The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-03 00:00:00

BENSON'S STEAM FACTORY, Ludgate-hill.

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1866.

The House of Commons is evidently fully sens-
ible of the importance of its duties during the pre-
sent visitation of Cholera. The Public Health Bill
has been hurried on throtgh the necessary stages,
and the standing orders were suspended to allow it
to be read a third time and passed last evening.
An additional proviso was introduced into one of
the latter clauses, giving to the Privy Council wide
discretionary powers with regard to cholera and
other epidemics. This is very necessary, for in
cases of this kind promptitude is of the greatest
possible importance, and we have already
had far too much of hesitation, uncer-
tainty, and timidity in dealing with the
enemy. Cholera waits for no routine ; it will
not stand still while rival authorities are measuring
out their respective duties and considering minor
points of legality and obligations. Only last night
an incident occurred which proved the urgent need
that exists for strengthening the hands of the Privy
Council. Captain VIVIAN asked the Home Secre-
tary whether his attention had been drawn to a
case which was reported from the Thames-street
Police-office. Mr. WILLS, a surgeon, of the dis-
trict of St. Botolph, applied to the magistrate for
an order to destroy some infected clothing, left in a
house in which there had been three violent
cases of Asiatic Cholera, two of which proved
fatal. Mr. Wills stated that he had been informed
that the Privy Council had given orders that in all
houses where cholera had shown itself proper disin-
fectants should be applied, and every article of
clothing should be destroyed. The magistrate said
he had no power to act, and the Whitechapel Board
of Works also shrunk from giving the order. Mr.
NVALPOLE had not heard of the case, and did not
know the extent of his own powers if he had been
applied to. We may hope, therefore, that Mr.
WILLS, or some other party, has taken upon himself
the responsibility of destroying these articles. In
cases like this men may well be pardoned for over-
stepping the rigid limits of their legal powers, but
at the same time it is quite time that some properly
qualified authority should be able to give explicit
directions in all such matters. The existing laws are
lamentably deficient, and we have no doubt that the
Public Health Bill will be passed without loss of
time through the Upper House, since there is a
growing conviction that sanitary regulations must
be enforced if we wish to preserve the public health.
Several very useful clauses were added to the bill
last night—one on the suggestion of Mr. CHAM-
BERS giving power to the nuisances authority
to require payment of costs or expenses from the
owner or occupier, in case of the occupier paying
the latter to deduct the same from the rent. This
is an excellent provision, and will bring landlords
to their senses. Every one familiar with the poorer
class of houses must know the great difficulty which
tenants often find in getting any necessary repairs
done or nuisances removed. Very often they are
behind hand with their payments and are fearful
of a notice to quit ; while even if they are able to
pay, they know the threat of leaving to be no
empty one, since plenty of occupants are forth-
coming for the worst kept dwelling-places in
London. Another very useful provision is that
of clause 25, which provides for the removal
of a person sick of an infectious disorder from an
overcrowded room. To many of the clauses some
exceptions were taken, but the objections were in
every instance overruled, since all felt that
it was better to risk minor inconveniences and
occasional hardship to individuals than to continue
any longer the uncertain system which produced so
much wide-spread suffering and disease.

