The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-29 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 29, 1850.

ing, bed-making, &c., there is always much of that
sort of work most conducive to health." Mr. Brown
stated :—" The girls usually sew and knit, fre-
quently do house work, and more rarely bake,
wash, and cut out linen." Mr. Bowyer stated :
" The industrial training of the girls is better provided
for, as the making and mending of the clothing and linen
of the house afford them a constant and appropriate oc-
cupation. They are always employed for two hours of
the afternoon in knitting and sewing, and become in
some places accomplished needlewoasen. They always
make their own beds, sweep and wash their own floors,
and generally also those of a great part of the workhouse.
They help to serve the dinner for the house, and the
elder girls assist in the kitchen and wait upon the mas-
ter and matron, preparatory to being placed in service.
In some of the larger and best-regulated workhouses
they even possess a separate laundry." Mr. Ruddock
gave similar evidence. Having shown that the industrial
and moral training of the workhouse girls was well
looked to up to a certain period of life, be should now call
the attention of the House to the return moved for in
1848 by the late lamented President of the Poor-law
Board. Though that return was not so complete
as one that had been made since, it was sufficiently
full to enable them to make a subdivision of the
workhouse girls into three classes—those under
three years of age—those between three and seven—and
those between seven and sixteen. It was impossible,
however, fur the public to understand from this subdivi-
sion the number of girls who quitted the workhouse to
compete with other children for labour. Last autumn he
had issued circulars in the county which he represented
to the different union workhouses for information on this
point, and he had ascertained that in the 12 workhouses
the number of boys and girls capable of entering ser-
vice was no less than 273. He had likewise inquired of
the different boards of guardians whether they would
contribute not only to the outfit of the children, and to
send them to the port of embarkation, but also to the
expenses of the voyage. The answers which he had re-
ceived from the 12 unions were decidedly in the affirma-
tive, and to the effect that the guardians would consent
to do so if the Government came forward with some as-
sistance. They had also assured him, from the know-
ledge they possessed of the different parishes,' that
they would have no difficulty in carrying on emigra-
tion on such terms. Early in the session of 1849 he
had an interview with the Under-Secretary of the
Colonies and the President of the Poor-law
Board on the subject, and he believed that
both of those Honourable Members concurred in much
of what he had stated, and objected only on the
question of expense. In that session the Hon. Member
for Dover had moved for a return similar to that moved
for by the late President of the Poor-law Board. He
wished to direct the attention of the House to that re-
turn, to show the number of workhouse children capable
of service. According to that return the number of
children in the workhouses each year was 56,323. Of
these the number of boys capable of entering service was
4,579; of girls, 3,694 total, 8,273. The number of male
orphans capable of service was 1,578 ; female, 1,171—
total, 2,749: about one-third of the children capable of
entering service. He thought there were other classes
of children who might be benefited by emigrating, and
they were—children of widows who were not in the
workhouse; children of widows who were in the work-
house; children of widowers who were not in the work-
house; children of widowers who were in the workhouse.
These, he thought, with consent of their parents, might
emigrate with advantage. It was his intention last
session to have called attention to this subject, but he
did not regret the delay that had occurred, as the
returns since made showed the interest taken by Earl
Grey on this subject. Indeed it was a subject which had
been taken up by the Government, and was more a ques-
tion of theirs than of his. In his dispatch of the 26th
June, 1843, to Sir C. Fitzroy, Earl Grey expressed his
concurrence in the report of the Commissioners, and di-
rected him to take measures to give effect to their recom-
mendations with regard to workhouse children, and for
placing them in a respectable position in the colony. In
one of their letters the Commissioners of Colonial Emi-
gration gave it as their opinion that the emigration of
these children was fur the interest of the colony, and of
the greatest beuefit to the girls, but that they were un-
willing to undertake it on a large scald until sufficient
preparation was made in the colony for their proper em-
ployment and distribution. The Emigration Committee
having been requested to report as to the prospect of
placing these emigrants in eligible situations, stated is
answer that female emigrants from the English work-
houses would be acceptible to the colonists, and that in
the Sydney districts suitable situations might be readily
obtained for 800 of them. The Hon. Member for
Northamptonshire proposed to include Ireland in the
present motion, but he ought to recollect that if he suc-
ceeded in extending the motion to Irish workhouse
orphans, a contribution of 51. per head ',Mild have to be
made towards the expense of their passage. In
answer to the request of Earl Grey it was stated that
two districts of the colony were willing to take 1,400 of
these children as apprentices that very year. Having
the concurrence of the Legislature of Sydney, he should
like to suggest whether it would not be better at once to
commence a system which, if carried out, would lead to
greater demand for boy as well as girl emigrants from the
workhouses of this country. It would be of the greatest
use to the colonists of New South Wales if they could
obtain apprentices on whose services they could rely.
