The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-17 00:00:00

.144
Itrc.

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 1849.

The Navy- Estimates for the ensuing year were last
night brought under the consideration of the House
of Commons, which sat as a Committee of Supply,
and several votes on account were taken. Before the
House went into Committee, the Honourable Member
for Montrose moved, as an amendment, " that in the pre-
sent state of the finances of the country her MAJESTY'S
Ministers, before calling on the House to vote the
estimates for the public service, should submit a
general financial statement of the whole or
expected revenues and the total intended ex-
penditure for the ensuing financial year." It
certainly appears rather an tinbusiness-like pro-
ceeding to enter into engagements, and to decide on
the amount to be expended on the national establish-
ments, before we can form any opinioß as to the pro-
bable income of the country. During the last two
years we exceeded the means at our disposal, and
large additions were made to the public debt during
a period of peace, when considerable reductions
might reasonably be looked for. There can be no
question of the propriety of the course sug-
gested by the Honourable Member, and which,
it appeared, had been adopted not only by
Lord ALTLIORP in 1830, but, during the years
1845, 1846, 1847, and 1848. The Chancellor of the E-
xchequer, however, urged the impossibility of present-
ing the financial statement before the beginning
of the financial year, which now commences on the
sth April, and declared that the effect of the motion
could only be to delay the course of
public business.
The amendment was subsequently rejected by a
Majority of 49. We trust, however, that arrange-
ments will be made by which this reasonable ground
of complaint may be removed, and that henceforward
the fullest information will be afforded before any
demands are made on account of the public service.
In Committee, the Secretary to the Admiralty en-
tered into a very elaborate and able explanation of the
different items contained in the estimates. It appears
that there is a nominal saving of 1,691,1021. upcn
the year; but, as we have already explained (on the
22d Feb. last), a great portion thereof is more appa-
rent than real—various charges having been merely
transferred to other departments, and being still re-
quired, although under different names. Thus, the
-whole of the vote for the Home department, No. 18,
amounting to 53,9501., has been transferred to the
Miscellaneous Estimates. The contract packet service,
611,62/., and a sum of 161,698/. for the packet
service in vessels of the royal navy, amounting toge-
ther to 842,251., which
, will were included in the navy
year,
estimates l"st ill now be voted
under their
proper heads. The total saving will therefore be
ccly 938 8561., from which is
to be alsouc e e dd td
208,0001. for the reduction effected upon the revised
e,riinAtos last Augu.t---Tha actual saving for the
e3sti.n.4. year will therefore be 730,000/. This is
( e:tainly something, although it may not answer the
expectations of some of our financial reformers.
Although as anxious as any persons can possibly
be I r every practicable retrenchment, we confess
that it is not in our effective naval force that we
NvotAht desire to see extensive reductions. It would
be but an unwise and injudicious economy
to reduce our actual naval strength below
the wents and requirements of the nation.
The truth of the adage "Si vis pacem Para bellunz"
is universally acknowledged. There is no better
u.c.de of averting war than being at all times fully

prepared. If any danger should arise, it is on our
navy we •must chiefly rely not only for protec-
tion against foreign invasion, but also for the means
of aggression upon those who may commence hos-
tilities. This fact is not only recognised at home, it
is also the feeling of other nations ; and the state of
the British navy will ever exercise a pro-
found influence over those who may have
to decide upon the important question of peace or
war. Three thousand sailors, more or less, might
make a material change in the course of events, and
perhaps avert a bloody and expensive war. Each of
those hardy and well-disciplined seamen would in
case of emergency be enabled to render one, if not
two, landsmen eligible. A ship's crew, one-third of
whom were able and experienced seamen, might
speedily be brought into a state of great
efficiency, able to perform any required ser-
vice, when years would elapse, if the entire com-
plement were made up of landsmen. It is impossible
to estimate too highly the advantages of having such
a reserve force at all times in readiness ; and yet we
are discharging 3,000 of such men from our service,
casting them on the wide world, to seek employment
from other nations when they might be retained at a
trifling expenditure. Their sufferings are disregarded ;
nothing is thought of the privations they will be
called on to endure until they depart from their un-
grateful country. The Secretary to the Admiralty
surely stated sufficient to have justified the Govern-
ment in adopting a different course. He said—

