The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-30 00:00:00

Mr. Gresham here objected to Mr. Edwards's
statement of the contents of the letter in question, and
undertook to produce it, if it was in existence, on
subsequent day.
Mr. Edwards, in continuation, said that on the-36th
of November he received a letter from Mr. Gresham,
in reply to the before-mentioned communication,
denying his knowledge of any Carden party, and
that he was acting for any party whatever. The first
time he was made aware that a candidate opposed
to his interest was really in the field was about the
30th of November, when he was informed that Mr.
Alderman Carden had positively come forward. He
then began to take active measures in support of Mr.
Bell. He did not attach much consequence to the
threatened opposition, as it was said that Mr. Carden
was a Liberal, and he was not afraid of a serious op-
position from the party who supported him. Before
Mr. Carden had canvassed a single vote Mr. Bell
told him that he was surely not aware of the po-
sition of affairs in the town, or be would not dis-
turb it ; that it was quite ascertained that the
number was considerably in Mr. Bell's favour.
Mr. Carden bowed and thanked him, but his party
said something to him which appeared to be
" fudge," and then went away. He repeated
that at no time was the opposition serious. He would
not have minded two such candidates. Some of the
electors upon whom he relied did decline giving pro-
mises in favour of Mr. Bell, but not more than usual.
Some of them wanted a good deal of solicitation. He
did not find it necessary to hold out any promises of
reward. When he gave anything he always gave it
at once. It was always understood that something
should be given. It was notorious that the electors
went to the different agents for what was commonly
called "head-money." Out of the 324 electors whom
he reckoned favourable to his interest, there were
about 250 whom he looked upon as persons requiring
head-money. It was the same with the other party.
He had acted on both sides. He should think it very
strange if Mr. Carden's party had not done the same
thing. The Conservative party was very much
altered if it did not look for money on such oc-
casions. The fixed sum given was Si. a head. The
maximum was 81., and one or two voters had less than
Si. The way in which the money was given was
this :—They first canvassed the town all day; but
there was not much to be done that way. In the
evenings witness generally took up his position at his
office, and in accordance with the regular custom for
20 years, the voters called upon him there, and, if
they promised their vote, he gave them head-money.
Formerly he hail a brother-in-law who acted with
him, and be took up his position at the top of the
stairs, and introduced the voters to him, one by one.
His own sons afterwards took up that position. Ge-
nerally the whole money was paid on such occasions,
but there were some few exceptions. Every one who
received money was in some way engaged in the
election, as spies, messengers, and various sorts of
ways, and he paid them according to what he thought
the value of their labour. 51., as he had said, was the
usual sum ; but if a man had rendered efficient ser-
vice as a messenger or spy, he received more. Some
of them were actively and some of them only colour-
ably employed. Those who were only colourably
employed received a small sum, those who were ac-
tively employed a larger sum. He began paying
money on the 30th November. He had a list of the
persons who received head-money, but that was one
of the papers he had particularly destroyed. He
wished to avoid mentioning persons' names, as it was
a very painful thing to do so.
Mr. SLADE-But you must mention the names of
the persons, if you remember them.
Mr. Edwards—Will you tell me, in the presence of
this meeting, what will be the consequence of my re-
fusing to mention the names?
Mr. SLADE—You will be imprisoned till you do,
and the imprisonment may last your life unless you
disclose the names. You have no option, Mr. Ed-
wards. You must disclose the names.

Mr. Edwards—l have already suffered eighteen
weeks' imprisonment, and am ready to suffer another
eighteen weeks rather than mention names.
Mr. SLADE—I fear you will have to suffer more
than eighteen weeks, unless you comply with the Act
of Parliament, and answer the questions put to you.
I feel for your position, but you have no alternative.
It was then agreed that the Commissioners should
take the register and call out the names of the several
electors seriatim, at the same time requesting Mr.
Edwards to say whether he had paid them any and
what sum for their votes at the late election. In this way
the names of about 100 persons were mentioned as
having received " head-money." About 30 of them
had receive') 51. a-piece or upwards; 10 had received
81. or upwards; three of them 6/. or upwards; two
of them 101; one 18/, or 201; and one l /., 21, or 31.
In most of the cases where more than 51. had been
given the witness stated that services had been rendered
to more than the full value of the sum received. One
supplied committee-rooms, another furnished apart-
ments, and others acted as spies, messengers, or door-
keepers. In one or two cases the money was given
to the wives of the electors, but the husbands de-
clined to recognise the bargain, and voted for Mr.
Carden or not at all. The money in none of these
cases was ever returned. Three prize fighters were
employed to keep the peace, and received the usual
allowance of 51. Witness would not have done their
duty for 501.
This examination of the register only exhausted
one parish. The other parishes will be gone through
to-morrow.

