The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

On Thursday Mr. H. C. E. Childers, M.P., the
newly appointed Lord of the Admiralty, accom-
panied by Mr. H. W. R. Walker, paid his first
official visit of inspection to Chatham Dockyard, at
which establishment he was occupied several hours
in the examination of the labour system of accounts
and returns inaugurated by Mr. Stansfeld, and
which since its introduction has been attended with
the most satisfactory results. Mr Childers also spent
some time in a survey of the dockyard extension
works, in progresss at St. Mary's Island, and like-
wise inspected the new barracks in course of erec-
tion by Messrs. Foord and Sons, for the Royal
Marines, Mr Rivers, the Admiralty clerk of works
at Chatham, accompanying his lordship during his
tour of inspection.

The operation of testing, by means of hydraulic
pressure, the engines, boilers, condensers, and other
portions of the machinery of the iron-plated frigate
Achilles, 35, 1,250• horse power, took place at
Chatham on Wednesday, on tht occasion of Rear-
Admiral J. R. Drummond, C. 8., one of the Lords
of the Admiralty, Rear-Admiral S. Robinson, Con-
troller, Mr. Reed, Chief Constructor, and other
efiwials, making an inspection of the vessel. The
trials were under the direction of Mr. Wigzell, who
represented the firm of Messrs. John Penn and Sons,
the makers of the engines, and were most severe, the
boilers and: engines being tested to a pressure of
401 b, and the condensers to 251 b to the square inch,
at which not the slightest defect could be discovered.
Admiral Drummond, together with the Controller
and Chief Constructor, spent a considerable time
on board the Achilles in the inspection of that vessel,
which, in consequence of the amount of work still
remaining to be completed, will not be ready to pro-
ceed to sea for some three months to come.
The entertainment on board her Majesty's ship
Victory, referred to in The Sun of Wednesday, was
not given by the officers of that ship. The hosts
were the captain, Francis Scott, C. 8,, and Mrs.
Scott, who on the occasion entertained nearly 400
of their friends,

The following appointments have been made at
the Ad miralty—W, C. Forrest, nominated to a naval
cadetship; E. B. D'Arcy, second master, additional,
to the Boscawen for the Ferret ; W. S. Chambre,
master's assistant, to the Fox; H. Knight, engineer,
to the Fisgard for the Landrail ; James Dalton, en-
gineer, to the Hawke for the Tenders; John Crew,
supernumerary in the Asia, promoted to first class
assist, engineer ; and William J. Ray, acting second
class assist. engineer, to the Asia, as supernumerary.

THE ARMY.
A general order has been received at the Royal
Engineer establishment, Chatham, from the Horse
Guards, in which the Duke of Cambridge directs
that the issue of the metal gabions of Capt. Tyler's
and Quartermaster Jones's patterns is to be discon-
tinued until further orders. This order has been
given in consequence of its having come to the
knowlege of the Field Marshal Commanding-in-
Chief that particles of iron from each of the above
descriptions of gabions were scattered with such
force into the interior of the battery at some recent
experiments with 12-pounder field-guns against em-
brasures lined with the metal gabions as to mani-
fest clearly that gabions of those patterns are inap-
propriate for that particular application in rivetting
embrasures, traverses, and other places exposed to
direct fire.
Orders have been received at Chatham garrison
for the firat detachment of volunteers of the Royal
Engineers for service in India to embark at Graves-
end on Tuesday next, the 14th inst„ for Madras, to
replace the late East India Company'a Engineers,
who have been broken up, The men selected for
this service have been taken from the depot and
other companies at headquarters, and the whole are
complete in their surveying and field-work instruc
Lion. The detachments for Calcutta and Bombay
wia embark c lrly in the ensuing, month,
A circular memorandum, addressed to the army
at home, has been promulgated from the Horse
Guards, stating that the appointment of Professor
of Military History and. Art at the Staff College is
vacant ; and that the Field Marshal Commanding-
in-Chief desires that commanding officers will send
not later than the 10th July next, the applications
of such officers as feel themselves qualified for the
situation.

