The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING; MARCH, 22, 1555.

THE AUSTRALIAN LAND AND MINING
COMPANIES.

It was like a piece of Sallust, something of imagt7
native colouring being perhaps wanting. The pre-
cise object was not very distinctly avowed, unless
wo take the expression towards the close as some
indication of the immediate purpose, in which the
inveterate veteran expressed his earnest hope that
under no circumstances shall we place any confi-
dence in the Prussian Government. But it is im-
possible not to see that the tendency, and we fear
we must add the manifest intention, of this elabo-
rate invective, is to widen the alienation already
unhappily subsisting between this country and the
chief state of Northern Germany. The incidental
profession of a desire to discriminate between the
country and the court, the people and the King of
.Prussia, is not sufficient to blunt the edge of the
polished sarcasms in which the noble and learned
oiatOr thought fit to indulge at the historical
expense of Prussia. Far be it from us to
palliate or justify the political sills of our neigh-
bour iu past times ; but aro we ourselves na-
tionally so free from all that we should wantonly
challenge invidious reproaches and recriminations ?
To what good purpose can it tend to rake together
on the floor of 'Parliament the records of every mis-
deed committed by a neighbour with whom we have,
after- all, so many points of congenial sentiment
and interest as Prussia ? It is plain enough, we
think, from the draft address agreed to by a com-
mittee of the Second Chamber at Berlin, within the
last few days, that the representatives of the nation I,
an not insensible' to the European duties we ask I
them to perform. But, if wo would stimulate their
generous impulses, and strengthen their liberal in-
. ten ticrns, we must not forget that theyare Prussians,
or trifle with their national susceptibility and pride.
To what purpose other than that of unmixed mis-
chief is it that a man who has filled for thirty
years the great position of Lord Lyndhurst in
this country should amuse the British Senate with
sardonic cavils at Frederick the Second's title to be
• called the Great ? ' Napoleon has often, and justly,
beenlta l
y, H
reproachedui,
g Hungary,
ry f, o ra despoilingiki po Poland
ana thehav
have
n hero'stombothi
ng w
hoaft
the sword with which ho won so many victories,
of which every Prussian is proud. We own we
think it a paltrier theft to try to make away with
the epithet with which national history has invested
the name of that celebrated man. Still emptier,
idler, and, we must say in all honesty, more unjus-
tifiable, is the reckless stroke upon the death-bell
of Poland. We are as ready as most men to grapple
with that subject whenever we have reason to be-
lieve that any party or any statesman in this coun-
try
is prepared to enter noon it resolutely, honestly,
and practically. But we look with feelings we had
rather not be forced to express upon-the use of
Poland's victim name, for the mere rhetorical pur-
pose of the hour, by mer: who have never in their
lives devoted a serious thought to the rescue or re-
demption of the Polish people. Lord Lyndhurst
has more than once been a Minister of the. Crown :
dd he ever while in that capacity do, or try ts do,
any act for the resuscitation of Poland? Beside
the years he spent in the House of Commons, he
has for eight-and-twenty years occupied a distin-
guishedplace in the House of • Lords : did ho ever
originate any substantive proceeding on behalf of
that injured land during all that time ? For
our part we shudder as we look back and think
how the sufferings and the hopes of the Poles
hare been traded on and trifled with by poli-
ticians amongst. us of every *degree. In our
view it is a very solemn thing to excite ex-
pectations in the unfortunate which there is no
reasonable certainty of seeing realised ; and a very
cruel and cowardly thing. to resort to the too ready
discontent of an oppressed community when we
happen to be at war with their oppressor, unless
we arc prepared to' stand by those whom we stimu-
late to arm along with us. Above all, we aro com-
pelled to ask what is the meaning, where is the
sincerity, of observations like those we have re-
ferred to, while the whole course of our present
foreign policy confessedly turns upon an Austrian
alliance 'I -.As if to mark the, hollowness of aristo-
cratic professions of sympathy for what are called
" oppressed nationalities," it so happened that at
the very time Lord Lyndhurst was speaking in the
House of Peers, Lord Palmerston, in the IlouSe of
Commons, was formally repudiating certain ex-
pressions attributed to Sir IL Peel on the occasion
of his reelection the other day for Tamworth. A
question on' the subject having been put by Lord
Wm. Graham, the Prime Minister thought fit to state
that the Austrian Government had the best reasons
for knowing that tho Cabinet of England were far
from desiring or countenancing any projects for the
disturbance of the Austrian empire, whether in Hun-
gary or elsewhere ; and that the only light in which
they could ever contemplate the revival of questions
regarding Poland would be that in which the Ger-
man Powers might possibly some day be led spon-
taneously to originate- them. In other wordsl
' over to expect from our lordly rulers that have
been or that are.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

