The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-21 00:00:00

LONDON, ;CRIDAY. MAY 21, 1847.

Dissension must still continue prevalent in Por-
tugal, for the Juuta are naturally sceptical as to the
sincerity of a SOVEREIGN who has so shamefully and
incessantly deceived the country, and the members of
the Provisional Government of Oporto consequently
demand guarantees for the fulfilment of the arrange-
ments proposed by Colonel WrLDE. It is impossible
to regard the conduct of the popular party in this
particular with any degree of astonishment. Having
-by extraordinary perseverance and remarkable intel-
ligenoepbtained the supremacy in that portion of the
Perasula, the leaders of the revolted Portuguese are
vamp-reasonably unwilling to renounce the advan-
-I._ have so arduously acquired, at the
,- • ,-5,4*,
.::-...k1.-- - -joy
1 S

first hint of a concession on the part of
MARIA DA Gnome, without beforehand en-
suring to themselves and their compatriots
the blessings of a constitutional Government,
and the redress of their many indisputable
grievances. Were they to act otherwise:they would
be unworthy of the confidence reposed in them by the
multitude ; they would be rashly confiding the liber-
ties of a partially emancipated race to the hands of
a violent and revengeful faction.
Our Plenipotentiary is returning, therefore, to
Lisbon with his pacific mission unfulfilled, and the
consequence of this ineffective interference on
.the
part of the British Go-, ernment remains involved in
the most profound obscurity. So far we have acted
as a generous nation should act towards a friendly
power; but we cannot conceive for a moment
that the Ministers of our Gracious SOVEREIGN will
have the temerity or the cruelty to proceed fur-
ther by sending out an armament for the assist-
ance of Queen MARIA and the conquest of a
people who have arisen as our ancestors did in 1688 ;
especially as the Portuguese are less stringent than our
forefathers in the sacrifices demanded in expiation of
the abuse of the monarchical authority. We would
not rest contented without the dethronement and
expatriation of the Second JAMES, they are only
solicitous to associate the system of national repre-
sentation with the moderate regal supremacy of
MARIA DA GLORIA. We declared emphatically and
definitively for WILLIAM of Orange, they have
sedulously abstained from pronouncing in favour
of Dom MIGUEL. Now, leaving ottt of the question
the religious differences which were prevalent in
England at the close of the Stuart dynasty, we main-
tain very distinctly that the Queen of PORTUGAL has
proved immeasurably more culpable in her behaviour
towards her subjects than did JAMES 11. towards the
population of these islands. Knowing, therefore, in
its fullest extent, the culpability of MARIA DA
GLORIA, we cannot but regard with a sentiment ap-
proaching to admiration the moderation of the de-
mands made by the principal men of the still pre-
vailing revolution ; and we are loth to imagine that
the liberal Cabinet of Lord Join( RUSSELL would
proceed against a cause so national, so patriotic, and,
as we have just intimated, so moderate as that of
which the Junta is the acknowledged centre.

Whether it be from a natural indignation arising
from that abstract principle of justice which influences
every reasonable man, on the contemplation of such a
spectacle of mal-administration as that which has long
been visible in the Palace and the Minis-
terial apartments of Lisbon, or whether it
arises from the kindred feeling inspired by our noble
and benignant constitution, it is certain that our sym-
pathies are enlisted to the very uttermost in the for-
tunes and position of the insurgent thousands of Por-
tugal. Hitherto the commanders of the Junta have
done nothing whatever to render odious the cause in
which they have taken up arms ; and most assuredly
their opponents have as yet acted in no way to jus-
tify them either on the score of policy or humanity.
North of the Douro and south of the Tagus the pro-
vinces of Portugal are in the undisputed possession of
the insurgent armies ; the Castle of Vienna has been
occupied and its Royalist defenders captured ; Ma-
deira, Terceira, and Fayal have revolted against her
MAJESTY'S Government ; even the capital is in a
state of deplorable ferment, if not of open insurrec-
tion; the soldiers of SALDANHA are visibly dimi-
nished in number and perceptibly deteriorated in
character ;—the consequence of all this must be the
ultimate submission of Queen MARIA to the demands
of the Junta unless there should be an armed inter-
ference on the part of Spain and England. Such an
interference, at least on our part, we are most un-
willing to anticipate.

