The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-18 00:00:00

been no greater than it was in these 64 districts,
91,652 lives would have been preserved in that year.
England has been divided by theßegistrar Genet
-
leetAproßD Phan ear. ral into two classes of registration districts of abou
The Conferefite assetlibled at 11 o/doele this
equal populations, one consisting mainly of urban
and the dthet of rural inhabitants, and it is found
morning to hear the address of the president of the
that the rural death rate teaches only 22 in 1,000,
Department of Public Health.
while the urban is 26. The facts we possess at pre-
The Right Hon.: W. COWPER (the president)
often taken as a matter of course, but like all other in proportion to the density of population ; but
spoke as follows :—Health being a gift of nature is sent support the theory that unhealthiness prevails
such gifts, it will fly away if not carefully guarded, this, like other branehes of the subject, requires
and the public health of a large modern town re- I believe, lead to
elucidation. An examinatitm of the soils on which
quires for its preservation almost the labours of epidemics mostly prevail, would,
Hercules. Man's life is a struggle, and the very some remarkable conclusioN, for the different in-
existence of his body is the result of an unceasing fluences exercised over certain diseases by clay and
contest between destructive and repairing influ- gravel soils has been too much overlooked. Bus
ences. At every breath he exhales, at every, action the light we now possess is sufficient to prove the
of muscles and nerves, a portion of his substance startling fact, that in England alone a hecatomb of
_
wastes away and is cast off, and at every breath victims, at least 100,000 of our people, are being
that is drawn in and - every mouthful that is di- annually sacrificed to ignorance and disregard to
gested that waste is repair:d and that loss is sup- the laws of health, and that in addition to these
plied. The forces of nature must be directed by 100,000 deaths, far more than a million of persons
his skill, lest they injure instead of serving him. He are suffering from serious illness from the same
must never rest in his unceasing struggle to over- cause. For the more complete confirmation of this
come the tendency he finds in everything around fact, we require that the total mortality should be
him to get into a wrong place. Even cleanliness, separated anddistinguished according ta the diseases
the most obvious of simple duties, is the result of by which it is occasioned. An important contribu-
the never-ending removal of impurities from places tion to this knowledge has been made by Dr. Green-
they defile to their proper receptacle, and the how. He has extracted from the general returns
cleanliness most important to health is just the mortality occurring from diseases which prevail
that which is least regarded—cleanliness of under those evil conditions of life which are most
the air that is breathed. The most refined within the power of th cmu
e omnity to remove.
persons, who would indignantly refuse to en- These are-1, typhoid fever ;2, diarrhceal diseases ;
ter a room with soiled walls, and muddy floor, 3, pulmonary affections • 4, contagious diseases of
and dirty company, sit complacently in ball- children, consisting of scarlatina, measles, and
rooms and theatres, where every one is breathing whooping cough ; and 5, the nervous diseases of
impure air, soiled with the fumes of gam or wax infants. On comparing the mortality of districts
candles, and with other pernicious exhalations. at the top and bottom of the scale of health it ap-
The impurities in which they are steeped are dis- pears that the difference between them is nearly
regarded, because they are not visible, and people equal to that mortality which occurs exclusively
who are most particular about the materials of their from the five classes of disease thus selected :
dinner cannot spare a thought for what they are AVERAGE MORTALITY TO
Mo 1,000 LIVING.
re Exclusive
breathing ; and yet one is no less important than the Total. preventible of those
other. The accurate fitting of modern houses leaves Diseases.
16Disaa1 ses.
5 . 1
few crevices for the passage of air, and builders are Rural districts
well satisfied when they have prevented any escape England and Wales 23 .. 12 • • 11
27 .. 16 .. 11
of air, except up the chimney. But the law of ex- 1-13rn(14.3n h
pension by heat has provided that vitiated breath Birmingham......... am ......
3228 .. 16 .. 11
Leeds
shall rise towards the great ocean of air rolling for Manchester.
