The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1869,

o particular details they can be settled during t .he
process of discussion. The best feature of the mea-
sure is found in its desire to represent all interests,
and hence we find that the central authority, which
is to have discretionary power, is to consist of mem-
bers who are appointed by the various claimants to
the right of decision. The Crown, the Royal burghs,
the universities, the counties, and the schoolmasters
are to appoint two members each. The most awk-
ward part of the business has been the introduction
of the Privy Council Educational Grants, which
have been extended into Scotland, after having
been in force in England. This has not worked
well in Scotland for many reasons, one being
that the grant is larger in proportion to the
wealth of the locality, so that less is really given
where more is required. The denominational
schools are to be put under the management of the
ratepayers, with a view to giving them up altogether
after a time. An important improvement on the
present scheme is the arrangement that gives the
Board power to dismiss schoolmasters, which is
now wanting to the authorities, and prodtfces most
mischievous results. Some necessary alterations are
to be made in the Privy Council Minutes, in order
to adapt the system to the peculiar state of the coun-
try it affects. The distinction between class is to
be done away with, because in Scotland the children
of all classes are accustomed to meet at school. The
higher branches of education must also be attended
to, for they rank far higher in the estimation of the
Scotch people-than they do with us. The mere ele-
mentary branches of instruction are not by any
means enough to satisfy their elevated aspirations
after knowledge. It is evident, as the Duke ob-
served, that the system of compulsory rating
would not answer in England, but in Scotland it

is sure to work. from the different feeling which
prevails on the subject. JOHN KNox imparted an
impulse to the education of the land which has never
since departed from it, and the good effects of which
are likely to increase as circumstances decide the cha-
racter of the people. The Duke of ARGYLL is no
flatterer, and does not gloss over difficulties. He
admitted that in many respects the bill he presented
to their lordships did not satisfy the wishes of many
influential persons, but still it was the best that could
be given under the circumstances, and he claimed with
some justice to represent the spirit of his country-
men in their estimation of this question. Notwith-
standing the difficulties that may present themselves
in the working out of this measure, it will be well to
give it a patient consideration, and no doubt by the
time it has passed through the committee it will be
found to carry out the promise of its title, in being a
bill to extend and improve the education of Scotland.

Mr. GOSCHEN, in his endeavour to spare the
Opposition the necessity of acknowledging a blunder,
has asked the House of Commons to sanction a
very intricate piece of legislation. Everybody hai
heard by this time of the hardships inflicted upon
the poorer class of householders by the only sur-
vivor of Mr. DISRAELI'S ten principles. The present
Government did their best to warn the Conserva-
tives of the mischief which they were inflicting, and to
prevent it. But Mr. GLADSTONE failed in the attempt.
The warnings were abundantly fulfilled. Five
thousand distress warrants to recover rates have been
issued in Birmingham alone. In the East-end of
London special arrangements had to be made to
dispose of the claims for discharge, so enormous was
the number of persons who found themselves unable
to pay at the same time the rates and the
old rent, which included the rates, but
Which the landlords refused to reduce. Not only
did Mr. DISRAELI'S device prove intolerably harsh,
but it entirely failed in the very object for which it
was said to be instituted. When the law came to be
interpreted it was found that the tenant mighty if he
chose, make the landlord his agent for paying the
rates without disqualifying himself as a voter. In a
word, the " personal payment of rates," which was
the one immutable principle of the English Reform
Bill (Mr. DISRAELI did not go through the farce of
insisting upon it for the Scotch and Irish Reform
Bills), was found to have vanished directly it came to be
applied. All this trouble and turmoil, all this intoler-
able hardship inflicted upon many thousands of persons
in order to give the 300 and odd gentlemen who
supported Mr. DISRAELI a flimsy pretext for adopting
the suffrage which they abhorred, were, it must now
be admitted by themselves, intended for that purpose
solely. This selfishness was fitly punished. The
Conservatives who might have claimed the gratitude
of the newly-enfranchised electors for bringing them
within the pale of the Constitution found only cold
looks and angry words. The Liberal party promised
to amend the law if the people would entrust them
with the power to do so. The people responded,
hP
from the opening of the sessionoffice
T 1,...1r atnhdeywihthizavie tenbro brought
in the measure intended to effect the desired object.
The manner in which the Government proposes to
fulfil its pledge reflects great credit upon its forbear-
ance. It has no desire to renew the strifes of the last
two years, or to win an easy victory over a routed
foe. Thus Mr. GOSCHEN has introduced a measure so
complex that we do not believe the House of
Commons will have the patience to consider it
when there is a much simpler way of solving
the difficulty. It is highly significant that the
proposal to resort to this, the real solution—the
restoration of the compound householder—should
have come from the Conservative benches. Mr.
GOLDNEY was probably too shrewd to have ever
been talon in by Mr. DISRAELI'S "principle." At all
events he sees that it has failed, and he is too sincere
a man to wish the continuance of a troublesome
sham merely in order that a few gentlemen's feelings
may not be wounded. Mr. GROSVENOR HODG-
KINSON became for a few days the hero of the time
by proposing to abolish the compound householder.
Mr. GOLDNEY may attain to celebrity of longer
duration by restoring him.

