The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-25 00:00:00

Mr. M. Gibson and his Constituents.

ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, Tuesday Night.
To-night Mr. Milner Gibson, President of the Board of
Trade, has addressed a crowded and enthusiastic meeting
of his constituents in the Town-hall. The entrance of the
right hon. member with the mayor, Dr. Galt, Mr. Hugh
Mason, and others was signalled by loud cheering. After
being introduced by the mayor amid renewed cheering,
Mr. GIBSON said,—Although we had removed a great
number of protective duties, and made important fiscal re-
forms, which must be of immense benefit to the country,
we could not have the full advantage of a free-trade policy
unless reciprocity on the part of foreign nations was to a
great extent realised. Setting aside from our present con-
sideration the United States, we found at Brazil, Cuba, and
other colonies and dependencies that our tariff of duties on
the raw produce from those countries was much more op-
pressive than the duties which they imposed on manufac-
tures coming from England, and therefore it was reciprocity
from our side that was required, and not from theirs ; but
if we looked at Europe, with the exception of Holland,
Turkey, and Switzerland, the liberality was all on our
side, and we' had a right to expect from the various coun-

tries of Europe that before long- those erroneous views
which had hitherto guided their policy would be changed,
and that we should have a more general adoption of free-
trade principles. (Hear.) He considered that for such pro-
gress as had, in this respect, taken place, and might yet be
achieved, we should be mainly indebted to Mr. Cobden—
(cheers)—who, breaking down the prohibitive system in
France, had taken the first step to breaking down the pro-
hibitive system of Europe. (Cheers.) France had already
concluded contracts, which would ripen into treaties, with
Turkey, Belgium, Italy, the Zollverein, Switzerland,
Sweden, and Holland ; and into an equal share of the mu-
tual advantages of these treaties England either had been
or would be admitted by treaties simultaneously concluded.
We mustgive time to countries to overcome the interested
opposition which naturally existed against the admission
of free competition with their produce and manufactures ;
and also bear in mind that the excessive military expendi-
ture of the various countries of Europe had been one of the
main obstacles in the way of dealing boldly with their tariff
of duties. France, urged forward by the success of her new
commercial policy, was at the present moment engaged in
considering a most important subject—namely, a great re-
laxation of her navigation laws ; and if effected, this might
be of as great advantage to the commerce and industry of
this country as the previous reduction in the French tariff
of import duties. (Hear, hear.) Referring to complaints that
the Foreign-office and the Board of Trade had not between

them been so active as they might have been, he defended
Foreign-office and the Board of Trade from the charge, as
he thought, inconsiderately made of not being sufficiently
active in promoting the adoption of a free-trade policy by

foreign nations, and said he was sure the Government had
seized every promising opportunity of urging freedom of
industry and a reduction of duties in countries where they
had representatives. He said that, in compliance with the
recommendations of a parliamentary committee which sat
last session to inquire into the relations between the Board
of Trade and, the Foreign-office, the latter had created a
department to be called " The Commercial Division,"
which would carry on all the correspondence on commer-
cial matters with her Majesty's missions abroad, with the
representatives of foreign Powers in England, with the
Board of Trade, and other departments of her Majesty's Go-
vernment, and with commercial associations, and private
individuals at home and abroad; but the creation of this
new division had made no alteration in the character of the
relations heretofore subsisting between the Foreign-office
and the Board of Trade. He hoped this new machinery,
by causing commercial matters to be attended to with
the utmost promptitude, might give satisfaction to the
commercial community. Speaking next to the anti-malt-
tax agitation, as one carried on mainly by gentlemen con-
nected with the Conservative party, he said he quite
agreed with a noble lord who spoke at a recent meeting on
the subject in the opinion that the question of the loss of
revenue which would be occasioned by a repeal of the tax
was the Chancellor of the Exchequer's business, and he also
thought that when gentlemen on the one hand supported a
very large expenditure they must, on the other hand, pro-
vide the Chancellor of the Exchequer with the ways and
means of meeting it. (Cheers.) A friend of his who spoke
at this malt tax meeting had said that the reduction of taxes
on coffee, sugar, tea, and some other articles oi that kind
was never complained of, and he maintained the malt tax '
repealers were entitled to an equality of justice. Now,
admitting this claim, how would the matter stand ? He
had taken the trouble to write down what proportion the
malt tax bore to the tea, coffee, and sugar duties. He
found that on tea, taking the retail price at 3s. per lb., the
duty as it existed at present of ls. per lb. amounted to 33i
pert andcent.
paying Taking
dutyff oe f e 3 a
d t the
per retail
lb . ,
gave ° a fpercentagea 4d.
per
l
he found by a like calculation that the duty upon it was 22
per cent. ; but if he came to malt and allowed that a quart
of porter was worth 4d. he found that the percentage of
duty upon the price was only 1.2 i per cent. (Laughter and
cheers.) Passing on to the Schleswig-Holstein question, he
said he thought every elector in that constituency would
have seen cause to rejoice that this country was not drawn
into the struggle, and he contended that if Denmark had
ever expected material aid from us against her gigantic
opponents it was not owing to any promises held out by the
Government, but to the mode in which the question was dis-
cussed in newspapers and public places. Noticing the features
of the Schleswig-Holstein debate in Parliament, he said the

