The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-10 00:00:00

04k utnAng

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1846.

The Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for
Trade, have made a minute, under date of the 6th of
June (which was yesterday inserted in The Sun), on
the report of the Gauge Commissioners. Their Lord-
ships appear to have given the closest attention to the
difficult subject in question, and we confess that we

are better satisfied with the result at which they have

arrived, the suggestions they have offered, than those

adopted by the Commissioners. They have considered
the report and observations there made by the Great

Western Railway Company, which is the company most

deeply interested in the question. And, concurring
fully in the opinion " that a break of gauge is a
very serious evil," and that none of the mechanical
contrivances, ,or other methods proposed for miti-
gating the evil, " are calculated to remedy in any
important degree, the inconveniences attending a

break of gauge," they come to the real practical
question,l viz., whether any just means can be

found of producing entire uniformity of gauge.
throughout the country? This truly is the great

question, for whatever may be the convenience or ad-

vantages to the public, were they even as great as the
warmest supporters of uniformity have asserted them
to be, they would be purchased at too high a price if
attained by any but just means, and this is the fitting
view to be taken by persons exercising so high an
influence over the trade of the country, the basis of
which must ever be justice and integrity,
The Commissioners recommend, amongst other things,
—lst. That equitable means should be found of pro-
ducing entire uniformity of gauge, by reducing the
broad gauge lines to the narrow gauge. 2d. That all

public railways now under construction, or hereafter

:o be constructed, in Great Britain, shall be formed

on the narrow gauge. Their Lordships do not con

cur in the entire extent of these recommendations

they cannot feel themselves justified in recommending
an entire reduction of the broad gauge. Several methods
had been proposed for meeting the expense which
would be occasioned by the reduction ; the principal
plans suggested were :-1. That the expense should
be defrayed from the public moneys. 2. That it
should be defrayed by the companies themselves, who
should be compelled to reduce their gauge at their
own expense, or to lay down intermediate rails for
narrow gauge traffic. 3. That the expense should
be borne by a contribution, to be levied on all the rail-
way companies in the kingdom. The only one of these
methods compatible with equity or justice, is that first
named, viz., that the expense should be borne by the
public. It would be indeed a monstrous injury to
the companies who had adopted that standard which
they thought best suited to their traffic, who had
made all their works with the sanction and authority
of Parliament, at increased expense, and who are satis-
fied that that expense has been properly incurred, and
was fully counterbalanced by the additional
speed and other real or fancied ad-
vantages attendant on the broad gauge
if they should now not only be called on to forego all
the benefits derivable from that increased outlay, and
to expend a further considerable sum in reducing
their lines to the narrow gauge. Such a proposition

is so utterly repugnant to every feeling of fair play
and justice, that it requires no argument to be offered
against it—it carries with it its own condemnation.
And so it is with the other, of levying a general con-
tribution on all the railways in the kingdom ; it

would indeed be hard if railways, which derived
little or no benefit from the proposed change, which
are far remote from those about to be altered, should
be compelled, nolens volens, willing or unwilling, to
pay a large sum of money from their own resources.
Private rights have ever been respected by our
Legislature, and thoughit has often been necessary to
take the property of individuals for the public benefit,
yet the principle has ever been that the public, or parties
to be benefited, should pay a full and fair compensa-
tion for the injury inflicted. If, then, the private rights of
the broad gauge companies are to be interfered with, not
for their own but the public benefit, it would he mani-

fest that the public should not only bear the entire
expense of the alteration, but make a fair compensa-
tion for the deteriorated value of the railways after

the change had been effected. The question then re-
solve& itself into this—ls the public benefit which
would be derived from an uniformity of gauge equi-
valent to the great expense which would be thereby
occasioned? Their Lordships seem to think not, for

they decidedly say that they cannot recommend the
Legislature to sanction such an expense from the pub-
lic money. They also declare themselves unable to
suggest any other equitable or practicable means by
which the desired uniformity of gauge could be ob-
tained.

From this decision of their Lordships it becomes
manifest that an absolute uniformity of gauge cannot
now be attempted, and they turn their attention to
the next point of importance, viz., to endeavour to
effect such a settlement of the gauges to be used in
the several railways already sanctioned, and to lay
down such general regulations for the future, as will
prevent the increase and further extension of an evil
they cannot altogether remedy, and will reduce the
inconvenience inflicted on the passenger and goods
traffic of the country within the narrowest attainable
limits.

