The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-05 00:00:00

THE SUN,

THE COVER NME NT AND THE

NISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

TELEGRAPHS.

POLITICS IN SCOTLAND.
The claim of Reuter's Telegram Company (Limited) I A Liberal contemporary published in Edinburgh
against the General Post Office, under the provisions of i states that in all probability the people of Scot-
the Act passed last session, to empower the Government to land are at the beginning of something like a
acquire the telegraphs, was on Saturday again under the con- j war of classes—the most bitter and wasteful all
sideration
of
sideration of Mr. Harrison, C.E., and Mr. Pattiscn, the ! wars,
in which there can scarcely be
victory andelections
arbitrators, Mr. Russell Gurney, Recorder of London ,ac ting ' cannot be gain.i Drihnagvet he late
in favour of the
ate
county
as referee. The evidence adduced pointed chiefly to ;
riablelyra tl-enait candidates farmers
against the will of their landlords.
that clause in the proposed arrangement with the
Post Office which provides for the purchase of the county that no tenant farmer shall be allowed
probable profits to be derived by err. Renter's coin- to keep a conscience, but shall give over.
The fiat has therefore gone forth in more than one
pany under a contract with the Indo-European that vote to the factor, and give
thehis voice
Telegraph Company, which is not yet completed. The where he pays his rteont.
be ablen to supply the
first witness called was Major Champaine, who has acted place, Dumfriesshire is said
instances within only the
for a number of years as Reuter's agent in India, and who Ballot Sotchiestythwaitth
hinavaenyelapsed since, for the first
furnished the arbitrators with some very glaring four months that
any people in the county voted
instances of delay which had taken place in the transmis- time
otherwise than as the landlord desired. But it is in
sion of messages between England, Constantinople, and
Roxburghshire where the screw is being put on to a
India last year. The witness, in cross-examination,
really alarming extent. One of the most influential
admitted that in May, which was an exceptionally good farmers in the county—who is well known as one of
mouth, telegrams had been sent through as far as Con-
stantinople on the average in sixteen hours. The practice
la thnedmaoisitdexateliesasidvien,as
mweellmbaesrskoilffutlhfearmcehras inlen Srcootf-
been ejected from his holding by
of telegraphing in cipher was, in his opinion, the cause of Agriculture—has
many of the errors which were made the subject the Marquis of Lothian. This is because Mr. Scott—
of complaint. It was impossible for
revise the most the farmer ref erred to—refused to vote for Lord Schom-
sagacious telegraph clerk properly to some berg Kerr, who is a brother of the Marquis, and a
of the telegrams sent. It was also a matter of great son-in-law of the Duke of Buccleuch. Mr. Scott wrote
inconvenience that messages sent to India had to pass a letter to the noble Marquis on the subj ect, but although
over lines which belonged to separate administrations.
The number of these was no leas than eight in the case of treatment which a gentleman would not carry out
one route. The Inds-European line would possess great towards even a ratcatcher. This is only one instance
of many which are now taking place in Roxburgh.
Questioned by Mr. Pattison, the witness stated that the
In Perthshire, gentlemen in process of obtaining
advantages over the present one through Constantinople.
renewals of their shooting-leases find preliminary
India Office, as a rule, sent their messages in figures, to demands made upon them as to how they intend to
which, of course, the telegraphists did not attempt vote. Such is the present state of affairs across the
to attach any meaning at all. The average of Border. If we obtain the Ballot by the next general
the time which messages occupied in transmission election—and it seems very likely that we shall—it
from London to India in June last year was will be wholly due to the course adopted by ccthe
two days twenty-two hours and seven minutes. In stupid party."
wet weather messages had to be frequently repeated on LORD STANLEY AT GLASGOW.
the route, as they could only be sent along the line in Lord Stanley has not been tempted at Glasgow to
short sections, and this caused some delay. Mr. Reuter, break his silence on political topics. He was enter-
being recalled, explained that the reason why the idea of tamed at a banquet on Friday, and made the usual
carrying the new line through Turkey was given up was speech ; but said not a word, dropped no hint of his
that he could not come to satisfactory terms with the feelings on the Irish or any other question except the
foreign one. On that point what he said might, if a
Government of that country. Speaking of the great
increase that of late years had taken place little abreviated, have stood in the Queen's Speech.
in telegraphing, the witness said that a reduction of rates He hoped that European peace would not be
an disturbed, but if it were, he trusted wed secured accuracy would cause the wires to be used at
might be able to maintain a neutral attitude. The
least three or four times as frequently as at present. He
late negotiations with the United States had, he must
spoke in the strongest terms of the errors made in isles- admit, undoubtedly failed; but there was no reason
sages between England and India, and thought that until to be gloomy about them. He had great faith in the
a marked improvement took place in this respect no very good sense of the American people. And for that
large number of messages would be sent. Examined as to matter (this was about the most noticeable of his
the telegraph to America, the charge at present for a utterances) it did not make much difference
