The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE "SPECTATOR" ON MR GLADSTONE'S NEW
SCHEME.—The railway scheme attributed to Mr
Gladstone ought to be discussed in essentials at
least before the meeting of Parliament, if only to
avert that surprised annoyance with which the na-
tion always receives a project which is not visibly
an embodiment of a slowly formed public desire,
It seems prima facie difficult, perhaps even a little
useless. to consider a project so dependent on den
tail before he has explained his views, but the limits
within which he can move and the purposes for
which only he will move ars capable of such sharp
definition that it is possible to reason upon essentials,
even before the Chancellor of the Exchequer has
brought his marvellous power of statement to bear
upon the particulars. In the first place, the powers
legally vested in the Government for making a
change in railway management are sufficiently
clear. The Railway Act of 1844,7 and 8 Vic., cap.
85, suggests a clause which, if we are not greatly
mistaken, was suggested by Lord Dalhousie, but
which was defended in the Lower House by Mr
Gladstone, conferring on the State the right of pur-
chasing any railway 21 years old and constructed
after 1844, whether its owners wish to sell it or
not. The State therefore can legally, if Parliament
chooses, commence in 1865 buying up all railways
opened slum that period, that is, in prac;,ica all
railways except some of the trunk lines. The ob-
ject of that clause, moreover, was stated in a speech
of Mr Gladstone when introducing it to be the pre•
vention of any evils from monopoly, and as Parlia-
ment is the sole judge whether evils have or have
not arisen from monopoly, it has a clear moral as
well as legal right to act on its own precautionary
reserved power. It has moreover the ability as well
as the right—a point upon which an extraordinary
confusion seems to exist. The act compels the State,
should it any time purchase a railway, to give
the shareholders 25 years' purchase, calculated
upon the average of market prices during the
last three years. As a matter of fact,
sound railway shares throughout the kingdom
may be taken as being worth just 20 years' purchase,
that is, the average prices of three years have always
yielded within a fraction of 6 per cent. Cense.
quently, remarks the 717nes, the State would have
to pay the difference, viz., five years' purchase, and
as Parliament will not pay the difference, there is
an end of the matter, The limes, however, has
formed its decision a great deal too hastily, end
missed the most essential element in the question.
The State has, it is true, twenty-five years' purchase
to pay, bat then it borrows at thirty years, er 34
per cent., and the difference is all in its favour.
Twenty-five years' purchase means 4 percent,, while
Government cannot borrow at 34. The difference
of three-quarters per cent. represent its own profit,
and supposing it conceivable that it could purchase
the whole railway system of Great Britain and Ire.
land, say a napital of four hundred millions, its profit
would be rather less than three millions sterling a
year, with possibilities of increase. We merely
quote these ',ores to show that it is not the cost
which will prevent any action under the clause,
however vast, and not as advocating any change so
wide in the administrative system of the country.
Mr. Gladstone of course has no such idea in his
head, but it is necessary that the truth as to the
existence of pecuniary, or legal, or moral obstacles
should be first of all made clear. The primary and
demonstrable data of the whole business are that
Parliament has the legal power to buy up the British
railways—the branches practically governing the
trunk :—that it has the moral right to buy them;
that it can offer a price at which the whole body of
shareholders will jump ; and that it can offer this
price without cost and with pecuniary benefit to the
taxpayers. The question to be considered therefore
is not the legality, or the morality, or the possibility
of such a transaction, but only its expediency. The
purchase of the entire system may be put out of
the discussion, simply because no such step is at
likely to be proposed, or even contemplated.
There is an irrepressible instinct in the British
mind which forbids any novel application of State
power to internal purposes upon a scale so vast,
and involving consequences so far beyond states-
manlike calculation. The House of Commons
would be too startled by the mere mention of such
an enterprise to consider it calmly, and the nation
is never less startled than the House of Commons,
But even when discussing suggestions admitted not
to be practicable it is as well to avoid talking non-
sense, and nonsense is being talked very liberally
on the matter. The " vast" suggestion, supposing
it made, would not involve any necessary loss of
revenue, any diminution in the range of private
enterprise, any increase, dangerous or safe, in the
sum total of State patronage. The lines need not,
because owned by the State, be worked by the State,
can be leased to private companies as easily as they
are now constructed by them. The men would be
different, the system the same, the change being
only equivalent to that which has already occurred
over and over again, viz:, the transfer of each rail-
way in turn from one body of directors to another,
equally irremovable, equally independent, but under
far stronger inducements to work the lines to a pro-
fit and far more stringent compulsion to consult the
interests of the public. The lessees, not the State,
would appoint, pay, and dismiss the armies of rail-
way officials; they—not the State—would enjoy
the distribution of all those prizes, posts, profits,
and percentages which some writers appear to ima-
gine would suffice to corrupt all England. Even
on this great scale the objection to be taken is only
one of expediency, and the plan, if proposed, is
sure to be something infinitely less gigantic than
this.

