The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-05 00:00:00

the house which is to sit upon this bill, and that •
they will look after the main chance, and consider
the payment of creditors to be the one thing need-
ful in the working of the Courts of Bankruptcy.
If they decide upon going further they will fare
worse, and so will all those who have to suffer from
their mistakes. There are other means which might
be adoptedfor the punishment of fraudulent debtors,
and the sooner this is looked into the better; but the
immediate object of the end in view, the appropria-
tion of the property of the debtor for the satisfac-
tion of the creditors, should not be lost sight of.
\Ve are not without hope that the I-louse will see
this, and to judge from the tenour of the discussion
of yesterday some notion of this sort seems to be
taking root in the minds of some speakers. The
Attorney-General will, we have no doubt, consent
to such alterations as will amend the present scheme,
but we feel convinced that the system that now pre-
vails in Scotland will be the only one in the long
run that will satisfy the ends of justice, and to
gain the approval of the public.

The Parisians are not having at all an entire
holiday, and their pleasure is not unmixed with
grave considerations of business and questions of a
political character which involve mighty interests.
The visit of the King of PRUSSIA is the subject of
conversation in all circles, and the theme of com-
ment among all who look beyond the present
moment to the future results of the scenes now
enacting around them. Since Count BISMARCK
accompanies his MAJESTY some additional interest is
imparted, and curiosity is stimulated to a great degree.
It is not likely indeed that the visit is only to see the

wonders of the Exhibition, or to speculate upon the
progress of decadence of the different nations that
exhibit their skill. Perhaps undue importance is
attached to the affair, but some excuse is to be made
for those who are jumping at conclusions, when we
consider the Prussians themselves are not behind
hand in looking at the thing in a serious light.
It appears that prayers are offered up in
the churches of that country to supplicate that
the blessings of above may rest upon the
meeting between the two Sovereigns, and thus
that the cause of peace may be advanced and fur-
thered, so that their expectations may be on tiptoe
in the circles of theTarisians without calling for
that criticism or awakening that ridicule which
sanctions, justly at least, such extreme ebullitions
among our neighbours.

We have no doubt that a good deal may depend
upon the result of this visit, and it is no secret that
the success or the failure of the schemes of compro-
mise that will be treated of or touched upon
will involve the interests and happiness of
many communities. We hope for the cause of
humanity, and the progressive prosperity of the
nations of Europe, that a satisfactory issue will fol-
low upon this meeting, and that we may, for some
time at least, hear nothing of those rumours of
wars which shake society to its foundations, and
retard the interests of civilisation and the spread of
commerce through the course of unnumbered years.
However, there is no use to think of such an end, if
the Prussians will not =cede a good deal of their
expectations and lower the tone of their de-
mands. The Emperor NAPOLEON has had a
good deal to put up with , and he must
be disappointed at the course of affairs during
the last year or two, and he will not be ap-
peased unless he distinctly understands what is the
policy that Prussia has determined upon to pursue.
If BISMARCK be wise he will appreciate the signi-
ficance of the situation, and determine that his
ventures shall now be for peace, and that his only
safety will lie in discretion ; but if he does not do
this the consequences will be serious to his own
reputation, and disastrous to the prosperity of the
country he serves with so many professions of zeal.

The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into
the recent acts of intimidation and outrage at
Sheffield have commenced their arduous labours, .
and held their first sitting at the Council Ila
Sheffield, on Monday. The inquiry, as was na-
tural, excited a good deal of interest, and both
masters and men were fully represented. The
Mayor, and other gentlemen unconnected with the
trades, were also present during part of the sittings.
Great interest has long been felt respecting the
working of these associations, and the facts brought
to light of late have tended to confirm rather than
to dissipate any estimate formed of their mischievous
effects. We have heard a good deal of the general
working of the unions so far as the ordinary rela-
tions of business are concerned, but the Sheffield
inquiry especially refers to the outrage and " rat-
toning" cases which have given that town an un-
enviable notoriety. 'Whatever opinion may be formed
of the rights of men to demand an increase of wages
or to " strike" until they coerce their employers
into giving what they want, there can be pnly one
verdict on the conduct of those who employ
violent means to injure and destroy those who
refuse to listen to their arguments. It is a
proof of the dangerous tendency of these unions
that any working man should ever have been per-
suaded that such intolerable oppression could under
any circumstances be justifiable. The readers of
" Mary Barton," celebrated for its faithful pictures
of working life in the great cities of the North,
will remember the passage in which John Barton
describes his visit to the poor man whom those on
strike had injured. When the strong workman
stood in the hospital ward, and listened to the
moans of the miserable sufferer, his heart
sunk when he recalled his own share in his
sufferings, and he resolved never again to take
part in such cruel injustice. No doubt if many
of the union men could see the effects pro-
duced by their conduct in various quarters they
would change ther minds, and, to do them justice,
most of the unions disclaimed: any sympathy
with the Sheffield outrage. But the system of
" rattening" is nothing more than tyranny under
disguise of numbers, such tyranny as no
master dare practise against his men, or any
man in the upper walks of life dare try
with his associates and fellows. It is nothing
more or less than compelling a man by
force or contrivance to_ do that which he would
not do by choice, and, in spite of all the talk about
the rights of labour, it is contrary to the whole

