The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-20 00:00:00

rADVERTISEMENT.

THE OXFORD AND SALISBURY

DIIIECT RAILWAY.
7'O THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—My attention has been drawn to an advertise-
ment, which appeared in your columns on the sth inst.,
containing certain resolutions, passed at " a meeting,
most respectably attended, of landowners and occupiers
of land, held at the Bear Inn, Vantage, the 12th of
January, for the purpose of taking into consideration
the propriety of opposing the Oxford and Salisbury
Direct Railway Company for an Act of Parliament to
form their line."
At this meeting Philip Smith Coxe, Esq , presi led.
The Chairman, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Robey were ap-
pointed trustees cf a fund to be raised for opposing the
Bill in Parliament, and ;.o be deposited in the bank of
Messrs. Barnes and Medley. These three trustees, with
Messrs. Barnard, I)earlove, and Goodwin, were formed
into.o committee for the general direction of the busi-
ness ; Mr. J H. Ansell was app iinted secretary ; and
Messrs. Bischoff and Coxe were requested to undertake
the conduct of the proceedings.
The resolutions of such a meeting, w!rose future ope-
rations are to be carried on by a chairman, committee,
trustees, bankers, solicitors, and secretary, are calcu-
lated not only to attract public notice, but to excite some
little apprehension en the part of those to whose objects,
however well matured and honourably supported, this
formidable array is opposed. The readers of your jour-
nal, and of other papers in which probably this adver-
ti,,ement has been published, may reasonably consider
that the opinions of " a meeting, most respectably at-
tended, of landowners and occupiers of land," whose re-
solutions were " moved, seconded, and carried unani-
mously," are entitled to respect, as embodying the sen-
timents of a large proportion at least of the residents in
the vicinity of %Vantage, on a subject of great local in-
terest ; and the public in general, who of late have most
prtil!rly viewed with scrutiny, if not distrust, all
proposals for the construction of railways, may be in-
duced, by the resolutions to which I refer, to class." the
Oxford and Salisbury Direct Railway" amp ngst those
which are undeserving of local or general patronage.
The opinions and resolutions of the recent meeting a'.
\Vantage, on which I am desirous to make a few com-
ments, are the following, viz.:—
"That the suggested lines of railway from Oxford to
Salisbury direct is quite wicalled for, inasmuch as there
is neither passenger' or goods traffic along the proposed
line requiring such accommodation, and, consequently,
that whilst a great sacrifice of private property must
take place, no adequate, if any, benefit can possibly
arise to the public by the formation of such a line," arid
" That, as the line throughout presents one unbroken
agricultural district, possessing, within easy distances,
markets and fairs, amply stifficient to absorb all the
produce thereof, the scheme in question appears a more
wanton speculotion of the day, possessing neither merit in
itself, OR a reasonable prospect of a return for capital
required for the undertaking."
It is difficult to conceive language more condemnatory
of " the suggested line," than the terms in which " the
meeting of landowners and occupiers of land" have thus
promulgated their " unanimous" opinion. A semblance
of truth is ingeniously shed over the premises from
which the gentlemen present at the meeting, have
drawn their. authoritative conclusions ; and could, if
capable of proof, warrant, in some measure, the strong
terms of reprobation in which they have publicly ex.
pressed their determination to " use their best endea-
vours individually and collectively, to defeat the pro
p Iseci measure in Parliament."
The first resolution declares " that the suggested line
of railway is quite uncalled for." lad ,pt the language
of the meeting for the purpose of showing that this
declaration is literally untrue. This line of railway has
been actually called for, both orally and in writing, as I
will proceed to prove.
On the 24th of October last, a public meeting of the
inhabitants of Abingdon, convened by the Mayor, in
compliance with a requisition forwarded to him,
was held in the Council Chamber there, to consider the

expediency of the proposed Oxford and Salisbury. Direct
Railway. At this meeting, numerously attended, the
iNfayor presided, and the following resolution, proposed
and seconded by members of the Town Council, was
unaniously passed :
"That, in the opinion of this meeting, the formation
of the Oxford and Salisbury Direct Railway would be
beneficial to the town, and was therefore deserving of
their support."
And on the sth of November last, being a market
day, a public meeting of the inhabitants of Wantage and
the adjacent district, called by advertisement in the
eleven newspapers circulating in the counties of Berks,
Wilts, Oxford, and Somerset, and also in the Times
newspaper, was held, not at the Bear Inn, but in the
Town-hall, to consider the expediency of this line being
formed. At this latter meeting, also numerously at
tended, Thomas Goodlake, Esq., of Letcomb Regis (a
parish immediately adjoining \Vantage), one of the Ma-
gistrates for the county of Berks, took the chair, and a
resolution, with scarcely a dissentient voice, was car
ried—

"That, in the opinion of this meeting, the Oxford and
Salisbury Direct Railway, passing near to the town of
Wantage, eill he highly beneficial to the town and its
neighbourhood, and is therefore entitled to the suppurt
of the inhabitants."_ _ _ .

