The Express.
London, England, 1850-02-16 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY- EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1850.

ideas of the people at once aionmed prelomineoce
in a way u natural es it was irresistible. It was a
great folly and au immense misfortune that t►e blan-
der* and ignorance of kings, of ministers, of upper
and of middle clump, should have allowed such an
opportunity of irruption to the very peWe. For
having thus tried their strength, enthroned their ideas
and their chiefs, andthade a commit cement, a sorry
one, no doubt, of popular government, they will long
look upon themselves es wronged, and tricked, end
dethroned because disallowed to confirm.
Whatever the d filcultin, the duty and neces-
sity of a French government are the same, vie.,
to recover the attachment and confidence of the peo-
ple, to regain their adhesion to the state end to the
form of government wnich prevails, and to effect that
great reconciliation between upper and lower classes,
without which uciety menaces each moment to
be converted into an arena of wild bears.

We are sorry to say that neither Lots; NAPOLIION
nor the leading statesmen of Francs seem to hare
had a conception of this great task, this immense
dancer and necessity. Towards the Gloss of 1848,
there wee one sentiment throughout the land, that of
panic. Under its ludas nce the previa Assembly was
elected, as well as the Prinos whose name brought
most authority with it; and a conservative majority,
salmis ing of almost all the known names of the
countrymen of retell and business, wu found. This
body, Instead of allaying the panic, has seen nothing
better than to continue it. Instead of try-
ing to conciliate the people, or of doing such
grand, generous, and good things, as would have
commanded the respect of the people, even whilst
coercing them, the pestle, of the government, abroad
and at home, has been of the meanest kind,crusising the
weak, and creaming to the strong, showing infinite
energy in dismissals and gendarmery, and courts
martial, domineering and browbeating opponents in
the Assembly. Their whole character has been that of I
men who are tyrannical at home because they are in a
fright,who are pusillanimous abroad for the same sea-
son, and whose whole policy, philanthropy, and argu-
ment consisted in crying out vociferously " Wolf,
wolf," the wolf being no other than the very people
which constitute the numbers snd the power, and
the mind of France.

Neither was it to essentials that this dominant ma-
jority looked. Far more affected by the loss of
social rank and influenoe than by the loss
of real power, they have been indulging for
the last year in eternal sneers, and consequently
in wordy treason against the republi?, which they
have not the courage is overturn, or the means to
replace. It is, in truth, of very little conse-
quence whether the government of such a country as
Francs be called a monarchy or a republic. These
same selfish and wellendowei classes could secure a
supremacy just as well is one as in the other, pro-
vided they could be true and constant to either.
But where men like M. TIMMS have nothing
but a scornful epigram to bestow upon either the
legitimate monarchy of CHARLES THE TENTH, the
quasi legitimate dynasty of LOl7lB-PHILIPPE, or the
republican presidentship of Louis NAPOLEON, what
is to he hop:d from men, whom no form of government
or no shade of politics can content?
Had the statesmen of the present conservative
majority in France been true to Louts Punters
in 1847, his monarchy would base endured un-
snaken. Could they be true to the republic and Louts
NAPOLEON in 1830, the republicand its president might
alike endure. But the conservative majority is true to
nothing. It questions every thing, vilipends
everything, plots against everything, and un-
settles every thing. The conservative majority in
the French Assembly is more anarchic and revolu-
tionary than the red republicans themselves. It is
it that c)aages, it that is malcontent, it that withers
every form and shade of government and ministry by
its hatred, its incredulity, and its sarcasm. It de-
nounces the republic from the parliamentary tribune
as a monstrosity, yet dare not tit on any monarchy
to put in its place. But yesterday M. THIEES made
a speech, panegyrising the spirit of Louis the
FOURTEENTH'S reign and government, and pointing
it out as something to be revived and admired! In
the same speech he stigmatised the Americans as a
people without any instruction, save what was to be
gleaned from journals. These two expressions but
too faithfully repre,ent the temper and wisdom of the
party in which M. THIEES is a chief.
Now, we ask, is there any line of conduct passible
or conceivable, so completely calculated to create and
perpetuate disaffection and disorder? Every act and
every speech of this self-called conservatism in the
Assembly is a direct provocative to a liberal to turn
a revolutionist, and to a republican to prefer
even anarchy to the rule of men so false,
so fickle, so unprincipled. and so incapable.
Of course, such conduct has produced its natu-
ral results, and that form of popular protest and dis-
gust against a ruling system, which is stigmatised
as Communism, has made such rapid strides, in east,
west, north, and south of the country, that govern-
ment has telt itself compelled to divide the country
into a few great military districts, preparatory to an
inevitable system of martial law.
We are no friends of the socialists. None can view
with more regret and fear than we should, the esta-
blishment of the red republic in the streets of Lyons
or of Paris; but it is impossible to contemplate the
reckless, senseless, and unprincipled folly of
dominant parties in France, without feeling that
they have done, and are doing, their utmost to merit
as well as to provoke another revolution, and to
render it more sweeping, more sanguinary, and more
fearful, than any which has yet occurred.

