The Press. — London, England, 1854-06-03 00:00:00

I 506 strengthen itself by carrying good measures. Lord Jous, we presume, reckons it among the merits of the Government to which he is attached that it prefers to keep those seats unappropriated, rather than aekaowledge the justice of its predecettor's propNsiii., The only defence he could *take to Aka charge pressed ovals* him—tme kf conseftt t ii ing to serve u der Lord ABVIEEEN he had broken up the - .4. party—wan, itibit he hall consulted Lor4 ANSDOWNE and 11r. NASAULAt. Of all people in the world, Mr. MACACrLAY ! a man whom he had excluded from his late Government--,possessing no influence, no con nection, ho &Rowing, and accustomed Id rti- , ceive his political ideas with implicit deference from the Whig chiefs who honour him with their patronage. During the autumn of 1852, after the general election, when there was some uncertainty as to the parliamentary following Lord DERBY'S 'Government might be able to command, the Duke of BEl:smith was unceasing in his efforts to consttnct the Coalition. $o early as Octo ber it was known in well-informed circles that Lord JOHN had consented to serve under Lord Ascot:maw, and that Lord PALMERSTON, while positively refusing to serve under Lord JOHN, had not refused to serve with him. In November most of the offices were allotted, and Lord Jour; had consented to take the Foreign Department, though at that time the Radicals were excluded from the project. His part its the Coalition was well conned before the eallhey's voice summoned him to the stage ; and his pretended hesitation could 'have been but a trick to save appearances. A -Titan of hetteftis should know how to take care 'of his reputation without the advice of friends. He proposestlo take office under Lord ABER , DERN, whom. he had hitherto opposed and distrusted, and to throw over the party which 'relied on .his fidelity ; and he was quite sa tisfied when Mr. MACAULAY assured him, "You " will incur a great responsibility if yon don't." His disinterestedness, we are told, is estab lished by his consenting to serve without office or salary. It is not true that Mr. DISRAELI ever accused him of sordid motives. Not an allusion of the kind was ever made—not a hint dropped which would justify such a construc tion. Ambition may be petty and mischievous, though not grovelling. Lord Jona Russzu. is greedy of power, not for its pelf, but for its distinction. We all know that he, " se a high-souled Minister of State, is Renowned for ruining Great Britain gratis." But his ambition must be of a strange kind if he can be satisfied with his present position. He serves under LordAszaDEEN without office, without usefulness, and without confidence, and manifests his patriotism by helping to keep together an incapable Ministry which has no other title to continuance than that it has involved us in a great continental war, on the policy and the conduct of which its coun cils are divided. INDIAN SCANDALS. IT is not without serious misgivings that we read from time to time in the accounts from India of occurrences which are symptomatic of the existerree of widely-spread corruption in Anglo-Indian society. The Batoda scandals are fresh in public recollection, whilst only a few months ago a young official was dismissed !br endeavouring to secure promotion by the offbr of a bribe of 3001. By the last mail we bear that the colonel of a regiment has been cashiered, and that five of his officers are under trial on charges which, if proved, will involve the fbrfeiture of their commissions. 'the -nbay army is to " tried 4. brother t One officer of the Bombay army is to be tried for• stealing a ring from a brother officer at R mess ; and an ex-" political " is a defaulter THE pn D , amount of 130,0001. If so much cor- -,, ...•44i ~. .••• t on is brought to light, how much more IC sit ..1 4 :.N siV - • - ;; ' • rk unseen? I k r . .0. 4 . ~ : . .:: - ••• r 1 - count for the low moral tone and the 11 , • ... 4 14 •,',. '. , ation of Indian society is easy. The ''' 6 - - . ''' 4 ' . :" Rr i ting climate produces lassitude, and ..... ~• 7, _ • 7 i,..._11 ‘4, „ , , t; F_ - f: ....to to luxury. The dominant race are i lh, ~„. " 4 . . number and widely scattered, and their n 4 f 11 ,1 *-- s • • ' • Oft are - uncontrolled, either by the dread ' I . * prying neighboutit or the authority of asp.- THE PRESS. riors. Love of luxury leads to profusion, Idleness to - debt. Debt once contract or, as official salaries are " Government present term aunt nosPhere Indict. One freedotta of ho out, are We, italie‘ principal caw" of the evil 1 we have a strong impr , e creditors of any legal rel debtors, when the latter are in the service of the Government, weled go fer to cure the existing state of things. It would be no hardship on officials, ford& India their salaries are sigh; And any regulations that may tend to elevate the cha racter of Anglo-Indiana is, at all evetta, *oral serious consideration. native usurers, skilful than lit iese gentle honestyrin SIR WILLIAM MOLESWORTH AND THE STATUES. IT is difficult to understand the principles of a " Philosophical Radical." Like the court lady in the days of the Monarch whose statue was lately carted from Leicester-square, he wears " oak-leaves and acorns on the 29th of " May, and orange and blue on the 4th of No " vember, because they both suit the corn " plexion." Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTFI'II pro posed protection of the statues might be regarded as a designed example of the school to which he belongs. Looking, even after his explanation, at the schedule of these memorials of past greatness which are to have the advantage of the pro tection of the Woods and Forests, we find, first, that the Minister, who, we might assume, would have joyfully undertaken the care of Sir Harry Vane or Andrew Marvell, or the much-misused Hobbes, proposes first to look after the statue of James 11. By that process of mental association peculiar to his school, Sir WILLIAM then passes to George Canning. He proposes to take that great man's statue into custody, probably because CANNING truly discerned the spirit of that Radicalism in wirieh Fin* n 1d Philoeophy was taught to scan, The Wrongs of Providence and Rights of Man. And with Canning he selects Charies 1., George 111., Charles IL, George II„ and Queen Anne. But the statues that are not to be taken care of—what of them? If George 11. is worthy a regard, why should the Duke of Cumberland be left helpless in Cavendish square ? Surely the Radical philosophy which approves of Dettingen cannot object to Cullo den ; and the taste that selects George 111. in Cockspur-street might be extended to William 111. in St. James's-square. To look after old Major Cartwright in Burton-crescent might, we admit, provoke disagreeable souvenirs of a time when the Whigs were talking of " heads " rolling in the dust ;" and as fur the Duke of Bedford in Russell-square, and George IL on the steeple of St. George's, Bloomsbury, the one may safely be left to the care of the public spirit which raised it, awl the other is pro bably high enough to be out of the reach of mischief. In some instances Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH has exhibited a commendable modesty. He has not proposed to take the charge of Pitt or Fox. His bill as regards those statues is eloquently silent. For his omission of another statue in such company, commemorating the open, manly, thoughtful countenance—the student's head and soldier's frame of one made by Nature a statesman and by necessity a leader—Sir WILLIAM is to be thanked. 'The statue of Lord George Bentinek will stand safely on its pedestal till the Administration is found not ashamed to recognise the worth of public honour and consistency. A CABINET OF CLERKS. A MINISTRY not associated with any fixed principles must by the mere force of things turn into a mere cabinet of clerks. When a Government in Olga eountry °eases to be re- SATURDAY, presentative, its moral power expires, and it can derive only precarious vitality from rely. ing on official routine. " All power, even the " most despotic,* says DAVID HuME, " rests " upon opinion ;" and a Ministry elaborately constituted for the avoidance of representing any pactieular sehtiesent, Uonservative, Whig, or Radical, can have wa solid political foun dation. Clerks eau register and correspond, but they cannot represent national feelings, or create political systems. Convictions under a free constitution spring from sympathies and moral associations, and not from the logic of the formalist, or from the austere arts of septuagenarian statesmanship. Lo r d Jogs RUSSELL rashly quoted " Mr. BURKE " this week, and gave rest to the shade of Lord SoNtEns, whom he did not disturb in his venerable dust. If he does not himself re collect where BURKE has described the condition of a Ministry like that of Lord ABERDEEN'S, he can consult " my Lord LANS " DOWNED' Or Mr. MACAULAY, for the source of the following grave words :—" It is a serious " thing this studied disunion in Government. " What must be the consequence where the " very distemper is made the basis of the " constitution, and the original weakness of " human nature is still fktrther enfeebled by " art and contrivance? It will make no dif " ference whether the constituent parts of " such an Administration are men of virtue, or " ability, or not. * * * All " men who take part in systems so con " strutted as to disable them from their duty " make themselves guilty of the present dis " traction, and future ruin they may bring on " their country." Under the Coalition system so described the ruling power for the time is suspended, and evils must be warded off by the vigilance and energy of a national opposition. ADULTERATION OF COFFEE. Loan TORRINGTON has given notice that he will present a petition from the merchants and planters of Ceylon, praying for the appointment of a com mittee to inquire into the laws which regulate and permit the adulteration of coffee with chicory. Coffee, which is the staple product of Ceylon, is sub ject to a duty of threepence per lb. on importation into England, and this, after deducting the cost of freight and insurance, amounts to 75 per cent. of its selling price. Chicory costs less than the amount of duty levied on coffee, and is, besides, exempt from taxation. Now, if retail tradesmen are permitted to adulterate a highly-taxed with a wholly untaxed article, mistaket will occasionally occur, and the spurious will be sold when the pure is asked for. The late Government altogether prohibited the sale of adulterated coffee, so that, if any admixture occurred then, it could scarcely be the result of acci dent, and thus fraud was easily detected. If the consumer liked chicory and coffee better than the latter alone, he bought them separately and mixed them himself. It surely does nut r e q uire argument to demonstrate the absurdity of permitting a trades man to have an impure article on his premises when the pure is often wanted. But there are some minds so constituted that, like the lady who told the clock by algebra and took her tea by stra ta g em, they would rather fail in their object than attain it by simple means. Amongst these is the present CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. His object is, we presume, to benefit the revenue, and secure to the consumer a genuine article. To accomplish this the Lords of the Treasury now permit, under certain regulations, retailers to sell as "an avowed substitute for conee a mixture which may consist of ninety -pine parts "of chicory and one of coffee." The duet regula tion is, that a label must be affixed to each packet stating what the contents are . How admirably this plan has answered its purpose is attested by the numerous convictions which have recently occurred for violations of the law. We do not see how offences can be avoided. n So long as it is lawful to sell adulterated coffee, even a honest tradesman may make mistakes, whils . t the dishonest tradesman will pursue a syst.eln. Amongst the thousands who purchase his spurious article how many will prosecute ? Not a sulhcieseth of fraud. e number to make the penalties inflicted. exceed profits of fraud. But tilers is another point involved 1 a gambling—both to toted soon increases, fi hi the asployis of np priles to the na re it ri usilrets more sk Lee iii the s,wer of thee ' actisat, SOO too often e eidately inst_ we ibis M* k i one pr ril we Mille ib, and )ression tillt to deprive emedies aglinsi their