The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-11 00:00:00

THE MILITIA.

The Northumberland Light Infantry Regiment of
Militia are td be embodied on Tuesday, the 9th of
January next, at Aln wick, and are to hold themselves
in readiness to march to any part of the United King-
dom. The nominal strength of this regiment as enrolled
is 1,277, but this number has been reduced below 1,000
by enlistments into the regular forces and other causes.
A vigorous enlistment will be necessary to make up its
full complement.
The Notts Militia are new undergoing a term of drill
at Newark. The regiment numbers 900 men, and since
they have been in training their progress has been very
satisfactory.
The Leicestershire Militia are to assemble on Thurs-
day next. Recruiting in the town has been carried on
during the week with good success. The regiment now
numbers 933 men.
_ _ _

The 2d Royal Lancashire (Liverpool) Militia, under
the command of Colonel Sir Thomas Hesketh, are
called out for permanent duty, to commence on the
18th instant, with training and exercise, at Everton,
Liverpool.
The West York Rifle Regiment (late the Ist West
York Militia), under the command of the Hon. E. G.
Monckton, is under orders to assemble at Pontefract
on the 19th inst. This regiment has contributed nearly
200 volunteers to the line, and it is yet about 900
strong. •
The North York Rifles are to assemble at Richmond,
Yorkshire, on the 12th inst. for permanent duty.
The Royal Denbigh Rifle Militia has furnished 31
volunteers to the regular army, and has its complement
of men enrolled—viz., 432.
The Monmouthshire Light Infantry Regiment, now
stationed at Newport, has given a number of volunteers
to the Grenadier Guards, and last week 80 fine actiie
young men left 'the corps as volunteers for the 23d
Welsh Fusiliers and other regiments. The regiment is
actively engsged in recruiting its strength up to the
proper establishment.
The 4th Royal West Middlesex Militia at present
stationed at Hasler barracks, Gosport, has furnished
more than its full quota of volunteers. At the date of
the War-office order for volunteering the strength of
the regiment was 528. The commanding officer afforded
every encouragement to the men to volunteer, and the
result has been that 142 have been parted with, and 36
more have passed the doctor, and are waiting for the
recruiting officer's sanction to join their new regiments.
The West Kent Militia regiment will assemble ,at
I Maidstone in January.

ALARMING TRUNDIRSTORM.—We learn from a corres-
pondeat that, on Sabbath last, the towns of Newton-
stewart and Strabane, with theirvicinities, were visited
by a sudden storm of thunder, lightning, and rain. The
storm commenced about noon, but did not reach the cli-
max of its fury until about two o'clock. Previous to the
thunder, at the time
it when the people were engaged in
devotional exercises in the churches, the atmosphere be-
came so dense that was almost impossible to read even
tolerably large print. About two o'clock a large ball of
fire passed over the town of Strabane, with a terrific his-
sing sound, and after proceeding about a mile and a half,
the belt, as it is termed, descended with a noise resem-
bling the discharge of a park of artillery, struck in its
progress a stack of oats, the property of Mr. J. Crockett,
of Edymcre, in
the neiglibourlaood of Lifford, and parish
of Clonleigh, and instantaneously set it on fire. Several
persons beheld the strange phenomenon, but were so
much appalled that they were afraid to approach and
render the assistance necessary for extinguishing the
blaze and saving the oats from destruction. The conse-
quence was that the entire stack was consumed ; and
when the fire had ceased, large holes, which still remain,
were found where it had formerly stood, the forked
lightning having thus found a passage and buried itself
'in the bowels of the earth,—,Derrii perr.

