The Express.
London, England, 1850-01-17 00:00:00

emigrant in 1645 was made the pretext ler chatting;
the tax-payers of Great Britain more than
151. for salaries and expenses to the shoo
emigration commissioners and their staff! Oa an
average the chief commiesioner's salary may be taken
at nearly 11. per head per emigrant, whilst the whole
commission sack u much as 71. per head for every
mu, womsn, and child they forward from Great
Britain to Australia.
The board of Woods and Forests is not worse than
the board of Colonial Lend end Emigration. The
hosed o
bfot Woods end Fortr screened more embezzle-
ment, they did not do less for their pay.
And the board of Woods and Forests have
not been made the instruments of imposing noneoes-
nary expenses upon poor emigrants, and have not
systematically treated poor t migrants with contumely
and harshness. The Awed +lion for promoting Re-
form in Colonial Iliverument propose as one of their
objects the transference to the local legislatures in all
the colonies of the management of the waste lands
within them. It is to be hoped this point will be
early and urgently pressed upon parliament next MN-
aim, were it only to get rid of the iron job of an
offensive and do-nothing board, and to rave the
• country at least 14,0001. a year, now mischievously
, wasted.

The representatives of the various railway boards,
held. it will be seen, their adjourned meeting yester-
day, and resolved not to intr :duce any audit bill into
parliament. This determination is, on the whole, a
wise one. For, firstly, the plan they had prepared
was, as we have repeatedly shown, far from perfect.
Secondly, it did not receive such cordial and energetic
support from their constituents se, to use the appro-
petale language of one of the resolutions, was " need-
ful" for its suce 'slut promotion ; and, thirdly,
because it was felt that, in t e present temper of
' railway proprietaries, any audit plan prepared by
directors meet be open to su.piciou. These, most
people will regard as sufficient reasons for the course
adopted. Ner an we see much force in Mr. Cnsaxss
Russzu.'s objection to that course, via, that the
withdrawal of the scheme would involve the derelio-
tiou of the directorial pledge, to be this session
=with a substitute for Lord MONTTAOLZ'I
sod impracticable measure of last session;
inasmuch as duertors are themselves only represen-
tatives and delegate", and unless their constituents
enable them to fulfil the pledge given on their behalf,
it is not the directors bat the shareholders who are to
be blamsd. The directors gave their shareholders an
opportunity of performing their engagements, and in
doing that their duty terminated, unless armed with
powers to go further.
But there is, it teems, no intention of giving Lord
Morrinsot.e the means of saying that the pledge in
question has been violated: for the directors only
abandon their scheme on the understanding that their
shareholders will themselves prepare • bill of their
own on this important question ; and already a com-
mittee of North-Werern proprietors u', Mr. GLYN
stated, cccupied with a shsreholders audit plan ;
already, Mr. Leine; told the meeting, the Brighton
board had resolved to a-k its proprietary to
appoint a similar committee; and this suggestion
of stirring up shareholders themselves to action was
approved by every railway chairmen who spoke yes-
terday. Now, if the North Western committee can
only have the outlines of their scheme so far advanced
es
to be laid betore the various other companies at
their approaching meetings in February, and, if at
those meetings, similar committees are appointed to
co-operate and act in unison with the North Western
committee. we can haruly doubt that ere Easter •
very sufficient Audit Bill will have been introduced
into parliament, and will long before the August
meetings have become the law of the land.
Towards the eucces-ful preps, ati.in of each a mea-
sure, Mr. EDMUND DENISON made a very practical,
and, at the same time, • novel suggestion yesterday.
Admitting, with the advocates of government inter-
ference, that the independent appointment of auditors
was necasery, Mr. Desisoe proposes that the ap-
pointment should rest neither with the proprietors
nor with the government, but should be made by a
committee of high mercantile atehority in the City of
London, preside 4 over by the Governor of the Bank
of England. To appreciate the fel value of this eng-
gestion, reference must he mad, to the small number
of the proprietors of a railway company who now
take any real interist in its management or any active
part in the public discus-ion of its affairs. Thus, for
instance, Mr. RUSSELL stated that, in spite of all the
pressure put on his constituents on this very audit
question, he could only extract replies from 600 per-
sons out of a corporati:n et:insister gof no fewer than
5,600. As then it is very clear that at public meet-
ings a small minority of the companies only attend, so
it is most desirable that some security should be taken
to preserve the absent mej. rity from the domination
of the present majority ; and in the appointment of
auditors, or at least ef accountant., no better security
could probably be taken than that recommended by
Mr. DENisoN.
The member for the West Riding made another
important statement. It came, he said, within his
knowledge, that ministna were not desirous of esta-
blishing a government audit; that they regarded
railway undertskino as mercantile affairs to be, se a
general rule, managed on ordinary mercantile pris-
es ; and that they admitted that nothing but •
r2pird
of thoee principles in their administration
justify government interfering to protect these
wronged and injured by such disregard. These, Mo.
DENISON repeatedly, emphatically, end advisedly
said, were the views of the government on the quo- I
lion of railway audit; and they are the oely
sound views that can be entertained by ear
one who appreciates the constitutional system sag
freedom of action under which the country has risen
to its present commercial greatness. But these views,
so far hues encouraging any laxness of audit, ought
to amulet the stringency of an audit system. The
application of the atoms of individual capital to the
onstiostios of great public works by means of joint
do* companies with limited responsibilities is justly
:mded as one of the greatest triumphs of the modern
of political economy; and it is due
to the character of that science to vindicate it from
the imputation that it ha• in this, one of its chief
practical uses, en inherent and an irresistible ten-
dency to dishonesty and mismanagement. If this
imputation could only be once fairly established, it
would almost follow as a cons. ermine that economical
science was injurious to the working of our constitu-
tional system by rendering centralisation indispen-
sable to its honest operation, and by encouraging
the government to interfere in everything. Few
ought, therefore, to take greater interest in working
out a system of independent audit than economical
students and the free trade party generally. It is for
tones end ultra-protectionists to advocate govern-
ment control and rupee vision.
The result of yesterday's meeting menu likely to
confer, what we have always required and pointed
out as meet the sheet objects of sound railway policy,
greater power on the shareholders. With increased
powers they will take increased interest in their com-
panies; and it only needs augmented interest cal the
part of shareholders very greatly to improve railway
ProPortr•

