The Express. — London, England, 1853-11-03 00:00:00

erortoo• TO CORRESPONDENTS. a MIN Vitt , * et lee Knoreee,"eootAuurt the ism tiem.ng's "Waite," le pull .4114 every liteeday and Jt Mr root. Whrinummits boob ;ed foe "Ms eJpreri," Lewlon Eresn'T tr. OhSit be St the 0111 to. Beuvesio-street, by Two et.cet on Mit ukty et pub/bastion. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. " ug WOW, 2h. Situ Aflrrnoon, 3b. TO4boaivni-31 r.ang, SE. 3703 Aftetuwc, lb. Fb LONDOS, TN r RsDA Y, No VEMBER 3. %TINES ft moos opinions respecting the Eastern Question may be, he must be hard-hearted indeed if be can refuse his mpathy to the Toms. 1 here is that most consistent and conscientious of journals compelled by its stern sense of justice to declare that the Cz.ta is in the wrong,—and forced also to im press upon its re.alers the necessity of upholding the Ent.r.ce, yet groaning and moaning all the time at the awkward complication of minim which compels the (ei downs) organ of Puseyism to ally itself to the infidel Turk, and abet the resistance that is being offered to Russian aggression. For the religious scruples of our revered contemporary there is, we fear, no allaying balm ; but for his grief at being made an accomplice in repelling the march of civilisation, perhaps if he would take:the trouble to learn what Russia really is, be might therefrom derive a little consolation. It is not indeed easy (perhaps not possible) to get a thorough insight into the arettna or penal-alio of Russia. The distinguished strangers" who have penetrated into it of late have been carefully kept in hand and allowed to ace nothing but what they ought to see. A Liberal member of Parliament has a passport for Russia risj at Embassy or Consu late, and forthwith the " coming event "is tele graphed to St. Petersburg. Letters of introduction arc pressed upon his acceptance by the kind and bland diplomatic or consular officials ; he is received with empressem•nt at the frontier by a courteous Government officer, who recommends him to a brother official at his next station, and so on. In fact, he arrives in Russia like a bale of con signed goods, and, all unconscious, is passed from hand to hand by tho employt:t of Government as piaively as any commodity. Silently, but surely, every person is isolated from him who possesses any language in common, or is likely to tell him awkward truths. He is allowed to see only "show villages,' to censer,e only with parrots trained to praise every thing in Russia, and he leaves the country as wise as he entered it. It is amusing enough to hear such a traveller clinch an argument in l'arliament or else where by the imposing phrase " I have been in Russia." But now and then a stray traveller, who enjoys the advantage of being nobody to speak of, does find his way to Russia ; and, if he has.the sense to look about him without appearing to do so, can contrive to pick up and carry away with him a few useful facts. Such 0 one w.•..s the American STErtiess, who, 15 or 16 years ago, made a run acrou the country from Odessa to Kiew, Moscow, and St. Pe tersburg. Such a one is our countryman, LAURENCE Orin' tNT, who no further agone than last year found his way to Moscow, thence to the great fair of Nijuei Novogorod, down the Volga to Dubouka, across to the Don, down that river to Rostof and Ta ganrog, across the Crimea, and thence by Odessa to the Danube. More might be mentioned (the fair author of "Letters from the Baltic" among others), but these may suffice as specimens of their clue: favour. able specimens, it must be confessed. The American, coming from a young land not yet altogether emerging from the colonising condition in which man is busied reclaiming the waste, and the English man, with his Indian experiences, were able to test what they saw in Itussia —the ono by a country which resembles it in the unreclaimed character of much of its territory; the other by a country which, like Russia, is subject to a government almost exclu- Wvely military, and inh►bited by a variety of unamalgasnated races. Rot every traveller who has obtained a peep, however furtive, at Russia as it really la, can contribute valuable enlightenment by which we may me to read more correctly, if not altogether aright, the specious and elaborate statistics which the Government of that country imposes upon Europe and America. For example : the square miles of Russian territory, and the millions who occupy it, look formidable on paper, but the awe with which one is disposed to contemplate them rather abates under the influence of the following supplementary information communicated by Mr. OLIPIIANT t Russia is anon devoid of as urban population. St. Petersburg, MOSCOW, sad Odessa aro t►e *sly chin when populations nosed a hundred thousand ; indeed then is N. doubt whether that of Odessa roaches this figura. There an only four towns containing sere than fifty thousand inhabitants each, and eighteen at twenty with populations emending twenty-five thousand. In fact, it has Wes eninputsd, from the official reports, that there is only one town with an average population of seven thou sand, is an nes of a hundred and thirty none miles. Of the condition of the rural population (the non no mad* part of it), which occupies the wide tracts Interspersed between thin sown petty towns, the following passage from the same author may convey acme idea : Altogether, though the ports on this coast (the Sea of Azolf ) manifest the most detenniaed disposition to prosper is spite of everything, I doubt whether the combine tie& of natural and political disadvantages with which they are beset will not ultimately prove insurmountable ; for, besides the want of water and the want of roads, they hare jut experienced a new deficiency in the want of labour. This seems rather an odd complaint for • country contain iag fifty millions of inhabitants, • considerable portion of whom are in great poverty; but it is absolutely the' Pee that those of the scanty population inhabiting the steppes aeuthess parts who will give themselves the trouble to work have oteasioaally earned as much as one silver ruble • day each. The thousands half-starving in many parts of the country, who are not altogether bound down as awls to • particular locality, are enable to migrate to this had of plenty oa account of the system which obliges diem to invest their all in • passport to bring them here, and when they ►ate made • Mete money to spend their savings fa bribes to government officials for more passports to take them back again to their own district, from which they may