The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-18 00:00:00

010434tii :1)11tit

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1848.

Three important meetings took place yesterday, two
them in London, and one at Bristol, when the affairs

f three of the great trunk lines by which England is
intersected on every side were submitted by the
directors for the consideration and approval of the
proprietary. An attentive consideration of the pro-
ceedings of the several companies will, we trust, be
productive of the most beneficial results ; for nothing
can more clearly indicate the absurdity of the
panic that has so long prevailed, which has
bean so unduly excited and fostered by in-
terested parties or by habitual alarmists, and which
has, in too many instances, induced timid and
unreasoning persons to sacrifice really valuable
property, from which a large and well
secured income was realised, for little more
than one. half its actual value.

In whatever light we consider the great railways
that have hitherto been constructed, we shall have
case to regard those by whom they were originally
conceived and carried into execution, despite the many
obstacles and prejudices that existed, as national bene-
factors, who are eminently entitled to the public thanks
and the pisblic gratitude.
If we regard these colossal undertakings merely in
the light of new and most valuable channels for the
investment of capital, we shall find that, perhaps,
from no other source have such ample and such well
secured returns been obtained—returns that average at
the very least from 6 to 7 per cent. on well selected lines,
which has been obtained without risk: or trouble by
the original shareholders, which even now may be
obtained by these purchasing shares in the very best
• lines, where the dividends are paid with all the cer-
tainty and regularity of the interest on Government
eteek. if, again, we look to them as sources of con-
stant and remunerative employment to a large body
of persons who are enabled to maintain themselves
and families in comfort and independence through
their opere,tion, we shall have adelitional cause
to
wsphf Ili} sperit of enterprise to which we are in-
r such advantages. But, far beyond
AfVeee,le .1 vast benefits conferred upon the
tahi
~,:e
ini ' in general by the facilities afforded
:.: .
r'-.'' oZz'AIA ication between the different parts of the
-- cauntrYclae) . ether that communication be desired for
tlibieurpO)4s of trade or ceinmeree, or merely for
frientike and social intercourse. The manufacturing,
. ,
the mercantile, ai.d the agricultural interests are alike
indebted to the beneficial effects of the new means of

locomotion placed within the reach of all classes ;
while the very poor find that the prices of provisions,
of fuel, and of other articles of the first necessity are
equalised in different districts, their supply rendered
less precarious, and important savings effected by
means thereof.

Why is it, then, that with so many ' and so great
recommendations, we find railway property depre-
ciated and shares at a discount, which should be
quoted at a considerable premium, if fair calculations
were made ? Simply because an undue prejudice has
been excited, and that those who are anxious by
any means to divert the public attention from the

real cause of our recent mercantile distress— our

iniquitious monetary code—have endeavoured to
ascribe the sufferings we have undergone to the large
amount invested in railways, and also to insinuate
doubts as to the ultimate security of the investments.
Those alarmists assert that the dividends cannot pos-
sibly be maintained, and, secondly, that a constant drain
will be kept upon the resources of the shareholders
to provide for new projects that may be sanctioned by
the directors. The proceedings at the meetings to
which we have alluded furnish the most satisfactory
answers to these most unwarranted and unfounded
statements.

On the first point it will be found that in each of
the cases an equal dividend has been announced to
any that has been recently paid, and from the dimi-
nution of the working expenses, from the great
decrease in Parliamentary and legal expenditure,
from the' increased experience, and from the new
lines opened, all of which act as feeders to, and
increase the traffic on the parent lines, there
is not only a moral certainty that the rates of divi-
dend will not be reduced, but that a fair expectation
may be entertained that the rates may be speedily
increased. On the Great Western' we find that the
directors considered themselves justified in recom-
mending a dividend of 7 per cent. on the entire year,
and it was also stated "that a committee are sitting
for the purpose of seeing what reductions can be
made in each department consistent with the primary
obligation of ensuring safety and efficiency."
In the Eastern Counties also the usual dividend
of eight shillings per share for the half-year was
declared, and similar assurances of economy in
the management, and improvement in the
.position
of the company, were held out by their sagacious
Chairman, who is, perhaps, more thoroughly con-
versant with railway management than any other
person in the entire country; while the South-
Eastern declared .one guinea per share dividend, or,
as one of the directors stated, 6 per cent. on the
amount paid up, and nearly 10 per cent. on the present
sel ling price. In all, too, we had assurances that the
directors would refrain from new undertakings, and
not carry on any works but those of absolute necessity.
We shall shortly enter more fully into the subject,
which a want of space prevents us from enlarging
upon this day as fully as we should have desired.
We cannot, however, refrain from quoting before we
close the beautiful eulogium passed by Mr. HUDSON
on the memory of his deceased friend, GEORGE STE.
PHENSON—a man who might be termed the father of
the railway system in England. He said—
"Wore it not that he had felt impelled by a strong sense
of duty to attend that meeting, he should then have been
in another place, paying every mark of respect in his
power to departed worth. Every one acquainted with the
railway system of this country must feel that England
had suffered a great loss in the death of his friend Mr.
Stephenson. He believed that Mr. Stephenson had
conferred greater benefits on the world than perhaps
any man that had ever existed. .Those benefits had
been conferred on the poor as well as on the rich :
and Mr. Stephenson had unquestionably entitled him-
self to be regarded as one of the great benefactors of his
species.—(Hear, hear.) The departure of such a man
from this earth was an event deeply to be deplored.
Mr. Stephenson had always taken a strong interest in
the progress of our railway system, and had always
been glad to find that those who had embarked their
capital in railway undertakings had been duly rewarded.',

