The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-14 00:00:00

FRIDAY.

Mr. Moore's Corranna, Bst 101 b, against the Duke of
Bedford's Oakley, Bst 7lb ; T. M M ; 200 soya, h ft.

BETTING ON THE NEWMARKET HANDICAP.
8 to 1 agst Mr. Copeland's Arthur
13 to 1 agst Mr. Moore's Corranna
14 to 1 twat Lord G. Ben dock's Marquis Conyngham
14 to 1 agst Lord Albemarle's Little Vulgar Boy
20 to 1 agst Mr. Cuthbert's Queen of Tyne
20 to 1 agst Mr. G. H. Moore's Wolf Dog—taken
22 to 1 agst Lord Glasgow's Emilia filly
25 to 1 agst Sir G. lleathcote's Akbar—taken
25 to 1 agst Sir R. Bulkeley's Chertsey.
(RECEIVED THIS DAY.)
NEWMARKET, MONDAY NIGHT.
The betting on the great race to come off to-morrow has
been extremely dull, only Arthur, Ould Ireland, Wolfdog,
Little Vulgar Boy, and Marquis of Conyngham, having been
backed for any amount. A few small investments, however,
enable us to submit the following imposing list of prices:—

NEWMA RICHT / lANDICA P.
8 to 1 agat Mr. Copeland's Arthur
12 to 1 agst Mr. Irwin's Ould Ireland—taken
14 to 1 agst Mr. G. H. Moore's Corranna—taken
14 to 1 agst Lord Geo. Bentinck's Marquis of Conyng-
ham—taken
15 to 1 agst Lord Albemarle's Little Vulgar Boy—taken
15 to 1 agst Mr. G. H. Moore's Wolfdo'—taken
20 to 1 agst Mr. Cuthbert's Queen of yne
20 to 1 agst Lord Exeter's Wee Pet
20 to 1 agst Energy
22 to 1 agst Alamode
23 to 1 agst Colonel Peel's I-am-not-aware—taken
25 to 1 agst Colonel Anson's Rowland Hill
25 to 1 agst Lord Glasgow's Emilia filly—taken
25 to 1 agst Colleen Bawn
25 to 1 agst Sir R. Bulkeley's Chertsey
25 to 1 agst Mr. King's Young Lochinvar
25 to 1 agst Sir G. Heathcote's Akbar
25 to 1 agst Chemise.

DERBY.
5 to I agst Lord E. Russell's Sting
30 to 1 agst Mr. W. Scott's Tibthorpe.
Nothing done on the Chester Cup.
The following have been or will be scratched :—lnheritress,
Queen Mab, Trueboy, lonian, Wood Pigeon, Rowena, Vol au
'Vent, Lady Wildair, Johnny, Young Lochinvar, Doctor
Husband, Ranger, Miss Burns, b h, by Velocipede, out of
Amulet, Hawkesbury, Merryman, Frill colt, Sir Diggory
Diddle, Nike filly, Bretwabla, the Wreck, Anti-Repealer,
Devil's Dust, Thrapston, Cwiosity, Emilia filly, Joe Lovell,
Rosa, Timbria, Soldier's Joy, Muscatel.

ACCIDENT AT KING'S Co LLEGE.—Since the commence-
ment of the holidays, the above establishment has been
undergoing considerable repairs, under the auspices of
Mes: ars. Grissel and Peto, the builders. On Monday morning
two workmen who had raised some scaffolding in one of the
lofty rooms upon the first floor, for the purpose of repairing
the ceiling, were pursuing their avocations, when the scaf-
folding suddenly gave way, and they fell with it on to the
floor. On being raised, they appeared insensible, and were
at on ce conveyed to the hospital belonging to the College,
where it was discovered that one of them had escaped with a
few slight cuts and bruises, but that the other, a man named
John Shannon, was so much injured in the vertebras of the
back and other parts of his body, as at present to render his
ultimate recovery extremely doubtful.
SUICIDE OF A COW.--THE DEATH LEAP.—A fine
cow, the property of Mr. Turner, of Fleetwood, was lost on
Wednesday night last from on board the Princess Alice, on
her return passage from Belfast to the above port. Having
been neglected to be tied up, she became, from the motion of
the vessel, somewhat obstreperous, and not relishing the pe-
culiar style in which "Jack" was endeavouring to teach
her manners, with the end of a rope, expressed her indigna-
tion at " coercive measures" by clearing the bulwarks.
"met
captain refused to stop the vessel at the alarm of". cow over-
board," and poor cushe, thus abandoned, with a watery
grave—Preston paper.

