The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-20 00:00:00

V
~....
-.,
g ~,,,i-0.,,E.-...,,,.q,..fi-,„,
(.4 ,„_.--„u
a ~-.04, 4.-„,„.)
..., .„,4,„;..-:_:;...„,,,.....- ..-.....;

LONDON, SATURDAY, JAN. 20, 1866.

The deputation to Earl RUSSELL yesterday on
the subject of the Cattle Plague is sure to attract
notice, because it refers to a question which en-
grosses a considerable share of public attention, and
concerning which all are more or less interested.
Sir JAMES KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH explained the pur-
pose which they had in view, and said that they
came there in accordance with a requisition from a
special meeting of the Royal North Lancashire
Agricultural Society. Circumstances testify to the
truth of the remarks of the hon. baronet that the
Orders in Council are quite inadequate to meet
the emergency, and that their efforts to
carry them out were also unsuccessful. Many
causes contribute to this. The people of this coun-
try are not in the habit of submitting to arbitrary
rule, and any sudden restraint put upon them can
hardly be carried out efficiently or speedily enough
to be of much avail in periods of calamity. Sir J.
KAY-SHUTTLEWORTII explained the difficulties that
interposed themselves in the way of carrying out
the orders recently made ; and when we consider his
remarks, it is not to be wondered at that so little,
comparatively speaking, has been done to arrest
the progress of the disease, much less to effect
any remedial agency. In consequence of the con-
fusion and uncertainty that arose in the attempts
to stop the movement of live stock and to carry out
other provisions, the deputation urged upon his
Lordship the desirability of their taking " upon
themselves the duty of at once issuing a general
order peremptorily stopping all traffic in live stock
of all kinds throughout Great Britain, under limi-
tations and conditions if they should so think fit."
It is only to be regretted that this step was not
taken at an earlier period, and then very possibly
by this time we might witness some considerable
diminution of the evil.
As Sir J. SHUTTLEWORTII remarked, by this time
the malady has attained to such a height that even
if the plan be put in practice immediately, we can
hardly hope for more than retarding the progress
of the disease, as it has reached to such a height,
and is, besides, so swift and subtle in its workings,
and so easily transmissible. The best way of
realising to the full extent the danger of the attack
is to consider the alarming report which tells us
that in seven months the disease has spread so
rapidly that it has destroyed a hundred thousand
head of neat stock, worth a million of money. The
deputation considered that much might now be done
if the Government would consent to devise such a
system of insurance as would enable " neat stock-
holders to protect each other from the most severe
rates of loss, and entire districts in this way to
escape the pressure of a ruinous local burden."
This does not necessitate a State Guarantee, or any

contribution from non-agricultural property. Sir

J. SHUTTLEWORTII truly declared that the details of
such a measure were fitting subjects for the delibera-
tions of the Cabinet, and the discussions inP arliament.
Earl RUSSELL seemed to appreciate the full import-
ance of the subject before him ; but, as is usually
the case in all matters requiring prompt decision

and the adoption of active measures, he hesitated
to commit himself to any scheme. lEs lordship
seemed very doubtful as to the advisability of stop-
ping the traffic of cattle generally through the coun-
try. He promised, however, to consider the subject
with his colleagues.

The worst of all this delay is that every day adds

to the magnitude of the evil, and increases the diffi-
culty of dealing with it. We ought to make all duo
allowances for the position in which the Ministers
found themselves at the outset of this disaster, but

surely the lapse of seven months ought to have

sufficiently accustomed them to the matter for them
to be able to arrive at some decision. It is a false
and fatal system which the Governments of the
present day are fond of pursuing thus to shirk re-
sponsibility, and throw upon the community in
general the duties which necessarily devolve upon
themselves. In this affair of the cattle plague we
realise to the full extent the mischief of such a
course. It would have been more consistent with
the requirements of the case if this calamitous occur-
rence had been made an exception to the rule of
inaction which is fast reducing our Government to
the condition of les rois faineants of old renown in
French history, but it seems as if nothing is suffi-
ciently conclusive to make them come forward and
attend to their duties.

