The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-05 00:00:00

?fir Svel4l, LON`DOV,

raging between Austria and Hungary. The evil
clouds have burst oi'er the land of the Magyars:, and
the tyrant of Hapsbiagais standing victoriously on
the necks of that heroic race—his feet crimsoned with
the blood of their patriotism, his lands blackened by
the thunders of his vengeanCe ! The sinister hordes
of the AurocllAT, after having participated in the tre-
mendous crimes of carnage, pillage, and conflagration,
have retreated to their native coasts, laden with
their double load -of spoil and infamy. The
accursed traitor from whose guilt all the latter
calamities of his compatriots have emanated, has for
a long while past been hiding his head in an abhorred
obscurity for the better enjoyment of the fruits cut
down by the dagger of his treason. The Hunga-
rians, in short, have drained to the very dregs the
chalice of misfortune. Their women have quailed
under the lash, their children have pined in the
dungeons, their bravest and -worthiest heroes
have been compelled to seek some better
opportunities of ulterior success lu the de-
lays and ignominies consequent on exile.
'v
Yet, although these miseries have actilan fallen
Y
upon the recent defenders of Buda, Debreczin, and
Comorn, we are far from dreaming for one instant
that the day of retribution, that the hour of c9nso-
lation, that the moment suited for interposition bas
passed away. At this day, at this hour, at figs
moment it is not too late to force upon the unwilling
attention of Austria the advisability, or, rather,
we should say, the absolute and imperative necessity
for some change in the course of the policy hitherto
pursued by it towards the ruined and conquered
Hungarians. Would to GOD that the bold word and
the good had been spoken long since by England
through the medium of the Government, through
the lips of Lord PALMEUSTON ? Would to GOD
that the duty of interceding for the fallen and the
unfortunate—a duty imposed upon us by the simple
dictates of humanity—had not devolved upon the
Cabinet of St. James's so very tardily ; but that it
had been recognized with the promptitude befitting a
free and enlightened nation such as England ! Still
we maintain the opportunity has not passed away even
now; still there remains room for hope, for effort, and
for decision. May the confidence reposed in
Viscount PALMERSTON by his countrymen not be
disappointed in the present instance ; but may
previous delay be compensated by the energy, the
point, and the earnestness of the remonstrance at
length transmitted with all diplomatic punctilio to the
consideration of the Austrian statesmen I

A correspondent has addressed to us a letter on the
subject of " The poor Needlewomen," asking the im-
portant, but somewhat perplexing question, as to
where lies the blame of their sufferings.
,Is the
fault solely attributable, be asks, to the employers of
those workwomen—the sellers of ready made goods,
or to the public, " who care not at the price of what
misery they get unjustifiable cheapness," or must the
shame of occasioning so much sin and sorrow be
shared between them ? On a superficial view of these
questions, either might readily be answered in the
affirmative. We might affirm, and with a plausible
degree of truth, that if a high price were demanded
by the sellers and willingly paid by the buyers of
ready-made goods, the workers employed thereon
would, of course, receive better wages than at present.
But what says the political economist ?—and the poli-
tical economist is always right in theory. Can we
require a man to pay two shillings for any object
which may readily be obtained for one shilling ?
Certainly not. If, for example, cheap shirts be
advertised, how can it be supposed that a
purchaser will seek expensive ones ? If the
shirt seller finds himself besieged with de-
mands for work, of what virtue do we imagine him
to be possessed that we should expect him to offer
wages three times higher than will be gladly ac-
cepted ? The political economist will tell us, in both
these cases, that the course at present adopted is natural
and just. If human affairs could be conducted
with mathematical precision, it would be just and
beneficial to all parties ; for in that case no, poor
wretches would be found eager to work without
adequate payment. We come now to the root of the
evil—the multitude of unemployed hands. If, for
instance, there were only a limited number of shirt
makers, not one would ply the needle without due
remuneration. They might possibly gain little, but
they would certainly not work at the present losing
rate, which is surely opposed to all the principles of
political economy. If, as we have just said,
practical business could be carried on ac-
cording to the rules of a correct theory, every labour
would have its fitting labourer, and every labourer
his due reward, but alas ! very different is the reality.
For every piece of work to be performed a hundred
eager hands are at once stretched forth, and a hun-
dred trembling applicants underbid one another as
they frantically clamour for employment, which to
them is life. While minutely contemplating this sad
state of things, the most ingenious speculator is for the
time bewildered, and the most sanguine philanthropist
is momentarily dismayed. Not as regards the poor
workwomen only, terrible as their lot unquestionably
is, but with all other kinds of labour the same sad
spectacle is revealed. Two questions here suggest them-
selves to the thoughtful inquirer—how has all this
wretchedness been brought about, and more impor-
tant, and far more difficult query, how can it be reme-
died ?
How it is that so much sorrow and suffering lurks
beneath the magnifice,nt exterior of a civilized state,
is easily seen by a glance at the complicated structure
of the social fabric. From the peer to the peasant
every separate class thrives by the labour of those
beneath it. If men were just and virtuous, and
human affairs enjoyed unfluctuating prosperity, such
• a combination would continually create
" The according music of a well•mixed state."
As it is, however, men are selfish, and in their blind-
ness they continually forget that the good of all and
the good of one are synonymous. Laws are framed
to redress the injustice of the natural man, and those
laws, partaking of the sin which they condemn, are
too often constructed chiefly in/accordance with the
interests of the peculiar class by whom they are framed.
It were an endless task here to particularise the

