The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-20 00:00:00

indeed, despite the revelations of the past few days,
there be any who still continue to entertain theme

JOURNALS,

TIMES.—Mr. Stansfeld melees out a very good
case for himself. It has its weak point, but it was
a good case to listen to and a safe one to state. Tee
ex Minister had the advantage of a sympathising
audience at Halifax, no doubt, and the occasion it-
self, which expressed the " esteem and confidence"
of his constituents, was enough to assure him of his
reception. Still, with a certain qualification, his
address would have been good for any audience, and
would have established his title to political respect
and public consideration. He alleged, with perfect
truth, that he had employed his short term of office,
in promoting without stint of time or labour the work
with which he was charged. He claimed even to
have achieved some success in this undertaking. He
tells us that he did so far simplify, organise, and
arrange the business and accounts of our Dockyard
establishments as to assimilate them in this respect
to the establishments of private firms. Ho devised
and initiated an economical policy which survives
his retirement, and of which the country will soon
reap the fruit. Having done all this, he resigned his
place in the Administration rather than allow the
Government to be damaged by a motion directed
against himself ; so that he saved his patrons from
injury and the Liberal party from loss of office,
while he carried with him in his retirement the satis-
factory reflection that he had done his duty in all
respects. Every word of this is true, but it is also
true that Mr. Stanfield's resignation was a part of
his duty, nor is it quite fair to describe it as a pro-
ceeding occasioned by the intrigues of political fac-
tion. It was a step which was called for by the acci-
dents of his own position. These accidents were unfor-
tunate, but they had occurred, and there was but one
way of meeting the consequences. The only excep-
tion to be taken to Mr. Stansfeld's defence of himself
is that it represents as a mere party manoeuvre the
menace which drove him from place. Perhaps it is
rather ungracious to take even this exception, for
every man may claim to make the best of his own
cause, but the truth is that if Mr. Stansfeld's cause at
this point had not been a weak one he might have
safely confronted the threat before which he re-
retired. He tells us himself that he " knew some-
thing of the state of parties and of the chances of
success." In ether words, he knew that if it came
to a vote of the House on the Mazzini question,
that vote would be against him. But this means
only that the case was against him also. It was
only a strong case for the Opposition, because it
was a weak one for him. It was just one of those
cases which a political party is always on the
watch to seize—a case which is strengthened by
the opinion prevailing beyond the party ranks, and
which is sure to bring over outsiders and waverers
at the moment of a division. So many persons be-
sides Mr. Disraeli and his friends thought Mr.
Stansfeld compromised, not perhaps by facts, but
at any rate by his own manner of encountering
imputations, that a majority against Government
on the question was extremly probable, and nobody
can well blame the leaders of the Opposition for
recognising the opportunity. Of course the vote
would have been pressed for a " party object"—
namely, the injury or displacement of the Ministry.
That is the history of all such votes. The Oppo-
sition lies in wait for strong cases—cases in which
Government, from the peculiar weakness of its posi-
tion, cannot make so good a fight as usual. What
Mr. Stansfeld did not see, and perhaps could not be
expected to see, is, that it was only his own diffi-
culty which made his enemies' opportunity, and
that their strength was only another term for his
weakness. We have not the least desire to open this
question again, or to measure the amount of official
discredit conceived to be reflected on a Minister by
the friendship of M. Joseph Mazzini. We cannot
but admire Mr. Stansfeld's bold defencenf his friend,
but that is another question altogether. Considering
what is actually thought of M. Mazzini, and what
was confessed of his relations with Mr. Stansfeld,
there was a certain practical propriety in Mr. Stans-
feld's resignation. It was because this propriety was
pretty commonly recognised that Mr. Stansfeld's op-
ponents acquired so advantageous a chance against
him, and discerned their way to a victory of which
he, by his voluntary retirement, judiciously de-
prived them. We approve, then, of Mr. Stansfeld's
conduct altogether, his resignation included. We
think the sacrifice was rendered necessary by cir-
cumstances—only, we should include in those cir-
cumstances some little indiscretion on his own part,
instead of limiting them exclusively to political
enmities and party stratagems. As it is, we think
Mr. Stansfeld stands well before the country, but
instead of conceiving that he has any "usage" to
complain of, we regard his loss of office as a natural
sequel of his own conduct. That it may be soon
retrieved we sincerely trust, and as it certainly
atoned amply for any imprudence on which he
might have ventured, he may enjoy a fresh start
