The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-23 00:00:00

EARL CLARENDON AT COVENTRY•

The Coventry and Midland Counties Industrial,
Manufacturing, and Fine Art Exhibition, which
was opened by Earl Granville on the 19th of June,
was formally closed on Monday. The number of
visitors, notwithstanding the unpropitious weather,
was large, and the proceedings passed off with
great success. The ceremonial in the Market
Hall, in which the exhibition has been held, com-
menced at one o'clock ; Lord Leigh, president of
the committee, presided, and congratulated the
promoters of the undertaking on their success. His
lordship then read the report of the committee,
which, after alluding to the great success and oc-
jects of the exhibition, stated that the number of
exhibitors was 311, some of whom were from Lon-
don. The totalnumber of visitors had been 98,569,
exclusive of repeated visits of season ticket holders
and schools. 6,000 children had been admitted. The
committee had reason to hope that the attention of
men of capital had been drawn to the capabilities of
Coventry.
The Earl of CLARENDON was cordially received
He said—ln a spirit of wise beneficence it was de-
termined that, before that building became a great
market, it should become a great school, to which
not only the inhabitants of Coventry, but of the
surrounding districts, should be attracted, not
merely by curiosity, but by the higher motives of
studying by the eye of minute examination and
comparison, to be followed by subsequent reflection,
improvement, and advantage. He deprecated any
idea of the citizens of Coventry being deficient in
pluck, as insinuated in the report, and with all his
heart he hoped that the new trades spoken of would
be established in their midst and flourish, and that
the exhibition would be the commencement of a new
era, and the town would enter on a period of
renaissance after the dark ages. He expressed a
hope that similar good results would ensue from
that exhibition to those which, he hoped, would
follow from the French Exhibition, though in
a lesser proportion. Englishmen must not de-
ceive themselves. Flattery, which was always
injurious, was at the present time most deceitful.
We must—in a period when competition is so active
and universal, if we intend to keep our position
among our competitors, and what is more, to win
we must improve. Improvement was absolutely
necessary, and no imnrovement was real, solid, or to
be relied on but that which proceeded from the
exertions of the working classes, not by their un-
aided exertions, for great assistance they would re-
quire; but in affording them that indispensable
assistance, and in putting our shoulders to the wheel
of progress, we were all alike interested, because the
interests of all classes were identical. If the interests
of landlord and tenant, of manufacturer and artisan,
or, generally speaking, of those who provide the
capital and those who furnish the labour were slip-
posed to be antagonistic, it was the result of preju-
dice and ignorance. No work was greater or more
worthy of the philanthropist and well wisher of his
country than to endeavour to dispel that prejudice
and banish that ignorance by showing that all classes
were fellow workers, and that we were all, though
in different degrees, partners in the same concern.
(Cheers.) Far be it.,f,rona him to deny that rank,
and wealth, and social position created distinctions
enviable and enjoyable, but not unattainable dis-
tinctions bet seen classes, but that which really con-
stituted the difference between classes was educa-
tion, the mainspring of progress and success. The
day was gone by when a man of wealth and posi-
tion could afford to be uneducated and illiterate.
Such an one would be looked upon as an object of
contempt, and as one who, having neglected the
opportunities of his position, had also unfitted him-
self for its obligations. On the other hand, a man
might be born in the very lowest ranks, without
friends, or money, or advantages of that kind, or
hope of any ; and yet it had often been the case that
he managed to educate himself, or obtain an educa-
tion which enabled him to turn to the best account
the genius or talents with which he had been
endowed. He ascended through the different strata
of society, by a self-acting machine, until he
stood in the light of his own eminence, amid the
eulogy of the world. Such instances were not nume-
rous in our country, yet were numerous enough to
forbid any to despair, and induce all to take as their
motto " Excelsior." The value and dignity of
labour were never more fully recognised than now.
The working man was about to be entrusted with
a power which he never before possessed—an enor-
mous power for good or evil. He believed the great
majority of working men would desire to use that
power, not mischievously, but judiciously, and for
good ; but they must be fitted to use it. When
they did use it, and found themselves raised in the
scale of political life, and indirectly taking part in
the management of the nation's affairs, working
men would also desire to raise themselves in their
own sphere, and to obtain to a greater command,
not only over the material, but also over the intel-
lectual enjoyments of life. For that they would
require political education as much as they required
industrial education, and to a large extent scientific
education ; and no education would be sufficient or
complete which did not embrace religion. That
must be provided. It was not a matter on which
we could sit still and merely talk, any more than
we could content ourselves with simply talking of
the national defences. It must be provided if our
prosperity was not to slacken—if our institutions
were to maintain their excellence and equilibrium—
if our manufactures were to be supported—and if
the great bulk of the population was to consist of
good citizens and Christians. How it was to bo
effected was a serious problem, involving many
vexed questions to which it would be then inappro-
priate to allude. It was a satisfaction to know, as
all must do, that the minds of some of the most
thoughtful men were earnestly directed to this sub-
ject. If it wore recognised that education in Eng-
land fell short of the mark, and was not what it
might or ought to be, and that the consequence was
a great evil and a pressing danger, he had no doubt
that the problem would be solved. There was one
more thing which he ventured to say that was needed
by the working man—it was liberty. The working
man wanted his industry to be free ; his energies
to be unshackled, and his liberty unrestrained, to
turn to the best account his labour and his skill. He
fully admitted the benefits of association, and he did
not deny the legitimate rights of combination, but
he firmly believed that if the working mall was a
freer man and his employer too, that it would be
found within any given space of time the division of
profits between capital and labour would be more
equitable, and that the funds really available for the
remuneration of labour would be more abundant
than under the system which had hitherto prevailed.
His observations had merely pointed the moral—

