The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-25 00:00:00

E SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 25, 1.862'.

7HE OFFICE OF CITY SOLICI7OB.

The General Purposes Committee of the Corporation of
London on Saturday issued a report upon the reference
made to them to inquire into the duties and emoluments of
the office of City Solicitor, vacant by the death of Mr. C.
Pearson, and whether any alteration should be made there-
in; and also to consider whether the office of City Solicitor
might, with advantage, be amalgamated with any other
present appointitent.

The Committee went into a very full consideration of the
subject referred to them, and all matters connected with
the office since its first establishment in the year 1545, and
they proceeded to ascertain the amount of salary that had
been received by Mr. Pearson for a period bf 14 years,
namely, from 1848 to the tithe of his death in the present
year. It appeared that during these years the smallest
amount of salary received by Mr. Pearson Was in 1852,
When the amount paid to him was £1,744, and it varied
from this sum to over £2,000, the amount received during
the present year being £3,036 its. The average net income
during the period referred to is £2,081 Bs. ; but in addition
to this Mr. Pearson received an additional sum of £772 in
respect of appointments temporarily held by him.
The committee, in the first instance, took into considera-
tion that portion of the subject referred to them regarding
the advisability of amalgainating the office of City Solicitor
with any existing office, and they had a long conference
with the Comptroller, the Secondary, and the Remem-
brancer upon the subject, mid the committee came to the
conclusion that it Would not be advisable at present that
either of these gentlemen should undertake the duties of
the office of City Solicitor in addition to those of his pre-
sent office. They, however, state that with regard to the
office of Remembrancer, it may be expedient at a future
time to consider the propriety of amalgamating this
office with that of City Solicitor, and they ex-
press an opinion that upon a favourite opportunity of pre-
senting itself hereafter, it would be highly desirable that the
City Solicitot should be appointed to the office of Remem-
braneer, and conduct all the legal and parliamentary busi-
ness now transacted by that officer of the corporation, and
that the official and Ceremonial duties of the Remembrancer
should be transferred to the office of the Town Clerk.
The committee, as the result, recommend that the salary
of the City Solicitor shall in future be the fixed one of £1,250
per annum, free of all deductions and of all expenses of his
office, but to include all emoluments whatever, and that he
be allowed the sum of £5OO per annum for clerks. It is,
however, required that the gentleman holding the office
shall not be permitted to hold any other appointment what-
ever, nor to engage in the transaction of professional busi-
ness for or on behalf of any other parties than the corpora.
tion ; but that his time and attention be at all times devoted
exclusively to the business of his office. The committee
likewise recommend that it should be stipulated that the
election to the office of City Solicitor is subject to such
further regulations, in addition to the accustomed standing
orders, rules, and regulations of the corporation, as may
hereafter be made in reference to the discharge by that
officer of the duties attached to the office of City Remain -
brancer. The report is signed by Mr. Sydney Waterlow'
the chairman, and Mr. Alderman Humphery, and Messrs.
Bone, H. Lowman Taylor, Teulon, Todd, Field, Lusher'
and Northcott, and the discussion upon it will take place
in the course of a few days.

ensuing winter. The price of raw silk is rising in Lyons.
The value of the silks exported from Lyons during the year
1861, including ribands, is estimated at 333,310,000 f. Simi-
lar exports in 1860 amounted to 454,731,485 f, showing a
diminution in the year 1861 of 121,421,485 f. The average
amount of the exports during the five years preceding 1862
was 420,116,0801, and the diminution of the exports in the
year 1861, as compared with 1859, is 166,000,000, showing
how much the manufacturers of Lyons have suffered by
the American civil war.

The cotton manufacturers are coming forward most libe-
rally for the relief of the distressed operatives. MM.
Wherlin and Hofer, of Mulhausen, who closed their mill in
August last, have undertaken to maintain all their hands
on full pay until July next. The operatives attend every
day at the mill at the usual hours. The men are employed
at field works about the grounds and the women occupy
themselves with knitting and needlework. There is a
school established for the children, where they are taught
to read and write.

The Governor of the Bank of France has subscribed
10,000 f. for the re:ief of the unemployed cotton spinners at
Rouen.

