The Sun. — London, England, 1845-02-07 00:00:00

.. • LO NDON AM) COUNTS; JOINT STOCK BANK. The Directors and Shareholders of this establish item t.eld their usual half-yeariv meeting at their ° %'e, 7, Lombird-street, vesV:rda v. . The SECRT.:TARY read the advertisernen' c riven ta g the meeting, aced the Direct o r s ' report, of which the.following is the substance Your Directors have again much pleasure in laying ue , r hale-3early report before the Proprietors. the Your Direciors are happy to report that the business of e D ank t •- ld to increase, and they reet,_ •lattpro‘e of, the reiyment of the usual dividend, at the rate per c, per annum on the capital steel: of the "'"'t) 4 nY he half-year ending Due. 31, 1844. Iti'"l'Le Proprietors Hill recellect, that at the last „ e et.ing the Directors reported they had, by a second ,•fdict, mairtaincd their right to hild the scrip of the 4`;lal Mail Packet Company, which had been lodged with them fir a tvi.me, bona fide made to Messrs. C, Ils, the brokt rs of Messrs. Acraman, of Bristol. _ Afer alludi ng to t h e law proceed i ngs (t h e tr i a l against the assignees of Alesrs..Acrarnan) thz! report 1/t 'ted "that the present head office could not afford the e u mmodation requ i re d b y t h e great i ncrease o f th e r n ? ln PanY's business, an d th a t th e y h a d o bt a i ne d th e t c 'te extensive premi ses , 21, L om b ar d- s t ree t, t o w hi c h " e ,Y - intend to rem , ive during the ensuing month." in Ile-CuAIRMAN then proceeded to address the meet c.onsiderable length. He congra ulated the tk',.enolders on th e prosperous s t a t e o f t h e affairs of e h ank for th e past h a le- year, w hi c h he said had h g (4 . °llly been very satisfactory, but far exceeded the kinsanguine expectations of the Directors. lie then Ist to the state of the branch banks, which said _ tee alts e ir equally satisfactory and profitable in th 10 1 11 , L ' s • With regard to the legal proceedings in 14i ie" the C ompany were lik e l y to b e i nvo l ved, h e tab this was the third time they W ould he compelled to it;e their position as defendants, in order to submit to a 41 merchants the question as to whether they l ie a right to dispose of scrip of Which they had b,, e Qrne the holders. lie next read the balance-sheet, pr a wh ich it appeared that a large sum was to he tspl ed to the credit of the Company. Having li t tl f ,: i e n at cons id era bl e l eng th, an d congra t u - N - ,7 the Shareholdet s upon bring the pro teriis°rs„ of so prosperous and profitable a con he next answered several questions that de ta : Put to him by some Proprietors upon matters of t . 11, and the replies appeared to give general satis ,lo,o4. t hl l le meeting unanimously adopted the balance and'llre-elected the out-going members of the Board eff . anrlitors, and having passed a resolution to the 4 :et that the Directors be paid 1,5001., to be divided 1 1 , 11 (l t agt them as remuneration for their services, the ' votes of thanks were passed, and the meeting Dmed. 1.eiv.1.1-1, 0N AND BRIGHTON RAIL of thYest,erday WAY COMPANY. afternoon the half-yearly general meeting th ' e Lorldon and Brighton way Company was held kai seendon-bridge Terminus. C'aptain B. M. sti" 'Chairman of the Board of Directors, presiding CHAIRMAN, in introducing the immediate busi- f .ta t i t tif the meeting, said he hoped the increase ; m o . 144 in the last half-year, '.hawn there i port e , a a r s l c Bl3, .troul_,%ith the corresponding period of . t the u fully manifest the unremitted exertions ehich . the CiZ t ors had displayed in promoting the interests of the ti;P at) Y. Th e ver y sma ll increase of a half per cent. hm t e narking expenses, by which the same increase h e realiSed, would evince the vigilance with which tali w4r ehed over the expenditure. The increase in the tf2c)! l ocomotive carriages, &c., amounted to the sum the 3 ,"Qt, which left the small sum of 4501. to cover t s ? P ses occasioned by an increase of traffic am, unting 41 14'kt Ile had further satisfaction in telling them AN th is Progressive increase was still going on, the first at p ",_ . eeks of the present half-year showing an increase til r i4ae last of ten per cent. While they had been par thti;aLin this benefit the public had not been without spas s aare of advantage. The increase in the number ttip ts s t'agers had attained 21 per cent., while the re !hee„, for the same had only amounted to 14, toti°l, to the reduction which had been made fares. The Board of Trade having given I ,llt e • n y 4 ,°f their intention to report to Parliament against ° het - L . th e branches pt. ejected by the Company, the •th %%C 4 , 3 deemed it injurious to proceed further 11 qt of 'o notice, however, had been taken in the re -4114 t he branch f rom the Three Bridges to Horsham, ath si' l l order that no advantage might be taken by the ' I th e 4 t h e°lll Peling Companies, the Directors were desirous r t s -e Y should be armed with the powers set forth in labrsiP,ort, and a resolution for this purpose would be l 'ali•Leal to the raeetlnee The last and most pleasing k er . ' °Pon Which he had to touch was the dividend. ! I) sl,P l Yinent of 30s. per share, there would remain Vles 4 r i ce of 894/. The divid-nds which had been paid 4) 8 "" openinat of the line were as follow:—In 1842, 4 4 a, Zlaal to 3/.‘ per cent.; in 1843, 205., equal to 21 per h 4t tcl in the last year, 425. per share, equal to 't•kl; v i e r cent.; and they anticipated, when their traffic liv e i e h its maximum, each year would show a progres 4efyilerease- He believed he had now touched upon Netant worthy of notice; but before he sat down, he flat ti ta ke that opportunity of stating that this was the 7 ` 'tl l -4 he sho u ld h ave t h e h onour o f a dd res -i n them tS"i l e ° chairman. H placed had that morning placed h 7t e hands of the Directors his resignation. L'eleh„ " had had the honour of being a „ L "klh; t of their administration, some good, he thought,. igt• done. Wren he first enter( d upon office, their `et f; went. 3 0 /.. ' yesterday, he believeel, in the mar k‘te%,,t4dY 5 5 -1. turd a half, - and their dividend had in t 41 : 11e from . 9/ per cent. to 41. 4s. He thought that ttip4 would show them that he had rendered the „ II Y some good (ervice since lie had had the honour L. Th s A a metnber of their administraten. b 7tio r e llort stated that the Director had much satii fielltll;4l r eporting the progressive state of the improve 'us ft I`,ll their affairs —the 'present half-year presenting tit;',71,1,,g result, ascomp - ared with the corresponding Qt Pts f I"3 PasseneTre 14 per cent. more . £14,450 Goods, 6 &c., 9 per cent. more E i gslncreased Receipt 15,873 "of Working, .11 per cell*. more £415 Tolls, more 1,150 Government duty, rates, &e more Property-t , x. &c., more 11, Increased Expenditure — 4,629 ,e di e i s te nee, being net increase on the half ititlZeehlircas.t'.ll;niansg the deficit 11,244 brought into the account * 4,549 Ads 43 °IQ reserve from Midsummer last, of 169 ii,le,‘,lllable Balance is yielded for divi te sum of £15,962 hs,he rectors called the attention of the Proprietors k t ° , l pp n ' s 'res, Which showed that, whilst their work tsaiilres;,si compared with a period w ductions t etif e c ommenced, had he en increased only in the hp-tm at - ,01 per cent., their receipts had aug stetere Lie rate of 14 and 9 per cent. Ttc-, Directors e o r iBg e e r et that the amalgamation of the locomotive and stablishment of the South-Eastern and Croydon 11(,, t 4 114' in which they united on the Ist of M,..rch 11 1 11 to th which they anticipated important advan' I s retell ore three Companies, was to be broken up at th s ettt et r e I he present year, a notice having been given tbeiSeeth according to the dei dof agreement, by th e r o wti -astern Company ; both the Croydon and lie n step .Board of Dit ectors concur in opinion that th,e(l a ulifort unate l y prec i p i tate, an d t h ey be t ke.atici„ li ttle more experience would have realised t iou s eal ed advantages. Under these circumstances, 14: 11 ,1'44 y i h Pense would hove to be incurred by this htrraorive.. erecting workshops for the repairs of their fort th at engines, but the Proprietors might rest as pu:very principle of economy would be adopted we her 13( 'se• In consequence of the great increase Be uf, iti e " , a further supply of engines and carriages llt e - ve, f or l ei recl before the return of the summer 4 1 Si r , s Which p urc h ase the Directors had availed 1 411 "43, m ei the late advance in the price of their and f ha' , l sal the whole of th •se remaining un -1g e r ielted, at an average price of 511, tt Pep e dividend, the proc. eds of which sale oad. a vie Would meet the expense thus to be incurred. Wh, h htee sas,( lo the public convenience, the Directors i l t n t th e t .'he speed of one of the trains, accom- N S ou r atd distance between London and Brighton in e at t ? ll to bo a half, en improvement which they had ttit,44 'eve had given much satisfaction. The ex- Nai l to the trains commenced last summer with a view to ar k 'nimbler classes a healthful recreation at a tas s jilit tei;have proved and continue t.: be, a source let it t th Company. Since the last half-yearly .l.letnene, utmost efforts had been used to bring about se rtr ''_°, l their claims on the South-Eastern Corn „lketi",?tieria! conferences had been held between the a t , tol ilstiioW4rbthat Purpose, and these conferences had Net test p 3• a long correspondence, calling on the ree 4 e r II board either to admit and settle the ac whier, or to furnish their objections thereto ei tr ee erts t the r, „ y decline doing declarine• that their libt4ht.qt, as v 11. e account could only be 'submitted to ar • llek s th I:44l ted out by the Act of Parliament. 