The Sun. — London, England, 1870-03-18 00:00:00

THE IRISH PAPERS AND THE LAND BILL. The thirteen prophets who voted against the second reading of the Irish Land Bill are finding very little honour in their own country. Now that all the Irish papers have had their say, the testi mony of opinion in favour of letting the bill be read a second' time is very strong. The Freeman goes in favour of the thirteen, but the remaining papers of influence are very generally on the other side. The Northern Whiy says the only effect of the opposition is " to affor.l a pretence to men who do not want to bo satisfied with any legislation to represent the measure as utterly unsatisfactory." The Cork, Reporter commends the courage of those Liberals who refused to vote against the second reading. The Cork Examiner says that the rejection of the bill would have involved the misfortune of a Tory Government. On the whole, it is clear that the Government is well supported in Ireland. ADMIRALTY PROVIDENCE. Whilst the navy estimates were under discussion, Mr. Baxter gave some amusing though irritating details of the vast stores which had been accumillated at Deptford Yard. There was a seven years' supply of this, and a ten years' supply of that, and so on—the quantities being out of all proportion to the actual wants of the navy. A par liamentary paper just issued gives full details of this Admiralty providence. Thus we find that the total amount of white wine in stock on the first day of the year was 20,808 bottles, and the quantity serve d out during 1800 was 3,108 bottles. The stock will therefore last six and a half years. By the same comparison it ap pears that there is a seven years' stock of essence of beef; pickles enough to last four years; a ten and three quarter years' supply of saloon candles ; about fifty years' stock of men's foot-pieces for stockings; a thirty-nine years' stock of boys' foot-pieces; blue cloth for seven and three-quarter years ; flushing jackets for thirteen years ; comforters for three and a-half years; striped shirting for five years ; and towelling for seven years. EMIGRATION AND CROWN LANDS. The Emigrant and Colonists' Aid Corporation re cently applied to Earl Granville for a grant of land in Natal. or Western Australia for the settlement of emigrants sent out by the society. The Colonial Minister, in reply, said there were great objections to granting a portion of Crown lands in those colonies. A. great part of the royal territory had already been given. In Natal some five million acr es h a d been distributed between 16,000 persons; and in Western Australia about eight million acres were held by 22,000 settlers. The land in the possession of these persons is the best in the colony. The result, says Earl Granville, is not satisfactory. The owners of these immense tracts are unable to cultivate or occupy -them, or to furnish the revenue or labour out of which the social, educational, and material requirements of settlers may be provided. New corners are necessarily.pushed back to places remote from markets, schools, churches, &c., where they can earn nothing by working for wages, and have no means of disposing of the surplus produce they raise from their land. A freshlintroduetion of emigrants could have no good effect in remedying this state of things. But the Government could have no objection to granting land in the province of Ontario, Canada. The climate there is healthy, traversed by good roads, and within reach of churches and schools. The Corporation, in answer to this communication, accepted Earl Granville's offer of land in Canada ; but regretted the territorial dead lock in Natal and Western Australia, as the climate of those colonies is decidedly less rigorous than that of Canada. THE TELEGRAPHS. Mr. Scudamore publishes another compajative statement of the business done at the telegraph offices—this return comparing the week ending March 12th with the preceding week. The number of messages appears to have been pretty much the same, but there is a decided improvement in the proportion sent out between business hours. In the earlier week the ratio ranged between 80 and 87 per cent; last week the minimum was 84, and the maximum 90per cent. From February 12 to March 5 the total number of telegrams forwarded has risen from 128,872 to 147,206. This rapid progress throws some light on the difficulties which beset the Post office. As fast as the appliances are got into working order an increase of business absorbs the improve meat. ELECTION NEWS. It is stated that Mr. Clement, M.P., for Shrews bury. is positively about to retire; but is reserving his decision until it becomes evident that only one Liberal candidate will go to the poll. At present there are, as usual, three; each of whom is at present firmly convinced that he is the genuine article, and the only right man. Mr. Clement refuses to give way until a more satisfactory arrangement be arrived at. The Conservatives, with their usual good management, have found one candidate, Mr. Douglas Straight, have adopted him, and display no inclination to trifle away their chance. • THE CENSUS AND CHURCH STATISTICS. At a meeting of the Central Council of the Church Institution Mr. George Cubitt, M.P., d rew attent i on to the fact that next year the question of taking a religious census would be brought before the country. It was one, he thought, which should be seriously considered. Since 1841 they had had no satisfactory religious census. In that year the people were asked to say what religion they professed, and a return was made accordingly; ,but in 1851 the Dissenters objected to the method, and the congregations were counted in the diffe rent churches and chapels. The result of. that test he considered very unfair for Churchmen. The chairman was followed by Mr. Rennie, who read an elaborate paper on the subject. He said that in the last halt century upwards of 75 millions of money had been raised for Church purposes. This sum was estimated to have been divided thus:—Church building and restorations, £25,000,000; schools, £21,000,000; endowments, £30,000,000; sites, parsonages, and other items, bringing up the total to about R80,00.0 ) 000. In - the same, period, he said, the Dissenting community had spent £15,000,000 in building places of worship, or about the same amount spent by the Church since 1820. A discussion ensued, and the meeting was unanimous in an expression of dissatisfaction at the manner in which the religious census of 1851 was taken. It was also agreed on the desirability of having another religious census obtained which would repr_esent fairly the state of sects throughout the. United Kingdom. DR. NEWMAN ON INFALLIBILITY. The Standard attributed to Dr. Newman some very strong expressions