The Express.
London, England, 1868-02-10 00:00:00

LONDON. MONDAY EVENLNCI, FEBRUARY 10. 18C8.

THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY.

THE CAPTURE OF CAPTAIN MACKAY.

Tax Shareholders of this Railway have not ao-
cepted the recent decision of Vice-Chancellor
Woon with the gratitude due to a Judge who has
saved them from the consequences of irregularity
and disorder, and we suspect that if the sentiment
of the meeting on Wednesday could have found
expression, it would have been unfavourable to
that learned personage. Although every one pre-
sent knew full well that any sum the
payment of which as dividend the Vice-
Chancellor had restrained would still remain the
property of the shareholders, to add to the per-
m•nent value of their estate, the consideration
has not reconciled them to its first and more
obvious effect. No explanation of this compara-
tive indifference of shareholders to the future
value of their line as a working property would
be complete without reference to the enormous
speculation which has been going on in the
Company's stock ; at the same time there
is not a railway in the kingdom, however
sound its condition and fair in its prospects,
the price of whose stock would not be seriously
affected by a judgment affecting its dividend. In
time, perhaps, we may see the property of our large
railways held as firmly and its value as little liable
to fluctuation as that of a gas or water company,
as without doubt the great mass of it is at
present, but until then variations in the
amount of dividend will powerfully affect
prices. It is on this account, and because con-
stancy of value and steadiness of dividend are im-
portant to so ninny railway shareholders besides
speculators, that we distrust three violent remedies
just now vehemently demanded in some quarters,
which require the obliteration of the permanent and
natural distinction between capital and revenue
charges. Without denying that there are cases
in which it may b wise consciously to set aside
that distinction for ,time, and to pay out of revenue
even for probable additions to the earning power of
the company—or, in Mr. LAING'S words, for " new
" objects which are to bring in a new revenue"
—we must continue to hold that that is
the best managed railway in which the
balance between capital and revenue is held with
an even and steady hand, neithor sacrificing the
future to the present nor the present to the future.
And since. we cannot be sure that • judge will
always at a critical conjuncture intervene to set
right what has gine wrong, the only security for
a prudent adannistration of our railways is the
general acceptance of sound principles of railway
finance, and the fullest publication of all facts
which affect the interests of the shareholders.

