The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-04-23 00:00:00

THE CAMBRIAN LITERARY SOCIETY,

Last night, the members of the

Ity met together

at the house of

Mr. D. R. Jo

the Car:

.rron Castle,

Tarleton-street, for the parpos

of preso

r late

,„:,pretary, Mr. Joseph E. Jones, with some souvenir of their
esteem,
prior to his departure for the °Anodes. Mr. Rad-
cliff occupied the chair, and Mr. Jones (of Manchester) the

present, we noticed Mr. T.

vice chair. Among

Roberts, Mr. Lloyd, gr.
Roberts, Mr. J. R. Hughes,
non Mr. targess to
usual loyal toasts, the chairman callea

flds, Mr. Sturg

east Mr. P.

Tr_ Lewis, &e. &

After the

make the presentation to their guest of the OYelung•
Mr. Sturgess, in the course of a very able and
feeling speech, bore testimony to the high chai,cter
and talents of his friend Mr. Jones. He hoped
that this little gift they were about to offer would be
appreciated, not for its intrinsic vane, but for the value of
the sentiments which dictated the gift. May he (Mr.
Jones) ever look upon it as the embodiment of a living
friendship, and, as such, he trusted, as he believed it would
be valued by their friend Mr. Jones. He would top„ in con-
clusion, to praffer him, in the name of the Caml
Society, a gold pencil cqse, which he mi
observe, was extremely unique in its strut
every credit on Mr. Mayer, of Lord street
manufactured. It bore upon it its simple

y-whom it was

story:—

ADMIRIN

Mr. J. E. Jones rose, and in reply to the warm and
feeling manner in which the presentation was made, and
the flittering manner in which he had been received that
evening, said that he could scarcely convey to them hit
sense of the pleasure he experienced in having
so touching a tribute of their esteem and
kindness ; he would always, [indeed, prize the offering
that had been made him that evening, and whether upon
" the wide waste of water," or on a foreign shore, he would
ever remember the scene of that evening, and would be-
lieve that friends and friendship did still walk the earth,
and often times he hoped he should look back with fond-
ness to his friends in old England with a happy remem-
berance as °fit " green spot in memory's waste.' (Loud
cheers.)
. . , L•

Mr. Lewis here sung an appropriate song, which was very
much applauded.

Mr, P. Roberts' health being proposed, that gentleman
replied in a very effective and humorous speech. Several
other toasts were proposed, and among the speakers were
Mr. Rowlandr, Mr. J. R. Hughes, and Mr. J. Roberts, &c.
The Chairman's health being proposed by Mr. J. E.
Jones, that gentleman returned thanks, and spoke of the
pleasure he had in being associated with them in so pleasing
a task as the one of the evening.
Mr. Lloyd having sung a song in a moat effective manner
—bearing upon the occasion—brought tit meeting to s
close in a very happy manner.

THE GRIND TRUNK RAILWAY

From the Canadian ( Hamilton) Spectat,

Our readers are already in possession of the fact that
another, but not altogether unexpected, call has been made
upon the provincial government by the so-called eminent
contractors and wealthy firm, Messrs. Peto, Brassey, and
Co., in aid of that gigantic undertaking, if not public
swindle, the Grand Trunk Railway, which bids fair to
sink this province in irretrievable ruin. It is scarcely
twelve months since a heavy draft, to the tune of 990,000 s
was made upon the Canadian Exchequer in favour of this
great scheme, and now Mr. Brassey, one of the "eminent
firm," calls for an additional demand of five per cent upon
the share capital, in order to enable the wealthy con-
tractors to proceed with the work. if this is not done,
then—why then the bubble must burst, for Mr. Brassey
very modestly informs the president of the company
that the work cannot be carried on unless his demand is
complied with, and that immediately ; in fact he avers
that, "our only hope is in the Canadian government."
So it has come to this at last. The predictions of the
opponents of the grant of last session have been only too
amply realised, and the truth is beginning to dawn upon
the minds of the people that they have been duped,
miserably duped, by Mr. Hincks' proteges, and we opine
the present government will find it no easy
matter to get rid of the difficulty this last
legacy of their predecessors is likely to cause them.
Strongly as we have denounced this Grand Trunk project,
we were never among those who opposed it on other
grounds than those of extravagance, for it is not to be
denied that we have already, as, a people, been compelled
"to pay dearly for our whistle." The folly and extrava-
gance of the wild scheme, however, has constantly received
our most determined opposition, and the correctness of
the course we have pursued is only too fully confirmed by
the demand now made by the " eminent firm," who,
according to common report, were reputed to be wealthy
enough, and willing enough to build the whole line with-
out demanding a shilling from the Province until their
work was completed. Of course no one believed a word
of it, although Mr. Hineks would fain persuade the
country that this Grand Trunk scheme !was one of the
most magnificent conception that ever entered the brain
of man. Well, the Province was committed to it through
the specious and plausible representations of the " chief
of the chissellers," as he has sometimes been designated ;
the contractors dictated their own terms, and received
their own price, nothing less than £lO,OOO per mile, at
least one-third more than it would have been built for
by any other company than the " eminent firm." They
commenced their work in seeming good earnest ; but
instead of commencing at one end of the route, they
actually built the most unprofitable portions, leaving the
centre untouched. It is true, they have completed a
large portion of the line ; but where is the otnnection, or
prospect of its making any return for the capital expended ?
From Quebec to Richmond they succeeded in placing the
road in running order, but alas ! it has been blocked up
with snow for months, and rendered unserviceable.
Another section was finished, that from Montreal to
Brockville, but it was left without an outlet as soon as
nTsovriognattoi otno
B ceased.rockviTilhee,
hmost
scarcelyproiltab profitable
en section,touc thathed frhllome
from Toronto to Guelph, the company managed to, w
run a
train of care about a couple of months ago, by way of
showing that the road was open, but it has remained idle
ever since.

Such is the position of the Grand Trunk Railway, with
the contractors wholly unable to complete another mile.
What is to be done? Mr. Brassey calls upon the Canadian
government to help him and his company out of difficulty,
after having exhausted the grant of last session. Said we
not truly that the £900,000 of last year was but an instal-
ment, and that the government would. at no distant date,
be called upon for another grant ? It is even so. Mr.
Brassey tells us he must have his five per cent on the
share capital, and three millions sterling besides, or the
work will stop. He does not say so in as many words, but
his meaning is not to be misunderstood. The demand has
been made, and sib urgent the necessities of the contractors,
that two of the Llema are probably by this time on their
, enforce the demand. Will it be
Th•at's the question." We warn the way to Canada
tegislature to pause ere listening to the
com-
plied with ?
go-
vernment and the,
insolent demand ma de upon them. They must give Messrs.
Pete, Brassey and Co. to understand plainly, that
Canadians will not sn bmit to any such dictation or threat-
ening, as is conveyed i, R the letter of Mr. Brassey. It
may be all well enough for Mr. Stephenson to endorse the
opinions of Mr. Brassey ' ; but the Canadian people will
prefer to judge for thernstives, as to whether the demand
"is quite reasonable" or not. The question must be
approached with due eau tion, and we trust it will be
weighed in all its bearings lat fore any decided steps are
taken to comply with the do. mend now made upon the
provincial exchequer. Ample .time must be allowed for
discussion, and any haste evinGt xl in the matter cannot
be too strongly deprecated. •