The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-21 00:00:00

relations between master and servant were very dif-
ferent now to what they used to be. Many of the
servants were boarded out, and indirectly the mas-
ters were not so responsible as they formerly were.
He could not say that he altogether • pproved of
that, and, though it had been said that the servants
were difficult to manage, perhaps the real reason
was that the masters and mistress s were not so
much among the servants themselves as they ought
to be. (Hear, hear.) Having made these observa-
tions concerning the agriculturists and their la-
bourers, there was one other subject which he
thought, as a practical farmer, he was bound to
notice, and that was an article which appeared in
the Times a short time ago, throwing ridicule upon
these agricultural associations and the prizes awarded
by them to labourers. The writer of the article seemed
to think that the farmers were taking upon them-
selves a province which did not belong to them ; that
in point of fact they were putting a moneyed value
upon virtue. He (Mr. Chowler) denied the charge
in toto. The farmers of England had originated
these societies for the purpose of rewarding their
servants, and they had a right to reward their
dependents and servants in any way they chose.
However humble the money value might be, it was
in many cases much more acceptable to the reci-
pient than a medal would be. (Cheers.) During
the Crimean war he had seen soldiers paraded be-
fore her Majesty in great pomp, and then rewarded
with a medal. In point of fact, the advisers of her
Majesty seemed to have such a poor opinion of the
soldiers that they thought they could keep a medal
where they would waste any reward that might be
given in money. The farmers had no such opinion
of their dependents, but gave them money, which
was much more useful to them than a thing to look
at. (Laughter.) When a labourer received a money
reward, whether small or great, if he had exigen-
cies which required assistance, he could apply it
usefully, and he (Mr. Chowler) certainly thought
that that was by far the best mode the farmers could
adopt among themselves for rewarding integrity
andindustry. (Cheers.) In three societies in that
neighbourhood, the Collingham, Grantham, and
Waltham societies, they gave away annually £ll6
2s. 6d. in money and $3O in cups. He would ask
any person of common sense whether that sum dis-
tributed among an industrious people was not wor-
thy of consideration. For his own part, he could
not conceive why any writer should say it was
valueless. They might be legion who wrote the
maoic " we," but who ox' what they were, or what
their object was, he was at a loss to conceive.
(Laughter.) His own impression was that they
attacked these societies simply because they had
originated with the agriculturists. If they had ori-
ginated with the towns, probably they would have
been all right, but having originated with the coun-
try people it did seem to him that nothing suffi-
ciently strong could be said in their disparagement.
Captain HAFFENDEN next gave " The Health of
the Chairman."
The CHAIRMAN, in responding, said he entirely
concurred in the observations which had fallen from
Mr. Chowler in reference to the value of these
societies. If the writers of the articles which had
been alluded to were in the habit attending agri-
cultural meetings, of seeing the manner in
which the men received the prizes awarded to
them, and the value they appeared to attach to the
cards and testimonials given to them, he believed
the public would not be troubled year after year
with the remarks which were made in disparage-
ment of agricultural societies. He was quite satis-
fied that the labourers received the prizes awarded
to them gratefully, that they valued them very
highly, and that they considered them as testi-
monies of the goodwill which ought to exist between
the employer and employed. (Hear, hear.)
Several other toasts having been given, the pro-
ceedings terminated.

THE ATLANTIC ROYAL MAIL STEAM
NAVIGATION COMPANY.

The Belfast Banner of Ulster contains a long
article on the establishment and future prospects of
this company, from which we extract the following:
" We feel assured we are correct in stating that
a Belfast gentleman, not less distinguished for his
commercial knowledge than for his successful enter-
prise as one of our leading manufacturers, was among
the first—if not the very first—to direct public
attention, in a practical and telling' manner, to
the peculiar advantages certain to result from the
selection of Galway as a packet station in an im-
proved communication between the United King-
dom and America.
"We must, of course, regard John Orrell Lever,
Esq., of Liverpool and Manchester, as at once the
father and pioneer of this great national enterprise.
To him it really owes its origin ; and to his public
spirit, commercial foresight, and ample capital,
judiciously employed in a new field, its immediate
and almost startling success must, with all the
honour which so noble a specimen of the British
merchant prince' deserves, be attributed.
" We have the highest satisfaction in publishing
to-day, in the business department of our paper,
the prospectus of the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam
Navigation Company (Limited).' The proposed
capital is £500,000, in 50,000 shares of £lO each ;
and we have no doubt whatever that within a rea-
sonable time the subscription list will be filled up,
and the shares at a premium. Belfast, if we know
its present tone and temper, is prepared to 'come
down' as becomes its position as the first mercantile
city of this country, and as likely to benefit more
largely than any other town in Ireland from the
advantages which the new route to the west will
ensure. The capitalists of other places in Ireland
who do not take rank below their rivals on the
other side of the Channel in uniting ' cash and
sense' will be equally eager to become shareholders
—while the leading moneyed men of England and
Scotland, as well for their own interest as on public
grounds, will, we feel certain, come forward in a
cordial manner to aid in the advancement of the

