The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-10 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 10, 1853.

EXCHEQUER BILLS.

The following announcement of an advance in
the rate of, interest on all the Exchequer bills now
in circulation from id. per diem, at which they
have stood. since the 10th of March last, to 2d. per
diem from the commencement of the official-quar-
ter, was posted on Saturday afternoon in the Stock
gmchange ;

"To the GOvernor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of
England. . ,

" Treasury Chambers, Oct. 8, 1853.
"Gentlemen,--The Lords Commissioners of her Mb,-
jesty's Treasury having determined that all Exchequer
bills issued under the authority of the acts of the 15th
of Victoria, c. 10, and the 16th of Victoria, c. 25, shall,
on and after the 11th of October inst., bear an interest
at the rate of 2d. per centuni per diem, I am commanded
by their lordships to' request that you Will snake this
'determination known at-the Stock ExhanO, and my
lords will forthwith take the iteceibary'steps for carrying
it into effect.—l have the honour, &c., '
, IVILsoN."
The resolution of the ChancellOr of the Exche-
quer to advance the rate of interest on Exchequer
bills has been expected' "for some days, and much
satisfaction is expressed that he has avoided the
mistake committed on some previous occasions 'of
allowing the nature of these securities to be da-
maged by letting them remain for any lengthened
time at a discount. In deckin}g upon the:t,re'dnc-
tion to one penny per day in February last, thefol-
lowed the sound course of obtaining monerfarith`e-
public on the lowest practicable dblidititnis'AMa
was thus enabled to cyponstrate that.atlitfilttgof
ease in the Money:matkeeihe obligations Vl' the
British Treasury will circulate at a,rate of interest
unknown in any other country. Until recently, the
premium they still maintained was quite as high as
is desirable, if they are to be divested of a spela-
tive character, and, although this would not have
been the case if the quantity in circulation had not
been diminished by a large amount being sent in
for payment, the intentions of the measure were in
every respect realised, inasmuch as the Govern-
ment had a heavy balance at the Bank, which it
was expedient should be employed for the national
benefit, instead of being suffered to lie idle or to be
used only for the advantage of a private corpora-
tion. At the same time, while the Chancellor re-
solved that the interest on these securities should
henceforth be conformable to the real position of

the money-market at the time of their issue, it being
no part of the functions of a Minister to act on his
own fancies" as to whether the stock-market for the

future will rise or fall, he, of course, held himself
prepared to iicrease the rate whenever n'charig,e of
circumstances might render that step necessary.
Since February a deficient harvest, not only in Eng-
land, but throughout the greater part of Europe ;
a convulsion in the Chinese empire, which has ren-
dered it necessary for us to make all our payments
in that country in the precious metals, and which
has caused our exportations of specie to the East to
amount, by the last two steamers alone to 1,000,0001.
sterling ; a dispute with Russia of so imminent a
nature that we scarcely know whether we are or
are not already at war ; and a sudden change from
apathy as regards shipments to Australia to a state
of excitement, which has caused, probably, ten
millions' worth of the combined produce of labour
and raw material to be sent away on an eight
months' credit, are the events which have since oc-
curred to affect the relations of capital, and any
one of which would usually be regarded as sufficient
to upset all previous calculations. That they have all
happened together without producing the slightest
shadow of discredit in the commercial world fur-
nishes the strongest possible proof of the soundness
of the buoyant view which, judging from facts as
they then stood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is
believed to have entertained at the opening of the
year ; while of course, if he were to pretend to have
foreseen then, he would rank only as a charlatan,
Even, moreover, if they had been within the pro-
vince of conjecture, it was not his business to turn
speculator upon the strength of any such opinions.
His duty was simply to obtain money for the public
at a penny a-day, or even a farthing a-day, as long
as it might be possible to do so, and to be ready to
pay twopence or threepence, or any higher amount,
whenever the alteration should be requisite. By
following this course, and thus assuring the mer-
cantile community that, although the interest on
Exchequer-bills will always, both for the sake of
economy and the dignity of the national credit, be
kept at the lowest possible rate, they will never be
permitted to remain for many weeks at a discount,
he will cause the security to be what it ought to
be—one of the most reliable and least speculative
that can be selected.

