The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-04 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 4, 1853.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.-CHEAP
EXCURSION to STROUD, GLOUCESTER, and CIIEL-
TENET/U.l.—On SUNDAY, 10th July, an Excursion Train will leave
Paddington at 7.45 a.m, returning the same evening from Chelten-
ham at 6.30, Gloucester at 6.45, and Stroud at 7.15 o'clock.
FARES THERE AND BACK—
Stroud, First Class 9s. Od. ; Covered Carriages, ss. Od. Gloucester
and Cheltenham, First Class, 10s. ; Covered Carriages, 65. Od.
Tickets may be obtained previously, at 27, Ring-street, Cheapside,
269, Strand, and at 25, Regent-street (corner of Jermyn-street).
Passengers having luggage vri I only be conveyed at the ordinary
fares.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.-Z-
-CEIEAP EXCURSION to the WEST of ENGLAND.—On
MONDAY, the 18th July, an Excursion will leave the Paddington
Station at 8 o'clock in the morning for Plymouth, calling at Weston
Super Marc, Bridgewater, Taunton, Tiverton Road, Exeter, Star-
cross, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Toray and Totness, and wi I return
Star-
from Plymouth on WEDNESDAYqu, 27th July, at 6.25 A m.

, ---- - -
FARES THERE AND BACK.
First Closed
Class. Carriages.
To Weston Super Mare or Bridgewater —20 s. 13s.
Tau,•ton or Tiverton R0ad...... • • 22s. 15s.
las.
Starcross, Dawlish, or Teignmouth.. 2ss. 17s.
,
Torquay or Potneas .. • • .... •• 27s. 18s.
Plymouth...—. '• • •
The Excursion Tick
?t$ are not transferable, and are only available
for the Excursion Train. Tickets may bo obtained previously at 27,
,
King-street, Cheapside ; 21;7,9, Strand ; 25, Regent-street (coroner of
Jennyn-st eet); and at the r:
•ddington Station. Further particulars
will be given in hand-hills, whip may be had at any of the above
places.
Paddington Station, June 30, 1853.

QUEBEC AND RICHMOND RAILWAY
COMPANY.
NOTICE OF CALL.
Notice is hereby given, that the THIRD and LAST INSTAL-
MENT of 21. 10s. per share on the shares in this Company, falling
due on the 15th inst., will be payable in London to the Union Bank
of London ; in Liverpool to Messrs. Moss and Co.
WILLIAM CHAPMAN,
Agent to the Quebec and Richmond Railway Company.
London, 2, Leadenhall-street, 2d July, 1853.

LUCCA AND
CoIPISTOJA RAILWAY

(FIFTH AND LAST NOTICE.)
Notice is Hereby Given that the THIRD CALL of I/. per share
on the Preference Shares in this Company will fall due on SATURDAY,
the 18th day of June instant, and that the same is to be paid at the
Banking House of Messrs. Strahan, Paula, and Co., 217 Strand. The
Bankers' Receipts, together with the Share Certificates, must be
produced and left at the offices of the Company, 25, Tokenhouse-
yard, Lothbury, in order that the receipt endorsed on the Certificates
may be signed by the agent of the Company.
Interest at the rate of 5/. per cent. per annum on the amount paid
upon the shares will be payable on the 31st of July next
K. PwIACKENZIE, Agent to the Company.

25, Tokenhouse-yard, July 2, 1853.
N.B.—ln case of non-payment of the call on any of the shares for
15 days after the 18th instant, such shares will, by the constitution
of the Company, become forfeited.

TOURS IN IRELAND.

DUBLIN GREAT
cN INDUSTRIAL

A GRAND MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

The Oratorio, " Israel in Egypt," will be performed at CHRIST
Cnu&cn, Dublin, on THURSDAY, July 14, by the united Choirs of St.
Patrick and Christ Church Cathedrals and the Chapel Royal, who
will also be assisted by the Members of the whole of the Dublin
Musical Societies.

