The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-24 00:00:00

coasting trade, nor could we materially in-
terfere with the Americans ir.i theirs ; but
as they have not given that which would be
of little practical utility to us, we may deprive
them of what they justly value ! Such is the
reasoning of the shipowners, but we 'ear that it
will not stand the tests of experience and common

sense.

There is now a necessary reaction in the shipping
interest. During the Russian war the freights
were so extravagant that the first cost
of a vessel was nearly defrayed by its
first freight. Several prosperous years followed,
until the monetary crisis of last November led to a
commercial collapse, under which, of course,
the shipping interest suffered in common with
all other industrial pursuits in the United Kingdom.
If the northern sbipowners were wise they would
petition, not for o. return to protection, but for
the abolition of the last remaining shred thereof,
and for free trade in currency as well as in every-
thing else. Then the trade and commerce of the
country would be stimulated to the highest degree,
and the shipowners would participate in the generra
amelioration' and prosperity in common with all
their fellow-countrymen.

What is it that gives such a fierce and deadly
character to gamekeepers' and poachers' battles ?
Frequently en ough we have to record savage and
brutal struggles with the police, but nearly always
drink has muck to do with them, or the culprit is
some notorious ruffian. In murderous conflicts
between the poachers for game and its defenders
all are sober ; yet, generally, all act as if they had
been inspired by brandy. Whence this vengeful
feeling—this recklessness of bloodshedding ? It
was but yesterday we had to record another of
these fatal affrays, which return with every season.
In this case we have three persons, two keepers,
and one poacher at least, wounded dangerously
and another gamekeeper left dead on the field.
There was, unhappily, nothing very unusual in
the affair, as far as yet known. Three keepers—.
JACQUES, GEDDES, and ROBINSON—start on their
rounds, about ten o'clock. In about an hour they
hear the screams of two hares. A short time
brings them face to face with the poachers ; they
are threatened by the dogs of the latter, and two of
the dogs are shot. In revenge, and in accordance
with a threat if they did shoot the dogs, GEDDES
is shot in the groin. The remaining two keepers
rush, foolishly and madly, at the poachers, who are
said to have been about sixteen in number; JACQUES
falls dead, his head fearfully fractured with a
bludgeon, and ROBINSON lies in a precarious state.
Such is the account of GEDDES. It is evident,
however, though he does not mention it, that one
of the keepers, at some time, fired at the poachers,
since he was arrested at Hull with fifty
shot wounds in this thighs. In the affair,
as at present narrated, it is plain that the keepers
were either foolhardy beyond all reason, or, what is
more likely, that they lost all command of their
reason in their rage against the poachers.. Three to
sixteen was not a display of courage required by
any laws of honour. The poachers were not Sepoys
but Englishmen, and might be expected to resist cap-
ture, and to resent the killing of their dogs, besides
the possibility of the latter leading to detection.
The gamekeepers, to be sure, were armed with
double-barrelled guns and pistols too, but this itself
looked as if they too were intent as much on
slaughter as on capture.
It surely is time that this horrid work of preserv-
ing game by keepers armed like an Albanian sol-
dier were put an end to. The whole system is
disgraceful to the civilisation of our day. If
partridges, hares, and pheasants can only be kept
at thin cost, the sooner they vanish from the soil
the better. We do not need to defend legitimate
property by such means as these. Now and then,
in times of riot and excitement, happily now so
rare in this country, the civilian may have to equip
himself like a soldier, but this is an exceptional

state of things. It resembles more the conflict of

preventive service men and smugglers in the most
vindictive days of the Excise. We have a revival
of the old Riband spirit in Ireland, and hear again
of vindictive assassinations for offences against the
peasant agrarian code ; we shrink with
horror from such accounts ; we anathematise
the popery, ignorance, and barbarism of Ireland,
but we may well look at home and blush for tho mur-
ders perpetrated under our Game Law code, and
because, as we can hardly doubt, of the peculiar
character of that code.
We fear it cannot be doubted that between the

