The Press. — London, England, 1853-12-31 00:00:00

rir 820 PARLIAMENTARY CHANGES. As a preliminary to the meeting of Parliament, which may now be said to be in sight, some account of the alterations which ita composition has undergone, through deaths, resignations, promotions, or other incidents in the career of a legislator, become inter esting. We reprint, accordingly, the following list of such modifications during the year that is just expiring, the credit of preparing which is due to our contemporary the Guardian : " Shim last Christmas we have recorded the deaths of one duke—Beaufort; cue marquis—llutitly; Wu earls— Beauchamp, llrownlow, Dartmouth, Duck, Kenmore, Oxford, Portsmouth, Stair, Warwick, and Wentysii ; one viocount—Melhottrue ; two bishops—Lincoln and I terry : three barons--Cloneurry, Deere, and Suffield ;and two Scotch representative peen—the Earl of Sciiiiehl and Lord Saltoun. Uy these deaths the peensges of I sinorben, Osford, and MeDemme have become extinct : and live vacancies have been caused in the House of Commons by the accession of the Marquis of Worcester to the duchy of Beaufort; of tieneralLygon to the earldom of Iteauchamp; and of Lath Lewisham, Mureton, a n d Brooke to the earldoms of Dartmouth, 1 uncle, and Warwick. Two members of the Lower House have likewise acceded to courtesy titles—the Hon. John Dalrymple, member for Wigtonshire, to be called Viscount Dalrymple, and the Hon. F. Charteris to be called lord Eleho—by the deaths of their respective grandfathers, the Earls of Stair and Wetnyas. The Earls of Newburgh sued Tyrcumsell and Lord Rolls have also died during this period, but they weir not peens of the United Kingdom. " the only addition to the peerage has been Viscount EnAeld, the eldest son of the Earl of Stratford, who hes been called to the Upper House as Baron Stnitfuril of Harmendsworth. " Since the general election there have been forty-seven changes in the Houses of Conn* 1111 l os, three of which have been consequent on vacancies caused by elevations to the Upper House, three by elevations to the judicial bench, twelve by death, four by retirement, three by acceptance of (Ace, and twenty-two by the decisions of election co op mittees. " The three changes caused by elevation to the I 7pper House were Viscount Elmley, vice his father, tletersl Minns, now Earl of Beauchamp, for West IVoreester; Mr. Holtman, vice Lord Moreton, now Earl of [leek, for Stroud • and Mr. Shirley, vice Lord Brooke, now Earl of Warwick. for South Warwickshire. " Br ELITATIONS To THE JUDICTAL BENett.—Mr. li. P. Oakes, vice Vint-Chanoellor Sir .1. Stuart, for Bury St. Edmunds; the Right. Hots. K Cardwell, vice Vice•Clum culler Sir W. I'. Wood, for the city of Oxford ; and Mr. F. B. Demists, vice Mr. Sergelild. Murphy, a Commissioner of Insolvency, for the city of Cork. "Br Intarsc—Alsingdoss : Lord Noneys, vice tieneral 'aultseld. Carlow County : Captain Ill'Clinteck Butsbury, vice Colonel Itruen. t the Hon. C. J. Lawless. Contwall, West: Mr. M. IVil• llama, vice Mr. Pendarves. Durham City : lord Adolphus Vane (subsequently unseated on petition), vice Mr. Granger. Edinhurglethire : the Earl of Dalkeith, vice Sir John Hope. Lisburne : Mr. J.. 1. Itichantsou, vice Mr. H. .1. Smyth. Merthyr Tydvil : Mr. 11. A. Bruce, vice Sir .1. .1. Intent. Ildham : Mr. W. .1. Fox, vice Mr. I Mneuft. Peterborough: Mr. IL Whalley (subrequently unseated on petition), vice Hon. It. Watsen. Salisbury : Captain Buckley, vice Mr. C. It. Wall; and Tndee: Mr. Daniel O'Connell, vice Mr. Maurice t s'eo 111 l ell. " by Acct.:mm.4er. or Orrter..—Carlow Borough : Mr..l. Alexander, vice Mr. John Sadleir, eppointed a foul of the Treasury. Lisburne: Mr. H. J. Smith (since deceased 1, vice Sir J. Einem!' Tennent, appointed to the Board of 'l'rade ; and South Stoffordehire : the Hon. E. It. Little ton., vice Mejor-lietiend Anson, who retired whoa appointed to the command in Bengel. " By Itk:TIREMENT.--Chiiihßllll: Admiral.l. Rterling, vice Captain Vernon. North I ferli)shire : Mr. W. I'. Thorn. hilt, vice Mt. W. Evans. : Sir ticorge limy, vice Hon. E. Howard : and Stamford : Lord Robert Cecil, vice the Right Hon. .1. C. Herries. •• The following seats are vacant:—East tiloneestcrshif e, by the elevation of tln Marquis of Worcester to the peer age: and 'South Staffordshire, by that of Lord Lewisham. ' Viscount Goderieli ham changed Hull for Huddersfield Mr. T. B. 