The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-25 00:00:00

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT.

Information was forwarded on T hursdly to Dr.Lankester,the
coroner, of the frightful death of John Burnard, aged 70, who
was accidentally killed on the Metropolitan Extension of the
Midland Railway in the Garisford-street tunnel, near Cam-
den-road station.

It appears that on Wednesday afternoon the deceased
arrived from Kettering with his grandson, having taken
a ticket to the Finchley-road station. Instead of getting
out there he came by mistake to the Kentish-town
station. Having partaken of some refreshment at
the Assembly Rooms public-house, he raid he should go
to St. Pancras station for his luggage. The last that was
seen of him was by Mr. Smith, the station-master at
Camden-road, and Police-sergeant Butcher, Y reserve,
who heard an alarm given .by the 3-45 engine-driver, who
reported that he had run over something. On pr)ceediug
up the tumid the body of the deceased was found on
the rails, the head nearly cloven in two, the brains lying
y the side of the rails, and the right hand nearly severed
from the body. The poor child was nearly dead with fright,
and also hal a narrow escape f corn being Ilan over by the
,ame train flea killed his grandfather. The body was re-
moved to the St. Pancras mortuary.

TILE DUKE OF ST. ALBANS ON THE
VOLUNTEER CAPITATION GRANT.

The Duchess of St. Albans on Wednesday presented
prizes for shooting won by the Robin Hood Volunteers, at
Nottingham. The Duke, in introducing her Grace, took
occasion to refer to the capitation grant. " I think," said
he, " when we go to the State and we say we require a
larger capitation grant, we must keep in view that we
do not wish to make ourselves in any sense a burden

upon the country. Nor is this at all necessary. There
are cases in which a lavish expenditure may be the best
economy. I think that the economy in men will not be
the best economy of this country. I think that economy
may be made both in our army and in our navy, but
I do not think that the economy in men can be wisely
accepted, because, as the volunteers in this room will
acknowledge, the discipline cannot be raised in one
month, or two months, or even six months. The ques-
tion is, if the volunteers are to exist on the present
capitation grant, why should not they exist for ever?
No doubt the volunteers will exist, and other people
will say if the volunteers die out to-morrow we might
have them again. I ask this, why should we
begin the volunteer movement over again ? Our
capitation grant does not cover our expenses. We
have to resort to various means for turning an honest
penny in a very curious way. We all know that if it
was not for the bazaars, and different things which
take place at the Castle, the Robin Hoods would not
exist. I ask you fairly, should we, as a nation, gain if
the volunteers were to cease to exist ? I may say, re-
specting the capitation grant, we_do not wish to augment
it too much ; but a slight addition, I think you will
acknowledge, if we can get it from the Government, will
not be a burden on the Government, but it will be
an advance in the right way." His Grace
then referred to the proportion of officers in the English
army to that of France, which was as 25 to 35, and was
the cause of much needless expenditure. He also depre-
cated the great expenditure on the navy and fortifica-
tions.

THE RUPTURE BETWEEN TURKEY AND
GREECE.