FIRST REPORT from the SELECT
COMMITTEE OR RAILWAYS ANT) CANALS
AMALGAMATION.
The Select Committee appointed to consider' the prin-
ciple of Amalgamation, as applied to the Railway and
Canal Bills now under the consideration of Parliament,
have proceeded in the consideration of the matters to
them referred; and agreed to the following repo.et:—
Your Committee,- in discharging the duty imposed
upon them, have in the first instance applied themselves
to the task of ascertaining how many of the railway ;and
canal Bills now before Parliament contain clauses in-
volving the principle of amalgamation.
Owing to the circumstance that several of them are•
still awaiting the preliminary investigation of the Com-
mittees on Standing Orders, and have not yet been
formally introduced into the Reuse, and that the Irish
Railway Bills have been commenced in the House of
Lords, it has been found difficult, if not impossible to
form a correct estimate of their number ; but, making
allowance for error, and exclusive of the Irish Bills, it
may be stated that they amount to about 161 for Eng-
land, and about 56 for Scotlerui.
Of this number, 37 are Bills for the amalgamation, by
purchase, lease, or otherwise, of existing railway com-
panies with each other.
Thirty-two of railways with canals.
One hundred and fifty-five for the formation of new
lines, and their amalgamation with existing companies or
with each other.
Amongst the last will be found Bills containing clauses
which give a general power of leasing the tolls, or leas-
ing or selling the works or lines, with the view of effect-
ing amalgamation at some future time with any com-
panies which may be disposed to take advantage of the
power so given.
Also Bills which, containing clauses with a somewhat
similar object, are, however, restricted to the option of
two
Inor
az
rdmed more
enratloi
ali companiesnsdin
nwohtthereiniicnhe
ipsupiwecedi fir
in the
r. teh
tea
kabove y list,
there
ex-
isting companies to contribute to the funds for the ex-
ecution of the works of new lines ; thereby securing, in
proportion to the sum subscribed, a permanent influence
in the future management of the company.
Looking to the number of these Bills, and to the fact
that a great proportion of them have been already
grouped, and submitted by the House to Select Com-
mittees for the consideration of their merits, and that
some of them are advanced even to another stage, your
Committee have felt bound to come to an early decision
as to the course which it would recommend the House
to pursue in respect of them.
After the best deliberation which the time permitted,
it has been thought on the whole most advisable with a
view to avoid inconvenient obstruction to the business
before Commit tees, not to interfere more than is absolutely
necessary with their present progress; and that your
Committee, taking advantage of such information as
could be the most easily and readily obtained, should at
once suggest such regulations for the guidance of Select
Committees as they believe may be safely and bene-
ficially adopted, and which would tend in a great mea-
sure, though not altogether, to the attainment of the
object of the House in referring this matter to them. In
coming to this determination, they have borne in mind
that a clause may be inserted in every railway Bill, sub-
jecting the promoters to such additional enactments as
Parliament may on further consideration deem ex-
pedient.
On taking a general view of the various projects of
amalgamation, your Committee were 'at once struck with
the general tendency on the part of the principal rail-
way companies to extend their operations, and to unite as
large a proportion as possible of the carrying trade of
their respective districts under their own control and
management. Your Committee have taken evidence on
several schemes of amalgamation, in order to illustrate
this tendency; and without invidiously selecting one out
of a great number, it may be sufficient to state that some
of them are so extensive in their combination, that they
may be said to secure, if not a monopoly, at least an
almost overwhelming influence in those districts of the
country embraced within their limits.
Under such circumstance it appears to your Committee
to be the imperative duty of Parliament to consider well
and carefully the probable result of these great combina-
tions, and (if they should be consented to) the nature
and extent of the privileges which should be entrusted
to the directing body of each.
Your Committee are by no means disposed to regard
with undue jealousy the principle of amalgamation.
The benefits arising from it, if conducted within proper
limits and under judicious regulations, are indisputable.
It enables companies to conduct their operations with
less expense to themselves, and consequently with dimi-
nished charges to the public; it conduces to better
arrangements and more efficient control, and thereby to
greater speed, and at the same time to increased safety
to life and to property. It enables companies conjointly
to provide that increase of accommodation for the public
at their terminal stations, and in their general establish-
ment, which many of them could not separately afford.
It also enables small companies, whose lines are
worked at great expense, to obtain the benefits of cheap-
ness and general arrangement which are enjoyed by
lines of greater extent. The above are advantages of no
small importance, especially in the more populous dis-
tricts of the country, where the junction of numerous
lines, under different management, tends to expense, ob-
struction, and confusion, and danger to life and property.
On the other hand, it is equally manifest that, if car-
ried beyond certain limits, and especially if not subjected
to proper regulation and control, amalgamation must
necessarily have a directly opposite tendency in each and
every respect. It might greatly diminish the induce-
