The Sun. — London, England, 1845-02-12 00:00:00

TUESDAY NIGHT'S GAZETTE. WHITEHALL, FEr. 10, 1845. The Queen has been pleased to direct letters patent to he passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, consti tuting and appointing the Right Hon. Thomas Earl of Had dington ; the Right Hon, Sir George Cockburn, G.C.8., Admiral of the Red. S quadron of her Majesty's Fleet William Hall Gage, Ktit., Vi ce • Admiral of the Red Squadron of her Majesty's Fleet ; Wm. Bowles, E sq ., C. B , Rear Admiral of the Blue ritiadron of he r M a j esty ' s Fleet ;. the Hon. Wm. Gordon, Captain in her Majesty's Navy; and the Hon. Henry Fitzroy, to be. her Majesty's Commissioners for exe , outing the office of High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great territor B ies rita thereuntoin and Irelandbelon , gi nng ad the dominion% islands, and WHITEHALL, JAN. 7. The Right Hon. Sir Nicolas Conyngham Tindal, Knt., Lord Chief Justice of her Majesty's Court of Common Pleas, has appointed Peter Day, of tha City of Norwich, Gent., to be one of the' Perpetual Commissioners fur taking the acknowledgments of deeds to be executed by married women, under the Act passed for the abolition of fines and recoveries, and for the !:tileilitiition of more simple modes of alsurance, in and for the Ms' of Norwich, and county of the same city, h 'n an 1 for the county of Norfolk. wriranALL, Frs. J. The Lord ChanceP.or has appointed Erasmus Henry Dry 41fn, of Kingston-pport-llall, in She county of York, Gent., to be a )lasterExtraordinaryin the High Court of Cbancery, BANKRUPTCY SUPERSEDED. Edward- DiCkin, grocer, Iyaock, Denbighshire. BA NKR ETPI'S. John Chanecllor, grocer, White-street, Southwark, to sur render, Feb. 21, at twelve, and March 28, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Alsager, ofaial assignee, Birehin-lane ; .4-cr i u kuckaloap pai t Grainger, Basinghall-street. i 4•l4Li Ve 0 ti ----, t.l 1 e..., A•j)-• _ N- 7 . 7i" - "77 - 7"7" , z- - 5 SP] Rig' of the MIMIC JOURNALS. FROM EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. GLUPE.—The announcement made by Sir Robert Peel on Friday last is conclusive as to the Right Hon. Baronet's intentions respecting the odious income-tax. , .a O n Friday next, in the Committee ofWays and e, eans, I shall propose a resolution to the effect, that the la imposing an income tax in Great Britain, iend an addi tional sta-ep duty in Ireland, be continuedfor a farther limited period. Such is the nature of the resolu tion, which I shall propose to move." What ever relief from other taxes may be contem plated is preserved, au secret, in the recesses of the Premier's mina, or at lea • t in Lae drawers of his cabinet. The effect m i g ht be diminished by premature dis closure. Certainly, some of the petitioners for a share of the surplus revenue, and of the still more sub stantial benefits of increased protection and of reduced duties, woould be relieved from the suspense in which they are held. The bland smiles of the Right Hon. BarOn - t—which have cheered the hearts of his agricul tural s uppliants, and led them to anticirate the lion's share of ;he spud at his disposal, will operate as a charm till Friday—big with the fate of landlords and tenant-farrners—arrive, and dispel the day-dreams on which they have fondly fed. If Sir Robert Peel were not, as he is, the Pecksniff of politicians —the very Jaseph Surface of statesmen—there would have been no doubt in the public mind as to what his " financial statement of 1845" would reveal. Ilia intentions respecting the income-tax would be fully ascertained. The Right Hon. Ba ronet's " financial statement" of 1842 is before us. A reference to that statement would have been sufficient to settle the question. In that statement Sir R. Peel de plores the necessity which was imposed upon him in the performance of his public duty. With reluctance,certainly, but still from a deep conviction of duty, he was brought to propose a tax on property and incomes—the very tax which he now, with characteristic breach of his public engagement, proposes shall be continued " for a limited period"—after the circumstances an which he alone rested the infliction of such a tax have ceased to exist ! Necessity for maintaining the " public credit," and " the ancient character of the country," were dwelt upon, in every imaginable form in which they could be presented to the House of Commons and the country, as motives and arguments to induce the Legislature to impose the tax, and the people to bear it without murmuring. Its inquisitorial, and therefore vexatious, prying into private affairs ; its heavy, un equal, and, therefore, inequitable distribution—taking comparatively much from the man of small and uncertain income, and little from the man of large, fixed, and ascer tained property; these naturally objectionable features in this impost were endured, if not without murmuring, yet with a degree of patience and submission which had their origin in the hope of an early deliverance from the burden. Had its full weight, and the measure of its duration really designed by its proposer, been known at the time of its infliction, there would have been remonstrances, protests, petitions, and every other constitutional resistance to its enactment. These would have plainly indicated the " impatience of taxation" for which the British people have been reproa"hed. Their " ignorance" of the benefits and blessings of an income-tax is still as inveterate, and their desire for its removal still as strong, as when Lord Castlereagh uttered his memorable phi lippic against them in the House of Commons thirty years ago. Sir Robert Peel, in 1842, led the coun try to expect that the tax would be imposed for a tery short period. Three years and it was to cease. ()nee imposed—having tested its powers, and found that it produces nearly two millions .annually more 'than he estimated—he cannot consent to part with so ;Irective an instrument. With a large surplus revenue, he has the temerity to trifle with the pledge he made when he asked the House of Commons to impose an income-tax in a time of profound peace. Having derived from it one-third more than be antici pated—upwards of five millions, in place - of 3,771,000/., the sum at which he laid its probable annual amount—with the Chinese compensation money —an item which he did not take into his calculations when he made his statement in March, 1842 • —with these, and other favourable accidents not in cluded in the Premier's much-lauded financial speech— he intends to come down to Parliament, and make another " financial statement," in which he will modestly propose to continue the income-tax 1 . If Sir Robert Peel possessed the honesty, and with it associated sufficient courage, to propose a review of the existing imperfect system of taxation, with a view to substituting direct for indirect taxation, he would establish for himself a name, and deserve the gratitude of his country. But this perpetual peddling—this mis chievous interfering with things of trifling amount, while the nation groans under the incubus of high duties upon raw materials, essential to the employ ment of the industrious classes, and upon articles of daily consumption--such a system is fraught with folly, and replete with misery : it is at once insane and cruel. The only form in which the income-tax can be made available for good, is to limit it to property, upon a scale at once just and equitable. Lord Monteagle's speech last night in the House of Lords, on moving for various financial returns, places this subject in a strong and convincing light, and will therefore obtain the atten tion of all who feel—and who does not ?—oppressed by that part of the tax which is levied on incomes derived from trade and professions. STANDARD.—We have to announce, to-day, two uncontested elections, returning two members of Sir Robert Peel's Government—viz., Sir Thomas Fremantle and Sir George Clerk, and the retirement, in East Corn wall, of the Whig candidate, Sir William Trelawny, be fore the Conservative candidate, Mr. Carew. This is something, but we doubt not that there are more like cases in reserve. South Wilts will pro bably test the constancy or the power of the League, by returning Mr. Sidney Herbert, either without opposition, or in defiance of an opposition that must he simply ridiculous, and the unopposed return of Mr. Towers in Buckinghamshire is perfectly certain. Now, these are the real substantial proofs of the strength of a Government. The speeches of Sir Thomas Fremantle at Buckingham, and Sir George Clerk at Stamford, were both excellent in their way, but the speech of the former Right Honourable Baronet derives a peculiar interest from the nature of the duties upon which he is about to enter. One passage towards its conelu.ion is worthy of particular remark Everything must be done to conciliate Ireland, laying down the rule that the legislative union shall be ; main tained, the Church upheld, and the laws rFspected. Here we have a fai th ful outline chart of Sir Robert Peel's Irish policy. And we ask every candid man if it is not merely the wisest, but the only wise, policy ? Is it not the policy most conducive to the permanence of the union, to the stability of the Church, and to the ascendancy of the law, to prove that all these are perfectly compatible with the most impartial and even indulgent and fostering care of the population ? On the other hand, is it not the utmost kindness to the people to warn them, in a firm though friendly tone, of the utter hopele ssness o f those pursuits in which the malignant incendiaries by whom they are deluded have engagi d them ? The permanence of the union and the inviolable security of the Protestant Church, are indie peresable to the safety of the empir.' ; the ascendancy of the law is requisite fear the maintenance of civil govern ment every here. These, thereft,r•-, constitute the rule laid down by the present Administration ; and this rule, so far from being inconsistent, either in its present ope ration or in its remoter tendencies, with the welfare and material happiness and prosperity of Ireland, is in timately- connected with both in an unequivocal relation of re l ea-e aed effect. The union it is that has given I.fe, and is now giving increasing spirit to Iri,h e,mineree, Irish agriculture, arid Irish unierpri.e generally ; a re peal of the union would make bankrupt every Irish trader, a- d turn one-half of the land now under tillage to pasturage or to primitive desolation. The clergy, again, are the most useful gentlemen in Ireland, wholly irre spective of their aered office as teachers—the most useful gentlemen to all classes, Roman Catholics as well as