The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDOY, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 11, 1870

must be met. 11 the grant only covers the most in-
dispensable disbursements of those who earn it—and

it scarcely does so much at present—the entire ex-
I penses of the residuum must be drawn from the sub-
scribers and the officers, whose burden is already too
great. If it be made any greater, we must be pre-
pared to have it repudiated altogether. The distinc-
tion between the two classes of efficients would
have been of less importance if Mr. CARD-
WELL had offered a little more money for
the pass-men. The capitation ought to have
been rather more than equal to the expenses of
a single man, in order that the surplus might go
towards the support of those members who earn
nothing, and who inevitably form part of every
Volunteer regiment. Mr. CARDWELL, in short, has
driven a very hard bargain with the force, and his
niggardliness is apparent in the details no less than in
the lump sum of his offer. Ms wish to improve the worth
of this branch of the service is laudable, and his desire
that the Volunteers should co• operate more intimately
with the regulars is just. It is sheer vexation, how-
ever, to insist that twelve files must be a quorum for
company drill, when such a regulation is not needful.
Its only result must be the infliction of useless
attendances upon men who are anxious to earn the
grant. The requirement as to volley shooting
is similarly useless, though less hurtful.
But these and other minor grievances are
of little import compared with the financial problem,
which Mr. CARDWELL'S proposition brings to a con-
summation. As the complaints of the insufficiency
of the grant have long been loud and deep, it is diffi-
cult to see how a catastrophe can be avoided if this
reduction, for such it really is, be carried out. The
present is a favourable time for the settlement of the
whole question. If the Volunteers are worthless let
them be disbanded ; but if they are of service to the
country it is idle to deal with them in this huckster-
Liz spirit.

THE CROPS.

The Mark Lane Express, in its review of the corn trade,
says:—" Ever since the old year left us we have had
a temperature sufficiently high to start vegetation, while
an am ount of rain has fallen which has prevented the
flooded lands from anything like an effectual recovery.
Whatever hidden causes produce these fluctuations, we
cannot help receiving them as unfavourable both to the
crops of fruit and grain. The buds are swelling, the
grass and the wheat are growing ;jut how as to the
tillage for the spring corn ? Still, it is too early yet to
surmise mishaps, although last year may have introduced
us to a cycle of unfavourable seasons, and nothing would
be more certain to clear off the present pressure of super-
abundant stocks.

In another article the Express remarks that the
returns of barley have greatly fallen off, and the farmers
who like to plant a prime article will do well to put
by the choicest articles they have grown, as these descrip-
tions threaten to be extremely scarce at seed-time, while
foreign qualities are not usually resorted to, however fine.
The weather has been wet, mild, and very boisterous,
closing with a severe gale of wind. The year has thus
opened with the first week far from cheering for the agri-
culturist.

WORKMEN'S LNTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
OF 1870.

.4 conference of delegates from the towns of Great
Britain and other countries, convened by the Council of
the Workmen's International Exhibition to be held in
July next, at the Agricultural Hall, Islington,
was opened on Monday morning at the rooms of
the Society of Arts, John-street, Adelphi—Mr. Samuel
Morley, M.P., occupied the chair. The attendance,
although not very large, included delegates from Belgium,
Switzerland, Odessa, Glasgow, Belfast, Northampton, Bir-
mingham, Huddersfield, Perth, Blackburn, Weymouth,
Maidstone, Bath, Derby, Peterborough, Cambridge,
Ipswich, Sheffield ; as well as representatives from London
workshops and provincial trades' societies. The chairman,
in opening the proceedings, spoke of the moral and
material advantages which he believed would result from
holding the exhibition ; and alluded to the unsatisfactory

condition of workmen, both at home and abroad. They
did not, he said, seem to get a fair share of prosperity
with capitalists and employers. He was by no means a
communist, however, and he believed that working men
had suffered from false teaching. He thought aid
might be given by; the Council of the Exhibition,
under certain conditions, to workmen whose labour
involved great expense, and was convinced that
if capital met labour in a sympathising spirit the
Exhibition would exercise a good influence on the relative
conditions of employers and employed.—The details of the
arrangements of the forthcoming Exhibition were then
considered.—Mr. Thomas Patterson, one of the honorary
secretaries, in introducing the first topic, stated that
foreign local committees had signified, through their am-
bassadors, that they would accept the decisions arrived
at by the Conference. He submitted the proposed plan of
the Exhibition, explaining that it was based to a consider-
able extent on that of the Paris Exhibition. For instance,
there would be a twofold arrangement of entries and
articles, so as to give facilities for comparisons. Amateur
work would be shewn in a separate part of the
building, and there would be a special depart-

