The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 7, 1868,

' the intentions of LOPEZ. He has too much
courage and ability, and is too confident of the
cordial support of his people to abandon the
struggle. He is doubtless reorganising his forces,
and either preparing for some bold movement to
recover lost ground, or else arranging for a defence
of the interior. The loss of their cherished strong-
hold has no doubt given a severe shock to the
people of the Republic. Humaita was considered
welinigh impregnable ; it has been their pride for
years, and no pains nor expense have been spared
to increase its powers of resistance. The old Pre-
sident (LOPEZ) bad, it is said, such faith
in its impregnability that he believed if a
XERXES attacked Paraguay he could not pass
Humaita. As may be easily believed the Bra-
zilians are greatly elated by the unexpected triumph,
and honours are showered on the fortunate officers
and men who took part in this assault. Never-
theless, the success, however remarkable, is not
conclusive. The Paraguayans are not yet con-
quered, their national spirit is not crushed, nor
their old love of independence extinguished. We
cannot but hope that, notwithstanding this sad re-
verse, they may be able to prove that the race is not
always to the swift nor the battle to the strong,
but that there is in a firm and united national feel-
ing a vigour which is able to withstand the most
adverse circumstances.

The public will learn with satisfaction the deci-
sion of the Board of Works with respect to Tooting
Common. They have purchased the whole of this
for the recreation of the public. This is the more
important, since so many valuable places of resort
for air and exercise are gradually disappearing, or
at least being greatly curtailed. Every one knows
the sad inroads that are being constantly made on
those open spaces which were once the pride and
delight of Londoners, and all who look beyond the
present rage for buildings and mania for enclosing
regret deeply the serious and lasting injury that is
being thereby inflicted en the community. The parks
are of course very well in their way, but they do not
compensate for the absence of open spaces, and it is
quite preposterous to say that they do. Especially
the poorer classes have reason to deplore the persist-
ency which has been shown in this undesirable
course. It would have been far wiser to have
started in the right line at an earlier period, and
protected Hampstead Heath from invasion, instead
of allowing it to be gradually invaded by the
deadly forces of bricks and mortar. Epping Fo-
rest is also disappearing, and will now remain to
all intents and purposes as a holiday place no
longer but in memory. A more short-sighted
course than this it is difficult to ima-
gine, because when once the list has
gone forth, and the work of demolition has begun,
it is impossible to remedy the evil, or to reinstate
things in their former place, whilst comfort and
freedom are for ever sacrificed to the whims and
fancies of those whose pleasure it is to convert
country into town, and to drive nature further and
further still from the discontented searcher after
rural haunts and purer air than can be found in the
great metropolis. Tooting Common is to be an
oasis in the deserts of bricks that are encroaching
more and more on our right hand and on our
left ; and it is indeed satisfactory to find
that something so sensible has been done.
No time should be lost in rescuing now, before it

is too late, all open spaces an 3 threatened commons
from the grasp of the ruthless invaders, and all who
contribute to the good work deserve the thanks of
the community, and they may also reflect with
satisfaction that they are rendering a service to
those yet to come. The prospects of the next
generation are indeed sombre so far as green fields
and shady lawns are concerned, and there are hardly
left sufficient time and opportunity to spare them
room for refreshing change and recreation.

It is a matter of general congratulation that
after a long series of disappointing and unsatis-
factory seasons we are blessed with so fine and pro-
mising a spring. It neods no great agricultural
knowledge to be aware that we may reasonably
hope for a very different harvest from that of last
year, and since the high price of bread has been one
of the most trying features of the late period of
commercial depression, we could scarcely have more
welcome news. The poor have suffered terribly from
the price of bread in conjunction with the scarcity of
employment ; and, indeed, in many a household
above the reach of actual want the difference of one
loaf in every three is a matter of serious considera-

tion. Yet such has been the effect of the change
of price in the metropolis, and we may be thankful
that we have struggled through such a winter
without even greater distress than has existed. The
genial beauty of the weather at present has already
produced most favourable effects, especially since
we have had no lack of that March dust,
which is, according to the old adage, " worth
a king's ransom." The Yorkshire farmers, wbo are
generally pretty shrewd judges, send us most cheer-
ing intelligence. Everything, they say, in farm
and garden promises well. The season is one month
in advance of date. Cornfields and pastures are
showing vigorous growth ; wheats having, in some
places, outpaced the latter, and covering the ground.
Clovers are ready for sheep, which are, however,
independent of them, being still OR turnips. These
latter, again, are forward and plentiful, some fields
being in full flower. There is a plentiful supply of
fodder still on hand, and the spring herbage pro-
mises so well that the prices of lean stock keep up
at a good rate. Thus everything tends to cheer and
encourage the farmer, and not the farmer only, but
every class of the community ; for without those
humble every-day blessings which we owe to the
sunshine and the winds and the rains of heaven tha
best and most valuable of our possessions would be
worthless.