message was, said the witness, £3 is. 6d., and at that whether the matter was settled immediately or
rate £5Ol bad been produced on an average per day. not.
At first the rate charged for ten words was £2O, ' MILITARY AND NAVAL Innis.
and then an average amount of £505 was pro- The amendment proposed by Mr. Corry that the
duced. The whole of Mr. Renter's evidence went sum of £30,000 should be deducted from the Navy
to establish the fact that reduction in price, speed of Estimates—the amount charged for the turret-ships
transmission and accuracy would materially tend to —was supported by four Liberals—Mr. C. W. Dilke,
develope the operations of the telegraph between this and Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Nicol, and Mr. White. Mr. Disraeli,
all other countries. The arbitrators and referee adjourned Mr. Gathorne Hardly, Mr. Ward Hunt
:s amendment. and Sir John
till the 15th inst., it being understood that the case for Pakington also voted for Mr. Corry
Reuter's Telegram Company was virtually closed, there The Conservatives who supported the Government
being only some documentary evidence to be put in were Sir James Elphinstone, Mr. Holt, Mr. Laird,
Mr. Liddell, Mr. Meyrick, Mr. Scourfield, Colonel
Sturt, and Mr. Talbot (West Kent.)
It is rumoured that a bill will shortly be introduced
into Parliament which will have the effect of
The action of the directors of the Bank of England in alienating Greenwich Hospital from the navy. The
raising the official rate of interest has been a matter of rumour gives rise to a strong protest from our pro-
surprise to most people, especially when the extent of the fessional contemporaries.
rise is taken into consideration. As far as the return Captain Vivian resumed his seat at the War Office
itself is concerned, there are sufficient reasons for the on Thursday after an absence of some weeks. Vice-
movement. The return, however, is an exceptional one, Admiral Sir Sydney Dacres, the Senior Sea Lord of
as it includes the preparations to meet the payments fall- the Admiralty, has had a severe attack of illness,
ing due at the turn of the quarter. Although, therefore but is better. Lord Northbrook's Committee on
there are some unfavourable features in the accounts, Military Organisation has been engaged in invcsti-
they are not so unfavourable as might have been antici. gating the New Control system, and General Balfour
has been examined at great length. The Telegraph
pated for the time of year, and, being merely in- announces that so soon as this committee shall have
cidental to the period, will probably right themselves completed their labours at the War Office,
a short time. The position of the Bank, however, is not they will proceed to the Horse Guards, with
strong, and, for a month past, has been getting weaker, the view to a searching inquiry into the
We find that the liabilities of the bankaag department system of conducting business there. The Lords of
have gradually been on the increase, without a corres- the Admiralty mean to go to sea with the Royal
N
ponding movement in the Reserve. We mustbear in mind,Naval Reserve when the squadron assembles in May.
however, the fact that a large portion of the present liabilities The clerical department at Whitehall is to be
is caused by the increase in the present deposits, which reduced, and the senior clerk, Mr. Haughton, will
will be dissipated on the payment of the dividends. When retire.
.
the capital set free by the payments finds its way into the THE VOLUNTEERS AND THEIR CRITICS.
discount market, the demand for accommodation at the The Army and Navy Gazette, carefully suppress-
Bank will fall off, and the return will wear a more fav, ur- ing the fact that the volunteers in so far as they
able appearance. It is very evident that the advance was engaged in absurd manoeuvres at Dover did so in
not generally anticipated in City circles, as we find accordance with officers of the regular army, is very
nothing anticipatory of such a movement in the return, severe upon the present state of the force. It
the increase in the other securities being scarcely so great declares that cc the machine is worse than useless.
as usual at this time of the year. Every man who enters an army must be willing to
As this advance can have little connection with the sacrifice his own will and his own inclination to
present requirements of trade, we are compelled to look the willd of
this superior
they vicar
This the volun-
to other quarters for an explanatien of it. This eacierrys
roth
least recognise;
fail
l I t
tilienifer;ris
lairsil
explanation is to be found in the rampant essential of the soldier. Until this deficiency is re-
speculations in foreign Government bonds, of which paired, we cannot conceal the fact that the force is
we have from time to time warned our readers, utterly valueless, and is pernicious, as people, who are
Large amounts of foreign securities have been locked up ignorant of the exact state of the case, neglect pre-
under
advances from the bankers, who in thus fostering cautions and buoy themselves up with a false assu-
speculation have entered upon a course that scarcely comes rance of security, blindly confident that there are
within the circle of legiti mate banking business. Prices have 170,000 men under arms in England. As long
as these men are undisciplined, the time, the money,
consequently constantly tended upwards, anil the market
has grown into a most unhealthy state. The high and the trouble which they devote to volunteering is
quotations current here have naturally attracted heavy (n waste
legislation which would make the force awasted and thrown away. It is full time that this
inipertations of tonds from other markets, which haves c)
of valuable material were discontinued by the
threatened a drain of gold, the extent of which cannot be