Protestants. This is cheerfully acknowledged of each particular clergyman in his own • Irianter - Hate sphere, though it is not found convenient to admit the general proposition. But in truth, if the union and the ascendancy of the law are valuable, the uphold ing of the Church is indispensable for their preserva tion. The union would tot survive two years any. serious injury to the Church, and the civilisation of the country would steadily retrograde from the day of such ii. jury. Bat how are the imperfectly informed and deeply pre judiced Roman Catholics of Ireland to be satisfied of these truths, so manifest to all intelligent men ? In no other way than by teaching them to consider themselves citizens of the empire, not of a particular district of it only—by showing hem prac tically that they are to participate in the wealth, In the honours, and in all the other immense benefits of the richest and mast powerful empire, existing er that ever did exist ; and this can be shown practically only by that real conciliation, which gratifies by material benefits graciously concern d, not by speculative victories over falsely imagined enemies. We have no doubt that Sir Thomas Fre mantle, a man as much characterised by truth and firm ness as by courtesy and good sense, will act in the spirit of his declaration. Aral if he does, Lord Eliot will not be misseci—nearly the highest praise that can be ex pected by Lord Eliot's successor, whatever that suc cessor's merits. T 1+: SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 12, Its4s John Peters, innkeeper, Godstone, Surrey, Feb. 18, and 1 April 8, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Green, official assignee, Aldermanbury ; Blake and Tamplin, King's row, Bedford-row, London ; I)empster, Brighton. William Cottrell, tea-dealer, Southampton, Feb. 25, and March 26, at two, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Johnson, official assignee, Basinghall-street , Braikenridge, Bartlett's buildings, Holborn ; Newman, Southampton. James Burrell and Thomas Hall, ironfounders, Thetford, Norfolk, Feb. 25, at two, and March 25, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Johnson, official assignee, Basinghall street ; Johnston, Chancery -lane. Hippolite Francis Bellenger, licensed victualler, Great Pulteney-street, Golden-square, Feb. 19, at half-past two, and March 26, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Bell, official assignee, Coleman -street-buildings ; Robson, Clifford's Inn. William Cheatle Paul, sheep salesman, Romford, Essex, Feb. 28, at two, and March 25, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Groom, official assignee, Abchurch-lane, Lombard-street ; Messrs. Hilleary, Fenchurch-street, London. Spencer William Tyler, carpenter, Walcot-place, Lam beth. Feb. 18, at eleven, and March 25, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Graham, official assignee, Cole man-street; Buchanan, Basinghall-street. Henry Peacock Gray, horse dealer, Caroline-street, Eaten square, Feb. 18, at twelve, and March 25, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Turquand, official assignee, Old Jewry Chambers ; Dupree, Lawrence-lane, City. Richard Steadman and William Adie, button makers, Bir mingham, Feb. 21 and March 18, at twelve, at the Birming ham District Court. Christie, official assignee, Birmingham; Ilarrison and Smith, Birmingham. Anthony Atkinson and Francis Atkinson, colour manu facturers, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Feb. 20, at twelve, and April 3, at two, at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne District Court. Wakley, official assignee, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Watson Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; Shield and Harwood, Queen-stree` Cheapside. (Dividends, &c., in our next.) NEW PROJECTED RAIL WAYS (From the Gazette of last Evening.) RAILWAY DEPARTMENT, BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL, FEB. 11, 1845. Notice is hereby given, that the Board constituted by the Minute of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Grade, for the transaction of railway business, having had under consideration the Bolton, Wigan, and Liverpool Railway scheme, have decided on reporting to Parliament in favour of the said scheme : and the Board having further had under consi deration the following schemes, proposed by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, viz., The Patricroft and Clifton Branches, The St. Helens and Raiford Branch, The Parkside Branch, The Extensions into Liverpool ; have decided on reporting to Parliament in favour of The Patrieroft and Clifton Branches, The Parkside Branch, The Extensions into Liverpool; and against The St. Helens and Rufford Branch : and the Board having further had under consideration. the Trent Valley Railway scheme have decided on reporting to Parliament in favour of the said scheme, with the exception of the Potteries and Alrewas Branches, the postponement of which, until a future period, will be recommended. DALHOUSIE. C. W. PASLEY. D. O'BRIEN. G. R. PORTER. S. LAIN G. MARKET INTELLIGENCE. (From the London New Price Current of Feb. 11.) SUGAR.-To-day grocers and refiners were eager to pur chase all qualities of West India Muscovado Sugar, but the merchants insisting upon an advance on former rates of is per cwt., business was checked, and the private purchases did not exceed 230 hhds and tierces. A public sale of 118 hhds of Barbadoes went off with much spirit, at an advance of is to 2s per cwt, fine yellow fetched 675, good 645, good middling 60s to 61s, middling 58s to 59s 6d; low 56s to 57s 6d, and dabs 54s to 55s per cwt. The impression is, that if the duty on Colonial Sugar be reduced, it will be 16s per cwt, or rather under. REFINED.-To-day refined goods were in excellent request, brown Lumps at 71s 6d to 725, and Standard Lumps at 73s per cwt. In Bastards and Pieces there was a large business done at fully former rates. Bonded Crushed Sugar cannot be generally purchased under 31s 6d per cwt for forward delivery. This afternoon Mauritius Sugar was in extensive request, and 6760 bags 8 casks at public sale were all sold, fine yellow 62s to 645, good 58s 6d to 61s 6d, good mid 57s to 58s, middling 55s to 56s 6d, low 53s to 545, good and fine brown 50s 6d to 525, low and middling 46s to 49s ; grey common to middling 52s to 665, good and fine 57s to 608 per cwt. EAST INDIA.-This afternoon Bengal Sugar met ready pur- chasers ; 4,479 bags were offered at public sale; white and brown kinds, of which the chiefpart:consisted, were all disposed of at fully former rates, fine white fetched 66s to 66s 6d, good 645 6d, low 618, damp and washed 60s to 655, middling damp brown 45s to 465, washed 41s to 435, damp grey 53s 6d, but the yellow Mauritius kind were sold at 62s to 63s for good strong yellow, 60s to 62s for damp, 54s for low date yellow, and 52s to 53s for damp. FOREIGN.-To-day there was not much demand for yellow Havannah Sugar, and 939 boxes 1 cask of damaged at pub lic sale went 6d to is per cwt cheaper, but the whole sold, slightly damaged fine yellow at 21s to 21s 6d, good 20s to 20s 6d, middling 19s to 19s 6d ; damaged, fine 20s 6d, good 19s to 19s 6d, middling 18s 6d, low 17s 6d to 18s. Washed went at 21s 6d to 22s for fine, and 19s 6d to 20s 6d for good. A few lots of damaged white realised 27s for low middling, and 25s per cwt for low, and was considered the full value. MOLASSES.-In West India the transactions are upon a more extended scale, but not at better prices, 19s to 22s per cwt having been taken for 300 puns of low to good Antigua. In East India little has been done, but the low prices deter holders from pressing sales. COFFEE. -This afternoon Ceylon Coffee met more atten tion, and 1,292 bags 3 casks 4 cases Plantation at public sale were all sold; fine ordinary pale grey Demerara sort fetched 61s to 61s 6d, tine fine ordinary 69s 6d to 725, fine and fine fine ordinary palish 55s 6d to 66s 6d, good ordinary 50s to 51s, very ordinary ragged 49s to 49s 6d, triage 34s to 465, inferior 16s to 21s, sound pea berry 65s to 755, better 82s 6d. Mocha in good demand, and 291 bales at auction were sold, middling greenish clean garbled at 60s 6d to 625, low middling 57s 6d to 58s. Of Mysore, 221 bags at the 4d per lb duty sold, good ordinary mixed at 42s 6d to 45s 6d ; 1,222 bags of Costa Rica went cheaper, fine ordinary at 51s, and ordinary to good ordinary 40s to 48s ; 170 bags of sea damaged Fo reign were taken in at ss; 102 bags of Padang went at 22s to 245, and sea damaged 20s to 23s per cwt. Good ordinary pale Ceylon 503 to 51s per cwt. TEA-The market has been firm for black and green Tea, and the improved rates are fully supported :-common Congou 11 1 / 2 d to Is, Twankay yellow leaf is lid to is 3id, and Hyson common 2s 7d to 2s 8d per lb. For public sale on Friday 5,000, and for Tuesday 1,200 packages of Tea are declared, and which quantities are likely to be increased. The accounts from China state the new green Teas were arriving slowly, and are held for very high rates, being about 10 taels above the prices of last year. The crop is said to be an average one. About 60 chops of black Teas have been shipped on Chinese account. The exports of the new crop, up to the 31st of October, in 27 vessels were 10,263,8711bs black, and 2,313,3611bs green. The following are the prices :-Congou, new 18 to 36 taels, Caper, 17 to 24, Souchong, 30 to 50, Orange Pekoe, 22 to 24, fine Scented, 50 to 53, Twankay, 28 to 38, Hyson, 44 to 70, Young Hyson, 36 to 70, Hyson Skin, 19 to 365, Gunpowder, 51s to 63, Im perial, 48 to 60. taels. Si.reEs.-This afternoon 100 cases of Bengal Ginger at public sale were sold at 59s to 60s duty paid bold home consumption kind. Rum, BRANDY, AND lIOLLANDs.-For Leeward Island Rum further reduced rates have been accepted, still buyers operated with caution, and the purchases amount to only 150 puns : proof at 2s to 2s OP, 2 to 5 per cent overproof at 2s Id to 2s 2d, being Id IL,d per gallon under former rates. For Demerara lower prices are again taken ; for 120 puns 30 to 36 per cent overproof 3s to 3s 2d, and the finest 3s 3d per gallon. The lower kinds of Jamaica, only 80 puns have been said at 3s 6d to 3s 8d for fair quality, 29 to 33 per cent overproof, good and fine high flavoured descriptions are in excellent request, at 5s to 7s per gallon. In Calcutta Rum the sales are 150 puns at Is lOid to is 11d, proof strength, with certificate. Brandy has been purchased with caution, and prices are declining--Cognac, best brands of the vintage of 1838, hhds 5e 2d, puns ss; 1839, hhds 4s 11d, puns 4 s 9d ; 1840, hhds 4.s I Id, puns 4s 941; 1841, hhds 4810 d, puns 4s 8d ; 1842; hhds 4s 7d, puns 4s 3d; 1843, Ithds4a sd, puns 4s 3d, commons 2s 8d to 2s 11d, mid to good mid 3s to 45, and BOr deaux 2s 6d to 2s 9d per gallon. Geneva is riot much in re quest : is 8d to Is 9d is the value of export, and 2s 4d to 33 for home consumption. English Corn Spirits 108 2d, cash. RICE.