went for new inventions and improvements. It would
be required that every article should bear the name of the
workman who had been employed in its production, and
in cases where employers provided the tools and materials,
or had had a piece of work done to shew the excellence of
their factory, the article should belabelled with the names
of both master and men. Some discussion followed, re-
sulting in the adoption of the plan proposed.—The Hon.
Auberon Herbert, one of the hon. secretaries, introduced
the next subject on the paper—the system of prizes to be
adopted, and the advisability of appointing jurors. He
said the council feel disposed to leave the first matter
to the decision of jurors, and it was suggested that
half the number of jurors should be elected by the
Council, and the rest by the local committees.—Mr. Hobbs,
of Birmingham, was of opinion that if the exhibitors

elected half the jurors, the appointment cf 'practical
judges would be ensured.—The Mayor of Ipswich
approved of this suggestion. In the course of the
discussion, Mr. Etchells, of Huddersfield, who
represented a large class of the woollen trade of
the West Riding, said he should be satisfied with the
arrangement mentioned by the Hon. A. Herbert.—Mr.
Probyn (another of the honorary secretaries), was autho-
rised to state that the delegate from Odessa was of
opinion that they should confide the nomination
of jurors to the committee of the council.—
The delegate from Belgium took the same view.
—The Hon. A. Herbert said the honorary secretary had

no objection to a resolution confining the choice of the
council to one-third of the jurors, the remainder to be

elected by the foreign and local committees.—After some

consideration it was decided that it was undesirable to
hamper the council with strict resolutions, and the matter
was left to their decision with a strong recommendation
in favour of workmen jurors.—Mr. Probyn opened the
consideration of the third subject, which related to the
opening of workshops in the Exhibition. He said the
council were anxious to encourage a new mode of compe-
tition by establishing workshops in the Exhibition, at
which workmen might follow the occupations in which
they were habitually engaged. Benches and fixed stools
would be provided by the Council, while the competitors
would supply their own material under certain concr'ons.
—Mr. Morley vacating the chair at this point; Mr. Mun-
della, M.P., took his place. The discussion on workshops
was continued. A very general opinion was expressed in
favour of their establishment in the exhibition, practical
arrangements for carrying out the scheme being referred
to the council.

The best means to be adopted to make the exhibition
promote the interests of technical education came under
consideration, and on this point ➢lr. Buckmaster observed
that it was most necessary to impress upon the work-
men of England the fact that there was no
industry in which they were engaged that did not require
for its successful development a larger amount of know-

ledge than they as a body at present possessed. The
chairman observed that it was highly important that the
exhibition should be utilised to promote technical
education, and that this might be done was evident from
the influence which the Paris Exhibition had exercised
in the same matter.—Mr. Morley dwelt on the great
value of technical education ; and Mr. Applegarth said

it would be well to ask the Science and Art Department
to send a staff of half a dozen efficient science teachers,
under the direction of Mr. Buckmaster, to the Exhibition,
where they might render great service by explaining diffi-
culties which presented themselves to workmen who at-
tended.—Mr. Paterson said the Council had been debating
for some time the feasibility of enraging lecturers
to expatiate on the various trades in operation at the Ex-
hibition. The Hon. A. Herbert stated that the council
hoped to be able to open a room in connection with the
exhibition, where papers could be read by working men
on their occupations, and similar subjects could be dis-
cussed day by day.—The Chairman said it was pretty
generally known that he had for years taken a deep in-
terest in this question. He almost set the ball rolling,
and for a time he was like " a voice crying in the
wilderness." He was very glad to find that the
importance of the matter was being recognised.
After referring to the kind of technical education
given on the Continent, the hon. gentleman observed that
many of the crimes laid to the account of trades unions
should be attributed to our own ignorance. Our inability
to compete with Lyons in the production of silk arose from
our want of instruction. The council ought to enlist the
Science and Art Department in their favour, and get
them to send the best illustrations they could contribute
of the kind of scientific education and artistic instruction
which workmen should receive. If they also made
similar appeals to polytechnic institutions abroad, they
would give a great impetus to the progress of technical
education. The subject then dropped.
Mr. Probyn, in bringing before the conference the sug-
gestions received from local committees, said it was
desired to obtain the protection of the Board cf Trade for
inventions which might be sent to the Exhibition ; but
although the protection sought would be simi-
lar to that afforded by a patent, it would
only extend over a period of twelve months. The project
met with general approbation, and with some formal busi-
ness the conference was brought to a close.—ln the even-

ing a public meeting was held at Exeter Hall.

A short time ago a i explosion took place at one of
the Nantyglo Colleries in consequence of on accumulation
of gas. Mr. Crawshay Bailey, the proprietor, has been
summoned at the Tredegar Petty Sessions for having per-
mitted the ventilation of the shaft to be neglected. The
offence was admitted. and the magistrates indicted a
penalty of £2 Ns.