THE British Embassy Secretary at Washington
has just drawn up a concise and trustworthy account
of the condition of the United States. The docu-
ment is instructive, and is published at an opportune
moment. It may be read with advantage by the
slightly-restive men of Manchester ; and at a time
when the Anglo-French Treaty must soon come under
consideration, the French people might profitably
consider this lucid statement of the causes by which
the prosperity of a great nation may be undermined.
They may here see how ingeniously and perfectly
the most overflowing natural riches have been
rendered comparatively useless ; how admirably a
State, in attempting to secure to itself the whole
benefit of its wealth, may injure its neighbour much,
and its own people more. There can be no doubt
that the condition of the United States is far from
satisfactory, and there can be equally little question
as to the causes which have led to this suspension of
prosperity. Some of these causes were unavoidable ;
others are directlyattributable to persistent adherence
to an unsound policy. Though nearly four years have
elapsed since the termination of the civil war, its
effects are still severely felt : the nation is crippled
by a colossal debt and burdened by a ruinous load of
taxation. The interest on the national obligations
now amounts to very nearly one-half of the entire
expenditure. For the financial year 1867-8 the
entire expenditure fell short of 02 millions sterling,
whilst the interest and premium of the debt absorbed
above 20 millions of tliis total. At the close of the war
the whole burden amounted to 600 millions ster-
ling, of which not less than one-sixth has been paid off
during the last four years. Recently, however,
the work of reduction has been checked, and the debt
has again risen somewhat, owing to that great
enterprise, the Pacific railroad, and that great folly,
the purchase of Russian America. This incubus
of debt is the price Which has been' paid
for the preservation of the Union, No sound

policy could have averted it, and no honest policy
can escape it. And it is difficult to find fault with
the patriotism which has redeemed such an immense
sum in so short a time. The Americans appear dis-
posed to endure any temporary losses rather than
bequeath their debt to posterity. It is doubtful
whether a more substantial advantage would not be
gained by distributing the redemption over a greater
space ; but the self-sacrifice which will add burden to
burden in order to free the future cannot but
command respect.
A similar verdict cannot be passed upon other
items of policy. The financial difficulties of the
United States will not, with such a people and in such
a country, be more than temporary, but they are
both intensified and prolonged by influences
which the nation might speedily remove. The cost of
collecting the taxes is very great, owing to the com-
plexity of the imposts and the vast territory over
which they are levied. But this cost is greatly
increased by the system of filling up appointments
of trust solely on political grounds. The dishonesty
of subordinates is the cause of very severe losses to
the. Treasury. The revenue frauds are a sensible
addition to the weight of taxation. Then, again,
isolated States have systematically injured the
national credit by conjuring up the phantom of
repudiation ; and it is only during the last two or
three months that the Legislature has given any
great discouragement to State dishonesty. The
credit of the country will now improve, but it might
have been improved sooner. An unhealthy spirit of
speculation now actuates commerce, and business is
constantly disturbed by the fluctuating medium of
exchange. The inconvertible paper currency is a
source of much injury; its purchasing power is
now much less than in 1860-1, and though
wages are much higher, the working classes
really receive less. But the influence most
opposed to the prosperity of America, is the
system of Protection which still commands a large
majority in Congress. The evidence in this parti-
cular is most complete and conclusive. At
Manchester Mr. REVERDY JOHNSON half
apologised for his nation in this respect.
England, he said, had taken a century to
learn Free Trade, and although the Americans were
a very fast people, they could not be expected to get
to it in two or three years. But if Free Trade took long
to make way in England, Protection never produced
here the effects visible in America. The tariff levied by
the United States is higher than that of any civilised
nation in modern times. Yet it does not check
importation, it is very inefficient protection ; and it
would be hard to prove that it is of any benefit
except to the few immediately interested. Joined to
the paper currency, it is little short of national
suicide. Interests which are strong enough to secure
representation at Washington receive full attention;
others are neglected. The cost of all domestic
produce has been so raised that exchange in
kind with foreign nations has become almost impos-
sible. The Americans must have foreign produce;
but, with the exception of cotton, other nations can
buy the States' produce cheaper elsewhere. Hence
payment in coin becomes necessary, or, as the Chief
Commissioner of the evenue puts it, "in unduly depre-
ciated promises of national payment." The value of
United States bonds exported as payment is con-
tinually increasing, and the cost is aggravated by the
fact that though £170,000,000 of the debt is held in
foreign countries, only £100,000,000 in value has
ever been received for it. Such are some of the
effects of a system of Protection which has raised all
commodities to famine price. The Spaniards were
wiser in this respect ; they would not sacrifice the
general good for local industries, and one of the first
acts of the revolution was an indiscriminate abolition
of the import duties. The same resource is not
available in America, but a gradual enlightenment
of public opinion, and the ceaseless efforts of Free 11
Trade advocates, are the only means of improving
the financial condition of the United States. So
long as the people are content to lose much one way
in order to gain a little another, improvement is
hopeless.