The convict boys who had been sent to Western Aus-
tralia bad, from their industrial training, been most use-
ful to the colony. Two years ago the Noble Lord the
Member for Bath made a motion for sending out a cer-
tain number of ragged school boys, but that emigration
had not turned out so welt as that to Western Australia,
for the boys, released from restraint, conducted them-
selves ill in the colony.— [Lord ASHLEY—No, no.] Atall
events they did not turn out so well as the colonists
could expect. In the early part of 1848 advances to the
extent of 300,000/. were authorised for the purposes of
emigration, secured by debentures on the Crown lands.
Between that period and the Ist of June last the colony
had repaid to the British Government 180,000/. of that
sum. Acting on the suggestion of Earl Grey, that pa-
rishes should, in the first instance, pay the expenses of
outfit and 5/. per head towards the expense of the
voyage, he would propose that the colonial funds should
pay the rest of the expense. He asked fcr no grant. The
whole sum required from the colonists to carry out the
emigration would not exceed 7,0001. From what he knew
of the wishes of the generality of parishes in England, he
had no doubt they would consent to such terms. The be-
nefits of such an emigration would be incalculable to
the colonists and to the children themselves. He felt
convinced that his proposal only wanted the fiat of the
Government to be carried into effect, and that it would
be but the prelude to a further emigration, which would
entail blessings, not only on New South Wales, but also
on other of our colonies.— (Hear.) He begged to move
" That it is expedient that the Government, with the
consent and assistance of the board of guardians
throughout England and Wales, should take immediate
steps to forward the emigration of orphan 4irls, inmates
of the several workhouses, and capable of catering ser-
vice, to Australia, as apprentices."
Mr. STAFFORD rose to move his amendment to
substitute the words " United Kingdom" for the words
"England and Wales" in the motion. He did not pro-
pose the amendment in any spirit of ,hostility to the
motion, but he thought that any aid granted for emi-
gration ought to include Ireland as well as other parts
of the United Kingdom. There had never been such
-efforts made by any nation for the purpose of emigration
as those which had been made of late years by the
people of Ireland. In corroboration of this statement
he might refer Hon. Gentlemen to the tenth report
of the Emigration Commissioners, from Which it ap-
peared that for three years the emigration from Ireland
could not be taken at less than 601,448 persona. The
emigration, indeed, for the last three yea,rs exceeded
the annual increase of the population to an extent which,
if continued, would diminish the population in eight
years by a million. In the Poor-law Act of last ses-
sion clauses were introduced expressly referring to emi-
gration, but they had been almost inoperative. In a
letter which he had received from an able administrator
of the poor-law in Ireland—the clerk of the; union with
which he was connected—the writer stated that with
respect to emigration they had advertised for a loan of
6,000/., at 6
per cent., but had only received a tender of
500/.—(Hear, hear.) The writer went on further to
state that the difference between the 5/. 10s., which it
had cost to send out 91 persons to the colonies, and that
which their detention at home would cost their respec-
tive unions, was 81. 108 ; the estimated *charge of each
being about 14/. Ile also gave it as his opinion that the
subject of emigration was a matter which 'ought to be
taken up by the Government, as it was a question
which merited a great degree of attention. The
writer did not want thO Government to giie a sum of
money; but if they gave a guarantee the money neces-
sary for the purposes of emigration might be raised by
way of loan. The new 'arrangements which had been
entered into with respect to an amended Poor-law Bill
with emigration clauses, did not yet begin to act together
so as to enable them to come to any decided conclusion
on the subject. But after their best endeavours to carry
those clauses into effect, they found that they could not
be satisfactorily carried out as yet. The Hon. Member
here referred to a report of the Emigration and Land
Commissioners, which stated that a great increase had
taken place in the number of Irish orphan girls to Aus-
tralia in the year 1848, and strongly recommended the
encouragement of such a system of emigration. Under
all the circumstances of the case, he thought his lion.
