The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-26 00:00:00

THE SUN,

that the general and determined resistance offered in
1848 to his proposition for the increase of the charge
from V. 18s. 4d. to 51., or from 7d. to is. in the
pound, was occasioned by a dislike to the impost
itself, and a preference fogindirect rather than for direct
taxation. He wilfully iised his eyes to the actual
state of affairs, and chose \it ascribe his own decisive
and humiliating discomfiture to a cause which a
moment's consideration might have shown him was
not the true one. He yielded, because in that year of
revolutions he could not venture to disregard the
voice of public opinion, or to treat it with the con-
temptuous indifference which he had previously, and
has on many occasions subsequently exhibited. But
" He who complies against his will,
Is of the same opinion still.
The Minister of Finance was conquered, not con-
vinced ; he clung obstinately to his cherished delusion,
and if he were influenced by any consideration or
reason whatsoever in forming the " conclusion " at
which he arrived, if it were not a mere chance,
like the haphazard move of a child in playing
with the pieces at chess, although understanding
nothing of the combinations at which he should aim
_it was his defeat in 1848 that increased his obsti-
nacy in 1851, and rendered it invincible.
Once more, we tell Sir CHARLES WOOD, that the
true causes of the opposition to the increase of the
impost were-Ist, that the necessity for such an in-
crease, or for any addition of any kind or description
to the
innaotoimonea,lobveunrdaetnst,hawtasperod
not, rwecaosganmisepdly. The
suffi-
cientfor the public expenditure, if due eeonomy were
exercised and the wanton and profligate extravagance
that had, prevailed in some of the departments
decisively discouraged. 2dly. The atrocious injustice
of the existingsystem had even then deeply exasperated
the people. Active steps were taken to prevent any
addition to the charge unless an equitable adjustment

were at the same time entered into. Meetings were
. _

held in all parts of the country, at which the argu-
ments of the various speakers were directed against
the gross impropriety, the crying grievance, of
equally assessing all descriptions of incomes, no mat-
ter how obtained or from what sources de-
rived. Few objected to a property-tax, if it
were required for the liquidation of the national lia-
bilities or the maintenance of the national
establishments, but they believed that it was not essen-
tial to the well-being of the country, and that the re-
fusal to sanction it would have a very salutary effect ;
and even if it could not be done without, it should be
materially modified before it could receive any further
confirmation that could give it additional strength or
stability.
Sir CHARLES WOOD, has, however, totally disre-
garded these obvious considerations; the greater por-
tion of his speech in introducing " the precious Budget"
was directed to prove the superiority of direct taxa-
tion, and the advantages of the income-tax, but there
was no argument to show that the present arrangement
was just or equitable, or that the party who earns 3001.
per annum, by excessive and health-destroying la-
bour, mental or bodily—or who acquires it by a pre-
carious speculation, in which his entire capital is
risked—is in as good a position as the owner of
10,0001. in the Three per Cents. or of 3001. a year
from ground-rents payable out of property of ten
times the value. That might have been rather a
difficult task, and the Right Hon. Baronet altogether
passed it by on the first occasion ; and even on in-
troducing the amended Budget he merely con-
descended to say that be " had considered the matter,
read various publications respecting it, and had
ARRIVED AT THE CONCLUSION," &C., &C.

It would really seem as if he thought his fame and
character as a financier were so high that his unsup-
ported opinion should remove all objections; that
the mere •announcement of his decision should operate
as an argument= ad verecundiam that should instantly
silence all opponents. But in this respect he has
reckoned without his host. Although he may con-
trive for a time to evade the real point in dispute, it

will eventually be forced on his attention, and on the
attention of the Legislature in a mode that cannot be
misunderstood or avoided. Within a few days the
topic must be decided, so far as the present Parlia-
ment is concerned. Even in the House of Commons
it will be brought forward and fully discussed.
There will be a division, and the lists of the absen-
, tees and voters in the majority and minority will be
closely scrutinised at the approaching general
election, which may not be so very far distant as
some persons desire to believe. If the problem do
not receive a fitting solution in Parliament, it will
be placed in the way of adjustment on
the hustivs. The final reformers possess
considerable power, and if they only please to exer-

cise it they may materially influence the various con.

stitnencies at the forthcoming contests. We have for
some time endeavoured to stimulate them into acti-

vity, and if our exertions have not been altogether
successful, if the atrocious system is to be continued
in its present monstrous form for a further teim, it

will not be through any default of ours, but rather
through the carelessness and apathy of those who
might, but would not, have provided a suitable
remedy. But this apathy will be shaken off, and if
so powerful an incentive to activity be added, as the
revival of Schedule D, without any modification, we
venture to affirm that the result will be a change in
the condition of parties that will astound Whig and
Tory.