magistrate and landlord class generally, and the

peasant class, or at least the poachers who spring
from it, there is a most undesirable feeling. It is
known that the magistrate will deal more harshly
and even cruelly with the poacher than with any
other class of offenders brought before him. The
peasantry, on the contrary, think that the poacher
is an unlucky, but not a guilty man ; the game-
keeper has caught him, but only in an artificial
offence against the gentry, not in a crime against
society, morality, or religion. The poacher has
but tried to get a good supper off the wild crea-
tures of the field ; he has wronged no man, taken
nothing from the farmer's yard or his neighbour's
house, nothing which even the man who prosecutes,
or punishes him, could identify as his own. It is
useless to rake up farfetched arguments to prove
that game must be the property of the landlords
collectively, not of the landless workmen. Collec-
tive ownership is but an abstract fancy, which
vanishes at the sight of the tempting prey running
across the road, or easily picked up by
the help of an old cunning lurcher on a moonlight
night. The fact. is undeniable, that long time as

the peasantry of England have had to learn that
game is property, and stringently and savagely as
laws have endeavoured to enforce that lesson on
their understandings, they have not yet learned it,
nor do they appear likely to learn it.
Hence, as we conceive, the bitterness between
the landlord and the poacher. Were the man
brought up for stealing a pig or even a chicken,
the magistrate knows that every rustic would join
in his condemnation. The rustic knows, sometimes
practically, that pigs and fowls are property, that
they can be identified, and that each man can claim
his own, and ought to have it. But the magistrate
knows that while every honest man in the village
would need nothing but his conscience to keep his
hands off his neighbour's property, there is not one
of them who, if quite sure of being seen by no one,
but would think a hare or a pheasant lawful prey.
It is all a struggle, therefore, on the part of the
magistrate with the perverse rustics. They have
their notions of injustice, and he his of magisterial

power, and he will let them see who is master.

Just in proportion as the magistrate feels that he
can appeal to no innate sense of justice, but must

rely on the terrors with which he is armed by law,
is he disposed to use his legal powers with harsh-

ness. A poacher must be convicted. If the evi-
dence would not hang a dog, it will sentence a sir -
pected poacher. The benefits of doubt are always
given to game and not to him. And the judge
who administers on these well known justice-of-the-
peace principles is one of the game-preserving
class.

As a natural result of all this, there is no such

fertile bed of crime in the agticultural dis-
tricts as game and the Game Laws. It would pro-
bably be a moderate estimate that one-half or two-
thirds of our agricultural criminals were led into
evil courses by the Game Laws. It was never felt to be
a crime, but rather an honour, to break them ; yet
to succeed in what was no crime, although so great
a temptation, a youth must learn all the secrecy,
plotting, and cunning, and perhaps more than all,
which would be necessary to success in a real
crime. To abolish the Game Laws would be to
anticipate the work of reformatory institutions.
In the country a large part of the lads in those
schools will be either poachers themselves, or the
disciples of poachers.
Surely the Game Laws are a subject which ought
to occupy the attention of our social reformers, and
we hope that at their next great meeting their
working will be fully brought under public notice.
It would be useful next session to obtain a return
of tine number of magisterial convictions, of the
fines or punishments imposed, and of the cost to
the parish of supporting the wife and family while
the husband lay in gaol. Also of the assize trials,
with their results, for personal violence, fatal or
not so, arising from the Game Laws. Something
must be done. It is very desirable that the winged
ge.me at least should be preserved for the amuse-
ment of the gentry ; but it can no longer be tole-
rated that armed gamekeepers, taking the law into
their own hands, should murder and be murdered,
and that pheasants and hares should take prece-
dence of the morals of the country. We have,
however, before indicated how game might be pre-
served abundantly on quite a different system.

