The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-16 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 16, 1856.

THE ESPIEGLE AND SCORPION, ON
THE _VARIAN EXPEDITION.

First cutter and gig away surveying. Number on sick list,
none. Employed painting and cutting wood.
25th-9 a.m., United States' corvette Cyane sailed.
Chimere got under weigh, and shifted berth.
" 28th 9 p.m., arrived a schooner from Carthagona.
" March 2,1-11 a.m., arrived Epiegle.
" 16th—A schooner arrived from Carthagena.
" 2 th —8 a.m., stood out of Caledonia Bay.
" 2:d —1 p.m., arrived a schooner from Navy Bay, with
Mr. G isbor no.

" 2:11-5.30 p.m., ran through the Sasardi channel.
Shortened sail, and cacao to with streatn anchor in three
fathoms, of Sasardi village ; furled sails. First cutter re-
turned.

" 31st-6.30 p.m., discontinued the survey, and made
all plain sail for Carthagena."

OPENING OF THE CEYLON LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL.

The Legislative Council of Ceylon was opened by his
Excellency Sir llenry Ward, K.G.O , on the 30th of July.
The Governor congratulated the colony upon the sati-
factory state of the revenue, the healthy condition of the
producing interests, the steady increase of trade, and the
active prosecution of works intended to develope this grow-
ing prosperity. The financial statement of the Acting
Auditor-General showed that the revenue of 1855 exceeded
that of 1854, by 68,231/. ; that the excess of revenue over
expenditure in the year, notwithstanding a large supple.
mentary estimate, amounted to 70,6631. ; the expenditure
having been 405,6091., while the revenue was 476,273/ ;
and that this surplus, added to the balances of several
preceding years, left, at the beginninz of the present year,
a balance of 218,4771. 19s. 110*, in favour of the Govern-
ment. Deducting from tho 93,521/. 7n. 3d., which may be
considered as unavailable, if not absolutely irrecoverable,
out of a sum of 104,7461., which appears, in the auditor's
balance sheet, as the amount of " outstanding revenue
debts," it appears that, after paying off the whole of
the Treasury notes in the Cutcherries, or in the hands
of the public, there was, on the Ist of January,
1856, a net surplus of 124,956/. 12s. Bd., available
for the service of the colony, in addition to the
ordinary revenue of the year, the prospects of which are
highly encouraging. For, by a second statement by the
Auditor-General, up to the 30th of June, it appears that
notwithstanding an increased expenditure of nearly 16,0001
during the first six months of the present year, 5,7301. of
which have been laid out on public works and buildings,
the revenue of the half year exceeds the expenditure by
33,6901., and the estimated revenue by 32,3411. As com-
pared with the first half of 1855 there is a decrease of
5,3181. ; but for this the receipts from the pearl fishery in
that year fully account, since they amounted to 13,877/., or
more than double the present decrease. In the customs
there has been an increase of 4,422/. ; in land sales of 6,4591.;
a proof (as his Excellency remarked),that in fostering with
a liberal hand whatever tends to increase its trade, to feel•
litato the acquisition of land by all classes of the popula-
tion, and to throw open the communications between the
different provinces the colony is, in fact, consulting its
own best interests.

