ABSTRACT

TH E session of 1845 w a s t 0 be pre-eminently a railway session,

for at its opening there were no less than 224 Railway Bills awaiting consideration. Of these a few were voluntarily withdrawn by the parties promoting them in submission to the reports of the Board of Trade, but the work of clearing the ground which the Five Kings thus performed wras small compared with that done by the numerous sub-committees appointed by the Commons to make a preliminary examination of the Bills to see if the Standing Orders of the House had been complied with. For as many of the projects had been conceived in the fever heat of the mania epidemic, and their plans, sections, and subscription contracts prepared in hot haste and by incompetent hands, the Standing Orders ordeal proved fatal to no less than thirtynine of them, despite the fact that in numerous cases an agreement was come to amongst competing promoters not to oppose one another at this stage.