The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-09-26 00:00:00

RAILWAY INT6LLIGENCE

RAILWAY 111 NAGENI E \ T—EDINBURGH AND
GLAsGoW RAILWAY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE RAILWAY TIMES

Sir,—Each half year, as it passes away, makes it more
and more clear that the present system cf railway manage-
ment will, in the end, leave the poor shareholders in most
Railway Companies (as is the case in Turnpike Trusts)
but a merely nominal interest. Less and less will the
dividends become, t ll at last railway officials will eat up
everything—become, in fact, the only parties beneficially
interested in the lines.

It may be said that the Directors of Railway Companies
have themselves a large stake in the concerns, and will
therefore do their best to prevent this. But surely though
this was once the case, it is not so now, most of them
having so extensively sold their shares that the good of
the several undertakings is quite a minor consideration,
when extensive patronage, and place for needy sons,
nephews, friends, and relatives, are in view. In proof of
this we see the Directors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow
line holding the very least possible interest in the concern
—scarcely, I believe, £15,000 worth of shares amongst
them, though the capital of the Company is £1.500,000 or
more ! And this very company the other day, at their
half-yearly meeting, were compelled to reduce their divi-
dend to 2} per cent. for the half year, owing to 4 consid-
erably-increased expenditure ; and this increa,,e in despite
of an enormous fall in the price of every kind of material
used on the line, and in supplying which this expenditure
arises—say in the price of coal, coke, iron-work, wood,
oil, tallow. grease, labourer s' wages, horse work, &c. &c.
I will venture to assert that seeing the very great fall in
the price of the materials used in the needful repairs of
railway lines, as abovesaid, a well-organised Committee of
shareholders, sitting on the expenditure of this very
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, would at least save
half. yearly the sum of £5,000; not a little of which, in a
reduction of the salaries of the officials themselves, and
their underlings, especially as the necessaries, and even
luxuries, of life are now so much lower stian they used to
be—whilst this saving of £5,000 half-yearly, or £lO,OOO
per annum, would add more than 1 per cent. to the divi-
dend, and of course cause the shares in this railway to rise
£2O each, if not more, above their present value.
You will remember that, owing to your own great la-
bours chiefly, railway shareholders did about a year ago
manage to get themselves into a passion, and were then
evidently bent on bringing about the needful economy in
railway management. Immense exertions were made on
all sides, and the Directors appeared as if about to have
the worst of it ; but unfortunately you yourself, apparently,
became alarmed at the fury of the storm you had raised
up and the direction it was taking, and in consequence
threw cold water on all further exertions, and so effectu-
ally lulled the storm that nothing was done afterwards
save some extensive savings in the expenditure of the
North Midland line.

Will you allow me to suggest that your utmost exertions
are again imperatively required, or the railway system
must go to nothing. The traffic cannot be pushed further;
nor will there ever be any effective economy, the only re-
source of the poor shareholder. until the Directors are
compelled to adopt it " BY FORCE OF ARMS."

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant.
A SHAREHOLDER SINCE 1833.

THE CORNISH RAILWAY.—The subscriptions towards
this all-important line of communication with every part
of Great Britain amount to £44,500, of which £24,150
has been entered on account of Falmouth.

In the Dublin and Kingston Railway, passengers are
carried in one of the trains at the rate of half a farthing
per mile. Before they reduced their fares, shares were at
18 per cent. discount : now they hear 7 per cent. premium,
and the passengers increased 400,009.

A new line is now in contemclation from the terminus
of the Taff Vale Railway to pass through Wales, cross
the Severn, and unite, on its extension to Worcester, with
the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. The estimated
cost is £l.soo,ooo.—.Railway Times.
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.—On Thursday week an inquest
was held at Sapperton, Gloucestershire, on the bodies of
George Freeman, aged 26, and Henry Stokes, aged 33,
who were killed the previous day, in the open cutting of
the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway, on
Frampton Common.
' The Chester Courant says, in reference to the contem-
plated Chester and Holyhead Railway, "Thereis now,we
believe, no doubt that this important undertaking will be
carried into effect. The necessary notices, preparatory
to the application for an act of parliament during the next
session, are in the course of delivery along the intended
line.

