The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-11 00:00:00

Liverpool Cotton Market—This Day.

Market quiet. Sales, probably 6,000 or 7,000
bales.

MILITARY SUICIDE.—nout half-past 2 o'clock
on Saturday a loud report of a musket was heard in
the encampment of the Military Train on Woolwich-com-
mon, when it was discovered that a sergeant of the corps
named William Benns, of No. 23 troop, had committed
suicide. No reason can be assigned for the rash act other
than that he had been somewhat addicted to intemperance
and had been treated for delirium tremens. It likewise ap-
pears that he had been recently in charge of the camp re-
creation-room, and had been removed in medical charge.
He was at that time put under stoppage for debt. Since
his return from hospital his habits were remarkably ab-
stemious, and his friends entertained hopes of his thorough
reformation. On Saturday morning, at a quarter past six
o'clock, he proceeded on duty, and returned at 1 p.m., at
which hour he dined with his brother sergeants at their
mess, and was in good health and spirits. After dinner he
took a single glass of porter at the canteen, and on his re-
turn to barracks he found Mrs. Driscoll, the wife of one of
the privates, there, who had brought home the men's wash-
ing, and offered to assist her in allotting each man's to its
proper place on the beds. This she declined, stating that
he always misled her. He then disappeared unnoticed into
a small apartment at the end of the room called the bath-
room, loaded one of the men's carbines, and shot himself
through the head by pointing the muzzle in his mouth..
Death was instantaneous. Officers and men rushed to the
spot on hearing the report, but assistance was of no avail.
The unfortunate man bore a good character in the regiment.
He joined the Military Train in 1857 as avolunteer from
the 10th Hussars, and was nearly 22 years in the army.H e

was unmarried.
COBDEN'S LAST WORDS IN PARLIAMENT.—The
last words of this remarkable speech, and the last
words uttered by Cobden in the Rouse of Commons, were
these. They are a sacred legacy left to the nation he loved
so well :—" I know of nothing so calculated some day to
produce a democratic revolution, as for the proud and com-
bative people of this country to find themselves in this
vital matter of their defence sacrificed through the mis-
management and neglect of the class to whom, with so
much liberality, they have confided the care and future
destinies of the country. You have brought this upon
yourselves by undertaking to be producers and manufac-
turers. I advise you in future to place yourselves entirely
in dependence upon the private manufacturing resources of
the country. If you want gunpowder, artillery, small
arms,
or the hulls of ships of war, let it be known that you
depend upon the private enterprise of the country, and you
will get them. At all events, you will absolve yourselves
from the responsibility of undertaking to do things which
you are not competent to do, and you will be entitled to
say to the British people, Our fortunes as a Government
and nation are indissolubly united, and we will rise or fall,
flourish or fade together, according to the energy, enter-
prise,
Sand ability of the great body of the manufacturing
and industrious community.' " Speaking with strict ac-
curacy, these were not absolutely Cobden's last words in the
house; for, subsequently, in the same debate, he curiously
enough interrupted a speaker with the characteristic ejacu-
lation, "It is ridiculous to compare times of peace and
War."—.3PGilchri.ses Life of Cobden.
MORISON'S PILLS OF THE BRITISH COLLEGE OF
HEALTH, EUSTON-ROAD, LONDON.—AII persons should
know that the above medicine can be sent by post on re-
ceipt of 30 postage stamps for two boxes, Nos. 1 and 2,
131 rd, size —[Advertisement.[

