The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-09 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

TdIES DAY—Morn. 27 min. aft. I—Evening 41 min. aft. 1
T i-gor.ROW—Morn.sB min.aft. I.—Eveningl6 min. aft. 2

THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, Nov. 9.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
53—highest since noon yesterday.
43 —Lowest this morning and during the night.
52 —this day at noon.
BAROMETER, 29'86.
Wrsp, S.S.E.—Light, with variable weather, but very
fino for a Lord Mayor's Day ; fog in the morning, sunshine
and clouds, and some alight rain.

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LONDON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1855.

Another Royal visit will speedily be paid to
England ! Not one of mere ceremony to which
the people would feel perfectly indifferent. Not
a COBOURG Cousin or a princely suitor for one of
the infantine daughters of our SOVEREIGN, but a
Constitutional Monarch who has merited the
highest eulogiums for his disinterested and mag-
nanimious conduct in reference to the pending
War. It is scarcely necessary to say that VICTOR
EMANUEL will receive a cordial and enthusiastic
reception. He comes not under the veil of mys-
tery to amuso himself—or to promote any merely
private objects. He appears rather as the repre-
sentative of a high-minded people, the incarna-
tion of a glorious principle. We hail not merely
the SOVEREIGN who has exhibited a chivalrous
nobility of conduct, but the People of Sardinia,
who are as worthy of such a ruler as he is of
such subjects, whose brethren have fought side
by side with the soldiers of France and Eng-
land, and proved themselves brave and worthy
coadjutors. None can claim a higher meed of
praise than that so modestly claimed by the Sar-
dinian General. His untried soldiers were tested
with the veterans of the Western Powers. They
showed themselves fitting associates—passed
through the ordeal of fire and steel, and received
a sanguinary baptism as champions of liberty and

civilisation.

In honouring King Vic Ton EMANUEL we honour
these distinguished heroes—we honour ourselves
—by exhibiting the faculty of "appreciation,"
one of no ordinary importance under circumstances
such as those in which we are now involved.
Every honesKinghearty cheer bestowed on the King
of SARDINIA. will be an unequivocal condemnation
of the selfish and heartless conduct of those on
whom we had far greater claims. Austria will
feel intensely every plaudit bestowed on the Sove-
reign with whom she has been striving to pick a
quarrel, because his honourable conduct placed
that which she deliberately adopted in so invidious
a light. Prussia will recognise, in every mark
of approbation, a distinct sibilation of the paltry
tours which she has pursued. But the parallel
would more closely apply to Belgium ! King
LEOPOLD would necessarily feel the painful corn-
parison. Sardinia owed nothing to England.
VICTOR EMANUEL is not her pensioner, and does
not owe his position in any degree to her
influence. Ile was in every respect an indepen-
dent Monarch, one that could give a fair un-
biassed judg,
cut on mattersof European concern,
affecting the welfare
and prosperity of the civilised
world. The accession of Belgium to the allied
cause might have been imputed partly to her
ceoe.raphical position,
Partly to the close con-
nection of her Sovereign with „le
English Court.
The good-will and friendship of F
ranee
should mainly be looked to by Belgium,
that of Queen
VICTORIA Phould be sought for
by King LEOPOLD. 0 the other hand, there are
neither political or personal ties to connect us with
Sardinia. She has been perfectly d isi u terested—
has followed the course of honour, merely for the
sake of honour. There is, therefore, the greater
reason that we should pay to her chivalrous Sove-
reign, as the representative of her magnanimous
Per,l4o, the tribute which lie and they have be
J" .'-1-137 -merited at our hands.