with good promise and prospects. Probably his
constituents think that he never should have been
driven to the sacrifice they commemorated, and
there are, doubtless, many persons who share that
opinion. But if the preponderance of opinion had
not upon the whole been the other way the sacrifice
could never have been compelled at all, and with
this remark we may let the subject drop. We are
glad to find that Mr. Stans eld recognises in his
successor a congenial and sympathetic mind, He
tells us that Mr. Childers and he have compared
notes on the greet dockyard questions, and have
found themselves to be in complete accord. The
description given of the pending reform will com-
mend itself to everybody who is conversant with
such improvements. Arrangements, said Mr. Stans•
feld, in these large establishments require " not
merely to be laid down upon paper and to be intro-
duced, but they require constant watching and
constant guarding, and development of a certain
length of time." That is precisely the course of all
such affairs. Routine can only be superseded by
routine, only the new routine may express a far
better system than the old. When once a good
system has been learnt it can be easily practised,
but the practice must be taught under the eye of
the author. That done, the establishment can run
alone, or with very slight supervision, and here it
is that the loss of Mr. Stansfeld's services might
have been so prejudicial to the public interests ex-
cept for the sympathies of his successor. Mr. Stans-
feld had, he tells us, actually placed the accounts of
our great dockyard establishments on such a footing
as would " enable them to bear comparison with
those of any private firm." Nor was this all, for
he had introduced certain provisional arrangements
calculated to " enable her Majesty's Dockyards to
compete upon fair terms with the private ship-
building establishments of this country." It was
in the middle of this experiment that Mr. Sttnse
felcl's resignation occurred. The event might have
been ruinous to dockyard reform, but, fortunately,
Mr. Childers continues the work with a cordial
adoption of his predecessor's spirit. We hope,
therefore, that we may still reckon with confidence
ou the anticipated results, and that a longer and less
troubled term of office may hereafter enable Mr.
Stansfeld to repeat and extend his good services to
the public.
POST.—In the manner in which the war in Den-
mark, but more especially in the province of Jut-
land, was conducted, we believed that Prussia had
manifested a disregard for the usages prescribed by
civilisation and a contempt for the opinion of neu-
tral States which it would have been impossible to
surpass. In this respect, however, it turns out that
we have been mistaken. The pillage of a defenceless
population, who had done nothing to provoke war,
and whose poverty ought to have disarmed the
cupidity of their aggressors, was unquestionably an
atrocious crime. But atrocious as it was, and un-
exampled as it was shown to be in the annals of
modern warfare, it was still one which, as we now
see, could be succeeded by another of a still darker
dye. Prussia found an excuse for plundering the
unfortunate Jutlanders in the obsolete maxim that
war should be made to support itself, but what pre-
text she will offer for pursuing the same course,
after, with her own consent, hostilities had been
temporarily suspended, remains to be seen. The
accounts which daily reach us from Copenhagen
leave no room for doubt that the stipulations upon
which the armistice was agreed upon have been,
and still are, systematically violated by the Prussian
military authorities. It was specially provided that
the allied armies should cease to impose any further
contributions upon the Jutlanders, and that they
should pay the inhabitants for any supplies which
they might require. This was the nature of the
stipulations entered into at the Conference on the
9th of May, as subsequently explained by Earl
Russell in his place in Parliament. It was agreed
that the armistice should come into operation upon
the 12th, and that from that day hostilities, or any-
thing savouring of acts of hostility, should cease
between the belligerents. During the two days
which intervened between the conclesion of the
armistice and the time when it came into operation
Europe was shocked to learn that tehoePribruusstiinaonss
continued to impose and levy many
upon the inhabitants of Jutland. But still these
acts of rapacity might be justified by the letter of
the bond, and neutral States, though amazed at
the palpable violation of its spirit, could only protest
against the continuance of a practice so inconsistent
with the accepted usages of civilised warfare.
Before the adjournment of Parliament for the
Whitsuntide recess the Earl of Ellenborough took
an opportunity of bringing the matter under the
notice of the House of Lords, but as the Foreign
tSeecraertmariystitcheenthsetaptreadettiche wu
that under the conditions of
h
id thenceforth be dis-
continued, we were forced to comfort ourselves with
the reflection that the trials of the Jutlanders,
Severe though they were, had come to an end. The
unsatisfac.ory answer given last evening in the
House of Commons by Mr. Layard to a question put
by Mr. Whiteside gill dispel these hopes—if,

