The Sun. — London, England, 1871-02-23 00:00:00

treatment to others they would have the same result. He would now re f er to t h e o bj ect i ons w hi c h h a d b een raised against the bill. It was sa id that to interfere in this direction would destroy all responsibility, 'but this he denied. Th ey wou ld no more destroy responsi bility th an t h ey cou ld s t ea l a keyhole. (A laugh). They could simply be carrying out what had a l rea d y been. done partially by private associa tions. Another objection was that they would require an . army o f surveyors . H e wou ld !hew the fallacy of this argument. There were 27,000 ships registered at British ports. The su rve y o r s em pl o y e d by Lloyds sur veyed 12,000 or 13,000 of these. For this Purpose they employed regularly 39 surveyors and 16 others had partial employ. They had thus half the work done, and besides this Liverpool did more of the work ; the Cunard, Inman, and Peninsular and Oriental Company steamers did not require it. A number of steamers, carrying mails and passengers, already received certificates from the Board 'of Trade, and by a simple rule of three only 17 sur veyors would be required to do the remainder of the work. Indeed, in making this estimate he was told by men who had gone into and fully understood the subject `that he had exceeded the number rather than understated it. He was further met with the argument that it was costly and would entail an outlay of £500,000 a year; but in reply to this he had only to say that the registering committee at Lloyd's, who started without capital, and who made a small charge per ton on the tonnage of the ship, had made a very large profit, and he did not for one moment ask the Government to undertake the work without a similar payment being made as was made to the committee of Lloyd's In whatever a man did on land, he came under the official cognizance of an inspector, and he did not see what plausible pretence there was for saying that that principle should.not be applied to the sea. In Hull or Sunderland a ship might be bought, the masts of which were so rotten that four inches only out of a diameter of sixteen were sound, and the inside seam so rotten that an um brella could be driven completely into it. He might buy a ship by auction for 4s. per ton register, the value of a new ship being from £lO to £l4 per ton; he might tar her over, and put her in an apparently fit state, and no one could interfere with his sending her to sea. It was a disgrace and, lasting reproach to the Liberal party that although they had been in office during the greater portion of the last forty years they had al lowed so l arge a number of British workmen to remain without protection from the danger to which they were exposed ; and he appealed to Parliament to embrace the present opportunity for effectually legislating on the question. Mr. WHEELHOUSE seconded the resolution, remarking that it was because ships were unclassed, and there was nothing to render it necessary that their seaworthiness should be looked to, that loss of life so frequently occurred It was not a question of party, but a ques t ion of the sailor who was sometimes obliged to go to sa when he knew that the ship was utterly unfit for the voyage. Mr. EUSTACE in moving as an amendment that the bill be read a second time that day six months, did not deny that something ought to be done for diminishing the perils of the sea, nor that ships sometimes went out of port in an improper condition, but he contended that the remedy suggested for the acceptance of Parliament was entirely unsuited to the case. Any man w h o, e i ther from negligence or for an takin g proper care that she was in a seaworthy condition committed a crime before God and man. But that was a Matter for the criminal law of the country, and if the criminal law did not deal witlr it it was a lasting disgrace to the Le gislature, H e o b jected to handing over th ins pection to an i rresponsible surveyor, in whose podutwey ofr i might he to give any dishonest shipowner a bill of indemnity. It was but a very small minority of shipowners who sent their vessels to sea in an unfit state. on. gentleman Who had recently visited their constituents H must be aware °f the feeling which existed against a certain class of per sons being placed under the insp ec ti on of the police. H e considered. it would be an outrage upon a class file:)(3! men. who, whateve r m i g h t . b e the faults individual m em b ers , h a d ra i sed the mercan to Marine of this count r y t o it s present position, 'idered be placed un d er G overnment i nspection. He con the Ho the Bill was s i ngu l ar l y i nopportune, and use t asked to legislate for two reasons, first, that the offences alleged were increasing, and secondly, hat deal were no other means of dealing with them. He v e,nied that wrecks were increasing, but, on the contrary, -`4"33rd's r e t urns for the past ten years shewed that during the last five y ears , w ith one except i on the number of k e eekB were below the averag e , and that in the p rece di ng rag e -Ye „ars, with one exception, they were above the ave. sheavingus that there had lately been a decrease -7tohethuuMberof wrecks. For the first half of the year e had been a very considerable decrease in the 111 ; 111 20" er ,, e 4 vessels lost. There had also been a decrease of 20 tier cent in the number of lives lost at sea ,1 • th e n „.„_"- 11 , e last five years, and for the first half of 1870 fr'e°er was considerably below the average. His hon. thou [tad referred to the number of ships which from bad state had broken up when cast on shore; but it wa s,„ a, singular fact that loss of life from this cause had greatly diminished, 'and the number of lives saved had ma terially increased. That, he ventured to think, shewed that these ships which were cast ashore were in a better condition than formerly. He considered that the bill was inopportune, as there was a measure now before the House which deals with the matter in a proper way. If lation wa s requ i red it should provide that ships hat e are reported to be unworthy should be surveyed, and detained in the event of their being unseaworthy, and that any Man who sent a vessel to sea in an unfit state should be , Ruilty of a misdemeanour. He hoped that one of the results of that discussion would be that her Majesty's Government would see the necessity of taking . the Matter into consideration. He thought that the registra tion of ships at Lloyd's by the Liverpool Association, I.,;vhich the House was asked to approve, would be unsatis tactory, for there was a great deal of shipbuilding going on on t he Tyne, Weir, and Clyde, and the result would be that a as,Parate book of rules would be required for each of these V P 'aess- Neither did he approve of the power being ialifted to the bands of the Government. The results of %e bill would he thought prove very injurious, and he wa ,:rei ° Pinion th a t th e h on. member had acted rashly in placing gn shippi ng i n the same list. The result of that ~„01ild be th a t f ore i gn nations would adopt a code of rules nittheir own, and any man sending a vessel to a foreign re would be li a bl e an d subject to rules of which he li a b le know no thi ng , and which might render his vessel vrue to fine and pe r hap s con fi scation. Perpetual contro o:lies would also arise between this country and others bit,"lBPutes which w ou ld spr i ng up. He had, however, a er objection than this; he believed that if the bill ti o4 . Passed th ere wou ld be a complete stagna -14 In the shipping trade of this country. (Hear, hear.) eiteaddition to this the rules for the classing of ships were Li me d over and over again, and the present rules at so -Yu s had not been in force twelve months. That being w , the surveyors would stick c l ose l y to the rules. They 54 1 . 