12
12
a height of 50 miles above us, in which all impuri- Liverpool district .. 38 .. 25 ..
ties are lost by dilution, but our impervious ceilings From which it appears that
if the excessive 'Aorta-
stop the intended ascent, and drive down the cooled lity from these more preventible diseases could be
carbonic acid gas to be again inhaled with injurious reduced everywhere to the amount which is found
results. But a hole in the ceiling and a hole in the in these selected rural districts, one-half the deaths
wall, permitting the natural movement of air, makes in England would be prevented, and two-thirds of
nature our friend again instead of our enemy ; and
if we take the precaution of admitting the external the deaths in the district at the bottom of the scale.
air by a channel passing round the back of the fire- I think no one will deny that the prevalence and
fatality of these five classes of diseases could be
place, our current of air flows in warm instead of
cold. But cleanliness in the atmosphere of towns checked by the energetic employment of compre-
hensive sanatory measures. Typhoid fever has its
is not so easily obtainable. From tall chimneys home in ill-d.raieel places, and requires for an ally
and short chimneys, from furnaces and chemical some impurity in the air. It never springs up in
works, from sinks and gully-holes, from back yards the homes of the wealthy, though it sometimes in-
and middens, from gutters and lay-stalls, innu- vades them by means of contagion. The nature and
merable pollutions are continually pouring. Na_ locomotion of the cholera poison has not yet been
tare has provided against all these defilements of discovered, but all experience shows that only amid
the air, if we but investigate her laws and take the the decomposition of organic substances can it de-
trouble of obeying them. The smoke that shrouds
velop its crushing power and acquire its full viru-
our great towns in perpetual gloom might be rolled fence. This is also notoriously the case with its
away to let the sunshine appear if we would but
kindred diseases. A large proportion of fatal dis-
take the trouble, for opaque smoke is but ill-burnt cases arise from working in overheated and too dry
coal that ought to have been consumed in the fur- workshops, and from inhaling dust, fluff, or other
arid impurities. The death rates of young children
nace. With reference to the refuse nf towns, the
afford an instructive test of sanatory circumstances,
theory is cle-tr, but the practice is lax and careless.
Every animal and vegetable is nourished by assi- allowing only Isar the different demands upon the
milating to its own use particles of the material time and attention of the mothers in different
substances, such as air, water, and, food, which are places. The sensitive and delicate frames of very
continually circulating through its organism ; but young children show more directly the influence of
by a general law, the substance which has been so their dwellings than the more hardened and resist-
used is rendered unfit for a repetition of the same
use until it has been decomposed and entered into ing constitution of adults. It is naturally found
that where most deaths of infants are recorded
a new combination. Care is, therefore, required to
there are also more weakly and scrofulous children,
hasten and render harmless the decomposition of
the refuse which might accumulate near the who drag on a!debilitated existence, and perpetuate
a race deficient in stamina and vigour, both of
habitations of animals and men. Nature is
fond of moving in circles, and the elements body and mind. In Mr. Simon's report to the Board
of Health in
1858, it is stated that every year more
which rise from the earth for the nourishment than 23,000 children under five years of age die of
of plants, and thence nourish animals, and thence
inflammation of the respiratory organs, besides
nourish men, will, if restored directly to the earth,
afford nearly 4,000 whose deaths are attributed to phthisis ;
nourishment and fertilisation to the soil from
which they proceed, while, if allowed to wander in and these 27,000 deaths are so unequally distri-
buted that the corresponding death rate, in proper-
the air they will exude a poisonous influence. So
tion to the infantine population, ranges from 213 in
all water brought from rivers or wells for distribu• the healthiest district of England to 2,897 in the
unhealthiest. In Combo's work on Physiology
tion through a town should, after passing through it
the houses, complete its sanitary course by washing is stated that.loo years ago, when the pauper in-
the refuse into the earth, and ultimately regain its fants of London were received in workhouses, and
original purity by percolating into the river or brought up amidst impure air, and with unwhole-
spring. At Rugby and at Watford this law of na- some treatment, not above one in 24 lived to be a
tare is strictly observed; an apparatus of pipes and y ear old, so that out of 2,800 received into them,
hose conveys the liquid sewage from the streets to 2,690 died ; but when the conditions of health came
the farm, which it irrigates with profit. But in the to be better understood, an act of Parliament was
case of large towns, where the drains carry away a obtained obliging the parish officers to send the in-
great bulk of water and gravel from the surface fants to the country, and this frightful mortality
drainage, and where irrigation is not in request, was reduced to 450 instead. of upwards of 2,000.
