The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-10 00:00:00

THE SON, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 10, 1866.

this motion. It was quite true that the clerks, he beNevedy 'The following also ran : —The [Unknown,: Doubtful,
of ,the Inspector-General of Imports and Exports had ap- reiploma, Cossack, Tambour Major, and Lot 84.
pliedto the Customs' authorities to forward a petition to ti®: Betting-3 to 1 agst Tambour Major, 4to 1 each agst
Treasury, asking for a reconsideration of the scheme, ana. Aggravator and Lot 84, sto 1 agst Old Windsor, 6to 1
it was perfectly true that the Customs' authorities refused,, each agst Woodpigeon and Cossack. Doubtful jumped off
stating that they were not at present disposed to do so, but.. with the lead, followed by Lot 84, and they ran thus for
those clerks were perfectly free to forward their petition_ two miles, when Aggravator, who had been lying well up,
to the Treasury directly from themselves, and he believe& took :tie lead, followed by Woodpigeon, but the latter
that such had actually taken place. The whole subject.. could never reach Aggravator, who won easily by four
was an extremely difficult one, and required much consi— lengths ; three lengths between second and third ; Lot 84
was fourth. Unknown refused at the brook, Diploma fell
deration. he: wily at the post rails, Cossack and Tambour Major also
PARLIAMENTARY OATHS BILL.
Sir H. W. BARRON asked the right hon. the member car ae to grief. There was no advance on the selling price
for Buckinghamshire, when ho proposed laying his -the winner.
amendment on the Parliamentary Oaths Bill on the table.
Mr. DISRAELI said on Monday next.
In answer to Mr. CHAMBERS,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said he should bring in
a Bankruptcy Bill immediately after Easter.
Sir It. PEEL called attention to the nuisances arising
from the smoke of furnaces in towns and country districts.
After referring to the increased consumption and export
of coal, and the importance of economising our supplies,
he drew an alarming picture of the deleterious effect of the
poisoned atmosphere of large manufacturing towns on the
health and comfort of the labouring classes. He showed
that great saving might be effected by manufacturers by
the use of efficient smoke-consuming apparatus, and that
legislation by private bills for particular towns had for the
most part failed, and he asked Sir G. Grey whether he
intended to bring in a general bill on the subject this
session.

MANCHESTER BETTING—FRIDAY.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STAKES.
6to 1 agst Mail Train (taken freely)
CHESTER CUP.
100 to 6 agst Gong (taken freely)
22 to 1 agst Dalby (taken)
100 to 3 agst Surney (taken) •
Very little Mang.

DONCASTER SPRING MEETING—MAncx 13.
Weights for the Londesborough Plate. 5 fur. 152 yds.
Age st lbl Age st lb
Twilight
Dawdle
5 8 7 Carnizette
3 6 4
Lytham 5 8 4 Gundredo
Skylark 5 7 13 ' Warwick
Reindeer
Roderickßandom... 4 7 101 Vigorous
Confederate
La Mechante 4 7 5 I Inheritress
The Count 5 7 0 i Mrs. Wallett 3 5 7
Weights for the Grand Handicap Hurdle Race. About a
mile and three quarters.
Ago st lb
Charming Woman a 10 11
Lucette ' 6 10 7
Sandford

Mr. HENDERSON made some remarks on the injurious
effects of coke-burning and iron furnaces.
Mr. HANBURY mentioned that his firm saved £2,000
a year by the use of an efficient smoke-consuming ap-
paratus.
After some observations from Mr. A. EGERTON and Sir
M. PETO,
Sir G. GREY expressed his readiness to concur in any
general measure for putting down this nuisance, but
pointed out that the Local Government Act, which had
been adopted in hundreds of towns, contained powers
quite adequate for the purpose, and that the real difficulty
wits to get the local authorities to put the law into execu-
tion. He mentioned that the success of Lord Palmerston's
Act for the metropolis was owing to active supervision of
the police under the directions of the Home Secretary, and
suggested that if the local authorities would give the same
instructions to the police the existing law would be found
equally effective.
Mr. WATKIN called attention to the importance of
adopting breech-loading rifles in the British Army, and
gavo some details of the great success of tho Spencer and
Henry rifles in the late campaigns in America.
THE DOG TAX.

Age st lb
Betsy Copeland 6 9 12
Clairvoyan to 5 9 12
John Gully ...
Rosins
Skiff
Foxholes

a 10 0
Turcos
Elsham
Greenland 5 10 0
_ _

Emma g 6 9 131
Weights for the Chesterfield Handicap. One mile.
Age st lb Age st lb
Twilight
Lytham 5 8 5 Lady of the Tees... 3 6 0
Charming Woman a 7 12 Ceramique 3 5 13
Skylark 5 7 10 Vigorous
Success
Roderick Random—. 4 7 6 Kingfisher 3 5 11
Arkansas
Minnotte
Musician
Miss Williams
Scarf
Gundrede

