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

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 10, 1866.

and other fittings in progress. It is expected
that she will be floated out of the dock in
which she is being built next month, to receive her
engines, which have been been designed and con-
structed at Messrs. Laird's establishment, and arein
the engine-fitting shop. Theyare of 700 horse-power
nominal, but will exert an actual power of not less
than 4,200 horse. Her cylinders have a diameter of
94in. by 4ft. 6in. stroke, and these and the other
parts, although of enormous weight and size, are
finished with the greatest accuracy and in the best
style of workmanship, and, we believe, are the largest
engines that have been made in the port. They are
fitted with surface condensers, and other appliances
for economising fuel. The speed of these ships is
intended to be 14 knots an hour, and thebunkers will
contain enough coal for 15 or 16 days' consumption.
—Liverpool Albion.

Association for Promoting the Education of

Adults.

A meeting of the Metropolitan Association for
Promoting the Education of Adults, in union with
the Society of Arts, was held last evening in the
theatre of the society, John-street, Adelphi, for the
purpose of distributing the prizes gained at the re-
cent annual examination. The chair was occupied
by Mr. H. Chester, vice-president of the Society of
Arts.

The CHAIRMAN said it became his pleasing duty to
distribute the prizes to the various candidates to
whom they had been awarded. He should, in the
first place, offer some explanation of the shortcom-
ings of the association during the past year. They
had arisen from circumstances which it was not in
their power to control—having originated in his
own serious illness, whereby he was incapacitated
from acting an active part in the mangement of its
affairs. After a considerable interval Sir. F. Sand-
ford became chairman, but unfortunately his voca-
tions in the office of the Committee of Council on
Education engaged so much of his time that he was
not able to give to the association the attention it
required. He was happy to say that Mr. B. Shaw,
long and well known for his earnest work in the
cause of education, and particularly the education
of adults, was now chairman of the committee
of management. Another cause of their short-
comings was that they were for some time without
a visiting officer, and that cause also no longer
existed. The association had now been established
four years. Its operations might be mainly classed
under two heads. They aimed at taking up young
persons of both sexes at the time they finally left
school, and encouraging them to carry on their
education to as late a period as they thought
fit. The association acted as metropolitan agent to
the Society of Arts. It afforded facilities to young
people to obtain the advantages which that society
offered, and that not only in London, but through-
out the entire kingdom. They had at present in
union with them more than 150 local schools or in-
stitutes in various parts of the United Kingdom.
Many of the large towns possessed boards with
which the association was connected, and from the
nature of the organisation the young people of the
smallest villages could avail themselves of the ad-
vantages it offered. (Hear, hear.) One great
result of the scheme which the Society of Arts pro-
jected in 1851 was the immense increase that had
taken place in the system of examinations through-
out the country. The local examinations at Oxford
ani Cambridge, and in the London University, and
in Durham, of which they had heard so much, and
the examinations conducted by the Government, in
connection with the Science and Art Department at
South Kensington, had sprung in the first instance
from the operations of the Society of Arts. (Hear,
hear.) No one could avail himself or herself of the
examinations of that society who was under 16
years of age ; but as it was necessary that some-
thing should be done to provide for the interval
between 10 or 12 years of age and 16, and also
to encourage those who had already attained
their 16th year to continue their education so
that they might derive the benefit of examination
by the examiners of the Society of Arts, this
association had been formed, and he was happy to
say that on the whole it had worked successfully.
They had elementary examinations—examinations
in general proficiency, in arithmetic, English his-
tory, geography, &c., in religious knowledge, in
sanitary science, domestic economy, cooking, and
in needlework ; and they also encouraged physical
exercise, by giving prizes for proficiency in athletic
sports. Most of the prizes in the lower grade had
already been given ; in that grade only the prizes
for religious knowledge remained to be distributed.
The awards had been made, not by the association,
but by independent examiners. The chairman then
proceeded to distribute the prizes, which consisted
of elegantly-bound books. Amongst them were
large editions of Shakspere, Macaulay's History
of England and Essays, copies of the Bible, Dic-
tionary of the Bible, Students' Hume, Waverley
Novels, Scott's Poems, Decisive Battles, &c. They
were awarded as follows :
ELEAIENTAILY KNOWLEDGE.

Lower Grade.—T. Morrell, Curzon schools; Ann Robins,
Burlington schools; William Abbs, Lambeth; and Alice
Chillingworth, London Mechanics'.

