The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-16 00:00:00

them in -Parliament than by any further action on
the part of directors.
Mr. E. B. DENISON, M.P., thought it was now uni-
versally admitted that thore ought to be an audit of
railway accounts of a perfectly honest and indepen-
dent character. Every body was of that opinion, and
his opinion was that it was not the more necessary
for directors than for the shareholders and proprietors
themselves.—(llear, hear.) Speaking for himself,
he said advisedly that he would not remain a
director of a railroad unless some means
were adopted for investigating the accounts,
which would at once settle the question.
He was sorry to say that railway directors, generally,
were rather more suspected than respected.—(A
laugh.) What system of railway audit was to be
adopted he was not prepared to say, but he quite
agreed with his friend and neighbour Mr. Glyn, that
the audit ought not to be a Government
appointment ; and he (Mr. Denison) was
at liberty to say that the members of
the Government did not wish to have the onus of
the appointment put upon them. What the Govern-
ment said, he believed, was that it was a commercial
affair, and the directors and shareholders were to
manage it among themselves, but as it was a great
public affair also, it must be managed for the benefit
of the publin.

Mr. LAING still approved of the Bill, although itihad
not met with a sufficiently hearty approval by the share-
holders to justify its being proceeded with. He left
the matter to be dealt with entirely by the share-
holders at the approaching general meeting. On the
question of a Government audit, he thought it might
be very well left in the hands of the shareholders.
Mr. ELLis thought this was entirely a shareholders'
question, and that the course now proposed was the
only sound and proper one. It was a mercantile
businesF, and a mercantile business ought to be ma-
naged without the supervision of the Government.
Mr. C. RUSSELL feared that in adopting these reso-
lutions it would be considered they were departing
from the pledge given by them at the close
of the last session of Parliament, when they
pledged themselves to do all in their power to intro-
duce an efficient system of audit. Since that time
they ,had ascertained the opinions of their share-
holders, and what had been the result? In the
Great 'Western line, with which he was connected,
they had 5,600 shareholders, and out of that number
they had got only 600 answers to the circulars
sent to them to elicit their feelings on this question ;
and out of that 5,600 shareholders 267 had said that
they objected to a Government audit. He admitted
that this was entirely a shareholders question, and if
it were possible to act with the shareholders and
proprietors he should most heartily concur in
that . mode of action ; but be did not believe
it was possible. They could not even come at the
opinions of the shareholders upon this question. How
then was it possible to hope that persons so numer -
ous and so scattered as they were could be brought
to concur in any scheme on such a question as that of
an audit of accounts. He should heartily concur in it if
it were possible. He would not oppose the resolutions
which had been proposed, but he feared they would
be a direliction of the pledge given by them last year.
The resolutions were then put, and carried unani-
mouely.
Mr GLTN moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman,
and the meeting separated.

QUEEN'S BENCH.-(THIS DAY.)
THE QUEEN V. THE INHABITANTS OF CAMBERWELL.--

THE NUNHEAD CEMETERY.
This was an appeal against an order of the justices of
Surrey, with respect to the assessment made upon the
Nuohead Cemetery Company. It appeared that the
justices had assessed the rates upon the whole receipts of
the company. _ _

Mr. CrURATEIr now appeared in support of the appeal,
and argued that the assessment was manifestly unjust
and illegal, inasmuch as no deduction was made for the
heavy expenses of carrying on the concern, such as
the making of the vaults, the salaries f the directors,
the chaplain, and the London offices expenses, which
amounted to a considerable sum. He prayed the Court,
on these grounds, to quash the order at sessions.
Mr. BovILL appeared in support of the rating, and
contended that the order was peifectly fair, and is ac-
cordance with the rules which governed
,the rating of
public companies.
The Court took time to consider the points raised.

PORTUGAL.
THE QUEEN'S SPEECII.

The following is the speech of the Queen of Portu-
gal, on the opening of the Cortes, on the 2d inst.:—
" Worthy Peers of the Kingdom, Gentlemen Depu-
ties of the Nation,—The public tranquillity, for the
consolidation cf which your loyal co-operation has
efficaciously contributed, has not been disturbed since
the last legislative session. It behoves us to thank
Divine Providence for having saved these kingdoms
trom the scourges which have so much afflicted other
countries.

" My relations of friendship with foreign potentates
continue to become closer.

" An agreement has been concluded between my
Government and that of his Majesty the King of Den-
mark, by which the Portuguese flag is considered in
the pas4age of the Sound as that of the most favoured
nation ; in the same respect the Danish flag is ad-
mitted into the ports of Portugal.
"In conformity with the principles of a just recipro-
city, my Government has arranged that our merchan-
dise, imported into the ports of Russia under the
Portuguese flag, be exempt from the payment of 50
per cent. beyond what is marked in the general
custom- house duties, and Portuguese ships relieved
from the differential dues which are paid in that king-
dom upon tonnage.
"By virtue of the authority conceded by the law
of the 25th June, 1849, and taking into consideration
the claims of some foreign Governments, that law has
been extended to the Swedish, Dutch, and Belgian
flags.
" Tranquillity has been preserved iu the colonies,
and in that of Angola, a new colony of Portuguese
emigrants from Brazil, is already established,
which gives the most flattering hopes of pros-
perity ; but I am sorry to have to acquaint you
that the establishment of Macao was the theatre of
two attempts against the sovereignty of my crown,
and against the rights of the people. My Govern-
ment has already taken the necessary measures to
secure the integrity of the establishment, the sove-
reignty of the crown, and the national dignity and
decorum ; and has also made the necessary claims,
which, I trust, will be considered, that due reparation
be obtained.

" My Government will render you an account of
the use it has made of the different powers entrusted
to it, and will as well acquaint you of the means it
had adopted to improve public credit, and meet the
public expenses.
" The estimates of the receipts and expenses of the
state must be laid before you, and several proposals
tending to improve some branches of the public ser-
vice, and some laws which experience has shown to
have been deficient.
" Worthy Peers of the Kingdom, Gentlemen De-
puties of the Nation,—At this solemn moment, in
which I feel the most lively pleasure in being sur-
rounded by the representatives of the nation, it is
my duty especially to recommond to you, in accord
with my Government, to consider the true situation
of the country, and adopt efficacious remedies, in
crier to establish the organization of the public re-
venue upon a solid and definitive basis."