The Sun.
London, England, 1845-10-30 00:00:00

longer, but would at once move that the thanks of the
meeting be presented to George Hudson, Esq., M.P., their
chairman .—(Cheers.)
Mr. RUFF seconded the motion. The Shareholders ought
to feel grateful for the readiness :wlth which' Mr. Mason
had undertaken the arduousduty imposed upon him. Foor
himself he could only say that he was highly gratified at
the result.

Mr. CROSBY put the resolution, which was carried amid
enthusiastic cheering.

A gentleman in the gallery rose to move an amendment,
but was put down by the cries of " too late," &c., from an
parts of the room.
Mr. HUDSON then rose, amid renewed cheering, and said—
Gentlemen, I am sorry that I am so unworthy of the kind
expressions used towards me by Mr. Scott, and so feelingly
responded to by the unanimous voice of the meet-
ing.—(Great cheering.) I can assure you that I
am deeply sensible of the compliment you have
paid me. It is quite true that when first re-
quested to act with this Company, I did hesitate, for
I felt that I was about to undertake an important
task; and I knew that my time was very limited
already, that I was nearly ' overwhelmed with busi-
ness; but then. I felt, also, that I had no right,
after the expression of your wishes delivered to me through
Mr. Scott and his colleagues, to hesitate any longer. I felt
that I had no right to consult my own ease, when the inter-
ests of so many persons were at stake, and when they
thought that I could render them assistance.—(Cheers.)
We may now flatter ourselves that we are going on smootly,
but it is necessary that we all exert ourselves in carrying out
this great measure ; and if we are successful, as we
ought to be, for by this time the delirium that
was at first felt by some of the Legislature
is nearly exploded, and I have no doubt that we shall re-
ceive full justice from that portion of the Legislature, which
induced a certain Noble Lord to say, " Thank God that we
have a House of Peers."—(Laughter.) I say I have no doubt
that we shall carry our Bill, and that by the House of Lords the
London and York will be rejected.—(Cheers.) It has been
said by some Hon. Members, and the principle has in a few
cases been acted upon, that it is no matter whether a line of
railway pays its promoters or not, if it is required
by the district which it is intended to benefit.
I say that this is a fallacy ; there can exist no doubt that
it would be a great national evil to have a line existing which
would not benefit its shareholders. I have already said
that there was no fixed principle to guide the Parliamen-
tary Committees .in the last session, so that this
opinion was acted on in some cases, but we are progressing I
hope towards improvement.—(Cheers.) But if they still act
on the same principle, then I say let them give us our Bill,
and will soon make it a productive one.—(Great cheering.)
I again thank you, and I hope that we
may meet again with the same feelings of unani-
mity, and it shall be my study, as it is my duty, on all
occasions to look after your interests, as by so doing I am
also forwarding the public good. Mr. Hudson sat down amid
loud cheering.
The meeting then separated.