The Press. — London, England, 1857-02-21 00:00:00

r, % 178 will be at liberty to take into consideration any wishes of the people that are not antagonistic to it. Hia Imperial Highness may, should he deem it advisable, give employment to per.ons who, though disloyal during the revolution, have since behaved well. The violence of the tone of the articles in the official journals of Milan and Turin continues un abated, and calls for the interference of the Western rowers. Count Buol, it is even said, has addressed an extremely sharp note to the Court of Turin upon the abuse against Austria permitted in the Turin journals. A quarrel, between an Austrian officer and a M. Bianchi, at Mantua, had resulted in the death of the latter, who was attacked and overpowed by several Austrian officers. The event had caused a great E on sation. TURKEY AND THE PRINCIPALITIES. The firman for the convocation of the Divans ad hoc in the Principalities was expected to be pub lished immediately in the journals of Jassy and Bucharest, after which the electoral list would be formed, and the elections commence at the begin ning of March. Two English line-of-battle ships were to quit the Bosphorus on the 9th for Malta, but it was not ex p cted that the remainder of the squadron would I:ave before the evacuation of the Principalities by Vie Austrian troops. The Turks have taken peaceable possession of the fort of Sulina, which commands the entrance to the Danube. The fort was officially handed over by the Russian authorities to the Turkish Commissioner, Omer Bey, on the 4th inst. Letters from Trebizond state that Russian troops have lauded at Anapa, at Soukhum-Kaleh, and at Gelendschik ; and that the Russian commander•in• chief, Prince Bariatinsky, is making preparations to carry on the war most energetically against the Cir cassians, under the command of Sefer Pacha, as early as possible. On the Bth of February an envoy from Schamyl arrived at Constantinople. PRUSSIA AND NEUFCHATEL. Letters from Berlin state that no arrangement— not even a provisional one—has been entered into for the settlement of the Neufchatel question. The Zeit has the following : We learn that the French Imperial Cabinet has, through it agents at Berlin, Loudon, SL Petersburg, and Vienna, issued invitations to a conference for the definite settle- meat of the question of Neufchatel—the other Cabinets having admitted that, although the protocol of Bth May, 1851., was signed at London, the city of Paris, nu account of its geographical position, and the negotiations held there during the late phases of the question, ought to be considered as the fittest plaice for the meeting. The posers interested are invited to send their represents. tires to Paris as soon as possible with the necessary into ructions. Other accounts state that at the opening of the Conferences Prussia will bring forward a proposition for the settlement of the dispute. RUSSIA AND PERSIA. The ratifications of a treaty signed between Russia and Persia on the sth of January last are said to have been exchanged at Teheran on the 18th of the same month. This treaty is said to cede to Russia a tract of land on the frontiers of Turkey. This tract is situate between Ilayazid anti Nakhsbivan. This new possession will give Russia a complete command of the strategic road from Trebizond on the Black Sea to the Persian frontier by Erzeroum. It is asserted that orders were immediately sent from St. Petersburg to construct a line of fortresses on the territory lately ceded. A report from the Russian Minister of War de clares that the truce concluded with Schamyl during the Eastern war expired in the month of May, 1556, and that operations against that leader have been begun along the whole line of the Caucasus. Le Hord formally contradicts the statement in the Morning Post this week announcing the approaching visit of the Emperor Alexander to Paris. The Imperial ukase conceding the formation of railways in Russia has appeared. The most remark able feature in the ukase is the acknowledgment of the superiority of private enterprise over State exe cution of such vast works. AMERICA. Intelligence from New York to the 7th inst. brings little news of importance. The Submarine Telegraph Bill bad not then passed the house. Walker was strongly intrencbed at Rivas, and on the whole his position was not quite so desperate as is generally supposed. His communications with California were still open. The Costa Ricans had made no attempt upon San Juan. The invasion of Tampioo by Garcia is confirmed. THE PRESS. Crud at lastion. Her Majesty the Queen and Royal Family continue at Buckingham Palace. Sir James and Lady Graham have arrived in town for the season. Colonel Biddulph and the Hon. Miss Seymour were married on Monday last. Her Majesty the Queen was