Meanwhile, the public, for whose interests alone
the Chancellor thus far appears to have acted, will
be glad to observe that the measure now adopted
seems to indicate a certainty that all his arrange-
ments for meeting the claims to fall due in
January next in connexion with the conversion of

the Soiiith Sea and other annuities will be
without difficulty. The last quotation of Exche-
quer-bills to-day was far below what has usually
been the case when they have borne the advanced
rate of interest now announced, and the reason for
this consists in the anticipation that an amount
equal to that withdrawn during the past six months
will be re-issued to supply the wants of the Treasury
at the period in question, the available surplus re-
venue being used as far as it will go for the re-
mainder. Under these circumstances, public ob-
ligations bearing 3 per cent. in perpetuity will be
paid off partly by cash in hand and partly by

cities carrying interest at the rate of 31. 6s. 10d.
per annum that will admit of being reduced when-
ever the money-market may be favourable for such
an operation.—Times City Article.

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT AND LOSS OF LIFE
ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY,

On Saturday afternoon an accident of a most alarm-
ing character, and which, we regret to say, was the
cause of one person being killed on the spot, and which,
it is feared, will prove fatal to several others, occurred
at Ke n sal-green .
It appears that Messrs. Lock and Nesham, the well-
known contractors, were erecting for the Great Wes
tern Railway Company at Kensal-green a new locomo-
tive factory, which, with the exception of the covering
of the roof, was to be composed of iron, after the prin-
ciple of the Crystal Palace. The building was 400 feet
long by 70 broad, the sides of which consisted of iron
columns, and the roof was to be supported by what are
technically called iron principals or rafters, constructed
triangularly, so as to give a full fall for the light.
These principals were raised on the top of the columns by
means of a " derrick," a perpendicular pole, which was
supported by four "guys" (ropes to give it a proper
bearing). Nine of, the principals had already been
o f erected,th e
workmen an a t the e tunere in otfhteh ea
catc col df ernati,sai largeng
which they had nearly got up to the top, when, from
the n ut
emn bt
he r,
some cause which is at present unexplained, the
"guys" gave way, and the "derrick" toppled over,
thereby causing the "principal" the men were lifting to
strike the others, and the consequence was that the
whole mass fell to the ground with a fearful crash,
burying under it all the men who were engaged in the
work. Assistance was immediately procured, and as
soon as the principals (each of them weighs about 15
cwt.) could be removed it was found that nearly 20 per-
sons had been injured more or less severely. The first
man who was taken out was John Duay ; he was
quite dead, the back part of his head having been
completely severed. The others were immediately
taken to St. Mark's Hospital, Paddington, where,
jp.vvu
Paddington,
dnti
Wallis,
gt9th,o enaihri
felreaudandlrctei te;eyurs-Wrft
upon examination, it was found that five were most
severely wounded, three of whom, upon inquiry at
the hospital at half-past ten o'clock last night, were
not expscted to live till the morning.
The names of the sufferers in the hospital, and the
nature of their wounds, are as follows :—Thomas Myatt,
fractured
Union-place,
limbeinhz
tt
iemo:
above
apbnerlocrdavkoc
ewie n:gar
otherhor
seaa tdmi
fn,
aj,
Gtufsarriii
lo,ecyrstSgut;wera
,erosd-
us
Williamnttr rhdoeiaeeaddth,,.
George-street, Blackfriars-road, fractured hip and
Charlesin-
and
other
C
fractured ribs; James Sumner, 7, Haverstock-place,
Somers Town, several fractures.

The other persons, after being examined by the sur-
geons, were allowed to go to their own homes.

NORTH OF LONDON ANTI-ENCLOSURE SOCIETY.—At
last monthly meeting of the committee, 6th inst., at
Chalk Farm,' Mr. E. Land in the chair, the illegal stop-
page of the " Oak Park" fieldpath to Hampstead-heath
was brought under consideration, and proof given of its
antiquity. A printed letter from J. Orton Smith, Esq.,
of Serjeants' Inn, respecting that gentleman's "Rebec-
ca" treatment of an illegal enclosure at Colney Hatch,
was read, which elicited, warm commendations, ending
in the adoption of the following resolution, viz.:—"That
, the thanks of this committee be given to J. Orton
Smith, Esq., of Serjeants' Inn, London, for his spirited
conduct in removing obstructions placed across the pub-
lic
footpath which leads from Muswell Hill to the Lu-
natic Asylum at Colney Hatch, more especially as, in
this degenerate age, so few can be found to protect the
rights of their country, or fieldpaths, which, from their
endearing associations, lead, as it were, from our hearts
to heaven." The Secretary said, Mr. Smith's public
advice to "Rebecca" all obstructions to public foot-
, paths ought to be generally adopted, as experience
! proved it was useless to expect justice fromthose who
were so base as to rob the public of their rights,

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

(Frani, the Times.)

