The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-24 00:00:00

fina •

LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1846.

In consequence of the family affliction which has
recently befallen the Premier, in the demise of his
brother, Lord WILLIAM RUSSELL, the question of
abolishing all differential duties upon sugar has been
postponed until Monday evening. Not until that
sitting, therefore, can any accurate estimate be
formed of the proportionate numbers of its legis-
lative upholders or antagonists. As we may
positively anticipate that the present Govern-
ment will, upon this important measure,
receive the most strenuous assistance from Sir R.
PEEL, and also from no insignificant portion of the
adherents of that Right Hon. Baronet, the ultimate
sentence of the Commons still continues a matter of
the utmost uncertainty. By conceding his influential
support to the RUSSELL Administration, the late
First Lord of the Treasury will be merely, it is true,
fulfilling the promises so generously volunteered by
himself upon the occasion of his retirement from office,
and responding to the liberal behaviour of the Noble
Lord the Member for the City of London, who, as
leader of the Opposition, contemned all party con-
siderations, and assured an overwhelming majority in
the divisions upon the great commercial measures
introduced by his Parliamentary rival. In this
respect such a temporary coalition between many of
the occupants of the Opposition benches and these
of the Ministerial benches would undoubtedly
be a consummation the less startling, because so long
and so confidently anticipated : nevertheless, it will
be welcomed with excessive satisfaction by all who
are interested in the destruction of legislative cliques
and factions, and are desirous not only of a perfect
emancipation in commerce, but of a perfect eman-
cipation likewise in political circles. Such an inter-
change of encouragement between statesmen of such
peculiar eminence—when the national interests are
at hazard—is the most appropriate concomitant of
the enlightenment of the population upon the most
abstruse and difficult questions of political economy.
Considering the very advanced stage at which
the present session has arrived, it is earnestly
to be hoped that no unnecessary delays
may be opposed to the settlement of this
extraordinary question of the Sugar Duties. Until
some unfortunate evidence of vexatious obstruction
develops itself, we shall take it for granted that every
superfluous procrastination will be avoided on all
hands, as individually pernicious. We shall, unless
some decisive token is given to the contrary, look
upon Expedition as the principle adopted
by every Member of the House of Commons without
distinction. We shall cordially hope to see that
principle carried out systematically by all our repre-
sentatives.

Nor indeed can we discover any solid grounds for a
delay in the decision of the Legislature. They
are reasoning, not upon some abstract theory,
or metaphysical phantasm, but upon facts
as plain (to employ an old blunt phrase) as the nose
on their face. It is proposed that foreign slave-
labour sugar, now excluded from our ports by an ex-
orbitant duty of 635. per cwt., and foreign free-
labour sugar, now encumbered by a duty of 235. 4d.
per cwt., be imported into this country at gradually
decreasing duties, which after five years have
elapsed shall be synonymous with those levied upon
the produce of our British possessions, viz. 14s. per
cwt. And this proposition is made because—our co-
lonies have shown themselves incapable of supplying
the demands of the mother country ; because—these
restrictions piss very heavily upon our domestic
population ; because—this unnatural monopoly
entails no recognisable benefit upon our possessions;
because—by the rejection of foreign slave-labour
sugar, we deprive ourselves of a sure and extensive
market for our manufactures, and by so doing,
prevent many thousands of the industrious
poor from obtaining employment ; and because,
moreover, all these extortionate imposts are
being constantly evaded to the advantage of
individual merchants and the detriment of the
British people. Firstly, it is manifest that our co-
lonies since the Emancipation Act have shown them-
selves incapable of satisfying the demands of the home
market, as in 1831 the British West India Islands
exported to the United Kingdom 4,103,800
cwts. of sugar, while in 1842 only 2,508,910
cwts. were exported from those possessions.
Secondly, that these restrictions are a grievous
burden on the community, is too indisputable
to require any precise exposition. Thirdly,
that no proportionate benefit is entailed by such pro-
tective duties upon our colonial planters, is shown by
their own arguments ; for example, the Hon. GRANT-
LET BERKELEY, in his letter to Lord J. RUSSELL, de-
clares that his estates in Berbice return no income,
but, on the contrary, entail a heavy expense upon
him yearly—consequently what possible advantages
can he be said to derive from the existing system ?
Fourthly, that customers are driven away from our
manufactories by the refusal of foreign slave-
labour sugar, is one of those self-evident propositions,
founded on one of the elementary principles of political
economy. And, fifthly, that these restrictions are
evaded by the circuitous journeys taken by the ob-
noxious sugar to Hamburgh and elsewhere, previous
to their insinuation into the English markets, is a
fact now absolutely notorious. Those reasons,
together with the grander ones against the protec-
tive system generally, as unnatural and unjust,
are the reasons upon which it is proposed by the pre-
sent Government to abolish the differential sugar duties
henceforth. We have accumulated them together at
the risk of repetition, and in defiance of all tautology,
because we were desirous, once for all, of putting the
question candidly and explicitly. Such is the measure
which on Monday evening will be submitted to the
decision of our legislators. We await that decision
without the slightest trepidation, confident of the
ulterior triumph of free-trade principles in every de-
partment of commerce and in every quarter of the
globe.