Mr. SLADE reminded the reporters of the caution
he had given them at the commencement respecting
the publication of the evidence, and he particularly
wished to call;their attention to the great unfairness
of publishing, at this stage of the proceedings, the
names that had been mentioned by Mr. Edwards that
day.

The inquiry was adjourned at a quarter past 4 till
half-past 10 to-morrow (Thursday).

CAUTION TO THE PUBLIC.

BASE COIN.—The officers of her Majesty's Mint have
received information that the coiners in the metropolis
have adopted a new process for the production of base
coin, with which it is of some importance the public
should be acquainted. There are at the present time
in circulation a large quantity of counterfeit half-crowns,
which have been produced from dies in brass, and then
electro-plated with silver, and by this method the base
coin has much more the appearance of silver than that
produced from moulds, many of the defects apparent in
the latter being by the new process altogether avoided.
For instance the milling round the edge of the coin
struck from the die is as perfect as that on coin issued
from the Mint; and it is well known that the greatest
difficulty the coiner had to contend against was, to mill
the edge of the spurious canal to the genuine coin. To
these braes half-crowns, the little " coin detectors" now
in general use are of no avail, for they cannot be bent by
them. The preparation of these dies is rather an expen-
sive affair, and one set have already found their way
into the possession of the authorities. These half-
crowns have been pronounced the best imitations of the
genuine coin yet produceidrc,ualnadotifottnhheihsyasipreue r
emanated
spurious
ays
netaooti de-
tectedenbd,etfhreorme
tbbheeriinenegg pennyweightslrbi
egyahsttohe
reason
btoypeculiarityboenleievi
ge ht
theoarf
pennyweight
thea rh
ti
enht ring
eph
oaahlnni
et and it:hbf their
iyrroegenuinewn s woefhi gtahhl
fti
crown. The moulded counterfeit half-crown is about
characterll
s
endeavour-
ing
to
traceat the
presentmanufacturer iin c
one source.

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—A melancholy oo-
currence, attended with fatal consequences, happened in the
parish of Ordiquihill on Thursday. Two parties, one of them
named Mackay, gamekeeper, Marnoch, and the other John
Ellis, ground officer, Ordiquhill, had been on the hill of Rae-
more shooting, when a hare crossing their track, both fired
at it in a kneeling posture, and on Mackay rising to his feet
he found, to his horror, that his companion was shout through
the head. The unfortunate man only lived about two hours.
Scotsman.

