The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-21 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 21, 1853.

nity occurred.• The financial affairs of the company were
never in a more satisfaciorjr state than at the present
moment. The revenue account showed an increase of
about 59 per cent, on the gross receipts, and a decrease
of 19 per cent, on the working expenses, as compared
with those of the previous half-year. The increase of
traffic is the more satisfactory, as the more important
portion of the line is yet uncompleted, while the mineral
traffic is still undeveloped. The credit balance shown
by the general revenue account justifies the directors in
recommending a dividend Of 1/ per cent. per annum to
be declared on the profits of the past half-year. Two
ironworks in the Vale Neath, which had been sus-.
pended for some years; had been reopened, and one of
them had been taken by one of the largest iron firms in
the kingdom, in connection with the Aberdare Iron.,
works, already an important feeder to the line. The open-
ing in October last of the South Wales extension to Car-
marthen had already tended to improve the traffic, though
the full advantage of direct railway communication
between the Welch iron districts and the country west
of Swansea cannot be experienced until after the open-
ing of this line to Merthyr:. Coniiderable accession of
traffic was expected from the establishment of an im-
portant steam navigation company at Milfordhaven.
Two directors, Messrs. Morgan and Vaughan, and Mr.
Wayne, auditor, retired by rotation, but were eligible
for re-election.
Mr; Brunel's report stated that the entire line would
be ready for opening early in the summer. .
The accounts showed that the receipts" on account of
capital had amounted to the sum of 538,6041., and the
half-year's revenue had prodiced 8,4921.
,The.CrtatumaN said, the diiridend Which the directors
d
yef cul ro
meeting.c eno
0o iwe eoe.
jal..rtt,h.b:hlfil ben
ftege nuts:, fairly
)nvsstatement
ttr :uia:tnuen
je
ltpauhrsseotihasaeli
half
-yearly
re declare
As
of accounts, they 4oUld "see
talent' iirtht. experidittie; irolluno- expenses

,wing

been reduced lb per cent. in the 'sit half-year alone..
He reminded the proprietors that two years ago only
14,000 shares had been 'paid up ; the number of shares
now in the hands of responsible parties was 24,000. '
(Cheers.) He trusted this-state of things would be re-
garded as satisfactory, and that the proprietors would
give the board of directors credit for having discharged
their trust faithfully. (Cheers.) As to the future pro-
gress of the works, they were in hopes now of a speedy
completion of them. They were aware that in conse-
quence of the extraordinary rains and floods the progress
of the works had been considerably impeded. He con-
cluded by moving the adoption of the report.
The motion having been seconded was carried unani-
mously.
The CHAIRMAN then moved that a dividend at the
rate •of 14 per cent. should-be paid.
Mr. H. A. BRUCE, M.P., seconded this resolution.
A short discussion followed, the proprietors appearing
generally satisfied with the prospects of the concern, and
at receiving a dividend before its resources were half
developed.
Other formal resolutions were adopted, the retiring
directors and auditors were re elected, and the proceed-
ings terminated.

EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCK AND
BIRMINGHAM JUNCTION.

On Saturday the half-yearly meeting of the proprietors
was held at the Euston Terminus ; Mr. J. Scott in the
chair. The report showed that the gross receipts from
traffic during the last half-year amounted to 37,663/. 55.,
and the expenditure to 22,1351. 10s. 10d. ; leaving,
after adding the surplus of 121. 18s. 4d. from the pre-
vious half-year's accounts, a total net receipt of 15,5401.
12s. 6d. ; from which, deducting interest on debentures
(5,1361. 18s. Bd.), there remained a balance available for
dividend of 10,4031. 13s. 10d. This sum world admit
of a payment of 15s. a share, and leave 6531. 13s. 10d.
to be carried forward to the credit of the next half-
year's account. The directors recommended a divi-
dend at that rate. The Chairman, in moving the
adoption of the report, congratulated the meeting on
the progressive increase of the traffic, observing that the
number of passengers in excess of the corresponding
half year of 1851 was 135,558, making an addition to
the receipts of 1,845/. 2s. 9d. He also remarked, that
in the first seven weeks of the current half-year there
had been a comparative increase of nearly 9501., or
about 16 per cent. The goods traffio was gradually de-
veloping itself; and a very great accession might be an-
ticipated, which would now be aided by the completion
of the communication with Haydon-square. In reply to
a question, the chairman stated that the company had
no financial interest in the Woodford scheme, though
the directors hoped that, if carried out, it would benefit
the line. The report was adopted unanimously ; the
dividend recommended, which is at the rate of 3 per
cent., was declared ; and, after re-electing the retiring
directors, and passing a vote of thanks to the chairman
and his co-directors, the meeting separated.

