The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-09 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

Highest since Noon yesterday.
Lowest during the night
This day at Noon 52
Wind—S.-West; hazy.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
TITI3 DAY.—Morning, sh. 20m.—Afternoon, sh. 49a
TO-11011ROW.-Morning, 6h. 10m.—Afternoon, 6h. 36m,

Wig' • •
kik
>UAL

LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1863.

Further news from New York, down to the 28th
ult , has been brought to our shores simultaneously
by the Inman steamer Edinburgh, and the Canadian
steamer Norwegian. Scanning it as usual with
eager solicitude, we fail again to detect in any scrap
of intelligence thus conveyed to us, the faintest
glimmering of an indication of anything decided
having been accomplished at the seat of war. We
can in no instance discover the prospect even of a
break in the clouds overshadowing that afflicted
country. The belligerents are apparently no nearer
to an arrangement of their differences, pacifically,
than they were a twelvemonth ago. Within that
lamentable year last past all that will have to be
recorded in the annals of this most mistaken con-
flict will be the shedding of more blood, the destrnc-
tion of more live4lbe infliction of more suffering,
the squandering of more treasure, and the embitter-
iogt more and more, of those feelings of animosity
which had previously arrayed against each
other in deadly strife the confronting armies of the
Federals and Confederates—and all Wet° no earthly
purpose,to no end whatever, all, absolutely, as yet, in
Tait' ! If only the French EMPEROR'S benevolent
waione could
.havei been carried out ! If only
those fratricidaiSeliigerents, from the North and
South of what Were once the United States of Ame-
riets:.—if 'only they could in any way have been
brotighr to reason ! The thing, however, was clearly
not to be done, neither at the time of theEmPEßoß's
first, nor yet again at the period of his second sug-
gestion for negotiations being commenced in the
interests of the long hoped for, but hitherto almost
despaired of, pacification.
Rerpu.blicans, by their persistence
How far the American
in this furious and
deatructiv® conflict, are driving themselves back in
Belong
civilisation, who shall say I. as the war con-
tinues, their mercantile enterprise is interrupted;
the interests of national education amongst them
are marred to the very uttermost; manufactures in
the North, agriculture in the S mth, are merely con-
fusedly carried on, even where they are carried on at
all ; the moral and intellectual advance of the people
is interrupted ; there is an appreciable pause in the
share taken by the American race in the general
development of the arts, of the sciences, and of lite-
rature. The only prose the American nation has
given forth of any literary worth whatever, since
the war commenced, has been discoverable in the
lettere penned by " Manhattan." The only verse
from America that any one has cared to listen to,
teat anyone has had an opportunity of listen-
ing to, has been the verse making up the
whimsical doggrel fun of the well known
Biglow Papers. "The oracles"—such as they
were—" are dumb" on the other side of the Atlantic.
It" cannot be added, however, in the words of
MILTON that thence comes "no sound or hideous
hem"—because they do, both of them ! The whole
War is, in one sense, a hideous hum—and the sounds
that come to us, mail by mail, from the noble land
desolated by it, are in every sense most
of icting.
The confused condition of things there according
to the;last advicee arriving—here at Greencastle by
the Norwegian, here at Queenstown by the
Edinburgh—may be the most readily indicated
perhaps by a rapid enumeration of some of

