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

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LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1864.

Another six days and the armistice will come to
an end in the north of Europe. The London Con-
ference, in consideration of that armistice, being
virtually powerful for good during the interval—it
it can contrive somehow or other to be so, that is !
On the 12th of this month, we shall know whether
the armistice is to be prolonged or not. If pro-
longed, the session may yet be tided over by Minis-
ters—supposing, that is, that the Conference can
manage thereby to potter on successfully so far as
to contrive the further consumption of time. So long
as the Conference continues to sit during the period
of an armistice among the belligerents—the lips of
the Opposition are closed effectually within the Lords
and Commons. Let the Conference but prove inope-
rative cf any satisfactory patch up—let the armis-
tice even close on the 12th without a prospect of
its renewal or prolongation—the close of it being
announced by the resumption of hostilities—and the
whole of this complex question must at length be
thoroughly ventilated within the walls of Parlia•
merit. Then at last will come the tug of war be-
tween Parties, both in the Lords and in the Com-
mons, but especially in the Commons. The position
so far is imminent. So imminent in one contin-
gency, we believe that it might almost be expressed
thus without exaggeration—That nt the firing 01
the first gun again in anger in Schleswig, the
signal will have been for the pulling
down, of ourshaken
and, so for as its
foreign policy is concerned, most unpopular Govern-
ment. Otherwise--by eireply Whiling away the
time--by merely lengthening cut this Conference--
by extending the armistice adroitly—this wretched
dawdling do-nothing session may yet be dully
tided over, leaving Earl RUSSELL still at the Foreign
Office until next year, to the delight of the great
aggressive powers of Europe, and to the mingled
shame and chagrin of the great mass of the Earl's
own fellow.conntrymen. Five years ago this very
month, the second PALMERSTON ministry began—
with what Sir HIIGII CAIRNS aptly termed at the
time, in the June cf 189, a dodge! That dodge
'was Earl RUSSELL'S—consisting, as will be
very 'well remembered, in his ingenious device of

those now notorious " abstract resolutions" of his
about reform, It began with a dodge, this great
Reform-bnrking and Foreign-policy meddling-and-
muddling Administration. It is being preserved
and continued in power by a wonderfully clever
succession of other dodges ! " See, my son !" the
old Scandinavian statesman might have said to
his heir, now-a-days—not " with how little
wisdom " but with how small a mod:cum of
sly contrivance " men may be governed !" The
famous words of AXEL OXENSTIERNA run thus,
according to the original utterance—" Nescis, mi
fill, quantilla prudentia homines regantur." But
they certainly admit now—those words—of the
modification at which we have hinted.

Further rumours about General LEE having re-
treated are now brought to Europe by the last mail
from North America. Probably to be followed--
these rumours—by new announcements that General
LEE has, again, not retreated at all.

From New Zealand comes the agreeable intelli-
gence that, at one place, the British troops have been
worsted by the insurgent aborigines. Another tes-
timony of the good reason the old Duke had in
avowing his peculiar and especial antipathy to a
"little war." Implying absolutely, and with some
show of reason, a positive preference by him for a
great war, in comparison ! And with some
show of reason, as we have just said, for
these " little wars,"— wars such as we
are now experiencing, the protracted anguish
and worry of at our •antipodes, such as we ha'e
again and again in past times experienced at the
Cape—really according, to use a familiar phrase in
London slang, as it were, do nothing else than
establish a raw. It is the opening of a seton at
one of the extremities of the body politic in every
instance of a little war. A seton that, once opened,
we know not when it will ever again be thoroughly
closed and healed up.
Tidings from the seat of war in China again come
to us of successes won over the Taeping revolutionists
by the Imperial troops, led, shall we say, by British
mercenaries, or Condottieri ! And this too, as an
effect of our Foreign Policy, when Non-Interven-
tion is ostensibly our guiding Principle! So con•
sistent are we, or rather is our Government !
And all the remonstrance that can be
made with the development thus of a flag-
rant inconsistency of this kind, far away there at
the opposite extremity of the eastern hemisphere
on the remotest borders of the Empire of China
—all that can be adventured upon by way of re-
monstrance, with our Governmental inconsis-
tency in thus interfering in China, at the very mo-
ment when no considerations will induce England
to interfere in Denmark, in Poland, or in North
America, is—what ? The introduction of a motion
into the House of Commons by Mr. COBDEN, in a
noble speech, merely to the end that, after a little
useless discussion of that motion, the motion itself
should, after all, be quietly withdrawn without any
division whatever !

