The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-04 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1844.

We have only time to express our entire satisfac-
tion with the labours of the Select Committee (of the
Rouse of Commons) on " Railways," whose " Third
Report" we this day present to our readers. It is a
document in every sense creditable to the enlarged
views, combined with a business-like mastery of 4e-
tails, which the gentlemen composing this Committee
have brought to bear upon a subject of the near s.
and deepest interest to the social comfort, improxie.
Inent, and development of our great country. Ma)
it be allowed to us to add, that having, for some tiiiie
past,—and more especially since the beginning of
the present session,—very frequently called attention,
to the all-important bearings of future legislation
on railway management; we derive a proportiOn-
ate degree of satisfaction from the coincidence
Hof the recommendations comprised in this Report

with those which we have thus been endeavourihg
to press upon the consideration of Parliament. lit
soy be remembered by the readers of The Sun, that
we have strenuously urged upon the Legislature tie
propriety of availing itself, efficiently, of the oppcir-
tunity afforded by applications for its sanction to new
and original lines of railway, or to extensions of old
and working lines. We have called upon it to hring
into operation some well-matured scheme of general
communication, and plans for the administration thereof,
with a view to avoid the errors committed in former

instance', by authorising conflicting lines, and neglect-
ing to make any provision for bringing them, here-
after, into a system of consentaneous and combined
operation, so as to secure to the.public the greatest
practicable advantages that can be derived from a well
defined and skilfully organised projection of railway
lines connecting together the most remote points of the
two islands, the intermediate districts, and especially
their great cities and towns, and these again with the
metropolis of the United Kingdom as with a common
,centre. More lately we expressed our conviction
t but these truly national objects might be attained
mahout disparagement to the proprietary rights
slimily invested in railway undertakings. And,
finally, we have argued that in very many cases the
nterestir of the public might be better consulted, both
fig to economy and accommodation, if the Government
were to take some large portion of tha future railway
investments into their own hands and management.
We especially noticed the hardships affecting the
poorest class of passengers—those who travel by the
third class—and we commented on the enormous
barge appearing on certain Post-office returns, for
A
the~ conveyance of mails by railway—about 85,000/.
per amum, in 1841.
The "Report," which we publish to-day, consists of
twenty paragraphs and sixteen resolutions. If our
readers will refer to the commencement of the " Re-
port," they will see thatthe Committee, adverting to
the greatly increased namber of applications for Rail-
-away Bills, as compared with those of former years—
tile much diminished opposition (not to say the grow-
ing favour) shown to them by the owners of landed
pro arty—the enormous and redundant capital in the
coun try, which it is of so much moment should' be

aprorrlated to domestic investment—and the dis
trissing experience of late times, which has rendered
capitalists little disposed to lay out their money in
foreign securities ;—declare their conviction that the
time has now arrived for attaching, beforehand, to
tiwiegi lative sanction which is asked for by the parties
to 4itch new Bills, on their own behalf, the conditions

~.- -

which may be deemed necessary for the public good
The Committee, at the same time, suggest that it
would be to take an unwise and erroneous estimate of
the public interests -in this matter, to regard
railroad interests as exclusively opposed to, or even
distinct from, those of the public convenience. These
propositions are well illustrated in paragraphs 7,8,
and 9. The latter is particularly to be commended
for the solicitude it manifests to give a just and libe-
ral consideration to the interests of the railway pro-
prietaries, in advocating a better security for those of
the public. Par. 10 sets out the remarkable fact that
in this country, the " high fare system" generally
prevails on our working railway lines ; fares being,
for the most part, much higher than are demanded in
other countries having similar lines of communica-
tion. The Committee recommend that upon par-
ties applying for new lines of railway, there
should be attached " certain immediate liabilities
with regard to the accommodation, trains, minimum
expedition of travelling, for third-class passengers.
The contingency under which the Government (upon
the Committee's proposition) should interfere, in the
case of extant and working companies,—say at or
after the lapse of fifteen years from this time,—to
regulate the fares, administer the profits, and even
exercise the option of purchasing up the concern ; and
the principles upon which the rights and interests of
the proprietary shall be assessed and guaranteed, are
set forth at length in Resolution No. 111. We con-
ceive that they are, equitably devised. They pro-
vide—" That if, at the end of a term of years to be
fixed, the annual divisible profit upon the paid-up
share capital of any such line shall be equal
to a per centage to be fixed—it shall
be in the option of the Government either,
Ist, to purchase the line at the rate of a number of
years' purchase, to be fixed, of such divisible profits ;
or, 2dly, to revise the fares and charges on the line
in such manner as, in the judgment of the Government,
shall be calculated to reduce the said divisible pro-
fits (assuming the ad interim continuance of the same
quantity and kinds of annual traffic) to the said per
tentage; but with a guarantee on the part of Govern •
ment, to subsist while such rate of fares and charges
shall be in force, to make up the divisible profits to
the said per centage."
Resolution No. XI. has especial reference to the fares
chargeable by third class, and for children, &c.
No. XIV. stipulates what shall be the maximum charge
for conveyance of troops, for police constables on
duty, and for their luggage, &c.
We claim for the whole the most careful perusal
of our readers.

