The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-31 00:00:00

TILE RIGHT MEN IN TILE RIGIIT

MEETING OP Tff LONDON AND SOUTH.
WESTERN RAILWAY.-(THIS DAY.)

A special general meeting of the proprietors of this
railway was hell this afternoon at the company's offices
in the Waterloo-bridge station, for the 'consideration of
a bill now pending in Parliament for authorising the
erection of works by the company for regulating their
capital and for other purposes ; and also for the election
of a director, in the room of Lieutenant-Colonel George
Henderson, deceased ; Mr. Chaplin in the chair.
a The report of the directors published in The Sun of
Saturday having been read by the secretary, and the
heads of the bill and clauses by the solicitor,
The CHAIRMAN said that having on two recent occa-
sions met them and entered into the detAils and history
of these proceedings, and they had'having a, copy of the
bill and the report, which gave them every information
up to the present time, he had hut little to say to
them. After alluding to his presiding over a di-
vided proprietary which was not satisfactory to en-
sure success, and to some of the proprietors
publishing letters which tended to depreciate the value
of the property, otherwise than improve it,i remarked
that so far from the dividends of the company being
" confiscated," they bad only got Ao far as to their
being " suspended" only in the event of certain things
not being done in accordance with a pledge given
with the consent of certain of the proprietors.
He thought they were all agreed. on the prin-
ciple of the bi 11, except the clauses which
affected the pledge, as being satisfactory and useful,
especially the alteration of voting on the preference
shares stock, the consolidation of it, and asking for fur-
ther time to complete the Salisbury and Basingstoke
Railway, in order to prevent the risk of stopping the
dividend in 1866. He regretted the recommendation
of the Directors, with reference to the exten-
sion of the line to Exeter, had not met with
the approbation of the proprietors, which was the
only satisfactory mode of closing the business thrust on
them by the House of Commons, after two meetings of
the proprietary authorising thedirectors to do that which
was for the benefit of the company. (No, no.) He hoped
the company would sanction this proceeding, which
NI, as to bejustified as a commercial speculation, but taking
it on higher grounds, as a point of honour they were
bound to carry it on.

(LEFT SPEAKING.)

- ,
LAW INTELLIGENCE (THIS DAY).

COURT OF CHANCERY.

Nothing of the least interest came before any of the
Equity Courts ..this morning. The Lords Justices of
Appeal were occupied the greater part of the day with
the further arguments in the case of Ware v. Watson,
the only question in which related to the construction
of an obscurely worded will. The Master of the Rolls
took motions and causes, none of which possessed any
point of interest except to the parties concerned. Vice-
Chancellor Kindersley was occupied the whole morning
with a case relative to the construction of a will of great
intricacy, and the Vice-Chancellors Stuart and Wood
reserved the hearing of arguments in two part-heard
cases.

M.4IKET RI WB-(TI118 DA)%)

MEAT KA RR P, TS.

NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL.—There was only a mode-
rate business doing in each kind of meat to-day, as follows:
—Beef, from 2s 10d to 4s Od ; Mutton, 3s Od to 4s 8d ;
lamb, 5s Od. to 6s 6d ; Veal, 3s lodto 4s 8d ; Pork, 3s 4d to
4a 4d per 81bs, by the carcase.
SOUTHALL, May 30.—The supply of stock in to-day's
market was but moderate, yet the demand was in a slug,-
gish state, and prices had a downward tendency. Beef,
from 3s 2d to 4s 6d; Mutton, 3s 4d to 4s 10d; Lamb, 5s 4d
to 6s 6d ; Veal, 4s Od to 4s 8d; Pork, 3s 4d to 4s 4d per
81bs, to sink the offals.

ROMFORD, May 30.—Each kind of stock sold slowly, as
follows :—Beef, from 3s 2d to 4s 6d; Mutton, 3s 4d to 5s Od
Lamb, 5s 4d to 6s 10d ; Veal, 4s Od to 4s 8d ; Pork, 3s 4d to
4s 4d per 81bs. Quarterold Store Pigs, 21s to 258 each.

