The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-25 00:00:00

THE THAMES EMBANKMENT.

The engineer read a long correspondence, which
had passed between him and the contractors for the
Thames Embankment, in reference to the quantity
of material to be taken from the river and from the
land for the filling up of the wall behind the embank-
ment, and desiring them to use equal quantities of
each, and also to take the material from the land
only during certain hours. Mr. Furness complained
of charges made by the Thames Conservancy for
taking the material from the dredgers to the em-
bankment. He maintained that the material from
the river was not so good as that obtained from the
land. It would take a long time to consolidat9, and
if he was not allowed to finish the works ill a riroper
manneripe would not be responmible!foi-any defect
in the works.

Mr. ROACH moved that the correspondence bo en-
tered on the minutes. The contractor had been ob-
stinate, and he must obey the orders of the Board.
Mr. BIDGOOD said it was all very well to pounce
down on the contractor and use harsh words. They
must bear in mind that it was not the obstinacy of
the contractor, butrather the fickleness of the Board.
The contractor had to get thousands of yards of
material, and had to make his arrangements accord-
ingly. He considered it was the fault of the Board,
which had varied and changed its course week after
week. He hoped that they would have patience and
use calmer language.

Major LYON strongly condemned the conduct of
Mr. Furness, the contractor, in disobeying the order
of the Board in taking more material from the land
than from the river.

Mr. J. SAUNDERS said they could not blame the
contractors for taking care of No. 1, but the Board
must also take care of No. 2—the public. They had
now prohibited Mr. Furness from taking material
from the land, and the Board could not be charged
with fickleness, as they had ordered the contractors
to use equal quantities of river and land material.

It was the duty of the Board to see that their order
as varied be carried out; that no injustice be done
to the contractors; and also that the Board do its
duty towards the public.
The motion that the correspondence be entered
on the minutes was then carried.

A letter was read from Mr. E. Burstal, Thames
Conservancy, transmitting the copy of a letter from
Mr. Furness, requesting the conservators to supply
barges to lighter material from dredgers to the
Thames Embankment, and asking the Board
whether it would pay the cost of such lighterage.
The CHAIRMAN said the contractor complained
that the conservators could not supply the material
in sufficient quantities. It was important to see if
the conservators could raise a sufficient quantity ;
and if the cost of raising and conveying the material
in barges was charged to the Board, they would
then be able to see who was in fault.

It was then decided that the net cost of raising
and delivering the material fromthe river be charged
to the Board.

Mr. BIDGOOD said Mr. Furness had been charged
with taking more material from the land than from
the river. It might turn out on investigation that
lie could not get a sufficient quantity from the river.
He moved that the correspondence on the subject
be referred to the Thames Embankment Committee
for investigation and report. -
The motion was
The other business
interest.

Protector Endowment. Loan, and annuity
Company.

The ordinary general meeting of proprietors in this
undertaking was held on Thursday at the office in King_
street, Cheapside—Mr. Alfred Smee in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings by adverting to
the death within the previous 48 hours of their late manager,
Mr. J. Beadnell, upon whose character and qualifications he
passed a high eulogium.

The following report was read :—" The directors have
much pleasure in submitting the account of the operations
for the past year. Great activity has been displayed in all
the departments, and fresh agencies for the transaction of
business have been opened in various parts of the kingdom.
The mode adopted by this company of granting loans for a
period of three or four years differs from that of banking
establishments, and is not influenced in the same manner by
monetary disturbances. The loan department is in a very
satisfactory condition, and shows continual increase during
the year; not only more advances have been made.than on
any previous period, but the rate of development of this
branch progresses in the same satisfactory manner. From
the care taken in granting loans, the per centage of loss is
very small upon the sum lent. The deposit department is
also satisfactory, and it is a great benefit to obtain a con-
stant rate of interest of 5 per cent., independent of the fluc-
tuations of monetary causes. The directors recommend
that the interest on shareholders' stock be at the same rate
for the current year as heretofore, namely, at the rate of 5
per cent. per annum."
The CHAIRMAN congratulated the shareholders upon the
increased activity in the operations of the company which
the report disclosed. They had largely increased the num-
ber of loans ; their business generally was really and sub-
stantially augmenting, and there was every prospect that
it would develop itself in the future in a much greater ratio
than it had yet done. It should be known that, whatever
the rate of interest in the market, whether high or low, this
company paid 5 per cent. on deposits, which were lent out
again for the advantage of the shareholders. The facilities
which the company offered were important, the more so
as they were afforded to a class of persons who, as a rule,
did not keep a banking account, and could not obtain
accommodation at a banker's. They made advances occa-
sionally to parents to enable them to send their sons to
college, to put them out in the world, or to set them up in
business. Again, if a trader desired a loan to extend his
trade by the introduction of additional capital, or a clerk had
from some unforeseen misfortune got into temporary diffi-
culties, he might send in a proposal to the Protector office,
and if the directors were satisfied with the character: of the
applicant and his sureties a loan was at once granted, and
in this way very great good was frequently done,and some-
times persons were saved from ruin. And the experience of
the office proved that loans made is this way for two, three,
or four years on the security of two or more responsible
sureties was a perfectly safe way of investing money, and
loans being repaid in the most punctual and satisfactory
manner, and the assistance thus given conduced rather to
habits of providence than extravagance and carelessness.
As they had always money to lend, their business was be-
coming very large, and would, no doubt, become more pro-
fitable to the shareholders. In conclusion, he moved the
adoption of the report.

