The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-06 00:00:00

with the fluctuations of trade, with the demands of
appetite, and with the graduations of luxury ; it ap-
proaches us through all our senses ; we breathe it
in the air, which it may be said to impregnate like a
moral mephitis; we eat it, we drink it, we see it in
the light of the day; it haunts us like an evil con-
science ; it dogs our heels like a robber ; it clings to
us like a burr or a parasite ; it seems in all essential
respects to be at once eternal and omni-
present. Such has taxation become in these
kingdoms under the auspices of a succession
of aristocratic administrations. Whenever there has
been a deficit at the close of the financial year, that
deficit has been satisfied either by a loan leading to
an impost, or an impost warding off a loan. The bed
upon which the nation has been stretched has been
deplorably Procrustian : and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer has officiated by a sort of imprescriptable
right as the national torturer armed with his official
instruments of agony—the saw, and the axe, and the
rack, and the pincers, and the thongs of financial
legislation. The whole system of Government, as
far as the income of the country is concerned, has
been nothing better than a hereditary plan of botching
and cobbling. The result is visible ; and the re-
medy, at length—thanks be to GOD I—obvious.
In the course of the last Parliamentary session
Mr. Hunts proclaimed that the time was come when
the people of England would no longer consent to be
fleeced and pigeoned for the advantage of a bevy of
place-hunters ; and he declared that nothing would
satisfy the population but an immediate and extraor-
dinary diminution of the national expenditure. Mr.
HuME was right. Following in the footsteps of the
veteran Reformer, the representative of Montrose,
Mr. COBDEN demanded from the members of the
Cabinet an instant reduction in our naval and milis
tart' estimates. Mr. COBDEN was wrong. Any
act of economy would be preferable to a par-
simony displayed towards our sea and land
service, towards our wooden walls or our bat-
talions, towards the soldiers and the sailors, who
deserve better from their country than to be
shelved as hangers-on, or to be discharged as an ex-
pensive and idle luxury. The State cannot yet spare
its defenders. The social system is not yet sufficiently
consolidated to enable it to dispense with its bulwarks,
And it is quite clear to our comprehension that those
who talk of doing away with the substantial founda-
tions of the empire, under the impression that
universal and eternal peace is practicable, are literally
—building castles in the air ! Nol Atalantis has not
yet arrived. Utopia has not yet glimmered above
the horizon of this century. Icarie is still far away
in the realms of dream land, or fairyland, or
whatever land it may have been in which the imagi-
nations of M. CABET, of Sir THOMAS MORE, and of
Lord BACON have delighted to expatiate. We must
be content to act in a manner more decidedly common-
place. 'We must forego the flimsy and aerial fascina-
tions of whatever is merely Icarian, Atalantian, or
Utopian. And here we would recommend to all
financial reformers the example, the brilliant and
illustrious example, afforded by the new French
Republic that Republic which Toryism delights
to ridicule as a fantastic frivolity, but which
every successive day proves to be more and
more an active institution of benefactions. According
to the report recently delivered in by the Committee
of Finance—a report containing the corrected budget
of receipts and expenses for the year 1848—it appears
that extraordinary reductions have already been
effected in the general expenditure. And the reduc-
tion is applied, moreover, in the most rational direc-
tion. No reduction, or rather, we should say, no
notable reduction is observable in the budgets of
War, Marine, or Public Works. The War budget,
for example, remains fixed at 432,254,724 francs ;1
the Marine budget has been increased by 6,583,615
francs up to a total of 151,978,520 francs ; and the
Public Works budget has been arranged at
217,323,688 francs. The reduction is of a
very different character ; it is a reduction
applied to the salaries of diplomatic and consular
agents ; a reduction, moreover, the remarkable
nature of which may be at once recognised by a
glance down the following catalogue :

