The Sun.
London, England, 1845-10-06 00:00:00

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cupidity in their various offices, retard its advance in the
glorious mission it has to perform. Because we are
the friends and advocates of the railway system, we
are desirons of lopping off its imperfections, wherever
they are discovered. On the opinion which we have
here given, as to the policy of full publicity being given
of the state of works in the course of their construction,
we are borne out by a recent acr of the Belgian Govern-
ment. Fores, eing that the benefits of railways will
always be regulated by the power they have of
responding to the demands of the public, they have
wisely decreed that their first formation shall be watched
with a jealous eye ; and that, whenever it is deemed
necessary to enforce upon those who execute the works
a due performance of the contracts they enter into, re-
ference shall be made to the last ccurt of appeal, the
public, by making known to them the actual state and
condition of the works. This determination once taken,
there is small probability that ever it will be found ne-
cessary to be carried into effect—the knowledge that
such a corrective hangs over them will keep the parties
to the observance of their duty. These remarks, al-
though they have been called forth by complaints re-
specting the Havre line in particular, we intend to apply
generally to every line in the course of construction.
With respect to railways yet to be constructed, we
would avail ourselves of the experience which the past
has given us to avoid the justice of the censures we
have felt ourselves bound to pass upon this occasion.
We would advise directors to be cautious in taking
gaining the concession of their
upon the party who shall
linethe
; first
that stepis, aifnter fixing
construct it. Whoever or whatever that party may
be, it should be a stringent condition that he be not
a director, that he be not one of the company, or
that his interest in the deposit be not so great as to give
him a preponderating influence in the deliberations of the
society. The party, whether a company or an indi
vidual, who undertakes the execution of the works,
should stand in his natural position as a servant, under
certain conditions, of the directors. If, on the contrary, he
be one of their body, or has an overwhelming influence
in their deposits, he will execute the works not as they,
but as he, may think proper, and will be his own judge
into the bargain. There will be no control over him
except that which his own immediate interests may
dictate. The disadvantageous position which we have
here supposed is the very one respectively occupied by
the Directors of the Ifavre line and their contractor.
Hence the complaints that have been publicly made re-
specting the defective condition of the works have not
drawn forth a single observation, but have been treated
with contemptuous silence, because the contractor re-
norts to the director, and the director is the contractor.
'Another strict rule should be observed by Directors in
future contracts, and that is, that the or .a.en
engineer c..van or- melt contractor should not be
identical. The want of due precaution in this matter,
on the Havre line, has been productive of much well-
founded complaint.
We will now proceed to Paris, and show what has
been done to secure a railway communication thence to
Germany. For a line projected from Paris to Stras-
bourg there are no less than four competing companies.
At present the interest of the public seems to be equally
extended to every one of the four candidates. Not one
of them that we are aware of offers any pretensions that
ought to secure to it a monopoly of public favour ; we
shall therefore dismiss them from our consideration, and
proceed to state the advantages of the line as a grand
means of communication from London to the German
frontiers.
This line is more desirable for France than it is for
England, because another, perhaps easier, and at all
events as convenient a means of reaching Germany from
London so as to avoid France altogether, has recently
been broached, and shall come in for a share of our no-
tice before a e have concluded this review.
It is by a line to Strasbourg only that France can
secure to herself the full advantages of easy commer
cial intercourse with Germany. With a branch to
Bale, the Strasbourg and Paris line will put the
capital of the fashionable world into direct commu-
nication with Switzerland, southern Germany, and
Prussia ; and with these countries, we have the
authority of statistical documents puldished by the
French Government for saying, France transacts business
annually to the amount of 300,000,000 of francs, or
12,000,0001. sterling. The line has been surveyed, and
particulars respecting the localities through which it has
to pass, have been drawn together with much care and
fidelity. It passes through no less than fifteen depart-
ments, having a population of nearly seven millions of
inhabitants. But the position in which it presents itself
to our mind as the one pre-eininently commanding public
interest, is that of its being the natural branch from the
trunk line of Havre to Paris, thus leading us direct from
the sea to Germany. Strasbourg, Germany, and Swit-
zerland, receive annually, on an average, by land-car-
riage from Havre, upwards of 100,000 tons of cotton
and other colonial produce. The long, dreary, and
tedious way by which this merchandise is conveyed by
roulage through the very heart of France by no means
contributes to the advance of commerce ; on the con-
trary, it has been, and is still the cause of much retarda-
tion, consequent depression in trade, and cor-
responding injurious consequences to the com-
munity. This line is also susceptible of other branches
besides the one to Bale ; and it is in contemplation to
construct one from Froyard to Metz, and one from
Metz to the Prussian frontier via Sarrebruck. Although
we are the advocates of peace and not of war, yet the
same principle holds good in France as well as in Eng-
land ; there also, as with us, the best way to remain at
peace is to be prepared for war. For the purpose of
