The Express.
London, England, 1848-09-01 00:00:00

to chador it, appear far more active and powerful
than any that are at work here. The difficulty with
which the prohibition of slavery in the new territory
of Oregon has been carried, and the shrinking of
Congress from pronouncing any decision on the
question, whether the inattention of slavery shall be
tolerated in tr.e new territories to be erected on
what was once Mexican domain, seem to indicate
the rapid approach of • disruption between the
northern and southern states. Warned by the mis-
takes which we know the wisest Americans make
respecting the stability of our tostitutions, we merely
point to the indications of approaching revolutions on
the North American continent without hrzerding en
opinion of our own.

The pose:bility, however, of an approaching chews
in the relations of the North American states, which
have hitherto been combined by a federal union, hu
a bearing on the future prospects of a part of our
own eml.ire. Should the separation of the
southern states of the union (augmented in
extent as they have been, if not immediately
in population, by Texas and t, o more recent ac-
ouisitione of Mexican territory) from the northern
take place, the not obscurely intimated desire of
the latter to draw closer their connexion with the
British North American provinces will receive a fresh
stimulus in the expediency of strengthening them-
selves to resist possible encroachments tad aggre maim
from the south. Of the loyalty which pervades our
North American provircce, at present, we entel teat'
no doubt, but we cannot overt 'olt the fact, that the
general structure of society in these proving ri.is more
nearly akin to what obtains in Nee England, than to
what exists here. The longing attar self-go-
veinment is inherent in all communities; cud
the blunders by which our home colonial admi-
nistratioita have ere now severely tried the loyalty
of the colonist's, may be repeated. It is on the cards
that we may yet see the northern continent of Ames
' ries divided between two great republics, the sea-
boat d slave states of the 'north terming the nucleus of
the one, and New England with the British provinces
the nucleus of the other.

We know how unwillingly the national pride or
England wuold acquit see in such an arrangement ;
and we know how essenii.il a well-grounded pride is
to the stability of national resources and the perpetu-
ation of true national greatness. But we see no way of
avertintr such a consummation as we have hinted at
ex!ept by modifying the exiting force and pressure of
the colonial nexus. The loyalty of all our colonies, above
all the loyalty of time situated in the North Ame-
rican continent, can only be perpetuate d by making
them feel that they have an intertst in adhering to
their connection with our empire. This may be done
by the surcease of the meddling and vexatious in-
terkrenoe of the home government in their lixal
affairs. With the entire control of these affairs left
to themselves, they will enjoy all tho essentials of
independence and serf-government ; they will enjoy
at the same time without taper's° the .services of
British diplomacy and the protection for their com-
merce of British met-of-war; and as native born
citizens of Britain a wider career will lie open to
the aspiring among them than their own country
alone can offer.

