The Express.
London, England, 1862-12-22 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BZIDBI.

TO DAT Moran& 24. 20m.....Aftemsam. YL 500.
20410111111AP—Mornlos. Th. ious.....Attemeat. ia. SUA.

LONDON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 22.

ONE of the most perplexing, not to say painful,
anomalies presented by the state of society in
Lancashire is that while a vast population is there
hungering for work, and, in its absence, accepting
a maintenance at the hands of charity, there are
broad and fertile plains in some of the fairest lands
upon which the sun shines, unfilled for want of
the strong arms which are idle, and the stoat
hearts which are pining in wearisome inaction.
The ease is even worse than this ; it is not an or-
dinary instance of a deficiency of labour here—of
a superabundance there—which would soon be
balanced by the operation of well-known econo-
mical law. Want of food in Lancashire is aggra-
vated by want of labour in India, in Queensland,
in NataL Every hand employed in hoeing
or picking cotton on one side of the
globe seta, loom and spindle to work upon the
other. We have been told over and over
again that almost any quality of cotton can be
produced in countries which are either colonies of
England or directly under her control ; samples
from the West Coast of Africa, from Jamaica,
from Australia, are constantly being exhibited
and valued upon the Manchester Exchange.
Only give us capital and labour, say the adven-
turers, and the dependence of Lancashire upon the
Southern States is a thing of the past. But even
were this not so, the case, in its general econo-
mic aspect, remains the same. The unemployed
factory operatives of Lancashire are at present un-
productive consumers of food. Nor is it within
the power of prophecy to tell how long
they must remain so. In the clearings of
Canada, on the prairie farms of Western America,
on the grassy slopes of Australia, they would not
only be restored to a state of productiveness, and
so add to the world's wealth, but their increased
power of consumption would tell upon languishiug
industry at home. What remedy, then, for a
part at least of the ills under which Lancashire
groans, so obvious as an organized system of emi-
gration ? Why should not the plan of government
bounties to emigrate, always in more or less
vigorous operation, be applied with concentrated
atigour to this emergency
We need hardly say that we have not the
slightest sympathy with those employers of labour
she discourage the idea of emigration from a
selfish fear that when the time comes for starting
their mills again there will be a scarcity of hands
and a consequent rise of wages. Who would not
think meanly of the charity which, willing to provide
the bread of dependence liberally here, stands in
the way of a man's earning the bread of indepen-
dence elsewhere ? This fear is, it seems to us, a
part of the same timid policy which, nine months
ago, urged some men to refuse to buy cotton, and
to ran the risks of work, lest the American war
suddenly coming to a close should surprise them
with warehouses heaped up with goods. They
reaped their reward in the sight of bolder men's
success, when the cloth which they were too timid
to make was sold at an enormous profit. Even
now they may be sure that the end is not yet.
The war, whatever other result it may have, will
effect at least the disorganization of Southern
society, and the bulk of the world's consumption
of cotton will never again be exported from
New Orleans and Mobile. At the same time we
cannot hope to receive for some years yet more
than a partial satisfaction of our wants from all
other sources of supply. Work will be gradually
resumed ; many months, perhaps years, of short
time, will form the stepping-atones by which Lan-
cashire will pass to full employment once more.
And the selfish men to whom we have alluded may
rely upon it that it will be in accordance with
every higher interest, not only of the men, but of
themselves, to lessen the influx into the labour
market by any scheme which permanently diverts
employment into other channels. Better far
spend ten pounds now In placing an honest man
In a pnaition to earn hie own bread, than to keep
him alive for a year, gradually crushing
mat of him meanwhile hope, and energy,
and self-respect, by doling it out to him
at the rate of five shillings a week. If

Cbt court.

