The Express.
London, England, 1853-03-16 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
• ROUSE OF LORDS.--.Turnity, MARCH 13.

The Los) CNA:us:4cm took his soot St 5 o'clock.
PETITIONS PRESENTED.

TYR DIVISION IN TA• Qr.= DAMPLIZN.— ,Ry Lora
LYTTELTON, from two rural donserks the dirKeee ay
Chichester, complaining of the decision in %Ile Queen T.
OWEICI OY EXAMINEES (CoruT Or CNA
4E71E4) Dint.—
By Lord BROUGHAM, from solicitors, c nmplaining of the
qualification clan in this bill.
SOCI•LIPM.—AIIO. from Mr. Roo Jere Owen, praying
that his system might be inquired in
Anwientom 111 E JEVs TO P oogrAsigNr,—Dy LODI
SAYE, a" SEI,K. from 'kW Jrd, sigma by the. Arch-
aestoutt, mayor, soveral Aldens en, member, of the •Cowft
Council, solicitor., bankers, er AI other respectable inhabi-
tants ; and by the Doke of 7 4RWCASTLE, from SJuth-
ampton and Birmingham, in favour of the admission of
Jews to parliament.
SLAVE TRADE (SOH Alt, IN AItADIA)
SLAVE TRADE (NEW GR.\ NAGA) (SILL.
0* the motion of t' ,e Kir: of CLARENDON these bills
term severally read a Ir Avail time.
INDEMNITY BILL—DESIGNS ACT EXTENSION

DILL.
Oa the lobo& of Lord STANLIT Of ALDILLIT, these
bill. wore tread a woad time.
GRAND JURY MISS (IRELAND) BILL.

