The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-11 00:00:00

THE SUN,

in reference to the policy about to be adventured upon
by the Cabinet can be submitted to the Legislature)
and through the Legislature to the general multitude,
before Monday at the earliest. In anticipation of
those statements, however, the various parties in the
Lower House are already preparing themselves for an
encounter that appears to be inevitable. During the
past fortnight the Manchester school has been espe-
cially industrious in agitating the necessity for some
strenuous efforts at an active and aggressive struggle
against the Protectionists. During the ensuing
twenty-four hours the Whigs will in like manner,
under the roof-tree of the late Prime Minister, and
guided to their decision by the light of that Noble
Lord's still energetic ambition, resolve upon the
course most advisable to be pursued in reference to
the treatment of the ruling Administration. Several
other sections there are ranged along the
more retired seats of the Opposition, clus-
tered on the cross benches, and grouped some
of them, and those not the least con-
spicuous, on the forms below the gangway : but
these, generally speaking, have up to the present mo-
ment preserved an impassive silence, aloof for awhile
from the stormy influences of disappointed self-con-
fidence, of Ministerial pique, and of blighted reputa-
tion. The Peelites, for example, have maintained an
inscrutable serenity during the whole of the past
exciting movements within the walls of the Imperial
Legislature, those Peelites who number amongst
them some of the distinguished administrators of
the age, statesmen who, like the Right Hon. SIDNEY
HERBERT, the Duke of NEWCASTLE, and, more es-
pecially, Sir JAMES GRAHAM, have revealed in a

remarkable manner their capacity for the conduct of
the affairs of government. Then, again, there is the
most gifted Minister of our generation .persisting in
a very significant silence, or occasionally, as he did
in reference to the Militia question, propounding, like
the Sphinx, some riddle, the non•elucidationof which
proves fraught with unavoidable destruction. The last
of these political riddles he propounded to Lord JOHN
RTISSELL, who failing to explain it satisfactorily was
forthwith destroyed, his own destruction involving,
of course, the summary destruction of his Govern-
ment. With a Parliament thus separated into divi-
sions, the newly constructed Cabinet will have, on
Monday, to enter upon those Ministerial labours
which are at all times of sufficient difficulty, but,
which, under existing circumstances, are fraught with
an almost bewildering embarrassment.
Whether or not her MAJESTY'S Ministers will,
from the peculiar situation of parties, be enabled
during the next few weeks to bring forward the an-
nual estimates, and advance the ordinary and routine
business of the country, in spite of all the adverse en-
deavours of opposition, remains still a matter most
painfully problematical. Before many hours more
have elapsed it will be seen if the opponents of the
Administration are guided by a patriotic solicitude
for the welfare of the community, or solely by a factious
and petulant determination to push forward their
own interests exclusively. The affairs of the nation
are not, at the present moment, in a position such as
would justify
any premature or precipitate dissolu-
tion. On the 15th of March, 1852, we are not very
likely to be, politically speaking, in a situation
similar to that in which the country found itself on
22d of April, 1831. Even then the appeal to the
country, resolved upon by the Prime Minister, and
strenuously urged upon the MONARCH by the
then Lord High Chancellor, was denounced by Sir
ROBERT PEEL as both mad and unwarrantable, was
eagerly striven to be warded off by the Opposition,
and was at first peremptorily and positively refused by
the SOVEREIGN. It was only carried into effect at last
by the daring of Lord BROUGHAM, by the resolution
of Earl GREY, by a resolution little short of dis-

loyal audacity, and by a daring almost amounting to
high treason on the part of the LORD CHAN-
CELLOR. Shall the course, which was then only
justifiable under the plea of an unavoidable
exigency, be tolerated at the present juncture, when
there is really no exigency at all, and when the in-
terests of the nation strongly plead against any such
perilous interference with the various and necessary
operations of the Government ? Nothing, we believe,
would justify proceedings such as those to which we
here make allusion. By forcing her MAJESTY'S Mi-
nisters into a course so dangerous to the common
weal, the Members of the Opposition, no matter
what their legislative pretext or political
complexion, no matter whether Whig or Radical,
Peelite or Palmerstonian, would be drawing down
upon their own heads a terrible and grievous respon-
sibility. The good of the people does not, we feel
assured, require any such abrupt and indefinite post-
ponement of the estimates as would be inevitable on a
speedy dissolution. It is, therefore, that we have
protested, that we do protest, and that we shall
continue to protest, against every movement
which appears to us to lead in that particular
direction as against an effort signally and culpably
factious in its character. No advantage 14 jeopar-
dized by delaying the contest of parties until after
the routine business of the country has been " got
through," but, on the contrary, much, very much,
may be endangered by needlessly forcing on
the sudden and immediate dissolution of the
Legislature. Nowithstanding the agitation raised
by the Manchester school, therefore, notwithstanding
the mistaken determination arrived at by the Hon.
Gentleman the Member for Wolverhampton, and
notwithstanding the aggregate meeting of the
Liberals convened this day at the residence of Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, we look forward hopefully to the
patriotic devotedness of the House of Commons,
sanguine that, in spite of every specious and sinister
inducement, the majority of her MAJESTY'S OppOSi •
tion will refrain at least for the present from placing
any factious obstruction in the way of her MAJESTY'S
Government.

