The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-04-28 00:00:00

the operation of Sir Robert Peel's measure, it
throws a very dangerous power into the hands of
influential .companies, and even of mere speculators,
of working -upon the fears of shareholders in rival
lines, for the purpose of Yuying up their scrip and
dividing the assets. Above all things, it. behoves
the promoters and proprietors of such undertakings,
as are worth preserving from the general wreck, to
be upon their guard, and even to take the initiative
to protect themselves from being taken unaware
and their interests sacrificed by anything partaking
of manoeuvre. This is even the more desirable,
from the fact that the main feature of the measure
now is the compulsion imposed upon the makaity
of scrip holders to petition afresh, as the condition
of their being permitted to move a step further with
their bills. To enable them to do this, they must
first find out where are' those_ scrip holders. That
class are just now rather shy of showing themselves.
Besides, there is a natural difficulty, at any time, in
discovering the 'loCality.of a document which may
change hands a dozen times in an hour. It will
require sedulous care to enable provisional com-
mittee-men to discover, in time for the discovery to
be available,, wheFe their forces' are, to stir thein
;from their lethargy, and: to marshall them for the
contest which may be before them.
We. are happy ,to observe that some of those
'companies in this district, .whieh have just claims
to the support of the public and the confidence of
their proprietaries, are showing their conviction of
the wisdom of acting in time. The scripholders, in
Liverpool, of the Manchester; Midland, and e rent
Grimsby Railway—a line which has held in this
market a first-rate position in public estimation, and
which we are convinced is 'a legitimate, an honestly
managed, and a most valuable line—held yesterday
a meeting amongst themselves, at the Clarendon
Rooms, which is reported elsewhere, and at which
the Chairman' of the line, Mr. Aldred, and the
Secretary, Mr.Earker; attended voluntarily to offer
the -scripholders any explanations that might be
called for, with respect to the position and the
prospects of the undertaking. The result, it will
be seen, was highly satisfactory; and we trust will
encourage the Provisional Committee to take at
once—to use a somewhat homely phrase—the bull
by the horns, and meeting boldly every petty hostile
attempt, levelled against .the interests of the line, to
proceed to the proper steps to carry it out, and
snatch it from amongst the abortive schemes wbich
will die and make no sign.
We are the more pleased at the course thus
adopted, and successfully adopted, inasmuch as we
regard the Manchester, Midland, and Great Grims-
by, as a line especially serving the interests of this
community. It seems located at a distance from
us ; but it is nevertheless one bearing directly and
intimately upon the, commerce of our port. It af-
fords the most direct line between the eastern and
the western coasts of Great Britain. It affords us
by the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junc-
tion Railway, on one side of the River Mersey, and
the Grand Junction, with its improved communica-
tions eastwards, with the other, the most direct mode
of carrying the enterprise of our merchants into
the districts of North Lincolnshire and the West
Riding. We have a route, for the lean cattle of
Ireland into these fertile parts to be fatted; and for
the cattle of the Rotherham market for consump;
don here. In a word, it is an important adjunct to
the almost perfect scheme. of railway communica-
tions, to which we. have attempted to do justice in
our description and map of this day.
An important circumstance connected with this
undertaking was divulged at the meeting yester-
day. The directors anticipated being able to pass
the Lords without the neeesity of a further call
upon the shareholders, to comply with their stipu-
lation of a ten per cent, deposit; and no doubt most
legitimate undertakings will be able to do the same,
as we have already stated is the case with respect to
the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junc-
tion. This Ought' to relieve the shareholders from
any fear of an undue pressure for calls.
A similar energetic movement in advance we find
is making by the Birkenhead, Lancashire, and
Cheshire Junction Railway, as will be seen by the
notices in our advertising columns. We need not
add to what we have already said as to the im-
portance of this line. It is one which Liverpool
ought not for a moment to lose sight of, or, for
the promotion of whose success, it ought to preter-
mit the exercise of the best exertions of all classes
of its inhabitants: - - • - - ---
Another line—the Liverpool, Manchester, and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Junction Railway—we are
glad to:learn, is taking the proper steps•to protect
its proprietors and the public against the possible
effect of measures for depriving them of the ad-
vantages which it offers to this port. Upon the im-
portance of this line to the trade of Liverpool, as
affording it a direct, route to Newcastle-upon-Tyne
and the north we commented briefly in our last,
and quoted the opinion' of the .Chairman of the
Dock Committee—Mr. J. Bramley-Moore. The
line in question is at present fixed to go into com-
mittee upon its merits early in May. It has the
sup; ort of all the influential companies with which
it comes in contact; and, when carried into execu-
tion, will be one of our most useful railway com-
munications.

