The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-30 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1852,

An augmentation of the Royal Navy of England
has at length been resolved upon by her MA-
JESTY'S Government. Scarcely any announce-
ment, we believe, could by possibility be more
acceptable than this to the great mass of the
population. It is the recognition, at last, of a
necessity long obvious, it would seem, to every-
body but the leaders of past Administrations. For
ourselves, we have insisted upon the deplorable
fact of its existence more urgently, more anxiously,
and more pertinaciously, than upon almost any
other want affecting the interests or the security
of the United Kingdom. We have never failed
to appreciate the magnitude of this most impor-
tant exigency, any more than we have overlooked
for an instant—as some people would really
appear to have overlooked—the circum-
stance that ours is an insular power, and one,
therefore, requiring for the continuance of its
stability—unremitting attention to the strength
and efficiency of its maritime armaments. That
this attention has riot been accorded of late years
to the naval defences of Great Britain, has been
for a considerable time past a truth very pain-
fully notorious. Every impartial observer gifted
with a merely ordinary amount of intelligence,
has perceived only too readily and too distinctly
the grievous negligence of those entrusted with
the responsibility of conducting the machinery of
our marine administration. They have seen
with dismay the disastrous inadequacy of
the improvements admitted into our dock-
yards when contrasted with those intro-
duced into the dockyards of some of tie
more powerful States of Christendom. It
has been a lamentable story, familiar to the mul-

titude at large, that the Navy, whose annals have
been illustrated by so many glorious achievements,
the Navy o Algiers and Trafalgar, the Navy of
NELSON and CoLLlNGwoon—has not developed its
energies prc portionately with the advance percep-
tible elsewlere, during the last thirty or forty
years of al most uninterrupted tranquillity. Com-
plaints ve:fy loud and very numerous have conse-
quently lo .een heard, more particularly during the
past decide ; and to these complaints we have
the sati: f action of remembering that we ourselves
have repeatedly, we may even say perpetually,
given ;t erance.

nee, ;city of
asserted the impera-
tiveAmon c,; other things, we
of bringing about prompt and cora-
Prehens ive changes in our system of ship-building,
ni. our E motile of promotions, in our acceptance of the
aids.yie h led by engineering, in our organization of
marine
a rtillery, in this direction, in that direc-
tion, and in the other but, above all, and be-
yond all, have Perseveringly insisted upon the
need of s ome total and immediate re-arrangement
of our pr eposte. mu, scheme
of
manning
ing
the ships
of war err trusted with the duty of carrying unsul-
lied a
espected into every quarter of the globe
the
of the British SOV:EREIGN. It
all
has p ea] e to
abipadnrl:l 3.
us that, among th© various
1

improvements demanded in the Royal Navy
of England, the most needed were—a greater
care for our seamen, a more sedulous regard
to the innovations in gunnery, a larger
interest in watching over the fortunes of those
officers whose merits admitted of the recompence
of a speedier advancement, and a judicious care
for the increased efficiency of our men-of-war, by
the more general employment of the advantages
inseparable from the introduction of the screw
propeller. Such have been the principal objects
towards which we have directed, year after year,
month after month, week after week, and even
day after day, all the fervour of logic and all the '
force of statistics. These have been the more
noteable reforms urged by us, time after time, upon
the consideration of the authorities at the
Admiralty—reforms to the absolute necessity of
which we have called the attention of the Legis-
lature, and for the realisation of which we have
besought the interposition of the Government.
Happily for England, her rulers have at last
awakened to the sense of this great need of mari-
time improvements. It has been intimated al-
ready in these columns that the marine force of
the British Empire has been put in a fair way of
developing its own vast capabilities by the re-
cent adoption in so many instances of the "screw"
as a means of propulsion. Another improvement
equally redounding to the glory of the Cabinet,
has now, we rejoice to know, been resolved upon
in compliance with the suggestions of the Naval
Commission. Somewhere about five thousand
sailors, and a proportionate number of marines,
are forthwith to be added to those now consti-
tuting the power of the fleets of Great Britain.
Supposing that this augmentation in the
number of our seamen be only coupled
with a change in the general system of manning
our ships of war, so as to abolish the custom of
discharging crews whenever they are paid off,
precisely at the very juncture when they have
been trained into the most admirable state of
efficiency —we shall eagerly acknowledge, that
in these new reforms we can only recognize a
soiree of unalloyed satisfaction. Even now, as
far as the change goes, it cannot but be in every
way acceptable to the multitude. By the increase
of the Navy through the raising of these five
thousand additional sailors, we are in the most
rational manner carrying out the project of im-
proving and stabilitating what are called the Na-
tional Defences. Without some such innovation
the calling out of the new Militia would have been
little better than a farce to all intents and purposes.
The alterations proposed to emanate from the
Admiralty form, therefore, the' most reasonable
pendant to Mr. WALPOLE'S much-lauded and emi-
nently successful enactment. Granted that this
augmentation of the strength of our maritime ar-
maments will necessitate no inconsiderable increase
of expenditure—yet, while that reflexion is alto-
gether undeniable in its accuracy, we rest confi-
dent, nevertheless, that the change, though
necessarily expensive, will prove one of a singu-
larly welcome and popular character. It will be
hailed with gladness by every patriot in the United
Kingdom. It will alleviate a very painful and
wide-spread anxiety. It will render the Militia
Bill more than ever agreeable to the feelings of
the population. It will infuse an appreciable ac-
tivity into the whole of the Naval Department of
these islands, and, by enhancing the vitality of our
maritime forces, will, in the most effectual manner,
tend to ensure the stability of the British Empire.
Although emanating from a DERBY-DISRAELI
Cabinet, it will not be ungrateful to the ma
jority of a Liberal and Economic Opposition.