It is very desirable from time to time to institute
inquiries and to ascertain in what state the laws re-
lating to certain departments of society are in, Thus
only can we expect to remedy deficiencies and to con-
form to the growing requirements of the day, No one
could imagine, until they had looked minutely into
the subject, how many discrepancies exist, and how
faulty are the workings of some of those measures
which were considered at the time of their intro-
duction to be almost perfect, or at all events, most
efficacious in their designs. Foremost among those
enactments which call for a remedy is the statutory
law affecting masters and workmen. This regula-
tion is wrong in its fundamental principle, which
consists in this, that the breakers of contracts that
occur on either side are treated very differently,
those of the masters being dealt with according to
the civil law, and those of the workmen under the
criminal law. Such a distinction bears on the face
of it a fatal discrepancy, which necessarily militates
against the right adjustment of the difficulties to
be dealt with, and creates a want of uniformity
which is destructive of all chance of success in the
execution of the plans proposed. What could
have induced the framer of the law to devise
such a system it is really difficult to
determine ; it is quite contrary to the spirit which
actuates the generality of oar statutes and makes
justice the birthright of all classes, not the heritage
of wealth or the appanage of rank. Exclusiveness
is always greatly to be deprecated, but if one case
more than another seems to demand its banishment,
it may be said to be this one in point, for masters
and workmen are not so dissimilar in some respects, '
or so totally divided by the influence of rank or t

position as may sometimes occur in other matters
where the upper seem to have the advantage over
the lower classes. There is always more jealousy
between those nearly alike, or, at all events, not far
dissimilar, and it is of great importance to obviatF
all provocation to irritated feeling as much as pos-
sible, and certainly that mode of management is to
be deplored which fosters angry sentiments, and
gives rise to bitterness and sullen feelings. The
inequality and injustice of the system cannot be
better exemplified than by stating that, while the
workmen can only obtain redress for their griev-
ances by summoning the offending principal in the
county court, or by proceeding in the common law,
the master, on the occasion of a breach of con-
tract on the part of his workmen, can take
proceedings in a criminal court, where it'
a conviction is obtained, it is not possible to
inflict a fine, but the delinquent must be sent to
gaol for a certain time with hard labour. This is
a gross inconsistency, and deals out most unfeir
measure to men who are consenting parties to an
agreement. It is not at all the way to make things
work smoothly or pleasantly in the complicated
details of business for both sides to be at variance,
to feel that no common bond of equity unites them,
but that a one-sided bargain has been struck,
wherein one party may count his gains and the
other lament his losses, When it is borne in mind
that the workings of the existing statute are press-
ing very heavily on the working part of the com-
munity, it is high time that some remedial attempt
be made to rectify the evil and put an end to the

anomalous state of affairs which at present confuses
our notion of right, and makes the administratio❑

_ _...._
of the law a source of complaint and an occasion for

comment and cavil. The peculiar ideas which

actuated the framers of these obncxious regulations
in our statute 3 are greatly to be censured ; but,
iurely, there can bo no need to perpetuate their
mistake, and to hand down their badly devised
and faulty schemes to another generation. There
ought to be brains enough among the legislators
of our own time for the difficulty to be got over,
and until it is there will be always something rotten
in the system relating to employers and employed.

