The Press. — London, England, 1854-08-19 00:00:00

774 THE TURKISH LOAN. THE official proposals for the Turkish loan have at last been placed in the hands of Baron Goldsmid and Mr. Horsley Palmer, who are entrusted with its nego gotiation in London and Paris. The sum to be raised is 5,000,0001. sterling, and the money will be borrowed upon the following conditions : " The loan is divided into three series—the first consist• ing of 2,000,0001., the price of which is fixed at 60 per cent., bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum. The second series of 1,000,000/ will be held at the disposal of the subscribers to the first series at the same rate of 80 per cent., and 1 per cent for interest; and they will have the option of declaring if they accept or not in a period of one month, dating from the issue of the tirst series. The third series of 2,000,0001. will be negotiated on account of the Ottoman Government ; and if it be issued before the expiration of five months, dating from the first issue, it shall not be below the rate of 85. " The payments shall be made in the following manner : " 15 per cent. on the issue of the scrip. "15 per cent. one month after the date of the issue of the scrip ; 20 per cent. after two months; 15 per cent. after three months ; 16 per cent. after four months. " The reimbursement will be made at par, and the amortisation will be effected by drawings within a period of 30 or 35 years, according to the tabular statement which will be drawn up to that effect. ''The subscribers will have the option of making the whole of their payments in anticipation, and such will re ceive allowance for interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum. " The Ottoman Government will have a right to entirely pay off the loan at par after the expiration of 15 years. " The funds proceeding from the loan shall be paid in gold or silver, as shall be specified by the Ottoman Go vernment. " As special and additional guarantee for the half•yearly payment of the interest and amortisation of the capital, the Ottoman Government will mortgage the tribute of Egypt, amounting to the sum of 282,000/. An imperial firman will impose on the Governor-General of Egypt an obligation to pay the amount of each half year directly into he hands of the proper parties." RAILWAY COLLISIONS. AN important circular on the subject of collisions has just been issued by the Railway Department of the Board of Trade. The document is dated Whitehall, August, 12, 1861: — The Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade are desirous of calling the attention of railway companies to a system of working the trains which is in use on some railways to a limited extent, and which promises to afford security from accidents, occasioned by collision between trains following each other upon the same line of rails. The system under which trains are ordinarily worked is, that trains should not be allowed to approach each other within a certain interval of space ; and, to effect this object, signals are exhibited during a certain time after the passage of a train, and no succeeding train is allowed to follow until such interval has elapsed. Experience, however, shows that this mode of endeavouring to secure a certain interval of space between succeeding trains will occasionally fail, in cases where the speed of the respective trains varies, or where accidents occur to the machinery of trains, and when, from any cause, a train becomes stationary on a part of the line away from stations, its safety from a col lision with a succeeding train is dependent upon the chance of such succeeding train being at such a distance as to allow time for the guard to run back with a signal. With the view of effectually securing that an interval of space shall, under all circumstances, be at all times maintained between trains following each other upon a line of rail way, the South- Eastern Railway Company have, on portions of their railway, placed electric telegraphic stations at intervals along the line, and no train is allowed to pass one of these stations, and to move between it. and the next station, until a notification has been received from the next station that the preceding train has passed off that portion of the line. On portions of the line where the trains are numerous and the intervals be tween them are necessarily very short, these stations have been placed at little more than a mile apart ; but upon parts of the line where the number of trains is more limited, the di s tance between the ordinary passenger-stations has ro e been found too great an interval. " Into the detailed arrangements my lords purposely ab- stain from entering ; they would, however, add that, in order that the system should be effectual, it is necessary that a telegraphic wire be exclusively reserved for this service ; and that the instruments used should be simple. and should exhibit the signals with sufficient clearness for the signalling to be carried on by a person of ordinary intelligence. " My lords are aware that, from considerations of expense or otherwise, this system has not been generally adopted ; yet, in parts where a single line only has been laid, or where peculiar difficulties exist in tie working, or in tunnels, directors of railway companies have resorted to it with the most beneficial results. " My lords are, therefore, desirous that the