The Minister of Commerce has published returns show-
ing the average produce of wheat per hectare (2i acres) in
the several departments of Fiance. It appears from these
returns that the produce is greatest in the Seine, where it
is 26 hectolitres 72 litres, and least in the Lozere, where it
is only 6 hectolitres 67 litres the hectare. The general
average for all France is between 13 and 14 hectolitres the
hectare. The land under wheat this year is estimated at
7,000,000 hectares, exclusive of Nice and Savoy. The
average produce is considered good when it reached 14 hec-
tolitres the hectare. The late harvest is considered equal
to a fair average, particularly as the quality of the wheat is
unusually good.

under his quiet exterior is hidden a fiery soul, that
he is patient only because patience is the surer game,
and that his ignominious dismissal from the army
which his genius converted from an undisciplined
and disorderly mob into a respectable and efficient
force, will be his stepping-stone in due time to a
higher position, military and political, than was
ever before occupied by any man in the Republic—
George Washington not excepted. But the Presi-
dential election is a long way off. Two years make
sad havoc with great zeputations in this country,
and in a time of revolution such as this, two years
are sufficient not only to knock duwn men, but in-
stitutions and constitutions, laws and liberties, and
systems of finance and government—everything
that ought to be stable and well assured. And
great as M'Clellan now is, two years may consign
him to obscurity and harmlessness.

BELLIGERENT .RIGHIS Al SEA AND

COMMERCIAL BLOCEADES.

Yesterday a special meeting of the Liverpool
Chamber of Commerce was held at their rooms to
discuss the above subjects, some members of the
chamber having expressed their dissent from the
published opinions of the council of the chamber.
Mr. T. Chilton, the president of the chamber, occu-
pied the chair, and the attendance of members was
unusually great. In opening the proceedings, the
chairman explained that the council of the chamber
having memorialised the Board of Trade, Lord Pal-
merston, and the House of Commons, in favour of
a change in the international law with reference
to belligerents rights at sea and commercial block-
ades, some members of the chamber had expressed
opinions that the declarations of the council did not
represent the views of the majority of the members
of the chamber. Under these circumstances, the
council had resolved to call a special meeting, in
order to give the chamber an opportunity for fully
discussing the two subjects, either singly or con-

jointly.
The following letter was then read from Mr. T.
C. Ewart, one of the members of the borough :
"New Brighton, Nov. 24.

"My dear Sir,—l am very sorry that I shall be unable
to be present at your meeting to-day, as I have another im-
portant meeting to attend, from which I cannot be absent.
But I have so often expressed at your half-yearly meetings
()ton thmeyqiunesatidednitioton.bewbrhouygEhnt
gfolanrwda,rdw,htihchat
ils
mhmayovr eoe opinion
itietpol nal y
interested than any other nation in abolishing
those belligerent rights, can continue the suicidal policy
she is now pursuing, I could never understand. However
sound such a policy might have been in former times, it is
now very different since the declaration of 1856, and it can-
not stop where it is. lam afraid the feeling of the House
of Commons is at present against us ; but the motion of my
hon. colleague did great good by ventilating the subject, and
the late excellent speech of Mr. Cobden, at Manchester,
will, 1 trust, have the effect of inducing the public to con-
sider the question more fully. It will no doubt be again
brought forward in the House of Commons, and I need
scarcely say it shall have my support.---Yours, &c.,
" T. Chilton, Esq." " J. C. EWART.
Mr. CAMPBELL then moved .a resolution to the
effect that the chamber adhered to the views ex-
pressed by it in its memorial to the Board of Trade,
Jan. 19, 1860, and Lord Palmerston, Feb. 3, 1860,
and in its petition to the House of Commons, March
6, 1862, in favour of the proposal to exempt private
property from capture at sea.

- The resolution was seconded by Mr. ROBERTSON.
Some discussion then arose as to whether the two
questions should be discussed singly or conjointly.
Ultimately the resolution of. Mr. ,Campbell was
changed to a resolution approving of the memorial
of the council to the Government in favour of the
abolition of commercial blockades.

Mr. CAMPBELL then proceeded to speak at length
in favour of his motion.

