The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-24 00:00:00

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l*un,

LONDON, THURSDAY., vi j
24, 1863.

As the practised swordsman was r,
%`litit to notice
any flaw or chink in the armour of 11;
adversary,
so in the diplomatic circular which he
aregauelnar and
to
"" just
issued to his confreres, M. -MOO" Dgi
has not failed to avail himself with in
sagacious dexterity of the advantagep te
his hand by the refusal of England to take a pit,t
in the recently proposed Congress. The other
European Sovereigns," he says, "in their reply to
the letter of the EMPEROR. have rendered homage
to that bold initiative which, laying bare the den-
gers of the situation, proposed the Most pacinc and
legal means to appease them." All the
Courts
have given either a reserved or an unqualified
assent to the Proposition. " One single
Power, England, has refused." England has
has therefore not only lost her voice—the emphatic
voice which she was justly entitled to hold—in the
Congress of Nations, but all the onus of any diffi- I
eaity or dissension that may, and that almost iinevi-
tablywill, arise, must naturally, now, fall upon her !
According to the sanguine representations of the
French Minister, all might have been so unanimous
end 63 "ai •
cable! ‘"Che probable result of these
con ferene" have been a salutary and honour•
able transaction." England, however, has chosen
to coact the Part of MattrLoT and the whole
pacific programme ifs
disturbed. IVhat the result
might have been Under other circumstances it is
impossible to Ray. The various belligerent
powers of Europe have not arrived at that
I.' ri
state of concord
among antaget•liatic
natures attained by y
FP Family" of the
f :tor nrdaetrhfeurl
than and
animal creation' E
we believeveni
r'
that
isolated example, is
love—a wholesome dread of the master outside
n
the cage rather than any particular frie da -hip for
the helpless brothers within -- that induces thy;
cats and hawks to maintain such very amicable
relations with the mice and sparrows. By a 811111-
- •

%ram, ..... 6...1

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ilaely beneficial exercise of an equally efficacious
ire finence, the French EMPEROR —if we are to
bf ilieve •his own representations, and the protes-
. ti 4tion of his Minister—and we see no reason
f .nr discrediting them—is desirous of curbing the
r apacity and stifling the animosities now so painfully
1 Jrevalent among the' powers that be" in Europe,
1 ind which threaten ere long,: indeed, to involve
the whole Continent in a disastrous " civil war"
According to that beautiful definition of the great
NAPOLEON, now happily recalled to us by his suc-
cessor, "to fight in Europe is to make civil war !"
As an evidence that such a beneficial interference
was not uncalled for, M. DROUYN DE LIIUYS cites,
for example, very justly, the present troubles
in Denmark. " Recent events, " he takes
occasion to remark, " have justified sooner than
we believed, the provisions of the EMPEROR. The
King of DENMARK dies ; passions are aroused—
people become agitated and undecided—Govern-
ments balance between the letter of treaties and
the national sentiment of their country. A con-
gress
po s ed
could alone conciliate the duties of sovereigns
bound by conventions and the legitimate aspirations
p
o
of the peoples." The refusal of England has
an insuperable obstacle to the realisation of the first
desire of the EMPEROR. " The second hypothesis
now remains—the restricted Congress. Its reali-
sation depend on the will of the Sovereigns." "It
will not have the judicial authority which would
have belonged to a European Congress," and conse-
quently many preliminaries will be discussed be-
tween the various Ministers for Foreign Affairs
before the actual meeting can: take place. Having
premised in the former part of his letter that
"France, which had no advantage to gain for
herself in the eventuality of a General Con-
gress would have made common 'cause
with all the enlightened Governments to
bring about reconciliation, extinguish rancour, &c.,"
the French Minister very adroitly takes advantage
of the refusal of England to render the Congress
unanimous and judicial, and observes, in conclusion,
"'We should be able, after the decision of the
British Cabinet, to consider our duty as accom-
plished, and for the future, in any event that may
arise, only to take account of what may be suitable
to us and of our private interests." Such a threat
of what we might do is, perhaps, natural
under the circumstances, and must ba pardoned
in recognition of the magnanimity of the assurance
that follows, that France will not avail herself of the
opportunity offered by England, but in considera-
tion of " the good dispositions" manifested by the
other Powers, will ba ready to enter frankly with
them on the path of a common understanding.
That such a happy result may be evolved from
the present apparently hopeless entanglement
must be the common desire of all, even of England,
who has been placed by her minister in such an
enviable position, that while no merit will be
attributed to her, and no praise awarded to her in
any contingence that may arise, all the blame and
all the obloquy of failure will be cast in her teeth
and fall on her self-devoted heed.

