The Sun. — London, England, 1865-04-01 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF LORDS—LAsT EVENING• The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. _ _ PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Mistley, Thorpe, and Walton Railway ; the Glas gow Markets and Slaughter-houses ; the Sheffield Water ; and the Whitechapel and Holborn Improvement Bills were severally read a second time. Tho Exmouth Gas Bill, and Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway Bill, were read a third time and passed. PRIVATE BILLS. Lord SHAFTESBURY moved that the standing order No. 191 should be amended as follows :—" That in the case of any bill for the making of any work, in the con struction of which compulsory power is sought to take 15 houses or more, inhabited by the working classes, the promoters be requested to deposit in the office of the Clerk of the Parliament, on or before the 31st Dec., a statement of the number, description, and situation of the same houses, the number, so far as can be ascertained, of the persons to be displaced, and whether and what provi sion is made in the bill for remedying the inconvenience likely to arise from such displacement, and that such statement be referred t'o the committee on the bill ; and that the said committee do inquire and report thereupon, and that in every such bill a clause be inserted to enact that not less than eight weeks before taking any such houses, making known their intention to take the same, either by personal notice to heads of families inha biting the same at the time of giving such notice, or by placards or other general notice in public view within a reasonable distance from such houses, and the company shall not take any such house until they have obtained the certificate of a justice that it had been proved to his satis faction that the company had made known their intention of taking the same in the manner required by this provision. He said any one who was in the habit of reading the public papers must be aware of the necessity for legisla tion on this subject. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY moved a standing order requiring companies promoting new enterprises in the metropolis to give certain notices and particulars in the event of their intending to pull down more than 15 houses. The noble earl complained of the great hardships inflicted upon the working classes by the destruction of dwellings on account of the railways and public works now in pro gress in the metropolis. After some discussion, however, the motion was with drawn. Lord ST. LEONARDS presented a petition from Kings ton-upon-Thames against a removal of Raphael's cartoons from Hampton Court Palace to Kensington Museum. Earl GRANVILLE observed that it was necessary for the preservation of the cartoons themselves that they should be removed from Hampton Court, where they were decaying, while, as far as safety and accessibility were concerned, Kensington was a superior and more convenient locality. The Marine Mutiny and the Mutiny Bills were read a second time. • Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS-LAST EVENING. The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and passed : —Metropolitan District Railway ; Bath Gas ; Folkestone Gas; Gosport Gas ; Great Eastern Railway (Capital, &c.); Great Northern Railway (Hornsey and Hertford Branch) ; London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (Saint Leo nard's Line and Deviations); Newport Pagnell Railway ; Winchester Water and Gas. JERSEY ROYAL COURT. Mr. LOCKE moved an address for copy or extracts of further correspondence with the Secretary of State for the Home Depactment on the subject of the amendment of the laws or constitution of the Royal Court of Jersey (in con tinuation of Parliamentary Paper, No. 364, of session 1864). —Ordered. WAR-OFFICE. Sir S. NORTHCOTE moved for a return showing the number of temporary clerks appointed to the War-office in each year since 1856 ; the number discharged, resigned, or dead in each year ; the number transferred to ..the perma nent establishment in each year ; and the number continu ing in the service of the department, distinguishing in each case, so far as it can be done, the branches of the office in which the clerks have been employed.—Ordered. CUSTOM-HOUSE OFFICERS. Mr. HENNZSSY gave notice that on that day month he should call the attention of the house to the grievances of the out door officers of Customs. ASSIMILATION OF THE LAW. Mr. MACAIAIION gave notice that after Easter ho should submit a motion, with a view to the assimilation of the law in Ireland with that of England in all respects whatever. AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. Mr. LAIRD asked tho President of the Board of Trade whether it was the intention of Government to give effect to the resolution of the house iu favour of the collection of the agricultural statistics of Grotit Britain ? Mr. M. GIBSON said the matter had been under consi deration, but it had been decided net to introduce any mea sure for the purposa. ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. Mr. 0. STANLEY asked the Secretary to the Admi ralty if the Board of Admiralty had any intention to sanc tion or support any fresh attempt to reach the North Polo by Spitzbergen or any other route, or recommend any grant of public money for that purpose ? Lord C. PAGET said no proposals of such a nature had been made to the Government, and therefore could not state what the intentions would be if such a grave proposal was made. JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS IN AUSTRALIA, Lord R. MONTAGU asked the Attorney-General whether the Mr. H. J. Stonor who had lately been appointed by the Lord Chancellor as judge of a county court was the person whose appointment as judge in Aus tralia had been cancelled, in accordance with the report of the committee moved for by the Present Chancellor of the Exchequer, and on the ground that Mr. Stoner had been found guilty of corruption. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the question con veyed some misstatements. Tho appointment of Mr. Stonor had been made by the Lord Chancellor after full consultation with the Government, so the Government were answerable for the appointment. He considered that Mr. Stoner had been very hardly used. Mr. Stoner had been appointed to a very responsible post, and he had been recalled in obedience to the report of a com mittee appointed to inquire into certain charges of corruption made against him. •He did think, however, that the evidence warranted the conclusion arrived at. It had often been thought that Mr. Stonor had a claim upon the Government for the hardships he had suffered. He was appointed in 1858 to a responsible post in the West India Encumbered Estates Court, and Mr. Stonor, having fulfilled his office with the greatest integrity and honour, he had applied for leave to exchange his appointment for one in Australia, and he had had his application granted. ARMY AND NAVY ESTIMATES—THE EASTER HOLIDAYS, In answer to Sir S. NOILTHCOTE, Lord PALMERSTON said it was the intention of the Government to take the navy estimates on Monday, the army estimates on Thursday, and on Friday the 7th to adjourn until Monday the 24th for the Easter holidays. Sir S. NORTHCOTE asked when the Bank Notes Issue Bill would be taken? Lord PALMERSTON said lie would give an answer on Monday. - THE BISHOPRIC) OF LAHORE BILL. Mr. DISItAELI asked when it was proposed to proceed with this bill ? Sir C. WOOD said not until after Easter. ANTICIPATED RESIDENCE OF THE POPE IN ENGLAND. In reply to Mr. NEWDEGATE, Lord PALMERSTON said ho had so many things to read, so many things to write, and so many persons to see at home, that ho was unable to follow up closely the matters that appear in the newspapers abroad. He had not had his attention directed to the matter until that afternoon, and ho was sorry that the rev. prelate should have in his speech remarked that England was the natural enemy of France. He had further to inform the hon. gentleman that ho had not seen the articles published in the Journal des Debuts. The question of the hon. gen tleman anticipated the f uture — (laughter)—matters which were involved in groat doubt. (Laughter.) He assumes that in two years tho Popo would be compelled to leave Rome, that might or might not be ; but he had to inform the hon. gentleman that the Government entertained the greatest respect for the Pope personally—(hear, hear) — and for that great community of Christians the Roman Catholics. With regard to the Popo taking up his resi dence in London, that was most unlikely. Some time ago when matters wore in a very troubled state, Mr. Russell had stated to the Pope that in the event of his taking up his residence at Malta every attention would be paid to his comfort and convenience. Ho had to give the same answer to the