The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

make a sortie on the 7th of October upon the camp of
General WHISH, while his troops ware inflamed by
the religious fanaticism consequent upon the ilindoo
feast of the Dusserah, we place not the smallest regard
upon the imaginary terrors of such an adventure.
The storming of the little fortress of Arcot by ten
thousand men under the command of RAJA SALIID
cannot be so very speedily forgotten. England will
never lose the recollection that a garrison of merely two
hundred British soldiers and three hundred sepoys
was then sufficient to keep those ten thousand assail-
ants at bay, and ultimately to scare them back along
the road to Trichinopoly, although the day chosen for
that memorable assault was the great Islamite festival
sacred to the memory of HOSEIN, the chief of the
Fatimites, and although the Mahomedan soldiers were
drunk with bang, as well as intoxicated with religious
enthusiasm. We may be reminded doubtless that
upon the occasion of that immortal victory the British
forces were rendered invincible, and inspired to
heroism, by the presence of the youthful
and glorious Cilia ; but we are nevertheless
in no degree disposed to look for less distinguished
consequences in the neighbourhood of Moulton, seeing
that among the English soldiers and the sepoys there
is a young officer of equally brilliant promise, and of
an equally precocious reputation. If; upon the Ma-
homedan feast of IIOISEN, the British forces possessed
a CLIYE—on the Hindoo feast of Dusserah they pos-
sess an EDWIEDES. Every additional dispatch re-
ceived from the seat of war only tends to enhance our
estimate of the genius and courage of this young and
already illustrious Captain, the beginning of whose
career has afforded a thousand tokens that
it is the beginning of the career of a great man,
By the intelligence just received from Hindostan, it
would appear that Major EDWARDES has afforded ad-
ditional evidence of his skill, promptitude, and vigi-
lance as a military strategist. In obedience to his
admirable suggestions, several of the rebel bands have
been intercepted on their way to augment the forces
so long accumulating behind the battlements of
Moulton. Beyond which it appears, that disas-
trous consequences must have inevitably ensued
upon the defection of SIJERE Siscs but for the
remarkable adroitness displayed by Major EDWARDES
in foiling
_the wily rebel with his own weapons—
those of intrigue and dissimulation. Thanks to the
forethought and ingenuity of EDWARDES the Seikh
was prematurely driven to a declaration of his faith-
lessness, and by that means the perils consequent upon
a surprise were warded off, effectually and betimes.
Before the Overland Mail left Bombay it was
understood that, up to the latest date, the troops of
CHUTTUR Susna, marching from the direction
of the Hazaret, had failed in effecting a
junction with those commanded by his son. Mean-
while the MooLaa.r, although constantly reinforced
by the contingents furnished by the Seikh insurgents,
still continued to regard with the jealous eye of sus-
picion the movements of CHUTTUR SINGH, of SHaRE
SINGH, and of their numerous accomplices. As far as
loyalty to any cause is concerned, the very name of
Seikh has become a byeword throughout the oriental
territories, from the Hydaspes to the Burrampooter,
among the mountains of Afghanistan and among
the gardens of the Carnatic. Alliance with
them is never enforced by reliance. IThey
are scarcely less formidable as friends than
they are as enemies. Their signature to a
treaty is as much a mockery and a sham as the oath
of a Thug or the bond of a Lacedmmonian. Recent
occurrences in the Punjaub have demonstrated these
Facts beyond all further cavil, seeing that almost
every one of the chieftains who subscribed to the
treaty concluded by Lord HARDINGE, is found to be
deeply implicated in the late conspiracy and rebellion,
Even GHOOLAB Srscn, the most wily of all the
Seikh Commanders, although not overtly committed
in the insurrection, is generally understood to have
been amongst the foremost of its promoters. From
all which circumstances it becomes a matter of con-
gratulation to learn that the British Government at
Calcutta has at length determined to number the
noble plains of the Punjaub among our other Asiatic
possessions. The rebel members of the Dewan have
thus sealed the doom of the baIIARAJA. without for-
warding in any respect their own villanous ambition.

