The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-28 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF

B JOURNALS,

The Times believes that so far from increasing the
present peeponderant influence of the House of Commons,
the presence of life peers in the Upper House would tend
to restore the influence of the House of Lords. Their
numbers would, indeed, be small ; for it need scarcely be
remarked that, as no man would ever be made a life peer
before he had attained a considerable position, there would
be generally at least a quarter of the whole body incapaci-
tated by age and infirmity from attending in Parlia-
ment yet, though small in number, they would be
powerful in influence. They would bring the House of
Lords, as Lord Salisbury has remarked, into more
direct relation with the people at large. The House of
Lords would not merely be open to political ability which
Lai not had the fortune to inherit or to amass large landed
cetates ; a Minister would be enabled to summon to its
deliberations persons engaged in all the developments of
national energy, and the conclusions of an assembly sc
constituted would command a respect and confidence
which has not always been given to the opinions of a
House composed almost exclusively of great landowners.
The consequences ive anticipate from the addition of life
ricers to the House of Lords are widely different from
those apprehended by Lord Derby. So far from strengthen-
ing the House of Commons as compared with the Lords,
it would, we believe, tend to strengthen the House of
Lords as compared with the Commons. So far from
making the Upper House more deferential to a popular
vote in the Commons, it would tend to make it more
independent. It would add to the stability rather than to
the mobility of tile Constitution, and we aro bound to
approve the change for that very reason. The proposal is,
in truth, another contribution to that great idea of Reform
which desires to make Parliament represent the whole of
the nation. The introduction into the House of Lords of
a limited number of peers, chosen for their distinction and
eminence in active life, must tend to supply it with ele-
ments which Parliament needs, and, by increasing the
mental power and experience of the Upper Chamber,
strengthen its legitimate influence. It is because they
foresee such consequences that the votaries of those im-
perfect forms of democracy which have till lately seemed
the final consummation of all societies of English origin
look askance upon the change. It is for the same reason
that we recommend it.
The Post refers to the second reading of the bill for the
creation of life peerages in the House of Lords ; and says
that notwithstanding a certain reservation on the part of
the Conservative section of the House as to their future
action after the measure has passed through committee,
the introduction of life peers into the Upper House may
be looked on as an accomplished fact. The bill must in
due course be submitted to the House of Commons;
but it may be not unreasonably presumed that no
objections will be offered by it to a change
which exclusively concerns the other Chamber. If the
hereditary peers are content to admit to their councils
peers who have not the right of transmitting their status
and privileges to their descendants, it is not for the Com-
mons to complain of such an arrangement. The fact that
a bill in many respects so unexpected, so novel; and in its
provisions °O antagonistic to all the traditions of She House of
Lords, should have 'net in that Chamber with so ready an
assent is in itself very significant. We do not apprehend that
any material change in its general tenour will be made, In anticipation of the forthcoming meeting of share-
and still less any effectual opposition to its ultimate access- holders, the directors of the Great Central Gas Consumers'
tance. The more thoughtful of the peers on both sides of
;Company have prepared a report, which, so far as it
the House are perfectly satisfied that the effect of the relates to their absconding clerk, Benjamin Higgs, and
measure will be greatly to acid to the strength of their his misdeeds,
has considerable interest. The result of a
House, and to increase the estimation in which it is held thorough investigation, they say, is that the large sum
of £71,214 odd has been stolen. That this could have been
The Standard says that the House of Lords has, after ! effected is astounding to them. At their weekly meet-
a moderate and statesmanslike speech from Lord Derby, ; ings the directors had the tanker's pass-book and the
agreed to the second reading of the bill for the creation of company's cash-book produced and carefully called over,
life peerages. This step, however important in itself as to see that all moneys paid to the company had been
showing the disposition of the Peers to conform to what I duly passed to their account at the hank. They had also
seems to be a demand of public opinion, cannot be taken produced to them a weekly statement of the rental due,
as implying the assent of their lordships to anything more I with the sum collected and the amount of arrears, and
than the bare principle of Lord Russell's bill. That prin- the collectors were constantly called before the board
ciple is, that it is desirable, with the view to the altered ' and examined as to their collections and the reasons of
circumstances of the Crown in the creation of peers, whom accounts being in arrear. But it is now ascertained that
it has no power to endow, as formerly, that a certain the cash-book was falsely made up ; that the system of
limited number of persons should be admitted to check, as described by the auditors, was not carried out
the privileges of the Upper House who are by fortune in the office ; that the collectors had from time to time
unable to sustain the hereditary dignity. Upon paid their money into the office instead of to the bankers ;
this point the opinion of their lordships, as signified , that the accountant the superior of Higgs whose
on Wednesday night, cannot be taken as controverting • duty it was to check the payments into the cash-book
the position laid down in the famous resolution of 1856. from the actual receipts, had contented himself with
Although the House of Lords has agreed to the second copying the banker's bcok, in which a portion only of the
reading of Lord Russell's bill, it is certain that, if the receipts of Higgs appeared, thus rendering the labours of
measure passes at all, it will be in some shape as different the directors futile. Higgs had obtained entire supervision
as possible from that which Lord Russell has conceived. of the office, and being an able accountant and constant at
One of the most pertinent objections against the bill is, his work, from nine o'clock in the morning frequentlyuntil
strangely enough, one which was suggested by Lord Gran- I late in the evening, had been allowed to control and con-
vale, who professes himself a fervent admirer of the prin- ' duct the whole business of the outer office. He had been in
ciple. In regretting that the reform in the constitution of the company's employment seventeen years, and had served
the House of Peers should take the shape of a bill, to be his articles with Mr. Jackson, an accountant in Guildhall-
discussed by the two Houses jointly, Lord' Granville buildings, coming to the company with the highest dm-
expressed what is, one of the strongest arguments against racter, " which he had apparently deserved up to the time
the measure. If life peerages are desirable, it is of his absconding." his salary was originally £lOO a
surely more constitutional, and more in accordance with year, but was afterwards increased to its present amount.
