The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-01 00:00:00

ORDER OF PUBLIC BUSINESS.

Sir R. H. INGLIS called the attention of the house
to the state of the paper for this day, it containing no less
than 36 orders of the day, and appealed to the Govern-
ment to endeavour to thin it by striking out those bills
which had no chance of being passed this session. Un-
less they sit until the end of November, it would be
impossible to come to a satisfactory conclusion with re-
spect to all the bills in to-day's paper.
Sir B. HALL said he was just about to make a simi-
lar request of the Government. He trusted that all
bills which it was impossible to pass this session would
be withdrawn at once, in order that they might proceed
to the consideration of bills of pressing importance which
would have to be passed before Parliament rose. The
Metropolitan Sewers Acts Continuance Bill stood third
on the paper, and as it was a measure of the greatest
importance to the metropolis, for it would enable an
irresponsible commission to entail on the rate-payers a
sum of 500,000/. a year, he hoped the Government would
endeavour to place it as the first order of the day at
some future 12 o'clock sitting.
Lord PALMERSTON said he trusted they would be
enabled to get to the third order in the course of this
morning's sitting.

JUVENILE OFFENDERS' BILL.
Mr. ADDERLEY, in
the bill, said his only object in the second reading of
in pressing it now on the
attention of the house as
atoelicit the opinions of hon.
members on the subject, i
andto obtain a pledge from the
Government to introduce a ,easure in reference to it
during the forthcoming session,
boroughs
by counties
sent bill, was the permissive establishment
object of the pre.
criminals
conjointly, of
or boroughs, or by counties and
reforrnatory schools for young
where they
should be taught some industrial trade,
instead of being
and be supplied
with parental care and home influence;
gaols,reatment of a
great Tohnee, evil
no
subject to the rough and unsatisfactory
short imprisonment in our common
or, 'c
hlllidd-
which the bill sought to remedy was a
less than the existence throughout the count
especially in large towns, of an immense class
dress, who, by the absence of parental care fell into cri
urinal habits of life ; and he believed that
the theory oi
the bill, which was founded on the report of a eon,.
mittee of the House of Commons, was already adopted
by the press and the public.
Mr. BAINES, as chairman of the committee, which
had sat two sessions on the treatment of juvenile of-
fenders, expressed his entire concurrence in the observa-
tions of the hon. member. There was no object more
important than that lie sought to attain, and there was
scarcely any more urgent. He considered that it be-
hoved Parliament to apply itself to the subject with the
least possible delay ; but at the same time he thought it
was impossible in the present session to frame a bill
which would be altogether satisfactory in point of detail.
There were three piints clearly established before the
committee, and he was extremely glad to find that the
h
member
the had introduced them into his bill —first,
thatexisting gaols were altogether inadequate for
the reformation of'
young
children ; secondly, that in
any mode of treatmentutniadopted in regard to these
children, it was of the
parental
importancel that it should
be of an industrial charpaacrt
essential to insist on and, thirdly, that it was
responsibility. (Hear,
hear.) The parent should be made to understand that
in a
he would gain nothing pecuniary point of
view by neglecting his children, learning them
to lead a vicious course of life, and thatai if they became
aernw become
te would inmates of the proposed institutions h
liable for a whole or portion of their in
right hon. gentleman concluded by secondingflange- The
for the second reading of the bill. the motion
bill, but thought it WAS of too much i
Mr. HENLEY agreed entirely in the object of the
bill, be

entrusted to the hands of an independent member. He
recommended that it should be taken up by the Govern-
ment ; and he thought as it was only brought forward
to elicit discussion that it would be better not to press
the second reading, especially as it contained some de-
tails that were open to objection.
Lord PALMERSTON had no doubt the house would
be unanimous in giving the bill a second reading, on the
understanding that the further consideration of the bill was
-to be postponed until next session. The principle which
it involved was, in his opinion, likely to meet the ap-
probation of the Legislature, but as the machinery of it
required mature deliberation, he hoped the present
discussion would not be prolonged, as there was other
1 business of pressing importance on the paper. He re-
commended hon. members to read the evidence taken
before the committee with attention during the recess;
and next session they would be prepared to enter into
the discussion of the subject, with a view to some prac-
tical result.
Mr. HUME objected to the principle of the bill, as
being simply an extension of the poor law, which he be-
lieved had been' productive of very great evil to the
country, and opposed the second reading.
Sir J. GRAHAM thought it was advisable that the
house should affirm the preamble of the bill, which was
simply " for the better care and reformation of juvenile
offenders." He was of opinion that the time had arrived
when it was imperative on the house to take that subject
into its serious consideration.
Mr. M. MILNES thanked the Government for the
manner in which they had received this bill so different
from the reception which a similar one had received five
or six years ago. He regretted the delay which had suf-
fered so many young culprits who might have been re-
-claimed to grow up in confirmed vice ; but this was not
a time to complain. -With respect to the observations of
the hon. member for Montrose, he felt assured that from
whatever source it might be decided to draw the neces-
sary funds, the proposed measure so far from proving a
loss would be a great national gain.
After a few words from Mr. DUNLOP, who expressed
his wish that the operation of this bill might be extended
to Scotland,
The bill was read a secod time and was ordered to be
committed this day three months.
NAVAL COAST VOLUNTEERS.

