The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-29 00:00:00

U. QUAADE.

BILLE.

BALAN.
KRIEGER. BRUNNOW.
LA TOUR D'AUVEEGNE. LE CTE. WACEIMEISTER.
BEIJST.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—In the feverish period of expectation
which precedes a great party battle, it is but natural
that there should be little commotions and spasms
indicative of the coming struggle. One of these oc-
curred last night, when the Government were de-
feated by nearly two to one on the motion for pre-
serving the open space in the neighbourhood of the
metropolis. Mr. Doulton had a subject which has
always been a favourite with the country. It is
impossible for any thinking man t.o contemplate the
increase of this capital without finding fear mingle
with his admiration. Every year the " province
covered with houses" extends in Every direction ;
suburbs become, in the number and massiveness of
their houses, part of the town, while outlying vil-
lages receive more and more the character of
suburbs ; the country roads grow into so many long
streets, and appear as if the overgrown city had
thrust out its hundred arms to grasp the land
around it. What is occurring in the neighbourhood
of every great town in England is to be seen in its
fullest extent about London. The thoughtful ob.
server, the philanthropist, the sanitarian, when he
looks at those collections of houses, cannot but form
a comperative.y low estimate of the importance of
what are usually called politics, the battles of pare
ties, the history of foreign alliances and interven-
tions, or even the structure and working of the
Parliamentary machine. The most serious question
for our statesmen, after that of employing and feed-
ing the people, is how to make town life consistent
with physical and moral well-being. Already about
half the inhabitants of Great Britain are dwellers
in these labyrinths of bricks and mortar, and the
larger the town the more rapidly it seems to extend.
What is to be the future condition of a people living
in great cities ? Let us hope that it will be better
than the present. No ono can enter the more close
and crowded parts of London, or pass through the
narrow courts which abound at the back of our
most splendid thoroughfares, without being con•
vinced that the conditions of life are absolutely
inconsistent with the possession of health and
strength, or even freedom from deformity, by the
population which is bred among them. The pale-
faced children, the sickly miserable women, the dull
sodden-looking men, bear witness to the effect of
feted air and of lanes which are never cheered by
the full light of Heaven. The unhappy creatures
who inhal,it these places are generally not aware of
the evil that is wasting their strength. With the
pallor of death visible in their faces, the children, if
questioned, would say, "Nothing is the matter with
me," and the grown-up people are only reminded
by their craving for some stimulant that their sys-
tems are depressed by the fatal influences around
them. Yet this evil, which was already complained
of in the times of our grandfathers, is increasing
every day as the country is being more and more
thrust away from the districts inhabited by the
town poor. In former days, however bad their
dwellings might be, they might, at any rate, get
away from them and from places like them, and find
a little fresh air and a place for exercise in the open
spaces on the skirts of the town. To take only the
last 40 or 50 years, there were fields to the north of
Bloomsbury,and Pimlico was a wilderness, roamed
over by the Westminster boys. Now the dweller
in the heart of London must go miles before he can
see a green thing except the smoky trees in some
closely-guarded square. The more wealthy classes
have migrated continually westward, regions which
held a high social rank are now almost deserted,
and fashion encamps round the park which is the
great pleasure-ground of London. But the poor
cannot move. Where they are, there they must
stay ; where their business is, where there are
houses cheap enough to lodge them, there must be
their home. Itis, then, a sad thing to see the open
spaces which were formerly within their reach
built over one by one, and the poor and their chil-
dren shut in, almost entombed, in this metropolitan
Babel. The resolution of Mr. Doulton, " That it is
the duty of her Majesty's Government to provide
for the preservation of open spaces within the
limits assigned by the 14th section of the Inclosure
Act of 1845," was likely, therefore, to receive
considerable support. Yet, though we feel all
sympathy with his objects, we are unable to say
that to act on the terms of his resolution is prac-
ticable. if it be the duty of her Mjesty's Minis-
ters so to provide for the preservation of open
spaces, they must be entrusted with much larger
funds than any that Parliament hes ever allotted
for such a purpose, and those funds must come from
the general taxation of the country. Withie about
the last 20 years two new parks, the Victoria-park
and Bettersesapark, have been made, and lately
there was much talk of another for Finsbury. But
the cost, actual, or prospective, of these pleasure-
grounds has.been so great that if the Government
is to labour in this line it must receive funds much
greater than are likely to be extracted from
the inhabitants of the metropolis by local taxation.
Is Hampstead-heath to he secured to the public—
is the building over Wandsworth-common to be
stopped—is Wimbledon to be secured for the next
generation of Londoners, whore city will then have
advanced to its precincts P As Mr. Doulton very
justly observed, it would be impossible for the
Metropolitan Board of Works to preserve these
places if the cost were to be defrayed by the me-
tropolitan ratepayers, for it was imposible to go on
imposing taxation on London, particularly as the
benefit would in some cases fall to the lot chiefly of
suburban towns, such as Richmond or Croydon. It
follows, then, that if commons which are the pros
p;:rty of private persons are to be taken for public
use, and compensation made to their owners, the
burden must fall on the public at large, for we can-
not think that merely to give the Metropolitan
Board of Works fresh taxing powers would over-
come the disinclination of the metropolis to a large
increase of the rates. Then, if the public at large is
to pay for the " open spaces" of London, why should
it not provide similar spaces for the other great
towns of the kingdom ? It may be said that London
is incomparably the largest of these towns, and con•
sequently suffers most from the distance of its cen-
tral points from the open fields ; also that, as a ca-
pital, it bas a right to ba considered apart, and to
be the subject, if necessary, of exceptional legisla-
tion. But before committing itself to such a pro-
position Government might well hesitate, and be
glad to see so important a resolution fail..

