The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-18 00:00:00

• „ Vat

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1E64.

When certain artizans were engaged in the deck.
yards in times past at a filed rate of pay, it was
upon the understanding that at the end of a stipu-
lated period they would be entitled to a super-
annuated pension. It was a very right and fitting
;oplation, and the justice of its device was so
opparent that it eeeraed one of those fair and
honourable arrangements which would be left in
force for many years, and possibly be never inter-
fered with while the present state of things con-
tinued. Great disappointment has been occasioned
and considerable indignation excited by the un-
welcome and inauspicious changes that have been
made all at once. The Board of Admiralty have
recently decided that they will in future grant no
s:up,zrannuated pensions, and to accomplish this end
they lately caused some hundred artizine, who had
worked for many years in the dockyard, to assemble

at Chatham to receive their dismissal, not because
there was not employment for them, because they
were " regular hands," for the exigencies of the ser-
vice are always met by the employment of the
supernumeraries, who are taken on or discharged
at convenience, nor for any misconduct or negli-
gence of their own, but simply to enable the Lords
of the Admiralty to evade the law of contract, and
to take advantage of a loophole to commit a breach
of faith. These men were discharged at one
o'clock, and were re-engaged at two o'clock, they
received the same wages and resumed their old
occupations, but they knew that the long years
which they had spent in the service of Government,
refusing the better offers of private shipbuilders, at
periods when skilled labour was in high demand,
under the delusive belief that the superannuated
pension would be forthcoming when the time of
their service was accomplished, were thrown away.
Thus after expending the best years of their lives
is the service of their country they will be cast
upon the world, and most probably they will die
in the workhouse. To say nothing of the dishonesty
of such conduct, and the breech of honour, honesty,
and integrity, to which no private firm could dare
to stoop, the impolicy of the proceedings is so
manifest that we would rather believe that
Sir CHARLES WOOD had again brought
his baneful influence to bear upon the Admiralty
Board, than that the Duke of SOMERSET held sway
there. Is it at all likely that clever artisans will
care to devote their lives to a service which grants
tardy advancement and but moderate pay, and will
neglec9'auy chance of bettering their condition,
when prices rise and when they can turn to advans
tags the experienee which they have acquired under
the able shipwrights or engineers of Her MAJES-
TY'S dockyards. The course is a suicidal one, and
will be looked upon with complacency by all lead-
ing shipbuilders, who will at once find a greater
supply of skilled labour in the market and a cor-
responding increase of Government contracts. It
might puzzle the wisest to understand, and perplex
the most astute to divine what can be the motive
which actuates our authorities thus to lay down
these laws and to counteract all the efforts of those
who have gone before them. The details that are
furnished relative to this subject in the naval intel-
ligence of yesterday are in themselves sufficient to
stamp the whole proceeding with ignominy, and
give rise to serious doubts as to the efficacy of ar-
rangements which are based upon such glaring in-
justice and wanton disreg'.rd of important claims.
We learn that on Monday fifteen men received
notice of dismissal at Woolwich in consequence of
the new rules regarding the "superannuation al-
lowance." These men were of various trades, and
some had been employed for a period of from 15 to
24 years in the establishment. They are now in
the miserable condition of uncertainty as to their
prospects which must awaken sympathy in the
minds of all not totally callous to the best feelings
of humanity. They have reason to apprehend that
they will not receive the least assistance from the
Government, although they have been for so long
in the factory where some of them have been in-
jured and "rendered unfit for future work." The
barbarity of such a coarse of proceeding is truly
painful to the mind to contemplate. Csn it be for
a paltry saving that the men who assume to guide
1 our affairs can propose to inflict such injustice on
honest and upright men who have word hard in the
servic- of their country ? If such be the motive, it
is of so mistaken a nature that the most simple
and ignorant might well hesitate to own to it. Let
not the delegates of the Admiralty come to Parlia-
ment with the boast that they have done great
things in the way cf economy, and cff,Tted conside-
rable savings to the revenue. Their fine sounding
expositions will not convince their hearers, when
they remember what sufferers have fallen by the
wayside, victims have fallen in the treck of their
chariot wheels. A more contemptible device was
never resorted to than this of defrauding the pcor
of the gaerdon of their toil, and sequestrating the
claims which are the birthright of their labour. It
is not the way to deserve to prosper, and very cer-
tainly it will not do so. The juggling nature of the
whole scheme will readily be comprehended by the
men who suffer by its working, and the credit and
character thus forfeited will never be regained. It
is high time that some notice was taken of all this
unworthy trifling with the interests of our dock-
yards, and that the perpetrators of the hurtful de-
sign receive the censure which they SD richly
merit. To those who take a right view of such
things it will be a sad reflection that a man may
work away through all the years of his health and
strength, and when the weakness of age, the infir-
mities of sickness, and the enervating effects of
overwork come upon him, that he be cast away as a
worn-out tool or a used-up garment. We are told
that the labourer is worthy of his hire, and it is a
part of his hire that those who can afford it should
provide in some measure for the period of inaction
which is often superinduced by over work in their
service. It is a shame that those in high places
should presume to turn and twist things to suit
their narrow notions, and satisfy their very elastic
consciences. The distinctions that exist between
right and wrong are too broadly defined, or rest
upon too solid foundations for them to displace
them ; and in the face of their pretentious reforms,
and sweeping innovations, the voice of justice de-
clares against them. The claims of those who
suffer are based upon the sure convictions of all
who advocate honour, honesty, and fair play, and
such an appeal ought not to be disregarded. As
political economists it is absurd, as officials it is a
gross blunder, and as members of a 3overnment it is
a violation of their duties thus to inflict injuries
upon honest labourers which thesewisseuacchreaslaocfrtiht;
Admiralty have been effecting with
and inconsiderateness.

