The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-19 00:00:00

THE COMING STOR.If.

(From the Derbyshire Courier.)
Ten days ago we all began to think that the win-
ter had done its worst. It was supposed that the
weather could not go on getting worse and worse
for ever. So everybody imagined that Spring was
about to appear. As we are to have an early
Easter, why not an early Spring ? But nothing of
the kind. England has caught a shocking had cold,
and cannot get rid of it. Will any one pretend to
say that he has a Rose bush or a Rhododendron
alive in his garden ? Can any man in the county
show us a sound turnip ? But worse things have
happened than the destruction of flowers and fod-
der. Last week was one, not only of snow and
hail, but of storm and tempest. All along the north-
east coast the gales of Friday and Saturday, Feb-
ruary Bth and 9th, have strewn the shore with
wrecks. The loss of the lifeboat at Whitby, with
12 out of 13 of the gallant crew which manned it,
and the melancholy fate of Captain Boyd of the I
Ajax, with 14 of his brave fellows, at Kingston
harbour, in the very act of attempting to rescue the
crew of a vessel which had gone ashore near the
l'Pier, have excited the mournful sympathy of every
household throughout the kingdom.
Admiral Fitzroy assures us that much of this
disastrous destruction of life and property might
have been prevented by the exercise of common
prudence and intelligent observation. The coming
storm was foreseen, and notice of its approach was
sent by the Board of Trade, by way of caution, to
many of the great sea-ports three days before it
occurred. In spite, however, of all warnings, many
vessels appear to have put to sea with the most
reckless indifference to consequences, and thus
many cargoes and man's- hardy mariners have been
sacrificed, not to the fury of the gale, but to the
thoughtless fool-hardiness of eile shipown,ers and
captains. There is an importan't lesson to be
gained by the nation from the recent gale. It is
impossible not to perceive that the politiOal bar 0-
meter indicates rough weather. In the first plact
the extraordinary season of 1860 has not .been
without its serious effects on the supply of t,1130
nation's food. The wheat crop of last year is' 1
turning out quite as bad as was expected, if not
worse. The long continuance of severe weather
has caused an increased demand for food for cattle,
while it has most extensively diminished the supply.
The turnip crops, and indeed all roots, have suffered
very severely from the frosts. Every appearance
indicates that the price of all kinds of food for
some months to come at least will be high.
But something else is high besides food. Taxes
are exorbitantly high. Never in time of peaco ha,..1
the country such a burden of taxation to bear. And '
we can at present see no prospect of adequate relief.
The state of the Continent absolutely requires that
England should be prepared to stand on the defen-
,ve. It would be the extreme of shortsighted
-4. to keep both army and navy in a thoroughly
folly in,. • '4
-ion. No great fault can reasonably
efficient cowl,— , foreign policy, as it has been
be found with out
,m 'ston of late. It may not
managed by Lord Pal - L'ed, but we have been
always have been -very dignib.,
the principle of
endeavouring honestly to carry on.
e:od,effie.cts
non •intervention, and. we are reaping the
of our conduct in the respect and arnicatble .Lee,ll.llg
with which we are for the most part regardea
y
the nations of Europe.
But there is a gale getting up on the other side
of the Atlantic. The accounts which arrive from
the United States give no ground for the supposi-
tion that even a temporary reconciliation can be
patched up between the North and the South. The
President is evidently unequal to the emergency.
The Senate and the Representatives talk and form
committees, and report and hesitate, and blunder
and temporise. The democratic form of government
which Washington and Jefferson elaborated did very
well for a few small States just starting into life, but
it is proving itself' quite unequal to the efficient go-
vernment of a large Empire, withvaried and compli-
cated interests. It breaks down in the hour of trial.
And what will the free and enlightened slave-drivers
of the South do for themselves ? Proud, ignorant,
self-confident, and poor, basing their system of go-
vernment on .a barbaric institution, at which com-
mon sense and the innate sense of justice in man
revolts, what future can be anticipated for the South
but one of anarchy, ruin, and servile war ? And
how soon must this state of things begin to tell on
Manchester and Lancashire ? We believe that
ultimately this country will obtain better and
cheaper cotton from Africa, India, and Australia,
than has ever been got from America. But the
falling off in the cotton supply is a breaker ahead.
We may weather this storm, but a storm there cer-
tainly is to be encountered. And much must be
done for India before we can hope to render the
enormous outlay of capital Ahich is required there
fully remunerative. All our splendid colonies re-
quire much assistant:,
e from the mother country be-
fore they can repay us. To give them up would be
about as wise as it would be for a landowner to
suffer his land to go out of cultivaijon to save the
expense of seed and labour. And h 0.7 grievously
have we mismanaged our colonies. Lows: at Aus-
tralia, where we have encouraged democratit: In;
stitutions in servile imitation of the United Statet:
Republic, as if we were ashamed of the Englitth
Constitution under which, be its faults what they
may, England has become the foremost country of
the world. Every year our Australian colonies are
drifting into extravagant, inefficient, and unma-
nageable democracy—for which result we have only
ourselves to blame. We have taught them no
better.
Well, then, with dear food, high taxes, a threaten-
ing state of commerce and trade, and enormous
drains on our resources from various quarters, who
cannot foresee a coming storm ? And to aggravate
all these unpleasant indications we have a financial
and monetary system the very perfection of insane
absurdity. Can anyone believe that we can go on
with a rate of interest at 7 per cent., and a con
tracted circulation ? And Gold is still leaving the
country. Even this last week the exportations
have been large.
Is the country in a position to bear the effects of
another Panic ? And with a panic will inevitably
come discontent and civil disunion, the invariable
attendants of commercial depression and distress.
strong and
es
It is a good strong ship in which England rides
andth the ocean.
brave
leVaer hearts a v
oe hands,
We
n board.
do not coold
heads,pair
"though the weather should be worse." But it is
folly to shut our eyes to the appearances around
us on every side. And these appearances, we
repeat, indicate so plainly that he who runs may
read, A Coming Storm.