subject should receive the careful consideration of the directors of the different companies, in the hope that that consideration may lead to the more general adoption of a plan which experience seems to have proved to be so well calculated to diminish the risk of danger. " DOUOLAB ()ALTON, Captain Roy al Engineers," THE threatened withdrawal of the omnibuses, in consequence of the rigid regulations issued by the C3mmksioners of Police, has been averted, chiefly by the interference of the Chancellor of the Exche quer, to whom Mr. Bradfield, on the part of the Stage Canine Committee, made an appeal. THE PRESS. POST-OFFICE MANAGEMENT. AN INQUIRY into the General Post Office establish ment has been just completed by a committee ap pointed by the Treasury, and consisting of Lord Elcho, Sir S. Northcote, Sir C. Trevelyan, and Mr. Hoffay. The committee suggest extensive altera tions, or rather a rearrangement, of the department, and, with one or two modifications, the Treasury have authorised tho Postmaster-General to take steps to give effect to their recommendations. The first point which attracted their attention — namely, the anomaly of Colonel Maherly and Mr. Rowland Hill acting as secretaries of equal rank and of independent authority in a public department where centralisation is peculiarly essential, has already been remedied by the retirement of the former. The commissioners recommended the nomi nation of a single secretary, at a salary of 1,5001. rising in five years to 2,0001., and two assistant secre taries, at salaries rising from 7001. to 1,0001. With regard to the general salaries of the establishment, which are at present arranged in a manner that causes jealously and dissatisfaction, the commissioners pro pose a broad, consistent, and liberal reform. They consider that, with the exception of the secretary's office, the salaries of all the ordinary clerks should be placed on a uniform basis, and that three classes should be formed, the lowest receiving 80/. a year, in• creasing annually by 51. to 150/. ; the next 1801., increasing by 71. 10s. to 2401. ; and the highest '2601., increasing by 101. to 3501. In the secretary's office, where superior qualifications are required, the mini mum, it is thought, should be 1201., and the maximum 5001. Heads of offices in each case are to receive proportionately larger remuneration. As respects the letter-carrying business, a consolidation is recom• mended of the hitherto separate departments known as the inland-office, the London District-office, and the Dead Letter•office, the whole to be placed under a single controller, with a salary rising from 6001. to 8001. a year with a vice controller and a certain nnmber of deputies. The sorters, letter-carriers, &e., are proposed to be divided into four classes, so as to afford the prospect of promotion as a stimulus to honesty and intelligence. For the lowest class the recommendation is 19s. per week, rising annually Is. a week to 235. ; for the next, 255., rising to 30s. ; for the next 325., rising to 385.; and for the highest 405., rising to 50s. They are also to be eligible for the appointment of inspectors of letter-carriers, whose salaries are to range from 110/. to 3001. Along with these arrangements others are put forth for abolishing offices which are becoming obsolete, and creating new ones called for by the altered circumstances of the times. Among the latter are four inspectors, with salaries of 3001. to 5001., whose duty it should be to maintain the authority of the Post-office in dealing with the railway companies. The yearly sum now paid to railway companies for mail service amounts to 372,0001. and, is it is customary for the Post•ofce and the companies in making their respective con tract-s each to appoint an arbitrator, a permanent officer is also considered necessary for that duty, at a salary of 7001., rising to 1,0001. Finally, the depart ment of the Receiver-General and the Accountant_ General are recommended to be amalgamated, and their whole system of bookkeeping simplified, some of the accounts being still kept in much the same form as when first established in the reign of Queen Anne. By this means the number of persons em ployed in the two offices might be reduced from sixty four to fifty. In dealing with the Money Order•office, the report mentions that it originated so long ago as 1792, but, though then sanctioned by the Postmaster-General, it was a private enterprise of three officers of the Inland office, who hired premises near the Post-office, found the necessary capital, and were allowed to carry on the correspondence free of postage. They charged a per centage of Bd. in the pound, and made a profit of about 240/. a year each. It was not till 183$ that the Money Order-office was made an official establish ment, and its produce appropriated to the revenue. Such has been its growth and progress, that the orders issued in 1853 were for 9,916,195/. The amount of forfeited orders, which, together with the unclaimed property found in dead letters, may be about 1,2001. or 1,300/. a year, is appropriated to a fund for aiding officers of the Post-office to insure their lives. In conclusion, the commissioners urge that all promotion should be made to depend on qualification and merit. They also state their opinion that the system of precisely limiting the hours of work, and of giving extra pay for