The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-14 00:00:00

TO SUN, LONDON, SAT ITIWA , JANUARY 4, 187

PROFESSOR ROGERS ON POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS.
On Thursday evening, Professor Rogers delivered an
address on the Political Institutions of England, at the
Co-operative Hall, King-street, Oldham, in connection
with the local Liberal Registration Association.
Professor Rogers, after referring to the monarchy in
England which, he said, indicating to a great extent,
something of that social order absolutely necessary for
the political and social progress of the people, was, so
far as England was coacerned, an admirable example,
spoke of monarchies abroad. There it was a very dif-
ferent business. In Syria there were those who did not
worship God because He conferred upon them so many
benefits, but rather worshipped the devil for the opposite
reason. Those who worshipped kings in some
countries on the Continent seemed to act upon
the same principle. Theta could be no doubt
that the greatest hideous war was to be traced
absolutely and entirely to the ambition of two kings.
There was no reason to believe that either the German or
the French husbandman or handicraftsman wanted to
bother himself for a single instant about Alsace and Lor-
raine. Two monarchs, surrounped by politicians who
had everything to gain out of the loss of their neighbours,
had forced the two nations to enter into the
awful struggle, and had developed passions which
it would take centuries to eradicate, whilst doing
their best to turn the fairest portions of the
Continent of Europe into a scene over which
angels and men wept, and only devils could rejoice at.
So far as concerned the legislation of England, the theory
of the House of Lords was simply preposterous. It was
ridiculous to imagine that the legislation of a country should
be handed down into the hands of some men simply
because their fathers had been in the same position. A
great many members of the House of Lords were, so far
as their ancestors were concerned, originally ennobled for
the very lowest possible vice. And it was to these
persons that the making of the laws governing and
controlling the existence of people in England was con-
signed. Although no constitution-monger, he should like
to see some men sent into the House of Lords who were
selected by the people of the country. He should like to
see all men holding the office of privy councillor entitled
to a seat in the House of Lords ; and gentlemen who had
been honoured with the confidence of their constituencies
for periods, say from seven to fourteen years. In that
case there would really be a House of Lords ; but in the
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ballot, and he believed that the present Administration
would make an attempt to extend voting by ballot to
all systems of election in the country. He was further of
opinion that one pledge made by the present Government
if its existence were continued for any length of time was
for the reconsideration of the subject of the redistribution
of seats. In the whole history of English Government
there had been no Government that had done so much
within two years as that of Mr. Gladstone ; and the Con-
servative party, no doubt, would have given their ears,
or a part of them, if they could have accomplished one-
tenth part of it. There was the Irish land question,
for instance—and if English landowners did not consider
the clauses of the Act they would be exceedingly stupid,
admitting a prodigious principle, the magnitude of which
was incalculable, and the significance equally so. Because
England possessed a strong Government she had been able
to accomplish measures and solve a problem which had
agitated the minds of Governments for hundreds of
years—the pacification of Ireland. After comparing
the military armaments and proportionate expense of
England with other countries, Professor Rogers said
that it was perfectly clear there was an enormous
expense with very unsatisfactory results ; that the army
was after all a mere toy for the rich and great to play with.
He expressed an earnest hope that when the members of
Parliament returned to the House of Commons they would
not consent to give a single sixpence of money for the
army until a commission had been appointed by Govern-
ment to inquire into its present condition. Referring
in the course of his address to recent speeches made
by Lord Derby, he said that -he had been delighted to
read them ; and how his lordship could belong to the
party to which it was said he had attached himself
he could not imagine. If Lord Derby was a member
of the Conservative party, he was certainly hold-
ing with the hare and running with the hounds.
Continuing his remarks upon the armament of England,
he said he did not believe that there was a peace at any
price party in England ; and he for one thought that they
were far removed from the time when they should be
enabled to abandon what he might call the necessary de-
fences of the country. He wished to see in every harbour
a strong gunboat, armed with the weapons and capable of
acting as a floating fort.
Mr. Platt. M.P., afterwards addressed the meeting.

THE WAIL

THE BOMBARDMENT OF PARIS,

(BY BALLOON MAIL. -FROM THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
OF THE " CENTRAL PRESS.")

