The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-10 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON, FRIDAY

and from a general cessation of enterprise ;
economy on the part of the Government in conse-
quence of the alar 'ming excess of the expenditure over
the revenues of Gs wit Britain. Of the existence of
that duplex necessity there cannot be a moment's
hesitation. It braw.ls open-mouthed in Cockspur-
street and Trafalgur-square, in Whitechapel and
Clerkenwell, in the more impoverished districts of
Edinburgh and of Glasjow, as well as in the public
places of Manchester and' Dunfermline.
This evening the discusoion will be resumed upon
the proposition of Mr. MIME, that the uniform in-
come-tax shall be renewed, but that the renewal
shall only extend over a period of twelve months. The
success of this motion would ultimately lead to the
acceptance of the plan of Mr. HORSMAN, and
the acceptance of that plan would finally and inevi-
tably lead to the transformation of the tax upon in-
comes into a tax upon property. As the popular op-
position to the Ministerial project of a permanent tax
upon all incomes not less than 1501. per annum,
indiscriminately, was not sufficiently powerful to
carry through the proposal of Mr. HORSMAN, let it
not be so far discouraged as to hesitate in recording
its votes with Mr. Hums. Better have a gleam of
hope than the total darkness of despair, better have
a scrap of comfort than none at all, better have the re-
striction of the obnoxious impost to a single year
than its imposition for an indefinite period.
The plan introduced to the national representatives
by the Honourable Gentleman the Member for
Cockermouth, was about the very best substitute for
a property- tax that could by possibility have been
devised. It was literally the purging away of injus-
tice from the Ministerial budget, by the modification
of the intolerable system established by Sir ROBERT
PEEL. It was a gallant battle in behalf of the labour-
ing population, the object of the battle being the
more equitable assessment of the tax upon incomes.
Mr. HORSMAN recognised the fact which must be
obvious to every man with an ounce of brains
and his heart in the right place, namely, that
the imposition of one uniform burden upon
incomes derived from the profits of capital
and those derived from individual exertion was of a
cruelty without any palliation whatever. Seeing
this, he proposed a more equitable scale of assessment,
but the majority of the representatives not seeing it
(or seeing it, and not coinciding with it), rejected his
proposition.
Now, therefore, a last plank is thrown out to the
Commons by Mr. HUME. If it be received as the
country wills it to be received, it may prove the
means of leading to the salvation of the u'irkers of
the empire. If it be treated as a merely idle provo-
cation to the Government, it will have no more bene-
ficial influence over the fortunes of the community
than the straw washed through the fingers of a drown-
ing mariner.

In this critical instant it is not uninteresting to
consider whether the matter rests entirely in the
hands of the legislators, or whether the people them-
selves have not a voice in the decision. So far from
the possessors of the franchise being without any
power upon a point of such vital importance to them-
selves, we are convinced of this, that the continuance
or the rejection of the income-tax in Coto reposes
altogether with themselves. Let them but believe
this—and act—and they will very speedily prove
the correctness of our assertion. In this respect the
Liberal electors of Liverpool and Manchester
are acting in a manner worthy of universal
imitation. Their proceeding is simple enough, and is
this—they have in especial meetings drawn up re-
quisitions for transmission to their respective Mem-
bers, which requisitions are at this very time in course
of signature—the electors of Liverpool calling upon
Mr. CARDWELL to resign, and those of Man-
chester
entreating the same favour from the Right
Honourable MILNER GlosoN. Even if these requisi-
tions be treated with a profound and contemptuous
silence, they must prove efficacious, in as far as they
will indicate the adverse sentiments of the different
constituencies. They will show exactly what is to be
anticipated at the next general election—that of all
modes of taxation the taxation of the incomes pro-
duced by toil is the most abhorrent to the industrious
electors of the United Kingdom—and that no one
who votes for the infliction of this grinding burden on
the community will ever again have the shadow of
a shade of a chance of representing them in Par-
liament.

To-night the final opportunity will be granted to
our representative legislators, through the ingenious
loophole opened by the Hon. Member for Montrose.
A. reprirve is held out to the multitude such as may
procrastinate its doom, and by procrastinating it
may ultimately lead to its reversal. The division list
upon the forthcoming debate must be scanned with a
rigid and pitiless eye, otherwise the rewards of the
industry of England will be again juggled away by
a grasping and avaricious aristocracy.

