The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-10 00:00:00

line +rem Dublin to Galway-, and, al, hough he enter-
taint d no doubt as to the good which most rnsne from
the completion of such a line, Set to advance the publie
mashy ter such a purpose was incompatible with the
views they le Id, and the Government did not 'beret-ere
think themselves justitit din doing to. They did, how-
ever, think, on the tule st consideration, that a specie 1
case was made out in favour of the great trunk lines run-
ning to tee south ate/ west of Ireland, and accordingly
an advance of tie public money was made to assist the
great trunk line to the eouili.west of Ireland. Taking
into consideration the state of extreme distress now
xieting in the west of Ireland, te believed that no
measuYe could b- taken calculated to do more good than
that of finding means to open a line of communication
trom Dublin to Galway.—(Criss of " liter, hear.") The
districes through which such a line would pass were not
only some of the most fertile in Ireland, but a company
actually existed who obeaned an Act. of Parliament
to construct the line the whole way. It was at '
present open from Dublin to Mullingar, a distance
ef 50 miles, and Mr. Walker, an engineer sent to inspect
it by the Government, reported on it in the most favour-
able manner. The second portion of the line was to ex-
tend from Mullingar to Athlone, a distance of 28 miles,
and an arrangement had been come to with gentlemen
nohling estaies in Roscommon arid other parts through
which the line wus to pass, se that he expected the
whole line would be open in two years from Dublin to
Galway. The line from Dublin to Mullingar bad been
constructed by the company on their own resources, and
the amount of their debt was 20,000/. They wished to
c. mpl. to the line from Mullingar to Athlone, at a cost of
300.000/., and from Athl'ine to Galway for 500,000/.;
but he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had reason to
believe the expense would be reduced much below that
sum, including the bridges over the Shannon. The money
about to be advanced was to be repaid in three pay-
ments, such payments to commence at the expiration of
ten years, and the principal advanced to bear interest at
the rate of 3i per cent. Fur this the whole line would
i,e given from Dublin to Galway. He had no doubt
whatever but that it would turn out to be a most pros-
perous and paying line; but, in addition to the securities
already named, the proprietors of those baronies and
districts through which the line was to pass undertook
to pay the difference between the amount of interest
and the net profit on the line. It was also pro-
posed by the Bill now in Committee that an
auditor should be appointed, to investigate the accounts
of the company, with a view to the payment of the inte-
rest, and any differences occurring between the interest
and the net profits would be placed in the baronies
already referred to. The contemporaneous line between
Mullingar and Athlone will be carried on at the same
time as that between Mull_ngar and Galway; 500,000/.
was to be given in instalments, but before the calls were
were made for such instalments the company must satisfy
the Lean Commissioners that the works between Ath-
lone and Galway were being proceeded with, while
towards the Mullingar and Athlone line, three-fifths
must be paid by the company; so that, in fact, they will
be obliged to expend sixty thousand pounds out of their
own resources. If these engag.:ments were not com-
plied with the whole line falls into the hands of the Go- •
vernment, who may dispose of it, as they think fit, to
any other. There was no doubt ,whatever but that.
work of that nature must benefit the country in a very
great degree, especially the labouring classes, as may be
seen by a letter of Sir John M'Neill, one of the most
eminent engineers in Ireland, who describes the good
ffect of a former loan given to the Great South-Western
Railway Company from Dublin to Cork. He states
in that communication that in districts through which it
passed iu Tipperary, Limerick, and Cork, the advantages
t , the labour rug classes were indescribable; that the
contractors employed, exclusive of masons, carpenters,
stoneLutters, &c., 15,000/. labourers every day, at wages
Ott 9s. a wet k; so that the number of individuals receiv-
ing support by their own industry exceeded 80,000, who
would otherwise perish by famine, or be thrown on the
parishes for relief. The Right Hon. Gentleman next
reed a series of resolutions passed at a public meeting in
Galway, in support of the measure; and having again
adverted to the great advantage an open communication
• ith the west of Irelande—both on account of its fertility,
its most valuable fisheries, and as a short line of commu-
nication across the Atlantic—concluded by moving the
adoption of a resolution g‘anting a loan of 500,000/. to
the Dublin and Galway Railway Company.
Mr. FRENCH said the measure had his most cordial
approtiaiie ~ but he felt it his duty to call the attention
of the Houle to the necessity of securing the completion
of trunk lines of railway throughout Ireland. The
benefits which hail been derived from railways were so
great that they had struck other countries, who had not
eaitee for the offer of private capital, but had executed
the necessary works themselves. PI ussia had expended
upwards of 7,000,000/. in th' construction of state lines.
In Aus-ria nearly 6.000,000/. had been expended in
a similar manner.--(Hear, hear.) And in almost all
continental nations, the outlay upon the construction of
railways had been very great. The Government of this
country had more than once under consideration the
propriety of making an in:ley for the execution of rail-
ways, but the difficulty was that if they once engaged
in constructine Irish railways, it would involve them
in almost finite expense. They despaired_ of being
able to construct anything that would be remunerative.
He, however, saw nu reason why railways should not
oe constructed in Ireland as in England. Even as a re-
lief work an experdirure on railways would not be un-
wise, for at least 50 per cent. of the money advanced
would go in remuieraung unskilled labour. Not more
than 2.000,000/. would be required to carry out a com-
plete syetem of truek lines in Ireland.—([-Tear,)
HO
thought that fur the present 110 miles of railway would
be sufficient to construct in the more distressed unions.
Even the great and important movement in the city of
London, before it wus carried out, would require assist-
ance. But were these railways once completed, the value
of land would be increased, and the saving in the value
of agricultural productions, from the cheapness of car-
riage, would, it was estimated, be at least 6,000,0001.
or 7,000,0001. Nothing could b 3 more important than
giving a market to the now almost exhausted fisheries.
Instead of the 16 000,000 quarters of corn now raised,
they could increase it to six and twenty millions ; and
from the increased produce there would be an aug-
mentation in the reverue of the country, it was esti-
mated, of at least 6,000,0001. The Corporation of Lon-
don, who- had come forward the other day, would confer
incalculable advantages upon the West of Ireland. That
Corporation was a body eminently qualified to ear/
out the work, and he cordially wished them success.
The Government should follow that example, and bring
io bear their powers for the practical regeneration of
Ireland. This was one way of doing it, and he thought
it his duty to call the attention of her Majesty's Govern-
ment to the subject.

