The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-29 00:00:00

LONDON. SA.TURDA. V. APRIL 29, 1854.

There are some extraordinary rumours afloat—
rumours which we are loath to credit, and which,
nevertheless, come to light together with circum-
stances which are really very suspiciously corro-
borative.

It is said that we are going to treat the Rus-
sians, not with a vigorous opposition, but with
peculiar tenderness.

It is stated that particularly influential per-
sonages have resolved that the CZAR shall be
treated as gently as possible throughout.
It is asserted that it has actually been defini-
tively arranged in high quarters that whatever
may be the result of the war not a scrap of land
shall be taken from Russia, that the frontiers- of
that vast empire shall remain precisely as they
were before the struggle commenced, that the
Northern AUTOCRAT shall not have cause to lament

over the diminu'ion of his enormous territories.

Such things, we repeat, are rumoured. But let
us add at once, that we ourselves are fain to regard
them as altogether incredible. It is scarcely, in-
deed, to be credited that the Western Powers
could ever consent to a line of policy so weak or
so base, se marked at once with the double brand
of folly and turpitude.. ,
Nevertheless, such marvellous incidents have
occurred of late in the carrying_ out,of the war-
like preparations of the allies of Turkey, that it
behoves the people of England to watch the deve-
lopment cf these warlike preparations with the
most jealous and scrutinising obhervation. Par
ticular!y, we maintain, should this attention be
given to the course of events in the East, so long
as the Earl of ABERDEEN remains at the head of

her Britannic MAJESTY'S Government. We have
seen how matters have been delayed and delayed,
under the auspices of the sympathisers with
northern absolutism. We have seen-how, under
those auspices, the force nominal'y sent against
the gigantic armaments of the CZAR have been
altogether inadequate for the occasion. We have
seen how even this inadequate force has been first
of all retarded by reviews and banquets at home,
and then midway on their voyage, at Valetta ;
and even when they at length reached the coast
of Turkey, how they were disembarked at such out-
of-the-way places as Buyukdere on the Bosphorus
and Gallipoli on the Dardanelles. Everything, it
-must be confessed, has been quite in keeping with
the rumoured policy by which it is said the hid-
den friends of the CZAR are resolved to treat
him with all possible tenderness—and these

hidden friends in gugland—some of them, per-
haps, or as theyjancy, irresponsible.
Therefore, we again and again would urge the
paople of England to watch,. with jealous ecru-
tiny, the course taken by events, and, through
those events, the councils resolved .upon by the
Administration. • •

It would be advisable so" to act under any cir-
, cumstances. It is especially so advisable with the
Horse Guards in a state of partial somnolence; 'with
Viscount HARDINGE at the head of it ; with Lord
ABERDEEN Prime Minister of Pngland ; with a few
thousands of our troops landing miles upon fifties
of miles away from the actual seat of war; with the
Russians concentrating their forces in the Principali-
ties ; with the Danube crossed-as well as the Pruth ;
with the Dobrudscha still in the possession of the
Muscovites ; and if we are to believe our Minis.
ters themselves, if we are to credit the reiterated
assertions made in the House of Commons by
Lord JOHN Russmr; with treason to Europe in the
Royal Palaae ,at Athens, and a formidable insur-
rection in Epirus and in Thessaly, abetted, if not
actually originated, by the Greek Government !
Look at the remarkable declarations made
by the Noble Lord upon this last-mentioned sub-
ject, as recently as yesterday evening, within the
walls of Parliament. Those declarations are, we ,
maintain, sufficient of themselves to justify the
people of England in demanding a more vigorous
and energetic course of proceedings in regard to
the conduct of the war against the Russian AUTO-
and
°RAT, undertaken (however reluctantly, still really
and undertaken)
Go-
vernment. There must bybe the AntIERnF"
ore
trifling
now that these da
ngers the East have become
at once multiplied and magnified.' It
is obvious.
It is notorious. And
yet, while this necessity is
both obvious and notorious, the farce, sent. by the
Western allies 'of the SULTAN
tulle
insufficient in
ale tu
number, and are at the sa •
lle beinr, kept back
deplorably from scene of action in the P •inipa-
Simultaneously with our knowled,te whichorfe*
lamentable facts, come these ugly rum ours
already
specified, rumours of a determination in high
places to treat-the Russian EMPEROR to the very
last with all tenderness! , - _ - -
• frave we not sufficient grounds, therefore, for
insist lug that there are reaaene why the pepple of

England should keep a vigilant regard upon the
course pursued in the conduct of this war by their
Government ?

