EXTRACTS FROM THE ENGLISH PAPERS

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 61, 6 March 1852, Page 2

EXTRACTS FROM THE ENGLISH PAPERS

The City article of the Times notices that files of the Lyttelton Times had been received to the 26th of April. Property in Great Britain. —The Committee of the House of Commons, in their report on the law of partnership, which has, with the evidence, just been printed, state, that, in round numbers, in 33 years since the peace, whilst lands in Great Britain have increased to 1848 only £3,5000,000 in annual value, or a little more than 5 per cent., messuages (being chiefly houses and manufactories, and warehouse's in and near towns, and inhabited by persons depending greatly on trade and commerce) have augmented above 26,000,000 Lin annual value, or about 30 per cent, in the same period. The value of railways, gas-works, and other property chiefly held in shares as personal property, had increased about twelvefold in the same period. " Statue of the :late Lord G. Bentinck. — The works for the foundation of the statute to the memory of the late lamented statesman, Lord George Bentinck, are completed, and iv the course of a few days it will be placed in its position. The selected site is the south side of Cavendish Square, fronting Holies Street, facing the statute of William Pitt, in Hanover Square, at the other side of Oxford Street, from which thoroughfare, as also Regent Street, Vere Street, etc, a full view of the statue will be obtained. The pedestal will occupy a space of 81 square feet, the entire height of that and the statue being 30 feet. Bringing out the Truth.—The Ist of November will be an epoch in the administration of justice in this country. On that day will come into operation the act which was passed in the last session of Parliament, for admitting the evidence, in civil trials, of the parties to them—a change, the magnitude and importance of which can only be estimated by those whose duties as lawyers, or whose misfortunes as suitors, have made them familiar with, the course, of trial which has hitherto been observed in all our higher courts, and which, until of late years (when it has been, by the authority of the legislature, abandoned in the County Courts), was the general rule of our law. Thus, those who are in general best acquainted with the facts which itis the object of the trial to establish, have been hitherto prevented from speaking in their own behalf, and from being questioned on behalf of their opponents. The rule of practice has been persevered in, from the assumption that the testimony of plaintiff or defendant was so sure to be false, that it would be a waste of time and a misleading of the judge and jury to hear it. Cross-examination, on which so much stress is laid, when it is desired to glorify our method of trial—was here rejected, as furnishing, it was thought, no safeguard. Moral,and religious obligations to speak the truth were treated as of no power over the mind of the interested witness; and the law of England aspersed all men as being utterly untrustworthy ; Avhile at the same time it would have punished each for a libel if he had applied to individuals the stigma thus fixed upon the body at large. Eight years only have elapsed since the slightestamount (even to one farthing) of interest in a cause disqualified any witness from beingheard upon it; the law carrying the presumption of which we have spoken to its full extent. So far it operated logically and consistently, though not with wisdom; because, when a course is erroneous, inconsistency becomes an excellence ; for it is better to be nearly right than wholly wrung. — Dickens's Household Words. [It is worth notice, that the alteration iv legal practice, which is the subject of the above eulogium, is one which was introduced into the practice in this colony several years ago. In this it would seem the colony has been in advance of its parent. —Ej>. L.T.'] Returned Lettkks.—ln the two years, from the sth of January, 1849, to the sth of January last, £18,870 10s. 4d., including bank noies, was'found in letters returned to the Dead Letter Office, and £1,226,282 18s. Id. in bills, checks, money-orders, &c, nearly the whole of which, including the money, was delivered to the writers of the lctteis. It is stated that no letters are forfeited. W all methods taken to effect the delivery of letters fail, they are brought hack, opened, and returned to the writers. Letters refused by the writers, and those for which no owner can he found, are destroyed, for want of space to preserve them.

