The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LOTION, WEDNESDAY EVEAING, DECEMBER 19 1860.

News from America through the Atlantic
Cable,

The intelligence we receive from America by the
Atlantic Cable is almost wholly confined to a bare
record of the prices of gold, of 5-20 Bonds, of
Erie and Illinois Railway Shares, and of Middling
Upland Cotton. A few words of the PRESIDENT'S
Message to Congress were forwarded, and the start
of the yachts in their race for Cowes was tele-
graphed : the former, perhaps, due to the Govern-
ment ; and the latter, in all probability, the private
message of the owners of the boats. If the price of
gold were a true barometer, which rose and fell
only under the pressure of political events, we
might endeavour by a careful study of its readings
to obtain a clue to these events. But gold is not
such a barometer, for the market is influenced
by a strong clique of speculators, and may be car-
ried up and down by the combined action of this
body. With gold rises and falls the bonds which
represent the national debt. Even these prices are
not known to the public till after the intelligence
has been made the means of securing for speculators
a profit on their priority of news. It does not ap-
pear to be anybody's business to obtain for the
public early American intelligence. Not an effort
with this object has been made by the press.
IVhen the excitement in Baltimore threatened to
assume almost the dimensions of a revolution, the
facts might have been guessed at from the

sudden rise in the price of gold. We knew
that the precious metal had gone up with so sudden
a bound that something must be wrong ; and we
were kept in a pleasing state of uncertainty what
that something could be. Whether Pennsylvania
had marched the militia of the State into Maryland,
or the PRESIDENT had occupied the city of Balti-
more in force, we were left to guess, although each
of those events were threatened, and either might
have been attended with consequences as mo-
mentous as the world could well conceive. In
strange contrast with our helpless ignorance
is the fulness of intelligence spread over
the Union by the American press. There the press
has formed an association and taxed itself, for the
purpose of obtaining news by telegraph in the ful-
lest detail. From all parts of the Union the news
is forwarded and simultaneously issued in all the
great cities of America. No sooner was the At-
lantic Cable completed than a negotiation was com-
menced by the representatives of this association for
a daily receipt of news from Europe, comprising a
given number of words. Nor were the leading
newspapers content with the information thus ob-

taincd. The London correspondent of a great New
York " daily," forwarded through the cable for
his journal the entire speech of the Ring
of PRUSSIA when he opened the Chambers.
While the meteoric showers were falling in trains of
light that penetrated the gloom even of a London
sky, " Our own Correspondent" had forced his way
into the Greenwich Observatory, had there absorbed
all the scientific knowledge he could gather ; and
while the astronomers were still gazing at the
heavens, the compositors in New York were build-
ing up an account as accurate and complete as any
about to appear in the London morning papers.
The revenue of the Times is something so im-
perial that it cannot be compared to any one
journal, but to all the journals published iu a
capital city put together. A newspaper of such
dimensions might at least follow the example set by
the leading newspapers of New York, and give to
the public, from whom it derives this royal revenue,
the benefit of an early knowledge of the most im-
portant events occurring in the States. Its New
York correspondent might surely be entrusted with
this duty. It may be said that Americans are more
deeply interested in the intelligence from Europe
than are Europeans in the intelligence from Ame-
rica. Against this can certainly be put
the fact that there is no one country on
earth whose news to us is of equal im-
portance. The truth is that we have no com-

Wiled system of action by which the expense could
be borne by the who:e body instead of by an indi-
vidual newspaper, and even the Times shies at the
enormous cost that it would entail to receive through

so expensive a mAimu intelligence for its columns,

The Times has risen far above the level of competi-
tion, and its revenue coa.d scarcely be increased
though it might expend several thnisa,nds per
annum thus to benefit the public. however plea-
sant such a state of things may be for the leading
journal, the position is not conducive to the public
interest. But we may live in hopes, for early next
year the great influx will commence of Americans
to this side, and they will be scarcely content to re-

ceive such meagre news through the Atlantic Tele

graph from the country they have left.—Antilo.
American Times.

Drunkenness Among Women.