Considering this present unfortunate aspect of
affairs, and the great number who suffer from the
evils of the unequal pressure of the agency now at
work, so many as 6,000 committals to prison having
taken place in one year through the working of
these laws, it is not a matter of surprise that an
attempt has been set on foot for the purpose of
obtaining some remedy for their inconveniences.
The trades societies throughout the United King-
dom have at last resolved to do something in the
right direction, and a combined movonent
has been

made which bears a promise of success. The un-
dertaking was first set on foot in Glasgow, and
from thence communications were made to all parts
of the kingdom, Finally, a conference of trade
delegates met last week for the purpose of consider-
ing this important subject. There is no reason to
doubt that they will proceed in their
task with more promptitude, and eventually
achieve more than the' dignified assembly
at the West-end, but here they will have put some
heart into their work, and be really anxious to
reach a speedy and satisfactory conclusion. The
delegates represented as many as 300,000 members
of trades' societies. The result of their deliberations
was that they drew up a series of resolutions, which
appear to set forth their difficulties in a concise
form, and to explain the urgent necessity that
exists for a change being introduced without delay
into the contracts of service between masters and
workmen. The chief bearing of these suggested
alterations is to the effect that all the provisions of
the law should be of a civil character, and that no
favour should be shown to either side, and " what-

ever remedies are open to masters against their
workmen should be equally to workmen against
their masters, so that both may be equally dealt
with as to all questions arising under their mutual
contraet.". This last passage contains the gist of
the affair, and it certainly represents a principle
which is characteristic of the old English love of
fai: play, and must meet with approval from all
who have the welfare of the subject at heart, and
cherish an honest conviction of the rights of labour.
An interview took place between the delegates, and
some members of Parliament in a committee-room
of the House of Commons. The result was, that it
was agreed upon to introduce a bill into Parliament,
so that in a select committee the subject could be
duly investigated. It is also very satisfactory to
find that Mr. MILNER GIBSON has promised a
deputation of the London trades that he would give
the subject his earnest consideration. There is thus
every reason to hope that before long a better
arrangement will be come to regarding this ques-
tion, so important in itself and so intimately con-
nected with the interests of the community. The
inequality of the present system has been fruitful
in the production of strife and disagreements, and it
is a social wrong to allow things to remain in their
present most unfair and unequal standing. All that
tends to create bitterness of feeling, or a sense of
injury between employers and employed is a
grievous evil, and no wise statesman or learred
political economist but would censure the
practice, end condemn the theory, that occasions
such direful consequences, and has framed such a
mistaken and mischievous code as this Statutory
Law.

The Admiralty has been seized with a fit of
economy. What will happen next ? What social
revolution of the most unlooked for nature may we
reasonably anticipate after such a beginning. Will
Lord RUSSELL grow pugnacious and Sir CHARLES
WOOD progressive since the House of Commons
has been roundly reproved for urging the Admi-
ralty to uncalled.for expenditure. Cynics might
hint that such urging was unnecessary, but wanders
will never cease; and in defiance of SOLOMON we
have something new at last, for, upon an appeal
on behalf of the masters in the Royal Navy, here
is Lord C. PAGET declaring that it is "due to the
public" to resist any demands for increased pay,
and Mr. GLADSTONE supporting him with a fiery
denunciation of the wicked extravagance of this
present House of Commons, chiefly with regard to
branches of the public service. Englishmen gene-
rally labour under a serious misapprehension.
They are in the habit of thinking that pounds,
shillings, and pence are not looked at very closely
in Admiralty doolryardo. They have an impression
that sometimes a little more than need be is spent
in those quarters, and it appears to their deluded
minds to be somewhat singular that vessels built at
enormous cost and comparatively new are always
requiring docking for repairs and alterations. They
do not quite understand why, if the Admiralty
prefer a ship in a certain form, they do not have
her built originally to their liking instead of adding
a deck, apparently for the purpose of its being
taken off again. But all this misapprehension
is now clearly shown to be nothing more than vile
suspicion and absurd hypercriticism. Henceforward
the public will know that the sole object of the
Admiralty is the protection of the public interests,
and that Mr. GLADSTONE'S first considera-
tion in life is the pocket of the tax-payer.
But giving our naval authorities credit for all those
virtues, whose opposite vices they have been hitherto
supposed officially to possess, it is not quite clear
on what grounds the right of masters to promotion
in the service is objected to. Neither of the oppo-
nents of their claims found it convenient to dwell
much on this point. They found it more conve-
nient to turn off to those declamations about public
interests and official duty which come so glibly to
the official tongue. It is probable, however, that
the House scarcely needed the information. They
could find the explanation of the mystery too readily
in the professional jealousy and the old routine pre-
judices which have barred the way of so many

