The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 10, 1864

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1864.

There are some people who never learn by ex-
perience, or take an unwelcome truth to heart.
If their measures are rejected they begin again,
nothing daunted, rcco ninence their work, and,
no matter huw unpalatable may be their proposi.
Lions or how unwelcome their suggestions, the
patine mast perforce undergo the infliction of
having them thrust upon their notice ad nauseam.
Of this class is Mr, SOMES, who, with mistaken
zeal and misguided judgment, employs persistency
worthy of a better cause in advocating the adoption
of his extreme views with regard to Sunday sale
of beer. It was thought by most persons of ex.
perience that this vexed question was definitively
&tided and permanently settled last Session, and
very general satisfaction was universally expressed
at the unmistakeable censure which the House
passed on such a proposal. No one can possib;y
tall, however, to what foolish extremes people will
go when they have got a crotchet in their heads,

and especially when this relates to matters of
religious prejudice and invokes the influence of
peculiar tenets to bear upon it. It is in every way
a subject for rejoicing that the bill has been Sum-
marily rejected by the House and its introduction
not perrr itted. It is to be hoped that this decided
step in the right direction will produce its effect
,•
and deter Mr, SOMES and his friends from again
taking up the time of the House in bringing forward
such unwise and unpopular measures before Par-
liament. It is always a very imprudent thing to
make changes that press upon the lower classes in
an inconvenient form, and give rise to angry dis-
cussions, and create dangerous comparisons as to
the different working of the social system respect-
ing the rich and poor; all such disputes are most
injurious and injudicious, and no right-judging and
experienced statesman would think of voluntarily
raising such a discussion, and allowing the worst
suggestions of the evil-disposed members of the
community to influence those who in calmer mo-
ments would disarm them, but who, irritated by
' injustice and fretted by the vexatious introduction
of petty annoyances and unfair restrictions, will be
induced to take an extreme view of the question,
and almost persuade themselves that there is no
care or consideration for their comforts among the
upper and superior middle classes. Sir GEORGE
GREY met this question in a very proper spirit,
and the tone he took evidently produced a great
effect upon the House. It was very desirable that
the government should take a decided stand upon
the question, and declare in no meagre manner,
and with no stinted phrases, its unqualified oppo-
sition to so ill-timed and mischievous a proposal.
The right hon. baronet very properly said that
if the House assented to the introduction of this
measure it would be certain to be rejected on the
second reading, and meanwhile the time between
the first and second readings would be filled up
with angry discussions. This was very true, and
it would be well if so much consideration were
more generally exhibited when these exciting
questions come before the House. As it is, no harm
has been done; but if the discussion of the sub-
ject bad been left in doubt, and the matter re-
mained in abeyance, the consequences would have
been that many might have misunderstood the
case, and confused the assent of some with the
withheld expression of dissent of others, and thus
the most disastrous effects might have been pro-
duced. Fortunately, by skill and promptitude, all
chance of each a misconception has been avoided,
and a decided veto put upon the proposed scheme.
There was great truth in the remark of Sir G.
GREY, that to introduce another measure of this
sort would be "unwise, inexpedient, and unne-
cessary." Mr. ROEBUCK. delivered one of his
slashing speeches on this question, which elicited
considerable laughter from the racy manner in
which he drew his comparisons of the inconsis-
tent manner in which this bill would affect the
rich and poor. It is quite justifiable to take these
reformers of existing abuses to task for their great
unwillingness to interfere with the privileges of
the rich, and their reticence in curtailing their
luxuries, and unnecessary employment of time as
regards themselves and others in secular pursuits
on Sunday. Mr. ROEBUCK came out in his pecu-
liar style of irony, when he exclaimed chat if the
advocates of this measure were consistent, they
would proceed much further on the track upon
which they had entered. " Not only would they
shut up the Star and Garter at Richmond, and the
Trafalgar at Greenwich, but they would also shut
up every Club in London." Sometimes more may
be done in overthrowing a scheme by taking up the
fallacies of its construction in a tone of raillery than
by arguing them out in dull and tedious detail, and
descanting upon them in a dreary wilderness of
words. Mr. ROEBUCK'S dashing•charge swept the
enemy out of the field, and it will be well for both
parties concerned in the discussion, and for the
public at large also, if due heed is paid to the ad-
vice and weight attached to the wisdom that lurked.
under the sallies and sarcasms of the speech of the
hon. member for Sheffield.

