The Express.
London, England, 1849-06-18 00:00:00

REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE
THE EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.

The following report of the committee of the
Howe of Commune rtiosedass this company wee issued oa

Saturday :
The select committee appointed to inquire into and report
upon the expenditure of pertain rums which appear as un-
accounted for, under the head of parliamentary expenses is
the report which was recently published by a committee
appoiated to inquire into the management of the again al
the Boaters Counties Railway Company, have sgreed to the

s.l"ing 1.10,4 I ~
YOU commits. s retort that, in accordance with their in-
structions. they have mgaired into the expeneiture of cer-
which appear under
fain sums, amounting to about 7.6001-e
the headnf parliamentary expenses in the piloted " Report
of the Committee of Investegation to the Shareholders of
the Eastern Counties Railway Company." Your committee
I have likewise made inquiries with regard to certain expres-
uto.oerns in
thers arrinotyt.ofLtogrethoenzhwuhaitterhaorpreseantertn
With total to these expressions your committee are unable
to state positively whether they were or were not used by
the person to whom they are imputed, the mad• nee upoa
this point being cot flicung and unsatisfactory ; but they fed
satisfied that no portion of the money in questi in haaleen
ex; ended, directly or indirectly, in corruptly influencing
members of parliament.
Indeed, from what has transpired in the emus of this in-
vestigation, it may be fairly questioned whether this expert- •
diture his been properly classed under the head of " Pauline
mentary Expenses," as ft appears to have been incurred by •
self-appointed body, called the fike-lane committee, under
the following CI,CIIIIII. VIM :
In 184.5, three competing lines were before parliament,
vie., the Linden and York, the Dirt ct Northern, and a can- •
tinuation of the Eastern Counties from Csmhridgc to York.
The B .ard of Trade reported in favour of a line compounded
of a portion of the Eastern Counties scheme and a portion of
the Direct Northern, the Co.' of which, as seated by Mr.
Demean' was estimated at 4,000,0001., wile that of the Lon-
don and York was calculated at 8,000.0001.
Tbisreport was dated 20th.lflarch, 1845. The committee
of the noose of Commons to whom these competing lines
were submitted, after sitting eighty days, decided in favour
of the London and York, but as the bill could not go through
the Lords, owing ma the advanced period of the session, evo-
lutions were passed in parliament, enabling the bill to be pro-
ceeded with in Ore upper house in the ensuing session.
In the interval, Mr. Hudson joined the Eastern Counties
directi n; and at a public meeting of the Eastern Counties
shareholder., hell on the 30th or 31st o! October, after point-
ing sot the evils attending this contest between the two come
panics, and the saving of capital that might be effected by an
amicable arrangement between them, invited the London
and York shareholders, by a public announcement made at
the meeting, to come into the Eastern Counties line,
ad exchange their London and York fur Eastern
Counti. a shares. This invitation was not accepted, although
Mr. Duncan solicitor to the Esstern Counties Railway,
addressed, through the press, to the London and York share-
holders, four letters, signed " One of Yourselves," miliing
upon them to accede to the Eastern Counties prokositioo.
These letters having failed to produce the effect desired, in
April, 1846, Mr. La'Mert, who derceihes himself as " a spe-
culator in shorn, and a medical msn," and who was a consi-
derable Ando' ter in both companies, called upon Mr.
Duncan, and expressed an opinion that it would be highly
desirable to feria a committee tit London and Yolk share-
holders, and by advertisement to invite shareholders to join
in the movement for an amalgamation of the two companies.
Mr. Dunce's approving of this scheme, • committee was
formed, of which Mr. Lied-re became chairman. In that
capacity he spool. ted Mr. Philipps, of Sisi.-lane (his pri-
vate solicitor) to be so!iciter to t e committee, end sfter-
wards induced Moors Cash, Shappereon, Huxley, Field, and
Jones to join him. This was the origin of the Siteslane cent-
mitten.
Mr. Duncan had Previously obtained Mr. Waddington's
sanction for its formation, as well as his guarantee that all
the expenses attending it should be defrayed by the Eastern
Counties Railway Company. It was likewise agreed between
Mesa,. Duncan and La'Mere, with Mr. Waddington's sone-
tion, that it would be 'seem, cry for the committee to be polo
teased of a certain numher of shares, to form a nudeus,
round which other sharehtiders might gather ; and Mr.
Lteldert was authorised to purchase a sufficient number of
London and York shares, with the u deretnnding that he
should be indemnified for any loss he might sustain thereby.
The committee would thus appear to hive been formed on
the responsibility of Mr. Waddington alone, without the
knowledge or authority of the other directors, or of the pro-
prietors of the Eastern Counties Railway. It was subse-
ginntiy joined by a coasideroble number of London and
York shorsholdere, but the scheme entirely Ailed.
The total expenditure incurred by this committee, under
the different heads of advertisemen•r, painting, solicitor's
bills, loss on share., Atc,, including likewise a sum of 1631.
given to Mr. Davis, in addition to the payment of his bill,
to purelvse his silence with regard to the proceedings of 'the
S nelsne committ e, to which he hid occasionally acted as
ieeretary, appears to have eemounted to about 7,6001., the
sum which as mentioned under the head of parliamentary ex-
penses in the report of the committee of investigation, and
is the expenditure of which your committee were instructed
to inquire.
It would tbus sppear from the above summary of the
proceedings of the 61sT-lane committee, as well from the
general evil' nee, that although the objects which the Swee
lane c immittee had in view may have b en deemed beneficld
to the Eastern Counties Railway Company, yet the means
by wh ch gone ohjects were sought to be attained were of a
quesoonable character; and. indeed, Mr. Waddington, in
his evidence, stated to your eommitti e that it " was a trans-
action which had much better be in oblivion, inasmuch as
no doubt it was an irregular proceeding." Your committee,
therefore, fe 1 pettish. d that it was in consequence of the
ques.ionable character of these transactions that an attempt
was made to shroud in mystery the expenditure of 7,60;1.,
lest further inquiry, and "the giving of particulars" should
have tended to " implicate other perms," those parties being
n ne o her than the originators and m. rotors of the Sin-lane
committee.
In conclusion, your eotam:ttee fie I bound to express their
belief that if Mr. Cash, chairman of the committee of inves-
tigation, and the only 'numb r of that cerninitteo who had
also bees a member of the Sise-lane committee, had
thought proper to state, at the timo of the shareholders'
investigation, oil be knew we h regard to the Sise-lane
commion, and the expensee attending it, this expenditure
of 7.6001. would not have given rise to rumours rendering
an inquiry necessary for toe vindication of the honour of
the House of Comm ns.—Jane 11, 1849.
The minutes of evidence and appendix are not yet printed,
but are pi oinked shortly.

MR. ANSTEY AND THE DEBATE ON
CANADA.
TO THE EDITOR OP THE EXPRESS.
Slft,—ln your paper of yeateiday (Saturday) I am
repotted as having stated in the Reuse if Commons on Fri-
day evening that " I was convinced that at the moment the
majority in that c untty (Canada) were ready to whistle
their allegiance to the winds," &c. Yon will oblige me by
correcting the report in question. What I mid was, that
the evil policy or the Colon al-iffice had every year added
largely to the well-grounded discontents of Canada, and that
in a very short time the system would result in the most loyal
Canadians being brought over, by virtue even of their loyahy,
to abandon the party of the crown, represented by the Co-
lonial-6flieP, and to join themselves to the powerful minority
in that country, " who were ready to whistle their allegiance
to the winds," 80., &c.—l sm, air, Ste ,
T. CHISHOLM ANSTEY.
4, Elm court, Temple, June 17, 1849.