hon. gentleman. (Hear, hoar.) LANDLORD AND TENANT (IRELAND). On the order for going into committee of supply, Mr. MAGUIRE, in moving for a select committee to inquire into the laws regulating the relations between landlord and tenant in Ireland, with a view to their more equitable adjustment, drew a melancholy, if somewhat exeggorated picture of the state of society there at the present moment. The country was of a peculiarly agri cultural character ; consequently upon a good orbad har vest depended the prosperity or misery of its people. But the condition of agriculture was backward, the groat body of the farming class wore housed in miserable dwellings, the food was m ean , and their prospects dismal. And the reason there was no impro'vement was the absence of all security of tenure. If the tenant held on lease he had no security that on tho termination of that lease he would get the land at the same rent, or at such rate as would enable him to live, or that the improvements which he effected would not be confiscated by eviction. It was this want of security of tenure that had given the principal impulse to the tide of Irish emigration, and he thought that inquiry should be instituted in order to see if anything could be clone to arrest it and prevent the continuance of what was an undoubted danger to the empire. He wally, 3 , 1 to keep the people at home by securing to the farm 3r ti .at if he improved his land he should not have his nut raised to a uinous standard, or if he built a house that it should not become the property of the landlord ; in shoe, he desired to offer to the people an inducement to improve and root them as it were in the soil. He disputed the accuracy of the maxim proclaimed by Lord Palmerston on a former night, that tenants'rights meant landlords' wrongs ; and in simply asking that the rights of labour should be respected, he asked for nothing that would injure the landlords or interfere with the rights of property. Mr. W. E. FORS TER seconded the motion, and earnestly entreated the Government to concede what was a most moderate request. Property had its duties as well as its rights, and nothing was a clearer duty of the owner of land, if he neglected his duty and did not improve it, than that he should not prevent the tenant from improv ing it, and so increasing the growth of human food. Lord COURTENAY, who delivered his maiden speech, said he should give his support to the motion, although he did not concur in all the grounds upon which it was placed by the mover. The position of the tenant in Ireland was by no means so good as that of the tenant in England. Here many things were done by the landlord which there were expected to be done by the tenant, and amongst these were the reclamation of waste lands, drainage, and the erection of buildings. Thinking that the relations be tween landlord and tenant ought not to rest, as they did now, upon the personal character of the former, ho should like to see some legislation on the subject. Shadowing out his own views as to the best mode of treating the question, the noble lord remarked that it should be clearly laid down that the tenant had no right to claim compensation for im provements effected without the sanction of his landlord, and the compensation should be either pecuniary or in the shape of a prolongation of the term of occupancy. If the motion were not agreed to the people of Ireland would have just reason to complain. He did not hold the doc trine of tenant-right, but he could not help admitting, as the son of a proprietor of land in Ireland, that the rela tions of landlord and tenant there were not in a satisfac tory state, and that an investigation of the subject, con ducted by a competent tribunal, such as a committee of that house, must be productive of good. Mr. E. L. GOWER, believing that the proposed inquiry pointed to tenant-right, that it would raise expectations never to be fulfilled, and that the agitation of the question would not be beneficial, but injurious to the interests of Ireland, hoped the Government would not give it their assent. The motion was supported by Mr. Moore (Tipperary) Colonel Greville, Dr. Brady, Mr. M‘Mahon, and The O'Conor Don. Colonel VANDELEUR, as an Irish landlord, gave his warm approval to the motion, convinced that inquiry must be productite of good. Mr. DUNNE, speaking in the double capacity of landlord and tenant, declared that the condition of both was most unsatisfactory. Colonel DICKSON would also vote for inquiry as a means revealing the true state of Irish properties. Mr. COX, as a member of the Irish Society, was prepared to support the motion. Mr. ROEBUCK reproached Ministers with the observ ance of a pusillanimous reticence, and with allowing the debate to be protracted so many hours without making any sign. It was the function of a Government to lead, and not to follow the house. Let there be an inquiry, for there was no doubt that the landlord and tenant question lay at the root of the Irish difficulty. After some remarks from Mr. MONSELL, who likewise gave his adhesion to the motion, Lord PALMERSTON said that if there were one thing which a nation ought to respect it was the rights of pro perty ; and if laws were passed infringing those rights they might depend upon it that in the end such laws would be injurious to the nation, however tempting the advantages which might be expected to arise from them. He could not bring his mind to the conviction that there would be any justice, and therefore any permanent benefit to a country in giving to one man the right of determining what should be done with the property of another. When, ona former night, he spoke of tenants' rights as landlords' wrongs, ho meant tenants' rights as he apprehended them to be understood in many parts of Ireland, and especially the rights pro posed to be conferred on the tenant of dealing with the property of the landlord, not only without, but against his sanction, coupled with the condition that at some future period the tenant might compel the landlord to pay for alterations which he would not himself have made, and to the making of which he had objected when they were made. Referring to the effect of the relations between landlord and tenant on the emigration from Ireland, the noble viscount observed, that the manner in which any change in those relations was to check emigration had not been satisfactorily explained. It was the system of leases granted in the last century for 61 years, determinable on the death of three lives, that had prevented improvement. The tenants who held under those leases were the least improving in the world, and speaking from his own experience it was not until they became tenants at will that they began to improve. No doubt it was desirable to encourage improvement, and for this purpose, that the tenant should have security that on a change of occupation he should be reimbursed for im provements of a certain kind; but the fundamental basis of any such right or claim ought to be a mutual agreement between the parties. It was said that the Act of 1860 had not produced the effects it was designed to accomplish,and the Government could have no objection to inquire into its operation and results. Such an inquiry might be concluded within a very short period ; but an inquiry into all the re lations between landlord and tenant would extend to a most unreasonable time. Mr. MAGUIRE accepted the proposal, and an amended motion agreed to nem. con. for appointing a select commit tee to inquire into the operation of the Act 23d and 24th Viet., chap. 153, relating to the tenuro and improvement of land in Ireland. The East India Governor-General's Powers, &c., Bill ; the Courts of Justice Concentration, Site, Bill ; and the Sheep and Cattle Bill, were read a third time and passed. The Enclosure Bill went through committee. Mr. LYGON obtained leave to bring in a bill to pro vide for the episcopal superintendence of certain educa tional and charitable institutions. On the motion of Mr.Grosos a select committee was ap pointed to inquire into the upper Thames:navigation. The other business on the paper was also disposed of. and the house adjourned at half-past 11 o'clock. The Piccadilly and Park-lane New Road Bill. The following is the Report of the Referees on the Petitions of-1. The Duke of Sutherland; 2. The Duke of Buccleuch ; 3. The Marquis Conyngham ; 4. The Guardians of the Earl of Eldon ; 5. The Hon. Henry Butler Johnstone Munro ; 6. Sir E. C. Kerrison, M.P. ; and 7. The Executors of the late Henry David Blyth, Esq. " This is a bill promoted by the Metropolitan Board of Works, for opening a communication through Hamilton place between Park-lane and Piccadilly. " The petitioners, who appeared by counsel before the referees in opposition to the bill, were the above-named noblemen and gentlemen, being the lessees under the Crown of houses in Hamilton-place and of No. 140, Piccadilly. " Objections were taken to the bill on behalf of these petitioners, partly on the ground of engineering defects but mainly on account of the insufficiency of the Parlia mentary estate, which states the amount required to be expended for the purposes of the bill at £lO,OOO. - - " The items into which the estimate may be divided are three : " The cost of the laud required for the road. " 2. The formation of theroadway and Incidental works. " 3, Compensation for the property required to be taken or which may be affected by the works. " Much evidence was given, both by th' promoters and by the petitioners, with reference to these several items, the opinions of experienced architects and valuers were adduced on either side in support of their respective views. " 1. With respect to the cost of the land required. " Some portion of the proposed road would be made through that part of Hyde-park which is now within the enclosure of Ilamilton-gardens, and is the property of the Crown, and another portion through land belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. " The valuations of these two portions of land by Mr. Charles Leo on behalf of the petitioners were, _for the Crown land, £6,577, and for the Chapter land, .