The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-12 00:00:00

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HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DAY.—Morning, 2h. 57m.—Afternoon, 3h. 14m,
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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1865

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A meeting of the National Association for the
Promotion of Social Science was held on Monday
for the purpose of hearing Mr. THOMAS HARE read
a paper on " The Metropolitan Elections." This is
a subject worthy of notice, and certainly a most sug-
The object which Mr. HARE had in

gestive one.

view was to facilitate the practice of voting, as he
alleged that at present little more than half the con-
stituencies can be induced to vote. The plans he
proposed are doubtless open to many objections, but
there is some foundation for them, and they cer-
tainly offer some suggestions that are worthy of
notice. In the first place, it is proposed that a sum
of £5O should be paid to the Chamberlain of Lon-
don, and, then, that the candidate should be liable
to no further charge for the expenses of the election.
If this were practicable it would save an enormous
• outlay, and thus be productive of benefit to all who
became candidates. Still there are many obstacles
in the way of putting such schemes into execution ;
and Lord STANLEY took a very fair view of the sub-
ject when he declared that it was not desirable to
pronounce an opinion on Mr. IIARE's proposal in so
hasty a manner, but that it was fair to consider it.
His lordship also said that the means which Mr.
HARE advocated would increase the power of the
London clubs, which already had too much to do
with the elections in England. There was great
truth in the arguments of Mr. TORRENS respecting
this proposition. He said that in Australia a simi-
lar course had been adopted, and had failed in
effecting its desired end. Also, there is rea-
son in the remark that "it is not expedient to con-
sider merely the question of numbers without refer-
ence to education, intellectual acquirements, and
the possession of property." It is a singular fact
that metropolitan constituencies do not return dis-
tinguished individuals as their representatives, and
with very few exceptions no one at all out of the
ordinary routine appears for the most influential
places. This may be taken as a proof that there is
not always so much discernment and judgment to
be found in large numbers as some suppose, and
that it is not always those who make the most pro-
fessions and gain the applause of the multitude who
are the most brilliant or the most useful in their
vocation or in the practical workings of every-day
life. Mr. HARE'S scheme will, no doubt, prove
better as a theory than a reality

The improvement in the health of our Anglo-
Indian troops is a matter for general congratula-
tion. All whose friends and relatives were liable to
risk the perils of a residence in that country might
naturally have looked with considerable uneasiness
at the startling returns of the Royal Sanitary Com-
mission, and in the army itself the state of things
was likely to have a depressing and injurious effect.
Ta the country generally the rate of mortality was
disastrous, not only from the unnecessary expense
which it entailed, . but from the annual loss of so
many of its best and bravest, whose health and
strength gave reasonable hopes of
many years of
active service for their cotuitry. The death-rate was
so high that men in this country were perplexed at
the problem of how to recruit the Indian army.
How far, they asked, was it possible to keep up an
army of 73,000 men, when the annual mortality
was 69 per 1,000, and the loss by invaliding 82 per

; and further, how far was it justifiable
to keep up an army at such a cost? All these ques-
tions are now satisfactorily answered. The im-
provement, during the last few years, of sanitary
i eform has been rapid and progressive, and the
casualties of 1864, in the Bengal army, were only
21 deaths and 38 invalids per 1,000. This remark-
able diminution proves the truth of what those best
informed have always maintained. India is not
necessarily unhealthy, though the climate may not
always be favourable to European constitutions.
If we neglected our drainage, drank bad water, of
which we had an insufficient supply, took heavy
food and raw spirits to a great extent in hot
weather, and allowed heaps of rubbish to congre-
gate round our houses, we might expect a devastat-

1,000 more

ing pestilence in any English summer. Yet we
have expected men to" live under these conditions
in India, with a good many more unfavourable ad-
juncts. The examination now going on into the
causes of the deaths in the Indian army is likely to
be productive of much good, since our knowledge
on many points are very defective. The results of
the efforts already made are so encouraging that it
is only painful to think how many lives have been
sacrificed before the annual rate of •casualties has
been reduced to one-third ! Let this reflection stimu-
late the efforts of our reformers, since, though the
past cannot be recalled, we may guard against the
repetition of such fatal neglect.

A complimentary dinner was given, at Willis's
Rooms last night, to Messrs. TATTERSALL, on the
occasion of their removing to their new place of
business. It is interesting to notice that four gene-
rations of the same family have conducted affairs so
as to gain the respect and confidence of those asso-
ciated with horse racing and hunting. It was
therefore not at all inappropriate that some testi-,
mony should be awarded to those whose firm had
carried on business in a satisfactory and creditable
manner for a century. A numerous assemblage ap-
peared to do honour to the affair, and the speeches
were spirited and entertaining, and thus admirably
adapted to the occasion. The President of the
Jockey Club took the chair, and acquitted himself
of his duties in a creditable manner. In proposing
the toast of the evening, " Prosperity to the Messrs.
TATTERSALL," he remarked that many would regret
that the glories of the old " Corner" had departed,
but that they had met to look forward to the future,
and not to dwell upon the past. After paying a
tribute to the merits of those in whose honour they
had assembled, the gallant Admiral concluded in a
fitting style by expressing a hope that the traditions
of an almost national establishment would not suffer
by removal, but "be transplanted to their new
habitation, and continue to flourish under the
TATTERSALL family until Lord MACAULAY'S famous
New Zealander came to moralise upon the ruins of
St. Paul's." There is something interesting in the
circumstance of so long a connection, and
Mr. RICHARD TATTERSALL'S speech in re-
turning thanks was almost historical in its
incidents. GEORGE the FOURTH when Prince of
WALES had a great deal to do with the establish-
ment. The great grandfather of the speaker leased
the old premises nearly a hundred years ago ; but
the increasing numbers of those who now are con-
nected with the sporting world render a change ne-
cessary. However, as Mr. R. TATTERSALL said,
though they change their habitation their principles
will be the same, and they will make it their endea-
vour to " maintain with honour their hereditary
connection with what is really one of the greatest
national pastimes." Such a meeting as this reflects
credit upon all concerned—upon those who offer
and those who receive the tribute of respect ; and
the Messrs. TATTERSALL may rank it as a trophy
of their success that they should have such an
agreeable souvenir to carry with them from their old
to their new quarters. A straightforward course
always succeeds in the long run—on the same prin-
ciple that honesty is the best policy ; and those who
conduct their affairs with integrity, in whatever
sphere of life they may move, are certain to gain the
respect and confidence of all connected with them.
The Chairman gave the company a hint in the
course of the evening to look to their laurels, as the
French were becoming formidable rivals, although,
as he said, competition in such exercises was calcu-
lated to promote a friendly feeling between different
nations.

