The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

disbursements. Bearing in mind, moreover, the cir-
cumstance that the moseys expended by us upon the
last Kafir war exactly reached the " total" of the
surplus now irrithe hands of the Right Hon. the
Chancellor ,pf the Exchequer, the news of a fresh
outbreak comes in the nick of time to damp the fer-
vour of our exultation at that rather unexpected ad-
vantage. It is, therefore, with feelings of genuine
chagrin that the information brought to us from
the Cape of Good Hope is commented upon by
the British journalist. Altogether, the intelli-
gence comes at such an unlucky moment—at a mo-
ment so peculiarly embarrassing—that we must
acknowledge ourselves to be naturally predisposed to
find fault with the line of policy pursued in recent
events by the local Government. Prejudiced against
them as we may be in this manner, it must never-
theless be avowed with all candour and emphasis that
even the most sinister suspicion fails to detect in their
conduct anything really or even apparently reprehen-
sible. The whole of the late bloodshed seems to be
attributable solely to the treachery of the savage
tribes, their antagonists. To dignify the proceedings
of the Kafirs by the title of diplomatic contrivances,
is nothing less monstrous or less extravagant than to
surround burglary and assassination with the attri-
butes of heroism. In every particular the Katirs have
acted not with wily forethought, but with the most
dastardly cunning. They hare found themselves con-
quered by the English, and, after binding themselves
to amity by the most solemn engagements, have seized
the very earliest opportunity to wreak a villanous and
execrable vengeance. They have shown that while
grasping the hands of the colonists with all the osten-
sible sincerity of reconciliation they were actually
cherishing in their hearts thoughts of the most ac-
cursed hatred, of the most odious revenge, of the
most implacable and fiendish turpitude.
Scarcely three days had elapsed after the confer-
ence between the English Governor and the chiefs of
the Kafirs, at which conference the latter consented,
with all seeming friendliness, to receive from the
former his appointment of a new sovereign, when
the weapons of war were again brandished, and the
surrounding country again devoted to the horrors of
massacre and conflagration. SANDILLI, their former
monarch, had been formally deposed. His successor
had been as formally nominated, and the nomination
of the new potentate had been submissively and even
eagerly recognized. Yet the local rulers of the
English colony had hardly been allowed sufficient
time to appreciate the benefit accruing from these
arrangements, when their hopes of a permanent paci-
fication were dissipated by the sound of another and
a more barbarous assault than any they had already
experienced. This attack, made in the first instance
upon an isolated detachment under the command of
Colonel MACKINNON, and shortly afterwards extended
further along the frontier, led to the killing and
wounding of three officers and sixteen men, to the
seizure of three villages, and to the butchering
of the inhabitants, amounting altogether to
about seventy individuals. Five days after
the co:nmencement of these atrocities, namely, on
the 29th of December, Colonel SOMERSET appears to
have been violently driven back at the moment when
he was striving to effect an union between his own
troops and those stationed at an advanced post en-
titled Fort Cox, under the authority of Sir HARRY
SMITH himself, the Governor of the colony. En-
trapped, as it were, in this perilous predicament, Sir
HARRY nevertheless contrived to extricate him-
self and his forces from every immediate difficulty,
cutting his way boldly through the insurgent Kafirs,
who endeavoured to impede his movements,
and ultimately establishing the main portion
of his little army in a position of at
least comparative security. After the accom-
plishment of this preliminary enterprise, the veteran
Governor issued a stirring proclamation to the colo-
nists, calling upon them, in the strongest terms
imaginable, to arm themselves and rise en masse in
defence of their possessions. Further than this ac-
counts do not proceed, so that we are left to conjecture
yet awhile the nature of the response made by
the people of the Cape to this energetic adjuration.
