The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-08 00:00:00

FEBRUARY B, 1850

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON AND NORTR-W ESTERN.-At a meeting
of shareholders in this compay, held at Manchester
on Tuesday, to consider the propriety of appointing
a committee to co-operate with shareholders in other
towns in obtaining a more efficient system of audit,
Mr. Baxley in the chair, resolutions were passed to the
effect that while a more efficient system of auditing
railway accounts, with greater powers of control on
the part of the shareholders, was impera-
tively required, it was the opinion f the meeting that
a system of audit under the control of a Government
department would entail great practical evils and be a
violation of independent management; that it was
necessary to prepare and introduce in the present ses-
sion of Parliament (as the measure of the shareholders
themselves, and without the interference of the direc-
tors), a Bill for the purpose, containing ample powers
and provisions, and appointing a committee, consist-
ing of Messrs. Hunter, Ashton, Hitchcock, Ross,
King, Rawson, Robinson, Hadfield, Garnet, and
Lyon, to confer with committees of shareholders
appointed at Birmingham, Liverpool, and other
places, and with them to take such steps as may be
desirable. It was stated that the proposed Bill con-
templated a better system of railway management,
as well as a better system of audit.
EXETER AND CREDITON.—It appears that arrange-
ments are being made for leasing this line to the
Bristol and Exeter Company for a term of seven
years, at a net rental equal to one-third of the gross
receipts. It is expected that the line will be opened
for the traffic early in April. About 30,0001. will
have to be raised for the purpose of completing the
works.

NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE.—We have been requested
to state that the names of the Committee of Investi-
gation appointed on behalf of the shareholders are—
Major-General Briggs, London ; Mr. Challinor,
Leek ; Mr. Taunton, London ; Mr. R. H. Haywood,
Brownbills, Burslem ; the three remaining members
of the committee are to be nominated by the directors.
We understand at the late general meeting of the
company the dissentient shareholders held the proxies
for 29,000 shares, to be used adversely to the direc-
tors in the event of any matter being pressed to a
division. The appointment of a committee of inquiry
was moved as an amendment to the directors' report,
as proposed by the chairman, and, after some altera-
tions in minor details at the suggestion of the direc-
tors, and not opposed by the dissentient shareholders,
was passed unanimously.
THE HIGH LEVEL-BRIDGE.—The High Level-
bridge over the Tyne is now completed both for pas-
sengers and railway purposes.
RAILWAY BILLS ON STANDING ORDERS.—Yester-
day the standing orders were declared to have been
complied with in the case of the Waterford and Kil-
kenny Railway, who propose to raise an additional
capital of 100,0001.; Chester and Holyhead Railway,
for lease to the London and North-Western, with
power to the latter to subscribe 525,332/. The Bills
of the Caledonian Railway for repeal of lease of
Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston and Glasgow
Southern Terminal Railways, and for Acts relating
to their amalgamation with other lines, were referred
to the Select Committee on Standing Orders, on the
ground of insufficient notice.
BRITISH ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY.--
Yesterday the Bill of the promoters of this under-
taking was declared to have complied with the stand-
ing orders, the object being to incorporate a new
company, for the purpose of telegraphic communica-
tion upon a more economical scale throughout
the country, and for the purpose and use of patents.
It is proposed that the capital of the company shall
consist of 4,000 shares of 251. each, 51. per share to
be the greatest prescribed amount of call. The
number of directors is not to exceed twelve, nor to be
less than three. The company are to have power to
grant licences, and to make arrangements for faci-
litating telegraphic communication with other coun-
tries. The telegraph is to be open to the use of the
public " without favour or preference," at uniform
charges ; the scale of remuneration from Government
to be fixed by the Board of Trade.

