The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-14 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER ERTEN.

SXON zrivie .

The preamble of these lines were declared to be proved, the se-
veral points which had been lett for compromise having been sa-
tisfactorily arranged between the Companies.
The Committee then proceeded to consider the clauses of the Li-
verpool and Manchester Bill.

Mr. LOWNOES proposed a clause to protect the Company against
the repetition of a series of indictments, in one of which a
verdict had been returned against the Company in the Court
of Queen's Bench. That indictment was for a nuisance in
encroaching upon a footpath by a bridge, forming part of the rail.
way over the town of Salford, and the verdict returned, under the
direction of Mr. Justice Creswell, was founded upon the assumption
that the provisions of an Act of 1839, which related to a single
hedge, were embodied in the subsequent Act of 1842, which autho.
rised the construction of the whole viaduct. He submitted that
if this was not a misconstruction of the Act, the provisions upon
which the verdict was founded had got into the more recent Act
by a slip, and as the works of the company had, in thy first in-
stance, received the sanction of all the authorities of the
borough of Salford, and were only subsequentiy objected to by
the boroughreeve and two others individually, and of a population
of 55,000, he hoped the Committee would protect the Company
against the continuance, and insert a clausedeclarative of the fact that
the viaduct and other improvements were in conformity with Acts
of Parliament, and thus putting the matter beyond the possibility
of litigation. He hoped the Committee would see that what he
sought for was absolutely requssite, and that it was in order to pre-
vent future expense and contention that he made the request.
Mr. MALLINOBY opposed the clause.
The CHAIRMAN said the Committee were agreed that the clause
could not be introduced at this stage of the proceedings.
Mr. BROTHERTON, 31. P., said that before the Committee came to
a final decision he was anxious to impress upon them the hardship
to which the Company would be subjected by the rejection of a
clause which would enable them to prosecute with safety works
which had originally received the sanction of the authorities of
Salford, and were only opposed upon a technical objection.
The CHAIRMAN, however, intimated that whatever might be the
hardship to the Company the Committee felt themselves bound to
reject the clause.

The clauses of the Bill were then gone through, and the report
agreed upon, after which the Committee proceeded to dispose of
the clauses of

THE LIVERPOOL AND BURY BILL.

The preamble of this Bill having been declared proved,
The Committee went formally through the clauses, with which
they were occupied until their rising, which was not until five
o'clock.

GROUP P.
THE SOUTH WALES RAILWAY.

On the re-assembling of the Committee at twelve o'clock,
Mr. MONTAGUE CHAMBERS addressed them on behalf of Mrs.
Hannah Rooke, who, with her infant son, had a contingent interest
in the Aust Ferry, which had been from time immemorial the
usual passage of communication between England and Wales,
and which would be materiall) deteriorated if the proposed line
of railway were allowed to be constructed over the river in its
vicinity.

The CHAIRMAN, at the conclusion of Mr. Chambers's address,
said that the Committee were of opinion that he had no locus
standi before them, and that his application could not be en-
tertained.

Sir T. PHILLIPS then called Mr. Lopwortb, civil engineer, who
was one of the Commissioners appointed under the Crown for the
adjustment of the Government rights in the Forest of Dean—He
stated that he was well acquainted with all the productions of the
Forest of Dean, and that in the lower series of the forest there
were about 16,000 acres of coal-fields, and in the centre there
existed a field, the area of which was 7,000 acres. The forest
abounded in iron ores, limestone, and coal. The supply of coal
was almost inexhaustible, for supposing there should be an annual
consumption of 300,000 tons, the coal would last for 600 years,
The coal basin was perhaps the most perfect in the world. He
was decidedly of opinion that the construction of the proposed rail-
way through the forest would be of immense advantage, and he be.
lieved that to be also the opinion of the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests.

Mr. CARROW was about to commence the cross-examination of
Mr. Lopworth, on behalf of the Severn end the Navigation Railway
Company; first, on the ground that they were landowners on the
line; and secondly, that the Forest of Dean Railway would be in-
terfered with, against which interference several Acts of Parlia-
ment existed, but was objected to by Sir Thomas Phillips, when
The Committee decided that Mr. Carrow could not be heard
against the preamble of the Bill, but might examine the witness
with reference to the extent to which the interest of the Petitioners
might be affected by the passage of the proposed line across the
railway. The cross-examination was not continued beyond one or
two unimportant questions.

Mr. Lopworth was cross-examined by Mr. Law, on behalf
of Sir Richard Phillips, a landowner on the line; by Mr. Cooke for
the Stroudwater Canal Company; and further, by Mr. Davis, the
agent of Sir T. C. Bovey and the Rev. Mr. Smith, but the general
tenor of his depositions remained unaltered.