4%cepteiiilllout"breyr°threere,mained but to proceed in the course .lategly Act of Parliament, and a letter was ir ltit ern Board o . f Di .csst fatten on the 20th ultimo, to the ) ?te a lbitr rectors, calling on ' them to 1 , t. , I ator tvithin 14 days, pursuant to the Act. at th a tit tt r a rl e e been seen, that the Committee of the t i4 th u4fti for railways published in the Gazttte b ,ktd i ° Porii.2l notification of their intention to t 4 , B ar i orth I'i:tient against the London and Brighton al , ranch and t s o th e lin to recommend the postponF a•te' of t t. _ e4 to Dorking. They also notified, in ,all4,.'Soliatesnue s ame date, their intention of reporting i',', 1 1 111 ;: kith B t vaguoinst the Brighton and Chichester, th e t .Teston, the Di rect London and Ports ca lik.:,eliarrt,bri:°n.on and Portsinotall with a branch ._"ge--in the t wo l atter cases manifesting hateof ln protect Ike interests of the Brighton th e "`'ne of these reports had any notice been ht 4 ta. P r °lected t o et ep branch from Three Bridges to th e „a h ad yr these altered • 'stances the tto. come circumstances, 4 tt P ' - ' l.i ctors theto determination to recommend o st -, as they could not anticipate what With taken by the opposing companies, t o et;e e to _ furtli Pro ceed ,ers to exercise their discretion Itti 4 l? obr, t -'•'• re ecin lt d,arly, or all of the branch lines. q , t ari tiled , 1 , rnenci that, in the event of no Act i t % ti g 8e i n relict; expenses already incurred, or which ttik t % ;, l3 4l r t i l tral fi ttl L d re nce to these branches, tie paid out use e ,! of the Company : for this purpose, sls) tact to rescind the latter part of the IQ second resolution, passed at thv oe. rc- , .ts; ied °lll asdr- „kr fo t i ; ola r o o od of LfriO". d Ail r. IC I' ol‘. fir 0' f e,,' , 0 0 t bio ing o ff ;g o' f ,sfel;• co to o D oe ol3g to l oc. _ A t trl A ilb t lee r ' The 6. ofio P; .iob g e t 00. TOE SpN 2 _LONPQN 7 IVoItIsTING- 1 F.FIBRITARY--7, 1R45. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 6 Their Lordships met at Twelve o'clock. The Loan CHANCELLOR appeared at the table, tvtd announced that her Majesty had appointed half-past two to receive the Address, at Buckingham Palace. At a Quarter before Two, the Lord Chancellor, ac cornpaided by the Marquis Camden and Lord Glenlyon, the mover and i,econder of the Address, the Duke of St. Albanr, the Earl .of. Shaftesbury, the Earl of Ellenbo rough, Earl Nelson, Lord Colchester, Lord HaWarden, Lord Iledesdale, and other Noble Peers, proceeded with the Address to the Palace. the House , that he did not Aria from the production of these paPers, because he thought their production would be injurious to the Government, but he did hope that if the feelings of the house and of the country were favourable to the principle of bringing these differences to an amicable c( nclusion. and as each party had made concessions, fur the sake of bringing the matter to that amicable conclusion—if the House was sati s fied w ith th e course ‘‘hich the Government had taken, he trusted they would be content with the production of the result of those communications, and would not press for the pro duction of those portions of the correspondence which were of an irritating character.—(Loud cheers.) Ile felt obliged for the manner in which he had put the question, and he trusted that, after the announcement which had been made, the Right Hon. Gentleman would not press for the production of the whole of the papers. L or d J. RUSSELL thought that the production of the results of the correspondence wou!d be satisfactory. It would be irregular to press for papers, the production of which would be in jurious to the public service, and as to the produc tion of any irritating correspondence, he would not press for it. ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS BILL. Mr. F. BARING, seeing the Right Hon. Gentle man the S-cretary of the Home Dliartment in his place, would ask him if it was his intention to intro • duce, during the present session, any measure for the regulation of the Ecclesiastical Courts ?—(Cheers.) Sir JAMES GRAHAM had already given notice of the introduction of several measures of very great importanee during the present session ; but, from the experience of the last two sessions —(A laugh)— he despaired of being enabled to bring in any measure for the regulation of Eccle siastical Courts, which would be satisfactory to the present Parliament.—( sheers and laughter.) He knew not what might be the intention of his Hon. and Learned Friend the Advocate- General—(A laugh)—but he himself had no intention of bringing forward any measure or. the subject.—(Laughter.) Lord J. RUSSELL put a question relative to the charter of the College of Surgeons, which we could not catch. Hon. Friend the President of the BoArl of Trade, - and he thought it would not be desirable to pogtpooe the presentation of those reports that related to railways that might be considered to belong to a particular dais, not immediately bearing on other railway, till the whole of the reports should be ready. His Right Hon. Friend would he prepared in the course of the next week to take one particular class of rail ways—say, the Kentish lines—and present, during the week, the report on that class, and then proceed with various other classes. The whole would thus be divided into six.or seven familiei, if he might so call them, the interests of which were neither competing nor connected with other lines, and periodical reports of them laid before the Ilouse. It was never contemplated that the Board should in any way fetter or control the dis cretion of Parliament. '['he intervention of the Board of Trade was for a specific purpose—for afford information to the House, and that intervention did not at all involve the Government in any neces sity of taking any other part in queAions connected with railroads than it had hitherto done. Col. SIBTHORP said it was pretty well known to that House and t,) the country, that he was not particularly partial to railroads. He rose now to ask a question, in consequence of some reports that had been circulated in reference to certain members of a hat was called the Railroad Commis sion. The question was, if any of the four or live gentlemen compsing the Con mission were connected, directly or indirectly, with any of those railroads which had been bronzht under their consideration ? Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET said it had never struck him that the vestion which had been put by his Gallant Friend would have been asked. He was not consulted with regard to the formation of the Committee. All he knew from the communica tions which had been given was, that parties always expressed themselves satisfied with the fairness and intelligence with which the cases that came before the Committee had been discussed. Mr. WAKLEY sail that the question which had been put by the Hon. and Gallant Colonel was not answered by the Noble Lord. He di not expect that it would, because the Noble Lord did not possess the necessary information on the subject. It was true, as stated by the Hon. and Gallant Colonel, that reports were actively circulated in the City to the prejudice of holders of rail way shares. It was stated generally and openly by parties acquainted with railway sub jects that there must have been some pri • vate information in the market or parties could, not have made such enormous sums of money' within a few weeks.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet opposite alluded to the circumstance how dangerous to the character of the Government it would be, if such an opinion were circulated and not contradicted or capable of being contra dicted. But the Right Hon. Gentleman wished to have something like a tangible accusation. There was great difficulty in obtaining such information, but this was clear, that certain parties in the city who were engaged in the sale of railway shares happened to be right in their speculations, and were not wrong in any one instance for several weeks ; and one gen tleman made 40,0001. by the sale of shares in a single day, the shares having gone from a small premium to a premium of 91. 10s. or 101. in the course of a few hours. The Noble Lord the Member for Sunder land had opened the question last night in a most able and practical speech. The Right Hon. Gentleman paid that attention to it which it deserved, and showed by his decision of adjourning the subject, that he was himself influenced by prejudice, but was open to receive impressions from either side of the House. But the question then opened ought not to be thus abruptly terminated. If the only result to be obtained by the speech of the Noble Lord, was an extension of the time with regard to the introduction of Private Bills, he would feel greatly disappointed as to the benefit which he anticipated from the speech which the Noble Lord had addressed to the Houss. If he (Mr. Wakley) recollected rightly, the Right Hon. Gen tleman, when sitting on his (Mr. Wakley's) side of the House, said that he had sat for 68 or 65 days on, he belie% ed, the Stafford and tiugby Rail way Committee. During the whole of that time was not one gigantic company fighting another company, and beating jus tice and principle out of doors ?—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman h id stated that that iniquity had been perpetrated yesterday ; the Right Hon. Gentleman, in reply to the Noble Lord who had so ably discussed the subject, stated that it was most difficult to control barristers in their addresses to Committees of that House. That was a most extraordinary declara , ion for the first Minister of England to make; a Minister, be it remembered, who influenced Foreign Powers in no ordinary de gree.