The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-02 00:00:00

GERMANY.

•
The German mail brings us some more details
from Berlin, under date of the 29th ult., of the re-
cent arrests in that city. The Prussian Govern-
ment has published nothing on the subject, but
the New Prussian Gazette states that the police
had been for some time apprised of revolutionary
intrigues and conspiracies connected with foreign
refugees in London. This journal informs us that
Dr. Frankenthal, who had been arrested, was at
the head of a democratic association. At the ma-
nufactory of M. Hauschild, the foreman of which,
a person named Geissler, has been arrested as
chief of a democratic association. There were found
concealed under the roof a quantity of ammunition,
twelve mustkets, and two Congreve rockets. At
the house of Dr. Frankenthal there were found a
quintal of gunpowder, a large quantity of ball car-
tridges, and 158 rockets, &c. ; moulds for casting
balls, swords, daggers, &c. One of the swords bore
the inscription, " For right and German liberty."
It is added that letters of a compromising character
and proclamations of Mazzini were also found. A
Berlin letter of the 29th states that no doubt was
entertained there of the conspiracy being on a very
extensive scale, and that many discoveries of papers,
arms, ammunition, &c. of which the Berlin journals
do not speak, have been made.
A Berlin letter, in the Independance of Brussels,
mentions a rumour that the plot which has been
discovered, was to have had its execution between
the 3d and Gth of this month. M. Behrends, ex-
deputy of the National Assembly of Prussia, and
M. Sheckfuss, the author of a history of the French
Revolution, who were arrested, have been set at
liberty, their innocence being perfectly established.
The Assembly of the States of Nassau was opened
on the 30th ult. by the Prince de Wittgenstein, in
the name of the Grand Duke.
. The Invalids of St. Petersburgh publishes the
following rescript of the Emperor to Colonel Count
O'Donnell, Aide-de-camp of the Emperor of Aus-
tria :
" Appreciating fully the importance of the service
which you have lately rendered to your country and to
all Europe, in saving the precious life of our august ally,
the Emperor of Austria, to whom we are bound by the
ties of a reciprocal friendship, we have conferred on you
the insignia of Commander of our Imperial Order of St.
Stanislaus, and send you herewith the grand star of the
same.—Remaining your affectionate " NICHOLAS.
" St. Petersburgh, 26th February, 1853."
Dispatches received in Vienna from Poland men-
tion that there is great activity at present in the
Russian army. All soldiers on furlough have re-
ceived orders to join their respective regiments.
The Russian fleet in the Black sea, composed of 44
vessels, has been placed under the command of the
Grand Duke Constantine, together with the whole
of the Russian navy.
A courier arrived at Vienna on the 28th ult.,
the bearer of dispatches from Baron Brunow, the
Russian Ambassador at London, relative to the in-
tentions of England as regards the question pending
between Russia and the Porte. It was believed
that they stated that England does not intend to
interfere in the question of the Holy Places.

NAVAL SERVICE REORGANISED AND

IMPROVED.

