The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-03 00:00:00

to the confirmations of the asecount, now arriving week
after week at Liverpool e.asel Bristol. From one; extremity
of Ireland to the othe':----eastwards, westwards, north-
wards, and southwa'rds,—that vegetable pestilence has
extended, witherin2; Me foliage of the adjacent hedges,
blasting the verdnnt stalks and 0.; aves9l the. potato
plant to a br',wn and pestiferous decay, and so ddening
the tubers -with the most inerradicable rottenness.
That beautiful epithet, appliefl to his country by
M•oonE and his brother melod is ts, is no longer appli-
, cable. " The Emerald Island" is now a -mockery to
a land reeking with noxious vapours And fruitless
fields. The "green isle of the ocean" presents
a landscape now more deplorable than wilder-
nesses of sand. Its population behold their toil
in cultivating the earth re mdered useless by
an alarmiq; freak of nature ; they find their
scanty provisions turning into poison round their
hovels ; they bear of cons' aerable quantities of
oats and wheat exported fro; n the markets of Lime-
rick and elsewhere, and they are assured, as they turn
to obey the promptings of hunger, by devouring their
infected potatoes, that '‘'ney might with eq:aal wisdom
consume propor'donrate quantities of arsonic. NI)
language, ho-wever sombre, can convey uny adequate
impressiein of the mournfulness and the inauspicious
gloom which pervades the inland, and even the sea-
ward districts of Ireland. Nevertheless, it is suffi-
cient briefly to say that such is literally the con-
dition of her people. We have no amlaltion to harrow
the feelings of the public by detailing the pangs of
their countrymen. We never te.ok pleasure in
lingering over the woes of Vroonasio, or over
suck spectacles of sufferings us that described by
DANTE, in his narrative of purgatory, where
one phantom tore the hair and scalp of his
enemy off with his teeth , and glanced up for
an instant at the bard wit's his jaws dripping with
blood, and clogged with h'iir from the prosecution of
his devilish banquet. Our sympathies do not
attract us in such a h Jrrid direction. A calm and
explicit statement of the broad fact will be amply
sufficient for our pur pose :—the potato crop is destroyed
throughout IrelarA—cholera has already appeared in
those quarters w'nere the contaminated roots have been
devoureg.,—shrvation and contagion must inevitably
folio-a:, unless efforts are made to eradicate the dis•
ease alv:ady generated, and to supply the deficiency
by Ile importation of provisions and the giving em-
ployment to the sufferers.,
Impressed with the reality of the emergency, it
becomes of next importance to inquire whether the
movements and propositions of the Executive are
proportioned to that emergency. We thia not. The
Administration has proceeded upon the right prin-
ciple ; we believe the various members of the Cabi-
net to be actuated by the most generous sentiments
towards the Irish population, and yet we are per-
suaded from our hearts that more remains to be done,
if they would effectually allay the social and corpo-
real and moral pangs of that heretofore doomed and
luckless race. Soothing syrups are inadequate to
ealm a bode so racked and tormented; the devil, by
which its constitution is rent and contorted, must he
exorcised before anything like a healthful calm can
be restored. Fifty thousand pounds—calls upon.
baronies—recommendations to the merchants o
Ireland to import Indian corn and meal for hone
consumption, and such like precautions, are not suffi-
cient, we are assured, to restore the community to
peace, plenty, and contentment. 'They are, as pre-
liminary measures, admirable. And for having so
far answered to the call of a whole nation for protec-
tion and assistance, the Government has acted wisely
and nobly. It has, indeed, entitled itself to the
emphatic commendations and support of Mr. O'Coe-
NELL. "I am bound to say," exclaimed the Libe-
rator, on Monday morning, " I am bound to say the
Government shows the utmost degree of anxiety to
afford relief!" That is precisely the position of the
question. Lord Joint RUSSELL and his colleagues
have shown themselves, and we believe them to be,
the true friends of Ireland. ' They have shown them-
, selves to be thus animated with sentiments of good-
will to that island by the conciliation of their Parlia-
mentary and Ministerial belutvj.i,v__l-t..4ilvt.srtnn! to
which they have alluded to Irish destitution
and Irish distress. They have shown it in
the measures passed through both Houses
immediately before the prorogation of Parliament.
The Ministers have indeed evinced the utmost
anxiety to relieve; but the question immediately
under consideration is, not as to the anxiety to relieve,
but as to the relief itself. We are compelled to think
thus from the calamitous condition of Ireland; and,
thinking thus, we are most anxious for activity, acti-
vity, activity. Nevertheless, we are really sanguine of
the ultimate safety and happiness of Ireland, because
we are likewise sanguine that her MAJESTY'S Ministers
will be as vigilant as they have already proved them-
selves wise and generous.

