The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-03 00:00:00

THE ADMIRALTY FRAUDS,

In the case of the steward of the Agincourt, the sen-
itence passed yesterday by the court-martial assembled on
board the Wellington is, that Mr. Harkeden be sentenced
to six months' imprisonment and then dismissed her
Majesty's service.

THE ATLANTIC STEAM PACKET SERVICE
A telegram has been received in Plymouth from New
York, announcing the re-establishment of the Hamburg-
American Line of Mail Steamers, which ceased in con-
sequence of hostilities. The. Holsatia, the finest of the
company's steamers, was to have left New York on
Thursday with the United States mails, and is due at
Plymouth on the 12th inst.

REPORT OF THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE

RAILWAY COMPANY.
The directors of the North Staffordshire Railway Com-
pany, in their report, said that there is a steady
increase in the receipts, they being for the half year
£141,744, against £128,140 in 1869. The passenger depart-
ment has yielded £66,348 against £58,735; goods and
cattle £62,175 against £60,471. The net revenue account
leaves a balance of £97,128, which, after meeting dividend
on preference stock, enables the directors to recommend
a dividend on the ordinary stock at the rate
of 3 per cent. per annum, carrying forward £1,301. The
report closes with an expression of regret, at a recent
movement for amalgamation with one of the large com-
panies, commanded by some Manchester shareholders.
The directors disapprove of the movement, and declare
their property to be improving, and more secure than ever
it was.

HEARTS OF OAK BENEFIT SOCIETY.—The official
aud;tor'd report on the financial operations of this society
for the year 1870 has just appeared, and it seems to indi-
cate that the past year has been most successful. The
society began the year with 18,369 members, and finished
it with 21,450. During the year no less than 4,307 wen
members were admitted. The income for the year was
.240,751 Bs. Od., against £34,764 7s. 3d. in 1869. The
amount received was appropriated as follows :—£31,184
3s. 4d. was paid for sickness, funerals, and other benefits;
£B5O 7s. 10d. was spent in postage, reports, &c. ; £1,957
13s. 11d. was the cost of management; and the remainder,
or £6,759 2s. 11d. was added to the reserve fund, which
now amounts to upwards of £67,000. The cost of manage-
ment was only £4 16s. per cent. upon the gross income,
and it was entirely covered by the fines ; thus leaving the
whole of the ordinary contributions available for the satis-
faction of claims and for the augmentation of the reserve
fund.

THE MURDER NEAR BURTON-ON-TRENT.—At the
Burton-on-Trent Police-court, before Messrs. Lyon, Tom-
linson, Worthington, and Wood, Edward Beech, a black-
smith, was charged with the wilful murder of his son,
Frederick Beech, a child 14 months old, on the 26th of
January. The prisoner was a blacksmith at Barton-
under-Needwood, and had a wife and five children. On
Thursday morning last, after shoeing some horses, he took
a hatchet, went into the house, and split open the head of
the deceased, who was in the care of an elder sister. He
left the house immediately, but stated to a neighbour, who
asked him what was the matter, that hc had killed his child,
and he made a similar statement to Police-constable
Wheaver when arrested, as he was on his way to Burton
to give himself into custody. The deceased was taken by
his mother to Mr. Webb's surgery, nearly opposite to
the prisoner's hoase, but the child died immediately, the
skull having been fractured by the blow. The brains
protruded through the wound. The prisoner ap-
peared in a very dejected state during the hearing of
the case, and since he has been in custody he has been
kept under astrict watch, as there is reason to believe hel
is not perfectly sane. He was fully committed for trial
on the capital charge at the Stafford assizes.

M R.

OF THE SUPPLIES.

Considerable difficulties and some delay have taken
place in the transit of the supplies for the relief of Paris,
sent out by the Mansion House committee. Colonel
Stuart Wortley and Mr. Moore, who went out on Tuesday
for the purpose of superintending the distribution of pro-
visions, telegraphed on Wednesday that all the packages
had been siezed at Dieppe by the authorities there,
who refused to allow them to proceed. The committee
in London at once communicated with Earl Granville
and the representatives of France and Prussia here, and
a despatch was forwarded to Dieppe, requesting that the
goods might be forwarded without delay. This appears
to have had the desired effect, for on Thursday morning
another telegram was received at the Mansion-house
stating that the provisions were being rapidly sent on,
but that the committee's representatives would not at pre-
sent be allowed to go beyond Rouen. Since the capitula-
tion, funds have come in rapidly, and the total has been
raised to about £14,000, independent of the Telegraph
fund. Among the sums received on Thursday was £l,OOO
from the Bank of England.

