The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.

TIMES.—Mr. John O'Conre 11 has put the coping-
stone to his previous reputation for judgment and dis-
cretion. It is with a mixture of indignation and a strong
feeling of the ludicrous that we announce to the public
thet they must remain in ignorance of; what passed in
the House of Commons last night for the space of more
than two hours owing to the interventien of such a per-
son. There is an old form of the House of Commons
which provides that, if any Member take notice that
strangers are present, they must instantly retire, re-
porters and all. Of this form Mr. John O'Connell toots
advantage last night. The House of Commons was
actually " tiled in " like a Freemasons' Lodge for a
couple of hours, by the judicious interference of this
bright ornament of the British Senate. What is to be
done for it when children are trusted with knives,
or fools with fire? Cut fingers and a conflagration
arc the natural results. The extreme power we
have mentioned was allowed to remain unrevoked,
simply because there was a general reliance on
the good sense and discretion of the Members
that it would never be called into operation unless
the occasion should justify the step. Suppose Lord
George Gordon to be busy preaching up a riot, the mob
to have actually risen, the
prisons to be opened, and the
town in flames—suppose the fleet at the Nore to have
mutinied, a captain or two to have been run up to the
yardarm, and a suspicion abroad that the infection
might spread to Portsmouth and Plymouth—we can just
imagin, in such cases, that it might be policy to keep
the actual certainty of what passed in either House of
Parliament from the knowledge of the public for a few
hours. Nothing short of such an emergency
could justify
the act of excluding the reporters from the House, and
consequently dprising the public of the knowledge of its
proceedings. Mr. Jahn O'Connell is of a different opi-
nion. Unfortunately for the country (since he is a Mem-
ber of the House of Commons), and still more unfortu-
nately for himself, he is extremely conceited, and not very
apt to calculate consequences. The leading journals and
we ourselves most freely plead guilty to the charge, and
will not encumber our space with two or three columns
per night of the senseless declamation ho is in the habit
of pouring forth. Hence this immortal eastion. Mr.
John O'Connell is endeavouring to starve us into .com-
pliance. If we will not report his own tedious oretioes
we are not to be admitted to the all, ry at all. We care
not. We will stand between the public and this inflic-
tion. Se long as we can
lay our hands on any marvel-
lous American anecdotes; any
accounts of wonderful
Scotch salmon; any reports of the proceedings of turn-
pike meetings in Wales, or
(2,, Protection gatherings in
Essex; while a single fanatic raves on Kennington-
common, or a single German professor perorates in the
Assembly at Frankfort, we are sure of being aisle to lay
before the public more entertaining and useful matter
than will ever issue from the lips of Mr. John O'Con-
nell. It is for the country to decide whether it is content
to remain in ignorance cif the proceedings of its re-
presentatives, when such a person as Mr. John O'Con-
nell is the only obstacle that "stops the way."
Mr. John O'Connell is an exaggeration and ca-
ricature of the national defects of his countrymen.
We find him ever in extremes. He is all for what he
satuburladn
gcearl
al "
uponstho the slightest
g ltihgeb t
es
autp pplronyvsn: or " excluthination, lie has
but one weapon, and that one a shillelab, which he
handles on all occasions like a ten-tumbler man at Don-
ne brook Fair in the palmy days of that Irish festival.
What could be his meaning in excluding strangers last
night? We have a strong suspicion that he must him-
self have been on his legs for a considerable portion of
the time. Nothing came to the ears of the reporters out-
side but a concert of groans and hisses. Is it very unna-
tural to infer that Mr. John O'Connell was prominently
before the House ? We do not absolutely say he was
speaking, for of course the proceedings were all snug and
under the rose. For aught we know, he may have been
dancing a jig on the floor of the House after the fashion
of the Mulligan of Ballymulligan. The hisses heard out-
side might have been the expression of the value Hon.