IRISH TOURIST TICKETS (available for a month) are now
issued at the following stations :-
Ist Class. 2d Class.
London (Euston Station) • • ............ •...£6 10 0 £5 5 0
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Bristol, Carlisle, 6 6 0 5 5 0
Oxford, Worcester, Cheltenham, Gloucester 5 15 0 4 15 0
Birmingham, Rugby, Leamington, Coventry,
Lincoln . .. 5 5 0 4 5 0
Wolverhampton, Huddersfield, Leeds, Shef-
field, Derby. .. .. 5 0 0 4 5 0
Manchester, Warrington, Stoke, Macclesfield 4 4 0 3 10 0
Liverpool, Chester .... •.•. • • • ........... 4 4 0 3 5 0
- -

. -
They enable the holders to proceed to Chester, Bangor, Dublin,
Cork, and the Lakes of Killarney, and back again to the station at
which the ticket was taken.
The holder of each Irish Tourist Ticket Is entitled to have issued
to him, at the office, 52, Westland-row, Dublin, at very reduced
rates. tictets for a tour in the county Wicklow, in Kenmare and
Glengariff, up the river Shannon--for the journey from Dublin to
Belfast, for the excursion to the Giant's Causeway, and from Dublin
to Galway for the tour through Connemara.
Every purchaser of a ticket is presented, gratis, with a copy of the
" Illustrated Irish• Tourist's Hand-Book," compiled solely for these
Tours.
The fullest and mast accurate information afforded at the Chester
and Holyhead Company's Office, 52, Westland-row, Dublin. See
also " Bradshaw's Guide," page 123.

CONTRACT FOB BRUSHES, BROOMS, AND PENCILS.
Department of the Storekeeper General of the Navy,
Somerset-place, July 2, 1853.
THE Commissioners for executing the Office of
Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, DO HEREBY GIVE NOTICE, that on TUESDAY,
the 26th instant, at One o'clock, they will be ready to treat with
such persons as may be willing to Contract for supplying and
delivering into Her Majesty's Deck Yards,
BRUSHES of various sorts, HUE BROOMS, and Camels' Hair
and other PENCILS.

Patterns may be seen, and a Fornr of Tender, Schedule, and Con-
ditions of the Contract, obtained at the said Office. No Tender will
be received after One o'clock on the day of treaty, nor will any be
noticed unless the party attends, or an agent for him duly authorised
in writing.
Every tender must be addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty,
and bear in the left-hand corner the words " Tender for Brushes,
&c.," and must also be delivered at Somerset-place, accompanied
by a letter signed by two responsible persons, engaging to become
bound with the person tendering, in the sam of SOUL, for the due
performance of the contract.

The emcees ful results of the last Hate Century have proved beyond
question that
ROWLAND'S MACASSAit OIL possesses sin-
gularly nourishing powers in the giowth, restoration, and
improvement of the Human Hair, and when every other specific has
failed,

This celebrated Oil is now universally acknowledged to be the
cheapest, and superior to all other preparations for the Hair. It
prevents it from falling off or turning grey—strengthens weak hair
—produces a thick and luxuriant growth—cleanses it from Scurf
and Dandruff—and makes it beautifully soft, curly, and glossy. Its
operation in cases of baldness is peculiarly active ; and in the growth
of WHISKERS, EYEBROWS, and MUSTACHIOS, it is unfailing in its
stimulative operation. For Children it is especially recommended,
as forming the basis of a beautiful head of kair, and rendering the use
of the fine-cmab unnecessary. In dressing the hair nothing can
equal its effect, rendering the Hair so admirably soft teat it will lie in
any direction, and imparting a transcendant lustre.—Price 3s. Gd.
and 7s. ; Family Bottles (equal to four small), 10s. Gd. ; and double
that size, 21s.

CAUTION I—On the wrapper of each Bottle are the words, Row-
LAND'S klAcAssAa OIL, in two lines. The name are engraven on the
back of the wrapper nearly 1,500 times, containing 29,028 letters.
Sold by A. Rom...ix]) & SONS, 20, Hatton Garden, London ; and by
all Chemists and Perfumers.