The Carlisle Patriot says, that renewed efforts are
about to he made to secure the formation of a line of rail-
road, between Lancaster and Glasgow, yid Carlisle. The
associated railway companies, who came forward with so
much liberality when the project was moored last year,
are still prepared to promote the work by the liberal sub-
scription of hall a million of money.
LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY.—We are pleased
to observe that the traffic on this line is increasing. In
the week ending the 10th instant, 20,311 persons were
carried. (being an increase of aearly 1000 on the preceding
week, which exceeded its predecessor by 1300,) and the
earnings, including the charges for goods, were £5,558
lls. 7d. ; being an increase of upwards of £4OO upon the
week eliding the 3d instant, and an excess, as compared
with the corresponding week last year, of not less than
I,33o.—Brighlon Guardian.
The Journal des Chemins defer says :—" An inventor
announces that he has found a composition which will
reduce to a mere trifle the price of rails for railroads.
He replaces the iron by a combination of Kaolin clay
(that used for making pottery and china) with a certain
metallic substance, which gives a body so hard as to wear
out iron, without being injured by it in turn. 100 kilo-
grammes of this substance, would cost less than 15 francs,
and would furnish 21 metres of rail. The Kaolin clay is
abundant in France, and the valley of the Somme con-
tains immense quantities of it."
THE GREAT RAILWAY STATION, MANCHESTER.—
This splendid and extraordinary work, which will unite
the Liverpool and Manchester and Manchester and Leeds
lines at Hunt's Bank, is progressing most satisfactorily ;
the junction of the latter is fast approaching completion,',
more than one half of the rails being already laid ; this
junction line is an inclined plane, along which the carria-
ges will be drawn by a double stationary engine of 240-
horse power, working an endless wire rope. The station,
including the sliding lines, turn-tables, arrival and depar-
ture platform, &c., will be the most extensive in the
kingdom, surpassing the justly celebrated one at Derby ;
it will include a space of 852 feet in length, by an average
breadth of 130 feet, having five main lines of rails ; 700
feet of this length will be covered with an iron roof in
three compartments, of 59 feet 6 inches, 28 feet, and
26 feet 3 inches span respectively, supported by elegant
iron columns. The station-house containing the waiting
and refreshment rooms, booking-offices, &c., all erected
in the most convenient and extensive manner. is a hand-
some building in the Roman Doric style, 266 feet long
and 36 wide, raised one story from the ground, and sur-
mounted by a parapet ; the refreshment saloon is Ughted
by elegant circular headed windows with stone pilasters
and dressings, and surmounted by an elegant cornice, in
the centre of which is to be placed a Candsome clock.
The entrance to the booking offices are under a covered
way supported by brackets, 9 feet 6 inches long, which,
though perhaps not equal in architectural beauty to pil-
lars surpass them in convenience, as it leaves a clear space
for vehicles and foot passengers, and will be unexampled
for general convenience.

MIDLAND COUNTIES RAILWAY.—On Wednesday last
the special general meeting of the proprietors of this com-
pany, for the purpose of determining on the amalgama-
tion of the North Midland, the Midland Counties, and
Birmingham and Derby railway companies, being the con-
chiding meeting, was held at the railway station, Derby,
and vas attended by nearly 200 persons.—Mr. T. E.
Dicey, the chairman of the board of directors, took the
chair at one o'clock, and laid before the meeting the plan
agreed to at the special general meetings of the North
Midland and Birmingham and Derby Railways, on Mon-
day and Wednesday last, contending that it would be in-
expedient to adopt the proposition, and that the contest
which had so long existed between the Birmingham and
Derby and Midland Counties companies ought to be
amicably settled before any such negotiations were enter-
tained.—Mr. John Ellis, a director, advocated the pro-
position for an amalgamation, and proposed a substantive
resolution to that effect, in which he was seconded and
supported by Mr. Lawrence Heyworth, of Liverpool,
Mr. Waddingham, Mr. Richardson, and other large pro-
prietors from the north.—Sir Robert Morley and Mr.
Alderman Hudson also urged on the proprietors the adop-
tion of the proposed agreement. The discussion was pro-
longed until past four o'clock, when a division took place,
and afterwards at the demand of the chairman, a scrutiny
was had. In the first instance the proposition was adopted
by a majority of 115 to 11, and in the scrutiny, by a ma-
jority of 1,752 votes (including proxies) to 498. Mr.
Lawrence Heyworth protested strongly against the chair-
man's proceedings in demanding a poll, and declared his
conviction that it arJse from a factious opposition, and
that he had disgraced himself in the opinion of the meet-
ing. A motion requesting him to leave the chair was pro-
posed, and was productive of great noise and clamour.
The result of the scrutiny was formally declared to be
largely in favour of the proposed amalgamation, which it
was understood would be carried into effect without delay,
and that the three companies would be henceforth incor
porated and known under the name of the " Great Mid-
land Railway."