gentlemen set upon Mr. John O'Connell's performances
He might again have been entertaining the House with
the song of the "Roaring Beggar," or the "Shan Van
Voght." The tokens of feeling heard outside would not
from their nature exclude such an hypothesis. He might
have been enumerating the great pecuniary sacrifices
the O'Connell family had made for the benefit of the
poor Irish. We are left, in a word, to float upon a sea
of conjecture, and can only catch at ono probability,
which is, that Mr. John O'Connell was in some way
we must leave the matter to
be-
fore the House. The groaning and hissing would seem
Now, this sort of thing is
butshout
all very well for once in a way, d a remedy . be
theto p
judgmentoi t out thusnf t mil
the
much--but bi
cu. t
man in a family, com-
mon&este the propriety of keep-
discretion seems to in
his reach. Cases there are in which it
ing razors out of
advisable for the House to sit in secret con-
e:rent be
•
provided. Where there is a. ma
the House, or at the very least,
order of the rnsjority of
of a considerable
not without the concurrent request
house
what for the
number of Members. This would
clave, hut strangers should never be excluded unless by
what might on occasion prove a privilegeot ec t us from usefulthe for the
public service, and at the same time pr
mad sallies of an individual Member. The notion of the
House of Commons sitting with closed doors to discuss
the affairs of the nation and legislate for the people, is
too absurd to be dwelt on for a moment. This form o.
exclusion belonged to other ideas and other times. The
sooner it is abrogated the better, now we know there is a
man in the House of Commons capable of enforcing it
without some strong public necessity. Mr. John
O'Connell might happen to be taken with oac
of these insane freaks when some matter was
under discussion upon which the public felt a very
strong and a very legitimate curiosity. It is im-
possible to say what may not follow from trusting power
in such improper hands. The adoption of the sugges-
tion we have offered above would very sufficiently guard
the public from the recurrence of this nuisance. Mean-
while, we beg most distinctly and directly to contradict
the assertion upon which Mr. John O'Connell based the
announcement of his intention to exclude strangers from
the gallery. There was no misreport in the Times of
what occurred during the last discussion upon the Oaths
Bill. The assertion is but the hallucination of a brain
overheated with disappointment and vanity. As usual,
all the important points and important arguments of the
debate were given, and every speaker w hose words carry
weight with them out of doers or who spoke to the pur-
pose, was reported at length. When even upon this system
the Parliamentary debates run to the length which they
actually do, the public may judge of what would
happen if we daguerreotyped—if we may be permitted
the expression—the very words which issued from the
mouths of the Parliamentary speakers. Were we to
adopt such a course,
a double Times might be filled five,
or at least four times a wet k during the sitting of Par-
liament with the endless circumvolutions of speech and
oft-repeated phrases which Honourable Gentlemen are
trboa m
Londonp riv ate
journal, and
ofne , and
reporting eUhhism a e he
in the habit of indulging the House. Meanwhile, let it
go abroad that such an individual as Mr. John O'Con.
n elh f
length, give only the substance of his orations, has
grossly and wantonly abused a privilege intrusted to
e
finds t
Members for eminent public emergencies. If ' he would
uhresneiNnTiglllbdiabeprfeasremntoarenulriskee.ly
We
ea tatarien
not
ts
iennda
think prudently, net discreetly, and speak briefly and to
thanthe pnbdyn tp,
conspiracy to put down either honesty or talent.
CHRONICLE.--We have already disclaimed, with
perfect sincerity, the wish to bear too hardly upon the
frailties of Mr. Hudson. Those who reflect on his con-
duct with unmerciful severity should beware of that re-
action of feeling which often converts the bitterly-abused
delinquent into the martyr. Some evidences of this
sympathy were manifested on Thursday
sort of explanation of the charges spins' him,
volun-
teered by Mr. Hudson in his place in Parliament,
The7?as
House.
received with tolerant indulgence by the
candour of some and the consciences of others must
have told those who listened to the night, when a
great Railway Autocrat, that his conduct, if not
the novelty, and
apologies of the
morally defensible, was at least not devoid of " extenus
ating circumstances." The vastness,
the avowedly speculative character of the enterprise
in which he had bean engaged ; the wide and
undefined scope of the powers thrust upon
rather than solited by, the great favourite of fortune: the
implied commission to him to use his own free judgment,
untrammelled by scrutiny or control; and the virtual
sanction of his financial obliquities, by the acceptance of
dividends which credulity itself could scarcely believe
fairly earned;—these are tho considerations which, as
between Mr. Hudson and his Eastern Counties consti-
tuents, ought not to ba excluded in an impartial esti-
mate of his conduct. Moreover, if the assertion be true,
as may fairly be assumed in the absence of proof to the
as game
theirs—it m that he playedlist be
w
contrary, that Mr. Hudson did cot avail himself of his
position at the board to put money into his own pocket
by the operations in the shares—if' he is in the same
boat with the rest of the proprietary, and has lost a large
privateitb i
stake
o,n p
in the raesckwleeisis
owned that the case against him is relieved of what
would otherwise have been its heaviest aggravation.
