The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-10 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE SUN.

SIR,—In a leader of your paper, of the sth inst.,
you invited attention to a communication from
" An Old Soldier and Politician,': and on perusal I
find him surprised that Birmingham, of all other
places, should send Mr. Bright to represent their
interests in Parliament.

Depend upon it, Sir, the gunmakers of Birming-
ham know their own interests--they know that if •
we had a Government whose avowed policy is peace
at any price, that
.we would find ourselves con-
stantly
at war, thus securing for themselves, along
with the profession to which your gallant corre-
spondent belongs, a monopoly of the foreign trade
of the three kingdoms.
Your gallant correspondent concludes by im-
puting to Mr. Bright an outrage of his feelings
and opinions by asking the suffrages of the
gunmakers of Birmingham; and this compels
me to stand as counsel in defence of Mr.
Bright; and as it is the custom of counsel
to consult the interests of, and not their
clients, and I will not depart from the general rule,
what I am about to add in defence of Mr. Bright
is sufficient, I am sure, to justify any enlightened
jury in Great Britain in acquitting him of the grave
charge made against him. The defence is, that
these very-men, these gunmakers, &c., are instru-
mental in.maintaining peace, by constructing can-
nons, swords, rifles, &c., which are then put into
the hands of our gallant soldiers, and sent on
board our wooden walls ; and if we had enough of
these, and men to use them, and ships to put them
in, would we not then have peace, not at any price,
but at a reasonable yearly expenditure ? And what
nation is there that would then dare to engage in
war with us ? Or, if we had had an army and
navy worthy of Britain before the outbreak of the
Russian war, would not the £100,000,000 been
saved, and the still more precious 40,000 lives, and
all the other sad consequences of that war, sa ably
described by Mr.• Bright himself, have been spared
to us? I would ask any jury of Englishmen (or Scotch-
men either), your gallant correspondent, or I would •
even ask Mr. Bright himself to acquit himself of
the charge of having outraged his feelings and
opinions by asking the suffrages of the gunmakers
of Birmingham, seeing that his avowed creed is
"Peace at any price."
I would take this opportunity of giving my as-
sumed client an advice gratis—an advice which, if
he takes it, he will gain the great object he has in
view, to stand as the champion of the labouring
man in the House of Commons. I advise him to
inquire into the cause of the panic that-we had this
time last year, when so many thousands of work-
men were thrown out of employment, or on half
time, in every large town in the country, and when
we were only saved from national bankruptcy by
the breaking of the law. Let Mr. Bright set about
it in earnest, and inquire into the working of the
currency laws, and it is possible that he might be
the means of saving the country from another panic,
by casting his oratory into the scale of the currency
reformers, and weighing up the bullionists, who
are at present wallowing in wealth screwed from
the very life's blood of the working man. I will
feel obliged by your inserting the above in your
valuable journal, and I am, sir, yours respectfully,
A SCOTCHMAN.
Leith, Nov. 9, 1858.

GABOTTING IN DALSTON.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—May I trespass on your valuable space to
warn the public against those notorious and hitherto
too successful villains known as garotters, who,
taking advantage of the dark evenings, have re-
commenced their ruffianly practices ? About six
o'clock on Friday evening last, having just passed
a dark turning in Myddelton-road, Dalston, I was
suddenly seized round the neck4from behind, and,
being but a middle-sized man, was lifted com-
pletely from the ground on to the breast of the
assailant, whose. arms so tightly encircled my neck
that utterance was rendered quite impossible':
struggling on,ly served to increase the suffocation
and consequent exhaustion. While in this disagree-
able position two men came up, and, after waiting
a few moments, till all resistance on my part had
ceased, one of them tore away my watch and chain,
of considerable value. They would doubtless have
proceeded to rifle my pockets had they not feared
interruption. On being released, and on recover-
ing sufficient breath to raise a cry of " Stop thief,''
I perceived three men making off in different direc-
tions, down the bye-streets of the neighbourhood.
I regret to add they all made their escape. Al-
though too dark to distinguish their features, they
were apparently well dressed. As usual in all such
cases, no policemen were within call.
Life preservers, or weapons of any description, I
am afraid, are of little or no use in such encounters.
A better lighting of those streets which do not
contain shops, and a larger supply of police for
lonely neighbourhoods, are the only effectual
remedies. Now that these vagabonds have taken
to a respectable style of dressing, it is by no means
impossible that an affair of this nature might be
mistaken by a passer-by for a mere frolic. Gentle-
men.who are in the habit of walking from the City
to their residences in the suburbs would do well to
change their route from time to time, as these
cowardly blackguards doultless, in many instances,
lie in wait for their prey.
Enclosing my card for your satisfaction, I beg to
subscribe ,myself, A VICTIM.
Nov. 9, 1858.

MR. LEVER IN PARIS.

Mr. John Orrel Lever, the founder of the Trans-
atlantic Steampacket Line from Galway to America,
is now here, accompanied by a deputation of gentle.
men, for the purpose of completing. the arrange-
ments by which telegraphic communication will be
made from all parts of Europe to any part (possessed
of telegraphic stations) of the American continent
in six days, at a fixed price. Mr. Lever is
about to explain to this Government the ad-
vantages which France would derive by adopt-
ing the line for the transmission of their mails,
merchandise, and passengers to America and their
possessions at St. Peter's, Newfoundland, 'where
they have fishery rights. At present this school for
the Frencli navy, which is appreciated and fostered
by the Home Government is placed at least 20 days
from communication with France, but as Mr.
Lever'line is to carry the British mails to St.
John's, Newfoundland, his company could deliver
the French mails at St. Peter's in seven days from
Paris, thus placing the French Government in an
equally advantageous *position with the British.
This Government is already alive to the import-
ance of steam communication with other parts a
the world, and they understand the certainty with
which increased commerce follows the regular,
frequent, and rapid transmission of mails to colo-
nial and foreign. countries by the shortest routes
which the geographical position will allow. It is
evident that, in these railway days, all transmarine
mails and paSsengers should in all cases, as far as
practicable, be carried by land to that point of em-
barkation which secures the shortest and most rapid
passage of the ocean. For, while a speed of 40
miles an hour is attained by.railways, in the pre-
sent state of ocean steam navigation the average is,
I believe, 15 miles an hour. This consideration is
with progressive. Governments a sufficient reason
for employing those means of rapid commuuication
independent of the additional security to life and
properity which is attained by the diminished time
they are exposed to the dangers of the sea. The first,
element requisite for the selection of the best Trans-
atlantic packet station for Europe is that it be
the most western point of the great continental
frontier, and this essential element has been ac-
corded by nature to Ireland. On the western coast
is the harbour of Galway, which is directly access-
ible by railway and steam communication to the
whole of Europe, and where Mr. Lever has al ready
demonstated practically that America is only six
days distant instead of 12. An increase in the ex-
ports of Great Britain has always followed her es-
tablishment of mail steam communication with
foreign countries ; and although we can only refer
to England for examples of these results, yet there
is no reason why the same effects should not follow
any similar effort which may be made by other
countries. When the mail steamers commenced
running to the Brazils in 1851, British exports to
that country had remained stationary for some
years ; but immediately on the establishment of a
steam service the exports increased in the first year
by a large amount, and in seven years double.—
(pi-gm the. Paris Correspondent of
, the Times,
Nov. 10, 1858.)