The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-06 00:00:00

THE 'SUN, LONDON. THURSDAY EVENIN4. NOVEMBER 6, 1862.

711 E " MONI7 OR,"

NEW YORK, OCT. 22.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Soon after the affair at Hampton Roads,
and during the progress of the laudations upon
the Monitor, re-echoed by the British press, I ven-
tured to express an opinion to my countrymen
(through a letter which appeared in The Sun of
May 12th) to the effect that, judging by the facts
and effects relating to the said Monitor, as sepa
rated from the magniloquent verbiage and sugges-
tions which pervade all descriptions of " battles"
and " sea fights," given in the columns of New
York newspapers, she had performed nothing, or,
in other words, sustained no trial that entitled her
to be put forward by amateur naval dogmatisers in
Parliament, and elsewhere, as a model, or for what
they called her in this country, the " best war-
ship in all creation." Undoubtedly, whether I was
right or wrong in differing from those who con-
sidered that a whole host of Monitors had better
be set about at once in England, nothing that had
been performed by that vessel since she was helped
round from New York to James River, and had
the good fortune to arrive in time to gain the re-
pute of driving off the Merrimac, when, as a matter
of reality, the latter had exhausted her crew, coals,
and ammunition, would appear to have added to
her reputation ; and I allude to the matter princi-
pally because it is evident that in many cases the
British public are still misled by the sometimes
organised, but more often the natural and national
system of " over-colouring," practised by almost
every American describer of American events, and
accept as actualities what are, in truth, often a mix-
ture of exaggerations and sensations. And, after
all, if many in Europe choose to believe that all, or
half, that is reported in and for the New York
press as to " gigantic battles" and " immense vic-
tories" is true, I for one would not seek to
trouble you or myself with any disquisi-
tions on the subject ; but the bombast
written about the Monitor appeared to me a
different matter, inasmuch as with the usual and
legitimate interest which attAches in our country
to all maritime topics, there was evidently an
intention or wish on the part of those who (to
use a familar phrase) " ought to have known
better"—to accept and mix up that bombast with
facts, and, what was more important, endeavour
to give them a practical application in what was
called a reformation of our war-vessels ; and under
these circumstances, although it may appear to
some unnecessary, or what is called " harping"
too much on the Monitor question, I"'; ask your
leave once again to refer thereto.
A letter has been published lately in the Ame-
rican journals from Mr. Donald M‘Kay—an ex-
perienced and approved ship builder—or, as a
New York paper describes him—" Naval Archi-
tect." It appears Mr. M.Kay has been in Europe,
visiting the dockyards and naval establishments,
&c., and he furnishes elaborate statements of the
dimensions, tonnage, nature of armour-plating
and armament of war-ships, built, building, and
designed to be built, in France and Great Britain.
His account is interesting, and, it may be assumed,
generally accurate, and he appears to have been
furnished or obtained full particulars and details
of the British vessels in particular, and one can
gather from the form of his communication pub-
lished, that he has furnished more complete de-
tails to the Government at Washington than
would be given in a newspaper letter—and as that
will probably be republished in British journals,
I merely refer to the portion of it regarding the
" Monitor," to which he alludes incidentally or
rather as a matter of comparison.
His opinion may be summed up briefly of those
sort of war-vessels, that they are only fit to take
part in defendin ports and harbours—that they
would be ridiculous to look at as " sea-going ships,"
and observes that although the " Monitor" was not
run down or through by the Merrimac, which was
moving at the rate of about three knots an hour,
a heavier vessel proceeding at the rate of 14 miles
would probably have smashed her to pieces. In
short, Mr. M‘Kay, after his European observations
and experiences, evidently does not think much of
the be-lauded of Hampton Roads, and trusts the
Washington Government will not persist in build-