they could not adorn the tale told by that building.
He concluded by expressing a fervent hope that the
progress of art, taste, and mechanical skill, so essen-
tial to the prosperity of Coventry, would continue,
and be a lasting memorial of their enterprise.
A general vote of thanks concluded the proceedings.
A. concert and dinner took place in the evening.

THE PROPOSED ELECTION OF WORKING 111 EN

TO PARLLIMENT.

Last night a meeting of the Working Men's
Association was held at the Bell Inn, Old Bailey;
Mr. Geo. Potter in the chair. The chairman said
that he had written to several gentlemen asking
them to become trustees of the fund for securing the
election of working men to Parliament. Mr.
M'C. Torrens, M.P., replied, stating that he con-
sidered the object a fair and reasonable one, and
that he willingly accepted the office of trustee.
The lion. A. Herbert also wrote accepting the office
of trustee, and sent a subscription. Mr. B. Potter,
M.P., declined to act as trustee, but expressed his
approval of the scheme. The following letter had
been received from Mr. Baines, M.P. :—" Heading-
ley Lodge, Leeds. Oct. 10, 1867.—llear Sir,—l
so far agree with your object that I have this week
at our reform banquet expressed my wish to see
some of the best working men in the House of
Commons, and I once said the same thing in the
house. But I should like to see them there, not ex-
pressly as the representatives of labour, but as citi-
zens recommended to their fellow citizens by their
character and talents, and therefore selected to
represent them. I should regret to see a small
section of the house exclusively representing labour,
and I don't think it would answer the purpose of
the working men so well as if their members were
chosen by all classes and represented all. As to a
general association for promoting the return of
working class members, I believe it would excite
prejudice, and perhaps prevent rather than promote
the return of a candidate ; it would be charged with
dictation and with forcing strangers upon consti-
tuencies. With these views I should not feel my-
self at liberty to take part in the proposed Working
Men's Association.—l am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
E. BAINES." Mr. Ayrton had written as follows :
—" Oct. 22,1.—My dear Sir,—l have been favoured
with your note requesting me to become a trustee
of a fund for promoting the return of working men
to Parliament. But it appears to me that this
proceeding, instead of assisting the object in view,
would only obstruct it by weakening the just in-
fluence of the Liberal party at elections. It will
not be known until July next whether a general
election will take place in July, 1869, or July, 1870,
and it will be then time enough to consider what is
to be done. Whenever men of knowledge, intel-
ligence, and integrity, upon whom reliance can be
placed, are proposed as candidates for any particular
places in the liberal interest, their claim to support
by subscription can be considered ; but I cannot
embark in a general crusade against any one else
except those who belong to a particular class, merely
because they are of that class. Such a proceeding
would, I am convinced, provoke much more oppo-
sition than it would receive support.—l am, my
dear Sir, yours truly, ACTON SMEE AYRTON." The
Chairman and the Secretary refuted the assertion
made in some quarters that the object of the move-
ment was to obtain measures to regulate the scale
of wages, adding that what was sought was a
thorough representation of the industrial classes.

FERRIES BETWEEN ENGLAND AND

FRANCE

The following letter has been addressed to the
editor of the Anglo-American Times i
Sir,—Not long since I heard one of the most
popular of American sea captains, whose name
appears in the steam shipping advertisements of the
Anglo-American, say that if the Straits of Dover
and surroundings belonged to the United States
they would have had a good ferry over twenty
years ago ; and I suppose it probable that there are
not many Americans familiar with the subject who
do not believe it.

