The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-17 00:00:00

from Government. But the receipts of the line ha
been enough, and no assessment was necessary. He
would not insult the meeting by saying one word on the
advantages to be derived from railway communication.
It had been put very pointedly to him, by a-gentleman
of much experience near him (Mr. Waterston, banker),
by the illustration, that the Perth and Inverness Rail-
way would put Inverness in the position with respect to
London that York had been in the days when mail
coaches were the fastest conveyances between the north
and south of England. There was no doubt that if this

line were once made, the extension of it would be very
great. We should soon have lines to Fort-William, to
the north, and to other parts of the Highlands. if they
would allow him, he would allude for a moment to
the traffic returns on the different railways throughout
the country, Those which he held in his hand
were for the month of April, which, as they all
knew, was a poor month on almost all the railways.
Now, it appeared " that the traffic returns on the Aber-
deen Railway in April 1853 were 22/. per mile per week
on 72 miles ; en the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway,
41/. per mile per week, on 891- miles ; on the Glasgow
and South Western (Dumfries) Railway, 251. per mile
per week, on 171 miles ; on the Caledonian Railway,
51/. per mile per week, on 189 miles ; on the North
British Railway, 23/. per mile per week, on 149 miles-
-56 being main line, and all the others, Dunse, North
Berwick, and Hawick, branches ; Dundee and Arbroath
Railway, 30/. per mile per week, on 16i miles ; Dundee,
Perth, and Aberdeen Railway, 24/. per mile per week,
on 31 miles ; Edinburgh, Dundee, and Perth Railway,
31/. per mile per week, on 78 miles ; Monklands Rail-
way, 231. per mile per week, on 37 miles of railway ;
Scottish Central, 40/. per mile per week, on 50 miles ;
Scottish Midland, 21/. per mile per week, on 32 miles
of railway. From the above statement, it would be
seen what the returns were per mile per week on the
Scottish railways. To pay 7 4-7th, or 8 per cent., on
the entire scheme of the Perth and Inverness, would
require only a return per mile per week of 19/. 14s. 6d."
While upon this subject he could not but recal a letter
in .which one of their own number—than whom none
was more respected (he meant Macleod)—had contrasted
the disadvantageous position of the Western Highlands,
as regarded the markets of Glasgow and of London,
when compared with the Irish coast and with Scotland.
In conclusion, he begged to move " that the meeting
should acknowledge the great and pressing importance
of the extension of railway communication from Perth,
the present centre of the Scottish railway system, by the
most direct route to Inverness and the northern counties ;
and recommend to the favourable consideration and sup-
port of the public the preliminary measures now in pro-
gress for carrying out that object."
Provost SUTHERLAND, of Inverness, said he seconded
the motion with very great pleasure. He expressed his
concurrence with what had been said on the subject by
Raigmore. The direct line was decidedly the line which
was most wanted, for to save time was the great object
of all travellers ; and there was no other line by which
a man might breakfast in London, dine in Edinburgh,
and go to bed in Inverness. No other line could com-
pete with this in advantages to the public. But he did
not wish to throw cold water on any other line of cone-
munication. If any other company would bring a lime
of railway to Inverness, lie would give them a hearty
welcome—a Highland welcome. But he thought, •
nevertheless, that the direct line came from the proper
quarter. The public and the landed proprietors were
now fully alive to the necessity of having railway com-
munication with the south, though recently it wasr
otherwise ; and when he saw so many proprietors aloAg
the line—like their worthy chairman, Cluny Macpherson ►
offering their services and their land to promote tla. e
undertaking, he had no doubt that it would be supporte d
by all the northern counties and by the public. (Hear,
hear.) There was a very important railway propose d
to provide railway communication with the east. TI le
Inverness and Perth Railway Company would offer z to
obstruction to it. He also understood that his fries d
Mr. Mactavish was desirous to promote a great scheix te
of communication by the west coast, to be called, la •
heard, "The Glen-Mutchkin Railway." He wool d
give it a hearty welcome when it came, even though Ito
should go the length of Aldourie to meet it. (Laughter .)
RAIGMORE said he forgot to mention previously, who in
speaking of the traffic estimates between Inverness as id
the south, that there had been an enormous increase :in
the passenger traffic through Inverness. He was afra id
to trust to his memory for the exact figures, but he be-
lieved he might say that the number of passengers wl to
travelled last year through the Caledonian Canal vas
nearly double that in 1846.
The CHAIRMAN having been alluded to in the cons 'or-
sation, felt called upon to congratulate the meeting upon
the fact that this movement had been so well supported.
He was one of those landowners on the line who would
materially benefit by the establishment of the railwa: r,
but he did not on that account feel disqualified from
taking this opportunity to express his hearty desire -to
see this movement meet with success and the support of
the county of Inverness. If once established, railway
communication between the north and the south would
be the greatest boon that could be conferred on tare
north, and on the town and county of Inverness in par-
ticular. It was clear that the most direct and shortest
route to the south, and the one of easiest construction,
was the most desirable and eligible. This line embraoed
all these advantages, and it was clearly the advantage of
all connected with the north, and particularly of the
county of Inverness, to promote this scheme by every
means in their power. But to induce capitalists and influ-
ential parties in the south to embark their means in a pro-
ject of this kind, it was necessary for those promoting
it to be able to announce to the public that they were
supported by the landowners along the line, and by
the public bodies connected with the towns through
which the line would pass. For this reason it was de-
sirable that the county of Inverness should record on
their minutes a favourable expression of opinion with
regard to those parties directly moving in the matter.
This he trusted would be the case, and ultimately it
might perhaps be the means of crowning the labours of
these gentlemen with success. Most of the proprietors
along the line who had been communicated with on the
subject, had expressed themselves favourable to the un-
dertaking, and many of them took a warm interest in the
success of a project which would be particularly beneficial
to their interests. It was impossible to calculate the
results that might flow from the present movement.
They were in a superior position to those who bad pro-
moted it in 1845, inasmuch as nearly all the preliminary
expenses had already been incurred, and those which
were still to be incurred were merely to reduce the
general expenditure. Further, all the calculations of
the traffic on other lines had fallen short of the actual
result, and he was sure that this would not be an ex-
ceptional case in that respect. He concluded by com-
mending the motion to the meeting.
Mr. GRANT of Glenmoriston said he bad the misfor-
tune to have been connected with this movement when
it was first commenced, and he had been greatly disap-
pointed by the result. He was very glad, however,
to associate himself with the present movement, and
he had no doubt it would turn out well if sup-
ported by the county and town of Inverness. The
town would perhaps benefit more than the county by the
establishment of a railway with the south, by inducing
persons to come on to Inverness and to stay in it.
But he could not but see that the whole country suffered
a great drawback in their markets ; for their corn and
cattle must be sold at a disadvantage as compared with
the south. There the dealers could bring their corn and
cattle to a\great market, but here, before one could hear
of a good market it was already too late. There was
really no object connected with the county of equal im-
portance to this, and ho thought they were bound to
support it heartily.
Mr. Robertson of lushes entirely concurred with the
preceding speakers, and expressed his willingness, as a
proprietor through whose lands the railway would pass,
to do all in his power to promote the scheme.
Mr. Alexander Mactavish said that as the Provost of
Inverness had, with his usual good taste, chosen to
allude to other railways, he felt called upon to reply.
It certainly would have been better to have left them
alone, for no obstacle was sought to be thrown in the
way of the Perth and Inverness line. No one wished to
discourage the undertaking, and he certainly would not
have taken any part in the discussion but that he had
been alluded to in the manner he mentioned by the
Provost. There were many persons in the north of
Scotland, however, of influence, position, and property
who did not think that direct communication with Perth

