The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-08 00:00:00

Commence at 7.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.---
Sole Lesee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining.
THIS EVENING, PAUL'S RETURN.
After which, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. The Two
Dromios, by the Brother& Webb.
To conclude with. lith time, a new Farce, by J. M. Morton,
Esq , entitled DRAWING-ROOM. SECOND FLOOR, AND
AT 1: ICS.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Sole Management of Mr. Fechter.
THIS EVENING, the performances will commence
with THE DAY AFTER THE FAIR: Messrs. Widdi-
combe, Garden, Moreland, and Miss E. Lavenu.
A Ater which, at Eight o'clock, the 125th Night of BEL
DEMONIC), a Love Story, in Twelve Tableaux, taken from
Stendhal's " Italian Chronicle ." Principal character by Mr.
Fechter. Messrs. Jordan, Charles, J. Brough,m, Emery,
Raymond, Moreland, Smith, Clifford, Collett, Sims ; Miss
Hate Terry, Miss E. Lavenu, Sirs. Lee, hiss Elsworthy.
The Public are entreated to take notice that No Charge is
Blade to the occupants of Boxes, Box-places, or Stalls, either
for play bills or for the safe keeping of hate and cloaks, and
teat the attendants in all parts of the house are forbidden to
Teceive any gratuities whatever.
Box-office open daily from 11 to S. Commence at 7.

NEW TEMA. [its-RU YAL, ADELPHI.-
Sole Proprietor and Manager. M. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, THE PRETTY HORSE BREAKER :
Mr. J. L. Toole and Miss Woolgar.
At 8, LE AH : Miss Bateman, supported by Messrs. A.
Stirling, R. Phillips, Billington, Stuart, Eburne, Stephenson ;
Miss H. Simms and Mrs. Bitlington.
P.
To c-nclude with Tfl AREA BELLE : lressrs. J. L.
Bedford, it. Homer,E Miss Woolgar, and Mrs. H. Lewis Toole,.
Commence at 7.

ISS BATEMAN.-L E A 11.--Tlll
EVENING and EVERY EVENING.-3liss Bateman
will re-appear in her great impersonation of theeffect Jewish
ma.den further notice. In order o give due to
'Vila most remarkable suc:esa of the se son, ea ire y new
scenery by the celebrated ar ists Messrs. Damson and ons n
,
and Thomps,n. New dr ss s and appo ntims have be
prepare i for its production.—N. In consequence of the
.nressing and numerous applications at the Box-offfs e, ar-
angement• have tow been made by which Seats in+y be ob-
ineci a Fortnight in Advan,e.

ROYAL ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. under the '
Management of Mr. B. WEBSTER.
CrOwded with Rank and Fashion. —The greatly successful
iew Com;dy every Evening.—Re-engagement of those cele-
brated artistes, Mr. and Mrs. C. Mathews. Amongst the
artists engaged are Er. Benj.Webster, 51r. Charles :viathews,
Er. J. L. Toole, Mr. J. Clarke, Mr. Paul Bedford. Mr. Frank
Matthews, Mr. F. Robinson ; Miss Herbert, Mrs. Charles
Mathew
J, Mrs. Frank Matthews, Miss A. Cottrell, Miss
Fanny Josephs, Miss Patti Josephs, M:ss Wentworth, and
Mrs. Stirling.
Every Evening, at 7, the fAvourite Fare of FORTY AND
FIFTY: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Matthews.
At a quarter before 8, the successful new Comedy, by
L. Ruckinzham, Esq., entitled Tilt: SILVER. LINIM;
31r. t,harles Mathews, Mr. F. Robinson, Mr. Ashley, Mr.
Montague ; Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Frank Matthews,
Miss A. Cottrell, Miss Wentworth, and Airs. Stirling.
After Which, COOL AS A CUCUMBER. Mr. Charles
3lath.ews.
To conclude with UND;M THE ROY.4E : Mr. Ashley and
MIAs A. Cottrell.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. W. H. Swanborough.
HIS EVENING, a new Comedietta, A HUNT FOR. A
II JSBAND.
Alter which, the Grand Christmas Burlesque, ORPHEUS
AND EURY DICE : Messrs. Honey, Wood, Jame ;Fenton,
afesdames Swanborough, Jlarie Wilton, Hughes, &o.
Concluding with MARGATE SANDS.
Commence at 7.

THE THIRD EDITION OF " TI-IE SUN,"
Containinz the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
Dan be had Every Evening of
G. R. GLkNIE, NEWS AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park.

