The Express.
London, England, 1857-08-17 00:00:00

of the Union and the Unionists,

that they have pet it out of their power to curia
the independent Moldavians. We are, therefore,
not surprised to hear Lord PALMERSTON speak u
one ignorant of the subject. Lord CLARENDON, in
his reply to Lord CLANRICARDE, was much more
fair. Lord CLARENDON admitted, what Mr. GLAD-
STONE assumed, that it would bo a disgrace to Eng-
land to come forward and openly pretend to consult
a country's wisher, whilst secretly it abetted an
arbitrary government in stilling them.
When speaking of the Moldavian elections, Lord
PALMERSTON sought to palliate the violence of the
CAIMACAN by observing that the Danubians were
unused to elections, which were consequently fiercely
disputed by faction. This is quite an error on the
part of his lordship. The Moldo-Wallaohians have
always been used to elections, have time out of mind
chosen the members for their legislative assemblies,
and also their sovereigns. Representative govern-
ment and habits are indigenous in Moldo-Wallachia ;
and this forms one of the greatest claims of the
Moldo-Wallachians to our respect. The Moldo-
Wallach. used, however, to prepare and pro-
ceed to their elections under their native mogis-
trates and authorities, and without any inter-
ference on the part of the Porte. The proudest
of the Sultans stipulated with the Danubian,
that they should govern themselves and elect,
their Prince, to whom the SULTAN WU reedy
to grant investiture on the payment of a
certain tribute, and on the maintenance of
a political and military alliance with Turkey.
If the present elections throughout Moldo-Wallaehia
show signs of violence, turbulence, and irregularity,
it is because a Turkish agent has come to preside
over them, and to manage them in Turkish fashion,
instead of respecting the old freedom and habits of
the country.

WE are not much surprised at the result—or
rather the no-result—of the Meeting of the Great
Western Railway Company. The appointment of
a Committee of Investigation is a stern and extreme
measure, involving the public exposure of all weak
points and of much past mismanagement ; and share-
holders require a vast deal of provocation before
they can be induced to rise up in open and organised
rebellion. The Great Western proprietary, more-
over, has ever been one of the most conservative—
so to speak—in the kingdom. The Company's stock
is well held ; the Directors, though many of them
may be destitute of those business-like qualifications
which are absolutely essential to the success of
a great mercantile undertaking, are all men of
social standing ; and the proprietors have long been
in the habit of regarding the Board-room with a
species of awe. Consequently, although most of the
shareholders are deeply and most justly dissatisfied
with the notoriously unremuncrative results achieved
by the management, the majority still shrink from
active opposition, whilst the minority, who advocate
immediate reform, are utterly destitute of organisa-
tion. l'oesibly had the proposal for a Committee of
Inquiry been moved at the meeting by some
. . . . . .

. .
one personally popular with the ;harCholders
the contest might have been more dubious;
but under the circumstances the actual oppo-

sition to the Board was but feeble, and the

Directors, besides carrying their Report, obtained
with facility the formal sanction of the proprietors
to all the other arrangements proposed—although
these included the grant of a sum of 5,0001. (in
addition to his existing liberal salary of 2,5001. per
annum) to Mr. Saunders, and a special annual pro-
vision to Mr. Brunel, who is now formally installed
as the Company's "consulting engineer." In the
minds of many of the shareholders, embittered by
a recollection of the ruinous losses sustained through
connexion with this Company, the two officers re-
ferred to are peculiarly identified with the impolitic
engagements and extravagant expenditure to which
the Company owe all their embarramments. The
Great Western Railway, however, is ruled
by an oligarchy, whom power is almost
absolute, whose proposals rarely encounter
more than verbal criticism, and who may
be considered virtually independent of the pro-
prietors. There cannot be a better illustration eif
this than is afforded by the present position of Mr.
PONACINBT. It was only in the course of the lot
half-year that this gentleman became a Director,
and this upon the choice of the Board, not of the
shareholders, who had no voice whatever in the
matter. Upon the recent resignation of Lord BAJA-
REACTOR, the Board at once elected as Chairman the
new Director, Mr. PONSONBY, who is candid aweigh
to acknowledge his own utter " inexperience."
Now, we ask, is this a system under which any
Company can expect prosperity? Is it in accord-
ance with the first principles essential to mercantile
meows? The Chairman of a great undertaking
like this ought to be a man of inde-
pendent and upright character, thorough busi-
ness habits, and practical experience. The position
of such a man at the helm would be of such vast
importance to the Company that the election of a
person of Mr. PONSONBIrA avowed inexperience
irresistibly induces a suspicion that an inexperienced
Chairman is considered the more convenient. The
Secretary of the Great Western Railway has long
been the head, eye, and band of the Board, and the
continuance of his monopoly of office is evidently
promoted by the existing arrangement. Two of the
most valuable members of the Direction resigned
some time ago rather than sanction so anomalous a
system. One of these gentlemen, Mr. BAKER, pub-
licly declared that " without some change the pro-
prietan must dearly suffer." The other ex-Director,
Mr. Ponca, stated openly, as the reason of his re-
signation, that "Mr. SAENDERS is not only
Secretary and organ of the Board of Direc-
tors, to whom you entrust all the adminis-
tration of the affairs of the Company, bat he is
also the general superintendent of the Company—
the sole head and organ of the executive in him,
therefore, are combined all the powers of the Com-
pany, and the Board of the Great Western Railway
Company, contrary to the established practice in all
the other great railway corporations, has not the ad-
vantage of that division of labour which, by means
of permanent committees controlling each deport-
ment, qualifies individual members of the Board for
their duties of superintendence and direction, and
infuses knowledge and responsibility into the whole."
So spoke two voices from the Board—the veined mom
who had the magnanimity to resign rather than eon-
tinne to participate in a system the evils of which
were so patent. That system remaining totally
unreformed, can we wonder at the result ?
At the meeting on Friday last the Direc-
tors allayed the spirit of opposition in some
quarters by professing their perfect willingness to
admit to the Board three or four " practical men,"
provided that such could be found. But what is the
value of a vague promise of this kind? What men
of independent character and self-respect are likely
to join the Board as it is at present constituted ? The
Directory, we may be sure, will 0017 elect men who
will not go into opposition, and thus the Great
Western Railway, a property representing twenty-
three millio' of actually expended ("pita], will con-
tinue to be governed by an ins/Tensible oligarchy—
.' it ever has been.