The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-23 00:00:00

APPOINTMENTS.

WOOLWICH", JAN.22.—Alaact—Robert Salmond
(1838); to the Fitigard flag-ship at Woolwich, vice Allen,

internal adminigtration- of India admits of very
many other improvements, besides the introduction
of railways, especially the abolition of the cruel tax
on salt, yet it may be affirmed that iron roads are an
absolute necessity to enlarged and prosperous trade.
In proof of this we shall cite a very competent au-
thority;* but it is right to observe that since the
pamphlet from which we quote was written, the
means of internal communication have been improved.
" A reference to the map of India shows that the
cotton growing districts on the Nerbudda, and those
of Nagpoor and Atnrowty, in Berer, are remote
from Mirzspore, the entreFBta on the Ganges, lying
between Benares and Allahabad ; and the mode of
conveyance may be thus described. The cotton is
brought on oxen, carrying 160 pounds each, at the
extreme rate, in fine weather, of seven miles a day for
a continuance, and at a price of about five shillings
for each 100 miles. If we take the average distance
to Mirzipore at 500 miles, each pound of cotton
costs in transit about twopence-halfpenny. It has
thence to he borne by water carriage nearly
800 miles further to Calcutta, from which port the
exportation of cotton to Eiigland at a profit must be
looked for in vain. Within the last seven or eight
years, a good road, between Jubalpore and Alirza-
pore, has been formed ; and it is satisfactory to know
that although 400 carts only passed over it in the
year after it was built, no fewer than 6,000 went along
it in 1838; and this number will daily increase. The
misfortune of this road, however, as regards the cot-
ton trade, is that it only commences half-way be-
tween the cotton districts and the entrepla The
article, therefore, has necessarily to travel 250 miles
on owns' backs, and the contract for conveyance ex-
teads to the whole distance ; so that, in fact, for all
beneficial purposes to the cotton trade in that quar-
ter, this excellent road is almost useless. In order
to render it available, it should be completed to
Nagpoor and Ainrowty. Were this effected, and
the transport of carts substituted, as we may be sure
it would be, it would diminish the expanse of con-
veyance alone, from twopence halfpenny to less than
a farthing a pound. The calculation is simple. An
ox carries 160 pounds at the rate of seven miles a
day, in fair weather only, for a continuous journey
of one or two months. In the absence of a defined
end good road, a drove of several hundred head, of
cattle requires to be constantly watched and pre-
vented from straying on the march; and this leads to
the necessity of travelling by day in the hot weather
when the thermometer is seldom less than 100 degrees,
and frequently 130 degrees Fahrenheit. These
droves are never so few as 100, and often exceed
1,000. E very morning, after daylight, each ox has
to be laden ; and before the operation is over, the sun
is already high above the horizon. The cattle have
then to proceed at the slow rate of two miles an hour,
more than eight or
gofenerally halts one day
out nine
o miles
seven. seldom
day.i
performthe
Ta
caravan journey
s overtaken by rain, the
e
cotton, becoming saturated with moisture, is so heavy
as to prevent its transport on the cattle, and the roads,
if lying through the cotton ground, are so deep, that
It
the mayi n erecahsailnyt and the carrier h
a
men even sink above their ankles at every step,ppvearuyased
thatand
under
e
It is obvious that such a mode of transit is fatal to
a ete bothts u ctheirsuch
ruined." e calamity,dknees.
the trade in cotton, absolutely essential to our manu-
facturing districts, now m
dependent
imperiously
supply from the United States, where, from year to
mainly
year, the article is more and more required for their
demandedo n factories.
todev
Railways,
lope source of indus-
try; and considering that our possession of India is
chiefly one of military treasure, these iron roads
would prove of the highest service in the rapid and
easy; conveyance of troops, and the transport of the
ae.Jh'se , therefore, a iny
lucrative
heavier munitions of war. They would prove far
more effectual than frontier garrisons against a foreign
check both
designs,
sre
irmge
ney
oaannsd;ittnhey,o,bueltdshtebdierefkeennxocie%svtneangctaehinaswt an would
internal in-
t overwhelming
force could in a few hours be concentrated on any
menaced position.
In Bengal, in the annual relief, infantry regiments
march on the average ten miles and a half per diem,
halting six days in a month, so that it takes a very
considerable time to journey from point to point.
With railways a regiment might travel over as much
ground in a few days, as months are now required to
accomplish, and without fatigue. We have practical
evidence of the utility of iron roads in military emer-
gencies in the disturbance at Cracow, which happened
a few years since. On that occasion an Austrian
corps of 921 men were transported from Prague to
Ohnutz, about 160 miles, in fourteen hours and a
half; and a body of cavalry, of 1,500 men, with horse
and baggage, made the same journey in twelve.
Compared with ordinary marching, the saving dame
was computed at nearly nice days.
1,. were easy to multiply proofs of the• invaluable
benefits which a well organised system of railways
would confer on British India; but the illustrations
offered must suffice, for our main purpose is to show