£2,730, making together £9,307. "The sum provided by the promoters' estimate for pur chase of land was £1,500 in the whole, but it was stated by them that this sum was to bo allocated exclusively to the purchase of the Dean and Chapter's property. With regard to the Crown land, they avowed that they had designedly made no provision for purchasing it, relying upon tho dis tinct information given to them by the Chief Commissioner of Works that, although the legal estate of the Crown in that part of the Park would not bo surrendered to them, the roadway which it was sought to obtain power to carry through it would bo permitted by the Crown to be made without payment. " In support, of this statement they referred to two letters of the Chief Commissioner of Works, dated respectively Dec. 6 and Dec. 24, 1864, addressed to the Lords Commis sioners of the Treasury, and which are set out at pages 13 a.nd 17 of the correspondence printedby order of the House of Commons. " For the land proposed to be purchased from the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, the promoters' estimate of .01,500 may, in the opinion of the referees, be assumed to be not unreasonable. "2. With regard to the cost of executing the roadway and incidental works, there was no material difference of valuation. Tho promoters assume that it may be done for £1,900. Mr. Lee estimated it at £2,050. " The important difference and the main contention be tween the parties related to the item of compensation. " The petitioners may be divided, in regard to this ques tion, into two classes ; one consists of the lessees of the houses in ilanillton-place which will or may, in whole or in rHE SUN,. LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 1, 186ai part, be taken or interfered with for the purposes of the bill. The other consists of the leases of houses in Hamilton place, or in the phrt of Piccadilly adjoining thereto, which it was alleged wouldbe injuriously affected and depreciated in value by the conv4rsion of Hamilton-place from a cul de sac into a public thoroughfare. " The latter class of petitioners, in order to make good their claims to compensation, would have to bring their re spective cases within the operation of the 68th section of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, under the category of lands or houses injuriously affected' by the construc tion of the works. Such cases may involve some important questions of law, and may possibly come under the adjudi cation of the legal tribunals. The referees desire to refrain from giving any opinion as to the validity or invalidity of such claims; but it appears clear to them that claims of this nature, founded upon allegations of contingent and consequential injury, in respect of which the promoters entirely deny their liability, are not such expenses as they (the promoters) are required to provide for in their Parlia mentary estimate. " The properties which come under the other class, as being subject to be taken, in whole or in part, for the pur poses of the works, are the houses numbered 5,6, and 7, in Hamilton-place. " The case of No. 7, however, stands upon this footing : The house is included within the limits of deviation, but the promoters distinctly stated that it is not their intention to take or interfere with it in any respect, and that they will consent to be strictly confined to the line of the road as laid down upon their deposited plans, leaving those premises unaltered. "Nos. 5 and 6 have each a garden attached to them. The proposed roadway would cut off a small portion (about 20 superficial feet) from the garden of No. 5. It would inter sect and take away a large portion of the garden of No. 6. According to the arrangement proposed by the promoters, the space taken from the garden of No. 5 would be com pensated by throwing into it a much larger piece of ground (about 1,000 superficial feet), and they consider that by so doing they would indemnify the proprietors and leave no further claim for compensation in respect of No. 5. " The deterioration which would be caused to No. 6 by the loss of garden ground and other injury is estimated by them at £6,600, which their estimate would be just enough to cover. " According to the valuations of the witnesses for the petitioners on the other hand, there would be a deterioration in value of No. 5 amounting to £B,OOO, and of No. 6 amount ing to £6,000. Tho evidence on this part of the case was very conflicting; but it appeared to the referees that the houses in question, from their peculiar character anal the circumstances of their position, possess to a considerable extent what may be called a ' fancy,' or speculative value, depending on individual taste and sentiment, and therefore not capable of being estimated according to a strict standard of market value. • " Such being the case, the referees, feeling the difficulty of arriving at a precise conclusion, and of determining before hand what-the value of the property in question may be in case the proposed roadway should be constructed, are not prepared to pronounce a positive opinion that the estimate of the promoters will prove insufficient for the purpose of the required compensation. " The objections taken to the works on engineering grounds were confined to two points. The first related to a power at pre‘sent contained in the bill 9f deviating from the level of the intended road, as shown upon the sections. This objection was met on the part of the promoters by declaring their intention to expunge these powers from the bill, and to adhere to the levels shown. The second and more material objection was to the alleged deficient width of the roadway, which, as appears from the plans, would allow no more than 28ft. 4in. at the narrowest point for the carriage-way, measured between the kerbstones. These dimensions may no doubt be regarded as less ample than, with a view to public convenience, might be desired.' llt should, however, be observed that the proposed width is the utmost that can be afforded between the houses on either side of Hamilton-place, as they now stand, and that greater width could not -be obtained without sacrificing property of large value. " It appears to the referees under these circumstances that the question, in this respect, is not to be regarded as one of mere engineering merits or details, but involves considerations affecting the expediency of , the proposed route and the general merits of the scheme, which belong properly *to the Committee on the Bill, and not to the referees. " HUGH EDWARD ADAIR, Chairman." Metropolitan Board of Works. Tho ordinary weekly meeting of tho Metropolitan Board of Works was held yesterday at tho office, Spring-gardens, Mr. John Thwaites in the chair. FINANCE. The cash statement of the Finance Committee was pre sented, which showed the following balances in the hands of the treasurer—Current accounts, £256,177105. Bd. ; depo sit accounts, £348,300 ; total, £604,467 10s. Bd. ; Govern. ment securities, £51,371 10s. 10d.; checks ordered but not presented, £17,083 Bs. 7d. was incurred thereby it should be defrayed by the Pneu matic Despatch Company. The CHAIRMAN said that the company had put their large pipe on the top; of their sewers, but the board, in conjunc tion with the District Board of Works, would be most will ing to lessen any inconvenience which might arise from these works. The subject was referred to the Streets Committee for consideration and report. Vacancies, Promotions. and Appointments in the Civil Service. (From the Civil Service Gazette.) _ . FOREIGN-OFFICE.—The office of vice-consul at Girgenti, Sicily, has become vacant by the death of Mr. Oates. WAR-OFFICE.