We are requested to state that in conkequenee of
the meeting of the Conference, which is fixed for
this day (Friday), at one o'clock, the reception rooms at
the Foreign Office will be closed to the public during the
day.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—One Shilling Day.—Thurs-
day, February 2, 1871.—The admissions by season tickets
were 1,688 ; ditto on payment, 1,475 ; total visitors,
3,163.

The total number of messages forwarded from
postal telegraph stations in the United Kingdom during
the week ending January 28th was 183,583, shewing an
increase on the previous week of 13,557.
THE COLD IN CANADA.—The Toronto Globe states
that the thermometer at Quebec marked 22 deg. below
zero on the 10th of January, and 37 deg. below zero at
Father Point on the 9th of January.
Speaking at a meeting in Manchester on Wednes-
day night, Mr. Jacob Bright. M.P., said he intended to
vote for the dowry to the Princess Louise. He could not
agree with men who strained at gnats and swallowed
camels.
There is a rumour that Viscount Burke is about
to resign the representation of the county of Galway.
The Feeeman's Journal gives the names of various com-
petitors for the supposed vacancy—the Hon. Gerald
Dillon, the Hon. F. French, C. Redington, George
Morris, and Mr. Henry; all except the last Liberals of
various shades.
The authorities at Devonport late on Tuesday,
night received instructions from head-quarters to commis-
sion the Tyrian gunboat for immediate service. Within
twenty-four hours the order was complied with, and she is
now lying at Plymouth, ready manned, provisioned,
armed, and supplied with ammunition, and ready to sail.
Had it been necessary she could have got away to Havre
on Wednesday night.
THE CANADIAN FISHERY QUESTION.--Mr. John
Rose has been arranging the terms of an agreement on
the fishery question at Washington, and returns to Eng-
land with thineral Schenck, who was to leave New York
last Wednesday, February 1. The instructions for the
new American Minister on he fishery question are said to
embody a proposal for ceding- equal rights to American
fishermen to fish in Ca, ,3 l•an waters, to land and cure
fish on the soil of the l) ',in ion, and to refit in its ports.
This would abrogate the contested treaty stipulations on
'le subject, and at once repeal the Canadian fishery
The United States are to pay a fair equivalent in
money for a concession which will remove all cause of
irritation between the Dominion and the itepulilic.
Anglo-America n Times,

laws.

OUR HOSPITALITY.-MORE SHARP PRACTICE.-
A correspondent writes to a contemporary :—" May I be
allowed to appeal to you upon a question of equity ? I
am a foreigner, living with my wife in lodgings by the
week, until we can go back to our home in Paris. I have
brought over a couple of horses that I saved from being
eaten. Owning no property in England, not being a British
subject, and merely passing through London, as it were, I
was very much astonished to find myself summoned
to pay taxes on my coachman, my two horses, and my
wife's little dog for a whole twelvemonth. I think I should
have been justified in taking no notice of the summons,
but in an evil moment I laid my case before an acquain-
tance who occupies a high official position. He was
immensely delighted at the sharp practice of the Inland
Revenue officials, who had ferreted me out just three weeks
after my arrival in town, and could not at all understand
that I rather objected to be taxed in two places at a time.
He added, that of course I could avoid paying, seeming to
intimate, however, that such a thing was never done. So
I paid, but felt, nevertheless, the meanness of the proceed-
ing. It is the first time that I have heard of foreigners
passing through a country where they have sought tem-
porary protection being made to pay taxes, and that for a
whole year."

