The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-05 00:00:00

C JOURNAT.S. THE GREAT POLISH SALT MINE.

OP

The Times observes that Dr. Tait was on Thursday placed
on the oldest seat of authority in the s.. isles, for there is no
throne of either temporal or spiritual authority that can
dispute this claim with the see of St. Augustine. But Dr.
Tait has given abundant proof of his qualifications. His
late diocese is a post of more labour and more direct respon-
sibility. Indeed, it has already brought him into the
front of the religious warfare as much as the
Primacy can do. His opinion has been chal-
lenged on all sides upon all the controversies of
the day, all the questionable practices indulged in by
Church zealots, and all the legal questions raised by those
who wish to liberate doctrine and authority from law and
civil jurisdiction. He has had to decide and to declare
upon various points of Ritualism, upon the freedoms
lately assumed by Biblical scholars, and the liberty of
interpretation allowed by the existing laws of the Church,
and upon the claims of Churchmen, at home or elsewhere,
to anticipate or override the judgments of courts. None cf
these questions can be considered as settled, or as near a
final settlement ; nor can it be thought satisfactory that
two churches in the same street, bound by a common
declaration of uniformity, should exhibit opposite and
antagonistic preachings and practices. Something like an
Anglican Catholicity too much upon the Roman model
would seem to have been attempted by the zealous end
over-sanguine managers of our religious societies, and the
lawyers have to tell them how much beside their intentions
the working really has been. Dr. Tait has shewn that he
is not the man to be carried away byanydream of spiritual
dominion, and that,' rendering what he will to Heaven, he
will not deny Ciesar his due. He is a plain, sensible, and
careful preacher and writer. He is sufficiently ready, and
not destitute of eloquence. He is as learned as a bishop
need be for usefulness. He is anxious and laborious
beyond his strength. There, indeed, comes in the only
objection that has been made to his appointment. If his
health and strength have failed him at London House and
Fulham, will they serve him better at Lambeth and Adding-
ton? He is no longer young, and has had warnings. Butif he
is not strong enough for Canterbury, neither would he be
for London, and the objection only suggests some new
arrangement for aged and failing bishops, such as that for
which Dr. Tait's immediate predecessor supplied an
example and precedent. Dr. Tait's friends need not
shrink from a comparison with any Primate of this
century. All things considered, and taking into account
the difference between fair weather and storm, smooth
water and cross seas, we may yet find reason to congratu-
late ourselves that our pilot is something more than the
amiable and accomplished gentleman who satisfied our
fathers and their fathers before them.
The Herald refers to the case which has just been dealt
with by the presiding judge of the Central Criminal
Court. Two foreigners, named Streimer and Kunacke,
have been tried and convicted of forging and uttering
a multitude of fictitious bills of exchange, and have very
properly been sentenced to long periods of penal servi-
tude. Within a stone's throw of the Bank of England
they carried out their nefarious and perilous trade
of forgery by wholesale, and from a small office,
situated almost under the shadow of that great
establishment, they sent forth a multitude of
ostensibly genuine commercial instruments, of which
every part was false except the stamps they bore and the
paper on which they were written. The firm of forgers
must have had considerable knowledge of mercantile
business, or they would never have ventured upon so
extensive a scheme. They had bills which purported to
have been drawn on firms in every quarter of the world,
and in every part of the kingdom. The amounts too
generally included some odd shillings and pence,
just by way of keeping up appearances, and all the
ordinary indications of good bills were carefully
imitated, so that some of our most respectable banks were
actually induced to advance money upon them. But when
at length the police got upon the rogues' track, the
drawers, acceptors, and endorsers of Messrs. Streimer and
Kunacke's paper turned out to be purely mythical per-
sonages, with neither form nor substance, local habitation

nor name. The wonder was how they had contrived to

keep up their game so long, and to put so much stuff
into circulation. But perhaps even ,this wonder was
surpassed by the fact that, as far as could be ascer-
tained, they had made very little by it. We are afraid
the natural inference is that we have only got at
the underlings, and that the principal offenders are yet
undiscovered, as is believed to be the case with the Russian
and other foreign note forgeries. If so, the police have an
opportunity of distinguishing themselves by running the
greater delinquents to earth, and so ridding us of pests
whose life must be passed in incessant endeavours to
destroy that confidence without; which trade cannot be
carried on, careless of the loss they inflict upon men un-
fortunate enough to be deceived by their evil and frau-
dulent devices.