COALS.—The LILLESHALL COMPANY'S
COALS.
Direct from their own Collieries.
Marquis' ..... ..265. per ton. Double 2ls. per ton.
Top 255. ~ Nut 5........ 19s. „
Deep ...225. „
Well scvened and delivered within five miles of their De-
pots, Westbourne Park-road, W., and 17, South Wharf,
Paddinff,ton, W.
Best Coze
Terms cash.
• JOHN SCOTT, Sole Agent.

The Weather—Sun Office, April 8, 1864.

-4- --

T fur nnow ETEIt.
This day at Two o'clock 5l

Barometer-30.37.

Wind—E ; moderate breeze, and fine.

HIGH. WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
DAY.—Morning, 3h. 3m.—Afternoon, 3h. 28:n.
£o-uoßaow.-Morning, 3h. 47m.—Afternoon, 4h. 6m.

t"1:7
fai
? g

LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1864.

._- ~~--

Mr. GLADSTONE'S Budget for the new yesr is,
all things considered, about the very happiest among
all his achievements as a financier. As his three
hours speech of last evening is certainly about the
most lucid among his highly elaborated financial
statements. This much at least it is satisfactory to
remark at once and with Out a moment's hesitation.
Perhaps never more conspicuously than it did lass
night, did the House of Commons, while the Great
Rhetorician and it may be said also the Great Arith-
metician was rolling forth his sonorous periods—
listen delighted. It was agreeable to know for cer-
tain, as the house did from the very outset,
that the particular doubt that had to be
cleared up by Mr. GLADSTONE through his Finan-
cial Statement (subject of course when it should be
completed to the approval or condemnation, the ac-
ceptance or rejection of the House in committee), was
—not how much should be put on and where, but
where and how. much should be taken off. It was,
other wise to express it, delightfully notorious before
ever the Right Hon. the SPEAKER vacated the
Chair of the House in order that Mr. MASSEY
might assume the Chair of the Committee, that
a clear surplus of some two millions and a half
sterling had to be dealt with by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer in the way of remission or redistri-
btatien. Without following the ingenious orator
through the ranges of his intricate;y and vet moat
;ymn)ptr'ca':v arnrgeti labyrinth of a Financial
Statement, before the pre-arranged paled arrived
when he admitted those who followed Lis foot-
steps patiently along all its sinuous wind-
ings, until after having threaded the whole
involved maz,,, he cunningly' let them at
the very last moment as it were into the hitherto
carefully concealed central heart of his labyrinth—
we can now simply just take one gratified glance
at what lies :here in compensation before the er quirer
in that core or concentrated point of the financial
labyrinth. In brief, then, Mr. GLADSTONE avails
himself of hie surplus of 1'2,500,000 by proposing to
remit taxation to the tune of more than £2,225,000.

Part of this goodly total he remits from direct
taxation, part from indirect taxation, He I
drops;, or proposes to drop, £BOO,OOO in
a rump from the obnoxious Income Tax, in other
words, he relieves us under that galling burthen
by very nearly £1,000,000. In point of fact, the
diminution of the rate of Income Tax from seven.
pence to sixpence, as the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer now proposes to diminish it, would repeal
upon the whole year from £1,100,000 to £1,200,000.
But, restricting our calculations under this head, as
is requisite, to the nine months of the year still
before us, it would be, as just now taken for
granted, a diminution of the most odious of all
direct taxes to the tuneof £BOO,OOO, and not as
might at the first blush appear to be to the extent
of fully £1,200,000. Again, under the head
of indirect taxation, Mr. GLADSTONE proposes
to remit in the shape of sugar duties an amount
of revenue representing, in round numbers,
an equivalent value of some £1,300,000.
Another item dealt with in the way of re-
mission, is one coming under the head of the taxes
levied upon fire insurances—which he conceives
may be safely as well as advantageously reduced
by about £192,000. Various minor changes are
likewise projected by him in the pleasant guise of
remitted taxation, amounting, together with three
Other and larger changes already enumerated,
namely, those affecting the income tax, those affect-
ing the sugar duties, and those relating to fire
insurances, to a total amount of taxes remitted, or
rather proposed to be remitted, upon the year
immediately now ensuing, of as nearly as possible
£2,337,000 ! An aggregate amount that, when de-
ducted from the known surplus of £2,570,000,
would still leave over a quarter of a million "to
the good," for the satisfaction of the nation, and
for the advantage of the Government.

