The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 14, 1868.

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSI7 Y OF
IRELAND.

The Pliblicati6l; of torr IShy- 's letter,
answer to the letter of the Archbishop of
Cashel and Bishop Derry requesting to be
informed whether all further negotiations in
respect to the Catholic University were broken
off, has completely pat an end to the Govern-
ment scheme.. Whether under more favour-
able circumstances the Government and the
Bislrops might have come to an agreement,
it ;,s difficult to say. For it was not a question
of giving a charter and of partially endowing
the existing university, established by the
Pope with a definite constitution, but of estab-
lishing a Government University as much as
possible, indeed in conformity with, the views
of the Bishops, and of those for whose use it
was intended. But the Government as well as
the Irish Bishops and the Pope had certain
views as to what a Catholic University should
be in the 19th century. Now are these views
reconcilable ? The Government insisted that
the control of the university should be more
or less in the hands of laymen, and declared
that the recommendations of the Bishops struck
at the root of the principles on which they had
based their scheme. Bat what the Bishops
demanded was simply the free exercise of a
right belonging to their office of bishops, of
cr
judgin what in the University might be dan-
gerous°to faith and morals. This right could
not be subject to the decision of ecclesiastics
of the second order or of laymen. There-
fore, if Bishops were in the Senate, their judg-
ment must be supreme ; to them, and not to,
perhaps, a lay majority in the Senate apper-
tained the right of declaring what books might
be used, of exercising a veto on the nomination
of Professors, or of dismissing them in case they
should err against faith and morals.
The guardianship of faith and morals necessi-
tated, therefore, for the Bishops in the Senate
a supreme controlling power over the univer-
sity. In a Catholic university of the present
day, however, such a controlling power is
infinitely more necessary than in days when
the great universities of Europe were founded.
When the teaching of the Church was every-
where accepted, when her theology was undis-
puted, and her influence imperceptibly pene-
trated into every avenue of the mind, and
filled the atmosphere of universities, Bishops
might very safely intrust the supreme control
of a university to a lay body or to the mem-
bers of the university itself. There was no
need then of the extreme caution, which is
now a painful necessity, when intellectual
rebelliousness and open rationalism and infi-
delity assail the student of modern literature
on every side. We can readily conceive from
these circumstances that the constitution of a
Catholic university in the present day would
materially differ from that which was salutary
in the middle ages. A university ought not in
the nineteenth century to be less under the
immediate control of the bishops than in the
thirteenth, but far more. The idea that the
student of modern days should be freer from
what modern Liberalism calls the " clerical
yoke" than in any other age is just the reverse
of true. The necessity, in the interests of faith
and morals, for the exercise by the bishops of an
exclusive control over the government of the
university, is what constitutes the difference
between the Government Plan and the pro-
posals contained in the letter of the Archbishop
of Cashel and the Bishop of Clonfert. Unless
the Government were prepared considerably
to modify their scheme, we do not regret
that the negotiations have come to an end. The
University established by the Pope with a con-
stitution adapted to our time and country, is
more likely to attain the great end in view
than a Government university based on a
compromise. We have confidence in the work
of the Pope and in the Catholic zeal of the Irish
people to support a Catholic university, until
the not distant day arrives when England will
have learnt to govern Ireland—not on Eng-
lish and Protestant views or prejudices, but
in such a manner as best to satisfy the wants
and wishes, the interests and rights of Catholic
Ireland.—Westminster Gazette.