Tan bills Mr. LABoucatas has just introduced
into the House of Commons for the better regu-
lation of the Merchant Seamen Service, and for

the better

of the Merchant &a-

men's Fund, are, so far at least as they can be
understood frcm his general statements, examples
of this weakness of the otherwise very able and
always very amiable President of the Board of
Trade. No one doubts that both captain, officers,
and men, in the merchant service stand greatly
in need of improvement; or that the merchant
seamen's service, in its present condition, needs
reform. But it may be doubted, whether either re-
quire the interf, reties of government to the extent
recommended by Mr. LABOCCEZZE.
The insufficient qualifications of the masters of
merchants and the insubordinate character of their
seamen had their origin in bad legislation. They are
both the result of laws which gave British shipping
a monopoly in British parts. The first step
to the improvement of either was the abrogation of
the monopoly; and it has been taken. Already ita
effect on the masters and mates is obvious. The can-
didates for voluntary examination are (the Gazettes
testify) rapidly increasing; and the augmented form
i of competition n making shipmaaters generally look
out for competent officers. Now, as bad, worthless,
and drunken masters were sure to, and did, demo-
ralise a good crew, so are competent and improving
officers certain to improve the character of the crew
they ship. The work of improvement has, then,
sprung out of free trade in chipping; and it is, at
least, somewhat too early already to decide dogmati-
cally and off-hand that competition in the mercantile
navy won't do what it does in every other trade—
viz., ensure qualified masters and good seamen. Mr.
Lzsovettaitz records the wonders the abolition of the
navigation laws has achieved on even Mr. LINDSAY,
and yet he doubts that a regard for their own pecu-
niary interests will do for others what it has per-
formed for him. " Oh, ye of little faith !"
What is most wanted to has'an this general im-
provement in the mercantile marine is just what Mr.
LABOUCHERS won't hear of, viz. the abolition of the
Merchant Seamen's Fund altogether, and the abroga-
tion of the law that denies to the British shipmaster
complete freedom in the world's labour market.
The Merchant :Seamen's Fund, whether derived
from deductions from mariner's wages, or by a
charge on tonnage, is, in reality, a charitable
fund contributed by the consumers of the country
to the seamen of the Merchants' Service. On the
ground, Mr. LANDUCHIIRS'S proposal that the Trea-
sury shall contribute 30,0001. a year to the fund is
perfectly defensible, if the fund have to be continued;
for, in that event, there will, of course, be greet eco-
nomy in making the payment direct from the
Treasury, instead of levying it indirectly from
the consumers. But, has Mr. LABOUCHEIIE
considered the effect which the Merchant Sea-
men's Fund has on the character of oar mariners P
Is it not • premium on improvidence, recklessness,
and insubordination? Is it not • temptation to the
extravagance, the thoughtleesness, and the
poverty, that distinguish Britian sailors ? Is
it not a came of some of them defects
which he seeks by other agency to cure and

