The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-05 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.—SuN OFFICE, JAN. 5.
THERMOMETER, Lowest, 28; Higho3t, 45; ►Noon, 36

BAROMETER, 29.49.
WIND W.—fine frosty weather.

the population. Theirs, consequently, are the labours
which should be most emphatically reprobated by the
rest of the members of the Fourth Estate, reprobated,
we mean, as a disgrace to the character of English-
men, and as; being calculated, to affect in a very! in-
jurious manner the repute of an honourable, laborious,
and responsible profession.

The recent occurrence of the death of a pauper at
Southampton, iton sheer exhaustion for want of
food and exposure to the inclement weather, owing
tot being refused relief at the poor-house, although
furnished with an order from the parish surgeon to
that effect, has naturally directed public attention to
the defective organization of the staff of our Union
Workhouses, to which the deplorable death, from
starvation, of the unhappy arz A BETH BIGGS is mainly
if not entirely, attributable. As the circumstances,
attending this unfortunate case are about to be inves-
tigated judicially, in consequence of a charge of
manslaughter having been brought agaainst one of the
officials, we shall not make any further allusion to
it, but shall proceed to point out the defect in work-
house organization, to which its occurrence is to be
attributed, and to indicate a plan which, if adopted,
would, we think, effectually prevent the recurrence of
such misfortunes for the future, and would at the
same time conduce materially to the comfort and
safety of the permanent inmates of the workhouse.
It appears that, according to the present system, a sick
pauper requiring admission to the workhouse has, in
the first place, to call at the residence of the parish
surgeon (situated frequently at a distance of
several miles from the workhouse), and
having obtained an order from him, to
present the same to the relieving officer, who
may or may not grant the required admission, but
without whose permission the master of the workhouse
cannot admit the pauper, even should he present the
medical certificate he has received from the parish
surgeon.

Now, considering the class of persons from
which relieving officers are generally chosen, of which
the late Mr. DZOUETT may be taken as an individual
specimen, and the Mr. BUM La of DICKENS as a
general type, it must be evident, on a moment's
reflection, that too much power is by the present law
left to the relieving officer, who is generally the last
person in the world to exercise a sound discretion in the
use of such power. But independently of this cir-
cumstance, the whole system is so slovenly that the
marvel is that deaths from exposure and starva-
tion are not of more frequent occurrence. Suppose
an unfortunate person, having obtained the surgeon's
certificate, should lose it en route to the relieving
officer, admission would be refused ; the ailing and
starving applicant would have to return to the sur-
geon's house, and might, perchance, sink from ex-
haustion ere he could obtain a renewal of the certificate
and again reach the relieving-officer. In such a case the
death would be attributable not to the misconduct of
any individual, but to the working of the system; and
it behoves those who have the power to lose no time
in remedying this most faulty organization. A
remedy, which it appears to us would effectually meet
the evil, would be to appoint a resident medical
officer to every union house, whose business it should
be, in addition to giving medical attendance on the
permanent inmates, to examine all applicants for
admission to the workhouse, and on whose order the
master should be compelled to admit any person, the
medical officer being responsible for the order so
given. The necessity of a resident medical officer in
every union house is obvious. Many of these houses
contain upwards of 1,500 persons; few, we believe,
have less than 700 inmates, that is to say, each union
house contains persons equal in numbers to the
crew of a line-of-battle ship or to a regiment of
soldiers. Ought these persons (nearly double the
number of the inmates in any of our hospitals) to be
left without constant medical supervision ? Our convict
depits have all resident medical officers, and surely the
health of the honest poor man is of as much consequence
as that of the convicted criminal. In many instances
persons apply for admission to the workhouse who
are known to the authorities as impostors, and these
persons are, as might naturally be expected, invariably
refused assistance by the relieving officer; in nine in-
stances out of ten he is probably justified in bis refusal,
but in the tenth the tale of the professional vagrant
imposter may for once be true—he may be really
ill, really starving. In such a case the medical
resident officer would at once detect the truth, and
the knowledge on the part of the applicant
for relief that he would be subjected to
a strict medical scrutiny would, in most instances,
prevent the imposter from applying for relief, and
would thus operate as a heavy blow and a great dis-
couragement to vagrancy. It is abundantly clear
that a system of organization, under which it is pos-
sible for such a Case as that of ELIZABETY BIGGS to oc-
cur, is so defective as to require immediate alteration,
and we believe that the alteration we have suggested
will meet the exigencies of the case.

