The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-14 00:00:00

PROTECTED INDUSTRIES IN AMERICA.

The difficulties of carrying Protection to an ex-
treme must have been felt by the special Committee
on Navigation at Washington on the 14th March.
A delegation of iron shipbuilders and machinists,
representing every firm but two in the Union, urged
a change in the Bills as reported by the Commit-
tee. The delegation showed that these measures
were framed in the interest of wooden sailing ships,
which had become obsolete and comparatively use-
less; the true interest to foster was iron steamships,
whereas the drawback was allowed on all the mate-
rial used by the former, but to the latter only of half
that material, and this would place the iron steam-
ship builders in a worse position than before the
passage of the bill. The drawback and bounty for
wooden ships would equal a third of their present
cost, but on iron sailing ships only a fourth, though
wooden ships needed the aid less, being cheaper on
the Kennebec than on the Clyde. The iron ship-
builders asked for an allowance equal to all the
duties on imported material used in the construc-
tion, being a drawback of about $2l per ton on iron
sailing vessels, and $33 on iron steamers; also, a limit
to be fixed to the period over which these draw-
backs should run ; urging, too, immediate action on
the bills thus amended, as the building contracts
for the present year must be made within sixty
days, and thousands of mechanics were awaiting
the employment which would then be offered in the
ironworks now comparatively at a stand-still. This
latter fact found expression in General GRANT'S Mes-
sage. No sooner is•one interest satisfied than seve-
ral others, being thrown out of gear by the measures
that industry demanded, begin to creak in working,
and call loudly for more oil. The shipowners and
merchants want an open market ; the ability to buy
the vessels they require where they can get them
best and cheapest. The shipbuilders reject this
Free-Trade heresy in ships.; but want all the mate-
rials, iron, coal, hemp, grease, lumber, paint, lea I,
copper, &c., &c., imported free. The manufactur-
ing and mining interests deny this to the ship-
builders, saying, that if the materials be not Ame-
rican, the merchants may as well be permitted to
buy their ships on the Clyde and the Elbe ; and
thus even the interests protected clash, down
to the two of a trade, such as the shipbuilders in iron
and the shipbuilders in wood. Meanwhile, the
ocean-carrying trade passes away, and is daily
more lost to America, for there is an unrepresented
interest apart from the manufacturers, though as
important as any—we mean the schbol for seamen.
The notion is that a mercantile marine can be re-
vived in a few months by the passage of a law,
though modern improvements have changed the
character of the ocean-carrying trade, both in the
construction and the propulsion of ships, render-
ing it as costly as it is effective. Mr. JOHN ROACH,
of the Morgan Ironworks, spoke like tie practical
man ('f sense be is, while he urged 11;s own irate-
' rest. After pointing out the great superiority of
iron steamers over wooden sailing vessels, and the
advantages acquired by England through her early
appreciation of the fact, he went on to show that
it would require $150,000,000 to replace the old
ani comparatively worthless existing tonnage.
From two to three years he calculated as the shortest

change, the industry must continue to rest on an
artificial basis, to exist on the breath of public
opinion. The law which creates the-industry, if
charged, unmakes it; and the law rests on a public
sentiment which will surely change. Wherever
one section of a country has to pay for the sup-
port of an industry worked in another section, and
realizes the.fact, an opposition must arise, and
the question between them will than hinge on
which is the stronger. The proposed bill, however,
is to last for ten years from the Ist of July, 1870,
and the whole argument turns on whether such
a limited period of protection can, as Mr. ROACH
seems to think, permanently revive American
shipbuilding. If so, the Protectionists are right,
and it is unquestionably worth a very heavy
expenditure on the part of the community ge-
nerally, to achieve so desirable an object. At
any rate, the PRESIDENT and the Cabinet appear to
be strongly impressed with the arguments of the
shipbuilders, and the Committee hasagreed to report
amendments to the bill as suggeste 1 by the dele-
gation to which we have alluded, so that beams and
forgings will be included in the list of the iron
material, and the limit to the amounts of draw-
backs is to be replaced by a rebate drawback of the
duties. In an article on the PRESIDENT'S Special
Message, the Times alluded to the ungenerous way
in which Americans systematically misrepresent
all English dealings with the United States. Hav-
ing inherited the bad legacy of the Eng i.sh Navica-
tion Laws, and while forbidding the entry.on the
American register of an Engish ship, the Republic
had free permission to sell to Englishmen tile yes-
se's which the war had made comparatively worth-
less. Of this its merchants so well avai:ed them-
selves that they got rid at a hill price of what to
them had become lumber, and the English ship-
owners who purchased, lost enormously by the
transaction. Yet American statesmen no w accuse
England of having selfishly transferred to its own
flag, American shipping, after having in a measure
created the conditions which forced Americans to
sell. There is truth in the remark, just as there is
truth which England does not choose to see in the
remarks of Americans about those conditions ; the
fact being what we have ever maintained, that these
nations are ceaselessly engaged in misrepresenting
each other, and keeping alive to the injury of
both, senseless feelings of spite and dislike. Apropos
of Free Trade, an American paper 'exposes what it
"_the secret of the rise on steel." alle-novii-
tariff proposes to convert the ad valorem duty on
steel rails to specific, making ittwo cents per pound,
or, at present prices, about double. What does
this mean? Why such an increase? Last year
40,000 tons of steel rails were imported info the
Union, where but 15,000 tons were manufactured ;
but the demand is rising, and with it the desire of
the home manufacturer to supply it. The reason
of the change in the amended tariff is, that next
month, the BESSEMER patents expire, when the re-
sults of the great inventor's skill will be free, and
steel will replace iron on the railroads of the world.
These rails will then fall to $4O or less per ton,
and the ad valorunz duty, with all the other charges
combined, would not raise them over $7O in the
United States. This was a danger to be avoided,as the
foreign article, which would render the roads as
lasting, as they would be secure to life and pro-
perty, must, in such case, replace the " American
rail," justly stigmatised as "the vilest trash," and
injure an American industry. The strange part of
it is that in the Report of the Birmingham Cham-
ber of Commerce it was admitted that in edged
tools and other implements into which steel enters
as a principal component, even handicapped by the
duty as Americans were, so ecellent are some classes
of American manufacture, that they beat Birming-
ham out of the British Colonial markets. The
new tariff, however, is designed to prevent any
such illegitimate proceeding in the future ; for, it
is evidently the opinion of its framers, that Ame-
rica should to the best of their ability, be prohi-
bited from supplying other countries with her manu-
factures, as should foreign nations be prohibited
from supplying America with theirs ; nor should
their fellow-citizens be debarred the enjoyment de-
rivable from that pleasing sensation of danger they
experience while travelling along their railroads.—
Anglo-American Times.