the particulars contained in these two batches of
intelligence. A British steamer, Georgians by
name, run ashore at Charleston to prevent
capture, and waterlogged to screen her cargo
from the grasp of the
_Federals—but eventually
burnt by them, it was rumoured I Another British
steamer, Nicholas by name, not threatened with
capture, but captured, while trying to run the
blockade at Wilmington ! Flying reports, appro-
priately brought in by refugees from Richmond
state that that city would probably before long be
evacuated! Doubts still entertained es to Commo-
dore FARRAGUT having passed the Hudson batte-
ries,Mississippi ! Rumours from the side
oftho h
en te
Confederates, again, that the Northerners
were in full retreat upon Yazoo Pass, having met
with a signal discomfiture at Fort Pemberton.
say, later accounts state that the retreating party
of Federals having reached Yazco Pass had
there met with QUIMBY'S reinforcements.
Further accounts, too, state that Commodore
FARRAGUT, having arrived on the 16th off Natchez
with his flagship, the Hartford, had threatened
that, in the event of any hostile demonstration being
made against him from the batteries of that place,
he would at once bombard it. General LEE'S army
is said to be falling back from the Rappahannock.
A Confederate invasion of Kentucky is still
talked of. News from Barbadoes to the
15th, comes to the effect that the redoubtable
Admiral WILKES had been courteously
proffered hospitality by the British Governor of
that colony, but that the fire-eating Admiral (now
of the Vanderbilt) had, instead of being in any
way mollified by the attention, indignantly
declined to accept it. His indignation arising
avowedly from the circumstance that Captain
MAFFITT of the Confederate steamer Florida had
been already recently banquetted by his cosmo-
politan Excellency of Barbadoes. Nothing new
about Vicksburg ! Nothing of any importance from
the Mississippi And so, we learn, mail by mail,
that the war potters on with dreary monotony—
little accomplished in any way upon either side,
but blood and gold all the while most lavishly
squandered.

The public has of late years been frequently
startled by the revelation of gigantic frauds, Some
time ago there seemed to be a kind of moral epi-
demic when the wholesale plunder of SADLEIR,
REDPATH, Sir JoliN DEAN PAUL, and many of
their illustrious contemporaries, was brought to
light, and the confidence which had been so long
reposed in England's commercial men was rudely
shaken. The busy course of our active
commercial life affords a thousand opportunities to
the reckless adventurer, and the facilities are natu-
rally increased tenfold if the culprits have secured
a recognised position,and are possessed of some ready
money. The merchants of London are too often
the victims of unprincipled schemers, and it
is the bounden duty of the executive Govern-
ment to afford them every protection in
its power. One of the most frequent
sources of imposition is the effecting of frau-
dulent insurances by means of which, insti-
tutions whose object every one must approve, and
which every wise and prudent man will support,
are made a vehicle for enriching swindlers. It is a
fair sample of the risks and hazards inseparable
from commercial life, that the system of insurance
so commendable in its principle and so useful in its
practice, should in every one of its branches offer
inducements to crime. A heavy fire insurance has
too;often been the instigation to the crime of arson.
The memorable career of the poisoner PALMER
affords a proof of the temptations offered by sums
depending on the death of a fellow-creature,
while the plan of insuranoe which has
been so wisely devised to indemnify losses
at sea has unfortunately been traded on
to a large extent for the most unworthy
objects. There have long been suspicions that many
of the heavy losses at sea were not altogether due to
misfortune. In many cases there have been good
grounds for believing that the owners of vessels
themselves were the parties least grieved at the loss.
There have been other instances in which the
owners of the ship have been victimised by the in.
flammable nature of the cargo. It is to be feared
that, in some cases, the lives of officers and crew
have been sacrificed to the greed for gold. A short
time since an incident was mentioned in the public
journals which, perhaps, throws light on some of
the mysterious losses at sea. The crew of a large
vessel were alarmed, when on the high seas, by the
appearance of smoke issuing from the hold. The
fire was, with some difficulty, extinguished, and
among the articles partly consumed was a large
package of closely packed oilcloth—an article which
would have been refused had its real nature been
known, but which, on referring to his papers, the
captain discovered to be entered as something
totally:different, and marked as of great value. On
further search among the cargo, more packages
containing goods of an inflammable nature were
found, all being addressed to a firm which it is
needless to say was found not to be in existence
on the artival of the ship in port. The captain
was much alarmed at the risk he had run, and
with cause, for in a subsequent voyage the same
ship was lost, it was supposed with all hands,
since she never reached her destination, having
most probably fallen a victim to a repetition of
the same atrocious device. Where the risks are
so considerable, and the facilities for fraud are so
great, the eye of the law should be incessantly
watchful, and its strong arm ever prompt to punish.
A very remarkable case of fraud has just been
brought under public notice, which has unfortu-
nately been the occasion of much distress. The
Peruvian barque Maria, from Bahia for London,
was scuttled and abandoned en her journey under
most suspicious circumstances. She was owned by
her master, Capt. ALBERS, a German, who had been
for many years engaged in trading on the coast of
Peru. He had taken the ship to Rio, where he
obisined a classified certificate of her seaworthiness,
and thence made a voyage to Hamburg and back
to Bahia, when :the ship was chartered for a
voyage to London, by a well-known firm at
Bahia, Messrs. SOUZA and REIZ ENB ERGER.
At the same time that this contract was
made it would seem that another arrangement was
entered into, the nature of which is only too evident
to the sufferers by the fraud. The firm in question
informed several merchants in London, Paris, Bre-
men, and Hamburg, of the ship's departure, con-
signing the cargo to them, forwarding the bills of
lading, and stating that they had drawn bills upon
them to a large amount. Among other articles they
represented the cargo to consist of 3,222 bags of
coffee, and a large amount of diamonds. We may
notice in passing that in the Bahia Custom-house bill
of entry the value was somewhat different. A figure
was dropped in the list of coffee bags, which were
I thereby diminished to 222, the copper referred to
by Messrs. SouzA and Co., and valued at £4OO, did
I not appear, the diamonds were not mentioned, and
there were other awkward discrepancies. This was
subsequently accounted for by the charterers, by
the assertion that the goods in question had been
smuggled on board to save the high export duty.
Whether this excuse will avail remains to
be seen. The merchants, who were to be the
victims of this fraud, on the receipt of the consign-