this naturatmethed is inapplicable. The mosttempt- The large establishment for pauper children at
ineearrangement is at once to convey all into the Norwood used a few years ago to be ravaged by
nearest river, and these outrages against the purity epidemics, and to suffer a high rate of average
of rivers, that ought to be the pride and pleasure of mortality. The sanatory arrangements that have
towns, are everywhere attempted to be perpetrated. been adopted have reduced the average death-
The Thames being the thoroughfare of literary as
rate to 20 in 1,000, which is one-third or one-half
well as business men, having on its banks, within of what prevails among the classes from whom
reach of every whiff of odour the Houses of Parlia-
the y are drawn, who hive not the benefit, as it is
in this instance, of becoming paupers, and neither
ment, has found competent defenders, and has by
typhoid fever nor measles halve ever originated in
act of Parliament been declared exempt from the
filthy
the new building. In the district school of the Step
and s hereafter to become a river main, in-
ney Union the death-rate has fallen to 17 in 1,000.
stead of a gigantic drain. But the -Medlock , i task of receiving the contents of the sewers,
The military school at Chelsea affords a striking
at Manchester, and numberless rivers of other example of thealresults of sanatory improvements.
Dr: Balfour improved the ventilation, apportioned
towns, large and small, still want defenders, and it
for ccld bathing, and by such measures has sue
necessary to declare and maintain that the the diet more judiciously, and secured opportunities
cleansing of houses and streets must not lead to the
pollution of rivers. The necessity which the Me-
seeded in reducing the mortality, which on an aye-
-on an average of eight years, and the num-
tropolitan Board of Works believe to exist of cast-
rage of 10 years had been 9.5 per 1,000, 4.8 per
ing into the sea, at enormous expense, that which,
1,000
it separated from the water and gravel with which ber reported unfit for military service from stramous
it is mixed, would fertilise half a country, is discre:
and
ditable to the mechanical and chemical skill of the of 12.4 other diseases has been reduced from an.average
to one of 4.6 pa. 1,000. One personal visit
nation ; but lam still in hopes that so wasteful and to the single room with stained walls and sickening
smells, where a whole family swami for bare slief-
clumsy a proceeding may be rendered unnecessary,
ter—inhaling sickliness at every breath, drinking
and that, if the attention of competent persons be
green and stagnant water, and swallowing damaged
drawn to so important a matter, means of deodo- food—will stir up a more fierce and indignant de-
risation will before long be discovered, by which
sire to come to the rescue and do battle on their be
those salutary processes which the soil is adapted
half, than the largest array of incontrovertible
by nature to produce will be artificially attained
figures. We want the acknowledgment both by law
without too much inconvenience or undue cost.
Some invigorating and manly exercises are needee 1 and custom of a higher standard of the necessaries
for the health and recreation of men who are em-
of life. The poor law protects life by offering to
ployed in sedentary or monotonous occupations.
every one in the land who needs it necessary food;
but as yet the necessity of protecting life from the
Gymnastic grounds have been established near
influence of poisonous dwellings has not practically
Primrose-hill, in London, and also in Liverpool, by
the munificence of an individual. The pastimes of
been acknowledged. The
races, running in sacks, and dancing, which are principle is in the statute-
book. The rudiments of physiology, and anatomy,
being revived at harvest homes and similar and hygiology ought to form part of education, par-
gatherings, show that the universal taste for titularly i-. 4 girls schools ; for until wives, mothers,
trials of strength and for humorous games is and servant-maids understand the rules of health
not wanting even to this grave generation ; and and something of their meaning, our object can
the success which has attended the revival
of' old English sports at Wenlock, under the never be accomplished. .Many things which
appear trifling in themselves are, in this point
Every town should have its parks, where the popu:
name of Olympian games, is very enckraging of view, of great importance. It is provokine,
lotion may disport themselves on holidays and Sun- for instance, to see the prejudice with which
days, and get health as well as recreation from the
people adhere to old clumsy fire-grates which give
beauties of nature. It cannot be expected that many out a minimum of heat with a maximum expendi-
towna will receive gifts as noble as that which was ture of fuel. Dr. Arnott has besto wed on the pub-
conferred on Halifax by Mr. Crossley, on Derby tic a valuable improvement, and the experiments
by Mr. Strutt, and on Birmingham by Mr. Adder- on that and other newly-invented grates, which are
recorded in a blue-book of 1857, might with' great
ley ; but every town may secure a park for itself by advantage be extended. 'Warmth is an important
the imposition of a moderate rate to rep?. the loan condition of health, and it is only by our deficiency
by which the land is purchased. Comprehensive, of mechanical skill in the arrangements of our
and at the same time minute records of the number dwellings that warmth has so often to be sacrificed
and causes of sickness and death are absolutely ne- to the ventilation of the apartment. It is very re -
c cently that it has generally been admitted that for
essary for a sure and steady advance on this sub-
the proper government of a town its authorities
jest. The official supply of statistics, which is quite
must be armed with sanatory powers. The common
accurate as to numbers, is at present insufficient for
law promises redress for chemical as well as me-
our purpose. The registration districts are not set.