Earl RUSSELL agreed that the Government might
introduce a measure into Parliament to the effect pro-
posed by the deputation if the agriculturists desired
it. This would enable them to grant loans upon satis-
factory security, and, under proper regulations,
to meet losses from the Cattle Plague. The noble
lord said that he was gratified to hear from the de-
putation that they did not seek for a grant of public
money, nor for a guarantee from the Government.

He therefore entertained the hope that no hindrance
would be put in the way of the public loan which
the Government were prepared to ask from Parlia-
ment, and that it might " harmonise with some sys-
tem of voluntary mutual assurance in counties."
Considering the neglect with which the Govern-
ment have hitherto treated all the intimations
they have received on the subject of the
cattle plague, we may conclude that this speech of
Earl RUSSELL is in a great measure a satisfactory
one, and that some progress has been made in im-
pressing upon the minds of our rulers the urgency
of the case and the necessity for something to be
done to avert the consequences of the evil, and to
enable those who arc suffering under the pressure
of the calamity to bear up against it. The worst
of all these calamities generally is, that so much
time is lost and so many arguments made against
the adoption of any measure, and yet few come for-
ward to suggest anything better of their own accord.
It scarcely seems consistent with prudence to allow
so long a time to elapse, and so many serious losses
to be incurred without any steps being taken to
provide against impending dangers.

When we reflect upon the' difficulties that now
environ the question of insurance, and the doubts
entertained as to the successful adoption of any of
the schemes individually and collectively, we are

tempted to ask—might not all or a great part of
this have been prevented by more stringent mea-
sures at an earlier period, and greater foresight on
the part of authorities ? Peculiar cases call for
peculiar rules, and instead of wasting precious time
in thinking if this plan would do, and if that pro-
posal would not create general disapproval, how
much wiser and better it would have been to have
taken decided steps at once, and risked giving
offence in certain quarters rather than allow the
evil thus to over-master them. It is but natural
for those who have lost so much, and are likely to
lose more, to turn their thoughts to plans for com-
pensation, since those who ought long ago to have
inaugurated preventive measures on a large scale
still shrink from doing so.

Sir JOHN HAY, the Conservative candidate for
Tiverton, has just been addressing a meeting of
farmers on the topics of the day. The hon. baronet
manifested his usual straightforwardness and com-
monsense in his speech, qualities which have made
him so troublesome an opponent to the Board of
Admiralty. The great topic of Reform occupied a
conspicuous position in Sir JonN's address, and he
was evidently anxious to remove any misapprehen-
sions which might have arisen from his earlier state-
ment. His second speech was more liberal in its
tone than his first, and, as such, better calculated,
we should hope, to gain the suffrages of the elec-
tom. Sir JOHN laid great stress on the distinction
which he said existed between the principles
on which the Liberals and the Conservatives based
their measures of Reform. The ono was, he said,
founded on a question of rental, the other on the
individual fitness of the elector. "He wished it t o
be clearly and distinctly understood that that which
the Liberal party now proposed to do was to make
one strict and definite line, depending solely on rent,
and without reference to the quality of the persons
accompanying such dwellings. They knew the nature
of the £6 houses, and they knew that such houses
did not provide for the comfort and necessity of the
working classes. Moreover, the number of £6
tenements which would be erected by builders,
speculators, and other persons, for the purpose of
making and controlling the votes, would be very
enormous, provided the extension of the fran-
chise were confined to a strictly £6 ren-
tal. He was therefore opposed to that part
alone, but he was prepared to strenuously advocate
those so. called fancy franchises which made the
electoral trust depend upon the qualifications and
education of the man, and not upon 'the value
of the dwelling in which he might happen to live."
Such are the principal points in Sir JOHN'S views
on reform, and so so far as the distinction which he
draws between the man and his dwelling goes they
are sound and liberal enough. The question is
whether Sir JOHN and those who think like him are
prepared to extend the fancy franchises enough to
take in that great body of intelligent, orderly, and
patriotic working men who are now demanding
their share of political power, for no measure which
does not take into consideration their just and
reasonable claims will meet the necessities of the
time, or satisfy the wants of the people.
Sir JOHN'S opinions on the Income Tax will meet
with very general approval, especially from those
who are included under the comprehensive and
oppressive returns of Schedule D. Sir JOHN ad-
mitted that the income tax enabled the Chancellor
of the Exchequer to remove many of the restrictions
on our commerce; but he thought, with justice,
that its pressure on the different branches of the
tax-paying community was most unfair and un-
equal. The arguments on behalf of the holders of
precarious incomes have been so often repeated,
and . are so incontrovertible, that they are
almost truisms ; but, nevertheless, there are
as yet no signs of legislative improvement.
Sir Joris HAI' suggested that the fairest manner to
appreciate the difference between fixed and preca-
rious incomes would be to capitalise them. They
knew, he said, the manner in which land was valued,
at about 30 years' purchase, but labour, he sup-
posed, would not be worth more than six years'
purchase, which would give a certain percentage
upon which a tax should be paid, and not
upon the income. This plan would certainly
in some measure meet the difficulties of the case,
but even without making any change in the manner
of estimating the income it would be easy enough
to reduce the tax paid by those who live by their own
labour in whatever class of life at the rate of ld. or 9d.
in the pound. The value of their income, in a money
point of view, is certainly different from that of the
holders of a settled invested income, and since the
necessity of making a provision for their families
should in justice be taken into account the balance
is all against them.