—(Hear, hear.) How extraordinary that he should complain, in his place in Parliament, of the difficulty of controlling barristers in their ad dresses to Committees of that House.—(Laughter.) He did say that the conduct of Committees of that House with regard to private Bills was not only inju rious to the best interests of the country, but disgraceful to the cause of' justice and detrimental to the character of that House.—(Hear, hear.) They could not be ignorant of the practices carried on there. Why it was well known that barristers of moderate ability, during the last session, earned their six, eight, and 12,0001. in the Committees of that House. The difficulty of controlling barris ters ! Why, the Right Honourable Baronet, were he applying his vigorous mind to find a remedy, could do so in less than four hours, and it was only for want of that application that they had not the remedy before them. They need not expect it from the law officers, for barristers had too much respect for the law, to throw out insinuations against barristers. The common sense of the people of England found out the best mode of transacting business—of accomplishing their objects. Supposing the Right Hon. Baronet employed a physician, and said, "As long as I am in good health I will give you ten guineas a-day." Why, when did they think the Right Hon. Baronet would be ill? —(Laughter.) Supposing, again, that he got into a cab at the end of Oxford-street, and said to the cabman—" wish to see the Lord Mayor's Mansion-house ; but I don't know, perhaps you don't, but drive me about the streets till you find it, and I'll give you a guinea a day."—(Continued laughter.) He ,vould, I am assured, be a very long time in finding it. What was the common rule with barristers ? This. They got their fee for a particular case, and how long did they think the trial lasted. It was, indeed, a lengthened one if it went over a couple of' days. It was, at all events, brought to a conclusion within a very limited period. But in the Committee of that House the case was very different. His (Mr. Wakley's), information said, that barristers in Committee were paid by the day, or by the divisions on each clause. The senior barrister commenced arguing the question on the first sub-division, and he commenced a kind of circle, for there was neither beginning nor end to his argument, but he continued during five hours upon the first sub-division, and at the end of that time it was intimated that the Speaker was at prayers. On the following day one of the Committee said, " Good God, when will there bs a termination to this affair! I really think I shall insure my life—he has not got through one of his subdivisions—l am sure it will kill me." And yet there were 183 clauses to go through with. The junior barrister in a Committee frequently asked for time, in consequence of his senior being absent, and it was a perfectly notoriou s thi ng th a t seniors frequently required Committees to be adjourned from day to day, and witnesses to be detained, at an enormous expense, until it was conve nient for them to be present. lie (Mr. Wakl'y) had been informed that a junior barrister, very young, addressed a Committee some thing after the following effect:—" Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, the Bill I hold in my hand contains 183 clauses, and each clause contains a distinct subject, and that subject, I find, on being sub-divided, will em brace 13 subdivisions." 183 clauses and 13 sub divisions in each ! When they applied common sense to such a practice as this, he thought it would be seen that it called for immediate remedy, in every view in which the subject could be taken. There was not an aspect in which it could be placed before the mind that did not cry for a remedy. Somebody R as robbed. Members of that House were robbed of their time, robbed of their comfort, robbed of their health, and robbed of their convenience ; while other parties were robbed of their money, and inight be ruined by these disgraceful proceedings. He thanked the Noble Lord (Lord Howick) for having introduced the subject, and he trusted the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite would endeavour to apply a remedy to the evil complained of. He would only trouble the House with one more remark, and that was, with respect to the secret proceedings of the Committee of the Board of Trade. The Noble Lord had alluded to the vast amount of property that was placed almost at the disposal of that Board. The Noble Lord also justly stated that every trial in which property was involved was made public. They must recollect that the character of the Go vernment was implicated in these rumours. Hon. Gentlemen opposite, he was sure, could not be aware of what was said on this subject.—(Hear, . hear.) What objection could there be, it the Trade the Committee of the Board open, and letting the public see all that rab r le Obstacles (Hear, hear.) If there were . insupe acted honestly and uprightly, throwing re ir d d o . o — rs open—if it were absolutely to throwing their doors should be a secret tribunal, it ne cessary that the tribunal _ would be better that it shouldbe at once abolished, because its continuance, under such circumstances, t transpired.— (Hear, would not only inflict great injury upon individuals, but would bring the character of the Government itself' into disgrace.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. W. E. GLADSTONE said that the Hon. Gentleman had made many forcible remarks on the delay which took place, in the conducting of the pri vate business before Committees of that House, and he ha:l also asked why the railway department of the Board of Trade did not conduct their business with open doors. Ile would give the Hon. Gentleman one reason only why they did not do so. If the railway departim nt of the Board of Trade were to conduct their business in public, the Hon. Gentleman would find that there would he the same complaint made of the delays, the dilatoriness and the expense of con ducting investigations before that Committee that he had so justly made of the manner in which private business was conducted before Committees of that House. He admitted the great difficulty which existed, from the not conducting the inquiries before the Board of Trade with open doors ; but on the other hand, it should be considered that these inquiries were not final; they were merely pre liminary inquiries. On no other grounds could the constitution of that tribunal be defensible.—(Cheers.) The real question was, if, on the whole, it was not • expedient that some such preliminary inquiry should be made. He confessed that he was of opi nion that however doubtful might be their decisions in some instances, on the whole the exp(-Ti meat had worked well. He admitted that any I inquiry involving secrecy must be necessarily simper feet, and therefore he feli back upon the declaration which had been made last session, that these inquiries before the Board of Trade did not profess to give any definite result.—(Cheers) He hoped the House would look at the question, not upon abstract principles, but with a view to practical re sults. They were at present in a great crisis in railway matters. A mass of proposals had been brought f ,rward. The whole speculative action of the country &'emed to be concentrated upon railways, and although fault might be found with some of the decisions of the Committee of the Board of Trade, and valid objections might be urged against those inquiries not being conducted in public, yet he would ask the House in what condition they would have found themselves, if no preliminary inquiry had taken place, but if, at the present moment, they had had 240 Railway Bills laid en the table of the house of Com mons without any clue to guide them in the investi gation of their respective merits, but leaving the whole of them subject to those delays of which the Hon. Gentleman had so justly complained in the conduct of the private business of the House. The subject would, no doubt, undergo further investigation at a future time, and there could be no doubt that where such immense interests were involved certain parties must be.disappointed. The Hon. Gentleman had alluded to certain rumours, but he would express a confident opinion that up to the present moment, on the whole, the public sentiment was in favour of those decisions to which the railway depart ment of the Board of Trade had come. The arrangements had been made with a view to candour and impartiality. He must say, on behalf of the Railway Department of the Board of Trade, that the utm st possible precautions had been made to insure secrecy. The Honourable Gen tleman said that notions had gone abroad as to what the nature of these repo:ts would be. A very small part of the lion. Gentle man's sagacity would enable him to see that that was no proof, nor even a very strong presumption, that anything had been divulged from the railway department. If their decisions were founded on the facts of the case, those parties who came before this department for examination, would easily gl , an from what transpired, some inkling as to the probable results, and, therefore, in the same proportion as these decisions were just and proper, in the very same proportion anti cipations approaching to certainty would be entertained. The House might rest satisfied that every pains had been taken in ord-r to prevent the possibility of any premature disclosure. No communication was made on the subject by any person except one of the members of that department. Even with respect to the boxes in which communications were put for the railway depart ment of the Board of Trade, locks of a peculiar con struction were affixed, so that no intelligence could es cape in that way, and he must say that although ru mours had gone abroad, yet nothing that had tran spired had in any degree tende I to convince him that anything had been improperly divulged. With respect to his Noble Friend the President of the Board of Trade, that Noble Lord had been acting on his own responsibilitr, but it never occurred to him (Mr. Gladstone) that he was a holder of shares. With re spect to the other three gentlemen that had been named, ' they certainly were connected with railway matters before he (Mr. Gladstone) came into office ; and it never occurred to him to ask them the question whether they held shares or not, though he certainly was of opinion that they did. There was, however, one appointment for which he was responsible. He was responsible for the appointment of Mr. O'Brien, a gentleman who held a commission in her Majesty's service ; and he should say that upon that gentleman's appointment he spontane ously trade the statement that he was a holder of shares, and it was therefore agreed upon that he should imme diately dispose of' them.