1 d have no desire to recognise improvements, li ve the res u lt, th ere f ore, could not be beneficial. 5". 4 4 ..Y . ship that w as b u i lt containing any thi,'„, ° venient was built contrary to the rules. One would tfrom the hon. gentl eman ' s remarks that no ships th„ t l '• e u nelassed until they b ecame old; but the fact was Many of the b es t s hi ps h ad never been classed at ts Many of Green's Indi a an d Australia vessels . s t o hi not been so classed, and he once had a bel ong i ng to himself which was built contrary to 'V i es, and was not classed, but which went 20 voyages as a ; after whi c h the rules were altered, the vessel lb ill q, uld i e a. u, and subsequently sold to the Indian Government. dwell on many other points, if he thought the h .,N 3 likely to become law, but he had no such idea. Na - tglit point out how easily the conditions could be 404 P a -e °, and he should like to know why there should ecial regulation about coals. Coals were not the if is e a•No they could have. A vessel with a thousand she I roll in her hold was not nearly so seaworthy as e ~had • 1,250 tons of c oa l. The hon. member 1e .rliinsoll), had allud e d to tePly th cease of i-) avid Malcolm, at Shields e and in Vet; to that, h e m i g ht say he believed tl ac 'are v a's a sufficient answer in the hands of the old is °f Trade at this time. That being the case it q i ,ntre been f ar b e tt er if t h e hon. member had put th'ller B tion on the subject the other night, and ob 1Z e o ,„ a ll official reply, instead of withdrawi it and s k ,,msa er r t ng down and making an ex parte statement.. He thm„stio„" this was a bill which would never receive the te t ,,,),°f the Le g i s l a t ure , an d he opposed it because th e ooi" would be opposite t o its intentions, because it th e Nett and inopportune, an d would b e injurious to that 1 ry. He moved that s ill l:4l ag interest of the count. -5 read th a t d ay s i x months. 4 11 tl k h - T l-I BokTE seconded the amendment, and said that tIN,: fully sympathised with what w as sa id a b out a‘''ol4 ll 37 and overloaded ships bei ng sent to sea, this t o N not effe c t th e o bj ec t i t h ad in view. He be -9 N 15 tliZ°llld tend to increase the dangers it was intended If .„.14 0 ,,'• He pointed out the easy way in which ,l)e 4t Ns lns might be evaded, and said that fla b , passed he believed many of our nok"wked would sail under a foreign flag. ne v e th e 'n'it the object kept in view, should be to bring Nre4l;llg r e B ponsibility to 'the shipowner, instead of re etigts thaw of it ; and as the present measure did . . n . ot qad 11 4 tn 4 ., object, he advised the House to defer ieguna- N 4 ,Pe i ,„"°.? introduction of the bill the Board of Trade 44 4 . ""er -1 1‘ e u on the subject. A bill which dealt with the 4 1 t 111' 1, 4 o eminently practical way, inasmuch e 4,7., a it a misdemeanour for an owner to ve k 7,ed to sea in an unseaworthy . state ; to t e , to be ador to call a surveyor if he . believed the to a sh ohi , ;unfit tor the voyage ; and required that a re i4Bit tre'Lithbe__kept of the draught of water made at sea, (L4le„ t :17 party sou g ht the interposition of the law, u4lght be inflicted upon the actual offender. th e t olL'ltYtiBol:Ported the amendment, believing that Nle i t would of the bill was i no pp or t un e, t t a _, . _be p re f era bl e t o wa it f or I t.t;,`, • T h wnich had been prepared by the Board . of great defect of the bill was that it included hckt I°4 hav e tidal that d fi e,4 ay.ve river in the kingdom, e ti la e t d eei lil i t every placed upon the , word "ship" by a ;l e L s of nin the courts of l consequently, the q4cl L 4 surveyor would be completely overwhelming. eard t (j, 4 ,.a r nit ycio he present movement characterised as a g„e to make the importation of coal impossible. ath, , ,3-oVerllhleht interference in such matters tth t,„7kt hi'itZic! more harm than good. It was, no doubt, a aadr IP for a seaman who had entered into a c0n t%17.:4, Bia,aooixindesbtleybelieved the ship to be unseaworthy, he liable to punishmentthe for declining to go Itol'ln.oa orYage, oughtto be empowered to have the but a at com petent surveyor on the ques , same time it was well tbtirea_these objections were frequently raised price of the men when the vessel was laden and ready for sea. How to meet these contending diffi- Males was a matter not easy of solution, but he was of opinion that the problem was not solved by the present bill. Mr. NoßwooD complained of the extravagant language used by the hon. gentleman when starring it in the pro vinces. His hon. friend, in one of his speeches, had alluded to, shipowners "as black-hearted villians who insured their ships for three-fold value, and afterwards set their wicked heads to work to wreck them." (Laughter.) Unfortunately there were a number of vessels which were sent to sea in an unfit and an unseaworthy state, but that did not justify such strong language being ' used, and as a representative of a seaport town he pro tested against such statements going forth. On referring to statistics he found that out of 79 vessels that had foundered, 52 were small vessels under 100 tons register, and of the 27 large vessels which had foundered on our coasts during the year, 22 of them were ships in ballast. The great danger to our colliers was not in going into port, but in returning in ballast. Of the 19 colliers lost last year 10 were vessels under 100 tons, and of those five were in ballast. The largest proportion of vessels which foundered were small smacks and fishing vessels, and the cause was not attributable to rottenness. He did not object to there being a fairly defined load line, but the difficulty was how to avow it fairly. The great object of the bill was to place all ships under survey ; but if this was done, it would result in simply relieving ship owners of their responsibility. The hon. gentleman had stated that shipowners now had no responsibility ; but he denied that statement entirely, and there was a special clause with regard to warranting the seaworthiness of vessels. And further than this, the very fact of a shipowner conve yi ng a cargo was evidence of his responsibility. It certainly would be a most dan gerous thing to relieve shipowners of their responsibility. The bill was utterly impracticable ; but he hoped in the Government bill, which he trusted would be passed this year, that a clause would be inserted which would check anything like fraud on the part of the owner. In conclu sion, he again protested against the statements made by the mover, which he considered were outrageous. Sir GEORGE JENKINSON could not agree with the hon. member for Tynemouth (Mr. Smith) that the difficulty of classing iron ships was a reason for the non-interference of the House in this matter. That argument seemed to him, if it went for anything, to amount to this—that we were to sacrifice thousands of ships and thousands of valuable lives for the purpose of experimenting in ship-building. There was one point which seemed to have been overlooked—at any rate it had not been mentioned to-day—namely, the question of deck loading, which seemed to him to be o ne o f th e mos t im portantpoints in the whole subject. He hoped, if the Government did not allow this bill to be read a second time, so that it might go into committee, when its faults might 'be dealt with, that their own bill would deal with the point he had mentioned. He hoped the House would allow this bill to go into committee. Mr. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE agreed with those who had spoken before him, and recognised the humane motives which actuated the member for Derby (Mr. Plimsoll) in bringing this matter before the House. Their business, however, was to consider whether the means he proposed were the proper ones, and if they were adequate for the purpose ; whether the evils they inflicted would not be greater than the advantages which wonld accrue from them ; and whether better means could not be found for attaining the same end. He considered that the Government had placed before the House better means of obtaining the same end, and after givinc , his best atten tion to this bill, he was not a bl e t o advise the House to ac cept it and to pass the second reading. Neither was he prepared to undertake on the part of the Government the enormous and hardly profitable labour which he proposed to impose on them. He could not agree with the hon. member that it was a limited bill, because it would require the Board of Trade to be continually over looking every vessel. He spoke of a yearly survey but if surveyors were to be of any use at all, they must be far more frequent than that. Then, with regard to the load line, there was no such thing as laying down a general abstract rule. It must be decided upon a special survey of the ship by a surveyor appointed. by Govern ment, and this proved clearly what he said, that the bill would entail endless and perpetual examinations. He contended that before Parliament sanctioned such an enormous amount of interference with the trade of the country, and imposed such a vast and costly quantity of inspection and control upon any department of the ao vernment, it must be satisfied that there was no other way of effecting the purpose, and that the object in view jtistified the means they were called upon to adopt. How much good would be derived from the vast amount of Government interference which the bill proposed to impose ? The hon. member for Derby argued as if it were necessary to assume that the lamentable loss of life to which he referred would be put an end to, if his measure passed into law. If that would be the case, he would be the last man in the House to question the advisability of passing such a hill, or to object to any amount of trouble or responsibility which might be cast upon any department of the Government. But would that be the case if the bill were passed; and supposing, too, that its provisions were admirably carried out ? de contended that it would not, as there were a variety of circumstances, such as collision at sea, the carelessness of navigators, errors of judgment, and, above all, the unavoidable perils of the sea, which no bill of that kind could provide against. It came to this, then, that under the bill, Parliament would have to establish, at enormous cost, that which had been truly called an army of officials—officials of a high-class and well paid character—in the hope of preventing a few of the very limited class of accidents and disasters which produced loss of life and property at sea. But, he asked, if such a measure was necessary, and whether there was no other way of meeting in a reasonable manner the same objects? He ventured to maintain that the Board of Trade had framed a measure which would meet the objects contemplated by the hon. member for Derby, inasmuch as it rendered it imperative that a record of the draught of water in the ship's hold, should be kept ; trade the owner liable to misdemeanour at law if he sent an unseaworthy vessel from port, thereby imposing upon him a serious responsibility, and enabled a sailor to demand a survey if he stated that the craft was not in a proper condition for the voyage. The sailor would also be able to call upon the Board of Trade to institute an inquiry, and anyone who was interested in a vessel, who had good grounds for thinking that she was unseaworthy, could also apply to the Board of Trade for a similar inquiry. The difference between the Government bill and the bill of the hon. gentleman in this respect was that whereas the hon. gentleman proposed to survey all ships, the Go vernment bill gave power, if necessary, to survey and stop a vessel from going to sea. If the shipping interests of the country were to be placed under that minute and vexatious interference proposed by the hon. gentleman he thought that it would defeat the very object of the Bill by relieving shipowners of their responsibility. He hoped the hon. member would not press his motion to a division. (Hear, hear.) Sir J. ELPHINSTONE hoped that the Government would bring in a short bill containing the clauses referred to by the Right Honourable Presi dent of the Board of Trade, and not em body them in the Mercantile Shipping Code. He advocated the establishment of harbours of refuge, and stated that one of the reasons for the loss of so many ships was the incompetency of the officers. (Hear, hear.) Mr. S. CAVE thought that any man who sent a ship tb sea, knowing that it was in an unfit state, and for the purpose of getting the insurance money, was as much guilty of murder as any man who was ever brought to the gallows. He wondered how, w h en a ga l e was blowing, thy could sleep in bed. At the time he held the office of President of the Board of Trade he had three propositions laid before him. One was to limit the amount of insurance, but that he be lieved was impracticable. Secondly, to make it a misdemeanour to send a vessel to sea in an unfit state ; and the third was the question of the load line. The two latter points were now em bodied in the scheme of the Government, but with regard to the general question as to whether the Govern ment ought to lay down a strict rule on all matters of detail, he could not advise such a course. He thought the proper way was after a casualty at sea to collect all the information possible, and hold the inquiry, and visit with s evere p ena lti es any one w h o was f oun d guilty of having committed a crime. He could not, there fore, support the bill of his hon. friend. Mr. T. HUGHES should vote for the second reading, because it was admitted by every one that legislation was