The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-09 00:00:00

operating with the speculative energy of our manu,

facturers, trade has made wonderful leaps forward,
and our exports and imports have reached almost
fabulous amounts. Agriculture, with good average
harvests, has enjoyed the full prices which, in the
time of the corn-law agitation, were all that land-
lords asked the corn laws to give them. Schedule
D was prosperous, schedule A had no cause to
grumble, and the happy un-scheduled many earned
good wages, and consumed abundance of the articles
which contribute to Mr. GLADSTONE'S balances.
What between the Defence Panics created by go-
vernments and ex-governments, and the easier
condition of the pockets of the community, the
country, though it saw its House of Commons
" lavish," put up with it good-naturedly. Such
was its way. It never could be as prudent as indi-
viduals. The income tax was indeed an ugly, an
unjust, an immoral impost, but those of us who can
must indemnify ourselves by making ample allow-
ances for contingencies, and those who cannot—
well, unlucky fellows, they must endure the thumb-

screw.
But now both the country sustains a check and
at the same time Parliament begins to feel that it
has passed its climacteric. It begins to sight dis-
solution. Its members call to mind their financial
sins. They begin to ask how it will fare with them
in their impending disembodied condition. What
will constituents say to them when they are flitting
about amongst them, seeking restoration to their
former state of being. The supposition evidently is
that Reduction of Taxation will be a popular cry.
The cotton calamity will be felt indirectly by vast
numbers besides the actual sufferers. All will see
and sympathise with it. And the boundless waste
on fortifications, the navy, and artillery experi-
ments appear as incongruous as mirth and jollity in
a house whose windows present the visible indica-
tions of an unburied member of the family within.
We only hope the demand will be universal that
1862-3 shall witness a very different scale of ex-
penditure from that inaugurated by the Tories at
their last one or two innings, and gladly taken up
by our politically crotchet-loving Premier.
Unhappily the battle of Finance is fought only
at long balls. "The dignity and safety of the
country" are thundered forth by the political ar-
tillery of the one side, and the economists quail.
" Our enormous expenditure and bloated armaments
are thundered forth in reply, and the Departments
seek for apologies and excuses. Yet the country
is certain of one thing, that it has had its defence
conducted at half the coat, and been quite as safe
all the while, that it has an army of 150,000 Volun-
teers, such as it never had before, and ought to be
safer than formerly—and without going into details
it can be quite sure that for mere security it does
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We suspect the truth of the whole case
to be this. The nation desires safety, and
suflicient defences. Our Rulers desire two things
additional, of both of which they desire to say as
little as possible. They like an expenditure which
finds ample employment for the younger sons of
their ciao., and still more does Lord PALMERSTON
relish our being the strongest power in Europe. He
asks for defence, he aims at European supremacy.
The country likes this too, but still he knows that
it might think an income-tax in its pocket a better
thing than troubling itself about influence at the
Court of Constantinople•
FRENcu The country too would
ask, of what avail is our European influence if we
must quietly stand by and see the Emperor of the
acting as the conqueror c)i: Italy—insulting
us, as well as Italy, by the ltoman uecupi,.tiop,
driving the noblest man in Europe to madness, and
even talking, for such is his meaning, this very day,