THE INDIA MAIL.—A meeting of merchants and
others was held in London, on Tuesday, for the purpose
of taking into consideration the expediency of accelerating
the communication with India. Air. J. A. Smith, the
chairman, explained tothor present, that all that was ex-
pected was an expression In general terms in favour of
improved communication, without reference to any com-
pany whatever. Consistently with this view, the resolu-
tions which he read to the meeting were prepared so as to
show what the public desired, and to leave entirely to the
Government the manner and the means to be be adopted
in carrying their wishes out. They were to the effect that
,the present arrangement was defective in two particular.,
as the mails from Bombay seldom reached England in
time for the merchants to answer their letters, and that a
similar inconvenience attended the arrival of the outward
mails at Calcutta ; that any plan that could be adopted to
remove these defects by accelerating the communication
between the two countries would be of the greatest nation-
al benefit ; that memorials on the subject should be ad-
dressed to the East India Company, and copies sent to
the Government ; and that to manage and watch over the
matter a committee should be appointed. The resolutions
were passed almost unanimously, and the committee was
I named, with the understanding that it should calla public
meeting on the Ist of December.

rum LIVERPOOL .TANDARD

Oxen and
Month ending Bulls.
sth Frbruary.... 125

sth March

sth April

sth Niay.

sth Juni-e

sth July ..

THE CORN TRADE

Hutt,.—We understand that the duty of 14s. per quar-
ter has been paid on about 60,000 quarters of wheat at
this port.—Hull Packet.
The duty on the importation of Foreign Wheat last week
advanced to 17s. per quarter, at which rate it is expected
the more recent arrivals will be taken one of bond for
home consumption.
NEWCASTLE.—Friday the large sum of £40,000 was
paid at the Cunstom-house in Newcastle, for duty on corn,
and on the two preceedine days £13,000 was paid. making
£53,000 ; one house alone paid £13,000. The duty was
14s. per puarter.
LEITH.—On Thursday the holders took the alarm, and
commenced clearing from bond; and before three o'clock
on that day £36,000 of duties were paid. Friday they
were equally busy at the Custom-house paying duties, a.n:l
there seems no falling off in the importations, 10,000
quarters being entered in two days.—Edinburgh Evening
Post.

GLASGOR.—Subsequent to Friday last, the duty on
foreign wheat advanced from 14s. to 15s. per quarter; but
previous to that day a very large quantity—in fact, the
•otal amount remaining—was liberated at this port at the
low duty. The amount upon which duty was paid at our
custom-house was 19,331 quarters of wheat, and 2,327
quarters of barley. A similar course on the part of the
holders of foreign grain would be followed all over the
country, and as the imports yet to come are likely to be
thrown on the market, so long as the duty does notexceed
175., it is computed by some journals that the total amount
liberated will ere long amount to 700,000 or 800,000 quar-
ters, and reinforce the Exchequer to the extent of more
than half a million sterling. This estimate may be ex-
aggerated, but certain it is that many of the speculators
o.i a bad harvest have burnt their fingers severely.—Glas-
gow Mail.

INCREASE Or WHEAT.—In July, 1842, Mr. A. Palmer,
of Cheaut, Surrey. but one grain of wheat in a common
garden-pot. In August the same was divided into four
plants, which in three weeks were again divided into
twelve plants. In September these twelve plants were
divided into thirty-two, which in November were divided
into fifty plants, and then placed in open ground. In
July. 1843, 12 of the plants failed, but the remaining
thirty-eight were healthy. On the 19th of August they
were cut down, and counted 1,972 stems, with an average
of 50 grams to a stem, giving an increase of 98,600!
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.—" We cannot deny,"
says the National, " whatever be the causes which para-
lyse the progress of our agriculture, that our produce is
much inferior to that of the English. The following is a
comparison of the agricultural produce raised by 1,000
families in France and in England:—
In England. In France. Difference.
Horses.... 273
Oxen .... 1,230 203 Six times less.
Sheep .... 11,000
Corn 56,000 hectolitt es 40,000 hectolitres.
In France it is calculated, that on every thousand square
yards of ground there are 33 cultivators—in England only
28. Our agricultural produce ought, therefore, to be at
least equal to that of England, and our inferiority conse-
quently proves the want of skill amongst the agricultu-
rists."