(From the Times of this day.)
The attention of the public has hitherto been directed
almost exclusively to " the right man ;" we wish this
morning to offer some observations on " the right place."
Let us suppose our Administrative Reformers to have
caught their man, and to have ascertained, by whatever
means, that he is the right person for the public service.
Let us suppose our offices to be organised on a system
which shall give due promotion to merit, and that, in
fact, as far as rules and persons are concerned, we have
entered on the desired millennium of official reform.
What is the place, or rather what are the places, in
which this well-trained army of superior officials is to
encamp and go through its evolutions ? Of course,
what is true of the effectiveness of an army is true also
of the effectiveness of a Government—that it will in-
crease in proportion to the facility of communication
which each of its members has with the other. In war
this communication is necessarily limited by the diffi-
culty of feeding so many men concentrated on a single
point, and one might really suppose, in taking a glance
at our public offices, that some commissariat considera-
tion had led us to scatter them as wide and to isolate
them as completely from each other as possible. In the
far east we have the India-house, at a distance of some
four miles from the India Board, to the great benefit of
the cab proprietors and the incalcelable loss of time and
efficiency in the Government of India. In the South
Sea-house dwells the Exchequer Loan Commission, an
Oriental colony of the Treasury, separated from its pa-
rent state by three miles of crowded streets. The Court
of Chancery seems finally to have fled from Westmin-
ster-hall, and taken up its dwelling in Lincoln's-inn,
half way between the Courts of Law at Westminster
and the Courts of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, which
still drag on their charmed life in the purlieus of
St. Paul's. Advancing farther west we find a colony,
of no inconsiderable magnitude established at So-
merset-house, the office of the Duchy of Lancas-
ter near Waterloo-bridge, and the greater part of
New-street, Spring-gardens, occupied, to the exclusion
of the fashionable world, by the ever-increasing exi-
gencies of the public service, while Abingdon street and
Park-street are tenanted by commissions and offices of
the most miscellaneous descriptions. Thus the places
where business is carried on are scattered, not over an
area, but over a long straggling line of upwards of four
miles in length, and separated from each other by the
most crowded and difficult thoroughfares of the metro-
polis. It is really impossible to exaggerate the econo,y,y
of labour, the increase of effective supervision, the raving
of time, and the means of effecting necessary reforms
and amalgamations, which would be realised to the coun-
try if all these scattered offices could be gathered into a
few commodious and contiguous buildings. For this,
however, the practical English nation hailwaited long,
and may probably have to wait much longer, although
it is susceptible of demonstration that money spent in
such a work would not only facilitate business and
greatly ornament the metropolis, but would also show a
great saving as compared with the rents the public is
compelled to pay for inferior accommodation.
This being our firm conviction, we view with consider-
able satisfaction a proposal brought before Parliament
by the Chief Commissioner of Works for the complete
demolition of the buildings which disgrace Downing-
street, and the erection in their stead of offices better
calculated for the transaction. of public business, and
built around a single quadrangular enclosure. The nuis-
ance has existed so long that we should think the period
has nearly arrived when, according to our national wont,
its existence may begin to be admitted. in 1839 a com-
mittee of the House of Commons reported from evidence,
and from their own personal inspection, that the build-
ings occupied by the Foreign and Colonial Departments
were inadequate to the then extent of public business, in
parts unsafe, and in such a state of dilapidation as to
render it inexpedient to spend any large sum on their
substantial repair. Matters have not mended since that
time, business has increased, and buildings have deterio-
rated ; and it is stated in a recent report from the Board
of Works that these offices are unfit for office purposes,
from the smallness of the rooms and the difference of
levels in the floors ; that the walls, having been cut
through to form communisations, are weakened ; and
that there are considerable " settlements," the effect of
which has only been counteracted by the use of iron
ties, suspension rods, and shoring. They further state
that the principal apartments of the Foreign-office are
unsafe, and have to be supported by shores whenever
used for large parties ; that a subsidence has taken place
in the foundation of that part of the building where
Cabinet Councils are held, and other circumstances
equally ominous with regard to the residence of the First
Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer. Certainly, if our system be rotten, we have found
an exceedingly suitable residence for it, and, as they are
both worn out together, we think their reconstruction
should be simultaneous. There is now before Parliament
a bill the object of which is fully and effectually to re-
medy this crying evil. It is proposed to perchase for
Government the houses in Fludyer-street and one side
of Crown-street, and upon the area obtained by these
purchases, by the vacant piece of land now in possession ;
of Government, by the sites of the houses in Downing-
street, and of the garden to the west of the Treasury, to
erect a q _a,drangular building containing in its centre a
court 250 feet long by 150 feet wide, to be approached
from Whitehall by the present entrance of Downing-
street. The right of this quadrangle„ as 'you enter, after
passing the present buildings of the Privy Council and
the Board of Trade, 'would be occupied by the residences
of the First Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, thrown back from their present position
and covering the space now occupied by the Treasury-
gardens. The north-western portion of the qua•
drangle would be occupied by the War-office; the
centre rooms appropriated to Ministerial receptions ;
the south-west by the Foreign-office, with the State
Paper-office in the rear ; the south by the Colonial-office;
and the south-east corner, facing the Privy Council, by a
building not yet appropriated to any public service, but
for which there will be undoubtedly numerous claimants.
The plan seems to be a good one, and made in a spirit of
comprehensive simplicity. The situation of the Foreign
and Colonial offices is such that they may be completed
before the present dens in which those departments at
present burrow have been pulled down, and thus the ex-
pense and loss of more than one removal may be spared.
The total cost of the undertaking, including 25,0001. for
fittings, and 54,0001. for the purchase of properties re-
quired, will be 585,0001. It is proposed to commence
with the new Foreign-office, as supplying a want most
urgently felt, and being, besides, to be built on land a
considerable portion of which is vacant. For this pur-
pose 90,0001. will be required. Of equal importance will
be the constructing as soon as possible a building suited
to the occupation of the Minister of War, and for con-
ducting under the same roof those different departments
at last consolidated under a single head. That consoli-
dation will never have really and efficiently taken place
till it shall be in the power of the Minister of War to
converse without a minute's delay with any member of
any of the different depaitments confided to his care and
supervision. We never shall believe that he is really
head of the Ordnance so long as his office is inPembroke-
house and that of the Ordnance in Pall-mall. We trust,
therefore, that the obstructive spirit which has so long
prevented the most obvious and necessary public im-
provements may, in this instance at least, yield to the
pressure of the emergency, and that our renovated pub-
lic service may be lodged in a residence fit for its recep-
tion. We hope also that the projected structure, of
which we have not seen the elevation, will be as little
like a cathedral and as much like a comfortable dwelling-
house as possible, with windows that admit the light,
and passages leading with reasonable directness to their
ultimate goal.—Times.