not be absent above • limited time, while the journey there and back would moat probably occupy a con siderable period, if it were not altogether impracticable for pumas is their condition. With regard to the means of intercommunication I in this land of alternating steppes, fertile, untilled or half-tilled land, undrained swamps and forest waste, the accounts of the American and the Englishman tally exactly. The fifteen years which intervene between their visits has made no perceptible dif ference except in the one railway from St. Peters burg to Moscow—of which anon. The agricultural produce of the country and other goods are either transported in bullock waggons, over steppes, through swamps, or along the rivers, at a pace equally slow. On the noble Volga there are only some thirty-six steamers, a dozen of which belong to an English com pany, now tolerably prosperous since it dismissed all its Russian smployc't. But the progress of a steamer down stream on the Volga is infinitely slower than that of the veriest outworn American tub and kettle breasting in its ascent the heavy current of the Mississippi. The traffic of the country is confined to annual fairs. The whole policy of the empire seems to um at the repression of trade. No natives but THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY and spinners, under which last division come the self actor minders. The card-room hands earn lkom ss. to 12e. a week. The weavers get from Be. to 18s., and occasionally more. The spinners and self-actor minders may earn as much as 25e. per week. Ob serve that there is nothing abstruse in the work of the labourers at mills. It can scarcely be called skilled labour. A few mouths will make a good weaver out of a card-room hand. And the conse quence of this is that the card-room hands are per petually pressing forward to become weavers, thus making a scarcity of bands adapted to the lower kind of labour. So much for the composition of the lifeblood that ought to be circulating through the veins of the dead giant. In the spring of the year application was made by the spinners in a few mills for increased wages. This was in some cases acceded to. Later in the year a general application of the same sort was made, but the terms demanded were specified, 10 per cent. in crease. This was after similar terms had been agreed upon in Stockport. The masters in some instances agreed, but the fact of the Stockport rise being taken as a ground for the rise in Preston seemed to be pregnant with grave consequences. Was there a general conspiracy for an equalisation of wages throughout the trade ? The masters met several times on this question, but ended by a partial conces sion. On August 13 they agreed to give the 10 per cent. on weaving and spinning, but not on carding. Remember the card-room hands are the lowest in the scale, and furnish the material for the weavers and spinners. Why was the exception against the carders made ? Because, say the masters—l am telling the masters' story throughout—because those "hands" had received already an increase quite equivalent to 10 per cent. Some of the owners, in fact, say that in their particular mills the card-room hands had re ceived an increase equal to 15 per cent. The demand for an additional 10 per cent. in this case is, on the face of it, unfair. But this is the grand feature in the strike. The men in the first me take the maximum of wages as that upon which to make their calculations, and then demand a 10 per cent. upon that. They insist first upon an equalisation of wages in the various factories, and then upon a rise of 10 per cent. They utterly ignore all the differences which exist between the capacities of various mills, but insist upon treating all owners as standing upon one level. Nothing, nevertheless, is more notorious than that the progress of mechanical discovery tends to make each loom more efficient than its predecessor. The "hands" can perform much more work with an improved machine than with an old one, and they wish to tax the master for the perfection of his machine. The new loom produces more, and they demand 10 per cent. upon the increased produce, thus depriving the manufacturers of the advantage which they ought to receive from the extra capital which they have invested in the improved looms. Labour is to dictate its own terms, and capital is to be deprived of what is strictly its own. The owners begin to think that they see a principle is looming through all this, which must be combated at any risk. It is not so much the amount that is quarrelled with as the principle at issue. So true is this, that one mill which" locked out" its hands, 700 in number, did so on account of a demand which would only have made, if acceded to, a difference of thirty shillings per week to them ! Observe, the con test is receding now from what was at first the actual position, the mere amouut of money; it is one of principles, if not of persons. A property of the value perhaps of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds is reduced to inaction for a sum of thirty Shillings. This firm were willing enough to in crease their ordinary payments of sevenpence half penny to eightpence farthing, a legitimate 10 per cent, but they refused, and as it appears with justice, to make • rum of one penny upon work for which they had originally been paying eightpence. The hands insisted upon this; they wanted the eightpence to be made ninepence—a rise equal to 121 per cent., instead of 10 per cent, their original demand. The men state this case rather differently; but I am concerned now enly with the masters' representations. It is matter of fact, however, that the muters offered a rise of three-farthings on the eightpence, while the men demanded a penny. If you take this SA a measure of the justice, or injustice, of the question, you will see that while the muters offered 1-16th too little, the men demanded 140th too much. The relative injustice of the two parties in this case is u one on the side of the masters to four on the side of the men. The reasoning of the masters then, may be summed up as follows :—The present Strike is a dead set at capital, and our only resource is to make a dead set at labour. The men arc actuated by nothing but a mere piggish desire to get as much as they can with out any consideration as to the practicability of their obtaining what they want. They first insist upon equalisation of wages, utterly ignoring the fact that the facilities which one proprietor gives to his men are far greater than those afforded by anther. They are just