The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-26 00:00:00

THE VIENNA NEGOTIATIONS.

Mr. LAYARD wished to know from the First Mini-
ster whether then would be any objection to lay before
Parliament the protocol of the 2ci December, which ha I
originated the Vienna conference

Lord PALMERSTON said it was not usual to pro-
duce fragruent3.ry documents relating to a conference
still going on.

THE SARDINIAN CONTINGENT.

The house then went into a committee of the whole
house to consider her Majebty's Message on the sub-
j ect of the Sardinian loan.
The Message having been read,
Lord PALMERSTON rose to move a resolution, in
reply to the Message, am', in doing so, he briefly urged
the necessity which the war had created for calling in
foreign aid to our assistance. Her Majesty having ex-
hausted the powers of the militia, bad been forced to
have recourse to the assistance of a foreign aliy, and
Sardinia had undertaken to supply an auxiliary force of
15,000 men to co-operate with the troops of Eng-
land and France, and in return for this assistance
her Majesty had undertaken that this country
should advance Sardinia a loan of 1,000,0301., pay-
able within the next six months, upon c indition that
' the loan should carry interest at the rate of 4 per cent ,
one per cent. of which to go to a sinking fund. The
value of this assistance could not be overlooked ; be-
I cause the valour and skill of the Sardinian soldiers were
amply acknowledged in history as having been estab-
lished upon many a hard-fought field. It was alike for
the interest of Sardinia as of England that
! this alliance should be entered into ; it was an
alliance honourable to both parties ; and while it would
afford to Austria a guarantee for the tranquillity of the
j northern part of Italy, on the other hand it would
give Sardinia some assurance for the safety and
quietude of the south. He concluded by moving
a resolution, in effect authorising the Commis-
! sioners of the Treasury to issue to her Majesty
1 for the purpose of this loan 1,000,0001. out of the Con-
I solidated Fund immediately, and a further 1,000,0001. in
the event of the war continuing beyond twelve months.
Mr. DISRAELI found fault with the noble lord's
statement as being exceedingly meagre and unsatisfac-
tory. No doubt it was gratifying to know that
Sardinia was ready to assist us with her army, but
still there were circumstances connected with their as-
sistance which the house would do well to consider.
Last year they heard of loans in disguise, and it ap-
peared to him that this loan was a subsidy in disguise.
(Hear, hear.) The system of subsidising wa,3 vexati-
ous in principle and pernicious in operation,
and so unsatisfactory did it work during the
last war that nothing but extreme necessity could jus-
tify a recurrence to it. Now, was there any extreme
necessity in the present case ; and if there was, what
had been the cause of it ? They were told, indeed, that
the country was embarked in a struggle with a
great Power, but before we embarked in it
we should have calculated its cost—(hear, hear)—and
consequences. We had only been at war about twelve
months, and yet, at this early period, Parliament was
called upon to sanction a return to subsidies. The noble
lord had told the house that we went to war with a
peace establishment, but whose fault was that ? (Hear.)
Why, the Government of the day. The war did not
come upon us suddenly—it had long been anticipated ;
and in spite of negotiation the preparations should have
been going on for open hostilities. A long time ago
the Government of this country became aware
of the private intention of the Emperor of Russia with
regard to Turkey, and they ought to have taken the ad-
vice of the Opposition, and called out the Irish and
Scotch militia at least a year before the war commenced.
After war was declared the noble lord lost no means for
the development of our defences, by organising the
militia, and it was not until midsummer that the noble
lord had recourse to these measures which, if he bad ap-
pealed to them before, might have been at once forth-
coming. This showed a want of confidence in the spirit
and resources of the country. (Hen-, hear.) He
should not at present oppose the measure of the noble
lsourbds,idbyT he would not allow it to pass in silence ; be
could not pass it by without remark, that in the first
year of a war we were obliged to have recourse to foreign
simply because we had neglected the national
ta‘nvaeittahnsoluamtr our disposal. He hoped the house also would
iowreisetugtmloti:;ass in silence, and that the house would
that. if war was to be carried on, it ought to be
pending'
With
reference al
1, national
toNnal
amidst
cheers. The lion, P
gen-
tlemanroelal
MmeEftaure very lietxtlPerews
t Lo
popr do s
ep
theAL
said as the hon. gentleman
would
hi•, intention not
who had just sat down had
I him to say. But he could not allow titlie hboena.nsge Oc ent sl
ea tin. yadfri;
remarks to pass unnoticed inasmuchascraretti oeni y theyof the
small
played so little confidence in theeomdpi
Government in voting Bo
au amount of money in order to atrengthenwaorurwmeioliutgt
resources. ; (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentlenaan toldar
we
makingw r e now
preparationse n g
on
ne dt
hi
the principle
for
war w
h t
ttnh e ianb
st
thaai tn wfhr
ne
nni
that
peace negotiations were
of the struggle. (Hear,
bel_oner4,lokwtmoutgld.
we had not done so before when we were in the
thoeigthhet
calling out of the militia, hoped the right honourable
the Government to which the
gmeanktel e mt
hanni r
.aonivdn
defence.hepertyhteo. hoped
fully the merit of on
he'lthahticphoint.