The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-12 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

TIMES.—It is painful to find that the reign of an
Emperor who has conceived and carried out the
emancipation of the serfs throughout his dominions
should be disgraced by the acts that are openly
charged against the Warsaw Government. It is not
merely a question of nationality, it is not whether
Poles should live under the sceptre and serve in the
armies of a foreign master, but whether they should
have the rights which human beings possess even
under the tyrants of Central Asia. The friends of
the Russian Government are already beginning to
excuse it at the expense of the instruments which it
employs in Polish administration. It is said that
the military governors to whom the management
of affairs has been committed for some time are men
full of the ideas of the past, and accustomed to look
upon every Pole as a rebel whom it is useless to con-
ciliate, and whom power must suppress, or be con-
tent itself to perish. Old officials, and the wretches
who do the worst work of a police, have it is alleged
misunderstood the spirit of the Czar, and without
his knowledge instituted a reign of tyranny in Po-
land. We do not believe in this defence, but the
fact that apologies are offered is a proof that the
scandals of the Administration make even the go-
verning body in Russia ashamed. And there is good
reason. Unless all that reaches us irom Poland be a
fabrication, the conscriptioit as practised there of
late has been an iniquity surpassing anything told
of Christian Governments in this age. It is bad
enough for the youth of a country to be taken
against their will to serve, not in their own land or
in a neighbouring dependency, like the French, not
in defence of their homes or fora cause dear to them,
like the Germans or Italians, but to march off
thousands of miles, to fill up the wasted regiments
by which a merciless policy is ever seeking to
advance the Russian frontier. But there might
even in such a case be contentment and resigna-
tion if the conscription were a fair one. If the
kingdom of Poland gave its share of victims together
with the rest of the empire—nay, if the selection
were just even within its own limits, there
might be some possibility of submission. But it
is solemnly asserted, and we believe with the most
complete truth, that the conscription has been sys-
tematically made a machinery for picking out and
carrying into lifelong servitude every young man
who showed the genius, the energy, or the promi-
nence of character which the police considered
dangerous. This accounts for the statement that
the last conscription has been more felt by the citi-
zens than the peasantry. In the towns of Poland
are, of course, to be found those who have been
-most affected by the great events which for the last
15 years have been passing in Europe. In spite of
Imperial neglect, education has advanced ; in spite
of discouragements and actual prohibition, that
education has taken a national—the Government
would say a revolutionary—character. The Govern-
ment cannot repress thought on political matters,
except by showing Polish society that to be sus-
pected of thinking is fatal. It is almost acknow-
ledged by the Government that the conscription
has been used as the means of carrying off the most
dangerous young men in Warsaw. To make sure
of the revolutionary leaders, the authorities deter-
mined on selecting every man who was at all con-
spicuous for ability or attainments of any kind. We
are told that in Warsaw " very many students of
law, medicine, and theology were taken to the
citadel during the nights of the 21st and 22d of
January. Two thousand conscripts were levied in
Warsaw, though the city has no more than 160,000
inhabitants." Who can wonder, then, that the popu-
lation has flown to arms P Probably the inhabitants
of the capital and the large cities began the move-
ment as the only chance of safety to themselves, but
it is evident that the whole kingdom, proprietors,
traders, peasants and all, are now in rebellion.
Again, the priests are at the head of the movement,
which shows that it has nothing in common with the
revolutionary movements of Western Europe. In
short, it is a thoroughly national rising, and the
Catholic priests are impelled both by their patriot-
ism and their jealousy of the almost forcible con-
versions made by the Imperial Church to take part
with their flocks. The insurrection can only be
brought to an end by two means—either a long and
merciless conflict with the rebels, or such a change
in the administration of the kingdom as may con-
tent the Poles and regain for the Emperor the
esteem of Europe. On the first alternative we will
not speculate. But we do hope from the character
of Alexander 11. that he will not think fit to renew
the horrors of 1830 before the face of this genera-
tion. Such an outrage would justify the cessation
of all cordiality between his Government and those
of Western Europe, and would probably isolate
Russia, if not from the Sovereign, at any rate from
the Legislature and 'people of every csnstitutional
State. Even the partners in: the work of Polish
spoliation have made some reparation to the people
they ruined. Galicia has been fairly governed by
Austria, and is now one of the least discontented
provinces of the Empire. Prussian Poland has its
deputies who oppose their flighty King with as
much boldness as any German on the benches. The
Sovereigns of both these States are, no doubt, de-
sirous to see matters go as smoothly as possible
with their Imperial brether ; but should he out-
rage too much the conscience of the world, they
may be forced by the opinion of their subjects to
oin in condemning him.

DAILY NEWS.--What is the use of Royal Com-
missions ? They cost a great deal of money—they
are excellent means for shelving an inconvenient
subject for a season ; but they seldom lead to any
practical results. The first thing that a responsible
Minister does with any report which does not agree
with his own opinions, or with the traditional
opinions of the office over which he presides, is to
throw doubts upon the soundness of the conclusions
of the report, and sometimes even to direct his sub-
ordinates to collect evidence in contradiction. Royal
Commissioners have lately reported on the Concen-
tration of Law Courts, on the Education of Pauper
Children, and on Educational Charities. These
investigations have occupied in some cases years,
and have absorbed many thousands of the public
money. The legislation of last a ession did some-
thing to carry into effect the recommendations of
the Education Report. But as for the Concentration
of the Law Courts, the Education of Pauper
Children, and Educational Charities—these subjects
seem to be practically abandoned. To those who
take an interest in the subject of Charities it is
satisfactory:that so competent an authority as Lord
Wrottesley should have brought it before the House
of Lords; but it is far from satisfactory to find that
the Government intend to do nothing in the matter.
It might, perhaps, be supposed that after the sub-
ject had been so thoroughly ventilated, public
writers who pretend to enlighten the public, would
have taken the trouble to inform themselves, by
reading that chapter of the Education Commis-
sioners' Report which refers to this special matter,
before attempting to criticise it. If there is one
thing which the Report deals with more elaborately
than another, it is with the question as to the body
that ought to be endowed with power to reform use
less foundations. It has been calculated that the
value of all the property devoted to charityis be-
tween seventy-five and one hundred million pounds
sterling ; and of this vast sum p
iart is wasted on
schools which have no scholars or incompetent mas-
ters—on objects which 11(17 absolutely failed, or
which are actually demoralising the people. In one
single case there is a sum of more than one hundred
thousand pounds which has accumulated, and yet
there is no object to whichit can be applied con-
sistently with the terms of the original gift. Are
these enormous sums to lie idle, or to be applied to
useless objects, or what is to be done with them ?
At present there is no power which can deal with
such charities, and certainly one of the most impor-
tant and difficult problems which the Education
Commissioners had to solve was that of ascertain•
ing. where the power of remodelling charities ought
to be vested. Vested somewhere it must be, for
otherwise large sums of money devoted to charity
must continue to lie idle, or be used actually to
promote demoralisation. Now, if there was one
body to which this power could not be entrusted,
it was the Court of Chancery. From the time
when Lord Brougham's Commission was appointed,
more than thirty years ago, until the present
moment no difference of opinion has existed on