The Express.
London, England, 1849-12-19 00:00:00

delay, several good objects will be iterated; the
charge of haste will be effectually silenced
time will be afforded the deleetes for
the many.valable suggesting, wain it is known=
have received from shareholders; sad by, the
' of January they will have the aid in town of the
advice and co-operation of a larger number of their I
parliamentary friends—all excellent reasons for this
father adjournment.
Great sad violent as has been the vituperatioa
of the Public Tyrant against those gentlemen and
their propositions—strenuous as have been his
exertions to produce &anxious between all railway
and their direotore—and unsparing as
rer=lihis slanders of Mr. GLYN and his highly
hosoarsble associates—we shall be very much me-
ad mistaken if all his "brave talk" has not
Clee unheeded on their constituents. And as the
North-Western directoredidnot,itturnsont, inrequet-
ins the opinion of their shareholders in the proposal,
state in their circular that silence
wwould be
the ass accepted as
of
assent thereto, the proportionwhichassents
that company beer to the assents of the other compa-
nies who pursued the opposite course, will furnish us
with very cared means of judging of the opinion of
railway proprietors generally.
The question of government audit does not, how-
ever, tome legitimately before the delegates. That
question was decided by the almost unanimous opinion I
expressed by railway proprietors at the ordinary
general meetings of their companies, held since the
prorogation of parliament. It was because each
opinion was adverse to all government interference,
that the representatives of the various companies
met on the Bth ultimo; and their purposes in then as•
ambling was to improve the present audit system by '
devising means of giving shareholders "more ex-
tended powers of audits, to be vested in themselves."
The first question for their consideration is, whether
the means so devised are generally deemed to be suffi-
cient to secure efficient audit ; if so, the delegates
will then deliberate on the draft of the intended il
l;
but if not, they will, of course, proceed to amend ther
proposition&
'lo suppose that railway accounts cannot be effi-
ciently audited without the intervention of
an executive government. the accounts of which
are very imperfectly audited, involves the admis-
sion that the capacity of Englishmen for self-
government has seriously declined; and if so, the very
vitals of our constitutional system are disordered.
If, on the contrary, it can be established, that In this
matter of railroads, their affairs can be snatched from
the cossequences of roguery unparalleled, and can be
zwelseede if not to great prosperity, at least to order,
sommlaws, regularity, and confidence, by the unaided
mwelles of those pecuniarily interested therein, the
sum el self-government in this country will secure
t• itself such a triumph as cannot fail tct
have political cemsequences of very great im-
portance. The English people have made their
turnpike roads, have covered their internal waters
with steam conveyances, have executed their crumb,
have Swilled their docks; and are now in various parts
elm oasts excavating new ports, always without the
aid, very frequently in
and,
of the hostility of the ex-
ecutive government, and, in the latter instance, not-
withstanding the heavy claims of the obstructive
Woods and Forests. In pursuance of this system of
voluntary and spontaneous public works, the present
generation has covered the face of the island with a
net-work of railroads which has already advanced
civilisation by a century, which is sending comfort and
intelligence into the remotest provinces, and is bring-
ing back economy and health to all our great towns.
And now, when these herculean undertakiags are sp-
proachingoompletion itissuggested that they, who have
carried them so far through, are incapable of directing
and continuing them. And why? Because the share-
holders of several companies reposed their confidence
in a man who grossly deceived them; because when
they themselves were seized with a mania for a high
rate of interest, Parliament, against the wishes of the
directors of all the leading railways, encouraged that
mania; because the hopes, the wild visionary
hopes, founded on this parliamentary meow-
agement, has been dashed from their lips. I,
Why, if there be one man connected wits
railroads who can look back with satisfaction to his
