The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-13 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Times, In discussing Lord Stanley's recent speech
On the land question, observes that the idea of peasant
proprietorship is the most genial and picturesque of
Socialist dreams. It suggests a vision of patriarchal inde-
pendence, where every man shall be self-sufficient under
the shadow of his own vine and figtree. The land, the
inalienable inheritance of the human race, is to be equally
possessed and enjoyed by each member of it. But the
extent of the earth's surface is a finite quality, and the
space of ground which will support a family in decency
has also a limit, and, however moderately the limit may
be fixed, there cannot be more than a certain number of
such allotments either in a particular country or in
the world. This pretty primitive dream would be, in fact, a
retrogression to the first stage of human progress, and an
abandonment of all the gains of centuries of civilisation.
" It is the separation of the soil of the country from the
capital of the country "—in other words, the separation of
the most important of industries from the advantages
of that power of accumulation which is one of the most
characteristic prerogatives of man. The single handloom
weaver has given place to the thousand-handed factory;
and, in the same way, the peasant occupier must give
pace to the large farmer, if the resources of the land are
to be fully developed. Now, from this point of view, a
landlord is nothing but a master manufacturer who
inherited his manufactory, and a tenant is nothing but
a foreman with a share in the concern. The system
of landlord, tenant, and labourer, simply represents
the same arrangement applied to the land which
has been found most productive when applied to manu-
facture. If it is a system of dependence, it is one of
mutual dependence, and the increase of mutual depen-
dence is synonymous with the increase of civilisation.
This application of a simple truth is as opportune as it is
striking at a moment when land questions threaten to
become the most urgent subjects of the hour. Whatever
we do, we ought not to move in a retrograde direction, or
encoerage desires which, so far as they go, are simply
harbarous. The man is not happy, " whose wish and
care a few paternal acres bound," and the nation that is
" content to breathe its native air is content with stag
nation.

