The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-11 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, M4l.

PUBLICATIONS.

Now rradv, Trice ss. bound in cloth.

RELIGION anu her NAME. A Mutrical
Tract with Notes.

By JOHN SEARCH,
Author of " Considerations en the Law of Libel, as relating to

Publications on the Subject of Religion."
" Who ' John Search' is, we know not ; but the above
parripb!et, published under that name, is well deserving of at-
tention, ;is an exceedng,ly scuto and cogent piece of rcasoning
on an important branch of the law of libel."—Edinburgh Re-
view, 118, Art. 6.

James Ridgway, Piccaiilly ; and all Looksellers.

Under the FUPERINTENDENCE of the SOCIETY for
the DIFFUSION of USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.
MA" .—No. 88, containing PLANS of
MARSEILLES and TOIILON, will be published on
the 20th instant.
No. €.9, containing THE WORLD, on MF.RCATOR'S
PROJECTION, will be putlihed on the 22d March.
Now ready,
TETE WORLD, on MERCATOR'S PROJECTION, in
two Parts, without the tames of places.
59, Lincoln's Inn-fields, Feb. 10, 1841.

I A STERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.
CONTRACT FOR ENGINE STATION.

The DIRECTORS of the EASTERN COUNTIES
RAILWAY COMPANY hereby give notice that they are
prepared to RECEIVE TENDERS for the ERECTION of
an ENGINE STA THIN,. 414 that the Drawings and Specifi-
cation, together with the bilis 61".-the quantities, may be seen
on application at the Company's Offices (Engineers Depart-
ment), Iligh-street, Shoredi,, on and after the 19th instant ;
the tenders to be delivered in siglied and s glad before One
o'Clock on the following Tuesday, the 03(1 instant, addressed to
" The Directors of the Eastern Counties Railway," and en-
dorsed, " Tenders for Engine Station."
The parties tendering, or their representative, must be in
attendance at the above named hour precisely, and the FUCCCSS.
ful parties must be prepared with the names and address of two
sureties for the fulfilment of their contract. The Directors do
not bind themselves to accept the lowe:it tender.
By Order of the Board.
A. BULKELEY, Secretary.
Offices, High-street, Shoreditch, 2.4 February, 1541.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.
Notice is hereby given, that the next. HALF-YEARLY
GENERAL MEETING of the PROPRIETORS of this
Company will be held, pursuant to the Act of Parliament, at
the Company's-office, Princes-street, in the city of London,
on THURSDAY, thr :nth of February next. at Eleven o'Clock.
for the ELECTION of SIX DIRECTORS in the place of
the same number who will retire by ballot, and for other pur-
poses of business. The Chair to be taken at Twelve o'Clock
precisely.
CHARLES RUSSELL, Chairman,
ROBERT BRIGHT, Deputy Chairman.
he Directors retiring by ballot, arc re-eligible under the
provisions of the Act. The Transfer Books will be closed
orr Alenday, the 15th of February, and will not be re-opeued
until after the said Half-yearly General Meeting, on the said
25th of February. Clause 123 provide, that no person shall
be entitled to vote as a proxy, unless the instrument appointing
him shall have been transmitted to one of the Secretaries of the
Company, at least five days before the meeting.
By order, CH AS. A. SAUNDERS, }
THOS. OSLER,
ecretaries.
()Nees, 2, Princes-street, Bank, London ; Corn-street, Bristol.
January sth.

IMPORTANT TO GAS-LIGHT awl COKE COM-
PANIES, GAS-FITTERS, and CONSUMERS GENE-
RALLY.

NT DEFINES, GAS ENGINEER, begs to
• inform Gas Companies and the Public, that after seve-
ral years' practice, and close study, he has succeeded in bringing
to perfection hithertounequalled, a perfect DRY GAS MEI ER,
for which he has obtained her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent,
and now confidently submits the sate; for their approval and
support.
The PATENT DRY GAS METER has been tested
by several London Gas Companies, and the advantages it
possesses over the Water Meters are, steadiness of light,
working by the slightest possible pressure ; and to show that
the correctness and accuracy of its measurement may at all
time; be depended upon, it is only requisite to mention that. the
Gas Fittings are not injured by the impregnated water wills
which the Water Meters are charged, and that the severest
frost will not effect it; so that the Patent Dry Meter is emi-
nently calculated to surpass any other hitherto produced.
To he obtained at DEFRIES and LUY'S Manufactory, 67,
St. Martin's-lane, where all orders will meet with immesliate
attention.