as forgetful of the differences which exist amongst themselves. They demand that in all mill. all " hands" shall be paid so much per "cut." When this is obtained, and not till then, they wish to levy the 10 per cent. on the maximum rate. The masters claim the right of making their own bargain with their own men. They say that they themselves must be the best judges of what they can afford to give. They deny most emphatically the statement made by the men, as to the following out of the conditions of the vir tual arrangement made between masters and men in 1847. In that year, on account of the unpro mising state of affairs, a reduction took place, accompanied, say the men, by a condition that the reduction, 10 per cent, should be made up on the advent of prosperous times. The men say wages have been stationary since then. The masters deny it, and, as a proof of the truth of their assertion, ask why no de mand has been made for an increase during the in terval. They say at the same time that a demand which they might have acceded to a year ago, when trade was brisk and money was cheap, cannot be lis tened to now that both them conditions are altered. The large proprietors have a little better reason than this for holding out. They tell you that the ' men have made one of the greatest mis take+ that it was possible for them to make. Their warehouses are glutted. They have twenty weeks stock on hand. The China market is closed. There are goods enough in the Indian seas without purchasers, to supply the markets when the trade is opened for months. They say that they were never in a better position for fighting the question than now, and they will fight it out. They are under a bond of 5,0001. each not to commence working, except with the joint permission of the society, and they intend to support the weaker members of the union by contributions. I have heard, from good authority, that one firm has stated that the ten per cent. on the whole wages would swallow up all their profits. So much for the case of the manufacturers. merchants of the first and second guild can enter into foreign trade, and so heavy is the entry-aioney that their numbers have not increased daring the last fifteen years. The other taxes to which mer chants resident in towns are subjected are so heavy that the untaxed traders at the fair of Nijnei Novcgorod can afford to sell Sheffield cutlery more cheap than the shopkeepers of St. Petersburg, after carrying it over live or six hundred miles of a roadies' country. Taganrog and Rostov, the principal emporia of the trade of the Sea of Azoff, hare one small river steamer between them, and one steamer from the former port to the Crimea. At Taganrog ships load from lighters twelve miles outside the bar of the river; all of them must unload again into lighters, and re-load to enable them to pass the straits of Ycni So much for the industrial civilisation of Russia. They who imagine that its triumph over Turkey would be a triumph for Christianity, may be better enlightened by a little incident related by Mr. OLI PHANT. In the reign of the Empress CATHERINE, thirty Germans (of both sexes) settled at Sarepta : Thia little band belonged to the Moravian persuasion, and was under the guidance of some worthy missionaries, whose chid' object in choosing so remote a locality was the con version of the Calmucks. No sooner had some symptoms of succes=, however, attended t►e efforts of these noble-minded men, thin the Greek clergy interposed, and insisted that the converts should be admitted into their church. Think ing, perhaps, that a Csknack vies as enlightened en indivi dual while a Bhuddist as he would be after he joined the Greek church, the Moravian missionaries did not persist in thiir efforts at evange:isation. The government, as in day biund, supported the priests in their opposition, and may thus ho tong - atulated is having aided and abetted ■ Christian church in its successful attempts to deprive a whole nation of the blessings of the Gospel. lime and space fail us to point out the encourage ment of sexual relations analogous to those which exist in lands of Negro Slavery, intended by the nobles to increase the number of their serfs; and the direct patronage given to drunkenness among the peasantry by Government, to increase the revenue it derives front the sale of spirituous liquors. It is this unhappy, rude, and perverted people, that the Times regrets it cannot let loose upon Turkey, in order to e;rilise the Turks. The sole aim of the Russian Government is to keep its subjects in that condition which admits moat easily of their being made rude military machines. The railways executed and the railways projected have no object but the speedier concentration and transport of military masses from all parte of the empire to the European and Turkish frontiers. The Russian Government exists but for external aggression and conquest ; its waking thoughts, 'its nightly dreams, are of that alone. Destitute of resources within itself, it looks only to foreign predatory wars for the means of supporting its armies. It is an armed Propaganda of barbarism incessantly seeking to penetrate into Europe. The strength of Russia is, however, merely mate rial or animal. And even this, owing to the loose, incompact character of the body corporate, is of a kind that shows greater at a distance than near at hand. Russia is careful to wrap its true lineaments in obscurity; to swagger and threaten, and avoid real tests of its strength. Its diplomacy is more active than its arms. At present it is insidiously labouring to sow disunion between the two great Mahommedan powers—Turkey and Persia; and there is no lack of charity in suspecting that the sudden and unexplained recall of the Persian Am- bassador from our own Court is quite as much attri butable to the underhand machinations of Russia, as to any difficulties about Herat. SUDDLN RECALL OF THE PERSIAN AMBASSADOR. —.