The liberal portion of the constituency of Bristol,
and the liberal Member for that city, Mr. HENRY
BERKELEY, have set an example which it would be
well that other liberal constituencies and other liberal
Members should follow. The constituency during the
course of the last winter invited their Member to de-
liver a lecture to them on the subject of the ballot, of
which he is now the leading advocate in Parliament ;
the invitation was accepted, and on Monday evening
a meeting was held, at which the lecture was deli-
vered. We are rejoiced to find that the thoughtful
portion of our large constituencies still con-
tinue of opinion that the ballot is the
most important of all the measures of' re-
form that can be proposed. Ardently as we
desire to see an extension of the suffrage, we still
more ardently desire to see the protection of the
ballot given to the exerciser of that suffrage, con-
vinced that, while an extension of the suffrage with-
out the ballot would be a reform in name rather than
in fact, inasmuch as those to whom it would be in
that case extended would in many instances refuse to
exercise it lest they should subject themselves to
mob vengeance on the one hand, or to landlord ven-
geance on the other, the enactment of the ballot
would practically extend the suffrage in a much
greater degree than even the enactment of household
suffrage without the ballot could possibly extend it ;
and as a proof of this we adduce the evidence
of Mr. MUNTZ, who stated in his place in Parliament
that, in the borough of Birmingham alone, a thousand
persons possessed of the franchise had refused to ex-
ercise it, because it would injure their prospects.
The opponents of the baliot reply, that the voter
should cast all personal considerations aside,
and boldly record his vote, albeit at the
e t of considerable personal sacrifice. The
fallacy and
the impudent wickedness of such an
argument ;
transparent,' more especially when we
find that " the bulliepolitics," as they are pro-
perly designated 'by the Honourable Member for
s,o
Bristol, who use it are the very men who in their
clubs and reunions invariably themselves claim the
protection of the ballot as a defence against the bul-
lies of society ; but what do these gentlemen say to
the case of Mr. CHABililia
"IN, the inventor of
the ballot machine which is to be exhibited at
the Crystal Palace ? Mr. enAm RERLAIN
is, as
's
Now
surely, although t
Mr. .HENRY BERKELEY stated in his lecture
on Thursday, the son of an hotel-keeper at St. Leo.
n'
h(.7
he
uhualsd neverinjure
daredhihis
fa
father's
r
interests.eeereie his fran-
chise"ard'es bullies of politics" m
Tth and
e
Je
may sneer
at the man who abstains from voting out of regard to
his own personal interest, they cannot but admit
that no man has a right to jeopardize the interests of
others, and that in cases such as that of Mr. CHAMBER-
LAIN, the protection of the ballot is essentially called
for. To the electors in esse or in posse the ballot is
the one thing needful, without which every
other electoral reform is a " mockery, a
delusion, and a snare ;" but those same elec-
tors must, at the same time, thoroughly
understand that
is only by their own exertions they
can obtain that
protection. All men who pos-
seas and exercise undue influence, whether as