BLAIR'S GOUT AND RHEUMATIC PILLS.
The following testimonial is another proof of the great effi-
cacy of this medicine :
" 157, New Bond-street, London, October 12, 1850.
_ _

" Sir,—ln acquainting you with the great benefit which I have ex-
perienced by taking BLAIR'S GOUT and RHEUMATIC PILLS,
I feel that I am but performing a duty to that portion of the public
who may be similarly affected.

"About twenty years since I was first attacked by rheumatic gout
in my hands and feet. I had previously been subjected to every va-
riety of climate, having served in Canada in the 1902 Dragoons, and
In Spain, under Sir John Moore, in the 18th Hussars. I always pro-
cured the best medical aid, without obtaining any essential relief,
and my sufferings can be appreciated only by thcse who know some-
thing of this disease.

" It was during one of those paroxysms, between twelve and thir-
teen years ago, that I was recommended to try BLAIR'S PILLS. I
lost no time in procuring a box, and before I had taken that quantity
the pain had entirely ceased, and in a few days I was in perfect
health.

.....
" From that moment, whenever I feel any symptoms of the dis-
ease approaching, I have instant recourse to this medicine, which to
ale is so valuable, that were it not that the days of magic have
ceased, I should certainly attribute the relief I obtain to that cause.
Moreover, I rejoice to say that my health has not in any degree suf-
fered, but on the contrary I believe tho tendency of BLAIR'S PILLS
is towards its improvement.
" I have recommended the Pills to many friends, and the result
has always been of the most gratifying character.
" I am, Sir, yours respectfully,
"GARRET FOSTER GILL.

"To Mr. Prout, 229, Strand."
For every description of Gout and Rheumatism, Sciatica, Tic-dolo-
rens, &c., &c., BLAIR'S GOUT and RHEUMATIC PILLS are a
sovereign remedy, contain neither mercury. opium, or any other
dangerous drug, require no care whatever in their use, and for ra-
pidity of cure and complete safety have not their equal in the world.

Sold by Thomas ProUt, 229, Strand, London ; and all respectable
Medicine Vendors. Price 2s. 9d. per box.
Ask for BLAIR'S GOUT and RHEUMATIC PILLS, and observe
that " Thomas Front, 229, Strand, London," is impressed upon the
Government Stamp.