touching the Infallibility dogma. He was said to have " written to his bishop at Rome, Dr. Ullathorne, stigmatising the promoters of Papal infallibility as an insolent, aggressive faction." Dr. Newman repu diates these uncomprising terms. But he none the less admits that he deeply deplores the policy, spirit, and measures of those persons who are urging the definition of Inf a llibility. "B u t, on th e other hand, I have a firm belief, and have had all along, that a Grqater Power than that of any man or set of men will, over-rule the deliberations of the Council to the determination of Catholic and Apos tolic truth, and that what its Fathers eventually proclaim with one voice will be the Word of God,". THE ATHANASIAN CREED. The Rev. and Hon. W. H. Lyttleton states in a letter to the Guardian that the question raised by the petition in which , ho and his brother join, does not relate to the Athanasian Creed as a whole but simply to the damnatory clauses. He says he did not at all question that damnatory clauses of some sort might be lawfully appended to some points of faith , and precepts of salvation. But might, he asks, such anathemas as those of thr Athanasian Creed be lawfully appended to al: and each of the propositions of that Creed ? 11liqht we lawfully say, for instance, that every Sabellian and every member of the Greek Church shall, without doubt, perish everlastingly ! For this, labour as we may, he says, to explain the words away, is what the Creed declares. In all earnestness he calls upon every one who reads his words to consider the subject, and if ho arrive at the conviction that the damnatory clauses are inde fenbihle, to do whatever in him lies to help those who are now Labouring to have them omitted from the Creed. • GIRLS' EDUCATION. The promoters of th e hi g hl y praiseworthy movei meat in favour of middle-class education in the] ractrovoliz Alan AO twattca tin wealiex THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1870. neglected sex. Their attempts to furnish a sound education at a moderate price for boys of the middle-class have been so successful that it has been decided to establish a school for girls. Accommodation will be provided foi 400. The fees will be the same as for boys —one guinea a quarter. The boys' school has been an un mistakable triumph, the places being always unequal to the demand for them. It remains to be seen whether this provision for girls will be similarly valued. These schools are designed for the children of clerks and others in similar circumstances. THE AMERICAN MERCANTILE MARINE. (From the Anglo-American Times.) The Committee on American Navigation has issued its report, and a motion has been made in Congress for the distribution of 10,000 copies. The report was presented to the House by Mr. LI - Nee of Maine, and is, as anticipated, a most valuable document. The principle recommended is to sub sidise American steamers employed in the foreign trade, and to encourage by removing every impedi ment in the way of shipbuilding the construction of the vessels in the United States. It is consi dered impolitic to admit foreign built vessels, as it violates the settled custom of the country since the foundation of the Government; encourages foreign labour, shipbuilding, and manufactures at the ex pense of their own; draws money from the country to be spentabroad, foreigners getting the profits, and in many ways militates against American interests. To admit foreign-built vessels on payment of a duty would be impracticable, for to the extent of the duty it would operate in favour of the foreign shipowner with whom the American has to com pete, and, if admitted at all, it ought to be done in a way to place American shipowners on an equality with their foreign competitors. The ad mission of foreign vessels at all to American regis try would tend to deprive the country of the me chanical skill necessary to build its navy in time of war, unless during peace it kept up expensive Government works or a costly naval establishment. " It would be humiliating, indeed, to every Ame rican to see Great Britain employed and paid by us to rebuild the shipping she so effectively aided to destroy during the rebellion. if we adopt a policy that will admit of such results, that nation, could well afford to pay our most extravagant de mands upon her for damages inflicted by the cruisers which from her ports made war upon our commerce during the rebellion." The remedies proposed are as follow :—Firstly, thp remission of the duties imposed upon the raw material entering into the construction of vessels, limiting the amount to the minimum of duties per ton collected on the materials used, and where vessels are built of Ameri can iron remitting an amount per ton equivalent to the duties on a like amount of imported raw materials ; secondly, that all stores to be used by vessels sailing to foreign ports may be taken in bond free of duty ; thirdly, in order to encourage investment in shipping and extend aid to ships already built that have been sailed during and since the rebellion to great disad vantage, to allow all sailing vessels and steamers running to the British North American Provinces annually a subsidy of $1 50c. per ton, steamers to European ports $4 per ton, and to all other steamers running to foreign ports $3 per ton. The com mittee also recommend that every State and Fede ral tax upon American shipping be removed, also all harbour fees and port charges of every kind, and that the only tax they be subjected to shall be an annual rate of 30c. per ton, to be paid into the Federal Treasury, in order that foreign shipping may be subjected to tonnage dues in American ports. The commercial treaties would require, were American vessels relieved from tonnage dues, that foreign vessels should be relieved also. We be lieve the committee to be in error ; and we say this with every feeling of respect, for the report is characterized by a breadth of information which shows at least unwearied diligence. But, as the London Times says, it is characterized also by ill-feeling towards England ; though animosity does not pervade every line of the document, to use the words of that newspaper. Indeed, the surprise is that so little animosity should have been exhi bited, not that so much, considering how common is the belief in America that the decline in the Acueti can mercantile marine in a measure due to England's direct action against American commerce during the civil war. That this is a mistaken notion we have laboured to prove ; still it is not the less gene rally entertained, and it would be strange, indeed, if in dealing with the subject upon which Americans are so sure that the report should not express that feeling. It has been drawn out in the