POST.—Mr. Disraeli last evening gave notice that
he will on Monday next move an address to the
Crown, censuring the foreign policy of her Majesty's
Government, The terms of the motion are compre-
hensive and to the point. The House of Commons
will be asked to express its deep concern that the
Conference has failed to realise the objects with
which it was convened, and its " deep regret that
while the course pursued by her Majesty's Govern-
ment has failed to maintain their avowed policy of
upholding the integrity and independence of Den-
mark, it has lowered the just influence of this coun-
try in the councils of Europe, and thereby dimi-
nished the securities for peace." Nothing can be
more unequivocal and specific—nothing which
could more clearly express the real nature of the
issue which the country is truly desirous of seeing
definitively determined. The question is not one of
war or peace, but whether, in the policy hitherto
pursued, the advisers of the Crown have adopted
the most fitting means to avoid the one and to pre•
serve the other. Nor is the issue of war or peace
the only one which the Ministry had to decide.
They sought to preserve the independence of Den.
mark, and their failure to secure that object is not
unfairly advanced by the Opposition as a ground
for questioning a policy which was avowedly pur-
sued with that end. Success is not necessarily a
test of merit, nor is failure a proof of incapacity ;
hat, regard being had to the mechanism of our form
of government, it may be admitted that an Oppo-
sition would be wanting in its duties to the Sove-
reign and to the country if it did not court an i.e
11-
quiry into the circumstances under which tla
Government have failed to secure those objects for
which they have so long and persistentlyinsdep
striven.
If the preservation of Denmark as an
dent State is admitted to be an object in which
tLis country is politically interested, it is legiti-
mate to inquire how it has come to pass that we
have allowed that State to come to the verge of
extinction, and are now to all appearances prepared
to remain passive, even though it should be blotted
from the map of Europe. In canvassing what has
been the policy of the British Government in respect
to the Dano.German dispute, the Opposition will
most probably direct their main attacks rather
against what they conceive to have been the vacilla-
tion of the Cabinet in conducting the earlier nego.
tiations, than against its refusal now to recommend
an armed intervention in Denmark's favour. The
charge brought against Ministers will be, not that
they decline now to take up arms in vindication of
the rights of Denmark, but that they have contri-
buted to create a state of things which will sooner
or later force this country into war. If a war with
Germany would be impolitic; if, in the event of its
being undertaken, we should stand unaided by the
side of our weak but heroic ally ; if the object of
such hostilities—namely, the re-establishment of
Denmark in her pristine integrity—would be to all
appearance unattainable ; if such a war would en-
tail upon this country sacrifices whose extent it

