The Press. — London, England, 1854-06-17 00:00:00

~,~- ~:.~ ' .. w ...... ... Mgr 'RPM pow. ~rw.w~w J S. • .1•0WN,•4.p.11.44,*.• • 4 1 ---(// a r 1,00,/ • Oibt No. 59.—VoL. 11. LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1854. g4t Vrtss. public welfare they ought not to have been abandoned, and, if unnecessary, ought not to have been introduced. LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 18154. But while the country is perplexed at the incapaCity of those from whom so much was expected, and who themselves announced that so much should be accomplished, it finds itself suddenly in a condition which it had almost brought itself to believe was incom patible with the civilisation of the age ; and that it is absolutely involved in a war which may he prolonged and costly, and of which the cause and the object are equally obscure. It seems now pretty well agreed that no Power in Europe wished to go to war; and that, if Lord ABERDEEN had not been Minister of this country, no war could possibly have occurred. A want of frankness and of firmness on the part of the English Ministry has tempted the Emperor of RUSSIA to occupy a position from which he finds it almost impossible to extri cate himself with honour. Counting on the avowed prejudices of Lord ABERDEEN against the Sovereign of France, and his long-che rished sympathy with the Sovereign of Russia, NICHOLAS, feeling his way at every step, ven tured on a course which may involve Europe in a struggle of years. His assumption was that England and France could not act toge ther : he consequently complimented Lord ABERDEEN on the English fleet not accom panying the French squadron to Salamis ; the compliment was accepted without a remon strance, and the Russians passed the Pruth ! FOUR months of feebleness, accompanied by some humiliating circumstances, have been followed by a reconstruction of the Cabinet, which has not added either to its strength or its dignity. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, whose self respect, we were told, was sustained by his filling no post under Lord ABERDEEN, now avowedly holds a subordinate office under that energetic chief. This pointless result has not even been accomplished without cost, and the price of an undesirable inCident is the degra dation of a young and able Minister, and one of the few members of the Coalition to whom the country looks with some degree of con fidence and hope. Had the seals relinquished by the Duke of NEWCASTLE been entrusted to the late President of the Council, they would certainly have been used with not less vigour and discretion than by Sir GEORGE GREY, who will find in the office, to which he returns with exhausted energies, no traditions of his past success. During the two last months the decline of the Cabinet in public estimation has been rapid and continuous. This is the more remarkable as there is a great absence of party feeling in the country, and the Opposi. Lion throughout the session, with the ex ception of the important motion of Mr. BARING, has discreetly confined itself to consolidating its strength, and acting on the defensive. There is no doubt that a considerable and influential portion of the community, on the formation of the present Ministry, were pre pared to accord to it their support from the belief that it consisted of men eminent for their skill in the management of affairs. The country, in a great measure, was willing to find compensation for the absence of distinct principles in official dexterity. A series of Wilms, perhaps without parallel in parlia mentary history, has taught us that no degree of mere administrative habitude can supply the energy which a compact and confiding Patty can alone a ff or d, or reme d y t h e i n t erna l diasencions of those who are bound together neither by political nor personal sympathy. The country has seen with amazement during the last four months enormous propositions brought forward without due deliberation and Precipitately withdrawn. The Ministers have introduced schemes for the reform of Parlia ment, for the redemption of the public debt, for national education, for the abolition of the law of settlement, for the remodelling ofoaths, of universities, and of the whole civil service of the country, and for the abolition of constitu tional securities, with the carelessness of children blowing bubbles. Their campaign has been an alternation of overwhelming dis eomfitures or precipitate retreats. It is this readiness to meddle with all things, and Inability to settle any, that has alienated from them that valuable public confidence which w as not originally prompted by party feeling. The impartial world naturally observes that if these great measures were necessary for the Whether we consider our external or domes tic relations, one is almost tempted to admire the ingenuity which in the space of eighteen months has contrived to accomplish so much disappointment, and to achieve so much dis aster. In the meantime, there