The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-28 00:00:00

LONDON, S,ITURDAY, JULY 28, 1866.

A four weeks' armistice, that is to commence
from the 2d of August, until which time the truce
is to be prolonged. So far we are relieved from
any apprehension of further fighting ; but it cannot
be said that there is one satisfactory feature beyond
the fact that the great suffering and loss which pro-
longed hostilities would entail have been avoided.
All is wrong from beginning to end in the arrange-
ments of their armistice, and we are now reaping
the full consequences of the timid and unworthy
course which we pursued two years ago, and induced
the other powers to agree to likewise. Thecircumstance
of the minor German States being excluded from
the armistice is alone sufficient to explain its cha-
racter and to expose the meaning of its authors. It
is very much to be regretted that the French Ex-
PEROP. could not have obtained better terms when
he undertook the arrangement of the matter. It is
one thing, however, to preach and another to prac-
tise ; and there are no more implicable foes than the
Prussians—they never feel any of those chivalrous
sentiments which go far to soften the horrors of war
when allowed full play and free exercise, and
they always pursue the fallen foe with a
vindictiveness more characteristic of savages
than consonant with the habits of civilisation.
How any one in the face of this outrageous conduct
of the Berlin Government at Frankfort, and their
cruel course in not including the minor States in the
armistice, can say that Herr BISMARCK is working
out great evils, and will confer lasting benefits upon
Germany, is past comprehension. We have come
to a strange pass if in this enlightened age it is con-
sidered an advantage for tyranny to triumph, and
overbearing arrogance to rule the day. How it is
to further the cause of freedom for all Germany to
be made the dominion of a monarch who sets
treaties at defiance and violates every prin
ciple of constitutional government is indeed
a problem most difficult to solve, but whatever be
the opinion of others, the Germans themselves seem
not to be very sensible of their debt of gratitude to
Herr BISMAP.CK.

It must be borne in mind that this man, cruel and
unscrupulous as he is, is only the representative of
an idea, and his superior skill has enabled him to
carry out plans which his compatriots have not had
the ability to execute. It is the fashion to give him
all the credit of this business, and also to impute to
him the responsibility, but every one who considers
the subject must know that he would be powerless
alone, and that if he did not give satisfaction to
the King he serves and the people he represents
he could never have attained his present pre-emi-
nence, nor have held it so long. The notion that
has obtained in England that the Prussians were in
some respects kindred spirits with ourselves is quite
an erroneous OHO. Instead of the blessings of peace
they prefer the horrors of war, if by this means
they can heap up riches for themselves, and seize
territories without right or reason. Instead cf
seekinc, to improve their condition and make real
progress they are ever intent on selfish ends, and
interfering with the rights of their neigh-
bours. We must therefore remember that
BISMARCK is an agent who represents very
adroitly the wishes and desires of the Prussian
people, and not a hero who has sprung to light
whom the force of circumstances has pushed on to
success. What will be the end of the unprincipled
course which the PrimianA are now pursuing is not