The Post coracurs substantially in the views of Lord
Stanley. There is certainly nothing in the results of the
system which exists in some continental States, under
which landed property is indefinitely partitioned, to
encourage us in its adoption in this country. In the neces-
sity of things human society must always admit, to a great
extent, of subdivision into employers and employed ; and,
whether in manufactures or agriculture, there must be
numerous classes who will always be content, and cer-
tainly be obliged, to Lire out their labour to others. Only
comparatively few can either manufacture or till for
themselves, and such as do so are placed at a
serious disadvantage. But this disadvantage is
infinitely mere serious in the case of the small farmer
than of the artisan who is his own employer. Husbandry
is affected by a variety of circumstances, indepen-
dent of human control, which exercise no effect
on the labour of the operative. To the small farmer viith-
out a capital a Lad season is siieply ruin. But, indepen-
dently of these considerations, it is no less true that the
country suffers by the cramped resources of those who
own the soil. If it be true that the man who makes two
blades of grass grow where only one grew before is a bene-
factor to his species, it is no less true that lie who only
produces one blade where another would be enabled to
produce two inflicts an injury on society. Whether, as
Lord Stanley observed, the threefold system of landlord,
tenant, and labourer be the best or not, it is a system
which Las hitherto worked well, and when we see the
evils which have flowed from small land holdings in Ire-
land, though only in the nature of tenancies, we may well
hesitate before taking steps to carry out a policy which,
by subdividing the land in this country amongst a large
number of proprietors, would probably be attended with
similar results.
The Standard says that two great facts connected with
the huge business of coal mining have arisen simultaneously
to command the attention of all persons in this country,
who comprehend the momentous importance of that vast
industry. On Monday last Lord Elcho presented to the
House of Commons a petition signed by delegates who
acted in the name of thirty thousand working colliers of
Lancashire, praying for a systematic inquiry into the
causes of colliery accidents, and expressing complete
dissatisfaction with the imperfect results of the
limited investigation instituted under the present
arrangement by coroners' juries. On the same
day a monster meeting of colliers belonging to
another part of the country seas held at Barnsley, in
Yorkshire, and three resolutions were passed, all of which
must enlist the sympathies of unprejudiced persons on
behalf of the class from which they emanate. As we
have frequently asserted, and as the miners' petition de-
clares, a comprehensive inquiry ought to be instituted
into the manner in which collieries are worked all over the
country, and the causes of accident in different places
compared with one another. Already a well-
known man of practical science, writing to a con-
temporary, declares that the whole system of Davy
lamps and separate lights carried by the miners
is wrong, and that mines ought to be and might be
lighted up like workshops by fixed apparatus. It
is all, he says, a question of £ s. d. Are we to remain
quiet under a suspicion, thus fortified, that the
miners are being killed in hundreds to save expense ? Wo
are sure 'chat individual mine owners would in scores of
cases be horrified to think that this could be the case. Fur
their sake, as well as for that of the men, and for the
public satisfaction of the country, the proposed investiga-
tion ought to be set on foot. The termination of the
session is no bar to such an undertaking, which could not
be carried out by a select committee of the House, but
only by a royal commission.
The Star remarks that just as the Derby of 1871 will lee
betted upon as soon as, or perhaps before, the Derby of 1870
is run, so the notice paper of next session is already quite a
formidable document. Many of the proposals are, of
course, chimerical. No one supposes that Sir Robert
Anstruther will get convents made subject to Government
inspection, or that the House will join Mr. Newdegate in
declaring against such inspection, because it would en-
courage institutions inconsistent with social welfare and
national progress. Nor would anyone give much for
Mr. Dalrymple's chances of taking inveterate drunkards
under the care of the State, nor Mr. Birley's prospect
of upsetting the French Treaty, nor for the
probabilities of Sir Wilfrid Lawson abolishing the opium
revenue. Several of these topics, however, may be bene-
ficially discussed. Purchase in the army is to make its
first appearance, Mr. Trevelyan's place being taken by
Mr. W. E. Price. Retrenchment is to be the text of
quite a multitude of preachers. Mr. Candlish will go
for the reduction of the non-effective services ; and Mr.
fly-lands, Mr. Shaw, and Mr. Helms will share between
them the attack on the diplomatic and consular charges.
Sir Henry Bulwer will not surrender either the Ballot,
though the committee's report will raise that
question, nor the differences with America, though
the Queen's Speech tells us, paradoxically am'
yet truly, that the suspension of the negotia-
tions affords the best hope of a good under-
standing. Mr. Chambers burns with anti-Ritualistic
ardour to reconcile clergymen with their parishioners; and
Mr. Locke, with more prospect of success, will try to
secure the public utility of the Crown's forestal rights in
Epping Forest. Mr. Graves will return to the charge in
behalf of halfpenny postage, and Mr. Macfie, who has
just published an excellent rtsumf of opinions on the sub-
ject, will renew his hostility to patents; while Dr. Brewer
will, if he can, hand over the homeless poor to the police.
These are only a few rills of the great overflow of Parlia-
mentary activity. There can be no healthier sign than
such superabundant energy as this notice paper reveals.
The Daily News remarks that in the Haydock mine the
supervision was described as excellent, the ventilation was
said to be perfect, and even Mr. Higson declared that the
proprietors did all they could to ensure its safety. Yet
three wrong things combined on that fatal Wednesday in
July to make an " accident." In a large hollow in the
roof some firedamp had accumulated, and nobody ascer-
tained that it was . there ; in several quarters of the pit
more gunpowder was present than was wanted for imme-
diate use, and in one spot near the accumulated gas some
miners were blasting for coal. They fired the charge, the
charge fired the gas, the gas fired the gunpowder, and an
explosion took place which convulsed the mine and des-
troyed the miners. A whole train of circumstances thus
led up to the explosion, for each of which somebody was
responsible, though nobody is actually shewn to be
responsible for their conjunction. The special rules stated
that if a fireman found gas he shou'l have it removed or
stop the miner ; but the particular gas which caused the
explosion was there, and the fireman hail not found it.
Yet it seems that the general existence of gas in th:, pit
was well known, for Mr. Ifigson sail that all the efforts
of the manager had failed to remove it. \\ hp in such
circumstances was blasting permitted at all ? and why, in
a" Cory " igloo, war fuel ad,:.:d to the Crc by needless

supplies of Livsting powder? 'These questions are not
answered in the verdict; but the impossibility of answer-
ing them suggests that what most needs to be provided
against in mining is not so much that which is necessarily
dangerous per se as that which in special combinations or
special conjunctures of circumstances may become dan-
gerous. Not one of the three things which combined to
work this destruction was dangerous in itself—neither the
escape of gas, nor the blasting, nor the existence of
powder in the mine, but in their sudden combination they
produced not only danger but terrible disaster.

