The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-08-12 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

new his motion for the repeal of the injurious duty on magi- I
time insurances.
Mr. D. W. HARVEY inquired whether any steps had been
taken to recover sums advanced out of the £1,000,000 voted to
1833 for the relief of the Irish clergy ; but, Lord JOHN Rcs-
SELL stating that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had a mo-
tion on the subject, he deferred further inquiry until such mea-
sure was brought forward.
Dr. BOWRING inquired whether England had been a party
(as was represented) to the French minister's (Montebello's)
request that the French, German, and Italian refugees should
quit Switzerland?
Lord PALMF.ItSTON answered that England was no party to
such a proceeding, and had given no instructions to her repre-
sentative there respecting it; but, though the independence of
Switzerland ought to be recognised, that country
.ought not to
encourage those who might be known to be conspiring against a
neighbouring government. He believed that the French go-
vernment had good grounds fur its suspicions against persons
who enjoyed refuge in Switzerland.
Capt. BOLDERO (on order being moved for considering the
lords' amendments to the municipal corporations act amend-
ment bill) brought forward his motion for a copy of the charge
(if any) and minutes of evidence of a court of inquiry held at
Sheerness, in February last, touching the conduct of Lieut.
Hill, R.N., late in the command of his majesty's steam-vessel
Alban, in the Mediterranean, superseded without inquiry. The
gallant member declined to divide the house, but left the matter
in the hands of government.
MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS AMENDMENT BILL.
On the order of the day being read for taking into consider-
ation the amendments made by the lords in the municipal cor-
porations amendment bill,
Lord J. RUSSELL said that this bill had been brought in and
prepared by his Majesty's Attorney-General, and was undoubt-
edly a bill of great importance. It had passed that house with
the concurrence of all parties, and was sent up to the House of
Lords, where several amendments had been made in it, and
with those amendments it came back again to that house. All
the amendments made by the lords had been agreed to by that
house except two, which were disagreed to, and in this shape it
was again sent up to the House of Lords. The first of the two
clauses of the lords' amendments to which he alluded had refer-
ence to the manner in which a chairman should be chosen; and
the second clause referred to the appointment of trustees of
charitable property. With respect to the first of these amend-
ments, although he looked upon it as very unadvisable that a
chairman should be chosen by a toss or the chance of a die, as
this clause proposed, in the event of the numbers being equally
divided, rather than leaving the election in the hands of the
constituency; yet bad this been the only objectionable clause
he might be disposed to ask the house to sanction it; but
the second clause, which went to leave the whole tot' the chari-
table funds of the country in the hands of the old trustees for
another year, he could under no circumstances agree to, and he
therefore hoped that both sides of the house would concur in re-
jecting it. All he wanted was that charitable funds should he
given to charity as they were intended to be, and not be dis-
posed of for political party purposes. (Cheers.) He should,
therefore, rather that the trustees should cease altogether
than that the old trustees should be continued 'to diStribute
the charitable funds, to their own politiCal friends. For
these reasons he should move that the house persist in disagree-
big to these two amendments of the lords.
Lord STORMONT said that, he was sure bi 4 side of the house
was just as anxious and willing to put an end to the abuses of
the old trustees as the noble lord, or to any misapplication of
charitable funds. He was quite aware that abUses did exist`;
but then it should be recollected that they existed on both sides.
(Cheers.) What was justice therefore to one side was justice
to the other. (Cheers).
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that these clauses had been
very unfairly introduced into the bill, and it would be better to
sacrifice the bill altogether than to continue the old trustees
even for another year.
Mr. BARCLAY, as we understood, was favourable to the
amendment, rather than have the bill lost.
Mr. HUME rejoiced that the noble lord had determined to re-
ject these clauses. The abuses of the old system were intoler-
able. The corporation of Coventry had given away of the cha-
ritable fund per head to a certain number of the freemen
who had supported their political views. The noble lord would
at length find that concession to the House of Lords was of no
use, for that the object of the lords was to trample upon that
house. The question must be settled out of that house. (Cheers.)
