Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-02 00:00:00

THE DAY'S NEWS.

The proceedings in the- House of Commons,
yesterday, although not of a very protracted
or arduous character, were nevertheless highly
important in their nature. They were, as
will be seen from .our telegraphic: sum Mary, -
altogether occupied "by the consideration of "the
bill brought in. to establish the . right of
appeal in criminal cases. The. second reading of
the bill was moved by Mr. Mllahon, and second-
ed by Mr. Ewart. It was opposed by "Sir G. C.-
Lewis, in a lengthened Speech, and on various
grounds,, the right hon. baronet concluding by
moving, as an amendment; that the bill be read a
second time "-this day six months." Mr. Den-
ham, Mr. Phillips, Mr. E. James, Mr. Mellor,
Mr. Henley,. and the Solicitor-General, each sup-
ported the- amendment, which was- carried;' no
one speaking: in favour of the second reading
except the mover and seconder; although several
of the speakers- expreSsed-themselves as in some
degree favouralile to the principle;, while all
condemned the details of the ,proposel bill. The
}lease adjourned at a quarter to six o'clock.

The discontent which prevails in Austria, arises
in a very great measure from the enormous outlay
for. warlike:purposes, whereby the empire has
been so greatly impoverished. The Commission
appointed to effect financial reforms in thedifferent
departments of the . State, has been fruitless of
good in thiS direction: The Emperor, it is said,
,` cannot possibly permit any reduction• to be
made" in the war apartment. Three or four'
seats of learning and' Universities are to-he done
away with, and the funds wherewith they
have hitherto been supported, appropriated
td make up the deficiency caused by an out-
lay for the army which has long been out
of all proportion to, the , resources of the
empire. The Imperial, authorities endeavour to
conceal the truth by repeated assertion& that
great reductions are being made in fhe army
While, in point of fact;. reinforcements are con-
stant* being sent to the southern provinces of
the empire, and three new cavalry regiments.are.
being: formed!. of the men who voluntarily took
service during the late war. The long promised
Constitution, it is believed, may soon be realised
in. some shape,, but it is-not expected that-it will
be Rt. matisfputtory, nis.-itis well known that the
Emperor is as much disinclined as ever to give
any freely elected body =of-representatives the
right of legislation. -
It has been appositely remarked by one who
has examined with attention the petitions Pre-
sented to the French Government against -fiscal-
reform, that amid their selfish lamentations there
is not the slightest attempt to deny that the
existence of prohibitions causes-the public of that
country at large not only to pay a heavy tax to,
the State, but forces them also to pay an impost not
Less onerous to the monopolists ; while it is not con-
troverted that the principal articles in favour
of which these monopolies exist, are inferior to
what can be got elsewhere. The only anxiety
expressed by thesepetitioners, may be interpreted
as a desire for the maintenance of scarcity 'and
high prices ; and. their arguments are about as
conclusive as the well known one on behalf of
the chandlers, lamp-makers, &c., for shutting
out the light of the sun.
The Ultramontane journal L' Univers, which
was suppressed in Paris the other. clay, it is said
is to-reappear at Brussels ; but, of eourse, it will
not be permitted to enter France. It is a very
remarkable fact that when , the law under which
L' Univers has just been suppressed was first pro-
' mulgated, only onej ournal was found so far recreant
to the ca.u.se, of freedom of discussion, as to advo-
cate and support the principle embodied in that legal
proj eet-and that solitary exception was L' Univers:.
It has thus been foiled by a weapon of its own par-
ticular choice ; and it is difficult to see, therefore,
upon what just ground it can offer any complaint,
or even murmur of 'dissatisfaction. The sup-
pression-and its subsequents, read a double lesson
—to French journalists, and to the French
Government : to the former that the advocacy
of intolerance is using a two-edged sword, which
may destroy him who employs it, when the di-
recting power, through. change of circumstances,
becomes also changed in its policy while the
event, and. the. success . that has . crowned
the subsequent tolerance in allowing the
reproduction of the Pope's encyclical 'letter,
accompanied, however, by a well-directed, logi-
cally-conducted, and most telling. controversial

effort in the same columns, show that a Govern-
ment so strong in fact, and so reasonable in its

views upon this question, needs not the artificial
and highly perilous adjunct of a law against the
freedom of speech and writing in the discussion
of religion or politics. The manifesto to which
we refer, of course, is that which appeared in
the Constitutionnel signed by M. Grandguillot,
the editor ; but in fact it is to be looked upon as
a State paper of great importance, emanating
from the highest authority in France.
In our reporting columns it will be seen that a

foul and atrocious murder has been committed in

a timber-yard at the north end or the docks. A
man between twenty-five and thirty years of age,