MORITA? ROBBER? AND ATTEMPTED MURDER
AT Noma liatizime.—Hobert Qalbraith sad Joha Wien,
two Memo derstasts, eppri 'leucite at a lodgerhoose ht the
wow ea Tuesday lan, the Bth eat., broeskt be
e Isißularliserth Shields inseetretes, charged with beer Goa-
sersed in • highway robbery end attempted mode spun
the penes of Mr. Vetch, a railway clerk at the &weeds
sad Berwick railway wades is that tows. Mr. Veiteh
appeared is Conn, and gee his evilest*. On Saturday
morning, the 29th ult., he left his home at about halt-past
de, tai 'reloaded to his elite by way of the New-eut.
Whim he get hail way up that road he was sleeked by two
lies, a till gas, sad one mu -h oho ler sad stonier. They
lusealtad him down, bat he recovered, sad felled the
skeeter Ems. The other then Nude a plunge at him
with a amp inetramest, from which is warded ft off, he
reseed a mere gash is the palm of his hand. Daring the
seells, the short. r recovered, sad tha two scoundrels then
made a desperate attack apes kin, got him down, and at-
tempted to cut hie throe, bat is eosettinence of the thick-
ness u • shawl which he had shout hissed', were prevented
from biltlethm a fatal eased, though they aide a large in-
idea in his doable chin. They ratted his pockets es soya
reign, tea halt-crowns, • foureenay piece, and • threepenny
Mem, awl Mutt ran away. Re wea 'sheeted with less of
bleed, hat reemered sots after, and crawled down to the
New Qnsy,where he was met by a man who took him hem"
Ha Meld aotewear to Oalbraitit, bat thought that Wars
tumbled the shorter man who attacked him. They wen
remanded for a week to allow the sa opportunity to prove
ea ofibi.—Nentoserk Guirdiss
A TUT RAW MATRRIAL.—Mr. Disraeli mays that
the lasi is the laadlore's raw material ; sad so it is. But
leader* haves asses ewes meow is the neat of thee
fumes whim they delude Into ermisaing to pay estooder
Etats leader the hlisoless hope of a re-saasualat of the lora-
laws.--Psmod.