The Post mentions the fact that no fewer than 1,668 fire!
occurred in the metropolis during the pastyear, and of these
between one-third and one-fourth arose from " unknown
causes." This subject was brought before the Metropo-
litan Board of Works during their meeting at the end of
last week. Some of the members were very anxious that the
Fire Brigade Committee should cause an investigation of
all fires to be made, and a record kept of every suspicious cir-
cumstance. But however desirable the proposal might be, the
general feeling of the board was decidely adverse to it.
One of the members of the Board at the meeting said,
" It could not be denied that fires were less frequent when
investigations were held. In the parish to which he
belonged, before the Fire Brigade was placed under the
control of the board, the parish had to pay a much larger
amount of fees for extinguishing fires than they
did then ; and fires of a particular character,
which were formerly very frequent, did not
now occur." A properly-arranged system of judicial
inquiry into cases of fire might, therefore, instead of being
expensive, be the means of indirectly reducing expendi-
ture ; and whoever would be benefited by this reduction of
the number of fires ought to be brought under contribu-
tion to defray the necessary expenses. It is to be hoped,
therefore, that the discussion of the subject may lead to
some practical steps being taken with the view of increas-
ing the security of the public and removing a stigma
now undoubtedly attaching to the householders of the
country since the great extension of fire insurance.

The Standard defends the late Ministry from the charge
of exercising an undue amount of patronage, and reminds
adverse critics that the one party has been in office five
years for its opponents' seventeen. A Liberal lawyer,
clergyman, or politician, has at least three chances of
promotion for one that falls to a Conservative. And any
reasonable Liberal must regret that this should be
so ; that the good things of professional and public
life should be so unequally distributed. It is a
necessary condition of a system under which pro-
motion is only to be expected from a man's own
party, that each party should, during the average lifetime
of a public servant or professional man, have on the whole
about an equal period of power; otherwise one side is un-
fairly weighted in the race of life, as well as in the struggle
of politics. The disadvantage of such a state of things
as has obtained during the last eighty years is twofold.
Up to 1830, the Tories had almost a monopoly of power;
since 1830 they bare been almost always in opposition.
Consequently, during the fast half of the period
1788-1868 the high planes of the bench, the Church,
the civil servic, were entirely filled by Tories; and a Tory
bias was given to the law, the Church, and the administra-
tion of the country. Since that time a similar preponder-
ance has been enjoyed by the Liberals. Again : besides
the undue leaning to one side thus communicated to our
courts, our ecclesiastical administration, and almost every
service connected with the State, the professional
adherents of one side are promoted too rapidly,
while the others are unduly discouraged and thrown
back. Lord Chelmsford had to wait many years for
promotion, while his Whig rivals and juniors passed over
his head. Sir F. Kelly was Solicitor-General in 1846, and
had actually to remain at the bar for twenty-years longer,
'while men who had entered the profession when he was
at its head were promoted to the bench. And, therefore,
all candid and reasonable Liberals must rejoice that during
Lord Derby's and Mr. Disraeli's brief term of office so
considerable a number of vacancies have occurred as to
give the T.-aies something like their fair share of the
prizes of life, something like their rightful weight on the
judicial bench, in the episcopate, and in the service of the
Crown.

The Daily News makes some remarks upon the arduous
character of the work that lies before the new Commis-
sioner of Police. Colonel Henderson will find his work
cut out for him in Scotland-yard. By common consent
the police force in the metropolis has lapsed into a con-
dition from which only a strong hand can raise_ it.
its
vigour reasons have been given for this decline of _
vigour : the one which has obtained most acceptance with
the public is that of late years the primary object for
which the force exists has been lost sight of ; while another,
altogether aecon.lary, has been greatly exaggerated. The
public believe that the force has been administered
too much with a view to its discharging the duties of a
military body, and too little with a view to the repression
of crime. lily. Bruce corrected some prevalent errors on
this subject at the interview with a metropolitan deputa-
tion on Wednesday, but he has shewn how thoroughly he
recognises the repression of crime as the great end for
which the police force exists by appointing as its head a
gentleman who has distinguished himself by his successful
dealing with criminals. In the post which he now leaves
he gathered round him a most admirable staff, and
all who know anything of the Convict Prisons
Department know that it is singularly efficient.
Yet in the five years during which he presided
over it he has effected an animal saving of
£BO,OOO in the cost of the food of the prisoners—
who were never in better health than no-.v—in limiting
gratuities, and by employing the prisoners in public
works. We do not mention these circumstances for the
sake of dwelling upon any value that may attach to Col.
Henderson's special experience, but because they represent
and attest a man of resource, of organising power, of skill
in the choice of subdtdinates, an ardent lover of efficiency
thoroughly able to secure it. It seems to us that such a
man, whatever may have been his. previous employment.
is in the highest degree likely to infuse vigour into the
police system.lo the metropolis, to give us security in ow
homes and peace and order in our streets, at the least pos-
sible cost to the ratevayers..