Lord Beaumont, who succeeded to the title on the
death of his father in taii.ed his majority on Wednes-
day, and rejoicings in COlilICCi:0,1 with the event took place
at Carlton Hall, near Snaith.

NARROW vEnsus BROAD GAUGE.—The Great
Western Railway Company have given notice of the
suspension of their traffic between Hereford and Ross from
to-morrow night till the 23rd inst., in order that the line
may be converted from the broad to the narrow gauge.
The line between Ross and Grange Court will be closed
from the 23rd of August to the 31st of August for the
same purpose.
THE CONFESSION OF POISONING BY A Boy.—The
body of the late Miss Emily Collier, daughter of Mr.
Collier, oil merchant, Newport, was exhumed, and in-
structions issued by Mr. W. H. Brewer, coroner, to Dr.
Davies, the medical officer of health, to make the neces-
sary post-mortem examination. The internal organs are
to be forwarded to Dr. Taylor, of London. Miss Collier
died on the 2nd of April, and it is feared that the time which
has elapsed will have removed all trace of the strychnine
supposed to have been administered by the boy Gritt, even
though that might have been the cause of her death.
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.
—What the Times describes as " one of the most extra-
ordinary attempts at suicide ever made in this or any other
country" was witnessed on Thursday in St. Paul's Cathe-
dral. About half-past ten o'clock a man, who appeared
like a tradesman out of work, was observed entering the
church. Having walked about for a considerable time, he
proceeded towards the southern door, which is closed at
present. One of the officials in the cathedral thought
he meant to remove the barriers and leave the church
by the door referred to, and consequently followed him
until it was found that such was not his intention. At
twenty minutes to twelve the officials within call were in-
formed that a man had thrust his neck against the top of
one of the bars which enclose the monument erected
in memory of Sir John Moore in the southern
transept. The man was immediately arrested and
removed to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. We are informed
at the cathedral that when arrested he stated that he in-
tended to commit suicide. Strange to say, lie was able to
walk, and did actually walk a considerable part of the
way to the hospital. The patient's injuries are internaL
When arrested in the cathedral he was bleeding from the
mouth. Intelligence of the occurrence has been trans-
mitted to his wife by the police. No cause has been
assigned for the attempted suicide.

• A FIERY WIND. —Out in Cheatham county,
• about noon on Wednesday—a remarkably hot day—on the
farm of Edward Sharp, five miles from Ashland, a sort of
whirlwind came along over the neighbouring woods, taking
up small branches and leaves of trees and burning them
up in a sort of flaming cylinder that travelled at the rate
of about five miles an hour, developing size as it tra.
veiled. It passed over the spot where a team of home
were feeding, and singed their manes and tails up
to the root ; it then swept towards the house, taking a
stack of hay in its course. It seemed to increase in heat
as it went, and by the time it readied the house it
immediately fired the shingles from end to end of the
building, sa that in ten minutes the whole dwelling was
wrapped in flames. The tall column of travelling caloric
then continued its course over a wheat field that had been
recently cradled, setting fire to all the stacks that
happened to be in its course. Passing from the field, its
path lay over a stretch of woods which reached the river.
The green leaves on the trees were crisped to a cinder for
a breadth of twenty yards, in a straight line to the Cum-
berland. When the " pillar of fire" reached the water,
it suddenly changed its route down the river, raising
a column of steam which went up to the clouds for about
half a mile, when it finally died out. Not less than two
hundred people witnessed this strangest of strange pheno-
mena, and all of them tell substantially the same story
about it. The farmer, Sharp, was left houseless by the
devouring element, and his two horses were so affected
that no good is expected to be got out of them in future.
Several withered trees in the woods through which it

passed were set on fire, and continue burning
/Vasfaille (reinessee) Prows,