The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-19 00:00:00

DUTIES.

THE IND.

Yesterday a numerous and influential deputation
from the operatives of various manufacturing towns
in Lancashire waited upon Sir Charles Wood, at
the India-house, for the purpose of presenting me-
morials praying for the abolition of the duties im-
posed on British manufactured goods imported into
India.
Colonel WILSON PATTEN, in introducing the de-
putation, read the memorial from the operatives of
Blackburn, which he said contained the gist of the
memorials from other towns. It set forth that
the memorialists were wholly dependent on the
cotton trade, which by the unhappy events
of the past year had become so terribly convulsed
as to deprive thousands of persons of the means of
living. The memorialists urged that there had
within the last three months been a large falling off
in the quantity of English manufactured goods im-
ported into India, and concluded by asking that the
existing imposts should be totally repealed. Col.
Patten pressed on the attention of Sir C. Wood the
fact that the object of the deputation was not con-
fined to the removal of the Indian duties; they
desired also to call the earnest attention of the
Government to the necessity of giving every encou-
ragement to the increased supply of cotton, upon
which quite as much depended as upon the reduc-
tion of the Indian duties.
The prayer of the memorial having been suppo:ted
by various speakers,
Sir C. WOOD replied at some length. Having
expressed his admiration of the manner in which
the operatives in the distressed districts were bear-
ing their misfortunes, and dwelt upon the cause of
them, he proceeded to refer to the arguments which
had been brought forward with regard to the Indian
import duty on cotton goods, which was the ground.
of complaint. With regard to the reduction asked
for, he had only to state that he could not afford to
part with the duty. What might be done in time
in the way of reducing the expenditure he could not
say ; but no cffort would be spared in order to effect
a reduction. Customs duties, however, were one of
the sources of revenue most easily raised, and till.
he saw his way to the imposition of some other
duties he could not spare these. With regard to
the cultivation of cotton in India the Government
were giving it all the encouragement they could,
by providing increased facilities for transit. His
belief was that the supply of cotton in India might
be very largely increased, although this could not
be done at once. He hoped, however, that in the
course of time the increase would be so large that
our manufacturers would cease to be dependent ou
the American supply.
Colonel WILSON PATTEN said he thought the
deputation had a right to ask Sir Charles not to
give any encouragement to the people of India to
believe that this would be a permanent duty.
Whether erroneously or not, it was thought in Eng-
land that this tax was raising up a competition
against our home manufactures, and although it
might not be possible now to reduce the duty, it
was to be hoped that no encouragement would be
given to a rival manufacture which it was thought
might be got up if these duties were continued.
Sir C. 'WOOD said no such promise or assurance
could be given.

THE BURSTING OF THE FLEET .DI2CH.

Since our jest report of the bursting of this sewer
another breakage, and that of a most serious and

extensive character, has taken place, foaming a con-

tinuation of the original defection of the great sewer
of the Fleet. _

The scene of the disaster is that part of the new
Victoria-street, from Farringdon-street, at its
northern end, where the entrance of the tunnel of
the Metropolitan line is to be seen. About half-past
two yesterday afternoon the foreman of the men
emploY by the ant-veyor of tho Aistrict observed.
that the roadway south or part at the
navvies were working appeared to be graduany
sinking, apparently within its own area, as
though the sewer below—at this spot 10 feet
in width—was about to collapse. Within half an
hour after this the signs he had noticed became so
unmistakable that the men who were at work in
the broken sewer, in the roadway making good,
and at the contiguous walls of the railway line,
were at once ordered to leave their work for fear of
injury to life or limb. Shortly afterwards, the mas-
sive timber supports, which had been carefully
placed as shores against every available part of re-
sistance, began to crack in a most ominous and
alarming manner, and a few minutes afterwards
upwards of 20 feet (lineal) of the firm and appa-
rently substantial battery wall, about 25 feet high
and 5 feet thick, was shoved off en masse into the
deep cutting. By and by a further portion of the
road sank in the same manner, forcing several other
yards of the wall down ; and finally, the remainder
—giving a total of about 150 feet in le:T.,th of the
wall, which fell inwards with a terrible crash,
though the brickwork held together in a remark-
able manner.
The effect of the sinking of the roadway by this
second breakage of the sewer has been to fill 'it up
altogether, nearly the whole length from Ray-street
to Vine-street, at its intersection of Victoria-street,
a short distance south of the Clerkenwell Sessions-
house, the result of which, we regret to say, has
been the forcing of the great body of water into the
large open space of the railway near the mouth of
the tunnel.
Fortunately, from the indications given by the
gradual sinking of the ground in Victoria-street,
time was given to obtain assistance. Not a moment
was lost. Mr. Cooper, the surveyor of the district,
and his assistant surveyors, Mr. Jay, the contractor
for the works on this portion of the line ; Mr. Cor-
dell, his principal assistant ; Mr. Covick, of the Me-
tropolitan Board of Works ; Mr. Phillips, of the
Holborn Board of Works, and other men of emi-
nence in their profession, were very soon upon
the spot, and viewing the calamity at once in a
practical manner, they saw that as the damage done
to the sewer could not then be helped, the only
thing that could be done was to turn their atten-
tion to the diversion of the rapid current of the
ditch, so that it might run, not into the rail-
way line, but through an artificial cutting to the
spacious low-lying waste land on the west side of
the street. In order to accomplish this great but
necessary task, several hundreds of men proceeded
to invest the Fleet some yards above the mouth of
the railway tunnel, digging a trench sufficiently
wide to carry the water from that point of the
sewer by the side of Victoria-street, southward to
Vine-street (nearly 300 feet), when it is the inten-
tion of the engineers, if they find upon inspection
that the sewer below towards Farringdon-street is
capable of receiving it and in a sound condition to
urn it in that direction.
Fortunately no one has sustained personal injury,

DONIZETTTS "DON SEBASTIEN," AT
11LE CANTERBURY HALL.

A selection from Donizetti's opera of "Don Sebastien"
has just been brought out at this hall, the management of
which is true to the old enterprising instinct, which has
produced selections from operas in anticipation of the
appearance of the larger works themselves on our lyric
boards. The opera itself was composed in 1843, the same
year in which " Don Pasquale" was composed, and although
performed on the continent, has not yet found its way to
this country. It formed a portion, however, of the prospec-
tive programme of the Royal Italian Opera for the season,
but whether the promise to produce it will be fulfilled re -
mains to be seen. From the specimens of the music, as
given in the selection prepared by Mr. Jonghmans, we
should say that the criticisms of the continental press are
borne out—that the opera contains more rich and charac-
teristic music than is to be found in some of tho other works
by this composer. The interpretation of the selection is con -
fided to Miss Russell (Mme. Stoltz performed the part of Qaid a
in the opera), Signer Tivoli, Mr. Raynor, and Mr. Green, and
the invariably efficient chorus of the establishment. Some
of the most charming music in the selection falls to Signor
Tivoli. " Lisbon, dear I my native land," is a rich, plain-
tive melody, and this air and the earcarole, " Row, seamen,
row," are rendered with the artist's usual taste and feeling.
The music allotted to Miss Russell having been written for
a contralto, and the music itself, as far as we can judge
from the selection, not being the most brilliant in the opera,
the singer has not those opportunities for display which
her acknowledged abilities entitle her to have opened up for
her; but her singing in the duet with Mr. Raynor was
marked with her accustomed excellence and finish. The
force of this selection lies in the ensemble. The chorus of
Arabian women, " Of our land the sweetest flower," is cap-
tivating in its simplicity, whilst the septuor and finale to the
opera eop,taia 11111,4i9 of the highest degree of merit,