majority for Government in the House of Commons was

reduced from 65 to 18 by the votes of the Irish Roman Ca-
tholic members, and he maintained that such a combina-
tion as was then effected between the high Ultramontane
Catholics and the high Conservative Protestants of this
country was not 'one that ever could, or ever ought to
govern England, or which ever could promote the cause of
civil and religious liberty. The Catholics themselves had
nothing to gain from such an alliance, for it was not to the
Conservative party that they owed their emancipation, or
that they were likely to be indebted for measures which
Ireland
ahne)ci
would value in reference to religious aseendft,ne
and other matters. Speaking of Mr. D i ssraaiedl
he
eaSwdivnaoscanchuf
a new ecclesiastical court of appeal,
that in these days it would be considerhodnothaantdsathelartaittriwbouunladl
savoured of a kind of Holy Inquisition,
put an end to all freedom of tlihouurgch.and intellectual acti-
And as the distin-
vity among the clergy of the C
guisbed propounder of this scheme said it was for the benefit
of the laity, he (Mr. Gibson),
as
one of that Church laity,
the proposal. On the sub-
did not thank him for
makingßeform h e contended that the
ject of Parliamentary
suc-
cessive Administrations which had brought forward pro-
jects for amending the representation and then abandoned
them were not alone responsible for the disappointing result
inasmuch as no Government having once laid a bill upon
the table of the House would have dared to recede from
their position if the great body of the electors of England
had shown, that they were determined to keep them to their
promises. (Cheers.) He should be glad to see the electoral
body earnestly supporting such a measure as would, at least,
have the effect, to a certain extent, of extending the politi-
cal power of the [unenfranchised working industry of this
country. In reference to the American war, he could not
sympathise with the South,
who were in the position of
partners in a firm
who had separated from the rest in a
violent manner Without cause, and for the purpose of

