The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-12 00:00:00

The announcement of the Speaker's intention to
authorise payment of railway deposits to the Ac-
count-General by instalments, has considerably al-
lued, as might have been expected, the anxiety
about the transfer of the whole large sum which will
have to be deposited by the applicants for Bills in
the next session. We take for granted that the
Bank Directors, and leading bankers of railway
companies, who by concert may do much, will do their
utmost to carry out beneficially this mode of payment
by instalments. One instalment paid into the Bank,
will be available to assist the bankers for payment of
another instalment ; or the investment in Government
securities of sums already paid to the credit of the
Aoeountant General, will tend to prevent deprecia-
tion of these securities, out of which companies may
have to sell, for the transfer of further sum.

While there is no doubt that the transfers by in-
stalments will be a very great relief, it is still much
to be regretted that the interviews between the
bankers and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have
not yet resulted in an undertaking by the Go-
vernment to introduce, immediately on the meeting
of Parliament, and carry without delay through all
its stages, a short Bill to allow the Accountant-
General to receive Government securities as well as
money in payment of the deposits. This would set
the public mind entirely at rest on this important
question. There is, at least, a fortnight after the
meeting of Parliament in which to pass such a Bill.
Fourteen days from the first Friday after Parliament
meets are allowed for presenting private petitions,
and the required sum must be deposited before the
petition is presented. Such a Bill, introduced by the
Government, could meet with no opposition. What-
ever opinion individuals may entertain of the cha-
racter of the railway movement, every one must wish
to diminish, if possible, its evil consequences ; no one
can wish to punish speculators, whether dishonest or
honest, but foolish, by producing a convulsion of the
money market.

That the Act regulating the payment of deposits
(1 and 2 Vic., c. 117,) does not authorise the Ac-
countant-General to take Government securities, is
to be ascribed, of course, only to an oversight. Such
an extent of railway speculation as that of the pre-
sent rear was never foreseen, and the Legislature has
not provided for the case. There is no blame
attaching to the omission under the circumstances;
but, now that the evil of the mistake is disco-
vered, it should be rectified without delay. Consider
the mischievous operation of the present regulations,
when-, the sums to be deposited are (as now) so large
as to be sure to affect materially the market value of
Government securities, if there is a general rush to
realise for the purpose of making the deposits, or to
invest, after the deposits are made. Companies
which have temporarily invested their moneys in
Consols or Exchequer-bills will have to sell out at a
loss, in order to make the required deposit ; and
afterwards, wishing to invest the amount deposited in
Government securities, as they may under the Act,
on petitioning the Court of Exchequer, they will
have to sustain a still further loss by buying in at the
higher price, caused by the general rush to invest.

We hope that, if the Government do not quickly
promise to do what in them lies, the directors and
bankers of leading railway co,upanies will combine
to press them to it. In a matter of this kind any
additional day's suspense is a serious evil. Let the
Government make up its mind at once, ar.d, without
delay, declare it.

In the mean time, we end as we began, by say-
ing that the Speaker's authority for paymint
by instalments, will do much good, and has already
been felt beneficially. And we have a very strong
belief that amalgamations and other caues will con-
siderably reduce the sum to be deposited, and that
the current calculation of thirty millions is to a great
extent imaginary. A short time will show.

We have received Madrid journals of the 3d. The
Hera/do, now a Government paper, publishes the fol-
lowing intelligence from Buenos Ayres, but without
any date :—The brig Nuevo Colon, which has rev
cently arrived at Malaga, from Monte Video, brings
intelligence that Buenos Ayrea bog been the theatre
of an insurrection. The consequences of it have been
the fall of Rosits, President of the Republic, who has
escaped by a miracle, and the entry into the
capital of the Argentine Republic of the
combined forces of England and France. This news
(adds the Heraldo), which we consider possible, must
have been expected from the moment Roms deter-
mined on struggling, not only with Monte Video,
Paraguay, and Corientes, but also with England and
France. The war is thus at an end on the unhappy
banks of the river Plate." This, news, ,says thatjour-
nal, created " a great sensation " at Madrid. We only
hope it may prove authentic, and are inclined to place
some confidence in it, from the statement, which is
quite new, that an insurrection had taLen pia;: .1 at
Buenos Ayres. The Spanish funds continued firm.
On the 3d the Three per Cents. closed at 36i, at 60
days, and the Five per Cents. at 28+, at 60 days.

The accounts received at Paris from Algiers, and
published in some of the journals, are of a most dis-
tressing character. We had thought that the almost
universal indignation expressed by the French
journals and French people against the massacre at
Dahra had put an end to the horrid system, and that
Louis PHILIPPE and Marshal Soma., who deplored
the event, had taken measures for carrying on ilia
war in Africa, according to the rules of modern war-
fare, but these hopes have been miserably disap-
pointed, 1390eAup, mad with a spirit of revenge for
the total defeat of his plans, has renewed the
system with increased fury and cruelty, and
seems determined to trust to nothing but the utter I
extirpation of the Arab race for the conquest
of the country. lle has commenced razzias
on a grand scale. Women aP4 children; and cattle
are carried off, and the men fit to bear arms are put
to the sword, or shot as criminals. It is time for
the French Government to look at the character
which it is acquiring throughout Europe by yielding
to the sayage propeßsities of BUGEAUD, and to save
itself from nicer al execration by ping an enq to
;!genes of cruelty which are a disgrace to the nine!.
teenth century. .The French press is pot to blame.
It has denounced the system in the strongest lan-
guage; and we make these remarks, therefore, not
so: the purpose of reproach, but for lending
moral' aid s tci the o.fos of humanity. There

be received as "glorious news" by the whole of the
British Colonies. Sir ROBERT PEEL evidently placed
confiqence in the Home ecretarv, and not without
reason, for according to all accounts no Minister was
ever more indefatigable and earnest in his duty. or more
desirous to act in unison with his colleagues. As
first Lord of the Admiralty under the GREY Adminis-
tration, he acquired the praise of all parties, and
perhaps on no former occasion was that department
conducted with such impartiality and vigour. But
what can be said of the rest ?—of the seven or eight
lords (there not being fewer than ten altogether of
that order in the Cabinet), and of the one commoner
known only for his wealth ? Should a war take
place with America, neither ABERDEEN nor HAD-.
DINGTON could have carried it on with the spirit and
skill suited to such a serious contest. The
downfal of this heterogeneous Cabinet will lit
the worst news for POLL that he has received
since his instalment into office. The Syrian affair
made an impression in America, which established
the character of PALMERSTON for decision and national
spirit, and POLL would rather see any man in the
Foreign-office than a nobleman who, since the days
of CANNING, is the only Minister that has
asserted the honour of the country in all
her foreign relations. The character of the
remainder may be summed up in a few words. Since
the Earl of RIPON waf. Prime Minister, and by his
pusillanimity excited the ridicule of the Sovereign
that called him to office, he has been utterly useless.
GOULBUEN was only the shadow of a Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and but for the timely aid and tutoring of
his principal would have involved the finances of the
country in inextricable confusion. He never could
either speak or act, and may be said to have ended
his political life in a more honourable way than he or
any human being ever could have anticipated. In
short, with the exception of Sir R. PEEL and Sir J.
GRAHAM, the country is well rid of the " strong
Ministry." Its demise will give additional impulse
to the principles of free-trade and salutary reform,
and rouse a spirit of resistance to Tory principles
which bids fair to establish a new era in the govern-
ment of this vast empire.