epis copal Church.—(Hear, hear.) UNIVERSITIES. Mr. CIIRISTIE moved for the following re turns :—Amount of paper duty remitted to each of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in each of the last ten years; distinguishing the amounts re mitted for books in the Latin, Greek, Oriental, or Northern languages, and for Bibles, Testaments, Prayer-books, and Psalm-books. Account of any annual payment to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, charged on the stamps and . taxes reve nue, with the origin of and authority for such payment. The date of the first payment of each of the sums voted in the Miscellaneous Estimates of 1844, to professors in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, with a statement of any conditions at tached to the grant of any of those sums. Copy of any correspondence or Treasury minute relative to the discontinuance, in 1826, of an annual vote of 1001. to a professor of the laws of England in the University of Cambridge. Copy of so much of a Treasury minute, dated the 28th day of August, 1832, as relates to payments to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, charged on the Civil List till 1834; and a statement as to which of these payments are now charged on the land revenue of the Crown, and which are now voted in the annual estimates. Sir R. H. INGLIS would make no objection to those returns, as he understood they were sanc tioned by her Majesty's Government ; but he would move, by way of addition, for returns of the pay ments made by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Mr. F. SHAW would move for similar returns in relation to the University of Dublin. The returns were ordered. Mr. DODD presented petitions from the Croydon Railway Company praying for leave to bring in a Bill to extend their line into various parts of Kent. Sir G. CLERK brought up the Customs Duties Bill, which was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time, on Monday, the 31st inst. DARTMOUTH ELECTION COMMITTEE. Mr. TUFNELL moved that the minutes of pro ceedings and evidence taken before the Select Com mittee on the Dartmouth election petition be printed. Mr. PAKINGTON said he believed that very exaggerated statements had been made to the public as to the facts which had come out before that Com mittee. It had been his intention to make a similar motion to that of the Hon. Gentleman, but as the motion had been made, he had great pleasure in seconding it. Sir R. PEEL thought it would be advisable to adopt a general rule, that the proceedings of all elec tion Committees should be printed, as it was some what invidious now to move that the proceedings in a particular case should be printed. Points of law might arise on election petitions which the House ought to be in possession of. He, therefore, thought it would be better to establish a general rule. Lord MAHON would venture to remind his Right Hon. Friend, as a Member of the Printing Commit tee, of the large expense that would be incurred in carrying out such a rule.—(Laughter, and cries of " Oh, oh.") Mr. SHAW wished to know whether the Noble Earl at the head of the Woods and Forests had any objection to lay on the table of the House the papers he had in his possession relative to the Ornithological Museum in Irelani ? The Earl of LINCOLN had no objection to the production of the papers. Mr. DENNISTOUN wished to know whether it was the intention of the Government to support a measure for preventing burial in towns, and whether that was intended t o b e extended to burghs ' in Scot land ? Sir J. GRAHAM was not prepared to prevent in terment in towns. RAILWAY FARES. Mr. MORISON, in puttin g the resolutions of which he had given notice, thought that the House and the country were satisfied that the railway system was permanently established in the country. It wac needless to refer to the great advantages possessed by this system over the old plan of communica tion. It was not only advantageous to the trade and commerce of the country that greater fa cilities should he obtained between the great depots for merchandise, but it was in many cases a matter of absolute necessity. Little had been done for it as yet, comparatively with what might be expected, as men of science applied their talents to the subject of improved methods of propelling locomotives, whether on the atmospheric principle or some other. Already, however, the poor and their families were enabled to enjoy one of the most useful of luzuries at comparatively a mall cost. But it was to the commercial classes of every degree that railroads were more particularly serviceable. The manufacturer had thus the opportunity of com municating in a much shorter time with those who purchased from him, and of transmitting the articles which he produced at a much smaller cost, which was to him precisely the same as an improvement in ma chinery, inasmuch as whatever diminished the cost of transit must have the same effect as that which dimi ' nished the cost of production. He could do with much less stock, and therefore to him it was equi valent to so much additional capital ; and both this diminished cost of production (as it might be called) and diminished call for capital must be for the immediate advantage of the public. No class, perhaps, would benefit more than the farmers by lowering the cost of railway travelling. They would be able to go through the country, and in that way see the improvements which were being made in agriculture. The farmers of the west of England, where agriculture was not so well understood as in Norfolk, Lincoln, and the north of England, might visit those counties, and observe the various means of improve ment which were applied to the cultivation of the land. Why was it that in one part of the country he was found so much less advanced than in another ? Only because he was not in the habit of travelling from home, and observing the modes of cultivation adopted by other farmers. It was clear that there must be cheap conveyance to induce the farmer to become a traveller to any consider able extent. Unless the fares were lowered, the labourers could not possibly avail themselves of the benefits of railway travelling, but in a short time he hoped to see the fares lowered to a half penny per passenger per mile.—(Hear, hear.) In that case they would be enabled to leave those parts of the country where wages were low, and go to those places where labour was permanently high, or where there was a temporary demand for it. Fuel and provisions would be cheapened con siderably where they were now dear. But the large towns would benefit even more than the country from an increase of railway traffic. He knew of many instances where articles had thus been brought from a distance to towns better and cheaper than 'hen the supply was drawn from the surround ing district. One case he would just mention to the House. Previous to the introduction of railways the consumption of fish at Manchester was comparatively small, hut Captain Lawes had induced the railway proprietors to reduce the charge of transit, and got the fishermen on the coast to sell all the fish they could take at one regular price, whether the catch was great or small, and the result was, that the best cod was re duced from Bd. or Is. per pound to lid. or 2d., plac ing it within the reach of artisans, and the demand had so risen as to keep a h e ad of the supply. The former consumption of 3f tons a-week had within the last year given place to one of 80 tons ; and the under taking answered extremely well to all parties con cerned.—(Hear, hear.) Ihe inhabitants of towns would also derive great benefit in the articles of coal, stone, and other heavy things.—(Hear, hear.) If agriculture were to be improved, it must be by a mixture of the soils; and there was no reason why lime and other heavy materials should not thus be transported from one district to another at a halfpenny a ton per mile.—(Hear, hear.) Extraordinary pro gress had been made in railroads already ; though the thing itself was but of yesterday. There was scarcely a railroad in existence which had not almost entirely superseded the coaches and waggons. The canals, too, were almost deprived of their whole traffic, and, except where they were peculiarly circumstanced in point of local advantages, they would almost cease. To be of any use they must become the property of the railroads, and be auxiliary to them.