Yesterday, at 3 o'clock, a special meeting of the Common
Council was convened by the Lord Mayor at Guildhall for
the purpose of hettring a communication which he had re-
ceived from Baron Liebig, the eminent agricultural chemist,
and President of the Royal Academy of Science at Munich,
on the subject of the utilisation of the sewage of the metro-
polis. There was a large attendance of the members of the
Council, though they had been hastily summoned to meet.
The Town Clerk (Mr. Woodthorpe) proceeded to read
the letter of Baron Liebeg, which was dated Munich, Jan.
19, and addressed to the Lord Mayor. "In compliance
(the writer said) with a request on the part of the corpora-
tion he had the honour to send his lordship his views on
bta
sewage,
ewe r ipta
gsr
en
egs,
i,
thedeann s
select
the utilisation of the sewage of the metropolis. After a pro-
found and admirable investigation of the sanitary, engi-
neering,
Out e dint
the si,ththe
under
conclu-
sion that it was not only possible to utilise sewage, but that
applicationecoagftLricomthoculragridintriouriteatA3betul
eit4lounfmmeths:teniotgilun,ceocaonfmncee
purposes, if properly con-
ducted, great benefits might be derived from its use both by
the country at large and the towns which furnished it. An
Iho
attentive observation of what had been written and spoken
ognrethisater cinumbe ie'ti°rlll"l-of hint( renj ichig) to_believe that the persons in England, even the more en-
lightened, looked upon sewage as a nuisance ; they thought
it ought to be got rid of by any means, and the more quickly
the better. It was to those who entertained such opinions
that he should chiefly address his remarks, and if his en-
deavours to convince them of the money value of the com-
modity should be successful, and thus prevent over-hasty
stops being taken, the task he had set himself would be ful-
filled. Those questions, therefore, which had been eluci-
dated already by the report of the select committee of the
House of Commons he should leave untouched, and should
confine himself wholly to endeavour to put in their proper
light before the farmers, the inhabitants of towns, and the
Legislature those facts and principles which ought to be
taken as guides in any estimate of the worth and import-
ance of sewage. With regard to his computation of its
value, his Lordship would have the goodness to
than they were intended—as a starting point, namely,
accept the numbers here given for neither more nor less
for certain calculations in order to reduce to a more tangible
form the result of his inquiries. These figures were not
put forth as absolutely correct; indeed, in the present
state of matters no person in the world was able to state
them with perfect accuracy. Whoever was conversant with
the history of agriculture would know that in the latter
half of the last century practice found a means by the cul-
tivation of clover and other fodder forlputting an end to the
three-fold system, and for beginning a new one of rotation
of crops. The result was an increase in the agricultural
produce, which hitherto had been regularly diminishing.
The pith of the new system adopted was combined in the
following aphorism:—' The more. fodder the more flesh,
the more flesh the more manure, the more manure the more
grain.' At that time no one had any correct idea of the
cause of the fertility of the soil or the effect of manure, nor
did it then occur to anybody that the fertility of the clover-
fields would ever have an end. The whole system of farm-
ing was based on the production of farmyard manure by
means of fields of fodder. That a cloverfield could not form
an exception to general laws, but must be subjected to the
same conditions as a cornfield, was clear enough ; and a
time must therefore come when manuring would be as
much a necessity for one as for the other in order to main-
tain its productiveness. For the cornfields stable manure
was indispensable, but for the clover and other fodder fields
none was to be had. Years passed, and certain strange pe-
culiarities manifested themselves in these fodder fields ; in
many clover fields the plants died away ; turnips, too, would
not thrive any more as they had done. The veryexpression
' clover sickness,' showed that the cause was not supposed
to lie in exhaustion of the soil, as in the case of cornfields,
but was thought to arise from the field being ailing. At
the High School of Farming at Hohenheim it had become
a dogma that the producibleness of a farm could be last-
ingly maintained by the proper rotation of crops without a
supply of manure from without.. In an analysis of the
Hohenheim farming he had the opportunity of showing last
year that in the period of 1852-60 the quantity- of farmyard
manure was a third (550) tons more, and the quantity of
corn and rapeseed crops one-fourth to one-third less than in
1832-40. Pi active itself was compelled to avow that its sys-
tem had no foundation ; the ' more grain' did not correspond
with 'the more manure.' Such were the final results of
high farming and stable dung alone ; in one district the
crops of fodder, in others the corn harvests, diminished
Towards the end of last century practice found in gypsum
and later in bone-dust, a means by which the decrease in
the yield of the fodder and the corn fields might be arrested
and the former productivity of the soil be restored. Then
came superphosphate of lime and Peruvian guano into use,
and many farmers were convinced that it would be difficult
to maintain the produce of flesh and corn at its present
height without the application of guano. What a crop was
to come from when the supply of guano had ceased never
occupied their thoughts, for farmers were generally not in-
clined to think of the evils of the morrow ; with them
'Sufficient for the day was the evil thereof.' Now, however,
they knew the cause of the efficacy of phosphate and
Peruvian guano. They knew with certainty that the cause
of fertility lay in certain constituents of the soil, which served
for the formation of the body of the plants, of the roots, of
th• leaves and fruit ; that the quantity of these in the
ground was very limited ; and that man, with all his art and
skill, Was unable to get fruit from a field when such con-
stituents were wanting. These, as long as they were in
the ground, were called alimentary matters,' but out of it
' manures.' Both names signified the same thing. It was
now clear that in theproducts which the farmer brought to
market he sold a part of the active agents of his fields, and
that, accordingly the harvests must gradually grow less in
the same ratio as the condition for its production decreased.
The effect of phosphates (bone-dust) and of guano was to
restore to the soil two conditions of fertility—phosphoric
acid and nitrogen, which it had lost by centuries of cultiva-
tion and removal. The produce of the field diminished
with the decrease of these stores, but which on being aug-
mented again put the field into its former state. Reason
told them that a natural phenomenon could not return with
constancy if the causes of it were fluctuating, and that
a field could not constantly yield crops if the conditions
of their growth constantly decreased. There was, per-
haps, no land where the truth of this simple law of
nature was so patent as in England. The British farmer
had been enabled to win from his fields crops surpassing
those which had ever been gained from a like superficies ;
not, however, because he was more skilful and diligent than
the husbandman of other lands, but because he acted more
in harmony with the law on which production depended.
In no country as in England was the farmer so ready to give
a part of his profits for the purchase of manures; nowhere
was he more convinced that without their addition it would
be impossible to preserve for a continuance the present
high produce of his fields. But, considering the means
by which they were obtained, the high crops were
not signs of a lasting store of their conditions in e the
r
fields, but symptoms of exhaustion. The Britilshx
considered an outlay for manure not as a doubtfu
interest. What distinguished the
di-
farmercusrotomed to ture, but rather as an investment of capital whichfm thbeoremPeganneoud-
facturer was that the former was not so
knee'
exactly what
cal-
culate as the latter. The manufactureerraw
while the farmer
he intended to work up with his mas
forc
his land was guided
he bought and judged accurately thh
i
n
e
s
,
in the choice of fitting manures
ex material which
perience. He must
by vague notions which he
wait for his crop to see if
management ho
had told him what manure
true economy of his
fied required he was as yet unac-
quaintedand in what quantity his called
chosen the right. The
as almost,
sewage. That, however,
he to estimate thei,wtee
unable when
was the reason why he w
experience taught him
Up to this time many farmers were still
its effects.
• that stable dung, phosphate, and Peruvian
of opinion
were sufficient to maintain their fields in a state of
certain number of years, but the supply of Peruvian
guano
fertility. That might be true for certain fields and for a
oamhts
hueh
ese would
soon oso hunolldywwhes itaodtmvoh
tene
eh
that
end,asnntpdpoi
nrf thate
oci
tnainwde
therer
an
n t
analys
is
found--an
potash,
db oan ens and
grt guano
ndiaatenhnnooot
which formed an important and most efficient constituent of
oinf talLeincoonrniaananddfopdndtne
sr
h,crops.
and was also indispensable for the maintenance
stable dung,
Sewage was especially rich
which latter failed in the manures
sold by the trade, and when it was employed then only was
the system of culture a rational one.l'
At this stage of the reading of Baron Liebig's communi-
cation, the town-clerk, when he had not read more than a
third of it, was interrupted by Deputy SNELLING moving
that the report in its entirety be remitted to the Coal, Corn,
and Finance Committee, to whom the subject of the utili-
sation of sewage had been referred for consideration, in
order to its being printed and circulated among the mem-
bers of the Common Council.
The motion was at once adopted, and the Court ad-
onrned.