It .cannot be denied that the burdens of war
aro sufficiently onerous without any additions
and unnecessary annoyance being inflicted in the
inc,,lo of their collection. The people bear them
bravely, and al thong. they may ,naturally grumble
at th© increased taxation, accompanied as it is by
a general ri in the rrke of all the articles 9f

daily consumption, whether of necessity or luxury,
they never have hesitated for a single moment in
meeting their share of the War expenditure. But,
under all the circumstances of the case, it is Rot
too much to ask, that the parties appointed to col-
lect the fiscal charges should exhibit some degree
of kindness and indulgence in the execution of
their unpleasant duty, and that no harsh regula-
tions should be framed to render tike payments
more vexatious or oppressive than they have
hitherto been.

We have recently received complaints as
to the unusual stringency exhibited in the
collection of the QUEEN'S Taxes in certain dis-
tricts. It was, we believe, invariably the
practice when these fiscal liabilities were in
arrear to give a written notice to the debtor,
stating that his name had been returned to the
Commissioners, and that proceedings would be
taken to enforce payment, unless the claim was
satisfied by a certain day. That ordinary courtesy
has now been withdrawn, and the first intimation
afforded to the debtor is the appearance of a
broke; attended by a man to leave in possession
if the demand be not liquidated at the moment.
The time selected is during the absence of the
head of the house, so that great vexation, annoy-
ance, and expense is entailed on the parties if
the money be not immediately forthcoming ; and
even under the most favourable circumstances,
when the charge is at once paid, a broker's fee is
insisted on. The excuse. for this very summary,
and, we must add, very harsh proceeding is, that
the letters of application were not duly attended
to. We trust that the Commissioners of Inland
Revenue may remove this very serious grievance,
which, if persisted in, may possibly attract legis-
lative attention at no very distant day.
We have repeatedly pointed out the un-
questionable advantages of direct taxation,
alai have demonstrated that the cost of col-
lection is thereby greatly diminished, and
that a much smaller sum is thereby extracted
from the pockets of the eventual payers. But if
the parties acting on behalf of the Exchequer
exhibit so complete a disregard to the interests
and feelings of the tax-payers--if they strive to
disgust them, and to aggravate the necessary an-
noyance by additional costs, the prospects of fiscal
reform will be greatly deteriorated. These matters
may seem of trifling importance to the wealthy
legislator who, like Sir JosErH BOWLEY, has hi 3
cheque-book at hand to satisfy every claim on the
first application ; but thereare others in the posi-
tion of TROTTY VECK, who are obliged to look to
every sixpence, and to exercise considerable
management in meeting the various claims on
their scanty resources, who must be a little
behindhand, notwithstanding indefatigable exer-
tions and the most stringent economy. Unfor-
tunately this class constitutes an overwhelming
majority, and some attention must be paid to
their feelings and impressions, by the more for-
tunately circumstanced minority who have to
decide on the ways and means by which the na-
tional Exchequer is to be replenished.
It is the " last straw" that breaks the camel's
back. The trifling addition of the broker's fee
may drive men to desperation, and induce them
to prey upon the community, in place of being
numbered amongst the good citizens—the crea-
tors and producers of national wealth.

There can be no question that to our parochial
and municipal systems our greatness as a nation
is largely owing. A. people accustomed to the ad-
ministration of their local affairs oppose an irre-
sistible barrier to the advent of despotic sway.
Initiated into the mystery of government on a
small scale, they are enabled to form a pretty
correct notion of what is right or wrong in the
conduct of public affairs, and acquire that confi-
dence in their own judgment, and that spirit of
independence necessary for successful resistance to
the insidious or open encroachments of power. In
every parish and borough the system of self-go-
vernment has in effect established and maintained
a nursery of Liberty, and with the growth of
freedom the spirit of enterprise has found its best
development, and conduced most largely to the
moral and material welfare of the community.
No wonder that a people so much indebted to the
principle of self-government should be jealous of
its infringement, and regard with uneasiness all
approaches to centralisation.