The electors of the country must settle it. (Cheers from both
sides of the house). If the people of England were foolish
enough to elect tories let them have a tory government.
(Cheers, and laughter.) Let them have any government ra-
ther than stop the business of the country as it was now stopped
by the House of Lords. When the members of that house went
back to their constituents they would be asked what measures
they had passed, or what they had done, and their answer must
be, that they had done nothing. (Laughter.) They had not
passed a single bill, because the tories would not le(them. If
the government wished to carry on reform they must have ano-
ther election. For his own part he would rather resign his seat
than not be able to carry any measure beneficial to the country.
Mr. L. CHARLTON said that the hon. member for Middlsex
should not have made such a charge as he had done against the
corporation of Coventry if he had not some proofs of its correct-
ness.

After a few words from Mr. Villiers, Mr. Morrison, and Col.
Sibthorp, the motion of Lord John 1.'7, was put from the
chair, and agreed to.
Loud J. lixssELL moved that the house resolve into commit-
tee on the benefices plurality bill.
The postponement of the bill for the present session was
strongly urged, and
Mr. Hobs eventually moved as an amendment, that it be de-
ferred till that day three months.
Lord J. RUSSELL resisted it, declaring that the government
was anxious to promote church reforms, and desirous that this
bill should proceed.
The house divided. The numbers were—For the motion, 66;
for the amendment, 28; majority, 38. The house then re-
solved into committee on the bill, in which amendments were
proposed, the discussion of which occupied considerable time.
'1 he slave treaties bill, and the slave compensation bill, seve-
rally went through committee.
Lord J. RUSSELL announced his intention to go on with the
marriages bill on Wednesday.
Of the civil offices declaration bill, the third reading was
postponed till this day.
The report on the Irish miscellaneous estimates was brought
up and agreed to; and, after some unimportant business had
been done, the house, at a quarter before two o'clock, ad-
journed.

his earnestness in the promotion of its success, knew that his
whole heart was in the cause—(hear, hear.) So it should con-
tinue to be—(hear, hear.) His time and his labour should be
devoted to the service of the company. He felt sure that this
great undertaking, the inure it was understood the more it would
receive the support of the public. For his own part he had the
strongest conviction of its success ' • and he felt, in the highly
respectable meeting of this day, there was a certain guarantee
for the speedy and successful accomplishment of a work which
would be cousidered as a splendid illustration of what could be
effected by British skill, industry, and capital—(the hon. gen-
tlemau sat down amidst loud cheers.)
The Secretary then read the renort, which was long and cir-
cumstantial in its details. It stated generally that an Act had
been obtained for the formation of a railway between London
and Cambridge. That the landed proprietors on the line had
long since expressed their favourable opinion of it at public
meetings; and particularly that at Cambridge the meeting had
been attended by the most distinguished members of the Uni-
versity, who had given to the resolutions passed at the meeting
their most decided support. The report then alluded to the
report of the Committee of the House of Commons in favour of
the line , extracts from which were read. The annual expenses
and receipts were stated, from which it appeared that a clear
profit of 16 per cent. would be left for the proprietors. (This
statement called forth much applause). The report remarked
on the fitness of the line in an engineering point of view, which
was stated in the report of the committee of the House of Com-
mons to he "unusually great." That this facility of execution
would cause the work to be finished in a proportionably short
time. That the line from London to Waltham Cross, through
Tottenham and Edmonton, would be finished, and yielding a
profitable return (which would be available for dividends) with-
in a-year from the expiration of the time which would necessarily
be occupied in obtaining possession of the land, and that the
whole line between London and Cambridge would be completed
within two years from the same period.