the scarcity of labour undoubtedly wok wages
the process of reaction is no less **lnk and a
plete, and high wages will not fall to • attract
larger supply of labour. tea long as spinti'ng is
better paid than ploughing, Lancashire will never
want spinners long.
But the real difficulties in the way of an extensive
system of emigration are on the aide of the working
cans themselves. To those who know what strong
arms are worth beyond the sea, and what a future
opens before the working man in ands whose chief
want is physical strength and skill, the wonder is
that a country where the conditions of manual
work are what they are in England can command
any sufficient supply of labour at all. But the
men themselves do not look at it in this light. It
requires more versatility of mind than most possess
to entertain the idea of leaving home and friends,
familiar scenes and familiar faces, for new, even
if brighter, possibilities of life in a strange land.
The very novelty, which exercises so strong an
attraction over a certain clam of the better in-
structed, jhas no charm for them. Nothing so
firmly roots a man to the soil of his birth as
ignorance. And it is emphatically true of the
majority of emigrants of this kind, that "cerium,
" *On a»imnw mutat." The brieflesa barrister
goes out to try his luck in the bush ; the clerk
who is tired of the desk flies to the diggings ;
bat the carpenter here is a carpenter there,
only with higher wages and heavier personal
expenses, and a finer chance for enterprise
and skill. In happier times there is a con-
Cant stream of emigration from Lancashire
to Northern America ; in some districts it is
impossible to find a family who have not some
relative in the States. But it is curious to note
how large a proportion of the factory hands go to
Lowell. Their only purpose in emigrating is to
exercise in America, under somewhat more favour-
able conditions, the craft which they have exercised
in England. Some of the more versatile and
energetic end by buying land, and do well ; but
the majority have neither the courage to make
this experiment., nor the qualities which, if they
made it, would lead to smocess.
It must not, then, be forgotten, that for their
own sake emigrants ought to be as carefully se-
lected now as in ordinary times. It is no
charity to send a starving man from Lancashire,
where there are relief boards, to starve in Canada,
where there are none. But there must be many
families in every part of the distressed district who
need but to have this door of opportunity opened
to enter upon a career of prosperous industry,
such as could never be possible to them here. Let
those who are interested in this important question
form local associations for the collection and diffu-
sion of information as to the colonies and the way
to get there ; let such associations take upon them-
selves the functions of emigration agents, and,
carefully choosing only such candidates as
are likely to succeed, let them apply to
relief boards for the necessary funds. When the
subject has been once thoroughly forced upon
public attention, we do not believe that they will
apply in vain. Even if those ,who are entrusted
with the administration of national charity in Lan-
cashire fail to perceive the economy of this course,
the public at large will force upon them a convic-
tion of its justice. For in the highest and truest
sense of the word it is unjust to refuse to English
poverty and dependence the chance of becoming
colonial competence and self-respect.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Dec. 20.

LATE* INTKLLIGIENOL

A letter from Athens of the 13th sails :—" Only
those who have witnessed the wonderful rapidity
with which the idea of Prince Alfred was taken up
by the whole country can really judge of the effect
of the news of the refusal to allow Prince
Alfred to accept the throne of Greece.
The Greeks had, as it were, staked their
future fate on this single chance, and this has
become a poor one now. It may have been folly,
ignorance, anything you like, but it was as genuine
and as involuntary as ever a popular idea was.
Once started, it was impossible So atop it. Every-
thing eine sank into the background ; no one lis-
tened to anything else. Downcast the Greeks are,
but don't imagine they have given in. They are
more decided than ever, as you may see from what
follows. The first effect of the news was, not to
stop the signatures for Prince Alfred, !but to in-
crease the number of votes for Prince Alfred or a
republic, and you may depend upon it those votes
re-echo the general feeling. With those who think
as well as feel, it has taken another more practical
shape. The votes are given, and about 120,000
signatures will be brought before .the Assembly,
which, elected under the colours and name of
Alfred, will confirm and proclaim King Alfred I. of
Greece ; it will appoint a lieutenancy to carry on
the business until the existing obstacles to his
acceptance can be removed, while a deputation
will go to Europe to plead for the removal of. these
obstacles."

Her Majesty, with the Prince of Wales, Prince
and Primus Louis of Huse, Primes Helena, Princess
Louise, Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatnoa, and snits,
cossiatiog of the Lady Caroline Barrington, Lady Augusta
Bruce, the Sarcomas von Schenck, the Barone. von Grancy,
the Hon. Mrs. Bruce, Colonel the Hon. Sir Charles Phipps,
Major-General Seymour, Lieutenant-Colonel Du Plat
(Equerries in Waiting), Colonel Biddulph, Lieutenant-
General Knollys, Captain Grey, Captain Westerweller, and
Dr. Becker, left Windsor Castle this morning, at ten
o'clock, for Oshawa

OSBORNE, Bac. 21.

The Queen, with the Prism of Wales, the Prince and
Princess Louis of Hesse, Princess Helena, Princess Louise,
Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatrice, arrived at
Osborne from W indoor Castle yesterday at half-past 2 o'clock.
Her Majesty crossed from Portsmouth harbour in the
royal yacht Victoria and Albert.
The rude in attendance comprised Lady C. Barrington,
Leidy A. Bruce, the Hon. Mrs. Bruce, Bareness von
Schenck, Baroness von Grancy, Colonel the Hon. Sir C. B.
Phipps, Major-General Seymour, Lieutenant-Colonel Du
Plat, Lieutenant-General Knollys, Captain Grey, Captain
Westerweller, and Dr. Becker.
Countess Blucher also has arrived at Osborne, and remains
on a visit.