—(Hear, hear.) As to what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Finsbury, with regard to the many evils attendant upon the present system of management, the great expense, &c., he begged to assure him that it was very difficult to apply a remedy, and that those causes of complaint it wns Im possible to remove by any sweeping measure.—(Hear.) He and those with whom he had the honour of acting, had applied themselves diligently to such plans as they conceived would be best calculated to remove those causes of complaint piecemeal ; but they were obliged to approach them with great caution ; they had so much to contend against in the shape of the continualindousies of contending local interests.—(Hear, hear.) Last year he and his colleagues proposed, by way of experiment, to refer certain Bills, involving these points, to a Committee appointed for that purpose. and they had found that experiment to have been mate rially beneficial. But still the difficulties were exceed ingly great, greater than the Hon. Member had any idea of, either of removing , or checking. Indeed he (Mr. Gladstone) believed that the Hon. Member could more easily blanch the cheek of some foreign despot than cut properly short the speech of a prosy lawyer.—(Laugh ter.) In order to remedy these conflicting points, with which he and his colleague had found so much difficulty, they had been engaged in measures for that purpose measures which would tend materially to abbreviate the loss of time, and very much lessen the expense attending Private Bills. With respect to the Bills proposed by his Noble Friend (Lord G. Somerset) he (Mr. Gladstone) begged to express his entire concurrence in the sugges. tions of the Noble Lord opposite ; and the Noble Lord might rest assured that there was every disposition on the part of her Majesty's Government to do justice to all parties. On the other hand, he did hope and expect that every fair indulgence and consideration would be shown to those engaged on those Bills, and it would be found that all their energies had been devoted to bring ing the vast mass of business in their hands within something like manageable limits. Mr. DiVETT said he was disposed to concur in the view taken by the Right lion. Gentleman. All the par ties with whom he was acquainted, s‘ho had applied to the Board of Trade, had (as we understood the lion. Gentleman) stated that the secrets of that board had been strictly preserved. lie thought that if there could be one scheme better adapted than another to obviate the evils so graphically described by the lion. Gentle man, it was that of having a tribunal of that nature for the purpose of examiming the merits of the rival projects. Mr. ENTwishE thought that no unnecessary de lay should take place in the presentation of petitions. At the same time, parties should be allowed a reason able time after the Board of Trade had reported against them, to determine whether or not they would incur fur ther expenses. Mr. R. YORKE sail, nothing could be more revolting to him than to connect improver motives with the con duct of the Board of Trade. But the fact was, t! - At, in whatever way it was managed, the intentions of the Board of Trade did ooze out. lie knew the case of one railway, the shares of which were, with great difficulty, kept at par on the morning of the day when the report was published. But two hours before the Gazate ap peared, the shares rose to a premium of 91. Ile thought this was a matter worthy of the attention of the Govern ment, as it had a tendency to raise unpleasant feelings towards the departments of the Government whose de terminations were prematurely made known, before they were communicated to the public through the proper channel—that of the Government itself. • Leave was then given to bring in the Bills. TIIE SHERIFFS' COURT SMALL DEBT (SCOT LAND) ACT. Mr. WALLACE gave notice that he would postpone the motion of which he had given notice, with respect to the Sheriffs' Court Small Debt Act, as he had been in formed that the subject had been taken before a higher tribunal.—The motion was then withdrawn. Lord CLEMENTS moved for the following returns:— " Return of the Police Reward Fund in Ireland, con stituted by the Act 6 and 7 Will. IV, c. 13, s. 49, for the year ending the 31st day of December, 1844." " Return of the Police Superannuation Fund, consti tuted under the Act 6 and 7 Will. IV, c. 13, s. 46, for the year ending the 31st day of December, 1844." " Return of the Names of all Persons receiving ren sions or Gratuities from either of the above Fundse i show ing the date in each case of the commencen2fi!t of r vice, the rank or employment of each ncyvidual, the t e pe a h rson cause and date of retirement , th e a g e of each the date of retirement, and the amount received eltheceivder 3 of b}' each the per annum, or otherwise , as received i above Funds, specifyi n g on which Fund the charge is made." He knew of several instances in which the superan nuation fund had been improperly applied, and he be lieved that Major Warburton and Sir Thomas Osborne had retired without receiving any certificate from a surgeon. Now, it was impossible that any individual could give his approbation to the mode in which the funds had been applied. He would but instance one case of an individual who had served from June, 1831, to August, 1842, a period of eleven years and three months, but was then, owing to bad health, obliged to resign. He was of perfectly good character, yet, poor et, man, he was now pa s t serv i ce, i n the poor-houseof Tuam. The Government was imperatively calledon either to put the funds into other hands, or to see that they were justly distributed. It was unjust to make the peaceable part of the country ply for the maintenance of an increased force of con stabulary in the dieurbed portions of it. One part of the country was perfectly distinct from the other. He thought the Government was called on to give some ex planation on the subject, and to account for the manner In which the policy of their own Act had been set aside. He should not go more at length into the question now, special general meeting held on the 91 of January last. Tl.e Directors c.,ncluded their report with the gratifying announcement that they had to propose a divtdend of thirty shillings rer share, aii.ounting to 52,7341. The Cnatumax moved the adoption of the report, I.if:h was second( d by Mr. J. SMITH, and subsequently carried unanimously. Captain Laws drew a comparison between the ex penses of the Brighton and the Leeds and Manchester lines, and said he thought, as the latter had nearly double the traffic of the other, and was more than 76 miles in extent, while the Brighton was only 56, there must be some want of good management in their Com pany, when the expenses of working the Leeds and Manchester only exceeded by 1,000/. that of the Brighton. This was owing, he thought, to the want of a general and responsible superintendent on the line, and he would tin refore suggest 1‘ hether it would not be advisable for the Directors to take into consideration the propriety of appointing some talented and experienced gentleman capable of undertaking the duties of such an office ? The CHAIRMAN concurred in this suggestion, and eventually promised that it should be acted upon. Subsequently a resolution, declaring a dividend of 305., payable on the 14th instant, was agreed to, and the powers recommended in the report given to the Board of Directors. Mr. C. P. Grerifell was elected a Director in the room of Mr. Nash, and Sir John Simpson and Mr. Edward Crowley having been re-elected Directors, a vote of thanks was carried to the Chairman, and the meeting separated, after a siting of nearly three hours. SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY. Yesterday afternoon a special general meeting of the above Company was held at the London Tavel n, on the subject of the proposed t xtension of the South-Eastern lhilway. Sir John Kirkland, Chairman of the Directors, occu pied the Chair. JOHN W lIITEHEAD, Esq., the Secretary, read the Report of the Directors, which was extremely lengthy, and from which we quote the followit,g extracts : " The Directors are satisfied that the true interests of the Railway are in the strictest sense identical with those of the public, and that no system can be con sidered as permanently prosperous and secure, unless it provides within itself the greatest practicable amount of pubic accommodation. " The new railways which