The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JAN VARY 23, 169.

whether any heed will be paid to them by the powers
that be is another thing.

Tho public has a right, however, to insist that the
Government shall act with discretion, and not forget
what is due to others in its baste to carry out their
own pet schemes. Unfortunately Mr. GLADSTONE is
not famed for caution. When he takes up a hobby
he is apt to ride it to death, and consideration is cer-
tainly not among his virtues. Yet he who would be
a successful ruler should not be unmindful of the
rights of all classes, aad he has no reason to be proud
of commanding the applause of listening senates, if
he pursues his course unmindful of the sacrifices he
calls upon others to make who can ill afford to bend
to his behests. Prejudices may be offended and
favouritism become rampant if the new Ministry
should venture to begin in the right direction, and cut
down those extravagant items which mainly swell the
lists of our expenses ; but if justice be the real incen-
tive to Mr. GLADSTONE'S exertions in this matter of
economy his clearsightedness and judgment can need
no teaching. Why, we a,k, in the name of consis-
tency, does not the great financier of the age, the
Heaven-sent orator of the Exchequer, turn his
thoughts to the saving of thousands before he frights
the land from its propriety by the threatened decrease
of the units? He is coming down like the wolf on
the fold on the affrighted array of clerks and scribes ;
but danger makes men bold to utter stern truths,
and the victims he is about to immolate on the sacri-
ficial altar of economy may not die quite so meekly
as he expects. At any rate, the public who have
been startled by all this clamour will demand some
explanation of the affair, and desire that the admini-
strative departments of a great country like this be
conducted with fairness. Let the revision be effected
with precision and equality, and no one will have a
right to complain. It is said that three thousand
pounds will be saved annually to the country by the
non-appointment of a Governor of Greenwich Hos-
pital ; that is all very well, and we should like to
see other reforms of the same kind. Some
one facetiously observed the other day that instead
of dismissing clerks by the score and reducing the
salaries of others to such a minimum that it seemed
the refinement of cruelty to expectithem to live, it
would be well if the Ministers would forego a thou-
sand or two of that amount, which is a recognition
of their services, if not a requital. 'With more rea-
son, we may ask why the great are not to contribute
their share to this national work of reduction ? Is
the deficit in the Treasury to be made up of the
mites that are snatched from the comforts, if not the
ne7essities, of the humble ; and are the wealthy to
be precluded from casting in their millions ? We
give Mr. GLADSTONE credit for a better head than
this, and, let us add, a better heart. It may call for
the exercise of some spirit on his part to suggest the
propriety of making a change iu those arrangements
of the army whereby colonelcies are held by influen
tial personages who could very well dispense with
them, and to declare that some pensions might be
cut down considerably, and dropped altogether as the
present possessors die off. This, we say, would be a
hard task to perform, but it demands more courage
to tell the man whose family is dependent upon his
exertions that he must go home and seek employment,
for the State cannot afford to pay for his services.
The Liberal Ministry, with a great majority, can
never mean to meet a Reformed Parliament with such
a tale as this; it would call forth the reproaches
of their friends and the regrets of their opponents,
and set the country wondering whether great states-
men had vanished with other institutions that modern
science despises or has declared to be effete. All this
must be left for the future to determine, but enough
has been said, written, and predicted to justify doubts
and misgivings on the score of equality in this economy
mania that has possessed our rulers. We would re-
mind them that they must not make a trifle of a seri-
ous matter; they may delay in beginning, but if they
begin they must go on, that they must not put their
hand to the plough and look back, and if the course
that justice and reason have fixed upon lead them
past the domains of those whose lines have fallen in
pleasant places, they must be firm and inexorable ;
those is purple and fine linen can take care of them-
selves, but if they are tempted to deviate from their
predetermined course let it be when they come in
contact with the workers, and not the roil faineans
of humanity. The possession of power often renders
men callous to what in better moments they might
regard with attention, and the prevalence of one idea
is apt to influence the mind to a degree that is
surprising. It seems idle to say that it is incon-
sistent to start in a great work without some re-
sources, and absurd to think of engaging in a mighty
warfare with insignificant weapons, yet such have
been the heralds and precursors of this economy
system of the new Cabinet. The tide of reform in
expenses has set in, but it is to be the torrent that
sweeps away the hamlets of the peasant and leaves
the lordly castle safe on its rock of defiance to brave
the elements of destruction and smile at the storms of
fate. It is never too late to mend, but then we should
mend in the right direction, and not let our repen-
tance be of the kind which must be repented of, and
so with these worthies who are to move heaven and
earth to effect the saving of hundreds, while thou-
sands and tens of thousands are suffered to be squan-
dered for want of thought, or disinclination to offend
those whom it is more convenient to please. All we
can say is that if this is to be the progress of the
new school of politicians it is very like retrogres-
sion, and in the spirit of the performance reminds
one of a very old story. There was a king who
was mighty in his generation, and the melody of
whose strains shall never die while the earth endures,
bus he was human after all, and in the day of temp-
tation yielded. He was recalled to a sense of his sin
by the voice of one who told him in an allegory of the
rich man who spared his own flocks, and sacrificed
the solitary possession of his poor neighbour.