facilitating the transport of troops to the German fron-
tier, the line to Strasbourg, as well as its branches, is
admirably calculated. If ever an invasion of France
should be attempted from Prussia, the blow would un-
doubtedly come by the valley of the Sarre. The French
Government understand their position in that respect
well ; that valley they look upon as almost the most
important outpost on their extensive confines ; and, in
accordance with their recent policy, they will neglect
nothing that would tend to guard them against a sur-
prise. The line, with its branches, will form a sort of
triangle, from each outer terminus of which the
French could pour their forces over the frontiers with
rapidity. A French force by means of this line and
its adjuncts, could readily be brought to bear upon
Mayence by the valley of the Sarre, and from Stras-
mar, Leipzie, Wur-
bourg upon Wurtzbourg, Ivey
Augsbourg, Ratisbon,
temburg, Stuttgardt
Dresden, Munich, Vienna, Tubingen, and Ulm. The
South-Eastern branch, either from Bois-le-Duc, or from
Nancy to Bale, by Neufchateau, Epinal, Remiremont,
Saint Maurice, and Massevaux, permits the rapid con-
veyance of forces upon Bale ; and from Bale they
might bear upon Schuffhausen, the Lake of Constance,
Icemprien, Lansberg, Munich and Vienna. By the
Thionville branch the French could penetrate to the
centre of the Duchies of Luxembourgh and of the Rhine,
by the way which leads to Mayence, to Frankfort, and
by Coblentz and Westphalia to Berlin. That part of
between Thionville,
tShterasbfro(tTrtgiearns doßfaleF,r :rneceexplyoisnegd to the Prussians, the
German Confederation, and the Austrians. With all
these promised advantages both in a military and
commercial view, it is quite certain that the Stras-
bourg will meet with every encouragement from the
French Government.
There are no new features in the lines to the south
w,,-.horietliilyi:aldsrefirnoanrlko except that that portion of the line
to Rerzin, on the Orleans and
Bordeaux Railway, is expected to be opened in the
month of October or November next.
The Northern Railroad has so recently been described
by ourselves, that it needs little farther observation at
the present moment, except to record the important fact
of the adjudication, which took place on the Bth ult.,
and which has been in favour of the great coalition of
the various rival lines, under the powerful influence of
the house of Rothschild. The adjudication is for a term
of thirty-eight years : and immediately on its announce
ment, the shares of the new company went up in Paris
as high as 171. prem. Considerable firmness will be
given to this important enterprise when the scrip of the
new consolidated company are issued, which we hope
the directors will not long delay.
and proceeding in a northerly direc-
tion,the activity that is going on in
BeQlgui we
uitmti,nagfroe arrestedrFrntahece by
purpose of completing all her ways of
communication, whether by railway or canal.
Before we notice what is now going forward in Bel-
gium in this respect, a few preliminary observations on
her present position and tendency may not be out of
place.
Since the period of the revolution which placed King
Leopold upon the Belgian throne, this country has made
rapid progress in agriculture, commerce, and manufac-
tures ; and at the present day it is quite certain that no
state in Europe offers more solid and permanent advan-
tages for the investment of capital. The policy of its
government is to encourage the spirit of private enter-
prise, and the association of foreign and domestic
capital for all purposes of public utility ; and this,
taken in connexion with the dispositions of the
people, presents a bright prospect for a future com-
mercial career. Her geographical position on the
map of Europe renders it next to impossible that any
traffic of importance can be carried on without her roads
being called into requisition. It is well known to every
one who has paid attention to this flourishing kingdom,
that she provided with minerals in great abundance,
and that her collieries are those from which a great part
of France receives almost exclusively its supply.
The present system of Belgian railroads is incom-
plete. The north and south, the rich provinces of
Hainault, Tourney, and the French and Belgian Flan-
ders, had hitherto no continuous railway connexion with
Brussels. The Lille and Valenciennes line, by Dotmy,
by attracting travellers to Brussels by way of Valen-
ciennes, would have an injurious tendency towards Bel.
gium. It was considered therefore indispensable, and of
the highest utility to the country, to establish a junction
between the west and the south; the first section of which
would be from Monsern to Tourney. An elaborate sur-
vey and report thereon has been made by the Belgian
authorities, the result of which is to establish the fact
that one of the lines which must effect the object of com-
pleting the general reseau of railways contemplated
by the State, must pass from Tournay to Jurbise, which
would, as observed above, connect the west with the
south. The immense utility which this road would con-
fer upon the important localities through which it would
pass is an important consideration for the Government.
The valuations that have been made with great care, and
without the slightest exaggeration, prove incontestably
that the minimum net produce to be expected from a line
between these two points, would yield a profit en the
capital embarked in its establishment of more than
17 per cent. The calculations of a Government
officer exhibit a profit to the Government of one million
francs a year upon an outlay of sit millions of francs.
Although the inclination of the Belgian authorities ap-
pears at present to be in favour of executing this line, at
some not distant period, by the State alone, yet, as it will
be found necessary for the State to borrow funds for that
purpose, it is not impossible that it will ultimately be
considered advisable to grant the concession to a body of
English capitalists. The line is intended to pass Leuze,
Ath, and the valley of the petite Dendre to Jurbise, and

THE SUN, LONDON MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 6, 1845