The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-24 00:00:00

PORTUGUESE DEBT.

The following has been received with regard to the
debt of Portugal ;—The writer conceives that the time
has arrived when the British Government should inter-
fere to protect the bondholders from the confiscations
enforced by the Cabinet :at Lisbon, and, although it
may be urged that there would be no end of foolish
loans to foreign states if the responsibility of collecting
them were once recognised by an English Minister, it
must be borne in mind that if by our interference. we
maintain in power a dishonest foreign Government, that
would otherwise have been expelled, we then incur a
liability to maintain the rights of the creditors who
are injured by it. If the Government of Portugal had
been left without the assistance of England a different
order of things would now have prevailed, in which the
position of the bondholders might have been far lees de-
plorable. It is also to be pointed out that, so long as
the representatives of nations whose position is analogous
to that of an uncertificated bankrupt among individuals
are received with honour at the British Court, a counte-
nance is afforded which, inasmuch as it counteracts the
moral force of public opinion, is unfair to the creditors
of such nations, and therefore entitles them to some aid
in compensation for the damage thus inflicted. At the
same time it is to be remarked, that the best remedy
against all dishonest Governments lies in tho hands of the
mercantile community themselves, if they will but
steadily use it. They have only to be true to one an-
other, and no nation in the situation of Portugal can
long maintain itself. Unhappily the great difficulty is
to induce them to keep this fact always in view ; but
the steady way in which they have discountenanced the
schemes of those who have endeavoured to raise capital
for the projected Portuguese railway, coupled with the
astonishment recently expressed when it was announced
that a leading London house had actually made arrange-
ments to introduce a new Spanish loan, warrant the
hope that in such matters an improved feeling is
rapidly growing :

" London, .Juno 23,

" Sir,- —lt is now just six years since Lord George Ben-
tinck stood before the House of Commons as the advocate
of the orphans and widows of those veterans in the British
service who had vested the earnings of their lives in Penin-
sular bonds, and in a most energetic speech appealed to
her Majesty's Ministers to do that which was the duty of
the Government of every civilised State—namely, to pro-
tect every subject under them who was unjustly treated.
He appealed to them to protect those unfortunate bond-
holders, and to make their bonds valuable in spite of the
bad faith of the debtor States, and finally moved,—` That
an address be presented to her Majesty, humbly praying
that her Majesty may be graciously pleased to take such.
steps as may be deemed advisable to secure for the British
holders of unpaid foreign bonds redress from the respective
Governments.'

"This4Peal was responded to by Lord Palmerston in
the following memorable words :
" ' Although I entreat the House, upon grounds of public
policy, not to impose at present upon Her Majesty's Go-
vcr2ment the obligation which the proposed address would
throw upon them, yet I would take this opportunity of
warnio,c; foreign Governments who are debtors to British
subjects, that the time may come when this House will no
longer sit patient under the wrongs and injustice inflicted
upon the su;.!jects of this country. I would warn them that
the time may come when the British nation will not see
with tranquillity the sum of 150,000,000/. clue to British
subjects and the interest not paid ; and I would warn them
that, if they do not make proper efforts adequately to fulfil
their engagements, the Government of this country, what-
ever men may be in office, may be compelled by the force
of public opinion and by the votes of Parliament to depart
from that which has hitherto been the established prat Lice
of England, and to insist upon the payment of debts due to
' British subjects. That we have the means of enforcing the
rights of British subjects I am not prepared to dispute. It
is not because we are afraid of those States, or all of them
put together, that we have refrained from taking the steps
to which my noble friend (Lord G. Bentinck) would urge
us. England, I trust, will always have the means of ob-
taining justice for its subjects from any country upon the
face of the earth. But this is a question of expediency,
and not a question of power ; therefore, let no foreign
country who has done wrong to British subjects deceive
itself by a false impression, either that the British nation
or the British Parliament will for ever remain patient ac-
quiesoents in the wrong, or that, if called upon to enforce
the rights of the people of England, the Government of
England will not have ample means at its command to
obtain justice for them.'
"Language such as this, spoken six years ago, ought to
tell with tenfold force on the mind of the noble Lord who
uttered it, and I humbly submit that the time has now
arrived for calling upon the Government and the British
Parliament to enforce the rights of British subjects credi-
tors on the Government of Portugal. Portugal, the hitherto
highly favoured ally of Great Britain, has again violated
national faith, international law, and her most solemnly
pledged engagements; British subjects have already sacri-
ficed to the supposed wants of the Portuguese Government
no less than 6,250,0001. sterling within the last 13 years, and
they are now threatened, under an arbitrary decree, dated
the 18th of December last, and which has been confirmed
by the Cortes, with the absolute confiscation of two-fifths
of the interest on the reduced capital which remains to
them. This fraudulent treatment must be put a stop to.
Such conduct is without a parallel ; it strikes at the root of
all commerce, and the whole commercial body should speak
out, and require their representatives in Parliament to inter-
pose and compel Portugal to act honestly. The British press
has nobly done its duty, and so has the committee of the
Stock Exchange; and I respectfully submit that we have
an undoubted right to call upon our own Government,every
member in the prMent Parliament, and Lord Palmerston,
and Lord John Russell, one of the representatives of the
first city in the world, in particular, to do theirs, by pro-
tecting to the uttermost the most sacred claims and un-
doubted rights of their constituents and fellow-subjects.
" I enclose my card, and if you will kindly give pub-
licity to this communication you will confer a lasting
obligation on every holder of Portuguese securities.
" ONE OF THE VICTIMS."