This morning Div:ne service was performed by the Rev.
G. Prothero before her Majesty, the Royal family, and suite.

Despatches were sent on Saturday from the Colonial-office
to the Governor of Canada, the Lord High Commiasioner of
the lonian lolanda, and to the Governor of the Bahama,.

PORTSMOUTH, Dir. 21.

Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by the
younger members of the Royal family and attended by the
ladies and gentlemen of the Court, arrived per special train
at the Royal Clarence Victualling-yard, Gosport, shortly
after ens o'clock yesterday afternoon. The Royal party
embarked on board the paddle yacht Victoria and Albert,
Captain G. H. Seymour, C. 8., and proceeded to Osborne.
The usual formalities were dispensed with, and there was
nothing to indicate the presence of royalty.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge,
who has been spending several days with the Earl and
Countess of Westmoreland, at Apthorpe Heil, Northamp-
tonshire, returned to town on Saturday. A select party
had the honour of being invited to meet hie royal highness.
Couut and Countess de Flahault and Miss
Elphinstone de Mahanit have left Broadlen& on a visit to
the Marquis of Lansdowne at Bowood.

The Earl of Fife arrived in town on Saturday
from visiting Lady Catherine Ricardo, et Exbury House,
Southampton. Her ladyship has returned to Grosvenor.
place from St. Leonard's.

The Earl of Rossiya has returne 1 to Claridge's
Hotel from Paris.

The Earl and Countess of Kinnoul are passing
the season at St. Leooard'e•on•See.

The Earl and Countess Spencer, who have been
passing the week at Tottenham Park, near Marlborough,
with the Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury, returned
to Althorp Hall, Northamptonshire, oe Saturday. _ _

The Earl and Countess De Grey have arrived at
Studley Park, near Ripon, from Norton Park, Lincolnshire,
with the intention of passing the Christmas holidays at the
former seat.

The FAA of Howth has arrived at Claridge'e
Hotel from the Oreatimot.

The Countess of Elgin, on board the Feroze, left
Buss on the 13th inst.

Viscount Powerscourt has arrived from his seat
in Ireland.

Lord Ashburton, who left London a few weeks
ago with the intention of proceeding to the south of France
for the winter, has been detained in Paris by illness.

Lord and Lady Bagot have left Stafford House,
SL James's, where they have been visiting the Dowager
Duchess of Sutherland. for Blltb6eld Hall, Staffordshire.

Lord Straogford has left the Brunswick Hotel,
Jeretya.street. • __ _ . .

Morift's rusawaL)
NAPLES.
NAPLES, Dnc. 21.

The Official Journal of Naples has replied to the
late article published in La France, insinuatlig
that Italian unity was impossible, on account of
facts which had been brought to light by the in-
quiry into the Neapolitan brigandage.
The Official Journal says :—" The reduction of
the bands of brigands, formerly numerous, but
now few in number, proves the success of our
troops. Brigandage is confined to a few localities.
The spontaneous concurrence of the population and
their co-operation in the repression of brigandage
attest their unitarian aspirations.
" Statistic tables prove that public safety has
been ameliorated, that crime has diminished by
one-half, and that theft has almost ceased.
" It is untrue that arbitrary arrests of Bourbon
partisans have been made. Before proceeding to
arrest them the police authorities made inquiries
concerning their conduct."
The Official Journal states, in conclusion, that
the revenue arising from the town dues of the
city of Naples is double what it was under the
Bourbons.

GARIBALDL
TURIN, D. 21, Emaxo.

The steamer Sardaigne, having Garibaldi on
board, was compelled by the violence of the wea-
ther to returu to Leghorn yesterday. It is ru-
moured that Garibaldi intends going to Naples.

Colonel Taylor, M.P., and Mrs. Taylor have
rrrivld In tows from Park

The Belgisu Striate adopted, on the 18th, the bill
much ~,ese a an& of half a million of francs, demaaded
in aid of the COMIIIIIBC4 suffering from the cotiod adds.

•
'RESS, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER
THE ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
ON THE LANCASHIRE DISTRESS.

