The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-12 00:00:00

'.Tl__ CIYN., LONDON, SATURDAI EVENTi,T6I, JULY 12,

1-14nott corruptly .71seJ the influence of his official station for the
furtherance of his
.private pecuniary interests, and has thereby ren.
dered himself unwi ,rthy of confidence as a public officer.
Your Committee, upon the evidence before them, cannot enter-
tain a doubt thst the paragraphs in Mr. Hignett's letter of the :id
of February, 1545, N rhich refar to Captain Bolden) and Mr. Bon-
ham are altogether false. But your Committee find that Captain
Balder° and Mr. Bont ,am have trafficked in the shares of a railway
company, the progress of whose Bill depended upon the consent of
a public Board, of which, at the time, they were members ;
and they are of opinion that such transactions are inconsistent with
the maintenance of that strict impartiality of conduct upon all
public questions which is to be expected from every servant of the
Crown, and are calculated to impair the confidence of the public in
the integrity of members of Government departments.
Your Committee feel the greatest regret in being obliged to
direct the attention of the House to a circumstance which has
been disclosed in the course of this investigation, viz., that Mr.
Bonham received from the South-Eastern Railway Company in
the year 1836, at which time he was a Member of the House of
Commons, the sum of 3001. This sum appears to have arisen from
the premium upon the sale of 100 reserved shares, which were sub-
sequently to the passing of the Bill appropriated to Mr. Bonham,
and disposed of for his benefit, and was paid by a cheque to Mr.
Bonham through Mr. Wray, as a gratuity for the services which
he had rendered to that Company, both in and out of Parliament,
and as a member of the Committee on the South-Eastern Railway
Company's Bill. But the Committee are bound, in justice to ;lir,
Bonham, to add that they received no evidence to show that such
gratuity was the result of any previous arrangement between Mr.
Bonham and the Company.

Your Committee cannot abstain from expressing their opinion,
that the part taken by Mr. Wray, the Receiver-General of Police,
is deserving of serious animadversion.
Your Committee also feel bound strongly to condemn the con-
duct of all those parties in connexion with the South Eastern Rail-
way Company who participated in the transactions of the years
1 836 and 1845, referred to in the evidence, as being in the opinion
of your Committee highly reprehensible.
Your Committee feel it to be their duty also to call the atten-

lion of the House to the practice of canvassing disclose) in the
evidence. It appears to your Committee to be a practice de-
grading to both parties, the party canvassing and the party Can_
vassed, and to be calculated ultimately to destroy all respect for
the decisions of the House, especially in the case of private Bills.
Its obvious tendency is to cause these deciAons to be regarded
rather as the result of personal solicitation and private influence,
than that of an honest and impartial regard for the Interests of
the public.

:MURDER OF MR. PALMER AND
EIGHT SEAMEN OF HER MAJESTY'S SLOOP

WASP.

PrA-31ourrt, JUIN 10.—The pris:mrrs were again brought up,
and Cuqurreria desired to make an addition to his evidence of yes-
terday. On being permitted, and again sworn, he staled as fol-
lows : Emanuel Jose Alvez was the man in the boat after he hart
his head cut open by the English quartermaster. As soon as be
came from the boat, on board the schooner again, he came forward
where the blood was, and took it up with both hands and drank it
Emanuel Francois Rozegres, a black, and native of the Isle
of France, was then examined Lt considerable length. He
deposed to having been engaged by the prisoner Serva as
a servant, and to his having subSeqUently gone to-sea in
the Echo, which took on board 434 slaves at Lagos. She was
captured by the British. Ile was placed in a boat with six
. others and towed at the stern of the prize. When he had
been there about half an hour he heard a noise from the deck of
the schooner. He could not see what was doing, but about ten
minutes after he first heard the noise he saw two bodies of white
men disappear in tha water, In the place where they went down
the water was red. I also saw two blacks swim:ming. They had
blue shirts on. Serva said about two minutes after, " Haul the
beat up, there is no more danger." I still heard the same noise. I
heard a voice twice, and I rather think it was Serra's, saying in
Portugnese, " Kill, kill." Serve called to us to pull up the boat,
and I then got on deck, and saw four of the prisoners wounded on
the head. They were passing handkerchiefs over their heads.
Another had a wound on the side. There was blood on the deck.
There was a I,rge quantity on the starboard side forward. The
prisoner then gave directions so as to get alongside the Echo to
board her. Several of the men objected. The other party
then said, "We must: giv, it up, because we have no arms "
Serva then said, " PaSs by the Echo, and fire into her mainmast."
One of the guns was then sre:t. Serra then claimed the vessel for
his owners. The witness then detailed the circumstance of the
recapture of the Star.

