The Sun.
London, England, 1830-03-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We know not how long the feeling may continue,
or whether it may not be liable to waste by wearing,
but at present there is much satisfaction at the repeal
of the beer duty, joined, as it is to be, with an open
trade in the article. There remains hardly any thing
now in which the necessaries of the really poor are
raised in an oppressive degree by taxation : employ-
ment, and reasonable wages, are almost all that they
want. It is said that the publicans, who have vested
interests in their houses, must suffer from new rival-
ries; but is there any
.trade which is not liable to
fluctuation ? The. caprices of fashion injure many ;
and as the love of beer varies not in the labouring
classes, those who vend it may the more easily bear
a change which springs from other causes. How-
ever sorry we should be to see any class of men op-
pressed, we may venture to suggest that a measure
which brings down the wholesome beverage pecu-
liar to this country to the price of three halfpence a
pint, must ultimately prove beneficial to the respect-
able publican or victualler, by diminishing the con-
sumption of ardent spirits—that is, by rooting up
mere gin-shops. The effect of the measure,
it is thought, so far as the agricultural inte-
rest is concerned, will be to raise the price of
barley. To this we should have no objection,
certainly, on condition still of the unalienable
result—that beer be not raised beyond 3d. per pot.
We do not indeed see how a cheaper beverage can
be supplied ; but if ever the high price of barley be
made a pretext for raising that of beer, then we
think that Government onght to recur to first prin-
ciples, and secure this almost primary necessary of
life for its poorer subjects, by the free admission of
foreign barley. However, it must be observed, that
the repeal of the beer duty does not take place till
next October, when we shall have the new barleys
in the markets. It would be rash to anticipate an
abundant crop before the seed is committed to the
earth ; we cannot, however, help noticing the ex-
tremely favourable state of the weather for barley
sowing. Neither can we omit observing on the un-
rivalled beauty of the young wheats, of which we
hear from all quarters ; the severity of the winter
having destroyed the slug and other noxious vermin.
But it is in the country chiefly that we expect the
advantages derived from abolishing the licensing
system will be felt. Licences, which it may be feared
were every where partially distributed, were there
most disgustingly so. Proximity to a great manor has
been a cause for refusing a licence, however con.
veniently the house might be situated for travellers
and the neighbourhood. The common brewer is in
many instances, through his publicans, a great pro-
prietor of votes for the county, and the county
Members are ordinarily licening Magistrates I The
poisonous trash that is sold for beer in the country
exceeds all credibility. And what right will the
honest brewer have to complain of the present ar-
rangement'? None whatever; for no one can deny
his superior skill in the trade, together with the ad-
vantages of the capital and machinery which he
possesses. The new beginners, therefore, will be
but little able to compete with him at the first; and
there is no reason why the fresh houses which may
be opened under the proposed law may not reple-
nish their cellars from the common brewer who will
serve them best ; and so the business of the latter
may be increased, rather than diminished, with the
increased consumption of beer, by the abolition of
the brewing tax. But let not any suppose that it
will suffice as a simple act of legislation to relin-
quish the duty upon beer. Many provisions must
enter into the repealing Act; and care must be
taken not to fritter away the general utility of the
measure by those provisions. What arrangement
will be made with respect to the obligation of re-
ceiving soldiers upon billet, and taking in the bodies
of those who suffer by accidents ?—Tirncs.
We would point attention to what was very pro-
perly said in the House of Lords last night by Lord
Radnor on Lord Ellenborough's Divorce Bill. Every
husband owes his wife protection. Even if he de-
spairs of gaining her personal attachment, lie owesher
protection from the foulness of sin, the scorn of the
world, and the future pangs of remorse. Above
all, he owes her protection from the contagion o bad
example, particularly in himself; and if Lord Ellen-
borough has not afforded such protection to his wife,
it were a wicked act of legislation to give him relief
by dissolving the marriage tie. We hope this Bill
will be more thoroughly investigated in the Com-
mons. If both Houses of Parliament choose to pass
Divorce Bills without instituting inquiries of their
own, resting content with the mere evidence offered
by those who are interested in the success of the
Bills, it were better that the reverence for marriage
gs a sacred rite should perish altogether, and that
pat ties should be allowed to go before a Magistrate,
andlrleclare their union disjointed at will. We say
this, not only from the arguments of Lord Radnor
and Lord Maimesbury, though we think them con-
clusive, but because we have heard of proceedings
on the other side,—of public proceedings (for we do
not ransack private intrigue and its haunts) with a
confectioner's shop-girl at Brighton,—which require
investigation before a Bill of Divorce ought to be
pessed.—Times.

