The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-30 00:00:00

RAILWAY BILLS.

Yesterday, before Mr. Smith, at Westminster,
the following railway bills complied with the stand-
ing orders :—South Devon, Launceston and South
Devon, Upavon and Andover, Ogmore Valley (new
works, No. 1), Chester and West Cheshire Junction
(Extension), Cannock-chase and Wolverhampton
(Midland Extension), Cannock-chase and Wolver-
hampton (Hednesford Extension), and the Maccles-
field, Knutsford, and Warrington. The Birken-
head and Liverpool did not comply with the stand-
ing orders. The Vale of Crickhowell, Salisbury,
and Dorset Junction, Bream and Merthyr Tydfil
Junction (Northern Lines), and South-Eastern
were adjourned to this day-, and the Bridgwater
until Wednesday. In Mr. Frere's Court the fol-
lowing bills complied with the standing orders :
Great Northern (Potter'oßiv, Barnet, and Hendon),

North-Eastern (Grilling, liehnsley, and Pickering
Branch), North-Eastern (Leeds and Wetherby
Branch), North-Eastern (Yorkshire, new lines and
works), North-Eastern (Durham, new lines, &c.),
and the Dublin Trunk Connecting (City Exten-
sion).

The South-Eastern and London, Chatham, and
Dover (London, Lewes, and Brighton), the Crystal
Palace and South London Junction, and the Bre-
con and Merthyr Tydfil Junction (Southern lines)
did not comply with the standing orders.

The London and Worthing Direct, Skipton and
Wharfdale, and Halesowen and Bromsgrove Branch
were adjourned to this day.

TELEGRAPH TO INDIA (LIMITED).
The directors of this company state in their report
that the lessees of the Egyptian line had duly paid
£1,250 for the half-year ending 31st Dec. last, out
of which the directors recommended that a dividend
be paid at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum free of
income tax. They expressed their hope and expec-
tation that the important object for which the
company was formed—viz., to secure an indepen-
dent and alternative line between Great Britain and
India might be accomplished at an early period. They
were informed that the receipts of the Persian Gulf
line, with all its imperfections in the transmission
of messages through the several intervening States
of Europe, yielded upon the expenditure of £400,000
a percentage far exceeding the most sanguine expec-
tations. They were confident that the experience
obtained might now be made use of, so as to render
the laying and maintenance of a properly constructed
cable a matter of certainty, and that it was only a
question of time. The directors had always urged
upon the Government the imperative necessity for
alternative lines, to provide against those contin-
gencies which could not be avoided, and they re-
garded the Red Sea line as offering advantages in
all respects superior to any other, from its sectional
short length, and the commercial importance and
returns of the line when opened. They still looked
forward to the time when, by the united efforts of
all parties interested, arrangements might be made
for completing the great work of establishing direct
communication between Great Britain and India by
the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, under which
the shareholders in the Telegraph to India Company
might be secured the option of proceeding with the
undertaking or of receiving compensation for their
original outlay. The capital account showed that
£56,674 had been expended, leaving a balance of
£2,495.