We have received many communications respecting
the late military flogging at Hounslow, and on the
system in general, some of them from persons who
are manifestly well acquainted with the subject, and
whose observations are based on experience. A cor-
respondent, who states that he was formerly a light
cavalry officer for several years, and that he has wit-
nessed a great deal of corporeal punishment inflicted on
soldiers, says that he invariably noticed that it took effect
on the chest, that weak or consumptive men suffered
a great deal more than others, and that the wounds
on the back were invariably small compared to the
internal suffering. We can easily give full credence
to this statement ; the symptoms exhibited by the '
unfortunate victim will prove its truth: it is further
confirmed by those related hy MATTHEWSON, who, in
his sworn evidence, stated "that he had great
pain in his side the next morning, and dif-
ficulty of breathing, attended with pain ; that
three or four days afterwards the pain
lift his chest and came to the sides. It would some-
tinir,s leave for two or three hours, and then come
back again ; that he felt it still in the evenings when
he lay down and drew breath ; that it felt as if some-
thing was running into his sides." And we doubt
not that a similar injury would be found to have been
sustained in almost every instance in which
the . lash was inflicted under the auspice'
and, inspection of so thorough an amateur as Colonel
A RITE, by such experienced and practised operators
as farriers " CRITTEN" and "EVANB."

It is impossible to give adequate expression to the
intense feeling excited in the public mind by the un-
fortunate transaction. Our brethren of the press
have taken up the subject, upon which we,
in the first instance, commented; and indig-
nant remarks are circulated through the country,
exposing the atrocity of the vitem, its

THE SUN,

rious effects on our gallant soldiers, and the deep in-
justice and cruelty of such an abominable and nefa-
rious mode of punishment being any longer sanctioned
or tolerated. We cannot permit ourselves to doubt the
success of the efforts which must take place for its
suppression. It is a just and holy cause,
deserving of the advocacy and support of Christian
men, to banish such a stain and disgrace from their
Christian country. There is an ample fund of bene-
volence in the British dominions ; all that is required
to call forth the warmest sympathy, the most active
exertions, is to point out the manner in which such
exertions may be beneficially applied, by which the
condition of our fellow-creatures, our brethren, of any
class, may be ameliorated and improved. Magna est
yeritas et pravalebit. Truth must prevail, if the sub-
ject is kept constantly before the public, and the
arms of truth, reason and justice, are not suffered to
rust and lie idle. We have had a glorious instance
this very year of the result of such a
peaceful agitation, and a constant and unceasing
use of such arms. The small body of men, meeting in
their back room in Manchester, determined on a
course to be pursued, a line of conduct to be adopted,
which in seven years led to a moral revolution, the
good effects of which will be hailed and blessed by
grateful millions. We have seen them over-
come a mighty party, a powerful aristo-
cracy, who found it impossible to check
or stay their irresistible progress : the peo-
ple willed it, and it became the law of the
land ; the firm, but temperate, demand for justice in-
sured its victory, its success. Let not the example
be thrown away. What has once been achieved
may, through similar exertions and similar influences,
again be attained. Can there be a more glorious
banner to fight under—a cause which should more
loudly demand the assistance of philanthropists of all
classes, than the emancipation of our military and naval
brethren from the degrading and brutalising cat ?
Many valuable benevolent societies exist—there is
room for another. Let the Society for the total and en-
tire Abolition of Corporeal Punishment in the Army
and Navy of Great Britain be called into existence—let
the friends of the soldier and sailor bestir themselves—
let their exertions be directed to the great object
of ameliorating the condition of the man who has
devoted himself to the service of his country in either
branch. Let his social condition be improved, afford
him the blessing of education, train and cultivate his
mind so that it may be acted on and influenced by
other and higher motives than the base one
of fear. But, above all, let the vile scourge
be banished and set aside ; let him know that
he can no longer be treated as a brute in a manner
repugnant to every honourable and manly feeling,
and you will go far to remove that state of feeling on
his part which could alone make the lash useful. Mar-
tinets and petit-maitres, who enter the army for the
purpose of " playing at soldiers," must no longer
be suffered to exhibit their tyrannical tricks, to
break the spirit and destroy the moral feelings
of the gallant soldier, the high-spirited young man
who enters into the service of his country with a
bounding heart and glowing aspirations, but whose
romance is soon banished, and self-respect destroyed,
when brought to the triangles for some fancied dis-
respect, or some trifling petulance, into which he is
betrayed by the taunts and irritations of some striped
scoundrel. It may be asked, how is all this
to be done ? The matter is simple and easy.
Let every case of flogging in the army or
navy be fully inquired into and laid before
the public in all its disgusting details. Let it be cir-
culated through the length and breadth of the land,
through every part of the kingdom, and the public
attention thoroughly attracted thereto. Let the
fallacies and errors of those who assert that
discipline cannot be maintained without its
continuance be combated and exposed, if neces-
sary. Let lecturers and missionaries go through all
parts of the kingdom to expose the enormities of the
system ; and at each election, which may take place
throughout the country, let every Christian philan-
thropist, every conscientious opponent of the lash,
demand a pledge from the candidate before he
will give him his vote, that he will exert
himself to abate the nuisance, that he will
vote for the suppression of this atrocious practice.
The moment the first meeting of such a society takes
place, nay, when a dozen intelligent, energetic and
zealous men, assemble together, forming its nucleus,
that instant the death-blow is given to the grievance—
its days are numbered; nay, the existence of such a
society, the certainty that there are persons who
will inquire into and expose every case of
tyranny and injustice, will do much to abate
the energy of the carpet knights, the heroes of the
drawing-room, who think that they exhibit their
military prowess by torturing those who have the
misfortune to be placed under their command. Look
to the mysterious silence that is observed, the pro-
found secresy kept up in every case. How many of
the 2,000 English sailors who, in the year 1839 were
flogged without the form of a court-martial, or in-
vestigation, perhaps without being heard in their own
defence, made their wrongs known to the public ?
Could it have been supposed, that 1,200 sailors, in the
year 1845, were so punished, until we heard it in
Parliament. Were the tenth part of the cases laid
before the public, without note or comment, but in
the simplest language, it would be impossible to re-
strain the flood of indignation that would be excited.
We trust that something will be done, and speedily.
Our humble exertions shall not be wanting on their
behalf, and sincerely do we hope that ere another
year closes we may congratulate the British public
on the removal of the stain on the British name, the
blot on the escutcheon of British policy.