-Bengal has been sought after,and full rates offered, low to middling white at lOs 6d to 1 ls, and superior lls 6d to 12s ; 408 bags at auction fetched Ils to lls 6d for good mid d ling white. Java is wanted, and prices keep up, yellow fetching 9s to 9s 6d, white lOs to Ils 6d, and superior 12s to 12s 6d. Madras in good demand, and white has been fetching 9s to 9s 6d, and yellow, 8s 6d to 9s. Cleaned 23s to 28s for Carolina, and 13s 6d to 17s 6d per cwt for Patna. Ons.-The demand has improved for Palm Oil, 200 casks at auction fetched 23s to 25s 6d for mid to fine, and low dark at 21s to 22s 6d per cwt. Cocoa Nut has been in excellent demand ; Ceylon 27s to 28s 6cl per cwt. In Olive Oil many purchases have been made, 421 to 43/ for Gallipoli, 41/10s to 42/ for Spanish, 411 for Sicily, and 401 to 40/ lOs per tun for Barbary. Rape has secured a good sale, pale 37s to 37s 6d, and brown 363 to 36s 6d per cwt. In Linseed Oil an exten sive business has been transacted on the spot at 24s 9d to 25-4, and for delivery all the year at 25s 3d, 25s 9d, and 26s per cwt. In common Fish Oils scarcely any business trans acted for exportation, and the home trade have purchased with reluctance ; Cod is only 291 to 29l ss, pale Seal 32/ to 314 yellow and straw 291 to 321, dark brown 281 to 28110 s, aid Southern common to fine 27/ to 32/. Imp9rters of Sperm a e not disposed to further reduce their prices; fine British held for 831 to 85/, and other sorts at 801 to 82/ per tun. TALLOW.-The market is firm for Russian, and previous rates are maintained ; 1' Y Candle of first quality has been 39s 3d to 40s, and second sort 38s to 39s per cwt. For de livery there are sellers at the moderate rates of 39s 6d to 40s per cwt for the last three months of the year. Although the market has been abundantly supplied with American, yet late rates are fulls- sustained, at public sale 246 pkgs of South American went at 31s 6d to 38s, for low to fine, and 122 pkgs of North American at 37s 6d to 39s 3d for good to fine quality. Other kinds of Tallow are fully as high, East India 21 pkgs at public sale produced 40s 9d to 41s for good quality ; 78 casks of Odessa 38s 5d to 38s 9d, and 220 casks St. Petersburgh 36s 6d to 38s 3d per cwt. Town Tallow has rectired a good sale at 40s 64 to 41s per cwt nett cash. COCHINEAL.-This afternoon 100 bags of Honduras Cochi neal were submitted to public competition, and all sold at 4s 10d to Ics 24 for ord to fine bold silvers being again id per lb higher. W00r,.-The demand has been extensive for Colonial Wool at tlte public sales which have been in progress since this day week, and the advance of 2d to 3d per lb is fully supported. Other kinds of Wool are fully as high and the demand good. LORD MORPETII.—It gives us lively pleasure to ar:nounce, that in the course of the week after next this town will be favoured with a visit from the Right lion. Lord Morpeth. His Lordship has been invited by the Committee of the " Leeds Mechanics' Institution and Literary Society" to attend the annual soiree of that im portant Institution, to be held on Wednesday, the 19th inst. ; and with his usual kindness and attachment to the us of popular instruction, he has accepted the invite tion.—Leeds Mercury, Dispatches from the Governor of Jamaica, and also from the Governors of the other West office.s.tlndi a Coloni es , were re ceived_ yesterday, at the Colonial I MPERIAL PARLIAMEN T. HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 11. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack shortly after Five o'clock. PRIVATE BILLS. On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY it was ordered that the House should not receive any peti tions for private Bills after Tuesday, the Bth of April, an'l the Houseshould not rec lye any report of the judges on such Bills afu r Thursday, the sth of June. CHARITABLE TRUSTS. The Lord CHANCELLOR said, that in consequence of a question that had been put to him last night by a Noble Marquis (Normanby), he thought it right to state that it was his intention in a few days to introduce a Bill making some alterations with respect to Charitable Trusts. The Duke of WELLINGTON said that the other Bills that had been referred to by the Noble Marquis must originate in the House of Commons. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. The Marquis of NORMANBY said that, with refe rence to the Bills which must originate in the House of Commons, he only hoped that the two Houses would come to some arrangement that would prevent much of the loss of their Lordships' time, by the crowded state of business which came before them, after a great majo rity of their Lordships had left town—(Hear, hear) — when there was no proper time to give the measures their due consideration. He found that, in the month of February, only two Bills had been brought up ; in trch, three ; in April, one ; in M a y, fi ve ; i n J une , nine ; in Juy, fifty-two ; and during four days in August there hadibeen no less than twelve; so that in point of fact, in the four last days there had been Bills brought up to which their Lordships could give no at tention, as their attendance was given elsewhere. The Noble Duke would recollect that his suggestion most re spectfully tendered was, that he (the Duke of Welling ton) should call the attention of the Government to the subject, with a view to mitigate the evils to which he had alluded. In the House of Commons they were aware that during the latter part of the session Bills were brought in one by one, read a first time, then thrown upon the table, there to remain till the month of July. It was a matter of the utmost inconvenience to themselves; it inflicted the greatest injury on the credit of the House, and threw impediments of no common character in the way of the efficient discharge of the business before their Lordships. The Duke of WELLINGTON assured the Noble Marquis that he had no doubt but the most satisfactory explanation would be given by her Majesty's Govern ment for the course they had pursued on this subject. LONDON COURT OF BANKRUPTCY. Lord BROUGHAM, in rising to present a petition on the subject of the proceedings that had taken place before the Commissionrs of the Court of Bankruptcy of the City of London, said there had been very serious complaints made by many persons of the mode in which the public busi ness had been conducted in that court. He did not by any means intend to convey, that he had any charge of malversation of incompetency against those gentlemen ; quite the contrary. He believed that more able men could not be found in the legal profession, or men better qualified in any way to fill the situation to which they had been appointed. His petition was entirely confined to complaints as to the delay and inconvenience to which suitors had been put by the non-attendance of the Com missioners in their court. It would appear by the in formation he had received that none of the Commis sioners attended in the court oftener than three days in the week ; that some of them did not attend so often; and that one of them attended only one day in the week; and for this discharge of their duties they received about 2,0001. a-year. He begged to assure their Lord ships that he would not only not present this petition to day, but he would not present it at any time, if his Noble and Learned Friend the Lord Chancellor would give him reason to hope that this mode of doing the public business by those Com missioners would be altered, and that they would attend in their respective courts at times in proportion to the amount of business to be done. The LORD CHANCELLOR regretted that his Noble and Learned Friend had thought proper to pre sent this petition without a t first having given him notice of his intention, in order that he (the Lord Chancellor) might affvd the Commissioners of the Court of Bank ruptcy an opportunity of giving such an explana tion of the charges it contained as they might be in a condition to offer. The charges contained in the petition were of a very grave and serious character, and therefore it would be only fair to give the Commis sioners an opportunity of explaining ; and, for this purpose, if his Noble Friend would let him see the peti tion, he (the Lord Chancellor) would put himself in communication with those gentlemen on the subject. He believed that those gentlemen had been appointed by the Noble and Learned Lord himself. Lord - BROUGHAM said he had it from under the bands of the parties themselves that their attendance in court was not more frequent than he had stated. The LORD CHANCELLOR—It was true the Commissioners did not sit in court very often during the week ; but then it should not be forgotten that a great deal of their labour was gone through out of the court, in the same way as he (the Lord Chancellor) did his own business, and he could say, with great truth, that he had much more labour out of his court than in it. Lord BROUGHAM had been told that as many as thirty or forty cases were upon the paper every day, and it was therefore impossible to get through that amount of business unless there was more punctual at tendance in the court. The LORD CHANCELLOR believed the cases could not be so numerous, though he understood they did amount to fifteen or sixteen. Lord BROUGHAM-06, more, much more. The LORD CHANCELLOR had no doubt but the explanation of the Commissioners would be perfectly satisfactory. Lord BROUGHAM hoped it would be most satis factory; but hitherto their attendance had been most unsatisfactory.—(Laughter.) He had heard of many persons who had to come and go a long distance each day for several days, owing to the Com missioners not having sat, and the consequence was a very great increase of costs upon a very small estate. Lord CAMPBELL (addressing himself to Lord Brougham) said he was very glad that his Noble and Learned Friend had postponed his petition on the sub ject, for it did contain a very serious charge—(" No, no." from Lord Brougham). Well, it at least contained charges of delinquencies. (Here Lord Brougham looked up at Lord Campbell, and pointed at the same time to the Lord Chancellor, amid some laughter.) Those gentlemen had been appointed by the Noble Lord him se: f, and they certainly had shown themselves most able and learned men in their profession. Lord Brougham then handed the petition to the Lord Chancellor ; and their Lordship"s adjourned Thursday. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 11. The SPEAKER took his seat shortly before Four o'clock NEW MEMBER. Sir T. FREDIANTLE took the oaths and his seat for he borough of Buckingham._ RAILWAYS. An HON. MEMBER, whose name we could not catch presented a petition in favour of the Newcastle and Ber. wick Railway Bill. MEDICAL REFORM BILL. Mr. GODSON presented a petition from the medical practitioners and others, inhabitants of the borough of Kidderminster, expressive of their approval of some of the provisions of the Ministerial Medical Reform Bill, and of their disapproval of other clauses of the same measure. years back the state of the poor in that part of the kingdom was in a deplorable state. Various remedies were proposed, but ultimately her Majesty's Govern ment, in preference to adopting any of them, ap pointed a Commission to inquire into the matter. The Commissioners were invested with full powers to investigate the causes, and to suggest such remedial measures as might strike them as being advis • able to meet the exigencies of the case. The Commis sioners. had detailed the results of their inquiry in a re port which had been laid before the House. They fully went into the evidences they had taken on the subject, and suggested a remedy. Now the question he wished to ask her Majesty's Government was whether they intended to bring in any measure for the alteration or amendment of the Poor-laws in Scotland, and in the event of their entertaining such an intention, whether such measures would be founded on the recommendations contained in the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the subject, and which was laid on the table of the House last session? Sir JAMES GRAHAM was not at all surprised that the Noble Lord, as a Scotchman, had taken in this ques Graham) the interest which he evi nce d, f or h e (Si r J ames Graham) was satisfied that he could not exaggerate its importance.—(Hear, hear.) Since the Noble Lord— idthough he had not made an argument—had made a statement, perhaps he (Sir James Graham) would be excused if he made one also. The Noble Lord and (he House would remember that the code of laws bo which the Noble Lord' s quest i on re f erre d ad lasted more than two centuries, and it had been cited as an example of the wisdom of the Legislature, and until a recent period it had been Cited as an instance of the prudence, caution, sobriety, and +-as he might say—the morality of the Scottish people. —(Hear, hear.) If a change in the law were proposed by any Government, he would advise that Government fo exercise the utmost caution before it recommended the Legislature to make any change in that law tinder which the people of Scotland had risen to great pre-eminence in the arts, in science, in literature, in com merce, in agriculture, and in productive power. The altera qon of such a law required the utmost caution; at the same time, he (Sir J. Graham) must say, that the anxious attention of the Government had been directed to the evidence which had been collected by the Commission. Ile was himself of opinion that, on the whole, some legislation in reference to this subject was required— (Hear, hear)—but at the same time he was not able to say at present the precise time when her Majesty's Go vernment would be prepared to submit any measure on the subject to the House—for it was necessary that such a measure should be prepared with great care. He was not able to say what time might elapse before they could be prepared with the measure which they should consider perfect, and therefore he was not in a condition to say more than that he thought it would be his duty to bring in a Bill on the subject of the poor in Scotland in the course of the present session. The conversation then dropped. PRIVATE BILLS. _ _ A number of Members were then excused from serving on committees on private bills, on the ground of being above sixty years of age. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER applied to be excused from serving on account of official duties. —Agreed to. Sir J. GRAHAM applied for exemption on the same grounds.—Agreed to. RAILWAY COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. Mr. WALLACE rose to call the attention of the House to the several reports made by the Select Com mittees on Railways • to the appointment of the Board constituted by the Board of Trade on the 24th day of August, 1844, f or t h e transac ti o n of railw a y b us i ness, and to the nature and effects of its public decisions on the interests of the country, with:the view to the revision and amendment of the Railway Act of last session, and to move as follows •—" 1. That it is the inherent and constitu tional right of the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland to travel through their own country by the nearest way and at the cheapest rate, on the best roads which may be provided for them, by the voluntary in vestment of private capital, and this whether the roads be formed of iron or other materials. 2. That the investment of capital in roads, with a view t) profit by the toll dues taken thereon, is of very recent d‘te, and coincident only with the introduction of rail ways. 3. That the principle on which railways are con structed is not a discovery of modern date, being known to the country from time immemorial in the form of tram-road, composed of both wood and stone, and there• fore not entitled to any unusual or peculiar advantages. 4. That whereas railways can now be constructed at less than half the cost they formerly were, the rates and charges should be reduced accordingly. 5. That it has been recently stated in this House that the Railway Committee of the Board of Trade have had returns to show that the passenger traffic on those railways sub ject to the penny a mile clause, by the operation of which the third-class fares throughout the kingdom have been reduced from 2d. and lid. to ld. per mile, being a reduction equal to from 30 to 50 per cent., has been effected with great advantage to the people, and without injury to the in comes of the respective railway companies. 6. That it is in evidence before the Select Committe on Railways of Session 1844, that third-class passengers may be conveyed at moderate rates of speed, at a cost not exceeding Id. for every 15 miles, and that at present passenger fares are charged on different railways at prices varying from 3d. to id. per mile for the several classes. 7. That travelling by railway has now become nearly the only mode of conveyance for the inhabitants of this country, whether rich or poor, and, therefore, until a careful inquiry has been instituted into the cost of construction of railways, and expense of transit, by some competent tribunal, clothed with due authority to prosecute such, and report upon the same to this House, it is not expedient, with a view to the interests of the people, and justice to the railway companies, that the rates, charges, and modes of conveyance requisite to e given t preserve the health, and secure the comfort and c n c th e Raiw notice, a venience of passenger s t rave lli ng b y railway, shouldobe settled for a length e n e d p er i o d —that leave be given and 8 in a Bill t o re p ea l t h e Act of last session7tdo 8 House Vie" the cap.B The Hon. Member said that i n r i s i ng to lay before y the 5 ' commonly a resolutions of which hee d had was not his intention to enter into anyaccusatory ob servations with regard to the Com m i ttee of theoard of Trade, but should adhere strictly to the terms of his notice. He had been in co mmunication with the Right Hon. Gentleman, formerly President of the Board of Trade, the Noble Lord who at present presided over it, and the other members of the Board, by all of whom he had been received with the greatest respect ; and he would take this opportunity of assuring the House that his objections did not apply personally to any member of the Board, than whom no one could have been more considerate and kind. But the question he was about to submit was one o greater importance to the peopl e of this country even than those measures which the Right Hon. Baronet the First Lord of the Treasury intended to introduce on Friday next. He conceived that by the Act of last session the people of this country had become entirely surrounded with a net-work of the incst obnoxious character, and were now subjected to a mono poly of a most grinding and painful description. He should also prove, as far as he could by statistics, the truth of what he was about to submit to the House, but he would not pass on to the subject without stating in the outset that he considered the Committee of the Board of Trade was entirely contrary to what was con stitutional in this country; that it was not by any means regular, but, on the contrary, extremely irregular. They undertook duties foreign to the objects for which the Board of Trude was constituted. Their proper functions were to regulate the commercial transactions of this country with other countries. Though he now brought forward the present motion, he was ready to confess that he had voted for the Bill introduced by the Right Hon. Gentleman, the late President of the Board of Trade ; nor would he deny that he did so for the purpose of opening some channel by which at a future time he would be enabled to prove the effects of the injurious monopolies which had been woven through the best interests of the country. lie believed he spoke the sentiments of nine teen-twentieths of the people of this country when he stated that they did not desire to be subjected to the tyranny and loss of health which they were obliged to suffer from the way in which the directors of railroads had chosen to manage their business. He held in his hand an important document from the Noble Lord who now presided over the Beard of Trade. That document contained a list of all the companies which had given notice to the Board of Trade of their intention to come before the House. - That dOcument came down to Bth February, 1845, and it appeared by it that the applications for new lines, extensions, branches, &c., amounted altogether to 248. He believed that the Board of Trade had gone in a contrary direction to what the interests of the country required. They were not sanctioning new lines of railway, as would be seen from the papers to be laid on the table of the House Though he could not speak to the reasons, the fact was. that they were discouraging competition, and thus depriv ing the people of this country of a free trade in railway conveyance, without which they must virtually become the slaves of the Railway Directors of Great Britain and Ireland. It was objected that competition was an ex tremely difficult thing to scenic.. He had gone through