interests of shipbuilders, and is more directed to revive ship building in America than to revive the mercantile marine of the country. In this, as we consider, lies the error, for we hold that shipbuilding is the creation of the carrying trade, not the carrying trade the creation of shipbuilding. Let the de mand for the ships arise, and Americans will sooner or later find means to supply that demand. It cer tainly will take time, but we are dealing with a failing industry, yearly growing worse, and what we have to do is, in the first place, to stop the de cline, and then revive the trade, if that can be done, by legislative enactment. The answer to this is —that the carrying trade already exists, but it has been diverted into the hands of foreigners ; we propose to restore it by subsidising American ships, so as to equalize, at the expense of the coun try, whatever advantages foreigners may possess. This is to create an artificial industry which a change in the sentiment of the country or in the opinion of Congress would abolish to the ruin of all concerned, and that such a change will come may be predicted with as much certainty as anything can be, for it will be mulcting the West for the benefit of the Atlantic seaports. The liberal and enlightened policy of Eng lan i is repectedly referred to and recommended to the attention of Congress, a recommendation which we will here accept. There was a time, not long ago, when idiotic English Navigation Laws sent sailors to sea in ships with the lines of a box. They appeared to destroy all notion in the national mind of what a ship should be ; and these tubs went on their nine months' voyage to Calcutta, weeks being to them as days, as they pounded into foam the high seas, leaving a track which would have fur nished a sufficient trail to an Indian six months after wards. It was then that American ingenuity came on the stage, and worked a complete revolution. Englishmen, still of middle age, can remember with what wonder and admiration they gazed at the new Yankee ships called clippers, which passed the Bri tish boxes, leaving a mere ripple, though the others were like rocks at sea, the waves breaking white all around. The rise in the American carrying trade was- marvellous, and if - Englishmen had adopted the policy the committee now proposes, that trade might permanently have passed into Ame rican hands ; but instead, English shipowners went to America for these very clippers, and in a short time the inventors and builders possessed no advan tage, for as many were owned in Liverpool as in New York, and British shipbuilders sct to work on the models supplied. Iron and the ecrew by de grees replaced wood and sail; and America, be coming involved in her great civil war, failed to note and reorganise on the change. This, aided by the conflict, threw the advantage altogether into English hands, and the burden of taxation to pay the expenses of that war his established the pre sent superiority. America holds, then, a somewhat similar position to what England held on the In troduction of the clippers ) and if she follows Eng- and's "wise and enlightenod etample i i 3 sho will permit her merchants and shipowners to get their vessels in the best and cheapest mart. A few years more, and there may be Rniihet dhatige, Amcriean iron mines may giv6 to . some American ports 11ladi terial for shipbuilding as cheap as on the Clyde, and the expenses of labour may again grow mole rate, when American yards will be enable.l to supply • • American shipowners with the vessels they require, again gradually substituting American for foreign bottoms. The trade will thus be preserved, the ma chinery kept in operation; and theehipbuilding must necessarily follow, as conditions become more fa- vourable. The report discusses the subject as if the advantage in buying waft all on the side of the menu.- facturer. Now, nothing could be more erroneous ; for, on the contrary, the advantage would be with the purchaser, and the nation which supplied its rival with a competing marine would be the one that suffered, the error lying in confounding the in dividual with the national advantage. Soit was in the case of the clippers, for England then gained by buying American ships, the nation that manufac tured them thereby losing their superiority. In all this class of legislation particular interests are apt to be preferred to the national interest, and a dash.of sentiment can always be thrown in to sea son the report, as is the case with that before us, while Great Britain is effectually used as a foil. Bat we feel confident thA the artificial creation of another branch of industry will but add to the bones of contention, and make the smash all the greater, on the inauguration iu America of a new fiscal policy. CONGRESS. SXNATE.—Feb. 18.—Mr. Wilson introduced a bill making it illegal to import immigrants under labour contracts. Mr. Conkling introduced a bill directing the Postmaster-General to contract with the North American Steam Navigation Cqmpany for transportation of mails, which was referred. On motion of Mr. Sherman, his Funding Bill was made the special order for Wednesday next. A bill was passed providing fur an examiner of claims in the State Department. Mr. Morrill, of Maine, in troduced a bill directing that estimates of appro priations be made through the Secretary of the Trea sury,and prescribing methods of keeping accounts of appropriations. The International Exhibition Bill was discussed, pending which the Senate went into Executive .Session and then adj ourne d.—F e b. 19. Resolutions of the Virginian Legislature were pre sented, asking the removal of political disabilities from Virginians. The House Bill to pay expenses of witnesses in . the cadetship investigation was con curred in. Mr. Wilson introduced a bill for the disposal of useless military reservations, and Mr. Morrill, one for the covering of unexpended appro . - priations into the Treasury. On the motion of Mr. Thurman, the President was asked for information as to enforcement of internal revenue taxes, con trary to the treaty with the Cherokeee nation. A bill granting land in aid of a railroad and telegraph line from Portland to Astoria and McMinnsville, in Oregon, came up, and after discussion, was passed, a motion to strike out the appropriations of land having received only three affirmative votes-- those of Messrs. Casserly, Davis, and Saulsbury. Mr. 'Thurman, who opposed the bill, did not vote, being "paired off." Feb. 21.