The temperature of the last few days has made
it difficult for us to believe that WO are as yet butr i-
v a
in the middle of May. Instead of the usual
able weather, the mild spring days interspersed
with clouds and showers, with cold Winds and
dark weather, we have the glowing heat of mid-
summer—the cloudless heaven of the brightest
days of July. Tae May of the poets has long be-
come traditionary, and has lingered only in their
enchanted pages, where, as LEIGH TIUNT tells us,
she is an evergreen. Of late years the May queens
EvAl village festivities, traditionary to the time, have
appeared almost ridiculous in recollection, under
gloomy, ungeuial skies, and cold bleak winds,
which would be likely enough to render the tragic
pirate of the Laureate's sprightly maiden only the
natural result of suing " Charles's %Vain come
out above the tall grey chimney tops" in book-
muslin and roses. But this year all snob legends
are perfectly comprehensible, and only require the
addition of sunshades over the flowery crowns and
marquees over the maypole. The sunshine of the
present season is as much in excess of our usual
allowance at this time as the cold of the early
months of the year outstripped our ordinary cal-
culations. Let us hope that its effect on the nubile
health may be less Perceptible
cer-
tainly rejoice in its beneficial and whilendfe wertili maysing
influ-
ence. Pleacant as the cloudless sky may be, how-
ever, to the farmer, who sees in it the premise of
a plentiful harvest, and Nvelme as may be the

kindly rays at holiday treat or rural festival, the
busy toilers in the crowded ways of the metropolis
are apt to find them somewhat exhausting. If the
denizen of shop or counting-house sigh for a breath
of the outer air, those who are actually engaged in
outdoor work, or whose avocations make it neces
sary for them to pass much to and fro in
the hot, dusty streets, are often wellnigh spent
with " the heat and burden of the day," and
thankful to avail themselves of the first means
of refreshment at hand. At such times how
welcome is the fresh clear fountain offering its
refreshing draught to the thirsty wayfarer, and
how great a blessing must be these opportunities
which have of late years been given by public
benevolence or private charity. The comfort which
the free drinking fountains have given, and the
extent to which the advantages which they offer
have been appreciated by the public at large, are
shown by the surprising fact, recorded on trust-
worthy authority, that a quarter of a million of
persons drink daily of these fountains during the
day. When it is remembered that the association
which has made this calculation has only been as
yet able to erect 80 fountains, it will be seen that
the number of passengers who stop to drink is pro-
portionately very large. It is therefore not without
reason that Mr. GURNEY makes a public appeal
on behalf of the Metropolitan Free Drinking
Fountain Association to enable it to extend its
beneficent labours still farther. The committee of
the association are constantly being applied to for
new fountains, and there are many parts of Lon-
don in which such a boon would be an incalculable
blessing ; but the good work is, unfortunately,
like too many other good works, compelled to re-
strict its labours for want of funds. The associa•
tion undertakes not only to erect the fountains, but
to keep them in repair, so that their expenses do
not terminate with the actual placing of the foun-
tain. The necessity of such a system of supervision
is shown by the fact of several of those fountains
erected by private benevolence having got oat of
order. The committee propose taking them also
under their supervision, and we should recommend
them to make this one of their first tasks, since
before building fresh fountains it would seem to bo
only common sense to have those which are already
in existence, in an efficient state. The committee
declare it to be their desire to extend their operations
to every corner of the metropolis, and we trust they
will before long be able to fulfil their desire. The im-
portance of a sufficient supply of pure water is
almost incalculable to the public health. For
drink, for cooking, for every household purpose
good water is an inestimable boon, which, like
the air we breathe, is only valued when we miss
it. It has been one of the most serious antago-
nistic influences to Anglo-Indian life that Calcutta
is so ill supplied with water, and in many of our
London dens and rookeries the want is as severely
felt as in the City of Palaces. These fountains
render the dwellers in our pent-up courts and
lanes, in some measure, independent of negligent
builders and careless landlords. Thanks to them
there need be no need for fetching gin because
the water is too bad to drink alone, wherever
they are within reach. The working man, too,
may often slake his thirst at the little tempting
basin when, otherwise, a dusty walk or a heavy
job might send him to the beer shop or the gin
palace. The committee have also wisdom and
humanity enough to extend their care to the brute
creation, and regret that they are as yet unable
to give the full amount of relief needed by cattle
and dogs. Every one who has watched the poor
over-driven cattle coming or going on the road by
a London market, must be anxious that something
should be done to mitigate their sufferings. It is
but common humanity to supply so simple and
pressing a need of animal life; and in the cases of
both cattle and dogs it would certainly be a safety
to de so. In Lisbon, notwithstanding the heat, it
is said that hydrophobia is unknown, because pans
of water are set here and there on the highways for
thirsty dogs, and there can be no doubt that a good
supply of water would go far towards keeping
cattle from getting excited and unmanageable.
" The merciful man is merciful to his beast," and
water is surely a thing which the meanest animal
has a right to demand. It is one of the great pro-
visions of nature, for rich and poor, for great and
small, for wise and simple alike, and has so impor-
tant a share in the general well-being that the
ancients reckoned it among the component parts of
man's frame. But the best argument on behalf of
these erections is their practical service, and so long
as 250,000 persons stop daily to think at 80 foun•
tains it can hardly be denied that they so far ful-
filled their mission, and that they supply a great
public need.

