The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-21 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

Tins DAY.—Morning, 7h. 55m.—Afternoon, Bh. 27m.
To-IgolutoW.-Moming, 9h. Om.—Afternoon, 9h. 40m.

• 4 '714 •
tit Vvi
-7.1r-.)1;17 IPL

LONDON, SATURDAY, JAN. 21, 1865.

The account of the half-yearly meeting of the
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday
afte u
r",_
, may at first sight appear somewhat dry
and
tecii°llB after the
more stirring proceedings of
the evening before, but a little reflection will,
per-
haps, convince the reader that the second assembly
was not the less iniportan t
questions that affect o The discussion of the
eur xtensive commercial in-
terests, the examination
advah into
nta causes that influence
or affect them, and the advantages conferred by the
of
deliberation of an assembly practical men upon
practical matters, must all be put in the scale before
we can venture td pronounce the addresses
Thursday dull or profitless reading. Of
late legislation has been much more favourable to years
commercial interests than it was of old,and
Part of
the beneficial change has no doubt been wrought by
the agency of these Chambers of Commerce. Old
prejudices have died out, old errors have been ex-
posed, old errors have been rectified, and the rising
importance of the commercial class, its gathering
wealth and influence, have, of course, made them-
selves felt as time went on. Commercial men have
filled prominent places in the State, they have occu-
pied a. considerable position in Parliament, they have
gained public respect by the intelligence and acute-
-11 elm in matters not immediately connected with

---
trade. Such men consequently have had frequent
opportunity of enlightening the minds of their coun-
t en, and of setting several disputed points before
them in a true light. The Chambers of Commerce,
not only from obtaining the aggregate opinions of
traders, but from numbering men of wealth and
position among their leaders, have thus been able to
bring forward several grievances common to vari-
ous classes_ of merchants and manufacturers, and
to attain redress for them. Officials cannot
slight the representations of an influential member
of Parliament, as they would be too apt to do to
complaints of private gentlemen. In pursuance of
this theory, the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
has just shown its appreciation of this principle by
electing Mr. SCHOLEFIELD, M.P., to the office of
president. There was a large attendance of urem-
bers and others on Thursday, and both the new
president and his Parliamentary colleague addressed
1 the assembly at some length. Mr. SCHOLEFIELD'S
speech was marked by moderation and good sense.
He congratulated the meeting on the favourable
signs of the times, among which he reckoned the
recent visits of two official gentlemen in connexion
with the new provisions referring to the Foreign-
office and the Board of Trade. It was, he remarked,
quite a new thing for the Government to send any
of its officers to inquire into their grievances and
their opinions, and to endeavour to forward their
views. He attributed this beneficial change partly
to the efforts of the same energetic individuals in
their behalf, and partly to the good fortune of hav-
ing two gentlemen like Mr. GIBSON and Mr. LAYARD
respectively at the Board of Trade and at the
Foreign-office, since both were anxious to meet all
the requirements of commerce. Mr. SCHOLEFIELD
then touched upon the question of Government
manufacturing establishments, and said he was not
one of those who were opposed to Government esta-
blishments altogether, but he thought that such
establishments should not be larger than was just
sufficient to be a check on manufacturers' prices,
and that anything like competition between public
and private establishments was most unfair. The
hon. member and others who spoke on the subject
forgot, however, one important argument in
fa4our of such institutions, which is that in case of
sudden alarm or emergency the Government should
not be driven to rely entirely on the resources of ma-
nufacturers, nor to trust solely to their punctual ful-
filment of their contracts. Experience has proved
this to be an insecure and uncertain mode of pro-
ceeding, and it is partly as a_ guarantee against
its evils. Mr. BRIGHT, who followed, spoke upon
similar subjects, but touched upon one or two points
to which Mr. SCHOLEFIELD had not adverted. On
one very important topic Mr. BRIGHT spoke with a
frankness and a candour which did him honour. A
paragraph in the Report had reference to the recom-
mendation of the Children's Employment Commis-
sion that the Factory Acts should be applied to
metal manufactories. This was quite sufficient to
arouse the claim of Birmingham. The council de-
clared in the report that they were prepared to use
every means to oppose undue interference with the
trade of the locality. We are sorry to see this indi-
cation of the same spirit which so long and so
strenuously resisted the benevolent action of the
Factory Bill. It is a disgrace to our noble manu-
facturers to identify their interests with the oppres-
sion of -the helpless. They need no such false sup-
port. Their legitimate profits are large enough to
enable their owners to pay a fair day's wage for a
fair day's work, and that day's work is not fair
which is extended beyond reasonable hours. It is
false economy as well as want of humanity to exact
from the unformed frames of children long hours of
exhausting lahour. If it be true, as has been prpved
by evidence, that children learning half-time at
school learn as much as those full time,
from their fresher energies and greater powers of
application, much more must the same argument be
true of the hours of physical labour. The work
cannot be well done which is extracted from the
jaded energies of over-tired children and young
persons under 18, and it is only to such persons that
the report of the commission refers. Mr. BRIGHT
had the manliness to confess that he had been one
of the most strenuous opponents of the Factory Act,
but he had since found his opposition to have been
mistaken. " Among all the working classes of
Lancashire," he said, " the Act is very highly prized,
the manufacturers have not found from it the evils
which they anticipated, and I am sure there are few
there who would wish to have the Act altered or
repeated." Still he was doubtful how the same
principle would bear extension to Birmingham manu-
facturers, and recommended careful investigation
before it was agreed to. It is a great pity that gen-
tlemen who are so ready to lecture the upper classes
on their neglect of the political rights of the people,
do not remember they do not always show much
regard to the rights of a very large class of the
people. If our legislature is neglecting the interests
of the present generation, they are mortgaging the
strength and energies of the future by the deterio-
ration of the physical vigour of the young genera-
tion. The fact is, we fear that human nature is very
much the same in all ranks, and if there was the
slightest risk of injury to the material interests of
our trade and commerce by the extension of the
franchise, we should hear a good deal less about
Parliamentary Reform from the manufacturing
districts.