landlords or customers, or demagogues or
priests, are in their heart opposed to the
ballot, and at this moment the leaders of all par-
ties are trailing red herrings in all directions in order
to draw the constituencies off the scent of the ballot.
The organs of all the great party leaders in the press—
Tories, Whigs, Radicals, and Chartists—either op-
pose the ballot, or in professing to give it a hollow
and an unwilling support,
Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And though not sneering, teach the rest to sneer."
To themselves, and themselves alone, must the elec-
tors trust for the protection of the ballot, and in the
House of Commons they should trust none but men
who, like Mr. H. BERKELEY, are quite independent of
party. The introduction of the ballot would be a death
blow to all illegitimate influences : the rich man would
no longer be able to bribe, because he could never as-
certain whether or not he had had his quid pro
quo ; the tyrant landlord and the tyrant cus-
tomer would be no longer able to intimidate,
nor the priest to denounce ; therefore the corrupt
and the tyrannical of all parties will oppose the
ballot by every means in their power, and as among
the leaders of every party the corrupt and the tyran-
nical are to be found, it is useless to look to them for
assistance. The electors must, themselves, achieve
their own emancipation, and they have it in their
power to do so whensoever they may be so minded.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
The National Assembly met on Thursday, and
rejected, by a majority of 403 to 226, the proposition
of M. PASCAL DUPRAT for authorizing the sale in
the street of all public journals. The Western Rail-
way Bill was read a first time.
The following feeler appears in the Constitutionnel,
in the shape of a letter addressed to the editor :
" I am neither Legitimatist, nor Orleanist, nor Bona-
partist, and, I might even add, nor Republican; by
which I mean to say that lam no party man. lam an
iron-master; I manufacture iron, and I wish to sell it.
I employ a number of workmen, and I hope that the
times will not become so bad as to compel me to dis-
charge and see them die from starvation, for I have been
a workman myself, and have witnessed their misery. I
belong to that party which can give order and restore
confidence. I ask you, therefore, whether .a Government
which is renewed every four years, and which is the beau
ideal of instability, can suit the country? Are you
aware, sir, that already business is at a stand, that all
credit, all speculation, and all orders are suspended, and
that in a short time the whole commerce of France will
by paralysed? It will be impossible that: such a state of
things can continue for a year without our poor country
falling under it. Here we comprehend nothing of the
'policy which is carried' on in Paris; we ask ourselves
why a President and a majority devoted to the cause of
order cannot come to an understanding as to the means
of getting out of this embarrassment. In reply we are
told that the Constitution is opposed to it, and that if, in
order to save the country, the majority and the Presi-
dent in accord should submit to the ratifi-
cation of the people more stable institutions,
it would be considered as a political crime ! By
whom ? By the people who would be the judges of
it ? That cannot be serious. What ! the simple
majority may suppress taxes, decree the right to labour,
declare war, ruin the country, and cause the greatest
misfortunes to the people, and yet that same majority
would not have the power to restore peace and employ-
ment to the people ; and that because, in 1848 a certain
number of unknown men and chance legislators con-
sidered themselves to have a right to bin 4 the future fate
of France, by a form of election which left not the
slightest option to the people I Excuse the expression,
but this was par trop bete, end I doubt whether any two
members of the Constituent Assembly can look at each
other without laughing. It would be really curious to
see the demagogical party which has never respected
anything, and which has overthrown all Governments,
now set itself up as the apostles of legality, and oppose it-
self to an appeal to the nation, after having always pro-
claimed that all rights were summed up in the sovereignty
of the people. God alone knows how we shall be got
out of this mess, and guilty will they be who, if they
have the power, do not make use of it. The country,
will severely condemn them. In the name of the work-
ing classes, I declare that this state of marasmus cannot
be prolonged without incalculable evils. Industry and
commerce cannot thus duo up their sails or lie-to for a
year without the most serious consequences; some reso-
lution must, therefore, be come to as quickly as possi-
ble to get us out of this state of uncertainty. It is be-
cause you have taken up the defence of the popular in-
terests with so much intelligence and vigour that I take
the liberty of submitting to you these reflections, autho-
rising you to make what use you please of them. Now,
sir, you will, perhaps, ask me: But what is your solu-
tion ? It is very simple ; it is that the Assem-
bly should immediately prolong the powers of the
President of the Republic to ten years ; that it
'should reform some absurd and weak points in
our institutions, and submit the whole to the rati-
fication of the people. We should then have the future
before us, work would again revive, and we should all
be saved. In this case you will tell me lam a Bona-
partist—but that is not the case. The cause and the
person are indifferent to me, although I render every,
Justice to the President. The great affair is that he is
now in office, and thus half of the work is done; it is
more easy to maintain him there than to replace him.
In short, sir, my principal reason is this—lf I were to
assemble the workmen and the peasants, the real people,
as they are sometimes called, and were to begin crying
Vive Henri V.,' or Viva le Comte de Paris,' they
would be angry, or remain silent; but if I cried ‘Vive
Napoleon,' they would join in it. Some might cry
Vive la Sociale,' but the great majority would join in
my cry.' This is the only name which has yet found an
echo in the masses. Let the great politicians of Paris
themselves- draw the conclusion from this. Accept,
Monsieur, the assurance of my distinguished conside-
ration, "ANTOINE MOREL, Ironmaster."
All the journals, except those immediately con-
nected with the Elysee, express great indignation at
the demand made by the Minister of War for a
credit of 245,833 francs for Marshal JEROME BONA-
PARTE, being the amount of the half-pay of a general
of division, from the Ist of January, 1816, to the time
that he was replaced on the Army list in 1848. The
Siècle says—
"M. Jtirome Bonaparte was proscribed ; France,
emancipated by the Revolution of 1848, opened her
gates to him ; she made his nephew President of the
Republic; he, in his turn, raised M. J6rome Bonaparte
to the dignity of Marshal of France, with a double
salary of 70,000 francs a-year. But M. Jerome Bona-
parte is not satisfied; he forgets the deplorable state of
our finances; he forgets that the Republic treated him
as a spoiled child; and the Ministry slips secretly into a
Bill a demand of 245,833 francs for him. If M. Jerome
Bonaparte were in the position of the general officers
who were proscribed after the Hundred Days, when
the law of the 4th of May, 1834, restored them the
pay of which they had been deprived during the
Restoration, we could understand the demand. But
M. Jirome Bonaparte receives the salary of Marshal
of France ; he is Governor of the Invalides ; and it
is in this position, unhoped for by him, that he wishes
to levy on the mass of tax-payers, who are already so
poor, an impost of about 250,000 f. The Emperor, when
alive, would•never have permitted one of his brothers to
prey on the budget of France in such a way. If only
out of respect for the memory of bis brother, M. Jerome
Bonaparte ought to have abstained. It is now the turn
of M. Lucien Murat ! How many millions does he
want ?"
The Opinion Publique, on the same subject, says:—
" This claim appears to us to have been kept back too
long, and to be very humble if it is founded on right,
and very inopportune if it is only the prelude to other
more important Napoleonian claims of which much has
been said in the public press. We might have a better
right than anybody to object to this exceptional demand
of credits; we, who victims of political laws of circum-
stance, have heard the Minister of War promise, as a
charity, a small portion of what he demands as a right
for the uncle of the President of the Republic. We
prefer abstaining. Between the opposition of the Mi-
nister to the taking into consideration the proposition of
MM. La Broise and La Rochejaquelein, and his demand
in favour of the ex-King of Westphalia, public opinion
will decide."
At the last sitting of the Parliamentary Club of the
Rue des Pyramides, M. DE BROGLIE in the chair, it
was decided that the members should give their firm
support to the Government on all the subjects now
down on the order of the day for discussion. After
the sitting, the greatest part of the gentlemen present
went to the receptions of the Ministers of the Interior
and of Public Instruction.
It is in contemplation, says the Debuts, to send the
band of the 9th Dragoons to London, during the Ex-
hibition,
,as a specimen of the military music of
France. M. SAX, who is the manufacturer of the
greater number of the musical instruments used by
such bands, was the first to originate the idea, and
has made an application to the Minister of War
on the subject, which has been warmly supported
by M. C. DUPIN, the President of the French com
mittee.