On the subject of the railway the Governor said :
" Gentlemen of the Legislative Council,—l shall lay upon
your table, to-day, copies of a despatch from her Majesty's
Secretary of State, and of an agreement entered into by
him with the Ceylon Railway Company, for the formation
of a railway between Colombo and 'Kandy. This agree-
ment is a provisional one, but it becomes a contract,
legally binding upon both parties, if confirmed by ordi-
nance within six months from the date of its signature.
Based upon the resolutions passed by the Legislative Coun-
cil on the 9th of August last, the proposals originally
made to the company were suspended, for many months,
by the state of the money market in England. They were
renewed in March, upon the first dawn of peace ; and after
a protracted discussion, in which I feel confident that every
man in the colony will gratefully acknowledge the time,
labour, and thought bestowed by Mr. Labouchere upon the
interests of a distant dependency,the negotiation was closed
on the Bth of June, by the assent of the railway company
to terms which appear to the Secretary of State, ' to achieve
the first and principal object of securing the completion of
the railway within a reasonable time, and which he is dis-
posed to recommend for your concurrence' Mr. Labou-
chere, in another paragraph, expresses his belief, ' thatthe
stipulations entered into will be found to have been cons
sidered with a duo regard to the interests of Ceylon, and
to secure to the island important advantages.' Both in
this despatch, and in a confidential despatch that pre-
ceded 1t,,t0 fasts of which I thought it expedient to give
the Bayne wholesome publicity that I have sought, in every
stage of this transaction, as the best security for arriving
at a sound conclusion, Mr. Labouchere has expressed his 1
-opinioshe thaisit would- ba more asivisable-to commit the
construction and working of the iailiiisy to a company,
which could give substantial guarantees or solvency, than
to undertake to complete the work by the direct agency
of the island government, acting through contractors.'
In this opinion I entirely concur; for though I will shrink
from no duty that the interests of the colony require me
to undertake, I confess that I view with much apprehen-
sion the complicated series of transactions in which the
local government would be engaged, by the necessity of
raising the capital required for so large an undertaking,
upon bonds, subject to all the fluctuations of the money
market, and by the influence which the chances of peace
or war must exercise upon the operations of the most opu-
lent contractor. I prefer, therefore, the intermediate
agency, if it present sufficient proof of competency to fulfil
its engagements, and be subjected to such conditions as
will control its action upon those points with regard to
which all companies are disposed to consult the interests
of their shareholders rather than those of the public. In
all these respects I affirm, without hesitation, that the
agreement which I shall place in your hands is almost un-
exampled in the stringency of its precautions. It is use-
less to analyse a document which will receive from you
that full and careful consideration which it merits, whe-
ther we look to the high authority from which it pro-
ceeds, or to the importance of the objects contemplated.
That its scope and tenour should not have been thoroughly
understood until the agreement itself was before the
public is perfectly natural. No precis could do it
justice, or guard against some honest misapprehensions.
But the more you examine it, the more you will be con-
vinced that, for attaining a given end, within a given time,
it is nearly a perfect instrument—that the advantages are
reciprocal, and by no means unfairly divided—for if the
rate of interest be high, the control vested in the govern-
ment over the tariff, as well as over the choice and con-
struction of the lino, the making the payment of the gua-
ranteed interest dependent on the actual completion of the
work within the time stipulated, the maintenance of the
railway in perfect working order at the cost of the company
during the whole period of the contract, and the interven-
tion of the Secretary of State in calling up the capital as
required, and placing it to the credit of the colony, without
risk or responsibility or possible loss, are privileges of no
ordinary importance. The only fault that I have to find
with the arrangement is the amount of responsibility which
it imposes upon the local government. But I must warn
you that you cannot lessen this without changing the cha-
racter of the agreement altogether. It may be matter of
fair consideration whether it would be expedient to trust
the Government less and the company more—whether it
welshu be desirable to bind the company down, directly
and pesamptorily, to execute the whole work for a given
sum, as hva been proposed at Randy ; but in that case you
must have another and a different agreement. You must
create other end different machinery. Yon cannot call
upon a body of ialen,
.!' who bind themselves simply to con-
struct a line of rails: ay l
the selection of which they have
neither voice nor authssrity, to complete the work for a
given sum, when the extent of it may vary from 70 miles
to 100. There must be auother limit to their responsi.
bility ; and that limit is, the provision made by the 20th
clause of the agreement, namely, that ' if the line, as
selected by the Ceylon Government, under the 4th article,
or as subsequently altered, under the sth article, shall
exceed 90 statute miles in length,' the company shall
not, for the purpose of
completing the railway, be bound
to raise, and provide,
a capital exceeding in amount
1,200,0001.' In the preceding part of the same article it
is stipulated, g that if the sum of 800,0001., to be provided
in pursuance of the 19th article of the agreement, shall be
insufficient to defray the entire cost of constructing the
railway, with the necessary works thereto belonging, the
company shall be bound to raise, and expend slash further
capital' (not 400,0a0/., or any other specific sum), but
' such further capital as ni ay. be required for the above
purpose,' subject to the con.ttion already specified, viz.,
that the length of the line shall not exceed 90 statute
miles, ' by making which, an:l by the expenditure of
1,200,0001., the company shall be held to have performed
every covenant, stipulation, and obligation.' There may
bo some obscurity in the wording of this article, but I state
to you, upon the highest authority, that its object, as as-
sented to on both sides, is to reserve to the Ceylon govern-
ment a double right, and to impose upon the Company a
double obligation. If the govern went keep within th
limit of ninety miles, it is entitled call for any anoint
of capital at 5 per cent. which may be : necessary to complete
the line. If it exceed the ninety no ilea —(that is, the
limit of length)— it cannot overpass the limit of capital,
1,200,0001. ; but within that limit, as regards amount,
the government may make as large a de:our as it may
deem expedient or necessary. It has been argued that
under this provision the company may waste money upon
unnecessary works, in order to swell the amount of capital
invested. But with the government rest the responsibility
and the check, for the company can do nothing of which
the engineer of the government disapproves, and its
works must be executed to his satisfaction. Subject to
these limitations, it is the interest both of the colony and