the reports of the various Railway Committees of that House. The first Com mittee was appointed in November, 1837, on a motion of his own, in which he was supported by the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, from which time to the present a Committee on rail ways had been appointed every year. In 1837, only two persons were nominated as members who had any interest in railways —a director and a shareholder. In 1840 the number of persons interested in railways belonging to the Committee was increased to three. But in the year 1844 the Right Hon. Gentleman, then President of the Board of Trade, proposed to the House a list con taining no less than twelve persons, who were either directors or shareholders in railways. The House, as well as the country, would, of course, judge whether that Committee was what he (Mr. Wal lace) termed it at the time, a one sided Committee, or a fair and just Committee, fitted to take into consideration and deal with such vast and important interests. He termed it at the ' time a one-sided Commitee ; he did so now. He maintained that the resolutions and proceedings of that Committee were utterly unworthy of the respect which had been paid them. From that time forward he believed the most perfect distrust had been felt by the country at large in the reports of that Committee. There were in the third report extremely good principles laid down; most excellent - facts were alleged as to the dangers of monopoly, and of the evils of extending the powers of railwa y companies, so as t.) enable them to override and overthrow the privileges of the people. But these all disappeared when the sth report was published. The whole of that report was to the effect that it was incumbent on that House to select some board or :other, and that that board ought to be constituted of the Board of Trade, with an addition to its number. If the report in question were carefully examined, and the evidence which was very voluminous, were carefully read, the House would find a premeditated scheme for conveying from that House to the Board of Trade the right of deciding in the first instance, and indeed, for good and all, upon all questions con nected with railways that came under consideration. One very important and extraordinary part of the re commendation of the Board of Trade to this Com mittee of their own manufacture was with respt ct to the publication of the decisions in the Gazette. Owing to this publication all the confusion, injustice, speculation, and gambling which ensued had taken place. Ilad this publica tion been deferred until a complete statement could be made, none of these evils would have taken place. He begged leave to submit for the consideration of the House a document, which he felt convinced would havegreat weight in influencing the decisions of Hon. Members, and would induce them to give their support to the motion he was about to make—that the Bill be repealed which was now law in the respect he complained of. He was about ia lay on the table of the House a statement of the rates of speed and of the fares charged on the rail„ ay between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The distancewas 46 miles, and the highest rate of speed 27 miles an hour. There were four classes: the charge on the first class was Bs., about Sd. per mile, the rate of speed 27 miles an hour. The econd class, which travelled at the same rate of speed, Was 6s. On the third class, which travelled at the rate of 15 miles an hour, the fare was 2s. 6d. ; On a second description of train, on the third class, the fare was 2s. 6d., an d t h e rate of speed fifteen miles an lour; on the fourth class the rate of speed was fifteen miles an hour, and the fare Is. 6d., or four-fifths of a halfpenny per mile. Thus, in this class, forty six miles were performed for ls. 6d. The low rates of fare, and the comparatively quick travelling was owing to an effective opposition, not in the shape of railway, but from a canal, and thus the greatest boon was conferred on the humbler classes, whilst the mode of travelling wes at once . safe and convenient, and the shareholders amply recompensed. He did not wish to lead the House to suppose that he intended to say that his countrymen in Scotland had any greater desire to benefit the poorer classes than the rail way proprietors in England. The same feeling actuated the railway proprietors both of England and of Scotland. They neither of them cared one straw for the lower classes where money was concerned. If they could screw money out of them they would.—(A laugh.) They were, in that respect, like the First Lord of the Treasury, who once a year took out of their pockets all he could get. The next railway to which he would draw the attention of the House was the railway between Glasgow and Greenock. The distance was twenty-three miles, and it was performed by the fast trains in fifty minutes. The rate of the first class was one penny farthing per mile, and for the whole twenty- three miles they paid 2s. 6d. The second class, the carriages of which were closed and nearly weather tight, and which, eXcept that they had no cushions, were nearly as com fortable as those of the first class, ran at the rate of three farthings per mile per passenger, the charge for the whole distance being Is. 6d. The third class, which travelled at the rate of thirty miles an hour, carried passengers at the rate of a halfpenny a mile. ' They went the whole distance in fifty minutes, and charged one shilling. The working men in his neighbourhood frequently went to their work by this train. When the men had more lei sure and less money, which, until the last six months had been unfortunately frequently the case, they went by the fourth class, which travelled at the rate of seventeen miles an hour, performing the whole dis tance in one hour and fifteen minutes, at the rate of one farthing a mile, charging sixpence for the whole dis tance. - The House would understand that railway travelling was conducted at a cheaper rate, and with greater comfort and safety to the pas sengers, and in better carriages than it was in most of the railways in England. He was not aware if cer tain returns which he bad moved for in relation to rail ways had been laid on that table. His Noble Friend, the President of the Board of Trade, had promised that they should be so, but he believed that they had not yet been laid before the House. He would next draw the atten tion of the House to the railway between Edinburgh and Greenock, which united the Atlantic ocean with the German sea The distanee was seventy miles, and the first class performed that distance in two hours and fifty minutes, and the fare was 10s. 6d. The fare of the second- class was 7s. 6d., being at the rate of 2d, a mile ; by the third class, the fare was 55., by the third class, No. 2, it was 3s. 6d., and by the fourth class it was 2s. So that, if it should happen that the Queen should visit Scotland next year, as he hoped she would, if she came to his side of the country her Majesty could be conveyed by railway from sea to sea, in two hours and fifty minutes, for 10s. 6d. There was another advantage—sailors might pass from port to port, a distance of 70 miles, for 2s. He would Just state to the House the difference that existed in the fares between Edinburgh and Greenock, and those be tween London and Exeter for a similar distance on the Great Western Railway. By the Edinburgh line, the first-class fare was 10s. 6d., but on the Exeter line it w as 17 s . Th e seco d class on the Edinburgh line was 7s. 6d., and on the Exeter line I Is. 9d. By the third class in Scotland the charge was 55., and on the Exeter line it was ss. 9d., but upon this line they had no third class No. 2, or any fourth class at all. He believed that the penny-a-mile system had been rendered unavailing by the course which had been pursued by railway companies. He believed the third-class trains were invariably started at the most inconvenient hour for the working classes. On those metropolitan lines upon which persons could travel from one end to the other and back again on the same day, the third-class trains were so arranged as to prevent passengers re turning on the same day, The consequence of this ar rangment was,_ that the working p eo pl e , if t h ey requ i re d to return on the same day. must either go by the second or first-class carriages. This, indeed, was part of the plan of all railway companies, by which they were striv ing to obtain a vast monopoly. (Hear, bear.) This had been shown in the amalgamations of railway companies which bad taken place, and which were being projected. The Hon. Gentleman then read an extract from the Railway Times of the 16th of No vember, 1843, on the subject of railway amalgamation. Now he (Mr. Wallace) was there to contend that amal gamation was against the .interests of the public. He was the advocate of competition, and he did not object to competing lines running in a parallel direction to existing Companies. In order to promote a competition between lines of railway, he should propose that the companies should be required to give in tenders of the cheapest rate of con veyance ; and referred to the course adopted by the Earl of Eglintoun with respect to the directors of the line between Glasgow and Ayr. There were three dif ferent ways of securing comp( tition if they would only set honestly about it. And if no man voted against him who had an interest in railways, he should be sure to carry his resolutions. In a notice he had given, he had alluded to evidence given on this subject last year ; and he would now advert to the estimates published in a pamphlet entitled " Railway Reform," which appeared anonymously, but was written by a gentleman named Galt, who had done him (Mr. Wallace) the honour of calling upon him. This gentleman made several calcu lations, founded on the reports of railway directors According to these calculations the amount for carrying a first-class passenger ought to be 2s. Bd, for every hun dred miles, for the second class Is. 3d., and for the third 10d. This was calculated upon evidence which no one had contradicted, nor did he believe any one was pre pared to contradict it. Railway matters, in his opinion, ought to have been submitted to a different tribunal than the Board of Trade. A Commission ought to have been appointed to inquire into railway projects, and then the Board of Trade would have been em ployed in a very different manner. Large masses of minerals were at present conveyed over some lines, and this he thought was extremely objectionable,, because it made railway travelling inconvenient, and not unfre quently endangered the lives of passengers. Now, he