The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 20, 1866.

SHARE MARKETS,—This Day.

(`!:Dr.'lTstY 911 ARES AND STOCKS.

Hallways.

Closing Business
Price. ( dene.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT—This Day.

OLD COURT.
(13,Zoye th 111,.Torclor.)
CHARGE OF STEALING A LETTER.

Edward Barrow, clerk, was indicted for stealing a lotter,
the property of the Postmastei-General.

From the evidence it appeared that the prisoner held a
responsible position in the service of the Post-office, and
received a salary amounting to about .£l9O per annum. His
duty was to travel with the mail between London and
Ipswich on the Great Eastern Railway. From certain
circumstances coming to the knowledge of the Post-office
authorities it was thought desirable to post a test letter
for Ipswich, which was put into the bag before it went
into tho possession of the prisoner, and on the arrival of
the bag at Ipswich the letter was found to be missing.
The letter contained a half sovereign and some postage
stamps. It was alleged that the prisoner went to
the Railway Hotel and thoio changed half a sove-
reign, which was identified as the marked coin
which had been fastened up in the letter. The
defence was an actual denial of the whcle theory of the
prosecution. The prisoner alleged that ho never elianged
half a sovereign at the Railway Hotel, but that is pay-
ment for refreshment supplied to him he gave a sovereign.
With respect to the letter, his counsel urged that as
other persons had access to the bag, it was
too much to say that he must therefore have
stolen it. Other persons had keys to the letter-bag, but
the Solicitor-General, who prosecuted, said the prisoner
was the only person who was engaged sorting the letters
while they were being conveyed to Ipswich by the train.
At the close of the case the prisoner was acquitted.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.--This Day.

31ARLBORdUGH-STREET.

A WOULD-BE StuctnE.—Mary Brown, a respectable-
looking lderly female, was charged before Mr. Knox with
attempting to commit suicide by throwing herself into the
Serpentine.

John Labrun, a labouring man, living at Blyth-lane,
Hammersmith, while passing the Serpentine this morning
about 7 o'clock, on his way to his work, saw something in
the water, and on going up found it was the prisoner. He
got her out of the water, and took her to the Humane So •
ciety's Receiving House.
Thomas lloxon, park-constable, No. 13, said the pri-
soner told him that she was sorry that she had not drowned
herself, and that she would do so.

The prisoner said she was sorry for what she had (lone.
She had been ill for some time and could not sleep, and
went out for a walk. She had a husband in Australia,
and he remitted her money to keep her. She had no re-
lations of her own.

Mr. Knox—Then it is not want that has caused you to
act as you have done ?
The prisoner said it was not; it was only illness.
Mr. Knox said ho would remand the prisoner, and Ser-
geant Cowdy, of the Park Constables, could make in-
quiries respecting her.
A PIG DEALER AND HIS HORSE.—George Arnold, a pig
dealer, of 22A, Blundell-street, Caledonian-road, appeared
to answer the complaint of Mr. John Colam, secretary of the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Mr. Thos. Descorix, residing at No. 11, Bruton-street,
Berkeley-square, said—on the 7th December I saw the
defendant driving JI horse attached to a wash- cart, near
St. Martin's church. Through the defendant nearly coming
in collision with an omnibus, the collar of his horse was
seized, and Mr. Descorix then observed a large wound
under the collar of the horse. The horse was in a very
bad condition and had other sores about it.
The defendant said there were no wounds on the horse
when he brought it out. He had only bought it the day
before for £3.

Dobie, officer of the society, said he want to the defen-
dant's stable, next door to a " knacker's," and examined
the horse, and found a large wound on its breast. On tel-
ling the defendant the wound was an old oneand hadbeen
blackened over, the prisoner said it had. The horse which
had once been a good one was old and in low condition.
The defendant admitted that the barrel of wash weighed
16 cwt.

The magistrate said that a good horse got from hand
to hand till it got into such hands as the defendant's, and
at last droppod down, being quite worn out. It was cruel
conduct to a poor thing.

The defendant said he had now sold the horse.
Dobie said tho defendant had sold it for £3 10s.
The defendant was fined 40s. or a month.

THAMES.

