The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-02 00:00:00

hospitals or asylums, for adding wings or paying off
debts generally, meets with a ready response from the
charitable ; but the present scheme, though really
most excellent in intention and practical in its
results, is too much of a preventive scheme to enlist
much sympathy. But it commends itself very
forcibly to the reason of the prudent and to the fears
of the selfish, as well as to the kindness of the bene-
volent. The spread of infectious diseases is always
a matter of regret, and in a populous city it is an
evil difficult to deal with. Still the custom of
conveying sick persons to fever hospitals in the
common conveyances of the metropolitan thorough-
fares is so preposterous that it appears almost in-
credible that it should have been so long tolerated.
There are so very many cases where lodgers, ser-
vants, &c., are taken ill, and are removed to
the hospital, cabs being the only available
means of conveyance. The officials are earnest in
advising the heads of workhouses, Q,nd other large
establishments, at once to remove any contagious
sickness from their midst to the proper institution,
and cabs again would be in requisition. The cab,
in any of these cases, takes the sufferer
from fel, er, small-pox, or other contagious
malady, to the proper hospital, and then goes
on plying in the streets as usual. In fact, the cab-
driver may be hailed by a fare on his return jour-
ney, and would probably take up the unconscious
victim without scruple. Of course the disease
is not caught by the passenger in all such
cases, or we should hear still more of the
spread of fever in the metropolis, but every one
must admit that a very serious risk is run. The
caution with which the middle classes guard against
infection is carried sometimes to a ridiculous ex-
treme, yet the most nervous and fidgetty person
may avoid a hundred possible risks to step into a
cab which has just carried a deadly fever.
Yet, while all who knew the danger have
long deplored it, there was no means of cure.
Fever-stricken sufferers could not possibly walk
two or three miles to the hospital, while to keep
them in the houses where they were living was
often impossible. The public has no excuse for
shutting its eyes to the facts so clearly put before
it, for long since the managers of the Fever
Hospital openly stated that the greater proportion
of their patients came in common street cabs. Very
recently a case was cited in which a physician was
hurriedly summoned to the bedside of a patient
dying of smallpox. He took a cab, for haste, but
on arriving found that all was over. The cabman,
struck by seeing the closed house, asked the reason,
and then told the doctor that two or three weeks
before he had taken a lady to that house, just after
driving a patient to the Smallpox Hospital. This
lady, as might be supposed, was the victim ; and,
dobtless, there •are many such cases every week,
only they do not happen to become known. It is,
therefore, a matter of very great and general im-
portance that proper conveyances, exclusively for
the use of hospital patients, should be provided. A
very simple and efficacious method is proposed, by
which the cabs, when summoned, can go to any
part and fetch the invalid, thus avoiding all danger.
We can hardly suppose that so sensible and prac--
tical a scheme will be suffered to fail for want of
funds. It is only to be wondered that, in these
days of sanitary reform, so great and general an
evil should have been left so long without remedy.

Mr. GLADSTONE has not been very successful in
his attempts to gain the favour of the good people
of Chester. He is placed in the unfortunate posi-
tion of an halting between two opinions, and
doubtless many electors will think that, if they
want moderate views, they might as well return
Mr. RAIKES, while their notions of progress will be
better represented by Mr. FENTON. At any rate,
the candidate made a fair speech in its way, and
more straightforward, than might have been ex.
petted from one who is peculiarly circumstanced.
It is certainly a very unfortunate circumstance, and
one that speaks very ill for their patriotism, that
there is such a preponderance of candidates who
contest the seats at election times in the liberal
cause (it cannot be said interes), because a
house divided against itself is in a very
insecure and infelicitous position The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer very kindly gives
all the blame of the matter to Mr. FENTON, and
declares that the responsibility rests with him ; but
that, of course, is a matter of opinion. The right
hon. gentleman went too far in his zeal, however,
and caused a great confusion. All is fair in election
time, it is true, but it may fairly be questioned if it
would not have been better to have proceeded with
more caution, and not to have given rise to angry
feelings and altercations. Mr. GLADSTONE has not
been more fortunate than Lord AMBERLEY in his
attempts to slip quietly into the favour of a large
constituency, and he is not more liberal, in a com-
prehensive view of the matter, than that noble lord.
He is against the ballot, which he thinks a
failure in America. This enunciation of his senti-
ments proved rather a failure for there
was a cry of "Three cheers for the ballot." The
concluding passage of Mr. GLADSTONE'S speech was
interrupted by some determined advocate of Mr
FENTON'S, who set up his claims at every imagin-
able opportunity, and completely marred the effect
of the moral which the speaker sought to convey.
When they were told that they must return a man
who was a Liberal candidate if they wanted remis-
sion of taxes and many substantial benefits, there
was at every pause the cry of " FENTON will do
that." This shows the folly of candidates profes-
sing the
_same policy contesting the same place.
This discrepancy between practice and profession is
rarely if ever witnessed among Conservatives, and
their opponents may well take a leaf out of their
book, and look less to individual interest and more to
the triumph of the party and the success of the cause
Chester will no doubt present an animated scene at
the time of election ; but it cannot be a matter of
wonder if Mr. RAIKES reaps the benefit of the strife
and discord that his rivals are sowing with no nig-
gardly hand among the constituency. If more
unity were displayed at elections it would be better
for the cause of fair play ; and, indeed, the electors
are not likely to come to a clear understanding
when such contrary opinions are given by those on
same side.

The Metropolitan Sewage and Essex Reclamation
Bill has finally passed the Upper House. The last
Parliamentary appearance was attended with some
little interest from the fact of its being the first
occasion on which the Heir Apparent recorded his
vote as a Peer. His Royal Highness has several
times honoured the debates of the Lords with his
presence, but has never previously taken an active
part. Last night, however, he recorded his name
in the division list, when Lord DENMAN'S amend-
ment was pressed to a division, and, as was natu-
rally to be expected from the interest and intelli-
gence which the Prince has shown with regard to
the Main Drainage system, he joined with the ma-
jority against Lord DENMAN'S very slender
train of followers. The noble lord, on the
motion for the third reading, moved its in-
definite postponement, and argued that a bill of
this nature ought not to be in the hands of a private
company. It was certainly a late stage of the pro-
ceedings to raise an objection of this kind, but Lord
DENUAN went still further, and pn
the authority of