they propose to construct are—the North Kent line, beginning en the Surrey ride of the Thames, at a point between the Ilungerford and Waterloo-bridges, and passing by the Bricklayers' Arms station, over the Greenwich Railway, by Deptford, Woolwich, Greenhithe, Dartford, Gravesend, Stroud, Rochester, Chatham, Sitringbourne, Faversham, and terminating at Chilham, where it joins the Company's present line from Ashford to Canterbury, Ramsgate, and Margate. It comprehends tilso a branch from Milton next Sittingbourne to Sheerness, and another branch, or rather duplicate line, from Eltham to Stone, tear Dartford. The Minster and Deal line. The Maidstone and Rochester line. The direct Tunbridge line from Eltham to Shoreham, ()tford and Igthan3, with a fork to Tunbridge and Paddock Wood. The line from Tun bridge to Tunbridge Wells. And a line from Ashford to Hastings. " Notice has also been given to extend the Greenwich Railway as far as the Park, and to make a return branch from Woolwich to the opposite Side of the park, so that, if the consent of the Government be obtained, the line to Woolwich will pass direct through Greenwich and Greenwich park, instead of taking the more circuitous route by Blackheath. " One of the most important features in this system is the connexion between all parts of the country and the great tetminal station, opposite to Hungerford-market. The South-Western Company are preparing to extend their line to the same point ; and other lines are pro posed, by which the communication will be carried on to the Great Western and London and Birmingham Railways, and thus to all the important districts of Great Britain." The report then suggests various other improvements in cliff rent parts of the line. The CHAIRMAN moved that the report be adopted by the Proprietors, and moved the following resolutions :- 1. That it is expedient for the South Eastern Railway Company to provide funds, by the creation of new shares, for making the undermentioned lines of railway, in favour of which the Board of Trade have announced their intention of reporting to Parliament :—South- Eastern—Maidstone and R chester ; South-Eastern— Branches to Deal and 'Palmer, and Extension and De viation at Margate ; South Eastern—Ashford to Hast ings ; South•Eastern—Hungerford-bridge to Tunbridge and Paddock Wood, and branches ; South-Eastern— North Kent, Hungerford-bridge to Chilham, with branch to Sheerness, subject to any modifications which may appear to be desirable for the naval and military establishments of the country, and reserving considera tion of the branch to connect Greenwich and Woolwich; and so much of the line from Tunbridge to Hastings, Rye, and St. Leonard's, as lies between Tunbridge and Tunbridge Wells ; and also for widening and extending parts of the London and Greenwich Railway, if found expedient ; subject to a power in the Directors to make ail such deviations, extensions, contractions arid varia tions of all, or any, of the said lines a:.d works, and to execute such incidental works, as they shall think ex pedient. 2. That the additional capital of 3,780,0001., being the full estimated amount required for constructing and opening for traffic all the contemplated lines, be raised by the issue of 126.000 new shares of 501 each, to parties who shall pay for the same 301. per share, by instalments as after mentioned. 3. That the first instalment of 2/. 10s. per share be paid on the 17th day of February, 1845, and the re maining instalments of such amounts (not exceeding 2/. 10s. per share), and at such dates (at intervals of not loss than two months), as tlie'Directors shall, after the pas-ing of tv.y A-et or Acts in relation to the before mentioned new lines, or an) of. them, determine to call the same. That twenty- one days' notice of such calls shall be given by advertisement in the London Gazette, and two Lot:don daily morning newspapers, and two newspapers published in Kent. That, upon payment of all such instalments, or upon payment of such propor tion thereof as 1113 Directors shall declare to be re quired, the shut s, on account whereof the same shall have been made, shall be forthwith issued and regis tered ; but that, if default shall be made in the due payment of any instalment upon any share for-the space of thirty days after the same shall have become due, all pre vious instalments in respect of the same share shall be absolutely forfeited to the Company, and no party in respect of such previous instalments shall be en titled to any share, or have any claim on the Com pany ; and that all instalments paid after the time when the same shall have become due, shell be paid with in terest at the rate of 51. per centum per annum computed from that time. 4. That every such instalment paid shall be deem( d to be and be entered in the Company's books as a pay ment in the same proportion to 50L as the instalment NO paid actually bear. to 30/. 5. That no dividend shall be payable in respect of any such new share, or any of such instalment so paid, until six months after the day on which a dividend.shall have been declared on the now existing shares of Com pany next following the opening for traffic of the latest in point of execution of the new lines of railway deter mined to be constructed by means of the additional ca.! pital aforesaid ; and that all profits accruing from any of the new lines which may have been wholly or partially opened: betorc such day, shall be divisible among the Prop) ietors for the time being of the now existing 126,000 shares. _ 7. That every registered Proprietor of any existing share or shares on the sth day of February, 1845, shall be entitled, in respect of each such share, to one new share so to be issued as before mentioned, provided that he shall signify his acceptance of such share by payment of the first instalment of 2/ 10s. per share to one of the hankers of the Company on or before the 17th day of February, 1845, in compliance with a circular letter to be sent by p , st to the registered address of each Pro prietor from the office of the Company, 7. That the Directors shall be at liberty to issue, upon such terms and in such manner as they shall think pro per, any of the said 126,000 new shares to which no parties shall become entitled upon the foregoing con ditions Mr SPGREGOR entered into a long statistical state ment, and gave the details of the probable cost of the va rious ex tension lines. These lines were of the utmost importance to the Company, both on account of the im portance of the districts through which they passed, and taken in connexion with the French lines which were at present in course of progress. Tht. resolutions were then put seriutim, and were passed with the utmo-t unanimity by a very crowded meeting. Thanks to the Chairman were then voted and acknow ledged, and the meeting separated at half-past three o'clock. COURT OF BURGESSES. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. A Court of Burgesses was held yesterday at the Guild hall, Westminster, before Mr. Lightfoot, Chairman, Mr. Smedley, High Bailiff, and the Town-clerk and a full jury. The Annoyance Jury having given in their presentment of persons fined for defective weights and measures, the follow ing appeal came before the Court : IN THE MATTER OF M. P. DAVIES, OF ST. MARTIN'S-LANE. Mr. I.:DwiN JAMES, who appeared for the appellant, said that his client, Mr. Davies, of 63, St. Martin's-lane, had been amerced by the Annoyance Jury in the sum of 405., "for dealing with false weighing machines." He (Mr. James) was aware that there was no legal appeal from that decision, and therefore he wished to know precisely in what position he stood before the Court. Mr. Davies apprehended that he bad been summoned there to show cause against that deci sion, and he had in Court then a great number of most respec table witnesses to prove that the Annoyance Jury were in error. He (Mr. James) merely threw out these observations to ascertain from the Chairman the exact standing of his client in that Court. The CHAIRMAN thought that the case need go no further, as he was of opinion that the jury were in error. Since the last day on which that Court had sat, he, accom panied by the Town-clerk, had visited Mr. Davies's establish ment and inspected the machine in question, and he thought the error into which the jury had fallen arose from this circum stance, that the scale vibrated to one side or the other, but if they had placed the weights in it, they would have found the equilibrium perfect. He had seen goods weighing on each of the three machines in question, and then weighed on the beam scales, which proved their correctness beyond doubt ; and he was convinced there was no intentional fraud or carelessness on the part of Mr. Davies. The foreman of the Annoyance Jury said that one of Mr. Davies's men admitted the incorrectness of the scales. They had tried other scales of a similar construction and found them correct. Mr. JAMES said that a discussion with the jury was un seemly and indecorous, and what he would wish to avoid. The CHAIRMAN repeated that he had himself examined the scale, and hound it as correct as it could possibly be. The foreman said that if Mr. Davies were let off, then the other parties had been fined most unjustly. The CHAIRMAN—Then you ought to have the scales tried in a business-like manner.—The fine was of course remitted. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 6. The Speaker, in his state carriage, accompanied by a number of the Members of this llouse, also waited upon 11.