WILFUL DAMAGE—SINGULAR DEFENCE.—Mary Holden,
a respectable matron, was brought before Mr. Selfe charged
with wilfully and maliciously breaking a pane of glass in
a gas lamp, the property of the Commercial Gas Company.
A police constable of the K division said the prisoner
came to him last night in Park-street, Bromley, and asked
him to take her husband into custody for assaulting her.
He saw no assault committed, and as there were no marks
of violence on her person, ho refused to interfere. The
prisoner then said if ho would not take her husband into
custody she would be flocked up, and in his presence took
a stone, threw it at a gas lamp, and broke one of the panes
of glass. He then locked her up.

The prisoner said that last night she had a good supper
ready forhorhusband, and ho came home drunk and abused
her. He took a knife up and threatened to stab her. He
also accused her of infidelity, and with having dishonoured
him on many occasions by her criminal intercourse with
other men. Her husband grossly libelled her, and told
great untruths. She had boon the mother of nine chil-
dren, and brought them up properly. She was a chaste
wife, and had not been unfaithful. She went out to obtain
protection of the police. She could not obtain any protec-
tion from her husband, and she committed the offence with
which she stood charged to enable her to make an appeal
to the magistrate.

Mr. Selfe said the only answer he could make to the ap-
peal was to punish the prisoner for wilful damage. Ile
could not permit the Commercial Gas Company to suffer
because the prisoner had quarrelled with her husband. If
she could pay for the glass she had broken at once he
would not fine her.

The Prisoner—No, I cannot pay any money.
Mr. Selfe—l fine you Is., and you will also have to pay
2s. 6d. for tho glass, or be imprisoned for five days.

Reform Demonstration at Whitechapel.

Last evening there was a reiorm demonstration,

held at the instance of the Tower llan-llets branch
of the Reform League, at the Pavilion Theatre,
Whitechapel-road. The audience was a very large
one, the admission being by ticket.

Mr. BEALES occupied the chair, and on making
his appearance on the stage was greeted with loud
cheers. He was accompanied by Colonel Dickson,
Messrs. Baxter Langley, George Potter, Bradlaugh,
Rothwell, Connolly, Cohen, Wicherlow, Bowkett,
Weston, Mantel!, Davis, and the Rev. J. Thomas.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said

that he was rejoiced to meet the men of East Lon-
don, for the reform movement had met with many
earnest supporters at the East-end. He congratu-
lated the meeting on the present position of this
movement for securing to the great body of the
people their constitutional rights as regarded the
franchise. (Cheers.) The most talented, philosophi-
cal, and respectable of the Tory publications, the

Quarterly Review, had stigmatised the Reform As
sociation as a most arrogant society, which disgusted
all who were not members of the association
itself. If he could judge by the warm recection
which the Reform League had met with at the va-
rious meetings held in England, Scotland, and Ire-
land, they might congratulate each other upon the
enthusiastic manner in which the people had taken
up the question, while, on the other hand, no one
had ventured to convene meetings to oppose it ; and
so far as he was aware only one man, Mr. Bass,
had ventured to raise his voice against it, in a room
attached to his own brewery, but which was com-
pletely drowned by the disapprobation of the meet-
ing. It could not be alleged that among the hun-
dreds of thousands of men, including merchants,
capitalists, clergymen, and others, who supported
this movement, there were not many who had some-
thing to lose. He repelled with indignation the
charge that had been made against him, that he had
rendered the cause unpopular, nor could it b said
to be unpopular when they saw an English, an Irish,
and a Scotch Reform League. He claimed for every
man morally responsible the principle of the suffrage,
which was the only thing that could place the people
in the position of free citizens. Their meetings, which
had been distinguished by the greatest regard for
law and order, had abundantly refuted the charges
made against the people by those who only wanted
an excuse to continue the system of oppression
which had existed. It had been said that manhood

suffrage would enable the working classes to domi-
nate over all other classes. That was merely an as-
sumption based upon the opinion of their opponents
that the interest of the working classes was opposed
to that of all other classes of society ; and, secondly,
that if they had the suffrage, they would use it for
evil purposes. If the first assumption were correct,
it only proved how imperative reform was, because
it was evident that the interests of the governing
classes were opposed to the working classes. He
denied that there was the slightest reason to believe
that if manhood suffrage was granted it would be
used for evil purposes. Shame upon those who made
the allegation, and shame upon the working classes
if they submitted to it. (Cheers.) Had there been
any instances of manhood suffrage in America or
any of our colonies being used for evil purposes 2 It
had been conclusively shown by Mr. Hutton, for
many years a member of the Australian Government
and legislature, that before the introduction of man-
hood suffrage and the ballot the elections presented
the same features of violence and immorality as
existed in this country at the present time—a sys-
tem which had been completely put an end to
by the adoption of those two principles. Yet there
were members of parliament who sneered at the re-
form movement, and among them the member for
the Tower Hamlets. (Hisses for Mr. Ayrton, and
cries of " He'll be turned out next time.") Then,
again, the Adullamite member for Lambeth had

