The Press. — London, England, 1855-02-17 00:00:00

I ! I ~ i I is applied to companies for Indian improve ments—a principle which, though specious at first sight, is, iu reality, deeply injurious to the extension, of public works in India. The principle of guaranteeing a fixed in terest for the capital invested in such works Was thought in the outset by many persons necessary, and, indeed, perhaps it was so in the present want of security for property in- Vested beyond the range of the jurisdiction of the Queen's Courts in India. But the true course was to obtain a remedy for this want of seearity which a combination of the moneyed interests in this country might have speedily effected ; whereas by the present plan no 'thought is taken for the improvement of Courts of Justice in India. Shares are bought without reference to the eventual success of the schemes subscribed for, and solely on account of the guaranteed interest. The execution of the works is virtually left to Government, with all its interminable delays, its habitual mismanagement, its nepotism, its jobbery, and corruption. Railways which have been nearly seven years started have not yet advanced five times that number of miles towards their com pletion, and at the present rate of progress they will not reach their specified termini before the middle of the next century. But if railways do not progress, the fortunes of all connected with the India-house are by all accounts progressing rapidly. Valuable ap pointments connected with Indian railways are at the disposal of the Directors in numbers, and a judicious use of the early knowledge ob tained in the Directorial Cabinet as to what works are to be guaranteed and the interest that is to be guaranteed on them, enables, it is said, their friends to anticipate the public, and forms a fertile source of money-making in the Share Market and on the Stock Exchange. The proposal of Mr. Baia= and his brother manufacturers at Manchester is, tha t in respect of this project at least, relating to the naviga tion of the Godavery, no such course shall be pursued. What he wants is, not a new engine of jobbery and speculation, but the bona fide clearing away of the obstructions to the navi gation of a river which traverses or touches on some of the most valuable of the cotton fields of India from end to end. He proposes, therefore, to follow the plain and obvious plan for success in the undertaking : he proposes to call i t or no directorial guarantee and to per mit no directorial interference, but to conduct the works entirely by private capital and under private superintendence, asking no further support firm the Government than may be involved in those subsidiary powers accorded always by the Legislatnre to well-directed railway or canal schemes in the Unite 4 Kingdom. While we are fully alive to the boldness of this proceeding on the part of the Honourable Member for Manchester, and, perhaps mori clearly than he does, perceive the vastness o the active and passive opposition which he will meet with at the hands of the India house and on the part of their officials in India, we cannot but wish him the most entire success in his experiment—a success which he cer tainly will merit. Mr. BRIGHT is not of our way of thinking in respect to home politics. though there is perhaps less divergence be tween us in respect to Indian politics than there may seem; but, as we have over and over again said, India is not the field for par ties to waste their forces in contending on—it is, on the contrary, one on which all should join, hand to hand and shoulder to shoulder, to remedy its enormous admitted evils, and to open up its enormous admitted channels for improvement, civilisation, and wealth. It is not because Sir CHARLES WOOD is a Whig that we have invariably opposed him, but be cause by his ignorance and incompetence as an Indian Minister he is unconsciously doing his utmost to ruin our Indian empire. Nor is it because Sir JAMES How, is a Peelite that we have always scouted the idea of leaving the administration of the affairs of that great and noble empire in his hands, but because he has proved himself through out his career since his return from India n' be a man reckless of the public interests and regardful only of himself—one who cares THE PRESS. little whether India is made a desert, or* our noble army before Sebastopol consigned to destruction, so long as by his. vote he can propitiate a Premier and earn for himself some portion of that Ministerial sunshine in which his grovelling nature delights on any terms to bask. THE KENNEDY CASE. THE Ministerial crisis has led to the postpone ment of Sir JOHN SHELLEY'S motion respecting the dismissal of Mr. KENNEDY from the office of Woods and Forests. We stated some months ago that that gentleman, who was ignominiously ejected from his post by Mr. GLADSTONE in May last, was the victim of a conspiracy, the details of which, we trusted, would in due time be laid before the public. When this is done, as it must be, the public will learn with indignation that proved ability and zeal and lengthened services afford no protection to any man against official corrup• tion and intrigue. Politically we are opposed to Mr. KENNEDY, who, by profession as well as by family ties, is a Whig of the Russell school; but we believe that he did his duty honestly and fearlessly while he administered the busi ness of the Woods and Forests, and, what is more, we believe it wits on account of his ho nesty and his fearlessness that he was eventu ally got rid of. If we area right in these conclusions, it is essential to the ends of justice that the intrigues by means of which the removal of Mr. KENNEDY was effected should be exposed and punished as they de serve. The country have a right to know why $ public servant of uniwpeached character should have been summarily dismissed, and we confidently expect that, if Sir JOHN SHEL LEY succeeds in obtaining a committee of in quiry, disclosures will be made more disgrace ful to the late Coalition than any of the jobs with which the names of Stosott, OlFLanzatv, or Limey SEYMOUR are mixed up. We only trust that the Honourable Member for West . Punster will perform the task he has under taken with a due regard to its importance. Every attempt