NEWS OF THE DAY.

INTERNATIONAL CIVILITIES.

The municipality of Paris has recently presented to the corporation of London an interesting series of public documents and reports-many of them splendidly boundrelating to their public works, in reference to the utilisation of sewage, unhealthy dwellings, and the like; also the budgets of the city of Paris for several years; some valuable volumes illustrative of the history of old Paris, one especially, entitled "Paris and its Historians during the 14th and 15th centuries;" some very beautiful chromo-lithographs, including facsimile reproductions of portions of ancient illuminated manuscripts. There are also reproductions of engravings in outline illustrating the "Dance of Death," supposed to have been taken from the original wall paintings at the cemetery of St. Innocent. This donation of public documents and works of art by the Parisian municipality has resulted from a similar compliment which the corporation of London, about the middle of last year, paid our French neighbours in Paris, in sending them specimens of all the medals which the corporation have had struck to commemorate great events in its history during the last 20 years, together with all the privately printed works of the corporation in the same interval; and at a recent meeting of the Common Council, Mr. John Symonds, as chairman of the library committee of the corporation, expressed the pleasure he had in making known the munificent liberality and courtesy displayed by the city of Paris on the occasion.

BILLS OF SALE ACT AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. Lopes moved the second reading of this bill, which, he stated, was a very short one, and somewhat technical. Before the act of 1854 there were great complaints of frauds effected by means of secret bills of exchange. Persons were induced to give credit from the respectable appearance of debtors, but when the latter got into difficulties, and the creditor brought his action, obtained judgment, and an execution were issued, then the owner of the bill of sale came down and swept away all the property. To provide a remedy for such frauds the act of 1854 was passed, requiring that all bills of sale should be registered. Unfortunately it gave the holder of a bill of sale 21 days latitude, within which registration might be kept secret. This 21 days had furnished a loophole through which a coach had been often driven. Bills of sale were renewed time after time, and money-lenders and others who knew how to manage the matter, could always have a second bill of sale with an unexpired 21 days of grace. The object to the bill was to prevent such renewals, and to make the non-registration of the first bill of sale fatal to its powers. It also proposed that all transfers of personal property, by bills of sale or otherwise, should be subject to registration. He might state that the bill had the approbation of the Lord Chancellor, who had promised it his support if it reached another place.

PATENT LAWS.

By his new Bill Lord Cairns proposes to consolidate and amend the patent system and patent laws of the country, and the measure of which he sketched the outlines with so clear and vigorous a hand is at least as comprehensive in its purpose, and as exact in its details, as the limitations which he accepted would allow. The scheme of the Lord Chancellor will, however, necessarily fail to satisfy the ideas of those who hold that between patents and the public interest, and even between patents and the true interests of inventors, a very different principle of dealing ought to be set up. But for the kind of work it professes to do the measure is comprehensive and clear, and the Government deserves some credit for having brought it forward at so early a period of the session.

FRAUDULENT FOREIGN LOANS.

The Economist says:-It is said that there is no effectual

remedy against the fraudulent agents who negociate these loans and profit by them. But we believe that the laws of "conspiracy" and of obtaining money under false pretences are as efficient here as elsewhere. That they often fail is very true. And they fail as often in the case of swindling companies. The expense of such investigations is great, because the facts are very complex, and their uncertainty is as great, and for the same reason. And when successful they are penal, not com. pensatory. They punish the thief, but they do not recover the property. The law in such cases ought to do all it can, but it can never do very much. The only real remedy is by an improvement in the sense and moderation of the investing public. And any additional publicity is good because it warns that public. We have no fear that any decent foreign government would dislike such an investigation; on the contrary, honest and solvent foreign governments have the greatest interest in clearing their dishonest and insolvent competitors out of the English market. So far as this committee collects and diffuses knowledge among our lenders, it will be of some advantage; but it will do them and others incalculable harm if it has the effect its mover suggested, and if it sanctions the constantly recurring and constantly fomented idea that the investors have something to rely on beyond their own care and judgment, and that in the last resort they will be helped by the English government.

CLUBS.