The distress of the poor and populous districts at
the East end under the present visitation of cholera
and its attendant evils is very great, and we do not
wonder that the wealthier and more fortunate dis-
tricts of the metropolis feel bound to assist them.
There are never wanting charitable leaders in such
good works, and already many valuable suggestions
have been made for the relief of those actually
afflicted, and for the assistance of the thousand
whose extreme destitution predisposes them to the
attacks of the disease. There is some talk of
erecting temporary hospitals for the reception
of cholera cases, and this would be a
very sensible plan, since every serious case
in the crowded, ill-drained alleys, where
fresh air and pure water are unknown luxuries,
tends to spread the disease still more widely. Our
regular hospitals would not be able to provide ac-
commodation for any large increase of cases, even
were it desirable to introduce cholera patients among
other diseases. As yet the burden has fallen exclu-
sively on one hospital, where it has been nobly and
courageously borne, though taxing the resources of
the institution and the powers of the whole staff to
the very utmost. No doubt ilublic support will be
forthcoming liberally on behalf of the London
Hospital, which possesses extraordinary claims on
the sympathy and assistance of the public. A very
valuable suggestion has just been made by a distin-
guished lady, whose efforts on behalf of her suffering
fellow-creatures have previously produced substan-
tial results. Mrs. GLADSTONE writes to the
Times that it occurred to her that an effec-
tual means of assisting the London Hos-
pitals, under the present severe pressure on its
resources, would be to provide a temporary home
for the children who are recovering from cholera,
many of whom are orphans. The plan has already
been set on foot, and the manage
which which we are confident will be p
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eevery
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Their tender age invariably makes them furnish the
principal number of victims, while they suffer indi-
rectly when their parents and relatives are laid up.
Who can help feeling for the poor little orphans sick
in the wards of great London Hospitals needing the
tender and watchful care which convalescent chil-
dren so greatly require? Every mother's heart must
respond to Mr. GLADSTONE'S appeal, and those to
whom the claims of helpless childhood speak less
powerfully will readily admit the valuable assistance
which the removal of these little ones will render
the overcrowded hospital. Itis not a time to mea-
sure obligations too narrowly ; we should each do
, what we can, and while the Legislature is conferring
the necessary powers, and the local authorities are
doing their best to confront the evil, private enterprise
can find plenty of scope in assisting and forwarding
works of this character. It must be remembered
that poverty is a great predisposer to disease ; and
if the, old glory which attribtitwi 0, large

proportion of the deaths from an epidemic
to
,fear be founded on fact, still more
justly might a greater share be attributed to that
pressing want
" Which numbs the soul with icy hand,"
and lowers the vital force below the power of re-
sistance. In mitigating the horrors of distress we
are diminishing the spread of cholera, a danger
which concerns us all.

