The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-05 00:00:00

torf."

By the way there is something else that Lord
PALMERSTON says now about Mr. STANSFELD
that it is particularly worth while bearing in recol-
lection now that Mr. STANSFELD is passing from
view there on that conspicuous front bench of the
Treasury, to take a modest place, henceforth, upon a
back bench below the gangway. Lord PALMERSTON
is kind enough to inform the House, and through the
House, the Country, as follows ;—" I will uo:," says
the Prime Minister, before resuming his seat, and
allowing the scandal (for surely it is that at least)
to drop into the background, " I will not go into
detail, but I will say that my honourable friend
attaches the same value to the welfare and personal
safety of that Sovereign who reigns over the empire
of France which any man in this House attaches ;
and that he is as sensible as we are that that great
Sovereign, on many great and important ozcasions,
has proved himself to be the true friend and faith-
ful ally of this country ; and that we all feel that
his personal security and dynastic welfare are not
only of the utmost value to the loyal and attached
people he governs, but are equally essential to the
general interests of Europe." Well, really, unless
Lord PALMERSTON had told us all this, we
never should for an instant have suspected it,
Mr. STANSFELD to this moment has kept his secret,
as to these being his thoughts and opinions,
wonderfully well—such being his thoughts and
opinions, as Lord PALMERSTON now tells us they
are. We shall next hear, probably, that they are
the thoughts, the opinions, the convictions of Mr.
STANSFELD'S intimate personal friend M. MAZZINI.
However that may be, they are at any rate those
of Mr. STANSFELD himself—Lord PALMERSTON
says so.

The recent catastrophe on the coast of Ireland has
directed public attention in a forcible manner to
the reprehensible negligence in official quarters, to
which it is principally due. The dangerous posi-
tion of the rock, and the importance of taking im-
mediate steps at least to mitigate the evil, have long
been fully recognised by the authorities of Cork and
dwellers in the vicinity ; and as was naturally to
be expected, they have endeavoured to secure the
assistance of the Government in protecting the
national shipping.
The old story of courteous re-
captions, promised attention, tardy inquiry, and
finally some demur about a comparatively trifling
matter, and adjournment of the question sine die,
has all been gone over in the case of Daunt's Rock.
MAGUIRE, who has taken a prominent part in
the matter, has addressed a letter to a contempo-
rary, giving a full account of his share. It is quite
in accordance with the usual routine of official
red-tapeistu that a rock which was spoken of to
the head of the Board of Trade as being extremely
dangerous to shipping in July, 1863, should be left
marked only by a buoy in April, 1864 ; but it re•
mains to be seen whether the public will consider
that the energy displayed by the Government has
been fully proportionate to the importance of the
case. In last July Mr. MAGUIRE waited on Lord
C. PAGET in order to call nia attention to the
uneasiness felt by the captains of the Cunard
steamers with regard to that very 1 aunt's Rook