None but persons tolerably well acquainted
with the law of landlord and tenant in Ireland,
can form any conception of the nature and diffi-
culty of the task undertaken by the Irish ATTOR-
NEY-GENERAL, and so ably brought forward on
Monday evening. The mere digest of the multi-
farious enactments spread through 150 or 200
different statutes—the clearing up of ambiguities
—the reconciling conflicting provisions, consoli-
dating and simplifying the whole, so as to form a
consistent code—would alone constitute a labour
of no ordinary magnitude. But Mr. NAPIER did
far more. He acted not merely as the compiler,
but as the Legislator. He not only ascertained
the state of the existing law, but he considered,
camly and attentively, the evils with which his
experience as a Barrister had rendered him too
familiar. He traced out those various evils to
their respective sources, and provided what, we
trust and believe, will prove to be efficient reme-
dies. He was no doubt considerably assisted by
the labours of those who had preceded him in the
same path, but who had not succeeded in achiev-
ing any practical result. He has particularly de-
rived advantage from many valuable suggestions
in the Report of the Devon Commissioners. But
all would have been fruitless had it not been for
a degree of patient assiduity, coupled with a firm
determination to render full and impartial justice
between the parties, beyond all praise. He has
maquestionably held the scales with an equal and
impartial hand, not seeking popularity from either
side, but, as we have already stated, enforcing "the
duties" while protecting " the rights" of pro-
perty.

In his third Bill, which is that for consoli-
dating, simplifying, and amending the existing
laws which regulate the relations of landlord and
tenant in the, Sister Kingdom, Mr NAPIER has en-
deavoured to enforce a more strict observance of
the contracts, calmly and deliberately entered
into, than was previously practicable. One of the
most learned and truly distinguished Judges that
ever presided upon the Irish, or indeed on any,
Bench of Justice, was accustomed to express his
disapprobation of the tenant " paying his landlord
thc
he
Judgethatt
he
landlorda`h`
earpointf
could
oro
tr.
ilf e law"da
otob t aiwasn was;
occa-
sionally by a special demurrer." But it was too fre-
quent
hthu
ee
yn
et
rlmey
ntt he
wne
obliged to give effect to objections of
which he highly disapproved, and to decide on a
mere form, contrary to the substantial merits of
the case. The extraordinary litigation that oc-
curred on the question of reversion, which led to
conflicting decisions in the Courts of Queen's
Bench and Exchequer, was exemplified in the
well-known case of PLUCK v. DEGGIS, which was
carried to the House of Lords, and of which it was
subsequently said byLord PLuNKETT, that he would
only follow the decision of the Peers in a case in
which the name of the plaintiff was PLUCK, and
the name of the defendant, DEGGIS. It was
indeed, a case of extreme hardship, that a party
who had let his lands to another for the term for
which he held them himself, could not avail him-
self of the ordinary remedies, either by distress or
ejectment, unless he reserved some time, however
fsou f fir
tc eenti forvos the
different
e
purpose
shortr
—o
demised
from those mentioned in his own lease.
It was a triumph of law over justice,
—ea ssinedgle thed day
ylands was
and had a
very demoralising effect, inasmuch
as it induced
persons to take defence, relying on the ingenuity
of counsel rather than on the honesty or justice of
.
their case. " Noth " as the Right Hon.
Gentleman justly remarked—"Nothing was so cal-
culated to encourage the unhealthy system of
competition for land, which had prevailed in Ire-
land, as leading tenants to suppose that they
might not be compelled to pay ; and they often
speculated accordingly on the chance of not being
compelled to pay." By the new Bill the contracts
will be strictly enforced ; and if the landlord is
compelled to act fairly towards the tenant, the
latter will in turn be obliged to render justice to
the former. " The rent can no longer be paid by
a special demurrer."

