The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-16 00:00:00

rETE SUN, LONVON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16,

turned out to be a failure, in consequence of the ex-
cuse so constantly made that the casual wards are
full. And the inquiry just made into the state of the
houseless poor in Bermondsey has proved that
142 applicants for admission to the work-
house had recently been turned away. No one
can say that a system is successful which
can sanction such anomalies as the pre-
sent poor law does. When we reflect upon the
inconsistency of the order by the authorities at
workhouses, counteracting the effect of the measure
which has received legislative sanction, we must
deplore and denounce the existing state of things.
Mr. HILL declares, with perfect justice, that those
are mistaken in their notions who consider it eco-
hnomical thus to cut down the number of the work-
house inmates, for " no being is so expensive to the
State as a criminal at large, " the effect of the
I arbitrary restrictions now in vogue being to drive

many to the commission of crime.
It is worthy of attention that a heavy tax is levied
on the benevolent portion of the community, in
consequence of their having in a great measure
to supply the deficiencies created by the imperfect
condition of our workhouse management ; and
another evil accruing from this must be mentioned,
that many persons trade upon the ignorance and
mistaken generosity of others. It is seldom those
who are really the most in want who obtrude them-
selves on the attention of alms-givers, and yet im-
mense sums are squandered on worthless individuals,
while the deserving poor are sinking into decrepi-
tude and pining away through lack of that care
which the State should exercise for the protection of
its helpless subjects. What can be truer than the
passage here met with concerning the chief objects
which for the most part reign paramount in the
minds of those who select the authorities at a
workhouse—" the immediate saving of the parish
funds, and the bringing down to the lowest possible
farthing, of the next half-year's assessment !" Such
ends are considered more worthy of attainment than
the many important things which rightly belong to
the responsible positions of master, matron, and medi-
cal attendant, who, as stated here, "did the subject
admit of mirth, might often be supposed to be called
from jocoseness, the relieving officer, a name
to which he has about as good a title as those who
appoint him have to that of Guardians of the
Poor." The Lancet, which has recently appointed
a Commissioner to inquire into the medical condi-
tion of workhouses, gives it as its opinion that no
amelioration can take place while the Board of
Guardians are so badly constituted. An inferior
and uneducated class of small tradesmen compose
the majority of these bodies. Such are described as
" inconceivably petty, ignorant, and unfit to govern
institutions of so much magnitude." Certainly the
recent collision between the Board of Guardians at
a Workhouse and the Poor-law Board, on the sub-
ject of admission of the vagrant poor to the casual
wards, bears out the statement of the Lancet as to
the faulty construction of these Boards of Guar-
dians, and leads us to inquire what steps should be
taken to improve the position of affairs.
In this pamphlet it is stated that too much power
is vested in those who are not likely to know much
of the matter, in appointing Boards of Guardians,
and Mr. HILL proposes that the power of voting
should be brought into " closer accordance with
the amount of assessment," in order that a clearer
knowledge may prevail among the majority of those
who have the power of voting. It could do no harm
to try this plan if it did no good ; and we question
if any particular argument can be brought forward
against it. It is an acknowledged fact that the poor
do not meet with equal consideration from those a
few degrees above them, as from those quite out of
their sphere, but who have finer perceptions of the
making of systems and a more accurate knowledge
of the details which are so necessary to be ac-
quainted with. Some of the facts here mentioned
are condensed into a summary, which is very well
worthy of attention from the powers that be, as well
as from the influential classes who atudy such sub-
jects. One of the conclusions cannot be gainsaid,
and that is the one which affirms that the inhabi-
tants of a country which, like our own,
grudgingly pays more than six millions a year in
support of the poor, ought not, and, under a good
administration of the poor-law and police would not,
be harassed by beggars, and have their feelings
outraged by authentic accounts of deaths from
cold and hunger, and their lives and property
endangered by the temptations to crime which ex-
posure to great misery creates." All this is
strictly true, and it is a great scandal to society
at large that the state of our poor-laws
should be so defective, the management of our
workhouses so extremely faulty, and the condition
of our poor in many instances so deplorable. The
aspect of affairs is, indeed, bad ; when it is no
matter of surprise to any general reader of public
news to take up a paper and find that another
death has occurred in our streets from sheer
starvation. It is high time for us to
awake from our lethargy in this important re-
spect, and to pay that heed to the subject of the
administration of the Poor Laws, which justice
demands from us, and which humanity should
long ago have led us to do in an efficient and
effectual manner.

