The Express.
London, England, 1850-03-09 00:00:00

Vie erpregqi.

OUTGOING MAILS.
The Mall for Lisboa, Spain, and Gibraltar will be made
up on the 17th inst.
The Wen India Will., excluding Bermuda, Havannab,
Naar, Honduras, New Orleans, and Mexico, and including
*see for Madeira, St. Juan.ds-Nicaragua, New Granada,
Chill, and Pera,will be made up on the 17th inst.
The mails for Gibraltar, Malta, Greene, the lonian Islands,
Ccylca, India, and China, via Southampton, will
Egypt up on the morning North
March 20.
The mails for British North America and the United
States will be made up on the evening of the 22nd inst.
The mails aid Manilla, to the Mediterranean, Egypt,
Ce)lon, has, Hot,g-Kong, dm., will be made up on the
evening of the 24th inst.
The mails for Widths, the Brazils, and Bathes Ayres, will
be made up on the evening et April 4.

WOE WATTS AT untriox WOOL
Tun Dav—Xsulair.loll. SS= Anersoma. I 1 b. 113.
To-measow—Nonaw. If a. 0.....

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 9.

To estimate correctly the importance of the motion
made last night by Mr. COBDEN on going into corn-
mittee of supply, it must be viewed in connexion
with the motion which be made under similar cir-
cumstances last session. The second motion is a
further development of the plan of practical financial
tactics of which the first was only the initiatory step.
The complaint of excessive taxation is general
Agriculturists, merchants, and manufacturers, capi-
talists and those who live by labour, head workers
and hand workers, all concur in representing the con-
tributions they are called upon to make to the ex-
penditure of the state as excessive. Every man of
course feels his own burden more sensitively
than be does his neighbour's. Every man will
have the t.ix which presses moat severely
upon himself reduced or abolished first. Many point
to others who are, or appear to be, less burdened
than thereselver, and ask to have a portion of their
own taxation transferred to the comparatively ex-
empt. Others waiving each invidious personal com-
parisons, ask tor, the removal or alleviation of taxes
which are in reality class taxes, lea on that account
than because they impede the exertions cf productive
industry. To these multifarious and urgent appli-
cants government uniformly reply that they want
so much money for the state expenses; that it must
be raised by some means or other; and that it is im-
possible to persuade the general public to submit to
Increased burdens for the relief of a few. These
Fabian tactics have hitherto been successful; let U 9
now look at the gradual development of Mr. COBDEN'S
system of counter-tactics and their results.
He commenced by laying down the maxim, that
to enable parliament to reduce taxation, it must begin
by reducing expenditure. He went on to say that it
was not sufficient to show in the abstract that expen-
diture could be reduced; a positive definite amount
of actual expenditure for one year must be taken, in
order to show what had once sufficed, and then the
arguments of the friends of retrenchment must be
directed to prove that the some amount of expendi-
ture was amply adequate under existing circum-
stances. For this purpose he selected the expenditure
of 1835, and in his last year's motion undertook to
point out the various retrenchments by which the
average expenditure of current years might be brought
back to that standard.

The gain which has resulted from thus bringing
ministers to close quarters was made msnifest in the
course of last night's debate. The expenditure of
1848 was ten millions in excess of that of 1833. At
the commencement of list session ministers flatly
declared that any reduction of this excess was impos-
sible. But they soon found that the clear and prac-
tical point of view in which the question had been
placed rendered this growed untenable. They asked
and obtained leave to bring in reduced ectimates;
and the consequence has been that government in
1649 cost the country less by upwards of three
millions than in 1848. Nor has this downward
tendency of expense been arrested nt this point.
A further reduction of sate 700,0e01. on tl.e item of
I armaments elem.:, is proluis,d tor the pres.:=nt year.
Mr. COBDEN asked for a reelection of ten millions in
the annual outlay, and he has already got one:pt at
least four millions.