promising officers. Sir L, PALK, Who took up the
case on Friday evening, observed that a master
began with a sense of inferiority which clung to
him through life and marred his hopes of fame and
rank. Why this extraordinary odium is attached

to the post is not easy to see, for a master's duties
are onerous and important, and he starts from a
rank held by the highest officers in the service. A
midshipman, when he has passed his examination
for a lieutenant's commission, can be appointed a
master's mate; and after passing a further exami•

nation he may become a master when his duties

include the navigation of the ship. The captain is
ex officio responsible for the course steered, as was

decided in the loss of the Conqueror in the West
Indies, when the Board of Admiralty reversed the
judgment of the Bermuda Court•martial, ai,d held

,he captain responsible for the loss of the ship. Yet

practically the master has the entire direction.

Thug, as ►Sir LAWRENCE PALK pointed out to the
House, the duties of a master in the Royal Navy

are only second to that of the captain or comman-

der of the vessel in which he acts. Bat no':with-

standing their responsible position, masters cannot
rise any higher in the service; even although of late

years masters have been entrusted with the coin-

wand of sloops and other stall craft, their rank in

he service is still the same. Men with any pro•

spect of advancement through influence, or other
mean; decline to become masters, and this onerous
Office is generally held by hardworking men, who
from lack of interest have little hopes of promotion.
If a master held the same positio❑ as a lieutenant,
and had in consequence the chance of rising to the
higher grades of the service, the office would become
popular, and our naval officers would have a much
better idea of navigation, and consequently keep
their vessels out of some of the difficulties they oc-
casionally get into. The bottoms of her MAJESTY'S
ships would not probably make acquaintance with
quite so many shoals were this reform carried into
effect. But, in truth, this may be one of the ob-

st:.cles to the scheme. Young lieutenants might
not like to be put into awkward comparison with

able and experienced men, who have a thorough
practical knowledge of their business. If talent

and efficiency were made the test of promotion
what would become of the " Dowbs," who by no
means restrict their efforts to serve the state to one
profession ? It is worth noticing that all the
speakers on Friday evening paid tribute to the
general merit of the masters as a class, and as we
have said the only arguments brought against them
were the anxiety of the Admiralty to keep down
the expenses, and the assertion first that the masters
had no grievances, and, secondly, that they had no
more to hcomplain of than the Castomehouse officers
and other public servants. Lord C. PAGET, who as a
naval officer of long-standing shares in the prejudices
of the old school, admitted that it was a sore point
with the masters that on the quarter deck they
ranked below the junior lieutenants, but he con-
tended that this was not the sort of question to be
settled in Parliament. One lion. member indeed
objected to the interference of the House, saying
that it was their duty to check expenditure, not to
increase it. But Mr. HANKEY seemed to forget
that the House has higher duties than those of a
mere comptroller of accounts. It is the business of
its members to regulate the affairs of the country'
and most especially to secure just and equal govern-
ment to all classes of the community, and to serve
as a court of appeal to all who have wrongs of a
public nature to redress. That the injustice of the
treatment of the masters is very apparent is shown
by a few of the statements. When a master has
served twenty-five years he obtains the nominal
rank of staff-commander and £1 per diem ; when
a lieutenant has served nine years he gets his
promotion as commander, and is in receipt of £1
per diem. in five years more the lieutenant is a
post captain with from
£4OO to £BOO a year, but
the master can never rise above his £365 per annum.
Neither is he permitted to share in rewards for dis-
tinguished service, although such rewards have
been often earned by them. Mr. GLASTONE'S pero •
ration in favour of official economy received an
awkward comment in Mr HENNESSY'S reminder
of the proposed outlay of £50,000 for the Exhibition
building, besides other little official indiscretions,
but the House failed to support Sir LAWRENCE
POLK'S temperate and sensible motion. The matter
must, therefore, be left in the hands of the public,
who are certainly closely concerned in obtaining
able and efficient men for the navy—an end not
very likely to be attained by the present method
of administrating affairs in the service.

