The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-05 00:00:00

" TAKEN FROM OLDENBURG SHIP.

"6. Chew A-Wy, a Chinese, states—l am 23
years of age. Am a coolie. Was seized 28 days
ago. I lived in Sam-po-hew. A party of robbers
about 13 in number came to my friend's house and
seized me, I was tied and gagged. The robbers
had pikes, swords, and shields. I know two of the
robbers ; one is called Wong Man Qtiong, the other
Fan-ting Kwel ; the first lives in Sinchune, the
other in Loong-gan-tung. I was taken to Tung
Poo, then to Chung Chow, to a boat, where I was
asked if I would emigrate. I was beaten if I re-
fused—beaten with a rope, and told that if I re-
fused when asked on board the foreign vessel I
should be brought back and killed. I was asked
on board the foreign vessel and refused to go.
Was brought on board the Chinese boat and again
beaten with a rope, then I said I was willing to go.
I received 1 dol. from a foreigner.

" TAKEN FROM AMERICAN SHIP.

" 7. Chow A-Chow, a Chinese, states-1 am 30
years of age and live at Wong-ke Kong. Am un-
married. A month since a party of robbers came
to my house, stole all my property, and took me
away to Tung Poo, thence to Chung Chow, and
there told me I was sold as a coolie, asking me if I
was willing to go. I refused, and was tied up and
beaten with the Hat of a sword. I was then sent to
the foreign ship, where I was asked by a foreigner
if I would like to go abroad. I said ' No,' and was
taken back and beaten again the same as before. I
was again taken to the foreign ship, and again re-
fused when asked to emigrate, taken back and
beaten again. I was then informed that if I was
still unwilling I was to be killed. I therefore con-
sented. On board the foreign ship I was asked by
the foreigners if I was willing to go, and, replyine,
in the negative, I was again beaten by the
foreigners with a rattan. I received about four
blows and was placed in the hold. After this I was
released by those who came for me. I saw coolies
beaten on board the foreign ship. It was because
they refused to work when called on to do so."
The depositions are 105 in number, and almost
precisely similar to those we have quoted.

S.4NITARY CONDITION OF TILE CITY.

At the meeting of the City Commissioners of
Sewers held yesterday at Guildhall, Mr. Deputy
Christie in the chair, Dr. Letheby, the medical
officer of health for the city, submitted his quar-
terly report, as follows :
"The returns for the winter quarter, which has
just expired, show that fewer persons have died,
and fewer children have been born, within the city,
than is usual for the season. In the course of the
last ten years the average number of births in the
quarter has been 935, but in that which has just
expired the number has been only 852, and the
proportion of deaths has fallen from an average of
838 to 828. At first sight, therefore, it would ap-
pear that the general mortality of the season had
not been unsatisfactory, but a closer examination
of the facts will show that the reduction of the
death-rate has not been in equal proportion to that
of the birth-rate ; and this indicates not merely a
great falling-off in the number of the population,
but also that the season has been unusually un-
healthy. In the central and western divisions of
the city, for example, the deaths have exceeded the
births in rather large proportion, for in the former
the deaths were 280, and the births but 269; and
in the latter the deaths were 242, and the births
only 219. Besides which, it will be remarked that
in every one of the city sub-districts, excepting the
north and south divisions of the Western Union,
the births are greatly below the average for the
season ; and even in these divisions they have risen
but from 210 to 219. These facts are significant,
for they point not only to a fluctuation in the num-
ber of the population, but also to a change in the
character of it; and, if I could place before you the
returns of marriages for the quarter. I have no
doubt that the results would be still more remark-
able. In truth, they show that there are some
parts of the city which are becoming so exclusively
devoted to the purposes of commerce as to shut out
that portion of the population which maintains its
numbers.

! "Of the 828 deaths in the quarter, 306 were in
• the Eastern Union, 242 in the Western, and 280 in
the Central. These are in the annual proportion of
27.4 per 1,000 of the inhabitants' of the first•named
division, 33 8 of the second, and 19 7 of the third;
making a total of 25.4 for the whole of the city. In
all England at this season of the year the average
mortality is at the annual rate of 24.6 per 1,000 of
the population, and in the chief towns it is about
26.5 ; while in the country districts it is only 22-2.
Measured, therefore, by these standards, it is evi-
dent that the eastern and western divisions of the
city have had a large death-rate during the quarter ;
but, as will be presently seen, this has not been
caused by zymotic or preventible disease, but by the
trying influence of the weather—the effects of which
have been manifested in the high mortality, of in-
fants and old persons especially, from lung diseases ;
in fact, there were 295, or rather more than a third
of all the deaths among children of less than five
years of age, and 214, or nearly a third, among old
persons of 60 and upwards; so that these classes have
furnished about two-thirds of the whole mortality.
"Pneumonia and bronchitis have been fatal in
231 cases, the average for the season being but 194,
chieflytlicmoreboindfiinnw_efihdueiectnhotetechlsae young
ossfeas and bronchitis to the
pobifoletthrhepeo.sfe the attacks of pneumonia have been
and:
al do
hthliTsisxamong the principal causes of
which cod
eas pn edc icahl layn
g subjecte
abl
e atto.
These, with 3,5' death
has been fatal in 87 cases.
death is
and 19 from hydrochs from tabes and scrofula,
deaths from tuberculareP alum, make a total of 141
or developmental diseases.
The average for the season,tt however, is 155, and'il
have had
atmospheric therefore it would seem
in-
fluences of the season but little to do
with
they arethis
the class
result of di s
s fact,orders. In point of
of a diseased growth and
of defective assimilation, they are checked,
rather than otherwise, by a cold season. The
num-
ber of deaths from zimotic diseases has also bnet
unusually small, for, except in one instance, namely,
in that of smallpox, every disease of this class has
been below the average. Diarrheea has fallen from
10 to 7; continued fever, including typhus
and
typhoid fevers, from
28 to 20; scarlet lever, from
19 to 15 ; measles, from 20 to 13; erysipelas, from
7 to 3; and whoopingcough, croup, 'and diph-
theria from 46 to 31 ; making in all a reduction of

