The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 26, 1866.

QPORTING.—JOHN ROBERTS suppli„ th
LATEST EDITION of "TitltiSUN" as
lishtd.-4, Bath-strc et, City-road, E.C. Bwa as Pat

OFFICIAL SUICIDE.—Some time ago a steam
corvette which had been purchased in America for
the Tycoon arrived at Yokohama in Japan. Upon exami-
nation the Japanese Government, considering that the
vessel was too dear and badly constructed, decided that in
future purchases of the kind shall be made only in Prance
or England. It also censured the engineer who had
been sent to New York to purchase the corvette. That
official, who is brother of one of the ambassadors who re-
cently visited Paris, believed himself dishonoured, and
asked for and obtained permission from the Tycoon to
commit suicide. He consequently ripped open his abdo-
men, as is the custom, in presence of his colleagues, who
stoodin a circle growl him.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DAY.—Morning, h. m.—Afternoon, 12h. 12 m.
To-Monnow.-31erning, 12h. 36m.—Afternoon, 12h. Mira

'IW

LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1866.

The management of our Metropolitan Gas and
Water Companies is certainly not altogether in a
satisfactory condition, and we are not surprised
that the whole question should have been brought
under the consideration of the Upper House the
other evening. Lerd REDESDALE'S motion, indeed,
had reference only to the 'West Middlesex IVater
Bill, and his anxiety for a committee of the whole
House originated in his fear that the quantity of
water taken from the Thames might become exces-
sive. The bill proposes to extend the works of the
company to Hampstead, Middlesex, and other
places, which would greatly extend the area of
supply, and since the company atpresent only draw
8,000,000 gallons daily of the 20,000,000 gallons to
which they are entitled, yet the quantity taken
during the summer time by the various companies
materially affected the power of the stream. Lord
REDESDALE considers that the House should con-
sider whether it is not desirable that new districts
should be supplied from new sources rather than
depend upon the old ones. On a further discussion
the bill in question was allowed to pass ; and in-
deed it is difficult to see bow it could have
been delayed, since the company do not ask for
permission to take more water, but only to
extend their works, and they are already
entitled by Act of Parliament to more than twice
as much as they use. The question of how much
should be drawn from the river may, however, very
well be discussed at another time, since it will be a
very great evil to diminish, unnecessarily, the flow
of the river. . _ _

Meanwhile the general discussion on the matter
showed how much dissatisfaction is felt in the me-
tropolis regarding the management of gas and
water. Earl GREY remarked that the whole ques-
tion was of great importance, and ought to be dealt
with comprehensively. " London," he said " was
greatly increasing in size, and the whole system of
municipal affairs for the government of the metro-
polis appeared to him to be utterlybreaking down."
Did the Government mean, he asked, that the
Legislature were to drift on passing a suc-
cession of private bills, or were they prepared to
introduce some comprehensive measure of muni-
cipal reform? From Lord GRANVILLE'S reply
there does not appear to be any such movement in
prospect ; but we can hardly suppose that the
country will long be satisfied with the present '
condition of affairs. The Gas and Water Bills are,
in fact, as Lord GREY observed, transferred from the
proper municipal authority to joint stock com-
panies, which are very apt to abuse their powers
and consult the interests of their shareholders
rather than those of the gas companies, and more
especially there is a system of monopoly which is
supposed to be the particular aversion of
Englishmen. The metropolis is mapped out into
so many districts, and each district is supplied by
its particular company, which, consequently, exer-
cises an absolute dictatorship over the consumers.
Any complaint, remonstrance, or refusal to pay an
extortionate demand is met by the threat of dis-
continuing the supply, and the consumer, if he has
large premises, shops, or offices is forced to capitu-
late. There have long been complaints on this
point, and Lord OVERSTONE only expressed the ge-
neral opinion when he said that the urievances under
which this great metropolis was suffering, owing to
the want of control over water, gas, and other compa-
nies, had reached a great height. Lord TAUNTON
went still further, and declared that the manner in
which the affairs of the metropolis were managed
was a scandal to the country, and that from want
of unity of action enormous sums of money
were thrown away, and while the safety
and convenience of the public and proper
sanitary arrangements were neglected. The
fact of the matter is that the whole system of
municipal government needs a thorough reorganisa-
tion. It was intended originally as a protection
against centralisation, but from the manner in which
the gas and water companies are conducted it
brings about the very evil which it was intended to
avoid. The management is as despotic as under
the most patenial Government, and the public have
in fact less chance of making themselves heard by
a Board of Directors than a Minister of the Interior.

