The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-28 00:00:00

A POSSIBLE CONTINGENCY.

We are no alarmists; but sometimes we feel
uneasy on the chapter of accidents. The Russian
fleet in the Black Sea is stated to be in readiness
to make a descent on Constantinople with an
army of 30,000 men, more or less. Turkey is
said to have solicited the protection of France and
England. We learn that the French fleet has set
sail for " the Greek waters"—in other words, the
Dardanelles, and the English squadron of only
five sail of the line may probably follow. The
French fleet is nearly double the force of. the
English. Now, suppose that, instead of backing
up the Turks, the French were by a singular
fatality to join the Russians for reasons best
known to both, where would the Turks be ?..•—but
what is of far more importance to Europe and to
the independence of England, where would the
squadron of Admiral DIINDAS be I—whether it
were cooped up in Malta or running away home,
if it could or would run away, is matter of most
grave consideration. That Russia would hazard
much for the capture of Constantinople, is proved
by her past conduct—and her present insolent
bearing to the SULTAN' is a fair sample of her
moderation to the weak.

The command of the ocean is the only power
on which England can rest her independence with
safety. Let her lose that, and all her well-ap-
pointed regiments, militias, and volunteers would
little avail against the combined armies of the
Continent, who would make no scruple of visiting
us in much the same style as Russia now threatens
the independence--nay, the very *existence—of
Turkey.

Again we say we are no alarmists ; but as
A IS better to be
accidents will happen, i
prepared
against a casualty than to pray for help when none
will aid. We have ships in abundance
are our hearts of oak ? Spread over thebut where
world to
better.themselves. Why should one class of men
le
serve for the protection of the rest without a fair re-
muneration ? Labour is ft to find its levelin
the common market of industry on land, and
why
should it not have the same field of competition
on the water ? Because England depends on her
sailors for her freedom, she therefore oppresses
her benefactors ! Fair play is bonny play—and
if we wish and hope to preserve and maintain our
national independence, we must pay for our pro-
tection: Honesty is the best policy with nations
as with individuals. Our seamen are as patriotic
as they arc brave, but one cannot and will not en-
dure for ever. A political accident might avenge not
only Waterloo, but Trafalgar, "at one fell swoop!"
Let our Adwiralty beware !

Improvements in the City of London have, for
a considerable time past, been so repeatedly talked
of, without anything really important having yet
4 cAi-.
t4a • 0:1
------ been accomplished, that a large majority of the .7, - --- , Xizens have latterly regarded the question with
_\F .'kething like feelings of positive desperation.
7.
,:•,::,...„.,Atiertheless, a change for the better is, at last,
s-0":"--1.. rejoice to think, becoming discernible—the
,- - -sc- ver lining " is at length visibly breaking
41
ough the gloom of even this cloud of uncer-
- s
r'... atainty. Improvements are actually growing up,
:-1-
moreover, not in one direction only, but, as the

r
~~

~ ~w

saying is—here, there, and everywhere. We are
promised new wharves, bridges, and thorough-
fares. We are promised a grand Central Railway
Terminus. We are promised—best of all, and
most desirable of all—a bold and compre-
hensive movement for the reorganising of
the Corporation. None of them, by the way,
before they were wanted. It would be difficult,
perhaps, to say which among them all was the most
necessary innovation. Here, at any rate, they are
at this momen t in a tolerably fair way of realisation.
Their respective champions have long emulated
each other in the fervour of their advocacy, and
in this manner it has come to pass that simul-
taneously, in so many directions, the crude theory
is blooming into the ripened enterprise. In
testimony that we are not here speaking in any
way at random, or yielding idly to these more
sanguine anticipations, a few rather remarkable
facts may be grouped together with some profit
and no little satisfaction. Foremost among these
facts we would mention some in particular
of a novel and gratifying character. We al-
lude to those furnished by the report recently
presented by the Improvement Committee to the
City of -London Corporation. From that docu-
ment it would appear that the Committee in ques-
tion have not been altogether as indolent as the
public imagined, we still conceive, not unreason-
ably under the circumstances. Scarcely anything,
it must be remembered, of a really practical cha-
racter was known to have been accomplished.
Almost everything that has been done proves
(even now that these " doings" are no longer sub
rosa) to be nothing more than simply preparatory.
Yet, as preliminary measures of considerable im-
portance, the acts adventured upon by the Com-
mittee, we will allow at once, are acts entitled to
our most cordial and earnest commendation.
Besides otherwise actively continuing the line
of street improvements from Queen-street to St.
Paul's Churchyard, they have satisfied the claims
of various owners and occupiers of property along
the projected route by the payment of different
sums, ranging from 51. in some instances to more
than 16,000/. in others, amounting altogether to
188,9291. 16s.—although these claims were ori-
ginally entered at 255,273/. 17s. 3d., being a
reduction of 66,3441., a saving by no means un-
important ! In order properly to appreciate the
boldness of these arrangements on the part of the
Committee, it must be borne in recollection that
the whole of this large amount (an amount, it
will be observed, very little short of 200,0001.)
has been awarded by them simply with a view to
throwing open, as a public thoroughfare, several
thousand feet of valuable ground, in order at once
to facilitate the traffic, and to ameliorate the sani-
tary condition of the metropolis.. What enhances
the merit of the transaction, moreover, in an
extraordinary manner, is the circumstance that all
these things have been effected at the cost and
charge of the. City, from their own local funds,
without the necessity of applying for pecuniary
assistance to Parliament.