—Mr. J. C. Cornwall has been appointed a commissariat clerk, Bermuda; Mr. J. Shearer has been ap pointed a civil assistant, Southampton ; Mr. C. Brider has been appointed a civil assistant, Southampton ; Mr. H. B. Jennings has been appointed a civil assisiant, Southampton. HO3IE OFFlCE.—Captain J. C. Farquharson has been ap pointed a deputy-governor, convict service. BOARD OF TRADE.—Mr. A. J. Pittman has been ap pointed to be a temporary clerk. ECCESIASTICAL COMMISSION.—Mr. W. P. Courtney has been appointed to a temporary clerkship. THE POST-OFFICE.—Mr. Banim, postmaster of Kilkenny has been appointed postmaster of Kingstown (Ireland) ; Mr. Castle, second clerk, has been promoted to be first clerk at Newport (Monmouth). CusToms.—Mr. James Higgins has been appointed a clerk in the examiner's office, London ; Mr. Edward William has , been appointed a clerk in the examiner's office, London; Mr. William Thomas Leetham Wheeler has been appointed a clerk for warehousing and general duty, London; and Mr. James Hay Mackenzie Shand, has been appointed a clerk at Glasgow. INLAND REVENUE.—Stamp and Tax Branch : Mr. Win. Pitt Bremner has been appointed clerk in the legacy duty department, and to be stationed at Dublin ; Mr. Henry Sydenham Dixon has been appointed clerk in the solicitor's department, vice T. G. Garwood, superannuated ; Mr. Peter Frederick Bluett has been appointed clerk in the special commissioners of income tax department, vice J. B. Black burn, appointed to the secretary's department ; Mr. It. Wat terworth, surveyor of taxes, Manchester, first district, has been promoted to be inspector, vice J. Purdue, superannu ated ; Mr. H. C. Hast, surveyor, Salford, has been promoted to Manchester, first district ; Mr. H. Wootton, surveyor, Bakewell, has been promoted to Salford ; Mr. R. Wyatt, surveyor, Leeds, second district, has been removed to Bakewell ; Mr. E. C. Michell, surveyor, Launceston, has been promoted to Sunderland ; Mr. J. Dalziel, surveyor of taxes, Sunderland, has been promoted to Leeds, second district ; Mr. A. J. Apthorpe, surveyor of taxes, has been removed to Peterborough ; Mr. T. W. Fozer, assistant sur veyor, Birmingham, has been promoted to be surveyor, and stationed at Pershore, vice W. C. Shaw, removed to Birmingham ; Mr. C. J. Foakes, surveyor, has been re moved from Hastings to Ludlow ; Mr. J. A. H. Calder, surveyor, has been promoted from Ludlow to Hastings; Excise Branch ; Mr. Augustine Knocker, supervisor, Long ford district, Athlone collection, has been appointed super visor of Dunster district, Barnstaple collection; Mr. John Todd, examiner, has been appointed supervisor of Long ford district, Athlone collection ; Mr. Michael Carrigg, supervisor, Dudley district, Stourbridge collection, has been appointed supervisor of London, west district, London, North collection ; Mr. Alexander David, supervisor, Pwllheli district, Carnarvon collection, has been appointed supervisor of Dudley district, Stourbridge collection ; Mr. Henry Damerel, examiner, has been appointed supervisor of Pwllheli district, Carnarvon collection; Mr. Charles Smith, supervisor, Tain district, Inverness collection, has been appointed supervisor of Pitlochry district, Perth collection ; Mr. Edward James Maguire, examiner, has been appointed supervisor of Tain district, Inverness collection; Mr. James Summons, office; Newcastle, Ist division, New castle collection, has been appointed to be an examiner ; Mr. George M`Loughlin, office; Dublin, Ist division, Dublin collection, has been appointed to be an examiner ; Mr. William Henry Rossiter, office; Cork, 3d division, Cork collection, has been appointed to be an examiner. EAST INDIES.—Mr. C. Robertson has been appointed Under Secretary to the Government of the N.W.P. ; Mr. W. Kaye has been appointed a joint magistrate anddeputy collector of the second grade, vice C. Robertson ; Mr. D. C. Macnabb, deputy commissioner has been posted to the Peshawur district ; Mr. C. Knox, assistant commissioner, has been appointed personal assistant to the commissioner of Peshawur ; Captain C. V. Jenkins, assistant commis sioner, 2d class, has been appointed assistant commissioner, Ist class, vice Mr. Knox ; Mr. J. D. Tremlett, assistant _commissioner, 3d class, has been appointed assistant com missioner, 2d class, vice Captain Jenkins, promoted ; Mr. P. O'Sullivan, barrister-at-law, has been appointed to act as professor of law at the Presidency College, Madras, during the absence of J. D. May on leave, or until further orders ; Mr. T. M. Busted, barrister-at-law, has been ap pointed to act as assistant secretary to Government of Madras in the legislative department during the absence of Mr. Mayne on leave, or until further orders; Mr.W.E. Gordon, officiating first assistant auditor-general of India, has been appointed an auditor of the accounts of the administrator general in Bengal ; Mr. F. S. Chapman has been appointed to act as secretary to the Bombay Government, in the re -1 venue, financial, and general departments,vice Mr.llavens croft ; Capt. F. P. P. Fenwick has been appointed assistant resident at Baroda. Royal Institution-, - d - - - - Yesterday evening, at the ordinary meeting of the members of this institution, Mr. Glaisher de scribed the results of one of his recent arial researches. He commenced by noticing the process of the infla tion of a balloon, and some of the exaggerated repre sentations of those who have ascended in balloonsfor the first time. One gentleman declared that hishead became so much swelled that he could notkeep on his hat ; another said his head became so much con tracted that his hat fell over his eyes; and a foreign aeronaut asserted that a bottle containing wine exploded, and that he ascended so high that he was almost beyond the attraction of the earth, the sand that was let out of the bag remain ing suspended in the air, and he feared he should never return to our planet. These exaggerations, produced by the excitement of the new sensation, showed that it required much experience in aerosta tion to be enabled to make correct observations. Mr. Glaisher described the extraordinary appearance of the objects on the earth on ascending, which are sufficient to perplex and astound one not accustomed to aerial travelling. He exhibited and explained the various instruments he took with him for the pur pose of ascertaining the elevation, the temperature at different heights, the power of the sun's radiation the variations in the humidity of the atmosphere, and for observing the dark lines in the solar spec trum. The observations on the change of tempera ture on ascending, made in his earlier experi -ments, tended to confirm the previous experiments, that up to about a height of I,oooft. the ther mometer falls 1 deg. for.every ascent of 300 f t., but that on ascending higher the decrease of tempera ture proceeds at a lower ratio, until, as it was in ferred, that at great elevations the decrease would not exceed 1 deg. in 100 miles. These observations were made during the summer months, but during ascents made in the winter and last spring the tem perature was found not to diminish in the same ratio, and it was occasionally warmer at a height of 2,000 feet than near the surface of the earth. In an ascent made during the night the temperature became higher on ascending. This result tended to show that during the night the temperature in the higher regions of the atmosphere is greater than it is near the ground, and that further experi ments are required to ascertain the law of decrease at various elevations and times. With respect to the solar spectrum, the observations proved that the dark bands become more distinct on ascending higher, and that they are not occasioned by the atmosphere. The gra dual increase of solar radiation on ascending, Mr. Glaisher said, leads to the inference that none of the heat of the sun is lost by radiation through space, and that the rays which reach the planets Jupiter and Saturn may be as powerful as those that come to the earth. He mentioned the extra ordinary variations in the currents of the atmo sphere at different elevations, and he observed that the result of his experience of meteorological phe nomena was far from enabling him to forecast what would be the state of the weather or the course of the wind for a week or even for one or two days. Further experiments at different seasons of the year, in different latitudes, and during the night, must be made before any general laws could be established respecting the temperature of the atmosphere at different elevations, and Mr. Glaisher said he was glad to be informed that experiments of the kind were to be made in France, which country is better adapted for continued aerial researches than the in sular position of England. He concluded by allud ing to the important uses to which the balloon may be applied, and one advantage attending his numer ous ascents, he said, would be to prove that such researches might be made without much danger. CRYSTAL PALACE.