remedy P Nn speeial reason for exemption from
the consequences of general moral and social laws in
this case has been started. And, certainly, all . the
tendencies of mach a fund are prejudicial to that
spirit of self-teliacoe and self-eoetrol—to those habits
of providence and forethought, and to those prat:ideas
of saving and economy—on which only the improve-
ment of any section of the labcuriog elms can be
securely based. Instead of encomaging these ele-
ments of higher civilisation the sailor as to be led to
still look forward to a fund which the country, in one
form or other, really supports and must always sup-
port while it is in ex stance ; and, looking forward to
it, will, we think, arrest and impede the other
agencies of improvement of his character that have
lately been set at work.
So, also, the continued refusal of Mr. LABOUCHUR
to bestow on the British shipmaster complete free-
dom in the world'. labour market boa • similar ten-
decoy. Such freedom is simply an act of justice to
the shipowner, on whom is now placed the pressure
of competition from every quarter. To lim't, then,
in any way, or to any degree, his choice of labour, is
pro foist° to deny him the means of meeting the ems-
petition to which we have subjected him. Complete
freedom in this respect would be equally advantageous
to the shipowner and to the seamen ; for if foreign
labour be cheaper than English, the ability of the
shipowner to make free use of foreign labour
would tend to eq..alise the prices of English and
foreign labour, and so enable the English merchant
service more readily to compete against the foreign
mercantile marine. And, if the concoct of the forego
seamen be superior to that of the English sailors, the
competition of the former in English vessels would
necessarily improve the character of our mariners.
To persist in the present arbitrary state of the
law on this subject is, therefore, to hurt the
shipowner and the seamen, without benefiting the
country: for one year's experience hoe eff.ctually
dispelled all those fears for the maintenance of the
Royal Navy, that were the bug-bear of the protec-
tionists.

In the courn of his speech, Mr. LABOUCHEEZ
stated, withont explaining wherefore, that Mace
1820 a great change had taken place in regard to
ownership in the mercantile navy of England ; for
that the old practice of merchants being also ship-
owners had now almost ceased, and that shipowning
had become a distinct trade.

In the sense in which Mr. LABOUCHERE used the
word, we have now no merchant.. The business of
our great trading firms has been reduced to agency
and commission. They have ceased to be traders,
shipowners, and speculators at home and abroad; be
cause the competition amongst producers and menu-
facturers would no longer justify or defray the profits
of merchants. When they alone supplied foreign
markets, they bad ships of their own to export their
goods. But, when the producers and manufacturers
themselves were compelled by their own competition
to rival the merchants in those markets, the latter
could no longer afford to be shipowners. And now
all, except a few, such as the African, traders find it
more economical to charter than to own ships. Thus
greater division of trade and labour has ensued.
Shipowning is now a business of itself, requiring
the closest attention, the most severe economy,
the most rigid supervision ; because, like other busi-
nesses, there is iu it great competition. The change is
one from high profits and extravagant expenditure to
low profits and keen competition. But this sorely is not
an alteration to be regretted. It is a change in which
there is national progress, moral hope, and material
comfort. It is moreover a change that ought not to
be interfered with by government or acts of Trona-
mint unless on the strongest grounds or for the most
irresistible reasons. These Mr. LABOCCHERZ has yet
to furnish. And before joining in any opposition to
his bills we await their explanation.
But there is no occasion for any delay in the ex-
pression of disappointment that Mr. LABOUCIIERE has
not accompanied thaw two bills by a measure on the
light dues. By those dues the Trinity House of
Deptford Stroud levies more than 25,0001. a-year
on shipping beyond what even its expenditure can
justify; and more than 100,0001. a-year beyond what
good management of the lights require.. Is this tax
on shipping to continue ? Is the jobbing and corrupt
machinery by which this tax is levied to be longer
tolerated? It may be feared that it is; for by one of
Mr. LABOCCIIISILeS bills he imposes fresh duties on
the Trinity House, and not one word dots he now
say on the light dues.