(From the Times.)
Among the measures taken by the late Administration
for the defence of the country and the improvement of s'
the naval service, none was more important than the ap-
pointment of a commission to consider the subject of E
manning the fleet. This commission was selected from
the most eminent members of the profession, and with
so little regard to party interests that Admiral Sir
Charles Adam, formerly a sea Lord of the Admiralty
under the Whig Government, was placed at the head of
the list, and the commission proceeded to examine with
great fairness persons of different opinions who had at- 4
tended to the subject. On one part of the question
there could be no dispute—namely, as to the urgent ne- I
cessity of placing the most essential portion of the naval 1
service on a better footing ; for it is utterly vain to build
ships and improve machinery if the Government has not
at its disposal that human force which is the life and
sinew of every navy. Other countries, with resources
far inferior to our own, have contrived by organisation
to place themselves on a better and more secure footing
than we can boast of in the event of war. The old re-
source of the press gang has not an apologist left
except in the pages of the Quarterly _Review,
and the enormous impulse given to the mercantile
operations and shipping of this country, by free
trade, emigration, and the discovery of gold have
increased the obstacles to manning the Queen's ships.
It is admitted that at the present time very great diffi-
culty is felt in getting together an efficient ship's com-
pany by the means now employed. In consequence of
this state of things, which would be alarming and injuri-
ous if it were allowed to continue, the Commission made
certain recommendations on the subject, which have been
adopted by the Government, and were approved yester-
day by her Majesty.
The first point on which all the authorities consulted
were agreed is, that whatever measures are taken must
rely for success on the voluntary acceptance of them by
the seamen, and that any attempt to introduce a coer-
cive mode of enlistment would be followed by mis-
chievous consequences and failure. The mode, there-
fore, which could alone be resorted to consists in
rendering the naval service of the Crown more attractive
to the seafaring population, by rendering it ir ore per-
manent, by an increase of pay, by a large augmentation
of privileges and advantages to petty officers and war-
rant officers in .the Queen's ships, by opening officers'
commissions to petty officers who shall greatly distinguish
themselves, and by forming a permanent corps of trained
seamen in the receipt of pensions, but still available
after the expiration of the ordinary period of service. If
we are correctly informed, these measures will now
forthwith be carried into effect, and the seaman will at
once find in the new arrangements of the navy a degree
of security, accompanied with prospects of advancement
he has never before possessed. In the mere amount of
pay it will always be possible for the merchantman to
compete successfully with the man-of-war ; but that su-
perior class of men who are fitted to become petty offi-
cers, and even to rise higher, will find advantages in
the Queen's service which they can scarcely even meet
with in trading vessels ; and these rewards of good con-
duct, ability, and daring are precisely the grounds which
may fairly entitle the navy to the choice of the best
hands. It is proposed, in the first place, that the esta-
blishment of boys for the navy should be placed on a
permanent footing, and that they should be enlisted for
general service for a period of 10 years ; and this is, per-
haps, the most important condition of all, for lads per-
fectly trained in the duties of a man-of-war are not only
the best class of men in the navy, but they are generally
averse to seeking any other employment. Provision
will also be made for the enlistment of able-bodied
seamen of the first and second class for a period of 10
years, with some increase ofpay, and the seamennow serv-
ing in the fleet will be allowed to volunteer on these terms,
reckoning, of course, their actual period of service. Upon
the expiration of the term of enlistment they will
body of
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ra
joining pensionthe of 6d .
held available under certain conditions, and would be of
the utmost value in bringing a raw ship's company into
a smart and well-ordered condition on the occurrence of
any emergency. The condition of the petty officers will
be materially improved, with proportionate augmenta-
tions of pay, and it will be in the power of every well-
conducted seaman to aspire to this upper rank in the

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service.
These measures, fully carried out, will very extensively
and
changew e andare improve
convinced
the
that wthhoelree conditionis
not
a n ofee
etnheemniaatv
iyn,
the House of Commons, or a man in England, who will
grudge the comparatively small increase of expense re-
quired to support our maritime establishment on its
proper footing-. In fact, the training, education, and
character of the men are of even greater importance
than their numbers, and we trust that the first result of
the new system will be to put an end to the absurd prac-
tice of dispersing a body of seamen at the very moment
when they have attained the highest degree of efficiency.
Due regard must of course be had to the occasional
"fling" of independence which varies the life of a
sailor from the discipline of the service and the mo-
notony of the ocean. Nor can he be altogether de-
barred from the right of choosing the officer under
whom he intends to serve, which has more effect
than anything else in attaching men to particular
ships. But he will no longer be turned adrift when his St.
ship is paid off, and he will be able to look forward with 5
certainty to the beneficial results of ten years spent in St.
the prime of life, from 18 to 28, in the performance of 28?
his duty. The naval service of this country ought to be 3.5'
by far the most attractive and advantageous position to
which men brought up to a seafaring life can aspire. 6
The duty on board a Queen's ship, with her proper 6
complement of men, is of course much lighter than in
merchant vessels, with a very inferior allowance of 31
hands ; and the nation, in taking these men into its
service, contracts the obligation of systematically re- 5.
warding them for their exertions and never losing sight
of them in after life. The deficiency of men has been "2
felt, not because men have not entered the navy in suffi- 61
cient numbers, but because at the expiration of eompa- 10-
votively short terms of service they have left it, allured 20
by some prospect of high wages, for a voyage or two, or
foreign service, which has not permanently improved St.
their condition. Probably the knowledge that some 6
measures were in preparation, and the uncertainty as to
the extent of them, have contributed to induce the blue St.
jackets to hold off from the Queen's ships until they were 8
distinctly made aware of the terms on which they can
dispose of their services. But this uncertainty will no " •
doubt speedily be removed, for the whole plan will of 64
course be made known to the country and the navy at
the earliest possible time, and Sir James Graham may 50
justly lay claim to the merit of having carried the re-
commendations of the commission into effect with his St.
usual promptitude and vigour. 16
st.

