The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIO JOURNALS.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE—This My

The Times takes a somewhat novel view of the
electioneering difficulty, and endeavours to convince its
readers that no change of legislation can ensure a more
moderate outlay. Some expenses, it urges, cannot be ex-
cluded from the list by the most rigorous taxation. Among
these must be included stationery, postage, messengers, hire
of rooms, polling booths, conveyances, &c. Many of these
legitimate charges are increased by the very stringency of
the law against the illegitimate expenses. It would be easy
to shew that for almost every item of expense which may
be proscribed by Act of Parliament another will assuredly
spring up or expand within the limits allowed by law.
The reason of this is perfectly simple, and the remedy
must be sought not so much in legislative provisions as in
a juster sense of responsibility among the electors. Where
men of large fortune are prepared to spend an
unlimited sum on obtaining the social position incident
to a seat in Parliament, the most that can be
done is to check the resort to bribery and intimida.
tion. If they choose to plaster whole miles of wall
and hoarding with laudations of their own principles
and exposures of their opponents' fallacies, to hire
whole armies of political lecturers, or to issue any quantity
of controversial handbills, no one can blame them ; and
yet a rival candidate who could not afford to play a like
game might be placed at a disadvantage. Nor would the
moderation of election expenses, if it could be enforced,
furnish any complete security against the predominant
influence of wealth. As it is, the candidate whose
expenses are least is often the one from whom
mdst is expected. A man who owns nearly all the
property in and about a borough, or who has the
power to confer a great benefit on its trade, has no
occasion to run the gauntlet of public meetings.
and generally affects to despise them. Besides, there is
such a thing as making up for parsimony at elections by
very handsome annual subscriptions, and in some boroughs
these two elements of expense bear a clearly defined rela,
tion to each other. Even the public spirit which prompts
some localsolicitors to superintend elections gratuitously is
not unfrequently alloyed by an anticipation of favours and
patronage to come. In short, so long as it is the joint
interest of wealthy candidates and greedy constituencies
to make elections dear, it is to be feared that no rule of law
or form of procedure will be effectual in making them
•heap.

SUDBURY RACES—Tms DAT.
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
HANDICAP PLATE.

Flash
Poleaxe
Whitworth

1

3

Nine ran.

BENTINCK CLUB.—Tms DAY.
The most noticeable feature was a strong commission in
the market to back Harcourt for the Grand National.

SUDBURY FLYING HANDICAP.
2 to 1 agst Flash (taken)
3 to 1 agst Little Coates (taken)
40 SOVS PLATE.
3to 1 agst Contempt (taken freely)
HURDLE RACE.
2to 1 agst Heads or Tails (taken)
LIVERPOOL GRAND NATIONAL.
1t to 1 agst Globule (taken)
20 to 1 agst Harcourt (taken to £3O, and wanted)
25 to 1 agst Despatch (taken)
33 to 1 agst Bishopton (taken)
LINCOLN HANDICAP.
100 to 8 agst Typhoons (taken)
WATERLOO CUP.
25 to 1 agst Mr. Lister's nomination (taken)
25 to 1 agst Mr. Hole's nomination (taken)

VICTORIA CLUB BETTING—THIs DAY.
LINCOLNSHIRE HANDICAP.
100 to 7 agst Typhoeus (taken and offered)
100 to 5 agst Lady Coventry (taken)
20 to 1 agst Silonus (taken)
20 to 1 agst George Osbaldeston (taken)
25 to 1 agst Friday (offered—take 30 to 1)
LIVERPOOL GRAND NATIONAL.
11 to 1 agst Colonel (taken)
1000 to 70 agast Globule (offered)
100 to 6 agst Fan (taken and wanted)
23 to 1 agst Sultan (offered)
1000 to 15 agst Brick (taken)
CHESTER CUP.
9to 1 agst Paul Jones (off-10 to 1 taken and w.)
100 to 8 agst Palmer (offered—take 100 to 7)
20 to 1 agst St Alungo (taken and offered)
25 to 1 agst Birdseeker (offered)
30 to 1 agst Romping Girl (taken)
1000 to 30 agst Blacklocir (offered)
1000 to 30 agst Dalby (offered—take 40 to 1)
1000 to 20 agst Vestminster (offered)
TWO THOUSAND.
sto 2 agst Wild Oats (taken to £300)
3to 1 agst Belladrum (offered)
THE DERBY.
7to 1 agat Belladrum (taken)
25 to 1 agst Ryshworth (taken and off.)
35 to 1 agst Tenedos (taken)
66 to 1 agat Brother to Gen. Peel (taken)
2500 to 500 agst Pero Gomez and Wild Oats coupled
(taken)