NAVAL AND MILITARY IN7ELLIGENCE.

The Wasp screw corvette, Capt. Norman B
Bedingfield, will be inspected this morning by Ad-
miral Sir Thomas S. Pasley, Port Admiral and
Naval Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth. After-
wards the Wasp will steam into Portsmouth bar
bour to be dismantled, return stores, and pay out
of commission. The following vessels were spoken
by the Wasp between Trincomalee and Spithead,
and desired to be reported :—The Newcastle, Dec.
3, 1867, lat. 7.43 S., long. 88.32:E. ; Distinguishing
pendant 6741, standing to westward, December 28,
lat. 33.18 S., long. 31.35 E. ; No. 3 pendant 0239,
December 31, '1867, lat. 34.7 S., long. 2619 E. ;
the Otter, of Liverpool, 10 pendant 9265, March
18, lat. 41.12 N., long. 33.18 W., from Valparaiso
for Liverpool, 91 days out ; the Runnymede, of
Liverpool, March 18, lat. 4112 N., long. 33.18 IV.,
from Adelaide for Liverpool, 150 days out ;
the Admiral Defosses (French bark), of Fe-
champ, March 26, lat. 45.37 N., long. 17.7 W.,
12 days from Fechamp ; the Sans Pared,
of Liverpool, March 27, lat. 47.0 N., long. 16.39
W., from Liverpool for Philadelphia ; the Adelaide,
of London, April 2, lat. 4911 N., long. 7.32 W.,
from Adelaide for London, 103 days out ; the
Jason, of London, April 3, lat. 49.30 N., long.
6.49 W., from Sydney for London, 160 days out.
The figures of indicated power by the engines of
her Majesty's ships Minotaur and Warrior in their
recent trials on the measured mile, and the sea trials
between Spithead and Weymouth Bay, were as
follows :—Minotaur : measured mile, 6,705 horse ;
sea trial, 6,194 horse ; difference, 511 horse. War-
rior : measured mile, 5,269.75 ; sea trial, 5,089.75 ;
difference, 180 horse.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

WASHINGTON, April 6

The Secretary of the Treasury has issued the
usual monthly statement of the public debt of the
United States. The total amount of the debt on
the Ist of April was $2,642,000,000 against
$2,648,000,000 on the Ist of March last, being a
decrease of $6,000,000.
The cash in the Treasury on the Ist inst. was
$122,500,000 against $128,000,000 on the Ist ult.,
being a decrease of $5,500,000.

INDIA, CHINA, AND JAPAN (HEAVY,
MAILS.

GIBRALTAR, April 7.
The Massilia left at 7 p.m. yesterday ; all well.
She may be expected at Southampton about the
11th inst.

SWITZERLAND.

BERYE, April 7

The strike of the workmen at Geneva ir3 not yet
at an end. To-day a general meeting of employers
will be held, when measures for arriving at a satis-
factory understanding with the men on strike will
be considered.

Movements on the part of the working men are
also taking place at Zurich, Berne, and Lausaune.

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

PLYmounr, April 6

The Union Company's steamer Norseman, from
the Cape of Good Hope, has arrived here with 39
passengers, 25 sacks of mails, two packages of
specie, and a full general cargo. The mails are
forwarded by to-night's mail trains, and the Norse-
man has proceeded for Southampton. Her dates
are—Natal, 22d ; Table Bay, 4th ; Helena, 13th ;
and Ascension, 1 7th.

At the Cape business was still dull. In defiance
of Governor Wodehouse's notice that the Basutos
were taken under British protection, President
Brand had continued the war, and met with marked
success. The Basuto strongholds, Tandjesberg and
Treine, were captured. At the former Bushuli,
Moshesh's own brother, was killed. A rumour had
also just arrived as the Norseman left that Thaba
Bossigo was taken.

A conference was to come off in April at Aliwal
North between Governor Wodehouse, President
Brand, Moshesh, and Governor Keates. It was
considered not improbable that meanwhile the
whole of the Basuto land would be captured by
the Boers and the negotiations seriously embar-
rassed.

The meeting of the Cape Parliament would be
adjourned until the Governor returned.

It was stated that at the approaching session of
the Free State Volksraad, either debts away out of
the free State would be entirely repudiated, or civil
courts would be closed for a further ten years, and
more blueblacks issued.

