The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-05 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 5, 1855.

KOSSUTH, MAZZINI, AND LEDRU

ROLLIN.

The following appeal has been addressed to the
European democracy by MM. Kossuth, Mazzini,
and Ledru Rollin :

TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

The town of Sebastopol has fallen. The war between
the governments of Western Europe and the Czar is
irrevocably and indefinitely prolonged. It is impossible

for Russia to treat after a defeat without sinking into
the position of a power of the third rank ; and it is im-
possible that the Allied Governments, in the face of a
public opinion emboldened by victory, should offer peace
on less onerous conditions. For us, therefore, the fall
of Sebastopol is but as the first word of a war, the last
word and denouentera of which belong to the peoples.
We believe the moment has arrived for European de-
mocracy to constitute itself a powerful unity, to con-
front its enemies, and to act ; and we come forward to
declare this to our brethren of all nations with an autho-
rity which springs not from our own unimportant
individuality, but from our conviction that by so doing
we are giving expression to the feeling that animates and
thrills all hearts ; from a knowledge of the actual state
of things acquired from extensive relations in allvarts of
Europe ; from the consciousness of the pledges we have
already given in the cause of European liberty, and a
firm determination that our brethren shall not find us
fail them should they respond to our appeal.
Every great movement must have a centre whence an
initiative may spring—an arm to raise the flag of the
march—a voice to cry aloud the hour has come. We are
that arm and that voice. If the majority of the party
shall recognise as its own the banner we raise, and feel
that what we are about to utter is the truth, it will be
its duty to second us. Advanced guard of the revolution,
we shall disappear amid the ranks on the day of the
awakening of the peoples. But this awakening—bear
witness the history of the last six years—cannot be until
unity be founded in the revolutionary camp. This is
now the one thing needful. The state of things brought
about by the war in the East appears to us to proclaim
its urgency. It is for this we speak.
Hitherto we have refrained from saying what we now
say, because but a few months back such language would
have been imprudent and premature. At the commence-
ment of the war certain illusions existed which time
alone could dissipate; and some important lessons had
yet to be learned, which time alone could teach.

On the ground of principles, the European question is
one—liberty for all, fraternal association of all. Such is
the right, such the aim. It is not so on the ground of
facts and of means, On this last ground the question
presents two aspects—that of the nationalities, the peo-
ples who, like Italy, Hungary, and Poland, have an ex_
istence to re-claim from foreign oppression ; and that of
the peoples who, like France, being in full possession of
their country, have but to pursue and to protect from
usurpation their own free development by the organisa-
tion of the sovereignty of the people.
For the first, revolution is war : they need allies, and
a more or less favourable disposition of chances : for the
others it is a movement merely internal, and all that is
needed is for them to be unanimous, and to will.

The present war appeared to offer to the dismembered
nationalities-chances rendering their task less difficult—
there was the chance of the Italo-Hungarian question
being simplified by the forced support of the Western
Powers, should her identity of principle and of tradition
have thrown Austria openly into the arms of the Czar ;
there was the chance that for the sake of success the

Governments of France and England might push on to
Poland, Russia's only really, vulnerable point. We did
not share these illusions. We knew that in order to give
all possible support to Russia, Austria had but to main-
tain an apparent neutrality. We knew that the man of
the 2d December, and the Ministers who, after the sacri-
fice of Rome and Pesth, had yoked England to him,
would never dare to remove the winding sheet that en-
wraps Poland.
But during the first period of the present war these

