The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-23 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 23, 1855.

NAWSP.APE.R STAMPS.

A meeting of the Newspaper Trade was held last ever-
ing at St. Marlin's-hall, Mr. Wild in the chair, to con-

cider the proposed measure of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer with respect to the removal of the stamp

from newspapers.

The CHAIRMtN, in opening the proceedings!, said he
eould not see in the speech of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer any good reasfps for repealing a tax which was
voluntary in itself, and for which great convenience and
important facilities were received in exchange. He cer-

tautly did not think that this was the time to give up

an amount of revenue which the Chancellor himself

estimated at a quarter of a million.

He, however, be-

lieved that the reduction would betnuch more consider-

able,' since this calculation of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer was founded upon the supposition that a large
part of the revenue at present received for stamps would.
remain as a postage charge. But the fact was, that if
we had a cheap press, the journals would be sent to
their destination by the cheapest conveyance. Now,
every one knew that it would be much cheaper t 3 send
them in bulk by railway rather than in singlo
copies through the post. ' Nor was it probable that
what the revenue lost by the removal of the stamp
would be supplied by the increased amount received for
the excise o❑ paper, since it must be remembered that
the same parties who had agitated against the newspaper
stamp had also declared that they would not be satisfied
until the paper duty was repealed. There would, there-
fore, be no compensation on this head. Another im•
portant point for them to consider was this. If parties

were permitted to publish newspapers without giving
security for good behaviour, journals would be started
by men without means or character, who would publish
... . .

libels in order to give piquancy to ticir papers and in-

crease their eale

And then when actions for libel were

brought they would abscond and the newsvender would
be left to bear the penalty of their misconduct. This

was no imaginary case, as many would recollect the pro-
secutions which took place some years ago agaithit the
Age, Satirist, and ether publications. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer said in the course of his speech that no
inconvenience-would arise from stamping only a portion
of the impression of a newspaper and publishing the rest
unstamped. And in proof of this the right hon. gentl,-
man said that he had been told by the manager of Punch,
and some other papers, that no practical 4ifficulty would

be felt on this head. But it sh.ould be recollected the
stamped portion of the impression of Punch wag published
on one day, and the unstamped portion on the other ;
and with resped to the other journals to which reference
had been made, they were all published at the early part
of the day. The case of such journals as these was not,
therefore, analogous to that of newspapers published but
a short time before they were required to be sent out.
He believed that the greatest possible difficulty would be
experienced in sending out a mixture of stamped and un-
stamped papers at a late hour and under great pressure
in point of time. He contended that it was quite an
error to regard the newspaper stamp as a tax. It was
really a postal arrangement for which very adequate
publi-J convenience was received in return. This, at any
rate, was not the time to give up a source of revenue
easily collected, and paid without reluctance on the part
of the public. (Hear.)
Mr. TERRY, of Hatton-garden, moved the first reso-
lution, "declaring that to permit newspapers to be either
stamped or unstamped would be attended with great in-
convenience to the newsvenclers ; while the facilities
which it was proposed to afford for the starting of jour-
nals without security would very probably subject the
sane instead of the publishers of newspapers to actions
and prosecutions for libel." If he understood the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer's plan, papers which did not
stamp any part of their impression need not be regis-
tered, nor need their proprietors give any securities. The
result would be, that they might be started by men of
straw, and the newsvenders might be prosecuted and
ruined for the sale and publication of libels of which they
bad never read a line. (Hear, hear.) The greatest pos-
sible inconvenience and difficulty would be felt in pack-
ing and sending out a mixture of stamped and unstamped
papers. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said he
had been informed by the conductors of Punch and the
Illustrated News tha no difficulty would be felt on
this score. The chairman bad, however, disposed of the
case of Punch, and with respect to the Illustrated News,
all he had to say was, that that journal bad not yet com-
menced to publish a double impression. The newsven-
ders had even now the greatest difficulty in getting the
copies of this paper in time to send out, and how in
finitely would the difficulty be increased under the new
system ! Even that, however, did not exhibit the full
difficulty of the case. Let them consider what would be
the state of things when the whole of the London jour-
nals were permitted to do this and availed themselves of

the privilege. It was ♦ery possible that if they had
time to make their arrangements for packing and sorting
the different editions, they might succeed in meeting the
difficulty ; but it should not be forgotten that the des-
patch of the papers to the country was all to be done at
the last moment. He believed that the practical diffinul-
ties of this operation' would be insuperable. Then sup-
pose they had several quires of unstamped papers over,
what were they to do with them, since it was very likely
that they would not be able to exchange them for
stamped copies ; .and they would thus be left unavailable
on their hands. Mr. Gladstone's scheme was in so tar

preferable tbat he did propose to permit a stamped wrap-
per to be used. This however was no great boon, since the

