The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-23 00:00:00

THE NEW LAW COURTS.

The temperature at present is not conducive to
activity, but the public has some reason to complain
of the extrardinary apathy which delays
the erection of • our long promised Law
Courts all the year round. Many a long year
has passed since the absolute necessity for their con-
struction was clearly demonstrated. Parliament
ratified the decision arrived at after a long strugle,
but one of the Inns of Court stood in the way.
After a year had been wasted, the oppo-
sition was withdrawn, and the Act became law ;
but the preliminary work was not finished,. for the
fierce dispute as to the rival merits of Carey-street
and the Thames Embankment commenced with
full vigour. Ode side argued that a good site was
the first consideration in a work of a national character.
The other contended that the Carey-street site was
bought and must therefore be used. Mr. Lowe,
always rejoicing in difficulties, found a way
to reconcile the disputants by insisting on
a site which the malcontents agreed to be
the worst yet suggested. Finally it was decided that
the original Carey-street design should be adhered
to, and we all expected to see the work begin. We
were, however, too hasty. Mr. Ayrton tells Lord E.
Cecil that questions of a very complicated character
have arisen in respect to the New Courts of
Law, which will take some time to , solve.
As if anything connected with English law could be
otherwise than complicated and interminable ! There
is one advantage : the engineer is hoist with his own
petard, and the irritated and dis appointed legal
fraternity may now understand something of the
pleasures of legal delays.

THE ABDICATIONS AT THE ADMIRALTY.

•It is very strange indeed, that within one week, one
officer, Rear Admiral Cooper Ivey, • should be ordered
snmmarily by the Admiralty to join the Mediter-
ranean Squadron, in return for his exhibition of an
independent spirit, while two other officers, one of
whom cannot easily be replaced, are stated to have
tendered their resignations in consequence of some
new unpleasantness in that department. The report
of • Mr. Reed's abdication is not understood by the
public. • According to an estimate made some
time since by Mr. Childers, he is worth to the
nation a million of money. His political sympathies
are Gladstonian, and although it was the Conserva-
tive • Ministry who conferred upon him his
Commandership of the Bath, the Liberals have not
been blind to his services, and it is_ only a few days
since that they ordered an extra five thousand
pounds to be granted to him for his labours as chief
constructor of irofrclad ships. The Times explained
some days since, when commenting on the extraor-
dinary manner in which Rear-Admiral Key was
treated, because he objected to Whitworth ord-
nanco and told tales about - anchors and
contractors, that a spirit of subservience
was the quality most encouraged by the Admiralty.
The chief constructor stands very much alone in his
office, and he can advise as he wishes with regard to
the form and build of English war vessels ; it is,
therefore, hardly credible that he can have failed in
subserviency. He has certainly been persistent in
his advocacy of the broadside type of ironclad, and
he may have hastily demurred when he
was expected to recognise the. advantages of
the Government idea of amalgamating broad-
sides and turrets. It is in a nutshell that the
difference lies, and knowing the worth of Mr. Reed
to the State, the public have only to believe that some
incompatibility of arranging matters alone hasled to his
resignation. It is much to be desired -under all cir-
cumstances that the announcement of the resigna-
tions, having been completed, may yet be, as the
Daily News anticipates, premature.

POSTAL CONVENTIONS WITH FRANCE.

The particulars of the new postal arrangements