It seems as if we were never to hear the last of
the Jamaica question, and as if the doubts and
difficulties to which it has given rise were not to be
easily and speedily solved. ',lst night in the House
of Lords the Earl of ROMNEY asked the Secretary
for the Colonies some questions relative to the con-
dition of Jamaica. The noble lord truly added
that there were " certain persons so prejudiced on
the matter that no answer that could be given would
be satisfactory to them." Lord CARNARVON made
a long statement in reply, in which he treated the
difficult subject very successfully. lie gave it as
his opinion that no man who looked into the cir-
cumstances of the case could doubt " the very grave
necessity which rested upon those in authority to
adopt the most rigorous measures to repress the
disorders ; but, on the other hand, it was equally
clear that there have been a few cases of undoubted
cruelty, some cases of undoubted oppression, and
some of undoubted injustice." The distinction is
well drawn here between sanctioning an undue
exercise of severity, and passing the necessary
condemnation which some are so prone to do.
According to the remarks of the members of the
Jamaica Committee, and of those who have
taken up this matter in an extreme view,
we might come to the conclusion that
there had been no outbreak at all, and that the
colonial authorities, civil and military, had made the
excuse of a trifling disturbance to perpetrate
cruelties and excesses that were revolting to
humanity. Lord CARNARVON, while condemning
the course pursued in GORDON'S case, declared his
belief that there " can be no doubt that both Mr.
EYRE, who accepts the whole responsibility, and the
officers who acted in subordination to him acted
with most complete bona fides in the matter, per-
sonal feelings and irrelevant considerations were
entirely absent from their minds, and however mis-
taken they were they believed they were performing
their duty. Whatever offence Mr. EYRE has com-
mitted murder is certainly not the offence that can
be charged against him, and I believe such a charge
would be utterly repugnant to the common sense of
Englishmen." Nothing could be better put than this,
and it serves as a complete answer to the unseemly
remarks and unfounded charges made in the House
of Commons the other night, and, indeed, in various
other places.
There is one thing to say on behalf of Mr. EYRE,
that those who criticise his conduct, and compare it
with that of Lord CANNING in the Indian Mutiny,
are apt to forget ; and that is, that he speedily sup-
pressed the outbreak, while the authorities in
India, by their tameness and hesitation, allowed
the natives to make great encroachments, and
thus prolonged the horrors of the struggle.
Lord CARNARVON said that he had obtained the
admiration of his country by rising above the pre-
judices and passions of the moment, and it was to
the fatal want of that quality in Mr. EYRE that we
may trace at least half of the mischief that arose
through the unnecessary prolongation of martial
law. This is certainly quite correct, but at the same
time had Lord CANNING, and those acting in con-
cert with him, displayed half Mr. EYRE'S decision
much of the time and money wasted in quel-
ling the mutiny would have been saved, and
also all the dreadful cruelties inflicted upon
the Europeans would have been prevented.
This part of the argument always escapes
the notice of Mr. BRIGHT and his friends when they
are raving about the Jamaica question. They do
not pay any attention to the fact that the severities
which were in some instances rudely carried on by
the authorities were not to be compared in the
slightest degree to the cruelties which the blacks al-
ways perpetrate when roused to insurrection. Lord
CARNARVON stated that it was the duty of her MA-
JESTY'S Government to look into the state of the
laws affecting the West Indian colonies and further
considering the expediency of drawing up a short
and simple code of regulations for the instruction
and guidance of Governors who may be placed in
circumstances similar to those in which Mr. EYRE
was placed. This would be very desirable in many
respects; and, as for the question of compensation,
the noble lord wisely reserved his opinion on the
subject, declaring he would wait for the reports of
Sir JOHN GRANT, whom he thought a most capable
man to grapple with the difficulties in his way.

The negotiations for peace will be opened shortly
at Prague. The King of PRUSSIA is about to return
to Berlin, no doubt comparing himself to the great
heroes and conquerors that fill the pages of his-
tory. There is one noticeable fact, however, that
strikes our attention in all wars that the Prussians
carry on, and that is that they act without the
slightest regard to the dictates of honour and jus-
tice. Thus we hear that the Prussian troops en-
tered Mannheim and Heidelberg on the night
of the Ist inst. The Official Gazette of
Berlin states that it has been authorised
to repudiate as " a malicious calumny" the
intelligence put forth by the. Bavarian Gazette,
to the effect that the Prussian army had acted con-
trary to the conditions of the armistice, and had
continued its march into Bavaria: whereupon a
detailed account is given in order to prove the falsity
of the attack. It would, indeed, be a pity for
any one to go out of their way to make calumnious
assertions concerning the doings of Prussia, for,
Heaven knows, the plain unvarnished truth is quite
bad enough. It does not seem, however, that
the Official Gazette makes out a very good
case, notwithstanding all its virtuous indignation.
It declares that the terms of the armistice agreed
upon by Herr Von der PFORDTEN, stipulated that
the 2d of August should be the time at which the
armistice should commence. This is an excuse and
defence which no honest man would accept of, be he
a civil or a military authority ; but the meaning of
it is made quite clear by the allusion made to the
second article, which declares that the military de-
tails of the said armistice, and the line of demarca-
tion for both armies to observe, should be settled on
the basis of the uti-possidetis. The whole course
pursued by the Prussians has been most
contemptible, and shows that they have not a particle
of moderation. They have by this time secured in
all conscience sufficient territory to make them take
the lead in all treaties and compacts that will be
made, and this petty striving after all they can pos-
sibly grasp at, by fair means or foul, is quite con-
temptible, and lowers them still more in the eyes
of upright people. The official Gazette of Berlin
will have enough to do, we should think, in
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