The Press. — London, England, 1854-10-14 00:00:00

2) , Feee gge." z t rt No. 76.—VoL. LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14,1854. PRICE SIXPENCE. pess. leading, and perhaps for that reason was em ployed. A nation may wisely take up arms to anticipate necessity and avert danger while it is yet at a distance, and may continue to wield them after the original cause of quarrel has disappeared to establish peace on a firmer footing, by destroying the elements which threatened its stability. Let the Russian Cabi net propose a return to the status quo ante to morrow, and on the ground of necessity it would not be possible to resist the proposal. But statesmen have to consider not what is merely necessary, but what is just and politic and it is contrary to common sense to suppose that all the sacrifices of war are to count for nothing, and that the ambition which provokes its wholesale slaughter, and its incalculable misery, is to pay no penalty for its crimes. This peace oration will doubtless afford as much consolation to the Emperor NICHOLAS as he is capable of receiving under his re verses. It gives an impression, with its accompanying plaudits, that England is already seeking a way of escape from the war, and that under no circumstances will our people have the spirit to maintain a protracted struggle. To this hope the Emperor NICHOLAS clings with as " desperate tenacity " as the Premier tells us he clung to the hope of peace, when he stood alone in entertaining it. Be the fortune of war what it may, Lord ABER DEEN is ready to sue hat in hand for peace, as a beggar solicits an alms. We may destroy Sebastopol, batter down Cronstadt, take the strongholds of Russia, one by one, until her coasts on the Baltic and the Euxine are utterly defenceless, sink her fleets, and scatter her armies, but she is still immeasurably superior to us while we anxiously solicit the peace she haughtily refuses. She is Rome, which raised her terms with every defeat; and we, repre sented by our Premier, a suppliant people, trem bling at our successes, as throwing new obsta cles in the way of the pacification we humbly entreat. revenue returns, to ascertain what is the posi tion of our finances to meet the strain which will be put upon them. It is Mr. ClLknerross's boast that under his management of the Exchequer the revenue of the year shall be made to pay its charges. The principle is good, but is it practicable? Certainly it will require a much abler financier than he has yet proved himself to carry it out. LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1864. The revenue returns to the 10th of October are before the public in their " improved" shape. The improvement consists princi pally in giving the increase and decrease on the six months of the financial year which have yet expired: the figures are accept able, but it is obvious that any person with very little trouble might obtain them fur himself. We have added in our tables to the completeness of the return by giving the total amount of receipts for the six months. and our readers will now see at a glance the difference in amount between six months of peace revenue in 1853 and six months of war revenue in 1854, with the largely-augmented taxes imposed by Mr. GLADITONZ to cover the expenses of our armaments. The actual increase on the six months of 1854 over the corresponding period in 1858 id 77,8971. The increase on the ordinary re venue is more, but the sum named is the whole increase brought into the Exchequer. In the last of Mr. GLADSTONIS financial ex positions, on the 9th of August last, he stated that the increased expenditure caused by the war between sth April and 29th July, a period of about sixteen weeks, was, as nearly as he could estimate, 3,500,0001. At this rate the augmented expenditure to the 10th October would be something like six millions sterling, and to meet this requirement there has been received into the Exchequer 77,8971. It may be said that the additional taxes have not yet all come into full operation. Probably not. A due proportion of the increased malt tax, however, has certainly been received, as the augmentation took effect immediately on the resolution passing the House; and the item of " property tax ' in the return shows that the addition has had some effect, as the increase on the six months is 854,0001. But. with these additions, the result is as we have stated. To the date of this revenue return our income has been stationary, while our expen diture has increased to the extent of 12,000,0001. per annum. And in this way does Mr. GLAD sToNs purpose in time of war to make " both ends meet." _ _ To talk of peace just now is the very worst means of obtaining it. Great nations, opposed to each other, can no more wage short wars than little ones. Ultimate success may de pend on persistence even more than on force and despotic powers have