The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-02 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.-SUN OFFICE, MAY '2, 1860,

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
62—highest since noon yesterday.
36 —lowest this morning and during the night.
63—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-30.16 ; falling.
WIND, Easterly; fresh, with fine weather. It blew s
strong gale yesterday. afternoon.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, 11h. 21m.—Afternoon, 11h. 49m
To-moßnow.-Morning,, Oh. Om.—Afternoon, 12h. 14m

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15, • k •,7 n
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THE SUN.
LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1860,

Thank GOD ! the Admiralty has now fairly got
upon the right track. It is only necessary hence-
forth that it should be kept fairly up to the mark.
There is an end to anything like overweening soli.
citade. 'We have for months past had a Channel
Fleet cruising about between our shores and
Europe—ever on the alert, and in an admirable
state of efficiency. We have our maritime power
duly represented upon the various naval stations
scattered over the " wide, wide world" in both
hemispheres. Foremost among these separate
fleets being, of course, one great fleet in
the sea of civilisation—the Mediterranean.
Such, in point of fact, is the state of effi-
ciency to which the Admiralty has brought
both the Channel Fleet and the Mediterranean
fleet—our chief Defensive maritime armament and
our chief Offensive maritime armament—that Lord
CLARENCE PAGET could with reason exultingly
direct the attention of the House of Commons last
evening to facts and figures that "speak,"—as the
favourite idiom has it—" volumes." Instance this,
the simple statement that in the Channel fleet there
are only 150 petty officers and 226 A. B. seamen
short of the complement. The Mediterranean fleet
being the while in a yet more satisfactory condition,
having, with petty officers and able seamen, got
nearly the required maximum of the full compli-
ment ! While such facts as these are beyond the
reach of contradiction, while the Royal Naval Volu-
nteers already number as many as 1,000 and the Coast-
guard volunteers no less than seven thousand—the
men, moreover, dropping in (in both departments)
freely and fast, coming "with a will" to take
service under the Crown spontaneously in startling
contrast to the old brutal :,ystem of the press-gang
--we may well throw to the winds the chief pert
of our quondam anxiety and look hopefully to the
future of the Royal Navy of England ! Hope-
fully---confitlingly—yet even to the last, not a jot
leas than of 3 ore. vigilantly. It is true that the ,
Coast-guard is still far short of the grand total of
T2.,000 rceoLarnended by the Royal Commission.
And gladly shall we hail the date when
that maxim of Jack's Ashore shall have been at-
tained. But our anxiety is modified simply by
the conviction that the recommendation of the
Royal Commission is actually now in a fair way to
be, in the fullness of time, happily and most satis-
factorily realised. Meanwhile, let us not hesitate

--
an instant to push oaward yet more vigorously in

;he direction—in the direction upon which we have

already of late so far advanced. Let us not budge

one inch, so to speak, not a single hair's breadth
from the straight line clearly marked.out before us
—the line already marked, so far resolutely, and
constantly alike, by the Cabinet of Lord DERBY

and the Cabinet of Lord PALMERSTON. Patriotism

and not party is now the motive-power setting in
play the machinery of our maritime administra-

.
ton. Abundant mistakes and errors have yet to

be rectified at the Admiralty—not a doubt of it.
But what encourages us in our reliance upon the
Board (whoever may be in power—no matter
whether it may be presided over by the Duke of
SOMERSET or by Sir JOHN PAKINGTON) is the evi-
dent readiness of all parties and of all adminis-
trations to rectify off-hand, whenever it may be

possible, whatever may be clearly shown to require

rectification.

There is at the same time fortunately little
fear at present but that the authorities at the
Admiralty will be kept up to the mark, the high-

water mark of efficiency, assiduity, and zeal, desired
alike in this instance by the people and by the
Parliament. Last evening afforded us proof posi-
tive, both in Lords and Commons, in that matter,
that there are really, henceforth as we have inti-
mated, but few reasons for regarding the
affairs of the Admiralty, the sayings and doings
of our Admiralty administrators, with anything
like our pristine solicitude. The master of debate
in the House of Lords was as vigorous and as pa-
triotically in earnest, in every syllable of the noble
harangue he delivered yesterday, as he has shown
him. elf during we don't care to say how many previous
sessions of the Imperial Legislature. Seldom has
Lord LYNDHURST spoken more directly to the pur-
pose—and that a very noble purpose, one of vital
and permanent importance to the commonwealth—
than he did yesterday. Nor are we by any means
prepared to cavil at the tone in which the hon. and
gallant Admiral the member for Southwark was
almost simultaneously bringing under the consi-
deration of the House of Commons last evening the
requirements of the heroic service with which his
own chivalrous reputation is so intimately asso-
ciated. Whatever may be the exception taken to
that tone by Lord CLARENCE PAGET, we at any
rate can by no means regard it as calculated to
militate against the interests of the Royal Navy.
There are caprices yet to be got rid of by the
Admiralty authorities as pernicious and ridiculous.
There are inconveniences to which our gallant tars
are yet subjected quite unnecessarily. There is
still for them to a very considerable extent a lack
of genial and inspiriting encouragement. Until
the Naval Service shall have attained a state of
something as near as possible to perfection in the
comprehensive and yet at the same time the detailed
excellence of its general organisation—we do trust
that Sir CHARLES NAPIER, and more like Sir
CHARLES NAPIER, will Still continue to speak right
out, to plead yet manfully the cause of those brave
tars who are thus professionally represented in the
Commons House of Parliament.