The House of Commons last evening devoted
several hours to the discussion of the Public Health
Bill, and certainly no more pressing or important
subject could be brought under consideration. After
many warnings, after a twelvemonth or so of expec-
tation which has alternately risen into alarm and
subsided into indifference, the cholera seems to
have fairly established itself amongst us, taking for
its base of operations those miserable eastern parishes
which have been so long the disgrace of wealthy
London. The names of Spitalfields, Bethnal-green,
Poplar, and Shoreditch have long been as-
sociated with all the horrors of want, disease,
and over-crowding, with all their long
train of attendant evils. Where thousands are
just fighting off starvation throughout the long
trying winter months, it would be absurd to look
for a high standard of public health. Fever creeps
in and out of the wretched courts and alleys,
never long absent, but never sufficiently remark-
able to attract much notice, doing its work slowly
but surely in undermining the strength of the adults
and decimating the little ones. As for public
morality and decency the most earnest preacher
stands back appalled at the horror he encounters.
Where two or three families inhabit one room,
where there is no sort of provision for
the commonest decencies of life, how can he
hope to train the young and to instruct the old
with any prospect of success ? And so vice in-
creases the wretchedness of destitution and disease,
and they in their turn encourage the reckless-
ness which produces vice ; and this state of things
goes on year after year within easy access of wide
streets and spacious thoroughfares, within hearing
almost of the Reformers and philanthropists who
are declaiming about the elevation of their kind.
But NEMESIS does her work at last, and when
those terrible visitants which occasionally threaten
the healthiest climate invade our shores their strong -
hold is in these neglected districts. There they
encamp themselves and refuse to be dislodged ; from
thence they sally forth west, north, and south, to
the stately squares and pleasant suburbs, and do
their work of havoc. In a thousand ways, difficult
if not impossible to trace, the diseases bred in the
dirt, and overcrowding, and misery, in the foul air
and foul water of the East, find their way to more
healthy and better-cared-for regions. The workmen
and workwomen who help to make our articles of
comfort and luxury belong too often to these
miserable homes, and in one way or another the
epidemics, which find easy access to the East end,
penetrate to the West. The course of cholera is not
always easily traceable ; and so) far as our scientific
men have as yet discovered, impure water is one of
the main predisposing causes. The infection, if
infection there be, is not of a direct kind, like the
contagion of fever, smallpox, and kindred diseases.
But the least informed person must know that the
state of things existingin too many parts of London
is directly antagonistic to public health, and
favourable to the reception and the diffusion of every
kind of disease. No doubt the evil is a difficult
one to grapple with. Partly it is due to the igno-
rance of the poor people themselves, their careless
ways, and dirty habits. Partly it arises from the
meanness or dilatoriness of landlords, who will do
nothing for their tenants unless compelled, and
who are not ashamed to draw a good part of
their income from houses not fit for human
habitation. Partly the evil may be said to be " no-
body's business," and therefore it is left un-
disturbed. Our somewhat cumbrous machinery
for local self - government does not always
work well. Our water companies enjoy
a monopoly which makes them happily in-
different to complaint. Our vestries and
sanitary officers are in the habit of regard-
ing every attack upon a nuisance as an
affront to themselves; which they are bound to re-
sent. At all events, few will deny that there is a
crying need for the active interference of the Legis-
lature, though such is the difficulty of the subject
that, even in presence of the cholera itself, some hon.
members are more apprehensive of unnecessary in-
trusion on the part of the police than of all the
horrors of overcrowding. Mr. AYRTON last even-
ing was particularly busy, and objected to weaken-
ing the power of the local authorities. But
repeated experience has shown that the local
r unequal
authorities are either unwilling
o
to deal with many cases, and wheretheyreally
and efficiently perform their duties no one proposes
to trench upon that department. The clause which
sanctions domiciliary visits ou the part of the police
is only intended to refer to instances in which the
local authorities have proved unwilling or incapable
of acting. Then as to the overcrowding, which is
the monster evil of the day, and which is quite as
bad in many of our large towns as in any part of
London, Mr. ATRTON was more troubled to find
out exactly to what the term nuisance applied than
to get rid of the unquestionable nuisance of over-
crowding. Mr. BRUCE justly observed that the
overcrowding of houses formed one of the greatest
sources of disease and one of the most difficult to
struggle against. The law which has been in opera-
tion in Scotland for the last four years has been
found to work well, and several members supported
this view, declaring that the overcrowding in the
large towns of the north was very bad. It
is true that in enforcing any clauses directed
against overcrowding, we must remember, as Mr.
WALPOLE last evening reminded the House, that
many poor persons will be unhoused, but at the
same time in presence of an attack of cholera the
overcrowding itself is a serious public evil. In this,
as in many other cases, we see the disadvantage of
postponing such manifest duties until the crisis has
come ,in which action and inaction are alike disas-