At Natal the coffee crops were looking well and
the sugar prospects were good. Two defalcations
for large amounts had occurred there among the
Government officials.

The Briton arrived out on the 3d of March. The
Celt was at St. Helena on the 4th of March, and
was passed by the Norseman on the 9th. The
Kaffraria was to leave Table Bay on the 7th March
for England. The Dutch steamer Gravenhage,
from Rotterdam for Battavia, called at Table Bay
on the Ist of March.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, MONDAY, April 6.
The Danish Minister of War is expected at Paris. This
item of news has given rise to much speculation, inas-
much as it is taken for granted that the Minister comes
here on the North Schleswig business. That business is
supposed to be one of the black spots no bigger than a
man's hand at present, but which, for aught that we can

tell, may overshadow the whole heavens. M. Emile de

Girardin has a short article in to-day's Liberte with
the heading, " Peace or War ?" The Liberti says :
"To this question, Shall we have war ? men
reply, No ; things (or circumstances) reply, Yes.
Will things prevail over men, or men over things ?
Echo says, Things." The worst of it is, that no
one can feel any confidpnce or certainty about the future.
The want of a responsible Government is most painfully
felt just now. The Emperor can make war without con-
sulting the nation. Marshal Niel is exerting all his
energies to place the Emperor in such a position that he
can do so on the shortest notice. Yet, after all, public
opinion counts for something, even in France.
The friends of M. Drouyn de ',buys have abandoned
the hope of that Minister's speedy return to the Foreign
Office. They say it is adjourned until the autumn.
The Volunteers (francs-tireurs) are just now in a state of
agitation, in consequence of an order from the Minister of
War, placing them under the control of the War Office,
and under officers appointed by the Minister. The order
further states that in the event of the National Mobile
Guard being called out for active service, the Volunteers
will have the privilege of being employed for the defence
of their own homes, instead of being marched to another
part of the country.

There is sad depression in trade this year. In 1866 the
exports for the first three months were valued at over
£12,000,000. For the first quarter of this year they are
under £10,000,000, a decrease of nearly 20 per cent. The
diminution is greatest in natural products and raw materials.
To make the matter worse, we are obliged to enter
upon large purchases of corn. During the first two
months of this year we bought corn and flour to the value
of £2,680,000, as compared with only £240,000 in
1866, and we have imported cattle to the value of
£680,000, as compared with £300,000 in 1866. At
Marseilles, which is the chief port for corn, the number of
vessels entered during the first two months of the year
was 1,309, whereas in 1866 it was only 721. At other
ports there has been a considerable decrease in the number
of ships entered. Thus it is clear that we are spending all
our spare cash, and more than we can well spare, upon
the first necessity of life.
What do your readers think of Paris becoming a sea-
port ? M. Aristide Dumont has been lecturing on this
subject at the Ecole Centrale, under the auspices of the
Association Polytechnique. His plan is to excavate an
enormous basin at Gennevilliers, which would be sur-
rounded with docks, warehouses, and all the appliances of
a great seaport. He would connect this port with the
Atlantic at Dieppe by means of a canal passing by Gisors
and Gournay, and would rr ake use of the Seine where-
ever practicable. At present the distance, by water, of
Paris from the sea is about 220 miles ; by the canal it
would be 102. M. Dumont reckons the cost of his scheme
at 160 million francs (k 6,400,000), and he believes that
this expense would be defrayed by the dock dues that
would be imposed. A grand scheme, this, no doubt ; but
I question if the Parisians would care to see their city—

now the show capital of the world—converted into a second
Liverpool.

The chief theme of the Abyssinian correspondence is
Colonel Phayre and the little mistake made by him in the
matter of the roads. That a soldier of Colonel Phayre's
experience should have made the mistake of working for
a fortnight on a bad road while there was a good one
almost under his hand, appears to be inexplicable. The Com-
mander-in-Chief is said to be very angry, as it was his
special ambition to get forward quickly. The next
favourite topic of discussion is that raised by "A British
Taxpayer" in the English papers, whether 3,000 men could
not have conquered Theodore as well as the present large
force. Seeing that those in Abyssinia have better means of
judging than we at home, the declaration unanimously made
that the small force would have inevitably failed is worthy
of note. Again : it is asserted that the native tribes have
been friendly only because they were afraid of us. The
fierce Gallas have been ready to help rather than
annoy the army, simply because it was strong enough
to keep them in order. Still, there seems to be a feeling
that we shall receive some compensation for our expendi-
ture. It is suggested that we might open the country to
trade. The repugnance expressed some time ago at any-
thing like occupation of the country seems, since its
resources have been made known, to have given place to a
wish to utilise the place, and by some means to open it to
Europeans. One of the correspondents mentions that the
style of paying for everything adopted by the commis-
sariat has led the natives unanimously to express hopes
that we should take possession of the country and become
their masters.
The Calcutta correspondent of the Times has made a
visit to Bombay, whence he writes his last letter. lie
says that he has made the journey in 4i days, with
his heavy luggage, in perfect comfort. The whole distance
is 1,537 miles, of which only 161 are destitute of railway
communication. When the line is completed to Jubbulpore
the Government propose to run an express daily, from
Calcutta to Bombay, in sixty hours. As, however, travellers
will scarcely care to rush through the country at this rate,
it is most likely that the express will be only a
weekly one for the despatch of mails. At present

