The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, JANTIARY 30, 1871.

formidable had to be added. The army.
was in a still more deplorable condition. It
consisted entirely of fugitives from disastrous battle-
fields, raw Mobiles, and National Guards who for the
most part had never fired a shot in their lives. The
first battle ended in a disgraceful stampe le. Yet
out of • this heterogeneous mass was formed
an army of half a million men, who fought
so well in recent sorties that better leadership might
have ensured success. ,This want--,—a general of the
first or for—was the great want of the siege. The
Ministers governed the city wisely, the
commander organised his forces with skill
and patience, the troops displayed readiness and
aptitude, the people bore hunger, cold, the storm of
shells, the hope deferred that maketh the heart sick.
But no general arose equal to the occasion. To
guide an army six figures strong requires military
genius of the first clas3, and the right man never
appeared in Paris. Had this one requisite
been forthcoming, the siege of Paris Might have
ended for the Germans in much the same way as the
occupation of Moscow sixty years ago ended for the
French.

IT now clearly becomes the duty of the French
Ministers to convene a National Assembly so that
the nation may pronounce upon its own destinies.
With those who urge that this course should have
been talcen sooner, we firmly disagree ; but the
arguments which the Provisional Government justly
thought conclusive during the siege, no longer apply.
Nothing could have been more prejudicial to the
cause of.- defence than an election contest in the
midst of a critical campaign. Such a contest, decid-

ing as it would the future government of the cow
try, as well as the question of peace or war, wou
have given rise to the most intense excitement, and
must have fatally diverted the attention of the people
from the great end in view. A general election during
the siege would have meant the fall of the capital with
scarcely an effort for its release. If the Ministry
thought that a hope of success remained they were
justified in going on. Cut and dried rules do not
provide for a hostile invasion of 700,000 men. The
Government has one argument in their favour,
which is in itself a sufficient answer to all
the reasoning on the other side. The country
was with them. In Paris a vote of ten to one pro-
nounced in favour of the Defence Ministry. In the
provinces, the taxpayer and the levies responded to
M. GAMBETTA'S call, though there was no
force at his command to compel them.
Surely the nation could make no more decisive ex-
pression of its will by its words than it has made by
its deeds. The need for haste, however, has passed
away. If the war goes on, the longer the French
delay the better chance they will have. Rapidity
was the ono thing needful during the siege;
now it is leisure. A National Assembly
might now be called without prejudice to the work
of defence. Nor is there is any special reason, if the
Government object to it, why the elections should
take place in those districts occupied by the Ger-
mans. The . call for peace, or the resolve upon
further war, will not be a party question ; the deci-
sioe of the country will, in all probability, be
well-nigh unanimous, and there can be no difficulty
in judging of the general wish by the declaration of
the three-fourths or four-fifths of the people who
are not under German domination. Respecting the
decisicn we neither prophecy nor advise.
Those writers who are continually advis-
ing France to yield, yield, yield, may
do well to consider what we in England should do if
a claim were made upon us for Cornwall, Devon,
Hampshire, and Dorset, which is rightly estimated
as the proportionate equivalent of Alsace and
German " Lorraine.

enc 3 between the highest and the lowest tender, for
the former was for £68,347, and the latter for £36,755
—a divergency of nearly £32,000. As both these
firms are well known as established contractors,
there is considerable astonishment cause" at
so great a difference existing; what is the reason ?
Surely there must be a mistake somewhere. It would
be interesting if the two parties were to make an
analysis of their estimates. £32,000 looks to
outsiders a large sum to pay for putting in the foun-
dations, even of so extensive a building as the New
Law Courts must necessarily be ; but when there is
just that difference between one contract and
another,the general public, who are naturally inquisi-
tive, want to know the reason why.