against the despotism which their doctrine
sanctifies... Witness their conspiracies, tumults,
revolutions, regicides. According to them, as_
every man is sovereign judge of what he should
believe, say, and do, these weapons are at the
disposal of all, and any one may use them when
it seems good to himself at his own risk and
peril. In a word, if there is not a law of truth
and justice above peoples and kings which
obliges all, there would be no question of right
and duty for any—everything would turn on
strength. Human society must oscillate con-
tinually between despotism and anarchy, and
anarchy and despotism, and as order is abso-
lutely necessary for every society, as the dis-
tinct strength of individuals can do little
against a Government armed with all the power
of the State, as the occasion in which indi-
viduals can combine and form a powerful fac-
tion are rare, it is clear that, in the long run,
despotism will always gain the day.
If, then, there is no authority established by
God on earth to teach, interpret, and apply to
divine law, it would be as though no such law
existed for the control of human affairs, since
every one would be at liberty to interpret and
apply it according to his own interest and
passion. Apostate powers would be unchecked,
for there would be no organised force of this
world to oppose them, and no spiritual power
superior to them. If, however, on the contrary,
God has, in His goodwill to men, established
an authority in the world, bound to maintain
His law, and make it respected, the nations
that acknowledge this authority are preserved
alike from the scourge of anarchy and de-
spotism: from anarchy, for subjects obey " not
only for fear, but also for conscience sake ;"
from despotism, because the leaders of the
people know that they have mutual responsi-
bilities, and that they cannot violate them with
impunity, being to be judged here below by.
the Church, and at the last day by God him-
self, who " punishes the mighty mightily."
Kings may doubtless forget these truths, but if
the nation continue Catholic their abuses of
power will always be restrained in certain
limits, for they will encounter in the Church a
power with which they must make terms. We
are on earth, not in heaven : therefore perfect
order is attainable, but the duty of nations is to
come as near to it as possible. We have seen
how far opinions prevalent in these days have
strayed, and how they hand over molern
nations to the two great scourges which deso-
late society—anarchy and tyranny. We have
seen also what guarantees Catholic doctrine
offers to Governments and people by lawful
authority and true liberty.
The whole question between the Presse of
Vienna and ourselves is whether this doctrine
be true or false. If it is false, we can only bow
our heads and acknowledge that God has aban-
doned social order to human contentions, with-
out any efficient means for its preservation.
But if it is true, we must always declare it
in season and out of season, without troubling
ourselves whether at, the moment we speak
its application be possible or no. The apostles
did not wait for seasons to preach—as they, we
have time before us, and if we follow their ex-
ample, what is impracticable to day will be
practicable to-morro w. The Vicar of Jesus
Christ fulfilled this duty when, using the power
intrusted to him by our Lord, he branded, com.
demned, and annulled the laws which Govern-
ments, in the infatuation of their pride, choos-
ing no longer to acknowledge the law of God,
enacted against truth, against justice, against
the Church.

Either there is no God, or this law exists :
if it exists it is binding upon all men, emperors
and kings, ministers and parliaments, as well
as on the lowest subject, and it is the duty of
the authority established by God to bring it
home to all, especially to those in power, and
firmly and fearlessly to condemn all acts con-
trary to it.—Univers.