present at the ceremony. Lord Brougham left town on Wednesday for his seat near Cannes, in the south of France, where he proposes to remain until after the Easter recess. His lordship is in excellent health, and is only anxious to avoid the cold winds of this and the fol lowing month. Valittral. CABINET COUNCILS were held on Saturday' and Wednesday afternoons last, at the orncial residence of the First Lord of the Treasury in Downing street. Present—Viscount Palmerston, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of Harrowby, Sir George Grey, the Earl of Claren don, Mr. Secretary Labouchere, Lord Panmure, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. R. Vernon Smith, Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Right Hon. 31. T. Baines, and the Duke of Argyll. THE PROPOSED RETENTION OF THE WAR DUTIES ON TEA AND SUGAR gave rise to an influential meet ing on Monday last of importers and dealers in tea. Mr. MOFFATT, M.P., presided, and in opening the proceedings of the evening alluded to the imposition of the war duty on tea as having been imposed on the distinct understanding—in fact, upon a pledge by the Government—that, with the cessation of the war, the war duty on tea should cease also : This was contirmei subsequently by communications with the Government. and the trade had since based most extensive transactions upon the faith of this arrange ment ; and now they found, to their artonishment, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had come forward with a proposition in direct opposition both to the pledge of Government and the itzt of Parliament, and which would deprive the trade, the country, and the revenue of the advantages which would otherwise result from the in• creased consumption. Mr. GIII.MAN, in moving the first resolution, condemning the proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:— Some time ago the trade had taken steps to ascertain the feeling of the Government upon the expiration of the war duty on tea, in consequence of some difference of opinion among themselves on the point, and he held in his hand a letter which the Government bad sent in reply to one asking them at what period the reduction from Is. thl. to 18.3 d. would take place. The letter was written to the Commissioners of Customs, and the answer was as follows : Sir,-1 am directed by her Majesty's Commissioners of Cus toms to acquaint you, in reply to your communication of the 11th inst.. that the reduction iu the duty on tea from Is. 9d. to Is. 3d. will take place on the Bth of April, 1857. After such a letter, and sifter the pledges given by Go• vernment, what reliance could be placed on any pledge given by the Government if faith was to be broken with them now? Mr. Aldermann SIDNEY, in support of the resolu tion, said there was an impression on the part of tha press that, according to the plan of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, there was to he a reduction of 2.1. per pound on the sth of April, but that was not so ; on the contrary, there would be an increase of fourpence on the duty which would be payable under the existing law. That duty would be only Is. :id., whereas by the Chancellor's proposition it would be Is. 71. He was at a loss to know how the statement of the Chancellor of ti.e Exchequer would be received by the House of Commons, but he thought the emintry would be both surprised and disappointed to find the estimates ex ceeding in amount those of the year previous to the war by twelve and a half millions. Other resolutions were proposed, and a committee at once appointed, who proceeded direct to havo an interview with the Chancellor. On Tuesday the meeting reassembled, when Mr. Moffat, M.P., stated that at their interview with the Chancellor Sir George Lewis stated that it was impossible for him in the present condition of the finances of the couotry to adopt the duties of 11433 as a standard. A resolution was then passed reprobating this departure from the act fixing the duty on tea at Is. 3d. per lb. for the ensuing year, and a petition to Parliament adopted. A TEA-DrriEs MEETING was held in Edinburgh on Monday, when resolutions were unanimously passed that the proposed interference with the reduc tion of the tea duty was a breach of public faith, tending to unsettle all confidence in any commercial legislation whatever; that whilst thus protesting against any further interference with a trade already SATURDAY, tampered with repeatedly within the last few years, in the event of the proposed postponement of the duty to Is. being carried out, it should be by two changes—one just now, and one in 18n0—instead of four, one every year, as proposed by Government, on account of the excessive inconvenience caused year after year, both to the trade and to the Customs. These resolutions