The attention of fiscal and financial reformers can:
not be too frequently or too urgently directed to the
present position of the property and income-tax, and
the peculiarly favourable opportunity thereby afforded
of obtaining judicious modifications of its obnoxious
and inequitable provisions. The law under which it
is levied will expire at the end of the current financial
year. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, al-
though fortunate in the possession of a handsome
surplus, cannot possibly afford to do without the
renewal of some portion, at least, of an impost
which realized in Great Britain, in 1847, no less than
5,612,6541., and which may still be averaged at
nearly five and a half millions of pounds sterling.
Mr. DISRAELI may not desire or wish to signalise his
administration of the national finances by any mate-
rial reduction, it will probably not be his object to
curry favour with the "plutocracy," or to sacrifice
the interests of the community to the capitalists of
Lombard-street but he will likewise avoid a deficiency.
He must, therefore, either renew the expiring tax, or
find a fitting substitute, a task of no ordinary diffi-
culty under the most favourable circumstances, and one
on which he
could scarcely be expected to enter in the
present state of the Ministry. He will also naturally
wish to abolish or
objec-
tionable imposts of 'Which some exceedingly obj.c-
The advertisement duticehshanedhatshealhroeapddyuctioems complained.
The
very productive. Eden the
paper tax might be got
rid of, or at least modified, with
a
view
to to its
unlessu l g
o m
tat: ne
property-tax
removal. Other matters, too, are deservinf
notice, but none could be
attended
be renewed, were it but for a "single
year, in order to give time for a
permanent and
equitable arrangement.
That it will be renewed, then, is certain, but in what
-
form ? That is the question, and it is
one of
the character of
vital importance to the British
nation, and the reputation of our leading statesmen.
We cannot for a moment conceive that Mr.") ISRAELI
will even for a single year not merely assent to, but
actually bring forward a proposition in every respect
so untenable and so inequitable as that every species
of income, no matter how obtained or however flue-
tuatiag and precarious it may be, should contribute
to the maintenance of the national establish-
ments and the liquidation of the national liabilities as
highly as accumulated and realized property. A man of
inferior abilities might be disposed to shelter himself
under the plea of the very limited period which had
elapsed since his acceptance of office, or the impera-
tive necessity for an entire re-adjustment of taxation,
and the propriety m? not making any minor alterations
until the entire fiscal scheme might be submitted
for public consideration. A cunning and unscrupu-
lous person woul d be desirous of ,leaving an embar-
rassing. legacy to bis successors, or, if pre.

LONDON,

pared with judicious and well devised
project for its
,amelioration, would keep it
in reserve for soma pressing emergency. But
BENJAMIN DISRAELI 13 one of a totally different
mental calibre from the ordinary " red-tapists." He
will never avail himself of arguments simi!ar to those
which were resorted to by his predecessor usque ad
nauseam. When satisfied of the. injustice and im-
policy of the measure he will not endeavour
to postpone its consideration on frivolous
and ridiculous pretexts, nor object to make
some attempt at improvement, because he
cannot at the moment bring forward
&perfect proposition, which shall beientirely free'from
objection. He will rather pursue the course which
duty and honour alike indicate, and give the nation
the benefit of the experience which he has acquired
while acting as leader of the Opposition of the House
of Commons, and occasionally firing at the target
which the Whigs had set up, and also from his in-
vestigations as one of the Select Committee appointed
to inquire into that very tax.