Thanks to the enterprise, the energy, and the per-
severance of its indefatigable originator, Mr. CHA ILL Fs
PEARsoN—the scheme of erecting in Farringdon-
street, on the site of the old Fleet Prison, a grand
Central Railway Terminus, appears at this mo-
ment to be in a fair way of realisation. Very
recently we took occasion to exult at an incident
which augured so well for the ulterior triumph of
the more assiduous promoters of the undertaking.
As if to confirm in its regard the most sanguine
of our anticipations, another incident took
place on Wednesday last, from which we are
led to believe that the matter is in even better
train than we at first conjectured. The Lord
Mayor upon that day received a numerous and
influential deputation, who waited upon him for
the purpose of requesting his Lordship to convene
a special meeting of the Common Council, in order
that the Court might there receive a petition pray-
ing its members to give their cordial support to
Mr. PEARSON'S plan for city railway and street
improvements. Notwithstanding, the Lord Mayor
did not conceive himself authorised to accede
to this request, we cannot but rejoice at the atten-
tive hearing accorded by his Lordship to the
arguments advar ced by several of the spokesmen
of the deputation. Discouraging though it might
seem to be at the first glance, there was, never-
theless, much wisdom in the suggestion thrown
out by the Chief Magistrate to the advocates of
the proposed measure when he recommended
them to look as little as possible for pecuniary
assistance either to the Corporation or to the
Government. Unless this recommendotion be
acted upon, we must continue anxious as
to the fate of the whole enterprise. For
most certainly the public did not remain
to be informed now for the first time that
the Corporation of the City of London might
excuse themselves for very apparent parsimony
in regard to the encouragement of the undertak-
ing, upon the plea that their revenues and estates
are very deeply mortgaged ! As to the reluc-
tance of the Government to come forward munifi-
cently with a grant, or even with the promise of
any such substantial aid, we all knew long before
Wednesday how adroitly petitions for assis-
tance in these matters would ,be shifted from
one department to another without any good
whatever coming from the appeal made to
the Administration. As the LORD MAYOR
rather humorously reminded the members
of the deputation, the PRIME MINISTER would
perhaps refer any such appeal to the Commis-
sioners of Woods and Forests, and those Com-
missioners would in all probability refer it to the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, and that Right
Hon. Gentleman would in every likelihood, and in
exceedingly cautious terms, express his regret
" that the demands for the reduction of taxation
left him no surplus for local improvements ! " So
that—in the events of any reliance having been
placed upon the House of Commons and the Court
of Common Council—the project must betweenthe
two stools ultimately fall to the ground, leaving its
disappointed originator only one other to repose
on, and that a rather uncomfortable one, namely,
—the stool of repentance. Placing their trust
more up.on themselves in this matter, we have
every confidence that the citizens of the British
capital will before long secure to themselves the
advantages of which the Central Railway Termi-
nus could not possibly fail to be productive, and
together with these advantages, obtain others aris-
ing out of the long-looked-for street improvements.
Reference has already in these remarks been
cursorily made to the beneficial changes which are
simultaneously being effected in regard to the re-
form of our Metropolitan Corporation. A committee,
it appears, is almost immediately to be appointed
for the purpose of preparing a Bill for the speedy
and comprehensive extension of the wardmote
franchise. This important resolution was arrived
at by the Common Council no later than on Tues-
day, after careful and mature deliberation. That
it cannot altogether dissipate the numerous and
enormous evils of the existing system we are of
course fully ponfident. But the step taken, how-
ever slight and timorous, is still a step—onwards.
Using a very old and hackneyed metaphor, it is
the small end of the wedge, which, having at last
been inserted, will not be long in being driven
home by the necessity of the times and the force
of circumstances.
• • •
Together with the above-mentioned more im-
P°_ria_ rkt, we are gratified to observe in the course
of development at this moment and various minor
metropolitan
improvements endeavours are at
i
length be ,
ng made to fill up one of the
most abominable
gaps in London--one that
has long been the eyesore of the neigh-
bourhood.----we moan
the " blank plot " be-
tween Paternoster-row and Newgate-street, im-
mediately confronting tho west end of Cheapside.
This spot, it appears, belongs not to the City, but
to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, and
seeing that the Improvements Committee are now
unication with the Postmaster-General
it is earnestly to be hoped that
be in some way
uinpocnomthne subject, i
Temple-bar before long,
the oundah
(as Bleak
satisfgractorily,*l occulmed•
_
of a leaden-headed
House has intimated), the leaden-headedgateway
leading to the domains Corpo-
ration, still flourishes, it is true ; but west of
which Temple-bar, the cab-stand, had so long
proved an intolerable inconvenience to the traffic
of the Strand from Catherine-street to Somerset-