necessary. The bill of the Government contained 700 clauses, and was there anyone who thought it would pass into law this session ? [Mr. C. Fortescue : Certain to.] He was glad the right hon. gentleman was so confident about it. He had not the same confidence, and preferred to have two strings to the bow. Would the right hon. gentleman separate from his bill the clauses dealing with the matter now before the House, and pass them as a separate measure, in the event of his inability to pass through his own bill ? Sir JOHN PAKINGTON said that unless the right hon. gentleman did this he should vote for the second reading if if it came to a division, not because he undertook to approve of every part of the Bill, but because he would give a vote which would stand as a record of his opinion that something ought to be done in the matter. The sub ject had been placed in the back ground by the frequent changes which had taken place at the Board of Trade, and the only way to have it s a ti s f ac t or il y di s p ose d of was for the Government to undertake a measure, or for the House to agree to an address praying for a Royal Commission. Mr. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE intimated that he would accede to the suggestion of Mr. Hughes. Mr. GREAVES opposed the Bill on the ground that it was one of the most unworkable and impractical he had ever seen. After a few observations from Mr. A. Peel, Mr. PLIMSOLL withdrew his bill, relying on the promise of the Government to deal in a comprehensive way with the matter in their measure. The Game Laws (Scotland) Amendment Bill, the Public Parks (Land) Bill, and the County Property Bill were advanced a stage. CHURCH RATES ABOLITION (SCOTLAND). Mr. M'LAREN obtained leave to introduce a bill for the abolition of Church-rates in Scotland. LODGERS' GOODS. Mr. H. B. SHERIDAN moved for leave to bring in a bill to protect the goods of lodgers against distraint upon the property of the landlord. Leave was given, and the bill wus read a first time. PARISH CHURCHES. Mr. WEST obtained leaVe to introduce a bill to declare and amend the law as to the rights of parishioners in re spect of their parish churches, and for other purposes relating thereto. NEW WRIT. On the motion of Mr. GLYN, a new writ was ordered to be issued for the city of Hereford, in the place of Colonel Clive, who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. The HOMO adjourned at twenty minutes to six o'clock. THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAI, FEBRUARY 23, 1871. LATEST INTELLIGENCE SUN OFFICE, '8 .A.ni THE ARMISTICE. The following telegram was received last night a the Foreign Office from Major-General Walker : VERSAILLES, February 22nd (2.35 p.m.) The armistice has been prolonged until Sunday, at midnight. VERSAILLES, February 22. The Armistice is further prolonged for forty-eigh hours. M. Thiers was received by his Majesty at the Pre. fecture at 10 o'clock, General Chanzy being present and drove at 1.30 to visit the Crown Prince. Peace is considered to be concluded, though no signed. On Sunday next probably Paris will be entered quietly, without any solemn or formal triumphal ceremony. The army will not remain long in Paris. M. Thiers returns to Paris, as he did yesterday. The Orsini bombs captured by the Paris police have been sent over here.—Times 2elegratn. COMMUNIC , iTION WITH PARIS. BRIISSELS, February 22, On and after to-morrow one train will regu larly leave Brussels for Paris every day. A. safe conduct will be necessary for passengers, and only luggage that can be carried in the hand will be allowed. THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR AT VIENNA VIENNA February 22. M. de Remusat, an Orleanist, has been appointed French Ambassador at this Court. —Daily News Telegrams. NEWS FROM THE NORTH. AMIENS, February 22 (5 p.m, The Emperor has remitted several millions of francs imposed upon the Department of the Somme. The French Director of Public Works in the Department of the Somme has received instructions from the Provisional Government of Bordeaux to put the public thoroughfares in order, and to repair all bridges that have been destroyed. Steeplechases, under the patronage of General Bentheim and the officers of the Ist Corps, take place at Rouen to-day. Peace is considered certain.—Telograph Telegratia. REFUSAL OF MM. BUFFLT AND REMUSAT TO JOIN THE FRENCH MINISTRY. BORDEAUX, February 22, 2.15 P.m. The Gazette de France attacks M. Buffet for re fusing to accept office as Minister of Finance, and points out that his refusal has already had an adverse influence in lowering the tone of the Bourse. M. Remusat, who had accepted, has since altered his mind, and informed the Government in a laconic letter that new arrangements will not per mit him to maintain his acceptance of office. Reutes, 0.45. BORDEAUX, Feb. 22 (3.12 p.m.) The Patrie says that M. Buffet is influenced only by dread of the burden of office. French finance is in a critical and confused condition, and the Minister of Finance will have an onerous task.— Lombard Telegrams. PARIS APTER, THE BOMBARD3IENT. Writing from Paris, Febrriary 21, a correspondent of the Telegraph observes i—" Reitirgam !" I believe that a certain eocial Paris will arise oat Of the ashes of Imperial Paris, by dint of the extreme self-consideration, not to say self-conceit, of the French. That, hi mu generation, or in that of our grandchildren, there will be a " Piais," a true Paris, I do not believe—always barring the very great possibility of an intense Imperial reaction. But there will very shortly arise a sort of absinthe-drinking, cigar-smoking, loafing Paris, which will divide its day into break fast, dinner, and theatre ; high play will probably set in among the few remaining rich men at the few re maining clubs ; and vice, " which to be hated needs but to be seen," will not be seen, telt will probably be in truth worse than ever. There are Parisians so Parisian that they would become Prussians rather than leave Paris.. They do not form a great or a clever Class ; they are not Frenchmen or gentlemen in the extreme sense—l am not sure they are even men, the 'savage proper being taken as a type ; but they are eminently Pari sians. And here let me remark that it would be utterly unfair to laugh at the jeunesse dor& and the gandins of the defunct Empire. If you could have daily studied, as I have, the unpublished returns of the killed during the last five months—if you had every day found your table covered with block-edged lettres de fairepart, telling of the funerals of some acquain tances whom for years you have seen daily in Paris with ten days annually at Baden—you would know what class has suffered most for his country. Not the army proper that was overpowered and imprisoned. The Mobiles suffered, certainly, but not in the same proportion. Not the National Guard, for litany reasons though one will be enough : they did not fight. Not the clique of the 4th September ; excepting Sapia, shot by a Republican of a lighter hue of Red in a street row, no known name has been struck from the roll of the national army. Ducrot, indeed, declared for "Death or victory ;" but he no more got the one