The Sun.
London, England, 1838-11-07 00:00:00

agriculture and commerce in Eurone, reduced to the
•

eaPital is the only commercial commodity of whici
there is an absolute dearth in Ireland. It is true tha

_
Private enterprise would suffice for the establishmen
°fsome two or three lines of railway in Ireland ; but
then occurs the question—ought the Government to
permitprivate Companies to monopolize all the pro-
able branches, without attempting to make any pro-
-1
vBj°n for those parts of the country in which roads
Z'
.lot be established with an equal certainty of imme-
hate Profit ? It must be borne in mind that com-
petition, so effectual in checking commercial abuses
4raiTcvlyay, cannot be brought to bear upon the evils
onopolies. Stage-coach rivalry made the
Proprietors of such establishments the servants of the
public
; but the immense outlay in the formation of
ail ways, and their tendency to break up all other
Odes of popular conveyance, must have the effect, if not
carefully guarded against by the Legislature, of making
their Directors the sole and irresponsible judges of the
public convenience. It is for this reason that we
‘/'ollld seek to prevent, if possible, the occurrence of
evils for which the nation may subsequently find it
fl
however
to provide remedies. We must be careful,
:Weyer, to guard against any misconception of our
sews Upon a subject not less ticklish than important.
"°uld private Companies be found to undertake the
tying down of any one of the great lines marked out
tZ the Commissioners, every facility should be afforded
regard by the Government, compatible with a proper
alig,,arid for the public interest ; but private Companies
of
~nid not be suffered to monopolise the proprietorship
011:11e2nain trunks for the distance only of a few miles
ope:1 Dublin—and thus obtain a power, as it were, of
gme_lng and shutting at their pleasure, the commercial
Rail
the metropolis. To lose sight of the fact that
terotna.Ys are essentially national undertakings, is to
for / It a great blunder indeed ; and, happy will it be
th reland,
• tup, r if
.proper care be taken at the outset to keep
pofeci,tet(4iish.l.lplaoimiwianyesn,tly before the public. In the formation
private Companies cannot be ex-
-1..f left to themselves, to look beyond the
ttoy mtwrcial intercourse at present carried on between
dime ° g.iven places. A calculation of the imme-
and th Pr°fi':' will naturally determine both the site
he all e distante of any proposed line. This would
ready Stvery well ii; England where—as we have al-
atd
edvehm resources of the country are fully
p
h re"; but in a cou:iiry and among a people, where
of linden le giv. a Inas are a.gigned as the means
the, tng
he and ,
444:7 18 al vitality to a commercial spirit,
together different. Under such circum-
of a, the .
profits
t ‘Yea primary consideration is, not the
4t t_s ", but of a century—not the traffic of a &tit:-
ittkihtraZot.ll; but of flourishing cities, of which. the
rati 8 /nay not yet he laid ; and such a consi-
the ot can
41edi
only be acted upon by a nation through
ov e
'Ge"4l of its Government.
Publ.

A• 11 'tall a defence of the conduct of the Rev.
,tvsli AS ill citing MARY WooLFREY before the
No:is ‘-ourt to answer certain questions touchingher
141 il:lealth, which scarcely alters the matter. Why
to
iti- 4iBten to those zealous people who objected to
Itt
4 118?CrPti°11 ? Why did he interfere in the matter
Ni 0, ilut when persons will meddle improperly
ttit4e ZilselY, !hough perhaps very legally, with others,
leteh 0 Bolling
f eti ,to where they will end. Mr. BRE. EteKr!
ete(l rrie over-zealous Churchmen, and in .
,7 01)1•11:11ateessarily with MARY WOOLFREY, and he
inter-
, 'l° the end to bring the whole artillery of the
44 obtleed Ecclesiastical Courts to bear upon a poor
,11,0 th c,4,41.ate woman. Even victory will be a disgrace
17lia ease "'al and them. There is something more in
;141'e th-8e aPParently than the defenders of Mr. BREEKS
fr. .r granted
i'ilke it ;„u_ght Proper to publish. The tomb-stone, we
see
ti ts a ave . • ) was placed as usual at
rthe head of
% of 4, and what then is the meaning o, the asdsers-
c%
Piet, r'illrtEEKs' defenders, that it was pi t:ce
°lls'Y as possible in the church-yard ?
111 0
of he ur,
advertising columns will be found a series
rhittl:esolutions,
passed at a late meeting of the Corn-
l'‘ie toni,(3f the Church-rate Abolition Society, to which
'is
110v*est the earnest attention of our readers.. There
Arno
tltullse or abomination connected with the statu-
tirpatioNezu of religion, which calls so loudly for eilt-e
trlo4ei n' al the tax which that system lays upon.t i
Ilieil.i.leinces f all who cannot conform to its doctrine,
/ti.th tle,' °r principles ; and, therefore, we hail
tlll.t. Pleasure voiceevery opportunity of raising
against it, and of impressing upon

",ecassity of r ,-C ,:very
on one meal of potatoes and water in the twenty-four
hours, simply because they want the capital requisite
to make their labour profitable ! The Irish are wel-
come to the free enjoyment of all the vices which igno-
rance, hunger, and want of employment may engender
among them. The peculiar care of the Tories is to
protect them against the miseries consequent upon
driving a thriving trade upon borrowed capital. Now
We are not surprised to find that a solicitude so very
suspicious as that manifested by the Conservative
Press, with regard to the fatal consequences to be anti-
cipated from an Irish Railway Loan, guaranteed by the

7overnment, has produced an effect in Ireland the re

verse of what was anticipated by Tory writers. To
us it appears incredible that the Tories should be such
fools as to expect to disguise the hatred and jealousy
of Ireland, that would deprive that country of an ex-
tensive system of railways under so flimsy a veil as
that of a wish to save her people from the infliction
of a possible abuse in the outlay of the requisite ex-
penditure. We freely admit that it will require the
greatest vigilance on the part of the Government and
the nation to prevent jobbing, to some extent, in
the
prosecution of works so extensive as the
intersection of a country with railroads ; but 'no
man, who is not either a fool or a knave, will
Maintain that a country like Ireland can better afford
to want such roads, than to defray the interest of a
couple of millions unnecessarily wasted in their for-
mation. Develope but her vast resources, and Ireland
can well afford to bear, unaided, the cost of such de-
velopment. The security which she offers us is
better than any placed at the disposal of Foreign
fLoan Contractors, being incapable of depreciation
rom any ......_
change in the political relations of Europe ;
and though complaints have been raised against the
low estimate formed by the Commissioners of the nett
Profit on Irish Railways generally, for the first few
years, we believe that there are plenty of capitalists
who would be glad to accept three and a half per cent.
for the use of their unemployed cash. If necessary,
we see no reason to prevent the Government from
granting a still higher rate of interest without preju-
dice to Ireland, as her native capitalists would justly
be entitled to a preference in the purchase of Irish
Railway securities.
Some of our Contemporaries exclaim loudly against
meet of Railways on the part of the Government, in-
sisting that as private Companies have been found to
lay. down the necessary lines of road in England, there
Is nothing to prevent similar success in the formation
of such roads in Ireland. The fallaciousness of
this reasoning is obvious. In England the resources
of the country are fully developed ; in Ireland trade
13. yet but in its infancy. Here there is a certainty
that every line will pay as soon as it can be opened;
there the remuneration, though equally certain, is re-
mote, for time must be allowed for the fostering of a
asPirit of enterprise among the people. England has
a superabundance of unemployed capital ; whereas