The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-21 00:00:00

TIM HUSH
_RAILWAYS.

A large and influential deputation of peers and
members of Parliament waited upon the Earl of
Derby yesterday afternoon, in Downing-strefA,
respecting the question of the purchase of the Lish
railways by the State. The Chancellor of the
Exchequer, the Daksr of Richmond, arid other
members of the Government were present :'t the
interview. The deputation included the Duke of
Lcinster, the Marquis of Cianricarde, Lord
Templetown, the Earl of Lucan, the Earl ok
Bandon, Lord Dunkellin, Lord J. Browne, M.P.,
Major O'Reilly, M.P., General Dunne, M.P., Mr.
O'Beirne, M.P., Mr. Maguire, M.P., Mr. Esmond,
M.P., Mr. Monsell, M.P., Mr. Price, M.P.,
the Hon. Major Knox, M.P., Right Hon. Colonel
French, M.P., Mr. Devereux, M.P., Mr.
Blake, M.P., The O'Conor Don, M.P., Mr. Tor,
rens, M.P., Mr. Whitworth, M.P., Captain Ste,e-
poole, M.P., Mr. F. W. Russell, M.P., Mr. R,ea_
den, M.P., Sir Patrick O'Brien, M.P., Mr. Cor-
bally, M.P., the corporations of Limerick, Water-
ford, and Wexford, &c. Letters were also handed
in from 25 absent peers and members of Parliament,
expressing their concurrence with the objects of tile
deputation.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE, in laying before
the noble Premier the views of the deputation, dis-
claimed on their part any interest in the Irish rail-
uw
pa
oyns ,
haen
Gd declared
nt t
thha
et e theyxpod
ehnacdy coof
lapeurchausringeK
the railways solely from the conviction that it would
remoue without difficulty the restrictions to tra.the
and trade which were no w so great a drawback in
Ireland, and would do more for the satisfaction
and tranquillity of Ireland than any other
measure which the Government could de-
vise. The noble marquis then at considerable
length laid before his lordship the scheme for the
purchase of the Irish railways, which has l d a rea y
appeared.
The Earl of DERBY, who, on rising, was greeted
with much applause, said—Her Majesty's Govern-
ment were well aware that this question was one that
had excited the greatest possible interest in Ireland,
being wholly unconnected with party feeling, and one
that was regarded entirely as affecting the general
prosperity of Ireland, in which he thought it would
hardly be believed that her Majesty's Government
did not feel the greatest concern. (Hear.) It was
also a large and very important question—important
in amount, but more important in point of principle.
With regard to the statistics into which the noble
marquis had entered, it was unnecessary for him to
go into them now, because if the scheme was enter-
tained at all, no doubt it would be a matter for the
Government to consider in all its details, in order
to know what would be the security for the
money, and what the expenses. But what was more
important was, that the Government should be made
acquainted with the principles of the present pro-
posals, because if the Government should purchase
the railways of Ireland—though he declined to give
any pledge on the subject—that would be only going
a small way in the solution of a large and diffi-
cult question. In the first place, the Government
would like to be informed whether it was intended
that the purchase of the railways should in the first
instance be compulsory or not ; because one of the
greatest difficulties with which they had to deal now
was the multiplication of railway authorities. (Hear,
hear.) If this qaestion were dealt with at all, it was
necessary that there should be no break in what-
ever the Government did so as to defeat the object
in view—that there should be no power left to a
company by standing out to interfere with the con-
tinuity of the line, which, if it were the case, would
destroy the advantage otherwise to be gained. That
led the Government naturally to ask whether they
proposed the purchase to be compulsory upon every
railway in Ireland ? If not, a single railway might
impose exacting and extravagant terms, which
would be a serious obstacle to the proceeding.
Then if they proposed it to be universal and
compulsory, how did they suppose the purchase
money might be estimated ? And, in the next
place, in whom did they propose to invest all
the authority of the management of the rail-
ways ? Will they place such an amount of
patronage in the Government ? On the other hand,
would they leave the management to the different
companies ? But the principal difficulty appeared to
be this—that while many of the railways were of
opinion that lower fares might be ultimately ad,
vantageous, the present shareholders were not
disposed to make any sacrifices in the amount of
dividend for the purpose of securing a respective ad-
vantage. And now, supposing that they came to
terms and obtained the railways, how did they pro-
pose that the traffic should therefore be conducted ?
Under Government authority ? Or was it to be done
by the Government letting out the railways on lease?
(Hear, hear.) By their expressions he understood
that they were to be let out. But then companies
could be established just as they are now, having
the same interest. But if they said the Government
should lay down terms, and insist that the railways
should carry at certain fares, and pay a certain
amount to the Government—(hear, hear)—then the
question assumed a different aspect. Where did they
propose to appropriate any surplus, or obtain any
deficiency arising from the Irish railways ? It was
of the essence of this question to consider what is to
be the mode of carrying on these railways. If it
was merely to advance money on the security of the
Irish railways, he understood it—though he did not
think it a valuable security. He had seen another
proposition to buy up all the Irish railways at the
amount of the original shares, &c. No doubt that
would be an advantageous proceeding for the com-
panies. But the Government must see that they do
not run the risk of involving 'the country in any
expenditure which did not properly belong to it.
Therefore, before they gave any answer to the ap-
peal of the deputation, the Government desired to
have fully before them what was the precise proposi-
tion submitted on the part of the Irish railways and
the noblemen and gentlemen who felt an interest in
this subject. When they had that, the Governmen

not being at all unwilling to enter into the subject,
provided it was understood that they did not bind
themselves to any action in the matter, would fully
consider the propositions laid before them, and pro-

bably appoint a small committee of the Cabinet,
with some experienced financers, to investigate the
subject. (Applause.) But above all it was neces-
sary that they should state what are the principles
upon which the details are to be founded. If, then,
the Government could see their way to the adop-

tion of the proposal, it would give them great plea-

sure to do so. (Applause.)
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE, on behalf of the
deputation, expressed their unanimous satisfaction
with the assurances of the noble Premier, and ob-

served, in reply to his lordship's inquiries, that the
deputation intended that the purchase of the Irish
railways should be compulsory, and that they
shoull be leased to the best bidders. The deputa-
tion then withdrew.

BRADFORD, June 20.—The wool 'trade in still
without much animation. The operations are
scanty, and only to supply immediate wants. The
tendency of prices is downward. The new clip of
wool is ascertained to be heavy, and the stocks of
last year's growth are still partly unsold. Staplers
and spinners are consequently exceedingly cautious
in their transactions. There is no appreciable
change in worsted yarns. Export merchants aro
buying as sparingly as possible, and the orders given
out for home consumption are of the most limited
description. Some spinners of genappe yarns and
30's super weft are still tolerably busy on old con
tracts. Prices are unaltered. Little improvement
has taken place in pieces during the week. A few
manufacturers have taken some fair orders, but
these are exceptional cases.
to Stock. Pr Fee
ma-
chinery is still standing or working
DA- mucholo nine as last wecki
A good deal of