of the company that a power of this nature should
be reserved in dealing with a country not yet sufficiently
known and full of natural difficulties ; for it may bo
cheaper to construct 10) miles of railway upon improved
leve's than 70 miles upon the levels of the existing survey.
But the right cf exceeding the 00 miles is one that no pru-
dent Government would exercise, except upon the highest
professional authority. And now, gentlemen, let us look
at the precise share in which the questinn comes before
you. It is admitted on al silos if the resolutions Of
public meetings bo any criterion of public opinion—'hat
the construction of a railway is desire.bl, for the develop-
ment and I,e3uri ty of the pro luting interests of the colony.
It is admitted that a fresh survey must be made before the
precise directim of the line can be fixed. It is admitted
that the charge upan the revenues of the island ought not,
in p. udance, to exceed the interest upon 1.200,0001 of capi-
tal. It is admitted that this charge must be defrayed out
of fresh taxation, since the attempt to provide for it out
' of the ordinary revenue would paralyse, for five years,
those improvements in roads and bridges which are now
' rapidly advancing, and upon which will mainly depend the
utility of the railway when completed. The nature and
amount of this taxation it will be for you to consider.
Upon all these points the opinions of her Majesty's Govern-
ment are in accordance with those expressed in the colony
during the last six weeks, and entertained I believe by the
great majority of its inhabitants. It remains for you
to determine whether you can devise a quicker, cheaper, or
surer mode of attaining the common end than the adoption
of the agreement concluded on your behalf by the Secretary
of State, and recommended by him for your concurrence.
Mr. Labouchere has not, however, imposed upon me the
duty of urging this measure upon you as one in which her
Majesty's Government is interested. Your decision will be
' the result of your own deliberate convictions ; and if I have
dwelt so largely upon my own views respecting it, it is be-
cause I regard it as my duty not to conceal them, when I
see on the one side practical and positive results to be at-
tained within a certain time, and by a certain amount of
expenditure, and on the other, vague suggestions, which it
will take years to invest with a substantive character. I
therefore most respectfully recommend you to consider, in
the first place, whether the circumstances of the colony are
such as to warrant you in embarking in " so considerable
an undertaking?' The Secretary of State has himself sug-
gested the doubt, and invited your opinion respecting it.
If you adhere to your former resolutions, and think that a
railway ought tb be made in Ceylon, then I recommend you
to make it, now that you have the means and the oppor-
tunity ; for if you reject the ono and let slip the other, my
belief is that much time will elapse before you stand again
in the same position. I am not conscious that, in tendering
to you this advice, I am biassed by any other motive than
the deepest interest in your welfare, and a natural desire
when Igo to leave some useful recollections of my stay
amongst you. I now commit the question to your hands,
with the certainty that it will be fully and impartially con-
sidered, and with the earnest hope that, whether you agree
with me or not, it may be brought to a right decision."