The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-05 00:00:00

RAILWAY EDUCATION.

It is no uncommon thing to hear railway proprietors
spulo n of (or at least thus much is hinted) as being
e igag4 d in a system of traffic and mercenary specula-
tion which absorbs their entire affections, leaving them
careless of the moral condition of those whose time and
services they command, in the numerous avocations
which a railway induces. It is enough, say these pre-
judiced observers, if railway directors can but produce
favourable reports at their meetings ; if they can but
succeed in showing a decrease in their expense, or an
increase in their traffic ; it is sufficient for shareholders
if they hear their line is prosperow , and if they have
a good half-yearly dividend declared ; what cares either
shareholder or director by what means their ends are
attained, or if they are carried out by men whose whole
time is engrossed by these railway monopolists, their
minds being left uncared for ?
Such complaints are as 'unjust as they are uncalled
for, and we are happy to know that they are gradually
diminishing. They form part of that inconkruous mass
of prejudices against the riOlvvay system which are
now gradually—we might almost say rapidly—dying
away. It is to the interest of all who have any share
in the management of railways to have as their ser-
N ants men, not only capable of performing their allotted
daily tasks with correctness, but men of general intelli-
gence, who can be depended on in an emergency, who
will not feel themselves at a loss if they are now and
then called to diverge a little from their ordinary
beaten path. To obtain such men it has been found
mutually advantageous to employ, even in the me-
cl.lanical departments, men whose education has been
not nominal, but real, and opportunities for further
improvement have been provided on most of the prin-
cipal railways. During the progress of construction
of various lines of railway the labourers have had their
moral and religious wants attended to by the gentlemen
employing them, which has aided very materially in
advancing the moral character and in raising the
mental condition of the workmen. On the London awl
Birmingham line, at the little town of Wolverton, a
school has been built for about 100 children, as also a
church, the seats of which are all free, which will ac-
commodate 900 or 1,000 persons. The inhabitants of
this town are almost entirely employed by, or in some
measure connected with, the railway ; in fact it is a
town which may be said to Intro been created by rail-
way enterprise, inasmuch as before the con-truclion of
the line it was an agricultural spot, with few inhabi-
tants, while it now contains a population of some 1,000,
and the London and Birmingham annually expend in
the town about 50,000/. in wages, &c. These facts
will serve as a specimen to prove that railway pro-
prietors are not careless of the welfare of those whom
they employ : we could adduce many more, but it is
needless. But we must just mention that the Grand
Junction have attended to the bodily as well as mental
condition of their workmen, in establishing baths at
Crewe ; that at Fleetwood, another railway-made town,
schools for two or three hundred children have been
built ; and that, by reference to our last number, it will
be seen that the South-Western are about to form a
benevolent fund for their emp!oyjs, and schools for their
servants' children.—Derionport Telegraph.

THE ATTACK ON MADAGASCAR.
(From the Paris Constitutionnel.)
We have given, from the Cerneen of the Mauritins, the
details of a descent effected at Tamatave, on the eastern coast
of Madagascar, by the crews of three vessels, one English and
two French. The object of this expedition was to take on
board the French and English residents, whom the Queen of
the Ovas wished to force to have themselves naturalised. 'I be
result is known. The forces of the two nations marched on
Tamatave with the emulation and courage that were to be
expected from them. But they had to deal with an enemy not
less courageous, trained to war in long intestine contests, and
formed to discipline. Tamatave was armed with cannons, and
well defended by the Ovas. Our troops were received with
a formidable fire, which killed seventeen French sailers and
four English. They could not get farther than the outer wall,
where they placed their colours. The i%lalgaches re mained
impregnable in their redoubt, which was coes•ructed according
tot e European fashion, and it was found necessary to give way
before them and re-embark. If the European residents at Ta-
matave were afterwards relieved from their awkward position,
ar.d part of their property saved, it is not less true that a
fresh blow has been given to European influence in the island
of Madagssear. An expedition thus conducted and terminated
so deplorably cannot but puff up the Queen of the ()vas, and
dispose her to treat the Europeans with still less consideration.
edo not know exactly how the expedition !was organised.
The Cerneen says that the troops which landed were and r the
direction of a captain and a lieutenant. Which was the English
and which the French ? Had the plan of attack been discussed
and decided on in concert ? Or rather was there a plan of attack?
Were not the French and English satisfied with proceeding
in two bands not very cordially inclined, the one not dis-
posed to obey the other, and were they not the victims of the
blind policy which pursues in all parts of the world the chime-
rical wition of the entente cordiu'e? It will cot be possible to
resolve all these questiens until we shall have obtained new de-
tails, but it is impossible not to be struck at present with the
disproportion in the loss sustained by the two forces. By what
concatenation of circumstances did it come to pass that the
English only lost 4 men, and the French 17 ? Were the num-
bers of the troops as 17 to 4? Why this disproportion? Why
should not the English have supported at least half the cost and
half the risk of this. enterprise? Were there not at Madagascar
as many English subjects as French ones? The inhabitants of
the Mauritius, as well as those of Bourban, are in the igabit of
and rice cattle on the coast of Madagascar. These ar-
ticles
wantingin the two colonies, which are. obliged to seek
them sometimes at Zanzibar, sometimes in India, at Calcutta,
Madras, or even at Singapore. The contigui tyof Madagascar offers
both colonies the most convenient and advantageous market ;
and the continual vexations to which the purchasers are ex-
posed by the Queen of the Ovas affect English subjects not
less than those of France. This expediti ,n does but little
honour to the Governor of Bourbon, who may be reproached
with not having collected sufficient information as to the forces
inconsiderate
conduct means of defence of the Ovas It is by such
conduct that the agents of the Government too often com-
promise the renown of France and the life of our soldiers; and
this arises frequently from the Government agents being much
more occupied with the care of cot displeasing the Govern-
ment at home, than of bringing to a good end the enterprises
which they direst. We would willingly wager that, in this
last affair, he Governor of B urbon has been more gravely
gtoo t
t t:a
oitoon too opened ntehdan with
withith the
; the th
occupied with the desi!e of bringing, to a happy termination
the negotiation
"eriirrhtf of
the
maktrtg
to ao
expedition successful. The fact is that iutghs •
vain to dissemble it. It terminated by a retreatafarfailed;
is in
The policy of the Marquesas has not been fortoo la:ty.
s
triumpiant. At Basilan, at the Mareuesas, Otainee' and
Madagascar, it scatters about deaths, and obtains in return only
very qtest.onable viotories. A new expedition, will, it is said,
be soon directed against Tamatave. Let us hope that this time
the local government will take its measures better. 1 o obtain
information on the elements of defence which the Malgaches
possess, the Governor of Bourbon has only to apply to the Go-
vernor of the Mauritius. It is by the agency of this latter per-
sonage that England has furnished the Ovas with cannons,
muskets, ammunition, and instructors ; it is England which has
given the design of the Malgaehe redoubts. The least she can
do is to communicate to us the state of all the means of destruc-
tion which she has furnished, now that we interfere for her in-
terest at least as much as our own.