THE poor child who has been so long lingering
between life and death at Laeken has died at last.
For several months he has been suffering
from dropsy and pericarditis, and has had to
undergo frequent operations. his sufferings
have been great, his patience has been greater.
Many an English mother's eye must have moistened
as she read from time to time the touching stories of
his endeavours to lighten his parents' sorrow by
patient endurance of his own heavy cross. The mild
weather enabled him to rally for a time, but with
the colder weather came unfavourable symptoms. On
the 14th he had a relapse. On the 19th the symptoms
became most alarming, and Dr. JENNER, from
England, and Dr. KOEPL, from Germany, had a
consultation, at which they came to the conclusion
that all hope must be abandoned. Dr. JENNER
left his patient on the following day. Yesterday
morning the Duke of BRABANT was released by
the merciful hand of death. Ile was fie King of
the BELGIANS' only son, and would leave been
10 years old if he had lived till June.
As the Salic law prevails in Belgium, the Count of
FLANDERS, brother of the King, is now the heir
apparent; but as the QCEEN of the BALGIA NS is
not yet 33 years of age, there is no reason to con-
clude that he will certainly succeed to the Crown.

AN attempt has been made by some wr item to
express on paper the feelings with which :English
men and women must have received the last intelli-
gence from New Zealand. This second tele •gram,
corning from a different source, confirms the. t first
story; and the story itself is enough. Nothing can
be added to or taken away from this dismal narra-

tive of massacred families—of men burnt alive,
the bodies of women thrown to the pigs, and children
mutilated. Knowing as we do the causes which
have led to this disaster, it is one which utterly
defies comment. But at a crisis when it is highly
important that the nature of this outbreak should
be accurately known, the origin of these calami-
ties is both misunderstood and misrepresented.
The old outcry against Imperial neglect, and
the old demand for the despatch of troops, have
again arisen. Yet nothing can be more certain than
that the blame of the New Zealand disaster is not
to be included amongst the many sins of English
administration. The case is one which admits of no
doubt whatever. When the war first broke out in
1863, English troops were sent to the colony, and the
number was gradually increased until a considerable
army was accumulated in different parts of
New Zealand. For years this expensive force
was supported at the cost of the British
taxpayer, until, the war being apparently
over, the Government made a demand which might,
perhaps, have fairly been preferred on the arrival of
the first regiment. The colonists must pay a capita-
tion on every British soldier, or protect themselves.
They chose the latter, and in all respects the better
alternative ; but the regular troops did not leave the
islands until there had been a definite agreement on
the part of the Colonial Government to maintain a
force equal to the protection of the colony. It was
at first suggested by the settlers themselves that
2,500 should be the number of the colonial army.
The figure was finally fixed at 1,500, and then the
English regiments withdrew.
Decidedly the history of the Maori war reflects no
blame upon the Home Government, which on th is occa-
sion did what lay in its power. And though it is
always difficult to judge accurately of events happening
so far away, yet in this case the facts are amply
sufficient to disclose the truth. To borrow the French
EMPEROR'S quotation, if the tree is known by its
fruit, nothing could be worse than the defensive
arrangements of the New Zealand Govern-
ment. It raised only one-fifth of the force
which it agreed to maintain, the detachment of 300
which took the place of 10,000 men of all arms was
badly equipped and organised, and a single defeat
laid open the whole territory. It is true that Poverty
Bay, the scene of the last disaster, answers to
its name. It is in a district remote
from the centre of colonial life, and the
district around is very thinly populated. But
these circumstances cannot be held to exculpate
the Government. There is little reason for believing
that if a strong militia had been kept up, the rising
would have taken place, and it is highly probable that
one defeat would have cowed the natives, who
were by no means unanimous in their hostility.
In fact, the number of Maories who took the field
was small at first, however great it may be now.
The errors of the Government are clear : whilst the
British troops were in the islands very lax notions of
melon and lawn were permitted ; in other words,
native ground was largely seized without compensa-
tion ; and when the troops were gone no provision was
made against the consequences of these arbitrary deeds.
Equally clear is the issue of this policy. It must end in
premature, perhaps the needless, extermination of
the aboriginal race. It is impossible, indeed, to
regard their fate with much compassion while these
atrocities are still fresh; but the disappearance of a
family of men is a result which humanity forbids us
to accelerate.