Arithmetic.--John Bickle, Eugene V. Barrett, and C. S.
Cook, London Mechanics' ; and G. W. Tooley, West Lon-
don Youths' Institute.

Gospel History.—J. R. Curtis, Wost London Youths'
Institute; and Eliza Starkings, Grosvenor School.

English History.—E. V. Barrett, London Mechanics' ;
and G. 11. Neale, West London Youths' Institute.

Geography.—E. V. Barrett, Loudon Mechanics'; and
G. H. Neale, West London Youths'.

General Proficiency.—E. V. Barrett and John Bickle,
London Mechanics' ; G. H. Neale, West Loudon Youths' ;
and Eliza Starkings, Grosvenor School.
RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.
Higher Grade.—Walter Peters, Grevillo House; and
W. Rourton, St. George's, Hanover-square.
Lower Grade.—J. R. Curtis, West London Youths' In-
stitute ; and Eliza Starkings, Grosvenor-school.

The CHAIRMAN continued—He had now a prize to
give which was of a peculiarly interesting character
—namely, one given by the Princess of Wales.
(Applause.) Her royal highness has contributed a
prize to be competed for by females of the working
classes within the metropolitan district—the exami-
nation to be in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and
in plain needlework. When the association was
formed his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales be-
came patron, and her Royal Highness the Princess of
Walespatroness ; and, in order to give a stimulus and
encouragement to young females of the working class
to acquire useful knowledge, her royal highness said
she would each year give a prize to candidates who
should obtain from the examiners certificates of pro-
ficiency in plain needlework, and the highest number
of marks in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The
prize was adjudged to Ellen Louisa Wollard, of Lam-
beth, daughter of a journeyman carpenter, who was
bringing up his family in a most creditable manner.
He was happy to be the medium of giving it away.
The prize, which consisted of a beautifully bound

copy of the Bible and a sum of two guineas was
then handed, amid loud applause, to the successful
competitor.
The CHAIRMAN said he regretted that the report
of the examiners showed that there was a great de-
ficiency of religious knowledge shown by the exa-
minations. He trusted that in future an advance
in the most essential and important of all informa-
tion would have to be reported. (Hear, hear.) The
certificates and prizes awarded for religious know-
ledge were signed, not by any officer of the associa-
tion, but by the bishop of the diocese in which the
parties examined resided. The intolerable depth of

ignorance into which of late years light had been
thrown would not allow them to rest until the great

evil which now existed was remedied. This country

was greatly behind hand in the matter of education.
Ile had had great experience on the subject in the
Privy Council-office and elsewhere, and from making
it a subject of much thought and investigation he
was impressed with the conviction that some great
means should be taken to rouse the country to a

sense of its actual state, and that some sweeping
measure was necessary to remove the ignorance
which prevailed. They had recently had a great
example of what an educated nation could do. Com-
pulsory education prevailed in Prussia, and he was
in favour of compulsory education for England also.

That we are too free for such a system was, he con

sidered, quite ridiculous. They would not allow
people to ill use each other, and how could they pos-
sibly ill-use the people more than by leaving them

without education ? He rejoiced that the public mind
was being aroused on this subject, that the press
had taken it up, and that influential people were
reading papers and making speeches about it. Ile
earnestly hoped that it would be pressed upon the
attention of the Government until somedecisive and
comprehensive measure for the education of the
people was adopted. (Cheers.)
The Rev. Mr. MACILWAIN, hon. sec., next ad-
dressed the meeting as to the importance of the work
in which the association was engaged, and urged
the friends of education to recommend it to their
several districts.

Mr. B. SHAW, in moving a vote of thanks to the
chairman, as the founder of the association, remarked
that preparing for examinations had a very benefi-
cial effect upon young people. They would not read
superficially, but with method, and while they so
read they laid up knowledge in their minds in a pro-
ducible shape. They also acquired a habit when
young which they would find most useful in after
life ; they would continue to read as they had read
for examination, laying up the information which
they gathered in such a way that it would be pro-
ducible at the proper time. (Hear, hear.)
The Rev. Mr. BRUCE seconded the motion, which
was carried by acclamation. _

The CHAIRMAN returned thanks, and the pro-
ceedings terminated.

The Recent Collision and Loss of Life off
the Suffolk Coast.