The " GLAnsTo:a organ" has distinctly and une-
quivocally announced the end and object of the
contemplated loan of 6,000,0001. sterling. It is
not for the purpose of carrying on the just and
necessary war, on which 'the nation has entered,
with vigour and efficiency—of relieving the mer-
cantile community from undue competition in the
means of conducting their business—or the gene-
ral public from the necessity of paying off, at a
moment of unusual pressure, the principal of a
debt contracted early in the last century, and for
the liquidation whereof there was not the slightest
necessity or pressure. Any of these laudable pur-
poses would induce the " productive classes" to
open their purse-strings freely, and, so far as in
their power, to honour the drafts which the
Chancellor of the Exchequer has made on their
" smaller accumulations" in sums of " NOT LESS
THAN 1,0001. EACH !"
But the Times is resolved that there shall be
no misunderstanding. It is determined to free its
patron from the imputation of, being influenced
by any such reasonable motives. The most grasp-
ing " Moneyocrat" should not have the oppor-
tunity of even suspecting the Right Honourable
Gentleman of doing anything to keep money
tolerably cheap, or to avert the general distress
that invariably attends the application of the
screw, and the consequent tightness in the market.
No, it tells us without disguise or concealment,
that " what the money is immediately wanted for,
is to keep us in an independent position with the
Bank, till the relations of the State with that Corpo-
ration can be re-arranged on a more dignified foot-
ing ! " Adding, "Since it appears to, be thought
in that quarter that the State is an exigent and
troublesome customer, it is quite time that the
inconvenience should be abated on the one hand,
and the sense of obligation removed on the
other !" We thus find on the very best authority,
for the inspiration may be taken as coming
directly from Mr. GLADSTONE himself, that the
sole object of the new loan is to enable
the Right Honourable Gentleman to carry out the
undignified squabble in which he has been in-
volved with the magnates of Threadneedle-street,
and to punish them severely for their presump-
tion in daring to remonstrate against his financial
crotchets.

Be it so ! Whatever may be the exciting cause
of the dispute, the nation must benefit if the re-
sult be that indicated by. the Times, viz :—" That
the State should act as a private individual,
manage its own business itself; that is, by its own
servants, and then deal with the Bank for accom-
modation as any gentleman deals with his bank."
This most desirable consummation will involve
the necessity of a REALLY NATIONAL BANK—
a matter for which we have so long
and so energetically contended. There can be no
earthly reason why the duty of paying the divi-
dends on the National Debt should be delegated
to the Bank, or why we should pay 180,0001. per
year for the performance of that which would
be amply remunerated by the use of the Exche-
quer deposits. There can be no earthly reason why
we should pay interest on 14,000,0001. sterling,
while we authorise our creditor to issue notes on
the security of that demand. The " NATIONAL
BANK" could offer unlimited security for every
pound it sent into circulation—security more un-
exceptionable than that which the Bank of Eng-
land note affords to the community.
If there were a run on the Bank, and every
security, public and private, were reduced to half
their nominal value, the vaunted machinery for
providing for the convertibility of the Bank-note
would necessarily prove a total failure, inasmuch
as the guarantee fund against which the
14,000,000/. of notes were circulated would not
realise more than 7,000,000/. or 8,000,0001.,
and thus a very deplorable deficiency would be
created. This could not be the case with the
national note, for not only the entire property of
the country, real and personal, but its industry,
would be responsible for the liquidation in
full of its paper money. But that paper
would also be received in the discharge of
obligations which are directly or indirectly ac-
cruing every day ; and as there would, as we
have already shown, be an absorption of
1,200,000/. every week, there would be no chance
of its becoming deteriorated, or regarded as a
",ivorthless rag."
It may be said that such a failure 'on the part
of the Bank would be very improbable. Granted !
We do not wish to be taken as in any degree
impeaching the solvency of that or any other
establishment. But the supposition is not a bit
more extravagant than many that have been
gravely put forward by the bullion ists,
and which are allowed to. have weight even
in Parliament. The real question is that

which has been very clearly put by the Times, and
which has been repeated by the voice of public
opinion from every district and locality in the
empire—" WHY GOVERNMENT SHOULD MAKE A
PRESENT TO ANY CORPORATION OF THE PROFITS
DERIVED FROM THE ISSUE OF TWENTY OR THIRTY

MILLIONS OF PAPER MONEY, WREN IT WOULD BE