The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-16 00:00:00

THEATRE-ROYAL, HOLBORN.

---
Tuts EVISNING, at 7. THE BATH ROAD. At 7.45. LOV E'S
SACRIFIC: Mr. Barry Sullivan, Dirs. Hermann Vezin, &c.
And STATE SECRETS.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee sn,l Manneress. Mrs. Swanboroturh.
litts EVNNIN4. at 7.:10. AMONG THE BREAKERS: Mr
Citrke. With THE TOODLES. And INO. Concluding with
THE CHOPS OF THE CHANNEL.

CHRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 8
Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and S all the year round.

ZOOLOGICAL Q &EDENS, Rogent's-pack. OPEN daily (ex-
cept Sundays). Admission, le.; on Mondays, 6d. Children
under twelTe. ed.

ROYAL ALITA.ITBRA PALACE. THREE BALLETS
Promenade Concert. Band of 60. Begin at 8. le. Box-office
open fromll to 4.

11.
Ult.

LONDON, THURSDAY, DEC. 16, 1869.

Tim three " middle-class " Liberal candidates for
the vacant seat in Southwark have consented to a
test ballot forothe purpose of preventing a dangerous
" split " in the party ; but Mr. ODGER, the artisan
representative, refuses his adhesion to this plan. What-
ever may be the result, he will go to the poll. He
approves of preliminary ballots generally. The prin-
ciple that several candidates of the same party should
invite that party to express its perfeyence for
one of them must be sound, as saving time and
expense to the competitors, and as preventing
an injustice to the constituency through the return
of a member who represents only the minority. Mr.
ODGER, however, claims that his case is- exceptional.
He is not an ordinary Liberal candidate, but the
representative of a special principle—that the artisan
class should have a direct share in the making of laws.
The claim of the working men in this respect can be
properly upheld, Mr. ODGER thinks, only at the poll ;
and to the poll accordingly he will go. It might
be urged that if the working-man candidate has
any chance of a majority on election day, he would
have an equal chance of carrying the test ballot ; but
it is difficult to disagree with Mr. ODGER. He did
make one concession to the middle-class Liberals who
stood for Chelsea, and the middle-class seems in no
way disposed to requite the favour. The return of work-
ing men to Parliament has been much talked of; but the
wealthier section of the Liberal party care very
little, apparently, for the realisation of that dream.
It is only by persistently asserting their rights in
actual contests that the claim of the newly-enfran-
chised voters can secure recognition. If the working
men perseveringly fight a few battles, regardless
of the cry about " dividing the party," the
Liberal leaders will soon come to terms.
The danger of reducing Mr. GLADSTONE'S majority
in the House of Commons will speedily gain the
handworkers a reasonable measure of direct represen-
tation. Of course that measure, under present cir-
cumstances, cannot be very large ; but of the few
places where a working - man candidate would
have a good chance of success, Southwark is
undoubtedly one. The metropolis is decidedly the
most hopeful field for the new experiment. It is
thoroughly Radical, and it is taken for granted that
working-men M.P.'s will be Radicals. Moreover, it
can furnish a greater variety of suitable candidates
than any other part of the kingdom. The
difficulty of finding the right man in the pro-
vinces, and the expense ofgetting a band fide artisan
from the great contra of wealth and intelligence to
contest a provincial seat, must always militate against
the multiplication of working-men candidates. But
surely the class which is now, in an electoral sense,
the most powerful of the community ought to I_e
allowed the few seats which it can conveniently
command.

