The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-10 00:00:00

TilE 13_-iiVAZA gASSACB.E.

(Prom La Gacetcs Qfficial of New Gi.ccnada, July 17.)
The following is the reply of the Secretary of State of
New Granada to the United States Minister :

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bogata, June 28.
"The undersigned, Secretary of State, has the honour
of addressing himself to the Hon. Mr. James B. Bow-
lin, Minister Resident of the United States, in reply to
a note dated the 23d tilt., relative to the deplorable oc-
currences of the 15th of April last in Panama. It is very
agreeable to him, considering the well-founded desire
manifested by the Hon. Minister of the United States
to know what measures have been taken in reference to
these occurrences, and, considering also the good and
unaltered friendship existing for many years between
the Governments of both countries, to be enabled to
transmit to him without delay the following information.
"The official notice of the occurrences at Panama
was received in this city by way of Carthagena on the 2d
of May. Under the same date, and by the courier of the
23d, for the coasts of the Atlantic, Gen. Herran, then
en route from Costa Rica for his post as Minister of this
Republic at Washington, was ordered to pass over the
Isthmus, and to collect there the most reliable and im-
partial information for a circumstantial report on the
said occurrences. This report—worthy, without any
doubt, of full confidence—is waited for, in order to form
from it, and from others not less impartial, which have
been already received, or may yet be received, and from
numerous documents handed over to the Secretary of
State, aright judgment of the facts and of the conduct of
the public functionaries in that deplorable event.
" The Governor of the State of Panama was likewise
called upon by the same courier to keep the Executive
informed of the progress of the judicial investigation into
the occurrences of the 15th of April, and to make known
to it all those particulars which could enable it to fulfil
its high duties. Without waiting for such an inves-
tigation, that functionary has remitted, and is still
remitting, copies of all important portions of the proceed-
ings. These show that several individuals, natives as
well as foreigners, who had been found guilty of partici-
pation in the riot, have been imprisoned, and a long list
has been forwarded of effects stolen, which since have
been recovered and put in a convenient depot.
" The Executive, recognising the actual necessity of
sending a body of troops to Panama to assist the autho-
rities during the trial of the criminals, and for the pre-
servation of order, in view of the temporary insufficiency
of the police force, and until the municipal guards of the
State be organised, insisted on the immediate passage by
Congress of the annual law concerning the armed force,
and, this law being passed, the Executive is issuing
orders for that city being sufficiently garrisoned during
the time required.
" Since the 27th May the Senate has likewise had be-
fore it legislative measures tending to strengthen the ad-
ministration of affairs of national interest on the Isthmus,
and to facilitate in important cases the action of the
judicial power. Later, a project of law to this purpose
having been proposed to the same Chamber, the Execu-
tive presented special additional propositions, which, if
adopts', would have led to the immediate consequence
of sending to Panama a national intendent and nommen-
der of troops and a judge of instruction, provided with
full authority for inquiring into the facts of April 15,
and an agent of the public ministry for prosecuting ener-
getically the guilty. Unfortunately, the day of closing
the session of the Legislature, which had been assembled
since February 1, had arrived, and the project of law,
the adoption of which was near at band, remained in
suspension at the second dismission in the Chamber of
' Representatives, in spite of the urgency with which its
adoption had been pressed. No doubt Mr, Bowlin will
not be astonished, considering the extraordinary circum-
stances, at the shortcomings of our Legislature in this
special case. The federal regime has only just began to
be tried, and that partially, in New Granada. Experi-
ence is still wanted, although there is a lively desire to
establish the system in such a manner as to come nearer
is perfection.
" This is the simple expose of the proceedings of the
Executive, which may serve to prove its decided will to
apply, as far as possible, an efficacious remedy to the un-
fortunate occurrences. However, without sufficient data
fur judging of the complicated causes of these occur-
rences, and for estimating the indemnifications which
may be claimed, the Executive can only give the assur-
ance of being in the matter entirely free from all kinds of
prejudice, of being disposed to do right and give full
reparation to whomsoever deserve it, and of being re-
solved to employ all legal measures, so that neither tru h
be disfigured by passion nor perjury, nor, the judgment
and punishment of the guilty be eluded or unduly de-
layed. If there shall be sufficient proofs of the Governor
of Panama being, either by error or want of foresight,
responsible for maladministration, the Executive will
have him arraigned and judged, in conformity with arti-
cle 6 of the Legislative Act of February 27, 1855,
and there is no doubt but that the public ministry
and the tribunals will faithfully fulfil their duties in this
particular case.
"Having thus satisfactorily answered the principal
point in the abovementioned note of the Legation of the
United States, the undersigned continues to submit to the
equitable judgment of the Hon. Mr. Bowlin some obser-
vation:. suggested by that part of the note which refers
to the account of the facts of April 15.
"This part of the report exclusively rests upon various
affidavits, taken, as is said, by the North American consul
in Panama, Mr. T. W. Ward, from BOMB countrymen of
his. Without taking into account the want of jurisdic-
tional power on the part of the Consul for making on the
