The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENIIRG, FEBRUARY 20, 1866.

mure yesterday steamed up to Millwall, from Wool- Pier (Railways) and the Mid Wales. In the cases
with, and entered the ironworks and shipbuilding of the Blyth Valley and the Worksop and Doncas-
company's dockyard there, to be fittel with new ter there were no appearances. The Salisbury and
boilers and have her engines overhauled. She is Dorset Junction was adjourned to the 21st inst.
likewise to be thoroughly repaired and coated with The Bristol and North Somerset (Bristol lines)
Peacock's composition anew, which will require a until the 29th, and the Bridport, Lyme, and South
month's docking. Coast until the Ist of March. The Tavistock and
_ _ __

The sailing transport ship Thessalia, in the service
of the War Department, has sailed from Woolwich
Arsenal, laden with hutting materials, for Bermuda.
The Investigator, laden with a similar cargo, for
Bermuda, is also ready for departure.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—S. Libby (b.), master, to the
Victory, for service in the Black Eagle ; H. A.
Easther and T. H. Flood, second masters, additional,
to the Princess Royal, for disposal ; A. Hackman,
second master, to the Hector ; J. T. Partridge,
second master, to the Achilles, and J. Knight,
first class assist.-engineer, to the Topaz.

Gunnislake was postponed.
The following railway bills complied with the
standing orders before Mr. Frere :•—Cashel. Junc-
tion, Waterford, New Ross, and Wexford Junc-
tion, Colnbrook, Belfast Central (Belfast Corpora-
tion) ; and the London and South-Western (addi-
tional powers). There were no appearances put in
for the Hollywell Port, Holloway and Metropolitan
Junction, Cray Valley, and the Tyne, Wear, and
Tees. The cases of the West Cork, Cork and Ban-
don, Cork and Kinsale Junction, and Cork and
Macroom direct (arrangement) was ,postponed, and
the Merthyr, Tredegar, and Abergavenny was ad-
journed until Monday, the 26th inst.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

NORTH LONDON.

The report of the directors states that the traffic
receipts for the past half -year amounted to £109,785,
and for the corresponding half of 1864 to £93,832,
showing an increase of £15,953. The large increase
in the receipts from passengers was in a great mea-
sure attributable to the City Extension line, which
was opened for passenger traffic in November
last. The working expenses for the same period
were £62,679, as against £51,331 in 1864. A
half-hourly service had also been established
over the Hampstead Junction, and the North
and South Western Junction Railways, the
expense of which was considerable ; the re-
ceipts for working these sections of the company's
system were increased by £3,374. The passenger
traffic over the City Extension line had been such as
fully to bear out the original estimate, and there
could be no doubt that so soon as the goods station
of the London and North-Western Company was
completed the receipts from both descriptions of
traffic together would secure to the proprietors a
good return, notwithstanding the heavy cost of the
line. The conditions under which the preference
shares were issued provide that the interest thereon
should not become chargeable against revenue until
after Dec. 31, 1865, and the directors therefore pro-
posed to carry forward a large portion of the in-
creased receiptsin anticipation of this charge, which
would come into operation during the present half-
year. Dividend and interest on the increased capital
raised by ordinary shares and debentures had been
charged against revenue from the date of issue.
After providing for debenture interest, the net ba-
lance to the credit of revenue was £43,885, from
which the directors recommended that a dividend be
declared at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, leav-
ing a balance of £4,585 for the current half-year.
The capital account showed that £2,613,207 had
been expended, leaving a balance of £4,156. It was
proposed to raise £150,000 additional capital by the
issue of ordinary shares.

greater franchise than that of a £6 franchise his con-
stituents would not feel disposed to accept.
Mr. APLAREN, member for Edinburgh, said a
very large portion of the people of the city of Edin-
burgh were in favour of Parliamentary Reform, and
would support the Government in extending the
franchise and redistributing seats, whether in one or
two bills, according as the Government might think
proper to adopt.

them immediately usable. There is a complaint from
many markets that a sufficiency does not come out to
supply our present wants; and those millers near ports
where old foreign qualities can be obtained are now
resorting to the lowest markets to obtain more of
this description than they have taken for some time,
while during spring tillage they will have to take
much more, or let their mills stand still. In many
low parts of the country-, where the waters are out
so much, there has been a complete stop to mills
worked by water power, and many of them have
stood still since the heavy fall of snow in January,
when floods were more general than usual. On
Thursday the morning was thick, wind W., ther-
mometer 37 deg., barometer 29.50 in., with rain
again at night ; still in Norfolk we understand fair
progress has been made with sowing barley on their
lightest soils. Farmers who have to buy this corn
for seed will do well to secure fine qualities imme-
diately, or they will have to contend with an infe-
rior sort. Our Suffolk advices from that date say—
" During the past week the weather has varied
much, wet predominating; the last few days have
been colder, with frost at night." Friday was
a thoroughly wet day, wind W.S.W., barometer
29.60 in. Of course all field work was stopped
where such was the state of the weather. Our
accounts received on that day from Warwickshire,
state—" We have had changeable weather during
the week. A good deal of rain has fallen, and in
some districts the land has been flooded for a con-
siderable time. The wheat plant is generally, up to
the present date, reported healthy." From Lin-
colnshire it was stated—" The weather keeps fine,
and a short crop of turnips is wonderfully favoured
thereby. No sowing yet ; land too wet. Wheat
looks well." The continued favourable reports of
the wheat plant, after so much wet weather, must
be attributed to the extensive drainage so generally
resorted to, and wet seasons will consequently not
be so much feared as was formerly the case.
On Saturday morning the wind was round to
the north ; the day was cold and dry throughout ;
thermometer 38 degrees ; barometer 29.80 inches ;
and in the evening the wind blew from the north.
A continuance of this sort of weather would be
most acceptable to the farmers and beneficial to the
trade generally.—Mark-lane Express.

