The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-24 00:00:00

principles of Toryism—and Sir CULLING Eerweey, Many valuable suggestions are contained in that
a person as liberal as a politician as he is conservative letter ; and although we cannot agree with the author
as a Churchman. From among these three aspirants in every particular, we must admit that the points
West to which he refers arc worthy of mature and
for the votes of 35,000 electors, the men of the
Riding of Yorkshire will have to make their selec- attentive consideration, and that beneficial re-
Con. Let them not act with undue precipitation. sults would very probably follow if some por-
Their proceeding is of a momentous character ; for tions of his advice were carried into execu-
the largest of all the constituencies of England must tion. We are disposed to place confidence in Mr.
necessarily influence the political opinion of the rest of WHITEHEAD'S assertion, that he wishes "to sustain
our elective population. They must not falsify the railway property in its integrity, to see it placed
many glorious retrospects of the legislators sent by above doubt, so that the most timid may select it
them to participate in the high labours of Parliament without fear for the means on which their income-
-representatives such as HENRY BROUGHAM, as their all--depends." His letter contains internal
RICHARD COBDEN, and as Viscount MORPETH. The evidence of the fact. It is not vox et preeterea nihil,
constituency of the West Riding must rival the assi- a mere lip service, a profession of friendliness towards
(laity of the rival candidates : before the candidates those whom he is at the moment endeavouring to in-
canvass the votes of the constituents, the constituents jure. On the contrary, ho speaks in the most
must canvass the merits of the candidates. favourable terms "of the present and prospec-
Of the merits of Mr. ROEBUCK we are very far tive position of the company," about whose
from being ignorant. His long and energetic affairs he is writing, as detailed in their recent
labours in the House of Commons as one statement, which he truly declares to be "a docu-
of the Members for the city of Bath, his went of the highest importance," and adds, " its
perfect devotion to the cause of Reform, his publication has not only dispersed every doubt of the
perpetual allegiance to the great political creed of .-olidity of that enterprise; but it has done more—it
Civil and Religious Liberty, are all of them truths has imparted confidence and comfort to proprietors in
as indisputable as the vigour of his terse and sar- these railways, the stocks of which have experienced
castic oratory. It remains, nevertheless, to be de- equally with your own, the blasting effects which
monstrated whether the souvenirs of his Parliamers want of confidence ever carries with it." This is not
tary life are precisely those which would best accord the language of a concealed enemy. It is an admis-
with the character:and the endowments looked for in sion that would not readily be made by one anxious
the representative of the West Riding of Yorkshire. to promote the objects of the " Bears." His ob
How far Sir CULLING EARDLET possesses a claim jections may, therefore, be regarded as those of
upon the consideration of the great liberal consti a friend anxious to see a really sound undertaking
tuency may now be tolerably well estimated from placed upon the most favourable foundation, and to have
the address just published by him, in which he reveals its capabilities fully developed. His arguments are
to the electors his exact Views as to the political in- therefore entitled to a calm and dispassionate perusal,
novations at present required. Conspicuous among and to carry with them the weight to which they may
these revelations of his liberality is the declaration be justly entitled.