After our usual English fashion, we have
been grumbling for a long while without
making any very great effort to get rid of
the incumbrance ; but there is a prospect of matters
righting themselves by coming to a standstill. The
Metropolitan Board, partly from choice, partly from
necessity, has had to undertake so many costly
works of late years, that the whole question of the
metropolitan rating will probably soon be brought
under consideration. At present the rates are bur-
densome enough, but so extremely unequal that
while the struggling householder in the East-end,
who can scarcely get a living, has to pay five or
six shillings, his happier fellow-citizen at the
West-end has only to pay half-a-crown, though
very possibly a hundred guineas to the one would
be of less consequence than twenty shillings to the
other. Surely this is a very false and mischievous
system, and its evil effects on the treatment of the
poor have long been painfully evident. Public
opinion is tending more and more in favour of a
general rate ; and Mr. VILLIERS himself recom-
mended such . a rate for the maintenance of the
sick poor the other day. Why not carry the prin-
ciple std further, and put the whole of our rating
system on a fair and equitable basis. Till we do
this we shall never have the affairs of our metro-
polis or our poor well and economically adminis-
tered.

I More despatches have come to hand from Aus_
trig and Prussia, which repeat the same old story
we have listened to so long without throwing any
new light on the subject. Count MENSDORFF has
sent a despatch to Count KAROLYI at Berlin, in
which he makes mention of a Note handed to him
by M. DE WERTHER from . his Government. The
Count declares that the Prussian Government seem
to recognise the fact that there is no reason to dis-
cuss the question of the priority of armament, and
that the two Sovereigns have disclaimed any
idea of aggressive intentions. But M. DE
BISMARCK, it is added, persists in pursuing
the argument. Thereupon Count MENSDORFF
states that ,4 His Majesty the EMPEROR does not
besitluieaviejotn,hat this is the right way to arrive at the
understanding which is so necessary in the present
precisely
propo-
sition."
to be for ever
the
ed
wheay has directed him to make a
Certainly there can be no doabt that it is
harpingto foment angry feeling, and
increase the disputes that are constantly occurring,
e been sent to
angry o nT the
eeee
ii
ns same e theme, which is
so provocative of
which step the gsc
a,bi and so likely
to cause jealousy.
mPERO a proposes
that he should draw back
the Austrian
troops that. hay
the north-western
frontier,
a.t of Ber_
.