PARIS, 3rd January.

Victor Hugo has received a letter frbm Louis Blanc, in
which the latter declares that the defence of Paris is no
longer a question of patriotism, but of necessity. If the
Prussians enter the city all communications with the
Provinces will be entirely cut off, but the capi-
tulation of the capital will not be the end of
the war. The defence is, in fact, the great question of the
day, and the general opinion is decidedly in favour of an
energetic attempt to raise the blockade. There is no lack
of courage or resolution, though the people suffer
much from the cold and from want of goo 4
food. On New Yeks's Day a distribution of
beef and other articles was announced by
way of celebrating the popular festival, but the eager
expectants after waiting in the cold for hours only ob-
tained a quarter of a pound of dried beans and two small
tablets of chocolate. A council of war has been held to
consider the best means of defence. Trochu presided, and
the officers commanding the three armies, the Admiral
commanding the forts, and the officers commanding the
Artillery and the Engineers were present. The perpetual
complaints of the want of vigorous action which one hears
on all sides cannot be very agreeable to the military
authorities. The false news so continually set afloat adds
materially to the difficulties of the time. Yesterday the
Journal Officiel announced that the report current a few
days since of 80,000 French troops being at Creil, was
altogether without foundation, and the soldier who made
the report is in the hands of justice. The Government
has been without news from the provinces since the 14th
of December.

The Barricade Commission has issued a proclamation on
Saturday, calling on every family to provide two earth-
bags 70 centimetres in length by 35 in width. They will
be supplied at 65 centimes for those citizens who do
not wish to make them themselves. These sacks,
together with paving stones, will cover in a
few hours Paris with barricades, or repair breaches. The
Barricade Commission declare that it is composed of
men determined to defend Paris inch by inch, and to
never surrender to the enemy this citadel of right and
Republican liberty. Henri Rochfort is President of the
Commission.
The bombardment still goes on vigorously, and has
been especially directed against Forts Nogent and
Rosny. Many shells, which burst in the air, were
intended for the village of Nogent. Six hundred
shells fell yesterday in that fort alone, but
no damage was done to the fort, and only one man was
slightly wounded. Great vigilance is exercised, as it is
certain information is carried to the enemy.
It is said that thirty-seven persons had been arrested
during the last few days while attempting to convey
newspapers to the Prussian lines. This morning
a soldier of the Marines, named Welter,
was captured by an advanced post when crossing
to the enemy. He was tried by court martial
and shot immediately afterwards. The m )st stringent
orders haye been issued to arrest all persons attempting to
pass the lines, and if need be to fire on them should they
not stop when first called on to do so.

Ova Ism GLOVES.—We are informed by our
largest importers of kid gloves that there is really no
ground for any rise in the price of these articles on
account of the war, as retail dealers sometimes pretend.
No gloves are made in Rouen or Orleans, and Grenoble
and the district round it, where they are made, has not
been interfered with. !Moreover, Austria, Prussia,
Saxony, Bohemia, Denmark, and other parts of the Con-
tinent contribute largely to the demands both of this
country and America.—Pall Mall Gazette.
THE TRAMWAY COMPANY.—Two men in the
employ of the Tramway Company having lately been con-
victed at one of the metropolitan police courts of over-
turning a cab. The director and solicitor of the tramway in I
question waited on the magistrate to make an
explanation. It was contrary to the wishes of the company
they said that any vehicle, public or private, should be
interfered with by their men, and they had affixed notices
to every car, stating that as it had been decided the
tramway cars came under the Stage Carriage Act, the
drivers and servants of the company must comply with
the terms of the Act on pain of dismissal. It was a
matter of importance to the company that the real state
of the case should be known, and the two men who had
been convicted of overturning the cab had been dis-
charged. The company were anxious to have the tram-
way cars worked under the Act which provided a whole-
some check on drivers and Conductors, and any man who
infringed it would be liable to instant dismissal. Several
magistrates have given their adhesion to the decision that
tramway cars came within the meaning of omnibuses and
stage carriages.