The Under Secretary professed himself to be without

:fit;ial information on the subject, but admitted that
he was not in a position to contradict the statements
in the public journals to tbee&ct that, notwithstand -
ing the terms on which the armistice was concluded,
the Prussian authorities still continue to levy con-
tributions upon the inhabitants of Jutland. Throw-

ing ontof account the strong presumption of accuracy
furnished by the receipt of numerous statements
from various sources to the same effect, it may
not unreasonably be assumed that if those state-
ments were false the English Government would
ere this have been authorised by the Cabinet at

Berlin to give them en unqualified contradiction.
Her Majesty's Government are, however, eight days
after the armistice came into operation, totally un-
able to assure the country that its most important
provisions have not been violated by one of the
belligerents. Now, what let us ask, have been the
acts alleged to have been committed by the Prus-
sians in Jutland, and on which our Foreign-office
is without officiai information? On the day when
it was stipulated that hostilities should cease the
Prussians tore down large quantities of telegraphic
wires, the property of the Crown of Denmark, and
transmitt d them to Germany. Now, this act can
only be described as one of downright robbery:
Some excuse might possibly be offered for taking
violent possession of cattle or provisions which
might be indispensable for the use of the troops,
but it is impossible to discover any palliation for an
act of such selfish Vandalism. On the day preced-
ing, and when the fact of an armistice having been
concluded had been publicly notified, the come
mander of the Prussian troops at Randers called
upon the municipality to pay a contribution of
100,000 dole., which, having been refused, the town
was literally given up to pillage. Sentinels were
set upon warehouses and shops, the owners were
turned out, inventories of the contents were taken,
and toe registration of the plunder proceeded with
far into the day on which the Plenipotentiaries of
the belligerents had agreed that hostilities should
cease. On the night of the 12th requisitions were
made for a number of horses by the Prussian mili-
tary authorities at Aarhuns, and on the 13th large
quantities of goods, which had been seized on the
preceding day, were removed from that town. At
Fyen numbers of horses and cows were carried off
upon the 13thi; and on the evening of the same day
a contribution of 200,000 dole. and 400 blankets
was demanded from the municipality, under the
threat, in case of refusal, of emptying the shops
and warehouses of their contents. One of the
latest telegrams from Copenhagen informs us that
the Prussians have refused to pay even for the
necessaries of life, and continue to carry out their
practice of making the war support itself by quar-
tering themselves upon the unfortunate Jutlanders.
Such being the present condition of affairs, it is
not surprising that the Danes should protest against
this gross violation of the stipulations of the armis-
tice, and even hint the possibility of re-establishing
the blockade by way of reprisal. Prussia has once
again outregeously broken faith both with Denmark
and with the neutral Powers. Notwithstanding
the most solemn and the most formal engagements,
she has proceeded in her work of pillage at the
expense of a population perfectly helpless, except
so far as they were placed by a written compact
under the protection of international law. Now,
who, or what, let us ask, is Prussia, that she should
thus set at defiance the most powerful States of
Europe ? It is not so very long since she was a
Duchy, and, although now a powerful kingdom,
she has not yet become the supreme arbiter of the
destinies of Europe. There must be some limit to
human endurance, and that limit has now been
reached. Whatever may be the technical operation
of an agreement such as that which was entered
into at the London Conference on the 9th of the
present month, all the parties to it are equally
bound to insist upon its observance. When Den-
mark raised the blockade, and consented to leave
the Gelman army in peaceable occupation of Jute
land, she virtually placed the inhabitants of that
province under the protection of the neutral Powers.
To this protection they are undoubtedly entitled.
It is to be supposed that some sanction attaches to
the resolutions at which the Plenipotentiaries may
arrive ; but if, in truth, the formal compacts into
which they may enter can be set aside at pleasure
by one of the contracting parties, we may be ex-
cused for doubting whether their deliberations
can by possibility lead to any practical or beneficial
result.