The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-26 00:00:00

GROUP X IX.

The Committee assembled this day at twelve o'clock; present.
Lord Barry Vane
Mr. D. Morris, and Mr Fhillip Bennett.
(Chairman), Earl of March, Hon. F. Scott,
The consideration of the Exeter,Topsham, and Exmouth Railway
was proceeded with.
A preliminary application was made by Mr. Sergeant MURPHY, on
behalf of the promoters to be permitted to examine the engineering
witnesses called for the other side, as witnesses for one F ill, and he
grounded his application on the fact of the impossibility of anticipat-
ing the engineering advantages of the opposite line.
Mr. Cocsstaui objected to the application, contending that the

documents and forms which were exhibited and analysed were quite
sufficient to show the whole case of the proposed Bill.
The room was then cleared, and on our re-admission,
The CHAIRMAN said that the Committee were unanimously of
opinion that after a witness had undergone his examination and
cross-examination, he could not be re-called by either party in
order to be re-examined.

Mr. Whitehead was the first witness called, who stated be was an
engineer. 1113 evidence went to show that the Exeter, Topsham, and
Exmouth proposed line was the best, and most direct communica-
tion, the probable expense of which would be about 100,0001.; the
purchase of land he included in that sum.
Mr. Brunel, engineer of the South Devon Railway, was the next
witness. 'He considered that the sum of 101,000/. sufficiently ade-
quate to carry out the proposed line, and that no difficulty or impe-
diment, as shine person had entertained, would be encountered from
a drawbridge on the river Axe, as he clearly showed that by
atmospheric power, all difficulty would be set aside, and that at a
moderate expense. _ _

. _
Mr. Samuda, an atmospheric engineer, was then called, who corro-
borated the testimony 01 Mr. Brunel as to tll application of the at-
mospheric principle in this case.
The examination of this witness was proceeding when, at four
o'clock, the Committee adjourned until twelve o'clock to-u.orrow.

GROUP XXI.
ORMAT ITIESTER.N DISTRICT.
The Committee met this morning at :wave o'clock.
The members are : —Mr. Finch (Rutland), chainr ain; Lord Alfred
larvey (Brighton) ; Mr. Wedthousc (East Norfolk) ; Captain Layard
:Carlow); Mr. Lawson (Knatesborougl ).
The following Rills a:e comprlied in this Group:-
1.. Great Western (Amendments and rurehase

2. Great Western and Uxbridge (from Great Western, West
Drayton station, to Uxbridge). Cal ital, 50,000!. ; length, 234 miles.
3. Great Western and Wyeomb om (.• at Western, Maiden-
head station, to Wyeomb). Capital, 150,100/. ; length, 10 miles.

These three Bills read second time. Engineers to all -T. K. Brunel
and J. Gibbs ; Parliamentary agents —Baxter, Ruse, and Norten.
4. London and Oxford (from London and Birmingham Railway at
_ .

Hamm, by Uxbridge, to Oxford). ,apital, 1,000,0001.; length, 54
miles. Bill read second time.. Engineer—John Addison. Parlia-
mentary agents—Parkes and Co.

Mr. filblyard, Q.C., Mr. Calrert, and Mr. Warren appeared on be-
half of the pr"moters of the London and Oxford.

Mr. Talbot, Q.C., ➢ir. 'Wells, Mr. J. C. Symons, and Mr. A. Griffin
appeared for the Great Western Lailway, who promote the three
first Bills,

