The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-13 00:00:00

THEILIIOMETER.

Thia day at Two o'clock 52

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Wind—Blowing a gale from S.W.

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LONDON, SATURDAY, FEB. 13, 1864.

Our vast Indian Empire is a legitimate object of
national pride and interest and anxiety. We may
feel justly exultant in the magnitude of our terri-

which England is there called upon to fulfil,
let us quote from some of his opening
observations on the subject. "We have done," he
says, "a great deal for the people of India. They
were blind, we have taught them to see ; they
were unthinking and unconscious, we have taught
them to be conscious and observant ; they were
accustomed only to a Government of force and
arbitrary caprice, which renders a whole people de-
pendent upon the personal disposition of the
Monarch,—we have shown them a government of
law and order of rights and principles. We can-
not stop here; we must allow them to touch, to
handle, to taste and to enjoy, all ,those glorious
fruits of British civilisation which we have taught
them to understand and to appreciate. We cannot
give and withhold at the same time. We must con-
tinue to show the way in reform and reconstruction ;
we must always confer and never concede: no long as
the British Government keeps moderately in ad-
vance of native opinion and native capacity, it will
preserve the moral support of the influential
classes, without which peace and good order will
for ever be precarious, and physical force will be a
doubtful and discreditable safeguard."

The power of right as opposed to might is
what Major BELL is anxious to enforce as the true
stronghold of British power. In the furtherance of
this opinion he expresses views on the subject of
territorial aggrandisement not likely to be palatable
to the acquisitive. While we do not agree with him
in all his views, we consider these views eminently
deserving the thoughtful attention of alrthe friends
and the rulers of India. At the close of his remarks
he disclaims the reputation of being an alarmist.
" I fear," he says, " neither invasion nor rebellion,
but I wish always to feel that the right is on our
side. I wish to see every source of moral weakness,
every subject of rebuke, obliterated. I desire the
rights of every one to be respected, in order that
our own may be strengthened. It is not," he added,
" because we have done so little, but because we
have done so much, that I wish to see our work
consolidated and naturalised.,' In furtherance of
which desirable object, Major BELL has done
good service by his fearless suggestions and his
plain-spoken reproofs.

It will be a matter of general satisfaction that
the House of Peers has made no opposition to the
appointment of the joint committee, which it is pro-
posed shall undertake the supervision of the myriad
railway schemes with which London is now threat-
ened. The public have seen with some alarm the
rapid extension of these projects until they have
reached an amount that is positively startling. As
Lord DERBY observed, there may well be a feeling
amounting almost to a panic, when the number,
extent, and variety of these schemes are contem-
plated. No less than 160 of our metropolitan streets
will be seriously interfered with, and as a proof that
these are no mere visionary designs which may
never be put into execution, even if admitted, the
noble earl tells us that 8 per cent. of the estimated
amount required—L3s,ooo,ooo—has been already
deposited. Railways are to intersect London north,
south, east, and west. Trains are to ply over our
heads, to rumble under our feet, and to rush along
side of us. The latter experiment is one of the
many modern fashions which have been set us by
the Americans ; but as our disregard for life and
limb does not yet equal theirs, we doubt whether it
will prove acceptable to English folks. It is a
matter of common remark and natural regret that
all these schemes are brought forward indepen-
dently and separately, without any reference to each
other. There is, therefore, good reason for doubt-
ing whether the interests of the public are
not secondary to the speculative ambition
of each particular company. It has been very truly
said in both houses, with regard to the proposed
committee, that the case of the metropolis is an ex-
ceptional one. In this country we usually look
with some suspicion on any attempt on the part of
the Government to direct or influence such matters,
preferring to leave them exclusively to private
enterprise. But in a matter in which such wide
interests are involved, and in which private enter-
prise seems to be outrunning all bounds, it is better,
as Lord DERBY said, to decide in such a manner
"as to exclude all private interest or personal
consideration from any influence in the decision.'
Lord REDESDALE, who is himself to be a member
of the committee, observed with reference to the
suggestion of a Royal Commission on the subject,
that it was usually found in practice that the re-
ports of such bodies possessed little weight, and he
doubted whether a commission would have the
requisite boldness to deal with these schemes, and
decide which should not go forward. After the
report was made, too, it would be quite possible to
disregard some of its recommendations, a course
which would be scarcely possible if a joint commit-
tee of the two Houses were concerned. The pro-
posed course will be more advantageous to the
schemers themselves than the ordinary one, for it
will save them a great outlay, perhaps, for no good.
If a company expend a large sum of money in
getting abill through a committee of the Lower House
only to have it thrown out by a committee of the
Peers they have not only the mortification to regret,
but the actual loss. The committee will have every
opportunity of dealing with the subject as a whole,
without any regard to particular cases or isolated
plans. They have already a report of the Board of
Trade on the subject, and Earl GRANVILLE has
promised them a supplementary report of an en-
gineering character, describing the effect of these
schemes. The Board of Works and the Corpora-
tion of London have also published reports which
Will further enlighten them as to the views of tie
citizens. The numerous public meetings which
have been held in different parts of London will
probably also have weight, although, of course, a

