The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-25 00:00:00

ENGLAND'S FUTURE FLEET.

England's future future flea must be of iron, and con-
sist of the following classes:—First, iron steam-
ships of the line. These, if built to eerry 100 gun,,
must he each of 10.000 ton, burden, have engine:.
of 2,.100 horse-power, carry fuel fot •i,tloo miles,
and will cost us, fully Equipp«l And armed,
£750,000. The second class will be iron: steam-
frigates. These, if built to carry 50 guns, must hal
each of 7,000 tons burden, which is a little larger
than the Warrior, of 6,000 tons burden, have
nd
he
ceSlaurrc: . hye t speeda2teovs
guns,
vessel would
h,lwsse
sail
ieulknots,llmdsu knots,
8 be cheaper
fhueaeh eebaeftpohoerfer
sssp,a,:ionorlego
tons
sei
than
speed
miles,
burden,
and will cost when completed and armed, £500,000.
Warrior. The third class will be iron steam-
he
others, and coal for the same distance, but will
and cost £300,000. These three classes our author
designs to act together at sea, in all weathers, and
in any portion of her Majesty's dominions. These
three classes constitute a separate division. They
are all to be impregnable, and an overmatch,
beyond all comparison, for any wooden ship of the
same number of guns now in existence.
The three remaining classes of vessels in the
future iron fleet must have a high speed equal to
that of the first three classes, but only partial pro-
tection. Tne fourth class, therefore, will consist of
iron steam-clippers, of 2,500 tons burden, carrying
10 guns, having four guns and her boilers, ma-
chinery and magazines perfectly protected; her
speed will be 15 knots, her cost £160,000. The
fifth class should be like the existing steam sloops
of the navy, except that they should be of iron, and
faster. They should be 2,000 tons burden, carry
10 guns, and cost £120,000. The sixth class, built
for speed alone, should also earry 10 guns, but
should perform 16 to 17 knots. The cost of each
would be £lOO,OOO.
In addition to these classes, Mr. Scott Russell
proposes iron gunboat flotillas. These also are
ranked in different classes; first, gunboats of 120
tons burden, of 30 horse-power, carrying 25 men,
with a speed of about 8 knots, and drawing
between 4 and 6 feet of water. Fifty of these
should be built every year until we have enough.
Second, paddlewheel despatch-boats, supplementary
to the gunboat flotilla, each of 100 horse-power, 300
tons burden, carrying two guns, and having a
speed of 10 knots. Third, screw vessels of about
400 tons, also carrying 2 guns, drawing 8 feet of
water, and able to steam 10 knots. Fourth, gun
vessels like the Recruit and the Weser, only larger
and faster, and like them armed with 4 large guns,
also to be capable of being navigated, like class
second, either end foremost, and to be partially
protected.
The total cost of a channel fleet of iron steam-
ships, consisting of 10 ships of the line, 10 frigates,
and 10 of the corvette class, would be £15,500,000.
An auxiliary fleet, consisting of 10 steam-clippers,
10 steam-sloops, and 10 despatch boats would cost
us £3,700,000. With such a fleet we would reqUire
only one-fourth of our present number Of seamen.
23,500 men would do the work of the 85,500 now
employed in our fleet and coastguard service, and
would certainly be an overmatch for all the navies
in the world put together. With such a fleet our
ships would be easily manned. 25,000 sailors in
it will be as effective as 100,000 in the old.
Its construction would raise the character and
position of all classes of men connected with it,
and especially favour the increase of knowledge
and skill among our naval officers and naval
architects. An iron fleet will undoabtedly be
much cheaper to maintain than a wooden one. The
annual maintenance of the proposed fleet would be
only £200,000, for an iron ship, if well cared for,
never decays. The current annual cost of our fleet
afloat is now about £5,000,000 ; while another
£5,000,000 are expended annually in our dockyard
establishments. If, therefore, a new iron fleet
should cost us £20,000,000, it would be much
cheaper than the vaunted wooden walls which we
are always reconstructing, overhauling, cutting
down, lengthening, converting, and yet, like Dutch
clocks, are always out of repair.
Such is the scheme of national defence proposed
by one of the most celebrated of living architects.
Its completeness, the name of its author, and the
admirable clearness and force with which it is stated,
must tell upon the naval policy of all great nations.
—Mechanics' Magazine.

