The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12, 1866,

panies had been summoned for an infringe-
ment of that Act of Parliament. A serious ques-
tion had arisen from an allegation that the gas
companies were receiving too much dividend, which
was not the fact. He had heard that it was the in-
tention of the Government next session to bring in
a bill to improve the position of these companies.
Ile would never consent to sell gas at a price which
would not be remunerative to the shareholders.
Their company had been in existence 16 years. They
had received, taking the average for the 16 years, a
dividend at the rate of 6 per cent. For the first
two years they received nothing, iu the second two
or three years 4 per cent., and then 6 per cent., and
in the following years 8 per cent., and now they were
paying 10 per cent.
Dr. LIT-rLE said he never found their gas less than
two candles more than the Parliamentary standard
of light.
Mr. BLAKE said if they had listened to the pub-
lic clamour which arose some time ago they would
never have been able to receive the dividends which
the House of Commons admitted they were entitled
to. In 1860 the revenue of the company amounted to
£43,000 ; in 1861 to £44,800 ; and now it amounted
to £61,000. (Hear, Hear.)
The CHAIRMAN then moved that a dividend of 5
per cent. for the past half-year, with a back divi-
dend of 2 per cent., be declared, payable on and
after the 22d of October, which was carried unani-
mously, and the proceedings concluded with thanks
to the chairman.

Social Science Conference.

AfANCHESTER, Thursday.
The business of this year's Congress concluded
:o-day with the presentation of a report by Mr.

Hastings, the general secretary, and a meeting of
the council, at which the Earl of Shaftesbury pre-

sided. The report congratulated the association on

the success which had attended this the tenth

annual gathering, and expressed the thanks of the

council to the local committees and secretaries, who

had been occupied for many months in smoothing
the pathway for the meeting, which had now been
brought to a most satisfactory close. The report

having been adopted,
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY said that, despite the
reservation made by Mr. Hastings, there was one
thing in the report in which he was sure all mem-
bers of the council, collectively and individually,
would concur, and that was the recognition of gra-
titude to the city of Manchester for the hospitality
and kindness with which the association had been

received. (Cheers.) In all towns wherever the
members had met they had been received with cour-
tesy ; but he doubted whether in any town zeal had
been shown which had surpassed the zeal manifested

by the corporation, the heads of townships, the
police, and above all the local committee and sec-
tions. The labour they had endured, the zeal they

had manifested, the heart they had put into the
matter, and the cordiality with which they had re-

ceived the members of the association, were matters
that demanded more than an ordinary expression of

gratitude. He was sorry if there was any other
body which he had omitted to mention ; but he must
express their deep satisfaction at the manner in
which they had been received by the people. (Cheers.)
Every one must have been gratified with the de-
meanour of the people. Not only in the public meet-
ings, but in the streets, they had shown hospitality
and kindness according to their means, which went
closely to their hearts. He was sure all who were
present at the great meeting on Friday night seldom
saw a spectacle so closely approaching to the sub-
lime—(applause)—that large mass of life, that grand
collection of immortal souls—men beaming with in-

telligence, good humour, kindness, and respect,
coming there to be instructed on many things with
respect to which they desired information, and full
of the intention of turning all they could learn to
the benefit of their families, and therein to the good
of their country. He could not but observe upon
one remark which had been made, not in this city,
but elsewhere, upon that great meeting. Some per-
sons, not entering into the feelings of the members
of the association, presumed to say that that was a
" patronising " meeting. Of all the hideous and
unjust expressions to be applied, that was the most
hideous and unjust. He confessed that he regarded
with something approaching to abhorrence the men
who would set class against class, and who would
not, in this world of sin and contention, do all they
could to reconcile differences, and to see what was
good and not what was evil in each other. (Applause)
But of the working class—he knew them well, and
he had a right to say so, having passed a great num-
ber of years among them—this he would say, that
they did not desire patronage, but they did desire
sympathy. (Cheers.) To talk.,of " patronising"
the Working classtis, especially in such a city as that
of Manchester, was the greatest act of arrogance
and presumption, and of folly, which he could con-
ceive. (Cheers.) The time was, as a friend on the
platform (Sir J. Kay-Shuttleworth) had informed
them, when the working classes were in a con-
dition when a certain amount of patronage ap-
peared to be necessary. By intelligence and good
conduct, by being enabled now to exercise all
the moral and physical energies God had given
them, they had risen to the position in which
they required no patronage ; but he trusted the
time would never come when they would cease
to desire sympathy. (Cheers.) For sympathy
amongst all classes, from the highest to the lowest
and from the lowest to the highest, was the
great bond of union and the grand divine principle
which ought to pervade society. (Cheers.) They did
desire the working man's welfare. They expressed
for them the deepest sympathy, and he was quite
certain the whole mass of the association, and cer-