The Saturday Review says:-Though the old name is retained, a club now means something very different from what it used to be. In other days it was a party of friends who met for convenience in a common room. Now it is rather the miscellaneous mob of an overcrowded caravanserai. It is a place where men go to read the papers, write letters, wash their hands, get a mouthful of lunch or a usual glass of sherry, or occasionally dine with a friend. For the majority of members, who mostly live at some distance from the centre of the town, it is only a handy lounge, not quite so promiscuous as a public restaurant or tavern. They looked in at odd times, but are not in the habit of seeking society there, or of spending an afternoon or evening in talk. There is usually a small minority who do indeed almost live in the place, having bed. rooms in some lodging-house close by, and who are powerful beyond their numbers in giving a stamp to the character of the club from the constancy of their attendance; still they are but few after all, and do not represent the general uses and habits of such an institution. The vulgar notion that a club is usually frequented for the sake of luxurious meals and highly witty and well-informed conversation is altogether a delusion. The ordinary fare of the members is, as a rule, of the simplest and most modest kind. A plate of soup, a bit of fish, and a cut off the joint in the room, make up the average dinner, while chops, cold meat, or biscuits and cheese, supply the luncheon; and their exchange of ideas is equally commonplace. The tendency to dram-drinking in recent years has probably led to some increase in the consumption of liquor, especially in the form of "spots" and pick-me-ups.

ROTTEN SHIPS.

The Morning Advertiser says:-We have it upon the authority of a shipowner of 30 years' experience, that he has never known a case where a rotten wooden ship has been condemned by the owner as unfit for repairs or to go to sea. The fate of these worn out old hulks is a mystery. What becomes of them; where do they go to; and when is a wooden ship considered as having run her course and only valuable to the ship-breaker? Sometimes when, by what is often considered a fortunate accident, a vessel has been stranded, the owner is able to make cent. per cent. out of her, especially if the accident has so happened that a claim upon the underwriters for a constructive total loss would lie. Cases have been mentioned where vessels have been bought back again by their owners for a mere song after

having been registered as total losses, patched up, altered, and re-named, and then sent to sea again. Such things are too painful to dwell upon. The intelligence which was published yesterday afternoon of the loss of another steamer, the Hong-Kong, will have one good effect: it will prevent either the public or the press from relaxing in their efforts to bring about a much needed reform. Seamanship has deteriorated, there is no doubt about that, because, in spite of the increase of lighthouses, shoal marks, and light-ships, strandings are more frequent than ever. It is true that the style and build of modern vessels has something to do with it, for in the old days, before steam was invented, vessels built at Deptford, or other places on the Thames, were obliged to depend upon their canvas to get out of port, consequently ships were of a necessity constructed with a view to handiness. What would a vessel like the Duke of Buccleuch, for instance, do in the Thames without steam power. There are captains and officers in the mercantile marine who are as good seamen as anyone could wish, but there are fewer thorough seamen than there were fifty years ago.

PUBLIC COMPANIES AND DIRECTORS.

In an article on the Great Oil Wells case, the Spectator remarks, "Talk about diamonds in ant-hills! why shouldn't there be diamonds in ant-hills, if John Nokes, Californian and speculator in mines, telegraphs to say he has found them there, that they are worth a million, and that he will sell them to British capitalists for elevenpence-halfpenny and a thousand shares? Where is the mala fides in believing Nokes? He may have been in the State prison for larceny, but how is the British shareholder to prove that the British director knew that, or knowing it, felt it to be a reason for distrust? The gold-fields of Sydney were discovered, first of all, according to local tradition, by a thief who had been convicted, and who was soundly whipped for attempting to palm off such lies. Suppose a British director had believed him. It is quite clear, if this is the state of the law, the law requires to be amended, or limited liability will become little else than a protection for men who desire to sell useless or non-existent property at enormous prices.

THE COSPATRICK.

