The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-01 00:00:00

FAILURE OF THE RUSSIAN RAII4WAY

SC HISME.

Not withslanding the Imperial puff prel:minary
of the Czar and his beloagings taking shares in the
projected railway undert tkings, aed thus guaran-
teeing the favour of the Court and the success of
the undertaking, the subscription list which was
opened on Tuesday by the Messrs. Barinr, has
been _ sell-born. TO prejudice which* WAS
created in the very outset of this great projeA
has increased rather than diminishel ; and the
eu4sequence is, that in the English market at leaEt
it has not even the shadow of a chance of Str!C23s.
The reason of th:s'boxi.lessness is not to be found
in any physcal difficulties which were likely to b 3
counec'ed with the carrying out of the undertak-
ing. On the contrary, R tsS'a has advantages in
this respect which are peculiar t 3 herself. We
must look e!swhere for the explanafon of• the re-:
luctance of our ct.:.•pitalists to place their names on
the subscription list.
The Russian Government has now to pay the
penalty of its utter bad faith in the first place, and
of that aspect of aggressiveness which it has con-
tracted by the con 4 int and indefatigable increase
of its means of aggression. In Russia the Empire
means war. The late Czar declared that he had had
the Moscow Railway made, not for traffic, but for
his troop,. His ,prikicy survives him ; and when-
ever an oppoitunity'offe,rs, whatever ;always may
be constructed bAweeu now and than will be used
for the purposes of war, and will be constructed with
that view. No assurances to the, contrary will crea'e
confidence in a Power which has proved itself un-
worthy of it. Honesty has its value in the Money-
market. The invasion of India, the occupation of
Con-tantinople are designs which Buss'a is known
to clicrish at the present in,.m -nt, It is to officers
despatched. from her army that we are indebted f r
the stout resistance made to our arms in the war
with Persia. _ _ _

This fact forms one of the most remarkable fea-
t'', es of the peitinacity with which Russia pursues
her designs ; white it is also a proof that her
designs on India are still ent•rtiinel. In the
camp which the -Brit iih expedition from B sh; re
surprised j ust before the batty-of Konahab, the traces
of Russian discipline and military science ware un-
mi-takable. Anything, therefore, which is done to
improve the meets of communication in Russia
wilt only Wrengthen the hands of aggression. In-
stead of being added to the resources of peace, it
wit increase the resources of war, and to the un-
certa'nty of repayment. It is a just penalty of the
crimes com►niited by that unscrupulous Power;
that even if its intentions were peaceful, it has
firfeited the means of carrying then out by its
bad faith,—Morning Advertiser.

METROPOLIT,A.N. IMPROVESIENT AND

THAMES EMBANKARNT.

At a meeting of the S of Arts on Wednesday, Rev.
Dc. Booth, F.R.S. in the chair, Mr. Francis Bennlah
read a paper on this suljeet, in which, after stating that
in 1857 we have ten times the number of vehicles travel-
ling the streets that we had in 1801, he observed that
the removal of Mi Idle-row and Temple-bar was neces-
sary as a, preliminary measure, and that it was indispen-
sably necessary to secure at least three great thorough-
fare. east and west. To meet this necessity we have on
the north a direc' line friar Charing-cross to L. nd
bridge, by way of the Strand, Fleet-street, Luigate-
hill, St. Paul's, and Cannor-street. The centre line
should be the continuation of Cheapside, north of
Paternoster-row, over FArringdoc-s'reet, by a via-
duct bearing slightly to the south of Line :fn's-inn-
fields, and so on to meet the improvements is the west
on a line with Piccadilly. The northern line should be
New Oxford-street, a part of Holborn, diverging at the
top of the hill, and by a viaduct crossing Victoria-street
to Smithfield, passing in fr nt of St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, through Birtholornew's-close, across Alders-
gate-street on the level, and so in a line with and into
London-wall, joining the Pavement for Hoxton traffic,
Bishopsgate street for Hackney or Shoreditch trafFo,
and proceeding down to the river side, by way of
Houndaditeb, the Minories and Tower-hill, crossing
the river by a steam ferry. Oa the south side the
new street rest iced upon by the Metropolitan Board of
Works would be of immense convenience, although he
thought the line oho en by Mr. Pennethorne infinitely
preferable. To relieve London-bridge of much .of
its heaviest traffic, steam ferries should be esta-
blished at all convenient points on the river below Lon-
don-bridge. Southwark-bridge should be made free of
toll, and Queen-street, between Cannon-street and Cheap-
side, made of a width equal to that between C
t and Thames-street. St. Paul's-bridge, which he
su4gested formerly, would, next to London-bridge, have
the largest traffic across the river. Temple-bridge would
introduce a most important feature in the re-arrange.
merit. It would open up to the river the whole district
of Lincoln's-inn-fields, besides other advantages. Water-
loo.bridge should be made free of toil, and Hungerford
widened and strengthened to bear carriage traffic. But,
after all, the most important step would be the embank-
ment of the river Thames. The plan proposed combines
a promenade, a carriage way, and a railway, and he was
of opinion that the entire work might be executed with-
out costing the metrop, Us or the country a farthing.
The revenue from the railway, aid the frontage obtained
from the river, would not only compensate all persons
having claims, but pay a handsome dividend to the pro-
keltors. The proposed embankment commences 'at
Westminster-bridge meld terminates at the proposed
St. Paul's-bridge. A railway starts from the Post-
office, being in continuation of the Fleet Valley rail-
way from King's-crest; it follows the road on the
embankment along the river, enters a tunnel at
Whitehall, and proceeds westwards to Richmond
and Brentford. The gardens of Whitehal and the
Temple are to he enlarged, while new gardens are
to appear in front of Somerset House. Every street
corning down to the river is to be improved, and
a greater amount of wharf accommodation secured than
now exists. The railway starting from the Post-office
has a branch uniting it with the South Western on the
one hand, while on the other it is connected with the
South Eastern. He thought this entire scheme for
Thames Embankment, Railway Junction, and a high
level bridge at St. Paul's, could be completed in five
years. On the lowest level facieg the river, it is proposed
to place the wharves and other matters connected wilt
trade ; on a higher level, out receding considerably,
is a promenade for pedestrians ; next comes the
space over which, on iron columns, the railway
-is to be laid, down ; next comes the roadway
for carriages, '4O feet wide, and then another
footway or promenade in front of the houses that may
be erected ; the entire width for foot passengers, car-
riage-way, and railway being 100 feet. Another -line
might run along the side of the new road, from St.
Paul's to the Elephant and Castle, and branching off to
the ldt, give railway convenience to the immense omni-
bus population of Camberwell, Kennington, Brixton,
Clapham, and Sireathain, uniting witte the Crystal
Palace Railway t.,) the weet-end. It is further 131.6p:rand
to unite the Thames Embankment Railway with the
Black wall Railway.
A discussion ensued,, in which Dr. Letheby, Messrs.
John Ware, Edwin Chadwick, 0.8., and Hayward, and
the chairman took part,