ntry; and they are forced either to submit to great inconvenience, or
to contend against that inconvenience by incurring a very large expense,
both in this and the other house of parliament. If some measure of the
description to which I allude be not adopted, and if these railroads are
to become monopolies in the hands of present or of future proprietors,
we shall hereafter be only able to get the better of such monopolies by
forming fresh lines of road, to the farther detriment of the interests
of the landed proprietors, and at a great increase of expense and
inconvenience. These circumstances have most forcibly struck my mind. I
have had the subject under consideration for some days; I have conversed
with others respecting it; and it appears to me that some plan ought to
be devised in order to bring these railroads under the supervision of
parliament at some future period. I therefore am anxious that the
further proceedings in all these bills[18] should be suspended for a
short time, in order that I may propose some clause, or introduce some
measure, to meet the object to which I have referred. I think it is a
subject the consideration of which ought not to fall on any individual.
It is, I conceive, a matter which the government should take into its
especial consideration. I am, however, perfectly ready to share with the
government the responsibility of proposing such a measure to the house.

[Footnote 18: Some railway bills before the Home of Lords.]

_June_ 3,1836.

* * * * *

_Moderation of the Opposition in the House of Lords towards the
Melbourne Government_.

From my own experience, I must take the liberty of observing, that I
consider the conduct pursued by noble lords on this side of the house,
throughout the present session, to have been marked with the utmost
moderation. For myself, I think I am correct in stating, that since the
address to the throne in answer to the king's speech, with the exception
only of one occasion, when I requested the noble viscount to postpone
the Corporations (Ireland) Bill till after the Easter holidays, I never
entered the house till after Easter. Since that period, I have certainly
taken part in the proceedings that have been going forward in the house,
and I have felt it my duty to oppose some of the measures of government;
but I think I shall be borne out when I say that I have accompanied the
vote which I have given with observations expres