REGULATIONS OF RAILWAYS.

The following are extracts from the Itcrorts of the
Railway Department, presented to both Houses of
Parliament, by command of her "Majesty :

TO THE RIGHT HONOCIIABLE THE PRESIDENT OF THE

BOARDO TRADE.
In compliance with your instructions, that the should
report to )ou upon tile !measures which our experience
of the working of the rai!'vay system under the Act of
last .ietsian for regulating railways has suggested as
necessary to give efficiency to the supervision of rail-
ways vested in the Board of Trade, we. have the honour
to report as follows :

The objects which an effective supervision ought to
embrace may be classed tinder three heads :—l. Sta-
tistical. 2. -Protection of public interests. 3. Pro-
viding for public safety.
A reference to the provisions of the Act for regu-
lating railways,-3 and 4 Victoria, cap. 97, and to the
Reports of the Select Committes on Railways, upon
which that measure was founded, shows that the atten-
tion of the Committee and of the Legislature was
chiefly directed towards the first and second of those
objects, and that the third, which experience has since
proved to be the roost iwortant, was, comparatively
speaking, overlooked.
With regard to the first two points, the principles
upon which a Govcranteat supervision of railways ought
to be based, were fully considered by the Select Com-
mittee, upon the authority of whose Reports we may
con,ider it as establisia,d—

1. That Railway Companiei using locomotive power
possess a practical mo unpoly for the conveyance of pas-
sengers en their several lines of railway, and that, under
existing circumstances, this monopoly is inseparable
froin the nature of these establishments, end from the
conduct of their business with due regord to the safety
of the public.
2. That this monopoly is the result of circumstances
contemplated neither the Legislature nor by the
Companies themselves, t,tie extensive powers contained
in their Acts of Incorporation having been obtained
under the impression that the interests of the public
were sufficiently secured by fixing a maxi:nuns rate of
tolls, and providing for free competition in the supply of
locomotive power and other means of conveyance.
3. That, under these circumstances, the Legislature
is hound to 'provide that the public interests shall not
suffer from the mistaken view taken in the infancy of the
science of locomotion, and that for this purpose the
powerful monopolies, in whose hands a large and in-
creasing portion of the internal communication of the
country is placed, should be subjected to the supervision
and control of the Board of Trade.

4. That, as an important part. of thiS duty, the
Board of Trade should collect and register statistical
information on all points of general interest connected
with the railway system. _

5. That, with a view to the protection of the public
against any abuse of their irresponsible powers on the
part of these monopolies, the Board of Trade should
have the power of aacertaining precisely what the system
is is enforced towards the public on every railway,
and of dimllowing any part of it which appears ob-
viously arbitrary or objectionable, and also of enforcing
the observance of all provisions beneficial to the public
contained in Railway 2,cts.
These points being fully established, after mature in-
quiry, by the Reports of the Committee on Railways,
it will be sufficient for us, with reference to this branch
of the subject, to show in what respects the Act of
last Session fails of accomplishing the objects rccora-
wooded by the Committee, and what additional enact-
ments appear necessary in order to give them effect.
With reference to the other branch of the subject,
viz., providing for the public safety, little evidence was
gone into before the Committee, and in their Report
they expressly state that they postpone the expression
of any opinion on the subject, from the belief that more
satisfactory information would ho obtained by the
Board of Trade. This information has been obtained
more speedily than the Committee could have antici-
pated, in consequence of the rapid succession of alarm-
ing accidents which have occurred since the date of
their inquiry.
The steps taken by the railway department of the
Board of Trade, in requiring returns of all accidents
upon railways, and instituting inquiries into those which,
from their nature and magnitude, seem calculated to
throw light upon points of general importance, have
placed us in possession of a number of facts with re-
gard to the causes of danger upon railways, and the
means of providing for the public safety, the result of
which we now proceed to state as the ground upon
which we recommend an application to Parliament for
additional powers, with a view to the protection of the
public. _
The following is a list of accideniT—lttended with
personal injssry, occurring in the course of the public
traffic, which has been returned to the Board of Trade
between the passing of the Act for regulating railways
and the date of this Report.

