The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-02 00:00:00

THE NEW STREET IN SOUTHWARK.

their hilarious demonstrations yesterday, will be
fully able to appreciate. The cost of the new
street has been :—Purchass of property, &c.,
£480,012 ; ten per cent. for contingencies,
£27,936 ; sewer, paving, &e., £24,153 ; Mr. Pear-
son's contract, £24,950 ; total, £557,051, being
an excess of £37,627, over the estimated
expenditure. About four hundred houses have
been pulled down for the formation of the street,
and the space cleared, less the roadway, has been
divided into 200 plots, of which 17 have already
been let. The Alliance Bank of London and Liver-
pool have reared an imposing structure at the
Borough end of the new street, and several other
plots have been let to hop merchants. The total
length of the street is 3,450 feet, and the breadth
from front to front of houses 70 feet.

After the formal opening, which consisted merely
of the knocking down of the barriers in Blackfriars-
road, and the indiscriminate admission of the popu-
lation of the locality, the chairman of the Board of
Works and his friends adjourned to the Bridge-
house Hotel, where Mr. Spencer, the new landlord,
had prepared an abundant and well-arranged lun-
cheon. In the course of the evening Mr. Thwaites
proposed as a toast, Prosperity to the Board of
Works," pointing out that the new sheet which
they had just opened was one of their most impor-
tant undertakings. It would give a new and wide
avenue for the immense traffic which was always
flowing between London and Westminster-bridges,
and would ultimately carry the traffic clear up to
Vauxhall. The Board had bought its land much
cheaper than any railway company had done, and
had contested every unreasonable claim for com-
pensation. His former connection with the district
made him doubly glad that he had been humbly
instrumental in procuring so great a boon for South-
wark, but he believed that, by the relief it would
afford to the great arteries of trade on the northern
side of the river, it would be a boon to the whole
metropolis. Mr. Thwaites subsequently proposed
" The Health of the Corporation of London," and
bore testimony to the amicable spirit in which its
members had co-operated with the Board of Works
in the exertions of the latter for the improvement
of the metropolis.

After one or two other toasts the company sepa-
rated, the majority having engagements which
called them away early.

Mr, Cardwell, M.P., at Oxford,

OXFORD, Jan. 1.
The annual dinner of the Ancient Order of Druids at
Oxford, took place this evening in the Town-hall, and it
being the occasion on which the members for the city of
Oxford address their constituents, the hall was as usual
densely crowded. Both Mr. Cardwell and Mr. Neate, the
recently-elected member, were most cordially received by
their constituents. The chair on the present occasion was
occupied by the Arch Druid, Mr. Brunner, and among the
company we observed the Mayor of Oxford (Mr. Carr),

Aldermen Ward, Randell, Towle, Thompson, the ex-Mayor
the Right Hon. Mr. Cardwell, M.P., Mr. Neate, M.P.
Colonel Fane, M.P., Captain Mellon, Captain Fane, Mr;
Sheriff Watson, Mr. Clay, Mr. Pike, Mr. E. T. Spiers, Mr.
Hussey, Mr. Saunders, &c.

The usual loyal and patriotic toasts having been given
and cordially responded to,
The CHAIRMAN proposed the health of the City mem•
bers, which was received with loud cheers.

The Right Hon. E. W. CARDWELL on rising was re-
ceived with renewed cheering. After some preliminary re-
marks—in the course of which he alluded in feeling terms
to the death which had taken place since he had last ad-
dressd them, of his late colleague, Mr. Langton, and to the
more recent death of Mr. Thackeray—he expressed the
pleasure he should have in working with a common purpose
with his newly. elected colleague, Mr. Neate. He then con-
tinued :—The most remarkable feature of the year which
has just passed is the great and happy contrast which under
the blessings of Divine Providence in our tranquil, steady
and continuous progress in prosperity, this kingdom has
presented to the signal sorrows which have bt en ey perienced
in some foreign countries, and the great anxiety and alarm
which have been prevalent throughout the whole of Europe.
So far as our pecuniary prosperity is concerned, I for one
own that it has exceeded altogether any anticipations that
I had previously entertained. It certainly appeared to me,
and I have no hesitat:on in acknowledging it, that it was
impossible for that great convulsion which has shaken
the United States of America to the centre to have taken
place without producing more disastrous effects to this
country than those which we have actually experienced.
But, gentlemen, probably in the very circumstances from
which we anticipated, and indeed have experienced such
great trials, we may trace at least a part of the caused of our
comparative prosperity. At the beginning of a great war,
when the expenses are met by means of borrowed money,
and by that most seductive form of borrowing money, the
issue of paper money not corresponded to by actual gold—
in the commencement of a great war there is always a large
expenditure, not only on military objects, but also on those
articles which are luxuries even in times of peace, and I
have no doubt whatever that a great part of the American
expenditure has contributed to maintain the trade and com-
merce of this kingdom. Then again there is little question
that we owe a great deal to the increasing intercourse be-
tween this country and Franee, an intercourse which has
not only been beneficial to us in itself, but which is highly
to be cherished as giving mutual securities between two
great nations for the maintenance of peace, (Cheers.) But
after all, the great cause probably why we have suffered

