The Express.
London, England, 1866-06-19 00:00:00

ART UNIONS.

REPORT OF A PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE.

This morning was issued the report of a parlia-
mentary committee appointed to inquire into the operation
of the Art Union Laws. The tendency of these unions,
they state, has been to foster the love of chance and specu-
lation rather than to encourage high art, and the moral
effect of some of them has been proved by the concurrent
testimony of many witnesses to be very bad. The amount
of assistance rendered to artists is very small indeed, and
as Art Unions must adapt themselves to the taste of the
uninstructed public, they cannot in the nature of things
cultivate a truly good style of art.. The shilling Art
Unions allow easily of frauds, and are the source of great
evils. The committee consider that the administration
of the Art Union laws should be placed under the charge
of the department of science and art of the Privy Council,
and for the purpose of checking abuses they think the
following regulations might with advantage be adopted :
" An Art Union should be entitled to receive subscrip-
tions, make a distribution, or carry an any other opera-
tion, only while it has, as members of its committee of
management, six or more persons whose names, addresses,
and occupations shall have been approved by the Depart.
ment of Science and Art, together with a cer-
tificate, under their own hands, of their intention to act
as members of such committee, and who shall not have
signified to the Department of Science and Art
in writing under their own hands, their intention to cease
to act as members of such committee. No distribution of
articles of any kind, or allotment of money, as prizes in
any Art Union, should be made, except in accordance with
a report or scheme in writing or in print, drawn up with
reference to the particular distribution or allotment, and
signed by not less than six members of the committee of
management ; such report or scheme being in accord-
ance with the regulations of the Art Union, and approved.
Within three calendar months after each distribution or
allotment by any Art Union there should be inserted in
a general newspaper, published in, or in the neighbour.
hood of the place where such distribution or allotment
took place, a statement, specifying the following par-
ticulars:-1. Thenameof the Art Union. 2. The namesand
addresses of all members of its committee of management at
thetimeof such distribution or allotment. 3. The headoffioe.
4. The lowest amount of subscription. 5. The aggregate
amount of all the receipts from subscriptions or donations.
6. The aggregate amount of money allotted and actually

paid for objects distributed. 7. The name of each winner
of a prize, with the number and description of the objects
distributed to or selected by him, and the amount paid
for each such object. And also the number and coat of
any works of art distributed to all subscribers. 8. The
amount paid, or to be paid, for the expenses of the
Art Union out of the receipts included in the statement.
9. The amount of any surplus from such receipts, and the
manner in which it is intended to be applied. And within
one week after publication of such statement a copy of the
newspaper in which it is contained should be sent to the
department of science and art, with a letter referring
thereto, and certifying the correctness of the particulars
set forth in the statement ; such letter to be signed by not
less than three members of the committee of management.
In the case of any departure from or non-compliance with
the order and regulations of an art union, which have been
approved by the department of science and art, or the con-
ditions attached to the approval of that department, it
should have authority to declare its approval to
have become null as from a specified time ; and
therefore the act for legislating art unions, 9 and
10 Viet. c. 48, should be deemed not to have ap-
plied to that association after the time so specified.
Every person taking part in the management of an Art
Union, who Phan authorise or permit any such departure
or non-compliance, should be liable to a penalty, to be re-
coverable in a proceeding instituted under the direction of
the Department of Science and Art. The returns above-
mentioned should be annually laid before both houses of
parliament, and a precis of the same shall form part of the
annual report from the Department of Science and Art."

Last night Major Dickson gave notice that on
Thursday he should ask the Secretary of State for
War if it is the intention of her Majesty's govern
meat, taking into consideration the disturbed state of the
Continent, at once to increase the strength of the army
and to embody a portion of the militia, so as to place the
country in a position to maintain the national honour if
unfortunately we should be compelled to assume a hostile
attitude during the impending European struggle.
_ _

. .
The bill promoted jointly by the South-Eastern
Railway Company and the London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway Company for an independent lino to Brighton,
affording access to all the city and west end termini in
London of those two companies, and to the centre of
Brighton, has passed through committee of the House of
Commons. The bill has been in committee for four weeks,
but it is understood that the case proved by the promoters
if the bill for a second line was so complete as to cause the
decision to be unanimous.

The partial suspension of payment by the
Stafford branch of the National Bank Association is an.
Flounced. Deposits under 51. will be repaid in full at once,
mid it is expected that larger depositors will eventually
receive the full amount of their claims. The shareholders
will sustain the whole loss.
A letter appears in the Manchester Examiner of
to-day from Mr. M. W. Moscrop, who was sentenced to
twenty years' penal servitude at the winter assizes in that
city fora criminal assault, and who, after an imprison-
ment of six months, has received an unconditional pardon.
Although Mr. Moscrop's defence was not successful, some
doubt of his guilt appears to have been entertained by
the judge as well as by the jury, ten of whom signed the
petition to the Queen for his release.

i •
1

Our total receipts of wheat from Germany dur-
in; the first four months of the present year have been
only 616,994 cw i., out of an aggregate of foreign importa-
tion of 7,183,408 cwt., being about 84 per cent. In the
rune four months of last year, when our aggregate im-
Portations from all parts were very small, the amount
being only 2,572,521 cwt., Germany contributed nearly
the same as in the present year, and her relative propos.
lion of the whole was then about 22 per cent. In the
int four months of 1864 the total of foreign receipts

vas 7441,307 cwt., or nearly as large as this year, and
the supply from Germany was then 2,150,954 cwt.,
nearly one-third of the whole. In that year,
however, the proportion contributed by France was only
02,497 cwt., while this year it has been 1,740,207 cert. Of
the entire German supply of wheat, about two-thirds
!yeallY come from Prussia, while the remaining third 00011111
gram Mecklenburg and the Hanle Towns.
Cardinal Antonelli, who has been seriously
he. now almost recovered, and takes frequent carriage
exercise in Rome.