The witness was subjected to a long cross-examination by the
solicitor for the prisoners, but nothing of al.y importance wns
elicited. The Court 'hen adjourned to
FRIDAY.— On the prisoners b. ing brought up this day the third
approver—a negro slave, who had cbtained his freedom by touching
on the British soil—was examined. At the time of the affray he
was in bed, and refused, when urged to do so, " to take any part in
the quarrel between the whites," Ile described the appearance
of the vessel, and the language used by the prisoners after the
English had been destroyed, and in these respects his evidence was
confirmatory of that previously adduced.
The Court then committed the ten prisoners on the charge of
Wilful Murder on the high seas. It will be for the Crown to de.
termine whether they shall be tried at Exeter or in the Central
Criminal Court.

RAILWAY COMIVIri"nIEs,

(YESTERDAY.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.
7121 M CORNWALL YLAII.W Y.
(Continued from our Afti-rno.m Edition ay, serda,y.)

A coestion arose respecting the assent of the Admiralty to one of
the bridges on the projecttd line, which crosses a creek. It was in-
sinuated by Mr Rowe that that assent had not been obtained,
whilst Mr. Merrivale objected to the disclosure of any arrangements
which had taken place between the officers of the Admiralty and
the promoters of the present Bill.
Mr. RoWE contended that the knowledge of the assent or dissent
of the Admiralty to any part of the line which interfered with
navigation was absolutely indispensable to the Committee, for
otherwise the Committee might be uselessly consuming their time in
examining into the merits of a line which, after all, the Govern.
ment might throw out.

There was a long argument on this head, and a great deal of
legal ingenuity expended.
The Committee decided that questions on this head might be put
generally.

Mr. Rows then resumed the cross examination of Captain Moor.
sour on this head, but nothing of interest or importance transpired.
Mr. Rastrick, engineer of the London and Brighton Line—Exa
mined the projected line. The rding gradient in one part of the
,•

line was one in sixty, and another one in forty. There would be
no more difficulty or danger in wotking a light train on such gra-
dients than a heavy train on better ones. The curves had nothing
to do with the gradients. The worst curve was one of fifteen
chains radius.

The remainder of the day was occupied in the cross-examination
of this witness, and the Committee aljourncd at four o'clock.

sco.rT auDx..a.r; D RAILWAY.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)

The examination of Mr. Byer was resumed. It appeared that
the annual income expected to be derived from the passenger-
traffic amounted in the whole to 9,909/. 125., which, being
doubled according to Parliamentary usage on railway matters,
would dice a total result of 19,819/. 4s. annually. The income
from goods, including cotton, cloth, flax, wool, stone, slate, wood,

potatoes, and general met. handise, amounted to 4,152/. 16s. led.
From coals and lime a return of 4,553/, per annum would be
realised. Fat and lean cattle and sheep, exclusive of lambs, would
yield a.i income of 3.71 I/ 10s. 7d. The gross total revenue de-
rivable from these different sources, including the revenues of the
two small railways. which the Com- any intended to purchase, and
parcels and mails, would amount to 36,8581. 12s. 3d.
The examination and re-examination of this witness occupied
their Lordships nearly the entire day. All the facts which he stated
have already appeared in the report of his evidence before the Com-
mittee of the House of Commons.

Mr. Pare was examined, and corroborated the evidence of the
previous witness in every particular.

At the close of the evidence their Lordships adjourned.

OXFORD, WORCESTER, AND WOLVER-

HAIIIPTON.

The Committee met today at the usual hour, Lord Radnor in
the chair, when the examination of witnesses was proceeded with.
[We have to correct a misprint in our report of yesterday, in
which Mr. Bond, of Kingswinford, in speaking of the carriage of
coal from that place to the south, is represented to have said that
the carriage to London was Is. 7d.—it should have been 17s.]
Mr. Harrington, of Oxford, was the first witness called this
morning, and examined by Mr. Tatacer—He represented the feel-
ing of Oxford to be generally in favour of the present line of rail-
way. They considered it was the one best calculated for the wants
of the district. By the Tring line the traffic from Worcester to
London did not touch at Oxford, whereas the Great Western line
diJ. He considered it would confer great benefit on the town and
neighbourhood. There was a great demand for coals in Oxford-
shire, while agricultural produce was sent in large quantities to the
north.

The cross.examination of the witness did not elicit any point of
material importance.

Mr. Hinnon and Mr. Steel deposed as to the local traffic, which
they described would be much better accommodated by the Great
Western Company than by the London and Birmingha.n.

Mr. James Lemon, of Chipping Norton, gave evidence as to the
traffic of that place. The sale of barley annually in the Chipping
Norton market was 15,000 quarters. The district was an im.
portant agricultural one, and for its produce there was at present
no cheap or easy mode of searching the mineral and manufacturing
districts. In the ev.mt of a railway being formed, the agricultural
produce of the south would find its way at a cheap rate into the
populous districts of the north• By this means both north and
south would be benefited. He considered the line promoted by the
Great Western scheme much the best of the two.