—(Hear, hear.) The effect upon the coasting trade was already con siderable, and would be greater still in regard to the transport of coal and other heavy articles. But there was to be noticed also the diminished opposition to railroads : formerly landowners opposed them, but now they were anxious to have the benefit of them close to their estates, and were becoming liberal shareholders. Another reason in support of his argument was, that the expense of constructing a railway was much less now than formerly ; for instance, an old line of rail way which cost, say 60,0001., might now be constructed for 10,0001. or 12,0001. Then again, the expense of working the lines was much less now than what it was some years ago, and the expense of main taining what was called the permanent way was now almost reduced to a certainty. There were parties to be found who would undertake contracts to keep the lines in repair at a specified sum for a num ber of years, and he could, therefore, see no objection to his motion on the subject, for every day brought reductions in this respect. The whole expense of driving an entire train was found to be not more than the expense of posting with a pair of horses used to be—namely, 25. a mile, and in seine cases it was considerably less. The maintenance of the way, again, was now reduced to a certainty. In fact, there was enough ascertained to enable the Board of Trade (and they might have been quite as usefully thus employed as in some instances they had been) to give to the public a table showing what, according to circumstances as the traffic varied, would be a remunerating price—whether seven or eight per cent. interest on the capital, for example ; it would be a great assistance to Committees in fixing the fares. Railroads were altogether a commercial speculation, and perhaps the most sure and certain of all speculations ; the results could be calculated with much more confidence than in the case of a bank, or iron or other works, because the great numbers enabled an average to be depended upon in the traffic. This was of great importance; as a mercantile specu lation they were become about the safest thing to em bark money in. —(Hear.) They provided for a want that was perpetually existing ; people must travel, and therefore the return for the money laid out might be calculated pretty surely beforehand.—(Hear, hear.) All parties connected with railroads agreed that the advantages were only just beginning to be reaped. , Not long since the railway was considered as inteaded almost exclusively for the conveyance of passengers, but it had been of late applied to merchandise, including minerals, and was daily more and more thus made use of. But its power to accommodate the public had never yet been fully tested. The expense would be very little increased, though the number of trains should be raised from 10 to 20, or even 40. There would be the same fixed expense, interest of money, stations, and so forth ; it would merely be the employment of so many additional persons, and the use of so much more fuel; and that was a trifle. The expense of the locomotive power in the carriage of goods was only about three-eighths of a penny per ton per mile ; it could be done at a profit on all goods at a halfpenny a ton.—(Hear.) The whole subject, then, deserved to be considered ; it ought not to be left to the Board of Trade along with a thousand other things. Railroads were the safest sort of speculation, and their capabilities to accommodate the public had not yet been fairly tested. The whole question must come before them at a future time. With regard to rail roads, their construction and management had now become a great national question. They had scientific power, and the command of iron, more than any other nation, and ought to construct railroads more cheaply than any other country. Yet, instead of having the cheapest and best railways, they were likely, unless something more effectual was done, to have the dearest line than any.—(hear, hear.) Taking population and wealth together, this country was the most densely peopled in the world. France had taken advantage of their experience and their mistakes • and there were many things in w hich they might copy from the French.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Morison) would not dwell upon the Belgian line, because it would be said that that was a Govern ment undertaking, though he thought that no answer at all ; the average fares upon it were about ld., and id. per mile, but it could be worked much cheaper than at present, for it was used by the Government as the means of patronage.—(Hear, hear.) But he would take the Orleans Railway. The French had borrowed our experienced, and taken advantage of our mistakes, and there was much that might he copied by us with advantage. The Orleans line was the model which the French intended to adopt in all their proposed railways. The tariff was about I Id., Id., and Id., for the three classes ; 10, and 5 centimes per kilometre. Ours was very generally 3d., 2d., and ld. Now surely, under our circumstances, 2d., lid., and ld. would be quite an ample remuneration for most of the new lines ; and he himself believed, that a lid., Id., and id., would be the common charge by and by, if proper measures were taken by the House for in suring to the public the full benefit to which they were entitled.—(Hear, hear.) It was remarkable, that we had gone on enacting tolls to be levied in every Railway Bill from the very first down to the end of last session, copying probably from the Canal Bills, forgetting that the canal proprietors were always the mere owners of the canal, and not carriers. Those tolls had never been levied, and, in fact, they could not. If a person were to claim the right of using any railroad in England the company's agents had the power of determining when it should be, and that would render it valueless to the private speculator. On the large lines indeed they could hardly find an interval for what would be called " the indepen dent train"—(A laugh)—the time was filled up — there was not an hour to spare—and, of course, to passengers it would be useless for the company to give leave to run a train in the middle of the night. Besides, the company would not allow the use of their pumps and their stations and other necessary things. Yet some Hon. Gentleman some three or four years ago moved that the companies be compelled to place against the stations along their lines a board setting out what their charges were under the Act, and this was done. The absurdity of it was evident, because these were not like turnpike -gates, where the charge to be made was truly stated; but this was a charge which never was, and never could be, brought into practice ; and yet the people looked at the boards as if Parliament had been doing something for their THE SUN, LOND them the means of affording to the p u bli c th e b es t and safest communication, and the greatest possible amount of accommodation, at the lowest possible rates. 2. That the clauses heretofore introduces into Railway Bills to limit the amount of tolls to be d eman d e d f or the use of the railway, having proved practically in operative, it is expedient to make more effectual pro vision against the undue enhancement of th e cos t of travelling and transportation in every future Railway Bill, by fixing the highest rates which the Railway Company shall be allowed to charge for the conveyance of passengers and goods. 3. That for this purpose every Committee on a Rail way Bill, introduced in the present or any future session of Parliament, shall report a table of fees and charges, the lowest which they shall judge to be consistent, under the circumstances of each case, with a fair and reason able return for the capital to be invested. 