" The reduction on the vote for the men was almost no•
urinal, yet it had borne with great hardship on men brought
up to the service, and who wished to remain in it, but were
now turned adrift. And there could be no better proof of
the II( cessity of avoiding fluctuations in future than the
distress occasioned by the reduction now taking place ; and
yet it was proposed to add 5,000 more to the 3,000 who
were now being sent in quest of employment."

With much justice the Hon. Gentleman added—
" If the House should sanction such a reduction upon
the present estimates, without some better reason than
had yet been given, they would really not deserve to
have an efficient nary when they wanted it. It was with
the greatest difficulty now that the Admiralty found the
means of meeting the calls of British merchants in va-
rious parts, and demands for protection ; and if the
power to meet them were further abridged, the
Honourable Members who now desired the re-
duction would be the first to complain of
the effect of it. Reduction of expenditure in
men would strike necessarily at efficiency—in other
things reduction was compatible with efficiency, and in
all probability, under the more systematic management
now being introduced, we should get more work and
better work out of the dockyards than we had done of
late years with the very large and overgrown establish-
ments which had been maintained."

This is, certainly, conclusive reasoning, its accu-
racy cannot be controverted or denied ; and yet the
Government has been guilty of the very fault
against which so strong a protest was uttered.
They have discharged 3,000 men "brought up to
the service, and who wished to remain in it, but who
are now turned adrift," and have occasioned " the
misery" which the Honourable Gentleman so elo-
quently depicted, and for what ? To effect a paltry
nominal saving of 69,9601. in wages, and that at a
moment when the affairs of Turkey and Russia are
assuming such portentous aspects as we have else-
where detailed.

