The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-06 00:00:00

TIII3 EVENING,

THE BATTLE of TIIE ALIIA, by J. 11. STQCQUELLER, Est.
The Stage alai the Ring in one vast Arena, with Four Igundred

After which, the CIMOLE will display the pork Hon of Equita-
tion:

The SCENES inventel and the lisrges trained by Mr. W. Cooke
The wholo to Conclude with a FARCE.

Box-o%ce open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W.
West. Acting Manage:. Mr. W. U. Cooke. Equestrian Director,
lir. Wm. Cooke, jun.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tull' DAT —Morning 45 atin.after 2 Evening 4 min.eft. 3
To Mjßn. w Morning 22 inin.after 3 livaning 40 anin.aft. 3

THZ WZATHZR.--Sual Oman, Dce, 6.
THIRNONZTIZ, IN THZ SHAM
53 —highest since noon yesterday.
39—to west this morning and during the night.
46—this day, at noon.
BAROMETER, down to 29.44 ; now 29.57.
WIND, N.W. by W.—Light, with fine weather.

, /0
(Q-1

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1854

Suppose we assume that the Treasury press
have a mesmeric knowledge of its secrets, and
that a loan is not wanted for anything immedi-
ately or actually contemplated by the Govern-
ment, there are yet most weighty considerations
which our representatives must not pass over in
silence. Upon them, indeed, depends the grave
question what amount of money we need for the
outfit of the coming campaign. We will take the
least important first—least, because no considera-
tions of honour and justice are very essentially
connected with it—namely, which is the cheapest
mod 4 of going to work. And, we reply, the
coul which will saddle Russia ultimately with
the cost of the War. Ti some who would
exclaim against this as too absurd to think of,
we instance only the recent example of Piedmont.
Europe and these gentlemen stood by and pert
witted Austria to make the Piedmontese pay the
cost of
a war undertaken purely to emancipate
oppressed Lombardy. The victor, in an odious
but too successful effort to reimpose his fetters on
the Italians,was allowed both to reimburse him-
self and also to retain what does not belong to
him by the rights of nations. Is there to be
another law for Russia ? and is she, in deference
to her past arrogance,
to put the Allies to bound-
less expense by her audacious burglarieu, and not
be made to refund ? We also made China repay
bj instalments the cost of the Opium war ;
and
what reason can be given why Russian instalments
should not repay the Allies for the expeme
teaching her the elements of international justice r,
We maintain that this may be done. A wioLer
devoted to the energetic preparation of men, of
suitable sh;ps, and of the best engineering de-
vices, woultl certainly put into our hands early
next summer not only the Crimea, but every im-
portant place on the Russian seaboard, from north
to south ; while the necessary first steps to secure
Poland would be taken openly in the second half
of the summer: Overwhelming preparations of
this earnest kind would guarantee that an AIM'
trian Treaty should be a reality, and the weak-

headed Koitiglein of Prussia, shaking in his har-
ness, would beg the Allies to take him as a coad-
jutor to save him from the wrath of his subjects.
It would then be for the latter to declare the re-
constitution of Poland essential to their plans for
European safety, and to demand both that and
the whole cost of sending back NICHOLAS to his
hereditary Tartar capital.

But the grand consideration for our representa-

tives is this—What ought, on the very principles
with which they and the country began this war, to
be its ultimate aim ? Happily, as indeed every be-
liever in public morality and a Supreme PROVI-
DENCE must be well assured, in this case duty and
policy are one. We began with justice for
Turkey, and safety for Turkey. This justifies all
we did, or rather endured, at Varna, and all we
have done, and are doing, in the Crimea. But
not only do the sante moral principles apply to
Poland--noL only is justice to her tenfold more
urgent in its claims, but if it be not demanded
and gained we might almost as well have thrown
all our labour to the winds, and our money
into the sea. Russia stript of her marine
fortresses, and compelled to seek vent from
her aggressive spirit througk the one out-
let of Poland, would be more formidable to
Europe than ever. Resting on Warsaw, and
using all the fortresses of Germany as the
arms of an enormous military polypus, she would
-seriously threaten France. Our Ally can least of
all dispense with a reconstituted Poland, for Rus-
sia, when saved the expense of Cronstadt, Sebas-
topol, and her navies—at liberty therefore to spend
all her means on increasing her purely military
strength—could, if still possessed of Poland, hold
all Germany completely at her mercy. The
Rhine would, in fact, be her boundary. If now
Austria and Prussia, with 800,000 soldiers,
quail before her inland power, what would they
do if she were enabled to multiply that power at

least twofold 7 We maintain that Austria and
Prussia aro bound by every selfish considera-
tion, and no other are they accessible to,
to reconstitute Poland ; that is, if the Allies, as
they fully intend to do, annihilate the naval power
of Russia. England and France assuredly ought
to contemplate no other alternative. If they are
but thoroughly and manifestly determined, the
German trimmers will instantly follow in their
wake. If they wish to convince these wretched
potentates that they are in earnest, then immense
and adequate preparations are the only diplomacy
which will speak effectually at Vienna aid Ber-
lin ; and if adequate preparations are to be made,
a loan is a necessity, and a very near one.
This, then, is, we hope, the view our Legisla-
tors will take. Cabinet journals may croak about

