The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-14 00:00:00

Lat-DON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 186 S.

Railways form just now an engrossing subject of
interest, and all tbat relates totheir conduct assumes
an importance not to be overlooked. With one
thing and another they have now acquired a power
and have a monopoly that are vexatious and irk-
some if not duly restricted. The increase in rail
way fares by the London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway Company has occasioned a great deal of
annoyance in the southern suburbs of London, and
the inhabitants have held a series of meetings in
order to discuss the subject. In the notice issued
it is said that the object is to consider the " un-
warrantable advance," and whether it was not ad-
visable to support a line of omnibuses to the City at
reduced fares. First of all it was evident that a
strong feeling of dissatisfaction prevailed, and that
some steps would be taken of a decisive nature to
testify their disapprobation. At the annual meeting
the Chairman declared that to raise the fares after
this fashion was a manifest oppression, and truly
added that this was a question of supply and de-
mand. The railway company have a " monopoly,"
and it is this which makes their conduct the more
unjustifiable in this instance. It is not to be w0n-
d,..!re..l at that people s'ould bestir themselves

iu orIT to put a stop to the inconvenione?s

v.hich they suffer from the encroachments
thqs mute, aud turn their attention more is the
dir,c:.;.on of circumventing the thing than merely

c).-nplrilning of the har.lsfdp. It is long since so
wide-s2rea,d a dissatisfaction was occasioned by
any ellange or ahem :Con in railway matters, and
.111:1 ss some desirable change is ma le it is not
likely to subside. A sm all cr gradual increase
would not have been objected to, but what offends
and iirit tea peop!e is that the rise is so great,. and
represents an addition of from twenty-five to 0113

hundred per cent., and this is naturally felt to be
a " gross injustice." In the course of some speeches
at the meeting it was said that the fares from West
Dulwich had been increased twenty-five per cent.
in the first-class, thirty-three in the second, and
sixty-six in the third, which was an extraordinary
thing for a railway company to do. Especially
must the rise in the third-class be objected to,
because it presses so hardly upon the poorer
classes of passengers, and is in every respect in-
considerate. Several resolutions were adopted,
among which it was decided that in the forth-.
coming Parliamentary elections no support shoulCi
be given to any candidate who will not " ple4;e
himself to advocate Government control in *Jae
working of the railways and regulation of ff ,res,
and oppose railway oppression is every fer:m."
This is what it will come to in the end if these ex-
periments are made, and the public and passengers
are called upon to pay for the losses incurred
by over speculation and unwise schemes
too hastily entered upon. It is quite evident that
a determined effort will be made to resist the in-
creased fares in all directions, and it is high time
for the railway directors to look out if they are un-
willing to incur freshlosses. This is not the sort of
hardship that people will put up with quietly, and
the more they dwell on the unnecessary inconve-
nience to which they are put the more eagerly will
they enter upon plans for the redress of their griev-
ances. A monopoly is always to be regarded with
some suspicion, and the fears and doubts have
in this case been more than realised. Thanks were
given at this meeting to Lord REDESDALE for his
advocacy of the rights of the public, and it may
turn out now that some of the opinions of the noble
lord were more correct than many believed at the
time. Altogether this furnishes a most unfortunate
episode in the railway travelling of the present day,
and this season of the year is also as unlucky for
the contretemps, because so many are availing them-
selves o! the opportunity afforded by a respite from
their labours to take a holiday, and increased fares
are a great hindrance.

