The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-12 00:00:00

THE SIJN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEIVIBER 12, 1862:

AMERICA.

LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY.

The Liverpool, New York, and Philadelphia
Company's screw steamer City of Manchester,
Capt. Halcrow, which sailed from New York on
the 30th ult., arrived in the Mersey this morning.

By this arrival we received two days later jour-
nals from New York, but the principal details have
been anticipated by the telegraphic summary ie-
ceived via Halifax.

A Washington telE gram says :—" A commission
is ordered to assemble in this city to examine and
report upon the plan of the present forts, and the
sufficiency of the present system of defence for this
city."
The New York Evening Post, of the 29th ult.,
says :—" The army of the Potomac will give Gen.
Lee battle if he remains in his present position or
near Winchester; but if he retreats upon Gordons-
ville probably no great battle will be fought in the
Shenandoah Valley this year. The army will not
follow the rebels by that route to Richmond. As
General Sumner arrived at Willard's this morning,
it is supposed that he will at once rejoin his com-
mand, and partake of the luck of the advance
movement of the army into Virginia. This is also
considered another bit of important evidence, going
to show that ill'Clelkan.serionsly intends to astaok-

Lee unless he falls back too suddenly."
By the arrival of the transport steamer Ericsson
at New York, we received the following details of
the late Federal attack on the Charleston and
Savannah railroad :

of Mexico nearly 30 years ago, and was sealed to
the United States in 1844. _

"To accomplish this vast design will undoubtedly
be the object of the expedition under General Banks.
Only two weeks ago an expedition, also looking
towards Texas, after first clearing the Mississippi
of rebel constructions, was entrusted to Major-
General John A. M'Clennand, of Illinois, who is
now in the Western States, earnestly engaged in its
organisation. The concurrent movement on the
seaboard, headed by General Banks, and looking to
the same object, after having been long and favour-
ably considered by the military authorities, has now
been formally derided upon. Texas wrested from
the rebels, and a loyal Government organised at its
capital and throughout the State, will be an im-
mense gain to the Republic, and a fatal blow to the
rebellion.

" The commercial and political results of the re-
conquest of Texas will surpass in importance any
and everything heretofore attempted in this war.
When the traitors discover, as they soon will, that
the whole cotton country is being rapidly made
tributary to the regular Government of the United
States, and, is forcibly taken from them, the mass of
troops from this region now quartered in Virginia
will either fall an easy prey to our armies in that
quarter, or when too late seek to_fly back to recover
their own sections from the triumphant Union
column.

The-people of the United t3tittes will be-glad-to
know that it is designed by the Government to
clothe the two commanders with the largest dis-
cretionary power."
A son of Charles Francis Adams, the American
Ambassador in London, had written a letter declin-
ing the use of his father's name, by the peoples'
party, for Senatorship, in place of Charles Sumner.
The letter declares that Mr. Adams attaches great
importanee to unity of action at this time, and hav-
ing been consulted as to the use of his name, re•
fused to consent to it.

The draft in Wisconsin was to take place on the
sth of November. The number to be drafted is
4,000.

IRE Alan-.

The officers of the Royal Artillery yesterday en-
tertained at their mess dinner, at Woolwich, Col.
Gowan, the American Consul in the Crimea. Mujor-
Gen. Sir R. I)acres, commanding the garrison ;
Col. Sir D. Wood, Royal Horse Brigade; Col. Bing-
ham, Assist.-Adjt.-Gen., and the officers command-
ing corps and divisions at Woolwich were also pre-
sent, and testified their appreciation of the gallant
colonel's generous and humane exertions in restor-
ing and arresting the desecration of the graves of
their brother officers and friends in the cemetery at
Sebastopol.