ing many of the kind.
Of course it is not meant by me that this opinion
settles the question of the Monitor, but being that
of a practical American, it is to be hoped, taken in
conjunction with the actual, and not theoretical,
" performances" of that " model," the opinion will
suggest to the impetuous parliamentary naval
amateurs afore aid, and others, that they should not
allow themselves to be bewildered, if not " scared,"
by the ephemeral " sensations" and braggadocia of
New York newspaper descriptions into urging
adoptions and reforms in our navy, in the head-
long manner which probably brought no small ex-
pense on the country, and, what is more important,
distracted the attention from, or at least delayed,
substantial improvements and precautions. Another
point that may be suggested indirectly by the re•
port referred to is, whereas under the circumstances
that it is palpable to any " Britisher" on this side
of the Atlantic, efforts are making by ruling " poli-
ticians" in this country to endeavour to aggravate
every old, and stir up every new, alleged grievance
as against Great Britain whether it is either
necessary, or wise, or judicious to publish not only
the results and effects, but the minute details of
every experiment and trial connected with the vari-
ous guns, armour-plating, and so forth, which are
being carried on by our Government. The " dif-
fusion of knowledge" is a most excellent thing—
but whether the system pursued of imparting a
knowledge
tothe world of "inventions" and pro-
gressing improvements" in warlike and defensive
implements for which our nation offers, or at least
pays premiums, I leave to the consideration of more
skilled casuists than—

Your obedient servant,
A BRITISH TRAVELLER.

111 E LANCASHIRE DISTRESS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

beg to submit the following proposal to issue
legal tender Exchequer notes of 55., and with these notes to
pay wages to the unemployed in the cotton districts. My
proposition, which will be that of every currency reformer,
or opponent of Sir Robert Peel's sold Money Bill, is :--
That Mr. Gladstone be waited upon by the Manchester
manufacturers, and be requested to suspend Peel's Gold
Bill, as was done in the panic of 1847 and 18.57 ; that Ex-
chequer Bills now of £lOO, bearing interest, and broken down
into notes of ss. each, not " promises to pay in gold," but
declared by the Exchequer legal tender for debts and taxes ;
that these ss. notes be devoted to the payment of wages, at
the present market price for unskilled labour, to the unem-
ployed in the cotton districts ; that the unemployed be set
to work on the mossy commons and inferior lands, or trans-
ferring peat moss to clay lands, to the transport of the
light thin alluvial soil of the Mercey to the heavy soils of
the interior, and vice versa; to laying down temporary
railways to facilitate this and other works which it is not
my province to dictate to the managers ; that these notes
be cancelled when presented to the Exchequer when paid in
for taxes,

Three hundred thousand people starving on threepence
a day I Surely the wealthy residents here, like our legis-
lators, don't see the danger of the position. Surely this
is a time to look the prejudice in favour of gold in the face.
This is not a question of production of wealth, but of its
distribution. The warehouses here are groaning under the
weight of provisions, and corn stored up unconsumed,
without sale, without purchasers, and the people passing
the doors of these warehouses unfed. The same is true of
houses, furniture, clothing, and fuel. We have not had a
famine cf any of these things.—l remain, Sir, your obedient
servant, JAMES HARVEY.
2, Chatham-place, Edge-hill, Liverpool.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—The Winter Concerts will
be resumed next Saturday. The concert-room—one-third
larger than Exeter-hall —has been entirely enclosed and
made warm for the winter season. Herr Joachim, Mr.
Santley, and Mademoiselle Zeiss will be
the principal
artistes, Mr. Manes, as usual, being the chef d'orchestre.
During the past few days a lare amount of space has been
tasen by exhibitors transferring their goods from the In-
ternational Exhibition. In some of the departments it is
difficult to obtain space, and there is no doubt that the corn•
in, g season will witness much of the active business of the
Exhibition transferred to the courts of the Crystal Palace.
1. he nave and centre transept are now well lighted with gas.
The afternoon promenade after the Saturday concerts is
likely now to become one of the most attractive and fashion-
able features of the week.