The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-19 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1851.

Will Lord PALMERSTON continue to resist in-
quiry? Should he do so, his term of office will
be of brief duration ; and the Premier of whom
suck sanguine hopes were once entertained will
become as unpopular as he had at one time been
popular. He should not forget that one of the
great causes of public respect and admiration for
his character and conduct was that he was sup-
posed to be the unflinching opponent of all un-
constitutional influences. His manly principle,
that "nations have no cousins," was hailed
with delight throughout' the length and breadth
of the land, and at once placed him in the com-
manding situation which he has since occupied.
Has he, however, become a convert to " Ger-
manism t" Is he now ready to truckle to that
which he formerly zealously and energetically re-
sisted. If so, let him bid "a long farewell to
all his greatness." The admiration of the people
will not long survive the qualities the possession
whereof commanded and insured it.

It is said that the real objection of the Noble
Viscount to the investigation is Rot so much
as to what may be elicited respecting the civil as
the military departments. He wants to screen
the Horse Guards ! to prevent the purification of
that Augean stable ! to avert the exposure of
the secret machinery by which the wires are
pulled in the background. It is not merely
Lord HARD/NGB that is to be exoner-
ated. A great deal may slip out before
an independent and resolute committee, which,
it is plausibly asserted, he desires to keep private.
Hence his attempt to induce the House of Com-
mons to stultify itself by rescinding the resolution
carried by such an overwhelming majority, and to
permit the inquiry into the conduct of the elder
Dromio to remain in the hands of the twin
brother.

This, however, will not be tolerated, either by
the House or country. The inquiry must go on !
Nay, more, it must be carried on in a bona fide
manner, and all matters relating to the conduct
of the War, and more especially the proceedings
of the Horse Guards, subjected to a stiiot and
searching scrutiny. A stubborn resistance would
be fatal to the " reburnished. Administration."
It would elicit a storm of indignation throughout
the entire country, of which it would be impossi-
ble to predict all the results. One, at least,
would be the ignominious expulsion from office of
Lord PALMERSTON and his colleagues ; and
should the threat of a dissolution be verified
—should an appeal to the nation be made
—it could not come under circumstances
more favourable to the advocates of inquiry—
more injurious to those who endeavour to prevent
full publicity. We trust, then, that Lord PA.L-
MRESTON may, ere it be too late, avoid this dan-
gerous error, and that he will not inaugurate his
accession to office by a signal and decisive defeat,
and that on a question where the sympathies of
the entire community will be against him, and all
those by whom he may be abetted in the impolitic
attempt.

This evening the Chancellor of the Exchequer
will explain his new plan relating to journalism to
the House of Commons. He apparently tenders
a valuable boon to newspaper proprietors, but a
slight examination will show that the benefit is
not wholly unalloyed, and that be is, in fact, to a
great extent, merely changing the source of
revenue, hoping to receive very nearly as much
from the Post-office as he surrenders under the
head of stamps.

The arguments of the Right Hon. Gentleman
are certainly plausible. He says—" I repeal one
of the taxes on knowledge. I give up the news-
paper stamp, which has hitherto produced scene
If 350,0001. per annum, and any person may now
at any time publish an unstamped sheet containing
the latest intelligence, with comments thereon,
&c., without incurring penalties, or being respon-
sible for any breach of the fiscal regulations."
So far good. But, unfortunately, he does not
stop there, but proceeds to take away all the
postal facilities so long enjoyed by public jour-
nals. The existence of " the Fourth Estate" is
to be practically ignored ; for the Right Hon.
Gentleman is as incapable of recognising any dis-
tinction between newspapers and books or other
printed matter, as between the precarious, fluctu-
ating, and hardly-acquired wages of industry and
the dividends of the fundholder or the rents of
the landed proprietor. The point to be avoided
is the definition of a public journal. Mr. GLAD-
STONE desires to get rid of the vexata picestio
" What is a newspaper ?" and therefore includes
every description of printed matter in the same
category. Formerly books weighing less than a
pound were transmitted through post under cer-
tain regulations, at a uniform charge of sixpence.
Henceforward the charge is to be one penny for
every four ounces or fractional part of four
ounces--a course which a morning contemporary
felicitously remarks will convert the Post-office
into a parcels delivery company, doing an exten-
sive trade at a rate which cannot prove remu-
nerative, and which will render the position of a
letter-carrier anything but a sinecure.
Considering the generally-received opinions
'respecting the value of the national Press, we
really think that some slight indulgence may be
411lown, and that there would not be such exceed-
ing difficulty in still allowing newspapers known
griesttariant i o isao
maet tthrei
iSntga m
pp
r-
vffii
lceeg
etesr.
aost h south,orwi se,bytore
There surely may
as well be the difference
between newspapers and other printed papers
as between written and
Printed matter, and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer may fairly
be asked to reduce all communications to the
uniform rate of one penny for four ounces,
against which Mr. ROWLAND
a point may
well protest, as it would make the Post-office a
source of loss rather than
of profit to the country.
The trifling privileges accorded might still be