lin ,has thought was a military measure di-
rected against Prussia ; and also the EMPEROR
pledged himself to adopt other measures lea Zing to
Ste same result, upon the condition that the Prus-
-sian Government on their part will undertake to
order on the same day that their different corps
Id'armee shall return to the peace footing which
existed before the 29th of March. This is called in
the despatch an " incontestable proof" of the desire
of the EmPAIMI to maintain peace. In fact this
may be considered in some respects to be the Aus-
trian ultimatum, for it is not likely that the Govern-
ment of Vienna will go any further, and indeed it
is not reasonable to expect that they should do so.
All the concessions cannot come from one side,
if a lasting and satisfactory arrangement is to be
made. It has been the plan in the treaties and
compacts made hitherto between the two great
German Powers, and it is to be hoped that if they
come to an understanding now that they will place
matters on such a footing that they will not be
likely to misunderstand each other again in a hurry.
In reply to this commnnication M. DE WERTHER
delivered a communication to Count MENSDORFF,
which was tolerably satisfactory, although not so
outspoken as the Austrian one. There is always
something working in the background in any plan
or proposal of Herr BISMARCK which greatly mili-
tates against its success. Even when he argues aito
what is proposed by others, he always does so with
reservation, and seems intent on making himself of
consequence, rather than of expediting matters or
coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Of
course, there is an exceedingly long preamble
about the necessity that existed for the
recent warlike preparations of Prussia in con-
sequence of the military manoeuvres of the Aus-
trians. The KING, however, agrees to the propo-
sition made to him in the despatch above alluded to,
and as soon as he shall have received authentic in-
formation respecting the Austrian disarmament he
will give orders for the reduction of those portions
of his army which have lately been augmented.
This is eminently characteristic of the course which
the Berlin Government is prone to follow. What
right have they -to demand that the Austrians
should disarm. First of all, suppose the
Prussians change their minds, in consequence of
events taking a turn, and refuse to disarm, the
Austrians will then be pfaced at a disadvantage.
This proviso is not the worst made, however, for we
find as we proceed that the KING'S Government
expects that the " military preparations " made by
other German Powers will be countermanded, and
that no renewed necessity for military preparations
on the part of Prussia will be caused by a continu-
ance of these preparations." How can Austria
undertake that the other German States will
follow her example. She can of course exert her
influence to that effect, but it may be unsuccessful.
At any rate it is very absurd to make this a condi-
tion of a mutual understanding being come to be-
tween the two chief Powers, because if they
agreed, whatever the other did would virtually be
of no consequence. Still, if occasion is taken to
make it a sine qua non that the lesser States must
immediately disarm, time will be lost, and perhaps
great confusion ensue.
It would be far more satisfactory to the
well wishers of Germany if a definite ar-
rangement could be speedily come to, so
much time is lost that it seems as if Prussia
was trying to get the chance of war after all. The
proposal of the EMPEROR was more than any one in
the Berlin Government had a right to hope for or
expect, and it ought to have been met in a similar
spirit. It seems almost like a threat, as we read
the last paragraph in the despatch to Count lkivris-
DORFF, and at any rate it is rather discourteous
phraseologtco -emprCiy to those who are doing their
utmost to keetytheTeace unshaken and making sac-
rifices on their part. What gave rise to the neces-
sity for armaments at all but the arbitrary conduct
and encroaching course of Prussia and her rupture
of the Gastein Convention ? Fair play is, however,
totally disregarded by the Berlin Cabinet, and per-
haps on the whole this reply has been better than
might have been expected.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Wednesday Evening.

The Siecle has the following quaint but impres-
sive remarks upon the attitude of Austria and
Prussia :—" Admitting that Austria, who had not
armed, should disarm, and that Prussia should
imitate her example, the German dispute still exists,
and the finish must be to take some course respect-
ing the question of pOpular Parliament. We know
when the deliberations of the Federal Diet will com-
mence, but who can say when they will finish ?
In order to acquire patience, Prussia orders iron-
clad! ships. She reckons upon having before long
a real navy, with real seamen, a real Ministry, a
real Government, and a real sea, if Russia will have
the goodness to allow it."

The Constitutionnel rebukes some of the English
papers for the tone they adopt in calling upon the
French Government to state what policy it will
pursue in regard to the differences between Austria
and Prussia. Referring to The Sun it says :—" The
Sun renders just homage to the elevated and pacific
views of the Emperor Napoleon the Third. We
will confine ourselves to the fact that the wise
motives and the excellent results of the reserve
which the Government has maintained in reference
to the Dano-German Duchies are noD less appreciated
abroad than in France. What could be better than
to preserve with complete neutrality entire liberty
of action ?"