The Morning Post declares that the Premier's circular
to his followers is a reminder that a stormy session is at
hand. In alluding to the probable nature of the Speech
from the Throne, and the policy which the Government '
is likely to pursue, the Post remarks there are times when
a Speech from the Throne is expected to be in the nature
of a challenge ; when a Ministry boldly throws down the
gauntlet, and declares its intention of asking Parliament
to endorse a policy which it knows will be questioned
by the Opposition ; and when it is prepared to
stake its political existence that the views
which it expresses will command the approval of the
majority. Such an occasion undoubtedly is present, and
Mr. Gladstone may well warn his followers that their
attendance in their places is indispensable when Parlias
ment reassembles. In the speech that will be placed by ---
the Lord Chancellor in her Majesty's hands will be stated i THE DERBY DIFFICULTY.—Touching this long-
thevexed affair the latest rumour is that the "difficulty" is
course which Parliament will be advised to take in
respect to the Irish Church, and it is unnecessary to say at an end, the Grand Stand proprietors having come to
;
that in dealing with this important question Mr. terms with Mr. Studd's solicitors.
Gladstone will fulfil the pledge which he has more than
once given. No Minister certainly ever met Parlia.
ment with a stronger Cabinet or with a larger
• I s T se.
majority. The only doubt which rouse affect to entertain -e annual meeting of the proprietors was held
is whether he will be able to snake good use of it. On this in the saloon of the theatre y‘?sterJay, Mr. Arlon
point it must be remarked that Mr. Gladstone has served in the chair. From the report it appeared that the
his apprenticeship as leader of the House of Commons, and balance in the hands of the treastirer, after paying
is not likely to repeat the faults which occasioned his up the year's charges, amounted to £1,500 paying
committee, congratulated the proprietors upon the
former shipwreck. There certainly will be no one to blame
improved state of the theatre, and felt it to be their
but himself if the campaign on which he is about to
enter does not turn out a brilliant one. The party which .
a duty to testify to the ability which the
he leads has learnt a bitter lesson, and is not likely to pleasm
degenerate into the unruly rabble which Mr. Bouverie theatre was conducted, and concluded their report
denounced in the old Parliament. Everything seems pro-
by expresssing tl eir great satisfaction at the con-
pitious, the gales are favourable, and there is no rock tinned success of Mr. Chatterton, the lessee, and
visible on which the Ministry can make wreck save that their best wishes for his future prosperity as re-
of their own creation—the Irish Church. If this be a ward for the energy and honour that had so dis -
source of danger, which, however, we do not think it is, it tinguished his lesseeship.
must be recollected that the condition on which Mr. Glad. The report was adopted unanimously.
stone was entrusted with the helm was that he should Mr. THOMPSON understool that there was once a
steer the vessel of the State in safety past this serious
obstacle. valuable Italian, German, French, and English
musical library attached to the house, and he should
The Daily Ems comments upon the question of the
capitation grant to the volunteers, and declares that the be
subject is one of great importance. Some of the corre-
Tglad to know if it remained intact.he CHAIRMAN replied in the affirmative, and
spondents of different journals maintain that the volunteer said it was kept in admirable order by their own
force, unless further supported, must die away entirely. salaried librarian, knew al. a moment where
If this were to be the result of a refusal on the part of the to lay his band upon any work that might be
Government to accede to the request for an increased required. At the recent revival of " Manfred"
grant, we should throw all our weight into the scale to the lessee was on the point of seeking elsewhere for
urge an acquiescence with the demands of the volunteer the music, when the librarian brought to his notice
colonels. We are, however, doubtful of this ; many volun.
tkiit gegmkirtakr. y luttigicfhaTniiiic c-o--u'a-13e1
Lot-enabled to ico so, the officers who supply the wanting "
funds reap some commensurate advantage. If we can had in the library for the mere asking.
afford to maintain both an offensive and defensive army I The proceedings were brought to a close with
of large strength, it would be of manifest advantage to do the usual acknowledgments to the auditors and
so, and no defensive army could be supported so cheaply, chairman.
even at an increase in the capitation grant, as the present
volunteers. Before the increase takes place, however, an
investigation should be made into the organisation of the
whole military strength of the empire, and some changes
which the volunteers themselves desire should be at least