The CmeinmAN said it now became his duty to
move that the report as read be approved and adopted.
In so doing it would not be necessary for him to take
up much of the time of the meeting, not because
there was nothing to report, but because the report
itself contained all the explanations necessary as to the
present condition of the company's undertaking. The
recent accounts received from India extended over a
period in which, from the nature of the climate, little
progress could be made; but the statement laid before
them showed that their agents and officers in India
were not idle, and were busily attending to the va-
rious arrangements necessary for the completion of
the railway when the proper time arrived. He was
happy to say that the best understanding prevailed
with the directors of the East India Company as to
their future progress, and that there was every reason
to anticipate the successful termination of their un-
deitaking. From the statement of accounts sub•
joined to the report, it appeared that the total amount
received on shares in England and India, up to the
30th June, 1851, was 332,099/., and the amount dis-
bursed 94,6681., leaving a balance in hand of 237,4301.
The latter sum might be regarded as the free balance,
though the proprietors were of course aware that, by
the terms of their agreement with the East India
Company, the whole amount received was paid im-
mediately into the company's treasury, and interest of
5 per cent. guaranteed and paid thereon.—(Hear.)
Captain BARBER seconded the motion. He was
happy in the certainty that, so long as they went on
in harmony with the East India Company, no diffi-
culties would be experienced that could at all impede
their progress.
Colonel DICKENSON wished to express his hope that
the Government of India would be stimulated to
greater activity in effecting the requisite surveys. It
was not yet decided to what point of the Ghauts the
railway was to be advanced, though in October, 1850,
they had been informed that the question was under-
going consideration, and that the determination of the
Indian Board would be speedily pronounced. The
cost of the railway to Tarnish was to be 200,0001., or
9,0001. a mile. They were, therefore, no longer in
doubt as to the essential point whether their under-
taking would bs attended with profit or not. He
begged to suggest that, with a view to the simul-
taneous bestowal upon the inhabitants of the Candeish,
Ahmednuggur, Poona, and Sholapoor districts of the
advantages to be derived from the completion of the
railway as far as Callian, the Indian authorities be
urged to lose no time in the construction of efficient
roads or tramways communicating with the railway,
with a gradient in no case exceeding one in twenty.
This would at once add to the value of their line, and
give the greatest possible facilities to the inhabitants of
the adjoining country.
The CHAIRMAN said, with regard to the passage of
the Ghauts, when the enterprise was first projected
it was intended to carry the line across the peninsula,
and one of the earliest operations was to effect a
general survey of the different passages. After com-
municating with the directors of the East India Com-
pany, it was resolved to confine their views for the
present to the first section of the line, to extend from
Bombay to Callian. They were yet some little dis-
tance from the completion of this first portion, but
their surveyors were now engaged on a more minute
survey of the different routes proposed for the con-
tinuation of the line, an expenditure from the surplus
funds having been sanctioned for that purpose, and no
time would be lost in proceeding with the work.
The question was then put, and the motion carried
unanimously.
Mr. FRITH begged to read a letter he had received
from Mr. Willoughby, formerly member of Council
at Bombay, a gentleman of the greatest experience
and knowledge of India, which he was sure it would
give those present the highest gratification to hear.
It was as follows :
" 99 Westbourne.terrace, Oct. 22 1851.

"My dear Sir,—l very much regret to inform you
that I am obliged to leave this for Somersetshire and
Wales to-morrow, and that I shall not therefore be
able to accept your board's invitation to attend the
meeting of the Great East Indian Peninsular Railway
Company to be held on the 29th inst.
" 1 was quite unprepared for the kind: notice in-
tended to be taken of my efforts to promote this great
and important undertaking. It is true that from the
commencement of the discussion regarding the intro-
duction of railways into Western India I exerted
myself to the utmost in the high position I then held,
to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion ; and when,
on the 31st October last, I was invited to turn the
first sod of the first railway in India, I received my
reward.
" That ceremony was performed in a very unpre-
tending manner—the jubilee with which it might have
been accompanied, being reserved for the opening of
the railway, which it is calculated will occur in No-
vember, 1852. I trust that nothing will occur to dis-
appoint that expectation.
" I am happy to be able to state to your board that
when I left Bombay, on the 3d May last, satisfactory
progress had already been made in its 'construction ;
and that, as you will have doubtless been informed,
it has since withstood without any „serious injury one
of the heaviest monsoons
perhaps ever remembered ;
I cannot therefore foresee
any circumstance likely to
impede its early completion.
" Indeed, with the cordial and liberal support of the
lion. East India Company, and of the distinguished
statesman who now rules over British India, with the
vigilant supervision exercised over its construction by
the local government, enforcing economy to the ut-
most extent consistent with durability, and the interest
with which the work is regarded by all classes of
the community, European as well as native, I indulge
a confident expectation that a new era is about to
dawn on India, and that its greatest and almost uni-
versally admitted want, the imperfection of its present
means of transit, is about to be removed, not only by
the construction of ordinary roads, but by the exten-
sive introduction through its length and breadth of
those iron arteries of traffic which aretheernost useful
, Next invention of this progressive aged. to the in-
troduction of money and weights and measures, the
formation of good roads and bridges
gives the greatest
fecility to commerce, and contributes more Powerfully