of the Exchequer will allow that he has ,not been
subjected to any undue, pressure on the part of
those who are so direc44 interested in the removal
of the impost. Notwithstanding the inveterate
dislike of Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright to an inde-
pendent Press, they will discover that journalists
have seldom userl their influence over public opi-
nion to secure advantages for the commercial un-
dertakings With which they are connected. Mr.
Bright, of co-arse, attributes the lukewarmness of the
Press in tie matter to some selfish motive. We can
only repl,y that the repeal of the advertisement duty
would:ee an unmixed advantagement to the proprie-
torP, of existing newspapers, but that we never-
t eeless decline to advocate its removal on the
ground of the benefit which a change might confer
on any special branch of industry. Mr. Bright and
Mr. Cobden concur in their desire to reduce the
London press to a condition of innocent mediocrity,
:characterised by articles on teetotalism or on the
inutility of public dinners, diversified by second
'hand news, such as that which the journals of New
York extract from the English newspapers. It is
not easy to understand how the reduction or aboli-
tion of the advertisement duty will tend to destroy
the influence of which the Manchester leaders en-
tertain so strong a jealousy ; but even if the object
proposed were attainable, or in itself desirable, the
interest to be regarded with reference to the present
question is that of the consumer, or, in other words,
of the advertiser.
The tax falls with very unequal weight on diffe-
rent branches of trade. Butchers and bakers seldom
advertise, because their supplies are uniform in quan-
tity and average in quality. In London at least, and
in other large towns, all purchasers know that :they
can procure &loaf of bread or a leg of mutton when-
ever they want it. On the other hand, it is impos-
sible for a publisher to carry on his trade without
announcing to his customers every new article
which he is prepared to sell. The consumption in
this case is entirely dependent on the publicity
given to the production, inasmuch as it is impossi-
ble to read or buy a new work until it is known to
have been published. A similar remark will apply
to commercial and other auctions, and to all special
bargains, such as the sale of a house or an estate.
The safest and steadiest trades are generally re-
lieved from the necessity of paying for the an-
nouncement of transactions. Bankers do not ad-
vertise their readiness to lend money, nor do the
great London brewers inform the world of their
continued intention to deal in porter. There is
considerable force also in the contrast -which has
so often been pointed out between the incidence of
the duty on a landowner who wishes to sell au
estate, and on a servant girl in want of a situation.
In short, the tax is levied on certain classes of
transactions which present no fiscal peculiarity.
Other stamp duties have at least the recommenda-
tion of coming under some general classifica-
tion ; and, in most instances, the tax-gatherer
has only to watch the cases in which money is
passing. Like all other indirect imposts, the
advertisement duty is unequal ; but it is dis-
tinguished from others as being one of the most I
capricious burdens of the class to which it belongs. P
All these objections had, of course, been consi-
dered by Mr. Gladstone ; and there is no reason, to
suppose that he has failed to recognise their vali-
dity. The only reason for maintaining the tax is
to be found in its estimated produce ; and although
the amount of 80,0001. is comparatively insignifi-
cant, a large augmentation of revenue 'might doubt-
less be anticipated from the increase of advertise-
ments consequent on a reduction of price. It must,
however, be remembered that this argument is in
no small degree weakened by the repeated votes of
the house. The chance of maintaining the tax for
any considerable period is now considerably lessened.
The majority which affirmed Mr. Milner Gibson's
motion, before the production of the budget,
was premature and inconvenient ; and it was
probably judicious to give Parliament an op-
portunity of once more discussing the question,
with a fuller knowledge of the fiscal position of
the country. Friday night's division of 109 to 99
against the member for Manchester's renewed
proposal of a total repeal of the duty, can
scarcely be considered a sufficient reversal of the
previous vote ; and although it is difficult to un-
derstand how the matter stands at present, the
double defeat of the Government on Mr. Crau-
furd's amendment certainly supplies some addi-
tional reason for making a concession to the evident
feeling of the House. Scarcely a single speaker
recommended the retention of the tax ; and al-
though some of those who advocate its repeal may
be actuated, like Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden, by
a dislike to an independent and active press, the
greater number of those who oppose the Govern-
ment on this question are undoubtedly influenced
by considerations of the demerits of the impost, as
well as by the wishes of their constituents.
If Mr. Gladstone should find it practicable, with
due regard to the public interests, to give way to
the House of Commons by repealing the whole of
the duty, he will not be encouraging any rash or
sweeping tendency to the premature removal of
taxation. In the long discussions to which the
Budget has given rise, the firmness and ability
of the Minister have been duly seconded by the
confidence of the House. During the present ses-
sion, as in former years, a practical confutation has
been furnished to the popular cant which im-
putes to the representatives of the people careless-
ness with respect to the maintenance of the public
credit. During two months, the House has, night
after night, rejected the successive amendments to
the financial proposals of the Ministry, which have
been obstinately brought forward for the purpose
of defeating the Government. Throughout the
whole of that period, with one insignificant excep-
tion, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has never
found himself in a minority, until Mr. Craufurd's
scarcely regular amendment was proposed and
carried on Friday night. Under such circum-
stances, the bitterest opponent could not attribute
to weakness a disposition to yield, in a minor mat-
ter, to the evident wish of the House. It is pos-
sible that, as Mr. Bright suggests, some compen-
sation may be afforded for the abolition of the ad-
vertisement duty by the increased consumption of
postage stamps ; but, however this may be, the
sum in dispute is not of paramount importance.
The sacrifice would probably be unavoidable in
1854 or 1855 ; and it will give greater satisfaction
if the concession is made at once. Should the
Government consent to the repeal of the tax, the
technical difficulties suggested by Lord John Rus-
sell may be overcome at the 'expense of a certain
amount of trouble and ingenuity.