TIIE INCOME TAX.

We have to thank M. Hubbard for the first
blow at the income tax. He has carried by a
majority of four his motion for a committee of
inquiry into the assessment of the income tax, and
whether a mode of levying the tax so as to render
it more equitable can be adopted. The main pro-
posal of Mr. Hubbard is to reduce by one-third the
tax levied under Schedule D on professional and
precarious incomes dependent on personal labour.
He also argues for an abatement of one-twelfth
upon the tax as it bears on land, and one-sixth
upon houses. These proposals, coming from a
gentleman who has a thorough understanding of
money matters, seem to have scattered to the winds
all Mr. Gladstone's objections to the income tax.
We see the Minister of Finance, like the traveller
in the fable, wrapping his cloak of income tax the
more tightly round him the more Boreas storms
against it. Never to concur in any prevailing
sentiment or opinion is the peculiarity of Mr.
Gladstone. When the income tax was supported
by large majorities he abhorred it, there was every
vice in it, and the moment the necessity for recourse
to so detestable an instrument ceased, he was for
putting it away in thatapart of the armoury
where thumb screws, liktka, and such odious
implements are laid up. But when he found
opinion rising against this hateful impost, his
hostility began to give place to softer sentiments.
The Devil is not so black as he is painted.
Schedule D is not so iniquitous as it has been
thought. Indeed, Mr. Gladstone now discovers
so beautiful a harmony in the schedules of the
income tax that it is impossible to take an excess
from one without laying it on another. To abate
injustice in Dis to impose it on A. It is the story
of the scanty blanket. Pull it over one part and
another is left to complain. There was a time, and
not very distant, when the demoralising effects of
the income tax were regarded with abhorrence by
Mr. Gladstone, but now he laughs at Mr. Hubbard s
representation of this evil, and asks whether 33 per
cent, separates probity from dishonesty. Yet we
cannot but think that if the temptation to wrong
could be reduced by a third the world would sud-
denly find itself marvellously improved, though not
quite perfect. It is something, says the Latin poet,
to advance to a certain point, though it may be
impossible to get farther ; but no, argues Mr.
Gladstone, remain where you are at the worst if you
cannot go the whole way to perfection. The income
tax is unequal, but where is equality to be found ?
The earth has its mountains and valleys, the sea its
surges, the smoothest mill pond its ripples. Per-
fection in anything is unattainable, but is that any
reason for remaining content with a grossly vicious
system ? Are we to submit to consummate wrong
because we cannot hope to obtain consummate jus-
tice? Why justice itself can only be an approxi-
mation to the excellence whose name he bears. See
the varying measures of punishment dealt out to
the same offences, or the heavier sentence often
awarded to the lesser guilt ; but the impossibility
of perfection has never been an argument against
amending the gross defects of the law. There have
been men like Lord Eldon who have opposed all
reform, but not on the ground that as it was not
possible to put all quite right it was advisable to
leave all to the utmost degree wrong, but on the
plea of the unimproveable excellence of the
in question. Swift's coachman objected to
clean
after
his carriage, saying it would be as dirty again
it had been out for a few minutes. His master cut
off the man's next meal, and upon his remonstrance
answered, "What's the use of feedin hours when
again a few after-
you will be as hungry
wards ?" Mend the income tax as you may, and
when all is done for the best new complaints of
new inequalities will arise ; but still the mending
will be good, and the small faults in the new sys-
tem preferable to the large of the old. The task is
one of difficulty, but for what in the world have we
Ministers, especially such a clever Chancellor of
the Exchequer as Mr. Gladstone, except to grapple
with and conquer difficulties ? So fond, inueed, is
he reputed to be of such work that he has been
charged with making giants in order to slay them,
and punching a great hole in the revenue for the
satisfaction of stopping it in a masterly manner.
But he must not be bidden to suck tasks. If the
country had ;fondly taken the income tax to its
bosom, Mr. Gladstone would have been the man
political authorities. Those communities which

