The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-03 00:00:00

timing 2"1111

LONDON, FRIDAY. DECEMBER 3, 1847.

In the House of Lords last night the Marquis of
LaNsnowNE proposed the appointment of a Com-
mittee similar to that moved for by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer in the House of Commons. The
motion was carried without a division, after a rather
interesting debate, a slight alteration in the terms of
the resolution having been adopted on the suggestion
of Lord STANLEY. It will therefore be the duty of
their Lordships' Committee to " inquire into the causes
of the distress which has for some time prevailed
amongst the commercial classes, and how far that
has been affected by the laws for regulating the issue
of bank-notes payable on demand." Although there is
no real difference as to the questions that may form
legitimate subjects of inquiry, the form that
has been adopted is undoubtedly more
correct than that proposed, which, in speaking
of the." recent" commercial distress, would seem
to imply that the pressure had passed away, and
the national prosperity been restored, a proposition to
which, we regret to say, we can by no means assent,
so long as the minimum rate of discount charged by
the Bank of England shall be maintained, at even the

diminished rate of six per cent., to which it was yes-
terday reduced by a resolution of the directors, as
announced in The Sun of last evening. The exten-
sive range of the inquiry was alluded to by Lords
BROUGHAM and ASHBURTON, the last-named Noble
Lord happily observing that, "judging from the mul-
tiplicity and magnitude of the subjects which would
probably be submitted to it, it seemed likely to last as
long as the siege of Troy." Free trade, the large ex-
penditure on railways, the usury laws, must come
before__ the Committee ; but we are told by the Noble
marquis who brought forward the motion, "that it
must be clearly understood the Committee would not
be instructed to inquire into the whole monetary
System of the country ;" " that he had no intention
to propose
e appointment of a Committee for the
purpose
of going of the curreneY
s into inquiries with a view to a re-
visiones it now existed, subject to
Convertibilityintothoe precious metals—that he had
to propose to
no intention
or:lepart from that basis."
The Act of 1819, theref
d its effects upon the
trade and commerce of the c°
excluded from the consideration ta is to be wholly
especial business it is to report on a 1)(4Y whose
of bank-note; pauythaeblelaws for
regulating the issue
de-
mand.„ This is, indeed, a perfor en
Ce of
the part of Hamlet being omitted. The minor'-aandet,
of 1844, which was merely the corollary end
quence of the principal measure, the only I!se-
object
of which was to afford a greater security that the
provisions of the former Act of 1819 should not,
under any possible circumstances, be violated or in-
fringed upon, is to be subjected to the strictest in-
quiry, but the chief delinquent—that which really oc-
casioned our difficulties and embarassments—although
there is no doubt that the pressure was materially
increased by the more stringent provisions of the
more recent law—is to be passed by sub silentio
—its very name is not to be breathed amongst the
laws for reg ulating the issue of banknotes payable
on demand."'

We suppc ,se that such is likewise the intention of
Sir CasaLH s Wool), and that in like manner the
subject is to be " tabooed " in the Committee of the