chanical injuries, and will prescribe the abatement
out with any view to produce vital statistics, but
of everything that can be peoeed to be a nuisance.
simply follow the subdivisions required for poor-law
tion, the ruling body must take tho direction. If
But as the cleanliness of a town requires co-opera-
relief. They are not coincident with the limits of any
sanatory jurisdiction, and do not separate people
government is maintained for the protection of per-
according to the conditions or occupations we desire
son and property from breaches of the law, why
to compare; so that in local or detailed inquiries
the Registrar-General's reports will often not avail. may it not protect, from breaches of sanatory laws,
An improvement in the registration of the causes the lives of those subject to its authority, and health,
of death is urgently needed, and there is no roa- -which is the 'capital and stock in trade of the
son why it should be combined with the registra- labourer ? The local authority must in all towns
tion of marriages • but it should be placed as be charged with jurisdiction over the air, and be
far as possible in the hands of medical men. We
want a registration of sicknesses that do not terms- responsible for preventing its purity from being
n unnecessarily dealed. The expenses of a local act
ate fatally. The easiness with which this might
be procured is shown by the weekly publication of have become unnecessary,- and the ample powers of
illnesses occurring in the public establishments of the Public Health Act and the Local Government
Act may be adopted without expense, and to such
the metropolis, which was for some months pub-
circum-
lished by the General Board of Health from infor-
stances of the place. One of the greatest advan-
tuges of the last-mentioned act is the facility
mation gratuitously supplied by the medical officers an extent only as may be suitable to the
of health of the metropolis. But though the re- affords fn- altering the boundary of municipal git
o-
turns of mortality are not as complete as might be
contraction. of the area over which the jurisdiction
desired, yet, under the able interpretation of Dr. 'vernment in conformity with the extension and
Van, they give us broad and intelligible results. In
but I am sorry to say the administration of the law
fixing the aim to which we should direct our efforts ought to extend. The law is no longer in fault,
often is. If the good that is to be accomplished
it is desirable to ascertain as far as we can the pro-
portion of the annual mortality which is prevent-
derstood and more widely appreciated, benevolence
able by means within our reach. It is estimated by sanatory administration could be be better un-
that if all the population were living in a healthy
interests of, the poor would bring forth candidates
condition, and life were only terminated by natural and the Wile ambition of taking care of the vital
decay, the ordinary age at which men and women ,
would depart would be eighty. But it is more gard of s' ach results now leaves the field uncontested
terest,
for town ( ;ouncils and local boards where the disre-
important to know that in
registration districts the average annual death rate'
64 out of - 628
' Jr the mistaken economy of saving the rates
to such - low motives as notoriety, personal in-
is less than 17 in 1,000 persons living. These dis-
tricts are salubrious in their natural features, and of d' sty is more worthy of respect that: that of a
their populations, amounting to 1,000,000, is chiefly Inall . 'who loves not municipal contests or parish de-
employedrathertho in agriculture ; but, on the other hand, bat ,es, but submits to much that is repugnant to his
the cottages are exposed to many of the evils that to stes for the great purpose of preserving the lives
we most denounce ; they are not model districts, r .nd health of his fellow-citizens. The chief stum-
but they are districts from which the chiefevils bling-block in the of improvment is the super-
are seeking to remove are ab:‘ent, and theyfurnish ( 'ficial and ignorant view so often
we taken of economy.
a fair practical standard of what is post:ilple to - 'o' Rates that 'are pai.c. arc very palpable, but rates
.
taro. While, then, pefsons die at the rate of 17.4- that are saved require faith to discern. But it is
die on the average of all England, and 3d in t'' iroe
1,000 in these standard districts, above 22 in, 1.0017
the refusal of
easy to demonstrate to any one who will listen that
worst urban districts ; and as 419,815 persons cr i d supply is as extravagant in finance as it is heart--
rates for effective drainage and water
in 1857, if the mortality of the rest of ED 1 A t e less in feeling. If heelth be not protected by the
g tWee tad

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE
PROMOTION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE.

