The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-03 00:00:00

TIIE SUN,

irremediable defeat. The estimates were granted—
no less than 14,000,000/. of the public moneys
being voted, as Lord JOHN RUSSELL observed
yesterday, with a rapidity scarce'y ever
paralleled. Ilow this was accomplished in
spite of every interposing difficulty was significantly
indicated last night by the Leader of the new Opposi-
sition ; for, said he, " relying upon the accuracy of
the reports which I heard, and being assured by
many noble friends of mine that what they had heard
was perfectly satisfactory to them, I did advise those
who act with me upon this side of the House not to
ask for any limited supply; or to delay the business
of supply, but to proceed at once to vote the money
asked in the estimates." It was, consequently,
with peculiar dismay that, after having thus
sacrificed their vengeance, in obedience to the dictates
of a bitter but salutary circumspection, the Opposi-
tion imagined that, in the recent allusions made by
the Earl of DERBY to the necessity for a dissolution,
they detected a rather unsatisfactory alteraticn
in the intentions of ber MAJESTY'S Govern-
ment. It was. therefore, with more than usual soli-
citude
that Lord JOHN ItussELL referred yesterday
to the matter under consideration, threatening that
on Monday next before going again into a Com-
mittee of Supply he should demand at the hands of
the Government still further and somewhat more sa-
tisfactory explanations.
Without waiting until Monday, Mr. DISRAELI
at once manfully vouchsafed an answer, which
must be allowed to be sufficiently candid
to allay the anxieties of the most incredulous. The
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, premising that
the First Minister had of late been very la-
mentably misunderstood [marvellous circum-
stance ! that obscurity should have dulled even for
a moment " the clear silver of that Saxon
style"]—declared at once, simply and boldly,
" that it is the intention of her MAJESTY'S Govern-
ment, as it was the intention of her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment, so soon as those measures are passed which
are necessary for the service of her MAJESTY,
and those which we consider necessary for the
security and good government of the realm,
humbly to counsel her MAJESTY to dis-
solve the existing Parliament ; and we do
so with the full intention of recommending her MA-
JESTY to meet a new Parliament during the course of
the present year under circumstances which will
give an ample and complete opportunity for
the new Parliament to decide on the cha-
racter and policy of the existing Government."
Than this nothing could be more clear or more
perfectly in accordance with the original avowal
of the Noble Earl the PRIME MINISTER of England.
After this, it is earnestly to be hoped that the
business of the session will be no more in-
terrupted by these unfortunate misapprehen-
sions. By evincing somewhat more magnani-
mity towards the statesmen now presiding,
at a crisis fraught with more than usually prolific
sources of embarrassment, over the different offices
of administration, the leaders of the Opposition
will extend their own popularity, while they
can in no manner jeopardise the interests of
the country by so doing—seeing that the people of
these islands will very speedily be afforded an oppor-
tunity of deliberately weighing in the balance the
policy of the existing Government.

We are at last to have a real, stringent, searching
investigation into the proceedings of the Anglo-
Indian Government. A Select Committee of the
House of Lords, fairly and impartially chosen, was
last night appointed to inquire into the operation
of the Act 3 and 4 William IV., c. 85, for the better
government of her Majesty's Indian territories, and
to report their observations thereon. The whole
question of what is popularly termed the renewal of
the East India Company's charter will thus be sub-
mitted to that Committee. We may also infer from
the concluding statement cf the PREMIER that
the step thus taken is not merely an ingenious de-
vice to divert the public attention from the
subject, as was too frequently the case
in fiscal and financial matters, when Sir
CHARLES WOOD presided at the Exchequer. lie
said," By the reports of the Committees of this and the
other House of Parliament, her MAJESTY'S Government
are ready to be guided in the course they will pur-
sue ; and to those Committees must be deputed the
important task of considering how the affairs of
India shall hereafter be best conducted." This is as
it should be. If Ministers desire to divide their
responsibility with a Committee of either branch of
the Legislature, if they induce Noble Lords or
Honourab!e Gentlemen to devote much valuable time
and labour to the consideration of any subject, they
should not contumeliously ignore the results of their
inquiries, or show that their appointment was nothing
more or less than a discreditable " dodge"—the word
although vulgar, is expressive—to shelve a trouble-
some question until after the report of the Commit-
tee had been obtained. We, however, willingly
accept the pledge freely tendered by the Earl of
Deena, and feel convinced that there will be no
mistake on the subject at any future period.
The question is indeed one of deep and almost
vital importance to the welfare and prosperity of a
arge proportion of her MAJESTY'S subjects. No
less than 150,000,000 of human beings—nearly
one-fifth of the population of the world—are
interested in the result. The great desideratum is
to bestow on that vast community the form of go-
vernment most suitable to their wants, and best cal-
culated to elevate them in the social scale. Have the
magnates of Leadenhall-street afforded evidence of
their fitness for that arduous and important duty ? or
have they shown themselves to be an assistance to, or
a clog upon, the Board of Control ? These are ques-
tions that have been deliberately asked, and which
must be seriously answered. We believe that the
truth will be elicited during the forthcoming
investigation, and that it will be clearly and
distinctly established that they are powerful only
for mischief—that they can do no good, although
they can oppose many formidable impediments to any
matters calculated to improve the condition of the
Asiatic subjects of her Most Gracious MAJESTY.
If, then, it can be shown that the services of the
Board of Directors are worse than useless—that they
render no practical assistance to the India Board, al-
though they
retard and interfere with its efficiency
when action is required, why should the
extraordinary privileges that will shortly be extin•
guished be renewed ? If there were any commercial
operations still pending, in which the capital of the
Company was concerned, there might be some tan-
gible reason
period,
assigned for a continuation of the charter
for a limited until the matters outstanding
could he wound U.
The Company has since 1833 completely lost its
But there is nothing of the sort.
commercial character. vet
ly
the right of
previously enjoyed—abolished, exclusive trading—the monopoly which had
which they
DERBY, they were deprived
trading at all." Indeed it is a
charactery
matter the privilege ' of
ofut, according etoyLo, rd_
im-
portance whether their mercantileeof
taken away or not, for it is certain
might be the interpretation of the Act ogfnivalet)
the Company have long since totally
species of trading, and that it is only, se n up any
far
as their
political functions are concerned, that any point re-
mains to be disposed of.
The ground being then so far cleared, why should
there he any doubt or difficulty remaining? avhy
are the affairs of the Eastern Empire to be tram..
a whateverr
l a
ewi
ni nat
,s-
-melled by the interference of twenty. four
or thirty elderly gentlemen ? Is is
merely
r
that they may have enormous patronage vested
in their hands, to distribute it according to their indi-
vidual caprices rather than for the benefit of the
community. As Lord ELLENEOEOUGH truly re-
marked, such patronage divided into so many
channel?, or rather " pools," is only exercised in fa-
vour of the family or friends of the bestower.
Candidates relying merely on merit or on the services
of their forefathers, have but little chance cf lucrative
employments. If we closely examine the nominations
to writerships or cadetships, we shall see numerous
cases of nepotism, and but few of public spirit.
Thera are, of course, some honourable exceptions,
but these are anything rather than the rule.

Now, is this to be continued ? Is the East India
House still to remain a close borough, or otherwise ?
We should say not. Objectionable as it may be to

transfer the patronage to the Government, the existing
system ii far worse. We trust, then, that the Committee

last uiglat 414ailated will Jigcbargo its itcp4taat dutiea