I House of Commons. It is, perhaps, as well
' i that it should he so; we have already shown
' tio,v utterly absurd is the elpect,atioli
that any real results can proceed from the investiga-
tions of that Committee. The abortive proceediugc
of the former Committee of 1840-41, and the ridi-
culous result of the inquiries instituted, indicate too
plainly the too probable—we may almost say the
certain—result of the labours of those now about to
be appointed. But it will remove the veil from the
sight of many who might otherwise be hoodwinked
by the speciousness of the proposition, and induced to
abstain from agitating the subject, on the ground that
it would not be proper that any proposition on the
subject should be submitted to the Legislature while
the investigations of the Committee were carried on
and before they had made their report to the House.,
We again desire to impress upon the minds of the
opponents of the present system, both in and out of
Parliament, that postponement of their exertions
under any pretext whatsoever must be fatal to their
hopes, at least until another panic of increased in-
tensity—another period of universal deprecia-
tion of every description of property, when
the manufacturing, mercantile, and trading
interests are brought to the very verge
of bankruptcy, and the labouring classes, driven from 1
employment, shall again arouse the people from their
apathy, and make all classes join with cordial una-
nimity against the atrocious laws that are the true
source and origin of all their misfortunes. We trust
that the day may be far distant when these things shall
happen, but come most assuredly it will ;
and still more fearful than anything we have yet wit-
nessed will be the evils then to be encountered, if
the pernicious system is to be maintained in unabated
force, if, to use the words of the bullionists, " the
integrity of the standard is to be preserved." Lord
ASHBUETON last night announced that "he should
hold himself at liberty to propose any measure
he might think necessary without waiting for
the Committee." Such should likewise be the I
conduct of those opposed, not only to the law
of 1844, but also to that of 1819. It is manifest that
they have nothing to hope for from the Government
on the point, at least until the voice of the nation has
been uplifted, and the people's advocates in the Le-
gislature have demanded a free trade in:gold:as well as
in every other species of commodity.
Much ingenuity has hitherto been exhibited in di- '
rerting the attention of the House from the real point
at issue, bat come it must before the conclusion of
the debate. The opponents of a gold law require a
Vu.r.tEns or a COBDEN, who will not be deterred by
ridicule from bringing the subject prominently for-
ward, and forcing on a discussion ; there is no lack
of men of sound views, but a recognised leader as yet
is wanting, who will undertake the control and di-
rection of the Parliamentary warfare.

From the extraordinary particulars of the increase
of the mortality throughout the metropolis, to which
we alluded in our impression of yesterday, it will be
seen that the necessity for sanitary enactments is
becoming daily more and more importunate. The
prevalence of contagious and epidemic diseases
during; weather of such unseasonable mildness—the
remarkable lack of employment among the opera-
tives of our manufacturing districts—with an insuffi-
cient supply of provisions, and with a prospect which
is perpetually appearing more inevitable of the ulti-
mate arrival of the Asiatic Cholera—render it im-
probable that of itself this necessity will wear away
and disappear. It is an evil too enormous, and ori-
ginating in too many sources of destruction, not to
require the active and authoritative interposition of
the Legislature. Nothing, indeed, can be anticipated
of an ameliorative character, excepting it be from the
executive and administrative. Private enterprise or local
munificence have proved, in a variety of most con
elusive instances, the inadequacy of any interference
less comprehensive than that of the Government.
And although there are but few opportunities for the
Administration to bring its schemes of improvement
before Parliament between this and the Christmas
holidays—now that Sir JoiaN PAIaNGTON'S motion
has been so decisively negatived without a division—
we must, with all the anxieties of death and physical
suffering multiplied in the community and propagated
by the filthy practices of the municipal. population, await
in patience, we presume, the leisure of our hereditary
and representative Legislators. It is a difficult virtue
to demand of a people—this of patience—when their

natural instincts clamour to them for instant change
and activity. It is a short• sighted policy—this of
procrastination—which leads the two Houses at
Westminster into so many frivoloias delays merely
for the gratification of a Parliamentary punctilio.
Economy is one of the principrl inducements to
a regular system of sanitary improvement. Perhaps
it is because these measures are of so peculiarly eco-
nomic a description that the Parliament will be
ulteriorly induced to give them a fai.:r and deliberate
consideration. The thought, that by- the preservation
of the public health the manual labc ur of the work- ,