A comparison between the prices of the public
funds and of shares in established lines, and also of
the dividends that may reasonably be expected on
the amounts invested in either class of securities, will
exhibit in the clearest light the folly of those who
have suffered their fears to obtain the mastery of
their reason, and who, influenced by the vague insinua-
tions of interested parties, have sacrificed their pro-
perty at little more than half its real value. At
present quotations, three-and-a-half per cent.
cannot be obtained for money invested in Con-
sols, while nearly double that, and in some instances
even higher, can easily be had on railway stock.
" The Statements" already published, exhibiting the
present and prospective position of seven of the lead-
ing companies, prove beyond the possibility of doubt
their soundness and stability, and there is every
reason to hope that the returns will be far beyond the
very moderate estimates made by the directors
of their future profits. As we have repeatedly
stated, the nation has passed through an or-
deal of the most arduous and trying character,
All classes have suffered in common, and
it would have been absurd to suppose that
railways could have escaped the general fate, that
they alone should have reaped undiminished profits,
while merchants, tradesmen, manufacturers, in fact
all those concerned in any description of business,
were only too happy if they were enabled to bear
the heavy losses to which they were subjected with-
out sinking beneath the burden. With a return of
prosperity—and everything indicates that a pro-
pitious time is slowly but surely approaching—rail-
way prospects will also brighten, and it will be
found that they will participate in the general im-
provement, and that the estimates, which were in a
great degree based upon elements taken during a
period of extreme depreciation, will be far below the
actual results.

There are other reasons also, in addition to those
derived from the general condition of the country,
why railway stock should improve beyond almost any
other description of property. The system is as yet
confessedly in its infancy, and has not been deve-
loped to the full extent of its capabilities. The per-
son who twenty years since had ventured to assert
that thirty miles per hour could be accom-
plished with greater safety, and at about
half the prices then charged for conveyance
by the various mail and stage coaches throughout
the country, would have been regarded as little better
than an enthusiastic visionary, a fitting object for the
nearest lunatic asylum. We have, however, lived to
see all this accomplished with the greatest ease, and
affording a handsome remuneration to those by whose
enterprise and capital the object has been attained.
Why, then, may not further improvements reasonably
be looked for? Are the arrangements so perfect that
no ameliorations can be introduced ? Is the traffic
developed to the utmost degree ? Can no re
ductions be made in the working expenses,
and that without the withdrawal from the public of
any of the facilities which they are entitled to expect
at the hands of the companies ? 'We believe that the
answers to the above interrogatories will all be fa-
vourable to the railway interest, and that conse-
quently proprietors may reasonably hope for even
more favourable results than the most sanguine have
as yet ventured to anticipate.
Rapid advances have hitherto been
emaarsdessiince the
introduction of the system, eighteen y
date from the invention of locomotive machienee (we
GEORGE STEPHENSON in 1830). Since that time
GEORGE
defects—inseparable from the earlier timid and feeble
experiments in new and comparatively unknown de-
partments—have been remedied, improvements also
have been introduced that have partially exhibited the
benetlcial tendencies of the system, and which indicate
the mode by which more extensive ameliorations may
be brought into operation. Data now exist, on which
directors may frame calculations, which, if judi-
ciously worked out, must be productive of the most
favourable results. The traffic that is really remune-
rative is known, and of course the object will be to
increase that to the utmost extent, while what is to
be avoided is also pointed out clearly and distinctly.
Many grave errors have undoubtedly been committed.
Enormous sums have been wasted on useless Parlia-
mentary conflicts, while, as usual, the lawyers have
obtained more than their legitimate share of
the expenditure. All this, however, has

