The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-06 00:00:00

T .EUE

motion li e Sir E. DERING'S. It would not be
incotigiste) t with Lord JOHN'S antecedents to quail
before su e h determined enemies and unwilling
allies. a'te must own, however, that it may be
good strategy in debated questions to leave the
enemy in a, position which every day's discussion
will weakont, and especially not to give them
the benefit, of a device by which they will, in the
same act, tar claim to Liberal principles, while
they are joinlng Conservatives to defeat a liberal
measure,

With some apprehension about his eventual
firmness, thereforse, we give Lord JOHN RIISSELI,
credit fur sincerity. He must prefer to pass his
bill if he can. If he cannot, the fault will be
with recreant-hearted Liberals, and perhaps with
the country. It wants,, indeed, many of those ma-
nifestly popular pointsy such as the ballot, house-
hold or municipal sufErage, and a self-consistent
distribution of representatives, which would arouse
irresistible enthusiasm out of the house ; but still
we maintain, with such an old and consistent re-
former as Mr. HUME, that the bill is worth
having. The abolition of so many petty
boroughs, the deduction of one member from
others, the abolition of the hateful ratepaying
clauses, the enlargement of the county qualifica-
tion, and even the miserably small lowering of the
borough franchise, are all worth having ; and no
declamation will satisfy
.a thoughtful Liberal that
any member of Parliament who, by a direct or
indirect movement, attempts to burke this bill is
himself an honest Liberal. With the hope that
the measure will be pressed after the Ea-ster holi-
days, it is a decided advantage to have the three
bills, for England, Scotland, and Ireland be-
fore us, previously to the debate on the
second reading. An advantage to the full
and fair consideration of the whole scheme
we mean, for what effect it may have on Irish
members, if many•Of their constituencies are dealt
with, as in all reason they ought to be, it is but
too easy to divine ; an effect no way favourable
on their votes. The-mere introduction of these
bills looks, at least, as. if it were intended to
proceed with all of
.them. It would otherwise
have been easy to excuse their non-appearance
till the principles for all had been decided on the
second reading of the English Bill.

The majority of the South-Eastern Railway
Company Board have been virulently attacked in
consequence of the manly and decisive course
which they have adopted for the purpose of dis-
tinctly and unequivocally ascertaining the true
sentiments of their constituents. It would, in-
deed, be difficult to discover any line of policy
that would please the malcontents, who are pre-
pared for censure in any and every step taken by
those whose power they covet, and whose places
they would gladly fill. Although thoroughly
alive to the importance 'of .the decision that must
be come to at the forthcoming meeting, although
aware that a crisis has arrived on which the future
welfare and prosperity of the undertaking must
mainly if not altogether depend, they yet cavil at
the issue of proxy-papers duly stamped, and in con-
formity with the law, to every proprietor who may
be unable to attend on the appointed day. They
speak of the expense, as if it were not a matter
of the most trivial importance in comparison to
the other matters involved in the result. The
half-crown which it may cost to obtain the views
of the proprietors of Stock—to the amount of
many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pounds—
is deplored as if it were an instance of the utmost
prodigality and recklessness of expenditure, and
is treasured up, with other accusations, to be
hurled against the devoted' heads of the Directors
whenever the opportunity may arise. The dig-
nified and unanswerable vindication of the step,
which appeared in our impression of Saturday,
must, however, remove every undue impression
that could be formed in reference thereto; proving,
as it does, that the omission thereof would have
been a piece of very culpable negligence, for which
the managers would have justly merited the cen-
sure of the shareholders.

It is impossible not to perceive that the mal-
contents are endeavouring to raise a question of
want of confidence in the management—to change
the direction of affairs per fas ant nefas. To
achieve this object, to worm themselves into the
positions from which they hope to expel the pre-
sent occupants, they are prepared to do any act,
however prejudicial to the best interests of the
general body of proprietors. They endeavour,
then, to get up an unreasoning and parrot-cry
against " extensions"—thinking that they may be
enabled thereby to induce timid and weak-minded
persons to change their opinions, and to rescind
the resolutions at which they had formerly arrived,
and that persons, without due examination, will
condemn a project adopted by the Board after the
most mature and anxious consideration, and not
then objected to by a single proprietor.
It is paying but a very sinister compliment to
the proprietors generally to suppose that they
could be guilty of so much fickleness and incon-
sistency, or that a state of things may be pro-
duced