local rates, the want of it will draw on the poor
rate.' Sickness breaks in upon the independence of
those whose wages only suffice for their support in
health, and when an epidemic has forced a man to
receive parish relief he returns to the same resource
with less repugnance on slighter occasions. Fevers
are known to spend their greatest virulence on men'
in the prime of life, and the extravagance of per-
mitting widows and orphans to become chargeable
'on others is as gredt as allowing the loss of strong
and skilled workmen. Dr. Farr has made an in-
genious estimate of the average pecuniary value to
the community of each human life, and his figures
prove what sommon sense would not question or
deny, that it is as profitable to the public purse as
;t is consonant to every other human interest to
• .
execute tra; dictates of natural laws for the preser-
vation of life. It s:.'!ng to me. an evidence of the
backwardness of our civillea'!ion that sanatory sub-
jects have so little place in genertZ.! politics. And
it is remarkable that the 'working classes should
never have been made to see how greatly these
matters affect their interests. Many agitations
have been set on foot among them which have come
to nought because not founded on what the rest
of the community have admitted to be wisdom
and justice. But there is an agitation which I
believe would be successful—an agitation for the
essentials of a healthy existence. A cry for a new
charter might succeed. and certainly would not be
treated with disdain, if the five points of that
new charter were to be pure air, pure water, good
drainage, unadulterated food, and open spaces for
exercise. Such a cry as this would rally together
all those who, however they may differ in party
politics, are agreed respecting the brotherhood of a
common humanity, and whose heart's desire is to
see no one wanting the simple necessaries of a
healthy life. Hitherto calamity only has been able
to rouse the public to a sense of the importance of
this subject. The losses of our army in the Crimea
awakened the military authorities to the necessity
of consulting sanatory commissioners. During the
two years and a quarter that the campaign lasted,
out of an army of which the average strength was
34,500, 20,800 died front :all causes; but of these
deaths only 5,000 occurred in action, or from
wounds inflicted by the enemy. Two-thirds of the
whole mortality arose from other causes more de-
structive than shot, bullet, or bayonet. An equal
number of men of the same, ages would,• according
to the average death-rate of the more healthy dis-
tricts of England, have suffered a loss of only 610
in lieu of 20,000. The astounding discovery that
the picked men of the army, the most favoured regi-
ments, were dying at a greater rate than, the most
neglected classes of the community, was required
before the ignorant and barbarous customs of bar•
rack life could ba remedied. The periodical ap-
proaches of cholera aroused attention to precautions
which have saved thousands from other less strik-
ing diseases. But it becomes a wise nation not to
wait for panics, but to make timely and scientific
preparations against every invasion, whether of
disease or more visible foes. The health of the people
ought to arrest more of the attention of rulers, if it
wore only that a good digestion and healthy feel-
ings promote content, while the lean and bilious
Cassios always excite apprehension in those who
stand round Cmsar's throne. The present is a time
when we may expect to secure the attention of the
public. The great questions in agitation are hardly
sufficient to occupy men'sminds, or to supply the am-
munition for party -*carfare. And it may be seriously
questioned whether the discussions about the distri-
bution of political power, the adjustment of taxation,
and the extension of commerce, important as they
are, are likely to lead to a greater increase of the
national welfare than the improvements under dis-
cussion here in the social condition of the people.
That improvement, to be real, must extend to the
three great parts of our earthly nature—the moral,
the intellectual, and the physical. The three can-
not be separated. It is in vain that schools and
institutes draw upwards to a loftier region, if they
are to be counteracted by repulsive homes, in which
the atmosphere is so debilitating as to impart even
to the women a craving to get from strong drink
the stimulus which 'nature is there prevented from
supplying. And now I come to the part which
should devolve upon the Queen's Government in
the general effort for the sanatory improvement of
the people. There are some who would exclude this
altogether from the functions of Government, just
as there are some who contend that the Govern-
ment is the only body in the country that should
be debarred from promoting education or the teach-
ing of religion. But voluntaryism in pestilence
and plague has not yet been erected into a con-
scientious doctrine, nor have the opponents of com-
pulsory cleanliness declared themselves to be the
party for dirt, but they have found a cry a matter
of the first importance in such controversies. Their
cry is " no centralisation ;" and they declare that,
if the Administration at Whitehall is to have any
authority to protect health, the sacred principle of
self-government is invaded, and England will be
centralised. Nowt I feel as strongly as any one
that centralisation, in its proper meaning, is re-
pugnant to British notions, and ought to be utterly
repudiated. It exists in France, where the local
authorities are nominated from the capital, and
have to act under directions from the Minister of
the Interior; but what we have in England is only
central superintendence, as in the instance of the
Poor-law Board, which is authorised to compel ob-
