The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-19 00:00:00

GROUP XIII.

Tire Committee met to-day at the usual hour, Sir William Clay
in the chair. The other Members present were, Earl lermyn, Mr. I'.
Ainsworth, and Mr. Cnrteis.

CALEDONIAN RAILWAY AND IMANCHES.
Mr Sergeant WaANGLIAM made an application on behalf of the
above company, in reference to the vote which the Committee had
come to yesterday. It had relation to a point which he was sure
had escaped the Members, and therefore he had hoped there would
be a reconsideration of the decision. The Committee, in deciding the
preamble of the Dumfries Bill to be proved, had prejudged the case
of the Caledonian Extension and the Langholm branch. In the pre-
amble agreed to, it was stated, that a branch from the Dumfries line
at Sanquhar, or that which was Called the Crawick branch, would be
of great public advantage. Now that line was for five miles identical
with the Caledonion Extension. In the same preamble it was also
stated that it would be of great public advantage to make a line from
a point near Springfield to the proposed branch from Hawick to Car-
lisle Church. Now this, along with the North British Extension,
would make thirteen miles identical with the Langholm branch of
the Caledonian scheme. It was ctear, then, tkat the case
of the Caledonian was prejudged by the decision that had
been come to. Originally, the Hawick branch to Carlisle was
grouped in another Committee, but in order that the whole might be
considered it had been referred to the present Committee, so
that the whole case of competing railways might be gone into before
any decision was given. The decision that had been come to by the
Committee had' prejudged the case, without hearing evidence for
the Caledonian Extension, or the Caledigiljin Langholm Branch.
He was quite sure that, under such circumstances, the passing of
the preamble was accidental, and that the Committee, in doing so,
had been led away from the consideration of these branches by the
larger features of the case —the main line from MYShire to Carlisle.
ills task was now done ; he called the attention of the Committee to
the matter, in order that some step might be taken to bring the
merits of both branches before them, and in order that there might
be a reconsideration of that part of the preamble to which he had re-
ferred.

The CHAtamare said the Committee had decided that the preamble
of the Bill for the main line was proved, because he conceived the
public wants of the district required it. They had also decided that
the Dumfries Company should have the Canonbie branch. Still they
were willing to go fully into the case of the Caledodian (Langholm)
branch, and if they saw good grounds for proving it they would so
arrange the two preambles by clauses that they would not interfere
with each other.

Mr. Sergeant WRANGHAM thought such a course irregular. There
was only room for one branch in each of the districts referred to, and
he could not see how Bills could be granted for two. He thought
there ought to be a re-consideration of the preamble passed, so as to
reserve the decision on these branches till the Caledonian Extension
and the Langholm Branch were gone into, and evidence called. Mr.
Cockburn, a few days ago, had made an application that no decision
should be oome to till the whole was gore into, bat it was re-
fused.

The CHAIRMAN refused to re-consider the preamble, but would be
willing to hear any application when the clauses of the Dumfries
Bill was under consideration at three o'clock. Should the Commit-
tee think the Caledonian (Langholm) branch ought to be granted„they
would arrange that the tw• preambles should not clash.
Mr. Sergeant WRANGHAM then sat down, expressing strong d's-
satisfaction with the course of the Committee, which he declared to
be altogether unprecedented—deciding on a disputed case without
hearing the whole of its merits.

NORTH ERITIS VI (CARLISLE AND GRETNA
BRANCHES).

This Bill was then proceeded with.
The formal proofs in agreement with Mr. Duncombe's resolutions
were put in, when

Mr. Sergeant BELLASIS opened the case for the promoters. The
object of the present measure, he said, was to connect Hawick and
Carlisle together, by an extension from the Edinburgh and Hawick
branch of the North British Railway, which had received the sanc-
tion of the Legislature last year, with a branch to Gretna, so as
to form a complete connexion with the east of Scotland and Carlisle
and Cumberland. The Learned Gentleman then went into a descrip-
tion of the country that would be accommodated by the line—the
principal towns in it being Langholm, Melrose, Galashields, Hawick,
Canonbie, and Carlisle, and having gone generally over its engineer-
ing character, he proceeded to call his witnesses.