BRIGHAM YOUNG A CONTRACTOR.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

Coming events cast their shadows before them—
the coming event now casting a broad shadow be-
fore it is the annihilation of Mormonism. The
Prophet BRIGHAM YOUNG has taken the contract for
grading the Union Pacific Railroad from Echo Canon
to Salt Lake ! and the " saints" are to commence
work immediately. Most of our readers know the
significance of this intelligence, but for the benefit
of those who do not, we may glance at the man
and his career. After JOSEPH SMITH, the founder
of the sect, had been shot, by a band of rowdies, like
a dog in the prison of Carthage, his mantle fell on
ent
whicher had
dmed culminatedß RIGli
YOUNG. poefrseacutcaiornp
the shoul,drehrse
in
making a martyr of an impostor made fanatics of
the " saints," and strengthened by a high religious
resolve a course was determined on, which, though
with some parallels, we believe to be without equal.
Nauvoo at the time was one of the most flourishing
cities of Illinois. The laud around was a garden ;
the country smiled in abundance, with roads, plea-
sant trees, and pastures green. Everywhere the
farms and cottages of the Mormons were dotted
about, till the houses became grouped and massed
in the town around a temple, acknowledged to be
among the finest religious edifices in the West. Per-
secution bad driven the sect from Kirtland (Ohio),
from Independence (Missouri), and now it was about
to drive them from Nauvoo, in Illinois. YOUNG
recognized the fact, that so long as they dwelt
among the Gentiles, Mormon labour not only en-
riched their enemies, but became a spur to persecu-
tion. The resolve was to effect a total separation,
and for this purpose it was necessary to select a
home wholly apart from the civilized world. In
settling at Nauvoo, when driven from Indepen-
dence, they were quickly beaten by the rapid ad-
vance of the West, And the, Gentiles, like wolves,
were howling around them in increasing packs. It
was necessary that their new land should be fenced
by a way almost insurmountable, an I should pos-
sess no attractions to draw towards it the people
between whom and themsates they desired to place
an impenetrable barrier. At that time almost
nothing was known of the country between the
Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. The
Great Main now so rapidly rising into importance
was then described as a howling wilderness of salt
and stones, and it was stated that in one of its chief
valleys lay a Great Lake, one-fourth made up of
pure slit, wherein no living thing could exist, The
wells around were bitter ; the creeks so putrid as
to be offensive in the highest degree, and the soil
on all sides crusted white with saleratus. Scarcely
a green herb was to be seen, and it was as bare of
animal life as of vegetable.. A few Utes, Pawnees,
and Shoshones alone roved in the American desert,
the most degraded of the Red Indians, and occa-
sionally the country was covered by a flight of
locusts, which stripped the wretched vegetation of
every semblance of life. This was the land selected by
BRIGHAM YOUNG and the " saints" in which to erect
their tabernacle. The contrast between the tract sur-
rendered and that selected is sufficiently startling,
but the marvel lay in the pilgrimage. They aban-
doned a settled home in a pleasant and fertile coun-
try in a high stage of cultivation; for, as HEPWORTH
DIXON says, " the shore of a Dead Sea, a land wa-
tered with brine and pastures sown with salt," lying
1,500 miles away over a country as new to them as
Abyssinia was to the British Field Force, four times
the distance between nola and Alagdala, and as
difficult. This expedition was not undertaken by
men in their prime nor backed by a mighty empire
with all its resources. The "saints" quitted Nauvoo
in mid-winter, crossing the Mississippi on the ice,
and leaving almost all their possessions behind.
They were a band of women and children as well as
of men ; the old, infirm, and the sick. It must in-
deed have been a powerful motive which led to such
action, and that motive was—isolation. What they
achieved was worthy of the energy displayed in
their unconquerable resolution. They made the
desert to blossom like a garden. " In the midst of
a free people they founded a despotic power; in a
land which repudiates State religions they placed
their Church above human laws," and they erected
their leaderinto more than a Pope in Ro ne and a
Sultan in Constantinople. What the end might
have been had the nature of the country been other
tile& it ill NUcie4 be conjectured, aid would

have perhaps depended on the successor to BRIGHAM
YOUNG. But what is about to happen can scarcely
be doubted, and the item of railway news with which
we commenced our article is a strong sign of the
change. A pilgrimage such as had never yet been
niade, with the single exception of, the Exodus
from Egypt had been undertaken solely to separate
the sect from the Gentile world. Yet the "saints"
are now working on a railway which in a year will
bring them into communication both with the
Atlantic and with the Pacific by steam. For the
sake of their faith they forsook Mammon and fled
into the wilderness --for the sake of Mammon they
are now labouring to bring the wilderness into the
world. What the result must be BRIGHAM YOUNG
knows better than we can do. He is a man of keen
shrewd sense, of decision, and quick action, exercis-
ing a boundless control over the strict Mormon
community. He sees that he has been beaten by
the tide of civilization. 11-3 left the restless, surg-
ing masses accumulating in the country then called
the West for the land of the " setting sun," and
ere many years had elapsed he finds these restless
masses closing around him on all sides; his own
settlement far to the east of a great city, and the
track he had strewn with the bones of the pilgrims,
now laid with iron, the road of the locomotive.
What was he to do? He could not avert his fate
—he could not fend off the march of civilization—he
could not prevent the junction of New York City
and San Francisco, so he has taken the best course
open—a contract to help in the work. BRIGHAM
YOUNG has always had an eye to the main chance.
He has grown cotton, he has ground wheat—why
should he not share in the profit of the railroad
which could neither be checked nor diverted?--
thereby securing the best means to influence the
herds of Gentiles by whom he foresees the Salt
Lake City will be inundated. BRIGHAM YOUNG
has been a god in Utah, and BRIGHAM YOUNG
may remain a god even among the heathen, if
he can but assume to their eyes the shape of the
Golden Calf. His emissaries in Europe are still
hard at work, and it was but the end of last
month that 700 Mormons embarked at Liver-
pool, on board the Emerald Isle, for the Salt
Lake. Several other vessels have been chartered,
and the emigrants are composed of a well-to-do
class of small farmers and artisans, chiefly from
Wales and Scotland, with a good sprinkling of
Germans. If BRIGHA3I YOUNG can occupy the
country with his followers ere the Gentile tide has
rolled in upon him, he will secure his position for
many a long year to come ; but what he has most
to dread is not the persons of the Gentiles, but
their opinions and arguments. Every train be-
tween the two great cities forming the termini of
the road will carry an unseen but not the less
subtle and destructive element, and although the
Prophet may rule under all circumstances, it will
be by a Government wholly changed from the
principles upon which the Great Salt Lake Settle-
ment was founded. Among the marvellous
biographies of the period, few will rank in interest
with that of the Mormon who succeeded the founder
of the sect. He has been the chief central figure
ig the rise of a settlement founded in a way never
before known. Races have often in part or in
whole branched off into other countries, and by the
slaughter of the former inhabitants possessed them-
selves of their lands and goods. 'Nations have spread
into the wilderness but by degrees, and colonies
have been created, but always in inviting tracks,
and with an easy means of communication. Com-
pare the best and most successful of these with the
Mormons in Utah, and a conception dawns on our
mind of what BRIGHAM YOUNG has achieved. He
has shown himself to be well fitted to govern men,
and those who are must be moulded by circum-
stances. Knowing the change coming over the
face of the country he will endeavour to keep peace,
and Mormonism will either gradually die out or
remain a sect in a State of the Union, shorn of its
objectionable features and of its unlawful tenets.