than the other. Not it was once again the Grants glaces," the disreputable idle, gamblers, race frequenters—on whom a large section of the National Guards depended for their very existence—who were to the front ; and once again the " Libre d'Or" has beaten the " Paris Trades man's Guide." The remains of their class, however, so soon as they cease to be prisoners of war, will leave France many for good and all. The taste for outdoor exercise and sport, which the Emperor and General Fleury did so much to introduce into France, has acted, or Lather is acting, in a way little anticipated by its introducers- Men have come to like hunting, racing, shooting- England is the Paradise of those sports. France is now abominable, and Paris intolerable ; so scores of men say to me, " Why should I stop here—where, arrive qui pourra, there will be at least two revolutions and a civil war before our true level is found— when all my friends are in England, and I can hunt at your Newmarkets, and run my horses at your Meltons ?" I know that £40,000 sterling a year left France for good and ever by one of the first possible trains from Gonesse. Still, a Paris will revive. As we went out, we met M. Roy, whom so many of your readers have seen going well in "the shires," where he would be now if he was not a prisoner of war. This was another surprise. We had killed him, buried, wept over, and decorated him, and now we found him coming home from his club. This is the first day since the 4th September that I have seen any civil movement here ! so I thought that I would take note of the first streak of the dawn of—l wish for the sake of Paris and its now civil grocers, I could say dissipation but a t l eas t a sor t o f setni-life I which is a relief after the drums and trumpets, the marchings and counter marchings of Cl4ment Thomas, the speeches of Gambetta, the politics of Jules Favre, and the " plan "of Trochu. I connot believe war will begin again, in spite of the " not an inch" policy which I hear Rochefort, Victor Hugo, and even Louis Blanc have been preaching to the mob at Bordeaux ; for France has neither soldiers, arms, nor money. And if peace lasts it will soon produce a sort of mushroom Paris, where the inhabitants will lead a useless life, hating their rulers, fearing the Reds, and praying for tune to send them a good strong ruler, be he King or Kaiser, MAGNETIC MOTIVE POWER. If we mistake not, we are in the dawn of a new and economic motive power. We have long had an instinctive expectation of its approach. Now, by the scientific expo sition of the possibility of an infinitive development of magnetic power by an apparently inadequate initial force, as argued by Mr. Highton, and already published, and the apparent production of it before our senses, seemingly verifying the argument, we are strongly induced to hail magnetism as the coming worker for millions of men and for purposes innumerable. Some will smile at this. It is right they should. The idea bas been discouraged by elec tric writers els visionary and impracticable. They have asserted the impossibility of any such economic use of material for the production of magnetic power as could ever justify the hope of its substitution for steam. They were right as long as the battery was regarded as the source of power instead of a mere initiative, such as results now seem to prove it to be. Our theories of electro-motive force may require to be re-examined, and perhaps changed. The axiom that a given magnetic force is the exact pro duct of a given consumption of zinc or chemicals, must now be challenged and put to the proof. We confront now the proposition that, although the electro-motive force may be in the battery, yet that the magnetic power which follows its application is capable of indefinite en largement without increase of the initiative agent. We are brought face to face also with the fact that, when a magnet is performing its maximum work, the battery • which started the magnetic power is most at rest. In other words, that the mag netic power is not proportioned to the size or con sumption of the elements of a battery, although depen dent upon it as an initial force. We do not pretend to explain this problem, but we can tell what we have seen. It seems to corroborate the recent position taken by Mr. Highton, of England, and to prove that we are on the bor der-land of a new and wonderful series of developments of an economic, safe, andlefficient motive power. It may prove that our assumed data as to the power resident in our battery materially has been underrated, and their pro 'ductivity misunderstood. Let us now state what we have seen, A few days ago we accompanied, on invitation, several gentlemen to the works of Mr. H. M. Payne, of Newark, N.Y. [The editor here gives a description of a powerful magnetic sawmill which he saw in action.] This rapid and effective action has been watched nice con secutive hours by investigating parties, without any per ceptible decline of power, and with a consumption of less than half a pound of zinc—a cost of less than c. an hour. The power developed was rated at two-horse, and can be maintained for 24 hours without intermission at a maxi mum cost of ten cents. Such, at least, is the statement made to us by Mr. Payne, and confirmed by well-known gentlemen, who thoroughly examined it. By increase of diameter and width, or by multiplication of wheels, and the number of magnets, the power can be largely in creased, so we were assured, by the same number of cells. This was proved by the fact that by the addition of wire in the circuit of sufficient length to surround another set of magnets, no diminution of power was apparent, although the action of the battery was necessarily less; thus another wheel of similar- power could have been added. The four cells we saw were stated as capable of maintaining the speed and power produced in our presence for sixty hours without renewal, at the cost of abeut a single stage fare on Broadway per day. In this machine, so utterly simple as to challenge the scrutiny of the most ordinary mind, we see the dawn of a new power, capable of endless application at a minimum cost, and destitute of the usual element of danger. It occurs to us as very strange that what ts is just being proposed as a possible status of facts by a learned divine in England should proved the tl self same theory which an American citizen has been f priva ar e , y and persistently developing in actual practicheevosri3creeo tos To what it may give rise, we have no p tell. If the premises demanded are proved prophets be correct, v see the Atlantic its application is infinite. crossed by huge vessels, W We mayye i propelled without an t initiative .. of ounce of coal, by a power place beside his writing which the captain may desk in his cabin, which a child can apply, and the littlest finger may stop. The begrimed furnace-man may then come out from these lower hells, and walk the deck .....,... __ _ __ as clean as the passenger, and the blazing fires be put out. - - And it may be in the mysterious workings of the Almighty, that these electric forces, which are on every hand de- veloping themselves as the life of