One circumstance must not be overlooked by Lord
PALMERSTON in the consideration of the difficulties
which have suddenly surrounded the Mahomedan
Government at Constantinople. It is essential for
the glory—nay, far more, for the honour—of Eng-
land, that the Foreign Secretary of her Britannic
MAJESTY should not lose a recollection of the fact
that the SULTAN has been scarcely more impelled to
the adoption of his present hostile policy towards the
Cabinet of St. Petersburgh than he has been insti-
gated to that perilous opposition of the Russian
EMPEROR by the arguments, entreaties, and repre-
sentations of the British Ambassador. Throughout
the whole of his official career in the neighbour-
hood of the Bosphorus, that eminent diplomatist
has fulfilled the duties of his responsible position
in a manner the best calculated to forward the reci-
procal interests of England and Turkey, to withstand
the lawless advances of the CZAR towards the Rou-
melian capital of Adrianople, to maintain the peace
of Europe by chocking the southward progress of the
Russians, and in
.doing all this he has laboured in the
1
most effectual way ;towards the development of his
own reputation. While Sir STRATFORD CANNING
has found leisure to promote the wonderful researches
of that extraordinary man, Mr. AUSTIN LAYARD,
while he has stimulated the excavations made among
the ruins of Nineveh, and has afforded the protection of
the embassage to the young traveller who had hitherto
wandered alone across the Pachalie of Bagdad, he has
done yet greater service to the merchant than to the
antiquarian, he has promoted the advantages of the
present generation while patronising those who have
endeavoured to elucidate the mysteries of antiquity.
After settling the embarrassments which had arisen
in Switzerland in reference to the Sonderbund, Sir
STRATFORD CANNING returned to the scene of his
prolonged and valuable services as the representative
of the British SOVEREIGN at the Court of the Otto-
-1 man MONARCH. During the whole of the stormy
Year of Revolutions he continued to watch over
the interests of England in the East, of Turkey
in the North, and, through the interests of Turkey
and England, over the interests of all the western
countries of Continental Europe. At a period when
almost the whole of the attention of the Government
of these islands was concentrated upon the agitated
nationalities of France, of Italy, and of the Germanic
Confederation, the British Ambassador at Constanti
nople observed with vigilant eyes the stealthy move-
ments of the Russian soldiers which began to be
made towards the frontiers of Bessarabia immediately
upon the revolutionary explosion of February.
Not a step was taken by the AUTOCRAT
towards the occupation cf the Danubian
Principalities without that step being ob-
served, and in some measure counteracted, by the
bold but politic Ambassador. When at length the
ulterior designs of the northern Despot began to
glare through his flimsy and transparent pretensions ;
when the peaceable efforts made by the Vlacks, or
Roumans, towards the reform of their institutions
were blunted, at first by the insidious, and at last by
the insolent opposition of the Commissary DCHAMEL ;
when Moldavia was invaded ; when the benevolent
schemes of SULETMAN Paella were thwarted; when
FUAD EFFENDI was goaded on to the storm and
sacking of Bucharest; when every patriot was flung
into the prisons of Wallachia, and the Servians were
supplied with arms against their neighbours, and
i misunderstandings were fomented between Bosnia
and Bulgaria—Sir STRATFORD CANNING recognised
the real intentions of NICHOLAS, and thereupon offered
those courageous recommendations to the Divan and
to the SULTAN which could alone preserve the Otto-
man empire from crumbling into ruins under the
pressure of Russia, which could alone withhold the
Cossacks from penetrating into the narrow streets of
Constantinople, whi ch could alone prevent the fleets
of the Black Sea from sailing triumphantly through
the impregnable channels of the Bosphorus and the
Dardanelles. The Turkish Government has followed
the advice of the English Ambassador. In obedience
to the instigations of Sir STRATFORD CANNING,
the gauge of battle has been all but thrown down at
the footstool of the AUTOCRAT. The whole of
the military and naval forces of Turkey have been
augmented—the fleet to forty sail of the line, the
army to 300,000 able-bodied and well-conditioned
soldiers. Auxiliary troops have been drawn, one
after another, from the Asiatic Pachalics, and rein-
forcements have been marched hurriedly northwards
across the province of Roumelia. Promises of aid
in specie, and doubtless also in men and vessels,
have been obtained from ABBAS PACHA, that new
Viceroy of Egypt who must rejoice in this
speedy opportunity of attesting his allegiance
to his Suzeraine, and of thereby increasing his autho-
rity among the Egyptians. Extraordinary efforts
have been wade, in short, in every department of the
Tut kish service : the entire strength of the CALIPH is
pressing upwards to the banks of the Danube whose
waters wash the southern frontiers of Wallachia:
and all this is being carried out under the inspira-
tion, and at the express instigation of Sir STRATFORD
CANNING, the British Ambassador at Constantinople.
The honour of England is consequently—as well
as her political, moral, mercantile, and naval interests
—pledged to the support of Turkey in her struggle
against the dating ambition of the AUTOCRAT.
1 That the Ottoman Porte, even with his army
augmented to 300,000 men, could cope single-handed
with the colossal powers of the Emperor NICHOLAS,
is a physical impossibility. That the AUTOCRAT will