Mr. ELLICE called attention to the ravages committed
by the ownerless dogs allowed to roam about the country,
which on the sheep farms of Scotland amounted to a loss
of 10 per cent. of the whole value of the stock. He com-
plained that the Revenue Department did not take suffi-
cient pains to enforce the payment of the dog tax, which
practically, he said, was a voluntary tax, and he pointed
out the additional damage these dogs might do during the
prevalence of the rinderpest. He mentioned that acts had
been passed within the last year or two to put down this
nuisance in England and Ireland.
After a few words from Major WALKER, in corrobora-
tion of Mr. Ellice's statement.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
dog tax, in which were mixed up considerations both of
revenue and police, had for many years been a standing
difficulty of the Revenue Department, but he claimed for
the department a fair amount of success in dealing with it,
inasmuch as the tax was paid on 300,000 dogs. He ad-
mitted that the tax was too largo to be universally levied,
and sketched out a plan for changing the system of levy-
ing it—involving the abolition of all exemptions, its re-
duction to 4s. or 55., and an alteration in its character—
making it a licence .duty instead of an assessed tax. To
do this, however, he said, he should require the assistance
of Parliament, and suggested that the subject should be
considered by a select committee.
Mr. BAXTER was of opinion that the changes men-
tionod by Mr. Gladstone would be generally satisfactory,
and that a select committee was necessary.

Weights for the Selling Handicap Hurdle Rate.
Age st lb Age st lb
Sandford ' 6 10 7 The Bean
Veluti 5 10 3 Umballah
Jacob 6 10 1 Foxholes
Betsy Copeland 6 9 13 Arbitration
Weights for the Great North of England Steeplechase.
About three miles and a half.

---
Age st lb 1 Age st lb
Penarth a 12 7 I Meanwood a 10 9
Alcibiado
Pigeon
Doubloon
Creole a 11 9 The Czar
Elsham
Tho Hornet 6 11 6 L. S. D. 5 10 5
Laura 5 11 3 Montrose
_ _

- i
Church Militant ... a 11 0 Skiff
Accident
The Rogue
Globule a 10 10-' Foresight 6 10 0
Emma gelding 6lO 91Sutton
Weights published March 8, at six p.m.

CROXTON PARK MEETING.
FRIDAY, March 16.
Weights for the Croxton Park Plate. Three-quarters of
a mile.

Age st lb Age st lb
Historian
Pantaloon 4 8 4 Professor Anderson 3 6 12
Clairvoyante 5 7 6 Caustic
Vespasian 3 7 3 Panacea 3 6 10
Miss Harriette
Weights published March 8, at six p.m

After some observations from Mr. BLARE, to which Mr.
LAWSON replied, on the sea fisheries of Ireland,
Sir E. DERING made a statement as to the position of
the engineers of the navy.

BOSTON STEEPLECHASE MEETING.
Weights for the Boston' Steeplechase.
Age st lbl Age st lb
Vienna. .
Luck's All. a 10 6
Foresight
Harrington a 10 0
[arch 8, at six p.m.

Bridegroom, by
Pompey 3 12 5
Creole a 11 7
Eltham
Weights published

Lord C. PAGET intimated that their case was under
the consideration of the Admiralty.
The subject was continued by Mr. Otway and Mr. Ser-
geant Gaselee, who complained of the dilatoriness of the
Admiralty in coming to a decision, and the house then
went into committee of supply on the navy estimates.
£173,655 was voted for the Admiralty-office.
On the vote of .£1,368,971 for dockyards and naval yards,
a long and at times rather warm discussion arose on the
grievances of the dockyard labourers in regard to their pay
and allowances ; and, ultimately, the vote was agreed to.
In committee on the Mutiny Bill, Mr. Taylor renewed
his attempt to strike out the clauses relating to flogging
and branding, but was again defeated by divisions of 56 to
17 and 53 to 15.

WINNERS OF THE GREAT ST. LEGER.

The Marine Mutiny Bill was read a third time and passed.
The Pensions Bill was read a third time and passed.
Mr. M. Gibson obtained leave to bring in a bill for con-
solidating in ono act provisions applicable to metropolitan
and other railways ; and another to make bettor provision
for the security of reservoirs, and otherwise to amend the
law relating to waterworks.
The house adjourned at five minutes past two o'clock.

