The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-02 00:00:00

'BRISTOL, DEU. 1.

STocrc EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—Bristol and Exeter,
78—Ditto, New, 444—Bristol and South Wales Junction,
2:N—Dutch Rhenish, 6%.
SHEFFIELD, DEC. 1.

STooK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—East Lincolnshire,
134—Sheffield and Lincolnshire, 21. u s. 6d.—Wakefield and
Harrogate, 1%. .

HUDDERSFIELD, DEC. 1.

STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—Midland, New, 161,E
—Sheffield and Lincolnshire, 23%—Manchester, Sheffield,
and Midland, 514—Grand Union, 21s.—liuddersfiati, Hali-
fax, and Bradford Union, 4%—Leicester and Bffintagham,
22s.—Nottingham and Boston, 1%.
YORK, DEC. 1.

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—York and North Mid-
land Extension, 21%—Newcastle and Berwick, 8th—
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland, 4—Nottingham
and Boston, 114.

THE DIRECT LONDON AND
MANCHESTER RAILWAY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin,—The Direct London and Manchester Railway Company
have deposited their plans and sections with the Clerks of
the Peace, in conformity with the standing orders, and the
Shareholders will feel their interests more secure now that
the bold assertion, as well as the quiet insinuation and the
occasionally argued impossibility of their being ready in
time for the next session of Parliament, are all swept away
together.

Accident might have delayed, or prevented entirely, the
accomplishment of their design, but apart from any occur-
rence which could not be guarded against, because it could
not be foreseen, the Shareholders had every reason to be
satisfied with the soundness of judgment and honesty of
purpose of all those in whose hands they had placed them-
selves.

The preliminary arrangements being made, they will natu-
rally now be anxious to learn when their shares will, tech-
nically speaking, be " looking up," and here a few words
may not be considered out of place.
Doubtless, in the Direet London and Manchester, as in most
other railway companies, there are two classes of Share-
holders ; one, embarking their capital in what they think .a
desirable investment, prepared to wait a reasonable time, and
to combat with reasonable difficulties. This class can in no
way be dispirited by passing events, the Company having
held on the " even tenor of its way" with fewer obstructions
than the majority of speculations of equal magnitude meet
with, whilst at no former period were its prospects of success
better than at present. The other class being simply spe-
culators, who imagine they shall quickly realise a profit,
and who take their shares without the wish, and too often
without the power, to hold them. The position of the latter
is certainly not an enviable one, the most sanguine amongst
them can scarcely hope to see the shares at a premium for
some time to come; they must make their account to wait a
more favourable moment, one, not very distant, yet not im-
mediate.

The shares being originally allotted to parties who might
be supposed to desire them as an investment of their capital,
in preference to such as were likely only to speculate in
them, it follows that they are not likely to be thrown in any
great numbers suddenly on the market, to depress it; the
low price, therefore, at which they have been quoted must
be ascribed to causes apart from their own intrinsic value,
which remains the same.

A second grand trunk line is called for by the demand for
increased accommodation; it has, in fact, become essential to
the interest and comfort of the community; an immense
amount of traffic is ready at any time to be transferred to it,
and the chief promoters of the line will be its steady sup-
porters when made. It will pass through, or near to, twenty
towns of importance, many of them being the seat of manu-
factures, with a population larger than can be found in the
same given:distance in any other part of the United Kingdom,
all of which considerations are of great weight in ascertaining
the ultimate prospects of the Shareholders.
Suppose the Company not to obtain their Bill, and in the
fruitless attempt to expend 50,000/. ; there would still re-
main 450,000/. of the deposit money to be returned, a sum
equal to 4/. 15s. per share. Upon what reasonable showing
is it, therefore, that they have been so low as 3/. ss. in the
list ; the cause must be sought elsewhere than in the posi-
tion or prospects of the Company. The anticipated large
importations of foreign grain will require a large export of
bullion ; the withdrawal of so much as may be necessary
for that purpose will seriously affect the monetary affairs of
the trading part of the community ; only first-rate bills will
do in certain quarters, while second and third-rate paper
must be discounted at advanced rates in proportion to the
risk in the, first place, and, secondly, the difficulty of obtaining
it through the usual channels. Moneyed men know this, and
are waiting a higher inducement to draw their purse strings
than any railroad speculation can offer ; hence the general
dullness in share transactions without reference to any lines
in particular. The crisis over, with an advancing spring,
money will flow into its accustomed channels and scrip be
again sought after with increasing avidity ; the more so,
because in the•meantime the market will have been cleared
of many schemes which before only obstructed legitimate
business and tended to bring suspicion on plans worthy of
encouragement. M.