Brussels ... 40,000 f.
Constantinople ... 80,000
London ... 150,000
Madrid ... 80,000
Naples ... ... 60,000
Rome ... . 90,000
St .Petersburgh... 120,000
Vienna ... ... 90,000
Athens ... ... 40,000
Berlin ... ... 70,000
Copenhagen . . 40,000
The Hague ... 50,000
Lisbon ... 40,000
Mexico ... 60,000
Rio de Janeiro ... 60,000
Stockholm ... 40,000
Washington ... 60,000

instead of 70,000 f.
100,000
- 300,000
- 170,000
- 100,000
- 120,000
300,000
- 200,000
70,000
- 100,000
50,000
70,000
60,000
80,000
- 80,000
50,000
80,000

Further extracts from this extraordinary report of
the Committee would demonstrate still more vividly the
extent of these enormous but most judicious reduc-
tions, reductions applying not only to the salaries of
the Republican ambassadors, but to the incomes of the
prefects appointed in the various departments. In
regard to the payment of the latter, the memorable
law of the gBth Fluviose, Year VIII., has been re-
adopted, and a reasonable scale of compensation by
law determined. Again may we repeat the old
adage—" They manage these things better in
France." And our Constitutional Reformers would
do well not to disdain profiting, for once at least, by
the example afforded to them by the humanity of the
French Republicans.

It is impossible to estimate too highly the im-
portance of the subject to which M _IIARLES
ENDERBY has directed the public attention in a state-
ment just published by him, explanatory of the
necessity, and the means of re-establishing the
British Southern Whale Fishery. If it be regarded
merely as the opening of a new channel for the
profitable investment of capital, affording a rich
promise of ample returns for the amount that should
be invested in the undertaking, the project
would be well worthy of attention, but it
possesses a much stronger recommendation than
any that can be derived from it as a source of merely
private emolument. It aims at the resuscitation of
an important branch of our national industry—at
restoring that trade that has been practically lost to
the country, and providing, by British skill and
British enterprise, the supply of an article in constant
demand, which has been suffered to fall, in a vast
degree, into the hands of our Transtlantic brethren,
the most formidable rivals of our country in mari-
time affairs, and which a continued negligence on our
part will altogether deprive us of, and transfer to the
navy of the United States.

In the course of last year we repeatedly alluded to
the convincing arguments brought forward by Mr.
ENDERBY, in a pamphlet published by him on the sub-
ject, and detailing the extraordinary advantages that
would result from the formation of a colony on the
Auckland Islands, devoted entirely to the carrying
out with spirit and energy the whale fisheries in the
South Seas. The monetary difficulties that prevailed

on every side at that time, the universal distrust and
want of confidence, prevented the project from receiv-
ing the consideration it so eminently deserved. Indeed,
at that period it would have been impossible to
have obtained general support for any undertaking,
however promising it might appear and certain of
ultimate success. A more favourable period has
now arrived, however, and Mr. ENDERBY has again
submitted his scheme and proposed the formation of
a new company, in order to carry out his objects in
the most efficient and energetic manner.

Her MAJESTY'S Government have exhibited their
sense of the national importance of the con-
templated undertaking. A grant has been made
to Mr. ENDERBY of the Auckland Islands, the station
selected by himself, and possessing every requisite
for carrying out the project in the most efficient
manner. The Board of Trade has expressed its
willingness to recommend that a Royal Charter of
Incorporation be granted to the proposed company
when formed, limiting the liability of the share-
holders to the amount of their respective subscriptions.
The Chief Secretary for the Colonies has instructed
the Governors of Australia, Vkn Diemen's Land,
and New Zealand to aid the success of the enter-
prise in any manner possible; while the Lords of the
Admiralty have transmitted a similar ()Her to the
commander of the squadron on the New Zealand sta-

tion. Few projects have been submitted to the public
with such powerful recommendations, or which pos-
sessed so great a certainty of the most influential
support. It has, however, inherent merits that