As conspicuous, and in a manner prominent,
among the auguries of good to the Royal Navy,
we must particularise, before concluding our re-
marks upon yesterday's discussions, the rapid pro-
gress now making towards the realisation of a pro-
ject, the adoption of which we ourselves have for
very many years past advocated in the columns of
The Sun energetically and perseveringly. We
allude to the augmentation of the number of boy-
sailors enrolled in the QUEEN'S service, as in one
sense the youngest members of the Royal Navy of
the present, and in a nobler and a higher sense, as
the germs at the same time of the Royal Navy of
the next or immediately ensuing generation. Upon
this point, however, we must let Lord C. PAGET,
with his sailor's frankness, speak manfully out for
himself. He observed—" A statement for the years
1857, 1858, and 1859 would show the increase
which had been gradually taking place in the esta-
blishment of the boys, as the Governments of the
day perceived the necessity for an augmentation.
In 1857 the number of boys was 1,898, in 1858 the
number was about the same, but in 1859 the num-
ber had increased to 5,147. At the present time we
had no less than 8,535 boys. Opinions might vary
as to the percentage of boys which it was desirable to
have in the fleet, and he did not think that point
was yet satisfactorily ascertained. It was still un-
der the consideration of the Admiralty. The per-
centage at present of boys was about one-sixth,
but some authorities thought it ought to be as
high as one-fifth. However that might be, the
fact remained that we had at present 8,500 boys;
who would become in a short time first-rate sea-
men." This, one part of itself would be amply
sufficient to fill us with confidence as to the future
Royal Navy of England. It is evident at length
that the Admiralty recognise the advisability of
beginning at the beginning iu the great work of
simultaneous advancement and renovation. Let
them but persevere now along the path upon
which they have taken heart at last to adventure.

The Sicilian rising is evidently a much more
formidable affair than the Government of Naples
wishes Europe to believe. Every means has been
used to prevent information from the island reach-
ing the capital, and this alone looks suspicious ;
at the very same time, too, at which the Govern-
ment was publishing accounts that the rebellion
was suppressed and order restored, troops, ammui-
tion, and stores were being shipped to Sicily.
There can be no doubt that so brutal was the con-
duct of the garrisons in the island that the foreign
consuls were obliged to protest; their written and
published document the proof that the accusa-
tions against the soldiers and their general of endea-
vouring to provoke a rising even in Palermo
are but toa true. The Neapolitan soldiery
appear to be ready for any work of bloodshed,
and above all, of pillage; the inhabitants may well
dread them, for though, doubtless, they would prove
cowards enough before other soldiers, they appear
to exult in attacking and plundering the unarmed.
It is beyond doubt that they have destroyed and
sacked entire small and beautiful Sicilian towns,
murdering all the inhabitants who could not escape,
and carrying off the spoil like brigands.
It is, of course, difficult to come at the precise
truth of the case. No " own correspondents " can
follow the contending armies. The last accounts,
however, from Naples, which are up to the 25th,
tell us on good authority, and with a detail which
can hardly be the work of fiction, that up to
the 22d the Royal troops were still fighting,
and often with heavy loss, against the patriotF.
Near the little town of Alonreale, for instance, the
fighting was very severe. The Royal troops were,
in fact, repulsed. The insurgents hearing that they
were coming out in greater force withdrew in order
to save the town from destruction. It was of no
avail ; the place was sacked and pillaged just the
same, although it is one of the favourite resorts of
the inhabitants of Palermo. The fight at Carini
seems to have been a very sanguinary one. It was'
held by two or three thousand of the insurgents
After they had retired the KING'S troops imme-
diately buried 320 of their own number and 250 of
the rebels. The town was then pillaged and plun-
dered, as a matter of course, in the most relentles

and brutal manner, the officers joining in tLe work.
It has been for some days asserted that GARIBALDI
Las sailed for the Island, with about 200 coadjutors.
That he left Genoa by sea with about that number
of his most venturous followers, seems not to admit
of a doubt ; and for what other place he can have
left it is not easy to conceive. It has been long be-
lieved, with no little probability, that Count CAVOUR
is at the bottom of the rising in Sicily. It is known
that the population there only waited a word from
him to do so ; but whether he has on this occasion
given that word is of course uncertain. Should
GARIBALDI appear amongst the Sicilian patriots,
they will not want a leader who is almost an army
in himself, especially in guerilla warfare. The
Neapolitan Government would assuredly give
almost any pricb for his head, but it may
turn out that, small as his means in Sicily will be,
he can use it for better purposes than enriching
butchers and assassins: Just now those who sym-
pathise most with the insurgents fear that they
must be so nearly out of ammunition and provisions
that they can hardly hold out long, and we confess
our fears predominate. Surely, however, the reign
of such a young brute as the present monarch
cannot be long. The suppression of political, even
of municipal, action is indeed complete; no man
dares tell his mind to his neighbour for fear of
an informer ; the people are not suffered to
congregate in any number. Even the Uni-
versities are not allowed to receive the youth
from the country, lest they should become centres
of discussion. Yet one would think that oppressed
human nature would at length burst loose with a
fatal crash, and destroy for ever a Government
which is the disgrace of Europe.