illusions were to the peoples a reality which time alone
could efface. It was necessary that by seeing the Empire
trail the flag of France for upwards of six months through
the mud of Austrian Chancelleries, by hearing from the
lips of E❑glish Ministers the impious words, " the in-
surrection.of Hungary would be a misfortune ; there
would be serious inconvenience in Rome being free ; it
is only through Austria that Italy can progress, or Po-
land receive the alms of a little liberty," the people
should learn that any hopes founded on the war of the
Cabinets were a fatal dream ; that the aim of the West-
ern Powers is the maintenance of the status quo ; that
no contact is possible between the camps of liberty and
monarchy save the contact of struggle ; and that it is
only by the sweat of our brows and the blood of our
veins that we can conquer our right.
Now on these subjects we believe the teaching is com-
plete. There are no more phantoms in our path. We are
addressing peoples who have been undeceived.
More than this. This ill•conducted war has brought
to light two facts which time alone could declare, and
which it is important to point out.
The first is the strength of the Revolutionary Party,

avowed by its enemies.
In two years the great French Republic of 1792, at-

tacked abroad and at home, without regular resources,
and with an impoverished finance, by the mere power of
the principle of which it was the incarceration, drove out
its enemies from its territory, crushed revolt, spread
liberty abroad, transformed the society of the past, and
founded civil institutions which still exist.

During two years, Despotism and Constitutional Mo-
narchy allied, with power to draw from all the resources
of a regular organisation, have shed the blood of a hun-
dred thousand men, and exhausted the results to labour
to the extent of three thousand millions of francs, with-
out advancing a single step towards the solution of the
pending question, and without any military result but
the fall of Sebastopol, and the making of a few ruins on
the shores of the two seas.
What is the reason of this contrast ?

It is that they have not on their side those principles
of the new order of things which alone can create genius,
devotion, and strength ; it is that they are fighting in the
name of things which are decaying ; that life is elsewhere
—with us, the representatives of progress, in the heart
of the peoples the 3 dread, in the revolution which they
foresee on every side.
Yes, bowed down as we still are, we make them trem-
ble. They seek to ward off the future ; they offer sacri-
fice to fear. Revolution troubles their councils, domi-
nates their plans, impedes their movements, and paralyses
their military operations. It is the fear of the uprising
•f the nationalities which causes them to crouch coward-
like at the feet of Austria, whom, at the bottom of their
hearts, they despise. It is the fear of a Polish insurrec-

tion—the dread of seeing the revolutionary flag raised

in Podolia and Lithuania—which has shut them out
from Odessa and Riga. It was the fear of rousing an
echo in Hungary which made them renounce the cam-
paign beyond the Danube, and deliver up the Principa-
lities to the Austrian invasion. It was the fear of the
effect upon the peoples of the smallest territorial change
~that obliged them to respect the integrity of the Russian
empire, and deprived them of the Swedish alliance.

:t is the fear of the revolution which would meet

them on every side, whenever the scent of battle should
reach the hostile masses, which forbids them from a gene-
ral war, and limits them to an isolated point of the Mus-
covite territory between the sea and the steppes. Nego-
tiations, protocols, battles, everything in this struggle,
betray.; the deep conviction of the European governments
that on this European soil, undermined in every direction
by suffering and by the idea, no single spark of life can
be kindled without resulting in an universal conflagration. I
Now, what resources have the governments against this
conflagration if to-morrow it should burst forth? In their
secret hearts—in the midst of their common antagonism
against every idea of collective liberty and justice—
and this is the second important fact evinced by the
situation—the governments are at the present day mate-
rially divided amongst themselves. The thought of the
Holy Alliance is in their soul as in 1815, but the fact of
the Holy Alliance is destroyed. The only force that was
able to arrest the ascending movement in 1849—the
collective force—exists no longer. The concentration of
the means of several upon each given point is no longer
possible. The enemy's camp is at the present moment
broken up into four—the Russian camp, the Anglo.
French camp, and the two camps into which Austria
and Prussia divide the smaller States of Germany.
Among these various camps a common direction and a
practical accord is no longer possible. Each people has
not but a single enemy to combat—and let it not be for-
gotten—in 1848 each people as it arose was singly vic-
torious, and it was only through the union and co-ope-
ration of several forces that the revolution yielded in
Rome, Hungary, and Germany.
More than this. In consequence of the existing dis•

union the forces of each Government are necessarily dis-
membered and cramped in their movements. Russia is
obliged to defend her own territory. Austria, occupied
in the Principalities, treacherous with all, and suspected
by all, is obliged to keep a large portion of her troops
stationary at her frontiers, ready to repel any possible
attack on the part of either of the belligerent powers.
The empire, compelled to keep a large part of its army
at home to repress the pulsations of the heart of France,
is also obliged to protect its north-eastern frontier from
the of Russia and Austria. Of England we need not
speak : at the present moment, exhausted through her
want of military organisation, she is reduced to accept
the few recruits offered by foreign poverty and venality
to supply her ranks.

