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

gran 44 Int,

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST IS, MS.

Three important meetings took place yesterday, two
of them in London, and one at Bristol, when the affairs
of 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
been 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
cause 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 public 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 percent. on well selected lines
which has been obtained without risk" or trouble by
the original shareholders, which even now may be
obtained by those purchasing shares in the very best
lines, where the dividends are paid with all the cer-
tainty and regularity of the interest on Government
stock. 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 operation, we shall have additional cause to
bless the spirit of enterprise to which we are in.
debted for such advantages. But, far beyond
all, are the vast benefits conferred upon the
community in general by the facilities afforded
for communication between the different parts of the
country, whether that communication be desired for
the purposes of trade or commerce, or merely for
friendly and social intercourse. The manufacturing,
the mercantile, and 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—
" Were 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 state 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 GREY and Messrs.
HAWES, 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 -catllogyoi- might be brought
forward •of dropped • Bills,. whose untimely
fate might justly be iscrilied 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.s,ysterßatic liijpiression of the
truth, with a misleading the House as far as regards the
West Indies.;" and again, ""*Kth pelitically holding
back information for a political purpose." We should
have thought, that the calm sad dignified vindiCation
of the Colonial-office offered ty Mr, lIAIVRS 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.
mer 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 Colonial-office, of,
laying before Parliament only so much information
CS 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
tnnoetpwroermr,
worthy of an answer—the quiet explanation of
who readily agreed that the papers asked
for should be produced, but refused to agree to the
"waswhichmust
ust
ha
have been
in accordance
infinitely with
more the a
galling
omfotthioen
case,",
to the Noble Lord than if he had again received as
severe a castigation_as that which Lord Gnat admi-

nistered with such vigour and efficiency in the House
of Lords on the 27th of June last.

This, however, is not to be the last attempt of
the Noble Lord to impede the business of the country.
Even at the last moment, and when others have aban-
doned their senatorial labours for a more congenial
atmosphere on the moors and the race-courses, we
find among the notices of motion given on the 14th
inst. (the same day that he endeavoured to get up
another " missing dispatch debate") one by his Lord-
ship, " On the third reading of the Sugar Duties Bill,
to move in schedule 4, in the first column of draw-
backs, 16s. 4d. be reduced to 16s. 3d." Are we de-
ceived ? Can we have read the notice aright ? We
would almost believe that our eyes must have
misled us. Are we to have a renewal, of the debate
on the sugar duties, a subject which we had
fondly hoped was altogether exhausted during the
protracted discussions that took place on the question
" that the Speaker do now leave the chair," and
during the progress of the resolutions through the
Committee, when the several and conflicting views of
Protectionist and Free-trader, of Whig and Tory, of
Conservative and Radical, indeed of every party into
which the Rouse is divided, were so fully and clearly
developed; and all this is to take place, not upon any
great question of policy, involving a principle,
but that a further remission of Id. per cwt. may be
made !! ! One penny. Surely the Noble Lord must
be jesting, he cannot seriously design to retard legis-
lation, to compel his own friends to remain away
from their country seats, at the harvest season, on so
trumpery a point. It almost appears as if he intended
to cast ridicule on the proceedings of Parliament, and
to teach the people how trivial are the matters to
which measures of great and paramount importance
have been compelled to give-way:

Really, Mr. CHISHOLM ANSTEY and Mr. DAVID
URQUHART are becoming altogether intolerable.
They are the twin-nightmaies of the Legislature.
They squat down upon the bosom of the exhausted
Parliament like a very kiamese•lncubus—" squeaking
and gibbering" in the elth of--the ill-doomed Body
now kept by them in “ state of prolonged and agonizing
prostration. The Members for Stafford and Youghal
are, without any expbption whatever, the most unen-
durable nuisances 4; the whole of the British House
of Commons. We undertake to say, with all pos-
sible deliberation, and With the most decisive
emphasis, that these tivo gentlemen have ma-
naged between them to waste more of the
time of the House during the present session
than any other ninety men out of the 650 representa-
tives. Taking the speeches delivered by Mr. Tjacku-
HART and Mr. ANSTET, from the floor of the Corn-
mons, at the most moderate calculation, we should
say that they have consumed not an hour less than a
whole fortnight out of the Parliamentary session
of 18481 Besides which, it must be remembered,
that upon every single occasion from first to last—
from the monster impeachment down to the most
peddling interruption—Messrs. ANSTET and Tiactu-
HART have spoken not conscientiously, but factiously,
not from a spirit of patriotism, but from a
feeling of spite, not from the smallest
solicitude to aid in the great labour of
legislation, but from a contemptible and splenetic
rancour against the political reputation of Lord PAL-
MERSTON. They have stuck to him with the perti-
nacity of burrs ; and have rendered their own names
the scorn and ridicule of the population, by the ab-
solute impotence of their hostility.
Within the last few days an unfortunate gentle•
man has been pronounced a madman by a Com-
mission Dc Lunatico Inquirendo, because his
imagination has juggled him into the belief
that Mr. DISRAELI the Younger, is nothing more
nor less than a demigod. Why do not some
of these charitable Commissioners institute a similar
inquiry into the condition of the two unfortunate
gentlemen, the representatives of Youghal and Staf-
ford, who regard Viscount PALMERSTON as some-
thing worse than a traitor, and as very little better
than an evil demon ? Is the peace of mind of the
author of " Contarini Fleming " to be consulted,
and that of her MAJESTY'S Principal Secretary for
Foreign Affairs to be made of no account
whatever? Is the worship of the Honour-
able Member for Buckingham to be prohi-
bited even in the privacy of the dwelling-house
of an insane attorney, and are maledictions to be pro-
nounced ad libitum and with impunity, and that too
in all the publicity of the daily sittings of Parliament,
upon the head of the Noble Viscount the representa-
tive of the borough of Tiverton ?

To speak seriously, however, upon a matter which
affects public convenience so very materially—we
consider it to be a sacred duty devolving upon the
constituencies of Youghal and Stafford to call upon
Mr. DAVID URQUHART and Mr. CHISHOLM ANSTEY
to resign if they persist in wasting the
time of Parliament by these miserable person-
alities and factious interruptions. With all the ex-
perience we have derived from the political careers of
these two eccentric gentlemen, we cannot but protest
at once that their quibbling speeches of yesterday
evening are unexampled in the records of any
generation of the House of Commons. In this par-
ticular instance, even they themselves fail to be their
own parallel. Mr. ANSTEY, indeed, has for ever
and for ever marred what little shadow
or glimmer of reputation still remained to him
among the • ranks of his co-religionists. His
speech of last night will not only excite the disgust
of the community at large, but it will also, and in an
especial manner, call forth the indignation of the
Roman Catholics of England. And it will do this,
because, instead of accepting with emotions amount-
ing almost to those of gratitude the Ministerial Bill
for the revival of diplomatic relations between the
QUEEN of these realms and the SOVEREIGN of the
Papal States, Mr.. ANSTEY endeavoured to throw
an impediment in the way of the measure,
simply because it emanated from the generous and
liberal policy of the Lord Viscount PALMERSTON !
So that the Member for Youghal subordinates the
interest of Roman Catholicism to the gratification of
a petty grudge against the Foreign Secretary of her
Britannic MAJESTY ! Froth the consideration, there-
fore, of all these circumstances in the conduct of Mr.
CHISHOLM ANSTEY, and of his fidus Ackates, Mr.
DAVID URQUHART, we cannot deprecate'that conduct
in language too earnest, seeing that it is injurious to
the public interest, an inconvenience to the Ad-
ministration, and an insufferable annoyance to the
House.

SPAIN.,

Madrid journals of the 12th have arrlied.

They state that Senor Mori has at length consented
to accept the office of Minister of Finance. His pre-
decessor, ORLANDO, is appointed Minister of Marine
in the room of Senor ROCA DR TAGOIRS, who goes
as Ambassador to Vienna.