The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-05 00:00:00

, Lord HOWICK called the attention of the House to the
facts of the case. The Bill enabled the Newcastle and
Darlington Railway Company to purchase the Brandling
Junction Railway. That purchase was not detrimental to the
i'ublic, but it had taken place in September, and the Bill
was brought forward in June to sanct ion it. Now, the se purchases
ought not to be effected before the House had sanctioned them.
In this case no harm had been done, but this very company had
recently effected a bargain and sale vihieh would very much
militate against the public interest. It was known that before
long it would be necessary to have a direct line to York, which
line would be much interfered with if the parties interested in
keeping up the circuitous line to York were permitted to be-
come possessors of the independent line north of York. He
thought those sales ought not to be permitted to take place un-
til Parliament or the Board of Trade should have had au oppor-
tunity of considering the terms agreed on.
Sir G. CLERK admitted the importance of the subject to
which the Noble Lord had directed the attention of the
House; but it should be remembered that those bargains to
which the Noble Lord had alluded were merely preliminary,
and that if they did not receive the sanction of the House, they
were of no effect whatever.
Mr. STUART WORTLEY—When they came to a sanc-
tion of that kind, he hoped the Parliament would interfere.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that the Right Hon. Gentleman
the Vice-President of the Board of Trade had expressed an
opinion quite in coincidence with that of his Noble Friend.
Ihe same thing of which he had complained occurred in the
Committees last year, and he thought that some means should
be taken to obviate the loss which arose from the custom of
amalgamation.
After a few words from Mr. B. DENISON and Sir GEORGE
STRICKLAND,
Lord G. SOMERSET said, that if the House would look
back to the railway Bills of former years, they would find
that no power of leasing was given, and it was only
of late years that this power had been obtained. There was
no doubt that the system of leasing had worked well, and
many railways had been brought into existence, and had
proved great conveniences to the public, which would, if this
power had not existed, never have been made. There o as,
therefore, not that objection to the plan which might at first
sight appear.
The amendments were then rut, when
Mr. LIDDELL presented a petition from Mr. Brandling,
of the county of Northumberland, complaining that he had
not had a fair hearing before the Committee, and requesting
that a certain clause might be inserted for tLe government of the
railway in the neighbourhood of his property. This gentle-
man was a constituent of his, and he felt it so just a case, that
he should move that the petition be referred to the Standing
Orders Committee.
After a few words from Lord WORSLEY on this motion,
the petition was referred accordingly.
NEWCASTLE AND BERWICK RAILWAY.

On the motion that the Newcastle and Berwick Railway
bill be read a second time,

`Mr. MORRlSON:suggested that a clause should be intro-
duced into all railway Bills for the modification of the charge
for tolls on the several classes of passengers.
Lord WORSLEY said, that having been chairman of the
Committee on this Bill, he had given it his closest attention.
The Committee had spent something like an hour and half to
two hours on this very point, and they had not found that any
Bill had been passed to which the toll had been less than that
stated in the clauses of the Bill, and he did not think that any
less charge would be remunerative.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that there was one clause to
which his attention had been particularly drawn. It provided
that the provisional Committee should appoint two directors,
but did not say whether they should be shareholders or not.
He wished to know on what grounds these directors were to be
appointed.
Lord WORSLEY said that the attention of the Committee
had likewise been drawn to this circumstance, and they had
searched for a precedent, and had found that a Bill had been
passed in which the Duke of Northumberland was interested,
with a similar clause, and they had consequently been relieved
from all difficulty respecting the clause.
The Bill v as then read a second time.

The reports of the railway Committees were then brought
up on the Preston and Wyre Railway, the Blackburn and
Preston, and the London and Enniskillen Railway.

RUNCORN RAILWAY.

Mr. OSBORNE presented a petition against the Bill,
which was ordered to be referred to the Committee of Standing
Orders.

EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY.
This Bill was read a third time and passed.
WEST LONDON RAILWAY.

Mr. BAILEY presented a petition from Chertsey against
,he West London Railway Bill.
TOTTENHAM AND FARRINGDON-STREET
JUNCTION RAILWAY.

Mr. MACKINNON moved that the petition of James
Tailor, Esq., against this railway Bill, be referred to the
Committee on the Bill, with liberty to be heard, by counsel,
against the said Bill, which was agreed to.
(TREAT WESTERN RAILWAY (IRELAND).
Mr. RASHLEIGH presented a petition against this Bill.
LIVERPOOL AND BURY RAILWAY.

Lord SANDON presented a petition from Liverpool, signed
by 36,000 individuals, in favour of this railway.

PRESSURE OF RAILWAY BuINESS.