—Mr. Wilson introduced a joint resolution declaring the rati fication of the Fifteenth Amendment, which was referred. Mr. Patterson, from the Retrench ment Committee, reported a bill to abolish the Freedmen's Bureau and provide for the Bu reau of Education. Mr. Chandler offered a resolution of inquiry in regard to secret correspon dence in relation to the case of Fitz John Porter, and made some remarks in support of the action of the court-martial in that case. Mr. Wilson spoke in favour of a re-opening of the case, after which Mr. Chandler withdrew .his resolution. Bills were passed authorizing the erection of a bridge across the Delaware at Philadelphia ; providing for better security of passengers on steam vessels, and re organizing the marine hospital service. The New York and Washington Air Line Railroad Bill was taken up, pending which the Senate adjourned. Feb. 22.—Mr. Howard, from the Pacific Railroad Committee, reported a joint resolution, authorizing the Northern Pacific Railroad to issue mortgage bonds. Mr. Wilson, from the Military Committee, reported the bill to dispose of useless reservations. Mr. Schurz, from the Retrenchment Committee, reported his Civil Service Bill, introduced in De cember last. Mr. Stewart presented the credentials of Messrs. Farrow and Whitely as Senators elect from Georgia, and moved their reference to the Judiciary Committee. After some discussion he withdrew them temporarily, and Mr. Conkling, from the Committee on Revision . of Law, re ported a resolution recommending the indefinite postponement of the resolution of the New York Legislature, rescinding the ratifica'icn of the Fif teenth Amendment. Without acting upon the re solution the Senate adjourned. I•eb. 23.—Mr. Howard, from the Committee on Territories, re ported a bill providing a Territorial Government for Alaska. On the motion of Mr. Spencer, the Naval and Military Committees were directed to report on the expediency of abolishing the Naval Academy at Annapolis and Militery Academy at West Point, and establishment of a system which will make a military or naval education free to all who desire it at their own expense. Mr. Wilson presented the credentials of a R. Revels, Senator elect from Mississippi. After some discussion they were received by the Senate, whereupon Mr. Stockton, of New Jersey, offered a resolution to refer them to the Judiciary Committee, with in structions to inquire and report as to citizen ship, &c., of the candidate. Pending discussion on the resolution the Senate adjourned. Feb. 24.—The House Amendment to the Political Dis ability Bill was concurred in. On the motion of Mr. Saulsbury the President was asked for in formation as to the authority by which General AmeS .acted as Provisional Governor of Mis si sippi. Mr. Williams offered a resolution, which was adopted without a division, declaring that, in the opinion of the Senate, the existing volume of currency ought not to be increased. Messrs. Fen ton, of New York, and Patterson, of New Hamp shire, spoke in favour of funding the debt at a low rate of interest, and reducing the taxation. Mr. Stockton's resolution, referring the credentials o Senator-elect Revels, of Mississippi, to the Judi ciary Committee, was considered, pending which the Senate adjourned. liOlfsE OF -REPRESENTATIVES, Feb. 18.-11 r. Wood introduced a bill to regulate ocean telegra phic communication with foreign countries. The Legislative Appropriation Bill was considered. A bill was passed appropriating $3,000 to pay ex penses of the investigation as to the sale of cadet- Ships. A motion by Mr. Brooks to print 10,000 copies of the report of the Committee on American Navigation wan referred. Feb. 19—The Legisla tive Appropriations Isere eoneidered. Mr. M'Crary introduced a bill giving a stay of execution on judg ments for debts contracted prior to the passage of the Legal-Tender Ant, for from one to four years, according to the amount, unless the plaintiffs con sent to receive payment in currency. A rule was reported by Mr. Garfield, and adopted, making the Election Committee of the Forty-first Congress consist of fifteen members, and authorising the chairman to assign each contested case to a sub. committee of three, who may report directly to the House. After speechmaking in Committee of the Whole, the House adjourned. Feb. 21— Bills were introduced by Mr. Bingham to enforce the right of coloured persons to vote in the Several States ; by Mr. Johnson, to legalize decrees of dis charge in insolvency by State Courts since the pa,s ing of the Bankrupt Act ; by Mr. Burchard, to re lieve political disabilities in States ratifying the Stiffra;e Amendment by Mr. Terry, to regulate foreign and coasting trade on our northern bound ariei ; by Mr. William, to prevent the furnishing of war vessels or material to foreign powers to be used against insurgent peoples; by Mr. Kellogg, reduc ing the income tax to 3 per cent., and exempting $2,000 ; by Mr. Cowles, increasing the tax on whisky to $1 per gallon ; and by Mr. Townsend, to equalize the distribution of currency. Mr. Lough ridge's resolution directing the Banking and Cur rency Committee to report a bill increasing the eurrenc a y $50,000,000 came up i n o r d er , a n d was adopted yeas 110, nays 74. Among the nays were Messrs. Randall, Kelley, Myers, and O'Neill. Mr. M'Crary introduced a resolution relieving pork packers mid lard renderers from payment of the ma nufacturers' tax. Mr. Butler, from the Reconstruc tion Committee, reported from the Senate Bill re incjvig riihtthilitiqs from four to five hundred ex rebels. On the Motldit df Whittemore, the House Bill, including two thousand names, was adopted as a substitute. Mr. Logan, from the .111itery Committe e , ma de a report of testimony in regard to the sale of cadetships, implicating Mr. Whittemore, the Representative from Souththe Csrelina District, the report closing with a resolu tion for his expulsion from the Honse. After dis cussion, at the suggestion of Mr. Butler, a resolu tion was adopted citing Mr. Whittemore to appear before the bar of the House on Wednesday, and show why be should not be expelled. Feb. 22 Mr. Bingham, from the Judiciary Committee, asked to have the Committee discharged from considera, tion of the charges against Judge Busteed—the evi dence not being sufficient to warrant his impeach ' meat. Agreed to. Mr. Julian, from the Public Committee, reported a bill, which was - passed, ex tending the benefits of the Homestead Laws to the children of deceased soldiers. Mr. Dawes, of Mas sachusetts, offered resolutions direcing the Com mittee on Rules to inquire whether Mr. Muugen, of Ohio, does not deserve censure for a speech printed in the Globe of the 20th instant. The speech reflects upon Senator Sumner, and Mr. Dawes said part of it was indecerlk and improper. The resolution, after some discussion, was adopted. Mr. Sargent desired to offer a resolution looking to separate lcgislation. for taxing fruit distillation, but Mr. Als Car thy objected. The Legislative Appropria tions were considered. Correspondence with Spain was presented, including a letter from Minister Sickles to the Spanish Minister of State, dated Sept. 28 last, in which Mr. Sickles, in conformity with his instructions, withdraws the offer of medi ation by the United States between Spain and Cuba, the basis proposed being unacceptable to Spain. A letter from Secretary Fish to Mr. Sickles is also given, dated January 26, in which Mr. Fish says that the public interest and sympathy felt in the Cuban struggle in the United States have de creased, since the flagrant violations of law by the agents of the Cuban insurgents have been made known. He says the Government will preserve its freedom of action, and be governed by facts as they occur, and instructs Mr. Sickles to urge upon the Spanish Government the policy of complete eman cipation, not only in Cuba, but in Porto Rico. Feb. 23.