The report of Mr. Walker to the Directors was then read;
which entered into several particulars relating to the continua-
tion of the line from Cambridge to York. It stated that no op-
position would made to the line by any of the landed proprietors
or others, excepting those who complained that the proposed
line did not come near enough to them. (The reading of Mr.
Walker's report elicited much applause.)
'The conclusion of the report of the Directors was a statement
of the expenses incurred, and the state of the company's funds,
by which it appeared that out of the deposits of £3 per share on
12,000 shares, their remained a balance of upwards of £12,000
in favour of the company.
After the cheering, which the reading of the report had called
forth, had subsided,
Mr. Ward, M.P., rose to propose the first resolution. The
hon. gentleman began by disclaiming any praise,as due to him
for his conduct as chairman of the committee of the House of
Commons on the bill for the formation of this railway. The
investigation certainly was laborious, but he felt it to be his
duty to ascertain, by the most rigid scrutiny, which was the
line from London to Cambridge most advantageous fur the
public. He must not omit to state, however, and he had very
great,satisfaction in so doing, that the opinion of the committee
of the House of Commons in favour of this railway was unani-
mous.- The bon. gentleman, after some general remarks on
the:utility or railways, in preference to the present mode of
conveyance, entered into a minute detail of the various towns
through which Abe railway would pass between London and
Cambridge; and proceeded to show that not only would the
whole line prove profitable, but that each portion of the line,
and especially that part of it between London and Bishop-
Stortford, was sufficient, in its population and traffic, to support
its own portion of the railway. The hon. gentleman stated that
he had landed property in Hertfordshire, where his residence
was situate, and that he had a thorough knowledge of the parts
of the country which would be benefited by the present railway.
He particularly adverted to the great traffic between Cam-
bridge and Bishop-Stortford, and Bishop-Stortford to London,
in the article of malt; an item which, as was stated in the re-
port of the directors, was not included in their calculations of
profit. He could not imagine a line of railway to be more for-
tunate in respect to the general traffic which must flow into it
from so many collateral sources. He concluded by proposing
the first resolution. [For the resolutions, see advertisement.]
Mr. Downes, before he seconded the resolution, wished to ask
a question of .the chairman. His question was relative to an
item in the expenses in the report read by the secretary. It
was therein stated, that a sum of two thousand pounds and up-
wards had been advanced towards defraying the expenses of
the line beyond Cambridge. He would feel obliged by having
some information on that point.
The Chairman said the advance referred to by Mr. Downes
was towards defraying the expenses of some surveys beyond
Cambridge. This advance would be paid back out of the de-
posits to be received from that continuation, and placed to the
credit of the Cambridge line. He had the satisfaction to be
able to state that more than half of the capital required for the
line from Cambridge to York had already been offered to be
subscribed. When the whole line to York was completed, then
the shareholders from London to York would form one com-
pany, and all would share equally in the profits. -
Mr. Downes said, that the explanation of the chairman
was perfectly satisfactory to him, and he was glad that his
question, which he begged to assure the chairman was asked
only for the sake of information, had led to the explanation
which had been made. He would not occupy the time of the
meeting after the clear and forcible expositions which had been
made by the chairman, and by Mr. Ward. He would content
himself with expressing his own favourable opinion of the rail-
way, and with much pleasure he seconded the resolution.
Mr. Alston, M.P., of Hertfordshire, rose to propose the sec-
ond resolution. It would be sufficient for him to read the names
of those to whom it was proposed to pass a vote of thanks for
their able management of the affairs of the Company. These
gentlemen required no eulogy from him; their own names would
he their best recommendation. The obtainment of the Act of
Parliament was an earnest, he considered, of their futuresuccess.
Other projected companies, after a prodigous expenditure of
money, had failed in obtaining an Act. He •did not impute
blame to their conductors—far from it; but at any rate the Di-
rectors of the present company had a right to the merit of the
success which had been the result of their labours.—(The reso-
tion was passed with the most cordial expressions of approba-
tion.)
