The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-27 00:00:00

.
- '
-0.,.,,,,-2:-."?:'
t,
/ Ace---Z'
litill--
d .
..,,
/,
,1 .
~.7,
\,...4,, .
V .
(„..... , ..
.
. .
---
0--440 • tat* ,6•2. • . .
^ !•,*; $
- ..
'L • . 444 A !
0.4.,-.77.4
, ~...,.... c..,,1
) AV (kW - „
- -----,-
7.. '-
•106P*;Tr.
._ ~,
~,:: - or. •K -ci-j-1--t , '.-:-4P.4 -**l
V 4 , , - s 14 -.
.0- ,
1/41 ni -
t• . , .
...4------.,:.. ~,, -._
r,„....„A..-.., i: Ais.•:‘,.., . .jr.,,;,,=,...0 ~..,:,J-4.114fi.
,v.41:1154 v
....
\ i ••,.. lk ,
I' S ` . i', f„-•
li j...
i ..".,h.4...,-"-, .4,----,F-1 ''
'''''''4l.s4''' .3%1 1-- 4R:---r'—'"7--- ~: '3"1ir,414:t k
.z .- , -,,ors
,6, i ,
1 l, . :5.....- ~,,:...,,4; ~ ,„--.
._ 4, A. `', -,, ,4, ,
.s.•
.4.5t:'........,...., V.t,,,,,
..
,:, ,
~,,;-.4.,_11
4...
~.:...
_,k. . .
...„%,
41.,-,•.. ~,, . ,.„
! 4-- ' . / t: c.. 4..
„. , *
, _
mr., ,- - W ''ZZ..ti '''....---
it.et'--- ._.z,, ht- 76.1 ,',4 1 ="t
. ~
.... ,
~„... . s - ".1 ~- ''
:: ,'' ' .r.l' ! ',
," ' "
.Ati' ~,i=l .. ~; Ar
,:,...e..../,.., —:.,. ~,,,,, - ..„,, ..- •Z. ..,/, ~, t' , Tri° • . _ 4,-'' ~,, b
.:___--- ..3frifie-- wei •.,* DI 'N- /-, to 15.1. J —e.....,...,,, . ~,r..,.. .-,,, ~ , . . -\-
~,i____•...i,-'_,t ~,,,,„.—.-_,,..,,,..:, .st
~±4.,,,,,

gze7 // g-c -...,t,-,.-‘l.-6
• ;....:,. w spApc
meetings of his fellow members 1 1-
(4,
... _ t
..,
14,1047' ~:-:;‘: '',..if•
i :::...
~,..
'itif ' e ,e •
cause him to be disliked and remov 17r l'"*r';'Zi' -5t ' '
Mr. Bower—Certainly not. Whe lice*ii4dititiltit'
been elected as chairman he holds the offkafor leg
year.
Sir J. Patteson—But if he does not attend the dinners
would he be likely to be elected again ?
Mr. Bower—That would be no obstacle to his being
elected chairman of another committee, if he is other-
wise an efficient man. The practice is not to re-elect
the same person to the chair of the same committee, but
to choose the members for that post by rotation as much
as possible, consistently with efficiency. But probably
the man who does the duty of chairman best in the
transaction of the business, does equally well to take
the chair at dinner.

Mr. C. Lewis—Do you believe the system of dinner
allowances is necessary in order to secure a proper atten-
dance at the committee business meetings?
Mr. Bower—l do not, because I belong myself to one
committee which has no allowance, and where there is
no difficulty in obtaining a good attendance. At the
same time I think it is but fair, when gentlemen attend
to public business, and have their social habits broken
into by being detained beyond their family dinner hour,
that they should have a dinner provided for them at the
close of their duties. But this I consider is a matter
of very small moment either way. There is another
point in Mr. Bennoch's evidence that calls for remark.
That gentleman stated that the corporation consisted
only of retail dealers and men of no influence. On such
a point every one must of course speak from his own
experience, and I can only say that my own ward has
eight representatives, and there is not a retail dealer
among them—they are all men of education, respecta-
bility, and considerable wealth.

Mr. C. Lewis—Then you think it is not true that the
members of the corporation generally are composed of
retail dealers ?