Friend could not be astonished at the anxiety felt about,
and tho attention paid to, that matter in Ireland. There
was, in fact, no subject of a secular nature which at
d
the present moment excited so much attention in this
country
generally
asT subjecththeerehabeen an attack made on
of female orphan emi-
gration.—(Hear.)
the conduct of some of the Irish girls; now, in the same
report to which he had before referred, he had found it
stated that the conduct of the Irish female orphans had
been good, both on board and on their landing; that
they had given entire satisfaction in every respect, with
the exception that they were uninstructed as domestic
servants. Now he hoped it would
in future be taken
into consideration the importance of improving the sys•
tem of instruction in the Irish workhouses, by teaching
the female orphans the duties of domestic servants.
There were societies in our colonies tinder the names of
St. George, St. Patrick, and St. Andrew, for the pro-
tection of the interests of the respective inhabitants of
the three kingdoms, and they had strongly recom-
mended the encouragement of a sound system of
emigration, as equally for the benefit of the mother
country and the colonies themselves. He then
referred to the case of the female emigrants
by the ship .Earl Grey, from Belfast, against
whom serious charges of misconduct had been made.
Now he only thought it fair to the board of guardians of
the union from which those girls had been sent to state,
that, upon an examination into the facts of that case, it
had been found that two-thirds of the number of those
on board the ship in question were not obnoxious to
the imputation which attached to the others. It was
impossible to exercise
such a degree of control and
care into the investigation of the characters of those se-
lected for emigration as to prevent some irregnlaritiee

from occurring on such a long voyage. But a whole
class ought not to be condemned because one• third of the
crew of one vessel had been misconducted.—(Hear.)
He wished the Hon. Member for Marylebone (Sir B.
Hall) was then in his place, in order that he might hear
of the conduct of some parties who had been sent out
from a place nearer home. The person who had written
the account to which he would then refer had stated
" that he could not find words enough to tell all the
trouble which he had on the voyage with those women,
or rather fiends in human shape, who had been sent out
from the Marylebone workhouse." The language they
were said to use was of the most disgusting kind, and
they had succeeded in inciting the sailors to mutiny.
The Hon. Member here referred to the reports of various
parties respecting the good conduct of Irish female
orphan emigrants proceeding out by several other ships, li
all of which concurred in bearing favourable testimony
to their behaviour on their voyage to South Australia,
and on their arrival. If they taught these Irish female
orphans how to di3charge the duties of domestic servants
better in their workhouses, there would be no difficulty
in finding good situations for them in Australia.—(Hear,
hear.) The encouragement of such emigration would be
of service not only to Ireland but to the colonies.
The Hon. Member here read an extract from a colo-
nial local paper, descriptive of the character of the
labourers, artisans, tradesmen, and respectable emi-
grants generally, requisite in the colony, or likely to sue-
, coed. Amongst the classes therein specified every encou-
ragement was held out to good domestic servants. It
bad been said that the colonies were not satisfied
with those whe had been sent out from the ragged
schools, but that was not sustained by the fact, and he
knew his Noble Friend the Member for Bath (Lord
Ashley) would be able to defend the character of those
whose prospects he had been so active in forwarding. It
was also a source of sincere congratulation to his Noble
Friend and those who had co-operated with him in as-
sisting the operatives who had been obliged to leave
France at the time of the revolution to emigrate, that
the conduct of those persons had been highly satisfac-
tory, and their presence of great value in the colonies to
which they had been sent. It was the importance which
attached to that subject which had led him to wish to
extend the proposition beyond England, and to include
the workhouses of Ireland also in its operation; and
that the whole empire should be embraced in considering
that great question of emigration.—(Hear, hear.) He
was desirous, whether or not the Government opposed
or agreed either to his amendment or the original motion
of his Honourable Friend the Member for Somerset-
shire, that that House, which professed to be the ex-
ponent of the public opinion of this country, should
express its sentiments, without reference to party dis-
cussion, on one of the nost important social questions
which occupied the public mind of this country.—(Hear.
