The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-09 00:00:00

firma OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The 21meg, in asting what action is to be taken with
respect to the new Telegraph Act of last session, observes
that, without attempting to distribute the blame of the
failure, we may simply say that hitherto our telegraph
system has failed to become what it ought to be. It does
not give us cheap, popular, and available means of com.
munication. The wire is not nearly so much in use as it
!tight he. A telegraphic message is a rare and exceptional
thing. Telegraph offices are but thinly scattered over the
country, and the charge made for the transmission
of a few words is so high that, except on occasions of
urgency, the money is grudged. Contrast with this our
correspondent's description of the state of things in
America, where the telegraph offices are upwards of 4,000
in number, or one for every 7,000 of the population, and
where "over 50,000 miles of line and 100,000 miies of wire,
with 260 submarine cables," are incessantly at work for
the accommodation of the public. Still more striking is the
comparison in respect of charges. In the year 1867 one
company alone delivered to the American press just about
300,000,000 words (if news matter, at a cost of some £100,000;
whereas in continental Europe a service of about the same
extent cost no less than 52,3)0,000. Such contrasts are
absolutely conchwive. It cannot be a matter of doubt
that our telegraphic system requires complete reorganisa-
tion and development to fit it fur the needs of the age.
The only question is, or rather was, how that reform
should be accomplished. Many persons thought, and,
indeed, openly said, what people are now saying in
America, that "the telegraph, if placed under Government
control, would soon become a mere political machine,
devoted, not to transacting the business of the
public, but to securing the ascendancy of party."
That, perhaps, was an extreme view of the case,
but suspicions of a similar kind were actually expressed
by some of our most prominent statesmen ; and
indeed, it would have been strange if the proposal had not
brought such objections to light. On the other hand, in
the mere way of detail, there was the obvious difficulty of
bargaining with the companies on terms at once accept-
able to them and not unjust to the public. On this point,
as might be expected, there was a strong conflict of views,
but in the end a conclusion was reached with which we
have no desire to quarrel. We may trust, we hope, to the
vigilance of opinion for the safety of public rights, and in
the meantime we are promised a large development of
telegraphic service on cheap and easy terms. That was
the bargain, and we now expect to see it effectually carried
out.

The Standard remarks upon the farewell speech of Sir
John Lawrence at the entertainment which was given
him on his departure from India, and thinks that it will
be read everywhere with interest. After nearly forty
years of such service as can be rarely matched in our
annals, the great viceroy takes leave of the country which
he saved once to the empire by his prompt and vigorous
genius—which he has since then restored to a newer life
by his wisdom, his justice, and his magnanimity. In all
that brilliant record of what Englishmen have achieved in
India there is no chapter more glorious than that which is
filled by the name of Lawrence. The deeds of Sir
Henry and Sir John are henceforth a part of
the imperishable heritage of the English people, which
will endure long after their empire shall have crumbled
away. They are an eternal witness to the governing
genius of our race—our most indisputable title to the sove-
reignty of India. The possession which Clive won by the
sword has been made thrice ours by the work of this noble
pair of brothers. They have been more than conquerors,
for they have conquered for us the hearts of the people—
they have annexed their loyalty, their affection, and their
trust. For his policy of rule during his term of govern-
ment, Sir John Lawrence offers a defence which could
scarcely be deemedby any one who heard it to be required.
Whatever local differences of opinion there may have been
at various times as to the character of Sir John
Lawrence's viceroyalty, the impartial voice of history
will declare it to be at once the most happy and tin.
most glorious in the annals of India. If it has not bees
a period of absolute peace, that has scarcely been the
Governor-General's fault. The peculiar merit of Sir
John Lawrence is that he is the first who has really con-
solidated our dominions in India. He leaves, as a legacy
.to his successor, an empire in as fine order, as prosperous,
and as contented as any ruler ever bequeathed. He leaves
a still more precious heritage in an unsullied, good name,
which cannot but be a ruling influence, both with the
rulers and the people of India, for all time to come. He
has fixed the basis of an empire upon the foundations of
justice, of affection, and of mutual confidence. And
whatever further reward there may be in store for him in
his native country, he has earned his place already among
the highest of those who have made their mark in his
island's story, as one to whom

"The path of duty was the path of glory."

