The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-19 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 19, 1853.

Whether M. DE LAMARTINE was really justified,
after all, in asserting that " the slope of Russia is
towards the East," yet remains, it would appear,
to be demonstrated. According to the latest in-
formation received from Turkey, it would, un-
doubtedly, seem at this moment to be hastening
down an incline in a south-westerly direction.
Alarmists have long insisted that this movement
on the part of the AUTOCRAT must prove, sooner
or later, inevitable. Pamphleteers have been
found, indeed, before now, who have come for-
ward boldly and predicted the seizure of St.
Sophia by the Cossacks. They have insisted that
the same Cossacks, instead of aspiring to return
to the region of their former exploits on the
Seine, are only solicitous to water their horses
uninterruptedly in the Bosphorus. The CZAR, in
fact, has evidently—if we may judge of the
nature of his policy from his past proceedings—
cherished for a long time the belief that the
Golden Horn is destined to prove to him a veri-
table Horn of Abundance. Observing his conduct
towards the Danubian provinces marking
the acts of his diplomatists in regard
to Wallachia, and Bulgaria, and the ad-
jacent principalities —it has long since, we
opine, become sufficiently obvious that he is eager
to avail himself of every opportunity of advanc-
ing his troops nearer and nearer to the coveted
treasures of Constantinople. His determination
to incorporate with his already stupendous pos-
sessions the European dominions of the SULTAN-
CALIPH, has manifestly been understood by ABD-
-171,-MEDJID himself. Otherwise, we should never
have witnessed such an oven-visible solicitude on
his part to guard at every turn against the chance
of Russian interference. The same has clearly
been for a considerable while past the Conviction
entertained by the majority of the Turkish
population. Otherwise, we should not have
witnessed such extraordinary anxiety on the
part of the Osmanli multitude to bury
their dead on the opposite coast of Asia
—passing over thither in a series of funeral
processions, more or less frequent, accord-
ing to the fluctuations of the general mortality, as
if in solemn recognition of the fate which must
ultimately befal one portion of the lands at pre-
sent owning obedience to the sceptre of their
SOVEREIGN.

Latterly, the sinister predictions of those who
have repeatedly foretold the downfall of the
European dominions of the SULTAN, were revived
by the agitation of that bewildering ques-
tion, in regard to the Holy Places, and
especially by the authoritative and even in-
solent tone adopted towards the Sublime
PORTE by prince
EmpEßoies MENSCIIIKOFF, the Russian
Plenipotentiary.ii It was said, and
some not without
ato,s
dwo! reason—Here is at last
ers
the plea for the
But
those difficulties t
and long-anticipated
interposition.
difficulties have been
SULTAN adroitly dissipated : the
tuyrAN has issued two
firmans of remarkable length, ingenuity, and ela-
boration—and, to i the problem
Places has been solved, and solvniedn'fn
se the
Holy
_ of a,
it
tmmaannber
in every way satisfactory. Then, course,
supposed that the anticipated downfall (A Europeany
e
Turkeyis again indefinitely postponed ? It may be
reasonably conjectured that there is at any rate
an end of this formidable and most threatenino,
mission of Prince MENscruKoFF ? Not in the
least. Nothing of the kind. Scarcely anything
could be further from the intentions of the
AUTOCRAT. His ambition cannot consent to any
such intolerable disappointment. lie is not so
readily to be baulked in his greed of territorial