le accordingly returns to the charge, and by a
minute overhauling of the details of the national ac-
counts, undertakes to show that greater retrench-
ments may advantageously be made in the depart-
ments where they have been begun,_ and 'hat other
departments may with great benefit be subjected to
the same economising process. But he hes not
stopped here. In the outset of his speech he adverted
to the practice of bringing forward the estimates
in detail, before any general explanation has been
given of the whole amount that will be required for
the expenditure of the year, and of the ablity of the
nation at the time to bear such a burden. He ex-
posed the inaidious advantage taken by ministers of
this inverted order of proceedings, to pan theireri-
mates under pretence of asking votes of confidence.
And he intimated that in order to supply the want of
a preliminary statement on the part of the govern-
ment of the aggregate of its requirements, and of
the condition of national resources, he intends, year
after year, to raise a discussion on these points on the
first motion of the session for going into a
committee of supply. This is an important
advance in Mr. COBDEN'S plan for bringing
the financial discussions of the House of Commons
into a more tangible and business-like method. It
secures the public against perseverance in the practice
of stealing votes of detail till it is too late to talk of
any general retrenchment.
Tree speech of Mr. LABOLTIIERE, upon whom de-
volved the difficult task of meeting Nit COBDEN'S
assault, was even more than the reductions to which
we have alluded an illustration of the success ehich
has attended the tactics of the honourable member
for the West Riding. It was full of apologies and
fair promises for the future ; it was a special
pleading for delay, not a resolute opposiCon ;
it was an attempt to cover a retreat, to dis-
guise a conviction that defence was impossible.
Mr. LABOUCUERE was so much at a loss for argument
that ho was reduced to cavil at Mr. COBDEN'S state-
ment, that since 1833 the annual expenchture had
experienced successive additions, because for two
years it has undergone successive reductions. He
omitted to add that these reductions have been
most ungraciously and reluctantly made; and s far
from being able to deny that more might still be made,
he was obliged to hold out vague hopes of further
ret rer chment.

Mr. LABOUCDEIIE explained rather than defended
the successive additions which he confessed have been
made to our annual ontlny. Ho showed how
some of them have been owing to defen-
sive works, some to the creation of a
steam navy, some to grants for education,
and other purposes of public utility, formerly neg-
lected by government, and some to d4tress in Leland.
This was evading, not meeting, Mr. ColitieN's argu-
ments The expense incurred for fortifications and
the steam-navy was injudicious and profligately ex-
travagant. Under the head of education and other
admittedly useful innovations, the recurring to com-
missioners has unnecessarily enhanced the cost at
which these benefits have been attained, and climb
nished the practical responsibility of government.
And in addition to these considerations, it must be
borne in mind that in the old inherited items of ex-
pendi.ure—the pensions and annuities on the consoli-
dated fund, the 'thrift of the judges and ambassa-
dors &c.,—there is ample room for retrenchment;
while in the re-organisation as well as in the reduction
of our armaments, large economies may be elected.
We prefer dwelling at present upon these general
considerations, to entering upon any of the details of
economy which were touched upon in last night's
debate. The retrenchments already effccted by
ministers, and the deprecatory tone in which they
attempt to stave off the evil day of further redactions,
shows how much has been gained by the definite and
systematic character of Mr. COBDEN'S struggle to pro-
mote economy. The great moral of last night's exhi-
bition in the House of Commons is the importance—
' the necessity of adhering to this plan of action. The
advantage gained by the preliminary general dis-
cussion ought to be—and we have no doubt
will be—followed up by a sturdy and pertinacious
scrutiny, exposure, and resistance of every indefensi-
ble item of the estimates. And this labour, perse-
vered in year after year, cannot fail to bring our na-
tional system of finance to a more aatisfactory
condition. _ _

Already considerable reductions have ben effected,
and the possibility of much greater demonstrated.
Last night Mr. COBDEN more than hinted at the ne-
cessary connexion with these refirtus of a diminution

in the cost of collecting our taxes, and of an improved
administration of the national domains. Closely
allied to these improvements is that reform in the
system of national•sccount keeping, for which the
labours of Dr. BOWRING have laid a foundation.
Upon this basis is to be reared the superstructure of a
less ponderous system of taxation, characterised by a
more equable and equitable pressure. The opening
of the financial campaign is a good omen ; if the spirit
with which last night's debate was conducted be com-
bined with perseverance, and directed to each minute
detail of the estimates in SUMO. 'goo, the result of the
present session will contrast favourably with that of
its predecessors through a long series of years.