consumption would relieve them.—(Hear, hear.)
He knew it would be said that, to a certain extent, the
poor at present were relieved from paying rate upon their
houses. In Lancashire, for example, out of 340,000
rate-payers, 50,000 were excused, and out of the total
annual property rated for the relief of the poor, amounting
to six millions and a-half, 369,000/. was excused.
The Hon, Member then proceeded to read a quantity of
returns of the number of houses excused from taxation
from rates in the several counties, showing that about
one third were relieved from fiscal impositions, and
then proceeded to say : Now those houses
were excused under an Act of the 54th George
c. 170, an Act which, while it contem-
plated a relief to the lower classes, had, in fact, been
instrumental in occasioning many cases of delicacy and
much distress.—(Hear, hear.) Es ery person who desired
to be excused was obliged to come before the over-
seers, and prove his poverty. The entire amount of the
exemption under this Act was not less than 600,0001.
The poor man who happened to have some money in the
savings' bank never was excused; there was no pre-
mium for prudence and providence. He thought that
the attempt to puss such a measure as that proposed by
the Honourable Member for Hertford would be
pernicious in the extreme. He would prove the fal-
lacy of the principle of that measure in a
very short time if the House would listen to him.
The ratepayer as well as the landowner had prejudices
on this sue jolt; they both looked upon the owner of
cottages as an enemy instead of looking upon him
as he really wee, a public benefactor. He
it was who conduced to the promotion of
morality, by providing for the poor labourer a de-
tached dwelling for his family. If a gentleman should
build a house for poor labourers, it would be very unjust
to impose upon him a tax for that house, whether he ob-
tained a rent or not. In manyparishes there were comfort-
able and very pretty cottages built f re. labourers, but the
supply of cottage dwellings was deficient. The
greater portion of these cottages were built by
speculative persons, and the effect of imposing a
tax on the owners, would be to discourage these
persons and to diminish the supply of dwellings fur the
poor. He would not now enter into the question as to
whether the tax upon land was ultimately paid by the
owner or the occupier—he believed it was paid by
the owner ; but this was evident, that the pos-
session of land was a monopoly, but not
so with regard to houses, because as the supply
increased the rent decreased, and if by taxing those
houses they interfered with the enterprize of the specula-
tive builder, the supply of houses would diminish, and it
appeared that even at present the supply of houses was
diminishing rather than increasing, and the poor
were consequently driven to immoral and crowded
lodgings ; therefore it was desirable by re-
lieving small houses of taxation to induce specu-
lative builders to increase the supply of those
houses. He knew that some persons were opposed to in-
ert ase the number of small houses, because such increase
tended to increase the population; he had thought that
notion had been exploded, but he would ask the sup-
porters of that doctrine whether pauperism was not
increased by crowding the poor into bad houses,
and whether the supply of good houses would not tend
to diminish it? In a sanitary, in a moral, in an econo-
-1 mical point of view, he was convinced that an increased
supply of small houses was desirable. That was the
opinion of the Noble Lord the Member for Bath (Lord
Ashley), as he had gathered from a speech of his re-
cently delivered at a meeting at the London Tavern.
The adequate increase of dwellings would decrease pau-
perism and crime. The palaces of the Sovereiga were
exempted from this tax. Now, be called upon them to
do for the poor man what they did for the royal palaces.
The wealthy man's personal property was exempt from
taxation. Why, then, should not the dwellings of the
poor man be exempted from this local taxation? All
mines, except coal-mines, were excused. That wes real
property. Why, if the proprietors of that property
should be excused, should not the poverty of another
class excuse them? It would be a simple thing to draw
a line between the houses, and say that houses of such
a rental shall pay and houses of such another rental
shall not pay. In the town of Liverpool, out of 42,000
houses no less than 32,000 houses were excused upon
one ground or other. Thus unjustly did the existing
law work. More than three-fourths of the houses
were excused. He did trust that the House would con-
sider and deliberate on this subject. He asked them
to elevate the condition and moral character of the poor
by attention to their wants, and by passing measures
with that tendency. The masses of the population
around them were in a very feat ful condition. In France,
social convulsion and disaffection to the Government
had sprung from neglecting the means of reconciling
the poorer classes and improving their condition. This
neglect had conduced to acts of rebellion and insubordi-