(mar ma OWN OORIRRPOWDAern.,
CORK, SATURDAY MORNING.
The most important arrest in connection with
Fenkinisma since those which followed the rising
in Mir& hurt was that effected iii this city last
night.' The police have at length got hold of the
redoubtable Captain Mackay, the leader of the
dis4lested in this quarter, and the prime mover
'in the alarming exploits they have lately under-
taken. Ilia capture was rather cleverly accent-
p •• • For several months past the police had
.
.. to believe that Mackay—who is an Irish
can—was . in'. the south reorganizing the
red circles, which had almost given up
in despair • the hope of making another
msg. Mackay is described as a man of extram-
dinilky energy, mental and physical, as well as of
gni* daring ; and his presence and personal hi.'
enema was, it is said, producing a marked effect
szedngst hi:party here, whom he had succeeded to
a t extent in rallying and reinspecting. The
• were most anxious for his capture, regarding
at one of the most formidable opponents
veerwhom they had to deal ; but until
Tee lately they had not even a alas to
the' baillty in which he was to be head`;'
eoca=rlo7 his movements, and so lnizarnishled
the intelligence received in regkelYo
theist, that he seemed to be übiquitous. The man was
as skilful as he was bold, and for a long time he sue- ,
needed in completely battling the authorities. It
seems to have been part of his plan to conduct a
series of small raids in the neighbourhood of the
city, for the purpose, as I have stated in a previcius
later, of creating panic, and giving confidence to
his followers by what seemed- to be so many
trivaphs over the police, and in this he was exceed-
fortunate. From what is known there is
very little doubt that he directed, if he did not
aullyoonduct, the surprise of the Martell() Tower
at oaty, where the leader, it will be remembered,
was described as an Irish American, who gave the
name of Captain Mack, and whose appearance, as
described by the inmates of the tower, tallied
pretty closely with that of the captive. The viaits-
tion and plunder of Allport's shop was also attri-
buted to the enterprising rebel, and he is supposed
to have been the Yankee officer who so calmly chaffed
Mrt Allport while the revolvers weretaken away. As
yet Mackay has not been confronted with either
the Allports or the tower people ; arid it is impos-
sible to say whether these surmises as to his
identity with the leader in the two raids are accu-
rst&
It was only within the past fortnight the police
had certain information of Mackay.' preseuce in
this city. They then learned that tor the past two
yeses Cork had been hie head-quarters, from which
he made periodical visits to the various other lo- ,
catlike in the • south in which branches of the I
organization were. On receipt of this intelligence I
attache* were made in different parts of the city 1
where it was expected he, or some trace of I
his presence, would be found, but without effect.
The capture made last week seems to have been for
the police the proof of their fortunes. With that
thei got a clue to the whole organization of the
lute Lards, and, better still, the lurking place of the
1 leader. The searches were repeated, this time on
surer information, and on Wednesday morning the
pollee visited and examined the houses in an entire
next to that in • which Mackay was
atad
last night : But Mackay had got
and had . changed his quarters. It
umi be mentioned here that when this
u
se was made Mackay had only just re-
t from Macroorn, whither he had gate to or-,
glrtyhaetzst daring feat he had yet aMenspSeil, '
ny •k he termite e profound impression
o • - tend. Thil eftir Villewefeure UMW
croon Castle, to which I have alluded in a previous
letter as the subject of an apparently authentic
rumour. The castle is the headquarters of the.
West Cork Artillery 3lilitia, as well as the residence
of Colonel White Hedges, and the Feruans sup-
posed that it contained the arias of the regiment.
Mackay's design, we are informed, was to collect
a party of fifty men armed with revolvers to sur-
, prise the castle, overpower the militia staff, and
select and carry off as many of the arms as he
I could. He managed to collect his men fur the
purpose, but at the last moment they quarrelled,
and the enterprise was abandoned. Mackay, dis-
gusted with their cowardice, walked back to Cork
the same night, the distance being about twenty-
' four miles.
Yesterday morning the police at length got certain
and definite information as to where lie was to be
found, and arrangements for his capture were
made on a very extensive and complete scale.
Knowing their man, the police determined to
spread a net through which he would have little
chance of escape. The plan of operations was kept
secret until a late hour of the evening, when in-
structions were issued for several parties of men from
the city stations—numbering in all upwards of a
hundred—to take up positions at the further
extremity of every avenue leading from Market-
street, au that it would be impossible for any one
to leave it unobserved. The street communicates,
by several narrow lanes with the North Main-street
en one side, and with the quays and a quarter
inhabited by very poor people on the other. At
the end, near Patrick-street, it forms a narrow neck
easily guarded, and at the other extremity the
bridewell commands the approaches. Every one of '
these points was closely guarded. Most of the'
policemen employed were fully armed
a rescue being apprehended—and with them were
a large number of detectives. At ii o'clock, when
the cordon ha& been drawn, Head-constables
Geale and Walsh, sad Constable usy, all dressed in
plain clothes, walked carelessly up to a public-house
owned by a nmaminied Cronin, in 3larket-street,
close to l'ortnefs-lane, entered, and at once shut
the door ; at the same moment three other con-'
stables in plain clothes Mud from the lane and
stood before the house. The head-constables in-
side walked straight into a parlour behind the
shop, in which there were four men, Captain
Mackay ; Cronin, the owner of the house ; Man-
nix, fisherman, a and a man named Walsh or
lateter. Ceale produced a revolver and seized
Mackay. The other constables, who were also
armed, arrested his three companions. Mackay
stood for a moment overwhelmed with surprises •,
then recovering hbnaelf, he wrenched himself
from the grasp of the head-constable, and made
a dash for the stairs. Geale rushed after him,
and caught him in his arms as he had
reached the hall. Both were muscular men, and
a desperate struggle ensued. Genie, though ad-
vanced in years, was the more vigorous of the two,
and pinned his prisoner against the wall. Casey
then came to Geale 's aid, and Mackay, seeing the
odds against him contrived by a desperate effort to
The Bremen 'steamship Weser, from New York get his hands free, and drew from his breast a re-
volver. Geale caught the pistol, and, whirling his pis H-
on the 30th, arrived off the Needles at 8 ate. yesterday,
with 59 pathengers, 39 sacks of mils, li.ooo doll. for Hog- saner rounds they both fell on the ground. itaoluq
land 101,300 dole. for France, mad I 200 doll. for Bremen. struggled to regain control of the weapon, and in
tike has nude a very quiet: passage. having been detained ' this struggle it went off, having either been fired by
at New York until 5 p.m. on the 30th inst., waiting the ! him at Geale, or exploded accidentally. The WA
arrival of the Havannah mail.
asarQtwy'r.mvouref
thew Lee
eFFLartror. B.—Father Fischer, F:ii:hue:, privater (missing Genie struck Constable Casey in the calf of
the eg, inflicting a severe wound.
I 'd. Guts then
In
the Australasian, and landed this waning. Pa."44' , mastered his man, wrenched the revolver from
ROYAL Faye Mourrar, GRATIFINN-ROAD.—The him, and held him helpless on his back. The detee-
number. of Wields Mimed at this hospital daring the tives outside hearing the straggle rushed in, and
week ending Feb. 8 visa AM. et *oath 1,315 wore new Mackay. and' the three others whom Walsh had
ea es. held quiet under the point of his pistol, were es-
(Advertisement:it: if.o&rorme's Plua. —Con- cured. In the meantime the police had been doe-
Ter g"'""k• lea tab" b."' ing in on the house, and a party of upwards of fifty
sum disordered • , • • , these
pair see most . ..`e:,' „' ~ ~,:::: ' • sad , men were drawn up outside the home. A large
==„l"de°'■' --, 54.......7. fe, 1"..= crowd had also collected, and from all the locality
d's".l ..""iii. it 4 ..-
. ' . .-inlets fivtt people were flocking hurriedly iltritaysx.cithtmed.t2
siawas
.., . a`t "-F . "lir:, r raised that t:r. Po'ile
pneswirs 7.—.....tep, Jig
Uml wektkoeght preaent to chin tam back. 'large
I=ingemashie
.i....., .. . 0., en.. was accordingly made, and em men reosivid *