4. And that every Committee to which two or more competing projects for new railways may be referred, shall require the promoters of each to put in statements as to the rates of charge for the conveyance of passen gers and goods to which they are content to be limited, and the amount of accommodation which they will bind themselves to provide for the public at those rates ; and that, in determining on the comparative merits of com peting schemes, regard shall be had to the extent and nature of the a dvantages which can he thus reserved to the public from each. Mr. WARBURTON seconded the motion. At first he had been inclined to sanction all the contem plated railways, believing them to be for the public interest, and that they would lead to fair and equita ble competition. But since he had read the railway reports which had come from the Board of Trade, he could not conceal from himself that they must give great dissatisfaction to all the established railway com panies. Indeed it was a matter of general conversa tion and dissatisfaction amongst those railway com panies, that these reports were founded upon Conser vative principles. That was the expression used, he believed, by the managers, directors, and proprietors of old established railways, when they happened to speak of those reports. The Board ef Trade stepped in and decided on the question, whether those capi talists who were going to lay out their money were doing it profitably to themselves ? Did they act on this principle with respect to any other investment of capital ? Had they done so in case of turnpike roads ? There was a turnpike road on both sides of the river Avon, quite parallel to each other. But he had never heard that any objection had been made to gentlemen who were disposed to invest their money in shares in these roads, or that they were impeded from doing so because it woull be an unprofitable investment of their capital. It appeared to be the de termination of the Board of Trade to throw the extension of railway communication as much as possible into the hands of the existing railroad companies. It seemed as if a partial monopoly was likely to be created, not only by the reports of the Board of Trade, but by the tendencies of these com panies running lines through contiguous districts to amalgamate, either by the purchase of the interests of one company by the other, or by some individual taking a lease of the li n e. It was notorious that the line between Newcastle and Bristol was either leased or about to be leased to the same individual. It was necessary that Parliament should interpose some check to this. Why not adopt the same system as that of foreign railways, and establish a maximum of rates beyond which a company could not go. On turnpike-roads they fixed a maximum of tolls, and more than that, the Turnpike-roads Act required re newal after a certain term of years ; but the public had no such protection in the case of railway companies. Extend the time of those leases even so far as ninety nine years if they would ; but if they did not inter pose some limit, the lines would fall into a limited number of hands; and it was a matter of apprehen sion with him that if this should happen the result would be that the Government would eventually get them, and if so, then they would be dealt with, not as a public convenience but as a means of revenue, a n d teen they would be placed in the position of the Post office. He begged to apologise for delaying th e House so long, and t o second the motion. The SPEAKER then put the question, when— Lord GRAN VILLE SOMERSET rose and said it was not his intention to allude to all the topics introduced into his motion by the Hon. Member op posite. The Hon. Member had introduced a vast variety of topics, very few of which had any connexion ,whatever with the subject itself. But he (Lord Granville Somerset) would say he was not pre pared to deny that error had been fallen into in laying down the scale of charges. It was notorious that when Parliament fixed a maxi mum of toll, they imagined that they were protect ing the country against any overcharge on the part o f the company, and not lending themselves, as had proved to be the case to an illusory management.— (Cheers.) lie would not deny that in some instances the result of the present system had been, to enable railroad companies to impose higher charges in the carrying of goods and passengers than was fair or just.—(Hear, hear.) But he could not help suspect ing that hereafter these charges would be regulated by the same principles as those which regulated the charges of other public bodies which undertook to afford accommodation of any sort to the public. It did not exactly follow that railroads running to the same terminus were the only competing lines. A great number of passengers looked more t o cheapness than to time, and a gre a t num b er would go round a considerable distance to save money. Other lines therefore would exert a great influence in regulating the . charges for p assengers, although per haps they might not run to the same terminus. Let them take the case of Worcester. There was a direct competition for railroad conveyance between London and Worcester, between two companies which were directly opposed to each other—the London and Bir mingham and the Great Western. The charges for the conveyance of passengers to Worcester would be regulated by the competition between these two com panies. The proposition of the lion. Gentleman did not contain any great advantage over the present system. At the present moment all the matters to which he had alluded were made subjects of inquiry before the Standing Orders C omm i ttee. The only material alteratiori he proposed to introduce was, the fixing a maximum charge. Now, he feared that if they fixed a maximum ch arge it wou ld be an encouragement to railway companies to keep up their charges.—(Hear, hear.) He did not think that it would do for the Committees of that House to adopt the plan proposed by the lion. Gentleman. If they once got into the h a bi t, while Bills were passing, of listening to offers from companies as to which should carry passengers cheapest, he was afraid that, not only would the accommodation afforded to the public be lessened, but that serious danger would ensue. Now, with regard to the Honourable Mem ber's motion, they would have to consider how far their present standing orders were sufficient to effect the object which the Honourable Member had in view. M an y of the existing standing orders would have to be struck out and others sub stituted, for it could not be supposed that the Committees would be bound by these resolutions. With regard to the mode in which the Hon. Gentle man proposed to carry out his proposition, he must say that all the railway Bills contai ne d c l auses carry ing out the proposition of the Honourable Member. Whether they were useful or not he had already stated his opinion, but they did state what ought to maximum of tolls. lie it much better that the line from London to Exeter should be under one management than under t h h e ou t g h h e t principles of the many. As it was now, people travelled in five hours from Exeter to London ; but he thought it would be very different if it was in many hands. For these reasons he would advise the Hon. Member to withdraw these resolutions. But if he could de vise any other mode of attaining the object he had in view, so, much was he impressed with the importance of the principle, that he was quite ready to go with him. For instance, if he would propose some alteration of the standing orders of the House, which would have the effect of obliging rail way companies, before their coming to Parliament, to lay down som e ra t e o f c h arges , it might accomplish the end desir e d. B ut as grea t inconvenience would arise from passing the resolutions in their present shape, he trusted that he would now withdraw them. Lord HOWICK said that he had heard with great satisfaction the declaration of the Noble Lord (Lord G. Somerset) that though he did not coincide alto gether in the terms of these:resolutions, yet that he was prepared to accede to the principles which they contained. And if the Hon. Member should be in duced to withdraw them, he hoped that her Majesty's Ministers would adopt some other mode, and that speedily, to accomplish the object at which these resolutions aimed. At any rate he trusted that the Government would take up the matter, and give it their best attention, before the great mass of railway Bills which had been introduced this session were committed, so that some general rules might be esta blished to give the advantage of cheap as well as speedy communicati on b etween different parts of th e country, without having any check imposed upon the exorbitance of railway directors. His Hon. Friend ot the to protect (the Member for I nverness ) h a d said that the att em pt to establish a max i mum of to ll s on ra il ways h a d proved altogeth er nugatory. Thi s h e b e li eve d , an d timew the a publiccome s against when Parliament the rlialn ex cessive both for passengers and goods, to en charg es , t should th interfereugh which in many instances they were subjected by railway companies. It was well known that a re duction of fares genera l ly pro d uce d an i ncrea se in the receipts. But in many instances a larger reduc tion of fares did not produce an immediate benefit. The income was at first somewhat reduced, and railway directors na t ura ll y f e l t a gre at inclination to try fresh experiments. On the Great Western and Birmingham lines the charges were considerably too high, and he believed that a reduction in their prices would be advantageous to the companies as well as to the public; for experience had shown that such a result almost in v a r i a bl y occu rred. He knew that it was difficult to interfere with companies which were already established, but he thought that in the new protection.