Thisbillpagoed through committee.
IN LAND REVENUE OFFICE B I LL.—COM MONS
INCLOSCRE (No. 2) BILL.
Vane bills were severally read a third time and passed.
OFFICE OF EXAMINER (COURT OF CIIANCEItY)
BILL.
On the motion of the Loau CtiaNciLLun, the report
es this bill was brought up, with amendments, and
agreed to.
GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER RAILWAYS.
The Earl of M. LMESBURY, pursuant to notice, rose
to call the attention of the goverment at to • correspondence
which had taken place between a Mr. Spence and the
Board of "Erade on the subject of a bridge on the North
Shields Railway. It was just a fortnight ago that he
called attention to the danger arising from the
want of management of the railways in this country,
and urged that some arrai.g-tnent should be made
over which the government iturritt preside, with a
view to diminish the risk and loss of life to which
the public were now subjzeted. Although he then felt
sure that he was not exaggerating the dangers he described,
and which might be averted by a proper and prudent in-
terference, he did not expect that his opinions and state-
meats would have been so soon and so fatally confirmed as
they had been during the interval which had elapsed.
During the last fortnight five acci tents had taken place,
occasioning considerable ioss of life end injury to passen-
gers and railwey servants-- ne an :he South Eastern line ;
another on the Berwick and Newcastle line ; another on a
branch of that line ; another on a branch of the Manche',
ter line; and another on the Beistil son Drain:l.oam line.
Eleven persons had suddenly lost their liver, and forty
persons bad been seriously, and aeon of them perhaps ir-
remediably, injured. did not think, theref are, that he
should be considered importunate in presenting biota( It
again on this subject. Many of these accidents, he believed,
had occurred from mismanagement and want of care, as also
from the want of some presiding sicena which w•buld keep in
order the directors of compact. • and the mana,:ers of the
railways. And ha trusted that, if their lordships and the
government were satisfied that be was right in his deduc-
tions from this facts be should state, as there was no political
question involved in this matter, they would give their at-
tention to some means of remedying, it possible, a system
which was now carrying terror throughout the country.
It appeared frith the evidence of Captain Wynne
that one at least of the recent accidents—and he could go
much further but for the fear of wearying their lordships--
was to be attributed to the state of the road, which was not
such as to admit ut the speed employed. It their lordahipa
agreed with him on this point they could hardly help fol-
lowing him in his conclusion, that it was necessary that
some superintending power should overlook the state of
these roads, to assure the public that they were in a fit
state to travel upon. In asking far this he was only seek-
ing for that which was absolutely necessary, and jut, and
fair ; and he was not going at all beyond the pale of what
English subjects were generally bound to do, when placed
in an analajous position. Ile could not conceive any act of
tyranny in a railway company having its line reported on'
by • government inspector. and being compelled to make it
secure ; it was only what might occur upon every road in
the kingdom. Every common nail and bridge might be in-
dicted if out of repair, and the magistrates were hound
to see that they were properly repaired. There
were two other points with which a superin-
tending power might interfere. He thought the
maximum speed at which a train could travel combined
with safety might be ascertained, and declared ; and he also
considered that • minimum should be declared as to the
time of starting between trains. There were instances last
summer—particularly with reference to the excursion trains
—of their starting within five minutes of eachcuber, which
had been evidently the reason of several accidents having
ogwred. it was the duty of the government to consider
whetheiy7:l these three points, they could not, without
km of time. „,,: themselves more authority than they now
borosood. In'tiakiom• such a course, he was sure they would
te supported by public ;pinion, and they could not do any
act which would be more ::"Di`itillte IA this country. (Rear,
torn the speech of his noble
hear.) But he did not glean,
friend the other night, that there w. 14
,nny chance of the
government interferin;; and he was ton: !hat a committee
of the House of Comtuuns was sitting on the subject. Now,
although he bad a great respect for the House of Commons
and its committees, he knew that many subjects
were sent to committees from which they hardly ever
emerged, and nothing could be more fatal to many impor-
tant questions than to refer them to committees of either
house. He should infinitely prefer a commission of scien-
tific persons uncenneefed with railway companies, who
could ascertain the maximum rate of speed which would be
safe, both en the broad and narrow gorges, and the mini-
mum time of starting between trains; as also how far it
would be well that the government should interfere in com-
pelling railway companies to have their rails and carriages
in • safe and proper condition. Such a commission might
also receive suggestions of new inventions made to improve
railway carriages and mechanical operations applicable to
railways. Nine out of ten of such inventions inn be
worthless ; but if • commission would examine snob laves-
boss they might select and discover among them
some great improvements wbla , might tend to the
safety of the public ; and net improvements might
afterwards be recommestled to railway es.
He thought that with reopen In the pens ha bM men-
dosed government might intedin within wain; lee the
report of the committee. The ISM be shunt mom-
mad would he for that ac the *nor bens of pediment to
ap=t • commienion.
STANLZY of AIDIELEY concurred in deploring
the frognesey of railway acrin:tti and (1417 felt the im-
petus* of adopting some mons of ?femme& But die
Beni gelds. wpm to the row ask, amid=
mint en that %be inject was annosnod
The sabiost bad bees before sesnodve goverwraests sad
the bet government, after • yeses rape- rime, bad bass
able to suggest nothing better than • committee el the
Saw of Cannon list nesooittoe
Mum* was an
2tai
withof man sir
and bad bad lho aetlmose
noises solendlie pones who had deviled Oa time sit
alesedis is she Win. lie was net pampered to way
dolor it weed be hester if penerassonnitstoator sew
Ziatimant [hie own be sonnbasod, thanes Tod th=
mast hew the saint shoorinno the
nerenns of seek regulation as might be dews tar
their guiduses Their lordships wadi concur with Yin
On the meat was not the peeper time to 'sprain an
updates when the whole subject was under anideratios is
aserhat re, and by as useful • tribunal, be wenn in
&Wan say, as had ever been appointed b ataribler
WON of the kind, or as could be outainsd by the Wang
elf commission. With respect to the sable lord's
ata question, he had only to say that immediately on
the intimation of the maiden% • governance* frepater had
bees mat down. but his report had net yet been mak ow
estriesee of his having bad to leave town shartlyrtless, to In-
quire into the ceases of another accident. (Hon
111. would oily say, in conclusion, that he deplored 's
as the notile lord the frequency of these accidents; but he
mast beg to caution their lordships against tee hastily
adopting • policy, which might only aggravate an evil
which they were all anxious to avoid.
Lard BEAUMONT thought that the time was rapidly
approaching when legislation for the protection of railway
passengers would be as absolute necessity.
The Earl of OLENOALL, who was but imperfectly
audible, attributed the majority of railway accidents to im-
perfections in the iron, which no precaution could perfectly
guard against. But there was • large balance in witch the
railway management was to blame. Economy in the loos.
motive department was now the great point to be
achieved in railway management,
o and one of the expedients
was to have immense trains drawn by one engine. In
this sue accideu:s append from deficiency of power;
but there was another evil, that when the train
caste to • " siding " this engine was not strong
enough to " shunt " completely, so that several trucks
were left standing beyond the aiding, and in
the way of the traffic. Sometimes the trains were too krog
for the siding, and this was a fruitful source of andsties.
lie thought that the number of killed anti wounded in
railway accidents might be very much diminished by hare
ing the seats placed longitudinally in the carriages, instead
of transversely, as at present, as much of the injury arose
from passengers knocking their heads against each other.
The shape of the seats was also a cause of the broken legs.
A ponderous wag writing in one of the papers had ridiculed
his noble friend's proposal, and asked was he going to sling
the passengers like hones, but the fact was that the hones
had much the best of it in a collision. They never heard
of an accident happening to a horse, and the reason
was that he had never another horse before him ti knock
his head against. (A laugh.) Ile felt convinced that if
the alterations he suggested were made then would be a
great diminution in the amount of injury from railway
accidents.