AMERICAN MARKE7S.

(From the Springfield Republican.)
FRIDAY EVENING, June 26.

Money not only continues easy at the East, but at
Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati it is reported largely in
excess of the demand. This fact stands in rather ludicrous
juxtaposition with the completints of the western politi-
cians, and their claims for a removal of a share of the
banking capital, in order to secure a fair proportion of
currency to that section. The difference between this time
and three months ago is vary striking. Then the banks
were taking in everything in preparation for the April
quarterly statement; the best of pacer was being refused,
and interest was going up almost daily. Now, while the
July statement (6th pros.) is close at hand, it i 3 almost
unnoticed ; the banks all stand as wall as they care to
neither their large dividends, ranging from five to eight
per cent., nor the fear of public or official inspection, dis-
turbs their serenity. Tho only difficulty is to find cus-
tomers for discount. This condition of the money market
is of course favourable to investment, and a great deal is
being quietly laid out in favourite stocks. The Pacific
Railroad bonds, particularly, are going off rapidly and freely,
notwithstanding the advance in the price. Indeed, the
advance rather seems to stimulate investment, as showing
the general appreciation of this stock. There is a great
deal of fashion in these things, jest as there is in shop-
ping; and an article which would not go off at one
price is sometimes eagerly taken at a higher figure.
The simple announcement of an advance in price,
owing to an increased demand in these securi-
ties, would go further, with the majority of investors,
than all the pamphlets that could be issued.
The upward movement of gold begun last week has ap-
parently failed, and gold stands at its familiar figure of 140
sad a fraction. Cash gold is rather scarce, as the Treasury
has not, according to expectation, anticipated the payment
of the July interest, and will do so, if at all, but by a day
or two. Government Bands aro advancing, and promise
to rise still higher in favour. The Exportable Bonds,
both large and small, continue in request. The Treasury-
office is paying off the principal of• the loan of 1313, due
30th inst., as the bonds and certificates are presented, and
the Secretary has notified all holders of this loan, and also
of the loan of 1817, hell over since last January, that the
interest will cease altogether after 30th June last. This
is a change from the original decision, which allowed
holders to retain them for another six months and receive
interest.