—Mr. Banks had read a note from the Secretary of State, announcing the death, at St. Petersburgh, of Hon. Anson Burlingame, the Chinese Ambassador. Messrs. Harris, Morphis, Mc Kee and Pierce, members elect from Mississippi, were sworn in. The bill to prevent polyg any in Utah was taken up, and opposed by Messrs. Fitch and Sargent, who argued that its:enforcement would lead to a bloody and expensive war. The Legisla tive Appropriation Bill was considered until two o'clock, when the case of Mr. Whittemore came up. An affidavit from Mr. Whittemore, prepared by Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, was read, in which he declares that if time is given him he can prove that he had never used the money received by him for his own private purposes, and complains that he had no opportunity to cross-examine witnesses. When the affidavit was read, Mr But ler spoke in favour of postponing the consideration of the question. Mr. Logan said that he had asked Mr. Whittemore to cross-examine Kegler, one of the witnesses, and that Whittemore said, he would have nothing to do with such a scoundrel. He said that while the receiving of money for the disposal of the appointment was acknowledged, it made no dif- ' ference what the member had done with it after it was received. He mov e d th e prev i ous question, and resolutions postponing the consi deration of the case, and directing the summoning of other witnesses, were defeated by large majori ties. The question then recurred on the expulsion resolution, when Mr. Whittemore appealed to the House to extend the time of action another day. Mr. Logan said he would make no objection, and the house adjourned. Feb. 24—The resolution ex pelling . Mr. Whittemore was called up by Mr. Logan, who yielded the floor to Whittemore. Mr. Whittemore thereupon commenced to read his de fence, when the Speaker interrupted him, and di rected the Clerk to read a communication which Whittemore had sent to the desk. The papLr was read, notwithstanding efforts by Mr. Whitte more to postpone its reading until he had finished his remarks. It contained his resignation as a member of the House. The Speaker said that it was not the province of the Chair to recognize any but a member of the House, and that it rested with the House to decide whether Whittemore should be allowed to proceed. The point of order was raised that a member could not resign without consent of the House, but the Speaker quoted precedents to show that a resignation was voluntary, and needed no acceptance. Mr. Farnsworth appealed from the Speaker's decision, but a motion by Mr. Cox to lay his appeal on the table was agreed to. Mr. Farns worth, with Mr. Logan's consent, moved to lay the expulsion resolution upon the table, which was also agreed to. Mr. Logan then offered a resoltition censuring B. F. Whittemore, and declaring him un worthy of a seat in the House. Mr. Butler asked unanimous consent to have Mr. Whittemore heard on the resolution, but objection was made by Mr. Morgan, and the resolution of censure was adopted by a vote of 185 yeas, no number voting nay. The Legislative Appropriation Bill was considered. NAVAL ITEMS.—The American war steamer, Richmond, is in the port of Lisbon. The Naples and Flor ence Observer says :--" On the Continent a canard seems to thrive, and stories are believed which in England or Ame rica would not gain a moment's credence. The U.S. war frigate Sabine seems to have been particularly favoured by the caanrd mongers, for during her stay at Nice it was reported thnt a villanous attempt bad been made to blow her up I,y some of the crew who were dissa tisfied with their officers. The story went the usual round of the European journals, and was believed until contradicted in the most positive manner by Captain Walker. Whether it be the tail of the "comet" that has reached Naples or not we are Unable to say, but a report has been in circulation here within the last few days which is a sequel to the French story. It has been said that a mutiny, had broken out on board the Sabine, which was only mastered after some blood had been shed. Nothing of the kind, allow us to tell our Neapolitan friends, has happened. The crew is in the most perfect state of discipline ; both the captain and offi cers are exceedingly popular, and the vessel is, as she was always intended to be, a model one in every respect, as all who pay her a visit may have an opportunity of judging." PROGRESS OF WOMAN'S RIGHTS.—The Minne sota House of Representatives, on the 24th February, con curred in the Senate bill submitting female suffrage to a vote of the people of the State. It is understood the Go vernor will sign the bill.—The Senate of Missouri, on the 23d ult., elected Miss Nellie Raymond engrossing clerk, and passed a constitutional amendment, allowing negroes and ex-rebels to vote. The amendment is to be voted upon by the people, but the State Legislature has rejected the Female Suffrage Amendment.—Rev. Mrs. Pho3bo A. Hannaford Las accepted a call to the pastorate of the Universalist Church in New Haven.—Acting Governor Love has appointed Mrs. Carlin° Neilland and Mrs. Esther Morris, justices of the peace for Sweetwater county, Wyoming.—Mrs. Jennie C. Claflin, of the new brokerage firm, is giving the New York papers her ideas on finance in half-column letters.—The Tribune says: In Utah woman has the ballot. In Pennsylvania she has to breeches. In Britain she is making a famous fight for the tobacco-box. In New York she has her club-house. In Chicago she goes for the adversary with a cow hide, and these few words explain who her adver sary was: —" Mr. W. F. Storey, proprietor of the Chicago Times, has been pdblicly cow-hided by Miss Lydia Thomp sonMissPaulineMarkham." is there anything else to come? —At St. Louis, on February 21,Judge Knight, of the Circuit Court, decided that the debts of a wife should collected from the husband, and not from the separate estates POLITICAL NEWS.