Mr. Bower—No ; their general character is quite the
reverse of that.
Mr. W. Lawrence examined—l am one of the twelve
rulers of the fellowship porters. The rulers are elected
by ballot by the whole fellowship. Their duty is to
meet once a month, and also to attend the quays and see
that the different branches of the trade are supplied with
men. I was elected ten years ago. I am constantly
on duty, and receive 361. a year for acting as a ruler.
I derive 60/. a year more for attending at the Fellow-
ship-hall and collecting all the porterage dues and other
moneys, and seeing that the nut and orange trade, and
the trade at Billingsgate, does not suffer from want of
hands. Each porter pays down 51. admission-money,
and finds two bondsmen of 401. each, as security for his
honesty. In the case of death, 31. is paid out of the
fund for the burial of each member of the fellowship.
The employment of the fellowship is more regular and
constant than that of the other classes of porters, but
their payment is not any higher than theirs. There is
more of our work to be done now than was formerly the
case in the port of London, but it goes to the docks, from
which the fellowship are excluded. The employment of
the fellowship has been falling off for the last five or six
years. Mr. Rushton, the corn shifter, pays the men their
money daily, and he holds a large sum in his hands, be-
longing to the fellowship, as a security for his own repay-
ment from the importers. There is a deduction made from
the earnings of the men, of which Mr. Rushton receives 41
' per cent., and the other 31 per cent. goes back to the
fellowship. We think that Mr. Rushton does not pay
back a large enough sum to the fellowship. I consider
that 2,000/. would be quite a sufficient fund for Mr.
Rushton to retain in his hands as his security, instead
of so great a sum as 5,5701., which he now holds to
carry on the business, and for which he pays no inte-
rest to the porters. The greater part of the fund ought
to be repaid to the porters. I believe that the evi-
dence of Mr. Brown is perfectly correct where it states
that Mr. Rushton, the corn-shifter, has received,
since his appointment in 1827, no less a sum than
87,000/. I believe he received the whole of this sum for
his own use. Deficiencies in the collection are not made
good by the " shifter." One of the potato-meters takes
a penny in every shilling earned by the porters at the
potato work, and in consideration for this pays back to
the fellowship 1301. a year, which is not sufficient. I
regard the fellowship as a very useful body of men, who
arc in favour with the trade of the port for their efficiency
and good behaviour. They make good all losses to the
importers, and there is hardly a box of oranges missing
in a year.

111 i-. Samuel Baylis examined—l am the collector of
the tonnage dues levied in the port of London, and was
appointed in 1849 by the corporation, at a salary of 2001.
a year. I employ a clerk and messenger, whose remu-
neration reduces my net receipts to 80/. ; but in addition
to this lam also collector of the City wine dues. The
present rates of the tonnage dues levied by the City in
the port of London are as follows---Id. per ton register
for every coasting vessel coming from or going to any
port of the United Kingdom ; per ton on every ship
coming from or going to any foreign port in Europe
north of Cape Ushant ; id. per ton on every ship coming
from or going to any port in Europe south of Cape
Ushant ; and Id. per ton on every ship coming from or
going to any port in Asia, Africa, or America. These
tonnage dues formerly belonged to the Government.
No charge is made upon vessels coming or going in
ballast. The wine dues levied by the City amount to
4s. 9d. per tun of 252 imperial gallons. The tonnage
and the wine dues are paid into the Chamberlain's office.
The inquiry was then adjourned till this day.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST.

Yesterday, the half-yearly meeting of this company
took place at the Bridge-house Hotel,—Mr. S. Laing in
the chair.