Of the ulterior result of the whole movement no
doubt whatever can, of course, be for one instant en-
tertained. Our only anxiety is in reference to the
probable rapidity of the triumph to be obtained over
the treacherous assailants of the colony. Upon this
subject it is impossible not to be peculiarly solicitous,
remembering the proofs already afforded us, and pre-
viously adverted to, of the costliness of warfare in
the provinces of Southern Africa. The recollected
payment of 2,000,0001. upon one item of this cha-
racter is a fact not likely to inspire any
nation with sentiments of indifference. Eng-
land must, consequently, look with some real
anxiety to the next dispatches to be received from
the Cape of Good Hope. Under any circumstances
it will remain to be decided whether the mo-
ther country will be required to pay any-
thing whatever towards the liquidation of
the expense of the new conflict —• now
that the Imperial Parliament has granted
to the colonists the supreme rights of self-govern-
ment. With the acceptance of those rights it re-
mains to be resolved whether the population at the
Cape have not assumed to themselves the responsi•
Hides, and with the responsibilities the support of
their own Administration.

Implicit reliance is placed in the skill and valour of
the heroic Governor of the Cape Colonists. Hitherto
he has shown himself to be not only I.enient, but gene-
rous in his treatment of the Kafirs. He has now only
to display his vigour and hardihood in bringing
down upon their heads a sudden and terrible
retribution. England has confidence that in
doing this Sir HARRY SMITH will draw
out of existing difficulties a long-desired and per-
manent pacification. Her confidence in him will
not be misplaced, for he has demonstrated by his
past achievements his right to the enjoyment of his
high and brilliant reputation.

If the British nation were animated by the spirit
of MARE TAPLEY, it would rejoice:at the resumption
of office by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. That
tax-payer who could remain ",jolly" with Sir
CHARLES WOOD at the head of the financial depart-
ment, and enabled to carry out all his " financial
crotchets" and all his "financia/ schemes," would in-
deed be entitled to no ordinary amount of credit.
He would exhibit his power of "coming out strong
under untoward circumstances," in the most brilliant
point of view, and as a model of exemplary patience,
he might hope that his name would become " a house-
hold word," until it even superseded that of the hero of
the " most ancient epic," that still survives the lapse of
years. It would be difficult, perhaps, to construct a
Budget which should in every respect so completely
disappoint the reasonable expectations of the people as
the " PRECIOUS" production which chiefly led to the
jesignation of the Government, and occasioned the
Itlinisterial crisis that has wasted a full fortnight of
the public time during the most valuable part of the
session. The best mode of misapplying a handsome
surplus of two and a half millions of pounds sterling
was a problem which Sir CHARLES WOOD must have
studied with uncommon assiduity before he
could have accomplished so admirable a solution
of the principar features were
perfect in e
h ta e r
wa
questio.y Its
;andwhether we look to the
v their
pretended abolition of the window duties, " two-
thirds of the impost being retained under another
name," a new class being brought under the impost,
which had previously been exempted, or to the cool-
ness with which he had come to the conclusion" that
the precarious earnings of industry should be rated as
highly as the rents or dividends of accumulated and
realized property, or to the unction with which he
spoke of the 2,330,0001. which he had paid out of
the national debt, hoped to liquidate as much
more during the present year, and proposed to
continue various oppressive and inequitable taxes that
paralyze industry, for the purpose of satisfying the
holders of Three per Cents. at par,—we must con-
fess that he has exhibited a degree of " sharpness, of
Carnation sharpness," that might put SCADD ER
himself to the blush. There is, however, some dif-
ference as to the result. SCADDER succeeded in ob-
taining theinvestment of British capital in the
swamp at Eden ; be was not found out until
his object had been achieved, and CHUTZLEWIT
and Co. completely
ent solemnity, he could not
defrauded. But although
the SCADDER of Downing-street brought forward
the numerous co's. who, in
the shape
his scheme with sufficient
keep his "brig ht eye on
of independent journals, watched over the

interest of their senior partneL—the public. His
project had, therefore, scarcely bAn broached when it
was greeted with one universal shout of derision that
reverberated throughout the length and breadth of
the land. He was detected in:time, before he could
afford to smile at the indignation he had excited, and
some new project must be devised before the feelings
he has aroused can be allayed, or any proposition to
which he is a party can be received without suspicion.