" un-

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(RELTTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

SPAIN.

MADRID, DEC. 15.

The Correspowlenria de Ecpano says that the
Queen's health continues to improve. It is therefore
probable that her Majesty will open the Cortes in

person.
7he same journal states that the Ministers have
not yet prepared the speech from the throne.

MARSEILLES, DEC. 15 (Evening).
The Messageries Imperiales steamer Peluse, with
the Mauritius and Reunion mails, arrived here to-
day at 4.30 p.m.

BELGIUM.
INAUGURATION OF THE NEW KING
OF THE BELGIANS.
BRUSSELS, DEC. 15 (Evening).

It has been officially announced that King Leo-
pold IL will take the oath to the Constitution
before both Chambers at 12.30, on Sunday, the
17th inst. At 8 a.m. the ringing of bells and a
salvo of 101 guns will notify the solemnity. At 10.30
the general staffs of the civic guard and army will
form upon the Boulevard d'Anvers. The King
will be escorted from the palace of Laeken by
mounted civic guards and a body of regular
cavalry. At the entrance to the capital his
Majesty will be received and complimented by
the Burgomeister at the head of the Communal
council. The King's entrance into Brussels will be
announced by a salvo of 101 guns. his Majesty
will follow the route taken by the King on the 21st
July, 1831. The civic guards and the troops of the
garrison will be under arms in the streets through
which his Majesty passes. The entrance to the
Chambers will be occupied by the battalion of
Chasseurs-Eclaireurs, a battery of artillery of the
Brussels civic guard, and the wounded and decorated
of September. After the oath has been taken their
Majesties will return to the palace under a salute
of 101 guns.