The advertisement convening the meeting, and the
report, as already published, having been read,
The CHAIRMAN said he would offer a few observations
relative to the results of the last year. Looking at the
gloom and despondency which prevailed in the company
five years ago, he believed there were few who then ex-
pected to see so satisfactory a return as five per cent.
on their oapital. Five per cent., however, was but a
poor return on one of the most prosperous of the
English railways, when compared with those of
foreign countries, and reflected no credit on the rail-
way legislation of England. At one time it became a
question with the` directors whether they should keep
down the number of the trains or extend the public
accommodation, and thereby in some measure increase
the expenditure. Perhaps the most popular course to
have pursued would, at the time, have been to keep
down the expenditure, and leave the receipts to shift for
themselves. That, however, would not do on the
Brighton line, which required that the traffic should be
brought to, he might almost say forced on, the line.
With the exception of Brighton, they had no other town
of importance on the line of 170 miles in extent. It was
true they were connected with Hastings and Portsmouth,
but the traffic of one place they had to share with the South-
Eastern ; and of the other, with the South-Western ;
and they only got a small portion of it. The same
might be said of Reigate, which they also shared with the
South-Eastern. They had, therefore, mainly to depend on
Brighton and the suburban traffic of the Croydon line nearly
100 miles of their railway running through a thinly
peopled district, with the sea on one side of them, and the
South Downs on the other. Accordingly they had to do
everything in their power to promote the traffic, and the
result was, that whereas in 1848.9 the number of miles
run was about 1,000,000, they last year amounted to
1,700,000 ; and the number of passengers had increased
in a still larger ratio, the number in 1848-9 being only
2,500,000, whilst in 1852 they had increased to 3,500,000.
and in 1853 to 4,500,000. It was right to add, whilst
speaking of the number of passengers, that arrangements
had been made for carrying large numbers of workmen
to and from the Crystal Palace daily, and probably a
deduction of about 300,000 ought to be made on that
ground, as they could not be considered as belonging to
the regular traffic, and therefore the numbers would stand
at about 4,200,000 in 1853, as compared 2,590,000 in 1849;
and that, be it observed, was irrespective of the season and
periodical tickets, the receipts for which had increased in
the sametime from 10,4001. to 27,000/., or nearly threefold,
notwithstanding that reductions of from 30 to 50 per cent.
had been made in the rates of charges in the meantime.
Another feature in their prosperity was to be found in
theircc2relei4pa tsosegodoohof
artddoos
mtsrds67lu:
obc00,10e0w0d.11;
tc
thhhoee
1n miles
oea (exclusivesogoer luslho
oaf
h:acde
dad ritananegr
whilstee)a
increases hadetdh ef
r oirnome
70f
per cent, on the last year, as compared with 1849,
but the cost per train per mile run was, in 1848, 3s 44 ;
in 1849, 3s. 6d. ;andin; IbBust3,
as to
ulleb.etbTehristbh.eye
thought very satisfactory
could maintain the 5 per cent. dividend now declared
was a matter of anxious consideration. Irrespective of
what might be expected from the Crystal Palace, which
would open in the course of the summer, he had
no doubt then that the traffic, if it was not
stayed by some extraordinary disturbing cause, would
be maintained, and he trusted the time might arrive
when 5 per cent. would not be looked upon as the maxi-
mum dividend. When, however, that period arrived,
he should propose that the public should have a share
of the advantages. His policy was, not to screw as
much out of the public as possible, but giving them
every possible accommodation, and he was sure that in
the long run that would pay them best. In paying the
five per cent. dividend on the line, he supposed it was
generally understood that it was benefited to the extent
of about 4s. per cent. by the stoppage of the 10,000/.
per annum formerly carried to the reserve fund, and
which was deemed to be no longer necessary. He had
formerly estimated the amount required to complete
their works at 7,670,000 i., whilst the bill before Parlia-
ment asked permission to increase it to 7,800,000 i. In
conclusion' he begged to move that the report be re-
ceived and adopted.
Mr. LEO SCHUSTER seconded the motion.
After a few explanations on matters of account, in
answer to questions by Mr. Herapath,
The report was adopted, the agreement with the
Crystal Palace and West-end Company approved of, the
dividend declared, and the retiring directors and audi-
tors re-elected.

Captain YOUNG then brought forward a motion for
the discontinuance of all Sunday traffic, excepting in
cases of necessity and mercy, which, upon being seconded,
was put to the meeting and negative in
d by a large ma.
jority, only four hands being held up its favour.
A vote of thanks .was then given to the chairman, and
the meeting separated.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURN.
SCOTTISH CENTRAL RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for th'
week ending_ Jan. 22, 1854 V,,504 15 51
Corresponding week last year 2,573 16 7al