So much for parol evidence produced from the towns
of Abingdon and \Vantage, distant about ten miles apart,
and adjoining the line of the proposed railway. My do-
cumentary testimony to prove that "the suggested line" is
called for is the foll.wing, viz.
In the course of a very few days, in the month of No-
vember last, testimonial,, " approving of the line. and
desiring that it may be speedily formed," were signed by
inhabitants of every city and town directly affected by it
in the following numbers, viz.:—
Inhabitants of Abingdon 2C
Hungerford
- oxford
- %Vantage
Landowners, farmers, end dealers attending
Wantage Market
Inhabitants of Salisbury

---136
, ... 73

Making a total of.

Evidence of the meetings at Abingdon and Watita4e
is to be found in the London and Provincial newspapers.
The inclosed copy of the testimonials, sent for your own
satisfaction, bears out the latter 'assertion. And, as re-
gards the Wantage testimonials (which 1 select for the
especial attention of the gentlemen present at the recent
meeting), I appeal with confidence to the whole of that
neighbourhood, when I assert that the signatures repre-
sent an amount of wealth and intelligence fully en-
titled to the deep respect and serious attention of the
public at large.
The gentlemen present at the recent meeting assert,
in their resolutions, that " there is neither passenge- 5'
nor goods' traffic along the proposed line requiring rail-
way accommodation," and that the line throughout pre
seats one unbroken agricultural distric , possessing,
within easy di:lances, markets and fairs, amply sugi-
cient to absorb all the produce thereof." True, it is,
"and pity 'tis, 'tis true," that at present there is but
little traffic along the whole line of ..he proposed line,
but there is a great deal of traffic on parts of it. There
is no public conveyance between Oxford and Salisbury,
as the residents in those cities, and the districts north of
the former and south of the latter, know to their incon-
venience. The most expeditious means and channel of
transit, are by the Great Western and South-Western
Railways via London ; for a traveller between Oxford
and Salisbury, unless he be furnhhed with his own car-
Huge, or hire a conveyance for his special use,cannot
travel by any public means between the one city and
the other in a less time than from twelve to thirteen
hours; and then instead of pursuing a direct line of 56
miles, he must take a circuitous route by Marlborough
and Swindon. It would be absurd to argue, that because
there is not at the present day a large and increasing
agricultureu
traffic between any two given points, &toss a district of
country capable of almost incalculable improvement,
tl;
a-h nting,
hitherto neglected, and to a great extent allowed to lie
twr aa s: tsei,t and trhdeerde, fonroe iam
petu s favouritegivleon the
c ael y for
no
to no improvement is to be attempted, no facilities of
oor manufactures; the inhabitants to be deprived of those
railway appliances, by means of which they know that
other parts of the country have been greatly bcnefitted,
and that the progress of science, intelligence, and in-
dustry is to be arrested at each of the termini. The
same argument would contend that a large proportion
of the intermediate province shall remain a wild, unculti-
vated, and desolate plain, and the whole be preserved as
a memorial to posterity f the ignorance, as well as the
selfishness, of the present " landowners and occupiers of
land." Oa this part of the subject I cannot do better
than give the following extract from a speech made by
Mr. Towle, of Oxford, at the Wantage meeting, on the
Oth of November :
" He was satisfied that the formation of a railway was
all that was required to raise the property of Wantage
and its neighbourhood to a level with that of any other
part of the country. At present they were under great
disadvantages. Their poor had to suffer all the priva-
tions of other neighbourhoods, with the additional ca-
lamity of scarcity of fuel. Coal, in his neighbourhood,
cost at present 255. per ton. He was close on the limo of
the Great Western Railway, but received no benefit from
it except in quickness of transit. Their line had been
very expensive, and probably they could not afford to
carry for less, and they were then charging within a
fraction of 2d. per ton. lie himself paid 10s. per ton
for coals in Bristol, and 245. 6d. when he got them at
his mills near Oxford. The promoters of the Great
Western, previous to its formation, promised that 80,000
tons of coal a-year should be carried to Oxford, but
they had grievously disappointed the public in that
respect.—(Cheers.) The formation of the line would
almost double the value of the land and its produce. At
present their hay, straw, and corn were sent into the
manufacturing districts where it was sold at the prices
which the same articles fetched that were grown in the
neighbourhood, the whole expense of the transit failing
on the producers. The neighbourhood was one of the
best in the world for manufactures. Witney ought to
have several tall chimneys. an . to turn their wool into
blankets. Abingdon ought to make large quantities of
coarse carpeting, instead of sending their wool at a larg,
expense into Yorkshire. Mr. Hudson had stated bef re
a committee of Parliament that one engine would con-
vey 95 wagons, at the rate of 18 miles an hour, each
waggon conveying five tons of coal, at an expense , f
about 9d. per mile, and his opinion was that a railway
passing through a neighbourhood was equal to bringing
a coal mine into it. In his judgment coals ought to be
supplied at 12s. per ton." And
Mr. GoOdlake, the Chairman, concurred in these
remarks, when he expressed his opinion that " the gen-
tlemen who formed the deputation deserved the thanks
of the meeting and of the town of %Vantage for their
efforts towards bringing a railway into the neighbour-
hood. He must say that as far as fox-hunting went,
gentlemen might be injured by railways, but the pros-
perity of the country and its inhabitants, the warming
them in winter, and feeding them through the whole of.