The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-22 00:00:00

WANT OF GUN-BOATS.

A letter from Stockholm, of May 12, says—
What Sir Charles Napier wants, is not ships of the
line and large frigates, but a not inconsiderable
number of small steamers and gun-boats, the latter
capable of bearing cannon of large calibre. The
majority of the ships in his squadron are byfar too
large for operations in the Gulf of Finland, and
particularly in the narrow channels of Sweaborg
and Cronstadt. Such a squadron would be all
well and good in the Mediterranean, or in. a bay
like that of Algiers, or before such towns as those
which some years ago he bombarded and destroyed.
It would be an admirable squadron, too, if the Rus-
sians .
were to come out and nave a fair and open
sea fight a few miles from the mouth of the above
gulf ; but come out they will not, and all their
preparations are for the defensive, trusting to the
difficult and dangerous access to their forts and to
the strength of those forts themselves. It would
be a less imposing one, and it would not, perhaps,
excite so much admiration as it did in Kioge and
Elfsnabben Bays, but ere this it would, doubtless,
have tried its strength against the fortress of Swea-
borg. The cry, "plenty of small steam frigates, large
gun-boats, and troops for the Baltic," should be
raised in England as loudly and, above all, as
quickly as possible. There is no time to lose ;it
is a question whether too much has not been lost
already ; and, after all, it is a doubtful compliment
to expect wonders even from a Napier, if he be not
furnished with the means of carrying out his plans.
Give him only the proper sinews of war, and he is
the right man to turn them to good account.
Therefore, " plenty of small steam frigates, large
gun boats, and troops for the Baltic."
The following article appears in SOndags Bladet
of this city :
" Our intelligence from Finland is to the effect that
the inhabitants are still quite dispirited. The publicans
on the Finnish coasts must provide-daily from 250 to
300 horses for the transport of troops. The discontent
in Finland has, of course, greatly increased since the
time the Russian Government commenced doing all in
its power to remove the population by degrees into the
interior of Russia. The Aland Isles, it is said, have
been deprived of troops, weapons, and ammunition ; so
they can be taken possession of without opposition—
another proof for our Swedish pro-Russians how fortu-
nate it is to be a Russian province. The Finlanders
have had their mercantile navy captured, and they will
soon see their coasts bombarded and laid waste solely
because this country is now the bulwark of Russia. They
will have both to pay and feed the large army the
Czar is sending them ; their soldiers are sent to Poland
and Turkey, never to return home ; and their sailors are
torn away from their homes in order to serve in the
Russian fleet—their to meet a certain death. Finally,
all the Finlanders who cannot be of use in the army or
navy, are compelled to emigrate to the depths of Russia,
whilst their native country is devastated and plundered,
in order that the enemies of Russia, who are the friends
of Finland, may not find wherewithal to support them-
selves for a single month in the latter after they obtain
possession of it."

The Finland Tidning of Helsingfors, states that
the police authorities of that town have warned the
inhabitants against approaching any of the batteries,
cannons, or ammunition waggons—a proof that in
Finland the Russians are not able to distinguish
between friend and foe, and that they do not trust
the people.