Both the lawyers appointed to the vacancies on
the U. S. Supreme Bench bear the highest character, and
are considered by the nation at large to be well selected.
The fact may be relied on that whatever may be their
decision on the Legal-Tender Act, it will be the result of an
honest conviction ; and as their judgment and legal know-
ledge are indisputable, the conclusion at which they arrive
will carry great weight. Associate-Justice Strong has
been assigned to the Third Judicial District, embracing
the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Associate-Justice Bradley will be assigned to the Fifth
Judicial District, comprising the States of Georgia,
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. This
District has been for some time past attached to the Sixth
District, to which Judge Swayne has recently been re-
assigned. We may add that the Chancellor for New Jersey
has decided that a mortgage of a date prior to the passage
of the Legal-Tender Act must, if the mortgagee demands
it, be paid, the interest as well as principal, in coin. Judge
Bradley arrived at Washington, March 22, and took Iris
seat next morning at 11 o'clock, the Bench being then
occupied by the full number allowed by law for the first
time during several years.
The latest news we have from Richmond (Vir-
ginia) is to the 22nd March, when Mayor Ellison and his
police were in possession of the city, though not without
bloodshed. On the night of the 22nd the town was tran-
quil, patrolled by Ellison's police. Mayor Cahoon had
held the station-house with forty men, aided by a crowd
of negroes. On the 20th Ellison sent a force to clear
rson -street, which the crowd blocked up; but the
negroes fired upon them, and Richard Bush was killed on
the spot and Captain William Knox wounded. The police
returned the fire, and drove the negroes away. For the
shooting of Ben Scott, Jack Wren surrendered, and was
bailed. Between Governor Walker and General Canby a
sharp correspondence ensued. The Governor, after re-
citing the circumstances, asked by what law or authority
General Canby interfered. The General repli..d that
his object was to prevent a breach of the -peace, and
his authcrity was the President and the Secretary of War
The Governor paraded all the Acts of Congress to show
that the military had no right to meddle in municipal affairs
unless called on by the Legislature or State authorities ;
neither the President nor the Secretary for War having
the power to authorise interference. In New York, he
hints, no military officer would have dared to interfere;
nor should they in Virginia. The General concedes the
Governor's position relative to law, but maintains ho wal
authorised by his instructions to interpose, and contends
that the interference was necessary. In the Ilous3 a re-
solution of censure on the General was reported, but not
acted on. MayorCahoon had moved for an injunction, which
was to be
_heard
.on, the 2.1 d March, before. Judge Under-
wood.

SMALLPDX RIOTS IN BERKS.— Great excitement has
prevailed in Berkshire with respect to what are known as
the smallpox riots. A house at Waltham, intended for
the reception of smallpox patients, was attacked, and
partly destroyed by a mob. The house was prepared as a
temporary hospital in consequence of a case of smallpox
having appeared in the town, and as this excited great
dissatisfaction in the neighbourhood, a kind of riot took '
place, and the house was attacked, and very much injured. ,
Several men were apprehended for being concerned in the k.
riot. At their trial the counsel for the defence submitted
that there was no evidence to prove tho defendants had
done the damage. They had only made a legitimate
demonstration against the erection of a pest house. The
magistrates thought there was not sufficient evidence to '
establish the case and dismissed the defendants.