A good deal of anxiety begins now to be felt with
respect to the issue of the struggle between the
Liberal party and Ministers in the Chamber of De-
puties. It is a farce to talk of a Representative
Constitution, if those who represent the people
may not declare their want of confidence in the
Ministers. They do not choose the King's Minis-
ters ; they merely take the liberty of disapproving
al zhe choice, when they think it calculated to in-
jure the interests of the country. For much of the
dislike ,entertained towards the present Ministers.
they are doubt indebted to the persuasion shared
by the best informed people in France, that the
Duke of Wellington had the nomination of their
Chief. It is believed, moreover, that this inter-
ference on the part of his Grace was dictated by a
hatred of liberal institutions. Though there can be
rte great affection among the higher ranks of this
eourtx,ry f6r a representation which is not aristo-
eretica---a state of things at which even Sir Robert
Wilson suered, as not to be spoken of in the same
breath with that Constitutional maturity among
ourselves which excludes the people—we yet can-
not bring ourselves to believe that the Duke of
Wellington had in view any infringement of the
eights and privileges of the French people. He
probably looked to a change of Ministers merely as
a means of placing the French Government in har-
mony with our own with regard to the affairs of the
East, conceiving that the former Ministry were
too much devoted to the views of Russia. A
notion very generally prevails abroad that the
foreign policy of England is faithless. The very
nature of our Government lays it open to this
charge. In a Democracy there can be no secret
proceedings, and the Executive being under the ne-
cessity of laying everything before the people, must
be Atraight-forward and consistent. In a simple Go-
vernment like Prussia there may also be consistency
and sincerity. But in a Government like ours, the
people do not guide the rulers, and our foreign po-
licy takes its complexion from the faction or patty
which happens to be in power. The personal incli-
nations of the Minister for the time have thus often

a tremendous influence on the destiny of foreign na-
tions. Mr. Canning has been generally received
well abroad for throwing his influence into the scale
of the Constitutionalists. The present Ministers
"are accused of a contrary bias, and much of the
hatred of the French Liberals towards their Mini-
stry is owing to their belief of their being subser-
vient to another Ministry, who entertain a hatred to
liberal institutions. In the " Authentic Account of
Mr. Canning's Policy,'' a publication sanctioned, if
not written, by Lady Canning, the animosity ori- 1
ginating in a distrust of the Duke of Wellington
is thus alluded to :—" Go to the North, and hear
the terms of bitterness and contempt with which Eng-
land is assailed by the Russian Government for our
vacillation—by the Russian people, for our illibe-
rality. Go to Germany, and you may listen in
vain for the praises which the name of England used

to call forth when Canning ruled her destinies. Tur-
key complains of being betrayed. Greece considers
us her enemy. Cross the Channel, and you will
find in France the feelings of ancient rivalry which
Mr. Canning's policy had well nigh extinguished,
revived with almost incredible violence. Sail to
Portugal, and there you will see that we are hated
by all parties, and trusted by none : while the
thousands exiled from their homes, in consequence
of our change of policy, imprecate curses on British
perfidy, and serve as a warning to all not to place
reliance on British protection."—We only wish that
the nations would generally place no reliance on
British protection ; for we are quite certain that the
British people would be gainers by their Govern-
ment not being trusted. We do not believe the
Duke of Wellington's Government more insincere
than any of those which preceded it. But as we
have said, it is of the essence of our Government
to proceed by crooked ways, because an English
Minister knows that lie cannot count on support
for what his inclinations may lead him to attempt,
and hence the vague language from which he may
one day escape. The Duke of Wellington is suffer-
ing now in the estimation of Europe, rather from
his not realizing the hopes nourished by his prede-
cessors, than failing to perform his own pledges.
Morning Chronicle.