LOSS OF A FLEET OF MERCHANTMEN

IN THE CHINA MEN:

Some excitement was created yesterday morning
at Lloyds', by the posting of a telegram, dated
" Corfu. Nov. 22," announcing that a whole fleet of
ships had been cast ashore at Swatow. Fifteen
vessels, of which eleven were English, were
wrecked, and eight others were driven ashore—
from which it was inferred that a fearful tornado
had swept the coast. The telegram is to the fol-
'Owing effect :
" Hong Kong, Oct. 13.—Despatched from Corfu
to Captain Halsted, Secretary of Lloyds', on the
22d inst. :
" LOST AT SWATOW.
The British brig Anonyme.
Danish brig Ayanita Adriana.
British ship Glendower.
British schooner Gazelle.
British barque Hong Kong.
British ship Shapscott.
British ship Kinaldie.
British barque Louisa Baillie.
Oldenburg brig Laura.
British barque Louisa.
British barque Moultan.
British brig Pantalon.
Danish barque Thusnelde.
I I " LOST ON PRATAS SHOAL.
British ship North Star, Attridge.
" ON SHORE AT SWATOW.
British ship Alfred the Great.
British barque Beverley.
British ship Dennis Hill.
Sardinian brig Giovanni.
British barque Harvest Home.
Bremen barque Ohio.
British barque William Frederick.
" LOST IN THE PACIFIC.
Belgian ship Constant."
On inquiry at the Underwriters'-room' we learned
that only four of the ships were insured at Lloyds'.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon
at the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
in Downing-street. The Ministers present were—The Earl
of Derby, the Right Hon. B. Disraeli, the Lord Chancellor,
the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of Hardwicke, Mr. Wal-
pole, the Earl of Malmesbury, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, Gen.
Peel, Lord Stanley, Sir John Pakington, the Right Hon.
J. W. Henley, and Lord John Manners.
His Excellency the Greek Minister had an inter-
view with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, yesterday, at
his official residence in Downing-street.
Dr. Acland had an interview with the Earl of
Derby, yesterday, at his official residence in Downing-
street.

The celebrated ship Charles-et-Georges, with its
commander, Captain Rouxel, has arrived at Bordeaux from
Lisbon.
The bar silver brought by the West India steamer
has been disposed of at fild. per oz., being a decline of id.
from the price realised for' that by the previous packet.
A general meeting of the London and West of
Ireland Fishing and Fish Manure Company (limited), Sir
John Burgoyne in the chair, was held yesterday, in compli-
ance with the statute, a twelvemonth having expired since
the company came under voluntary liquidation. The
report of the liquidator, Mr. W. C. Wryghte, stated that
all the property had been realised, and all the admitted
debts discharged, but that the winding-up could not'
be finally completed in consequence of two actions in Ire-
land, which, although abandoned, had not been formally
discharged by the Court. It was also mentioned that there
were some defaulters in payment of calls. An immediate
return of ss. per share was, however, proposed, and reso-
lutions were unanimously passed, approving the report and
accounts, and authorising the liquidator to proceed forth-
with for the recovery of the calls overdue.
PRICE OF GOLD.—The quotation of gold at Paris
is about 1 per mile discount, the short exchange on London
is 25-071 per £l. On comparing these rates with the Eng-
lish Mint price of £3 17s. 101 d per ounce for standard gold,
it appears that gold is 3-10tlis per cent. dearer in Paris than
in London. By advices from Hamburg the price of gold is
4241 per mark, and the short exchange on London is 13-4 i
per £1 sterling. Standard gold at the English Mint price
is therefore about 2-10ths per cent. dearer in London than in
Hamburg. The course of exchange at New York on
London for bills at 60 days' sight is about 1091 per cent.,
which when compared with the Mint par between the two
countries, shows that the exchange is slightly in favour of
England ; and, after making allowance for charges of trans-
port and difference of interest, the present rate leaves a
trifling profit on the importation of gold from the United
States.
CAUTION TO BANKERS.—A case of the deepest
importance to the commercial community is likely to arise
out of a late case of alleged embezzlement. It appears that
of the sums not accounted for by the defaulter, was one for
£BO, paid by Messrs. Crosfield by cheque on the Warring-
ton branch of the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank.
This cheque was drawn in favour of Messrs. Blundell, and
duly paid to their representative, Mr. Forrest, on being pre-
sented, signed, "pro J. Blundell and Son, Jno. Forrest."
This had been done in numerous instances before, and was
quite common with other banks, under similar circum-
stances. Messrs. Blundell, however, are trying to recover
the amount from the bank, on the plea that their agent had
no power to sign cheques, and, pending the trial, we believe
the local banks will not honour cheques of a similar kind,
without the written authority of the principals.— Warring-
ton Guardian.

