The Express.
London, England, 1850-05-11 00:00:00

RATING OF RAILWAYS.

DEPUTATION TO MU LABODCHERE AND SIR

OBOIME GREY.

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Yesterday a numerous and highly influential depu-
tenon waited upon Mr. Labouchere and Sir George Grey,
at the Board of Trade, for the parpese of laying before them
the grievancis ander which the railway companies labour
with respect to local and general taxation. Toe deputation
was winumerous that it was found necessary to receive it in
the Privy Council chamber, where it was met by Mr. Le-
bonchere, and—on behalf of Sir George Grey, who was un-
able to attend—by Mr. G. C. Lewis, Mr. Baines (chief poor.
law commissioner), and Sir E. Ryan.
Lord Kinnard, Hon. Chas. Howard, M.P. Sir Charles
Douglas, M.P., Mr. Chaplin, M.P., fetrEdwai:el
II P., Mr. Greene, MP , Mr. Metaled!, hi I' , Colonel
Reid, M.P., Mr. Stanford, M.P., and other members of par-
liament, accompanied the deputation.
The various railways were represented by deputations.
Deputations of shareholders were also its attendance.
Mr. LABOUCHBRE expressed his sense of the import-
ance of the deputation, and regretted that Sir George Grey
was unable to Le personally present to meet i:. Sir G.
Grey ad, however, desired him to assure the deputation
that his absence did not arise from any indifference to the
impotent interests which it represented, but in consequence
of inevitable engagements elsewhere.
hi. C. RUSSELL (the chairman of the Great W. stem
Railway Company) then stated that the object of the depu-
tation was again to esli the attention of rovernmen• to the
grievances under which ninety companies laboured ae re-
garded the kcal taxation levied upon them. He would, in
the first instance, remind the government the t in 1841 cer-
tain concessions of the most important character were ob-
tained from the railway intercies. Tho e coecessioes were
in the shape of cheap tree's, limitation of dividends, a
general code of regulations, and the optier, el purchase of
railway property, an the exprtee candela., mid understand-
ing that concessions to a couctsrbalancine extent easuld he
made to the ietcrest effected. Oise of the most important
of those c 'smellier. was tee reebien and the reduction
of the admittedly excessive and oner-us local taxation
under which the railway coropenle lehoured ; hue not-
withstending promises of attention to their pr-
awns, the companies were rice persrnting the en.
fore el duties and obligalioes without hating received any
portion of the promised tedue.lome and bent tits. The local
taxation of railways amounted to a very large percentage
in deduction of the diminishing profits of railway proprietors.
Its impositi ei w arbitrary end irregular, and the esti:-
in. ne in all e'en of dispute, of the ammet of the usessment
was eccompani el by an enormous amount of litigation. lie
believed these facts were well knewn to ...e government, and
it was on that ground that he felt confide nee in &elate go-
vernment either to introduce a measure of their own at d re-
medy the grievance complained of; or au, et to the introduce
Lion of an iadependent measure, by the reilevey companies
themselves. He was satisfied that if the government sneported
them, such a meas..re would be carnal by the Wile of
justice of the house, and he believer), even if the government
sod neutral, so apparent was the injustice, that a sufikleat
:omen of mecchera would be retied to support a fair and
egeiteb.e settlement of the gasoline. He would leave to
L sing, who would fallow him, to explain, in detail, the
general grounds on which their CYO was bamsd, ani the
details of the measure they proposed, taller to reeisioa
when brought before parliament; and as government, in a
bill introduced by Mr. C. Lewis, had fixed and defined the
mode le which tithe, should bo rated, thee pet tenting liti-
gation and 'suede-nit; what was rived to be an injustice, Le
had every confidence that they would, in like manner, fol-
lowing their own pr -cadent, at all events support a menoure
of a similar see:actor with respect to the aneoratu.t of rail-
Mr. LAING (Chairman of the Lon lon,Brightenem d S oath
Coast Medway Company) stated that the mode in which
railway property was essessed, while nominally th• s me en
that app'ied to other deseeiptions of property, was in reelity
an exceptionable mode of assessment. Railway err:pen:es
were escablelted not mere:y to constrict railways but nso
to us* them as carriers when made. Their property,
therefore, so/Deleted riot met ly of the income of their
tenement, bat else e f the pooh sot their tie ie tied earreuge
of their working trek. It was clivieus that the prefes of
trade riot the pectin of treklimed by far the Leger
portion of their gross income, whits the rens renal of
the terse anent would, of necessity, form only a smell eget of
such poen receipts. Yet, fohewieg the preen: me-le of
saseagneet, the groat Inc inn of the company was tak-n as
the basis, and certain deductions were made therefrom in
such a zonar as to leave a large portion of the pr ti.. in
trade, which were not legally ask-sable, within tea area
of charge upon the company. In the nose el the ever ray
he represented so heavy were the psi m ate they had to reo ice
under this unjust system that 12 per cent. of the ratite real
profits of the undertaking went into the pocket. of 'he
fortunate parishes teroagh which their line paved, 1.1. r: woo
had 'molars whatever on the seere of any additionel burden
brought upon them to profit so immersely at the expense of
the snare li.ildrrs. 8., ex•remely enemas was this Lew ttex•
cation in some particular paishes, that in one of tbem—that
ef Cobden, on the Brighton line, which was intersected
both by the Briahlon and South /f
astens Rlilwoes—Oo per
cent. of the entire rates were paid by thou too el:Rotate.=
1• followed, theraure, that sa any can of litigeliun got up
against the companies by the p.rieh, the termer pa: I toot
only tee's. own expenses, but GO per cent. of the exeeeses
of their opponents. Uneer the operation et the law as it
now stood, if the annual profits of a line were 100,0-0/.,
that sum woul I be the basis of assessment; but it by
surlier manapenieet and economy the lOOlee/ seem
increased to 1,50,01)01, the later sane weuid at ore • be-
come assessable, though the 'thee of the increase writ a'. re.butable to improved management, and siot to imp eve: e 'ue
of the railway as a tenement. Oa the eller hand, Ole.- • ()-
will; end wasteful management the refits were, dim:loiled
to .50,00(1 , then the alienable value of the line weele be
reduced :accordingly, though each wasteful management had
r(..i hog to do with the real lettable value of toe relit. ay.
Te eine, then, the gross income of the company so a means of
finding the *tensible value of the s aed pr.-reins it
occupied, wee eerily like going to the Beek. of 1.• Flood,
and endenotutieg to find the value of their lr.nu.es by
dealing with the roes ..mount of income derived from their
vast extent of buses's,. le was clear that by such a
instead of arriving at the sent at ertticli a teem.% would
rent the premises atom year to yaw, an uneear.l-of amount
would beephown, though every one must k_ow toot each sa
amount *ould not truly repr.ser.: the real annual vas-.1. of
the proper y.
Mr. litteeMLEY MOORE (late mayor of Liverpool) ex-
pressed the strong feeliug welch the shueholden is his
neighbourhood entertained in respect of the grievance is
question, end 'confident belief exuded that government
would deem it its duty to st. es in, and eith r remedy the nil
cr allow the railway companies themselves to do it.
SWIF f explained that the mode of aseessmeet pro-
posed involved no alteration whatever of cxietiag mod.• of
assessment, and that like Mr. C. Lewis's deli .rion of tithes,
it was simply a definitien of the assessment of nilway.
Mr. HAI)FIELD, from Manchester, stated that the
strongest feeling of the injustice under which repenters of
railways laboured, tasted in the part of the ennetry from
which he came, end that it was no wonder suet sneul.l be
the case, when shareholders knew that government had
sanctioned directly-eompetieg lines of railway to the injury
of original holders, and had teas, in malty cases,
extorted a reduction of tolls from the very companies
'gamut whom they had permitted such comectiti. n to
came into operation. He considered the messenger duty
also to he a very onerous tax, levied, as it wie, en the gram
receipts, and not on the net receipts; and he felt confident
it was in the power of government, by simply deist; justice
to railway companies, which had saved the cone try at lease
j)l) velliene a year in the transit of goods and pusregere, to
rein the value of railway property to its fair and proper
standard.

