THE RAILWAY INROAD ON THE WAR OFFICE.
Sin—The inefficiency of our military system, brought to light by the necessities of actual work, having virtually shelved the effete gentlemen in red coats, some very energetic gentlemen in black and other coats are busily rushing forward to take their places, proffering what shopkeepers denomi- nate " a leading article," iikthe form of gratuitous patriotic services, with mere "costa out of pocket"
In the Board of Health and its former doings we have an example of what kind of close boroughs may be produced by an individual with one Veit riding in upon a wave of reform. Precisely such may be the case in the reform of the Ordnance and Admiralty. A race of men, whose accumu- lation of large fortunes "from nothing in no 'time" attests their "energy," are bent upon possessing themselves of the public ,corks by mine and sap, disclaiming the " pennie fee," and, quite content with "the wee things they can pick up about the house." The railway interest, which has so largely swelled the ranks of the House of Commons, which has created almost an imperium in imperio, seeks now to become a member of the Executive. The press has been lately ringing with acts of patriotism performed by in- dividuals. Very praiseworthy this. But let us at least be sure how much is patriotism,and how much simple or complex business. Foremost amongst i the patriots is Mr. S. Pete, or Sr S. Peto, Baronet He has been made a baronet, says the press, for his patriotism in making the Balaklava rail- way gratis. There is a want of logic here. Mr. Pete did not make the railway. He and his partner Mr. Betts, and such other partners as they may have in the not very. recondite business of railway-contracting, have engaged Mr. Beattie as superintending engineer of a number of navvies and certain railway plant, to be sent out in sundry ships, all to be paid for at " cost price " by Govern- ment Not much risk here certainly. In its simple form it is lending so much capital to Government for a short time ; though wby Government should bor- row money or money's worth from Messrs. l'eto and Betts, it is difficult to imagine. If this act deserves reward by a baronetcy, why confine the baronetcy to Mr. Peto ? Surely Mr. Betts ought to divide the gratuity with his partner, and a brace of baronets would not cost the Government more Qin an odd one, nut how about this cost price,—to be settled by railway engineers, if Government object to the bill ? How if it should happen to be a contract which any ordinary railway-contractor would jump at as a most lucky specu- lation for getting rid of a heap of ballast-waggons and railway-contractor's plant—not railway-plant, scattered about the country as mere lumber— materials, analogous to dead stock, with no market value in situ and not worth moving. If this kind of thing be paid for at "prime cost"—and where is the Joseph Hume to verify the valuation ?—then a Court honour will have been bestowed on a man for simply doing with his partners a lucky and profitable stroke of business, and getting his hand in to future operations. It is a transaction of the same nature as subscribing a testi- monial to Mr. Hudson for making his own fortune.
Messrs. Peto and Betts are said to be millionaires of some twelve years' standing, undeniably shrewd and clever men of business ; and the white house near Maidstone, on the South-Eastern line of railway, might warrant the ennobling of a railway-contractor's capital, as well as in the case of Mr. Pete; but let it clearly be on no false pretencea,—let it be understood that the honour is bestowed on the large fortune, and not on patriotism. But why employ Mr. Peto at all ? Why not engage direct with Mr. Beattie, and advertise for contractors' plant out of use—to be had in any quantities ? Why not employ Captain Simmons, Captain Wynne, or any
other of the gentlemen employed as Inspectors of Railways by the Board of Trade, who if competent to inspect locomotive lines and report on their
safety, are surely competent to lay down a contractor's line ? Why does the nation pay and appoint the officers of Woolwich Arsenal, if they are not competent to construct tramways and vehicles to run on them for the facili- tation of army transport ? Leaving this nut to be cracked by the authorities, with a promise of some more amusing additions in case of reply, I proceed to another. Mr. Hawes holds a position of authority in the War Office. By that office, it is said, Mr. Isambard Kingdon Brunel, his brother-in-law, has been appointxd consulting engineer as to all new inventions and propositions relative to
material improvements in war structures, This appointment also is on the patriotic principle of "cost price" and no responsibility. Jadging by Ms. Brunel's antecedents, we may be quite sure that nothing will pass without his approval, and that approval will only be awarded to his own schemes, or to the inventions of other people which he may pay for with 21. or 51., and make his own, in conformity with his own published evidence on Pa- tents before the House of Commons. This practice is hereditary in his family ; and it is upon record that his father was largely paid for the inven- tions of Sir Samuel Bentham in the Portsmouth Dockyard. Under this ir- responsible system, the inventive mind of the public will have an efficient drag on it, and railway torpor will succeed to the torpor of an Ordnance Committee.
If we could be as sure of good things as of new things from this eccentric, vain, and dogmatic gentleman, the public might put up with the non-respon- sibility ; but his antecedents indicate anything but infallibility. The Great Western, with its numberless alterations and wasted capital, and nothing left of the original plans, and a meagre three per cent dividend to the share- holders—the South Devon, with its ill-judged, costly, and now removed at- mospheric traction, and bad curves and gradients, worked at an expensive rate by locomotive power—the Great Britain, built iu a dock from which she had no exit save by the dock down, unlucky in her voyage, and with her engines and boilers removed and changed ere well fitted for see- the new " big ship," with her central compartments erected, and her "stem and stern, paddles and screw, still undetermined," and rife with uncertainty' according to his own printed report,—all these, and many others, are proofs of a mind bent rather on astonishing than on convincing, and not too studious of accurate result or mercantile value.
If not for Mr. Hawes, it is for the representatives of the public to consider whether this is exactly the kind of arbiter to stand between improvement and the public service ; and whether it is not a much more desirable thing to supply fitting officers to the existing departments, with full responsibility, rather than to deliver over all things to the management of railway-con- tractors, chiefly remarkable for accumulating large fortunes to themselves out of the expenditure of shareholders, and probably desirous of dealing in a similar manner by the public expenditure. I will return to this subject.
Since the preceding paragraphs were penned, a correspondent of the Timm, in large tape, gravely proposes the three railway men—Messrs. Laing, Pax- ton, and Peto, for Privy Councillors ! It has not come to that yet. The accumulation of money is not yet the test of fitness for empire ; and before this comes to pass, we will inquire closely and justly as to their past career to see what mental and moral qualities have been prominent, how far the moneymaking has been in consonance with the great qualities required in Ministers of State. The Ilaberleys, who misused the Post-office, were hereditary offshoots of army-contractors—men of business in their day—keen
and successful. -
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