greatestdifficulty would be experienced in finding stamped
wrappers for papers at the last moment. Another man-
ner in which he believed inconvenience would be felt
was this. It would be almost impossible in the hurry of
business to keep the stamped and the unstamped parts
of the impression separate. They would constantly be
getting intermingled. Then the parcels would be stopped
and examined in the Post-office, and at the very least
great detention would ensue in the delivery of the news-
papers, or the newsvendors would as likely be subjected
to heavy penalties for a perfectly unintentional and un-
avoidable breach of the law. (Hear, hear.) He denied
that this was a tax. It was a postal arrangement ; and
he thought nothing could be more absurd than to sur-
render a large amount of revenue raised with great
facility and with hardly any public inconvenience at
a time when we were oppressed with war taxation.
He- did not think that the repeal of the stamp duty
would raise the respectability of the pre =a. He
reared that it would cause it to fall to the level
of the American press ; ncr was be without
some apprehension that ths measure would lead to
the appearance of an immoral class of publications,
There were certain persons who were looking out for
this. Did they think that halfpenny or penny papers,
such as bad been announced to appear if the stamp duty
were teraled, would tend to elevate the minds of the
people ?, He feared not. (Hear.) Again, would mt
the repeal of, the stamp duty lead to pilfering from the
established papers which now spent thousands of pounds
in procuring- original intelligence ? If so, -they would
be no longer able to go to this heavy expense, and the
result would be that we should no longer have a press of
the same high character as at present, when the
practical copyright protection of the stamp was with-
drawn. • (Hear, hear.)
Mr. WALTER seconded the resolution. The trade
gthhteiarndobrecri Gibson
ssotno
looked upon
euapto n th e
jealousy,eff
withdraw the newspaper business from London to the
provinces. ortbeslioefvi.!ig nthßarti
A NEWSVENDOR—They dislike the London press. It
is too respectable for Manchester.
Mr. HoeeoeirE opposed a resolution which appeared
to put the interests of the newsvendors against that of
the public. The legal liabilities under which newsven-
dors lay now were much greater than they would be
under the bill of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
He did not believe the repeal of the stamp duty would
lover the character of the press, for he believed
that no cheap unstamped papers would indulge in
the licence of language which often characterised the
Times. It was said that the effect of repealing the
duty would be to throw away an immense amount
of revenue. But there would be no loss if a postage
charge were levied at the rate of one penny for
every four ounces of printed matter. An amendment
in that sense would be moved in the House of Com-
mons. It was said that this tax was collected with little
difficulty and at small expense. But let them ask the
Officers of the Inland Revenue-office whether that was
the case ? It was generally admitted that it was per-
fectly impossible to carry out the law as it stood at pre-
sent. No doubt there might be some practical difficulty
in dealing with a mixture of stamped and unstamped
papers. But he believed that, like many other difficulties,
it might be, and would be, overcome ; and at all events,
it was not for them to set their own interests against
those of the public. After dwelling upon the benefits
which he anticipated from the diffusion of knowledge
that he thought would be consequent upon the multipli-
cation and the cheapness of newspapers, Mr: Holyoake
concluded by moving, as an amendment :—" That, iu
the opinion of the meeting, it is desirable to abolish
the newspaper stamp and security system, and admit all
I printed matter to postage at the rate of four ounces
for a penny."
Mr. TRUELOVE seconded the motion.
Mr. TERRY briefly replied.
The question was then put-to the meeting, when the
original motion was carried by a large majority of those
present.
Mr. TERRY then moved two other resolutions, de-
claring that the revenue would sustain a loss by the
proposed change, because the railways would success--
fully compete with the Post-office in the conveyance of
the unstamped papers ; and that it would, moreover, in
reality rather restrict than increase the circulation of in-
telligence, since papers would no longer be circulated
first in town and then in the country, and consequently
their cost to the reader would not undergo the reduction
consequent upon this double circulation.
The resolutions were agreed to, and the proceedings
then terminated.

. .
• . THE RErRESENTATION OF SOUTH WILTS.--A for-
midable opposition to Mr. Sidney Herbert is being
organised in South Wilts on behalf of Lord Tlarry
Thylinp,. the young broth n‘ of the yowig Marflu! (..f
Lath. _Retainers have already been given to several
solicitors, and the contest, when it happens, is expected
to be a very severe one,—aerborne journal,

THE NEWSPAPER VAMP _BILL.

(From the Morning Chronicle of this day. )
The more we consider the question of repealing the
Newspaper Stamp, in the partial manner proposed by
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the more reason there
is to regret the tendency of the age to listen to theorists
rather than to practical men. If those who prepared the
resolution agreed to by the House of Commons took the
trouble to consult the persons best acquainted with the
whole working of the existing system, they certainly do
not seem to have profited. much by the opinions they
elicited. It would have been difficult, if not impossible,
to put into any one enactment regulations more calcu-
lated to create obstructions to trade, or snore injurious
to the beet interests of the community, than those which
are embodied in the bill about to be pressed on the
House of Commons.