; nagement of friendly societies, the principle on which
they are founded is very popular, and the number
. of the institutions themselves appears to be increas-
• ing. During the past year the Registrar received
only 120 notices of the dissolution of societies, 65 of
which have been gazetted as dissolved ; while he has
certified the rules of 1,056. A still larger number
have made alterations in their rules which the Re-
gistrar has approved. Thus cases of organisation are
far in excess of those dissolution—an encouraging
fact, as it indicates the increase of foresight and pro-
vident habits.
The Registrar has still to lament another•defect in
the management of friendly societies, though he
hopes the evil is decreasing, and is able to show that
the working classes themselves are becoming aware
of the injurious consequences of a very old practice.
It is that of holding the business meetings of these
clubs at a publichouse, with the accompanying obli-
gation of drinking for " the gqpd" of the establish-
ment. The score run up is the landlord's rent, and
very dearly is the occupation of his room for an
evening paid for on these terms. Unfortunately, it
is often very difficult to obtain the use of a room on
other conditions. On this subject, and that of " an-
niversaries, "Mr. Tidd Pratt thus remarks
The Registrar still continues to receive complaints by
and on behalf of members of old-established societies with
respect to the compulsory payments they are required to
make monthly and annually for beer and the anniversary
meetings. The place of meeting, as stated on a former oc-
casion, should, if poasible, be at some public institution or
school-room, and if that cannot be obtained, and there is no
other place except an inn or a publicho use, a certain fixed
payment should be made for the hire of the room, lights,
and fire, with a stipulation that no beer, &c., should be
brought into the room until all business is concluded, when
each member shall pay for any refreshment he may require.
When an anniversary or annual feast is held, the contribu-
tion thereto and attendance thereat shall be voluntary,
though there seems no legal objection to a rule that every
member who lives within a given distance should have a
ticket sent him, which, if not returned at a certain time,
say a week before the day of the feast, he should be re-
quired to pay for; but a better plan appears• to be for the
stewards to keep a book in which each member who in-
tends to dine shall enter his name, and pay a monthly con-
tribution for that purpose. This regulation of course could
not be incorporated as a rule, nor would the money sub-
scribed form any part of the funds of the society. As the
compulsory payments for beer; &c., are of no benefit to the
members, but `for the good of the house,' and as no such

payments are inserted in any rules certified under the 18th

and 19th Vic., cap. 63, it appears desirable in future legis-
lation to provide that no such payments "shall be made,

any laws, rules, or regulations of any friendly or benefi
society to the contrary notwithstanding.' In reports o,

previous years the Registrar has had to mention instances

of large expenditure for drinking purposes, and the evils
arising frOm clubs being held at publichouses, on which
subject there has from time to time been considerable dis-

cussion in the press and other periodicals; and although

the mischief is not now carried on to the extent it used to

be a quarter of a century ago, yet the evils now existing are

sufficient to cause a desire for a reform in this matter."

As a proof that a feeling against this forced ex-
penditure is growing up, the Registrar quotes a letter
on the subject from the organ of the Society of Fores-

tern, in which the effect of the practice in encourag•
ing intemperate habits is fully illustrated.

Crime in France.

The Court of Assizes of the Bas-Rhin tried, tho day
before yesterday, a man named Steiner, aged 25, on charges
. . .

of attempt to murder and robbery committed on the 12th
May last near Epfig, on the person of a carrier named
Joseph. On the above-mentioned Joseph arrived at Itte-
willer (Bas-Rhin), on his way to Schlestadt, with a load of
poles, which he purposed selling to the hop-growers of that
neighbourhood. Not knowing the road, ho inquired his
way at a public-house, and the prisoner immediately said
that he was going to the place, and would not only accom-
pany him but introduce him to several persons who would
purchase his merchandise. They accordingly started to-
gether and had travelled about a league when the prisoner,
who was walking behind Joseph, struck him on the head
with a large stone and knocked him down. He redoubled
his blows till ho thought the man was dead, then stole
from his person a knife and a purse containing 6Ofr., and
made off. Joseph was,
however, only stunned, and, hav-
ing recovered his senses, ho with difficulty got to the
nearest village and gave information which led to the
prisoner's arrest on the following day. The evidence of
Joseph and other witnessos being conclusive against the
prisoner, the jury found him guilty, but with extenuating
circumstances, and the Court sentenced him to hard labour
for life.

