The Sun.
London, England, 1830-05-15 00:00:00

BIRMINGHAM AND LONDON RAILWAY.

TO S. E. THORNTON, ESQ.

SIR,—As many persons, to whom consideration is a
labour, are induced to embark in undertakings by seeing
that they are promoted by those who from their connexion
with commercial pursuits, or the situations they occupy,
they conceive to be better qualified to form a judgment
respecting them than themselves, it seems particularly
incumbent on those whose names are put forward as de-
coys, to ascertain and to point out to the world in what
respect and upon what groundi they recommend their
scheme to public patronage, more especially when the
scheme is of a novel description. Under this impression
I call upon you, Sir, as a Bank Director, as a merchant,
a partner in an old established house, that was woht to
carry on business in an old fashioned way, to explain to
the public the data upon which you call upon them to
patronize the Birmingham and London Railway : it is
more especially incumbent on you to do so, as, unless
much mistake, the solicitor of that concern is a brother of
your partner. You have therefore to shew that the object
is not to give the said solicitor a good job, but to pro-
mote the advantage of the undertakers ; because, as is
well known, the solicitor is never a loser, whatever the
subscriber may be. What then is your advertisement?—
It is a call upon the public to form a new mode of commu-
nication between the metropolis and Birmingham, when
it shall be seen " whether the public expectation with re-
gard to the Railway now making between Manchester
and Liverpool be not disappointed !" What then, even the
success of the model held out for imitation is not certain
even in your estimation ; are there not even in that work
some very material points in which it has already disap-
pointed its projectors—first, have not the results of the
lato,experiments shewn that it cannot bear without injury
the heavy loads that have been carried on it with such
useless rapidity? how else do you account for the post-
ponement of the opening? Secondly, and mainly, (for all
these are questions of money,) is it not true that the ori-
gival estimate of this work was 300,0001., and do not its
Ilpatrons now admit that it will not be completed under a
million ? But is there any reason because a Rail-road
may succeed in one situation that therefore it will neces-
sarily succeed in another ?—are there no local advantages in
the one case that the other does not posses ?—cau you
inform the subscribers to your project what is the weight
of goods that annually pass between Birmingham and
London ?—can you assure them that there is one tythe of
those proved to be passing between Liverpool and Man-
chester, or one-twentieth of what the promoters of the
scheme state there are?—will there be no difference too in
the.expense of the essential of your mode of conveyance,
coal ; in the one case, the course is through a country
abounding in coal; in the other, though one end of the
line abuts on a coal country, every mile you travel from
that extremity you recede from the very source of your
existence ?
Mr-wish is to gain information, and hieing adand-44: ket,
to know whether you are acting upon the suggestion of
engineers and interested parties, or whether, as you ought
to have done before you put forward yourself as one of the
provisional committee, you found your claims to public
support on some tiara that has convinced you that such a
thing is wanted; and that whether in spire of the differences
of situation, such as I have suggested and many others,
you see a reasonable probability that the subscribers will
be saved harmless; and whether you pledge your character
as a merchant to those facts.-1 am, Sir, your's,
May 14, 1830. AN ENQUIRgR.