The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-29 00:00:00

UTE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 29, 1868.

hor,efulness, and feeling far more confidence than
it was possible to entertain during the last year or
-two. This visit of the QUEEN'S representative to
the ancient and historic city has afforded a good
opportunity for making known some matters re-

specting the condition of Ireland, which must be
satisfactory to all who are not actuated by the de-
sira to make political capital out of misfortune and
crime, which is not a patriotic feeling or a states-
manlike act at any time.

1 The necessity for improving the dwellings of the
I industrial classes has of late become more and more
widely recognised. Many years ago, when Mr.
GODWIN published his valuable works on the houses
of the London poor, there were comparatively few
among the educate l ranks who were at all aware of
the extent of the evil. Although since then much
has been done in clearing away the rookeries, and
in the way of generally improving the metropolis,
there is much to be set off on the other side against
these advantages. It is true that the question now
excites much more interest than formerly, and that
many of our leading men have given their earnest
attention to it, still the c)nstant increase of the
population and the influx of settlers from the rural
districts into London is steadily augmenting the evil
of overcrowding. The metropolitan improvements,
and more especially the extension of the metro-
politan railways, have demolished so many houses
and so many small settlements of the poor that
thousands are driven into courts and alleys already
thronged with inmates. The demolition of places
like the Holborn-bill courts, and the labyrinth of
lanes and alleys intersecting the space between the
east of the Strand and Holborn, may well be re-
garded as a public benefit, still the people who in-
habited those thickly populated courts must live
somewhere, and when turned out of their miserable
dwellings they are distributed among other
courts and lanes. If these are of a better class the
influx of the new inmates drags them down
to the lowest level; if they are already of an indiffe-
rent order the increase of population only makes
them worse. There are hundreds of thousands of
working people in London who must live near their
place of business, and until the facilities for con-
veyance are not only greater, but more reasonable
in terms, we cannot hope to see even a large pro-
portion of them living out of town ; should they
attempt to do so the rents will immediately rise,
and the rent is a terrible bugbear to the working
man. In any case he pays ten or twelve times as
much in pt °portion as his richer neighbour, who, if
he paid at the rate of five shillings a room weekly
for his house, might well be surprised at his
rent. As a general rule the rooms are small and
ill ventilated, besides being deficient in all neces-
sary conveniences for the comfort of a family, such
as oven, wash-house, &c. It has often been said,
and said with truth, that it is idle to preach morality
and decency to the poor while they are forced to
herd together in such miserable hovels as they too
often dwell in. It is equally idle to expect the
public health to improve, or to hope that the grim
visitant, Typhus, will cease his labours among us.
Temperance advocates appeal to the better feelings,
and to a man's mental and moral qualities, when
they attempt to remove the scourge of drunken-
ness from our labouring poor, but they
have a most powerful antagonist in the
physical depression created by the unhealthy and
vitiated atmosphere which working men too often
breathe. Men of science give a physiological ex-
planation of the indisputable fact, that the close,
foul air which is breathed in our London courts,
occasions a feeling of faintness and depression which
takes away all appetite and excites a desire for
stimulants. The evils arising from the overcrowded
houses of our industrial poor are hydra-headed, and
it is more than time that they were dealt with
vigorously and resolutely.
The half-yearly meeting of the Improved Indus-
trial Dwellings Company, held yesterday under the
presidency of Sir S. WATERLOw, gives us satisfactory
evidence that the good work, so far as it has begun, is
progressing favourably. The company possesses
several properties in various parts of London, hav-
ing altogether 488 tenements in occupation, while
the building now in course of erection at Willow-
street and at Bethnal-green will raise the number
of tenements to 678, and a new block of buildings
which it is proposed to construct at Ebury-
street, Pimlico, will make about one hundred
more.:Altogether,when these projects are completed,
decent and comfortable accommodation will be
afforded to nearly 800 families. The usual divi-
dend is five per cent. per annum, so that the in-
vestment is a fair and profitable one. If it can
once be shown that such an undertaking can be
conducted on ordinary commercial princi-
ples, and that the capitalists who embark
in it need not necessarily part with their money,
we may hope for a great improvement. The
evil is too large to be dealt with by private bene-
volence, however munificent, and so long as it is
regarded as a purely charitable undertaking its
action must necessarily be limited. If we can
get the letting of houses to the poor into
better hands than the classes which now
generally hold them much will be gained, and
if there is a fair competition of decent and re-
spectable habitations the poor will no longer be so
completely at the mercy of their landlords. The
public at large owe a great debt to those noblemen
and gentlemen who have acted as social pioneers,
risking their own means in their determination to
prove that the dwellings of the poor in London
need no longer be a standing reproach.

