The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-17 00:00:00

THE WEEK. THE settlement of the Neufchatel Question will be received with general satisfaction throughout Europe. The royalist prisoners have been unconditionally liberated, and the independence of Neufchatel will doubtless ultimately be secured. The amour propre of both Prussia and Switzerland has been adroitly saved, and all measures of hostile menace between the two countries may now be laid aside. The liberation of the prisoners was the point Prussia contended for, and it is gained ; the independence of Neufchatel is the object of the Federal Assembly, and it will be attained. The settlement of the question should be not the less satis factory to us that the sen timents of France and England upon the point were unanimous, and the friendly relations of the two countries, ,which recent events had temporarily cooled, have been cordially renewed. The views of the Governments of Austria and Russia were also en plein tratvord with France and England upon the question. A ridiculous suspicion of Russia still haunts the Ministerial press of this country. It can deceive no one. Every cause of real dispute between the two countries is settled. Orders have been given for the withdrawal from the Isle of Serpents of the few seamen landed, and the new frontier is now definitively marked out. There is no longer any cause for this affecta tion of suspicion to be carried on, for there is not even a radical faction to soothe. The latest news from China brings us no intelligence of the settle ment of the question in dispute. No further operations upon our part, with the exception of blowing up the Bogue Forts, had been carried out, but an American boat having been fired upon by Chinese soldiers, the Yankee commodore had taken the opportunity to exercise his crew in an afternoon's shell. The practice against the Barrier Forts (which by this would appear to have been remanned and armed by the Chinese), and then, taking a leaf from Admiral SEYMOUR'S book, to have written a despatch to Commissioner YEn demanding satis faction in twenty-four hours. The French squadron in those seas is also collecting, as letters from Canton anticipate extended operations against the Chinese. Admiral SEYMOUR it was reported had sent to Calcutta for troops, which Lord CANNING had declined to supply without instructions from home. From this it would appear that Sir JonN BOWRING was determined to prosecute hostilities upon an extended scale if he had the means, and so inevitably involve us in a war unsatisfactory and unjust. The injury done to trade by the continuance of hostilities in the Canton River is enormous. The question at one time appeared capable of easy and satisfactory solution. Incessant shellings of the tr tops and people, the burning of their town, and the blowing up of their river defences—an act of very wanton aggression only justified in time of actual war—is not the best means to overcome the national prejudices. Nothing is known of the Persian dispute, which, it is to be hoped, will be settled by mediation The arrival of Ferouk Khan at Paris, and the departure of General Annekof from Teheran to St. Petersburg, will probably bring about a friendly offer of mediation from our august ally, the Emperor of the FRENCH. Lord STANLEY, who presided at a meetin g of the Law Amendment Society this week, delivered his views at some length, and with his accustomed clearness, on the question of the best means of disposing of our convicts. It is a proof of the difficulties attending the subject that the Noble Lord was unable to suggest any plan which appeared to him satisfactory. He reviewed the places which had been suggested for transportation—North Australia, Hudson's Bay, and Vancouver's Island, and stated what he thought were insuperable objections. He did not allude to the Fa'kland Islands, which, so far as we know, are unobjec tionable in point of situation, and are not likely to receive any consi derable number of free settlers. To a mere prison abroad, or a rocky island for the confinement of our convicts, we are as strongly opposed as his Lordship can be ; we favour transportation, because, even under harsh conditions of soil and climate, a hope of ultimate pardon and independence may be held out to the transported felon which never could with safety be offered to him in this country, and because we think it presents the fairest chance of combining what should be the two great ends of all punishment—the security of society and the reformation of the criminal. The candidates for the office of Common-Sergeant for the City of London present such a variety of qualifications, that the electors may well be puzzled on whom to confer the office. Mr. BODKIN has great experience as a criminal lawyer, but he has now reached that period of life in which retirement from active business is usually supposed to be the most welcome prospect. Mr. THOMAS CHAMBERS represents a large and influential body, but we fear he has scarcely the experience, either as a criminal or municipal lawyer, which would render him an THE PRESS. SATURDAY, unexceptionable candidate. Sir WALTER RIDDELL is an amiable man and a gentleman, with whose political views we may naturally be supposed to sympathise, and if the electors shall think proper to elect him as their Common-Sergeant, they will perhaps have no reason to complain. It is, however, worth