—ONE SHILLING DAY.—FRI DAY, March 31.—Admissions on payment, 902; ditto by season tickets, 911; total visitors, 1,813. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS• TIMES.—To-day, the Ist of April, the amended American Tariff, which we published yesterday, comes into operation. The new Secretary of the Treasury must be persuaded that, in selecting this day for its inauguration, if in no other respect, the framers of the scheme showed peculiar wisdom. As for the measure itself, it is impossible to find an excuse for it. Tried by the light of reason or by the results of experience, it is alike condemned. The sole effect of the increase in import duties enacted last year has been a decrease in the total sum received, and it is with this fact staring them in the face that the Federal Congress have passed an act imposing still higher rates of duty. Mr. M'Culloch was presented with this new law on entering upon office, and one of ,his first duties has been to issue circulars to the Collectors of Customs, calling their attention to the fourth Tariff passed in as many years. We do not envy his feelings in dis charging this function. As an economist, he has put on record reasons for disapproving the policy of ex aggerated tariffs, and as Secretary to the Treasury they must be more than ever hateful to him. He knows what demands will be made on him in the course of a few months for money, and he sees one source recklessly cut off. No candid man would quarrel with the financial management of the Fede ral Government because it did not correspond at all points with the teaching of political economy. The task imposed at the outset upon Mr. Chase was one of unexampled difficulty, and some errors of practice were inevitable. The Secretary to the Treasury was called upon to furnish large supplies of money in quick succession,while he was absolutelywithoutmachinery for collecting it. A few small Customs Duties, aided by land sales, had sufficed for many years to defray the expenses of the United States' Government. Excise Duties were unknown. No direct tax for Federal purposes had been levied for more than a generation. The Constitution itself threwadifficulty in the way of any system of direct taxation, for it required the different States to be assessed to such taxes in proportion to their population. It would be obviously unjust to compel the inhabitants of Wisconsin and of New York to contribute at the same rate per head to the National Treasury, and Mr. Case was, therefore, debarred from using one of the most powerful instruments of taxation. But the leni ency with which we must judge the earlier manage ment of the Federal finances cannot be extended to the more recent conduct of the Secretaries of the Treasury. Perfect freedom from error may not be obtained even after four years crowded with varied experience, but the most glaring mistakes ought not to be repeated in fresh legisla tion. Taxes which defeat their own object by stopping consumption entirely, and taxes which cost in collection more than they produce, ought to be abandoned altogether. Both kinds, on the con trary, flourish and abound. In Customs and in Excise an attempt is made to tax every article of consumption without regard to the profitableness of the impost or the amount of pressure put upon the taxpayer. Such a policy is wholly indefensible, and as respects the Customs, at all events, it has been most unequivocally condemned by - its results. In the year ending June 30, 1862, the amount re ceived from Customs Duties was £9,800,000. New duties were thereupon imposed, coming into opera tion on August 1, 1862, and the articles in the tariff were so multiplied that they filled more than 16 pages of close print. The receipts increased in the year ending June 30, 1863, to £12,800,000, and in the next year to £20,400,000, but a comparison of the sources of these receipts will show that they are obtained from a comparatively small number of commodities. The obvious les son was, however, so entirely lost sight of that when the tariff was reformed last June the new list was even longer than its predecessor. About 2,000 articles were separately enumerated, and while the articles taxed were so numerous, the imposts to which they were subjected were exorbitantly increased. The inevitable consequence has been a large reduction in the amounts received at the Custom-houses. After six months' experience of the Tariff, Mr. Fessenden was enabled to estimate the customs' receipts up to the end of next June at little more than £14,000,000, instead of £20,400,000 received last year. It might have been thought that a Secretary of the Treasury would have looked upon this result as anything but satisfactory, but Mr. Fessenden, possibly knowing how short would be his tenure of office, was able to congratulate the country upon the reduction of foreign imports indicated by the falling off of the Customs' receipts. The Congress has been entirely of his opinion. In House and Senate there has been but one feeling upon the result of past legislation, and one resolu tion—to persevere in the policy which has been so successfully adopted. The Tariff which comes into operation to-day is the fruit of the determination to increase the rates of import duty whatever may be the cost to the revenue or to the consumer. It is unnecessary to refer to the several items of the Tariff, but one of them may be noticed, because it illustrates most completely the mischievous policy to which the Northern States are committed. No object is more eagerly desired in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania than the substitution of home spun cotton for the yarn of Lancashire, and fore most in the new Tariff are the duties on cotton manufactures. Before the war began the import duty on cotton yarn was 24 per cent. ad valorem ; the Tariff of 1862 raised the duty to 40 per cent., and last year the impost was again altered to a specific duty of 3d. per 1,200 yards and 30 per cent. ad valorenz. The duty thus imposed amounts to a shilling or thirteen pence per 1,200 yards, or about 60 per cent. ad valorem, and as it is to be paid in gold it has dining the past year been equal to from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. per 1,200 yards in American currency. The internal duty on yarn manufactured in the States is 5 per cent. in currency, a tax amounting at the utmost to 3d. per 1,2Q0 yards. The protection thus given to the home manufacturer is enormous, and the falling off in the Customs revenue has, of course, been proportionably great. The revenue collected at New York shows us the effect of the different scale. Before the war began the tax of 24 per cent. produced on an average about £78,000 per annum; in the first half of the cur rent year the tax of 3d. per 1,200 yasds and 30 per cent. brought in only £21,600. This dispropor tion, great as it is, does not fully represent the decline in the importation of yarn, which can only be adequately learnt from the quantities brought into New York. In 1859 and 1860 the average importation was: 7,200 packages ." in the six months from the Ist of July to the 31st of December, 1864, it was under 700 packages. The effect of these ex aggerated duties in keeping out foregn manufac tures is the one to which attention is most naturally attracted on this side of the Atlantic. We are cot ton-spinners and ironmasters, and feel a lively interest in legislation which . deprives us of one of our best markets. But we should wrong ourselves if we attributed all our regret at the Protectionist policy of the United States to self-interest. An attempt to force Catawba down the throats of American citizens instead of champagne must seem as great an error as an attempt to benefit Lowell at the expense of Manchester. In each case the ruling power in the States wilfully pre fers the worse market and interposes obstacles to the free exchange of commodites. But Mr. M'Culloch must feel an especial pang at the diminution of the Customs' receipts. He has lost more than the difference between the £20,400,000 collected ;ast year and the £14,000,000 which will probably be collected in the current twelve months. The Customs' receipts were the sole specie payments made to the Treasury, and they were on that account doubly valuable. The interest on the national debt so far as it is payable in gold, was charged on these receipts, which have hitherto been able to provide for it and to leave some considerable surplus in addition. Last year the interest paid in gold was no more than £10,730,000, and Mr. Fessenden had therefore nearly 10 millions in gold left in his hands. This sum was partly disbursed in buying stores abroad ; and the rest was sold in the market at a premium, and incidentally kept down the preniium on gold. In fact, in the financial accounts of last year a sum of £3,300,000 is credited for premium on gold sold. The fatal legislation of Congress has altogether destroyed any hopes of receiving such a sum again. The amount to be paid in the way of inte rest has naturally increased, and the reduced Cus toms Duties will not be able to meet it. Mr. M'Culloch will be driven to buy gold instead of being able to sell it, and the accounts of the cur . rent year will be debited with a sum paid for pre miums on gold purchased to meet claims for inte rest. We cannot regret this result, if it compels Mr. M'Culloch to retrace the path pursued by his predecessors. If Mr. M'Culloch would reduce the articles in the tariff to a few productive items, would impose an Excise law equally simple in its range and equally onerous in its incidence, and would supplement the tax-system of the States by a genuine Income-tax, he would earn for himself a name among the financiers of history. HERALD.