There are some very salutary provisions against
waste, andparticularly "against the destructive and
improvident custom of burning the lands." Under
the existing law, the landlords had no remedy,
cave by filing a bill in the Court of Chancery, for
an injunction against the reckless tenant. If un-
willing to encounter the formidable expense of
such a proceeding—an expense seldom, if ever,
recovered from the defendant, as such acts were
only resorted to by paupers already heavily in
debt to the victims—he might stand by looking
on at the irreparable injury inflicted on his pro-
perty, which even under the most favourable
terms he might be unable to nreventk as several

days must necessarily elapse before the injunction
could be obtained and served upon the depreda-
tors. The mischief would be done during the
pendency of the legal proceedings. It is now in-
tended to give power to the neighbouring magis-
trates to issue " a stop order and a stop precept
to restrain waste," a truly valuable provision,
which could not by any possibility do injustice to
the tenant, inasmuch as he will be enabled to
appeal forthwith to the Assistant Barrister—if in
the county—or to a going Judge of Assize, or to
a superior court, to set aside the order. Mr.
NAPIER has wisely acted on the principle, that
" prevention is better than punishment." He
has therefore given the summary remedy that was
so much required against those whose acts afford
prima facie evidence that they are wrong-doers.
Another grievance provided against by the Bill,
is that occasioned by absconding tenants—an evil
which, since the famine in Ireland, has become al-
most intolerable. Not only did the party in posses-
sion carry away his crops, and deprive his land-
lord of every prospect of recovering a shilling of
the arrears—but he withheld possession of the
lands unless paid exorbitantly for their surrender.
The practice was to let a neighbouring pauper
into possession, who compelled the landlord to go
through the entire process of ejectment, unless he
complied with the extortion practised upon him.
A summary remedy will be provided in such cases,
that will remove this flagrant grievance, and en-
able
the landlord to obtain possession of his pro-
perty cheaply and expeditiously. The law relat-
ing to ejectments is simplified and ameliorated, and
the ancient fictions—justly designated as " anti-
quated and operose"—are abolished, and an im-
proved form substituted. The Irish JOHN DOE
and RICHARD ROE, will have the fate of their
English brethren, and " JOHN THRUSTOUT," will
only be remembered by old practitioners.
So far the landlords will be materially bene-
fitted by the measure. The tenants' interests are,
however, carefully guarded. Landlords will be
obliged to look after the repairs of labourers' cot-
tages, to see that the cabins are so constructed
that the family are not obliged to share their sleep-
ing apartment with the pig or the cow. Nothing
will do more to promote the comfort and elevate
the condition of the agricultural labourers than
this provision. The landlord should not be
permitted to recover rent for filthy " styes," unfit
for human habitations.

There is also a very useful rule with respect to
rents. It was a custom with many landlords and
agents to give receipts on account, not up to a
particular period, nor specifying the amount re-
maining due. This led to constant disputes, and
too often to the most fearful results. " The state
of the rent account" was the fertile source of
dissension, the teterrima causa producing litiga-
tion and heart-burnings—inducing owners to
act harshly and oppressively, and occupiers to
commit agrarian outrage—perhaps to stain their
hands with blood. The simple expedient of
declaring that unless the receipt specifies the gale
of rent, on account of which the money is paid,
it shall be considered to refer to that which ar-
rived due on the last gale day, at once provides
a suitable and efficient remedy.
The limitation of the right of distress will also
prove of great practical utility—at present land-
lords can distrain for six years. They were thus
induced to permit accumulation of arrears utterly
destructive to the independence and prosperity of
the tenant. The man so burdened, so unfairly
over-weighted, could never hope to succeed. He
had no object in improving his lands, increasing
his stock, or obtaining additional comforts in
his dwelling ; he was utterly and hopelessly
in the power of his landlord. The true
policy, on the part of the landlord, is to
charge moderate rents, but to enforce payment
strictly. It is a false indulgence to admit of
arrears—but it was occasioned by the facility for
recovering such arrears. We fully agree with Mr.
NAPIER, that the landlord is entitled to extraordi-
dary facilities for recovering his rent up to a cer-
tain extent, but we think that twelve months' rent
—the term for which he is allowed precedence
over an execution creditor—is amply sufficient.
The Right Hon. Gentleman fixes the time at
eighteen months, after which the right of distress
is taken away. The difference can, however, be
easily settled in Committee, and it does not in the
slightest degree derogate from the soundness of
the principle enunciated. No distress is to be
permitted for arrears under 51., and the amount
claimed is to be verified by affidavit, and a special
warrant obtained.

The Act will, we have no doubt, give great and
general satisfaction. Every disinterested and un-
prejudiced person must concur in the policy and jus-
tice of its provisions, and feel that the ATTORNEY-
GENERAL for Ireland has eminently entitled him-
self to the marked thanks and gratitude of the
community for the zeal, ability, and judgment
displayed in the settlement of this vitally import-
ant and arduous subject. If the present Govern-
ment did nothing for Ireland but the carrying of
the measures already brought forward by their
efficient law officers, they would render greater
service to that unhappy country than any of their
predecessors in office. We hope and believe, how-
ever, that they will prove the forerunners of other
beneficial enactments, calculated to develope the
natural capabilities of the country, and to render
the law respected where it has hitherto been dis-
regarded and despised. These reforms are in-
deed calculated "to provide a free course for
industry," because they raise up "obstacles to in-
justice, and enable every man, either in his own
person or by his representatives, to reap the fruits
of his exertions—to ensure the enjoyment of that
for which he has laboured."