The opinion of all persons connected with the produc-
tion and sale of newspapers presents a remarkable una-
nimity on this subject. If a mere trade prejudice had
been manife,ted, the Chancellor of the Exchequer might
have been justified in disregarding it. such, however,
is not the character of the resistance offered to the pro-
posed change in the Newspaper Stamp law.' The ab-
stract question of abolition having been decided by the
House of Commons, no mere outcry was raised by those
who might have been supposed interested in maintaining
"a monopoly." On the contrary, they waited to see what
were the particular enactments proposed. When the
first was abandoned, from its inherent complexity and
impracticability, they gave the same patient considera-
tion to the second—that which the Chancellor of
the Exchequer is now about. seeking to have made law
of the land. Only when its working was seen to be
absolutely impossible was resistance offered to it ; and
even now that resistance is of the most temperate cha-
racter. , Thus much is in justice due to the proprietors,
conductors, and vendors" of newspapers, that the public
may see that they have not been actuated by any merely
sordid views of their own interests.

A great mistake is committed by a ,legislator when
h. seeks t make or to change a hrw,Aiithcint consult.
ing those who are practically acquakted with the sub-

ject to which it relates. Of this we have a strong proof
in the convincing arguments offered la,,Cilight against
.the measure of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the
meeting of the News Trade- in St. Martin's Hall.
Without disparaging Sir George Cornewall' Lewis or
his advisers, we must say that more sense was there
uttered on the subject than is to he found in all
the arguments that were used in the House of
Commons in support of the Bill. The speeches
had reference, not merely t ) the practical working of the
proposed change, but also to its general policy ; but al-
though those who addressed the meeting were naturally
more acquainted with the former than with the latter,
the tone of their remarks on the abstract question evinced
so superior an appreciation, as to reflect back importance
on the objections which they made in their capacity of
vendors of newspapers.
Haste is one of the inevitable accompaniments of all
newspaper work. From the original collector of news to
the vendor of the printed -newspaper extreme rapidity
is the law of action. Of the extraordinary energy and

facility required to get a newspaper together, every pur-
chaser has abundant proof. Few know, however, the
difficulties attending the actual publication, transinission,
and general circulation. Upon this head the members of
the news trade, -assembled last evening at St. Martin's
Hall, were peculiarly qualified to speak. The Chairman,
Mr. Wild, explained to the meeting and we hope his
remarks will not escape the notice of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer—the extreme hurry in which the opera-
tions of the newsvendor are carried on. The distinction
made between the stamped and unstlinred papers will
render the ordinary operations of the newsvendor almost

impossible. At a-late hour—before post time—and un-
der an extreme pressure, hoW are the newsvendors to be
able to examine the thousands and tens of thousands of
copies that will pass through their hands, in order to se-
parate the stamped from the unstamped papers? Again,
when the bags arrive at the Post-office, how is the same
process to be renewed there ? If the reader has ever been
present at St. Martin's-le-Grand about five o'clock he
will be able to form some idea of the difficulties with
which the Post-office authorities arm menaced by this
measure.

Mr. WILD also showed with great clearness that there
could be.no analogy between the case of papers like the
Atheneum and Punch, and that of papers like the Times
or Chronicle. The stamped edition of Punch is printed
one day, the unstamped another ; there is, therefore, no
difficulty in regulating the proportions. But a daily
newspaper -must publish its stamped and unstampecl
copies continuously, within a few hours, and all on the
same morning. How can the demand fur stamped, as
compared with unstamped jiapers, 'be known beforehand?
How is the perpetual confusion 'inseparable from such
an intermingling to be avoided There are practical
difficulties-which peculiarly affect the newsvendors. The
public may not be aware that the practice of exchanging
one paper for another prevails throughout the trade.
Thus a person who has more Heralds or Posts than.
be wants' fcr that day exchanges them for Chronicles
or for the Times. • But under this new bill, the dif-
ference between stamped and unstaraped papers will
practically- interfere with this usage, and by so much
deter the newsmen from buying papers which they
may be compelled to keep at a loss. The result of this,
the practical part 'of the nßwsvendnrs' objections, is, in
fact, fatal to. the operation of the measure. Such diffi-

culties may bo scouted by mere theorist=, but in a busi-
ness where minutes are so valuable they are exactly the
objections which ought not to be despised.
The newsvendors have not lost sight of the higher but
scarcely. more important considerations involved. They
point out the impolicy of abandoning at such a time a
tax pre-eminently voluntarily, and paid by the public
without demur. They show that, as cheap newspapers
will be sent by railways to the larger towns, the rail-
ways will gain at the expense of the Post-office. Noy
will the loss be made up by increased paper duty-- be-
cause the same agitators who have got up this cry
against the stamp are also pledged to abolish the
Excise duty on paper. Another practical evil these
shrewd and experienced observers have pointed out.:
The publishers of unstamped papers being under
no obligations to give securities for good conduct
the
pnlibolelillod protect
us.
papersaetmioanysbe published. Against
consequencess would themselvesa and
prosecutions those
by running away: and
the newsvendor would then become the person liable to
punislin3ent, however innocent of all knowledge of the
contents of the papers be passes over his counter. This
is no ininqinary evil. It actually occurred when papers
like the Age and Satirist were in existence. The stamp,
besides acting itself as a guarantee of respectability,
does,, by the accompanying securities, protect the news-
men against such an injust'ce. Surely suggestions of
this kind thus offered in the name of the, news trade
would have had their weight with either the present or
the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, had they conde-
scended to ask the opinion of practical men.
The measure is one of centralisatioe. Papers published
in the metropolis may go by rail to the largo town., or
those published in the large towns may be distributed by
hand. But the rural districts—precisely those most in
want of sound political information—will be left without
newspapers. At present, by the retransmission:through the
post, they get these papers, as has been ably shown, at. a
cost of less than one. penny. With an evening contem-
porary, we ask, why not leave well alone ? The public
do not ask for this change, the proprietors do not ask
r otlaboursan d o f dtehger a
adgai-
t-
for it, and those who are responsible for the revenue
must in their secret minds see the extreme folly of such
an
ion o ttife
the
erseass willcri r
sacrifice. Thef deterioration
m he
tators, if it be not their object. We mean no slur on the
more intelligent inhabitants of the great capital of ma-
nufacturing industry when we recall the exclamation of
one of the newsvendors present last evening. Alluding
to the promoters of this movement, he cried out, " They
dislike the London. press. It is too respectable for
Manchester!" As regards the secret object of the
agitators, we have little doubt that in this charge there
is no small amount of truth.