Fear of revolution, complete disunion among the
powers formerly united against us, the impossibility of
acting against the popular element, with forces already
weakened and mutually held in check—such are, at the
present day the prominent features of the situation with
regard to the Governments. The opportune moment
has therefore arrived for the peoples, and it is our duty
to declare it.

It is all the more our duty, because this incontestably
opportune moment may to-morrow pass away. Should
this be the case, the situation would be far worse for the
people. The Governments would avenge themselves for
the terrors of the present moment, a more compact alli-
ance would be formed, and establish an almost insur-
mountable obstacle to the nationalities. To France the
result might be a coalition and an invasion.
Those nations who, by their culpable hesitation,
should have allowed the providential moment to escape
them, wontd sink diseouraged ' into that ilibratlanguOl
which is the fatal accompaniment of the consciousness
of a great error.
Thus, if the peoples believe themselves worthy of

liberty, they are bound at once to seize the opportunity
now offered them by God. There are times in which col-
lective action, excited in the face of invincible obstacles,
is a crime. Individuals may protest by martyrdom, but

none may counsel martyrdom to a whole nation. Bu
there are also moments when the crime is in the fact

that individual martyrdom is tolerated by countries
which have but to will in order to efface the necessity of

martyrdom by success. Such is the case now. We
say it with deep conviction ; the liberal party is from
this time forward responsible for all the blood shed on
scaffolds, and the slow tortures of which the prisons of
Europe are the secret theatre, for it can conquer.
It is time that the liberal party should learn to esti-
mate its owa strength as it is estimated by its enemies
—to feel this, and to draw from this consciousness the
faith that combats and triumphs are all that is necessary
to unite and organise its multiple life round a common
centre, whence to act upon the masses by word and
action. The day on whioh it will do this the battle will

begin in power and vigour. Doubt not of victory, To
insure it we have but to inscribe, not only upon our flag,
but on our hearts, and on our plans of war, on our every
act, the sacred word of European solidarity, of which

all of us, more or less, misunderstood the value in 1848.
And we shall do this. Apart from the sacredness of the
principle—source and justification of all our acts—we
have all learned since 1848 that our salvation is at that

price alone—that we must conquer for all, or succumb,

We are strong, for we have with us God and the
peoples. We are strong in the right, in the justice of the
cause to which our lives are devoted, in the martyrdom
thousands of our brethren have heroically undergone, in
the memory of the victories gained by each people, and
in the consciousness that in no instance were they sullied
by crime. We are strong in our numbers, in the aspira-
tions of the masses, in their sufferings, in their material
interests, in the omnipotence of that sentiment of na-

tionality which its tyrants deny, and in that immortal
instinct which rebels under all oppression, and cries aloud
" liberty" in every heat t.

We are strong by the faults of our oppressors ; by their
lack of genius and of heart ; by their avidity, and by the
recklessness with which in this aimless war they hurry
the nations into bankruptcy ; by that contempt of human

life which has allowed them in the Crimea to shed the
blood of thousands of brave men, to insure the success
of a loan, or to celebrate an anniversary. We are strong
through the wicked absurdity of the territorial arrange-
ments they seek to maintain ; by the inextinguishable
germ of war and discord they bear within themselves,
and which we alone can destroy ; and by that map of
the Europe of the future which the sword of revolution
alone can trace.