January 4,

January 5

SUICIDE BY A GENTLEMAN AT TONBRIDGE.
WELLS.—An inquest has teen held at Rusthall, New
Town, near Tonbridge Wells, on the body of a gentleman
named James Peel Robinson, who was supposed to have
committed suicide by poisoning himself. The deceased,
who was a retired merchant, and aged fifty-two years, had
been for some time past visiting Mrs. J. Bowman, his
sister, wife of a gentleman residing at Rusthall. During
the past month or two he had been noticed to be in a
very low and desponding state, but had not been heard
at any time to say anything that would lead any one 'to
suppose that he contemplated committing suicide. On
Tuesday last he was discovered dead in a shed in the
garden, and it was found that he had poisoned himself,
apparently with strychnine. Some papers were discovered
which had been the covering of a sixpenny packet of
Battle's vermin killer, which contained a certain quantity
of strychnine. Dr. Johnson, a practitioner of Tonbridge
Wells, said he had known the deceased for some time
past, and considered he was n suffeng from hypochondria,
consequent on the state of his health, and an operation he
had recently undergone. The jury returned a verdict to
the effect that the deceased poisoned himself when in an
unsound state of mind.

PAWNBROKERS IN BIRMINGHAM. - Strangers
visiting Birmingham have occasionally been struck with
the comparatively large number of shops to be seen in
the principal streets with the familiar trio of golden balls
suspended above the doorway. Whether for good or ill we
cannot say—probably something of both—the capital of
the Midlands certainly boasts more pawnbroking establish-
ments in proportion to the population than any other
town in the provinces. Birmingham, with a. population
of 378,574, has 218 kind-hearted " uncles " ready to assist
with loans, on the security of deposited pledges, any num-
ber of necessitous nephews or nieces who may honour
them with their confidence. Liverpool, with a total
population of 526,225 persons, has. only 189 pawnshops,
and many of our large manufacturing towns—if we ex-
cept Manchester end Birmingham—have a much smaller
proportion of licensed pawnbrokers. It would ssem
from an official inquiry recently ordered by a
Select Committee of the House of Commons, with a
view to legislation affecting the pawnbroking trades, that
more than five-sixths of the whole 2,954 licensed pawn-
brokers in England are resident in cities or boroughs. The
reason for this seeming preponderance of pawnbrokers in
Birmingham is not far to seek. The business of making
advances on pledges to persons of slender means is here
pretty much cut up and divided.. whereas in Liverpool
and some other principal towns, the(trade is concentrated
in fewer hands, with the advantage of more ample capital
and larger shops.—Birraingham, Gazette.

BREAKFAST.—EPPS'S COCOA.--GRATEFUL AND !(..70M-
FOUTING.—The very agreeable character of this preparationhas
rendered it ageneral favourite. The Civil Service Gazette re
marks :—" By a thorough knowledge of the natural laws which
govern the operations of digestion and nutrition, and by a
careful application of the fine properties of well-selected cocoa,
Mr. Epps has provided our breakfast tables with a delicately
flavoured beverage which may save us many heavy doctors'
bills. Each packet is labelled—JAMES EPPS & Co., Homoeo-
pathic Chemists, London. Also, makers of Epps's Caeabine, a
very thin evening beverage. —Advt.