The ship Middlesex, 1,191 tons, one of Mr George
Marahall's London fLet, Capt. C. Cammell, R.N.R.,
arrived at Spithead early yesterday morning from
Calcutta and St. Helena, with the following
troops and passengers on board—Major-General
Carmichael Smith, lady, and two children ; Capt.
Martin, 38th Foot (in charge of troops on board),
Mrs. Martin, and three children; Capt. Dagleish,
71st Highlanders ; Lieut. Brydges, R.A., Mrs.
Brydges, child, and native servant ; Lieut. Cowburn,
52d Regiment; Lieut. Dobbins, 6th Europeans,
Mrs. Dobbins and two children ; Surg. Bogle, M.D.,
Her Majesty's Indian army, in medical charge of
troops on board ; two Misses Sages and Mr. Thomp.
son ; 6 sergeants, 119 rank and file, and 1 drummer,
with 6 women and 28 children invalided from various
regiments serving in India. Three men, time ex-
pired, with one woman and four children, embarked
at St. Helena. Five invalided soldiers, two women,
and one child died during the voyage home. The
Middlesex sailed from Calcutta on the 18th of Fe-
bruary, and from St. Helena on the 25th of April.
Since leaving the latter place she has experienced a
succession of light winds, chiefly from the eastward.
On the ship's arrival at Spithead being notified at the
Quartermaster-General's office at Portsmouth yester-
day morning the necessary steps were at once taken
by the present indefatigable Assist.-Quartermaster-
General, Cot. L. Shad well, for their disembarkation,
and by 2 p.m. the invalids were received at the
Royal Victoria Mhitary Hospital at Netley, the
time-expired men in quarters on shore at Ports-
..nouth, and the ship under way at Spithead, re-
suming her voyage for London to discharge a large
general cargo she has on board from Calcutta,
The Metropolitan Board of Works.

Tho usual weekly meeting of this board was held yester•
terday, at the offices in Spring-gardens. The President
J. Thwaitos, Esq., took the chair at twelve o'clock.

FINANCE.
The cash statement for the current week shows a total
general balance of £167,243 Gs 4cl.
THE PROPOSED NEW ROAD FROM TOTTENHAM-COURT-

ROAD TO CRANDOS-STREET.
A report was brought up from the streets committee
recommending that the proposition of the Hampstead, dee.,
Railway Company, to limit the formation of the proposed
street, from Tottenhana•court-road to Chandos-street, be
acceded to, provided the company construct the street 60
feet wide, and widen Buckingham-street from the Strand
to Duke-street, to 30 feet, and undertake to pay a sum to be
agreed upon, for any land, or interest in land, on, over, or
connected with the embankment, which the company
may require.
The recommendation of the committee was, after some
discussion, adopted.

REPORT FROM THE THAMES EMBANKMENT COMMITTEE.
A report was sent up from this committee, stating that
they had received the following offer from the Metropolitan
District Railway Company, viz. :—That they should be
allowed to construct their railway from the commencement
of the embankment at Westminster to Cannon-street, in the
City, under the proposed embankment and new street, upon
payment to this board of £300,000 ; the board to pay all
compensation involved directly or indirectly by reason of
the constructiose of the embankment and railway between
the above-men'ioned places, but to be allowed to construct
their low level sewer from Cannon-street to Great Tower-
street, under the intended railway, without paying any com-
pensation to the company ; and recommending—that tile
offer be not acceded to, and that the solicitor be instructed
to take all necessary steps for sustaining the principle of
the payment by tho railway company to this board of the
sum of £OO,OOO ; for the right of constructing their line
along the Thames embankment and that portion of the new
street between Blackfriars-bridge and Cannon-street; the
railway company to pay all compensation to the City Gas
Company and other parties whose property may be affected
by any alteration in the embankment works, consequent
upon the construction of the company's line along the em-
bankment, and to defray tho cost of all alterations and di-
versions of sewers and other works rendered necessary by
the construction of the railway and other works in connec-
tion therewith, and agreeing to enter into such arrangements
as may be satisfactory to the Board, for indemnifying them
against any liabilities which may arise from any alteration
in the con' .acts entered into for the construction of the
Thames emankment works, agreeably to the terms of Mr
Fowler's letter addressed to the engineer of the board, and
dated April 20, 1864.
The recommendation of the committee was adopted.
After disposing of the routine business the board ad-
iourned,