ments in question, immediately effected insurances
upon the goods, and we presume, honoured
the drafts of the Bahia firm. There was
one exception, however, for the merchants
to whom the diamonds were consigned
felt some surprise at the deviation from the ordinary
routine of sending such cargo. Fortunately for
them they refused to honour the drafts made on
them by Messrs. SOUZA and Co., although they
effected an insurance on the expected cargo. It is not
surprising under:these cireumsfances that news was
received in London of the loss of the barque Maria,
off the Azores. Oa its becoming known that the
captain and crew had saved, not only their lives,
but all their effects, some inquiry was made, and
the whole of this extraordinary fraud has by de-
grees been brought to light. The captain, in step-
ping into the boat, contrived to drop a parcel, and
immediately called upon all the men to witness
that he had done so. This parcel he de-
clares to have contained the diamonds. The
very leisurely way in which the ship was
abandoned would be almost amusing were it not
for the heavy loss brought upon honourable men.
The distress occasioned in the city of Bahia
is said• to be beyond description. We re-
fer the reader for full particulars of the
case to the lengthened reports which are being made
public. One point, however, strikes us as singular.
When Captain ALBERS applied at his agent's in
London for the amount of an insurance effected
in his name on part of the fictitious cargo,
he expressed great surprise et having his claim
disputed. He was introduced to Mr. HARPER, of
Lloyd's Salvage Association, when a lengthened con-
versation took place. He left, promising to produce
some of his papers, but of course did not return. He
was however closely watched, and a prosecution was
proposed at the Mansion House for attempted fraud.
Most strange to relate, however, the court ruled that
no offence had been committed against English laws.
so no proceedings could be taken. Surely if there
is no cognisance of such offences in English laws,
the sooner a change is made the better. Fortu-
nately the Hamburg authorities are not so scrupu-
lous, and on his claiming another insurance effected
in that city he was immediately taken into cus-
tody. The crew then in London were
telegraphed for, and their evidence, together with
the false bills of lading, has secured his committal
for trial. Surely there is something wrong
in the administration of the law, both
here and at Bahia, since, at the lat-
ter place the- chief culprit has been allowed to
decamp, while among us his colleague, though de-
tected, might have escaped with impunity from the
just indignation of the commercial world,

