The Press. — London, England, 1854-08-12 00:00:00

746 ' burdens of the nation, previously in course of " yearly reduction, are now raised to a height " which must seriously affect the welfare of " all classes of the community?" • THE CHANCELLOR oir THE EXCHEQUEtt AND MR. O'FLAHERTY. IT would be premature, perhaps; to discuss the O'Flaherty case itt present : we should do so under much disadvalitage; for the fadts are not fully before the public. Mr. O'FLAHERTY, it is said, has been guilty of fraud and forgery. Ike was an income-tax commissioner, recoin mended for the post by the Chief Secretary foi- Ireland, and appointed by the Cd - Al-icELLett of the EXCHEQUER. Mr. GLADSTONE states that as a public officer his conduct was unim peachable; that, being no longer a public officer, the public have nothing to say to his delinquencies; and that he (Mr. GLADSTONE) has no further responsibility connected with him. This, after all, is rather loose Morality. It comes, however, consistently from the moralist who saw no serious error in Mr. LAwLEit's conduct. But the public have a right to, some further information on this subject, which at present they are not likely to obtain. Mr. O'FLAHERTY, we suspect, had reason to consider his appointment in Ireland perma cent. He set up, we have heard, an expen sive and permanent establishment at Kings town, and acted and talked as if he, at least, had no reason to consider his office temporary. Yet the Irish department was broken up suddenly, Mr. GoDLEY being re moved to England, and the appointment of Mr. O'FLAHERTY being cancelled. This looks 'auspicious. We have a right to know whether .or not the breaking up of thalrish department, the removal of Mr. GODLE Y to this country, and the cancelling of Mr. O'FLAHERTY'S appointment were or were not, directly or indirectly, con• nected with the delinquencies which have since come to light. If they were, Mr. GLADSTONE has been guilty of a mistate ment and decep on, and has attempted to evade a responsibi city which properly belongs to him. But let us consider further. Mr. O'FLAHERTY was .the personal friend of the Duke of NEWCASTLE. We have heard some amusing proofs of the intimacy of the acquaintance. More than this. Mr. O'FLAHERTY had confidentially consulted and advised with the Duke of NEWCASTLE on .the important subject of the Irish elections. We trace him, by the Duke's own admission, in close connection with him, not only merely as regards the Dungarvan election, but as re gards Irish elections generally. He had stood a contest for the present Ministry. The Duke had used all his influence with Mr. HOPE to prevent a division which might operate to the prejudice of Mr. O'FLAHERTY. Mr. O'FLA usaTT, therefore, was no common personage. Is it likely, we ask our readers, that he would have been so unceremoniously kicked out by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER? Why, he was almost as intimately and confidentially As sociated with the Duke of NEWCASTLE as the Honourable Mr. LAWLEY was with Mr. GLAD STONE, and the Duke of NEWCASTLE was just about to appoint Mr. LAWLEY to represent her Majesty in Australia. There would have been an ingratitude, a want of reciprocity in this treatment of the Duke's friend, which we confess, whatever may be Mr. GLADSTONE'S fault s, we cannot impute to him. But Mr. O'FLAHERTY had another claim on Ministers which must have secured for him better treatment. There were people Who, in the Keogh controversy last year, Were ill-judging enough to give the prepon derance to the assertion of Lord NAAB as against that of Mr. KEOGH, respecting the alleged offer of office to that gentleman under 'Lord DERRY'S Government ; but Mr. O'FLA- EtEnt threw his character into the scale against Lord NAAs, and Mr. O'FLAHERTY was a man of veracity and honour. We ask our aders, under all the circumst ances, is there my one who really believes that there was no ° connection the delinquencies and the cancelling of his appoint- - ~ .g MI L, THE PRESS; meat? Mr. GLADSTONE says there was none. The verdict of the public will be against him. Yesterday Mr. NIACARTNEY sought to elicit some ti t information by 0 cides•tion to the Chief Secre tary, but the Olitef kretary evaded it. No one, we think, hi4idod t that the appointment was iidal held* in :i4 din for services which MT. O'FaHERTT, in eothithn with Mr. SADLEIR, I. and Ml. STONOI, 0.114 Mr. KEOGH, had ren - Pere4,ost wed to der, to Government, tkroul% k sectiliii 0 Irish Brigade ;64 • , , no one can doubt 'tilt 11. t CHANCELLOR t oef factthe E XC HEQUER was stadne, was when lie declared that the cancelling of the appointment had no reference to the frauds and forgeries imputed to Mr. O'FLAHERTY. RUSSIA AND GERMANY. IT is remarkable that the Journal des Dibats of yesterday takes a very different view from the Times of the same day, as to the existing rela tions between Austria and Russia. While the Times assumes that Austria " has shaken off " that restraint and control whick Prussia had " hitherto contrived to place on her most im " portant resolUtions ;" the Debats represents the two German Courts as acting in perfect concert, and states that the Emperor NICHOLAS, in consenting to evacuate the principalities, acceded to the urgent solicitations of the Sovereigns of Austria and Prussia. We know that the German Courts regarded the occupa tion of the principalities by the troops of Russia as the great obstacle to negotiations for peace, and we may be perfectly sure that they will direct their exertions to that end with more diligence than ever, now that the obstacle is removed. Whatever may be the character of the nego tiations which Austria has entered into with France and England, we know her sentiments too well to suppose that she would assume an attitude of hostility to Russia, and separate herself in policy and interest from the German