thought proper to sneer at America, and to say,
" God forbid this country should ever be brought to
the condition of that country." Just conceive a man
sneering at a country which had just conducted
with remarkable ability one of the most gigantic
wars on record, and yet immediately it was ended
had set itself to work, and had already reduced the
public debt by £30,000,000, while in time of peace
our Government had never been able to reduce our
public debt, which was incurred for the most part in
foreign wars, in any appreciable degree. (Hear,
hear.) Conceive a man sneering at a country in
which every child was educated at the expense of
the State, and in which pauperism did not exist,
when, if he chose to look around him, he would find
the most frightful pauperism and the most deplor-
able ignorance. (Hear, hear.) He concluded by
urging upon them that, inasmuch as par-
liament would never reform itself, it was their
bounden duty to support the Reform League, which
would enable them to bring such a pressure upon
the legislature as must compel them to do the people
justice. (Cheers.)
Mr. GATES then moved, and Mr. BRAND seconded

the following resolution :—" That this meeting,
whilst expressing its unfeigned contempt and in-
dignation at the means resorted to by a Tory faction,
aided by a clique of sham Liberals to stifle and
overthrow the moderate measure introduced by the
late Government, records its want of confidence in
the present Ministry, and pledges itself to accept at
their hands no measure as a settlement of this ques-
tion that does not fully and satisfactorily restore to

the people their natural and constitutional rights—
manhood suffrage, registered and residential, and
protected by the ballot." Both the speakers were
working men, and made very effect ive addresses.
The latter, with respect to the claim made to limit

,he franchise to the household suffrage, put it to

the meeting whether, supposing a prosperous trades-
man occupying a house for a long period of his life
was suddenly reduced by unforeseen calamity to
occupy lodgings, he was less competent to vote for
a member of Parliament than he was before.

Mr. BRADLAUGII supported the resolution in a
speech which produced considerable effect. The
resolution was also supported by Mr. MANTELL,
and carried by acclamation.
Resolutions were also passed to the effect that a
petition to Parliament, based upon the first resolu-
tion, should be presented, and that the meeting
record its earnest thanks to the champions of the
cause of the people—William Ewart Gladstone,
John Bright, and John Stuart Mill--with others,
in and out of Parliament, who supported them in
their efforts on behalf of their toiling fellow-country-
men, and who vindicated the character of the
working men from the most infamous slanders.
All the resolutions were agreed to.
The other speakers were Mr. Jones, Mr. Baxter
Langley, Colonel Dickson, Mr. Payne, and Mr.
Davis.

A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the
proceedings.

State of Trade.

NOTTINGHAM, Dec. 19.—1 n the hosiery trade general
business is firmer ; the home market is looking up, and in
the foreign department several shippers are hero with or-
ders to a fair extent. Yarns have still an upward ten-
dency ; some houses have advanced ls. per bundle, but the
rise is not yet general. The Pall-Mall Gazette, in an article
on foreign competition, remarks :—" In cotton hosiery it
is well known that Germany and the Alsatian provinces
of France have long been in the habit of supplying English
haberdashers with the commoner and coarser fabrics at a
rate with which Nottingham and Leicester cannot compete;
and we are assured that they are now beginning to rival
and to surpass us even in the finer articles." There is a
good deal of truth in the observation, although our manu-
facturers will not admit the superiority of the foreigners
in the finer articles; but the statement may not be with-
out its effect in the present complicated relations between
employers and workmen. The lace trade is just in that
condition that any change must be for the better. Tho
dulness may be partly attributable to stock-taking, which
checks activity in business; but the trade is no doubt in a
very depressed state.

TILE AUSTRIAN AR3ll.—lt is expected that in
Austria shortly military service will be made compulsory
for all, with the exception of such of the clergy as shall
have been ordained and only sons who have to support
their parents. Liability to service will last from the ago of
17 to 45 ; the first three years in the Landsturm for home
service, the next three years in the regular army, then
three years on furlough, three years in the first reserve, and
three years in the second reserve. From the age of 32 to
45 the men will belong to the Landsturm, or militia.