The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-19 00:00:00

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—YoRK, MARcii 18.

•
Nisi Prins. Court.,—(Before Mr. Justice Hill and a
Special Jury.) •
THE QUEEN V. JOHN BARFF CHARLESWORTH—
v... ,147 A3l aza- assse.aaxz V T-804alr, 19,

The Solicitor-General (Sir W. Athert6n), Mr.
Monk, Q.C., Mr. 0 verend, Q.C., Mr. Cleasby,
Q.C., and" Mr. West, were the counsel for the
Crown ; Sir Fitzroy Kelly, Q.C., Mr. Mellish,
Q.C., Mr. Quain, and Mr. Maule appeared for the
defendant.
Mr. West opened the pleadings. This was' a
criminal information filed by the Attorney-General
against John Barff - Charlesworth, charging him
with bribery at the Wakefield election. There
were various counts charging the defendant with
differbnt acts of bribery, to which he pleaded not
guilty.
The Solicitor-General stated the case. He said
• he had the honour to appear before the jury to pro-
secute the defendant, Mr. John Barff Charlesworth,
on an information which had been filed against
him by the Attorney-General. The nature of the
charge, which the jury had collected already, de-
noted its importance, and the importance of the
inquiry on which they were about to enter. The
present information and others had been filed by
the Attorner•General, and in every one of the in-
' stances the persons selected for prosecution had not
been the recipients of bribes, whose poverty fre-
quently subjects them to the strain of a very sei ious
temptation when the purchase of their votes is
solicited, but the persons selected had been those
who had in some way been concerned in the ad-
ministration of these funds. The defendant is a
gentleman who is in partnership with his cousin,
Mr. John Dodgson Charlesworth, these two gentle-
men owning and managing very extensive colliery
property in the neighbourhood of Wakefield, but
the defendant earlier in his life was trained to the
profession of the law, he was called to the'bar, and
for some time he practised on that circuit. The
charge against him was twofold. In the first
place, that he advanced and paid money with the
intent that it should be expended in bribery, and
the other form of charge was that he gave or caused
to be given to particular voters money for the pur-
pose of inducing. them to give their votes for the
defendant's cousin, Mr. John Dodgson Charles-
worth. The charge arose out of an election for a
member of Parliament which took place in April,
1859, for the borough of Wakefield. Early that
month, or about that time, Parliament was dis-
solved, and a general election ensued. In April,
aehfiaedldb,ee andn a
mr bankerjohn in
1859, the candidates for election were Mr. Leatham,
whoin
i
Daodlgv sonell-known
fir m
Wakefield, Charlesworth,
the cousin of the defendant in this case. Mr.
Leatham appeared on the liberal side, and Mr.
Charlesworth on the conservative side. The nomi-
nation day was on Friday, the 29th of April. A
show of hands having taken place a poll was de-
manded, and it took place on the following day.
The declaration of the poll was made on the follow-
ing Monday, and it then appeared that Mr. Leatham
had been returned by the narrow majority of three
votes, the numbers being—for Mr. Leatham, 406 ;
for Mr. Charlesworth, 403. As the numbers would
almost of themselves indicate, the contest was a very
severe one. Although Mr. Leatham was returned,
dissatisfaction existed, he (the Solicitor-General)
presumed, on the part of those who had been his
opponents, and this led to a petition being presented
to Parliament, the object of which was to unseat
Mr. Leatham. That petition was referred to a select
committee of the House of Commons, which ended
in Mr. Leatham being unseated. Besides that ad-
judication the committee reported that corrupt prac-
tices had extensively prevailed at the election for
Wakefield. The act under which the report was
made, and under which certain proceedings subse-
queney took place, is an act of 15th and 16th Vic-
toria, which was passed in the year 1852, and it is
an act to provide for more effectual inquiry into the
practices at elections for members to serve in Par-
liament. By the authority of that act a commission
was issued, and after a long inquiry the commis-
sioners made a report. The defendant was examined,
and failing to satisfy the commissioners that he had
made a full disclosure, they did not give him a cer-
tificate, which was given to many other persons.
Witnesses would be called who, having received the
commissioners' certificate, were freed from that lia-
bility to peril and penalty to which, but for that
certificate, they might have been subjected, if they
had not made full disclosures of the facts connected
with the proceedings of that election within their
knowledge. The learned counsel then directed the
attention of the jury to the second part of the
charge, which was that the defendant advancedan
paid money to Mr. Fernandez with the intent that
such money shonld be expended in bribery.
After the examination of some other witnesses in
support of the above facts, Mr • Fernandez was
called, but declined answMr. eringß
whether he had re-
J Charlesworth on
ceived money from • B.
account of the election. He was examined as a
witness before the commissioners at the Wakefield
election inquiry, and after having given his evidence
he received a certificate. (The certificate was pro=
duced, and handed to hie lordship.) The witness

