The Sun.
London, England, 1836-03-01 00:00:00

kely to be sufficient to support the annual charges cf the mainte-
nance of the Railroad, and still allow profit to the projectors.
17. The number of assents, dissents, and neuters upon the line,
and t..e length and amount of property belonging to each class tray
versed by the said Railroad, distinguishing owners from occupiers,
and in the case of soy Bill to vary the original line, stating the
above particulars with reference to f: ri: parties only as may be af-
fected by the propesed deviation.
ls. To state the name or names of the engineers examined in
support of the Bill, and of those, if any, examined in opposition
to it.
19. To state the main allegation of any petition er petitions
which may have been referred to the Committee in opposition to
the preamble eff the Bill, or to any of its clauses; and whether the
allegations have been considered by the Committee, and if not con-
sidered, the cause of their not having been so.
2tl. To state, in addition, any circumstances which, in the opi-
nion of Committee, it is desirable the House should be in-
formed of.
In addition in this, your Committee are of opinion, that the at-
be
tendance of ever; Member each day at. the Committee, should
entered by the clerk, that the votes of each Member, upon any di-
vision which may tale, ,lace on the above Resolutions, or upon, the
adoption of the'Repora s:•ould be entered by name, and tha., with
the report a note of such attendance each day, and of the votes,
should be given in.
the attention of oft
afford era the
These are the securities for w
Committees. and the means by hich they mayinformation
lo the House, which appear most desirable ;ic but it i
al obvious that
of
these are only steps in the procese by which the finudment
the House of Commons can properly be arrived at, and that it will
tecnd upon the House itself, whether they will prove sufficient for
the end sought.
\Tour Committee therefore most earnestly impress upon the House
the ebsolute necessity of giving attention to these Bills upon the
consideration of the Report, and of attentively considering
furthe.."
the Rcersarts which will hereafter be presented to them.
To o ibis
properly within the very short time which the practice
d
of the Hous n at
present allows for private buslneee, seems imprac-
ticable; and %our Committee therefore recommend to the flpese,
or mare Railroad Bills shall have been reported
that whenever 'Tee
to it, and, accorde to the existing Standing Orders, shall be ready
V
for further considenetion, the following Tuesday be devoted
before any public business is entered upon, to any diseteseien which
may arise upon the mot;on for the further consideration of spch
Reports.
It remained for your Coornittee to consider whether an , and
y
what alteration could be ady:ntageously made in the present mode
of constituting Committees upoi.: these Bills, and in the mode of
reference at present adopted, when 27,11 s might either have the same
termini, or be supposed to compete with each other.
:7th regard to the first point, namely, the :npointment of Com-
mittees by list, adding to such list the members servine for the
countries through which it is proposed that the railway should run,
although your Committee are not indisposed to think that a better
mode may be hereafter adopted, they do not recommend any
change for the present session, bnt would propose that in the ease
of ell railroads, the practice above stated should continue.
The next point, namely, the propriety of referring to the same
lists such resilroads as either have the same termini, or might be
considered as competing lines, has occupied the most serious at-
tention of your' Committee. They were at first most anxious to
have recommenced this course for the adoption of the House. It
holds out id appeerance many advantages. By entrusting to the
same body of men the examination of several projects in rivalry
with each other, it is natieral to suppose that their respective merits
will be better weighed, that Ouch time which would be consumed
in separate Committees, by opposition offered by one party to the
plan of another, there under consideration, and repeated in another
Committee, to that which was there in be considered, might be
saved by bringing the whole under the observation of one tribunal
common to all.
Upon their attempting, however, td work out the detail by which
this course might be carried into execution, your Committee bave
peen compelled with regret to abandon it.
The different periods of time at which the various Bills for rail-
roads may go through their early stages, offer an insurmountable
objection to making this common reference compulsory. Your
Committee, however, are of opinion, that if parties interested in
rival Bills should consent to reter their claims to the consideration
of the same Committee, the House should offer every facility to
such an arrangement.
But, in the absence of such an agreement, your Committee have
determined to recommend to the House that these Bills, like others,
should be referred to the ordinary list Committees to which they
belong. At tho same time, in order to fulfil the principle which
they have before laid down, namely, that the House itself should
ultimately judge of the merits of each Railway Bill, which they
consider it more important to do as regards this class of Bills, than
in the case of those where there is no competition, your Committee
would recommend that the House should not come to any decision
upon the further consideration of the Report of one of these Bills,
until the whole of those which may be considered as rival Bills are
before it. To this they foresee no objection, except that it may
put into the power of the promoters of one Bill, who are anxious
only to defeat by delay the progress of a rival, to defer till very late
their own Report, in order to create delay in the decision of the
House upon the other.
With a view to this arrangement, your Committee have examined
the different Bills now before the House, and they have divided
them into two classes, those which have the same termini, or may
be considered as competing with each other, and those which do not
fall under that description.
It is to the former that they propose alone to apply this rule.
The lists are subjoined, with the classification which appeared to
your Committee to be proper.
In conclusion, your Committee will now recapitulate s'eortly the
result of their deliberation.
They do not consider it expedient, with reference to the Bills
now before Parliament, to recommend any alteration in the pro-
ceedings prior to the Second Reading ; they look to the increased
responsibility of Committees, through' the regulations which they
has e suggested, and the Report which they propose should be made
by them to the House as a security for attention and impartiality on
their ',cart.
They hope to find in the attention, which they trust will be given
by the 1-I,,use itself, before the further consideration of the Report
of each Bill, to this Report, a sufficient check upon the Committee
and a security' that the merits of each undertaking will be impar-
tially canvassed ; and they entertain a confident expectation that
by the alteration which they have recommended in the time at
Which Reports of those Bills which compete with each other can
be taken into consideration by the House, the House may be en-
abled, by having it brooght before them together, to come to a
satisfactory decision upon tha comparative merits of each as would
be attainable if it had been possible with justice to submit them to
the same Committee.
These suggestions, your Committee are well aware, are but im-
perfect, but the period at which the subject was referred to them,
and the obligation which they have felt themselves under, to dis-
turb as little as possible the conditions upon which these private
Thlls have been introduced, have obliged them to take but a partial
Tice,- of the whole subject, and to confine their recommendation to
the peculiar circumstances of the moment. If, however, it should
be the pleas are of the House to continue their sittings, or to re-
appoint them for that purpose, your Committee would propose to
investigate the s:lbject generally with a view to the future, and to
endeavoar to fork
a course of proceeding upon railway bills,
applicable to another eession, which they trust may prove advan-
tageous.

