The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 1, 1869.

the apt alling supposition. It was the popular belie
immed=iately after the six corpses were accidentally
discove red, hid away in the field of slaughter at
Pantin. And the conjecture which had sprung up
to that effect directly after the dead bodies had
been conveyed to the Morgue was supported by the
direct accusation directed against the KINCICS Pere
et fits, JEAN and GUSTAVE, by the miserable man
dragged out of the water in the harbour at Havre,
at the risk of his own life, by the brave caulker
at the docks there—HANGUEL, the captor of
TRAmpatANN. Soon after the capture of TRAUPMANN
at Havre, and his removal up to Paris—the murdered
body of young GusravE KINGS was discovered in
another part of the same field of butchery at Pantin.
And now an eighth body—as is supposed the murdered
remains of JEAN tCINCK, the father--is declared by tele-
gram to have been discovered at Guebwiller, Alsace.
The ghastly mystery seems to be gradually ex-
plaining itself. TRAUNIANN, it is now supposed,
was the contriver of the whole series of mur-
ders—of this ext ralination of a whole family.
There is a talk of his having ha I an accomplice in
the actual perpetration of the butchery. A tall man,
with enormous hands, and altogether of formidable
proportions, is stated to have been seen at Pantin, on
the night of the murder, armed with a bludgeon,
following Madame KINCK and the five young child-
ren, in company with two other men—TRAUPMANN
being, of course, one of them, while the other was,
possibly, GUSTAVE KlNGS—already, at that time,
the innocent dupe and, to be soon afterwards, the
hacked and strangled victim of the midnight assassin
or assassins. Added to the atrocity of this cold-
blooded butchery of a whole family, came the addi-
tional atrocity of so contriving its perpetration as to
fix upon two ofithe victims the guilt of being—of the
other five—the most unnatural murderers. After
assassinating poor JEAN and GUSTAVE KINCIC—it was
like murdering their reputations ! For the sake of our
common humanity it is so far a comfort, we repeat,
that the truth in this matter has already come out,
and that at least, though the lives of the father and
the eldest son have been cruelly sacrificed, their
memories have been vindicated.

THE position of the President of the Social Science
Association becomes year by year more delicate. It
is impossible for the labours of such an organisation,
to be kept free from the influence of political
creeds. It may appear, perhaps, that it ought
to be otherwise. The alleviation of human
suffering, the preservation of health, and
the spread of enlightenment, with most of the other
objects of the society, may seem far above the con-
tamination of party strife ; and to a certain extent
they are so. But the duty of the Association is not
merely to discuss preventions and cures, but to give
them practical effect. And it is not to be hoped that
the Legislature can be appealed to on behalf of
many of these objects without involving those
differences of principles which lead men to range
themselves under opposing party banners. It would
be pleasant, no doubt, to settle our colonial relations,
education, and State interference with endowments,
without political strife. But it is quite certain that
all these questions will more or less be made the sub-
ject of a parliamentary appeal to arms. Hampered
by these considerations, Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE
has done his work well. His examination of many
important branches of social science is as thorough
as it is moderate, and his duties as a
political leader have not prevented him
from offering several valuable suggestions. Unfor-
tunately, the fundamental mission of the society
in itself involves to no small extent distinctions—not,
indeed, cf party, but of principle. The prime object
of the Social Science Association is to determine
where legislative interference should begin and end.
The President for 18G9 concedes that many good
ends may be promoted by good laws ; but he is
greatly apprehensive lest the Legislature may be
led into *the error of doing too much. Many, how-
ever, will think this apprehension ill-founded. In
spite of all the talk of late years, the amount of work
that has been done really amounts to very little. Of
agitation in the country, debates in Parliament,
Royal Commissions, select committees, and the like,
there has been no stint; but there has certainly been no
superfluity of good laws. The great progress of the cen-
tury in social legislation is really only a beginning. The
very fact that Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE found so
many great and unsettled topics to enlarge upon is an
answer to his own fears. It will be long indeed
before an outcry against too much and too trenchant
legislation can be well founded.
It is on this principle that the PRESIDENT'S re-
marks on charitable endowments are open to the
charge of over-caution. Sir STAFFORD, in common
with most people, allows that money left by will for
the benefit of any class of the public ought to be sub-
ject to State control. "It is obviously monstrous
to contend that every line of a founder's will is
to be literally obeyed two, three, or four
centuries after his death, however complete
the change of circumstances may have been, or how-
ever foolish may now be the working of an originally
wise disposition of his property." Nothing can be
more sound than this doctrine. But if the State is
to interfere at all in the case of obsolete endowments,
it cannot interfere with advantage under the restric-
tions which Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE, in his fear
of over-control, would place upon its action. He is
disposed to favour Earl FORTESCUE'S plan of esta-
blishing a public authority to which all proposed
endowments should be submitted, and which should
have the power of rejecting or accepting the offer in
Coto, but not of modifying its terms. Further, the
original tenour of the bequest must be staictly
observed for, say, a century; and the working of
the endowment should be reported upon, and, if
necessary, revised at intervals of fifty years. It is
strange that the right hon. gentleman should have
overlooked that these provisions would really be
carrying out that excessive State intervention against
which he protests. If it is bad for Parliament
to meddle too much with the action of the public
it is bad for it to meddle with its own action. The
same principles which induce the President of the
Association to condemn the policy of restricting the
independent decision of individuals, equally condemn
the laying down of cut and dried rules for hampering,
the future decisions of the Legislature. Earl Fon-
TESCUE'S scheme could not fail to work badly. It is
not merely the lapse of time, but changes of
circumstances which render endowments, at first
useful, inoperative or mischievous, And such
changes may occur any time—as well soon after a
bequest is made as a century hence. It is quite pro-
bable that the terms of an endowment arranged to-day
plarenn,dtehreerde
mfoaoylish byin aimfeewxypeeacrtse.d
Bcuit7accumosrdintancgetos,
can be no remedy for a hundred years, and after that
t hbies
for fifty years. The fact is, that no precise rules of
this kind can be prescribed for dealing with charitable
bequests. The general principles of the subject
aro clear enough, and they must suffice. Par-
liamentary interference ought to be sought only
when endowments become useless or pernicious;
the money ought to be applied to a good pur-
pose, and as nearly as possible in the manner pre-
scribed by the founder; and vested interests must
receive due consideration. Beyond these rules it
would be dangerous to go ; but they should be
at once applied whenever occasion arises for inter-
ference.

Sir STAFFORD NORTITCOTE'S suggestion that a
Minister of Health should be appointed deserves every
consideration. Indeed, whether the authority
be termed a Ministry or a Department; or receive
any other title, it is quite certain that some inde-
pendent jurisdiction, with the sole control of sanitary
matters, is greatly needed. As was pointed out in
these columns a little while ago, the malad-
ministration of the health laws is a pecu-
liarly irritating grievance. The sanitary mea-
sures passed during the laet half-Century are