Yes, therein, above all, lies the force we men of revo-
lution possess. Everywhere Royalty denies national life.
Revolution alone can Fay to it, " Arise! be sacred, and
flourish beneath the protection of thy brethren." hew).

lotion alone can resolve the vital question of the nation.
alities, which superficial intelligences continue to mis-
understand, but which we know to be the organisation
of Europe. It alone can give the baptism of humanity
to thoseoraces who claim to be associated in the common
work, and to whom the sign of their nationality is de-
nied ; it alone can regenerate Italy to a third life, and
say to Hungary and Poland—Exist ; it alone can unite
Spain and\ Portugal into an Iberian republic ; create a
young Scandinavia, give a material existence to Illyria,
organise Greece, extend Switzerland to the dimensions
of an Alpine confederacy, and group in a free fraternity
and make an Oriental Switzerland of Servia, Roumania,
Bulgaria, and Bosnia. And it alone can harmonise above
this real European equilibrium—sole guarantee of peace-
ful progress--the two grand ideas which now lead the
world, and which are named Liberty and Association.
Brethren, doubt not of your strength ; your programme
responds to all the instincts of the epoch. For it men
struggle, suffer, and die on every point of Europe.
Organise yourselves, and dare : daring is the prudence
of the strong.
The party has need of a common centre of action, a
common treasury, and a common snot d'ordre. If it does
not create these in one month, it is nut equal to its high
mission. The centre of action is in us, or in any others
possessing the confidence of the party ; in any men pure
in soul, and comprehending and representing the great
European nationalities ; understanding and loving each
other and the common cause, ready to stand in the
front rank on the day of battle, and in the last on the
morrow of victory.
Whosoever they be, fear them not ; they can only be
strong through the strength of the great body of the army
The treasury of the party may rapidly be formed

each man will bring his mite ; if, wherever there is a
soldier of the republic—man or woman—who has an in-
fluence in a given circle, a subscription be organised ;
if, from the franc of the poor man to the thousands of
the rich, each believer will regard himself as a debtor for
a share in the Loan of Liberty. If we choose to be so,
we are the richer pasty, for we number our ranks by
millions.

The mot d'ordre, we have declared, is—Liberty for
all ; association of all. It excludes nothing, it comprises
all. To go beyond this is tyranny. What centre of
action would or could exercise such tyranny ?

It belongs not to a few individuals, nor even to the
entire acting party, to decide on the practical measures
by which the revolution shall remedy the evils under
which the masses are suffering, the striking inequalities
of the actual social system ; that will be the work of the
revolution itself, of which we can only be the initiators.
From the collective inspirations and out of the beating
hearts of the peoples, when they shall have made of the
shroud that now covers them a labarum of victory, must
spring the word of the epoch. For life engenders life,
liberty begets intelligence, and the man who clasps the
bands of his brethren in a burst of devotion, enthusiasm,
and triumphant love, is given a revelation of truth de-
nied to the isolated slave who dares not break his chain.
Let us then break our chains, and let us unite for this.
Let each elaborate and put forth his own solution of the
, social problem: it is alike a right and a duty. But shame
on any one, amongst us who, by separating himself from
the common work, shall desert the army urged on to
battle by the cries of his suffering brothers, to isolate
himself in the barren pride of an exclusive programme.
He may be a sectarian—he is not a member of the great
church.

We have spoken of the army, and it is indeed the word
that best expresses our present mission. We are not the
future, we are its precursors ; we are not democracy,
we are an army bound to clear the way for democracy.
The common and definite aim, evident to every uncor-
rupted intelligence, is the republican form of government.
The means are not to be found in absolute individual
liberty and discussion, but in association, organisation,
collective labour, discipline, abnegation, and devotion.
Anarchy never gained a battle. Discussion is impotent
and useless when addressed to peoples with the brand of
slavery on their brow. Give them back the free air of
heaven, the purifying breath of liberty, the plenitude of
►heir faculties, the awed enthusiasm of the human being

that asserts his right, and your words will then bring
forth acts.