limited or factious opposition mast not be allowed
to interfere with designs of general utility. It is
evidently quite time that something was done to
put the whole matter on an entirely new footing,
since the interests of a large body of the inhabitants
of the metropolis are at stake, and the comfort and
convenience of all. There is no ground for fearing
at the present day, and with the names which com-
pose the committee, that any unnecessary obstacles
will be put in the way of improvement and enter-
prise; but the public will be more satisfied if they
see the matter placed in the hands of those who
will only regard the general good without regard•
ent
oa rl
na
to private interests of any sort whatever; avoiding
alikeo
e f u
es
nb extreme of unnecessary meddling with
reasonable
encouraging
plans,
unlimitedand the
innovation
even more d.a n ge ro us error

The Earl of DERBY has shown great promptitude
in bringing the
affairs of the American Correa-
pondence before the House, and much as it is to be
regretted that his efforts Were so little successful,
still it is a satisfaction to find one in so prominent
a position as the noble earl exposing the inconsis-
tencies and declaring the mysteries that distinguish
and surround all the transactions of our Govern-
ment with that of Washington. In the first place,
what can be more conclusive than the arguments
with which Lord DERBY confuted the statements
made by the noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
respecting the difficulties that stood in the way of
producing the papers. Indeed, a more trivial, 1111•
founded, or shallow excuse was never put forward;

than to say that it is inexpedient to furnish the cor-
respondence because the case of the steam rams in
the Mersey was about to undergo judicial investi-
gation. Now, as Lord DERBY very justly remarks,
what foundation can there be for this assertion,
when these rams were seized in October, and
from that time till now no steps have
been taken to bring the case before the
Court. It was only last Saturday that they
filed information which might have been done in
November and December. Also it was now said
that it would be necessary to send a commission
abroad for the purpose of taking evidence in the
proceedings. It is very clear that by this means no
information will ever be given to Parliament on a
subject which it is especially important they should
possess accurate knowledge, and form a candid and
impartial opinion. Extreme slowness seems to
be the present ruling policy of the Government.
The other day we were told of the lengthened
period that must elapse before the papers relating
to Denmark could possibly be laid on the table.
Now we find that all these months have gone by
since the seizure of the rams, and yet nothing
definite has been done. Apart from the question of
the corresuondence, this is a most untair proce-
dure. The Ministers are in the double capacity of
plaintiffs and judges at present, and it is a mean
and pitiful advantage to take of their power to
subject the owners of these vessels to losses and
inconvenience which they could not incur at the
hands of minor prosecutors. In their affected zeal
to do service to the Federal Government they are
overlcok.i-z J necessity of rendering justice to
their own p.ople. Lord DERBY hid great stress
upon the despatch which contains a suspicious
paragraph to the effect that it is announced as the
policy of the American Government to " pursue
vessels into British ports, and there carry on hos-
tilities notwithstanding they are lying under the
protection of the British flag, and in British
waters." Earl RUSSELL'S remarks wete as tame
as Lord DERBY'S were energetic, and his argu-
ments were as shallow as his opponent's were con-
clusive. All the impertiner,-,a of Mr. ADAMS is
treated as indiscretion, and the noble lord falls
back upon the wretched expedient of saying that
Lord DERBY must not complain of delays
which are proverbial in law. All this shuffling is
quite unworthy of a Minister of a great country,
who is put forward to represent the majesty of
England in the presence of the natives of the world.
If his case is good, he spoils it by such subterfuge ;
and if it is bad, it does not avail him in the straits
into which bad management has brought him. The
conclusion to which Lord RUSSELL arrives is, that
he would be doing an injustice to the law officers of
the Crown in allowing those papers to be produced
at this stage of the proceeding. One is reminded
of the saying, that the " wish is father to the
thought," in perusing Earl RUSSELL'S speech, in
which he admits that law is proverbial for delays,
and then goes on to say that his proceedings will
be regulated in accordance with the forms of the
law. The law officers of the Crown have a respon-
sible duty to perform, and a recognised position to
occupy ; but it is not for them to settle our relations
with Foreign Fowers according to the forms and
customs of a court of law. It was not so that our
forefathers acted, and even in the last generation
such a thing was unheard of. Had the ships of
England been unjustly seized, the honour of Eng-
land assailed, or the flag disregarded, PITT, or
Fox, or CANNING would not have come down to
the house and said, I have consulted the law officers
of the Crown, and they will make inquiries; mean-
while it is not expedient to interfere at present.
Such a course would be virtually ignoring the
question, and allowing the judgment to go by de-
fault. It remains to be seen what will be the
issue of these discussions in the house, but so far
as it appears at present, it cannot be said that the
conduct of our Government is anything like satis-
factory. There is a tone of hesitation and uncer-
tainty which is entirely at variance with the
prevailing characteristics of English spirit.