Parliamentary Business after Whitsuntide.

The House of Commons will meet to-morrow after
the Whitsuntide recess. Mr Dothoa will ask leave
to bring in a bill to amend the registration of county
voters in England and Wales. Mr Bovill will ask
leave to bring in a bill to make further provision
for the registration of burials in England. Sir G.
Grey will ask leave to bring in a bill to amend the
act for the better management of highways in Eng-
land. On Friday the Attorney-General will move
the second reading of the New Parishes Acts Amend-
ment Bill, upon which Mr Hadfield will move an
amendment that the bill be read a second time that
day six months. On the same day, on going into
committee of supply, Mr Baxter will call attention
to the state of affairs in China. Oa Monday, the
23d inst., Mr Watkin will ask Mr Layard to state
the present position of negotiations with the Go-
vernment of the United States is reference to the
proposed termination or repeal by the United States
of the Reciprocity Treaty and of the Bonding Act,
under which instruments facilities for mutual com-
mercial interchange have been afforded, and a large
and increasing trade has grown up with the colonies
of British North America, On Tuesday, the 24th,
Mr Hennessy will call attention to the emigration
of the agricultural population of Ireland. On Tuft.
day, the 31st May, Mr Cobden will move—" That,
recognising and approving the policy of non-inter-
vention in the internal affairs of foreign countries
which regulates cur relations with the States of
Europe and America, this house is of opinion
that the same policy should be observed in our
intercourse with the Chinese empire, On Fri-
day, June 3, Mr Lindsay will call attention to
certain matters effecting the interests of this
country in connection with the war which still
continues in the United States of America, and
will submit a resolution which will have for its
object other mediation between the contending sec-
tions of these States, or the recognition of the in-
dependence of the Confederate States. Mr. Baxter
will move the precious question. On Tuesday, the
7th of June, Mr. E. Bouverie will move " That this
house will resolve iteelf into a committee to cons
eider portions of the Act of Uniformity," On Tues-
day, the 14th June, Mr.Dillwyn will call attention
to the state of the Irish Church. There are many
notices of motion on the books of the House for
which no days have yet been fixed. Amongst them
are Mr. H,Berkeley on the ballot, Mr. Doulton on
preserving commons and open spaces in and around
the metropolis, Mr. Hodgson on the royal naval
reserve, Mr. Horeman on Denmark, Mr. R. Long
on Japan and China, Mr, Maguire on the state of
Ireland, Mr. Roebuck on the Suez Canal, Mr. H.
Ecclesiasticalf Commission, mission, and Mr.
franchise by the
on the
th e
etein o
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1 introduction of educational and other tests,