The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-03 00:00:00

PORTUGAL LINES.

The terms proposed by the Government for the con-
struction of railroads in Portugal by the concession of pri-
vileges :-
1. The exclusive privilege for 99 years of the railways and
of the different vehicles of transpert, to count from the con-
clusion of the works.

2. The concession of the lands of the state wherever the
lines shall pass, and of the stone, sand, and clay upon them,
or any other lands of the state which may be necessary for
the works.

3. Exemption from duties for five years on every article
which it may be necessary to import from foreign countries
for the construction of the railways and their exploration,
such as iron, manufactured or unmanufactured, coal, wood,
and machines,subject to the necessary fiscalization to prevent
fraud.

4. Exemption from imposts, general or local, as well upon
the works of the empreza or company, as upon their capital,
represented by their shares and dividends.
1. The power of fixing the scale of prices for conveying
passengers, merchandize, goods, and all other articles on the
railway during the first ten years, reckoned from the time
when the work is completed. After these ten years the
tables will be revised and examined by the Government, in
accord with the empreza or company, for the purpose of
effecting such alterations as shall be found, by experience,
to be necessary.
6. The construction of the railways, and all the labours
necessary for their establishment, will be for account and
risk of the empreza or company; and these shall be com•
menced within one year of the signing of the contract, and
concluded in such manner that the roads shall be practicable
in all their parts within six years, save and except any oc-
currences which may arise independent of the empreza or
company.
7. The plan of the railroads, with the descriptive memoria
which usually accompanies designs of this nature, to be sub-
mitted for approbation of the Government within six months,
at furthest, after the act of concession.
8, The transport of letters and dispatches of the Govern-
ment will be gratuitous throughout the lines for ordinary
service. .

9. The transport of corps of the army and navy, of their
baggage, provisions, and munitions of war, shall be done for
the fourth of the established rates for ordinary transport.
10. The motive power for transport on the railways will be
steam, applied to locomotives; it will also be permitted, with
previous approbation of the Government, to make use of at-
mospheric pressure, phould the experiments now making in
England and France prove the convenience of the system.
11. The works of construction of the railways will be sub.
ject to the fiscalization of competent agents of the Govern-
ment, to prevent departure from the conditions, clauses, and
plans approved.
12. The Government will establish certain measures which
shall be considered as the fulfilment of the conditions and
clauses established, in a similar manner to that which the
French Government adopts in the cahiers des charges, when
it contracts for works of a similar nature.
13. The empreza' or c ,mpany contracted vrith, if foreign,
shall be considered Portuguese solely for the offects of their
contracts, regulating itself by the laws of these kingdoms,
and subjecting itself without recourse to the jud,:rnent of the
tribunals of this ccuntry in all qUestions or reclamations that
may arise in respect of it. _ _

14. After twenty years, and these past, every five years,
counted from the term of the labours of the construction of
the railways, the Government shall have the power of ap-
propriating these and all their accessories, paying their just
value, which shall be arbitrated, taking for base of the arbi—
tration the middle term of the net receipt of the last five
years. . .

15. Special regulations, on the part of the Government,
will determine the measures and dispositions necessanecessary to
maintain the police, the safety, the use, and preservation of
the railways, and the works accessory.
16. The empreza or company contracting with the Govern-