Dix. WILLIAMS seconded the motion, which was carried
unanimously.

The directors retiring by rotation were re-elected. The
auditors we] e also re-elected, and ten guineas each awarded
to them for their services.

A dividend at the rate of 5 per cent. on the shareholders'
stock was then declared, and the usual compliment to the
chairman concluded the proceedings.

THE EFFORTS FOR A REPRIEVE FOR WILLIAM
lIA3IILTON.—At a preliminary meeting, held last
evening at the Clarence Hotel, Spring Gardens, a number
of gentlemen formed themselves into a committee, for the
purpose of adopting such measures as may be doomed
necessary with a view of securing a commutation of the
sentence of death passed upon William Hamilton. It was
resolved that memorial sheets should be placed in the streets
of Manchester and Salford for signature. The meeting
afterwards adjourned to Monday, at 3 p.m. We understand
that the jury who found the prisoner have united in a
petition to the Home Secretary for a commutation of the
sentence, and this petition was taken to London by a depu-
tation of gentlemen yesterday afternoon. Up to last even-
' ing 2,000 signatures had been affixed to the public petition
which is being prepared.

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HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
r 111.3 DAT.—Morning, 12h. 14.m.—Afternoon, 12h. 40m.
To-Monnow.-Morning, lh. Bm.—Afternoon, 111. 33m.

Lord MALMESBURY last night rendered an impor-
tant service in a just cause, when he suggested that
an inquiry should be made into the case of the late
Mr. DOCKNALL, who was illegally detained in a
lunatic asylum at Sedgefield. There is nothing of
more consequence in social jurisdiction than the
matters which appertain to the treatment of luna-
tics, or to the decision respecting who are sane and
who are not so. After all that has been done about
these arrangements, it is too bad that they should
be evaded, and especially by an official person.
Lord MALMESBURY clearly showed that there had
been great carelessness, to say the least of it, in the
carrying on of the affair, and his lordship was fully
justified in making his statement. Indeed, when
we consider the importance of the case, and its re-
lation to other matters of the sort, it seems sur-
prising that more care should not have been taken
at an earlier period to ascertain the full particulars,
and express an opinion thereupon. Such was the
bounden duty of the Government, and they fully
deserve the reproach cast upon them last night of
having neglected an important trust committed to
them. In some respects the question of rightly
dealing with the insane, and discreetly judging who
are afflicted and who are not, is more than a matter
of life and death, since to all persons death would
be preferable to confinement in an asylum if they
were not insane ; and to those who are so life can
present no greater tortures than such treatment or
mismanagement there. The chief errors committed
in the case of the late Mr. DOCKNALL appear to be
these : in the first place, only one medical man was
consulted, instead of two, as the law requires ; and
next, that Colonel JOHNSON stated he had examined
the man periodically, whereas he had never seen
him. It is the best proof of the extent of the evil,
that, after the unfortunate Mr. DOCKNALL had been
for a short time confined to the asylum, it was evi-
dent to those around him that he was not insane,
and accordingly steps were taken to liberate him.
Two magistrates went to the asylum, and they,
with the medical men, being convinced that he was
in the full possession of his senses, he was liberated.
A stronger assurance could not be given as to the
illegality of his being sent to the asylum, but not-
withstanding this apparently conclusive evidence,
great laxity seems to have prevailed at headquarters.
Lord MALMESBURY forcibly put the case when he
said that it was for the House to consider the
conduct of Colonel JOHNSON, for he had appended
his name to a statement which was untrue. " Not
any course of proceeding more reprehensible than
that he could hardly conceive." The Home-office
t
possesses ample powers to adjudicate upon the
affair ; and, as Lord MALMESBURY observed, they
should have shown their sense of the wrongdoing by
dismissing, or, at all events, by severely reproving
the magistrate. Lord GRANviurs endeavour to
shuffle off the matter was not very successful, and
it was well that Lord SHAFTESBURY took up the
subject, of which he is a good judge. His lord-
ship very truly argued that, when they heard
of a magistrate sending a man to a
lunatic asylum, and declaring at the same
time that he had personally seen and examined him,
while all the time lie had done no such thing, it was
time that the house " should express a feeling
that
the law ought to be placed upon a better footing
for the defence and protection of her MAJESTY'S
subjects." No one has so good a right to give an
opinion on this question as the noble earl, who has
devoted so much toil and assiduity to the benefit of
those oppressed by the heaviest affliction that can
befall humanity. The advantages that have accrued
to those suffering under this calamity through the
arrangements and improvements of the noble lord
and his
supporters are almost incalculable, and the
benefits are not confined to that class, for there is
hardly any one in the land who is not more or less
indebted to the restriction which fence round the
sane from the dangers which may assail them,
their friends, or their connections, th:cugh the igno-