The Board of Trade inquiry into the circum-
stances ttending the collision between the screw
steamer Cobden and the schooner East Cornwall,
off the Suffolk coast, on the morning of the 14th
ult., was resumed yesterday at the Greenwich
Police-court before Mr. Trail, police magistrate,
and Captains Baker and Hight, nautical assessors.

Mr. Hamel attended for the Board of Trade, and
Mr. Cohen and Mr. Cooper for the owners of the
East Cornwall and the Cobden respectively.
Wm. Claxon, boatswain of the Cobden, said that
he was on deck, and reported seeing a vessel to the
mate about three or four minutes before the colli-
sion. It was on the starboard bow. The mate re-
plied, "All right," and gave the order "Hard
aport." The steamer answered her helm very
slowly. He saw no light from the schooner until
about half a minute before the collision, and he then
saw a red light.
Wm. Brown and Nathaniel Mulitt, seamen on
board the Cobden, gave similar evidence.
Whitfield Wood, the mate in charge of the
steamer at the time of the collision, made a length-
ened voluntary statement. Coming to the time of
the collision, he said the morning was very dark,
and it was raining. He attributed the collision to
the fact of not being able to see the light of the East
Cornwall.

The Court then retired to consider its judgment,
and on returning Mr. Traill handed it to Mr. Bou-
stead, the chief clerk, and which was as follows :
"In giving judgment in this case the Court has
come to the conclusion that to the default of the
mate in charge of the Cobden must be attributed
this fatal collision, for having, in the first instance,
neglected to call the master when the weather be-
came thick and dark, according to orders given to
him on leaving the deck, and in the next place in
not having reduced the speed of the ship when the
weather became so thick that the hull of a vessel
could not be seen much more than a ship's length,
as stated by the master of the Cobden and by other
witnesses. The master of the Cobden states in his
evidence that had he been called, as he had given
his orders, he should have considered it proper to
have slowed the engines to half speed, which in all
probability would have avoided the collision. The
mate of the Cobden, in the opinion of the Court,
acted promptly by passing his helm to port and hard
aport, also in stopping the engines ; but he should
have made these orders more effectual by reversing
the engines full speed, particularly as the ship did
not answer her helm readily when the engines were
stopped. Giving the mate of the Cobden credit to
this extent for the means he did adopt to avert the
collision, the Court is of opinion that in this case it
is not absolutely necessary to cancel his certificate,
but his default must be visited in such a manner as

to afford protection to the public. The certificate
of Mr. Whitfield Wood is hereby suspended for two
years from this date. The Court is also of opinion

that no blame can be attached to the master or
person in charge of the schooner East Cornwall, by
whom everything appears to have been done that
was possible to escape from the collision."
The pr oceedings then terminated.

Mr. IL Ashworth on the Progress of
Lancashire.