Mr. GOULBURN said he was not about to follow
the detail.; into which the Hon. Gentleman had entered,
but to call upon the House seriously to consider whether
in Vie present state of the finances of the country, it
could afford so large an outlay from the Consolidated
Fund as would be necessary to complete this system of
railway communication. There was no argument that
would apply in favour of this application, that would
riot apply with equal force to future applications for
money to carry out works of this nature. If they aided
.iee part of Ireland, they would inevitably be called
upon to aid another, and if they declined they would at
once be charged with partiality. He put out of vieW
for the present the question of relief works. The
proposition was to advance money for this objtct at far
more than the market rate of interest. When the
Honourable Genti,man was speaking of the advantages
that would flow from adopting the course he recom-
mended, he really thought he was listening to an
auntionerr, wishing to sell property under the ham-
iner.—(A laugh.) When he spoke of the increased
eon:mart tion of fish, he should like to know what was
tae increastd consumption of fish in consequence of the
opei•ing of the lines already completed. He feared it
was very small. He was anxious that they should keep
the advances trom the Consolidated Fund within a cer-
tain point. If they did 11,A, they would at some future
period place the finances of this country in such a state
that they would involve largely increased burdens ott
-lie people, which they might not be wing or able to
?war. The manner in which these moneys were to be
,dvanced as a loa'n, n,,t a grant, was calculated also to
t•-ad to sanguine antic'pations, which might Rot be ful-
filled. He had no iota or what tt e proposals of the
Government would be, but having heard them he felt
ntinself bound to state his views briefly to the Coin'
inittee.

Mr. HUME admitted, as a general principle, that
grants or loans from the public funds should be nar.
r,wly watched, but he thought in this case the proposal
~f the Government was one which w, s perfectly justifi-
,b'e.—(Hear.) The receipts on the line Ware already
upwards or 1,000/, per week, and if the line was ex-
ttnded to Galway. there were mat y great and certain
ylvantages whith would ensue. As tar as the cod-
pany had yet gene, the traffic and receipts had fully
..4,me up to their t-stimates. It was now proposed that
'he Government should advance, from the Exchequer,
500,0001. at ai per cent., an amount of interest with
which the Government ought to be satisfied. The cow
pany was to raise 300 000/. more, whit h oLiA complete
the railway, and he thought that if e ver the country was
to Le regenerated, this was one of tl-,e modes in which it
was to be most certainly effected. It would not 014
supply profitable labour, but open up the district to
(ra•_4e. Besides this, the present was a good time to finish
the line, seeing that iron was cheaper than before.
'faking everything into account, he thought-this was
case in which the Government might most properly
a,sist a company with the public credit; that the public
would be highly b,nefited in every point of view ,and
therefore he gave his cordial support to the proposal of
the Government.

Mr. 0. GORE said the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr.
Goulburn) was totally mistaken as to the locality which
the railway was to run. So far from its being a cow-
peting line, there was scarcely a railway in the whole
province of Connaught. The railway of which the
Right Hon. Gentleman spoke was not a competing line.
He might say this lice ran through the centre of Ire
land, from sea to sea, and so far from running through
Mr. Martin's estates, it would pass through the richest
and most populous parts of the country. For his owe
part, he begged most cordially to thank her Majesty's
Government for this proposal. That was the kind of
gislation they wanted for Inland. He did not agree
in their other measures ; the poor-law especially was, is
his opinion, a most obnoxious measure, and calculated
to ruin not only the landlords but the tenantry of Ire'
land. He spoke as an Irish landlord, though repre-
s, nting an English count) ; and he felt certain that it the
tiovernment would only per-nv. re in the policy of which
he hoped this was a beginning, they would lay the icon'
dation of greater prosperity in Ireland than it had ever
be'ore witnessed.—(Hear, bear.)
Mr. ROEBUCK said, the authority of his Hon!
Friend the Member for Montrose was at all times a grest
authority with nun, and therefore he felt sorry that
upon that occasion h- telt called upon to stand up
differ from him. But he must stand up for his esw
country. The lion. Gentleman who bad just oat deal