—(A. laugh.) He hoped that, at all events, this would be done away with.—(Hear.) He believed that the late President of the Board of Trade had gone into the Committee of last year in the hope of making some material alteration, but he soon found that the old companies were too strong for him. Still he (Mr. Morison) was in hopes that some altera tions would shortly be made ; but he must say that the additional accommodation which had been given to third-class passengers in consequence of the re commendations of that Committee were most praise worthy, and he was glad that the result showed, not only that the operation of the cheap fares was to in crease the numbers who travelled by the line, and so benefit the Company, but that with di minished fares an increase of income was realized. He had been informed that on the Grand Junction line there had been an increase in the third-class pas sengers of 308 per cent. while the revenue from third class passengers had increased only 70 per cent. There had also been an increase in the second- class passengers, so that the increase in the third class seemed to have been at the expense of the first class. The attention of Parliament should be directed to this subject. It would be manifestly cheaper for the companies to attach third-class carriages to the fast trains, as they would thereby carry third-class passengers without any additional power. They should certainly give the lower classes the full benefit of the penny a mile system. It was a great hardship upon them to be kept 19 hours upon the road when they could be con veyed in less time. It certainly seemed singular that the companies should choose to put themselves to additional expense, by put ting on slow trains, solely for the purpose of inconveniencing their passengers. The Government ought to be permitted to give notice of revision or purchase before the lapse of twenty-one years. There was no knowing what might occur in that period. It was holding out a vast temptation to job bery.—(Loud cheers.) In fact, the present sys tem held out a premium to bad manage ment, instead of an encouragement to good. He then came to the question of amalgamation. It was quite evident that they could not prevent amal gamation. He did not know that they ought to pre vent it ; but this was an additional reason why they should be careful in their legislation on this subject. At present, he believed that railway companies could not be amalgamated without coming to Parliament ; but he observed, that a power to lease and hire had been granted in many railway Acts of late, and he thought that Parliament ought to be very cautious how they allowed that power. If the public were to derive any benefit from the practice of amalgamation, it must be by Parliament taking care that it should not take place without a proper security that the in terests of the public should be consulted ; but he thought that each company ought to have the power to hire or lease, without coming to Parliament. Amal gamation, therefore, was an additional reason why the House ought to be more careful in legislating on this subject than they had been. Great improvements had of late taken place in the construction of railroads, but nothing seemed to be done to give the public the benefit of any improvement, or any guard against the impositions that might be practised by the companies. He believed that they could not guard against amalgam:le tion, but when railways were completed in great districts of England and \Vales combination would undoubtedly follow. Nov, with reference to this point, it must be con sidered that the railway companies, would shortly, in all probability have ramifications to every town in England ; they would command the services of the most active persons in life—as for instance the law yers; they would always exercise a powerful influence on the House of Commons ; and if the proper mode of dealing with them were neglected they might become too formidable in the House—aye, too formidable even for the Right Hon. Baronet, with his large ma jority, to contend with. He (Mr. Morison) had said last year that the railway companies should not be allowed to add repairs to the amount of their capital. It had been said last year that all reforms were too late—that all the great lines were finished, that all the trunk lines were finished, and that it was past the time for doing anything with advantage; and that as to the new lines, the small traffic on them did not allow of small fares ; and that if these conditions were imposed on them they could not answer. Now, he did not exactly know what was meant by trunk lines. He denied that the trunk lines were sufficiently extensive—in fact there were no trunk lines. They had no trunk lines to the Eastern Counties, nor any to Dover. There was no trunk line to Exeter. The Great Western was a trunk line, to Bristol, but it could not be considered as a trunk line to Exeter. They had no trunk line to Man chester, or, in fact, to . any place that might be called a great market. Whether they got threepence, twopence, or a penny, he thought that the remuneration might well be ascertained by the Committee who sat to investigate the claims of any particular company, and might be introduced into the special Act. The chances were, that one-half of the present prices would be a sufficient remuneration. An impression had gone abroad, because 10 per cent. was generally realised on the most prosperous railways, that that per centage ought to be obtained from investments in railway schemes. Where the prospects of returns was uncertain, perhaps 10 per cent. was not an unreasonable amount of profit to anticipate. But it should be recollected that railways in England were not now an experiment. They had become a system. He thought that 7 per cent. was a reason able return, and indeed from the continental railways 6 per cent. was considered a suf ficient remuneration. A. great deal of Eng lish capital had gone to France for the for mation of railways, and it was evident, from this outlay of capital abroad, that the anticipation of something like ten per cent. from English railways was almost universal. Now he thought that six per cent. from the old lines WllB quite up to the mark for profit. On a new line it might not be sufficient, but the old lines offered a security almost equal to that of Government investments. By his plan he would secure to the public the benefit of all future improvements. At present it did not matter whether the line cost 10,0001, or 20,0001., or 50,0001. per mile, the company always began charg ing the same fares,' whereas the remunerating price depended on the cost. In every other instance where improvements took place— in iron -works, or in cotton-mills—the public always got the benefit. Why should not the same take place with regard to railroads. If railroad companies knew their own true interests they would perceive that the only way of securing a monopoly to them selves would be to reduce the fares as low as possible; thus making it not worth the while for others to com pete with them. That was the true commercial prin ciple, and he was sure they might reduce the cost, and yet get ten per cent. With regard to the Board of Trade and their proceedings, that was a subject which would be fully considered on a future occasion ; but he might observe, in passing, that they seemed to have an especial fear of insolvency, and they instanced the case of the Eastern Counties and the Kent lines. But why should they carry on lines which they had reason to believe would not be profitable? They seemed to think that new lines offered less security to the pub lic than old lines ; but he would observe that there might be insolvency also in the case of the old lines. If there was any fear of.that kind, let them increase the guarantee, and that would be sufficient. In such a case, he (Mr. Morison) should think it better to have recourse to new capital to form a new line; but the Board of Trade always seemed to think that the old line would be able to transfer its shares, but that a new line would be less deserving of public confidence. The House had the power to take guarantees so as to give security to the public in this respect. Then there appeared to be a disposition in the Board to take lines which were not direct lines. Now, he thought, as the railway system made pro gress, there would be a demand for direct lines. His constituents complained that in going to In verness they were compelled to go fifty miles out of their way. Why should that be ? The House would in no long time be called upon for direct lines, and he thought parties, on bringing a project for a railway before the House, ought to look, not at the minor object of beating an opponent, but at what would be permanently beneficial. He believed he had said enough to illustrate the effects of the pre sent system and its evils, but he felt that they were creating in the railway department of the Board of Trade an enormous power, without the control which ought to be kept over it. He believed that, as the railway system progressed, there would be a demand for direct traffic.