notice, that the Common-Sergeant's oath has no reference to his judicial duties at the Old Bailey, but pointedly alludes to the franchises of the City which it is his duty to protect, and on which he has to give counsel. Mr. PULLING, the fourth candidate, with less experience of work than Mr. BODKIN, has nevertheless considerable familiarity with the charter, rights, and privileges of the Corporation, to which none of the other candidates have paid any special attention. Mr. PuLLING's work on the " Laws and Customs of London,"—which was written we believe while he was quite a young man, if not while a pupil in chambers—is still the standard authority on the subject of which it treats. It is a singular fact that the present is the only contested election for Common-Ser geant since Lord DENMAN was chosen soon after the trial of Queen CAROLINE. " Honour among thieves" is a curious text for a judge to deliver a homily on from the bench. In his address to PIERCE, Baron MARTIN dwelt more on his faithlessness to his fellow-scoundrels, than on his offence against society. His pity for the woman AGAR lived with, went so far that he cast about in his mind how he could restore to her the plunder Agar had accumulated by his life of crime. " Harlot, you may " call her if you please," exclaimed the Learned Judge in a burst of maudlin sympathy, " but I would sooner have been concerned in the " gold robbery than in stealing from her." All we know of the wretched creature is derived from her own admission. She was accustomed when living with AGAR to be brought home drunk in a wheelbarrow. To read the charge of the Learned Baron one would really think that PIERCE was on his trial for treachery to his pals, and not for the gold robbery. This part of the address might better have proceeded from the president of some thieving confederacy, delivering sentence on a treacherous comrade from the top of a gin -cask, than from a reverend judge seated on the bench of the Old Bailey. The old proverb says,— " When thieves fall out, honest men come by their own." The moral of Mr. Baron MARTIN'S address is,—" Thieves, don't fall out ; stick to each other, as a certain Lord of the Admiralty would say, like bricks. If you rob society, well, well,—you may be found out, that's all ; but if you rob each other, you are the greatest villains unhung." The ticket-of-leave men, garotters, and scoundrels of all kinds who infest society are quite sharp enough to appreciate the force of the Learned Baron's hints and to profit by them. Who can tell how many of their number joined in that burst of applause which hailed the Learned Baron's denunciation of PIERCE'S perfidy, making the dingy court ring joyously, and recalling days of Dick Turpin and Sixteen-stringed Jack, when crime and chivalry went hand-in-hand, and Old Bailey trials had, as our French friends would say, a more riant aspect than they have worn until this incident occurred to brighten them up a little. The movement against the Income Tax continues to extend. Most of the principal towns in the kingdom have met to protest against it, and Sir JOHN PAKINOTON has added his weighty opinion against a continuance of the war 9d. to the d( clara.tions of Admiral BERKELEY and other Ministerial speakers. The whole question will be found discussed at great length in our other columns. As figures are tough mental food not easy of digestion, we sum up the results The Peace Expenditure for eleven years from 1843 to 1854 averaged something under 51,000,0001.. including 16,000,000 E for the army and navy, which was an addition of four millions and a half to the lowest point of expenditure for those services reached in 1835, when the esti mates were only 11,657,0001 Allowing about 17,000,0001 for army and navy in future, and 2,500,000/. for interest on the recent loans, ani for a sinking fund to clear them off, our total expenditure may rise to 54,000,000 E, but ought not to exceed that amount. As to revenue, Sir G. C. LEWIS, on the 19th of May last, estimated the net revenue for the 'ear which will end 31st of March next at 67,160,000/ As the returns have been better than he expected, the revenue will probably be about 68,000,000/. The Income Tax of 16d. in the pound yields just 16,000,000/. By reducing the war 9d. there will be a loss of 9,000,000/. and the available revenue will be 59,000,0001. Something like fivo millions may by our estimate be still available for reduction of taxa tion. We suppose all the liabilities of the war will be cleared up by the large revenue of the current year, and by the loans raised, more especially as the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER took a margin of 2,000,0001. for contingent expenses, and there have been large sales of stores accumulated for a continuance of the war, and never wanted. The great question then is, whether the probable surplus after the re duction of the Income Tax to 7d. shall be mainly applied to extinguish the tax altogether, or shall be employed to reduce the tea duties. This is the point for the public to decide, and they ought now to speak. By repealing the Income TAX altogether, a great impetus would be given to industry. Capital would seek new channels for em ployment Production, both in agriculture and manufactures, would be stimulated with the usual results of cheapness and plenty, and the fruits of economy would be stored in savings banks, or grow up into