FRANCE.

PARIS, FRIDAY, 530 P.Y.

•
The military commands into which IFrance hu
been divided, could not but be made the subject of a
motion in the Legislative Assembly. M. Pascal
Daprat took the initiative in the matter yesterday at
the clore of the sitting, by moving for lease to put
questions u to these commands. The cabinet,
through one of its members, declared itself ready
to explain os Saturday, and to-morrow accordingly
the question will come under debate.
The bill on education made a rapid stride yesterday,
clauses 7to 17 being voted. The most important of
these clauses are those which regulate the composition
and attributes of the academic councils, at which the
7th clause hu fixed the number at one for every de-
partment. Several amendments were proposed on
this special point, the most important of which is
that of M. Barthelemy S. Hilaire, being adopted, to
the effect that note but licentiates of the University
can occupy the (unctions of rector. Each academy is
to have a rector.

'lite debate wee opened on a new chapter, which
specially treats of the question of inspection. The
committee proposed that inspectors might be chosen
in the clue below that of licentiate in the university.
This the ministry oppose, as they think it best that
the inspector, whose duty will Out him in relation
with heeds of public schools, who are themselves
licentiates, should not be inferior in rank and know-
ledge to the person whose conduct he has to inspect.
The matter was referred to a committee.
To-day M. Lafond put the qn.stious upon the im-
prisonment of M. Prudhon. In the last week he said
citizen Proudhon had been confined with the utmost
rigour, without being allowed to communicate
with any. of his 'friends. He held in his hand an
opinion given by 'several lawyers, who stated that the
course adopted towards Proudhon were clearly illegal.
And he therefore came forward to ask the ministers
to account for the arbitrary proceedings to wh.ch the
prisoner had been submitted.
Mr. Barre, in reply, admitted that a reproach
might be addressed to the administration for its
conduct, but that such reproach must be that
of too great leniency rather than that of ex-
treme rigour. He would ask the Assembly whe-
ther the greatest lenity had not been shown towards
M. Proudison, who, after he had been condemned by
the Assembly and by the justice of the country,
might have been sent to a common prison, but who,
instead of this, had been left in Paris, free to be visited
by all his friends. Instead of making use of this to-
leration he had continued the very course which had
already rendered him amenable to the laws of the
country. This state of things had lasted upwards of
40 days, when it was at length determined to prevent
M. Proudhon from seeing his friends. He had not
been placed in solitary confinement, but placed with
other persons suffering punishment like himself. The
government had been kind to him, and by now with-
drawing their kindness they only left him to be
treated es other prisoners.
M. &pot followed, and, amidst many interrup-
tions, quoted a paaage from a work written byLocus
Napoleon while at Ham, in which he justified his at-
tempts at Strasbourg and Boulogne by the unpopu-
larity and oppression of the government of Louis
Philippe. He concluded by moving an ordre du jour
motive, blaming the conduct of ministers.
After a few words in support of the motion by
H. Pierre Leroux, the Chamber negatived it, and
passed to some uninteresting subject.
I have informed yea that M. Forcede, who has been
remarked for certain Orleanist articles in the Revue
des Deus Monde. has become editor of the Patric
Already that journal feels the impulse of a new hand
in a leader on the very question of these military com-
mands, in which a far more irritant spirit is shown
than is usual in the semi-official organ of the Hippie.
This article congratulates the country upon its
subjection to military rule, and expresses pleasure at
the democrats being hurt by the measure, " because
it reaches the double end of increasing the security of
the country, and fortifying the army.
The Orleanists are not, however, all pleased with
this predominance given to military power. Indeed.
a feeling of mistrust has become general in the As-
sembly on the subject. The Mountain and the tiers-

peril ire very angry, and their musty is crest. The
pseuds who belong to those parties are, I am told,
moots ainawfod at the promotion of their antagonist.,
sad tbs dsonosrsts intsad to-morrow to propose an
ordre in jow motive, blaming tbs creation of thess
commands.

