The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-04 00:00:00

in his lively imagination by M. DE PERSIGNY,
while dreaming over his circular—down went the
Ministerial policy with a laugh, not only in that
second arrondissement, but in all the other arron•
dissements into the bargain. M. DE PERSIGNY'S
position is no longer tenable, because he himself
has come to be ridiculous. The EMPEROR, how-
ever reluctantly, roust awaken now to the fact. His
Minister of the Interior is an object of ridicule, and
as such he must be removed.

The affairs of Prussia proceed from bad to worse.
The official paper published a royal decree, based
upon Article 63 of the Constitution, and counter-
signed by the Ministry. The decree is decisive as
regards any amelioration of affairs. "It empowers
the administrative authorities to prohibit tempora-
rily or altogether, after two warnings, the publics-
tf.on of newspapers the attitude of which is upon
the whole dangerous to the public welfare." Oi
course this means virtually any journal that dares
to criticise the new regime, or to animadvert upon
its proceedings with any force. This rule is not
sufficiently stringent, however, but we are also
informed that " the Ministry is authorised
to forbid the introduction of foreign news-
papers into Prussia upon similar grounds
when thought advisable." By this arrangement it
is hoped that the people will be cut off from all
opportunity of gaining intelligence that is adverse
to the existing authorities both at home and
abroad. Really it seems difficult to account for
such strange proceedings on the part of the KING
and his Ministers. It would have been bad enough
for them to have dissolved the Chamber; but to
refuse to sanction the election of another is a gross
violation of the principles of constitutional Govern-
ment. This last act of the CROWN and Ministers
condemns the former one in the strongest manner,
for it is evident that it is fear of the result
that has greatly conduced to bring about
this startling procedure. They know that
the country will not ratify the abrupt
and arbitrary policy that has of late obtained
in high quarters. It is insulting common sense to
talk about this scheme being based upon an article
of the Constitution, because the fact is quite other-
wise. The terms of the article especially referred
to prove that this expedient resorted to is to be an
exceptional case. It is, provided extreme necessity
calls it forth, "in the case where the maintenance
of public safety or circumstances of unusual urgency
pressingly demand it, there can be decreed, when
the Chambers are not assembled, and under the
responsibility of the whole of the Ministers, ordi
nances, not in opposition to the Constitution, which
shall have the force of law." Ministers whocan advise
their Sovereign to conduct affairs after this fashion,
and who do not protest against such perversion of all
justice, are unfit to hold their high position and dis-
grace the office they fill. Nor can they stand forward
in the light of day and declare to the world that
anything has called forth their latestringent course.
• Where are the circumstances of unusual urgency
. that pressingly demand this enactment ? Besides
it is a contradiction in terms, since the confusion did
not arise during the time the Chambers were not
assembled, and hence all analogy must cease be-
tween the difficulty of M. BISMARK and the danger
contemplated in the foregoing paragraph. To as-
sume that they are acting fairly, and to alter the
rules of the constitution to suit their purpose was
bad enough already in the Prussian Government,
but to declare that they are only acting
▪ in strict conformity with the Constitution

is dishonourable to them 103 men as much

as it is disgraceful to them as Ministers. It is
impossible to conceive a more disastrous or a more
deplorable state of things than has occurred in
Prussia, and the worst of it is, that there is now no
chance of improvement or hope of amelioration. It

is useless to expect that any retrograde movement
will be made by men who are determined to go
their own way, and the whole of their conduct in
this affair tends to show that it was premeditated.
It is no sudden idea, no new plan, but a matured
scheme and a developed plot that has subverted the
rights of a great country, and thrown back the
progress of its people in a manner equally cruel and
shortsighted. It is of course impossible to foresee
the future, but it is certain that the late arrange-
ments will entail great annoyance on alt concerned.
But whatever vexation and irritation may be felt
by the injured deputies and insulted people, in the
long run those who will have to pay the heaviest
penalty for all this untimely fracas and wanton
interference with popular privileges and constitu-
tional rights, will be those who occasioned the evil,
and with whom originated the whole angry litiga-
tion. King WILLIAM seems. resolved to try if there
is any real regard for justice and respect for liberty
throughout his dominions, but the result of the
attempt may hereafter prove dangerous, if not de-
structive, to the experimentalist.