There can be no doubt that his mind has been
tong since made up on the subject. But were it
otherwise—had he to enter upon its consideration for
the first time—we believe that he would not shirk a
question which any actuary or respectable
clerk in a merchant's office might answer
in a single hour. He will also naturally be
desirous of showing his real desire for improvement
by means of the propositions actually brought forward,
in order that they may remain on record in the
Parliamentary archives, in case the factious and un-
warrantable opposition now threatened should, re-
move himself and his colleagues in the Ministry from
office before they had a reasonable opportunity of
developing their future policy. If the advice of Mr.
COBDEN be taken, if the Ministry should be com-
pelled to dissolve Parliament forthwith, and to ap-
' peal to the country ; and if they should be again
defeated in the new House of Commons through a
similar obstructive policy, there will be no opportunity
of showing what the present Administration might
have done if treated fairly and courteously. Speeches
and suggestions out of office will by no means have
the same weight as actual propositions when
in power. We are, therefore, satisfied that, for the
sake of his own reputation, and likewise as the most
expedient and politic course, Mr. DISRAELI will
bring forward in his Budget, and, possibly, indicate
in his speech of Monday evening, a proposal for
the equitable adjustment of the property and
income-tax, and the placing it henceforward on a more
satisfactory basis. Under any circumstances, the
fiscal reformers should be prepared to support him if
in the right, or to direct him into the proper course if
he should be clogged or hampered by the tardy
movements of some of his colleagues.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday
The Moniteurcontains a Presidential decree relative
o the re-organization of public instruction,and another
nominating Inspectors-General of superior instruc-
tion for letters, law, and medicine, Inspectors-General
of secondary instruction for letters and sciences, and
Inspectors. General of primary instruction. The
PRINCE-PRESIDENT, by a third decree, fixes the
salaries of the Inspectors-General at 12,000 f. for
those of superior instruction, 10,000 f. for those of
secondary instruction, and B,ooof. for those of
primary instruction. Finally, by a fourth decree,
the PRESIDENT nominates the members of the Su-
perior Council.
The Dacia says :--" It is positively stated that the
organic law on the University, which has been much
spoken of within the last few days, is to be submitted
to the deliberations of the Council of State, and that
it will come before the Legislative body at the open-
ing of the session."
The Corsaire mentions a report that one of the
principal functionaries of the Administration of
Forests has been summoned to Paris, to organize a
hunting establishment for the PRINCE-PRESIDENT,
and that the Prince DE \VAGRAM is to be Grand
fluntsman—a post occupied by his father under the
Empire.
We find the following in the Constitutionnel :—" A
report is again put in circulation that the barriers of
Paris are to be carried out as far as the fortifications.
We can affirm that this rumour is without any foun-
dation. The question, it is true, has been the object
of a serious examination, but all the authorities have
admitted that the adoption of such a measure would
be ruinous for the greater part of the banlieue, and
also for the city of Paris, which would thus have to
pave and light an immense extent of ground."
"We are requested," says the Debuts' "to for-
mally contradict all the assertions, which have been
published, as to a pretended mission with which the
Prince DE LIONS is said to have been charged on the
part of the King of the BELGIANS to the King of
Paussia and the Emperor of AUSTRIA. The visit of
the Prince DE LIONS to Germany had nothing of a
political object in it."
The Constitutionnel devotes a very large portion
of its first page to an article by M. GRANTER DE CAS..
SANAC, laudatory of the elections, laudatory of the
new Legislative Body of which he is a member, lau-
datory of the Minister of the Interior, and laudatory,
in fact, of all that has taken place. Considering that M.
GRANIER DE CASSAGNAC stands in no danger of con-
tradiction, it would, perhaps, be more reasonable to
show a certain degree of reserve, and to allow the
acts of the Government, to a certain extent,
to defend themselves ; for it is not probable that eu-
logium from such sources will produce half the effect
that will be derived from a calm, dispassionate inves-
tigation of the acts of the Government, and a liberal
appreciation of the motives by which they are in-
spired. The slightest admission in favour of those
acts by journalists who are known to entertain sen-
timents which are an 3 thing but friendly to their
authors, will do more for the Government than pages
of eulogium from avowed and professional advocates.
Thus, when we find journals like the Union ex-
pressing satisfaction at the way in which the new le-
gislative body is composed, we may be sure that it
does not stand in need of professional praise.
The definitive armament of Paris, voted in 1846,
is going on, says the Public, with great activity. The
detached forts contain at the present moment nearly
6,000 pieces of cannon of different calibre intended
for them and for the fortifications round Paris.
A grand dinner was given by the PRINCE PRESI-
DENT of the Republic, on Monday, to Lord and Lady
COWLEY. Among the foreign guests present were
the Marquis and Marchioness of DOUGLAS, Lcrd and
Lady POLTIMORE, Lord and Lady GREY, and several
other English persons of distinction. Count DE
MORNY, M. and Mme. DROUYN DE LHUYS, the Prince
and Princess DE CEAON, the Duke and Duchess DE
VALENTINOIS, the Duchess of WAGRAM, and the
Duchess DE GRAMMONT were also present.
The Patric says—" Count WALEWSKI, French
Ambassador in Loadon, has arrived in Paris, where
he will remain for ten days. The English journals,
in announcing his departure, give to the news a
degree of political importance which is quite imagi-
nary. Count WALs.waxi has been called to Paris by
private business, and we can positively state that
there is no question either of his recal or of his being
replaced in his post."
The Debate has the following remarks on English
commerce :

