The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 11, 1865.

with it on the present occasion. But, as the house would
expect, the same cause which brought in this immense
amount of money in stock, also brought into court an
immense amount of cash. Now the suitors might have
that cash invested, and there was always a con-
siderable fund of cash which the Court of Chancery
funded for suitors to whom it belonged, just as a
banking fund, tobe ready at a call. The suitor might have
it whenever he pleased, but he might have neither more
nor less. Then the Court of Chancery being possessed of
that sum, which in Oct., 1863, amounted to .Z 2,789,608, had
dealt with it merely as the instrument of the Legislature,
and what was done was done under public legislation. In
1739, Parliament commenced a system of investment from
time to time with so much of this cash, for which they were
answerable to the suitors, as it was not then necessary to
keep at a call. A considerable sum was still to remain in
cash at theßank of England, but the Government invested
so much as might be safely so disposed of. The investment
in Oct., 1862, was £2,820,702, representing £2,464,744—
the cash kept at the Bank of England for the suitors' benefit
being almost £300,000 at call. The interest arising from
that fund was the banker's profit, and with which the suitors
had no right whatever. It was as much public revenue as
anything which came from the Crown lands or any other
sourbes of revenue; and although Parliament had dealt with
it for the discharge ®f public liabilities connected with the
administration of justice, that was not from any obligation
to do so, but just because it was thought that that which
was received in this way was properly applicable to the ad-
ministration of justice. As he had already said, not one
single suitor had any right to take one single farthing from
this fund, and not one single suitor had received anything
beyond the actual cash paid into court, or had demanded
any portion of profit from the fund. Parliament had con-

tinually dealt with this fund. It did so in 1744, in 1774, in
1791, and in 1810, in purchasing sites and erecting build-
ings upon those sites for offices in connection with the
Court of Chancery. But Lord Cottenham and Lord Lang-
dale, Lord Justice Turner, and Sir Samuel Romilly had
doubts as to this fund being applicable to any other pur-
pose than that of reducing the fees in Chancery. But he
(the Attorney-General) contended that Parliament had a
right both morally and legally to deal with the fund in
any way that it pleased, and if this was true as a
matter of principle, it had an especial right to so deal
with it when the purpose in view was to promote ad-
vantageously the administration of justice by bringingito-
gether the courts of law and equity upon one site. Therefore
he contended that the application of the fund in question in
the way which he proposed was much better than the sug-
gestion that it should be appropriated to the reduction of fees
in Chancery. If the fund was so applied, it would in fact only
reduce the fees four per cent. But what did the solicitors
say on the subject ? Let them hear Mr. Lake in respect to it.
What did Mr. Lake say ? He said there could not be a doubt
that it would be less for the benefit of the suitor to abolish
all official fees, than to enable the solicitors: to attend to
their business in a proper way. The suitor would by that
imerovement save ten times over the amount of the court
fees, and that no practical man would entertain a doubt of
it. Mr. Field said that they were to judge of the advantage
to the suitors through the convenience afforded to the soli-
citors. The concentration of the courts would be a great gain
and capital bargain to the clients, if at the expense of
£30,000 a-year they could obtain that improvement. He
estimated the aggregate amount of property under the ad-
ministration of the Court of Chancery at any one time at
£loo,ooo,ooo,and he was satisfied in his own mind that the
advantage of each official day would be worth at least.E2s,ooo.
That was the evidence, not only of Mr. Lake and Mr. Field,
but of the unanimous body of solicitors. Did the house
believe that the solicitors did not know the value of the
pecuniary loss to their clients, or did he believe that their
sole object was to save the salary of a clerk or two ? He
thought their evidence perfectly reliable and more to be de-
pended on than that of all the judges and the bar put to-
gether. He now came to the machinery of the bill, and
how it proposed to deal with those charges. The Legisla-
ture would be asked to guarantee the suitors' interests
against any deficiency in the funds. The guarantee, how-
ever, would be merely nominal, for according to all ex-
perience, the incomings of the Court of Chancery were con-
stantly increasing, and in the next place, unless all the
cash were called for simultaneously, and all the stack
sold-under 87, which were impossible contingencies, there
could be no deficiency. Since 1757 there had been only
seven occasions on which it had been necessary to sell any
portion of the stock, and those occurred between 1844 and