Shares, &c." The sum charged against capital for the
half-year as " interest on loans and on capital and ad-
vances "is 34,388/. 14s. sd. The report of the directors
will be found in another column.

SPIRIT OF TER PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TRANSPORTATION TO VAN DIEMEN'S
LAND.
(From the Times.)

The blighting and withering curse which has so
long brooded over the destinies and darkened the
prospects of the Australian colonies, in the midst
of all their golden prosperity, is at last withdrawn.
Transportation to Van Diemen's Land has ceased.
The vial of wrath which we have for sixty years
been pouring forth on this noble and beautiful

region- is spent to the last drop ; the deadly wine
we have poured out for our remote colonies is
drained to the dregs. Henceforth we shall plant
wheat without tares, and cease to burden one com-
munity with the crimes and vices of another. This
victory of right and justice has indeed been slow.
The transportation system received its first shock
from the report of the committee of the House of
Commons in 1837. It has lingered since then for
fifteen years, but has never recovered the blow it
then received. That report effectually discredited
transportation in the form in which it was most
lucrative to the settler, least injurious to the con-
vict, and most economical to the mother country.
Before 1840 transportation was, in fact, a system
of slavery, of forced and unremunerated labour for
the benefit of individuals, stimulated by the free
application of the lash.
•
e have not one word-to say against the nume-
rous and conclusive arguments which the committee
of the HouSe of Commons, presided over by Sir
William Molesworthk adduced against ,what was
called the assignment system. Material wealth was
purchased at the expense of frightful moral pollu-
tion, and the new society was deeply inoculated
with the poison of crime. But bad as this system
was, experience has shown that it was infinitely
better than any that has succeeded. Change has
followed change, each in its turn announced as an
important improvement, each in its turn discarded
as a failure and a scandal. We rejoice sincerely that
the struggle with Australia is brought to an end,
and congratulate the country that the end, dough
tardily arrived at, has been reached soon enough
to enable us to concede the point without disgrace.
The resolution to discontinue transportation was,
it appears, taken by Sir John Pakington, but
great credit is due to the Duke of Newcastle for
the bold and decisive manner in which he has
carried it out. It had been intended to send several
more ships to Van Diemen's Land,—in fact, to
continue the system till new arrangements could
be matured and decided upon. This was a very
imprudent resolution,—a very ungracious way of
doing a gracious act. The quarrel has been suf-
fered to go so far with the Australian colonies
that every fresh ship sent out was felt by them
as an insult—almost as a blow. Every such event
has lately been received with one universal outcry
of indignation, and with demonstrations of popular
displeasure gradually increasing in fierceness and
bitterness. It was not worth while to incur all
this odium, and stir up all this hatred, for the sake
of a mere temporary convenience—for the sake of
a policy which we 'ere about to abandon. Govern-
ment has fully met the wishes of the colonies, at
the expense of much inconvenience and some pecu-
niary loss. We sincerely trust that this liberal
policy will be met and appreciated.with a corres-
ponding spirit by the colonies. Canada conciliated
by the Clergy Reserves Bill, Australia attached to
us by the cessation of her great grievance, afford a
favourable earnest of the colon • 1 administration of
the Duke of Newcastle. A career thus begun bids
fair to triumph over many "impossibilities.';. The
" impossibilities" of restoring peace, order, and
good government to the Cape, and of giving self-
government to the Australian colonie4 at the
same terms as have been given to North America,
are, we trusts about to disappear.beforik that .upprei•
judiced judgment and strong will whiCh have alone
been wanting to carry into effect principles the
truth of which has come to be universally recog.
nised.