are some symptoms in our internal condition which ought to attract the attention, and perhaps excite the anxiety, of all reflecting men. It is impos sible any longer to deny, or to conceal, that the Protestant feelin6 of this country has assumed a power which, if not appreciated and guided with sincerity and discretion, may effect in these kingdoms even startling changes. The desertion to Rome of a large body of the Oxford clergy some years ago was the first event which, awakening the High Church party from their bewildering trance, largely re-enforced the Protestant ranks ; the Wise man aggression—above all, the solemn an nouncement in Parliament, at the time, of the Prime Minister of England, that there was without doubt a vast Papal conspiracy against the liberties of Europe—confirmed, and even inflamed, the fears of the followers of the Reformation. Since that period there has been, on the part not only of the middle classes, but of the great majority of the upper classes of this country, a growing conviction that a stand must be made against the aggres sive spirit of Rome. The influential presence in the existing Cabinet of those very states men who uncompromisingly and successfully opposed Lord JOHN RUSSELL in his attempts to resist the Jesuit influence has been viewed from the first with distrust and alarm by the mass of the community, who rarely interest themselves in the struggles of political parties. But this spirit has already made itself felt even in the present House of Commons. The Parliament is more Protestant than the Ministry•, but the country is more Protestant than the Parliament. nothing left. tallic current have some ii agriculturist For any j, the wish to PRICE SIXPENCE. THE LAND TAX IN THE PUNJAUB. Jr was to be expected that with tho total change in the government of the Punjaub, caused by our conquest and occupation of that country, there would be a change in adminis trative measures affecting to some extent the social condition of the people. The question is, whether that change has been for the better or the worse—whether the inhabitants gene rally hail it as a benefit or deplore it as a mis fortune. If we recognise the principle that every addition to our power as a nation is an addition to our responsibilities, and that all government should be in the nature of a trust for the benefit of the governed, we are bound to look narrowly into the character of those measures which, in any part of our empire, are received with complaints by the people, and are directly productive of misery and distress. In our last number we noticed the measures adopted by the Indian Government in relation to salt in the Punjaub, and we observe that its rules for the collection of the land tax are marked by the same spirit of oppressive inno vation, and by the same disregard of the feel ings and interests of the people. To those who have not read the report from which we last week quoted, this charge may appear a strong one ; but all who have studied it with due mire will admit the justice of our remarks. With well-considered re forms we should be the last to quarrel ; from whatever quarter they might come, they should have our hearty support ; but we cannot see any advantage in jeopardising our revenue in the East, and alienating the affections of the people, for the sake of enforcing theories In respect to the payment of rent, which, how ever suitable to a country of limited area like England, possessing a circulating medium adequate to its wants, is totally out of place in the Punjaub. In the one country the abun dance of money makes accommodation easy, and, if at the time of harvest the price of pro duce is low, the farmer is not compelled to sell; but in the other, money is not procurable except in small sums, and then only from the village corn-dealer (for all over the East the village corn-dealer and the village money lender are one), while he, of course, will only advance it on exorbitant terms. Under such circumstances, to convert suddenly the corn rent of a whole country , into a cash rent by an arbitrary act of the Government against the renter's wishes, and in spite of his complaints, is, in fact, to place him at the mercy of his natural opponent in interest, the money dealer, and that is what has been lately done by the Government of the I'unjaub. Let the reader imaginr the English complete hie his landlord, lation of in the repot ig _, the ag►riculturissts in RUNJEZT SISOH'S time were happy, flourishing, and contented, and paid a much higher sum as revenue than is extorted gine for an instant %lie, sacrifices h farmer .wau44ilui4el Itd make to si is engageme4tvtert* in nt with d, if the whole 'iiettaand hi cireu- Englitnd were' amillkihne and 'tin tlie ekefe of money bu t e me- fleY '0 . tl*:oountry, and will idea ofiike f i f=t condition of the A in the Pit ... justificatßin pf,f4eVessnri beyond enforce liifilieurite theory we look lrt in vain ; for, according to.it, the . • v wwifilwxygs • -'.4 4. • imp," NI •