LOSS OF LIFE AT THE SOUTH LAM-

BETH WATERWORKS.

Yesterday morning, shortly before 8 o'clock, an ap-
palling accident took place at the reservoirs of the South
Lambeth Waterworks, adjoining the old House of Cor-
rection on Brixton-hill. The reservoirs, four in number,
occupy an area of nearly four acres, and are some 22
feet in depth, 700 feet long, and 200 feet broad, the
water being supplied by pipes of large dimensions from
Thames Ditton.
A

recent Act of Parliament having compelled water
companies to cover in their reservoirs in and round the
metropolis, the South Lambeth Company contracted
with Messrs. Lock and Nesham, builders, of Theobald's-
row, to arch over their reservoirs at Brixton. Within
the la,t few days one of the reservoirs had been covered
or vaulted in by a series of bricked arches, each being
about 30 feet wide, stretching across the ent;re width of
the reservoir, and 20 feet in height—the surface or crown
of the arches being covered with a layer of clay two feet
thick.

. esterday morning, while about 30 men were engaged
striking the, centres from the completed arches, removing
the scaffolding, &c., almost without any warning, about
12 or 14 of the arches gave way and fell to the bottom
of the reservoir with a loud crash, burying beneathithern
the men who were below at work ; some 20 labourers,
who were levelling the earth outside on the top of the
reservoir, also falling with the mass. The shock occa-
sioned by the fall alarmed the whole neighbourhood ;
and, as may be supposed, the most prompt measures
were taken for the purpose of extricating the sufferers.
Although nearly 200 labourers were engaged in the
task, it was not until close to 11 o'clock that the whole
of the parties were got out. Four of them, unhappily,
had ceased to live, being crushed to death ; seven others
were found to be sadly injured, and were at once sent
to Guy's Hospital.
The names of those who were killed were George
Piley, Charles Underwood, John Wilkins, and Benjamin
left
large The three first were married, and have
large families.