examined into. If the Government is to give more money
to the support of the volunteers, it has assuredly the
right to require some qualification for the officers be-
yond that of a full purse. The expenses of officering
some corps are in some cases so exorbitant that a purchase
system is virtually established which forbids promotion to
the higher ranks to any who are not very much wealthier
than officers of the regular army. The Government has
also the right to insist that the volunteers should sacrifice
a certain amount of independence, and should be more
closely affiliated to the general military system itself, of
course re-organised. If a general inquiry takes place
into our whole offensive and defensive means, and their
best adaptation to the necessities of the country, Lord
Elcho will deserve the thanks of every citizen, as well as
the whole body of volunteers, who themselves arc certaiu
to profit greatly by the inquiry.
The Daily Telegraph is discussing the changes in our
system of local rating proposed by the Somersetshire
Chamber of Agriculture, and remarks that just as Mr.
Bruce and Mr. Forster have proposed to defray the cost
of national education partly by local rating and partly by
Imperial grants, so some agricultural reformers
would still impose a local tax for the relief of the
poor, but would make a yearly grant to every
parish in which a certain amount of assessment
should be sufficient. Such a scheme might put
a stop to gross extravagance; and, though it is open to
objection, its merits serious thought. Other speakers
fancied that, even if the whole burthen of pauperism
were supported by the imperial exchequer, the Poor-law
Board could effectually prevent waste. Can the board do
so at present, when it is aided by the self-interest of the
guardians? It is notorious that throughout London the
local expenditure is scandalously mismanaged, and that
the central authorities are unable to provide a suffi-
cient remedy. In view of that fact some reformers
would give the board sufficient power to make the barrier
against extravagance complete. But those critics do not
estimate the full necessities of such a change. To give the
Poor-law Board adequate power over the guardians would
so abridge local authority as to institute centralisation of
the most colossal kind ; the boards of guardians would be
stifled in the grasp of the State functionaries ; and so far
as the relief of the poor is concerned, the local self-govern-
ment of England would speedily become only a name.
Are the agricultural gentlemen prepared for such r
result?
The Herald, in recording the precautionary measures
being taken by the Anglo-Indian authorities in view of
the threatened famine, rejoices to find that the calamity
is no longer to be ignored, and that some of the remedial
measures are /Ist to be merely temporary in their effect.
They are in accord with permanent works, more especially
those of irrigation, by which alone, apart from the effect
of general operations conducing to the prosperity of the
people, the recurrence of periodical famines can be averted.
The care taken at the present emergency to provide against
the peril—the recognition of the fact that the preservation
of the lives of the people must be the first consideration,
and the settlement of the political policy the second—is
a great advance since the days, so little distant, when
hundreds of thousands died in Bengal and Orissa
from causes which admitted at least of the same
means of control. The strong condemnation passed
at
at home upon Sir Cecil Beadon 'Bapathy with
and
which
ineffi-
ciency was too late to avert the evil
he had to deal ; but it is baying a happy effect upon the
present occasion, when the local authorities are evidently
animated by a very different code off instructions.lanieSir
John t the
John Lawrence was by no means free
last crisis ; but it is plai.n thathe has learned a lesson
from the mode in which his subordinates arL dealing with
the existing difficulty ; and the impulse which
all the
from head authority is clearly traceable ip
accounts which reach us of forethought andtimely pro-
vision in all the distressed districts.. 'That Lord Mayo
will insist upon every local authority doing his duty
there is no reason to doubt—apart from his lordship's
declarations concerning permanent improvements. We
have great hope, therefore, that the calamity which
threatens so large a part of the area and population of our
Indian Empire may be mitigated in a very great degree,
and that henceforth means may be found, as they ought to
be found in so fertile a country, to keep the people fed,
whatever the capriciousness of the seasons. Hitherto the
battle has been between the most unvarying routine on
one side and the most unexpected exhibitions of natural
causes on the other. For the future the system must
accommodate itself to the exigency. We must recognise
the fact that it is impossible to bind up famines, any yaw-
that pygl94eB earthquakes, with red

