The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENINq :MAY
_24, lB6l.

from their continual re-ventilation. If the public -
realizes thoroughly the necessity for some speedy
and comprehensive change for the better in any of
the great public departments—it assuredly does so
in regard to the maritime department. It is in the
recollectionof the complete exposure during this pre-
sent session beyond all other sessions of imperial Par •
liament, it is in the remembrance of the comprehen-
sive revelations of evil at the Admiralty, and more
particularly in the Admiralty Dockyards during the
course of the last three or four months, that we find
our one consolation in regard to our Legislative
doings in 1861. If nothing else of any importance
has been done, that, at least, has been accomplished
—the demonstration, beyond the chance of further
denial, of the absolute and imperative necessity there
is for a bold and almost, we might say, audacious
series of innovations in the conduct of our maritime
department. Anxiety is beginning to be felt in
regard to other results of our Parliamentary
labours this year—for example, in respect to
the fate of the Attorney-General's Bill for the
rearrangement and readjustment, generally, of
the laws relating to Bankruptcy and Insolvency.
While we, of course, believe the Earl of
DERBY to have been perfectly sincere in
his disavowal of any intention whatever to
obstruct the progress of that measure by any un-
necessary delays with a view to its more careful
consideration, we cannot but regard it as, at this
moment, rather seriously threatened with post-
ponement, after all, another year, to the session of
1862—ominous as the rumours are in regard to
the doings of that committee of inquiry, appointed
by the Lords, that select committee appointed by
their lordships, to examine into the details of the
measure, with a more rigid scrutiny than the Bill
has certainly hitherto been subjected to in either
Ho use of Parliament. According to these whispered
hints
.of evil omen to Sir RICHARD BETHELL'S
latest undertaking as a law reformer, his pet measure
would appear to have a prospect of being so
tampered with? of being so divided and subdivided,
and emended and emasculated that the Author of
its Existence will hardly be able to recog-
nise it when it comes back to the Commons
from the Lords in due course, to enable
the farmer to take into consideration the
various improvements (?) suggested by the latter.
The mere knowledge that the Bankruptcy Bill is
-really just now before a Select Committee of the
House of Lords—whatever truth or falsehood there
may be in the measures we have been here refer-
ring to—the simple knowledge that it is before that
Select Committee renders us dubious as to the
happy completion this year of the proposed reform
in the laws of Bankruptcy and Insolvency. No
drawback, however, of this character have we, in
reference to what we may again designate as our
one genuine solace of the session—meaning the
thorough and conclusive demonstration of the need
there is for a sweeping change in the general
organisation of affairs at the Admiralty and in the
Admiralty Dockyards.

There is no possibility any longer of blinking the
evil that is now so vividly and universally recog-
nised. The Board of Admiralty is pledged to assist
in furthering whatever improvements may be
eventually decided upon. All the former First
Lords and Secretaries of the Admiralty are vieing
with each other in enforcing the urgent need there
is for promptly and energetically carrying out the
beneficial changes now either meditated or in actual

preparation.
Yet—wonderful to tell—in spite of all this—there
is the same apparent apathy on the part of the
House of Commons , in regard to matters of this
vital importance, to the well-being, to the safety,
and to the absolute existence of the country—the
same amazing appearance of indifference in respect
to the votes taken annually in Committee of Supply
during the consideration, item by item, of the naval
estimates. As a matter of course, therefore, the
House of Commons was last evening but thinly
attended. As a matter of course, the resolution
proposed by the house before going into
Committee of Supply with a view to the
consideration of 'the naval estimates —as a
matter of course, we say, that resolution pre-
pared by Sir FREDERIC SMITH went for nothing,
the resolution insisting upon the expediency of
such reforms being made in the control and man-
agement of the Dockyards as would tend to
promote greater efficiency, and consequently, to
ensure greater economy in those establishments.
Equally, as a matter of course, the hon. gentleman
the member for Sunderland got nothing whatever
from the thin House that just tolerated Mr.
LINDSAY'S explanation of his suggestions of thrift
—got nothing whatever from that thin and
apathetic House, save the rejection, one after
another, of his variou3 economic amend-
ments. It was thus when he proposed
an amendment reducing by £300,000 the sum of
£919,371 set down for timber—a proposal nega-
tived by sixty-two to thirty ! It was thus when
he moved to reduce by £71,757 the sum of
£271,757 demanded for metals et cetera—a " penny
wise" economy rejected by seventy-six to thirty-
two ! It was thus also that Mr. LINDSAY'S last
suggestion yesterday, to the effect that the
sum of £lOO,OOO for iron for an iron-
, cased ship to be built at Chatham, should
be summarily struck out of the estimates, was
in its turn also rejected by sixty-six to thirty-one!
Null and void though every effort thus made by
the member for Sunderland, and those who sympa-
thise with him, in a desire to put a stop as soon as
possible to the old careless habit we have got into
both at the Admiralty and at the Admiralty Dock-
yards, that old dreadful habit of extravagant ex-
penditure—the reiteration of those adverse
divisions we cannot but recognise, after all,
as having about it, in reality, a very happy signifi-
cance. The course pursued by the House of Com-
mons last evening in Committee of Supply indicates
as plainly as possible that the country begrudges
no reasonable sum that may be set down by our
responsible administrators as essential for the well-
being of our Navy—that its one sole solicitude is
that whatever amount of money may be voted for
the expenses of our maritime service shall be pro-
perly applied, and judiciously disbursed—not, as
hitherto, extravagantly squandered—by the Board
of Admiralty and its subordinate delegates at the
Admiralty Dockyards.