Yesterday afternoon the Metropolitan Board of
Works, headed by their chairman, Mr. Thwaites,
formally opened " Southwark-street," the new
avenue which connects the Borough with Black-
friars road, and, by means of Stamford-street, opens
up a wide thoroughfare from London to Westmin-
ster-bridges. The ceremonial was not very im-
posing, but the importance and usefulness of the
event seemed to be highly appreciated by the local
public. A dense crowd waited at the barrier close
to Blackfriars-bridge, and when that had been
thrown down the newly opened-up territory turned
out its inhabitants en masse, who crowded at every
corner, and cheered vociferously as the unostenta-
tious procession passed along. Precisely at a quar-
ter past three Mr. Thwaites and his friends, includ-
ing Mr. Layard, M.P., Alderman Finnis, nearly the
whole of the members of the Board of Works, and a
large contingent of Southwark notabilities, arrived
at the Blackfriars barrier, and many were admitted
by the police inb the new street, who speedily de-
scended into the subway, which is the great novelty
of the work. This subway, which is six feet high
at the end of the arch, and twelve feet wide, pre-
sented a very imposing vista as the party proceeded
along it, guided by a double row of lamps on the
ground at each side. The intention of the subway,
which is above the main sewer, is to give access to
the various gas and water pipes which supply the
mains with light and water, without those frequent
tearirgs up of the pavement which are so well known
as the established nuisances of London. Many of
the visitors, however, who promenaded its entire
length yesterday were struck with the strategic uses
to which such a subterranean passage might be put
in case of a serious street riot; and one gentleman
suggested that it might be made available for a
wide extension of the operations of the Pneumatic
Despatch Company. There is no doubt that a regi-
ment of soldiers fully accoutred might pass from one
end of the subway to the other without the slightest
difficulty, and it is equally certain that the tubes of
the Pneumatic Despatch Company could find ample
accommodation. There are narrow side passages at
short intervals leading to the various pipes, and all
is as fresh, clean, and airy as could be expected above
ground. The inspection was most satisfactory, and
everyone concurred in thinking that the works had
been executed in the soundest and most durable
nrinner.

less than we expected to suffer is to be found in that con-
tinuous expansion which the energy of the English people
has always found iGr the broad deep stream of British in-
dustry and commerce, Let us be thankful to the Giver of
all Good for the benefits which we have enjoyed, and let us
endeavour to prove ourselves worthy of them in future
years. With regard to foreign countries, the great question
of interest to us must ever be until happily it shall be closed,
that wonderful, that sorrowful chapter of history which we
are reading in the condition of the United States of America,
an epoch which will probably have as great an effect in
that country as the civil wars ending in the great revolution
had in our own, or as the first great revolutionary struggle
had in France. To this country it has been particularly
interesting during the year that has passed, for it has
brought into action in this country a principle of law
of the utmost importance to England, the greatest
maritime country of the world—a principle which
will survive the war in America, and will remain to guide
the destinies of nations long after those who are contem-
_ _

The history of the new street is brief enough,
and its facts are very creditable to the energy and
perseverance of the Board of Works. For nearly
a quarter of a century the want of a main street
between Blackfriars and London bridges had been
felt and proclaimed, but it was not until Aug. 10,
1857, that the board obtained their act. Negotia-
tions for the purchase of the property to be pulled
down occupied a year, and on Oct. 1, 1861, the first
contract, undertaken by Mr. Downs, of Union-street,
Southwark, and his portion of the road—namely,
from High street, Borough, to the Southwark-
bridge-road—was opened for public traffic in July,'
1862. In March, 1863, Mr. Pearson, of Kenaing.
ton-cross, took the second contract, and this having
been completed to Blackfriars-road, permitted the
simple ceremony which took place yesterday. -01
the street above ground there is little to be said.
There is an excellent roadway 70 feet wide, but the
houses on each side are yet to be supplied by an
enterprising public. The site is certainly a noble
one, and first-rate commercial houses would soon
find tenants, but it unfortunately happens that the
Board has been so economical in its purchases of
property as to leave little or no margin on either
side of the roadway. The little cross streets which
have been cut in two for the now avenue protrude
their jagged ends to the very edge of the pathway,
and there is hardly at any spot along the route space
sufficient for a good roomy house, such as would
be required by a bank or a large mercantile firm.
The little erase etreete, however, will have alt the
more fresh air, which the inhabitants, judging by