THE CONVICT REVOLT AT CRATHAM.

CHATHAM, MoN DAY.
Only about 200 of the convicts belonging to the
establishment at St. Mary's have as yet been
allowed to leave that prison to resume their daily
labours in the dockyard and on the other public
works, the remaining 900 prisoners being rigidly
confined to their cells. Order and quietness have,
however, been completely restored within the
prison, and no attempt has been made by the
inmates to repeat the riotous proceedings of last
week.

Now that order has been once more restored in
the prison the number of convicts sent out to their
daily labour will be gradually increased each day,
until the whole are permitted to resume their work
on full labour diet, and there is no doubt that the
lesson the convicts have been taught from past
events will not be without its effect upon them. Ey
direction of Sir Joshua Jebb a general order issued
by him has been read to the whole of the convicts
by Captain Powell. Each convict is informed of
the position in which he has placed himself by his
late mutinous conduct, the privileges hitherto en-
joyed by them being entirely forfeited and all their
gratuities confiscated. Sir Joshua Jebb also informs
them that no extra diet will be served out to them.

It is understood that some important changes arc
likely to be effected in the interior of the prison,
by the removal of some of the officers whose con-
duct has rendered them obnoxious to the convicts,
and with this view several of the warders have
already received notice that they are to be dis-
charged. It now appears to be pretty well under-
stood that the governor and deputy-governor are
not armed with sufficient authority in the manage-
ment of the officers and prisoners, their efforts being
altogether cramped by the fact of sufficient powers
not being delegated to them to carry out the proper
system which should be observed iu the prison. It
is hoped that recent events will show the higher
authorities the necessity for giving greater power
in the management of the prison to Captain Powell
ox any other governor.
That the convicts have no ground for complaint,
either on the score of the insufficiency or inferiority
of their food, is evident, their diet being infinitely
superior to that afforded the inmates of our work-
houses. The following figures will show the
amount of food given weekly to each convict :
189 ounces of bread; 7 pinta of tea; 15,11 pints of
soup; 7 pints of cocoa or gruel; 7 lbs. of vege-
tables ' • 42 ounces of cooked meat, free from bone
or fat, &e.

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