The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-01 00:00:00

OV 1

the equitable Judge and the merciful Ruler
may effect more real good in his genera-
tion and acquire a more lasting renown
in future times than any to be acquired
amid the din of arms. The great Soldier of mo•
dern times, whose sword carved his pathway to a
throne, did not rest his hopes of fame on his military
achievements. " I shall go down to posterity,"
said NAPOLEON, " with the Code in my hand:,
We congratulate Sir JOIIN LAWRENCE On
his appointment, not so much for the high
honour which it confers upon his name as for the
golden opportunity which it opens to his hand.

Tneorrneppoarntyo, of the
npbroygtrheesscohfaitrhme
a'.:\,,nlatdortahselrshriagrae--
Irriga-
tion Company,
holders at the November meeting
inseparable
pbl
arae from a
notwithstand-
ing the delays and contingencies
from
little unsatisfactory.has
been
the
„tcrrrueeatthuantdceornatapkainragt,i,f,aerly
last half-year, owing to the prevalence of the rains
which naturally interrupt the works, but progress
is being made notwithstanding. The canals and
aqueducts are going on favourably on the whole,
although the shareholders cannot derive much pro-
fit, from the fact that it will be necessary for the
canal to be completed before the full amount of
traffic to be expected passes along it_ The
principal difficulty in their way is the
scarcity of labour a difficulty which is
ratheY: singular in a country so thickly
popalated. The chairman remarked that he
expected this statement would cause great sar-
prise, but there was, he said, a strong prejudice in
India in favour of emigrating in search of labour.
We may reasonably conclude, however, that this
evil will be considerably modified in course of time,
as not only is the Government taking steps in the
matter, but it can hardly be doubted that when
the Coolies comprehend that constant work and
good wages are within reach of their own door they
will be less eager to start on journeys of speculation
elsewhere. It is to be hoped that the company will not
only give fair wages, but see that they are properly
paid, and that an undue proportion does not remain
the hands of the intervening native agents. The
system of contract labour, which has been tried,
has proved unsatisfactory, and the company have
reverted to the old system of day labour, em-
ploying from 16,000 to 17,000' men and women.
It appears probable that they are in want of effi-
cient and honest managers on the spot—men who
are accustomed to deal with the natives, and to
guard against their tricks and inconsistencies. The
matter is one of great. public interest, and of na-
tional importance to India, where disease and
famine will always be frequent visitors, until the
water supply is regulated, and cheap, easy,
and certain means of internal communication
secured. The progress of the works of
irrigation in Madras will, therefore, be
watched with interest here, while in the presidency
itself they must naturally excite a good deal of at-
tention. Madras has never been celebrated for its
salubrity, but people are begining to discover that
the great wonder-worker—fresh air and pure water
—are powerful agencies everywhere, and that it is
not exactly fair to build on marshy ground, use a
scant supply of impure water, provide very limited
means of ventilation, and then grumble at the un-
healthiness of the climate. This is very much what
we have been doing all through India, and many
are the valuable lives that have fallen sacrifices to
the reckless defiance of all sanitary laws. Officials,
like others, are now awaking to the truth, as well
they may, for they themselves furnish a goodly
band of victims, and the Chairman of the Company
we have been speaking of congratulated the share-
holders on the fact that their scheme was now re-
ceiving fairplay from the home authorities, as wed
as from the Madras Government. Judging from
the immense results that have followed the partial
opening of the Godavery works, there can be little
question that whatever difficulties or delays may
impede their present progress, the members of
Indian irrigation companies will reap a rich reward
for their labours, as well as the satisfaction of for- '
warding works of great and lasting public benefit.

Mr. SPENCE'S remarks on the independence o

the South are well worthy of attention. The ques-
tion was one of such paramount importance, and
concerned such vital interests of the community,
that at any rate some conequenca must have been
imparted to the speech. But Mr. SPENCE was so
earnest and eloquent that he could not fail to im-
press the assembly with his address. There was

great truth in many of his observations, and more
than one argument which he adduced appears in-
[ controvertible. For instance, at the Declaration of
Independence of the United States it was decreed
that, if the Government failed to produce certain
ends, the people had a right to alter or abolish
it, and institute a new Government. From this
Mr. SPENCE correctly affirmed that the South had
a right to secede. He said it was absurd to declare
that there was a right to abolish a Government
without seceding from it ; that it was as absurd" as
to say that if you differ from a man you have a right
to destroy him, but have no right to leave his com-
pany." It is sometimes very useful to put a case
forcibly by way of illustration ; and the extraordi-
nary mistakes that are made by would-be reformers
and social vindicators of the rights of man, are often
quite as inconsistent with the fundamental prin-
ciples of independence, and interfere as much with
the exercise of freedom, as any of the dogmas of ab-
solutism and the doctrines of tyranny. So far, Mr.
SPENCE proved his case with great perspicuity ;
and, notwithstanding some interruptions, the gene•
ral audience were attentive, and appeared to be im-
pressed with the force of his remarks. It is at all
times desirable that great public questions should
be mootee, and brought before the public in all
their bearings, so that the mind of the people can
embrace at once the arguments pro and con., and
decide and determine for themselves es to the value
of this suggestion or the validity of that proposal.
This
topic of Southern independence has not
altogether
received the notice it deserves. People
have been
very ready to declaim agaiust slavery
without consiaeri
at issue ng that this is not the real ques-
tion; but as to the right of one part of the
Union to withdrew
or secede, it is not calmly con-
sidered, bat only fiercely alluded to in angry de-
bates, or sneeringly adverted to by disappointed
philosophers of progress, who fancied that the
Utopia of the world's long " desires was to be found
in the flourishing republic, whose fresh and fervid
youth had electrified the nations, and whose
green
old ago far distant generations would revere, re-
spect, and admire. As to.the subject of slavery
itself, as it actually exists, Mr. SPENCE 1,
s.owed that
it was greatly misunderstood and misrepresented.
It was not invented by the people of the south_
they did not originate it; on the contrary, it was
the people of this country who had taken the
negroes from Africa and planted the slavery there.
There is some eenae in this statement, and it would
be well if those who are exerting themselves in de •
crying the evils of the system took occasion to re-
member that the last generation witnessed the error
in our own possessions, and witnessed the crimes
they shudder at rife among their own countrymen.
It is wise to turn from the excitement of the present
spheres of discussion and now and then to contem•
plate them from afar, as 46; calm and shady