The Sun.
London, England, 1830-12-24 00:00:00

MATT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

canaot be denied that the French capital,
Ithin our last despatches left it, was in a very arid.
'cal state, and it is probable that Were this day's
journal shalthe put to preen, the mine which heaved
for vent, and was only kept down by external pres-
sure, may have exploded'. It inflames the fury of
the larisiani to suspect that England, favours the
seemed, and is intriguing for their acquittal. The
rumour is, absurd in the extreme. It is painful to
speak against men while on trial for their lives,—
and it is for their lives only that they are tried; for
previously to their impeachment they bad by their
conduct thrown away every 'pretension to honour,
humanity, and even common sense,. Dot it is pain-
ful to speak against men, whatever may be their de-
merits, whilst their life or death hangs on the ba-
lances Now, however, when it is beyond a doubt
that their fate will be decided before this journal
Neches Paris, we have no hesitation in saying, that
the general opinion in :England is, that an example
ought to he made of them or some of them t or else
a Minister of State mount possibly Commit any
crime in that capacity, which should subject him to
the severest award of the laws Nothing, certainly,
in a civilized country, ever exceeded the criminality
of these men. They violated the law, overthrew
the constitution by despotic ordinances, deluged
tie capital with blood in support of their criminal
measures, and, in the midst of carnage, were pro.
Jeering civil proceedings, which should ultimately
deprive of life those who only opposed their abo-
minable acts by civil means, by personal remon-
ammo' and legal expedients. This is the plain
Vats of the case with respect to Poligriac parti-
eularly,,, and his colleagues in their several degrees.
Still, we confers, we fear and deprecate mofi.„
whose rage is undiscriminating. If the Peers have
salt bad the integrity to pass a just sentence—or
rather, if from the fearful recollection of past events
,they have been averse to shed blood for political
offences, of however atrocious a character, we had
rather that the wretchedmen were allowed to ensile,
ete they can do no more harm, than that they should
be surrendered to: popular fury. but we confess we
cannot nosy forget, simply because they are at last
in that situation in which their crimes have
placed them, the indignation which we and all
civilised Europe felt when they were in the ruth-
less commission of those crimes. We cannot
forget how we invoked the laws of God and
man upon their heads when they abrogated the elec-
tions without suffering the Members to meet—when
they rescinded the Charter of Gallic liberties—
when they 'shut up the Press-when they directed
a fresh Chamber of Deputies to be chosen, not Sc.
fording to law, but according to rules of their own
pres' eribing—and lastly, when they ordered the
stoops, or suffered them to be ordered by the most
miserable miscreant of a King that ever disgraced
humanity, to charge upon the people who rose to
resist these outrages in masses. Since this was
written we have received from Paris an express with
the sentences, and .% description of the state of Nis.
Ws sse, alas 1 no ground to change our opinion or
moderate our fears. The peace of Paris, and per-
baps of France,. depepds on one point the
troops act P--;tomes.
The following is an extract of a letter from a dis-
tinguished Member of the Chamber of Deputies—
' Pasta, Dec. go.--.We are at this moment in A state
of flagrant revelution. Under pretext of the trial of the
Br.filinistere, republicans and others threaten the Chamlier
of Peen, the Chamber of Deputies, the King perhaps, and
ear institutions. All our National Guard is under arms,
as well se Ow military garrison I and this night, perhaps,
there will tars battle under my window.. The populace
is netted by agitators, who represent the former Minis.
sere as the murderers of their brothers and their children,
said the Peers 44 Francs as the accomplices of the Sc.
eased where they aro to judge. The .enlightened part of
the population appears determined to repulse every at-
tempt all a rovolation."-- Time.
The public sympathy seems, in most instances,
to betreadi4,siteitiol in, tamer of working mains,
feetureisi who state On the ground or pretext of hi-
Sufficient wages, W. have received a printed list of
wages earned for sometime past by the cotton-
printers in one great establishment at Manchester,
on perusing.which it appears to us that most people
will ask " 'What is it that these men really want ?"
Surely, if it be an advance of wages, they must have
taken a somewhat sanguine view of the profits now
derivable from the trade in manufactured cottons. It
is stated in this document that the

a. d.
lifachiee-printers earn, on an average, per week 31 2
Apprentices in the some 1ine.....
llioek,printerraourneymen) 27 4
Ditto, ditto (apprentices) ... ... lb n
Ditto, ditto (apprentices, enindentured) l2 7..
Ditto, ditto (boys in the brat half-year of their
apprenilas.iiip) ' ' • • 0 loi•
The above statement is given on oath before a
Justice of Peace at Manchester, by Thomas Smith,
book-keeeper to %tsars. Butterworth and Brooks,
of that town. 'Yet' the body of " operatives" emit.
lug each daily wakes an those above-tnetitioned, have
had the effrontery to turn out for more I In this
Wa sae plainly, a spirit of tyranny which must be
overawed. This is not the appeal of starving want,
but of insolent profligacy. Thu last accounts, from
Manchester lead us to believe. that every, precaution
hat been taken to secure the maintenance of public
order...--Tito cr.