been brought to a conclusion, and we shall
no longer see hundreds of thousands of pounds
paid for unnecessary legal expenses. Everything re-
quired in the working department can be obtained at
more economical rates than was formerly the case, so
that there is every prospect of very considerable re-
ductions in the expenditure of the several companies.
We also find that a greater number of persons are
carried over the railways in proportion to the mile-
age, and that at a much more reasonable rate than
was formerly the case. Thus we find' that in
1847 the annual number of passengers per
mile of railway was 14,806; while in 1842 there
were only 11,772 ; that the returns per mile
were in 1847, 2,5961., and in 1842, 2,4891. only,
and that in the interval between these periods there
had been a general reduction in fares—the first class
fares being reduced, on an average, 21.8 per cent.;
the second class, 23.8 per cont.; and third class, 25
per cent. At the former period there were under
2,000 miles of railway opened. These, as might
easily be imagined, were the most likely to prove
remunerative, running between the principal towns,
which, it was stated, would absorb the best
portion of the traffic, leaving the others little
that would prove beneficial, or the contrary, that they
would act as a drain on the resources of the more
prosperous undertakings. On the contrary, we find
that although the mileage was nearly doubled, and of
course less promising lines brought into operation,
there was a larger return per mile, and a very much
greater number of passengers carried in proportion,
and that although 1842 was a much more prosperous
year than 1847, which was, perhaps, the season of the
deepest gloom and depression that the country has
witnessed during the present century.
To what can this improvement be ascribed ? Is
it not in some degree accounted for by the lowering
of fares, and the greater facilities afforded to passen-
gers, and should not the system that has worked so
well be further followed out ? It would he an unwise
and shortsighted policy to return to the system of
exorbitant fares, and few trains at considerable inter-
vals, which would prove alike injurious to the inte-
rests of the shareholders and the public generally.
On the contrary, let the directors regard the extraor-
dinary increase of traffic that has taken place when-
ever fares have been very much reduced. It is ridicu-
lous to assert that the third-class passengers do not
pay the companies. Compare for a moment the rela-
tive prices charged for the much maligned third-class
passengers, and for goods or merchandise. It appears
that the former pay nearly five times the amount of
the latter—a third-class carriage on the London and
North-Western paying 251. clear profit, and a goods
truck but Si. 55.-1-
We shall, on a future occasion, return to the con-
sideration of this subject, which a want of space pre-
vents us from dwelling on at greater length this day.

We have frequently denounced the system of
" enormous Ding" by which the reactionary party
Loth in France and in this country seek to discredit
republican institutions and restore a juste milieu
monarchy, which, as it was founded in deceit and
maintained by corruption, is to be restored, as these
its suppoters fondly imagine, by "evil speaking, lying,
and slandering." Our readers doubtless recollect the
fuss that the reactionaries made about a certain banquet
held some time since at Toulouse, and the manner in
which the Prefect and all the authorities were vilified
by M. DENJOT, and other partisans of the monarchy.
These authorities, they said, attended the banquet and
joined in drinking anarchical toasts, and afterwards
created a riot. We observed at the time this discussion
took place that the whole affair was a monarchical
exaggeration, brought forward solely for the purpose of
calumniating the authorities, and that the Republican
banquet of Toulouse was merely the contre coup of
the Legitimatist demonstrations which had taken place
in that city a few days before. The then Minister of
the Interior promised that an investigation should
take place. That investigation was conducted by the
present Minister of the Interior, M. DUFAURE, a
former Minister of Louis PHILIPPE, a gentleman
who had at one time, we believe, been M. GulzoT's
candidate for the Presidency of the Chamber of
Deputies, to whom, at all events, M. GUIZOT had often
made overtures to join his Cabinet, and who in the
old Chamber was the frequent object of the ridi-
cule of M. TRIERS on account of the mild-
ness of his opposition. The result of this inves-

