The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-30 00:00:00

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN.
The directol79 of this company have resolved to
recommend to the proprietors, at the g-neral meet-
ing on the 7thl .Angust next, that the dividend fur
the half-year len ding the 30th June last be at the
rate of 4/. ss. por cent. per annum on the capital
of the cowpaniy..

Rumours are circulated in quarters usually well
informed that, whatever may ba the result of the
half-year's open ~tions of the Great Westtrn Rail-
way Comp my.. strenuous efforts will be made to
pay a divit tend,,
An advertise a tent, just put forward by the Mid-
land Railway Cc •mpany points to the establishment
of closer relations between this company and the
Great Northern. The Midland Company draw at-
tention to the "new route between L'indon, the
Midland Counties, and Yorkshire," and announce
that from the la of August through tickets will be
issued from that King's-cross station. The notifi-
cation that " passengers from the country to Lon-
don are requested to inform the clerk, when they
apply for tlc7kets, whether they wish to go via
Rugby to the Easton-station, London, or via Bed-
ford to King's...-cross," has excited some attention
on the part of persons interested in the London and
North-Western Company.
The Eastern Counties Railway traffic return pre-
sents this week an increase of 8551. ; the Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, a decrease of 4541.; the
Lancashire and Yorkshire, a decrease of 400/. ; the
East Lancashire, a decrease of 1401.
The half-yearly meeting of the Midland Railway
Company is called for the 18th August, at Derby ;
and that of tho North-Eastern Railway Company
for the 20th August, at York.
The half-yearly meeting of the Metropolitan
Railway Company is called for the 17th August;
that •f the North London Railway Company for th•
10th August ; and that of the Royston and Hitchin
Railway Company for the 16th August.
The annual meeting of the Royal Swedish Rail-
way Company is called for the 31st August, at
Stockholm. .

The precise state of the Liberals in the house
is now before us, In one broad sheet, displaying
in red and black ink to the first glance, the votes
on the testing question, of the day, we may read
the present position and the future prospects of
the party which bore Lord PALMERSTON triumph-
antly to power last year. The Society for the
Promotion of the Ballot has given us this useful
document, and its tale is conspicuous to the eye.
We should advise the great Whig leaders to have
it framed and glazed, and hung up in their studies,
as a kind of memento—a warning, that Whigs
are no longer at the head of the great Liberal
party. Our readers all know the old story of
' the slave whose duty it, was to whisper in the ear
of triumphant warriors, that they were mortal ;
the broad sheet before us might serve a similar
purpose. Lord PALMERSTON, especially, appears
as if he could not bring himself to believe that he
is politically mortal ; notwithstanding he has lost
almost every follower. The sheet before us would
( help to undeceive hlm.
A pretty picture to be sure it is. Giving the
perverse Whigs the benefit of all the liberal Con-
servatives, they mustered but eighty-six votes and
pairs; the Tories rallied to the number of two
hundred and twenty-seven ; and the Liberals,
who showed themselves liberal enough to trust
the people by voting or pairing for the ballot,
numbered two hundred and nineteen,. Of those
who voted, therefore, the Tories were the largest
number, the supporters of the Ballot but eight
behind them, and the Whigs, including the
Liberal Conservatives, not equal to half
either of the other parties 1 Can anything
more clearly show the infatuation of the
Palmerstonians and the followers of Lord Joim
RUSSELL ? On the greatest political question of
the day, they are content to appear at the head
of the smallest band of representatives in the
house. We believe, too, that in their list there
is not to be found the Member of one single large
independent constituency. Their section repre-
sents merely agricultural serfs whom the Ballot
would emancipate ; or, boroughs so small, that
most of them would vanish in the next schedule
A. A pretty position for men to be in who
aspire to the Treasury benches ! It is almost
amusing to glance over the should-be Liberals,
who are honoured with italics, in the Tory ranks,
and to see the figure they cut beside the other
two parties.
The comparative vigour of the parties, too, is
worthy of notice. The real Liberals and the
Tories, including of course the pairs, muster
strong. They both feel hearty in their cause. NEW QUEEN'S COUNSEL.—We understand the follow.
The Tories fight manfully for the despotism of ng members of the profession are to be called " within
county landlords, and for the " influence" of the bar" as Queen's Counsel :—Mr. Hawkins, of the
borough patrons ; the true Liberals fight earnestly
the celebrated case of Swinton v.
o
for the independence of the voter; hence 41 e , lately engaged in
Home Circuit ; Mr. Kennedy, of the Oxford Circuit,
friends of the ballot only sixteen were absent, who defended Mr. Humphre) Brown in the late Royal
Swiofen, tried at Stafford, and one of the jearned counsel
about one-thirteenth of their body. Of the Tories British B.lnk trials ; Mr. Karslake, and Mr. Coleridge
only eleven were absent, but one-twentieth, of their
party—they were most zealous of all, as Circuit.
(son of Mr. Justice Coleridge), both of the Western
be expected, for an old abuse ; but of the Statistical Society ; Mr.
Whigs and Liberal-Conservatives, not less than J.S4Z,POIDETaY
aOlll, AF niTi s.w—Ff INthAeNCIAL PRIZE E SSAS. —Mr'
in the
thirty-two, or more than a third of their number Charles Neste, Professor of Poliical Economy
!JfnliDvoeit:vaityloOxford ;
in anduMr. JactobcWorsi,olgeye, Professorodoo
were away, and took no part whatever in the divi- the adjudicators appointed by the CoYuncil of ;he Society
sion either by voting or pairing. Were they oiefeAterdts,thheavee reported
ktbdatEtbej have
ouondanosimermsgly
the
aorfeCoooutninceiletby Mr. Henry afraid of their constituencies, or were they not award of the priyzemof 200 guineas, 'Placed in the bands
very earnest in the business ? In either case the
in the prase:age ato
ft
tres esaescorJobnsen. AsothehaConounociil
Tories and the Radicals, if so we may call them,
are the parties between whom the Reform battle is netaortyt,hhe
lsope bearing the above motto, and declares that the
ayseoarp'ened the env*.
uscessful author of the essay is Mr. Edward Capps, 7,
fought with earnestness, The Whigs enjoy the Cht shunt-terrace, Grange-road, Bermondsey.

Advices from Paris state that the negotiations
between the Government and the Western and
Southern of France Railway Companies are ap-
proaching their termination, and only await the
solution of certain questions, referring in the former
case to the Bretagny reseau, and in the latter to the
Pyrenean reseau.

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.