M. PINARD'S ARREST.—It will be remembered
that M. Pinard, one of the Cabinet Ministers of the
Empire, was arrested a short time since, in the south of
France. He has now written a long letter to the Decen-
tralisation of Lyons, recounting the particulars of his
arrest and imprisonment. He was accused of having
distributed the new journal, the Drapeau, recently started
in Belgium, to further the scheme of a Bonapartist
restoration, and his sojourn at Autun (where he was
arrested) was looked upon with great suspicion, M.
Pinard denied that he had even seen any copies of the
I)rapeau, while he accounted for his stay at Autun by
saying the Paris Government object to the presence of too
many ex-deputies in the capital after the dissolution of
the Chamber, while it was too painful for him to leave
France while invaded, and Autun was his native city.
He was detained in prison for several days, and rigorously
secluded, without knowing at whose instance he was
arrested, or before what tribunal he was to be brought.
He was set at liberty after eleven days, his statements
having been verified ; but can obtain no redress for his
imprisonment, anxiety, or for theslur thus cast upon him,
and he complains bitterly that suchf'irresponsible arrests
should be possible.

THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION.—TIIO force sent
to the Red River for the purpose of crushing out rebellion
there had to advance from its point of disembarkation
more than 600 miles through a wilderness of water,
rocks, and forests, where no supplies were to be
bad, and where every pound-weight of provi-
sions and stores had to be transported for miles
on the backs of the soldiers. Happily its ob-
ject was accomplished. as in the expedition to Abyssinia,
without any loss of life. By the careful administration of
General Lindsay, and the officers he had selected to carry
out his orders, the total expense of the whole expedition
was under £lOO,OOO, one quarter of which only is to be paid
by England. There was no reckless waste either in material
or in money. Such a careful economy was exercised in its orga-
nisation, and in administering to its subsequent wants, that
it maybe safely asserted that nosuch distance has ever been
traversed bran efficient brigade numbering about 1,400
souls in any of our numerous little wars at such a trifling
cost. The English flag had been pulled down, and the
standard of rebellion bad been raised at Fort Garry.
A man loyal to his Queen had been murdered, loyalty
having been his crime. Men were imprisoned an d
robbed without even the mockery of a trial. The
perpetrators of these crimes believed that the wilder-
ness which separated them from civilisation would secure
them from punishment ; but the manner in which our
expedition performed its allotted task proved that no dis-
tance or intervening obstacles can afford protection to
those who outrage our laws. The province of Manito-
bah, relieved from the oppression which Riel had
established, has a great future before it. Notwithstand-

ing the severity of long winter, nature has been so
bountiful to it in the fertility of its soil, that it only wants
a population and railway connection with the sea coast
to make it at no distant . period the granary for our em-
pire. —Blackwood's Magazine.

THE SUN LONDON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1871

THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY.
(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.)
The First Lord of the Admiralty arrived at Plymouth
last night in the Black Eagle. He embarks to-day on
board the Enchantress, and will proceed either to Algiers
or Madeira. Mr. Childers appears to be in a very weak
state of health.