— We have to announce with regret that his Excel lency the Persian Ambassador has been suddenly recalled from England by his royal master the Shah. He ceased oa Tuesday to occupy the diplomatic residence in Cumberland place, and will, it is stated, leave London this day for Constantinople, en route for Persia. THE STRIKES. FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. PRESTON, WEDNISDAY. Tho difficulty of coining to a decision in the case between the masters and the men is almost insur mountable from the fact of the direct contradiction which exists between the statements of the two parties. It is absurd io talk of weighing evidence when assertion oa one side is met by point blank denial on the other. The state of things at present is onset downright opposition and enmity. I do not hesitate to say, as the result of much investi gation, that some of the masters contemplate the strike with a kind of grim pleasure, as the means by which the men are to be brought to their senses. They believe—without (I feel warranted in saying) any vindictive feeling—that the men want a severe lesson. They think that the only way to make the men feel the " absurdity" of their conduit is to punish them severely. They feel, also, that, even supposing they I were to make a compromise with the " turn-outs, '' or rather "lockouts," this would be sharpening a weapon against themselves. The winter is coming, and the men may possibly be glad enough to tide over the difficulties of that season at the sacrifice of some of their present pretensions. Bat the certainty of a strike in the spring tells strongly against the propriety of such a compromise. They think that the only possibility of ensuring anything like a safe prospect for the investment of capital is by insisting upon unconditional surrender on the part of the men. Thus far as an introduction to the case of the masters. They would not say so in so many words, but I feel con vinced that they entertain the impression that the men must be punished—brought on their knees— before the state of trade can be put into its normal sondition. This feeling is not at all vindictive. The masters, u far as I can see and learn, are all humane men ; but they look upon the present condition u something to be taken advantage of only as the re sult of a stern necessity. Possibly you might have been momentarily in duced, as I was myself yesterday, to sympathise partially with some of these views had you accompa nied me in a visit to some of the empty factories, It is a sad sight. There before you is a monster crea tion of capital, a giant which ought to be in the active exercise of all his monstrous powers. The chimney ought to be pouring forth volumes of smoke to heaven, black but cheering. Every implement in the court-yard ought to be in the hands of a living agent, making a pro vision for himself, and wealth for the nation. The air ought to be agitated with the ceaseless move ment of thousands of wheels. Mount the stairs, and you ought to see all those complicated machines of bright steel and iron, which, as we looked upon them in the Exhibition, seemed instinct with life, perform ing their functions with a steady perseverance, which puts to shame the convulsive motions of hu manity. This is what you ought to see, but what do you see? The giant lies dead before you. He gives no signs of motion or vitality. A solitary , indivi dual is attending to a fire or two, ust sufficient to warm the machinery. You may wa lk through room after room, and notice nothing but the dust which settles on the looms. You stand in the midst of a capital of eighty or a hundred thousand pounds doing no more for the nation than the gold which slept at Mount Alexander or Bendigo some five years back. It is impossible, for the moment, not to sympathise with those who have lost the services of a mammoth producer of wealth of this kind. It is difficult to repress a feeling of vexation to see a marvellous mechanism of this nature reduced to a dead skeleton. he sight is saddening, and you ask for some information. There, in the midst of dead boilers, and wheels, and springs, you may listen to a tale of the following nature : The persons who ought to be tenanting this mill are divided into what are called card-room hands,weavers, EVENING, NOVEMBER 3, 1853. the parish of Wigan, of which the borough is as it were the centre, has a population of awards of 79,000 souls, includ- Jag, as it does, the following townships, each of which has a purely eoal•miniug population :—Pemberton, OrreU, Inc* Hindley, Aspull. Haigh, Abram, iipliolland, Billing; (Higher and Lower), aed Winstanley. The colliers from all thee. places are now on strike; and not only do they come to Wigan in great numbers wh e there is anything like excitement or attraction—such &selections, fairs, wakes, Ac., and always on Saturday nights—bat it is believed that they formed a majority of the mob by whom the uproar and rioting was commenced on Friday night. Yet Wigan, from its situation, forms a natural centre into which the county constabulary for the Leigh, Bolton, Chorley, and Preston divisions might be drawn with great advantage, not only for the peace of its neighbourhood, but for the issuing of men when anything occurred in the other districts. As things stand at present, Wigan is the centre of the sphere of operations of the several divisions mentioned; but the county constabulary have no right within the borough, and because they have no right, their own action is crippled. The committee of the House of Commons recently appointed on the question of police management it has been observed, might well turn their attention to the cue, if the authori ties in boroughs like Wigan, so insufficiently prepared fur any emergency like the present, do not bestir themselves and anticipate such an interference with their local self government by rendering it unnecessary. Overawed by the great military strength now concen trated in the borough and neighbourhood, it is thought the colliers will not attempt for the present any further violence as a body. The fact that they have commenced a more active canvass for subscriptions than has heretofore been adopted, gives some ground for this opinion. It is well known that they were sadly tried by want and suffering when the present riots commenced. They have not so large a body of fellow operatives in employ ss the factory people to fall back upon for support, and their own means being exhausted, they are almost literally reduced to a state of starvation. Their wives and families have suffered more than the colliers themselves, and the women in some of their miserable dwellings present a pale, haggard, care worn, end most wretched appearance. Many of them are reduced to the last extremity. It would be difficult for any one who has not visited the cottages of these people to conceive the evidences of suffering and ema ciation which some of the women present. Between the col liers and the factory turnouts, the shopkeepers of Wigan are literally overrun with beggars. The keeper of a provision shop says that yesterday he had far more beggars than customers. This morning a body of colliers were seen yoked to a cart, drawing it through the street, whilst