TIMES.—When Lord Clanricarde aseerted, in
Thursday's debate, that if a stop had been put to the
export of men from this country to the Federal States
the American war would have been stopped also,
he said no more than has been repeatedly said b;
President Davis himself, and other officers of the
Southern Government. Nothing has appeared
harder or more inequitable to the Confederates
than that we should allow their enemies to import
soldiers for the war; and if we look at the actual
course of affairs weshall have no difficulty in under-
standing the feelings of the Southern peamle. They
were largely outnumbered to begin with, even if
Americans only had been matched against Ameri-
cans, without the introduction of foreign troops.
This disparity, however, they have compensated by
their greater unanimity, their stronger convictions,
and superior military aptitudes; but whereas one
of the best chances in their favour consisted in the
probable exhaustion of their adversary, they see
or believe themselves deprived of this hope by the
arrival of mercenaries from neutral States to relieve
their native enemies of the work of war. We have
only to look at President Lincoln's Proclamations
and at the successive threats of conscription to see
that of all commodities in America men are now the
most valuable, and yet it is with these that we, a
neutral nation, ht ve been constantly supplying the
stronger belligerent of the two. All this makes the
soreness of the South and the dissatisfaction ofmany
persons in this country perfectly intelligible ; but
we are convinced, nevertheless, that the importance
of the alleged facts have been greatly over-esti-
mated, and that even if the case were otherwise it
would not invite that violent remedy which Lord
Clanricarde does not hesitate to suggest. The
Federals, as we believe, can have obtained but
an insignificant portion of their fighting men
from these islands, and if they obtained twice
the number we could not reasonably make it,
under the circumstances a case of war. It was
but yesterday that we published some Ameria
can statistics purporting to give an authentic
account of the levies made for the service of the
Federal armies from 1861 to the spring of the pre-
sent year, and exhibiting a total of more than
2,000,000 men, or about 700,000 for each year since
the commencement of the war. We have no reason
to doubt the accuracy of these figures, but, as they
only profess to represent the "calls," and not the
numbers which the " calls" produced, we might
probably be justified in makingsome abatement from
the amount. Still,if we look to the returns of Grant's
army recently furnished by our correspondent, and
remember that this force is only one of three large
armies actually in the field, exclusive of numerous
garrisons, we shall be led to the conclusion that the
numbers enlisted must have approximated pretty
closely to the numbers called for, or such enormous
hosts could never be maintained. Grant had under
his own command in the main body of the army of
the Potomac 218,000 men ; his colleagues Butler
and Sigel had, respectively, 35,000 and 30,000 ; as
many as 10,000 cavalry were engaged on special
duties, and 28,000 negroes had been armed and
equipped for such service as they could render.
These blacks were attached to the armies of Grant
and Burnside, but Gen. Butler had also a certain
portion under his command. Altogether, however,
it does not appear that more than 30,000, or at the
utmost 35,000, of these auxiliaries entered into the
composition of the army, so that least 280,000 white
soldiers were supplied from some source or other for
Grant's forces alone. Bearing this in mind, let the
reader observe what the Emigration Commissioners
have just reported of the events of last year. It was
in Ireland that Federal enlistments were supposed
to be most actively prosecuted, and from Ireland it was
thought that the great body of recruits was drawn.
But the total emigration from Ireland to America
during the year 1863 gives but 94,477 souls, and of
these but 36,083 were single men, even if we reckon
in that class boys of 12 years old. It is obvious,
therefore, that the Commissioners in calculating at
25,000 the number of possible recruits for the North-
ern armies have pushed the estimate as far as it
could be carried, and what, we ask, are 25,000 men
among the immense totals of the Federal demand P
We do not know that all these men, or even the half
of them, actually enlisted. We only know that this
was the whole number of likely subjects for enlists
ment, whereas 360,000 men at the least must have
been enrolled in 1863 before the Federal armies
could have been raised to the strength in which
they have taken the field this year. We readily
admit that a contingent of 20,000 or even 10,000
men would be extremely valuable, and, what is more,
the very knowledge and prospect of this supply
would encourage the North in its resolution to con-
tinue the war; but with such figures as we have
had before us it is impossible to assume that either
Irish or German immigrants have formed, up to the
present time, any large element in the American
armies. Eighty percent. of these troops must have