—That cool disregard of national obli gations which is the vice of American commanders has at length met with a very summary check, though at the hands of a small European Power. Portugal has dared to uphold its dignity against Federal America ; and in doing this it has shed the blood of a seaman serving in the American navy, and by a well-directed shot stopped an American frigate. The story is this. On the 28th ulb. the Federal war steamers Niagara and Sacramento en tered the port of Lisbon in search, no doubt, of the Confederate ram Stonewall, lying there. The com manders of the two frigates must have been well aware that by doing this they tacitly agreed to a well-known rule—a rule wisely maintained by neu tral powers for keeping belligerents apart in neutral waters. They must have known that once in the port of Lisbon they would not be allowed to follow the Stonewall when she left the harbour, but must give the Confederate ram a fair 24 hours' start. Disregarding this knowledge, however, the Federal frigates steamed into the port, and the natural re sult was they were detained, and the Confederate ram had the grace to which, by the law that governs such cases, she was entitled. It was not in Yankee flesh and blood to submit to this. There was the example of Bahia, when the Wachusetts, after quieting the authorities of the harbour by seeming acquiescence in rules necessary for the prevention of hostilities there,stole a march upon theßrazilian ad miral and the Confederate captain, and towed the renowned Florida off in triumph. Brazil is a weak Power, it is true, and not an European Power. Por tugal is not so small a Power, and Portugal happens to be in Europe, and to have strong European allies. Therefore the Brazilian example must be followed at a respectful distance only, not taken up boldly for imitation. There must be no absolute violation of the neutrality of the port, but merely an - evasion of its authority and a disregard of the Portuguese right to detain for a time ships bent on a hostile expedi tion against a vessel that had just enjoyed Portu guese hospitality. Different countries have dif ferent ways of enforcing attention to their just authority. Poor little Brazil did all she could by taking the Florida to an inner anchorage, and giving her the company of a Brazilian war vessel ; but after that Brazil went to sleep, and left the Yankee commander and the Yankee consul to their devices. In France—they manage these things better in France—the very simple expedient was adopted of mooring a French man-of-war right across the bows of a light-heeled Yankee craft, -inclined to be slip pery. And in England something of the kind has happened, not only with armed and commissioned Federal war ships, but also with unarmed, un finished and inoffensive hulls, said to be destined for Confederate rams and Southern cruisers. Portugal, however, though it did not adopt this very effectual system of blocking the way, had recourse to a measure as decisive and as useful ; a measure more in consonance, perhaps, with one's notions of how a Yankee captain should be held to his word than any less bold but more pacific way of keeping him to the truth and making him walk unwillingly in the paths of rectitude. Portugal did not lay a ship athwart the bows of the Niagara and the Sacra mento ; but Lisbon kept its powder dry in the Belem Fort, and when, as was possibly anticipated, the two Yankee frigates attempted to steal a march upon.the local authorities, and to follow the Stone wall before the assigned twenty-four hours had expired, a round shot plunging from the fort into the poop of the Niagara, expressively, though somewhat roughly, forbade their exit. Next to a Yankee com mander's temerity in trying to evade his obligations is his patience in submitting to circumstances over which he has no control. He will go a long way with his bravado, but when he is met with vigorous hos tility he says, " Oh, if you mean that !" and retires to whittle his stick and chew the cud of his resent ment in peace. Messrs. Mason and Slidell were taken from the Trent, and they were never—no never—to be given up. But when they were asked for in -a certain tone, Messrs. Mason and Slidell were " handsomely" returned to us. We are not, therefore, surprised to find that the Niagara, with a round shot through her poop, and an unfortunate seaman killed, gave up the idea of defying the usages of nations, and, with her consort, the Sacramento, cast anchor, and yielded to fate. She was converted to the rules of civilised warfare much as Colonel Quagg was converted to those of piety and good behaviour in Mr. Sala's admirable sketch. She was drubbed into a decency, and brought to reason by a rebuke that will no doubt have a good effect upon Yankee commanders in general. Portugal has cer tainly done something towards revenging Brazil ; and apart from this, it has performed excellent service to Europe, by showing what can, and what should, be done to a smart belligerent infesting our shores and coming into our harbours to fish for what he cannot catch on the high seas. A grave question, however, arises out of this little encounter. There is a man killed on board the Niagara—killed by a Portuguese shot. Who is to be answerable for this life taken away? The unfortunate seaman was not the victim of ordinary war ; neither was death the result of accident. Portugal, of course, is not to blame. Then who is? The question is worth asking, though the answer—the practical answer—lies with the authorities at Washington. There is the guilt of manslaughter somewhere ; for there was no state of war between Portugal and the Northern half of America. In England, certainly, this would be a case for a court-martial, for in his excessive zeal the captain of the Niagara has undoubtedly cast away the life of one of his men to no purpose, save an illegal and an unrecognised evasion of neutral rights. He must either have believed that Portugal would not assert her authority or that be could safely run the risk of defying it. In either case, America not being at war with Portugal, the commanders of the Federal frigates have, in the result, gravely com mitted themselves, even to their own people. An American sailor is killed, and to no purpose. An American frigate is fired upon, and hit, and so poor is the cause for which she suffers that her captain dares not return shot for shot. These two adventurous commanders have admitted that they have not a -leg to stand upon in their speedily checked defiance of law and custom, and there, with their dead evidence on board, they come sub missively to anchor as frightful examples of what evasion and outrage may result in. How often during this war are we to record these peculiar demonstra tions of Yankee smartness? Do these commanders of Federal frigates think that neutral ports are nets set to catch Southern cruisers for the advantage of gentlemen in American naval uniform who always miss their game in the open sea ? If they do, Por tugal has disabused them of the idea. That highly efficient schoolmaster, a shotted gun, has sent a message to the deck of the Niagara which was so well understood by the frigate's commander that he at once desisted from the contemptuous and defiant course he had rashly ventured upon. He will pos sibly be the last of the race, the example that will not " encourage the others." Had he been success ful in his attempt to leave the port of Lisbon at his pleasure; Portugal would have had to accept the kind of apology with which Brazil has been smoothed and salved over ; and not till the next time would the thing have happened again. But to be unsuc cessful, to have a rough reminder in the shape of a round shot that crashes through the poop, and takes toll of human life on the way, is to err with more than human fallibility. And then, after all, to wait like a kept-in schoolboy till the flagellator declares that the door is open, and the smarting pupil in the school of international law may take himself and his punishment off ! This is a terrible case, and we do not envy the unhappy commander of the Niagara. 