blunder to allure a small country on by promises
which we did not intend to perform. (Hear, hear.)
No one wanted to go to war for Denmark, but if we
did not intend to support her we should never have
promised her any assistance at all. (Cheers.) They
could not but regard the present state of affairs in
the country as eminently prosperous. The revenue
was increasing, and while the exports of the country
had amounted to £200,000,000 ster., the savings of
the people had amounted to nearly £100,000,000.
In such a state of prosperity it was for the Govern-
ment of the country to show what they would do in
the forthcoming Parliament—whether great organic
changes were, in their opinion, necessary, or whether
the more even tenor of our way was to be continued
—ameliorating our institutions where necessity re-
quired, but not making those radical changes which
at the same time that they might shake the consti-
tution would not do for those who brought them the
good they expected. He felt certain that the pre-
sent Government would receive that fair and just
treatment from all parties which any Government
was entitled to receive so long as they did that
which the country required. At the same time he
felt equally sure that if, for party purposes or for
retaining power, they did that which the country
did not think necessary, Parliament would at once
reject them, and the country would ratify the rejec-
tion. (Cheers.) With regard to recent affairs inJa-
maica, he asked them asEnglishrien and honourable
men never to judge of men until they had the whole
facts of the case before them. In this case they had
men sent out from the country to uphold the
honour and dignity of the Crown and the country,
and if those men were not to be supported
till they were found guilty where could they ex-
pect to find men who would undertake such respon-
sible positions ? To say that such men were to
be written or talked down, or that the Government
were to give in to a cry, was to say that no man
who might be traduced by others was to be safe at
home, where of all places he ought to be supported.
(Cheers.) He, for one, earnestly hoped that Go-
vernor Eyre and those who were accused with him
would come well out of the matter. A searching
inquiry was about to be instituted. That ought to
be sufficient for us, and if the Government did not
do its duty in the matter it was to them we had to
look without taking upon ourselves the task of try-
ing individuals. (Cheers.)
" The Health of Mr. Fitzgerald" was then pro-
posed by Colonel BAnTrELoT, who expressed a hope
that it would not be long before he again found his
way within the walls of the House of Commons.
Mr. SEYMOUR FITZGERALD, in responding, said he
had long occupied the double position of president
of that association and member for Horsham. He
regretted that he was unable to appear before them
in that double capacity on the present occasion ;
but, in all good humour, he could assure his hon.
friend who now represented the borough that he in-
tended to take the earliest opportunity of occupying
that double position again. (Laughter and cheers.)
The hon. gentleman referred to the cattle plague.
He said—l differ very much from the opinions which
have been expressed that nothing more could have
been done by the Government. My opinion is that
they did not appreciate the gravity of the position
and the heavy responsibilities which devolved on
them. We had first an Order in Council giving
certain directions ; that was soon after supplemented
by an order altering the first order ; that in its turn
was succeeded by another adding to the first order ;
next came an order explaining the former orders ;
and so it has been going on until I do not know how
many orders in Council there are existing, and I
defy any man, unless he has an acute legal train-
ing, to say what is or is not the effect of the various
orders on which the magistrates are called upon to
act. I think, also, that a great mistake was made
in the first instance in the course taken with regard
to the local authorities. I have always been averse
to see the powers of Government centralised. It is
contrary to the spirit of our institutions. I think
the great safeguard we have is that every man
should take part in the local administration of local
affairs. lam not one of those, therefore, -who like
to see the local authorities excluded from the ad-
ministration in affairs of this kind, and I think that
Government ought to have adopted a much more
comprehensive system at first than they did, and
that they ought to have instructed the local
authorities with the duty of carrying the system
out. The disease ought to have been met in the
first instance by the most vigorous measures of re-
pression ; but, at the same time, I have always
been of opinion that where private property is sacri-
ficed for the public good the loss ought to be met
by the public Exchequer. (Cheers.) I am told that
there are great difficulties in the way, and that it
would open the door to fraud as well as throw a
heavy burden upon the State. But it would not
be half as heavy a burden as the risk of having
this dangerous malady spread over the whole
country. If the Government found their powers
insufficient, they ought to have called Parliament
together. It is one of the most vital and important
questions that has been brought before a British
public of late years, and it was a subject wellworthy
of the consideration and meeting of Parliament. As
to the measures that may be necessary, I am very
much afraid that what would have been effective a
few weeks ago will not now be sufficient, and that
we shall find we are shutting the door after the steed
is stolen. As soon as Parliament meets I have no
doubt that measures will be adopted of the most
vigorous kind, with a total disregard of private
profit or advantage. (Hear, hear.) Passingfrom that
topic there have been other questions of public in-
terest adverted to this evening, and I think it has
always been permitted at this table, so long as we
did not trespass upon the domain of politics, and
offend the wishes of those present, to speak can-
didly on public affairs. It would be ridiculous to
suppose, in this free-thinking and outspoken
country, that 150 men could be brought together and
induced to shut their eyes and mouths in regard to
the great public questions. I think, therefore, that
I may be allowed to venture a few observations on
that -which is the great public question of the day.
We are told that we are to have a change in the
system of representation, and a great deal has been
said by a distinguished public speaker as to the de-
merits, the failings, and almost the crimes of one
great party in the state in reference to that measure.
We are told that what Mr. Bright calls the Tory
party have always been averse to all those great
questions which for some years past have been car-
ried, and which have advanced the prosperity and
welfare of the country. In his speeches he is con-
stantly quoting to us the example of America. I
am one of those who regard with the greatest ad-
miration the system which has been pursued in
America, the efforts they have made in the direc-
tion of self-government, the enormous extension of
education, and the position which that republic
has been enabled to take in the councils of the
world. (Cheers.) There is no man more willing
to tender a meed of admiration to the course pur-
sued by the American nation than I am—Tory as I
am, and as Mr. Bright chooses to call me. But
what will suit a new country with new institutions,
which they began to build up from the foundation,
will not suit a country where the interests are so
complicated, where the institutions that exist are
so interwoven in the heart and feeling of the nation,
as in this country. (Cheers.) What suits the one
will not suit the other, and it is impossible to reason
by any method of analogy whatever, from the suc-
cess of the institutions of America that the same
success would attend similar institutions here.
(Cheers.) Now, as regards the abuse which has
been thrown on one great party in the State by the
distinguished speaker I have alluded to, we have
this great consolation, that although he now
abuses us, it is only a few months since he abused
our opponents just as much. (Laughter and cheers.)
There is not one single word of reproach, of con-
tumely, and of condemnation which he now throws
upon us which only a few months ago he did not as
unsparingly and emphatically lavish on those whom
he now calls his friends. (Laughter,) What do I
argue from that? Why, that he thinks it is desir-
able in the present instance to give his full support
to a Government that will bring in a reform bill, be
it wide or not, because he is determined to take
whatever he can get, with a view, upon the very
first occasion, of getting more. (Hear, hear.) I be-
lieve there is not one man I now address who does
not feel that with regard to these great constitutional