The cab-drivers of London appear to be a hardly
used class, for they have constantly some fresh
grievance in hand. Their usual process of setting
matters to rights is by flinging the inconvenience on
to other people's shoulders, and they are somewhat
inclined to presume on their own utility, and
making the public feel their importance
.by sud-
denly withdrawing from action. Just now
their quarrel is with the railway companies, who
are setting the world at large against them, and
who seem to be acting with some harshness towards
the cabmen. At the same time the matter is not
one within public control, and it is not easy to see
how the generality of cab files can do anything to
alter the decision of the companies. The threatened
cab strike will only occasion great inconvenience to
persons not travelling by railway, while those who
do arrive at the stations can make use of the privi-
ledged cabs. It is no new grievance that the cab-
men of London have to complain of, seeing that
the hon. secretary of their association declared last,
night that the present state of things had existed for
twenty years, and that as Parliament would not help
them they must try to help themselves. Whether
they will do so by refusing fares in the present
depressed state of trade and business may very well
be asked. People intending to go out of town will
certainly not give up their intention for want of
cabs. If they know before hand that they are
going, they will obtain a privileged cab to
fetch them. If they go unexpectedly they will walk
or go by omnibus, or use some other conveyance.
The now privileged cabmen had better try some
other means of getting their grievances redressed
than by attempting a partial and incomplete cab
strike, which is certain to fail of its object, and will
only alienate the public from their ono.

LATEST INTELL LGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

COAREEIP9NDENCE FROM PARIS.

FROM OUE OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

, PARISI FRIDAY, August 28.
War innieurshave revived here—if, indeed, it may be
said that they were ever extinguished. As nothing extra-
ordinary has transpired, I shall not enter into any details
of the various combinations now devised for the disquiet of
Europe. The 'situation remains the same. There is no evi-
dence—or at least it is but of the most meagre description—
to justify a conclusion in favour of a war, either now or at
any other particular time. The very prevalent belief that
in case of a conflict Italy will range herself on the side. of
France, is the most noticeable feature in the canards now
circulating. Such an event is just possible. Italy and
France have not been on the best of terms lately, but
interest prevails over inclination, and the partial settle-
ment of the Roman difficulty by the apportioning of the
Pontifical debt may lead to better terms between the allies
of 1859. But theie is much to be said on the other side.
France is at present utterly unpopular with the Italian
people. If, in a war between France and Prussia, Italy
joined with the latter, and the two were successful, Rome
would become a certain prey; but it is difficult to conceive
how the French Emperor can give up the Temporal
Power, even as barter for an ally. If he has any such
intention, why did he not execute it before Montana?

One little piece of news has just transpired which is
considered of great importance by the fervent believers in
hostilities. It is positively stated that all the troops who
are not in the great camps execute military marches every
day. Usually this species of exercise is only practised in
winter. What then, ask the gossips, is the cause of this
deviation ?

I now learn that Madame Hugo died from congestion of
the brain. She had rejoined her husband at Brussels,
after a sojourn of several months at Paris, whither
she had gone to be cured of some affection from which she
had long suffered. On Wednesday, without the least
presage of such an occurrence, Madame Hugo was attacked
by congestion of the brain, which speedily assumed alarm-
ing proportions, and terminated fatally on Thursday
morning. The remains of the wife of the distinguished
writer will be interred at Villequier, in France, where
her daughter is buried. Her husband, of course, will not
be able to cross the frontier to assist in the last honours to
the dead.

A telegraphic despatch from Maiche, in the Doubs depart.
ment, states that M. de Montalembert has sustained such
injuries in a carriage accident that his life is in danger. It
is, however, hoped that he will be saved.
A curious action has just been decided in the Civil
Tribunal of the Seine. There was not much in the
action itself, but the revelations certainly serve to
throw some light on the state of society in France.
The suit was brought by the jeweller Emmanuel
against Colonel the Marquis de Galiffet, to recover pay-
ment for articles supplied. One sum demanded was for
some £95 for jewellery furnished to the wife of the marquis;
another was for £2,000 for goods supplied to another lady,
who, I need hardly say, was not the wife of the marquis.
It appeared in evidence that it was the custom
for the Paris tradesmen to keep two accounts, one
for madame herself, and the other for the lady, who re-
ceives the best presents—to compensate, I presume, for
the want of the title. The marquis had paid the larger
bill, but thought the smaller was included. The plaintiff,
however, not only proved the " custom of the trade" in
keeping the two accounts, but proved that he had sup-
plied the goods, and so got his verdict. Voici an encourage-
ment to matrimony here. The married lady gets £95
worth of jewellery; but the lady who is satisfied without
the ceremony is rewarded with ornaments to the amount of
£2,000. I should add that the hotel and other appoint-
ments are much in the same proportion.

In the " war" paragraph I omitted a statement by the
Epoque. It says that at all the strong places in France
the engineers are occupied in demolishing everything that
could, in case of a siege, impede the defence. The Liberty
confirms this statement.

M. Phillis is the independent candidate for Var, M.
Peyruc, member of the Council-General, having finally
been selected as the official candidate. M. Jules Favre
has addresssd a letter to the electors, inviting them, with-
out reserve, to support the Liberal.