'An English court-martial once - shot an admiral for what it was pleased to call cowardice, or, as Napo leon said, " pour encourager les autres." Whatever may be done with the captain of the Niagara, the ill-success of his Portuguese adventure will not afford much encouragement to his naval brethren in the imitative way. As to the excuse since put for ward, that the commanders of- the two frigates did not mean to leave the harbour, but that they were merely " shifting" their anchorage, we may" take that for what it is worth. It is not the first time the plea of " I didn't mean to do it" has been heard in cases of a similar character. "And then he drew a dial from his poke, And looking on it with lack lustre eye, Says very wisely, ' It is ten o'clock : Thus we may see,' quoth he, ' how the world wags." StimorEAßF; Benson's Pocket Dials are artistic, accurate time markers, made in every size, suitable for everybody, and are sent to every part of the kingdom, safe by post, at 5,6, 7,8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35 guineas in gold cases ; and at 2,3, 4,5, 6,7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 guineas in silver cases. A descriptive pamphlet post free for two stamps. -4. W. Benson, Ludgate-hill, watch and clock maker to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. IRON SHIPBUILDING :IN THE NORTH.--The iron shipbuilding trade of the north-eastern ports has not -been very much embarrassed by the lock-out of the puddlors, some of the leading firms having procured iron plates from Belgium to prevent any stoppage of the works. Several fine vessels have been launched this week from the north-eastern ports. On Monday the largest iron vessel built on the Wear was launched from the high yard of Messrs. Oswald and Co., of Pallion. Sho is named the Med way, and is built for Messrs. Temperley, Coster, and Drake, of London; she is 1,823 tons register, and will bo propelled by engines of 250-horse power, nominal. Messrs. Palmer Brothers, of Jarrow, launched on Tuesday an iron steamship of 800 tons register, built for Messrs. Pickering and Co., of London, and another fine vessel, the same tido, from their Howden works. This firm have entered into a contract with the Government to build a steam transport of 4,000 tons for the Indian service. On Tuesday Messrs. J. H. Pile and Co., of Hartlepool, launched an iron steam vessel of 1,500 tons for the West Hartlepool Steam Navi gation Company. 1 ". ADITERTISEMENT.I—HOIIOWay'S Ointment and Pills.— The Knife Superseded.—All afflicted with ulcers, diseases of the bones, inflammations of the joints, should read this testimonial to the curative powers' of these healing and purifying remedies Mr. John Allen, 17, Denmark street, Leicester, suffered severely from a bad foot for three years, during which long period he was undor surgical treatment without any perceptible benefit. He resolutely objected to amputation, which seemed the only course open, till he providentially tried Holloway's remedies ; these gave him great relief, and at last completely cured him." Spots, blemishes, pores, and skin diseases, arising from impo verished blood or a reckless course of life, may be removed by the judicious use of Holloway's ointment and pills, The Lock-out in the Iron Trade. HANLEY, Friday Afternoon. A general meeting of the puddlers of this district has been held in Hanley to-day, to consider the pro posal made by the masters at the conference at Stoke-on-Trent on Wednesday—that the men shall resume work at the reduced rate of wages accepted n the other iron districts, and that the question of whether they are entitled to higher wages shall then be submitted to arbitration. There was a full at tendance of men from all parts of the district. The meeting was private, but the following resolutions, which were passed, were afterwards communicated to our correspondent :—" That a vote of thanks be presented to Lord Lichfield for his kindness in en deavouring to bring the dispute to an amicable ter mination." " That if the South Staffordshire masters will re-open their works and let the men resume there, and if the masters in North Stafford shire will give their men the old rate of wages, the men will then consent to submit the whole question to arbitration." A deputation from the meeting went down to Stoke to meet Lord Lichfield, on his arrival there after the interview with the masters at Stafford, and communicated to his lordship the de termination•of thuuddlers. Just as the meeting was breaking up his lordship arrived at Hanley and had an interview with the men. Lord Lichfield stated that the masters had agreed to his proposal for the men to resume work and draw wages on account until the question has been decided by arbitration, and advised the men to accept it. The meeting refused to listen to the proposal, and the resolution previously passed was again put and again carried unanimously. The meeting lasted five hours. The Leeds Mercury says the lock-out in the North terminated on Thursday. The ironworks at Middlesborough, Wilton Park, Spennymore, Comet, Jarrow, and Walker, com mence work as previously arranged. THE THAMES EMBANKMENT. A letter was read from the solicitors of Mr. Furness to Major Lyon complaining of expressions used by the latter at a previous meeting of the Board. Major Lyon said that sometimes he was violent and fell into error, and proposed that a correspondence connected with the matter should be referred to a committee. Mr. Freeman did not consider that Mr. Furness was open to the charge of obstinacy made against him. UTILIZATION OF THE SEWAGE OF THE METROPOLIS. The Clerk read the following report of the Select Com mittee of the House Commons on the disposal of the Sewage of the Metropolis : " Your committee have, in accordance with the reference made to them by the house, considered the most usefuland profitable mode of applying the sewage from the northern part of the metropolis." After referring to several reports, they went on to say that tho scheme brought before them by Messrs. Hope and Napier, and embodied in the bill be fore the house, fulfils the following requisitions : "It pro vides, in the first place, for the complete removal from the River Thames of the whole of the ordinary sewage of tho northern part of the metropolis, leaving only on the occasion of heavy rains a portion of the sewage still to flow into the river, but so small and exceptional that it may for all prac tical purposes be left out of consideration. It provides, in the next place, for the irrigation by sewage, in whatever quantities may be found useful, of a considerable area par ticularly well adapted for such a purpose, inasmuch as the natural character of the soil is light and favourable. More sver, the low level of the district enables the sewage to be applied with very little mechanical aid, and, in fact mainly by gravitation. It may also be observed that an extension of this area might be made by pumping the sewage to a moderate elevation. Lastly, with respect to whatever pOrtion of the sewage may not be disposed of in its course, the scheme proposes to apply it in the reclamation of a barren portion of land on the coast, in a manner recom mended by experience. The combination of these different modes of using the sewage is of great consequence in in suring at all times and seasons the beneficial application of the whole sewage, with the small exception above men tiened on the occasion of heavy rains, Upon this evidence your committee are of opinion that the scheme which has been submitted to them is a useful and profitable mode of applying the sewage of the, northern portion of the metro polis, and they have no reason to suppose that any more useful or profitable scheme could be devised. The report was received with great applause. TILE FIRE BRIGADE ESTABLISHMENT. The following letter was received from the Home Secre tary on the establishment of a new Fire Brigade under the supervision of the Board : " Whitehall, March 30. " Sir,—l am directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to acquaint you that ho has had again under his consideration the possibility of making satisfactory arrangements for the protection of London and its vicinity from fire. lam to enclose, for the information of the Metropolitan Board of Works, copies of the correspondence which has taken place .upon this subject since December, 1863, from which you will perceive that Sir George Grey has satisfied himself that the Fire Brigade could be instituted at an annual cost of £50,000 of sufficient strength to provide adequate protec tion to the district under the management of tho Metropo litan Board. Her Majesty's Government will propose to Parliament an annual contribution of £lO,OOO in aid of the proposed brigade. The fire insurance companies contribut ing to