The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-03 00:00:00

The-detachment of the 4th Dragoon Guards or-
dared to march for Killaloe and Nenagh is counter.'..:
mended for the present. , -1
Lieut. Grogan, 7th, Lieut.-Colonel Cockburn, 60t14,-,
and Lieut. Shirley, 87th, sold out of the service last.',
week.,, t-
.

SeVen cadets' of the Royal Military College were -A- a
appointed to ensigncies last week, without purcha,•e. 11"
The senior lieutenant of the 7th Fusiliers, and pay-
master of its depot, has sold out of the service-
Captain Norman's company, 54th, has arrived at
Ballinamore, county Leitrim, from Mullingar, head-
quarters. •
Good service money is awarded to Lieut.-General
Henry Monckton, and Major-Generals Alexander
Thompson and William A. Gordon, the first to re-
ceive 177/. per annum, and the others 1001. each.
Major-Generals R. G. Hare Clarges and W. F. P.
Napier are to have the increased daily pay of 255.
Major Bennett, of the Royals, has put to press hi 4
" Thoughts on Army Education," with reference to
the instruction of the soldier.

LONDON and CROYDON RAILWAY

s

COMPANY.
A special general meeting of the Shareholders was
held at the London-bridge station yesterday, for the
purpose of considering the expediency of applications
being made to Parliament, in the ensuing session, for
powers to enable the London and Croydon 'Railway
Company to effect the following of jectss—The
widening or enlargement of the London and Croydon,
thiso London and Greenwich, and the Bricklayers'
W.n.s Branch Railways, with a view to an additional
lide,,or additional lines, .of railway, upon .the atmo-
spheric principle of traction.; the formation of a rail-
way from the Croydon Railway to Chatham, with a
branch to Gravesend; an extension of the Chatham
line, to join the Canterbury, Margate, and Ramsgate
Railway, at or near Chatham, with branches to 'Sheer-
ness and Faversham Creek; the formation of a railway
from the Croydon Railway to Maidstone, 'with II
branch to Tunbridge; an extension of the
Maidstone line to join the South-Eastern (Dover)
Railway at or near Ashford; an extension of the
Epsom Railway to Dorking, unless provided for b
the direct London and Portsmouth Railway; a 'branch
from the Croydon Railway to Orpington, unless pro-
vided for by the Chatham line; and also to adopt
such measures with reference to ,the said several
matters, or either of them, and to the capital necessary
to be provided for them, or any of them, as to such
meeting shall seem expedient.
At one o'clock the chair was token by Mr. Wil-
kinson, the Chairman of the Company.
The notice having been read,
The CHAIRMAM, after some preliminary obeerva-
tions, proceeded to refer to the schemes of the Direc-
tors, as stated above. Some of those schemes, he
said, were merely duplicate schemes, to be carried out
as the success or failure of the other plans might
render desirable. Contemplating, for instance,
the possibility of the Portsmouth 'Company
failing to get their Bill, the enlargement of the
Croydon Company was a scheme for which it was
neccessary to provide, and a similar remark would
apply to one or two other projects. But with -re--
spect to the main plans of the Directors, after giv!aig
their best consideration to the subject, and taking the
Lest advice that could be obtained, the Directors were
of opinion, and after calling together and obtaining
the concurrence of a meeting of gentlemen holding
100 shares the Directors felt the greatest confidence,
in asking the sup' ort of the Proprietors in carrying
out their views. The main purpose for which they
had convened the meeting, was to proposs the maid
of a line from Sydenham to Ashford, Maidstone, :ma
Tunbridge.—(Hear, hear.) The necessity f,Jr this
project had arisen from the declaration of tha views of
the South-Eastern Company, made at their general
meeting by Mr. M`Gregor in December last, inti-
mating most clearly that it was the intention of that Co-
mpany to make a direct line to Tunbridge which should
avoid the Croydon line. Believing, as they did, that there
was no necessity for a measure which should include:
the avoidance of the Croydon line, the Directors
thought themselves entitled to propose that this COrn-
panv should carry out the scheme instead •of the
Soulh-Eastern Company.—(Hear, hear.) The latter
Company had proclaimed to all the world, for the
last nine months, that it was about to supply all
Kent with railways. At present, however, it did
nothing whatever towards fulfilling its promise. It
now proposed to accommodate the public by avoiding
the Croydon Railway. Were that the sole object,
their only course would be to acquiesce, fop unques-
tionably the public benefit was the grand thing-to be
considered. But the question was, whether the public
benefit could not be equally well provided for without
the avoidance of the Croydon Railway? The Directors
of the Croydon Company believed that it could, and
as they formed part of the public, they bad
a right to expect that their interests shouk%
not be forgotten. The Dover Company pro-
posed to make a line from the Greenwich Railway.
He then proceeded to explain, by the aid of a chart,
the course of the lines proposed by the two Com-