which has been the cause of the recent accident.
It was then, as now, comparatively unmarked—
certainly entirely unprotected: it lies right in the
track of vessels coming from the West ; and so well
were its dangers appreciated by the commanders of
the transatlantic ships, that in many instances they
had laid outside the harbour daring dark nights,
to the consequent delay of the American
mails, whose prompt delivery is just now
a matter of so much interest. As the
peculiarity which always exempts the person
blamed from any share in the offence reaches even
to the ranks of Governments and their officials, it
is not surprising that the First Lord of the Admi-
ralty should, when thus addressed, exculpate his
Board from any part of the responsibility. It be-
longs to the Board of Trade. Accordingly, to the
President of the Board of Trade went the Mayor of
Cork, with his story of the perils and inconve-
niences of Daunt's Rock. That gentleman re-
ceived him courteously, and promised his attent ion.
The first step in the routine journey being conse-
quently accomplished, the Harbour Commissioners
Jf Cork took the second, and communicated with
the Dublin Ballast Board. When the annual visit
of inspection was paid to Cork, a meeting took
place at Queenstown between the representatives
of the Board and the Harbour Commissioners, It
was earnestly demanded, on the part of the latter,
that the rock should be removed as soon as pos•
sible, and that, pending its removal, a light ship
should be stationed in its vicinity. The question
of expense was, it was submitted, a national one,
which should most properly be defrayed out of the
Consolidated Fund, or charged on the Mercantile
Marine Fund. The rock lies some miles from the
harbour, and is consequently beyond the jurisdic-
tion of the local authorities, who consider they
have done their part in providing buoys, beacons,
and lights within their own domains. After the
interview with the delegates from the Dublin Board,
it was hoped that a light ship, with fog bell and
signal gun, would be provided as a temporary safe-
guard, while the question of the total removal of
the evil waited for professional consideration. Mr.
MAGUIRE was, however, deputed to visit, per-
sonally, London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, with a
view of interesting the shipping and mercantile
communities of those three ports in the matter.
Memorials from various quarters poured in, and Mr.
MAGUIRE, in his capacity of Mayor, addressed a
letter to the Times, thinking to guard against
delays by making the business public. Another
official inquiry was held and further testimony
adduced, and presently the result of all these efforts
was made known at the end of December. It was
announced that the necessary consent would be
given to the stationing of a lightship, on condition
that the expense should be defrayed by a tax on the
shipping entering or calling at Cork harbour ! This
expense being reckoned at £1,300 annually, is, as
Mr. MAGUIRE remarks, no mean addition to the
burdens of an Irish port," and the Cork Harbour
Commissioners have already exempted all transat-
lantic vessels carrying mails and several other ships
from the ordinary dues, thereby reducing their
receipts. The local authorities very naturally ob-
jected to undertaking such a heavy charge, espe-
cially as it was one which on principle they did
not feel bound to fulfil. It is not exclusively Irish
shipping which is imperilled by Daunt's Rock;
why then should an Irish port bear the sole weight
of the necessary charge? As we all know, while
the matter has been dragging on in uncertainty,
things have been brought to a crisis by the wreck
of as noble ship and the narrow escape of three
hundred persons from sudden death. But the pro-
vidential safety of passengers, crew, mails and
specie, in the present instance, must not take the
point from the moral. The fact remains start-
lingly apparent, but it was the mere question
of the degree of violence with which the
vessel struck that stood between her living freight
and the deep waters. Had the ship shifted her
position and got off the ledge of rock on which she
rested, she would have gone down in ten fathoms
of water. Is a risk like this to be incurred again ?
Is a petty question of expense, a penny wise and
pound foolish economy, to imperil life and limb, to
say nothing of property, whose value dwarfs these
trifling charges, and vessels whose cost would very
soon defray the expense of blowing Daunt's Rock
up twice over ? It is in matters of this sort that
Governments begin to economise, when they are the
very points on which a lavish expenditure might be
most easily forgiven. Bat if affairs of this kind are
to be left to the charge of local authorities, and the
great object of our principal officials is to shuffle
out of the expense, we might as well go a little fur-
ther and save more, by abandoning a Board of
Trade establishment altogether.

