The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-15 00:00:00

GLOBE THEATRE-ROYAL.

Tins EVENING, at 7, GOOD FOR NOTHING. At a quarter to
8, CYRIL'S SUCCESS: Messrs. Warner. Vernon, David Fisher,
Newbound, Andrews, Tindale, Hurlstone, J. Clarke: Mesdames
Henrade, C. Thorne, Bremen, Berend, Hughes, and Stephens.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress. Mrs. Swanborough.
Tuts EVENING. at 7.30, THE WIDOW HUNT. Messrs. Bel-
ford, Clarke; Miss Bufton. THE FIELD OF' THE CLOTH
OF GOLD: Messrs. Thorne, James. Fenton; Mesdames Maria
Longmore, R. Goodall. Lydia Maitland, Claire, and Hughes. To
conclude with HUE AND DYE.

QUEEN'S THEATRE, LONG-ACRE.
Manager, Mr. W. H. Liston.
THIS EVENING, DOT. Messrs. J. L. Toole, S. Emery, W. 11,
Stephens, C. Wyndham, anti L. Brough; Mesdames Montague,
J. Rignold, higxe, and Everard. And THE GNOME KING
Mr. Toole. With A RACE FOR A DINNER

THEATRE-ROYAL, OLYMPIC.
Tills EVENING, at 7, SL A SHER &CRASHER: Messrs Atkins,
Vaughan. G. Vincent, fie.: Miss Lennox Grey and Mrs Caulfield.
After which. at 7.45, THE YELLOW PASSPORT : Messrs. H
Neville, G. Vincent, E. Atkins, H. Vaughan, H. Cooper, and H.
Wigan ; Mesdames. Furtado, Lennox Grey, and Caulfield

ROYALTY THEATRE.
Lnder the Management of Miss M. Oliver.

TIPS EVENING, at 7.N0, A LOVING CUP. Mr. Dewar. Miss
M. Oliver. To he followed by THE RISE A.ND FALL OF
ITCH ARD III.; or. A New Front to an Old Dieky: Mr. Dewar
Mr. Danvers: I\'•i Collinson. and Miss M. Oliver. To con
etude with EVERYBODY'S lIUSBAND.

PRINCE OF WALES'S ROYAL TIIFATRE.
rnacr the Management of VissMarle Wilton

TWFS EvF.STti a, SOCIETY: Messrs. Hare, H. J. 14ontagne,
Plakeley, Montgomery, and Bancroft: Airs. Buckingham White,
C. (idison, and Miss AI arie Wilton. Preceded by A
WINNING H AZ .1 It P.

I:OYAL A2IPHITHEATRE AND cincus, HOLBORN.

THIS EVENING, The Great Carre Troupe and magnificent Stud
of 50 Hone*: also Alfred Bradbury, H. Clifton, and THE
CF ELECTRICITY.

UHZISIY ItINSTRELS. St. James's Ball, Every at 8
Wednesdays and haturdays, at 3 sada all the year round.

ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. THREE BALLET
Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. is. Box-office
open from 11 to 4.

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, Regent's-park, OPEN daily (ex
cept Sundays). Admission, Is.; on Mcndays, 6d. ; Children
under twelve, 6d.

Asc:i4
_

LONDOiV, FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 18C9.

