The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-06 00:00:00

OTAHEITE.

Mr. HINDLEY gave notice that he would, on Friday next,
ask a question of the Right Hon. Baronet, relative to the an-
nexation of Otaheite by the French to the island of Rio-
( The remainder of the name was inaudible in the gallery. )
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.

Lord PALMERSTON said he had a question to ask of the
Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, and he would state the reason
why he asked it. He had received a letter from a friend of his
who stated that he had travelled by one of the trains on the
Swinden line, and had observed an engine behind. He re•
monstrated against this ; but the answer he received was, that
it was the constant practice. Now, the question he wanted
to ask was, had the Board of Trade any power to prevent this
practice ; and, if they had not, whether the Government would
bring in a Bill this session to provide a remedy ? He conceived
it to be very easily done, and prepared and passed in one day.
Sir G. CLERK said that the Board of Trade had no power
whatever to remedy the practice complained of ; but they al-
ways remonstrated, and offered suggestions.—He was not
surprised at the statement which the Noble Lord had urged in
reference to this subject, as the matter had already excited con-
siderable attention. It had been customary to attach two en-
gines to the mail trains. This he believed was the regular
practice between Euston-square and Camden-town. With re-
gard to this practice, the Board of Trade had always repre-
sented to railway companies the extremeimpropriety of this
course ; and it had to a great extent been abandoned. He
had, however, no doubt but that the Board of Trade would
give its best attention to the subject. Should the Noble Lord
think its power was not sufficient, some legislative steps should
be taken next session ; but if the Noble Lord thought fit, a
Bill might be introduced and carried through its various
stages in the present session.
ECCLESIASTICAL LIVINGS.
Viscount CLIVE rose to ask the question of the Right
Hon. Baronet, the Secretary of the Home Department ,of
which he had given notice. It was, whether any communi-
cation had taken place between the Right Hon. Baronet and
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, as to the formation by them
of a scale for augmenting small livings, in which area shall be
taken into consideration as well as population ; also, when such
scale is likely to come into operation, as proposed by Sir J.
Graham, during the progress of the Cathedral Churches
( Wales) Bill ( Act 6 and 7 Vic. c. 77), through the House
of Commons, in the session of 1R43 ?

-
Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that as yet, on account of the
deficiency of information received, no precise arrangement
had been come to on the subject referred to. The commis-
sioners however were busy in getting up their scale, and as
soon as it was completed, he would be able to lay the matter
before the House.
ACCIDENT ON THE
RAIL

Mr. WADDINGTON wished to ask the Right Hon. Ba-
ronet the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, if he had re-
ceived any information of the frightful accident on the Ea%tern
Counties Railway, by which one unfortunate man, the stoker,
was killed. He had seen the accident after it had occurred,
and a most frightful one it was.
Mr. WARD said, that as the Right Hon. Baronet was not
likely to have had any information upon the subject, he (Mr.
Ward) might perhaps be allowed to state the particulars of the
unhappy occurrence, and the House would see that no human
prudence or foresight could possibly have averted it. Since
the opening of the new line to Cambridge, it had been a regu-
lar matter to send a superintendent of the locomotive depart-
ment with the train, in order to see that the whole worked pro-
perly. He had seen the gentleman who accompanied the train
yesterday, and he (Mr. Ward) had taken the report of the
sad event from his lips. He stated that the engine was run-
ningath,leyrea
awpaea
srafpue cputrl,eyt steady, and
yua nd,idaagaetr oscillation,thweheraat ea a of 28 2 8 miles an hour;
nothing,sudind fact,th etoeumgainkee
was struck by the rail where One of the wedges hade°
got loose.
The engine was forced off th,e
drarailws,inandtirian for. upwards of. a
hundred yards on the gravel
It was expected that they would have feeneencaubrflgtes after it.
danger by letting off the steam, but unfortunatelye theoavert any
and
dete
carriagesengine
got upon the embankment and was stopped.
which followed were thrown upon it in a heap,
was unfortunately thrown under the mass and killed stoker
superintendent found himself under the pile of wree.k and
within nine inches of the man who was killed. The guard,'
who was sitting on the second-class carriage, had

his leg broken, and was conveyed to the hospital
at Cambridge. Not one of the passengers had been
injured. After the most stringent examination, he
did not find that any blame could be attached to any one con-
nected with the line, and he could assure the House that every
precaution had been taken to prevent any accident of any kind,
for before it was opened enormous quantities of dust waggons
ran up and down under the inspection of General Pasley, and
they had therefore every reason to believe that the works were
quite safe. He did not think that any caution had been neg-
lected, and therefore no blame could be attached to any one
connected with the railway.
Colonel SIBTHORP asked was it not necessary that her
Majesty's Government should take some measures to prevent
such accidents, and to prohibit all persons who had the manage-
ment of the railway in question from carrying on the work
until a full inquiry should have been made into the manage-
ment of their works. He thought, also, it was incumbent on
her Majesty's Government to see that there was a proper and
ample compensation made by those rich Companies to the un-
fortunate people who were mutilated in their service, and also
to the relatives of those who were slain. The law required
coal proprietors to eive such compensation.
Mr. GREGORY could bear testimony to the want of suf-
ficient accommodation, to the delay, and incivility of the
Eastern Counties Railway. He thought the Board of Trade
should have mere power. Some time ago he presented a me-
morial to the Board of Trade, complaining of incivility, delay,
and want of accommodation. It was signed by twenty-two
Members of Parliament, and Lords Exeter and Stradbroke, and
had reference to the Eastern Counties Railway.
Mr. WARD said that on the Newmarket week there cer-
tainly had been a great succession of mishaps on the Eastern
Counties Railway.
Sir. C. BURRELL said he thought that Government ought
to hare the power and controul over those railways, so as to
make laws to prevent these accidents.
Colonel WOOD said that a fixed salary should be paid to
the Directors, and one of them should be compelled to reside
on the railway.—( Laughter.) He had the greatest respect
for the Member for Sheffield, yet he would say that it was im-
possible for that Hon. Member to attend his duties in that
llouse and discharge at the same time those of a railway Di-
rector. Again, he would say they should fix the salary and
limit the number of Directors, and compel ono of them to re-
side at the station.

Mr. P. HOWARD was of opinion that all parties suffering
by accident on those railways ought to get compensation. He
was aware that on the Carlisle line such was the practice.
Mr. WARD said it was only this very morning that his
Board had agreed to pay all the expenses of, and every atten-
tion to, those who had been sufferers by the late accident.