Brief though the reply given last evening by the
Foreign Secretary in answer to the inquiries of Mr.
GRIFFITHS, in regard to the doings of the Austrian
Government and the hopes of Hungary—that terse
reply of Lord JOHN'S was not unimportant. True
that the noble lord—as is so often the case with
Ministers when thus pointedly interrogated—
had no information to give upon the parti-
cular matter referred to relating, as it
happened, in the present instance to the
rumoured removal of the tro )ps of ex-Duke
of Modena from the territory of Venetia, and their
transference to Hungary for the purpose of employ-
ment there in gathering taxes from the Hun-
garians ! True, Lord JOHN RUSSELL last
evening had nothing whatever to say upon
that point, good, bad, or indifferent ; but, ap
ipended to his non-explanation, cause these words,
words not without their significance ;—" He

might," he said, " take the opportunity of
stating that he had given no opinion in favour of
tke former as against the latter, and had, when
speaking on the subject on a previous occasion,
simply expressed a wish that Hungary might be
able to enjoy her liberty according to her ancient
Constitution, and that that liberty might be found
to be compatible with the maintenance of the pre-
sent dynasty." We may have occasion, a little
later on, to remind Lord JOHN of the remarkable
words we have here italicized.

. ~ 1~„Y.

, 0-1
L A. rijil INEWS.

THE AMERICAN WAR.

PER ADRIATIC, VIA ST. JOHN'S AND GALWAY.)
NEW YORK, MAY 14.

The blockade of the Virginia Waters is complete.
A precautionary notice has been issued for all
vessels to leave these waters within 15 days.
Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans will be
blockaded within a week.

The Maryland Legislature has adopted a resolu-
tion condemning the war, and discountenancing the
interference of the Federal troops. Fort M'Henry,
Baltimore, has been reinforced.
General Butler, with 2,000 troops and a section
of artillery, has taken possession of Baltimore with-
out resistance.

Martial law has been proclaimed in the city.
31,000 Federal troops are now at Washington.
Virginia has been admitted by the Confederate
Congress into the Southern Confederacy.
The Union movement is, however, spreading in
Virginia.
The number of Secession troops at Harper Ferry
is only 6,000.

The Secretary of the Federal Treasury invites
offers at current rates for the Treasury loan of
9,000,000 dols.

The Kangaroo and the Parana have arrived out.
The Nova Scotian has not yet arrived.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

NEW YORK, M,Y. 13, EVENING.

Exchange on London-1061 to 1061. Stocks
steady, except Missouri Bonds, which have fallen
to 351.

Cotton dull. Middling upland 13:c. to 14c.
Breadstuffs heavy.

NEW ORLEANS, MAY 11.
Cotton sales to-day 4,500 bales; middling, 11c.
to 111 c.

(BY TELEGRAPH TO ST. JOHN'S.)
NEW YORK, MAY 16.

Stocks are tending upwards, and more confidence
is shown. Erie, 2231 ; Illinois Bonds, 96 ; New York
Central, 72 ; Federal Securities are steady.
ST. JOHN'S, MAY 18.

Great election riots have taken place here. Three
people have been shot, The telegraph wires were
cut, but have been repaired.
GALWAY, MAY 24.

The Atlantic Royal Mail steamship Adriatic,
which arrived here this morning, left New York
on the 14th inst., And St. John's on the 18th, thus
having made the passage from the latter place to
Galway in five days and 12 hours. She brings 363
passengers and the mails.

BELGRADE, MAY 23.
Omer Pasha arrived here to-day, accompanied
only by his suite.