Lord HALIFAX has had a pleasant time of it in the
town he represented for so long, and he seemed to
appreciate the compliment that was paid to him.
His speech at the entertainment in the Town Hall of
Halifax on Wednesday was characterised by grati-
tude to his friends and magnanimity to his opponents.
In some respects the noble lord's remarks present
some novelty, for he discoursed upon the party politics
of past years, and no doubt to many of his hearers
the reminiscences of the Reform Bill of 1852 were
quite as out of date and as mythical as those of the
great measure of 1832. Lord RUSSELL seems to be
the object of Lord Ham Fax's admiration, for he
strove hard to bring his services before the company
assembled on the occasion. First of all, the noble
earl had essayed to bring in a measure upon the
Irish Church, and was only prevented by adverse
circumstances from being beforehand in that stu-
pendous undertaking. The Reform attempts of the
great Whig Chief called forth encomiums from
his friend and colleague, and the noble
lord reminded his hearers that he himself had intro-
duced a franchise clause, which had won approval,
only that in common with the Government Bill it was
too much in advance of the times. Lord HALIFAX
made some interesting allusions to middle class Par-
liaments, and declared that they had ceased to exist,
hut that their memory was crowned with honour
They had established civil and religious liberty, they
had destroyed Protection, and put a stop to class
legislation. 1 hey had besides passed an excellen
Reform Bill, and in his commendations on that mea-
sure the noble lord was more liberal in his tone than
some of his friends have been. He acknowledged,
however, that he did not like the manner of its pass-
ing, so far as it affected the character of our public
men ; but he never himself feared the adoption of
the " Democratic measure," as it was the fashion to
style it. We commend the feeling which prompted
Lord HALIFAX to say that he had as great a
concern in the reputation of his political
opponents, as he had in that of his friends, for he
thought that the public character of all leading men
belonged to the country. We consider, however, that
he was mistaken in the opinion that prompted him to
the utterance of that sentiment, because no public
character suffered through the passing of the Reform
Bill; and the only disgrace that can appertain to the
affair remains with those who impeded its course, and
sought to frustrate the just expectations of the people.
Further on, we find the noble lord recognising the
justice of Mr. DISRAELI'S act in resigning office with-
out waiting to test the strength of an adverse ma-
jority. By this means, said he, all bitterness and
acrimonious feelings have been avoided, and the late
Government can join with the present one in con-
certing those measures which will be necessary for the
public good. The noble lord concluded his interest-
ing speech by adverting to the changes which
would be produced in the country by the great alte-
ration of the representative system, and expressed his
belief that they would conduce to the more extended
government of the people by themselves. He did
not seem so very sanguine, however, as to the suc-
cess which the new Parliament would meet with in
dealing with the measures which lay before it. There
is some truth in the remark notwithstanding its appa-
rently unsatisfactory nature, for there is great diver-
sity of opinion among many of our leading statesmen.
Lord HALIFAX thinks that even among those who are
associated together there exists a good deal of dissi-
milarity, and as he must be behind the scenes to some
extent this does not sound very encouraging, but
time must prove if these warning words at Halifax
are like the skeleton at the Egyptian feasts, to fore-
tell the impending doom of the Ministry, that is to
share the fate of a house divided against itself, or if
they are merely the passing utterances of one who has
been too long engaged in the turmoil of State to care
to speak platitudes, and therefore comes out will
something that may be more plain than pleasant. At
any rate, Lord HauFax may be congratulated upon
the compliment paid to him by his old constituents,
and his speech comes as a refreshing change, after
some that have been delivered lately, for it is devoid
of the bitterness of party spirit, which it is at all
times undesirable to introduce on such occasions as
the one referred to.