At the present day action alone can restore the holiness
of freedom of speech. The Greeks of the Lower Empire
discussed and died. The sabre of Mahomet struck in
silence.

Every republican of the present day must call himself
Action, and represent a force.
Every individual giving his name to the party must
bring to the common centre his contingent of devotion
and activity, his arm, his purse, and his intelligence.
The same word sounding on every lip must pass along
to all the secondary circles, spreading faith, the desire
of action, and the conviction that the favourable moment
has arrived.

A single cry must spring from the heart of the party, and
shake the torpor of the hesitating populations : We are
united ! Unite !

Herein lie honour, duty, and salvation. We have said
what we believe to be the truth as to the actual position
of the governments, the opportunity of the peoples,
and the mission of the Republican party. Let the
patriots of every country meditate and decide. To them
belongs the choice of the moment and the field of
battle.

The duty of all is identical, but there is diversity of
circumstances and position. There are peoples who,
like Hungary and Germany, oppressed and surrounded
by enemies, cannot at the present day do more than
enter in the second line of the great fight ; these peoples
must prepare to follow out instantly the impulse to be
given elsewhere. There are others, called by the past,
the present, and special circumstances to the honour of
the inithatiw ter tigta94llftienrirnausw3nd Italy.

France, once at the head of the movement which leads
Europe towards the future, cannot long resign herself,
without perishing, to be absorbed in selfish material in-
terests, and to view that flag which has been borne round
the world dragged by its vulgar master in the wake of a
power calling itself Austria. Italy has everything to
fear, from the shame which destroys the future to new
partitions which would add to the number of her ene-
mies, if in the face of the factions which beset her, she
does not assert her right, her nationality, her life, one
and Republican.
France is bound to continue and develope her grand
tradition of 1792, for her own glory and the common
good ; Italy to complete her programme of 1848, dating
from the rising of Sicily, the five days of Milan, Venice,
and Rome. Her people must raise again their national
flag, betrayed by their Kings. France, in arising, has
no foreign enemy to conquer. Italy has, but enfeebled,
isolated, and in her turn surrounded by enemies whom
the Italian bravery would arouse on her rear, her flank,
on every side. France bears in her bosom the awaken-
ing of those who suffer and aspire under a corrupt social
organisation in Europe. Italy has but to lift up her tri-
coloured flag to awaken the nationalities of Europe. The
man of the 2d December is the murderer of Rome.
France and Italy, Rome and Paris--this should be the
battle-cry.
But wherever the point, whatever the hour, this we
can declare—the first people that raises its banner i❑ the
name of country and humanity will be followed by all
the others.

Insurrection will engender insurrection, and the first
victory produce ten others on ten different points.
There is not a single nation which may not, by an
energetic and powerful act of will, be the cause of the
salvation of the world.

Sept., 1855.

KOSSUTH.

LEDRII ROLLIN.

JOSEPH MAZZINI.

THE MONEY MARKET.

(From the Times City Article of this day.)
The Bink of England to-day have increased their
rate of discount from 5 per cent., at which it was
fixed last Thursday, to 51 per cent.

The measure has excited considerable dissatisfac-

tion among the London bankers and others, inas-
much as the supply of money, even at the existing
rate, was in excess of the demand ; and it there-
fore throws them into uncertainty, while, at the
same time, it is calculated to check the legitimate
trade of the country. The Bank directors, how-
ever, it may be assumed, have been guided solely
by the nature of their latest bullion returns, and
by the necessity, in the face of the extraordinary
proceedings of the Bank of France, cif not defer-
ring for a single week any precaution that may be
indicated. _ _