It is not difficult to explain the reluctance of the
middle-class to give way in this matter. The House
of Commons has long been deemed a rich man's club,
with a subscription too high to permit the entry of a
plebeian element; and this delusion has not yet
vanished. A poor legislator, notwithstanding recent
professions, would still be looked upon as a sort of
monstrosity. Moreover, there are yet a good many
men of fortune who would give a fair price for
a seat, and are quite regardless of any claim save
their own desire to gain that position which money
alone cannot bring. Ccnsiderable local hostility to
the new idea may also be expected. The election of
an artisan must necessarily be a cheap election.
Not to speak of bribery, there are a thousand
and one customary sources of profit to the free and
independent voter, which would be cut off in the
case of the working man. There would be no army
of paid agents, with a powerful staff of local solicitors.
The eligible rooms in the neighbourhood would no
longer be hired for committee purposes. Trade
would not be benefited by those foolish
placards, " SMITH for Southwark," and the like, which
now glare with too-symbolical stupidity from
every dead wall. The publicans also would come
sorely to grief. It is not surprising that these consi-
derations should be deemed important by those local
magnates who have hitherto pulled the wires at
elections. The harvest of gain would be seriously
impaired. But for this very reason the true seeker
after electoral purity will uphold the :candidature
of working men. The return of a few such repre-
sentatives will accomplish an act of justice, and it
will likewise tend to secure that great boon—a cheap
electoral procedure. The success of Mr. ODGER is to
be desired for many reasons, and not least because it
will demonstrate that such a thing as a contest
without immense expenditure is possible.

THE funny little rebellion at the Red River
settlement has an indirect importance which ought
not to be overlooked. In itself, the outbreak is not
calculated to attract much attention in this country.
In mercantile phraseology, it is only "an extended
protest" against the incorporation of the Hudson's
Bay Territory, of which the settlement forms a part,
with the new Canadian Dominion. The colony on
the Red River occupies a fertile district, far removed
from any other abode of British subjects, though
only a short distance from the nearest point of the
United States. Desert or unknOwn territory stretches
round on all sides ; Canada is 2,000 miles distant, and
the ocean 500 miles. On this solitary spot in the
centre of North America, a small colony of Scotch-
men was formed some sixty years ago. Slowly the
number has increased, until Assiniboia, as it is now
called, musters some fifteen thousand inhabitants—a
motley group of Indians, Canadian half-breeds,
and British. For sixty years the settlement
has jogged on with a good deal of prosperity and
some troubles. The different races have quar-
relled both frequently and furiously ; but the mono-
tony of life in the centre of a wilderness would have
been intolerable without some internal excitement.
Intestine Alice was a matter of course under any
circumstances. The settlers enjoyed cheap govern-
ment under the Hudson's Bay Company, which on its
part got a cheap reputation for promoting the
progress of colonisation, whilst in reality its
only concern was the quest of furs—the peopling of
the North American continent, being entirely contrary
to its interests. Things have gone on quietly in this
way, until the transference of the Hudson's Bay Ter-
ritory has aroused the clouists.of the Red River to

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CLOSING PRICES.

THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1L69.

protest against incorporation with Canada. Why
they object to this change it is not caw. to say. They
probably need excitement, which a eqate of armed
hostility against Canada will undouotedly supply.
Possibly they dread unknown evils. The Hudson's
Bay Company gave the settlers mans concessions in
order to keep them quiet ; and it is rot at all likely
that the Canadian Government will keep up
a similar system. However this may be,
the Canadian half-breeds have risen, and have
prevented the Governor sent out by the Ottawa
Government from entering the settlement. Here is
the serious part of this business. There is no direct
road from Canada to the Red River. The inter-
vening country is wild, and is thought to be very
difficult, whilst the passage from the United States
is very easy. The Governor, Mr....lacnorsoAL, has
been obliged to go through the United States,
and in fact there is at present no other
mode of reaching the disturbed territory. This
want of communication between Canada and the
inland districts must prove a serious obstacle to the
consolidation of the Dominion. If the products of
the settlement can reach the United States without

difficulty—as is the case—they will be sent that way;
and soon there will spring up between Assiniboia
and its great neighbour an intimate connection
which will look very much like union. Canada has
at any rate a most formidable task before her. To
bridge over the vast region of swamp and desert
which lies between the Dominion and the Red River,
and thence to British Columbia, will require all the
energies of the newly-fledged State.

LATEST INTELL MENGE

AMERICA.
(Per French Atlantic Cable.)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15.

UNIVERSITY REFORM.

OF EXPTEIe.

President Grant has nominated Attorney-Gene-
ral Iloar Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Eighteen gunboats have been formally trans-
ferred to the Spanish flag at New York to-day, and
it is expected that they will sail for Cuba on Friday
next.

NEW YORK, Dec. 15.

