The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-15 00:00:00

Mr. BLACKSTONE withdrew the motion of which
he had given notice—" That the Committee on Group 26
b3allowcd to proceed with the North StaffonLbito Rail-
way (Ahecati,..nts and Branches) Bill, and the North
Western Radwa) (Birmingham and Lichfield Line) Bill,
in the sbsene, of the snort from the Railway Cornmi3-
sionntrs."

WINDSOR RAILWAY BILL.
Mr. C. RUSSELL moved, pursuant to notice, that
the minutes or the proceedings of the Committee on the
Windsor Railway Bill, and the London and South-
Western Railway (Richmond to Staines and Windsor
&c.) Bill, and the evidence taken in support of the pre-
amble of th, Bills, b. laid upon the table of the House.
After a short discussion,
Mr. STRUTT stating that he had no objection,
The motion was agreed to.
HIGH PRICE OF FOOD.—ONE-POUND NOTES.
Mr. SPOONER presented a petition, numerously
signed by landlords, merchants, manufacturers, and by a
great number of the working classes of Birmingham,
stating that they felt great anxiety and alarm in
consequence of the high price of food, and the
rapidly diminishing demand for labour; that symp-
toms of outrage had already appeared in con-
sequence, and praying that every facility might be
given by the House for the introduction of food into the
country ; and expressing their opinion, that if the Bank
of England were allowed to issuo 1/. notes—(Laughter)
—in order that the sovereigns might be set at liberty
for the purpose of purchasing food, that a great step
would thus be made to mitigate the evil of which they
complained, as in fact food could be more easily obtained
with gold than by any other means.
MEDICAL REGISTRATION BILL.
Mr. KENIBLE presented five petitions in favour of
the Medical Registration Bill.

Sir BENJAMIN HALL presented four petitions in
favour of the Medical Registration Bill.
Petitions in favour of this Bill were also presented by
Mr. Macaulay, Captain A'Court, Sir De Lacy Evans, and
Mr. Parker.
TRADING IN PROSTITUTION BILL.
Mr. SPOONER gave notice that, on Monday, he
should move the second reading of this Bill.
CONSUMPTION OF MALT.
Sir J. HEATHCOTE presented a petition from the
members of a temperance society, complaining of the
consumption of malt in distilleries during the existing
distress.