THE Manchester Courier lately published an inci-
dent to which we beg the attention of our readers.
It was stated that a man had got drunk at Christmas,
had remained in a chronic state of drunkenness
for several days, when he varied his drink with a
large dose of laudanum. With difficulty the man's
life was saved. Ile vas then brought up before a
magistrate for attempting to commit suicide, and was
remanded while a summons was issued against the
chemist who supplied him with the laudanum. The
chemist was amenable to the law, because there is a
special Act of Parliament, very stringent in its pro-
visions, restricting the sale of what are legally called
poisons. But there is no law against the sale of
alcoholic drinks. Alcohol is scientifically as much a
poison as opium ; it is to be found in any
toxicological chart, just as much as strychnia
and belladonna are. But while the sale of
the latter poison is allowed only under the most
rigid conditions, the sale of the first is left per-
fectly free, except that during a few hours in the
dead of night and about one half of the Sunday the
selling is forbidden. That is, the principle of restric-
tion is admitted ; it is allowed that alcohol is not any
ordinary article, and that the traffic in it is not an
ordinary trade ; but when the principle comes to be
logically carried out we hold back. We allow
the alcohol sellers to supply to the alcohol-
poisoned purchaser any amount that he may
choose to pay for, and if the man falls
down dead, or if he kills another person in a state of
raving madness, we let the alcohol sellers go off scot
free ; while, if the alcohol-poisoned man takes an
excess of what after all was the right remedy—
opium being the sheet anchor of the doctor in deal-
ing with a case of delirium tremens—we punish the
chemist who sold him the opium. That is, we
say nothing to the seller of the poison ; we
inflict a penalty upon the seller of the anti-
dote. The inconsistency is the more absurd, because
it is easy enough to tell if a man is suffering under
is a good thing,
to be wholly
an excess of alcohol. Granting, for the sake of argu-
me
nt, h
at that alcohol
therefore ‘'
the
n
sale moderation"ought
not
forbidden, yet, alcohol in excess so plainly betrays
itself, that the man who would supply another suffer-
ing under alcohol is, whatever be the law of the land,
committing a great crime that will receive its punish-
ment hereafter.

Exceptions will be taken to this argument. It
will be urged, for instance, that there is no parallel
between such drinks as laudanum and gin, because
the first is so much more deadly than the second.
The answer to this is clear. For that very reason
laudanum is sold in smaller doses. There is no
difference of principle between them, but only one of
degree. It might as well be argued that because
strychnine is more deadly than laudanum the latter
ought not to be restricted, but only the former. If
it be urged that it would be impossible to prevent a
man going Pruitt publiu-huese public-house,
and, getting a little drink at each, make up
a sum total sufficient to render him drunk, we
reply that the same argument holds good with respect
to laudanum. He can go from shop to shop and
buy a total sufficient to poison him. And there is
this to be said, that the second would be more likely
to take this trouble than the first. A man may
form a deliberate intention of committing suicide,
and, if so, will be sure to carry it out.
Few men form a deliberate intention of
getting drunk. The inducement to drunkenness
lies in the facility for getting an unlimited amount
of drink in any one house. Drunkenness would
become almost unknown if the drunkard had to go
to a dozen houses before he could get enough to
intoxicate him. It it be objected that it would be
impossible for the publican to determine when a
man had had "as much as was good for him," we
reply that this is the more reason why the selling of
alchohol should come entirely under the control
of the Government. A Middlesex magistrate has just
pointed out in the Daily News that in a certain street
near the Tower there are four consecutive houses
each of which is a public-house, and that only a ware-
house separates these from a fifth. It is monstrous
to suppose that such a number of drink-shops can
be required for the supply of " sober " persons. It is
monstrous that a system which suffers the working
population of the East-end to be exposed to tempta-
tion which the magistrates would think intolerable
in their own neighbourhoods should be permitted to
continue. A reform of the licensing system is the
most urgent of all reforms. No reform will be
effectual until it is acknowledged that alcohol is a
poison as much as laudanum, and that its sale
requires equal restrictions.

THE LIMERICK ELECTION PETITION.