At Boston there has been a feeble imitation of metro-
politan " airs" in the Stock Market during the weak.
Water Power was unloaded with unusual facility for a
time under a smart assault upon its good name, and an ex-
tensive decline was predicted, in connection with which
Cary Improvement Company was to rise to 15. But the
Boston people soon got tired of such wickedness, and
Water Power has soon returned to 19, while Cary sticks at
under 12. It was a very pretty thing, however, although,
like the Common, not large; and the next time State-
street tries to be naughty something better may be looked
for. The following New England dividends have been
declared: The First National Bank of Amesbury b per
cent.; the National New Haven Bank, 5 per cent., an .1 an
extra dividend of 1 per cent., both free of Government
tax, payable July 1; the Second National Bank and the
Mechanics', 5 per cent. each ; the Naumkeag Steam Cotton
Company, 10 per cent; the Massachusetts Cotton Mills,
$7O per share, payable July 1; the American Shoe Tip
Company, 21 per cent. quarterly; the Pacific Mills, $l2O
per share, payable 23th inst. ; the Contoocook Manufac-
turing, $25 per share ; the Salisbury Mills, 5 per cent. ;
the Ophir Mining Company, 10 per cent., payable on
July 7.
At New York speculation in the Stock Market is active
and increasing. Oa Saturday Pacific Mail sold up to 991,
and on Monday it rose to 1031, though it has since fallen
off 2 per cent. No particular change is known to explain
the advance, unless it is a general faith in the stock any-
how. No more pamphlets have been issued; the Webb
flag is still flying, and the finances of the company remain
unaltered. Reading also has advanced during the week,
and the exhibit of the road is unexpectedly good. Nothing
but ill-management and speculation can prevent this road
from doing a grand and increasing business. The fa-
vourite of the railway market, however, is the Chicago
and North-Western. Both common and preceded stock
have advanced and hold firm. The indications are strong
that they will soon be quoted as high after the 10 per
cent. scrip dividend as before. The little "Chicago Con-
vention" it had all to itself, has set the road up very high
in its own estimation and that of the public ; its capa-
bilities are known to be immense ; its great quarrel
has been amicably settled ; its management is believed to
be improving, and is something like a five per cent. cash
dividend, sir, is spoken of, for this fell, with par in the
dim distance. But with all these blooming prospects, the
uncomfortable fact remains that its earnings have to be
spread over a frightfully large capital stock. Mismanage-
ment in the past has left a load which may be more easily
borne, but cannot well be thrown off. However, it is a
good stock to bay at the price. Southern Michigan is up
and promises a five per cent. dividend in July. Cleveland
and Pittsburg is strong and advancing. The New York
roads are neglected. Central has been crowded a little,
but without giving way at all or showing any indications
of Tieakness —Erie is absolutely nowhere, and its existence
seems to be utterly forgotten. Nothing but a new elec-
tion or another smash-up will be sufficient to attract the
. .
Ot4iiths the pilau. 1# it Reetehlittliet thio Who