resign his shameless pretensions to Moldo-Wallachia,
simply because of the array made against him by the
troops of the Mussulmen, is an occurrence not merely
improbable, but actually absurd to anticipate. That
England can withdraw from any interference in the
contention without a stain upon her honour after the
part already taken by her Ambassador, must be self-
evident to the most limited understanding.
Those three truths being admitted--but one course
remains open for the British Government. The pro
ceedings of Sir STRATFORD CANNING must be
approved by the equally energetic interposition of
Lord• PALMERSTON. The policy of the diplomatist
must be enforced by the coincident policy of the
statesman. The Minister for Foreign Affairs in
Downing-street must act in accordance with the
views which have been so bravely and nobly, so
patriotically and sagaciously taken by the Ambas-
sador in Constantinople.
Already the difference has proceeded so far that
whoever enters first, the Bosphorus on the
one hand, or the Dardanelles on the other,
will have won half the race. Before any
long interval has elapsed, the sea of Marmora
must be penetrated either from the Black Sea or from
the Levant. Shall England, from any unworthy
feeling of pusillanimity, or from any insane procras-
tination, allow that advantage to the AUTOCRAT ?
Shall England from either of these contemptible
motives embarrass the position of her Ambassador—
bewilder the policy of the SULTAN—palsy the exer-
tions of the Divan—and strengthen the insolent
expedition of Russia ? The responsibility of her
MAJESTY'S representative at Constantinople is ahead)
sufficiently onerous. The faithfulness of our
ally the Sublime Porte to our views and
our friendship has been sufficiently tested. The
insulated energies of the Divan have been sufficiently
demonstrated. The aggressions of Russia have been
sufficiently flagralit to justify an instant and courage.
ous interposition. England must act. Her conscience
prompts her to an interference, if only to preserve her
national honour unsullied. Her mercantile interests,
the continuance of her maritime strength, the reten-
tion of her moral influence throughout Christendom,
and the maintenance of her political supremacy—all
are vociferous and peremptory reasons for her inter
position between Turkey and Russia. England must
act : and we are the more earnest in insisting upon
this great necessity because we are satisfied that the
appearance of our fleet in the Bosphorus is alone re-
quired for the preservation of Constantinople.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday
was devoted to the conclusion of the discussion on the
electoral law. An amendment of a most important
character was proposed by M. LBERBETTE it was,
that all persons having an interest in any enterprise
submitted to a vote of the Assembly should be in'
eligible to be elected as representatives of the people.
After a short discussion, the proposal of M. LUER•
BETTE was agreed to, and the electoral law, as
amended, finally adopted. The effect of the amend-
ment of M. LUERI3ETTE will be to exclude from the
new Assembly all railway shareholders, all pro
prietors of the Bank of France, and all shareholders
in canals or mines. The law baying been
adopted, M. MARRAST, the President, announced
to the National Assembly that, having conferred
with the Minister of the Interior, on the subject he
was now enabled to state to the Assembly the days
on which the various electoral operations would take
place. The delay of fifty days required for the con
vocation of the Electoral Colleges would expire on
the Bth May, the electors cards, would be distributed
immediately afterwards, and the elections would take
place on the 13th May. The new Legislative As-
sembly would meet on Monday, May 28.
The PRESIDENT of the Republic gave a grand ball
on Wednesday evening. It was remarked that very
few of the officers of the line were present, although
there are at present upwards of 60,000 men in garri-
son in Paris. The officers of the line are very indig-
nant at the slight thus put upon them ; and it was
generally observed in the cafes frequented by the
military, that the PRESIDENT might have invited
fewer Legitimists and foreigners, and a greater num-
ber of those officers who are now harassed so unne-
cessarily by constant parades and reviews.
It was currently reported in the National Assem-
bly that King CHARLES ALBERT had left Turin for
Alessandria, to take command of the army, and that
hostilities would commence immediately.

Tuulousu has been the scene of some disturbances
BOURSE—PARIS, FRIDAY, llencll 16.

THREE O'CLOCK.—The French Funds opened to-day
at a cunsiderable advance on yesterday's closing prices,
but after several fluctuations the quo'ations remain
early the same as yesterday. Railway Shares, in mos(
instances, n ere firmer. Exchange on London (30 days),
25 22i to 20; ditto (90 days), 25 12i.

JUSIIC ESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, Damn 16.

Boulogne and Amiens, 834•—Northern of France, 10%—
Paris and Rouen, 2041—Paris and Strasbourg, 4f4—Rouen
and Havre, 18%—Tours and Nantes, 24,

SPAIN.