Courts at the moment when her wishes have been acceded to, and the Danubian pro vinces are open to the reception of her troops. The guarantees required by the German Courts may be essentially different from those an ticipated by the people of this country. The status quo which since the Russians first crossed the Pruth it has been the aim of Austrian diplomacy to restore is now, in fact, attained. In any negotiations with the Western Powers a treaty of peace must be the object of Austria, and it would only be consistent with the whole spirit and tenor of Lord ABERDEEN'S Administration were secret overtures for peace entertained at the time when most show is made of hostile pre parations. By the withdrawal of Russia behind the Pruth, the only impediment which the German Courts ever recognised to the establishment of peace is removed, and that is the only fact on which we can at present safely speculate. A WORD TO OUR CENSORS. WE are not surprised that supporters of the Ministry of Lord ABERDEEN should assail an organ which has exposed the vacillations and impugned the policy of a Cabinet existing in opposition to all the received traditions of parliamentary government. As we were pre pared for opposition, we shall neither be intimidated or irritated by the personali ties directed against ourselves by the most faithful of the adherents to the Czar's friend of forty years. How far such a style of writing as that to which we refer is likely to do credit to English journalism we need not now inquire ; but our critic is certainly not well qualified, after his recent escapades, to assume the part of the censor of his literary contemporaries. Our vituperative assailant professes to have been " entertained " with our lucubrations, and there is on our part a cordial reciprocity of enjoyment. We were never more heartily amused than by a special account which we lately read in certain SATURDAY, columns, of the Emperor of Russia having been on the point of capture ! Never did any professed humorist contribute more to the gaiety of the town than the journal which dilated at extraordinary length in large type upon the p robable consequences of an imagi nary ilicident! It t not for our lite nary, with results before hini t to aisimi kl the t that, on a variety of oc bit si in ,we fit i v il e ti tcle iely communicated to the ub it) ia b a most important charabte . We challenge an appeal to our columns tO Mow that events have confirmed the information which, from time to time, we felt it our duty to publish. It was our present censer who stated, on the 20th of May, 1853, that Prince MENSCHIROFF'S ultimatum was accepted, and we were assured that the Turkish question was " a mere diplomatic imbroglio." We, on the contrary, told the public facts which con tradicted the assertions of the Ministerial journal. We warned the country that a European crisis was at hand, and that the first consequence of the Coalition would be the precipitation of a great war. We knew in timately the antecedents of our Premier, and the expectations of the Czar, founded on the secret paper of '44. So far back as June 18th, '53, we said, "We are on the eve of great " events, and it is just as well that the people " of this country should be prepared for their " occurrence." A few days afterwards we wrote, " There is a lull in the Eastern ques " lion, but it is only on the surface." It would be tedious to enumerate the instances in which we predicted the gravity of events, when our statements were attempted to be discredited as "malignant misrepresentations." In justice to ourselves we shall mention a few of those cases. On the 3rd of December last we were the first journal to announce " the formal and absolute conclusion of all " negotiations." On the following Monday our statement was contradicted by the organ of the Foreign-office, and yet it was confirmed before many days had elapsed. We were first in announcing that OMER PAOHA had pre pared pontoons for the passage of the Danube. In December we announced positively in emphatic terms that " the part of Rue " sia was definitively taken for war." The spirited resolves of OMER PAM& at the head of the Turks, and the dogged resolution of the Czar, were illustrated in our columns, by authentic particulars, published before the events, and subsequently confirmed. The instruc tions to M. KISSELEFF, and the mission of Count ORLOFF, were first elucidated in this journal. Nor have we any reason for shrinking from the investigation of the early intelligence that we gave on the movements of Baron BRUNO,/ and M. Be:nom Upon the estimates placed by the public on our resources for procuring in telligence we have no reason to complain; and, appreciating the confidence largely ac corded to us, we may be perfectly indifferent to any undignified attempt to asperse our means of procuring information. Official subordinates who have failed in debate, though skilful in set speaking, are often viru lent in anonymous incrimination. The d a mned poet always appeals to pos terit y , and your dumb " orator" who has appointed the hopes of his friends is often o is nly too fluent in a newspaper. THE INDIA EDUCATION DESPATCH. Tins despatch has been printed, and is con sidered a miracle of wisdom by the member for Devonport and Lord GRANVILLE ; but the holder of a Cabinet office and the member for a Treasury borough are not likely to be very impartial judges of the merits of any act of a member of the Administration. For our parts we see nothing in this despatch to lead us to suppose that the India Board have now adopted wiser or better principles for administering the government of India than those which have all along characterised the government of Sir CHARLES WOOD'S inspiring genii, the authorities at the India-house. The question of education is one to which they have all along offered every possible obstruz-