The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-23 00:00:00

THEATRE,

TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 23, 1849.7

which he may kill and carry off for his own use as
much as he pleascs ; but not satLfied with these ex-
clusive privileges, it appears that he claims an
exclusive property in the whole of the deer,
&c., and insists that the SovExEIGN, whose ser-
vant he is, has no right whatsoever to any portion
thereof. As this modest demand is contested by the
Crown, there is every reason to suppose that another
law•suit will arise on this subject, and that after
some twelve or fifteen years' litigation, and another
heavy dip into the public purse on account of costs,
proposals for an amicable compromise may be made,
which may be entertained by the lawyers on either
side.

With these facts before us, the astonishment ex-
cited by the moderation of the Lord Warden in
demanding only 371. 10s. salary for his service is
speedily set at rest. It appears that wages (or, we
beg pardon, we should have used the term more pleas-
ing to aristocratic ears)—a salary is demanded for
managing an estate, the entire proceeds of which are
appropriated to the private and personal use
of the manager, while any extraordinary outlay
is charged to the national revenue. Some estimate
may be formed of the real value of the situation when
an intelligent gentleman (Mr Dowries), in his evi-
dence, says, " Whittlewood Forest is at present pay-
ing literally nothing, and I should be very glad to
give .5,0001. a year:for it, and be at the cost of
inclosing and cultivating it, or allowing me three
and a half per cent. upon the value of the tim-
ber, I would give from 18,0001. to 20,0001. a year.
There are, indeed, nice perquisites (we sup-
pose the value of Wakefield Lodge is not
included). As " Jeemes" might say, " though
the wages are not. large, the veils are hand-
some." They are indeed. And yet 11. 3s. 041.
(we cannot say with Mr. MANTALINI, " the farthing
be dimmed," as it forms so large a proportion of the
entire revenue) only finds its way into the national
Exchequer after deducting the expenses of manage-
ment from a property worth 18,0001. to 20,0001. per
annum. Lord CHURCHILL is decidedly a more pru-
dent steward. He returned last year 123/. ls. 7d.,
although the same Mr. DOWNES only values Whych-
wood Forest, of which he is the Lord Warden, at
4,625/. per annum, exclusive of the value of the
timber, which he estimates as being worth from
280,000/. to 300,000/.

How long, we ask in sober earnest, will
abuses such as those above alluded to, and
which have been brought to light by the va-
luable exertions of the Liverpool Financial Reform
Association, be tolerated ? How long will English-
men submit to the burdens with which they are
overwhelmed, while the national property is thus
wasted and misapplied ? We cannot refrain from
giving the concluding statement of the association,
and the question that naturally arises thereon :
" A system," say they , "which can generate such
wicked extravagance in the administrators of the public
purse ; which can make its' appointed guardians' part-
ners and abettors of the crime, and lull the very tax •
payers themselves into a state of such amazing careless-
ness and indifference, us has too generally prevailed
upon this subject for many years past, is not, and it
cannot come to good.' It stands Condemned by its evil
fruits, and must suggest to every reflecting mind the
question,—Whether to levy every man's contribution to
the rational expenditure directly, assessing it fairly in
proportion to the amount and nature of his resources,
would not prove at once the most effectual check 'to the
idle profusion of the representatives, and a much needed
spur to the vigilance of the electors ?"

We refer our readers to the Postal Treaty which
has just been concluded between Great Britain and
the United States, and which will be found in extenso

n another column. Henceforth the " correspondence
between the two countries, the mail-packets of each
Government, and the postage charges" are to be
placed upon an equal and reciprocal footing. There
is, however, an exception to this rule. According
to the second article, letters posted or charged in the
United States will be rated at a half ounce to the single
letter, over half an ounce and not exceeding an ounce
as a double letter, over an ounce and not exceeding
an ounce and a half, a treble letter, and so on ; a pro-
gressive single rate being charged upon each half
ounce or fractional part in excess thereof. This is
perfectly just and intelligible. A certain definite
sum is charged for a certain weight, and so on, a
single rate being added according to the progressive
weight. But, for some unaccountable reason, the
same rule is not applied to English letters. The
full ounce weight limits the double letter, while
for any excess over the ounce two full rates
are charged; thus for over an ounce, four
rates are levied, if over two ounces six rates, and so on.
There can be no possible justification for this absurd
distinction, which prevents that perfect uniformity
and reciprocity that is so desirable. Why cannot
single rates be levied for every additional half ounce
in this country, as well as on the other side of the
Atlantic ? The care and attention that must be be-
stowed by the Post-office authorities upon a letter is
by no means in proportion to its weight ; it is the
separating and sorting, the packing up for the differ-
ent posts, and the distribution, that occasions
the chief difficulty, and a small additional weight
forms but an unimportant item in the calculation.
And yet a greater charge in proportion is made on
the larger letters. But this, absurd and ridiculous as
it may appear, does not by any means constitute the
chief objection. It is to the difference of rates, the
want of uniformity of postage of all letters exceeding
an ounce in weight, that must be perpetuated thereby.
The British Post-office is guilty of similar ab-
surdities in its relations with almost every
other nation. The charge is, generally speaking,
much higher if the postage is paid in this country
than if it is left to be satisfied on its arrival. A
speedy alteration should take place in tbis respect, so
as to place our foreign postal arrangements on a
rational and satisfactory footing.
There is one other point worthy of notice. It
would appear as if the British and American Govern-
ments could not trust each other, as if the usual credit
which one merchant will readily afford to another could
not safely be extended by one great nation to another.
The charge for the transmission of newspapers is to be
two cents., or one penny to each Government; but
this cannot be either entirely paid or left unpaid in
either country--the amount to which each nation is
entitled must be collected in its own territory. Thus,
if a newspaper be posted at any commercial town
two cents must be paid by the party sending it, and
two by the recipient. This unnecessary stipulation
may cause much inconvenience, and no sufficient
reason can be assigned to justify its adoption.
A similar rule is also enforced with re-
spect to pamphlets, for which the charge
is to be one cent, or one halfpenny to each
Government for each ounce of weight. Care must
also be taken that all American postage, on letters
from Havannah, from other places in the Gulf of
Mexico, from the American Pacific possessions, and
from the British North American provinces, should
be paid in the United States before the same is dis-
patched by mail to Great Britain. It is also
provided that on letters received from foreign coun-
tries or English possessions through the London
or other post-office in Great Britain, to
be delivered in the United States, the foreign
and British rates must be prepaid, while
the American is to be collected on delivery. Surely
these vexatious regulations might easily be modified for
the mutual advantage of both nations, if the persons
charged with the negotiation approached the consi-
deration of the subject in a liberal spirit, and were
prepared to make mutual concessions.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

There is very little news in the Paris papers of
Monday.
The liberal papers denounce the intrigues of the
reactionaries, and the reactionary papers do not now
attempt to conceal that intrigues have been going on
against the Republic ever since it was proclaimed,
and that many of those who accepted it and in order
to obtain seats in the Assembly, swore to preserve it,
did so only the more easily to betray it. Perjury has
ever been considered venial, if not praiseworthy, by
the reactionary party.

According to the I?stafette, tilere is to be a great
meeting to morrow in Paris of the provincial leaders
of the Legitimatist party, in order to concert mea-
sures for the purpose of bringing about a restoration.
_ _ _

The election of M. BOULAY as Vice-President of
the Republic is considered as a check given to the
Ministry, and the National, considering the speech of
N. BOULAY as a protest on the part of the PRESIDENT,
of whom N. BOULAY is the intimate friend, against