Having on a former occasion stated the grounds
upon which wo Wife that permanent advantage
may result to railway proprietors generally from
Vice-Chancellor Wootie recent judgment, we
desire now simply- to make a remark on one
point of great importance upon which his
decision is understood to have turned. The
Vice-Chancellor has been commended for prevent-
ing the payment out of capital of interest upon
unproductive expenditure, that expenditure
being the outlay upon an extension under-
taken by the directors and shareholders in the
belief that it will be profitable. We refrain
from. &Naming the judgment, bennee iu a
complete form it is not before us, and, moreover,
it has been stated that there are facts in dispute
which it would be necessary to settle, before a sound
conclusion could be formed upon the whole case.
But the principle involved in the action of the
Metropolitan Directors is worth examining, be-
cause it is of very wide application. A very little
reflection, we think, will show that so far front
the interest on works in progress being an
im-
proper charge to capital, the capital account is that
to which it naturally and appropriately belongs.
Wo do not discuss the question whether the funds
employed in works in progress ought to bear inte-
rtst, because until somebody pre-vents himself with
money which 1m is ready to supply for a longer or
short,: time without interest that qosstion will not
arise. We assume that it is within the competence of
a railway company to raise the money required fur
it:, extension upon the most advantageous terms,
and that for this purpose it may be desirable, as a
matter of economy, to pay interest upon the out-
lay on new works while they are in course of
eoustructiou, and therefore, before they have
become profitable. Parliament has sanctioned such'
payment again and again. Capital procured on
these terms comes into the concern with this
charge, so to speak, upon its back, and then
the iatereet upon it is just as much a part of
ithe coat f the railway as is the purchase price
of the laud for the lice. It is in that case not
au additional and extraneous charge suPerileneeed
upon the undertaking, but an integral part of it.
10f course it may be separated; the Shareholders
may, ff they choose, pay the interest out oc:
revenue, and it may be wise to do so. We should
hesitate very much to say that the 20,0001. which
the Shareholders of the Metropolitan expected to
get as dividend and have not got, is not better
• applied to making their extension than iu raising
a tel per cent. dividend )0.
.1.312 t should
be understood that seek a 1 ion is a
direct aid given by. revennet;evWsexpendi-
ture. Upon just the same principles, revenue
might be made to pay for the rails or bridges
of the new line : and that, too, might be wise.
lAs to the general position of the Metropolitan
Railway, we have no opinion to offer here ; we
simply point out that, so far as the matter we
have discussed is concerned, the Court of Chan-
eery has interfered, not to regulate a question of
accounts, but to take a direct and positive share
in the management, said it will be a curious and
instructive tact if it should turn out that a Vice-
IChanoellor and hia Chief Clerk can manage a mil-
-1 way better than its own proprietors. We shall
wait the result without prejudice.—Deily News.