taiuly all the members who attended the Congress,
shared his sentiments ; and they hoped that the
people reciprocated the feelings of sympathy. They
had a common interest—duty, calling, and welfare;

that which they earnestly desired was a participation
in the people's sentiments, and the people's in theirs
--both labouring and praying for each other's social
and moral welfare. (Cheers.)
Mr. 11. PHILIPS proposed, and Mr. D. FIELD
seconded, a vote of thanks to the president of the
association, and the presidents and secretaries of
departments. Mr. Field observed, in the course of
his remarks, that the association was, he was sorry
to say, peculiar to this country, for in America
they had no such institution, excepting a small one
formed at Boston a year or two ago. The associa-
tion was the product of the English mind as deve-
loped in the 19th century. It owed its existence, he
belived, to the eminent services of Mr. Ilastings
who was justly styled its founder, and was still one
of the secretaries. (Cheers.) The idea was a great
one. It was the bringing together of men distin-
guished in all departments for the purpose of con-
ferring with each other, to reconcile differences, to
explain away opposition, and suggesting what they
could advise the authoritative body to adopt. It was,
if he might use the expression, a sort of advisary
parliament, to which nobody was elected, where
every freeman might go.
the compli-
meLnot,rd Saaidu EstkhFaTtiut umrt,asY,
iinndaecekdnaomwlaetdtgerinogf
great hon-
our that he had been associated with such eminent
and worthy men. It was singularly agreeable to
him that the vote had been seconded by Mr. Dudley
Field. (Applause.) Of course he was delighted
to be supported by his own countrymen, but really,
on an occasion like that, when an eminent man
came from the other side of the water, represent-
ing that great Republic, and gave utterance to
the sentiments he bad, it might be taken as the
harbinger that the great prineiple of peace was
abroad, and that they should not hear any more of
dissension between America and old England.
(Cheers). He wished to supply one deficiency of
which he was guilty. When he first spoke, he did
not mention the services of the press. He could
only say that the meeting bad proved to him wha
he had before marvelled at, the diligence and fideli
of the whole body of reporters. For himself he was
pleased to receive their kind words of approbation
for what he had done here and in former times.
The Hon. G. DENMAN, M.P., the president of the
jurisprudence department, also returned thanks,
and said that Mr. Field was mistaken in supposing
that this was the only Social Science Association,
as there were similar institutions in Belgium and
Spain, with which they were in communication.
Dr. FARR also responded.
The PRESIDENT said that before separating he
had to request—indeed he assumed that no such re-
quest was necessary—that they would give him per-
mission to convey to Lord Brougham the esteem
and affection which they entertained towards him,
and their gratitude to him for having come to Man-
chester, notwithstanding his great age and infirmi-
ties, at very great inconvenience to testify his re-
spect for the city, and his unabated zeal in the good
work that had occupied so many- years of his life.
(Cheers.) Lord Brougham was not there to receive
their thanks, and he (Lord Shaftesbury) was sure
they would allow him to convey to him that the
last act of the council was to express their sincere
good wishes for his health and happiness. (Cheers.)
Thanks were then voted to the magistrates of the
hundred of Salford for their liberality in granting
the use of the assize courts to the association ; and
a similar tribute was paid to the secretaries, Mr.
Hastings and the Rev. W. Clay, for the marked
ability and great attention they had displayed
throughout the Congress.
In reviewing the general progress of the society's
proceedings, it may be advisable to recall attention
to some of the principal subjects which have been
brought under consideration in the various depart-
ments.
In the Department of Jurisprudence and the
Amendment of the Law special questions relating to
international and municipal law and the repression
of crime were discussed.
In the Education Department the special ques-