—A telegram sent-from New York last Wednesday tells us the result of the elections in New Hampshire on the previous day ; the Republicans carried the State, but by a reduced majority. Mr. Stearns was re-elected Governor, the Republicans having returned the entire State ticket, and have again a preponderance in the Legislature. The majority is estimated at 1,000. polled 35,777 votes; the De- Last year the Republicans po mocrats 32,004; the candidates being the same, viz.: Onslow Stearns, Republican, now re-elected as Governor, against John Bedell, Democrat. It is probable that the v o te was by no means so heavy as formerly, and th e Labour Reform and temperance movements tend to complicate ther struggle as a tOt of party strength. The Republicans, however, have beaten tiieDemocrats combined with the Labour Reform and Temperance organizations.— Morgan C. Hamilton, one of the Senators dieted by the Texas Legislature, on Tuesday, Feb. 22, is a brother of Gen; Jack Hamilton, who has been so prominent in that State, and is chosen for the term ending March 4, 1871, and also for the full term of six years immediately succeed ing. Lieutenant-Governor Flanagan is elected for the term ending in 1875. The municipal struggle at Mobile is believed to be ended. Ex-Mayor Price has been released and the city government turned over, to Dr. Cole. The Indiana Republican Convention met February 22, several coloured delegates being present. Rev. Win. T. Malone, coloured, was chosen Vice-President. Most of the present State ticket was renominated. Resolutions were adopted rejoicing at the ratification of the suffrage amend ment, and declaring that the national debt ought to be honestly discharged, according to its letter and spirit, and favouring a tariff for revenue. The Con necticut Democratic Convention met on the same day, and re-nominated ex-Governor English. Resolutions were adopted denouncing the Legal-Tender Act as a violation of the Rights of the people, sympathising with Cuba, and declaring the Fifteenth Amendment a radical change in the Coustitutiun, Nearly all the membera of th e Vi rg i n i a Legislature, wit tent, distinction of party, have signed' a petition for the admission of the Ilea, ,I nse pl a oegar as congressman at large frym.Virgiuht, WORKHOUSE INFIRMARIES. -. The Brentford Union is in a nico condition. Its guardians, or some of them at least, the other day objected to receive a letter of complaint from an inmate of Ilanwell Lunatic Asylum, because she was a mad-woman. ;What do they think of the report now submitted by Mr. Mackinlay, house surgeon of the workhouse infirmary ? During the last week eleven new cases of small pox have occurred. There are now twenty five cases of small pox in the infirmary, and conse quently the surgeon, though acknowledging that it is a great evil to have patients suffering from relapsing fever in.the midst of ordinary patients, has actually mixed up contagious diseases with those of -a harmless nature. His excuse' is—" it appeared to be the only arrangement I could make under the circumstances." LEGITIMATE COMPETITION IN TRADE, The " rotten tea case" has afforded the Pall Mall Gazette an opportunity of indulging its readers with a homily on the dishonesty which grows out of legitimate competition in trade. How to check this evil, our contemporary says, is a problem which has puzzled past generations. In his " Complete Eng lish Tradesman," Defoe lamented the spread of this evil as bitterly as we ourselves do, and p o i n t e d ou t, amongother things, the futility as well as the vice of that " flux of false hoods" with which it was usual for. both tradesman and customer to do business. " Take it one time with another," he says, "all the shopkeeper's protestations don't make the buyer like the goods at all the better, nor does the buyer's depreciating make the shopkeeper sell the cheaper." The Pall Mall Gazette considers that such an indignity to commerce can be best averted by the tradesman's conversion to Defoe's belief, that "a trading fraud is an unjustifiable practice in business, and like coining of counterfeit money, is making goods to pass for what they really are not." PRIVILEGED STUDENTS. Mr. Charles Reed, N.P., writes to the Daily News on the subject of his question regarding privileged students at Oxford. The Daily News referred to it as though Mr. Reed objected to a distinction be tween noblemen and commoners at the Uni versity. He says it is nothing to him that noblemen have a special table and a spe cial gown; that is a question of taste and custom. What he complains of is this :—The son of a baronet, the eldest son of the eldest son of a baronet, or the son of a knight, can take his course at college in four terms less (because of his rank) than the son of the clergyman or the holder of a public school scholarship. "If eight terms," says Mr. Reed, "are sufficient for the son of a knight, why should an ordinary student, perhaps of . greater attainments, spend twelve at college, at the cost of £2OO of hard earned money ? " THE WELSH FASTING GIRL. In commenting on the circumstances attending the death of the Welsh Fasting girl, the Daily Tele graph recalls a case that bears somewhat on our for mation of an estimate of what the doctors who, it is said, caused the death of the girl, rendered them selves strictly liable to. Not many 'years ago a fanatic preacher baptised a convert in the dead of a winter night in a river, and the shock to the system killed him. The prisoner's defence was, that he did not intend to do any injury, but acted from religious motives. Lord Campbell, who tried the case, would not listen t o th e pl ea , t o ld the jury that the offence amounted to manslaughter, and, a plea of guilty having been returned, he sen tenced the convict to a long term of imprisonment. The legal questions, says the Telegraph, which have arisen in the present case are not at all dissimilac. TOUCHING DEVOTION. Butler wrote— • . Ali me ! what perils do environ The man that meddles with cold iron. Had the poet lived in the present day he might have turned a couplet to advantage on the perils that beset newspaper reporters very often in the pursuit of their manifold and arduous duties. The reporter of the Manchester Guardian has fallen a victim to his too great familiarity with the slums of that teeming city. "We regret," says our contemporary, "to have to announce that owing to the illness of our contributor —an illness directly traceable to his explorations of the 'slums' already described—the regular weekly publication of this series of articles may have to be suspended for a week. We anticipate, however, being able to resume them on the 31st inst." Surely all