Of all political enigmas—and they abound in
these days of shift and expediency the most
difficult to be solved is the enigma of the
politics of tile, Morning Post. He must be a
Aver man who can discover the Longitude, but
cleverer still who can discover the principles of our
eccentric Contemporary. One day he runs upon a
Conservative tack ; the next, he puts the helm about,
and makes sail in an ultra-Tory direction. Now, he
is all for the people; and now, he is all for
prerogative. On Thursday, he is a staunch
advocate for constitutional principles ; on Friday,
he fights with equal zeal in behalf of JAMES
11., who did his utmost to destroy those prin-
ciples. Will the Post be considerate enough
to tell us what he really is, and what are the political
doctrines which he upholds ? He is not a Tory, for
Toryism repudiates the claims of the people; he is
not a Conservative, for Conservatism is a thing of
petty trick and truckling expediency—and, to do our
Contemporary justice, there is nothing tricky or time-
serving about him, for he has at least the merit of
being honest, so far as he is intelligible ; he is not a
Whig, for Whiggery is of the Doctrinaire school, and
he evidently hates that school with as much hearti-
ness as the Devil hates holy water ; and he is
not a Chartist, for Chartism is subversive of all
the constitutional laws of the realm. Possibly he
may be what is called a Whig-Radical—that is to
say, an independent, straight-forward Reformer, who,
•:.bjuring allegiance to party, regards only principles;
but this can scarcely be the case, for he is furious to
a degree against the notion of unrestricted freedom in
commerce, and would, we suspect, hail the hour that
should see Messrs. COBDEN and BRIGHT strung up
back to back upon a lamp-post. Then, too, he is op-
posed to all necessary reforms in the Church ; is
of opinion that the hierarchy has not half
power or consideration enough ; and laments,
with the solemn pathos of a Jennstfaft, the
gradual decline of pure, unleavened priestcraft. It
is evident, from this, that our Contemporary cannot
be a Liberal Reformer; and once again, therefore, we
ask, will he vouchsafe to tell us what he is—or rather
what he is not ? His leading article of this morning
clearly shows that, whatever else he may be, he is no
Ministerialist, for he denounces the PEEL Cabinet in
the most energetic, unqualified terms, and boldly
states that if they were all to be transported to
Botany Bay to-morrow —we wish to GOD they
were !—they would not leave a single soul behind
them to lament their expatriation. Thus speaks the
Post on this delicate point :—" Ministers have better
talents and more prudence than their predecessors,
but we lament to be obliged to say that they do not
appear to have any better principles. It is morally
impossible that such men should awaken any warmth
of affection on the part of the nation. The national
heart is as much neglected as if there were no
such thing. Ministers seem totally incapable of raising'
any such sentiment in the public mind, or of even
appreciating the value of it! Friends they have not,
in their capacity of public men, nor has any principle
been avowed, nor any sentiment fallen from any' one
man among them, that the people at large can dwell
upon as the subject of national pride, or cherish with
home-felt satisfaction. In this respect the present Mi-
nisters are just as bad as the Whigs, and, indeed, they
are the very same ! If they were all sent to Australia
to-morrow, not an atom of the public senti-
ment of sorrow would follow them. Can any
one conceive even the possibility of a single
rational creature in Great Britain being sorry that
the career of Sir JAMES GRAHANI'S public usefulness
was transferred to another hemisphere ? We can

imagine no such thing!" Nor we either. So far

indeed from bewailing the transportation of Messrs.
PEEL and GRAHAM as a " heavy
.blow and
great discouragement" to the popular, cause, our
firm and conscientious opinion is, that the people
would receive the tidings of such an event with the
liveliest feelings of satisfaction. The manufacturing
districts would of course illuminate ; the agricul-
turists, with the Duke of RICHMOND at their head,
would be anything but broken-hearted ; the Opposi-
tion would regard the circumstance as a signal dis-
pensation of Providence in their behalf; and the
wailing and gnashing of teeth would be confined ex-
clusively to the white-waistcoated Treasury Benches.
It is a delightful picture to contemplate, and the
patriotic imagination lingers on it with fondness—the
spectacle of Messrs. PEEL and GRAHAM tending sheep,
with their hair cropped, on the vast pastures of Australia,
fixing on each other looks of grim despondency,' and
mutually confessing that the only chance of freedom
left them, consists in their taking to the woods and
becoming bush-rangers ! We fear, however, that the
present age is not destined to witness the renegade
Whig and the author of the income-tax figuring in
this interesting situation. They have yet much mis-
chief to do ere their public career be closed, and the
only transportation we can Anture to anticipate for
them is a transportation from the freasuiy Bench to
the Opposition side of the House I