The decision of the House of Lords, in the case
of the Alexandra, is a most satisfactory one, and it
will doubtless afford great gratification to all who
have watched this complicati'n from the outset. A
more complete discomfiture than that which has
befallen the Ministers can hardly be imagined. It
is singular that they should have persisted in thus
taking the case from court to court, after the de-

tided and adverse decision that was given against
them. They have gained time, if that was their

object, but it has been at a heavy cost, and the

gnominy of such a failure must surely more than

counterbalance any temporary gain of the sort.. It
has been throughout a harsh measure which was
(wait to the owners of the Alexandra, and now the
ones and odium of the affair has recoiled on the

originators of the scheme. It is a great shame that
public money should be so squandered as it has been

a this affair to a great extent. That, of course, is

nothing in consideration with the injary and in

ustice which N$ as attempted to be put upon the

defendants; but for the trustees of the welfare o
the community to disregard so recklessly all pru

dentin! considerations is a great dereliction of their

duty, and must produce a bad effect on the minds
of all unprejudiced persons. It is not to be for-
gotten also that, if the owners of the Alexandra had
not been rich enough to defend themselves with
might and main, they would have fared but
badly in the momentous controversy which has just
taken place. Every means that opportunity could
bestow, power command, or wealth impart, were
unhesitatingly and unblushingly employed against
them. The authorities of any foreign nation could
not have exhibited more eager desire, nor taken
more decided steps to crush their victims than did
the members of our Government to circumvent and
destroy the helpless individuals who had the teme•
rity to cross their path and to interfere with their
dearly cherished plans. In the midst of their well-

merited triumph, and in the hour of their success,
it cannot b 3 wholly out of recollection that they
have run great risk and been exposed to incalcu-
lable annoyances which no one had a right to
inflict upon Them with so little shadow of proxy
or foundation for attack. It is altogether a system

of persecution which has been pursued in the case
of the Alexandra, and the spectacle which the
whole affair has presented to foreign nations has
been disgraceful in the extreme. It is to be
trusted that the complete and overwhelming

discomfiture which our Governmment has me,
with may serve as a salutary check, and
prove a warning to them not to interfere again
in this unwarrantable manner with the rights and
privileges of English subjects. If so, there may yet
be what the French call un bien eun ;nal extracted
out of this most unpropitious circumstance. It is to
be hoped also that our friends across the Atlantic
may recognise that the laws of England will not
sanction their exorbitant demands, and that they
must put a limit to their extravagant expectations.
It is as comprehensive a defeat for the advocates of
the Crown as any that has been sustained for some
time past, and, coming after the unvarying deci-
sions of the courts below in favour of the defendants,
it is the proper finish to the werk, and puts a bril-
liant finale to the arduous struggle and prolonged
contest. It is curious to notice, that in the majo-
rity for the defendants were three lArd Chancel-
lors, and also that the minority was not composed
of such eminent authorities as the majority. It is
not often that the public have the opportunity of
watching a trial that is carried on with such perti-
nacity of persecution on one side, and such courage
and endurance on the other. It_has been a sad era
in the records of English law, and a lasting stain in
the annals of English history. That the good cause
Ur triumphed, and that the right has Prevailed
against might, does not remove one iota of the
stigma that attaches itself to the misguided and
misjudging men who undertook the graceless task
of trampling the liberties of the ;abject under foot,
and inflicting serious injuries on the trade and com-
merce of the country to suit the unreasonable
claims of foreign Powers. Nothing but disaster and
humiliation can attend such a course as that which
our Ministers have marked out for themselves to
follow at home, and such a policy as that which
distinguishes their actions and guides their tactics
abroad. It is idle to talk of the insufficiency of the
law as it at present stands with regard to cases like
that of the Alexandra. This is an unworthy sug-
gestion to come from any one who claims to possess
a particle of old English spirit. The idea of such
a thing is preposterous, and the Ministers had better
take heed before they attempt any such thing. At
least, for the sake of common sense and simple
jestiee, let them not presume to alter the statutes
that relate to the building of vessels, which they
ingeniously make out are for the Confederates, be-
fore they have rendered the laws more stringent
that regard the enlistment of the subjects of the
QUEEN by the Federals. They will find them-
selves mistaken in their venture, and defeated in
their attempt by such a decisive negative that even
their elasticity under defeat cannot survive. They
had better let well alone, and likewise make
this last lesson a precedent to guide them
in similar cases. It quite out of character for them
to continue the investigation of the matters relating
to the steam rams, now that the highest court of
appeal in the kingdom has decided against them.
It remains to be seen what line of scion they will
follow, and what turn events may tke the future
can alone unfold ; as it is, we have just witnessed a
decisive and crowning triumph that ::.as been most

happily gained by those who deserved success, and
who commanded the sympathies of the great ma-
jority of the community. We have at the same
time beheld the spectacle of the defeat of the Minis-
try in a manner that is alike hurtful to their pride
and disastrous to their popularity. Any one m y
make a mistake, but theirs has b9en the commissi n
of a wilful error, steadily persisted in.