Perhaps, taking everything into consideration, the
proposition for maintaining the most annoying taxes
on knowledge, cleanliness, and a variety of others
almost equally objectionable, for the purpose of pay-
ing off the debt at par, or buying up Consols at 96t,
97, was, under the present circumstances of the
country, even worse than the palpable dodge re-
specting the window-duties, or the open and bare-
faced injustice with regard to the income-tax.
The enormous appreciation in the value of money,
to which we have repeatedly alluded, which
has made one pound at the present day
go as far as two pounds would have done
when the debt was contracted, or, in other words,
more than doubled its purchasing power, compelling
the debtors to give double the quantity of corn, or
almost any other commodity, or double labour, in
order to satisfy the same nominal charge, would appear
to have given a sufficient advantage to the fundholder
without any further and more perceptible movement
in his favour. But something more was to be
done—the last straw had not been heaped on the
back of the patient and long-suffering ani-
mal, that permitted himself to be ridden
almost to death by his various tax-masters. IVe
hear a great deal of " justice to the public creditor,"
but what is said of " justice to the public debtor ?"
The " equities of the fundholder" is reiterated usque
ad nauseam, but who alludes to the " equities of the
nation" to be allowed to liquidate its liabilities fully,
fairly, and honourably, but without extravagance ?
We wish to pay 20s. in the pound to the representa-
tives of those who advanced money in periods of
emergency, but we object to pay 60s. or 80s.,
although we believe no code, human or divine,
has given to fathers the power of mort-
gaging the industry of their children to
provide for their own expenditure. We would not
avail ourselves of such a plea, we would render
justice to all without exception, we would throw
the burden of the debt on those who ought to bear it
—the inheritors or possessors of that property, for the
protection and improvement whereof it was created.
But we would not compel them to pay more than
they were fairly bound to satisfy, and we: are satis-
fied, if our views were fully and fairly carried
out, that, as in private, so in public affairs,
" honesty " would prove " the best policy."
It would, we have no doubt, be more bene-
ficial for the owners of property to relieve strug-
gling industry, even although an increase of direct
taxation was rendered necessary thereby, and far
more advantageous to the fundholders, to come to
an equitable arrangement with respect to the na-
tional debt before the patience of " the many " was
completely exhausted.

We have no doubt that these observations will pro-
voke the animosity of the moneyocracy, who wish not
merely to obtain their pound of flesh, but to draw a
quantity of blood in the operation, that may prove
fatal to the patients. We are, however, prepared to
show that, taking the money actually advanced, and
the changes in the value of that money by the ope-
rations on the currency, since the peace, that not
one-fourth part of the debt is fairly due, the remain-
ing three-fourths being the premiums given to the
cupidity of the usurers. A history of the national
debt, and the various operations connected therewith
(which we may be one day tempted to give to the
world), would prove the accuracy of this assertion.
As an example, we may refer to one of the latest
cases—the last, indeed, before the termination of the
war. In 1815, when we had an inconvertible note worth
13i., a loan of 36,000,000/. sterling was negotiated.
The terms on which this financial operation was car-
ried into execution were, that the subscriber of every
1001. payable in Bank of England notes, or about
65/. in gold coin, should receive 1741. Three
per Cent. Stock, and 101. Four per Cent. Stock,
or, iu other words, 1841. stock for every 6.51.
paid—nearly 60s. for every 903. advanced. This
was certainly rather a good bargain for the lenders,
although it might be considered as not exactly
equitable by the borrowers. It will, however, serve
as a tolerably fair illustration of the mode in which
the 601,500,343/. was added to the national debt
during the French war, and should not be forgotten
when it is proposed to apply the taxes on knowledge,
cleanliness, and industry, to the liquidation of that
debt. We shall soon know, however, whether it is
the intention of the new—old—Ministry to insist
obstinately on the most objectionable part of the
highly objectionable Budget, and be prepared to act
accordingly.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
Several of the reactionary journals urge upon the
PRESIDENT of the Republic the necessity of creating
General OUDINOT a Marshal of France, but the
National reminds them that General OUDINOT, being
a representative of the people, cannot, save by a fla-
grant violation of the Constitution, accept of any
military promotion.