THE POLICY OF ALEXANDER 11.

(Prom the Morning Advertiser of yesterday.)

It is difficult for us to understand how a contemporary
can pretend, " that the indications hitherto given in
Russia of the policy of the new reign are nearly all of a
more temperate character, and that there is a wide dif-
ference between the present language of the Russian
Cabinet and the insane appeals addressed by Nicholas to
the fanaticism of his subjects in opposition to the com-
bined policy of Europe." Let us look to the facts.
The new reign has been inaugurated by a manifesto,
in which Alexander 11. proclaims that he will con-
solidate his empire in the highest degree of power
and glory, and that through him shall be fulfilled
the designs and desires of his predecessors, Peter
the Great, Catherine 11., Alexander the much-
beloved, and of his own august Father. This is tolerahly
strong. The late ruler of Russia also acted, it is true,
according to the principles laid down by his proto-
types in aggression ; yet he never, even in his most
frantic appeals, openly confesSed himself the per-
petuator of conquering despotism ; he rather disclaimed
ambitious views. The present Muscovite Sovereign,
on the contrary, not only pursues the traditional
policy, but explicitly makes a doctrine of it ; nay, he
declares that he will not only work out what is known
to be the patent policy of Russia, but pursue even the
most bidden " designs and desires" of his models. Nor
is this all. To give the manifesto still more significance,
to connect it still more intimately with the views of the
late Emperor, it has now been divulged in the Musco-
vite capital—as we see from St. Peter3burg 'letters—
that the document issued after the advent of the new
Czar, had been sketched out and read before the dying
Autocrat, who gave it his full approbation. In these
last days, too, Alexander 11., in a speech made to the
so-called Senate, asserted "that for upwards of ten years
he had pr .:;cipated of; and had his full share in, the acts
of Govern!!:;:mt, and had been initiated into the projects
of his deceased father"—an expression which seems to
indicate that he does not intend to swerve from the here-
ditary poly of the house of P.,::1:.ri0:-F.
Ei-; ;Int.:LIN to the army breathe thu same spirit ; and
the famous dictum of Nicholas, "In te, _Domine,
speravi, non confundar in aternum I " is quite equal-
led, Alla even ourpaaned, by the menacing exclamation,

" Woe to the enemies of Russia 1" which is contained
in Alexander the Second's order of the day to the

army. Besides, some more Imperial lucubrations have
since come to hand. For instance, an open letter to the
Cossacks of the Don, in which the Government of St.

Petersburg strives to work up tho zeal of these rude
warriors, by presenting them, as a token of gratitude for
their faithful and glorious services, with the Cossack

uniform worn by the deceased Czar, and which " hence-
forth id to be preserved among the sacred treasures of
the Don Cossacks, as a holy relic and an imperishable

remembrance for ages to come."
Through another letter Alexander 11. transmits to the
Czarewitsch Crown Prince the post he himself has
hitherto held, of Ataman of all the Cossack hordes ;
and he takes this opportunity to vow a most romantic
eternal love to the Guard regiments of the Cossacks,
" with whom he has identified himself." In a docu-
.

meat addressed to Prince Alexander Sserjewitsch
(Meneehikoff), he rejoices over the " truly Russian valour
with which the troops havo repulsed all- efforts of their
enemies." He thanks the gallant defenders of Sebastopol
for the glorious deeds, by which they have rendered
illustrious for ever the war-annals of the Empire, and,
repeating the doctrine of Holy R tssia, he urges- on his
troops to battle by assuring them that "the late chief of
the Orthodox army, who has ent-red into eternal life,
looks down from Heaven' upon, and gives his benedic-
tion to, the perseverance and unprecedented intrepidity
with which the troops sustain the struggle." .
Such is the language of the Russian Government, on
the temperance of which the Times has such flattering