DELAYED MEETING of the COM-

MON COUNCIL.

THE ConN-Laws.—Mr. Ashurst, Mr. Peacock, and
Mr. Johnson, members of the Common Council, waited
upon the Lord Mayor yesterday, and presented to his
Lordship the following requisition, which was signed
by fifty of the representatives of the wards of the City :
" We, the undersigned members of the Corporation,
respectfully request your Lordship will call a Special
Court of uommon Council at your earliest convenience,
to consider the propriety of petitioning her Majesty to
take all such means as she may constitutionally possess
for throwing open the ports of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland for the free importation of
food."

Mr. Ashurst said that if it were thought necessary, the
number of requisitionists could be vastly increased.
The LORD MAYOR said the proposal to call a Court
of Common Council upon such a subject required some
consideration. Did the deputation who waited upon him
think that there was an emergency which demanded
immediate attention ? He thought himself that there
was no occasion at all for haste in the matter.

Mr. Ashurst believed the emergency to be extreme.
Ile submitted that upon receiving a requisition so nume-
rously signed, and upon a question of such importance
a Chief Magistrate had no alternative. The deputation
applied merely for the opportunity of discussing the
subject which occupied the public mind to so great an
extent.

The LORD MAYOR said he really could not see that
there was any emergency. There was employment for
more hands than could be, procured to do the labour
which the activity of public business required. The
price of bread, notwithstanding all that had been said
upon the subject, was low, and why any agitation should
be encouraged in the City of London, when the pros-
perity of the country appeared to be of so cheering a
description, he could not at all comprehend.
Mr. Ashurst said the deputation did not mean to at-
tempt to interfere with his Lordship's opinion upon the
question of throwing open the ports. The propriety of
the measure might or might not be questionable, but the
propriety of discussing it could not at all be disputed.
The LORD MAYOR thought S» Thomas's-day (the day
of Common Council Election) had something to do with
the application.
Mr. Ashurst and the other gentlemen of the deputa-
tion denied that such a thing ever entered into their ima-
gination as tlfe idea of recommending themselves to the
constituency by bringing forward the question. If they
had had time, they would have procured 150 signatures
to the requisition instead of 50.

The LORD MAYOR observed that a dozen signatures
would be sufficient on an eccasion upon which the neces•
sity of calling a Court was apparent ; but he must say
he could not see any occasion at all for haste. Besides,
if the subject required discussion, why did not their
deputation make application for as public a meeting as
possible ? Why did they not assemble in Common Hall
at once ?

Mr. Peacock said they had very good reasons for not
meeting in Common Hall, inasmuch as the Livery could
not go up with an address to the Throne. If it were
otherwise, there could be no hesitation as to the course
to be adopted.
Mr. Johnson submitted to the Lord Mayor that the
urgency of the case demanded an immediate acqui-
esence upon the part of his Lordship. The winter was at
hand. bringing with it its usual concomitants of misery
and distress to the poor, and it was incumbent upon
those who represented so large a portion of the popula-
tion to do all they could to ward off the afflicting con-
tingencies of the period.
The LORD MAYOR—I shall consider the matter, and
give you an answer as soon as possible.

On Wednesday evening one of the lunatics at Has-
lar in some way made his escape from that establish-
ment, and doubtless perambulated the environs and
streets of Gosport during the night. The next morning,
at about eight o'clock, he entered the Castle Tavern,
kept by Mr. Gale, in a dirty and
i ragged state, with a
before pound of ham for his break-
cloth cap and gold band around t. He requested to
break-
fast, and
do
seatingegg s and i
mhsaellffefore the tap-room fire, took
off his trousers, that were very much torn, and said
he wanted a new pair. The landlord, who was reading
the paper, requested him to put them on. He then
asked for some pins to pin up his tattered garments.
and remained nearly half an hour. The landlord thought
him an eccentric character, but had no idea he was a
lunatic. On leaving the Castle Tavern, he wended his
way to the beach, and engaged a yaiterman to take him
to Portsmouth, instead of which—whether through fear
or not we do not know—the boat landed at Blockhouse
Beach, at which place the keepers from Haslar were on
the look out for the runaway, who, after dodging them
about for some time amongst the buildings and mate-
rials there, was taken without injuring any one, and con-
veyed in safety to the asylum from which he had es-
caped. Hampshire Independent.
In anticipation of the calling out of the Militia the
" Militia Clubs " for providing substitutes have commenced
making arrangements for their re-organisation.