On Wednesday a very important meeting took
place in Marylebone, in reference to the administra-
tion of our Metropolitan Police Force. It proves
how general and how well-founded is the conviction
that our police system needs a thorough revision,
that the whole of the metropolitan vestries and
district boards should have appointed delegates to
consider and take action upon its inefficiency.
Honesty begins to feel that it is worsted in the
struggle with roguery, and, so far from our
efforts for social improvement resulting in the
diminution and repression of crime, it is actually!
gaining ground upon us. We are heavily taxed to
maintain our police force ; its ranks are yearly aug-
mented ; its members are undoubtedly active and
courageous in the performance of their arduous and
often dangerous duties ; yet, with it all, our streets
are notably unsafe, our night watch admittedly in-
sufficient, offences of a desperate nature grow pain-
fully common, while minor acts of dishonesty are so
constant and so common that we hardly note them.
The memorial which the Marylebone meeting re-
solved upon presenting to the Home Secretary seta
forth some very striking facts, and Mr. BRUCE can
hardly afford to disregard so urgent and so well
founded a claim. There is, it is urged, a considerable
increase in the number of indictable offences, although
the increase in the number of police is more than in
proportion to the increase of the population. The
cost of the force has also augmented. The whole
cost per man in 1859 was £72 2s. per annum,
while it is now £79 15s. 6d. " Your memoralists,"
so runs the petition, " also invite attention to the
significant fact that, with all the extended means for
the repression of crime, the police return for 1867
shows that there are 2,280 houses of receivers of
stolen goods, 5,689 houses which are the resort of
thieves and bad characters of an kinds, and 112,403
persons of the criminal class at large. That the num-
ber of recommitted prisoners shows an increase of
2,034 as compared with 1865-6. That the proportion
of the recommitted to the total number committed is
38.5 per cent. ; and, what is worthy of the gravest
consideration on the part of the Government, is that
of these 1,601 had previously been sentenced to penal
servitude." The memorialists pray fur the total abo-
lition of the ticket-of-leave system. They suggest
I that a much stricter supervision should be kept over
the receivers of stolen goods, who are such powerful
allies to thieves, and that it should be necessary for
marine storekeepers, refiners, and others wbo dispose
of the plunder, to hold licenses. They desire also that
crimes of violence should be punishable by corporal
chastisement, after the fashion which has proved so
successful with the gatotting fraternity. With re-
spect to the more direct object of the meeting, the

. anagement of the police force itself, the framers of
the memorial have plenty more to say. From the
time of the act passed in the year 1829 for the forma-
tion of the police force no inquiryshas been made by
Parliament into its efficiency or its management ; and
while the total charge for the metropolitan police in
1860 was £491,496, it had risen in 1867 to £660,034.
The memorialists believe that the police are too often
engaged in private services, while it has been found
necessary to discontinue some of the pillar posts for
lack of adequate protection. They have reason to
know that too much time is spent in military drill,
and they consider the police rate much too high.
They point out that thee city police rate is much less
than the metropolitan, and they wish to see the
control and finances of the latter placed under
the supervision of a representative board. The
memorial canclules with the expression of
a conviction that the foregoing facts afford suf-
ficient grounds for a prompt and searching Par-
liamentary inquiry into the present inefficient state
of the metropolitan police force, and into the alarm-
ing extent of violent and predatory crime. It is
quite evident that the public attention is now tho-
roughly aroused, and as it is a subject, regarding
which no man can even pretend to be in lifferent, we
may look, without doubt, for some immediate legis-
lation. It is not unreasonable to hope and believe,
that the recent alarming progress made by the crimi-
nal classes will eventually prove to have been really of
service to the cause of order and justice. We all of
us are apt to find familiarity breed contempt, and the
constable has, perhaps, of late underrated the inge-
nuity and activity of the thief. The more demon-
strative branches of the profession of crime are evi-
d.mtly now in vogue. But even the less dangerous
worthies are pests to society, and should be elimi-
nated from our midst. The death of Sir RICHARD
MAINE occuriug just at the season of short days and
moonless nights, at a time too, when there has been
so much discussion on the subject of crime, renders
the appointment of his successor one of the most
pressing questions of the day. Mr. BRUCE'S task
of selection will not be an easy one, but we may be
sure that the public will not be satisfied with any-
thing less than a thorough revis'on and reorganisa-
tion of the whole syste:n. Of course, in a great and
populous city, we cannot expect to be altogether free
from crimes of fraud an I violence, but the rapidity of
their increase amongst us, and the vast extent of
the criminal classes, are sufficiently startling to de-
mand immediate attention, and to justify the most
prompt and vigorous measures.

