The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-13 00:00:00

_ . .
nessed by them with an apathy amounting to abso
lute indifference.

In the House of Commons, on Wednesday night,
Mr. COWPER moved the second reading of the Field
Gardens Bill. The object of this Bill is to furnish
the working classes with the means both of employ-
ment and of recreation, and by the agency of the
allotment system to identify, as much as pos-
sible, the interests of the owner of the soil with
those of the occupier. After referring to some por-
tions of the evidence taken before the Allotment
Committee, with a view to show the beneficial change
of sentiment wrought on the minds of the operatives
by their becoming possessed of land, the Hon. Gen-
tleman observed, that unfortunately great difficulty
was found in obtaining land for the use of allotments,
which he attributed to the want of energy and self-
reliance on the part of landed proprietors, who were
generally men very much disposed to be influenced
by their agents and other parties ; and though the
system which he proposed would ensure them a good
rent, and tend also to diminish the poor-rate, yet
they evinced little or no disposition to adopt it. The
Hon. Member then proceeded to detail the provisions
of his Bill, which are as follow :—The Bill enacts
that all the powers heretofore usually conferred on
churchwardens'', overseers of the poor, &c., shall be
transferred to a new board, called the Garden Board,
their power of purchasing land being alone excepted.
A limit is to be placed to the amount of land to be

appropriated, the proposed average being about a

quarter of an acre for each person, and the benefits
of the system are to be confined to those who are
rated below ten pounds a year. The board is to
consist of five persons, two elected by those rated
above ten pounds, two by those rated below ten
pounds, and the officiating clergyman is to form the
fifth. They are to be elected for three years, and
are authorised to take from the poor-rates the
necessary amount of rating land, there being
inserted in the Bill a compulsory clause for re-
payment. Moreover, they are entitled to get

leases from the Commissioners who have the
controlling power over commons. Mr. COWPER
concluded by observing that he did not care how
much his Bill was changed, " provided it reached its
object,—namely, the giving of a piece of land to
those able and desirous to cultivate it. His only
motive for bringing it forward was the benefit of the
poorer classes, and the legislation of the present
session held out no prospect of any measure being
passed for their good, though it was known they
were suffering from great poverty." There is un-
happily but too much truth in this last remark. The
session is now fast drawing to its close, and Hon.
Members on both sides the House are exhibiting a
very visible impatience to be off to the moors and
elsewhere; and what, let us ask, has been done for
the benefit of the poor agricultural and manufacturing
labourers, during the five months which the House
has already sat ? The answer is soon given. Scarcely
one boon of the slightest consequence has been con-
ferred on them. None of the taxes which press most
heavily upon them have been reduced ; the blessing

of a cheap loaf is still denied them ; and, with the
exception that they can get their currants—which
many of them care nothing about—a little cheaper,
and their coffee also, they are left in precisely the
same state which they were in at the commencement
of the session. To compensate, however, for this
neglect on the part of the Parliament, we must in
justice confess that professions of good will and
sympathy have been showered in abundance upon the
labouring and ill-requited poor ; but somehow or
other whenever an opportunity has occurred of
realising a few of these numerous honeyed professions,
Hon. Members—more especially those who sit on the
Ministerial side of the House—have invariably for-
gotten to avail themselves of the favourable juncture.
As regards Mr. COWPER'S Field Gardens Bill, we
think it likely to be of considerable benefit to those
whose interests are most concerned in it, but the
machinery is somewhat complicated, and will require
to be greatly simplified before the measure can be
brought to work with any efficiency. The amount

of land proposed to be appropriated should also be
enlarged, for surely a quarter of an acre is scarcely
sufficient for the purpose of a workman with a
family ! The allotment should be at least an acre,
and even more than this would not be undesirable in
cases where the tenant had sufficient means for cul-

tivating it. However, we are not disposed to pick
holes in the Bill, for it has the essence of unquestion-

101 e good in it, is conceived in a just and kindly
spirit, and is calculated to raise the condition of the
labourer, and increase his sense of self-respect by

'urnishing him with such means of provision as shat

enable him to insist on proper wages, and tend in a
great degree to prevent the painful necessity of his
resorting in age or sickness to the poor-house.

