The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SAI WiDAY EVENING, JANUARY 18, 1818.

also thanking General GRANT for disapproving the
removal of SHE'AIDAN and STANTON. Since that
date, however, we know that Congress has pro-
ceeded to much more vigorous action, and has re-
instated, or attempted to reinstate STANTON in his
former post, thereby contradicting its own action,
since by this very vote of thanks it recognised
GRANT'S authority. Of this grand political difficulty
of course we learn nothing, but we find that Gen.
HANCOCK is still pursuing the same moderate and
constitutional course which called forth the PRE-
SIDENT'S approval. He has issued an order dis-
claiming arbitrary authority over civil controver-
sies, declaring it to be against the State laws, and
not derivable from the acts of Congress. He in-
forms all disputants that the administration of
justice belongs to the regular courts, and forbids
forcible resistance to the execution of civil pro-
cesses. The disturbers of the public peace
and schemers against civil law and order
will at least find no countenance from the
commander of this district. It would have been
well for all parties if other Generals had adopted
General HANCOCK'S wise and forbearing policy.
The Freedmen's Bureau, it is said, has authorised
its agents to issue supplies to destitute planters and
to take a lien on their crops for payment. The
temporary assistance will no doubt be very service-
able, but the mortgage will be in dangerous hands.
It is possible that the Freedmen's Bureau see in the
difficulties of the planters an easy means for trans-
ferring the tenure of the land from white hands to
black. We shall look with interest for further news
respecting the STANTON controversy.

News from Abyssinia is eagerly looked for, and
the most scanty details, the most meagre scraps of
information, are sought for and welcomed with
avidity and ardour. So far as we can judge from
the accounts received, all seems prospering in re-
spect to the important points of the expedition, so
that there is nothing to cause anxiety concerning its
success. General Sir ROBERT NAPIER and his staff
left Bombay for Abyssinia on the 21st of December,
and the third brigade is also being despatched, but
the fourth has deferred its embarcation, in waiting
for further directions. Owing to the ab-
sence of the General, Major-General GORDON
has taken the command of the Bombay
Army. The captives at Magdala are reported well
up to the 11th of November, and the communica-
tion between them and the KING'S army is still cut
off, which is so much gained. Some mistakes of an
unfortunate nature appear to have been made re-
specting the clothing required for the expedition,
and the 33d Regiment have been kept on board the
ships, as they had not warm clothing to proceed
ith, and a company of Sappers from England are,
it is reported, in the same unsatisfactory condition.
It seems strange, to say the least of it, that
due precautions were not taken respecting this
important point, when so much time was spent in
making inquiries, and so many investigations in-
stituted by experienced parties. The mortality
among the horses and mules has fortunately de-
creased, which is a good piece of news at any rate,
for this unfortunate loss at the outset has been
somewhat discouraging. The Egyptians seem de-
termined to make an unnecessary confusion in
the affair ; and, in spite of the advice tendered to
them by General INIEREWETHER, they persist in
their intention of sending a mission to King
THEODORE. This, it is apprehended, will prove
some hindrance to our plans for the proclamation of
the Commander-in-Chief had made things smooth
hitherto. Proper precautions have been taken by
General MUIEWETIIER in respect to being surprised,
and half the force is held continually under arms at
night. All the European troops have been called
up, as several natives were observed to be prowling
about on foot. It is encouraging to hear that so
active a course is being pursued ; and no
doubt in this, as in many other under-
takings, the commencement will be found
the worst part of the affair. In some re-
spects this expedition is new in many of its
characteristics, and therefore those who start in it
may expect to encounter some obstacles of a tire-
some nature. Besides this, we must take into ac-
count that at the outset of such enterprises some
misfortunes aro sure to appear, and whether these
be of a smaller or greater kind they are certain to be
depressing. Thus the dark side presents itself to
the notice of the timid or the captious as the case
may be, but at the same time it is quite impos-
sible by this means to estimate the true mean-
ing of the affair. We make no doubt
that the Abyssinian Expedition will be a success,
notwithstanding all that has been said about its
faulty arrangement, and the little need that there
was to undertake it all. As for the reports con-
cerning the state of the country being so unpropi-
tious for transit they have already vanished into
thin air. While the most natural anxiety will exist
as to all news received from the Expedition, there
is no earthly reason to anticipate evil tidings, or to
expect that this effort to rescue the unfortunate
captives will_be a failure virtually or really so.