We learn from the Wall-street Journal that 1 per
cent. of the January interest on the Virginia State cou-
pon bonds is to be paid on January Ist, by order of Gen.
Canby, and one percent. interest on the registered bonds
at the same time. The revenue from tobacco and spirits
taxed in Virginia has largely increased during the present
year. The amount collected from tobacco in 9 months of
1868, from March 1 to November 30, was $362,694 46,
while the amount collected from the same source this
year reached the sum of $2,249,228 62. The total revenue
from distilled spirits in that State for the fiscal year
ending Juno 30,1868, under the two-dollar tax was $86,988,
while the amount collected for nine months of the present
year under the fifty-cent tax was $469,412. The revenue,
from miscellaneous sources also shows a large increase,
particularly from apple brandy, which will be fully 400
per cent, in excess of any previous year,

LITERATURE.

Our Ocean Highways. Edited by J. Maurice
Dempsey. One vol., pp. 416. Edward Stan-

ford.

A wonderfully acceptable and thoroughly useful
book this will be to thousands. It is a clue through
and through a labyrinth that covers the whole
earth. It purports to be—and is—a condensed
Universal Route Book by Sea, by Land, and by
Rail. It is at one and the same moment Alpha-
betical, Commercial, Consular, Monetary, and
Parliamentary. It is Postal, Statistical, Tele-
graphic, and Topographical. And it is
none of all this superficially. It gives the
pick of the information any reasonable man
could wish to have in regard to the enormous range
of subjects upon which the book is to be consulted.
It will enable to get from anywhere to anywhere. It
will tell him the price of his journey—the time
it which he will have to start—the time of his
arrival at his intended destination—the beat place
he can put up at—and, accordingly as the place he
is going to is at home or abroad, the name of the
British Consul in it, or of the member of Falba-
ment by whom it is represented. As a frontis-
c,iece, there is a capital map, with the Bri-
tish possessions coloured. Of course, the book
is not perfect, seeing that it is the production
of a fallible mortal. But it is so singularly ac-
curate, on the whole, that it is a very marvel to us,
remembering at once the novelty of the design, and
the extraordinary scope of it. Slips of the pen,
errors of fact inadvertently made, omissions and
miscalculations, there are, here and there, noticeable.
But these admit of very ready correction in the new
editions of a book that is safe to be reprinted. Take
as an instance of these errors that almost correct
themselves, the contradictory statements on pages
283 and 395—in the former it being announced
that Munich is 220 miles west of Vienna, and in
the latter it being announced that Vienna is 190
miles east of Munich ! At " Dresden," again, there
is no mention whatever of china ware being among
the local manufactures. An oversight as ridicu-
lous as would be the mention of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne without any reference to the commodity of
coals. Barring a very sparse sprinkling of clerical
errors, such as those we have instanced, the book is
throughout solidly reliable.

Historical Sketches of the Reign of George 11. By
Mrs. Oliphant. 2 vols. Blackwood and Sons.

This is a very delightful and instructive work, as
the name of the authoress may testify. Twelve
memoirs of very remarkable individuals are
here collected, beginning with " the Quen'
Caroline, the wife of George ll.—one of the
most influential and important of the Queen
Consorts of England. Next comes the Minis-
ter, " the great Sir Robert" of those days.
Then, in succession, "The Man of the World,"
Lord Chesterfield ; " The Woman of Fashion,"
Lady Mary Wortley Montague ; " The Poet," Alex-
ander Pope—the Poet indeed ; hut one whom Mrs.
Oliphant fails altogether to appreciate—and "Tne
Young Chevalier." This is the goodly list comprised
in the first volume. It would appeal hardly pos
sible to find another six indiriduald of the same
epoch worthy to be classed in such a companion-
ship, but the second volume is, in the whole of itv

contents, not far behind the first. It includes—
" The Reformer," John Wesley ; " The Sailor,"
Lord Anson; "The Philosopher," George Berkeley;
"The Noveliv," Samuel Richardson ; " The
Sceptic," David Hume; and "The Painter," Wil-
liam llogarth. Mrs. Oliphant has been indeed
fortunate in her selection of subjects, and the
subjects have, for the most part, been fortunate in
!heir biographer.

Over the Alleghanies and Across the Prairies. By
John Lewis Peyton. Sitnpkin, Marshall, and

Co.

This volume contains a narrative of personal re-
collections of the far West one and twenty years
ago, and it is interesting as a record cf times that
are no more. " The aspect of affairs which pre-
sented itself to my imagination," observes the wri-
ter contemplating his own reminiscences, " was so
remarkable in itself, and is so much more remark-
able when compared and contrasted with the as-
pect of the present, that these notes now assume
in my eyes a value not dreamt of at the time they
were written." The importance of the work, as
a picture of the far West in bygone times, is greatly
enhanced by the simple truthfulness and fidelity o
its descriptions of men and things.
The Great Stanley.