Mr. LABOUCHERE rose to bring forward his motion
with respect to the railway business before Parliament. He
regretted that the task had been left to him, and considered
that it ought to have been brought forward by her Majesty's
Government. The Right Hon. Gentleman the President of
the Beard of Trade said he thought that the course he pro-
posed would be a very proper one in a month or six
weeks hence, but that he was not prepared un it then to adopt
any steps with reference to the quantity of railway business
before Parliament. He (Mr. Labouchere ) entertained the
opinion that the House would not perform its duty to
the immense interests involved if they did not imme-
diately adopt some measures with regard to railways.
The state of the railway business before the House at the pre-
sent period was notorious, and so many Hon. Gentlemen in
that House were members of Committees, that it was almost
wholly unnecessary to advert to it. He found on inquiry, that
out of two hundred arid forty-three railway projects introduced
into the House at the commencement of the se-sion, one hun-
dred and forty still remained to be disposed of. He was
told that, besides the difficulty the House had in disposing of this
pressure of business, they had another labour to undergo in
consequence of the course which had been adopted with regard
to the reports of the railway department of the Beard of Trade—
a course rendering it necessary for the Committees of the
House to refer to them. Surely there ought to be no ad-
ditional delay and expense which the House could possibly
avoid thrown in the way of the promoters of those
schemes. It had been, he was informed, statei by a Learned
Counsel to one of those Committees, that with regard to the
plans on the group of railways, of_ which the London
arid York line was one, that no less a sum
than 300,0001. had been expended on all the lines
before that Committee. It was difficult to say what
course ought new to be adopted, but one thing was
certain, namely, that it would be impossible now to
pass the remainder of those Bills in the present session of Par-
liament. It would be quite impossible, he repeated, to pass
those Bills in the course of the present session through the
other branch of tke Legislature. Parties opposing the projects
before Committees, it was well-known, sought to delay the pass-
ing of those lines in the hope that they might be continued
beyond the session, and that the promoters should then in the
next session give up their projects altogether, or commence
their proceedings anew. That was a degree of injustice that
be was: sure that House would not willingly agree to,
and he thought an efficacious mode of getting rid
of the evil would be to place parties at the beginning of the next
session in precisely the same position in which they stood at the
end of the preceding one. They had two instances on record
in which this course had been adopted. With this view, he had
to move the two resolutions of which he had given notice, namely,
that, inasmuch as, from the unusual number of Railway
Bills which have been introduced into this House during the
present session of Parliament, and also from the delay
has been occasioned in the consideration of them, in conse-
quence of the reference of the reports of the Railway Depart-
ment of the Board of Trade to the Committees on
these Bills, it may be impossible for many of them
wbieh shall have been reported to this House to be passed
into laws during the present session, this House
will adopt such measures in the next session as may
appear best calculated to prevent the parties promoting such
Bills from being subjected to any unnecessary expense or delay.
That a Select Committee be appointed, to consider in what man-
ner it may be expedient to carry this resolution into effect.
He would say, in conclusion, that if the Government would
undertake measures to remedy this evil, he should withdraw his
resolutions.

Sir G. CLERK said the Government had turned their
attention very anxiously to railway legislation, but he did not
think the House could then with propriety come to any specific
resolution on the subject, nor pledge itself to any particular line
of conduct. The course proposed was without precedent, except
under peculiar circumstances ; and, therefore, looking at the
extreme difficulty in which the question was, he preferred re-
ferring the whole subject to the consideration of a Select
Committee, who might recommend a course much more
comprehensive and effectual than that which was recom-
mended in the resolution. He would, therefore, move as
an amendment, that a Select Committee be appointed
to inquire into the several Railway Bills, and re-
port what measures could be adopted to facilitate the
pa-sing of Railway Bills through Parliament, and what
course it might be most judicious to adopt in
reference to railway Bills to be brought before the House
during the session. Railway business had now increased to
such an extent, that some systematic line of conduct must
be pursued. The Right Hon. Baronet concluded by moving
the amendment.
Sir G. GREY seconded the amendment.

Lord EIO WICK supported the resolution of his Right Hon.
Friend the Member for Taunton, considering that an inquiry
was absolutely necessary, not only for the convenience
of parties promoting, but for the benefit of the dis-
tricts to be accommodated by the railway.
Lord G. SOMERSET who, from the excessive noise in the
House, was almost inaudible in the gallery, was understood to
oppose the resolution before the House, deeming it both inex-
pedient and prematue.
Sir G. GREY agreed in the views expressed by the Noble
Lord who had just sat down.

Sir R. PELL thought that some assurance should be
held :out by the House to parties having Bills before it,
that something would be done to mitigate the evil arising from
delaying the passing of Railway Bills till next session. He
concurred with the Right Honourable Gentleman,
that the House ought to take the subject up. But he
(Sir R. Peel) considered that a Committoe should be ap-
pointed, in order to examine into the subject, and present a
a report before the House decided on any course.
Before passing any resolution on the business under
consideration, they ought to have the facts fully before them.
(LEFT SPEAKING.)

SIR JOHN RENNIE'S SECOND
CON VERSAZIONE.

The second of the series of conversazione given by Sir
John Rennie, President of the Institetion of Civil En-
gineers, took place on Saturday evening, and was even
more numerously and brilliantly attended than or. the pre-
vious Saturday. It only required the presence of Lady
Rennie and her lady friends, as on the previous occasion, to
have rendered this one of the most brilliant reunions of the
season. In deference, however, to the establi,hed etiquette,
his Royal Highness Prince Albert being expected, we were de-
prived of the presence of the amiable hostess.
Several additions and changes in the arrangement of the
m,)dels and works of art had been made. We observed particu-
larly the Ascot Cup ; a coil of the Warwick Vase, in silver ;
and a splendid ewer and salver, by Cellini, from the collection
of Messrs. Mortimer and Hunt ; a spirited figure of a grey-
hound, by Mr. Thomas, whose group of St. George and
the Dragon, we noticed last week. and which being
placed in a better lighted position, we were enabled to
inspect and admire ; portfolios of Scharf's interesting
sketches in Lycia ; Scanlan's characteristic sketches
of Cornish miners, &c. ; some very good sketches,
made by Sir John Rennie, in Greece, in 1820; a miniature,
by W. R. Ward, R. A., of the Duchess of Richmond ; a
collection of effective lithotints of Cattermole's drawings ;
a superb specimen of Walker's Electrotype. From among
the models we must particularise the Ferraby Sluice,
which forms the outlet of the Ancholme drainage, and a
plan of the proposed works at Carrickfergus, where, by
means of detached breakwaters, the run of the sea would
be prevented, while, by a projecting mole upon arches, ac-
commodation would be afforded for the loading and unload-