the traveller, on arriving at Jubbulpore, finds a " horse
dak," or roomy sleeping carriage, drawn by two small
horses, changed every six miles. The correspondent gives
a deplorable account of the Nagpore line. There is hardly
a bridge which has not given way. Contractors, engi-
neers, and Government blame each other ; but, whoever
is to blame, the folly and the fraud have been gigantic.
For instance, the traveller can see how arches have been
merely faced with masonry, the thin ends of the stones
being turned inside, and the hollows filled up with rubble.
The Thull Ghaut is, fortunately, in good order. A descent
of eight miles is made in forty minutes, through thirty-
eight tunnels, and over viaducts, the steepest gradient
being one in twenty-nine.
Speaking of Bombay, the correspondent says it is diffi-
cult to imagine whither the 80 to 100 millions sterling
poured into Bombay (in addition to the ordinary price of
cotton) has gone. Of all the gigantic schemes of land re-
clamation there is scarcely any which has survived the
great crash. The Parsees were the heaviest losers. Still,
there was one class that gained. All testimony bears out
the belief that the peasantry have freed themselves from
centuries of hereditary debt, from the grip of the usurer,
from the peculation of the petty bazaar dealer. They now
sell their own cotton direct, and at a far better price.
Consequently they live more comfortably, and are educa-
ting their children. It must be admitted, too, that sani-
tary matters have improved. Bombay no longer rivals
Cologne in the fragrance of its drains. As a consequence,
cholera is a far less frequent visitor. Bombay has its
Baron Haussmann, a Mr. Crawford, a near relative of the
member for London. He is doing much both to improve
and to beautify the city. Yet though Bombay has an
admirable supply of building-stone, it is far behind Cal-
cutta, which has no material but bricks. Bombay ought
to be the Edinburgh of India ; it is only its Dundee.
The flag of the Hanseatic Towns has disappeared. This
flag 500 years ago was owned by no fewer than sixty-six
cities, and the Hansa (Union) Was at that time a powerful
association. Thirty years' war destroyed its strength, and
for more than 200 years this association has comprised
only three towns of importance—Hamburg, Lubeck,
and Bremen. On April 1 the old flag was hauled down
and the new Federal ensign was hoisted.
Speculations are gradually verging into certainties, and
it appears to be generally understood that the Cabinet will
hold together and prolong their resistance to their Liberal
assailants. A dissolution of Parliament is now out of the
question. The Standard is now of opinion that
since a real appeal can be only to the new con-
stituencies, the inference is that Mr. Disraeli has
a right to await their decision, and in the mean-
time to press those measures which are necessary to
enable them to exercise their lights ; not that he should
resign w:tbout appeal. Indeed, he has no right to do so ;
he has no right to treat the venliet of the existing House
of Commons as decisive of a great constitutional question
suddenly raised and pronounced on by surprise ; it is his
duty to reserve the question, unprejudiced by the factious
move of his opponents, for the reformed constituency of
1869. This he must do at any cost.
Testimonials are just now the order of the day. Last
week the Liberal ex-whip received a handsome one. Now
there is a proposal broached in the Conservative journals
of a presentation to the Earl of Derby, "for the great and
distinguished services he has rendered to the country."
The Coroner for South Cheshire, a Mr. Henry Churton,
recommends that a committee be in.mecliately formed for
the purpose of giving practical effect to the suggestion,
which he is sure would be responded to by men of every
shade of politics. Going into detail in order to give an
opportunity to as large a number of contributors as pos-
sible, he advises that the subscriptions shall not exceed
22 nor be less than 10s.
THE •NEw COMMISSION ON THE POLLUTION OF
RIVERS.—The only appointment officially known respect-
ing this new commission is that Sir George Denison
(brother of the Speaker of the House of Commons) is to be
Chief Commissioner. When the preliminary proceedings
are all settled the new commissioners will commence their
inquiries, it is anticipated, at I ic'.euhead or its in mediate