fined to the ship's sides. One of the slabs gave way
under the operation on Saturday, exhibiting a
slight flaw or crack in the centre. It was rejected
according to the stipulations in the contract, and a
second was yesterday rejected for the same reason,
notwithstanding that the flaw was scarcely percep-
tible. As each plate has been well tested, and the
quality thoroughly approved, a furnace is in course
of erection in the bending shed at Woolwich, in
order to their being heated to what is termed black
heat, when the facility of shaping them to the re-
quired curve will be considerably increased, and the
work will progress with much greater rapidity and
less labour. Admiralty instructions were yesterday
received at Woolwich requesting an investigation
as to the capabilities of the dock for the reception
of the Caledonia's boiler and machinery.
The following appointments have been made at
at the Admiralty :—Commander H. Harvey, to
the Lily; Lieut. B. W. Ban and Lieut. G. Hanley,
to the Lily; H. W. Burnett, to command the Ma-
nilla; C. X. Hives, midshipman, to the Euryalus ;
W. It. Cooksey has been nominated to a naval
cadetship; R. Gow, chief-engineer, to the Cumber-
land, for the Hero, after the latter ship has been
paid off; G. Mills, engineer, to the Lily ; F. Brock-
ton, engineer, to the Cumberland, for the Vigilant;
C. Jackman and T. Booth, acting first-class assist.-
engineers, to the Lily; and S. Jenkins, acting second-
class assist.-engineer, to the Lily.

-

IHE VOLUNTEER FORCE.

The commission of inquiry into the condition of
the volunteer force took evidence of much interest
and importance.

A meeting of proprietors of the Great Western
Railway Company who dissent from the policy
pursued by the board, was held at the London Ta-
vern yesterday afternoon, to consider what steps
were necessary to render the undertaking more
profitable than at present. Mr. John Brown, of
East Gloucestershire, presided.
The CHAIRMAN, in a lengthy address, opened the
proceedings. It was, he said, of great importance,
that he should state that the movement on which
he, in concert with other shareholders, had entered,
desired
therefore,it hiemmp
go improvement. was of a purely bona fide character. He was a large
holder in the stock of the company, and he con-
fessed
promoted; that
and, h e
that _object was accomplished it followed
sayß,utthaift
that the interests of the entire company would be
°run:.
he only desired the benefit of the whole body
of
proprietors. He had put faith in the representa
tions which several years ago had been made by the
directors, but he had been greatly disappointed.
He had disapproved of the policy of t -ex ensions
which the board had pursued • and
p when he saw
what the board proposed to do in respect of the
East Gloucestershire line he wrote to Mr. Saunders
pointing out that the line would be unprofitable.
He had not succeeded in inducing the board to
abandon it, and he had felt so strongly that it would
be injurious to the company that he had petitioned
the House of Lords against it. When people who
knew nothing about railways saw in a prospectus
that a line would be made for £500,000 they natu-
rally believed it; but with the knowledge and ex-
perience he possessed he had asserted that,although
it had been proposed to make the East Gloucester-
shire line for £soo,ooo,its cost would be £1,000,000.
The line would not get any traffic, and it would not
pay its expenses. He had not been successful in
obtaining the prayer of his petition, but the bill was
now in a position that it was in the power of the
proprietors to get it thrown out. They knew that
the cost of constructing lines was generally very
much under estimated in prospectuses. In support
of this statement Mr. Brown quoted the estimates
which had been first put forth for the construction
of lines in connection with the company several
years ago. The estimate, he said, had been
£3,876,500, but it had been exceeded to the extent
of £2,823,000. They could apply that result to
the East Gloucestershire. Having alluded to leases,
amalgamations, and extensions as the causes of the
company's present position, he said it was for the
shareholders themselves to say what was to be done
with their property. If they did not co-operate in
the effort to raise the company, it was needless
for him and those connected with him to pro-
ceed any further. He was glad to say that the
assurances of support they had received justified
them in going on. He would repeat that his
object was only to benefit the company. He would
not become a candidate for a seat at the board
that would be formed after the amalgamations were
effected, but he would do everything in his power
to 'promote the interests of the proprietors. He
concluded by moving a resolution condemning amal-
gamations, extensions, subsidies, and leases,,and ad-
vocating a pacific policy in relation to neighbouring
companies.
Mr. GILEs seconded the motion. The affairs of
the Great Western Company were at the present
time, he said, in a most disastrous condition. A line
that at one time had paid the original shareholders
8 per cent. had been so far mismanaged, that it now
only paid ss. per cent., and even the last dividend at
that rate had not been earned in the half year, for
all the expenses for that period had not been
brought into account. (Hear.) If they had been
accounted for the balance-sheet would have shown
that the company had been considerable losers. It
was therefore time that the shareholders should be-
stir themselves, and take such steps as would lead
to a complete investigation of the company's affairs.
It was not the first time they had had to take that
course—(A Voice—lt is the third time)—which had
on each occasion been followed by an improvement
in the management of the company, and a conse-
quent return to prosperity; but no sooner did they
approach that point than a return to what he would
call the traditional policy of the company took place.
Extensions, subsidies, and loans again came into
fashion, and at their reappearance the reviving pros-
perity of the company vanished. (Hear.)
Mr. MOGGS asked for some further information
with respect to the East Gloucestershire line.