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE FARMERS

(From the Quarterly Review.)

The corn-law and tariff of last year were organic mea-
sures, whose operations can only be tested by experience ;
and we do not supuose that any man, except an Anti-
corn-law Leaguer, would have wished to have seen a new
experiment on those great interests. As far as our mate-
rials for judgment extend, we find that the advantages
anticipated from those measures are fully confirmed;
bread and all other kinds of provisions have been lowered,
and remain at moderate prices—exactly at the present
moment those of 1835—and that without any decrease,
but, on the contrary, with in some instances an increase
of protection to the farmer. For instance, it will he seen
by reference to the tables in our 70th vol. p. 522, that the
importation of foreign wheat in the year 1839 was
2,702,848 quarters—and that the protection to the farmer
in the shape of the net duties on that importation was
£670,034, or about 4s. 11d. the quarter—whereas in the
last year, ending the sth July, 1813, under the new corn-
bill, we find that the importation has been nearly the
same, 2,695,281 quarters; while the protection in the
shape of duty has been no less than £1,200,000, varying
from Bs. to 20s. per quarter—and affording, on the ave-
rage, double the former protection ; and in the year 1841,
the year immediately before the operation of the new law,
on an importation of 2,393,061 quarters, the protection
in the shape of duty had been only 3s. sd. per quarter.
It is true that the home prices have been lower in the
present year, but that is the inevitable and—whatever
partial inconvenience it may operate—the happy result of
a good harvest; and it is clear that they would have been
still lower but for the additional protection afforded, when
most needed, by the new corn-hill. The prices too are
positively higher, and relatively much higher, than in
1833-4-5 and 6 ; and let us add—no inconsiderable fea-
ture in this satisfactory retrospect—that upwards of
£1,200,000 have been paid into a very needy exchequer.
Let us now turn to the tariff. Can we recollect with-
out a smile what a bugbear the admission of live cattle
was this time last year ?—can we recollect without pity
the panic of so many farmers who sacrificed their stock
under the terror of foreign inva-ion ? It is really worth
while to preserve a record of the real effect of this for►ni-
dable aggression on the agricultural interests.
An account of Live Stock imported in each of the first
six months of the year 1843 :

Duty paid
Cows. Sheep. Swine. thereon.
6 15 49 £ll7

7 3 19 9
131 39 8 26 172
158 4 4 16 171
8 37 47 31 44
.. 61 19 8 52

Total..
In addition to this account of live stock, let us see what
salted provisions were imported in the same period.
An account of Foreign Salted Provisions imported in
each of the first six months of 1813 :

Dutypaid
Month ending Beef, cwt. Pork, cwt. Hams, cwt. thereon.
sth February..
sth March lO2 219 96 251
sth April .
5,h May..
sth June ........ 32 43 519 425
sth July. 24 680 571 745

2191 £2698

And we subjoin a comparative account of the whole
importation of salted provisions in the year 1841, before
the tariff, and in the year 1842:

Imported Beef, cwt. Pork, cwt. Hams, cwt. Total, cwt.
In 1841 .... 42,960 45,319 5,078 93,357
In 1812 29,990 54,163 7,8-12 91,925
Now is it possible, in the face of these accounts, to
pretend that the tariff has done any serious injury, or in-
deed any at all, to the English or Irish agriculturist?
We therefore entreat our agricultural friends to consi-
der this remarkable evidence as to the real effect of the
most important and most litigated measures of last year,
and to do the ministers—and us for our humble share in
the defence of the ministers—the justice to recollect that
these are exactly the results which they announced, and
which we anticipated; namely, that the tariff might tend
to regulate markets, and to lower prices to the poor con-
sumer, without doing any essential injure to the borne
producer. We ask them, furtl er, to apply this experi-
ence to the bugbears of the present year—Canadian flour
and Nova Scotian wheat -which we ate satisfied are
about as formidable as the beef of Spain and the mutton
of Belgium.