the world, quickening its pulses from pole to pole, the cause of growth, and the cardinal element of a power the limit of which is yet unknown, may be ordained to remove from man part of the curse of toil, unbending the labourer's back, and making him to stand erect as at the first:—New York Telegraph Journal. AN ORLEANIST RESTORATION. The Manchester Guardian publishes the following firm an occasional correspondent, dated Bordeaux, Monday : " I have high authority for stating that the plan of M. Thiers is to make peace at once, to clear France of the German army, to bring back the French army, to reor• ganize the rural police in order to put down the marauders who, even in the departments occupied by the Germans, are doing almost as much damage as the enemy ; and to pave the way for a speedy restoration of the Orleans dynasty, and the re establishment of the charter of 1830 as the supreme law of the land ; these two latter projects to be confirmed by the sanction of a plebiscite. M. Thiers has always been in favour of the maintainance of a strong standing army. As France cannot now afford the expense of a radical re organisation of her regular forces, the Imperial army, when it is brought back, will not be disbanded and re organised, but will be placed under the command of General Changarnier, who is believed to be devoted to the plans of M. Thiers. The belief gains ground that, be the German terms what they may, they will be accepted with but little demur. The following telegrams come through Reuter's agency : THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS. MM. Thiers, 'lnks Favre, and Ernest Picard arrived at Paris on Tuesday. M. Jules Favre wrote at once to Count Bismarck that M. Thiers would proceed the next day to Versailles to have an inter view with him. The Rappel says it is hoped that an understanding will be arrived at in the first interview on all prin cipal points, so that the treaty may be communicated on Saturday next to the National Assembly at Bordeaux. The Official Moniteur of Versailles contains the following :—ln a few days France will have defini tively to decide for war or peace. The short pro longation of the armistice sufficiently denotes that Germany does not intend to conclude afresh a long armistice. The Germans by waiting longer do not improve their position, but rather deteriorate it. France has already known for months the essential conditions upon which Germany is ready to conclude peace. There has been sufficient time to reflect and to pass resolutions. Prolonged delays, are not neces sary and are neither for the interest of Germany nor France. The conditions of Germany are based upon the injuries inflicted in former times and upon guaran tees for the future. Compared with the injuries in flicted, their demands are moderate. The longer France delays, the leas favourable will be the con ditions imposed, and we do not foresee any incident that can come to her aid. We can only repeat that France has arrived at the supreme hour for making peace or war; that the Germans are resolved to con tinue the war in case their terms should be rejected. We hope that it will be understood at Bordeaux that there is no middle course in this faithful explanation of the situation. The Journal de Bordeaux contains the following : "We are able to state, without any reserve, that peace may be looked upon as signed. This informa tion reaches us from Paris, through a person thoroughly acquainted with what is going on. The only question to be discussed is said to be the amount of the war indemnity. The territorial 'ques tion is declared to be finally adjustedin a manner most favourable to the interests of France, and the national honour remains completely intact. M. Thiers will be received to-day in private audience by the Emperor of Germany." NEWS FROM PARIS. Senor Olozaga has been appointed Spanish Ambas sador to France. The Gazette de France says that M. Pouyer- Quertier haS been united with MM. Thiers and Favre to proceed to Versailles to treat for peace. The Siecle, contradicting previous statements in reference to various diplomatic appointments, says that M. de REimusat will be appointed as ambassador to the. Court of St. James's and will also represent France at the Conference. No alteration will be made in the French representation at Florence and Vienna. The Siecle attp, the frigate Magellan and the cor vette Canton, have been sent to Corsica, to put down any disturbances. The same paper urges the people to agree among themselves and to resume their regu- lar occupations as soon as Tossible. The Elecieur Libre denies the report that M. Thiera will reside at the Palais Royal. A report appears in the Figaro that a proposal for the neutralisation of Savoy is being discussed, and also the question of the continuance of the Treaty of Commerce with England and other countries is under consideration. The. Verite says that the appointment of M. Law brecht is significant of a Protectionist line of policy. THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. The Committee of the Moderate Left at Bordeaux have decided to reply to the proclamation of the Emperor Napoleon by a motion formally confirming the deposition of the Imperial dynasty. NEWS FROM BORDEAUX. M. Buffet has arrived at Bordeaux. the Ministry of Finance. He accepts Mgr. Dupanloup, the Bishop of Orleans, has arrived to take his seat in the Assembly as deputy for the Loiret. RECOGNITION OF THE FRENCH GOVERN. MENT BY RUSSIA. BORDEAUX, February 22 (4.50 p.m.) The Emperor of Russia has caused his recogni tion of the French Government to be notified to M. de Chaudordy, who remains entrusted with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in the absence of M. Jules Favre. FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND. BERNE, February 22. Taking into consideration the exceptional position in which Switzerland has been placed by the gntry of the French troops, France has consented to allow the export of a million hundredweight of corn, salt, and forage into Swiss territory. Dr. Kern has received fresh letters of credit, appointing him Minister of the Swiss Republic in France. WRECK OF A CAPTURED FRENCH VESSEL. KIEL, February 22. The French prize Prince Adolphe, captured by the Augusta, has. been wrecked on the Norwegian coast while proceeding to a North Sea harbour. The crew, with the exception of one Frenchman, was saved, THE GREEK BRIGANDS. ..... We have been favoured with the following from ,he Foreign Office : A despatch from her Majesty's Minister at Athens, under date of the 11th instant, which reached the Foreign Office last night, states that the Greek Government have received intelligence of the destruc tion of one of the brigand bands in Acarnania, under the chiefs Konromeno, Isnibouka. and Gabriel, the former having surrendered, and the two lattcr, with two of their followers, having been killed ; and that another brigand had been captured in the immediate vicinity Of Vonitza. The Greek troops are reported to have driven the bands of Kamara and Beloulia across the frontier, where the combined Turkish and Hellenic troops succeeded in killing seven of the bri gands, of whose heads four were sent to Larissa, in Thessaly, and three to Lamia, in Greece. REPORTED ARREST OF MARSHAL SERRANO. The Bordeaux Moniteur contains the following: —"lt ;s announced that Marshal Serrano has been placed under arrest. The cause of the arrest has not transpired.' CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES. The Canadian press ridicule and declare groundless the preposterous statements of certain American journals that proposals for the cession of the British American colonies to the United States will be sub mitted to the deliberations of the High Joint Com mission. (CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.) THE NORWICH ELECTION. The official declaration of the poll was made on Wed nesday. The return was as follows : Mr. Colman (L) Sir Charles Legard (C)... 