The project of a conference has not, on the whole, met
with a very warm reception, especially in England. A
fear is pretty generally expressed that the meeting of
the Great Powers would come to nothing, and there is an
evident tendency in the public opinion of the various
countries to take sides on this question. The Times
believes that the Emperor of the French desires a Con-
gress. " He is, as is well known, very partial to Congresses
and Conferences, and believes in their efficacy—an opinion
which is not shared by other European statesmen, and
which, so far as we can see, is not supported by ex-
perience. Nevertheless, if it is thought that a Con-
ference can throw any new light on the subject, or
give the Powers a better opportunity of framing
a plan of common action, we see no objection to
it, provided it be held as soon as possible, make no delay
in its debates and resolutions, and, above all, confine itself
strictly to the subject before it—the quarrel between
Turkey and Greece—and avoid rambling over all the
matters which are to make up the Eastern question."
The Standard bluntly hopes that there may be no founda-
tion for the report of a projected Cjnference. "If
the proposal has been made we may give up all hope of a
peaceful or satisfactorysettleinent of the dispute. We will
lay no stress upon the circumstance that the suggestion of
t Conference has become in recent times the
immediate and apparently the indispensable pre-
liminary to the declaration of war. Every rule,
or rather custom, of this kind may have its
exception, and it is not impossible to assume a case
in which professedly neutral Powers would make an
honest and an earnest attempt to settle a quarrel, and the
disputants shew themselves disposed to accept a reasonable
compromise, The importance, the gravity, of this alleged
proposal of Prussia consists in the proof it would furnish
that Prussia, in alliance with Russia, is anxious to prevent
the pacification of the Turkish Empire, and proposes as the
aim of its policy the exhaustion of the Porte by means of
permanent insurrection sustained by foreign help. To
propose a Conference to decide whether Turkey or Greece
is in the wrong, and to devise an arrangement for recon-
ciling them, is really to take part with Greece, and to
protect her in the gross violation of neutrality she has so
long committei and announces her intention to persist
in." The Standard sees no reason why Turkey should
be placed outside the common law of nations. The
Daily News thinks the proposition means nothing more
than that Russia gladly seizes an opportunity of appearing
on the scene as the powerful and disinterested friend of
the Greeks, anxious to make the best terms for its
clients, and that the Court of Berlin is willing
to aid in this benevolent intention. Let, however,
the Conference, if Conference there is to be, be a
Conference ad hoc: not a Conference on the Eastern ques-
tion, and still less a Congress on the state of Europe in
general, with a view, say, to the general elections in France
next May. Perhaps it might facilitate matters, and smooth
the way to such a Conference, to propose that it
should be held in Paris ; but in that case it would be
particularly necessary to state the objects of the Con-
ference precisely beforehand. The Star also hopes
that until the scope and limits of the proposal are fully
before us, ?Sur Government will not accept even the prin-
ciple of a Congress.
At the scene of the dispute there seems to be a partial,
but not an entire suspension of war preliminaries. The
demand of the Greek Government for a loan of three
millions and a half, and the war preparations, do not look
reassuring. Still less so is the information that the
permission granted to Greek vessels to carry the Russian
flag is confirmed. This is further testimony, if any be
needed, that Russia is warmly interested in the cause of
Greece. Last, and most serious of all, is the refusal of
the Turkish Government to accept the proposed Con-
ference.

Dr. Sandwith writes to the Daily News to the effect
that there is everyprobability of the expulsion of all Greeks
from Turkey being rigidly carried out. When the hero of
Kars was at Constantinople in 1854, and the Greek nation
rose against the Turks, the Porte at once issued an edict
commanding all Greek subjects to quit Turkey. The
misery that ensued in consequence of this order was
appalling. " I myself saw wretched little wine vessels,
in the stormy month of March, crowded with men,
women, and children, setting sail for Greece, and it is
well known that many were swamped with their living
freight."
The Times Athens correspondent says that war has
already begun in fact, if not in theory. The blockade runner
Enosis landed from Dec. 6th to the 14th a large number
of troops and quantities of ammunition in Crete. On the
14th she returned to Syra, having succeeded in all her ope-
rations with great skill and daring. Her entrance into port
was attended by an engagement with two Turkish ships,
of which the captain gives the following report :
As he approached Syra, at a distance of half
a mile from land, he was pursued by a frigate bear-
ing the flag of an Ottoman admiral, attended by the
corvette Izzedin. and was fired at with heavy guns,
revolvers, and muskets, for the pursuing ships came, he
says, within musket-shot. The enthusiasm of the crew of the
Enosis was worthy of the patriotism of Greece. They re-
turned the fire of the Turks with great effect. One shot from
their well-pointed guns disabled the corvette by striking a
paddle-wheel, and another raked the flag ship from bow
to stern. Shortly after the Enosis was anchored in the
recess of the port the Ottoman frigate cast anchor at the
mouth.

Later intelligence strengthens the chance that the Con-
ference will be held. The Powers are all acting, we are
told, with great eagerness, with the view of bringing
about a meeting.

A rather singular offence against the Factories'
Act was investigated at Salford on Wednesday. The in-
spector found a boy, "very small for his ago," working in
a cotton mill of Salford. lie made inquiries and found that
the boy could not be of tho ago stated. The parents had one
son who died, and they had used his certificate for this one.
Being discovered they were ordered to pay a fine of 108. and
costs.

