The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-21 00:00:00

FRENCH RAILWAYS.
(From the &tide, of the 16th October.)
During the last session, the Chambers began to
understand that the application of the law of June,
1842, to a great number of railway lines, might com-
promise the position of the treasury ; they, therefore,
voted for the railway from Amiens to Boulogne
(which will form the communication between France
and England), a lease (concession) fixed at a maxi-
mum of 99 years without any aid from the State, and
entirely at the disk and perils of the lessee (conces-
sionaire).
The adjudication of this railway took place this
morning at the office of the Minister of Public
Works. It was known beforehand that only one
company would offer, and that, consequently, there
would be no competition of a nature to shorten to
any extent the duration of the line. The adjudica-
tion was, therefore, only an affair of pure form.
Messrs. Charles Lafitte, Blount and Co., have been
declared lessees, subject to the approbation cf the
Government, with the insignificant reduction of a
month, making the duration of the term 98 years
and 11 months.
The ordonnance of approval has not yet appeared,
either for the Bordeaux or the Vierzon line ; we have
alluded to the report which is current respecting the
latter, the concession of which, it is said, the Minister
hesitates to confirm, in order not to create a precedent
for a species of premium given to a transaction be-
tween companies placed in competition.
As to the Bordeaux railway the exclusion, without
any reason assigned, of the D'Anthouard Company,
will be the means of formally deciding a point of
jurisprudence of great importance, in reference to
concessions of public works. The D'Anthouard
Company has appealed to the Council of State, de-
manding the annulling of the adjudication, upon the
ground that the company had fulfilled all the condi-
tions required by the law, and by the order of the
Minister issued in execution of the law. This com-
pany is still in ignorance of the causes of its exclusion,
for M. Dumon has positively refused to state them.
We know how extensive are the powers which the
Chambers have given to the Minister; we do not
pretend to judge of the motives of the very serious
decision come to by him, in regard to the D',lnthouard
Company, since those are a sealed book to all the
world. Without, however, wishing to attack the use
made of the blank seal confided to the Government,
we may be permitted to express our astonishment
that it has not been deemed proper to assign any
cause of refusal, thereby placing the directors of the
excluded company in a most unpleasant position with
their subscribers.
M. Dumon has overstrained administrative rigour,
because his brother and his cousin are among the
founders of the company; but with all due respect
for such scruples, we are bound to state that it is not
under our form of Government that a sentence can
be pronounced without a reason being assigned, thus
leaving strong doubts of its justice. Otherwise the
most well-founded measure might be endangered by
caprice or injustice.
ANNULLING OF THE ADJUDICATION OF
THE RAILWAY OF VIERZON.
(From. the Democratic Pacifique of the 16th Oct.

At. the time of the adjudication of the railway from
Orleans to Vierzon and Bourges, a coalition took
place between the two competing companies ; they
inadtx such arrangements between themselves as, that
one tender only was lodged, and the railway adjudged
with an insignificant reduction of the term. This fact
was undeniable : we therefore learnt with pleasure
that the Minister of Public Works, M. Dumon, and
the Minister of Finances, M. Lacave Laplagne, have
resolved at length to show some energy against the
speculators who play S 3 audaciously with the fortune
of the State ; their intention is neither to cause the
provisional adjudication pronounced on the 9th Oct.,
nor the right which belongs to them according to the
term of the law, to be ratified by royal ordonnance.
But there are powerful interests which will oppose
there result and endeavour to prevent the Minister
from doing justice to that manifest coalition which
has taken away all real character from the public
mode of adjudication enployed to guarantee the inter-
ests of the State.
Being apprised of the intentions of the two Minis-
ters, the parties to which the lines are adjud,_se 1 will
spare no effort, will put all the means in their power
into operation to ward uff the blow which menaces
them. Who w-1 credit it ? They rely upon the re-
sults of their jobbing for authority to continue it.
" You cannnot," they say to the Ministers, " annul
our adjudication —the effect would be to alarm all
those speculators who, for above almobth, have bought
and sold our promises of shares at enormous pre-
miums already paid or received ; the Stock Exchange
itself—the English Stock Exchange--would be in-
jured. Your tolerating the manoeuvres of the Bourse
during so long a time has authorised every one to
believe that you would continue to support them ; the
annulling of the adjudication would annul at the same
time the numerous bargains made upon the rise of our
shares. You would surely not wish yourselves to throw
disorder into the alley! You would arm against you
all the bankers and their adherents. Are you sure
of proving the strongest in this struggle ? Take care
that you do not lose your portfolios in it."