,
IMPORTANT TO TRUSTEES.—An important judgment
has been delivered by Mr. Serjeant Wheeler, Q.C., in
the Liverpool County Court with respect to the liability
of trustees. An action Was brought against the trustees
of the Liverpool Tontine Society to recover £lOB ab-
stracted by a co-trustee who had absconded. In Decem-
ber last the three trustees attended at the bank
to draw out a sum for the payment of the annual divi-
dends. By some mistake £lO in excess of the proper
amount was drawn, and the defaulter, whose name is
Cabain, said " Let it pass for the present." He subse-
quently decamped with the whole £lOB, and as his co- •
trustees had condoned the irregularity they were held
liable.

THE HEREFORDSHIRE SCANDAL OASE.—On the resump-
tion of the hearing of this case, the Rev. Mr. Jackson,
the defendant was called and said he was rector of
Ledbury, Herefordshire. He took orders in 1840, and went
to Ledbury in 1860. He had officiated at three places, and
effected an exchange as to his present living through the
present Bishop of London: He was married in 1845. In
1867 the woman Elizabeth Parry was living in his service
as cook. Lane was also in his service. Mrs. Jackson
arranged that the girl Lane should come, but he did not
like it, as she had a very bold appearance. He was certain
that the mattrass was removed from the apple-room on the
Ist of October. There was not the slightest truth in tim
statement of the woman Parry of any intimacy with her
on any occasion. No part of her statement was true.
Witness positively denied any familiarity with the girl
Lane, and denied that he had ever kissed her.

BURNING HAY AND CORN.—A man has been sentenced
to five years' penal servitude at Killarney for burning a
quantity of hay and corn in the county of Kerry.

COMMITTAL FOR ALLEGED FRAUDULENT BANKRUPTCY.—
At the Derby Police Court Daniel O'Connor, an elastic
web manufacturer, has been committed on charge of I
defrauding his creditors. Some short time since the pri-
soner absconded, taking with him a large sum of money
which belonged to his creditors. He was pursued and
captured in France, with about £2,600 in his posses-
sion. Great interest was manifested in the proceedings,
this being the first prosecution under the new law.
Evidence was adduced of the prisoner's bankruptcy, and
of his being indebted in large sums to various manufac-
turers, also of his having overdrawn his account at the
Derby Commercial Banks. The prisoner had had exten-
sive commercial transactions with firms in Derby, Liver-
pool, Manchester, and other large towns. At the conclu-
mon of the case the bench committed him for trial, but '
admitted him to bail in the sum of £2,000, the chairman
remarking that the charge was a very grave and ijp
portant one.

THE SOCIETY FOR SECURING THE !OBSERVANCE OF THE
LORD'S DAY.—A solicitor has made an application to Mr.
D'Eyrc?urt at Marylebone, for a summons against Mr.
Bee Wright and Mr. John Julian Jackson, two persons
connected with the Society for -Securing the Proper Ob-
servance of the Lord's Day, on the ground that they went
about on the Lord's Day getting up cases, and thus in-
fringing the act. Mr. D'Eyncourt asked for proof
that they were paid. The solicitor said they re-
ceived 10s. a day on Sunday, and ss. after
every conviction. He had several witnesses to prove it.
Mr. D'Eyncourt said if the matter was to be so stretched
a policeman could not follow his calling on Sunday.. He
must decline to grant the summons, but if the applicant
were really in earnest, he could get one through the Queen's
Bench.
JEWEL ROBBERY.—Three persons have been charged
thee at
t h rMo b abreyr lye bf
roonme
MP or I
Lazarusc e- c o r t with
One
obeing
mconcerned in
been
tamale servant in the family of Mr. Lazarus, and was
believed to have been the chief person in the theft.
Another of the prisoners was a woman. They were all
remanded.
A LiAS VISTITTE.—rue secretary or me rnoenix tias
Company has been summoned at Southwark for refusing
to supply Mr. Pouter with gas. The complainant had
taken a house in the Blackfriars-road, and wished to open
a shop, but the company refused to put the gas on unless
lie paid £l6 arrears due by the previous tenant. He re-
fused to do this, but offered £5 deposit. The company
said that Mr. Pouter had let the house to the previous
tenant, who had absconded, and he had not given them
notice of a change in the tenancy. The magistrate held
that the company were in the wrong, and directed them
to supply the gas on the payment of security, and
to try the question of arrears in the County Court.
AN ILLICIT STILL.—An illicit still, with a large quantity
of spirits in process of distillation, was discovered at
Armley, in Yorkshire, a day or two since. The keeper
cf it, a man named Thomas Holt, was apprehended. and,
on being taken before the magistrates, was fined £3O, anti
in default sept to gaol for three months. •

grim LATE EDITION of "THE SUN" at
A. NV. SMITH'S "Camden Stores," 78, Park-street, Camden-

town