The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-12 00:00:00

capital to the Aberdeen, nor to take a lease
of the line. Negotiations were going on, but
it was doubtful whether they would end in anything.
The East and West India Dock branch was going on,
but it was in the hands of an independent board. The
contracts had been fairly let; the estimate was 700,0001.,
and there was no reason to believe that it would be
exceeded. It would prove one of the most important
feeders in connexion with the line. Taking into account
the Birmingham traffic, the gross traffic of the Birming-
ham and Oxford amounted to 7 per cent. upon the whole
gross traffic. Instead of the wages of the engineers hav-
ing been reduced, they had been, on the average, in-
creased.—(Hear.) The men admitted that the dispute
was not one with respect to wages ; if they had an able
and intelligent officer, it was their duty to stand by him.
—(Hear.) The attention of the locomotive committee
was called to the system of classification by the engineers
themselves—(Hear)—the rates were Se , 7s. 6d., 75.,
6s. 6d., 65., and ss. 6d.

, .
The report and accounts were adopted, Mr. Elias
Mozley was elected an auditor, and a vote of thanks
having been passed to the chairman, the meeting sepa-
rated. The dividend will be paid on the 28th.
The consolidation into stock of the 201. shares of the
late London and Birmingham Railway, and 401. shares of
the late Grand Junction Railway, as have been paid up
in full, was agreed to.

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN

RAILWAY AND THE ENGINE-DRIVERS.

Last night, pursuant to adjournment from the pre-
vious evening, another meeting of the engine- drivers
and firemen, who have sent in their notices to quit the
service of the London and North-Western Railway
(which notices expire on Monday next) was held at the
Railway Tavern, Hampstead-road, for the purpose of
receiving the report of a deputation appointed to wait on
some of the directors, and the chief of the locomotive
department, yesterday morning.
Mr. Jonas Brown, an engine.driver, took the chair at
ten o'clock, and not only was the room crowded by the
engine-drivers and firemen of the North-Western Line,
but there were deputations from the South-Eastern, the
Eastern Counties, the Brighton, the South-Western, the
Northern Division of the North-Western Line, and other
railways, anxious to hear the result.
The CHAIRMAN addressed the meeting to the follow-
ing effect:—Fellow-workmen! you are aware that when
I dissolved the meeting last evening, it was with the
hope that the deputation which was appointed to wait
upon Mr. M'Connell and some of the directors this
morning, would be enabled to come to some amicable
arrangement with respect to our differences.—(Hear,
hear.) Your committee have not relaxed in their
exertions to effect that object; and at the interview we
had last evening we had been led to a belief that our
employers were desirous of meeting us fairly. Judge of
our surprise, however, when at the interview which we
had this morning we were informed that the directors
were determined to stick by Mr. M'Connell's system of
classification. That being the case, I regret to say that
we are in the same position we were in before we had any
interviewat all. We know, not only from excellent autho-
rity, but from a thousand circumstances, that the dispute
between Mr. M'Connell and us has not been faithfully
stated to the directors of the company. To prove that
we are entitled to consideration, and that we have
not lightly stood out against this cleverly-contrived
scheme of Mr. M'Connell's, I will mention the periods
of service during which those who have sent in their
notices to quit the company's service on Monday next
have been employed upon the railway; four of us have
been employed upon the line for six years, six of us for
seven years, fifteen of us for eight years, twenty-five of
us for nine years, eleven of us for ten years, and six of
us for twelve years and upwards, or to state it in round
numbers, sixty-seven out of 120 drivers who have sent in
their notices, have been in the service of the London and
North-Western Railway Company upwards of six years.
We never had any dispute with our employers up to the
time Mr. Bury left; and I am as certain as I am of my own
existence that, if we had a kind-hearted man to deal with,
there is nothing the directors could have asked us in rea-
son that we would not have readily submitted to. And
this brings me to the official document published in the
morning papers of yesterday, relative to the new duties of
the'head guards. It is there stated that the new engine-
men are perfectly competent to take charge of engines.
We have in our possession abundance of information to
show that this statement is founded on sheer misinfor-
mation. After reading an extract from Mr. Glyn's
speech at the half-yearly meeting of the proprietors of
the North-Western Railway, held yesterday, the chair-
man in continuation said, I feel obligated to give some
of Mr. Glyn's statements a complete refutation. You
will have observed, that Mr. Glyn states that they have
had able assistance from the north. Where this efficient
northern assistance is I do not know. You are all in
the knowledge that none of the new men have had that
experience as engine-drivers, which is necessary to work
the immense traffic of the southern division of the Lon-
don and North-Western Railway. Statements have
been made here to-night how the trains have been run,
sare morethan
of a p
and the narrow escape of life, to say nothing of the
destruction of property.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. Glyn
againesrtsaotensal that the charges made
M'Connellb us
against tho company. I believe the whole of
you will agree in this statement. I have already
stated that nothing but discontent has prevailed
since Mr. M'Connell came on the line. We never even
insinuated a charge against our directors. I shall now
call upon those individuals who, from their own personal
knowledge, know how the new hands have worked the
trains during the last three days. I deeply regret to
state that your committee were egregiously misled last
night. We were courted to appear at Euston-square
this morning, under the impression that some amicable
arrangement would be arrived at; but, to our mortifica-
tion, we found that it was nothing more than a scheme to
keep our last night's proceedings from appearing in the
newspapers this morning, so that the proprietors at the
half-yearly meeting should not be made acquainted with
the impolicy of the directors supporting Mr. M'Connell
in his insane scheme. Mr. M'Connell states that
ten of the oldest hands in the Camden station have
withdrawn their notices. Those oldest hands are in the
room--will they be kind enough to state to this meeting
if Mr. M'Connell's statement is correct. When your
committee was at Euston-square this snoring they
were informed that several passengers made inquiry if
the train was to be conducted by new drivers or
old ones. They were informed that the former were to
conduct the train, and they immediately left the station
and proceeded to the Eastern Counties to get to Peter-
borough. The chairman concluded by calling on any
man present to state what he knew as to the state of the
line and its safety, but to state nothing that he could not
vouch for.