Mr Martianle then proceeded to state the case on behalf of the
promoters of the Bill.
Mr. HILDY4RD then proceeded to state the case on behalf of the
promoters of the Bill. Ile said, the origi al conception of the line
was of a more extensive character than that now under the imme-
diate consideration of the Committee, as it was intended to have
been extended considerably beyond Oxford, and into the west of
England, and was to be called the London, Oxford, Cheltenham, and
Gloucester and Hereford Railway. But it would, perhaps, be in the
recollection of the Committee, that during the elast session
of Parliament, two Bills were passed which led the pro- •
moters to alter their determination —one, more particu-
larly, giving accommodation to the districts which they pro.
posed to traverse, namely the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhamp-
ton Railway, which ran precisely into that district to which the pro- •
moters of this line originally intended to afford railway accommoda-
tion,
and by a Bill, which had been introduced into Parliament this
session, of constructing a branch from the Oxford, Worcester, and
Northampton Railway to commueleate with Cheltenham and Glou-
cester. :The promoters of the line, not wishing to enter into
an unnecessary competition wills those lines, contented them-
selves with proposing to supply, those districts which they
felt particularly required the assistance of direct railway
climmunication between London and Oxford. He need not st rte to
the Committee that the enormous expense of bringing a separate
terminus to a convenient position in London would be such that the
promoters of a railway of the description before them cool I not
fall to be embarrassed by this part of their scheme. They, there-
fore, proposed either to avail themselves of the London and Bir-
mingham Railway, by a junction with it immediately before enter-
ing London, or by a junction with the Great Western Railway, and
to construct their line on the narrow gauge. They would perceive, by
the plan, that the railway which they had adopted started
from the London and Birmingham Railway, at Harrow
parish, at a distance of seven miles from its terminus
at Euston-square, and ran by the valley of the Brent up to
High Wycombe, from Uxbridge. It then took a northerly direction,
and approached within a mile of Prince's Risborough. It ran up
and made that detour in order to avoid Stoke Church-hill, which in-
volved serious engineering difficulties and expense. To get to
Prince's Risborough it proceeded through a natural gap in the range
of Chiltern Mills. It then descended upon a rich agricultural die-
Wet, perhaps the richest in Oxforashire, and so approached the city
of. Oxford, where it would have a double terminus—one independent
terminus in the parish of St. Clement's, near the 53d mile station on the
London road, the other a short branch, one mile, seven furlongs and
two chains in length, which was to be connected with the Gr at
Western t rminus in the city of Oxford. The merit of the inde-
pendent terminus at Oxford was this, that it would afford very great
facility for continuing the line, so as to join the two lines to which
he had referred as having received the sanction of Parliament,-
namely, the Oxford and Rugby, and the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton Railway. There was also another branch, three
miles and two feirlongs in length, to Thame, a town of considerable
importence,speaking as he did of the whole agricultural dist' ict which
the whale line traversed. There was another branch which, how-
ever, was net delineated on the map, for reasons which he would
presently state, whereby a communication was effected with the
Great Western Railway, by a a deviation a little east of Uxbridge,
affording communication between this line and Southall. This was
the line as described in the plans and sections deposited at the Board
of Trade, in pursuance of the standing orders of Parliament. The
Committee would remember that at that period no report had been
made by the Commissioners appointed by the Crown, in pursuance
of a resolution of the House of Commons to report on the relative
merits or demerits of the broad and narrow gauges. They
therefore thought it necessary to pro•vide schemes on which they
might adopt either of those gauges, in accordance wills the decision
of the Committee—in the one case, by forming a junction with the
London and Birmingham Railway, anti using the narrow gauge ;
or in the other, by connecting it and its branches and termini with
the Great Western, and adopting the broad gauge throughout its
whole course. Since the presentation of the report of the Commit-
tee they had abandoned their intention of connecting the line
with the Great Western Railway, and proposed to connect it with
the London and Birmingham, as delineated and as he had described,
and to construct an independent terminus at Oxford. One great
merit of this terminus was, that it would enable them to connect
the line with the two lines to which he had referred, which would,
he believed, be laid down on the narrow gauge, because he
believed that the Government approved of that report, and because
the Board of Trade had the power to compel the Great Western Com-
pany to adopt a narrow gauge, if they thought proper to do so. If the
recommendations of the report were adopted by Parliament (and he
believed it was satisfactory to everybody except the Great Western
Company), there would be, by means of this line, one continuous
narrow gauge, extending through all that district which was tra-
versed by the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway, and
the branches, proposed to accommodate Gloucester and Cheltenham,
of the Oxford and Rugby Railway ; a continuous narrow guage
would then extend through these districts, to the Euston-square
station of the London and Birmingham Railway. They were prepared
for an opposite decision, and intended to abide by the decision of the
Commissioners, and should have been able to construct their line,
either on the broad or r arrow gauge, within their estimates. He
hoped the Committee would not adopt the course generally pursued
by the Legislature with regard-to railways through agricultural dis-
tricts, and adopt this line, especially as that part of the country was
very deficientin that railway communication which had been readily
conceded to the manufacturing portions. lies:des, the line followed the
course which the traffic originally took before railways were con-
structed, and so far from seeking to draw traffic from any existing
channel, they were now struggling to get hack that traffic which, but
a few years ago, passed throng% it. Forty or filly of the best ap-
pointed coaches in the world formerly ran between Oxford and Lon-
don, along the exact course of the line. Uxbridge was the second
corn market in Eugh and, and Wycombe was the eent re of a district in
which a great quantity of beech was grown, the soil being dry, and
particularly favourable for its production, and contained a number of
beech manufacturers, which gave employment to great numbers of
people. The population in all these districts had a right to have their
legitimate grievances considered and redressed as well as those large
districts which had been and were so clamorous for railway commu-
nication. If they were to be overlooked on account of their dispersed
condition, they would languish in poverty and retrograde, whilst
other parts of the country advanced in prosperity. They required
speedy and cheap communication for their agricultural produce and
fabrics, and particularly for coals, which were 10s. per ton dearer
than they would be if they had a railway. The line proposed by the
Great Western did not offer the advantages which their line did, as
their connexion with London was superior and not circuitous, with
a station in the best part of London. The Great Western was not a
bad west-end terminus ; but what facilities did it offer
to persons who bad business to transact in the City
and in the east of London ? The inhabitants of High Wycombe
and Uxbridge were extremely energetic in favour of 'the line, and
considered that the lines proposed by the Great Western lid not offer
the accommodation they required, and he was therefore at a loss to
know on what ground the Great Western came forward to oppose the
whole of their project. With regard to the opposition of the land-
owners, there was a formidable list of petitions on the table of tile
Committee ; but it happened that all these petitions came from the
same workshop—from the Great Western Railway. He; would
just allude to one passage in these petitions to corroborate what he
had stated, because the Committee might be prejudiced against the
scheme on account of their number. The petition of a Mr. S.
Cousin, who resided in Oxford, set forth " That the Great Western
Railway at present affords every facility for the trade of
Oxford and neighbourhood, by safe and speedy communication,
and the petitioner therefore submits that :mother line to Oxford
is not required for the public or private wants of the district." This
passage occurred in the petition of a Mr. Dunkley, of Berkshire, and
in other petitions emanating from Bucks and other places, and,
. besides, the name of the solicitor of the Great Western hallway ap-
peared on the back of twenty-two of there petitions, show-
ing that they were all produced by the same master-
mind.-- (Laughter.) The Great 'Western Railway was con-
centrated in two persons- Mr. launders and Mr. Brunel—
the filmier of whom was examined I.lst year with respect to an
opposition line from Birmingham. Ile begged the attention of the
Committee to an extract—which was very creditable to him, as his
doctrines were correct—but he did not like to come
there to oppose their line, and to excuse himself
on the ground of " his opinions having undergone a change."—
(Laughter, in which the Committee joined.) With respect- to. a
question concerning the Sculls Staffordshire Railway and communi-
cation as far north as Liverpool, he said he thought a second line to
London could not fail to be of great public importance, as it would
reduce the fares, and would give greater accommodation, and benefit
the Companies; that such competition lowered fares; and that the
interest of Companies, even when they ran into the came connty,
would be thereby promoted. After some further observations, he
concluded' by calling on that Committee to pass the preamble of
the Bill.