The house then went into committee on this bill.
Sir J. GRAHAM entered into a statement of the ob-
i
; sect of the bill, similar to that which he made on the
second reading of the bill. When the Militia Bill was
. prepared, he did not believe that so many volunteers
would come forward as they had done, while he was cer-
tainly surprised and gratified at the readiness with
which his fellow-countrymen had displayed their
,"military ardour on behalf of their native land. He
-was, therefore, in favour of the voluntary principle,
both as regarded the navy or the army, and
be, therefore, applied the voluntary principle of the
Militia Act to this bill without the aid of the ballot,
rather than have a system of compulsory enlistment. In
our rivers and in the coasting trade there were a num-
ber of men who would accept the bounty of 6/. a man,
which this bill offered with avidity, and to them he
should then look for making up the complement sanctioned
by this bill. It was proposed in the first instance that
10,000 men should be raised, while it would be stipu-
. lated that the men should not be taken more than 50
leagues from the British or Irish coast. The men
would receive the pay of able seamen in the navy, and
they would be called out for five years ; but in case of
special emergency they would be obliged to serve for
another year, and if the danger continued, and was
imminent after that period, then the volunteers would
be called out for an additional year, receiving an addition
of 2d. a day to their pay, and being obliged to go 100
leagues from the coast. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. MACKINNON found fault with the measure
because no provision was made in. it for raising the
10,000 in the event of the volunteer principle failing.
' Captain SCOBELL said that, under three Adminis-
trations, he had protested against the political manage-
Inent of the naval service. He thought, however, that
the service could not be in better hands than in those of
the present First Lord. He strongly recommended and
_ _

.approved of the plan of giving bounties, which, he
thought, would greatly contribute to the success of the
:measure, as it had done to the Militia Bill. That part
.of the Bill, however, which proposed, in certain cases,
to take landsmen as volunteers would, be thought, not
snswer, as it was impossible to instruct them in the
4uties of seamen in so short a time.

Sir G. PECHELL, on the whole, approved of the
efforts which the Admiralty were making for improving
and rendering the navy efficient, but there was room
yet for alteration. Some change should be made in the
mode of distributing prize-money, while an attempt
should he made to rid the service of all defective or ob-
jectionable excesses. Parliament and the Government
.might depend upon it that the soundest policy was to
deal with the navy in a liberal spirit ; and he would,
therefore, make some addition to the terms proposed by
this bill.

.Clauses 1 and 2, which provided for the number of
men and the amount of the bounty, were agreed to.
On clause 3,
Sir J. GRAHAM, in reply to a question, said that he
had not yet considered in detail the mode in which the
proposed measure would be carried out after receiving
the sanction of the Legislature, but that probably one
commanding officer would be appointed to superintend
the training throughout the United Kingdom.
The clause was then agreed to.

On clauso 4,
Admiral BERKELEY objected to the use of the
term " invasion." He said Government ought to be
prepared to resist an invasion, but not to invite one by
thns-publicly proclaiming their apprehension.
After a short discussion, the gallant Admiral reluc-
tantly withdrew his objection, and the clause was agreed
to, as were also clauses 5,6, and 7.

. -
On clause 8,
Sir G. PECHELL wished to know if any stoppages
-were to take place on the bounty
Sir J. GRAHAM replied that he was not prepared to
go, into details at present, but no such stoppages were
contemplated. .

Capt. SCOBELL complained, that while a bounty
was given to militia-men, regular soldiers, marines, and
now even to naval volunteers, no bounty was allowed to
be offered to our regular seamen. He was sure this was
not only a cause of discontent, but operated powerfully
in occasioning the difficulties experienced in manning
Our navy. _ _

Sir J. GRAHAM replied, that the executive had,
already the power the gallant officer alluded to, and
might exercise it at any time, and to any extent, if
thought necessary, but that it was not considered requi-
site so to do in time of peace.
The clause was then agreed to, as was also the remain-
ing clauses, 16 in number, without discussion.
The house having resumed, the Chairman reported
the bill.

METROPOLITAN SEWERS ACT CONTINU-
ANCE BILL.

On the order of the day for the committal of this bill,
Sir B. HALL said that it was so late, that he hoped
the bill would not be now pressed forward, but that a
time would be appointed when it could be fully dis-
cussed.

Lord PALIvIERSTON admitted the reasonableness
of this proposal, and the committee was ultimately fixed
for Thursday at 12.

JUVENILE MENDICANCY BILL.

In reply to a question from Mr. T. DIINCOMBE,
Lord PALMERSTON was understood to say that
it was not intended to press this bill beyond the second
reading until next session.

The house rose a few minutes before 4 o'clock.
The house resumed at six o'clock, and was
[LEFT SITTING.]

CRICKET.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS MATCHES.- ETON v.