PROCLAMATION OF M. GAMBETTA

BORDEAUX, February 1.
The following proclamation of M. Gambetta, dated the
31st ult., has been pnblished :
" Citizens,—The foreigner has inflicted upon France
the most cruel injury which she has had to suffer in this
accursed war, in the unmeasured chastisement of the errors
and weaknesses of a great people. Paris the impregnable,
forced and vanquished by famine, could no longer hold
in check the German hordes. On the 28th January
she succumbed. The city remains still intact, as a last
homage which has been wrested by the power of moral
grandeur from the barbarians. The forts alone have been
surrendered to the enemy, Paris, however, in falling, has
given to France by her heroic sacrifices during five
months of privation and suffering, time S to appeal
to her children to find arms, and to form
armies, still young, but powerful and determined,
and to whom, up to the present, steadiness has only been
wanting, which can only be acquired by time. Thanks
to Paris, if we are determined to act as resolute patriots,
we hold in our hands all that is necessary to avenge her,
and to deliver us. But, as if our ill-fortune had
resolved to crush us, something more sinister and painful
than the fall of Paris has come upon us. Unknown
to us, without, informing us and without consulting
us, an armistice has been signed, of which we have
but ton late learned the guilty thoughtlessness, which sur-
renders to Prussian troops departments occupied by our
soldiers, and imposes upon us the obligation to remain
inactive for three weeks, in order to convoke a Na-
tional Assembly in the sad circumstances in which
our country finds itself. We have demanded an
explanation from Paris, and have kept silence
while awaiting, before addressing you, the pro-
mised arrival of a member of the Government, to
whom we had determined to remit our powers as mem-
bers of the Delegate Government. We were wishing
thus to obey, in order to give a proof of moderation and
good faith, and in order to fulfil our duty, which consists
in not leaving our posts until we have been relieved of
them ; and also to prove to all friends and adversaries, by
our examples, that Democracy is at once the greatest
of all political parties, and also the most scru-
pulous of Governments. Nobody, however, has come
from Paris, and we must act, and at any price upset the
perfidious calculations of the enemies of France. Prussia
reckons on the armistice. Prussia hopes that the Na-
tional Assembly, convoked after successive defeats, and
while the dreadful impression of the fall of Paris pre-
vails, will be necessarily trembling and ready tl
accept a shameful peace. It rests with you that these
calculations should fail ; that the means prepared to crush
the spirit of resistance should lead to a contrary result.
Let us establish a school of instruction for our young
troops; let us employ these three weeks in preparing
and pushing on with more ardour than ever the orga-
ideation of defence and of war. Instead of a re-
actionary and cowardly assembly of which the foreigner
dreams, let us summon a really national and Re-
publican one, which desires peace if peace secures
honour, rank, and integrity to our country, but which
would also be determined to wage war and to be ready for
anything rather than assist at the assassination of France.
Frenchmen ! let us think of our fathers who bequeathed
to us France compact and indivisible. Let us not alienate
our inheritance into the hands of barbarians. Who
would sign it? Not you, Legitimists, who have so
boldly fought beneath the banners of the Republic
'to defend the territory of the ancient Kingdom of France.
Nor you, descendants of the citizens of 1789, whose
masterpiece it was to seal the old provinces into a:
in dissolable union ; and it is not we, the wor:
ing men of the towns, whose intelligence a

NE WDEGATE kND HIS CONSTI-
TUENTS.
(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.)
Mr. Newdegate, M.P., and Mr. Bromley-Davenport,
M.P., the two representatives of North Warwick.
shire, addressed a meeting of their constituents
last night, in the Royal Exchange Inn, Ashton
New Town, near Birmingham. In speaking
upon the question of education, Mr. Newdegate said the
elections for the school boards throughout the country
proved that those who were in favour of secular education
per se were in a small minority. Adverting to the present
war, he remarked he was firmly convinced that if the
Emperor Napoleon could have avoided the war with
safety to his dynasty he would never have attacked
Germany, but he was driven to do so by his people.
lie held that Germany was justified in con-
tinuing the war after the battle at Sedan, but hoped
that she would be moderate in her demands for compensa-
tion. The hon. member spoke in favour of the re-
organisation of the English army, which was at once too
costly and too small. Alluding to the conventual com-
mittee appointed last session, he stated that as it was in
his opinion packed he should when Parliament met move
for another.

THE FRENCH RELIEF FUND-STOPPAGE

generous patriotism have always . been the repre-
sentatives of France in her strength and unity, as a
people initiating modem liberties ; nor you labouring
men of the country, who have never withheld your
blood in defence of the revolution to which you owe your
property in land and the dignity of citizens. No ! not one
Frenchman will be found to sign this infamous pact. The
foreigner will be deceived. He will be compelled to re-
linquish the idea of mutilating France, because we are
all inspired by the same love for our mother country
.and we are unmoved by defeats. We shall again
become strong, and we shall expel the foreigner.
To achieve this sacred object we must devote our hearts,
our wills, and our lives. We must all rally round the
Republic, and above all prove our calmness and firmness
of soul. Let us have neither passions nor weaknesses.
Let us simply swear, as free men, to defend, before and
against everybody, France and the Republic. To arms !
To arms ! Long live France ! Long live the Republic
One and Indivisible ! "LEON GAMBETTA."

