The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-28 00:00:00

• t - .
.bill/whiChwas upon the table should- be discharged, and so
took it entirely out of their power further to proceed: Lin-
der these circumstances, r think that I am justified in asking
the house to recommitlho two other bills, in order that the
Committee may reconsider the quest* with the South-Eastern
proposition 'tint of the way; for the landowners of Mid Kent ai•e
Still desirous of 'having a rail Way. They are themselves able
and willing to -find the means for making that railway, and
they only watt the sanction of the Legislature that they may-
do so. Whatever the state of the money market may be, it
does*not affecttlieir means of doing what they ask the house
to Permit them to 'do ; and having the consent of the 'chair-
man; and I believe of the other members ofthe committee, I
make bold to,ask the house that it will sanction the re-com-
mittal of thoSe two bills. It will be butjuetiee to those who
ptbrionmkottebdatl ti two bills
on
illsto do . so ; and M T
ore than that,
public grounds should notalloW-
themSelves, or any committee of the houSe, to have state-
. meats of that sort made•to theni, which,' I will not say, were
not intended to be carried out, but which certainly have not
been carried out. It Must be recollected that it is no lanes.,
tion now of adiffetenceamong the proprietors, for it was the.
w
same directors ho authorised Mr. Hope Scott to make the
pledge who themselves subsequently have come and. broken
that pledge: • r Will not "trouble the house at
.greater length,
believing that 'the 'Statement, which I -have-. made, which ie.
evidently true, will induce them to accede.to the motion; - •• - Mr. Jacksim seconded the motion.
Mr. James Macgregor—.-.I own, sir, that I rise with a great
ti.utbl
sense
.of pain And some embarrassment because upon this
occasion I have to entreat the indulgence
mI
emakem be r s sa .
lat emm 'e n t
in
compelled m yt
oOawdum i
t justificationtiie of tef
as
us
wer f
the ees
statement which has been made by the hon. member for Co-
ventry, that in the, case of a bill promoted by the South-
Eastern Company for constructing a branch railway from
Lewisham to Bromley, a pledge was given to the committee,
who considered that and the other rival projects, .that the
company would proceed bona fide with that bill. Having -
. been for many years one of the managers of that company,
I hopethe house will forgive me if I ask its attention ter a
Moment while I acquit myself of being in any way a party
to any breach of faith or offer of any pledge which has. tot-,
been maintained. My. period of office, as chairman of: the
South-Eastern Company, terminated on the 14th of Mar .h,
and it then becathe my duty to hand over the concerns ofi the
.cempany to the new chairman and to a majority of the 4ard.
who' might be supposed to differ from me; and I called upon
the counsel who were advising the, company to place before
my colleagues their view of the circumstances in which the
company stood with regard to its position as applicants to
this house for new, powers. As the statement which was
made by counsel is very short, I hope the house will allow me
to read it, particularly as it is signed by gentlemen w.:o must
be well known almost to. every, member of this house-41r.
Hope Scott, Mr. Noggins, Mr. Merewether, and Mr. Roclntell.
" Lewisham and Bromley. • I
" It appears to us of immense importance ini4e conduct of
this case that counsel should know before the bill is submitted
to the committee what course the board, as now constituted,
is prepared to recommend to the shareholders respecting it.
Should there be any evidence. before the' committee of a dis-
inclination to prosecute the bill, this circumstance will pro-
bably secure the success of one or both of the rival bills, and
even the absence of a specific assurance that the bill will be
bpnre fide prosecuted may have the same effect. Counsel!for
the Sydenham' bill have already raised the question, and it
must be answered.

" HENRY ALWORTH MEREWETHER.
"HUNTER RODWELL..
" JAMES R. HOPE SCOTT.
" C. HOGGINS.

" March 16, 1854." •
That memorandum, on the part of the counsel, was sub-
mitted to the new board of directors of the South-Eastern
Company, and various wetings and considerations took
place upon it. A subsequent opinion was solicited from
counsel, prior to the decision of the committee being taken,
upon a statement laid before them, and drawn up at a meet-
ing of the rival party. This also being brief, I trust the house
will indulge me by permitting me to read it :
" With reference to the question submitted to us 'by Mr.
Freeman this afternoon, respecting the terms of arrangement
embodied in a memorandum of this forenoon, it appears to us
to involve considerations which are beyond the ordinary pro-
vince of counsel.