HARROW.
This match was concluded on Saturday, when the
score stood as follows :

Second Innings.

ETON.
First Innings.
E. Tremlett, Esq„ c Park, b
Church 2 b Walker 9
R. S. Bagge, Esq., b Walker... 13 b Stewart 7
H. Hoare, Esq., c Digby, b
Stewart ~ 0 st Digby, b Stewart.. 13
G. Dupuis, Esq., b Church 0 b Church 0
A. Hayter, Esq., c Foster, b
Walker. l3 st Digby, b Stewart 11
F. Northey, Esq., not out lB c Knight, b Stewart 8
Hon. M. Rolle, b Park 1 run out 4
J. Yorke, Esq., b Park 0 c Knight, b Church.. 12
J. Pinney, Esq., b Walker 1 b Park 2
E. Wodehouse, Esq., c Church,
b Stewart 4 b Park 8
C. Marrillier, Esq., c Knight, b

Stewart 0 not out.
bl, 1-b 2, w 3 6 w 4..

Total 5B Total 79

Second Innings.

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

THE COMMITTEE ON RAILWAY AND CANAL
BILLS.
THE REPORT.
(Concluded from the Sun of Thursday.)
Your committee, therefore, believing that neither ge-
neral rules, without security for the steadiness of their
application to varying circumstances, nor zeal and ability
in any tribunal acting upon less than Parliamentary au-
thority, will secure the desired result, recommend to the
house that the mode in which railway bills are now dis-
posed of by Parliament should be reconsidered, with a
view of ensuring the, better application of uniform and
consistent principles to a subject so essentially requiring
to be dealt with in a comprehensive spirit, and of which
the decision so materially affects the present and future
advantage of the whole community.
Your committee have considered how this object
might be best attained, and have received from Mr.
Speaker his opinion upon the subject in a letter which
will be found in the appendix. Sustained by so high an
authority, your committee recommend the institution of
4. standing committee for the consideration of all railway
♦nd canal bills, somewhat resembling in its constitution
he committee which was formerly known in the House
)f Commons as the committee on petitions for private
bills.

It seems to your committee that the labours of such a
permanent committee might, by judicious arrangements,
be rendered far less onerous than would at first be sup-
posed. It appears that the following committees upon
railway bills have sat during the last seven years, viz. :
In 1846 64 committees have sat for 867 days.
1847 62 635 „
1848 54 1/ 176 „
1842 11 ,) // 73 „
1850 15 71 113 „
1851 14 131 „
1852 15 IP 137 „
giving, if we exclude the abnormal' years 1846 and 1847,
an average of 14 committees in each year, and nine days
for each committee. Your committee anticipate that,
from the securities which they suggest should be taken
against merely speculative projects, from the confidence
which the knowledge of the appointment of a standing
committee would give to railway property from the
enunciation of general and clearly-defined principles
upon which the legislation shall in future pi•oceed, and
in conformity with these principles the speedy establish-
ment, by the decisions of the standing committee, of a
more uniform practice, many of the most difficult ques-
tions would disappear, and the whole pressure of railway
business upon Parliament would be materially light-
ened.

Your committee strongly recommend that in future
no mere adventurers shall be permitted to obtain the
sanction of Parliament to bills embodying schemes
which they have no intention of carrying into effect.
but purpose using as a means of extorting advantage
from the bona fide undertakers of rail Way enterprise in
the district ; and that in the new lines hereafter to be
formed for the accommodation of districts not now suffi-
ciently supplied, a full investigation should be made by
the committee of the probable effect of those lines upon
the existing communications, in order that in each di-
vilion of the country that arrangement may be adopted
which will most conduce to general facility of inter-
course by railways throughout the kingdom.
In cases where no opposition was recorded, as in bills
for simplifying the financial arrangements of the com-
panies, for making increased accommodation at stations,
or short branch lines the expense which now attends
the passing of such bills might perhaps be diminished.
In contested cases, careful arrangements should be
made, by which established railway companies, and
municipal or other public bodies, might raise the ques-
tion of public advantage ; and in order to secure the
fairness with which this issue should be raised and tried,
some provision might be made for the payment of
costs, in case of an illusory, vexations, or unwarranted
opposition.
The question of admission to locus standi upon public
grounds would be decided in every doubtful instance by
reference to the standing committee ; and if the nature
of the case disclosed did not correspond with the alle-
gations on which the locus standi was conceded, the
parties would be liable to costs.
No landowner, petitioning only as such, alleging no
general public ground, and not liable to the provisions
as to costs, should be heard • upon the general question
of public advantage ; but in such cases the inquiry
should be limited to such investigations as the com-
mittee might think it right to institute into the nature
of the residential or other damage which the proposed
scheme would entail upon him. In minor cases it is
probable that the most satisfactory and economical
course to the landowner, and most convenient to the
committee, would be a reference to some competent
person, who might institute a local inquiry, and upon
whose report the committee would proceed. These
local investigations, if conducted by competent engi-
neers, would afford an opportunity for deviations from
the line laid down upon the plan, by which the objec-
tions of landowners might be obviated with great con-
venience and at small expense.
In disposing of the cases of public interest, raised in
the manner to which reference has been made, the
standing committee would probably proceed as follows.
Having adopted a principle of territorial arrangement,
they would divide the bills into groups, and distribute
them to separate committees, composed of, or at least
presided over by, members of their own body, assigning
to each division of the kingdom such members as
happened to b,o free from personal interest in, or par-
liamentary connection with, each district respectively ;
reserving for the consideration of the whole com-
mittee questions of general principle, and making
such arrangements as might be requisite .for the
schemes which intersected the divisions. The sub-
.