ing classes will be completed with greater skill,
energy, and precision, may even appease those
cravings for the retention of a little petty authority
among the parochial boards and mmtnicipal corpora•
tions. The saving which must be effected by a pro-
' per plan of intermural drainage and by a proper
application of the deodorising and etisinfecting fluid,
may in like manner satisfy the apiculture' part of
the community as to the advisability •of such a rational
arrangement. That the scheme is regarded with
unbounded admiration by the thou.;a nds who live in
the squalor of our rookeries, and in the densely
inhabited quarters of our more populous towns and
cities, it is impossible to doubt for nn instant. Is it
probable indeed that the multitude should recoil from
the offer of better ventilation, better sewerage, better
supplies of water, less noxious vaporcrs, less chance of
the putrid exhalations of churchyards, of the pungent
stench reeking from open cesspools, stud of the sicken-
ing smells of putrefaction rising frorm the doors and
windows of adjacent slaughterhoue ies ! It is folly
to insist upon the partiality of 'the poor for dirt
and contamination. Nature has :implanted in the
heart of every living thing a love of order and clean-
liness. And it is this which is p?,rceptible in the
animal and vegetable kingdoms ali kf ; ; it is this spon-
taneous tendency which makes tiao tree shed its de-
caying leaves in autumn, which ca uses the sparrow
to plume itself with its bill in the morning, and
which periodically relieves the I.ci bster of its shell.
Nature does not abhor a vacuum :CO ore than she does
refuse of any description. And, 'n i the beautiful or-
ganization of her machinery, what is refuse to one
portion of it is to another a rnerins of nourishment
and development. It is only, there fore, by allowing
this refuse to accumulate in such a manner that it
cannot by possibility be employ* d to its intended
purpose that instead of acting be o eficially, it affects
everything in the most pernicious na anner imaginable.
Agricultural manure, for example, !might be collected
not merely from the drainage of oa r cities, but from
the very cleansing of their streets: ; and instead of
poisoning the waters of the Tha rt les by rendering
them the receptacle for all kinds or rubbish and pu-
trescent matter, we might, with tl ie very cause of so
much discomfort and sickness, emri ch our meadows,
and by enriching our meadows in,;] ease our harvests.
In addition to the different in d ucements already
enumerated, which are held out l iry sanitary reform
to different classes, it is maintained by the honorary
secretary of the Health of Towns' Association, that
the claims of the sanitary questio n are most peculiar
on the directors of life assurance sof 2ieties. This can-
not assuredly require any very det al .led explanation. It
,rabtylvneLessitv
stands to reason that those societies which are the most
singularly interested in the prolo n gation of the lives
of the community, should be th, r most solicitous to
forward measures which would inevitably diminish
the annual amount of the natiol u d mortality. It is
obvious, therefore,
likely to
that the sani tt Lry question is no
to meet with the opp o 3ition of the direc-
tors of insurance swocoiertie. s than NV ith that of farmers
orlt
wofouolpi;
unanimous encourage-ni'
Above all
re-
gulations are enforced, and the
operation, it is eertain, to all reA
that a novel energy will be imp:
e ng
.. to sanitary
nure system is in
ionable conjecture,
t rted
frameworli of the community. .32,11
re-invigorative. That system •
zetet with. their strenuous and
to the whole
ose laws will be
s
wil I be stringent and
' when the
lawtshisreina:ative position all.
generous in its influences. It w ill -act as a legislative
tonic, and will be to the peop' e -as strengthening as
the baptism of ACHILLES. 'WI lerliolthopasse s
passed,
will be no inclination even to : re otact.

concessions on the part of the Legislature ; they
will have proved to be too efficacious, and—too
t;oono,Aic.

..a.1a......-.

By the Levant mail we have received advices from
Constantinople of the 17th, and from Athens of the
20th ult.

The Emperor of RUSSIA had refused to mediate
between the Porte and Greece, but had recom-
mended King OTno to make the required satis-
faction. The Porte had announced its intention to
adopt fresh measures of coercion towards Greece, and
to continue them until proper satisfaction should
have been afforded for the insult offered to the
Turkish Ambassador at Athens.

The Moniteur Grec of the 20th states that the
chiefs of the late revolt in the province of Lepanto,
viz., Colonel PIIARMAKI, Majors BOTZAIRIS and
MACRIJANI, and Captain BOTZARIS, have been ar-
rested.

The Madrid Mail had not arrived in Paris when
the post left.