The Cotton Trade of India. By Major General
Briggs. 1840.

Now here a great principle is established, and the
East India Company may as readily carry this prin-
ciple into effect, in constructing railways in their do-
minions, as the States of Guernsey did in building
their meat-market. If the land and produce of
Guernsey were a good guarantee for 4,000 paper
notes, surely British India is a good guarantee for
any number of millions of notes that may be
needed for forming iron roads ? In one case as in
the other it is equally easy to create the reality out
of the symbol. Why should the directors degrade
themselves by begging the loans of bits of bullion from
the mmeysmongers of the Stock-Exchange, and incur
the cost of paying them interest ?
Nothing would be more easy than the redemption
of the railway notes. After defraying the charges
of superintendence and management, some surplus
would remai❑ out of the fares from passengers and the
tolls from commodities, and whatever that surplus
was, it ought to be applied from year to year to the
extinction of the debt. Assume, for the mere sake of
illustration, that it was five per cent. ; this would ex-
tinguish all the notes in twenty years, and ever after-
wards the profits would form a part of the Indian
Revenue. This is a most moderate estimate, and far
below any calculation that we have examined.
Moreover, it must be remembered that by this plan
no interest whatever would have to be deducted from
the profits of the undertaking.
Men of common minds wait for opportunities;
men of great minds create opportunities. Lord Bacon
said, " Aut inveniam viam, aut faciam ;" "I will find
a way or I will make one." It does not become the
East India Company to be the servile followers of
precedents ; their responsibility is immense, and
while it is their duty to avoid rash experiments, they
are bound to act upon tested discoveries. We have
given proof of the practicability, safety, and usefulness
of the plan here submitted to the calm judgment of
the directors. We have placed in their hands an
instrument of gigantic power, whether it be used for
military or commercial purposes. The trust in them
is of the most serious magnitude, being no less than
the defence of India, the development of its industrial
resources, and the progress of true civilization through
our Eastern empire. They are the guardians of
150,000,000 of people, who look up to them fir the
improvement of their condition, and it will be a slur
en their administration, if they refuse to construct
railways in their possessions, unless they can obtain
pertni,,sion from the bullionists ; for what is the value
of all the gold in the wcrld, compared with the value
of the soil and products of India ?

ALADDIN.

CAUTION.—The editor of the Albany Knickerbocker
says that he found the following advertisement stock on a
lamp post in Canal-street :—" Strayed or stolen, my wife,
Anna Maria. Whoever returns her will get his head broke.
As for trusting her, anybody can do so who sees fit; for as
I never pay any of my own debts, it is not likely that I will
lay awake nights thinking of other people's.—James Q.
Dobeon."

WHAT IS TO BE DONE WITH THE POPISH HIER..
ARMY ? —The Pope may easily translate his prelates into
Latin. We would suggest, as. appropriate sees, the Arch-
bishopric of Alibi, and the Bishoprics of Alicubi,
Übilibe; and Quocunque.—Punch.