THE DISTRACTED " ALMANACH DE GOTHA."—
There is consternation in the editorial room at Gotha.
The Almanach for 1867 was almost ready to be launched
forth into the world when, lo ! like the simoom, Prussia
sweeps over the north of Germany, and kings and princes
are carried away by the blast like so many reeds ; even the
stalwart tree of Austria has lost many of its branches,
blown away by the storm, though the stem still stands firm
on its deep-set roots. The hurricane has lulled, the treaty
of Prague calms for a time the troubled elements, diplo-
macy has done its work. But it is a much easier task to
sign a treaty and exchange ratifications than to re-write a
compendium like the Almanach de Gotha. * * * The
whole German Confederation is extinguished, and Frank-
fort, the seat of the Diet, annexed ; consequently the 32
states, including the Hanse Towns, must be struck out of
the Almanach, and the North German Confederation above
the Maine inserted instead. As regards the embryo Con-
federation of the Southern States, all is chaos. Then
Austria has lost Venetia, Denmark has lost the Duchies,
and, worst of all, no one knows whether the few remaining
ninepins will not be bowled down by the strong arm of a
Bismarck or of a Napoleon. * * It is easier to shoot a
lion with a single bullet than to exterminate a nest of wasps.
Saxony is not annexed, and may remain intact in tho
Almanach of 1867 ; but Hanover, Nassau, Hesse-Cassel,
Darmstadt, and others must all have a pen struck
through them, and be added to Prussia. Prussia
is like the devil-fish described by Victor Hugo
in his " Travailleurs do la Mer." It holds in its
strangling grip all the petty princes of Germany. We are
in October ; the continental arrangements are by no means
settled, and the Almanach must appear on the Ist January.
We have good reason for saying again that consternation
prevails in the editor's room at Gotha.—Dickens's All the
Year Round.

