The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-06 00:00:00

RAILWAY BILLS (IRELAND).

The Select Committee appointed to inquire and report whether any
and which of the Standing Orders which are enforced in the case
of Railway Bills in Great Britain are unnecessary, and ought to
be dispensed with in the case of Bailway Bills in Ireland, have
considered the matters to them referred, and agreed to the fol.
lowing Report:—

Your Committee have examined several witnesses of considerable
experience as engineers, agents, or solicitors in the preparation and
conduct of Irish Railway Bills, and although some difference of
opinion has been expressed by them as to the operation and effect
of the existing standing orders upon Bills for the formation of
railways in Ireland, the general result of their evidence has been
such as to convince your Committee that where due diligence is
used by the promoters of such Bills, no peculiar obstacles are pre-
sented by the standing orders to their successful passage through
Parliament, of a sufficient magnitude to require a partial relaxa-
tion of those standing orders in favour of Irish Railway Bills. It

is true, that the great extent to which the subdivision of landed
property is carried in Ireland, and the number of derivative inte-
rests in land in that country, render it a task of more than ordinary
care and labour to complete the required plans, and to make out
the book of reference, which, by the standing order, No. 23, are
to be deposited by the promoters of any Railway Bill on or uefore
the 30th of Novembec. It is also alleged, that the lateness of the
harvest in Ireland inconveniently abridges the time within which
the necessary surveys can be made. On the other hand, it appears
that considerable engineering facilities are afforded to the surveys,
and the preparation of the plans for Irish Railways, by the exist-
ence of the ordnance map of Ireland, which is on a scale of six
Inches to a mile. It is also notorious that whatever disadvantage
arises from the lateness of the harvest in Ireland, must be also
experienced in many parts of Scotland, and in some parts of Eng.
land and Wales.

u r
Committeeasl
too etichaemni
anteudr
ethe
tChhea i
irnmvaens togfa t Sto Standing
Orders
railway projects are subjected previously to their introduction of
C,
the Bills into the House, and as to the general principle on which
that investigation is conducted. They are satisfied from his evi-
dence, as well as from that of other witnesses who have been
charged with the conduct of railway Bills, that due allowance is
made for cases of noncompliance with the standing orders, arising
from circumstances of a peculiar nature.
Your Committee are therefore of opinion, that no sufficient
ground exists for an alteration of the standing orders applicable to
Irish Railway Bills, as distinct from those of England and Scotland.
Most of the suggestions which they have received are applicable to
all Railway Bills ; and as several of these suggestions appear to
your Committee to deserve consideration in any future revision of
the standing orders, they recommend that, in the event of the ap.
pointment of a Committee similar to that which it has been the
practice of the House of late years to appoint from time to time for
a general revision of the standing orders, the evidence appended to
this report should be referred to that Committee.
May 23, 1845.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert has fixed Sa-
turday, the 28th inst., at three o'clock in the afternoon, for laying
the foundation-stone of the new hospital for Marylebone and Pad
dington.