The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-29 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FRODI THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
. .Tim.Es.--ot all the eifferent ways by which man-
kind achieve greatness the most singular end least Bade-
factory has been faken by hrie Majesty's present ad-
visers. It' any one were candidly to ask himself wby it
is that Lord Derby and his followers are in possession
of the sweets and emoluments of office, the only reason-
able account he could give would be that they are chosen
to rule us because they lacked the logical acumen which
would have enabled them to see through the transparent
fallacies of an exploded economy—they
because had not
the candour to pay that deference to the teachingt of ex-
perience which they had denied to the dictates
toirear seeifsiii
—because they had not tset sufficient to catch h
of the age, or enough readiness and versatility to
position which every one but themselves had long seen it,:
be unteuable and absurd. Such being the characterite.
tics of what used to be called the Protectionist party,
the present Ministry were selected because they embo-
died these qualities in the very highest degree. The
criterion Lord Derby looked to in selecting adefeei s
for h6r Majesty i'as "z-al in the 'cane° of artificial
scareity, and, Where • this was found in a spe;
cial degree,, the _qualification .of superior talents
and aptitude for bysiilcss , was disregarded. The
one prinap:e on whiet the Ministry were chosen,
which they embody; 'which they'advocate, tied of which
they are the liveliest and most earnest living represen-
tatives, is the enormous faith that the many are made
for the few, the consumer for the, producer, the nation
for the clase, and the' poor for the'rich. It is very ne-
cessary for the electors :of the United Kingdom to bear
,in mind that, whatever may, now be said, it was on pro-
tection, and protection alone, that the Derby Cabinet
was built. All other professions, whether of Protestant
teal, of a desire for legal reform, or of dread of demo-
Crecy, are mere accidents, the substance and the essential
having always been protection. It is, we say, very ne-
cessary to remember these things, because, although
protection has been in terms disowned, Ministers have
round nothing new to put in its place; it is dead, and
has left no avowed successor. If the Derby Ministry
were to speak candidly in appealing to the votes of
the country, they would say that they elk for our sup-'
port because they have always held opinions which
the rest of the country utterly abhors, and because,
having abandoned those opinions, they feel them-
selves entitled' to our personal confidence. Now, as to
the first of these grounds, we feel ourselves constrained
to say that such striking evidence of an imperfect sym-
pathy between the Ministry and the nation bodes little
good as likely to result from a longer coattinuance"of
their union; as to the second, the disclaimer has been
made with so bad a grace, and with the retention of so
many principles equally groundless and odious, that it
does not entitle the culprits of Protection to a complete
amnesty from the followers of Free trade. We rejoice,
of course, to hear that the endless abuse of their greet
leader for, his change of opinion has, for the future, be-
come a topic too dangerous for mention; and that the
desire to raise the price of food is disowned with as much
earnestness as it' was wont to be proclaimed. But we
are sorry to see, and cannot but feel it as an insult to the
common sense and intelligence of thenation, that all those
principles from which the doctrine of Protection rigor-
ously follows are restated and insisted upon in almost
every Ministerial addresses. We are reminded that the
agricultural interest has been unjustly treated; that
it is distressed by exposure to unfair competition; that
it the chity of the Legislature to foster every interest,
and take care that it be properly remunerated; and that
it is the intention of Lord Derby's Government, by some
means other than protective duties, to compensate the
owners and occupiers of the soil. Now all this is, we
apprehend, not merely false in theory and discreditable
in statesmanship, bat an entire misrepresentation of the
feelings of the people of this country. It is not merely
against the abuse of import duties for the purposes of
Protection, and the taxation of the consumer for the
benefit of the producer, that the nation has manifested '
such unmistakable repugnance. Protection is odious in '
itself, but it is still more odious as a manifestation of that .
unfair and partial spirit of government which deals with
men, not according to their individual rights, but ac-
cording to the degree of pressure which a community
may enable a class to exert on the Government. We
claim to be equal before the revenue as before the
law. We ' will not pay taxes to any class, nor
will we assume upon our shoulders the burdens which
rightfully belong to it. We recognized no duty in Go-
vernment to foster the welfare of classes, and no mission
to reconcile their disputes, so long as those disputes are
occasioned by the desire of one class to live either di-
rectly or indirectly at the expense of another. We have
not merely shaken off Protection; we will not be go-
verned by men who regard our interests from a protec-
tive—that is, from a narrow, unsound, and anti.national
point of view. The principles on which free trade is
based are more. valuable than free trade itself, for the
one is only the correction of a particular abuse, while
the other; when well understood and fairly applied, fur-
nish guarantees for progress, equality, and justice. We
shall never be able to tolerate a Government the sympa-
thies and feelings of which are opposed to our own,
which insults us by bewailing abundance, and still looks
for coniolatiOn to any causes likely to bring back
that scarcity which it dares not enforce by legislative
enactment. Free trade must not be tolerated as a
great evil,., but accepted and embraced as a great good.
No idea can be more absurd than that any Government
can be permanent in a free country whose sympathies
are in a contrary direction to those of its citizens. We
must not only have abundance, but we must have Minis-
ters who do not grudge us its enjoyment. Are the peo-
ple gorged and satiated with the necessaries of life, and
anxious to return to a sparer diet and more ascetic fare?