who read this will join in the wish that the unhappy professional may soon be restored to that pristine health and olfactory vigour which led him forth to do battle with such abominations. But what may be the result of anotherexpedition amongst the " slums ?" THE SILK TRADE OF JAPAN. A report by Mr. Adams, Secretary of LeF,ation, on the Central Silk Districts of Japan, has just been published as a Parliamentary paper. The Yokohama Chamber of Commerce some time sines submitted to the Japanese silk-men complaints by the merchants of Europe and America that the silk was getting worse every year. They also com plained that inferior sorts were made up in hanks to r;samble and be sold as superior kinds. Mr. Adams has since ridden through the silk district-117 ri, or 290 miles—with three merchants, silk inspectors, inquiring into the cause for these com plaints. lie says in his report that the worms are now suffering from a parasite called the "uji" (maggot), which is annulated, without feet, and when of full size sometimes is as large as the silkworm chrysalis. After the formation of the cocoon the uji kills the chrysalis on which it has been feeding, 'and renders it useless for anything but floss silk. The number of cocoons with uji varies from 10 to 84 per cent., and was expected to be greater last autumn than had been known for years. Hence the likelihood of more silk and fewer cards of eggs as when uji are discovered by experiment all the cocoons are baked to save the silk. The report states that Japan produced 2,000,000 cards of eggs in 1865-0, and 2,500,000 in 1808-9. PORTRAIT GROUP OF THE MINISTRY. "A. Cabinet Council in 1809 " has been made the subject of a portrait-picture on a largo scale, by Mr. Henry Barraud. The publication is said to be under distinguished patronage, and copies are to be sold in the order for which they have been subscribed. The figures are fifteen in number. The two nearest, facing one another at a table in the foreground, are the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, both the portraits being very good. The remainder of the Ministers are grouped in different parts of the room, and the tout ensemble is attractive and strikinw. STRANGE CONDUCT OF A MATE AND STEWARD. At the Yarm ou th Police-court .on Thursday, George Ruxton, mate, and Charles May, steward, on board the steam-ship Wellesley, were charged with being drunk and insuboixlinate on board. The circumstances of the case, as stated by the captain, Robert Hermann Peters, were as follows :—The Wellesley is a new vessel of 737 tons register, the pro perty of Mr. Brightman, of South Shields, and is valued at £75,000. She started on the 14th inst. from the Tyne, on a voyage from Shields to Genoa, thence to Marseilles to ship, emigrants for Buenos Ayres. Soon after the vessel left the Tyne, the mate and steward were found by the captain in the after state room in the cabin in a state of intoxication. They had broken open the stores, and had obtained a cake of tobacco of twenty-four pound; which they were distri buting betweek them, and part of which was littered about the floor. They were ordered to their cabins, being toodrunk to perform their duty. The following night the mate came upon deck about one ; bat was still drunk and unable to take his watch, co he was ordered back again to his cabin. Coming on deck once morn, he staggered for ward and fell in a drunken Elen). Both he and the steward continued in a state of drunkenness until the vessel brought up in Yarmouth Roads on the night of the fifteenth.—The magistrate, remarking upon the ex traordinary badness'of the conduct of the prisoners, sen tliNgd_ther4l2. One 7;444#4121' UnPrisonmeAt. MONETARY REPORTS -YESTERDAY. ,V6nsiderable heaviness has been naked hi +Li Weir Exchange Markets to-day. There has been a prepon derance of _sales over purchases, and the alterations have been mostly of an unfavourable nature. Consols, however, have been steady, and unaltered, at 921 to 92 for money; and 94 to 93 for the April account. Reduced and New Three per Cents, 91i to 91g. India Five per Cents have', been done at 112} to 113, and India bonds at 20s to 25s prem. Exchequer Bills, par to ss. prem. There has been very little inquiry for English railwal stocks, and an almost general reduction has taken place iu prices. London and Brighton and Great Western have been firm, and have improved and # respectively - , but the movements in other respects have been in an ad verse direction. Metropolitan has fallen /, Caledonian #, `Great Northern A /, Great Eastern it, and Mid land ff. The money market has been firm to-day. The demand for accommodation has been more active, and thrba months' paper has been charged 3 per cent. No bullion operations have been reported at the lian!e to-day. In the market for foreigh bonds Spanish securities have been firm, and I per cent. better. Russian-Anglo-Dutch also have been in request, at an advance of i; but Egyp tian, 1808, have been flat, and have receded I. Turkish Six per Cents have fallen , and the Five per Cents 14 American securities have changed hands quietly, at about late rates. The demand for Indian railway stocks has been quiet, but prices have been supported. Canadian shares hay° been flat, and foreign have experienced but little Inquir - P Nevertheless prices have ruled firm. Telegraph ;hares have been depressed, at iutthell duced quotations.. Anglo-American have fallen 4, British Australian, ; British Indian Extension, l b and French Cable Shares, 0. Hooper's Telegraph Shares have been flat, and lower. at oto * dis. Telegraph Construction have fallen 2, and Silver's India Rubber 1. Miscellaneous securities have sold slowly, and Hudson's Bay shares have receded i f . The Directors of the Bank of England have declared A dividend on the Bank Stock of 41 per cent. for the half• year. The Clearing House return for the week ending March 16th, shows a total of £29,658,000, against £78,360,000 for the corresponding week last year. British mining shares have been quiet. For colonial there has been a moderate inquiry, but prices have been without variation. Although the demand for bank shares has been limited, the market has been firm. British North American have risen I, whilst London and County and London and MVO Plate have been firm in value. At a meeting of the Merchant Banking Company i 1 dividend of 2i per cent, making, with previous payments, 5 per cent. for the year, was declared. It is stated that the liquidators of the Royal Bank of Liverpool will shortly propose a return of £1 per share to the contributories. The failure has been announced of Messrs. Vogel% Brothers, corn merchants, of Mill-street, Dockhead. The liabilities are estimated at about £25,000. At a meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Goodbehere, Gaine, and Co., wholesale hardwaremen, whose liabilities have amounted to 22,5,339; it was resolved that as no security was offered for the proposed composition of 6s. in the pound, made at the last meeting, the estate should be wound up in bankruptcy. The following are the railway traffic returns for the week sliding March 13 :—Great Western, £72,903, being an in crease of £2,872 when compared with the corresponding week of 1869; Great Eastern, £35,074, increase of 21,637; Great Northern, £39,541, increase of £1,734; North- Eastern, £77,757, increase of £8,301; Caledonian, £37,805 increase of £660; Bristol and Exeter, £6,670, increase of £222; Lancashire and Yorkshire, £48,055, increase of £3,977 ; Manchester, Sheffield, and Lancashire, £22,411, decrease of £77. The returns of the Bank of England shews the follow ing results when compared with the previous week :—A decrease of circulation of £346,543 ; an increrse of public deposits of £655,052 ; a decrease of other deposits of £169,180 ; a decrease of Government securities of £36,100; an increase of other securities of £101,651; an inarease of bulleon of £89,296 ; an increase of rest of £5,548 ; an in crease of reserve of £440,291. The circulation, includin g bank post bills, is now £22,364,130 ; public deposits amount to £11,572,571; and private deposits to £1,689,273. The securities held represent £33,992,567, and the stock of bullion £20,174,915. The rest ssands at £3.637.328. MARKETS-YESTERDAY. LONDON PRODUCE MARKET, THIIRSDAY.—There has been a steady demand for raw sugar, at improving currencies. Taal, 255. 6d. ; Cuban afloat, 255. 9d. Refined goods have maintained full prices. Coffee has been dull and drooping. For tea there has been very little inquiry. at about late rates. Rice has been dull. Rangoon bought in at Os. 3d. to Os. 6d. per cwt. Saltpetre has been firm, and fully as dear; and jute has been steady. LONDON TRADE REPORT, THURSDAY.—The market has been flat. Y.C., spot, 465. Pd. sellers ; month, 465. Pd. ; June, 455. 044 last three months( 465. 6d. per cent. LONDON OIL MARKET, TRußsDAY.—Linseed oil has been dull, at 325. spot. Rape has been flat. There have been sellers' of English brown at 425. spot and month. Other oils have comp manded but little attention. LONDON METAL MARKET, THIIRSDAY.--Scotch pig iron' has been quiet. Tin has sold slowly. Straits tin, £ll9 to 41119 Ms. Copper has been inactive. Chili bars, £66 to £oo 1014 1 Wallaroo, £73. LONDON COTTON MARKET, THIIRSDAY.—The trade hal f been dull, at barely late rates. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET, l'HußsDAy.......o r d& moderate supplies of beasts were on sale here to-day. For ail. breeds the trade was dull, in sympathy with the heavfness prey.* lent in the dead meat markets, and the quot a ti ons were barely ma i n tained. Full average supplies of sheep h ave b een on sal A want of animation has characterised the inqui r y f or a ll qualities, and the quotations have ruled in favour of purohaSers.• Calves have sold quietly, at drooping prices. Beasts have been Bpquoted at from 3s. 4d_ to 5 5. 2d ; sheep, 88. 4d. to 6s. ; lambs, Ts. to Se. supplies. - Beasts, 4s. 2d. to Os. per 81bs. to s i n k the offal. Total os Beasts, 622; sheep and lambs, 7 075 ; and calm, 261, u : Beasts, 243 ; sheep, 2,750 ; and calves, 191. Foreign s BOROUGH AND SPITALALFIELDS POTATO MARKET, TEURDAY.-These markets have been fairly supplied with potatoes. The trade has been quiet, as follows :-English straws, 120 s. to 130 s. ; regents, 758. to 110 s. ; Scotch regents, 754 to 110 s. ; rocks, 70s. to 755. ; and French, 60s. to 70s.per ton. METROPOLITAN HAY AND STRAW MARKET, THuES DAY.--There has been a moderate supply on sale. The demand has been heavy, as follows ;-Prime raeadowhay, 755. to 82s. f3d.; inferior ditto, 60s. to 70s. Rowen, 50s. to 655. prime clover, 110 s. to 120 s. ; inferior ditto,- 80 a. t o 955. ; prime second-cut clover, 1008. to 110 s. ; inferior ditto, 80s. to 90s. ; and straw, 20e. t o 30s. per load. LONDON WOOL MARKET, THURSDAY.-The demand for English wool has been only to a moderate extent, but prices have been maintained. The same remarks are equally applicable tO; colonial produce, for which the inquiry has been limited, but the value of which has ruled firm. LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET, THunsDAY.-The markettl has been steady. Sales, 12,000 bales. GLASGOW IRON MARKET, TIIIIRSDAY.-The demand hat; been easier. Scotch pig, cash, 635. lid. to 638. 9d. ; sellers, (ice, next week, buyers, 535. 4d. CORK BUTTER MARKET, TIIIIRSDAY.-Ordinary, no change in the quotations ; t wo h un d re d an d e i ghty firkins in the market. Mild-cured-firsts, 139. ; second 4 139; thirds, 121 s. Sixteew firkins inthe market. PARIS CORN MARKET, TIIIIItSDAY.-Wheat has been very. limited, and flour has hung on hand. Sales have been difticUlt, except at reduced prices. Rye, 17.60 ; oats, 16.75 to 17.50. HAVRE COTTON MARKET, MARCH 10.-The nark 0 11L4 been firm. For arrival, 156 . ' . AMSTERDAM, MARCH 16.--Banta tin, quiet, 72i, YAIRABAB3O, FED, 27,-Copper ores, sl7i. It is believed at Chatham that Colonel J. W. S. Smith, C. 8., now commanding the Ist debot batta lion at that garrison, will, on the final breaking up of the depot battalions, be appointed to the com mand of a division at Aldershot, and that Coloncl W. Rickman, commanding the 2d depot battalion, will have the command of the new depot battalion —the " General Battalion," which will be formed at Chatham. The Adjutant of this new battalion, it is expected, will be Captain W. Wood, now Adjutant to the 6th depot battalion, at Shorn cliffe. BIRTHS. BAILEY—On tho 15th inst. at bodstone, Surrey, the *ife of Thomas Bailey, Esq., of a son. WHITELA.W—On the 13th inst., at Rugby, the wiio of Robt. Whitelaw, Esq., of a daughter. MARRIAGES. ALDRIDGB—DovExon—On the 17th inst., at Christ Church, Islington, James William Lunn Aldridge ' of Catford Bridge, to Flora, fourth daughter of the late John W. Dovenor, of Deptford, . . . - • PROWSE —REEVES---Ou the r2th inst., at Argyle-square, John Prowso, Esq, of 37, Patshull-road, Kentish-town, to Maria Theresa, second daughter of Ueorge J. Reeves, Esq., of the War-offica. DEATHS. Dixox—On tho 16th at 5(.', Warwick-gardens, Henry Hall Dixon, barrister-at-law', aged 47. 14.1.H.LAitu —On the 15th inst., at tho Rectory, Basingstoke, Mri. Millard, of a daughter. London: Printed and Publiked by WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in 04 County of liiiddleser,u. Friday, ILarclz 18 1870. ~~~~~. ....,, .--____ ,___ ....,_ K E °, et an L :Fh's N(.1,1 Ile Ag 1 1I t %MI A 11 1 4 0 ahle w 4 MR ~~~ E very kr. ) kr • J. kik ] i Th e ( The li (No., 1, call e d ChM 1) t his t he ,1 as th ftaapt ( lat Ot