The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-01 00:00:00

THE GREAT NORTH Or SCOTLAND.

The CHAIRMAN sabt he Avished, before resuming the evidence, to
call ti.e attemion of the p,irtivis to the fact, that a meeting' of the
Perth and Invernoss shareholders hail been held at Inverness, at
which It was decided by a majority of 46 to 2 nut to go k n with the
Bill.

Mr. Sergeant BELLASISIid that decision could not be taken as the
opinion of the great holy of the simeholders, for they we e spread all
over the line, but a small p,rlion of the whole b,dy. But there w•as
the rermrka'le ease of the L,,n,10n and York.
The 11AULMAN--- W. 114, iS that ?

7.11 r. Sergionitt fIELLAIts— Why in that ease a large number of share-
ho!elers were for stopping the line while the scheme was in a must
healthy and flourishing condition.

IrsTIN said it Might be as IN ell for him to stste that similar
meeting to that alluded to by the Hon. Chairman, had bicn held at
Perth. It NI as pretty certain that the London and York tu..heme Was
on its death-bed.

Mr. Sergeaut lIELLAsis presumed the wish was Mier to the
thought.

The Duke of Richmond was the first witness examined this morn-
ing. Ills Grace said that he preferred the Great North of Scotland
line, because it i„ave more accommodation to his tenants, and to tic
public, and gave a decided opinion that there was not traffic enough
to justify the construction of an inland. and a coast Une. There could
hardly be a doubt, his Grace thought, that the Great North o.• Scot-
land was the most preferable of the two coast 'lnes, inasmuch as it
fbilowed the natural channel of the traffic, while it passed through
vast tracts of laud capable of improvement.

His Grace, on cross-examination, admitted that the Banffshire line
might benefit Yort Cordon, but that was a small fishing village of
little importance. He did not admit °fits being an inconvenience to
go round a distance of 61 miles to get front Perth to Inv, mess, be-
cause if they avoided that detour they neglected the heal ae-
calmhodation which the important counties of Aberdeen, Banff,
Maury, and Perth gave. Certainly it A ould not he a benefit to the
public to have I.s.th lines, because it wss quite Impossible that both
pay, and railways only benefited the public, in his opinior,
trTthoef :thlice.rctloeemintr)a•l:datEPhiten wite fully convinced the
poEsed through the
eii4inioniu''eselt(licleoxtuill'et-Etl'stP'ubsist upon its local traffic. lie did not anticipate
that drovers would avail thein,,elves of the railway, because, as
there were few tolls in Scotland, it was cheaper to drive cattle over
the hills than send them I+y railway.
By the CommiTTEE—The Ain rdecn and Elgin line crossed the
river Spray in an objectionable !natant*. On t: e whole his evidence
alit anted to this—he should prefer the two lines, if they could be
made to pay, but as he thought the 'traffic would only admit of one
line being effeet;vely worked, there could Qtly be one line; and of
the two he tho..ght the Great North of Scotland line was the best.

Another di u,sion here arose as to the mode cf prot,eeding in
cross-examitr.tions. The Committee scented to think that the
Nairr, and Perm Luc was not a competing Iliac with the Great North
01 Scotland; and, therefore, the Learned Csunsel, isho appeared ter
the firmer, had no right to cross-exa.i.ine the witnesses catiled by
the latter.
Mr. Sergeant BELLASIS said the Perth and Nairn line would not
'day without they Loa the management of the tra•: c between Nairn
awl Inverness; and they were, therefore. a ci.rup,•ting scheme with
the Great North of Scotland, as between tho-e two places. The
Aberdeen, Banff, anal Eight line depended tor support upon local,
and not through traffic, and for local traffic, and as a local line, it
slaw a competition with the Great North of Scotland.
Mr. Atr•.Tts wished to 'tram if his Learned Friend, who appeared
for the Vern' and Inverness line, oppostd the Abe deer, Banif, and
Eight line?
Mr. Sergeant PELLASIS—No, We do not.
Mr. AUSTIN contended, then, that they could not oppose the Great
North of Scotland line, and they ought either to remain neutral, or
oppose both the coast lines.
Mr. Sergeant llsixasts thought not. Here were 'two distinct com-
panies, the one a competing line with the Great North of Scotland
for the local, awl the other a competing line with the Great North
of Scotland for the through traffic. Both Compardes had, therefore,
the right of oppo,ing the Great North of Scotland.
The CHAIRMAN—Let us preset, thee, as betere. I don't think we
giall gain time by diecusslmt the matter further.
Mr. AUSTIN washed to know then if the Committ e had any ques-
tions to ask his client upon Mr. Duncombe's resolutiirrs ?