ADELPIII THEATRE.—At the end of the present
week one of the greatest attractions of the metro
polis during the last twelve months will most certainly be
withdrawn, viz , the representation of " Leah " by Miss
Bateman. The success of the lady has been extraordinary;
from upwards of 200 nights, with but a very short break,
she has drawn overflowing audiences at this theatre, and
during the same period she has rendered her name famous
amongst the dramatic stars of the present time. It is much
to be regretted that arrangements cannot be made so as to
enable Miss Bateman to remain with us for longer period,
but we believe such a circumstance is altogether,
,hopeless,
and on Saturday, therefore, we shall have to take farewell
of one of the most powerful and pathetic actresses that has
for many years appeared on the board of a metropolitan
theatre.

THE SOUTH PREPARED FOR A LONG WAR —We
are a hundr(d times better prepared for war than
three years ago. You might not send us another pinch of
powder from Europe, and we should not miss it, We have
nitre bureaux, nitre beds, and powder mills—in Augusta,
Georgia, the largest powder mill in America. You in
Europe can form no conception of the progress we have
been driven by necessity to make in the arts. We weave
our soldiers' cloth, make the leather for his shoes, our own
artillery, waggons and caissons, our own harness and saddle
and other equipments. We cast our big guns and the most
beautiful brass field•pieces you ever laid your eyes on. I
can take you to Columbus, Georgia, and show you a Cult's
pistol factory, for which every machine for every part was
designed and fashioned on the spot. In the same building
is a bayonet factory. Swords, spurs, military bridle bi
and the like are made in every town and village. We have
besides our foundries, military arsenals, and navy yards, in
which you would be surprised to see what the mother of
invention has (lons for tee. Our ordnance yards and depots
contain all that is requir,,d for modern warfare. Formery,
you know, we had to depend upon Yankees for so eimp:e
thing as a lucifer match ; the Confederate article supplies its
place now. In the printing business Southern mills furnish
our printing paper, and ink is made at home. There is in a
newspaper office in one town a machine invented by the
foremen for making letter envelopes. It turns out several
thousands a day, and of course pays very handsomely. Soon
after the blockade many thought that we should "go up"
on the salt question—couldn't salt our meat, and should be
starved into subjection—it has turned out like the panic
about powder. The salt mines of Virginia, the saline
springs of Alabama, and the exhaustless ocean and gulf
washing our coast have invited labour and ingenuity, and
there is no longer scarcity of salt.--lhe Index.
THE LAST DAYS OF A MAN OF GENIUS.—After

leaving Osnaburg•street our sculptor was no longer
sustained by that vivacity which had in a great measure
upheld him in his severest trials. In his pour abode in
Charlotte-street he surrounded himself with a meagre sal-
vage from the dispersion of his works. He maintained the
appearance of occupation ; there was always a wet clay bust
in the room, but his sitters were few, and they now paid in-
differently. lie was much concerned about his dog, which
was complained of by the landlady, but he said with deep
feeling that, after a warm attachment on both sides for so