There can scarcely be two opinions as to the im-
perative necessity of introducing some change into
the administration of our County Courts, after
the Lord Chancellor's lucid statement on Friday
evening, although there may possibly be some
difference as to matters of detail. There has long
been considerable dissatisfaction felt regarding the
working of these acts, which were designed partly
in mitigation of the severity of the then existing
I,w of imprisonment for debt, but which have since
become vehicles of the most ruthless oppression,
especially towards the very poor. Few persons in
the metropolis are at all aware of the hardships
which they are often the means of bringing upon
the labouring classes in the provinces. Lord 'WEST-
BURY, who has been at some pains to colleot accu-
rate information on these points, gives us some
statistics that are positively starling. We learn
that in the two years ending with last December,
17,979 persons were committed to prison by these
courts, and that the number of days which they
actually spent in prison was 257,251. Of those per-
sons, the large number of 17,850 were committed on
the ground of not having satisfied the judgment
and costs, having no means to do so. Many persons
are under the impression that the full powers of
the County Courts are seldom exercised, and that
the imprisonment is merely a verbal threat. Such
a notion is evidently most incorrect, and the hard-
ship of the case is redoubled when we reflect upon
the class and occupation of these prisoners and the
amount of their liabilities. They are, for the most
part, artisans and agricultural labourers, and the
sums for which they were imprisoned were very
frequently of no higher value than one or two shil-
lings. In one instance, indeed, a man was com-
mitted for several days for ninepence! The
objections which are made to imprisonment for
debt among the higher classes apply with tenfold
force to men in such a sphere of life who have no
possible means of payment but those to be provided
by the labour of their own hands. Although it may
be urged that the power of the County Courts is
limited, it appears that the judge is able to imprison
for 40 days any debtor who may appear to have
contracted the debt without reasonable expectation
of being able to discharge it. Furthermore, such
imprisonment is no acquittance of the debt, but the
creditor has the right of putting in an execution
as if there had been no imprisonment. The cir-
cumstances under which the small debts which thus
eventually ruin a poor labouring man and break up his
house are often Peculiarly painful. According to a
statement made by the judge of a large district in
Wales, the tally system is extensively carried on
by travelling packinen, who often induce the Rife
and daughters to buy articles at three times their
value without the knowledge of the husband, and
when the payments fall into arrear, as they are
constantly doing, the packmen does iais business
on a large scale, and takes out his judgment sum'
menses in great numbers. This statement is con-
armed by another judge in Lancashire, who adds
rhat this state of things often produces much do.
'nestle misery, as the wife keeps the affAir secret
until the creditor comes forward and Comands the
money from the husband, who ir eque :illy beats his
wife, and refuses to pay what is often an extor- ,