Yr. Owner. Winner. Rider.
1776 Ld. Rockingham Allabaculia J. Singleton
1777 Mr. Sotheron Bourbon Cade
1778 Mr. T. Gascoigne Hollandaise llearon
1779 Mr Stapleton Tommy G. Lowry, sen.
1780 Mr Bethel! Ruler Mangle
1781 Col. Radcliffe Serina Foster
1782 Mr Goodricke ... Imperatrix Searle
1783 Sir J. K. Kaye ... Phenomenon Hall
1784 Mr Coate
1785 Mr Hill
1786 Ld A. Hamilton Paragono Mangle
1787 Ld A. Hamilton Spadille Mangle
1788 Ld A. Hamilton Young Flora Mangle
1789 Ld Fitzwilliam Pewett Singleton
1790 Mr Goodricke Ambidexter Searle
1791 Mr Hutchinson Y. Traveller Jackson
1792 Ld A. Hamilton Tartar Mangle
1793 Mr Clifton
1794 Mr Hutchinson... Beningbrough Jackson
1795 Sir C. Turner Hambletonian ... Boyes
1796 Mr Cookson Ambrosio Jackson
1797 Mr Goodricke ... Lounger Shepherd
1798 Sir T. Gascoigne Symmetry Jackson
1799 Sir H. T: Vane... Cockfighter Field
1800 Mr Wilson Champion Buckle
1801 Mr Goodricke ... Quiz Shepherd
1802 Ld Fitz william ... Orville Singleton, jun.
1803 Ld Strathmore ... Remembrancer Smith
1804 Mr Mellish Sancho Buckle
1805 Mr Mellish Staveley Jackson
1806 Mr Clifton Fyldener Carr
1807 Ld Fitzwilliam ... Pauline Clift
1808 Dof Hamilton ... Petronius ...... Smith
1809 D of Hamilton ... Ashton Smith
1810 D of Leeds Octavian Clift
1811 Mr Gascoigne .... Soothsayer Smith
1812 Mr Rob
1813 Mr Watt Altisidora Jackson
1814 D of Hamilton ... William Shepherd
1815 Sir W. Maxwell Filho da Puta Jackson
1816 Sir B. R. Graham The Duchess Smith
1817 Mr Peirse
1818 Mr Peirse
1819 Mr. Ferguson ... Antonio Nicholson
1820 Sir E. Smith St. Patrick Johnson
1821 Mr T. 0. Powlett Jack Spigot Scott
1822 Mr Petre Theodore Jackson
1823 Mr. Watt
1824 Mr Gascoigne ... Jerry Smith
1825 Mr Watt Memnon Scott
1826 Ld Scarborough Tarrare Nelson
1827 Air Petro Matilda s... Robinson
1828 Mr Petre The Colonel Scott
1829 Mr Petro Rowton Scott
1830 Mr Beardsworth Birmingham Conolly
1831 Ld Cleveland Chorister J. B. Day
1832 Mr Gully
1833 Mr Watt Rockingham ...... Darling
1834 Ld Westminster Touchstone Calloway
1835 Mr Mostyn Qn. of Trumps ... Lye
1836 Ld Lichfield
1837 Mr Greville
1838 Ld Chesterfield... Don John Scott
1839 Major Yarburgh Charles XII. Scott
1840 Ld Westminster Launcelot Scott
1841 Ld Westminster Satirist
1842 Ld Eglinton
1843 Mr S. Wrather ... Nutwith J. Marson
1844 Mr E. J. Irwin ... Faugh-n-ballagh 11. Bell
1845 Mr Watts
1846 Mr W. Scott Sir Tatton Sykes Scott
1847 Ld Eglinton Van Tromp J. Marson
1848 Ld Clifden Surplice Flatman
1849 Ld Eglinton
1850 Ld Zetland Voltigeur J. Marson
1151 Mr A. Nichol Newminster Templeman
1852 Ld Exeter Stockwell Norman
1853 Mr Bowes. W. Australian' F. Butler
1854 Mr Morris Kt. of St. George Basham
1855 Mr T Parr Saucebox Wells
1856 Mr A. Nichol Warlock Flatman
1857 Mr J. Scott lmperieuse Flatman
1858 Mr J. Merry Sunbeam L Snowden
1859 Sir C. Houck Gamester Aldcroft
1860 Ld Ailesbury St. Albans L. Snowden
1861 Mr W. I'Anson... Caller Ou
1862 Mr S. Hawko The Marquis Challoner
1863 Ld St. Vincent... Lord Clifden Osborne
1864 Mr W. I'Anson... Blair Athol J. Snowden
1865 Count Lagrange Gladiateur H. Grimshaw

Lieutenant-Governor Bross, of Illinois, thinks that
it will not cost so much to build the Pacific Railroad as
was expended in constructing the Pennsylvania Central or
the Erie.

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, mists.—Beware of spurious imitations.