The greater the evils of the war, the more the
world should condemn the author. Believing it to
be quite unavoidable—rather postponed too long
than begun too early on the part of England—we
have no personal motives whatever for extenuating
its miseries, and would throw the responsibility of
causing them, augmented rather than diminishe:?,
on the head of their guilty author. But when the
rtineS—which has since taken a totally differeLt
view—and other journals, taught the working
people that the war was doubling the price of the
quarter') loaf, and thus endeavoured to excite the
poi-mlar discontent, it became our duty to state the
actual changes in the price of wheat, to show that
no such rise had taken -place, and that the price
was actually lower after the war had begun, and
prohibitions and blockades were in full vigour, than
.before. On this account wo are challenged by Mr.
George Dornbusch, who challengeS Miss Martineau
too, and all the world to disprove his assertion that
" the declaration of war caused the price of cora to
rise considerably," and who, relying as he well may,
" on our sense of justice and fair play," sends us an
extract ftom his report on Wednesday, April 5,
1854, stating his opinions at that period. We
shall gratify his desire for such distinction as our
notice may give-him, so far as it will enable us to
place the facts of the case fairly before the public.
On the 27th of March the declaration of war was
issued, " the immediate effect of which," says Mr.
Dornbusch, " was to advance considerably the
price of corn and almost all the articles imported
from Russia—at the same time Consols and other
funds have been depressed very low." The price
of corn, we admit, did immediately rise in Mark-
lane, in Liverpool, and some other places, and so
did the price of tallow, hemp, and flax. The
porters and holders of these articles naturally en-
deavoured to make the most they could of the con-

tingency, stnd speculated for higher prices. It is
however notorious that the speculation was disap-
pointed. The " excitement which spread to every
market " did not continue beyond the week, and
the subsequent decline in prices, in spite of much
terrific writing in commercial circulars, curtailed
the summer jaunts and the Christmas splendour of
the unfortunate speculators for a rise. To say no-
thing more of the other articles, the rise in the
price of wheat, which, Mr. Dornbusch affirms, took
place in the first week of April, in different markets
—from 4s. to 12s. per qr.—is shown from the Ga-
zette returns—a somewhat better authority, for the
whole kingdom, and for the general price, than a
Mark-lane report—to have been confined to a few
markets, and to have been merely speculative. In
the week ending March 25 the weekly average was
78s. 4d. ; in the week ending April 1, it was 755.,
and in the week ending April 8, 735. 5d., a fall in
the two weeks immediately following the declara-
tion of war of 4s. 11d. This was a continuation
of the fall which, in face of the pending war, had
—with a slight interruption in the two first weeks
in March—continued from Jan. 28, when the
average weekly price was 83s. 3d., to April 8, when
it had fallen 9s. 10d. The price then took a slight
start, and rose somewhat till June 3, when it
reached the highest point, subsequent to the decla-
ration of war, 795. 11d.-Is. 7d. above the price
immediately prior to the declaration, and 3s. 4d.
lower than the highest price in January. In June
measures to give effect to the declaration of war
were in full activity. Blockades were established,
prohibitions were threatened or issued, but the
price of wheat from the beginning of J une steadily
declined till the weekly average reached, on Aug.
12th, G2s. 3d.—a fall of no less than 163. Id. from
the average price of March 25th, and of no less than
21s. from the highest price in January. It then
got up for a week or two, but immediately after-
wards again fell rapidly, and in the week ending
September 16th it was 525. 5d., or 9s. 10d. below
the price in August. In the face of the war,
therefore, from January 28—with a defective
harvest throughout Europe, in 1853—the price
of wheat fell in England, between January
and September, 30s. 10d. Since then the price
has risen rapidly, as wo all unfortunately know,
Litt the very latest repert leaves it at 745. 4d., or
Bs. 11d. below the price in January. These state-
ments can be verified by referring to the Gazette re-
turns, and they show that the price of wheat has
been influenced by causes very dith4rent train the
war. That the price of corn would CH if war were
to cease is probable ; but into the region cf conjec-
ture we shall not enter, contenting ourselves with
having shown that subsequent, and very closely
subsequent, to the declaration of Nv ar, the price of
wheat fell very considerably.
Similar facts to contradict Mr. Dornbusch are
apparent as to the funds. Just before the declara-
tion of war Consols were at 911 ; subsequent to
the declaration, when mone♦ dealers were still
speculating on the probabilities of a loan, Con-
sols fell, and in May reached 871, or 31 per
cent. below the price in March, but since then
they have continued very generally to rise,
and have now reached 931, being higher than
before the declaration. Without any reference
tof those who seek to discredit the generous and
patriotic feelings of the people, these facts are
worthy of being brought distinctly under the public
notice.