praises to bestow:, Perhaps it has not occurred to our

contemporary that, in all the public manifestoes, open
letters, orders of the day, &c., issued since the 2d of
March, and of which there is an authentic text before
us—(and there are a great many, though a part only of
them have been published in this country)—not in one
single instance has the word peace been pronounced ;
whilst Nicholas, be it remembered, almost invariably

took the precaution of hypocritically .veiling his ambi-
tious pretutsions by allusions to the le-establishment
of peace. This is quite in,accordance with the actual
state of parties at the Russian Cuurt. Only a few days
ago, as we see from the Berlin papers, the Court of
Frederick William was filled with sorrow at the news
that the Old-Russian war•party were getting more and
more paramount at St. Petersburg. The only occasion
when Alexander 11. alluded publicly to efforts at pre-
sent making for bringing the Eastern contest to a con-
clusion was in an oral communication to the Diplo-
matic Corps assembled on the 7th of March in the Win-
ter Palace. The Muscovite Sovereign, on that day,

arrogantly pretended that "he would give peace to
Europe" if honourable conditions are offered to Russia ;
but shuuld they not be so, he would rather perish than
accept them. In a similar manner, Alexander 1., in
1812, replied to the offers of the French Emperor --
" Rather than accept' dishonourable conditions I
will retire into the depths of Siberia !" Another
remarkable feature in the declaration spoken by
the present Czar on March 7, is the reference to
the Holy Alliance. Though this Absolutistic Li a4ue
has 14,rt*Ily been dissolved by the events of 1848, Alex-
anderVtaid he bad reason to hope that the principles
upon which the despotic solidarity of Russia, Prussia,
and Austria was founded might soon again serve as a
bond between those States. This expression little indi-
cates that the Court of Vienna is about to cross swords
with the Bashkirs. It seems rather a proof that the
Muscovite Cabinet believes itself to be master of the
diplomatic game which is being played in the apartments
of Count Buol Schauenstein.

It has been said, "there is nothing like Russian
leather ;" but henceforth it may be said there is nothing
like Russian " temperate" policy. Fulfilment of the
designs of Peter, Catherine, Alexander, and Nicholas— '
victory to the orthodox army on the sacred soil of the Mus-
covite Empire—re-establishinent of the Holy Alliance :
this is pretty well for a " temperate" programme ; and
most unwise, most unstatesmanlike would it be in us
to throw any difficulties in the way of a Sovereign who
pursues so unambitious a policy. Sci thinks our
Government. So are our Plenipotentiaries at Vienna
instructed to think. So all temperate and moderate
people must think. The fact is, since the accession of
the new Czar, there exists no longer any Russian ques-
tion at all ! It is true, the world has in these latter
times allowed itself to be subject to a most passionate,
anti-Russian fever—but the crisis is now over, the
draughts of onr diplomatists at the Peace Congress are
certain to remove the last symptoms, and only most in-
veterate Russophobes can any longer refuse to swallow
the marvellous antidote offered, under the modest name
of the Four Points.

As, however, there might here and there be still ex-
tant among the public some groundless aversion to these
Four Points, our contemporary has, in his Tuesday's im-
pression, published an explanation and direction for the
use of that famous medicine, and we will not neglect to
give our readers the full benefit •f it, by republishing
the hints and remarks the Times has on this subject.

In respect to the first point—the protectorate over the
Danubian Principalities—we are informed that the "ex-
clusive" protectorate exercised by Russia will cease, and
that the only question is, " how the suzerain rights of
the Porte can best be secured without infringing on the
independence of the Christian authorities, which alone
can administer these countries." From this it is quite
clear that the Czar, in future, will have a co-equal right
of interference with the affairs of Moldo-Wallachia, and
that the question is not to drive out Russia, but to su-
persede the Ottoman t-iovernment, which is declared to
have no right of administering two provinces of its own I
But to take thee administration of Moldo-Wallachia
only from the hands of the Porte would scarcely be
worth while ; better, to swallow up at once European
Turkey whole. :" Indeed, the farther," says our con-
temporary, "the Plenipotentiaries of Europe proceed
in their discussion.the more forcibly will they perceive
that the "whole system of the Ottoman Empire, in
dealing with it's .dependencies and its Christian sub-
jects; Tuna past -under their revision." Of course, the
innocent reader will ask himself, in great astonishment,
whether this is the- settlement of conditions and
restriotions to be put upon the Russian aggressor.
The answer, however, is ready at hand. "It will pro-
bably be found before long," says our oracle, " that in
these negotiations tfie• Turkish obstacles are not the
least difficult to be surmounted, and that, before we can
reckon on any of the political results we had hoped to
obtain from this war, we have as much to require from
our ally as from our adversary." In a word, not only
the Government of Moldo-Wallachia, but of twelve
millions of Turkish subjects, is to be wrested from the
hands of the Sultan.

