The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-30 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

BIRMINGHAM AND OXFORD AND BIRMINGHAM, WOL-
VERHAMPTON, AND DUDLEY.—On Friday next the
Great Western Company will take formal possession of
*se lines, in virtue of a deed of transfer. The whole
will be opened to Birmingham early in the month ofJuly
next.

RAILWAY TO HAMPSTEAD.—During the last few days
a large number of surveyors have been staking out a line
of railway for an extension of the North and South-
Western Junction Railway from Willesden, on the Lon-
don and North-western line, through Hampstead, to the
Camden Town station of the East and West India Dock
and Birmingham Junction, which will open a direct
communication from Hampstead to the City.
ANDOVER AND SALISBURY.—The works on this line,
which have been suspended for some time, are to be
forthwith resumed, under the auspices of the directors of
the London and South-western Railway. All possible
dispatch will be used by- the contractor to complete the
line. The proposed line is 17 miles in length, and will
connect the town of Andover and the city of Salisbury,
with a direct communication with the metropolis.
WATERFORD AND TRAMORE.—The directors of this
line have settled all the claims on the line, and the land
is now in the possession of Mr. Dargan. Almost all
the land was obtained on the valuation of the company's
officers.

WATERFORD AND KILKENNY.-A deputation from
the directors of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway,
consisting of Mr. Vigors, Mr. E. Smithwick, and Mr.
Josiah Bates, with Mr. Radcliffe, the company's English
solicitor, had an interview last week with the Board of
the Waterford and Limerick Company, and although it
has not yet been finally arranged as to which company
shall complete the line from Dunkit into Waterford, yet
the general result of the conference has been of a nature
highly satisfactory to all parties. 'Whichever company
undertakes the work, it is at all events certain that it
will be immediately commenced and carried out with
spirit. In the meantime the directors of the Water-
ford and Kilkenny company above named have fully
arranged with Messrs. Ellis and Husler, the contractors
for having the line opened from Jerpoint Hill to Dunkit
by the 4th of April.

THE BOROUGH OF CHATHAM AND THE LATE ELECTION.
—On Saturday a return showed that at the last election,
out of 1,339 voters, 364 persons in the employ of Govern-
men voted, of which 171 voted for Sir F. Smith, and 133
for Sir James Stirling. Of the votes on the list, 318 were
in the employ of Government, and 47 were half-pay offi-
cers, pensioners, &c. So that, after all the hard words
about wholesale " bribery and corruption" at Chat-
ham, "flagitious exercise of Government influence,"
and the threats of disfranchisement, we find that no less
than 133 voted against Sir F. Smith, the " Government
candidate," whilst 171 voted in his favour and against
Rear-Admiral Sir James Stirling, an ex-Lord of the
Admiralty, and an officer who has had more than
his share of the good things of the navy, and
whose family have been pushed on most rapidly by
Government influence. Could it be a matter of sur-
prise that in a borough like Chatham, Sir F. Smith,
so well known and respected as he was from his
long social and official connection with the plate, had
a majority of 38 amongst the men in the employ
of the Government, especially when it was known, too,
in a naval port like Chatham, that it was mainly upon
Sir Jas. Stirling's erroneous evidence that the naviga-
tion laws were destroyed, and the shipping interests of
the country perilled. Had Sir James Stirling, the ex-
member of the Board of Admiralty, notorious fot its
political jobbing in the dockyard boroughs, polled a
majority of the dockyard men Dr other voters holding
Government appointments, we should have heard very
little of undue influence or " Government corruption at
Chatham."