If Ministers were really resolved to prove them_
selves disinterestedly anxious to relieve the dis_
tresses of the country, they would not hesitate to
come forward, and set an example of true liberality,
by voluntarily giving up to the country a portion of
their salaries, which the change in the currency
has so materially enhanced. This is the more ne-
cessary, and would be the more laudable, inasmuch
as their financial measures to relieve the present
distress are not to come into operation until a
distant period, when, according to the prophetic
acumen of Mr. Baring, the distress shall have passed
away! If this had taken place in the Irish Parlia-
ment, which Mr. O'Connell some time ago talked
loudly of reviving, it would have been considered
quite in character with the style of the national Le-
gislature. However, let that pass. Ministers have
a glorious opportunity of making themselves
" nobly popular ;" the strange and peculiar com-
plexion of the times have created that opportunity—
they should seize upon it at once, for if Mr.
Baring's " prosperity" come suddenly upon us,
it may never occur again. We believe the
smallest proportion in which has been estimated,
that the value of money has been enhanced by Mr.
Peel's Bill, is one-third, so that Mr. Peel thereby
added one-third, in fact, to his salary, though it
nominally remained the same. He could, therefore,
afford to take off 2,000/. of a salary of 6,000/., and
still be as richly paid for his public services as before
that Bill passed. He said the other night in the
House of Commons, in reference to the appointment
of the three new Puisne Judges, that it was in-
tended they should have 5001. a year less than those
at present on the Bench. He came to this conclu-
sion, no doubt, in consequence of the change in the
value of money, and though he did not carry it to
its full extent, it is clear that he recognised to a
certain degree the principle of " equitable adjust-
ment." In many of the minor departments of the
State, and among hard-working clerks, the Minis-
ters have carried this principle into effect ; but to
set the example in their own case would redound
more to their honour and to the public advantage.
Let it also be borne in mind that the great fortune
amassed by Mr. Peel's family, the immense wealth of
the Duke of Wellington, and the liberal incomes of
several other Members of the Administration, have
sprung out of that war which has loaded this
country with the weight of taxation that breaks its
back. If Ministers only adopt our suggestion, per-
haps the great sinecurists may be shamed into a
generous rivalry of self-sacrifice with them, and the
act of the Marquis of Camden may no longer re-
main a solitary example.—Besides, in another way
Ministers recognised the principle of equitable re-
duction when, through those Journals which are
devoted to their interest, and invariably do their
hiddings, they called on the landlords throughout
the country to cut down their establishments, and
make abatements in their rents. They surely were
aware when they recommended, or, more properly
speaking, commanded, this remedy for distress to be
adopted, that the same Bill which raised the value
of the rents which the farmers and others have to
pay, raised also the value of those salaries which
the country pays to them. We trust, therefore,
they will not, like the quack doctor, recommend to
every body else the medicine which they decline to
take themselves. Let them make proportionate
abatements in their salaries, and what they lose in
money will be more than repaid by that sort of
honourable fame which has ever been the most
valuable property of great men.—Morn. Herald.
There was an extraordinary unanimity not only
on Tuesday morning, but also the same evening,
among all our contemporaries, respecting the Budget
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer—a Budget
which assuredly did not afford us much satisfaction,
though it appears to have given great pleasure to
almost every one else, if we may be allowed to draw
such an inference from the spirit betrayed by our
cotemporaries, and the spirit almost universally ma-
nifested by the House of Commons. Be it so. We
are content to stand alone in a right cause; and we
think that, on the present occasion, our cause is
right. With regard to our cotemporaries, we are
willing to accept the same excuse for them which
was on Tuesday very disinterestedly proffered at Ridg-
way's—namely, that they had not had sufficient time
to reflect on the contents of the Budget to give an
opinion upon it which would, on after consideration,
be satisfactory either to themselves or to the public ;
but with regard to the " collective wisdom," it must
be evident to every one that the approbation arose,
not from the reduction of taxation having, in every
respect, met their views, but from its being arranged
so as to benefit the aristocracy more than any other
class in the community. What will be the effect of
the abolition of the beer tax? An increased con-
sumption of barley, and an increased rental for the
land on which it is grown I. What will be the effect
of the abolition of the leather duty ? A benefit to
the agriculturists also ; What on cider ? Ditto, ditto,
ditto. The Honourables and Right Honourables
cheered with all their might, arid most ungrateful on
their part would it have been if they had not cheered.
But what grounds are there for the community to
rejoice ? To take it in round numbers, and as nearly
correct as possible, three millions of taxes have been
abolished ; thus—
Beer £3,000,000
Leather
Cider

£3,375,000