[Then follows the list of accidents attended with
per.onal injury, occurring in the course of public
tragic, from the 7th of August, 1840, to the 25th of
January, 1841.]
This list is confined to accidents of a public nature,
and excludes the numerous cases of accidents which
have occurred to servants of the Company under cir-
cumstances not involving danger to the passengers or
public, and also of accidents which are attributable to
carelessness or misconduct on the part of the person in-
jured. It is exclusive also of accidents unattended
with personal injury, respecting which we have no,
power of calling for returns. The term " defective
arrangement" has been used in stating the cause of the
accident, not as necessarily implying neglect on the
part of the Company, but simply as stating the fact,
that the accident is one which, under an improved
system of arrangements, might have been prevented.
The following results appear from this list :-
1. Out of thirty-five railway accidents which have
occurred in the course of five months, twenty-one are
attributable, among other causes, to defective ar-
rangements.
". Eighteen arc attributable to "misconduct of ser-
vants," and
3 Six are attributable to 'r mechanical causes,"
among which the breaking of axles occupies a promi-
nent place.
With reference to these results, the following obser-
vations suggest themselves :-
1. The inherent danger of railway travelling is very
small, and even under the present system less than that
of other modes of conveyance.

2. It is not, however, by reference to comparative,
but to absolute safety, that the question must be consi-
dered. The public have a right to expect that the
maximum degree of safety that the nature of the case
admits should be attained tvithout reference to the
safety of other modes of travelling. This is the more
necessary as railway accidents, when they do occur, are
frequently of a frightful character, and calculated to
cause a panic in the public mind, which materially di-
minishes the benefit which the country would otherwise
derive from the improved mode of conveyance.
3. The maximum degree of safety is far from being
attained in practice, as appears from the fact that a
great majority of the accidents above referred to have
arisen from causes not in any respect inherent in the
nature of locomotive travelling, and which might have
been avoided by the adoption of a better system of
arrangement.
This will appear more evident from a detailed state-
ment of what has actually occurred in the case of the
eleven accidents which have been the subject of personal
investigation by inspectors appointed by the Board of
'Trade. These accidents, which from their importance,
and the degree of public attention they hare excited,
may be called the " leading railway accidents," are the
following :—Hull and Selby, two accidents ; Eastern
Counties, three accidents ; North Midland, South
Western, London and Birmingham, two accidents ;
York and North Midland; Midland Counties. (De-
itlaaiglseso.f)these several accidents follow, occupying several
In concluding this review of the railway accidents
which have been the subject of investigation by the Board
of Trade, we think it only fair to the Railway Compa-
nies upon whose arrangements we have had occasion to
remark, to add that in a majority of instances they have
evinced great readiness in adopting the recommenda-
tions of the Government Inspectors, and that the (Ai.
cers intrusted with the management of the different lines
have shown a great desire to introduce improvements
and prevent the recurrence of accidents.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOUNDED ON THE FOREGOING
EVIDENCE, .AND REASONS FOR THEM,
The powers given to the Board of Trade by the 3d
and ;.Ith Victoria, c. 97, are totally inadequate to enable
it to carry into effect the measures which from the evi-
dence above stated appear indispensable for the public
safety. The only powers given by the Act which have
any reference to the protection of the public safety are
the following :-
1. A power of requiring returns of all accidents at-
tended with personal injury, to be made within thirty
days from the date of the requisition ; 3d and 4th Vic-
toria, c. 97, s. 3.
2. A power of appointing inspectors to enter upon
and examine any railway and the stations, works, build-
ings, engines, and carriages belonging thereto ; s. 5.
3. A power of directing prosecutions in any case in
which it shall appear that any of the provisions of Rail-
way Acts have not been complied with, and th it it
Me:11/' for the puhl;c pdvantae to enforce their per-
; s. 1.
The power of requiring returns is evidently insufli-

cient even for the limited purpose of obtaining informa-
tion of accidents which have happened. The period of
thirty days given by the Acts for making the return is
alone sufficient to render it inoperative, and the limita-
tion to accidents attended with personal injury is very
objectionable, as accidents unattended with personal
injury may be equally important, as throwing light on
causes of danger and the means of prevention, and
may occasion serious inconvenience by interrupting the
public traffic. For the still more important purpose of
enabling the Board of Trade to obtai❑ the information
respecting regulations, signals, time-tables, andother de-
tails of management upon different railways, which is
indispensable with a view to any effective supervision
for the prevention of accidents, the Act does not at-
tempt to provide, and by expressly defining the re-
turns which the Board is empowered to cell for, ex-
cludes by implication all which are enumerated in
the Act.