thought railways running through populous districts, or coming to such places as Lon don, ought to be excluded from carrying goods of a heavy description. He did not object to the carriage of light goods or luggage, but it was exceed ingly unwise and inconvenient that coals, stone, or the produce of mines, should be suffered to pass over the same line as immense numbers of passen gers. He thought the Board of Trade would have been well employed if they had considered the effect of changing trains and carriages at the different towns where any particular line terminated. In his opinion, there ought to be a uniformity of carriages, in stead of, as at present, changing the carriages at an intermediate station. He had always looked upon rail ways as public property, but the companies with which he was acquainted had conducted them merely as private speculations. Now, a railway was most cert a i n ly public property, and public property too, of an im portant character, and ought to command the increased attention and vigilance of the Legislature. No sooner, however, did a company obtain its Bill than the comfort or convenience of the public was ne glected ; and nothing thought of but what was termed " turning a penny." Now this, every body must admit ought to be well leoked after by the Legislature, for Companies would then not be suffered to take:an undue advantage of the public when they found out there was no other means of conveyance but their particular railway. He would say that in justice and common sense the coon try ought to insist on that competition which they had a right to demand, and which they might have had at first. The volume which he held in his hand had been lent to him. It contained the report of the Committee of last session, and other important matters relating to rail ways, and as there were 250 railway projects coming before the House, that book would be exceedingly useful, and he was very glad to see that it had been printed. Competition was not altogether new in rail ways. It had been tried, and with every success, by running the same trains and engines on different lines. Perhaps it might not be known to many Members of that House that the Grand Junction and Manchester Railway Companies had agreed to allow each other's carriages to run over both lines. No inconvenience had arisen from this arrangement, either to the companies or to the public. The House had an example by which the public could be greatly benefited. That proposal was not novel to the House of Commons; he held in his hand a Bill which was brought in on the 13th of June, 1836, by the Hon. Member fur Inverness. This was for the revision of the tolls, and it was received with great favour in the House, and a promise was given that the attention of the Government would be directed to the sub ject, but since then it had been ptit off from time to time. In the year 1837, a Bill was brought in by persons who were then in as high ?laces as those were who brought in the Bill of last year. He believed that Bill was brought iu by the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for Taunton. There was a clause in that Bill of very material moment; and, had the Government not abandoned their own proposal, they would have a dif ferent state of things at that moment. What it pro posed was, that an experimental set of railway car tines should be constructed and placed under the ma. nagement of the Post-office, so that it might be aseex-- tained with certainty what was the cost, the rate of ra pidity of the carriages, and the best mode of conveying goods and passengers. The Hon. Gentleman then re ferred to a speech made by the Hon. Member for Inver ness, in the year 1837, fr an which he mad an extract. He entirelyconcurred in that speech, which he had heard with great pleamtre and he would be glad to find !here were many more of the seine opinion. What had been done by the Act of last session ? That Act bound them to protect for 21 years all the monopolies which already existed ; making no allowance for the increase of population, which could not in that period be much less than seven or eight millions. Nothing could be more absurd than to allow railway companies to go on upon the present system for so long a time. He held in his hand letters from various people, which he had received since he gave notice of his motion. All of them complained of the third-class carriages, though, if possible, still more of the second. He could n o t b ut t hi n k the neglect of the House to make some provision with respect to second-class carriages had been a very serious omission. He insisted that they had a perfect right that no carriages should be allowed to run which could be injurious to the health and safety of the people. He insisted without hesitation that there was no class of carriages so injurious to the health of the people as were the second-class carriages, as they were now fitted up. He believed that morbid diseases, and more illness had been created by the defects of there carriages than by those of all the ot! - er modes of conveyance. He had, however, letters from various quarters complaining also of the ineffficency of third-class carriages. It was alleged that the provi sions of the Act had not yet been fulfilled, and that even if they were, though the effect might be beneficial in winter, such carriages would be intolerable in sum mer Another complaint was, that they had only pro vided one train each day at a penny per mile. He should take the liberty of reading to the House two letters, which he selected because they were the best. One was the letter of Thomas Johnson, of Birmingham. (The Hon. Member then read the letter.) The author stated (as we understood), that having travelled on the London and Birmingham li ne he had found the third-class carriages so be ex tremely comfortable. In travelling, however, by the Great Western line, on the 23d of January, in a third class carriage, he had found it so constructed that the passengers were much exposed to the weather, and on subsequently taking his place in a second-class carriage, he found that that also was miserably cold. The writer sincerely hoped that the House would take same measures to make the Bill of last session effective. The Hon. Member then read a letter from a gentleman in London complaining of the course pursued by the railroads with respect to the third-class car riages ; a course which prevented the poor from en joying the benefit of them, as they could not go to a place and return from thence the same day. The writer suggested that two third-class trains should run every day, and by that means a great benefit would be given to the poor, as they could then go to and from a place on the same day. The Hon. Member would not trouble the House with another letter he had from another party, but he felt bound to call the attention of the Government to a petition from Hastings, praying that better accommodation might be granted by rail way to the poor. He thought the petition well worthy of the consideration of the House. He had another petition from a class of men, numerous it was true, but whose claims were but too seldom at tended to—he meant the workingmen of England. They had represented, in the most distinct and forcible manner, that their safety, their health, and security to their property—that their • time should not be wasted for the purpose merely of putting money into the pockets of the different railway pro proprietors. He had not had time to look at the returns which had been laid upon the table, and therefore he intended saying not one word upon the subject. He thanked the House for the attention they had paid to him, and for the kind ness with which they had listened to his statements on this subject He was not personally interested either one way or another in the matter, further than as he had already stated to the House—namely, that he believed, in every particular, what he had sub mitted to the House. He begged, therefore, in the terms of his notice, to move that leave be given to bring in a Bill to repeal the Act of last session, commonly called the Railway Act. Mr. EWART said that he agreed with his Hon. Friend the Member for Greenock, that the subject of railway communication was one of the most important that could be brought before the notice of that House. His Hon. Friend had referred to the constitution of the Board of Trade, and on that subject he (Mr. Ewart) en tertained a very strong opinion since the very first founda tion of that Board. The Hon. Member had alluded to the policy of Government's taking tenders for the formation of different lines, from different companies. That mode he (Mr. Ewart) thought might do well enough for France, but he much doubted whether it would do equally well in this country. He entertained a very strong con viction, which had been further strengthened since the establishment of the Railway Board, that it was most in expedient for Government to interfere either one way or the other. He believed that if Government were really desirous of introducing benefits into the present railway system. they could do so by making the Board of Trade not a Board of control, but a Board of reference. Were that Board to consist of a small number of members— impartial and independent men, who might, when ques tions arose upon such scientific subjects as required a more extended knowledge than they could give, refer to persons appointed for the purpose—then that Board would be a greatly improved one. He did not like calling in the assistance of Government. It was a pain ful element, totally at variance with the principles of the constitution. His Hon. Friend had alluded to the com petition of railways upon the same line, and he cited the case of the Grand Junction and Manchester line, but those companies ran in conjunction, and therefore that did not establish 'the fact that it was possible for com peting parties to run upon the same line. He held that the position assumed by his Hon. Friend, that it was impossible there could be competing trains on the same line of railway was fallacious. It was impossible that such could be the case, and in the instance to which his Hon. Friend had alluded the trains had been run, not by the competition, but by the concurrence of the rival companies. In the third place, his Hon. Friend had alluded to the policy of reducing the charge for pas sengers. All the evidence which he had seen on the subject induced him to come to the same conclusion. In the last report of the Grand Junction Company, the Directors stated that while they had lost by the re duction of the fares by the first and second class, they had greatly profited by the reduction of the fares of the third