been Americans, either native or naturalised. Lord
Clanricarde tells a very different story of the emi-
gration going on at this minute, but such are the
returns for 1863. The fact is that the sustainable
points against the Federals lie in a very small com-
pass. It is easy to understand what they have been
doing. Pressed for men, and casting about in
every quarter for recruits, they have not only made
what they could out of Irish emigration, but
have done their best to encourage it. We may
take it for granted that they have sailed pretty
near the wind, and that what their agents
have now and then done was what we should have
been disposed to stop. But who is to gainsay the
arguments available for the purpose ? If it is an-
nounced that men are greatly wanted in America,
that labour is excessively scarce, and wages incre-
dibly high, who can deny the facts If it is added
that the men are not wanted for soldiers, but to
supply the place of those who become soldiers, who
can dispute the statement ? And if, when the emi-
grants have sailed on these representations and with
these prospects, they, nevertheless, do take service
in the Federal armies, who can say that they had
no right to change their minds ? These are the cir-
cumstances which render interference almost im-
practicable. We can only act when there is a plain
case for action, and that is what we have done. It
is beyond denial that the recruiting agents in Ame-
rican ports have seized upon certain emigrants cn
their arrival and have forced them into the ranka
of the army. The unfortunate creatures were enticed
across the Atlantic by the promise of good employ-
ment, and kidnapped by crimps as soon as they
landed. But these proceedings have formed the
ground of strong protests on the part of our Minister
at Washington, and they have not been justified by
the United States Government. For the rest there
was really no difference of opinion between the
speakers on Thursday evening. Lord Brougham
and Lord Russell spoke of the war itself exactly as
Lord Clanricarde did, and it has now been made
sufficiently notorious that the provisions of interna-
tional law combine to give extraordinary advantages
to one of the belligerents. But this is merely an
accident of national position. What the South most
wants cannot be lawfully supplied, and that the
North can get all it desires without infraction of
law or usage. This state of things is very fortunate
for the Federals, and very unfortunate for the Con-
federates, but it cannot be helped. We can only
apply the law as it stands. We can supply either
belligerent with munitions of war, and we do so.
We cannot supply either with ships of war, and so
the belligerent needing ships of war fares the worse
for the prohibition. We can prevent enlistment in
this country, but we cannot prevent the emigra-
tion of men who may enlist as soon as they get
across the ocean. If the Southern ports were open,
the Confederates might receive these importations
as well as the Federals, but the blockade des
prives them of the chance. All this enables the North
to obtain far more from our neutrality than the
South, but the result was unavoidable. It is not
due to favour or to partiality, but to accident alone.
We can only stop such proceedings as are illegal—
that is to say, in the instance before us, enlishment
only, and not emigration. If emigration ends in
enlistment afterwards, that is an event beyond our
control.
POST.—We doubt if any person ever was present
at the proceedings of one of those numerous com-
mittees appointed by the House of Commons to
investigate the merits of some new project for cutting
a canal or constructing a railway, or carryingtothe out
some other scheme requiring
the
cumbrous,
convinced
nl
andci.vi
of
a morenced
Legislature, without beingore thorog
that a more costly, a m
unsatisfactory method of attainingthe awit of
givenmeaend.
could not have been devised by A
number of gentlemen, selected by chance from
the muss of our elective legislators, without possess-
ing any but the most superficial ciagl
ignorant
tedor
theof dthee.
rules of evidence,, profoundly
tails of the merits of the project on which they
will be called upon to express an opinion,
meet d
after day, hear everything which can be urged
either in favour of or against the proposed scheme,
and, finally, strike a balance between conflict•
ing interests, and seek to do substantial jus-
tice by recording their approval or disapproba-
tion of the measure before them. Theoretically
the project is supposed to be submitted to the
entire House; but in practice the committee in.
tqhuairfeoirnmteeri,tain the generality
and, having made their report,
generality of cases, confirms it.
The entire theory of investigation by Parliamentary
committees proceeds upon the assumption that, as
itis in the hands of Parliament that the power
resides of sanctioning or rejecting all schemes which
in their execution affect largely the interests of the
public, it is indispensable that members of the
Legislature should themselves personally investi-
gate their merits. When, for example, a railway
project is submitted by its promoters to Parliament,
the House of Commons is ready to accept the report