The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-19 00:00:00

niE SUS, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 19 1870.

THEATRE-ROYAL DRURY-L ANE.
dole Lessee and Manager, Mr. F. B. Chatterton.
THIS EVENING, at 7, WILLIAM TELL: Messrs T. C. King,
Neville, M'lntyre, Moreland ; Misses E. Stuart and Vokes: At 9
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Messrs. Fred. Vokes, Brlttain
Wright, Harry Boleno; Misses Vokes, &c.

tickets; and of course in such cases there will be no
harm done to schools• that are not free, just because
these will not exist. The Boards are to be allowed
to select any form of religious teaching they please,
or no form; but in the first place there must be a
Conscience Clause. The Boards will also be at
liberty to enforce compulsory attendance if they
think advisable ; but will not be bound to do so.
They may prefer to trust to indirect compulsion in
the form of an extension of the short time system
to all manufactures and industries, including agricul-
ture ; or they may pass bye laws which must have
the assent of Parliament, providing direct compul-
sion. If they adopt the latter alternative they may
levy a penalty of five shillings upon the parents
of the non-attending child, except such
child is hindered by sickness, or except there is no
school within a mile of its home. At present we do
not know how the principle of compulsion is to be
applied; but we presume that there will be a system
of registration by which the school-managers and
schoolmasters of any district will ascertain if there
arc any children not attending school. Probably
also the police will be empowered to see that
vaglant children are brought before a magistrate,
in order that these may be sent to an industrial
school. This, in fact, is merely the application of an
existing law.
It remains only for us to notice the conduct of the
Opposition with rega' rd to this measure. Of that wq
are /MO to speak m the highest terms. Towards
the Education Bill and towards the Land Bill they
have assumed an attitude which is both statesman-
like and patriotic. They are resolved that no party
spirit shall impede the settlement of these two great
questions. For this resolve they deserve the thanks
of the country scarcely less than do the originators
of these two great measures.

IT is to be hoped that,the public will indulgently
distinguish between cause and effect in the matter of
the telegraph break-down. The state of affairs is un-
doubtedly very serious. The first- fortnight of
Government suaser,nment has been marked by- a
s3ries of mishaps, and by constant failure in the
transaction of public business. The supply of news-
paper intelligence has been tardy and deficient,
and in more than one case has broken down
altogether. Private telegrams have been grievously
delayed, and in. some instances the post has even
outrun the wire in the transmission of important
messages. Nevertheless, the injury and annoyance
consequent upon this collapse ought not to preclude
a fair consideration of the reasons which are to be
assigned for it. The weather has been very unfavour-
able since the transfer. Mr. SCUDAMORE reports
that on several days only two wires out of seven
between London and Manchester have been
available ; often communication with Ireland
has depended on one wire; and the means at the
disposal of the department for conveying messages to
all the great towns of the North have been similarly
reduced. This curtailment of the ordinary resources
is not altogether attributable to the weather. Ths
only possible inference is that the telegraphs must
have been in a defective condition at the time
of the transfer; though caveat eniptor, it is too late to
complain of that now. The sum paid by the Go-
vernment was large enough to allow "compensa-
tion for repairs;" but it is clear that the old pro-
prietors left their property in a very indifferent
state. Great inconvenience and confusion, too,
must have ensued from the amalgamation of three
services, previously carried on by three separate
companies, into one. This cause of trouble
can of course be only of temporary effect.
The great increase in telegraphic business, is to be
taken into account. General public messages have
advanced in number from 30 to 50 per cent.,
but the greatest pressure has arisen from the dis-
arrangement in the system of collecting and forwarding
intelligence to the newspapers, clubs, exchanges,
and newsrooms. Under the old plan the companies
themselves forwarded news ; they sent what they
pleased and how they pleased. They accommodated
their labour to their means, and, of course, there was
no repetition of messages. The work of collecting
news is now done by several separate organisa-
tions, each striving to furnish the most
complete supply, and each, as a matter
of course, largely repeating the messages
of the others. The quantity of matter
has increased three or four-fold. The net result
of fewer wires and many more telegrams has been
a complete block on the line.
In this dilemma an immediate change in the
system of news transmission is imperative. The
press of matter could be sent through only with the
help of an increased service of wires, and this expo-
client will no doubt be adopted ultimately. But the
only present resource is to diminish the news to
the capacity of the machinery for conveying it.
It is essential that the Post Office accelerate and
give precedence to matters of the greatest public
moment—such as share quotations, markets, election
news, important public events, political speeches
of high interest, and the like. In the
despatch of such intelligence, competition will
obviously be useless, and there need therefore be
no duplication of messages. This simple arrange-
ment will relieve the Post Office of great pressure,
and much facilitate the work of the tele-
graph department. In no other way can the
difficulty be met. Mr. SCUDAMORE has laid- the
whole case before the proprietors of the various news
organisations, and it is to be hoped that this necessary
measure will be at once adopted. It is satisfactory to
learn from the Marquis of lIAETINGTON that the
difficulties arising from hasty organisation are being
rapidly overcome.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.