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similar affections are at once soothed and put on the road
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tions which came under discussion were :—" By SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
what means can the impediments to the education -0. --
of the children of the manual labour class, arising
from the apathy or poverty of parents or claims of
the market for labour, be most effectually removed ?"
" What central or local bodies are best qualified to
take charge of and administer existing endowments
for education, and what powers and facilities should
be given to such bodies ?" "By what means can
education be most effectually extended to the
smaller rural parishes and the most destitute classes
in large towns?"
In the Department of Health attention was
directed to the following questions :—" How far are
smoke and the products of combustion arising from
various manufacturing processes injurious to health ?"
" What measures ought to be taken to prevent the
contamination of the atmosphere from such causes?"
" How can the pollution of rivers, by the refuse and
sewage of towns, be best prevented ?" " What
legislative or other measures should be employed
more effectually to prevent the adulteration of
food ?"
In the Department of Economy and Trade the
questions were :—" Upon what conditions and by
what authorities ought licenses for the sale of alco-
holic liquors to be granted ?" " What measures,
legislative and other, should be adopted in order to
supply better dwellings to the labouring classes ?"
" What means ought to be adopted for improving
the management of workhouses ?"
In addition to these, various questions in refer-
ence to finance and taxation were brought under
consideration.
As regards the manner in which the different
subjects have been dealt with, it has been generally
admitted that considerable ability has been dis-
played throughout in the addresses of the presi-
dents, in the numerous papers which had been read,
and in the " tone" which has characterised the dis-
cussions. With respect to the presidentship, it is an
agreeable task to be enabled to confirm the compli-
mentary language in which Lord Shaftesbury has
been alluded to for the zealous and able way in which
he has discharged his somewhat arduous duties—
passing from one department to another, and join-
ing in a discussion whenever he felt that a favourably
occasion presented itself. His health, however, ap -
peared to fail him towards the close of the proceed-
ings, and it was doubtful whether he would be ona-
abled to preside at the annual banquet on Tuesday ;
but, faithful to his trust, his lordship appeared in
his place on that occasion, and although suffering
severely from an impaired voice, fulfilled his task
with a degree of skill which greatly contributed to
the entertainment of the evening.
One memorable feature tobe observed throughout
the Congress was the appearance of Lord Brougham,
the president of the council. It had long been
doubted by many whether hislordship's health would
admit of his undergoing the journey to Manchester
and bearing the fatigue incidental to his responsible
position ; but, to the satisfaction—if not to the ac-
tual surprise—of every one, he was at the post as-
signed to him on thesecond day of the Congress, and
delivered an address which was afterwards given at
length in these columns. For the succeeding two or
three days he was to bnseen, under the watchful
care of a gentleman whoie_ arm afforded him the
support he required, entering one of the sections of
a department, and, after listening for a brief period
to the proceedings, then going on, slowly creeping
along the corridors, to a carriage awaiting him at the
entrance, surrounded by eager gazers, who, having
heard something of the many useful deeds of Lord
Brougham, were anxious to have a glimpse of his
venerable face. On such occasions it was interesting
to observe the respect paid to his lordship in thelooks
of the bystanders, as well as in many of the remarks
which emanated from them, although it was too evi-
dent that in several instances he was little known to
those who beheld him, except by name. One in-
dividual in the throng, and a member of the pro-
vincial police force, was sagacious enough to observe
that " he believed his lordship had been a clever
man in his time, but he was past work now." That
this remark was true in one respect was too painfully
evident, for albeit Lord Brougham, in the address
he delivered and in the brief speech he made at the
meeting of working men at the Free-trade Hall,
gave sufficient proof that the powers of his mind are
but little diminished, his physical decrepitude is
such as would prevent a man less mentally active
from any longer attempting the responsible duties
of a public orator. Upon this subject the observa-
tions made by the Earl of Shaftesbury at the close
of the meeting of council, and recorded above, were
especially apposite, and the cheers which followed
showed that the high respect entertained for the
venerable statesman is now mingled with feelings of
unfeigned sympathy.
It is but right to state that amongst the various
public entertainments which the members of the as-
sociation have had an opportunity of witnessing
should be mentioned the performance of " Antony
and Cleopatra" at the Prince's Theatre, the repre-
sentation of Tom Taylor's new comedy of " A Les-
son for Life" at the Theatre Royal, and a ballad
concert at the Free-trade Hall, in which the able
services of Mr. George Dolby were conspicuous as
the manager ; Madame Sainton-Dolby, Miss Louisa
Pyne, Mr. W. H. Weiss, and Mr. George Perrin
were the principal singers ; and M. Sainton and
Herr Meyer Lutz were the distinguished instrumen-
talists. The concert was a great success, and tended
greatly to remove an impression which has been
sometimes entertained that the public will not ex-
tend their patronage to such favourite vocalists as
Madame Sainton-Dolby and Miss Louisa Pyne un-
less they associate themselves with the performance
of classical music. In regard to the performance of
4, Antony and Cleopatra," it is not too much to say
that the play has been produced in a style of mag-
nificent and classic taste which amply justify all the
encomiums that have been passed upon it ; and Mr.
Tom Taylor, in a letter which he has just addressed
to the Manchester Guardian, pays a well-merited
tribute to the manager, Mr. Calvert (who perso-
nates the part of Antony), when he says, " This re-
vival appeared to me quite deserving to rank with
the best of those of Macready or Charles Kean."
Mr. Taylor's visit to Manchester was for the pur-
pose of superintending the production of his own
comedy, which, being slight in structure and some-
what deficient in dramatic action, has been attended
with less success than usually marks the productions
- of this able and prolific writer.

