The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-08 00:00:00

C~-ui~

RAILWAY LEGISLATION.
TUE WHARNCLIFFE ORDER.
The following communication has been addressed
to Earl Derby by the representatives of the Great
Western, Great Northern, and Shrewsbury in-
terests :
"My
Lord,—We have given the most attentive and
respectful consideration to the views expressed by yoUr
Lordship at the close of our intet: tow on Monday, that
in any modification of the Wharncliffe Order the object
to be obtained is to ensure that the minority shall consist
of proprietors having a bond fide interest in the capital of
the undertaking itself, and not of proprietors represent-
ling the adverse influence of some other company.
" The means by which Lord Redesdale suggested
that this end might be accomplished was to require that
the shareholders should have been registered for some
speeified time before they should be entitled to vote at a
1 Whaletleliffe meeting. Desirable .as your Lordship's
purpose unquestionably is, we fear there are insuperable
.pre,,ctlc il cbstecies to this mode of attaining it.
. I. the Period that a shareholder is required to hold
his shares ivero It long one, be might complain, with
some ressen, that he real kept out of his legitimate rights
in the ni4nagement of his own property; sod some effect
even may he produced to his prejudice on the market
value, of his shares.
"If the peiiOrc a 4 suggested' by Lord Redesdale, were
a. short one, it weuld euve no other effect than to in-
duo there who •deeired to obtain an influence in any par-
tic;i4ir couipauy to coromf_nce their operations is few
months sooner. Among rise' plans for evading the
Turpow, there would be no difficulty inpureh4e:ng
shares, end leavieg them, as is frequently the case, by
Agreement, in tine names of the former proprietors, ob-
trilling their proxies, and only registering the transfer
after tae share's shall have been to used for defeating a
measure at a Wharncliffe meeting.
"In either case it is to be apprehended that the effect
would be rather to increase than diminish the evil. Hit
were once determined that the possession of a share for a
given period is to constitute the test of a bond fide hold-
ing, can there be any doubt that all other tests would be
disregarded, and that companies might almost openly
possess themselves of the means to accomplish purposes
adverse to the interests of bond fide partners whose capital
has been invested in the undertaking?
"It is much to be feared that any mode of establish-
ing the bond fide interest of a minority must to a great
extent be impracticable; but we are satisfied that conside-
rable good might be accomplished if the Standing Order
Committee were not only permitted, but were required,
to institute inquiry into any allegation, complaining by
petition that the votes bad been improperly or collu-
sively obtained. The beneficial effect of such a standing
order would be to deter persons from resorting to those
acts by the fear of investigation, rather than to detect
such acts after they have been committed.
" We are convinced, however, that the only effectual
mode of correcting an evil admitted to be of great mag-
nitude is to bring back the Wharncliffe standing order
to the proportion of three fifths, instead of four-fifths, of
the proprietors present to sanction the admission of a
Bill into your Lordships' House.
" That order was introduced in the first instance,
for the purpose of protecting a considerable minority
of bond fide shareholders against the indiscreet con-
duct of the majority engaging in other objects
than those contemplated by the Act of Incorporation
—such was unquestionably not only a legitimate
but a just end reasonable purpose. We do not know
what induced the alteration. We cannot learn that
any petitions were presented complaining of oppression
and grievance, or that any inquiry was instituted, or
that even the Parliamentary agents, who were the per-
sons most conversant with such matters, were asked a
single question on the subject. It is understood that
it was a spontaneous suggestion, determined upon
without previous inquiry or debate in the House of
Lords, at some meeting of a committee on standing
orders, and the alteration only became known after it
had been adopted.
" There exists no proof that the original proportion
of three-fifths bad been found insufficient for the contem-
plated purpose, ruff that any considerable minority had
been prejudicially ected by the conduct of their co.
proprietors or by the acts of their managing body.
" With great respect, we must controvert the posi-
tion of Lord Redesdale, that the injudicious ' arrange-
meats of the Caledonian, and other instances of the
same period, had been occasioned, or could have been
presented, by
the Wharncliffe standing order. These
projects had their origin in the distempered state of
commercial speculation in the years 1845 and 1846,
and were the acts of the body of the shareholders
themselves. The public, and even the Legislature,
were more to blame than the directors of railway com-
panies, who in many instances did all in their power to
stem the torrent.
"In the case of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham, on
which Lord Redesdale chiefly relied, it was admitted
that when the directors of that company found that the
London and North. Western had been establishing a
controlling influence in their company by the possession
of shares, they did, in order to protect the property of
their bond fide shareholders against such sinister in-
fluence, do whatever lay in their power to extend the
number of the votes which could be commanded in sup-
port of their own policy. Without seeking to justify
such proceedings, even under those peculiar circum-
stances, your Lordship cannot fail to observe teat the
Wharneliffe standing order in its present form, so tar
from affording any protection to bond fide shareholders,
was in that instance the means of provoking the retalia-
tion which is now condemned as so objectionable.
"It is by no means our desire, however, to withhold
the proceedings of directors from investigation, which
should, in the same manner as those of all other parties.
be subjected to the rigid scrutiny of the committee, as
suggested durirg our interview with your Lordship.
" We state it not only as the deliberate conviction of
our minds, but as the result of actual experience in
many cotes, that the Wharncliffe standing order does
ensble rival and hostile companies to acquire, by the
small minority which is now sufficient to defeat a mea-
sure, a preponderating influence over the great body of
proprietors.
a‘ The effect, particularly upon small companies, is to
place them at the mercy of powerful neighbours, who
have the means of obtaining an undue influence over
their property for their own purposes, which some do not
scruple to exercise.
"The result upon the public interest is to defeat many
measures of the highest importance. After au agree-
ment has been entered into and a Bill has received the
sanction of a majority cf the proprietors—after it has
passed not only the standing orders of the House of
Commons, but has also been submitted to the scrutiny
of a Committee of that House—after the preamble has
been proved, and it may therefore be assumed that the
measure is of some public importance, the Bill is now
met at the threshold of your Lordship's House by a
standing order which enables a rival and hostile com-
pany to set at defiance all these prima fade proofs of
public expediency, and prevent tho House of Lords even
from proceeding to investigate the advantages or public
merits of the measure itself.
" Such being the obvious consequences of the Wharn-
cliffe Order, as now in operation, it is with great confi-
dence we appeal to your Lordship to sanction the sug-
gested alteration, tending, as we firmly believe, to im-
prove the practical working of it, without departing
from the principal or relaxing the object for which it
was originally instituted. They consist—
" First,—Of restoring the proposition to an approval
by a majority of three-fifths of proprietpresexit.
"Secondly,--Of rendering an investigation
eb ficin of the
_o impera-
tive, instead of permissive, as W _
parties voting, whenever complaint be made by petition
from either party to the House of Lords.
" We have the honour to be,
my Lord, your Lord-
ship's obedient servants, "R. H. CLIVE.
a C. RUSSELL.
" EDAM. DENISON.
" BARRINGTON."

