The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-09 00:00:00

their friends, who seem to love them not wisely

but too well, run away with the idea that, what-

ever happens they will all get off somehow, and that
the authorities, when it comes to a pinch, will be
afraid to act summarily or to give the law they

have outraged the vindication it calls for at their

hands. The plans of these miscreants are only too
well laid; they fail not in cunning of purpose nor in

celerity of execution. Let us not, then, be out-

witted by them in their dexterous but unscrupulous

course, but meet them with their own weapons 01

speed and strength. A great deal of leniency has
been shown to these Fenians, not unwisely, under
the circumstances of the case, but still enough to

make them presumptions, as it has since turned oui

It behoves us, then, to consider what is due to the

preservation of the law and the maintenance of the

public peace. Apologists will, no doubt, start up,

but these will not be able to contradict facts and
make the worse appear the better cause.

The Government may have an arduous work

o perform, but they will 1.0 .upportoa Ly

,he sense of the country, which has de

Glared against these perpetual conspirators,

and cannot longer endure with patience such un

warrantable violence, and such a spirit of revenge

and animosity. Acts of provocation, it may be

added, which are the more to be condemned because

of the repeated instances in which leniency has been

shown—a leniency, it is to be feared, which was as

little appreciated as it was deserved, and a repeti
tion of which in the future seems on every accoun

to be deprecated alike for political reasons as for

prudential considerations.

The records of the Registrar-General are usually
watched with some anxiety at the close of the
summer months. Happily the recent reports show
us a decrease of 169 in the number of deaths in the
ten large English towns which are the subjects of
cdmparison. London, as usual, is one of the
healthiest, though Sheffield, strange to say, stands
on a par, and Bristol is beyond it. The rate of
mortality last week was 20 per 1,000 in London and
Sheffield, 19 in Bristol, 26 in Edinburgh, 22 in
Dublin, 24 in Glasgow, while in Liverpool and
Birmingham it was 26, in Hull 27, in Salford 28,
in Leeds, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne
29. Liverpool is rising in the scale of health, and
we hope will continue to improve until it has en-
tirely lost its unfavourable sanitary reputation.
The difference between the rate of mortality in some
of these cities in very marked, and should suggest
to the local authorities a little closer inquiry into
matters affecting public health. Why should the
death rate of Manchester be nearly half as much
again as that of Sheffield ? Why should London
itself, thronged with inhabitants, containing a more
than average proportion of the poor, the sick, the
afflicted, and the criminal, be so far beyond
other cities more favourably situated with re-
gard to health? There can be no question that the
neglect of sanitary measures has a great deal to do
with the excessive rate of mortality in some cities.
It is well known that many of the large manufac-
turing towns of the North, such as Salford, sprung

up with marvellous rapidity from the unprecedented
development of their trade. The demand for

labour brought a speedy supply, men came flocking
to the spot, and within a few years a quiet village
green became a great town, in which every one was
engrossed in his own pursuits, and had no time or
thought for local improvements. The cotton famine
was in some respects a blessing for these towns, since
the Public Works Act enabled them to attend to
such matters as draining, paving, and lighting,
which, needful as they were, had, in the hurry of
business, been neglected. But the high rate of
mortality which still prevails in many of our cities
seems to indicate the necessity of increased vigilance.
The cholera is not the only nor the most fatal
enemy invited by the neglect of sanitary precau-
tions. An epidemic produces a panic, and shows
startling results, but medical men and social philo-
sophers well knew that the fever which works in the
courts and alleys of the ill-drained, ill-ventilated,
over-thronged bye-ways of a city fed by foul smells
and impure water, has every year its long list of
victims. An unhealthy season, a bad time for trade,
or any other:exceptional cause, only kindles the
pile which is always smouldering. It is not a little
singular that the deaths from diarrhoea, notwith-
standing the coldness of the weather, are unusually
high. It is true that they manifest a steady de-
crease, having been, in four weeks in London,

577, 43G, 336, and 222. Our authorities must

increase rather than relax their vigilance,

We learn that two of her MAJESTY'S PuisneJu'dges
are to proceed to Manchester, and in all probability
they will commence their sittings on the 28th ins t.
This is a very wise arrangement, for it i
of the utmost importance that no time
should be lost in bringing these criminals
to justice. No good can possibly come from
delay in such matters, while a whole train of evils
follow from putting off and losing the fitting
moment for action. By the time that dilatory pro.
ceedings take place some important individuals will
be sure to make out that it is too late to take
any more action in the case, while the sentimen-
talists will take advantage of the gradual modifica-
tion that has taken place in public indignation to
begin their diatribes against harsh measures and to
put forth their pleas for the freedom of the
offenders. Besides, no one can go on thinking of
the same thing for an unlimited time, and the
numerous distractions that are sure to wise will
direct the general interest from the attentive con-
sideration of the subject; and when the mind is
forced back again to its contemplation a change of
opinion may ensue, and a false impression be created.
We may add, that another point to be thought of is,
that it is the most merciful course to adopt with
regard to the culprits themselves to be as speedily as
consistent in the administration of justice relative
to their offence. He who gains time gains every-
thing is a well-known saying, and, in truth, has
often been attested in many remarkable cases, and
who can blame the prisoner from thinking that it is
a good thing for him that so much time has gone
by, and yet he has escaped ? For any and all these
reasons then we are glad that the Government
have settled to act with promptitude, and they
could hardly have shown more discretion and
zeal combined than they have done. Proofs are
not wanting of the guilt of these parties in
Manchester, and at any rate quite enough has
transpired to justify the most vigorous measures
being employed in their case.
It is almost impossible to exaggerate the import-
ance of not letting time be wasted in coming to
some conclusion with these prisoners, and letting
the public mind be satisfied with the course fol-
lowed by the authorities. Such a line of action
will be most akin to the feeling of the community,
and most in accordance with the spirit of English
justice. We do not hold with the style that finds
favour abroad of a minute investigation and com-
plicated arrangements. A plain and straightfor-
ward inquiry is all that is needed. We must deal
promptly with the offenders before us, and leave
the discovery of their accomplices to the chances
that time may bring us. Such a view is the only
just one to take, and it has the additional advan-
tage of being the most politic one that could be
devised. We cannot afford to let these Fenians and