The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-12 00:00:00

UNION CHARGEABILITY BILL.

Earl GRANVILLE presented petitions in favour of this
bill from different parts of the country, including Hemel
Hampstead, Bedford, Cambridge, Birmingham, City of
London, Wallingford, Hereford, Croydon, Watlington,
Great Shelford, Great Torrington, &e.
THE UNITED STATES.

The Earl of DERBY said that under the exist-
ing circumstances he felt bound to call the atten-
tion of their lordships to the critical state of affairs
in America. The noble earl the Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs (Earl Russell) had said that the ques-
tion as to when the belligerent nghts of the Confederate
States should come to an end would depend upon the
United States Government. A proclamation had since been
issued by that Government, in which they declared that the
blockade of most of the ports should be raised, but that
some should bo kept closed, and that any merchants at-
tempting to enter them should be treated as pirates. He
impressed upon the House the necessity of dealing with
this question. which involved a subject intimately con-
nected with international law, the importance of which
could not be overestimated. (Hear, hear.)
Earl RUSSELL said that Kirby Smith had surrendered
on the same terms as General Lee. There was no objec-
tion on the part of her Majesty's Government to lay that
letter on the table.

(LEFT SITTING.)

HOUSE OF COMMONS—THIS EVENING.
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The following bills were read a third time and passed :
—Abergavenny and Monmouth Railway; Blackpool and
Layton with Warbrick Improvement; Brean Down Har-
bour Railway ; Bute Docks, Cardiff (No. 2); Cale-
donian Railway (Additional Powers); Caledonian
Railway (Bangholna Junction); Caledonian Railway
(Cleland and Mid-Calder Railway and Branches) ;
Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway (Branches) ; Edinburgh.
and Glasgow Railway (No. 1); Glasgow and South-
Western, Maybole and Girvan, &c., Railway Companies ;
Greenock Police and Improvement; Leamington Gas; Liver-
pool Gunpowder Regulation ; Monkland Railways • Mon-
mouthshire Railway and Canal ; Moses Gate and Riugley
Branch Road; Nantlle Railway; North British and Edin-
burgh and Glasgow (Bridge of Forth) Railways ;
Northern Assurance Company ; Ross and Monmouth
Railway ; St. Stephen's Green (Dublin); Severn Junction
Railway ; West Yorkshire Railway ; and Witham
Drainage.
WESTMINSTER IMPROVEMENT BILL.

On the motion for the second reading of this bill,
Mr. A. SMITH moved that the bill be referred to a
committee for further consideration. He thought that
there ought to be some arrangement made for building
dwelling houses for tho poor.
Mr. TITE opposed the motion.
_ . _

Mr, W. PAT lEN thought the bill was entirely ono of
a private nature, and for merely acquiring certain land,
and therefore there was no need for adopting any different
course to that usually pursued with respect to private
bills.

Mr. DODSON also was averse to the adoption of the
course suggested by the hon. member (Mr. Smith).
The motion was withdrawn, and the bill was read a
second time.
THE CASE OF MRS. GREY.

Colonel SYKES gave notice that to-morrow he should
ask a question of the Government as to whether steps had
been taken to obtain compensation for Mrs. Grey, whose
husband had been murdered near the Cape of Good Hope.

The Fatal Accident on the Shrewsbury
and Chester Railway.

WEST FELTON, Saturday.

This morning an inquest was resumed on the bodies of
the nine persons who had lain dead at the Rodnal Station,
all of whom aro now identified.

Tho company were again represented by most of the
leading officials of the line, with Mr. Gricrson, the general
manager, at their head. Mr. Tyrrill alone was absent. Mr.
Chandler, solicitor, of Shrewsbury, was again present, re-
presenting the relatives of Miss Jones, deceased, and cer-
tain of the injured persons.

After some further evidence had been given, the room
was then cleared, and in somewhat over an hour and a
quarter afterwards the jury were prepared with their ver-
dict, which the foreman read as follows :
"We bring in a verdict of accidental death. Wo find
that there is great blame attached to the officials of the
Great Western Railway Company in not providing suffi-
cient brake power before leaving Chester, and in not pro-
viding better carriages and engines in this excursion train.
We consider that the enginemen were guilty of gross and
culpable negligence in not attending to the signal put up
by the platelayers ; and wo believe that the enginemen
were going at too great a speed over a defective portion of
the line between Babbin's Wood-bridge and the scene of
the accident. We think the platelayers wore also guilty
of gross and culpable negligence in not properly and suffi-
ciently packing the sleepers so as to make them secure
enough to bear so heavy a train as the excursion train at
the pace the train was then going."
Tho Coroner—By the word "culpable," you do not
mean wilful ?

The Foreman—We exclude the word " wilful." W
have studiously avoided using the word wilful, because
we did not intend to return a verdict of manslaughter.
The Coroner—lt is not, in my opinion, a verdict of
manslaughter at all.

The Foreman—" Gross" is not wilful, in proof whereof
we have had the dictionary, and hero it is in the room ;
and if the lawyers can make anything'elso of it they may.
We hope the verdict will give as much satisfaction to the
public as it does to ourselves. We have very carefully
considered all the circumstances.

Mr. Jones, on behalf of the company, desired that the
coroner should place upon the record the specific statement
of the jury that they studiously avoided returning a ver-
dict of manslaughter.

Mr. Grierson then addressed the Court. He said—l need
scarcely say, on behalf of the directors, that this very un-
fortunate accident will be a source of the deepest regret to
them ; and with regard to the verdict, which will of course
be laid before them, I may state—particularly with regard
to the first portion of it—that the directors are, if possible,
more anxious than the public can be to provide for the safe
and efficient working of the line, and that ever since the
present board has been in office, which has not been long,
they have devoted the greatest amount of attention and
anxiety to the subject, with the view of preventing such
unfortunate occurrences as these ; and they have autho-
rised the construction of continuous brakes to the trains,
which are thought the most efficient for the purpose of stop-
ping them under ordinary circumstances, particularly, in
special cases, such as the present. Some of them are already
attached to the trains, and others are being constructed as
rapictly as possibly. They have also authorised the exten-
sion of the telegraph arrangements over the line, the appli-
cation of the improved locking apparatus to the signals and
pciints, and generally to the most improved means calulated
to insure the safe and efficient wo7king of the line, as
shown to be desirable and necessary by experience, and as
recommended by Captain Tyler and the other Government
nspectors ; but, of course, in a large system. like the Great
Western, it required time to carry these improvements out ;
buteverything I can assure
l tbh jury,
ee
done
bn ty
thhreoug h he
directors t m't
et he
ine public,ure s thatafty
and comfort on their lines.

It was now past nine o'clock, and it wds'arranged that
rather than detain the jury longer, they should assemble
again on Monday at the Rednal station to complete the in-
quiry in the terms that the law required.