GRANT AND THE CIVIL SER VICE.

(From the Nation.)

There are rumours afloat already that the Jenckes
Civil Service Bill begins to find unexpected favour
in the eyes of politicians at Washington, and we
have little doubt that the number of its supporters
will--now that it is plain that Grant does not in-
tend to work under the old system—grow every
day, and that the measure will, early in the Forty-
first Congress, become a law. Not that we should
have despaired of success even if Grant had not been
elected, and his place during the coming four years
were to be filled by one of the regular party hacks.
It would have taken more time to bring about the
desire:l result, but the result would still have been
certain ; the outrageous misconduct and incompe-
tency of the present tribe of office-hollers would
have made-the necess'ty of the reform plain to the
pubic, even wii,hout the aid of set expositions from
its frien Is or the active support of the new Presi-
dent. But without the aid of the President the task
of " edue:oi ,g" the regular politicians " up" to the
change wool I, we admit, have lean difficult. They
themselves " educating" the people
"up" to the level of their own crazt!s, hut they are
extremely chary a:out receiving ideas that SQUill
likely to lessen their importance to the Sta' e. There
is probably nothing in the whole political fi.1,1
more provoking, aid at the same time !no' e emus-
ine., than the air of dren'Ken doubt and disapproval
wiJi which " ‘ the men pales," as they c ill
themselves, look down from the stump on all re-
formatory labours out of which no " capital" is to
be made. Any change which seems likely to lessen
the number of things they can promise—and there-
fore their weight with their followers—or the support
of which involves the denial of something to some-
body, or the utterance of unpleasant speeches about
the machinery of their own party, they endeavour to
treat as visionary, and laugh over it as long as they
dare. But the minute they find that it is to be,
that there are influences working for it against
which they cannot make head, their conversion be-
comes so rapid that the difficulty is to baptise them
fast enough. Had they succeeded in putting one
of their own number in the Presidential chair, they
would, owing to the enormous amount and value
of the patronage now in the hands of the Govern-
ment, have offered a resistance to any change which
nothing but an overwhelming outburst of popular
indignation could have overcome, and we should
probably have witnessed four years of corruption
in every possible form, which would compare with
the corruption of the last eight years as the finished
work of a man compares with the tentative efforts
of a boy. It must be remembered that "the whisky
thieves," which now seems to be the generic name
of that vast and growing class who devote them•
selves to plundering the Government as to a pro-
fe,sion, have been, until now, comparatively un-
skilled in their work. It took some years to dis-
cover the various devices by which the Government
could be cheated, officials bribed, evidence destroyed
or covered up, and to draw into the business the
leading rogues of the country and the vast body of
capital which is now literally invested in the robbery,
just as it has taken ten years for the rogues of this
city to find out the use for their purposes that might
be made of an elective judiciary. It is an exaggera-
tion to say— as those who know most about it assure
us most earnestly—that there is no " interest" in
the United States so strong, so compact, so well
organized, with so much money and so much skill
and ingeunity at its command at this moment as
the body of persons who are engaged in de-
frauding the public Treasury. Their creatures
swarm in every department of the public sevice,
except the army and navy, and do their bidding
without hesitation. Their "lobby" is so powerfnl
that they find no difficulty in arrestinc, and delay-
ing any piece of legislation that seems likely to di-
minish their profits. Nay, they are strong enough,
as we have recently seen, to stay proceedings in the
courts, close the lips of the public prosecutor in the
very midst of a process, and hurry him away to
become a culprit elsewhere. Moreover, there is no
chance whatever of bringing the party machinery
into play against them, because they take care, we
need hardly say, to commit no breach of the party
canons. They are all, or nearly all, " sound on the
main question ;" in fact, in the matter of ortho-
doxy, they usually out-do everybody else, and
are as intolerant of heresy as the grand inquisitor
himself. With one of themselves in the Presiden-
tial chair, or with any man in it who was tho-
roughly broken to the party yoke, they would have
proved for the present invincible, and they would,
on the opening of the new term, have gone to work
with all the advantages of eight years' training and
experience.
Grant comes, therefore, into the civil service of
the country as he came into command-in-chief of
the army, after three years of blundering and dis-
aster, literally as a saviour ; and in the former, as in
the latter case, he comes t) meet a crisis for which
his career and training seem to have especially
prepared him. had he reached his present
elevation, as most of his more recent predeces-
sors have reached it, after having " filled every
office in the gift of the people, from village alder-
man," &c., or after having begun bis political edu-
cation in ward caucuses and worked up into State
or national prominence through the hidden and
crooked ways in which so many so-called states-
men lay the foundations of their fame and earn their
reputation for wisdom, he would have learned, as
most of them have learned, to look on party usages
the most debasing as well as the most useful, as
part of the organic law of American society. Ile
would have learned to regard the best places in the
public service as the " inalienable right" of those
who do the work of the canvass, and the party ma-
nagers as the heaven-born dispensers of the public
patronage, and resistance to their will or disre-
gard of their advice as at best a sort of mild lunacy,
if not downright treachery. Luckily, he has
learned his duty to the country in a school in which
truth and courage are still the highest virtues, in
which the public money is held sacred, and in which
the habit of looking on the sacrifice of life for the
country as an obvious duty makes defrauding the
country seem one of the meanest of vices, and in
which the political art, as practised in caucuses, ex-
cites only disgust. Although the political tone of
the American army is not owing to the social influ-
ences by which military circles were governed be-
fore the war, perhaps all that could be desired, it is
permeated by a morality which we shall have to
infuse into the civil service if we are to save the
Government.