" This arrangement palpably tends to alter the position of
the South-Eastern Company as the almost exclusive posses-
sor of Kent, but how far such a measure may be beneficial or
otherwise to the general interests of that company is a mat-
ter of policy which belongs exclusively to the directors.
" Passing over, therefore, this intermediate point, we must
recur to the considerations which we submitted to the direc-
tors iu our last opinion, and request a definitive answer as to
the amount of authority which we• possess for assuring the
committee that-the bill (which stands for to-morrow, at 12
o'clock) will be bona fide prosecuted, and its powers executed
by the South-Eastern Company.

" J. R. HOPE SCOTT,
C. HOOGINS,
IL A. MEREWETIIER,
HUNTER "Monday afternoon, March 20, 1854." RODWELL."
This memorandum, like the preceding one, is signed by Mr.
Hope Scott, Mr. oggins, Mr. Merewether, and Mr. Rodwell.
Now, sir, my anxiety, as a member of this house—a very
humble one certainly, I feel, but still one who wishes to ob-
tain the favour of those hon. members who constitute this
great assembly—my anxiety is that I shall not be condemned
for any withdrawal from the pledge which was offered to the
committee by Mr. Hope Scott in these words. I have the
shorthand-writer's transcript here of his statement made to
the noble lord the member for South Durham and the other
members of the committee. He said :
__