RICHARD Caosswann has abdicated. The City of
the Violated Treaty, the last locality enlightened by
the presence of that not over-dassling luminary
which shed successively its beams of paly glory upon
the housetops of Athlone, Youghal, and Kilkenny,
now sits shorn of an equal moiety of her conjugal
rights. The tears of a bereaved constituency may
probably unite to swell the waters that roll by the
ancient walls of Limerick; but to us, unimpassioned
spectators of the scene, it really appears that Mr.
JOHN O'CONNELL has never performed a worthier
or more becoming act than the tendering his resigna-
tion of the trust reposed in him by the Parliamentary
electors of the Mistress of the Shannon. We should
indeed be loth to believe that the pressure
of pecuniary embarrassment was so sorely
felt by the favourite son of the Liberator as, of itself,
to necessitate this disruption of the long-worn ties of
public life. We prefer to believe that the Honourable
Gentleman, not devoid of talents, and respected by all
for his amiability of character, sees, better late than
never, that the repeal delusion is irredeemably extinct;
for delusion it has truly been since the summons of
his wonderful father to a less troublous world. When
Ireland's mightiest child expired far from the land he
loved so well and long, the magic word that, uttered
by his potent voice, could summon myriads burning
with enthusiasm round regal Tara or mounded Mul-
laglimast, lost its maddening virtue. A band of
freneied neophytes, whose talk was all of blood,
whose deeds were a farcical abortion, grasped at the
reins of an unruly team which had for many a year
proved the matchless vigour of the wary charioteer,
and all was forthwith plunged in irretrievable ruin.
Of those misguided men some are exiled felons in the
nether ends of the earth, others tearing out each
others eyes in New York. Repeal, which Jour(
O'CONNELL naturally looked upon as the Palladium
of his native land, was by these dangerous fools
defiled, defaced, draggled through the mire, until
nothing was left of the idol but a shapeless and loath-
some mass of rottenness. Far better for his quiet
and his fame had he then and there foresworn
the desecrated cause, nor strove to summon
followers, by the call of a penny whistle,
around him in the halls where multitudes, with
bosoms beating high with hope, were wont to rush
at the summons of the Arch-Agitator's pealing
trumpet. All is, however, now vanished like a
dream, and wishing Mr. Joust O'Cosirsenx. lengthened
years of health, of competence, and of every happiness
in the honourable avocations of a professional career,
and the smooth retirement of domestic life, we bid
farewell to him as a public character without repro-
bation and without applause.
Rumour assigns already several candidates for the
vacated seat. Mr. RUSSELL (whom Heaven bless for
his magnificent contributions to the provision market)
on the Liberal interest—Mr. G. J. O'Cosircenr. on the
Repeal dodge—and; on Protectionist principles, Mr.
VERERER, brother of Lord GORT, and Captain
GOUGH, the only son of the Hero of So-
braon. With regard to the result of the
impending election we feel no excruciating interest.
Emboldened by the recent untoward discomfiture of
the -Liberal interest in Cork, the Protectionist faction
are now busy marshalling their forces in Ireland.
They will,
cy of the south, but we trust no similar
of course, show considerable fight in the
second
stigma will be permitted in this instance. The it
me-
tropolis of Munster has suffered itself to be signally
befooled through an impolitic division in the Liberal
camp ; and although, protection apart, no more
estimable representative could have been chosen by
ite cleotore dm the popular and gallant Colonel who

carried off the prize, the result should be a solemn
warning to the enlightened constituencies of Ireland.

Should, however, our anticipations be falsified, and
the cotrum which at present maddens the Protectionist
herd in the sister island be suffered to goad the bread-
tax retrogessionists in Limerick to rampant victory,
we shall be almost tempted to view the electoral
folly of the Garryowen boys in a venial light, if their
choice should light upon the scion of a family long
and justly honoured in their city—the son of a brave
and beloved hero, who has bled freely for his country
from the day when he struck down the Gallic
eagle on Barrossa's bloody brow, until,
after planting the triumphant British flag
upon the coasts of the Celestial Empire, he
smote to the dust the sternest chivalry of Asia upon
the death strewn banks of the Sutlej. Although the
addition of another unit to the ranks of protection
can have no perceptible effect as regards the great
and settled question of the Abrogation of the Corn-
laws, we should regret to see the good sense of this
important city tarnished. Of the Protectionist agi-
tators of Ireland we would say nothing personally
disrespectful—personal abuse we leave to others— but
we cannot but denounce them as political madmen.
Why will Lord GLENGALL misapply his unquestioned
sincerity and
.his admitted talents in the feverish pur-
suit of a phantom ? Must be not be conscious that he
is, to say the least of it, fighing against fearful odds,
that .he is leading a forlorn hope ? The days of
Oligarchy are numbered. A blindediportion of the
landlords of the empire may delude themselves into
an intoxicating notion that the great machine of
social policy can be made to recede at their behest,
but they will ere long be compelled to confess, after
toilsome expenditure of breath and ink, that they
might just as profitably apply their energies towards
attempting a repeal of the Legislative Union, a
rescinding of the Catholic Emancipation Act, a
re• enfranchisement of the Rotten Boroughs, a restora-
tion of the Heptarchy, or a revival of Paganism, as
in striving for that most futile and inane chimera, the
Resuscitation of the Corn-laws. Common sense has
pronounced their irrevocable condemnation—common
sense forbids their blighting resurrection.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The Moni teur publishes a decree, signed by the
PRESIDENT Of the Republic, dated January 1, 1850,
appointing General jEROMB BONAPARTB a Marshal
of France, on account of his services in 1807, 1809,
and 1812, and in 1815 on the field of Waterloo, and
for that, he, at the head of his division, was one of
the last to put his sword back into his sheath when
the enemy invaded France.

