The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-28 00:00:00

BRITANNIA.

Tins EvaNnia, THB KIN( DEATH-TRAY. Messrs. Rey-
nolds, Leslie, &c.; Mrs. & Inne.—Mr.*Floyd ; Mr. and Mrs.
Langan and Mr. .1. Millicent-IUP VAN WINKLE. Mr. Howe.
—And MARV !MANE. Mr. P. Charlton sal Miss Continuity.

NUM WA AT LONDON lUDOL
1119 D* % —Monde& 31 321. Tan.
o-Nontow—Yom, 31 435.... —Abrams, Sh. SUm.

LONDON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28.

Ir has recently been urged by a contemporary
that if the powers of the Poor-law Board were
increased, and it were enabled to enforce its rep-
lations instead of merely bringing "moral in-
fluence " to bear, parochial arrangements would
work more satisfactorily, and the public be spared
the periodical discovery that paupers are being
starved and tortured to death. It can-
not be denied that this view has much
to recommend it, and if it were certain that
the law as it stands were fairly carried out, if
workhouse inspection were proved to be Liefficient
only because the powers of the Poor-law Board
were too limited, social reformers would eagerly
agree to strengthen the official hands. But it un-
fortunately happens that such evidence as is before
the country tends to a precisely opposite conclusion.
No workhouse is too bad, no discipline too vile,
for official approval, and in every case of mis-
doing which has yet come to light, the guardians
have been able to justify themselves by a reference
to the last report of the representative of the Poor-
law Board, and the " satisfactory," or " very
" satisfactory" opinion it contains. We are now
told that some special reports have been made
by the medical adviser of the department,
and Lord DEVON has given notice of a motion that
these shall be laid before the House. It would be
additionally useful if we could have the ordinary
reports of the inspectors of each district also made
public, and we trust some independent member
will be found to call for those made during the last
few years. The nature of the work performed, and
the action taken on it at headquarters, could then
be estimated ; and the public might judge of the ex-
tent to which the " moral influence" of the Board
has been exercised. In the maeter of skilled
nursing, of infirmary wards, of the appointment of
paid officers, it is maintained that the
Act of 1834 conferred such powers upon the Poor-
law Board as make a resort to merely " moral ir-
" fluence " entirely optional, and if this view be
correct a heavy responsibility lies with those who
have glossed over or been blind to such evils as
are proved to be rampant now. But it is evident
that the first step to a clear comprehension of the
subject is the production of the inspectors' reports.
Dr. SMITH'S "visit to five or six workhouses" was
made after public opinion was roused, and while
a controversy raged between him and his
medical brethren concerning the number of
cubic feet of air necessary for pauper life ;
and his reports were drawn up for the
special purpose of assisting Mr. HARDY
in his deliberations on the Metropolitan Poor B:11.
Although interesting from the light they will
throw upon Dr. Smirn's views, they cannot be
taken as fair samples of official inspection. The
result of the ordinary day-to-day visiting of work-
houses, the discoveries made, the faults censured,
the suggestions proffered, and the ad vice gie en, are
the points upon which information should be
afforded before increased powers can fairly be asked
for by the department.
We have no wish to prejudge the verdict of the
Poor-law Commissioners in the Farnham case, and
no very strong belief in its efficacy when pained.
Both the gentlemen now sitting as judges, and
who, by the way, act in the dual capacity of judge
and jury, are Poorlaw inspectors, and one of
them has charge of a district to which rumour
points as possessing workhouses shamefully inade-
quate. It needs no cynical disbelief in human
justice to see that the official view of official
omissions will not be unduly harsh ; and
it will be an utter novelty in Poor-law admistra-
tion if any but the very smallest culprit is recom-
mended for punishment. It cannot, however, be
too widely known, or too frequently urged, that
Farnham workhouse is but a type of many others,
and that it is not necessarily the worst of its
class. Under the present system of control the
most glaring cruelties seem to be fostered and
sanctioned by the people paid to prevent them ;
and it is for the country to say how long it shall
be left to private enterprise to expose and remedy
the shortcomings of the Poor-law Board.

Amin the loss inflicted on many families and the
general discouragement which is created by the
continued fall in British railway property, it is con-
solatory to discern signs that it is bringing for-
ward the remedies which have been so long
urgently pressed for by railway reformers, but habi-
tually neglected by shareholders, and frequently
ridiculed by directors. A great change is being
worked in the views of railway proprietors, and •
more striking proof of this can scarcely be found
than that presented in the proceedings at the ad-
journed special meeting of the North Eastern
Company, held at York on Tuesday. The object of
this meeting was to receive the report of the scru-
tineers appointed at a meeting held on the previous
Tuesday, in order to ascertain the views of the
shareholders as to whether application shall be
made to the Board of Trade to abandon the pro-
posed Leeds and Wetherby branch. In brief, the
scrutineers reported that the votes in favour of the
abandonment represented 13,891,3921. of stock,
held by 7,154 shareholders, while those
dissenting from the proposed abandonment
were only 625 in number, representing 633,2181.
of stock. The proportion of assents to the proposed
application being far more than is required by the
act, it may be assumed that the extension scheme

in this particular direction has received its quietus.
But this is merely an instalment of what railway
shareholders have to do if they wish to save their
property. If they leave directors and those who
thrive upon directors' projects to work their will
as hitherto, the rain of this vast interest may be
safely predicted ; and already a vicious system has
been allowed to proceed so far, that now that the
proprietors are being brought at last face to face
with the closing of the capital accounts, they are
haunted with a fear that such a measure means
a diminution, if not suspension, of divi-
dends. But they must not shrink in vague
alarm at any such prospect, for they may rest
assured that even a reduced dividend, if proved to
have been truly earned, will inspire more satisfac-
tion and confidence than has attached to the part-
payments out of capital, styled dividends, which
have hitherto been distributed. Fortunately for
the efforts of those who wish to give rail-
way property the much-needed rest from further
outlay, the power of borrowing on the old system,
and of virtually mortgaging the railways to deben-
ture holders and other creditors, is rapidly passing
away, and there is consequently the less reason to
apprehend any effectual opposition on the part of
directors and their interested upholders. The
remedy lies in retrenchment, in a cessation
of parliamentary war, rivalry, and exten-
aims, and, above all, in an absolute closing
of the capital accounts of the old lines for a
fixed term of years. Many years ago Mr. Laing
declared that be could close the capital account of
the London and Brighton Railway Company at
between seven and eight millions. In how much
better a condition would that property now stand
had his proposal been acted upon ! What was pos-
sible then, in the case of the Brighton Company,
must surely be very practicable now, after the ex-
penditure of so many hundreds of millions has
brought our railway systems° much nearer to com-
pletion. In any ciao, the closing of capital ac-
counts for a term of years is quite practicable.
Shareholders will then doubtless find that, under
the pressure of necessity, very large economies can
be effected, and, aided by that ever increasing, and
never disappointing element —the traffic of the
country—they will establish a financial reform
which will eradicate the existing doubts, and give
the investing public a definite assurance that rail-
way dividends are honest, and that this property,
possessed as it is of nearly all the elements of suc-
cess, may be implicitly trusted.