territory of New Granada inquiries of that nature, and
passing over their vicious ay pare character, which de-
prives them of all trustworthiness and legal value, Mr.
Ward would be justly obnoxious as a judge:, and even is
objectionable as, a witness in this matter, in consequence
of his well-known disposition to incriminate the acts of the
authorities of this country, and of his former want of re-
spect towards them in the months of September and Oc-
tober, 1855—conduct fur which he did not think proper
to present even the slightest excuse, although it bad been
disapproved. Considering the presence of Consul Ward
in Panama as incompatible with the interest of the pub-
lic service, the Executive, explaining the reasons to the
Governnaent of the United States, would some days ago
have withdrawn his exequatur had it not preferred the
more amicable and courteous means—which have not so
far had any effect—of soliciting from the American Go-
vernment his removal to another plaee.
"But whatever may be the merit of those depositions
received by Consul Ward, and proceeding exclusively
from North American citizens, this cannot authorise
anybody to give them, officially, preference, to the
exclusion of all others, declaring, at the same time,
as a mere fabrication of ingenious devices, sup-
ported by garbled and false testimony, as tales and
mere fictions,' the official report of the Governor of
the State, supported by the declarations of subal-
tern functionaries, and the depositions of native and
foreign witnesses. At best those affidavits, verified in
a regular way, might have been compared with those
obtained by the authorities, in order to facilitate and
assure the discovery of truth—the object dispassionately
sought by both Governments.
"Such a proceeding, by giving a seeming importance
to diplomatic intervention, to which it cannot pretend,
as well as by declaring it a well certified fact, that the
popular outbr:ak of the 15th of April in Panama was a
premeditated
act, accompanied by pistol shots and bell
ringing, agreeably to a previous combination, might
have been qualified as neither frank nor loyal, if the
legation of the United States had taken the responsibi-
lity of it ; but, far from it, it has itself sincerely pre-
sented the whole as a picture of the other side of the
question, destined for the better enabling the Executive
to comprehend the true state of the affair.' Bat the
lion. Mr. Bowlin, in the rectitude of his conscience, was
well aware that there always is exaggeration of ideas
and false involuntary illusions, correlative with the
strong impressions of the senses, made by such a terribly
spectacle as robbery and murder ; and, therefore, allow-
ing time for reason to resume its sway, and leaving the
action of public power to clear up the facts and make
amends for damages, he knew how to execute the orders
of his government without abandoning his habitual
moderation.
"The newspapers of California, with fullknowledge of
the fact, have revealed and held up to universal execra-
tion the name of Jack Oliver, who, after infamous out-
rages on helpless people, gave, with the firing of his
revolver, the first signal of alarm. The Evening Journal
of San Francisco of the sth May speaks of him as a
man saturated with the blood and rum of the Panama
orgies." Three North Americans, victims of the riot—
G. B. Wright, P. B. Reading, and W. C. Waters—speak '
of him in the same manner in the San Francisco Herald
of the 4th of May, relating the first occurrence as fol-
lows :—‘ The native fled, pursued by Jack and two or
three °Vier Americans. In a short space of time seve-
ral natives collected near the scene of the difficulty,
armed with clubs and cutlasses, and in a few instances
with guns. The other shots were fired in the crowd,
and again they dispersed, but soon collected and made
an attack upon an eating saloon, called the Pacific
House which was at the time mostly occupied by women
and children, /sc.
"By these simple extracts alone, all charge of previ-
ous combination in the riot of the 15th of April would
disappear, if the notoriety of the fact were not sufficient
to repel it. And as to the riot itself, and its progressive
aggravation, it all admits of a rational explanation, and
can to a certain point be excused without the under-
signed pretending to make any apology for the crime'
or lessening the responsibility of the guilty.
"F
hierowmthhe moment that, in consequence of all draw-
backsbeaeenninrigeemtovnainedn, n a DiCya
niantheraodcic way obstruct and embarrass
thea m
witht io nt over
the
greatest the Isthmus o
liberality,f Phay-
the Legislature of New Granada, the transit route began
to be frequented, and in particular since the time the
gold of California held out its dazzling allurements to im-
migration, and to the spirit of enterprise and avarice,
a number of adventurers of all countries of the earth in-
cessantly traversed our territory by that road, at first be-
stowing some benefits on the natives or inhabitants of the
country, by employing and remunerating their services ;
but afterwards, when the railroad was established—land
having been for that purpose gratuitously given, not only
by the nation, but also by private individuals—the slight
anterior profit was entirely lost to the population and
replaced by the smoke of the locomotive, the noise of the
trains, the shouts of the passengers, and the mere spec-
tacle of animation and wealth at both extremities of the
line. And, what is still worse, among those adventurers
were and still are frequently men ignorant and corrupted,
quarrelsome, and drunkards, without any other god but
money, and any other law but brute force—men who
committed so many crimes and so many murders in tat
gold fields of the north, in the deserts of
in Oregon, in the
districts of Amad or and Mariposa, and the Filibuster
expeditions which disgrace our times ; and others who
laying aside their
hbooasstitleopf
indigenous population, and even on the Spanish race, to
rcei icics3u tpia°tni nws twiluotiohookwdeovwe rn, with scorn on the
'whom every individual of African blood is a pariah uu•