The Madrid Gazette of the sth inst. contains a
Royal decree, dated Barcelona, June 1, by which her
MAJESTY accepts the resignation of the Marquis DE
VILUMA, and appoints General NARVAEZ, ad interim,
Minister for Foreign Affairs. According to accounts
from that city, the Ministers cannot agree about the
new duty upon foreign cotton goods. MoN and
PIDAL wish to impose a duty of 30 per cent., whilst
NARVA.EZ and MAYANS think 20 per cent. enough,
as such a duty will enable the fair traders to com-
pete with the smugglers.
The preparations for war with Morocco have de-
pressed the funds more than ever. On the sth, the
Three per Cents. closed at 25.1 for cash, and 26i at
60 days ; the Fives at 20+ at 30 days.

Most of the Paris journals have articles on the dis-
cussion which took place in the Chamber of Peers
relative to the affairs of Morocco. Those of the Op-
position, of course, blame the policy of bl. GUIZOT

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in paying deference to the views of the English
Cabinet, and are not at all pleased with the manner
in which the Prince DE LA MOSILOWA. brought for-
ward his motion. The general opinion of the Cham-
ber, however, was in favour of the view taken of the
question by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It ap-
pears from these papers that another Peer, Count
PELET, put a question relative to the comparative
strength of the naval forces of England and France
in that quarter, and also whether the mission of
Marshal BUGEAUD to Morocco was purely military.
M. GuizoT assured the Noble Peer that the naval
force dispatched by the English Government to the
coast of Morocco was in no way superior to that of
France. It was merely a squadron of observation,
and such as might be necessary to protect English
interests. As to the second point, he would remark
that Marshal BUGEAUD had carried on the war in
Africa with great success, but that he had in no way
been charged with negotiations. The ideas he might
suggest would doubtless have great weight, but he
repeated that the Marshal had not been charged to
negotiate. The Globe, a Ministerial paper, contains
the following judicious remarks on the subject :
" The Chamber of Peers yesterday heard the remarks of
Prince de la Moskowa on the affairs of Morocco, and the ex-
planations given by the Ministers of the Marine and of
Foreign Affairs. Every one beforehand felt the inutility of
these discussions, of which the elements were known and
appreciated. The mania of beholding the intervention of
England in all that concerns us has become perfectly ridi-
culous, and the factious and dissatisfied spirits of the
Chamber have deprived themselves of an excellent means of
opposition in exaggerating it. The English are with them
like Boileau's nutmeg they place them everywhere, so
much so that they who still make use of the argument
begin to feel its absurdity. The Ministers of the Marine
and of Foreign Affairs explained how France carried on her
aZirs herself relative to Morocco, and how, though not
having anshi.ng tp ppnceal of their general policy in what
touches this qfiestion, they neyertheless had not in any
manner communicated to any one the instructions given to
puF of-qper; ky §ea and land. England has grave interests tp
prof; .Tt #ii4IO9PPP: 4PI-1 it is Pfttnral that she should send to Its
coasts sufficient fotCo U? 0141 t Pleat. Spain is making
preparations to avenge a personal injury i 4.'ranee is act-
ing on her own account, and within the limits of her gone-
F poil,cy, and no nation has a right to be displeased with
Aex'doxng sq. The affair of Morocco is, therefore, completely
disembarraved of the brushwood with which it was
Attempted to envelope it. England has nothing to do with

contrive to bolster up their authority in Parlia-
ment. The Commons they cajole and bully into I
submission, by holding out threats of resignation,
which would very likely be followed by a dis-
solution ; and the Lords, who are chiefly to be in-
fluenced by their hereditary reverence for royalty
and its privileges, they reduce to docility and obe-
dience, by talking of the QUEEN'S prerogative,
and the flagrant indecency of presuming for an
instant to doubt or interfere with it. The whole
system of Government, as carried on by the pre-
sent Ministry, is one of sheer trickery—or, as Sir
ROBERT PEEL would more courteously say, of expe-
diency ; and the worst of it is—and a more de-
plorable sign of the times we cannot well ima-
gine—that this tricky system fails to excite the
unanimous indignation of the people, but is wit-