servance of the law by the boards of guardians, and
to take cognisance of failures or breaches of their
duty, and in the inspection of factories, coal mines,
and prisons. The central action which is in emerg-
ence with out constitution, and highly beneficial, is
that which renders the respOnsibility of the local
governments a reality, which by skilled inspection
and official reports secures publicity to. their con-
duct, and only intervenes when the powers of the
local authority are grossly neglected or flagrantly
abused. For some years we had a distinct sanatory
department of the Government represented in Par•
liament, but it had no power that could be called
centralising, in the obnoxious use of that term. It
is true it attempted to guide and to teach, but it
had no vocation to coerce. It collected the experi-
ence of particular places where experiments had
been made for general information. It published
reports on the most pressing and difficult sanatory
questions, and its advice was sought from all parts
of the country on legal, medical, and engineering
difficulties. It aimed at becoming the brain of the
sanatory body, diffusing energy and guidance
through every limb, but it never assumed the pre-
tension of becoming arms or legs, and of substitut-
ing its own action for any other. The powers of
the General Board of Health were, doubtless, too
limited, and it was taunted with having so little to
do. This taunt might have led to the extension of
its powers to larger spheres had not its opponents
succeeded in its destruction. But out of its ashes
arose a plicenix which may hereafter take a higher
flight. The medical Officer of the Board of. Health
has become the medical officer of the Privy Council,
and has to watch any extraordinary epidemic or
excessive amount of fatal disease which may require
inspection and report. While Mr. Simon holds
that important office, its full benefits will be un-
doubtedly secured. By his comprehensive report
on vaccination, he dispelled the doubts and suspi-
cions of the efficacy of that practice which were
lurking even in educated minds, and has laid a
foundation in which may safely be rested the justi-
fication of more effective measures for the abolition
of small-pox. The State has a direct interest in
in
gguardingassainst a deterioration of our race. T
English workman is the best in the world; the Bri-
tish soldier has never crossed bayonets with his equal;
but the crowding of the population in laisse towns
without efficient sanatory provisions, and the want
of prudent regulations in many occupations, have
an undoubted dl to en eeble our. people.
The day cannot be far stant when the improve-
ments in steam will expose our island to that which
every continental country has endured—a struggle
for life or death with •aforeign invader on our own
soil, and our national I t and possibly our na-
y depend enyd on the undiminished
tional existence,
vigour and boldness of ourp men. I can have no ap-
result ; but I wish to keep in
prehension about t.
mind that the physiceal strength, the healthy frames,
and the contentment of the people are no slight ele-
ments of our national greatness•• and I am confident
that in the enlightenment and, ight feeling of the
pi -esent generation we shall find a hearty response
when we declare that the public health is of funda-
mtal importance, and demands the co-operation
of every ono who can give a helping hand in every
class, from the lowest to the highest in the land. It
is no small help to me in presiding over this depart-
ment to have the support of so many of those who
have taken the earliest and most prominent part in
instructing the public mind upon matters relating
to the public health. Close to me sits Dr. South-
wood Smith, who first expounded clearly the con:
ncxion between the prevalence of fever and the ab-
sence of drainage, and who for so many years has
devoted the energies of his benevolent mind to the
exposition of sanatory truth—Mr. Edwin Chadwick,
to whom we are indebted for those comprehensive
and detailed reports which formed the lever by
which the public mind was first moved—Mr. Mu
cox, .whose admirable-reports to the city of London
furnished models for that species of literature, and
whose uutiring and -fruitful labours in his official
capacity we cannot estimate too highly or acknow
ledge too thankfully—Dr. Farr, whose magical
mastery over figures in analysing, combining and
abstracting, forcing them to speak out the truth,
has popularised statistics and invested them with a
living interest—and our noble President, the Earl
of Shaftezbury, who, directing the Board of Health
during the cholera epidemic, exhibited the practical
sagacity and self-denying zeal by which he set a
,bright example in so many branches of practical
benevolence. (Loud cheers.)

THE BUILDERS' STRIKE.

It has been intimated in previous reports that
there are some members of the Masters Association
who are in favour of a more moderate course than
that which has heretofore been supported by the
majority. The protracted discussions at the re-
cent meetings were sufficient proof of this difference
of opinion, taken in conjunction with the fact
that some of the leading employers have constantly
shown a great desire to terminate the struggle, if
possible, by undertaking to bring under the notice
of the executive any proposals emanating from the
operatives with that object. The uniform failure
of these attempts on their part led last week to the
impression, on the part of the men, that ere long a
separation would take place between the moderate
and extreme sections of the employers' association,
and what transpired on Saturday and yesterday
seems to confirm that impression. On Saturday
the following official communication was received
by the Masons' Committee :
" To the Masons' Committee, Sun Inn, Lambeth.
