The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-01 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1848.

Yesterday evening, in the presence of the Lords
Temporal and Spiritual of Great Britain, the Bishop
of Ozroun advocated the practice of intermural in-
terment—because, forsooth, the opening of extramural
cemeteries may interfere somewhat inconveniently
with the fees of clergymen ! So that the perquisites
of a Church which is, to say the least of it, rather
well-to-do than otherwise in its pecuniary circum-
stances, are to be estimated as of more importance
than the health, the cleanliness, and the morality of
the population. For we maintain that all these things
--health, cleanliness, and morality—are intimately
associated with the practice of interment in crowded
localities. The extermination of city churchyards
constitutes, indeed, one of the most necessary im-
provements in the great sanitary movement ; as it
would be idle to attempt anything systematically for
the purpose of diminishing the national mortality
until those awful kilns of pestilence have been carried
beyond the suburbs of places like London, or Bir-
mingham, or Liverpool. Widen the streets as much
as you like, introduce a proper amount of ventila-
tion, enlarge the system of sewerage, supply an abun-
dance of water purified from all sorts of contamina-
tion, banish bone boilers into the wilderness, andcom-
pel the vitriol manufacturer to erect his colossal chim-
ney in the centre of some uncultivated moor, and yet
leave the intermural churchyards to fester in the
heart of a populous parish, and all your efforts will
be ineffectual. The condensed and perpetually in-
creasing corruption of those burial-grounds will
counterbalance all the good effects resulting from
your sanitary undertakings. The vapours exhaled
from those pits of putrefaction will pollute the atmos-
phere you may have striven to cleanse with so much
earnestness ; and death will continue to multiply

death through the medium of the disease mists rising
from the decaying forms of the departed.
Upon this particular we need only point for corro-
boration
to the abominable revelations lately made in
regard to the wholesale interments, and periodical ex-
humations made in the vaults situated under Elim
Chapel. Or we might direct attention briefly to the
statements just made by Dr. Ilzmost GAVIN* upon
this matter in reference to several of the church-
yards in the immense but miserable dis
trict of Bethnal-green. It is not our in-
tention, however, to harrow the public mind with
details so peculiarly appalling, or to do violence
to our own sensibility by dilating upon subjects so
unutterably dismal—subjects, moreover, which we
have again and again insisted upon even to tedious-
ness. Sufficient for us is it to recal to recollection
the deplorable realities which have been brought to
light by the praiseworthy investigations of private
philanthropists, and also by the Commissioners at
Gwydyr House. Those realities are an overwhelm-
ing answer to the selfish and, we had almost said,
inhuman arguments of the Right Reverend Father in
God the Lord ,Bishop of OXFORD, who, it would ap-
pear, claims for the clergy a vested interest in plague
and pestilence.
Our remarks upon this subject have been
elicited by the discussion which yesterday evening en-
sued in the House of Peers on the motion of Lord
CAMPBELL for the second reading of the Public
Health Bill. For anything whatever which is cal-
culated to revive this strangely neglected measure in
the public mind, and which is, above all, likely to
stimulate the sanitary ambition of the Legislature—
we are, from our heart's core, grateful. And
we are grateful because, as Lord CAMPBELL said last
night, for " the Bill may with perfect truth be called
the poor man's measure." Of the ultimate triumph
of the cause we have so long advocated we entertain
not one moment's doubt. However reiterated may
have been the impediments blundered into the track
of the great movement originated by Dr. SOUTHWOOD
SMITH, however prolonged may have been the apathy
of those who should have striven unceasingly to rea-
lise his aspirations, however procrastinating may have
been the Government, and indifferent the two Houses
of Parliament, the Bill will pass sooner or later into a
law. Nothing can prevent that transformation. All
therefore that we are now solicitous to see done in its
regard is, first, to beheld the different provisions pre-
served intact, and, secondly, to find the time of the
passage of the Bill hastened by the combined energy
of the Legislature.

