The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-02 00:00:00

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.

The Adjutant-General, Lord William Paulet, has
issued a general order to the army stating that the
Queen has commanded a medal to be prepared to
commemorate the services of the forces engaged in
the various military operations in New Zealand
during the_years 1845, 1840, 1847, 1860, 1861, 1862,
1863, 1864, 1805, and 1866, and directing that one
of the medals shall be conferred on every surviving
officer, noncommissioned officer, and soldier of the
regular forces who actually served in the field against
the enemy during the periods alluded to, excluding
deserters and those dismieilecl for misconduct. A
medal 24 years after date is really a feat even for
the Circumlocution Office to be proud of. We fear,
however, that the time is gone by for such. The order
announcing this medal affnounces also a medal for
the Abyssinian war, which took place only last year.
This is terribly common place. The medal will be as
absolutely destitute of historic interest as a new
penny.

T.CONOMY IN THE SERVICES.

The Woolwich division of the Royal Marines is
to be broken up to-morrow. 'The office of inspector
of machinery afloat and chief engineer at Chatham
(worth Rii:lo a year and a house) is to be abolished
at the clozie of the financial year, March 31. An
official notice has been istiied to the workmen at
Chatham Dockyarl, warning them that the absentee
list will be more closely witched for the future, and
that defaulters will be discharged or suspended.

PRIVATE PROPERTY AT SEA.
Mr. Vernon Harcourt, who, now that he has
become M.P., drops the " Historicus," writes a letter
of two columns to the Times on the important
subject of private property at sea in time of war
Mr. Revercly Johnson lately adverted to Air:
riarcourt's opinions with an expression of regret.
The junior member for Oxford city therefore feels
bound to defend them. He says that he would not
respect private property at sea, because he wishes to
make war as serious a calamity cs possible in order
that it may not readily be undertaken. Re
believes that the fear of the loss that would be
inflicted upon trade by a war has, more
than anything else, prevented the French from
commencing hostilities. " Who goeth to warfare at
his own charges, and doth not count the cost
thereof ? " "I, for one," adds Mr. Harcourt, " desire
that the sum total should be as large as possible;
for when the the dogs of war are once slipped from
the leash I have very little faith in moderating their
havoc." Why should the merchant be exempt from
his share of the calamities of war ? Why should
he be able to lay the burden wholly upon the soldier
and the sailor ? Moreover, it is impracticable that
there can be any such limited liability in
a great national undertaking. The idea of an
English and a French fleet fighting in the Downs while
the tidal trains arc conveying passengers from London
to Paris, is inconceivable. Equally impracticable
would be any arrangements which would suffer the
great steamers of our Cunard and P. and 0. lines to
Carry reinforcements and stores to our ships of war.
Even were this practicable Mr. Harcourt holds that
it would be undesirable. "So great a transaction
aswar, involving such horrible deeds and such tremen-
dous responsibility, ought not to be conducted on the
principle of limited liability. It should bea partnership
of _the whole community, foundedon what the Roman
lawyer called a societal universorwn honorum. The
proposal to exempt commerce from the operation of
hostilities seems to me a direct encouragement to
reckless trading in war. It resembles the conduct
of a spendthrift who, in contemplation of bankruptcy,
makes a settlement on his family, and then proceeds
to ruin the rest of the world at his ease. For my
part I prefer that the dreadful issue of war shall rest
with those who feel that in pronouncing in its favour
peril their all."
they are placing in

THE COTTON TRADE.

The present position of the cotton trade is most
serious. The Manchester Courier states that in
Blackburn, at the present moment, out of a million
and a half spindles, about half a million are entirely
stopped, and a half of the remainder are
on short time ; and of the 45,000 looms no
fewer than 10,000 are entirely stopped, and
12,000 are upon short time. In Damen, also,
there is much distress, and at Rawtenstall
emigration clubs are being formed for the idle ope-
ratives. The applicants for relief at the Blackburn
Board of Guardians are weekly increasing, and last
Saturday about 1,200 extra persons were relieved,
the majority being male and female factory hands.
News to the same effect comes from Preston, and
rumours of disasters are abroad.