The National Steamship Company's steamer
Pennsylvannia arriccd out to-day.
The Hamburg and American Company's steamer
Cimbria arrived here to-day at 9 a.m.

Gold closed at 1211 ;the highest quotation dur-
ing the day was 1214; the lowest, 1211.
Sterling Exchange on London lOBl.
5-20 U. S. Bonds, 1882 ll4.
66 " 1885 ll2l.
gi " 1867 ll5O.
10-40 gf,
Illinois 1331.
Erie
Cotton—Mid. upland 2slc.
Petroleum—Standard IVhite 3lc.
Flour, extra state, $5.10c. to $5.70c. Corn, old
mixed, $1.12c.

QUEENSTOWN, Dec. 16.

AND WAIT."

The Cunard Royal Mail steamer Tarifa, from
Liverpool, arrived here at 1.30 a.m. to-day, and
having embarked mails, passengers, and telegrams,
she proceeded for Boston immediately All well.
She experienced very tempestuous weather down
the Channel.

DEPUTATION TO-THE PREMIER ON

On Wednesday the members of the deputation organised
under the auspice; of the Society for the Liberation of
Religion from State Aid and Control, assembled at the
Westminster Palace Hotel, and proceeded to the official
resi4ence of the First Lord of the Treasury. It was originally
intended that the deputation should be a large one, but a
letter received from Mr. Gladstone, in which he stated
that he desired to meet only a few gentlemen well posted
up in the, subject, for the purpose of ascertaining their
views in conversation, materially altered the complexion of
affairs. The interview was one from which the
representatives of the press were excluded, but it
was understood that a long and highly-interesting dis-
cussion took place, the views of the deputation as they
were unfolded being attentively listened to by the Premier,
who interspersed the conversation with a number of sugges -
tive questions.

THE E. C. U, AND TITE BISHOP-ELEC7

A meeting of the English Church Union has been held
in London, at which the rcpc rt cf the council was sub-
mitted. Tho appointment of Dr. Temple to the Sec of
Exeter meets with the strong disapprobatic,n of the
Union ; but the council do not think that with
the utmost allowance that can be made for the
contrary opinion, the nomination of Dr. Temple
to the Episcopal bench constitutes a cause sufficient
to justify them in inaugurating a resistance such as
had they resisted at all, they could not, consistently with
their own self-respect, have refused to carry out to its
legitimate consequences. They have, however, drawn up
a memorial to the Primate, asking him to obtain from Dr.
Temple certain explanations and assurances previous to his
consecration. The council sees an absolute necessity foi
some modification in episcopal appointments, and is in
favour of a substantial election. The report expresses
sympathy with Mr. Mackonochie, and condemns the action
of the Church Association.

A MEMBER WHO PREFERS TO "STAND

Mr. Cogan, M.P.ior Kildare, alarmed at the effects of
the land agitation, promoted by the leading supporters of
the government, has refused to attend a tenant-right
meeting at the Curragh, and has written a letter instead,
advising the tenants to lower their demands. It is remark-
able that he admits the Irish Liberal members to be
divided in opinion, and talks of a threatened mutiny. Mr.
Cogan says :—" It will require the most consummate tact
and prudence on the part of our representatives, together
with the courage, great ability, and earnestness of purpose
which I am satisfied animate the councils of
the Government, to carry a comprehensive measure,
and defeat the powerful opposition we may antici-
pate. I cannot conceal from myself that the grave
difficulties which necessarily attach to this question aro
greatly increased by many sad and untoward circumrtances
which have occurred lately in Ireland. The great states-
man now at the head of the Government, who has
already led us to a glorious victory, is preparing for
another great campaign, in which, it is to bo feared,
there may be danger of mutiny and desertion in
the ranks of his supporters. In his arduous effort he
is entitled, by every principle of honour and of grati-
tude, and regard to their own interest, to the forbearance
and confidence of the Irish people. Under these
circumstances I believe I shall best discharge my duty as
a member of parliament by receiving with the most re-
spectful attention the views of any constituents, while ab-
staining myself from prejudging the solution of a question
beset with so many difficulties, and which may be dealt
with in so many ways, until I have before me an exposition
of the measures to be proposed by Government on the
subject, and which must be laid before Parliament in a few
weeks from the present time.'