The Telegraph considers the question of labourers'
cottages, and enumerates the difliculties which lie in the
way of improvement. A fter censuring the want of thought
displayed by some holders of property, it remarks : We
are quite aware that it is not the landlords alone who are
to Ma me for the prevailing wretchedness of cottage accom-
modation. Many landlords, both nobles and commoners,
have built comfortable cottages for the workers on their
estates. But the tenant as well as the squire must assist
in the good work ; and, from sheer ignorance of what
is for their own interest, the tenant farmers are too
often indifferent, if not hostile, to the efforts made
for the improvement of the labourer. When
Canon Girdlestone began his memorable effort
to improve the lot of those poor toilers, by
sending them from poorly-paid districts to places
where work was better remunerated, he encountered the
fiercest hostility from the farmers, who charged him with
"setting class against class." The result of all this neg-
lect and short-sighted opposition is that " wastels " and
outdoor farm servants generally congregate in the
shameful hovels run up by " small men"—speculative
brewers, petty builders, and the like. The evil is palpable,
and of scandalously long standing. Everyone who has
resided in the country knows the misery and discomfort,
the filth and the fever, the hideous immorality and inde-
cency amid which the denizens of the "cottage homes of
England" are condemned to grovel; yet, in the opinion of
the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture, " a fixed number
of rooms in each cottage, or the number of cottages per
acre on a farm," are matters beyond the reach of parlia-
mentary legislation !"
The Star, in commenting upon the terms of the Alabama
protocol, says that it now remains to be seen whether the
Senate will ratify the treaty, and, if this indispensable act
is withheld, on what grounds its assent is refused, Mr.
Reverdy Johnson's alleged unpopularity with his country-
men could scarcely operate as a reason for putting an end
to negotiations which, as they stand, are entirely in favour
of the views so eagerly and so persistently urged
by the American Secretary of State. That un-
popularity might be a motive for delay—for
abstinence from definite action until General Grant
and a new Cabinet have been installed into office.
This we can understand; and if the difficulty rests on this
foundation it will assuredly vanish in a few weeks. But
we cannot believe, unless better authority were vouchsafed
than the gossip of the national capital, that President
Grant has expressed himself as hostile to the Convention
because the measure of England's responsibility should be
determined by the value of the commerce which was
driven from the seas by the dread the Southern
privateers inspired, and by the loss of life and treasure
which the prolongation of the war, as the alleged
result of the Confederate sympathies of the English
Government, entailed upon the people of the United
States. It is most improbable that a reticent and prudent
man like General Grant would take a newspaper reporter
into his confidence, or embarrass his future freedom of
action by making a declaration at once so startling and so
momentous. We would prefer to believe that whatever
General Grant may have to say on the subject of the
Alabama Convention, he will reserve for his inaugural
address, and that he will not create new complications by
opening up an issue which was never raised or suggested
either by Mr. Seward, Mr. Adams, or Mr. Johnson.

The Herald refers to the unnecessary fright into which
people have thrown themselves at the idea that in this
year, 1869, there might beno DerbyDayand no University
Boat-race. March without Putney, and May without
Epsom would in their estimation have been months alto-
gether lost, colourless, unhistorical. But in the latter
case the fear was less justifiable than in the former. It never
was credible that the Cambridge boatmen, simply because
they had been eight times successively defeated, would
strike their colours and hang the Light Blue permanently
half-mast high. No doubt there was discouragement in
the reminiscence of so many failures; probably, indeed,
physical reasons connected with the training waters gene.
rally accessible to the two crews had something to do wills
the doubt ; and it was just possible that, pending certain
improvements progressing in the channel of the Cam, a
hiatus in the contest for the 13lue Ribbon of the Thames
should occur. Yet it was not likely that Cambridge, with
her many honours, should decline those few moments of
gallant emulation, in which victory is a merriment and dis-
comfiture no disgrace, merely on the ground that the luck
for a considerable period had gone against her. Russia,
said the late Czar, never sulks; she tries again. And so
with the Light Blue. The Dark may win ; we should be sorry
has
to wager against it ; but whether the deeper or the more
tender tint bear off the palm, certain it is that the public
would miss that Saturday morning were it blotted from
the Calendar, as it would miss few other annual celebra.
trthothßisiticeliimo:ti‘oloo:,
tions—the Derby-day excepted, for the Derby .day
actually become indispensable. No ; we may put up with
ruttleersofi
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Marchan d
withoutnle se summons
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without itb naom chivalry would -anotimliri
tolorAilmi 0.14 411