class. He believed that it would be found that the same rule applied to railways that applied to every other branch of commerce—that it was always for the profit of those concerned in it to consult the interest of the largest class of consumers. Last year when his Right Hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade had introduced his Railway Bill, he (Mr. Ewart) bad felt most ominous forebodings as to the working of the measure. Be doubted whether any good could possibly arise from re ferring these measures to a Committee of the Board of Trade. When the Beard of Trade was first instituted, Mr. Burke had expressed his doubts as to whether any good could possibly arise from the institution of a board for the regulation of trade. He (Mr. Ewart) doubted whether any good could arise from any institution for the regulation of railway traffic. He believed that board could not stand. If it was necessary to have a board for the purpose of consultation it should be merely a board of r e fe rence to ass i st a Parliamentary Commit tee, if required. He did not believe that the direct in terference of any Government body in such matters could benefit the country. Lord HO WICK had not last year opposed the Govern ment Bill. On the contrary, he had voted for that mea sure. At the same time, he heartily concurred in the opinion that had been expressed by the Hon. Gentle man, that the subject was one of the deepest importance to the country, and that it was their duty to take mea sures to secure to the public the advantages of ereate r facility and greater cheapness in railway travelling. Hitherto the measures which had been adopted had been ineffectual for that purpose. The public had not hitherto received that benefit from this invention which they ought to have obtained. He also agreed that the pre sent session afforded an opportunity for dealing with this subject which ought not not to be lost. They would soon have a multitude of Bills before them, and before they created such a vast mass of vested interests and rights, they ought to come to a decision as to what mea sures it would be ;:ecessary and competent for them - to adopt, in order to secure to the public the greatest pos sible advantages from railway communication. The Hon. Member for Dumfries had stated that all that was re quired was the improved constitution of the Committees. Mr. EWART—Nut all. Lord HOWICK—WeII, the chief point urged by the Honourable Gentleman and by the Noble Lord opposite, was to alter the constitution of these committees, and the mode in which that object was to be gained. He agreed with him in thinking that the improvement of the constitution of these com m itt ees was very d es i ra bl e ; but he did not think that it would be possible, by any reform of these tribunals, to provide a satisfactory mode of disposing of the immense mass of railway business which came befOr4- Parliament, unless some greater change was adopted than had been hitherto suggested. It appeared to him that whether Parliamentary com mittees or the committee of the Board of Trade were en trusted with the disposal of such an enormous amount of, property--while competition for contending lines of railway was so intense, while the amount gained or lt st by the adoption or rejection of a Bill was so great—no committee, Parliamentary or otherwise, could deal with - • .such enormous interests. '1 he determination was not which was the best line of railway communication, but which out of two, or three, or more conflicting companies was to have the benefit of constructing a particular line. The competition at this moment was so great that the mere fact of any particular line be ng Sanctioned by Parliament, elevated the shares to a very large premium. Twenty five pound shares, out of which 1/. lOs. or 2/. had been paid, would bring a premium of 16/. or 18/., or even a greater amount. When the de cision of a Parliamentary Committee affected to so vast an extent the public interests, the utmost care should be taken that the public interests should be the chief object of such decisions. It was not a question of mere law or rights they had to decide upon. but a question of public convenience, in which a number of conflicting reasons weighed one against the other, so that no two mnids could arrive at the same cone union.. He believed it was impossible to cr,-ate any buth,:rity that could dispose oaf this ques(ion, in which there would nut be brought to bear, in some shape or other, influence or favour in _ • • money or mon e) ' s worth. This would happen, or would be thought to have happened. The experience of Parliamentary Committees proved that this was the case. This inconvenience it would be impossible to avoid as long as the two questions—What wes the best line of. railways, and who were the phrtivs to execute that line, were united? It therefore seemed to him that there was something in this matter. as they migh t perceive, by looking at the examile of a neight;oat7 ing country. They all knew that. in Franoe t he fir!t point.determined was What should be the line of rail wey, and that was determined quite irresp i - ct ive of iinty pare ular comp an y, an d on a sober and d.:passiona consideration of what the country required. Whet? that was determined, th.• next se was to call up"ti Ea pitalists to send in their tenders of the terms on wnlhc they would p r op ose t o execut e the line. Now , w should we not adopt something of the same kind her He would trust a n y au th or ity o f this description , p ro n , vided the right of con.ttucting the line was not co ferrod on the parties who were to benefit by it. ha vin g o got the line laid out in this manner, the next step call on rival companies to send in proposals as to bet mode of making it. He held with the Hon. 31eini t be for Greenock, that the principle of tender safely introduced here. They might call on the di o " . % rent companies to say, if they constructed any lar line, at what rate they would charge ; what O n t , of trains, and at what speed they would send them . e e the line ; and, in short, what extent of accommodate:it, they weuld afford the public, and what it would COss__ Having got these tenders, nothing could be more ea 11Y,, than to give the construotion of the line to the comPt t which could afford to make it on the best terms.ech appeared to him, that by the adopting of som e , d s be scheme, as this two great advantages weal' be obtained —(Hear, hear) In the first place, ...0 believe that they would get rid of many fo r, and and dispose satisfactorily of disputing railway the where the consideration of the best line diroeg" 05t country involved immense pecuniary interests, the.Y.,, n b l e re partica, be dispassionately and impartiall; reflected on• b e s would also be the further advantage secured to the Pu b of a very much c h. a p er ra il way accom modation W e l d they could obta;n by o th er means . Now he w ° ol ,l just give an illustr a tion o f hi s argume nt, and it W i t' t „ show them the r esu l t o f th e system t h e y we re now s o ut e ing in respect of s ome o f th e great l ine s. The ' l° as was aware there were several lines—he believed in n the ber three—prok , cted, connecting London wit h wer e north, and terminating in th e c ity o f Y or k. There ee, three propositions of that kind now before the P il o . c and it was understood th a t w h enever one of these c the panies obtained the preference, or at all event s tb oi moment they got their Bill through Parliament , l og shares would sell at 201. premium. He was sPe a , r e• within bounds, f o r 251. was th e l owest a mount °l o t mium to which the aff a i r wou ld a d vance , a nd he r f the se', saw the result of thei r d ec i s i on i n f avour o f one c' lines would be to put into the pockets of one set of f og,: a sum amounting to up war d s o f 5,000 , 0001. ate!' ,0 Now, was it possible, that where such a great bl ue d to to be made, that any p ar ty cou ld sa f e l y b e tills pea s make that boon at th e i r own di scre ti on ? Was,„ltjetti sible to suppose that an y b o dy, b e i t what it mig"" j „ v et, constituted as it might be, having such gigentie h P„'he' —having • o vast a b oon t o ma k e — wou ld not ee sieged and blockaded on all sides with applications information?—(Hear, hear.) Independent of ti l e d, was impossible that we should not have, as we now es• gambling to an enormous extent, in London, bl anch lit ter, and Liverpool—to an extent not only fright" - , i ed, demoralising.---(Hear, hear.) After all, if this P e ' bat not only would There be great public inconvenieucetoe the public would be at the mercy of the compani es ' g yp' latter would make w h a t c h arges t h ey lik e d. " II " t - de' pose the Legislature would say, that they would of o ffer tide in favour of one company, but one line, and who that line to public tender, for the various compaß les we ala might offer to compete for the line. The compani es ; 0 0 1 , put in their tenders, st a ti ng at w h a t cos t the/ ;„otile execute the work, what ac commo d a ti o n they arg e. afford to the public, and w h a t ra t es t h e y would e' l o - X. That tender would be open to the eyes of all the : l ied There would be no gambli ng , suc k as wa s now: d i ts on to so fearful an exten t. S pecu l at i on would " 11 o of proper and legitim a t e field in the fair corneet iti % capital. It could not b e d ou bt e d t h a t un der such a si rangement the companies could complete the iin e s est carry the public at a c h ea p er rate t h an w as at Pre os° attempted. For what was the f ac t ? H e would sue end the Bill had passed for the railway between Leald i a l i e ps. York. The capit a l su b scr ib e d was fi ve or six ° c ent.; The shares would rise in an h our f or ty or fifty Per - or/ for it was true that th ere were p eop l e i n this e n halt, who would be willing to pay seven millions and o w five calculating that, tho ug h t h e wor k s wou ld cost e ll v tr ac or six millions, the company would be able to e) t he from the public a s ca l e o f ra t es w hi c h wou ld e<l,° B be g. average profit on a c apit a l o f seven m illi o ns ali va froø If only 5,000,000/. were embarked in the wo rk t here which the income was to be derived, in that o °l t re' would be a considerable red uc ti on o f f ares; and t „": l o ,, as duction, in his opinio n , b e l arge , b ecause they re' his Hon. Friend near him had stated, that the al ° , ceipt fir the conveyance of passengers was 'sou"' cue pared with the fares charged, and they knew that ° o de siderable reduction of fares very often seare ei l ts h e ' any, and sometim es no re d uc ti on i n the lire" - ,: t lotb cause the number o f p assengers i ncrease d in pror_ ,be If the Company, th ere f ore , cons id ere d what /re f s p 0 lowest amount of far es th e y cou ld t a ke, there li e a c' doubt that a very large reduction of fares migh t , e pre' complished. If they appli e d thi s p r inciple in `me re to sent session to the ne w lin es o f ra il w ay which vv o nly be brought before them, they would no t t e as' cause them to carry a greate r number 0 ' er a sengers than they otherwi. e would d" , bile, ; afford a greater accommodation to the Pp u r cisa but would also i n th e most l eg i t i mate mann er 0 „sl a yo a comprehensi ve superv i s i on i n ex i st i ng ro"„, - g le, against which they wou ld no t b e a bl e t o stra t l e sr, which would f orce th em to re d uce t h e i r fares-- - (; o rlt hear)—because it was obvious, looking at the ne tA r ecl; of railway lines by whi c h th e country was no w c°v that all the lines we. e more or less competing Iln e ,, s ',e f) el if a large number of the new lines with whicu - o ver were to be occupied this session we r e required to ) s a lty the rate of fares, existing companies would of pe ee pat be obliged to do the same thing.