With regard to another allegation under which he at-
tempts to shelter himself—viz., that other chairmen and
directors have done the like, and that deceptive dividends
Lave not Leen confined to the companies over which be
has presided—the plea is not, indeed, of much moral
weight, even although the fact be true; but valeat quan-
tum, Mr. Hudson may be allowed to take the benefit of
it. The above are some of the grounds on which we
think the late Chairman of the Eastern Counties Com-
pany may claim a qualification of some at least of those
merciless censures which have been fulminated against
him as regards this particular railway. The share-
holders who pressed him into the chair in 1845, and
who asked no questions when he inaugurated his reign
by trebling their dividend, aro not entitled to cast a
stone at him. If they wilfully shut their own eyes, they
have no right to blame him because he has led them into
the ditch.
HERALD.—We have never been among the servile
idolators of Mr. Hudson, nor yet among his furious as-
sailants. We have never doubted that in 1845 he was
absurdly overvalued; nor have we failed to see, that, in
1849, he is just as absurdly depreciated. The simple
truth is, that Mr. Hudson is an energetic, hard-headed
Yorleshireman, with, we believe, an average share of
honesty and common sense, but scarcely able to bear up
against the crowd of temptations which must have beset
him in the year of railroad excitement. We have felt
no obligation to interfere between him and the public,
in the various discussions which have been lately carried
on. There could be no question, that in the excessive
hurry of the railroad year. Mr. Hudson had been involved
in various transactions which would scarcely bear a close
investigation. But then, on the other hand, it was
very clear, that many of the men who are now bait-
ing him with accusations, were just the very persons
who, in 1845, were foremost in pressing upon him the
most absolute and plenary poser. We had no incline•
tioa to interfere in this matter until we read the very
unjust attack which appeared in yesterday's Times. The
well-known vac)] of that paper, is to go with the

publir', and, if possible, to appear to take the lead. And
accordingly, although quiet enough in former years,
now that Mr. Hudson has been " found out," the Times
rushes forward to prove with all possible zeal, that he is
little better than a common swindler. It is scarcely
possible to believe that the Times was not aware of the
emptiness of its own accusations. Let us quote a pas-
sage or two:—
"Even on points of comparative insignificance there
are unnecessary contradictions. He says in ue place
that he had no shares in the Eastern Counties Railway,
and no interest in it whatever, before he took the office
of chairman. He afterwards snj s that he has neither
bought nor sold, that he is a sufferer to a large amount,
and that he holds the fame stock that he did when he
first joined the company. A discrepancy so great and
so obvious can only be ascribed to a slovenly habi`t of
memory or expression."
This " discrepancy," which the Times calls " so great
and so obvious," is nu discrepancy at all. Mr. Hudson
says, and doubtless says truly, that he had co interest
in the Eastern Counties Railway until the shareholders
requested him, and he consented to assume the office of
chairman. He also says that he holds now the same
stack which he did when he first joined the company.
Now, there is no discrepancy here. Mr. Hudson,
we understand him to say, occupied with his
Northern railways, did not interfere with the
Eastern Counties Railway at all, until a great majority
of the shareholders requested him. Ile acceded to their
request, and in order to do so, bought a number of their
shares, which he now holds, and by which he is a great
loser. Such is his statement, as we understand it, and
we find in it no discrepancy whatever. Again the Times
says.--
lie justifies his sudden advance of the dividend from
3s. on the half-) ear before he took the direction to 9s.
on the half-year during which he took it. by the fact,
as he states it, that the gross income of the latter half-
year showed an impri.vemant of near 60,0001. But at
the time the dividend was fixed that improvement had
nut yet been ascertained, inasmuch as the half-year was
not ended."

Tl3isi;; second fallacy. For as the weekly re-
turns are published in all the newspapers, it is easy
for any man, and still more easy for a director,
.to ascertain what rate of increase is going on, and
what may probably be afforded as a dividend: and this
even before the half year has closed. Mr. Hudson,
there ore, might easily be able to say, The increase
tor the half year is 60,000/.," even before the last week
was ascertained. The Times in this, as in its ether
charges, goes clearly beyond the truth. On the whole,
our opinion is that Mr. Hudson, ridiculously overrated
four years since, is quite as absurdly underrated and
assailed now. More was expected from him than mortal
man could perform,_ and he has failed in Performing it.
