The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-25 00:00:00

RAILWAYS.

The return of the amounts paid on account of railway de-
pcsits for Bills before the House of Commons during the pre-
sent scs•ion has just been published. The whole amount
paid to the Court of Chancery in England is 11,396,7831. 9s.
10d. For Scotland the amount is 2,323,371/. 10s. ; and for
Ireland about 900,0001. . . _

A practice has arisen among certain dealers in railway
shares which is not only dishonest in itself, but is likely to
produce serious evil. When a person sells his share in a con-
stituted line, he executes a transfer deed to the purchaser,
who should acknowledge the transfer and get it registered in
the office of the company. By this means the purchaser's
name is substituted for that of the vendor, who, although he
may have executed the deed and received the purchase
money, is not exonerated from his liability till this last
formality is complied with. Of late several instances have
occurred where the purchasers, though they have paid for
the shares, have neglected to register the transfers. By
IX& non-performance of their contract—for it is no
better—they secure an ability of completing the trans-
action whenever they think fit. If the shares rise in the
market, so that they can dispose of them in the market,
there is no doubt they will comply with every requisition ;
but if anything turns up in the shape of a disagreeable lia-
bility, they can easily avoid it, as thlir names are not regis-
tered, and the vendor, whose name II still on the deed, will
have to bear the brunt. The vendors who are placed in this
predicament are uneasy enough, but there seems no method
of transferring the burden of liability to the proper shoulder,
but the very tedious and expensive one of a bill in Chancery.
Some hope that as the Legislature is about the work of re-
form in railway smatters, this matter may come under consi-
deration, and that some more summary process of enforcing
the completion of railway transfers may be devised.
The letter urging the shareholders of the Dublin and Gal-
way Company to wind up their affairs has drawn forth some
remarks by "an original shareholder," printed also in a
pamphlet form. The charges made in the extract given by
us were to the effect that the line was wrongly named
" Dublin and Galway," as it only goes from Portarlington to
Galway, and that it was got up, not for the benefit of its
own proprietary, but for the use of the Great Southern and
Western Railway.
In answer to the first charge, the writer of the " remarks"
snakes the following statement:—
" What is meant by the statement that it is a line only
from Portarlington to Galway, it is difficult to imagine; for
if this were so, it would be a bad bargain Indeed for the
western people to make; but it happens to be just the re-
verse of fact that the line stops short at Portarlington ; it
is, on the contrary, for all locomotive, and indeed for every
purpose, unbroken and continuous from Dublin to Galway ;
and as for Portarlington being a small town, why, grant it;
and that it IA 40 miles from Dublin, and on the line of the
Great Southern and Western Company, grant also ; but so
much the better for the Galway Company, for 45 miles of the
line towards Galway will be open in October, and will not
cost them a shilling to construct."
On the other point he says—
" it is but necessary to say that tho two companies were
formed at different periocia, Ana for distinct objects,—the one
to open the communication to the south, the other to the
west; and if the former obtain the traffic of the latter for
40 miles towards Dublin, the latter have not contributed a
shilling for the formation of those 40 Wiles tßon which tho
traffic will run for that distance, and in addition the flew
Company will participate in the advantages of a terminus in
Dublin, using it as mach and. as freely as their own Galway
terminus, without paying a guinea towards its erection, or
contributing a farthing to the purchass of the expensive pro-
perty upon which it stapcl9:"
Having given tho ausWer of the opposite party to the at-
tack originally made, we must here decline all further notice
of the controversy.—Tines.