Letters containing cash are never destvoyed, but the amount, when the writer cannot be found, is paid into the revenue, aE the expiration of three years. A registry and index are kept of the letters and their conteuts, which are restored to any claimants proving themselves to be entitled to them. Dead letters containing bills and property other than money are kept three years. At the expiration of that period they are destroyed, and the property is sent to an auctioneer and sold by public auction. The proceeds are paid to the account of the revenue. Dissolution of the Railway Board.— From yesterday (Friday) the Railway Board is dissolved, in pursuauce of an Act of Parliament passed on the 7th of August. It is enacted, that, "from and after the 10th of October, 1851, the said recited act, 9 and 10 Vie, cap. 105, shall be repealed, and all powers, rights, authorities, and duties vested in, or exercised, or performed by the commissioners of railways under any act passed since the passing of the said recited act, qv which may be passed during the present session of Parliament shall be transferred to and vested in and performed by the Lords of the Committee of her Majesty's Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, as if they had been named in such acts instead of the said commissioners; and all proceedings pending before the said commissioners on the said 10th of October, or carried on under their authority, shall be continued and carried on by and before the lords of the said committee, who shall have, exercise, and perform the same powers, rights, authorities, and duties in respect of all such proceedings as might have been exercised or performed by such commissioners in case this act had not been passed." The officers appointed by the commissioners are to be continued, and henceforth the Board of Trade is to signify their orders and regulations to railway companies by their secretary, or some other officer whom they shall appoint to sign documents relating to railways. Millenium Jubilee oe the Russian Empike.—Next year (1852) Russia will celebrate throughout the vast expanse of her empire the completion of her thousandth year of national existence, which will be kept with all the solemnity due to the importance of the event. The Russian Empire was' founded in 852, in which year the Russians or Rossians, probably of Scandinavian origin, made their first appearance on the shores of the Bosphorus, as Warangians. Italy.—Speaking of the Neapolitan prisoners the Daily Neivs says—" We are enabled by our Naples correspondent to give the number of political prisoners, as extracted from the police registers, from May, 1848, up to the present time, observing that we give only the round numbers (under the actual figure), because an exact quotation might subject many Government officials to serious annoyance. Number of Neapolitan Political Prisoners from May, 1848, to Sept. 1851, Condemned to the Ergastolo ... 36 Condemned in irons to the Bagni . . 1000 Condemned in irons to the Bagni, but not yet removed from prison . . . . 300 Banished to the islands after trial . . 800 Banished to the islands without trial, including the soldiers sent by royal authority to the camp of Charles Albert . . . 6000 Accused who have been or still are in prison, from May, 181-8, to. September, 1851, not included in the above . . . .15,000 23,136 I Supposed number of exiles . . 3000 j Hiding from the police . . . 150 Exiled from their native towns, but still in the kingdom . . . 350 3,500 Total number of victims of the Neapolitan Constitution 26,636 United States.—A friendly interview took place between President Fillmoreand the Gover-nor-General of the Canadas, at Boston, the occasion being the celebration of the opening of a continuous railway route from Canada to the Atlantic Ocean, through the United States, effecting what has been poetically termed " the conjugal union between Canada and the Ocean." Boston was never before in such a splendid array of decorations by flags, American and British intermingled, and all other things that could show joy and international delight. There was an enormous procession of trades on the 19th Sept.; a banquet, at which *: miles of tables" groaned