ending June 27 :
NORTH STAFFORDSHLRS RAILWAY. Miles Open,ll2.)—.
c for the Week
RestoournrroLtraflicics:c(fo;:hte6RA: week
partweeeA:
Railway and canal ....£5,292 0 0
'.£1,817774
197
,0
corresporiding week last year „. 5,705 0 0 •
endingoooPjasslg4ce:tlBse,2
20
and carriages

last
Perth, supll7lT: 17:E8g5 Nrltek.A. RAILWAY.—(2O —y year.,,
miles2l;oB 55:313 e 6n9) etunl
ConlL"flor the week ending July 3,21.85421 i
147
191
ksercenhandise, cattle ,&c....
of Tr*".'e gels, parcels, &c.

Total £166 2 8
corresponding week in 1851 (10 miles oen) :
Passengers, parcels, &c. p
... 35
Merchandise, cattle, &c.... ... 010 0
6 0

Total

35 16 0

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
NEW COURT.

(Before the IIE COll E. It )
George Tunney, 27, postman, pleaded guilty to steal-
mg a
post letter containing had -e-sovereign, it being the
property of the Postmaster-General.
Ile was transported for seven years.
Matthew Jacobson, 25, watchmaker, and Thomas
Lawrence, 23, dealer, were indicted for receiving stolen
property.
It appeared that Lawrence kept the Oak beer-shop,
Cbenies-mews, Tottenham-court-road, and Jacobson was
a watchmaker in the same road.
Smith, the sergeant of the E division, having some
suspicion, went to the beer-shop to make a search, where
he found nearly 1001. worth of base coin, sovereigns,
crowns, halt-crowns, and shillings; be also found an im.
manse deal of other property, consisting of silks, Watches,
at
tahned
eotthheerrpt
se(gese sr t2so wp
leede
ea ws
ialyk s
en d between
otherth e
pflr oeopresr,t
yen
was
a a
found, and all identified as the result of railway and other
robberies.
The evidence, which was very lengthy, wss most con-
clusive, and the jury, having found the prtsonere Guilty,
they were sentenced to 10 years transportation.
Mr. Gurney sat in the afternoon, and disposed of the
remaining business on the list in this court.

The paymsnta in the Paris savings-banks on Sun-
day end Monday, were 668,944 r. ; the withdrawals,
328,949 f.
EXHIBITION AT DIIBLIN.—A few weeks
in
the Irish railway contractor, offered the
ssumeGeolF2A 0T 1)g
,00a0r/. an'
towards a "Great Exhibition" in Dublin
next year. The matter is now fairly on foot, the committee
named, and the money placed in their hinds. The exhibi-
tion is open to all, and the committee are desirous of the
co-operation of the English manufacturing body. The
secretary is Mr. C. P. Roney, formerly of the Eastern Coun-
ties Railway, and now
manager of the greatly increasing
Vag ttirQß4 frQUI ItOnd9n to the interior of49lltuds