Man has often been said to be a very contradic-
tory being. What he has in his possession he be-
comes indifferent to, while the mere fact of anything
being inaccessible to him makes him at once eager
to obtain it. This temper of mind is being very
strongly displayed just now in two opposite portions
of QUEEN VICTORIA'S dominions. In the county of
Essex a sparrow club rewards its members for the
number of sparrows which they destroy—numbers
which, in some instances, amount to thousands ;
while in Australia the colonists are importing the
self-same birds at a considerable expense I On a
little further examination, however, we shall find
the Australians to have the best of it.. Possibly
some sentimental recollections of their old home
may induce them, as CAMPBELL tells us, to "regret
the lark" that gladdens England's morn, but their
wish for the sparrows has a very direct and practical
They are anxious to preserve their crops

origin.

from the depredations of the countless millions of
grubs and insects of all kinds which prey upon the
products of the field, and, knowing the energy
of the little English sparrow, they are endea-
vouring to domesticate the pert stranger
in his russet suit in their adopted coun-
try. But while his good qualities are thus valued
at the antipodes and his services appreciated, he is
held in light estimation in his own country, where
one would have thought that the spread of know-
ledge would have disposed of most of the prejudices
against him. Farmers have of old a grudge against

him and all his tribe very unjustly founded. There
is an excellent fable which recounts a conversation
held between a farmer and a sparrow, in which the
farmer accuses the bird of having plundered his
fruit trees. The sparrow answers that he has taken
so much fruit in the course of the year, but had
preserved twenty times the amount by his destruc-
tion of the slugs. This is not fiction, but fact, for
at the anniversary meeting of the Naturalists' Field
Club last week, the President of the club said that
he had been calculating the number of caterpillars
which would have been destroyed by the six thousand
sparrows shot by the member of an Essex sparrow
club. The result may perhaps astonish the wise
folks who offer aprenaium for such wanton slaughter.
These 6,000 sparrows would, it is estimated, have
eaten 6,307,000,000 caterpillars and other grubs !
The 10s. prize has, we apprehend, been rather ex-
pensive for the farmers and fruit growers of Essex.
Six thousand three hundred millions of grubs will
scarcely satisfy their appetites with 10s. worth of
damage ; and as the lucky individualany o
competitors,
the the prize was only the first of many
the caterpillars may rejoice over the death of a good
many more of their watchful enemies, and the army
of grubs will increase by several hundreds of mil-
lions. But it is not the sparrow alone who falls a
' victim to the prize clubs : larks, blackbirds, linnets,
and " all the finches of the grove," as TILIBURNIA
comprehensively styles them, are included; and
would-be sportsmen arq glad of the pretence of
being serviceable to the farmers to show off their
skill against the pretty little songsters whom they
are doing their best to exterminate. An artist has
said that if we could see white creatures living in a
white world, we should know what we owed to
colour ; and when our prize clubs have silenced our
woods and lanes, we shall know how much of their
pleasure we owed to the lark and linnet. The best
answer to those who complain of the depredations of •
the singing birds is to be found in the anxiety of
the colonists to domicile them ; and we may depend
upon it that when the mischief is done we shall be
very sorry for it. The damage done by birds is very
trifling, but the injuries inflicted by grubs is incal-
culable, and it will increase year by year in propor-
tion as the bixdid diminish, Cannot something be

done to stop this wholesale slaughter, which will
by and by have a serious effect on the products of
our fields and orchards ?

We would earnestly direct attention to a report,
given in another column of our journal of this evening,
to thb course adopted by the energetic Committee of
the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, in regard to
the fabrication and distribution, far and wide,
among our seafaring population, of certain wonder-
fully simple, and yet perfectly efficient, safeguards
against drowning, in the form of cheap cork life-belts.
The contrivance of these life-belts, both by reason
of their inexpensive character and of their complete
efficacy as life-belts, we may here speak of, at once,
as a very marvel of ingenuity. Slight in itself,
though the fact of the adoption of this New Life Belt
by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution may
appear to be—weighing as a mere straw in the
balance, though it may seem to do, when contrasted
with the other more important precautionary measures
adopted by that noble institution for the saving of
life from shipwreck—the throwing out of this Life
Belt to the " Mariners of England" by the Com-
mittee is an event in the History of the
Lifeboat Institution. Light as a straw
when weighed in the balance against the
other labours of that institution--not one of our
seafaring people will be grasping at a straw when
seizing upon this proffered Life-belt, the value of
which is attested by the very circumstance of its
having received the approval of the Committee.