Upon the whole, we are satisfied with the present
temper, as regards railways, of this district. likre
had gone rather too fast ; but we are beginning to
gather our scattered senses, and give ourselves time
to think, before throwing from us valuable adjuncts
to our commercial facilities.

The funniest that we have observed in all our ex-
perience Of political affairs—and our experience of
late has been a very funny one—is that which
threatens to result from the effort to secure for
Lord Lincoln, the Secretary for Ireland, a seat in
Parliament. His lordship, ousted from his native
county, has taken refuge in a Scotch borough, from
which a Mr. Baird, of Gartsherrie, has retired, to
make way for him, as some wicked people say, but
for business convenience, as he says himself. We
don't pretend to decide which is the correct state of
the case. First impressions, however, and a pe-
rusal of the first edition of the Scotch Gazette af-
forded us an excuse for believing that all was right
and straightforward ; and that nothing like an ar-
rangement of an improper nature had been made
on either side. All was harmoniously arranged.
The Conservative member was to retire, and a
Whig aspirant, Mr. Wilson, was to "bide his time."
A third edition of the same journal, however,
changes the aspect of affairs. The Conservative
secretary appears to have asked too much of the
Scotch free traders. He asks them to return him as
their chosen candidate ; and obtrudes upon their
acceptance a condition which they do not seem to
stomach. Lord Lincoln says in his address

" I venture to ask you to return me to parliament as
your representative, and thus strengthen the hands of a
government which has considered no honourable sacri-
fice too great to accomplish an object in which the wel-
fare of the people is concerned, and for the attainment of
which it has not hesitated once to abandon power, and
now to make the greater sacrifice of party attachments
and long-cherished friendships."

In addition to this rather bold venture upon their
credulity, he seems to have repudiated his first
pledge to retire at the next election, in favour of the
amiable free-trader, Mr. Wilson. The result has
been, that Mr. Wilson's friends have repudiated
their part of the bargain ; and that Mr. Wilson is
to be pitted against his lordship, with every pros-
pect of making a Westminster affair of it, and
strengthening our Conservative Government by the
return of a Radical, who will certainly carry
free-trade measures with quite as much efficiency,
and infinitely more propriety and consistency, than
Lord Lincoln could have done. What a lamenta-
ble amount of opprobrium, we are earning, in the
carrying out of our Conservative attempts to out-
rage and 'destroy the character of Conservative rule !

On Sunday last, after sermons by the. Rev. Hugh
M'Neile and the Rev. J. Jones, the sum of £B3 was col-
lected. in St. Bride's church, in aid of the schools attached
to the church.

THE CASHEL CATASTROPHE.TWO of the sufferers by
the fall of the Cashel Town-hall have died from the effects
of their irjuries. Two more are considered to be in a
hopeless state.
WARRINGTON.—The opposition of the trustees of the
late Duke of Bridgewater, and the Mersey and Irwell
Navigation Company against the Warrington Water
Works Bill, now before the House of Commons, has
been withdrawn. The petitions were presented on the
22d inst., and leave to withdraw them was given on Friday.
LIVERPOOL, ORMSICIRK, AND PRESTON RAILWAY.-:
We understand upon good authority that so far from there
being any truth in the paragraph which has appeared in
the Railway Standard respecting this company, the
directors and proprietors are unanimously resolved to
promote the progress of their bill with the utmost energy.
As a proof that nothing has occurred to shake their project
in public estimation, the directors of the East Lancashire
Company have determined to issue notices, that upon the
act of the Ormakirk Company being obtained they will
take the scrip at par from any shareholders desirous of
disposing of their interest in the line, and relieve them
kora all liability.