THE DISPUTE IN THE BUILDING TRADES.—The
withdrawal of the discharge note has not yet led to a
resumption of work by the men. It is in their opinion
necessary that some regulations as to the future should be
agreed upon both by the masters and themselves before
they return to their employment.

THE

p ALL-MALL GAZETTE.
A .n Evening Newspaper and Review.
Office, 14, S: ill sbury-street, Strand, W.C.

ITER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
Sole fan ager and Director, Mr. W. Harrison.
THIS EVYN IN(i, FAUST. Mesdames Anna Hiles,
furrington, Cott erell ; Messrs. Swift, Forbes, H. Corsi, and
Marc-est.

Conductor, Signor ARDITI.
Followed b• I the Grand Christmas Pall+olllthle, THE
LION AND ' LEE UNICORN.
MORNING PERFORMANCE on SATURDAY, at Two.

•
R 0 IC Aix ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-
GARDEN.
(Opera Company. Limited.)
CONTINUED SUCCESS OF CINDEKELLX AND THE
WONDERFUL DONATO.
THIS EVENING, 3rd time, a new Ope ra, the music by
F. Clay the words by T. W. Robertson, entitled
CON STANCE.
Martorelle, YI iss Thirlwall, Messrs. H. COrri, A. Cook,
C. Lyall. and _henry Hai h.
Condu,Aor,3lr. A. MELLON.
Alter which, at a quarter-past 8, the Grand and highly
successful r:t.ntomirne, cIN DE KELL& '
thet magnificent
Sc,nery and gorgeous accessories. a Harlequinath.
Senor Donat o will perform his celebrated and astonishing
Ranee avec SauteauC.
ommeire at Seven.