Mr. Christopher Pemberton, of Cambridge, felt great plea-
sure in seconding this resolution. It was incumbent on him to
say that, in all his intercourse with the Directors and with the
officers of the company, he had uniformly met with the most po-
lite attention, and with every desire to meet his proposals, con-
sistently with the interests of the company. His own opinion of
the railway was very favourable, and it would have more weight
with the meeting when he stated that he acted professionally
for residents and proprietors on the line for nine miles on the
line from Cambridge towards London. He had no doubt that
the railway wonld very greatly benefit the town of Cambridge,
and he trusted that it would prove of not less advantage to the
proprietors. He cordially seconded the resolution.

The third resolution relative to the appointment of the Di-
rectors. was moved by Mr. Handley, M.P., for Lincolnshire.
The hon. gentleman commenced by saying that it was with
particular gratification that be rose to move the resolution
placed in his hands, as from his connection with a part of the
country through which the railway would pass between Cam-
bridge and York, he meant Lincolnshire, which he represent-
,ed, he was especially interested in the success of this corn
party. So much so, that he had consented to take charge of the
bill in the next Session of Parliament for the extension of the
line to York. It would be his endeavour in that capacity to
emulate the unwearied vigilance and strict impartiality which
had characterised the proceedings of his honourable friend,
Mr. Ward, as chairman of the committee on the bill for a rail-
way from Lonion to Cambridge. It was a matter of very clear
calculation that the agricultural interest would benefit as much
by the establishment of railways as the manufacturing or any
other interest in the country. Let the agriculturists of Lin-
colnshire look at the map, and observe the various railways
which were in progress in other parts of the country, and they
could not fail to be struck with the conviction that, unless their
county kept pace in improvement with other districts, their in-
terests would be injured to a fearful extent. It was commonly
said that the farmers were half a century behind the rest of the
community in improvement. If they were to neglect the great
modern improvement of railways, they would be a whole cen-
tury behind. Instead of advancing, they would retrograde in
civilization. It was not a question now of railway or no rail-
way; the only anxiety now was the best line of railway. And
that this company would have the best line they might fully
depend; for their security was in the high character and profes-
sional eminence of his friend, Mr. Walker. He said this before
his face; but he had frequently repeated it behind his back.
He was only sorry that a large part of the line betvieen Cam-
bridge and York was of that easy description for working as not
to call for the exercise of the talent of his excellent friend. For
eighty miles of the distance, mostly through Lincolnshire, the
country was a dead fiat, and a Lincolnshire blacksmith and a
Lincolnshire ditcher would be almost all that was necessary to
make that part of the railway. (Laughter and cheers.) He
regretted this, of course, for the sake of his friend Mr. Walker,
but it would be all the better for the company. He had said
that the agricultural interest would not be less benefited by
railways than any other interest, and he would tell the meeting
a few facts that would show that he had reason for saying so.
A short time since a very strict and accurate experiment was
made of the loss suffered by a drove of sheep in driving them to
London. It was found that there was a loss of bibs. weight in
each sheep. When he stated also that the loss on a bullock
was from 255. to 30s. in driving it to London, the meeting would
see the importance of railway communication. He should add
that the time occupied in driving sheep from Lincolnshire to
London was eight days. Now here was a loss of time and pro-
duce to the agriculturist. Supposing the farmer could send his
stock by the railway at the same cost as driving them, still there
was the time saved. Instead of eight days, they would be able
to send their stock to London in as many hours; and do not
let it be forgotten that their stock would arrive in London in a
much better and more saleable condition, and that the meat,
instead of being. as it now la equently is from the driving, in a
state unfit for food, would be in prime and wholesome con-
dition. Why (said the honourable gentlemen) do you think
the agriculturists cannot understand this benefit? If the
Lincolnshire farmers were to be so perversely blind as to
prefer driving their stock to market at the present cost of
money and time, instead of smoothing them up to London by
the railway, where they would arrive before they were aware
that they had left the fat pastures of Lincolnshire, I can only
say that they would be very different persons from what I know
them to be. They would soon find that if they neglected the
advantage of railway communication while other districts en-
joyed it, their prosperity would melt away, to use a Lincoln-
shire phrase, like tallow in the sun. (Much laughter and
cheering.) So much for the carriage of stock; but the carri-
age of grain would be not less beneficial to the agriculturists,
and profitable to the company. He thought he was not in•
accurate in saying that the three counties of Cambridge, York,
and Lincoln, furnished the principal proportion of corn grown
in this country. Much of this, it was true, went to the manu-
facturing districts, but the larger portion of it was concentrated
at Cambridge, thence to be carried to London. The hon.