tionate claim, and goes to prison rather than do so.
So that a respectable little home is completely
broken up—the husband loses his situation, and
the wife is left to shift as she can, and to rue her
imprudence and love of finery. Such is not by
any means an isolated case, for the same gentlema❑
adds—" You can have no idea of the extent to
which the system is carried on in the north of
England; sometimes we have 50 cases in one day
of this kind. Another system which produces much
the same results, though in a different manner, is
the establishment of sales by auction of all sorts of
articles, where the gco3s are sold on nine months'
credit with a surety. The auctioneer, who is often
attorney or his clerk, discounts the sale of an imme-
diate payment to the vendor, whereby the right to
sue is transferred to the purchaser of the sale
moneys,land the consequence is that nearly half the
business of the county courts in certain counties is
supplied by this auction system. It is certainly
high time that the Legislature stepped in to remedy
these abuses, and even in less oppressive cases the
blame of the debt, as Lord WESTBURY pointed out,
often rests quite as much with the debtor. No
tradesman is justified in giving credit, when he
knows his debtor is not likely to be able to pay
him, unless he is willing to take the risk. To give
credit for the sake of entrapping the debtor into
toils from which he cannot escape, with a view to
profiting by his difficulties, is a more dishonest pro-
ceeding than recklessly incurring debt. The real
secret of the credit system is that the debtor has
usually to pay 30 or 40 per cent. above the actual
value, and its evil effects are innumerable. It en •
courages the labouring man in those habits of im-
providence and self indulgence to which he is
always too prone, and the first time that he
gets into the County Court he is obliged to increase
his liabilities elsewhere to meet the instalments,
so that matters go from bad to worse. One very
excellent clause in Lord WESTBURY'S measure sti-
pulates that no action shall he or judgment be given
for any score for beer consumed on the premises of
an alehouse or beershop. This will be a great pro:
tection to the labouring man against the cupidity
of tavernkeepers,:and will remove a formidable
temptation out of his way. The Chancellor pro-
poses to abrogate entirely the judge's power to im-
prison a debtor who has the ability to pay, and
power to imprison is given in cases of fraud or false
pretences, but only under certain limits, and once
for all as Lord WESTBURY expressed it. The judge,
instead of being as at present obliged to confine hie
attention to the case before him, is to be enabled to
inquire into the whole state of the debtor's affairs,
to bring before him all the creditors and to arrange
that the sum fixed to be paid shall be paid into
court, to be divided equally among them, so that
henceforward, should this bill become law, the poor
man will have a chance of being extricated from
his embarrassments, however complicated, instead
of as at present being liable to repeated terms of
imprisonment at the mercy of the County Court
Law or an unscrupulous creditor. Instead of in-
creasing the sums lost by bad debts, this measure
will most probably reduce them very considerably,
as is proved by the contrast afforded by the me-
chanics of the Enfield Rile Establishment and the
soldiers at Colchester. A County Court Judge states
that while numerous cases from the former are
constantly coming before him he scarcely rememe
bers to have seen a single private or non-commis-
sioned officer. The only reason he can give for this
difference is that the publicans and other trades
will not allow them to run deeply into debt, know-
ing they cannot imprison them. One very im-
portant alteration to be made by the Chancellor's
Bill is the investiture of the County Curt Silage
with summary equitable jurisdiction to be adminis.
tered without delay or cumbrous forms. This will
supply a great want, for although the County Court
sysltem has been satirically termed " petty Chan-
cery," it is really incompetent to deal with equity
cases, so that a disputed matter coming under that
head is virtually left without a means of settlement;
for, as the Lord Chancellor very truly said, the
Court of Chancery, even in its improved condition,
is a machine totally incapable of dealing with pro-
perty of a small amount. He gave as instance the
case of £lOO left to be divided amongst relations,
and of a quarrel between partners in a small coun-
try business—both instances in which the cum-
brous machinery of his own court would be altoge-
ther out of place. Yet such cases constantly arise
for settlement. The Bill also undertakes to provide
against the abuse of the power of resorting to the
process of superior courts of law—a power which is
now often need for purposes of extortion. Altoge-
ther this is certainly an important step in the right
direction, and tends towards the great object of
making the law as simple, clear, and prompt, and
economical for all classes as it can possibly be ren
dered without defeating the ends of justice.