-.s--

Some months ago the Round Table, a leading
weekly review of the United States, published
an article on " Drunkenness Among Women," which
created a sensation all over the country. This ar-
ticle was copied into scores of papers in Europe as
well as in America ; it was translated into several
languages, and was commented on wherever the
English language is spoken, from the Hudson Bay
territories to the wild diggings on the western coast
of New Zealand. Considering that the article
broughtgrave charges against one-half of the human
family—at least as confined to the United States—
considering that these charges were made in the most
unqualified and sweeping manner, it is little wonder
that around the Round Table a furious battle should
have raged. It is not safe to attack women in any
country, but least of all in America, where the sex
assumes the most dignified position and exercises

the most control. The boldness of our contempo-
rary surprised 113 as much as his assertions. We
looked for.little less than annihilation. But though
the storm raged furiously, the Round Table remained
unmoved. We were interested in observing in its
issue of the 24th November last another article
headed " Drunkenness Among Women." Although
the Round Table now qualifies and admits the too
sweeping nature of its former allegations, it still
maintains the substantial truth of its statements.
Perhaps a little startled by the effect produced, the
writer, aided by its staff, began to collect facts and
figures through various channels to support his as-
sertions. As the storm at one time threatened
serious results, the editors were induced to fortify
their position by securing overwhelming proof, not
necessarily for publication, which would bring
shame and misery upon innocent persons, but
to be ready, in case of necessity, to hold the
post they had taken up. When the facts had been
obtained, the result was calmly awaited ; but the
storm blew over, and the second article is evidently
written more with the object of qualifying the first
than with the intention of reviving a disagreeable
subject. "By careful inquiry and investigation,"
says our contemporary, " we are now satisfied that
" it would be possible to print the names of a
" greater number of respectable females—that is,
" of reputable families—than would fill the space
" occupied by this article, who, within the last five
" years, in the city of New York, have fallen victims
"to drink." Considering that the article occupies
more space than a page of this newspaper, the num-
ber indicated must be enormous. " The Belmont
" Retreat, which is advertised so extensively and
" was opened in. 1864, is only one of a large num-
" ber of private asylums, where women are received
" who are the victims of dipsomania. There are
"cases easily pointed out in this city where females
are habitually subjected to physical coercion by
" their families who feel unwilling to send them to
" asylums. Mach of this unhappy state of things
" has been brought about by the war. The nervous
" excitement incident to parting with fathers, hus-
" bands, brothers, awl lovers, the horried anxiety
" as to their fate during the protracted campaigns ;
" sometimes the freedom from restraint produced
" by their absence, all have combined to lead

" women astray, on this wise, who, under normal
" circumstances, would never even have felt tempta-
" tion." Undoubtedly in America the sex assumes
and maintains in society a higher position than
elsewhere. The " rights" of women are there more
fully asserted and more generally recognised. r 1
be admitted to the franchise, to stand as candidates
for Congress, to become members of the learned pro-