this great advantage over free communities, that they are less liable to change of mood. Lord ABERDEEN has managed to commit us to a contest from which we cannot escape, and by the same wretched policy he is now doing his best to extend and perpetuate it. His war will, in all probability, long outlast his life. The settle ment of Europe is broken up, and we are in the dark as to the changes and combinations which protracted hostilities may produce. The trade and credit of Russia remain firm, and so long as they continue uninjured she cannot want resources to carry on tho war. For the commercial no less than for the political interests of the world, it was desirable that she should be a great power. But events have now come to that pass when, through a long vista of desperate warfare, we can look for peace at last only from such a degradation of her moral and material strength as must go far to destroy her influence in the councils of Europe, and leave but two first-rate Powers in the world. Trr E country is not likely to be deceived by Lord ABERDEEN'S babble about peace. He has chosen a wrong time for his homily. It is not at the moment when we are engaged in a desperate contest with a determined enemy that peace is to be thought of, or so much as named. The glorious but dearly-bought victory of the Alma should inspire other sentiments. The blood freely shed on that field was not poured out to gain peace alone, but to protect the rights of nations from outrage, and to secure the tranquillity of the world. Had peace been our only care, we need never have gone to war. We might have remained in a state of ignominious isolation, content that the danger did not directly menace ourselves. While the objects for which the war was undertaken are still distant,—while, so far from any disposi tion being shown to concede them, a resolution is manifested to carry on the contest to the last extremity,—it is weakness, or treachery, or cant to talk of peace ; and the burghers of Aberdeen must bear the shame of servilely applauding language which no other town in the kingdom would have listened to without contempt or indignation. Peace was possible before this strife began ; it is possible no longer. So long as the sword remained sheathed, Russia might have given way without positive humiliation. Her yield ing then might have been imputed to reason; it would now be imputed to fear. The point at issue is widely different from that at first raised. It has ceased to turn on the construc tion of treaties, or the right they gave Russia of interference in the internal affairs of Tur key. The question now is, whether she will renounce her traditional policy, and make an acknowledgment of error and defeat. Is so much to be expected from a single reverse? Her strength is not to be exhausted in one campaign, or her spirit broken by one disaster. The loss of the Crimea will be a severe blow to her pride, but is not likely to end the war. The youngest and most ambitious of European empires will not surrender at discretion through the loss of an outwork. It is unfortu nately the inevitable consequence of war that every act of it, until there is no longer power of resistance on one side or the other, tends to make terms of accommodation more diffi ctilt. We cannot tell bow much beating Russia will take until her Emperor confesses himself vanquished ; we suspect a great deal, and until he confession is made peace is impracticable. It might be fitting for a dozy Presbyterian preacher to moralise on " war becoming a " crime when it ceases to be a necessity," but such language from the lips of a Prime Minis ter challenges sc r uti n y. What is meant by ‘ ' necessity " in this case ? The peace gentle men assert that there is no necessity for war at all, and in one sense they are right. War is not necessary, as it is necessary for us to breathe, and eat, and sleep. The term is mis- THE NATIONAL FINANCES. In the view that the war will be long pro tracted, we look with some anxiety to the And how has he made them meet? Has he really dispensed with the necessity for a loan? In the lust quarter alone he has received 2,324,0001. on account of Exchequer Bonds, which of itself would go far to defray that war expenditure which was to be paid out of in. come. By this loan under a new name, by draining the Exchequer of the ample balance left him by his predecessor, and by resorting to the dangerous practice of issuing Deficiency Bills, Mr. Gijnevoix has contrived, and barely contrived, to meet the demands made on the Exchequer. But this system cannot last. It is necessary, not only for the credit of Government, but for the credit of the coun try at large, that the national finances should be in a sound state, and this cannot be alleged of them while so serious a deficiency exists. In the speech to which we have referred, Mr. GLardrroxs said that he expected the balances