On Tuesday evening a number of the members of the
Social Science Association assembled in the Crown Court
to hear the reading of a paper by Mr. Ashworth on the
progress of Lancashire: After describing the condition of
the kingdom, and particularly of this district, at the time
of the Conquest, as given in Doomsday Book, and quoting
from the old chroniclers on the same subject, Mr. Ashworth
related the early commercial history of Lancashire, and
mentioned the various inventions which have led to the
development of the cotton manufacture. Ho then pro-
ceeded—For a considerable time after the introduction of
the first great changes consequent upon the invention of
machinery, the cotton manufacture continued to be a house-
hold occupation. The raw material whilst under process
of manufacture was conveyed from one family to another
to undergo the various operations of beating, carding,
roving, and spiuuiug, preparatory to weaving. Such a
course of proceeding was tardy, and soon became weari-
some. With a view, therefore, to economy of time and
quickness of production; the idea was suggested of concen-
trating the various processes in large rooms ; and soon
afterwards, under the pressure of increasing necessity, still
more commodious factories were erected, in which every
department of the manufacture could be arranged and
brought under more complete control. The attractions
thus presented by a well-paid and regular employment
brought a great number of persons from the surround-
ing country, and the Population of the various districts
where manufactures were carried on increased with
and 1861 with that
great rapidity. The extent and rapidity of this in-
f. comparing the popu-
learteiaosen may
Lancashire
aybe
in 18
of England and Wales during the same period ; for whilst
ascertained b 0
the population of England and Wales increased in the 60
years 225 per cent., that of Lancashire increased 360 per
cent. The most remarkable increase of population has
taken place in Liverpool and Manchester. A hundred
years ago Liverpool had 30,000, and Manchester 25,000 in-
habitants ; but the decennial increase of the two places dur-
ing the last 60 years has been unprecedented in any other
towns in the kingdom. The following figures denote the
respective progress of each :—Liverpool increase in GO years,
539 per cent.; Manchester increase in 60 years, 484 per cent,
In tho northern hundreds of Lonsdalo, Amounderness, and
Leyland, although they are to a small extent engaged in
manufacturing, the increase in the 60 years only reached
127 per cent. ; whilst in the three southern, or more com-
mercial hundreds of Blackburn, Salford, and West Derby,
the increase in the corresponding period has been 288
per cent. As a measure of progress, it is a striking fact
that, whilst in the year 1760, according to Dr. Percival, the
entire cotton trade of Great Britain did not return for ma-
terials and labour more than .£200,C00, in 1860 the returns
of our cotton manufacture were estimated by Mr. B azley,
M.P., at the sum of £85,000,000; and that, whilst in 1764
the weight of raw cotton imported was 3,870,0001 b, in 1860
the weight of raw cotton consumed was 1,083,600,0001 b.
The figures we have quoted above show that we have in
this brief period increased by more than 400 times the value
of the cotton products, and that we are consuming in the
operation 270 times as much weight of raw cotton as was
consumed a century ago. By way of illustration of the ex-
tent and perfection attained in the cotton manufacture, it has
been stated that in this country we employ 36 millions of
spindles, and that in ono minute we can spin a length of
cotton yarn which would wind four times round the earth.
Every day 10 millions of yards of cotton fabrics come out of
our looms; and it seems to baffle our power of calculation
when we say that, after having supplied the wants of our
own population most abundantly, we have 100 millions of
pounds of yarn, and 2,000 millions of yards of plain and
printed goods to spare, which we export to supply the
wants of the people of other nations. With abundance
of labour at our command, and by the use of econo-
mic appliances, the cost of production and the selling
price of every article of cotton manufacture has
been greatly reduced. In the year 1786, the price of cotton
yarn, No. 42, was 10s. 11d. per lb. ; in 1860, the price of
cotton yarn, No. 42, was 11d. or lb. In 17 86 the price of
cotton yarn, No. 100, was 38s. per lb ; in 1860 the price of
cotton yarn, No. 100, was 2s. Gd. per lb. In proof that an
appreciable amount of the advantages of cheapness has
reached the consumer, in 1790, the mother of an eminent
manufacturer still living purchased a white cotton dress at
6s. a yard ; while in 1860 the same quality of fabric was ob-
tainable at from 21. d. to 3d. ayard. Compared with wool or
flax the economy of cotton is very striking. Taking the cost
prices as they existed in 1860, the relative value of the three
fabrics was as follows :—A garment of 11b. in weight, made