The discount houses, having again been taken
by surprise, have deferred till to-morrow any an-
nouncement regarding their future rates for money
at call.
The Bank of France have at length notified an
increase in their rate of discount from 4 per cent.
to 5, and have at the same time resolved to limit
their accommodation to bills having only 75 days
to run, instead of three months •as heretofore.
This intelligence will tend in some degree to allay
apprehensions, which were becoming very preva-
lent, that financial experiments of an unsound and
extraordinary character were in contemplation by

the French Government.
Letters from Paris confirm the announcement of
the extent of the contracts entered into by the
Bank of Franca for a supply of gold from this side.
The first contract was for 75,000,000 f., and the
second for 25,000,000 f., making a total of 4,000,0001.
sterling.
The continental exchanges remain without alter-
ation. Money in Holland is obtainable at 3 per
cent., and in Belgium at 21 per cent.
Advices from Riga to the 27th of September
mention an extraordinary demand for corn. No-
thing was bought on speculation on the spot, but
all for real want in the provinces.
The facts just confirmed regarding the artificial
operations of the Bank of France in drawing gold
from this side furnish a remarkable confirmation
not only of the views lately expressed, but of the
soundness of those put forth a month back, when
the Bank of England first raised their rate of dis-
count. It was then stated that, although a mode-
rate advance in the value of money was inevitable,
and there could be no prospect of its being other-
wise than in active demand throughout the re-
mainder of the year, there was nothing in a gene-
ral survey of the trade of the country to suggest
that any repeated movements on the part of the
Bank would be found necessary. Subsequently it
became known that the Government had arranged
that the proceeds of the Turkish loan should be re-
mitted to Constantinople in specie, instead of being
managed, as usual, by Exchange transactions ;
while, at the same time, notwithstanding reiterated
statements regarding the excellence of the Ame-
rican harvest, 300,0001. or 400,0001. was suddenly
remitted to Vienna for purchases on the Danube,
owing to a continued improvement in the grain-
market, the unfounded nature of which has since

been demonstrated by a reaction of 4s. per quarter
Even these circumstances, however, although cal

,
culated temporarily to modify previous expecta-
tions, were insufficient to account for the drain

which had set in, apparently with uncontrollable
force. The Bank of England, the private and
joint-stock banks, the discount house, and the
mercantile community generally were alike per-
plexed, and a multitude of theories were put forth
to account for their confusion—one of which was
that they had all been misled by the Times, while
another comprised the idea that Russia had been se-
cretly borrowing. All that was positively known was,
that gold continued to go to Paris, whether the rate of
exchange rendered itprofitable or otherwise. It was
then declared that, in consequence of the war, the
country was carrying on a much more one-sided
trade than had been apprehended, and that the
result which ought long ago to have been foreseen
had now rendered itself palpable. It was vain to
urge that, as the war had been raging for a year
and a-half, its effects were hardly to be looked for
in a sudden crash spread over a few weeks, and
that, in addition to the grain purchases and the
Turkish loan, there must still be some accidental or
exceptional solution for the symptoms in progress.
Such a mode of evasion was not to be tolerated,
and the speculators for a fall were triumphant.
At length the operations of the Bank of France
gradually became known. In order to prevent the
necessity for resorting to an advance of the rate of
discount, they had been purchasing gold at a price
above its natural value, and a temporary stimulus
was thus being afforded to the financial affairs of
that country. The amounts were said to be large
but, nevertheless, surprise was felt when it was re-
nounced that they were expected to reach 1,600, 00t
At last the total has been found to be 4,000,000/.,
and the solution of all the previous mystery
is
.
more than ample. Indeed, the marvel is that
with such an operation in progress the disturbancehas not been greater. • The real difficulty, there-
fore, is not to account for what has been witnessed,
but for its moderation.
anew
and iws
the more glance at our
position Under
becomesthese circumstances,
practicable,
de-
sirable, because, in addition to those acting upon
ordinary speculative Luotivea, there are at the

sent conjuncture other parties strongly engaged in
exciting distrust—namely, the Greek sympathisers
with Russia, who constitute a large and active class
both in London and Liverpool ; and the section of
English politicians with Austrian views wha hope
to see their predictions fulfilled, that the war would
ultimately become so unpopular as to cause peace;
to be accepted on any terms. It is not enough that
the alarming features of the present drain have now
been removed by the discovery of one of its prin-
cipal causes. At every future opportunity the
attempt to create a panic will be repeated. It was
tried in March, 1854, when Consols went down to
85k and, although it has twice failed, the result
may some day be different.