committees, thus arranged, would proceed to analyse
the questions in contest in their respective districts,
and to hear the parties by council, agents, and witnesses,
in the manner they might think best calculated for
arriving at a deliberate judgment. It is possible that
in soma cases all parties might be satisfied, and the
comr#3.ttee might think it expedient to refer to some
eminent engineer the decision of some difficult and com-
plicated question, and be guided in their finding by his
report ; as in the controverted question of the Liverpool
waterworks, the dispute which had lasted for years, and
occasioned great inconvenience, was disposed of by re-
ference to Mr. Stephenson, who, first examining the sub-
ject as an enigineer, and then, hearing all parties in open
court, issued his award. •

But however this might be, the finding of the com-
mittee, and that alone, would be the authority under
which any scheme would receive the sanction of Par-
liament.
If, at a future period, by the increase of traffice and
the observance of the rules laid down by your commit-
tee, the profits of the several companies should appear
to Parliament to render necessary a revision of their
respective tariffs, it will at all times be in the power
of the permanent committee to deal with those ques-
tions ; and to attach to the bills which come before
them such conditions as may appear to be required by a
due regard to the public interest.
The railway department would be in possession of
much information which would be valuable to the com-
mittee ; and they should present at the commencement
of the session a comprehensive report upon the general
nature of the schemes for the year, together with de-
tailed rworts upon the provision contained in the seve-
ral bira. For all questions which it might be found
convenient to dispose of in the way of reference, the
agc,ncy of the department would at all times be avail-
able whenever the committee should require it.
The practice of proceeding before separate committees
has led to other evils which your committee think it would
be possible to obviate, such as the canvassing by agents for
votes upon the different stages in the house ; the accu-
mulation in the statute-book of differing and anomalous
provisions, the repeal by private legislation of public and
deliberately considered enactments, and the general un-
certainty and confusion arising from these circumstances.
The appointment of a permanent committee would mani-
festly tend to the removal of many of these evils.
Mr. Rowland Hill attended before your committee to
explain a bill, which has been approved by successive
postmasters-general, for conferring on the Post-office
greater powers in its dealings with the railway compa-
nies.
Your committee think it is reasonable that the
companies should afford to the Post-office, at the same
charge as would be paid by private individuals for simi-
lar services, every assistance which might add to the
convenience of the public. They think that no railway
should have any claim to be considered as fulfilling its
obligations to the district in which it is situate, which
fails to facilitate in this way the postal communications
of that district.
Your committee have considered with care the sub-
ject of safety. The numerous cases of fatal accident
which occurred during the past winter, and the judicial
investigations which ensued upon them, invested this
portion of their inquiry with particular interest. It
appears that the following is the proportion of the acci-
dents to passenger trains which have occurred during
the last four years :

Mileage open 1849, 6,031 ; 1850, 6,621 • 1851, 6,890;
1852, 7,336 ; first six months of 1853, 7,512.
Number of passengers carried 1849, 63,841,539 ; 1850,
72,854,422; 1851, 85,391,095; 1852, 89,135,729.
Number of accidents to passenger trains 1849, 44 ;
1850, 60 ; 1851, 60 ; 1852, 65 ; first six months of 1853,
40. _ _ . . _

„.
Number of passengers killed and injured by causes
beyond their own control by the above accidents 1849,
78 ; 1850, 175 ; 1851, 363 ; 1852, 381 ; first six months
of 1853, 128.
Number of servants of railway companies killed and
injured by the above accidents 1849, 34; 1850, 31 ;
1851, 20 ; 1852, 54 ; first six months of 1853, 29.
Your committee have directed their attention to the
different practice which prevails between the application
of the criminal law to railway accidents in Scotland and
in England, and have examined as witnesses the Lord
Advocate and the Solicitor-General for Scotland. Upon
an examination of the returns it does not appear that
there is any difference in the relative proportions of ac-
cidents favourable to Scotland ; the statement of aver-

ages for the last four years, in England, Scotland, and
Ireland, being as follows :
Mileage open in England, 5,192 ; in Scotland, 939 ;
in Ireland, 588.