The questions brought forward by Mr. MOFFATT
in the House of Commons last night are well worthy
of, and we trust will speedily receive, the attentive consi-
deration of the Government, with a view to the removal
of the grievances by which the distillers of British
spirits are injuriously affected. The many heavy
charges on the National Exchequer, the depreciated
state of the Money Market, and the monetary embar-
rassments of the country, afford sufficient grounds for
the present opposition of the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer to any propositions, from the adoption of which
even a temporary diminution of revenue might be
sustained. He has already brought forward his
financial statement for the year, and he will have
no means of providing for any deficiencies that might
he occasioned by the introduction of new regulations.
This, therefore, may serve as a sufficient reason why
there should not be an immediate change in the
system ; but if it appears that its effect i,
to create a gigantic monopoly, to cast the entire
trade of the country into the hands of a few firms of
enormous capital, to impose undue restrictions on the
trade of the Scotch and Irish distillers, and, finally,
to compel the consumers to pay a sum far more than
an equivalent for the corresponding benefit to the
revenue, a case is made out for an early change, by
which these evils may be obviated.
The first objectionable point relates to the differences
that exist in the warehousing privileges with respect
to colonial and British spirits. The former can be
bonded, and the producer or importer is not required
to pay the duty thereon until he has found a pur-
chaser and it is about to be brought into actual con-
sumption. It is unnecessary to say how great are the
advantages derivable from this regulation, more es-
pecially when it is considered that the duty
amounts to 200 or 300 per cent. on the
original value of the article. The same fa-
cilities, however, are not afforded to the Scotch
and Irish distillers. They must pay the duty
within a certain limited time, or submit to
great disadvantages. They are compelled to charge
their customers a profit on their entire outlay, not
merely on that occasioned by the production of
their goods, but also on the Excise duty.
Compound interest at the rate of ten or fifteen
per cent. per annum on the amount of that

duty is therefore immediately added to the
charge which must be defrayed by the con-
sumer. But this is not the only, or even the
chief mischief : by reason of those stringent regula-
tions the entire trade is placed in the hands of a
few large capitalists, who are enabled to regulate the
retail prices, and practically to exclqde the Scotch
and Irish from entering into competition. We desire
no advantages for our home producers; we have
never joined in the cry of protection for any branch
of our manufactures. All that should be accorded
is a clear stage and no favour, but to that they are
manifestly entitled. It is no longer a demand for
-protection, but for justice to British interests
The second hardship to which the British distiller is
subjected is, that duty must be paid on all spirits
going from the distillery to be rectified. Mr. Mot.-
FATT suggests the propriety of permitting that spirit
to be rectified in bond for exportation, and also of
allowing rectified spirits and compounds to be ware-
housed for exportation; in other words, that in place
of the exporter being allowed a drawback on
the quantity sent out of the country, that no duty
whatsoever should be paid, certain restrictions being
adopted to prevent the commission of fraud.
The only conceivable ground on which these vexa- •
tious regulations can be justified is, that it would
otherwise be impossible to protect the revenue. If
this difficulty can be satisfactorily provided for there
is an end at once to the opposition. We are
convinced that these are not insuperable obstacles)
and that every objection can be adequately met.
The Excise authorities, however, are not the parties
who should be permitted to adjudicate on the ques-
tion; they will naturally oppose any alteration by
which additional trouble would be imposed on their
department. A Parliamentary Committee, who would
have the fullest opportunity of examining witnesses
on
ma et
tveerrsy s
os i dine ,a
ties
ri tahl
ley fitt
affecting
ng
branch
of the
he
commerce of the country.

The general slothfulness f
taking the initiative for theo removalGo‘. —
Governments
rf
pe rorve
whichefo h
rbr
mi a
the
t ei 0 n
isos p eofentpsublic
in
Apeide-ltoi et Dieu t'aidera,
sigsigr
ai
lei vtm. a
an
xe
lei
vms
reeqauntraed they should
hieshould never lose
strictly depend upon themselves the good-
ness of the cause they espouse for success, without
placing any reliance upon the voluntary efforts of
men in power. If the evil complained of be
wrought under the sanction of any authorised
public body of vast influence, and its members
should consider the desired remedy would prove de-