At the sitting of the Assembly yesterday, the
Members proceeded to elect the President and the
Vice-Presidents for the ensuing quarter. The follow-
ing was the result of the ballot for President :
Number of voters 470.
M. Duns .. .. ... 288
M. MICHEL (DE BOUROES) ... 111
M. BARROT ... ••• .. 46
M. Dorm was accordingly declared to be re-
elected. . _ .

After the election M. DABU presented the report
of the committee on the amendment proposed by M.
DE RANCE to the original motion for a vote of credit
for the affairs of the Rio de la Plata. The report
having alluded to the success which had hitherto
always attended armed negotiations in South Ame
rice, went on to state that while the committee could
not accept the amendment of M. DE RANCE, they
yet recognised the justness of the spirit which
had suggested it. The principle of the amendment
had then their approbation, and they accepted it, but
in doing so they thought that the Executive should
be allowed to decide on the way in which an armed
negotiation should be carried out. It was in
this way the committee understood the term
action, which had been so much criticised, and he
affirmed that the conduct of the committee had been
perfectly consistent. He had in conclusion, on the
part of the committee, to move the following amend-
ment :

" The National Legislative Assembly invites the exe-
cutive power to support the negotiations which the latter
proposes to undertake by forces sufficient to ensure their
success and the safety
of the French subjects in La
Plata."
M. DE RANCE then ascended the tribune, and
argued at length in support of his amendment. He
declared that he could see no middle course between
armed negotiation in the decided and serious sense of
the word, and abandonment of the Plate River.
M. de LIUSSAT combatted this view. _ _

The debate will probably be adjourned. It is said
that the Government will, not accept the amendment.
In the committee it was resolved by a majority of 9
to 6, that the armed force should be sufficient to
secure a solution becoming the national honour and
the gravity of the interest at stake.
Previous to the meeting of the Assembly, the
the bureaux to name the
for the month of February.

Members assembled in 1
Presidents and Secretaries
The following are the resu'

PRUDENT&

SECUETARIES.

MM.
Ist b. Lion Naucher.
2d Crouselles.
3d General Ralhiores.
4th De Lsussat.
sth Baroche.
6th Molt
7th De Flavigny;
Bth General Oudinot.
9th Buffet.
_. _ _

MM.
Do Riancey.
De Tallouet.
Denjoy.
Favreau.
Dampier d'Hormoy.
Leverrier.
Eschasseriaux.
De Brias.
De Mortemart.

10th Lepelletiercl Aulnai
11th Odilion Barra.
12th L'Amiral Cecile.
13th De Baliac.
14th Cotuerel.
15th General Leflo.

Lesperut.
De Lagrange.
De Dampierre.
Fre my.
Gaslonde.
Cales.

