The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-24 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS—Last Evening.
The Lohn CHANCELLOR took his seat on the w^
at the usual hour.

~olsack

AMERICAN AFFAIR
Lord STRATHEDEN, who It-
for a return of all despatch,: ..act a motion on the paper
d or letters from the Hon. Mr.
Mason to her Majesty: s Government on the claim of the
Southern ConkZic.ra-ey- to be acknowledged as an
independent power by Great Britain, said he had
received a communication from the noble earl the
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, requesting him, as it was
inconvenient for the noble earl to attend in his place this
evening, to postpone his motion. He was aware of the in-
convenience of postponing motions of which notice had
been given, because many noble lords made arrangements
to he present and take part in the discussion ; however,
under the circumstances, he would defer proceeding with
the subject until the 2d of March.
Lord REDESDALE presented a petition from St. Mary's,
Moorfields, complaining of the proposed extension of rail-
ways and station to Finsbury-circus, which would depre-
ciate the value of their cathedral and schools,rendering them
useless for the purposes for which they were intended.
GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY (NEW METRO-
POLITAN STATION AND BRANCHES).
On the motion for the second reading of this bill,
The Earl of DERBY presented petitions from owners of
property in Finsbury against the bill, and said that
on one side of Finsbury.circus were many buildings
of importance, amongst them the London Institu-
tion. Most of their -lordships were aware that Fins-
bury-circus was an open area of three acres and a-
half in the City, fully equal to the squares at the West-
end, and it was chosen as the residence of many persons
of great influence connected with the Bank of England
and other great corporations. It was also the
resort of many of the poorer class for the pur-
pose of breathing fresh air and taking exercise. There
was great agitation when it was first proposed that a rail-
way should pass through the City, and it was stated in re-
ply that the railway would make a great opening in the
heart of the City. This bill would appropriate those open
spaces, and he put it to the house whether it would be fair to
take any part for the purpose of erecting a railway station.
Their lordships would doubtless hesitate before they agreed
to any measure appropriating Berkeley-square for such a
purpose, awl he did not think it was fair to make laws fox
the east end which they would not do for the west. His
lordship said there were no less than 30 lines of railway
proposed to be taken through the metropolis during the
present session,and although it was desirable that a passage
should be had for the heavy traffic through London, that
facility was given by the Metropolitan Railway being
tak,n as the basis for any future operations. The
line proposed did not offer facilities for inter-
communication, and he thought it extremely inconvenient
that their lordships should have one set of standing orders
and the House of Commons another, and in ord r to deal
successfully with railways in general, he thought that sub-
ject ought to be most carefully considered. What he sug-
gested was that the Board of Trade should be
called upon for a report not merely on each
particular measure, but also on the whole net-
work of railways with a view to the public interest.
He thought, under all the circumstances, it would be
highly objectionable to pass the second reading of this bill,
and, if it was persisted in, he should take the sense of the
house on the question.. But, as some of their lordships
might think this a strong measure, he would therefore only
move the postponement of this bill for a week or ten days,
to enable the Board of Trade to report upon the question.

Earl GRANVILLE thought it would be advantageona
that the standing orders should be re-considered. Kith
regard to metropolitan railways, he thought them of great
importance, and it would be hardly fair to reject this bill,
having heard but one side of the question. He did not think
there could be any objection to postpone the second reading,
but it would be extremely hard to take the unusual step of
rejecting the second reading of a bill which had been fully
considered.

Earl GREY felt it to be of importance that the subject
should be fully considered. It was exceedingly difficult for
committees in Parliament to deal with such comFlicated
questions, and he had frequently himself felt the difficulty
in coming to a decision, and the whole system was unjust
to all parties. It appeared that the North-Western had
180 bills to watch, the Great Northern had also a
_very great number to look after, at a great expense,
which the public had ultimately to pay for so doing.
He did not think that the Board of Trade was at all cal-
culated to deal with the subject properly. What he thought
wanted was a properly constructed tribunal to consider the
whole subject—one which would hold its sittings in pub-
lic, and before which all parties who objected to making of
railways could be fully heard. If such a tribunal was con-
structed its decisions would, he felt certain, give satisfac-
tion, and cause less expense than the present system. Private
proprietors should have some protection against repeated
applications, which ruined them by expense. Another
power which should be given to such a tribunal as that he
had alluded to, was that they should decide once and for all
upon the question, and have the power to give costs. He
hoped the Government would take the subject into their
most serious consideration.

Lord ItEDESDALE thought that if the proposed rail-
way board was established, it would require to be armed
with powers, or its decisions would never give satisfaction.
If such was done, he thought much good would be the re-
sult of such an establishment. With regard to the public
convenience, he thought it was most essential these should
be as few lines as possible. If their lordships were of opi-
nion that Finsbury circus should not be built upon, he
thought the kindest thing their lordships could do the
public and the railway companies was to say so at once.
He had, however, no objection to the postponement of the
second reading of this bill, which was agreed to.
Their lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS--Last Evening.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
NEW MEMBER—CHICHESTER,
Mr. J. A. SMITH took the oaths and his seat for Chi-
chester.