many years, he could not poison him. A fortnight before

his death he complained of tingling and twitching at his
finger ends, and some short time:Afterwards he fell suddenly
in the street. The same thing ()-zurred a second time, after
which he was conveyed to Middlesex Hospital, where he
received every attention. He was not aware that death was
so near at hand, although he felt he had not long to live.
He was visited by his deaf ard dumb assistant, with whom
he communicated freely by means of the manual alphabet

and signs. Behnes threw his head back, and placed his
fingers on his eyelids, as if closing them. His companion
nodded. The sculptor's next act was convey his wish that a
cast of his features should be taken after death, which he
did by running his fingers round his face from the forehead
to beneath the chin. His deaf and dumb friend again nodded,
He instantly understood a sign, but the dying sculptor, for
such was his condition, was precise in his instructions.
Having assured himself that Gawn perfectly understood
him, he wished to express "not yet," for his own impres-
sion was, that he had some time to live ; and this he did, it
is reported, by applying his thumb to his nose, so making a
sign that in street slang is called " taking
a sight." The
poor deaf and dumb sculptor, who had been many years
faithful to him, carried out his instructions—a cast was
taken, from which it is proposed to execute a bust for pi e-
sentation to the Royal Portrait Gallery,—Coothill Maga-

zzne, for June.
THE DURHAM OTTER HouNDs.--Thispack,under
the care of Mr. Taylor, has been having a week's
hunting in the North Riding rivers. The Black Beck, the
Old Derwent, the Ryo, the Ricca!, the 'raven, and the Costa
have all been tried, with varied success, and with grand
sport on Tuesday and on Thursday. Although the meets
were generally about daybreak, a very large number of
gentlemen, anglers, and sportsmen have been in regular
attendance. On Tuesday a large otter was scented in the
Cost, and after running the drag in fine style for some time
the morning's sport was abruptly stopped owing to the otter
bolting up a large pipe drain to escape the hounds, only to
be smothered. On Thursday, before daylight, a very large
meet took place at 13uVerwick-bridge, on the Rye, where
. ,

the veteran hound Wrangler almost at once gave notice of
game—a very large and strong otter. By 4 © clock they
were in full scent, and the drag was run in fine style. After
four hours' hunting up the Rye and about the Riccal and
Dove river mouths scent was lost, but soon regained, and
an attempt to kill the otter by
spearing was ineffectually
made. Subsequently a most exciting scene occurred. The
otter took to mid-stream, and was swimming directly up
e a, and took to a
vtv,h•oieitchehst
e.hue
nardulisl
el
bpoeat
triedswimming respondeddo(idodging
nag:010:0 by hguainnd,reds of hum n
him, the joyful cry of
ter
bill, but the terriers very soon ctieloiged him, and he was
compelled to take once more to deep water. Eventually he
showed signs of distress, and some of the most venturesome
sportsmen tailed him and got him on shore, where a game
tight with the hounds was held for some time before he
finally yielded. His weight was about 201 b. and certainly
the drag of a gamer otter was never run. It was midday
ht
before many of the sportsmen turned homewards,
,SWIMMING RACE FOR TILE CHAMPIONSHIP.
A swimming match for the two-mile champion cup
and £2OO will take place this evening in the Thames, from
Hammersmith to Putney, between Professor Beckwith (the
present champion), and Mr. E. B. Mather, of Manchester.
The trophy for which they are to contend is offered for
public competition by the London Swimming Club, and
has to be held three consecutive years before its winner
becomes finally entitled to it. Beckwith, who won the last
champion contest, is the favourite ; but as Mather has since
his defeat increased in skill, and has also youth and strength
on his side, he is not without hope of success. For the
accommodation of gentlemen desirous of witnessing the
raco two steamboats will leave London-bridge at half-past
sour, calling at all intermediate piers up to llauaerzmitia.