from 130 to 89. '
" But smallpox has risen from an average of 7 in
the quarter to 22, and although this is a large in-
crease, yet it furnishes no idea of the great preval-
ence of the malady. My attention is still being di-
rected to the progress of the disease, for I hope that
the results of my inquiries may throw some light
on the protective power of vaccination, and on the
means for increasing the successful practice of it.
At present I have collected the records of 223 cases

of smallpox, all of which have occurred within the
city during the last nine months, and of which
number 62 have been fatal. 122, or rather more
than half of the whole number, had been success-
fully vaccinated, 24 had not been vaccinated at all ;
the others had been either vaccinated without suc-
cess, or had furnished uncertain returns. But the
general results of my inquiries are that of the fatal
cases 52 per cent. had not been vaccinated, 18 per
cent. had been vaccinated without success, and 30
percent. had been vaccinated, as it was thought, sue -
cessfully, Of the cases which recovered, 72 per cent.
had been vaccinated successfully, 6 per cent. not
successfully, and 22 per cent. had not been vaccinated
at all. So that of the fatal cases as many as 70 per
cent. had not been protected by vaccination, and of
the recoveries 72 per cent. had. The average tem-
perature for the quarter had been 40.6, which is
nearly the mean of the last 43 winters; but this
average has not been maintained throughout the sea-
son, for in the month of January the tempera-
ture was nearly 5.5 degrees above the average, and
late in the quarter it had fallen to as many degrees
below it. The daily range of temperature has also
varied from 6 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit to 19, and
when these changes were observed the mortality
has quickly rose from a weekly average of 64 to
upwards of 80. The lowest temperature in the
quarter (25.8) NN as registered on the 14th of Feb-
ruary, and the highest (56.5) on the 3d of January.
The variations of the barometer have not been re-
markable, although the mean pressure (29 79) has
been a little below the average. The range in the
movement of the mercury has been from 28.72 to
30.61. As regards the moisture of the air, it has
generally been abundant, amounting, on an aver-
age, to 83 per cent. of saturation, and it has ranged
between 80 and 96 per cent. Lastly, there have
been 48 wet days in the quarter, and a total rain-
fall of 4.75 inches.

Altogether there have been 2,452 inspections of
houses, of which 798 have been inspections of the
common lodging houses, 232 have beon made in
consequence of the occurrence of 86 cases of small-
pox, 84 of continued fever, and 62 of diarrhoea, all
of which have been returned in the parish books by
the medical officers of the unions. The result of
these inspections has been the issuing of 468 orders
for works of improvement."
The report was ordered to be printed and circu-
lated among the members of the court.

PAPER CURRENY FOR INDIA.