tigation was that M. DUFAURE appointed
M. CASETAN, who had been suspended from the per-
formance of his functions as Prefect of Toulouse,
during the time the investigation was going on, to
the Prefecture of La Vendee. This appointment gave
rise to certain interpellations in the Assembly, during
the course of the sitting of Friday, addressed to the
Minister of the Interior, in the course of which M.
DUFAURB, whom no one will accuse of undue par-
tiality for republican principles, or of an undue bias
against the reactionary party, gave the following de-
scription of the banquet of Toulouse, and of the con-
duct of the republican authorities, as the result of the
official inquiries which he had caused to be insti-
tuted into the matter. After having complained that
no previous notice had been given to him of the inten-
tion to put to him questions on the subject of the
appointment of M. CASEVAN to the Prefecture of La
Vendee, M. DUFUARE thus proceeded :
" When I came into the office I now hold the remem-
brance of what had taken place at the banquet at Tou-
louse was fresh in every one's mind. My predecessor
had ordered an administrative inquiry, and the Minister
of Justice, on his side, ordered a judicial one. I con-
sidered it my duty to ascertain precisely what had been
the conduct of the Prefect of the Haute Garonne in the
events which led to the interpellations from this tribune.
I wished to come to an impartial resolution by studying
the inquiry. I have examined it with the greatest care,
and I am decidedly convinced that the facts stated from
this tribune on the faith of what was published in the
journals were greatly exaggerated.
" M. Denjoy—By the journals ?—(Noise.)
" A Voice on the Left—By you.
" The Minister of the Interior—Exaggerated by the
journals is what I meant to say. I admit that a move-
ment took place at Toulouse, which is much to be re-
gretted, and that blameable expressions had been made
use of; that at the end of the banquet a nocturnal pro-
menade, equally blameable, took place. I was desirous to
know what part the prefect might have taken in these
proceedings. I learnt that on the day of the banquet,
before the assembled National Guard, the Prefect
delivered a speech perfectly unobjectionable, with
a view to order and union. I ascertained
that during the banquet nothing took place
which could incriminate the conduct of that
functionary ; some cries were raised against the Na-
tional Assembly and against the Chief of the Execu-
tive Government ; they were immediately suppressed,
and one of the persons who had got them up was
turned out. The Prefect has been reproached with not
having immediately retired, but I have not found any
sufficient reason for his so doing. I find, on the con-
trary, that nothing afterwards occurred to disturb
order at the banquet, and that the authorities withdrew
in the midst of the greatest respect on the part of the
guests. It has, however, appeared to me that in the
evening the authorities did not do all that they ought to
have done to maintain tranquillity. What course had
the Minister of the Interior to adopt in this case ?
These scenes of disorder had been followed by the as-
sembling of the council general. A conflict, which was
to be regretted, arose between the council and the pre-
fect, which threatened to impede the progress of public
business. In presence of these facts, I asked myself
what step I should take. Should I maintain the Prefect
at Toulouse, or dismiss him, or remove him to another
department ? My conviction was that there was not
sufficient cause for his absolute dismissal, neither did I
consider it proper to allow him to remain at Toulouse.
There remained, therefore, the third alternative—to
place him in another department. That is the course I
decided on. In my opinion, people have allowed them-
selves to be led away by false impressions relative to the
events at Toulouse."

Thus, then, the truth has been elicited, and the or-
ganized system of calumny and slander, by which the
reactionary party are in all countries endeavouring to
stop the march of progress, has been exposed by one
to whose truthfulness the conspirators themselves
must bear witness ; by M. DUFAURE, who, however
much he may desire the restoration of monarchical
institutions, is far too high-minded and honourable to
have recourse to the means to which the reactionary
party throughout Europe now habitually resort in or-
der to carry out their views. In the course of the
debate M. ASTAIX confirmed the statement which we
made at the time, that the banquet was merely a pro-
test
against the proceedings of the Legitimatists.
M. ASTAIX said
impe-
rativelyshown
itself.callel
declare, to pu put
tdhtooawt
impose
the
eoes
ew hs
silence
n manifestationeago nw Itthi cewhhmhi
caohd_
" Imaintain that the banquet of Toulouse was
took place was called fur
say, for I do not know the do
been
nchy--a feat which the Governmentp itself had not
able to achieve.--.(On the Left loudof 'Bravo. bravo(') Did that manifestation cries o
t•
details. But
Btouot far?did the men,

• " Facts bearing on the Progress of the Railway
System in Great Britain." By Windham Harding.
t Letter to George Carr Glyn, Esq., ra.p., by John
Whitehead,