were communicated by telegraph to the members for the city, and to Mr. Gladstone. THE WARS WITII PERSIA AND CHINA were discussed at an important public meeting at Ross, held in the Town-hall, on Monday evening. The meeting was fully attended, and was addressed by several gentle men, who protested strongly against our aggressive policy in the East, with reference particularly to Bushire and Canton. A petition to Parliament against these proceedings was unanimously adopted. A public meeting was held on Thursday at Bristol to petition Parliament against the Persian and Chinese wars. The chair was taken by Robert Charieton, Esq. A resolution, proposed by the Rev. Mr. O'Neil, was unanimously adopted, expressing deep regret at the bombardment of Canton by the British fleet under Admiral Seymour, " no sufficient cause having been shown for such an extreme measure, so repugnant to Christianity, and calculated to bring dishonour to the British name." The resolution also declared that they viewed with sorrow the expe dition against Persia as an aggression, without suffi. cient reason, on the territones of a weak Govern ment, and which, if persevered in, might lead to serious complications wish other powers. The meeting also protested against the terrible power of declaring war or of entering on hostilities being intrusted to any subordinate official, such power being, by the British constitution, vested in her Majesty alone. 4ittrovolitan. ANOTHER MEETING OF THE UNEMPLOYED POOR was held at Smithfield on Tuesday, when Mr. Ernest Jones availed himself of the opportunity to tell the people "how to obtain relief, and how to become independent of it very boon." Starting with the assumption that the labour market was over stocked, the cry of the people was—" Where shall we go ? What shall we do to live ?" He would tell them. They had not yet taken one step to better their condition. Emigration, workhouse relief, and a national subscription had been recommended to them ; but emigration was impracticable, workhouse relief was insulting and degrading, while a subscrip tion was in its nature only temporary, and what they required was some permanent remedy for the evils they were enduring. The only good thing recom mended to them by the " Association" which had undertaken to advise them was the cultivation of the waste lands of England, and that was a plan he him self suggested ten years ago. There were 30,000,000 acres of land in this country which had never felt the touch of plough or spade, 20,000,000 of which were good average land and capable of tillage. But how were they to obtain possession of it? They were advised to petition Parliament, but Parliamert con sisted of the very men who owned the land, and whose interest it was that no more acres should be brought into cuitivation ; for that would cheapen food, and cheap food would reduce rents, and the land owners needed high rents to pay the fixed charges on their property, nearly all of which was heavily burdened with mortgages and other charges. What, then, were they to do ? They must obtain a Parliament of their own, and that could only be achieved by universal suffrage. Let them rally, then, around him, and go for the People's Charter. He would lead them. When they had once obtained par liamentary power his plan would be to create out of the unemployed 1,000,000 independent farmers by settling them on the waste land. These farmers, so created, would require cottages and clothing, and thus would be absorbed the labour of all the bricklayers, the masons, the carpen ters, the shoemakers, the tailors, and other trades who were now raising the cry, " IVhere shall we go ? What shall we do to live?" Agitation hal obtained for the middle classes a reduction of the income tax; let the working classes weld themselves together, and then Par• liament would see what millions of stout hearts, led by honest and intelligent minds, could achieve. Mr. Jones continued this mode of address for up wards of an hour, and in the course of it he on two or three occasions called for a show of hands in con • firmation of the doctrines he was endeavouring to inculcate. He declared his present object, to be to warn the Government and the Parliament. If they conceded the waste lands to the working classes he would retire into private life, and all agitation should cease ; but if they disregarded the just claims of the suffering millions, then he would come forward and aid in the formation of a mighty political organisa tion, whose demands neither Parliament nor Govern ment would be able to resist.—At the close of his speech Mr. Jones hurriedly retired, and the people quietly dispersed. MR. PARNELL, an outdoor district surgeon of Marylebone Workhouse, has been dismissed from his dace by the Board of Guardians for grass *malty to 11