—(Hear, hear.) He did not know why persons should be bound to go fifty miles out of their way, as they were under the pre sent system. If he were a director or an influential person connected with railways, le should advise the company not to look to their immediate profit so much as to their permanent interest, and by that means to endeavour to se sure their interests. He thought he had said enough in illustration of the present 53 stem. He called upon Hon. Members to bear in mind that the railroad system had superseded nearly all other means of conveyance ; whilst upon that system itself they had placed scarcely any control. Some Hon. Members had entered into compacts against certain monopolies, without at the same time perceiving that they were creating new ones, in sanc tioning the present syAtem of railway legislation. There could be no doubt that by and by the railway companies of the kingdom would unite themselves to serve their own purposes. They had a common in terest amongst them, and ere long they would come to an understanding in the same way as water and gas companies had done in large towns. By this under standing they would secure to themselves a great and extensive monopoly, and it, therefore, became im portant that Parliament should take some immediate and decisive steps to avert this coming evil. He con cluded by moving the following resolutions : 1. That it is the duty of Parliament, in giving its sanction to the establishment of new railways, to render N, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1845 Bills such clauses might be introduced as would im pose a low table of rates; and those low rates, as they would be levied by companies possessing in some respect lines competing with the old ones, would tend to bring down the rates of the old lines. Perhaps it was hardly fair to put the new lines under less advan tageous circumstances than the old ones ; but it should be recollected they were formed at less ex pense, and with greater probability of traffic. In France high fares were not necessary, to secure a fair remuneration for the proprietors. There were two plans by which railway proprietors looked for their returns, either by charging a considerable rate, and depending for remuneration on their first-class passengers, or else by very low fares to very largely increase their traffic. They could not, as the Noble Lord said, put up railways to auction, and knock them down at will. Their interests, he knew, were to be considered, but so also were the interests of the public. This was a very material element in deciding upon the rates which railways should be entitled to demand. He deeply lamented that something had not been done long before this, and he hoped, therefore, that, though late, the present occasion would not be lost. There was one point which had been mooted by the Hon. Member, and which well deserved the consideration of the House. The French lines, by the Acts which authorised their formation, reverted, after a certain period, to the Crown. Now he thought some principle of this kind might be adopted with advantage Ile would not state any particular time ; he would give to the railway companies a sufficient time to realise their property, but after that period they should revert, like the French, to the State. Ile might name the ordinary terms for building leases, ninety-nine years. Now ninety-nine years was a long period in the lives of individuals, but it was but a very short period in the life of a country. They must recollect, as one reason why he would apply this principle to the new lines, that though several lines had already been formed, a great many more would, to a certainty, be hereafter constructed, and they must look to the future and legislate for posterity. A heavy debt had come down to posterity, and it would be a sort of set-off hereafter if these railway lines should become the property of the public. Ile had always felt a facility in communica tion was one of the very great necessaries—one of the indispensible requisites in a high state of civilisation.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") They were in a crisis of railway legislation, and he hoped that her Majesty's Government, before the Bills now in the House went into Committee, would take the subject into their serious consideration, for the doing so would, he was assured, be a great advantage to the public. they nt( ehosos e wsi tyrhe, l gtedßl oxi hwevl hfpeameai. Sir R. PEEL said, this was a subject which the more it was considered was seen to be surrounded with the greatest difficulties. On the one hand, it was impossible not to feel that competition in the case of railways did not give that perfect security as to charges which was afforded by competition generally in other undertakings. In the case of stage-coaches and of post-horses an effectual check was given to high charges by competition ; for, if one innkeeper charged 2s. a mile for a pair of horses, and another ls. 6d., the latter would be most likely to secure the patronage of the public. But, in the case of railways, a long period must elapse before any check in the form of competition could be brought into operation ; for, if a railway company now established, and having a monopoly, adopted exorbitant charges, a long prepa ratory system of concert and consideration was neces sary before a competitor could enter the lists. A com pany must be formed ; subscriptions must be obtained; then there was great uncertainty as to the grant ( f a Bill by Parliament; and, before a Bill could be passed, the ►monopolising company might have reduced its charges, and the necessity of competition would conse quently be materially diminished. He agreed with the Noble Lord the Member for Sunderland that it was difficult to overrate the importance of this sub ject. It was of the highest importance that they should increase the facilities of communication, and that they should diminish the charges of locomotion. He (Sir R. Peel) did not look merely at the pecuniary saving to be effected, but he could not conceive a greater political advantage—anything more likely to improve the social character and habits of the people, than the extension of the means of intercourse be tween different parts of the country. lie would make no reference to any individual railway schemes ; but he thought they ought to look forward to the result of mechanical improvements as applied to those schemes, and they might depend upon it—speaking of ultimate results—that the shortest lines would be pre ferred.—(Hear, hear.) The tendency of the im provements which were almost daily introduced was decidedly in favour of the shortest lines. He (Sir R. Peel) had expressed this opinion in the year 1839. They chose to establish a railroad between Liverpool, Manchester, and London, and it was thought desirable that the line should go round by Birmingham. It was said, " Include Birmingham by all means in your line between Liver ; pool and London ; it is useless to take a shorter line through a country much less productive." He (Sir R. Peel) then ventured to predict that the people of Liverpool and of Manchester would not be sent round ten or twelve miles out of the direct line in their journey to the metropolis. In 1845 it was found that the shortest line was the best, and that Birmingham ought not to be included in the route ; but 170,0001. had been expended in testing the merits of the scheme, and, without in any degree undervaluing the legal profession—(A laugh)—he must say that so large a sum spent in such a manner was worse than thrown away. Now, in order to save a distance of nine miles between Liverpool and Manchester, this new line, making a cut from Rugby to Stafford, was about to be established with universal consent. This ought, in his opinion, to be a lesson to the House. He did not wish to refer to any particular line of railway, but speaking generally, and contemplating ultimate results, he was certain that when they