aggrandisement. The pear is so ripe, it hardly needs
to be pulled,—it must needs fall into the mouth
that waters for it, if it only be allowed the opportu-1
nit.T. So thinks apparently tlie Emperor NICHOLAS. I
Whereupon putting on one side the firmans already
mentioned, waiving this inconvenient settlement
of the question of the Holy Places—the CZAR
(driven at last to the exposure of his tactics)
transmits to the DIVAN, through his Envoy, on
the fifth of this month of May, a despatch, toge-'
ther with a draft of a treaty, both of them de-
manding an answer by the 10th instant, and de-
manding it, • moreover, imperatively ! This,
remember, is no mere rumour. It is no
mere cock-:and.-bull story got up for the occa-
sion by our old friends the alarmists. It is
the official account furnished by the Moniteur of
the transactions recently transpiring at Constanti-
nople. On examination, this same mysterious
treaty, requiring a definitive answer in five days,
tarns out to be a modest request that, in regard
to the Russo-Greek Church in the East, the
SULTAN should at once yield to the AUTOCRAT
(unconditionally) the powers of a full and
complete protectorate. It signifies, in simple
terms, that twelve millions of the most
important subjects of ABD-UL-MEDJID must
be compelled henceforth to look, not to him, but
to NICHOLAS, as their Protector. A very modest
request, in sooth ! And a request submitted to
the Divan in a hurried despatch on the sth
instant, requiring an answer by the 10th instant,
definitively and imperatively. No time is
allowed the SULTAN for consulting his other
allies—those, for example, who were signa-
taries of the treaty of 1841—in a .matter of
such supreme and extraordinary • importance.
No : a reply— negative or affirmative—must ,
be extorted, as it were, instanter. How the
Sublime PORTE has extricated itself from this
position of astounding and seemingly inextricable
embarrassment has yet to be learned. The momen-
tous 10th had not arrived when the last intelligence
left Constantinople. When next information
comes to us from the Golden Horn, we shall see
whether the Divan has yielded to the threatening
attitude of the AUTOCRAT, or whether the young
Sultan ABD-UL-MEDJID, true to his past reputation,
has braved all consequences for the purpose of ap-
pealing to his other allies in Christendom. Count-
ing upon the latter branch of the alternative as the
more probable--we cannot remain in doubt as to
what must be the ultimate result of the transac- ,
tion. It cannot for an instant be supposed but
that, in such an event, both England and France,
and not only England and France, but Austria'and
Prussia likewise, would repel the course taken in
this matter by the CZAR with unflinching determi-
nation. It would then require but a little while
longer to show whether the slope of Russia really
is towards
.the East, according to the phrase of
M. DE LAMARTINE, or, whether it has taken a
south-westerly course in the direction of Constan-
tinople.

The business of active legislation recommences
this day after the brief recess. To-morrow the
most important question of the session will once
more be brought under the consideration of Par-
liament ; and although we confess that we are
alike disappointed and disgusted at the tergiver-
sation of many Honourable Gentlemen, from
whom we had anticipated greater consistency and
liberality, we shall not yet altogether despair of
some energetic and partially successful attempt
being made to remove the more striking inequa-
lities, and obtain a more equitable assessment, of
the Income Tax. A locus penitentice still remains,
of which some of those who would have voted
black white in order to retain the Joint-Stock
Administration in office, or rather to avoid, the
much-dreaded appeal to the country, may yet
avail themselves. The fate of the Government
may not depend on all the details of the measure;
and as so many persons, in explaining their rea-
sons for voting against the amendment of the
Honourable Baronet the Member for Herts,
argued strongly in favour of a revision and modi-
fication of the schedules, and the recognition of a
decided distinction between permanent and pre-
carious income, we shall not refrain, so long as
the slightest chance remains of obtaining some
degree of justice to the industrious middle
classes—the men who, by constant atten-
tion to business, earn incomes varying from
1001. to 3001. per annum—from reminding Hon.
Gentlemen of their former pledges, and of the
broad and unequivocal line of policy which they
from time to time laid down in reference to the
iniquitous impost.
Those who have assumed prominent positions
as fiscal and financial reformers, have at all times
avowed their decided preference for direct over
indirect taxation. Mr. COBDEN and his collaborts-
tears declare their belief that the promise of Mr.
GLADSTONE cannot possibly be fulfilled, that there
must be a renewal of the tax, which alone affords
a reasonable prospect of the further extension of
the Free-trade policy, which has proved so emi-
nently beneficial for the country. The abandon-
ment of so important a source of revenue neces-
sarily implies, if not a retrograde course, at least
a total cessation of any further progress in that
which has been attended with such general pros
parity and contentment—insuring to every man,
able and willing to work, " a fair day's wage for
a fair day's labour."
No person has spoken more distinctly or un-
equivocally than Mr. GLADSTONE of the almost
miraculous results accomplished by means of
this potent fiscal engine ; and it is, indeed,
strange, almost unaccountable, that, after such
well-merited eulogiums as he pronounced, he
should endeavour to provide for its gradual reduc-
tion and ultimate extinction.'" But, it was the
gross and palpable injustice incidental to the tax,
and the alleged impossibility of reconstruction and
improvement, that led to the desire for its aboli-
tion. He admitted that " the tax bears more
hardly on trades and professions, on industry and
skill, than it bears on property"—he avowed his
sympathy with the sufferers, but that was all ;
for at the same time he steadily refused to become
a party to any effort to rectify the inequalities,
or to produce a suitable measure for its readjust/.
ment ; and such was his indomitable determina-
tion ail energy, that he induced a majority to
sanction his views, although three-fourths of that

