The Sun.
London, England, 1833-05-23 00:00:00

Our correspondent exonerates the Government,
but lie contends that the police did not do pro-
perly their part of the duty. The following
remarks of our correspondent are deserving of
attention :—" The object of the meeting had
failed ; the working people of the metropolis had
shown that they were not disposed to take part
in lawless and violent proceedings ; and the
authors of the meeting would have gone
home disgusted with the little support they
had received. The persons who took any in-
terest in the business of the meeting were
but a few hundreds. The apprehension of out-
rage was so slight in the neighbourhood, that
not a single door or shutter was closed. Was
this a meeting that was to be dispersed by a
charge of the police ? Do not omit also to notice
that Calthorpe-street is an extensive public
thoroughfare ; that, consequently, persons were
passing and repassing who had not the slightest
connexion with the meeting. I myself saw a
lady and her daughter pushing their way through
the crowd without apprehension of danger at the
very time the police made their attack." Our
correspondent expressly says, " I myself saw
women beaten while standing in the door-ways,
after the people had run away, and a great num-
ber of persons, whose testimony has not been
given before the inquest, can speak to similar
facts. Let it also be observed, that a great
number of persons, including women and
boys, who had received severe injuries,
were in attendance at the late inquest, but
were unable to obtain an opportunity of being
examined." The conduct of those who called
the meeting, and were prepared to resist
with deadly weapons the authorities of the coun-
try, is quite a distinct consideration from that of
the conduct of the police in dispersing the
meeting. While the police must be protected
in the due discharge of their duty, they ought
not to he protected in any intemperate proceed-
ings, which tend to alienate the people from the
authorities. We have heard from so many
quarters that the police misconducted them-
selves, that we think the subject deserving of a
serious inquiry. If any officer of the police I
has, on the occasion, shown himself wanting in
that firm and temperate, though resolute con-
duct which ought to be possessed by all who
are in command of bodies of men, he ought not
to escape with impunity. Now, a perusal of
the evidence at the inquest on the first day
would lead us to suspect that one man at least
was wanting in that temper which ought to be
possessed by' all who are employed in dispersing
mobs. The conduct of the police, however, by
no means justifies the verdict of the jury, which
is utterly irreconcileable with both law and
common sense. We are glad that the Govern-
ment has acted with a proper sense of what is
due to the country on the occasion, by terming
the author of the death of Cully a murderer.
—Morning Chronicle.
The decision of the House of Commons
against Sir S. Whalley's motion, pledging Parlia-
ment to the repeal of the house and window taxes,
was to be expected from their former vote.
The House of Commons are consistent enough
in sticking to wrong determinations. A ma-
jority of 149 upon such a question, after what
has passed both in and out of Parliament, was,
undoubtedly, so far as one branch of the Le-
gislature is concerned, a proof of strength ; it
showed that the present Ministers stand well with
the House of Commons, however they may
stand with the people who have returned that
House. But what, after all, considered with
reference to any permanent effect—what, after
all, can be the strength derived from represen-
tatives who have lost the confidence and opinion
of their constituents ? Looking merely to the
present moment, it may be, and it is a triumph,
but a triumph obtained through the most irri-
tating means and under circumstances which
can hardly fail in the present constitution of
Parliament to render it of short duration. The
time has passed when a House of Com-
mons, depending upon other interests, could
hid defiance to the people without experi-
encing or apprehending any ill effects from its
misconduct. There is, therefore, more ground
for supposing that the present representatives
will share in the disgrace of the Ministry, whose
worst acts they are prepared to sanction, than
that the Ministry will imbibe from them a sup-
ply of vigour sufficient to carry them through the
difficulties which they have themselves created.
It is a curious fact that the House of Commons
should be the only place in which Ministers are
popular, but it is a fact which sets the difference
between the people and their representatives in a
strong light, and which, taken as a commentary
upon the recent division, deprives it of much of
its importance. We know not whether the Mini-
sters flatter themselves into the opinion that the
question of the assessed taxes has been set at rest,
even for the present, by the vote of Tuesday
night. If they do, a little time will be sufficient
to convince them of their error. The inequality
with which the house and window taxes press
upon the rich and poor has made too strong
an impression to be diverted by the paltry scheme
of Lord Althorp, or the high-sounding descrip-
tion of Mr. Spring Rice. The inequality ought
of itself to have induced Ministers to abandon
those taxes, in order, as soon as possible, to re-
move an impression so unfavourable to the good
understanding which ought to subsist between
the different orders. But it is not in this case
alone that Ministers have attempted to play a
disingenuous game. They are prepared for all
experiments but the experiment of economy.
That, however, is the one upon which the
country is most resolved ; and though Parlia
ment has been persuaded to refuse it as a sub-
stitute for the assessed taxes, they must soon
resort to it on its own account. We repeat that
the decision of the Commons, to which we have
been alluding, will be more injurious to the
popularity of its Members than favourable to

the Administration, whose existence they have
preferred to their own consistency and repu-
tation.—illorning Herald.