conduct in those furious days, it is the very Mr. GEORGe
GLYN who is now maligned and aspersed because he
is resolutely bent on carrying out the wishe a ex-
pressed by railway shareholders against government,
sad la favour of independent audit; for in the midst
of their uproar and excitement, he over and over
impala warned his constituents, and, through them, I
shareholders generally, that dividends must fall ; that
the capital invested in railways could never per-
manently yield the return it was then paying; and
that for the reduction they and parliament were
responsible.
The great object of railway shareholders, in their
right senses, ought to be to augment the responsibility
of railway directors. But a government audit is the
surest mode of diminishing directorial responsibility ;
for the more the government interferes in railway
affairs, the less interest will directors take in their
administration. Give government the power of audit,
and the power of direction will soon follow. Now, with
such a prospect before him, what director will devote his
time, his intelligence, and his intellec•ual vigour to the
conduct of a company in the management of whose
affairs he sees a speedy and a thankless supercession ?
And how do railway proprietors think that the exe-
cutive government would manage railway affairs if
transferred to them? Let the management of the
Woods and Forests, where, with a grass income of
some 400,0001. a y ear, there is only a net profit of
some 60,0001., answer.
Far, however, be it from us to sty that the present
constitution of railway boards is satisfactory,or that the
proposed scheme of independent audit is complete. On
the contrary, we look with astonienment at the compo-
sition of the boards of many of our leading companies,
and wonder how the deuce some of the directors got
there ; whilst the defects and omissions of tho proposi-
tions we have more than once pointed out. But over
both these matters railway proprietors have controL
Why do they year after yearkeep re-electing the nonen-
tities or the disreputable* whom they do re elect? Why
do they not annually weed their B cards of all their
rankness or mere ornament? Why do they not exercise
the powers they have ? We can organise and combine
for election purposes, for parish purposes, for trade
purposes: why cannot railway proprietors combine
and organise for the better conduct of their own
affair.? The "Shareholders' Address Book" is
always open to them; a copy of the names and
addresses of their copartners can always be ob-
tained ; print and paper and postage are cheap
enough; railway shares are low enough to stimulate
their owners toexertion; theobjectto be attained 'lshii-
portant enough ; and,above all,auccess is certain enough.
There are no difficulties in the way of improving rail-
way boards but the indifference, the supineness, and
the " downheartedness" of railway proprietors them-
sties r.
We are not about to repeat the suggestions we
have Lrmerly made for the improvement of the audit
scheme; but there is a supposition respecting it, to
which we may profitably draw the notice of to-
morrow's meeting. The adoption of this scheme will,
i: is said, supersede the present law entirely. This
is not our impression. We regard the scheme as a
complement to the provisions of the Bth Vic., char'.
16, nor is it inconsistent with those provisions;
for in the second resolution, adopted on the Bth
ulimo, we find the " amendment" of the existing law
spoken of. Now, one of the existing provisions of
audit is that the account-book' of the company sea I
be open a firtnight before and a month alter its ordi-
nary half-yearly meetings; ane this is a privilege
which we are confidant Mr. OLT N and his associates
had not any intention of repealing. Instead of re-1
striating this privilege. its enlargement is most de-
sirable : for it certainly is anom dolls that whilst the
debenture holders of railway companies have
a right to examine all its b roks at all
times, its shareholders can only lo,k at
them during three months in the year as of right.
Though here again the law has given shareholders a
power they do not appear to be aware of ; for, though
their right to examine the book, is thus restricted,
they can inspect them at any other periods, " in virtue
of a wri•ten order of three directors" (8 Vic., chap. 16,
sec. 117), and in these times an application ler such
an order would not, we presume, be made in vain.