SOUTH WALES CIRCUIT.—SWANSIA, MARCH 20.
William Hopkim, described as a haulier, aged 21, was
indicted for felociously killing and slaying one David
Meredith. The prisoner bore the marks of extensive
and recent injuries by fire, his head and hands being en-
veloped with bandages.
Mr. Grove, Q.C., and Mr. D. T. Evans conducted the
prosecution ; Mr. Gifford defended the prisoner.
This case was remarkable as an endeavour, under the
imperfect state of the law as it now exists, to protect
the lives of colliers and often working in coalepit,, by
punishment of negligence, and with the purpose of in-
ducing greater care and caution amongst the woekmen.
than they exercise at present. It appeared by the evi-
dence that the prisoner was a haulier, in •the employ of
Messrs. 'Wayne, the proprietors of the °win bath Cel-
iiery, near-Aberdare, and the deceased was a miner
working in that colliery. On former occasions explo-
sions of fire-damp had occurred'in the same pit, and it
clearly appeared that the ventilation was in a very un-
ratiefactory and insufficient state. On the morning' of
the Bth of February laat, the fireman, on going through
the underesround workings, found that a considerable
quantity of fire-damp had accumulated at a spot called
" Hopkins's heading," and he set up a mandril, which
was a well-recognised sign denoting danger, -to
notify to the men Who would in due course have to
work there that day that they must he caution'. Pre-
vious to his descending the pit in the mornieg, the fire-
man and a cutter severally warned the prisoner thee, as
he would have to work in the dangeeous quarter, he
• must use a Davy lamp, and be careful not to take off the
case or bead of the lamp. A lamp was given to him, and
lie male one journey for trains to the spot, in Hopkins's
headings where the colliers were at work, without
accident. Oil his second journey for trams, just as he
reached the furthest stall in the danecrous heading, the
gai took fire, and an explosion followed, which killed
one Thomas Morgan (71 boy echo accompanied the pri-
soner to open and shut Vie doors wed for ventilation),
and the deceased David Meredith, and severely buret
several editors. as well as the prisoner himself. Oee of
the witnesses swore to having seen the fire flash from
the direction of the prisoner's lamp, and ;mother proved
an admission by the Prisoner that, he fired it ; whilst a
policeman gave a statement made by the prisoner, that
" if he were te die that minute he could not say whether
the gas fired from his own lamp or from that of Thomas
Morgan, who accnmpsnied him, and who was killed by
the explosion. The prisoner's lamp-top was founf,
after the. explosion, in his jscket-pneket, without the
lamp, from which an inference was offered that the pri-
soner's lamp was unprotectsd by the wire shea',ll, which
insures safety, et the time of the accident. Ho stated
that be dropped the lamp in.makinie his way to the
ly,ttom of:the shaft. The la'nps of all the other persons
orsing at or near the spot were tetrad to .he secured in.
peeper condition. Evidence was given that the deceased
eas seen with his clothes on fire, and that he died from
the injuries he receive) in the explosion.
The jury, without the summing of the judge, retuined
a verdict of not guilty, socompanyMg it with severe cen-
sure upon the proprietors of the colliery for their cul-
pa,ble negligence in not providing sufficient ventilation,
but permitting men to work from clay to day in a
highly &Nereus, an I explosive, and unhealthy atmo-
sphere of fire-damp.
The prisoner Was then indicted on the coroner's ie-
quisition for the manslaughter of Thomas Morgan, at
the same time and place.
Mr D. T. Evans, with whom was Mr. N. Ward, on
the advice of the learned judge, and with the concur-
rence of the prosecutor, said that after the result of the
former tried, he would offer no evidence for the proeecu
tion. A verdict of Not Guilty was therefore taken, and
the prisoner was discharged.

Subjoined are the statements of the advises
brought by the Argo to the various Australian land'
and mining companies
PEEL RIVER.

"The directors have received advices from their gene-
ral superintendent up to the 29th of December. The
land, which had been leased to the Cordillera Company,
and upon which 1,4570 z. of gold had been raised during
ton months, was delivered over to the Peel River Com-
pany's general superintendent on the 19th of .December
last. The sheep-shearing having been finished, the wool
was in courso of ehip•nent. The clip from 52,000 sheep
was cont tined in 300 bales—•gross weight of wool,
999 cwt.