others called at the shops and houses soliciting alms and provisions. Some of those whose windows and property had been destroyed on Friday night did not give them a very courteous reception ; in one or two cases a fist and peremptory refusal was given, but generally much for bearance was manifested, and in some eases great kindness was shown. At an early hour their cart had eighteen or twenty loaves in it and a considerable quantity of potatoes. The greatest fear now entertained by the authorities is, not that there will be combined attacks on property as hereto fore, but that isolated acts of vengeance, much more difficult to be foreseen and prevented, will be resorted to. On Sunday morning a band of men,witk faces blackened and dtsguised, presented themselves at a row of cottages at Pllackrod, and entirely destroyed the windows. The occupants were labourers who had accepted work In the coal mines of Lord Halcarres ' and had given offence by becoming " knob sticks." Many of the master colliers reside at lone houses in the country around Wigan, and threats have been ut tered against these parties from which it appears that a de sign exists of destroying their residences by throwing hand grenades through the windows, and bottles containing com bustibles. Fortunately but few of these people are rich enough to afford firearms, and, with the exception of a shot fired on Monday night in the outskirts of the borough at a messenger on horseback, riding for assistance from the au thorities to check the outbreak at Bpringsbridge (and which fortunately took no effect), we have not heard of any such weapons being used. Still there is no security against men so densely ignorant as the colliers. One opinion they hold strongly is, that the military having been called in the Mayor of Wigan, they have no power to act beyon d b the limits of the borough, and that if they confine their opera tions to the country, they will be beyond the reach of the soldiery. Theplaces most threatened during the put night were the houses of the manager of Mews. Braucher and Co.'s colliery, Walthew Hoase, Orrell, and of Mr. Peace, at Haigh. The saw-mils, it was also feared, would again be attacked. Mounted messengers were riding backwards and forwards between these places and Wigan throughout the night. A body of county police, armed with cutlasses, were stationed at Orrell,with orders to send for the military if any outbreak were attempted, and similar precautions had been taken at the other places. It is satisfactory to learn that two-thirds of the colliers (150) of Messrs. Ackers, Witley, and Co., Bicker's-lane Colliery, Abram, have returned to work, and that about 100 have also gone in at Messrs. Blundell and Co.'s Col liery, Pemberton, at the old prices. The turnouts threat ened to pull down the engine house, but have not attempted to do so. The prisoners taken by the police on Friday night (all of them mere boys, except ens), six in number, and who were remanded from Monday, were brought before the magis trates this morning for further examination. Clayton and Morris were discharged. Luy and Hughes were remanded until Monday week Baker stands com mitted to take his trial for felony, and Harebell was ordered to give securities to keep the pesos. The magistrates met this afternoon, and resolved to put a stop to the tugging, and consequent intimidation by colliers. The services of the troops will be required if necessary. it is understood that the soldiers are to be withdrawn from the saw mills, a Capt. Gerard with the Lancashire Hunan, took up his quarters there on Wednesday night. The yielding of the turnout colliers will no doubt be greatly accelerated by the secosaion from the union of n.:arly a •housand men who work at Farington, near Preston, in the pita of Mr. Wm. Buhall. The cause of se cession is that the coition found on Wednesday night that the central committee in Preston had no funds out of which to pay their weekly allowance. The men hays intimated their readiness to go down at the old terms, and although Mr. Bsahall declined to re-engage them until the next week, it is thought an arrangement will be come to before then. Upwards of 80 county constobles have been brought into the villages round Wigan, where they serve as armed pa trols, and will be able to check a sudden pouncing on the houses or works of any obnoxious masters in the outskirts. THE STATE OF WIGAN. -+- (nor ora LOCAL CORAZSPONDZICI.) , WIGAN WIDNIVIDAY , NOV. 2. . . The borough hu assumed a much more tranquil appearance sines the affair of Monday night. The infantry force has been augmented to about 280 rank and file, under the command of Captain Wilt, the greater portion of whom are stationed at the Public Hall, in readiness to turn out at any moment ; but 60, under the command of Captain Westhead, still remain at the saw-mills, Spring-bridge, attacked oa Monday night. There is a troop of the IS Dragoon Guards still in Wigan, at the Royal Hotel, under Captain Ainslie; and yesterday evening a troop of yeomanry cavalry, called the Lancashire HUM'S, relied by Sir John Gerrard, Bart., at Ashton-in- Maekerdeld, and mostly composed of Sir John's tenantry, arrived at the seat of Frederick Gerard, Esq., Aspull, about a mile from the saw-mills, where they are to remain for some days. The police have not been reinforced within the borough, but parties of the county force, drafted from various divisions around Wigan, are stationed in the outskirts. It is now understood that one of the first acts of the Wigan town council, so soon as order shall have been restored by the cessation of the strikes, will be to strengthen their police force, either by an addition to the number of men paid out of the rates, or by an arrangement with the county consta bulary. The nine officers and sergeant, under the co mmand of Mr. Siam, the chief constable, have been the sole means of dealing with one of the roughest populations in Lanca shire, consisting as it does of colliers and factory hands. At the last census there were upwards of 32,030 persons within the borough of Wigan ; but even this number does not at all adequately represent those whom the eleven men have been supposed to be capable of watching over and checking ; for PROPOSED MONUMENT TO PRLNCE ALBEUT. TO THE IDITOI OT Till MIMS. Sia,—As one of the class of working men, to which your correspondent of yesterday, signing himself " An Admirer of Disinterestedness," professes to belong, will you permit me sufficient space to show that the que rulous tone assumed by him, when speaking of the proposed testimonial