The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-06 00:00:00

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kinsmen and allies, and one of the great benefits The President and the Times Correspon
likely to spring from the general use of the new
highway is, that it will tend, by increased inter-
course, to dissipate prejudice and to establish
friendly relations on a wider basis of mutual benefit
and goodwill.—Anglo American Times.

The NPw Docks at Millwall.

A curious illustration of the gigantic spread of
London and its suburbs is exemplified in the now
very modern history of the Isle of Dogs. The
dreariest and most marshy of all the islands of the
Thames has within the last few years sprung into a
seat of industry, and become the focus of the ship-
building trade. As recently as half a century ago
not a single inhabitant dwelt upon it; at the pre-
sent day it is covered with little villages, occupied
by thousands of artisans, and the ships turned out
from its building yards and wharves, &c., compete
successsfully with those of the Tyne and the Clyde.
So much has its importance increased that recent
histories of London all seek for and all differ as to
the origin of its name—the Isle of Ducks, from the,
sea-fowl which used to make it their resort, and the
Isle of Dogs, from the staghounds which were kept
there when the early Kings made Greenwich their
hunting scat, being equally claimed as authorities
for the name. The Isle of Docks, however, is more
likely than any to be its modern appellation, for on
this waste marsh some of the finest docks in the
world are now in eourse of construction, and by the
end of autumn next will be finished and open to the
shipping of the Thames. For the formation of docks
this island offers peculiar advantages. Its frontage
faces Greenwich, and its rear almost looks upon
Deptford. To make docks here seemed easy enough,
for the great difficulty has hitherto been to keep the
water off the soil—not to bring it on. Yet these
very apparent facilities have, in fact, been causes of
serious delay in the works, for the soil was soft and
peaty, with now and then layers of clay and piles of
snail-shells, and beneath all, in spots, were found the
patches of a subterranean forest, nearly all the
gnarled and rotten trunks iu which were those of fir
and oak, bedded in immense masses of decayed vege-
table matter. In such a soil it was a work of no or-
dinary difficulty at the same time to make enormous
excavations and keep the water down and out
while labour was going forward. This, however,
by the continuous employment of 3,000 men, has
been successfully accomplished, and the outline of
the great docks, with all their facilities for wharfing
and warehousing, can now be discerned, and it is
not too much to say that in all modern improve-
ments, and in all the conveniences required for the
enormous tonnages of modern ships, these works
will be, of their kind, unequalled in London. On
Saturday a long inspection of the whole plan was
made by alarge party of gentlemen and shareholders.
Every portion of the huge excavations was gone
over, the sites for the warehouses examined, and

the proposed route by which it is hereafter intended
to connect the whole of this series of water basins
with thel‘ est India Docks pointed out and explained
to the visitors. What has already been done in this
waste marsh may be briefly explained as follows :
The freehold property purchased by the company
comprises an area of 200 acres, having a circum-
_ _

ference of about two miles and a half. Thirty-five
and a half acres have been excavated for the purposes
of a floating dock, having two basins, one of 25
acres in extent, the remaining 10i being occupied
by the other. The depth of water in each will be
about 28ft. or 29ft., so that the largest ships afloat,
such as the Northumberland and the Royal Sovere-
reign can be accommodated. The Great Eastern
herself could be floated in the dock were it not that
her immense width with her paddles would not per-
mit her to pass the entrance locks, which will be
89ft. wide. The land on which the works are being
carried on is, as we have said, so situated that the
docks will have two entrances, of which, however,

it is contemplated at present to open only one—that
on the Millwall side of the property. The circum-
stances under which the present undertaking is
being carried are unusually favourable. The
land, with charges, cost only about £l,OOO an
acre —a very low price when it is taken into
consideration that the river entrance to the pro-
posed docks is only 3} miles below London-bridge,
and by land the distance is 41 miles from the
Royal Exchange. All the materials excavated have
been available for making embankments and a road-

way which is being constructed to compensate the
public for the loss of one of the ferry roads, which
will in a short time form part of the Company's es-
tate. In many other cases where similar works have
been promoted the contractors have been obliged
to remove everything that has been dug out, but in
this instance every foot of excavation has, in fact,
added 2ft. to the depth of the projected dock, for the
sand and mud dug out have been thrown up on the
embankment, so that in some places the surface has
been raised as much as 10ift. As a most valuable

and important adjunct to the other works, a large
graving clack i 3 being constructed on a plan which
will add greatly to the facilities we now possess on
the river for examining and repairing ships, and will
also provide most carefully for the safety of the ves-

