The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-17 00:00:00

cations. Much of this had no doubt been rendered neces-
sary by the reconstruction of the navy and by the outlay
upon the dockyards, which was an economical expendi-
ture. He feared, hoWever, that after reading the debate of
the last few days, the public would be disposed to think
that, in spite of this vast expenditure, we had not yet built
vessels that were fit to go into action, and did not possess
guns efficient for the service for which they were required.
Indeed, as to guns, it appeared that not only had we not
got the best, but the War-office could not make up their
minds as to what were the best. He approved of the form
in which the estimates were now placed before the house,
as a great improvement. With the clear explanation, too,
by which the noble marquis had accompanied them, there
was little left to be desired.

After some remarks from Mr. AYRTON and Sir S.
NORTIICOTE,

Sir J. TRELAWNY condemned the appointment of
Lord De Ros to the colonelcy of the 4th Hussars in con-
nection with the office of deputy-lieutenant of the TOwer,
on the ground that several general officers who had seen
active service had been passed over in his favour.

Colonel NORTH defended the appointment, and dwelt
at some length upon the evils of the enlistment system.
Sir F. SMITH said that he had never met with an
officer who had devoted his time and attention more
assiduously to the cultivation of his profession than Lord
De Ros.

The discussion of several details, including the subjects
of barrack accommodation, regimental depots, and recruit-
ing was continued by Colonel Dickson, Sir H. Verney,
Colonel Sykes, Lord Hotham, and Mr. Watkin.

Mr, WALPOLE inquired whether the contemplated
withdrawal of five regiments from New Zealand had re-
ceived the sanction of General Cameron, and whether in
the despatch from the Colonial Office there were any con-
ditions attached giving the governor or General Cameron,
or both, a discretionary power to retain the troops in the
colony in case of necessity.
Mr. CARD WELL said the number of soldiers to be re-
called had not been fixed by General Cameron, but by the
Home Government, with the concurrence of Sir G. Grey,
and probably his Ministers and the Assembly of New
Zealand. The instructions sent out left to General Cameron
that reasonable discretion which in case of unforeseen
difficulty or danger would be a justification of his retaining
the troops in the colony.
The Marquis of HARTINGTON having briefly replied,
The vote of 142,477 men for the service of the year was
agreed to.

On the vote of £5,434,567 for general staff regimental
pay and allowances,

Sir J. TRELAWNY moved to reduce the amount by
the sum of £691 19s. 7d., the salary of the major general
attached to the Foot Guards; but on a division the amend-
ment was negatived by 47 to 27. Progress was then re-
ported without the vote being agreed to.
The Consolidated Fund (£175,650) Bill was read a
second time.

The Colonial Naval Defence Bill went through corn•
mittee.

The other business on the paper was also disposed of ;
and the house adjourned at ten minutes before one o'clock.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

CALEDONIAN.

•
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
on Tuesday at Glasgow ; Lieut.-Colonel Salkeld in
the chair.

The report, an abstract of which has appeared in
The Sun, was taken as read.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, congratulated the proprietors on the increas-
ing revenue of the company, which was owing in a
great measure to the new branches recently opened,
and the additional facilities afforded for the deve-
lopment of the traffic. The increased revenue enabled
the directors to recommend a dividend for the past
half-year at the rate of 71 per cent. per annum,
against 6 per cent. per annum for the correspond-
ing period of the preceding year, showing an in-
crease of 1: per cent. The permanent way was never
in better order than at present. When the line was
constructed the bridges and viaducts were built of
wood, and about seven or eight years ago, from the
increased traffic, some of those bridges showed
symptoms of weakness and decay, and it was deter-
mined to rebuild the whole of them with stone and
iron, and charge the whole expense to revenue,
although the difference in the cost of the old tem-
porary bridges and the more expensive new ones
might have been charged to capital ; but it was re-
solved to debit each year's revenue with £6,000 for
the repairing of bridges until the whole of them
were rebuilt and paid for. The bridges had to be
rebuilt more rapidly than was originally contem-
plated, so that there remained a debt in suspense on
this account amounting to £32,900, but the directors
finding the company in possession of £65,000 realized
in premiums on stock sold to the public during the
past year, they thought it better to clear off this debt
at once out of that sum. (Hear.) It had been the ob-
ject of the directors to fill up gradually with branches
and extensions the whole of the district served by
the Caledonian Railway whenever it seemed profit-
able to do so, with a view to keep out adventurers
or an encroaching neighbour. Owing to the
altered relations of the Caledonian, the Edinburgh
and Glasgow, and other railway companies, the
directors found it their duty to promote bills in
Parliament for work that might otherwise have been
been spread over the next few years. The first of
those bills was for a line from Cleland to Midcalder,
which would intersect a most valuable mineral dis-
trict, teeming with ironstone, coal, and limestone,
and in addition to that the shale from which paraffin
oil was taken was found. He then explained the
objects of a number of other bills now before Par-
liament promoted by and in connection with the
company. It was proposed to make a central sta-
tion in Edinburgh, but that would require careful
consideration. The directors had purchased 6 acres
of land not yet built upon in the very heart of Glas-
gow, whichwas a most eligible site for astationthere.
Resolutions were passed adopting the report, de-
claring the dividends recommended therein, includ-
ing one at the rate of 71 per cent. per annum on the
ordinary stock, re-electing the retiring auditor, and
concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman.

EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held on Tuesday at Glasgow ; Mr. P. Blackburn
in the chair.

Mr. Latham, the manager, having read the notice
convening the meeting, the report, an abstract of
which has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read.

*The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said he thought the reduction in the rates
between Edinburgh and Glasgow fully accounted
for the reduction in the revenue forpassenger traffic.
The goods traffic had gone on increasing in a satis-
factory manner, and there remained a net balance
of increase in the receipts of £15,593 as compared
with the corresponding period of the preceding year.
The working expenses had also increased. The
item for maintenance of way was large, but any one
who had travelled over the line from Edinburgh to
Glasgow or to Dumbartonshire would admit that
the line was in remarkably good order. The net
revenue would produce a dividend at the rate of 5
per cent. per annum on the ordinary stock. It had
taken them along time to arrive at that point, and he
hoped they would be able to maintain it. (Hear.) He
did not think that the shareholders would have any
cause to complain if the dividend should be kept up
to that amount. There was an immense amount of
railway business before Parliament, and they had
contributed their share. They were carrying out a
working agreement with the North British Railway
Company, and had introduced a Bill to enable them
to do so by Parliamentary sanction. They were also
in conjunction with the North British Company pro-
moting a Bill to enable them to make a bridge over
the Forth. It would, no doubt, be a very large en-
gineering work, but one, if completed for the esti-
mated amount, would be well worth the money. Their
share of the expense would be about .050,000. They
would have to oppose the Bill forthe amalgamation of
the Caledonian and Scottish Central Railway Com-
panies. This was a scheme which was unanimously re-
jected some years ago by
a very able Committee of
the House of Commons, it being considered not for
the advantage of the public. He did not think that
the circumstances had in any respect changed since
that time. He believed that more than four-fifths
of the passenger traffic of the Scottish Central passed
naturally by the Edinburgh and Glasgow line to
Edinburgh and Glasgow, and it would be very in-
convenient to the public to be handed over to the
Caledonian. They must also oppose a new line pro-
moted by the Caledonian Company, the alleged
purpose of which was the shortening of the distance
between Glasgow and Edinburgh by that company's
existing route, and which was quite unnecessary.
Mr. H. DUNLOP seconded the motion for the
adoption of the report.
In reply to questions it was stated that the esti-
.