—(Hear, hear.) t he was a more proper way to bring down the fares ths, d, :e Bill of last year.—(Hear, hear.) It might be sc: tdo pt him, • answer to that he was advising the House t° -a it a new system. The system was pursued in France, aPto, might be asked how he cou ld a d v i se a course li ke when the cir c u ms t ances o f t h e two cou ntries w er . e e s of much different. F rance b e i ng behind most count° tee Europe with respect t o ra il wa y enterprise; W here progress whi c h had be en ma d e i n E ng l a nd Althin at:few ~e ne e. years was absolut e ly marve ll ous . At the e o tn'c o le 4 meet it might have b een necessar y t o g ive some sue poi to railway enterpris e , but the circumstances wer each completely altered. Now instead of stimula ting ' speculation, it was highly:desirable it should be Parties- now rush blindf o ld as it were i n to such slT,: b ich dons. There was a man i a i n th e p u blic mind! te eest• it was important f o r th e sa k e o f t h e national -I ts be they should end, avour t o mo dif y an d c heck. ; 0 he lieved that by deal;n g w ith R a il wa y Companie s e e teli suggested they wou ld h ave a prospec t of satis fa b e feee disposing of the m ass o f ra il roa d b us i ness coming 0t the thorn this ~ e ssion. He was aware that that was n t 0 0 14 - occasion to enter into a subject so large as Wa it Wl ° be ore them ; but as it was hi s conv i c tion thatoreti not only extre me ly i m p ortan t, b ut extremely. and that they should not lose a moment in inv h e a st t : B l t r i llea :t lt ecl s , t thoroughly looking into the subject—when tbd t hese determine what was to be their course before a Railway Bills proceeded farther—he was in„d u v ce r por e make these observations, and there were very ' e e ,;idis; which he had to add. In the first place, be w urge" pose of ohe or two objections which might be t hat it against the course he advised. It would be sl i t i; e it was unjust when particular parties displaYe - it , g - eeeer genuity in making out lines of railway, tion of those lines should be taken out of It would be most unjust if they were not reroel l i , b e d for what they had done, but at present vithereeJ nut no claim whatever. Those Companies v ha t - yet created by Act of Parliament. TP no right whatever, but they were Petty_,er,,,,;e C O °p i , liberty to create them or not ; and it was peg a nd , to them to say that these lines would be made:tt_ They say, " but yon are not the parties to make ' O - o ble and said that they should be well paid for all tr .eto Pat' expense in laying out the line, and bringing it 1 ask , t f; liatnent ; but that they had no claim whatever t° e vie ar be the parties to he entrusted with it. The Hens any decide what should b e th e p roper remuneration; a n . 1g company taking the li ne s h ou ld pay that exPit,leetiors this manner justice would be done to the P' t'heoe' n without abandoni ng th e suggest i ons that had benciple h e out. He thought that to some extent the Pro; joiers, had stated might be applied to branch lines , and the rates as clauses, might b e i nser t e d i n Bills, limiting These of fares proposed to be charged.—(Hear' Colod" principles wer e a d o pt e d l as t year by a" mittee that met t o d ec id e conflicting 'l out th e ali t he the members of the Committee agreed linen subject the had to consider was, w hich of r Tee afforded the best accommodation to the pub lic " „, o t tables of fares of each of the compamies wer e :: es de' and the one that made the lowest table of faro rinciPlet dared to be the successful line. The sam th e e P re see r might be applied to competing companies in c se o s ea s t o i n i e by t same object in view. lie hoped that durinf ia t i rr orti r y O h "; session the House . would not pass a n Y . ,f fareS. h c o r u e g a h ti t n t g h e t wpou lines li c e o c u ,f l d r vvt ao)h.t.;_ain.inifrre'sPeth!l:ei,: without strictly looking into the table " . 0 t h lte e pilh e only way in which they could do justicvat were to et was to look strict y at the tolls and fares t throw ° ° o u r! . charged. He hoped the sum scions he ba 1 - 1 is would receive some consideration from the " a ,' the 2 ' o Baronet. How, then. were they to decide 00 0. projects which his Hon. Friend had inform , Lord aeee "" be awaited its decision? It altogether Paiarliament, t. Howick's) comprehension. How could . import said, thorns pin g said, ei , e the subject that attention vvtliir ante deserved? How could they ';,st teethe which of the numerous projects were the In titute the re e into thes e of support? How could they even een s ro queote number of Committees to inqu'rks of counsel schemes? How find time for the remarks d eal w in e"gaged, and how, in fine, could the p ry thee . _ the 258 scnemes, with the cumbrous Le nro jeco t use. ill,l E n o w t a sbe delayed important thatbeyo beyond dhe trheeallyprivile._.;',"t'osrfee„.tsh;eo; postpone e" eonsidere° she for one de r. cated any If the Boi se car matters in the stronuest terms. -• l,ss -- these talists inconvenience to the public of delayy theoside for thes, talists by the employment of funds lai d i.ar d e rrtd then , rice of • to other r p o e s, countries, risk tts. that. ai tha fo t r ca t p h i e tal et. that dem, nt ot these plane as possible. 11 ' uhiv ist deed, they would see the necessity for as d , he increas ed o b. selletnee—if the House considered tflitiwertst'euhiectirhaiDinelc these few me t w h h e e ii r i i r ir c ig ul ; tie n s ud su t r h r i i :s u e nd d i i i th ig e t u h l e tie s s ut ,% ij . e o c u t i s ere the delay he deprecated. He threw u ht segge , t so ss servittioi.s in the hope that they Int 4 It ?. he satisfactory mode of deali g with the q" the time 01 the a ith that view only that he bad taken tiP „ubjec t " 11,.use, and he fervently rucommenoe d aYE I it"diate Conside,ation of the Hous.. e n ot „ Colonel SIBTHORP had the inisfort r ir e l Lor d. ancl ve to agree the general policy of the N°DI ith hi m ' ( de this subject certaielx did not agree w at the would ask the Noble Lord how it wad- that, l'edv a s . rw BANKING SYSTEM OF SCOTLAND. Mr. MACAULAY presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Edinburgh, declaring them selves in favour of the present Scotch system of banking, which had existed for the last century and a half, and lud been found to work so well and satisfactorily, that the petitioners prayed that no alteration be made in the 83 stem. RAILWAY BILLS COMMITTEE. Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET moved for a Se bet Committee to inquire into the best mode of consti tuting Committees on Railway Bills in the present Stl - of Parliament, and of the most expedient manner in Which Railway Bills having relation to similar objects may be brought under the considerat ion of the same Committee : —Lord Granville Somerset, Sir G. Grey, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Strutt, Viscount Howick, Lord Harry Vane, Mr. Estcourt, Mr. Greene, Mr. Ewart, Mr. Col qohoun, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Hodgson Hinde, Mr. Pakington, and the O'Conor Don. OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. Mr. BRIGHT presented num , ' ous petitions from paces in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, North Devonshire and other counties against the sale of spirituous liquors on the Sabbath. " • THE GAME-LAWS. The HON. MEMBER also presented a petition from a Mr. Williams, a gentleman residing in Wales, against the game-laws. MEDICAL REFORM BILL. An lioN. MEMBER presented a petition against this asure. NOTICES OF MOTION. Mr. WALLACE gave notice that on the 25th inst. he should move for a return of the amount of business transacted in the Court of Session of Scotland, and the number of Judges composing that Court. The Hon. Member al o gave notice of his intention at the same time to move for leave to bring in a Bill to reduce the number of Judges in that Court. . LEGISLATURE OF CANADA. Mr. ROEBUCK gave notice of hii intention, n a future day, to move for a return of the Acts passed by the Legislative Assembly of Canada, during, as we un derstood, the past year. GRAIN. Mr. MILES gave notice of his intention, on a future day, to move for various returns respi cting the prices and importation of —,in, . grain. ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION. Mr. EVELYN I)ENISON, seeing the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for the Home Depart ment in his place, wished to ask him on what day he would be prepared to furnish the House with the returns moved for last yea-, relative' tit The Ecclesiastical Com mission. He trusted there would 'be no unnecessary delay in laying them before the House, because it might so happen that he should feel it necessary to bring the subject formally before the House. Sir JAMES. GRAHAM, who spoke in a very low tone, said the returns to which the Hon. Gentleman alluded were in a forward state of preparation. They hal been prepared with more than ordinary care, and he had no doubt they would give the Hon. Gentleman every information on the subject. Before Easter he fully anticipated, not only being able to lay the returns moved for on the table of the House, but also some ad ditional accounts which had been rendered by the Com • missioners, and extending to the end of 1844. POOR-LAWS (SCOTLAND). Lord DALMENY said he wished py. put a question L o h c ot, e h r r Majesty'sprior -law. w. It vie u Governmentidbe rem embered e the b e r ed subject that o al few x. ~, ,~ 1 1.,