Deputy GRABOW, upon taking the chair as Presi-
dent of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, made a
very spirited discourse, that seemed to give great satis-
faction to his auditors. It is some sort of a gratifica-
tion to find that even at this juncture there are men
in Prussia who have the courage to speak out and
express their opinions, even though they may not
be exactly in accordance with the notions of the
ruling powers. At any rate, no one can accuse
President CatAßow of having shirked his duty, and
of not speaking out fully, firmly, and to the point.
Certainly subjects were not wanting to fire his
recollection and excite his earnestness, for much
has transpired since the period of the "last dismissal
to which he referred in such meaning terms." As
he truly put it, " prosecutions of the liberal press,
reprimands of liberal officials, unconfirmation of
liberal communal elections, defamations, sus-
picions, and calumnies of liberal citizens have
taken place to an even greater extent than in
Such reminiscences may well cause
former years."
the faithful citizens of Prussia to feel dismayed, and
create indignation in the minds of the true represen-
tatives of Prussian interests. The constant inter-
ruption of an approvin. g characteer
in a an
that
mhemneetr
thatwith
proved that the President spoke
viction to their minds of the truth o
went to the hearts of his hearers, anal
fhis
carriedsaycmongs-
rd need of his observations. In truth, a 8,94 future
4 is put before those who pay any Particular attention
to the
public
position and political aspects of
Prussia
nowadays, and nothing of a cheering char-
acter intervenes to lighten the gloom or irradiate
the prospect
as the eye rests on broken pledges, for-
feitedges, and forsaken duties. Well might
the President
go on to enumerate the sad list, and
well might the Chamber
ninee thtous showinggrievances
that are
applaud his courage and
uzettealra
up abuses and giving
undermining
the social prospects of 'the country, and doing great
injury to the State. Fidelity to e)nyietiona has