" According to the defenders of the old restrictive
system in England, the British flag could not fail to sOOll
feel the evil effects of the reform of the navigation-laws,
and one would suppose that from their repeal was to date
the decline of the English merchant navy? But is that
the case? Far from it. In 1850, the first year of the
new system, England, it is well known, had no reason
to complain of the part which she obtained in commercial
transports. Ia 1851 the general movement of English
commerce with foreign countries and the British pos-
sessions amounted to 13,472 000 tons of merchandise,
or 1,451,000 tons more than in 1850. Out of that aug-
mentation the English flag had 310,000 tons in entries,
and 186,000 in departures, which it must be admitted is
a most respectable share. It is not, consequently, in
1851 that the merchant shipping of England has to de-
plore its decline, the returns of the Customs proving in-
contestably that the general movement of business in
that country has been much more considerable. - And
during that memorable year of the Great Exhibition
has England an instant relaxed from that constantly
increasing movement of commercial labour and pros-
perity? No; she indefatigably pursued her task; her
exports, which were of a value of 1,643,000,000 f. in
1850, rose to 1,712,000,0001. in 1851. In place of
57.000 000 yards of woollen goods, it is 62,000,000 which
she delivered to foreign commerce; in place of
3a 84 with
certain,
rt, OthnOeio: tot's
tththat
ar t
1,222,000.000 of yards of cotton goods (about 309,000
leagues), it is 1,400,000.000 of yards which she dis-
persed over the globe; in place of 774,000 tons of cast-
ings of iron, and 3,352,000 tons of coals, her establish-
inpaetnintsgand her soil furnished to foreign manufacturers
but trifling
27,830 0 '
, 00f.inplaco of 26,000,0001. We way look on this
silk partici.:
not eninougthhisforinucaretasdeisipnlayhienr
the Crystal
there being
silk, though as yet
in England, is gaining ground; and that i
is
us, like the English
obtfrhacebo
manufacture
branches of
,cotOuOre toonf s
business,o
even
ei iron; n ; and
Palace the
wonders of our Lyonsol
oog, but
duco for all markets, formanufacturer, to know
is, cheaply. The all tastes, and for • all purses—
that .
movement of imports has in
_— Wool, 40 millions against general responded to this augmentation
that it isnheocewsstaoryprfoor_
in the exports:
ianttm2i9ll.6toraTisinfiaraw cotton, 338_
's tea, a 5 millions; sugar,
.313_
mmiilllliioonnss oagf
akiinlosgt r3aomsmraesiilaigons
, millions against
25 Millions; and in the ame way with respect
to Ca") timber, gliting, leather, vii, eggs,

THURSDAY

(which came from our own Brittany to the extent of
115 524,225, neither more nor leas), wines of France and
of the Cape, &c. Two objects, however, show a dimi-
nution, namely, shoes and gloves. But this last article,
we should bear in mind, is essentially French. It is
well known that it is we who furnish gloves to the ladies
and gentlemen of the three kingdoms; and yet on this
occasion we furnish them with only 2,842 271 pairs, in
place of 3,260,000 in 1850. On the other band, an im-
portation of an interest infinitely greater fur the prospe-
rity of nations, that of corn and flour, has again in-
creased this year. From 7,721,000 quarters corn has
gone beyond 8,000,000, and flour has passed from
3,819,000 quintals to 5,363,000. All that makes, for
1851, nearly 27,000,000 of hectolitres, or little more
than what we imported in the calamitous year of 1847.
Our corn:reckons for much in that amount. It is profit for
us who were too rich in wheat, and profit for the popu-
lations which purchased from us. The era of cheap
bread, thanks to the genius of a great statesman, has
d
again close.
T e nhee Bourse for
f and, to all appearance, will not
dfirm, with little business doing, ex-
cept in Railway Shares. The Five per Cents.
opened at 103 f. 80e., and closed at 103 f. 75c. for the
end of the mouth; the Three per Cents. closed at 69f.
20c.; Orleans Railway Shares, 1,170 f.; Rouen, 690 E;
2115a5z,v2i
e7r2zr.a
n 5,0
5c.4;8. fGreat
75c,;
B as Northern,le, 2
2627
f2.E5
0500::;
480 f. ; Paris and Strasburg, 515 E; Tours and Nantes,
318 f. 75c.; Amiens to Boulogne, 320 f.; Paris and
Bordeaux,Avigno
Avignon,
Lyons, 59 sf.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, MARCH 10.
Boulogne and Amiens, 121h—Luxembourg, 3 %—Namur
and Liege, 6N—Northern of France, 203;,—Orleans and
Bordeaux, qv,
-,l,—.Faris and Lyons, 9%—Paris and Stras-
bourg, 20 d.—Rouen and Havre, 10%—Tours and
Nantes,