THE UNIVERSITY BOAT RACE

In a few weeks the great aquatic contest of the
year will be decided at Putney. The Oxford and
Cambridge eight-oared match has become a national
institution, and even the non-academic public would
feel great regret were anything to prevent its oc-
currence. At one time, hewever, the dispute pro-
voked by Cambridge, in raising the question
whether students of more than a ce.tain standing
should be allowed to row, threatened to prevent the
match, at least for the year. Into the merits of
the controversy we need not now enter. There was
much to be said on both sides ; but, even assuming
as a matter of hypothesis that the pretensions put
forward by Cambridge could be justified on abstract
grounds, it is clear that her representatives would
have acthd most unwisely in insisting upon rights
which, if recognised, must prove fatal to the possi-
bility of an aquatic meeting between the two Uni-
versities. They were not in a position to dictate
terms. Had they persisted in their original de-
mands, and declined to compete with their former
victors, unless certain rowers were virtually ex-
cluded from the Oxford crew, they would have ex-
posed themselves to unpleasant and unanswerable
comments. The step would have been taken as a
confession of inferiority. Everybody would have
said that they raised the objection because they
knew they must fail ; and the most loyal of Cam-
bridge men would certainly rather see the " light
blue" beaten hallow year after year, than have it
asserted that the modern representatives of the
grand old rowing club were afraid to meet their
hereditary antagonists. Happily this danger has
been avoided. Whatever may be the issue, we are
sure to have a gallant contest, in which, as
usual, each side will do its- best to win. Pro-
bably there is no other competition in which the
best man so invariably gains the day as in an
University boat race ; and impartial spectators
will no doubt decide with truth that the victors de-
serve their honours. Already the banks of the Isis
and the Cam are crowded daily by youthful spec-
tators, each concourse anxiously watching the pro-
gress of those who have been picked out to represent
their University on the. Thames. No doubt the
same eager discussions, and the same surprises and
disappointment, attend the selection of the Univer-
sity Eight, as Cambridge used to witness when she
carried all before her. We may safely assume, too,
that the interminable controversy about the respec-
tive advantages of a long stroke and a quick stroke,
is now carried on at college dinners and boating
suppers, with quite as little chance of settlement as
when it was first started years and years ago. And
we may still more safely assert, that—in order to
qualify themselves for a task of intense physical
exertion and painful endurance, involving no other
reward than honour—some score of young men in
the very prime and flower of youth are now under-
going a course of discipline and training from which
many a soldier or sailor would shrink in disgust.
But our object in referring to the subject is, not
to celebrate the glories of racing, or the prowess of
our aquatic athletes; what we want is, to put in a
word for the non-rowing and non-muscular portion
of the community. Those chiefly interested in the
match intend, it is said, that it should take place at
some unearthly hour of the morning. Now, on be-
half of the public, we protest against such an
arrangement. It ia all very well for boys of seven-
teen to get up before daybreak, take a hasty
breakfast, and then rush down to Putney, at the
time when common people are beginning to think
of getting up ; but to nine -tenths of the vast
crowds who, of late years, have gone to see the
contest, the necessity of rising at an untimely
hour, with the consequent sacrifice of rest and
breakfast, is a serious matter. Moreover, even
if they could nerve themselves to the effort,
they know very well they would not be repaid for
the trouble. A boat race in the middle of the day,
while the river's banks are lined with gaily-dressed
ladies, with lunching looming in the future, pre-
sents a delightful prospect ; but a race in the chill
of the early morning is a different affair. Prac-
tically, if the managers should fix upon the hour,
the non-professional public will stop away. The
ardent devotees of boating may answer that the
absentees will not be missed ; but their opinion will
scarcely be shared by men of common sense. The
University crews, indeed, do not row to please the
crowds along the river side ; but their members
must be different from ordinary lads if the presence
of a crowd of spectators is not a powerful incentive
to exertion. The juvenile aristocrats of the Uni-
versities may sneer about the " mob," but, as a
matter of fact, they would be sorry if the mob were
not there to see them. Last year the occasion of the
Oxford and Cambridge race was made a holiday
throughout London ; and while the muster w-..s
never before so numerous, probably no contest
between the light and the dark blue ever won such
favourable reports, or provoked so few objections.
The " Derby day" of the river is becoming one of
thenational and it would be a mis-
fortune consideration for the public
if anyanniversaries,
deprived the race of its chief attraction.
Indeed, the advantages of having the contest at a
want
of
reasonable hour are so obvious, that an inconvenient
selection would be impossible, were it not for two
considerations. In the first place, it is thought that
in the fresh of the morning the boats are not so
likely to be impeded by the over-crowded steamers.
If such were the case, we should at once admit
the cogency .of the argument; but we doubt
the correctness of the belief. The steam-
boats are chiefly filled with persons who take a pe-
cuniary or professional interest in the matter, and
they would certainly be present under any circum-
stances. That the nuisance urgently calls for in-
terference no one will question. Some day or other,
if the present system continue, we are likely to wit-
ness a terrible catastrophe. Indeed, it is difficult to
believe that no authority exists to prevent river
steamboats from taking too many passengers on
board, or following too closely upon the rowers. If
nobody has the power or the will to make such re-
gulations as arc essential for the safety of the pub-
lic, then somebody should forthwith be invested with