the dignity of the peers, that the innovation should be £ll5. The directors did not know, nor bad they the
introduced by their own action exclusively, rather than by slightest suspicion that he was living otherwise than as
legislation. There is, in fact, no legislation necessary befitted his position, and the accounts they had since
upon the question. The Crown has the undoubted power, received of his wicked extravagance had come upon them
at present, of making life peers. The House of Lords has with the utmost surprise. The fact of his absconding was
only to pass a new resolution to admit such peers to the first notified to the chairman by the secretary on Sunday,
full privileges of their order. It would be far better to do the 7th of March, and it was then supposed that he had
this than to consent to a bill which admits the Lower appropriated a small sum reef ived by him for gas pro-
House to an equal share of the discussion of rights and ducts. The accounts were then thoroughly investigated
privileges which belong to the House of Lords alone, and with the deplorable result stated in the report of the audi-
which, for the sake of their own character and indepen- tors, and the directors regret to add that, notwithstand-
dence, ought rather to be settled by the second estate for ing the efforts of the ablest detective officers, Higgs is
itself than by the two Houses jointly. still at large, but every exertion is being made to bring
The Star declares that the legal position of Bishop him to justice. The directors say, however, they are glad
Colenso has been determined, and is no longer open tc f to be able to point to the solid prosperity of the company,
controversy. Now that this is settled the Church in and they propose in order to meet the defalcations, to
Natal should be left to work out its own mission. We are appropriate £lO,OOO a year out of money available for
informed that the laity in the colony are about equally dividend.
divided in opinion; and as both parties are now in posses- I The report of the auditors (Mr. G. C. Begbie and Mr.
sion of a bishop there is no reason why they should not be Henry Chatteris), which is appended, states that, in ac-
allowed to compete for the supremacy by thes legitimate cordance with the instructions of the board, they had inves-
employment of those moral weapons which alone are tigated the books and accounts with a view to ascertain the
effectual for the propagation of truth and the amount of Higgs's defalcations, as well as the time when
refutation of error. The highly intelligent corn- the frauds commenced and the method by which they were
munity of Natal are able to judge for themselves effected. The frauds, according to the auditors, appeared
on points of doctrine without the intervention of to have been committed in three differents ways--namely,
tribunals in this country. The intellectual and spiritual ; by abstracting money brought to the office by collectors,
forces which are at work in Natal, or in any colony by abstracting part of the receipts for gas products, and by
similarly circumstanced, cannot be controlled by any cede- applying to iris own use checks given to him by thesecretary
siastical machinery in this country. Bishop Gray has to pay to creditors of the company. Instead of complying
consecrated Mr. Macrorie, and has thus exercised a with the rule to pay all their receipts to the bankers, the
spiritual authority which, if it mean anything, means a collectors appeared in very numerous instances to have
recognition of the right of those who regard Dr. Colenso's left both the money and lists at the company's office, and
teaching as heretical to choose their own episcopal overseer. thus Higgs, having got possession of both, was enabled
This is an application of the voluntary principle with to, and did, appropriate to himself, in some instances,
which the friends of religious equality will not quarrel, the whole, and, in others, part of the amounts of such
But we have a right to expect consistency even on the part lists. The auditors state that they are unable to suggest
of those who support the Bishop of Capetowu's proceed- any improvement in the system of the company's accounts,
ings, and consistency requires that they should concede to and that the frauds could not by possibility have been
others the same freedom of action which they claim for committed had the very excellent rule of paying all money
themselves.
