The Sun.
London, England, 1845-10-28 00:00:00

RAILWAY DEPOSITS.

CHRONICLE.---The " standing order" applicable to the pay-
ment of deposits on railway Bills does not enjoin any specific mode
of making the payment, but simply requires that a sum, equal to
one-tenth part of the amount subscribed, shall be deposited with
the Court of Chancery, if the railway is intended 'to be made in
England ; with the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, or the Court
of Chancery in England, if the railway is intended to be made in
Scotland ; and with the Court of Chancery in Ireland, if it is in.
tended to,be made in Ireland. As respects railway Bills which were
before Parliament during last session, and which may be again in-
troduced in the next, or which were provisionally registered, or
the subscription contract for which was in whole or partly executed
before the 29th of July, 1844, a sum only equal to one-
twentieth part of the amount subscribed is required to be de.
posited previous to presenting the petition for the Bill. The
act 1 and 2 Vic., chap. 117, provides that in all cases where
it is required by any standing order of either House of
Parliament that any sum of money shall be paid by the subscribers
to any work or undertaking to be made under the authority of
Parliament, t b eSpeaker may direct an application from any five of th e
directors of the company, that the money shall be paid into theh ands
the Accountant-General of the Court of Exchequer if the work is
in England; " or into the Bank of England, in the name and with
the privity of the said Accountant-General;" or into any of the
banks of Scotland established by Act of Parliament or royal charter,
in the name and with the privity of the Queen's Remembrancer
of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, in case the work is to be
made in Scotland; or into the Bank of Ireland, with the privity
of the Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery in Ireland,
if the work is to be executed in any part of Ireland. An account
is also ordered to be opened in the name of the Accountant-
'
General, and the money is to be placed to the credit of such
account. It is directed that every sum paid into the
Bank of England in the name of, and with the pri-
vity of the Accountant-General of the Court of Exchequer,
shall be paid in and placed to his account there, "pursuant to the
method " prescribed by the Act 1 Gco. IV., c. 35, and in Ireland,
according to the provisions of the Act. 23 and 24 Geo. 111. The
ninth section of the Act above referred to, namely, 1 Geo. IV . c.
31e enacts that whenever, at any time after the appointment of a
person to be Accountant-General, any person or persona are
ordered to pay "any sum or sums of money, or any Exchequer-
bills, bills of exchange, or other negotiable securities into the
Bank of England, the party on whom the order is made shall, with
the privity of such Accountant-General, pay the same into the
Bank of England " to the account of the Accountant-General of
the said Court, and the party paling shall take a receipt for
the same " from one of the " cashiers "of the Bank. After
the deposits have been so paid in to the credit of
the Accountant-General, if the parties who make the payment
desire to have any part invested, the Court on a petition will order
that the same be laid out in the Threeper Cents. Consolidated or
Reduced Three per Cent. Annuities, or any Government security
or securities. There does not appear to be any specific day fixed
for making payment of the deposits to the Accountant-General,
the only requisite being that the payments shall be made " previous
to the presentation" of the petition for the Bill. Neither is there
any proviso that the payment shall be made in coin and bank notes.
On the contrary, there is authority in the Act 1 Geo. IV., c. 35,
fur believing that it may be made in different kinds of negotiable
securities there mentioned, viz., " Exchexuer-bills, bills of ex.
change, or other negotiable securities." If the Bank Dieectors
choose to make arrangements with the various banks who now hold
the deposits, there is nothing to prevent them from receiving
short bills of exchange, or other negotiable securities,
falling due before the time that Parliament meets,
in payment. The promoters of railway Bills are only re-
quired to pay the deposits before the petitions for
their Bills are presented to the Speaker. Their solicitors will of
course intimate to their banker the day when this step is to be
taken, so that the deposits may be forthcoming; and for that pur-
pose it may be now easily arranged to be at the bankers' credit,
in the Bank of England, before the period when the petition will
be presented. Should this arrangement be completed, it will
folio w that, when the order of the Speaker is received, directing
the Accountant.Geueral to open an account for behoof of the
railway company in the Bank of England, the clerks of that esta
bl!shment will have nothing more to do than to debit the account
of the bankers making the deposit, arid to credit the amount in
account to the credit of the railway company with the Accountant.
General. If the banks who hold the deposits place in the hands
of the Bank of England short bills to cover the amount which will
be required of them, so as to have the same at their own credit in
the books of the Bank of England, the solicitors of the different corn •
panies will apply to the Speaker of the House of Commons,
who thereupon will order the money to be paid to the Accountant-
General, and an account to be opened in his name for that pur-
pose, upon which the amount will be transferred from the credit of
the bankers' account to the credit of the Accountant-Iteneral.
Bills of exchange, Exchequer-bills, or other negotiable securities,
may be used for the purpose on the usual terms. It might be a
good step for scripholders to apply by written requisition to the
Provisional Committees, calling upon them to explain the position
of their finances ; distinguishing the amount of deposit paid, the
number of shares allotted, the number of shares reserved, the names
of the banks who hold the deposits, and the manner, amount, and
nature of investment. Information of this description, if officially
published, would tend to establish the credit of Lona fide schemes,
and to enable the public to draw a line of distinction between the
good and the bad. The weeding process would then commence in
earnest, and while substantial lines would recover their proper posi.
lion, the bubbles would burst.

