Daily national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854, 1854-01-02


Of State, has awakened the public attention to
matter Of horrid significance, namely, the
murderous influence OF Burial Clubs These
infamous associations are founded on prnc-
pie which offers direct premium for murder,
and thousands Of lives, of men, women and
children, have been sacrificed on the altar OF
this monster Moloch. We believe that not one
in fifty Of the foul deaths il has caused has
ever been brought to light and yet the crimi-
nal annals OF the country bear evidence to
their frequency and atrocity What is the life
Of a sickly and inconyenient child in the way
Of profigate, gn-drinking mother? AT the
bed, the value Ia but small but when TO the too
common want OF natural affection is added
the temptation Of several pounds Of money,
the insurance in two or three Burial Clubs 1t
is not worth pins fee. lfsuffered TO exist at
all, such societies ought to be restrained from
paying single shilling to parents or relatives
To furnish the expense Of sepulturc. They
ought to dispose Of the corpse themselves, in
decent manner, and equivalent TO the amount
agreed for; but, we repeat il, not single far
thing ia money to be returned to the be-
reayed and afflicted members!n This would
Pit an cad to the system; or the dead might
bury the dead
But we are informed, that, in Birmingham
and other great manufacturing places, still
more atrooions custom prevails, aud il fast
growing into very extensive operation. This
il q sort Of insurance upon new born baby
lives, with so much to be received ii they die
under three, six, nine, or twelve months The
calculations are a complete lottery upon the
periods Of extinction and prolongation OF life
and we are assured that the impurities fostered
by these schemes are even more terrible and
detestabc than those for which the Burial
Clubs sre held in utter abomination. 1t seems
impossible 10 believe that the Government will
delay searching investigation into the dread
FIJI mysteries suggested by the Liverpool repre-
sentative, or that the Legislature should not
Immediately devote itself to providing some
guard or remedy against the continuance Of
these Internal practices How are we to ac-
count for such phenomena Il it'that with
the growth of wealth, the desire Of wealth, or the
things which money can buy, absorbs and par.
alyzes the better feelings Of human nature Is
it that the advance Of civilization lowers the
tone of morality, substitutes utter sefism for
Christianity and gives this life the preference
for the life to come?
Yesterday forenoon, not syllable had
reached tho press about the remarkable change
which has taken place, and the resignation of
the seals Of the Home Office by Lord Palmers-
ton, and the departure Of Lord Aberdeen to
Osborne to communicate tho fact to Her
Majesty With so little time to collect anthem
tic intelligence, and as little to convey it as
news to Washington, we will endeavor to place
tho contingencies and probabilities aphoristi
cally before your readers as our own "conjea-
tures.'
The Times and Chronicle, ministerial organs
deliberately set forth this morning that Lord
palmerston relics solely and entirely on II DIFF
ference Of opinion upon the promised Reform
Bill though in perfect accordance with the
rest or the Cabines on the Eastern question
Though, like the nurse in Romeo and Juliet
we may think they protest too much, it is clear
that if this BIO strictly true, his Lordship will
| probably rather have damaged himself than
the Ministry; for the Reform Journals will be
able to oyerwhelm him with all sorts Of Tory
odium But if there should be spice Of the
Turkish policy in the disagreement, and the
noble Secretary has eIponsed the cause Of more
decided measures, then will the game be with
the other side, and the Ministry would be put
on its defence, and perhaps broken up in the
fray. The feelings Of the people are 80 POI
tently anti Russian, that no half dealing will
be tolerated.
In the city the gamblers are betting for and
against such dissolution; and then Lord
| Palmerston is to be the Head of conservative
and moderate reform party, and try once more
| the fate Of a combination, which has been so
often slain outright that nobody now wonders
at its frequent revival.
Should the change be confined to Lord Palm
erston, the Earl Of Carlisle, or Sir George
Grey (the latter not the most palatable to
Lord John,) are spoken Of as his likely success
sor
The latest accounts from the Black Sea and
Georgian frontiers give other versions of the
battles in both quarters, and much more dis
advantageous to the Turks than the frst re-
ports They are, however, Russian; and the
bulletin of fight at Akharast on the borders
Of Turkish Armenia asserts signal victory
On the part Of the Russian General Andron-
kof leaving 600 Turkish killed on the field /;
and in the affair ut Sinope a similar bulletin
states the killed at S 000 in an action Of four
hours duration, in which Russian frst-rate
was sunk, and the whole Turkish fotilla, with
one exception, burnt
That Persia has yielded to Russian gold and
intrigue, is also more authoritatively repeated.
Again, we may repeat: The plot thickens p
it almost reaches America.