The proclamation Is followed by a decree, dated the 31st
January, convoking the electors for the Bth February.
Another decree, dated the 31st January, is preceded by
the following consideration :—" Whereas it is just that
all the accomplices of the regime which commenced
by the crime of the 2nd December, to terminate by the
capitulation of Sedan, bequeathing to France ruin
and invasion, should be momentarily struck by the
same political downfall as the dynasty, which is
for ever cursed, and of which they were the
guilty instruments. Whereas it is the necessary con-
sequence of the responsibility which they have in-
curred in aiding and taking part with the ex-Em-
peror's connivance in the accomplishment of the
various acts of his Government which have placed the
country in danger." The decree then proceeds to enact that
all who, from the 2nd December, 18M, until the 4th Sep-
tember, 1870, have accepted the functions of Minister,
Senator, Councillor of State, and prefects, cannot
any longer be representatives of the people in the
National Assembly. The decree also declares ineligible
for election to the National Assembly " all persons who,
from the 2nd December, 1851, until the 4th of Septem-
ber, 1870, have accepted official candidatures, and
whose names appear in the lists of candidates

recommended by the Prefects to the suffrages
of the electors, and who have been described in the Official
Monitor either as candidates of the Government or Ad-
ministration, or as official candidates." A third decree
prescribes the electoral arrangements. There will be but

one day's voting, commencing at 7 a.m. and closing at

7 p.m.—Reuta'a Telegram.

THE ARMISTICE AT DIEPPE.

From Dieppe, February 1, the correspondent of the
Daily News writes :—The news of the armistice was known
here on the 30th ult. Early in the afternoon a score of
French artillery arrived at the Mairie, bearing a
flag of truce, and at the same moment the lieutenant of
the war steamer Diamant put in an appearance
with a marine guard, and at once took military
command of the town, planting sentries at the
Hotel de Ville. About half an hour later some
eight Prussians arrived to take possession; but too late
for their purpose, as the French were really in occupa-
tion. Later in the day the war steamer Diamant en-
tered the harbour, and during the night some infantry
and Mobiles arrived from Abbeville. Yesterday
morning, about 11 o'clock, several hundred Prussian
infantry, cavalry, and artillery arrived from Rouen
with the intention of occupying the town to the
extent of 6,000 men. Some arguments were raised
as to the right of the French to enter the town already
virtually held by the Prussians ; but as they had left no
Prussian officer in charge they were forced to act up to
the old maxim—" First come first served." One of the
first acts of the French Government was to raise the
blockade, and, that there should be no mistake about
it, an officer from the French Ambassador in Lon-
don arrived by the Newhaven steamer yesterday
morning to make arrangements for allowing the free and
immediate entry of ships into the port—several being
expected by the next and following tides with food sup-
plies from England for Paris. Notices were posted up
appealing to the patriotism of all carriers, carmen, farmers,
and others to come en masse and aid at the revietualling
of Paris ; and as the Prussians have agreed to allow
the free passage of food supplies, it is to be
hoped that this appeal will be complied with. This morn-
ing a " Parlementaire " of Prussian officers returned to
the Hotel de Vile, stating they had referred the question
to the General-in-Chief at Rouen, and had received orders
to enter the town in virtue of the armistice
between Count Bismarck and M. Jules Favre,
whereby the Seine Infdrieure, with the exception
of Havre, was to be occupied by the German Army.
About 4,000 troops arrived in the course of the morning
with bands playing, and were shortly after billetted on
the inhabitants. As the Mobiles had been withdrawn by
General Faidherbe's orders during the night, there
was but feeble opposition, and that on the part of
the lieutenant of the Diamant, who arrived at the
Mairie with the Marines fully armed to exercise
his right 'of possession ; but he had to retire immediately
after, and received orders to put to sea by the next tide.
We are as yet without any details of the intentions
of the Government of National Defence. The
elections should commence ,on the 9th instant, but at
present no official notification has appeared. I think the
feeling for continuing the war is fast dying out, and
that the electors here have Orleanist sympathies. The
estates of the late Philippe at Eu, &c., are not far distant
from here. Of the 4,000 Prussians now in this town, some
3,000 will leave on Friday ; the remainder will continue
here during the armistice, oruntil the conclusion of peace,
if that should be happily decided.