A few days will complete this formidable squadron, com-
posed of the finest ships and steam-vessels in the world, and
comprising 97 guns and 10,463 tons more burden than the
squadron of last year, and at a moderate computation 10,000
men.
This immense fleet will be under the command of two
Commodores—Sir Francis Collier, of Woolwich, the senior,
and Sir J. J. Gordon Bremer, the junior; the latter officer's
services we gave in The Sun of the 20th inst., in aneouncing
his appointment; we now give the services of Sir F. Collier,
as they stand recorded in Allen's new Navy List:—
" Sir F. A. Collier was Midshipman of the Vanguard at
the Nile, and of the Foudroyant at the capture of the Gene-
reux and Guillaume Tell, when he was wounded; of same
ship at the blockade and capture of Malta, 1800; and expe-
dition to Egypt, 1801. Lieutenant of the Osprey. at the cap-
ture of St. Lucia, and served on shore with a division of sea-
men at the capture of Tobago. In charge of a prize to the
Osprey, with a crew of 15 men, captured a French privateer
of one gun and 45 men. Senior Lieutenant of the Osprey
in action with the 36-gun frigate-privateer Egyptienne,lBo4.
Commander of the Star, and served on shore with the sea-
men at the capture of Martinique, and acting Captain of the
Circe at the previous destruction of the French corvette
Cygne and two 10-gun schooners under the batteries of Mar-
tinique, and in the presence of a large body of troops. Cap-
tain of the Liverpool, and in 1818 commanded the naval part
of an expedition against pirates in the Persian Gulf, where
204 piratical vessels and the forts which protected them were
destroyed. Gazetted 1804-8."
It is expected the two officers in command of the
squadron will hoist rear-admirals' flags before they put to
sea by a flag promotion. We hope such will be the case.
It is also reported that the above officers will only have the
command of their respective squadrons until they meet Vice-
Admiral Parker, Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean,
under whose orders they will then place themselves, but
that Sir Francis Collier will proceed in a ship selected for the
purpose, when the cruise is overk to relieve Rear-Admiral
Sir Thomas Cochrane, and take The chief command on the
China and East India station.
Other vessels than those above enumerated are reported as
likely to join the squadron—the Contest, new twelve-gun
brig, by White, builder of the Daring ; the Recruit, iron
twelve-gun brig, building by Ditchburn and Mare; the Eu-
rydice, 26, just paid off at this port, built on the design of
Admiral Elliott; the Avenger, steam-frigate, of 1,444 tons,
and 650-horse power, by Symonds ; and the Medea, steam,
sloop, of 835 tons, and 220- horse power, by Lang; buti we do
not think they can be got ready, none of them being as yet
in commission; bet should any of them hoist the pendant
speedily, it is probable they may be ordered to join the
squadron at sea.
Sir Francis Collier will hoist his pendant in the St. Vin-
cent, and Sir J. J. G. Bremer, we are informed, will heist his
in the Queen, but, as we believe the steenaers will constitute
Sir Gordon Bremer's squadron, we look upon his hoisting
his petulant in a lumbering three-decker as the height of ab-
surdity.
Each ship will be victualled and stored as in the last anise,
but the cruising ground is not of course yet known, nor is
any day fixed for the departure from Spithead, but they will
sail, we believe, in about a fortnight.
Portsmouth is rapidly filling with distinguished company,
The Duke of Cornwall, one of the five ships dmitined 'VG
convey the Bth Regiment from this garlisqn to the East
Indies, was towed into the herhour yeatepay, and ^; wed
alongside the dockyqrd fof serve y ; she is ,e elace
most excellent
Ar4e-r- Anther of these ships. tSe "
this 'horning with, the 'l' _ arrived Spithead
The
wee, 26, wee undocked this morning.
The Sunee- 411 CaptainA. S. •
Corry, is to come into the
earoour aid be docked, to have some addition made to her
false keel. This is to be done with as much dispatch as pos-
Bible, so aa not to delay the sailing of the squadron. She will
come in to-morrow,
The Apollo troop ship, Commander Radcliffe, is nearly
ready to go to sea again. She takes out supplies for the
squadron in the River Plate, and the remainder of the 45th
Regiment from Rio to the Cape.
The Childers, 16, Commander Pitman, is destined for ser-
vice on the Cape of Good Hope station, and not the West
Indies, as expected.
The President, 50, Captain Stanley, flag of Rear-Admiral
Dacres, by the latest advices from the Cape, was to leave
Simons-bay for the Mozambique Channel in a few days after
the Winchester left, provided her interference was not re-
quired by renewed hostilities with the Caffres.
The Serpent, 16, Commander Nevill, may be expected in
England daily with the last instalment of the Chinese in-
demnity money-2,000,000 dollars in sycee silver. She was
to sail from the Cape two days after the Winchester.
The Bramble schooner, tender to the Fly, Lieutenant-
Commander Yule, left Sydney for Moreton-bay on the 21st
of December.

Captain Sir Baldwin Wake Walker (1838) was officially
appointed to the command of the new 50-gun frigate Con-
stance, at Devonport, on Wednesday. We have before given
the services of this gallant young captain.
Lieutenant Thomas Spark (1812), who commanded the
Prometheus steam-vessel, and subsequently the Polyphemus
as a steam-packet, in the Mediterranean, which vessel he
paid off at Woolwich a short time since, has been promoted
to the rank of commander.

Commander H. Chad (1835), son of Captain Chad& C. 8.,
of the Excellent gunnery-ship, at Portsmouth, was en Tues-
day last appointed to the command of the Styx steam-sloop,
on the coast of Africa, vice Hornby, invalided.
Commander Gower Lowe (1840) has been appointed to
command the Kingfisher, 12, sloop, on the coast of Africa,
vice Brown, resigned from ill-health.
The Trafalgar, 120, Captain J. B. Nott, has arrived at
Spithead from the Nore ; and the St. Vincent. 120, Captain
Sir H. Grant, sailed out of Portsmouth harbour to Spithead
yesterday morning in gallant style.