( From the Morning Advertiser.)

We endeavoured to explain, in our impression of
Saturday, the singular position in which the question
of the advertisement duty had been placed by the votes
of the house on the previous evening. Mr. Gladstone
moved, in the first instance, that the present duty of
eighteenpence be reduced to sixpence. To this motion
Mr. Milner Gibson proposed, as an amendment, that
the duty be repealed altogether. After a brief discus-
sion, the house divided, when the amendment of the
member for Manchester was lost by a majority of ten,-
109 having voted against it, and 99 for it. Subsequently,
two other divisions took place on the same question,
though put in a different form, in both of which the
l
Government were defeated, the house voting. for the
entire repeal of the advertisement duty by a majority of
five in the one instance, and of nine in the other.

The first impression of the public on hearing the re-
sult of the two last divisions would be, that the adver-
tisement duty is, in effect, repealed. But the fact, un-
fortunately, is not so. A. mere abstract resolution of
the house cannot repeal an act of Parliament, and con-
sequently, as the eighteenpence duty was imposed by
act of Parliament, it cannot be remitted until a special
act has been passed by the house with that view. The
result, therefore, of the two divisions in which Ministers
were defeated, is what the friends of total repeal never
anticipated. It is to set aside the motion which Mr.
Gladstone had carried at a previous part of the evening
for the reduction of the duty to sixpence, and to leave
matters precisely as they now stand.
But this, we need not say, cannot now be. After
what has taken place, there must be either of the two
proposed alterations. We must have a total repeal or
the sixpence duty. Mr. Gladstone, we are told, means
to propose this evening, on bringing up the resolutions,
to re-introduce the word " sixpence. ' That, we need
not say, would be much preferable to the duty of
eighteenpence at present exacted on advertisements. But
we put it to the right hon. gentleman, whether it would
not be far better for the Government, as well as for
the public, to acquiesce at once in the entire abolition of
the duty ? Mr. Gladstone must have felt it very morti-
fying to be in a minority twice in one night on a matter
of such subordinate importance to a great country
like this, with its yearly revenue of 54,000,000/.
It is melancholy to see Ministers make so much
ado about the question, whether there shall be a tax of
sixpence on all public notifications, or no tax at all. It
is really undignified for a Government like ours to be
placed in such a position. The Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer must feel that it is the sense of the house, as
well as the wish of the public, that all classes of the
community should be at liberty to make announcements
to their countrymen without being subject to any tax at
the instance of the Government.

It has been privately communicated to us, that Mr.
Gladstone is not disinclined to give way to the wishes
of the public and to the feelings of the house, and to ac-
quiesce in the conclusion to which it came in two divi-
sions on Friday evening; but that Lord John Russell is

[IIRICE 51151),

in favour of not conceding the entire abolition of the
duty.
The noble lord, according to the information which
we have received, does not advocate this course on mere
considerations of revenue ; but is annoyed, if not in-
dignant, that the friends of total abolition should have
reintroduced the subject after it had been supposed to
be settled, for at least the present session, by the
vote of the house which had that evening been come to
on Mr. Milner 0-ilifion's amendment. There seems at
first sight to be some force in this ;. but there will be
found to be none at all, if we only take a retrospective
view of the proceedings of the Legislature for a period
of ten or twelve weeks. - The noble lord ought to
remember—the country has not forgotten—that Minis-
ters were beaten on this very question by a consider-
able majority, in a large house, and after the most ample
discuSsion. Mr. Milner Gibson then carried his motion
for a total repeal of the advertisement duty in the face
of the most strenuous opposition which Government
could offer to it. And the decision of the house was
ratified amid the universal and hearty plaudits of the
country.