sscrOy of any oonside!stion, and whose predominant
idea in foreign countries is that of annexation—of those
passengers, some have contaminated with their crapulous
vices tae humane and hospitable people of the world, and
have made them, though formerly peaceful by habits sad
submissive to the laws, inclined for some time past to in-
subordination and turbulence ; others have been pro-
moters of frequent riots, caused death and wounds, and
provoked strong antipathies, and in general become the
object of animadversion and distrust on the part of the
plain and simple population.
" The natural consequence of so fatal antecedents is
the facility with which in an instant the passions of
the multitude are aroused against the insolent attacks
of any of those adventurers, and with which, in such
cases, the native population hasten, as by a spontaneous
movement and an extemporised defensive and offensive
league, to the succour of their comrades. Another
disastrous effect was that, exasperated by the mass of
their antagonists, they have occasionally been carried
away to all kinds of excesses. As has been stated by
judicious and reliable witnesses, the popular riot of the
15th of April was much influenced by the news that,
among the passengers arrived from California there
were some Filibusters destined for Nicaragua, whose
number had been exaggerated by the hatred and
terror they inspired, and of whom it was feared that they
might commit some attempt against the lives and pro-
perty of the inhabitants. In the note of the Legation of
the United States it is asserted, upon information given
by Consul Ward, that among the individuals who took
part in the riot there were some with black masks, in
order not to be recognised. This assertion, altogether
new, and which tends to prove the existence of secret
instigators of a superior class among the lower ones, can
be declared as false, like another which also has been de-
nied as ridiculous, and highly in all points improbable—
that of rapes—of which the same Consul speaks in one of
his protests, both proving their passionate origin.
" Among the accusations made in reference to the oc-
currences at Panama there is one of a grave and substan-
tial character—that relative to the conduct of the Gover-
nor and the police force. This charge, proceeding simul-
taneously from witnesses of different ranks, deserves se-
rious attention. That charge will no doubt, as it deserves,
be as object of severe inquiry before the judicial tri-
bunals,iand the Executive must await the proofs, the
decisions of judges, and the impartial reports which,
although timely demanded, have not yet some to hand,
before forming on the case any decisive opinion. If the
Governor erred in any way, it is certain that it cannot
have arisen from tolerance or participation in the guilt,
unworthy of his well known private character, and of the
high position to which the confidence of his fellow-citi-
zens elevated him. At the same time there is no doubt
that the balls which pierced his bat—his person being,
in consequence of the bright moonlight, perfectly visible
in front of the railroad station—came from that point. As
regards the police force, which was not at all in pro-
portion with the number of the armed and fighting par-
ties, it must be carefully examined whether or not it was
necessary for it to use its arms ; whether, in so doing, it
exceeded its duties ; and whether, obliged as it was to
attend at the same time to many things, the charges
preferred against it are well founded.
"The Panama tragedy has been attributed by some in
part to the deficient administrative organisation of that
State, which bat recently has been constituted in its
present political form. Certainly it is deficient or incom-
plete, and not well supported, by the scantiness of its
actual revenue—a scantiness proceeding from the very
exemptions accorded to the transit commerce, and from
the constant resistance of a great many foreign residents
to pay their taxes ; but the sectional legislation is im-
proving, and the Congress of the Republic has granted to
the State subsidies for its expenses. Let the Government,
interested in the security of the transit, respect its com-
parative present weakness, and give to its authorities the
moral support compatible with the dignity of an inde-
pendent country ; let them contribute to abolish the
abuses caused by the drunkenness, immorality, and petu-
lance of a portion of the armed bands of passengers ; let
the native population not be treated like hordes of
savages and malefactors, but as a friendly and essentially
good natured and hospitable people, who notoriously
possess those good qualities, and are only in moments of
excitement, to which the most cultivated nations were,
and still are, liable, carried away to blameable extremi-
ties, and Panama will be, in full peace, what it ought to
be, the benefit of all nations, with absolute equality for
all—the chief passage, designed by Providence, between
the Atlantic and Pacific.
"The undersigned will not close this not?, dictated by
the most friendly sentiments, without calling the atten-
tion cf the Hon. Mr. B rwlin to the protest of Consul
NVard, under date April 20, and to the improper com-
munications of Mr. T. Bailey, commander of the war
corvette of the United States St. Mary, to tie Governor
of Panama, under date the 231, 24th, and 25th of the
same month—documents of which the Legation, no
doubt, will have kno wedge, as they must be the object
of future explanations with the same Legation and the
Government it represents.
"The undersigned profits, with pleasure, by this new
opportunity, to renew to the Hon. Mr. Bo wlin the assur-
ance of his high estimation and consideration.
" LINO DE POMBO."