CLAS:IFICA 110 N.

Nu. 1.

Arbroath and Forfar. Gaizshead and Durham.
Aylesbury. Gateshead and "Alonkswearmouth.
Bristol and Exeter. Hayle.
Birmingham and Derby. Hull and Selby.
Birmingham,Bristol,and Thames London Gr and Junction.
Junction. London and Gravesend.
Birmingham and Gloucester. Leeds and Derby.
Bolton and Leigh. Alanchester and Leeds.
Cheltenham and Great Western. Merthyr Tidvil and Cardiff.
Dundee and Arbroath.. Midland Counties.
Deptford. Newcastle and North Shields.
Durham South-West Junction. Preston and Longridge Junction
Durham Junction. Sheffield and Rotherham.
Edinburgh, Leith, and Newhaven. South Durham.
Festiniog. Tremoutha.
Glasgow and Airdrie. Thames Haven.
Great Western. York and North Midland.
No. 2.
Glasgow and Falkirk Junction. Great Northern.
INlonkland and Falkirk. London and Norwich.
London-find Cambridge.
avlmsford.

London and Blackwall.
London & Blackwall Commercial.

Manchester and Cheshire.
Stockport and Manchester.

London and Brighton.
London and Brighton Direct_
London, Shoreham, and Brighton. Stonebridge Junction.
London and Croydon. Birmingham and Derby
London & Dovor South Eastern.
Northtleet and Dover.

DIVISIONS.
Sabbati, 274 the Februarii.
Attended —Mr. P. Thomson, Chairman.
Lord G. Somerset. Mr. Gisborne.
Lord Stanley. Mr. Oswald.
Mr. Thornely. Sir J. Wrottesley.
'Mr. Loch. Sir James Graham. -
Mr. Patrick Stewart. Lord Viscount Sandon.
Motion made,--" That the Midland Counties Railway, and the
Birmingham and Derby Railway, be referred to the sama Com-
mittee •'

AS Fs.

NOES.
Lord G. Somerset.
Mr. Gisbnrne.
Lord Stanley.
Mr. Oswald.
Mr. P. Stewart.

Mr. Thornely.
Sir J. Wrottesley.
Mr. Loch.
Sir James Graham.

Lord Viscount Sanion.
' 'Resolved,—That the Midland Counties Railway, and the Bir-
mingham and Derby Railway, be referred to separate Committees.
Luna:, 29° die Februarii.
Attended :—Mr. Poulett Thomson, Chairman.

Lord G. Somerset. Lord Stanley.
Sir Geo. Strickland. Mr: Oswald.
Mr. Thornely. Mr. Loch.
Mr. Patrick Stewart. Mr. Gisborne.
Sir James Graham. Mr. More O'Ferrall.
Sir John Wrottesley. Lord Viscount Sandon.
Motion made,—" That the time for receiving Reporls from
(Committees on Railway Bills he altered from the 6th of June to
it e 15th June .

AYES.

NOES.
Lord G. Somerset.
Sir George Strickland.
141 r. Thornely.
Sir John \Vrottcsley.
Mr. Loch.
Lord Viscount Sandon.

Lord Stanley.
Mr. Oswald.
Sir James Graham.
Mr. P. Stewart.