porary with it shall have gone to their rest. I refer to the
question now under discussion in our courts with regard to
the rights of belligerents and neutrals at sea. Seventy years
have just elapsed since we begun our struggle with revolu-
tionary France, and the minister who represented France
in the United States of America then endeavoured to make
the harbours of the United States a focus for expeditions by
sea against the commerce and the possessions of England.
The remonstrances of England were acknowledged in Arne-
rice, and thecomplaints of Mr Pitt and Lord Grenville being
received by Washington and Jefferson, the result was the
enactment in America of that law which now under altered
circumstances, they being the belligerents and we neutrals,
is the principal subject of discussion in this kingdom. The
ability with which the matter has been discussed upon both
sides has been remarkable, and we now; wait patiently for
the decision of our tribunals. But of this there will be no
doubt in this or any other assembly, namely, that with the
same measure with which we expected they should mete to
us with that same measure, now that the circumstances are
reversed, it is our duty to mete to them. The one principle
by which you are to be guided is that, fearless to menace,
uninfluenced by favour, we shall give to the principle of
strict neutrality full and impartial effect, and carry out to
utmost of our power that principle of international law to
which we in our own time of danger and necessity ourselves
appealed. (Cheers.) I wish most heartily that I could give
you a more satisfactory account in regard to what has
passed in respect to the unhappy kingdom of Poland. 1
wish I could have told that when the wrongs of Poland ex-
cited the sympathy of Europe, and when Austria, France,
and England thought proper to remonstrate, their remon-
strances had been effectual for the end which they had in
view. But I can give you no such assurance, and I deeply
regret that the consequences ehould have been those
which are familiar to your knowledge. All that I shall
say upon that subject is that there were only two other
courses which England could have pursued. One was to
have preserved absolute silence, which, under the cir-
cumstances of the case, might have been interpreted into
giving its assent to the course which was being pursued in
Poland; and the other was that Austria, France, and Eng-
land should, by openly raising war against Russia and the
allies of Russia, have opened again those floodgates of a
general European war which were closed some 50 years ago
of which few of us of have seen the desolation and misery it
entailed, but which are yet green in the memory of Europe,
for there are probably many of its provinces that have not
attained to that prosperity and progress which they would
have otherwise enjoyed. You have looked with great interest
to the proposals which have been made by the Emperor of
the French for a general European Congress, and I believe
I speak the sentieeents of every man in this room, and I am
sure that I speak my own, when I say that I yield to no man
in the most earnest desire for the cordial union at all times
between the policy of England and of France, for I hold
that the cordial union of England and France is ono of the
greatest safeguards for the peace of Europe, which I value
beyond all things. (Cheers.) I sympathise cordially with all
the motives by which the congress was recommended to the
consideration of England, but on those very grounds, viz,,
difference of view, I think the people of England generally
egree that it was right on our part to refuse to join in it.
They rightly thought the hezerd was too great to bo en-
countered, and that such a congress, with the most earnes
desire for peace, would have produced a totally contrary and