The comusittew of New York citizeoe seeking to
enlist the 00-openstion of the whole of America in the
national effort so auspiciously commenced for relieving
the sufferings of the English operatives, have made the
following stirring appeal :

AVLSICAN PLOPLZ.
"AN APTIAL TOR THZ IRIFTZEING OPRZATIVZS OT CIZZAT

BIUTAIN.

"The blow struck at our national existence has fallen
heavily twos the operatives of Europe, and it is announced
to us that is England there is unusual suffering and a year
of scarcity. ' The agony of Lancashire,' says the London
Vines, 'is every day becoming more acute, and before
the winter is ended the sufferings of the people will prove
the greatest natioasl trial that we have bad since the Irish
famine. When the Irish famine prevailed in 1847, the Ameri-
can people, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, gladly gaveof
their abundance ; our government furnished transportation
for the food ; the British government afforded facilities for
its distribution ; and the Queen, whose virtues fully illus-
trate her words, recognised the friendliness of the act,
Again we are called upon in the name of humanity to re-
lieve men, women, and children, who are compelled without
fault of their own to face a more fearful enemy than war.
The appeal comes to those to whom Godin His Providenceliaa
been most bountiful. Amid all the trials, He has permitted
us to meet in the defence of national unity and constitu-
tional freedom ; unsatisfied hunger has bad no place ; and
despite the withdrawal of an army of citizens to protect the
liberties of the republic, the labours of those who remained
have been so plentifullybleseed that Americaisable, from her
surplus, to export largely to other countries. Let us not be
unmindful at thin moment of the responsibilities imposed
upon us by the munificence of the Ruler of nations, nor
permit our sorrows and burdens to lead us to forget, or to
undervalue, the peculiar duties that belong to our position.
Our agricultural effort', extended over a wide and fertile
territory, as yet thinly populated, have made our lend one
of the granaries to which the nations of Europe that subsist
chiefly by manufactures, now look for food ; sad the
operatives of Lancashire temporarily deprived of American
t cotton, have more than ever occasion for American
corn. Let that cora be forwarded with the generosity
that becomes a people who have undergone the greatest
trial that can befal a nation, and who know the value of
sympathy promptly tendered in the moment of misfortune.
Let us show oar gratitude to Providence for all its mercies,
by recognising the claims of Christian brotherhoo I, and
hasten to relieve the want whose sharp cry comes to vs
scrods the ocean. The Homestead Act of Congress, which
gives to each settler in our western territories, without
regard to his nationality, 160 acres of the public land, offers
to every foreigner a weloome sod a home ; but a threatening
winter of suffering demands instant relief, and reminds us
of the ancient proverb—' He gives twice who gives quickly.'
There is reason to believe, from significant indications,
not alone in New York, but throughout the country,
that the people need no urging to activity in this
cause, but rather wait with impatience the necessary or-
ganisation for the convenient transmission of their gifts.
To this end, the undersigned, who have been appointed by
the citizens of New York to act in concert with
similar bodice, urgently recommend the citizens of
every city, town, and village throughout the union
to call public meetings, and appoiut committees to
collect and remit monies and food to committees on the
seaboard ; and they respectfu'ly ask the clergy of all de-
nominations at once to bring the 'abject before their congre-
gations, and to take up collections, that a'l, according to their
ability, may unite in this national and truly Christian
work. They confidently believe that the railroad com-
panies, and the owners of vessels on the lakes, whose pros-
perity of late ham been largely augmented by the increase of
our agricultural products, will cheerfully furnish gr►tuitous
trscsportation for all donations of food, and that our enter-
prising shipowners will exhibit the like liberality in furnish-
ing freight room to Europe. They anticipate ready assist-
ance from the country at large, but rely especially upon
our food-producing states for prompt and generous
oonttibutions from the grin accumulated on their
bands. The undenioned have already received, aa
will appear by the report of their treasurer, large
donations, which they hail as an earnest of those to come,
and they repeat with pleasure the announcement that by
I the liberality of /drum N. L. and C. Griswold, a new ship
of 1,800 tons burthen has been placed at their disposal.
They propose to transmit the provisions they shall receive,
and those which they may purr-bale as rapidly and econo-
' mically as possible, commencing the work without delay,
sod making such arrangements with persous of probity in
Great Britain as shall insure their immediate and judicious

distributioo. Communications on the business of the com-
mittee may be addressed to John C. Greeo, chairman ;

John Taylor Johnston, mnetary of the International Relief
Fund, No. 69, Well-street, New York. Remittances and
consignments may be and. to A. A. Low, treasurer of the
Inteisational Relief Fund, No. 31, Batling-alip, New York,
or to any member of the committee.
" New York, Dec. 6."