fessions, to wear the Bloomer costume, are positions
taken up by the more strong-minded, and urged with
much force and ability by the more advanced female
parties. Those who claim an equal right in the
Government of the country, and who aspire to all
the business relations of men, may also urge that
they have an equal right toget drunk. We have not
seen any such arguments used, but if " man being
reasonable must get drunk," women, who assert an
equal amount of reason, may fairly assume this
measure of superiorityand distinction over the brute
creation, guided only by instinct. If the greater
exercise of the reasoning faculties leads to a greater
consumption of alcohol, we would certainly depre-
cate and deplore a change which would not advance
the position of the sex. If it be disgusting in a man
to get drunk, there is something horrible in the
drunkenness of women. It is asserted that the evil
is spreading iu England as well as in America,
and if it be so, and the Round Table be right in the
statement it has made regarding the drunkenness of
women in the United States, it is the duty of society
to curb with a very tight rein so fearful a tendency.
But we are not aware that drunkenness is on the
increase here, and the Round Table admits " that
the article called Drunkenness Among Women'
was too sweeping, too unqualifi,ed, and, considering
the gravity of its imputations, not sufficiently
guarded against wholesale conclusions and miscon-
structions." Nor do its admissions stop here ; for
it adds that it published the article before ascertain-
ing the facts, and then obtained the facts to justify
the article. It is well known how statistics can be
obtained to strengthen any conclusion. In prying
into the social relations of private families facts can
be assumed and conclusions jumped at which would
turn out to be wholly or partially untrue if a fuller
means of information were in the power of the in-
quirer. We have little doubt, however, that the
facts are sufficiently startling, and though the article
in question may have shocked society in New York,
we can readily believe that the good it did, was in
proportion to the shock it communicated.—Anglo-
American Times.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—At the end of last week the stock of the
South-Eastern Railway experienced a rapid fall of
about two per cent., followed at the beginning of
this week by an almost equally rapid recovery. So
great are the fluctuations to which railway shares
are liable at a time like the present that such a cir-
cumstance would attract but little attention, espe-
cially as some other Companies participated in the
depression and reaction. We have now reason to
know, however, that it was not wholly due to legiti-
mate causes, but that a succ:ssful attempt had been
made to depreciate the value of South-Eastern stock
in the market by an act of deliberate fraud. The
correspondence which appeared yesterday in our
City Article places this in a very clear light. On
Friday afternoon Mr. Watkin, M.P., Chairman of
the South-Eastern Railway, being then in Manches-
ter, learnt to his dismay that a report of his own
failure was being circulated on the Stock-Exchange
in that city. He immediately wrote to Mr. Raw-
son, Chairman of the Manchester Stock Exchange,
emphatically denying the truth of the rumour, and
requesting that steps might be taken to discover its
author. The result was that a telegraphic message
was found to have been received by Messrs. Field-
ing and Hayes, of Manchester, from a Mr. Grise-
wood, in London, of which the following is a
copy :—" Grisewood to Fielding, —I hear the B
Chairman has failed ; please say if true or no." The
reply was to the effect that no such event had
been " named" in Manchester. But the story
thus suggested was not allowed to drop. On
the contrary, it was spread busily and widely
enough to be " thoroughly discredited," as Mr.
Rawson says, on the Manchester Exchange, and to
reach the ears of Mr. Watkin himself. That gen-
tleman, having succeeded in tracing its origin so
far, very properly applied to the Chairman of the
London Stock Exchange, of which Mr. Grisewood
appears to be a member, calling upon him to insti-
tute a further inquiry, with a view of identifying the
" real author." A searching investigation was at
once promised, and we can only hope that it will
lead to the detection and punishment of all parties
implicated in so infamous a transaction. IV e infer,
however, from the circular addressed to the share-
holders of the South Eastern Railway, as well from
Mr. IVatkin's letter to the chairman of the London
Stock Exchange, that the canard produced the de-
sired effect More it exploded, " enabling a number
of unprincipled persons to realisi large dishonest
profits." A panic was actually created for the time,
and the first consequence of a panic is that deben-
tures fallinc, due must be renewed on unfavourable
terms. Unhappily, it is much easier to excite dis-
trust than to remove it, and long after falsehoods of
this class have been exposed, the impression left by
them continues to operate injuriously. It may be
said that, at all events, this is quite an exceptional
case, and that such conduct, once brought to light,
will be effectually put down on the Stock Exchange.
We cannot for one moment assent to either of thesa
opinions. We do not believe that a wilful falsifica-
tion of facts, with the fraudulent intention of low-
ering the price of shares, is an exceptional, or even
a rare, piece of sharp practice ; nor can we affect to
have much confidence in the disposition of the Stock
Exchange Committee to adopt stringent measures
against it. The peculiarity of the calumny in this
instance is, not that it was morewicked or unfounded
than usual, but that it took somewhat too definite a
shape, and was embodied incautiously in a telegraphic
message. The system of " bearing" the share mar-
ket, which inevitably arises out of time bargains, in-
evitablyleads to thefabrication of statements equally
malicious and equally criminal, but it is generally
concluded with greater skill. A stockjobber sells a
number of shares which he does not possess in a per-
fectly sound undertaking for delivery on a future'
day. Thenceforward it becomes his direct interest
to damage the credit of the concern by every means
in his power ' • and unless his conscience be more
scrupulous than that of his neighbours, he will not
stick at trifles. It is not as if categorical assertions,
capable of prompt refutation, were at all necessary.
A question or innuendo will serve - the purpose just
as well, and a great deal may be done by a tacit
shrug of the shoulders or shake of the head, judi-
ciously timed, and set off by an air of sincere regret.
Even here the interrogative form of insinuation was
employed, but it was preceded by a distinct intima-
tion that Mr. Grisewood, the sender of the telegram,
had received certain information about a certain
gentleman. He will, of course, be expected to name
his informant, and as positive " failure," such as
was alleged to have befallen Mr. Watkin, is not so
vague a thing as mere embarrassment, it is not im-
possible that the invention may be at last brought
home to some individual. At the same time we
cannot forget that on a recent occasion the com-
mittee of the Stock Exchange expressly declined to
co-operate with the public in checking the abuses
of time bargains. It is contended, on behalf of the
beari," that, after all, they only act in self-de-
fence, and do but neutralise the shameless efforts of
others to raise the value of shares by rigging the
market. There is just enough truth in this plea to
deceive those for whom it is intended. It is true
that new enterprises are often got afloat by shame-
less and wholesale puffing, sometimes aided by ficti-
tious purchases of the shares by the promoters. We
have not a word in excuse of these persons, but,
after all, the maxim " caveat einptor' applies to
their machinations, and their victims must take the
consequences of fancying that exorbitant interest
can be realised ou good securities. To compass the
ruin of an innocent and solvent company or firm by
persistent attacks on its credit, and to do this for the
sake of getting a higher profit on a speculative sale,
is a very different thing, and those who live by such
a trade are public enemies. It is absurd to pretend
that well established concerns are proof against
assaults, however ingenious, and that only those
already destined to fall can be' thus undermined. A
business which depends but little on short credits,
and from which money cannot be suddenly with-
drawn, may, indeed, defy the arts of the " bears,"
while hardly any bank, h owever stable, could sustain a
general and simultaneous run on its desosits. Rail-
ways are less at the mercy of the Stock Exchange,
but railways may find it impossible to borrow money
at a reasonable rate if their stock is unfairly depre-
ciated, and this may easily be effected by an orga-
nised conspiracy of sharejobbers. In short, the
power of an exclusive body, like the members of
the Stock Exchange, to injure the rest of the com-
munity is almost unlimited, and it is high time to
consider what restrictions can be placed upon the
exercise of it. Nothing short of a resort to the cri-
minal law, and, if necessary, the enactment of new
provisions against new kinds of knavery, will put a
stop to an evil so highly organised, and supported
by interests so powerful. This is not a question for
select circles in the City; it is a question for the
country and the Legislature. Our 'complaint is
that commercial morality, so far as it tolerates such
proceedings as we have described, is several degrees
behind the standard of national morality, and even
behind that recognised in our penal code. Men who
deserve to stand in the dock of the Central Criminal
Court, and whose offences are notorious, do not
always forfeit their position in the mercantile world,
but often contrive to keep up appearances until the
ugly tales about them have blown over. The reason
is, that many others are inwardly conscious of hav-
ing been privy to acts but a shade less dishonest.

