The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-04-05 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

Am OP PAHLIAMENT.—The first batch of Acts of
Parliament of the present session appeared on Tuehdar.
The session commenced oil the 3rd et February, And only
ten Acta have received the 'loyal assent, eight public
and local Acts.

New Esci.ostlie Acr.—A inong the Brat Ads of Par-
liament of the present session which received the Royal
aent on Friday week was one printed on Tuesday to
authorize the endpoint of the following placea. in
nuance of of a report of the Enclosure
Snow, in Suffolk; Botley-ounnuon, Boutliamidon; cub,.
dine, Brecon ; Skolwith-coninion,. Lancashire; Admig.
ney, Devon ; Lydney, locesterolors ; Osanotherly, Lan.
,
cashire ; Mexbrough, Lancashire; Tulbrook, Oxford-
shire ; Astliall, Oxfordshire ; Mosele-common Here.
y
fordshire ; Kirby Ireleth, Lancashire; Rama Jen, Oxford.
shire ; Ducking, Norfolk ; Drayton, Oxforilahire ; Elton.
meadow, Glocestershire ; Dibden, tiouthauipten ; Clan.
bury-hill, Salop; Clavenng, Ewes ;' rembridge, Here.
for&liire ; Chithunat, Sussex; Oatball-nianor, Sussex ;
and Ithandiriaa, Carmarthenshire.

RAILROAD ALCIDIENTIL—OfficiaI reports to the Haird-
o( Trade on certain accidents which occurred on rail-
ways during the last eight months of the year laie
(Part V.) were published on Saturday week. The acci-
dents are far too numerous to be dealt with except
cursorily and incidentally. The following companies
are inculpated by the report, so far as the accidenta
were the result of carelessness, negligence, or want of
efficient arrangements,—viz., the Birkenhead, Lanca-
shire, and Cheshire Junction Railway Company (defee.
tive engine, de), the Bristol and Exeter (want of foot-
bridge at a level crossing and defective minor arrange-
ments); the Cheshire and Holyhead, the Deeside, the
Eastern Counties (gross and culpable carelessness of a
driver of train); same line (neglect of signalman);
Edinburgh and Glasgow, Great Western (excessive
speed over a curve of small radius) ; Lincolnshire and
Yorkshire (bad boiler); the Londonderry and C:oleraint ;
the North-Western; the South-Western (guards riding
outside break-carriages--a practice strongly repre-
hended) ; same line (want of break-power) ; the Mid-
land (neglect to signal, the fellow quietly eating his break-
fast instead of minding Ida duty) ; the Monklands, the
North British, the North-Eastern, the North London
(defective system of signalling) ; the North Union, the
Oxford. Worcester, and Wolverhampton, theßhymney,
the South-Eastern, and the Waterford and Tramore.
Judging from these reports, defective arrangements of
I all suite—or, in other words, faults of omission—would
appear to be rather the general rule than the exception
I on the railways of the United Kingdom.

POPULATION, RPTCNeI, AND IiErkILSENTATION.—A
curious return, obtained by Mr. Dunlop, ahows what
number of the 664 members of the House of Commons
would be allotted to each great division of the United
Kingdom if the matter were decided with reference to
population alone, with reference to property alone, and
with reference to both combined. The esti-
population of England on the 31st of March, 1869,
is 19,863,610, of Scotland 3,139,860. and of Ireland
6,0'39.423: the total for the United Kingdom being thus
29,013,893. Then to obtain an average of taxation, we
take the years 1857-8; and Ind the aggregate amount
of revenue in these two years is—for England,
£103,493,844; for Scotland, £14,918,234; for Ireland,
£13,227,457; and, consequently, for the whole United
Kingdom, £131,638,535. Now, by these figures if
members were distributed according to population, there
would go 447 to England, 71 to Scotland, and 136 to
Ireland. If distributed proportionately to amount of
revenue from taxation, 514 to England, 74 to Scotland,
and 66 to Ireland. Proportionately to the mean of the
foregoing bases, 480 to England, 73 to Scotland. and 101
to Ireland. At present the constitution of the House
of COlllOlOllll is, we believe, as follows : English members
I 467; Welsh, 29; Scotch, 53; and Irish, 106,