THEATRE -R YA L, DRURY-LANE,
managers. Messrs. E. Falconer and F. B. Chatterton.
TEt S EVENING, and during the week. A YOUNG
LAD FROM THE COUNTRY.
THUMBhich, the Grand Christmas Pantomime, HOP O'MY
AND HIS ELEVEN .BROTtiERS; or, Harlequin
and the Ogre of the Seven-League Boots : Messrs. G. Bel-
more, Tom Matthews, G. Weston, Master Percy Roselle, &c.
Misses Lydia Thompson. It. Leclercq, &c. ; Messrs. Boleno,
c. Lauri, W. A. Barnes, T. Morris, Cormack, Saville ; Mdme.
Bolen, the Misses Gunnies, and Signor Tescano.

THEATR E-R 0 Y AL, HAYMARKET.
Lessee. Mr. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, Jan. 25, DAVID GARRICK. Messrs.
Chippendale, Sothern, Buckstone, Rogers, Clark, Coe, Wea-
thersby, Zzo. ; Mesdames Moore, Snowdon, Fitzwilliam,
After which, LORD DUNDREARY MARRIED AND
DONE FOR Messrs. Sothern, Buckstone, Braid, Gordon,
Clark, White, Coe, Weathersby, drc. ; Mesdames Snowdon,
Mill, &o.
With PRINCESS SPRINGTIME. Mr. Compton, Miss L.
'seeley.
And MRS. WHITE.

To commence at 7.

OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Sole Management of Mr. Pechter.
THIS EVENING, GRANDFATHER WHITEHEAD.
Messrs. Emery, C. Horsman, ‘ollett, Garden, Moreland,
Gifford : Mesdames Hamilton, Henrade, C. Hor•man.
After which, at half-past 8, a New Drama, entitled THE
4OADSIDE INN. ItLbert Mamire, Mr. k'echter. Messrs.
Widdicomb, C. Horsman, Fitzpatrick, Garden, Moreland,
Raymond, Collett; Mesdames Eisworthy and B. Percy.
To conclude with BEARFACED IMPOSTORS. Mr,
Widdieomb.

Doors open at Half-past Six.
The Box-olhee open daily from lidev,n till Five.

NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI.—
~,ale Ptoprietor and Manager. Mt. It o uuster.
THIS EVENING, ICI ON PARLE FRANCAIS. Mr.
J. L. Toole.
Af er which, at 8, LEAH. Miss Bateman, supported by
Messre. George J..rdan Swinbourne, It. Phillips, Stuart,
Stephenson, .P.burne ; Miss H. Simms and Mrs. Bildngton.
To conclude with DARK DOINGS IN THE CUP-
BOARD BY TILE KNoT TINWEII BROTHERS. Messrs.
J. L. Toole, Paul Bedtord, R. k'hill ps, Billington; Dire. A.
_Mellon. Miss A. Seaman.
Commence at 7.

neYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining.
rtflS EVENING, a new Extravaganza, entitled THE
MAGIC HORSE AND THE ICE MAIDEN I RINCESs.
Atter which, THE STREETS Ole LONDON. Messrs.
Vining, J. W. Ray, D. Fisher, D. Murray, J. Nelson, H.
Forrester. H. Mellon ; Mrs. Henry Marston, Miss Emma
Xarnett, and Miss Fanny Gwynne.

OYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress. Mrs. Swanborough.
rHI i EVENING, at 7, LAWRENCE'S LOVE SUIT.
Mr. Parselle ; Mesdames Palmer, Carson, and Hughes.
Atter which, the Grand Christmas Burlesque, THE
" GRIN" BUSHES ; or, the Mrs. Brown of the Missis-sippi.
Messrs. Stoyle, Thorne, James, Fenton, &c.; Mesdames Ada
Swanborough, Raynham, Simpson, Johnstone, &c.
To conclude with MRS. GKEEN'S SNUG LITTLE
BUSINESS. Mr. Belford.

COALS. —The LILLTESHALL COMPANY'S
COALa.
Direct from their own Collieries.
Marquis'. 265. per ton. I Double 21s. per ton.
Top 255• •,, Dec p ....228. „
Well screened and delivered within live miles of their
'De-
pots, Westbourne Park-road, W., and 17, South Wharf,
,Paddington, W., and Maiden-lane, N.
Best Coke lss. per chaldron.

Terms cash.
JOHN COS I'T, dole Lgent.

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