THE CENTRAL AMERICAN QUESTION,

( From the E'er, York Trisune.)

Mr. Amos B. Corwin°, appointed commissioner to inves-
tigate the facts in relation to the Panama affray, has made
a repo' t which does not impress us very favourably as to
tha qualifications of that gontlornan for the discharge of
the delicate and responsible duty imposed upon him. It

is only mcasslry to read a feW paragraphs of his report to
perceive that Mr. Corwine, laying aside that judicial im•
partiality which he ought to have exercised, takes upon
himself the character of an advocate bent upon making out
a case for the passengers, and, the hotter to make out that
case, on blackening the character of the natives and of the
Panama authorities. Such being the evident bias of the
reporter, his statement and summary of the evidence—the
depositions themselves not having been published at
length—is of but little value, and ought to be received
with great caution.

If we are to accept Mr. Corwine's estimate of the testi-
mony as correct, though the trouble began by the refusal • '
a drunken American to pay for a piece of water melon, yet
the first use of firearms was on the part of a certain Miguel
Hubrahan, whose own testimony in the case, as that of
many other native witnesses, seems to be very much dis-
credited, in Mr. Corwine's estimation, by the fact of his
being a " coloured man." This Habrahan, Mr. Corwine is
satisfied, snatched a pistol from the drunken American and
fired it at him, though Hubrahan himself insists that it was
the drunken American who fired it at him. As to this point,
however, Mr. Corwine thinks the testimony of Hubrahan
and other natives to ba overborne by the testimony of four
citizens of the United States (some, if not all, of whom
would seem from their names to be Irish), whom he sets
down as disinterested witnesses because they took no part
in the fight that ensued. There are, however, other grounds
of partiality. Mr. Corwine took no part in the fight, yet
shows a very perceptible leaning to the American side ;
norcan we share the perfect confidence which he expro sse,
that it was the coloured man and not the drunken man
who fired the first shot.

This, however—though Mr. Corwine enters into it with
great spirit and energy—is a matter of but very trifling im-
portance. A much snore essential question is, Was the vio
lent attack which immediately afterwards followed, upon
the hotels and the station-house, a preconcerted thing, and
made in pursuaAce of an arrangement beforehand ? Mr
Cur wine is quite sure that this was the case ; yet his posi-
tiveness appears to us to rest upon very insufficient grounds
—not so much facts as the opinions of certain witnesses to
whose testimony he refers.

That previous to this unfortunate affair ill-feeling did
exist on the part of the lower class of natives towards the
Americans and others passing the Isthmus is a point as to
which the evidence is pretty conclusive—and, indeed,
without any witnesses it might have been taken for
granted. Persons of different nations and languages, espe-
cially those of the lower classes, seldom come into contact
without ill-feeling; and, considering that a large part of the
population of the Isthmus are black or coloured, and the
feelings generallyentertain e d bylo w- bred Americans towards
coloured men, we can well imagine that the people of Pa-
nama may have had reason enough for not being very ami-
cably disposed towards the foreigners passing througb
their country. _ .

We now come to the great question in the case. Did the
authorities of Panama fail in their duty to suppress the
riot ? And if so, was this occasioned by the confusion of
the scene, or was it intentional on their part ? It is a fact
that when at length the Panama police came up they fired
into the.station-house, and thab it was from this attack
that thegreatest destruction of life and plunder of property
ensued. It also seems to be a fact that this firing was by
the orders of the Governor, who explains that order by the
assertion that shots were fired from fho station-house, by
which two of the Governor's party wore wounded.
Mr. Corwine labours very hard to show that no shots at
all were fired from the station-house, though some of the
American witnesses testify to the fact ; and he seems in-
clined to insinuate the opinion, though he does not openly
state it, that the authorities were
.in league with the mob
to murder and plunder the passengers. It is our opinion,
on the other hand, from the evidence, that the order to
the police to fire on the station-home was the result of an
unfortunate misunderstanding and the general confusion
and uproar which, though they might indicate want of
self-possession and sound judgment on the part of the au-
thorities at Panama, do not afford any evidence whatso-
ever of a disposition to co-operate with the mob, instead
of suppressing it.
Not content with performing, after a fashion, the duty
imposed upon him to examine and report upon the facts,
Mr. Corwine has volunteered, in addition, his advice as to
what our Government ought to do. Ha recommends the
immediate occupation of the isthmus by the United States.
This would be very natural advice to give if Mr. Buchanan
were President. It is in the very spirit of the Ostend
manifesto—a document to which, we believe, Mr. Marcy
did not give his approval.
We are well aware of the importance of a free and safe
transit across the Isthmus of Panama; but there are
other duties of our Government which ought, we think, to
be first attended to. Before calling the Government of
New Granada to account for permitting robberies and
murders on the Isthmus, it might be welt to call the State
of Missouri to account fur the robboties and obstructa ns,
if not murders, which she has allowed to be committed 01
the Missend. river. And the measure of damages and
,:ompensation established in that case might furnish a safe
and satisfactory guide in making our demands on the
•Government of Bogota.

