The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-02 00:00:00

During the week ended.`lltay
mitten at Preston haVe dist
bread, 11,159 quarts of soup,
coffee. The number of cases ne
books is 3,974, comprising 16,878 persons, an Ind
crease upon' the preceding week of 162 cases and
645 persons, showing that the distress augments
steadily week by eTeek. The carne rate of increase
is observable from the returns of the Poor Law
Guardians. The funds of :he Relief Committee, we
Ipvaaoenrsrcgaet
oil s
th7‘wodi
witlinteeheiriirtsoiallovafhcs
eaks
are glad to say, do not as yet eliraiaish, new defla-
tions keeping pace, or nearly so, weith the expendi-
ture, How long this will continue it is difficult to
sly, especially as the committee desire W increase
their grants to the poor, believing that the allow-
eedemzatnoyo
little. The amount of additional subscriptions e'd-
sums frogs nontributors at a distance, among -which.
isb e aebnou int
£560,111 includingse cases
is one of 1:100 from the Earl of Derkv, who iS '
com-
mittee make the follo-c7ing renlark4 upon the pro-
II:mope:117w in3te
dP rceosrt ognr.an
grunting
nh
ge
relief
from a public fund by way of loan :---" To I'Llanehes-
ter we observe a movement has been eet on foot
with the view of obtaining b - .-* be su scripoons, to dis-
posed of in loans to necessitous working men.
Some doubt may well exist as to the
propriety of
this scheme. In many instances, no doubt, the
loans would be acaTted with avidity and with the
best intentions as regasds repayment ; but it needs
little acquaintance with tbe economy of the factory
operative to understand how such loans mai ulti.,
mutely prove -rdinously burdensome or di rec tly de-
moralising to the borrower. ine offer of a loan
would in many cases tempt the borroever to under-
take a burden of future debt, from whicie he could
.escape only by either a humiliating forgivetieee, or,
perham3years of painful effort. We hope Ow
-) er scheme may reconsider'
proinoter. the-Manchest
it, andebe liel to .ihek•tegPtiiM of the samerprinciple
relief which. has. risen pia-
of judioions- gratuitous`
ductive of so much good in our own town and elie-
where." The guardians of the poor still find the
in the shape of ex-
ablebodied work for their relief .
cavating on the moor and breaki.i.` Mr.
g stones.
Farnall, the commissioner, advised tLem to relax
the latter test in favour of many of the dared
and
boys who are now subjected to it. lie consi:lered
that their previous employment at the factories, and
the state of their hands and health generally, unfit
ted them for such labour. This department is,
however, mainly attended to by a guardian who re-
gards stonebreaking as the gretndest ordeal in the
world for a pauper, and he carries it out with the
utmost rigour. There is no doubt i;Jlat it finds out
the lazy and the dissolute, but it is toe hard upon
the delicate-boys and men of the factory, .7nany of
whose hands are blistered and irritated to ape.inful
extent by the use of the hammer. Each person is
required to break a ton a day for the relief given,
a task impossible to someof them, who are not used
to the occupation. The strictness of this regulation
1 has led to an ingenious method of evasion, which
' has been carried on for some time. A number of the
men, unwilling or unable to perform the give mea-
sure of work, have made a practice of cleaWing
liberally on the general heap of stones alieeady
broken, and appropriating a portion as their oe'e'll
stock, which was duly reckoned in the day's'
work and paid for. The vigilant guardian re-
ferred to above, suspecting the existence of this
practice, set a policeman in plain clothes to
watch, and on Friday two men were caught in the
fact. The case is now under the coofficers nofsidthate Union
erion of
the guardians. The relieving
deny in the main charges brought against them by
1
1 the Relief Committee of giving orders to the work-
house indiscriminately, knowing that the place w
full, with a view of ridding themselves of the
tap-
plicants. They are preparing a statement of the
number of tickets given. On the other hand, the
visitors and secretaries of the Relief Committee (UV
collecting as many of the orders as possible issued
by the union officials during the last fortnight with
a view of strengthening their case, and remonstrat-
ing with the guardians upon the impropriety of
tolerating such a practice. It is essential th the
truth of the matter should be knowa at once, and
harmonious action established between these two
bodies. The distress requires the co-operation of
all parties to inept it. The great " lock-out" of
1853-rat its worst stage could not parallel the pri-
vation and misery which 20,000 of the inhabitants
of Preston arc now enduring.