TIMES.—Now that the notion has been put forth of making
the exposure of the railway mania depend upon a preliminary in li
-
vestigation into the amount of deposit paid to the credit of the
various new companies, but more particularly those originating In
the present year, and not yet submitted to Parliament, we find
most people in the City inclined to postpone all consideration of
the manner of making the payments to the Accountant-General,
as only an encumbrance upon the question, until this first step has
been established. It is extremely probable that those companies
which have honest intentions, and are in all respects of a bona fide
character, without any false assumption of names or granting in-
demnities, will volunteer some such communications on the state of ,
their accounts at their bankers as may satisfy those embarked with
them in the undertaking, and furm the basis of a fund of
information, such as that now desired by the public. This they
will of course make known through the ordinary medium of adver-
tisements, but we may give place here to the first instance of the
kind which has come under our observation, for the sake of the
good example it will afford to the rest. With respect, then, to the
Chepstow, Forest of Dean, and Gloucester Junction Railway
Company, Mr. W. T. IL Phelps, the solicitor thereof, desires
to state, for the satisfaction of the shareholders, that
the sum of 54,0004 has been' paid into the bankers'
hands to its credit, the greater portion of which has since
been invested at interest ; that the whole of the deposit
called for amounts to 60,0001., some unallotted shares to the ex-
tent of the difference between the two sums " having been re-
served for the landowners on the line or for contingent circum.
stances, as is usual in ail railways." This is setting a goad pre.
cedent for others to follow, and one part of this statement leads
to another consideration for the benefit of the participators in
similar companies, in showing that it is not always left to the
bankers to use the deposits as they please, but that the parties
themselves direct an investment to be made, the profit upon which
goes of course to the credit of the concern.

MIDLAND RAILWAY RAILWAY.
INQUEST ON THE BODY OF MR. BOTELER, Q.C.,
BANKRUPTCY COMMISSIONER.

OULTON, NEAR LEEDS, MONDAY.—The inquest on the mortal
remains of Mr. Boteler, late one of her Majesty's Counsel, and a
Bankruptcy Commissioner, were resumed to.day at Dutton, in
the large room of the New Mason's Arms Inn, before Mr. Jewison,
Coroner :—Among those present were Mr. Sangster, solicitor, of
Leeds, who attended on behalf of the family of the deceased ; Mr. J.
A. lkin, Town Clerk of Leeds, who appeared fur Sergeant Stubbs,
whose leg was broker► by the accident; Mr. Pahreyman, of Sheffield,
who appeared for Thomas Wheatley, the drivt r of the assistant
engine which ran into the train ; Mr. Macauley, of Leicester, soli-
citor tc the Mid'and Railway Company; Mr. Bell, their secretary,
and three of their directors, Sir -Isaac Morley, Mr. Joseph Houlds-
worth, and Mr. Hutchinson.

John Porter, one of the guards of the railway on the mail train,
underwent a long examination, which we refrain from entering
into at present, as, up to the hour of receiving our report, the In.
quiry had not terminated.

CHRISTCHURCH, OCT. 25.—T11E POACHING CASE
AGAlN.—James Purchase and Henry Burry, who, about a
fortnight ago, were charged by the Hon. Grantley Berkeley
with poaching, and fined 20s. each, were again brought be-
fore the magistrates on Monday last, for a similar offence, but
to be tried under another Act. The investigation of the
case occupied the bench a considerable time. The magis-
trates considered that the case did not come within the mean-
ing of the Act, and it was at length dismissed. The trivl,
throughout, caused considerable excitement, and placed Mr.
Berkeley in anything bet an enviable position, for upon the
Hon. Gentleman leaving the Hall he was accosted by the
crowd with all kinds of opprobrious terms, the shaking of
ribbons in his face, and other marks of disapprobation.—
Hampshire Advertiser.
THE FAST DAY IN GLASgOW.—Thursday was the
Sacramental Fast-day here, and it was observed much in the usual
way that it has been of late years. The weather was dry, and nu-
merous parties went abroad in steamboats and by railway, and all
other sorts of conveyances. The churches were well attended, not-
withstanding, by the serious and thinking portion of the community.
We observed many more people employed at their daily labour than
used to be long ago, and even the servants of the Clyde Trust were
engaged as on ordinary days, in deepening and embanking the river.
—Olasgqlo 0ni40449114

RAILWAY RILLS IN WHICH THE
CITY IS INTERESTED.
The following report of the Parliatn,qltary Committte
of the Corporation has been ordered to be printed:—
" TO THE RIGET HON. THE LORD MA )'Of, ALDERMEN,
AND COMMONS OF THE CITY OF LONDON.
" We whose names ere hereunto subscribed of your
Parliamentary Committee, to whom were referred the
following Bills and other proceedings in the last session
of Parliament, to watch the progress thereof, and report
tho progress thereon:—