After having settled thus two knotty point 3, our con-
temporary approaches the navigation of the Danube.
But, as there can be no idea of giving back the
Danubian Delta and Bessarabia to Turkey, in order to
secure the free navigation of the river, the only solu-
tion of this point being a verbal promise of the Rus-
sian Government, our contemperaly does not stop

long at this affair ; and at once turns to what is be- 1
lieved to be the real difficulty, viz., the freedom
of the Black Sea. Here, however, there is no diffi-
culty, after all ! Nebo,ly thought of abolishing the
Convention of the Straits, which gives to Russia security
from attacks upon her Pontic possessions ! Nobody,
also, thought of demanding that Russia should raise the
fortifications of her Crimean stronghold ! "The real
aggressive power," we are told, " lay not so much in the
fortifications of Sebastopol," as in the fleet sheltered by
that harbour. The reduction of the Russian fleet, there-
fore, can only form the subject of discussions and de-
mand, and upon that point the Plenipotentiaries are
prepared to take their stand.
By a most wonderful process all questions concern-
ing Russia have thus been simplified and reduced to a
single head—the Muscovite fleet In the Euxine.
Arrived at this port, our contemporary, however,
abruptly leaves his readers ; and therefore we, on our
part, take up the work in order to complete the feel-
ing of public sati.faation. The Russian fleet in the
Black Sea—mark this !—once consisted of fourteen
ships of the line. But when the Allied squadrons ap-
proached the harbour of Sebastopol, Prince Menschikoff
caused six of them to be sunk at the entrance of the
port—eight ships then remained ! Some time after
it was found that the entrance had not been sufficiently
blocked up, and the Muscovite "Admiral" accordingly
despatched another ship under water—reducing the whole
number to seven. Now, the number to which the fleet
of the Czar ought to be reduced, according to the pro-
jects of the Vienna diplomatists is, if the correspondents
of our contemporary be well informed, six ships of the
line ! The whole Eastern and Russian question then re-
solves itself into the problem, " What shall we do with
the one supernumerary ship Of the line at Sebastopol ?"
This problem may cause some discussion ; it is, however,
to be hoped that our diplomatists will find means to
get over the difficulty. As a contribution to its solution,
we venture to suggest that Alexander 11. may be re-
quested to do an act of magnanimity, and graciously to
allow that this ship of the line may serve to carry the
flag of the English Admiral who will re-transport our
army to receive on its return, if not the laurel wreaths
of victory, the palm leaves, at least, from the happy
hands of Messrs. Cobden and Bright, just in the same
manner as if our soldiers had succeeded in storming the
great stronghold of the Northern Autocrat. Thus,
peace will be concluded, Turkey be reformed, and Eng-
land become ripe to undergo the mode of treatment most
in accordance with the designs of Peter, Catherine,
Alexander, and Nicholas.

NEWCASTLE AND CARLISLE RAILWAT.—The annual
meeting of this company was held in the Board Room of
the Directors, at the Central Station, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, on Tuesday; W. Woods, Esq., chairman of the di-
rectors; presided. The chairman read the report of the di •
rectors, an abstract of which has already been published.
He remarked that there had been a considerable increase
during the past year in the cost of coke, the amount
being 2,3001. in excess of the former year. The income,
however, was so satisfactory that the directors had felt
themselves justified in adding considerably to the reserve
fund, and paying for a new locomotive out of revenue, a
charge whi,li has usually been placed to the account of
collyrr.ti.lated the ,ilareholders an tl,f,sat:- •

, y. Mr. P. G. Ei
moved that the report be adopted. Mr. Matthew Bcll
seconded the motion, which was carried unaDimously.
The retiring director§ were re-elected,

TEE NATIONAL FAST.