THE SUN, LONDON, STAURDAY EVENING, JAN cARY 2,1864 w

° pposite result. We could lave no self interest in view;
England desires no aggrandisement ; she has nothing to
seek ; and in the case of the Icnian Islands, she has shown
the very year that has passed that, if there be anything
which she possesses, that she believes it for the interest of
those who are chiefly concerned, and for the welfare of the
country, that she should surrender, she is prepared at once
to surrender it, not at the sugiestion of any number of per-
sons, but by her own free wil, and from her own sponta-
neous feeling. (Cheers.) II another quarter clouds have
arisen, which threaten the naintenance of peace between
two nations with which we lave been upon every account
on terms of the closest and most intimate relationship.
From the Danes and from the Germans we draw our blood,
I sincerely trust that as Gernany hitherto has been consi-
dered, with justice, the most )acific of all European powers,
as the great centre of tranquility and peace in Europe, so
by the wisdom and moderation of its councils, this great
danger might be averted, ant peace be happily preserved.
In this case, at any rate, the appeal of England is to treaty.
Treating of the statute law of Europe, it is the title deeds
of monarchs and the charter which guarantees the rights of
nations. (cheers.) I sincerely trust that by wisdom, by
firmness, and by moderatioa on both sides, that peace
which we all so earnestly and cordially desire may still be
preserved. As 1 have said, to us the year has been one of
great and solemn thankfulnass, and the revenue returns
which have been published this morning show how pros•
perous upon the whole has been our condition, and how
buoyant has been our revenue. By the legislation of the
past year every duty whichimpeded foreign trade has been
romoved, every duty upon domestic manufactures which
tends to prohibit the use of articles in the promotion of
manufactures has been remitted, and in the course of the
year which has just expired Parliament felt itself at liberty
to remove a portion both cf your direct and indirect taxa-
tion, to relieve a portion of the burdens upon property, and
also of the burdens upon consumers in regard to those
articles which form the humble luxuries of the poor. How
far those remissions of taxation can be further carried will
depend upon two considerations, one of which is to what
amount the expansive trade and industry of the country
will contribute to pour into the treasury an increased re-
venue, and the other is the state of our foreign relations,
and how far they will permit us, with a due regard to the
safety and honour of the country, to put a restriction on the
expenditure necessary for the military defence of the na-
tion. It was General Washington who, in founding the
republic of America, gave birth to the wise maxim that the
people of that country should avoid all the quarrels of Eu-
rope, enlarge their commerce. and study to be at peace and
amity with the whole world. It never can be our case that
we can avoid the questions that agitate Europe. but I sin-
cerely hope that under all parties and all governments we
shall observe this rule with respect to other countries as
far as we can, and with a proper spirit of moderation and
firmness, I do not doubt that we can secure to ourselves the
blessings of peace.
Mr. NEATE also addressed the meeting, observing that as
yet he was untried in Parliament, but his satisfaction at
being their representative was considerably enhanced by his
having the right hon. gentleman who had just sat down for
a colleague; and though he could not say that he should
always follow his ad vice,he should certainly resort to him for
it in times of doubt and difficulty. He (Mr. Neate) could
not but think that it would have been better and more dig-
nified on the part of the Government if it had maintained
absolute silence on the Polish question, considering the
position in which it had been placed. He thought that the
Government were right in having nothing to do with the
congres. He, like other Englishmen, was not averse to
seeing a fair standup fight, and they had lately had a con •
flict between the great champion of the press and he might
say the great champion of freedom of opinion, or what some
might call the champion of democracy—he referred to Mr.
Cobden, When a man had done good service to the coun-
try he must protest against the unfairness with which he
had been treated by the great organ of the press. He should
not have said this if others had not shown themselves re-
luctant, and had shrunk from coming forward in his cause,
and he must confess that he felt disappointed when he saw
that at a great gathering in Lancashire the other day no
voice had been raised by the Lancashire and Yorkshire gen •
tlemen, for whom Yr. Cobden had done so much, in his
favour. He should have thought that voices would have
been found to speak in favour both of Mr. Bright and Mr.
Cobden, in a district which they had so much benefited.
(Hear, hear.) He was one of those who thought that the
present law of the settlement of landed property ought
to be amended, and that the agglomeration of the landed
property into the hands of a few individuals was not only an
inconvenience,•but might one day become a danger.
The health of Colonel Fane, M.P., in connection with
the county magistracy, was also drunk, and having been
briefly responded to by the gallant c )lonel, various other
toasts of a local character were drank, and the proceedings
did not terminate till a late hour.

bridge to the Mansion-house. He should lament if the
Board refused to co-operate with the Commissioners of
Sewers, as the setting back of this street would undoubt-
edly be a great improvement.
Mr. LE BRETON seconded the motion.

Mr. DOULTON, M.P., opposed the motion, and said they
ought to seek elsewhere rather than by direct taxation for
funds for improvements of this character, but he believed
this would not be an improvement of the slightest benefit in
connexion with the new street to Blackfriars-bridge. What
they wanted to improve the street was to pull down a corner
of the Mansion- house.

Mr. BENNETT also opposed the motion, as the improve-
ment would be on the wrong side of the street. He should
vote against the motion, and should have voted against
any money being applied to this purpose had he been
present.
Mr. HEALEY and Mr. FECKE'TT opposed the motion.
Mr. SAUNDERS said the Board must do that which was
practicable, and if it was desirable to widen the street and
take down the Mansion-house, he would ask them were
they prepared to go to Parliament for powers to do that
which would not cost them £25,000, but a very much larger
sum ?

Mr. FREEMAN looked upon it as reckless to proceed with
a work without proper data which might possibly cost them
100,000, or even more. _ _ _

Mr. ROCHE urged that the Corporation of London ought
to contribute out of its own funds to so important an im•

provament.
Some members having expressed their ()Pinions,
The CHAIRMAN put the question, when the motion was
negatived by a majority of 31 to 7.