:rly made in the Angli n Church. We do not
that this circumstan a contributed to the publi-
ion of the Roman Pontiff's buil in September last ;
we do maintain that that was not the sole cause of
Papal aggression in this country. The fact that
Ireland Popish archbishops and bishops, celled
the names of places in the island, were not only
,aerated, but treated by her Majesty's representative
with the same respect as the Protestant prelates of
the country, bad much to do in inducing Pins the
Ninth to pursue the course which we have lately
witnessed. When the abettors of Popery in England
saw the Romish Archbishop of Dublin receiving
!Precedence at the Castle over Protestant •
SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.bishops,
and when they remembered that Ireland is an into-
PROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
, gral part, oi the country, it was no more than might
TIMES.—The renowned designer of the Crystal
be expected that they should be unable to see any
Palace, in a letter to Lord John Russell, proposes a
plan still more novel and magnificent than that mar- reason why they should not have Popish prelates, with
vellous structure. It is nothing less than that, with English titles, in this country. If Dr. Murray thus
the exception of the first fortnight, and the Wednes-
received precedence of Protestant bishops, they
day in each subsequent week, the Exhibition shall be could perceive no admissible reason why Dr. Wise-
absolutely open to the world. It is the World's Ex- man, as Archbishop of Westminster,
re-
hibition. As the first feast of reason and flow of ceive precedence of the Bishop of should not
London at the
soul the, whole world has been invited to, as the , Queen's levees, and on all other great State occa-
great picnic contributed by seven thousand enter-
slogs. The great error both of Sir Robert Peel's
prising persons from all nations of the earth,
as Government, and of that of Lord John Russell, has
the greatest occasion which this empire is likely to been that they have been too forward to pamper Po-
produce for some time, and its chief return for the pery in Ireland. Both Governments have truckled to
sights and hospitalities of its neighbours, we should. ' the Romish priesthood to an extent at once discredit-
says Mr. Paxton, throw open our doors, and literally able and disastrous to the country. The Popish
keep open house to the world. England, he further priesthood in the sister island have been raised by the
intimates, will pocket a good deal by the show—the previous and present Government to so much import-
ance, that, whenever circumstances of an exciag
Chancellor of the Exchequer himself coming in for a
kind occur in that country, they may be almost said
share of the spoil. Why, too, he asks, should we add
to the serious expenses which our visitors must neces- to constitute a fourth estate of the realm. The des-
tinies of Ireland were for many years in their hands.
sarily incur ? The admission money presents itself
It was theirs to produce or allay agitation—to excite
to Mr. Paxton's generous imagination in the hateful
to, or restrain from, acts of virtual rebellion. And
light, a tax on the liberality of the seven
form of a tax—a tax upon knowledge"
yet, as if there had not been sufficient favour shown
a tax upon
thousand contributors. He asks that the whole by the past and the present Government to the Popish
multitude, whether from Arkansas or Siberia or prelacy and the Popish riesthood in the sister coun-
, ,
try, it was gravely proposed that the latter should be
Bethnal-green, may have free course through the
endowedby the State. So resolutely bent, indeed, were
without the aid of the odious silver ke with which
labyrinth, to go in and out at all hours of the day,
the Whig Ministry on endowing the Popish priest's in
. He would
Ireland, that, but for the course which the Roman Pon-
the private show is unavoidably vulgarised
have the Exhibition as open
tiff has lately adopted, that measure would have been
indeed, than they are i open as our churches—opener, n
reality. How, also, are the made—probably not in the coming session, but in a
poor mechanics and their families to afford the num-
year or two—a Ministerial question. If the Popish
her of visits required for a promenade of wonders
aggression should be productive of no other good, it
twenty miles long ? There is somethin ver seducin will at least be productive of this one benefit—that no
in the idea. It was Mr. Paxton who suggested to
Cabinet, no matter whether it be Whig, Tory, or
g the Duke of Devonshire to throw open every room Radical, will hereafter ever entertain, even for one
in Chatsworth after the Queen's visit, with all the
brief moment, the idea of endowing the Rotnish priest-
furniture, ornaments, and curiosities exactly as her hood in Ireland. But we have somewhat deviated
Majesty had seen it. That experiment was attended from our subject. Now that it is no longer a secret,
with remarkable success
that Ministers mean to leave the Popish prelates, in
as to the behaviour of the visitors—the solitary ex-
both as to the number and
the sister island, in undisturbed possession of their
caption proving, in its sequel, the strongest reason ecclesiastical honours, the question comes to be—ls
for trusting at least a provincial multitude. Well, the country prepared to submit to this ? Are we
tamely to look on, while we see Popish bishops retain-
Mr. Paxton is evidently a man of grand ideas; but
grand ideas are not always practicable, and we very
ing all their distinctions, and all their importance,
while the assumption of similar titles in England is to
much fear that this is not. We question whether the
b
building, three-fifths of it being filled with counters be treated as an offence to be visited with penal con-
sequences ? If the Protestantism of England and of
and cases, and having from east to west only one
grand promenade and two very narrow ones, will Ireland be what we hope and trust it is, this is an
o
allow as many as fifty thousand persons to circulate outrage on justice and consistency in which it will
freely about it. With that number we apprehend not acquiesce. If it be right to have Popish prelates
there will be here and there such an accumulation as in Ireland, with titles taken from towns in that
country, then it must be equally right to have Popish
and such as may afford opportunities to
to be inconvenient, even to a well. disposed crowd
the ill-dis ,
bishops, with English titles, in this country. If the
-
thing is to be prevented in England, it must be put
posed to do various sorts of mischief which we need
not particularise. Now, any Monday, we will not down in Ireland. We must have no such anomaly as
say also Tuesday, there are at least a quarter of a that which Ministers contemplate. Let us, at all
events, have uniformity in the two countries. Either
million men and boys idle in and about this metropo-
lis —the greater part of them "on the lark," and just put down Popish prelacy, with Irish titles in Ireland,
as ready, weather permitting, to stroll to Hyde-
or let the bull of Pius IX. take effect in England,
park as to the nearest public-house. Now we are
and a batch of Popish prelates, with English titles,
not going to speak harshly of a London