The valuable services render( d. by the Cotton
Supply Association in encouraging and promoting

the culture of the cotton plant in many new locali-
ties, besides stimulating it in the old quarters, has
long been generally felt. An association of this
kind is able easy to accomplish what many are glad

to see done, but cannot easily do alone. It is able
to command some degree of official attention and
assistance, and to carry out in a consistent and
businesslike manner many views and theories,
which, if propounded by a private individual,would
be contradicted or disregarded. It receives a full
account of the progress of the crops, the capabili-
ties of climate, soil, and population in each respec.

tive quarter, and by its timely grants of seed and
gifts of machinery, &a., it affords every opportunity
to enterprise and industry. It is highly satis-
factory to find that in many places the Governments
perceive the importance of the trade and enoaurage
the people to attempt the cotton culture. In others
the populace themselves are excited by the nova of
neighbouring successes, such as has been the case in
Jaffa, where the success of the cotton planters last
year has filled the whole place with excitement and
emulation. High prices were obtained for the
crop of last season, and everything seems to indi-
cate an equally agreable result this year. An
English ship has lately taken from Jaffa 1,400 bales
of ewt. each. Such being the freight of only one
vessel, we may readily imagine that the cotton crop
has proved most satisfactory to its planters in that
quarter. From India the news is only confirmatory
of the gradually dawning opinion that she will
hereafter become, in a great measure, our prin-
cipal source of supply. One correspondent
of the Association sends a sample of cotton grown
in India by a European near Kandeish, which
ho states was obtained from ground prepared in the
usual manner, excepting that, instead of merely
scratching the surface, it was turned up to a depth
of 8 inches. The yield of cotton was 2251 b.. per
begah, which is reckoned at about two-thirds of an
English acre. This cultivator is very enterprising,
for he has 400 acres of the same land ploughed for
cotton next season, as well as 1,000 acres cleared,
Another gentleman, writing from Calcutta, asserts
that the trespass of cattle interferes very much with
the cotton cultivation in Bengal. Ho asks for an
act to protect it from this drawback, which applica-
tion it would be well to regard, since anything that
puts hindrances in the way of the great experiment,
or tends to disgust the indolent Hindoo with the
attempt, is a very serious evil. Alexandria has

shipped twice the quantity of cotton that she did
last year, while Greece, the Piz was, Crete, and
other places, are likely to be tried by members or
connections of this useful association. So, then, we
have little reason to look forward with apprehen-
sion to the future of our cotton crop or the support
of our cotton spinners, since almost every quarter
of the habitable globe has been made the subject of
inquiry and experiment, and many districts are not
only equalling but far surpassing the most sanguine
expectations.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

LREUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

NAVAL ENGAGEMENT OFF
HELIGOLAND.

A telegram has been received at the Colonial-
office to the effact that at two o'clock p.m. on Sun-
day there was a naval engagement, six miles east of
He ligoland,between three Austrian frigates and three
gunboats and three Danish frigates and one eor•
vette.

A later telegraw announces that the Danes were
victorious; that an Austrian frigato was in flames,
and the other frigates, with the gunboats, were
making for Heligoland.
The Aurora was there.

BERLIN, MAY 9.
The following telegrams have been received here

this evening ;

" HELIGOLAND, May 9, 4 p.m.

" A very severe engagement, lasting an hour and
a half, has taken place betweon three Danish
frigates and the German squadron. An Austrian
frigate appears to be in flames, and is approaching
the island, accompanied by all the German ships,
while the Danes are steering northwards.

" 5 p.m.

" The whole Danish fleet is at anchor behind
Sand Islana. The fire on board the Austrian fri.
gate has been extinguished. She lost her foremast
and bowsprit."

DETAILS OF THE NAVAL ENGAGEMENT
OFF HELIGOLAND.
HELIGOLAND, MAY 9, 9 P.M.
The Austrian frigate which was set on fire and
lost her foremast and bowsprit in the naval engage-
ment of to-day was the Schwarzenberg. She had
100 men killed and wounded.
On board the Radetzky 25 men were killed and
wounded.
The Prussian ships have not sustained much

injury.
The combined squadron is now lying at anchor
in the roads.
It is said the Danes have also suffered severely.
They are proceeding in a northerly direction.