The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-01 00:00:00

LONDON, IUESDAY, MARCH 1, 1870.

THE election in Tipperary is substantially a repeti-
,ion of the battle which ended in the return of
O'Donovan Itossa. This time, it is true, the "real
Fenian " has been beaten, and the "sham Fenian " is
victorious; but there is no cause for rejoicing
at the contrast between the two results.
In November, 1839, the convict polled 1,131, and
Mr. Heron 1,028. On Saturday Mr. Heron gained
about 1,678, and the Fenian Kickham some dozen or
so fewer. The total number was a little higher ; but
now, as before, the contest has been -very
close, only a fraction of the constituency
came to the poll, and great
prevailed. Lait time Mr. heron and his supporter.
the Catholic priests, were taken unawares ; on this
occasion they strained every nerve, and but just
succeeded. The issue is undoubtedly a melancholy
triumph. The Fenians and Nationalists united in favour
of a man whose avowed policy is to establib
a separate Parliament in Ireland. The Pope ful-
minated againit the design, the priests exerted their
great influence to the utmost, and yet the Fenian
succeeded in getting within a dozen of the
successful candidate, who himself professes
opinions differing very little from those of
Kickham. Snell a victory can be honestly construed
only as a defeat. -Yet if there is little reason to
rejoice at the state of affairs in Tipperary, there is no
cause for despondency at the result of Irish elections
generally. Hibernian disaffection manifests itself in
divers ways, but it does not generally take the
form of selecting Fenians as members of Parliament.
There is something in the fact that the experiment
has been tried several times, and has succeeded only
once. Desperate attempts to seat Nationalists in
Longford and at Waterford, supported by all that
lawlessness can effect, have come to nothing. Even
Mr. Bernal Osborne's conduct on the hustings did
not lose him the battle against Mr. Smyth.
In politics the danger of reasoning from too narrow a
basis is particularly great. These contests in Tipperary
are ugly facts ; nevertheless, when it is considered
that during a period of intense excitement Ireland has
undergone one geaeral election and an exnentionally
large number or occasional contests, tne issue is not
very terrible after all. It must not, however,
be forgotten that the riots which accompany these
contests are a different and a very serious
consideration. If the results are not alarming, the
attendant circumstances are. The duty of the Govern-
ment in dealing with the disgraceful distruction of
property and danger to life at these Irish elections
is plain. The farce of nomination, which serves only
the purpoe of incitement to riot, ought to be
abolished. The adoption of the Ballot will restrict
turblence by withholding information as to the state
of the poll. And if any element of agitation remains,

rioting

as doubtless it will, the law must be unahrinkingly
and unsparingly put in force.

Plus year, in which we hope to finally shake off
the effects of the 1866 calamities, has witnessed a
decisive, and all but universal improvement in the
♦alue of railway property. A revival in trade has been
indicated by a great increase in the traffic returns. The
gloomy forebodings respecting the future of railway
investments are falsified by a general announcement
of good dividends. The North-Eastern, the Mid-
land, the Loudon and North-Western, the Great
Northern, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire,
each return this year more than six per
cent. to the ordinary shareholders. The South
Western and the South-Eastern pay moderate divi-
dends. The South Devon and the Great Eastern
chew a decided progress. Only the London, Chat-

am, and Dover, and the Brighton remain without im-
provement, whilst but one company, the Metropolitan,
can be considered worse off than at this period last
year. This association is now gathering the har-
vest of tares which so many others have already
rape,l. Whilst other properties are recovering from
the consequences of folly and mismanagement,
the blunders of this directory are but just attaining
their consuwmation. Of one hundred and fifty mil-

Ilona invested in debentures, only one-fifteenth part,
held by insolvent companies, fails to return
t'a3 sEpula!ed interest. The five hundred mil-

lious whie!l represent the total value of the railway
syslem pay an average dividend of 41 per ccut.—a
cAl.culution which includes a large sum of absolute:y
p:•ofitless Capital. Never did the pessimism in which
the British public is so prone to indulge at reriods of
depression receive a mere signal rehuhe. That the
(1::.-‘6'.ers of 16GC would he lasting, whilst all others

wer3 temporary; that the busincEs of this country
Iva 3 at length Enally on the wane ; that railway in-
ve3tments were for the most part irretrievably sunk,
worn the Erni convictions of many. That railway
property promises better now than at any
previous time is the actual result.

Though we may }egret the national loss

and Individual suffering caused by the cle-
plorablo errors of railway management, though
the condition of things might undoubtedly
have been much better than it is, we cannot
bait be struck by the fact that even human blundering
is unable to repress the expansive powers of nature.
Most Britih lines have cost much more
than the outlay which was really needful. Vast sums

undoubtedly were jobbed, embezzled, and disposed of
in thdt peculiar style of financing, by which, as in the
case of the Chatham and Dover, only a part of the
capital was devoted to the actual works, and the rest
disappeared in various directions. But in spite of
so much waste this important branch of property
is now in a generally sound condition ;
and its prospects are of the most encouragia kind.
It is only fair to note that the errors which railway
managers unquestionably did commit were greatly
exaggerated by the panic-stricken public. Two
or three year 3 ago there was much foolish
talk about the evils of excessive borrowing
by railway companies. This outcry, which was
prompted by the inability of the London, Chatham,
and Dover to pay the interest on its debentures, was
founded on a mistaken view of the case. The
Chatham and Dover Railway Company had not
proportionately borrowed too much; but was
unable to pay its debts owing to the
capital raised being far in excess of the
sum which the line actually cost. It is because
largo sums have been borrowed at low rates that
there is now such a good return for the ordinary share-
holder. In France the proportion of debentures is
greater, and the dividends correspondingly higher.
The outcry against branch lines is amply justified by
the numerous applications to abandon projected
schemes. Nevertheless, if directors had listened to
all the advice tendered them on this subject, some of
their most remunerative enterprises would have
remained unattempted. The true principle on which
undertakings of this kind ought to be conducted are
now well ascertained. With the improvements in
the way of cheapening the cost of railway construc-
tion and management, we may reasonably look forward
to a gradual perfecting of communication in all parts
of the kingdom without impairing the stability which
the railway system has attained.

TILE journals which condemn Mr. Gladstone's
announcement that the system of open competition
for Civil Service appointments will soon be greatly
extended, fall into the usual delusion of claiming for
the present system merits which it never possessed.
Open competition, it is urged, will test the candidates
only in ono respect. It will decide merely the question
of scholastic ability; it will furnish no testi-
mony either as to the character of the
applicants, their constitution, or the special adapta-
tion of their qualities for the work they will bo
called upon to perform. Perhaps not; but none of
these points are settled now. The system of appoint-
ment by patronage does not furnish a guarantee
of any kind. The parent or guardian who
can most effectually secure the requisite exer-
tion of influence wins the day, and it is idle to
assert that either educational merits, character, or
any other qualification is at all adequately con-
sidered. The exclusive principle has no advantage
of its own, whilst it possesses the great dis-
advantage of shutting out the majority of the
population from any chance of employment in the
public service. Open competition is not devised as a
means of securing a perfect Civil Service, but as an
expedient, and the best that is known, for removing the
existing inequality. At the same time it will test
the candidates' educational merits, and education
is at least something. Nor is there any reason why
the matters of character and constitution should be
neglected. The Government can surely exact gua-
rantees on these points with as much certainty as
private employers. The ordinary relations between
master and servant jog on pretty well without "nomi-
nation." in every-day life the principle of the best
man winning is found to answer; why shatild it
break down in Government offices ?