be created, by the Roman Pontiff, in this country,
mob. Everybody knows that when a mob does
" to match" Popish ecclesiastics in Ireland. It needs no
mischief it is not so much the mob as some ver large endowment of the prophetic gift to be able to pre-
small but very active knot of men in it. In fact,
diet which alternative it isito be. Ministers may propose
y there is a husk and kernel in every such mob ; the to pursue what course of policy they please ;brit there
N
stupid husk merely looking on, and the kernel 'acting another and higher power in this country. There is
under the cover of the husk. But who is to distin-
the power of public opinion. The Protestant people
guish the kernel from the husk ? Fifty thousand
of England and Ireland will insist, and insist with
Monday idlers from the manufactories of London, effect, that Popish prelates in the sister island be
mixed with a few thousand who admit of no descrip-
stripped of their Irish ecclesiastical titles.
, tion, would be very awkward customers for the Exhi-
bition, however numerous, knowing, and judicious
the police. In point of fact the place would be at
their mercy, and as the plunderers would operate in
the heart of an innocent crowd, entangled in twenty
miles of cross passages and twenty acres of valuable
commodities, we hardly see how any force, military
or constabulary, could act well upon them. So long
es the circulation is free there will be no danger,
hut with a quarter of a million, or only a hundred
thousand, besieging the place, pressing in, ac-
cumulating whether innocently or otherwise, the
circulation would not always be free. Nor do we
see how it could be kept free without continual orders '
to " move on," which would make it impossible to
get more than than a cursory glance at the objects
exhibited. Unquestionably there is some degree of
risk in the admission of a crowd under the most fa-
vourable circumstances. Croakers have all sorts of
misgivings,—robbery, insult, girders breaking, in-
fection, and we know not what besides. Now, we
think we could answer for any multitude likely to
be in at one time on payment of a shilling; for a
perfectly free mob we would rather not be bail.
Should Mr. Paxton obtain the Parliamentary grant
that would be necessary for his purpose many
millions would pay for the Exhibition without the
pleasure of seeing it. What is fairer than that
they who see should pay ? After all, a shilling or
two, or even five shillings, will constitute but a small
part of the expenses which the visitors must be at
in travelling, board, and lodging. Very few foreigners
will have to spend less than 51., and very few
of our countrymen from the manufacturing dis-
tricts less than 21., if they are ever so economical. As
for families, they can only have a peep. The weary
long visit, made for economy's sake in one day, which
Mr. Paxton talks of, and which he kindly wishes to
split into half-a-dozen visits at leisure, will be una-
voidable in a vast proportion of cases on account, not
of the shilling, but of London expenses. The object
is to make the visit worth a shilling; and a visit, with
room to move about or stand still—which you please
—with equal comfort, will be better worth a shilling
than a squeeze in a mob will be worth saying " Thank
you " fur. As for our fellow-townsmen, it will be
very hard if they, being at no other expense, and
hazing nothing but advantage from it, cannot afford a
shilling or two for their own entertainment. If anybody
is to pay, the Londoners ought. As we have observed
already, they are so numerous that the shilling
will be of service in keeping them back a little. It
should be considered that there is time and conveni-
ence to be taken into account as well as cost. If ad-
mission be gratis, there will occasionally be such a
mob that many thousands, after coming up from the
distant parts of the metropolis, not to say the United
Kingdom, will not be able to gain admission on any
terms—a disappointment which may be equivalent
to the loss of many shillings. But with the shilling
" tax" on admission, it is much less likely that
the building will ever be so full as to require the
doors to be closed against fresh visitors, except per-
haps for a very short time. Of course we have to
take care, or rather the Commission must take care
for us, that they do not, for a nominal freedom,
create a very unpleasant and useless monopoly.
If the mob are to have possession of the building five
days out of six, and if they attend in the numbers we
expect, they are likely to have it to themselves; and
all the better sort of visitors, ready to pay their shil-
ling, and able to turn the Exhibition to the best ac-
count, will be put to a serious inconvenience. The
single shilling day will be of very little use to persons
—perhaps ladies—who have come up from a distance
for a week or ten days, and who will only just ma-
nage two days in which they can see the Exhibition
with comfort and advantage. All this we grant is
speculation. The question is open to much diversity
of opinion ; and the experience of May may stultify
the anticipations of January. But it is better to
begin on the safe side, and the safest side by far we
hold to be to require from every visitor his fair con-
tribution to the show, which we need not say will, in
this case, be very well worth the money.
ADVERTISER.—The question of Papal aggres-
sion, though it has been in comparative abeyance for
some time past, will, before the lapse of another fort-
night, come again before the country under circum-
stances of profound interest. Ministers, from all we
can learn, are not prepared to take up that position
on this question which both the necessities of the case
and the dictates of a sound policy would suggest
Something, we are told, is to be done to repress
tios
Popish audacity and check Popish
assunn
in England ; but Ireland, if we be
correctly She is
informed, is not to be toueotcurred which
ed
to be treated as if nothing had
impression which
could in any way affect her.
prevails in quarters where, of all others, correct infer-
metion might be supposed
to existis, that the
measure which is to
be introduced for dealing with
Popish insolence in
this country,.i
will not make
the slightest reference to the position n which Ire-
landplaced by the recent aj7 r ess ior s
has been
ct the Roma° Pontiff. On es hat ground the
Whig Cabinet have artived at this strange
ena startling determination, We have yet to 'carp.
We are curioue to be informed on the point. The
Whig Administration have never yet enjoyed the re-
putation of being wizards ; but they will deserve to
be so regarded, if they can convince the Protestant
people of these realm thatPopish
S,whileecclesiastics
ere to be pr&dbited, under heavy pains and penalties,
from assuming the title of archbishop or bishop of
Any Place in England, the Popish prelates of Ire-
land. are to be suffered to enjoy their ecclesiastical
dieienctions without being in any way interfered
with. The fact is, that it was a grievous error, in
the nrst instance, ever to have allowed the abettors
of Popery to assume Irish titles in the sister
country. It is customary to ascribe the recent act
of Papal aggression, which has convulsed England
from its centre to its circumference, to the progress
which Romanism, under the name of Puseyism, has