" 1845.
" Feb. 13. Railway Clauses Consolidation Bill.
" Feb. 27. Parochial Settlement Bill.
" Deodands Abolition Bill.
" March 6. London and York Railway Bill.
London and South-Western Railway
(No. 1) Bill.
" April 24. London and Croydon Railway Bill.
South-Eastern Railway Bill.
Staines and Richmond Railway Bill.
North Woolwich Railway Bill.
'West London Railway Bill.
" May 29. Tottenham and Farringdon-street Rail-
way Extension Bill.
"
way Bill.
Direct London and Portsmouth Railway
Bill.
Gravesend and Rochester Railway Bill.
" Do certify that with respect to Bills relating to
railways, the Railway Clauses Consolidation Bill was
for consolidating in one Act certain provisions usually
inserted in Acts authorising the making of railways.
An alteration was made in the Bill, at the instance of
the Thames Navigation Committee, and the Bill after-
wards passed into a law. The London and York Rail-
way was for making a railway from Battle-bridge,
Somers-town, to the city of York; a clause was inserted
in this Bill by the direction of the Coal and Corn and
Finance Committee for pay ment to the Ctxporation of
their dues on coals brought by the railway within a
certain distance of London. This Bill passed the House
of Commons at the close of the session, but was dropped
in the House of Lords. The Landon and South-
Western Railway (No. 1) Bill was to extend the metro-
politan terminus of that railway to Hungerford-bridge
and to the Thames at Vauxhall. A clause saving the
rights of conservancy of the Corporation was inserted in
the Bill by the direction of the Navigation Committee,
and the Bill afterwards passed into a law. Five Bills
were presented to Pariiament for the extension and
enlargement of the London and Croydon Railway, in
three of which, viz , the Chatham and Gravesend, the
Maidstone, Ashford, &c., and the London and Croydon
Railway Enlargement Ms, clauses were proposed to be
inserted for payment of the Clay dues on coals. The
London and Croydon Railway Enlargement Bill, in
which the said clause was inserted, passed into a law,
the four other Bills having been postponed for the
session. Five Bills were also presented to Parliament
for the extension of the South-Eastern Railway, in
one of which, viz., for the widening and extension
of the London and Greenwich Railway, a clause was
introduced by the direction of your Committee that all
disputed claims for compensation in cases arising in the
borough of Southwark should be tried before the ses-
sions of the peace in Southwark by juries summoned by
the High Bailiff. This Bill, as amended, afterwards
passed into a law. The four other Bills relating to the
South-Eastern Railway did not affect the interests of
this City. Two of these Bills passed into a law, the
others having been postponed for the session. The ap-
plication for the Staines and Richmond Railway Bill was
rejected by the Standing Order Committee of the House
of Commons, and no further proceedings were had
therein. The North Woolwich Railway Bill was for
making a railway from the Eastern Counties and Thames
Junction Railway, near the mouth of the river Lea, to
North Woolwich, near the Barge-house-ferry. Clauses
were introauced, at the instance of the Thatnes Naviga-
tion Committee, saving the rights of conservancy of the
Corporation; but, in consequence of opposition in the
House of Lords, the proposed extension of the railway
to the Thames was abandoned, and the Bill afterwards
passed into a law. The Tottenham and Farringdon Ex-
tension Railway Bill was to make a railway from Hatton-
garden, near the City boundaries, to join the Northern
and Eastern Counties Railway at Tottenham. The Com-
missioners of Sewers gave directions for the insertion of
clauses in the Bill for protecting the sewers of the
City; but the Committee of the House of Commons to
whom the Bill was referred reported to the House that
the preamble of the Bill had not been proved. The
London, Chatham, and North Kent Railway Bill was
for making a railway from London to Canterbury.
Clauses for protecting the City's rights of conservancy,
and for securing the City's dues on coals, were proposed
for insertion in this Bill, but the Committee of the

. ....,.

House of Commons on the Bill resolved that the pre-
amble thereof had not been proved. The Direct Lon-
don and Portsmouth Railway Bill was for making a
railway from the Croydon And Epsom Railway at
Epsom to the town of Portsmouth, with a branch to
Chichester. The duties on coals, payable to the Corpo •
ration, were secured on all coals to be conveyed on this
line of railway by the clause introduced into the Lon-
don and Croydon Railway Enlargement Bill. The Bill
passed the House of Commons, but was dropped in the
House of Lords. The Gravesend and Rochester Rail-
way Bill was to enable the Thames and Medway Canal
Company to widen, extend, and maintain a railway from
Gravesend to Rochester. This Bill was amended in the
Committee of the House of Commons so as not to affect
the interests of this City, and afterwards passed into
a law."

THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE
GOVERNORS OF CHRIST'S HOSPITAL AND