'Witnesses were then called on behalf of the promoters.

Mr. Hull, a miller and mealman, who had resided in Uxbridge •25
years, which was a great " pitch" market (corn sold in bulk), and
had suffered much from the want of direct communicatiox with
London. The carriage of flour to London was Is. 2.1. per. sack ; by a
dl:ect railway it would be one-half. The average demand of wheat
was about 3,000 quarters a week, but Uxbridge and its immediate
vicinity could not supply more than 2,000 quarters.
Mr. 11. Norton, corn inspector, at Uxbridge, spoke to the same
fact..

Mr. W. Pratt, cattle salesman, at Southall and Hillingdon—On the
average 2,000 sheep, 300 beasts, 50 or 60 calves, 70 or 80 pigs, came
to Southall market weekly; many of them came from Bucks and
Berks.

Dr. Beasiand, a teacher in 'Uxbridge, said he occupied the chair
at a meeting held in October last, at which those present were una-
nimous In favour of the line.

Mr. Blinks, butcher, Beaclnstield, said the price of coals in that
town were 40s. a ton, aad that he apprehended that a railway would
considerably reduce their price.
Sir H. Lambert, of Stockechurch, considered that the railway
would be of great advantage to himself personally, and to his tenants.
A number of other witnesses were called, who testified to similar
facts, and were all in favour of the line, and that it would confer
great advant4es on the districts through which it was designed
to pass.
The Commitee then adjourned until to-morrow,