After all the forbearance which political wisdom
could suggest,
,arid all the suspense which
diplo-
matic negotiatigns unavoidably involve, the Turkish
question has been ought to a point of practical
decision. The Czar has now learnt the terms, from
which the Westilrit Powers will not, swerve, and
which they are prepared, even at the cost of war,
to maintain. It will be satisfactory to the whole
country to understand that these resolutions have
been taken with perfect unanimity by the Cabinet,
and that between the British and French Govern-
ments there prevails so entire an accord upon every
point of their joint duties that the manoeuvres of
Russia to dissolve or impair the alliance have
utterly failed.
France and England have announced their de-
terminatiOn' to support Turkey, if necessary, by
force of„ arms, in resisting the demands preferred
by Russia. They, have agreed, in point of fact, to
abide by those conditions of settlement which the
Four Power conceived themselves to be expressing
in their Vienna Note, but which they failed to con-
vey with any accuracy of language. The modifica-
tions suggested by the Porte are substantially
adopted by the Western Powers as the basis of
their 'terms, and the Emperor Nicholas has not
`been indulged in his desires respecting the point of
foim: At Olmiitz, as our readers are aware, the
',czar professed his readiness to concede the prin-
ciple of the Turkish modifications, provided only
that the recognition were effected by means of an

explanatory "declaration," and the original Vienna
.Note_still_ retained- as the regulating instrument
between the parties. In this particular, however,
France and England declined to yield ; and they

have required that the assent of the Czar to condi-
tions which he already admits in substance shall be
expressed and recorded in some document -hrida-
maged by a previous false interpretation. A Note
which Russia has already publicly declared to mean
exactly what the Western Powers think it should
not mean can never represent a satisfactory settle-
ment between the Western Powers and Russia.

To all but those who entertain positive desires
that the liberal States of the West should be brought
into decisive collision with the absolute States of

the East at the earliest moment, and on the first
pretence, we think these resolutions must appear
sufficient. The delays hitherto attending the nego-
tiations have occurred in the interests of peace
alone. At no moment have they been occasioned,
on the part of the Western Powers, by any dis-
position to give way to Russia. The terms now
categorically weferred- are, the iclentiCal, terms
which have been required from the beginning, and
are none other indeed than the very conditions to
which France and England believed themselves to
be adhering when they assented to the Vienna
Note. The intervening difficulties originated in
circumstances both evident and notorious. As soon
as ever the proceedings, and even the intentions of
Russia were known in the country, and before
the arrogance of her demands upon Turkey had
been consummated by the actual invasion of the
Danubian Principalities, the combined fleets were
despatched to their Eastern anchorage. Immedi-
ately afterwards a Conference assembled at Vienna
to impose terms of moderation on Russia. Had

the work of these diplomatists been properly con-
ducted, the question would have been brought
three months ago to the point it has just now
reached, and Russia would have received the ulti-
matum, of Europe. But the Conference blundered
—there is no disguising the fact. They so expressed
their intentions that their expressions were mis-
construed both by Turkey on one side and Russia
on the other, and, as their Note was thus vitiated
by its inherent ambiguities, the whole affair had
to be commenced anew under greater difficulties
than before. Originally the Czar had no standing
ground whatever, but, having accepted the terms
of the European arbitrators in the form in which
they were offered to him, he became possessed of
some species of case. He has not, however, been
allowed the benefit of the doubt thus created. The
Western Powers have declared their own Note
void by the Czar's interpretation, and now insist
upon a fresh instrument, containing a plainer ex-
position of their terms.