hear.) He deeply regretted that the better classes did
not take a greater interest in the question of emigration
than they did. It was true they were not wanting in
their contribution of funds to encourage and promote the
emigration of their poorer fellow-countrymen. But he
trusted the time was coming when the better classes
would commence a system of emigration among them-
selves. It did not seem to him an impossible thing, and
he hoped the suggestion would not make Hon. Members
mile, or a matter unworthy of the dignity of some of
our infant princes, that they should go forth to found a
distinct empire in a distant part of the world—an empire
won, not by the sword, but the higher acts of peace and
civilisation, and thus establish a more glorious dominion
than ever the House of Hanover had lost.—(Hear, hear.)
It was highly satisfactory to him to see that there were
various societies planting the principles of Christianity
and British institutions at the Antipodes, as he could
observe by a reference to the report of the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge. The Honourable
Member also referred to and read extracts from
a correspondence which had taken place between
some clergymen sent out by the society alluded
to, and Earl Grey, relative to the want of spiritual
as well as medical assistance which prevailed in a qua-
rantine station on the ceast of Canada, in consequence of
the numbers of Irish emigrants arriving, and the preva-
lence
of a severe epidemic. He did not think the an-
swer which the Noble Earl at the head of the Colonial-
office bad given to the application made to him in conse-
quence of the mortality caused by the epidemic amongst
the missionaries was such as became his position. All
the ports of America had expressed their conviction that
the Government should exercise some superintendence
over the system of emigration. The gentlemen at the
head of the poor-law department had acknowledged the
difficulty of an amendment of the law of settlement, diffi-
culties which were so great that he could not promise any
proposition for regulating that law during the present
session; now that being the case, was it not an addi-
tional inducement to that Honourable and Learned Gen-
tleman to give the question of emigration fuller consi-
deration? He was glad that that important question was
now attracting the attention which it deserved. There
was hardly a paper which one could take up that did
not contain some proceedings of societies established
for the protection and encouragement of emigrants.—
(Hear, bear.) The Honourable Member for Wilt-
shire's proposition for the Canterbury settlement had
been very successful, and was deserving of every encou-
ragement. In fact, it was attracting the attention of
the better classes to a considerable extent. A meeting
had been called at a few hours' notice, at Cambridge,
a short time since, to explain the objects of that settle-
ment, and the views of the society promoting it, which
had been most numerously attended by a large body not
only of the undergraduates of that university. but by
its professors, and others who were anxious to learn in-
telligence of an interesting colony, and what were the
prospects which might await emigrants of a better order.
He thought ,there was a tendency throughout the
country amongst the better classes to emigrate, and if
it were carried into effect, no doubt it would be a
great blessing to their humbler fellow-country-
men who went out to the colonies. The old system in
the management of our colonies had been that in deve-
loping their resources we should render them in-
dependent of the rest of the world ; and it
was wonderful how rearly this little island
had succeeded in realising that idea. But in thee
year 1846 that idea had been abandoned, and we had
adopted the principle of having recourse to the
cheapest markets. He should not then discuss the me-
rits of that principle; but he would remind those Hon.
Members who maintained it, that this country was not
less bound at present than she had formerly been to
promote to the utmost possible extent the interest both
of the colonists and of the people of the mother country,
by a wise and enlarged system of emigration. In his
opinion, emigration ought to be treated altogether apart
from the colonial question, because whatever system of
colonial government might be adopted it was manifestly
for the advantage of the inhabitants of every portion of
this great empire that its productive powers should be
epresd over the most profitable fields for their employ-
ment. He hoped her Majesty's Government would show
that they were not indifferent to the great, the paramount,
and the pressing importance of that question. Be be-
lieved that emigration was at present a fireside—a house-
hold question in the :United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, and he trusted that her Majesty's Govern-
ment would treat it in a manner befitting the rulers of a
great and noble empire. The Hon. Member concluded
by moving the substitution of the words " United King-
dom," for the words " England and Wales," in the
motion of the Hon. Member for East Somersetshire.