We have received the Paris papers of Wednesday.
They contain important news from Switzerland.
The cantons of Schwytz, Uri, and Unterwalden,
have submitted to the Federal Government. The
Sonderbund may, therefore, be considered as dis-
solved, inasmuch as all the cantons composing it
have submitted to the Federal Government, with the
exception of Valais, which is at this moment abso-
lutely without allies. The head-quarters of General
D croun are at Lucerne, where he is at the head of
10,000 troops. The Constitutionnd has the follow.
ing observations on this important intelligence :
" The pacification of Switzerland is drawing towards
its completion. Schwytz and Unterwalden have capi-
tulated, and it is confidently stated that the Uri is also
submitting. Thus, therefore, is the end, after two
days' resistance, of this revolt, encouraged by the Je-
suits, protected by Austria, and armed by the French
Cabinet. Let persons now come forward after this, and
declare that the religion, the independence, and the most
sacred interests of the cantons of the League were staked
in this war ! Were, then, the inhabitants of Friburg,
Lucerne, and the little cantons, actuated by no feelings
of religion and independence ? Undoubtedly they were;
but they felt clearly, at the same time, that the cause
for which they were called on to fight was not theirs.
They have now an evident proof of this on beholding the
victorious party of the Diet respect their rights, which it
was pretended were menaced. As to the Government of
the League, what part did it play? The most striking
act of this martyrdom of justice,' as the Journal des
Dibats calls it, was to fly away with the state funds.
But that robbery, it appears, is not to be consummated,
for the restoration of the funds is announced as probable.
But if humanity rejoices to see the struggle thus at an
end without any further effusion of blood, the Govern-
ment and the Debats are more and more dissatisfied with
their good friends in Switzerland. They, in fact, de-
manded so little—only a continuation of the civil war I
What is a few cannonades, a few deaths, a few wounds,
in addition to what has already taken place? And the
Sonderbund are so ill-advised as to refuse all this! Ah!
if the last remnants of the league had followed the advice
of its valorous champion, who writes so warmly here in
Paris, the cannon would still thunder in the cantons of
Schwyts and Underwald, and new evils would arise from
the prolongation of the struggle; but at least our Go-
vernment would not be so much embarrassed by the fine
campaign which it has just made in Switzerland. But
what necessity was there for the French Government to
place itself in such a predicament? If it wanted to
desert the liberal cause, it could at least have remained
neutral and awaited events. But no, it must throw an
allied country into civil war—must furnish arms and
immunition—and now must endeavour to prolong the
contest. In fine, it has attained this marvellous result,
that it has offended at the same time Swiss liberalism,
Nhich it endeavoured to get defeated; and the League,
ror which it did too little and too much; too much, in
encouraging its resistance, and too little, in nut serving
it better."

The Journal des Debats has the following on the
subject of the approaching Congress on the affairs of
Switzerland. The writer, after expressing the plea-
sure he feels in seeing France and England united
anew in a common idea and action, thus proceeds :

" We believe that at the beginning of the month M.
Guiz.4 proposed to the Government of Austria, Great
Britain, Prussia, and Russia, to enter into concert fur
the purpose of offering a common mediation to Switzer-
land, with the object of restoring peace. Some days
after M. Guizot sent to the four Courts the draft of a
note to be addressed to the two belligerent parties, and
the Courts of Austria and Prussia unhesitatingly ac-
cepted the draft of the note, as they had accepted the
first proposition. At the same time Lord Palmerston
proposed, on his part, a counter project of a note to be
equally presented to the five Powers. Now, if wo are
well informed this counter project received, from
the Duke de Broglie, modifications the gravity and
bearing of which cannot fail at a later period to
be sufficiently appreciated. These modifications were
accepted by Lord Palmerston in the name of the British
Cabinet; and the draft of the note thus modified was
addressed to the representatives of France, Austria, and
Prussia, in Switzerland, to be by them presented to the
belligerent parties. If the Court of Russia has not offi-
cially' taken part in the proceedings of the other Courts
it is because the distance has not permitted it to act
simultaneously, bat we believe that its assent is a matter
of no doubt."

The Opposition papers all raise a shout of derision
over M. GUIZOT, as regards this affair of the inter-
ference. He abandoned his own views, say these
papers, and abandoned the Austrian alliance, adopting
at once the counter project of Lord PALmEasToN.
They all consider this a great diplomatic triumph for
Lord PALMERSTON, and that everything tends to-
wards a renewal of the entente cordiale.

The Persian Ambassador has left Paris for Mar-
seilles, en route for Constantinople.
The Constitutionnel says—" Viscount DUCNATEL,
President of the Haute-Garonne, and at one moment
designated by M. GUIZOT for the Embassy of Turin,
has just been received by the KING. Viscount
DucnATEL returns to his Prefecture."