The death of TIIADDEUS STEVENS, though looked
for, will not be heard with indifference either in
this country or in America. Whatever opinion
may be formed of his policy or his conduct, no one
can deny his ability, his energy, or the prominent
position which he had achieved for himself among
American statesmen. The Radical party has
played the foremost part on the stage of American
politics during the last few years, and THADDEUS
STEVENS was the most uncompromising of Radicals.
He was indeed plus Arable que l'Arabie, and far out-
stripped his party. The main body of Republicans
were opposed to slavery. THADDEUS STEVENS
hated it with an honest and unmitigated hatred.
It was he who did North and South good service
by insisting upon abolition as a result of the civil
war, and he did not shrink from putting his own
principles into practice by associating with the
freedmen of the North and admitting him to his
table. The Radicals disliked the Southerner in the
abstract, so far as they believed he was encroach-
ing on their rower and his interests were
opposed to theirs. THADDEUS STEVENS went
much further. As ho hated slavery, so he hated
the white men of the South, only where the one
feeling deserved respect the other could only call
for censure and condemnation. Confiscation,
exile, imprisonment, execution were always on his
lips when speaking of the Confederates ; and the
mainspring of his bitter antagonism to Mr. JOHN-
SON was the President's resolute and magnanimous
determination to preserve the Southern people from
destruction. Again, in this very question of op-
posing the PRESIDENT, Mr. STEVENS out-Heroied
his party. They were prepared for opposition and
the ordinary forms of Congressional warfare, but
Mr. STEVENS WO:Ild be content with nothing less
than the impeachment and confiscation of his ad-
versary. In this, as we know, he failed, and the
failure may perhaps have been partly due to his
enfeebled health, which at the time of the im-
peachment was rapidly declining. Ile appeared at
the bar of the Senate, indeed, as one of the ma-
nagers of the impeachment, but he was unable
himself to read the long indictment which he had
prepared against Mr. JOHNSON. No doubt he was
mortified at the result of that trial, but
nothing daunted his energies, and only a few
weeks since he was bringing before Congress fresh
charges and demanding a fresh impeachment.
THADDEUS STEVENS was an implacable hater, and
the unremitting animcsity he displayed towards
Mr. JOIINSON was typical of the man. In the PRE-
SIDENT, however, he found his match. Mr. JOHN-
SON was as resolute as himself, and as little inclined
to yield convictions which he believed to be sound.
It has been said that Mr. STEVENS'S distinguishing
characteristic was a love of the doctrine of
equality, and it was this which animated him
in his crusade against the Freemasons in Penn-
sylvania. If such were indeed his rulin g
passion, his ideal must have represented a world in
which all the rest were equal and he himself the
leader. His dogmatic and dictatorial rule often
chafed his followers, who sometimes rebelled, but
their adhesion or secession appeared alike indif-
ferent to him. If the Radicals decided upon a
measure with which he did not agree he would
forthwith oppose it, and did not scruple to vote
with the opposite party, so as to defeat his friends.
Like many other prominent Americans, THAD
DEUS STEVENS was a self-made man, having been
born of humble parents, and risen to
fame and fortune comparatively unaided.
fie was born in New England, but
early migrated to Pennsylvania, where he was
called to the bar, and soon appeared in the State
Legislature. Here he made himself obnoxious by
his extreme measures, and was compelled to retire
from public life for a while, but subsequently was
returned to Congress, where he rapidly achieved
distinction, and has during the last ten years or
so been one of the most prominent of the Republi-
cans. The Civil War, of course, gave him the op-
portunity of coming more conspicuously before the
public, and he did hisbest to intensify and perpetuate
the bitterness of the strife. His hatred to Secession-
ists was almost fanatical. No measure of repression
or of punishment could be too severe for him, and
when the passions of the war time had died away
in other men's hearts, Mr. STEVENS was still burn-
ing with undiminished wrath, and advocating ex-
' treme measures. His party opposed only too suc-
cessfully Mr. JOHNSON'S humane and conciliatory
efforts to restore tranquillity and confidence to the
South, and the reconstructive policy which they
forced upon the country was manifestly partial and
unjust. The treatment of the South under Radical
guidince, the maintenance of large bodies of troops
and military districts, pressed heavily on the re-
sources of the North: and unnec&.s trily augmented
the national burdens. The taxpayers of the States
have indeed no reason b honour Mr. STEVENS'S
memory, for the complication of the national
financ.s is greatly due to the mismanagement of the
majority in Congress.

The death of THADDEUS STEVENS will remove one
of the most formidable champions of the " green-
back" policy, and will, we hope, diminish the
chances of its success. To the Southern people his
loss will be a gain, They can hardly find a more

bitter or more uncompromising enemy. His life,
viEich stretches back to the days when WASHING-
Tox was President, has seen the whole of the varied
And eventful history of the United States. His
:labours are over, and let us hope that some at least
of the bitter animosities of the past may be buried
Iva his grave.

The dry summer which we have had has occa-
sioned a great deal of anxiety as to the supply of
water, and interest will be attached to the last
report of the health officer of Marylebone. In this
report Dr. WHITMORE says that " the sufficiency
of our water supply has undergone a severe test
during the present season in consequence of the
long drought, but it will afford a great deal of satis-
faction to know that while in many towns
of England water has become a scarce com-
modity, the Thames has shown no diminu-
tion, either in its depth or daily flow,
and this notwithstanding the largely-increased
quantity of water that has been pumped from the
river during the last three months." An eminent
engineer, connected with one of the water com-
panies, has given it as his opinion that " the quan-
tity pumped might have been doubled without any
serious diminution of the storage and flow
of the river." This is the more vcourag-
ing, because many of the northern lakes are
becoming more and more shallow, and many
homesteads are without water, besides many in-
conveniences having been otherwise experienced.
Those who derive their supply of water from either
of the Thames Companies will hear this with satis-
faction, and it will afford a relief to all to know
that the metropolis is in no danger of suffering
from the loss of this important supply.

LATEST INTELL (GE NOE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE CALCUTTA, CHINA, AND AUSTRA-

LIAN M kILS.

SOUTHAMPTON, Aug. 14.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Poonah, with the above mails, has arrived here.
She brings 12 passengers (including Sir R. Airey,
the Governor of Gibraltar), £32,000 in specie,
and a general cargo, including raw silk valued at
£130,000.