THE WAR IN MONTENEGRO.

NATIONAL DEFENCES.—A return has just been
presented to Parliament, from which it appears that the
£2,000,000 loan authorised in 1860 to be raised by termin-
able annuities for the national defence works will all have
been expended by the end of August next, if the legal in-
vestigation of the title to lands purchased shall then have
been completed. It is stated also that the estimated cost of
the works contemplated, for most of which contracts have
been entered into, is £5,680,000, exclusive of ar.tillery.oz
moment, but including £1,200,000 for coin?lettifi•riNib
re..
which were in progress before the Act of
gard to Spithead, contracts have been entereldSobir:iioNfeormwsourk,:
estimated to cost £BlO,OOO at Hors? Sand a !
Land, and Sturbridge Shoal. A site for
has not yet boon. purchased. central arsenal

The following letter from Ragusa of the 18th of
May contains sonic interesting details with respect
to the insurrection in the Herzegovine :
" The capture of Niksich is of great importance
to the mountaineers, not on account of the 800 Turks
made prisoners, together with their General, but on
account of its strategic position. Niksich is situ-
ated with its back to the Montenegrin frontier, and
is approached by the defile of Duga, which has twice
proved so fatal to the Ottoman troops. It is at the
same time a natural entrenched camp which con-
stantly menaces Gatzko, while at the same time it
will afford the Servians a basis for their future
operations. On the other hand, the loss of Niksich
has completely deranged the plans of Omar Psa?
who always had in view the junction and combined
action, for a time at least, of the Tu.rkish armies
the Herzegovine and in the province of. Albania.
The road across the Montenegrin territory from
Water is plentiful
Spuz to Niksich is the shortest.
on the passage, and the road is less difficult than in
any other part of the principality. Omar Pasha
wished, as it were, to, cut Montenegro in two parts.,
so that another Turkish corps might take the south-
ern part, which is the heart of the country, in re-
verse. ) The loss of Niksich has completely deranged
that clever plan. Continual supplies of men and
money are arriving at Scutari. There are eight
pashas at this moment in that town, and among
them is Abdi Pasha, who a few months since fled
from thence like a criminal to explain his conduct
at Constantinople. The operations of the Monte-
negrins in Albania were intended to facilitate the
landing of the volunteers, who were expected from
foreign countries. It now serves to prevent Albania
from being, as hitherto, a nursery of Bashi-Bazouks.
Numerous emissaries are travelling through the
mountains, preaching fraternity with the slaves—d
the re-establshment of the Albanian kingdom
(Greco-Slave), and, as a consequence, a crusade
against the Turks. If in their march towards
the north the Montenegrins are not beaten by the
natives they will shortly form a junction with the
Servians. Omar Pasha is displaying the greatest
activity. He visits the frontiers, reviews the troops,
reorganises the military administration, and care-
fully provides for the wants of his army, whose
strength is increasing eifverd reinforcementsa y. H e threatened'
e r
e n.
oat
to resign a month since
sent to him. Dervich Pasha is at present at Gatfrilfp:
which he has converted into an intrenched 'land
The Montenegrins: harass him, kill his soldiAers
corps
cut cut off his supplies ; they then disappear., in the
of 2,000 mountaineers have shown. theniseou'
zko,
neighbourhood of Tatarovith, above
vrGa
s at
a march-
neighbourhood of
in the direction of Mostar. fred not attack,
ring party, which Dervich Pa:bao
road to Niksieli
and which returned by the
"dinthe it •
alneon war
The Montenegrins have crosse
er
It is, no' thcless, linpossitlo
is declared, in fact.
mountaineers, whose numbers aro
for these bravo
daily diminishing, to strike down the strong col unlit
of the Turks, which by
its inert weight, and by
the moral support of certain Powers, maintains its
ground."