render a failure nearly impossible, if only a clear stage
be afforded, and that at least is insured by the recog-
nition and adoption of the Government.
Mr. ENDERBY, in the pamphlet to which we have
already alluded, has clearly proved that the South
Whale Fishery can no longer be profitably carried on
by large vessels sailing directly from and returning
to England. Ships of large tonnage and enormous
expense would be necessary for that purpose, and a
great waste of time and labour would thus be occa-
sioned, for these vessels would too frequently re-
turn with half or quarter the cargoes
they could easily and conveniently carry
under a better syetem. This necessity would, how-
ever, be altogether superseded by the plan suggested
by Mr. ENDERBY. lie proposes to establish on the
islands to which we have already alluded, and which
are situate in latitude M South, and longitude 166
East (nearly due south of New Zealand), a whaling
station, from whence the vessels employed in the
fisheries might start, and to which they should return
with their produce, storing up the oil, ready for re-
shipment, tolEngland directly, or to adjacent colonies,
where transports could at all times readily be pro-
cured, and where the necessary supplies of
stores, provisions, Ice. (over and above the
produce which the islands themselves might
yield) could be obtained. By these means
there would be vessels especially constructed for the
purposes of the fishers, lying at a convenient station,
from whence they might reach the scene of their
operations in a brief period, and at the very season
when they would be likely to obtain the greatest
success in their undertaking. In Mr. ENDERBY'S
own language, " There would a/war be ships on the
whaling grounds, or returning from thence with pro-
duce to the station ; alwitys supplies of oil awaiting
shipment to England, and always full cargoes
on the way thither. There would, in fact, be a
constant stream of produce flowing, so to speak, into
the station from the various fisheries, and out of it to
England ; consequently, as the supply of oil in the
home market would thus be both regular and
abundant, prices would be moderate and steady. By
these means a very considerable saving of expense
would be effected, not only in the outset, but in the
whole of the ulterior proceedings, and a system be
established beyond the risk of failure."

We are unable to set forth all the advantages de-
tailed by Mr. ENDERBY in his statement. We shall,
however, take an early opportunity of returning to
the consideration of this most important subject. In
the meantime we commend the project to the consi-
deration of capitalists, by whom we doubt not that
the small sum required, 300,000 i. in 6,000 shares of
50/. each, will speedily be made up.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
After the article of the Constitution excluding all
paid functionaries from the Legislative Chamber had
been agreed to on Wednesday, it was discovered
that the effect would be to exclude all military and
naval:officers ; b 1 SARRANS proposed to make at once
an exception in their favour; General CATARINAC;
however, suggested the propriety of making other
exceptions, and of postponing the consideration of
them until they came to the consideration of the
organic laws, which suggestion was ultimately
adopted.
The following is a report of the subsequent pro-
ceedings of the Assembly, from which it will be seen
that all the articles of the Constitution, down to 41,
which regulates the election of President, have been
agreed to :
" Art. 31. The National Assembly is permanent.
Nevertheless it can adjourn to any period which it
determines. During the whole course of the proro-
gation a Commission, composed of the members of the
bureau and of 25 Representatives, named by the
Assembly by ballot and by an absolute majority, has
a right to convoke it in case of urgency. The Presi-
dent of the Republic has also a right to convoke the
Assembly."
The two first paragraphs were adopted, and the
latter was kept back for the period when the attribu-
tions of the President should be determined.
M. Duplan proposed the following additional
article :—" The National Assembly shall fix the place
of its sittings : it determines the number and im-
portance of the military forces, which shall be estab-
lished for its safety and for the maintenance of the
respect which is due to it, in the town where it may
have fixed its sittings," which, after a short discussion,
was adopted.
" Art. 32. The representatives are always re-
eligible."—Adopted.
"Art. 33. The Members of the National Assembly
are the Representatives, not of the department which
elects them, but of the whole of France."—Adopted.
" Art. 34. They cannot receive from their consti-
tuents any fixed directions as to their votes."—
Adopted.
" Art. 35. The representatives of the people are
inviolable. They cannot be molested, accused, or
judged at any time for the opinions which they have
expressed in the National Assembly."—Adopted.
"Art. 36.—They cannot be arrested in criminal
matters, except in fiagrarate delieto, nor prosecuted, un-
less after the Assembly had authorised the prosecu-
tion."—Adopted.
M. Flandin proposed the following additional
paragraph
The case in which the representative is taken
infrgroste delicto shall be immediately brought be-
fore the Assembly, who will maintain or annul the
arrest."