1857. At all other times the cash balances at the Bank were
sufficient to meet all demands of the suitors, and the sales
made were not on account of any actual deficiency, but to
keep up the amount of those balances for the reasonable
profits of the Bank. The guarantee was therefore only no-
minal, but it would place the suitors in the same position as
if the cash was not at all interfered with, as Parlifiment would
be pledged to make good any deficiency which might arise.
The whole annual charge was £45,000. At the beginning
of the present year the total amount of terminable compen-
sations was £50,469, and the rate at which they had fallen
in during the last eight years justified him in saying that
they were now likely to fall in at the rate of £35,000, and

that more than covered the interest on the whole. If,
therefore, they provided for these compensations, theymore
than provided for the whole of the annual charges on that
fund. Mr. Finlaison estimated the capital value of the com-

pensations at £380,000, but assuming it £500,000 at the
outside, to provide for that they would have to sell out
£541,000 stock, taking the stock at 90, which would give
a balance of £41,000, more than sufficient to pay interest
on the extreme capitalised valuation. On the other hand,
if they were not capitalised, these annuities would run off

in the course of 18 years, and that would realise a surplus
of £154,000. That reserve would be ample for the purpose
of meeting the whole of the charges. There would more-
over be a still further relief to the suitors in the reduction
of fees to the extent of £15,000 per annum. That being the
case, the house would agree with him in thinking that this
bill was entirely free from the objections urged against the
bill of 1861, in which it was proposed to throw the whole
cost upon the country. Now only a part would be thrown
on it. A sum of £200,000 was the estimated value of
the rents of the sites which would become available,
and, therefore, there remained £400,000 to be provided
for. That they proposed to raise by fees. They would
put a charge of 18d. additional upon each writ of sum-
mons, and 6s. Bd. additional upon each probate or letters
of administration over £lOO, or if the house preferred it
3d. per cent. It did not at all follow that these fees would
be continued for any great length of time. Some of the
fees at present charged were subject to reduction at the
discretion of the judge, but a bill would be introduced in
the course of the present session providing that all court

fees should, for the future, be levied by stamps, so
that all the collection would be made with greater facility
and security. So that it became probable that before long
the suitors would be entirely relieved from these addi-
tional fees. In the meantime they would throw on the

courts which would be benefited by the concentrationpro-
posed a reasonable portion of the expense. He thought he
han now clearly shown that they had a perfect right to
avails themselves of the funds which they proposed to use,
and that their doing so would be a great benefit to the
suitor. He now submitted his bill to the house in the con-
fident hope that it would be the means of removing a great
blot from our judicial system, and of restoring something
like proportion between the dignity and majesty of Eng-
lish justice and the means secured by the country for its
administration.

Sir H. WILLOUGHBY said the financial part of the
scheme, by which the funds were to be provided, did not
inspire him with much confidence. He believed that a large
portion of the funds must come :out of the pockets of the
taxpayers; and that the expense, instead of £1,500,000,
would be nearer £2,000,000, or £2,500,000.
After a few words from Mr. HADFIELD,
Mr. SELWYN likewise objected to the financial portion
of the scheme, contending that the Attorney-General had
greatly overestimated the resources to which he proposed
to resort, and he did not think the object of concentrating
the Courts so important as to justify a large vote of public
money. He did not:oppose the introduction of the bill,
though he objected to the appropriation to the cost of the
proposed scheme of the funds which it was intended to
divert to it.
Mr. AYRTON approved the principle of charging the
cost of the new building not upon the public revenue, but
upon funds arising from the courts themselves.
Mr. MALINS supported the proposed scheme. He
thought it would be better to take the money from the
Consolidated Fund ; but if the Government had said they
had got the money, he believed them. He described the
great
inconvenience arising from the separation of even
the equity courts, and considered that the advantages re-
sulting from the concentration of all the courts under one
roof would be cheaply purchased on the terms proposed by
the Government.

The motion was supported by Mr. Denman, Mr. Bevil],
and Mr. Scully.
After a brief reply by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL, the
motion was agreed to, and leave was given to introduce
the bill.

Mr. COWPER moved for leave to bring in a bill to
enable the Commissioners of her Majesty's Works and
Public Buildings to acquire a site for the erection and con-
centration of Courts of Justice, and the various offices be-
longing to the same. He described the advantages.of the
proposed site, bounded on the north by Carey-street, on
the south by the Strand, and on the east by Bell-yard, in
close contiguity to Lincoln's-inn and the T.3mple, and to
the chambers and offices of the legal profession, and he
suggested the practicability of subsidiary improvements,
affording further facilities.
Leave was given.
The ATTORNEY-.GENERAL moved for leave to bring
in a bill to alter the constitution and amend the practice
and course of proceeding in the High Court of Chancery
in Ireland. _ _

After some remarks by Mr. GEORGE and Mr. SetTLIN,
leave was given.
Mr. SCOURFIELD obtained leave to bring in a bill to
award costs in certain cases of private bills.
Mr. SCULLY obtained leave to bring in certain bills.
The house adjourned at half-past 10 o'clock.

