The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-02 00:00:00

scarcely advanced on that by the middle of June;
but it went up in July quickly to eighteenpence,
and on the first week of September was sold at half-
a-crown per lb ! On the sth of September, in fact,
it was ascertained that the actual stock in hand
was under sixty thousand bales, and our normal
consumption of fifty thousand bales a week was
reduced to eight thousand ! Then it was
that the full terrors of the cotton famine stared
both masters and men in the face. The enormous
stacks of goods in hand, created by too rapid manu-
facture, and not checked, as it ought to have been
at first, by rapid advance in price of raw material,
prevented the rise of price in manufactured goods ;
the manufacturers were brought to a perfect stand-
still between famine prices for raw cotton and
plenty prices for the articles they could make from
it. The storm thus burst on them almost suddenly,
though its mutterings had been so long heard. •
Mr, TIIOMAS BAZLEY has presented us with a
calculation, which no man is more competent to
make accurately, which shows the total effect on
the amounts received by capital and wages respec-
tively, as the share of each, during each of the
last three years now past. The share received in
wages was—

1860. 1861. 1862.
By operatives.. X 26,804,438 .. £22,194,448 .. £14,500,000
Bycapitalists.. 22,000,000 .. 18,000,000 .. 10,500,000
Of course for last year a small part of the calculation
is an estimate; but it cannot be materially wrong.
What a tale do these figures tell! Remembering,
also, that two-thirds of the loss of twelve millions
in wages fell upon the poor operatives chiefly in
the latter half of last year, Mr. BAZLEY says there
can be no doubt that these men received close upon
twenty-seven millions for their work in 1860; it is
within a fraction of figures as certain that they had
received little more than half that amount by the
end of last year 1

The lesson has been and is a severe one. We
have awakened to it in a charitable point of view,
but we must do something more. We must have
an Indian Minister of very different calibre to the
obstinate and unperceiving, though respectable, old
Whig who now fills that post. We want, in fact,
a STANLEY there; and if the Whigs cannot find us
his equal, they must somehow put him there, for
the sake of both India and Lancashire. Charity in
its present conspicuous form is well ; it is the proper
balance for the calamities which none of us can
foresee, but which may alike overtake classes and
individuals, the poor and the rich. But the true
charity is to open up profitable work for men. And
here, in one sense, is the province of the Statesman.
It is his to remove those obstructions which will yield
only to the resources of the State, and above all to
offer those facilities which require but the abolition
of mischievous usages however venerable. We need
not insist now on the scope which India especially,
and other colonies, offer to the Statesman for this
legitimate exercise of his skill and his courage.

Mr. CARDWELL'S speech at Oxford is one in
every way satisfactory to peruse. The right hon.
gentleman's discourse is not only characterised by his
usual ability, but it contains sentiments alike hon-
ourable to himself and those whom he referred to.
He commenced his speech by an allusion to what
had loomed in the distance at the period when he
had last addressed them a year ago, when there was
a question "trembling in the balance which was to
decide no less than that of peace or war between tw•
great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race." This
was the telegraphic message concerning Messrs.
SLIDELL and MASON. Fortunately for the world
that danger was averted, but for long years
to come there will be many to deplore
the results of the American war. In referring to
these sufferers Mr. CARDWELL made the most strik-
ing point in his speech, and redeemed it from the
charge of being merely a passing affair of the hoar,
a thing to be forgotten when the business of to-
morrow put aside the cares and engrossments of to-
day. He thus preluded the remarks on the dis-
tressed districts There is, as you know, in the
North a vast population, of energy unexampled and
skill unrivalled, who worked long hours, and ob-
tained the great reward of labour; suddenly, as if
the earth had denied to agriculture its increase,
the only material of their industry was with-
drawn. In former times they had been accus-
tomed to prosperity ; it is true that they
had also been accustomed to occasional re-
verses in periods when trade was naturally
dull ; they were an independent people, they were
a sensitive people, not willing to be dependent upon
the liberality of others, and they have proved that
they were a heroic people. Before this horrible
war came upon them they were always ready to
assist one another, and never willing to apply for
assistance to those whom Providence had placed in
a more fortunate position to themselves. Now at
once, by one sudden blow, they have been deprived
of the whole material of their labour, and what has
their conduct been ? Gentlemen, Ido not hesitate
to say that their conduct has been beyond all praise.
I wiil nut attempt to disparage it by giving any
feeble expressions of my own, hut I will say that
it has realised to the utmost the language of the
poet when he says,
"' How sublime a thing it is to suffar and be strong.' "

to the community
at Nt
the e praisesam can
same time
bi et
itsh e
gratifying award o f such conduct, but
referred to, to mark the appreciation of theier
efforts ; nothing is so hard for the active asto b
idle, and for the competent to suffer calamity
through being deprived of the opportunity
of exerting their skilled and proved ability.
In the cruel sufferings of her children
England has at least the consolation of knowing
that they have come through the ordeal triumph-
antly, and shown that spirit of endurance which
in happier times of prosperity crowded her stores
with increase and stocked the marts of the world
with their produce. This is the secret of the
supremacy of the English nation, and this
self-reliant principle, this defiance to the
conquest of circumstances, however adverse, has
made glorious the page of history in many a conflict

where in numbers the English were in a sad mino-
rity. The conflict now raging is a sadder one, and
has been given to the com-
munitya lesson
iattiaslltoevbeenttsr,usted that its darkest hour is past; but,
must benefit them, and its
around which -
memory will be handed down
will be
from one generation
to another, till a far distant posterity
emulated to follow so worthy an example. Mr.
CARDWELL also made touching allusion to the loss
sustained by the Royal Family, which had just
fallen with a crushing blow when he last met
his friends. He congratulated them that,although
nothing could ever efface that sad impression
entirely from their minds, still, by the blessing of
Providence, many mitigations of their sorrow had

appeared. We had the prospect of an event which

was to give tho heir of these realms a marriage of
affection and a home of happiness. "We know
well," said the right hon. gentleman, " that these
words mean more than empty sounds, considering

the ties that exist between the SOVEREIGN and her

people. They are building upon the only true

foundations, the hearts and affections of a devoted

and united people." In concluding this brilliant

discourso the right hon. gentleman thus referred to

the prospects of the year now opening before us,
au opinion with which many may concur, "Let us