will be made by the late Go vernment to stifle or evade an inquiry which in its progress must compromise not one only, but several of its leading members, and the pros pect of which, we have reason to believe, wan a source of much discord in the lete Cabinet rto the last moment of its existence. Sir JOHN SHELLEY must, therefore, be on the alert against surprises of every kind if he is in earnest in this matter. He has to deal with expe rienced and unscrupulous opponents, who have everything to fear from an exposure of the truth. He may rest assured that every obstacle will be thrown in the way of inquiry, even if his motion for the appointment of a committee is carried.' But, as an independent member of the Legislature, we trust that he will do his duty honestly and firmly, without regard to persons or to consequences. Professing hi it self a Radical Reformer, he cannot render more essential service to the cause of true reform than by exposing to public reprobation the systematic jobbing which still prevails in the administration of the Royal forests. The nature of Mr. KENNEDY'S complaints against the late Government is told in a few words. Some four years since he was requested by Lord JOHN RUSSELL, at that time Premier, to assume the post of Commissioner of Woods and Forests, an office for which Mr. XENNUDY, from his extensive agricultural experience, was supposed to be especially qualified. The offer was accepted, and the new Commissioner lost no time in assuming the duties of his office. He very soon discovered, however, that he was not destined to repose on a bed of roses. From the very first he was subjected to a series of petty annoyances from his subordinates in office ; while from his supe riors, to whom he naturally looked for support and protection, he received not the smallest aid in carrying out those improvements in the management of the Royal forests which he deemed necessary. On the contrary, he was thwarted in every possible way by those whose duty it was to render him every assistance in SATURDAY, their power. His plans were systematically opposed ; his remonstrances no less sytemati cally disregarded. Suffice it to say, that from the moment he accepted office there was a determination, not of one, but of many parties, to get rid of Mr. KENNEDY. Yet, strange to say, in spite of the obstacles ho encountered, both from above and from below, he held his post for several years, with much annoyance to himself, but with great ad vantage to the public. Mr. KENNEDY asserts that the reforms introduced by him in the management of the Royal forests during the short period of his administration have effected a clear saving of nearly 40,0001. a year. For these services he has been re warded with dis missal and disgrace. A misunderstanding which arose between him and ono of his sub ordinates, and in the course of which he had expressed himself in language which, though probably true, was not strictly official, was at once seized upon by his enemies as a pretext for getting rid of him. Without being afforded an opportunity for explanation, without being confronted with his accusers, he was forthwith dismissed for an alleged breach of official etiquette. It was true that Mr. KENNEDY had done good service to the public ; but he had trespassed against the rules of red tape, and the vacancy created by his dismissal would make way for a Peelite, and so Mr. GLADSTONE ejected him without a hearing from a post where his labours, notwithstanding the obsta cles thrown in his way, had proved of eminent advantage to the country. But the CUUANCELLOB of the EXCHEQUER is mistaken if he supposes that conduct so grossly unjust can be passed over in silence. The details of this disgraceful affair must come out; and when that time arrives, the public will learn that a man who has served them with fidelity and success has been basely sacrificed simply because he performed his duty with uncompromising honesty. LORD DERBY AND MANZONI. APROPOS of the quotation from an Italian poet, in a recent speech by Lord Derby, a correspondent of " Notes and Queries" communicates the following anecdote : 1 cannot inform " Hermes " where Lord Derby delivered the speech in which he is said to have quoted the lines from Mazoni's " Ode to Napoleon," but 1 know that his admiration of that ode dates from many years back. At Rome, in the year 1821, when it was still in its first fame, and a common topic of conversation, Lord Derby ex pressed his high opinion of its merits in the company of English ladies, of whom one or two did not understand Italian, and were a good deal chagrined to bo thus excluded from the pleasure which its recitation appeared to convey to the rest. Lord Derby took up the book and said, "Oh 1 I will try to give you some general notion of the matter of the poem ; its fire and inspiration will all evaporate in translation ;" and with a wonderful rapidity he struck off an improvised paraphrase in English, which I well remem ber thinking at the time gave earnest of the talents which his maturer years have so splendidly developed. lam not sure that he translated the whole ode. I never possessed a copy, but some passages have remained in my recollec tion, and, though the incident has probably long passed from the memory of the distinguished author, I will vouch for the correctness of mine fot a stanza or two : O quanta yoke, al tacito Morir d' un giorno inerte, Chinati i rai fulntinei, Le breccia al sen conserte, Stette—e dei di the furono L' assalse il souvenir. E ripens() le mobili Tends, et percorst valll E t campi del manipoli— E °Edit dei cavalli— E it concitato imperio— E it celere obbedir. Ott, as in silence closed some listless day, His eyeball's lightning ray Bent on the tumbling flood, With folded arms he stood— Mid bitterly he number'd o'er The days that had been—and that were no more. He saw the quick struck tents again— The hot assault—the battle plain— The troops in martial pomp array'd— The pealing of the artillery— The torrent charge of cavalry— The hurried word In thunder heard — Heard—and obey'd. THE Slane announces that M. Meyer, of Olten, has been nominated Colonel of the Ist. Regiment of the French Foreign Legion. It adds that General Ochsenbeiu wi3i establish his head-quarters at Be sancon.