The quarter-acre clause is to be maintained in all
its stringency. The permission sought for by the
Hon. Member for Rochdale, to bring in a Bill to
amend the Irish Poor-law by the repeal of the 10th
section, was last night refused by a majority of 93,
21 Members only having recorded their votes in
favour of the motion. Long since we pointed out
the injurious tendency of the obnoxious provision,
which was not contained in the measure when first
introduced by the Government, but was added
thereto, in order to appease the party by whom the
entire law was most strenuously opposed. It afforded
an opportunity to those anxious to clear their lands of
doing so, without incurring the disgrace and
odium that would otherwise be the inevitable
consequence of such a proceeding. It was
no longer necessary for a landlord to have
recourse to the ejectment statutes, or to take
any active measures to attain his object. He had
only to refrain from giving employment himself, and
to induce the neighbouring landowners to act in a
similar manner, and the struggling cottiers must
succumb. When deprived of their ordinary means
of subsistence, they must necessarily have recourse to
the provision to which the Legislature has declared
them to be entitled; but before they can obtain any
the slightest relief, they must deliver the possession
of their humble holding—they must abandon the roof
that has sheltered them, and wander forth on the wide
world, houseless and destitute. No relaxation is
possible—the law is inexorable, however pres-
sing the emergency; however trifling the aid
sought for ; however valuable the humble
tenement. Though it had been cropped and
well cultivated by the labour of the wretched
family, it must be surrendered before assistance can
be given. The father of the family might be stretched
upon a bed of sickness, unable for the moment to pro-
cure for his children the price of the food he had ever
earned for them while in the possession of health and
strength ; but, although his life might be preserved by
temporary relief, it cannot be afforded unless he quits
the premises in which his entire life has been spent.
Well might it be termed " the most monstrous clause
that had ever been introduced into an Act of Parlia-
ment."

It might be argued that the party claiming relief
would only be compelled to surrender the surplus of
land above a quarter of an acre, and that
he might still retain the cottage itself, and
BO much of the land in its immediate vicinity, but
it should be remembered that the landlord is only
bound to accept such a surrender, " provided it shall
include the entire of the holding held by such appli-
cant in tme holding from the same landlord." This
provision practically compels him to give up all he
nad previously occupied ; for few, indeed, of those
likely to come within the scope of the Act hold
under different landlords, or in separate takings. It
was not intended by Mr. CRAWFORD to enable per-
sons occupying small farms to obtain relief at certain
seasons of the year, and still to retain the possession
of their land. All he desired was that the
boards of guardians should be empowered to grant
the necessary assistance whenever the parties claim-
ing it were undoubtedly in a state of destitution—that
should be the only test in the first instance. Where,
however they happened to be in possession of land,
the relief was still to be supplied, but in the shape of
a loan, and not gratuitously. And the board should
be empowered to sell the tenement itself, and any
other property of which they might be possessed, for
the repayment of the loan. Surely this would have
been sufficiently stringent to prevent any abuse. It
would not however clear the lands, and give the
landlord summary possession without any expense
or trouble, and consequently it was not acceded to.
If a wretched family should be found perishing ,

for want of food, the relieving officer might still re-
fuse them aid, because the father had once possession
of half an acre of land, and what was deenwd to
be " saVsfactory proof that he had surrendered to
his reputed immediate landlord, or his known agent,
the actual possession, and whatever right or title
he might have had to the occupation of
any such land over and above the extent of one quar-
ter of a statute acre" was not immediately forth-
coming. What sufferings might the wretched family
endure while the official was satisfying his scruples on
the subject. How could he be punished if he refused
all aid, and that one or more of the victims met their
deaths in consequence of his obduracy. He was
prohibited from giving it until satisfactory
proof was afforded. The clause will, therefore, cast
a shield over a class never very remarkable for hu-
manity or anxious to bestir themselves for the relief
of the afflicted. We must again express our deep
regret that 114 Members of the House of Commons
could be found to support a law pressing FO inju-
riously on the humbler classes—a law which would
not for a moment be tolerated in this more favoured
land.

Letters from Naples state that the KING, disre-
garding the voice of humanity, and once more violat-
ing his solemn word and promise, has carried fire and
the sword into the rich and populous city of Messina,
which has been bombarded during forty-two hours by
the royal troops. The Porto Franco is almost en-
tirely burnt down, causing, from the destruction of
this entrepGl alone, a loss of 10,000,000 francs.

It is said that the Messinese have attacked the
citadel of that city, and taken it by AS' ault.
It was rumoured at Marseilles that the King of
NAPLES had complied with the demands of the peo-
ple of Sicily.
The Turin papers of the 4th announce the depar-
ture of the Jesuits from that city in consequence of
an order from the Government. Some slight dis-
turbances took place on the occasion.
By a circular of the lath ultimo the communes
of Lombardy are informed that they will be charged
with a supplementary tax, to meet the expenses in-
curred in consequence of the extraordinary increase
of troops in that part of the empire. The communes
however, have met this demand with a flat refusal,
in which step they are cordially supported by the
peasantry, who openly declarz they Rill not even pay
the pull tux.

There is no news from Milan in the Paris papers
of yesterday. All correspondence between Lom-
bardy and France is prohibited.
A letter from Rome, of the 28th ult., states that
the constitution would be promulgated in the first
fortnight of March. Father VENTURA had published
the plan of a constitution, which, however, had no:
obtained the assent of public opinion. He proposed
the establishment of a Chamber of Deputies and a
Chamber of Peers, with this difference, that the
latter should be composAl of Cardinals only, and
would only attend to religious affairs. In other
terms, he desires but one chamber, properly speaking,
for public business.