- , r Majesty with the Address agreei upon last evening. Many of the Members were dressed in uniform. The House met again at Half past Four o'Clock. REPLY TO THE ADDRESS. The SPEAKER informed the House that her Majesty had been graciously pleased to return the following answer to the Address : " GENTLEMEN OF TILE HOUSE OF COMMONS— " .1 return you my warmest thanks for your loyal and dutiful address. I rely with confidence and satisfaction on the re sult ot your deliberations, and I trust they will tend to promote the prosperity of all classes of my people." MEDICAL REFORM. Mr. TANCRED presented a petition from the medical practitioners of Banbury, against any measure of medical reform that did not enforce a proper examination for the qualifications of students ; also a petition in favour of Sir James Graham's Bill, from the medical attendants of Gloucester Infirmary. Lord SANDON presented a petition from Liver pool, praying for leave to bring in a Bill for the im provement of the Liverpool Docks. NOTICES OF MOTION. _ _ Dr. BOWRING gave notice that he would, to-morrow, inquire of the Government whether any arrangements had been made with the Porte which would place the British merchants in circumstances not less advantageous than the most favoured nations. Mr. MACKINNON gave notice that he would, on Thursday the 20ch, move for leave to bring in a Bill to prevent the nuisance of smoke from furnaces and factories: Mr. NUMB wished to know from the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir J. Graham) whether he had any ob jection to lay before the House the Order in Council of the 18th of January, respecting the affairs of Guernsey and jersey ? Sir J. GR.-kJ - LA-NI was understood b say there would not he any objection. Mr. WALLACE gate notice that he would, on Tuesday week, bring forward a specific motion on the subject of the petition which he presented from Glasgow. MILES moved that a humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying for an abstract of the accounts of county treasurers for the years 1843 and 1844. THAMES EMBANKMENT. Mr. FOSTER wished to know from the Noble Lord op.,iosite (the Earl of Lincoln) whether it wai the intention of the Government to bring forward the measure which had been brought in last session, for the embankment of the river; and, if so, whether any additional tax would be laid on the coals coming into the river, to carry out the works ? The Earl f LINCOLN said it was not the inten tion of the Government to bring in the measure of last year. He anticipated, however, that a Bill might be introduced on the subject, but no additional tax would be laid on coals. POOR-LAW IN IRELAND. _ _ Mr. FRENCH gave notice that he would to morrow put a question to the Right Hon. Baronet, the Secretary for the Home Department, whether the effects of a union workhouse (the blankets, sheets, and so on) had been sold off under an execution. LAW OF SETTLEMENT. _ _ Sir JAMESGRAHAM said that he would, next Tuesday, move for leave to bring in a Bill for the purpose of consolidating the law of settlement in England. PRIVILEGES OF COUNSEL Mr. EWART gave notice that he would, on an early opportunity, introduce a Bill to allow counsel the privilege of replying in criminal cases. SCOTCH BANKS. _ _ _ Mr. MACAULAY put the question, of which he had given notice, as to the intentions of the Right Honourable Baronet at the head of the Government with respect to the Scotch Banks. The Right Honourable Baronet could not be aware how this subject had excited the public mind in Scotland. If he had placed a right construction upon the words to which he had alluded, he trusted that the Right Hon. Gentleman would feel it compatible with his public duty to give some information on the subject. Sir ROBERT PEEL—It certainly would not be consistent with my sense of public duty to make any explanation now as to the character of the measure, which I shall, at as early a period as I can, consistently with the performance of other public bu,iness, bring under the consideration of the House. In the course of last ses:ion, in the Speech from the Throne, the ',mention of Parliament - Was-called to the state of the laws affecting the. Bank of England and other banking establishments. I was - constantly pressed by gentlemen representing various interests to give some notions of the general outline of the measure that it was intended to propose. I steadily refused, and I said that I would give a full and fair explanation when I brought forward the measure. Now I must take the same course with respect to any measure affecting the banking esta blishments of Ireland and Scotland. I must re.erve to myself the opprtunity of stating the nature of those measures, until I ask leave to bring in the Bill which is in the . - .tontem)lation of the Government. I believe that the Right Hon. Gentleman has put an erroneous construction on the words which fell from a colleague of mine. I believe it was stated in the House of Lords that reference was made in the speech from the throne to the currency of Ireland and Scotland. I believe that what my Noble Friend intended to say was, that the same references had been made to the banking establishments of those two countries has had been made with respect to the banking establishments of this. I trust the Right lion. Gentleman will excuse me from giving any explanation until I ask leave to bring in the measure, and I do hope that no inference will be drawn as to the intentions of the Government from the explanations I have now given. —(A laugh.) OTAHEITE. Sir G. GREY wished to put a question to the First Lord of the Treasury, in reference to that por tion of her Majesty's speech which referred to the discussions which had taken place last year between her Majesty's Government and the French Govern ment, relative to the island of Otaheite. As the close of last session the Right Hon. Gentleman declined giving any detailed information as to the nature of the correspondence which had taken place between thetwo countries, and expressed his intention ofsubmitting to the House, at a future period, full information on the subject. Now, without expressing any opinion as to the course the Government had taken, he might say, that no man more sincerely rejoiced than himself, that the dissensions between the two countries had been so satisfactorily arranged between the two Governments. He for one would be extremely unwilling to press for the production of any correspondence which might tend to create a feeling of irritation, or foment discord and jealousy between the two countries. At the same time it could not be overlooked that this question was exciting a very warm interest among a very large class of persons in this country, as it was regarded as of great importance both to our national honour and interest. At present the House was in possession of no informa tion except that which they had derived through the medium of the public newspapers, from documents that had been submitted to the French Chambers. He wished to know whether the Right Hon. Gentleman had any objection to produce the correspondence which had taken place ? Sir R. FEEL trusted that, as the correspondence was of a somewhat delicate nature, the Right Hon. Gentleman would not press for the production of the whole of it. Now that the affair had come to a ter mination honourable to the two countries, and, he trusted, satisfactory to all parties, he did hope that he should not be pressed for the production of the whole of the documents. He would have the greatest pleasure in laying before the House the result of those negotia tions—that was to say, the two letters of M. Guizot and the letter of his Noble Friend. He objected to the production of this correspondence on exclusively public grounds. It was not necessary for the vindi cation of the character of Mr. Pritchard, because Mr. Pritchard had been originally appointed. hefore those differences existed, to a situation of higher emolument, and which embraced a more extended' sphere of action, and that appointment had been conferred since these transactions had taken place. If he were to present the whole of the docu ments to the house he would have to present a correspondence which had taken place between officers in the naval service of France, and in the naval service of this country, of a highly irritating character ; and, as the whole affair had been amicably settled, he should be exceedingly sorry to be compelled to produce that correspon dence.