The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-16 00:00:00

Metropolitan and Suburban Railways.

We recently directed attention to the ravages the
Railway Companies proposed to make in London,
and pointed out how the majority of the Extensions
and Junctions owed their origin, not to benevolent
plans for the convenience of the public, but either
to the mischievous rivalries of the companies them-
selves or to the reckless energy of contractors, en-
gineers, or Parliamentary solicitors, the most lucra-
tive portion of whose business ofte❑ consists in
getting up these schemes. Since then the House of
dommons has, on its second reading, thrown out a
bill for bringing a railway from the Great Northern
in a cutting to the top of Regent-street, and it ap-
pears more than probable that the Great Eastern
Station will either remain where it is, or -when it I
does spring into the metropolis, must select some
other spot than Finsbury-square in which to alight.
So far, therefore, so good. But in the meantime we
would invite attention to the fact that it is by no
means the Metroplitan Extensions only which re- I
quire looking after, and that some bills which bear
the most harmless of suburban titles are likely, if
passed, to do a lasting injury to the metropolis
itself. Such are the bills promoted by the London
and Brighton Company, and the London, Chatham,
and Dover Company, both of whom actually pro-
pose to tak.e their lines through Greenwich Park,
the most ancient, and by far the most beautiful, of
all the parks round London. The promoters of
these schemes say that they " intend to studiously
avoid injuring the Park," and only mean to " take
the line through the Park by a tunnel about half a
mile long." This tunnel, however, must be con-
structed, we believe, on what engineers call the
" cut and cover" system ; that is to say, a broad and
deep cutting is first made, the tunnel then built,
and the earth then filled in again. A disfigurement
of this kind for some twelve months or so while the ,
works are progressing ought itself to be a sufficient
reason for the rejection of the bill, but this will not
be the least of the evil, for the formation of any
tunnel through the Park will drain the moisture
from the trees and kill all the noble elms and ches-
nuts in its neighbourhood. In the matter of rail-
way extension the Legislature has taken special
care of the north side of the metropolis, while the
south side has been left to the mercy of every angry
company or hungry projector. It is most earnestly
to be hoped that they will net permit this last set
of desecration, and that this old, historic playground
of the south of London will be left in its natural
beauty. It required a great effort, some years ago,
to prevent the present Woolwich line from doing
what two now wish to do, and the public wiil, in-
deed, have passed from King Log to King Stork if
all their exertions to keep one railway from touch-
ing the Park end in two rivals and antagonists
passing through its centre. Members of both
Houses have struggled to prevent the violation of
the St. Pancras-road and to preserve the dusty
rurality of Finsbury-square—is there none who
say a word for Greenwich Park, and the thousands
who daily derive pleasure in the contemplation of
its quiet beauties P—Times.

THE FORTIFICATIONS.—A return printed on Sa-
turday
states that the total amount raised under
the Fortifications Loan Act is £2,070,000, for which ter-
minable annuities amounting to £133,827 have been created.
The sum raised in 1861 was £950,000 ; in 1162, £970,000;'
and the remainder, £150,000, was raised on the OthJanuary
last, The rate of interest at which the annuities were cal-
culated is 31 per cent,