On this point Ministers could labour under no mis-
conception ;,and they were bound, therefore, to have
yielded to public opinion so strongly and so explicitly
expressed. They had no admissable reason to offer
for persisting in, the retention of any part of a tax
which had been condemned by the solemn and delibe-
rate verdict of a full house. Had the question been one
which involved considerations of revenue, the case would
have been different ; but in this case there were no
financial considerations of any weight to induce Govern-
ment to disregard the wishes of the country, and to set
at nought the decision of the Legislature. The amount
which will be derived from the retention of the sixpence
duty will not, according even to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer's own calculations, exceed 100,0001.—pro-
bably it wilLnot be nearly RP much. Surely,- then, it
will not be pretended that, for so insignificant a sum as
that, Mr. Gladstone is justified in persisting in his six-
pence impost on advertisements, in disregard of public
feeling, and in the teeth of a direct resolution of the
house.

We do trust, for their own sakes, as well as for the
sake of the country, that neither the right hon. gentle-
man, nor the noble lord, will any longer persevere in
their opposition to the entire remission of the advertise-
ment duty. We fondly hope that Mr. Gladstone will
this evening determine on gracefully sacrificing his own
predilections to the wishes of the house, three times re-,
corded by specific divisions in less than three months.
He will raise himself much in public estimation should;
he stand up this evening in his place in Parliament, and
in a frank and manly manner announce his acquiescence
in the decision to which the house came on two divisions
on Friday evening.
The right hon. gentleman, besides, must know, that
even if he should succeed, by a prodigal use of the ap-
pliances of Government, in getting the sixpence duty
restored, the question would not thereby be permanently
settled. It would only be for the session. Mr. Milner
Gibson would, in the supposed case, again bring forward
his motion next session, when there can be no questimi
it will, with the growing feeling m favour of an entii+
remission of the duty on advertisements, be carried
opposition to any efforts which Ministers may make for
the retention of the sixpence impost. 1

NEWSPAPER LIMIT PROTECTION-FREE

TRADE.

(From the Times.)
Whenever the "knowledge taxes" come on for discus-
sion, it invariably happens that protective legislation is
advocated under the cry of Free Trade. This may be
done, perhaps unconsciously, but it is done nevertheless.
We are quite willin to indulge Mr. Bright himself with
the consideration which he graciously extended to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer on Friday evening, by ad-
mitting that he " was, perhaps, not wholly sensible" of
his own motives. The Manchester politicians may pos-
sibly persuade themselves that they debate questions of
newspaper finance without any undercurrent of political
purpose, and purely in the interest of the public at
large ; but, as any person may soon convince himself,
they are most undoubtedly mistaken.
The cry of this party is " Free Trade in newspapers,"
and on Friday night Mr. Cobden reflected with some as-
perity upon the conduct of certain journals, which, after
promoting free trade in corn, were advocatinc, what, in
his opinion, was nothinc, less than monopoly in their
own department. But° what has Mr. Cobden him-
self recommended in this respect ? He has recom-
mended downright Protection. The law at present
affecting newspapers prescribes an artificial limit to the
intelligence which a newspaper may convey. The sheet
may contain 1,530 superficial inches of printing, but not
more—all space above this is considered " supplemen-
tary," and taxed anew. Nothing can be plainer than
the operation of such a law to the damage of the public,
inasmuch as it affixes a direct penalty on the goodness
of the bargain obtainable by the purchaser, and inter-
feres most injuriously with the advantages derivable from
freedom of enterprise and trade. But did Mr. Cobden
ever complain of this regulation—of this law circum-
scribing the measure which fivepenny worth of informa-
tion might reach ? Not a bit of it. On the contrary,
he regarded it with manifest complacency, as favouring
certain views of his own ' • and when Mr. Gladstone pro-
posed, if not the removal of the restriction, at any rate
the enlargement of the limit, Mr. Cobden was positively
inclined to say "No." Our great Free-trader therefore
avows a persuasion that in the newspaper trade bargains
should be regulated by act of Parliament.
But this is not the whole extent of Mr. Cobden's
Protectionism. In a previous debate he acknowledged,
with perfect candour, the nature of the public demand,
but desired to interfere with the supply. He admitted
that all purchasers wanted a supplement to their news-
papers, and that, in point of fact, if one paper pub-
lished a supplement, the others were obliged to conform
to the example or lose their custom. Nevertheless,
although thus perfectly cognizant of the state of the
market, the hon. member proceeded to argue that sup-
plements should not be encouraged by a removal of
the tax upon them, but that they should rather be so
discouraged by graduated penalties that papers without
them might be shored up to a level with papers pro-
viding them. A newspaper proving a good one, and
therefore being successful, is enabled to offer its cus-
tomers half as much again for their money. They, very
naturally, are delighted at this improvement of measure,
and the preference of the better bargain spreads so
widely that worse bargains find little favour. Here
Mr. Cobden would interfere to " protect" the dealers
in the inferior commodity by a special tax upon the
superior, so that some newspaper should only excel
others at their own peril. After having thus fairly dis-
closed his views on this question, he on Friday evening
had actually the innocence to ask—" Where were hny
petitions in favour of the abolition of the supplenient
tax ?" As if the opinion of the public was not sufficiently
expressed in its notorious resolution to get a supplement
wherever possible, and as if Mr. Cobdens's anxiety to
tax these supplements was not directly in the teeth of
such opinion !