The conversation which took place on Tuesday
evening, in the House of Commons, on the distribu-
tion of our naval force, is calculated to produce a
salutary result on the foreign policy of this country,
by awakening the vigilance, and discussing before-
hand the responsibility of Ministers. The parties to
the conversation were, Lord J. RUSSELL, Sir R.
PEEL,, and Viscount PALMERSTON. We quite concur
in the statesmanlike remark of the latter, that " if it
was the privilege of that House to criticise events
after they had happened, he thought it a more useful
privilege still, that Members could offer suggestions
touching the influence of probable events before these
had yet transpired." The point immediately raised
by Lord J. RUSSELL was—the iinpolicy of the con-
templated withdrawal of our present naval force on
the Mediterranean station. The admission elicited
from the Premier went at least to this extent—that
such an intention did exist on the part of her MA-
JESTY'S Government.
His Lordship, after adverting to the promptitude
and liberality with which the Commons had already

proceeded, in voting supplies to the Crown for va-
rious public services, since the re-assembling of
Parliament—remarked upon the large vote of men
taken this year for the navy. Men and boys to-
gether it amounted to 36,000. - This was about
10,000 more than in the year 1835 for example ; and
much higher than the scale on which such a vote had
been taken of late years, except, indeed, in 1840, when
from peculiar circumstances, it was to the amount of
43,000 men and boys. The vote of this year would
show that, on the part of the House, there was no
niggardly disposition to cripple this all-important
force; but it had got abroad, that our force in the
Mediterranean was to be reduced to a very small
force indeed—it was said, that only one sail of the
line was to be left there. Such a proceeding, if it
was really contemplated, would not be consistent
with the general policy of this country. Our sta•
tions, in that sea, and the great interests with which
our relations connected us in the adjacent countries,
required the presence of a strong naval force.
Events might determine in these quarters—
however unlikely to happen at present—of a nature to
disturb our existing amicable relations with
foreign Powers, whose counsels it was of course im-
possible for us to control. In such a case, however
easily the force we might have at the time in the Me-
diterranean could be restored to its present, or even
made up to a greater complement, any such sudden
augmentation might create much alarm, and appear
tantamount to a declaration of war. The Noble Lord
proceeded to argue on, the rumoured intention of
Spain to interfere with Morocco, and the growing
indications of political discontent and movement in
Italy ; that diplomatic representations on our part to
foreign Courts might be rendered necessary,
which representations could never be . made
with so much effect as when backed by
the exhibition of an adequate amount of
force in all parts of the world where such exi-
gencies might develope themselves. He could not
view without deep apprehension, the prospect of any
such extensive reduction, therefore, in our Mediter-
ranean squadron as had been talked of. Sir ROBERT
PEEL'S statement, in reply to Lord JOHN RUSSELL,
with a great number of the Right Hon. Baronet's
stereotyped common places (such as, " that grounds
equally strong might be alleged for maintaining a
large naval force off the coasts of America, in. the
Pacific Ocean, or in the Baltic, as for keeping such a
force in the Mediterranean,") contained one somewhat
remarkable intimation :

" The Government," said Sir Robert, " may have
thought it advisable to have a fleet of eight. sail of the
line in the Channel for the purpose of exercise, and
ready to meet any exigency. These vessels may soon be
sent to the Mediterranean if their services are required
there ; and it is surely a great advantage to have
an available force in a position from whence their
power may be concentrated upon any station re-
quiring its presence—(Hear, hear)—and do not let the
Noble Lord suppose that there is any danger of our in-
terests in the Mediterranean being injured because our
force happens to be off the mouth of the Thames, or
cruising in the Channel. Our interests in the Mediter-
ranean are doubtless very important, but I need not here
enter into the particular reasons which may induce the
Executive to appropriate our force in other quarters."
On these reasons he was unwilling to enter.
Viscount PALMERSTON, who ably vindicated the
course taken by Lord JOHN RUSSELL on this occa-
sion„demonstrated that the cases suggested by the
Premier were by no means parallel ones :
" Our commercial and political relations are of more
importance in the Mediterranean, however, than any-
where else on the face of the globe. More things may
happen there in which the interests of Great Britain are
concerned than could happen elsewhere. If, there-
, fore, the Government intend only to maintain ono
sail of the line on that station, I contend that they
would not be properly representing British interests
in a quarter in which they require the most scrupu-
lous care and attention. I can testify, from my own
experience as Foreign Secretary, that nothing is snore
common than for British merchants connected with the
Mediterranean to apply for protection and assistance.
Considering, too, the difficulties which will arise from
time to time in that quarter, I think it not a wise dis-
tribution of the naval forces to have only one ship of the
line in the Mediterranean, and not the ordinary amount
of force usual on former occasions."