There was great expectation when the Journa
Officiel came out this morning, as it wa,s
expected it would contain extracts of the news-
papers which were -yesterday taken from Prussian
prisoners—a grand and welcome prize. However, these
expectations were disappointed. The Officiel did not
say a word of the matter, but the Gaulois and other
papers gave copious extracts, which grew that all
France is rising. This has given great encouragement
The general feeling is good. Even the Remit publishes an
article by M. Delesoluze exhorting the people to calmness
and declaring that agitators should they present them-
selves will find no supporters. Paris is determined to hold
out, that is evident, and is well able to do so at present.
The elephant of the Jardin d'Acclimation has been killed,
and the rhinosceros will probably share the same fate, but
this is not on account of lack of food but to avoid the
immense daily rations of the animals. The population of
Paris, according to returns first made, comprising the
refugees, but not calculating the army, the Garde Mobile,
or the sailors, is 2,005,709. Great efforts are being
made for the relief of the poorer classes. The
Mayor of Paris has addressed a letter to the
mayors of the twenty arrondisements, informing them
that a credit of one hundred thousand francs has been
opened for the gratuitous withdrawal of articles in pawn
—namely, linen and clothes pledged for sums of ten
francs and under, or bedding (mattrasses, sheets, blankets)
up to sixteen francs. Care should be taken in the selection
of cases, as recent experience has proved that this kind of
charitable donation, announced in advance, has been
greatly abused. All new merchandise and all cases of
pawning which appear to have been the object of trade
will be refused.
The Government has decreed that a fresh delay of three
months shall be accorded to tenants unable
rto pay their
quarter's rent, due Ist January, and preceding quarters.
M. Alphonse de Rothschild has placed tickets for gloves,
stockings, waistbelts, petticoats, &c., to the amount of
200,000 francs, at the disposal of the town. The tickets
are to be divided among the different arrondissements
according to the number of the necessitous poor.
An additional provisional credit of 20,000,000 francs is
opened for the Minister of the Interior on the extraordi-
nary budget for 1871 to meet the expenses of the National
Guard. It appears to be decided that the 'troops of the
line, the Mobile and the National Guard shall fight
side by side in groups composed of a battalion of each
The men are under orders to march at a moment's notice,
and everything is in readiness for a grand attack, which is
not expected to take place before the 10th ; but the exact
moment will this time be carefully kept secret. It is
generally believed that the bombardment, yvhich is still
vigorously kept up, is intended to prevent the besieged
from hearing the guns of the advancing armies of Chanzy
and Faidherbe. •

The Prussian projectiles have at last reached the town.
Several shells have fallen to-day within the walls of Paris.
Two of them burst this afternoon in the cemetery of
Mont Parnasse, and some others fell about the same time
in the market place of Montrouge. The people, however,
are tranquil, and exhibit nothing of the supposed French
tendency to panic. More than twelve hundredlthells fell
into Fort Nogent yesterday, but no damage of any conse-
quence was done. This morning the enemy began bom-
barding the forts of Montrouge, Vanvres, and Issy. His
batteries are placed on the heights of Chatilloni but
two thousand three hundred metres separate
the southern forts from the Prussian batteries.
The cannonading throughout the day has been incessant.
The new battalions of National Guard are to be mobilised
and married and unmarried men from 20 to 45 will be
taken. These are for the reserve battalions, which will
make about 100,000 men. It cannot be too clearly under-
stood with regard to the defence that the bombardment
is not likely to have any effect on the surrender of Paris.
The assertion that Mont Valerien has been silenced is a
pure invention and has only created amusement. Mont
Valbrien is one of the strongest places in France,
and so far from being silenced, it is not worth
its while to speak. When the French forts do not fire;
the Prussians cry out directly that they are silenced,
whereas the fact is that very often the forts do not
fire according to pre-arrangement.
-

Unfortunately the unfavourable accounts of the public
health have more foundation. The death-rats is very high,
though there is no actual epidemic—except war ! The cold
weather has had a good deal to do with the increasing
number of deaths, as well as the fatalities of the recent
skirmishes. The Prussian batteries are ceaselessly at work
but it is surprising how little mischief they do. The
southern forts which have been the recipients of a terrible
fire, have only had nine killed and 40 wounded. At
Auteuil and Point•du-Jour there have been some few
casualties in the streets, but their number is not great.

January 8.

Trochu has issued a proclamation declaring that "The
Governor of Paris will not capitulate," in answer to
an affiche which was put up by the Reds, denouncing the
Government. It is only fair to Pyat, Delescluze,
and Ledru Rollin to add that their names were not ap-
pended to the document. It was intended to have
supplemented it by another placard declaring that
Favre and Troche, had resigned. This was, of
course, with the intention of producing a distur-
bance, but happily the scheme has altogether failed,
and the population are resolute in supporting the Govern-
ment unflinchingly, though they clamour for action.
Some National Guards arrested of their own ac-
cord some speakers in the clubs, who were trying
to get up an outbreak in favour of the Com-
mune. Four of the signatories of the Red placard
have been arrested, but they are regarded with a, mixture
of indifference and contempt, which is more satisfactory
to the public interests than flattering to their self-esteem.
M. Deleschuze, who took no part in the affair, has resigned
his post as mayor of the nineteenth arrondissement on
account of the commune question. He is still editor of