The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-25 00:00:00

MARRIED WOMEN'S PROTECTION ORDERS.

In his Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Bill Lord
Penzance_ proposes to make no alteration in the
existing rule of law whereby a married woman can
only obtain a protection order when deserted by her
husband. If his ill-usage of her is such that she can
have him bound over to keep the peace and could
petition for judicial separation, still she cannot apply
for a protection order. The theory, the Solicitors' Jour-
nal supposes, is that a judicial separation operates as a
protection order, and that a woman ill-used by her
husband can protect herself by petitioning the Court
for a judicial separation. "But various causes may
prevent her from petitioning, and even if she does
petition, some time must elapse before the decree.
Under both these circumstances she may want her
earnings protected from her husband, and it is worth
considering whether provision should not be made
for such want."

T.AN(ASHIfE COTToN AND THE FRENCH TREATY.
The sulazdemmittee of the
of Commerce have just presented their report on the
condition of the cotton industry. They
take no very cheerful view of the matter,
representing the trade as extremely depressed
and its prospects as far from encouraging. In 1869
the extreme badness of the trade produced, they say,
an amount of disaster almost unparalleled in the
history of our commerce. "In that year alone
upwards of eighty spinners and manufacturers in the
Manchester district failed, independently of those
who made private compositions with their creditors.
Whore mill property had to change hands it
fell to a third of its value. The returns
shew how little the state of affairs has
been improved by the French treaty, and the
committee regard the high tariff of the treaty as
quite uncalled for. It is a matter of question, they
consider, whether the abolition of all duties would
afford opportunity for the export of the lighter and
dearer fabrics, but they cannot hope to export them
largely with more than a nominal duty. It is
understood that the cotton manufacturers of France
are desirous of putting restrictions on English goods.
The committee, therefore, urge upon the Chamber
the claim of the groat mass of the consumers to
exercise entire ireedom of purchase, and they
trust the enormous advantage of an open
English market for French goods will not
be overlooked. The committee at all events have
not arrived at the conclusion that the depression of
trade which they lament renders a return to Protec-
tion or Reciprocity desirable.

THE BRIGHTON REVIEW.
"A Brigadier" replies to the "Military Critic" of
the Times, on the Brighton Review. The object of
the writer is apparently not so much to criticise the
critic as to put the blame where the blame
is due. For instance, the staff; he says, should know
their proper place. They should avoid taking com-
mand of brigades, regiments, and companies, as they
frequently do in their eagerness to carry out some
minute point of drill, withdrawing, when so doing,
their attention from a higher order of things—such
as taking the best advantage of ground, combining
the action of artillery with infantry, bringing up in
rear of first lines of attack second linos at such
a distance as to give real support and
assistance. When this is not done, he says,
nine messages out of ten are given incorrectly, many
of them being totally incoherent. Cavalry officers,
he observes, who are often chosen as aide-de-camps,
seldom know infantry words of command. One of the
military ameliorations he considers most rts-
quired is the assimilation, as far as possible,
of artillery, cavalry, and infantry words of command.
A confused word of command at a critical moment,
he adds, has led to disasters worse than those which
volunteers have to deplore at their sham fights.

IRISH FARM RENTS.

As a good reason why Trish farm rents should be
higher now than they were twenty-five years ago,
Mr. W. J. Hamilton, the Poor-law inspector
for Waterford and other counties in
Ireland, shows that when property changes
hands, the rule is that the rents are
increased without reference to how the value
of the property may have been increased. In
some cases the inspector thinks the increased
prices of produce have fully warranted a read-
justment in the landowners' favour of expiring
contracts. Oats, he says, were Bs. per barrel in 1845,
and lls. Gd. in 1870. In the same period other
increases were : hay, 235. to 00s.; straw, 15s. and
18s. to 50s. per ton. Beef, 4d. to 7d. per
lb. ; mutton, 4d. to Gd. per lb. ; butter, 60s. to
120 s. per cwt.; bacon, 4d. to 6d. per lb. ; small
weaned calves, 20s. and 255. to 50s. and 655.; year-
lings, 50s. and 60s. to 90s. and 100 s. ; eggs and
poultry, double at least; horned cattle and horses,
ReArix _ AA a set-off. however. surainsit aP