DRURY LANE THEA7ItE.

THE CASE OF O VEREND, GURNEY,
AND CO.

The Grand Jury last evening, at the Old
Bailey, entered on the consideration of the indict-

anent against the defendants in this case.
Mr. Lewis stated the case, and the witnesses
having been examined, the grand jury found a
true bill against the whole of the defendants.

The trial will therefore take place at the Court
of Queen's Bench at Westminster before a special
jury.

LuNDON GAZETTE-LAST EVENING,

- ..._4o,__- --

FOREIGN-OFFICE. FEB. 2.
The Queen has been pleased to approve of Air. C. H.
Ferro to be Consul at Valetta, Malta, for the North Ger-
man Confederation.

The Queen has also been pleased to approve of Doctor
Alejancho F. Wallen to be Consul at Demerara for the
United States of Venezuela.
WHITEHALL, JAN. 39.
The Queen has been pleased to order a conge d'elire to
the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln,
empowering them to elect a Bishop of that See, the same
being void by the translation of the Right Rev. Father in
God Doctor John Jackson, late Bishop thereof, to the See
of London ; and her Majesty has also been pleased to re-
commend to the said Dean and Chapter Christopher Words-
worth, D.D., to be by them elected Bishop of the said See
of Lincoln.

WHITEHALL, FEB. 1.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Right Hon.
Henry Austin Bruce, being one of her Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State, an Ecclesiastical Commissioner for
England.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint Thomas Dyke
Acland, Esq., to be Second Church Estate Commissioner,
in the room of the Right Hon. John Robert Mowbray, re-
signed.
The Queen has been pleased, on the recommendation of
the Speaker, to appoint, 137 Warrant under her Royal Sign
Manual, Reginald Francis Douce Palgrave, Esq., to be
Second Clerk Assistant of the House of Commons, in the
room of Henry Ley, Esq., resigned.
WAR-OFFICE, PALL MALL, FEB. 2.
ith Regiment of Dragoon Guards—Cornet Croxton Scutt
Johnson to be Lieutenant, Gentleman Cadet William W
Weston to be Cornet.
2d Dragoons—Major Andrew Nugent to be Lieutenant-
Colonel, Captain Lenox Prendergast to be Major,
Lieutenant Thomas Hunt to be Captain, Cornet Edward
George Moore Donnithorne to be Lieutenant, the Ron.
Walter P. Alexander to be Cornet.
21st Hussars—Gentleman Cadet Frederick Hutchinson
Haynes, from the Royal Military College, to be Cornet ;
Gentleman Cadet John F. D. Fordyce to be Cornet.
Royal Regiment of Artillery—Second Captain Thos. Carr
Fletcher, to be Adjutant.
Corps of Royal Engineers—Lieut.-Col. Edward J. Lake,
C. 5.1., to be Colonel; Second Captain Napier G. Sturt
to be Second Captain.
2d Foot—Lieutenant Edward St. John to be Captain;
Ensign Arthur Thomas Fisher to be Lieutenant ; En-
sign Edwards Werge to be Ensign ; Gentleman Cadet
John Dickson to be Ensign.
6th Foot—Ensigns Josiah William Petrse-Hobbs, Fre-
derick Talbot Goodridge, and Thomas Arthur Campion
to be Lieutenants.
11th Foot—Lieutenant John R. Kelsall to be Captain ;
Ensigns John William O'Callaghan, Martin Nepaan
Gubbins, Edward William Scott, and Charles William
Richard Mansergh to be Lieutenants.
12th Foot—Lieutenant Simon Beggs Triphook to be
Adjutant.
18th Foot—Quartermaster-Sergeant Thomas O'Hora to
be Quartermaster.

19th Foot—Gentleman Cadet George Henry Ashington
Ensign.
F. Jacson to be Ensign.
GOth Foot—Captain Edward Bowles to be Major ; Lieut.
28th Foot—Ensign .to
be
JohnEn si
H
George Hewitt Trottman to be Captain ; Ensign James
Nugent Blackwood Price to be Lieutenant; Ensign
Charles Hulled Smith to be Lieutenant; Ensign Walter
Henry Ilolbech to be Ensign; Gentleman Cadet Wm.
Sturrock Anderson to be Ensign.
97th Foot—Gentleman Cadet Reginald Robert Lousada,
from the Royal Military College, to be Ensign.

ONSERVATIVE BANQUET AT SHREWSBURY.—A
Conservative banquet was held at Shrewsbury last night
to celebrate the return for the seventh time of Sir Wstkin
Wynne, as member for Denbighshire. Newly 500 were
presett. Mr. Laird, the member for Birkenhead; Mr.
Ilaikes, the member for Chester ; and Mr. Wynne, the
member for Montgomery borough, addressed the meeting.
THE REPRESENTATION OF NORIVICH.—Mr. Milner •
Gibson has definitively declined to contest Norwich. No
Liberal candidate has been yet selected. Mr. Sergeant
Parry is named as a possible candidate.
The death of Miss Annie Collinson, a young
actress attached to the New Royalty Theatre, took place
on Monday.