The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-28 00:00:00

THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

(Front the Tines.)
The replace of the regiments of the line on Mediter-
ranean service by the Militia is not the only object of
the early meeting of Parliament.- It must have occurred
sometimes to everybody who has thought about it, that
with preparations continually increasing to a larger and
still larger scale, the resources of the Exchequer must
be almost exhaustee. That, in fact, is the case, and
Government must want money. It is not a result
wholly unforeseen, fur the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer did not profess to provide for the expenses of
the war till next February, and, had the war taken the
turn that was generally anticipated at the date of his
budget—viz., a campaign in the Danubian Principali-
ties, with the contingency of a Torres Vedras on the
Balkan and a defence of Constantinople, undoubtedly
Parliament would have been asked for money. It
was only the long period of inaction at Gallipoli and
Varna, and the subsequent delay in the landing of the
expedition in the Crimea,
.that led the public to cherish
the delusion that we were not likely to exceed the an-
nual income. That delusion bin; passed away, it may
be said with scarcely a murmur, so entirely has the whole
mind of the nation been absorbed in the fortunes of the
war, in the fate of the allied armies, and in the thousand
private incidents that sadden and adorn the international
struggle. Yes, all the reveries of economists, all the
hopes of financier:, all the pictures of universal peace,
all the estimates of extinguished debts and overflowing
exchequers have melted away, and we suddenly find
ourselves thrown back to the period of the early Revo-
lutionary War, when we were slowly opening our minds
to the immensity and costliness of the conflict before us.
War, we are all now fully aware, means money. The
public is urging more inen, more steamers, quicker and
more frequent communications, better artillery, better
small arms, better housing„ better clothing, denionstre-
lions on the Danube, the destruction of Odessa, the
occupation of Perekop, the conquest of the Crimea, and
the precipitation of the Anstrian difficulty. Every day
brings us the most costly suggestions, and Government
hardly keeps up with the fertility of the projectors.
Wrought iron steam batteries, mortars of prodigious
calibre, rifled guns, and other devices for sudden, vast,
and secret destruction, employ the attention of the Ad-
miralty, the Ordnance-office, and the Woolwich en-
gineers. The deep soul and the mighty intellect of the
nation is turned to war. Nor is this any matter of
surprise. The time has passed for weighing the merits
of the question, and we are finally and irrevocably com-
mitted to the part we have chosen. Nothing remains for a
great nation but to do its utmost, and, so thoroughly is
that the feeling of all classes, that we doubt if
there are fifty men among us who would not gladly en-
dure a large amount of private less and inconvenience,
and who would not indeed forego much advantage and
enjoyment if by so doing they might secure the success
of the British arms and the just chastisement of the fee.
Since, then, we have all made up our minds to pay
heavily for the war, there arises the question as to the
form and method of that payment. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer has done his utmost to confine the ex-
pense to the income, and even when compelled to obtain
a larger amount of ready money than the taxes would
yield, he tried to obtain it by a new system of Exchequer
bends, redeemable after periods of a few years. It is no
discredit to Mr. Gladstone's ingenuity, and tells much for
his sanguine hopes of peace, that his plans have had but
imperfect success, and that operations of a much more
definite and ordinary character are now required to
meet the increased and increasing expenses of the
war. These are immense. The hire of private
steamers has been estimated at 3,000,0001. a year, be-
sides those which Government is buying or building.
The hire of sailing transports is another vast item. The
strength of the army is half as much again as itswas.
The navy is equally augmented. New arms are de-
manded in every branch of the service, and for these
new ammunition and other stores are required. The
cost of completing, embodying, and mobilising the
militia will amount to several millions a year. Then we
have had to feed, and to arm, and shall probably have
to clothe, to house, and to convey our Turkish allies.
We are forbidden to mention "subsidies," because they
are too likely. If we add up these main expenses we
shall soon see that the day has arrived for a bolder
finance than the nation would have borne so late as last
spring. We must have either increased war taxes, as,
for example, a 10 per cent, income tax, or a -loan.
Tne sudden meeting of Parliament so long before
the expiration of the financial year points to the
latter expedient, and the publio are probably quite pre-
pared for an addition of five or even ten millions to the
funded debt. For our part, we believe it the best policy
to carry on the war without any regard to expense, and,
if the hope of keeping within our income leads to
crippled armaments, to languid counsels, and dilatory
operations, we have no hesitation in advising that we at
once give up the fiction of immediate payment, and
draw en posterity. The next generation is as much con-
certed as ourselves in the result of the present war, and
it will not thank us for a heritage of cheap shame.
Gloryesfreedoni, power, and rank among nations are as
fair objects of expenditure as house and land, and it is
as reasonable to encroach on the public stock of material
goods for the independence, security, and elevation of
our race as for the improvement of our cities, roads,
mansions, parks, churches, and other ornaments and
acquisitions of peace.
During the last war there was a strong party of finan-
ciers iu favour of terminable annuities instead of the per-
petual incubus which constitutes the main portion of
the national debt. The plan was adopted to some ex-
tent, and we are now about to realise its advantages in
the approaching spontaneous cessation, se to speak, of a
--large portion of the annual dividends. The quiet way
in which the national debt of the United States has
dwindled to a mere trill is another teqtimony in favour
of the system, and the Chancellor of the Fxchequer has
shown a decided leaning to it in his late comprehen-
sive, though undeveloped, plan for commuting the
Three per Cents. Should he now come before
Parliament with the project of a loan, we shall
possibly have the question of terminable annui-
ties once more discussed where it has often been
before. We believe the solution to be rather in plan-
tice than in theory. Borrowers will always get money
on the easiest terms within their reach, and if better
terms are to be obtained fur perpetual than for termi-
nable annuities that will probably settle the question
without much reference to the supposed moral difference
of the two methods. Still it is an open question, and
after the very little way the country has made in paying
off its debt during the long peace, it is reasonable to
conclude that the effect of perpetual annuities is bad on
the public mind, tending to make it acquiesce too readily
in a burden which seems to have become one of the
permanent institutions of the country. Fortunately
there never was a time when we could so easily stand a
large addition either to our annual taxes or to our na-
tional debt, whichever course the Legislature may think
fit to choose.