4,637 3,389 Majority for Mr. Colman THE REPRESENTATION OF STALEYBRIDGE. The statement that Mr. Robert Platt would contest Staleybridge in the \ Liberal interest was not well founded. Mr. Platt declines to be put in nomination. MURDER AT LIVERPOOL. A man named Frederick Crawley, a van d river, resid ing in Everton, Liverpool, killed one of his children on Wednesday morning by cutting its throat. No motive can be assigned for the commission of this crime, as Crawley has the name of being a steady, sober, and reli gious man. He is now in custody. DISCOVERY OF A MISSING LADY. A middle-aged lady, belonging to a family of great respectability in Exeter, mysteriously disappeared about a month ago, and had not since been heard of until last night, when a body, supposed to be that of the missing lady, was found on the banks of the river Exe, partially concealed between two trees. • THE ADMIRALTY FRAUDS. The court martial for the trial of Edwin John Knight, a ship's steward of H.M.S. Achilles, was resumed yester day morning, and after some further evidence the court adjourned till Friday. DEATH AT A PLOUGHING MATCH. During the ploughing match at Bligdon, near Bristol, yesterday, an elderly farmer, named John Bennett Übley, was taken ill, and died in ten minutes. At the meeting of the National Steamship Company. held at Liverpool yesterday, the shareholders approved of the report and policy of the directors. An amendment, requesting the directors to give further bonus shares, was rejected. The death is announced of the Dowager Lady Rogers, widow of the late Sir Frederick Leman Rogers, the seventh baronet, who died in 1851. She was a daughter of Colonel Charles Rupell Deare, of the Bengal Artillery. Two sessions • ago the Home Secretary said he would " at the earliest possible moment " bring forward a general measure on the laws of marriage. Next Monday Mr. Monk will ask the right hon. gentleman when that moment is likely to arrive. There being no " report " on a bill which has passed without amendments, Mr. Fawcett has no oppor tunity for again raising the question of clerical fellow ships, and the third reading of the University Tests Bill will, therefore, probably take place without oppo sition. In Committee on the Government Bill for the ap plication of the Ballot to Parliamentary and Municipal Elections, Sir Charles Dilke will move to extend the hours of polling from the present limits of 8 to 4 to those of 8 to 8, an addition of four hours to the present time of polling. Sir Henry Hoare will propose a clause to abolish paid canvassing. OUR CO rEMPORARIES—This Morning THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS. The Times believes it is impossible not to ponder, with the utmost interest, on the nature of the concessions M. Thiess must be contemplating, and on the momentous conseqUerices, for good or for evil, which hang on the spirit in sthish they may be received by the French Assembly. Deeply convinced as we are that, if France is to be saved, peace Must be made at all costs, and that scarcely any concesslene would be too great to attain this boon, we feel tst the same time not less deeply that a terrible wound Will be inflicted on French feeling. There is no disguising the truth that France is called on to accept, however lustily, a grieviortsliation. There will now be no snore room for illusions. The loss of several Departments; 'and of the most fantods fortresses of France will be facts too conspicuous, too constantly felt, for the most obstinate believer in French glory to shut his eyes to the truth. The present may be painful, and may be embittered by the recollection of the past ; but there is nothing to despair of in the future. France will have suffered a severe loss, but nothing more. She will still be France, and the sacrifices she makes are as nothing to the moral tend material resources she still pos sesses. It may take long to recover the devastation and the debt which now burden her ; but the years of a nation's life are not . limited like those of au indivi dual, and no such loss nerd be snore than temporary. lies homes will be darkened fur many years to come ; but the places now vacant will gra dually be filled, and not less surely may the void in her material possessions be replenished. The French have mistaken "Toutes les Gloires de Is France," but such glories exist in abundance. She possesses a soil un rivalled for fertility, a climate which is the delight, the refreshment, and the envy of other nations; she contains within her own borders most of the necessary elements of material wealth ; her geographical Position is the finest in Europe ; she is open one side to the Old World, and on ,the other to the New ; she is already furnished with a material organization admirable in all its outlines, and in some par ticulars superior to that of any other country, Above all she contains a race, or several races, of people who, what ever their failings, have at all times known how to march in the van of civilization, and sometimes to lead it. They are, moreover, a people at least as well adapted to who glory in peace as in war. In the tasteful and ingenious arts they excel all other nations ; in patent industry and persevering economy they are unsurpassed. Nothing is more clear from the revelations of the last six months than that the mass of the French population are as averse from the fallacious "glories" of war as the most peaceable German or English peasant. Let the leaders of the nation at this crisis only do justice to this spirit, let them recognise the blessing's it would insure their country if it had but fair play, and let them fix their attention on the hopes thus offered by the future, and the present genera tion may not have passed away before France will be richer,• happier, and more useful than she has ever been before. The &dig News considers the first result of the peace negotiations is the extension of the armistice to Sunday evening next. Those negotiations have, therefore, not only begun, but have begun with flt good many omens in favour of success. The political situation in France, of course, waits on the military situation. France has everything to do, but is resolved to do ono thing at a time. Everything' has to be reconstructed, but there• must first be a France to reconstruct. At this moment she is not mistress of herself. Her capital and large parts of her soil are