The Earl of lIAPiROWBY said that all these accidents
arose either from ezeiss of economy or excess of speed, to
both of which tf, railwdy corr.panii a were driven by the
application of th,• principle of competition to them, a thing
which was wholly iicon...iwut with the safe performance of
their functions. biros of speed was to be attributed to
the comp' `Rion n the broad old nariew
`swiss, tl:e litter attempting to equal the speed
of the other by patios Illterteool engines on the rails
and thus unsettling the line. The fact we, that each line
should have a datrlet exclusively to itself, the saint at on

the confiner:Aldine*. If t'Sey wished to increase safety they
must dirr;nish speed, and to de* that they Meat destroy the
'pint of competition which they themsotem had created.
As for responsibility, the companies were ender responsi-
bility enough, seeing that every accident was a heavy ex-
'pease to them. Ile believed teen were some instances in
which an accident had resul'„ed in an expense of 30,0001.
There would be no safoty as long Si there was competition.
The Earl of WICKLOW thought that the five months
of unceasing bad weather we bad had went far to account
for the present tregurnev of accidents. Another cause was
the gradual deterioniti,m of the line and wulks, which, in
many eases, the coeur.ny had not the funds to replace. He
trusted the company would be able to effect some good, but
he was bound to say that he expected better from their
labours.
Lord SIONTEAGLE said that attempts at improvement
bad been made trona year to year without producing the
slightest beneficial result. A great many of the accidents
on railways were attributable to the want of punctuality,
and yet they had it on eminent authority that railway
trains could be made to go with the accuracy of clocks.
(Hear.) If the railway companies were obliged to make
returns to the government of the times of starting, whether
accidents occurred or nut, it would do more to prevent those
accidents, iu his opinion, than many of those operose and
ingenious plans which bad been euggeo'ed. (Hear.)
The Earl of MALDIESBURY was glad that this subject
would receive the attenticn of the government. Ile thought
he had proved that many accidents were owing to the state
of the roads, and trains travelling too fast upon them.
When the roads were is a bad state the speed of the trains
ought to be diminished. He wished to know whether the
I committee would look upon it as one of their duties to coa-
-1 eider any mechanical prepositions that might be offered to
them.

Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said the committee
would consider any suggesticca or receive any information
that bore on the subject of inquiry.
Lsrd BROUGHAM hoped that diligent inquiry would
be made into the proceedings of the couva in Scotland in
uterine.) to these railway accidents, from which, without
at all straining the law, the happiest results had, he believed,
been already obtained.