house, has, within the last few days, been sum-
marily removed by order of the Police Commis-
sioners. Further on, towards the heart of the
city of Westminster, the dilapidated equestrian
statue of the First Charles at Charing-cross has
during some time past (not, however, before it
was imperatively required) been in course of reno-
vation. NELSON'S monument in Trafalgar-square
still continues, unhappily, incomplete, and the
empty pedestal hard by yet remains a practical
satire on GEORGE IV., implying that his effigy
cannot easily be "matched" by any appropriate
companion. If we remember these shortcoming's
with chagrin, however, we bear in mind with
some degree of satisfaction the circumstances of
that horrible, yellow caricature of the Second
CHARLES having been removed long since from
Leicester-square, in order to make room for Mr.
Wimp's " Great Globe"—a removal only less sub-
ject of rejoicing to the lovers of Art than the
previous removal of that stone monstrosity at
King's-cross, purporting to represent the Fourth
GEORGE in the attitude of the Eighth HARRY, or
than the scarcely less commendable removal of
that other stone monstrosity, which libelled the
personal appearance of her present MAJESTY in
that little apology for a Square, in Pimlico, called
no less libellously by the name of our gracious SO-
VEREIGN. We should rejoice, of course, to witness
the obliteration of numerous other blots upon the
metropolitan escutcheon. Nevertheless, we are
fain to solace ourselves in this respect with the
phrase " all in good time"—the pet phrase, by the
way, of your systematic proscrastinators. How-
ever, changes are, as we have shown, being now
actually effected ; and, therefore, let us still con-
tinue to hope for more and more city improve-
ments.

We have repeatedly directed the public atten-
tion to the gross and palpable injustice of the sys-
tem under which the present Income Tax is levied;
to the manifest absurdity of charging all receipts
—we certainly cannot consider them as net in-
comes—at the same rate, no matter from what
sources they may be derived, whether fixed and
permanent, or precarious and temporary. On the
one side are incomes which can be confidently re-
lied on—dependent not merely on the health and
energy of the party, or even on the fashion of the
day. It matters not whether the owner be well '
or ill, at home or abroad, toiling at the desk or
in the counting-house, disporting himself at some
fashionable watering-place, or drinking untaxed
wine and smoking untaxed cigars at some
German spa, or French or Belgian town,
where the grim visages of Sheriffs' officers are un-
known, at least so far as liabilities incurred in
England are concerned. Under any circum-
stances he still receives his dividends or ground-
rents. As DITDIBIEDYK.ES said, " they are graw-
ing while he is sleeping." A bearded Suissier
may occasionally demand rather too urgently the
settlement of some petty account ; but the
" aliens"—the English creditors—are taught to
respect the sanctuaries where their unhallowed
demands cannot be intruded. On the other
hand, the less favoured individual who earns his
daily bread by his daily labour must remain
where he cannot shirk his liabilities to his credi-
tors, " public" or " private." As a consumer he
pays heavily at every meal—whether drink-
ing tea or coffee, sweetened with foreign,
colonial, or Irish beetroot sugar, imbibing
wine on which duty at ss. 6d. per gallon has been
levied, together with a further duty on the
" glass" in which it is bottled—spirits, foreign or
domestic—or ale or stout, where there is not only
a heavy duty on the malt and hops, that ought
to constitute the chief ingredients in the beve-
rages, but also heavy payments for licences to
make the malt, and afterwards to vend the pro-
duce. He is also (as we have repeatedly shown)
bound to incur other expenditure incidental to his
profession, trade, or calling, for which no allow-
ance is made in the estimation of the expenses,
and to lay by some provision for a rainy day,
when he can no longer provide for his help-
less family, or even for his own exigencies.
But still he is charged sevenpence in the pound,
or 7/. ss. per 3001., as well as the owner of 10,0001.
in the Three per Cent. Consols, with whom he is
thus for fiscal purposes—unfortunately on no
other—placed on a footing of perfect equality.