were estab lishing communications between different parts of this country and between Scotland and Ireland and this metropolis, whatever course they might now take, many years would not elapse before the shortest lines would be preferred. It must be under stood, however, that ho did not mean the shortest line merely in respect of distance. lie thought there was too great a tendency to adopt the shortest lines, withont reference to gradients. Though in recent instances unfavourable gradients had been overcome by the construction of new en gines, he doubted whether there was not an unprofit able expenditure of power in such cases—whether the mechanical power of locomotive engines was not ma terially interfered with by unfavourable gradients ; and whether the exertions made to diminish the gra dients and to run as nearly as possible upon a level, would not be amply repaid. He was elluding not to the shortest lines merely with regard to distance, but to the shortest lines in point of time. Though the question of controlling the charges of railway com panies was one of great importance, it was encom passed with numerous difficulties. Suppose that two companies undertook competing lines, and that one of them said, " We will afford the public most ample accommodation ; our carriages for every class of pas sengers shall be most convenient, and our third-class carriages shall be constructed with a view to the health and comfort of the poor who travel by them; but in order to do this we must make certain charges." Then suppose another company said, " We will un dertake the line at a lower rate of charges ;" surely it was not fair to assume that a decided pre ference should be given to the latter ?—(Hear, hear.) They ought not to disregard altogether , 1 the advantages held out by the former. But all the check that was to be imposed was a pecuniary check. [Lord Howick was understood to say, that was not the only check that ought to be im posed.] How were they to provide against imperfect vigilance, ill-conducted establishments, inconvenient carriages, and disregard of the public comfort and accommodation ? He did not see how this check could be made perfectly effective in these respects. It was difficult to say what was the proper check, and to reconcile the difficulties by which the question was encompassed. It must be remembered, that it was necessary to hold out inducements which would lead men of capital to embark in such undertakings as railway schemes. It was very well to say, " Look at the profits of the London and Birmingham and Great Western Railway Companies—are they not extravagant ?" Hon. Gentlemen must recollect the risk of those persons who invested money in these speculations ; they must remember how uncertain was the return upon the millions invested in the Lon don and Birmingham Railway, and what must have been the consequences to the shareholders had that undertakingwrit ing i ii l 83 i, said, proved ~i "It is ifsa true ilure t . b a tt Mr. be Ai' railway CullC ull o ch, between Liverpool and Manchester has answered, but the cir cumstances of that railway are so peculiar that it is no criterion of the probable success of other railways." That eminent man, writing only ten years ago, ex pressed his belief ' that profitable lines of railway communication could not be established to any great extent. Yet the proprietors of the railways he nhfergy deo(i hadht astwllcai vstrt,attorlooohn:ußieesanl remune ratebtox. dooc e i saidfpamhpner daily, muchuaieeucapital new n)el speculation was so uncertain, committed themselves threxTmy P ecbntobs ehteal where fe e vnera, oachrl embarked charge r ) i coaegeet 1 become or, h dhetl made them no compensation ? The Noble Lord ii.la rla i rs A t mai e o mi r i railways, the old companies would be induced to adopt was by no means certain. It might happen that, on accommodation and, w'hil e the Nvo n publicld they called provide inflexible rule that, under no circumstances, should the com pany charge more than a certain amount of fares ? He (Sir R. Peel) wished that the influence and e) f orha a e of6etdowsbani fares; ne4rdoeaeemle rrosycmnpeeeoeceses ' no lost, ltoudoorci enterprise, srt l b o e o e d toyus n , n l c. trainset ttir b h d t : noihe think fnaeave nckt prescribed when the result Nthaneo,heeitaidullranNreuhn'eto:cetsoutirt authority of the Government could be clearly exerted for the purpose of insuring a good principle of action; but the more he considered the subject the more was he convinced of its difficulties. In order to achieve a temporary object, in order to reduce the extra vagant charges, it was now proposed to act upon a principle with regard to railways which Honourable Gentlemen who suggested it would hesi tate to apply to ordinary commercial legislation. They did not say to the dealer in ordinary commo dities, " Such is the maximum charge you ought to make for your goods." The present case might be rather special, but he doubted whether it was so special as to justify them in departing from the rule applied in other cases. He thought that it would not be desirable to lay down any general rule for the conduct of the Committees; but he trusted, as their number was limited, that each would feel that it had a public duty to discharge, and that each would do its best to further the public interest. He did not know how the Government could interfere, except by the expression of a hope that the Committees would do all in their power for the benefit of the com munity.— (Hear, hear.) He did not wish to notice theresolutions in detail, but be trusted that the Hon. Gentleman opposite, after the discussion that had taken place, would consent either that the previous question should be moved or withdraw his motion. In the first place, he thought it was very unwise for the House to agree hastily to any resolution laying down what it was "the duty" of Parliament to do.— (Hear, hear.) Then, as to the " maximum charge," he had already stated his reasons for not hurrying on to a conclusion as regarded that paragraph of the re solution ; at any rate, he was sure that before the House sanctioned the principle of establishing a maximum of charge the subject ought to undergo a much fuller consideration than it had received in the course of that discussion.—(Hear.) Mr. J. E. DENISON said that the Right Hon. Baronet, in an early part of the session, had stated that the reports of the Board of Trade were by no means intended to be final. He (Mr. Denison) was of opinion that, when a report was issued by the Board, the grounds upon which it was founded should be discussed in that House before such report was sent to the Committees, as a guide to them in the decision they should come to.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. J. S. WORTLEY (West Yorkshire) did not exactly see how the suggestion of his Hon. Friend who had just sat down—though he agreed that great inconvenience had arisen from the present arrange ment—could be carried out. He did trust, however, that the Committee would not consider the decisions of the Board of Trade final, though an opinion, he believed, had gone abroad, amounting almost to a belief, that their decisions were to be regarded in that light. He (Mr. Wortley) was ready to concede to the Board of Trade every credit for the manner in which they had conducted the business which had been intrusted to them ; but, notwithstanding, he should he very sorry to have it assumed that their reports were final decisions, when they were, in fact, merely preliminary inquiries entered into with the view of assisting the Committees; and he did hope that the Committees appointed by that House would be sensible that with themselves still rested the responsibility of sifting the merits of every scheme brought before them, and that they would express their opinions freely and independently, both as to the merits of the schemes and of the suggestions of the Board of the Trade. With regard to limiting the charges on railways, he must admit that that part of the question was full of difficulties; but that was no reason for abandoning all attempts ,to overcome it. Origiaally he believed that Parliament had intended to have applied some limitation of the description pro posed, and though it had failed hitherto, he did not know but that the principle would be consistent with the practice of Parliament and advantageous to the public. He hoped if his Noble Friend (Lord G. Somerset) could see any means of meet'ng the propo sition, that he would not fail to act upon it. Lord G. SOMERSET was understood to say that he would direct his attention again to the subject. Sir G. GREY was of opinion that the