sels lying in its basin. A number of recesses have
been built for the reception of what are called " bilge
carriages," which, with the " altars," nine in num-
ber, which rise above them at either side, will super-
sede to a great extent the old system of propping,
which was at once inconvenient and comparatively
insecure. The bilge carriages can be run out and
so placed under the ship that the keel will be kept
off the ground, and there is also the advantage that
the vessel can be properly caulked, and at the same
time prevented from straining. The graving dock
is 420 ft. by 86ft., and will have an entrance 65ft.
wide. All the work, both in this and the other
basin, is solid and massive. The docks will have a
frontage of 7,700 ft., which is to be occupied as
wharves or sites for warehouses and manufactories,
while the other parts of the land will be hereafter made
available for dwelling houses. The portion that has
been quayed has been formed to a level of 4ft. above
high-water mark. All the gates, bridges,warping cap-
stans, and other machinery are intended to be worked
by hydraulic power,so that vessels may enter and leave
the docks with the smallest possible amount of delay.
The Dock Company also intend to supply, on econo-
mical terms, hydraulic power to the users of late
wharves, either for working cranes, hoists, or, in
fact, warehouse machinery of any kind. The con-
tract, according to its terms, ought to be completed
on Sept. 1 ; and considering the present progress of
the construction and the favourable season which is
now approaching there is little doubt that the docks
will be finished in the specified time.

ident

President JOIINSON has again unbosomed him-
self to the Times' Correspondent. He speaks now
in plaintive tones of the violent and unconstitutional
course taken by Congress. He asserts that " the
minority in the country was seeking to impose its
views upon the majority. If all were represented,
the scale would be turned, so the minority were
inflexible in keeping their enemies out. The people
were hoodwinked and deceived, and in the elec-
tions last autumn false issues were dexterously in-
troduced upon which the people 'pronounced judg-
ment, and not on the real questions at stake.
Congr,oss was engaged in destroying the States
to which it owed existence. If the States
refused to be wiped out, which constitutinally they
could do, what remained to Congress but force, in-
volving another revolution, to which all the pro-
ceedings of Congress tended. The Executive Go-
vernment was at least endeavouring to fulfil what
was the supreme law of the land—the Constitution.
Once, the Constitution was everything. Then, when
a measure was introduced, the question asked was
—ls it constitutional ? next, Is it expedient ? Now
Congress only asks, Is it expedient ? The Consti-
tution was on the side of the Executive, and law,
reason, and justice. The Executive stood in the way
of Congress, and Congress was bent on destroy-
ing the Executive, and, if needs be, the Supreme
Court also. But the PRESIDENT hoped the people
would discern to what the acts of Congress tended,
and stop this revolutionary tribunal on its ruinous
course." President JOHNSON appears to be in a bad
way when he, the head of a great nation, a ruler
endowed with vast powers, finds himself in so
pitiable a position. If Congress represents the
minority only, if its acts be opposed to the Con-
stitution, to law, reason, and justice, and the people
of the United States are unable to see a question so
clear in its true light, then we may well be alarmed
for the Executive power in the hands of Mr. JOHN-
SON. We believe, however, if a leader of the Re-
publican party in Congress could find a faithful
correspondent of the Times, to whom he also
he could unbosom himself, and through him take
the English people, into his confidence, that matters
would be represented in quite another light. It
would be found that there are two sides to this story,
and that the question was capable of assuming a
different hue. In fact, the charges that Mr. JOHS'
SON brought against Congress are exactly the
charges which Congress bring against Mr. JOHNSON.
Who is right and who wrong ? We do not pretend to
judge. Indeed, we believe neither to be right and
both to be wrong; and it may eked in the nation
wearying of these wrangling parties—taking the
law into its own hands, and sweeping the
capital clear of the contending factions. The
PRESIDENT destroyed his influence by his violent
attacks on Congress on his celebrated tour. Con-
gress is destroying its influence by the violent
measures of retaliation it is now enacting. But,
whatever may be the judgment of the nation, we
cannot regard the mode taken by the PRESIDENT
of attacking Congress through the columns of the
Times, as other than undignified and unbecoming
one placed in his high position. We are amazed to
See the PRESIDENT condescend to discuss such ques-
tions at all with the correspondent of a foreign, or all
other newspaper. The people of the United States
are not blind. If the position of the chief magistrate
is unfair, and Congress makes an improper use of the
powers delegated to it by the nation, this will soon
be perceived, and the position reversed. But the
limes will not help President JOHNSON ; and we
regret to see that gentlemen derogate from the
dignity of his office by making so unbecoming an
attack on the Leizislative power of his country.
We maintain that the people hold the balance of
power in their own hands. If the judgment of the
nation be wrong, it is still Mr. JOHNSON'S duty to
bow to its decision and to retire from the position,
in dignified silence. The nation made him, and
the nation can unmake ; but of all courses, the most
unlikely, we would. have considered it possible he
could have selected, was to appeal from the judgment
of the representatives of the people to the columns
of a foreign newspaper. The position assumed by
the Times during the civil war renders this nevi's;
paper the last to which the people of the United
States would tolerate such an appeal.--fl/191°-