The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-14 00:00:00

v'eason, it would appear, that the authorities are re- 1
solved.to terminate the duration of their responsi-
bilities at the preciae moment stipulated in the agree-
mc alt. Now, we must protest at once in so doing we
conceive that the personages intrusted with these
regulations are acting upon an extravagant principle
of pertinacity rather than upon a laudable anxiety to
be true to their prdmises. They cannot by any possibility
mar the good already effected by the Exhibition in
keeping it open during one or two weeks longer in
compliance with a wish very generally expressed
throughout the population. They cannot enhance
the merit of their previous course by refusing to
comply in a particular of this kind with the hopes
expressed by the community. They cannot in any
way increase the reputation already acquired by them
as the conductors of the most gigantic enterprise of the
kind ever adventured upon by gainsaying the advan-
tages that might accrue from the acceptance of this
very prevalent suggestion. But by taking the hint
thrown out to them by the public, by following the
advice tendered by the leading journalists of the United
kingdom, by yielding to the dictates of their own good
judgment, they might, and would, unquestionably,
advance their fame in the estimation of Europe as the
most energetic and far-seeing body of men that has
ever superintended any similar undertaking. We
speak thus not with any intention whatever of ren-
dering our argument more palatable by sweetening
it with complimentary phrases. We commend the
Royal Commissioners in these words of eulogium,
because we look upon them as eminently entitled to
such commendation. Their entire proceedings have
been characterised throughout by a spirit of liberality,
of activity, and of unprejudiced ardour such as com-
mands in their favour our most cordial admiration.
All that we are solicitous to witness in their
regard by way of improvement is the evidence of
a little less resolution at a time when that reso-
lution amounts to nothing less creditable than obdu-
racy. Therefore it is that we still flatter ourselves
with the hope that they may be ultimately induced,
on a little further reflection, to yield the boon
demanded from them by a considerable sec-
tion of the community—the boon of that sup-
plementary month or furtninght which should
appropriately crown their most arduous exertions,
with another token of their very generous considera-
tion for public convenience.
Several among the exhibitors appear to have che-
rished an expectation that a month such as the one
above suggested would be resolved
,upon by the
Commissioners, and that the proceeds of those four
weeks additional would be appropriated to their
own especial advantage, for the payment in some
measure at least of their very heavy expenditure.
The notion, it must be allowed, is in every respect
sufficiently ingenious. It would have defrauded no one
and would at the same time have removed the
only subject of complaint cherished in any quarter in
relation to the conduct of the Exhibition—namely,
the supposed slights passed upon the exhibitors by the
Royal Commissioners. Possibly it is not even now
too late to alter the system previously resolved upon,
so as to carry out in some way the hopes and sug-
gestions of those parties to whose skill, and industry,
and enterprise the whole of this great Exhibition
is indebted for its success. Of course it may
be argued that if the exhibitors have incurred
the expenses here alluded to, they have done
so with their eyes open, and upon their own
responsibility. Correct though such an argument un-
doubtedly is, we cannot but regard it as also most un-
deniably ungenerous. With such an enormous sur-
plus in hand it would be magnanimous on the part of
the Commissioners to endeavour by such means as
those which have been here indicated to diminish in
some measure the large expenditure incurred by the
exhibitors in the manufacture of show contribu-
tions, and in their transmission to the Crystal
Palace. In many instances the cost of carriage
has necessarily and obviously been very great, more
particularly in the instance of our own colonists and
of the foreigners. It would be graceful, therefore, as
well as magnanimous to decrease the onus of this ex-
penditure. Our convictions, indeed, upon this head
are earnest enough to render us still sanguine of wit-
nessing the announcement of some such supplemen-
tary arrangement in obedience to the decision of her
MAJESTY'S Commissioners.

The Irish " Exodus," as it has appropriately been
termed, now forms the topic of chief interest on the
other side of St. George's Channel. That the inhabi-
tants of a country, which has already been so deeply
and so severely t.fil:cted, should regard with astonish-
ment, not unmingled with alarm, a movement that
is rapidly transferring to another hemisphere the
labouring population, the thews and sinews of their
native land is by no means surprising. They
sae those who, under more favourable circum-
stances, might be the creators and producers
of national wealth, day after day, flying from
their shores, and seeking refuge where there will be
a more fitting appreciation of human labour, and
fairer remuneration for those able and willing to work.
Those who were previously the most strenuous and
indefatigable advocates for a wholesale system of emi-
gration—for driving the " surplus population"(! !),
as they impiously termed GOD'S creatures, their
equals in every respect except the adventitious
circumstances of rank and wealth, forth to
seek their fortune in other climes, are
beginning to think that the matter is going
rather farther than they had anticipated
to reflect upon the mischief that may arise from no
longer having "hewers of wood" and " drawers of
water" to answer at the first " beck or nod" of the
task-master. The almost miraculous natural capa-
bilities of the country and the necessity of " cheap
labour" for their thorough development are at length
taken into consideration. The wages of working men
must be very largely increased, when the demand will
be for labour and not for employment, when the
difficulty will be to find "a man to undertake a job,"
and not to find "a job for a man to undertake." It
is manifest that the long talked-of improvements
which were only talked of when " labour was a drug
in the market," but which were never even at-
tempted to be carried into practical execution, must
be wholly relinquished, when the wages of those by
whom they were to be effected will have been more
than quadrupled.