The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-27 00:00:00

CHORLEY.

During the past month there has been a steady
and gradual inereese in the distress in this town,
which may be attributed partly to the stoppage of
two large mills and the adoption of short time at
others, and partly to the inferior quality of the
material, in the working of which the hands are
not able to earn near the amount of wages they
would if the material were good. Pauperism is
rapidly on the increase, the number relieved during
the week ended on Tuesday, the 25th inst., showing
au increase of 250, as compared with the number ill
the receipt or relief a month ago. The state of em.
ployment according to the latest returns is as Ups
lows :—Usually employed, 4,8b7 ; unemployed at
present time, 1,395 ; employed full time, 1,931;
employed five days per week, 460; weekly loss in
wages, £BB4 ss. The town itself is in a very de.
pressed state, as evinced in the number of empty
shops and cottages in the town and the almost
weekly failures in business of the tradespeople. The
Relief -Committee are about to resume active opera•
tions this week, having received a grant of £154
from the Central Executive Committee on Monday.
The committee relieved a few cases last week out of
£33 which they had in hand, being the balance left
from their previous operations. A letter from the
Poor Law Board was read before the Board of
Guardians on Tuesday, inquiring into the health of
the paupers in the (Thorley Union, and it Wag re.
solved that the 'natter should be considered btiore a
special meeting on Tuesday week.

`TIE LATE GALE.—The fore'codirgs expressed in
cur n.Tounts of the gale in the Morey Firth on Wednesday
aid Thursday, which appeared in our impression of Fiidiy,
have unhappily been fully realised, The boats which were
missing from Portessie and Bllcl4e have now been ascer-
tained beyond question to have been lost, In the Buft-7e
boat, the Gley, it is now considered beyond all ticubt that
all the crew, consisting of nine men, have been drowned.
Another boat bAonging to Bookie was also lost. The
Shamrock. of Portessie, was cast ashore within a quarter of
a mile of her port, and her crew of nine men were all lost.
Altogether, no fewer than 26 men belongm,g to the two
villages, which are both in the parish of Ruthven i, lave
baAi 10-t, leaving 12 widows and 31 fatherless children,—
,Seci'4llloh.

LONDON, THURSDAY, OUT. 27, 1864.

Among the intelligence brought by the American
Mail not the least important news is that which we
receive from our own colonies. It appears that the
Canadian Union Convention assembled at Quebec
on October 10 to discuss the weighty question of a
general confederation, and the news of October 13,
which we receive from New York, tells us that the
Conference had unanimously resolved upon the
confederation of all the provinces, It is very satis-
factory that there should have been so much har-
mony of sentiment in the assembly, since it was
only reasonable to anticipate that some dissentient
voice would be raised, some active opposition made to
the measure. In so many different provinces there
must natutally be conflicting interests and. local
j alousies, especially where divers nationalities are
concerned, and it would not have been surprising
had the grand scheme broken down when put
to the vote. But the B ti:ish American
eoloniets have had the sense and tits spirit to rccog..
Lisa that their interests, however seemingly dis-
tinct in trifles, are in matters of moment absolutely
identical, and they have not suffered any private or
perFonal feeling to hinder the public good. At this
Q tebec conference all the provinces were repre•
reetej, and as the object of the assembly was fully
known, and openly eanvasEed for some time before,
there is no cruse to doubt that each several popu-
-IPtion sent a delegate who was clearly informed of
their views and wishes. Prom news which reached
us some days back, we had reason to fear that in
Lower Canada an active opposition
was being orga-
nised, but the able and accomplished M. CARTIER
6131304td to have been throughout iu favour ee the

measure. The recent visit which the Canadian dele-
gates paid to Prince Edward's Island greatly increased
their estimate of the importance of the maritime
provinces, and the expedition of the Newfound.
landers and Nova Scotians to Quebec will have a
similar effect upon them. It is impossible for any
one to watch the progress of the great war which
is now desolating the fairest portions of the Ameri-
can continent without feeling aghast at the reeky
lessness and wanton waste of life and property
which characterise it, and the Canadians must ne-
cessarily be much better acquainted with its details
than we are. They have little reason to trust in
the wisdom or prudence of the "States" any more
than in the humanity of President LINCOLN and
General BUTLER. No one can say to what rash
and futile attempts the American Government may
not be driven in its efforts to divert the public mind
from the failure of the Southern crusade, and in its
anxiety to dispose of the superabundant energies
of the army. Though there may be little cause to
fear the ultimate result, the Canadians are wise to
stand prepared for the chance of a sudden attack,
and their fellow colonists are no less so, "Fore•
warned forearmed" is a good old motto, and the
very fact of the Confederation may teach its lesson
to the Federal Cabinet. A work like this union of
the provinces, to be successful, should be carried out
with promptitude and unanimity, and from the
spirit in which the undertaking has been inaugu-
rated we trust we may see it carried to a triumphant
conclusion.