The Minister must close his ear to these threats
and sophisms.
Each of the speculators must have known in bar-
gaining with promises of shares that their value was
only a provisional value, and that the Council of
Ministers had the power of ratifying or annulling the
adjudication.
Now the coalition of the above two companies is a
fact publicly known—the conditions of the coalition
have been concealed from no one; the resolution of
the Ministers would therefore be perfectly well
founded in reason, and we are in hopes they will
know how to elevate the power and dignity of the
Administration by an energetic measure, which cir-
cumstances so imperatively demand.
The determination as to the adjudication once pro-
nounced, what should be done ? The affair should
be disengaged from all those shameful manoeuvres in
which the banking interest is engaged with the
authorities : all jobbing should be put an end to ; and
with that object the Government should, in the name
of the State, take upon itself the rworking of these
railways, by organising a special administration to
manage them.
(From the Satan-Corsaire of the 16th Oct.)

The adjudication of the railway from Amiens to
Boulogne took place this day at nine o'clock, at the
office of the Minister of Public Works. One tender
only by the house of Charles Lafitte, Blount, and
Co., was lodged. The caution money was 800,000
francs.

As we had foreseen, the house of Lafitte and Co.,
finding itself alone and without competitors, could
have obtained the concession with the deduction of a
single day of the 99 years, which is the extent of the
privilege. Mr. Charles Lafitte has been more gene-
rous than we expected. He has offered a deduction
of a month. We are assured that the royal approba-
tion will be refused, and we find that it is not neces-
sary that one scandal should follow another.
Another adjudication, that of the railway from
Orleans to Vierzon, has greatly interested the Bourse.
The act of Ministerial pleasure (bon plaisir Ministe-
riel) which has rendered the Orleans Company the
sole lessee of the line, when two companies had been
admitted to compete, causes so much the more outcry
on account of the speculation which is already car-
ried on in the shares of this railway, the price of
which, from 500 francs, has rapidly risen to 685
francs. We cannot too much deplore the conduct
of the Minister under these circumstances; he cannot,
without compromising himself, longer allow the job-
bing of great speculators at the expense of the public
interest, and of parties who really desire to invest
their capital; he is bound to announce, without delay,
that the adjudication will not be confirmed, without
waiting until disgraceful suspicions of his conduct
appear well founded.
The reports are of the most sinister kind. For our
part we are far from giving credit to them, for culpable
connivance is condemned by the article 412 of
the penal code ; and the Railway Journal of the
12th of October asserts, nevertheless, a most extra-
ordinary fact, viz., that the Leconte Company with-
drew from the adjudication in consideration of a gift
in shares of 35 per cent. of the capital. It even goes
further; it publishes the circulars addressed to its
shareholders by the above company, to apprise them
of the reduction of 65 per cent., which will in con-
sequence
be made in their subscription.
We repeat, we cannot believe in these manoeuvres;
and if we speak of them, it is to demonstrate the
necessity for a new adjudication. The companies
excluded from competition will, without doubt, again
present themselves; the public and the Treasury will
have the benefit of bona fide competition. The re-
duction of fourteen years, offered by
good
ess a Messrs. Luz rche,
Laurent, and Mackenzie, is a goo sign, the con-
cession which they have obtained being generally re-
garded as less advantageous than the others.
It is high time to oppose the progress of this de-
moralization, in which money is an object and a
means equally objectionable.

PUBLIC DINNER TO W. HUTT
ESQ , M.P. FOR GATESHEAD.
(Abridged from the Newcastle Advertiser.)
On Tuesday evening a public dinner was given to
William Hutt, Esq., M.P. for Gateshead, in the New
Town Hall of that borough, which was attended by about
one hundred of his constituents and other gentlemen.
William Keemir, 1,61., the Mayor, presided, and the
Vice-Chairman was George Hawks, Esq., J.P. On the
right of the chair were William Hutt, Esq., M.P.; Saville
Ogle, Esq., M.P. for South Northumberland ; Lord
Howick, M.P. for Sunderland,; and William Cookson,
Esq-, Sheriff of Newcastle. On the left, William Ord,
Esq , M.P. for Newcastle ; H. Metcalfe, Esq., M.P. for
Tynemouth ; T. C. Granger, Esq., M.P. for the city of
Durham ; and Sir John Fife, Mayor of Newcastle.