But this flagrant grievance—this scandalous
and indefensible inequality, put forward, too,
under the name of equality, by no means consti-
tutes the worst part of the case. There is a still
deeper injury inflicted on the commercial classes,
who are not only charged on what they actually
earn, but too frequently on what they do not
earn, and who are compelled to submit to the
inquisitorial cross-examination into their most
private affairs, perhaps by some rival in busi-
ness, who may desire to get rid of a for-
midable rival, or to damage the credit of a too
successful competitor. We have always felt that
the wages of industry should be free from every
fiscal charge—that until they became " savings,"
and were converted into accumulated and realised
property, they could not properly be subjected
to the demands of the tax-gatherer. We put
forward this principle long since, and we have
never abandoned it. Although frequently advo-
cating the propriety of discrimination—of recog-
nising the distinction between industrial income
and property—it was only as a step in the right
direction—tending towards the ultimate exemp-
tion of the savings of industry—the total abolition
of Schedule D. That is the consummation at
which every fiscal reformer should aim, which
equity and expediency alike demand.
On this very interesting and important point,
we would earnestly invite the public attention to
the powerful letter of " Arrameus," which will be
found in another part of this day's impression.
Our esteemed correspondent clearly and distinctly
points ouf some of the many evils that attend the
present system. The inequality, bad and inde-
fensible as it is acknowledged to be, is as nothing
in comparison to the " exposure of circumstances"
involved in the investigation into the accuracy of
the return. The vast importance to a mer:.
chant or trader of maintaining his credit
beyond even a breath of suspicion must
'be thoroughly appreciated. It has originated
the proverb that "a good name is better than
house and land." There are few men who in
their trading career have not been, more or less,
dependent on the supplies obtainable on the faith
of their untarnished reputations, and the belief
that they were doing a " good safe buuiness." What
injuries might not the exposure of the most private
transactions of these parties occasion. How could
a person paying a heavy rent, and maintaining a
large staff of clerks and assistants, bear up against
the suspicion that there was but a very slender
margin of profit after liquidating the bond fide
trade expenses 7 Great publicity would not be
necessary to occasion the mischief. We know
that

"A hint in tender cases is enough."

The slightest intimation to his bankers, or the
wholesale houses with which he is dealing, will be
quite sufficient to destroy his prospects, and when
it is known that even the secrets of the "Bank
parlour" occasionally leak out—that the transac-
tions even of " Cabinet Couueils" are unaccount-
ably brought to light—how can we suppose that
the returns of income to the provincial assessors
will be kept sacred ? more especially when we
know that unsealed and badly folded appli-
cations have been openly left at counting-
houses, subject to the inspection of any curious
or prying clerks, and that oven the returns
themselves have occasionally been sold as "waste
paper," so that the purchaser of a quarter of a
pound of butter or bacon may learn the actual
profits of his nominally well-doing neighbour !

As we have already repeatedly stated, the mer-
chant or trader would not escape free. All his
tangible property embarked in his business would
be charged according to its actual value, and that
is all to which it should fairly be liable.

APOTHECARIES'-HALL.—The following are the names
of gentlemen who passed their examination in the science
and practice of medicine, and received certificates to
practise, on Thursday, the 24th of March :—George
Alder Watson, Scarborough ' • Alexander Johnston' Bir-
mingham • William Edward Naters, Sandyford, New-
castle on-Tyne ; Thomas Fernandez Clarke, Leighton
Buzzard, Beds,