The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-25 00:00:00

IRISH GREAT WESTERN (DUBLIN AND

GALWAY) RAILWAY.

The Committee met at eleven o'clock in the siord Chancellor's
Court, Earl Bathurst in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN then said that the Committee had come to the
resolution of reporting the evidence which they had already heard
to the House of Lords, and that they would take the orders of the
House as to whether or no they should proceed on the merits of
the Bill. They would be quite ready to hear the other side rebut
the cases which had been made out by the petitoners.
Mr. TALBOT said he thought the better course would be to report
to the House at once. He would admit that there might have been
negligence on the part of the Company, though even that was not
by any means clear, but he denied emphatically that there was any.
thing proved against them, except want of caution. There was no
imputation whatever upon them.

After some further discussion, the Committee retired, but did
not announce how soon they would meet again, whether in an hour
or in a week.

RUNCORN AND PRESTON BROOK
RAILWAY.
IMPORTANT DECISION.

The Committee to whom this line was referred met today at
half-put eleven o'clock and resumed the consideration of the merits
of this railway. Present, Lord Camoys, Chairman, the Duke of
Lceds, the Earl of Kinnoul, the Earl of Uxbridge, and the Marquis
of Londonderry.

Mr. Lowman, counsel for the promoters, then addressed the
Committee on the rebutting case brought forward by the opponents
of the Bill. The principal ground of objection was stated so be
that it was the intention of the promoters of the line to make it
part of a grand scheme, by which a monopoly would be conferred on
the Grand Junction Railway of the traffic of the county. He con.
tended that that was a gratuitous assumption, and wholly unfounded,
and that the real ground of opposition was the desire to prevent
the prosperity of the port of Runcorn, and promote the trade of
Birkenhead. After referring to the ♦arious points of the goods
and passenger traffic which had been referred to by the witnesses
on behalf of petitioners, he conc►uded a very lengthened address
by oalling on the Committee to confirm the decision which had
been already come to by the House of Commons, and not to lend
their sanction to an opposition which, if successful, would greatly
retard the prosperity of the port of Runcorn, and prove most inju.
rious to the welfare of the district.

The room was then cleared, and on our re-admission

The CIiAMMAN announced that the Committee had carefully
considered the merits of the proposed line, and had come to the
conclusion that th? preamble of the Bill was not proved.

The Committee then broke up.

SOUTH WALES RAILWAY.-MONMOUTH

AND HEREFORD RAILWAY.

The Committee appointed by the House of Lords to consider
these Bills rnet this day for the first time in the Rolls' Court. Peers
present—Lord Portman (chairman), the Duke of Norfolk. the
Marquis of Westminster, the Hari of Roden, and Lord Leigh.
The promoters of both Bills were represented by Mr. Austin,
Mr. Talbot, Sir T Phillips, and Mr. Benton.
Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Merrewether supported the ease of Sir
Richard Bulkeley Phillips, M.P. for HaverfordweA.

Mr. TALBOT opened the case for the proraoters. The preamble
of the Bill set out that it was proposed to make a line from Fish-
guard and Pembroke Docks to Chepstow, in the county of Mon.
mouth, thence to be continued by a branch railway to Monmouth.
He (Mr. Talbot) need not inform their Lordships that a
more important line than this had not been considered
in the course of the present session. It was supererogatory
to observe that the railway passed through a large tract of
country at present unoccupied by any other, a country, ton, which
had to recommend it a commercial intercourse ot no common cha-
racter. He believed that the best introduction of this case would
be to read to their Lordships some portions of the report of the
Board of Trade on the subject. That report was made at consi.
derable length, and it was, perhaps, as well at the outset to state
that it then had refereece to a larger scheme than their Lordships
had to consider. The scheme at that period referred to a Bill con-
necting
the whole of South Wales with the town of Gloucester by
Chepstow. But it must be borne its mind, that though one part
of that connexion was severed at present, they would
be tanabled, in the next session of Parliament, to renew their ap-
plication. But to the report of the Board of Trade. They stated,
first, that the South Wales and Monmouth and Hereford Rail.
ways form, together, a comprehensive scheme for extending rail.
way communications in connexion with the existing Great Western
Railway. west of the Severn to Herefordshire, Monmouthshire,
and along the a hole course of South Wales to Pembroke and Fish.
guard; and after giving the respective length of lines, and re-
ferring to the map—after stating that they were proposed
to be tarried out in conjunction with the Great Wes.
tern system, they spoke of the gradients. On this
subject the report said that the gradients of both lines arc in parte
very severe, but not impracticable, and there is reason to believe
that better gradients could not have been obtained without in-
curring an expense which, under the circumstances, would have
been very undesirable. The works for the greater portion of the
South Wales line are light; and, upon the whole, the lines present
no extraordinary engineering difficulties. Then, after expressing
generally the importance of the lines to the respective districts, It
stated that the towns of Monmouth, Newport, Cardiff, Neath,
Swansea, Llanelly, Carmarthen, Pembroke. and Milford Haven,
the whole of the great mineral districts of South Wales, and the
counties of Hereford Monmouth, Glamorgan, Carmarthen, and
Pembroke, will all pastielpate directly in the advantages afforded
by this improved communication ; and that the south of Ireland—
and this was an important point, and he particularly re.
quested their Lordships attention to it—that the South of
Ireland also, to the whole of which the South Wales
line will affbed the shortest communication to Loudon,
Bristol, and the south of raigland, will also putSetpate In the
benefits of the undertaking; and the advantage in a national
point of view of a line which covers such a great extent of coast,
and affords a ready communication with the dock-yard at Pem-
broke, and with the station at Milford Haven is also considerable.
He (Mr. Talbot) was not much in the habit of passing any en.
comium on the Board of Trade, but in this instance he thought
they deserved it. Of the 832 landowners on the line there were
but 85 dissentients, and a similar difference was observed in respect
of the mileage. He would now call their attention to the im.
portance of the several affected towns in detail, and first he would
refer their Lordships to the town of Chepstow. It was the market
town of an important agricultural district country, connecting the
vallies of the Usk and the Llandaff and the utmost facilities of these
districts were brought into play by the contemplated railway. The
town of Newport also was the centre of a great coal and iron trade,
and in the same way as John Frost and Co. precipitated themselves
on Newport some years ago, so was the iron traffic precipitated on
the same town now.—(Laughter.) Then it also supplied a market
for the large and fertile districts of Glamorgan and Carmarthen.
With regard to Cardiff, it was in precisely a similar position, and
their Lordships were probably aware that a large stimulus would
be given to the trade of that town by the enterprise of a patriotic
individual of their Lordships' House. The Learned Counsel then re.