The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-10 00:00:00

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Our latest telegrams from Paris intimate a
persistence in political pamphleteering, much of
which is now directed in a very hostile spirit

against England. A pamphlet affecting to de-
monstrate the absolute necessity of France having
the Rhine as its frontier,—that is, of robbing
Prussia of her Rhenish provinces,—has been
suppressed by the Government, as too plain-
spoken. But it, no doubt, only foreshadows
another of the " ideas" of Louis Napoleon.

THE case of PULLINGER, the cashier of the Union
Bank, is known to our readers, we take it for
granted, in all its details. It is a case of
embezzlement that is extraordinary, not from the
nature of the offence itself, which is one of only
too common occurrence in these times of loose
principles and extravagance, but from the enor-
mous amount of mons' y which the offender had
contrived to embezzle. To be able to abstract
and appropriate so large a sum as a quarter of a
million sterling, and to do so for a length of time
without detection, were certainly a criminal act
of 'no common order, and one which may well
occasion anxiety in monetary circles, and curiosity
in the public mind.

The delinquent is in the calendar of prisoners for
trial at the Central Criminal Court, whose session
commenced on Monday ; and the Recorder of the
City of London appears to have made some rather
strange remarks upon the case, in his charge to
the Grand Jury. " Nearly the whole of the
money stolen," the learned judge is reported to
have said, " according to the depositions, he had.
lost upon the Stock Exchange. Gambling of this
mulnr nnr ,-;*,.iimstances, calcu-
lated to produce mischief, but it appeared to him
to be an exceeding impropriety, to use the mildest
term, in any stockbroker to engage in any trans-
actions of this description for persons in the posi-
tion of Pullinger, except with the knowledge of
their employers." Now, this were surely not
only an odd exception for a judge to make, but a
very pernicious one also. If gambling of that
description be " under any circumstances calcu-
lated to produce mischief," why should the
employers of such persons as PULLINGER--that
is bankers—either be exonerated from its crimi-
nality themselves or allowed to exonerate those
they employ ? The world, it is true, is apt to be
indulgent of gambling when it is successful ; yet
" a gamester," says Lord BACON, " the greater
master he is in his art, the worse man he is

That is to say, it is an art which requires so
much craft, and cunning, and unscrupulousness
to be successfully practised, that just in propor-
tion as a man is clever at it must he befraudulent
and vicious. If, therefore, employers are them-

selves to set the example, or to sanction it in
those they employ, surely they, at any rate, can
have no reason to wonder or to complain that
embezzlement should result from it. Strictly

speaking, the dishonesty of epbezzlement is only

on a par, morally, with that of gambling.

Legally, of course, there is a marked difference—

and so there is in the judgment of the world.
But both under the moral and the divine law they

aro alike offences. "In moral actions," it has

been well observed, " divine law helpeth exceed-

ingly the law of reason to guide life." And of
the divine law which says " Thou shalt not steal,"

the fraud which robs another of his money,

whether by .gambling or by embezzlement, is to

all intents_ and purposes a breach. Stealing,
then,—aid ,oittitin: money from another dis.

the worst of it in the debate ; and it needed nr I
"surprise' to all but defeat them
'We are likely, :' 4uth a ease:
,
, • sc seem; to have logO,
, ,
iiied other*ise thrill on railway-a,
4ariiett haking obtained leave in the House
of Commons to introduce a bill for regUlating the
use of locoinotives on turnpike and other roads,
and the tolls to be levied on such locomotives,
and on the waggons and carriages drawn or
pelled by the same.

It met be satisfactory .to 4,11e-Lreltirexitid
friends of those,; tli in the Crimean war

and their naMe 'Sias ! is legion ; to have had. the.
assurance of the Foreign Secretary, in his place
in the liouie of Commons—in answer to the question'
of Lord Burghl4,4fiether, itt consequence of the
remonstrance Of Ir-r AinSesty), c.lo..:;„rnoTents any
promise "or tiecurity had bVeh. "given by' the Russian
Governtritht eilett the
~grave.S. of the Ofac.:l-s and
ineh of the British army who are, interred in the
Crimea shall be protected .and held- sapred• in
future--that the RUSsian -.06i-eminent :had been
appealed to on the subject, and declared already
thatthey had .every dasire 'protect the pares
Of British officers and Seri.. -

The at nts lately-received of serious distur,
banes having occurred, and even an armed con-
flict having arisen, between certain native tribe(6
in the province of Taranaki, in NeW 'Zealand,
•
through a disputed la'ndclkim connected with the
movenreiit in favour of a native king, would appear
•to have been at least exaggerated, lif not
unfounded ; the answer to an inquiry about it, in
the House of Commons, being to the effect, that it
was not true, that any disturbance had occurred
in New Zealand which could fairly be called an
armed collision--only a dispute had arisen,
. respecting: the_ settleMent land, which, there'
was every Yeitalii believe would be Settled
Withoit any appeal to arms.
The Morning Herald, discussing the sucCessfpL
progress of the Volunteer movement, remarks
with: great good feeling upon the " new and well-
deserved recognition found for the Volunteers in
the :shape of a Court :presentation, whieh the
.gentlemen themselves regarded as a formal.
acknowledgment by the 'Sovereign of their exist-
, ence, and of any services they might be called on
to perform,"—adding, that " if their expectations
concerning the ceremony were found to have been
in advance of the tonventionality which always
regulates these things, the circumstance, must be
taken as a proof of Volunteer enthusiasm and
inexperienee, rather than as indicating any slow
appreciation of their patriotism." This alludes
-to the claim adVanced for the officers to a recog-
nition of their Military rank and titled, the same
as in the regular army ; upon whiCh Our con-
"temporary further observes,—" We certainly think
• ,
that there is no necessity whatever for investing
Volunteer officers with military rank, although it
is easy to understand: why such a claim' is put
forward." But this is said in no spirit or dis-
paragement of them ; for it is followed tip by
the remark, that, "at the same time, the
Volunteers are justitiod in looking for a straight-
forward and liberal recognition of their services
from those who will be glad enough to make use
of them when the time of danger comes.. They
are ready to forego all spurious and ornamental
acknowledgments if they can only get the support
they require to carry on the movement. Let the
way be cleared for action, and let there be no petty
hindrances to a steady advance by way of testing
the perseverance of Englishmen, or indulging in
habits of patronage and self-impOrtance."

The Army and Navy
.Gazette„. noticing the
significant fact of the French Commission on
National Defences paying particula-r-atfenfion to
the fortification of the mouths of their.rivers; not
unreasonably asks, " From what side are they to
be assailed ? Is England going to make war
upon France, or do our neighbours apprehend
that they may be exposed to the visits of our
fleets, in a contest which must be forced upon
us The question is a puzzling one. But, at
all events, it appears the commission is under-
stood to have examined sites, and plaris, and
witnesses, relaiiVe to the subject ; whilst one
secret commission has been engaged principally
in considering questions connected with the
internal transport of, troops to the coast or
elsewhere., , •