In their report to the Board of Trade respecting the Serning of the Cospatrick, the Court of Inquiry express their pinion that the fire broke out in the forehold, and that it was caused by some of the crew or emigrants getting into that part of the vessel for the purpose of plundering the cargo and using naked lights or matches, by which they must have set fire to straw or other inflammable material. With respect to the best Beans of guarding against such disasters, the Court think it most important that all wooden passenger vessels should have a strong coal-hole bulkhead, which would effectually cut off all communication between the fore-peak and main hold. They iso hold that the practice of stowing boats keel uppermost is most objectionable, and that they should always be stowed on chocks, and they consider that all ships carrying passengers or emigrants should be compelled to exercise their crews weekly, weather permitting, at fire and boat stations, and that in entry should be made in the official log book certifying that each had been done, and that properly fitted gear for putting the boats over the side should be kept in readiness near them in case of an emergency.

THE printing, publishing, advertisement, and "Intersational Exhibition" business of Messrs. J. M. Johnson & Sons, of Castle Street, Holborn, and Hatton Garden, founded in 1825, has been converted into a company, under the title of J. M. Johnson & Sons (limited), Mr. Edmund Johnson and Mr. Charles Johnson continuing their connection with the business as managing directors.

THE RUSSIAN ATTACK ON ENGLAND.

The Saturday Review remarks that "the insolent attack on the English nation and Government published by the Russian organ at Brussels affords the most recent instance of the inconvenience of the official journalism of absolute Governments. The English Government is accused of 'regarding with doubt and suspicion, notwithstanding all evidence to the contrary, the suggestions of a great Power animated with noble and humane intentions.' Lord Derby has never denied, and in his recent despatch he has courteously admitted, that the proposal of the Emperor Alexander may have been in the first instance suggested by humane intentions; and, as far as the resolutions of the Conference may tend to diminish the sufferings of war without producing any colateral effect, England will have no difficulty in assenting to any rules which may be adopted.. Whether or not the minor States have the courage to follow the example of England, Lord Derby and his colleagues have done their duty by bearing the brunt of Russian displeasure. The reasoning of Lord Derby's despatch is unanswerable, and it has the merit of being distinct and decisive. It might have been anticipated that the refusal to share in the Conference would be unpalatable, but it could hardly have been expected that the journalists in the service of the Imperial Government would be instructed to let loose the torrent of scurrility and mendacity."

THE FINANCIAL SITUATION IN GERMANY.

The Volkszeitung of Berlin, in an article on the financial situation, says that the unfavourable state of trade throughout Germany forms a singular contrast with the present situation in France:-"We said in 1851 : these milliards will annihilate our productive force and our capacity as competitors. This truth is now preached by journals which a little time ago could not find language strong enough to extol the blessings of the war indemnity. All are now aware that a shower of gold causes an augmentation in the price of all commodities, the quantity of which cannot be increased at pleasure. It is now found that a glut of the precious metals renders subsistence dearer, and consequently handiwork; and that all the commissions formerly sent us by the foreigner are now lost, because people are not foolish enough to pay an exaggerate price for manufacture which they can command at a much cheaper rate in other countries. We perceive from all the commercial reports sent in that this truth is very correctly appreciated in the excellent business which France did last year. Amongst the French, living is not so expensive, wages are lower, zeal more active, the desire of gain more serious than ever, and all competent men attribute the prosperity of French industry to those circumstances. We see what effect gold has produced upon us ; what are we to hope from paper?

FOREIGN LOANS.

Sir Henry James has, in the House of Commons, given some sterling information on finance. He has shown how such states as Honduras, Costa Rica, Paraguay, San Domingo, and the like, manage to dupe English capitalists, and swindle their creditors. The wonderful story of the financial devices or coups of Honduras has never before, so far as we are aware, been told in its dramatic completeness; and until the other day it was not generally apparent how hosts of our countrymen have been fooled by the Honduras Government, on the strength of their contemptible and wretched domain, the chief undisputed products of which are mahogany and fever. This State has borrowed millions, and lured, we are afraid, not a few minor capitalists to their ruin. Though Honduras has a revenue of only about 100,000, on which fall all the expenses of the Government, it has almost invariably found the English money market open and ready to rise to the bait of a new loan. Though, in May of 1867, it became insolvent and compounded

