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

GROUP XIX.

Mr. Whltcliaad was the first witness called, who stated he was an
engineer. His 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 100,000/. sufficiently ade-
quate to carry out the proposed line, and that no difficulty or impe-
diment, as some 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. Sa.muda, an atmospheric engineer, was then called, who corro-
borated the testimony of Mr. Brunel as to the application of the at-
mospheric principle in this case.
The examination of this witness was proceeding when, at fern*
o'clock, the Committee adjourned until twelve o'clock to-morrow.

GROUP XXI.
GIZEILT WESTEIIIN DISTRICT.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
Mr. lIILDY AIM then proceeded to state the case on behalf of the
promoters of the Bill. He said, the origi-sat conception of the line
Gloucester Wasi of a more extensive character than that now under the imme-
deeat,e, conskieration of the Committee, as it was intended to have
extendedLglauci considerably beyond Oxford, and into the west of
and was to be called the London, Oxford, Cheltenham,
and Hereford Railway. But it would, perhaps,beblntlnide
to
raconection
altetrwou Bills we
of the Committee,. that during the last session
of Parliament,
posed to traverse, nam '1
y, giving
ac,cornmeldeir determination—one, more 'milieu-
re passed which lel the pro-
moters
larl tion to the districts which they pro-
ton Hallway, which rane; the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhatnp-
aely into that district to
pro-
moters of this line originalleycii
too brunch from intended to afford railway accommoda-
tion, and by a 11111, which had which the
nfrientroduced into Parliament this
the Oxford, Worcester, and
i'ate-itth Cheltenham and Glou-
teonnnsetalleat'ianyg
c":ster. _ The promoters of the
ICsnossrtinhnananpf
line,
an Unnecessary competition with those lines,'i''' to
enterintote nted
them-
selves with proposing to supply those districts
con
fait particularly required the assistance or which they
direct
communication between London and Oxford.' He
needrailway
not
the Committee that the enormous expense of bringing a state to
separate
terminus to a convenient position in London would be such that them
promoters of a railway of the description before them cow I I
fail to bo 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 Itisborough it proceeded through a natural gap in the range

of Chiltern Hills. It then descended upon a rich agricultural dis-
trict, perhaps the richest in Oxfordshire, and so approached the city
of Oxford, where it would have a double terminus—one independent
terminus la 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 Gnat
Western terminus 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 riving 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 furlongs In length, to Theme, a town of considerable
importance, speaking as he did of the whole agricultural district 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 persuance of the rending orders of Parliament. The
Committee would remember that at that period no report had been
made by the Commissieuers 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 provide schemes on which they
might adopt either of those gauges, in accordance with the decision
of the Committee—in the one case, by farming a junction with the
London and B:rmiugham Railway, and 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, 'alley thought peeper 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 guago
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 narrow gauge, within their estimates. lie
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. Besides, 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 back that traffic which, but
a few years ago, passed through it. Forty or fifty of the best ap-
pointed coaches in the world formerly ran between Oxford and Lou-
don, along the exact course of the line. Uxbridge was the second
corn market in England, and Wycombe was the centre 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 uumberS of
people. The population in all these districts had a right to havetheir
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 Weltern 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 had business to transact in the City
and in the east of London ? The inhabitants of high Wycombe
mid Uxbridge were extremely energetic in favour of the line, and
considered that the lines proposed by the Great Western did not offer
the accommodation they required, and he was therefore lit 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 the
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 prejudieed 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 fur the trade of
Oxford an) neighbourhood, by safe and speedy communication,
and the petitioner therefore submits that another lino 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 Railway ap-
peared on the back of twenty-two of these 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. Saunders and Mr. Brunel—
the former of whom was examined last year with respect to an
opposition line from Birmingham. He 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 South 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 lowesed fares ; and that the
interest of Companies, even when they ran into the same county,
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 " p itch" 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. 2d. per sack ; by a
direct 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 hot supply more than 2,000 quarters.
Mr. H. Norton, corn inspector, at Uxbridge, spoke to the same
facts.
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. Beasland, 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, Beseonsfield, said the price of coals in that
town were 40s. a ten, aad that he apprehended that a railway would
considerably reduce their price.
Sir H. Lambert, of Stockechurchi, 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 advantages on the districts through which it was designed
to pass.
The Commitee then adjourned until to-morrow.