The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-08 00:00:00

THE FLEET IN THE BLACK SEA.

Captain SCOBELL on Monday referred to a strange
paragraph which he said he had seen in some of the
newspapers, stating that the movement of the Black
Sea fleet was impeded in consequence of the want of
coals. He inquired touching the accuracy of that
report.
Sir J. GRAHAM had great pleasure in informing the
house that he had received a letter from Admiral
Dundas, dated so late as the 19th of March, and up
to that time there had been sent to Constantinople
since the Ist of January 10,000 tons of coals, and
6,000 tons were in store at Malta, to be transmitted,
whenever necessary, to the Bosphorus. It was then
expected that in a few days the whole fleet would
commence cruising in the Black Sea, and that very
morning accounts had been received by telegraph
stating that the fleet was in the neighbourhood of
Varna. (Hear, hear.)
In the Peers on Thursday the Earl of MALMES-
BURY inquired whether there was any truth in the
report that the Russian fleet had left Sebastopol, and
landed a number of troops at the mouth of the
Danube? Nothing could be more mortifying than
the inactivity of our fleet in Beicos Bay under such
circumstances, when it might easily have intercepted
the Russian reinforcements. _ .

The Earl of CLARENDON had reason to believe that
the Russian fleet had not quitted Sebastopol at all.
The story of its having been seen at sea was found
on investigation to be unworthy of credit. The port
of Sebastopol had been carefully watched, and cer-
tainly so late as the 22nd ult., when it was recon-
noitred by an English steamer, the Russian fleet was
still there. On the 24th the whole cf the combined
fleets left Beicos Bay for Varna, and the latest
despatches of Admiral Dundas expressed his entire
disbelief of the report that the Russians had quitted
Sebastopol.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH deprecated all criti-
cism on the conduct of our naval and military com-
manders. The house might depend upon it that the
inevitable consequence of failure was sufficient to
deter those commanders from doing wrong, while
the reward that accompanied success would be suffi-
cient encouragement to continue their exertions.
The Earl of MALMESBURY quite agreed with the
opinions expressed by Lord ELLENBOROUGH, but
thought good would result from the answer elicited
from the Government.
GREECE.
Lord Joax RUSSELL on Thursday, in reply to a
question from Mr. M. Milnes, stated that diplomatic
relations were broken off between Turkey and Greece.
He thought the former power was justified in the
course it had pursued, for it had good ground for com-
plaint against Greece which had fomented an insur-
rection in Turkey which would otherwise not have
taken place. The British Government had given the
requisite instructions upon the subject to its agents
abroad, and the Government of Greece must he
responsible for the consequences.
RAILWAY LEGISLATION.
Mr. CARDWELL, in moving, on Thursday, for leave
to bring in a bill " for the better regulation of traffic
upon railways and canals," explained the principles
on which the Government proposed to deal with the
great question of railway legislation :
" He briefly described the magnitude of the system of
intercommunication which had been created within the
last twenty years. The number of organised railway com-
panies was 132; the construction of 12,609 miles of line
had been authorised, and 7,685 miles were actually finished •
95 millions of passengers were conveyed last year ; 80,006
persons were employed in different departments ; powers
had been given to raise capital, amounting to 356 millions
sterling, of which 204 millions had been paid up ; and the
gross revenue arising in pretty equal proportions from the
passenger and goods traffic during 1853 was not less than
16,700,9001. Conceding the justice of leaving the directors
of the several companies unshackled in their administra-
tion of the interests of their shareholders, he contended
that the Legislature should interfere, and the Government
be responsible for the safety and protection of the public.
With this object, a committee, of which he himself had
been chairman, had collected a mass of evidence, and
issued a report, containing a variety of recommendations,
whose nature he explained. These suggestions related to
amalgamation, to arbitration, to working arrangements, to
the 'running clauses,' to the standing orders of Parlia-
ment, and to the prevention of speculative projects and
bubble companies. Mr. Cardwell then recapitulated some
of the facts which came to the knowledge of the committee,
to show the evils they sought to cure, and the difficulties
with which they had to contend while endeavouring to
combine the results of protecting the travelling and trading
tiblic, -

without fettering_ the action of the directors, or

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damaging the property of the shareholders. Passing on to
the details of the bill he intended to introduce, he stated
that its provisions would have these principal objects :
first, to give the companies power to enter into such work-
ing arrangements as were calculated to unite and harmonise
the railway system ; secondly, to provide the machinery
for arbitration under the supervision of the Board of Trade,
with appeal to the superior courts of law. The arbitrators
were either to be members of the Board of Trade or to be
appointed by the railway companies under sanction of that
board. Their decision upon all points of railway admi-
nistration was to have a statutory effect under certain