STRIKE OF THE SAWYERS IN PORTSMOUTH
DOCKYARD.

;5 I 19

!O I 17

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n 11),
St. 100

On Thursday afternoon, in consequence of the sawyers
in this dockyard being told that they would be checked
a day's pay, they refused to proceed with their work at
half-past two, and returned to their homes. In the
evening they assembled at the Manchester Unity Arms,
Queen-street, for the purpose of considering the best
means to be adopted to remedy their grievances. It
was there stated that about six years ago a new system
was brought into operation with respect to the sawyers ;
the work was to be measured, and a certain quantity of
work was to be done before they were paid for it. For
four or five weeks after that nothing was said about
checking them, but at the end of that time some were
checked 35., some 55., and some more. They then, by
dint of hard work, contrived to keep themselves from
being checked ; but the work, as was stated there, " was ;
worse than slavery in America." They were hardly
able to sit down or stand up on returning home from
their day's labour. So it had continued until a short
time ago, when Government, or the dockyard officers,'
considered that a sufficient quantity of work was done
for the pay received (18s. and 21s. a-week), and a new
system was again brought forward, which involved on it
the men about one-fifth more labour to obtain the 8
same amount of wages. This had been carried 10
on for some months, and they had threatened to
check them many times. They appealed to the officers 10
over them, and others, but could obtain no redress. 25
Some little time ago (in September or October last) a de- 10
putation waited en the master shipwright, and presented 1.04
a petition to him signed by the whole body. When they
20
went to him he asked them their business ; they told 6.
him. "Oh (he is reported to have said), the sawyers St.
can earn their money if they like ; they do it at the
other yards." The deputation then stated that at the 17
other yards they had the new work, whilst here it was 25
job work. He then said that the work was only one-
tenth more, or about 2s a week less ; but one of the de-
putation present told him he had been checked 68., and
they came away with the answer that he would " see
their master about it." So the matter stopped until 10
Thursday, when they went round that afternoon and told 5
stopped work for a week;; 5
20
them they were checked so much money, some 3s. 4d.
the pair of men ; they then struck work. The timber 20
iffifertheneyce to him." After this had 20
master went along and saw them btopping from their T:0)
work :he asked the reason of it, and on being told, he 20
isaid,tdd"nhoet didmake
akneoat
any difference
been stated to the meeting, it was agreed that after they 20,1
broke up a committee of six .should be formed to draw
up a petition to present to the Admiral Superintendent 5
yesterday morning, and that they should resume their
duties yesterday morning as usual. It was also stated
that the men in the other yards had made the same com-
plaints.—Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette.

LOST TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGE.—On Saturday last a
man named Archibald Gemmill, who follows the occu-
pation of assistant or "concurrent" to the town's
officers, was charged at the police court with breach of
trust or embezzlement, in neglecting to deliver a tele-
graphic message sent from London on Saturday, the
12th ultimo, and addressed to a gentleman filling an
important public office in the city. From the evidence
and defence, it appeared that the man had been duly en-
trusted with the message, which had been properly sent
from the telegraph office, but, while executing some
other messages, he lost it. Gemmill troubled his head
no further about the matter, trusting that somebody
would pick up the document, and deliver it, or put it
into the Post-office. The case was continued. This
telegraphic document was, we believe, of a highly-
important character ; it required the attendance of per-
sons and the transmission of papers to London by the
ensuing Monday, to be used in a civil cause then to be
decided in the House of Lords. The judgment was
eventually adverse to the parties concerned in the mes-
sage, but what effect the dispatch might have had, had
it been acted upon, We have 110 means of knowing.—
Glasgow Licrakb.