Many of the men had most marvellous_ escapes, and

the superintending foreman in particular. Ile hai taken
a friend down to inspect the works when suddenly he
heard a loud crack. lie called to his friend, " For
God's sake, come this way," pointing to a recess or inlet
leading into the right reservoir. They succeeded in
springing into the inlet at the moment the mass came
down, but so hair-breadth was their escape that some of
the brickwork caught their legs, and threw and hold
them down, where they remained until they were dug
out. Curiously enough, they scarcely sustained any
injury.
The accident is attributed to the instability of the
work, and the centres being removed before the brick-
work had time to consolidate. The amount of damages
is estimated at several thousand pounds. Between 200
and 300 men have been generally engaged on the works,
but fortunately a' large number were keeping holiday
when the accident happened.

".Spring-gardens, May 29, 1855.
"My dear Lord,—l regret exceedingly that circum-
stances of a peculiar nature (which I have explainel to
Mr. Holroyd) place it out of my power to be present at the
meeting to bo held at Dover to-morrow, for the purpose of
supporting the application to Parliament for an act for
extending the East Kent Railway from Canterbury to
Dover.
"I regret it the more-because I should have a personal
satisfaction in explaining to the meeting the precise cir-
cumstances to which the bill for the Dover Extension owes
its origin.
"Your lordship will remember that I had occasion to
sea Lord Hardline on the subject of the •bill now before
Parliament for obtaining the release of the 50,5501. At
that interview his lordship, after explaining his readiness
to support the object of the measure by every means in his
power, added, But why do you not go to Dover ?' My
reply was, that if the Government desired it, I had no
doubt that the East Kent Railway Company would be
ready to make an application to Parliament for the re-
quisite powers, provided the Government would afford the
support necessary to enable them to overcome the diffi-
culties which, under the peculiar circumstances of the case,
they must naturally expect to encounter.
"Having received his lordship's assurance of the most
cordial co-operation, I communicated the result of my in-
terview to Mr. Charles Freshfield, who thereupon pre-
pared the letter which your lordship, as chairman of the
East Kent Railway Company, wrote to Lord Palmerston,
offering to bring in the bill provided the Government
would consent to give a guarantee upon the capital re-
quired for constructing this extension, upon which, in a
national point of view, so much value had been placed by
all the military and naval authorities.
" The proposal, as your lordship knows, was favourably
entertained by the highest officers of the Government ;
but, ultimately, considerations of policy, which are quite
intelligible, intervened to prevent their support being
given in a pecuniary form.
" The interest, however, already felt and expressed in
the undeitakingosnd the appreciation of the great impor-
tance attributed by those most competent to judge of the
earliest possible completion of a safe inland line to Dover,
have increased with the progress of the bill ; and if proof
were wanting to justify your lordship in giving to the
meeting a strong assurance of the intention of the Govern-
ment to give to this measure their full and entire support
in all its stages, it is to be found in the fact that Mr. Mac-
gregor's motion, strenuously supported by the South-
Eastern Railway Company, for postponing tho third read-
ing of a bill of less moment connected with the East Kent
Railway, was, on the 22d inst., rejected in the House of
Commons by 90 votes against 21.
" With regard to the capital, there can, in myopinion, be
no further difficulty, inasmuch as the East Kent Railway
Company can well, and with perfect safety, afford to grant
any terms to the holders of the shares in the new capital of
500,000/. that may be found necessary to induce capitalists
to embark in that which will add such vast additional
pecuniary value to the original stock.
"The line between Strood and Canterbury will un-
doubtedly yield a good return upon the money expended
on its construction. How much greater, therefore, must
the income necessarily be. when, by extension to Dover
Harbour, a purely local line will be converted into a
through ono, commanding the great continental traffic.
"I now proceed to show that this wilt be one of the
most profitable railway properties in England.
" The railway from Strood to Dover will be the prolon-
gation of the present North Kent Railway, which is by far
the most productive portion of the South-Eastern Com-
pany's property; and from carefal estimates it is shown
that the receipts of this extension will greatly exceed the
general average of the 289 miles of railway now belonging
to the South-Eastern Railway Company.
" Now, the total sum received by the South-Eastern
Railway Company for the year 1851 is given in the official
reports at 898,3011., being rather more than 3,1001. per
mile per annum on the whole 289 miles ; and the working
expenses for the same period at 375,9541., or rather less
than 42 per cent.
" Now, if we take this average receipt only of 3,1001. a
mile on 46 miles (the distance between Strood and Dover),
we arrive at a total of 142,600/. ; and if from this 'we de-
duct 42 per cent, for expenses, we still have a net annul
profit of 82,6681:, or about 7 per cont. on the whole share
capital of 1,200,0001., or, taking one-third of it to be raised
in debenture, bearing 5 per cent. interest, about 8 per cant.
" In giving the above statement, I am fully aware that
I have taken too low an estimate of the company's re-
ceipts; because the average receipts of the Sf uth-Eastern
system generally affords no fair criterion of the r, ceipts on
46 miles of railway, in extension of the North Kent, which
is known to be the most productive of the whole Soutlr-
Eastern mileage. I have taken the average gross receipts
per mile upon the whole South-Eastern system at 3,10 u/ ,
which includes the unramunerative branches ; where is the
half-year's report of the South-Eastern Company shows a
return on the North Kent line at the rate of 5,813/. per
mile per annum, notwithstanding the competition with
the river steam-boats and Tilbury Railway at Gravesend.
"I therefore think your lordship can have no hesitation
in assuring the meeting that the enterprise is one in which
capitalists may, with good profit and perfect safety, em-
bark their money.