We are in no danger of misrepresenting the Manches-
ter party. Their views have been expressed without cir-
cumlocution or disguise. What they want is not only
to call into existence a new class of newspapers, at the
expense, as they anticipate, of newspapers now popular,
but also to suppress, if possible, by special legislation,
certain functions of the press now existing. They wish,
as Mr. Cobden has said, in plain words, to destroy or
diminish the " political influence" of newspapers, and to
convert them from organs of independent opinion into
mere vehicles of local information. This sentiment
itself sounds strangely in the mouths of Liberal poli-
ticians, but that is a point which we dismiss for the
present. All we are saying is, that in their anxiety to
promote these particular views they falsify the gAeat
principles which have made them what they are. Free
trade manifestly requires that newspapers should tike
their own chance of success in the common market, and
' that, if some are unable to attain the standard of others,
they should lay their account with the natural coise-
quences. Mr. Cobden wishes actually to " protect" the
smaller and less successful papers by k discriminative
duty weighing upon the larger ; a pretty doctrine to be
sure,
from such a quarter ! He thinks that " small
struggling journals,",
pleading no merit, and exercising
no influence, but reporting speeches pretty fully, and
offered at a very low price, would be desirable agents in
promoting his political views. Perhaps they might be ;
but to encourage them by protective legislation for this
purpose is contrary, we should rathr imagine, ,to
the Manchester notions of trade and government.
Protection is just as much protection when extended to
the small in favour of democracy, as when conceded to
the great in favour of aristocracy—it applies to third-
rate exactly as to first-rate articles. Free trade demands
that all such matters shall be settled by public opinion.
Mr. Cobden would impose certain discriminative duties
on periodical publications in the hope of affecting the
course of political sentiment. What could Lord Sid-
mouth have done more ?

Another error into which the same party is apt to fall
was very conspicuously exposed on Friday evening. They
disclose either the unsoundness or the insincerity of their
principles by constantly regarding these financial questions
in their bearings upon particular establishments, whereas
no view of the case could be more absurd. Mr. Glad-
stone has chosen to revise the newspaper duties. His
decision in this respect will of course affect us, as the
largest newspaper in the world, but whether it does or does
not is of no importance whatever in the argument before
the house. We were surprised to find even Mr. Gladstone
observe that, inasmuch as his original resolutions on the
subject " would have been inoperative except in respect
of some one, or a limited number of prints, the measure
would have assumed the character of legislation in a
spirit of favouritism." Legislation should never be
affected by any such assumptions ; it should proceed on
the demonstrable merits of the question itself. As
it happened, Mr. Gladstone's original reAolution
on the supplement-tax was intrinsically faulty, for
there could be no reason in taxing the 9th page of a
newspapers when it contained reports, and exempting it
when it contained advertisements. nt if it had been
really sound it would have been defensible whether it
affected fifty journals or only one. All financial changes
must be felt more quickly and more extensively by some
than by others, but would it have been any argument
against free trade in corn to say that some great baking
establishment would be the first to profit by it ? Free