Count FLAUAULT, the Louis Philippist Ambassador
at Vienna, fainted away on hearing of the establish-
ment of the Republic. He set out next day for Eng-
land. Thirty thousand troops have been ordered to
march to Italy.

M. DR FIQUELMONT has b.ten appointed President
of the Aulic Council, and is to start for Milan imme-
diately with full powers.
There have been attempts made at rioting at Ham-
burgh, but tranquillity has been restored.
The Cologne Gazelle of the 7th inst. announces
that the King of BAVARIA 111-6 recognised the French
Republic, and has confirmed the Envoy of the Re-
public at the Court of Bavaria.
On the 3d an address was presented to the KING,
signed by a great number of the inhabitants of
Munich, praying for reform, and especially for the
abolition of the censorship of the press, publicity of
proceedings, and oral pleadings in the courts of law,
the establishment of juries, the responsibility of
Ministers, a change in the electoral law, a German
Parliament, and, the immediate convocation of the
States, in order that those wishes should be ful-
filled. On the 4th the Prince of WALLRRSTEIN went
to the great hall of the Hotel de Ville, which for
the present is the headquarters of the troops under
arms, and announced that the KING, taking into con-
sideration the petition of the citizAis, had resolved to
dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, and to summon
another for the 31st of May. The news was received
with the utmost enthusiasm, and since then the city
has been quiet.
A petition -has been sent from the inhabitants of
the Prussian Rhenish provinces to the ICING, de-
mending-
1. A faithful representation of the people, with a
deliberative vote on all questions concerning laws and
imposts. 2. Unlimited liberty of the press. 3. Trial
by jury in all political off, noes and offences of the
press. 4. Individual liberty. 5. A system of pro-
gressive hnposts. 6. A law with respect to the
working classes. 7. The communication of all pro-
posed alterations in the penal law to the representa-
tives of the people. 8. The right of association ; and
9th, a German Parliament.
A similar petition has been sent from Coblentz.
We extract tae following from a letter dated
Berlin, 411 instant :

"The reaction of the events in France begins to
manifest itself in every part of Germany ; Berlin
has not escaped, and a regular panic fell upon our
Bourse. In the short apace of forty•eight hours,
valuable paper, such as liink Shares, fell 20 per cent.
—a fall scarcely equalled on any Bourse in Europe.
This first panic has, however, subsided, as people
begin to hope that the peace of Europe will not be
disturbed.

" It was confidently rumoured, this evening, that
the Duchess of Orleans and her two sons had arrived
here."

The article in the Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung,
in which it says that Prussia will regard any infrac-
tion of the treaties, which for thirty years have main-
tained the peace of Europe, as a declaration of war,
has given great dissatisfaction to a large portion of
the German pros.
" What treaties," says the Cologne Gazette," does
the Prussian Gazette allude to, that have upheld so
long the peace of Europe? It surely cannot mean
the treaties which in 1815 constituted the kingdom
of the Netherlands, the kingdom of Poland, and the
Republic of Cracow ? We are not aware of any
thirty years status quo in the states of Europe, and
we do not wish to thrust ourselves headlong into a
war for a change which may affect us far less than
those which have taken place since 1815 in the
Netherlands and in Poland. We are quite ready to
defend our German frontiers, but in other respects
will act according to circumstances."
The accounts from Leipsic, of the 4th, state that
a deputation sent from that city with an address
to the King of SAXONY, demanding reform, was
very coldly received. The KING announced that
the deputation could not expect him to give
a categorical answer to such demands; that
for the last eighteen years, during which
he had reigned in Saxony, his conscience told him
that his Government had always been in conformity
with the principles of the constitution, to which he
would continue faithful, and that the want of confi-
dence in him, which was evident in the terms of the
address, had given him great pain. This answer was
given verbally, but his MAJESTY promised that a
written answer should be given hereafter.
The liberty of the press was announced to the
citizens of the free city of Frankfort on the 4th.

Madrid journals of the ad of March have arrived.

The discussion on the demand of the Minister for
extraordinary powers was still going on in the
Chamber of Deputies. In the course of the debate
PIDAL spoke most bitterly against the French Re-
public, and reprobated the blindness of the French
Opposition, which had stirred up a mob
to destroy a system of government wnich was one of
unmixed prosperity, peace, and happiness ! Esco-
SURA made a most brilliant speech, warning the
Ministry to take example by the fate of the French
Government, and not to resist necessary reforms.
The Gazette contains a royal decree of the Ist
instant, ordering a levy of 25,000 men for the army
under the recent Bill voted by the Cortes, and making
the distribution of the conscripts to be raised by the
different provinces.
The Duke of SOTuNIATOrt has given satisfactory
explanations in reply to Mr. BULWER'S no!e, com-
plaining of the detention of his correspondence, Szc.
The Duke of GLU C ;;Luc has ceased giving passports
for France, and the Frenchmen here are endeavour-
ing to find out to whom they are to look for protec-