The recent inundation of the salt mines of Wrelie,ska
has attracteu some attention, and Mr. Grcig, who visited
them some time since, has published a description of his
experience under ground. His account is a very graphic
one, the scene in the mine being a most singular
one. The ground is pure salt, and the sight
of galley after galley, each named after some
illustrious personage, surprises the visitor. There are huge
chambers of salt having an imposing character, and the
solemnity of the whole is increased by the dead stillness
and thick darkness. At every gleam of light from the
torches or rockets borne by the visitors the, ground,
' the walls, and the columns of these chambers
sparkle as if with myriads of jewels. One large hall
where the rockets were thrown above and below seemed
to have unmeasurable depth and height and width. From
one of the galleries the visitor came to the borders of a
large lake, which had to be crossed by a strange-looking
ferry-boat. When nearly over this lake a pistol was dis-
charged, and the echoes reverberated like the most
deafening thunder. It gave the visitor an un-
comfortable sensation when some time after he
was walking at a greater depth, and was told by his
guide he was just under the huge lake which he had
crossed in the morning. One of the most wonderful
things in the mine is the beautiful little chapel of salt.
There is an altar, a crucifix of great size, and statues of
the saints and kings of Poland. The miners all
assemble to hear full mass in this chapel on
the day of St. Am egunda, their patron saint.
Another marvel is the ball room highly ornamented and
illumined by a chandelier cut from pure salt crystal.
The Emperor and Empress hold a Court ball here occa-
sionally, and do the honours of their underground palace
in person. The mine is an exception to mines in general
in:point of salubrity, no miner being ever known to have
a weak chest, as the air is pure and warm. The excava-
tions are between 800 and 900 feet below the surface, and
extend for some miles.

MR. EDWARDS CALLED TO ACCOUNT.

Mr. Edward Watkin Edwards, whose evidence before
the Lord Mayor, at the Guildhall, in the matter of the
. Overend, Gurney, and Co. prosecution has caused so much
stir, is not to go on without having to explain his trans-
actions. It seems that the Commissioners in Bankruptcy,
as soon as the matter came under their notice, put them-
selves in communication with the Lord Chancellor, and
he gave orders that Mr. Edwards should be called upon
in open court for an explanation. So, on Thursday, Mr.
Commissioner Holroyd thus addressed the official
assignee : " I have considered it to be my duty
to require Mr. Edwards to attend me in open
court this day with reference to a communication
which I have received from the Lord Chancellor, in
answer to a letter from me to his lordship on a matter of
greatpublic moment, affecting the conduct of Mr. Edwards,
an official assignee of this court, as represented by himself
in his recent examination as a witness in the case of Over-
end, Gurney?, and Co., before the Lord Mayor and Sir T.
Gabriel. In pursuance of the Lord Chancellor's request,l
have to require Mr. Edwards to state whether or not
the newspaper report of his examination as a witness in
the proceedings which have lately been taken before the
Lord Mayor and Sir T. Gabriel with reference to several
members of the firm of Overend, Gurney, and Co. be sub-
stantially correct ; and, if so, how Mr. Edwards recon-
ciles his attendance at board meetings of the Atlantic
Royal Mail Steam Company in the middle of the day,
twice a week, and his services to the company of Overend,
Gurney, and Co., at a salary of £5,000 a year,
with the performance of his duties as an official
assignee in bankruptcy. I have also to ask Mr.
Edwards to explain on what account he received a further
sum of £lO,OOO, and, further, to explain his letter of the
26th January, 1864, upon the subject of his connection
with the then house of Overend, Gurney, and Co., and why
he then represented his connection with Overend and Co. as
an engagement in ' arbitrations, references, and negotia-
tions, which could not interfere with his official duties,'
and did not then state his positive engagement at a salary
of £5,000 a year for his services to that firm. A copy of
the above requisitions, together with a copy of the corre-
spondence in 1864, and the printed copies from the Times of
his alleged answers on examination as a witness as before
mentioned, will he delivered to Mr. Edwards. If Mr.
Edwards be not prepared at once to give his explanations
and answers to the questions which the Lord Chancellor
has desired to be propounded to him, I think he should be
allowed a reasonable time for that purpose." Mr. Edwards
read a statement asking for time. The case was adjourned
till Monday week.