Were there a public prosecutor, whose duty it should
be to proceed against all who conspire to defraud
their neighbours, without respect of persons, can any
one doubt that " highly respectable parties" would
be more frequently missing from their accustomed
haunts ? In the meantime, we can but make an
example of those who, perhaps not more guilty than
others, have the misfortune to be found out. The
South Eastern Railway Company is, happily, strong
enough to protect itself, and we heartily trust that
its directors will yield to no private representations,
but patiently track their cowardly assailant, and
fearlessly drag him, be he who he may, to justice.
POST.--The British public are now well aware,
from painful experience in various ways, that im-
perfectly drained towns and villages are very liable to
be visited by epidemics which frequently spread
from house to house. Bad water and noxious
exhalations are the predisposing causes of cholera
and of other complaints. If the mere refuse water
of towns were turned into rivers, it would cause
little injury to their purity; but when, as is now
the case, the execreta of thousands of human beings
are mixed up with it, the result is that hundreds of
English streams have been terribly polluted, to the
detriment of man and beast. Absolute failures and
terrible expenses, including in some cases law costs,
have convinced local authorities in various parts of
the country that any attempts at deodorising and
clarifying town sewage previous to its being cast
into a river are delusions so far as they are con-
cerned, and have not lessened the nuisance to those
below them. Under existing arrangements the irri-
gation scheme, so successful in many place., especi-
ally where ryegrass is grown, evidently commends
itself to public notice in this country as a rough and
ready way of disposing of town sewage, and is
being extensively adopted. It is not to be inferred
from this circumstance, however, that all arguments
on the subject are exhausted, or that the best way
of collecting and utilising the valuable refuse of
urban populations has been finally settled. Captain
Liernur, of Holland, has within the last few weeks
given partial publicity in this country to his
plan for dealing with this matter. His scheme
is altogether distinct from and independent of
the water supply and of the facilities for drain-
age within the reach of towns. These may in
every instanee remain as they are at present.
The name of the Pneumatic Sewage System is
given to the various appliances by which Captain
Liernur hopes to improve the existing state of
things. The equal pressure of the atmosphere on
all parts of any given object lies at the foundation
of his plan, which is perfectly familiar to the pro-
moters of abortive railways got up on this principle,
as well as to the originators of pneumatic tubes for '
the conveyance of parcels. Captain Liernur ac-
knowledges that cesspools on the Continent have
for many years been emptied in the way now re-
commended by him. His project is an extension of
an existing practice. He has succeeded in getting
his plan adopted at the Hague, a city containing a
population of 80,000 ; and as the Dutch are a prac-
tical people, the authorities there must have been
favourably impressed with the utility of the scheme,
or they would not haie undertaken to carry it out,
which, however, they have, and it will be in actual
operation in the course of a few months. Captain
Liernur proposes to insert reservoirs, made of boiler
plate, under the street crossings, at such intervals
as may be required. Connected with these a main
pipe runs up every street, with branches diverging
into each house. The present water closets are to
be modified ; the water turned off and the branch
pipe from the main continued throughout every
storey in the house until it reaches the height of the
roof. A stone ware pipe without bottom or valve,
and removable, would take the place of the existing
pan in water closets. The result would be that the
whole faecal matter of an entire household would
fall to the bottom of the tube and remain there for

