The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-23 00:00:00

AMA +

LONDON,
TUESDAYstEVENING, FEBRIJAOf. 443, 1836.

The important question of' Railways was brought
under the notice of both Houses of Parliament laSt
night—in the House of Peers by Lord WHARN-
CLIFFE, and in the Commons by Lord GEORGE LEN-
NOX. The result was highly satisfactory; as will be
seen by our report of the debates. The Government,
no longer doubtful of the necessity of Railways,
_has
wisely resolved to adopt measures which, while they
will afford fair play to speculations, combining public
interest with private gain, will, on the other hand, pre—
vent- the perpetration of gross frauds upon the public,
by means pf the ;ruinous projects of rival and insolvent
Companies. We have maintained from the first that
the Government ought to take up the question in a
paternal spirit ; with a view to carry out the princi-
ple with as little injury as possible to private indivi.•
Iluals, lt is the duty of Parliament to act promptly
and firnily to ttuffe!..no parties to ruin themselves by
any -unnecessary delaTl-Itra---above all to afford mere
speculative gamblers no hope of pra ii: impositions
to the detriment of small capitalists. For ..• iur-
pose "it would be of immense importance 1-_...
Parliament to pass one Bill for the regulation of all
future Railway projects—fixing the great lines, to be
first completed—stating in what instances parallel
lines could be permitted to exist—regulating the
mode of applying to Parliament, so as to escape the
enOTMOUS expense now incurred by the introduction
of separate Bills, before the details of the measure are
known to, perhaps, three Members of either House. '
In fact, Railway legislation requires to be put on
quite a different footing from what it is at present.
For our own part, we cannot see any reason why the
Government should not take the whole of the Rail-
ways into its own hands, and so by carrying on all
the great lines at the same time, extend equal justice to
the manufacturers in every part of the kingdom.
By the private contract system the mercantile classes
in one part of the country will possess advantages
ruinous to those residing in towns through which no
Railways are carried. Commerce will move in the
train of the first established rail-conveyance ; and thus
the manufacturers, too distant to take advantage of
them, will be ruined unless they are so numerous and
wealthy as to be in a condition to make roads to suit
themselves. This inconvenience would hardly be felt
were the Government to take upon itself the carrying
of from three to eight great lines, which connect the
remotest part of the kingdom with the metropolis. The
money could be raised by shares, as at present, and
with this advantage, that no part of it would
go to fill the pockets of unprincipled jobbers. This
would lead to an uniform System of taxation, which
in a few years might not only pay off the dividends,
but produce a large amount of national revenue. •We
have in truth very serious doubts of the wisdom, not to
say the honesty, of leaving such masses of public pro-
perty to be managed by small knots of irresponsible
Directors. .

The Tithe Commutation Bill was read a second
time last night in the House of Commons. The
chief interest of the discussion which took place on
this occasion appears to us to consist in the opposite
views which the speakers took of the measure, one
set of Honourable Gentlemen contending that the
Dill was much too favourable to the Clergy, while
another set, among whom svc find Mr. D. W. HA a-
VEY Ride by side with Sir Ileaktyr 150,15, protested
against th,e.44ciaegions spoliiiiion of Church row.lty
contemplated by the Ni)l. It must .be observed, how-
ever, that these contradictory
aWI, mutually destructive
objections
to the details; not to the prinpipleof the
measureapply
: n the
latter
pointwe
are happy to say all