The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY MORNING, J UNE 17, 1870.

course he has pursued in the long run. There seems
every possible reason to urge against the adoption of
this course by the Ministers of the Crown. In the
first place the Debtors' Act of 1869 decreed that
after the Ist of January this year no arrests should
take place for default in payment of a sum of money.
Some exceptions were made, but they did not
affect Mr. EDMUND'S case, or at any rate
it has not been shewn that they did. A
summons has been issued to test the soundness.
of the arrest, and, therefore, the matter will -have
to be decided in Court. In the next place, it would
be most unbecoming to take advantage of an oppor-
tunity legally afforded of getting rid of an awkward
opponent, but the worst of all is that the chief
actors in the affair are the Ministers of the Crown.
Surely they had means and appliances in plenty to
state their case and vindicate their rights without
having recourse to stratagem. How mach better
it would have been for the Lords of the Treasury to
have gone through with the libel case, and when they
had seen it settled M a straightforward fashion, to have
dealt with the award owing by Mr. EDMUNDS,
The English nation does not desire to see its states-
men triumph by the arts of finesse, and it cares not
it they lose prestige for the want of practice in the
artifices of the law, but it does demand that as they
are entrusted with more power than the rest of their
fellow countrymen they should be sensible of
the responsibility that devolves upon them. The
public may care little and know nothing of the
EDMUNDS case; but they must consider it a strange
proceeding that a subject of the QUEEN should lose
his liberty on the eve of an important trial affecting
his interests, and that no proper explana-
tion on the subject should have been
forthcoming in the Parliament or the Press.
The friends of the Government cannot wish to see
them ruin their cause by the adoption of such means,
for they must feel that it is a severer blow to them
than any defeat could have been, while their political
opponents will not fail to perceive that any idea of
party satisfaction in the mistake must be swallowed
up in the more comprehensive sentiment of the dis-
grace that attaches itself to such arbitrary proceed-
ings. This last phase of the EDMUNDS' scandal may
furnish a melancholy illustration of the truth of the
saying that some thing. are worse than crimes in
their effect on statesmen, for they are blunders.

The debate on the Irish Land Bill was resumed in
the Upper House last evening by Lord Cairns, who
commenced by criticising the speech of Earl Gran-
ville on moving the second reading of the measure.
He maintained that the difference between the law
of England and Ireland was a sufficient justification
of such exceptional legislation as was proposed, and
he proceeded to comment upon the leading features
of the bill in a condemnatory manner, although in
some respects he was not averse to the propositions
which the scheme involved. Viscount Halifax,
Lord Athlumney, and the Duke of Argyll supported,
and Lord Grey and Lord Derby opposed the second
reading. The Duke of Abercorn thought the bill
violated every sound principle of legislation. On the
motion of Lord Dunsany the debate was adjourned.
Their Lordships rose at a quarter past twelve.
In the House of Commons Mr. Gladstone
announced several changes which the Government
had decided to make in the Education Bill.
The proposals of the Prime Minister created great
surprise, and the leader of the Opposition said the
alterations practically made the bill a new one. He
urged Mr. Gladstone to content himself with the bill
being committed pro forma, in order that the House
might have an opportunity of considering the new
proposals. This course was adopted. The other
business was not of a noteworthy character, and the
House adjourned at twenty minutes to one.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

nominal. Public advertisement is the agency by which
two-thirds of the stores are supplied ; private pur-
chase supplies only one-third. 'The Times, however,
which makes this announcement, is inclined to think
even one-third too much. " We cannot appreciate the
circumstances under which a sufficient reason should
exist for purchasing otherwise than by public competi-
tion so large a portion as one-third of our naval stores,
and we presume that much of the remaining two-
thirds is supplied under standing contracts which
preceded Mr. Baxter's accession to office. Public
competition is the rule of trade most generally
adopted by private companies in the purchase of
their stores, as being of all rules the one least liable
to perversion, and most likely to ensure a good bar-
gain for the buyer."

£1,238; Metropolitan District, £754; and in the St,
John's Wood branch there is also an increase.

A FIELD FOR CO-OPERATIVE EMGRATION.

The necessity of providing an outlet for- the sur-
plus labour of the United Kingdom has of late made
itself painfully evident, and thanks are due to every
person who can suggest a path through which the
dissatisfied and unemployed may find a field for
exertion. New Zealand has been repeatedly pointed
out as possessing all the requirements necessary for
the energetic emigrant, and "A Colonist" now writes
to the Times indicating that country as a fit place
for emigration on the co-operative principle.
He says that recent events have thrown great tracts
of land in the two islands into the market, and that
ready-made opportunities are thus offered for carrying
on the business of sheep and cattle runs and commencing
agricultural operations on a large scale. It would
be possible to purchase land at 7s. 6d. per acre, and to
buy the sheep on the ground at halt-a-crown or less.
The persons who are recommended to try
their for tunes in the experiment are the
younger sons of gentry, who have some
capital, sheep and cattle farmers, agricul-
turists, mechanics, shepherds, and labourers.
It is a misfortune that the principles of co-operation
have not yet received a fair trial in England, at least
in the southern part of the island. The tentatives
of the Rev. Mr. Maurice, Mr. Thomas Hughes, Mr.
Ludlow, Mr. Vansittart Neale, the Rev. Mr. Kings-
ley, and their friends, who spent much labour and
money in their endeavours to solve the matter, were
ill-supported by the working men themselves, and
since then the subject has not been advocated with
sufficient earnestness. The great want for a move-
ment of the kind indicated by "A Colonist " can be
summed up in one word—leadership.