LYNN AND HUIVST iNTO,Y RAP, WAY.

A meeting of the inhabitants of Lynn was convened by
the Mayor to meet the promoters of this projected line of
railway, on Friday evening last. A large number attended,
and on the whole it was a very good meeting.
The MAYOR, in opening the proceedings, said—Gentle-
men, I have been requested by the promoters of a line of
railway between Lynn and Hunstanton to call this meeting,
and I have great pleasure in so doing, considering that it
will be a most beneficial line to the town of Lynn, and not
only to the town, bat to the neighbourhood. I think that
when a railway is now making between Fakenham and
Wells, we ought to be on our guard and not let the traffic
of the district go round that way. We have no other
means of bringing it here but by a railway into the same
neighbourhood ; and I have no hesitation in saying, there-
fore, that if we can get a railway between Lynn and Hun-
stanton it will insure the bringing here a very large portion
of the produce of that county, and if so, it will improve
the trade of the town of Lynn. Ido not wish to occupy
your time by further comments, but will call upon Mr.
impsin, who will inform you of the plan and prospects of
the company.
M. L. SIMPSON said—Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, I at-
tenEl here as one of the promoters of the railway that is pro-
posed to be made between Lynn and Hunstanton. As a
member of the Uastern Counties and East Anglian Boards,
1 may perhaps for this particular occasion be supposed to be
the exponent of their views ; and as the pecuniary result
of this railway must mainly depend upon the views taken
by those respective Boards, I think I may commence by
stating that on a previous occasion I went over the line
with Mr. Waddington, the late chairman of the Eastern