(From th 6 Times of this day.)
We have had oer Fast. It was rather against the
grain, but we thought it right, and we did it, as we do
many things for which we have not exactly a taste,
though we have the religion or the good sense to submit
to them. We did not fast after the manner of antiquity,
from all food, in sackcloth and ashes, but on salt fish and
egg sauce, or on cold or boiled mutton, in our best coats
and clean linen, abstaining from our houses of business,
and, as the sky so willed it, from our ordinary walks or
rides. It was a dull day and a long day. It hung
heavily on hand, and had not even the quality of making
one ready for bed. Those of us who went to church,°
and for the present purpose we will assume that we
all did, heard a considerable variety of doctrine ;
some preachers being of opinion that war is a
good thing, some treating it as an unmitigated
evil ; and some, on the latter supposition, tracing
it to one national sin, and some 0 another. Such
was John Bull's Fast, dull at all events, and a thing
one is glad to have got over—just as people are glad
to get Lent over, though Lent or no Lent is all the Fame
to them. At all events, we congratulate ourselves that
there is no hypocrisy here, no taking out abstinence in
murder, no present denial with a view to future indul-
gence. The author of " Eothen" says that in a state of
protracted bodily inanition the mind is liable to criminal
imaginations of a monstrous character, and that more
crimes of an abnormal and hideous type are committed
during the fasts of the Greek Church than at any other
period. Well, we have nothing of that sort in this
country. But, stop, candid reader ; just reflect for a
moment. There may be hollowness, insincerity, and
weakness of purpose in the hest Saxony cloth and the
finest Irish linen as well as in sackcloth and ashes—on
roast beef as well as on an empty stomach. After all,
the result is the test of a Fast. If we continue in the
sins which have humbled and chastised us, we have done
our modest Parliamentary fast to very little purpose,
and are as great hypocrites as the rude Illusceriteepea-
, sant, who fasts all Lent and is dead drunk by 3 o'clock
on the afternoon of Easter-Shy. And 044, we are sorry
to say, is our case. We very much doubt whether the
Feet has made any difference in the ways of office. Job-
bery is still triumphant—nay, we are assured that at
this moment worse jobs are going on than any in the
course of the whole war, which appears to be a good
deal to say.
At this moment the nation may be excused if it does
not attempt the reconstruction of an existing army.
It so happens, however, that we aro making a new
one—not a new one for ourselves, but a sort of
model army for our ally—the Turk. We are about to
teach Turkey how to set about making a real army.
Now, how is this done, now that we have huaibled our-
selves and -repented of jobbery and other sins? A
letter with a well-knowu signature opens the vestiou.
A body of twenty thousand Turks is to be formed and
maintained, fed, clothed, and armed, at the ex-
pense of this country. There can be no objection to
this, excepting that in the event of failure we shall cut a
very sorry figure by the side of Omar Pasha, of the
Danube, and now of Eupatoria. We undertake to officer
and train this army. How do we begin ? We give the
command to General Vivian, whe, it is said, is without
any actual war experience, and whose only service has
been as Adjutant-General of the only Indian army which
has seen no service. This is to meet the cry for Indian
officers, and it does meet that cry, for we are not likely
to hear it again. We then invite the services of Indian
officers by a public notification, and have seen a list of
some hundred names. Among others that respond to
this timely appeal is Brigadier Mayne. He is a man,
if net of European, of Asiatic reputation. There is no
one in all India more thoroughly up to the enlistment
and management of irregular horse. Such a man, two
centuries ago, tied by no allegiance, would have carved
out a kingdom for himself and founded an Indian dy-
nasty. Wherever he might happen to be employed, if
within reach of India, he would find his Indian friends
flocking to his standard. Well, he applies at the Horse
Guards, and finds that he would have over his head
Colonel Shirley, who has never commanded anything
else than a British Dragoon fresh from his barrack-yard.
Why, even in India, with the light native cavalry before
everybody's eyes, it is quite a speciality to be able to
manage them, and if one English officer can, another can-
not. At all events, nobody is supposed capable of com-
manding them till he is tried. In this instance we have
a wholly untried man—a man whose experience is con-
fined to a force of the most contrary possible character,
and who has never taken that force into action—se-
lected to command an unknown force in an unknown
country under unknown circumstances ; and when an-
other man, to whom all these things are known,
who knows fighting, who knows the nature of the
irregular cavalry of the East, and has obtained the
greatest reputation therein, asks to be employed, he
finds he is to be under a man whose inexperience must

inevitably neutralize all his own expe.rienee. Yet,
all this is known to the authorities. Brigadier IVlayne's
services are history ; Colonel Shirley's are comprised in
the following line in the Army List :—" Arthur Shirley,
Lieutenant-Colonel 'Unattached. Ensign, 1830 ; Lieute-
nant, 1833 ; Captain, 1836 ; Major, 1846 ; Lieutenant-
Colonel, 1847 ; Colonel, 1854. Placed on half-pay
1851."

This was enough to damp the ardour of Brigadier
Mayne. Another Indian officer, successively on the
staff of Lord Hardinge and Lord Dalhousie, happening
to be here on sick leave, puts down his name and attends
at the Horse Guards. He finds that he would have to
serve under two officers whose connexion with the Indian
army was brought to an end by sentence of court-martial
for conduct unworthy of officers and gentlemen. Now,
General Vivian and Lord Panmure may or may not
think these the sort of men to form, to discipline, to
Europeanise, a Turkish army. They may or may not
think it an object to exalt the morality of the Turk, and
to give him English gentlemen for his officers. We really
cannot answer for them, after what has reached us of the
formation of this new corps. But what we ask is,
" Where is the promised reform?" Where is the working
of our new Government ? What is to come from the
Fast, and how are we to expect the blessings of Heaven
if we begin by setting aside not only the mandates of
Heaven, the instincts of virtue, and the suggestions of
Common sense, but the findings of our own courts-
martial and the public opinion of our armies ? To all
appearance, we are going on as we began. Heaven will
never help those who will not help themselves. What is
it, indeed, that we want ? Do we want to assist the
Turks and humble the Russians ? To all appearance,
nothing of the kind. We only want so make places for
General This, Colonel That, and Major So-and-So.
That is all, and to this paramount object Turk and Eng-
lishman are alike to be sacrificed, with just a chance of
our doing some little harm by the way to the Russians.

OUR INCURABLES AGAIN.