.
was the way in which they could most directly and best
bring the north into connection with the great markets
of the south, and on their behalf as well as in justifica-
tion of himself, he must express his opinion that a coast
line was the proper one. He must say, that if these
discussions were to be provoked at the outset, he could
tell the Provost that the success of the scheme would
not be such as he supposed. Let this scheme, now be-
fore the meeting and the public, be tested upon its
proper merits, and not by casting reflections upon other
lines. (Hear, hear.)
The PROVOST said he was very sorry to find that what
he had said had been taken up so keenly. He had said
that with regard to any other lines coming to Inverness
they would throw no obstacles in the way, but would
give them a hearty welcome. He was sure, however,
that if the merits of the different lines were to be consi-
dered at a public meeting of the inhabitants of Inver-
ness, they would decide in favour of the direct lino
to Perth. It was the best line for Inverness.
Mr. MAcTAvisn mentioned that he had that morning
received a letter from The Chisholm, in which he ex-
pressed himself highly favourable to the motion before
the meeting.
Mr. P. ANDERSON said, that in this movement the
great difficulty they had had to contend with was the
incredulity of the public as to the possibility of this line
He has Just obtained a state-
paying for the outlay.
ment of the highest importance, and which he thought
would remove all doubt on the subject. The traffic on
which they calculated on the
w was 1,020 i. per mile a-year
and Inverness rail-
ayaTnhderlerowlaasndn, owtitihn
onethe whole kingdom of Great Britain
exception (the East Ancrliau), a line on which the traffic
returns were lower than 1,0201. and the exception was
under such peculiar circumstances that it ought not to
be reckoned. lie would read merely the traffic of Scot-
' tish railways for the year ended April 15, 1853
Aberdeen, per mile
Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen •••
2E2
Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee •••
•••
Scottish Central ...
Edinburgh and Glasgow 2360
••
-•
•••
2200
Glasgow and South Vestern ....• •••
North British ... ... ..
Caledonian ... ... .. .••
1325
1855
: ••• 1410
2640
Average of railway traffic in Scotland, per mile, per
annum ... ... ... ... ... £ls2o
Do. of Great Britain and Ireland, per mile 2400
They were, therefore, putting themselves at the bottom
of the scale when they asked credit for only 1,0201., and
it would be a very extraordinary thing if they could not
realise this.
The CHAIRMAN then put the motion, which Was
agreed to unanimously, and directed to be communicated.
to the members for the county and burgh.