THE "EXAMINER" oN THE DANGERS OF THE
STREETS.—An old lady has been knocked down
and killed by a Hansom cab, and the driver, found
guilty of manslaughter by a coroner's inquest, is
committed for trial. The man was driving at the
rapid rate of 12 miles an hour, and whipped his
horse to a gallop when the pocr lady fell to make
his escape, evincing no concern about what he had
done. Every one must have noticed the reckless
way in which these patent cabs are driven.
From their build they turn very quickly, and it is
the sport of some of the drivers to give a
fright to foot passengers in crossings by a close
shave, as it is called. No more than a fright is in-
tended, but if there be the miscalculation of a few
inches, or any extraordinary awkwardness in the
person put in fear, serious mischief may alid does
happen. A return from the hospitals of the num-
ber of persons knocked down or run over by horses
and carriages in the course of every week would
rather startle the public, and these accounts would
not include all the accidents of the class, as many
sufferers are laid up in their private houses. More
dangerous even than the Hansom cabs are the fire-
engines, which go galloping and thundering through
.he streets, with a crowd of ragamuffins yelling at
their heels, without any pretence of care for what-
ever may be in their way, or the horses they may
frighten. Indeed the drivers seem to think it would
be much to the honour of their zeal and activity to
ran over some one. It would prove at least that they
could do something. For with all this ado and fuss,
we all know how little serviceable these engines are
when they arrive at the place of action, and nine
times out of ten the occasion of the reckless gallop
through the streets and peril to passengers is nothing
more than a chimney on fire or a false alarm of one.
We never knew a case, however, in which it mat-
tered a rush ,vhether fire engines arrived a few
minutes earlier or a few minutes later, for to extin-
guish a fire is far beyond their competency. It is
their part to sprinkle it and to make a pond of the
street, but the fire takes its course, limited perhaps
at best to the building where it begins and ends its
days. The tradesmen's two-wheeled carts are the
next danger of the Trivia, The driver is so seated
that he cannot see to the right or the left, and is
often both a careless and unskilled driver, valuing
'nothing but time. The ice carts in particular are
notorious for their hot baste and recklessness of mis-
chief. The same observations apply to :he Post-
office carts, with the royal arms upon them, the
drivers of which seem to think themselves privi■
lodged to run over all who are not nimble enough
to get out of their way. Unlike the drivers of the
tradesmen's carts, the drivers of the Post-office carts
see their road clearly both right and left and before
them, but they do so with a disregard to persons
that would do honour to justice.

THE "LONDON REVIEW" ON THE CASE OP STONE ♦.
STONE AND APPLETON.—Budleigh Salterton is a village
on the sea-coast, a few miles from Exeter. Mrs Stone is
the wife of Captain Stone, late in the East India Company's
service, and some time before the year 1859 she took up her
residence at Budleigh, while her husband went to India,
In 1861 he was invalided and sent home. In the May of
that year ho returned to his family. He does not appear,
from the evidence in the trial which terminated on Thurs-
day, to have been the wisest or most amiable of husbands.
But he consorted with his wife till the year was wearing
towards its close. About that time a scandal, which was
either newly conceived or had been long smouldering in
Budleigh, touching his wife's relations towards Mr Apple-
ton, her medical attendant, suddenly broke out, and Captain
Stone rushed to one of her relatives with the intelligence
that "Mettle" had " gone to the bad." On the 2d of
January, 1862, Mettle gave birth to a child, and as her hus-
band, by what instigation egged on we know not, had
already charged her with adultery, all Budleigh Salterton
was up in arms to test whether the baby was a full. grown
baby or a baby who had presumed to come into the world
before his proper time. Upon this solemn question Mrs
Stone's guilt or innocence mainly turned, and witnesses
were called on either side to prove, in the interest of the
,Japtain that the little mortal was of full growth, and in the
interest of Mrs Stone that by right he should have post-
poned putting in a social appearance for some seven weeks
later. The question of his legitimacy was tried in March
1863, and the jury then impannelled declared by their vor•

diet that whose ever child he might be, he was not the child
of Captain Stone. A new trial was ordered by the full
full Court, and on Thursday it was decided that Mrs Stone
was free from the charge of adultery. It is difficult to
conceive how such a charge could have been made. Mrs
Stone was already the mother of four children before the
birth of her last child, and it was proved that she had
commenced her married life with premature con-
finements. She was a woman in delicate health, and ob-
stetric science and common experience support the probe.
bility that a woman who begins in this way will probably
continue to be confined before her time. Some portions of
the evidence on which her husband based his claim to a
divorce are so manifestly disreputable, that one is at a loss
to conceive how they could have been presented to a jury.
