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

7:birte Ebttton

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'clock.

RAILWAY COMMITTEES.
(THIS DAY.)

Group X.
LONDON AND YORK RAILWAY.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)

Captain Lawes, the manager of the Manchester and Leeds Rail.
way, was called, and he stated that the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway Company and the Manchester and Leeds Company fre.
quently carried manure. He thought manure could be carried on
the London and York line without inconvenience to the passengers.
The witness was cross-examined by Mr. HILDY&RD, to show that
a manure depot at King's-cross would be a great nuisance.
George Hunt, examined by Mr. DENIsoN—He was a draper in
Bedford. He paid 3/. Ss. a ton for goods for Manchester. He had
not made any calculation of what the cost would be by a railway.
Mr. Whitbread was called to speak to the general advantages of
a railway to Bedford. The London aid York was the most advan.
tageous scheme that had yet been proposed.
Mr. John Saville, a woolstapler at St. Neots, said he was in the
habit of buying large quantities of wool, lie purchased it from
various places within a distance of from twenty to thirty miles
round St. `cots. The wool was sent principally to Yorkshire.
The present cost of conveying it to the Yorkshire market was about
3/. per ton. He sent it to Leicester, and from Leicester to York-
shire. If the London and York Railway were formed, the cost
would be 11. 10s. Sd.

Mr. John Day, brewer, of St. 'Seots, was called, and examined
by Mr. Pa GET—The population of St. 'Scots was about 3,000
The London and York line, if carried out, would be of great ad-
vantage to the town. About 2,009,000 bricks were annually made
in the town. These were all sent to London by the railway. A
large quantity of draining tile was also made in the neighbourhood.
The brick.yards were situated immediately on the line of the pro
posed railway.

Cross-examined by Mr. TALBOT Was not aware that draining
tiles were sent to London. He had never heard that bricks were
extensively sent by railways.

Mr. E. Geard said he was a draper at St. Neots. He get
his goods principally from London. Frot■ Manchester the coat of
the carriage of goods was 51. per ton, and to London 21. per ton.
If the railway were to be made from Manchester, the carriage
would be about 30s. per ton. A great many rags were
sent to St. Neots to make paper with. The paper
manufactured at St. Neots was principally sent to Lon-
don. About 400 tons of coal were used in the manufacture of
paper.

Mr. J. Carrington stated that he was an ironmonger at St.
Neots. lie had been in business these thirty years. The means
of transit, both north and south of the town, were very incon-
venient. The distance from London was fifty-six miles. The
present coach fare was H. inside; by railway it would be about I:2s.
The Committee were engaged up till four o'clock with similar
evidence with respect to Huntingdon.—Adjourned till to-morrow.

Group DD.

GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH RAILWAY (BRANCHES
TO ALLOA AND STIRLING).
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)

Mr. At.:STtN resumed. He contended that the principal ques-
tion for the Committee to consider would be one of comparison
between two lines to the north by the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Company, and the proposed line to the south. The opinion ex.
pressed by the Board of Trade on this matter was en.
titled to considerable respect. The principal point to be
dwelt on was, which Company shall have authority to make the
line to Stirling. He would willingly concede that it was necessary
to construct a line to Perth, and it was not very material who should
have power to make it. His present application rested entirely
upon the formation of the line to Stirling; and he would show to
the satisfaction of the Committee that the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Company had the most unqualified right to form it. The decision of
th a House of Commons, which had been subsequently confirmed
by the report of the Board of Trade, distinctly pointed out that
the extension of any independent line would be inexpedient if an
original line existed from which branches and ramifications might
be extended, as its construction would tend to divert the course of
traffic from the principal line. He instanced the Leeds and Man.
chester Railway and other lines, being similar cases, in substan-
tiation of the course generally pursued by Committees. The
traffic in the districts thwough which the Scottish Central Railway
would pass would be much more conveniently worked by the
branches from the Glasgow and Edinburgh line, and the point of
rest at Stirling, as proposed by that Company, was immea.
surably superior to any other that could be shown. Stirling
both with respect to its numerous population and the great extent
of its traffic was the best place for a central general terminus.
An extract front the population returns would show that the
number of inhabitants in the districts of the Forth and Clyde had
increased in the course of 40 years from 660,000
to 1,300,000, ,o that the population had exactly
doubled. The total population of Scotland according to
the present census was '2,000,000, and of this number more than
one.half was found in the districts he had alluded to. Industrial
activity prevailed to a greater extent in the neighbourhoods of the
Forth and Clyde than in any other part of Scotland. All these
considerations pointed out Stirling as the principal central point,
and the general point for all the railway communication
to the greater part of Scotland. The returns of the traffic of the
Scottish Central Railway tables showed a comparative average of
two passengers and two tons from Perth to Stirling to one pas.
senger and one ton from Stirling to the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Railway, and the portion of the traffic to be conveyed
by their branches was as two to one in their favour.
The calculations that had been made by the Scottish
Central Company in estimating the traffic had been greatly ex-
aggerated. The difference, from their own showing, between
Perth and Edinburgh was as 9,000 to 30,000. He submitted that
the Edinburgh and Glasgow Company, as an existing line, ought
to have the preference in electing to make the proposed
branches, when compared with the meagre pretensions of a new
and independent company. Stirling was the point which naturally
developed itself as the point of railway communication for the
country, and two boards of management on two competing
lines were incompatible with the interests of the
public. He would now allude to another important
feature for the Committee to consider, viz., the construction of
the branch to Alloa. The distance from Edinburgh to Stirling by this
branch would be 37 .7i miles. By the line proposed by the Scottish
Central the distance between these two places would be 36k. lie
admitted that his line was somewhat longer, but this trifling in-
convenience was more than compensated for by the superior ad-
vantages it held out fur the public convenience. The Learned
Counsel then dwelt at considerable length on the importance
of having the central station at Stirling, and the im.
policy of giving a new and independent company the
power of having uninterrupted control over all the present
appliances for developing the whole of the northern traffic. He
concluded his address by submitting to the Committee that an es-
tablished company who had expended so much capital for the ac-
commodation of the public ought to have the liberty of establish-
ing their proposed branches, and, by them, of controlling the
northern traffic.