Very little intelligence of any kind reaches us
from Calcutta, and it is perhaps as well that it
should be so. At this time of the year there is no
political news stirring, and the absence of the
Viceroy and his assistants in the.hills necessarily
renders Calcutta dull and uneventful. By this time,
however, Government is at its regular seat again,
and the great Darbar at Lahore is over. The ar-
rears of public business, of which there are always
plenty in India, are clearing up by slow but sure
degrees under the active presidency of so indefa-
tigable a head as Sir JOHN LAWRENCE, and the
reign of dolce far niente is at an end, so far at least
as the service of the State is concerned. Some dis-
content has been felt at the absence of Government
from Calcutta, but considering how heavily the
routine of official work, and the responsibility of
their public duties, press upon the members
of the Administration, it is scarcely fair
to complain because they have taken ad-
vantage of the leisure months of the year to visit
more healthful places. It is only wise and right
that the Governor-General should traverse the
universal dominions committed to his care, and the
wild hill tribes that are so badly represented by the
indolent Hindoos of Bengal. Since the head must
go, a:great number of his staff must naturally ac-
company him, and there does not seem to be much
reason why their subordinates should not also take
wing for a time from one of the most insalubrious
of civilised cities. The under officials may have had
an easy time of it hitherto, but Anglo-Indian life

tinder the existing sanitary arrangements is suffi-
ciently trying, and until we see a very great altera-
tion in several important respects, we cannot
reasonably ask men to sacrifice their health
and perhaps lives to a useless precedent.
We have lost so many good men and true
in those latitudes of late years that it is time we
showed a little more mercy to our public servants,
exacting from them, indeed, the rigid performance
of their duties, but permitting them at the same

time sufficient leisure and opportunity for recruiting

their exhausted energies, since Sir CHARLES WooD,
comfortably established in English fresh air and
cleanliness, refuses to listen to any proposal for
removing the seat of the Government from Cal-
cutta. Such reforms and improvements as are
possible should at once be set on foot there. The
drainage, the water supply, the removal of noxious
matter, the purification of the river, and such
changes as may without danger be introduced into
the management of the native towns, must all be
seen to before Calcutta can be tolerable or healthful
enough for constant occupation, and even then
a change from the marshy shores of the
Hooghly to the fresh slopes of the Himalayas
must always be a grand desideratum. With re-
gard to military news, preparations are still making
for the subjection of the Bhootanees, who will pro-
bably not be long before they repent of their
unceremonious treatment of a British envoy. It
is certainly an awkward business, and in future
such expeditions had better be organised with a
little more caution. In Afghanistan the disturb.
antes are seemingly at an end, at least for the
present. AFZUL KHAN, with a simplicity scarcely
to be looked for in an Oriental, has trusted himself
into the hands of his brother, the Ameer, who has
rewardcd his confidence by putting him in irons in
the fortress of Taskarghar. The prisoner may,
perhaps, think himself fortunate to have escaped
with his life from the hazardous position into
which he suffered himself to be duped.
As we have formerly stated, it has been cur-
rently reported that Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN,
the Finance Minister, would resign his post next
year and return to England, leaving a vacancy
which would not be filled up. Whether the ap-
proaching event of the Parliamentary session had
any effect upon the Indian Secretary of State we
know not, but it is now stated that Sir CHARLES
will, for the present, retain his post. The Indian
session is at hand, and it promises some interesting
discussions. It would be well if the all-important
subject of the cotton cultivation were to come under
consideration, and the opinions of able and expel
rienced men were taken as to the best means of en-
couraging a growth which is evidently highly
adapted to the country, and whose permanent 81100
cess will confer such lasting benefits alike upon
the industrial and commercial classes of India and
of England.

The treatment of criminals is at all times a sub.
ject which deserves great attention, and should
occupy a place in the thoughts of all who are in
any way connected with public affairs, and who
possess a direct or indirect influence in the matter.
Mr. M. D. HILL, in his charge to the grand jury
at Birmingham, has put some plain truths before
us in a simple and earnest way, and it will be very
useful for those who require some reliable informa-
tion on this subject to peruse this speech atten-

Lively, and glean some important hints and receive
some salutary warnings. An additional reason
presents itself this year to those interested in these
dreary details, and that is, that since they last
met many and great changes have taken place
with respect to the management of our criminals.
Thus under every aepect it behoves one to consider
the question carefully, and not to let the weari-
ness of its dry details, and a general impres-
sion that nothing can be of any use to deter
them from the study of the case. How else can
the truth be at last discovered, and the evil arrested
in time, than by entering into the intricate mazes
that seem to separate the matter from all other
affairs of the day. The must important charge is
that which does away almost entirely with short
sentences. This is a great desiderata T, and should
be welcomed by all whom it concerns to bsgin with;
it is the insertim of the edge of the wedge which
will in due time work out a very beLeficial change