Wednesday sittings are usually uneventful, but
often they are the occasions of the completion of
those necessary Parliamentary forms which are in-

dispensable to the legalising of usz...ful measures.

Oa Wednesday last, the Chain Cables and Anchors
Bill, which we have strenuously defended on former

occasions, passed through committee after soma dia-

cussion on the various clauses.

The opposition,

which was so strongly shown to this measure on its

ntroduction and (luring its progress, has not yet

altogether died out, and we aro sorry to find the

President of the Board of Trade still prompt to

depreciate and ready o disparage it. Even so late

as the close of the debate, Mr. MILNER GIBSON
took occasion to observe that he hoped the delusion

would not get abroad that this testing would give
all the securities required. Upon this Mr, LAIRD
complained, with a good deal of justice, of the un-

'airnEss of the President's disparagement of the test

which was adopted by the Government itself for
the protection of its own ships, for he had founded
his Bill on the Admiralty standard, which has been
tried for many years and proved effectual. Sir
MORTON PETO said, with much common sense, that
at ail events the public would have the guarantee of
the chains and cables which had undergone the test

being originally made of suitable material. Such
reasoning as Mr. GIBSON'S is quitt--, untenable, since
it is not possible to secure perfection in any manu-
facture or material ; but the application of
tests and trials is intended to secure the
public from any flagrant defer ion in either sub-
stance or workmanship. The fact of SO per cent.
o. the cables tested breaking down under the trial
is surely sufficient to prove that such a measure was
❑eeded, and that, however difficult it may be to
secure a really good article, there is certainly more
chance of doing so when a preliminary test is ap •
plied. If a cable is going to break on the first
severe strain it is certainly better that that strain
should be applied in the testing house and not on a
siorm beaten coast, and we find,it difficult to under-
stand the motives of those gentlemen who, with
such startling facts before their eyes, persist in
opposing a measure which can do no harm, and will
probably be the means of effecting much good. A
very large proportion of the wrecks round our shot es
are the ill•found coasting traders, whose owners are
utterly regardless of the ship whose value is gene•
rally more than covered by the insurance, and indif-
ferent as to the danger of the men. The men on
their part cannot afford to quarrel with their em-
ployers, so there is nothing to protect them from such
want of conscientiousness and humanity. It is in
cases like these that the interference of the Legis-
lature will prove so great a benefit, and the com-
pulsory testing of cables and anchors will, we may
hope, produce a sensible effect upon that dismal
wreck chart which year by year increases its

gloomy catalogue. The public owes a deb;
of gratitude to Mr. LAIRD for his efforts
in this matter, whose importance has naturally been
frequently impressed upon him in the course of his
business. He has been ably seconded by LLOYD'S
Committee, and most of the principal manufac-
turers ; the former being probably wise enough to
I see that the measure will save them from paying a
good many insurances. It is greatly to the credit
of the manufacturers that they should have so wil-
lingly supported an interference with their trade.
The active interest which they have taken in the
matter has been shown by their sending a deputa-
tion from Newcastle and Staffordshire to confer
with Mr. LAIRD on the subject; and one result of
that conference was the retention of clause 8 in its

entirety—a very important gain, as its effect is to
prohibit any maker or dealer in chain cables and
anchors to sell, or supply for the use of any vessel,
any chain cable or anchor which should not have
been previously tested and stamped, thus rendering
it necessary to test all exported cables. Besides
the manifest unfairness of selling to foreigners
goods which are not considered good enough for
home use, there is no doubt that such latitude would
lead to very mischievous results. The chief part
of the discussion was as to the right of test. We
should prefer to see this point settled by the erec-
tion of testing-houses at all our principal ports,
under Government control, where cables and
anchors could be tested in presence of a Govern-
ment inspector. The Select Committee have
given their opinion in favour of allowing
private persons and public companies to
share in the privilege, on the ground that there
might not be a sufficient number of testing houses
to meet the wants of the trade. An amendment
was proposed with a view of confining the right of
test to public companies, and excluding individuals.
Mr. LAIRD, although he did not oppose it, reminded
the House that so late as Tuesday 1 at the Admiralty
had announced that in future they would not accept
tests from any private manufacturer, and that all
their chain cables and anchors must be tested by a
public Board. We hope that the measure will be
fully and fairly carried out in letter and spirit, that
no vessel will be allowed to put to sea without
having her cables and anchors tested under Govern-
ment inspection, so that at least the natural dangers
of our coasts, and risks of our immense marine
traffic may not be doubled by a carelessness and
indifference which would be tolerated in no case
where property was at stake, and not men's lives.