after-services is, in most instances, objectionable, since it in duces men to labour too much for the additional advantage, and to render themselves languid and unfit for their regular duties; but that in all cases where work is required, as a general rule, at iinsea sonable hours it should operate as a reason for a higher salary. An annual holyday, as a preservative of vigour, is also recommended, on the ground of public economy, and a yearly allowance of one month, without any deduction of pay, is accordingly proposed for the clerks, and a fortnight for th 3 SATURDAY, sorters, letter-carriers, and inferior officers. With respect to the abolition of offices and the alteraticn of salaries, the commissioners are careful that no change should be made in a way to affect injuriously existing holders. lortign and detrital Inttiligtrat. FRANCE. The Fite Napoleon was celebrated in Paris on the 15th, with the usual va►iety of shows, military, reli gious, dramatic, and pyrotechnic. There was a grand review in the morning, the garrison of Paris, num bering 22,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and 1,000 artillery, were reviewed in the Champs Elysees, by Marshal Maven, and a cortege of officers, French and foreign, among whom were the young Prince Stirberg, son of the Hospodar of Wallachia, and M. Buonaparte, guardian of Prince Jerome. Afterwards there was a religious service, and then a representa tion of the siege of Silietria performed on a grand scale in a temporary amphitheatre erected in the Champs Elysees. An enormous balloon, bearing the inscription "France, England, Turkey;' ascended in the afternoon, and the evening closed with illumina tions, fireworks, and banquets. The fete went off without accident, though the absence of the Emperor gave occasion to many comments. Some said that he was afraid of conspirators, others of cholera. He him self took a more sensible view, and claimed some credit for the public security which enabled him to dispense with a visit to his capital on the occasion. Being congratulated by the Bishop of Bayonne on his fete day, his Majesty remarked that his absence from Paris 1 roved that France was calm and happy, and that she was no longer under any apprehension which would compel the head of the State to be al way; armed and on the quivive in the capital. The Moniteur announces that the Emperor has granted, on the occasion of his fete, 2,582 pardons, or reductions of punishment. These pardons are thus apportioned :-805 to those sentenced to depor tation for political offences; 774 to those detained in the Bagnes, or penal establishments, of Guiana, in the Maisons Centrales, and other prisons, whether continental, Algerian. or colonial; 1,003 to soldiers or sailors undergoing imprisonmeni., of whom 540 have been fully pardoned, and 473 have received a remission of servitude. The Moniteur, which was the only paper published in Paris on the fête day, contains a decree autho rising 8,000,000 f. to be appropriated for carrying into execution the testamentary clauses in the will of Napoleon the First. The usual list of decorations on the occasion of the fete of August 15th appears also in the Moniteur, They are eery numerous. M. Cucheval Clarigny, late of the Constitutionnel, and now of the Pattie, is the only member of the press who receives the Cross. The Emperor is expected to stop at Boulogne-sur- Mer for several weeks. The hotel hired for him is at Capecure, and has been taken from the 20th Au oust to the 2nd October. The price to be paid for it is 42,500 f. The Progres du Pas de Calais states that the King of Portugal, the King of the Belgians, and Prince Albert are expected to visit his Majesty, to be present at some grand military manoeuvres which ere to take place from the 15th to the 20th September. A number of sheep-skin capes have been ordered to be made for the use of the army of the Baltic during the winter. GERMANY. The Emperor of Austria left Vienna on the 10th for 'sail, where he will remain until the 20th. His birthday, the 18th, was to he celebrated there. There is no longer any idea of his Majesty going to the army. Prince Gortschakoff received despatches from St. Petersburg on Tuesday, and there is reason to believe that he informed Count Buol that as long as the Turks were in Wallachia the Russian troops would retain certain strategic points in the princi palities. A telegraphic despatch stated on this point that 00,000 Russians continue to occupy Galatz. Baron Hesse has left Vienna for the army. The electric telegraph is completed between Vienna and St. Petersuurg. M. Bach, Governor of Lintz, is appointed Austrian Commissioner in the principalities. The English and French Ministers in Vienna are said to have informed Count Buol that they were in structed by their respective Governments to propose a meeting of the Conference. The reply is stated to have been that nothing could be more agreeable to the Imperial Court, and Monday last (the 14th), it is added, was fixed for that event to come off. The result of the meeting, if any, "nes of course not yet transpired. The Paris Moniteur of Monday contains an announcement, so worded to heighten the impor tance of the previously-reported diplomatic transac tion of the Bth inst. Under date " Vienna, Aug 10th," it says : " The exchange of notes concerted between the Minis ters of England and France at Vienna and Count Buol