The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-20 00:00:00

even in London, is full of cases originating in a mis-
conception of the provisions of the Act. And what
reason have we to believe that it is better under-
stood, or even so well understood, in the country ?
In the mean time, every blunder of the adminis-
tration is thrown on the Act, or on the Commis-
sioners. We hear that in many of the rural dis-
tricts overseers are capriciously giving and refusing
relief, on the obviously false plea that they arc for-
bidden by the Act, or forbidden by the Commissioners,
and that justices are refusing to interfere on the
ground that the Act has put an end to their power.
We hope that the diffusion of the popular outline of the
Act contained in Mr. Pratt's preface will do some
good, and we think that it might do more if it were
printed separately, and circulated in a cheap form.
But a tour made in a district by an able assistant com-
missioner, who could visit in person the local authori-
ties, would do more with persons unaccustomed to gain
information by reading than the circulation of a thou-
sand prefaces, outlines, or abridgments. But the prin-
' eipal means of amendment proposed by the 'Act is one
towards which no progress whatever seems to have
been made, or perhaps could be made, during the pe-
riod for which the Commission has existed ; we mean
the formation of unions, or the organization of in-
dividual parishes. The Legislature were well aware
of the unfitness of magistrates, open vestries, and
overseers to administer the relief of the poor ;
they proposed, therefore, to confide it to guardians,
to be appointed by united parishes, or by the rate-
payers and owners in separate parishes, and to be as-
sisted by paid and responsible officers. And they gave
to the Commissioners absolute and uncontrolable
power of effecting unions, and directing the appoint-
ment of officers and guardians. Many were the at-
tempts made to fetter this power, but they were all
successfully met by the argument that unions, ua r -
dians, and responsible officers are absolutely necessary,
and would not be voluntarily appointed by the vestries.
Until the Commissioners begin to exercise these
poWers, the Act can scarcely be said to be in opera-
tion. Another of the important provisions of the Act
is, that all overseers and other persons entrusted with
the parochial fund shall, in addition to the annual ac-
count now by law required, pass their accounts quar-
terly. But the Act does no expressly provide the ma-
chinery by which this is to be effected. It leaves it to
the Commissioners to direct the appointment of officers
who are to examine, audit, allow, and disallow accounts.
The Commissioners have not, as yet, directed the
appointment of any officers whatever, and in the mean-
time this enactment remains a dead letter. -We have
not heard of a single parish in which- provision has
been made for a quarterly audit, or, indeed; for any
other audit than the annual farce perfornied 1G;000
times every Easter. 'We repeat, that in all these re-
marks we do not impute a shadow of blame to the
Commissioners. They are, without do_ubt, as well
aware as we can be that every hour for_which any
means of amendment is delayed inflicts loss on the
rate-payers, and vice and degradation on tfie•receivers.
We see clearly that the delay which has occurred could
not have been prevented, and their characters preclude
the possibility of doubting their anxiety to proceed
with as much rapidity as is consistent with safety. It.
is not the Commissioners whom we address, • but .the
public, and we are anxious to impress on the minds of
our readers that they are not to judge of the efficiency
of the Act by the two months which have passed since
its enactment.—Morning Chronicle.
A Privy Council is to be held to-day for the purpose
of investigating the cause of the conflagration of Thurs-
day night. It is perfectly true that Miss Wright, the
housekeeper of the House of Lords, was examined be-
fore the Cabinet Ministers on Friday, and that her evi-
dence most unquestionably threw blame of the most
serious character upon some public functionaries, who,
it is shown, absolutely disregarded the information she
,gave, and utterly neglected the communications she
made. So early as half-past ten o'clock on Thursday
morning Miss Wright gave information to one of the
Government Offices (which at present we consider
it would scarcely be proper to mention), that she
considered the conduct of the workmen in burning
wood in the flues under the House of Lords to be
in the highest degree dangerous. Of this application
no notice was taken ; to it no answer was returned.
We abstain from making any remarks upon this
apparent negligence and remissness. The proceedings
of the Council to-day will of course be made public,
and we have no doubt that, whatever their decision as
to the conduct of the Government departments may be,
the country will be satisfied that the calamity was not
caused by the hand of an incendiary, unless—which
we cannot believe—the workmen themselves were the
perpetrators of the crime. We have received informa-
tion, upon which we can rely, that persons were heard
in some of the back streets in Westminster publicly
declaring that they knew the fire was to be, and it
must be admitted that the rapidity with which it
spread, and the circumstance of its appearing sud-
denly and simultaneously in several places, in a
great degree supports what seems to be the general
opinion. Still the possibility of the workmen being
engaged in the work of destruction only renders the
neglect of the housekeeper's warning more flagrant.
There are coincidences of circumstances which,
the moment the thoughts take that direction, become
important and corroborative of the suspicion. The
workmen were evidently careless, else Miss Wright's
alarms would not have been excited—they left work at
half-past five=at half-past six the fire was discovered
—at which time it was dead low water ; and at which
time all persons in charge of the buildings it was known
would be at tea ; it being certain also that they would
not go their accustomed rounds until they had finished
that repast. It is also true that a bundle of matches
was found under one of the trees in the Speaker's gar-
den. If it should prove that the workmen are criminal,
complete detection will most certainly follow. Con-
science or treachery, or jealousy or remorse, or the hope
of reward, will undoubtedly bring the incendiaries to
justice. For ourselves, we cannot yet but believe the
fire to have occurred through carelessness on one part,
and negligence and indifference on the other.—Morn-
ing Post.

If we thought that the paltry and rubbishing addi-
tions made in modern times to the old and once mag-
nificent Palace of Westminster would be substituted
by a building which, in design and execution, would
redeem our national taste from the reproach that many
tasteless public piles of brick and mortar and Roman
cement have brought upon it, we should rejoice at the
accident, if accident it be, that has swept those puerile
barbarisms away. But we confess we have much doubt
and great anxiety on that head. The jobbing in mat-
ters of this sort in England is so inveterate a vice that
we are not easily induced to believe in its reform.
It is not long since we had to expose the glaring want
of taste which was exhibited in the original design for
the new National Gallery, and which would have ex-
cluded from view at an important point the majestic
and beautifully-proportioned portico of St. Martin's
Church, one of the finest specimens of classic ar-
chitecture in the kingdom. In that matter our inter-
position did the State some service, and happy shall
we be if, with regard to the new Houses of Lords
and Commons, we can reason or shame those who
have the management of sach things and the dis-
posal of the public money into something that will do
them credit, and be an ornament to the country.
When we recollect that it is only within two .or three
years that we were obliged to come forward to oppose
the mutilation of such a glorious edifice as York Min-
ster, and the utter demolition of such a beautiful and
chaste specimen of pointed architecture as the Ladye
Chapel of St. Saviour's ; and when we found that the
Vandalic spirit that would have committed both those
irreparable enormities against taste was supported and
encouraged by some persons, with whom the depart-
ment of the Woods and Forests are in the habit, or at
least, have been in the habit, of advising upon public
works, we feel confident that we shall be justified in
the eyes of the public for expressing our doubts and
fears, touching the future operations of Government,
in regard to the construction of national edifices. It
is not generally known to the public that in the 12th
:year of the reign of George the Second, a series of
designs were made for a building to accommodate both
Houses of Parliament, by the celebrated Kent, at the
request of the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's
Treasury. The designs were approved of by the
peaker, Onslow, and the estimate was but 171,1671.