13ut the real truth is, that the nostrums of 1846 have
failed, quite as disgracefully as the rostrums of 1845 .;
and now the advocates of free trade, having no defence
to offer on their own part, are very happy to be able to
divert the public attention by attacking Mr. Hudson.
POST.—We were not among those who grovelled
before the prosperity and golden opinions which once
surrounded Mr. Hudson, the Railway King ; neither
shall we be among those who seek to trample upon him,
now that the tide of fortune has turned against him.
We have been disgusted to observe the comments which,
out of individual jealousy or party spite, have been made
upon his speech in the House of Commons on Thurs-
day evening. The impression made upon the House—
not upon one party in it, but upon the House generally,
regarding Mr. Hudson was most favourable. Not that
Mr. Hudson has exonerated himself from blame—not
that it can be disputed that, under cover of his name,
a certain aspect was given to the concerns of the
Ea stein Counties Company which the facts of the case
did not warrant, but lie showed that no peculiar delin-
quency attached to bim—that he had made no private
profit of his connexion with the company, and what
was done was the act of the direction, and not his
individual act. That the conduct of Mr. Hudson has
been regarded with a certain animus—with a bitterness
of hostility arising from something else than merely the
mismanagement of railway affairs, appears in this—
other managers who have done as he has done in the
Eastern Counties concern have not only not been pur-
sued with obloquy, but they have been thanked and ep•
plauded 1 One of our contemporaries took notice the
other day that a member of the investigating committee
which so strongly blamed Mr. Hudson
a charged
is
Easters:
Counties
vice-chairmantuon ti
es
capitala r
e the.
so
voefraynostahmeer ciotmempsanny,hwichhichthehaEs
blamed for having charged to capital. And but the day
before yesterday a meeting was held of a company
which an investigating committee accused of having,
like the Eastern Counties company, placed
heavy charges to the capital account which ought to
have gone against the revenue account. Instead of
censuring the chairman and hooting him from his seat
this company, more careful of their property, approved
of what hart been done! This is the mercantile justice
of London. One man shall be the mark of obloquy
and another of applause, both of whose modes of con-
ducting business are the same! The Times, in its eagor-
ness to find fault with Mr. Hudson, stumbles into
downright stupidity. It states, regarding air. Hudson's
speech, that—
" He says, in one place, that he had no shares in the
Eastern Counties Railway, and no interest in it what-
ever, before he took the office of chairman. He after-
wards says that he has neither bought nor sold, that he
is a sufferer to a large amount, and that he holds the
same stock he did when he first joined the company. A
discrepancy- so great and so obvious can only be ascribed
to a slovenly habit of memory or expression."
There is no discrepancy at all. The slovenliness and
inattention are on the part of the commentator. It ap-
pears from Mr. Hudson's statement that he held no shares
previously to his connexion with the company as chair-
man. He then bought stock, which it was necessary
for him to do as a qualification—he paid for it a higher
rate than the stock has ever been at since, and what be
then bought he still holds. That is his statement, which
he says the registers of the company will confirm, and he
adduces this as proof that he has not trafficked in
the stock of the company, and that from the trans-
actions of the company he has made nn private
profit. So far as we know of these matters we think it im
possible to deny thut the Eastern Counties Railway and
other railways have been managed with a combination
of looseness and boldness which deserves grave censure,
and which has produced great calamity to a very large
portion of the public that had confidence not only in the
integrity but in the accuracy of management of those at
the head of railway concerns. But the fault we:conceive
to have been general, if not universal, and the singling
out of Mr. Hudson as the one great victim to suffer odium
for the faults of this most faulty system, is an instance
of that sort of gross injustice which the public is some-
times led into by a general feeling of vexation and dis-
appointment.

THE JOB AND POST-MASTERS, &c•

PROVIDENT FUND.
The sixth anniversary of this institution was celebrated
last evening, at the London Tavern, When about 260
gentlemen . sat down toil most-excellent and sumptuous
entertainment, provided by Messrs. -Bathe and Breach,
the renowned caterers at that establishment.