The treatment of our convicts, and the manage-
ment of our convict prisons has of late been one of
the prominent subjects of public discussion. It is
probable that, owing to the alarm created by the
garotters, and the general impression that ruffians
of that class have hitherto been too easily dealt
with, the regulations will be henceforth enforced
with mote stringency, even if no alteration is

made in the general system. It has been often,
and justly, said that to remove the terrors of
punishment is to transform the judge's sentence
on the culprit into a guarantee for board, lodging,
and clothing for a certain time, thus adding to
the many temptations which beset the impoverished
honest man. There is another point, however, which
is not so much thought of, but which is likely to
excite angry feelings in the minds of the poor who
are struggling for an honest living, while it un-
questionably inflicts upon them considerable
damage. We allude to the 53 stern of allowing
large firms to employ the prisoners in working
for them, thereby taking eo much work from the
honest labourer or workman, when the labour mar-
ket is already overstocked. The reason of the authori-
ties in countenancing such proceedings is of course a
praiseworthy desire to keep down the expenses of
the prison establishment, but we should think a
little reflection would show them that the evils far
outweigh this very trifling good. A few hundreds
a year more or less in the sum required for a prison
is_ not so great an object as the encouragement of
more than.
habits of industry and honest living among the very
indeed,.
man"nominal,„No since
moors 'We doubt,
figure. The transitaioculated to
honest
the uncertain, but oft:
com-
munity has beenmeani whether the saving be
the amount which one
turned thief costs the com-
:::ad.,.l:onesty to
reach a startling
farioltule7ienligti:
should be the
dangerous cia,,ea,„ is
considerable, gains of " the
object ail easY
as it iss fatal. It
punishment, to deter and d'a above all
discourage
from joining this army, freshrecruits
whose irreg f already more than sufficient for -ulat
°roes are
fort, or safety. it ie peace,thecow.our
co.
especial -
magistrates and gaol authorities to repress crime of
ress
but surely gentlemen in such • •ons ;
positions should
know enough of political economy to see two very
important objections to their favourite scheme'
The first is, that a very large amen ,r of work is

taken out of the hands of the poor neecilewomen

mamakers' and others, by the employment of con-
victs by the large firms, who must otherwise find

honest labourers. The second is, that the work
being done at a very much lower rate inside the
prison walls than out, the rate of payment is natu-
rally cut down, and the unconvicted working man
or woman has to enter into a hopeless competi-
tion with the labour of the prisoner. The able
authoress of "Female Life in Prison" speaks very
strongly on this subject, which, of course, chiefly
concerns the female prisoners. After enumerating
the immense quantity of shirt and trouser-making
accomplished in one year, and going through the
fiat of the large firms who supply the employ-
ment, she says that the sum given for the work
is so small that no woman whu had to pay her rent
could possibly get a living out of it ! What is this
but driving the lower classes of needle women into
those ways of vice and crime that cost the country so
very dear_ When HOOD wrote his memorable " Song
of the Shirt" there was a universal outcry at the
miserable pittance which rewarded the labour that
never flagged," and which was scarcely sufficient
to obtain

" A bed of straw,
A crust of bread, and rags."

Yet, according to this pernicious system, low prices
are encouraged by official authority, while large
quantities of work are taken from the hands of the
needy and put into the hands of those who need it
not. The sewing machine is already a terrible rival
to these poor women, but convict labour is a more
dangerous competition. It is not only women
who have to complain. An advertisement
has recently appeared stating that the Gaol
Committee of Aldermen will meet at Guild-
hall on the 20th of Jane "to receive tenders
in writing, for the hire of the labour of the prisoners
at the City Prison, Holloway, in making mats,
oakum picking, &c., for the term of three years."
It is of course necessary to find employment for the
prisoners, and so long as they can be employed
upon public work the money saved may be a consi-
deration, as well as the work. But the plan of
allowing private arms to engage the prison labour
at an amount which tends to reduce the rate of
wages, besides depriving the honest poor of that
employment, which is often so hard to get, is most
mischievous and undesirable. There are few greater
hardships than the search for work which cannot
be found. This is especially hard to bear in the
case of the father or mother of a family who have
to support their children from their earnings. Yet
this cry for labour, for the means of gaining an
honest livelihood, is painfully common among us.
Enforced idleness and pauperism is, as the friends
of Lancashire have often told u?, most pernicious
in its effects, and to send a man or woman to obtain
assistance from the parish, because the work that
might have given them a living is engrossed by
underpaid convict labour, is to begin a dangerous
course of training. We hope the wise and en-
lightened among our social reformers will speedily
suggest some better means of occupying the idle
hours of the prison, and thereby put a stop to a
system which is contrary to the principles of justice
and humanity.