The Commission appointed by the States of the
Grand Duchy of Baden, to consider a project pre-
sented to them by a Deputy, on the subject of the
liberty of the Press, have made the following re-
port:—
" The Chamber Is requested to present an address to the
Grand Duke, entreating him to give instructions to his En-
th
i.e3thad:tel at
il Germanarttalch;,:anotwfvheetf u:rteeintohn:
e.rDeoslfi
sie.b,rtle,hBcrtejoyn7E: ceotairyhtbeeelet
iweentlitcsiaGlseebt to
eiln
amdnng flB oeeeyfaen,lettatrhhroaeeefl
ssetroelnsirstAree-
u
of
Grand Duchy will no longer submit to such a provi-
sional state of things, and will regard it its duty to
adhere to the laws on the press of the 28th December,
1831, abrogated by a decree of the Bth July, 1841. Mean-
while aff restrictions are to cease as regards the internal
affairs of the Grand Duchy and the other German states.
The act of censorship is to be reduced to a legal and simple
system, according to Art 5 of the Grand-Ducal Ordonnance
of the 28th of July, 1832. In consequence, the censors can-
not prohibit the publication of articles which are not con-
trary to the peace and tranquillity of Germany."
A law has just been published at Berlin, by which
foreigners, or foreign companies, cannot acquire landed
property, without the special permission of the Prus-
sian Government. 'Without such permission any
such transactions will be regarded as null and void.
The law bears the date of the 4th July, 1846, and is
signed by the KING and the Ministers.

The German Journal of Frankfort, of the 20th,
states from Rome that the Austrian squadron, off
Ancona, was to leave almost immediately, the EM-
PEROR having granted a request to this effect made
by the Porn. The squadron is, however, to cruise
on the coast, to prevent the possibility of any land-
ing of political refugees from Malta and the lonian
Islands.

The King and Queen of SwzDari arrived at Co-
penhagen on the 14th.
We announced a short time since that the King of
DENMARK had nominated M. GuizoT a Knight of the
Order of the Elephant. The Copenhagen journals, in
allusion to this nomination, observe that it is the first
and only time that this honour has been conferred on
a man not of noble birth. The insignia of the Order
of the Elephant have always been considered as the
highest mark of distinction in Denmark. It was
created towards the end of the fifteenth century, and
the statutes fix the number of knights at twenty, ex-
clusive of those who are members of reigning families ;
and the Kings of Denmark have always been so spar-
ing of this decoration, that the legal number has
never been attained. The present number of knights
amounts to 17, exclusive of Princes of Sovereign
Houses.
ink
Madrid papers to the 17th have arrived.

The Espana publishes a letter from Coimbra, of
the 7th instant, giving a detailed account of the cir-
cumstances attending the pronunciarniento in that town
against the PALMELLA Ministry. The following is
an extract from this letter :
_

" A short time after his arriYal in this town, M. Fonseca
MagaHue/paid a 'visit to some of the members of the junta,
te .1`;l0 a e known the object of ha minion; but they