Whatever information upon these essential points we
have been enabled to obtain we owe to the courtesy of
individuel Companies and their officers—a source: upon
which it would be obviously unsuitable for a Govtre-
ment department to depend, the more especially as the
temptation to concealment is strongest in those cases in
which it is most essential to obtain information.

rine Select Committee on Railways having in their
Report expressly recommended " that the Board of
Trade, should have the power of calling for any returns,
financial or statistical, which it should consider neces-
sary for the performance of its duty," it is surely not too
much to ask to be entrusted with the requisite powers of
obtaining the information which is indispensiblo for the
discharge of the most arduous and important part of
our duty, viz., providing for the public safety.
We accordingly recommend that in any Act which
may be introduced in the course of the approaching
Session, a clause should be inserted empowering the
Board of Trade to call for returns of all accidents at-
'ed with personal injury, or occasioning an interrup-
tion in the public traffic, and also such returns respect-
ing the arrangements for conducting the public traffic as
the Board of Trade may consider necessary, with a view
to providing for the public safety. This power, with that
of inspection, would be sufficient to give us access to the
requisite information. The possession of this infor-
mation, however, would be insufficient, unless our powers
of acting upon it are extended. The only positive
power given by the 3d and 4th of Victoria, c. 97, is
that above mentioned, of directing prosecutions to en-
force the provisions of Railway Acts—a power which is
useless for the purpose of enforcing the regulations and
precautions which experience has pointed out as essen-
tial for the public safety. As the Act stands at pre-
sent the Board of Trade has no power of enforcing any
one of the recommendations contained in the report of
its inspectors, however obvious and necessary for the
public safety. Although the Directors and officers of
the different railway companies whose lines we have had
occasion to inspect have, generally speaking, shown
great readiness to attend to the representations of the
Board,this has not been uniformly the case, and:instances
have occurred which are sufficient to show the impossi-
bility of exercising any effective supervision, unless pro-
vided with the requisite powers of enforcing our recom-
mendations.

With regard to the nature and extent of these powers,
the proper distinction appears to us to he, that the Go-
vernment should not attempt to interfere in questions of
an experimental nature, which are still subjects of dis-
cussion, and admit of a fair difference of opinion among
practical men ; nor should it attempt to regulate mat-
ters of' detail, so as to take the management of railways
out of the hands of the parties immediately responsible,
viz., the Directors and their officers.
On the other hand, the Government should have the
power of enforcing, whenever it is found necessary, the
observance of all precautions and regulations which are
approved by experience and are obviously conducive to
the public safety. For instance, upon such points as
the comparative advantages of six and four-wheeled en-
Ones, the best construction and mode of laying down
rails, the best form and construction of wheels, axles,
&c., and other points of a similar nature, upon which
the practice of the best conducted railways differs, and
the opinion of the most eminent engineers is by no
means decided, it would be premature for the Govern-
ment to interfere until experience has solved the ques-
tions which may still be fairly considered as doubtful.
But with regard to other points, such as the propriety
of introducing upon every railway such arrangements re-
specting time-tables and signals as experience has shown
to be necessary for preventing collision, of establishing
a proper and uniform code of regulations for engine-
drivers, guards, and other servants placed in a respon-
sible situation, and for maintaining strict discipline, and
generally of introducing upon all railways whatever has
lacen adopted and protiedeto_beseontlueisas to safety by-
-111-ePiakicireol" those which are considered to be the best
conducted, no difference of opinion can exist, and if' the
principle of Government supervision be admitted at all,
it cannot find a more legitimate field for its exercise.
The same distinction applies to the case of opening
new railways. It would be impossible for the Govern-
ment inspector, upon a short inspection, to pronounce
an opinion upon questions of construction so as to share
the responsibility of the engineer under whose superin-
tendence the works were conducted. On the other
hand, the Government inspector is fully capable of
judging whether the works are sufficiently completed,
and whether the arrangements for working the line are
of such a nature as to present no obvious and unusual
danger to the public in the event of its being opened
at the time proposed.