the numerous armies of Austria and Prussia, and

the danger of driving them over to Russia. The
danger is a bugbear. Tbey dare not join Russia or
they would have done it long ago. To join Russia
would be to renew 1848, to shiver their despot-
isms for ever, and lucky for them if they- escaped

this time with their heads on their shoulders. A
declaration of Polish rights, coupled with adequate
preparations, would compel the conceited waverers
of mid-Europe to join the cause of justice and of
Continental safety. Tenderness over brutal Austria
and imbecile Prussia will but waste our time, our
money, and our strength, in a vain attempt to
coax rogues into honesty. Let us understand
our work, and arm ourselves up to it, and all
will be right.

There can bo but little doubt that if the na-
tional resources be duly and properly developed
we shall be enabled to meet fairly not only every
just demand, but to carry on the War with so
much vigour and energy as to insure the success
which every true-hearted Englishman earnestly
desires. There is no reason whatsoever for
desponding, if we only determine to set cur
shoulder to the wheel ; and to prove that what-
ever may be the feeling of Ministers, the com-
munity at large, the PEOPLE of Great Britain, are
thoroughly in earnest. When we look to what
has been already accomplished by our fathers,
even within the recollection of many still living,
we should blush for ourselves if we gave way to
any craven fears or unmanly apprehension; or
became—as it was prophesied we should be by
some would-be s3ers—disgusted with the War on
account of the severe burdens we had to sustain.
It is almost certain that with many of these poE-
tical prophets " the wish was father to the
thought ;" and we are by no means satisfied that
the abstraction of 8,000,0001. sterling from the
Exchequer on the eve of the War—which was
hailed as " a valuable financial demonstration" by
a Ministerial organ—as well as the determination
to provide for all the extra expenditure of the
War out of the current income of the country,
were not parts and parcel of the same desire.

We know that in 1814, after almost uninter-
rupted hostilities for more than twenty years,
while the nation was sustaining the most onerous
burdens and engaged in a struggle for existence,
we were enabled to collect a revenue of no less
than 71,134,5031., while the expenditure ex-
ceeded 92,000,000/. sterling. But this gigantic
outlay was not in ♦ain. Within another year
peace was restored, in consequence of the exer-
tion—a peace which lasted for thirty-nine years,
and which would have been distinguished by
unalloyed prosperity, but for the bullionist delu-
sions that prevailed throughout the entire period.
These delusions increased with the practical expe-
rience of the evils that resulted from their being
carried into practical operation, and a quarter of
a century later the climax was put to the " folly
of the day," by not merely insisting on a currency
convertible on demand, as provided by the Act of
1819, but restricted in amount, and so arranged
that the quantity should be diminished in the
inverse ratio of the exigencies of the people. This
was the impolitic and inequitable Act of 1844,
which has paralysed the effoits of the people, and
stagnated the life-blood in the veins of industry,
since it unfortunately received the Legislative
sanction.

Through its baleful operation the nation en-
dured the most fearful trials. Although peace
and tranquillity prevailed throughout the entire
civilised world, it was subjected to burdens scarcely
le3s onerous than those sustained during the time
of actual war. Taxes were abolished or mitigated,
but the weight of those that remained became
even more intolerable in consequence of the in-
creased value of the pound sterling, or, what is a
convertible term, the diminished remuneration for
every description of labour—skilled or unskilled.
In 1814 we had a population of nearly NINETEEN
millions. They cheerfully and freely made.up a
revenue of nearly 72,000,000!., or not far from 4/.
for every individual, male or female, adult or
infant, of the entire number. Since that time the
i,:pulation has increased to nearly Twenty. nine
Millions, or rather more than 50 per cent. ! It
naturally
in a
follows that the revenue should have
improved
asimilartioii
ratio,
r increased d t
intelligence (omittingliae ce
from
the calculation of
which we are so fond of boasting) we should now
be enabled to obtain from revenue nearly
108,000,0001. sterr mg.

In place of this we can procure little more than
half the amount. The twenty-nine millions of
the present day think they are doing a great deal

in providing some 56,000,0001. in the way of ,
revenue—without any public loan—which, if we
are to credit the new school of political economists,
is even more injurious to the industrious classes
than raising money by actual taxation ! !
These matters appear very strange indeed, but
a clue to the seeming mystery can easily be ob-
tained. At that period we had a circulating
medium adapted to the wants and exigencies of
the people. The notes of the Bank of England
in the hands of the public were then nearly
TWENTY-FIVE MILLIONS (24,801,0801.), while of
private banks they were 22,700,0001., in all
47,501,0801. ; while the total circulation iu
England, in September last, of all bank
paper—whether emanating from the Bank
of England, private, or Joint-Stock Banks
—was only 26,196,3321., and that of the whole
of the United Kingdom only 36,840,6061. ! ! !
Thus, with an increase of population of more than
50 per cent., we have a decrease of the circulating
medium in nearly an inverse ratio. At that
period there were notes in circulation amounting
to about 31. 10s. per head, for the entire popu-
lation, and the revenue collected was about 41.
per head, which was raised without difficulty.
Now the notes in circulation are less than 11. Bs.
per head, and we are with difficulty enabled to
collect 2/. per head of the population.
These simple facts require no arguments to
enhance their importance. They speak trumpet-
tongued to every unprejudiced person. If our
representatives are true to themselves, to their
constituents, and the country, they will profit by
the knowledge, and endeavour to ascertain why
it is that the people are not now capable of equal
exertions to those so freely made in 1814, and
what-it is that prevents them from doing sp. The
great element of their former power being dis-
covered, we may easily avail ourselves of
the benefit of past experience, with such
improvements as modern science may enable us to
add. One thing is certain, that the present
monetary system prevents the possibility of exer•
flora similar to those made by the people of Eng-
land in the beginning of the present century, and
which enabled them to succeed in all their under-
takings.