The report to the Manchester Central Committee
is anything but satisfactory, and it is a most dis-
couraging state of things altogether. It is true,
that in some cases the number of those employed is
greater, but that temporary alleviation is not enough
to stem the tide of desolation that has threatened so
long to sweep over the unfortunate population of
the manufacturing districts. It has been calcu-
lated that the sum in the possession of the com-
mittee will last till the approach of winter, but it
is evident that then there will be a still greater need
of assistance than at present, and also that the same
supply cannot be expected to flow from the same
sources as heretofore. Private oharity has been
wellnigh exhausted, and indeed the immense sums
that have been supplied to this pressing necessity
have caused great distress among the other sufferers
in the kingdom from so many charities not having
received their customary donations during the past
year. It seems, therefore, expedient that before the
close of this session Parliament should take up the
consideration of this question,and provide some means
for the remedy of this serious evil. Too much credit
cannot be awarded to the Central Committee of
Manchester, for many months have its members'
patiently and assiduously discharged their laborious
duties, but still however influential, and however
benevolent they may be, they will not have the
same means next winter as last, and the demands
upon them may be greater. On Tues3ay a meeting
was held in the Town-hall, Manchester, for the pur-
pose of conferring on the distress and collecting
statistics on the subject.
The Mayor of Rochdale, Mr. ASHWORTH, said
that it was a matter of regret that" the crisis under
which they were now suffering was increasing in
severity." He proposed a resolution which had for
its purport ascertaining particulars in each of the
unions affected by the present paralysis of the cotton
manufacture for the information of Parliament, and
for aiding to obtain satisfactory legislation.
Mr. ASHWORTH made a very sensible
speech, which contained many useful sug-
gestions, and was well calculated to aid
the object in view. He said that "he thought the
Boards of Guardians of the neighbourhood had a
dnty to perform not only to their constituents, but
to the country at large, in taking care that every
possible information should be circulated, so that the
real truth might be known. They did not ask for
assistance from the Government, or the country,
without showing that they had a fair and legiti-
mate claim to help; and that their circumstances
were of an exceptional, a peculiar, and an unprece-
dented character." This is strictly true ; as, if ever
men had a claim for help, it is those whose cause
was here considered. By almost unparalleled
privation, aid by an unprecedented calamity,
wh:ch have been nobly borne, by long
months of weary waiting, tortured by
cruel doubts, and only occasionally enlivened by a
gleam of better prospects, the operatives of the
north have gained a hold on the respect and sym-
pathy of the world. It -would be difficult to say
how their calamity could have been greater, and it
would be difficult to say also how their conduct
could have been better. Mr. ASHWORTH gave some
instances to show how those not now seeking relief
would soon have to do so. He said that these were
types of a large class who, "in spite of the most
energetic perseverance, must succumb at last, and
hus aggravate that which was at present suffi-
ciently appalling to shake the strongest heart." Mr.
PLATT moved that, in any measure introduced into
Parliament, clauses be inserted to empower the
Public Works Loan Commissioners to lend to boards
of guardians such moneys as the Poor Law Board
shall authorise to be borrowed, at the rate
of three per cent., with provisions for satisfac-
tory security and repayment within twenty years.
He said that the rates could not be increased with-
out pauperising those who were at present only just
them. He concluded by observing that
Exchequer, as n
the case of the Irish famine, but they am ely had a
Government would
able
let
did o
not pay
ask for a grant from the i
claim to a loan, for which the
have the Power to make their own security." This
resolution seems well worthy of attention, and,
when the subject comes before the Legislature, it is
to be trusted that due regard will be paid to it.
Ainy plan that is at all practicable in itself, and that
promises to supply in some measure the great de-
mand for labour, should be welcomed by those in
I authority.

Unfortunately prejudices too often interfere to
prevent the carrying out of measures proposed by
private individuals; this is often a source of regret
to those who look on and see useful hints thrown
away, and timely advice neglected. In a case like