'foretell, Herby for Liverpool; and Mr..lohu Sadleir, the borough of Carlo* for that of Sligo." LOUD PALM ERSTON ON STR I KES. A mEmotuAt. to the Home Secretary, relating to the controversy now so long twuding between the factory operatives and the employers, was some time since adopted at a general meeting of the weavers' ilele• gates. The document was accordingly transmi►ted to Downing-street, whence the following reply.Avm Lord rahnendon has been addressed to Mr. Kinder Smith, president of the operatives' executive council : "Whitehall, I)ee. 21. IN:41. " Sir,—T am directed by Viscount Palmerston to acknow edge the receipt of your memorial dated the 1:411 signed by von on behalf of the power-loom weavers of Preston and its neighbourhood. " Lord Palmerston has delayed till now answering this memorial in the daily hope that he might hear that an amicable arrangement of the differenees had been come to between the workpeople and their employers. T am, how. ever, to assure you tl►at his lordship received the memorial with much sympathy and deep regret. "It was impossible that he should not sympathise with the feelings of a large number of a most deserving class of the community who have lwen led to think that they are suffering under acts of injustice, and it could not but excite his deep regret to reflect upon the Kure privations which THE PRESS. the state of things to which the memorial refers must have inflicted upon those 4ni whom it so hardly bears. " Lord Palmerston desires me to state that he feels bound moreover to do justice to the temper and moderation with which the memorial has been drawn up. His lord ship is sorry, however, to say that he has no means of inter posing to apply a remedy fur the evils referred to. It would he impossible for Lim, witl t much more detailed information than po l o w tows, to form a just opinion as to the merits of the points in dispute between the working men and their employers, and he could nut, as a member of the liovernment, possess any right or power to interfere iu the matter. Under these circumstances bits lordship only ventures to suggest, in the most friendly spirit, some topics for the conaideration ..f the memonalista. They must he well aware that, labour being a commodity like any other, its money value in the market must be regulated by the same general principles which govern the price of other commo dities ; and that among these governing principles the most influential are the cost of production, and the relative proportions of demand and supply. The east of produc tion in regard to labour 111eR1144 the priec of the necessaries of life, and the proportion of &moont and supply must depend very much mites the penodieal fluctuations of trade. It is greatly to Is wished that both the working men and their empl o yers would allow these geisend causes to act silently and gradually, in equitably adjusting from time to time the proper rates of the mon ey reward ler labour ; and it is scarcely to be doubted that, by forbearance on both sides, and by mutual and reciprocal good feeling, these amingements might generally be effected without a recourse to Ruch injurious methods as strikes and Ittek•outts. It may be stated that in times when, according to the general principles above min-tied to, an inerease in the rate of wages would be just, that increase might be too lung delayed, and the working-men be thus subjected to undue privationa, if the adjustment was kit to the gradual opera tion of forbearance and good-will. Hut may not all appeal be made to the result of recent events to shim that even such inconvenience would be less than time evils arising from extensive and general strikes? These evils are many and great. The strike of the workmen deprives the striker's of their wages, and, so far as wages are cemented, it deprives thein of the means of subsistence. On the other hand, the strikes, of eounte, stop production ; and, unless markets happen at the moment to be match over stocked, strikes give to the foreign producer a position of advantage from which he bitty not afterwards be so easily dislodged. And if strikes were to become too frequent, or of its. lung duration, it part of that capital which is now applied tit giving empbt3ment to Latour at home might possibly be transsfernsl to other ceinstriets, to the distuivan• tage of Itritish induatry : and that this is not a groundless suppositi 111 l is proved by the feet that British mode:luring establishments have been formed in Belgium, in f'ran'c, lin Mexieo. This, too, leads to It refileetieli Upon the opin' which seems to have actuated the strikers, that the general prosperity of our export trade was in itself a proof that the rates of wages ought to he increased. Lord Palmerston