The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-26 00:00:00

lONIAN ISLANDS.

Letters from Corfu of the 10th say, " The rebel
ringleaders are not yet taken, and the Lord High
Commissioner, Sir GEORGE H. WARD, refuses to re-
lieve the islands from the ban of martial law. It was
Sir PETER PsntizzorouLo who died suddenly on
the 4th, after investing the Lord High Commissioner
with the order of the Grand Cross of St. Michael and
St. George.
Several arrests have taken place at Corfu.

AUSTRIAN LOAN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—ln a letter from your own correspondent at
Vienna, dated Oct. 13, and published in the Times of
Friday last, the 19th inst., I find the following
passage
:
"The Times of the 9th inst. has this moment arrived,
and the very first thing that strikes,my eye is the fol-
lowing passage in Lord Dudley Stuart's speech at the
mecting held on the Bth at the London
Tavern This Austrian loan was an im-
posture, for by the laws of Austria no loan
could be contracted without the previous sanction of the
Diet. That sanction was wanting; for the loan was
only signed by the Minister, without any legal au-
thority, &c.' As it is not for a moment to be supposed
that Lord Dudley Stuart would utter a deliberate false-
hood, I can but say that he, on the Bth inst., undertook
publicly to discuss a subject of which he was not
master. Facts are stubborn things;' and the Noble
Lord will hardly be able to talk away the fact of the late
Diet's baying, in December last, at Kremsier, granted
a loan of 80,000,000 conventional florins. I do not
recollect exactly on what date, but I believe it was
on the 28th. The Beichstags Blatt, however, contains
the minutes of the proceedings connected with that
grant. The foregoing simple statement is of course
sufficient to show that the Noble Lord has taken up a
totally false position; but even if the late Diet had not
made the grant, I see no reason why a loan could not
be contracted by a responsible. Minister, for I believe
that precedents are not wanting of a similar measure
having been carried out in cases of emergency in other
constitutional countries, without the previous consent of
Parliament having been given."
Facts, as your correspondent observes, are stubborn
things ; but I believe that the facts of this case will
be found fully to support the statement that I made.
The Diet of Kremsier may, indeed, in December
last, have voted a lean of 80,000,000 conventional
florins. But between that time and the publica-
tion of the proposal of the new loan for 70,000,000
conventional florins, the whole of the first-named
sum, and much more, was raised ; as may be seen by
the accounts of the Bank of Austri▪
a, officially pub-
lished. The vote of the Diet for 80,000,000 conven-
tional florins cannot legalise a loan for an additional
70,000,000 conventional florins. Moreover, the Go-
vernment of Vienna has forcibly di▪
ssolved the Diet
of Kremsier, and denied the validity of its acts.
How, then, can the authority of that Diet, which is
denied for other purposes, be invoked to sanction this
loan ? Your correspondent, however, while he
endeavours to make out that the loan had the sanction
of the Diet, seems to feel that this plea may fail him ;
for he adds that he sees no reason why, without any
such sanction, a loan should not be contracted by a
responsible Minister, and he talks of precedents for
such a course to be found in constitutional countries
in cases of emergency.
I shall leave to others to debate with your corre-
spondent the propriety of such a course, merely re-
marking that I think if Sir C. Wood, or any other
Chancellor of the Exchequer, were to adopt it, he
would be likely to hear so much about it, even in the
columns of the Times, and at any rate from the
country at large, as would make hihim
speedily desist
from the attempt, and would drive him ignominiously
from the office he had abused.
On one point I confess myself to have been wrong.
The error I fell into was in favour of Austria. I
stated that the loan was signed by a Minister of State.
The truth, however, is, that the official announce-
ment of the loan bears the signature of no Minister
whatever, but only that of the Governor of Lower
Austria.