most valuable • • •
auxiliary in cases of extreme need to
ascertained. The advance must be regarded, therefore, as the other branches of the military system."
a temporary measure adopted to check the speculation in The Broad Arrow is more discriminating, though
question,
I likewise severe. It considers that "no one will 1
It is undoubtedly the fact that the greatest speculation ! seriously blame them either for the confused
, movements on Easter Monday, or
in foreign bonds is that which has lately been carried on
, manner in the clumsy
in Five-Twenties. A combination evidentlyexists between which they were carried out. Mis-
'takes of this character rest with the authorities who
capitalists here and in New York for the purpose of
taking advantage of the peculiar circumstances afforded are deputed to mark out the original programme of
Itllheinpaartfter of
theysom thehe encodrp_
s ia
by the past month. The Amer:cen credit was sure to
littleattack sullenness
and defence." Nevertheless, there was not a
improve upon the inauguration of a stable Government
and one which came in with the avowed intention of laying when ordered to onfa
persed. The volunteers are it is to b some of
fafd
eared, drift-
the bugbear of repudiation. At the same time,
we ' ine into the condition of playing at soldiers, and the
e believe that a large proportion of the bonds recently country will seriously have to consider if it is getting
imported has fallen into the hands of Lond fide investors, its money worth for the Capitation Grant.
By far the larger portion, however, is in the hands of the ' The United Service Gazette says that as at present
capitalists referred to, who will lock them up until they constituted the volunteer army is a delusion. ,
can be disposed of to private parties at higher rates.
This Either Ministers must believe that foreign 1
is a process that will require some time, but we see no invasion is a groundless alarm, or they trust danger of the bonds being forced upon the market
as in the volunteer army to resist it, and yet that
they are in very strong hands. army " as at present organised is, however rich it may
ry
abreminy
osfo lddeifeernliekee. material,wh at,
th whollyen m u a unreliablethe th er es
pa
os n
sain.
The Board of Trade returns for the month of Februa
have just been published. On the whole they must be bility of those men who' year after year
regarded as satisfactory, both in reference to the import make themselves the instruments of delusive
and the export trades. The most unfavourable feature is statements as to the practical efficiency of the force ?
the falling-off in the shipment of cotton goods, which is That it might be made efficient there is not the
somewhat considerable as compared with last year. The .slightest doubt. The men are all young, have
figures for the two months are as follows : courage, and are patriotic ; they have learned their
1867. 188, 1869. drill with wonderful aptitude, and amongst their
White or plain—yards 275,586,396 336,901.5.1.5 292,U2,733 numbers there is a greater proportion of marksmen
Printed, dyed, or coloured 136,293,922 14b,317,666 154,817,29$ than would be found anywhere else in Europe
in any army of similar dimensions. But of what
use are all these elements of strength ? If they
be not properly instructed and skilfully directed,
they are nothing better than a mockery, a delusion,
and a snare—a snare to the nation, which
depends on them for defence, and doubly a
snare for the volunteers themselves, who in case of
emergency would be led on to certain destruction in
their present unprepared state of discipline."
The civilian papers are farless severe. The Saturday
_Review, for instance, thinks that the volunteers did
as well as could be expected under such unfavour-
able circumstances, and advises them to stick to
their work. The John Bull says that while there is
great room for improvement in the discipline of our
citizen soldiers, to argue, because on a day of un-
paralleled severity some few volunteers were not
sober or did not obey orders, that the force is a
mere rabble, is neither just nor generous.
THE STATUTES OF THE REALM-.
The lawyers, or, at least, their organs in the press
are complaining very much that the statutes of the
realm, as at present published, are so very unwieldy.
Last year the Home Secretary. at the suggestion of
Sir J. G. Shaw-Lefevre, reduced the general bulk of
the public acts by excluding twenty-two statutes of
a local character. At the same time it was admitted
by Mr. Gathorne Hardy that it would be advan-
tageous to relegate to a separate volume " Hybrid
Acts." The Law Journal recommends -another
reduction, or rather division. It suggests that
the statutes of practical utility for the use of
the profession and the public should be placed in a
volume by themselves. From such the Acts relating
to the discipline of the military forces and all Acts
of supply would be excluded, together with all
statutes of a local character. Last year the Acts
relating to the forces and to supply occupied no fewer
than 113 pages in the edition by the Queen's printer,
that is, one-sixth of the whole bulk.
PACTING A TRIBUNAL. 1
Mr. Chambers, the Recorder of Salisbury, a well-
known
High Churchman, has published a pamphlet
criticising the Ritual Judgment. In the course of
his remarks Mr. Chambers accuses Lord Cairns
of having removed the case "Martin v. Mackonochie" .
from the bottom to the top of the list, in consequence
of the result of the general elections, Lord Cairns
being fully aware that neither Sir W. Page Wood,
Sir R. Palmer, nor Mr. Coleridge, the three men who
were then named for the Chancellorship, would be
likely to give such a decision as he and Lord Chelms- .
ford gave. This is a very grave charge, and, if true,
chews how utterly unfit the Privy Council is to
adjudicate on ecclesiastical questions.