The liberty of the press in France is a subjeflt
that will not be allowed to drop without some great
efforts being made to improve the state of things.
It was stated the other day, upon comparatively
good authority, that the EMPEROR had concluded
to withdraw the prosecution iu deference to public
opinion, but unfortunately this favourable report has
not proved correct, and we hear that the proceedings
against those journals which the Government has
commenced were begun yesterday in a formal man-
ner; the case consisted in questions of a preliminary
character, which were addressed to the representatives
of each journal, and when these were disposed of
the case was postponed until to-day. It cannot be
denied that this affair has been a grave mistake,
and that last year was a bad time to have begun so
unpopular a prosecution, because it had witnessed •
some of the chief failures of the EMPEROR'S reign,
and the best way to have compensated for disap-
pointments abroad would have been to have ren-
dered his rule more in accordance with the national
spirit at home. It is nearly time that these harsh
and arbitrary restrictions should cease, for it is very
well known that there is no real freedom in the
manner in which the press laws of France are
framed and put into execution. It is all very
fine to say that great concessions have been
made ; the fact remains that the most
stringent regulations are constantly enforced
in a manner that necessarily detracts from
the exercise of impartial judgment and the
expression of free opinions. M. de PERSIGNY has
just published a letter addressed to the editors of
the Paris newspapers concerning the bill ou the
public press. In this he says that there is
.never any
danger to fear from a " free, ardent, and even pas-
sionate discussion ; but that the difficulty arises
from defamatory attacks upon individuals." He
cannot, however, coincide with the views he ex-
presses about the character of the bill that the Go-
vernment has brought in. He designates it a
" sincerely liberal one," which it certainly is Inot
in the true acceptation of the term. A.t the same
time he declares that it is neither safe for the State
nor for liberty as it is framed. Pursuing the argu-
ment he says that " numerous newspapers about to
be issued would work upon public curiosity for their

profit by publishing allikinds of scandal, which would
naturally lead to strong measures on the part of the
Government against the press." He concludes by
saying the prosecution of the press offences ought to
be included in the common law, and that the de-
cree of 1852, which was but a provisional one,
should be abandoned. This sounds very encourag-
ing, but upon sober reflection what can be said but
that as yet there is no indication whatever of a
more liberal feeling obtaining ground in the counsels
of the Emperor NAPOLEON. For the sake of the
prosperity of France and the stability of the present
Government, it would indeed be a great thing if the
press restrictions were abolished altogether, or
nearly so at any rate. While matters remain as
they are now, it is idle to put any faith in the
professions so earnestly made as to improvement
taking place in this direction. It matters not whe-
ther the penalties imposed upon these journals be
small or great ; it is the principle which must be
considered, and the best and wisest friends of the
Empire must deplore the avent which gives occa-
sion to its enemies to detract from its popularity,
and to declare, with good show of reason on their
side, that liberty is but a name in France, while
the strongholds of its security are being under-
mined.

THE Chairman of the Midland Railway Company
found his shareholders at Derby in an angry mood.
The sudden call for five millions of capital startled
many of them out of their proper self-posses-
sion. The consternation was not wholly without
cause. Nothing in the history of railways has been
more remarkable than the way in which capital
accounts have expanded without any proportionate
increase of revenue ; and the Midland shareholders
confronted Mr. HUTCHINSON with the fear of this
before their eyes. This dreaded result, when it has
occurred, has followed mostly from shareholders
having placed too implicit confidence in their
directors. The temperate speech of the chairman
must have convinced the Midland shareholders
that this was not their case. The Midland line has
always been well managed. Its policy of extension
has not been ruinous. From a comparatively nu.
profitable undertaking it has conic to be one
of the best paying lines in the kingdom.
This increased prosperity, we hold, is the true test
of extensions. Once give shareholders confi-
dence in the accounts, and they need no other test.
In the case of the Midland Company the gravamen
of the charge against the directors was the extra
outlay required over and above the estimates for
the London extension.
The chairman accounted for a large part of this
increase. He pointed out that extending the area
of their London station, building brick arches
instead of filling up the space with earth, laying
down four sets of rails instead of two, and using
steel instead of iron rails, had swallowed up a large
portion of the increased cost. He justified this
expenditure on the ground of the large
increase of traffic to and from London
which has taken place ; the passenger traffic
having expanded from £32,800 in 1858 to
£144,948 in 1867 ; the goods from £60,000 in 1859
to £299,909, an increase of more than £4OO per
cent. in ten years. The chairman might have
added that the increase of cost over the estimates
is no unusual circumstance, and most persons who
have ever had occasion to employ a carpenter
or a bricklayer would have confirmed his
statement. The practical question before the
Midland shareholders was, how far and when
they should prosecute the works which have
received the sanction of Parliament. The policy
which the chairman enunciated, and which the
meeting endorsed, was one of "postponement of
all works not involving too great a sacrifice." We
may doubt whether this is really a judicious policy.
Neither labour nor material have been so cheap as
thoy now for many years, and money N..-9,4 never
more abundant. Unless, therefore, the share-
holders hope to get rid of some of the works alto-
gether, it is a questionable economy merely to put off
their construction to a future period, when they may
be made at least 10 or 20 per cent. more expensive.
In a word, the arguments for abandonment do not
Unfortunately, it is the case
hold good for delay..
in this country, that while at one period works are
undertaken without considering whether there be
a reasonable prospect of profit or not, at other
times all are alike condemned. The Midland share-
holders may require to be reminded that one
course is as irrational and injurious as the other.