The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-08 00:00:00

Part of this goodly total he remits from direct
Wxation, part from indirect taxation, He
craps, or proposes to drop, £BOO,OOO in
a lump from the obnoxious Income Tax, in other
words, he relieves us under that galling burthen
by very nearly £1,000,000. In point of fact, the
diminution of the rate of Income Tax from seven-
pence to sixpence, se the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer now proposes to diminish it, would repeal
upon the whole year from £1,100,000 to £1,200,000.
But, restricting our calculations under this head, as
is requisite, to the nine months of the year still
before us, it would be, as just now taken for
granted, a diminution of the most odious of all
direct taxes to the tuneof £BOO,OOO, and not as
might at the first blush appear to be to the extent
of fully £1,200,000, Again, under the head
of indirect taxation, Mr. GLADSTuNE proposes
to remit in the shape of sugar duties an amount
of revenue representing, in round numbers,
an equivalent value of some £1,300,000.
Another item dealt with in the way of re-
mission, is one coming under the head of the taxes
levied upon fire insurances—which he conceives
may be safely as well as advantageously reduced
by about £192,000. Various minor changes are
likewise projected by him in the pleasant guise of
remitted taxation, amounting, together with three
other and larger changes already enumerated,
namely, those affecting the income tax, those affect-
ing the sugar duties, and those relating to fire
insurances, to a total amount of taxes remitted, or
rather proposed to be remitted, upon the year
immediately now ensuing, of as nearly as possible
£2,337,000 ! An aggregate amount that, when de-
ducted from the known surplus of £2,570,000,
would still leave over a quarter of a million "to
the good," for the satisfaction of the nation, and
I for the advantage of the Government.

The decision of the House of Loids, in the case

of the Alexandra, is a most satisfactory one, and it
will doubtless afford great gratification to all who

have watched this complication from the outset. A
more complete discomfiture than that which has
befallen the Ministers can hardly be imagined. It
is singular that they should have persisted in thus
taking the case from court to court, after the de-

cided and adverse decision that was given against
them. They have gained time, if that was their

object, bat it has been at a heavy cost, and the
ignominy of such a failure must surely more than

counterbalance any temporary gain of the sort. It
has been throughout a harsh measure which was
dealt to the owners of the Alexandra, and now the
onus and odium of the affair has recoiled on the

originators of the scheme. It is a great shame that
public money should be so squandered as it has been

a this affair to a great extent. That, of course, is

nothing in consideration with the injury and in

ustice which Ras attempted to be put upon the

defendants; but for the trustees of the welfare 01
the community to disregard so recklessly all pru.

dential considerations is a great dereliction of their

duty, and must produce a bad effect on the minds
of all unprejudiced persons. It is not to be for•
gotten also that, if the owners of the Alexandra had

not been rich enough to defend themselves with

might and main, they would have fared bat
badly in the momentous controversy which has just
taken place. Every means that opportunity could

bestow, power command, or wealth impart, were
unhesitatingly and unblushingly employed against
them. The authorities of any foreign nation could
not have exhibited more eager desire, nor taken
more decided steps to crush their victims than did

the members of our Government to circumvent and
destroy the helpless individuals who had the teme-
rity to cross their path and to interfere with their
dearly cherished plans. In the midst of their well-
merited triumph, and in the hour of their success,
it cannot be wholly out of recollection that they
have run great risk and been exposed to incalcu-
lable annoyances which no one had a right to
inflict upon them with so little shadow of proxy.
or foundation for attack. It is altogether a system
of persecution which has been pursued in the case
of the Alexandra, and the spectacle which the
whole affair has presented to foreign nations has
been disgraceful in the extreme. It is to be
trusted that the complete and overwhelming
discomfiture which our Governmment has met

with may serve as a salutary check, and
prove a warning to them not to interfere again
in this unwarrantable manner with the rights and
privileges of English subjects. If so, there may yet
be what the French call un bien cl. eun mal extracted
out of this most unpropitious circumstance. It is to
be hoped also that our friends across the Atlantic
may recognise that the laws of England Rill not
sanction their exorbitant demands, and that they
must put a limit to their extravagant expectations.
It is as comprehensive a defeat for the advocates of
the Crown as any that has been sustained for some
time past, and, coming after the unvarying deci-
sions of the courts below in favour of the defendants,
it is the proper finish to the work, and puts a bril-
liant finale to the arduous struggle and prolonged
contest. It is curious to notice, that in the majo-
rity for the defendants were three Lard Chancel-
lors, and also that the minority was not composed
of such eminent authorities as the majority. It is
not often that the public have the opportunity of
watching a trial that is carried on with such perti-
nacity of persecution on'one side, and such courage
and endurance on the other. It'..has been a sad era
in the records of English law, and a lasting stain in
the annals of English history. That the good cause
has triumphed, and that the right has revelled
against might, does not remove one iota of the
stigma that attaches itself to the misguided and
misjudging men who undertook the graceless task
of trampling the liberties of the subject under foot,
and inflicting serious injuries on the trade and com-
merce of the country to suit the unreasonable
claims of foreign Powers. Nothing but disaster and
humiliation can attend such a course as that which
our Ministers have marked out for themselves to
follow at home, and such a policy as that which
distinguishes their actions and guides their tactics
abroad. It is idle to talk of the insufficiency of the
law as it at present stands with regard to cases like
that of the Alexandra. This is an unworthy sug-
gestion to come from any one who claims to possess
a particle of old English spirit. The idea of. such
u thing is preposterous, and the Ministers had better
take heed before they attempt any such thing. At
least, for the sake of common sense and simple
justice, let them not presume to alter the statutes
that relate to the building of vessels, which they
ingeniously make out are for the Confederates, be-
fore they huve rendered the laws more stringent
that regard the enlistment of the subjects of the
QUEEN by the Federals. They will find them-
selves mistaken in their venture, and defeated in
their attempt by such a decisive negative that even
their elasticity under defeat cannot survive. They
had better let well alone, and likewise make
this last lesson a precedent to guide them
in similar cases. It is quite out of character for them
to continue the investigation of the matters relating
to the steam rams, now that the highest court of
appeal in the kingdom has decided against them.
It remains to be seen what line of action they will
follow, and what turn events may tcke the future
can alone unfold ; as it is, we have jut witnessed a
deeisiTe and crowning triumph that has been most