Mr. ADAMS replied that it was proposed to run
from Farringdon to Cheltenham, and a second sec-
tion would connect that town with Burton-on-the-
Water in connection with the West Midland line.
With regard to the first section it passed through a
bad country, in which there was not a single town
of any importance. The gradients, too, were
very bad, one of four miles' length being one in
sixty. It, in fact, went over the hills instead
of going round their bases, and would,
in consequence of the steepness of its gra-
dients, be a very expensive line to work—so ex-
pensive as to neutralise the advantage of its bring-
ing Cheltenham 24 miles nearer to London. It
would, too, cost £BOO,OOO to construct it, equiva-
lent to a loss of one per cent. on the company's capi-
tal; and that loss, capitalised, amounted to £2O,
and that sum each holder of £lOO unguaranteed
stock would in fact throw into the pockets of the
East Gloucestershire landowners. The excuse for
the line was, that if the Great Western did not
make it the North-Western would run a line from
Oxford to Cheltenham, which would lessen the dis-
tance between that town and the metropolis; butl
t
that was only a red herring drawn across the scent
by Sir W. Russell to mislead them in the chase. In
the first place, the Loudon and North-Western
Company were not such fools as to make a line
through such a difficult country; and in the next
place they could not, having to go round by Bletch-
•
ley, save the same length of mileage the East Glou
best way to
cestershire line would. However, the
guard against any such aggression was not to pro-
voke it by aggression on their w
had hitherto done in the invasion of part, as they
f -the territories
of the North Western and the South Western Com-
panics, and by trying to get . rid of th
had isateegrucihrae red,
acter for sharp dealing which they
Last session they bad either
.promotednt:rrysuexpppeonrtseeds
the
as many as 22 bills, and
the chairman to be 1,20,000.
parliamentary
had been admitted
He knew of one junbioyercounsel who received in fees
proceedings, in addition to
X 3,500. (Shame.)
tes,were otherwise injurious
as they kept about
their pecuniary p
all the session thotsheeotffi
to the interests of the company,
the House of Commons
employed in developing
the man-
agement who ought
of
the
line, which would, if the policy of
were altered, pay the unguaranteed share-
holders by the end of 1867 8 per colt.
SA'E' having supported the resolution, it
was unanimously adopted • and,
,
On the motion of tne CHAIRMAN, seconded by
Mr. Alderman COFFIN, it was resolved to appoint
committee to carry out the viewsof
a
Mr. J. DEACON then moved, and Mr. BATTERSBY
(who came from Ireland to attend the meeting) se-
conded the motion, "That the shareholders present
should resolve themselves into a general committee
for that purpose."

This having been agreed to, a requisition Was
signed by those present, calling on the directors to
convene a special meeting for the consideration of
the matters complained of ; and the proceedings
terminated.

As M. Repaire, Secretary of the Archives at
Bayonne, was two evenings back walking on that part of
the new jetty, at the mouth of the Adour, where the para-
pet has not yet been erected, he was seized, it is supposed,
with sudden giddiness, and, falling into the water, was
drowned. The body was found the following morning, and
on being examined two severe wounds were oiscovered on
the head.