in foreign hands, and what will be France and what will not be France when the enemy has turned his back on the capital and gone home it is at present impossible to say. But the very marked feature of the present situation is the absence of political excitement. For months past France has been one and indivisible in a sense she has not known for years. Fighting for the 'tufty and indivisibility of her soil, she has attained the higher unity and the more patriotic indivisibility of all classes of her people. At the present moment the Assembly is not political, it is simply patriotic. It has made a Government, not that the Government may make a dynasty, but simply that it may make a peace. The peace will, in fact, not be the making of any one political party, nor of any one group of statesmen. The national disaster is shared by all parties. It was brought on by the Empire, increased under the Republic, and will be brought to a climax in the peace negotiated or the further war resolved on under the moderately Orleanist Assembly. It is impossible that a statesman of Count Bismarck's shrewdness should not see how greatly it is to the advantage of Germany that the peace now being made should be " acceptable at Bordeaux." We shall know in a day or two whether the expectation that the Germans will be be thus conciliatory is to he realised. The extension of the armistice to Sunday shews that the negotiations will not be long, and lends colour to the rumour in Paris that the Assembly will have the terms before it for final discussion by the end of this week. We can only express one more hope that those terms will be such as France may honourably accept, and even such as will allow her to forgive and forget. The whole proipect at this moment depends on the question whether political or military considerations are to pre dominate in the counsels at Versailles. There will probably be peace ; but whether it will be a lasting peace entirely dependson whether it is or is not a generous one. The Standard says :—All the facts of which we are in possession confirm the statements which promise an early conclusion of peace. Besides this seeming resolution on the part of the new Government, which enjoys, as the vote establishing it shews, the confidence of the Assembly if not of the country, to accept and recommend the terms insisted upon by Count Bismarck, there is in favour o f this assumption the evident desire of that Assembly to be rid of the war at any cost. We do no injustice to the deputies now assembled at Bordeaux if we describe them as guided a great deal more by the desire to relieve France from the material disadvantages under which she now suffers than to maintain any point of honour. The Orleanist majority in that A ssembly is very much snore concerned about the establishment of its own authority than any thing else. It has no heart for a renewal of the con test, and it has reasons enough, it must be allowed, for deciding against any such renewal. The armistice has damped the courage of the nation. It has sown division and distraction It has thrown out of the saddle the man who, with all his faults, was the life and soul of that resistance. It has necessarily put, and almost first, upon the order of the day that question of the future form of government which, whilst the war lasted, all patriotic Frenchmen, however indig nant they might feel at the conduct of the Dictator and the proconsuls he appointed, resolutely adjourned to the season when France, vista or rictrix, might have leisure to consider it. The National Assembly will accept any peace M. Thiers and his Ministers may recommend it. What will be the character of that peace is another question. Certainly France would not consider the territorial ques tion settled favourably for her, or even, ready as she is to think the best of herself, regard her honour as completely intact if the peace should wrest from her Strasburg and Metz, Alsace and Lorraine. May we then hope that the German Government has shown a wise moderation of which all the utterances of its accredited organs have allowed no expectation ? May we trust that if a sking a cession of territory, it w ill as k b u t a ve ry small one, that only such for whi c h it m i g ht assign certain re on of strate g i ca l conven i ence o ' ^ , ^ally defensive 'character? We doubt it, we mus t con f es , will A. day or two N solve all doubts. be T en he fo l rm de a lfi llYr ap c h on o c b l s u e d r may 11 ‘ e f ar T a inor a: any so fully e v d es , we Although pea t ce has not that the Treaty has been signed. yet ni ae s q a u t a io in n te , d )f wFitrlaintolise that t ib h le e ec ii h l au r s e t f i i 7 e a n n o d t t e h r e m d s is l ( v )r h g jo a l; and whatever treaty stop short of outrageousi severi t y .l . ; be endorsed . by the may be signed by still believe that they will be harsh ; but we nation. The Germanil him will will, no doubt, they ht e l s i t a v t e r ü b s t e e o n a n designated by common repor d sli p ro ve more re aso t nab x le ot ti t i h a e n lthotyth Count Bis d a mount o in the stafteitnheenintsocnirecyuilnatmansittyo. the supposed enormous with a prostrate foe, he marck may be acquittedof display . ing such weakness as generosity when he is treating is exempt from the weakness of cherishing hopes, and he knows as well as any ma n in Europe that the force of all his armies could not wring from France so prodigious v i s ionary egually a sum as that which vague rumour has placed among the conditions. Nor, we trust, will the cession of territory be so extensive as that which has figured in popular reports. There is one humiliation which the advisers of the Emperor seem bent on exacting from France, and which, if it be imposed, will never be forgotten or forgiven—the entry of the victorious army into the capital. What the conquerors are planning is the bitterest insult that can be inflicted upon a prostrate foe. The apparent determination to make the French people drink the cup of humiliation to the dregs displays a lack of generosity which excites in neutral bystanders mingled feelings of indignation and contempt. The citizens will not, as they did after the fall of the First , Napoleon, welcome the invaders. They are, heart and soul, the foes of Prussia, and the insulting procession of the German troops will leave undying memories of hate. Their feelings have been expressed with dignity and eloquence by General Trochu. Whether the citizens follow his advice or not, it is far more improbable that the presence of the foreign soldiery and Princes in the Rue de Rivoli may provoke a dangerous disturbance. The throwing of a single grenade, or the firing of a single shot, may lead to dreadful bloodshed, and give additional bitterness to the memory of the insult ing march through the streets of Paris. The force of these considerations is so obvious that to the last we shall cherish a hope in the prevalence of Wiser and more magna nimous counsels. Were the Emperor to refrain from the contemplated sacrifice to military pride, he would, indeed, lose a barren triumph, but he would gain new hopes of permanent peace. eir ad he ng pls. so vas ' 5 to ,rtl ,se , to