The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-06 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1871.

of Scotland and retirement. These pleas are
liot of a kind to which we should attach great
force, but they are not improbably at the root of
the existing discontent. It is to be deplored that
the feeling finds vent in an offence to a lady who has
every claim upon out respect

THE offer of the British Government t 3 place all
its stores and people at the disposal of the French
and German authorities to assist in revictualling
Paris will meet with general approval in this country.
It is a graceful act of national charity,
and vet involves us in nothing like " bene-
NOI 'll t neutrality." There are very large
stores of food fit for immediate consumption in-
stantly available in our Victualling Establishments,
and both ships and agents are at hand to convey and
dispense it. Money for some time will be of little
use; the food itself is what is required. Hence the
Government can operate with far more effect than
the most powerful society, for this latter must raise
money, buy stores, and find means of transport be-
fore its services can be brought actively to beai.
Yet the work is so great that assistance of every
kind is not superfluous. The labour of providing
au adequate stcck of provisions fox two millions of
people after " the last biscuit" has been almost literally
eaten, is so serious that it is scarcely possible to
conceive of the task being too well performed.

Private societies may continue their duties
in no wise deterred by the consideration that the
aid of the Government will be enough. Indeed,
the distress in the outlying districts and suburban
villages is itself sufficient to employ all the energies
of private charity. Let the work go on, then, and
if England is to derive no military glory from this
campaign, she may gain renown of a not less
creditable kind.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

THE agitation against granting a dowry to the
Princess LOUISE is remarkable for the persistency
with which it is carried on by working
men, and the equal persistency with which
members of Parliament oppose it. It is
only recognising a fact to admit that the
feeling against the dowry is very widely spread.
Some members of the Labour Representation League
have discussed the question in a most enlightened and
refined spirit, and have decided in favour of the usual
grant. But this is not the rule. Working
men constituents in all parts of the coun-

try have passed resolutions against the dowry,
and have fought great battles to induce their repre-
sentatives to vote according to their wishes. Yet
M.P.'s as a rule have manfully held out. The pres-
sure put upon them has little effect beyond that
of producing a little temporising' and ambiguity.
Unquestionably the legislators are right and their
constituents wrong. Setting aside the long-winded
argument about the Crown Lands, it is clear that if
any reform is needed it ought not to he directed
personally against any one member of the Royal
Family. Whether the Civil List is too small or too
great is a question which those who pay it have a
perfect right to discuss; but if anything
is to be attacked it ought to be the
general principle, and not one unfortunate
young woman. Is the Princess LOUISE any worse
than her sisters that they should be taken and she
be left ? Is there any objection to an alliance with
a Scotchman which does not apply to an alliance
with a German Prince ? Quite the revel se ; it is
refreshing to escape the usual foreign importation
and it is to be hoped that this example will be
followed again. To "fine the PRINCESS for marry-
ing a Scotchman," would be in the last degree
absurd.

rHE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1871.