"I have the honour to be,
"Your lordship's very faithful servant,
(Signed)
on "
"The Right Hon. the Lord Sdes " See
Mr. SADLEIR, M.P., the deputy el; C HARLES Fox
chairman of the coin.
pany, then proceeded to address the meeting. He said
he had much pleasure in addressingimportant a
public meeting the views he had to so
long entertained on
the subject to consider which they had been called to-
gether. In doing so there was a difficulty of somewhat
' a peculiar character which met him at the outset—not
from any doubt as to the merits or importance of an
undertaking which had' for its object the perfecting of
direct railway communication between Canterbury and
Dover, but a difficulty altogether apart from the con-
struction of the proposed railway ; for he must say it
was somewhat embarrassing that, while called upon to
explain the merits of a great commercial project, he could
not recognise any objector in the field, nor did he clearly
know what objections he had to remove. He was begin-
ning to think that the gentlemen discharging the im-
portant office of carrying out the preliminaries of the
meeting had fallen into a slight mistake, and that they
should have managed to coax into the meeting some in-
genious sceptic, fruitful in reasons, to prove that a direct
communication between Dover and Canterbury would
, be very prejudicial to the port and town of Dov. r itself.
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) The support which the pro-
posed line had received from Government la I been
very fully pointed out in Sir Charles Fox's letter, anti
superadded to that were the distinctly-expressed convic-
tions of the official guardians of our naval and military
forces that the completion of the line freni C.lnterbury
to Dover would be of the greatest possible naional ser-
vice Land it was from a_consideration of these facts that
the East Kent Company bad been stimulated to use
their best exertions to promote the bill during the pre-
sent session. In saying this he must frankly state that
rwe ahti 103; to
t
ythraOludehg
tt hh ee lcompletion
n taegf esi tofwothuelddinstorticotsnl
passed, as well as under a national benefit, but thet
it would at the same time enhance the value
and importance of their railway communication
between Strood and Canterbury. He begged
the meeting to understand that the arrangements
for the extension of the line from Canterbury to Dover
did not depend on the inhabitants of Dover subscribing
very largely to the Parliamentary contract. It would
be unreasonable to depend at this moment on the p
of the district for any large portion of the 500,000e/e h)
p
quired to carry out the weeks ; they would have trle)e. 1
kiudnes-s t).consider that those parties who at a distance
possessed facilities and means for Promoting such under-
taking attached great importance to the 'moral support
which persons of influence in a district throug(h wbich it
was proposed to carry a railway gave to it ; and it %al
on thiS iroad ground that he appealed to the meeting to !
afford their support to the ropfected line ; and if they,
upon examination, were satiP.slied that the project would
nut only be one of great local advantage, butone entitled 1
to their sympathy and support on public and national