The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-14 00:00:00

postponed much longer, for the increasing .demands
of the merchant, the planter, and the speculator will
have to be met somehow, and we trust that Mr.
MASSEY will have the wisdom and the statesmanship
to save India from the doom of those recurring
panics which periodically attest, among ourselves,
the mistaken prudence and the short-sighted policy
of our financiers of 1844.

Cheap trains for working men is a great deside-
ratum, and at the present time the subject has be-
come one of great interest and importance. On the
first of March the London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway will commence their new plan of providing
cheap railway traffic for the working classes. By
this scheme, mechanics, artisans, and labourers, will
be able to obtain a weekly ticket for a shilling that
will allow them to make one journey a day in each
direction, on all the line between Ludgate-hill and
Victoria. This is a voluntary undertaking on the
part of the Railway, and reflects great credit on the
directors. It has been made compulsory on the
Metropolitan Railway, by an Act of Parliament,
that they should run one working man's train per
day, but the enactment did not include other trains.
Various restrictions are made to insure that no un-
fair advantage is taken of this privilege, and these are
only right and reasonable. It is to be trusted
that success will at'end this effort of a praiseworthy
character, and that other lines will follow the
example thus worthily set. The necessity that
exists for some relief being afforded to the working
classes is very apparent, and the subject was
touched upon in the House of Lords last night, when
Lord HOUGHTON moved for a return of the number
of unions and parishes that had availed themselves
of the Act of last year, which " enabled them to
receive from the Metropolitan Board the sums of
money expended in the relief of the casual poor,"
&c. In the remarks which were made on this
subject the Earl of LONGFORD said that the provi-
sions contained in the bill were necessary in conse-
quence of the numerous evictions which had taken
place by the metropolitan improvements. It is a
serious thing to reflect upon that so many as fifteen
thousand evictions have taken place, and the subject
thus assumes a vast social importance. Lord
DERBY was the first to bring this matter forward,
and, with a foresight and good feeling that did him
honour, he called the attention of the House of
Lords to the question. Had more notice been
taken of the affair then, and more heed paid to his
suggestions, it is very likely that we should not now
have to deplore the great extent to which the evil
has spread and the serious aspect which it has
assumed. Lord LONGFORD very properly observed
that though the sanitary condition of the metropolis
necessitated the removal of narrow thoroughfares,
their lordships ought to reflect that in giving autho-
rity for wholesale removal, they rendered them-
selves in some degree responsible for the miseries
that ensued by the overcrowding of other districts.
This is perfectly true, and it is only a one-sided
legislation that does not look beyond the immediate
end in view to the ultimate effects on those who
are compelled to be the victims to the general schemes
of a large and comprehensive nature. The West-
minster Improvement Bill displaces 3,500 persons,
and the commissioners who have charge of the mea-
sure have reported that they did not provide accom-
modation for these persons because their chief
object was the " improvement of the sanitary con-
dition of Westminster." Surely such is most short-
sighted policy, and can never prosper in the long
run. It cannot be to the interests of society that
so large a proportion of the population should suffer
such ills ; and if the sanitary condition of one part
of the metropolis is benefited, the summary mode
of proceedings will inevitably inflict upon another
part of it many and serious evils. It is of great
importance that this subject should be taken up
without delay, and receive the attention that it de-
serves, from its immediate and prospective conse-
quences.