Mr. Sessions, brewer of Charlesley, near Oxford, was examined
respecting the trade and traffic of that town. The population of
the town and neighbourhood was 7,700. The consumption of
coal was at present about 6,000 tons yearly. This cost very high
Prices at present. It was his conviction that if the present line
were formed, it would create a reduction in the price of coal equal
to all the poor-rates of the district. There was a large manufac-
tory of gloves in the town employing about 600 persons. These
goods cost in carriage from 2001. to 3001. yearly. The annual
amount of groceries, received principally from London, was in
weight 130 tons. There was a considerable amount of glass used
in the town and neighbourhood, which at present was charged at a
•ery high rate of carriage.

Cross-examined by Mr. HOPE—His estimate of the reduction
in the price of coal that might be expected by the construction of
the line was founded on the supposition that coals would be charged
Id. per ton per mile.

Mr. Lancaster, ironmonger of Lancaster, deposed to the advan-
tage which the proposed line would confer on the trade in which he
was engaged. He did a large business with Wolverhampton in
ironmongery goods. He considered that a saving would be effected
of 21. 3s. per ton. He estimated that they would be bought by
the present line at the rate of 1/. 10s. per ton. He paid at pre-
sent for a ton of goods from Wolverhampton 31. 13s. 3d., 2/. 11s.
to London, and 11. 2s. 3d. from thence to Southampton. He paid
alone for carriage to the South_ Western Company the sum of 3501.
annually.
Cross.examined by Mr. HOPE—The South. Western Company
took off a considerable discount for large quantities of goods, from
30 to 90 per cent, on quantities above Bye tons. The charge without
the discount was about 3d.per ton per mile. That was their maximum.
He was not aware that the Great Western line give any discount.
They charged, he believed,3d. per ton per mile. He once had great
objection to the breaks on the lines, on account of the transhipments
of goods. He gave evidence to that effect last year, but having
seen Mr. Brunel's machine for facilitating the change of goods, his
opinion of the difficulty had much altered.
Mr. Thomas Congreve, near Rugby, was next examined. He
fattened beast for the London market, but could Dot send them there
by railway, on account of the high charges. He travelled them
up to London at present. His neighbours did the same.
Captain Huish, secretary of the Grand Junction Railway Company,
was examined at some length respecting the differences which existed
between the London and Birmingham and Grand Junction Corn.
panics. He stated that, in self-defence, the Grand Junction was
under the necessity of taking steps to effect an in-
dependent communication to London, because the Lon-
don and Birmingham, through the Churnet Valley, and
other schemes, were seeking to reach Liverpool without coming on
the Grand Junction line. He likewise bore evidence as to the ease
with which transhipment could take place from the broad to the
narrow gauge.

Mr. Brunel, civil engineer, was next called—The evidence,
which was not closed at the rising of the Committee, was
generally the same as that given before the Commons'
Committee. He started, on the map, with the line beginning
at Oxford, and tracing it through its route, past Moreton-in.the-
Marshes, Evesham, Worce,ter, Droitwieh, Kidderminster, Stour.
bridg,, Brierley Hill, Dudley, to its final termination in the Grand
Junction line at Wolverhampton. The engineering peculiarities
ne described to be very favourable. There were only two tun.
nets, one 860 yards, near to Moreton, and another at :)udley, 946
yards. After explaining the mode in which the line connected itself
with the various towns, and the sites and peculiarities of the vari-
ous stations, the Committee adjourned till Monday at I I o'clock.

CLYDESDALE JUNCTION RAILWAY.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
After hearing engineering evidence for the deviation, and
counter evidence for the original Bill, the room was cleared, and
The CHAIRMAN said that the opinion of the Committee was, that
there were no such objections to the proposed line of deviation as
to justify them in passing the Bill against Mr. Graham's opposition.
A clause was inserted to guard the interests of Mr. Graham, and
after hearing Mr. ILlityard for the Garnkirk Railway (opponents),
the Committee proved the preamble.
Their Lordships then rose.

STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE.
The Committee re.assembled this day.

ABERDARE RAILWAY.

This Bill was declared to have complied with the standing orders,

ER,EI7,7ASH VALLEY RAILWAY.
The consideration of this Bill was postponed.
NE WPORT AND P ONTYP 0 0 RAILW:, Y.

This Bill passed the standing orders.
LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN (METRO.
POLITAI'd EXTENSION.)
This Bill passed the standing orders.
BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER RAIL.
WAY BRANCHES.
This Bill passed the standing orders.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
GROUP A.

(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
Mr. AUSTIN suggested that the

STER AND DEAL LINE

should next be taken.
Mr. “OLDSO.IITII and Mr. D HILL contended !hat the Committee
had already determined to postpone the Bill till next session.
After a long discussion, the Committee decided to take the
Minster and Deal line to-morrow morning.
Mr. AUSTIN said that the line was opposed by the Kentish Coast
Railway Company, but that Company had been dissolved.
Tile CHAIRMAN said that no counsel could be heard on the part
of that line.
The clauses of the
ASHFORD AND HASTINGS (1311.IGHTON)