PRICE 4D. 15". ^ MPED, 51).

was then asked—Did you receive any money from
Mr. J. B. Charlesworth in 'April, 1859 ? but de-
clined to answer the question.
His Lordship said that he should consult his
brother Keating on the point whether the witness
was bound to answer, and left the court for that
purpose. After an absence of a few minutes his lord-
ship returned, and then, addressing the witness,
said- he was bound to tell him that he and Mr.
Justice Keating had carefully considered the ques-
tion, and they had come to the conclusion that he
(witness) would not be exposed to any peril by
answering the questliffi'put to him. He was clearly
free from any penal consequence, forfeiture,
punishment, disabilitiQs, incapacities, or any crimi-
nal" prosecutions Whatever by reason of the certifi-
cate granted to him. It was therefore his duty to
answer the question.
The witness still persisting in his refusal,
The learned Judge then pressed the question, and
said if he declined to answer it he had no other
course left than that of committing him for con-
tempt of court for an offence of no ordinary charac-
ter, his evidence being material for the prosecution
then before the court, he well knowing that the
effect of refusing to give his testimony would de-
feat the ends of justice. His lordship was of
opinion that the witness was firmly persuaded in
his own mind that he would be in no peril what-
ever if he answered the. question. What. his
motive was might be easily imagined-0 defeat
the proper administration of justice. He must-
therefore be sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
•unless sooner released by some competent authority
and pay a fine of £5OO.
The sentence was received with applause in court
which was speedily suppressed.
Mr. Fernandez was given in charge of the Go-
vernor of York Castle, and his lordship directed
that he should be detained in custody as a first-
class misdemeanant.
The Solicitor-General applied that the certificate
of the witness might not be returned to him.
The Judge acceded to the application.
The Solicitor-General then intimated that it was
quite impossible for him to move a step further in
the case, seeing that Mr Fernandez had declined to
give his testimony. He therefore asked his lord-
ship to discharge the jury.
The Judge—What authority have I to do ,that ?
The Solicitor-General then quoted, the case of
" Newton" (13 Queen's Bench Reports, -page 716),
to show that the judge had the power to discharge
the jury in a criminal prosecution. In this case the
prisoner, was committed by the justices.for murder.
On his trial he pleaded not guilty, and the jury re- .
tired, and remained in deliberation all night. Being
unable to agree, the learned judge discharged the
jury, and the prisoner was detained in custody.
The Judge said that this ought not to be done
except in cases of extreme necessity. In the case
referred to the judge had to go to another assize
town, the business being concluded, and as there
was no chance of the jury agreeing, they were dis-
charged.
The Solicitor-General having quoted Some other
cases in support of his argument,
Sir 'Fitzroy Kelly 'contended that none of the
cases referred to reseMbled that which was I.lnhap-
pity before the court. Without at ".all wishing to
enter into the question whether his lordship had
power to discharge the jury; the effect would be
that if that course were adopted, the deifendaiit
would be put upon his trial twice for the' same
offence, and it might be to subject him and to
visit him with very ' great hardships arising
from a circumstance over which. he had no
control. This was the second time -that the de-
fendant had appeared in court in reference to
these proceedings; he had been:put to very great
expense, and, in addition to that, he had expeL
rienced all that anxiety of mind which must insepa-
rably be associated with a man When a case of that
character was brought against Mm.
Mr. Mellish follovski. on the same side.:
Mr. Justice Hill, ;laving consulted with Mr.
Justice Keating, discharged the jury.
THE QUEEN V. I. C. D. CHARLESWORTH.

The Solicitor• General withdrew the record in this
case. The defendant is the ex-candidate and former
member for Wakefield.

The Court then proceeded with the trials of the
Queen v. Judd, and the, Queen v. Crowther, for
I.ribes to the electors of Wakefield. The
cases were proceeding when our parcel lent York.