would be impossible beforehand to estimate—then,
although these circumstances supply the most cogen
reasons for avoiding hostilities, they equally furnish
to the opponents of the Ministerial policy grountite
for questioning the wisdom of a course which they
allege has brought the nation to the brink of such
great calamities. Lord Palmerston, and, for that
matter, any Minister who hoped to hold office for a
single day, would not venture to declare that no-
thing save the invasion of the British dominions
could force this country to go to war. It was con•
ceded, tied indeed was expressly admitted by the
Prime Minister, that under certain contingencies
it would become necessary to reopen the vexed
question of English neutrality, and consequently if
there be a point beyond which German aggression
should not be allowed to proceed, it is open to dis-
cussion whether it would not have been more politic
to interpose before that point was reached. We
have more than once had occasion to notice the
startling resemblances between the events of th©
past few months and those which immediately pre-
ceded the Crimean war. That war was, asour readers
will recollect, utterly disbelieved in by the majority
of the public until our ambassador had taken his
departure from St. Petersburg. Whatinterest have
we, or what obligation is imposed upon us of going
to war in defence of Turkey, were questi, fas to
which few indeed could bo found to give other than
a negative reply. Russia crossed the Pruth, just 118
Austria and Prussia crossed the Eider ; and the for-
mer act, like the latter, failed to excite active in-
tervention on the part of Great Britain. But,
nevertheless, we went to war in 1854, and now, ten
years later, we are likely to follow a similar course.
The Cabinet of Lord Aberdeen was blamed for hay.
iog, by its vacillation and supineness, permitted the
country to drift into war, and now it is urged that
the Cabinet of Lord Palmerston is on the same
grounds open to censure for allowing matters to
reach a pass when, whether we like it or not, we
may be compelled to take up arms. However
favourable may be the construction which the more
hopeful will gladly put upon the Ministerial policy,
no doubt can exist in the calm observer's mind that
the time has come when we must combat realities
with other weapons than honeyed phrases and ver-
bose protestations_ Diplomacy has confessedly
failed, and a plain matter of feet question will now
present itself for solution. If it was worth our
while to take an active part in a pending dispute,
thereby risking our national prestige, jeo
pardising our influence with Continental
States, and incurring no small degree of odium, is
it also worth our whi'e in the same cause to erns
ploy those means of persuasion which are not
unfitly designated the "last reasoning of kings."
If we have hitherto endeavoured to save Denmark
from annihilation by preaching moderation to the
aggressors, it is less from sympathy with the Scandi-
navian monarchy than from motives of self-interest.
We cannot afford to see the key of the Baltic in the
possession of a great European Power; and there•
fore it is that England, of all neutral States, has
taken so warm an interest in the Dano-German
dispute. But wherefore, it will be asked, manifest
this interest ; wherefore tender counsel ; wherefore
preach resignation to ene belligerent, and modera-
tion to another, if behind all this there is not a
fixed intention to fulfil some more arduous duty
than that which devolves upon a self-appointed
adviser P Philanthropy, and love of harmony and
peace, are sentiments, no doubt, very praiseworthy
in themselves; but it is seldom, if ever, that a field
is presented for their exhibition in the arena of in-
ternational disputes. We regretted and continue
to regret the intestine strife which desolates the
United States of America ; but neither our love of
peace nor our horror of bloodshed ever prompted us
to try and effect a reconciliation between the com-
batants. Motives of self-interest led us to adopt a
different course in respect to the Dano-German war,
and as our mediatorial offices have been unattended
with success, it is important now to determine how
an issue has been brought about by which the
national interests are prejudiced.