LATEST INTELL MENU

(REUTER'S TELEGRA3IS.)

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, Feb. 26.

According to Mr. Adam Moffatt's report, the
week's receipts of cotton at American ports amounts
to 59,000 bales; total since the Ist of September
and taken by American spinners direct, 1,860,000
bales. Shipments to England, 48,000 bales ; to
France, 2,000 bales ; and to the Continent, 6,000
bales. Stock, 420,000 bales. Market quiet. Mid-
dling upland 11,1, cost and freight per steamer.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM naus.

LFROIt OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.;

PARIS, FRIDAY, February 20.
The debate in the Corps Legislatif still drags its slow
length along. There can be no doubt that, as far as
the discussion goes, the minority never had things mont
completely their own way. Not only is there the primp
question of spending an outrageous sum upon public
improvements—carrying a good principle beyond all due
limits, and imposing an intolerable burden upon the city
of Paris—but there is the grave charge, which cannot be
controverted, that M. Haussmann has raised large sums
by irregular means. There can be no doubt that this has
been done. The Government may extenuate the charge,
but it cannot be refuted. Hence the Opposition ana
enjoying the privilege of unlimited castigation of the
Government. The majority has no effective reply, but
they may comfort themselves with the consideration that
they have their votes, and that the usual division will
follow the debate.

The health of tha Imperial Family is not all that could
be desired at present. The Empress suffers from a very
painful, though by no means serious affection of the ear.
Prince Napoleon is recovering but slowly, and every
now and then is subject to fresh attacks of fever.
Another invalid of note is in a far worse condition.
No hope is held out of M. Troplong's recovery. The
Emperor went to pay him a visit the clay before yesterday,
but it was feared that the interview would be too exciting
for the invalid, and his Majesty therefore retired. Although
still upon what is expected to be his death-bed, the journals
here are quietly discussing M. Troplong's successor. I have
frequently observed indecent haste in English journals after
death, but I have rarely known a dying man's post filled
up by the canard mongers before the breath had left his
body.
That public attention is beginning to centre upon the
elections, is amply demonstrated by the immense number
of false statements circulated respecting the coming con-
flict. Victor Hugo, Ledru Rollin, Barbier, and Louis
Blanc are all talked of as candidates, though one and all
are evident impossibilities.

Count Von Goltz is still the nominal Prussian Ambas•
sailor at Paris, the King refusing to make a change. But
I hardly need say that that nobleman is dying in Prussia.
He gets worse every day.
As the approaching meeting of the (Ecumenical Council
is exciting much attention, it may be interesting to
recount the number of prelates who are eligible to take
,part in the proceedings. The Roman Catholic Church
counts 12 patriarchates, 117 archiepiscopal, and 905 episco-
pal sees. If from this total be deducted 259 prelates in
partibus, there remain 132 archbishops and 657 bishops of
the Latin rite, and 7 and 63, respectively, of the
Oriental. This latter comprises Armenians, Greco-
Romans, Greco-Ruthenians, Syro•Maronites, Syrians, and
Syro-Chaldeans. At this moment only 982 sees are occu-
pied. Seventy is the regulation number of cardinals, but
at present eleven hats are undistributed. The youngest
cardinal is Prince Lucien Buonaparte, who was born in
1828.

There are some cases in which intentional homicide
necomes excusable, if not justifiable. Some such principle
seems to have actuated the Toulouse Court of Assizes in
dealing with a somewhat remarkable case of murder. A
young man of Montbazin, named Mercadit, aged 18, was
charged with the murder of a neighbour, the paramour of
his mother, a widow. He had found them late in the evening
of the 31st December last closeted together, and in his
indignation fetched his gun and shot the man dead.
There could be no doubt of the facts, but the prisoner was
acquitted, and the judgment is one which human sympathy
will find it difficult to reprobate. _ . _

A notary of Jodoyne, in Belgium, has taken to flight,
leaving behind him a deficit of no less than £32,000. H.
was the depository of a very large number of poor people
as well as many of the rich, and his villany will be produc•
tive of very widespread distress.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAY.

Saturday,
Feb. 27,
8 a.m.

Nairn
Aberdeen
Leith
Shields
Scarborough
Yarmouth
Helder
Cux haven
Skudesnms
Ardrossan
Greencastle
Holyhead
Liverpool
Valentia
Cape Clear
Roch Pt
Penzance
Plymouth
Weymouth
Porten outh
London

C'peCrisNez
Brest
u orient
Roche fort
Biarritz
Corunna
Brussels
Paris ..
Strasbourg
Lyons
Toulon
Heart's Con-'
tent (9 a.m.j
local time)

33'22r.
31r3(1.
20 24f.
30.17 f.
30'1nf.
30 41f.
30'03f.

IW. N. W.
W. N. W.
N. W.
W. N. W.
N. W.
S. W.

N. W.
W. S. W.
w.
S. W.

W.S.W.
W.
W.S.W.
;W.N.W.
N.W.
S.W.
W.N.W.

30'24f.
30'39f.
30'51r.

I -
INV. N. Vir.

S.C.
r.s. c,
c.o.
i o.c.
if.r.c,