Ns
nuomt
lbaenrd f 8 passengers
icna rlrri ee
idainndE,
57813 a n8,d8,6693., 025, 023;
inNumber of accidents to passenger trains in England,
47 ; in Scotland, 8 ; in Ireland, 1.75.
Number of passengers killed and injured by causes
beyond their own control by the above accidents in Eng-
land, 217 ; in Scotland, 32 ; in Ireland, 5.
Number of servants of companies killed and injured
in the above accidents in England, 31 ; in Scotland,
2.5 ; in Ireland, .75.
In Ireland, where the traffic is light, it will be per-
ceived that the cases of accident are very rare.
A distinction of law which prevails here, and for which
no very pound reason is apparent to your committee, is

not admitted in Scotland ; viz., that an accident aris-
ing from culpable negligence is not generally the sub-
ject of criminal proceeding, unless it is followed by
the death of the person injured. If it be right, as
doubtless it is, that the culpable negligence of rail-
way managers resulting in death to a traveller
should be manslaughter, there seems no good
reason why the same negligence, resulting in
• serious injury or in risk of life or of limb, should not
constitute a crime. Your committee have ascertained
• that a bill now before the Upper House contains a pro-
) vision which, if adopted by Parliament, will assimilate
• the English to the Scotch law in that respect ; and as
this provision is applicable not only to railways, but to
steam-ships, and generally to all cases of risk to human
life, it appears to your committee more suited to general
criminal legislation than to a measure which might ema-
nate from a committee whose inquiries are confined to
the subject of railways only.
But your committee submit to the house that it would
be very desirable, with a view to the more effectual
working of the law as it is in Scotland, and to the law
either as it is or as it may be England, that more effec-
tual provision should be made for the direct individual
responsibility of those who conduct the traffic on the
railways. Your committee consider that, in every case,
some one managing director, or other officer appointed
by the company, should be held responsible for the safe
conduct of the traffic, and that he should be invested
with such authority as might be necessary to enable him
to conduct it with efficiency and safety. Subject to this
authority other persons, each responsible for his own de-
partment, as a resident engineer for the state of the line,
and a locomotive engineer ior the efficiency of the rolling
stock, should be appointed, in order that, in case of acci-
dent resulting from culpable negligence, the person in
whose immediate department that negligence had oc-
curred, might be known. When the accident was the re-
sult of breach of regulation, the inferior officer guilty of
such breach would, of course, be the person responsible ;
but a review of the accidents which have recently oc-
curred, and of the legal proceedings and official corre-
spondence connected with them, satisfies your committee
that. the absence of any sufficient code of regulations, in
other words, reprehensible negligence on the part of those
whose duty it is to lay down such regulations, has been
a frequent cause of evil. In some instances the de-
fective state of the lines themselves has caused the acci-
dent ; and in many instances when accident has not
actually occurred, it has appeared in evidence that suffi-
cient assurance is by no means afforded to the public for
the proper state of the lines. The very unusual weather
of the last winter may be admitted as one of the reasons
of this defective condition of the railways ; but it is to
be feared that a much more operative cause has been
the smallness of the dividends paid to the unguaranteed
shareholders, their pressure upon the directors, and the
consequent endeavour of the boards to carry retrench-
ment to the utmost limit. It is obvious that considera-
tions of public safety should not yield to a desire for
economy ; that true economy is not promoted by the
neglect of necessary repairs ; and that if the pressure of
shareholders operate prejudicially, some provision should,
if possible, be made by law which would ensure to the
directors and to the travelling public a remedy against
these evils. Your committee anticipate that the neces-
sity for registering a managing director or other respon-
sible officer would tend to ensure the appointment of an
individual whose official reports could not safely be dis-
regarded by the board, and whose positive requisitions
for purposes of repair the shareholders could not readily
dispute. It would thus tend to erect a class of profes-
sionai men of high position, under whom the discipline
and management of the lines might be expected to
acquire consistency, and to attain to a greater degree of
safety.
The existence of a public prosecutor in Scotland is
a circumstance bearing directly upon the difference
between the stringency of the Scottish and that of
the English law in regard to railways. As this is
a matter of general law, your committee do not pro-
pose to discuss it at much length. In England ex-
perience is adverse to public prosecutions, which,
being alien to the ordinary practice of the criminal
law, have been regarded with disfavour, and have
usually failed to obtain the conviction of the parties
arraigned. Your committee are, however, of opinion,
that even if the general law remain unaltered, there
might be cases in which the railway department of the
executive government might with advantage direct the
solicitor of the Treasury to watch the proceedings at an
inquest, or to conduct a trial at law against the persons
guilty. It must at the same time be remembered, that
at present the companies generally afford every facility
to the officers of the Board of Trade for inquiring into
the causes of any accident which has occurred ; and that
if proceeding by the Treasury solicitor is contemplated
in any case, it will be nessary to give to the executive
more stringent powers of investigation than those with
which they are invested by law.
Your committee find that it has been the practice of
the railway department to urge upon the companies, in
the way of advice, the adoption of measures which from
time to time have appeared to them advisable, as tending
to diminish the risk of danger : but that they have no
power of compelling the companies to adopt them against
the judgment of their own officers. In the month of
January, Captain Simmons, the secretary of that depart-
ment, was commissioned to examine the railways in
France and Belgium, with a view of ascertaining the
precautions taken in those countries for ensuring safety.
As respects some of the lines, where the traffic is light
and the speed is low, no fair comparison could be insti-
tuted with the lines in England. But of the Great
Northern of France, Captain Simmons says, that in
mileage, traffic, speed of trains, and many of its natural
circumstances, it may fairly be compared with some of
the principal railways in this country ; that the line was
not superior in construction, nor better maintained than
these lines ; that it was deficient in signals, and yet
that, so far as he could ascertain, accidents were rare.
This be accounted for by the observation that the line
was always kept clear and the police regulations were
good. The rules by which railways are governed in France
have been laid before your committee in cxtenso, and will
be found in the appendix to their report. It will be evi-
dent, from reading them, that however suitable some of
the provisions may be for adoption by the companies, as
an example, yet that their institution by the executiue
government, in detail, and their enforcement by law
would involve a great change in the relations between
private enterprise and the government as they have here-
tofore existed under our free institutions. To what ex-
tent
it might be expedient to adopt such a change your
committee have been assisted in considering by reference
to the report, to which your committee have before re-
ferred as having been recently presented to the Ameri-
can Congress upon the same subject. In that report it
is observed