trimental to their pecuniary interests, to rely upon '
their smooth promises is tantamount to resting upon
a broken reed. The conduct of the East India Com-
pany with respect to the monopoly of salt lament-
ably attests the truth of these observations. In
1834, Mr. GEORGE WILBRAHAM, formerly M.P. for
South Cheshire, brought this matter under the con-
sideration of Parliament; the evils of the system were
then clearly elucidated, and the fairest assurances
were immediately proffered that the entire subject
should be carefully reviewed, in order to rid the
Indian natives of the harsh and cruel consequences
entailed upon them by the existence of this iniquitous
monopoly. The authorities at the Last India House
confessed, generally, their ignorance of the state of
things which had called forth Mr. WILBRAHAM'S
philanthropic exertions, and eased themselves of all
reproach by alleging that the local government had
the exclusive management of all that related to the
manufacture of salt, and the exorbitant prices at which
it was sold to the public. For the last thirty years
millions of the poor inhabitants of India have re-
mained subjected, with little or no improvement, to
the continuance of as heartless a commercial usurpa-

tion as ever disgraced a public body. We use the word
usurpation advisedly, for we cannot discover any clause
or expression in the East India Company's Charter
authorising them to manufacture salt, and it is no-
torious that when it was conferred the intention of
the Legislature was to deprive the company in toto of
their former commercial privileges ; but, whether
they have the power or not, with those who will be at
the trouble to bestow a very moderate share of reflection
on the subject there can be but one opinion as to the
course to be adopted. Policy, justice, and humanity
unite in demanding the extinction of the monopoly.
In the first place, the supply of salt •is miserably
inadequate to the wants of our Indian population.
Their chief food consists of rice, which, unseasoned
by salt, is not only insipid, but affects the physical
condition of the consumer in the most serious man-
ner. In the next place, the article sold by the Com-
pany's agents is deteriorated to a most abomi-
nable extent. A very influential meeting was
held yesterday in the Hanover-square Rooms,
when an association was formed to do away with the
monopoly in question. Specimens of the company's

salt were then produced. Inspection produced as-
tonishment and disgust. The poor persons who pur-
chased it, at a price which absorbed one-ninth of the
earnings of their labour, found it contained but one-
fourth of salt, the remainder consisting of common
earth. What must be the feelings of millions towards
our Government when they are thus shamefully fleeced
for this "horrible stuff ?" Our indignation, too, is the
more keenly aroused when it is known that disease,
pestilence, and death make fearful ravages among the
population, unless they can provide themselves in some
shape or other with the commodity of salt. We
rejoice, then, at the association which has at length
sprung into existence, and sure we are that, with
only common energy, their humane object will be
speedily attained.

A letter dated Rome, the Ist inst., published is
the Augsburgh Gazette, announces that the POPE had
given orders that a regular budget of the revenue
and expenditure of the Roman States should be pub-
lished; and further, that the regular clergy had
offered to lend his HOLINESS several millions of
scudi at a reduced rate of interest. "If this offer
be realised," observed the Augsburgh Gazette, " the
finances of the Roman Government will soon be-
come unembarrassed." The same paper publishes
another letter, dated Rome, the 28th ult., which
states that for some time past the number of clan-
destine printers bad considerably increased, and, in
consequence, several persons had been arrested.

A letter from St. Petersburgh, of the 7th, announces,
in the most certain terms, that the Emperor of RUSSIA.
has decidedly been obliged, in compliance with the
advice of his physicians, to renounce the journeys
which his Imperial MAJESTY proposed shortly to
make to Warsaw and Stutgard. We are, never-
theless, happy to be able, on the authority of the same
letter, to give the assurance that the state of health of
his MAJESTY, though still requiring a good deal of
care, is 'far from presenting any character to cause
the slightest alarm.

Madrid papers of the 14th inst. have arrived. It
was rumoured that the attempt to form a Sala-
manca-Narvaez Cabinet had failed, and that the
financial measures of SALAMANCA would be carried
into effect by royal decree. Among the persons pre-
sent at the levee at Aranjuez were Senors OLOZAGA,
AIENDIZADAL, SALAMANCA, ROS DE OLANO, PA-
CHECO, and Generals SERRANO and JCSE CONCHA.
The Tiempo states that on the 12th there left Sa-
lamanca two battalions of the Asturias regiment, with
some cavalry and artillery, for Alcanias, on the fron-
tier of Portugal. It would appear that this rein-
forcement had been demanded by the governor
of Zamora, under the following circumstances.
DAS ANTAS, in pursuing a battalion of the troops
of DONNA MARIA, violated the Spanish territory, and
eighty of his men having been taken prisoners, were
removed to Zamora. The Governor of Zamora
having refused to surrender them, the insurgent chief
had threatened to recover them by force.

MADaxr BOLSA, MAY 14.—The Three per Cents, were
done at 30% for cash ; the Four per Cents. at 18%; the
Five per Cents. at 19; the Debt without Interest at 5%;
and the Coupons at 16.