been put under a ban, and the axe " has been laid
to the tree of the self-administration of towns and
communes." Loud cries of " Bravo " greeted the
passage in which the President exemplified the
manner in which the rights of the Chamber of De-
puties had been assailed, " thereby to lay violent
hands upon the arteries of the Constitution." Such
is an exact representation of the style in which
affairs have been conducted in Berlin, and the pri-
'vileges of the people of Prussia trampled under foot,
while their wit and wisdom have been powerless to
help them ; for so distracted have they been with
the chimera of foreign wars, that home dangers
have been totally neglected. The President spoke
out as boldly as he could, and more decidedly in-
deed than many would have attempted to do, when
he said that " no power on earth should intimidate
them from maintaining the constitutional rights of
the Crown and the people." Such language is
worthy of one in'so responsible a position, and re-
dounds greatly to the credit of the speaker. It is
not often that we find such stirring sentiments pre-
vail as are here expressed, or intimations of so de-
cided a character given nowadays in Prussia. Of
course, it must not be supposed that such a discourse
should find favour with the magnates who heard it,
and in consequence, at the next sitting of the
Chambers, the Minister of the Interior, Count
EULENBERG, set himself to work to make a protest
against the President's speech. It was neither
good taste nor good feeling thus to inaugurate, at
the outset of the session, a dispute between
the Administration and the Chamber of De-
puties. But some people can never rest
without making a disturbance of some kind.
Besides, it would ill become the offended majesty of
the BISMARCK rule not to assert its lawful rights to
unquestioned supremacy and complete authority.
The President was thus compelled to listen to a
long account of his errors, and to hear animadver-
sion delivered upon his astounding presumption and
unparalleled impertinence. First of all, he was told
that he had passed a " bitter criticism" upon the
Government, and also drawn a " gloomy picture"
of the country. Heaven knows that there was
ample opportunity for doing both,. but that, of
course, had nothing to do with the case in point.
It was not the duty of any one in the Prussian
dominions to attempt to judge the actions of their
rulers; they should be too happy to submit in silence
to the dictates of the supreme wisdom and the
chances of the unerring justice which preside over
the destinies of that favoured land. At least one
may gather so much from the tenour of the dis-
course of Count EULENBERG. He seemed most
deeply impressed with the enormity of the offence
of the President, and fully convinced of the neces-
sity_that existed for calling attention to the glaring
inconsistency of the President's conduct. The head
and front of the offending was presently revealed,
however, when the Count proceeded to question
what would be the effect produced upon their Royal
Master when he found his wishes so little at-
tended to. The KING'S Government, how-
ever, the Count was at great pains to make
known, would not depart from its determined
course, whatever opinions the majority of the
House might entertain. The present position of the
Chamber of Deputies is certainly not very flatter-
ing, nor can it be said that it has begun its course
under very auspicious circumstances ; but it is
almost hopeless to expect much from so extraordi-
nary a state of affairs. Either no opposition is
made, and the plans of the Government are carried
by default, as it were, or else, if any exception is
taken to the course proposed by the executive, a pre-
cious outcry is raised, and the liberties of the Cham-
ber are rapidly curtailed, until they are dismissed
altogether from fulfilling their functions. It augurs
ill for the happy or honourable termination of the
labours of the Chamber this session, if at the very
commencement such a decided disagreement should
take place between the Ministers and the President.
Altercations of this kind never stop short when
once they begin, but spread like wildfire, and men
are left to deplore the consequences almost before
they rightly understand the commencement of the
affair or the origin of the dispute. At any rate,
President GRABOW has rendered a good service to
the cause of freedom, and very properly vindicated
the right of the Chamber over which he
is called upon to preside. Whether the
esclandre comes sooner or later is of
.comparatively- small importance, if some decided
protest is entered against such extravagant extor-
tions and encroachments as those which the Govern-
ment of the KING have made upon the rights and
privileges of the people. The welfare of Prussia
cannot now attract the same interest as formerly,
but it is always a welcome sight to see a man in a
responsible position mindful of the duties of his
office, and sensible of the claims that devolve upon
him, whether or not the carrying out of such obliga-
tions lead him into difficulties, and entail upon him
risks and responsibilities. If more members had
been actuated with the spirit of President GRABOW,
and possessed his determination and fearless
energy, we might now see Prussia in a very dif-
ferent position, and those of her sons which yet
remain true to her interests would not have occa-
sion so bitterly to deplore the retrograde move-
ments and suicidal feeling which now prevail to the
detriment of their country.

The Laureate and his Baronetcy,

(From the Atheneum of to-day)

The following note on the Tennyson baroiietcy,
from one who knows what he is saying, has been
addressed to us, in common with our contempora-
ries :

" Jan. 18, 1865.

" Permit me, in reply to an oblique but exceedingly
clumsy attempt to puff an obscure ' Peerage,' to say that
I am enabled, on the best authority, to assert that her Ma-
jesty has signified her gracious desire to confer some ho-
nour upon the Poet Laureate. It is well known that con-
gratulatory applications in some hundreds have been
made to the poet's publishers in the matter,—a token,
were any needed, of the firm hold Mr, Tennyson
has established upon the affectionate regards of his
countrymen ; it is due to those who have reported and com-
mented on the subject to assert that, whether the Queen's
intentions take the form assigned them by the vox populi or
not, the report itself possesses a solid foundation in fact.
"I am, &c., WESARIENSIB."
—Of course no reader of the Atheneum will suppose
that we referred to the rumours—current in the
papers for many past weeks—without making in-
quiries on the subject. Our information was ample
and precise ; and although we are aware that pro-
gress in the matter is for the moment delayed, we
still think it likely that her Majesty's desire to put
her favour to the great poet into visible and per-
mament shape will end in the Laureate becoming
Sir Alfred Tennyson, Bart.

THE HON. MRS. YELVERTON.—A paragraph
having been industriously circulated to the effect that
the Hon. Mrs. Yelverton (nee Longworth) had become a
convert to Anglicanism, a direct application was made to
that lady inviting her to authorise a contradiction of the
report. The result of the application was the following
admirable letter :—" Sir,—l thank you for affording me
opportunity of authorising you to contradict the untruth-
;ul report that I had abandoned the Catholic faith. Having
suL"ered such bitter persecution for my conscience sake, it
would indeed be great folly to lose the fruits of so much
endurance and the reward promisodto those whopersevere
to the end.—Yours faithfully (signed) THERESA YELVER-
TON, CraUfOrd'S Hotel, Edinburgh, 14th January, 1865."—
Weekly Register.
Bombay has determined upon having an Inter-
national Exhibition, and a company has already been
formed with a capital of £500,000. The promoters have
applied to Government for a grant of land and Wilossign
to parry 9Ut the uudortakin•