Our yesteriay's notice of the Herbert A'Court job
burst like a Sebastopol shell in the camp of the British
aristocracy. Thu storming of the fortress of our home
adversaries will, we well know, require long-continued
and patient siege. We stick t 3 our guns, of the public
press. Our notice of the twin job, viz., the provision
for life of a brother-in-law, and a nomination substitute
for the close borough of Wilton, has produced a prema-
ture labour in the following leading article of the Globe
of last night :
" Mr. C. H. Wyndham A'Court, M.P. for Wilton, has
been appointed Special Commissioner of Income Tax. A.
vacancy occurred some months since in the office, of Com-
missioner of Inland Revenue, by the death of Mr. Rush-
worth, which was not filled up ; but from the increasing
business convected with the Income Tax department, it
became clear that some addition should be made to the su-
perior staff of the office. Instead, however, of appointing
a new commissioner of Inland Revenue, the Government
have only filled up a Special Commissionership of Income
Tax, vacant for some time, the salary of which is but half
that of the former office. By this arrangement it is ex-
pected that the efficiency of the department will be made
equal to the increase of business, while the saving of 0001.
a year to the public will be effected."
Thus it appears that Mr. A'Court is appointed, not to
an Irish Income Tax vacant place, but as a " Special
Commissioner" of the Inland Revenue Board. We do
not comment on the legerdemain assertion of our minis-
terial contemporary, that there is a saving to the public
by this indefensible appointment. Nor do we care to
account for the fact that the " vacancy occurred
some months since." We leave the Government to
explain the reason for the delay in filling up so
" special " a vacancy. Nor is any " saving of 6001.
to the public," in this opportune sacrifice to a retir-
ing section of the late Cabinet, explainable by us or
by the Globe. The best economy of the public ser-
vice is the selection of tried and deserving public servants
for our administrative departments. The jobbing of
these offices, a's the spoils of the aristocracy, has been the
bane of Great Britain and Ireland. True and sufficiently
paid administrators constitute an economy far more prac-
ticable than the pretended reduction in the number and
salaries of the public servants. We repeat, what claim
or right had a three-year old member of Parliament,
brother-in-law of Mr. Sidney Herbert, to any such re-
sponsible and well-paid office as Mr. A'Court has hap-
pily obtained ? How many meritorious clerks are there
in the public offices—broken-hearted for want of recog-
nition of 20 or 30 years' public service—far better quali-
fied for and deserving of this " special" commissionership
of income tax t Nay, how many officers at home inva-
lided from the Crimea, and who have escaped its dan-
gers I Does any reader doubt that the present objec-
tionable and scandalous appointment is a job—" a pre-
ference"—in favour of Mr. Herbert's relative, the mem-
ber for his rotten borough of Wilton ; or that the pre.
ferment is not connected with the desirable nomination
of some substitute representative of that wretched provin-
cial constituency of Wilton ? The Globe does nut grapple
with our expose of the system. The aristocracy, by per-
sistencein this system of patronage and bait of the House
of
.Commons, will soon overthrow itself, if our lords and
ladies, and the salons, cannot be convinced that they
are playing in such times a suicidal game. No house
was made last night, therefore no new writ could bo
moved for Wilton. W e trust, however, if to-day such
a motion mad.: by ,the Seeeeterv-or the Trcaeury, Some
o-peeeiclit , akit, and wilt,
1. peviously to auy eider ioi tie writ, exact as explana-
tion from Ministers of the precise circumstances which
have occasioned the vacancy in the representation, and
on Whoa respoasibUity the appointment hal) ?.??I_l4_f!

(/
Moreover, as pending the war we are not likely to gar
' of any new Ministerial bill for the amendment of the
representative system ; and as we may have to put up
with " bit-bv-bit " reform, why sheoe'd not Sir Joshua
Walmsley, Sir John Shelley (if thete be a member for
Westminster with the olden spirit), or John Bright,
when the Wilton writ is moved, move an amendment
that no writ shall be issued fur such a mockery of repre-
sentation. Wilton has not now, we are informed, two
hundred electors. Any new member will only be the
"double" of Mr. Sidney Herbert. The Reform Act of
1832 never intended a single member of the House of
Commons to have the privilege of two votes in Parlia-
ment. Mr. Herbert may not now nominate Mr. G. Hope.
He may substitute some young university scion of an
opulent family, in lieu of the Puseyite man originally in
his eye—some juvenile successful orator of a university
debating society, who may, perchance, recruit the shat-
tered forces of the aristocracy. But who can doubt,
whoever Mr. Herbert nominates, that the successor of
Mr. A'Court will be equally a courtier to his: patron,
and will be always in or out of the house and lobby with
Mr. Sidney Herbert ? However this might be, would it
not be a " constitutiona?" act in the House of Commons
to refuse or suspend a writ for Wilton, on the indisput-
able ground that an "election" by its miserable consti-
tuency is a " mummery," a mockery, and a delusion ?
Mr. Herbert was himself a member of the late Cabinet
which last year, placing his own pocket borough in a
new schedule A, proposed to disfranchise Wilton. Pat
the right honourable member to the test of bis new libe-
ral principles. Surely some true and liberal repesenta-
tive member of the Commons will apply the touch-
stone and begin the siege of close boroughs and abomin-
able jobs. Let-the really liberal party raise a:discussion
on the new writ for every rotten borough conaemned by
the late ministry, and we shall soon have a new Reform
Act and fewer jobs.—Daily News.