No one can complain at all events that this is a
dull session, or that there is any chance of the poli-
tical world remaining any longer in that state of
stagnation in which it has been for so many years
past. The debates in the Houses of Parliament
have been characterised by the greatest excitement.
From one cause and another there has perpetually
arisen some discord or other which has kept the
Treasury Benches and the Opposition in a continual
flutter. Nor have the whirl and commotion been
confined to the walls of the Senate, for in many
instances there have been meetings held, and
speeches made, which tend to show that a great re-
action has taken place. The elections which have
recently recurred have likewise contributed an im-
portant share to the general excitement. There have
been a great number of contested ones in which the
interest felt by the lookers on has been very great.
Ordinarily beyond the immediate confines of the
spot in question little or no heed is paid to the brief
turmoil, but in several notable instances lately put
on record, such as Brighton, Hertfordshire, &e.,
considerable attention was paid to the proceedings,
and it seemed more as if a dissolution had taken
place, than as if a few vacancies were being filled
up, and all was proceeding is the ordinary course.
There is no doubt in one point of view, as concerns
all these changes, that they have all resulted in
favour of the Opposition. Adversaries may be in-
dignant, shufflers may shirk the question, and cap-
tious critics may sneer, but the fact remains the
same, and it is idle to attempt contradiction. We,
are continually reminded of the change that has
taken plece by one circumstance or anniher. A
very significant Conservative meeting was held at
Bolton last Friday. From the details there fur-
nished it will be seen that the prospects of the
party have greatly improved, and that it has been
surprisingly successful in its machinations in that
locality. The Borough and County Association have
bestirred themselves to such good effect that they
were able to give in the following numbers in
the report that was made. With the new
voters put upon the rrgister, there were 900 Con
aervative electors, arid, so far as could be calculated,
only 500 Liberals. Those who remember anything
of the politice of Bolton in former years, will recog-
nise the strikinn alteration that has taken place.
Of course, all this could not have been done without
exertion and enterprise being employed, but these
zealous adherents of their party have been pre-emi-
nent in discovering :Vint sentiments really existed,
end bringing them to light. They did not effect
anything towards implanting the opinions of those

here chronicled,.so that the argument that many '
will put forward as to its being a clap-trap
manceavre, and all that kind of thing, falls to the
ground. Mr. CHARLES TURNER made some appro-
priate remarks at this meeting, which set forward
in an effective style the chief topics which the occa-
sion of their gathering there that day suggested.
He alluded to the most striking circumstances which
had led to the great revolution in political feeling
which has occurred throughout the country. In the
first place, he cited the American war as a very
potent agency in this affair. There can be no doubt
that the general opinion of the events that have
occurred since the first outbreak of that disastrous
contest has been decidedly adverse to the popu-
larity of our Government. Whatever gains they
may have had, in so far as regards the sere ices
afforded to their friends across the Atlantic, their.
losses at home have been most considerable. Espe-
cially in Lancashire must this feeling have been
prevalent, and the short-sighted, infatuated states-
men, who have persisted in their headstrong course,
must now reap the bitter fruits of their own in.
fatuation and recklessness. Mr. TURNER made an
amusing parody of Earl RUSSELL'S well-known
maxim, "Rest and be thankful." He said he
trusted that the Conservatives would be thankful
for their victories and successes, but not rest. They
must press on to further achievements and future
efforts. It would be well if all politicians
took this view of the matter, and certainly they
could hardly take a more supine notion than that of
the Foreign Secretary, or one more inimical to the
best interests of a community. There can be no rest
for the Minister who keeps pace with the ever
changing spirit of the times, and at any rate such a
posture of inact:on would not snit the sentiments
and sympathies of an active and leading nation.
Perhaps, however, there is more truth in this motto
than at first appears, and we may traee some of the
disastrous losses and dreary changes that have be-
fallen the Liberal party to their fatal inactivity and
false security. The fable of the hare and tortoise
has often been illustrated when those who are in
the possession of innumerable advantages build too
much on appearances, and think more of the
enemy's weakness than of their own strength. It
is always difficult to find men honest enough to
own that they are in the wrong, or perspicacious
enough to discover exactly how their mistakes one
ginated. A philosophising politician may
'.aform
the disconsolate and defeated candidateee,
however,
that their errors have been those "ei omission most
especially. How much have 'ale professors of Jibe
ralism done of late years. to meet the exigencies of
the times or merit ....no confidence of the country ?
They have beer,
for the most part exceedingly lax
rements of their position, and now it
in all the requi
is a jr.st retribution that has overtaken them, and
ts:dght them some most unwelcome truths. It is to
be hoped that they will profit by the stern lessons of
experience, and for the future more worthily fulfil
the high duties that devolve upon them, but it is
not likely that they will have any opportunity of
exhibiting their amended ways for some time to
come, for they have neglected to take the tide of
public events at the flood, and they will not find
that fortune will smile upon them, or fling her fa-
vours on their pathway,