Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-30 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN

winding-up order in the matter of the London
and Eastern Banking Company. The Vice Chan-
cellor, for reasons elsewhere stated, refused to
make such an order, and the petition was, there-
fore, dismissed.
The screw steamer Kangaroo arrived here yes-
terday. The news by this arrival is only one day
later, the dates being New York, Sept. 17. It is
not of the least importance. A full detail of the
more interesting items will be found in the regular
summary. The steamer General Wyndham also
arrived here yesterday. She sailed from Newfound-
land on the I 9th instant.

The loss of the Pacific, from Liverpool to New
Yoik, will not have been forgotten by our readers.
According to a French provincial paper, the
Phare de la Loire, a bottle has been picked
up off the coast of Porspoder, containing a sheet
of paper, on. which i 3 written in pencil, by Cap-
tain Smith, of the Transatlantic steamer Pacific,
that his vessel was on the point of sinking. This
written statement may, perhaps, throw some light
on the mysterious disappearance. of the Pacific,
but it may also turn out to r•e a hoax of some foolish
individual. Such is the vJrsion of the Paris col,:
respondent of the Globe. It is a most foolish
paragraph, for if we mistake not, the captain of the
Pacific was named Lll,l .
Dr. Kern, Minister of Switzerland to the Court
of the " is expecte' at Paris on the
15th proxitno. The Duke de Grammont, late
Minister of France to Piedmorr, his at rived in the
capital from Turin. General Yankousky, Aide-de-
camp General to the Eaaperor of Russia. has
likew.se arrived, it is said, on a military mission.
Letters from Constantinople of the 18th have
teen received here. Rumours of ministerial

changes were still current in that capital ; and the
app)intment of As Minister of Foreign
Affairs, to the office of the Grand Vizier, in Pla,-;e
of Mustafa Paella, was mentioned as probable.
The financial position has not improved, and the
Goveramant, in order to meet its most pressing
necessities, has.effelted a fresh issue of notes

the extent of 100 million piastres The diplomatic
world had beer► somewhat, troubled by the con-
duct of that petty thspot Prince Danilo. Same
tima ago the Governor of Scutari in 4klbania
received instructions to chas'iso a ccrtain district

in the neighbourhood which had singularly
r&sbehaved itself. The goiernor placed himself
at the head of 3,000 regulars, and marched
towards the district. Prince Danilo .on hearing
this gave private ii:structions to his followers, who
poured down into the Forkish territory in order to
support the c ffending inhabitants. On the receipt
of this -intelligence the ambassadors of England,
France, and Austria, hill a con'erence on the
17th, and requested the Porte to countermand the
expedition for a time, ien'order that no fresh corn.
plications might arise from this unreasonable, con-
duct of Prince Danilo. But the Turkish troops al-
ready have in all probability arrived at their desti-
nation, and the go3d intentions of the ambassadors
may prove fruitless. It is believed that the three
governments will seriously impress on the mind of.
the ruler of Montenegro that hs marauding excur-
sions will no longer be tolerated. It is worthy of
remark that the Russian ambassador declined to
attend the conference held by the three repre-
sentatives, and it is presumed that Russia
`s.citly approves of the ambitious language of
Montenegro.-

THE eff)rts of the Legislature to suppress the,
immoral practice of gambling have always had
our earnest and unreserved approval. Whether
we view its baneful influence upon the generality
of all who "make books," their ultimate discom-
fiture in a financial point of view, or the ten-
dency which the system has of seducing young,
inexperienced, and honest persons from the
paths of virtue, to engage in a life of infamy and
crime, we must regard with favour every enact-
ment which aims a direct safeguard against
professed gambling. The criminal records of
' the country afford ample and painful proof of the
necessity which existed for such a law as that
prohibiting Betting Houses, and punishing wit h
severity every one who vi)lated its provisions.
Some four or five years ago, before the statute in
question became law, there was hardly a street
in the metropolis which had not a Betting House
of some kind or other—Manchester and Liver-
pool, Dublin and Belfast, besides hosts of other
places, were stocked with book-making rendez-
vous. Thither the old and the young, the
speculative adventurer—all who desired to get
rich at a " bounce"—repaired. Their visits were
of daily occurrence —time was lost, money mis-
spent, and in nine cases out of ten their bets
thrown away—some cunning but well "posted"
"outsider," making a haul of the bets, and
applying them to his own advantage. Persons
of limited circumstances could not stand such a
game without having recourse to dishonest
practices : hence embezzlements became the
order of the day, and with them other species
of felonies, including forgeries, followed, until,
at last, the deluded victim found himself
within the sure grasp of the law, and
obliged to plead before a jury of his country
"guilty or not guilty." Many such victims are,
at the present moment, atoning for their guilty
practices as felons in a penal settlement or con-
victs in the hulks. This was nothing more than
t e interest and safety of society demanded.

