The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-14 00:00:00

eliJ ht • erprgOls•

MAILS
The West India Mails, excluding Bermuda, Nassau, lianmaN
ii.dury. New °ensue, Vert Crua, Tampico, and Porto Rico, end
including thou for Madeira, Jaanel, Csithagena, Santa Martha,
(tapes, Panama, West Coat of South America, and St. Juan-de.
Nlearstrua, will be made up en the morning of the 17th February.
The wads for Vigo, Duero°, Idston, Madeira, Cadiz, and dithealtar
will be made up OD the morning of the 17th February.
The overland mails for Oibraltar, Malta„tireece, the lonian bans&
Pay pt, Aden, Ceylon, Indis, Ilona- ROM, and Chios, via Southampton
sill be made up ea the morning of the 20th Fehr .
The mails for New South Waleg, Von Lbenten's , sad New
Zealand will be made up on the evesing of the 24th February.
The overland cloned malls, ma Marsedies, to the Mediterr
oaneen,
Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, Iteng Kong, &h., will be made up n the
evening of the 24th February.
The mails for British North eateries, Bermuda, and the Vailerl
states. wilt be made up ou the evening of the 23th February.
The nails for the Wost Coast of Africa =I Madeira will be made
ap on the evening of the 29th February.
The main for the Bralits, the River Plate, Monte
made Video,
boot Mattis Mathis Mddeire, and LUMP* Ayres, Twill be up on the
evening of the 4th Match.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
THE number of S LAMPS issued to the DAILY NEWS
by the authorities of the Stanip-oftlee, during the year 1847,

va&
From Los. 1, to DEC. 31, 3,447,009
This, we believe, is within eight per cent. of the number
issued to the Morning Herald, Morning Chronicle, and
Morning Post, ALL PUT TOGETHEE.

In adaition to the above, issued to the DAILY NEWS,
MornXPRESSina Paper, there were issued for the Errning Edition,
TEE E,
From JAN. 1, to Dee. 31 778,714
Which was mop., we believe, than were issued either to the
Globe or Standard, Evening Papen.

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be at lb& taw, lioneeleeeeeb, be Tee efelset ea a• am, of pubac•tion.

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Tan 149-11•9•499. VS wk. past 9 . Aftennos. 9119. pa. In.
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LONDON, MONDAY, FEB. 14.
THERE is a tide in political principles: they are
never stationary. They are always on the flow or
ebb, advancing or receding, and things and men
who float upon the surface will always be borne one
way or the other. In our days the public make and
direct the current. The government and its officials
float with it—anchoring at times, perhaps, or now
and then taking advantage of a strong breeze to stem
the tide, but, in the main, contented to guide their
course in the direction and in the ideas which prevail.
In nothing is this more fully exemplified than in
the question of economy, and in the rival claims of
expenditure or retrenchment. The efforts of Josern
HUME some twenty years ago set the public clamorous
and determined for retrenchment. The spirit soon
became influential in parliament and on politicians.
Tory vied with whig in the grand virtue of the day,
retrenchment. A minister was willing to be judged by
the taxes he repealed, and the expenses he cancelled.
And the great work was done in many instanoes
more theatrically than sincerely, more for momentary
show than for permanence and use. At all events
government and even its subordinates fell into the
prevailing idea, and the result was seen in yearly
diminishing expenditure.
It is remarkable how this impetus lasted for years
after the contrary principle of war expenditure and
panic had set in to counteract it. Never were
European politics more troubled or the prospects of
peace more uncertain than in 1831 and 1832, and yet
we find the diminution of military expenditure con-
tinue, till it reached its lowest point in 1833. From
that epoch the twin ideas of reform and retrenchment
began to wane in their influence. The radical partywhich
had set both in motion began then to feel disappointed,
and to relax in many of their efforts, and the
national-rivalrvePirit has more or less prevailed since ;
government and officials have of course fallen into it,
and with or without increased cause of alarm, one
year's estimate always exceeds the last, as if by a
natural growth or progression. This might have
been intelligible and pardonable in 1841; but really
at the present day to find the military budgets of
France contrasted with our own, and marked by a
decrease, while ours is still on the increase, shows
that it is for public opinion to declare itself and cor-
rect this tendency, which nothing else will stop.
Tho feelers, however, put forth by the disclosures of
the Duke of WELLINGTON'S letter, and Sir JOHN
BURGOYNE'S anxieties, have awakened the slumber-
ing partisans of retrenchment, and, encouraged by the
sentiment of every popular meeting called on the
subject, liberal members of parliament have gathered
to Nt'estminster with the determination to prevent
Messrs. PIGOU and Co. from squeezing more
thousands out of the budget. The views and
purposes of these gentlemen ace moderate and
tolerant. Instead of demanding instant re-
duction, they merely declare that the military expen-
diture of 1847 is fully as much, if not more, than the
elative state of Europe and of England require, and
that the maximum of 17,000,0001. shall not be ex-
ceeded. What, then, was the general astonishment
to find that it had been already exceeded ; that the
estimate of 1847 was surpassed by nearly two millions
of unvoted expenditure ; and that army, navy, and
ordnance had been stealing a march upon the country,
and taking, the army nearly a million more, and the
navy nearly half a million more, than was allotted to
them or than they demanded? And, we believe, that
the recent expenses at the Cape and at New Zealand
are not included in this return.
This aggravates much the enormous grievance of
the growth of military expenditure. If, in a year in
which the sole demands on our military and naval
establishments were a few skirmishes with
naked savages at the Cape of Good Hope
and New Zealand, and the necessity of sending the
squadron of evolution to anchor in the Tagus, instead
of careering in the channel—if such efforts as these
ate to cost the country two extra millions—if
army and navy, instead of sufficing tor common
perils and contingencies, require thousands extra
for every move of a limb and exertion of
a muscle, why, then, our military establish-
ments are really but pumps to drain money from the
treasury, instead of being ready reservoirs of strength
to obviate the expense of hurried and extemporised
efforts.
We have merely the navy estimates before us,l
and therefore shall postpone remarks on the very
serious subject of these extra millions. But the
gradual increase of military expenditure since
1833, as sanctioned by legislative votes, is of itself
a more serious subject of consideration ; all.i ndeed,
proving that parliament has given the impulse,
and that it has of course been acted upon with
alacrity. The tabular statement of augmentation of
military expenses for several years, which we pub-
lished on Saturday, is pregnant with suggestion.
From 1833 to 1848 we have nearly doubled our ex-
penditure. For, it will be remembered, that during
the increase of the later estimates, the non-effective
service of the three departments has been diminish-
ing, and costs now one million and a half less than
when Sir HENRY PARNELL wrote his book in 1830.
This million and a half, instead of being saved, has
been silently added to the cost of the effective
service.