Mr. HAWES said he was ready to admit the great
importance of the question which had been brought
under the notice of the House by the Hon. Member for
East Somersetshire. He should further say that he be-
lieved the best results would hare followed if tte ques-
tion had long ago attracted the attention which it had
received of late years. But in attempting to carry out
the most benevolent views upon the subject, there were
certain limits which it would be impossible to pass. In
considering such a motion as that of the Hon. Member
for East Sumersetshire, it was manifest that they should
take into account the capabilities of the colonies to re-
ceive any peculiar class of emigrants. Some years ago
a crying evil bad no doubt prevailed in New South
Wales, inasmuch as there had been a disproportion in
the number of the two sexes there, which had led to the
most frightful disorders. But that evil had since been
removed, and at present no great inequality of that
kind existed. The Honourable Gentleman who had
just sat down had alluded to the emigration of Irish
orphans, under the superintendence of the land and
Emigration Commissioners. Now, he agreed with the
Hon. Gentleman that that had been as faras it went a suc-
cessful emigration. But he believed be could show that
if the emigration had been carried on to a much greater
extent, the benevolent object of its promoters would
have been defeated. It was clear that the supply of fe-
male emigrants to Sydney, to Melbourne, and to Ade-
laide, had been quite equal to the demand. In the tenth
report of the Emigration Commissioners a very striking
statement was to be found upon that subject. The Hon.
Gentleman who had last addressed the House had al-
luded to three supplies of female orphan emigrants, of
which an account was to be found in that report. By
the first of those supplies 219 femeles had been landed
in Australia, and a benevolent committee having been
appointed to watch over their interests on their arrival
in the colony, situations had been found fur all of
them, with a single exception. The next supply con-
sisted of 195 females, of whom 151 only had at once
been hired. But of the members of the third supply
not less than 57 bad remained unengaged after a lapse
of six weeks. It appeared from the report of the com-
mittee which had been formed for the protection of these
young orphans, that the demand for their labour had
begun sensibly to diminish, that those among them who
had arrived last bad been disposed of to a less desirable
class of employers, and that a decided preference was
shown for the services of other emigrants, who neces-
sarily possessed more skill and experience. He had
further to state that 1,600 female emigrants having been
sent in one year to Sydney, the authorities in that colony
had urged on the Secretary for the Colonies the ex-
pediency of reducing the number by one half. He did
not mention those facts for the purpose of discourag-
ing female emigration, bat he wished to show that
they were dealing with a kind of emigration which
required great care and consideration. They were
also bound to take into account the state of the
funds in the hands of the Emigration Commissioners
for the promotion of that object. The funds over
which the Secretary for the Colonies had the chief
control were funds which he held in the nature of a
trust, and which he was bound to administer, in com-
pliance with the provisions of the Act of Parliament, and
the general regulations laid down by the colonists, who
were the best judges of the class of emigrants which
they themselves required. The Secretary of State could
not select the emigrants from any particular body or from
any particular part ef the country. He was sorry to say
that the funds of the Emigration Commissioners were nut
in so flourishing a condition as might have been inferred
from the speech of the Hon. Gentleman the Member for
East Somersetshire; and at the present moment there
was but a very trifling balance in the hands of those
Commissioners for the emigration of the ensuing year.
In the year 1848 the Commissioners had expended a
sum of 100,0001. in the promotion of emigration, that
00133 having been advanced by the, Treasury, and af,er.

wards repaid by the colonies. By the middle of 1849, a
further sum of 100,0004 had been expended; and
there had since been expended a similar sum of
100,000/. ; the whole of which money had been
repaid, or would be repaid by the colonies.
The Commissioners had also expended for New South
Wales a sum of 43,7001., which had been received from
various private contributions. He wished to discuss
that question with perfect candour, and he certainly
thought that it was not one in which Hon. Members on
one side of the House could have an interest distinct
from Hon. Members on the other side. His simple
object was to guard against the assumption that the Go-
vernment could do much more in the matter than they
were at present doing. He had always thought that if
the Government had taken the entire system of emigra-
tion under their immediate management they would
have diminished, instead of having increased, the num-
ber of emigrants. He found that emigration had already
taken place from this country to an enormous extent.