the day, while the vapours arising therefrom would
escape by the chimney-like contrivance just alluded
to. This chimney, moreover, answers another pur-
pose, viz., supplying a column of air for expelling the
contents of the pipes during the night, which it is pro-
posed thus to accomplish. The reservoir is air tight,
and at a certain hour a travelling steam engine,with
tank of requisite size for holding the contents of the
adjoining pipes, pumps out the air from the reservoir; a
hose is screwed on to it, a elide removed, and the
pressure of the atmosphere in the chimneys a'ready
alluded to instantly forces all the excreta into the
tank, which can be either conveyed to the land at
once, or packed in barrels, and removed to any dis-
tance. The plan appears to be simple as well as in-
genious. It professes only to deal with excreta, and
there are many particulars connected with it which
we cannot now describe. If it should succeed in
practice, it will be a great boon not only to towns,
but also to agriculturists, by furnishing them with a
valuable manure, unmixed with water and other
substances, for stimulating the growth of cereal,
root, and other crops. The results of the experi-
ment at the Hague will be looked forward to with
considerable interest. Large sums of money have
been expended in this country in the drainage of
towns, and in arranging the present water-closet
system in connection with the sewers. Without
pronouncing any decided opinion upon the merits
or demerits of Captain Liernur's p'an, we at the
same time think it deserves the attention. of the Bri-
tish public. Municipal bodies not yet committed to
any scheme for freeing their sewage from foetal
matters would do well to make themselves familiar
with the specific objects which it proposes to accom--
plish. In large establishments, such as gaols, work-
houses, hospitals, and the like, and which already
possess motive power for pumping purposes, Capt.
Liernur's scheme deserves consideration. The value
of the material is rated at a very high figure, suffi-
cient not only to pay all expenses but also to leave
a profit on all capital employed. As to this we
have no means of judging ; but we have little doubt
that our readers will be glad to find that human in-
genuity is still busily engaged in trying to devise
effectual methods for removing and utilising sub-
stances which the land could absorb with advan-
tage, but which at present too often prove only a
.nuisance to all those who have to deal with them, as
well as a fruitful cause of disease and death.