The abolition of transportation; to Van Dietaen' s.
Land had become so clear and °trans a necessity',
that4ery few practical statesmen ban be found to
contest it for a moment. • But this step, so clearly
wise ‘d right in itself, is but the beginni* of a
cold easy involving questions the most difficult
and obi ithis the most opposed. We have got rid
of transportation, but crime unhappily remains:
How shall we deal with it I' Shall we bury it out
of our sight in some other remote corner of the
universe, or shall we retain it among us, and seek
to turn it to account by employing it on national
works ? For a limited time transportation is to be
'continued to Western Australia. It would be un-
reasonable to cavil at this resolution. The colony
is separated by a long and stormy voyage and an
impassable desert from our eastern settlements ;
and, possessing neither good harbours, a fertile
soil, nor, as far as we know, mineral riches,
is in some danger of being deserted for the
golden regions of the east. There is no fear
of any intercourse by land between the two
extremities of the Australian continent ; nature
has placed between them a burning and river-
less waste, the waters of which are salt, and the
level below that of the ocean. This is, so long as
we make Western Australia a place of transporta-
tion, a fortunate circumstance, and we ought to be
careful, if we do not wish to find in Western Aus-
tralia a new Van Diemen's Land, so to regulate
our steam-packets as not to remove its isolation.
We trust this resolution of Government will, at any
rate, teach us something of the geography of Wes-
tern Australia—whether it be a narrow strip of
land closely confined between the sea and the great
desert, orlwhether a range of mountains is interposed
between them. The splendid geographical situation
of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the beautiful pastoral
country at its head, and the singularly temperate
climate which all who have visited the gulf describe
as prevailing there, may attract, and possibly de-
serve. attention. Removed by fifteen degrees of
latitude from our most northerly settlement, such
a colony could hardly excite a reasonable jealousy,
and would seem to offer better prospects than the
settlement of Port Curtis, formed and abandoned
some years ago.
But, while we are indulging such speculations,
causes are at work which seem to point to the
speedy extinction of transportation as a punish-
ment. The terror of transportation as opposed to
forced works at home lies principally in the igno-
rance of the people. A long sea voyage and a
foreign land are beginning to lose their awe-inspir-
ing influence on the mind of the English peasant.
The tree of knowledge has been plucked, the whole
earth is mapped out before us, and its remoter re-
gions are as well known to this generation as the
neighbouring country was to their forefathers.
Transportation is, after all, a species of emigration,
and emigration is no longer regarded with dislike.
When everybody wished to stay at home it seemed
reasonable to send our criminals abroad; now that the
wish for expatriation is becoming general, it may
not be unwise to. keep them at home. If Cain had
been a Scot the old epigram tells us his doom
would have been to stay at home, and England
seems to occupy towards Australia somewhat the
same relation as Scotland was supposed to do to-
wards England. Possibly, the vexed question of
secondary punishments will at last be solved by
economical rather than by moral or philanthropic
considerations. The day is probably not far distant
when we shall be relieved of a superfluity of labour,
and glad to retain on our own shores those
criminals whose services we have hitherto been so

anxious to dispense with. If, however, this bo not
so, and. transportation is to continue, we trust we
shall avoid the error of selecting the most delightful
climates of the world, where existence is itself a
luxury, for the punishment of our criminals, and
seek for less genial skies and a sterner and wilder
nature to add new terror to crime.

THE AUSTRALIAN MINING COMPANIES.
(From the Observer.)
We referred, in the Observer of Sunday last, to
the wonderful impetus that had been given by the
recent. discoveries in Australia to the land compa-
nies, which had been for so many years struggling
for a bare existence, and without any apparent
prospect of an ultimate return for the capital in-
vested. These companies now give evident indica-
tions of turning out among the most valuable specu-
lations to which the Australian settlements have
given birth, and have had the effect of directing the
attention of our capitalists to the many other remu-
nerative investments which these colonies present.
We propose, therefore, in the present article, to
devote a few remarks to another department of the
material wealth and yet undeveloped resources of
this vast and extraordinary region, of which little
beyond the coast lines have yet been explored,
although these have already put forth attractions
which, within the last year or two, have produced
a mighty stream of emigration, not from England
alone, but from every quarter of the globe.
COPPER.—It is evident that we are only yet upon
the threshold of the discoveries which a few years,
or even months, may bring forth. The geological
character of the soil has, as yet, been only cur-
sorily examined ; and when the aid of science is