TRADE ASD ELVANCE.

Total yards 411,880,313 483. 219,18 i 447,160,036
Total value £3,503,891 7,753,760 7,669,913
ine above figures well exhibit the vast difference in
the prices of cotton at the periods mentioned. In 1867,
when the shipments were smallest, the declared value
was the heaviest ; and while the exports in the current
year shew a falling off of about 7 per cent., the values
have declined scarcely 2 per cent., owing to the recent
rise in the price of the raw material.
On the whole, we come to the conclusion that a steany
trade has.. been carried on this year, a trade that
has been remarkably free from speculation. Dealers in
produce may not have found their ventures so profitable
in consequence, but it is satisfactory to know that business
is being conducted on a safe and legitimate basis. With
regard to the decline in the exports of cotton goods, the
decrease may be expected to have been greater during
March—a fact which will be evident when the nest returns
are issued.

His Royal Highness Prince Arthur, by command
of her Majesty, held a Levee at St. James's Palace on Saturday
morning. The presentations were numerous, and are to be
considered equivalent to presentations to her Majesty.
The Liverpool Financial Reform Association have
resolved to adopt Mr. Bright's advice to agitate for " a free
breakfast table." The council of the association is appeal-
ing for subscriptions to a special fund for defraying the cost
of the movement, end is meeting with a cheering response.
Several gentlemen, including Mr. Robertson Gladstone and
61r. J. R. Jeffery, have respectively contributed £25 to the
fund.

It is understood (the Dublin correspondent of a
contemporary writes) that during the visit of Prince
Arthur to Dublin two t ails tn a large s-plc will be given by
their Excellencies the Lord Lieutenant aid the Countess
Spencer. A suite of To( ms is in preparation at the Vice-
regal Lodge for the use of his Loyal Highness. The band
of the Grenadier Guards is expected in Dublin to remain
during the Prince's stay. The Royal stand-house on
Punchestown race-course is also being fitted up.
At the annual rneetirgs of the Ripon Diocesan
Church Building Society and Diocesan Board of Education.
on Friday, the Bishop of Ripon occupied the t h air. In th
course of a long speech on local mutters, he sale, in regard to
education, that ho was strongly opposed to a simply secular
system, and he thought they should take their stand upon
what was called denominational education. He had heard
it whispered as a reason for not contributing to these socie•
ties that the existence of tho Established Church was in
danger. But whatever might be the result of the miserable
measure now beforo Parliament, the very fact of such attacks
upon the Established Church rendered it doubly incumbent
on her friends to spare no sacrifice in promoting such
societies.

EMIGRATION OF TUE UNEMPLOYED.
A public meeting has been held in Southwark
with the view of urainz upon the cigvernmellt the

_LONDON, MONDAY EVENING,

necessity of assisting in the emigration of tee
unemployed to the British colonies. The
meeting was convened by the National Emigra-
tion Aid Society, and was addressed by several
gentlemen interested in the question. The principal
resolution, which was unanimously adopted, affirmed
that the supply of labour in this -country greatly
exceeded the demand ; that an instant and extensive
remedy was demanded ; that the best and most prac-
ticable was supplied by the exportation of -the excess
of labour to the colonies, where it was actually
needed ; and that the task, being too great for private
charity, could be adequately performed only by the
Government.