The most popular journals of Glasgow are not
a whit behind those of Liverpool and Birming-
ham in their censure of the existing monetary
policy of this country. The Scottish Reformers'
Gazette pithily affirms that " the foreign war,
which drew specie from this country during the
administration of Pitt, was not a more formidable
enemy than our British industry has iu a foreign
trade which drains us of the precious metals."
This is the lesson which experience teaches in
all the great hives of industry, and it is a pitiable
thing to see the ignorant obstinacy with which
persons in the situation of statesmen cling to what
they call the " discoveries of modern science" in
defiance of the evidence afforded by events that
their boasted science is a delusion, and the policy
arising from it a blight upon the prosperity of
the country. The Glasgow Examiner, in support
of its opposition to Sir Robert Peel's monetary
policy, quotes an address from Sir Robert Peel's
father to the members of both Houses of Parlia-
ment, dated in 1826. The sound practical wis-
dom of the currency question could not be better
stated than it is in this address :

" My Lords and Gentlemen,—Will you permit an old
man to address you on the subject of our currency 3 I
sat in Parliament thirty years, during which time I fre-
quently heard this important question discussed in the
house by Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, and other distinguished
characters. Oa passing the Bank Restriction Act, I
was entrusted by the mereliante and citizens of London
to present their petition against the measure. Though
my opinions were embodied in their case, my
best endeavours to save them were not successful
Having been long and extensively engaged in commercial
dealings, I often witnessed a national embarrassment
:rising from a defective and impure curroney, which
resembled the present stagnation in trade ; and I lament
to observe that sufferings and experiences have
in this instance, of -producing their usual effects. Ie
the enlarged scale of business carried on by this country,
embracing a great variety of pursuits, a reliance on a
metallic circulation alone ever did, and ever will, fail us.
Gold, though in itself massy, often disappears in conse-
quence of war or speculation. Nay, the breath of ru-
mour itself is sufficient to disperse it. Our domestic
concerns are interrupted, and confidence lost, for want
of an ample and improved medium of traffic. I am no
friend to an unrestrained issue of paper-money, and saw
with concern, in the absence of a due quantity of specie,
bills admitted into circulation by persons of respectability
possessing property, but evidently unable to meet a sud-
den and large demand upon them. More than two years
ago I mentioned to a friend high in her Majesty's councils
my fears of the mischief likely to ensue if the practice were
not discontinued, accompanied with a suggestion to
confine future issues of paper money, or tokens, to the
Bank of England, and other competent bodies of men,
who would give security in land, the public funds, ca-
nals, buildings, or other tangible property, amounting
at least to one-half the value of their bills or tokens in
circulation. My proposition was not favoured with any
notice ; yet, had it been adopted, I am of opinion that
most of the panic and distress now so severely felt in the
nation would have been avoided. If such an improvoment
in the banking system could be made available, gold
would become less requisite, and the country be supplied
with a stationary medium of exchange originating with
ourselves. The present panic and distress in the country
have been declared by high authority to proceed from
"over trading" and "wild speculation." Infant nations
and establishments are liable to miscarry from want el
experience and solidity. Trading and speculation, being
natives of this island, and parents of our wealth and it-
dependence, are surely exempt from such an impu-
tation. The same authority has declared, "gold and
paper money are incompatible with each other, and
cannot exist together." The population and trade
of the empire being much increased, a proportionate
increase in the medium of circulation is called for ; and
when gold is found insufficient recourse must be had to
paper, which, if improved on the principle already sug-
gested, the two substances would be found in the same
pocket without disunion. Anxious to see our situation
ameliorated, I trust the currency may be mended with-
out changing or impairing the national commercial cha-
racter, which measure, if resorted to, would resemble
the policy of diverting from its course a powerful river
that had long given fertility and happiness to a large
district, merely because, from excessive rains, it had some
times exceeded its natural limits, and produced partial
injury. *
_ _ .

" I am, my Lords and Gentlemen,
" Your faithful and obedient servant,
" ROBERT PEEL.

"Drayton Manor, April 3, 1826."
Such were the views of a man of most remark-
able practical sagacity, who, by good sense, in-
dustry, and well-directed enterprise, made tile
fortune which the present Sir Robert Peel enjoys.