" Gentlemen —I invite you to return with the others in
Mr. Jay's employ to your former places of work uncondi-
tionally, without the declaration.
" I remain yours truly,
" SORN RUODES, Foreman of Masons.

"Oct. 15, 1859."
Yesterday, in reply to a written application, Mr.
Thos. Crisp, the foreman of Mr. I3attersbury, Cam-
den-town, sent the subjoined :
" Gentlemen,—Mr. Battersbury hits boon to the yard
this morning, to toll me that he has unconditionally with-
drawn the document from all branches of his business.
" Yours, truly, " THOS. Cnisr..

" October 17th."
This intelligence was confirmed at the Paviors'
Arms, where the meetings of the other four build-
ing trades are held, with the addition, that Messrs.
Wardell and Baker, of Westminster, had also with-
drawn the declaration, and in both quarters it was
stated that other employers are likely to take the
same course. The firms above mentioned will, in
the aggregate, employ a considerable .number of
those now " locked out." •
Mr. Potter, the Secretary of the Conference, re-
turned to town on Saturday, after having visited
some of the principal towns in the manufacturing
districts for the purpose of organising local com-
mittees to procure a continuous supply of funds, if
such should be unfortunately required, for the fur-
ther maintenance of the position taken up by the
trades' societies in resisting the document or decla-
ration, and will leave town again this day, to be
present at a great demonstration of the trades of
Birmingham this evening. Similar meetings are
expected to be held in other towns for the same
purpose.
Yesterday the Conference made their thirteenth
weekly payment to the men on strike, and the
eleventh to those locked out. They paid, as before,
12s. to the skilled and Bs. to the unskilled labourers
on strike from Messrs. Trollope's, and the usual
dividend of 4s. to the masons, carpenters, plas-
terers, and Woolwich men. To the stone sawyers
and labourers they paid 35., or is. less than they
have hitherto received. This shows a total of 6,079
men, and of cash expended £1,091 Os., as compared
with 5,786 men, and £1,209 last week, or an in-
crease of 203 men and a decrease of £llO 14s.
paid. The result is explained by a considerable
number of men having been " called out" from the
jobs they were at, and the diminution of the
dividend to the labourers. In explanation of this
latter step the Conference state that it has always
been doubtful how far they were justified ori-
ginally in placing the labourers and skilled opera-
tives on an equality with respect to the dividend,
seeing that in the first place there was a difference
made b _tween the skilled workmen and labourers
j in Trollope's ease ; and in the second, that the
funds from which these dividends have been mainly
paid were subscribed by the skilled trades in the
metropolis and the provinces. But in addition
to this reason, there was the fact that the
skilled building operatives who are in work arc
contributing an average of 6d. per day to the sup-
port of those on ftrike and locked out, while the
labourers, though bound to contribute in like
manner, in proportion to their earnings, have not
done so. There are about 8,000 members of the
" lodges" enumerated in the preceding return, at
work, and yet the whole sum they contribute
weekly in the shape of "levies" does not amount
to more than £7 or £B, while an analysis of the re-
turn shows that they constitute nearly one-half of
the whole of the claimants on the funds, and their
resistance to or acceptance of the " document,"
cannot in any material degree affect the ultimate
issue of the struggle, because their services are
only ancilliary to those of the skilled operatives.
The following return shows the number of skilled
and unskilled labourers thus paid fer the past week,
and the amount received by each body respec-
ively

£ s. d.
.. --
351 122 0 0
Masons ..
.... 1,071 214 4 0
180 36 0 '0
.. 630 11261
120
oo
c,rPainters,airr psoteiecrrs: i ..... ..°
.n. :: ....
28 16 0
odge"l ...... 3174101 --,
2 .. 152 " 22 16 0
Labourers Stone,
,s a w y_e Is , ,
~ 3 .. 154 23 2 0
ff „
4 .. 268 40 4 0
9,
ff
7) 5 .. 108 - 16, 4 0
.