According to our promise we resume the consi-
deration of the Report of the Committee on Rail-
ways. The other recommendations on the Com-
mittee are, first, that " No future lines, either for
main trunks or branches, should be ceded, except for
terms of years." 'We do not think that the policy of
this suggestion is quite so clear as that of the others
to which we have already called attention, now that
the principal and most remunerative lines have
been already constructed or sanctioned by the Legis-
lature, and a variety of other projects have been
embarked in, which have only been postponed until
the next session of Parliament; which, if then ap-
proved of, could not in justice or equity be made sub-
ject to the operation of a law not in existence! when
the capital was subscribed and the preliminary
expenses incurred. The lines which are not included
in either of the above categories do not afford so
tempting a prospect to capitalists desirous of per-
manent investment, as to lead to the supposition that
they will be undertaken and carried into execution, if
the proprietors are to be entitled to them only for a
limited term of years, in place of in perpetuity, as
heretofore. The Government must, therefore, in all pro -
babi 1 ity, either construct them with the public money,
or suffer the wants of the country to remain unpro-
vided for; either of which courses appears to us
highly objectionable. We think that the Government
should never enter into competition with the subjects
in fair and bond fide speculations; the prosperity of a
country is owing to the wealth of individual mem-
bers more than to that of the State itself. And we
think that greater happiness and benefit to the nation,
in general, will be obtained by the large amount of
capital represented by railway, being permitted to
remain in the hands of the proprietors, than if it had,
on the expiration of the terms of years for which
they had been conceded, become the exclusive
property of the State. 'We think the true and
just principle is, that the most perfect freedom
of action should be conceded to every person
in any enterprise in which he may think it desirable
to embark. If the Government are to be suffered to
become traders, to embark in any prGject or under-
taking, because it appears likely to prove profitable,
the natural and probable result will be, that indivi-
dual enterprise will be extinguished in that particular
branch where the nation itself starts as a competitor
and rival. We profess ourselves to be free-traders in
the most extended meaning of the term, and we con-
ceive that, by such an interference, the energies of
the people would be cramped and fettered. The
public have a right to demand that the fullest con-
trol and superintendence shall be exercised by a com-
petent body ovr the management of the different
companies, so that the national interests should not
be prejudiced by the exclusive rights conceded to
them, but with that exception, which necessity de-
mands, it should be left in the hands of the pro-
prietary.

The second recommendation, that full and ac-
curate accounts of the proceedings of railway
companies, embracing their whole receipts and ex-
penditure, shall be laid from time to time before Par-
liament, we fully assent to ; the greatest degree of
publicity, should be given to all their acts order
that it may be fully tested whether the we (of their
management is correct in principle, and beneficial
both to themselves and the public in its results—in-
deed the due control and superintendence, the necessity
of which we have advocated, demands this publicity to
give it effect. The third and fourth recommenda-
tions, we have already alluded to, and expressed our
approbation of, and also the fifth, which has already
been partially acted on by the formation of the ne%
railway board, to which all the necessary powers will
be accorded next session. The preliminary inquiries