After the removal of the cloth, the CHAIRMAN gave
in succession, " The Queen," " Prince Albert," " The
Prince of Wales, and his Royal Brother and Sisters,"
and "The Queen Dowager and the rest of the lloyal
Family," all of which were drunk with great enthusiasm.
The CHAIRMAN said he rose to propose the next toast
with pleasure, because it was to do honour to a gentle-
man who had given his countenance to the company. It
was to do honour to their representative in the House of
Commons. If Mr. Hutt was not proud of his consti-
tuency—his constituency ought to be proud of him. He
concluded by proposing " William Hutt, Esq., M.P., and
thanks to him for the zealotti manner in which he dis-
charges his duties as Member for this borough." The
toast was received with tremendous cheering.
Mr. Hurr said he was certain he need not assure the
meeting he felt grateful for all the compliments he had
received. Under any circumstances in which he could
be placed, the congratulations of so many enlightened
men must be a source of satisfaction, but in his present
position, united with them by so many sympathies in
(
private life, and by the important public obligations
which united the representative to the constituent, he re-
cognised this testimonial of confidence and regard as one
of the highest ambition. He would recur for a moment
to the circumstances of this country, and to the state of
political agitation which had existed for some years,
when he first became connected with Gateshead. At
that time the Conservatives were endeavouring to lay
the foundation of their power, and by what means did
they effect it ? It was by a system, if he might adopt
a term used by Lord Morpeth in the House of Commons,
of mendacious representation. The very Court was
made use of to influence the minds of the people against
the Liberal policy. Prejudices the most gross were set
forth as undeniable truth ; passions scarcely compatible
with public society were declared at the monster meet-
ings of the Conservatives ; and religious intolerance
against Catholic influence was declared to be the Chris-
tianity of the Church of England—the Reformed Church
of this country. Nor was it possible to forget that the
Throne itself and its occupant could scarcely be protected
from their calumnies.—(Cheers.) Free trade, now the
object of so much lip-worship, was attacked by every
simpleton, and became the jest of every buffoon. Lords
and Commons, clergymen and laymen, newspaper and
pamphlet writers, all combined to resist free trade, and
declare it a monstrous delusion of the Liberal party.
After noticing one or two instances of Tory inconsis-
tency, Mr. Hutt proceeded to state, that last session the
Government had been brought to a dead lock—next
session the same state of things would be revived. It is
their boast the Liberals were defeated. It is true the
Liberal party was defeated, but they can look back
upon their course without remorse and repining. They
could tell their opponents that their path was not strewed
with broken promises, and party dissimulation, or any
of those remnants of melancholy genius and energy
which they now exhibit. It mattered little who was in
power, so long as they maintained those principles of
civil, religious, and commercial freedom, for which they
had contended. Let them secure those principles to
direct the councils of the country, and it mattered little
who was Minister. Let them pursue the simple objects
they had in view, and although they might not lead to
honour and preferment, they would give prosperity to
the country. Mr. Hutt resumed his seat amidst great
cheering, but immediately rose and said he had a toast
to propose—" Prosperity to the Electors of Gateshead."
Before doing so, he wished to give some explanation on
the corn-laws, and be the interpreter of his own opi-
nions. In his first address to the electors of Gateshead,
he said it was the true policy of this country to buy at
the cheapest and sell at the dearest markets ; and he
meant these words to be applied without exception. He
did not mean to make any exception in favour of corn,
cattle, or sugar. He might not believe that total and
immediate repeal would be followed by a large importa-
tion of foreign grain, and a large reduction in our own
market; and he might not believe, on the other hand, that
the total repeal would cause a large tract of country to
be abandoned, and a large number of persons added
to the distressed labour market of the country. He
was quite prepared to apply the principle of free trade
to every article of commerce, and he believed protecting
duties to be an absurdity, if they were not, at the same
time, an attempt to plunder one man in order to pamper
another. He did trust the great constituency he repre-
sented would not allow themselves to be made the tools
of designing men, in order to throw confusion into
their ranks. It was his wish to see Gateshead give the
same example on the corn-laws it never failed to give
on every other question. The toast was drunk with
great applause.
Mr. Alderman BROCKETT had much pleasure in pro-
posing the next toast. It was one that would be received
with approbation—" The healths of the Members fur
Sunderland." He believed they had done their duty,
and were entitled to the best thanks a liberal community
could bestow. One of them was now present, who was
entitled to high respect for his glorious conduct in the
House of Commons.—(Loud cheers.) The mayor and
himself were well acquainted with the history of Gates-
head, and they knew the part the Noble Lord's father
took in behalf and in defence of their rights, and to see
that they enjoyed the rights to which they were entitled.