" If these views show the necessity of supervision, we are
next to inquire in what manner it should be exercised.
Should authority be given to interfere with the details of
railroad management, to regulate the running of trains, to
arrange time-tables, to appoint and remove or otherwise
punish employes, for neglect or violation of duty, &c. ? It
if possible that instances may occur where interference of
this kind might be necessary, but the committee can see
many reasons why recourse should not be had to it, at
least until it shall become apparent that the object in view
cannot be obtained by other means. The working of a
railroad requires the accurate arrangement of a great
variety of details, and a prompt discharge of all the duties
assigned to the several departments of its management.
To divide the authority from which the regulations neces-
sary to effect these objects must emanate would give rise to
confusion and embarrassments, engender bad feeling and
hostility on the part of companies, take from the officers
their responsibility, and 'eight result disastrously for the
safety of the public."
It is evident that in any system requiring strict and
efficient discipline, the responsibility for the conduct of
servants must rest upon those who appoint and pay
them ; and as this duty cannot be transferred from the
principal officers or directors of the company to the exe-
cutive government, it is essential that nothing be done
to relieve from the legal responsibility which attaches to
them those in whom practically the power of insuring
efficiency will vest.
Of all the clauses which have led to accident, un-
punctuality is the chief ; the collision of passenger
trains with goods trains and excursion trains has been

the chief occasion of the serious loss of life which has
recently occurred ; these goods trains and excursion
trains being uncertain in their times, and consequently
causing derangement in the general traffic. On the
Continent it is possible for the executive government to
guard effectually against this evil, for goods need be
only forwarded when the loading is sufficiently full to
suit the convenience of the company ; and passengers
can be refused admittance when the engine is loaded as
heavily as the rules of the line permit. But in this
country, although the observance by the officers of the
company of rules calculated to ensure safety is an ob-
ject to which they should be held by the legal conditions
of their office, inasmuch as they have it -in their power
to increase the weight of their engines and the number
of trains ; yet if such conditions were enforced by the
direct action of the executive government upon com-
panies reluctant to observe them, the consequence would

be delay and obstruction of the traffic, and serious in-
convenience to the public, and under such circumstances
the company would relieve themselves from the blame
by casting it upon the interference of the government.
It seems, therefore, more suitable to the exigencies
of the case, that the managing directors of the several
lines should be required to act under a more direct sense
of individual responsibility, and with the knowledge that
the legislature will not consider the companies as fulfill-
ing the conditions of their relation towards the public if
they fail to supply all reasonable convenience to the
district in which this line is situate.

The production, before the coroner, at the time of an
inquest, of the registers in which the arrival and de-
parture of the trains at the different stations is recorded,
would substantiate the fact of punctuality or unpunctu-
ality in the arrival of the trains. It would be right that
access to these registers should at all times be open to the
officers of the railway department, and that false entries
or other particular in such registry by any servant of
the company should be punishable at law. It is neces-
sary for the ordinary routine of business that records
should be made by the working engineers of the state of
the rolling stock ; and from these records much useful
nformation may be gained for the prevention of acci-
dents arising from the inefficiency of that stock.
There is one point connected with the management
of railways to which public attention has been much di-
rected—viz., the possibility of connecting the guard
with the driver of the engine. Your committee find
that the want of this communication has been a subject

of correspondence beti;een the railway department and
the several companies. One mode of effecting it, by an
arrangement of the guards who accompany the trains,
and the addition of wooden platforms with hand-rails
to the carriages, is so plain and easy, that it would long
ago have been adopted, but for the necessity which it is
stated that it would have entailed upon some of the
railway companies of changing the arrangement of their
stations in connection with the turn-tables. These ob-
stacles, so apparently minute, have been sufficient to
prevent the introduction of an obvious good ; and from
the system of interchanging carriages between different

companies, it is necessary that all should adopt the
same plan, in order to secure to the public the full ad-
vantage of its use by any one. Captain Simmons has
laid before your committee a memorandum, which will
be found in the appendix, on the mode by which this
communication is accomplished on the Continent ; and
the committee of the railway clearing-house have also
produced in evidence their proceedings on the subject.
It is satisfactory to your committee to report that, after
full investigation, the committee of the clearing-house
have adopted a scheme which they declare to be from diffi-
culty, and assure your committee that they are about to
carry into immediate effect on the railways which be-
long to the clearing-house. Your committee, therefore,
think that any of the officers of any of the railway com-
panies who neglect hereafter to employ so obvious a
means of diminishing the risk of accidents;may justly be
held to be without excuse.