COuntie; Railway, and a resolution was then adopted that
the line should be worked for the cost price, without any
profit whatever to the Eastern Counties Company. That
resolution still remains on the books of the company; and
I believe (though I have not seen it since I left London)
those are the words which were adopted on the occasion.
The advantages of working the line in that manner are ob-
vious to all railway men—for, inasmuch as our engines
come here in full steam, and all our appliances are ready,
the cost of working the additional 16 miles would be the
very lowest amount that a railway can be worked for per
mile. It will be obvious that to the East Anglian Company,
of whose interests I am more especially the guardian, this
is a matter of unmixed good. When I joined that company
some years ago, you will remember, sir, from some con-
nection you had with it, that we were in the very lowest
condition of any railway that had any existence at all, at
war with our creditors—at war with the town of Lynn ;
and I remember the advice which was then given me by
one of my oldest and most experienced railway friends :
" Give it up ; it is a hopeless job ; Lynn is gone for ever."
However, that was not my opinion ; and we set to
work and endeavoured to resuscitate and make
valuable the trade by expansion on the quays. We
did. that at an expense nearly approaching 20,000/. ;
and (I say it from having watched very carefully the pro-
gress of the trade of Lynn) I believe, though some of us
thought at the time that it was throwing good money after
bad, it will be productive of the greatest possible benefit
to the railway and the town. I am sure, sir, that you will
agree with me in saying that the interests of the town of
Lynn and the East Anglian Railway are bound up together,
for, although Lynn may have suffered from the adoption of
the railway system generally, had it not been foe the mak-
ing of your railways you would have suffered much more.
(Hear, hear.) In the course of the inquiry as to what was
calculated to benefit the East Anglian company, the first
thing that struck me as being necessary was some place of
resort for the pleasure seeker and the health seeker ; and
when I found that from Cromer up to Bridlington there
was no place that could be used for the purpose, except one
on the Lincolnshire coast, where the sands were not suitable,
and when I saw the" peculiarly advantageous position of
Hunstanton, I felt convinced that it would have answered
oar purpose to make the railway on our own account. I
still adhere to that opinion. I speak from my experience of
the past season. We commenced, for example, with subsi-
dising one omnibus ; we gradually got on to two ; and I
believe they have answered as well as such vehicles do
under such circumstances, and that if accommodation could
have been found in Hunstanton there would have been a
very large accession of visitors this season. One family in
particular, I knew, wished to come from Derby ; and no
doubt if there were cheap trains, a very large number of
visitors would come from London, from Cambridge, Pe-
terborough, the Midland Counties, and the whole of that
district. A new place is wanted—a place of a different
character. Lowestoft is full, and Yarmouth is full, and
perhaps for that reason they are more expensive places than
Hunstanton need be. Hitherto the construction of rail-
ways has been carried on upon a system of extravagant
expenditure. A new era is now dawning, and we are now
constructing lines (I myself am concerned in two or three)
of short lengths—I mean similar to this—where the cost is
reduced to the minimum amount ; but I have seen no in-
stance.:Enpeanal
cohAsv,alaninill
Anglian
here to
lar.vmwtt
aaaaoklryeytesnh:tei
prof
y:amol
b,riwlerehaissenoatodof
rsengineering,
in which tho cost is so small as that at which it is
of
st
propos railway
after o
paying
t h rea thereabouts,
ol uae
rit
ex-
penses,
d.,
every other expenditure—constructed so as to meet the
,idintothheaveexetocusotiroend of the
sound a piece of engineering as any in the kingdom.