same road which filled the whole country with clamour
only a few weeks ago?
The import entries for the week at New York amount
to $4,466,008-aiiirist 85,366,112 the same Week lase-year:
The export clearances of domestic produce amount to
$2,359,561 against $3,083,801. Export of specie
$1,850,432 against $542,390. The gold value of import en-
tries since July 1, 1867, amount to $232,028,838 against
$263,949,889 for the same period last year, a decrease of
$31,921,031. The exports of gold and silver since July
1, 1867, have amounted to $72,879,605 against $40,231,834,
showing an increase over the sa:ne time last year of 80
per cent., while the deliveries of California gold and silver
have fallen off from $37,300,517 to $31,742,562.
In the dry goods market there is almost literally no-
thing being done. The natural dullness of the season is
help ad by a degree of uncertainty regarding the future of
the currency and the finances. It is felt to be possible
that something will be done, one way or the other, before
fall, but even speculators have not courage to anticipate
what it will be. Cotton has picked fp a little, under an
impression that the crops do not sustain the promise of the
spring, which may or may not be true, for all anybody
knows; but the foreign markets do not share the confidence,
and export is pra_dically stopped. The home demand is
pretty equally divided between spinners and speculators
In the manufactured goods very little is being done.
Wool is rather more in request, and woollens are fairly
active, especially in the lower grades. The sales of fine
cloths are vary slow. Cassimeres and satinets are coming
in steadily from the manufacturers, but aro not, much called
for by the trade. The importations of foreign dry goods
are very light, and the stocks on hand go off slowly. Silks
are most in request and promise to be higher.
Extreme lethargy has characterized th© market for
flour and grain during the past week, and a further re-
duction in price has taken place. India-a corn alone
holds firm. The receipts have been very large at all
the Western ports, and everything is re-shipped with
great alacrity to the East. Producers seem to have
no heart for holding on, and a still further decline is
not improbable. The receipts of flour, wheat, and oats
at the lake ports the past week have been 80 per cent.
greater than for the corresponding week of 1867 ; while
the receipts of flour and grain of all kinds, since the
Ist of January, have been 30 per cont. above the corres-
ponding period of 1867. Notwithstanding bitter com-
plaints of injury to the crops from some parts of the coun-
try the totals of pro luction will probably be found not
much below the estimates at the opening of the spring, if
spring can be said to have opened at all this year, and
much in excess of that of 1867. Advices from Europe ex-
plain the limited demand for shipment by the promise not
only of an early, but of an abundant harvest in England
and on the continent. Far more than an average yield is
anticipated. It is not likely, however, that with the best
the soil can do, the crops abroad will fully replenish the
supply, which has been drawn down to the lowest point
by the short crops for two years past ; and as soon as the
prospects of the harvest become reduced a little more to
certainty the demand at home for shipment must be con-
siderably quickened, though prices are likely to rule even
lower. At present even .the liiiiited inquiry for exports is
checked by the high freights. -7-In provisions not much is
doing. There is some speculation demand for pork, and
prices are well sustained. The actual demand is of course
small, considering the season, and for future delivery
prices rule higher. Prime beef is in good demand, but the
lower quarters are neglected. Cut meats of all kinds are
exceedingly dull. Lard has varied somewhat in price,
but without exciting much interest, closing quietly at for-
mer rates.

The Circular of Henry Clews and Co., the well-known
banking firm, gives the following analysis of the causes
which have produced the present stagnation in the stock
market. It bears out the allegations contained in our
article of last week, based on a series from the New York
Nation. It is by such skilful dissection and open and un-
shrinking treatment of the subject that the remedy is to
be found. The railways of the United States constitute,
perhaps, the finest property in the world, and it will be a
crying shame if the railway progress of the nation were
seriously checked by a mischievous system. If the prices
of shares have to come down, the sooner the better as far
as the public are concerned :
This disfavour towards stocks may be partially owing
to the recent extensive "watering," the capital of the
leading roads by stock dividends, and to the constant re-
currence of embarrassing law suits against directors; but
it appears to be more due to a growing impression that
the condition of our railroad companies has not been im-
proved during the last five or six years to an extent pro-
portionate to the riso in their stocks within that period.
With a view of ascertaining what just ground there is for
this idea, we have collated, from the official reports of the
leading companies, statistics showing the resources, lia-
bilities, earnings, expenses, and mileage of the roads in
the fiscal years ending 1862 or 1863, and also in 1867 or
1868, the details of which we give in an accompanying
statement, while the results are shown in the following
comparison :

Assets, Liabilities, Earnings, and Expenses of Twenty-
one Leading Railroads in 1862.63 and 1867-68 :-
1862-63. 1867-68.
Roadowned aud} Miles, 6,017 8,080
leased.
Property Value of Road... $272,223,807 $367,522,117
and
V Stock alue of Rolling}
20,223,022 39,931,297
Assets.
Other Assets ..... 29,132,526 51,224,500
Accountsand Cash 18,922,153 28,329,703
Liabilities. Bonds
Stock 157,371,481 265.828,149
156,187,281 164,375,392
Other Liabilities 12,458,030 23,905,351
Surplus Insurance 13,145,976 24,871,894
Gross Earnings 61,951,268 123,315,389
Earnings *Operating. Ex- 1
and 33,188,566 86,095,613
Expenses, paNet Earnings nsaersnings
28,765,702 33,219,776
Net Earnings) 4,757 4,600
per mile
* including Rents, Taxes, Renewals, Improvements,
&c., charged to income.