under viands; an address by the corporation of Boston to Lord Elgin, expressive of real and warm friendship between the fraternising nations ; and in the end kindly speeches by the President of the Union and the GovernorGeneral of the English colony." " Mr. Fillmore said—l meet you as citi/.ens of Boston. On this festive occasion we know no party distinction. Nay, more, we scarcely know a national distinction. There are gathered around this festive board the American and the Briton, living under different laws, but, thank God, two of the freest nations under the suiv-' The little asperity that was engendered by tlfc revolution which separated us from our mothercountry, I am happy to say, has long since disappeared ; and we meet like brethren of the same family, speaking the same language, and enjoying the same religion. Are we not one ? (Shouts of affirmative applause.) Lord Elgin bowed to the President's request that he should not leave the table when the President did, the latter being imperativelycalled away by State duties. 'On American ground he was under the President's authority ; but he would say that he never received an order from any authority which move completely 'jumped with his own wishes.' [At this colloquial goodnaturedness of speech the Bostonians jumped with delight.]" The following scenes of this great railroad jubilee are thus described in a letter published in the New York Herald : " When the procession had reached the corner of Emerald and Dover-streets, there was a stop for a few minutes before a rostrum that had been erected for the purpose. On this rostrum were 31 young girls, all dressed in white, with tri-coloured sashes, each representing a State of the American Confederacy, and two representing the Goddess of Liberty and Queen Victoria. As soon as the procession halted, the young lady representing Massachusetts, Miss Eugenia A. Paxton, approached Lord Elgin, the Governor of Canada, and addressed him as follows: 'Massachusetts welcomes, with cordial salutations, to the hospitalities of her metropolis, the distinguished chief-magistrate of her British Majesty's Provinces in America.' Miss Julia K.Cary, representing Queen Victoria, dressed'1 in green, trimmed with ermine, and wearing a crown, presented a bouquet to the secretary of the Navy for the President. She made a brief address on the occasion, and both Mr. Stuart and Lord Elgin made brief responses. After the procession, dinner was served up under an immense tent on the common. About 4,000 persons were present, including President Fillmore." The following is a specimen of the poetry produced on the occasion of the meeting between Lrrd Elgin and the President— " Now let us haste these bonds to knit, And. iv the work be handy : That we may blend ' God save the Queen' With ' Yankee doodle dandy.' " A new political party has sprung up in the city of New York, called " The German Free Soil Democracy of New York." Its programme is divided into two parts : the first, on national politics, goes to give the public land in limited quantities to actual settlers, the State, however, remaining their sole proprietor ; for the abolition of the Fugitive Slave Law ; the admission of no more slave states or territories ; against a United States Bank and all monopolising corporations ; for Free Trade, but with the maintenance of the tariff as a means of protection against other commercial nations; for the improvement of harbours, and rivers by congress ; for the building of the Pacific Railroad by the nation, and for the election by the people of all the officers of the Federal Government. In respect of State Politics, the programme is for Universal suffrage without distinction of colour; direct election of all officers by the people ; sub--.:** mission of all important measures to popular vote; for the passage of laws authorising, and regulating the turning out of office by the people of a representative or other officer who has not come up to the mark ; amendment of the \ homestead exemption law ; equal taxation,..and ' exemption of the poor; extension and improvement of the school law ; abolition of the death penalty; improvement of the State prison, and Abolition of the cellular system ; limitation of the hours of labour to eight or ten hours for adults, and five for children ; encouragement and incorporation of industrial associations, with the same charters, rights, and privileges as other commercial manufacturing corporations ; and in the -letting, of public works, such associations to have the preference.

The heat at New York was excessive. A terrible storm has visited the southern part of the United States, particularly along the Gulf of Florida, and has been very 'disastrous to the cotton, sugar, and tobacco crops. The cotton crop in Alabama had suffered before the storm from drought, and only half or two-thirds of a crop was anticipated. The storm was then set in, and raged for twelve hours, destroying the crops in many districts almost entirely. Several parts of Georgia, Alabama, South Carina, and Florida have suffered severely. The '■effects of the gale in Florida were especially ■ i disastrous. A large amount of property was destroyed, including nearly the whole of the tobacco crop, and a number of barns, cottonsheds, and other buildings. The corn and cotton crops also sustained essential damage. In New Orleans the Cuban expedition projects are now entirely abandoned, and there are a great many liberators in that city without the means of returning to their homes. They demanded money of the Cuban committee, when some disturbance arose and arrests were made, but nothing serious has occurred thus far. The police are out in force in case of any outbreak. The United States steamer " Venix " sailed for Pensacola on the 3rd instant, to blockade the mouth of the Mississipi, and intercept any expedition that may attempt to leave with a view of invading Cuba. Emigration to the United States.—The number, of emigrants landed in New York during eight months ending in August of this year was 192,836, against 143,702 last year, being an increase of 43,134. The following (says the " New York Tribune") statement of the emigration into the port of is a New York for the last eight months, as compared with similar returns during the same period last year. It will he seen that the average since the month of April has been over 1000 per day :— ~* 1850. 1851. January . . . 13,154 . 14,709 February . . . 3,296 . 8,170 v March . . . 5,569 . 16,055 April .... 14.627 . 27,779 May .... 42,846 . 33,858 June .... 11.762 . 34,402 July .... 34,446 . 27,612 August . . . 18,092 . 30,251 During the first week of September there were thirty-four emigrant arrivals from the following places in Europe :— Antwerp . 91 Glasgow . 182 Bremen . 725 Gottenburgh. 221 Bristol. . 23 Hamburgh . 337 Cardiff. . 23 Havre .• . 862 Cork . . 347 Liverpool . 3147 Dublin . 210 London . 894 Galway . 153 Genoa . . 23 Total 3728 The Model Republic. — The Neio York Herald furnishes an account of what it terms "a most shameful, cowardly, and diabolical outrage" in the " quiet and genteel city of Racine." Madame Anna Bishop, it seems, from a rather long story of the transaction, mortally offended a faction in this " quiet and genteel city," by preferring one set of rooms to another. The following placard contains the war-cry of an indignant multitude. It was posted on the walls, and. distributed all over the town by boys:— " Madame Bishop will sing in ' noise and confusion.' Believing that Miss Bishop has not only grossly insulted the proprietor of Congress Hall, by ordering a suite of rooms which cannot be surpassed in Wisconsin to be put in readiness, and then, to avoid paying a reasonable bill, has gone elsewhere, but has pursued the sane course in other places, >can it be otherwise than that she is ' small potatoes,' and cannot sing ? If she does sing, she sings in confusion. Many Citizens. Those who sing must pay the .fiddlers ? We came here when Root River was a small stream, and cannot be humbugged." „ Madame Bishop, however, it seems, had the face J~ to appear in the face of terrific denunciation, and the consequence was a row, with strong accompaniments of barricaded doors, big stones, aud smashed windows. What a very odd beast is public opinion in that land of liberty, and what a disagreeable kind of freedom it must he, which makes it difficult for a lady to choose her own lodgings without danger of being stoned as a punishment for not having chosen others. The Pacific brought from New York disastrous intelligence of a perfect panic in the Money-market, and the destruction of five hundred houses by fire in the city of Buffalo, ex-