'• w THE SUPPLY OF COTTON.

_,. ,

The attention which has lately been devoted to
this subject by the English press appears to have
found an echo on the other side of the Atlantic.
Our contemporaries, alarmed lest the present crisis
should interfere with the supply required to feed
the Lancashire manufacturers, urged the develop-
ment of the culture of cotton in India, Asia Minor,
Turkey, Algeria, and other warm countries. The.
New I-ork _Herald of Feb. 23 published a very long
and able article, filled with curious information, on
the other side of the question, with a view to show
that cotton cannot be grown on a large scale 'with
any prospect of success, anywhere but in the
Southern States of America. It says :—" We pos-
sess the only extensive and reliable cotton re-
gion in the world. All thoughts of rivalry or
hopes of its supplies being superseded by other re-
gions are totally absurd, and are only entertained
by visionary men, or by those who are igno-
rant of its cultivation. We must understand
that there are about fifty various varieties of
the gosypium, or cotton plant, and that out of
the whole number there are only about four culti-
vated for commercial purposes, each of which is an
annual, and requires replanting every year. The
perennial cotton trees of the tropics are wholly use-
less, so far as the quantity or quality is concerned ;
their pods, or bolls, are small and comparatively
few to the tree, while the fibre of the cotton is
coarse, harsh, and brittle. We must comprehend
the fact that tlaca. annual plants cultivated in the
United States are only adapted to a climate where
rain and sunshine alternate, with sufficient heat to
mature the plants, and that they will not stand the
extremes of drought and rain common to all inter-
tropical latitudes, where the only plan which can
be employed in rearing them consists in irrigation—
a method too artificial and expensive ever to be em-
ployed on a large scale. Hence, when we hear that
India, Africa, Algeria, Egypt, or Central America is
to compete with the United States, we know that the
thing is simply impossible. In the United States the
northern limits of the cotton culture are bounded by
34 to 36 degrees north latitude, omitting intervening
mountainous elevations and stripes of sterile soil ;
and by the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf
of Mexico (the latter being in latitudes 28 to 30
degrees) on the south. This cotton region ex-
tends around the Gulf of Mexico through Texas to
the mouth of the Rio Grande on the south-west,
and stretches in a north-easterly and south-westerly
direction from about the longitude of 76 degrees
30 minutes to 99 degrees west of Greenwich. The
main cause of the fertility of the country thus
described is attributable to the great basin of water
known as the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Stream,
which passes out parallel with the shores of the
Southern cotton States. The water of the Mexican
Gulf heated by the rays of a tropical sun, causes
an immense evaporation, which, in expanding or
drifting north, or towards the elevated lands
east and west of the Mississippi, is condensed by
cold air, and produces frequent showers during the
warm months of spring and summer, and which
are the life of the cotton plants. A similar process
takes place along the Southern Atlantic States.
The evaporation from the Gulf Stream is 'con-
densed by the cooler air of the Alleghanies. Thus
we have an immense region of cotton lands over
which nature has established the 'most wonderful
system of irrigation known in the world, in com-
bination with the proper amount of heat rich-
ness of soil. When we consider that these great
physical advantages have
institutions,
united with enter-
prise, managed by
skill, and slave
American intellect, under free institutions, all
tending to their development, promoted by the
only fixed labour suitable to the culture of cotton,
we shall experience no difficulty in comprehending
why the United States enjoy a monoply in its pro-
duction.

DETERMINED SUICIDE OF A TRADESMAN IN
ST. PANcßAS.—Yesterday morning, about eight o'clock,
it was discovered that Mr. Salmon, of Albany-street, Re-
gent's-park, a grocer in a large way, of business, bad com-
mitted suicide. His' servant went about eight o'clock, as
was usual, to the stable to take out .tbe horse, when he
found the door fastened. He looked through the keyhole
and then observed his master suspended by a
rope. Seeing
police-constable Limburg 333 S, he called him. The con-
stable got over the fanlight of the door and cut the rope.
A. surgeon was sent for, and stated that life was extinct.
No cause can be assigned for the rash act. The previous
night he went to bed not showing any signthat would lead
to a supposition he would commit suicide.
The Boulogne Messenger says A bureau for
the transmission of telegraphic messages was opened at the
railway station on the 10th ult., and will be continued there
for the future."

.P.ZOODAND 0RP,..41T LOSS OF 11 'FE AND
PROPERTY AT GAL4TZ.