THERE never certainly was put together a more
astounding string of untruth, than the Times has
made a column of upon the ballot.

The boast of English life was, that we were the
most independently organised society on the face of
the earth ; and for this very reason did we surplas
every cation on the face of 'he earth in freedom, mo-
rality, wealth, courage, and science. The truth of
English life is, that we are now a more dependently
organised society than any yet broken loose from the
tzanamels of feudalism.
We once had independent yeomen, independent
squires, independent tradespeople, a)e, and indepen-
dent farmers. Where now is the independence of
any of these classes? And whither is fast going
what remains? Each day makes the agriculturist
more dependent on the owners of our circumscribed
land. Each day makes the operative and the indus-
trious man more dependent on the capitalist. The
progress of the English nation, as we fear of all
nations, is to emerge from feudal dependence, reach a
point of social freedom, and then descend gradually to
a dependence on that narrowing class, which have the
wealth, an d the privilege, and the ascendancy in society.
We do not combat this inevitable law; but we would
point out that its operation has excited, and is still
exciting a serious insurrection of the lower dame
against the higher in some countries. We should say,
msintain the rights of pr.perty, but mitigate the
political tyranny which it engenders and fosters.
Let the people be beard, and be represented ; give
vent to their voice, freedom to their will, constitu-
tional scope for their efforts and even for their dis-
content. In other words, extend the franchise, and
admit the ballot.

For our part, we cannot conceive a more dangerous
or a more suicidal policy on the part of t"e higher
classes than to make the most rietorous use of their
ascendant position. For in truth there is no need of
thus straining power. Wealth has a natural in-
fluence, birth claims respect, a landlord's word has
and ought to have weight with his tenantry, and the
wishes of the capitalist should have influence on the
man that he employs. But to enforce the full power
and exercise of this moral influence by setting a
watch upon how it works and how it is ob-
served, is to nullify tie moral and wholesome
influence altogether, and to make it fit as tyranny.
The organisation of English life at present in, that
the bread of millior s is at the mercy of hundreds to
give or to withhold. The power to elect the national
representative is given to a few of the minions, to
exercise freely at their peril; the system forms them
to sacrifice their opinions, nay, their ultimate and
cherished interests, to their daily bread. We ask, is
that safe, or is it likely to endure?
The Times asserts that the English are a forward
and a positive people; and so political, that every one
must have and declare an opinion. We beg to say
the very contrary,—that the Erglish are a backward
and a retiring people, as far as the expression of
their opinions is concerned. The greeter number of
people have no positive or general opinion upon poli-
ties. The great success of the Tunes, an organ with-
out any poeitire, or fixed, or consistent opinion, is a
symptom of *hat tho British public ie. The
tradesman, the farmer, and etch great class of
English lif r, has El keen opinion of what
wculd be Lot for his interest. But neither the
tradesman nor the farmer speaks cut that opinion.
Nay, go inwh higher, to the professional and easy
classes, and eepini ,es w:11 he found to be entertained
and expressed, more with the view to flitter what is
prevalent or powerful, than indepondenly con.
ceived or frankly expre seed. We may have been a
tree-thoughted end a treesspeakirg nation. But we
declare our biliL4 that we are fast ceasing to be so.
There is now far more of dissimulation than sincerity
in the relation between man and man. Ar d the pro-
green we are making in dependence has already made
most prejudicial inroads on the national character.