Some curious accounta on the subject of local
taxation hive been, printed lately by order of the
Blouse of Commons; from a perusal of which, as
excellently arranged by Mr. Rickman, second clerk
at. the table of the House, the progress of pootsrates
and county-rates in Engiand and Wales, with the por-
tient of them applied respectively to the relief of the
poor and to other purpoara, may be traced through
the following polaris down to the present day,---six.,
average of 1748, 1749, 1750, 1775,1770,-1783,
1784, 1785,-1802, 1803,and then, for each of
the 17 years, beginning with 1812, arid finishing
with 1820. The average prices of corn ate also
given for the several periods referred to in these. do-
fitments, so that it is tint merely the amount in
intones levied for local purposes on the different
motifs, but that of the necesemies of life, in kind,
adminktered to the relief of the poor of England,
that may be got at without troy very difficult or la-
' borions proems. In 117.5 A, the expenditure for
the peer, wheat being then at 451. the quarter,
amounted a 10539,0004 That was just hefore the
breakTirotst of the war with the American colonies.
In seven years afterwards, on on average of
1783-4-5, wheat bed not risen ;note than ta. 611.
per quarter, but the charges for the poor were
attemented about half a million, or one-third
more than in the _preceding period. Thu war
then. had not been altogether idle in the aggro.
vatiou of distress. But taking that unfevourable
moment, and comparing it with the:present situation
of the country,—that is, from 1820 to 1829 inch!.
slves—we shall find that the money expended on the
poor has been more than trebled, while the popula-
tion has unquestionably. not increased more than
one-third. This compertson will of course be qua-
ified, though fat from fully explained, by a rise in
elle,rdee Of corn from ark average of 4th. 6d. the
spree, tit ells oP 60a.; anti, from that whole an in-
nortmee may be fairly drawn, that pauperism has ad-
: vented et a more tepid rate than.either population
or prices. This average coat of the poor for the last
17 years, embracing two of war and 16 peace,
his been 0,430,0004, nearly 34 to one above the
vole of poor-rates at the close of the American con-
test: Another document of considerable interest,
but requiring n close and detailed examination to
reader It' of much, practical use in ergement, is one
shish affords a comparhon between the amount of
emessmeota tern local purposes, and the annual value
of reel,property in the several English arid Welsh
wend**, the Utter being (minded on the Mill'efik"
mem to the property-tart: in the year 1815. Hence
also may be derived a highly interesting, though by
no means a satisfactory, view of the progreas of the
lees! taxation in tins country, as compared with
the resources on which it is 1i In ieni, the
emul value of the reel property of England, as

sestunl to the propertptax, was, as near as possible,
52,000,0004 sterling. The county rates, poor-
rates, &c. of that year were about 5,500,0001., the
rents as well as taxes being calculated in the paper-
money of that time. But what is the case at pre-
sent ? The annual returns from real property—
though higher considerably than they ought to be
-.--have had a nominal fall, at a moderate compute-
don, of about twenty per cent. throughout Eng-
land ; and may, we suppose, be taken at present to
produce about 40,000,0004 or 42,000,0004, instead
of 52,000,0004 a year,--that is to say, in gold ;
whereas in 1815 it was in depreciated bank notes,
If, therefore, the load burthens of the country had
continued with only a proportionate pressure ou its
resources, the pauper expenditure, &e. of the last
four years ought to have dropped from 5,500,0004
in paper, to about 4,400,000/. in gold ; instead of
which it averages 6,350,0004, being equal, at the
above rate of comparison, to 7,600,00/. in the cur-
rency of 18 IS—is rise nearly equivali nt to seventy-
five per cent. on the local taxation of that memo-
rable era. There are, no doubt, many other chan-
nels through which an approximation to the truth
on this important subject may be arrived at ; but as
every road to a sound knowledge of facts so mo-
mentous, ought at least to he tried by those who
have no sinister object in view, we would recom-
mend to notice 11,e tables above referred to, as fur-
nishing many topics worthy of serious consideration.

The subject of the Pension List was brought be-
fore the House lest bight by Mr. Guest, who moved
for the warrant or other document, dated 6th Jan.,
1823, granting a pension to Mrs. Harriett Arbuthnot.
" He was desirous," he said, " that each particular
pension in the present list should be laid before the
[louse, fur the purpose of an examination of the
grounds upon which such pension had been granted.
It would be his duty, when the funds for payment
of those pensions should be applied for, to divide
the House, if he stood alone, on every pension
which rnight not appear to have been granted for
actual service." The feeling throughout the House
seemed to be very strong against the abuse in grants
ing pensions, and Mr. Guest received the thanks of
several Members for bringing the subject before the
House. The allowance for the King and the other
branches of the Royal Family should be suitable
But there is a wide distinction between setting
spot such an allowance, and voting a Civil List to
cover not merely the Royal Expenditure, but pen-
sions to Noble and Honourable paupers. The
public money ought never to be bestowed except
as a return for services ; and both the giver and
receiver of a pension, where there is no claim for
services, coremit a fraud on the public. Mrs,
Harriett Arbuthnot may have valid claims on
the public ; but we are ut a loss to conceive
in what manner she can have served the public.
We trust the exposure of this system of pen-
sioning will lead to a somewhat better morality
on the subject. Exposure is a wonderful re-
former. When Noble and Honourable pensioners
find that every pot-boy who can reed a newspaper,
looks on their living on the money of others, and
that thus, instead of being received with honour,
they ere everywhere the object of contempt, they
will be less desirous of figuring in the pension list.
Those who have come hotiottrubly by their pensions
have a deep interest in not being confounded with
the rest.--Morning Chronicle.
We rejoice to be able to record an example of
disinterestedness and patriotism, well worthy, not
merely of praise, but of general imitation. Her
Grace the Duchess of Nenvestle has written a letter
to Lord Grey, stating that, under the pressure now
so severely felt in every patt of the country, she
conceives it her duty to resign the pension of about
6004 a year, enjoyed by her for a long period, from
the funds of the country. This its an act which
carries with it its own commendation, anti needs no
comment beyond its own record. We trust that
the pension list will soon be submitted to the in-
vestigetion and revision of a Committee of the
House of Commons ; for which there is a valuable
' precedent in the ease of the Duke of Marlborough,
whose pension was reduced, by the interference of
Parliament, from 5,0001. to 3,60 W.; and the exist-
ing list contains many that would well admit of
similar reduction,—Morning Chronicle.