The Price of Frith's "Railway Station."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—An editorial remark in your number of the
29th of May expresses a doubt about the correctness
of the passage in my pamphlet "On Piracy of
Artistic Copyrights," where I state that £5,500 paid
to Mr. H. Hutt for the "Saviour in the Temple" is
" the largest sum ever paid for a modern picture !"
And you inquire whether I have read a statement
which appeared in the public papers of Mr. Flatou
having paid Mr. Frith 8,760 guineas for the " Rail-
way Station" picture, and further paragraphs pub-
lished about two months ago, stating that the same
picture has been resold by Mr. Flatou for £20,000.
In corroboration of the correctness of my pam-
phlet, I can only say that the statement of 8,760
guineas, purporting to have been paid by Mr.
Flatou to Mr. Frith for " The Railway Station" is
a romance, and the story of the £20,000 since paid
for the same picture a fiction.--I remain, yours
truly,

ERNEST GAMBART.

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

At the weekly meeting of this society last night,
his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge in the
chair, the paper read was by Mr. William Hawes,
"Oa the Results of the International Exhibition."
The author, after alluding to two former papers

which he had read upon this Exhibition—the first
in 1851, when the lamented president of the society,
the Prince Consort, presided, and a second in 1862,

when Earl Granville, chairman of the commission,
presided—said that his present object was to endea-
vour to point out the results it has produced, and
which it will probably produce, as well ou future
exhibitions as upon the Intim progress of industry

and art. He mentioned that there had been an
increase of more than 150 per cent. in the number of
foreign exhibitors in 1862 over those in 1351—a
remarkable proof of the effect of the former Exhibi-
tions in promoting intercourse between nations. He
quoted from M. Michel Chevalier and others to show

how much more cordial was the feeling of foreign
exhibitors and visitors now than it had been in 1851.
One important effect of the three great International
Exhibitions had been to promote the abolition of
restrictive commercial laws, which seemed now to
have almost received their death-blow in Europe.
The author referred at considerable length to the
Fine Art Department of the Exhibition, pointing
out its deficiencies, as well as indicating its merits.
He then briefly reviewed the jury reports, pointing
out in what classes most remarkable prcgress had
been made, and drawing attention to the countries
from which it seemed reasonable to expect much in
future. He especially alluded to the wonderful pro-
gress which the interval between our two great Ex-
hibitions had produced in our colonies, many of
which were almost unrepresented in 1851, while in
1862 they displayed most valuable collections. He
then briefly discussed the constitution of the Com-
mission of 1862,its expnditure and receipts, the ques-
tions as to the appoir t ment ofjuries and the system ot
awards of prizes, and the ciroumstances which must
guide us in determining when another exhibition
shall be held. In reference to the award of prizes, he
gave a brief resume of the nature of the replies
given by exhibitors, jurors, and others to the queries
issued by the Society of Arts on the subject,
the majority being decidedly in favour of prizes
being awarded in future exhibitions. He pointed
out the importance of not attempting to hold Inter.
national Exhibitions at too short intervals, for that
if we expect foreigners to contribute, as they have
hitherto done, to the magnificence and usefulness of
our exhibitions, we must be prepared, as we did in
1851, to take a proportionate interest in theirs, and
this not only on the ground of the reciprocal inter-
change of civilities between nations, but on national
and interested grounds. In conclusion, the author
said he hoped that the views t e had laid before the
society would convince them that the International
Exhibition of 1862 has most thoroughly i'uifilled
assigned to it. By the mark set in 1851
possible to note accurately our indus-
trialitth heduty
become
e
progressa eo e
in England, in our colonies, and in
Europe of a magnitude before unknown in a similar
period.
A discussion ensued, in which the Marquis of
Murchison, and others took part.
Salisbury, Lord Ebury, Messrs. Nelson,

held yesterday,
Presented his
lug of the Commissioners of
Dr. Letheby
Sewersresiding,
Cbst:Tao.:::::elts COMMISSION.—At the weekly meet
at guildhall, Mr. Deputy de Jersey p
expired the num-
the CUT. In the quarter which has just
mortality, th,„,dori:ll:4,
years the average
poor localities of thi'veeNtresetern Union,
' 14 -rtas in the corresponding quarter o_
quarter ha,s
been in the
death rate has risen f
1,000 to 34•2,
quarterly report on the sanitary condition of
of thes Ciat Illation during the ,1
:enstreartehdeiur
wtzhceeesC.ity was 800, anfd
thaldasttlo
ber h vyer brheench9Oiell:anncrdeaBs4el.
havinglt
t"' a etueral average of w3Cheirne thethe i