Mr. LABOUCHERE said, that if the rail,ray con•rtries
could make outs strong case of injustice, as they ste:.l it was
in their power to do, it would be the duty of g.ver,rnett to
inquire into the matter of compl dot. Mr. 1-1::st,l1 had
called his attention to the pera:d of 1644 when an intimation
was given by the government, that whenever a general :nee-
sure as to rating should he introduced, the vase of railways
should be consi,iered. Ile need not say that any interfer-
ence with the law of rating was surrounded by extrema
difficulty, and that it would he peculiai:y difficult :o dis-
turb any existirg principle without brig rine about v ri•vi-
sion of the whole system of assessment. ti ith respect to
alterations in the machinery of the law, he was in hopes
that last year's measure, giving as it did fent!. r power
for arbitration in eases of appeal. and also the p_wer to
take cues by consent direct trout the session to the higher
courts, would hare diminished the exp.nwe incurred in
appeals between parishes and railways. lie was sorry,
however, to learn from the deputation, that this had not
been the case. However, while adhering to the principle
of rating, he should rot be unwilling to confider
and support any further improvements in the ma.
chinery of the law which might be found to be advan-
tageous. With respect to the clauses sent to him on behalf
of the deputation, and as further explained by Mr. Laing, ho
could only say that while he would give those clauses his
best consideration, he looked upon them as obnoxious to se-
rious objection, and all he could further say on that subject
was, that it the gentlemen present saw tit to bring them be-
fore parliament, he should, after consulting with the other
members of the government, give thorn 11.4 best attention.
An opportunity was offered to the railway interest, in com-
mon with other interests, to make out their cue bnore L
Portinaa's committee, and he would suggest whether that
committee might not afford them the opportunity of support-
ing the conclusions they had eider ed.
Mr. RUSSELL objected that Lott! Portmstio committee
was ter a general object, having, however, a special intenti,n
to ita appointment, and the it was quite out of the qn.stion
for the shareholders in railway companies to hope that any
measure of relief for them could proceed in the pris.nt en-
&ion from the labours of that committee. if government
were not prepared to initiate a measure of relief, surely they
could not object, with any show of realm, to Allow the
shareholders of railways to make out their case before p Ala
ment by the introduction of a measure of their own ; end
the deputation wished to be infuriated whether a pr.inuv to
that effect could he obtained.
Mr. LABOUCHERB, in reply to Mr. !haul% etc, a that
position of
lhaawvinotgrastpoinkgein. sstr,irgthinlydo.f the Imo.
the earliest passible period give a distinct answer to the
mhaellw°4ourdusld counts other members of the government, and at
question put to him by that gentleman.
ithe deputation then withdrew.
_ _ .

Mr. Olys (the chairman of the L nide& and Noa th
Western Company), was prevented from attendwg. in con
sequence of hts toting under subio•na on the °lobo luso:Arms

THE HEALTIT OF THE DUKE OF RUTLAND hes
been this week the subjcet of alarm amongst his friends, and
continues to mite mid anxiety.