REMENDOUS CONFLAGRATION.
Yesterday morning at a few minutes before seven
o'clock a fire of a very destructive character, con-
suming before it was extinguished a vast amount of
property, happened in the spacious premises belong-
ing to Mr. Robert Whitaker, playing-card and paste-
board manufacturer, Little Britain. The property
has five floors in height, including the basement, the
front forming two of the large houses in the public
thoroughfare, whilst the main factory was a building
nearly as capacious and contained an equal number of
floors, the entrance being by a flight of stone steps.
The discovery was made by an apprentice who slept
in the second floor of the front premises. The upper
story was termed the enamelling compartment ; the
whole of the floors were lighted with gas, and the
heat was furnished by German and register stoves.
Owing to the great amount of paper, cards, and
boards in the building, the apprentice at once
saw that unless the flames were quickly stopped a
fearful confle.gra!ion would follow. He aroused the
two sons of Mr. Whitaker, who were sleeping in the
front premises, and sounded an alarm through the
neighbourhood. Fire-escapes, engines, and police-
men were quickly on the spot and in active and fear-
less operation ; but in spite of their efforts the total
loss by this disastrous event must, at a moderate cal-
culation, reach some thousand pounds, for the whole
of the manufacturing premises are completely de-
stroyed, the upper portion of one of the front ware-
houses is burned out, the whole of the back rooms of
the two front houses are partially destroyed, and the
valuable stock in trade seriously injured by water.
Fortunately, the principal part of the valuable designs
which have taken some years to accumulate, have been
saved ; but for a time the whole of the workpeop!e—
numbering upwards of forty—will be thrown out of
omployment. Mr. Whitaker was insured in the
Union and Phoenix Fire-offices. Not the least idea
can be formed as to the cause of the misfortune. Mr.
Whitaker, jun., informed the reporter that when he
examined the premises after the men had left off work,
he did not perceive the least appearance of fire in any
pert of the buildiegs.
Independent of the loss sustainbeedbydymr.agWeahitaker,
the following premises have
also
en
ured by
No. 11, Little Britain—Mr. A. S. Hill, wholesale
druggist; stock in trade, &e., seriously inj
water. Insured in the Phoenix and Globe Fire-
r taatnietv edl r
b.
yS other
fire
afi
wt e
ar,
t-emr kaenrd;
offices.
hasty remo
No. 12, Little
in the and contents in the Alliance offices.
val. Insured, building
stockprem i
ne s
utsa
rrearddi fauL
lbs,yl3
176 and No. 15, Little Britain, belonging to
Mr. Steel, a bootmaker, have sustained trifling injury
by hasty removal and water.
No. 2, Little Montague-court—Mr. Rayner, a
cabinet-maker ; premises much damaged by fire and
water. Insured in the Sun Fire-office.
AMER