The CHAIRMAN --Yes, some dAtbi has been raised as to the source
whence you vrocurA your deposits m ith the Accountant-general.
Mr. FORSYTII --:Ye-, lb re are , iretonstanees convected with these
deposits which give rise to grave suspicion that the (Icposit was net
raised by bona fide satocriptions on allotted shares. In the first
place, the *elicitors of the company, Messrs. Adam and Andrews,
had allotted to item in the first . instance 500 shares wet, witch
ain.n tv el to 50,0001., upon whicht he 5/. per cent Ceposit was paid,
2,610 i. ; but on the 25th of .January, 1846, 1,631) a„,lition,l silives
were allotted to .111 r. Adams,. amounting to 51,5001., upon
w 114,11 lb• was et :y liable to lay tilt Of p T c-olt. de-
p. irt, but he ltd pt'd mare; ho 1.1,c1 paid 73,3:,01. Mr.
, howls ittat,..e. the join: s..,retaty, had ali,aval te. Itim 25,C09
chives Inc which f e wets Attie to 25,000/. `'tsars. highs and
Eurn,, the f di. hurgh at•CIIIP, ,liiive subscribed to the extent cf
20,000/., at d t, o other ageots to tl e extent of 15.0001., while the
armors, t i),ht it iiii.“be,, has subs rihed 17 ,01101.
Mr Au'll' exl lamed that, independently of the amount sub-
scribed b 3 the solicitors, a to fticie,t deposit had teen paid on the
shares to meet the r-quishions of the standing orders of the House
of t!ontirons. Ihe excess was to urea the requisitaois cl' tic stand-
:ug ,•rthrs 01 the lip o;. "Lords.
31r. ilu..t. ousdale, Sheriff of Sutherlandshire, gave general evi-
dence 6 favour of die tir,:at North litn, It gave mote local :,ccom-
modatien. in his opinion, titan the Aberleeli, Raiff, and Elgin line.
The Great North line passe' throaf.:h a fertile and populous district,
while its competitor passed through a comparatively sterile and
barren country, in three-
Murtlis of the Perth ai.*l Na n' line it
passed through a perfect wilderness, and in the m later season the
road was frequently stopped up with snow, hd this objection could
not be applied to
the Great North line. There were three
important mainnacturrs employing several thousand people on the
Great North line and further on many large mid extensive quarries.
At Huntley also there were manufactories on a large scale.
Mr. Andrew Lumsdt, a shareholder, both in the great North of
Seotlat.d and the Aberdeen, Banff aal El.;ir line, preferred the
former line, lweanae it went thronghs more agricultural and w,ll -
peopled counts, n booth de
side,, whlle the Banff line passed nearer to
the coast, amid '''
'cld only he extensively useful on one side. The
branches of the Great North line would amply accommodate Banff
and places near to the coast.
Captain Dalrymple,
sun of Sir Robert Dalrymple, of luverary,gave
concurrent testimony.
The Committee adjourned at f.ur o'clock.

tlitOUP It.
This Committee met in the room No. 1 (House of Commons) et
12 o'elook, having itojoumed till ti,day before Easter. Lord Worsky
took the chair.
CALEDONX&N (GLASGOW TERM= AND