There is probably no city in the world which is
so brilliantly and tastefully lighted as Paris. The
Rue de Rivoli, a very long street, presents a beau-
tiful line of light from the arcades, and the Place de
la Concorde and the Champs Elysees beyond are
magnificent at night. The lighting of the Rue de
Rivoli is remarkable from its regularity, and pre-
sents a line of lights two Miles in length. Paris is
lighted by 29,142 lamps, 1,647 of oil, and 27,945 of
gas. The ray of light from Paris at night extends
to a distance of more than eight kilometres. A
kilometre is 1,000 metres, and there are 1,609 metres
in a mile. On approaching the capital at night one
must be struck with its peculiarly luminous appear-
ance. It was in 1666, just two hundred years ago,
that they began to light the streets during nine
months of the year. Under Louis XV. the Academy
of Sciences caused the construction of public lamps
with reflectors, which were galled reverberatory.
During the Revolution many hundreds of persons
were hanged from the lamp-posts, and there was a
continual crytof " a la Lanterne" when the poor
victim was hanged up. When the Abbe Maury
was about to be hanged by the mob a joke saved
his life. The French mob " dearly love a joke."
The cord was round his neck when he' said, " If you
hang me up to the lamp, shall you be able to see
better ?" The mob instantly relented, and the great
orator was saved. The gas was first lighted in 1818
in the Passage des Panoramas, but for some years
afterwards the Boulevards and various other public
places were only lighted by an oil lamp suspended
in the centre of the road by a chain. All the lamps
in Paris are now lighted in less than half an hour.
It requires a minute to light each lamp. If only
one man were employed, it would take 20 days to
light up Paris.
Some further details have transpired respect-
ing the attempt to assassinate the Emperor
of Russia. Ivan Ossipos Komissaroff, who saved
the Emperor's life, Was by a singular coincidence
born in the province of Kortroma, the same pro-
vince as that which gave birth to Ivan Soupariene,
who saved the life of Michel Romanoff, the founder
of the Romanoff dynasty. jimigearoff is a serf of

Baron Kister. The 18th of April was his birthday.
He went out to pray at the chapel near the house
of Peter the Great. Returning from the summer
garden he saw a crowd round the Emperor's caleche.
The Emperor was walking in the garden with the
Prince de Leuchtenberg and the Princess of Baden.
Never having seen the Emperor, he pushed forward
for the purpose, when he was elbowed by an indi-
vidual near him. Having allowed this man to pass
he saw him take out a pistol and aim at the Empe-
ror. Komissaroff uttered a cry and struck the pistol
aside at the moment when it went off, so that the
assassin's intention was frustrated, and the ball
passed over the Emperor's head. The assassin was
arrested. His name is Petrowskis, and he is 24.
lie was taken to the winter palace, where the Em-
peror went to announce what had taken place to the
Empress.' The Empress thanked Komissaroff with
tears in her eyes. The Colwell of the Empire,
which was sitting at the time, came to offer their
congratulations to the Emperor. The officers of
the guard also arrived for the same purpose. The
Emperor presented his saviour to them, and de-
clared that he would raise him to the rank of a noble.
The announcement was received with shouts of
applause, and a subscription was raised on the spot
to make up a little fortune for Komissaroff, who is
married, and has a daughter who is 18 months old.
The Imperial family repaired immediately to church,
and the Te Deum was chanted. The city was
brilliantly illuminated at night, and various
manifestations of joy and congratulation have since
been made at the theatres and other public places.
A good deal of money has already been raised for
Komissaroff, and it is said to be the intention to
purchase a handsome house for him at St. Peters-
burg. _ _