The Levant Ilerald 'of March 6; which has just
reached us, contains the following items of eves
" Telegraphic news was received in town jester-
day evening from Galatz, announcing the occur-
renee there of extensive inundations, from the
breaking up of the i v hich have flooded th whole
lower part of the town, involving immense loss of
property in the magazines and private houses ;
several of the inhabitants' bad also perished, and
thouiands more are houseless through the calamity.
H.M. gunboat Recruit had also lost a large quan-
tity of stores.
" Since the publication of this we have received
the following from our Galatz correspondent :
" 'GA.La'rz, March I.—J
iregret having to report
the occurrence of 'a dire calamity ,during the
week. The inundations, caused: by the increased
body. of water brought down by the breaking up of
the ice, having inflicted a serious loss on this town,
attended, lam sorry to say, with loss of life. The
exact number of victims I have been unable to
ascertain. The injury done to the lower part of
the town has been very extensive, not only to the
dwellers of the poorer portion of our community,
but to the stores of grain which wei e situated there.
We have had this season a much larger quantity of
corn in store than usual, chiefly purchased on
English account. From the information that
has been supplied to me from the best
sources, I am enabled to state that the esti-
mated value of the property destroyed is upwards
of a quarter of a million sterling. I have not
yet been able to learn particulars from Ibraila and
other districts, but all accounts agree in stating that
the whole of the banks of the Danube have pre-
sented a .scene_of great desolation, and the aggre-
gate less, will form a very heavy matter., Rapid,
hoifever,As has been the destruction which I have
now regaled,. the. subsiding of the mass of water
which caused •so much alarm his been equally so,
and we have now little further trace of the inunde.-
fion than the'ruin 'it has left behind, and which
take some time to repair. In addition to tho
loss which' the to*n has thus sustained, ,her Ma-
jesty's steamer 'Recruit, ,Gapt SPain, has had her
paddlewheels seriously injured, and ihaip:also lost a
large quantity of stores in one of the'imagazines on
shore. .Happily,however, none of her men suffered
either in life or limb from the mishap.
" I mentioned in a former letter that we had a
number: of Hungarians here waiting the opportu-
nity to pass up the Danube ; the number has since
been much" increased, and the men have been
divided into two battalions, but unfortunately the
arms which were seized some time ago, sad which
have since been given over to_the British. authori-
ties, are thus rendered of no avail, and further sup-
plies cannot now be introduced. In the uncer-
tainty_ of the aspect of the political horizon, we
are of course unable to offer any idea as to whe-
ther our Hungarian friends will be afforded the
opportunity of proving their prowess. We have
no political news of any importance at the present
moment.'
- " BURNING 07' THE SARDINIAN LEGATION,--
About three o'clock on Sunday inOrning., a fire
broke out in one of , the _ rooms, _occupied by
the Sardinian Minister, in the Rue" Tepebashi,
and spread so rapidly, in spite of all efforts to over-
come it, that in a few hours the whole mansion
was gutted from basement to roof. So quickly,
indeed, did the flames engulph room after room
that General and Madame Durand° and the per-
sonnel of the legation had barely time to effect their
individual escape, leaving clothes, furniture, books,
documents, and everything a prey to the devouring
element. In addition to the usual municipal and
1 other fire engines which arrived speedily on the
spot, the powerful engine of the British embassy
played with admirable effect from the palace gar-
dens, and contributed by the vast volume of water
which it poured into the burning mass to confine
the flames to the 'scene of its outbreak. Hap-
pily, the house, ,which belonged to Mr. Zarifi,
Was of stone, and the mischief was therefore the
more easily kept from extending to the neighbour-
ing buildings, some of which, in the rear, are of
wood. The calmness of the morning also oontri-
buted to the same fortunate result.

" The origin of the calamity is said to be un-
kßown, but an investigation will of course be hold,
which will probably reveal it."

TRADE .p.,s.PUT.S.