What justifies them conclusively in these resolu-

tions is the absolutely indefensible position which
Russia has been all along maintaining. Her armed
occupation of the Danubian Principalities is a stand-
ing and perpetual offence against public law—an
offence which would have warranted, on the part
of Turkey, a declaration of war at the moment of
its commission. Russia had no title whatever to
enforce her demands upon the Porte. So far as
we can judge, she was even without any admissible
reasons for preferring these demands at all, for the
Greek Christians in Turkey, though kept, as they
have always been, in a state of degradation and
oppression, had not been exposed to any recent
alarms, or induced to make application for extrinsic
protection. But, however this may be, there was
unquestionably no ground for the exercise of vio-
lence ; and, although we are not directly bound-to
guarantee Turkey in her territorial rights, and
still less to uphold the dominion of Mussulmans
over Christians, we were called upon in self-defence,
and in European interests, to oppose this act of vio-
lence on the part of a Power whose encroaching
policy is the subject of common alarm.
Our object is, and has been, to procure the
withdrawal by Russia of those demands upon
Turkey which would invest the Czar with an in-
definite authority in the dominions of the Sultan,
and thus enable him to prosecute clandestinely
any designs directed against the security of the
Ottoman Empire. It seems that the Conference
failed to express this object distinctly in the first
propositions of adjustment, but we have, at any
rate, expressed it now, and in terms satisfactory
even to the natural suspicions of the Porte.
After this it only remains to be seen whether
the Emperor of Russia will persist in his aggres-
sion or yield to reason. We . hope and trust
that the latter result may occur. To all the
former evidence against his proceedings the Czar
has now added the conclusive testimony of his own
confession. By accepting in substance the terms
pressed by the Western Powers, he has acknow-
ledged the justice of the principles on which those
terms are based. By undertaking to give, though
in form of his own choosing, the guaranteestthhoesye
require, he has practically admitted that
guarantees are reasonably demanded, and the ques-
tion of his own dignity ought to sink by the side of
facts like these. By his own acknowledgments, no
less than by the opinion of Europe, he stands con-
victed of having endeavoured to enforce, by unlaw-
ful invasion demands which he now consents to
retract. This, by his own showing, is the case
against him, for his reiterated assurances of desiring
nothing beyond what the Western Powers profess
to permit supply conclusive evidence against those
proceedings which provoked the intervention.
We yet trust this protracted dispute may be
terminated without war, and that an Emperor who
parleys may be found like a fortress under the same
circumstances, less disposed to fight than capitulate.
That the alternative of war must be accepted, if
necessary, we have repeatedly observed; but as the
acceptance will at once precipitate us into all those
countless and incalculable perils which the modern
policy of Europe has been framed to avert, we may
well hope to be saved from the extremity. If any
reliance, however, has been placed by foreign Go-
vernments on that insurmountable affection for
peace which has recently been attributed, as a
national sentiment, to the British people, the mis-
conception may now be easily rectified. We do
not, indeed, believe that war could, even for a mo-
ment, be really popular with a country so generally
enlightened as to its consequences, but it is clear
that there is pugnacity enough abroad to make a
prudent and pacific policy decidedly more difficult
to a Ministry than a policy which should appeal to
the foibles of a people or the passions of a moment.
England canlttlways go to war soon enough. Of
this there can bo very little doubt, and we trust the
obvious conviction may produce its due effect in
quarters where more temperate proceedings have
hitherto been of little avail.

( From the Press.)
Our readers may remember that in our last week's
number we stated precisely the pitch of complexity
which the Eastern question had reached, and an-
nounced that Lord Aberdeen would call a Cabinet
Council during the week .which is now ending.
The Cabinet Council met yesterday ; but, as a
preliminary to this phenomenon, certain of its
principal councillors had a private rehearsal, which
they thought fit to announce in the Times of Tues-
day last. If it was not pure hypothesis on the part
of their organ, they enabled it to communicate " the
intelligence which was the immediate occasion of
their meeting—that on the 26th ult. the Grand
Council, a body consisting of about ono hundred
and forty magnates of the Turkish empire, had re-
commended the Sultan to make a declaration of
war." This intelligence was, of course, sufficient
occasion for the Cabinet to Meet ; and, in any
event, it was natural that they should prepare
themselves for the formal duties they had so long