Ile following is the programme of the ensuing
races in the Bois de Boulogne .—To-niorrow
(Thursday) the contest will be for five prizes. ,Prix
de l'Ecole Militaire, 4,000 f. Seven horses entered.
Prix de l'Esplanade, 2,000 f. Twelve horses en-
tered. Poule des Products, 4,000 E ; Prix du
Prutemps, 1000 f. 23 horses entered. Prix de Viro-
flay (gentlemen riders), 4,000 f. 12 horses en-
tered. In the Spring Meeting, on Sunday next,
the bill of fare is this :—Prix des Tertres, 2,000 f. ;
Prix du Trocadero, 3,000 f. ; Prix de l'Empereur,
10,000 f. ; Prix du Lac (Handicap), B,ooof. 56
horses entered. Prix de Neuilly, 4,000 f,
The sister of Joachim Murat has just died at an
advanced age, and it is said in not vcry brilliant
circumstances. Like her brother she saw many
vicissitudes. Joachim's father kept a miserable inn
at La Bastide (France), but yet his - son became
King of Naples. " Capricious turn of sportive
Fortune's wheel."
The heat of the weather increases. To-day there
has been no cloud or semblance of one, and it was
altogether a Midsummer day. Yet for the last few
days at early morning it has been frosty.
Cheap literature progresses. Yesterday there
appeared a new illustrated literary and dramatic
journal, called the Nouvel Illustre for the small
charge of one halfpenny. It had three illustrations,
a whole page one, with the name of the English
artist, W. J. Linton, the block being probably
borrOwed ; Spring in the Bois de Boulogne, Na-
poleon the First wounded at Ratisbon, and a half-
page engraving. Can the " force of cheapness
further go."
The Europe asserts that the Plenipotentiaries at
the Paris Conference upon the Danubian Duchies
are unanimously in favour of the uniou, except M.
de Budberg, who thinks the maintenance of the
union impossible, because Moldavia is completely
opposed to it.

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S 'TELEGRAMS.)

SPAIN.

MADRID, APRIL 25.

The Government will next week bring forward a
bill in the Cortes for the formation of a Mortgage
Bank, the concession for which will be granted to the
Credit Foncier of France.

PORTUGAL.

LISBON, APRIL 25.

The Government has signed a contract with M.
de Brousse for the construction of quays, docks, and
railways at Lisbon. It results from the conditions
of the contract that Lisbon will become almost a
free port.

PRUSSIA. '
BERLIN, APRIL 26.

A considerable time before any war rumours were
in circulation the military authorities had made
preparations for the drill of the landwehr, which has
been ordered by the Royal decree of the 15th
February. In conformity with this decree, about
40,000 men of the landwehr will be assembled for
military exercise within the next month or six
weeks.

KIEL, APRIL 26.

The Governors of Schleswig and Holstein have
issued orders extending to arrivals from Russia
and Belgium the prohibition against the importa-
tion of cattle, sheep, and pigs into the Duchies.

RUSSIA.

ST. PETERSBURG, APRIL 25.

From inquiries made by the authorities, it has
been ascertained that Demetrius Karakasow, the
would-be assassin of the Czar, is the son of a small
landed proprietor in the province of Saratow. He
was a student at the University of Moscow, where
be made himself remarkable by his melancholy
disposition and the socialistic character of his
opinions. Ile once attempted to commit suicide.

ITALY.
FLORENCE, APP,IL 26.
The report of the committee of the Chamber of
Deputies upon the budget proposes :
"An income tax of 8 per cent. on all incomes
above 3501 r. per annum ; incomes between 300 fr.
and 350 fr. are to pay a fixed annual tax of 14fr.,
and those ranging from 2501 r. to 300 fr. a tax of
7fr. ; incomes below 250 fr. are to be exempt from
taxation. The tax upon incomes derived from Go-
vernment stock, public appointments, and pensions
will be deducted by the Government at the time the
dividends, salaries, or pensions are paid ; and in-
comes from landed property will be liable to the tax
for ono half of their annual amount."

The various measures proposed by the committee
will, it is estimated, reduce the deficit to 50,000,000
francs.

DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.

BUCIIAREST, APRIL 25.

The Russian Consul General in this city has
addressed a protest to the Provisional Government
against the accusations made against Russia with
reference to the late disturbance at Jassy. He calls
attention to a letter of the Prefect of Jassy,
wherein the conduct of the Russian inhabitants
during the disturbances is declared to have been
peaceful.

MAURITIUS MAIL.
SUEZ, APRIL 25.

The Norma arrived at seven a.m. to-day.

OUTWARD CALCUTTA, CHINA, AND
AUSTRALIAN MAILS.
GIBRALTAR, APRIL 25.
The Poonah, from Southampton, on the 20th
inst., arrived to-day at two p.m., and leaves at six
p.m. for Alexandria. All well.