Lord Killen, M.P., in the absence of his Noble
Father, the Duke of Richmond, who was prevented
attending from indisposition, presided; and he was sup-
portedtnatith institution,
the, Hon.Captain Ps.oSm.elr'siee
Somerset,
ft.)hi net,
utohne.
mfounderri
mosft
otnhee,
Count Bathyany, Mr. Higgins, Gm J. G. Murdoch, Esq.;
Brice Pearse, Esq.; F. Salmon, Esq.
The " Health of the Queen," and the other loyal and
patriotic toasts, were received with much applause.
The CHAIRMAN proposed the toast of the evening—
" Prosperity to the Fund," and expressed his un-
feigned satisfaction at having had the ' honour
I t was
CHAIRMAN
li A i drunktiwEho eerl .
couldAf
ai NI ,
4‘r.
of presiding over such a numerous and influential
assemblage. He regretted that the Duke of
Richmond was not present to take the chair, who
was prevented attending owing to a severe attack of rheu-
matism, which rendered him unable to leave his bed.
They all knew that he was nut in the habit of bolting
or running away from his engagements —(Lsughter)--
and he could assure them that nothing but severe indis-
position would have kept him away.—(Hear, hear.)
He had the interest of the society very much at heart,
and would on any occasion, he was sure, do all in his
power to promote its welfare.—(Loud cheers.) He
(Lord March) had great pleasure in observing that the
tunds were id a prosperous state ; the money invested
was upwards of 8,0001., and the number of members was
increasing. The society was rapidly progressing in po-
pularity, and had only to be more known to be more ap-
preciated. Ho believed its object was intrinsically good,
and that it would receive the support which it justly
merited.—(Cheers.)
hhs eoe.o l d o n all occasions
mhmeorstTli readybaetrt
Tattersall,
i co-operate
benefactors
:eat
ot treasurer,
and in
l hpircoh
The toast was drank with great applause.
The Honourable Mr. PIERREPOINT proposed the
health of the Chairman. lie was confident no one in
the room had heard of the Duke of Richmond's illness
three,
gt(tuhhcoaaeihnun eekteeas
r,odns fd.
headw t
statingoight
frhe
Neither
great
eottnilteahhehpeaos serttt
without the most deep and sincere regret—(Hear, hear)
—and if anything could tend to diminish that regret,
with
brieflytalmost
ipleasureona fito,hitsreoht erfeerhbesaeptoviiocnntimes
returnediigene
society.
at_c.
it was the able and amiable way in which his son had
filled his place.—(Cheers.)
he
el aTsu
ati Ilto
arhtille)ea:nmi
absdlotegoscstihhthtehheetmdeyia
g nipossessedfic magnificent
n t
was
ds
of those gentlemen he was satisfied would take such an
active part in the society unless they were fully satisfied
of its benevolence and its usefulness.—(Cheers.)
" The Health of Mr. Pierrepoint, the Vice-President,
and Patrons of the Institution;" " Mr. Tattersall, the
Treasurer, and the other Directors and Officers," toge-
ther with " The Stewards," were then drunk with much
enthusiasm, thanks being returned by each of the gen-
tlemen so honoured.
The Hon. Mr. PIERREPOINT proposed the health of
the young Earl of Strathmore, the chairman elect. He
was of high rank and unblemished character, and was
of a sporting propensity, which was no small fetateurethrinf
his merits.—(Cheers.) He was but young
onbe full
but most sincerely did he hope that it would h
half a century before he was placed under the turf.
The toast was drunk with much applause, as was also
the health of the ladies.
the subscriptions of the
The secretary announced that . t .
evening amounted to 4001., includnig twenty guineas
from Mr. Vernon.
were sung
Several excellent songs, belleds
, and glees
Bodd
Young, glees
re
a.
by Messrs. Hobbs, Francis,
his f
Mr. Harker ably officiated in capacity o toast-
master.
.........--seee-se"-.................

COLOSSEUM.—The Duchess of Sutherland, Duke
and Duchess of Argyll, Lady Mary Howard, Sir Thomas
rioward, Countess of Carlisle, Lord and Lady Blantyre,
Duke and Duchess of Montrose and family, Earl of
Morley and party, Sir Andrew Corbet, Bart., and party,
TiDited the Cyci9VlM4 011 Wueedtty I§st.