The Noble Leader of the Protectionists appears re-
solved to persevere to the end of the session is the
Fabian policy for which he has already obtained so
unenviable a notoriety. It would appear as if he
thought the principal aim and object of a legislator
should be to retard all legislation, and to maintain
matters in statu quo, so far as may be practicable. In
furtherance of this object he appears wholly reckless
of the means he may have recourse to. That the
interests of those whom he has taken under his
especial care should suffer in common with the public
revenue, appears to be a matter of perfect in-
difference, provided he may cast his unwarranted
aspersions on every person to whom he may
happen to be opposed, or who may have had the mis-
fortune to excite his wrath. Fraud, forgery, wilful
suppression of evidence, falsehood, deceit, and other
offences of a similar character are charged without
the slightest hesitation upon men of undoubted
honour and integrity, and too frequently against
those who, not being Members of either House of
Parliament, have no opportunity of defending them-
selves against his unjustifiable attacks, in such
a manner that the defence shall receive an equal
publicity to that which was accorded to the accusa-
tion. Need we recal the public attention to the on-
slaughts on Sir R. PEEL, Mr. PORTER, Mr. J. WooD,
and more recently on Lord Gun- and Messrs.
liewics, ELIOT, and Cox, all of whom, in turn, have
been the objects of his vituperation, and by whom, in
every instance, the charges were most triumphantly
rebutted, so as to recoil upon and alone damage the
noble accuser—to hoist the engineer with his own
petard; or need we advert to the procrastinations and
delays that have taken place, the postponement of
most important measures that has been rendered
necessary, in consequence of the time consumed by
this series of personalities indulged in by the Noble
Lord, and the debates thereby occasioned, or by
his long-winded and prosaic orations on every
subject to which his attention was di-
rected ? A fearful catalogue might be brought
forward of dropped Bills, . whose untimely
fate might justly be ascribed to these causes, and yet
in the middle of August he still pursues the same
course, and is to be found reiterating, or preferring
new accusations, or making motions that may almost
seem too frivolous to occupy the attention of the
House, and which would be simply ridiculous if the
waste of time thereby.occasioned were not a matter
of too much importance at this period of the session,
and too mischievous to be treated with contempt
only.

On Monday evening we find his Lordship endea-
vouring still to fling odium on the Colonial-office,
and repeating his offensive insinuations against
the Ministers connected with that department,
or, to use his own words on a former occasion,
charging them " with a systematic suppression of the
truth, with a misleading the House as far as regards the
West Indies ;" and again, " with politically holding
back information for a political purpose." We should
have thought that the calm and dignified vindication
of the Colonial-office offered by Mr. HAwEs in the
House of Commons, a vindication conveyed in the
most admirable tone and temper, and also the power-
ful and able defence offered by Earl GREY in the
House of Lords, would have effectually terminated
the controversy. His Lordship, however, in moving
on that evening, for copies of certain documents,
not only framed his motion in such language as un-
justly to imply that there had been an omission, but
in the course of his speech expressly repeated his for•
tner charge of a habitual suppression of documents.
" My object (said his Lordship)—my object is that
no Governor- General, if it be the act of a Governor-
General (which I cannot help doubting), that no
Minister connected with the Colonial-office shall pre.
sume to present to the House partial extracts from
correspondence or information connected with his
department, intended for a purpose, and not calcu-
lated to tell the whole truth, and cast all the light
upon the subject in question which it might be in the
power of his department to throw upon it. My ob-
ject is to learn from Lord ELGIN how it came about
that he was treading in the course so condemned by
the public at large, adopted by the ColoniaboSiee, of
laying before Parliament only so much information
as favoured a particular view of policy." The con-
temptuous silence with which this charge was re-
ceived by the Under-Secretary for the Colonies, as
not
worthy of an answer—the quiet explanation of
the Premier, who readily agreed that the papers asked
for should be produced,
but refused to agree to the
motion, Which was
must haven
of the case," tbin accordance with the facts
to the Noble Lord than if he had again received as
severe a castigation aseen infinitely more galling
that which Lord GREY admi-