of flannel, cost 3s. ld. ; a garment of 11b. in weight, made
of linen, cost 2s. 4d. ; a garment 11b. in weight, made of
cotton, cost ls. The effect of this groat commercial and
manufacturing development upon the value of land in the
district where it has taken place has been enormous. In
the course of 174 years, the property in the county of Lan-
caster usually denominated freehold has increased in value
by upwards of 11,600 per cent. In 1692, the gross annual
value of Lancashire was £97,242 ; in 1815 it wa5.£3,087,774 ;
in 1865, it has been placed at £11,453,851. In the hundreds
chiefly agricultural, the increase in value has been at the
rate of 4,776 per cent. ; whilst in the hundreds chiefly com-
mercial and manufacturing, the increase has been at the
ratio of 13,991 per cent. It thus appears that the balance
of progress is nearly three to one in favour of the district
which is mostly engaged in manufactures and commerce ;
but the mighty change effected by commerce alone is mani-
fested to a much more remarkable extent by reference to the
receipts of the shipping dues in the port of Liverpool,
which increased in 106 years 30,662 per cent. In the year
1760, only a few years before the invention of spinning by
machinery, the annual receipts for dock dues were £2,330;
and the year 1865-6, the annual receipts from dock and
harbour dues were £716,754. Wo have another striking
exemplification of the extent of the progress made, in a re-
turn of the gross amount of assessment forincome received
annually from realised property and profits on trade, as they
have been assessed to property and income-tax, under the
schedules A and D, relating to the county of Lancaster for
the years 1814 and 1864 respectively. In Lancashire the
gross increase of income during this period under schedules
A and D has been in the ratio of 570 per cont. ; whilst in
England and Wales, for the same years, the increase has
been only in the ratio of 228 per cent. In 1814 this county
stood assessed under the above schedules at five and a half
millions, and in 1861 at 31 millions sterling, or, in the last
50 years, the ratio of the above contributions to the impe-
rial revenue from this one county has increased from one
sixteenth to little less than one-sixth of the entire amount
raised under these schedules of taxation in all the 52 coun-
ties of England and Wales. The increase of the wealth of
the landowners resulting principally from their having large
portions of their estates withdrawn from agriculture to
meet the requirements of manufacturing industry, has
yielded to the owners an increase of value in many instances
amounting to from 10,000 to 50,000 per cent. beyond what
the same land had previously been worthfor mere purposes
of cultivation. The cotton manufacture is no longer con-
fined within the limits of the county of Lancaster, as at its
commencement ; it is now extensively carried on in parts
of Yorkshire, in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lanarkshire, and to
some small extent in Ireland and in Wales. Lancashire is,
however, still pre-eminently distinguished as the home of
the cotton trade, and retains a sort of monopoly in the ex-
tent of its productive power. According to a Parliamentary
return in 1862, Lancashire possessed nearly 80 per cent. of
the total number of factories in England and Wales. Nearly
half a million of persons are directly occupied in this single
industry, but to these must be added engineers, builders,
machinists, bleachers, printers, and other auxiliaries. Since
the number of hands actually employed (315,620) appears
comparatively small for the results produced, it will be ne-
cessary to bear in mind that the greatest operators are the
machinery and the steam engine. Other estimates show
that the entire number of persons directly employed in, or
indirectly dependent upon, the cotton trade is about four
millions, or 20 per cent of the population of England and
Wales. The importance of the cotton manufacture, in its
individual character and in a national point of view, can
only be estimated by comparing it with the various other
branches of industry ; and in order to do this with accu-
racy, it will be necessary to go back to the year 1860,
during the normal state of our cotton industry, anterior to
its disturbed condition by the American war. By reference
to the Board of Trade tables of the exports of British and
Irish produce and manufacture, we find that upwards of 40
per cent. of the total exports of the country consisted, at
that date, of cotton goods exclusively, the three other tex-
tile branches having contributed 20 per cent., whibt the
remaining 40 per cent. consisted of all the other articles of
commerce exported from this country. This advanced
progress has not, indeed, been either rapid or constant. Ere
the cotton trade attained to its present magnitude it has had
to encounter many bitter and costly obstructions. In 1815,
after the close of the war, the annual exports of cotton
manufactures had reached the sum of £18,158,172, and it
was hoped that peace would restore our wonted prosperity,
but this hope was not realised. Our commercial legisla-
tion, based as it was upon erroneous economic principles,
imposed most injudicious restrictions on manufactures. For
upwards of a quarter of a century this suicidal policy was
persisted in ; resulting, as regards the cotton manufacture,
in a reduction in the value of the exports from £18,158,172
'in 1815 to £13,907,881 in 1842, notwithstanding the fact
that increased cheapness had caused a very considerable
increase of the quantity of goods produced and exported.
Fortunately, about this time, it became apparent to many
that no attainable amount of mechanical skill, no economy
however rigid, could cope successfully with the obstacles
involved in such a system of commercial restriction ; and
the league of free-traders was formed, whose labours,
after years of peaceful and energetic agitation, were
crowned with success, and the beneficial results realised
have far exceeded the highest anticipations of the most
sagacious and fur-seeing leaders of the movement.
Under our new commercial system, the total ex-
poils of British produce and manufactures since 1812
have increased 250 per cent., and there has been a similar
increase in the quantity of raw cotton imported. In the
export of piece goods and yarn there has been an increase
from 24 millions in 1810 to 57 millions in 1865. The con-
clusions to be drawn from these statements not only con-
firm the most ardent anticipations of the free traders, but
they servo also to substantiate the remark of the late Mr.
Senior, " that our cotton manufacture is one of the pillars
of our national wealth." "If figures can ever be magnifi-
cent," says Mr. Arnold in his " History of the Cotton Fa-
mine," if naked totals ever reach the sublime, surely the
cotton trade of 1860 clainis our admiration."