The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-25 00:00:00

something should be done at once. The idea of
running cheap trains night and morning is an ad-
mirable one, and must in a great measure mitigate
the evil, and prove a vast advantage to all who now
suffer so dreadfully from the effects of over-crowd-
ing and its attendant miseries. Lord DERBY has
besides the merit of having been the first to
bring this question of the railways affecting the
comfort of the working classes before Parliament
some years ago. It was then paid very little atten-
tion to, and many, indeed, averred that the noble
earl was making a great dear of unnecessary fuss
about the matter. These wiseacres must ere this,
however, have disproved their assertions, and seen
reason to modify their expressions. Time and
experience have more than borne out the declara-
tions, and verified the prophecies of the noble earl,
and where units complained, tens of hundreds now
murmur loudly against the grievous infraction of
their social rights, and the cruel addition to their
inevitably trou!-les that have been brought about by
the development and spread of science in every
department. To the rich, the busy, the idle, the
foreigner, the traveller, and many others, all these
increased means of communication serve to increase
their wealth, add to their amusement, extend their
employments, eccelerate their arrangements, and
impart increased excitement to their progress. To
the poor they have added another burden to the
load under which they had before nearly sunk. It
would never do to let it be said, that while the
fame of our mechanical exploits excited the wonder
of the world, the first result was that our toiling
artisans and our striving poor in all directions
should droop and wither away under the inflictions
imposed upon them. Vain will be our boast that
our capital is the emporium of the world, and affords
more speedy and numerous means of intercommuni-
cation than any other city, if these means of transit
have brought in their progress the means of spread-
ing disease and death among the lives of industry,
and the results of poverty. Those hapless victims
who would inevitably succumb to the insidious
attacks of fever and pestilence, "by the wayside
fall and perish, weary of the march of life," would
be the accusers who would rise up in judgment
against the selfishness and supineness of modern
reformers and regenerators, and blight all the
glory of their enterprise at its outset. Of
course, there will be many difficulties in
the way of carrying cut all the details
of this, or any other simlar measure of such
an aggregate:extent ; but it is always something
very important to have mete a start in the right
direction, end the French proverb cc n'est qua le
premier pas qui cattle is true in this as in many
minor instances. ;t must be a great relief to all
the more intelligent and more right feeling of the
classes referred to to knov that they stand a
chance of possessing room to more in, and that
their families may grow up in the habits of order
and prosperitywhich cannot be obtained in cramped
localities, also they will enjoy a larger share of the
crowning gift of health, wh ch is of more value
than wealth to the rich, bit is to the poor a
sheet anther of security. The Earl of SHAFTES-
BURY suggested that two trains should be run
every morning and evening to obviate inconve.
oience and ensure security in ease of hindrance or
accident. It is seldom that s proposal affecting
entirely the interests of the wo•k;ng classes comes
before Parliament, and it is a Latter of rejoicing
that it should have been met in a right spirit and
accorded that attention which al things that con-
cern the welfare of the great body of the people
should receive at the hands of the Legislature.