spirit and tenour of English legislation. We have

always boasted of our political and social freedom,
but it seems that so far as trades and their men arc
concerned, this freedom has no existence whatever.
A regular system of terrorism goes on, to which it
is only wonderful so many should be found to submit
year after year, but the evidence both of masters and
men reveals some astonishing facts. Thus it ap-
pears that in the saw trade the masters have to find
the tools for the men, no member of the Uniou
filling a situation being allowed to find his own
tools. The object of this rule is that in the event

of a strike all the loss shall fall upon the masters.
In the Scissor Grinders' Union both masters and
men are forced to contribute to the funds, although
the former receive no benefit from them. It is a

common thing if the masters' subscriptions are not paid
tip to steal the " bands" and thereby stop the work.
The evidence of JOHN PLATT, who worked for 17
years as journeyman, afterwards Lecoming a manu-
facturer on his own account, and who, in both

capacities, belonged to the Scissor Grinders' Union,
gave an illustration of this. Ile refused to pay to
tb e unio n 2d. per week for the privilege of having
an apps •entice, and accordingly he found one morn-
ing tha.73 six of his wheel-bands had been stolen.
After F,ome delay and demur he agreed to pay the
motrey, and received an anonymous note telling
him where to find the hands. " I paid," he
says, " sixpence a week to the union, though I
was an employer of other grinders, and as such en-
titled to no benefit from the funds. I expected no
benefit whatever from paying the additional 4d. a
week, and 1 should not have paid, only I knew my
bands would be taken if I did not. I did not wish
to b:long to the Union." So much for English
liberty. Truly, foreigners may well ask what it is
which we boast so much about. Afterwards Mr.
Purr left the Union, and the consequence was that
he could not get fnen when he wanted them. He
remained without men for nine weeks, not wishing
to get into a quarrel with the Union, of which he
seems to stand in wholesome awe. At last

e put on three non-unionists, and the
'orm of " rattening" then adopted was to steal
five dozen pairs of scissors. " I dared not,"
says the same witness, "go to the police the first

time I was rattene'r for fear of receiving somo
personal violence ; I might, like others, have been
maimed for life." The member of a firm of saw
and file manufacturers gave a shuilar account of the
system employed. Some of their men not having
paid up, the wheel-bands were stolen, thereby inter-
fering with the work, and injuring both masters and
men. The men went at once to the Secretary of
the Union to make arrangements for getting the
bands back. They were told they must pay the money
due, and a certain sum for " expenses." Having
done this the bands were returned, or rather a note
was sent telling where they were concealed. "He
did not give information to the police, as he did not
think they could have got the bands back." On
another occasion, however, for this sort of occur-

rence is by no means uncommon, a policeman cap-
tured a man with the bands in his possession.