The Toulonnais says—" We believe that we can
announce the appioaching departure from Brest for
the Mediterranean of the squadron under the orders
of Admiral' PARSEVAL. This departure is at present
fixed for the 25th of thin month." . _

There wts a large quantity cf money stock offered
for sale at the Bourse, sad prices declined. The Five
per Cents. opened et 911. 80c., and closed at 91f. 55c.
The Three. per Cents. closed at 56f. 70c. ; Orleans
Railroad Shares, 827 f. 50c.; Bolton, 628 f. 75c ; Havre,
291:. ; Great Northern, 4721. 50c. ; Avignon, 2051.;
‘7O
!•a)n, 435 f.; Basle, 1421: 50c.; Bordeaux, 4001.;
Paris and Strasburg, 3671. 50c. ; Tours and Nantes,
2761. 25c.

IsaithESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, APRIL 25.
Bonlngne and Amiens, 934
and V Central of France (Orleans
bour ierzon), 17% ex div.— East Indian, 15 I—Luxem-
gt3A—Namnr and Liege, 8 % —Northern of France, 14%
—Paris and Rouen, 24)6—Paris and Strasbourg, 103,4—
Rouen and Havre, 10% ex div.—Sambre and Meuse, 3%
Tours and Nantes, 6.

_ _______,......
PORTLAND BREAKWATER.--The staging is now
carried out 1,150 feet from the shore, and the deposit of stone
about 1,100 feet. On t.he. average, 1,200 tons of stone are
daily quarried, and a similar quantity deposited.