The Express.
London, England, 1861-02-04 00:00:00

Government but to those who use them and
keep them 1 Nor is it unworthy onnidera-
tion that rifles which belong to Govern-
ment are reqiured by Lord BIREZZI'II
cater to be kept in store, where they must of
necessity be cleaned by the armourer and his assis-
tants, because there cannot be accommodation

for each member cleaning his own, immediately
on the conclusion of drill or practice, while such ea
belong to the members and are taken home by
them, are cleaned by themselves or under their
immediate instructions. It is obvious that the
former method does not provide, as the latter does,
for the volunteer being able, if called out for ser-
vice in the field, to keep his arms in order.
The transparent flimsiness of the pretexts put
forward to justify the order cannot hide its real
intention. Nor is the offence which it conveys
removed by the occasional relaxation of the strict-
nos of the rule regarding lodging rifles in store,
which the Circular of the 7th of January autho-
rine, or by the subsequent departure, notified in
the Circular of the 29th of January, from the
demand that Volunteers shall submit to • com-
pulsory sale of their arms. The later order,
indeed, obviates the injustice of requiring the
transfer, at the Government contract price, of
arms which must in all cases have cost • fourth
more, and in many instances five times as much.
But the rule still remains that, for the future,
Government will not permit the purchase of their
own arms by the members either of existing or of
future corps. All must belong to Government,
and of all Government will assert a right to resume
possession at any moment. It is to this prin-
ciple we desire to direct attention. Divested of
apologies and of temporary exceptions, it is • de-
claration that Government distrusts the people.
It is the principle of the disarming acts of Ireland
and of India. The purpose is to discourage if not to
prevent the acquisition of weapons by private per-
sona, and to make all dependent on Government
pleuure. Such was not the principle of our fore-
fathers, when every yeoman was bound to have
his bow and his sheaf of arrows ready for the de-
fence of the realm. Such is not the principle of
Switzerland, where every man's rifle hangs over
the fireplace which it ia to protect. We must look
to conquered races to find examples of such an
insult. Nor even there shall we find it paralleled.
A free nation has vowed its energies to the defence
of its QUILIN and its fatherland—officialiam replies
by an imputation of disaffection, disloyalty, and by
precautions against rebellion.

Tnv whole of the Greek trade is disorganized.
Five houses in this department of business stopped
payment on Saturday week, and three or four
more on Saturday Let. The larger houses
have for some time past been preparing for
the storm, which they foresaw was almost
inevitable. It is hoped, therefore, that they
are now beyond the reach of its effects. This
belief is confirmed by the known wealth and large
available means possessed by many of them. But
as regards the smaller houses in the trade, the
prospect is one of serious embarrassment Their
outstanding engagements appear to be quite out of
proportion to their immediate resources. From
the excitement and alarm which are reported as
prevailing in mercantile circles in Constantinople,
there is too much reason to fear that the reliance
which is placed upon assistance from their con-
nexious in that quarter may be falsified. It is
evident that for much of their embarrassment the
t;reek community have to thank M. MIRES and
the other speculators who were concerned in the
late abortive attempt to. get up a loan. Many
Greek firms were encouraged to plunge up to their
necks in the troubled waters of Turkish finance, in
the belief that the success of the loan would
enable them to extricate themselves with a large
profit. M. Mixes' failure, which is ill-disguised
by a flourish of trumpets by his organs in France,
has really put his friends into a hole. It has also
involved in their misfortune many persons who
were induced to trust the Turkish Government in
the idea that they would shortly be put
in command of funds, no matter at what
sacrifice they were obtained. The whole affair is
very lamentable for Turkey. It was lamentable
to witness the terms to which its Government
acceded in the hope of procuring an immediate
supply of money. It has long been lamentable to
see the extent to which the Greek and Arme-
nian capitalists are able to prey year after
year upon the poverty-stricken exchequer. Still
more deplorable is the utter improvidence betrayed
by the saute Government in assigning to its
coeditors its finest revenues, in order that it may
be enabled to keep up a system of extravagant
expenditure. Finally, the events now occurring
are full of discouragement to our trade
with Turkey—a trade for the promotion of
which we have made many sacrifices. The
Levant trade will be purged of some
of its impurities, and its false paper system will
have the knife applied to it ; but before the good
effects ultimately expected from these changes
occur Turkish trade will have to pass through a
trying ordeal. Confidence is shaken, and will not
soon revive. There will probably, therefore, be
a considerable check to commercial enterprise in
that quarter. Meanwhile, the country is being
once more drained of gold, in order to sustain the
credit of the more important Greek houses in
France and England, whilst the paper of all the
mend and third class firms is being universally
thrown out by discounters, in spite of the credit-
able balance-sheets which are said to be likely to
be presented by many of the failed merchants.
The feeling of distrust and suspicion which was
lately concentrated upon the well-abused leather
trade has now settled upon the Greek and
Levant trades, and the effect is felt in many
branches of industry in our manufacturing
diXtriets.

We regret to observe that the complaints of
slackness in various departments of trade are
rather increasing than diminishing. Although,
with the cessation of the foreign drain of gold, and
with the improvement in the American exchange,
the prospects of the money market have decidedly
brightened, there are many considerations of an
adverse character in operation at present. Amongst
these are the high rates of discount, the extreme
caution which prevails in monied circles, the
numerous failures in the Greek and Levant trades,
and the withholding of orders for our manufactures

from America. The latter consideration is perhaps
the most important of all in its effects. The
consolatory view to be taken is, that as the pecu-
niary position of America becomes easy her trade
with this country will resume, at least to some
extent, its ordinary channels. Enterprise must
be checked as long as political disquiet prevails in
the United States ; but aethe great bulk of the
articles which the Americans take from us are
pee-eminently articles of utility, it stands to reason
that, as long as they have the pecuniary ability to
procure thom—and their ability is at present
' undoubted—they will continue to do so. It
will probably be different with France,
the consumption of whose silks, and other
luxurious or fanciful productions, may be
rigorously curtailed in America, at a time