RAILWAY DIRECTORS IN PARLIAMENT. —A list
prepared for Bradshaw's Manual shows that Parliament has
opened with 50 Peers directors of railway companies, and
149 members of the House of Commons ; the publication of
the names of the Board of the Metropolitan District Rail-
ways Company raises the latter number to 151, or three
among every 13 members.

hitherto done so well that, according to the calcula-
tion of the authorities, it would require little more
than 4,000 men to complete its quota. But if the
naval recruits are to be credited to the State it will
require upwards of 20,000 instead of 4,000 men to
free the city from its liability; and 20,000 men, at
1,000 dollars each—supposing they can be bought
on those terms, or any other—will cost the real estate
of Manhattan Island the very considerable sum of 20
millions of dollars, to be borrowed on the security
of the rates and taxes. Already rents are enormously
high in consequence of the burdens upon house pro-
perty and the depreciation of the currency—so high
that the working classes are compelled to " pig
together" (the phrase is but too apt) in human styes
called " tenement houses," where they sleep 12 or 20
in a room, without regard to the comforts or the de-
cencies of humanity. An increase of the debt of the
city to the extent of 20 millions would tend not
only to intensify this evil as respects the poor, but
would add to the discontent of the professional and
middle classes, who find it difficult to keep house at
present prices, though in the enjoyment of incomes
which in most parts of Europe, and even in England,
would be considered affluent. If after all the efforts
made to provide a volunteer army it be resolved, as
the least of two evils, to attempt the enforcement of
the draught, the Administration may perhaps regret
that it quarrelled prematurely with Major-General
Butler, or may even be induced to go the length of
re-appointing him to the military dictatorship of
this city during the perilous operation. It is in-
structive to note in connexion with this subject
how indignant both the Democratic and the Repub-
lican papers are against Mr. Fenton, the new Go-
vernor of New York, for not having done as well as
Governor Seymour in procuring an abatement on the
calls, and, on the contrary, how grateful the people
are to every official who makes out a good case for
the diminution of the quota in his district, and
what praises are showered upon him for his public
spirit. It may be public spirit in a certain sense ;
but it is not the public spirit which will carry the
war to a successful termination, or which need im-
press the Southern people very strongly with the
patriotic or military ardour of their opponents.
The war news promises a revival of interest. The ,
sudden dash made by the Confederate flotilla in the
James River upon the Federal war ships and tran-
sports, which they drove down to Fortress Monroe
as so many wolves would have driven a flock of
sheep, and the immediate appointment of Admiral
Farragut to command in the river, betokens that
the Confederates beleaguered in Richmond are
meditating and have commenced the perpetration of
mischief. The Confederates lost one of their small
gunboats, the Drury, carrying two guns, which ran
aground, and was blown up to prevent her capture
by the enemy ; but no information has yet been per-
mitted to pass over the wires of the extent of damage
done by this naval raid to the fleets of the North.
That the emergency was as great as it was sudden
may be surmised from the haste with which Admiral
Farragut was notified by telegraph to proceed to the
scene of danger, as well as by the silence which the
telegraphic censorship at Washington has imposed
upon the press. Yesterday afternoon a variety of
wild rumours were in circulation in regard to the
matter, which later in the day received an addition
of unpleasantness from another quarter in the
announcement that General Terry had marched
against Wilmington and suddenly found himself in
presence of a vastly superior force, by which he was
attacked and forced to retreat with heavy loss.
It is confidently asserted by the friends of the
Government that both Wilmington and Charleston
will be in Federal possession within a few days,
and as confidently maintained, by the friends of the
South, that, however galling to Southern pride the
loss of those cities may be, the result upon the for-
tune of the war will not in any case be prejudicial,
but may be of service to the Confederacy.