FRANCE.

vats, Tosevex, 6 30, r.x
M. Jules Fevre was sloqueut, witty., and sarcastic
in his speech delivered yesterday against the, tax on
drink,. But the question of expediency, which
ministers did not touch, had been dilated on by so
many, that all the efforts of M. Fare were powerless
against the wail of the treasury. The necessity for
100 millioas is above every argument in a position
such as that which Freer now occupies. So the
Chamber voted that the law should be taken into con-
sideration in detail after the close of the debate. In
this sense the majority was 445 against 220. Twue
already the minority has reached that number of 220,
I which it seems destined at resent to keep at. It re-
mains yet to be seen what will be the minority when
the law ea a whole is put front the char.
To-day saw the commencement of the debate on
the wnels' of the law on the excise; it is not sup-
posed that it will occupy a shorter time than the
general one. There are at least fifty amendments,
which no doubt will not all be put, but still if a third
at this are even discussed, it will be sufficient to
=the debate over a long time. Teo repre-
vas of the wine-growing districts did not all
:::::rlainst the government on the first division, but
abstained, amongst whom I may mention
MM. Berryer, lieehald, Betting de Lancestel, De
LAM, Surville, Bonhier de rEcluse, I)esmousseau
do Givre, F. de Luteyrie, Raudot, Larochejaquelto,
and St. Priest. The chief members of the wine-
growing districts who voted against the measure are
IMM. Desjoy, Soult, Honyn, Tranchere, Hubert de
Lille, Leo de Laborde, Combarel de Leyval, and
Bravard-Verrieres.
M. Dupin opened the sitting to-day by declaring
that there was a great number of amendments. The
notion of government was for the abrogation of
the third article of the law of May 19, 1849, which
declared the tax on drinks to be abolished from the
Ist of January, 1850, forward. It demanded further,
he said, the provisional maintenance of the tax, and
the constitution of a committee of inquiry for the es-
tablishment of a new system of taxation. M. Mathieu
de la Dr6me moved as an amendment that the tex
on
drinks be replaced by a duty on moveable property, of
which the first levy is to take place on the Ist of
April. M. Mathieu developed his amendment, which
was reje.ted after some noise. M. Chamomile pro-
posed, instead of the excise on drinks, a general tax
on the consumption of all natural or manufactured
produce. On this amendment the debate was pro-1
oeeding at post-hour.
The minister of the interior was to have presented
to-day in the Chamber his project of law on the re-
vocation of mayors by the prefeta. Tois project is
looked upon with much suspic;on by the Chamber,
and may not par. Already many members have de-
termined to vote against the portion of the law on
education which gives the prefeta the power to dis-
place the teachers in primary schools. On this
subject the Ordre says : A new bill, prepared by
the government, is, it is said, to confer on the prefets
of departments the right to elect mayors and deputy
mayors from among the municipal councils, and even
out of them when members of those bodies shall
have twice refused the appointment. It is generally
believed that the legitimists, who are always ardent
defenders of communal rights, will oppose this bill if
presented in such terms."
Rumours of dissention in the cabinet again prevail
to-day, General d'llsutpoul being much hurt, it
seems, at his circular to the gendarmerie being die-
avowed by the President of the Republic. It is ru-
moured also that effcrta are being made to enable M.
de Persigny to remain in Paris, and the post of am-
bassador at Berlin is to be transferred to General
Pelet. I cannot give you anything precise on that
point, but I know that on Friday the oldest Bona-
partist& had trembled together by consent, to make
M. de Persigny account for his conduct before them.
M. de Persigny appeared before this vehm•gericht
humble, and crying men culpa and when he was
accused by all the Bontpartists present with having
first compromised the President, by throwing him
into the arms of the Rue de Poitiers, he admitted his
fault. Perhaps he has been pardoned, and that there
is no longer any necessity for his departure. This
would confirm the statement that General Pelet goes
now to Berlin.
The Club of Representatives, who hold their meet-
ings at the Palais d'Orsay, came to a very important
resolution at their last sitting. 120 members of the
Right have laid the basis of an ssociation, the sole
object of which is to oppose the progress of socialism.
Every citizen, of whatever social condition he may
be, will be admitted to form part of this association,
which will extend half into each of the 86 depart.
ments. Pamphlets will be opposed by pamphlets,
banquets by banquets, propagandism by propa-
gandism. The association will assume the title of
" Ligue du Bien Public.
Tree minister of public instruction has just placed
at the disposal of the President of the Republic the
fine library of the old intendance of the civil list.
The books will be carried to the Elysde and classified
by M. Barrer, inspector of the national library •
BOURSE.

NOBLE EaAlma.— 'mamma.— Mira. Cramer
Roberts, of Thornton, daughter of Robert Swam, Esg ,
of Oilcans, has at this moinest, and has bad for a long
periods oPwordo of 100 Yogurt finnal.s in encatant employ-
ment at fancy crotchet work. This wo-k the ;road lady herself
distributes, maporisitends, and takes in when hh, With
a vast amount r.f trouble she diorite of it prinepaty, I be-
lieve, in England. Each girl earns on en average five
shillings per week.

THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19, 1849.