The motion having been seconded by Mr. C.
ROBERTSON,

Mr_ Lime° Ornrfori (..thur or the •• American
Union and the "S" of the 7imes) said that he
thought it would be highly adverse to the interests
of this country to abandon the right of capture at
sea, and still more injurious to abandon the right of
blockade. He moved, as an amendment, " That, in
the opinion of this chamber, it is not expedient to
memorialise the Government to abandon the rights
of blockade or diminish its efficiency."

Mr. HOLLAND seconded the amendment.
After a long discussion, during which a great
deal of heat and partisanship were exhibited,
Mr. RAWLINS proposed, and Mr. PATTERSON
seconded, the adjournment of the question until
Wednesday week, which was lost.
Other adjournment motions having been also
lost, Mr. CAMPBELL was allowed to reply.
The amendment of Mr. Spence was then put and
carried by 23 to 14 votes.

THE .REMOVAL OF GEN. 111,CLELLAN.

(Fsom the New York Jimes of Nov 10.)
As a politician, Gen. 111‘Clellaa's sympathies, pre-
vious to the rebellion, had always been with the
South. He has believed them wronged by Northern
sentiment and by Northern action. And, beyond all
question, he has hoped and believed that a time
would come when the war could be arrested, and
when the Southern leaders, backed by a powerful
party in the Northern States, would listen to terms
of accommodation, and that nothing would stand in
the way of such a compromise more than a victory
which should wound their pride by humiliating
their arms and crushing their power_

In this view of the case Gen. M'Clellan has been
encouraged by the political partisans who, at an
early stage in the war, made him their prospective
candidate for the Presidency, and came thus to have
an interest in putting him in opposition to the ad-
ministration which he professed to serve. They de-
fended his errors, and made themselves the special
champions of his worst mistakes. They had unques-
tionable provocation and some excuse for much of
this in the intemperate zeal with which he was as-
sailed ; but they betrayed him into an undue reli-
ance on the support of a party, and a ruinous sub-
serviency to their wishes and views. We know not
how else to account for the steady and systematic
disregard he has shown of the wishes and orders of
the Government, and for his adherence to a deliberate
and methodical inactivity, which has brought the
cause of the Union to the very verge of ruin.
Unless we have been misinformed, President Lin-
coln has on two occasions written to Gen. M'Clel-
lan, reviewing in detail his military operations, and
demonstrating his failures to respond to the wishes
and just expectations of the Government. One of
these papers was prepared just after .1114Clellan had
landed on the Peninsula, the other after the battle
of Antietam ; and we have heard both spoken of as
masterpieces of military criticism. It is a melan-
choly satisfaction to learn that the President of the
United States, who is the Commander-in-Chief of
all its armies, and who is responsible, before God
and the country, for the behaviour of all its gene-
rals, did not keep Gen. M'Clellan in command of
the army of the Potomac from any 'confidence in his.d
capacity or his fitness for the place. Why he did
retain him so long after he had satisfied
.himselfus
that he ought to be removed, it might be
veurtiroust,
though it would be useless to speculate..
that the first act of Congress, when it me-Itset
mouth, will be to call for all the correspondence,c
vhich can
and all the documents of every km
throw light upon the extraordinary kind, which
of
this unfortunate commander.
He declined
offered the
Gen. Burnside has been three_toornac.
times
command of the army of the
it twice, partly from,
le
strongCallanl feeling of personal
affection for Gen. 1 and partly from . 1
tho-
rough confidence;
hismilitary capacity, and his
devotion to the
was.onjwUenetam; Union cahat shaken during and after the
battle of Antietam; the treatment he has
since received for having remonstrated against the
general's causeless suspension of the fight, has pro-
bably released him from the personal obligations
on which he was previously inclined to lay such

PRICE. .... - ..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

controlling stress. Ile has shown thus far during
the war great military ability, and a thorough, un-
qualified, unquestioning devotion to the cause he
serves. What he will be able to accomplish re-
mains to be seen. It is now certain that, in con-
sequence of the extraordinary delay in the move-
ments of our army, the rebels have completely
eluded them, and are now beyond their reach.
The autumnal rains have commenced; the rivers
and small streams of Virginia are no longer ford-
able; the roads are becoming muddy and imprac-
ticable; end all rapid and effective movement is
mearly impossible. If it was any pia of General
M'Clellan's purpose to prevent a decisive battle
with the rebel army, ha was probably left in com-
mand just long enough to accomplish his object.