The Indian despatches which have just been
printed record another triumph of political econo-
my. Practice isl:at length overtaking theory, and
abstract principles, after having been allowed their
ordinary period of probation, are at length admitted
and applied without hesitation to the daily affairs
of mankind. Many years have elapsed since Mr.
Ricardo revealed to the world the true theory of
paper money, . but it was not till 1844 that those
principles gained their final triumph in this coun-
try.
.Sound as are the doctrines on which the re-
gulation of the English currency is based, and
satisfactory as have been the results of that great
measure, it has, strange to say, remained hitherto
unique. Foreign countries have been ready enough
to imitate the device of a State bank of issue and
deposit., as a mask behind which to conceal ques-
tionable financial transactions ; there has been no
lack of readiness, either before or since the Act of
1844, to issue Government paper ; but the safe-
guards under which alone that paper can be safely
issued have been universally disregarded ; and yet
it is impossible to deny that the principles of cur-
rency contained in the act of Sir Robert Peel are
of universal application, and have no particular
relation to the commercial or financial state of Eng-
land any more than to that of any other country in
the world. This truth has tardily disclosed itself
even to those statesmen who had the most share in
assisting Sir Robert Peel to pass the Bank Act ;
but it is apprehended at last, and we hail the in-
tended establishment of a sound currency in India
as a happy result already produced by sending to
that country a gentleman who really understands
those principles of political economy which no at-
tentive student of that science ever dreams of
disputing.
How necessary such a mission was may be
easilyjudged by any one who will take the
trouble to read the letter of the Financial Secre-
tary of the Government of India with which
the correspondence opens. We had no reason
to suppose that the study of financial ques-
tions had made great progress in India, but we
certainly were scarcely prepared for such doc-
trines as the following :—" The objection to this
coorse" (that is, issuing notes by the Government)
" will in a great measure be met if the notes are
receivable at the option of the public and converti-
ble on demand. Generally speaking, it is in cases
in which notes are a legal tender, and thereby made
absolutely to assume the place of a metallic cur-
, rency, that seriously evil results are to be appro.
hended,7 We presume that the Financial Secre-
tary of India never heard of the crisis of 1825 or of
the Act of 1844. Had he heard of the first he
would have known that notes receivable at the op-
tion of the public, and convertible on demand, can
be over-issued to any extent, and with the most
fatal consequences, assuming for the time, to all
intents and purposes, the place of a metallic cur-
rency. Had he heard of the second, he would have
known that, under proper safeguards, Government
can issue notes, which are a legal tender to every
one except the issuer, without any evil result at all.
Warned probably by the antiquarian style in
which the Financial Secretary treated the doctrines
of political economy, Mr. Wilson evidently thinks
nothing ought to be taken for granted, and corn-
men ces his minutebya complete synopsis of all that
we know of the principles of currency. We hope
that the Financial Secretary has studied the doctrine
laid down for his benefit,. and that he is convinced
now that it is not the wisest and soundest policy
" to make as large a portion as possible of the me-
dium actually circulating metallic," but that he
holds, with Mr. Wilson, that " a paper currency
reduces the cost of the Mint, economises the wear
and tear of coin, affords great facilities for remit-
tance, and enables the Government to become,
without any pecuniary sacrifice, the holder of
a considerable portion of its securities." It
is not necessary to go through the elaborate
machinery by which Mr. Wilson proposes to adapt
the present system of currency in England to the
wants of India. The principles are identical with
the Acts of 1844, or where they differ they are even
more rigorous and scientific. Mr. Wilson dis-
penses with the agency of a Bank, and proposes to
intrust functions exactly similar to those of the
Issue Department of the Bank of England to a
Board of Government Commissioners in Calcutta.
With these he proposes to connect District Boards.
A portion, never to be less than one-third of the
issue of notes, is to be retained in coin, and against
the remainder of the issue Government securities
and held. The public Trea-
suries with their funds in case of any
ere to
tpou purchased s d
sudden emergency. Of course, there is not in India
the same knowledge as has been acquired in Eng-
land of the amount of securities which may safely
be held against the issue of notes. The process
must in the first instance be tentative, and it is only
when confidence has been fully established that
Government can feel itself relieved from the neces-
sity of holding a much larger amount of cash than
would be thought requisite in this country. As an
additional precaution against forgery the notes are
to be`manufactured in England. They are to con-
sist of promises to pay 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500
rupees ; that is to say, they are to range from 10s.
to £5O. The notes et the 14..12- t. L.
called in, and the circulation of that bank is to be
taken as a guide for the operations of the Govern-
ment. When the plan has been fairly launched at
Calcutta it, is to be extended to Bombay, Madras,
the Punjab, Oude, and the North- Western Pro-
vinces. Two years will be required for the pre-
paration of all the notes, and by the end of that
time it is hoped the plan will be in full activity.
It is not often that we are able to speak of any
measure of Government in terms of such commen-
dation as of this wise and well-considered step.
Immense sums will be saved in the mere escort
and conveyance of bullion to those district Trea-
suries, where, according to their present antedilu-
vian system, the coin required for the payment of
the troops and officials is kept. An incredible
economy of time and labour will also be

achieved by avoiding the necessity of
counting
every month hundreds of thousands of pounds
in two shilling pieces. A great temptation to
---
rebellion will be removed when the public
trea-
sure shill be converted from cumbrous silver coin
easy to be found and dt • It to be carried away'
into a roll of notes which can be placed in safety,
or, if necessary, destroyed, without any ultimate
loss to their possessor. The spectacle of a bullock
hackety guarded by a company of Sepoys dragging
a few thousand pounds in rupees over an almost
impassable road to some out-of-the-way Treasury is
an anachronism which need not again be witnessed.
Nor is this all. The holders of the notes of-the Go-
vernment will have a strong interest in its preser-
vation. So far from apprehending any danger to
the English rule from an issue of notes properly
secured, we believe that no better step could be
taken to increase our estimation, not only in India,
but over the whole continent of Asia. When it is
found that these notes are always paid on demand,
as they assuredly will be, if provisions modelled on
the Act of 1844 are adopted, and when, owing to
the publicity of the returns, the Indian public be-
gins to understand the ample safeguards which have
been established to insure their convertibility, the
superior convenience of paper to gold will have at
length its full weight, and our subjects will not fail
to appreciate the 'vast difference in respect to good.