Unfortunately, the best arguments for centrali-
sation have been furnished by the people them-
selves. Neglectful of the pearl beyond all price
in their possession, they have done much thereby
towards bringing it into disrepute. Instead of
committing the management of their affairs to men
of probity and intelligence, they have suffered it
in too many instances—and for too long a period
—to fall into the hands of unprincipled adven-
turers and ignorant tools ; and this has been more
especially the case with regard to the parochial
system where bal management was sure to be pro-
ductive of the most disastrous consequences. What
the actual results have been, those acquainted with
parochial history can best tell ; but it is no exag-
geration to say that they have by no moans fallen
short, but on the contrary have far surpassed any
estimate that could have been predicated respecting
them. The most rascally jobbery and peculation,
and the most villanous inhumanity, have gone
hand in hand. The smoke of the official feast,
towards the cost of which the pockets of the rate-
payers had to contribute, has gone up with the
shriek of the bestialised lunatic, the sigh of the
half-starved and neglected pauper, and the moan of
enfeebled and unfriended youth and age, as a sa-
crifice to the parochial Moloch. Instead of the
humanity of the Legislature contributing to the
solace of the afflicted poor, in but too many in-
stances it exposed them to new indignities and more
acute suffering. The BMIBLES, the workhouse
porters and nurses, waxed fat under the dominion
of overseers and guardians, whose merits could be
senot
best recognised on m
thiseratarnaaadgmemilel.nt, a
Ofrl
uwre r e there
were degralike.At every board good men and true were
li
to be found, but in the history of few parishes
will there not be discovered abundant cause of
complaint. As for the ratepayers, they naturally
murmured at the extravagant taxation to which
they were subjected, but the individuals who
ought to have stepped forward to their rescue
were deterred by the knowledge of the sort of op-
position with which they would have to contend.
It is not pleasant to enter the lists in a bear"
garden, or to argue among riotous drunkards, but
it is always incumbent on a man to do his duty.

To what extent the parishes of the Metropolis
have been misgoverned and the ratepayers robbed
it is not necessary, were it possible, to describe
with any minuteness. Perhaps nowhere has the
fcrce of knavish impudence gone further: or the
capacity to be swindled been more largely de-
veloped, and, so far as humanity is concerned,
the less, perhaps, that is said the better. It will
not be with the decease of the existing generation
of the poor that the memory of the cruelty
shown to paupers, young and old, will die
out, nor is the remembrance of official pom-
posity and insolence likely to cease much
sooner. Other matters, spiced not a little with
the farcical, stand a good chance of equal preser-
vation. These thing should be so far useful,

however, as to furnish a lesson. The ratepayers,
while congratulating themselves on the prospect
of such a state of things being for ever done
away, should take into consideration how it came
to pass. The knaves who thrived under it were
in some sort their representatives. To their
want of moral courage these evils were mainly
owing ; for had they and their fathers
before them done their duty, prevention would
have stood in the place of cure. Had
they returned proper men to the vestry, or
even confronted, as they ought to have done, the
knavish adventurers who got there, there would
have been fewer dupes and infinitely less mis-
chief. In vain is it to have good institutions
unless you have men honest and courageous
enough to work them, and unless the ratepayers
take care and avoid the old error, the great boon
they have received at the hands of Sir
BENJAMIN HALL will prove comparatively
valueless. The day of election of vestrymen
for the respective parishes of the metropolis is
at hand. On Monday next the ratepayers
have a most important duty to discharge. The
principle of self-government has been somewhat
under a cl-O-Ud--it is theirs, in a great measure, to
remove that cloud, and show forth its resplendent
worth. The poor have had grievous cause for
complaint—it will depend on their choice whether
or no it shall be renewed. The office of vestry-
man has become more than ever important, for,
with a solitary exception, the members of the
General Board of Works (entrusted with the most
responsible duties) are to be selected from the
District Boards. We call upon them, therefore,
to elect none but intelligent and trustworthy
men to the office, and not to be deceived with
professions of repentance or promises of good con-
duct by those whose connection with past mis-
management has justly bees the cause of re-
proach. Two years (and what years !) will elapse
before there is another election.