Do they read in the increasing abundance which every
Quarter's Revenue discloses symptoms of decline and
eiecay? Do the meat, and the bread, the coffee and the
sugar, and all the other homely luxuries of the poor
man's board, come to him in such lavish abundance that
he has learnt to loathe them, as the Israelite in the de-
sert did his dear-bought banquet of quails? If so, let
us by all means take the shortest cut back to the blessed
state of want and scarcity from which a few short years
have delivered us, and, without troubling Lord Derby to
rack his brains for a suceedaneum. let us bolt the pill of
Protection at once. But if, as we rather think, there is
no disposition to curtail these things,—if every individual
of the community, though content to bear his own bur-
dens, is determined not to assume those which right-
fully belong to his neighbour, let us return men to
Parliament determined to resist not only Protection, but
every alternative, substitute, or equivalent which the in-
genuity of Lord Derby may suggest. 'While the Go-
vernment was still Protectionist, we were told that Par-
liament was to meet in the autumn for the purpose of
considering measures for the relief of the landed interest.
Protection is disavowed, but the meeting of Parliament
is still to take place, and measures of relief to the landed
interest are still announced. The country can have no
confidence in the spirit in which these measures will be
prepared. Many candidates have announced before-
hand their intention of voting for them, be they what
they may, merely from reliance on the spirit of undue
favour to the landed interest by which they believe Lord
Derby' to be actuated. It behoves the friends of free
trade, therefore, to. be careful in choosing Members
friendly, not merely to the letter but to the spirit of
free trade—not merely to unfettered imports, but to the
wide and comprehensive . principles of the absolute
equality of all clssses In matters of finance. We do not
want merely the absence of Protection, any more than
we regard a man as our friend and benefactor because
he does not pick our pocket. We want something posi-
tive. We want, in fact, that gurrantee for good govern-
ment which nothing but a fair recognition of sound
economical principles, and an earnest desire to carry
them out in their own way and in their true spirit, can
possibly afford to us.
CHRONICLE.—No general election was ever pre-
ceded by so many unmeaning addresses as the contest
which is 'to occupy the first hale of July. In former
times, if candidates used conventional language, consti-
tuencies at least understood on which aide each aspirant
was likely to vote, if returned. Oa the present occasion
it is perhaps possible to *discover, through a cloud of
words, that a particular style of election address implies
an intention to support Lord Derby; but even this
simple pledge is, in most instances, limited by the very,
professions of confidence which accompany and justify
the promised adhesion. The trust which an expectant
Member places in a Minister must be supposed to be
grounded on a belief that the latter will carry out some
definite line of policy; but, at this point, all further in-
vestigation is baffled. Some one or two hundred gentle-
men
are resolved to assist Lord Derby in doing-nobody
can discover what. If the Ministerial party were likely to
form a majority in the new Parliament, there
.would not
be much difficulty in understanding its present intentions.
There are always reasons enough for standing by the
actual holders of office. The. real difficulty will arise
when, in the course of the autumn, a change of Govern-
ment occurs. It is really impossible to understand what
the ex-Protectionists will attempt, or profess, or wish
for. Mr. Disraeli made it his business, during three
sessions, to teach them how a campaign in which they
were engaged might be conducted with the best
.hope of
success. In resuming his place as leader of the Oppo-
sition, he will be called upon to provide his friend seiver
only with tactics, bat with a cause. The agitation
against the supposed " burdens on land" was
a always
understood by the party to be an underhan and in-
genious contrivance foe carrying on the battle of Pro-
tection. The landowners know how trifling. would be
the utmost relief which they could seriously ask; and
they certainly have no intention of relinquishing the
local powers which must necessarily be trans-
ferred to some central authority, iu the event
of the Consolidated Fund being charged wit
the amount of the present local burdens. It
is scarcely worth while to bring together a large Parlia-
mentary minority, who, as soon as Lord Derby is driven
from office, will have no principle of cohesion whatever.
The fallacious hopes of the existing Cabinet re based
on the personal differences which are supposed a
to divide
the Opposition. But more far-sighted politicians un-
derstand, that general agreement on the immediate
questions of the day will ensure sufficient unity of action
so long as Lord Derby is in power. The formation of
a now Government will, no doubt, require concessions;
but ills the tendency of office to consolidate an imper-
fect iinien by • the multiplication of common interests,
and by the' habit of joint resistance to the same oppo-
nents. The present minority of the House of Commons
sull'ers little from active dissension, notwithstanding the
resentment of its more tenacious faction at the open
apostacy of 'the pure Ministerialists. Party union,
whether it depends on personal or on political grounds,
is allays strengthened by the possession of office; but
some principle, good or bad, is required to make an
Opposition respectable. We assume that there is no doubt
as to the result of the elections. Even the loudest friends of
the Government have ceased to affect sanguine hopes
of success. The counties cannot add ten supporters to
Lord Derby's ranks, and he can hardly expect the
boroughs will give him one additional adherent. The
Roman Catholic constituencies in Ireland are naturally
indignant at the Maynooth agitation, and at the late
PrOclatUtttien. 'Xlie Gitriexamout might fairly Wye at-