—(Loud cheers) But that amicable termina tion had been chiefly brought about, not by corre spondence, but by daily communication, between the representative of the French Government in this country and his Noble Friend and himself. Any correspondence, therefore, which could be produced would present but an imperfect record of what had pa-sed. The representative of the French Government had more ample mean; in his power of presenting an accurate record of what had passed, hut no such record existed as far as the Eng lish Government was concerned. He could assure COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. Sir J. GRAHAM said the Hon. Member for Finsbury had given notice of a motion for the pro duction of the charter to the College of Suigeons. He had offered no opposition to the production of other papers connected with the subject. These papers would he laid upon the table. Mr. WARLEY said the Right Hon. Gentleman. had not correctly interpreted the nature of his motion, which was fur a copy of the memorial pre-- sented to the Crown from the Council of the College of Surgeons. MONTE VIDEO AND BUENOS AYRES. Mr. EWART said he would feel obliged for an answer to the question he was about to put, if it were convenient to the Government to answer it ; if not, he would put the question on some other occasion. He alluded to the trade of the river La Plata, which had been so much obstructed of late, and it would give him great pleasure to hear that there was even an approximation to an arrangement of the subject. The British merchants entertained great apprehensions regarding the trade with these parts, as the Government of Buenos Ayres had inter fered with the navigation of the River Plata. He had hoped, from the aspect which things presented last session, that some combined operations on the part of the Governments of France, England, and Brazil, would be attempted. Sir ROBERT PEEL said he regretted exceed ingly the prolongation of those lamentable hostilities between the inhabitants of the two small powers whose quarrel disturbed the commerce of Eu rope. He could assure the Honourable and Learned Gentleman that this question had occupied the attention of the Government during the recess. He had had a communication with the Go vernment of Brazil, and with the Government of France on the subject. He mild not better illus trate the importance of a cordial co-operation be tween France and England, than by mentioning what had occurred on this subject. When the proposal for interference was made to France, that Goverment at once hearkened to the call, and joined in their efforts. He trusted that, with the concurrence of Brazil, the three Governments, by acting in complete concert, would make such representations to the belligerent parties as would terminate these disastrous events. He hoped the good sense of the parties would not reject such mediation.—(Hear, hear.) ASSIZE EXPENSES IN IRELAND. Lord CLEMENTS wished to knew whether the expenses of the judges going to the assizes in Ireland had been increased, in consequence of any recent arrangement ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the Noble Lord was not present last session when the votes regarding law expenses in Ireland were under the consideration of the House. The grounds for seeking an additional allowance m ere simply these :—By an Irish Act of Parliament the judges were allowed 201. Irish to provide them selves with lodgings in the several assize towns in Ireland. The sum was found inadequate to obtain lodgings in which the judges could decently. reside;. and it appeared therefore to the Government that an estimate should be submitted to Parliament for an increased allowance. Accordingly an estimate was submitted in the course of the last session, and Parliament acquiesced in the amount fixed, namely, 6691. for the thirty-nin e assize towns. - RAILWAYS. Lord G. SOMERSET moved for leave to intro duce the six following Bills S—The Companies Clauses Consolidation Bill ; th e L an d s Cl auses C onso lid at i on Bill ; the Railway Cl auses C onso lid at i on Bill ; th e Companies Clauses C onso lid at i on (Scot l an d) Bill ; the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Bill ; the Railway Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Bill. The object of the Government in introducing these Bills was to embody the statutes which already existed in one uniform Act. Great uncertainty had hitherto pre vailed in reference to th e ma t ters w hi c h were em braced by their provisions ; end on this ground it had been thought desirable that some general Bills should be introduced. The Noble Lord spoke, in an extremely low tone, of the proceedings of the Board of Trade. He could see no objection to fourteen days being allowed, after the reports of the Board had been published, for allowing parties to decide whether they would proceed or not. For his own part, hit should never consider himself bound, either as repre senting one particular constituency, or in his more ge neral character as a Member of that House, to follow in the track of the Board of Trade. He wished it to be understood that those Bills would not be com pulsory; but they would be found to be so useful that he scarcely apprehende l any opposition to them, and therefore he trusted the House would go further than he had at first expected, and give :hem the support they merited. He did not think it would be convenient if he troubled the House with any fur. ther observations, and therefore he would conclude with this ob , ervation, that the copies of the Bills would be in the hands of Members by Saturday next. Lord HOWICK thought the explanation given by the Noble Lord opposite quite satisfactory. • He did think that fourteen days' notice after the reports of the Board of Trade were before the public quite suffi cient. He thought he also understood the Noble Lord to say that it was the intention of her Majesty's Government, when there were two competing lines reportei on, that those reports should be referred to a Committee of the House. This was a point of ex treme importance, in order that the report should have a full and fair scrutiny; so tha• if this point be conceded, he was quite satisfied. He would also wish to remark, in reference to the Bills which the Noble Lord now proposed to bring forward, that the country would feel greatly indebted to him for them, as they would ten I greatly to les sen the expenses hitherto attending hoe me isures ; but before he sat down he would beg upon leave t ) o le a o s f k tn i u vh i e i n ou t s h e ese r Bills would be laid There was one other observation he had to make. In order to carry out substantially those arrangements he had been alluding to, regarding the reports of the Board of Trade, it would be necessary, where there were reports on two competing lines, that that which had been unfavour ably reported on, should have precedence before the Committee of that which had been favourably re ported, for this would be only fair.—(Hear, hear.) He thought that a company should not be allowed to carry a Bill through the Committee, where there was a competing line, without giving the latter an oppor tunity of putting forward their case, whether the re port of the Board of Trade had been favourable or not. Mr. HODGSON wished to say a few words upan what had fallen from the Noble Lord, who had said that the line in favour of which the Board of Trade had reported, should not be proceeded with in Committee, until the Board should also have reported on the competing line. Now, he thought this might in some cases operate unfairly. There might be two companies, one of which, although ready to proceed, would prefer delay, in the hope of forcing the competing company to come to a com promise; what he should recommend was, that after the Board of Trade had reported in favour of one line, the other company should be admitted to appear in opposition before the Committee, with plans and drawings. Sir GEORGE GREY thought that the delay suggested by his Noble Friend was only reasonable, and would not operate materially to the inconvenience of the Company favoured in the report of the Board of Trade. _ _ _ _ Sir R. PEEL had said that the Government would give the subject their impartial consideration, and they had done so. What he proposed was, that the parties should he allowed to present their petitions whenever they pleased, but that they should not be obliged to present them before fourteen days, He had that thy had an interview with his Right as he intended, at a future time, to move "an inquiry into the whole question of the administration of the police. Sir J. GRAHAM said he was not at all prepared fo r the speech the Noble L!. , rd had delivered, as he had re ceived no notice whatever of his intention to I ring the subject forward. The Noble Lord had last year moved for a similar return, and he (Sir James Graham) then stated he was ready to accede to it ; nor had he now any objection to granting the present one. In the absence of the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and without notice, he could not go into the details of the .•sultject, but he believed it would be found that the Lod Lieu ' tenant of It eland had fully carried out the administration of the law intrusted to him. Lord CLEMENTS apologised to the Right lion. Baronet for the abrupt manner in which he had brought the subject forward, but he still contended it was one calling for inquiry. The ATTORNEY •GENT , :RAL (Ireland) quoted the 12th section of the Arms' Act, under which the Lord- Li‘htenant had proceeded, and added that there was no disposition on the part of the Government to withhold any information. After an explanation from Lord CLEMENTS, which was interrupted by cries of " Spoke," and a few words from Mr. F. FRENCH, confirming what had fallen from the Attorney-General, the Return was ordered. Lord CLEMENTS then moved for " a Return from the Clerk of the Crown of the county of Leitrim, of the names and residences of those Jurors who were ord, red to be fined by the Judge of Assize at the Summer As sizes of 1844, held in Carri,k on Shannon ; and Copies of the Affidavits of any such Jurors accounting for their absence, together with the Orders of the Judge of As size thereon."—Agreed to. Lord CLEMENTS then moved for a return, showing the number of policemen in every county in Ireland w ho do not perform the duties of constables, but are em ployed either as clerks or officers' servants, having charge of horses or otherwise, distinguishing the number of men in each employment other than that of a constable, together with the expense, including all pay and allow ances of those in each employment. After a few words from Mr. BROTIIERTON and Mr. FRENCH, the return was agreed to. Mr. WALLACE then moved for a return by name of each railway company which had complied with the sixth clause of the Act of last session for the regulat'on of railways, and which came into operation on the Ist No vember, with the date of such compliance, as to the car riages having scats and being protected from the wea ther, for the conveyance of third•class passengers; also, I a similar re tu:n of those which have not complied with the sixth clause of the said Act; and specifying also the hours of the day and the speed of the trains in each case respectively, under the penny a mile clause; the return further to show the steps taken (if any) to re cover the penalties provided by the said Act.