That statement I certainly endorse. Responsible persons
can be found who will undertake to do this and hand over
the railway so constructed for 80.0001. That appears to be
an exceedingly low amount. The lowest possible is usually
6,003/. per mile, I believe. The East Anglian, I believe I
may say, cost 24,8001. a mile. If a railway can be made to
pay well at the sum I have stated, I believe the whole of
what is promised will be faithfully and honestly carried
out ; and in the event of its failing, the amount is
proposed to ha returned, deducting ss. per share for pre
liminary expenses. I have also seen the traffic estimate pre-
pared, and I do really think I can as a railway man endorse
it. It is prepared with very considerable care, and not at all
exaggerated; and it shows, I think, a clear 5 per cent. after
allowing a liberal amount for working expenses; and even
then the gross amount received upon the railway will be le s
than any, I think, with one exception, throughout the
whole of England. One important element in the matter is
that houses, I believe, will be built in that neighbourhood,
and that the owner of the property there will give leases of
the land at such prices as will attract people there. That is
an essential element, as you will readily perceive, for with-
out accommodation being provided the number of visitors
must necessarily be considerably restricted. It may appear
perhaps to rail way men who do not attend here, that the
small amount of cost, including the land, is such as the rail-
way cannot be executed for ; and I therefore wish to point
out that the two principal proprietors on the lino with a j u •
dicious liberality and a wise foresight, have agreed to give
Ali of their land that is required for the purpose—(hear)—
an arrangement which my friend Mr. Edwards will see
carried out —and I think that that amounts to five miles of
the line. This certainly points iu the right direction, since
you and I have some experience of landowners. All this
brings me to this paint, thee I think this lino will be an
unmise el good to tire East Anglian and Eastern Counties
Companies ; and those companies, or at least the East
Anglian Company, are prepared to give every facility to
join the line, to assist in Parliament, and in every other
way. I do not mean to du ell on the advantages of the line
to the residents and traders of Lynn, because they mast be
obvious. Anything that brings people readily from Hun-
stanton must be of great importance to the town of Lynn.
I shall bo very glad to answer any questions that may be
put from the meeting. I see many practical men here who,
in their several departments, can test the accuracy of what
I have said. We meet here :semen of business. Tho parties
who undertake to construct this railway have themselves
undertaken, out of the 80,0001., to subscribe 42,0001. I
think that is a very good earnest of their confidence in the
project. No extravagant profit can be got out of that if
they do not believe in the value of the property. We
court the fullest inquiry possible ; and, having done that,
we say that we, the East Anglian Company, have done
something in our corporate capacity for Lynn, and are
still p, epared to do so ; for, as I again repeat, what I have
often repeated—our interests and yours are identical. This
is a matter in which I think we have a fair claim on you to
ask you to support this undertaking as being beneficial to
fromm at tre
J. r
Toi
John
apyour
iot bhNaiD.
on,
pdt,sh.
se
cre
tary,
read the following letter
you and to ourselves. (Applause.) With this I leave the
Esq., of Stanhoe Hall, Rougham :-
25th Sept., 1856.
Gentlemen,—l am of opinion that the line of railway pro-
jected by you will be a profitable and a very remunerative one,
if properly carried out. Nearly the whole of the produce round
me, which is immense, goes to the little ports of Thornham,
Ovary, or Brancaster, and, if your railway be carried out, it
will all be sent to Lynn, and cake and other articles for which
our demand is so great will return as back carriage; and so it
will be with several other large districts within its reach. I