: ments to a low rate of fares, or to the adoption of new
t improvements ; it might tend to a laxity of discipline
and decreased attention to public accommodation ; and
in various other ways injuriously "affect the public in-
terests. Indeed, past experience affords sufficient and
convincing proof that while, in some instances, amalgams-
'ion of railways has been followed by diminished rates of
c. •irriage and increased accommodation, in others the
re suit has been directly the reverse.
1 • Tt would not have been possible for your Committee,
will lout causing much delay and public inconvenience,
to ea :amine into the merits of these various schemes of
male, 'aeration ; they have therefore directed their chief
attent ion to the question, whether any general rules
could l )e laid down, applicable to the system, which,
without `• fettering the judgment of Select Committees,
might et induce to a greater uniformity of decision, to
a stricter• examination into the Bills brought under con-
sideratiot 1, and at the same time to prevent undue ad-
vantage b eing taken of any increased powers and privi-
leges whit di it might be thought proper to grant •
With thi s object, your Committee have given an early
and attend-% rye perusal to the report upon this subject,
which was made by the Railway Department of the
Board of Ti 'ade, on the 7th of May, 1845.
To the sue gestions and to the opinions expressed in
that report, ) 'our Committee are disposed to give their
general concu. rrence ; they have appended an extract from
it to this repot
t; and in pressing it earnestly on the con-
sideration of 11 tembers, they deem it necessary to make
only a few additional remarks, most of which have been
suggested by ex, perience derived subsequently to its pub-
lication.
ce, then, they beg to call the attention
In the first pla
of the House to th e general principles therein propounded
for regulating its
'recisions on amalgamation Bills; and
.
with a view to carr Y
ing out in detail some of those prin-
ciples they recomme Ild—
That " general powers of granting or accepting a lease
or sale of a railway o. r canal, or of otherwise merging the
independence of one company in another not named,
should not be allowed to be inserted in any Bill."
Secondly, that the s ame rule be applied to all Bills
.
which contain clauses E nabling the companies to lease
its to any one of a number of
or sell their tolls or wor
in
railway companies there. specified.
Thirdly, that a clause , ')e inserted in each Bill sub-
jectinglved in it to all general rail
all the parties invo
way Acts.
lances in which railway com-
Fourthly, that in all ins
panies propose to take powe rs of amalgamation, the rates
and tolls of the amalgamate, 3 companies should be sub-
jected to revision.
At the present time, owin, g in some instances to a
system of low fares being . sound most profitable, in
others to actual or threatened c•
not
.nt
feat
rates or tolls hitherto imposed ompetition, the maximum
by Parliament has
generally required as a limi. e.i.tion, Its . m
to manifest,
mation be
ment to low charges
theonws
ievveel
yr , tandaotpitfead
,syt
hsetelma t
toefr a maiinduct
will be materially diminished, M n,Qt altogether done
away with.
It would be impossible to lay Awn Any precise rule
for the guidance of the House its this wspeet, which
would not be subject to numerous exceptions ; the de-
cision, therefore, as to the exact limitation of fares must
at present be left to the discretion of each Committee, to
be applied according to the mierits of each separate case.
It ought, however, always to be borne in mind that the
effect of amalgamation is 'to diminish the expense of
working and managing rai Iways, and thereby to enable
the proprietors to secure a greater profit on their exist-
ing traffic ; and in • this vi ew of the case it might be
taken as a general rule, s übject to special exceptions,
that the maximum of rates ,stnd tolls combined ought not
to exceed the lowest rates which had been previously
demanded and received by the respective companies. It
will doubtlessly be found imitiossible to adhere rigidly to
this rule in all cases. Cirt lumstances peculiar to a
particular railway may render it desirable that rather a
wider limit should be allowed e but your Committee are
confident that in a far greater number of instances,
especially in those of extensive combinations and of
large companies, the limitati on which they have sug-
gested would be found to fall a hort of, rather than to ex-
ceed, that which might be justly imposed with a due rrJ-
gard to the interests of the shareholders on the one
hand, and of the public on the other. Your Committee,
therefore, recommend that Select Committees appointed
for the consideration of these Bills should impose a -new
limitation of tolls and fares, and specially report airy cir-
cumstance which may lead them to allow any icor ease of
the rates previously received.
There are several instances now before Parliam' ant of two
or more companies applying for powers of ems' igamation,
' whose respective rates and charges very in an .cunt.
' Your Committee submit that 't should be the duty of
' Select Committees, in these Cases, to exercise much care
' in the adjustment and substitution of a maximum rate-
' Your Committee would strongly urge upon the atten
tion of the House, the charges made for the conveyance
of coals ; tbeir cheapness being of paramount import-
-1 ance to the manufacturing and cemmercial interests of
this country.
1 A glance at the proposed cmalganiations in the,, p-
bourhood of the great coal sind manufacturing di,
will at once suggest that if the present compete'
' be diminished, on which alone the public laer-
,
a security against high charge, it is absohit
that a new limitation of rates should be
equal to all parties, and as low as is co.
to affording',:ae
- founded their A
as to Irr^"-
viewthe
forWmaitthion a
sehe4"l"