When the Union found that he was in
custody, the secretary offered to supply
new bands at the expense of the Union.
Ou being asked why it should not be treated
as an ordinary case of larceny, he replied that he
never knew bands stolen for other than trade
purposes. The system is, as we have said, so op-
pressive and exacting that it is only wonderful that
masters and men should so long have submitted to
it. As it is, we must remember that this " ratten-
ing" is the mildest form of annoyance, and that
much stronger means are often adopted to keep up
the influence and authority of the Union. Such
evidence as we have, too, gives us only half the
story, since numbers, both of masters and men, are
afraid or reluctant to come forward for fear of the
subsequent consequences.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Tuesday Evening.
The Emperor of Russia, in celebration of his visit
to Paris, it is said, has issued an ukase granting a
partia amnesty to the Poles compromised in the last
insurrection. The date of the amnesty coincides
nearly with that of the Emperor's arrival in the
capital.
M. Guepin, of Nantes, who sent a letter to Gari-
baldi, requesting him to make an appeal in favour
of peace, has just received the following interesting
answer : --" My dear Guepin,—Thanks for your
beautiful letter. Yes, morality wants emulation
in progress and not in war. It is time that people
should understand themselves without wanting to
exterminate each other. It is time that the iron
appropriated to the manufacture of terrible
instruments of destruction should in future
serve for machines useful to the people,
who have not peace. It is time, in short,
that the laborious and suffering classes of all
countries should proclaim to the diorganised
oligarchy that its reign is over, and that the jus
faderis has ceased to be, and that those without
work should cease to live upon those who do.
With a view to put an end to the system of servility
there are no doubt difficulties to overcome among
the upper classes, but the post of all difficulties is
to be vanquished by the people themselves. They
may tell me that the people are deceived. "Will
they allow themselves to be deceived eternally ?
Will they for ever act like the camel, which bends

its knees before its master to receive the burthen
upon its back, or like the dog, which crouches at
its master's feet to receive chastisement?

"Do not imagine that my specific for the
cure of so many evils is revolution. No, there
is no one in the world who can now ad-
vise or desire revolution. That would be

too terrible. The revolution of 'B9 would ap-
pear like children's play compared with the social
revolution which ferments among the oppressed
classes. The rancours are too keen between the
crushed people and the patricians who have the
monopoly of enjoyments. God forbid that such a
thing should happen. In the meantime it is for the
great population of London, Paris, and Berlin, to
give themselves the word of order, and to form
fraternal concord. Let each of U 3 find his Hyde
Park and proclaim to the world that by the grace
of Heaven we wish to be brothers. ' The fraternity
of the peoples,' there is our desire, and let the first
article of olrr compact be War is impossible be-
tween brothers.'

(Signed)

" G. GARIBALDI."

There are some interesting historical recollections
connected with the Elysee, which is now occupied
by the Emperor of Russia and his two sons. That
palace was built in 1758, and it was successively

the residene3 of the Count d'Evreux, Madame de

Pompadour, and the Duchess de Bourbon Conde.
During the revolution public fetes
v
beautiful gardens. It was afterwardsinhabited ivenin
byit
'1 rat, and by Napoleon the First in 1815. It was
there that the Emperor signed his second abdication.
The Duchess de Berri and the Duke de Bordeaux
also resided in this palace. It again became the
property of the Civil List in 1830, at the revolution
which drove Charles the Tenth from his Throne,
and in 1848 it was occupied by the commission ap-
pointed to distribute national rewards. From 1849
to 1852 Prince Louis, now the Emperor Napoleon,
lived in it. It is capacious, beautiful, and admir-
ably arranged, and would be a suitable residence
for the greatest soveriegn in the world. Within a
recent period the Palace has been improved and en-
larged by one other wing, and a splendid parade has
been constructed.
The complaints against the cabmen have been so
numerous since the opening of the Exhibition that
the Prefect of Police has considered it necessary to
issue some stringent regulations to prevent the
system of evasion which prevailed. It was not ex-
actly a strike, but it entailed almost the same in-
conveniences. In Paris you pay for a cab or other
similar vehicles either by the hour or for a journey,
but the fare is the same either for a long or short

journey. Thus, if a cab were taken from the most
remote point of Paris to the Exhibition, the driver
would only receive the same fare to which he would
be entitled for taking you .to the next street.
It is certain that martyrs have been made
of some of the poor cabmen by unconscionable
visitors or natives who have hailed a vehicle at a
distance of some five or six miles from the Champ
de Mars, and have paid only as much as if they had
been driven half a mile. Thus, whenever a cab-
man fancied his fare was going to the Exhibition
he pretended he was hired or evaded the requisition
iu some way or other. This state of things has
given rise to sore humorous expedients on the
part of those who have wanted cabs. One gentle-
man stated that he found the only real way of
getting a cab without difficulty was to keep a
printed bill in his pocket, on which was inscribed
"I am not going to the Exhibition," and this he