TIMES.—In the universal race of life there is
always that which beats all competitors, though
they be not without merit. All the proper qualities
unite and culminate in one individual. It is a kind
provision of nature, for we owe to it that simplicity
in the object to the contemplated which invests
human affairs with an epic character, and certainly
makes them at once easy and interesting. To this we
owe the great poet, of every age, the great conqueror,
the great patriot, the great dramatist, the great
painter, the South Sea Bubble of last century, and
the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Com-
pany of this. There is no longer any occasion to
rummage through whole files of railway reports.
Better burn them all, and confine oneself hence-
forth to the study of the one perfect specimen.
'They that have money to lose, or experience to
acquire, need go no further. There is only one
Railway Company, and it is the London, Chatham,
and Dover, and evidently Sir Morton Peto is its
prophet. The lawyers are concentrating their at-
tention upon it, and before Easter the House of
Commons will find themselves admiring the com-
plex organisation and colossal proportions of the
model. We could not usually recommend to the
general reader the careful perusal of four or five
columns, with references to appendices, but, coin-
pared with the gigantic bulk of the transaction and
their lofty daring, this is an " Iliad" in a nut-shell.
The Report of the Committee of Investigation into
the affairs of the Company has been closely followed
by the Remarks of the Directors, and if there be
any question, we have now both sides of it. But as
the Report is confined to the simple statement of
facts, and opinions are as much as possible avoided,
hardly a question is raised, and the answers amount
to nothing but a plausible counter-statement. In-
deed, the authors of the Report frankly confess them-
selves at fault. They cannot unravel the tangle in
which directors, contractors, and all sorts of people
before and behind the scenes have enveloped them-
selves. Sir Morton, thus far, is as safe as Fair Rosa-
mond in her fabled labyrinth. There is a huge and
motley fabric of shares, preference shares, deben-
tures, private loans, and documents that represented
nothing paid, nothing done, neither debt, obligation,
nor value ; and it is impossible even to guess how
one rests on another, and how far the treacherous
substratum will bear the apparently solid surface.
The best comparison that offers itself is the moun-
tain of material left by one of those immenseThames-
side fires. You see a field of growing corn, with
charred beams and twisted iron cropping out of the
surface, but are dismayed to hear that far under the
surface there are a thousand tons of butter. Parlia-
ment has carefully prescribed the successive stages
by which railway credit is to be constructed, but
Parliament, it would now appear, cannot, or at least
does not, secure that the stages upon which everything
is to depend shall not be of imitative and fictitious
material. Parliament ordains an audit, but who is to
choose the auditor, and what company will choose
one who will think it his duty to declare it bankrupt ?
The London, Chatham, and Dover, we may say
for the benefit of any one who may wish to write its
epic, is the Nemesis of our railway legislation. It
took its origin out of a great Parliamentary default,
and it shares with holier things the comment thatthe
greatest crimes are done in the best of causes. In the
early days of railways Parliament would not allow
one near Greenwich Observatory, or near the arsenals
and dockyards, or, if not absolutely necessary, in the
metropolis. So it wisely compelled travellers bound
for the Continent or the south-east coasts to go nearly
half the way to Brighton, then only graciously per-
mitting them to tack about at right angles and shape
their course for Dover. As the traffic increased, and
as railways were found not such bad neighbours as
had once been apprehended, this came at last to be
thought monstrous, and, after various unsuccessful
or imperfect attempts to rectify matters, the London,
Chatham, and Dover was started in order to provide
what may be called a Thames and Continental Rail-
way. The only fault about the project was that
which has been inscribed over many a ruined dynasty
and many a wasted life—the amendment came too
late. The ground was preoccupied. At the very best
the prize would have to be divided ; and an embryo
scheme would have to struggle many years with a
perfected system. The London, Chatham, and
Dover found that it wanted everything. It could
only start with a trunk line leading, it might almost
be said, from nowhere to nowhere. It wanted a ter-
minus, or rather termini ; it wanted branches, it
wanted extensions, it wanted steamboat services, it
wanted bridges over the Thames. It wanted
suburban traffic, it wanted its own line to the
Crystal Palace, it wanted Metropolitan extensions
and Northern communication, it wanted additional
rails, it wanted everything that every other com-
pany had, otherwise it would have that one resource
less in competing with the other company. This,
too, had to be done in a period of excitement and
speculation, when prices were high, when city