The Union ifonarchique says—" It is announced
that the Cabinet of Madrid has just entreated M.
JAMES ROTHSCIIILD to proceed without delay to
Madrid, in order to come to an understanding with
him for the negotiation of a large loan."
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse,
on 'Wednesday, at 77f. 25c. ; New Loan, 76f. 95c.;
the Five per Cents., 117 f. Sc. ; the Orleans Rail-
road Shares, 1,222 f. 50c. ; Rouen, 915 f.; Havre,
502 f. 50c.; Great Northern, 570 f. ; Avignon, 575 f.;
Vierzon, 560 f.; Bordeaux, 495 f.; Paris and Strasburg,
423 f. 75c.; Tours and Nantes, 402 f. 50e. ; Paris and
Lyons, 407 f. 60c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DEC 2.
Boulogne and Amiens, 151/it—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 16—Dutch Rheui,h, 234—Namur and Liege,
3%—Northern of France, 12.%—Paris and Lyons, 61,i4—
Paris and Orleans, 465,6—Sambre and Meuse, 6 —Tours and
Nantes, 4.

The Duke of Sutherland, we understand, is em-
ploying a vast number of workmen and decorators in
completing the state apartments at Dunrobin Castle, as
it is understood that their Graces will be honoured with
a visit by her Majesty next year. Among other improve-
ments on his vast domains he has lately planted several
thousands of uncultivated acres with fir, larch, and other
trees.

THE LORD RECTOR OF GLASGOW UNIVERSITY.—.
We understand that Colonel Mure, M.P. for the county
of Renfrew, who was lately elected Lord Rector of the
University, by a majority of the votes of the students,
and also by a majority in the nations, intends, according
to established custom, to deliver his inaugural address on
the 23c1 or 24th instant, and immediately before the
Christmas holidays.—North British Mail.
THE LATE HIGHWAY ROBBERY OF DR. BOWRING.
—CARDIFF, WRDNESDAY.—Upon the assembling of the
magistrates of the Petty Sessions, held in the Town-hall,
yesterday, it was stated to their Worships that a great
portion of the property, consisting chiefly of notes and
gold, which had been taken from the person of Dr.
Bowring, M.P., in the late highss ay robbery near Brecon,
on the 30th October last, had been traced and four
persons taken into custody. Upon being placed
in the dock, the prisoners severally gave their names
as Evan Evans, Richard Thomas, William Llewel-
len, and Ann Llewellen, his wife. From the
evidence, it appeared that two of the prisoners, Evans
and Thomas, were on Thursday last drinking at the
Union public-house, and in the course of the evening
they changed several 51. notes, a circumstance which
induced suspicion on the part of the landlord, who gave
information to the police. The bench asked the pri
soner Evans how he accounted for the possession of the
notes and money, to which he replied that he found a
number of 51. notes the day after the robbery, which
he returned to Dr. Bowring, who gave him six 5/. notes
for his trouble. The other prisoners denied all know-
ledge, and the bench remanded them for the attendance
of Dr. Bowring.
WESTMINSTER REFORM SOCIETY.—The report of
the committee of the registration during the last two
years of the voters in this city has been made, and the
opinions of the Attorney-General and of Mr. Bodkin
obtained, which confirm the view entertained by the
committee, " That it was illegal to rate the landlords
as occupiers, to the exclusioa of the tenants." The
exertions of the society in the parishes of St. John and
St. Margaret have been attended with success, the
names of 300 claimants having been placed on the rate-
book, and a resolution passed in vestry to the effect that
precedingthoywenaros,uats
the names of all occupiers of houses be inserted in the
rate-book. The lists of voters for the present year con-
tain about tho same number of names as the lists of the
oarppiemarvalofryom the statement affixed to
the report.
meiTtis;ppereseigetthiy going
o
hand GLASGOW F
are on short time, working 4%1
FACTORIES. -- There are 2,670
employment. and nearly all the
9111 a daYe.'CßlCAlli“ri Mercury.