" Now, my lord, it is not necessary for me either to
anticipate the evidence which I shall lay before you, or to
go in detail into that which has been given. The main
features of the case, I think, I have already laid before
you, and it remains only for me to allude to one matter
which has been used by my opponents. It is, 'that the
South-Eastern Company are divided among themselves on
this line ; and you have expressions of opinion this way,
and expressions of opinion that way, and therefore there is no
security at all that the bill will be proiecuted and the line
made. On that subject I have specific instructions from the
board to press this line on your attention, and so beg you to
pass this line ; and those instructions it is my duty to fulfil,
and no insinuations whatever on the part of the other side
can of course bo equal to those which are given to me by the
parties who are responsible for the instructions they do give
me, and which I have received specific instructions to lay be-
fore you ou this occasion. lam speaking how of a board de- '
cision deliberately come to." Now, sq., it is perfectly true
that after a specific vote on the part of a new board of direc-
tors of the company, and after that assurance given by Mr:
Hope Scott to the noble lord and other members of the com-
mittee, that same board of directors by a majority decided,
after the noble lord and his colleagues had passed the South-:
Eastern (Lewisham and Bromley) Bill, not to proceed with
it ; and I have to ask the favourable consideration of the house
to the statement which I now make, that I was one of the
majority in promoting the prosecution of that bill, and that
I was one of the minority in differing from my colleagues
when they determined upon abandoning it. (Hear.) Even
here I will venture to express my unqualified regret that a re-
solution so unjust and so impolitic should have been come to
by those who are for the time iii power at the South-Eastern
Railway. (Hear.) I cannot oppose the motion of the hon.
member for Coventry, because I feel that if the South-Eastern
Company had not promoted the Lewisham and Bromley
branch before the committee, his bill would have stood in a
very different position to that in which it was plated by the
- assurance which was given to the noble lord by Mr. Hope
Scott. (Hear.) •
- Lord Harry Vane—l feel, after the statement which has:
been made in this case by the hon. member for Coventry, and,
the confirmation which it has received from the hon. member;
who has just addressed us, that I need anticipate no opposi-
tion to the motion before the house ; but perhaps it may be
thought right that I, as chairman of the committee, should
corroborate the statements which have been made both by the
hon. member for. Coventry and the hon. member for Sand-
wich: I think that it is of the utmost importance that good
faith should be preserved before a committee—(cheers)-when
a statement is alleged before a committee with the intention
of influencing their votes —I _will not say to what extent such;
a statement might influence them—but when -it is offered
with that intention it is of the highest importance that the
house should visit with the utmost severity any disregard of a
statement so made. It ni sure that the house will acquit the
hon. member who has just addressed us from any participa-
tion iu such conduct; nothing could l e more honourable, no-
thing more straightforward than the statement which lie has
just made in his own exculpation, and I am sure the house
Will go along with me in saying, that he at least is exempt
from any share of blame in this transaction. With regard to
the motion itself, which has been made by the lion. member
for CoventrY I think-, after what we have heard, that no op-
position can be offered to the preposition for the recommit-
ment of these bills. It is quite fair that, inasmuch as another
bill stood in the way of these two bills, which might have in-
fluenced the members of the committee in the finding at which,
they arrived, and which bill has not further been proceeded.
with—it is quite fair, I say, that an opportunity should be,
afforded to those two other bills of again being submitted to
the reconsideration of the committee, on the ground that the
other bill being now out of the way, they should be considered
upon their owe merits. Of course, it will be a matter for se-
rious consideration with the committee how far it will be their
duty to sanction either one proposition or the other; but
however that may be, I hope that the house will accede to the
Motion which has been made for the recommittal of theSe
bills. (Hear, hear.)
Mr, rise with no intention at all of opposing the
motion which has been made, but being also connected with
the' railway under discussion, I rise to give my general assent;
to the accuracy of the statement., which has been made by the'
hon. member for. Sandwich ; and at the same time to state,
that in all those decisions which took place with regard to,
'prosecuting the bill before Parliament I voted for carrying it
on, both before the declaration was made to the committee
-and anbseeluently. So far, therefore, as I myself am con-
cerned, I endeavoured to fulfil the pledge which was given to
th 6 committee, ' At:-the same time, I cannot let it be under-
stood that those`Who "differed ham the opinion which I enter-
tained have 'been' guilty of what has been harshly termed, I
think, a breach of faith. There was a change ,of administra-
tion in the affairs of the railway—as changes of administration
take place elsewhere—those who are in the minority retiring.
That took place at "the very moment when this bill was
under discussion before the committee. I was present when
the decision was come to that we should prosecute the bill ;
and the intention of myself and of others was that we should
honestly and sincerely prosecute it to the last stage. Since
then whatever a further insight into the affairs of the company
may have impressed upon them I cannot say, but undoubtedly
they have changed their views. It may be that upon subse-
quent consideration they may see other means of promoting
the general interests of the railway and of the county of Kent,
in having a railway passed through that county in connection
with local interests with the Brighton Company and that which
the hon. member for Coventry represents. All this, or other
considerations, may have weighed with those hosan.ygtehaatlter:end:'
I lamiot.gliotluounrpddo. t.
upon
ot
b discussions e
and induced them to take a step to Whichanly admesiroepthpo.pseadss.
the committeeb
Whilst I opposed it, however,
not think that they wore at all animated by
mem erhfor
fwrhomichthwaeira 7preordsisd,eodro. tvoercastyt
tahney.
South Durham. I only trust in the-future
at large will operate
will take place before the committee, that uo which
v am sure,ae t
8 ionfdtehead'
directiont hat tha
iaoy will h
have
regard to the interests of the company
t
houpotnhotheaastee,ofmoini.
withteaeis
been, it will. be remembered that some 8: 000,0001., or.
9,000,000/. of the ' property of 'thecompany
jeopardy, which must be considered with reference to the in-
terests of the shareholders, and not to any single are placed in.
vote come
to, perhaps rather hastily, by •directors at the time
in office. - • '
The first motion was then put and agreed to,
a body of
Upon the second motion being put, '
Mr. Greene said,—l merely rise because some misapprehen-
sion exists upon the subject out of doors. It-is my own opi-
nion, and I believe it is also a
yours, sir, that when bill is
recommitted to a former committee, the act of the house Over-
rules all the acts of the general committee upon railways, and
that the committee may be re-appointed as before, even
though some of the members may have been struck off by the
general committee from further serving.
Mr. Rich—l beg to make one observation which, in the
hurry of the Moment, I omitted to make before. It is that
those directors whcse conduct is under consideration of the
, house entertain a bona ti 44 desire to carry a railway through ,