7, „ 6 .. 421 63 3 0
,7 ,y 7 .. 149 22 7 0
17 7, 8 .. 34 6 2 o
7) ~ 9 .. 323 48 9 0
If ~ 10 .. 190 ' 28 10 0
1) „ 11 (paid with Woolwich men)
71 „12 .. 20 3 0 0
~ 13 .. 13 1 1 0
Non-society men .. .. 700 105 0 0
Trollopo's mon .. .. 113 54 0 0

6,079 £1,098 6 0
It would appear, however, that the diminution of
the dividend, and the distinction thus for the first
time made between them and the skilled artisans,
produced as soon as it was known great dissatisfac-
tion, which is likely to pervade the whole of these
lodges. Just as the Conference was about to close
the business of the day a riotous, violent, and
graceful scene occurred at the Paviors' Arms. A
body of labourers, headed by a man known as Jim
Macarthy, made their appearance and demanded
instantly to see Mr. Potter and Mr. Noble, whose
names were coupled with epithets of the coarsest
description. They were informed that the members
of the Conference wero at that moment busy, but if
they would wait for a few minutes they would be
attended to. This did not satisfy the leader, who,
using the most horrible imprecations and foul lan-
guage, rushed by the door-keeper and up-stairs,
followed by his companions, into a large room
adjoining the committee-room, where they com-
menced hooting, yelling, and stamping, and swear-
ing that they, would pull every brick of the house
down. Mr. lVfacintee, a member of the Conference,
immediately made wanted,earce and quietly in-
quired what they e but it was some time
before any voice could be heard amid the clamour,
but in answer to the demand
tumult, and confusion ;
for more money, Mr. Macintee said the Conference
had done the best they could for them, and if they
were not satisfied they were quite at liberty to act
for themselves. This statement led to a renewal of
the confusion and violence, and a personal attack
upon Mr. Macintee seemed imminent, when Mr.
Potter entered the roolo, and the leader advancing
to him in a menacing manger demanded to see the
books. Mr. Potter replied he had no objection to
produce the books at the proper time, but before
entering into any communication he wished to
know the name of the person who asked for them.
This request was met by evasion and fictitious
names for some time, but at last he gave the 'name
of Macarthy, and as residence, " No.
181,
Ireland!'
Mr. Potter, however, could not draw from him
a distinct statement of his business there, but
in the midst of the confusion, Macarthy seeing
that four police-constables had. entered the room,
suddenly made a rush to the open window, and
would have jumped into the street had not some
h dozen
heldo' thosehimin the room seized him by the
legs,alandback. The appearance of the
officers, however, produced a sudden calm, which
enabled a member of the Conference to charge
Macarthy and another man, who had taken a pro-
minent part in these riotions proceedings, with
having received the strike money twice over, and
that on more than occasion. Upon heraing that
charge, Macarthy left the room without making
any reply, and was followed by his companions,
who threatened to return to-day and pull down the
house, if their demands were not complied with.
Of course measures will be taken to prevent the
renewal of such disorderly and violent proceedings.

•
EXTRAORDINARY PIT ACCIDENT.—A most extra-
ordinary accident occurred on Wednesday, at Messrs. Hall,
Holcroft, and Pearson's pits, at Kingswinford, near Dud-
ley. During the day, while the men were engaged in tbe'r
usual work, about 50 tons of coal fell, burying 14 of the
men. The scaffold poles and supports, however, saved the
men's lives, and only one man was severely injured. It
was seven hours before the men could be got out.--Mart_
Chester Guardian;
FAMILIES OF SOLT)TERS SERVING IN INDIA .—The
Commissioners, under
icmhdaretrereddire bitihoners
Monica, of 1,346 tons, Captain James Jackson, belonging
M A
Majesty's
a jelsrt, Emigration Henryopnl e seul
, ofl
from the` Morse Guards, sailed from Birkenhead, on the
eEny S
11th inst., for Calcutta, with 20 married couples, 218 mar-
ried women, 7 single men, 10 single women, 155 boys be-
tween the ages of 1 and 12, 132 girls between the same ages,
12 male and 9 female infants, making a total of 583 souls,
equal to 4181 statute adults, under charge of Surgeon
Superintendent Edward Kearney, aided by the services of
a suitable matron, and a few married soldiers, who will act
as constables during the voyage. The passengers consisted
of the wives and children of the soldiers belonging
to the
60th Rifles, and the 3d, 31th, 35th, 60th, 67th, 69th, 71st,
73d, 75th, 79th, 82d, 84th. 88th, 90th; 97th, and 99th Regi-
ments, now serving in India, from whom they have ey been
separated since the breaking out of the mutiny.