the requisite authority. The advocates of an early
race will probably add, however, that time and tide
wait for no man ; and to the fact thus urged con-
siderable weight must be allowed. We cannot for-
get the difference in point of date between the Ox-
ford and Cambridge vacations, or the objections
entertained in many quarters to the occurrence of
the race in Passion Week. The number of days
during which the match can take place, therefore,
is extremely circumscribed. The crews are natur-
ally anxious to have as much practice as possible ;
and the hours during which the tide is just upon
the turn are naturally preferred to any others.
Leaving aside all question of the extra labour in-
volved when the stream is running strongly, the
effect of a powerful current either way is to give an
undue advantage to that party which has the choice
of sides.. Yet, in spite of all these considerations,
the force of which we should be the last to deny, we
believe that the convenience of the public need not
necessarily be sacrificed to that of the " eights.'
After all, the event may be fixed for any one
of some seven days ; and as each day shows a dif-
ference of about an hour in the rise and fall of the
tide, it seems incredible that the time chosen should
not be such as to let the Londoners witness the con-
flict. In making this appeal, we are speaking in
the interest both of the Universities and of the
public. Anything which tends to render Oxford
and Cambridge more and more part and parcel of
our national life, is an advantage to the country ;
and the character of a national festivalis not a thing
to be despised. Mere idlers may think of nothing
but their own comfort ; still more naturally may the
crews think of nothing but the manner in which
they can get through their task with the least strain
upon themselves and the best chance of success:
But persons who have at heart the social interests
represented by the party of sightseers must express
a wish that the two objects may be found compa-
tible ; and it is for the promoters and managers of
the contest to consider how far a reconcilement may
be practicable.—Telegraph.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—We are entering upon a question of a
kind which will occasionally recur, and, though
sometimes entailed as the consequence of error, is
seldom invited. It is the comparison of impossibi-
lities. If universal consent is worth anything, not
to speak of public self-respect, it is impossible to
get on without a reform bill, at least it is quite im-
possible for the present Ministers to get on without
it. On the other hand, it is no secret that it is also
impossible to bring in a bill that has a good chance
of passing. A double-barrelled bill, it is alleged,
will be certainly beaten by the representatives of the
doomed boroughs, who must either be so few as to
make the measure ridiculous, or so many as to com-
mand the division. We do not hesitate ourselves to
declare a single-barrelled bill also impossible, be-
cause it is itself palpably incomplete, and because it
involves the discharge of the second and more im-
portant barrel under much more perilous circum-
stances, and when, instead of its being in the hands of
the resent bearer, he will most likely be looking
into its muzzle. So here are three impossibilities, all
we believe utterly impossible—no bill, a double bill,
and a single bill. Our case looks as bad as that of a
man who, pursued by a bear, finds himself on the
edge of a precipice, or has to choose between run-
ing in to the jaws of a tiger or a crocodile. In ordi-
nary circumstances, and with ordinary people, life
is full of impossibilities, which some surmount or
break through. 'There are, however, those who, like
Napoleon, have erased the word from their vocabu-
laries, and they sometimes make great failures,
sometimes great successes. The failures, of course,
are natural, and according to programme. The suc-
cesses are often plainly ascribable to lucky chance or
special interposition. Caesar himself, whose talents
were such that it was said he could not fight a battle
without winning it, nevertheless held that luck had
a great deal to do with military affairs. Discounting
the luck, which might be on one side or the other,
he took care that the balance of skill, audacity, and
determination should be on his side. But the truth
is, such people do a little gentle violence to the con-
ditions of the problem. It is really impossible to
make an egg stand on its end ; so Columbus crushed
in the impossible basis, and made it stand, though
with some damage to the refractory shell. Lord
Grey found it impossible to get his bill through the
existing Parliament, so he crushed in the shell ; that
is, he changed one house, added to his own side in
the other, and let it be understood that he would do
anything else that he found necessary. The eggshell
of our protective system was crushed in by the Irish
famine. Butif several courses are equally impossible,
how are we to decide between them ? There are seve-
ral considerations that are valuable, and applicable,
even in extremity. It is better to be beaten in agood
cause than in a bad one. It is better to be defeated
in the attempt to carry a really good measure than
for the sake of a measure which is only politic or
plausible. In the one case you fall in a cause • in the
other you are beaten in a game. In the latter case
your enemy trips you up when you are trying to
trip him up ; and he can laugh at you without re-
morse, as he certainly will without stint. A measure
confessedly incomplete is intrinsically bad, and is
either a folly or a fraud. It must have a tricky and
disreputable look. The proposal is like the scheme
of the importer who sent 5,000 dozen right-hand
gloves by one ship, and their fellows by another,
thus escaping, or hoping to escape, the duty charge-
able on complete pairs. A revolutionist may think
any break-up of our political system good as far as
it goes ; but. the Cabinet cannot possibly think a
mere extension of the franchise good as far as it
goes, for it will evidently aggravate all the ano-
malies, and hand over many seats to a class less
settled, less respectable, less educated, less honest,
and less constitutional iu their opinions. Many good.
Reformers, anxious as they may be to have some-
thing done, will certainly feel it their duty to vote
against a half measure. There is a dignity in these