ranee 1 and designs of misinformed and prejudiced
persans. But it must be borne in mind that the
good of these reforms will be greatly hindered from
taking effect if any laxity is permitted, or mis-
management tolerated. This case, which Lord
M.SLNESBURY brought forward, is a signal instance
of wrong-doing, but it is holding out a premium to
carelessness for the Home Office to pass over so
great a derilection of duty. Lord DERBY, with his
usual acuteness, pointed out the chief error that had
been committed by the Home Office in dealing with
the affair, and said that the authorities there should
have required a distinct answer from the magistrate
respecting the two allegations, as to whether or not
he had acted upon only one medical certificate, and
also as to whether he had declared to having visited him
when he had not done so. If the Home Office had
not done so the noble earl wished to be informed of
their reason for so abstaining from the necessary
requisition. It is not a good arrangement of the
present Government, as Lord MALMESBURY ob-
served, that there is not anyone in the Upper House
to represent the departments of the Home Office,
the Board of Trade, or the Poor Law Board. In
consequence this important affair has not been pro-
perly sifted, as it ought to have been, by Parlia-
ment, and very extraordinary conduct has not
been explained. Lord MALMESBURY, however,
seems determined to keep them up to the mark,
and we are glad to see that the noble lord announced
his intention of requiring that he should be exactly
informed of what took place between the Home
Office and Col. JOHNSON ; and especially he wished
to ascertain whether the Colonel had been rebuked
or not? This is the only way to gain anything like
accurate information ; for with one excuse and
another everything is put off, and the most impor-
tant matters are laid on the shelf. It will not do
for the Government to shirk inquiry into affairs that
are so intimately connected with the best interests
of the community; and they may carry their negli-
gence and favouritism a little too far, as they will
find some day to their cost. It is to be hoped that
the observations made by experienced persons will
so influence the authorities that they will make a
bona fide inquiry for once, and allow justice to have
full play in a matter of such vital interest. It is
true that the sufferer has passed away ; but, though
dead, he yet speaks to us of his wrongs, and the
affair must not be neglected.

A question of some importance was discussed last
night in the Commons when Mr. MALINS called
attention to the condition of the upper part of the
River Thames. It appears from the petitions of the
General Committee of the Thames and Isis Naviga-
tion and the Mayor and Corporation of Walling-
ford that the upper portion of the river has fallen
into decay, and that the navigation is seriously
affected. The profits of the river companies have
seriously diminished since the introduction of rail-
ways. The revenue, which, in 1845, amounted to
£14,000, was last year only £3,097, and conse-
quently the Commissioners have been unable even
to pay the interest of their debt, to the great dis-
satisfaction of their creditors. They have further
been compelled to discharge their workmen for lack
of funds, and 170 miles of the river have fallen into
decay. The locks are out of repair, and several
towns and places along the shores of the river are
liable to be flooded should there be a great increase
of water. Under these circumstances, the Com-
missioners, in despair, petition Parliament, and Mr
MALINS, who has previously interested himself in
the matter, called the attention of the President of
the Board of Trade to it, and showed that the affair
was further complicated by the claims of the old
lockowners. Not much, however, was to be gained
from Mr. GIBBON, who persisted in treating the
question as a private affair of the company, instead
of a public concern. He agreed to the appointment
of a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry-, which is
likely to do neither much good nor harm, but it
was very truly said that a small Commission, -with
proper scientific aid, would be more likely to ar-
rive at sound and definite conclusions. The ques-
tion is really of too much importance to
be slurred over, or put aside, and demands a full
inquiry and immediate attention. The waste of
water is to be regretted, the danger of floodings are
to be feared, while the costly and inefficient system
of navigation is prejudicial alike to the interests of
the Commissioners and the community. Mr:
MALINS said, with justice, that it would be a dis-
grace to allow this important water highway to fall
into decay, and there is no doubt that the unequal
rating of the locks and their bad state of repair has
something to do with the falling off of navigation.
Either a low county rate should be adopted, as
Colonel KNOX suggested, or the Government should
advance the money to put the locks and weirs into
proper repair, buy out the old owners, and impose
a uniform rate. The county rate would be so small,
and the advantages of the river to the counties
through which it flows are so great, that that would
perhaps be the best and fairest way of settling the
difficulty. At any rate we hope that the hon.
members who represent the interests of those coun-
ties will take care that the matter is not left in
abeyance, but that before the session is over some
active steps may be taken towards the protection of
old Father Thames.