Earl RUSSELL said he had listened with great at-
tention to the observations which had been addressed
to him, and while making-some remarks in reply, he,
in the first place, must observe that it was not in his
power, neither was it his duty, to state to them the
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might now require upon the principle of that old
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which their ancestors and their own experience had
taught them, and go to foreign nations or modern
representative systems, to attain a knowledge of
what was required for the improvement of their own.
With regard to the question of Parliamentary Re-
form the deputation would agree with him that there
must be many elements considered when determin-
ing what should be the representation of the coun-
try. Numbers and population must be considered,
property must be considered, and intelligence must
be considered, and not only intelligence, but local
circumstances must likewise be taken into account.
If, for instance, they were to adopt a plan of repre-
sentation entirely upon the principle of numbers, and
to give to each place what its numbers required, this
great metropolis would have about as many mem-
bers as the whole kingdom of Scotland ; but con-
sidering that the great interests of the metropolis
were not more varied in their nature than the vari-
ous interests of the people of Scotland—though the
population might be as great, an arrangement
must be made with a view to a fair representa-
tion of the interests of the whole United Kingdom.
They had not, however, at present to deal with any
theoretical question, but to consider the present
state of affairs. In 1830 and 1831, when Lord
Grey laid his propositions before Parliament on the
subject of Reform, the abuses in the representation
were of so gross and so glaring a nature, that, as
soon as the subject was broached by the Govern-
ment, with the authority of the Crown, the cry ran
all through the nation with a flame of enthusiasm
sufficient to carry the proposition at once. But in
those days Gatton and Old Sarum, without any in-
habitants, were entitled to send members to Parlia-
ment ; while Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham,
and various other flourishing towns, had no mem-
bers whatever. It was so striking an abuse that
the people were quite willing, when the matter was
taken up by Government, to agree to reform that
state of things. But the present state of things
was totally different. Whatever abuses or defects
existed in the present representation, they were
different in degree, if not altogether different in
kind. It had seemed to him, he confessed, for some
years, considering what they had done in 1832, that
it was a very obvious and a very pressing defect in
the representation that skilled artisans in the.towns
--men industrious and enterprising, virtuous, and
intelligent, were to so great an extent excluded from
exercising the franchise at elections. It had been
maintained that any skilled artisan could by indus-
try and prudence occupy a £lO-house, and thereby
obtain a vote ; but he was convinced that no well-
conducted artisan who wished to give his family
that amount of respectability in point of clothing,
and that degree of education which his posi-
sition in society entitled him to do, could afford to
give £lO a year for a house in addition to those
expenses. But he would not now discuss that ques-
tion ; it was evidently a matter for considera-
tion. A measure had been framed, and he
would not anticipate its discussion. As to a redis-
tribution of seats, that question did not appear to
him to involve a defect so obvious, or to require so
immediate a remedy asthat of the franchise. It was,
at the same time, a question of considerable diffi-
culty. When Lord Derby introduced his bill on
Parliamentary Reform, he proposed that one mem-
ber should be taken from each of 15 boroughs and
be distributed among the large towns that were not
represented at all, or were inadequately represented.
That, he thought, was a proposition hardly suffi-
cient to give the measure a permanent character.
But, on the other hand, if they went so far as to say
that the number of representatives should be exactly
in proportion to the number of the population, it
would be so great a change that it would be entirely
out of the question to believe 'it could be carried.
Without saying whether it would be advantageous
or mischievous, it would be quite hopeless to carry
any such measure. On the question of the bill it-
self he did not intend to say anything definite—for
while considering the measure they had a right to
reserve to themselves their own opinions. He re-
membered saying many years ago in the House of
Commons that they were like bees working in a
glass hive. All their proceedings were exposed
to public view ; but he had heard that the bees
adopted the precaution of filling up that part of the
hive which was not dark with wax, so that their
proceedings might not be seen—a very proper pre-
caution. So he and his colleagues had determined
to imitate the bees and not expose the honey till it
was ready to be gathered.
Mr. RALGLISH then thanked the noble lord, and
the deputation withdrew.