We shall await the report of the Royal Mint com-
mission with considerable impatience and auxiety.
It may be inferred, from the opinions recently
expressed in parliament, by succeasive masters of the
Mint, that the "vicious system" of the moneyers, at
least, is on the eve of dissolution; and so far, therefore,
we may, without presumption, take some credit to
ourselves s for having b.en the fleet to demand this
desirable and flea-m. 1417 reform. Those who have
had experience of the working of the system, though
at the same time they et. al tenderly w.th persons, all
concur in its condemn: tion. The idea of a corpora-
tion under government—of a smaller wheel
within a larger, endowed with independent
and indefeasible privileges, with sacred rights, with
unalienable prerogatives, in an age, too, when the
divinity that was supposed to " hedge in " kings of
the earth is regarded as a vain illusion of the put, is
one too nntiquated for our hard and practical era.
We may observe in these revolutionary times there is
some ditfieulty is maintaini. g the succession in mo-
urchin ; and when God-anointed rulers are thus af-
fected, the corporation of moneyers. however an-
cient and embelned in the world', history, can
scarcely hope to escape its doom. The doctrine of
perpetual succession must yield to that of temporary
election. Fitness and propriety must be ccnsiciered ;
capacity should not be overlooked; while economy,
with a backsliding exchequer, and a perplexed chan-
cellor,claims theattention of all. Thedays,weareafrahl,
are past, when rapid fortunes were made at the public
cost. The Argus ey cs of parliamentary economists search
everywhere, and though the moneyers are amongst
the last to be detected, they cannot hope to escape.
Their reign of prosperity has endured longer than
they could have anticipated ; and let them console
themselves with this idea, and await calmly the
Damoelea' sword, which is about to fell. Those, too,
who not only have basked in the sunshine of prospe-
rity, and sat at the sumptuous table of Dives every
day, but who have bequeathed all the labour of office
to others, without remonstrance sr reproof, while they
have clutched the " sweet reward of toil," must now
put on the buckler, must now put their shoulder
to the wheel. No work no pay, is an
unpleasant but, nevertheess, a very wholesome rule,
both to Queen and people. Indolent, and idleness
are the scabies of the state, which should be reproved
and condemned. They are not lees guilty who, en
dewed with the power, refuse to exercise it, either
from timidity or corrupt motives, thereby encouraging
sloth and inattention. If the household is badly go-
verned, it is not surprising if the members of it neg-
lect their duties, and fall into evil habits. It boards
become imbecile, and their authority fall into desue-
tude, they must look for contempt, if not derision. If
comptrollers sleep at their poets, and, like ostriches
bedded in the sand, fancy they are not observed, men
will be as careless of their authority as of the thunder-
bolts of a dreamy nodding Jove on high Olympus.
When the sentinel sleep, we may predict the conse-
quences, and the penalty, too.
The contemplated saving of 10,0001. a year, as in-
timated by Mr. SHAM to result from the new order
of things, may fall short considerably of our expecta-
tions; but if this be accompanied by a general re-
form, a more compact, efficient system of government,
and a more effective control than has hitherto
existed, we shall have no reason to regret the share
we have taken in the discussion. At the same time
we have no doubt • further saving to sonic ex-
tent may be made in other departments, by the
abolition of fees, by withdrawing the singular
privilege of carrying on private business at
the public coat, and by the etu4y of eco-
nomy everywhere. But this of course will depend
entirely upon the carefulness and vigilance of
these whose duty it is to check extravagance and cor-
ruption. In this respect, Judging from the past, we
have little confidence in the present mode of adminis-
tration in the Mint, for see perceive that some of those
set over the establishment have availed themselves of
their power to employ public property for their'
private ends; an evil which has, like other
abuses, risen from small beginnings, but has by
degrees increased to its present magnitude by
the laxity or connivance of those who should
have checked it in the bud. Such is the inevi-
table consequence of mal-administration in public
offices. When power is once relinquished it is
alwost impossible to reclaim it. When privileges
arc conceded, however insignificant, they are sure
to be used like the thin end of the wedge to open
a wide door to abuse and corruption. There is some-
thing very gracious in the benevolence of the public
supplying us with all kinds of materials by which to
save our capital and enhance our profits. But we
augur the public know little how their money is
squandered, and we infer that those who hold the
parse are far more liberal with other's goods than
they would be with their own. Charity we know is
a very expansive virtue when we can gratify it at the
cost of others. To have the command of machinery,
apparatus, and materials whereby to carry on our
own private speculations, is an Utopian idea in
appearance, but in truth it is realised in the
Mint. The board, which we presume is the
governing body, if not quite aelei p, regards these
agere,sious of cupidity with stolid indiffireuce. Night
and day are scarcely found adequate fur some of these