nation. He concluded by asking leave to bring in the Bill.
Mr. FAGAN, after a pause, seconded the motion.
Mr. A. STAFFORD hoped the Hon. Member would
not attribute any want of courtesy to him if he proposed
to take the divison on the Bill at the present stage, which
the Hon. Member had selected as the opportunity for
taking the discussion upon it. The Bill was so short
and the question so plain and easy, that the House
would be as well able to form an opinion on the propriety
of affirming or rejecting it now as on the second le aling.
The present inclination of the House was by no means
to diminish the property subject to taxation, and, if the
measure proposed by the Hon. Gentleman was adopted,
its only effect would be, not to relieve the occupier, but
to increase the owners' rents.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir G. GREY observed, that the Hon. Gentleman
(Mr. Scrope) had communicated to him his intention to
ask for lt ave to introduce his Bill, which he (Sir G.
Grey) was prepared to accede to; but, after the course
he had taken in raising the whole question at issue when
stating the principle of the proposed measure, the House
could not be better informed upon it than they were at
present—(Hear, hear)—and, although he had not pro-
posed to oppose the introduction of the Bill if it was
pressed to a division now, he must vote against it. He
quite agreed with the Hon. Member in the importance
of doing everything in their power to improve the
dwellings of the poor.--(Hear, hear.) It was satisfac-
tory to observe what had been done in the metropolis
and most of the large towns in that direction. After the
perusal of a'l the Hon. Gentleman had written with so
much ability on the subject, he was unable to arrive at
the same conclusions, for he believed the Honourable
Gentleman's project offered a premium for the erection
of a lower class of houses—(Hear, hear)—and if
the standard of rating was fixed at a high rent a much
larger amount of property would be exempted than
would be at all desirable. The Hon. Member, in writing
of the mode in which the existing law worked, brought
an argument of a convincing nature against his own Bill,
for he declared that cases occurred where the owners of
cottage property constituted a majority in the vestry,
and carried an exemption from rates in their own
favour. [Mr. SCROPE.—" That's not general; it's only
a particular case."] Believing the Bill would have a
most prejudicial effect on the object of the Hon. Gentle-
man, he must oppose the proposition, now, as on every
former occasion, and vote against it if it was forced to a
division.
Mr. SLANEY gave every credit to the Hon. Member
for Stroud for his benevolent intentiens, but the best
attention he (Mr. Slaney) could devote to the question
had convinced him that the proposed Bill would lower
and depreciate the condition of the poor.
Mr. SCROPE certainly had not expected that leave
to bring in the Bill would have been refused to him. His
statement was only intended to explain the principles of
the measure, not to raise any argument on the question
at large. Ire owned the opposition he had met with was
what he had every reason to expect in a House composed
of landowners and the rept e,entative of ratepayers. It
was impossible but that a feeling of bias should ho pre-
valent in a House of that nature.—(" Oh! oh !")
Mr. V. SMI FR rose to protest against the Hon. Gen-
tleman's attributing any unfair bias to the House be-
cause they happened to be almost unanimous against his
proposition, so that he could only find a seconder by
courtesy. The Hon. Member put him in mind of the
unlucky juryman whose lot was always to get into the
box with 11 of the most obstinate men in the world,
The fact was there never was a time when so much at-
tention was paid to the condition of the dwellings of the
poor. The Bill proposed would work the greatest in-
jury, and would only raise the rents; for even now there
were cases where the owners of cottage property having
obtained exemption from rates at once laid the amount
on the rents.

Mr. HUME, of his rersonal knowledge, could cor-•
roborate the last statement of the Right Lion. Gen-
tleman (Mr. V. Smith), and was persuaded the proposed
Bill would open a door to abuse. There was a gr( at
desire abroad to see the physical condition of the working
classes improved, and many persons who were anxious
to erect comfortable cottages tbr them would be content
with as little as 2 per cent. He thought those interested
in the question might with propriety make application
to Government to assist them by tAking the duty off
bricks—(Hear, hear)—which weighed considerably
against the erection of substantial cottages, as well as by
repealing the window-tax. Such measures would have
far greater effect than the Bill of the Hon. Gentle-
man which would only lay the ground fur abuse and
jobbing.
Mr. BROTHERTON said, that in the borough which
he had the honour to represent there were 10,000 houses,
and of that number 9,000 were under the value of 10/.,
and therefore exempt.
The motion was then put, and negatived without a
division.