We think the suggestions they have offered sound
and practical, and such as will afford the most bene-
ficial result. They adopt generally the narrow
gauge ,as that on which future railways should
be constructed, although they do not wish that
it should be considered positive and final, wisely
considering that the superiority of some other and
intermediate gauge may hereafter be proved, and that
the advance of science and course of experience may
point out a practicable mode of altering an existing
gauge, aans to be
easily effecting a great operation,
which is now generally conceived to be so costly and
difficult
berimpracticable. Lines to the south
of the existing line frfoemw
withthe Londonm.aesin length, in im-
mediate to Bristol, and
short branchesg
connexionsanctioned Great
n thNeVebsrtoearnd
Railway, may still be
be
gmadee. by
that the
gauge, but a special report must
Committee on the Bill, setting forth the reasons
have induced them to advise such a au
2ndiy. Unless by the consent of the Legislature, it
shall not be permitted to the directors of any co
mea_
in-
oafr
et e itrh
that
ta i lawn ayy
suitable.
form a narrow gauge link
from Gloucester to Bristol, and from Oxford to Basing-
stoke,paua
rnTeyah et
should
tahl et er
r bs
etuhgepgregosnatlui
connecting the proposed
Rugby and Oxford line with the
or by any shorter route
o°gtnee sd
to
Railway. The object of this toi p
, Socuonthi -Ileltreestethrne
general chain of narrow gauge communication from
the north of England to the southern coasts and to
the port of Bristol.
The South Wales line and its branches, to be
formed on the broad gauge, as sanctioned by the
Act ; by this means a second continous line of rail-
way to Ireland, a matter of much public importance,
will be secured. It may, possibly, hereafter much
facilitate our intercourse with America. Lastly,
the Rugby and Oxford lines, and Oxford and
Wolverhampton, are to be still on the broad gauge ;
but additional narrow gauge rails are to be forthwith
laid down from Rugby to Oxford, and from Wolver-
hampton to the junction with the Birmingham
and Gloucester line. And, if it should appear
that there is a traffic requiring accommodation on
the narrow gauge from the Staffordshire dis-
rids to the southern coast, every suitable

measure shall be promoted by Parliament to form
a narrow gauge link from Oxford to the line of the
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. We trust that
this report will be acquiesced in and adopted, and
that thus the battle of the gauges, so fiercely con-
tended, may be brought to a peaceful termination.

On the 3d inst. the Council of Berne adopted the
three first clauses of the new Constitution without
any amendment.

Madrid papers of the 3d inst. have arrived. They
contain no intelligence of importance.
The Three per Cents. sold at 331 for cash, the Five
per Cents. at 20, the Coupons at 19k, the shares of
the Bank of San Fernando at 385, and those of Isabel
at 196.

We have received the Paris papers of Monday. At
six o'clock in the morning of that day the regicide
LEcomTE was guillotined at the Barrier St. Jacques.

The Chamber of Peers on Monday passed the Wes-
tern Railway Bill and the St. Dizier and Gray Rail-
way Bill without discussion.

In the Chamber of Deputies the discussion on the
budget of Algeria had commenced. The Minister of
War, who pronounced a high eulogium on Marshal
BUGEAUD, was speaking when the post left.
These papers contain some additional particulars
on the subject of the illness and death of the POPE.
" Cardinal de la Tour d'Auvergne received on the 4th of
June, from Rome, the following communication :
" Eminence Reverendissime,—Aware of the lively interest
your Eminence takes in the valuable health of the Sovereign
Pontiff, I eagerly seize the opportunity. of certifying in the
most positive manner, that the slight indisposition, accom-
panied with a little fever, which prevented his Holiness from
being present at the solemn high mass at Chiesa-Verova, for
the fete of Saint Philip Nevi, has produced no ill conse-
quences, and that his Holiness may be considered as entirely
recovered. I receive this information from the Pope's phy-
sician, my particular friend, whose declaration will allay the
anxiety of your Eminence as to the alarming reports circu-
lated on the subject.
" P.S. I am enabled, my Lord, to confirm, at the moment
of closing my letter, the happy news of the restoration to
health of the Sovereign Pontiff. It is quite positive, and I
have it from the Austrian Ambassador himself.