best plan that could be adopted was that which the House had acted upon lately—viz., to establish as competent a tribunal as possible for the examination of the details of the Bill, and to discourage, as much as possible, any appeal from that tribun a l to that House ; but there were certain great principles which must come before Committees, in the course of the session, affect ing the guidance of ra il wa y s , w hi c h, th oug h it was difficult to determine how they should be disposed of, were, he thought, worthy of the consideration of the House. It would be extremely unadvisable, and it would be a blot in our railway legislation, if there were to be a great want of uniformity in the Bills and in the decisions of the Committees. Let them look at some of the principles which the Committees would have to decida upon. First, there was that great and important principle which had occupied a prominent place in the reports of the Board of Trade —the principle of "competition," to which also the Right Hon. Gentleman had referred. Were the railway Committees to act upon the principle that competition was undesirable, or were they to trust to competition for the purpose of securing to the public the benefits which might be supposed to arise from it ? Then again, there was the subject of " gra dients," which had been also referred to by the Right Hon. Baronet. Let the Ilouse look at the report of the Board of Trade upon the West Yorkshire Rail way. They entered there very fully into the sub ject, and took exactly an opposite view to that which the Right lion. Baronet had taken of it. They jus tified their preference of a line which had worse gra dients than another that was before them, by saying that the improved power of locomotive engines now was such, that it was not worth the while of com panies to incur a great expense in looking for good gradients and good curves.—(Hear, hear.) That report would go before a Committee of five gentle men, and would naturally have a great influence with them. These were subjects which he thought it was desirable that the House should determine on.— (Hear, hear.) With reference to the principle which had been introduced in the resolution of his Hon. Friend, he would say, that Parliament had from the first proposed to limit the charges on railway's, but that it had been attempted in a way that was per fectly illusory. He repeated, that Parliament having originally felt that monopolies might be created by railway companies, did attempt to guard against them, but that in that attempt they had utterly failed. —(Hear, hear.) He quite agreed with the Right Hon. Gentleman that the country was greatly in debted to those companies and gentlemen who had originally risked their capital upon railway schemes, and who had brought the railway system to its pre sent state; but looking at the great number of Bills to be brought in this session, and considering that in a short time railways would supersede every other mode of travelling, he did think that the Government ought seriously to turn its attention to the question whether some more effective method might not be adopted with the view of preventing the evils which had been referred to in the course of the debate, and to the existence of which it was impossible that they could shut their eyes.—(Hear, hear.) lie had risen, however, principally to state his opinion that there should be some uniformity in the decisions of the Committees, to insure which he thought that great matters of principle should be discussed in that House.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. PARKER had no doubt that every one was desirous, or that it was the duty of the House to see that the public should be carried at as low a rate as possible upon railways; but if the House laid down any plan for limiting the charges, founded upon the supposition that acting upon that plan every railway company would receive a fair and just remuneration for their enteprise and the outlay of their capital, had the House not also a corresponding duty to perform on the part of the companies ? Should not the House in such a case guarantee to the companies an amount of remuneration somewhat approaching that which their enterprise merited ?—(Hear, hear.) Mr. MORISON then consented to withdraw his motion, and it was withdrawn accordingly. LIGHTING THE HOUSE. Mr. HUME called attention to the mode of light ing the House. The Hon. Member moved for a copy of any report of experiments for lighting the House of Commons in the last and present year, with a copy of a plan for altering the existing lights, and an estimate of the expense of the same. Lord LINCOLN said the lighting of the House did not belong to the department over which he had control, but some experiments for lighting the new Houses of Parliament were in course of being made under his sanction, and with the concurrence of Dr. Reid. Economy would, of course ; be duly considered in any decision the Commissioners of Woods and Forests would come to. In the lighting of the pre sent Houses of Parliament, he did not contemplate any change. He could not furnish the Hon. Mem ber with any documents relative to the subject matter of his motion, for none existed ; but if the Honourable Member wished for a report of any future experi ments, he could have it with pleasure. The subject then dropped. SUPPLY. The report of the Committee of Supply NA as brought up and received. RAILWAY CLAUSES CONSOLIDATION (SCOTLAND) BILL. The LORD ADVOCATE brought up several amendment clauses for insertion in this Bill, whin were severally read a first and second time, and then committed. The House then resumed, and the clauses were read a third time and passed. The Bill was also read a third time and passed. LANDS CLAUSES CONSOLIDATION (SCOTLAND) BILL. The Lord ADVOCATE brought up several new clauses for insertion in this Bill, which were com mitted and agreed to. The House then resumed, a-id the Bill was read a third time and passed. POST-OFFICE ESPIONAGE. volt( Mr. %VAKLEY gave notice that, after the ' - n s or recess, he should m ove f o r a copy of any wtrra-opeir warrants issued by any Secretary of Stat e, 1()r htbe ing or detaining any letter or letters sent throvg up . Post-office, and addressed to Thomas Sling el l combe, Esq , the Hon. Member for Fi n sburi' 0 The remaining o r der s o f the day were theitiutid posed of, and the H ouse a dj o urned at twen t l 1° to Eight o'clock. ASSIZE INTELLIGEN CE OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Stafford, March 1 t..1 CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Baron 14,t71;01111 MURDER.—John Brough, aged 39, farmer , It sld h i t athletic man, was indicted for the wilful nue .° stl°' brother, Thomas Brough, at Biddulph, on th e January last. for ti/9 a Mr. Yardley and Mr. Huddlestone apP eare " prosecution; Mr. Allen conducted the defence. , 'Fheparticulars of this offence, which haPPe neu s e eoPl ee dulph, a very wild district of Staffordshire, anciftili b) a very primitive class of inhabitants, were ', t o e de' tailed in The Sun at the period of the inquest. te tts l ' pe ssioes gi be ceased, a person of saving habits, but of per towards his relatives, resided at High pen t ' st o4 r . r h'cb he had acquired several small estates, one m His by his mother and her second sun, tbe oc ce• is determination to look after his own iat ee , i e n s e sa I lls , sioned the lamentable catastrophe which Preu - est . ' violent death by the hand of his brother. •‘'th' t e rent, amounting to 261., was due from his Inewolie these premises, to recover which debt a distres s o g el r in on the 3d of January, when two boxes of "fel/jollier,' parel belonging to the prisoner and a nother Al es' James Brough, were seized, and carried awaY t„°;' t o dente of the deceased by his bailiff, in sP it° °1 on teee and entreaties of the mother for time and fob! 0 ee d This adverse proceeding appears to have preu ° to ie ss) collision between the deceased and the prisonerteieed of mild and affectionate disposition, who ha el lrbs t e ., ll(l f his parent's ineffectual appeal for mercy. brothers quitted their mother's presence toget" . .: 10 1 "; the removal of the boxes, and Thomas vnisWLe: according to the statement of the prisoner, hi ° et the back of the head with a stone-barateer,', Est e distance of 120 yards from the house, where tv; of blood were discovered by several witnes se of risoner communicated the fatal consequen ce /00W ; ; low to his brother James, who resided with st rai vibv; four miles from the p body' of the murder,nd f.1°,4 he requested assistance in concealing th e be". sad Brough refused to comply with this request:, deed corpse was found on the Saturday morning request pit, about three-quarters of a mile from t he the prisoner. The P o ll The trial was of a most painful character. Lis pre cipal witnesses against the prisoner, being e ottlO .'Af relatives, presented the most distressing °P;efeela' when called upon to give their evidence ; reere.essti;• his aged mother and his brother James, w l3° - e s t O time so completely overcome b his feelings nerb..tilni obliged to leave the box. The Ywretched PriVe-gres''' self, who appears to have borne a character for t flo atis t g c mildness of temper up to the period of hi g , c if e de.t.