Considering that Europe contains ten times tho
population of tho United States, it argues that there
is ten times the wa,ut of proper ferries over the
Straits of Dover, particularly as the dense and most
animated portion is within a radius of a thousand
of the latter. I once thought it possible that fre-
quent crossing of the Channel in the miserable
cockle shells used for conveying passengers would
wear one into the notion that, after all, the afflic-
tion experienced was but one of the boasted " solid
English comforts." On the contrary, however, the
late performance of my—about—fiftieth passage
has not only increased my disgust, but stimulated
an incentive to inquire through the columns of the
Anglo-American if in the absence of British en-
gineers, who understand the nature of the case, and
possess a Brunel influence over capitalists—some
Americans, who are posted in such works, cannot
be induced to offer plans for a project which, it
might reasonably be expected, would prove one of
the most profitable of enterprises ; in fact, one
that would supply a revenue to the London,
Chatham, and Dover, South-Eastern, and the cor-
responding railways of France, such as would prove
very acceptable.
The wants in the case are of a plain, common
sense description. Dover and Calais should be
connected by boats of 300 feet to 500 feet in length,
60 feet to 90 feet wide, or the longer and wider the
better within reason, but not in any case to draw
more than five to six feet of water, and built very low.
The boats should have railway rails on deck, to carry,
in divisions, any probable length of trains that would
run between London and Paris. In such case
through goods and luggage need not be disturbed on
the way, nor passengers leave the train except for
refreshments, &c., preparations for which could be
made on a grand scale and perfect system within
the saloons, which should form, from their spacious
accommodations and adaptations to comfort, an at-
tractive feature of the boats. Ample accommodations
for loaded trains and vehicles of all descriptions.
The wretched craft plying between New Haven
and Dieppe should be substituted by boats of not
less than 350 feet in length and 50 feet to 60 in
width, also low built, and drawing not more than
five feet of water, and be provided with all the com-
fortable saloon accommodations that complete the
elegant American steamboats in similar service.
Owing to the great rise and fall of tide, it being
similar to that at Boston, United States, the prin-
cipal cost of proper channel ferry improvements
would be the harbour accommodations, but no
amount of money could be fairly invested in such
an enterprise that would not yield a large remune-
ration.

In the United States railway trains that con-
nect with boats have a truck or trucks for
carrying luggage, crates, or vans, the latter being
on their own wheels, so that when they are filled
at the station of departure they are run on to
the truck in the train crosswise, and on arrival
at the boat are run off of the truck into the boat,
thence from boat to railway truck on the opposite
shore, either by hand or horses, which are in readi-
ness, and would be required at Dieppe, as the
station is at some distance, but the vans would
arrive at the station as soon as the passengers.
But how is it now between London and Paris ?
On starting for Paris you deliver your luggage at
a London station, where it is first decorated, or
rather, soiled by a label being pasted upon it before
it goes into the van. On arriving at New Haven
it is handled twice from the van to the boat, a third
time by dropping it into the hatchway, a fourth in
lifting it out,, a fifth to the shore at Dieppe, a sixth
from the shore to the waggons, a seventh fro►n
waggons to the trains, eighth into the van, ninth
from the van to the Custom House, adding on the
way other probable handlings ; from the bridge of
the boat to deck, from deck to bridge again, &c
we may safely count a dozen chances for " baggage
smashing" on the way, beside the great waste of
time in handling and cost of an otherwise unneces-
sary horde of porters.
And as to the boats we cross the Channel in !

My last experience was in one of the "crack," or
fast ones, a long, narrow, deep thing, skilfully
modelled for pitching and rolling, the whole of the
width and the best part of the length of the boat
filled with boilers and engines, leaving only the

sharp ends, which contain small holes dignified
with the name of cabins, where in stormy weather,
which is not uncommon, the unfortunate passengers
are packed, tossed, and sickened to an extent that
very frequently extorts from them a promise not to
try it again, and through evil report terrifies the
millions from the first undertaking ; in fact, except
in the absence of the right thing, such a boat has no
commercial value for any service, except for tugging
ships about a harbour.

British capitalists are seldom caught napping,
and here is a required improvement that would
stimulate a traffic the extent of which but few could
probably anticipate. All such establishments pay
well in the United States, where the population to
be served is but a tithe of that about the Straits of
Dover; and I beg to suggest to some of your Ame-
cin engineering readers that some plain comprehen-
sive plan for carrying out the project would be sure
to meet with favour.