THE second report of the Irish Railway Commis-
sioners is an exceedingly satisfactory document. It
is not without much value as a contribution to our
knowledge on the general question of the State
management of railways, whilst the conclusions
drawn from the inquiry, as applied to the Irish
system in particular, are full of hope and encourage-
ment. It returns a satisfactory answer on each of
three points submitted for consideration. The
three great advantages to be derived from the
proposed departure from the ordinary rule, from the
preference of public to private enterprise in railways,
are the promotion of trade by the reduction of fares,
economy of management by concentrating the
various boards into one public department, and the
saving in interest which is secured by borrowing at a
uniform rate and under Government guarantee.
The first of these problems is by far the most diffi-
cult and doubtful, but, happily, the commissioners
had not to deal with an unopened question.
The experiment which is proposed in Ire-
land has long been tried in Belgium. Since
the year 1831 a portion of the Belgian
lines has been in the hands of the State; and though

for some years they were worked at a loss, since 1852
they have .been prosperous, and have invariably
returned a profit, small in some years and considerable
in others. Such a result as this is all that can be
desired, for, provided that the expenditure be covered
it is always a question whether any excess of income
should not be returned to the public in the shape of
cheaper and better accommodation. In this case it
was advantageously employed in reducing the original
cost of the lines. The Belgian authorities ascribe
the success of their management since 1852
to the reductions in the rates for goods.
Certainly the figures are decisive enough. In eight
years the goods charges have been lowered 28 per
cent., whilst the traffic has increased 106 per cent. ;
£BOO,OOO has been economised in the cost of carriage,
and yet a large profit has been paid into the public
treasury. The reduction of passenger fares has
not been sufficiently long in operation to afford
any conclusive data of its results ; but
though hitherto the receipts have decreased, the
authorities do not despair of a better issue on a fuller.
trial. Applying the Belgian returns, with allowance
for difference of circumstances, to the Irish system
of railways, the commissioners prepare themselves for
a total reduction of £055,000 on the present receipts of
the traffic.

This apparently formidable loss is in reality a most
favourable result. The reductions proposed are
so substantial that a great impetus to railway traffic
in Ireland must be the infallible consequence. The
charges upon goods are to be lowered in many cases
as much as 78 per cent., and in no case less than 50
per cent. The carriage of live stock is to be
decreased 32 per cent. Passenger fares are to be
reduced 31, 45, and 42 per cent. for the first,
second, and third classes respectively. These altera-
tions are so sensible that the commissioners are
quite justified in assuming that a considerable and
immediate increase of traffic will follow. But they
have not reckoned upon one farthing from this source
in their estimates, and all that is so gained
year by year will go to reduce the total loss
of £055,000. It is not to be doubted
that such a sum will soon be cleared off altogether.
The net result of these investigations shews that so
far as the decrease of fares is concerned the Irish
people may enjoy a benefit so real without the
slightest loss. The two other questions have not
given much trouble. Saving by concentration
of management and by consolidation of debt
have always been two of the admitted arguments in
favour of State railways. The advantage of one
central government in place of the numerous expen-
sive boards which now control single railways, even
though the substitute must be a public depart-
ment, and still more, the gain by borrowing
at a low rate of interest on Imperial
security instead of the ruinous expedients by which
bankrupt companies are now kept alive, are self-
evident. The commissioners had only to calculate
the amount of saving from each of these sources,
and they accordingly reckon upon £BB,OOO a year as
the gain upon the debt and £32,000 a year as the
saving In management. As the entire receipts
of the Irish railways amount at present to no more
than 4720,444, this sum is by no means to be
despised. Add such a saving to the certain increase
of traffic, and the benefit to the material prosperity
of Ireland—which will equally strengthen the
receipts—and it becomes evident that this Irish rail-
way budget is as favourable as could be hoped for.
The Government may undertake the third great
work of Irish reform with perfect confidence.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR'S CHURCH PATRONAGE.
—The Lord Chancellor has presented the Rev. Hugh
Johnson Hindley, M.A., incumbent of St. George's, Ever-
ton, Liverpool, to the vicarage of Edlington, near Horn-
castle, vacant by the death of the Rev. W. Biscoe, M.A. ;
and the Rev. John Scudamoro Stanhope, M.A., to the
rectory of Humber, near Leominster, vacant by the death
of the Rev. 0. Goodrich, M.A.
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