HUNGARY.—Our readers will recollect the indig-
nant protest lately addressed by an aide-de-eamp of
Lemath's against the calumnies of the Tinsel' Vienna
correspondent, who charged him with ca-rying chests
of treasures, and with heaven knows how many pe-
culation.. The aide-de-camp's letter, though indig-
nant, was a plain statement of facts, and an appeal
to a great many witnerees.
looted of answering such a protest, as the corres-
pondent of a London journal ought to do, the person
who fills that offi.e for the 77mes at Vienna, responds
as follows:
Al one of Koesutlt's aides de-eamp has lately adiroseod a
letter to the Times, oomnlainiog of the unjust attacks which
have been made on the ex-Dictstor, I estract for the benefitefi
of your readers the following" positive fact " from h
siiutionwie Blots cw Bohasss:—" Kossuth, who prac-
tised in the &aglitter County as a lawyer, was. as one of
the brier! of the already Moat Obaolluue fu the
cosaarvatise party in 1831. They took advantage ot the dr-
semstasee of Hasenth having gambled away alum of money
belonging to some orphans, which bad been deposited in his
hands. As this took place while the county meeting was
assembled, it reached the ears of some of the conservative
latirty, and they on the following day demanded in the
county court that the miming sum should be produce
suidt
Beiog in the majority, they also ordered that a p
rod
should be instituted against Kossuth, notwithstanding that,
with the help of his friends, he had been enabled to pay in
the m >oey before the court rose." The paper in question
adds, though whether ironically or seriously I know nthe
ot,
that Kossuth " probably sever intended to wrong
orphans."
This defence of one calumny by the reckless and
jocular patting forth another from a Bohemian print,
we leave to the appreciation of every reader.

NEW YORK, Dab 4.
Another recent arrival from Europe brings as the
intelligence of an advance in cotton, and this, of
course, has a favourable effect upon the interests of
the southern growers, and also upon exchange. The
reception of Mr. Rives, now positively assured, makes
us quiet as to the future in that quarter. We have
no doubt but that our present position with regard to
M. Pouesin will be maintained at all hazards, though
very poseibly the tobacco affair of Puebla and the
cue of the Eugenie, may be re-opened. The result,
however, will be the same. We stand upon intim-
putable right in both those difficulties, and if the new
French minister treat the subjects as a Minister of
State, and not as an interested attorney, he will arrive
at the came conclusions as we have. Oar plea of nil

debet will prevail.
As the meeting of Congress is now commenced, of
course we are about to have the usual quantity of ex-
citement. Havirg no other matter of moment with
which to torment ourselves, slavery will doubtless be
the remaining thorn in oar side. We are advised on
the " best authority," say the letter writers, that the
representalives of eight southern states are resolved,
in case anything like the Wilmot proviso is about
to be passed, to withdraw from Congress and break
up its organisation. Bat this is a mere bugbear. Sup-
pose 16 senators withdraw from the Senate, there will
still be left 44, and 31 is a majority of all who are
elected. The withdrawal would be of no possible
benefit to them. A similar result would follow a
similar attempt in the House of Representatives. The
movement could have no effect on legislation ; it
could not even embarrass it. The constitution pro-
vides a remedy even in the case of the withdrawal of
a majority, and authorises a minority to peas such
resolutions of pains and penalties as would bear hard