Madrid journals of the 10th have arrived.
General Kos DE OLANo has offered a reward of
2,000 dollars for the head of EL ESTUDIENTE.
The Spanish bishops have resolved to subscribe
one-tenth of their income this year for the use of the
POPE.

The Gaceta publishes a dispatch of the Commander
of Lerica, dated the 7th inst., announcing that the
former arlist chief, PONS, now brigadier in the
QUEEN'S army, had surprised CABRERA, near San
Lorenzo de Morunys, killed three of his men and
captured eleven, with thirty muskets, a quantity of
ammunition, one of the horses and the baggage of
CABRERA, his papers, seal, &c. CABRERA effected
his escape, with three horsemen, in the direction of
La Coma.

MADRID BOLSA, MARCH 10. Five per Cents.,
10i, paper; Three per Cents., 22i, for account. Ex-
change on London, 49, 90.

GERMAN Y

AND

THE NORTHERN STATES.

AUSTRIA.

The direct advices from Hungary give very dif-
ferent accounts of the state of affairs in that country
from those of the magniloquent, but by no means in-
telligible bulletins, of the Governor of Vienna. The
correspondent of the French National, writing from
Pesth, on the 6th March, says this is probably the
last letter you will receive from me for some time, as
it is probable that Pesth will be in possession of the
Magyars in a few days. The battle of the 26th and
27th, between the Imperialists, commanded by WIN•
DISCEIGRATZ, and the Magyars, commanded by DEM-
BENCKI, ended in the defeat of the former, and in the
retreat of WINDISCHGRATZ to Pesth, where he
has established his head-quarters. The retreat
of DEMBENCKI on the 26th was a feint,
and having succeeded in inducing WINDISCHGRATZ to
weaken his forces by detaching ScuLicx in pur-
suit, DEMBENCKI, by a clever manoeuvre, isolated the
force under SCHLICK from the main army, attacked,
and nearly annihilated it. He then advanced against
the main army of the Imperialists, which fell back
upon Pesth. BEM, in Transylvania, has defeated the
combined forces of the Austrians and Russians, and has
taken Hermanstadt, from which he has expelled the
Russian garrison. Comorn still holds out.
The Pesth Courier says :—" By intelligence brought
from St. Petersburgh by a special conveyance, the
Emperor of RUSSIA, at a review of 40,000 men of
the Guards, said publicly to the troops that the cir
cumstances of the Austrian empire required that he
should place at the disposal of his friend the Emperor
of AUSTRIA a portion of his military powers. This
announcement was received by the 40,000 Guards
with the thundering shout of ' Long live the Emperor
of Austria.'"

The Augsburg Gazette and the Post of Eastern
Germany of Vienna state, that intelligence reached
the latter city on the Bth and 9th, that after their
defeat at Kapolna, a part of the Hungarians went to
Szolno, where they attacked the Austrians under
General KARGER, and after a sanguinary
combat. succeeded in driving them beyond the
TTn
erhwaensi sssyf.ol
ry a Itnt w
ihae,
and
dsa
Austrianstha Saxon
x oha t
been
n or
ueunfavourableirvye afrs oi
m
n
ltsoal thsbaaeidd that
the power of the insurgents. It was again stated
that Prince WINDISCUGRATZ had given up the com-
mand of the army to General SCULICK, and retired
to Osen ; and it was added that he had been wounded.
Large reinforcements had reached Pesth, but the
Prince had written to 011mutz to state that 50,000
more men were necessary to enable him to conclude
the war. It was rumoured at Pesth, that KOSSUTH
and his party had abandoned Debreczin and retired
to Szigeth on the Marmaros. JALLACHICH had
written a letter to say that there was no truth in the
reported dissensions between him and Prince WIN..
DISCHGRATA.
The Imperialists have suffered a defeat at Comorn.
They had completed a bridge over the Danube, while
they were advancing to storm the fortress. The
batteries of Comorn opened upon them, destroyed
the bridge, i.nd all the troops who were attempting to
cross or were engaged in the construction or defence
of the bridge were either killed or driven into the
river.

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