to Prince Albert, is not sympathised in by me, and I think I know Inflident of working men to say, nor I by them generally. He says: " It has occurred to me and others that while the middle and upper classes are burning incenre at the shrine of Saint Success, we, i. e., the working men, may be worthily employed in endeavouring to raise a fund to I indemnify Mr. Deegan," eke. I believe the working men would be worthily employed in doing so, and the wealthy too; and I think both would feel a pleasure to do go ; but I also believe that that plea sure will not in any way be diminished by their embracing the opportunity, which I trust will be now afforded them, of testifying their esteem for a prince who, in identifying himself with the broad interests of the people, in aiding the onward much of science, and in promoting the cultivation of art, has surpassed the most sanguine expectation:. Prince Albert, by breaking through the formal barriers of rank and clue, by the general current of his conduct, and by the great culminating act of his life, to commemorate which it is now sought to rear this monument, has won the applause and gratitude of the people ; and I sincerely hope that an opportunity will now be afforded them of endorsing that opinion. Let justice be done to both these modern heroes of civili• cation; let there be no division of clue; or, if there be, let the upper classes provide the statue, and give us, the working men of England, the opportunity of rearing the shaft or column, and it shall be one worthy the other. What I should like to see would be this : a column some thing like the one in Paris, cast from the metal obtained from the guns taken by Napoleon during his campaigns ; and setting forth his victories. But, in this case, it should be the melted-up pillars and arches of the Exhibition building, with the flags of all nations shadowing, or indi cating the peculiar and distinguishing productions of the country ; while figures, emblematic of Commerce, Science, and the Arta, should point to the man who conceived and carried out the machinery by which was consummated an event, world-wide in its influences, and which has proved one of the great starting points of progress and improve ment. Yours, &0., A CONSTANT READER. Coalport, Salop, Nov. 1. BISIIOP AGAINST BISHOP.—The Archbishops of Canterbury, York, Armagh, and Dublin have published a declaration, in which they take notice of an unauthorised address of synanathy got up by the Tractarian party and presented to the Patriarchs of the Eastcra .Ihurch for the purpose of disparaging the protestant bishop in Jerusalem. The Tractarians pretend that the proteatanta there ought not to have a bishop without the permission of the heads of the Greek church. The archbishops declare that the per sons signing those addresses have no warrant fur speaking in the name of the church of England and Ireland, and ex. press their confidence that Lishop Gobat's c 'nand will, under all circumstances. be guided by sound judgment and discretion. Henry of Exeter is ia the field with a letter oat the subject. LATEST FROM ABROAD. AUSTRIA. VIENNA, Orr. 30. The directors of the Danubian Steam Navigation Company announce that, on account of hindrances which have suddenly arisen, the navigation of the lower Danube is suspended. In the Oesterreici ische Correspondent the govern. ment publishes a very pacifying article on the Ori ental question. The following is the most material passage : "We have repeatedly stated that all the great powers, Russia as much as France, England, Austria, and Prussia, regard tho maintenance of the peace of the world as the aim of their highest endea vour, and that none of them is disposed to place this precious, this invaluable blessing in danger by rash or injurious acts. We may add that this statement is as true after the Porte's declaration of war against Russia as it was before; that the exertions of all the Powers are directed to the restoration of peace in the East; and that the conviction entertained at Paris and London of the sincere neutrality of Aus tria and Prussia has raised the confidence of the cabinets, and consequently has strength. ened the hope of a definite and pacific solution of the difficulty between Russia and the Porte. Notwithstanding the formally opened war in the East, and without excessive anxiety respecting the possible commencement of hostilities between the two armies —which, however, have just been post poned—European diplomacy pursues its task. This work of union and conciliation, however, cannot be bared to the eye of party, nor visibly exposed to the discussion of the daily press. It is owing to the high moderation and the discretion of the imperial Rus sian court that diplomacy still holds the ground which it has won ; and if, on the other side, elements which cannot be brought under the in fluenceof statesmen oppose the speedy conclusion of an arrangement desired by all Europe, yet in the pre sence of the material agreement of the cabinets and their united endeavours to avert a general conflict, the cautious attitude of diplomacy must appear jus tified in the eyes of every candid and enlightened person. In vain do the organs of party or of pri vate interests, under this or that colour, endeavour to undermine the reciprocal confidence of the Euro pean courts; the cabinets of the great Powers uphold with conscientiousness and care the good understanding which happily exists between them ; and should this, as we trust it may, lead to the ulti mate establishment of a firm and permanent peace in the East, a good will have been achieved for nations and States which is not to be brought into compari son with the gratification of curiosity or the tem porary satisfaction of alarmed interests." The semi-official journal now indirectly ratifies the report of the engagement at Isoetcha, on the 23rd, by explaining that the Russian flotilla was going up the Danube, and not across it, when fired on. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. BUCHAREST, Ocr. 21. Yesterday General Dannenberg, commander of the 4th army corps, arrived here by appointment, had a short interview with Prince Gortschakoff, and re turned to the camp near Frateschti. The main force of the Russians is encamped on an elevation near this city, which is surrounded with a breastwork and redoubts where several hundred guns are planted. A steamer which reached Dzurdzuru on the 19th brought the report that a strong Turkish army stood oppositelafat, under the personal command of Omer Pacha, and that the Russians were working by relays, day and night, at the intrenchments, which extend from Smirda to I)zurdzuru. The Austrian consul-general is recalled, and is to be succeeded by a member of the embassy at Con stantinople. THE MEDITERRANEAN. SOUTHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING. The Oriental Company's steam packet Euxine, Captain Meehan, has arrived. Her dates are : Alexandria, Oct. 20; Malta, Oct. 21; Gibraltar, Oct. 28. The Euxine brings 38 passengers. Her cargo consists of 960 bales of silk, shawls , Sax, wool, opium, and sundries. AU political or other news anticipated by the Marseilles route. The British and French fleets were, by the latest news received at Malta, still at the anchorage in Besika Bev, with the exception of the steamers from each squadron that had been ordered up to Constan tinople. Her Majesty's ship Leander arrived at Malta on the 24th October, and was to take in stores and pro visions for the fleet. The weather during the voyage had been fair, with strong southerly winds crossing the Bay. On Oct. 27 the Euzine exchanged colours with the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer Indus, with the outward Indian mail ; lat. 36.50 N., long. 1.0 W. H.M.S. Leander, and steamers Ardent and Triton were at Malta; and H.M. steam-vessel Vesuvius was at dibraltar. The City of London left Gibraltar at 10 p.m of the 28th tilt., with a cargo and invalids, from Malta for Southampton; met a Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer (supposed to be the Douro) off Oporto, on the night of the 30th, steering t o th e southward.e FRANCE. —*— PARIS, TUESDAY EVENING. This being All Saints Day has been observed, as is usual in Paris, as one of the strictest holidays in the year. The Bourse was closed, and the churches were, and still are, fall, for mass goes on the whole day. The Archbishop of Paris, in his pontifical robes, and surrounded by his clergy, is officiating at the high altar at Notre . Dame, where the crowd out side waiting to obtain admission in turn, at least equals the compact mass of human beings congre gated in the vast arena within the edifice. The ex traordinary fineness of the day, one of the most genial of this Martinmas summer, has attracted more than usual numbers to the cemeteries, where the hallowed custom is on this day, for the living to visit the last earthly resting place of the departed, and to deposit on tho tomb a mourning wreath, termed an inonortelle. The Eastern question shares in the general holiday. I have no town talk to report. There are no evening papers. PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING. General Baraguay d'Hilliers left this morning for Marseilles, to embark for Constantinople, accompanied by the secretaries and attaches of his embassy. Of the generally pacific nature of his instructions, as regards the present difficult question, little doubt appears to be entertained. .f he statement that a body of Turkish troop (now said to be 21,000 in number) had crossed the Danube near Widdin on the 23rd, has been confirmed by a government despatch. They have occupied the vil lage of Kalifat, in Lesser Wallachia, which had pre viously been abandoned by the Russians. The reason assi'nod, here for the evacuation of that pa r t o f Wallachia was the mortality prevailing in the Rus sian camp. la addition to what has been already stated of the new project of arrangement, it is said that the Em peror of ltussia has declared that his acceptance of it was on condition that England and Franco gua ranteed its acceptance by the Porte, which, it was understood, was declined, neither being disposed to use coercion. Ile, however, added that the present was the last proposition be should accept or make, and the King of Prussia said that if it were rejectid he should withdraw altogether from any interterenee in the matter. Compared with the closing rates of Monday, the Three per Cents. show an improvement of 10 cen times, and the Four-andmilalf per Cents. of 15 cen times. Closing priors for money :—Three per Cent. Itentes, 73.2,5; Four-and-a-lialf per Cents., 1 ) 9.30. Bank shares, 2,75.5. P RUSSIA AND TtiltikEy CONSTANTINOPLE, 0 r. 2) Within these few days the Austrian Inte rnanci has received an official desp a t c h f rom Vireos an ! nouncing, that, as a result of the conferences at Olmuta, the Emperor of Russia had declared to the mediating Powers that ho:would consent to ace= the Vienna note under the interpretation assigQ to it by the Powers, that consequently the in e di t i m. tions required by the Porte were rendend unne cessary, and the note in its original form mi g h t be signed at once by th e S u l tan. M. Bruck his communicated these particulars to his Mujesty. The ambassadors do not agree very well. Th ose of the three Powers hold themselves aloof from Lord Stratford, as well as from Reschid Pacha, with whom the British minister is exceedingly intimate. It is expected that the Sultan will decline to as. sume the responeibily of changing his measures on account of the Austrian despatch, and that the Grand Council will be called together. A ministerial modification is looked for. Reschid Pacha, it is said, will be replaced by a former Grand Vizier of firm yet conciliating character, honourably known in Europe, and popular in Turkey. Ilis ad. vent would perfect the compactness of the national party iu power without giving umbrage to European btatee. Namik Pacha, minister of commerce, agriculture, and public works, leaves for Paris and London in a day or two, on business connected wig), the lo.n- la his absence Mazlouni Bey, ex-minister of justice, will conduct his deportment. Letters from Erzeruum, of the 9th, state that the troops there have received orders to be readv to march to the frontiers. Shamyl, the Circassian chief, has sent word to Abdi I'acha that he has 20,000 men at his disposal, wao may be depended on to net in concert with Turkey. This terrible enemy of Russia has exhibited wonderful activity lately, and if there be any truth in the alleged pacific disposition of the Czar, Shamyl has had a large share in producing that state of mind. The government is earnestly bent on carrying the efficiency of the army in Asia to the highest pitch. On the 17th, 10,000 infantry were embarked in war steamers for 'frebisonil, and were followed on the next day by another 1,090. The news from the Danube is excellent. Omer Pacha's army is in the best health and spirits, while we hear of nothing but dejection among the Russian soldiery, the effects of sickness, neglect, and a dis cipline which grinds down the