The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-29 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.

MONDAY, APRIL 28.
The following Bills were presented and read a first time :
London, Chatham, and North Kent Railway.
South Eastern Railway (Ashford to Hastings).
South Eastern Railway (Tunbridge to Tunbridge Wells).
South Eastern Railway (Widening and Extension of the

London and GreenwiCli'llailway).
London and Norwich Direct Railway.
North Wales Mineral Railway.

The following Bills were read a second time, and committed,
and referred to the Committee of Selection :
Grand Junction Railway.
Sheffield and Rotherham Railway.
Runcorn and Preston Brook Railway and Docks.
North \Vales Railway.

The Leeds and Thirsk Railway Bill,—Petition for addi-
tional provision ; referred to the Select Committee on peti-
tions for Private Bills.

NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE.
Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston Direct Railway,—Second
reading, Friday, May 2.
Bristol and Exeter tlailway Branches,—Second reading,
Friday, May 2.
Dunstable and London and Birmingham Railway,—Select
Committee on project, adjourned till Thursday, May 1, at
twelve.
Bedford and London and Birmingham Railway,—Select
Committee on project, adjourned till Thursday, May 1, at
twelve.
Midland Railways (Syston to Peterborough),—Select
Committee on project, adjourned till Thursday, May 1, at
twelve.
London and Brighton Railway,—Committee on petition,
adjourned till Wednesday, April 30.
Portarlington and Tullamore Railway,—Committee on pe-
tition adjourned till Monday, May 5.
Staines and Richmond Railway,—Committee on petition,
adjourned til ]Wednesday, April 30.
Leeds and Thirsk Railway,—Committee on petition for ad-
ditional provision, Wednesday, April 30.
Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton Railway,—Report, Thurs-
day, May 1.
Leeds and Bradford Railway Extension (Shipley to Cohie),
—Report, Thursday, May 1.
Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway,—Committee
on Bill (revived), Wednesday, April. 30, at three.
London, Worcester, and South Staffordshire Railway
(Dudley and Sedgley Branch),—Second reading, Friday,
May 2.
London, Worcester, and South Staffordshire Railway
(Dudley and Wolverhampton Branch),—Second reading,
Friday, May 2.
London, Chatham, and North Kent Railway,—Second
reading, Friday, May 2.
Bristol and Gloucester and Birmingham and Gloucester
Railway,—Committee on petition, postponed sine die.
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Acts Amendment,—
Committee on petition, adjourned till Wednesday, April 30.

THE PRESS AND THE RAILWAY
COMMITTEES.
(From the Times.)

The House of Commons in theory regards it as a breach of
privilege for strangers to be present ; in practice it not only pea.
mits, but affords the most ample facility for their presence, and
this is managed by allowing the whole public to have entrance by
proxy, the proxies of the public being the newspaper reporters,
whose presence the House not only tolerates, but of whose inatten-
tion or inaccuracy it is apt most grievously to complain. By this
arrangement thousands, nay millions, are enabled without fatigue
and inconvenience to themselves and others, without crowding into
a somewhat narrow house, to learn all that takes place. Even
here the advantage in having reporters does not end ; the public,
and each individual of the public, is enabled in some manner to
realise Sir Boyle Roche's supposed impossibility of " being, like a
bird, in two places at once;" indeed, we might say, in twenty; for
when the House is subdivided into committees, a citizen of
London may attend one, or a gentleman in Cumberland, or
Cornwall, may stay at home, and not take the trouble of attend-
ing any; and yet virtually, and by his proxy of the press, be
present at any, or at all, if he likes. It is, therefore, the citizen's
or the countryman's privilege that is in question, and not simply
the reporter's, when a Committee takes upon itself to deviate from
the usual—and usual because useful—course; and to exclude the
gentlemen of the press. It is impossible in the present day to
overrate the national importance of railways. Of all these
stupendous undertakings, perhaps Group X contains the most vast.

If the Committee, in the constitution of its Chairman and
members, is not quite so pre-eminent for talent and habits
of business as the Immense amount of property and of
public and private interests involved would render de-
sirable, It is of all the more consequence that its pro-
ceedings should be open to the fullest observation. If any-
where, here, where above one thousand miles of rail-
way are to come under discussion, the public, and particularly that
large proportion of the public whose property will be dissected
and affected, are entitled to be present and hear all that taken
place. Such a thing is, of course, not to be literally attained, but,
as we have remarked, it may be substantially through the press.
The pr.ss, as will be seen by our report elsewhere, are from this
Committee most absurdly excluded. The group which this ex.
elusive Committee is to consider contains the London and York
line, the Cambridge and Lincoln, the Direct Northern, and several
other most important lines ; and that our readers, if they are pre-
vented from knowing the merits of these different railways, as
brought out by evidence and discussion, may at all events have the
advantage of knowing what must be of no little interest to such of
them as have shares in or property near to these lines, namely,
what sort of conjurors are to tell their fortunes, we here repeat
the list of the Committee :—lt consists of Lord Courtenay, Mr.
Darby, Mr. P. Scrope, Mr. M`Geachy, and Mr. B. Wall!

PROGRESS OF RAILROADS IN

THE NORTH OF IRELAND.

We perceive from the Dublin correspondence of this morn-
ing's Herald, that another new railway, purposing to tra-
verse a considerable portion of the opulent and prosperous
county of Down, is about being launched under very favour:
able auspices. This is the natural result of the success of
the projectors of the Newry and Enniskillen line : from the
moment that excellent and much needed measure was fii at
broached, until the Bill was read a second time on
Friday last, all opposition having been withdrawn The
two important towns of Newry and Armagh, between which
an immense traffic already exists, being about to be coupled
by railroad, has rendered Armagh the focus of several em-
bryo lines verging to the north and north-west, any and
all of which must materially enhance the value of the Newry
line. Considerable interest attaches in this country to the
completion of the Newry scheme, as opening up the nearest
route, not only to the north, bat to the whole of the
west of Ireland; but to give adequate effect to that in-
tention, a daily communication should be established between
Liverpool and Newry by more powerful steamers than those
now on the station, which only ply twice a week. When
this shall be accomplished, as no doubt it will be, not only
will :the Newry and Enniskillon line realise the national ad-
vantages anticipated from it by the powerful local proprietary
who first took it up, but it will prove an infinitely more
lucrative investment than the present shareholders have
any idea of, though the shares are at a very excellent
premium, which is rather to be wondered at, see-
ing that nearly all the original holders purchased
with a view to keep, and have kept. We are glad to observe
that all the Irish lines, and especially the Irish northern
lines, are advancing in favour with the English capitalists.
This will be the case in a more marked degree every suc-
ceeding day, as the recent beneficial alterations in the bank-
ing laws of the sister country become more apparent. No
measure could have been devised more conducive to the pros-
perity of the northern Irish lines, than a cessation of the mo-
nopoly of the Bank of Ireland.