project.
" We have, with some attention, made a scrutiny
of the directory and officers of the new company, and
find that, in all the requirements necessary to in-
spire confidence, the list is unexceptionable. We
find, at the head of the trustees, the Earl of Shrews-
bury, one of whose brothers is private secretary to
the Premier, and another (Viscount Ingestre) pri-
vate secretary to Lord Stanley. Among the &rec-
tors we find the Right Hon. Viscount Bury, son of
the Earl of Albemarle, late commissioner on Indian
affairs in Canada ; Sir P. H. Fleetwood; the cele-
brated Sir Allan Macnab, Prime Minister of Canada;
J. A. Roebuck, M.P. for Sheffield (not less distin-
guished in his sphere) ; T. Howard, Esq., Manches-
ter, one of England's millionaires ; G. P. Lascaridi,
Esq., London, head of an eminent Greek firm, who
are owners of lines of steamers to Malta, Constan-
tinople, and Odessa; and T. 0. Stack, Esq., of
Lloyd's, the leading underwriters. The general
manager is A. M. Weirof London, a gentleman pos-
sessing extensive knowledge of European and Ame-
rican steam shipping affairs, brother to the Hon.
Mr. Weir, of Halifax, N.S. The brokers are Messrs.
Cazenove and Co., Threadneedle-street, London, the
most extensive brokers in the world.

L " The mere incontrovertible fact that the voyages
of the Lever line have been materially shorter than
those of the Government mail steamers known as
the Cunard, and even considerably shorter than
the United States mail line, the Collins, is sufficient
to prove the advantage of the Galway route. By
this line, undoubtedly, the Transatlantic mails will
ere long be transmitted. Economy, convenience, and
the requirements of trade, will force such an ar-
rangement upon the Government. The conveyance
of the American mails, both to the United States
and the British colonies, has hitherto been per-
formed at a figure from which the Anmieans them-
selves in the case of the Collins line of mail steamers,
shrank back, and let their pet steamers go to the
hammer. By the arrangements of the company the
Transatlantic mails, including the United States, the
Canadas, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Vancouver's
Island, California, Newfoundland, with Prussia,
Belgium, Sweden, and Denmark, yielding £900,000
per annum—could be carried by this company for
half the sum, which would pay the expenses of a
weekly line to America, without reference to pas-
sengers and goods at all.
lalway has now a telegraphic communication
with all parts of Europe which will probably yield
£30,000 a year. If the Transatlantic cable were in
proper working order it would increase the postal
intercourse between the United Kingdom and Ame-
rica sixfold, thereby rendering necessary more
speedy communication by steamers. By adopting
the Galway route an immense amount of loss in
property and human life will be annually avoided.
The official records show that in the Channel navi-
gation upwards of 1,000 lives and over 500 ships are
lost annually.
" A connection has been formed between this
company and the American E 'Tress Company,'
which have their central office in New York and
800 stations in the western continent. This junc-
tion gives them the greatest facilities for transmit-
ting passengers and merchandise between Europe
and all parts—even the most remote—of
intluding the new gold fields of British Colmumenbciaa:
" We hail the present visit of Mr. Lever to Bel-
fast as an omen of increased prosperity, not only
Galway and the northern metropolis, but to the
kingdom at large. Imperfect as our railway com-
munication with the far west of Ireland is, we have
already found our advantage in sending our staple
products across the land to that point for tranship-
meat to our American consignees."