man. Copt. Slade, R.N., said twenty years ago that with an army of 100,000 men in Bulgaria, and the British fleet in the Black Sea, the Turklsh northern frontier would be secure. Turkey has now 130,f100 good soldiers on the Danube, not conscripts such as were defeated in the last war, but well-trained troops, a large proportion of whom arc veterans. The British fleet is not in the Black Sea, but Turkey has a fleet of her own such as Capt. Slade probably never expected to see; and what perhaps surprises him as much, he is him self its admiral. The sailing fleet carries 972 guns and 9,150 men, besides the nine small armed steamers. In addition to this there is the Egyptian fleet, con sisting of three line-of-battle ships, four frigates, three corvettes, a brig, and two steamers. PORTUGAL. - The Oriental Company's steam-packet Tagus, Captain John R. Joy, arrived at Southampton yes. terday, at 3,10 p.m., and landed her mails under the charge of Lieu!. James Inglis, R.N., Admiralty agent. Her dates are—Gibraltar, Oct. 26; Cadiz, 27 ; Lisbon, 29 ; Oporto, 30; Vigo, 30. At Gibraltar there was a quarantine of eight days for vessels with clean bills of health. The Governor had issued a strong manifesto in the Gibraltar (Arinsin'e against the Spanish quarantine laws. At. Lisbon, an alarming fire broke out in the lower part of the town, at 2 n.m., Oct. 29. Fortunately there was no wind, or the consequences would hare been serious. It was confined to a lumber yard and blacksmiths shop. lier passengers outward were only subjected to three days' quarantine, and homeward were admitted to pratique. No political or commercial news is reported from any of the ports. ler Majesty's ship Vesuvius at Gibraltar, and Odin at Lisbon. Our Lisbon correspondent observes : The mail to-day takes a great many stars to feed the vanity of certain persons, who it is expected will be so cajoled to lend their money to a govern ment which cannot hold out much loner. The re tired officers of the 3rd military division only re ceived their pay for May on the Gth of September, while it was clearly understood that the espitalisa tions and forcible reductions of dividends would enable the government to keep up their payments month by month. The Minister of Finance is still on his money-hunting expedition in the north." Exchange, 51 Discount of Lisbon Bank notes, 2; percent. 'EDe Court. WINDSOR, Nov. 2. The dinner party yesterday included the King of the Belgians, the Duchess of Brabant, the Duchess of Kent, the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Dea den, the French Ambassador and Countess Walewski, the Belgian Minister and Madame Van de Weyer, the Mar. quis of Lansdowne, the Lady-in-Waiting to the Duchy.% of Brabant, the Lady-in-Waiting to the Duchess of Kent, Lady Frances Bruce, Bareness de Speth, the Earl of Elgin. Lord Elphinstone, Lord Raglan, Major-General the lion. Sir E. Cust, Sir James Graham, Count Gustave de Lannoy, Colonel de Moerkerke, Baron Prime, and hlousi2ur Ricken. The band of the S^ots Fusilier Guards attended during dinner. The Queen's Private Baud afterwards attended in the Castle, and played the following pieces: Overture, "Lea MouNuet.dree de la Reim" linen . . Somata Dv. (bocce. Finale (2nd Act) "Oberon" The Queen walked in the Home Park this morning. Prince Albert and the King of the Belgians, accompanied by the Earl of Elgin, went out shooting this forenoon, at tended by Lord Camoys and Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. A. Gordon. The Duke and Duchess of Brabant, the Count of Flanders and the Princess Charlotte of Delirium, attended by the Count and Countess Gustave de Lanny, left Windsor by as early train of the Great Western Railway for Landon. The French Ambassador and Countess Wa'oral, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of Elgin, Lord Elphin stone, Lard Raglan, and Sir James Graham, have lett the Cutle to-day. The Duke of Newcastle, the Prussian Minister, and Madame Bunsen, and Viscount Palmerston, are invited and expected this atternoon. The Commissioners for Inquiring into the State of the Corporation of the City of Loudon held a meeting yesterday at the Privy Council-office, is Downing-itreet. The com missioners present were the Right Hon. H. Labouchere, the Right Hon. Sir John Patteson, and G. Cornewall Lewis, Esq. Viscount Palmerston arrived in town yesterday from his seat, Broadlands, Hants. His lordship lett town in the afternoon for Wincli.or Castle, on a visit to the Queen. . . . . . Mr. Fraheis Scully had an interview with the Earl of Aberdeen yesterday, at his official residence in Downing street._ _ . Sir James Graham returned to town yesterday from Windsor Castle. Despatches were received yesterday at the Colonial•otfite from the Governors of the West India Islands. IMPORTATION OF GOATS INTO WALES.—Large flocks of goats have r cently been imported into Wales from the Highlands of Scotland. This step has been ren dered necessary by the almost total extinction, in many parts of the principality, of one of the original inhabitants of the country. This scarcity of the goat has arisen from the extensive inclosuro of barren and waste lands, for the purpose of agriculture, and the number of plantations made of late years; these, joined with the fact that the tenants have been discouraged from keeping up the breed, have materially operated in rendering scarce this animal. The milk of the goat is very nutritious, and its quantity considerable for the size of the animal. PRESENTATION OF TIIE Loan MAYOR ELECT. — Yesterday morning, the Lord Mayor elect (Alderman Sid ney), accompanied by the Recorder, the Sheriffs, and several members of the Court of Aldermen, anal other civic authorities, proceeded to the residence of the Right Ron. the Lord Chancellor, in Upper Brook-street, OTOITODOT square, for the purpose of the hon. alderman being pre sented to his lordship, as the Lord Mayor chosen by the aldermen and citizens for the ensuing year. The civic cortege having been formally introduced to the Local Chan cellor by the Recorder, his lordship was pleased to signify her Majesty's approval of the choice of the livery. The ceremony being concluded, they withdrew. DISASTER AT SEA.—The schooner Emerald Isle, from London to Liverpool, wu run into on Sunday niltEt by a brig (nime unknown) painted black, and apparefitly a Danish vessel, which bore on her course, render assistance. The Emerald Isle sank in about ha lf= hour, the crew escaping in the boats; and a ft er beati n g about for 17 hours without food or water, h on ied safely at Lauy, Isle of Man. n ecer stopping to