For the purpose of carrying into practical effect these
general views, your committee recommend : _

[The recommendations were published in The Sun o:
Wednesday.]

NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY.

The ordinary half-yearly meeting of this company was
held on Friday at the railway station, Stoke-upon-Trent
—the deputy-chairman, Mr. Brodrick, presiding, in the
absence of Mr. J. L. Ricardo, from prolonged indispo-
sition.

The report for the past half-year, the substance of
which has already appeared in our columns, was read
by Mr. SAMUDA, the Secretary.
The CHAIRMAN, in submitting it for adoption, said it
would be unnecessary for him to trouble them on that
occasion with any lengthened remarks. At their last
meeting, it would be recollected, the award of Messrs.
Stevenson and Hoye relative to the amalgamation of
the line with the London and North-Western, was laid
before them, and it had since been carried into effect.
The report alluded to the suspension of the amalgama-
tion bill, together with all others now before Parliament,
by a formal resolution of the house until the report of
the committee appointed to consider the general ques-
tion of amalgamation, and of which the President of the
Board of Trade was the chairman, had been presented.
That report had within the last few days appeared in a
very voluminous form, and the suggestions it contained
would no doubt meet with the sanction of Parliament.
The only clause, however, affecting the proceedings of
that company was the fifth, providing that no amalgama-
tion of different companies should be sanctioned, except
in minor and special cases, where it clearly appeared to
the committee that the true and only object of such
amalgamation was improved economy of management
and consequent advantage to the public. Assuming
the recommendations of this report to be adopted
by Parliament, he thought there could be no doubt
but that the house would recognise the amalga-
tiou of the North Staffordshire line with the
London and North-Western Company, as one of the
special cases contemplated, but more especially since it
could be shown that the only object of that amalgamation
was to secure economy of management and consequent
advantage to the pubiic. He did not, therefore, enter-
tain any fears for the ultimate fulfilment of the project.
In the meantime the business of the company would be
conducted as it had hitherto been, by its own ordinary
machinery, acting under the suggestions and advice of
the joint committee of the two companies. In this al•
tered relation of the company, therefore, its policy, po-
litically speaking, and its accounts, financially speaking,
became a matter of simplicity. The latter, they would
find, were stated generally in gross amounts, although
they were, as forinerly, kept in details in the company's
books ; but, inasmuch as they were now to consider
themselves in their practical guaranteed fund entitled to
3 per cent. dividend, these details, which before were
interesting, and, in fact, necessary, now became a matter
of comparatively no importance. The chairman then
congratulated the proprietors upon the augmentation of
traffic which had taken place as referred to in the report,
but more particularly as regarded the transit of goods ;
and having referred in terms of regret to the absence of
Mr. Ricardo, concluded by moving the adoption of the
report.

-Mr. BRAMLEY MOORE seconded the motion, which
was approved of unanimously.

The bIiAIRMAN then declai•ed a dividend of ss. 3d. on
each ordinary share, being at the rate of 3 per cent.,
less income tax, the same to be payable on the 21st of
August.
A vote of thanks was afterwards accorded to Mr. S.
P. Bidder, late general manager of the company, for
the efficient manner in which he had conducted the
affairs of the company during the lengthened period he
had occupied that situation ; and the meeting broke up.
The business did not occupy more than half an hour.

PARIS AND ROUEN. —The half-yearly meeting of this
company was held at Paris, on Thursday, M. de l'Esp6e
in the chair. The report entered at considerable length
into the subject of the proposed amalgamation of the
Western and North-Western lines, and stated that
although the Government approved of the amalga-
mation in principle, yet there were certain details
with respect to the construction of additional branch
lines in Brittany, to be arranged with the compa-
nies before the Government would sanction the amal-
gamation. In order to bring matters to a conclusion
as soon as possible, the amalgamation committee
had offered to execute the lines of Brittany on
the conditions of the law of 1842, that is, the State
purchasing the land and making the earthworks and
works of art, and the company laying down the perma-
nent way, and furnishing the rolling and stationary
stock, but no decision had as yet been come to on the
proposition. It is believed, however, that the amalga-
mation will not meet with obstacles of a serious nature,
and that it will be carried into effect. The capital ac-
count to the 30th June last showed that 67,437,830 f.
(2,697,5131.) had been expended. The revenue account
for the half-year ending 30th June last, showed that
5,067,020 f. (202,6801.) had been received, and 3,151,168 f.
(126,3261.) expended, leaving a net profit of 1,908,852 f.
(76,3541.) Out of this sum is deducted 12,500 f.
for the sinking fund ; 900,000 f. interest to shareholders ;
one tenth, or 99,635 f. to the original projectors ; and
896,716 f. to the shareholders, or 25f. per share, leaving
a balance of 939 f. for the next half-year. The receipts
showed an increase of 491,278 f. over the corresponding
half-year of 1852. The whole increase in the expenses
was 143,073 f. Resolutions were passed, adopting the
report and accounts ; re-electing the retiring directors,
Sir J. Easthope and Mr. William Reed, and declaring
the dividend of 25f. per share payable on the Ist of
August. The meeting then separated.