As we gave currency on Friday to Mr. Sturge's
statements, we must add a word to explain or cor-
rect them. He says that 5,300,000 qrs. of wheat
were shipped from Russia and 70,000 qrs. from the
Danube, in 1853, and adds, " with a suspension of
such enormous exports from countries that would
in all probability have furnished as great a surplus
in 1854 and 1855 as they did in 1853, for the con-
sumption of other nations, it is surprising that any
respectable writers should assert that cur present
prices of wheat are not affected by the war." We
know no respectable writers who have made any
such assertion ; but the facts concerning the Rus-
sian corn trade are of great importance, whatever
Mr. Sturge or any other writer may say. The
supplies from the Danube were impeded and
stopped by the Russians entering the Principali-
ties, and they desired to have the power to stop
them at all times. The importance of these sup-
plies is, however, overrated by Mr. Sturge. In
1853 we imported from Moldavia and Wallachia

227,143 quarters of wheat, which was upwards
of 50,000 qrs. more than we ever before im-
ported. According to the returns obtained
by our own consuls, and published in the of-
ficial " Tables of Population, Commerce,
d-c.," the greatest quantity of wheat ever exported
from these two provinces up to 1851 was 571,678
qrs. Mr. Sturge's estimate of 700,000 qrs. ex-
ported in 1853 is probably, therefore, an exaggera-
tion. The highest total exports, too, of wheat
from Rus.sia in any yowl. boi,vreen 1842 and 1851,
of which we have official returns, was in 1847,
when it amounted to 5,744,197 qrs., of which only
850,586 qrs. came to England. At that period the
exorbitant price ix England-102s.—the suspension
of our laws to procure a supply, and the extreme
want of France and Italy, caused every granary in
Russia to be clean swept. In no subsequent year,
of which we have official returns, was an equal
quantity of wheat exported from Russia. In fact,
every year since the exports have decreased, and
were in 1851 only 2,484,150 qrs. ; in 1850,
2,606,451 qrs. The greatest quantity of wheat ever
imported from Russia into England was last year,
1,071,173, when, from an expectation of war, we
made exertions to get it. From these facts we
infer that Mr. Sturge's estimate of 5,300,000 qrs.
of wheat shipped from Russia in 1853 is an exag-
geration ; if not, it is at least misleading to refer
to that whole quantity as affecting our markets to
its full extent, when only 1,071,173 qrs. came
hither, and it is totally erroneous to imply or
represent that the exportation was suspended in
1854.
We have an official account of our own imports
from Russia, in the nine months of 1853 and 1854,
which were as follow :

1853. 1854.
qrs. qrs.
From the Northern Ports ......... 69,101 23,933
" Pints in the Black Sea, Sea
of Azar, .............. 704,406 491.710
po
All this was imrted in the early part of the
year, and if the imports then ceased that was the
consequence of our low prices.. At 52e., with an
apprehension of the price falling lower, no corn was
imported, the growth either of Russia or any oth
from
er
country. The price did not pay to bring it
Egypt or the United States, and would not pay to
bring it from distant places. When we obtained
these supplies from Rusiia considerable-quantities
of corn were imported from the Black Sea into
France and Italy, though how much we do'
exactly know ; but, supposing Mr. Sturge's othernt
statements to be correct, the suspension lie speaks
of can only have affected for 1854 abouthaffthe
supplies from the Black Sea for all Western Europe.
1853 a
The apprehensions of war caused inlargena
exportations from Russia as could he spared,s and
we learn accordingly from theb circular of Mr.
ni Carr, of Rostock, dated Nove r 10, 1854, who
probably knows something of the Russia corntrade,
that, " with the exception. of St. Petersburg. stooks
of old corn are very lights most lapin bwa got off