APPLICATION FOR LAND FOR THE RAILWAY. — Mr. Hoskins, Solicitor to the Petersfield Railway Company, applied to the magistrates for an order giving the company compulsory possession of certain lands belonging respectively to Mr. Henry Boys, the trustees of Magdalen College, Mr. Samuel Seward, and Captain Hugonin, and to appoint a valuer. Mr. Adams appeared for Captain Hugonin. The other parties were not represented, and the magistrates complained that no notice of the intended application had been sent to their clerk, Mr. Adams opposed the application, stating that no offer had been made by the company to treat for the land in question, and he contended that by giving them compulsory possession, the magistrates would place the landowners at a disadvantage in coming to terms as to the purchase, and he therefore trusted that if the Bench had a discretionary power they would exercise it in witholding such order till some arrangement should be come to between the parties. The Chairman, however, informed Mr. Adams that upon this point the Act left the magistrates no discretion, and accordingly the requisite forms of certificate of capital subscribed, service of notices, &c., having been put in, the order was made. Then came the question of the appointment of a valuer. Mr. Hoskins nominated on the part of the company, Mr. Dean, of London, as a gentleman of large experience, and well fitted for the appointment. Mr. Adams objected, on the ground that Mr. Dean was already employed by the company, and, therefore, might be fairly supposed to have a bias in their favour. Mr. Hoskins said this objection did not apply, inasmuch as it was no part of the valuer’s business to determine the price to be paid for the land, but merely to fix the sum which the Company should pay into court as a sort of pledge of their good faith in the matter. The value of the land, with the amount of compensation for severance, &c., would have to be determined afterwards by arbitration, or by jury, as the case might be, and the company should moreover enter into a bond to pay the landowners five per cent. interest on the ultimate award, whatever that might be, such interest to commence from the date of the bond. Mr. Adams said the amount named by the valuer would be sure to carry some weight in any subsequent estimate either by referees or a jury, and therefore he contended that it was not fair towards the landowners that such valuer should be the nominee of the company, inasmuch as he would be sure in the interest of his clients, to reduce the amount as low as possible. A long and desultory discussion ensued, in the course of which Mr. Hoskins said that in order to show how entirely unimportant he considered the question of value, he would be quite willing to nominate Mr. Adams as the valuer, although that gentleman came there to-day as the agent of one of the landowners concerned. The magistrates, however, considered this nomination open to the same objection as the other, viz., that Mr. Adams could not be considered as a disinterested party, and they ultimately appointed Mr. Edward Wyatt, of Chichester, as valuer.