The following table will show the enormous extent to
which the capital stacks have been " watered," 69 per cent.,
and the " other liabilities" have been increased 109 per
cent. daring the last five years, while the net earnings are
increased only 30 per cent., and the net earnings per mile
show actually a decrease of 3 per cent. : _

Increase in 1867-8.

Road owned and leased, miles 2,043 34 per cent.
Value of road $95 298 310 35

Value of rolling stock -10,708,375 53
1)
Other assets

•
Accounts and cash
Capital stock
Bonds 8,188,111 5

Other liabilities 13:517,321 109

Surplus income 11,655,913 89

Gross earnings

99 ;;

Operating expenses
Net earnings 8 151 074 30
_ _ _

Dec.,
Net earnings per mile
It will be seen from this comparison that the gross earn-
ings of the roads have increased 99 per cent. within the
five years, and the expenses, inclusive of taxes, rents, im-
provements, &c., 160 per cent., whilst the net earnings are
only 30 per can'. higher. The average earnings per mile
of road owned and leased have declined three per cent.
The bonded debts have increased five per cent., and the
capital stock 69 per cent. In 1862-3 the outstanding
bonds of these roads aggregated $156,187,281, which, at
an average rate of seven per cent., would require
$10,932,109 for the payment of interest ; taking that
amount from the $28,765,702 of not earnings, a balance of
$16,833,501, or 111 per cent. of the then outstanding stock
remained for the purpose of dividends and construction.
In 1867-8 the bonded debt of the same companies was
$164,375,392, which, at the foregoing rate, would require
$11,506,276 for interest; leaving, out of $37,219,776 of
net earnings, $25,713,500 for stock dividends and construc-
tion outlays, which is about 9i percent. of the $265,828,149
of capital stock then outstanding. It thus appears thatin
1867-8 the net earnings, less the interest on bonds, were
two per cent. less, in proportion to the stock, than in.
1862-3. This result we find upon a selection of the best
managed and most prosperous roads of the country. The
public h•tve noted the large gain in the gross earnings of
the roads, without duly taking into account the increase of
working expenses, the extension of mileage, and the im-
mense issues of new stock (which have been much further
augmented since the latter of the above dates); and from
this. imperfect view of the condition of the roads stocks
are now held at very much higher prices than in 1862-3.
For the purpose of illustrating this change in the prices of
stock, without any corresponding improvement in the
finances of the roads, we present the following comparative
quotations of such of the stocks of the above instanced
companies as were current on the New York Stock Ex-
change at both periods :

June 2, June 1, Increase
1862. 1868. in 1868.
Now York Central BB 136 47;/

Hudson River 44.t

14n-

New York and Harlem - 126- 112
Erie
Pitts. Ft. Wayne and Chicago
Cleveland and Pittsburgh
Philadelphia and Reading
Cleveland, Columbus, and Cin.
Mich. South and North Indiana 2s} 90 611
Michigan Central
Chic., Burlington, and Quincy 72}- 150 78
Chic., Rock Island and Pacific 63 964 331
Illinois Central
Cleveland and Toledo
651
New Jersey 132 131 decline +

Total prices, 15 stocks 872 1723
It appears that while the percentage of earnings avail-
able for dividends was less in 1867 than in 1862-3, yet the
prices of stocks average 100 per cent. higher now than
then. Nor does the fact of the earnings of the roads
having this year largely increased upon those of 1867 (on
which year our comparison is based) materially affect this
conclusion, for within the last twelve mouths ten of th)
companies above instanced have increased their stack in
the aggregate $10,000,000. Facts thus bear out the in-
stincts of investors, and account for the stagnation in the
dealings in railway shares en the New York Stock Ex-
ohange.

(From the Wall-street Journal.)
NEW YORK, Friday Evening, June 26.
No statement of the Pubic Debt will ba published on
the Ist of July, as the month will terminat9 the fiscal year,
and the condition of the national debt will, be included in
the annual report of the Se3retwy to Congress. The re-
wilt tilo taliactica ol Sto pleat it

OPP.-
London c Printed and Published by WILLIAM rjo g
of No. 112, Stkand, Printer, at Tali SUN 0110%0060
Strand, in the precinct of the Bay* In ale
4140041ifif11ititdeii J.. 417 fir.Gat