The Times, in anticipating the arrival of Mr. Motley, company's accountant had received the original lists from
remarks that he is mid to be the exponent of the latest the collectors, and compared them with the rental or the
American ideas on the subject of the Alabama, and the banker's pass-book, the frauds must have been at once dis-
war generally. It will be interesting to learns in what covered. The debit side of the cash-book was merely a
respects Mr. Motley considers the late stipulations tc i transcript from the pass-book, and the object of the weekly
have been unsatisfactory. If we are invited to discuss examination of those books at each board was thus corn-
the question of England's right to recognise the pletely frustrated. No irregularity had been discovered
Southerners as belligerents, it will be for. hei ;in the debenture or share accounts. The company's
e
Majesty's Government to decide whether, after all business, say the auditors, was in a more prosperoussrius
that has been said and written on the subject, it is !
state than might have been expected
after so
worth while to revive that controversy. There are a loss.
limits beyond which national courtesy cannot pass, and
when we are asked to acknowledge that an ordinary
act of national sovereignty, necessary for the clue security
of our own commerce, was an offence against the
Americans to be expiated by apologies or payments
there cannot be much use in discussion. At all events, the
position of this country is satisfactorily defined. 'We have
simply to await the overtures, if any, which Mr. Motley
is instructed to make, and to consider the proofs he may
adduce that the rejected treaty would have necessarily
furnished an insufficient settlement. If his arguments be
so cogent as to justify the rejection of a treaty, the fruit
of a long and laborious negotiation, in which almost every
proposal of his own Government was acceded to by ours,
then, and only then, we may fairly enter into a new
inquiry.

The Herald callA attention to the good work just corn-
pletcd by Miss Burdett Coutts in the East-end of London.
The opening of the new market for the poor of that
swarming district will be a substantial boon. There would
be some difficulty in estimating the advantages thus con-
ferred upon a long-unfortunate population. It clears out
and purifies a pestiferous locality ; it creates, decency
in the place of disgust and discomfort ; it elevates
the popular idea ; and it establishes, for the humble
consumer, a source of wholesome and cheap supply.
More. Alia& all, it invigorates and stimulates the long
stagnant quarter. These benefits, bestowed in a spirit so
judicious and-. Leenerous, will be appreciated by all who
'have witnessed the incessant conflict carried on between
the very poor of the metropolis and their tradesmen. But
a market introducer a healthy rivalry ; it destroys the
mom :polies notorious in lo‘V loceliLiese it gives s
better tone both to credit and to economy; and it acts as
a check upon the ruinous system of debts incurred under the
apparently easy principle of weekly payments. In addition, it
gives to the population superior facilities for living. And
when, in combination with this, we bear in mind the
horrors that are abolished, and the squalor which is miti-
gated, both by the new lodging-houses and the new
market, we think we are only expressing the public senti-
ment when we say that a debt of gratitude is due to Miss
Burdett Coutts which only the approval of her 0w3;:c.94.1
Niencesal diMatto.. •

CRIME IN BIRMINGIIAM.—The local papers com-
plain that crime in Birmingham is certainly and steadily
rising. Last week, for example, the daily average number
of prisoners in the gaol was 482, as compared with 369 in
the corresponding week of 1868—an increase of 113, or
more than 33 per cent. The number of cells in the gaol
is only 467, so that it is no longer possible to maintain the
separate system in its integrity. The increase, we
observe, extends to both sexes, and to adult and juvenile
prisoners.
A STORY FROM AMERICA.—The facility with
which the marriage tie may be dissolved in some parts of
the United States is illustrated in the story of an Ohio
woman, as related by the Cleveland Herald, March 26.
This" woman's married life began in 1861, when her husband
enlisted in the Union army and was killed at Bull's Run.
Within a week she married another man, who waslilled
shortly afterwards in a street brawl. As she returned
home from the funeral, nine's admirirg her good fortune,
No. 3 proposed to her, and the next day they were married.
She did not like this one, and as he seemed to be rather
tartly in following the example of his predecessors, she
sued for a divorce and gained i',. A few months
passed and she married again, but once more
the courts were invoked to dissolve the tie. This
brings the romance of love down to May, ISG7,
when No. 5 married the experienced wife, but after two
months she disposed of.him with the a'd of the friendly
Divorce Court. She remarried, was again divorced, and
in February 1868 married No. 7. This union lasted a
year, when the persevering wife applied for anothei
I divorce, " and she is now anxiously waiting for No. 8." A
better client than this no lan yer practising in the Divorce
Courts could desire. Her daughter by adoption is said t.
be likely to eclipse the reputation of the mother. In 156;
she married a brother of her mother's husband, " thus,"
as the Cleveland paper truly says, "mixing up the relation
question fearfully." But she was capricious in her tastes.
obtained a divorce, and married her second husband or
the day her mother married No. 7. By the last accounts
she had just been left a "grass widow" at the age of
Seventeen. This interesting family woldke 4_ credit.... ~... ___._ .....
von to Mom.