Upon the 11th inst. the Poonah spoke the steamer
Syria and the Danube upon the 12th.

GIBRALTAR, Aug. 10.

Grain is becoming dearer at Tetuan and Tan-
giers, and holders are sending it to Fez, where
large quantities are accumulating in anticipation of
another famine like that of last year.

The crops in the eastern portion of Morocco are
short, but better in the western portion.

Cholera is still raging at Sall

Exchange on London, 49f to 9-16 ; Paris, 5 22 ;
Madrid, to f dis.

SOUTHAMPTON, Aug. 14.

The Royal Mail steamship Tasmanian, having
completed the transfer of mails, passengers, and
cargo from the broken-down steamer Atrato, sailed
at 6 o'clock this morning.

THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS IN THE
BRAZILS.

Rio DE JANEIRO, July 21.

A Ministerial crisis has taken place here, and a
Conservative Government mule into power on the
13th, composed as follows :
Senhor Yhaborliy, Premier and Minister of -Fi-
nance ; Senhor Paranhos, Minister for Foreign
Affairs ; Senhor Muriliba, War ; Leao, Agricul-
ture ; Senhor Colegipe, Marine ; and Senhor Alen-
car, Justice.

The Chamber of Deputies having refused the
supplies and carried a vote of want of confidence
the Chamber was dissolved upon the 18th. The
new Chamber is orderei to meet May 3. (?)

Intelligence from the seat of war announces that
the Paraguayans made a boat attack upon two of
the Allied ironclads at Tayi, on the 9th, but were
defeated with loss.

Advices from Buenos Ayres state that Sarmiento
has been elected President of the Argentine Con•
federation.
A decree has been issued at Montevideo that
notes shall be considered legal tender, subjected to
redemption, at the rate of 3 per cent. monthly.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Rio, July 24.

Exchange on London, 18. Coffee, good ; first,
7,500 rein ; sales, 124,000 bags. Shipments since
the departure of tho last mail, 15,146 bags for the
Channel, 6,632 for the north of Europe, 22,318 for
the Mediterranean, 74,260 fur the United States,
and 10,413 for other ports. Stock, 40,000 bags.
BUENOS AYRES, July 14.

Exchange 50. Wet salted hides, 39 ; tota
sales, 20,000 ; shipments, 292,257; stock, 1,000 ; dry
hides for Germany, 48 for 30 ; ditto for America,
44 for 22 ; sales, 94,000 ; total shipments, 14,794 ;
stock, 42,000. Freight, Channel, 35 ; wool, 48 to
80 ; tallow, 15 ; lumber, 45 ; Cardiff coals, 12 ;
loading salt, 13.

BELGIUM.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 14.

The Moniteur Beige of this morning says :
" There is no change in the state of the health of
the Prince Royal. The King and Queen are ob-
liged to abandon their intention of proceeding to-
morrow to Spa."

FRANCE.
BOURSE, Augustl3.—Three o'clock.—The market
closed as follows :

Bank Shares 3lBO
Ital,an Loan
End of month —
Slexican Loan
Do. Bonds
Spanish 'Threes
Home Debt
Deferred
S. Cash
Orleans , .. 892
Northern
Lyons and Mediterranean
Southern.... 575
Western
560
Eastern • •
Sardinian
Austrian 548
Lombard 403
North of Spain 55
Saragossa
Roman 4oi

41 vor Cent.
End of month —
3 per Cent
End of month 7O 10
Credit Mobilier
End of month 277
Credit Foncier _l4lB
End of month — -
RAILWAY

THE SCREW PROPELLER.—The application of the
screw as a propeller of sea-going shipslwas admitted on
all sides to be a most important discovery in steam
navigation, but later on Mr Lowe made various
improvements, which so greatly enhanced the effi-
ciency of the screw, that it may be said to have
almost superseded the old paddlewheel. From time to
time Mr. Lowe continued to improve on his first idea
until at last he perfected a nrxrine propeller of extraordi-
nary power ; one that gave less slip, but increased
the speed with fewer revolutions of the engine,
with full backing power, greater steadiness, and
a smaller consumption of fuel. Such an invention was
hound, sooner or later, to come into general use, and
although Mr. Lowe has not survived to witness the
triumph of his labour, yet his family have now the inex-
pressible satisfaction of knowing that his invention has
been adopted in her Majesty's navy ; and it is to be hoped
that a portion, at least, of that reward duo to the dead
inventor will bo received by those who still survive to
witness the triumph and application of an invention that
will render still further efficient the national as well as
the mercantile marine of Great Britain.

Curing a quarter of a century llorniman's Teas have had
an immense sale, and as they are now 81. per Pound
Cheaper, in consequence of the Reduced Duty, the demand
will doubtless be even further extended. Sold, secured in
Packets ; all gentline are signed " Llorniman and Co.,
London."