Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-08-18 00:00:00

vast empire for the future. Disaffection prevails
to an alarming extent, that must be put down
instantly and effectively, and then we can
calmly consider how, as the rulers of such a
populace, we can best govern them, and pre-
vent any future outbreaks of the present
calamitous character.

No one who loves his country or his kind can
doubt the wisdom of such policy. India must
be taught to respect us and to fear us,—respect
us for our wise and salutary government, and
fear us for the overwhelming power and force of
arms, both by sea and land.

MosT of the great enterprises which human
skill and genius have devised, and carried to a
successful issue, have begun with a partial
failure. The Atlantic Telegraph would be a
realisation of one of the grandest ideas that has
ever dawned upon the mind of man—that of
linking together two continents by a maternal
bond, a type and symbol, we trust, of that
moral bond of amity and good-will that should
link together the people of the old world and the
new. We are not, therefore, surprised or dis-
couraged by the fact reported on Friday last,
that a serious accident had occurred to the
Atlantic Telegraph, by which about three
hundred miles of the cable are for the present
lost. So great an undertaking, dependent for
its success on so many concurring causes and
instrum°nts, conducted on an element proverb-
ially unstable, could hardly be expected to
escape without accident or mishap. But of the
final success there can be no reasonable doubt.
The experiments, up to the moment when the
cable broke, establish the practicability of the
grand project, and promise ultimate success.
The accident is supposed to have occurred owing
to the unecessary weight and power of the
paying-out machinery, which required the great-
est skill and caution in its management. This
had been pointed out by engineers and others
who had been on board the Niagara before the
expedition set out. We repeat, however, that
this mishap at the beginning does not interfere
with the final accomplishment. Part of the
cable will certainly be recovered. No informa-
tion has yet been obtained as to what the
directors may do under the cirumstances ; but
Mr. CYRUS Finn), the projector of the Company,
and principal American director, who was on
board the Niagara at the time of the accident,
has returned to Valentia in the steamer Cyclops,
and gone direct to London.

A meeting of the directors of the Company
was held last Saturday, the result of which is
not yet known, but of which our readers shall
have early intimation. Though we are net
conjurors enough to know what the directors
will do, we will yet venture to offer a suggestion
on what might, could, would, or should be done,
and we tender it gratuitously, without fee or
reward, to all whom it may concern. Probably
the season is too far advanced to permit of
repeating the experiment this year, and possib!y,
too, after the loss of so much cable, it might be
considered that the remaining portion is of
insufficient length to justify the attempt. Sup-
posing, then, the directors to decide against
proceeding with the undertaking this year, what
is to be done, and what is the best use that
could be made of the occasion. Our suggestion
is, that the government should purchase the
Atlantic cable, and employ it, without delay, in
England to India. It might run from
Suez down the Red Sea to Bombay, or, perhaps,
preferably from the head of the Persian Gulf to
Bombay.. We should then be placed in imme-
diate contact with the scene of the existing
rebellion. We could have immediate intelli-
gence of what it now concerns us to know ; it
might save, or help to save, our Eastern empire;
It would at once communicate a magnificent idea
of the power of England, and the promptitude
and decsion of the men who are now at the helm
of affairs. It would impart courage to our
valiant countrymen, who would thus combat, if
not in sight, almost within hearing, of their
homes and kindred. The cable is all shipped,
and ready for laying down. Magnificent vessels
and crews are equipped for the service. Much
time would be saved. The government,
by giving a fair price, • might save pe-
cuniary loss to the shareholders, and
• while the nation would acquire what it most needs
at this moment—a rapid means of communication
with India—the directors would also gain what
is most advantageous for the interests—we do
not say, of the shareholders—but what is most
advantageous for the interests of commerce and
civilisation, and of the whole human race. It is
a world-wide interest, that this Atlantic cable
should be laid down successfully and securely.
By next summer the directors would have time
to prepare another telegraphic cable, and they
could make such alterations and improvements
as their late experience suggests. This is the
rule draft of an idea, that others more competent
may work out into detail. This year let the cable
stretch eastward to India ; another year, remedy-
ing any oversight that may have been committed,
let another cable be prepared to stretch westward.
Let us first bridge the Indian Ocean t this is
more urgently required at the present moment.
Calcutta will then be ten minutes from London
We can afterwards more securely throw a similar
chain across the Atlnntic,
.and thus will be
realised the boldest dream of fancy and philan-
thropy—a girdle will be thrown round the world;
the Atlantic will be bridged with lightning,.
That iron chain which has sunk into the sea—
that Symbol of eternity and mirror .of lrie Infinite

