The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-03 00:00:00

THE WEEK. THE commencement of a new year is a period at which most men, as well as most newspapers, are accustomed to take a retrospect of the past. But how few there are who ever derive any practical benefit from this process. We prefer to consider where we shall be this time next year, rather than where we were this time last year,—to push on one side the dibris of '56, and to map out clearly what is the work to be accomplished by us in 1857. The future is our own, if we choose to make it so; but we must grapple boldly with the difficulties it presents if we would not be the slaves rather than the masters of circumstances. The greatest question is that of peace or war. A firm but temperate policy during the year which is now opening may make it close upon a continent permanently tranquillised, and Great Britain firmly seated in the front of nations. Then for domestic questions, the coming year will probably determine whether we have sufficient strength to throw off the disease of a criminal population, or whether it must remain among us gradually to deteriorate society, and undermine the purity and honour of the ancient English character. If we boldly confront the evil—if we are still sufficiently masculine to prefer the advice of experienced and practical men to the theories of amiable but intractable enthusiasts—New Year's Day of 1858 may find the garotte fast declining, and the ticket-of-leave man, if not extin guished, at least no longer the terror of peaceful neighbourhoods. During the ensuing year our finances and taxation may be moulded as we please. It depends on ourselves whether the law 'shall be re formed or not ; whether our metropolis shall bo improved, our people educated, and our health secured. Without social happiness, what is greatness worth? and social amelioration is the task to which Conservative statesmen have now steadily set themselves. The Russian frontier question is a bugbear no more. What a loss to some of our newspaper writers ! No more denunciations of Russian perfidy—no more bombastical thrcatenings of what would be done to the recusant and perfidious Power—no more shouts of "No compromise "—no more hints that the world is on the eve of a great convulsion. Let us forget all this nonsense as fast as we can, and rejoice that the difficulty has been settled, not in the melodramatic style which these writers anticipated, but in a sound, common-sense manner. Russia will yield Bolgrad and Serpents' Isle, but the good faith of her representations to the Congress that she intended to retain Bolgrad, the capital of her Bulgarian colonies, will be recog nised ; and as she resigns a town which was inconveniently proximate to the Danube, she will receive by way of compensation, as she claimed to receive, a wide tract of territory, which will enable her to found a new capital for her Bulgarian settlements in a convenient locality. About the extent or character of this ceded territory few per sons in England will trouble themselves. They will heartily rejoice to hear that a squabble, in which they took no interest, but which at one time threatened troublesome consequences, is now completely set at rest. The Conference met on Wednesday to formalise the arrange ment which has been come to ; and we may now expect, as there can no longer be any pretence to delay the fulfilment of the stipulations of the Treaty made teu months ago, that they will be soon carried into effect. Nothing decisive has yet been done in respect to the Neufchatel dispute, but it is satisfactory to learn that negotiations are in progress. The Swiss aro showing their teeth, and enlisting able generals in their service. We shrewdly suspect that the King of PRUSSIA would be un willing to push matters to extremity, and that on his side at least there will be no reluctance to listen to any proposal which the other Powers of Europe may suggest for an amicable termination of the difficulty. France appears sincerely and disinterestedly anxious to compose the quarrel, and she will probably be able to enlist influences in the interest of a pacific settlement which it will be impossible for either party to withstand. Lord PANMURE'S speech at Arbroath on Tuesday evening last is a very skilful admixture of truth and error. By his candour in admit ting what can no longer be concealed he hopes to disarm inquiry into motives which it is yet possible to dissemble. That both he and the Premier in their management of the war did but play the part of the Prussians at Waterloo, and come to the aid of an army which had already regained its spirits, is too apparent now to be denied by any one. Accordingly, hero Lord PANMURE is all openness and generosity. The Government deserve no special credit; they had the opportunity, and they used it, dre. On this particular point his observations are charmingly frank, disinterested, and commonplace. But it will be observed that he passes over the appointment of the Crimean Com missioners in as few words as possible. There, unfortunately, even Lord PANMURE'S power of making the mean appear the generous course deserted him, and he was obliged to content himself with a simple assertion that the Commissioners were sent out to criminate no one, but to find out the truth. If so, all we can say is, that the Commissioners very much misunderstood their instructions, for they criminated a great many people and found out very little. But the fact is, the Commission was sent out simply for the purpose of shifting the blame from the Whigs to the Generals of the army, or, at all events, to give the public something else to think about than the blundering of Government. Nobody can read their reports alongside of the de fence of the officers inculpated without comprehending this. We are glad to see that two letters have appeared in the Times this week, more or less corroborating the views we expressed last Saturday on the subject of " Dwellings for the Poor." Mr. GEORGE Ross : who goes into the matter at considerable length, confesses that model THE PRESS. lodging-houses are inadequate to meet the exigency, and that the high price of land in the centres of labour prevents dwelling-houses being built for the poor in the immediate