The question whether the war expenditure is be-
yond the means of the country must, therefore, be
boldly met. If it be upon a scale to involve a per-
manent drain of gold there is no alternative but to
lower it, or to prepare ourselves for that mitigated
form of national bankruptcy which consists in a
suspension of specie payments. Happily, the cap-
ture of Sebastopol puts it into our power to limit
or extend our operations at pleasure. While that
remained to be effected there was no choice but to
go on, even if the yearly sacrifice were measured
by hundreds of millions. But, apart from all con-
siderations of this sort, the necessity for its diminu-
tion will prove upon inquiry to be at present with-
out proof. The view orignally taken against the
alarmists has not yet been set aside. It was that
the stop which would be given by war to the wild
expenditure in foreign enterprises or loans which
always takes place in times of prosperity might
probably more than counteract all the loss to be
encountered in our new form of outtlay—an ini
pseasionAakt 14m51, j3/4t.t.ha,AKWenxhich,
money was about to .e drawn from us under the
new system of guarantees by foreign Governments
or corporations as to render it actually a point for
consideration whether we should not be indebted
to Russia for saving us from a new commercial
crisis. These modes of absorbing our surplus means
being for the most part arrested, the question
simply is whether the annual profits of the country
from its trade, which the enemy cannot disturb,
are sufficient to meet the sum to be sunk in mate-
rials of destruction, and in the pay of those who,
diverted from reproductive labour, are employed
in connection with them ? Although the outlay
of 50 or 80 millions has a serious sound, even
when compared with our enormous commercial
gains, it must be borne in mind that there is a very
large portion of this which is not lost to the nation
in any shape. Thus, one of the heaviest items has
been the chartering of steamers, the profits of which
have gone to private individuals or public compa-
nies, while the immediate commercial loss has been
small, owing to the nation contenting itself mean-
while with an economical system of mail service.
In like manner all the heavy profits of contractors,
together with the additional wages earned by men
who but for Government employ might be out of
work, the extra transport on railways, and a mul-
titude of other things, must be deducted until we
arrive at the mere net cost of the produce imported
for the manufacture of war materials, the cost of
working them up, and the direct pay and sustenance
of the forces ; and even these are liable to a set-off,
since the producing countries become better custo-
mers to us in consequence, and much of the pay of
the forces finds its way back to their families. We
must also estimate that the expenditure of our
enemy is heavy 2 • that it takes place in gold ; and
that we share to a very considerable extent,
although indirectly, the advantages of the pur-
' chases he is compelled to make from western
Europe.
Hence there is inherent reason to avoid any hasty
assumption that the war is too much for our mer-
cantile strength, and experience has thus far sup-
ported theory. Through nearly two years we have
been unusually free from monetary disturbance,
and, although our expenses were as heavy six
months back as now, they did not prevent the bul-
lion in the Bank from increasing from 12,162,4951.
on the 20th of January to 18,018,575/. on the 30th
of June last, while at present it not only stands
above the January limit, but is fully equal to the
total held just after the war began. To adopt the
conclusion that the drain of 3,000,000/. during the
past six weeks must be the result of the war was,
therefore, obviously premature. It was unsup-
ported by any casual circumstances, since the pre-
vious gold supply had apparently not been in-
creased by any accidental occurrences, the Austra-
lian remittances having shown no fluctuations
while from California they had been below the
amount upon which,. there is reason to calculate
for the future. Tbef expenditure of the population,
moreover, has been equally uniform, and their im-
portations, in fact, of late have been rather under
than over their requirements.
It may consequently be repeated that, although
the effects of the Turkish loan and of the recent
grain purchases, together with those of the un-
broken demand for silver for India and China, the
perplexities consequent upon the strange proceed-
ings of the Bank of France, and the certainty of a
new loan being required by the English Govern-
ment iu the spring, are all causes which must exer-
cise for some time an adverse influence, our pros-
pects are not only as sound as they were lately de-
scribed to be, but that the convictions then enter-
tained have received additional weight from the
fact of the unparalleled movements of the Bank
having failed to produce a single sign of commer-
cial uneasiness. That the ultimate effects of the
war expenditure on the currency is a problem
which time alone can solve, and that. it calls for
the utmost watchfulness on the part of the Govern-
ment, is not to be denied. If ever it should pre-
sent danger, the only remedy must be a reduction,
since it cannot be touched by the constant advance
in the rate of discount, which, in fact, would
merely check the commerce that forms our best
dependence. The premonitory indications, how-
ever, would be likely to be gradual, and although
at Vienna, Berlin, and St. Petersburg the highest
congratulations have doubtless been current upon
the disturbances of the past few weeks and the
causes assigned for them, there is full reason to
hope that the financial vigour of the country under
our system of free trade and a convertible currency
is equal to much greater trials than any to which
it has been exposed.