The House of Commons was last night again
occupied with the West India question. The debate
was, however, of a different character from that of the
six preceding evenings, during which the discussion
had been spun out. Then the question principally
argued was as to the amount of increased or addi-
tional protection that should be afforded to the West
India; colonies. Various plans were put forward,
but in almost every instance the principle was con-
ceded that something should be done. Last night,
however, the Honourable Member for Manchester
took a totally different view of the question,
and in a speech of great ability opposed any
change in the great settlement so recently effec-
ted, and moved, as an amendment, to the first
resolution brought forward in the Committee, " that
it is not now expedient to make any alteration in the
Sugar Duties' Act of 1846. The interests of the
sugar consumers of this country, which had hitherto
most unaccountably been lost sight of, were advocated
by the Hon. Gentleman, who clearly showed that the
distress existing in most of the islands 'was owing to
other and very different causes from any connected
with the recent legislation. The rude and imperfect
cultivation of the estates in some of the most fertile
districts would alone be sufficient to account for a
considerable portion of the difficulties. In fact, if
agriculturists or manufacturers in this country exhi-
bited similar negligence they would he infallibly and
speedily ruined. Would this lamentable state of
affairs be remedied by a permanent protection ? Far
from it. It is owing to the practical monopoly that
heretofore existed that the planters have not exhibited
the zeal and energy which a free and unrestricted
competition would be sure to produce. Another
most formidable difficulty under which they have
laboured is the enormous weight of the mortgages
and other charges by which the great majority of the
planters are encumbered and borne down.
There is a great analogy between the condition
of Ireland and of the West India islands. The
capabilities of the soil are by no means fully
developed in either country ; improvements that
would manifestly more than double the produce of
the lands are neglected, and things are suffered to
go on in the accustomed manner; while the parties
suffering from the natural consequences of their own
inactivity, are clamorous for the interposition of the
Legislature, and seek for aid from every quarter save
that from which it would undoubtedly be afforded in
the most beneficial and legitimate manner—their own
skill and industry. In both countries the nominal
proprietors of five-sixths of the soil are really nothing
but the agents of absentees, to whom their estates are
mortgaged; and from their impoverished and em-
barrassed condition, they are unable to avail them-
selves of the advantages that would otherwise
be placed within their reach. They can
only look to the immediate result, and
cannot introduce any amelioration involving a
present outlay, however ample the future returns
may promise to be.
Indeed the system under which mortgaged estates
in the West Indies are managed is, if possible, more
ruinous to the parties than even in Ireland itself.
The party who has money lent on mortgage in
Ireland only seeks for payment of the interest on the
principal due to him, but the West India mortgagee
requires a considerable profit on every stage of the
transaction, over and above the payment of
that interest. The mortgagor has no con-
trol whatsoever over any portion of the pro-
duce of his lands. Every particle must be con-
signed to the English merchant who has advanced
money in anticipation thereof, and who selects the
vessel in which it is to be dispatched, and fixes the
rate of freight, of commission, and of brokerage, all
of which are charged at the very highest price, be-
cause it is from these sources that the profits of the
mortgagee chiefly arise, and indeed are the inducements
which tempt him to place out his capital in such in-
vestments. These advances, too, are rarely made to
the fall extent in money ; considerable portions
thereof are in stores for the use of the plantations,
all of which are charged at the highest price. Thus
the embarrassed planter, instead of being free to buy in
the cheapest and to sell in the dearest markets,
is compelled to reverse the general rule, and to pur-
chase all he requires in the dearest and to sell in the
cheapest. His creditor enjoys an absolute monopoly
in every respect, and he suffers to the fullest extent
under its baneful influence. But even this is not the
full extent of the mischief. Everything must be
sacrificed to suit the convenience of the mortgagees.
If they have a ship in harbour waiting for a freight,
the canes must be cut, and hastily manufactured, at a
loss of, perhaps, half the total produce ; while, on the
other hand, it may remain many months after it is
ready for shipping, waiting for the vessel indi-
cated by the mortgagee, although there is an abun-
dance of other ships lying unemployed in the
harbour, who would be ready to sail at once and at
a cheap freight. Thus heavy losses are incurred in a
variety of different modes, but all may fairly be
imputed to the embarrassments of the nominal pro-
prietors, who are placed at the mercy of another
and a very different class. The result is only that
which might reasonably be expected from such a
state of affairs. In Ireland, where labour is more
abundant and cheaper than in any country of Eu-
rope, there are millions of acres lying waste and un-
cultivated, which might be reclaimed with great
profit to the parties embarking their money
in the speculation, while that which is no-
minally under tillage does not produce one-
half of what might be obtained under a better
system of agriculture. There a variety of causes
are assigned for the general distress, but nothing can

be said on the score of want of labour. But in the

West Indies, because slavery was abolished and com-
pulsory labour could no longer be obtained, all the
evils are ascribed to that cause, in place of tracing
them to the true source, which is the same in both

* See " Sanitary Ramblings, being Sketches and Il-
lustrations of Bethnal Green." By Hector Gavin, M.D.,
Bvo., pp. 11E. Churchill, London : 1848.

countries—the want of a resident, a solvent, and an
unembarrassed proprietary.

While continental powers are being harassed and
almost totally annihilated, it is pleasing to contemplate
the fact that our own tight little island is still as safe
as ever. We are led to make these remarks, believing
that the extension of mutual life assurance generally
has much to do with our national peace and prosperity,
and we unhesitatingly assert that this legitimate system
of providing for a family not only tends to promote
our national prosperity and peace, but it is one that
ought to be fostered by the Executive Government,
and we trust the day is not far distant when Ministers
will see the policy of affording every assistance to the
extension of the principle. We candidly avow ourselves
the advocates of mutual life assurance, and think no man
wise who neglects to avail himself of such a privi-
lege ; we contend for the principle, and while our
readers have the choice of offices which suit their
various circumstances, and without pointing to any
particular one—for all on this principle are good—we
do with much pleasure call attention to the report of
the meeting for the first division of profits of the
Provident Clerks' Association, which we insert in our
columns of this day, by which it appears that the
attention of that very useful and intelligent body, the
clerks of this country, has beers drawn to so valu-
able a mode of provision, and that by the report sub-
mitted to the meeting, not only have all claims (by
death) been paid, but the surplus, after providing for
all contingencies, has enabled the board to declare
a bonus of about 33 per cent. on all policies entitled
to participate. Happy England that can show such
a state of affairs, the results of prudence and fore-
thought ! Reader, are you assured ? If not, delay
not a moment. Select your office, and let not another
day pass over your head without being able to say in
the affirmative—My life is assured.