Mr. Atkinson, deputy gaveller of the Forest of Dean, was then
examined by Sir T. PHILLIPS, as to the mineral productions of the
forest, and the accommodation there existed at present for their
transmission to various parts. He corroborated in every parti.
cular the testimony adduced by Mr. Lcpworth.
Sir THOMAS Puriates then announced that the can for the pro-
moters was concluded, with one limitation, for the purpose of calling
witnesses, if necessary, against the opposition of Colonel Lewis, in
case the preamble of the Bill should be decided to have been proved ;
the Committee, however, overruled the reservation, and the case
was definitely closed,

Mr. Morgan Hughes, proprietor of a colliery at Tenby, was
examined by Mr. Las, on behalf of Sir Richard Phillips, a land_
owner, for the purpose of showing that the line, as at present laid
out, was inadequate for the transmission of the products of the
country which it traversed to a profitable market, and that a better
and more eligible route might have been selected. On cross-exa.
mination, it appeared that an alteration of the present line would
have the effect of increasing its length, without affording any very
extensive additional accommodation commensurate with the extra
expense.

The Rev. John William Hughes, Captain Child, and Mr. John
Longbourne, were then called and severally examined, but no point
or importance was elicited.

Mr. Fulljames was next examined. He expressed a
very strong objection against the construction of the intended
railway.bridge at Hock Crib, as it would, in his opinion,
interfere materially with the navigation of the Severn. The ac-
cumulation of sand would choke up the entrance to the canal,
which would, eventually, become useless for navigation. Glou-
cester was decidedly the most favourable point for crossing the
river.

Mr. Sayce deposed to the same effect.

Sir John Rennie way next examined by Mr, Cooxe—He was
decidedly of opinion that a bridge, in every way suitable for rail.
way purposes, might be constructed over the river at the Aust
ferry at an expense of 500,0001. The erection of the bridge would
have a tendency to improve the navigation of the Severn, as
many, dangerous eddies, which at present existed in the vicinity
of the ferry, and which impeded the navigation, would be
destroyed. He was not acquainted with Hock Crib, and therefore
was not in a condition to say that the construction of a bridge there
would have a stmilar effect.

Messrs. Dean, Williams, and Wheeler were also severally
examined with a view to show that a briJge across the Au st ferry
might be constructed with considerable public advantage.
The Committce adjourned till Monday.

GROUP PP.
IMPORTANT DECISION.
WEAR VALLEY RAILWAY.

This Committee met at the usual hour, Hon. Eliot York in
the chair.

The proceedings commenced with the examination of
Mr. Joseph Pease, who stated that there was a Parliamentary
line, sanctioning the Bishop Auckland and Wendle Railway with
the Stockton and Darlington Railway ; this was disputed by some
of the petitioners, and counsel said that they (the petitioners) would
reserve their opposition for the Lords.

Mr. Thomas M`Nay, of Darlington, Secretary, stated that the
proposed capital of the company formed for the execution of the
whole of the present project is 82,0004, divided it.to 1,640 shares
of 501. each. That the :.mount of money which the company are
empowered to raise under the provisions of the Bill is 27,3001.
That the amount of shares subscribed for is 65,0001., in 1,300
shares of 501 each, of which shares a deposit of 2/. 15s. each
has been paid. That the table he produces contains the names
and residences of the Directors or Provisional Committee, and the
amount of shares taken by each. That the list he produces con-
tains the number of shareholders who may be considered as having
a local interest in the line That the number of persons having a
local interest in the line is 24, and the number of shares
taken by them is 893, or 44,6501. That the number of other par-
ties is 31, and the amount of capital taken by them is
20,3501., or 407 shares. That the table he produces contains
the shareholders subscribing 2,000/. and upwards, with their
names and residences, and the aggregate amount for which they
have subscribed is 36,700/. That he has made extracts from the
population returns, and will produce a table of the whole popula.
lion of the district through which the railway passes. That he
has carefully examined and checked all the calculations of present
calculaieti,ownhoifchB,AinohLisGosp.m2dio.nr,evaerenuceorigr,ecitnlyhmisaodei.nionAnnidctoheatetnl;i:
Lair and liberal basis, and produces the tables of revenuep marked.
engi-
neering difficulties to be encountered in theformation
rweeoartnfe
theb nl
eo
tine.of
th
. John Dixon, engineer, deposed that there were
The Committee gave it as their opinion that a
Bill was proved the clauses of the Bill were thhe
and the Chairman was directed to report en gone through,
merits to the House. the Bill with its amend-

GROUP SS.
IMPORTANT DECISION,
THE ETZEWASH VALLEY RAXLWAY
The Select Committee on this group reassembled at twelve
o'clock this morning, and proceeded with the opposition against the
Erewash Valley Railway Bill.
Mr, CALVERT announced that arrangements had been come to