Aloreover, Grant has not been chosen by the
party, in the smse in which candidates for the Pre-
sidency are usually said to be chosen ; lie has been,
in a measure, forced upon it ; no other nomination
was possible without almost the certainty of de-
feat. He did not seek the nomination either,
and during the canvass refused steadily to contract
obligations to anybody for helping to get him
elected. Anybody who " worked for Graut," there-
fore, did so on his own responsibility; so that Grant
can now meet all Republican orators, writers, and
bill-stickers, drummers, scene-shifters, stage-car-
penters' and rollers of thunder-barrels, with an un-
clouded brow and a sense of perfect independence.
The result is that there is an extraordinary and
almost unprecedented absence of rumours about
offices; an almost unprecedented scarcity of office-
seekers in Washington. In the course of the next
year we confidently expect to see the theory that
the present system of appointment to office has
anything peculiarly " American" about it, or that
any considerable portion of the public is attached
to it, proved to be a fallacy and thoroughly ex-
ploded. The number of persons who take any
real interest in the present system, or would mourn
for one hour over its destruction, is in reality ex-
ceedingly small, and it forms a class without the
least weight in the community, either as regards
character or ability. The doctrine, too, that there
is something peculiarly Democratic in rotation in
office—that is, in the periodical dismissal of one set
of public servants for the purpose of giving a fresh
batch of citizens a share in the profits of politics—
is one which has equally little hold on the popular
mind ; and the success which those who live
by it have bad in persuading people that the
country was attached to it is simply a strik-
ing illustration of what may be done by noise
and impudence.
The only argument we have seen anywhere
put forward against reform is that it will ruin
the Republican party, by leaving them nothing to
offer those who do the work of electioneering by way
of reward. We believe, on the contrary, that it will
simply substitute a good class of workers for a very
bad class. It will cause, no doubt, the retirement
in disgust of a large number of wire -pullers and
orators of the baser sort ; but, on the other hand,
it will bring into the field a larger and larger num-
ber of the men who built up the Republican party
and who now keep it alive—those who have faith
in its ideas, and who belong to it not as an end
but as a means —and a larger and larger number of
mcn devoted to practical legislation, who, like Mr.
Jenckes, have made a conscientious study of subjects,
and want to use the party as a means of putting their
conceptions into practice. The men, even now,
who do the party most service during a canvass
are not men who entertain any expectation of re-
ward in the shape of Federal offices. They are
either men who have already won, or who are seek-
ing by honourable acts, such honours as the people
can bestow by election, or else men for whom no
office whatever has any attractions, and who serve
on the stump, as many of them had served in the
field, for the sake of the famous "Old Cause" for
which Sydney prayed on the scaffold, and which in
our day seems to run as much risk from knaves
and blatherskites as in other days it ran from kin
and priests.