The Express.
London, England, 1849-03-10 00:00:00

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ii I.' meant to relieve only the oozier' of led property,.
and the osiers of real property in maim anteing
bons like Manabeteer and Bradford, as well as in the
sericultat al districts. To IS et this, he pr poses to
take 6w or nix millions from the arcoute nun,
teyied by local rates, and tan‘fer it to the
ialeolidstel fund. The intent on of this is obvious.
Mr. Disasmi aid his patty. believe that the owners
of real property contribute to a mach largerpeopor-
ttos to the local rates than the mere occupiers and
omen of chattel property. They believe (and with
berm reams) that 'he owners of chattel property
eutribata (either in their capacity of consumers
inraigh the customs and excite, or by mt ans of the
lopes ty-taz which pree,es as heavily upon incomes
derived from labour as upon incomes pro erdiog (rem
ambled property) much more largely to the general
tante* of the country than the owners of reel pro-
ver. Ttey propose, therefore, to keep the aggre-
gate of local end general taxation at its present
Mout, but to diminish that portion of it to whisk
thiy think the owners of real property contribute
most, and increase that to which they know the
owners of chattel property contribu'a most. Is
plan Englisn, they sink by this re-distribution of
bution to lighten the burdens of the great land-
easels in the counties, and the noble propr e'ors at
viol* districts of the ine:ropolis, and to render the
Widens of the capitalist engaged in farming, mantas's-
tam, or trade mere heavy. The change which
Mr. Elleitsani proposes would increase the amount of
tams pad by the farmers as well as that paid by the
shopkeepers. It might relieve the landlords, but it
would do so at the expense of the tenant farmers and
*her clams of the community.
This would be the effect of the shifting of five tar
ix millions from the local rates to the consolidated
fond, even though the amount of the local rates were
thereby diminished. But there is good reason to
doubt whether local rates would ho reduced (if at all)
to the same extent that general taxation would ho
augmented by the transfer. Mr. Disitsau reminded
the Home of C. moons on Thursday what hey bun
the consequence of traneerrieg the expente of crimi-
sal prosecutions frcm the county rate to the
consolidated fund. " The county rates are in-
creased in amount notwithstanding that the
government have themselves undertaken the
expense of the criminal prosecutions." Might
Dot the same thing happen alter five or six
millions bad been transferred from the local rates to
the consolidated fund ? Might not the tenant
farmers and other industrial classes find their income
tax augmented, and the prices of the articles they
consume increased by heavier customs and excise
duties, land 'yet their local sates not in the least
diminished, if, indeed, they were not made heavier ?
Local taxation is too important a question to be
dismissed in a supplementary paragraph to an ex-
posure of the protectionist sham. But thus much
may bt said : local taxation is a subject that cannot
dealt with by parliament to any good purpose, an-
t tuy giving the We-911cm a real. ' der :Z. ..-'4',
its amount, to direct its appropriation, and to
control its expenditure. As far as the imperfect
data to which the pub'ic has amen enable as to
learn, the aggregate amount of taxes levied by local
agencies (or kcal purposes in the course of the year
is equal to the amount of general taxation expended
for purposes of government and not to pay the inte-
rest of the debt. In the year ended the with March,
1848, 7,976,0931. wu collected, and 8,017,486!. ex-
pended for poor-rates, parish, borough, and county
rates, in Engle/id and Wales alone. In 1846,
1,287.3291. was collected from tolls by the various
turnpike trusts in England and Wales. The muni-
cipal corporation., remodelled under the act 6 & 6
Id ill. IV.' c. 70, levied taxes in 1816 to the
amount of 989,7001. ; and the corporation of the City
of London to the amount of 642,8881. The annual
amount of church-rate is abut 600,000/. ; the metro-
politan police commissioners collected 437,4411, in
1848. The fees to justice clerk* in England and
Wales amounted in 1846 to 67,6881. The light-dues
in England and Wales average annually upwards of
162,0101. Here is a total of 1-cal Wee, imposed and
levitd by local agencies in England and Wales
alone, of 12,433,1391. And from this enumeration
many similar levies—u for example, under local
paving and lighting acts, &c.—are excluded for want
of information. And nine-tenths of this sum are
collected under warrant of the justices of the peace,
or officers appointed by them, and holding place
during their pleasure. The public has no voice in the
appropriation of the moneys collected; and for the most
part there is neither publication nor auditing of ac-
counts. There cannot but be ab ties and misappro-
priations in such a state of affairs; and it is not
likely that the ;ustices will have taxed their own
class more heavily than otters. Parliament can-
not, from its position and constitution, keep order ia
these matters so efficiently as local agencies; and if it
could, such additional duty would distract its Wen-
lion from the general business of the state, which is
sot over-well cared for as it is. The only mode of
reforming our local to:dim and expenditure is by
improving the division of districts for local adminis-
tration, and transferring the power of imposing local
tales and appropriating the proceeds from the present
Irresponsible administrators to local boards elected by
the ratepayers.
Our systems of local and general taxation are
Mealy in need of reform; but the exhibition of
Thursday evening hasitroved that the party of whose
views mid sentiments Mr. DISZAELI is the ellicial ex-
txxiiar. are not sincere in their professed wish to
reform either, and are not capable of refonnit g them
even if they had the inclination. The votes upon
Mr. Runes amendment and Mr. Disasztfa motion
will show who sincerely wish to alleviate and equit-
ably adjust the burden of taxation, and who merely
affect to do so in order to obtaia political power. For
every vote given on that occasion there will
come • day of reckoning on the hustisge. The
time has passed, or is quickly pulsing, when
manufacturer and agriculturist allowed them-
selves to be played off &pipet each other to setahligt
*monopoly of power and official emoluments in a
selfish oligarchy. The counties are awakening, and
the great towns are already awakened to more jest
views of personal interest and public honour. More pro-
found emotions and comprehensive views than carried
the reforms of 1831, are beginning to animate the
English public. A wiser economy in the expenditure
of public money; a more equitable adjustment of the
burden of public taxes; an organised system of local
self-government; an extension of the parlisment.gy
franchise, and redistribution of the electoral districts—
all these things are now demanded with an urgency
that cannot long be resisted. New leaden of public
opinion will be found to perform the task; or, even
should they not be forthcoming, we shall ere long see
Sir ROBERT PEEL and Lord Joni RIISSELL com-
peting for the honour of performing it, as they jockeyed
each other for leave to repeal the corn laws. As for
the DISRAELI section t'iey are too inconsiderable to
be taken into account.