In these divisions the Members of the porti-pretre
opposed the Ministry, as they had done on the law
relating to primary instructors. In the division in
the first bureau they voted for M. EMAMIEL ARAao,
a Member of the Extreme Left, in opposition to M.
Laois FAUCHER, while in the tenth they started M.
BERRTER against M. LEPELLETIER D'AtTLEAY.
The division on the Thursday and the 'Ministerial
majority of 29 is the subject of comment in almost
all the papers. The Constitutiennsl says—
" That is a very small majority, after the disgraceful
and afflicting spectacle of which we were witnesses. We
should have believed that there would have been as
many repentant Members in the Moderate party yester-
day as there were renegades on the previous day. The
majority bad before its eyes the sad example of the
disorder and odious anarchy to which the national re-
presentation was subjected when a division took place in
its ranks. All the voices, all the interruptions of the
Montagnards rung in their ears the enormous fault
which they bad committed in voting with them. They
saw what a terrible pledge they had nearly given to
Socialism, by the desperate efforts made by the Montag-
nards to retain that pledge which the rectified ballot
tore from them."
The Journal des Debats says—
" The night thus brought counsel with it; the great
party of order felt the necessity of rallying itself after
defeat. In so doing it recovered its strength, and re-
gained the game which appeared to be lost! Out of evil
corneat
a the t gomodolowrietyshwoouuldlfi willingly say,
tl if we might hope
experience. Will
not this sad incident be instructive? will it not be suffi-
cient to show once more that the majority may save all
by its onion, as it may compromise and lose all by in-
ternal divisions and quarrels? A last lesson to be drawn
from these two sittings is that the mode now adopted
for taking the votes is intolerable. A process which
opens the doer to such frequent errors and to such dis-
graceful scenes as we have just witnessed is definitively
condemned. It must be replaced as soon as possible by
some other; it is really a case of urgency."
The parti•pretre, like their tools the Bourbons,
have learned nothing, have forgotten nothing; they
boast that they can command 110 votes, and that
those votes shall be employed to harrass and embarass
every Government which will not co-operate with
them to restore the reign of the priests and Jesuits.
The next revolution (and these persona seem bent on
rendering a new revolution inevitable) will make
short work with the priests, who have now com-
pletely thrown off the mask which they assumed in
February, 1848 • they will not succeed in deceiving
the French people twice.
The Turkish and English Ambassadors had long
conferences with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on
Thursday.
The Lijons Gate* of the 2d inst. announces the
death, by cholera, of two soldiers in the military
hospital of that city.
The Bourse was dull today, and public securities
declined slightly. The Five per Cents. opened at
92f. 80c., and closed at P2f. 65c. ; the Three per
Cents., at 56f. 80c. ; Orleans Railroad Shares,
800 f.; Rouen, 572 f. 50c. ; Havre, 242 f. 50c. ;
Great Northern, 466 f. 25c.; Avignon, 215 f. ; Basle,
113 f. 75c. ; Bordeaux, 408 f. 750.; Paris and Stras-
burgh, 357 f. 50c.; Tours and Nantes, 271 f. 25c.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-FICHANGE, JAN. 4.
Boulogne and Amiens, B—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 134—East Indian, 4—Namur and Liege, 7
—Northern of France, 1% dis.—Rouen
.and Havre, PA—
Sambre and Meuse, 2%.

SPAIN.
Madrid journals of the 28th ult. have arrived.
The Gaceta publishes a notice of the Minister
informing the persons who intended to bid for the
quicksilver, deposited in Landon in the firms of
Baron ROTHSCHILD and M. BARING, that one of those
firms had sold during the last month in quintals of
taergUry.

It was said that the portfolio of finance had been
offered to MON by NARVAEZ, and had been refused.

.
MADRID BOLSA, DEC. 28.—The Three per Cents.
were done at 30 11.16 th for paper ; the Four
per Cents., at 12i ; the Five per Cents., at 13 for
cash ; the Debt without Interest, at 4 for paper ; and
the Coupons, at 8.

G E R NI A N I
AND

THE NORTHERN STATES.

PRUSSIA.

The Kolner Zeitung publishes the following pro-
clamation, which the Prince of PRUSSIA has addressed
to the troops in the Rhenish provinces:—
" The present season induces me to express to the
troops under my command the wish that the year 1850
may be a happy and glorious year for them. With
part of those troops I have shared the happiness and the
glory of a victorious combat, and the troops which
remained at home have equally proved their
devotion and fidelity to their King and country. So,
indeed, did the soldiers of the Landivehr, especially
those corps which have been called upon to supply
the place of the 20,000 men now stationed in the Grand
Duchy of Baden. May all those troops be mindful of
their oath! May they be faithful to tue spirit of order
and obedience which befits the Prussian soldier, and may
they hold themselves prepared again to engage in the
conflict! Our antagonists of the summer of 1849 will
not keep quiet, their secret intrigues are more dangerous
than their ranks in battle. We ought to be on our
guard; let us be watchful at all times, and let us be con-
firmed in all soldier-like virtue, that we may be ready
for the King, in case the King should again call on us to
fight, and to conquer in his and the battles. God bless
the King!

" PRINCE OF PRUSSIA."

BERLIN, Jex. 2.—Volentary Loan, 1062; State Loan,
89k; Marine Society, 10* Bank Shares, 93i. Rail-
ways—Dusseldorf-Elberfeld, 77k; Northern Railway,
422; Cologne-Minden, 952 ; ditto, Preference Shares,
1014; ditto second emission, 1032; funds and shares
firm; business brisk.