The pres:entAct establishes the principle of a Go-
vernment inspection of railways previously to their being
opened for public traffic ; but if this principle is to Le
maintained, it is indispensible to give the Government
power to prevent :he opening of the railway in case the
conditions considered as essential for the public safety
are not complied with. As matters stand at present,
the Government has the responsibility, without any of
the power which ought to accompany it. The public
naturally look to the Government inspector as a gua-
rantee that the line is in a fit state to be opened, while,
in point of fact, the line may be opened in defiance of
the representations of the Government and its inspec-
tor. The present Act is also defective in not obliging
companies to give notice of the day when their railway
will be ready for inspection, as well as of the day when
it is proposed to be open it. Great inconvenience has
been experienced from this cause, as, from the anxiety
of railway companies to open at the earliest possible
moment, the inspection has either been fixed se late as
to afford no time for considering and acting upon the
inspector's report, or, if fixed earlier, the works have
been found incomplete.
We recommend, therefore,

Ist. That no railway or portion of railway should be
opened for the public conveyance of passengers until
one month's notice shall have been given to the Board
of Trade of the intention of opening, and ton days'
notice that the railway is sufficiently completed for re-
ceiving the public traffic in safety.
2a. That in case of an unfavourable report from the
inspector appointed by the Board of Trade upon any
essential point connected with the public safety, a
power should be given to the Board of Trade of post-
poning the opening from time to time, for periods not
exceeding one month.
With reference to the exercise of this power, it
should be a general rule never to sanction the opening
of a railway until the works of construction are so far
completed as to allow the permanent way to be
devoted solely to the purposes of the public traffic, and
of the ordinary repairs requisite for keeping the lino
in order ; nor until the establishment for conducting the
public traffic is placed in all essential respects an
efficient footing.
With regard to the provisions which should be intro-
duced into the new Act for the purpose of enabling
the Board of Trade to exercise an effective supervision
over railways after they arc opened, with a view to
provide for the public safety, it appears to us irnpossi-
hie to dAne in any Act of Parliament the exact nature
and limits of this supervision, and to provide before-
hand for every case which may arise in practice.
Tho principle which we think ought to regulate the
exercise of this supervision has been already stated, viz.
that it should he confined to the enforcement of such
rules and regulations as are approved by practice, and
obviously conducive to the public safety.
The following also may be stated as an outline of some
of the principal regulations which we think ought to be
enforced :
TIME TABLES, &C.

1. That all trains employed in the public trafnc,
whether of passengers or goods, should be worked by
time tables, properly constructed with reference to the
gradients, &c., of the line, and specifying the time of
arrival and departure at each station.
2. That in the construction of these time tables it
should be a general rule that no train is to start within
less than fifteen minutes of another, or to succeed an-
other upon any part of the line at an interval of less
than fifteen minutes.

3. That ❑o engine, waggon, truck, or any description
of carriage whatever, not forming part of the regular
trains, should be allowed to enter upon the line of rails
devoted to the public traffic, without a pass ticket issued
by a responsible officer of the company.
4. 'Flint it should bo a general rule not to allow any
ballast train or waggon to remain on the line within half
an hour of the time when a train is due, nor to allow
return engines to approach within fifteen minutes of a
train.

5. That every engine-driver and guard should be
furniFhea with dm- tables, and also with printed in-
strue:ioas, specii,ing, among other things, the rnoxi.
mum speed upon different portions of the line, and the

rules as to signals, &c., which are invariably to be
adopted.
6. That the conductor, or head guard, of every train
should be bound to keep a journal, specifying the times
of arrival at, and departure from, each station, and
the causes of acceleration or delay ; and that the chief
clerk at each station should also note the time of ar-
rival and departure of each train, and be responsible for
not allowing any train to leave his station before thf
proper time.

CONSTIII7CTION.

1. Every descripLien of passeoger carrioge shall be
provided with buffer springs.
3. The last carriage, and at least every fourth car-
riage, in trains by which passengers are conveyed, to be
provided with a proper break.