_ CLIPPER SHIPS FOR THE CHINA
TRADE.—The Eclipse is the name of a clipper ship that has
just been built by Jabez Williams. of Williamsburg, for
Thomas Wardle and Booth and Edgar. She is now loading
in Peck-slip, having been in dry dock for coppering, and is
to sail on the 10th proximo for California and the East
Indies. She is another of the fleet of rapid sailers that have,
within a recent period, been launched from the New York
ship-yards to compete with English vessels for the trade of
Oriental ports. Her length is 200 feet, and she registers 1,225
tons. Her arrangements are very complete. The accom-
jacp tamojations for her crew, in particular, are excellent, the fore-
castle being piaccd on the main deck,
pro-
vision made fur lighting, ventilating, &c. Theca cabins ore
elegantly finished with satin and zebra weeds, relieved, with.
and suitable
azure and gold. The Eclipse is commanded by
By invita-
tion Hamilton. Captain Hamilton's former slip, the
the California fleet thz.t
South Carolina, was the first of
r.:ached home, she having arrived at Boston on the I.7th of
F
Sea-serpent,
of a cora-
oer
ibnoryfu,reaeirmiya thelna(slt
j;tc‘'%vi.nni ttehurrsanOcf
atr the tine
select
etcopper
calinirpoiep raCri;i:hoi
opi
:ion on board that vessel last Saturday, previous to her de-
parture for San Francisco and Canton, on the 10th
proximo. 1,200 out of the 1,600 tons she is capable of
receiving are already engaged. Her, cargo will consist prin-
cipally of goods suited to the San 1 rancisco market. Having
arrived there she will unload and replenish herself with
goods likely to meet a ready sale at Canton ; and, after
having crossed the Pacific, will take in a stock of Chinese
merchandise, and sell it at London ; at London she will load
for the fourth time, with goods for the American market, and
come home, perhaps, at the end of eleven months, with her
first cost paid for out of her first trip. She is commanded by
Captain Howland. There are now about a dozen elegan
clipper vessels owned in New York in the Canton and Cali-
fornia trade.—Xew lurk Journal of Commerce.