—The Military Tribunal of Paris has just tried the
Turco, named Ali-bel-Abbes, of the 2d Regiment
of Algerian Sharpshooters, who, on 25th June last, killed
one of his comrades named Abdel-Kader-ben-Taar in the
Garden of the Tuileries. The circumstances of the case,
which were given in the journals at the time, are briefly
and clearly explained in the prisoner's confession, made on
the following day to Captain de Lignieres, of his regiment,
as follows:—" Last evening I went alone to the Gardens
of the Tuileries. I there met two women, and was going
to speak to them, when Abdel-Kader-ben-Taar accosted
me. The woman asked me why I was nearly white while
he was black, and I replied that in Africa there were black
fathers and white mothers. A sharpshooter, who, in
passing, had heard what we said, remarked to the women,
as he pointed at Abdel-Kader, that in our country
negroes were bought and sold for money. Abdel-
Kader, incensed at this remark, vented his anger
on me : he struck me repeatedly, till I fell, and
while under his feet I drew my bayonet and struck
him as he stooped over me." When asked by the President
whether he intended to kill his comrade, the prisoner re-
plied that he was furious at having been insulted and
thrown down in the presence of women, and that he
thought only of avenging the outrage. lie deeply re-
gretted what he had done, as he had never had any quarrel
with Abdel Kader, and did not even know him. After
hearing a number of witnesses and counsel for the prisoner,
the Tribunal declared him guilty of wilfully
wounding, but
without intent to kill, and condemned him to five years'

imprisonment.
The Tribunal of Correctional Police yesterday
tried a man named 011ivier, aged 34, on a charge
of having in the evening of the 12th Aug. last snatched a
porte-monnaie, containing several hundred francs, from the
hand of a lady at the moment she was getting into her car-
riage, on the Boulevard des Italiens. The thief was pur-
sued and taken a few yards from the spot, but not before
he bad thrown away the porte-monnaie, which was, how-
ever, recovered and restored to its owner, who, when the
prisoner was brought, into her presence, clearly identified
him. In his defence the prisoner asserted that he was inno-
cent, that he had seen the porte-monnaie snatched from
the lady's hand, and was running in pursuit of the real
offender, when he was arrested and charged with the theft.
Abundant evidence was however produced to prove the
falsehood of this statement, and the tribunal accordingly
condemned him to six months' imprisonment.

Mr. Tidd Pratt, the Registrar of Friendly Socie-
ties in England, has just made the Report of the
proceedings of his office for the year 1864, or rather
that report has been printed by order of the House
of Commons since the month of July, and is now
accessible to that large part of the community
directly interested in the condition of these Unions.
Nor is the report without interest to thousands not
immediately connected with the Societies, but to
whom the official returns present reliable data for
studying the condition of many classes among
whom such inquiries by private persons, however
zealously pursued, are beset with difficulties. The
law itself, carried into effect by a public officer, is
only partially successful in obtaining information as
to these bodies. Aknowledge of the exact state of the
funds and the number of members of each society,
published every year, would be a great protection
to the working classes themselves, and a consider-
able check on local abuses. But the wholesome
publicity directed by recent legislation is not so
readily or generally given by the managers of these
Societies as it ought to be. The present annual
report closes with a complaint of the registrar of the
neglect with which the official forms sent to be
filled up by the trustees and officers of the
Societies are treated. Last year 22,511 blank
forms were sent out by the registrar, but only
10,398, considerably less than half, were returned,
filled up with the details the law requires for pub-
lication. The Act of Parliament is certainly a
new one, and its object may not yet be clearly
understood. Mr. Tidd Pratt ascribes the gross
neglect of a duty rendered as easy to perform as
it possibly can be to the fact that "it generally
happens" the omission to make the return "is
owing to the accounts not having been kept or
audited." If this is really the case in any large
proportion of 10,000 or 11,000 societies, the state-
ment ought to excite the attention of the members
of those bodies without loss of time. But the more
hopeful view of the present inattention to the require-
ments of the law is that the meaning of the act is
not yet understood, and this defect is one that time
and better knowledge will remove. The law would
protect many thousands against fraud if they would'
I
take advantage of it, which at present they do not.
Notwithstanding this and other defectsin the ma-