—will represent the golden chain of love, and
friendship, and brotherhood, which, we trust,
will one day unite the whole human race into one
glorious and peaceful federation ; and so the
voice of ancient prophecy will receive its fulfil-
ment—" Knowledge shall cover the earth as the
waters cover the channel of the great deep"

The Shareholders in the Great Western Rail-
way have held their half-yearly meeting, and
despite the unpromising state of their affairs,
they have not taken any decided steps to bring
about an improved system of management. We
grant that a "Committee of Investigation," such
as suggested in our paper on Friday, is a
course not to be hastily adopted, as it not unfre-
quently leads to serious and unpleasant results.
From our previous remarks, it is evident that the
expenditure of the Great Western Railway has
been extravagant in the extreme, and that the
Bonded Debt and Preferential Claims have been
increasing with fearful rapidity. Seeing the
state in which the Company's affairs were pro-
gressing, the directors appointed a committee
from among themselves, to investigate their
liabilities and expenditure ; but fearing the
indignation of the shareholders might overtake
them, they offered a compr3mise on Friday, and
agreed to allow four shareholders to join in the
director's deliberations. The very terms in
which this proposal was made demonstrated that
the directors felt that their past proceedings were
not entitled to absolute approval or confidence,
and the chairman pointed out the expediency of
continuing to give them their support, as it
would tend to strengthen the position of the
Company in the eyes of the public. This, how-
ever, is very doubtful, especially if we bear in
mind that the dividend has dwindled down to
1 per cent. upon a capital if 8,237,2761. At
the same time, the directors were holding out
golden hopes and promises as to future success.
" Hope deferred maketh the heart sick," and we
should have thought the shareholders of this
gigantic concern would have felt weary with the
oft repeated, but always broken, promises of the
directors.

Looking at the report laid before the share-
holders on Friday, we cannot disguise the fact
that the present system of management is
unsound, added to which is the crushing weight
of its Debenture Debt. The constitution of the
Board of Directors is extremely faulty. Their
power is absolute, and, from some cause or
other, all their proceedings are passed over with
a verbal criticism. In a word, chairman and
directors seem to stand in a position totally inde-
pendent of the proprietors. This is proved by
the manner in which Mr. PONSONBY was called
to the chair of the company. He has not been
a director much more than six months, and his
election, as such, was declared without a single
shareholder being consulted ; and when Lord
BARRINGTON lately resigned the office of chair-
man Mr. PONSONBY was appointed his successor,
although the hon. gentleman confesses his want
of ability and experience in railway matters.
Can we wonder, then, that with such an appa-
rently irresponsible Board, and with a secretary
(Jr. SAUNDERS) who seems to rule each and ail,
that something would go astray ? In tact, not
long since two of the directors felt compelled
to resign their seats at the Board rather than
sanction the present anomalous system ; and in
doing so one of them (Slr. BAKER) declared that
" without some change the shareholders must
dearly suffer." The other gentleman (Mr.
POTTER) justified his resignation on the following
grounds :—" Because Mr. SAUNDERS is not only
Secretary and organ of the Board of Directors,
to whom they entrusted all the aff kirs of the
Company, but he is also the superintendent of
the Company—the sole head and organ of the
executive. In him, therefore, are combined all
the powers of the Company ; and the Board of
the Great Western Railway Company, contrary
to the established practice in all great railway
corporations, has not the advantage of that
division of labour which, by means of permanent
committees contt oiling each department,
qualifies individual members of the Board
for those duties of superintendence and
direction, and infuses knowledged responsibility
into the whole." Such were the sentiments of
two of the ex-Directors of the Company. Mat-
ters have not been mended of late, and we see
that the Board is still disposed to carry on their
past scheme of mismanagement, and to augment
their liabilities without any chance of a corres-
ponding return.

It would be easy to adduce facts and figures
to prove the correctness of this statement, but
this we refrain from doing, as our previous
remarks have disposed of the point. We, there-
fore, consider that the shareholders lacked
courage on Friday, when they consented to the
compromise alluded to, and hence little faith in
any good result which may attend the labours of
investigation. The proprietors laboured unddr
a dread of the value of their shares being depre-
ciated, in case of bold and vigorous measures
being taken for the reformation of existing
abuses. Be it further observed that it was some-
what singular, in the presznt aspect of the
Company's affairs, the meeting should have
agreed to grant a sum of 5,000/. to Mr. SAUN-
DERS for extra services, although in receipt of an
annual stipend of 2,500/. It also voted a
special allowance to Mr. BRUNEL, who is now
the Company's consulting engineer. We pre-
sume those extra allowances have something to
do with the Mersey Conservancy ;if so, the
shareholders will be in a position to estimate