Sir JOHN HAY, while advocating the pre-
servation of peace, was, naturally enough, in
favour of the efficient maintenance of our
forces. In the managment of the navy he is
likely himself to do good service, and as a watchful
and experienced naval reformer he can ill be
sp'ared from the benches of the Ilouse of Commons.

The intelligence brought by the Bombay Mail
gives us on the whole a favourable impression of
Indian affairs. It is true that we find the details
of a startling catastrophe which occurred on the
26th of December on the Great Indian Peninsular
Railway, but although attended by the loss of
several lives the results were much less disastrous
than they might have been had the accident oc-
curred to a passenger instead of a goods train. The
scene of the disaster was the reversing station on
the Thull Ghaut, where there is a steep declivity,
excepting just at the station itself. At the end of
the rails is a barrier, and beyond that an embank-
ment of 150 or 200 feet. It seems that from some
unfortunate mistake the driver seems to have over-
shot his stopping point, and accordingly, with
constantly increasing velocity, the train dashed on
and went over the embankment with terrific force.
Every man on it was of course instantly killed,
and the whole train was a total wreck. The only
man saved was the English guard, who jumped
out as the train went over, and though seriously
hurt, seems likely to live. The Thull Ghaut has
been open to tho public for twelve months without
a single accident, and the Thore Ghaut has been
open three years without any disaster, so that not-
withstanding the dangerous nature of the place the
accident was entirely due to some mistake or error.
The rails are in good order, although so great was
the speed at which the train descended that it flat-
tened the surface of the brake wheels where they
were in contact with the rails. The traffic manager
suggests that a safety siding should be at once con-
structed at the reversing station to prevent the pos•
sible recurrence of so terrible an accident. This
suggestion will, we should hope, be at once attended
to, and indeed some measure of the kind will be
absolutely necessary to restore public confidence.

It is said that the Bhootan treaty has been
ratified by the Deb and Dhurm Rajahs, but
whether the Tongso Penlow is still of the same
mind is not stated. The great exhibition at Nag-
pore has been opened with much éclat, more than
1,000 Europeans present, and 30,000 natives en-
camped outside the building. Bombay itself sent
but twenty-five Visitors, and was very poorly repre-

sented, though why the people of Bombay should
take so little interest in the affair is not stated.

A rumour that Sir JOHN LAWRENCE is likely to
retire early in the year for domestic reasons is
current in the North-West. Should this report prove
true, it will be a matter of regret both for India and
England. Possibly Sir JOHN finds the perpetual
interference to which he is subjected by the India
office more than he can endure. India is not likely
to do herself or us much credit until her fortunes
are placed under more liberal and enlightened
guidance than that of Sir CHARLES WOOD.