THE NEW STAMP ACT.
The Economist remarks that grave dissatisfaction
exists at the unexpected changes effected by the
new Stamp Act, and considers that the remedy for
them should be at once discussed. The principal
difficulty is the new tax on the negotiation
and payment of interest on certain foreign
securities, which is practically a new tax,
and affects great sums of money. The law says that
every person who in the United Kingdom nego-
tiates or pays any interest on any foreign security
not being duly stamped, shall forfeit the sum of
220." But in practice, as the coupon which repre-
sents the bond is presented alone, the person who
pays the interest has no means of knowing whether
the bond itself, which may not be in this country,
is stamped or not. All this trade would be stopped
if the buyer of coupons had to assure himself that
the bond was duly stamped. Then it.is urged that
this impost is retrospective, and, therefore, unjust;
that there is a difficulty in the stamping of these
foreign bonds; and that this tax on the
import of foreign bonds is injurious to English
interests. Since England, as Mr. Goschen ob-
served, is the monetary clearing hoitse of the world,
everything which impedes the settlement of foreign
balances in this country, and tends to drive that
settlement to some unencumbered money market
abroad, gives the dealers in that market a profit at
the expense of ours. Exchange busii.ess is one of.
the finest calculation, and what would be thought a
trifling change in most kin.ls of trade, becomes in
certain states of the market influential and vital.
THE PRIVY COUNCIL AND SMALLPDX.
A circular has been issued to the Vestries of the
Metropolitan Boards of Guardians by the Medical
Department of the Privy Council Office, respecting the
measures they should take in reference to the epi-
demic of smallpox. Vaccination is the main resource,
and the extension of the disease must b 3 attributed
to its neglect, yet it must be remembered that small-
pox is one of the most infectious of diseases, and
each new case becomes a great centre of public
danger. The isolation of those affected is, therefore,
highly important, and all perssns who cannot be so
isolated in their lodgings should be at once removel
to special hospitals. The Vestries have power
to provide any accommodation requisite for such
cases, whether destitute or not. All houses, rooms,
and things infected should be disinfected as soon as
possible, and it is desirable this should be done under
official superintendence. Daily returns of the small-
pox cases in the district should be made to the vestry;
and all information respecting unvaccinate childdren
should be at once communicated to the guardians.
An inspector from the Privy Council will visit each
vestry, and give any further advice or assistance that
may be necessary.
THE WORK OF PLAY.

The career of W. Cook, the celebrated billiard I
player, must convince the most sceptical that there •
is no royal road to success in games of pleasure.
Those who take them up professionally,
must apply themselves .with the same assiduity
and use the same exertion as if they were
following a trade or ordinary business. During the
course of last year Mr. Cook travelled some thou-
sands of miles in carrying out his engagements, and
played as many as 184 matches, of which ho won
138. Most of these matches were for
a thousand, and the average number scored
by- so successful a player must have_ been
eight hundred. faking three as the average
number noted at a str• dte it follows that he
must have made fifty thousand hazards and cannons
in public during the year, besides those scored in
practice. He made eight thousand of these in March
when he played in public on twenty-five days. A
fortnight ago he made the marvellous score of seven
hundred and fifty, which was unparallelled
in the annals of the game. John Roberts, who bad
distanced all comers for a quarter of a century, lost
the championship match with Cook, and 33 out of
-37 other matches -he played with him. Among
Cook's other opponents were Roberts junior, with
whom he won 32 matches out of 44, and Bennett,
the present champion, whom he beat 28 times out of
42. The other opponentS are all considerably inferior
to him.

BETTING, SWINDLERS.
There are certain men connected with the turf
who never appear to be happy unless they are
endeavouring to " do" unless
the
They
possess an equally ungovernable desire to " welsh"
the general public and members of their own frater-
nity. They manifest a peculiar talent for swindling
railway companies out of their fares, and appear to
be equally well pleased whether the sum they thus
save is large or small. At the Finchley Steeplechases
last year, no sooner had the train arrived at
the station, than, banding themselves together,
they charged the officials, pushed them aside,
and passed through the gates without shewing
tickets. But at the races held last week the com-
pany, warned by experience, had all tickets collected
at the station before Finchley, and mustered a strong
three of porters to enforce the collection. A sharp
search was made ibr " stowaways," and the would-be
s!arpers who had no tickets were obliged to part
with their specie, or, in the event of their ha,viig
neither tickets or specie, to leave lehind them
articles equal in value to their fare. Of course the
train was delayed in consequence of this vigorous
arch being made, and it was not permitted to pro-
ceed to Finchley until every nook and corner had
been thoroughly examined.