The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-06 00:00:00

fivihecl b; electric telegraph from the seat of war,
fr tgcnents of information so horrible of their kind
as this telegram :—" The bombardment of Sonder-
borg continued all day yesterday. Fifteen hun-
dred shells were thrown. The main street is
destroyed. Fifty-seve❑ persons were killed
and wounded. The women and children have
deserted the town." If there were adequate
cause for this war, frightful occurrences of
the above nature would, unhappily, be only of a
piece with the cruelties inseparable from the c irry-
ing tout of all wars. But—in regard to this
shameful war made by Prussia and Austria upon
Denmark—intelligence, like that, reads like the
veriest record of a wanto❑ atrocity. And, in evi
dente that we are not in any way exaggerating
when we so speak of it—need we do more
than direct attention yet once again, in the tight
of those flaming shells, to the number of fifteen
hundred, thrown into the streets of Sanderburg,
may we not, in the ghastiy glare of that bombard-
ment, direct attention hole anew to the fact
that Denmark had indicated her readiness to
consent to a discussion of the Schleswig-
Holstein difficulties as between her own Parliament
and the legislative and administrative authorities of
the Germanic Diet—when the two leading Powers
of Germany, in despite of that honourable
concession on the part of the Danish
Sivereign and his Government, nay in
direct and almost it would seem con-
temptuous opposition to the remonstrances of her
Britannic l\Lijesty's Government, marched their
armies to the northern frontiers of Germany—
crossed those frontiers—overran Holstein—entered
Schleswig—occupied the chief part of that province,
a province, to say the least of it, far more Danish
than German in its character, in its language, in
its traditions—advancing even audaciously into
that peninsula of Jutland which is noto-
riously, to the knowledge of all Europe,
an integral part of Denmark Proper ! Yet a war
thus canselessly commenced, is still being carried
on, as we see it is now being carried on at Solider-
burg !

The debate on the Mails in the provinces, which
took place on Monday, concerned a subject which
is deserving of attention. It is a great mistake for
legislators to consider these questions of little
momenf, and for Ministers to push them aside with
haste and contempt, because they concern the com-
fort and eonvenience of a portion of the subjects in
these realms ; and if these are few and far between
with the many who throng the crowded city, that
is no reason why they should be neglected and put
aside. The secret is, that where any arrangement
concerns a large or an influential section of the com-
munity, it is sure to be fully canvassed, and the
powers that be are perforce induced to take cognis-
ance of it, because of the weight attached to the
remonstrance, or the fear that is engendered by the
wrath of an important portion of the inhabitants of
the place in question. It is otherwise, however,
when the rights, or rather the wrongs, of isolated
branches of the population are mooted. Mr. LONG
moved for a select committee on the Post Office,
" with an especial view to the improvement of the
existing arrangements for the transmission of mails
in the provincial districts." This is a very desirable
thing, and it is very much to be regretted that
success did sot attend the efforts of the hon. mem-
ber; at all events, the subject has been started, and
it is to be hoped that it will not be allowed to drop,
and that nest session we may see some marked
change take place in those transactions. Mr. LONG
explained the chief points of the question in a very
lucid speech, which was supported and acquiesced
in by several hon. members, so that there is no
cause to despair of the attempt being one day
more successful than it has hitherto been. In
the course of his explanations ho remarked that
the most clumsy arrangements still prevailed in
many of our provincial towns, the mails being
despatched by a foot messenger or by a horse and
cart instead of by rail. The consequence of these
faulty plans, of course, is that it often takes three
days for a letter to be sent and an answer received
between towns of only a few miles distance apart.
Can anything be more preposterous than such a
state of things. The inconvenience must be appa-
rent to all, and it is quite impossible to over-esti-
mate or exaggerate the importance which it must
be te many to get their letters quickly sent to their
destination, and to receive a reply in as brief a
space as possible. It seems very hard that bece,e,„
a person lives in a comparatively retired spot he
'
cannot obtain this advantage, which is, Indeed, one
of the choicest beans of civilisatiren, and with its
scientific triumphs has wrour:;nt out a change in
the habits and customs 01 the population. No
better reason can be eeiduced for the necessity of a
change being reqn:Lred than this fact being put forth,
that it takes four days to send a letter and receive
an answer, at the distance of nine miles. The Post
Office authorities are deaf to all the complaints that
are made to them, and this is doubtless a vary con-
venient habit for themselves, but not a very pleasant
or profitable one so far as the public are concerned.
Mr. PEEL made a very rambling speech, the up
start of which was that nothing could be done ;
one of the chief reasons that he cited against the
arguments and suggestions of Mr. LONG being,
that the expense would be too considerable if the
Post Office was compelled to make use of the rail.
ways in all cases instead of employing cheaper
modes of transmission. It seems to all who con-
sider the question at all that this is very like a
contradiction in terms, because where is the utility
of the present enormous addition to trains in all
places if no benefit is to accrue therefrom. For
few purposes can the railway prove more efficient
than for the expedition of the mails, and it is quite
idle and absurd to talk of the expense when
matters of so much moment are at stake.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer was obliged to
come to the rescue, and give his important aid to
carry the point of the Government as opposed to the
benefit of the community and the claims of justice,
reason, and common sense. The right hon. gentle-
man spoke quietly enough, and did not seem at all
impressed with the merits of hie case, but he just
spoke according to rule, to keep up the stand-still
policy on which all departments of the Government
appear to pride themselves. Of course he was able
with his tact and adaptation to make the worse
appear the batter cause to the uninitiated, but in
such an instance failure would have been more
honourable than success. There was little really
to be made of the right hon. gentleman's speech,
but it may be worth while just to glance briefly at
his chief arguments. In tha first place, he said that
the Post-office yielded a revenue of a million and a
half, and that this sum stood in the place of taxa-
tion, so that it must not b.s interfered with. It is
always dangerous for a statesman to have a hobby,
and it is well known that Mr. GLADSTONE has a
perfect mania for taxation. His extreme notion of
looking upon everything in the light of rendering
services to the revenue is most ridiculous. When
we remember his unwarrantable notion for taxing
the public charities last year it is not to be won-
nered at that he should set his face against all the
proposed improvements and most salutary altera-
tions in the Post-office department. It often takes
time to effect any striking change Or to produce any
great benefit in any division or deputment of the