r e
(supported t
ihnyg the
thant north
‘evaosutledr eastern e partsh ofs mtohset
gentleman concluded by expressing his belief that the railway
nd
ns to promote the success of the undertaking
ian then sat down amidst general cheers.
Fletcher (of the house of Fletcher, Alexander,
s,c"ito:hrt:uten:
irht'ul.rooyEn•bu,
.edsag‘neveaxd nredatls warmlyteislou
and Co.) seconded the resolution. As a commercial man he
r sl fairlyew abc
sehtherou actuated,tr
to be
sbeebnyjt
joined
iuhnneedd favourablee
irntakaing work,
stei re oinswpehde
icett
h(s)
was glad to assist in the promotion of commercial enterprise:
d
not that he would pretend to say that he was not also actuated,
al:etleoimsthheinl:deuli(uigltbdh:eet profitable to the proprietors, could not fail to
bsein't'ilhlt the same time highly advantageous to the community, by
facilitating private intercourse and public and commercial
communications. He accordingly seconded the resolution.
Mr. Pryine, 11I.P. for Cambridge, rose to move the fourth
resolution. The hon. gentleman said that he had taken but
little interest in this undertaking at its outset, in deference to
his constituents, whose opinions were divided as to its merits.
But, now that its engineering merits had been fully proved, lie
had no hesitation in coming forward to give to it all the support
in his power. There was one point to which he wished to call
the attention of the meeting., and that Was the great improve-
' went which had latterly taken place generally in Lincolnshire,
and also the increase of its population. His experience, as one
of the Bedford level'cominissioners, Inc the last twelve or four-
teen years, had given him the opportunity of aeauiring .accu-
rate information on this paint. The agricultural district of
Lincolnshire was in fact more densely populated than other

agricultural districts, and there was a reason for it—nearly the
whole of that district might be called artificial land; and it re-
quired a comparatively larger number of persons to maintain
the embankments and improvements which were of vital im-
portance to them, and by means of which this district had been
converted front almost a barren waste to a highly-productive
country, supporting and giving employment to numerous inha-
bitants. lie had no doubt that the undertaking would be as
profitable to the proprietors as it would be beneficial, to the
Fens of Lincolnshire and the Isle of Ely. It should have his
must cordial support, and all the aid iu his power should be
contributed towards its success.

Unwin Sims, Esq., seconded the resolution. He spoke
highly of the personal character of the directors, which, he said,
•vcas a sure guarantee that the affairs of the company would be
ably and honourably conducted.
The thanks of the meeting were then voted to Mr. Walker,
the engineer; Messrs. Vizard and Leman, the solicitors; and
to Mr. Rowcroft and Mr. Hodges, the secretaries to the com-
pany.
Sir Wm. De Bathe then proposed, seconded by Mr. Francis
Kemble, thanks to the chairman.
Mr. Bagshaw returned thanks, when the meeting broke up,
highly satisfied with the proceedings of the day.
In the evening, the directors dined together, when a piece of
plate, with a suitable inscription, expressive of their esteem
and regard, was presented by them to their deputy-chairman,
Mr. Bagsha‘V, M.P.