with its creditors, it managed, in November of the same year, to borrow £800,000 on the security of a railway which was to be made, but which has never been constructed, and on a mortgage of the forests of Honduras, a mortgage which has never really been secured. Two years subsequently, this cormorant State got hold of £2,000,000 in the Paris Money Market. The security offered was the previously pledged forests. In 1873 the Honduras Minister revisited his old field of operations, London, and persuaded the dupes of the season to advance £2,000,000 for the sake of this dimly projected railway. Then, naturally flushed with success, his Government launched out a grand project for constructing a colossal inter-oceanic railway, by means of which vessels, even large vessels of 1,200 tons, were to be conveyed-crew, cargo, stores, and all-overland by rail to the Pacific; and to carry out this brilliant idea Honduras asked the modest sum of £12,000,000. This Senor Gutierrez did not obtain; but altogether, in a short time, £4,800,000 passed into the hands of his wretched country or its jackals. Not a mile of the imaginary railway was constructed. Not a log of timber was sent to the creditors; and all the assets with which creditors can console themselves consist of a certain mysterious tin box deposited in the Bank of England which may, indeed, contain the title-deeds to the fee simple of Honduras, but which may, for aught we know, contain moral reflections by Senor Gutierrez on the credulity of the English nation. No wonder that Costa Rica, being hard up, also appointed the useful Senor Gutierrez, Minister and Representative in this country. He, early in his new capacity, signalised himself by borrowing £1,200,000, of which about £926,000 reached Costa Rica; the rest, according to a rule generally observable in these transactions, going to oil the palms of various persons in this country who had been useful in promoting the loan. We need scarcely say that, having got the money, the Costa Rica Government have ceased to be interested in the loan or the creditors; that the glowing promises of the prospectus have not been fulfilled; and that no remittances have of late been sent to England, and that none are expected. It is perhaps a partial consolation to know that defaulting States themselves suffer and are squeezed -for instance, we are assured that out of a loan of £529,000 advanced to San Domingo, only about £37,000 to £59,000 actually reached the treasury of the borrower. Then, too, we are told-incredible though the statement may seem-that out of a public debt of £47,200,000, only £239,687 was received by the Government of Paraguay.

PROVIDENT LEGISLATION.

The Friendly Societies Bill will be a good measure when it has been well overhauled in committee, and amended, as agreed at the conference of members of the House of Commons with a deputation from the Congress of Friendly Societies, held in the conference room of the House of Commons on Tuesday last. A series of amendments have been entrusted to Mr. W. Holms and others; but all members of friendly societies in the three kingdoms are interested in the Government measure which deals with the provident associations of the million. The authorities of our friendly societies have been broadly divided by Mr. J. W. Ludlow into two sections, viz., those of the north and those of the south. northerners want less legislation, the southerners more. The former is the more vigorous and flourishing section; the latter the weaker and less independent section. Both have to be considered and to be represented when the Government bill is in committee; but it is satisfactory to learn from officers of prosperous provident societies that there is nothing in the measure which any honest association need fear.

ENGLAND AND CAPE COLONY.

The

"The action of Lord Carnarvon in recalling Sir Benjamin Pine and releasing Langalibalele is," says the Daily Telegraph, "the declaration of the conscience of the Empire that it will

have no wrong done to the meanest or most ignorant under cover of the British flag. Wrong has been done to this Kaffir and, so far from endangering the colony by his restoration, wo believe that, rightly used, it will prove a safeguard. The fact is, the colony has been badly handled; finances, military arrangements, and native policies are out of order, and must be set right. Sir Garnet Wolseley goes to put the military part of the question in good order, and we trust that this appointment in itself will do much to console the more timid Natalians. But, if not too frightened to hear logic, they may be quite assured that the Bishop who has taught the Kaffirs that England loves justice wrought more to guard the frontiers than the foolish officials who, on the word of a lying messenger, massacred the men and women of an unarmed tribe, faithful, for twenty-five years past to the Colonial Government."

LEGAL PERPLEXITIES.