radii* its
isetrimi
We, sindirallOW are** on-
:partoento faMIOM purely fee public
eaperuitteded b 7 edam handsomely
itelised ; the dle.taes is handed over
' .sir the wboleole manufaetams of
works of art, and no remonsiones
1, or any one else. If it be deemed
necessaryln this way to give full encouragement to
the art of engraving, we see no reason why the de.
partraent should not be placed under his entire con-
trol, by which something would he saved as a set-all
fur the use of the labour and machinery. Conflicting
duties and interests should at all times be avoided.
No man can serve two masters.
Froth thew and otbet cunsiderations we are morti-
fied to perceive that it is the intention to make the
office of Master of the Mint a mere appendage to the
Board of Trade, as if there was a necessary connexion
between the art of coining money and that depart-
ment. By such an arrangement we shall have all the
present evils perpetuated. We telly expected the
commission would have, in their inquiries, discovered
the necessity of app.tinting a practical and permanent
Mus er of the Mint; for must of the an fficiency
of that establishment is to oe attributed to the
want of a head. The authority of the board is
divided, and its decisions influenced by causes which
would nut operate on one independent of them. It
lacks, moreover, union which we kno v is the main
element of strength, because the interests of its mem-
bers draw different ways. MI% a single respon-
sible head, possessed of adequate powers, having a
practical acquaintance with all the vat bus operations,
aud a knowledge of each man's du'y, we should nut
1...ve had occasion to censure the mal-administration of
the Mint, and its laxity of di.cipline.
For nanny }ears pant, with smne exceptions, the
office has been ucited with some other, and the con-
sequences are apparent. By degrees the Mint has
merged in the Tr. usury, and a political Master of the
Mint, shifted by every change of ministry, has become
an anomaly. The Mint is ur course neglected for the
claims of other duties and engagements, and a person
fills an important office of the outline of which nine
timer out of ten he knows nothing. It cannot, there-
fore, excite our surprise if the Mint has degenerated
wader such circumstances.

If under Mr. Nitric.', "new system" the contracts
are to be abulishei, and the coinage c 'fried on by
salaried officers without the rtepansibility annexed to
the contracts. a practical and permanent head would
appear almost a necessity. Because if, under the old
system, in which the risk and responsibility are di-
et& d amongst different departments, and taken away
from the crown, and at the same time the manage-
ment of each left to itself, the official maclinery of the
Mint has proved by experience weak and defective,
under altered circumstances we may expect it to
stand still altogether, or at least cause endless disorder
and cant 'pion.

If the board fail to enforce regul why and at-
teLdance now, how can we be certain it will do so
hereafter? We must not, huwever, anticipate beyond
the record. We have no doubt the commission, agree-
ably to its appointment, have minutely inquired into
the past doings of the Mint, tho duties of each officer.
and how discharged, and other points of consequence,
so 01 to apply a reform if (band neeemary.

A PROPRIETOR Of East India stock has shown as
a printed letter, of very formidable Ivngth, of very
unintelligible style, and of very incoherent logic,
which has been sent, in the hope of redress for alleged
wrongs, to all who era so fortunate as to be inscribed
on the "great book " of that powerful company, by
which the multitudinous Weirs of our Indian empire
are administered. The writer ie a gentleman who
was removed by the Court of Irbectors, on the re-
commendation of the Marquis of TWEEDDALE, when
Governor of Madras, from the important office of
senior judge of the Sudder Adawlut, or supreme
court of appeal from all the company's courts of that
presidency, and sent as judge to a subordinate court
in the provinces. This dismissal the learned gentle-
man, not unnaturally, thicker a most utjuetifiable act,
and from the decision of the Court of Direen rs he
appeals to the Court of Proprietors, endeavouring to
arouse the fears of the latter for their dividends, "if
such things unredressed be."
The removal of the chief judge of the supreme
company's court of an Indian presidency, is un-
doubte dip " a great fact ;" it is a strong measure, and
n quires reas ois quite irresistible. It is, moreover, a
very disagreeable step, for it can hardly fail to sug-
gest to the minds of all intelligent natives, considera-
tions not very favourable to our administration of
justice therein. It is a proceeding which may effect
the independence of the judges of the company's
courts of India; it is a proceeding which may tend to
ailed the very stability of our Indian empire. It
need*, thtraore, explanation of the fullest kind, and
justification the most complete. These, we presume,
the Board of Control will be glad of an opportunity of
furnishing to parliament. And that opportunity, wo
cannot doubt, will be supplied to that department
before the prorogation.
On such a question no appeal legally and of right
lies from the decision of the court of directors to the
court of proprietors. All that the dismissed judge can'
do is to induce some of the gentlemen who practise
oratory in the popular department of the East India
Company to bring the cue under the consideration of
the stockholders ; when, doubtless, however strong a
statement may bo made on his behalf, the stereotyped
appeal of the directors to the support of their cr esti-
teems, and nfiegations of the vas: danger to India of
overruling the decisions " of the responsible execu-
tive," would, as usual, prevail. The watt of some such
appellate jurisdiction as of right, as well as the manner
in which all questions are discussed in the Court of Pro
prietors, are certainly great evils. And when we see
similar questions in the cases of jialges in the Queen's
colonies referred to the judicial consideration of the
privy council, we cannot help saying that in reference
to dismissed Indian judges, then, may be a wrong
without a remedy—a vacuum which the law of Eng-
land abhors.