Far from engender:rig diseimulatlon acd deceit,
we sincerely believe the bel:ot would communicate
more frankness and confidence to the Englishman. It
would givo him thepower et concealing his vote, and
protecting his humble fortune from ony vengeful
com:equence. But he would not be prore to use it.
Nay, he would not need to use it; for the present
masters of the operatives or of the farmer,
as well as the threatener of exclusive trading, would
at coca rep the inutility of the old system of intimi-
dation. The dependent classes would then be left
to their own op:Ilion and their own will, and would
seldom be driven to the necessity of concealing them.
llorerver, their istluentiel employers, precluded from
dictating and memming, wcald be driven to other
and better means cf meeerving their influence. They
would fell t eallghten, to ameliorate, to render the
class beneath them able t 3 appreciate the efforts of a
benevolent master; and their own character would
be elevated by such efforts, es well as the character
of those they employ.
We cannot but think, therefore, all the arguments
against the ballot, drawn either from the present
state of English character, or from its probable re-
sults upon that character, as diametrically the oppo-
site of the truth. Each day does the great.r portion
of the population of this country sink into a deeper
shade of dependence. The law cannot interfere with
this reculiar distritruCon of power and wraith, but it
at least should prevent the growing fact of social
inequality from beiug accompaLied by a proportionate
growth of political servitude. Such a result may
be considered by some as conservative, but we beg to
consider it as in the hiAleet degree dargerons, tub-
versive, and revolutionary.
The cases of other countries, of France ea. of Ame-
rica, do not apply to Eeglaeci. Secret voting may be
a superfluity in countries where dependerce of elec.
tors upon employers is rare or of trilling magni-
tude. But here, with us dependence is to univer-
sal a law, that secret or open votiLg is literally a ques-
tion of freedcm or of slavery ; the extens:cn of the
franchise without it would he a deception ;
and would, in fact, but inererse the power
of the dcmivaat classes. But, for our part,
we are Lot sorry to see particular portions and
motions frr reform rejected. For we are confident
that the more deaf the aristocratic partits of whig
and tory remain to the just demands of the people,
the more certainty will there be of all these &mends,
as far as they are founded on right, junco, and mode-
ration, bring carried all at twee by one of those
monster waves which swell periodically the popular
tide.

MUSIC.

ST. JAMES'S-Ol'EltA COILIQUR.

A little opera in one yet, called, " I:Erclare du
Camcens," was produced at this thzat-e last ey:ning. The
drama is the same with that which was hent:ht out lest
week at the Olympic under the title of " The Poet's ellaae "
the English piece being men ly a transiatitn of the original
libretto by M. do St. Linage., gni, as usull with our play-
wrights, without any Arlan% ledgmrnt. The masksof this
opera, u performed at Paris, is by Flotow ; het
the piece was produced at Brunel, with other muds
by Pd. Van die Dun, a young Dutch or Belisti composer
of considerable talvnt : and in this manner it was pertained
last evening. The musts has a gond deal of me-it, bat bears
marks of taezp.rience. The style is too grandiera for the
subject. There is an overture ponderous enough for a grand
traoWie lyrique, and the en and ether vocal pieces are so
long, Ishmael, and deficient in dramatic movement. that
they stop the progress of the action and chill the
warmth of its enfant. Tarn were, however, many
Pleasing mel^dies, and the instrumenvati..n was skil-
ful and effective. But the consequence of this
undramatic musks was, that the piece had Ins aninistion
prnot.ated by a deliefant.
than the Olympic vendee without any music at all. Made-
moiselle Charton acted the part of Graseila with n.sch grace
swtaatsrd to be from the CJISIOTTIas
man of goodly Fenno' sad
fatindrettonefulirii,naiignini.ayliiLeenoisa :sneer
oaruican, g
powerful ban voice; but we must hear h-m to WON other
part before we can term an opinion of his qualities. This
piece was preceded by the fleet act of Beicldien's dellshtfel
opera "Ls Dame Bluth," which went tf with so much
spirit that it was quite provoking to have it cut off in the
mird-le. This practice cf giving halves of operas is a bad
one. Ifs r ine is not worth giving entire, it ought lot to ho
given at all ; and if it Is worth giving entire it ought surer
to be mutilated.