many sins, individual and social, and the many
misfortunes, accidental or otherwise, which, however
much they may at first affect the higher ranks,
ultimately fall with crushing weight upon the lowest
of all. For example, within the last few years trade
has been paralysed, and all classes have more or less
experienced pecuniary pressure. In such circum-
stances what is the consequence ? The rich man cuts
off some of his superfluous luxuries, the middling
class perhaps deny themselves a few comforts, and
what is the result to the poor ? The luxuries and the
comforts of the rich furnish the necessaries of the

poor. They who possess little have that little taken
from them. Without pursuing the argument further,
let us briefly take it for granted that whatever of sin or
suffering there may be in a state brings double sorrow
to that class who naturally have the fewest joys—
a supposition that the subtlest logician will find it
difficult to confute. For years the evil may accu-
mulate, but one of two courses is its inevitable result.
If the powerful remain quiescent, or only exert their
power to aggravate the evil, if they criminally persist
in adding injustice to the other sufferings of the poor,
the latter at last turn again in despair—witness the
great French Revolution. Happier is it, however,
for one and all when the remedial movement is set in
action, not by the sufferers but by the agents of the,
perhaps unintentional, injustice. At the present
moment, we would gladly believe, such a move-
ment is about taking place in this country—
assuredly it never was more required. These
remedial measures to be beneficial must be twofold.
We must endeavour to prevent the augmentation of
this wretchedness by stopping the sources from
which it is supplied, and these measures may be
summed up in the, one word—justice. Justice, which
peremptorily forbids the employer from abusing the
necessity of the workman (to a certain extent only
we exonerate the sellers and buyers of cheap goods
from blame)—justice, which continually condemns
that system of unequal taxation to which law-makers
of all parties and all politics are so continually prone
—justice, which views with intolerable dismay one
hundred and fifty thousand pounds given in one year
for the missionaries to the heathen, while our
own fellow- countrymen are perishing around
us, body and soul. We might fill columns with an
enumeration of the unjust and barbarous acts of this
civilized age and Christian country. Far be it from
us to decry the excellence of Charity, the queen of

virtues, but to our thinking there is less of charity
abroad than is generally supposed. We appeal to
theologians for corm ctic.li if "we are wrong—we do
not believe that an unjust man co scarfsharitb
rf;-‘erefore we say to those whose are now
melts at the recital of the sufferings of the poor, and
whose vurses in many instances are operK.s‘.l their
behalf. Weep for those sufferings, the sorrow
do your oN7n hearts good ; give alms to the sufferers,
the relief is C()rely required; -but-by so doing do not
think that yoILT duty is accomplished. No man's
conscience should ,!‘e at rest while he in any way
countenances a system ,`,,f injustice.,
Even supposing, however, that for the future the
wretchedness of our poor should be in some measure
abated, what is to be done for the existing evil ?
Extraordinary grievances require extraordinary and
immediate remedies. On this point we refer our
readers to the excellent letter of the Right Hon.
SIDNEY HERBERT, in another column, on which we
shall again take occasion to remark.