During the ten years preceding 1847 there hail emi-
grated from these islands to the United States and
to the British possessions in North America not
less than 700,000 persons ; and during the
three years ending in 1849 there had emi-
grated to the same countries not less than
750,000; making altogether in the thirteen years an emi-
gration of nearly 1,500,000 persons to North America
alone. A large stream of emigation had at the same
time been going on to our Australian colonies, although
the expense of the passage had of course rendered the
number of emigrants much smaller to those colonies
than to Canada or to the United States. The whole
population of Australia and New Zealand might be taken
at 330,000 persons, and he found that there had emi-
grated to those colonies, since the Ist of January, 1848,
not less than 56,000 persons, or very nearly 16 per cent.
of the entire population. There was one subject which
had been frequently mentioned in that House, and on
which he had some explanations to offer. It seemed to
be the opinion of some lion. Gentlemen that Ireland had
not had her fair share in the transmission of emigrants to
the Australian colonies. Ile believed, however, he could
show that Ireland had not been treated with any peculiar
unfairness in that matter. He found that the popula-
tion of the three kingdoms taken centesimally
was as follows:—England had a little more than 59.
Scotland a little more than 9, and Ireland had 30. Now
the actual number of emigrants sent from the three king-
doms had been as follows:—From England 25,392, from
Scotland 4,343, and from Ireland 12,486. The result of
that statement was that the number of emigrants from
Ireland had only been 400 less than it should have been
if the proportions between her emigrants and her popu-
lation, as compared with the rest of the United King-
dom, had been strictly observed. In conclusion he had
to state that her Majesty's Ministers were as anxious as
the Hon. Member for East Somersetshire himself to
promote, as far as they should find practicable, the ob-
ject which the Hon. Member had in view; but as he be-
lieved that the adoption of the motion of the Hon. Gen-
tleman would give rise to exaggerated expectations he
should urge him not to press that motion. If the Hon.
Gentleman should not accede to that suggestion he should
reluctantly feel it his duty to move " the previous ques-
tion" by way of amendment. But he hoped the Hon.
Gentleman would not render it necessary for him to
pursue that course.
The amendment was then put and negatived; and the
previous question having been moved by Mr. HAWES,
Mr. MUNSELL said it would be much better if the
Irish emigrants were to start from their own ports, in-
stead of first coming to Plymouth. He wished the Hon.
Member for East Somersetshirc had left out the word
Australia. Wily should all the emigrants be sent to
that colony? Seeing the disaster which must be anti-
cipated on account of the shortness of the cotton crop,
he wondered the policy of encouraging emigration to
the colony of Port Natal, where cotton grew so well, had
not struck Hon. Members more forcibly. His principal
object in rising, however, was to draw the attention of
the House to the absolute necessity of promoting, by
every possible means, the emigration of females from
the Irish workhouses. The House would hardly believe
the real state of the case. In the workhouse of the
Cork Union there were at the present moment 563
males and 954 females between the ages of 15 and 40,
who had been there for more than a year, and everyone
who knew anything about Ireland was well aware that
when they had remained in the workhouse more than a
year the probability was that they would spend the
rest of their lives there. In Thurles workhouse there
were 247 males and 648 females, between 15 and 40,
who had been there for more than a year; in Kanturk
workhouse 362 males and 829 females, and in Galway
workhouse 530 males and 740 females. Taking the whole
of Ireland there were 10,118 males and 18,429 females
who had been more than a year in the various work-
houses.

An HoN. MEMBER here moved that the House be
counted, and there being only 35 Members present, the
House adjourned at ten minutes past Eight o'clock till
Thursday.

belonged when he found it. It was certainly not an
honest transaction on his part, as he could have in-
formed some of the workmen of his finding, when it
would have been instantly restored to the owner. But
such did not make it a felony, and it would be for
the jury to decide.
The jury consulted for a few minutes, when they
returned a verdict of Acquittal.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
LAMBETH.