panies, and dwelt on the superior advantages which
would be aflbrded to the public by the direct line to
Maidstone. They proposed to continue the line as far
as Ashford ; and not only so, but, by making an at • •
mospheric line, they would be enabled to convey the
public cheaper and quicker than the South-Eastern
Company. He saw nothing inconsistent or im-
proper in so small a Company embarking in this un-
dertaking, provided only the public convenience
was consulted. On that point everything must de-
pend, whatever might be the length of railway which
it was proposed to construct. He had heard it' said
that the great interests of the Dover Company should
not be hampered by those of so insignificant a Company
as the Croydon. Granted; but the question was, which
was the Dover Company ? He was prepared to centendl
that,for all public purposes, that was the Dover Cora-
-1 pang, because it had the power, which the other had
not, of making the line which should be most conve-
nient for the public.—(Hear, hear.) The Dover
Company had for the last nine months placarded the
country with announcements of its intentions with
respect to the county of Kent; but these announce-
ments had all ended in nothing, and theirs was, at that
time, the only body which was in a condition to afford
that accommodation to the public which the DoVer
Company had confessed to be necessary for the public
interest.—(Hear, hear.) The Dover Company was
a day or two too late in putting in its plans ; and
though this difficulty might possibly be surmounted,
he thought they (the Croydon Company) should take
care that their own interests were protected. Tim
Dover Company proposed to amend their line by a plea
not so convenient as theirs; and, under all the
circumstances, both morally and politically, the pro-
prietors of the Croydon Company would be justified
in the course which they were asked to pursue. He
did not mean to promise them entire success, whether
in carrying out their own plans, or in opposing those
of others ; but considering the itnpartiality and 'intel-
ligence of the Legislature, their chance of success
was certainly such as would justify them in proceed-
ing. Sir Robert Peel had laid down the principles
that a railway should not be allowed to be made by
the side of an existing one, solely for the purpose of
absorbing the profit—that money should not be taken
out of the pocket of A solely to be put into that of
" but," said he, "if the advancement of science,
or the improvement of machinery, enables one company
to accommodate the public much better than another,
then the public advantage must be considered first.*
Applying that principle, he thought they had a good
chance of success in the projects which they were
called upon to undertake ; and he felt the greatest
confidence, therefore, in proposing them for accept-
ance. A great deal was said at the present time
about amalgamation..• -He, was not prepared to say
that such a result would not be attended with miss-
tual advantages. They had, however, made a pfo-
position to the Brighton Company. They had put
to them this question—" Will you guarantee either
that the whole of the traffic shall come by -one rail-
way, or that such traffic as may come shall pay us,
the present amount, viz., 20,0001.?" and, in case
of compliance, they offered to remit half the toll at
present levied. That proposition was declined, and it
would be too much to expect that it should be
peedlnthactastehse ofpar amalgama-
tion asleegakminag-
repeated after their opponents had been defeated in
hear
lit would give up some advantages. Though they
tPioairlliiattoweanst.g—vp(eHraelalry,
were willing to amalgamate, they would not consent
to sacrifice their interests to those of their rivals.
He then went into a calculation, for the purpose of
proving that it was impossible that the Dover Com-
pany could obtain a sufficient profit to make their
scheme successful, taking into account all the ex-
penses and obligations which would be incurred, and
setting against them the probable returns. Since the
opening of the Dover Railway the average receipts
had been about 4,500/. ; and, with all the expected
increase of continental traffic, he could not think that
the increase would be sufficient. After some further •
observations, he concluded by proposing a series of
resolutions founded on the several schemes stated in
the notice.

The resolution was seconded, and, after a short
conversation, was carried unanimously.
In reply to a question from a Proprietor,
The CHAIRMAN stated that the agreement; made
with the Chatham Committee was this :—The Croy-
don Company undertook to pay the expenses•of the
application to Parliament ; and, in case of failure,- the
Chatham Company would either receive back their
money with five per cent. upon it, or have the option
of taking Croydon shares bearing five per cent.
A vote of thanks was given to the Chairman and
Directors, and the meeting then separated. .

CO/LD:RIPOSED.—The dead body of a new-bo4
tnale infant-was found in a field at Hillbousifield, of
Friday last, It was enclosed in a small woodest' box.—
Edinirtl Advertiser.
The Investiture of the Knights of St. Petrick is.
pngtponed-fr'om Saturdshrthe 4th, to Monday, the 6th ofi
'o,nuarl4'."