i.er to have dashed it 'a,
have-reformed it in such fas,
lies would not have known
"Li_dstono cannot go V
uneasy in it, it is not his go;
he therefore distrusts it,
other way. How often have ..
from a current. to go. round and rount, id-tug i.
an eddy, where he has to circle all to himself. He
seems to have settled it in his mind that the mass.
of people always think wrong, and to quarrel with
his own opinions when he finds the world backing
them, dishonouting them, as it were, with accept-
ance. Hence we expect. to find in the Chancellor-
of the Exchequer before long a vehement advocate
of the income tax, not only as a thing of necessity,
but also as one ot'much grace and virtue, tcre.s atypic,
rolundus And this he will do conscientioullv.
For it is the peculiarity of Mr. Gladstone's Trilt:4-
t hat he is never at a loss for reasons fur any conclu-
sion at which it is his will to arrive. lie is a
consummate advocate at the bar of his own con-
science. As in nicellanic!s action and reaction are.
uquil and contrary, so in his mind argumcio
::re equal :And c...mtrarvy, and As much is to be
said for as Any given 4nestion. lie firol.,;
both bad and •,;ood in everything by
vs in ktppositioti to the stream_ And now
that. the has shown 4t disposition lo revolt.:
the of the ineonie tax we nqit
expect of Mt% ono a most fervent attach-
ment to the abomination, and not the less bat
all the more for his former antipathy, such re-
pugnances when once overcome giving place to
the strongest Examiner.

THE, LATE DISTRESS IN THE
METROPOLIS.