The most important and useful institutions intro-
duced for the benefit of the public during the
present century are the Life and Fire Insurance
Companies. These societies are not only invaluable
to the general public, but are also highly remune-
rative to the shareholders. Government has like-
wise stepped in to claim a share, and that much to
the detriment of insurers. At present the duty on
insurances is, in regard to the money received by
the Company, about 150 per cent., and increases in
proportion to the risk run by the insurers. With
regard to life insurances we do not wish to advert at
present, except to remark that while they are
invaluable to the prudent tradesman, as a means of
securing an independence to his family in case of
sudden death, ho has but invested his savings as a
provision for his successors. There are at present
various forms and principles of investment, which
may be made to serve any possible exigency; yet,
as we cannot expect the good without the evil,
Loan Societies of all descriptions have sprung up,
many of which are mere shams, consisting 01
a secretary and a clerk or two, in a
showy office, and an accommodating life
assurance company, through which agency
a policy is obtained and handed over to the Loan
Society, large expenses incurred, and elaborate
rules and regulations, and fines and penalties, the
enforcement of which is placed in the hands of a
sharp lawyer, on the no cure no pay system. We
mention these facts simply as a warning to our
readers not to be deceived by the many specious
advertisements which daily appear in the public
press. The fact to which we wish particularly to
draw attention is the determination of the Fire In-
surance Companies of the metropolis to withdraw
their support from the fire brigades, or more pro.
perly to discontinue their maintenance, which has
hitherto devolved (with the exception of the parish
engines) entirely upon the combined London com-
panies, who maintain that the progressive extension
of the metropolis necessitates an increase of expen-
diture which they cannot any longer submit to.
They have therefore notified to the Home Secretary
their coming determination not to hold themselves
responsible for the extinction of fire, and suggesting
that the brigade should be placed under the control of
the police, as in Birmingham, Manchester, and other
cities. The charge for its maintenance being met by a
universal parish-rate, or if the police cannot under-
take the responsibility, that the Metropolitan Board
of Works be requested to do so, that body holding
jurisdiction alike in the City or the West-end, a
control not exercised by the Metropolitan Police.
There certainly seems to be some reason in this de-
mand at first sight, but when we come to look into
the case, the question naturally suggests itself, who
are so interested in the preservation of property as
, the companies, who are held responsible for its
and? They make large profits by their business,
and ,_
tight not to begrudge a small outlay to pre-
vent 44 far as possible its destruction. It never can
be to the •
interest of any householder to destroy
wantonly Lis
Property in the hope of obtaining a
profit even free,
existed. The e the most liberal company that ever
exult of a fire in almost every case is
a loss of money, propertyno matter how heavily he may be
and time to the unfortu
insured; fur a mantl may. be insured for
nate
which he may have
£5,000,
paid the Premium for 60
and the o.fßco
payment nothin years has re-
ceived that g loath, but when
his property
ehetsl
is destroyed they i
en-
deavour to show that it woe not worth above £2,000,
and refuse to pey beyond v
that amount, nn
the matters well known to the initiate4ollid,he ail are
cb
to the recent celebrated trim, pretty Well
eticer
tained by the general public. It is complained of,
that out of about £900,000,000 of property in the
metropolis,' not one-third is insured, so that the in.
sured pay for the uninsured as regards fire engines.
Who, we would ask, is to blame for ois state of
things? Fins not our Government driven insur-
ances out of this country to Holland, Hamburg,
and other places, by the oppressive duty levied
upon these provident institutions. Late in last
session the hon. member for Dudley brought for-
ward his bill for the gradual reduction of the duty
un insurances, and it was entertained by the House,
notwithstanding the opposition of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and Mr, S lIERIDAN promised to