EXTENSIVE AND INGENIOUS ROBBERY OF THE
SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY.—Last even-
ing, as Mr. Elliot, the sitting magistrate, was about
to leave the bench, Mr. William Edward Eicke, a
young man of gentlemanly appearance, was brought
up in custody of Mr. Field, the inspector of the de-
tective force, and Bent, an active officer, and placed
at the felons' bar on a charge of stealing a debenture
bond, of the value of 2,0001., from the treasurer's
office, at the terminus of the London and South-
We'tern Railway, the property of the company.
Mr. L. C-ombie, from the office of Messrs.
Bircham and Dalrymple, solicitors to the company,
with Mr. Alfred Morgan, the company's treasurer,
attended for the prosecution ; and Mr. Games ap-
peared on behalf of the prisoner.
From the opening of Mr. Crombie, it appeared that
an error or deficiency of 2,0001. having been dis-
covered in the books of the company, an investigation
of the accounts was instituted, which resulted in the
discovery that the prisoner, who was a clerk in the
office of Mr. Morgan, the treasurer, had, on the 25th
January, 1849, issued a debenture bond for the
amount of the deficiency, and the instru-
ment having got into different hands, the
company were paying the interest on it as
though the money had been advanced to them in the
ordinary way. Upon this discovery having been made,
Mr. Field, of the detective force, and Bent, an intel-
ligent officer employed by the company, were en-
gaged to apprehend the prisoner, and they, after much
trouble and a great deal of manoeuvring, succeeded
in taking him into custody at a chemical manufactory
which he had established at Battersea-fields, and to
conduct which, it appeared, he had given up his situa-
tion under the railway company.
Mr. Alfred Morgan was then called into the wit-
ness-box, and having been sworn, said—l am trea-
surer to the London and South-Western Railway
Company. The prisoner was in the service of that
company. He had charge of the debentures granted
by the company, for the purpose of being registered,
and it was also his duty to take a receipt for each de-
benture-bond that passed through his hands. The de-
benture-bonds were never finally sealed until they
were actually wanted, and they were then given to the
I prisoner, whose duty it was to register them and re-
ceive a receipt for them from the parties receiving
them. I remember an application having been made
•to the company for debentures to the amount of
4,0001. by Mr. Dickinson, of May fair, in January,
1849. The application was for one debenture of 2,0001.
and two of 1,0001. each. There was no other appli-
• cation for debentures by Mr. Dickinson during that
month. In the book kept by the prisoner there was
an entry of a debenture for 2,0001. transferred from
Mr. Dickinson to another person under the date of
the 11th March, 1849. The debenture is described
in that entry as No. 367, dated 25th of January,
1849. Tne number of the debenture for 2,0001.
granted Mr. Dickinson, is No. 366, and is dated 25th
'of January, 1849. There is no entry of cash having
' been paid for the debenture for 2,0001., No. 367, and
Mr. Dickinson, it has been proved, has only paid for
one debenture of 2,000/., No. 266, and two others of
1,0001. each. The book in which the cash entries for
the debenture bonds should have been made is pro-
duced, and no entry can be found of any cash having
been paid in reference to the debenture for 2,0001.
No. 367. I find that an entry of two sums for
2,0001. each, and two for 1,0001., had been made, but
in one of the former there was an erasure: In the
debenture ledger there appear entries of two deben-
, I turas for 2,0001, and two for 1,0001. each, by which
I Mr. Dickinson is made to appear to have ordered de-
' bentures for 6,0001. from the company, instead of
4,0001., while in the cash receipt book only 4,0001.
appears as received. The debenture No. 367, ap-
peared to have been transferred to three different
parties, and was at present in the possession of Mr.
Wilkinson, of Clapham. All the entries of the
transfers, except the last, were in the handwriting of
the prisoner. From all the circumstances, I believe
the debenture for 2,0001., No. 267, has been stolen
from the office of the company; and that the
. money had not been advanced for it, nor had there
been any authority given for taking it away.
The grounds for charging the prisoner with the
offence of stealing the debenture is, that at all
events there is a fraud shown by the entries to have
been committed by him in keeping the accounts,
and entering the money as having been paid when it
was not.

In his cross-examination by Mr. Games, Mr. Mor-
gan said that the prisoner had been in the service of
the company for four or five years, and that up to the
time of his leaving, about five months ago, had con-
ducted himself to the satisfaction of the company.