tending over an area of 7 acres of ground. The buildings were, however, all of wood, and not in a business part of the city. Great consternation prevailed in New York, owing to the rumoured instability of the banks—more than half a dozen had been named as weak, and two of the people's and the Commercial have already failed. The influence upon the Stock-market of the pressure of money was severely felt. Government stocks had suffered less than any other. The Courier and Enquirer says, " For several days past the condition of financial matters has been growing worse, and, should there be no diminution of the present excitement in regard to private credits, we fear the result will be disastrous to many houses who are becoming seriously embarrassed in their negotiations for money. Several failures have occurred within the past week, the influence of which has not only created something of a panic in the discount market, but has extended itself to some of the banks. Money on call has been in request at increased rates of interest, and none but the most desirable securities would bring money upon any terms." American Yachts.—Darius Davison writes us that it is his intention to build a yacht within the period of six months from this "date, of a tonnage and cost equal-to the tonnage and cost of the yacht America. Said yacht to be built, modelled, and rigged on a plan different from any vessel or yacht now afloat ; and to be held ready at any time within the period of one year from the date (after being completed), to sail against any vessel or yacht, or number of vessels or yachts, now afloat in this country or Europe, that may be entered for the race. The trial of speed and sailing qualities to lake place at any time chosen by a majority of thTrowners of vessels entered for the race, and to be run as they shall choose, for any distance, upon the ocean or inland waters, in a heavy or light breeze, with or against the wind. The owners of any vessel entered for the race not satisfied with the time and circumstances chosen by a majority to make the trial of speed and sailing qualities, shall be at liberty to withdraw their vessel at any time before one week preceding the time chosen for the contest. This provision is not to apply to the vessel entered by the subscriber. His yacht, shall be held ready to sail at any time and place within the period specified,.and under any circumstances chosen by a majority of the owners of the other vessels. That only first-class sail vessels or yachts may be entered for the race. The prizes to be entered for areas follows:—In case the subscriber's yacht win the race, the vessel which comes out second, and the vessel last out in the race, to be forfeited to him. And in case his yacht is beaten, he will deliver her, with all her appurtenances, to the winner of the race, as a prize.— New York Tribune. Telegraph acisoss the Atlantic—A Mr. Reynolds, of New York, proposes to construct a telegraphic communication across the Atlantic at a cost of 3,000,000 dollars. He thinks the plan practicable and safe, and sets forth that the distance between Cape Canso, above Halifax, on the American coast, and the nearest point in Ireland, near Galway, is about 1,600 miles along the banks of Newfoundland, which are known to extend within 160 miles of the coast of Ireland, at an average depth of 800 feet A line of this length, consisting of four wires perfectly insulated in a good gutta percha tube, of the size proposed, would last hundreds of years, as the insulating substance is indestructible in water, and has a strength almost equal to iron. Such a line would weigh about 10,000 tons, and would require about ioOO tons of iron anchors. The cost of everything, when in complete working order, would be less than 3,000,000 dollars. Such a line would do more to advance intelligence, true liberty, and the interests of the people, than anything hitherto achieved in the way of " obliterating time and space."