BILLS vroN INDIA.—The amount received at the
treasury of the East India-house for bills upon India
from the Bth to the 23d inst. was 503,5861.
NEW AUSTRIAN LOAN.—The statement that a new
Austrian loan mutt be contracted in the course of a few
months Vienna is denied. The denial, however, can-
not alter the fact that the usual annual increase to the
debt of the country is inevitable in one form or another
and it therefore seems merely to confirm the assumption
that the recent device for augmenting the capital of the
bank had no other object than that of furnishing a new
means of getting over the difficulties of the present year.
The public attention that would be excited by the usual
direct demand of 8,000,0001. is thus in some degree
avoided, and, although the financial result must be the
same, less inquiry is awakened with regard to the ques-
tion as to how long a nation governed on military in-
stead of commercial principles can hope to postpone the
date at which its borrowing powers will end in bank-
ruptcy.
NATIONAL BRAZILIAN MINING ASSOCIATION. —A
meeting of the shareholders of this association took
place yesterday, with the view of arranging preliminary
measures for either reorganising or winding up its
affairs. It was explained that the cause of non-success
arose from defective management, the agricultural and
mineral resources of the property having never been
properly developed. After some discussion it was agreed
to appoint a. committee to investigate the affairs of the
company, and to confer with Mr. Oxenford, the sole
surviving director and trustee, on the ultimate measures
to be recommended.
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S REGlMENT.—According
to a general order, dated June 18, her Majesty has been
graciously pleased to command that the 33d Regiment
of Foot shall henceforward bear the name of "The 33d
(or the Duke of Wellington's) Reginient," which ho-
nourable distinction will be inscribed on the colours of
the regiment. The 33d was the first regiment of which
the late lamented Duke of Wellington became the com-
manding officer, and with it the duke saw much active
service in India.
THE GREAT FIRE IN FiNsßußv.—The fire which
broke out in the patent felt works, Lamb's-passage,
l3unhill-row, Finsbury, on Wednesday afternoon, was
not entirely extinguished at ,?loon yesterday, although
two powerful "dummies" had been employed through-
out the whole of the previous night in pouring water
upon the smouldering ruins. A very searching inquiry
was made yesterday by the brigade authorities and the
proprietors of the works, for the purpooe of ascertaining
bow the calamity was occasioned, but nothing additional
as to the origin could be learned beyond the supposition
that some tow had ignited spontaneously. From the
wiry ey made yesterday there seems every probability
that tine principal portion of the valuable machinery will
be reeoTered from the ruins, which, if such should prove
to be the case, will decrease the amount of loss be-
tween 2,50G1. and 3,0001. The whole of the stock in
trade stored away in the three floors of the western part
of the factory is destroyed, and the flames have travelled
along the top floor of the western side of the factory,
destroying in their progress the roof. The whole of the
rooms immediately under the machine-rooms are like-
wise seriously damaged by fire and water. The offices
which will suffer by the disastrous event are the Atlas
and West of England Fire-offices. The same premises
have been destroyed by fire three or four times pre-
viously.