shall be quite willing to add my name to the provisional com-
mittee, and if I find the money likely to be judiciously ex-
pended I shall have no objection to take 50 shares.
d rMe
crt.oA:set‘ery
were
lauhi toeuaricoclrdoof dc
oaut once
forth atth
et E
re
shaasrt An e
hol gts,lirasn;
but thought, at the sometime, they were.doing those things
which must conduce materially to the interests of the town.
anything like so good as it was; they were living in
ha He
positionagreed
of withthe
port would
haveat without
been taht. railwaysethat .moment
theeot
sea-
port commanding the Northern ocean; they had in t e near
Simpson.
ne h
aeighbourhood the ports of Northern Europe with whic
to trade; that having, as they had now, an improved navi-
gationi to sea, connecting them with the German Ocean, and
iupon which, as late as last week, there was 24 feet flow
the tide, he had great faith
beam-ends in Lynn ; that, come what
would, though thrown on their b
themselves again after the storm. He
had faith in the place and in railways, and should be an ad-
ea by the tempest,
they would recover i
vooate for any line of railway t s-morrow from heneeto any
given district of the country. He merely said th at 7to call
attention to this particular fact, that with regard
to the
railway brought before them no such question was involved.
May had had, indeed, coals and other things brought to
compete with thorn by railways from the interior of England,
but nothing could be brought to compete with the corn-
mere° of Lynn by the railway projected. In order to show
he position which Hunstanton occupied, he might venture
to say that if they were, to put ono point of the compasses
en Hunstanton and the other on London, and if they were
to sweep the arc of a circle in tho interior of the island,
they would find that it would comprehend the large towns
af London itself, Bish ' Stortford, Cambridge, Ely, Nor-
thampton, Coventry, Birmingham, Leicester, Derby, Not-
tingham, Newark, Lincoln, Boston, Peterborough, and all
the intermediate towns. Now each of those places would
be as near the projected watering place as London itself,
and there could be no doubt that that would, in a short
time, induce a very large traffic along the line. Pointing
out the advantages derivable by the proposed line, Mr.
Armes said, with regard to this railway, there was the
rural population along the line ; and when he considered
that this town rand necessarily be the metropolis of
that district, he saw nothing but good to their ordi-
nary markets, and to their commercial friends along
High-street, by bringing to them that traffic which
one saw in other towns. He then instanced Bury St.
Edmund's as being in a similar position with Lynn.
Around Mildenhall there was a nioe little rural population
constantly pouring into the shops of that town, all of which
traffic he believed would, if the projected line between Ely
and Bury was carried out, leave Mildenhall and go to Bury
as being a much larger and better place, and possessing
better shops. Wherever there was a large population, de-
pend upon it the rural population would naturally go.
With regard again to the port, he took it, without going
much in detail, that they would send from her deals, and
coke, and coals, and all the various kinds of manures and
agricultural implements, which are the necessaries, and
eat in return the produce of the country. To Lynn the
project must be an unmixed good. They were going into
e country which could by no possibility bring any compe-
tition to their ordinary trade; into a country which most
certainly must come to them for a vast variety of those
things which they along the streets were empowered to
sell; and they were doing that of which he thought no man
:cold question the advantage to the town of Lynn. Mr.
ine,, concluded by pointing out the advantages they had
iver Wells, to which place the line was tieing extended from
alrenhani, and proposing the following resolution :—"Tim
.a the opinion cf this meeting, after having heard the stag
_neat of the preract•-1, the prejsct for making a line frou_