The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-04 00:00:00

RAILWAY COMMITTEES.

The following suggestions have been drawn up by the Chairmen,
for the consideration of the Select Committees on Railway Groups.
1. The attention of every Committee should be directed to the
following resolution of the House :—" That all Select Committees
on Railway Groups or Bills be empowered to refer (if they shall so
think flt) to tke Chairman of Ways and Means, together with the
Members ordered to prepare and bring in each such Bill, any un-
opposed railway Bill submitted for their consideration, and that
such Bills be severally dealt with by the said Chairman, and those
Members respectively acting with him, as other unopposed Bills are
to be dealt with."

2. If parties agree as to this order of precedence in which other Bills
included in the group shall be taken, the Committee will adopt their
agreement.

3. If parties do not agree, the Committee will decide the order of
precedence, without hearing counsel.
4. In this case such Bills in each group as are not opposed by com-
peting lines, will be first taken into consideration, in the order in
which they have been read a second time.
5. With respect to competing lines, the Committee will subdivide
if necessary the Bills in each group, so as to distribute into separate
classes the Bills for such lines as compete inter se.
6. With regard to such separate classes, and the Bills in such
classes, 'the Committee must exercise its discretion, according
to the circumstances of the case, in determining the order, of prece-
dence.

7. rn the cases of Bills for lines of railway competing inter as,
the following course, adopted last session, is proposed to be iron•
tinned:

Bappo .& Case t!of their competing Bills :
No. I. Counsel opens the case, and then produces evidence.
Landowners and other opponents, and Nos. 2,3, and 4 then cross-
ext mine.
No. I. Re-examines.

Landowners and other opponents, and then Nos. 2,3, and 4 offer
consecutively positive evidence in opposition to No. 1, en the merits
of hio case.

No. 1. Cross-examines.
Landowners and other opponents, and then Nos. 2,3, and 4 re
examine.

Same process with 2,3, and 4, in rotation, and 4,3, 2, and 1 reply.
Where the opposition of several distinct opposing parties turns on
the same points, it will be desirable to restrict, as far as possible, the
limits within which the right of successive examinations and cross-
examinations shall be exercised.

8. In all cases the counsel in opening the case is to be restricted to
a statement of facts. The counsel for opponents may either ad-
dress the Committee previously to offering evidence, or afterwards,
but not both.

9. The promoters of each Bill shall be required, two clear days
before the day appointed for the first sitting of the Committee, to
furnish to the clerk of the Committee, for the use of each member
thereof, a particular printed statement of the chief points, succinctly
stated, on which they rest their case

10. The opponents of a 13111 shall be required to furnish at the
same time a like statement of the chief points on which they rest
their opposition.

I. The standing orders as to traffic having been rescinded, no
detailed evidence as to traffic shall in ordinary cases be received
either in support of or in opposition to a Bill, bat the promoters of a
Bill shall be required to append to the foregoing statement a printed
list of the chief cities or towns intended to be accommodated, with
their respective distances from the proposed line, together with the
amount of the population of such cities or towns, taken from the re-
turns of the last general census. It will of course be competent to
the Committee, if they shall see sufficient cause, to requlrs further
evidence as to traffic.

12. With a view to place some reasonable limit on the amount of
engineering evidence, parties shall be required to furnish the Com-
mittee with the names of the engineering witnesses whom they pro-
pose to call ; and it is recommended that Committees should place
some limit on the number of engineering witnesses to be examined
with reference to the same portion of any proposed line.
13. In the case of amalgamated Bills, the promoters of any such
Bill shall be required to furnish the Committee with a printed state-
ment of all the pecuniary claims and liabilities to which any com-
pany included in the proposed amalgamation is subject by any pre-
vious Act of Parliament.

RAILWAY SIB ARE MARKETS.
MANCHESTER, MARCH. 2.

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are -Huddersfield and Sheffieid
Junction, 3/4 p.— Liverpool and Bury, New, 69 p.--Liverpool, Onus-
kirk, and Preston, 2 13-16 p.—Liverpool, Preston, Manchester, and
Stockport, % p.—London and York, 1U p. -Manchester, Buxton,
and Matlock, I yp.—Manehester and Birmingham, Quarters (C),
6%—Manchester and Leeds, Fifths, 104 p.—Manchester and South-
ampton, p.—North Staftbrdshire, 3 13-16 p. c.—South Midland,
2 p. -South Eastern and Dover, Halves, % p. c.—Tean and Dove
Valley, % dis.—West Riding Union, 1% p.