Far, however, be it from us to suggest or even to
hint that the Court of Directors have wrongly or
improperly removed the senior judge of the Budder
Adawlut of the Madras presidency. All that we say
is, that having done so, they are bound to iuetify their
act to the empire. Their government will suffer by
any concealments; it is cotsequcutly their interest
(as it is, on ether and hiiher grounds, their duty) to
make public every clocumect connected with the
affair. There are, we repeat, more than the merits
or demerits of a personal case involved in their act ;
in addition, the purity of juitice, the independence of
judges, and the welfare of the people of India are all
concerned in and affected by it. Indeed, it is quite
possible that this removal may, because justifiable,
be suggestive that the whole system of courts of the
company's jurisprudence in ludia: requires revision.
And this is the light which the imperfect knowledge
we have of the facts of this case throws on our mind.
These facts are very briefly as follow: in the pro-
vince of Tinnivelly disputes had arisen between some
of the Christian natives and its less enlightened inhabit-
ants. These disputes terminated in rioting and fight
big. The disturbers of the peace were brought before
au in!erior company's wart; end ultimately tho pro-
ceedings came on; appeal before the Budder Adawlut
of the presidency. Unfortunately they there found
the judges divided on the great question of pro-
selytiem to Christianity. The senior judge was
strongly in favour of aggressive or missionary conver-
sion ; another, perhaps we ought to say two others, of
its judges, saw great danger in such a policy. These
strong opinions led to strong language on the bench ;
one judge abased, the other praised, the missionaries ;
and not satisfied at last with undignified and unman-
nerly public dissensions on this point, these per-
sonage.i—the judges, be it remembered, of the Su-
preme Court of Appeal of one of our Indian Fresh
deticies--E0 for forgot themselves, their station,
and their duties, as to blackguard (for if
we have been rightly informed, that is the
word most descriptive of what occurred) rach other
in court. Add to 'his, that one of the junior judges
at a public meeting of the natives in Madras, publicly
stated that it was the intention of government to
force christianity on them; and the transaction is
complete in its disgraceful details.
If we have been correctly instructed as to these
facts, it will surprise note to be told that a complete
change ire tte personnel of the Sadder Adawlut fol-
lowed. The second judge was dismissed ; the senior
and third judges were removed to places where they
were likely to be lees dangerous ; and the former,
rather than submit to the loss of station, has re-igned the
company's service. But, if this statement be correct,
what suspich n does it throw on the constitution of
the comp iny's courts of justice in India ! If judges
of the Sudder Adawlut can s r miscnAuct, them-
wait is there not to be feared as to

St3hoIiFIRIDAY.
XVEVISTKI, SEPIII
•
•4, i ,
e..i.; lesws w _ tlethir the vetoes pursaite, while the peb
' argamor, • Pint IsulwweetustieWin, ex. lawful lhasands. Delay
• • °pleb* se to the imprnding fate of their sevens's. Department
rest 'sentry. Yet it is curious to hear them !peak- °beets, and sapenntre
mg et the dismemberment el-ths-Bsitiabampam,- as paid, aremesepslisad ; I
menethinir sat ettlf probable or ;minable, and expire• to the saimarm, Lr th
sing no apprehension of the dismemberment of their medals and other works
own republic, while tons the elements which threaten is made by the board, or
. .