Several Voices—That is the law—that is the rule.
M. Flandin observed that the object of his amend-
ment was to say that no longer delay should take
place between the arrest and the demand for authori-
sation to the National Assembly than was strictly
and absolutely necessary.
M. Dupin said that although the arrest might take
place in flagrante della°, it was necessary to obtain
the authorisation of the Assembly before any pro-
ceedings could follow in consequence of it. The As-
sembly would, therefore, always be the judge of the
validity of the arrest.
M. Flandin said that a long delay might notwith-
standing take place between the arrest and the de-
mand (or authorisation to proceed.
M. Deslongrais demanded what would ba done in
the event of the prorogation of the Assembly taking
place in the meantime.—Unterruption
The additional paragraph was then put to the vote,
and after one doubtful trial adopted.
M. Trousseau proposed to add to the clause the
words, 10
Or to the Committee charged with its
powers during its prorogation."
M. Vivien said the lion. Gentleman appeared to
consider it as admitted that the permanent Committee
of the Assembly would be vested with its powers. It
was not thus that the matter bad been understood.
The Committee on the Constitution meant only to
give a single power to that Committee—that of con-
voking the Assembly. It could not therefore agree
to the amendment of the Hon. Gentleman.

The amendment was put to the vote, and rejected.
M. Rayne! proposed the following additional
article :—" The residence of a representative cannot
be subjected to the visits of the agents of the autho-
rities."—(Exclamations, and laughter.)
Numerous voices—The previous question.
The President announced that M. Raynal had con-
sented to postpone his amendment until the proposi-
tion of M. Laurent (de l'Ardiehe) on the inviola-
bility of representatives was discussed.
" Art. 37. Each representative of the people is to
receive an indemnity, which he cannot renounce.
The President called on M. Albis du Salze to de-
velop his amendment.
M. F. de Lasteyrie said that the proposition of the
Hon. Gentleman was not an amendment, as it con-
fined itself to demanding the rejection of the article.
M. Abbal proposed the following amendment :
"Each representative of the people is to receive an
indemnity, which he cannot renounce, and which
cannot exceed 450 f. a month."
The amendment was put to the vote and rejected.
The President called on the Assembly to proceed
with the discussion of Art. 37 of the Committee.
.M. Charon opposed the article, which, in his opi•
mon, ought not to be inserted in the Constitution. If
the indemnity granted to the representatives was an
affair of circumstance, a democratic expedient—
(Murmurs)—it might be accepted ; but it was ne-
cessary to send it to the organic law. What would
be truly democratic would be a general declaration
that all functions should be paid. He would repeat,
that it would be better to suppress the article.
M. Dalbis du Salze said that he had thought that
after the budget and the Constitution had been voted,
their mandate would have been fulfilled and their
powers expired; he thought thut the indemnity de-
creed by the Provisional Government would only have
been temporary.—(Violent murmurs, and cries of
"Divide, divide.") In every point of view the prin-
ciple of indemnity would be better placed in the
organic electoral law than in the Constitution.
M. Dufaure—/lon. Gentlemen might be certain
that the principle of an indemnity paid for represen-
tatives wasias not a mere expedient, but a constitutional
IN act. thout the indemnity, to accord to all citizens
the power of being elected would be an odious decep-
tion.—(Hear, hear.) Without the indemnity an im-
mense number of citizens from want of fortune would,
not be able to sit in the Chamber,