Was not aware that his friends were of the highest
respectability, and all he knew of 'him was his busi-
ness habits ; and was not aware that up to the present
charge there had been the slightest imputation on
his character.

Mr. Crombie, addressing the Magistrate, said that
as the prisoner bad only just before been apprehended,
he (Mr. Crombie) had not had time to procure the
attendance of Mr. Wilkinson, the holder of the stolen
bond, or the other witnesses whose testimony would
be required to complete the charge against the priso-
ner ; and therefore he had to request the remand of
the accused for a few days, to give time for the at-
tendance of the witnesses that would be required.
Mr. Games replied that he felt it quite useless to
contend against a remand, but he at the same time
hoped his Worship would admit his respectable client
to bail in such an amount as would ensure his attend-
ance on a future day, particularly as it would require
a lengthened remand to enable him (Mr. Games) to
get up such a defence as, he doubted not, would
wholly free the accused from the charge and accu-
sation.

Mr. ELLIOTT said the lowest amount of bail he
could thick of accepting was two sureties in 1,0001.
each, and the prisoner himself in 2,0001., and remanded
the prisoner for a week.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
WEST CORNWALL.
A. special meeting of the proprietors of the above
company was held yesterday, at the King's Arms
Tavern, Palace-yard, fur the purpose of considering
the draft of a Bill now before Parliament, for
authorising a deviation of a branch line of the railway
and for other purposes. Captain Moorsom was in
the chair.
The advertisement convening the meeting having
been read by the secretary, the solicitor (Mr. Ed-
wards) was about to lay before the shareholders the
draft of the Bill, when
Mr. HILL objected to any further progress in the
business for which the meeting had been convened,
until the shareholders received some explanations re-
specting certain rumours which had obtained circula-
tion, and which affected the credit of the company.
It had been publicly reported, and was in many in-
fluential quarters, as he understood, believed, that
some negotiations or correspondence had been entered
into, or taken place, which amounted to something
like a compromise between the chairman of the com-
pany and Mr. Mowatt, the defendant in an action
brought by the company, and by which correspond-
ence or arrangement the hearing of the trial had
been postponed, to the great injury of the company.
The matter had excited great surprise in Cornwall
and amongst a very large class of shareholders, and
although scarcely anything could induce him to be-
lieve that the reports which he heard were strictly
correct, he felt, in common with other gentlemen,
that it was of the highest importance, both for the
character of the chairman and the interests of the
company, that a full explanation should be given.
Mr. HARRISON said he should have asked the same
question if he had not felt it would be affectation in
him, who had been a member of a committee of in-
vestigation on the subject-matter of the trial referred
to. In that character he knew the chairman had,
without the concurrence of his colleagues, entered
into a correspondence which led to the postponement
of the trial. On this matter the chairman had acted
without authority, and was bound to explain.
A long and angry discussion took place, in which
Mr. Hill, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Flight, Mr. Wheeler,
Mr. Vigurs, and other gentlemen pressed on Captain
Moorsom the necessity of giving an ample explana-
tion of the facts charged in reference to the post-
ponement of the trial. On the other hand, Captain
Moorsom denied the competency of the present
meeting to deal with the matter, questioned the pro-
priety of discussing the point, and excepted to the
mariner in which the speakers had approached the
subject. Ultimately Mr. Vigurs stated that he
thought there was a letter on the hooks of the com-
pany frotn Messrs. Tilson and Squance, the solicitors
fur the plaintiffs in the company, which if read to
the meeting would render any further explanation
unnecessary.
Several directors denied any knowledge of the
letter referred to.
At the suggestion of Mr. VIGURS the bo retired
for ten minutes to consider the letter referred to.
When the board returned, it was considered expe-
dient to adjourn the meeting, wi, bout further di:cus.
mon, to the sth cf June. A copy of the letter was
iiaid to he in the room.
The meeting then adjourned.

YORK, NEWCASTLE, AND RERMCK.
YORK, TUESDAY.—An extraoriioary itteal..;.; of
sh,,,hold,,rs was held to-day at' the De Griiy
Rooms, at which Mr. George Leonia; the chairmnli
of the company, presided, when the resolutions pro-
posed by the directors in reference to the Great North