The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-15 00:00:00

OUR IRON WALLS AND THE

ADMIRALTY.

Conviction often comes slowly; but the light seems to
have at last dawned upon our naval department that iron
men-of-war are a great fact, and must be built whatever the
cost. It is not a little singular, with all our supposed pro-
ficiency in a service so pre-eminently English, we should
have allowed the French nation, or the French Emperor,
for we must conclude it is his work, to forestall us in the
manner he has done, and to lead the way where it might be
inferred under the circumstances he would merely be a
copyist ; but there it is—no disguising the fact that at the
present moment France possesses 11 ships of the Warrior
class and 17 others are in process of building; whilst we
can only boast of two ships in a forward state, and a few
others laid down. Last week tenders were issued for three
more ships of still larger dimensions than the Warrior, and
rather to our surprise, we observe the names of firms included
in the list who, without being invidious, have given no
pledges to the world of their ability to execute works of so
formidable a character. It is no time for huckstering or
bargaining ; the very salvation of the country might depend
upon having these cyclopean defenders promptly and effi-
ciently built ; and we can hardly suppose for a moment,
after all that has transpired, the building of these ships will
be entrusted to any but first-class firms. So far as the trial
of the Warrior is concerned, the result is even more fa-
vourable than was anticipated, although she is at least
twelve months behind the time contracted for, and has
thus caused a delay in following out what was, at the time,
looked upon as an experiment, but has now become a prac-
tical reality. Reverting to the working of that important
department (the Board of Admiralty), the discussions in
Parliament appear to be producing some fruit, and a greater
desire is evinced to study pubic feeling by rendering the
navy more popular as well as more efficient, both in ships
and men ; and we are glad to see, for instance, that the
management of the naval reserve is committed to the charge
of Vice-Admiral Sir Fredk. W. Grey, a most excellent offi-
cer, who has been lately appointed a lord, and is well known
to our mercantile marine as having been in command at
Constantinople during the Russian war, where he earned
golden opinions, and by his judicious management of the
transport service, saved the country a large sum of money
—costly though the operation was. We may have fine
ships and good cammanders, but able and willing men to
work them are essential ; and we feel convinced that the
large experience and great popularity of Admiral Grey
will render this task an easy one for him. In bidding for
seamen reared in the mercantile service a more liberal and
enlightened policy than that hitherto pursued is absolutely
necessary—no cheese paring or parsimonious treatment
will now answer. We may add, as regards Admiral Grey,
that he was instrumental in establishing a " Sailors' Home"
at Constantinople, which was of great utility in that be-
nighted I lace, and that he has lately returned from the com-
mand of the Cape of Good Hope station, where he was
enabled to facilitate the movement of transports and troops
going out to the rescue of India from the mutiny of the
native army.—Liverpool Daily Post.

SERIOUS CHAR G-'1; AGAINST IRISH

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

At the head police-office, Dublin, on Tuesday,
Hamilton Connelly and John M'Elwain, the for-
mer described as an officer of Engineers in the
War Department, and the latter a builder, were
charged with having conspired to defraud her
Majesty's Secretary of State of sums of money to
the extent of £lOO,OOO.
It appeared from the statement of the case for
the prosecution by Mr. Sergeant Sullivan that Mr.
Al•Elwain was the contractor over the Ordnance
Department for the repair of the barracks and other
Ordnance stores in the Dublin district. Mr. Con-
nelly was the chief clerk in the Ordnance Depart-
ment in that country, and it had been discovered
that frauds of a very serious character had been per-
petrated in relation to the moneys of that department
for several years past. The course of business in the
office was this :—M'Elwain, as contractor, from time
to time, sent in his bill, in which he stated the
amount of work he had done for the preceding
quarter. That bill, when examined in the head
office of the department, was certified by the com-
mandant-engineer, and he stated at the bottom of
it the sum that was payable to Mr. M'Elwain,
as contractor, and accordingly he signed his name
as vouching that sum to the head office in London,
which authorised them to direct the Paymaster-
General to transmit money to the amount certified.
It appeared that in several instances these certifi-
cates had been forged—that is subsequent to
the authentication of the same the sums were
altered, and increases to a large amount were
made. The whole accounts had been here and
there remodelled, and different items were so
inserted as to make them seem all square. These
forged accounts were transmitted to London,
and the officer there, seeing the signature of the
commandant officer of the Engineers in Ireland still
authenticating the document, and never suspecting
for a moment, directed the money to be paid to Mr.
M'Elwain. The intormations like wise set forth
that the items fraudulently inserted in these bills
from time to time were in the handwriting of Con-
nelly, and in one instance Colonel Durnford's name
was forged. Their worships could well see that it
was a case requiring the utmost and most careful
investigation. The facts stated in the information
he (Sergeant Sullivan() believed raised a sufficient
case for asking the bench to remand it for the pre-
sent. He would ask for an adjournment to that
day week, so that the authorities in London might
be communicated with, and the Crown would then
be in a position to lay before them the whole facts.
On searching amongst the papers of Mr. Connelly
several most important documents were found, of
vital consequence, and which connected him still
more closely with this very serious crime. After
going into some evidence the case was adjourned
for a week.

THIS DAY'S 111A.REETS.