" Where gentry, title, wisdom
Cannot conclude but by'the yea and no
Of general Ignorance."
Where

—" It must omit
Real necessities, and give way the while
To unstable slightness ; purpose so barr'd, it follows
Nothing is done to purpose !"
This is not what the proprietors desire. It is
not consistent either with their reputation or
their interests. The bill now before Parliament
for making the Lewisham and Bromley line had
been long since sanctioned and approved of.
It was merely postponed, not abandoned.
The notice of its temporary withdrawal
was to avoid any pretext for hostility with the
Brighton Company, with whom negotiations were
then pending—negotiations which have proved
hitherto abortive, but which most probably will
terminate in arrangements highly beneficial to all
parties concerned, and more especially so to the
South-Eastern proprietors. Indeed, the situation
' of the lines distinctly points out the propriety not
merely of a cordial alliance, but of a perfect
amalgamation by which their interests may be for
ever rendered " one and indivisible." To the
satisfactory settlement of these matters, the con-
struction of the Bromley and Lewisham line is
indispensable ; for, as Mr. MACGREGOR justly
remarked in a former circular, "it is of
every consequence that the position of the South-
Eastern Company be maintained, and its equitable
proportion of the future joint earnings be se-
cured."

If, then, the proposed line should not prove
remunerative, it might still be of vital importance
that the sanction of Parliament should be ob-
tained to its construction. But, inasmuch as those
most competent to speak authoritatively on the
point, who have closely scrutinised the prospects
of the undertaking, founding their estimates as to
the probable results on the best data, are decidedly
of opinion that it' will prove remunerative, and
would be well worth carrying into practical execu-
tion, independently of their relation with any other
company or companies, and although it were not
required for the purpose of self-defence, it seems
clear that it should not be lightly or wantonly
rejected, and that the decision of a matter of il
such vital importance to the well-being of the
South-Eastern Company should not be left to
chance. The Directors then would, as we have
of s dlr., . ne
stated, have been guilty of culpable negligence CABINET CouNom..--A. Cabinet Council was held on
Saturday afternoon, at the Foreign Office, Downing-
had they not issued these proxy papers, about
which the interested arties, who see thereb the
ds tereene t .1,
oTrdh ed,
oMh inn i sRt eur am
et pre:he
en t
Marquis
heofELarinof Aber-
py
inevitable defeat of their machinations, have the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke
Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Clarendon, the Ifuyli,
ke
raised so loud an outcry. Where the effect of the
decision might be, that the conduct of the con- jofamNeesw,sr
athle,m the i Chcahncrellelsor
Wofo tdhe Exchequer' Sir
pany's affairs, and management of its concerns, Sidney Herbert,' and Sir William Moiestwhoartifight Hon.
might pass into the hands of a clamorous minority, The Earl and• Countess of Sefton entertained a large
whose objects were " of a passing and transient party at Croxteth Ball during the past week, on the
character, perchance inimical to the ermanent
Eocacrals
aionndoefothuentLesisvecrrpovoelnSparnidngLMadeeting, including the
p
li zabeth Craven,
interests of the company," it was surely desirable Sir Frederick and Lady Bathurst, theE
phieDv
Viscount and
that the sense of the proprieters should be fully Lady Seaham, MH r. enry and Lady es ceux,
and fairly ascertained. This was the more im- Captain Molyneux, &c. so
t.Havies
atcveellenacty,B.Sir H. Sey-
ARRIVAL OF SIB H. StniOuitt IN ENGLAND.—Dover, perative, as some of those who have faithfully
moor, family
7 3
conducted the affairs of the company for nine and . suite,0.
years have once more to appeal to their ' Royal Ship Hotel here, .from Calais. Therei iisngahvamer's
constituents, and it is intended to put forth thick tog here. Her. Majesty'spacket Onyx, with hisy
excellency on board, got ashore. He was consequently
the whole strength of the opposition against their
1 rowed four miles int a boat ialkhowever, arrived quite
re-election. What proprietor would abstain from were not alarmed, The packet is safe, and
voting under such circumstances ? Those who I will coat nest i