THOMAS PICTON said that there was a collision on the
previous evening, at the Euston station, by the half-
past three o'clock train being run into by another train,
consequent on the inefficiency of the driver of the en-
gine, one of the new men. He smashed a first-class car-
riage and a horse-box, and was at once discharged.
The CHAIRMAN said the damage sustained by the
company was about 4001. It was attempted to be shown
that the man had never been employed at all.—(A
laugh.) He was, however, proud to be one of Mr.
M'Connell's efficient new men. This happened on the
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ful engines, had been burnt by one of the new drivers,
as also engine No. 9. Last night, or rather that morn-
ing, a collision had taken place on the line, about a mile
and a half on the other side of Harrow. No. 169 en- 1
gine was the train engine, and 206 was the pilot. James
ttrandard told him that the driver, a new man, at this
point, put on his steam and broke the coupling. There
were 60 waggons, and after running some distance,
although his mate continued to signal him to keep on,
he put his break on, and caused the separate portion of
the train to run into the other portion. Several wag-
gons were broken and the line was blocked up on both
lines for an hour and a half, causing a stoppage of the
mail bags, which had to be carried on to the Harrow
station and dispatched from thence to London.
P. ALLEN, engine-driver, said, the Aylesbury train,
which was always proverbial for punctuality, had, under
the guidance of a new driver, been yesterday one hour
and twenty-five minutes late, and two hours and a half
late to-day.—(Hear, hear.) It ought to have arrived at
half-past three and did not arrive till six. As a proof
of the competency of the new hand, the engine got out
of gear whilst on the Aylesbury branch, and the engine-
driver could not tell what was the matter with her, but
ultimately the guard found it out.—(Hear, hear.)
The preceding statements are of course given solely
on the authority of the persons by whom they were
made.
Other similar statements were also made with a
view to the inefficiency of the new men.
It is understood that the negotiations having failed,
the whole of the men from Rugby to Carlisle will forward
their resignations on Monday.
A letter was read from Northampton, stating that the
engine-drivers and firemen there had been induced to
withdraw their notices from a mis-representation; but
they had since recalled their withdrawal, and were de-
termined to resign if they had only bread and water for
six months.
The meeting terminated at a very late hour.

(FROM A SPECTATOR.)—At twelve o'clock last
night the condition of Hon. Members in the two gal-
leries of the House of Commons was most pitiable.
Legislation is evidently much more fatiguing than the
hardest agricultural labour. Who ever saw in the heat
of harvest a dozen of labourers fast asleep in a field of a
few perches? And yet last night, in the highest fervour
of legislation, within a smaller compass, I saw at least a
dozen of our legislatorial labourers recumbent at full
length on the downy cushions of the galleries, and buried
to all outward seeming in the most profound repose. It
would be invidious to mention the names of the
dozen sleepers • but a" high legal ,functionary was
among them, Who snored on unblushingly through a
long debate. A metropolitan Member, as if ashamed
of his somnolency, did his best to sleep with decency by
covering his face with both his bands; but another,
without the slightest regard to the usual convenances of
society, turned his face to the wall and exposed a most
extensive surface to the admiration of the House. At
half-past twelve o'clock there was an attempt to report
progress, but all in vain. The only result of the motion
was that the cry tor a division woke the sleeping Mem-
bers, who shook themselves gloomily, and then sheered
off with tottering steps and slow, not into the lobby, but
up to Bellamy's to obtain some slight refreshment to
enable them to encounter the prolonged labour which at
that hour they had still to undergo.—Times.
WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET, FRIDAY.—The
weather during the last few days hasbeen
fa-
vourable for harvest operations, and The
of
prices of this
day general in this neighbourhood. supplyh.
wmhoenastyi.s llaargbee,anans andthde trade
day se'nnight. Oats and shelling make rather more
ttolecruatb cutting
whea is
other slow
articlesa t the
no :o change.