The trial of the Limerick election petition still proceeds.
A mass of evidence has been brought forward, from which
it appears that the constituency received very liberal treat.
ment, although it may be difficult to trace the sources tc
which they are indebted. Public benefactors on such
occasions cultivate the grace of modesty, and shrink with
sensitive delicacy from an avowal of their generous acts.
Orders for drink were scattered broadcast, greatly to the
advantage of the publicans, and some of the orders were
interpreted in a liberal sense, as entitling the holders to
choose between the draught or its equivalent in money.
Richard Galligan, a French polisher, who voted for Gavin
and Russell, received an order from Lynch on the day of
polling, after he voted. He took it over to Mrs. O'Connor,
a publican. Three others went with him, and they thank
for nearly two hours. Some more came in and they treated
them to brandy. He could not tell how many bottles of
brandy they drank, and they brought away one or two
bottles to give to the father of one of the party. He did
not get drunk that day. He asked for some cash on the
order, and Mrs. O'Connor replied that 15s. 6d. was due
upon it. He asked first for brandy, and she told him she
could not give it, but that he might have either whisky of
porter. He was fastidious, however, and told her he
" did not understand whisky or porter in election times."
He had got nothing since the election, and no promise had
been made to him. He informed the court that he had
been promised £2O if he gave evidence in support of the
petition. He stated, however, that he voted in accord.
ance with his political principles, and was not influenced
by any other consideration. Michael Ahem, another
elector, swore that the Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald had asked
him repeatedly about his vote, and on the day of
polling met him and pressed him to go to the booths.
He replied that there was time enough. About two o'clock
he went to vote. He met Lynch, who offered him £5 to
vote for Gavin and Russell. Mr. Sheehan asked him
afterwards, would £lO satisfy him? James Murnand took
him aside and offered him £l5. He was told to go to Mrs.
Corbett's, another publican's, and went there, as he had
until four o'clock to vote. He did so, and while he was
there Tom Kelly looked in and told them not to annoy
him, for he was a man whom no amount of money would
purchase. He was cross-examined with a view of
shewing that he had a grudge against Lynch, that he was
trying to get up evidence for the petitioners, and also that
he was under ejectment. He denied, however, that he
hoped to clear off the amount of rent which he owed by
means of the petition. Mr. O'Neill, a publican, swore that
he got directions from Father Molony to give refreshments
to people coming from the country. He supplied " goods
and drink" to the amount of £l5. He sent in his
bill. for £5O, and was told that it could not be paid until it
was examined and countersigned by Mr. Murphy, the
conducting agent. Elf& Fitzgerald said that she fur-
nished refreshments to a number of people, and was paid
£3. - John Wallace, who plumped for Russell, stated that
the Rev. Mr. Conway desired him to bring some men
with him to the Court-house for fear Gavin and Russell
should not get a hearing, and that he went to the
rev, gentleman's house and got £8 or £9, which he
gave to the men. The Rev. John Conway deposed
that he canvassed for Gavin and Rnssell, and that he gave
£9 to the last witness, £l7 to Mat Hayes, and about £3
to John Sheehy to treat non-electors. He had a large
sum of money in his possession to make use of if he liked.
He could have availed himself of £l,OOO if he liked.
He had about £5O to do anything he liked with. He got
£5O from Mr. 0. Shaughnassy, a magistrate, on the day
of nomination. He gave the money to Hayes several
days after the polling. That was "to pay the boys
who were to keep order during the day of the
nomination, and to canvass during the two following
days." He gave an order for £4 for some poor people to
Pat Synan, who was a deputy-sheriff. From first to last
he never intended that a shilling should be given to a
voter, There was great excitement in the town. He
believed it was in the possession of Tait and Pigott's mob,
and there would have been no freedom of election if they
had not been counteracted. He bad a list of forty
or fifty names furnished to him. The list was
handed to the witness, who explained certain cabalistic
signs attached to the names ; " 9 " at. the top of the list
meant a round of punch ; " 10" the second round ; "11"
the third ; and "15 " the fourth. There were twenty-one
rounds of punch. Other witnesses swore that they
had received or supplied refreshments upon orders given
by Lynch. The case for the petitioner has not yet
closed.

Mr. Spark, who unsuccessfully contested Darling-
ton, has had givan to him a tea-kettle, and some other
articles, to purchase which his friends had subscribed £2OO.

The Lord Chancellor of Ireland was entertained
on Thursday by his brethren of the Stephen's-green Club, at a
very splendid banquet in the Exhibition building, Dublin.
The lion. Sir Maziero Brady, Bart., presided, and amongst
those present was Mr. Chichester Fortescue, the Chief Secre-
tary for Ireland.