on the refractory.
We have advices from Havannah to the 22nd ult.,
twelve days later than before. The Queen's birth-
day was duly solemnised; the royal Gazette announc-
ing the events of the day, comes to as in orange
coloured paper, and filled with poetry. An amnesty
for small debtors and petty criminals was declared by
the Captain-General in honour of the occasion. We
have advices (not so late by eleven days) from St.
J-ga de Cuba: markets overstocked with provisions;
business dull; and prospects of eaffee crop favourable.
'the arrival of the brig Mary Ann at this port from
Sind, puts us in possession of intelligence from Yu-
catan up to the sth ult. All the north coast has been
visited by heavy gales, which drove to sea the ships
in the Sisal roads. Several brigs were lost, but no
English or Americans suffered. The condition of the
government is represented to be most deplorable.
There is not a dollar in the treasury, and the few
troops remaining in its service are almost naked, and
are forced to subsist on cats, dogs, and jackasses.
The Mexican government has given notice that it can
do nothing more for the Yucatan., and that they must
help themselves as well as they can. The mediation
of the English,at the expense of a considerable portion
of the territory, is still the subject of angry discussion.
The forces at Bacalar are hemmed in by the Indiana.
with every prospect of being captured. The young
men of the country, instead of taking up arms in its
defence, are joining the religious orders in large num-
bers. Its commerce is almost totally extinct. Every
necessary of life is high and scarce, and yet there is
no money to purchase supplies. Notwithstanding all
this, the festivals of the church are celebrated with
as mach real as ever. What an unhappy stectac!e
does Yucatan present to the world ! There does not
seem to be left to it the vestige of hope.
We have another arrival from Sisal, Honduras,with
dates to 18th November. By this channel we learn :
On the 28th September, Col. C. St. John Fancourt, Su-
perintendent and Commander-in. Chief of the Britsh colony
of Honduras, issued a proclamation, warning all her Ma.
jesty's subjects and others now living under the protection
of the English flag in that port, against furnishing eiiher of
the belligerent parties—lndians or Yucatecoes—now fighting
on the peninsula, with powder, arms, or other mum-
tions of war. Col. Fancourt intimates that all
who may. be detect,' violating the neutrality will
forfeit their right of protection from the British flag,
and be otherwise dealt with according to circumstances.
He also states that a magistrate has been appointed to reside
at the mouth of the Itin Hondo, to Tea icier British a mete
aseending that stream, who will riquire from their common-
den certificates from the Secretary of the Crlony of Bondi:-
ma, vouching that they carry neither arms nor ammunition
for the belligerents, under penalties as above mentioned.
The proclamation appears in the Bo.etin Oficial of Merida,
rioted the 6th instant. The exesutive of Yucatan has issued
orders that all Indians taken prisoners, unarmed, shall be
tressed with humanity, or as Meade, in order to induce the
populitimi to come in and profit by the general amaisty
offered. The Indians and Yucatecors are still waging war,
but the former seem to be vanquished in every conflict, ac-
cording to the testimony of the Boletin,
By the way of Baltimore we have advice. from
Jamaica to the 10th November. The Tay sailed on
the 7th for England, with Mr. Dillon on board, the
French Consul General at the Sandwich Islands.
Mr. Foote, our new minister to Bogota, was at
Kingston, on his way south. The season had so far
been highly favourable. The great cause of rejoicing,
however, was the fact that a line of New York
steamers was tereaftir regularly to touch at
Kirgs'on, both going to and coming from Cnagres.
Most of the island correspondence with England will
he-eatter pass through New York, and, very probably
New York will soon become the principal source from
whence Jamaica will draw her supplies. Large
quantities of coal have been sent from this city to the
island to supply our steamers when they touch there.
Months ago I suggestei, through the Daily
Nests, the propriety of your merchants send-
ing English coal to Jamaica. None has been scut
though the profit would have been enormous, and s.
our Yankee friends send down American coal; at a
dearer rate than they would have to submit to if
English coal had been provided. Verily, if your
Wider. do not display a little more enterprise, we
shall take the commerce of your own territories and
Winds out of your baud..
I sent you per last steamer an account of a small
affair in Mesquite' where a party of Americans hav-
ing been robbed and maltrea'.ed by the ncgroes,
mustered force enough to attack and destroy a town
by way of revenge. Let me esy, on the authority of
a highly respectable person who was in the
squabble, that the American side of the story
will be found worth listening to. The Bri•ish
agents are endeavouring to make a dreadful
case of it, but " audi anemia partent." A
very respectable Scotchman, long resident in that
part of the wo-ld, called on mo on Saturday, and I
learned from him, that since the Americans have ap-
peared on the San Jusu very great and favourable
changes have already taken place. Large quantities
of hou,es and lumher have been sent up the San Juan
in schconere, which have been able to get up within
40 miles of the lake.
From Canada we learn nothing very new or im-
portant. The story that Lord Elgin had offered to
restore to the cathelica proper the Jesuit estates, on
condition that annexation was to be put down by the
influence of the regular clergy, is stoutly denied on
one side and affirmed on the other. It is at present
quite impassible to say where the troth lite. Agita-
tion a ill continue*, and so far as I can learn, from a
careful perusal of private letters and public journals,
lam forced to the conclusion that the desire of an-