matters, and if people are to victimise themselves
and go back to the country, not to speak of the
part they have to act in the eyes of all the world,
they would much prefer to fall decently, and with as
much of the heroic as is possible. The conductors
of a cause are bound to consider not only what best
suits their game, but also what suites the consciences
of their supporters, many of whom will refuse to be
dragged through the mire, even with the possibility
of good coming out of it. The bill should not only be
conscientious, and addressed to the conscience, but
also of a sort to command the conscience. There are
Reformers with a game of their own, Reformers
who wish to be independent, Reformers who can
afford to be critical, Reformers who are so rather by
party ties than by private choice, and Reformers who
have a good deal to lose, more, perhaps, than the
much-dreaded boroughmongers. All these will look
at the bill, and, if they don't like it, will be able at
once to except to the bill its gross one-sidedness and
its manifold imperfections. Thus, if the bill is not
complete, it will not only be unable to resist oppo-
sition, but will create opposition for itself. But that
leads to the worst objection of all. The bill will have
no momentum. It will not be able to force its way.
There will be neither the intrinsic gravity nor the
external impulse to send it crashing on through
all difficulties, as a great political change can only
advance. It ought to overbear opposition by a
sort of brute force, as well as by reasons of a higher
order ; and neither of these can such a bill ever
possess. By brute force, of course, we do not mean
violence, which is about the last thing to be either
desired or apprehended in this instance, but that
momentum and weight which excellence of charac-
ter, design, and performance always obtains. The
proprietors and conveniences of society require great
things to be done out of hand, once for all. Medio-
crity—mediocrity of enterprise, as well as of talent
—always wishes for less rigorous conditions. It
would like to try and try again ; to try so that failure
shall not be without retrieval ; to make sure of some-
thing and leave the rest to luck ; to get a footing in
the business and hold on ; in fact, to do things by
halves, so as not to exhaust the chances. History
is full of such attempts, neither successful nor
glorious, which are only known to students, and
have to be extricated from Annual Registers or
older records. There are reforms, indeed, that may
be shoved on an inch at a time for thirty or a
hundred years, such as reforms in our administra-
tive practice and in matters of local or departmental
management. But even these suffer by never being
settled, never completed, and never let alone, The
statesmen concerned also suffer. We might instance
Sir James Graham, whose greatpersonal powers and
high respectability never obtained for him propor-
tionate achievement, position, or renown, from a
fatal want of moral courage. Even a revised Budget
is held to be a reproach to its author, still more
a second or a third. This once-for-all way of doing
things is almost a national maxim with us. It is in
the essence of our trial by jury. " Show your case,"
the country says ; "tell your story, produce your
witnesses, state your argument, and give your
view of the law; fight it out now, abide by the
verdict, and let's hear of you and your complaints
no more, if possible." This, if not ideal justice, is
practical mercy, for it is far better than that foolish
or wrong-headed people should spend their whole
lives and fortunes in litigation to their own misery,
and the misery of all around them, by perpetual
attempts to repair the supposed injustice of Courts.
But if anything can be worse than a life of litigation
it is a life of revolutions, in which one change is only
made to necessitate another. At present we all feel
something like terra firma under our feet. We
are aware that the public convenience may require
it to be newly levelled or undermined at long inter-
vals. But we would rather not feel that the ground
was always ready to heave, and as if, in fact, there
was no firm ground at all. We can get accustomed
to it, no doubt; but we shall have to renounce some
of our comforts, unlearn some of our tastes, dis-
card some of our ideas, and be prepared to sink not
a little in the general scale, if we take to this sort of
life. If the pavement must be taken up, and our
houses underpinned, pray let it be done effectually
once for all in our lifetime it least.
POST.—Demands for money, whether they are
made by a son at Oxford, or in a crack Hussar re-
giment, upon the governor who has outlived the
pleasures of either or both, or whether they are pre-
ferred by the head of a public department to a House
of Commons many of the component parts of which
owe their seats to the practice of that kind of cor-
ruption which is begotten out of theoretical economy
and loud-tongued parsimony, are always received
with no welcome ; and even on each recurrent oc-
casion their presentation provokes an onslaught
which is more distinguished by discursive vehemence
than by accurate or laborious knowledge. Army
and navy estimates afford the most convenientoc-
casion for loose objections to expenditure; and they
are, and have been for many years, the pet peg on
which to hang harangues upon economy generally,
and upon the enormity of expending money wrung
from the hand of the hard-working honest man
upon aristocrats clothed in scarlet and gold. We are
now going through the annual performance, and
demands for sweeping reforms and wholesale reduc-
tions in the house are backed by strongly-drawn
illustrations of the evil system in articles
out of doors. In tha house we are told that the
soldier of Continental Governments costs a large per-
centage less than the soldier of Great Britain and
out of the house we are assured that the officer who
commands the comparatively over-paid English pri-
vate lives in scarlet and fine linen, at a luxurious
mess, at the cost of the overwhelmed taxpayer. It
is quite right, quite just, quite wise that a due
economy should be enforced in all branches of
public expenditure, and that care should be taken
that the nation gets value for its money laid
out. It is most desirable that the House of Com-
mons should carefully watch the estimates and
bring under discussion every item which demands