And independent of that, from the high respect they felt
for Lord Howick, they ought to feel proud of meeting
him and telling him how thankful they were. He said
without flattering, and no one who knew him would ac-
cuse him of flattery, that he looked forward to the day
when Lord Howick would fill the situation his sire once
held, and have an opportunity of fighting hand to hand
for those principles for which his father fought and con-
quered.—(Loud cheers.)
Lord Howtcx, on rising to return thanks, was loudly
cheered. He felt deeply the honour, but at the same time
he was aware the toast was not meant as personal, but
to mark their sense of the conduct he had endeavoured
to adhere to. The worthy alderman had shown the in-
terests of Sunderland and of Gateshead were the same.
This was indeed true, for both towns were depending for
prosperity on some great branch of the trade of the
country. Since he represented Sunderland, it had been
his anxious wish to do whatever lay in his power to pro-
mote the prosperity of that town, by following those
views which Mr. Hutt had adverted to, in endeavouring
to relieve British commerce ofrestrictions. He expressed
his satisfaction at being present, and he came simply to
give a tribute of respect to his worthy friend. No one
deserved it more. He had the honour of sitting in Par-
liament with him, and he firmly believed there was no
one more honest, more independent, or possessed of more
zeal. Mr. Hutt had many claims of gratitude, but there
were two classes of subjects of great interest and import-
ance, on both of which he had taken an active and use-
ful•part. The one, in advocating the policy of com-
mercial freedom ; and another—a subject of less im-
portance, but still of great moment—colonization on
enlightened principles. He could not help remarking
that those were two subjects of the utmost importance,
because they were symptoms that men's minds were
aroused to the necessity of looking to the means of
improving the condition of the great body of the people.
The state of the people, which for many years was
calculated to create alarm, has now became such that
the careful inquirer must feel the necessity of some
measure for their improvement. When he looked
to the south of England, to the misery not only of'
one time, but of habitual continuance, amongst
the agricultural population ; and when he turned his
eyes to the manufacturing districts, he there saw that
they had but lately experienced a prevailing period of
depression—most wide prevailing distress—and he could
not but feel that those periods of distress must occur at
particular times, unless a vigorous attempt was made to
put the commerce of the country on a sure and extended
basis. This could be done by one means, and one means
only, and that was to liberate commerce from its shackles.
—(Loud cheers.) Mr. Hutt had expressed the opinion
that protective duties were misnamed. lie would term
them duties proposed to enable one set of men to take a
part of the produce of labour ; for let him ask how these
duties operated ? If it were not for this system of pro-
hibitory duties it is probable the same amount of the
produce of English labour which is exchanged for eighty
tons of the coffees of Jamaica and Ceylon, would receive
100 tons from Brazil. The effect of prohibiting that j
exchange was to take twenty or thirty per cent. oflabour j
to give it to some other interest. And when this system
was applied to other branches of trade, when they -found
the same system in o
prevented exchanging
petrahetmionw,
iatnhdotthheerpsr,odwuhcoetrosaoof
begoce
fieffrmecltybbuetlideavmedagtheattoifththe
calamity, this system mustremuneration be
wished
to.loofy
0. laboursome ?
great
calamity,
matters, but especially with regardtion of protective duties
corn-laws
bael l.
are most mischievous, speedily
etoedtibe changed
cause, while every other description
k then referred to the j
Lord Howie they arise oustubo.fectht
coloniza-
tion.eofeorn-laws
'
shake o off the shackles
He was not one of those who thought the popu-
lation too great. If they would but
that bound the arm of industry, this country was
not only-able to maintain its present population, but the
numbers of some years added. He thought colonization
was most valuable, as affording a field for the enterprise
of youth, who, in former years, sought occupation amidst
the dangers of war. He wished to see those, energetic
extendingsn
ipoirsitt sem
regionsptl
hoye:dfdo
tmhi in
en competingionearth—illo
c iswit:htaidoZg overtwh wilderness, d
ntehraenme
eus syt
tehirne.
language, the civilization, and the religion of England,
to the furthest ends of the world.—(Loud cheers.) He
had mentioned those two subjects
more particularly, be-
cause they seemed to be those Mr. Hutt had given most