The Times considers that Mr. Forsyth's motion in reference to the imperfections of the existing method of compiling the yearly Statute-book dealt with a subject of the first importance, which has been long neglected. Parliament makes law in haste as well as it can, and it is natural to find that the gratitude with which its labours are accepted by the nation is not unfrequently mingled with bewilderment. Setting aside the perplexities of the laity, the verdict of lawyers has long been hostile to the present haphazard mode of progression. Mr. Forsyth has done well in reviving attention to this important subject, but he will not take it as a disparagement of his services if public opinion should not fully accede to all the suggestions embodied in his resolution. All the work that ought to remain to be done is purely technical, and, apart from the difficulty of finding competent men in the House with time and energy to spare for the task, it would probably be better and more economically performed by outsiders.

PERSONAL AND BUSINESS ITEMS.

THE business of Messrs. James Marr & Co. has been sold to a company called "The Marr Typefounding Company, Limited," with a nominal capital of 12,000 in 600 shares of £20 each.

MR. FRANCIS RIVINGTON, publisher, is the last elected Master of the Stationers' Company. The venerable Company is now four hundred and seventy-one years old.

MESSRS. V. MOREL & Co., electrotypers and stereotypers, of 48, Fetter Lane, have disposed of their business to Messrs. Dallagana & Co., of Shoe Lane.

MR. H. J. FITCH, wholesale stationer, has erected some handsome premises in St. Mary Axe. The block has been designed by Messrs. Hovenden, Heath, and Berridge.

MR. ALFRED COOKE, printer, lithographer, &c., has re moved from Hunslet, to 7, Briggate, Leeds, the premises formerly occupied by Messrs. John Heaton & Son.

MESSRS. WHITEMAN, HICKS, & WHITEMAN, lithographers Little Queen Street, have opened City premises at 4, Queen's Buildings, Queen Victoria Street, E.C.

MESSRS. WYMAN & SONS, of the Lincoln's Inn Steam Printing Works, have transferred their publishing offices from Nos. 74 and 75 to the new buildings, where they have also commenced the business of law and general stationers, &c.

MESSRS. G. ROWNEY & Co., the well-known artists colourmen, of Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, have issued small almanack, a perfect gem of typography and lithography containing a large amount of information of special value artists and others.

THE lithographic plant of Mr. Lee, ornamental designer and printer on glass, iron, &c., of High Holborn, has beer purchased by Mr. Taylor (Salisbury & Taylor), and remove to 21, Featherstone Buildings, Holborn.

COMMERCE, MANUFACTURE, TRADE.

Mr. R. Johnson, at the annual meeting of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, of which he is President, delivered some ideas and suggestions which were not only new but are worthy of attentive consideration. He boldly raised the question whether our leading commercial men and manufacturers were taking the truest and best view of their vocation and character, and making their position and influence in society as serviceable to the community as they may and ought to be. At the present time when we see large departments of production totally disorganized, and thousands of industrious men separated from the work that is waiting for them; we feel that any light that can be thrown upon the duty of the great leaders of industry ought to be welcomed.

The President admitted that there were no shortcomings among them as to the spirit of commercial enterprise, but he desired something more than mere energy and unbounded courage. What he desires is not merely great fortunes and the foundation of new families, but "great tradesmen." Developing his views by a reference to the life and character of the celebrated German publisher and bookseller, Friedrich Perthes, he points out that this man, without any extraordinary intellectual endowments, and without even ordinary educational advantages, became a truly great citizen, recognised as such by his countrymen within the limits of his social position. Here are the President's own words:

"This is probably the last occasion upon which I may have the opportunity of addressing the Chamber from this chair, and I wish before retiring to add a few words on the general subject both of commerce and manufacture, and particularly on the kind of position which, in my own opinion, the leaders in both departments may most honourably fill. The views I shall lay before you are with me not of recent growth. They are the result in part of a tolerably long personal experience, combined with opportunities of observation which I have shared with many others, and in part, too, of special influences, the nature of which I will very briefly indicate. Many years ago, in the early days of my business life, my attention happened to be directed to a well-known bock, the Memoirs of the German publisher and bookseller, Friedrich Perthes. There is no lack, thank God, of honourable and distinguished men of commerce in our own land and in our own history, nor is it necessary to go to other lands and other histories for examples of commercial enterprise well and worthily carried out. But there are peculiarities in the life of Perthes which struck me then, and I confess strike me still, as not to be found and marked with equal clearness in any biography then or now known to me. Perthes does not appear to have been a man of any unusual intellectual power, nor were his exertions and achievements, whether professional or patriotic, superior to those of many others of his countrymen. It is in the manner and nature of those exertions, and in the way in which personal and public aims were blended and conjoined, that the greatness and value of Perthes' character and example consist. Many men in many countries have been great tradesmen-I use the word advisedly-and have also been great citizens. It was Perthes' peculiar excellence that he succeeded being a great citizen because and in virtue of the fact that he was a great tradesman. It would not be in place on the present occasion, nor would it suit my present purpose, to dwell upon the particulars of his life. That life may well be summarised in the noble words of one of his early letters-it was the life of one who desired to bring about all that is possible and desirable,' but of one who knew also how to confine his attempts to the limits and circumstances of his position. We thus find him throughout his life perpetually putting to himself the questions-How can I, a bookseller, as a bookseller promote in every best way the independence, the progress, the well-being of Germany? How can I, a

bookseller, as a bookseller, promote to the uttermost the cause of true art, of true literature, of true religion? How can I, not in addition to, but in virtue of, my profession, be in my own measure perfect as a citizen and as a man?' This it was, gentlemen, which chiefly struck me in the life of Perthes, and which set me thinking on the difference of this commercial ideal from that, or rather those, which mostly prevail and have prevailed in England. The position which our own commercial leaders have taken in the modern world seems to be open to two principal remarks. In the first place, they have, it must be admitted, done great good in the exercise of their calling, but this they have done too frequently without any conscious design, and the good therefore has followed as a necessary result of the place they have occupied, and not by a deliberately-formed purpose which they have ever set before themselves in their own thoughts. In the next place, apart from their business life, they have made a noble use of the wealth and power they have acquired. They have applied themselves, and in this case consciously, to the encouragement of arts, of science, of literature, and religion. But all this, as I have said, has been no part of their business, and has been done by them, therefore, not as merchants but as citizens. The example of Perthes seems to point to something different from anything which I have just admitted. Our great merchants and manufacturers are in possession, as such, of public trusts of incalculable importance, and they may find, I believe, the fullest scope for their energies and ambition in the endeavour to discharge them efficiently. I will name the most unquestionable of these trusts. It is their office to supply, through the medium of wages, a maintenance to the hundreds and thousands who are dependent on them, and to give them the means, not only of living, but of living worthily and well. Let them set this, therefore, before them as the duty they are called upon to discharge, and not be content with the mere fact that, whether they will or no, they already in some degree discharge it; nor let them excuse their omission by the plea that they do good in some other way which less properly belongs to them. The fact seems to be that there has been in England a general tendency to regard commerce and commercial pursuits too exclusively as a means, and not always as a means to the right end. This tendency has prevailed almost equally among the friends and enemies of commerce. The latter have always represented commerce as a mere means of money-making; the former have too frequently contented themselves with replying that the money gained is often put to noble uses. But of the many aims which commercial men have had and have, some undoubtedly far more worthy than others--though it is a very different thing to amass money for its own sake, and to amass it for the purpose of encouraging art, of furthering happiness, even (I am not afraid to say) of rendering possible a refined and civilised luxury-it is still evident in all these cases that commerce is not regarded as something in itself worthy to occupy the attention, and to shape and determine even the unselfish purposes, of those who are engaged in it. So to use one's own trade or commercial pursuit as Perthes used his-as to be in virtue of its exercise a benefactor to the State and a good citizen, is an object which has, I think, been very seldom clearly and distinctly kept in view, and which has been, therefore but accidentally, as it were, and partially attained. The result of this want of distinct and conscious aim is that we have been too much given in commerce to observing the measure of sufficiency rather than the measure of excellence. We have all laughed at the description which Goldsmith gives of the portrait of the Vicar of Wakefield and his family, which had in addition to the principal figures the further charm of as many sheep as the painter could afford to put in. So with ourselves, commerce and manufactures have been valued, and their duties have been discharged, with much the same sort of reference to extraneous matters, and the character of our work has suffered accordingly. Just as it was the painter's business to make the portraits as good as possible, and to keep the