The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-17 00:00:00

ENING, MARCH U 7, Iss 8.

country. Ho found the roads better in native
States than in the Company's territories ! In
these territories, indeed, he found what were once
magnificent roads actually gone to ruin, so im-
passable in some places that he had to be carried
across the rice fields, and through water, too ; his
palanquin, ho being inside, having to be placed on
the heads of the bearers to keep him dry ! About
fifty miles from Calcutta he at last found " a sort
of road from the Midhapore district." The memo-
randum talks of the railroads authorised-4,158
miles, and the capital with guaranteed interest of
34,231,0001. Well, of this in FIVE years 121
miles were opened in Bengal, where every con-
oeivable facility of cheap labour and level country
exists for making them even faster than in Eng-
land. Thirty-three miles are also open in the.
Bombay Presidency. We believe Cuba has twice
or three times more miles of railway open than
the East India Company ! l Yet what is opened
pays seven per cent. Does such a Company
deserve to survive another yeas g

But we must refer the reader to the pamphlet.
It is written, to be sure, without the slightest
effort for effect, or pretence of literary skill. It
is the plain unvarnished statement of a man of
business, suggested by the polished and subtle
special pleading of the memorandum—perhaps of
the petition, too. It is Mr. FREEMAN'S class
which will prove the social, commercial, and poli-
tical regenerators of India ; yet the aim of the
Company has been to depress that class as much
as possible, that Civil Service, living upon the
taxation of the natives, might ride roughshod over
it, and keep all things snug for themselves. It
will hardly be believed, but it is the fact, that
these " covenanted" lords of India actually
attempted, in what are called the Black Acts, to
subject all Europeans in India to native magis-
trates—but, at the same time, they excepted
themselves !

LATEST NEWS.

THE CHINA MAILS.

binnen, to the Russian frontier near Eidkuhnen,
has just been distributed. The expense of this
line is estimated at 7,000,000 thalers, and is pro-
vided for by a loan which will be realised as re-
quired for the works. In the year after the open-
ing of the line to the public, a sinking fund for
paying off the loan will be formed by taking a half
per cent, per annum from the surplus of the re-
ceipts, or in case of need from the capital account.
The State will have the right of increasing this
sinking-fund, but not of diminishing it. Accord-
ing to a convention entered into between the Go-
vernments of Prussia and Russia, and approved of
by the Prussian Chambers, the works of the lines
from Koenigsberg to Eidkuhnen and from Eid-
kuhnen to Kowno are to be carried on in such a
manner that the two lines may commence work-
ing at the same time. The Prussian Govern-
ment, however, reserves to itself the right of
delaying the completion of the line from
Koenigsberg to Eidkuhnen until that from the
latter place to St. Petersburg shall be finished.
The capital necessary for the construction of the
great network of Russian railways having been
subscribed for, the Russo French Company is in a
state to immediately commence the line from St.
Petersburg to Warsaw with branch lines on Wilno
and as far as the Prussian frontier. The line from
Gatchina to Louga, which joins that from St.
Petersburg to Gatchina, is already open for traffic.
In the spring, the works will commence on all the
line from Pskov to Wilno and from Wilno to the
Prussian frontier,. so that the branch from Eid-
kuhnen to Kowno (11 miles of 7,408 yards each)
as well as the line from St. Petersburg to Duna-
bourg (69 miles) will be completed in 1859, and
the lines from Danabourg to Wilno and from Wilne
to Kowno in 1861. The distance from St. Peters-
burg to Berlin, which is 215 miles, will have in
1859 188 miles of railway finished, and there will
be only 27 miles left to pass over by a common
road. It is therefore of the highest interest for
Prussia to commence the works as soon as possible
on its own account, because it is not likely that a
private company_ could bo formed within so short
a period to undertake the construction of the line,
and because it would be preferable that the State
should keep such an important line in its own
hands. The Government thinks that the loan
above-mentioned can be readily realised, as, even
in the late crisis, the Prussian funds remained firm
and there is every reason to expect that the rate of
interest will this year be very low, and that the price
of materials, particularly rails, will be moderate."