(Signed )
" The Commander CAMILLE LOUIS DE ROSSI,
" French Ambassador.

" Rome, May 28."
The Presse mentions having received a letter from
Rome of the 30th ult., stating that " a surgical ope-
ration performed on one of the POPE'S legs produced
a violent inflammation in that limb on the evening of
the 26th; it made such progress during the follow-
ing da3 s, that on the 30th the physicians lost all
hopes of saving the august patient. GREGORY XVI.
had long laboured under a chronic affection in the
legs, in consequence of his habit of remaining during
the greatest part of the day, seated at his desk."
"We cannot undertake to-day," says the Univers, "the
history of the long career and the difficult and glorious pon-
tificate of Gregory XVI. The last events which illustrated
it are still present in the memory of Europe and the world.
We find an immense consolation in recollecting the noble
words which Gregory XVI. so courageously addressed some
months ago to the Emperor Nicholas in favour of the perse-
cuted Catholics of his empire. He said, considering his great
age, that the time approached when he should render an ac-
count to God, and it was under the inspiration of his piety as
well as of his heart that he defended, on that solemn occa-
sion, justice and religion oppressed. His soul, full of faith,
was not surprised by death. According to the ordinary rules
the Cardinals are to meet in a conclave ten days after the
death of the Pope, to proceed to elect his successor. The
mass of the Holy Ghost, which precedes the conclave, will
be celebrated accordingly on the 11th inst., in the church of
the Priests of the Mission, on Mount Quirinal."

Cardinal Da LA TOUR. D'AUVERGNE proceeds imme-
diately to Rome to attend the Sacred College,
which must be immediately assembled to elect
a new Pope. He will, on the part of
France, exercise a right which that power
possesses, in common with Austria and Spain, of
annulling the first election, should it prove disagree-
able to them. Spain, it is said, acts in concert with
France on this occasion.

The King and Queen of the BELGIVIS arrived in
Paris on Saturday.
The railway from Paris to Sceaux was opened on
Sunday. _ ___

Mr. THOMAS, a notary, has been arrested at Dijon,
charged with being the author of the letters threaten-
ing incendiarism, which were addressed to the Mayor
of St. Usage and Echenon on the 30th of April.
The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce had
published the returns of the corn trade of France
during the month of April last, from which it ap-
pears that the imports were—wheat, 85,946 metrical
quintals; other grain, 4,065; flour, 414: exports,
wheat, 776 metrical quintals ; other grain, 22,512 ;
flour, 2,241: and the quantities lying in the Go-
vernment bonding stores, wheat, 144,183 metrical
quintals; other grain, 23,334; and flour, 7,662. The

Imports during the first four months of 1846 were,
wheat, 1,492,628 metrical quintals; other grain,
41,114 ; and flour, 9,278 ; and the exports, wheat,
7,468 metrical quintals ; other grain, 130,095 ; and
flour, 13,783.
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse on Mon-
day at 83f. 15c. ex. div. ; the Five per Cents., 120 f. 30c. ;
the Orleans Railroad Shares, 1,256 f. 25c. ; Rouen, 1,030 f. ;
Havre, 750 f.; Great Northern, 743 f. 75c. ; Avignon, 895 f.;
Vierzoa, 640 f. ; Bordeaux, 610 f. ; Boulogne, 487 f. 50c. ;
Troyes and Montereau, 380 f. ; Basle, 220 f. ; Dieppe, 42'Jf.
Paris and Strasburg, 505 f. ; Tours and Nantes, 520 f. ; Paris
and Lyons, 545 f. ; Belgian Two-and-a-Half per Cents., 57f. ;
Spanish Three per Cents., 38.
The following are quotations for other railway shares:—
Lyons and Avignon Definitives, 520 f. ; Bordeaux and
Cette, ditto, 506 f. 25c.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, JUNE 9.

Boulogne and Amiens, 11—Central of Spain, 1% —East Indian,
% —Madrid and Valentia, 114—Namur and Liege, 3 % —.Northern of
France Constituted, 13%—Orleans and Bordeaux, 934 —Paris and
Lyons Constituted, 6%—Paris and Orleans, 471% —Paris and
Rouen, 391,E —Paris and Strasbourg Constituted, 4% —Rouen and
Havre, 2834—Sambre and Meuse, 5.

QUEEN'S BENCH.-(THIS DAY.)
(Sittings in Banco.)
THE QUEEN V. SHARP.