ALLEGED CHILD-MURDER AND BURNING

OP I'HE BODY.

On Saturday, the attention of Mr. Ingham, the pre-
siding magistrate at the Thames police-court, was called
to a charge entered on one of the police sheets against
Sarah Liepman, a Jewess, of No. 32, Cable-street,
Welklose-square, for wilfully concealing the birth of an
illegitimate child, and destroying the body thereof by fire.

Police-Sergeant Foay, No. 7 H, an officer of the de-
tective force, said, the prisoner was only delivered of
the infant On Friday, and that she afterwards burned
it ; and he found a portion of the remains in the fire-
place in her parlour. He took the woman into custody
on Friday evening, and, by direction of a surgeon, who
examined the charred remains of the infant, he conveyed
her to the delivery ward of St. George's workhouse, in
Old Gravel-lane, St. George's-in-the-East. The woman
was in a very weakly condition, and it would be some
time before she would be in a fit state to appear.
Mr. Ingham marked off the police-sheet " sent to the
workhouse," and directed Foay to bring the woman be-
fore him on her recoverd, and collect the necessary evi-
dence.

The prisoner Liepman is the widow of a Jew, and the
mother of three legitimate children. For many years
past she has dealt in old clothes and kept a " dolly-
shop." Her neighbours had lately observed her altered
condition, and suspected the cause, but on being taxed
with it by her acquaintances she stoutly denied it. Her
only servant and attendant was a poor Irish girl, named
Bridget Toomly. On Friday morning, Mrs. Liepman
appeared in much pain, and occasionally groaned heavily.
Her servant proposed to call in a doctor, but she re-
fused to receive the visits of a medical attendant. In
the course of the day she frequently sent her servant out
on frivolous errands, and appeared very uneasy. About
9 o'clock at night, Mrs. Liepman again sent her ser-
vant out upon an errand. The girl returned sooner than
her mistress expected, and upon entering the parlour,
was horror struck at observing the head of a child
roasting on the top of the fire. Her mistress, who was
greatly agitated, begged of the girl not to divulge what
she had seen, and offered to give her half a sovereign to
keep the secret. The girl, however, left the house almost
immediately, and communicated what she had seen to
some acquaintance. The police were immediately ap-
prised of the affair, and Serjeant Foay proceeded to the
house, where, on entering the parlour, he discovered the
head and other parts of the body of a child partially
consumed on the fire. Several pieces of human flesh
adhered to the coals. Foay lost no time in collecting
the remains of the infant. The head was burnt to a
cinder, but the features can be distinctly traced, and
some portions of the skull are perfect. The small pieces
of flesh adhering to the half-burnt coals would not weigh
more than three or four ounces. Two pieces of the
child's skull were found on the hearth-stone below the
grate. Dr. Ryan, a medical gentleman, residing in
Leman-street, Whitechapel, was sent for, who pronounced
the head to be that of a child, and upon an examination
of the woman Liepman, discovered that she had recently
been delivered of a child. Foay immediately took the mo-
ther into custody, and, in consequence of her weak state,
she was conveyed in a cart to the workhouse. The cart had
no sooner drawn up at the door of the prisoner's house
than an eager desire was manifested by a mob of 400
or 500 persons to take summary vengeance on the
woman ; and she was no sooner brought out of the
house by the officers than a loud yell was set by the
people, and stones, bricks, and other missiles were
thrown, and she would doubtless have been sacrificed to
the fury of her neighbours, if the police had not zealously
exerted themselves to save her. A large stone, thrown
at the woman, struck Sergeant Foxy on the head, and
inflicted a severe contusion. The cart drove off amidst
the groans and execrations of the bystanders. On Ser-
geant Foay acquainting her with the fact that she was
charged with the wilful murder of her child, and de-
stroying the body by burning it, she made no reply, but
soon afterwards said to him that she was tired of her life.
It appears that about 9 o'clock in the morning the cries
of a child were heard in the prisoner's room, and it is
supposed that she gave birth to the infant about that
time, and afterwards murdered it and placed the body
on the fire, with the view of .consuming it, and
destroying, if possible, all evidence of her guilt. Dr.
Ryan, on being called in on Friday night, said he was of
opinion that she had been delivered of a child about
twelve hours previously,