vicinity of their work. He thinks, however, that if, when bad neighbourhoods are to be cleared out, th© ground were then bought beforehand at its minimum value, it might be obtained, either by Government or by private companies, at a sufficiently low rate. This, however, seems somewhat doubtful ; for if the ground be so valuable, as is alleged, for the erectior. of warehouses, there would surely be persons always on the look-out to purchase it, and to bid against those who would buy it for other purposes. We cannot help thinking, that if the poorest class of all is ever to bo comfortably lodged, it must he done by the erection of cottages at a considerable distance from the centre of the metropolis. Both Mr. Ross and S.G. 0. dwell upon the contrast afforded by the lines of new streets which are rising up for the rich, with the overcrowded alleys behind them which are the sole refuge of the poor. The more you improve the dwellings of the higher classes, the more you deteriorate the dwellings of the lower ; and as long as you continue to do this, so long are you taking away with one hand the benefits you confer with the other, and rendering the good effects of schools and reading rooms entirely nugatory. This is the burden of Mr. OSBORNE'S song, and this was the language of our own article on Saturday last. The truth is, that " the home" is, in this country, at all events, at the bottom of all moral amelioration. If we cannot cherish domestic habits, and the soft and genial influences of family life, all our efforts at enlightenment will be utterly worthless. As was well observed by Lord ROBERT CE(:IL a short time ago, the cxamp'e of a virtuous and gentle mother is worth all the lessons of the best of schoolmasters. But how can this example be hoped for where the home is some reeking loft, in which moral and physical filth run a race against each other, and the voice of blasphemy, ribaldry, and reviling, is never mute? General DE LACY EvANS has not been very happy in his denial of the charges brought against him by a Staff Officer. The gallant knight seizes hold of a slight inaccuracy of statement, refutes it in detail, and seems to imagine that he has completely silenced his accuser. The Staff Officer said he had good authority for stating that General PENN EFATHER did not speak to Sir DE LACY during the action of Inkermann ; Sir DE LACY shows that they did have some conversation together. So far as regards this particular incident the Staff Officer is wrong, as he might have suspected he was, when he ventured to doubt an assertion of Lord RAGLAN But the really important assertion of the Staff Officer, that, after the action, Sir DE LACY EVANS came to Lord RAGLAN, and urgently pressed his opinion that the British army should me up the siege, abandon their guns, and retreat to the ships, is not touched by the gallant General. What the public desire to know is, whether this assertion be correct or not. If it be not correct, why does General EVANS delay to clear his charac ter? Tf it be correct, how came it that he remained silent so long when Lord RAGLAN was aspersed ? Why did ho not declare, that the difficulties which surrounded the Commander-in-Chief were so great, that he had taken the responsibility on himself of counselling the abandonment of the siege, and that only the fortitude of Lord RAGLAN had brought the army through the trials of that dreadful winter? With shattered nerves and failing health, General EVANS may be excused for having taken so desponding a view of the position of the army ; but can there be any excuse for his silence, when he. by a few truthful words, might have arrested the torrent of calumny which had set in against his illustrious chief? While Lord RAGLAN was the best abused man in England, General EVANS received silently and smilingly the honours of heroism. The Staff Officer, in his hurried communica tions, set down much that had better have been left unsaid, and fell into many inaccuracies ; but his generous defence of Lord RAGLAN made amends for a thousand such imprudences, and he is to be heartily thanked for having disclosed so many circumstances necessary to a correct comprehension of the Crimean warand the character of its magnanimous though much maligned hero. The outbreak of hostilities with Chinn is to be regretted, but the impracticable nature of the Chinese inferior authorities, and our limited means of redress in the event of any dispute, rendered such a catastrophe sooner or later a certainty. In the present case the Chinese would appear to have as much law on their side as we have common sense on ours. The seizure of the crew of the Arrow was un doubtedly perfectly justifiable, but as the statements on both sides are diametrically opposed to each other, and that phase of the ques tion has been somewhat smothered by the smoke of thirty-twoipounders, it is no use discussing it any furthar. The point raised by Admiral SEYMOUR is the real point at issue, viz., whether or no our official representatives, and indeed the representatives of foreign Powers generally, shall have direct and personal access to the Viceroy of Canton. This, at first sight, seems too simple a point to fight over, but the disinclination of the Chinese to admit a barbarian within the walls of Canton upon any pretext whatever has solely brought about so unfortunate a result. Under the existing system all matters in dispute are discussed in writing. The Consul at the factories has no entry into Canton itself, and can never obtain the advantage of a per sonal intercourse with the leading authorities of the place The con sequence is obvious. Official disputes at Canton are veritable cases of Jarndyee v. Jarndyee ; they last, or at least threaten to last, through generations : there is no end to them ; and with so clever a people as the Chinese, there is quite as little satisfaction to be got out of them, as out of the Chancery Court. Had our Consul resided in Canton, the unfortunate affair of the lorcha would have been disposed of very shortly. Admiral SEYMOUR appears to have behaved with great forbearance so long as forbearance was politic, and then to have acted with quite as much vigour without losing sight of the principles of humanity. Taking advantage of his SATURDAY, 12