The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-16 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

a merchant buys coal in the county of
Durham to supply his customers in York aid the neigh-
bourhood, the above railway company charge 4s. 3d.
per ton for the use of the railway; whereas if a merchant
buys coal at the same colliery for his customers at Don-
caster and the neighbourhood, the above railway com-
pany charge 2s. 71d. per ton for the use of the railway.
The Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854, sec. 2, cites'
that the duty of railway companies is to receive and
forward without partiality in any respect whatsoever.
This railway company appear to set the Government of
the country at defiance ; for I also find in the North-
Eastern Railway Act, 1554, obtained in the last session
of Parliament, the toll authorised to be taken for the
conveyance of coal, coke, &c., for 30 miles and upwards,
is one penny per ten per mile (say 30 miles, 2s. 6d.) ;
whereas in looking ever the charges made fur conveying
coal in August last, I find that for 31& miles the charge
is 45. 4d. per ton, and this system of management ap-
pears to have been going on for some time past. The
public complain of coal being too dear ; and if the mer-
chant complains to the colliery owners that the charge
for the use of the railway is too high, the reply is,
"The railway company make these charges, and we have
no redress ; if we complain they stop our trade." If the
merchant complains to the railway company's officers,
the reply is, " We do not know you ;" consequently this
system of management goes on, thus : The railway
company overcharge the colliery owners, the colliery
owners overcharge the merchant, the merchant over-
charges the public; and the shareholders of this railway
pay no less than nice thousand pounds per year for this
system of direction and chief management. I do not
expect the mineral traffic is the only one subjected to
this system ; and if all merchants give themselves the
trouble to look into the charges authorised by the act, I
think they will discover the same reason to complain.
Your kindly inserting this will do good to the public,
and also to the merchants, and no barn to the share-
holders, because " ill-gotten wealth goes a bad gait."
Let each ono who believes in the right take his stand
and boldly maintain it, and do his utmost te remove
from the management all trickery and cunning, and all
tortuous courses—" the goings of the serpent, which
goeth basely upon the belly and not 'pen the feet."
Brand the man who violates confidence and abuses trust
as a thief ; remember the public credit of the nation is
in your keeping.
" The fear o' hell's a hangman's whip
To hand the wretch in order;
But where you feel your honour grip,
Let that aye be your border-:
Its slightest touches, instant pause,
Debar a' side pretences,
And resolutely keep its laws,
Uncaring consequences."
I trust those who brought this system of management
under direction will have to answer for it. I advise the
shareholders to select those officers who are of sound
principle to take counsel together at once and drive out
for ever those who have brought in this bad principle of
managing the railway. My experience teaches me that
the North-Eastern Railway is one of the best under
good direction and management ; under bad it will be-
come the very worst. The directors have asked her
Majesty's permission to make such and such charges for
the use of the railway ; if they are in error, by having
asked too little, let them go back and ask for permission
to charge more, and not mislead her Majesty s Govern-
ment and use the public unfairly by charging more than
they asked permission to do. They compel all merchants
to apply to the officers to know what will be the charge
for the use of the railway before they can purchase any
article they may wish to deal in. The merchants Inns!'
not be used in any such a way, and I will oppose it to
the utmost in my power.—l am, Sir, yours obediently,
York, 15th Nov., 1854. A MERCHANT.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS.—lrestorday evening the
members of the Society of Arts held the first meeting of
the 101st session of the society at the offices of the in-
stitution, John-street, Adelplii ; Viscount Ebrington,
the chairman of the council elected for the present year,
in the chair. The meeting was an unusually large one,
and comprised nearly all the most influential members of
this truly valuable association.
SUPPLIIMENTS GRATIS WITH DISPATCR." The
unexampled interest which attaches to every incident
connected with the operations of the Allied Armies in
the East has determined the proprietors of the Jrcel,.l y
Dispatch to devote a greater space to the intelligence
from the seat of war than the ordinary limits of this the
largest newspaper could possibly afford, and, with the
view of giving the amplest details, have resolved upon
the issue of a series of Supplements, which will include
every particular connected with the Siege and decision of
the Contest at Sebastopol, and will be continued when-
ever demanded by the progress of the campaign. By
the publication of these Supplements the portion of the
to.nally devoted to incilents of domestic and poli-
tical importance will be reserved intact, and the engross-
ing subject of war will receive the fullest and most varied
illustration. A Supplement will be publified on Sunday
neat, NoireulbOr nth,