At the close of the business of the Mansion-house ,
Police court on Saturday, the Lord Mayor made the
following statement relative to the amount of
money sent to him for charitable purposes during
the late inclement weather, and the manner in
which it had been disposed of.
His LORDSHIP said that as all the accounts had
now been made up in reference to the late tem-
porary distress in the metropolis,lhe should be glad
to make publicly a short statement relating to the
';sbursements. A large amount of
money was,,,,..s.aled to him by charitable persons
during the severity of the frost, at a time when all
labour upon end along the shores of the river was
entirely suspended. The barges were frozen in,
there was no communication between the ships and
the several wharves, and the result was that
thousands of labourers were thresh' out of work,,
not only by reason' of the river-traffic being sus-
pended, but that this, at the same time, caused a
vast diminution in the demand for labour on shore,
and the consequence was that there arose a terrible'
cry of distress. The response of the public to that
cry was most gratifying, and it showed the pro-,
digious amount of latent benevolence that existed
not only in this country but also in foreign coun-
tries. When the statements relative to the distress
that existed in the metropolis were made public,
he had the gratification of receiving letters from the
editors of two French newspapers published in
Paris; in which the writers expressed their intention
of making an appeal to the French public to relieve
the terrible distress that was stated to exist among
the labouring population of this metropolis, and
one of the letters enclosed a bank note for a
thousand francs, as a portion of the contribution.
At this period the frost had commenced breaking
up, and he had thought fit to announce publicly
from the bench that he did not any longer require
the contributions of the public, and that he should
cease to administer any further relief, as the river
was cleared, the frost had apparently departed, and
the state of things in the metropolis had returned to
something like their normal condition. The amount
of money that was received had enabled him to afford
assistance to 3,241 persons, each of whom repre-
sented a family ; and besides that he had given
XlO7 to various soup kitchens, and other charities
of a like kind, for the distribution of coals, bread,
and meat to the poor. He should state also, that
after having made the public announcement he had
referred to, the Court still continued for some time
to administer relief in very urgent cases that were
brought to its notice. When all this had been
done, however; there still, through the munificence
of the public, remained a sum of between £6OO and
£7OO, and it was thought better to keep this in
hand for a short time, in order to see whether the
frost had departed, or whether there was any pro-
bability of its return. Within the last few days it
was thought that the time had come when this
money might be distributed, and to consider which
was the best mode to apply it, so as to carry out
the benevolent intentions of the donors. The money
could not be returned to the parties who sent it,
because they did not know who it came from—it
was nearly all sent anonymously—by persons who
appeared desirous of emulating the good they
were doing, and upon careful consideration he felt
that the best mode of making use of this money
was to distribute it. among some of the deserving
charities of the metropolis, and he had now to an-
nounce that this had bent done to the extent of
1:345. His lordship then read the following stale•
ment as to the manner in which the money had
been disbursed :—"ln the month of January there
was given to 3,248 distressed families and persons,
in small sums varping from 2s. 6d. to 405., X 1,158 ;
to various soap, meat, and other charities, £l22—
total £1,280. The greater part of the balance that
then remained was divided among the following
charities :—City Kitchen, £l5; Houseless Poor,
£3O; Field-lane Refuge, .£3O; City Dispensary,
£l5 ; Metropolitan Dispensary, £l5 ; Finsbury
Dispensary, £l5 ; Farringdon Dispensary, £l5 ;
London Philanthropic Society, £25; Truss
Society, £2O; London Hospital, £5O; Poplar
Hospital, £5O ; Free Hospital, Gray's Inn-
lane, £3O ; Free Hospital, Devonshire-square,
£3O ; Consumption Hospital, Brompton, £3O ; Con-
sumption Hospital Victoria-park, £3O; Ophthalmic
Hospital, City, £2O ; Ophthalmic Hospital, Gray's
Inn-road, £2O ; Seamen's Hospital, £3O ; Sea
Bathing Infirmary, £3O ; Home in the East, £3O ;
Societe de Bienfaisance, £2O; Shipwrecked
Mariners' Society, £2O; Easton-road Industrial
School, £2O; Euston-road Reformatory, £2O ;
Spitalfields Weavers' Asylum, £2O; Bishopsgate
Soup Kitchen, £lO ; Ann's-place, and Bow-road
Soup Kitchen, £5; total to different charities,
£G45." His lordship proceeded to state that these
amounts represented a total sum of £1,945 that
had been applied to charitable objects through the
munificence of the public, and it would leave a
small sum in the poor-box that would be quite
sufficient for its ordinary requirements. This was
the mode in which the money had been disbursed,
and he was anxious that the public should know
how he had exercised the trust that nad been re-
posed in him. If he said that he (the Lord Mayor)
had done it, ho was wrong. He never could have
accomplished the task if he had not been aided by
the assistance and sound judgment of Mr. Good-
man, the chief clerk, and also that of Mr. Picker-
ing, the accountant; and when he stated that the
accounts extended,over 180 pages, and filled two
books, the public would at once see the amount of
labour that had been cast upon the last-mentioned
gentleman. He also felt it to be his duty at the
same time to say that he was very much indebted
to the Commissioner of Police, and to his officers
for the assistance they had rendered and the careful
inquiries they had made with a view to prevent
unworthy objects from sharing in the fund intended
for really distressed persons. As he had stated on
a former occasion the applications for assistance
were properly classified, and the great number of
letters that were brought back and reported to
have come from unworthy persons, showe made
great importance of the inquiries that were
by the police. All he could say for himself
was, that he had endeavoured to do all
he could to distribute the funds among deserving
persons, and he hoped the public would be satisfied
that their money had been *
faithfully and
pro-
perly applied, and he trusted that would be very
ce might raise. I
long before a similar occ. urr;
some that the func-
t
had, he believed, been devolved said
tion of ren poor on the poor law,
and thatliev alli thg at the
w as necessary could have been
done through -the instrumentality of the different
boards of guardianal and a gentleman of great
experience in connexion with the administration of
the poor law had expressed an opinion that the
money might have been disbursed by the guardians
in a better manner. The money that was sent by
the public to this court could not, however, have
been so applied. He had no right to send it to any
other channel for distribution, and he would state
at the same time that, although no doubt it was very
probable they had given relief to some parties who
ought, possibly, to have gone to the union, yet he
was certain, at the same time, that they' would
rather have starved than have done so, and he hoped
that the poor-box of the Mansion Howse would
always be in such a condition as to enable them to
relieve a poor man without forcing him to submit
to the degradation of being compelled to go into
the union workhouse. His lordship then said that
the receipt of the letters from Paris that he had
referred to gave him very great satisfaction, and he
)144 110 doubt that, but for the intimation he had
given that no more funds would be required, a very
large sum would have been received from the appeal
that was intended to have been made to the bene-
volence of the inhabitants of the city of Paris, and
he had thought it right, under the circumstances,
to give half of the sum that had been transmitted to
him from the gentlemen referred to, to a foreign
charitable institution—the Societe de Bienfaisance,
thinking that the benevolent donors would probably
not have been satisfied if he had devoted the whole
sum to that object: