The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-23 00:00:00

THE 00A VEY-4NCE OF THE A(.SZR_4LIAR

MAILS.

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE SIIN.

Sllll-At th s per:o i of severe conanercial pres-
su! e, the on- arisfartory wanner in which 'he Aus-
tra:ilii postal service 16 conducted merits the serious
attentiali of the Le.-!islature, the more so when we
remember that the contractors, under the pretence
of securing unusual speed and certainty for the
transit of the mails, have obtained from the Secre-
tary of the Treasury 44,0001. per annum in excess
of the amount demanded by anoth?r company com-

,eting with them for the same service. Notwith-
tandmg-, however, the high subsidy accorded, it
.cold hardly have been pos,ible for the Mails to
lave been conveyed in a manner more calculated to
,ccasion loss and inconvenience to our Australian
aerchants. _ _ .

I ton far from desirous to hold the contractors
responsible fur accidents over which they have
no coatrol. This would be highly unreasonable;
but what I desire to point out is that they
hive been wee-CI-1g in common forethought, and
are responsible for the results of their own wilful
acts, as well as for the neglect of precautions which
it is clear it was iecuitibent on them to take.
In tee first place, they are clearly responsible for
tie loss and inconvenience resulting to the public
from the break down of the Oneida for it is well
known that the foundation plate of the engines of
that vessel was eracke wive.) slie left Southatpton •
and Sir t'. Wool admitted in the House of Com-
mons that the Adiniral•y surveyor had in cense-
queuce report eu the vessel unfit for the mail ser-
vice. Notwithstanding, however, this grave defect
in her machintay, she was wilfully sent out, and
mark the result—she broke down on her very first
mail voyage ; all postal steam intercourse with
Australia was in co usequ:ince necessarily suspended
for a month, and the homeward despatch of the
mails for four sticceeiling months was disorganised.
In the second instance, owing to the contractors
owitt'ng the precaution of placing a rest ship at
Suez—in shot, owing to their having the temerity
to assume that no accidents could possibly happen
to their ships, the last mail to Australia, contain-
ing, perhaps, the most important c:imnercial ad-
vices and warnings which ever left this country,
will have keen de•ained one entire month at Suez.
As to the accident which has occurred to the Emen,
it is a casualty over which the directors themselves
had no control, but it will not be denied that it is
attributable to the uniccount,ble neglect of the
servant of the contractors, toe cenanfauder of the
ship, in permitting;his yes-el to get among the reefs
of the Nubian coast, instead of keeping to the beaten
track of vessels—that is, to the central parts of a
sea which is considered free from nearly all those
difficulties of navigation which perplex the mariner
in other oceans. Be the fault of the company's or
their servant's, one of its immediate results is this,
that while the entire correspondence of the Aus-
tralian colonies, to the expressible loss and harass-
ment of the merchants, will probably not be here
for 14 days, iu the interim 526,0001. in gold inca-
pable of identification must lie profitless in the
hands of the mail contractors until the letters and
bills of lading arrive, and permit it to be claimed
by the owners, whose feelings on the subject may
better be imagined than described.
If the public hers are silent under these circum-
stances, rely upon it the colonists, who have to pay
cue-half of the subsidy, will not remain tongue-
tied. They will petemptorily demand that the con-
tractors should take those steps and. precautions
adopted by all the large companies to ensure the
due conveyance of the mails, or they will insist on
her Majesty's Government forthwith cancelling a
contract which has hitherto been carried out with
so much loss and inconvenience to the public.—
Yours, kc., AN AUSTRALIAN.

THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY. A
final decision has been obtained against Mr. Edmund
Denison, M.P., and his fellow-directors of the Great
Northern Railway Company, in their attempt to repu-
diate the rights of the preference shareholders,
so as to throw upon them the losses occasioned
by the Redpath frauds. Of the exhibition made
by Mr. Denison throuhout the affair the public need
not be reminded. A sufficient example has been enforced,
and no public man is henceforth likely to commit him.
self in a similar way. But the opportunity must not pass
without attention being called to the illustration the case
affords of the wrongs which directors having control of
public companies with millions of capital can at anytime
iiifl:ct on individuals upon whose claims they may choose
to trample. In the present instance justice happens to
have been obtained, because a few persons were found
sufficiently bold to encounter the necessary outlay.
But nine times in ten people under such circumstances
submit vvithout a thought of resistance, and even on this
occasion it was at one period understood the conteett
was abeut to he abandoned. Every one saw that the
moral question was clear, but the prospect of success
against opponents with unlimited fueds, determined to
take advantage of every technicality of the law, and to
carry the struggle from court to court so long as there
was any power of continuing it, seemed almost hopeless.
If the cause had been that of a single shareholder, re-
dress would, of course, have been impossible. The
question, therefore, arises whether Parliament should
not make provision for a compulsory and inexpensive
arbitration in every such case, allowing the arbi rators,
if they sec fit, to refer it to the regular courts, the
company then paying the expenses on both sides.
Mn. MECHI ON AGRICULTURE. —At a meeting of the
Coggeshall Agricultural Society on Thursday last Mr.
Mechi in the course of the evening rose and said an allu-
sion had been made to his year of office and his return
among them. They had all great duties to perform, but
he assured them his heart came back with delight to the
pursuits of agriculture and the varied objects of interest
which it presented to the observer. He could not help
comparing his position 14 or 15 years ago with what it
was now. He then was considered little less than an im-
postor, or the promoter of some wild and visionary
schemes, but he knew that he had strong prejudices to
encounter, and that the truth would prevail. For in.
stance, when he put up a steam-engine, it was thought
the most absurd act which he could perform ; and now
he had the gratification of seeing his neighbours possessed
each of his steam-engine, and heard of one gentleman in
Chelmsford having as many as 13, which be let out upon
hire. The farmer had now found it to his interest to cast
away the flail, which cost ls., as an instrument for
thrashing his corn, and to use a machine which cost
3001., as, notwithstanding the enormous disparity in
expense, the steam-engine would produce a cheaper
result. The other day he e ent down to Wandsworth,
with Mr. Caird and Mr. Morton, to see a scheme of
railway adapted for agricultural purposes, pao ented by
Mr. Halkett, by which he promises to plough land at a
cost of ls. 7d. per acre, hoe it at ls. 3d., and get in the
harvest at is. per acre, carrying the manure, &c., of the
farm at lei. per ton per mile, leaving a margin for the
interest of the cost of railway, which could be adapted
to the farm at a cast of 241. per acre. By this scheme be
might plough his land by night as well as by day if he
pleased, and if it were necessary for the production of a
good crop that the he'd should be brought in contact
with the air they would see how important it was to have
a long fallow. Mr. Mechi further described the nature of
this implement, and expressed his opinion in favour of,
its practicability. With reference to the appropriation
of sewage manure to the soil he said Professor Way had
been sent to Milan for the purpose of examining drain-
aee, so as to adopt some scheme for saving the sewage of
London, whine was of immense value, but which now
ran into the Thames and was entirely lost. He believed
the difficulty presented was merely a test of scientific
sk:11, and that it only required some mechanical contri-
vance to accomplish the object. There were yet many
things which might be done by agriculturists to great
advantage, but he could not torget how much some had
done, and that there was one gentleman present who
every year burnt at least 1,000 tons of earth into ashes
which, laid upon heavy clay land, greatly increased its
fertility. Ilis experience of French agriculturists con-
vinced him that they were not behind themselves in
point of intelligence, but he was also convinced of the
vast superiority of Englishmen in point of capital and
means, the cry of Fits me being, '` Where is the money
to come from ?" Upon the question of thin sowing be
was glad to find a great change of public opinion in
favour of the adoption of such a plan ; one bushel per
acre was enough seed upon his land, and, ,though he
would not lay that down as a principle, he would recom-
mend them to try it, and he was certain of the result.
He begged again to them, and he hoped that his friends
would, as far ae precticable to them, carry out any sug-
gestion which he might have thrown out.—Essex and
West Suffolk Gazette.
THE MANAGEMENT OF WORKSHOPS. —A change is
coming o;er the management of our workshops and ma-
nufactories ; the introduction of steam power, and the
subdivision of labour, which has in a great measure been
the result, has cans, d coloroai establishments to rise up
which are really wonderful to behold. Fifty years ago,
a manufactory which employed 100 men was an esta-
blishment wroth), of notice : now we may travel over
this land and sec it thickly ,tuldecl with works
a rks where
from 1,000 to 2,000 hart are busly era
'Whe-
ther thisconcentration of hum, n power will be eventually
better for the working classes, or otherwise, is a ques-
tion werthy of the most careful consideration, but which
we will not now attempt ter discuss. One thing, how-
ever, is certain, that some of these manufactories,
includiog the men employed and their families, have a
population of 3,000 or 4,000, enough living people to
occupy a small town. Amongst such important bodies
of the English people there should be provision made of
extent in proportion to the magnitude of the subject.
it local government is found useful in towns, would not
a system of management in these large communities be
g
equally valuable ! We are induced to bring this matter
t&ore our re aders, in consequence of vkariosnuscconversa-
tions with both the manager's andas
large manufactories. In o
miraopsrtoavneetutioeunst. toof dthoeaslol
operatives are similarly . , wesorthme masters are
e itoll of the men, but there
ciinaltphmoairst powerc for the benefit and
Lancashire and
seems to be a fear o n
senrtrivt
sensitive,
and
dinago
iintrusive t ;littthlee
swtrisjnacteinthigatt inue
elslet-
'w3haerP-, the masters avid the workpeople have, in some
in comeapt,aaraistocnireciu'ttnh
instances, /toted together in that kindly and wise way
parties ; bin tthe
~heiacehrnisajtooritthyeofacjaysaenstathgies hoaf sanlo utlt
been done, and there
gdoubt that many means of saving
by
al an b
ae no
a o adding to the comfort of the employed, are lost
mosey, and
the w ant of agreement between the great body of the
men and their employer9.—ne Builder.