The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1836.

RAILROADS.

As many persons are prevented from investing their
money in railroads, by the vast amount of capital erroneously
supposed to be required to complete these undertakings, it
may be proper to state that scarcely one-half of the schemes
now before the public can ever receive the sanction of the
Legislature. It is calculated, indeed, that what with the
total rejection of some, and the delay attending other rail-
ways, little more than three millions per annum for the next
few years can be actually expended ; while the mere " de-
posits" at the Bank of England amount, by the last returns,
to upwards of nineteen millions ; and if we reckon twenty
millions for other London banks, and as much more for the
country banks, here is a mass of unemployed capital, in
England alone, of near sixty millions sterling.
It was justly observed by Sir Robert Peel ,on the subject
of railroads, that we could not possibly stand still while
other nations were so rapidly on the advance ; and it is to
be regretted, that after the completion of the railway from
Manchester to Liverpool had established both the practi-
cability of such undertakings, and the superior advantages
they offered for the investment of capital, we should have
remained so long passive. The public, however, is at last
roused, and, as if to make amends for its late apathy,
patronises every scheme without sufficient investigation either
as to its own merits or to the capacity and respectability of
its projectors ; we therefore deem it necessary to recommend
some caution in entering into the Branch or other minor
r.ilways, without a perfect knowledge of the commerce and
population of the neighbourhood ; but in those magnificent
undertakings which connect Liverpool and Birmingham,
Birmingham with London, and London with Bristol, capi-
tal may be invested with every prospect of the most ample
profits ; it is indeed asserted by those best capable of form-
ing a correct estimate, that the Shares in these three
Companies must, in a very few years, be each worth from
4to 5001. We shall, perhaps, be accused of partiality in
giving preference to the latter, or, as it is called, " The
Great Western ;" but we do so from the well-known facts'
elicited during the Parliamentary inquiry, not only that
the number of passengers out of London by the Western
road considerably exceeds that of the Northern, but that
the superior level of the country between London and
Bristol to that between London and Birmingham, causes
a vast saving in the annual expense of keeping up the en-
bankments. Nor can much more than one-half of the ca-
pital be actually required from the Shareholders, as the
Company have then the power to borrow, which they can
do at 3i per cent. The estimates, too, are calculated at
a price beyond the cost of similar. work on the Birmingham
Railway, while the excavation of that portion from London
to Maidenhead in the summer of next year, and shortly
after of that from Bath to Bristol, will enable the Direc-
tors, out of the profits of these portions, either to make a
very early dividend, or by applying them to the completion
instalments.--
From the work, diminish the amount of future
From a Correspondent of the Bristol Gazette.

FRONTIERS OF POLAND, JAN. 10.—The ex-
cesses that took place at Cracow on the Emperor Nicho-
las's fete will, it is said, not be without consequences. The
Envoys of the three protecting Powers residing there are
said to have delivered to the Senate of that free town a
very serious note, in which they render it responsible in the
event of such excesses being renewed. They declare, more-
over, that if the Senate be not in a condition to take upon
itself such responsibility, they will make a report on the
subject to their respective Courts, which will induce the
latter to adopt the measures necessary towards securing
order and public tranquillity at Cracow. Whether the
Senate have already returned a definitive dffelaration is not
said.—Sivabian. Mercury.