does not pretend to form any j114441,11e11t as to whether that topinitat was well or ill founded in the parti cular instance to which it referred, but his lordship has desired me tit remark that our power to supply foreign markets with manufacturem depends upon the cheapness at which those manufactures eau he sold ; that their price must depend mainly 4411 the coat of production, and that the wages of labour form an material part of that cost. "'Therefore, as our exported manufactures must always be a hard rave wills the ' 'tar manufactures of other namtries, an apparently n o urishing trade may possibly be checked by an increase of wages, which would add to the c o st of production ; and the gain made by the fat-timer may often consist of a very small profit upon each separate artide; the aggregate a 11l tint of gain depends on the quantity exported, and that quantity depends on the cheerios* of the non tttt slities, which cheapness again is governed by the cost of prishietitin. " directing me to submit these general reflections to the consideration 441' the 1114`1114olittliSts, Lord Palmerston does not meats to give any opinion on the immediate sub ject of dispute ; but his lordship would earnestly entreat the working-men to lay aside those feelings which an- too apt to be engendered by a struggle, and to endeavour, if possible, to come to *ono orritogement with their emitlityers. " li, WAntomoros. " Mr. Kinder Smith, Preston." NEW PROPULSIVE AIACRINERY. IN connect' with a movement now on foot in Sent land, under the auspices of the " Deep-Sea Fishing Association," some novel and ingenious mechanism has been adopted for the purpose of applying the power of steam to the propulsion of vessels. A new steam-ship, the Enterprise, has been constructed for the society by Messrs. ltuthven of Edinburgh, and fitted with the new machinery of which that firm are patentees. The efficiency of the invention will be amply tested during the fishing services whereon this vessel is slimily to be engaged ; but various experi mental trials have previously been made of the work ing and navigating power of the apparatus, with, it is stattst, the most complete success. We tintl the fol lowing description of the machinery, which possesses many points of singularity and ingenuity, in the Edin burgh Courant : " The dim►ensi of the Este tprisr are lii► feet in le►,gth a►d It► fret beam ; her tonnage being cbont 1 4141 , and her engines 3l lose power. Extertially her light an d g►aceful Tines are not injured by any cumbersome machinery--the only outward agent of propul being a short curved pipe of ten inches diameter on each side of th e e esse k termed ' nodes,' which communicate with a horizontal water-tight iron case inside in the bottom of the vessel, to thigh the pater is adluitted by apertures wider it; sod iu ~;: SATURDAY, this case is placed a wheel, fixed on a double crank-shaft, which, being attached by piston-rods to the steam-engine, is made to revolve with some velocity. The water in the case is ra pidly expelled by the circular motion, and, being discharged by the nodes, forms the propelling power. In dependent of its scientific and practical value, the absence of any visible agency of propulsion is not the lea s t, inte resting feature of the invention. The nozles, however, also form the chief means of navigating the vessel, bring ens. pended so as to turn her, by a simple movement of the hand, In any direction. Thus, when pointed horizontally towards the stern, the vessel goes forward; if to the bows, she goes astern ; and, when turned in a perpendicular di rection, she stops almost at once, although, during all these movements, the engine may be working with full power. Indeed, the remarkable facility by which these literations—usually so difficult in vessels of the common construetion—are effected, without interfering with the en gine, seem to render the invention invaluable in eases of apparent danger or collision. In the trial trips this feature was fully tested, and with the most gratifying result. Among the advantages claimed for the invention may ha' enumerated high rate of speed, combined with saving of fuel. The sailing qualities of the ship being preserved, the canvas may be used alone, or with the full power of the engine, though the principle can be adapted to any speed that steam is calculated to produce. The vessel is also free from the usual vibration and noise of steely-vessels ; while the apparatus for propulsion is quite safe from ex ternal injury. The engine, Wing of limited dimensions, occupies miteh