the London Fire Engine Establishment have agreed to transfer to the proposed brigade their plant, stock, staff, and stations, subject to the existing liabilities of their establish ment, free of charge, and to contribute annually a sum equal to £35 per £1,000,000 on their insurances. This contribu tion, calculated upon their business for 1865, would amount to £10,156. There remains to be provided the sum of about £30,000, which could be raised, as Sir Goo. Grey is informed, by a rate of id. in the pound upon the assessment for poors' rates of the-district under the Metropolitan Board. The Metropolitan Board of Workshaving expressed themselves willing to undertake the responsibility of the new brigade, I am to request that you will bo so good as to inform me whether they concur in the general arrangements now pro posed, and Sir Geo. Grey will then lose no time in commu nicating with thorn in any manner which you may suggest as most oonvenient as to tho details of the measure which will have to be submitted to Parliament upon the subject. " I am, sir, your obedient servant, " T. G. BARING." This communication was ordered to be taken into consi deration at the next meeting of the board. - THE PNEUMATIC DESPATCH COMPANY. A joint deputation of the inhabitants of High Holborn and the Holborn District Board of Works waited upon the board to present memorials with respect to the taking up or the tubes laid down by the Pneumatic Despatch Company in Holborn. From the memorials which were road and the speeches of the members of the deputation it appeared that considerable loss and inconvenience had been felt by them in their business, and if the tubes which were now placed were to be removed those evils of which they com plained would be renewed, and they prayed the board that if it was absolutely necessary that they should be taken up that the process should be deferred until a later period, in the season. They also urged that if any additional expense COUNTRY MARKETS ._~._.~M~.._...- , LIVERPOOL.—FRIDAY. We have had an unusually thin attendance of both town and country millers and dealers at our corn exchange this morning, and in the small amount of business passing, the advance of ld per cental on wheat which was realised on Tuesday was with difficulty obtainable. American flour, from actual scarcity, remains 6d dearer than this day week, but there is no improvement whatever in French. Indian corn is quite neglected, and the advance of 6d per qr. esta blished on Tuesday is now little better than nominal, to effect sales. Oats scarce and fully id dearer on the week, and oatmeal 6d per load. Beans, peas, and barley are each steady at extreme rates. Market dull throughout. LINCOLN.-FRIDAY. New white wheat, 39s to 43s'; new red, 368 to 39s per 36 stone. Barley for malting, 30s to 34s per qr; grinding, 26s to 29s per 30 stone. Oats, 21s to_26s. Beans, 38s to 40s per qr. WAKEFIELD.-FRIDAY. Au advance is asked for wheat which checks sales. The business passing is only to a moderate extent, at fully last week's prices. Barley again dearer, the supply being very short. _ _ The following are the averages for the week ending March 27 :—Wheat, 3,575 qrs., at 41s 6d; barley, 1,044 qrs., at 30s 6d ; oats, 40 qrs., at 22s 3d ; beans, qrs., at s Od ; peas, qrs., at —s Od. DERBY-FRIDAY. New white wheat, 41s to 45s ; new red, 36s to 40s per 36 stone. Barley for malting, 31s to 34s per qr. ; grinding, 26s to 29s per 30 stone. Oats, new, 22e to 24s ; old, 23s to 26s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 41s to 148; new, 36s to 38s per qr. STAMFORD.-FRIDAY. New white wheat, 40s to 425; new red, 35s to 38s per 36 stone. Barley, malting, 31s to 335; grinding, 27s to 300 per qr. Oats, new, 22s to 22s ; old, —s to —s per 24 stone. Beans, 36s to 40s per 38 stone. Peas as heretofore. BRISTOL SUGAR.—FurDAY. The market is as flat as possible, and scarcely anything has been done this week in either raw or refined. Rum— is in more demand and prices have rather improved. COAL MARKET. Price per ton at the close of the market. s. d. s. d. Cowpen Hartley :15 9 Walls End Haswell... 22 0 Hastings Hartley l5 9 South Hetton Carway and Duffryn Tunstall Malting 22 0 Tanfield Moor Butes 13 6 Ships at market, 27 ; sold, 25. Foreign Mail Packet List. -- - --o Australia and New Zcaland, via Southampton April 18. Ditto, via Marseilles April 12. Brazil and Cape Verde, by British pas et April G. Ditto, by British packet Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and zt Helena ipril 23. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Sou hampton.. April 1 Ditto, via Marseilles April 12. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.... April 4 Ditto, via Marseilles . . .... April 12. India (Bumbay), via Southampton. April --. Ditto, via Marseilles .. ...April 5. Mauritius, via Southampton Ditto, via Maraca e 3... April 5. Newfoundland April 12. Portugal •••• Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon United States and British North America, by Bri tish packet Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp tcn Ditto, via Cork Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry April 7. West Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe , April 12. West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas, Cuba, and Mexico ' April . 13. Bahamas, via New 'York. Apri, 6. Bermuda, ditto April 12. Cuba and Mexico April 23. THE COLLIER'S BOY.—Besides the mate, there are usually in a collier of 200 tons three able seamen and two apprentices, the younger of whom is designated "boy," and what that boy does is marvellous. He is, of course, compelled to obey the captain and mate, and the seamen exact obedience from him too. He is always wanted. If one of the able seamen is ordered to pull a sheet or rope more tightly, he wants the boy to hold on the end of it. If any halliard is jammed in a block, or any confusion in the ropes aloft, the "boy" is sent up at once either to "cast off" the knot or report what is the matter. The captain wants him in the cabin, the cook in the galley, the mate on deck, and the three able seamen close to the precise spot where they happen to be. He is sent up to unroll the " burgee," which is foul ; down in the fore peak for a coil of rope. It is "Figaro quit, Figaro lh Figaro su, Figaro giit." And " Where's that boy ?" " Bless that boy !" " That boy's no use at all " are exclamations which add considerable piquancy to the conversation of a collier's crew. But when danger comes and •the boat is launched off the deck of the foundering ship, the "boy" is put first into it ; or if a rope is the only means of com munication between a stranded vessel and the shore, some strong man may go first to see that "all is right," but the boy is the second. The boys who determine on a seafaring life are sometimes country lads tired of the plough, very difficult to teach, and frequently very obstinate ; boys from towns with a great deal of low cunning and a hazy notion of the rights of property ; and boys who have rela tives at sea, and who are disagreeable by continually making invidious comparisons between their master and others, or their follow-seamen and friends. Perhaps, too, they are natives of the place whence the vessel hails, and aro " well up" in all the local gossip of. the port. If so, that boy will render every crew discontented.--" Cornhill Magazine" for• April. Births. BISHOP.—On the 30th ult., at Hertford, the wife of A. S. m iLDB iD.—On the 30th ult., at Great Warley, Brentwood, Bishop, Esq, Esq., of a son. of Henry Mildred, Esq., of a son. NE MA.--On the 30th ult., at 6, Norfolk-street, Park lane, Mrs. T. H. Newman, of a son. Marriage& MAcmumx—WAßD.--On the Pth ult., at St. Stephen's, Westbourne-park, Fred. W. Macmullen, Esq., Bengal Cavalry, to Mary E. Ward, eldest daughter of J. Ward, Esq., of Bodmin, Cornwall. RUSSELL—BENSON.—On the 30th ult., at Trinity Church, Barking-side, Joseph Russell, Esq., of Tyrwhitt-road, Lewisham, to Mary, elder daughter of Thomas Benson, Esq., of Little Gearies, Ilford, Essex. Deaths. DODSON.—On the 30th ult., at Bruges, Belgium, Mr. Joseph Dodson, jun., Esq.. aged 48. HOWARD.—On the 30th ult., James Peter Howard, Esq., of Norfolk House, Southampton, and Whithed Wood, Shirley, Hants. _ _ _ MARKER.—On the 28th ult., at Boulogne-sur-Mer, the Rev. Henry Wm. Marker, aged 73. -- NELsoN.On the 28th ult., Mr. John B. Nelson, of Drum mond-road, Bermondsey, aged 74. PULLIN.—On the 29th ult., Samuel Pullin, Esq., of Isling ton, aged 75. PUGH.—On the 31st ult., at Bedford Park, Croydon, Sur my, Mr. William Pugh, of 71, Great Tower-street, aged 60. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM AN of No: 112, Strand, Pointer, at THE SUN Office, No 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Middleses.—Saturday, April 1, 1865. sh:j FRI PR( thrc No. of 1 the eott bra ( stroi Eatt Lui ahe Irv; reni char Lid The In ant the) 3ltei Ca/ a - DI