In the proper administration of the law sup-
pressing Batting Houses we for one rejoice. But
while anxious to see all gambling proceedings
abolished, we are also desirous of witnessing that
it be accomplished by legal means. Police
constables are very apt to consider themselves
great adepts in interpreting special acts of par-
liament, not only as regards the letter, but the
spirit and intention of the very framers. If there
be any country where such a feeling could run
riot it is that portion of the metropolis called
" Cockneydom," where the veriest urchin
of London proper looks upon every mortal
not a " citizen " as ignorant; countrified,
and liable to be. duped or misled by the
dwarfiish and simple-minded Cockney who
runs along the streets. It was in such a spirit
that one of the London police, No. 322, took it
into his head to interpret the Betting Act in a
manner that has called forth a dignified rebuke
from Mr. Alderman COPZLAND, M.P. It appears
that the police officer alluded to, on Thursday
morning last, saw a gentleman residing at Dept-
ford, and name] DAvrs, with two or three other
persons, talking together in Bride-lane. The
officer took him into custody for obstructing the
streets. He searched him, and found a watch,
51. 17s. 51-ci, and a betting book upon him. This
was the entire charge, for the police-officer swore
that neither the prisoner, nor the men with him,

hal betting-books in their hand. The presiding
magistrate, Mr. Alderman HALE, was very desir-.
ous of inflicting a fine, although no case was
proved, until Mr. Alderman COPELAND interfered
and said, " I consider it a monstrous interference
with the liberty of the subject, to take a gentle-
man into custody •who has committed no offence,
and I should like to know by what authority
they searched him, and took his money away ?"
We, too, should like to know, by what authority,
—not to speak of law—the arrest and imprison-
ment took place. Of course, Mr. Alderman HALE
could not convict, and Mr. Davis was discharged.
On.the following day (Friday), some other cases
of a similar character took place before Mr.
BINGHAM, at the Marborough-street police-court,
the offence alleged against the men being that
they obstructed the public thoroughfares, but the
cba:g-e failed. As we have already remarked, we
have every desire to see the Act for suppressing
gambling-houses carried out in its entirety, con 7
vinced that it would do good, but we must stre-
nuously protest against police-officers getting up
cases such as those alluded to. No man should
be hau!ed off to prison on flimsy and fallacious
pretences. The momen",, that this is so, police
vigilance is a tyranny; antagonistic to the liberty
which the Constitution accords to all its subjects,
and worthy only of adoption by despots. where
every Man is under the constant surveillance of a
race of pampered gendafmes, whose love of offi-
cial and governmental notoriety is the instigator
of professional conduct, -which the people of
England condemn and despise.
Much as we deplore the practice of horse-race
gambling„ and anxious as we are to see it sup
pressed, we have to thank Mr. Alderman
COPELAND for his pointed allusion to the daily
practices in Capel-court, London. The worthy
Alderman said, "If the officer would go into th
passage leading to the Stock Exchange, he would
see bargains done in the Consols among persons
whom he might just as reasonably take into
custody as the prisoner." Again, addressing
Alderman HALE, he said, " I am here by accident
only, and if you, sir, will direct the attention' of the
police to the Baltic Coffee-house, where thousands
of barrel* of tallow are passed from hand to hand
without one farthing being paid, they will find
there plenty of stags' to give them occupation."
Yes; we believe there is as much gambling
going on, not in the Public Securities, and
Railway Stocks and Shares alone, but in foreign'
and colonial produce, as in horse-racing. The
consequences are equally disastrous. Hence it
is that our Bankruptcy List shows weekly
returns of the disasters which it causes. Betting,
on horse-races is a purely speculative action.
Buying any commodity, or making an invest-
ment for a rise or fall in price, is speculation.
The former is generally on the minor, the.
latter the major scale. Of all species of
gambling that of commercial is generally the
most reckless. Need we point to the Royal
British Bank, the Tippe'rary Bank, the Surrey
Gardens. Company, and hundreds of other Joint
Stock Companies. We have not exhausted this
subject, and shall return to it again.

AMONG the more important political events of the
day is the visit of Loan JOHN RUSSELL to Sheffield,
for the purpose of presiding over the annual
meeting of the Ragged School Union of that town.
The cordial and enthusiastic reception which
greeted his Lordship, and the thousands of cheers
which hailed every step of his progress from the
railway to the seat of his guest was only a well
merited tribute to his position and character as a
philanthropist and a statesman. LORD JOHN
RUSSELL still occupies a great position in the eyes
of Great Britain, and among the politicians of
Europe, consequently all his movements and
speeches, are looked upon with importance. This
visit to Sheffield was the means of causing him to
deliver three addresses. In the first place he had
to respond to the flattering welcome of the Town
Council of Sheffield, next to expatiate on the ad-
vantages and importance of Ragged Schools, and
to show their perfect and peculiar adaptibility to
the moral and social requirements of large cities
and towns, and last to deliver an answer of a more
general nature to the address presented to him
by the working men of Sheffield. Being an " old
stager" accustomed to address great meetings,
Loan JOIIN acquitted himself with dignity, ease,
and tact. He went through the task allotted to
him as a veteran statesman conscious that he
would be listened to with favour and respect. The
opening part of the address read by the Town
Clerk was calculated to please the noble Lord, as
it made appropriate and pointed allusion to his
past efforts in the eaus3 of Reform, and his long
continued exertions to aid in the progress of civil
and religious liberty,—which, with just reason, he
regards as among the mo-.:e popular points of his
career. In all that he says „respecting the Test
and Corporation Act, and the other measures of
Legislative Reform, down to the repeal of the
Navigation Laws we fully agree, and look upon
them as being " remakable for progress without
revolution."

Lord John RUSSEL knows as well as any other
living stateman how to make polital capital out of
any great topic which may happen to agitate the
public mind ; accordingly, he did not fail to make
allusion to the affa.;rs of India, in such a manner
as showed that the nation had a most important
duty to perform. The calm and dignified manner
in which he referred to the deplorable events
which have taken p lace, and the views he takes of
the policy that must be adopted for restoring our
dominion, and placing our Indian empire upon a
more lasting, satisfactory, and solid basis, are such
as the nation must approve. He spoke of the
cruelties which have been perpetrated iu terms
of ' horror and indignation' commensurate with
the deeds he denounced. But what will equally
satisfy the country, is his Lordship's ideas