The democratic socialist committee intend to bring
forward as their oaadidate in the H•ntes-P;rbnde.ll.
Devine, son of M. Deride, condemned by the High
Court of Judos of Versailles ; in the Ariege, M.
Pilbes, brother of us of tho persons modernised ; in
the Hante-Enters, M. F. Ma gas. brother of another
condemned person ; and is the Nieere, M. C. Gam-
boa, brother of the M. Gamboa who was condemned.
M. Trimmpl, the ambassador from Grecoe to the
French Iteriblia, has arrived in Paris.
1110 Minutest of Finance ham preersted a project of
law fur a coedit of 600,000:r., to pay the sneers of
the Greek loan, guaranteed to the amount of a third
by the French government.
I hear that the tiers.pwli, the Mountain, and
certain of the majority will vote for as amendment
on one of the clauses of the Education Bill, which
amendment will bear, in substance, • prohibition
against all religions communities not recognised by the
state. These communities would the be deprived of
the right to teach. This is a wane against which
the ex-Constituent Assembly itself did tot hesitate to
declare itself.

The Preen says: •' Out of 175 sehoolmesters in
the department of the Rants Vienne, 50 have just been
suspended by the prefect. The Superior Council had
previously s or revo 12."
The Prefect of the Owe hastesuspended M. Brains,
the mayor of Masseube, from his functions, in conse-
quence of his notes and reports to the superior
authorities evincing a spirit of systematic apparition
injurious to the regular progress of the administra-
tion.—The Mayor of Alcoa and the Deputy Mayor of
Sawa have been suspended from their functions by
' the Prefect of the Ariege.
I find by the returns of the Bank of France that
the metallic reserve has again advanced, though not
to the same extent as last week, the increase in Paris
being If millions, and in the provinces about
200,000 fr. The whole amount of the metallic re-
serve is now 4651 millions, to 467 millions of notes in
circulation. The discount accommodation has de-
clined about half a million in Paris, and increased not
quite one quarter in the departments, the amount
of the former being 40,492,358 fr., and of the latter
67.838,531 fr. Protested bills have declined about
130,000 fr. in Paris, and about 20,000 fr. in the branch
banks, the amount of the former being 1,683,839 fr.,
and of the latter 1,573,199 fr. On the side of the lia-
bilities, the notes in circulation have fallen off a little
more than half a million in Pixie, and have increased
labout three-quarters of a million in the provinces.
The moonlit current of the treasury has advanced 2/
millions, the present amount being 83,217,960 fr. Pri-
vate accounts current in Paris have fallen off about
one-quarter of a million, and in the country about
50 000 fr the amount of the former being
' 74, .9 329 232 fr and of the latter 24,948,231 fr.

. Lomat Closing
2pm 0411 M 17 80 37 85 58 S 87 70 57 70
3 par 08619„ ......
do. lay Lem— . . .
per OWL—. o o oi so o
4 per Osela .9 .9 9. .9 ..
Kitt sage as Labdon: 30 drys, 23 43'. SO day; 25 Mi.
Stagisn, 5, IMO
Do. 9, 1841
Do. 44 ......
Do. 3
Piedmont 3 per Ceuta. TS 60 „
Baomm—Parts and 0,101118, 807 30; RM. and Rows, 667 50 ;
Rouen and Mawr, 148 73 ; Origami and limaallias, 103 ; Stras-
bourg sod Rams, 117 SO.; Centre Menem), 316 13 • W.A. am gar.
dram, 410; Saturn, 460; Mont/rem sad fur 110; Paris
and Strasbourg, 337 SO •• Tours and Names, 257 50; ersalllas (right
booth 300; Versailles OM bank), lett 73; St. Darwin, 410.

PAWS, F. IL For
limey.

Far Amount

.h thliblet._ 1