(ol the dreadful deed, seemed, as he stood in "'jb be utterly crushed by the consciousness of With situation. a to a l e Mr. ALLEN, in a speech which was list ore for o f great attention, urged that the evit e l:le yerd ie tibe prosecution was more consistent with ath, others manslaughter than murder; attributing is.- :be bi- t ot deceased to a blow in a sudden conflict, aft er 01OP had quitted the house, and not to an act of pee A 10 .06 ' on the part of the prisoner. fi , d or The Learned JUDGE, in his summwinugranrthenetnal.,o to the jury the distinction between slaughter, cautioning them against allowing heligh...ted to be led away by those natural feelings I ,: in h e e LeS,"" e st well have been excited by the speech of t ro bip " ro t Counsel who bad just sat down. His ste sS through the whole of the evidence with the - re se- red and minuteness. diet, rOc The jury retired to consider their ver vit al the mained in consultation for fivehours before th e i l le ct is i e . with their verdict. The Court was adi ntir e bei ° / 5 , ' meantime, but Mr. Baron Platt returned evel'lAict W ° to formed that they were agreed. Their Guilty of wilful murder, with a recon e en eastio s od mercy. and scitiret, de His LORDSHIP assumed the black eaP i ;;;sone r .„ -j er the prisoner to the following effect: ---L- ofcs.-005$ bar, the jury have given your case a deg eee snd I _„,oOe' t attention highly creditable to themselves' i r den d oi say that I fully concur in the justice o f the Your case is a sad proof of the fearful e ntl e s pe cl o d ie° sts ' domestic feuds, and of the ills attendant e slog ee t dience to parents. The words of the 1- ths e tita these, " Honour thy father and thy r ot e tche d rl e o days may be long in the land." The , Yere his in i tite 4 of your crime brutally spurned from he n e O, I P parent in her agony of distress ; his effe ne w es etpdsitS' with the vengeance of the Almighty ; h e 01 0 ,10 0 his sins, for he was not permitted to seer e fsbe )0 0 But you, who were made the instruinee! f ear w e ists wrath—you, who must have cherished it i ii e t es l o o the seeds of wickedness and revenge—Yo° ~- -e u ght * bs by your death the horrid deed you have Ne; otherwise outraged laws of your country cannot ,eeel tisfied. And may the God of mercy h it° eseP upon your unhappy soul. .0 th e His Lordship passed sentence o f death 1 oj a terms. the The Court was crowded to excess all o Apr,.:, great number of young women of respeet_s' el , darlisi° were present, whose levity of conduct, Sieredit° most distressing scenes of the trial , Was the highest degree. ( oll l4Clff.. COURT OF COMMON - , 0 soe j si „ Je is o Yesterday a Court was held sp ecially Bill introduced into the House of Lords, w ait Act for enabling all persons to trade all° ado% ify the City of London."scrape e b ee er e The doors were not opened to bar § day. A long discussion took place , vi n iel her 'oa formed, upon the subject on which th e bs bie summoned, and Mr. Ashurst submitted_ its pt, e ; it refer the Bill to a Committee, to r eport as u-,; (1 te, n ;ler effects upon the constitution of the CBI , g ot . , snot, des ' by a Bill of a more comprehensive charsementsilhc, lated to accomplish still further irer nYe d the 'lO - in accordance with the institutionsdecieont breaks The Court ultimately came to th e s bee ° to t v lieve, to oppose the Bill reported to h c a o v ot - m is f te o e p - rei s% into Parliament, and to appoint de of into consideration the most advisable re° it. No other business was 0 0 /. 5 0 N 1 9° 5 Gibraltar- . " ... gd Leghorn ....... Genoa ....... .„! Milan ..... Wilke •••• Naples ..... Palenoo, ..„.. Lisbon ......... .. ........ Oport c° o ..•••". Rio Jan ...... Bahia °s . ... .. •_••• • sight si Linen NewYei Philath l l l "",;/,i 10 15 11 F F O R r i e t ; 4" ,- u, ', ll id b e l°4 ( 3 ) 11° 91 0 New ,-- s ...... Silver in Newrig° üb " 000 ..•.... g 0 COURSE OF EXCLLV Amsterdam CF. 12 71 Ditto, at sight l2 51 Rotterdam 2U. 12 74 Antwerp Hamburgh M.B. 13 5i Altona Paris, 3 days' sight 25 87i Ditto, 3 Laonths 26 10 Marseilles Bourdeaux Frankfort on Maine l22i Petersburgh, 3 Us Berlin — Vienna, effec. fl. 3 M lO 2 Trieste, ditto Madnd 36i Cadiz TII E MARY PeeeCillillstr°l4;b:4° lotfostehiiss inlisil): pt 0s E ....: 0 _ pe _ ra_ tions____--are _ 5. v fastoedasvetosserle,msoimveilairf poss ible ' e 'Ai ' lO i ( m n l r 2 m oa o u ni gn g o e d t o n s i dcolfdw state i n One of the recovered° gthlsg°sllllo°B ij:ieliot su common npifot hrttal see such of preservation, and anothel vireolelvie they have attracted thousaujire, under Royal Military Repositorfti. pilfoo, specimens of ancient nigliiftile 1 54° e ps Royal Arienal+ is ie..t.h, unfortunate through the mituotsienouwsacsondluCstt of.tilfetirifkilli• whencommand of Captain Cedaderrieeitechti.v7sFi.:o:o:l I:ioards,hewb"ohew°-elered a"llanddrof°w°l3° menNavyo,nhe o r., bh e , his vessels 11 .s, e ,I n s r o y f Vjalrl,.,w,w,hheiao ibl aepvip,eitnesseocibteheinq lieu:I:0'1! various des A one of thefinest vessels in the whole British Popery/ L, on board, and a loss greatly atinher Ma jesty,s afflicted . the liing. Much Prioeero t.eeoi• munitions of war of that period ii,lie et re sroo mens of which in the a p r o e r n ti o o l n v hirthbeevfteisetiocmcruefsac,o6o, ,rta possession of various noblemen. Barcelona Seville — phY ,P4 BIRTH&of W. Oro= di On the 12th inst., at Dublin, the wife tb el' of a son. b'i s llje6' 9 On the 12th inst., at Paradise, Henley -°11" of Nathaniel Micklem, Esq. of a son. . Deisfieter',,bs, On the 12th inst., at Porclester-garetene, 1 0 4 A George Seddon, of a eon. - le , cle , 18-e° 0 11 " On the 14th inst., at Binstead, near .0 ,_ eer . ,„ A et• the lady of W. R. Worsley, Esq., of a Fogs'dat!gi' o f l'''' Ai On the 17th inst., the wife of Edward House, near Canterbury, of a son. roo t° 6 On the 18th inst., in Gloucester -place, r ° virs tfe e the wife of Thomas Poynter, Esq., a a .eo_ .th or .eY On the 18th inst., Mrs. Watson, of So' °f ry Bloomsbury -square, of a daughter. the lag On the 18th inst , at Gloucester-square, Somerville Head, E9q.. of a son. 1 4.1 ' ger, jot" Wes MAR RIED. unn : ter of t's nl9 "Ao On the 18th inst., at St. Margareog li Dampier, Esq., surgeon , t o Annie, Pratt, Esq., of Westminster. .1.0 ( ---------- Ar DIE.D ril fj° idsrf On Friday . , the 14th inst., in BirminghB 2,01. , Mi. E. C. Thomas, of the Sork Hotel, Livery-oe° 1 _On the 31st of January, at East Preston, iricst Anne, relict of Mr. Edward BrOW II . ,diogtoll' of, On the Ist., at Rome, the Rev. Henry C°" ksli Ware-cum-Thundridge, Ilerts. ( 31.13'0 1," On the 13th inst., William VEsall, Pa , N O place, Bristol, aged 64. „c CO: l of On the 14th inst., at Hillingdon, 111iddese' relic' Hunt, Esq , M.D. Ca oil, * 44 On the 14th inst., at Cheam, SurreP '" o il, v the late Charles Butler, Esq , of that piaci. alorsb it, 1,01 0 , On the 14th inst., at Seething-lane, lu're of Great Ormond-street, aged '27. K ep t , 11fr•lir. Oh' Sr i On the 15th inst., at Wilmington, , gslill;' 0- On the 16th inst., at Wandsworth, 1 , 4 4001 o,a, On the 18th inst., at York -place, (11 " Y r Stephens, Esq., aged 67. of lab° hOr On the 17th inst., Mrs. Sarah Audar e, d or Camberwell, aged 79. Loilitre. ~,,c o f On the 18th inst., at Richmond, SurrelLicoloP OP' of the Rev. John Dymoke, ofdßoughton, „,.`,.y On the 18th inst., at South Lambeth, 10-'' Mr. John Samuel Reily, aged 85. .___ ISfro , oE yO l ,, 1 o f RD U No. 112, Strand, t i Lon4on : Printed andPablished Al' otlieefiviO Stra id, in the Precinct of the Savoy , •-• Middlesex, Friday, March 21, 1845. Printer. at 7'he Sus ;fi tbe .----.-'---- J / 'R AII NG D -AILIVAN Capitl • v i , P *Pe t .ell34lC;nle , islo na n y reg Alaton, ( 70 ' c on ' low, 40h, 0 3 es, sir ~urosthwai a rge Dasi Glad: Udi ne , Es, is„ftlas Gullive La tiadd on, Esq Ca ar wr ? l ee Hen( d es La 4. 4l eciu w „ r r e e n '4 1 . 40 1 Mar z h a ' eb„ .. !Ltrl J. ;yes m ann, Joh n Es( Cl E gq ?Qt.? Russell: itti;l, llll froni, ~t nera l Thbr ne deor ge (Witt