less space than others of equal power. The Esterprise is to be schooner-rigged, mid will proceed to the fishing-ground with boats, and their crews, trawl -nets, and lines. The boats are lowered where it may be considered desirable, while the steamer admits of fishing and trawling from her deck, besides affording assistance and the means of safety at all times to the fishermen. The deep-sea fish ing schetne—in the success of which the community ge literally has no small interest—will, therefore, soon lie in active operation. The inventors consider that, valuable as the principle of the invention may be for tkhing purposes, it is equally valuable to our steam mussy and to ocean and passenger vessels, while they expect it to remove the chief difficulty of steam navigation on canals." THE FLEETS, AND THEIR MISSION, IN TILE BLACK SEA. Tut: report that the Anglo-French fleet had been ordered to enter the Black Sea, with instructions to protect the Turks, but not offend the Russians ' is made the sultiect of a piquant pasquinade by the Charivari. It may be remarked, also, that, even iu jest, our Parisian contemporaries are not allowed to touch upon contemporary and political topics unless the joke be not only laughable but agreeable to the high authorities. The jeu d'espit in question takes the form of a conversation supposed to pass between a couple of bourgeois over their game of dominoes in a cafe : _ . "it is your turn, my dear Monsieur Trudhomme. Have you seen the newspapers this morning?" "itis my daily custom—l put down the ace four, my dear Monsieur Caw mud." " The situation is grave." " I cannot deny that— and yet it does nut seem to me to be desperate. I have confidence in the efforts of diplomacy." " Don't talk to 11W of diplomacy !" "Do you deny the science of the Talleyrands and the Capefigues?" " Heaven forbid ! but it is arms which will decide !" " Who says so?" " All the newspapers. The fleets have entered the Black Sea." " Happily ! " " You cull that happily ; have you by chance become a demagogue ?" 'rite conduct of all my life blaces me out of the reach of such a suspicion. Six at oth ends." " Play on—however, you see war wtth plea sure." " What makes you think so?" " The indifference with which you receive the news I give you." " The news gives me pleasure, I confess—two-four." " I perceive it clearly—l block the four." " 1 am sure that you would he as much charmed as i am if you bad read the whole despatch. Ilow is it drawn up : We are assured that the combined fleets have entered the Black Sea, not to attack the Russians, but to defend the Turks.' Is that what you have read ?" " Perfectly." " Now, follow carefully my reasoning—double•five." " I don't play." " The English fleet and the French fleet enter the Black Sea—that is ad mitted. They meet the Russian fleet at sea. Immediately the English admiral makes signals, to which the Russian admiral hastens to reply. The two admin.'s go on their quarter-Reeks, and take their speaking•trumpets. They ask each other news of their health, and if they have had a pleasant voyage. The Russian admiral invites the Eng lish admiral to breakfast. lie accepts. The boats are put out. The breakfast finished, the admirals embrace, and separate after having mutually wished each other a pleasant voyage. During this time a division of the Russian fleet meets a division of the Turkish fleet, It would, perhaps, desire to attack it, but a French squadron escorts the Turkish fleet. and the Russians seeing that they are nut the strongest avoid the combat, and take another direction. In not attacking the Russians, war is not declared. In protecting the Turks, peace is maintained. Thus are veri fied the terms of the telegraphic: despatch. You see, then, that von are wrong in being alarmed." " You are right." " And that I was perfectly right in expressing pleasure at the entrance of the fleets into the Black Sea." " Perfectly." " t;o to the Bourse, and you will see that all people of common grilse think absolutely as I do. The entrance f the fleets will prove the good nnderstanding which has nut cea.ell to reign between Russia and the great west, rn powera—since the English and French vessels will titt endeavour to burn the Russian vessels. It will equally testify to the profound wymt.ntlay which France and Eng land feel fur Turkey . , since the allied fleets will present the vessels of the Sultan from being destroyed. In this way war becomes completely impossible. Three and five." " 1 can't play." "'Then do m ino." " Now that lam tran quil let us play another game." " Willingly."