They are, indeed, of so disgusting and improbable a charac-
ter, that we should not think of recapitulating them to our
readers. It is sufficient to say that it is clearly impossible
that any woman, not insane, could have acted as Captain
Stone's principal witnesses represent his wife as having
acted. But the whole tenor of the case testifies to that
miserable longing for excitement of any kind that promises
relief from the insupportable dulness of village life. Grave
and respectable people panting for stimulants at their par-
lour windows could not see Mrs Stone's medical attendant
coming daily to visit her in the absence of her husband
without concluding that something dreadful was going on.
They waylaid her lightest expressions, and extracted from
them a meaning favourable to their scandalous speculations.
Gossip after gossip came and looked at her baby, and con-
cluded, according to their or good-will, either that
it was full-grown or premature. In the exciting contest of
opinions Budleigh Salterton thrilled with delight. Parsons
and doctors, matrons and spinsters, kitchen-maids and old
women of the stronger sex, all inspected the baby, ranged
themselves on either side of the case, and swore point blank
that it was full-grown or not full-grown. If from these
village oracles we turn to the evidende of the first obstetric
authorities, we find that nothing on earth is more uncertain
than the maturity or immaturity of a child between seven
and nine months' growth. The inaicia vary so much that
Dr Tyler Smith sai.i, when a lady's reputation was at stake,
he would decline to give any opinion at all, or, if he did
give any, it would be with so many reservations and excep-
tions, that nothing certain could be concluded from it. Yet
this was the main fact on which Captain Stone could, with
any appearance of right, found his claim to a divorce. In
truth, he and his wife both fell victims to the inanity of
Budleigh Salterton existence. The village wanted some-
thing to stir its blood, and it lighted on Mr Appleton's pro•
fessional visits to Mrs Stone. Her husband was absent in
India. There were two medical practitioners ministering to
its physical sufferings. One of them was in frequent at-
tendance on the temporary widow, and it concluded, in a
Christian spirit, that "something must be wrong." There
is no greater stimulant to lazy blood than scandal. Bud-
leigh Salterton grasped at its opportunity, and Capt. Stone
Stone—hie wife, unhappily, also—fell a victim to its thirst
for something to talk about.

THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON GOVERNMENT AND
THE RAILWAYS.—Twenty years ago, when Sir Robert Peel
was in power, just before the great railway mania of 1845,
an act was passed giving to the Government various powers
of control over all railways authorised in and after the ses-
sion of 1844, The regulations under which the mails and
the troops are to be carried, the compulsory arrangement as
to Parliamentary trains, and a variety of other provisions
obligatory upon the companies, are to be traced to this sta-
tute. But tilde were two powers which were to lie in abey-
ance for 21 years, and which will come into operation in the
course of 1865, One of these has proved nugatory, being
based on the then prevalent anticipation that 10 per cent.
would be a common rate of dividend. Whenever the profits
exceeded this amount, the Government were empowered to
impose a new tariff; but the companies which have been
fortunate enough to reach this limit are so few, that there
is no prospect of any exercise of this power of regulation,
even if it were otherwise thought to be desirable. The
other almost forgotten privilege of the Government is that
of buying up any line subject to the provisions of the
act at 25 years' purchase on the average rate of profit of
the three preceding years. The privilege is clogged with
certain conditions. If the company is dissatisfied with
the amount of purchase-money calculated on this basis,
it may demand an arbitration, to determine whether any
and what addition should bo made to bring the price up to
the fair value of the line. No branch line of less than five
miles in length is to be subject to the powers of compulsory
purchase ; and, if a branch line is taken, the Company may
require the Government to purchase their whole concern,
just as a private landowner may comp! a Company to take
the whole of a house or manufactory of which any portion
is required for the purpose of their works. The act, more-
over, provides that its powers are not to be used to sustain
an undue competition against any independent company,
and that no purchase shall be made until three months'
notice shall have been given to the company, nor until
Parliament shall have authorised the raising of the neces-
sary funds, The total value of railway properly, including
loan-capital, is between £300,000,000 and £400,000,000;
and though the interest of shareholders, which alone would
be the immediate subject of purchase, is very much less, it
would be an operation of unparalleled magnitude to putsthe
powers of the act in force. It is said that the Government
has it in contemplation to bring the subject before Parlia-
ment in the approaching session, and there can be no
doubt that, if this is done, the course taken will be to
refer to the consideration of a Select Committee a matter
of too formidable a character to be dealt with as a party
measure. The first consideration which must strike
every one, whether interested in railway shares or not, is
that the purchase, if effected at all, must—not neces-
sarily in the first instance, DUG sooner or later—embrace the
whole railway system of the country ; and it is of the
gravest importance to consider, first, whether so great a
revolution as the transfer of all our railways to the Goa
vernment is desirable, and, secondly, whether, under exist-
ing circumstances, such a project can be considered feasible.