DEATH OF SIR JOSEPH BAILEY, BART., M.P.—
Our obituary on Monday recorded the death of Sir Joseph
Bailey, Bart., M.P. for Brecknockshire, which event took
place at his residence, Glanusk-park. The deceased baro-
net descended from a family long settled in Yorkshire, and
was born at Great Wenham, in Suffolk, in 1783. Hs mar-
ried, in 1810, the daughter of Joseph. Latham,-.Esq., of.
Llangattock, in the county of Brecon, and secondly, in
1836, the daughter of John Hopper, Esq., of Wilton Castle,
Durham. Sir Joseph, who was one of the largest iron-
masters in England, was M.P. for Worcester from 1845 to
to 1847 ; and since the general election of 1847 has sat for
Brecknockshire. By his death a seat in Parliament for
that county becomes vacant. The deceased baronet is suc=
ceeded in his title and estates by hiS grandson, Joseph R.
Bailey, who was born at Leamington in 1843, a son of the
late J. Bailey, Esq., of Easton Court, Herefordshire, and
M.P. for that county.
NEW GRAVING DocKs.—The new graving docks
in connexion with the Victoria Docks, the construction of
which was commenced about two years back, have been
completed, and are stated to have proved perfectly success-
ful. They are on a new principle patented by Mr. Edwin
Clark. By a hydraulic lift and a contrivance for subse-
quently floating each vessel into shallow water, where all
the necessary examinations and repairs can be conducted
from workships alongside, the excessive cost of the excava-
tions necessary under the old system is entirely avoided.
The first experiment was tried yesterday, when an iron
vessel of 600 tons was raised to its required position in 35
minutes. The outlay on the works has been £116,000, fur-
nished by a few engineers and capitalists associated for the
purpose as a company under the Limited Liability Act.
The advantages, simplicity, and inexpensiveness of the plan
having been demonstrated, it may be expected to be exten-
sively carried out not only at home, but at the principal
ports of Australia, California, &c., where the absence of such
facilities is a cause of constant difficulty.
FATAL ACCIDENTS ON THE EASTERN COUNTIES
RAILWAY.—An inquest was held yesterday at Great Shel-
fcrd, before Mr. Barlow, coroner for the county of Cam-
bridge, on the body of Mr. William Palmer Barber, late
station-master at Great Shelford, who was killed by a pass-
ing train while stepping off the platform in the performance
of his duty. Mr. Sproule, district superintendent, attended
to watch the proceedings on behalf of the Eastern Counties
Company. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental
death." The deceased has left a widow and one child
totally unprovided for.—A driver, named Hoare. was also
killed in the vicinity of March, about three o'clock on Mon-
day morning. He was working a special up coal train to
Cambridge. Peterborough is a water .station ; and the
deceased, when about three miles on the Peterborough side
of March, mounted the well of his tender to see whether or
not he wanted water. His fireman, missing him, went to
look after him, stopped the engine at March, and, a search
being instituted, the mangled body was found about three
miles from March. It was evident the deceased had slipped
off. An inquest was held yesterday, and a verdict of
" Accidental death" returned.. The deceased has left 'a
wife and family. _

MANCHESTER, Tuesday.--A feeling of greater
confidence prevails in the market to-day. Prices of yarns
and cloth are higher than on Tuesday last, especially where
immediate delivery can be made. There has been a mode-
rate amount of business transacted,