General Butler and Admiral Porter continue their
controversy on the failure of the former to capture
Fort Fisher, and the Admiral gives the General the
lie direct in as courteous and Parliamentary a man-
ner as it is possible to employ in statements which
amount to an asseveration that a man says the thing
which is not. Gen. Butler is by far the better logi-
cian of the two, and the Admiral will infallibly get
the worst of the discussion if he do not make haste
to close. His own despatch, in which his friends say
he " excoriates" the fallen Butler, is a singularly
pompous and egotistical document, and that in
which he details to the Secretary of the Navy the
results of his own operations, after he was relieved
of the assistance of his military " friend" from
Lowell, cannot fairly be designated by any other
epithet, unless that of " vulgar" be added to the
number. He states that in every fort he captured he
found one or more " Armstrong guns," marked with
the " broad arrow," from which he draws the in-
ference that they were once the property of the
British Government, and thinks it " would be in-
teresting to know how they came into forts used by
Southern rebels." He also states that he is " almost
afraid" to mention the amount of provisions, stores,
and clothing which he has captured, and which have
come from England into what he calls " rebeldom."
He adds, as a matter likely to be of peculiar interest
to Mr. Welles, and if not to him to the American
people, that in a blockade-runner called the Char-
lotte, which was seized in attempting to run the
blockade into Wilmington, ignorant that the Cape
Fear River had changed masters, " were five Eng-
-lish passengers, one an English army officer, who
had all come over, as they expressed it, ' on a lark,'
and were making themselves particularly ' jolly' in
the cabin on their champagne." It is obvious that
the gallant Admiral should confine himself to fight-
ing, and learn to write as little and as seldom as
possible. Generals Grant and Sherman are models
in this respect, which he and other Federal officers
would do well to imitate.

A LAND SLlP.—About half a mile to the north of
the Fyvie station on the Aberdeen and Turiff Rail-
way, there is an embankment of about 70 feet high, close by
the turnpike road, where the line crosses the " Lownie
Burn." The heavy fall of rain and sleet during last week,
accompanied with partial frost, had so impregnated the em-
bankment with moisture that on Thursday it was observed
to be giving way on the side next the turnpike road. In
order to relieve it a little, the surfacemen laboured through-
out the whole of Friday night shifting the rails a little to
the opposite side ; but on Saturday forenoon the west side
of the embankment also gave evidence that it was about to
move, and about half-past 12 (noon) a huge mass of the
slope moved down, leaving the sleepers clear in some
parts half across the line, and about 36 yards in length.
A mass of earth slipping over the mouth of the culvert,
the water was effectually dammed, and the burn being
swollen by the rains, a lake was speedily accumulating.
A boat was procured from Fyvie Castle with the view of
facilitating a clearance, but was found to be of little service.
The telegraph at Fyvie station was hard at work, and a
number of the surfacemen from other portions of the line,
and some of the officials from Aberdeen, rapidly arrived.
They laboured hard until past 11 p.m. endeavouring to reach
the culvert through the face of the embankment, when the
men retired a few yards to partake of refreshments. By this
time the waters had risen to a height of nearly 12 feet, and
formed a fine lake, covering from 2 to 3 acres of ground.
Ere the men had resumed work, a few gurgles were heard,
then the mighty rush and roar, joined with the cheers and
hurrahs of the workmen, clearly told that the waters had
forced their way. The impetuous torrent, on emerging at
the opposite end, swept down a few yards of the turnpike
bridge and tore up some trees by the root. Fortunately, as
much of the turnpike bridge remains as will suffice for
traffic on the road, but a fewyards more would have isolated
north and south for a time. Passenger traffic is still carried
on, one engine running from Banff and another from Inver-
amsay, meeting at the place where the interruption has
occurred. Great efforts will be made to have matters put
right as speedily as possibly, but traffic in goods must for a
time be partly deranged. It will be observed that till the
breach be closed the late train leaving Inverainsay at 8 30
is discontinued.—Banfshire Journal.
BII,EAKFA.ST B EVERA.GE.—Horn 03 )pa`hic practitioners,
and the medical profession generally, recommend cocoa
as being the most healthful of all beverages. When the doc-
trine of homoeopathy was first introduced into this country,
there were to be obt fined no preparations of cocoa either at-
tractive to the taste or acceptable to the stomach ; the nut
was either supplied la the crude state, or so unskilfully
manufactured as to obtain little notice. J. Epps, of London,
Homoeopathic Chemist, was induced in the year 18 ii to turn
his attention to t.hig subject, and at length succeeded, with
the assistance of elaborate machinery, in being the first
to produce an article pure in its co reposition, and so refined
by the perfect trituration it receives in the process it passes
thro .gh, as to be moat acceptable to the delicate stomach.
For general use Epps's Cocoa is distinguished as an invigo-
rating, grateful breakfast beverage, possessing a most deli-
cious aroma. Dr. llassall, in his work, "Food and its
Adulteratio -.8," says -"Cocoa contains a great variety of im-
portant nutritive principles—every ingredient necessary to
the growth and sustenance of the body." &gain: "As a
nutritive, cocoa stands very much higher than e ther coffee
or tea." Directions—Two teaspoonfuls of the powder in a
breakfast cup, filled up with boiling water or milk. Secured
in tin-lined Vb., lb., and Ilb. labelled packets, and sold by
all grocers, tonfectioners, and chemists.--[Amrr.]