So, then, Berwick is also to be broiled on the
Commission Gridiron. Mr. PBEL demands it, and-
the house awards it. Much the better may Ber-
wick be for it, and much the better may we all be
for the torturing of another delinquent constitu-
ency. It is impossible not to ask, with so many
members, Cul bon° The commissions are costly
prosecutions ofa crime which, no one doubts,the con-
viction is certain on the plan adopted, but that
♦ery plan necessitates indemnity for the guilty.
No Englishmen, except those belonging to the Wes-
leyan Conference—a conference of Popes—would
ever tolerate compelling a man to answer questions,
which f the reply proved his guilt, would bring on
him a penalty. We may be over jealous of permit-
ting any man to be questioned with a view to his
conviction and punishment, but it is so completely
the safe side, so ingrained into our elementary con-
ceptions of liberty, that the most despotic judge
who could sit on our Bench would not tolerate
such questions for a moment.
It seems therefore almost impossible to render a
Commission of inquiry thoroughly efficient ; either
we must abandon compulsion to give evidence, or
we must compel the evidence, but grant impunity
to the man who gives it. The House of Commons

in its wisdom in regard to " corrupt practices at
elections" thinks the evidence of more value, than
he remote chance of convicting in but a few
We are not prepared to say it is
Unmasking the criminal ought

oases.

not so.

to be, and in some cases is, punishment
enough ; while, if we had to rely on such evidence
as could be obtained without compulsory confes-
sion, most of the criminals, the greatest especially,
would certainly escape. The real question, there-
fore, is, whether the infliction of the penalty of
publishing to all England the bribery of which a
man has been guilty, or the bribes which he has
taken, is a punishment worth the cost of the com-
mission.

The two last commissions cost the country in
round numbers—Gloucester fifteen...hundred, and '
Wakefield two thousand pounds. Has the country
received a quid pro quo for that expense ? Lord
PALMERSTON thinks we have. We confess we
should like to see the quid. The prosecution, with
doubtful results, of two or three individuals who
would not " make a clean breast of it," or who may
have perjured themselves, is but a very meagre
result. Indeed we may say that the exposure of
the individual, and the famishing materials for
legislation are all that we have gained. If those
materials be not used, the total result, as Mr.
BRIGHT said, is really nil.
We cannot, however, object to the decision of
the House. Had we been in it we should have
voted for the commission. While the law stands as
it does it is all that can be done. Little enough, yet
better for the purposes of reformers than nothing.
We have at least the weight of cumulative evidence
in favour of something more efficient than the
present Act. We have proof upon proof that its pro-
visions can be evaded in the most gross and barefaced
manner. We have proof that the election com-
mittees are what, indeed, we might know them to
be without proof, little better than solemn farces—
tribunals which can pronounce elections pure,
which are afterwards found to have been carried
by the grossest corruption—and candidates ignorant
of the malpractices, who are afterwards shown to
be the very fountain of them. This is something ;
it will surely at length coerce decent men into the
adoption of the only and well known effectual
remedy.

The debate will, we should think, compel the
Prime Minister and the Attorney-General to lose
no time in bringing the offenders at Wakefield,
who can be prosecuted, to justice. Strange that
none can be found in Gloucester also. But it is
surely high time to do something better in conse-
quence of the reports of these costly commissions
than prosecute a casual evader of questions. The
boroughs must be dealt with. In the case
of Galway, the House of Commons refused to
disfranchise the delinquent voters, considering dis-
franchisement as a penalty, and therefore a viola-
tion of the indemnity. Perhaps as the Act stands
they are right ; common sense however teaches that
it is not a penalty in the sense that a fine
and imprisonment would be. It is simply a
refusal to employ a person again in a capacity in
which he has been proved by his extorted confes-
sion, unfaithful. He has given no fresh proof of
his fitness to use a vote aright, and the Act
ought to be so far amended, as to place it
in the power of the house to disfranchise
the individual—we say the individual, because the
country could never be induced to disfranchise the
large and respectable part of a constituency for the
venality of a third or fourth of the electors. Even
suspension of the wiit for one or two elections
would be hard on such persons, though it may be
desirable.

We trust, however, that the last of these com-
missions, and the revelations they make, with the
difficulty of acting on them, will open the eyes of all
respectable members to the necessity of a real, an
efficient ballot. We know, that to many of them, the
idea of losing their personal influence at an election
is very painful, and they shrink from it. But let
them be consoled, if the influence be what it ought
to be. If it be the influence of character, of abi-
lity, and of liberal views on public questions, their
influence will be as great as ever. Most members lay
claim to such qualifications. If they do so justly,
they need not fear the Ballot ; if not, they ought
to be subjected to that test.

Lord and Lady Vernon are staying at the Pavilion
Motel, Folkestone.