majority had previously given expression to their
opinions as to the necessity of a judicious and
equitable modification of the entire system. The
only thing that could, by a possibility, justify the
votes these men gave on the first division on the
Budget, was the supposed impracticability of obtain-
ing anything like an approximation to an equit-
ble arrangement. But the Right Hon. Gentleman
has since that time proved that there is no impos-
sible difficulty—that the important problem may
easily be solved. He is himself the (EntPus that
has answered the enigma. The machinery intro-
duced for the purpose of carrying the contem-
plated "tax on successions" into operation would
be clearly applicable to the collection not only of
the Property Tax under Schedule A and C, but
also under B, and those who have any capital
engaged in the trades or manufactures for which
they are taxed under Schedule D. Every man
would be taxed according to the capitalised value
of his property, when his own skill and industry
were taken away ; for everything, in fact, that
could be transferred to a purchaser on which a
price could be affixed. The only persons whose
cases would not be fully provided for would be
those who have nothing but their skill and in-
dustry to depend on ; and as, according to Mr.
GLADSTONE'S own showing, they only contribute
one twenty-second part of the total amount re-
ceived, as they are so few in number, that its is
not worth while endeavouring to act fairly to-
wards them, surely they might be suffered to
escape altogether ; or if that were objected to—if
so trivial a boon to Indust-3r could not be be-
stowed at the expense of the owners of accumu-
lated and realised property—it would surely not
be very difficult to estimate their fair proportion
of the payment, assessing the value of their life
interests, after making every just allowance for
the difference betwee fluctuating and certain
this incomes.
Under system,
every description of pro-
perty, whether Productive
have to contribute. The barrister and physician

should pay on their books—the tool 3 of their

trades—the tradesman on his stock-in-trade—the
manufacturer on his plant—the merchant of
banker on the capital invested. The picture-
fancier, or gem-collector, would also have to pay
on the estimated value of his hoarded wealth.
IThere would then be no inducement to " burying
their talents." Nor would it be optional to evade
the responsibility for which they were justly
liable. All these things would be taxed for the
Legacy Duty, or rather for the tax on successions;
and if that impolitic impost were commuted for
equal annual payments, the same class of property
should also pay its proportion, notwithstanding its
unproductiveness.
Nor is the annual taxation of unproductive
property a new principle: it formed a part of the
old Land Tax. When first imposed, not only was
there 4s. in every pound granted to the Sovereign,
but 20s. on every 1001. of unproductive property.
It was by unfair concealment of property that it
obtained a partial exemption, and, if now enforced,
its owners could not complain, inasmuch as it
would only be the carrying of an existing law into
practical operation. Once more, then, and while
an opportunity still remains, we call upon every
popular Representative to exert himself to obtain
an equitable arrangement of this interesting and
important question. The time may not be very
far distant when he will have to answer to his
constituents for his conduct on the occasion.

One word morel for the Dockyards. The pre-
sent mood of the House of Commons is most
unpropitious, but we hope the Whitsuntide holi-
days will dispel a little of the angry temper in
which it is proposed to legislate against them.
Two circumstances of very ill omen bode an evil
result. One is, that it will be convenient for
Hon. Members to screen the delinquencies of some
of their own body behind the alleged incurable
corruption with which they were brought in con-
tact. Another, that the " Leader of the House
of Commons" has the Most rooted antipathy
to perfectly independent voting. Now it is cer-
tainly hard upon the numerous, respectable, and
intelligent voters belonging to the Dockyards that
the corruption of their superiors, and of some of
their own number too, should disfranchise all the
rest. Granted that a portion of the Dockyard ser-
vants make use of an election to seek promo-
tion, yet it is now clear that the number who
do so is small compared with the others, and
equally clear that a little honesty and vigour in
their superiors would render political promotions
next to impossible. A promotion is not like a
bribe, it is always known, and after what has oc-
curred it is perfectly certain that corrupt promo-
tions will invariably give rise to very awkward
questions in the House of Commons—to ques-
tions which no Secretary, nor any official in the
Admiralty will hazard incurring again. On the
principle of punishing the receiver more severely
than the thief, it were certainly more righteous to
visit the higher class of offenders with political
penalties than the subordinates. The House of
Commons, however, like every other body of men,
cares for its own. If not compelled by the force
of public opinion, it will make no scruple of
knocking a few thousand voters off the
registers to soothe the sufferings of some unfortu-
nate ex-members and some harassed and bothered
members. The Press ought specially to take up the
cause of " the Service ;" it is not likely to origi-
nate a national movement, but the tolerably una.
nimous verdict of Liberal and independent jour-
nalism would have no small weight with our
legislators.
We have already mentioned our strong objec-
tion to disfranchisement, and suggested the re-
medy which Mr. TIIFNELL has given notice of
viz., the Ballot for Dockyard constituencies. We
are pleased to observe that some of the ablest
Liberal, journals concur with us ; and obstinate as
the Leader of the House is, a very recent, a post-
budget vote, has shown him that he is not Ili-aster
of the House. The highest authorities before the
Dockyard Committee were of opinion that dis-
franchisement would not remedy the evil. It cer-
tainly would not. The votes of friends and relatives
could still be purchased by Dockyard promotions as
easily as ever. We do not remember that any witness
denied, if he did not suggest, the efficiency of the
Ballot. Every one of the stock objections utterly
fails in the present case. It certainly is not more
un-English to give a secret vote than to be disfran-
chised. Political emasculation is always insisted
to the uttermost, both by the humblest boroughs
and both Houses of Parliament. Then, again,
bribery on the head-money plan would be impos-
sible in a Dockyard constituency. A club of cx-
pectants of various kinds of promotion, each pro-
motion public and subject to the future criticism
of opponents, could never be formed, like a large
head-money club, to receive privately and certainly
£2 or £lO a head from the winning candidate.
Even those who dislike the Ballot must eon-
fess that if it would secure purity, it would
be preferable to political annihilation. We
would ask such, therefore, to give it a trial
in this case. If, after all, corruption was
indubitable and extensive—and if it were it
could not long be concealed—why, then, adopt dis-
franchisement as a last resort.

