The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-23 00:00:00

THE PURCILASE OF RAILWAYS BY THE STATE.

Mr. Arthur John Williams, in continuation of his
contributions on the purchase of railways by the
State, now presents his plan for the carriage of goods.
Again he proposes a uniform single fare. He divides
goods into three classes. First, undamageable com-
modities,. such as minerals and unworked metals,
which might be carried any distance for ls. Bd. per
ton ; commodities not readily damaged, such as
heavy machinery and furniture goods, might be
carried for ss. per ton ; and perishable and easily-
damaged articles might be carried for 12s. 6d.
per ton. If this system had been carried
out. in 1860, the same gross revenue would have been
received by the railway company as was really the
case. This calculation is made on the basis of the
present management. With a central management
a great saving might be effected, and the
rates be much lower. There is, of course,
an obvious objection to any, system of
either uniform or single fares and rates, that
the short journey pays for the long one. But
the objection, Mr. Williams argucs, is more appnren
than real. The passenger who makes a short jouilr_y
one day makes a long journey the next, and amongst
the middle-class the proportion of long to short
journeys would pretty pearly make up the average.
With the poor this would not be the cs ). The
fact that, as a rule, they can make only short
journeys is a strong argument in favour of fixing
the lower scale of fares much lower than the higher.
Then, again, the freighter who sends goods ten miles
one day would send other goods 300 miles the next,
and the consumer who has been charged 6d. a ton
for materials brought a few miles has it returned to
him over and over again in the cheaper carriage of
all the commodities which come from a distance.
And the great national benefit which would follow
would bey incalculable, for the labourer would be
placed within a few miles of other fields of labour,
and the natural advantage of every district might be
easily developed. _

ARMY REPORAL •
The question of army reform raised by Sir Charles
Trevelyan in his excellent pamphlet on the army is
still being discussed. The absurdity of our present
expenditure is thus " shewn up" in the Daily News.
A correspondent writes : " The pay of a regiment of
cavalry is about £21,000 a year. We have 31 regi-
ments, each with a colonel (a sinecurist) who is paid
from £1,200 to £l,BOO a year for doing nothing. The
pay of an infantry regiment is about £30,000: we
have 117; each has also a colonel (a sinecurist) who
is paid at least £l,OOO a year for doing nothing. All
these colonels are generals on the active list ; if em-
ployed as generals they likewise receive the pay and
allowance of their grade of general, from £1,200 to
£3,000 a year. A reorganisation of regiments would,
in this one item of colonels, save annually £92,000,
even if generals were still allowed to be colonels of
regiments of three battalions or of six • squadrons."
Then enormous reductions might be made in the way
of lieutenant-colonels and majors now on full pay
without duties.
But whatever opinions there may be as to the
reorganisation of the army, there can hardly be two
as to the accommodation of our troops. They ought
to be well fed, housed, and provided for. That they
are not is a lamentable fact. The Lancet has already
done much good in the way of exposing the wretched
holes in which they live and sleep. There is our
Household Cavalry, composed of most splendid
fellows. The absurdity of two of them sitting at the
gates of the Horse Guards, on horseback, in
full uniform, for the special admiration of
nursemaids, has often been commented upon. But
if the Lancet may be believed, outside must be bliss
compared with what they would have inside. The
guardroom is described as " wretched," with a
miserable fire and a few bare benches and tables.
"Not a single comfort to be seen. The windows are
small and dark, and the place is more conformable to
the back kitchen of a pothouse than to a place where
decent men, in a clean and splendid uniform, might be
expected to abide. There were thirteen men on guard,
two corporals being lodged in separate rooms—ono
in a solitary cell below, the other in a dirty and
neglected room above, where, most erroneously, he is
supposed to sleep." The other parts of the building
are the same. The kitchen, 'an ancient-looking
crypt," is without even an oven. Everything the
soldiers eat is boiled. The barrack-room is comfort-
less, and the sleepers, when cold, keep their uniform
upon them, as there is only a gaslight to keep them
warm. , Surely, if these are facts, some inquiry
should be made into the state of our barracks.

4C YOUNG OXFOLD."

"M.A." writes to the Standard complaining of the
Young Oxonian of the period. There, are two types
which excite " M.A.'s " indignation—the erudite
sceptic of Balliol, and the superstitious Ritualist of
Christ Church. His wrath is directed chiefly against
the latter. This type of the Young Oxonian is thus
described :—They are languid and feeble ; they have
neither the pluck to hunt nor the brains to read.
They spend their time in getting up extensive
toilettes, and in sipping vintages which are called
rare. They pass their days in unprofitable idleness,
their nights in rehearsals of dissipation. But they
have consciences which sometimes maketheirexistence
known, mostly during the " brandy and soda" hours
of " the next morning." It is at this stage that they
think it desirable to get rid of the burden of their
sins, and so they go to Dr, Pusey, who absolves
them on the condition that they do not dine in hall
on Wednesdays and Fridays. They rigidly perform
this act of penance by having a quiet and a select
dinner-party at the Randolph or the Clarendon, or
by a recherche supper in their own rooms, given to
men of the same relioous set. Supper is succeeded
by the same dissipation, and that by confession and
absolution da capo. "M.A." holds Dr. Pusey re-
sponsible for this " pernicious hypocrisy." Dr. Pusey
will probably deny most strenuously the statement
iladetbv this anonymous correspond.elt. - •