This case which has arisen out of a church-rate contest
was argued at great length this morning. It is an applica-
tion for a rule to grant a church-rate, made in the parish of
Wakefield, under the following circumstances :—A meeting
of the ratepayers was called in the usual way, and after
some discussion a division was taken, and subsequently a
poll of the ratepayers, which resulted in a majority of four
in favour of the rate. The opposing party contended that
the vicar, who presided, had admitted many improper votes,
and that instead of a majority being for the rate, there
would be found, on a scrutiny, a majority of one hundred
and fifty against it. Some altercation took place about the
vicar not granting a scrutiny, and a committee was ap-
pointed, the result of whose labours did not give
satisfaction, as the magistrates were appealed to
against the rate. The magistrates dismissed the application,
and the result was the present appeal to the Court of Queen's
Bench to quash the rate, on the ground of the vicar refusing
to allow a proper scrutiny into the votes, and that, therefore,
the rate attempted to be raised was illegal.
Mr. Baines, with whom was Mr. Hall, was heard in sup-
port of the rule; and Mr. W. D. Hill and Mr. Atherton were
heard against it.
(The case had not concluded when our report left.)

BAIL COURT.-(THIS DAY.)
This Court was occupied the whole of the forenoon in hear,
ing a bill case, the particulars of which were of no interest
except to the parties concerned.

SECON VARIES'.—(THIS DAY.)
(Before Mr. Secondary JAMES.)
THE QUEEN V. MALIN.
This was a writ of extent, and the jury were called upon
to inquire of what goods, chattels, Sec., the defendant was
possessed within the bailiwick of the Sheriffs of London, The
case had been previously submitted to a jury, but the inquiry
was abandoned for want of evidence, and the Secondary said
that it could be renewed at any time before the return of
the writ. The following are the facts of the case :—The
defendant is the widow of an officer of the East India Com-
pany, entitled to a pension of 2051. 6s. 3d., from a fund,
called the Royal Bengal Military Fund, founded by
Lord Clive, and of which the board at Calcutta
are trustees. It was customary for the amount of the an-
nuities due to persons residing in England to be transmitted
to the East India Company, who paid it to them or to per-
sons holding their powers of attorney. In this case the de-
fendant resided in Calais, and had been waived (or outlawed),
and had given a power of attorney to Messrs. Richards,
Little, and Co., East India agents, Bishopsgate-street, who
had received it up to January last. The question now was,
whether the Company held the money under the board and
were bound to pay it within the City of London, or whether
the parties entitled could claim it elsewhere.
The SECONDARY said it appeared to him that the pension
wateraellneovmenotrsectohualnd naogtenbtes
fteoructhheedp,ayamndenttheaft
ththeedCivoimdpenadns.y
East India Comp
nature of the fund
Company
ttherefore, to get
Mr. WARREN now contended that all
nynd
rights
attendi and
parties.
It would be better, thee secretary to the
the pension and required their officersexplain the precise
Company, who sanctioned
clerk in
the secretary's
tose subscribe.t
that the body in India were
mere servants of the East India C
Mr. Thos. Keith, a
called—He said the money was merereaaga'en office,
was
Company as a matter of convenience. merely advanced
never,ce lii.iyi
fact,the
had the money, but there was an account current kpt, tin
sent over to the Government in India, who settled with
the directors or managers of the fund. An application
was made three or four years ago to the Directors
to advance the money for the pension on receipt of a certifi-
cate from the agent of the fund, and it was consented to,
but they would not take any responsibility on themselves.
might pay or refuse; there was no obligation to
They
fund itself was exhausted twenty pay,
Lord Clive 's . years ago.
ensued in consequence of
Mr. Warren
A tedious discussion
tender what the Secondary deemed secondary
claiming to
dants title to the pension
and the
evidence of the defendants
East India Company to pay.
liability of the ested that a special verdict should
Mr. WAilitior then sugg
be liven.
'd the inquiry was as to what property
the SECONDARY said
the defendent was possessed of within the bailiwick of the
d
,
Sheriffs of the City of Lon on.
In his charge to the jury
I I:a,'
v
n nc
to him that the ,
he said it appeared ension was due i
and that the Company were not bound to pay. A new writ,
however might be issued hereafter if other evidence could be
brought forward.
oods chattels, &c.
The jury found there were nog ,