We confess we regard Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S
proposed bill as one of his old illusions. He
sees that something must be done with the Dock-
yards. Common sense suggests secret voting.
The extent of the experiment, too, is so limited
that it could do no sensible harm, even were it as
useless as every one believes it would be useful.
There is, we fear, however, in Lord JOHN'S
mind one fatal, because one unanswerable, objec-
tion to it—it. would work too well. Tried and
successful at Chatham, Portsmouth, and Devon-
port, he knows it would be demanded everywhere
else. The quiet, the comfort to respectable voters,
the cessation of threats and intimidation, the com-
parative decency and purity of such elections, would
insure an irresistible demand for the Ballot in every
election. We do not,' however, blame his Lord-
ship according to our estimate of. his Liberalism.
We conceive that he is quite as decided an aristo-
crat as the late Premier. His policy for his order
is, however, different. He thinks (and we believe
him to be as wise in his generation as the Steward
in the Gospel) that it is best to make friends with
Democracy for the time of exclusion from office,
but not Lord DERBY himself can be more deter-
mined to keep the electoral reins in aristocratic
hands. The difference is, that the Peer, rather
imprudently for his purpose, speaks out his mind ;
the Commoner always finds some pretext of
" purity " or " Reform" with which to cajole the
restive animal while he puts the bit in his mouth.
It is instructive to observe how promptly his
Lordship refused political rights to the excellent
class of ten-pound householders in counties, and
how equally prompt he is in refusing political in-
dependency to Dockyard electors. Really inde-
pendent electors appear to be his dread. He
would rather disfranchise than create them.
Non-enfranchisement and disfranchisement, any-
thing, so that votes may be open to aristocratic
supervision. We are rather curious to see how
the numerous Ministerial advocates of the Ballot
will deport themselves on Mr. TUFNELL'S amend-
ment to give the Ballot to the Dockyard consti-
tuencies, rather than disfranchisement. Will
they dare, in so favourable a case, to use the
liberty which Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH has
asserted for himself on the whole question ? Will
they profess themselves ready to vote for the
Ballot in a new Reform Bill, but not ready to vote
for it in cases where it is pre-eminently desirable?
We earnestly hope that they will not compel us
to exclaind—

" 'Tis office that makes cowards of us all."

Mr. Sheriff Croll, Mr. Under-sheriff James and Mrs.
James, the Mayors of Liverpool and Manchester, and
their families, are on a tour in the south of Ireland.
They were at the Lakes of Killarney on Monday and
Tuesday last.
ARRIVALS or GOLD.—The Joshua has arrived from
Port Philip, whence she sailed the Bth of January, with
5,733 ounces of gold, valued at 22,900/. ' • and yesterday
the American ship Georgia passed the Downs in tow
at 9 p.m., from Sydney, with half a ton of gold dust.
RECOVERY OF PERSONAL LIBERTY.—There is a bill
in the Commons (yesterday published) to facilitate the
recovery of personal liberty in certain cases. The object
of the bill is to enable the Lord Chancellor to appoint
commissioners to visit houses where it is supposed
women are improperly detained, and to issue writs of
Habeas Corpus.