The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-09 00:00:00

FOREIGN RAILWAYS.

M. Magne, the French Minister of Public Works, ek.
has jurt resumed his functions, after his tour through
various parts of Europe to examine the state of railway so
communications. M. Magne made en interesting excur- 20
sion. Accompanied by M. t.:hatelus, chief of the railway
division in the department of public works ;he visited Bel- 21
gium, Germany, Austria, and Italy, stopping at Berlin,
Vienna, Trieste, Rome, Genoa, and Turin. The foreign gr.
governments gave him everywhere a most cordial recep-
tion, afforded him every facility for his investigations, and II
the Ministers of Public tVeisks of Prussia, the Roman States, I.!
and Piedmont were polite enough to accompany hint them- "
selves in some of his investigations. What the hon. minis- is
ter has, above all, been able to convince himself et.
of, and what ho will no doubt detail to the 20
Assembly, is the persevering efforts of our neigh-
bour to place the ports of Ostend, Antwerp, Ham- ..15
•narst, sad Stettin, In communication with the
southern states of Germany, in order to unite all Italy with so'
the Austrian provinces, and to draw to Trieste and Genoa
the transit between England and India.. Whilst we are St.
discussing and delaying others turn time to account, and S.
obtain an advance on us. Foreign railways are at our very 2,
doors, and we still deliberate. What, for instance, did the 12:
hon. minister see in Germany 1 liAilw ;IN s crossing each pa
other iu every direction, from the North tea and the Baltic St.
to the Adriatic ; from amburg and Cologne to Trieste ;
from Konigsberg to the Lake of Constance, Switzerland,
and Italy. He can say that he saw seven and thirty sore- 2
reignties, independent of each other, acting in accord for Is
the construction of a complete railway system ; whilst we, so
with that centralisation of which we are so proud, have not SO
yet been able to agree on the execution of the most import- 01,1
tint line iu our territory. It is matter of notoriety that, for IA!
a great part of Germany and for the circles of Prussia and bt.
of Bantria,the shortest distance from the sea coast is the right ss
line drawn from Havre, through Rouen, Paris, Metr, and SC
Strasburg. It is the natural commercial course tor cen- 10
tral Europe. The Antwerp to Cologne line now disputes 01-.„
that transit with us. The recent opening of the line which ;
unites Hamburg and Stettin with the centre of Bavaria, ig
and soon with the Lake of Constance, has produced a coin- st,
petition which not less menaces our relations. Fortunately
the Strasburg line is one of the most advanced of our nuns-
bee, and the works are being urged on most energetically. ,
Three sections of that line were opened during the pa..t se
year; the line will bo open to Coosmerey in November; as
the branch line of Metz will soon reach Forbach, and touch tr
the Prussian frontier, and the port of Havre will be united
to our frontiers of Alsace and Loraine in the first months ..„gl.
of 1842, so that in that direction we shall arrive in time to ;
preserve a transit which belongs to us in virtue of our es,
geographical position. But the communication between 20
England and the Mediterranean and India are most ener- 18
getically disputed with us. We have often spoken of the LO
efforts made by the Austrian government to unite the part a
of Trieste to the German railways, and the gigantic labours lb
which it has undertaken to cross the Julian Alps at n
the passage of the Summering. M. Mamie and M. Chatclus 111
visited all these works, sometimes on toot, sometimes in a I.
carriage, and were present at several of the trials between 10
the locomotives, of which an account has been published. ".
If we are well informed, the hon. minister was above al' is`
things struck with the immensity of the works at the pas- se
sage of the Summering. Thirteen tunnels and twenty-five le
viaducts, amongst which is that of Kalteurinne, of two Se
stories, jk.l metres in height, and 222 metres in length, can r,
give an idea of those great works. The tunnels are termi- so
anted, and the works of art are advancing rapidly. Not so
less than 13,000 workmen and 2,000 horses ore employed in 22
the works, and the engineers are in hopes of finishing the lb
works at the beginning of 15d3. The Austrian govern-
ment is now having the definite surveys made fur the part ra'
of the line between Laybach and Trieste, and is neglecting so
nothing to promptly till up this unfinished portion. We ot.i
hope that when M. Magne explains all this in the tribune, 15
the Assembly will see the necessity of at last coming to some 25
decision relative to the Lyons and Avignon lines. How can 111-1
we consent to any new delays when Austria is making such
',practise cfrerts to terminate the rivet line of Trieste ? _ Al- so

ready the Assembly has departed from the system of rali•
journment by deciding that bills fur the resumptiea d hei
the works should ho placed on the order of the day. The
coming discussion must cud is some useful result, if Frame
is not to lose the transit from the East and India. no ""°
Minister also found Italy much occupied with the construe. gg
tiara of railways. Austria is busied about the execution of
the line from Venice to Milan. A bridge of 222 arches,
three kilometres (nearly two English milts) in length, cut 0
over the lagoons, jOhlfl Venice to the main land, and the tr 4
line is already open to Verona and Mautua. The govern-
ments of Modena, Parma, Tuscany, and the Roman States SO
have recentlytreated with Austria fora network of railways
to be connected with the line from Milan to Venice. In 26
fine, the means of execution of the long-projected line front
Rome to Ancona are under consideration.
lint no government is more occupied about railways than so
that of Sardinia. The line from Turin to Genoa is finished U
between Turin, Al:mantilla, Novi, and Arqueta, to the foot 121
of the Apennines. Works not less gigantic than those of the I'd,
Somnienng are at this moment in course of execution fur the ",
passage over the Apennines between Arqucta and Genoa. ry
It is supposed that they will be terminated in 1853, and the 20
port of Genoa, like Trieste, will then be able to dispute
with us the passage to India. M. Magne was received at a Se
private audience by the King of Sarliuia. Everything
leads to the belief that during this interview, which lasted re
nut less than an hour, the King spoke to M. Magne of the
projects of his Fovernment for the execution of the rail-
way to unite Turin to Lyons, across Savoy and Mount IO
Cenis. It is said that an English company has already
treated with the Sardinian government for the
concession of the line between Turin and Sum,
and that the negotiations opened for the concessii ,
of the hue from Modena to Chambery, and the French
frontier, are far advanced. Neither of the two sections of
the line uniting the Piedmontese line to the French rail-
ways presents any serious difficulties; but between Modena
and Sum Mount Cenis must be got through by means of a
tunnel 12 kilometres (7i English miles) in length. M.
Mousse, the engineer-ir -chief of the Turin to Genoa line,
has invented an emeriti's; machine, by means of which he
will be able, he thinks, to execute this gigantic tunnel in
five years. The hon. minister having returned to France
by Mount Cenis and Savoy, went over the direction sur-
veyed by the Piedmontese engineers, and was able to judge
for himself of the possibility of this magnificent under-
taking, destined to cross the highest chain of mountains in
Europe; and we hope that, when the Assembly shall have
decided definitively relative to the Lyons and Avignon
lines, it will seriously take into consideration a line to unite
France to Italy. It will then be possible to say that there
are no longer any Alps, and that with better reason than
; the great king said formerly, there were no Pyrenees.—
: Conatitutionnel.