NAVIGATION LAWS.
Sir J. HANMER presented a petition from a number
of shipowners against any alteration of these laws.
COUNTY TOWNS BILL.
Mr. DAVID BARCLAY presented several petitions
in favour of the County Towns Bill.
COURT OF SESSION.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from the
board of sessions in Dundee complaining of the conduct
of the authorities, and praying for an inquiry.
HEALTH OF TOWNS BILL.
An Hoer. MEMBER presented petitions from the
printers and compositors of various towns in favour of
the Health of Towns Bill.
PARLIAMENTARY FEES.
Mr. HUME, in rising to move the following resolu-
tions—That the: table of fees which was laid upon the
table of the House upon the 6th day of May, be nom
read. That the several tables of fees and resolutions
relatir'e to fees of the 22d day of February 1731. the
19th day of June 1746, the .13th day of June 1751, the
2d day of July 1801, the 4th day of April 1803, the
18th day of May 1813. the 4th day of July 1822, the
16th day of February 1829, and the 22d day of July
1830, be repealed from the time the new table of fees
shall commence. That the said table be agreed to,
and shall commence from the cad of the pre-
sent session of Parliament. That the said table
of fees be made a standing order of this House—
said that it would probably be in the recollection of the
House that the Committee up stairs had recommended
an alteration in the fees of the House. Agreeably to that
report the House agreed to a resolution, by which
the Speaker was requested to revise those fees, and
to form them into a table which would be intelli-
gible to all parties, which the existing tables were not.
The evidence stated that it was impossible, and the Clerk
of the Heuse could not even explain why many of the
fees were charged, nor was this to be wondered at, when
he found that they had been instituted and agreed to
by that House, in different periods, from the year 1731,
The table of these fees was now in the possession of
every Hon. Member, and in order that they might pre-
pare for the next session of Parliament, timely notice
ought to be given to all parties concerned. He begged,
therefore, to move that the table of fees, laid on the
table of the House on the 6th of May, be then rend.
The table of fees was then read and agreed to.
AILWAY COMPANIES CAPITAL.
Mr. HUME then moved the following resolution :
"That no railway company which, by any Act or Acts
of Parliament is now authorised to construct, purchase,
or take on lease any line or lines of railway, shall by
any future Act receive power to raise additional capital
by shares, loan, or mortgage, for the completion or ex-
tension of sue line or lines, or for the purchase or taking
on lease, or amalgamation with any other railway or
canal, unless a clause be introduced into such Act, pro-
, idiag that the company shall not raise such capital until
it has realised the whole of the capital which by existing
Acts it is authorised to raise, or so much thereof as is
sufficient for the completion of the works, or for other
objects already sanctioned by Parliament. That no rail-
way company shall be allowed to lease or sell any other
line of railway until the whole capital shall have been
subscribed, and one-half paid up." He hoped
that the House would allow him to state the reasons he
had for bringing on this resolution. The evils
arising out of the old system were still upon
the increase, and it was quite necessary that
some steps should be taken to remedy them.
From several of the most important companies no returns
had yet been received. There were no returns from the
London and North-Western, the Midland, the Manches-
ter and Leeds, the Manchester and Preston, and the
North Wales. By the returns, as far as he could ascer-
tain, Parliament had within the last two years sanctioned
railway Bills authorising the raising of a capital in shares
of 124,586,000/. The total amount of this which had
been paid up was 29,329,0001., leaving 96,262,0001. as
yet unpaid. During the last two sessions the railway
Bills passed also authorised the raising by loan a sum
of 40,000,0001., of which 33,000,000/. had yet to be raised.
Such was the vast amount of capital which the Bills
of the last two sessions were empowered to raise.
It was impossible to say what amount would be laid out
in this year or the next, but an estimate had been made
by an intelligent man, who stated that under the Acts
now passed all capital sanctioned would be out by
the end of 1849, or the middle of 1850, and if such
were the case, there would be a large annual ex-
penditure—an expenditure of at least one and a
quarter millions a week. What was the amount of
capital likely to be called for in the present year. He found,
by a Parliamentary paper of the present session, No. 168, that
the amount of capital for Bills sent to their office was
82,553,0001., with a power to borrow 41.300,0001., so that
the total capital alone amounted to 123,867,000/., which, added
to the 1,640,0001. left from the two last sessions, would make
a large sum indeed. Looking to the reckless manner
in which this money was raised and spent, he did
not believe that any manufacturing establishment in this
country would be able to borrow money to carry on their
business. A larger portion of the manufactures of England
were carried on upon credit, and by this means they would be
unable to get further advances. They ought to put
a further check upon this expenditure, or they
would endanger the whole commerce of the country, and the
Exchequer itself. The Right Honourable Gentleman would
find that the returns of the October and December
quarters would not equal the returns of the last two quarters.
He made these observations, because he thought that the
Ministry, especially the present, ought not to be dependent on the
Bank, or on any body of men, for the supplies they needed, but
ought to obtain that which they needed from some other
means.—( Great talking and confusion.) He did not like to
trouble Hon Members with many figures.—( Cries of " Hear.")
but it was only by figures that he could show the danger with
which the country was threatened. He had shown that at
the present time upwards of 164,000,000 a were already em-
ployed in railway., and 33,000,0001. more had been allowed
at a later date, which, with the capital likely to be sanc-
tioned in the present session, would make the demand upon
the country reach to the sum of 300,030,0001. The difficulty
might not have been so great if there had not been the call of
large sums to satisfy the necessity, occasioned by the famine in
Ireland, which had occasioned the abstraction of upwards of
10,000,000/. Then there was the money requisite for the corn
that was daily sent into the country ; and considering the un •
certainty that hung over railway affairs, and which
actuated the conduct of railway directors and railway
companies, he did think that House had an
interest in knowing the amount of their returns.
.
He held in his hand a Liverpool share from which he
found that many companies had from six to nine different kinds
or classes of shares. At present a railway
not
borrow
rised to raise a capital of a million of money
could d
u, but
money till a clear half of the capita was
this did not exclude them from applying for extepnsions
or new lines, and what he wanted was, that no
company should have
a new line conceded to them, or be al-
lowed to lease any new line until they had paid up the whole
of their original capital. Now, by the share list he
held in his hand, he found that the South-Eastern
Company,
besides their original capital, had four dif-
ferent kinds of shares, numbered respectively, Nos. 1,
2,3, and 4, and upon which various sums had been paid.
He found that the London and South-Western had eight dif-
ferent kinds of shares, the London and North-Western ten
kinds, and the Midland Railway twelve kinds of shares. In
the case of the South-Western Railway, by twenty Acts passed
since the year 1836, they were empowered to raise 6,000,000/.
and to borrow 2,600,0001. This sum was divided into
252,000 shares, ranging in amount from 251. to 50/.,
and the sum of 32/. had been paid upon 95,000 of these shares.
Of the whole amount of the capital authorised to be raised
3,656,000:. remained yet unpaid, and the company now came
to the House for power to raise 3,000 andwh to borrow
1,000,000/., making a total of 4,000,0001. not the
House compel them pay up the. amount the werey already
authorised to raise, instead of giving themfresh powers to ob-
tain new capital to the enormous amount which they now
sought power to raise ? Two of these bills, amounting to
l co
, were proposed to be constructed out of the surplus
profits, and of the other six bills, there were eight directors
down n the subscription contract for 186,000/. each. This
was an evasion of the rules of the House, which ought not to
be permitted. It was coming forward with an array of paper
men, instead of bullion men.—( Hear, bear.) But this wasnot
all. The deposit of ten per cent. was to be paid out of the
funds of the Company. He would ask if it was possible that a
greater perversion of the designs of the Legislature couli take
place ? He had a report also from the Railway Commissioners
concerning the Glasgow, Dumfries, Carlisle, and Paisley Com-
pany, and the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and AyrCom-
pany, the total capital of which was to be 2,500,000 They
issued 80,000 shares to make up this, in shares varying from 50/.
to 101. each. This Ayrshire company had taken powers to
lease the Kilmarnock and kTroon line for 999 years. He
found that the same company had, by a recent
Act, obtained power to amalgamate with the Glasgow,
Dumfries and Carlisle Railway Company ; an
__le.!
for the incorporation of whicht. was
with
in 16
They had also agreed to amalgamation
called the Glasgow anti Belfast Union.
wTithhisaAnother scheme
Com-
pany had subscribed, it would appear, 360,0004 Yosheniraebleth
Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle Company to go to Parliament
and press forward their Bill. This was manifestly a violation
of the standing orders. The subscription contract for the
Ayrshire company had been signed by ten directors and one •