suspended, and so grudgingly resumed. But it
was a novelty to announce the subject of Privy
Council deliberations to the public, and to atone
for a fussy reserve towards Parliament by a frank
violation of the confidence of the Crown.
The Cabinet, has a new theory on the subject of
" Honour, as we suggested last Saturday ; so we
let this pass ; for their position—we say it in no
odious sense—is comparatively a contemptible*
topic m face of the contingencies menacing Europe.
The magnates of the Turkish empire have recall-
mended war—or rather, we should say,, they have
recommended retaliation (for war commenced with
the passage of the Pruth by the Russians) ; and
retaliation will in natural course ensue if our Cabi-
net acts with its usual alacrity, and negotiates
again with its former success.
Further negotiations are, indeed, announced,
under new, and it is hoped better, conditions. The
apparent energy which at last commissioned the
combined fleets to the waters of Constantinople has
been accompanied by (it would shock too abruptly
the Muscovite predilections of Lord Aberdeen to
say it has induced) certain overtures on the part of
the Czar. The reputed organ of one of the Minis-
ters has told us in a jaunty air, which betrays its
inspiration, that " the fleets did not sail for Besika
Bay for a summer's cruise, nor have Admirals Dun-
das and Hamelin passed the Dardanelles with
their whole force for the benefit of change of air.,,
This information, which reassured the British pub-
lic, has been considerately mitigated to Russian
ears, if Lord Westmoreland, as is stated, told the
Czar at Olmutz that " his Government would par•
titularly guard against making any pledge of mate-
rial support to the Sultan in case he should declare
war against Russia." But the fleets were, at all
events, present, if not with acknowledged hostile
intent ; and the Czar has offered terms, though
not under acknowledged pressure.
Of the respective movements of the Porte forwar
and of the Czar for peace, both may be sincere, and
yet at this stage war may be imminent. If, on the
other hand, the Czar's predisposition for an ar-
rangement is avowed in the same sense as his ac-
ceptance of the Vienna note, war must not only be
imminent but unavoidable. If, again, the Czar is
sincerely desirous for peace, he can only attain it
by withdrawing from his position. Prince Mens-
chikoff's explanation of the grounds of his refusal
of the modifications of the Vienna note required by
the Porte has placed his Majesty in this humiliat-
ing alternative—either he must consent to receive
a declaration of the meaning of the Vienna note
entirely contradictory to his own' interpretations
and that of the Porte, or he must submit to accept
a fresh document framed studiously to, exclude the
protectorate which he claimed over the subjects of
the Porte through the medium of Prince Menschi-
koff. In either event he must submit to the humi-
liation of a withdrawal from the terms defined by
his diplomatic agent, and must admit peace as a
personal confutation and reproach.
The inference from this is not only patent but
conclusive as to the policy which our own Cabinet
has pursued. If the Czar recedes in the face of a
threatened resolve, and recedes under the lash of
shame and vexation, he would not have advanced
had that resolve been notified at an earlier date,
with English candour, English consistency, or Eng-
lish courage. The first defeat which Lord Aberdeen
sustained in his own Cabinet is said to have been
its resolve to empower Lord Stratford to summon
the English fleet as soon as he thought proper. If
this be true, his first defeat has been the means of
his first and only, though as yet contingent, success.
If the peace of Europe is still to be preserved, it is
only maintainable in derision of feminine tremors
which invited for a time the Cossack's threats ; and
thus Lord Aberdeen may obtain a respite, to his
country's and his own benefit, though in spite of
himself.

His organs may be premature in offering any re-
flections upon this possible issue. But at all events
the "moral' which they venture to deduce from
this compromising story is designedly remote. The
peace of Europe imperilled—the Funds at 90—the
operations of commerce paralysed—the balance of
power vibrating spasmodically—the approximation
of hostile armies; and the threatened resurrection
of revolutionay gapulsd's in the interests of peace
—all these corncilents—this complexity of hazards,
requires some acBount, and the explanation is found
solely in the ambition of the Czar. The encour-
agements to his ambition are studiously ignored ;
but, as divided councils produce opposite explana-
tions, wa are told in that organ of one of the
Ministers which we have already , quoted, that
" the truth is that, believing that France and
England would not act together or firmly in
opposition, the Emperor of Russia seized upon
what he imagined to be a good opportunity
for gratifying his ambition ;" and we add to
this naive aemission, which accords with the repre-
sentations of our party chiefs in Parliament, that
distracted councils and despairing timidity have
improved this impression to the confusion which
prevails. _ _

- For the "moral" of this conjuncture we have no
occasion to travel so far as the Ministerial YEsop.
It lies at our own door, and is not to be relegated
by a stroke of the pen to Siberian latitudes. A.
combination of administrators, some of them states-
men, has been founded on the abeyance of party
principles ; particular views have met their contra.
dictories, and the issue of the whole is a compro-
mised activity. The capacity of the individuals
when not controlled by unnatural alliances, may be
clear and admitted, but a vicious influence subdues
each conviction, and deadens every spontaneous
impulse. The result is necessarily a political Coma.
The personal weakness of Lord Aberdeen may adapt
him for democratic or other pressure, but a medium
is required to reduce him to imbecility, and this
medium is found in the constitution of his Cabinet.
We may not forget that the formation of this Cabi-
net first invited the Russian menace, which it nursed
into the dimensions of a general peril. From this
first fruit of its tedious and torpid gestation we may
infer the abortive nature of its future progeny, and
forebode an internal detriment to England from
her forced declension in the horoscope of Europe.