eigh-
stricts,
' .on is to
,a to rely us
-(1' .y necessary
Mg:hosed, at once
intent %with justice.
House the e fullest in-

-"nos c,n which Coma aittees have
umsions, it
would be desir able that a
-..e De appended to ee report, giving ;, under the

various heads of traffic, the lowest amount bf ,
made by each company during the two preceding yfarsi •
and the maximum of those which are allowed-in thu-Ar
to the amalgamated companies. ' •
Having thus referred to the case of Legislative.aniik-•
gamations, your Committee feel that they ought not to
omit to notice that some important lines of railway
originally formed by independent companies, and with
respect to which no legislative amalgamation has yet
been proposed, are at present practically under the same
control and management ; and so long as those parties
feel it to be their interest to combine, all the evils to be
apprehended from amalgamation may be produced by
private arrangements between them. It is true that
such arrangements cannot acquire a permanent cha-
t racter without the sanction of Parliament ; but, on
the other hand, they enable the parties, by avoid-
Ang an application to Parliament, temporarily to
(sscape the necessity of submitting to those pro-
visions which Parliament may see fit to impose for
the benefit of the public as the condition of amalgamation,
-Your Committee have felt it their duty to advert to
this point as one requiring serious consideration ; al.
thocgh they are not yet prepared to make any definite,
suggestion for the purpose of averting any evils which
might arise from an abuse of the power derived from
these private arrangements.
Your Committee trust that the rules which they have
suggested may assist the Select Committees on railway
groups in their deliberations, and may contribute to the
uniformity of their decisions.

As regards the amalgamation of railways with canals,
your Committee have not been able as yet to obtain
sufficient information to justify them in offering any
definite suggestions ; but they propose immediately af'
tci•
the recess to enter more fully into that important branch
of the subject.