To deal with the last question first, it is obvious that, from
the enormous extent to which amalgamation has been car-
ried in the 20 years that have elapsed since the passing of
Sir Robert Peel's Act ; from the infinitely varied and com-
plicated arrangements in the shape of leases, subsidies, and
joint and from the vast parliamentarycapi-
tal influence of the rail-
way interest, it would, to say the least,
be a very difficult
n
nrecthe: price glad,ea
Would, in an average ease,
be t ttmatter and ownershipt
toh eenforce
ro important
the
et variouscompulsory
powers of purchase
aginst the unanimous wishes of railway shareholders. It
is by no means clear, however, that the interest of the
companies would be opposed to that of the Government.
There must be very few shareholdersatthi sbarnothmeencto,utno sell
ywl
who
would
at
25years'
rate of dividend for the
last
about th nr d
arvsai
present market value
of the area, and if the special
interests of those who
direct the policy of the companies
hi. ad:
soa ye h, b
la'n
twenty per cent. above the
were not an obstacle,
there would seem to be no reason to dread au organised
opposition to the Government project. It is true that
shareholders who retain their shares as permanent invest-
ate
ats
time w might be unwilling
quen
o sell, even at a high price,
hen, in e of the operation, the
market would be denuded of thec class of five per cent.
investments which they would °specially desire ; but the
broad result of the purchase would still, upon the whole,
be decidedly advantageous to the holders of railway pro-
perty
early . Debenture holders might ,
net like the prospect of
an reduction in their rate of interest, and some
difficulty might be experienced in adjusting the claims
of preferential shareholders. Still tile total price paid
would be largely in excess of what the market would
produce, and this consideration might be expected to secure
a preponderance of support from those most immediately in-
terested in the operation. A
—n apparent resistance would be
likely, in eny case, to be manifested, if only with the view
of utilizing to the utmost the right of submitting the ques-
tion to arbitration ; but someth;
king more than a mock oppo-
sition would be needed to resist thir scheme if it were once
deliberately approved by then
--ouse of Commons. The diffi-
culty, which at once suggests itself,
of raising the requisite
funds is not nearly so formidable as it tosy..
appear at first
sight. Although the operation Must be conducted from the
first with a view to the absorption of the whole railway
system, the purchases of different lines need not be, and
would
South Coast not be, aimultaneous. For example, the acquisition
of the lines, which have so great a military
value inbe canonnection with our naval arsenals and dockyards,
would operation wittio manageable compass, and time
might be given f
this or the quiet absorption of the new stock
cr for purpose before attempting to deal with any
other company- A considerable proportion of the capital
released bythe purchase of shares would find its way at once
into Government securities, and though some part of the
amount would probably flow abroad in search of five per
cent. investments, the derangement of the market and the
influence on the price of Consols need not be serious if the
process were conducted gradually and with judgment. Un-
less, therefore, the attitude of the railway interest should
be more hostile than there appears reason to suppose, there
is nothing to render the ultimate purchase of all our rail-
ways, large as the operation would be, at all impracticable.
Whether the concentration in the hands of the government
of all the railway power of the country would be beneficial
to the community at large is a wholly different question,
upon which there is much to be said on either side. The
advantages to be gained by the proposed revolution are
obvious, if only it be assumed that the lines would be as
well managed under the Government as they now are by
independent and conflicting Boards.

aetinga of
the Capital Pun shment Commis.
sioners were held on Thursday and Fridey, the 15th and
16th inst., at which the Duke of Richmond, Lord Stanley,
M.P. ; 11. Waddington, Esq.; J. Bright, E,q., IMP.; W.
Swart, l'Aq., M.P. Gpaatt.hteoz. HEasqrd.,y, Eeq., M-P, ;a w
Thell t , E s
M.P„iattended.
and C. Neate, Esq.,
'l
secretary," li
; PII: !
was also present,
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