Irish Emigration—Whig and Conservative
Policy.

(From the Realm.)

A Ministerialist contemporary dismisses the opening
objection made by the leader of the Opposition in the House
of Commons to her Majesty's Speech with a curt observa-
tion to the effect that Mr. Disraeli made a strong bid for
the sympathy of the Irish members, and then proceeds to
a her subjects as if the Irish question was one of no inte-
rest to the British nation.

That this treatment of so grave a subject is in accordance
with the policy of the present Government may be further
gathered from the speeches of Lord Carlisle at the recent
Lord Mayor's dinner in Dublin, and from Sir R, Peel's
answer to Mr. Whiteside's speech on Friday, while the
sympathy and right feeling among the Opposition are well
shown by the strong arguments used by the member for the
Lublin University, and by the early and prominent notice
that Mr. Disraeli takes of the absence from the Royal Speech
of any allusion t 3 the great distress now prevalent in Ireland.

The Lord Lieutenant of Irelane, while commencing with
a generous regret that the sower of Ireland's population
should leave their native shores to crimson with their blood
the reeking plains of Virginia and Tennessee, consoles him-
self with the weak argument that it would be cruel forcibly
to repress the current of emigration and to put into execu
tion the law against Foreign Enlistment, and so pre-
vent an ignorant people from being kidnapped to fight in
an alien cause.

His Excellency, surrounded by a clique whose object is
to stifle public outcry or investigation in regard to Irish
distress, suggests no alleviation of the misery of the coun-
try, beyond a vague remark that the general want of Ireland
is the adoption of a better style of farming. In contradis-
tinction to this let us take the speech of the late Attorney-
General for Ireland.

Mr. Whiteside urged that the welfare of Ireland is no
provincial question, and shows by statistics that not only
has the agricultural wealth of the country diminished of
late years, but that, under the present Government, the
manufacturing resources of Ireland have suffered an enor-
mous decrease.

He cites the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to show us
that the agricultural produce between the year 1859 and
that of 1862.3 fell off by no less a sum than £12,110,000
sterling, nearly one half of the estimated value of the agri-
cultural products of the country.
This might be accounted for by the bad weather and
consequent bad harvests of late years on the other side of
the channol ; but when Mr. Whiteside touches upon the
manufacturing interests of Ireland, he brings a far graver
proof of the mismanagement of that unfortunate country.
In the item of spirits the Chancellor of the Exchequer im-
posed an extra duty on Irish produce, in order to increase
the revenue; and the result was a diminution of the re-
ceipts. The extent of this deficit, however, is not well
known, and Englishmen will be startled by the irrefragable
statement, that the spirit trade of Ireland has decreased by
nearly five millions sterling.
The paper trade has also suffered a severe blow from
Government measures. In one mill alone the receipts have
fallen off from £3,426 in 1860 to £1,235 in 1863 ; and a large
manufacturer in the South proves that the price of rags has
increased from 50 to 100 per cent, since the Customs duty
on paper has been remitted, while the export duty on rags
has been retained. It is, therefore, impossible for the Irish
manufacturer to compete with foreigners in the London
market, and the result is that the manufacturer is now
obliged to work half time, and to dismiss a considerable
portion of his workpeople.
Hence the great and continued emigration.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS FOR THE
ENSUING WEEK.—Monday—Asiatic, at 3 ; Archi-
tects, at 8 ; Royal Academy, at 8, " Sculpture," Professor
Westmacett. Tuesday—Statistical, at 8, " The Registrar-
General's Reports," Mr. Sargant ; Royal Institution, at 3,
"Experimental Optics," Professor Tyndall; Anthropolo-
gical, at 8, "Pictish Remains," Rev. W. Joass ; "Weight
of the Brain in Negroes," Dr. Peacock; "Neanderthal
Skull," Mr. Blake; Engineers, at 8, " Works cn the Mont
Cenis Tunnel," Mr. Sopwith, jun. Wednesday-Society of
Literature, at 4! ; Meteorological, at 7 ; Society of Arts, at
8, " Public and Private Dietaries," Dr. Smith. Thursday
Zoological, at 4 ; Numismatic, at 7; Antiquaries, at 8 ;
Linnean, at 8, " Rhizopodal Fauna of the Shetlands," Mr.
Brady; Royal, at 8! ; Royal Institution, at 3, "Experi-
mental Optics," Professor Tyndal. Friday—Royal Insti-
tution, at 8, "Dreaming and Sonnambulism in Relation to
Nerve-Centres," Mr. Savory. Saturday—Geological Anni-
versary, at 1; Royal Institution, at 3, " Metallic Ele-
ments," Professor Fraukland,—Athentrum.