The largest crowd ever assembled in Pittsburg
to witness any amusement were gathered at the Central
Skating Park on Thursday, Feb. 19, to witness Miss Carrie
W. Moore's skating; it is estimated there were from 10,000
to 15,000 peaces present, including many of the clergy.

discussion, but the house, whose time is occupied,
and the country, whose attention and support is
demanded, have a right to require that those who
originate discussion and initiate objections should
take pains to previously master the subject. Now,
first, with regard to the officer. What is his real
pecuniary position in relation to the Exchequer ;
what is his cost to himself and what is his cost to
his country? He buys at various times, as he rises
from one grade to another, a very inadequate
annuity, technically called his pay. This pay in a
cavalry regiment would, in the case of suppose we
say a captain in a Hussar regiment, just about
cover his mess bills, and he has, besides meeting
this demand, to buy his chargers, his saddlery, and
his uniforms—the latter enormously costly in the
first instance, and rendered much more so by the
frequent alterations introduced in the shape or
materials of caps, busbies, sabretaches, and other
paraphernalia, by authorities who busy themselves
with such things. Who then stands the larger part
of the cost of the Hussar officer—the officer or the
tax payer ? Let any representative of the economi-
cal school go on parade when the Inspecting-Gene-
ral looks over a cavalry regiment, let him take a
captain as he sits on his charger—let him analyse
him and pick out of him the items of his purely
regimental expenditure—let him make a debtor and
creditor account, items on one side and pay on the
other, and then say which is in debt to the other—
the country to the officer, or the officer to the coun-
try. But then it will be said, with a look of incre-
dulity, why does a man accept such a position if it
is pecuniarily such an indifferent, not to say such a
bad one ? For this reason : The officer does not
look at his profession, as the Parliamentary and
newspaper complainer does, from a purely money
point of view; and for the country it is fortunate
that he does not, or we should have to make a very
different bargain with him. Pecuniarily the position
of the officer is not a good one, not even an equit-
able one, but socially it is better than that afforded
by almost any other profession. And there is the real
secret of the willingness with which gentlemen enter
the service. Whenever that state of things ceases, or
is changed, our army will cost us a good deal more
than it does now, when Mr. White and some news-
papers raise together a voice of complaint. Then
as to the private soldier. He costs more, it is
complained, than the French soldier. This is true
to some extent, but not to the full extent of the
allegation. It is not, however, worth while to go
into any calculation of degree, for there is really no
parallel between the two. The circumstances under
which the English and French soldier enter into
and remain in the armies of either country are so
essentially different that the comparison is worth-
less ; there is little to be learnt from it, and no
practical result can be evolved from its institution.
Complain as they may, calculate as they may, the
White school will find that the cost per man of the
privates of our army will increase instead of de-
crease, unless we can be induced, which is not pro-
bable, to substitute compulsory service for volun-
tary enlistment. That it should be so is no more a
circumstance to be lamented than the fact that the
produce of the customs revenue has increased, not-
withstanding the large reductions which we have
yearly been making in various important duties. It
shows that employment is more accessible, that
labour commands a higher price, and that the
working man has more resources independent of
the State and in his own hand. That the soldier,
however, may be made more generally useful, that
he may be relieved from that ennui which is the
bane and destruction of the private in the English
army, and that he may be made thus to contribute
to the diminution of the general expenditure, we are
far from denying. We believe that many reforms
might, with great benefit to the army and to
society, be introduced into barrack life to the great
improvement of the men, both as soldiers and citi-
zens ; and we should be heartily glad to see many of
the vaguely active members of Parliament turning
their attention to the reality of reform in detail.
We believe that something, perhaps something
considerable, may be saved by the institution of
an improved organisation of the civil departments
charged with the conduct of the business of the
army, although the Committee of the Treasury did
report that they saw no prospect of reducing the
establishment without impairing the efficiency of the
service. 'We believe that the Treasury Committee
are so far right that it would be difficult and unwise
to make reductions in the force of clerks employed
so long as the existing organisation of offices is
maintained, and so long as Parliament and its
members are permitted as their own fancy, or any
statistic-collecting constituent, may suggest, to em-
ploy clerks in departments in the construction of
returns which can serve no purpose but thatf of
enabling patriots who have a passion for the acquisi-
tion of vicarious knowledge to write pamphlets and
compose social science congress speeches at the
public expense. In truth, a reform of our admi-
nistration is much more required than electoral
changes, and very much more money might be
saved by it.
THE " ANGLO-AMERICAN TIMES" ON AN Ex-
Co NrEDERATE ON THE Ex-CONFEDERACY.
Ex-United States Senator Henry S. Foote, lately
Confederate Senator at Richmond, has given to
the world his history of the Xebellion. Being a
participant in the crime against the Union, he is
probably as good an author on that side as we could
expect to hear from on the question of treason, its
phases while it existed, and the finale which over-
took it so suddenly last April. Mr. FOOTE is an
erratic genius, and altogether egotistical. While in
the national Congress he gave unequivocal proof of
this at divers times. He possesses a restless dispo-
sition, and can never brook restraint. Dissatisfied
with the National Government he went over to the
rebels, and had not been in their ranks but a short
time before he began to find fault with the whole
rebel establishment at Richmond. Nothing could
or did please him, and in this book he does not
hesitate to say so. Of course he has not a word to
utter against slavery. He appears unable to see
that it was the sole cause which led the South into
Secession. On the contrary, he lays the blame
upon the Northern Abolitionists and the ultra
Secessionists of the South, and calls them section-
alists, just as if there was no cause which produced
a feeling of hostility between the two sections.
Any schoolboy, of ten years of age, can enlighten
Mr. Foote in this matter. Had not slavery existed
there could have been no grounds for this ani-
mosity. Yet Mr. Foote wholly ignores a fact
patent to the world, and illustrated to its entire
satisfaction by the bloody war of the Rebellion.
But there are some things in his book which will
be perused with interest. The author never seemed
to have a very highly exalted opinion of Jeffer-
son Davis, and this opinion was not changed dur-
ing his observations of Davis's administration as
President of the so-called Confederacy. He says
that—" Mr. Davis and his official associates had
no correct conception of the true character and
dimensions of the war into which they had so
hastily plunged, as was afterwards frankly con-
fessed in many a lugubrious harangue, and in
more than one solemn official document. They
did not believe at first that the conflict would
endure for a twelvemonth, and were even weak
enough to calculate most confidently upon strong
Northern aid, which it is now well known there
never was the least probability of [their receiving ;
albeit ex-President Pierce and several others,
whose letters to Mr. Davis have recently seen the
light, had plied this confiding personage with
secret promises of support, upon which he built
in part his hopes of one day wielding an im-
perial sceptre. . . . Mr. Davis vetoed more
bills during the short provisional regime than
all the Presidents of the United States put together,
from Washington to Lincoln inclusive, and no at-
tempt to pass a single bill over his head was ever
made." Of Davis's Cabinet Mr. Foote speaks in the
most contemptuous terms, and intimates that
there were only two of these functionaries whose
official qualifications were even respectable—the
Attorney-General, Mr. Watts, and the Post-
master-General, Mr. Reagan." Of Mr. Benja-
min, the Confederate Secretary of -War, he remarks
that—" Besides his inability to meet the military
exigencies which he had] been encountering, :as
well as the more serious ones in prospect, he was
subject to other objections as the incumbent of a
high Cabinet position of the greatest and most
vital character. His reputation for integrity had
never been- good, and of late years it had become
deeply tarnished by his known participancy in
schemes of notorious corruption, both in the
State of Louisiana and in Washington city. The
offensive moral odour arising from the celebrated
Houmas fraud (one of the most unblushing and
profligate legislative transactions that had ever
disgraced the annals of a free people) had affixed
such a stigma upon the reputation both of Mr.
Benjamin and his friend and patron, Mr. John A.
Slidell, as it was not possible that any lapseof
time would entirely efface." This is severe on
Benjamin, and will not assist him much in his
endeavours to attain position at the London bar.
For Mr. Seddon, who was also at one time Secre-
tary of 'War, Mr. Foote has not a single eulogistic
word, and says of him, that " it may be safely as-
serted that he [did not possess one of the qualities
needful to a creditable and -useful performance of
the duties which were now devolved on him. He
was never able to learn even the ordinary routine
of official business, and often scornfully declined
attendance to matters of the most urgent import-
ance. He was as arrogant and insulting to those
who approached him in his official sanctum, as he
was notoriously servile and fawning to his own
executive chief. He evinced, from his very en-
trance into office, an utter disregard of all con-
stitutional obligations ; and in the exercise of the
authority committed to him, he proved himself to