land was selling ac more than £lO the square
foot, and when a crowd of rival companies were
bidding for ground, if only to stand on, and
keep others out of it. Then, all these things
had to be done at once, and a single omission or
defeat might spoil many successes and an im-
mense expenditure. What we are describing is not
only a fact ;it is more than a fact—a mental posses-
sion. What the Grand Trunk was some years ago,
what the Czar is to Russophobists, the Pope to Pro-
testant old women, and the Great Beast to the stu-
dent of Revelations, the London, Chatham, and
Dover has been for several years to the stationary,
in-dwelling people of this metropolis. No Londoner
has looked at the papers for years without half ex-
pecting to see the London, Chatham, and Dover
intended to go through his house, or over it, or
under it, or, worse still, just behind or just before it
or possibly to do both or all these things. But this
was a necessity in the case, for it wash aut
vialar2 aut
7i ihil ; and, as they say, " When te d drives,
needs must." If it be any extenuation that such was
the necessity, and that in no other way was the
battle to be fought with the least chance of success,
then we may allow the London, Chatham, and Dover
the customary French plea of " extenuating circum-
stances," whatever that be worth. But there can be
no excuse for a purely fictitious and illusory compli-
ance with Parliamentary regulations, and for bor-
rowing money from the confiding public upon the
pretence of work done that had not even been
touched, and of shares taken and paid up thatexisted
only in imagination. There can be n o excuse for a
process which has inflicted ruin on innocent people
to the amount of several millions of pounds, plun-
dering not only shareholders, who might lay in their
account for some risk, but even those who thought
they were lending sums of money to be repaid,after
a stated term, to the very farthing. Parliament has
done its best to mark the difference between the
speculator and investor, and to prevent the former
from abusing the confidence of the latter. In proper
distrust of the partial estimates put forth by projec-
tors and their professional friends, it has at once con-
ceded lendingpowers and confined them within cau-
tious limits. If there be any excuse at all for
the present inconvenience suffered by the holders of
the later debentures, and for the total loss which
they'-reasonably apprehend, then Parliament has
laboured in vain, and all the securities it has de-
vised are good for nothing. Parliament is now
bound to defend itself, and to prove its work good
in law, if that can be proved. W hen it made, and
made over again, with reiterated force and exact-
ness, the wholesome provision that a company
should not be allowed to issue debentures till a cer-
tain proportion of shares had been subscribed for,
and, in a certain proportion, paid up, it cannot have
intended by this a mere exchange of documents be-
tween a secretary and a contractor, with no more
solid foundation than works contracted for but not
yet begun. When it attempted to secure that money
should only be borrowed in a fixed proportion to
the shares actually taken and the calls actually paid
up, it could not possibly mean by this the mere
hypothecation of shares with a contractor, leaving
the company chargeable with the discount there
might be upon sales to be effected. The directors,
in their remarks, claim by general usage the right
to sell shares at a discount; but the transaction we
have described, and which is not and cannot be
denied by the directors, is no sale at all, and certainly
is not such a compliance with rules guarding the
issue of debentures as Parliament intended. When,
too, it provided a public audit, it could not intend
one that should exclude from view enormous loan
transactions represented by paper in the private desk
of the secretary. The committee of investigation
has done its work very tenderly, and has abstained
even from comment when it was possible to do so ;
but the facts elicited speak for themselves, and
cannot but have their true character assigned to
them in the Court of Chancery.
POST.—London is very dull just at present.
Idlers and loungers take little interest in the reports
of the heavy Reform artillery with which Mr.
Bright imagines he is mowing down an obstinately
hostile aristocracy. Foreign news is uninteresting.
" No fellow" can make out the Cretan telegrams or
settle the future status of the King of Saxony ; and
were it not for the defeats of Achievement, there
would be positively nothing to think about. In a
moment highly characteristic of what has been called
"the silly season," it appears to have occurred to one
of that class who find even the opportunities offered
by the Turf not sufficiently easy to part them from
their money, that it would be a great idea to trans-
plant Baden to London. Instead of being bored
with bookmaking, and worried with waiting for
telegrams, this ingenious lover of excitement con-
ceived the notion of a gambling revival. There were
certain difficulties in the way, in the shape of
rather awkward laws, and some remarkably severe
pains and penalties. But it seems to have been
thought that Sir Richard Mayne's principle is—" he