THERE are three distinct phases or epochs in the
recent hint zry of Italy, which it is fair and necessary
to distinguish. Toe first is the period, during which
the Italians, aroused by the bidding of Pits IX ,
sudeavoured to restore or secure their own ooestitu-
tionsl liberties, and to wring them, if necessary, from
their reluctant sovereigns. The second period dated
from the freuzy which the tidings of the French
resAution created, and continued until the reaction
against democracy took place, and until the public
opinion of the middle c'neses, as well as the fortune
of wa-, turned ezn'net civic insurrectionist..
A cii enmstanne, whichfre cannot consider bat as un-
fortimate, led the government of th's country to send
a diplomatic agent to Rome. The inconvenience was
hag bit of not having an accredited envoy at
Iterat Several resolves, affecting the peace snd im
Eminent of Ireland, depended for their success on
lie Papa's approval. The Irish Colleges were one.
Wins brought into parliament for the establish-
Mat of diplomatic intercourse. And Lard MINI°
Was despatched, in tart to act as their new agent, in
part to to moderate political parties in the States
of the Church sa to allow the establishment of a car-
teln degree of peaceful liberty without provoking or
giving a pretext to Austrian intervention. It is
plain that up to February this could be the only
policy, the only aim, of any British minister.
In an evil hour, Lord Mixtro, at Rome, was soli-
cited
and won upon to extend his conciliatory efforts
from Rome to South Italy, and to praised to
effect a reconciliation between Naples end
Sicily. When lis lordship was asked, affairs
were in the second epoch, when royal power
wee at a discount, popular resistance formidable,
end an English envoy was chasm es best fitted to
Influence the Sicilians to moderation. It Is
bible that Lord Mirro would have suooeedsd had