ir...""

be the most heartless and ruffianly tyrant whom
I ever yet saw in the possession of official power."
Hindman, of Arkansas, the Gessler of the South,
was a pet of both Davis and Seddon, and notwith-
standing his cruelties to the people of Arkansas and
Texas, he was kept in position, and used to boast that
when sentence of death was pronounced on his victims
he always took care to be present and witness their
execution. In proof of Seddon's inhumanity, Mr.
Foote relates the fact of there being confined in
the Richmond prison house, under the orders of the
War Department, several hundred men, " not one
of whom was charged with anything but suspected
political infidelity, and this too, not upon oath in a
single instance. Many of these prisoners died
in their dungeons and the remainder dragged
along their miserable lives until released
by the Union army when it entered Richmond."
But we have neither time nor space to comment
further on Mr. Foote's revelations. One thing 15
certain ; they prove beyond cavil the weakness of
the men who undertook to destroy the Government,
and their wanton heartlessness, not only as dis-
played toward the Union prisoners who fell into
their power, but also to the poor white people who
were in very deed their subjects. Thus it is that
gradually the world is getting an insight into the
ambitions, the workings and the wickedness of the
leaders in the great Rebellion, and out of the
mouths of their own dupes are they convicted be-
fore the bar of public opinion, if not before the bar
of justice.