There has been an accident near Bakewell, by which
two men lost their lives. They were working in the water
shaft connected with the Magpie Mine, when a mass of stone
fell and struck the platform upon which they were stand-
ing, and they fell into the abyss below. One of the men
was discovered clinging to a rail, and was extricated—Eo
dreadfully injured, however, that he died shortly after. The
second man fell into the water at the bottom of the shaft
and was drowned.

A HARD CASE. —ln the Vice-Chancellor's Court,
on Friday, Vice-Chancellor James gave judgment in a case
which he justly termed one of great hardship. The Earl
of Durham owed a sum of £5,000 on his bond, to the late
Thomas Glaholm, who died in 1849. The earl paid off £2,500
in 1859, and in 1862 paid the remaining £2,500 to Wilson,
one of Mr. Glaliolm's executors, on his request. Wilson
sent a receipt in due form, bearing the signatures of him-
self and his co-executor, Mr. Charlton. He also returned
the bond. However, Mr. Charlton's signature was a
forgery, and Wilson embezzled the money, being after-
wards convicted.' The question was whether the loss
should fall on the testator's family, or whether Lord Dur-
ham should pay over again. The Vice-Chancellor decided
in favour of the earl, having, he said, deferred giving
judgment, in order to see if he could not relieve the plain-
tiffs from payment of costs, which he found himself unable
to do.

The Inverness Journal has the following :—On
the evening of the 2nd December last, Sergeant Swanson
entered the Royal Hotel, Thurso, and found there a couple
of local J.P.'s enjoying themselves in total disregard of
the Forbes Mackenzie Act. The sergeant reported the
case to Mr. Mitchell, chief constable, who had it
brought before the justices, of whom there were four
on the bench, two of them being the gentlemen
referred to. The clearest evidence was given in support
of the charge, but, after a brief consultation among the
occupants of the bench, it was announced that they
found the charge "not proven," one of their
number expressing his dissent. Mr. Mitchell said
that, as the decision of the justices was so dif-
ferent from what he expected it to be, seeing that they
had found no fault with the evidence given, he would have
the case continued, and brought up again under the
" Summary Procedure Acts." In reply to this, one of the
justices said, " Surely, Mr. Mitchell, you can't say that
it's a breach of the Forbes Mackenzie Act for a few gen-
tlemen to he found amusing themselves in an hotel
for a little time after the appointed hour of closing ?"

A WONDERFUL CAT.—A. New Hampshire paper
tells this story :—" Last year Mr. Charles Edgerly, of
Meredith, owned a cat which was a regular hunter. He
would often go off and bring in rabbits. If any of the
family went berrying, Tommy would go too and devote
his energies to wild game. If he became separated from
the party, he would climb a tree and ascertain the direc-
tion to head himself to find them. He could catch birds
on trees, and the boys of the family, knowing the propen-
sity of squirrels to take to fences and stone walls when
in danger, would put him on a wall and alarm the
game. One afternoon Tommy caught fifteen squirrels in
this manner. He would wait any length of time when
put down in a place and told to stay there. One day he
brought a rat and laid it at the feet of Mr. Edgerly, who
took out his knife and skinned it. Pussy surveyed the ope-
ration with intense interest, and seemed highly pleased at it.
Mr. Edgerly said, Go get another,' and the cat went off
and returned at intervals during the day with three more,
which were duly skinned under feline superintendence.
Mr. Edgerly told the cat that he would skin all the rats he
could catch ; and hence pussy made it his Bole occupation
to catch the rodents and see their hides removed. The
skins of the rats were fastened on the barn at the
distance of a few feet from the ground. Thirty-seven
trophies were in time displayed on the barn. One day
this feline Nimrod brought in a rat and laid it
at Mr. Edgerly's feet. He was busy at the
time, and could not gratify the animal with the usual
skinning operation. The cat laid it at his feet three
successive times, and was filially repulsed in such a
manner that Tommy went off with his back and tail up
in the peculiar stiff gait which enraged animals have.
From that day not a rat would he catch, though other
small game continued to suffer as of old. But now
comes the wonderful part of the tale. On the night
of the day in which he became so mortally offended
Tommy went out to the barn, and tore down the
hides of the thirty-seven victims, to shew the resentment
of the result. Such a case rarely is heard of, and we record
it for our readers, young and old. Though he would keep
all his old habits, such as skatinz (for he would slide in
the best manner he was able on the ice whenever the boys
went), he never again was known to catch a rat to the da,
of his death, which happened some few months after by
being caught iu fox trap,".7.- Chicago Tribune. Dec. 28.