MONEY FOR THE WAR.
(From, the Derbyshire Courier.)

What the country wants, and what Mr. Glad-
stone never gave, is a clear and distinct iutimatioa
of what Government intend* to do to raise the
large sums already required, and possibly the still
larger sums which may be necessary for the war.
Lord Aberdeen's ministry made the fatal mistake
of adopting half measures in everything connected
with the war. Government was too slow and too
late in all its proceedings. They were slow to go
to war at all, when it was evident that we could
not otherwise secure honourable terms from Russia.
Then when we did go to war all active hostilities
seemed to hang fire. It was plain that Lord
Aberdeen and his colleagues expeCted to " patch
up" a pace with the Czar. Now, the con-
sequences of this paltry, wretched policy ex-
tended to the financial measures of the late Admi-
nistration. Mr. Gladstone, hoping that the ex-
penses of the war would be trifling, made no ade-
quate provision for the enormous expenditure we
have already incurred. In fact, he did not even
make any settled plan for procuring the requisite
funds. It is purely ridiculous to suppose that the
industry of the country can raise the whole amount
of the war expenditure by increased annual taxa-
tion. Yet this appears to have been Mr. Glad-
stone's first idea. And then came his half measure
of a loan in reality under the name of Exchequer
bonds. Just one of those distinctions without a
differenu, for which Mr. Gladstone is so famous,
and on which his reputation as .a statesman has
been wrecked.

Under existing circumstances, the country ought
to be obliged to Lord Monteaglo for bringing this
subject before the notice of Parliament. Let us
know what financial measures are intended. "If,"
said his lordship on Tuesday, " Government thought
it best to raise the money required by annual taxa-
tion, let them act on that principle, and propose
measures to Parliament for that purpose. If, on
the contrary, they thought it best to resort to a
loan, they ought to go boldly and openly into the
market, and make the best largain they could."

Gladstone did neither the one nor the other.
His system has been neither bold nor cpen ; a sys-
tem of subterfuge and expedient ; a system of
living from hand to mouth, drawing accommoda-
tion bills, and renewing them as they became due.
This, as every private merchant and trader knows,
is the most expensive and ruinous system which
can possibly be adopted. "With respect to the
Exchequer bonds," said Lord Derby, "no debt, it
was said, would be created ; but just as well might
a young gentleman, spending double his income,
and raising money by bills, and taking them up as
they fell due by other bills, put himself forward as
a man of prudence and frugality. The late Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer did nothing more nor less
—be issued bills at a certain number of years' date,
and when the time arrived for paying or renewing
them, in either case unej eunswarted a practi-
cal addition to the debt of the country." So
far from the expenses being defrayed out of the
taxes imposed, " It turned out," said Lord Grey
in tho sarno debate, "that what between Exche-
quer-bills which were to have been paid off, but
which were removed, and the Exchequer-bonds
which were issued, and which, as it had been said,
were neither more nor less than bills at four years'
date, while the Government were professing to in-
cur no debt at all, they were placing upon the
country the burden of a debt the exact amount of
which ho could not state, but which he believed
would reach, if it did not exceed, 7,000,0001." •
We have always believed and stated that the
financial mismanagement of the late Administra-
t ion was on a par with the rest of their weak and
incapable policy.
We warn the new Chancellor of the Exchequer
that if he treads in the steps of his predecessor,
the dissatisfaction of the country will be general,
and his tenure of office will be short. The esti-
mated expenses for the army, navy, ordnance, and
transport service are now stated as under :

Original estimate, ISSI-5
Activ:l charga, 3351-5
Estimato now framed for 1855-6

217,621,312
27,15,,031
37,427,000

Now two things are certain : first, that this
enormous amount cannot be raised by the increase
of taxation, especially considering the depressed
state of trade. Secondly, that let it be raised how
it may, whether by terminable annuities—which
we think the better plan—or by a direct loan, it
will be raised, as everything, else has been done in
connection with this unfortunate war, too late.
We shall have to raise money on much worse
terms, in consequence of Mr. Gladstone's
misman-
agc!nent. And we hope the country will have an
opportunity of ascertaining how many hundred
thousand pounds they have paid for the late Chan-
subtile, metaphysical financial crochets.