The Slide has the following on the recent nomi-
nation of presidents and secretaries for the Bureaux
of the Assembly :
" There are no Republicans among the presidents and
secretaries just named in the bureaux of the Legislative
Assembly. Parties consider such a result natural and
just; but, in our opinion, it is simply unjust.
Parties thus show what they are; they even
thwart their own plans; for they perhaps exalt
those they seek to abase; for the whole nation has
seen the Royalists have recourse to the Republican
party whenever they wished to carry out the principles
of the Constitution and the laws. Who thinks of being
true, just, consistent, or popular in politics at the present
moment? The Royalist parties are wholly occ•apied with
toasts, letters, and retrospective opinions. They pre-
tend to feelgreat astonishment that on a motion for recall-
ing the Bourbon Princes, a revolutionary speech has been
delivered. Why did they not answer it by a vote in
favour of abolishing the laws of exile? Such would
have been the only serious and becoming answer, but they
could not resolve to make it. In the year 1823, when
Chateaubriand had been defending in the tribune the
principle of the famous Spanish war, Manuel came for-
ward to speak on the other side. In examining the ques-
tion as to whether the life of the King of Spain was
threatened, he said that it would oaly be endangered by
a foreign invasion, undertaken for his deliverance.
Similar circumstances,' said he, led to the death of
Louis XVI.; it was when the Prussians had entered
Champagne, and while the Austrians and Prussians were
hanging on the frontiers, and threatening the indern-
deuce of the territory—it was then that revolutionary
France, thinking to gain fresh energy
He Ras not suffered to complete the sentence; they
accused him of openly preaching up regicide, and
an accusation of provocation to regicides was
drawn up by M. Forbin-des-Issarts. The result is
known. Did the Royalists or royalty derive any advan-
tage from agitating the masses with Manuel's opinions.
Did they get anything by transforming Manuel's elec-
tors into regicides, ready to apply the principle to any
monarch whatever? At the present moment these same
blind passions fancy they have an interest in carica-
turing as terrors the advocates of the Republican insti-
tutions. The men who, a few months ago, went about
exclaiming that it was time to strike a decisive blow on
the occasion of the electoral law, now attribute their own
ideas to their opponents. There can be no terrorists
without somebody being terrified, and just now none are
disposed to play the parts of victims."
Marshal JEROME BONAPARTE, governor of the In-
yalides, and only surviving brother of the EMPEROR,
is confined to his bed by influenza.
M. DE MONTALEMBERT and the Jesuits, having:suc-
ceeded in destroying the University, and perverting
education, by placing it in the hands of the priests,
have now commenced a crusade against the fine arts,
and have actually proposed the destruction of the
façade of the Pantheon, the chef cf euvre of DAVID.
It is said that the Prince DE JoINvILLE will start as
a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic.
The Bourse was feeble and public securities declined
slightly. The Five per Cents, opened at 96f. 85c., and
closed at 96f. 70c.; the Three per Cents. closed at 57f.
80c.; the New Loan, at 96f. 50c.; Orleans &broad
Shares, 885 f.; Rouen, 647 f. 50c.; Great Northern, 476 f.
25c.; Avignon, 190 f.; Vierzon, 416 f. 25c.; Bitsle, 158 f:
75c.; Bordeaux, 395 f.; Paris and Strasburg, 367 f. 50c.;
Tours and Nantes, 255 f.
BUSINESS DUNE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Marten 6.
Boulogne and Amiens, 9/4—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 164—Luxembourg,
and
Liege,
81,4—Northern of France, 15—Orleans and Bordeaux, 4--
Paris and Strasbourg, 1041 ex div.—Rouen Havre,
—Tours and Nantes, 5%.