—Agreed to. Mr. THORNELY moved for the appointment and nomination of a Select Committee on public petitions:— Mr..Thornely; Sir Robert Harry Inglis, Earl of Arun del and Surrey, Lord Courtenay, Viscount Duncan, Cap• tain Jones, Mr. Cowper, Mr. Pusey, Mr. Edward Buller, Mr. Buckley, Mr. William Hamilton, Mr. Owen Stan ley, Mr. Cripps, and M r . V i lli ers S tuart.—Agreed to. Mr. EWART postponed his motion regarding Com mittees on private Bills. On the motion that the answer of her most gracious Majesty, to the address of the House of Commons, be read, Mr. COBDEN wished to call the attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman to the absence, in the royal speech, of any reference to the state of the agricultural districts. A member of the Government had, indeed, attempted to give an explanation, by saying that the agricultural districts were not in such a state of prosperity as to demand any particular refe rence. If this was the reason, it was a departure from precedent, for hitherto extraordinary depression eithr in manufactures or agriculture, was the cause of especial observation. Last year, when a Committee was moved for to inquire into the state of the agricultural districts, one of the grounds for refusing it was, that wheat was 565. a quarter ; now wheat was only 455. a quarter. And he would ask the lion. Gentlemen oppo site whether they felt thernsilves justified in holding out such sanguine expectations to the farmers respecting steadiness of price, inducing them to enter into bargains for land on the supposition that farmers had the power of fixing the price of land. Lord Beaumont, at a great agricultural meeting, had stated that Parliament would ensure farmers 565. for their corn. Had events justified that declaration? lion. Gentlemen opposite slid farmers were suffering from want of sufficient protection, but he (Mr. Cobden) thought they were suffering from protec tion altogether. The Hon. Members opposite repre sented a powerful interest, and if they really thought the burdens on land so onerous, lie thought they could not do better than join with him in calling for a Select Committee of the House to inquire into them. lie was not without hopes that this would be acceded to ; and it' lion. Members who profLssed to be such warm friends of the agriculturist did join with Hon. Members on that side of the House, they w , ul , l coerce the Government to grant the Committee. Ho mentioned this subject to the Hon. Member for Sonicrst tshire (Mr. Miles), who re ceived him with all the court( sy possible, and thought that Hon. Member seemed willing to accede to the proposi tion. All that he (Mr. Cobden) asked was full, fair, and impartial inquiry. lie had waited patiently to see if any Hon. Member would bring forward this motion, but nobody doing so, he thought it his duty again to bring the subject under the consideration of the House. Mr. MILES thanked the Hon. Member for the manner in w hich he had spoken of him ; but he should recol lect that he was only an individual Member, and could not answer for the whole agricultural body. If the agri cultural distress exi s t e d w hi c h the lion. Member de scribed, he might ask the Govtrnment to accede to the Committee. Surely the observations of a Noble Lord after dinner—(Laughter) —could form no basis for the agricultural interests forming such sanguine expctations respecting the price of corn. The Right lion. Gentle man at the head of the Government had spoken distinctly enough on the matter, and nothing he said could be con strued into a guarantee to the farmer for the price of corn. The Right Hon. Gentleman had distinctly stated that he could not prevent fluctuation of prices. lie did not think the farmers were much inclined to trouble the House with a recital of their grievances. He was sorry to say that, generally speaking. the farmers did not trust much to the House of Commons for an alleviation of their condit;on. The Hon. Member must take his own course on the subject. There were Members both able and willing, on that side of the House, to state their opinions upon the question ; but he (Mr. Miles) would vote neither one way or the other. Mr. M. GIBSON, whe spoke in such a low tone of voice, that he was almost inaudible in the gallery, was understood to say that it seemed a principle with that House, for many sessions past, to refuse all inquiry into the subject of agricultural distress. .The facts of that distress were before them all. They had a corn-law, and almost invariably, though varying in degree, desti tution and distres s accompan i e d it. The Noble Lord, the Member for the city of London, had well said the other evening that protection was the bane of agriculture, for, with the corn-law, as he had said, they had distress, and with distress they had always been inclined to asso ciate the existence of a committee. They had the corr.- law, they had the distress, why then refuse the Com mittee ? They had ascribed this distress to the change in the measure of protection effected in 1842; yet they decline to ascertain the working of that protection, through an inquiry of the House. They promised, too, in their speeches at the Freemasons' Hall, and in other places, to defend the farmer from any other change in those laws. He should, therefore, wish to ask the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's GoVern ment, and he did it with all respect, whether he had given any assurance that no further reduction should be made? —(Laughter.) Ile asked him if he had communicated to any individual that he would not meddle with the ex isting corn-law, for the impression seemed to be, that he had done so, but if not, he preyed the Right Honourable Baronet to disabuse the public mind of the impression that he had given this solemn assurance, because, if he had not given any such, he (Mr. Gibson) would feel him self justified in contradicting the rurnoer.—(Laughter.) Mr..BANKES thought that it would have been but right that some allusion should have been made in her Majesty's speech to the distress which was but too well known to exist in the agricultural districts. He agreed so far with the Hon. Member for Stockport, so far, although he did not agree with him in another of his topics,—that of joining some of these on that (the Con servatiie) sisfe of the House, in persevering in his deter mination to move for an inquiry int ) this distress at some future period. He, for one, would not support that motion, because, with reference to the nature and causes of the distress, he was convinced that it resulted altogether from, the changes made in the protective duties, whether permanent or otherwise,a ad he would not hesitate to say that those changes had pro so prevalent. duced the very distress which was k no t ,lastht e sp is ti em ei:b r ad fi r r e f r e , r o r n e d d o t: The lion. MfetmkbeeNr Noble Lord, i h! o d rd the speech o the other night, when he said that protection was th e bane of agriculture • It remained to be seen whether e that Noble Lord had cha n g ed his opinion since the ti me had left office, or whet h e r his proposition for a fix e d duty would not be considered a protection to agricul ture. The Hon. Member for Wolverhampton, w h o spoke the other evening of the prosperity of the manu facturing interest, stated that their prosperity had OMR of the manufacturers was occasioned by the sioned the distress of the agriculturists. Th en , if t h e distressprosperity f the agricultural districts, why should Hon. Members on the other aide seek to increase that distress and aggravate that misery?—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member for Montrose observed, with reference to what was alluded to in her Majesty's speech, that with re gard to some modifi cat i on of the prohibitions which Russia placed upon our manufactures, some step should be first taken by us to induce some relaxation. He (Mr. Bankes) thought the step already taken was a very good stride in favour of the manufacturers, and he hoped that the agriculturists would now have something better than mere pity to relieve the distresses that prevailed in the country.—(Hear.) During the year that sac ceeded the change in the protective duties, there was a pretty fair average in the English crops, but after wards succeeded a great deficiency in the barley, oats, and grass crops, and subsequently the alteration in the protective duties debarred the hope that the prices realised for wheat would make up for the loss sustained in the remaining crops, and in that instance, therefore, the change in the law caused great distress among the agriculturists. It was contrary to all fact to say that the alteration alluded to had not caused great misery, and he was quite satisfied of the causes which led to it, without the trouble of instituting any further inquiry. landlords, that Mr. BRIGHT said there was something exceedingly hollow in the profession made by the timelan existing in they commiserated the distress at th at distress, but did not the House was the cause of th the country. The cultivators if* that tonsist o f landed proprie tore, great majority of the H ouse at soil said that the themselves, he asked, create those duties, did not they', in e o nsequence of the change irt and if misery; that change exis tedT hecQuld only benefit the farmer in one I 0: 9 ?tY, 9 2, 1 ° it 19 !ti i n been the in it. 5iXtY ~rent 1 it° na fine atie ctir