THE BUYING-00T SYSTEM' OF THE

INDIAN ARMY.

(Prom the Indian News, Oct. 2, 1855.)

The decision of the Chief Justice in Wroughton's case,
together with sundry ministerial remarks on the pur-
chasing-out system, having reached India, officers of the
Indian army are not a little puzzled to account either
for the decision or the Ministerial comments thereon;
and the more so as the home authorities appear to have
arrived at the conclusion without being fully conversant
with the premises.
The system is very simple. The officers of the Indian
army—in which the seniority system prevails—subscribe
out of their own pockets towards a fund for purchasing
out old or obstinately healthy officers who, when they
arrive at a certain age, are practically in everybody's way,
and who, feeling that their day is gone by, are usually
as glad to be bought out as their juniors are to buy them
out. The East India Company, finding the plan work
admirably in securing efficiency in place of non-efficiency,
adopts it by making the subscriptions compulsory, and
so far sanctions it, though the subscriptions come oat of
the pockets of the officers themselves. This the Chief
Justice pronounces to be illegal ; though if we were to de-
tach the Company from the system, or the system from
of
the Company, as might be done, the " officersu'u of
course become legal, as, without doubt,
the Indian army have a perfect right to subscribe their
money for any purpose they please, a
upon any one they please, whether for their
heir own
in thebenefit
or otherwise. The illegality, it seems, consists to bestow it
Company having sanctioned the plan.
We know nothing of law, and therefore will not stop
to discuss the quibble. We, however, well recollect
that in a case in which Sir C. Napier was concerned,
Lord Denman said that the " decisions of the present
Chief Justice were not the law of England," and we
have therefore room to infer that the present decision
may be another case in point. However, let that pass.
Whether the present system be legal or illegal, it would
be extremely difficult to substitute another which should
do its work as well. A strict seniority system, which
should supolY
none but the oldest men for work demand-
ing the vigour of manhood, would paralyse an army.
We have lately had pretty good proof of this in the war
with Russia, where thousands of our brave troops have
been sacrificed to men who would have been more in their
place at their own firesides. But we need not come
to the Queen's army for an example : we have it in the
late Military Board of India. That board was composed
of men who went to it by seniority, regardless of fitness
or capacity. The consequence has been a paralysation
of the physique of the army which required all the ener-
gies of an able commander-in-chief to combat. The
Seniority Board became at length such an intolerable
nuisance that it had to be swept away as such. All strict
seniority systems must, mere or less, eventually lead to
similar results. The question therefore is, how is a
seniority system to be maintained, and yet avoid its
ultimate evils ? Both the Company and its officers unani-
mous reply, "By our system of buying out those who
who are worn out." The officers, at any rate, ought to be
competent judges on the subject to provide the funds ;and
before the system is destroyed, or even sapped, it be-
hoves the destroyer to provide a better system, which
WI be a matter of difficulty. gold the chit! INitica