The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-11 00:00:00

Social Science Conference•

ANCIIESTER, Wednesday.
The labours of the Congress have been brought to
a close this evening. The last paper was one read
this morning in the Crown Court by Mr. WEBSTER,
Q.C., "On the Arrangement and Construction of

Courts of Justice, as Illustrated by the Manchester
New Assize' Courts." Mr. Webster' referred to the

proposal entertained in London of building a Pa

lace of Justice, by which the 20 or more courts now
so widely separated should be concentrated in one
building. Hitherto in this country the only build-
ing in which such accommodation had been pro-
vided with any success was the Manchester
Assize Courts. He only expressed the general
opinion of his brethren at the bar that this attempt
had been highly successful, and was the only type
by which the Commissioners in London would
con-
trivances guided. He expressed his admiration at h
by which from the general entrance-hall
admission was obtained to all the different courts in
the building, and especially at the ready means of
access given to judges, juries, counsel, and all per-
sons brought there on business to those portions of
the courts where the business of the courts had to be
transacted, as well as to the means of access for the
public to the parts properly assigned to their use.
There was a further improvement, he suggested,
that it would be desirable to carry out in London,
admirable as were the arrangements here, and that
was to render the access of persons on business sepa-
rate from that of the public. lie pointed out how
desirable it was that the judges, counsel, juries,
wit,nesses, shorthand writers, and reporters should
have not only easy access to the courts, as at Man-
chester, but they should have separate access undis-
turbed by the crowds brought there by curiosity.
He threw out this suggestion as a desirable one for
exhibitors who were proposing to submit designs.
Mr. Webster criticised some of the internal fittings
of the court as to the better arrangement of witness
boxes, jury boxes, and seats for counsel, and
thought the courts being lighted from one side only
might be improved by lights from the top. He
thought it was desirable, also, that the business part
of the court should be isolated from the public por-
tion. lie approved highly the arrangement of the
corridors behind the courts, connecting them with

the barristers' library and other rooms, and highly
complimented Mr. Waterhouse as the architect. In
a short discussion which followed Mr. D. Dudley
Field was appealed to as to whether the courts of
America would afford any suggestion for improve-
ment.

Mr. FIELD said that they had not a court in Ame
rica comparable with this as a building, though he
thought some of them were more convenient in their
internal fittings and arrangements, affording more
ample convenience to counsel.
At the conclusion of the discussion thanks weisre
voted to Mr. Webster for his paper, and the niag
trates for the use of the courts.
a he Congress
The concluding general meeting Lord
was held this afternoon in the Civil eourt,
Hastings,
the secre-
tary,t read an abler
Shafesbury presing.
Mr.he roceedings at the
port of t
ther' business done in
t
present Congress, reviewing
each department,
and
Pire'ssions and conclusions
the apparent prevalent snipp
of the most important
arrived at in the
discussion
concluded by saying that the
subjects. The report •rta what appeared to be
invitation from Belfast as
council had accepted an
meeting
next year.
the place of mee
Lord SIIAFTESBUItY spoke with much feeling of
the reception the Congress has met with in Man-
chester. Not only had they met with great hospi-
tality, but the demeanour and conduct of the in-
dustrial classes in the streets, and at the meeting eL.
working men in the Free Trade Ilan last Friday
(which was a sight almost sublime),
had been
highly pleasing. Ile repudiated any notion of his
own or the association patronising the working
people of a town like Manchester, but he hoped they
should always have th • eir sympathy, and that was
the bond he should
like to see strengthened.
Mr. HERBERT PHILLIPS moved, and Mr. DUDLEY
FIELD seconded, a vote of thanks to the President.
Mr. Field spoke highly of what he had seen at this
Congress, and regretted they had nothing of the
kind in America. He termed it a sort of " advising"
Parliament, to which. no one was elected, but to
which any one could come and express his opinions.

Some amusement was caused in the concluding
meetings this morning by the appearance of a para-
graph in the French journal L' International (pub-
lished in Paris and London) informing its readers
that the Congress Committee, " faithful to English
custom," had in their desire to attain the utmost pub-
licity for the proceedings made a grant of £l,OOO
a piece to the local newspapers to enable them to
publish supplements. The writer would have been
nearer the mark had be said that the papers had in-
curred this expense on their own account. During
the Congress the Manchester papers have been
doubled in Size, and their readers may be said to
have been deluged with the reports.

Ironmasters' Quarterly Meeting.

WOLVERHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING,

The usual quarterly meeting of the ironmasters
of the South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire
district commenced in this town to-day. The, at-
tendance was larger than was expected, for in addi-
tion to the members of the trade there was a fair
sprinkling of those who are interested in it, either
as consumers or as interested in the export trade.
But as to. business done our report might almost say
nil, for it is tolerably certain that at most there were
not a dozen transactions. It has been said of late
years that the Wolverhampton assembly had become
simply preparatory to that to follow immediately at
Birmingham, and that is so ; but this quarter-day
there is little prospect of much being done in that
town, nobody buying a ton more than is necessary.
This has been the case for so unusually lengthened
a period that at the great majority of the works the
orders in aro not sufficient to keep them going at
half-time. The same as to pig iron; notwithstand-
ing the very considerable reductions in the make
since last quarter-day prices are not firm, and stocks
have increased.

The tone to-day was gloomy throughout, every-
body is agreed that the trade is bad, but the worstis
that there are no encouraging indications in regardto
the future. The iron trade of the district has had
a severe shaking the last three or four months, but
in one way or other that has been going on for ten
years or more, and there are good grounds given
for the apprehension that there will never be any
substantial recovery. The new iron-producing dis-
tricts have too formidable advantages over South
Staffordshire for this latter to maintain its old posi-
tion. Even the trade assemblies have sadly fallen
off in character and everything else ; brokers and
broken-down ironmasters outnumber the heads of
the trade. As matters now stand some important
change must before very long take place.