PROPOSED REDUCTION OF WAGES IN TIIE COT-
TON TRADE.—At a meeting of the master cotton
spinners and manufacturers of Preston and the
neighbourhood, held on Friday at the Bull
Hotel,it was unanimously resolved that a month's
notice be give at the various mills of the mem-
bers of the association of a reduction of 5 per
bent in the rate of *ages paid'"to' *Avers,

.nders, and. warpers. The present rate of wages
s 5 per cent. above the Preston standard list, and
;his 5 per cent., which was added last April, is
proposed to be taken off. At the same meeting a
resolution was come to requesting the committee of
the association to take steps for the formation of a
general association of the masters of North
Lancashire, for the protection of the interests of
the trade.—Preston chronicle.
THE ASHTON, STALEYBRIDGE, AND HYDE
WEAVERS AND THEIR EMPLOYERS.—A notice of
reduction given by the masters in. Ashton, Staley-
bridge, Dukinfield, Hyde, and Glossop, to the
operatives in their employment. of 71 per cent, on
their present rate of wages, has caused considerable
excitement during the past week, and the operatives
have held meetings at the respective places named
to consider the notice received. The meeting at
Stalevbridge was a crowded one, but no definite
resolution was come to, it being understood that a
general meeting of the district would be called.
On Friday night a very large meeting was held at
Ashton. Mr. John Bolton, a weaver, who presided,
said lie believed the contemplated reduction was not
necessary, and lie urged that a reduction of the
hours of labour would be much more acceptable to
the operatives. Mr. W. Shawcross moved a resolu-
tion to the effect that the meeting respectfully re-
quest the manufacturers to reconsider their decision,
and that they be requested to work short time, be-
lieving that to be the only remedy to bring about
a better state of trade. The resolution was carried
amidst great applause. A deputation was ap-
pointed to wait en the masters, and after a vote of
thanks to the chairman the meeting broke up.
LOCK OUT OF THE CONGLETON RIBBON AVEA-
VERS.—From the long-continued depression of the
silk trade, it has for some weeks been feared that
many of the masters of Congleton would be com-
pelled to succumb to the increased competition
which they find brought against them, and on
Monday last they communicated to the men that, as
trade did not seem to revive, they must submit to
a reduction of wages. The weavers almost unani-
mously refused to accept what had been offered
them ; hence a lock-out, which commenced on Mon-
day morning and still continues, the weavers
wandering in groups up and down' the town,
and preventing the return to work of any of their
number. Owing to the strong combination which
exists among unionists in Congleton there appears
to be little chance of an amicable settlement being
come to at present, unless some concession is made
by one party, the lock-outs naturally looking to the
trade unions in other towns—especially in Derby
—fur a return of that support which they rendered
under similar adverse circumstances. The dispute
is rendered doubly perplexing from the circumstance
that the largest ribbon firm in the town--Messrs.
Pearson and Sons—have not considered themselves
at liberty to adopt the same course as that pursued
by the other masters. At present the lock-out
extends to the firms of Messrs. Brown and Ken-
nerley, Lees and Leadbeater, Rowley, Berisford,
Wood, Davis, Cook, Garside, Warrander, and some
others. About 300 hands are out, including ap-
prentices. Besides the question of wages, the em'
ployment of apprentices furnishes another bone of
contention, the men contending that the received
regulations of the trade limit the Dumber of ap-
prentices in the proportion of one to every seven
journeymen. This rule was gassed at a time when
the trade of the town was in a very different condi-
tion to what it is now. The proportionate number
for a long time has
been one to five,
they asha theve menpr e-
say this has beeninfringed but
upon
vented the return of any apprentices in the lock-
out firms. The employers, on the other hand, say
elled to seek cheaper they are comp per labour in order
to enable them to compete 'with the manufacturers
of Derby,. y, and elsewhere, who, since the
reduction in these places, have an advantage over the
Congleton manufacturers by the employment of
cheaper labour. An attempt has been made at no •
gotiation during the week. The masters invited
two of the magistrates, Mr. Hadfield and Mr. Dakin,
and the Rev. J. Oakden, to confer with a deputation
from the men, suggesting that the matter should be
referred to a court of arbitration. These gentle-
men met a deputation from the weavers on Friday,
but no satisfactory result was come to. The men
say they are willing to submit their case to a com-
petent authority, and that any court of arbitration
which may be appointed shall be presided over by
a chairman who is well versed in the technicalities
and usages of the trade as carried on in Congleton.
—Manchester Guardian.

MESSINA.—The Sardinians bombarded the fort
of Messina for four hours only, and not "four days," as
the ordinary despatches say. It was then the terms of
capitulation suggested by the French were accepted. The
town has suffered very little, and not half•a-dozen men
were killed on either side.

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