made by the Honourable Baronet in favour of the Mr. WHITEHEAD argues forcibly against the prat
BALLOT ! And still more conspicuous among the tical monopoly of the goods -trade that has been ob-
great questions which must be agitated during tained since the company became carriers on their
the forthcoming election is the question of own account, and compelled those who had previously
the day par excellence—the question of the endow- carried on the business to retire from the unequal
went of the Roman Catholic priesthood in Ireland. contest. This course, he avers, has been alike inju-
'The necessity of such an endowment Sir CUL- rious to the interests of the community and of the
LING EARDLEY is prevented, by his religious scruples) shareholders. According to the former system, all
from perceiving, and in his devotion to the Protestant private carriers were permitted to use the line under
Establishment, he announces that he will never consent certain regulations. They collected and delivered
even to a restricted and conditional endowment. The the goods, took every risk upon themselves, and paid
arguments contained in a recent pamphlet' respecting certain stipulated tolls for the use of the road, and for
this important question are not yet comprehended by the locomotive power. This allowed a clear and cer-
Sir CULLING EARDLEY ; and assuredly the decision tain profit to the company on every transaction,
arrived at upon this great question of religious tole- while at the same time that competition was main-
ranee will exercise no feeble influence over the judge tained amongst the parties engaged in the traffic that
ments of the candid and enlightened electors of the was so very desirable, and which afforded the best, if
West Riding of Yorkshire. not the only, security to the public against any over-
dose
charge, undue detention of goods, or other impropriety
of conduct. This has now been altered. The private
carriers have been driven from the field, and the
mo-
nopoly would be complete but that new and unex-
pected rivals appeared. The canal companies have
followed the example of the railways, and also
become carriers on their own account. A brisk com-
petition is now taking place. The canals convey
bulky or heavy goods at a much cheaper rate ; on
the other hand, the railway possesses incalculable ad
vantages in the additional speed obtained (often of
the utmost importance), and also in the certainty that
the traffic can be carried on at all times, without
impediment or interruption— that the " goods" sent
for speedy transmission cannot remain icebound for
weeks together to the serious injury of the owners.
Both parties are exerting all their energies to defeat
the other.. The charges are, therefore, at present
(as stated by Mr. WHITEHEAD) ruinously low, so
much so, " that a considerable portion of the profit
derived from passengers cannot fail to be absorbed
by the losses which are incurred in the conveyance of
goods." Without in any respect pledging ourselves
to the accuracy of this assertion, sufficient appears in
the comparisons which Mr. WHITEHEAD his made
between the earnings of carriages for the conveyance
of passengers and those for the conveyance of goods
to justify the alternative, that " either the goods
rates are too low or the passenger rates are too high."
It may be said that the public benefit by the present
low charges for the carriage of goods and merchan-
dise, and that if the company are willing to carry on
the traffic, either at an absolute loss or a very inade-
quate remuneration, they should not Le interfered
with therein. This argument, however, can-
not stand ; for any position radically wrong
cannot permanently be maintained. The gain,
therefore, will be but temporary, and much
more will bs extracted from the pockets of the
public when the monopoly is completely establishtd,
than will he an equivalent for the present advantage.
Mr. WHITEHEAD shows that, at present fares, a
first-class express carriage from London to Manches-
ter " is capable of earning 38/. 55.; a second-class
carriage, fur the same distance, 40/, ; a third-class
ditto, 251. ls. 41; while a goods truck can only ob-
tain 51. 55., and a cattle truck only 41. 14s. These
are certainly startling facts, and require explanation.
The suggestion that the passenger fares should vary
in proportion to the rate of speed at which they are
conveyed appears to be a useful one. Third-class
carriages would not then be made uncomfortable for
those whose necessities compel them to resort thereto,
in order that others in better circumstances may be
forced, into the other classes. The Legislature
should, however, be appealed to, to sanction such an
arrangement, the present enactments forbidding such
an attempt.
Persons having capital at their disposal cannot do
better than to inspect the table of returns that may be
obtained for money invested in Government Stock,
or in what is termed Preference Shares—that
where one of the great companies has guaranteed a
certain amount of dividend, which must be paid in
full before any sum can be divided among the share-
holders. These guaranteed stocks are fully as safe
as Consols themselves; and yet, in many instances,
nearly 6 per cent. can be obtained without a possibi-
lity of risk or loss.

Yesterday the Court of Common Council was pre-
sided over by the Right Hon. the Chief Magistrate
of the city of London, for the first time since his
accession to the mayoralty. From the knowledge
which had long since been acquired by the members
of the metropolitan Corporation as to the character of
Sir JAMES DUKE, whether as a citizen, a merchant,
or a politician, it was but natural that his reception
on his first appearance yesterday, in his high official
position, before the Court of Common Council, should
have been marked by so much cordiality and enthu-
siasm. Under every circumstance the annual
transference of the office of the mayoralty
is calculated to forward the interests of the
capital and its inhabitants, partly from
the generous emulation excited among the successive
residents at the Mansion-house, partly from the
infusion of new blood, or rather, we should say,
from the imparting of a novel stimulus to the
proceedings of the municipal authorities, partly from
the continual revision of the various public
operations in the City, but, above all, from the laud-
able ambition which is by this means instilled into
the hearts of the more conspicuous members of our
great commercial community—an ambition prompt-
ing them to unremitting assiduity, to probity beyond
the touch of imputation, to skill, to enterprize, to
consistency, to virtue, to perseverance, to equanimity,
to decision, to all those important qualities which
constitute in the aggregate the perfection of the
mercantile character. Of these advantages the City
of London has afforded innumerable illustrations in
the catalogue of her chief magistrates, dating
back from Sir JAMES DUKE to Sir THOMAS
GRESHAM, and from Sir TuomAs GRESHAM to Sir
RICEIARD WHITTINGTON. That extraordinary
has, with a few exception, presented to the comn-
mercial generations of England an uninterrupted
spectacle of the honours which become the recom-
pense of the trader who, within the circumference of
the City walls, has elevated himself in the estimation
of his fellos-citizens. Insomuch is this the inevitable
consequence of the nobler dealings among our more
distinguished merchants, that the mayoralty has comae
to be regardel by Englishmen as the crowning point,
the reward, and the consummation of an honourable
mercantile career in the metropolis.
If this be the case in the generality of instances, it
is indisputably so in the instance of the Honourable
Representative for Boston, the gentleman now in
office as the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of London.
Nor can we anticipate from the elevation of Sir
JAMES DUKE to the mayoralty other consequences
than such as must prove beneficial in the highest
legree to the inhabitants of this vast and populous
capital. As inaugurative of such results the
Proceedings of the first Court held by the
Common Councilmen, under his jurisdiction,
may be regarded as a favourable assurance. Among
the topics discussed upon that occasion it will
be observed, for example, that most conspicuous
were the measures relating to the supply of gas and
water to the crowded thoroughfares and byelanes of
the City, as well as the general improvement of the
sewerage and other sanitary regulations.
That the present Lord Mayor will stimulate these
admirable exertions by his own personal interposi-
tion between the citizens and their grievances, is as-
sured to us by a variety of guarantees, guarantees
afforded by his previous labours as an Alderman, and
spontaneously reiterated since his installation at Guild-
hall. While, however, the attention of the Chief
Magistrate is directed in a particular manner to the
furtherance of these physical improvements within
the boundaries subject to his jurisdiction, he will con-
tinue to sustain the character for hospitality which
has hitherto constituted one of the noblest, and cers
tainly one of the most proverbial, qualifications of
the first citizen of the British capital. That such is
the determination of Sir JAMES DUKE was suffi-
ciently manifested on the very day which witnessed
the ceremonies of his inauguration, when he pledged
among his guests in the Guildhall so many of those
Englishmen whose names are illustrious whether
as statesmen, warriors, administrators, or publicists,
among the nations of continental Europe. In allusion
to this circumstance we may observe, by the way,
that immediately after the civic banquet of the 9th
of November, a morning Contemporary, generally
supposed to be in the confidence of the Liberal-Con-
seriative party, inveighed in no measured terms
against the Lord Mayor for not having invited Sir
ROBERT PEEL to partake of his hospitality, and to
honour the distinguished company by his atten-
dance. It was maintained that the omis-
sion of this one illustrious name from the
list of the guests at Guildhall was the more re-
prehensible from the circumstance of Sir ROBERT
being the great man of the age, the cynosure of
neighbouring eyes, and one whose genius embraces
and long expected Homo Veniens The
30 many of the tokens distinctive of the much-bruited
indignatiindignation
of the journal in question sounds oddlynteanouhgh to our
ears, seeing that we have very excelle
minuetntoriiity for
curaarati
knowing that among the first of the e
ters invited by the Lord Mayor to his inau
banquet was—the Right lion. Sir ROBERTPEEL
It was impossible, in truth, that it could be other-.
wise ; for, although an earnest supporter of the
Government of Lord Joins ltussELL, the newly.
elected Lord Mayor had too much political discern-
ment, and too cordial an appreciation of whatever de-
served to be regarded as genuine liberality and prac-
tical patriotism, not to recognise in the career of tl-e
illustrious Baronet those deeds which command
respect and excite admiration.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris pipers of yesterday.
The Legitimatists, or more properly speaking,
the Parti Pretre, speaking through their organ, the
Gazette de France, have at length thrown off the
mask, and declare openly that they shall vote for
Louis NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, because his success
will lead to the immediate dissolution of the Assem-
bly, and ultimately to the destruction of the Republic.
As the Semeur justly observes, "the Legitimatise
party, squires and priests, peasants and beggars, shop-
keepers ruled by their wives, and traders, wishing to
preserve the custom of the clergy, will, -with some
honourable exceptions, vote for Al. Louis BONAPARTE.
Those very Legitimatists who, the day after the revo-
lution of February, pretended such enthusiasm for
the Republic, now enter into a plot for the
avowed purpose (a purpose which they seek not to
dissemble) of destroying the Republic. They will
drive their herds of peasants, the pagani, the ignorant
Pagans of the 19th century, to the poll, but the day
will come when these very peasants will turn against
them, and then they will deplore the ruin of that faith
which they were themselves the first to betray and to
dishonour."
Among the honourable exceptions alluded to by
the Semeur we are glad to be enabled to class M.
BERRYER, who, if he does not support General CA-
YAIGNAC "with his exclusive Republicanism," is at
least equally opposed to M. BONAPARTE, " with his
palpable incapacity and entire ignorance of his situ-
ation."

The Gazette de France and the Legitimatists, in-
deed the Monarchists of all shades, insist upon the
necessity of excluding General CAVAIGNAC from the
Presidency, and of utterly destroying him, if pos-
sible ; and the Constitutionnel, we are sorry to find, is
following the example of the Presse in resorting to
the weapons of calumny and slander. M. TRIBES
should, however, be cautious. His antecedents will
provoke some crushing retorts ; he, of all the living
statesmen of France, should avoid provoking a per-
sonal controversy.
M. CoquaßEL has addressed the following letter to
the editor of Galignani'a Messenger :
"Sir,—The Messenger has inserted a few lines bor-
rowed from L'EvenerneNt of Monday last, stating that
I have refused to recommend G“i ral Cavaignac, as
Pres;dent of the Republic, to my brethren, the ministers
of the Protestant churches of France. This is in every
respect a mere invention. I have not had to refuse what
has nover been asked. Though lam far from for-
getting the eminent services General Cavaignac has
rendered to his country, writing a circular letter or
charge to my fellow-ministers would be affecting a sort
of episcopal influence. We are Presbyterians, and such
a presumption would be at once in direct opposition with
the principles of our Church and my constant line of
conduct. " I remain, &c.,
ATRANASE COqUEREL,
"Pastor of the Reformed Church of Paris;
Member of the National Assembly."

On Tuesday we alluded to some facts noticed in a
letter to GEORGE CARR GLYN, Esq., M.P., by Mr.
WHITEHEAD, late secretary of the South-Eastern
lailway, and now a member of the Stock Exchange.

* " A Few Words on a State Endowment for the Irish
lergy." By a Catholic Ecclesiastic. Pp. 32, Bvo.
;idgway: London, 1848.