the French revolution of February not come to turn
the heads not merely of Sicilians but of all the states-
men as well as of all p ople in Europe. In fact, it
wes for meny mnotts the opinion of sober and expe-
rienced diplomatists ttat Austria eculd no longer
hold a footing in Ita'y, and that come-
qu.ntly its ally, the Ki.ig of NAPLES,
d not hold his siscetdancy over Sicily. Austria
hervelf was willing to negotiate far the cession
lof the Milanese. The Kieg of NAPLES offered
lemma their own terms to the Sicilians. The error
of Lord PALIIIERSTON was, that he took the same
viewof Au& ism end Nespil tan prospects as theAus-
Arian and Neapolitan statesmen themselves, and
paid in consrquence more deference to the King of
SARDINIA and the provisional government of Sicily,
than subsequent events have warranted to be fartace-
lag and prudent.
The mistake might not have been so eeriest' to our
Minister of Foreign Affairs but for a powerful clique
that has got ter her and bezn very active in this and
other countries, being a kind of knot or committee
fur watching over the interests of the BOURBON
family. Louis PHILIPPE, we need not spy, is the
soul of this party : some members of parliament are
its associates or its instruments, and Lord PALSIER-
i STON is the great enemy spinet whom their efforts
are directed. _ . .

'Mere can be no doubt that our foreign minister
w a very imprudent and very wrong in a great many
of his acts with re spett t 3 Sicily and Naples. Re is
tacitly though manifestly accused by his foes of
having done all that he has dme chiefly ont of hatred
to the BOURBONS. We acquit Lord Paunawrote of
any such narrow feeling, and deem his errors and in-
tett r. nee ettrib .toble ealel,7 to bis belief that the ae-
on:dine. of Athtela ona zbulutlem in Italy was at
an end, and that it was both laudable and liberal to
administer to it a kick. _ _

For cur own part, we should not be sorry that our
Foreign Seer:tars should be made to feel that in
this he was advintarous and wrong, and that what-
ever may be the sympathies of this country its po-
licy cannot condescend to be anti-B.arbm or
enti-Hapsburg. But, on the other hand,
we should be sorry to be made blind
tools and accomplices in an °demist plot
to avenge the piques of Loris Pinurrs, or of the
King of NarLxs, or of Gee. Neiman against Lord
PALMERSTON. We Wily see that my . Dud
BROUGHAM is but the spokesman of his gcssip, the
ex-King of the FRENCH; and that Mr. BAKES is a
puppet, and a very awkward one, of which much
more knowing foreigners pull the striage and work
the wires.
To censure Lord PALMERSTON is one thing, and, if
' necessary, to establish non-intervention even in the
smallest matter, a desirable thing. But, if we sped-
flee our firtign minister, let it be to ho-est, open,
English sentiment and interests, and to honest Eng-
lish rivals, not to a foreign el'que, a hostile and a
tyrannical dynasty, and to its dupes nod instrumento.
... ..wan rt nas a came seiecuon in the press, and
in both houses of parlament.

NAPLES, FEB. 27.
I have just received letters and journals from ,
Palermo and Messina, which enable me to give you
part enlace of thepre sent state of the Sicilian question ,
here and in the islenPublic feeling has been mach
excited in Naples by the late discussion on Sicilian
affairs in the British parllamerst, which, coupled with
the refusal of the Chambers here to vote thanks to
Filangieri br his operations at Messina, has confirmed
the public mind on the claims of Sicily, and added to
the popularity of the Sicilian cause. All that we
know of the question here is, that Mr. Temple is in
continual correspondence with the Neapolitan cabinet
and that he still insists on the rights of the Sicilians,
and above all on a native army, which continues to
form the great difficulty of the Neapolitan cabinet.
On the other hand, nothing will content the King
(for it is a farce to speak of a responsible mitistry)
but that the island should be garrisoned by Neapoli-
tan troops, terms which would not be accepted by the
Sicilians, and for the following strong reasons : first,
because such a condition would be contrary to the
constitution of 1812; secondly, because they have no
faith in the King's honesty • and, thirdly, because the
army which would be placed over them is a force
which would, if they could, destroy their own
constitution. Whilst Mr. Temp'se continues firm in
his demand, M. Rayneval is evidently backing oat, or,
in other words, willing to give up the Sicilians to
the tender mercies of the king, his only object being
to retire with RR much credit and grace as possible
from the honourable position he once took. Such a
retrograde conduct is slid too to be directed by the
authorities at home, and it is more than whispered
that Admiral Hamlin, who agrees individually with
Mr. Temple, has rather exceeded his direction's. The
result of the various councils and correspondence be-
tween the diplomatists has been that Ir. Temple,
M. Reynod, snd the two admirela, went to visit the
King at Gaeta yesterday by the British steamer
Terrible, with a view to make a last effort at an
arrant moot, after which, if it should prove futile,
hoe dines will probably commence. lam convinced
that the King will not give way, and I am equally
sire that the Sicilians will not, and I question
whether they would accept any terms: so bitter is
the recollection of their post sufferings protracted
through a long series of years—so strong is the dis-
trust of promises and protestations, justified by
experience—end so enthusiastic is their patriotism
and confidence in their own resources. My advice,
from Paleetuo state that the reminder of the loan of
HOO,OOO ounces has been collected—it was to have
been paid in two instalments, but the people in-
Stead paid it in one, in some instances borrowing
money at the rite of 15 or 20 per cent. to m .ke
their payments good.
I now promed to give youths political events of the
chambers at Palermo as I find them deecrthei in
a recent Palermitan paper.
On Saturday, l'ith Feb., the new ministry pre.
seated themselves b. fore the Legislative Chamber.
The Prince of Butira (Scottie). Minister of Foreign
Affairs, read the following programme. It promises to
give a still strorger impulse to military preparations,
to place our finances on a solid basis, and to use every
effort to mute the permanent tranquillity of the inte-
rior:

Mr. President, honoured by the madam of the Presi-
dent of the Homrsment of the Kingdom 6 being elms to
sneered the dietingulahtd citizens who esteem this bench, we, ,
diffident of our powers, would most willingly have yielded
the place to others, who, equal to us in the love of our
sountry, would have surpassed us in talent and information.
But the urgent necessities of the country did not permit
that there should be any further delay, nor did the many
obstacles and difficulties of our present position onset us one
moment when we saw the' the country demanded of us such
• sacrifice, and that the venerable chief of the executive
power turnedtowarils us anxious and confiding. Hem, thee,
me aft girded for the arduous struggle, and preomed to show
it •6w words what will be the path we intend pursuing in
sandesting public affairs. As to our general policy, it is
sees intention to follow that which the Sicilian parliament
has repeatedly sanctioned, and which, for new thirteen
months and more, has been supported with a puseveranc•
without equal, by the exquisite genius and instinctive good
sense of this generous people. Yet such a policy does
not belong to this or that individual, but is
the policy of our evolution. It was inaugurated
by the general committee, and followed up by the ministry
of the 27th March, and by the other of the 18th August.
It consists in having faith, full and entire With, in our good
right, which it endeavour, to support by sway kind of rea-
rming and argument, thus awing it to be respected with-
out, and securing to it a complete triumph. To obtain, how-
ever, this most happy object, the strongest efforts must be
made to increase our armaments ; and the extraordinary
means which so spontaneously have been placid
at our disposal, enable us to make such 'Lets.
Our first anxiety, however, will be to maintain in
the army the highest order and discipline. The
state of our finances merits the most serious attention.
Nor is it in any way surprising, after so great a revolution,
thee' should be so great a dispropntion between the revenue
and the expenditure of the country. We keep ever pro-
met ban leo gentlemen, your decrees regarding the revi-
sion of Os seserants, and the presentation of the budget ;
aafl wo bet to Whom you that the new ministry, adopting
the ram** of the constitutional usages of France, and
;Zilaof lastawl, thinks it of advantage to the
rifervho individuals, and thong
of aparity, taken erilt =the parliament, or from
the MO functionaries of the mate, to assist it in
those most corapheated duties. The new ministry,
moreover, adopt the severest economy In the regulation
of every branch of the public sunk" and In the appropria-
tion of the money tithe paldis. Oar spook' and unwearied
NM will be directed to the malatonaam of public order and
security, which will depend Cu civil courage in the judges
sad liftman. The Mast ministry will Itlghl plies your
dowers, and will labour to execute them with the Wisest
&Una=
The President of the Chamber of Peers in answer
to the discourse of the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
the Prince Butira, expressed his most lively sense of
approbation of all the sentiments of the pro-

gramme.
The Palermitan papers speak in a tone of the nt-
most indignation of the statement of a London