The occurrence of an earthquake at Gibraltar and a
renewal of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius are considered
by the Daily News to afford proof that the whole district
covered by the Mediterranean and the adjacent shores forms
but one earthquake district. The evidences of simul-
taneous or reciprocal action arc sufficiently numerous and
striking to leave little room for doubt on the subject. For
nearly five centuries, from the commencement of the thir-
teenth, the southern parts of Italy, Sicily, the Grecian
Archipelago, and the shores of Asia Minor were disturbed
by frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, whilst the
earthquake district of Syria and Judaea was almost quiet.
In a similar way, it has been noticed that when Etna has
been in a state of great activity, Vesuvius has been quies-
cent, and vice versa, thus shewing that but one vent of the
volcanic district is required at one time. On the other
hand, the southern parts of the Spanish peninsula have
often been devastated by great earthquakes simultaneously
with Northern Africa. It may appear at first sight un-
reasonable to draw at once from simultaneous and from
non-simultaneous disturbances an evidence of the inter-
communication of subterranean forces. But in reality
one phenomenon shews that the escape of elastic fluids and
lava by one outlet gives a sensible relief to regions of
which another volcano is usually the safety-valve ; the
other phenomenon shews that in some cases a single centre
of subterranean disturbance may require simultaneous
relief at two or more outlets.

Regarding Vesuvius as one of the most important
safety-valves of the earthquake district of Southern
Europe, the Daily News thinks we have every reason to be
satisfied with the activity of the volcano. Since 1666 the
mountain has rarely been at rest for more than ten years
together, and some of its eruptions are amongst the most
memorable on record. That of 1822 carried away the
whole of the upper part of the mountain, forming an abyss
2,000 feet deep and three-quarters of a mile broad.
The• Cologne Gazette says that the number of French
officers who have been found making surveys in South
Germany singularly increases. Another has been arrested
at Unterwittinghausen, in the Grand Duchy of Baden.
This officer was a French staff captain, and, moreover,
attached to the War Department. The Cologne Gazette
adds that the Prussian Government attaches no import.
ance to these incidents.

The text of the protest which the Czech deputies
have sent to the Bohemian Provincial Diet has been
published. It states that when the Emperor of Austria
accepted the crown of Bohemia he swore to preserve the
national Constitution. This has not been done, whilst the
compromise between Hungary and Austria decides the
rights of Bohemia to her Constitution. All the acts of
recent years cannot be held binding at law without a just
and legal representation of the kingdom. The same diffi-
culty confronts Austria from other quarters. The Polish
provinces and Moravia, as well as Bohemia, send in their
claims for independent home government, and it does not
seem improbable that they will obtain it.
All accounts from the Italian peninsula agree in repre-
senting the social state of the country as most alarm-
ing. The evidence is so one-sided that there
can be no doubt of the facts. One writer says that a
General has arrested or killed 130 brigands at Naples,
but the four chiefs who have infested the neighbourhood
for eight years still manage to elude his vigilance. "As
to the Romagna, a certain Geget, or Gagino, a scamp
from Bologna, still keeps the whole province of Ravenna
in a state of terror. He himself, single-handed, attacks
diligences and whole bands of peasants." This is, no
doubt, the enterprising gentleman who stopped a number
of .peasants—some say 18, others 30—on the road to
Ravenna. They were about to make their weekly pur-
chases, but the solitary brigand saved them the trouble.
Ile held his revolver in one hand whilst he rummaged
their pockets with the other. " Everybody paid him
compliments."

Following close upon the news that the allies had received
severe defeats, both before Humthta and on the Chaco,
comes the intelligence that the Paraguayans have aban-
doned their principal fortress. The telegram states that
this time the cause is starvation, so that the otherwise
inexplicable concurrence of a great victory with this
serious calamity, the loss of Humaita, becomes
intelligible. It is difficult to estimate the chances
of the war. The Paraguayans have undoubt-
edly lost ground by this defeat ; in fact,
the loss of the fortress, considering their diminished num-
bers, is all but irreparable. On the other hand, the allies,
and especially the Argentines, are utterly weary of the
contest. There is thus some hope for the strange people
of Paraguay, entrenched in the mountain fastnesses which
remain, but it is not great.

A Parliamentary return was published yester-
day of the number of persons in the metropolitan parishes
convicted during the six months between July, 1867, and
January, 1868, of practically defrauding either them-
selves or their customers, the latter being the greatest
sufferers, by the use of false weights and measures.
The return contains a list of no less than 666 offenders of
this kind, and the practice, according to this statement, seems
to have been most rife in the districts of Westminster, Dept-
ford, Lewisham, and Woolwich. On the other hand it
would seem that the Paddington, Hanover-square,
and some of the suburban divisions have either enjoyed
complete immunity from offences of this kind, or have not
the advantage of a zealous police service for their detection.
In the return for the division of St. Marylebono, which had
34 offenders, the names are entirely suppressed, on the
ground that many of the offendeys not provodiaa_ye,
had a frandulentintentien.