The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-02 00:00:00

INDEPENDENCE OF THE PRES&

There is nothing which'would afford us greater
pleasure than to see a thoroughly independent press
in this country. Were our leading journals to
emancipate themselves from the trammels of party,
and speak of men and measures on their 'own ma-
nifest merits, the tone of public morality would
soon undergo a marked change for the better, and
the character of our .public men would exhibit a
great and gratifying contrast to what it now does.
A press which is the slave of party, and must com-
mend or condemn particular measures just as suits
the views of the section of politicians with which it
has identified itself, is one of the greatest moral,
social, and political evils which can befal any
country. Unhappily, this is the condition of nearly
all our leading journals. A. thoroughly and ha-
bitually independent paper is a thing very rarely
to be met with. lye trust, however, for the sake
of the country, that this state of things is not des-
tined to have a lengthened duration. Even now
we see, in one journal at least, symptoms of that
returning self-respect which is the best guarantee
for the adoption of an independent course of policy.
The journal to which we allude is the Morning
Herald. In several recent numbers of our con-
temporary, we have .seeu a boldness, an indepen-
dence, and manliness of tone which we never be-
fore discerned, and which certainly has proved to
us the source of a very agreeable surprise. Every
one knows that the Morning Herald has hitherto
been the recognised organ of the Conservative
party ; and ably and well has it acquitted itself in
that capacity. The Conservative party, or, in other
words, the party of our contemporary, hae been
in opposition, or the Opposition, for a period of
t
seventeen or eighteen mouths. Well, the , let us
bespeak the attention of the public to the manner
in which the .Herald has recently spoken of
1
might have quoted, in confirmation of our -emarks
its own party, which is now the Oppositi n. We
from the leading article in yesterday's imp ession ;
but we prefer taking one of its articles on Friday,
as affordingillust rations of what at least lo kis very
like the adoption of an independent course of policy
on the part of our contemporary.
The second paragraph of the first and Most im-
portant leading article in the Morning _Herald of
Friday last,.-"is as follows :—" If the Coalition was
degraded by the un-riglish speech of the Premit r
and the unworthy conduct of Lord John Russell in
putting forward a clap-trap statement, which he
afterwards unblushingly denied having made, what,
wo ask, are we to think of the worthlessness of
those soi-disant members of the Conservative Op-
position, who not only feared to make any resist-
.trice on their own part to entrusting to Ministers
the powers of a practical despotism for sik months
to come, but also shrunk from giving a manly sup-
port to Lord Dudley Stuart, on the poor plea of
his being a Radical ?"
This is manly language. A few such articles as
that from which we quote would exercise a very
salutary influence on the party whose organ the
Herald hitherto has been. •

e a
thei
have
ano:eot Conservative
Our contemporary, immediately after the passage
we have quoted, proceeds to' do what it regards as
an act of justice to Mr. Disraeli. We are assured
that the member for Buckinghamshire ; entirely
disapproves of the pusillanimous course Which the
Opposition on this occasion pursued, but that
they would not listen to him. We can easily
believe this. Mr. Disraeli is not the son of - a
duke. He is not connected, by birth or by
marriage, with half the ' nobility of the land.
110 has nothing but his' brilliant talents to re-
commend him to the favour of the party to whom
he hAs consecrated the energies and eloquence With
which Providence has so lavishly endowed him.
We cannot but regret that 'powers so gre4t, and a
devotion to his party so rare as his, are nit better
now in the highest position
afiv,)eine:tioatteidle
ptheaonplethweiyiatahree.has
gHadive nll ,tlor.p:
aDrysr,aehlei
would have been before
givesqnot
which a subject can fill.
one in
which that party so well
party those hard blows.
But the
the
evaotnivlye
de.ierve. After remarking that we
whipclaiestahgee wileehraa/dve
powerless
"is
materials of which it is composed,
.Govern-
for any purpose but carrying ou
. • " our coi4emporary
ment which, from the incongruotuasmciniiascr.;:cietevrouosfatihlde
almost traitorous foreign policy,
nce, powerless.
a country.
We have the Administration and th
goes on to say—" We have au Opposition purpose-
less, objectless, and, in consequence,
England. We
of
a peace of Europe and the honour of utterly at variance upon a matter invOlving the
have a Puseyite House of Lords, and
~bench
bishops several of whom lean to Popery.
This is as true a description of the real state of
matters among the Opposition, in the Government,
in the House of Lords, and on the Bench df Bidioi P,
as it would be possible for pen to give. And it will
be well for those whose organ the ilerall still is, to
ponder attentively the faithful representations of
that journal.
But perhaps the hardest hit of all is that with
which our contemporary concludes. After giving
a remarkably graphic description of the alarming
state of affairs which now exists, the liekald says :
—"For all this we are indebted to a false), Coalition,
and an Opposition, a great portion of which 'dares
not carry out its own principles, or act on its own
responsibility."
To the Conservative party we beg to sly :•---" Be-
hold the picture ! is it like ?" - No= one cah deny the
striking resemblance. The picture is f'om a pen-
cil of the highest artistic skill. It requir dno small
/ measure of moral courage: to present he- public
with so- unflattering a portraiture of the party
with whom the writer has always acte , to whom
he has rendered' services of inestimable , alue, and
to whose principles he is devotedly attached. If
the Conservative party will but turn the writer's
truthful representations to a right account, they
will ever afterwards have cause to rejoice that one
of their number so unsparingly, but in the best
spirit and with the best intentions, administered a
rebuke which was so urgently needed.) Faithful
are the wounds of a friend.—Alorning Advertiser.

PRICE OF GOLD. —The quotation of gold' at Paris is
about 4 per mille discount (according to the last tariff),
which at the English Mint price of 3/. 17s. 104 d. per oz.
for standard gold, gives an exchange of 25.07 ; and, the'
exchange at Paris on London at short being 24.974, it
follows that gold is about 0.38 per cent. dearer in Paris
than in London. By advices, from Hamburg the price
of gold is 4204 per mark, which at the English Mint
price of 3/. 17s. 104 d. per oz. for standard gold, gives au
exchange of 13.24 ; and, the exchange at Hamburg on
London at short being 13.44, it follows that gold is 0.82
per cent. dearer in London than in Hamburg. The
(course of exchange at New York on London for bills at
60 days' sight is 1092 per cent., and, the par of exchange
between England and America being 109 23.40 per
cent., it follows that the exchange is nominally 0.17 per
cent. in favour of England ; and, after making allowance
for charges of transport and difference of interest, the
present rate leaves a trifling profit on the importation
g9ld from the UMW &atm