THE BOMBAY AND MEDITERRANEAN
MAILS.

SOUTHAMPTON, FRIDAY, MAY 24.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Delta, Captain Field, with the above mails, has
arrived.

She brings 139 passengers, four packages of specie
vaiue not stated, two (?) bales of silk, and a general

cargo.
She passed the ship Saunders south of Finisterre,
and also the steamers Derwent and Ceylon.
Advices from Gibraltar contain nothing of im-
portance.

Exchange on London, 90 days, was quoted 50
to 504 ; Paris, 529 ; Marseilles and Genoa, 530 ;
Madrid, Cadiz, and Seville, par ; Malaga, dis-
count ; Valencia, a premium ; Barcelona, I pre-
mium.

The steamers Stella and Stanley, from London,
and the Hecla and Albanian, from Liverpool, had
arrived at Gibraltar.

THE CALCUTTA AND CHINA MAILS.
MARSEILLES, FRIDAY MORNING.
The Vectis, with the above mails, arrived at Mar-
seilles at 9 a.m. this day.
The mails were to leave for London at 10 a.m.
THE OUTWARD BOMBAY MAIL.
The Valetta, from Marseilles 20th inst., arrived
at Malta at 7 p.m. on the 22d, and was to leave for
Alexandria at 11 p.m.

FRANCE.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY.

A telegraphic despatch from Toulon, received
yesterday, says :—" The experimental squadron has
left for the coast of Syria. It is composed of the
screw liner Bretagne, bearing the flag of Vice-
Admiral Lebarbier de Tinan, the commandant in
chief ; the Algesiras, steamer, with the flag of Rear-
Admiral Paris ; the Donawerth, bearing that of
Rear-Admiral Chopart, and the steam liners Eylau,
Saint Louis, Fontenoy, and Redoubtable, and the
steam corvette Caton. The screw transports Aube,
Finistere, and Amazone accompany the squadron.
The steam frigates Vauban and Cacique left, as is
known, on the 16th ; the Moselle on the 18th, with
a cargo of coal on board for the supply of the fleet;
and the Descartes steam frigate and the steam tran-
sport Ariege on the 19th, all for the same destina-
tion, as has been already mentioned. The embar-
kation of the troops and stores will commence on
the 30th, and the vessels with the troops on board
will leave on the 4th for Toulon with the whole of
the expeditionary corps. The squadron, it is known,
will remain on the coast of Syria for the protection
of the Christians."

BOURSE, May 23.—There has been but a very
limited business doing, the attention of moneyed
men being principally directed to the subscription
now open at the Bank of France for Railway
Bonds. Prices, however, have been pretty well
maintained—Threes, for the Account, being now
69f 40c. Railway Shares quiet, but firm.
The following were the last quotations :-
0., per per Cents ... 96 25 Credit Fancier
Do cad month.... 96 501 Belgian
3 per Cents
Do. end month 69 451 Roman
Bank Shares 2890 Austrian
Credit Mobilier.... 706 25 , Spanish Threes 5O 75
Do. Account 707 50; Home Debt

RAILWAYS.
Cash. Account.
Orleans 1357 50 .. 1356 25
Northern
Now ditto 9OO .. 900
Lyons and Mediterranean 930 .. 930
Geneva 25 . 423 75
Southern ...... 572 50 .. 575
Western
Eastern
Sardinian 382 60 .. 380
Austrian
Lombard 5Ol 25 .. seo

THE BUILDING TRADE.—The firms in this trade
in which the dispute respecting the mode of payment,
whether by the hour or by the day, is now existing, have
rejected the compromise offered by the masons and brick-
layers, viz., to work 10 hours per day for the first five days
of the week at 63. per day, and 3s. on Saturday, leaving
work at 12 o'clock. The dispute therefore still remains open.
To ascertain what course the men are willing to take now
that their offer has been rejected, the central committee
have called a public meeting of the men in all the branches
of the building trade for Tuesday next at the Surrey Theatre.
ACCIDENT TO TOM SAYERS.—This champion of
the ring visited Galashiels on Saturday with Howes and
Cushing's Circus. While proceeding on horseback to the
place of exhibition in the evening, the horse shied at the
flapping of the canvas of the circus, and he was thrown to
the ground and pretty severely injured. Medical aid was
promptly given, and when he had recovered from his faint,
he stated that he felt weaker and more out of order than he
did after his encounter with Heenan. No bones were, we
and
on
Sunday he was confined to
understand, broken, nevertheless the pugilist sustained
several severe bruises,
his bed,