The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-15 00:00:00

the abolition of the Irish Viceroyalty, a measure in
our opinion eminently called for on every principle of
sound policy. The nobleman who at present so ably
administers the affairs of Ireland holds a most anoma-
lous position. He is not a member of the Cabinet, and
cannot initiate such measures as his statesmanlike
mind may consider necessary for the good government
and well-being of that country over whose destinies he
presides. He may, to be sure, suggest or recommend ;
but Cabinet Ministers do not always agree ; they
enjoy the privilege of differing, like other members
of the community, and any proposition submitted to
his brother Ministers by a member of the Ca-
binet, in reference to the department which
engages his peculiar care, must, if neces-
sary, be fully explained before it receives the sanction
of the Ministry. The Irish Viceroy labours under a
fatal disadvantage in this particular ; he cannot give
the weight of his presence, nor the immediate force of
his arguments to his propositions. The wisest and
soundest measures he might submit are liable
to be thwarted, or rendered nugatory, be-
hind his back, by, perhaps, the most feeble
member of the Cabinet. We have a Home, a Foreign,
a Colonial Secretary, but the "great difficulty "
Ireland—has no immediate representative in that
Council where all great measures of state policy are
considered and originated. _

The principle of centralization, now so much de-
cried in Ireland, if not stretched too far, we regard
as politically sound and wholesome. There are cer-
tain institutions which are obviously and of necessity
local—educational establishments, municipal corpora-
tions, courts of law ; institutions such as these are
essentially local and cannot be centralized ; with
these we would not interfere, but it is
quite different with that imperium in imperio—
the Irish Executive. The Executives of the
two islands should be centralized and consolidated.
The nearer the centre and source of power the whole
machinery by which a state is governed is placed
the more surely will it work harmoniously. Petty
intrigues and " back stairs' " whispers reach not the
centre. Faction may mar or baffle the best measures
of the wisest representative or provincial governor,
but can have little effect upon the concentrated wis-
dom of an empire.

There was a time when the distance between the
two countries might have been not unreasonably
used as an argument for a distinct and indepen-
dent Executive in Ireland. Mr. GEATTAN re-
ferred to the natural barriers between the two
islands as an argument against the Union.
These arguments can have weight no longer. Steam
has overcome all barriers, and has brought the two
countries within a distance sufficiently convenient for
all governmental purposes, while that winged mes-
senger, which, with more than the velocity of light,
can "waft a thought from Indus to the pole," has
brought them into immediate communication. There
exists no longer, then, any reason why Ireland
should continue to be governed as a province. Her
provincial Court and mock representation of royalty,
with all those puerile trivialities which require the
presence of the SOYEREIGN to render them respectable,
must be put an end to. It is high time to raise her
to an imperial station, and treat her as an integral
portion of this great empire.

A Contemporary has invented what, no doubt, he
considered an ingenious device to alarm the sensibili-
ties and prevent the independent press of England
from speaking out upon this subject. The silly
assertion that the Treasury intended to bribe the press
of this country, as an inducement to show up the
Castle of Dublin, for the purpose of carrying this
measure, is too absurd for serious refutation. Why,
the whole metropolitan press, with but few excep-
tions, have long since condemned the policy of still
governing Ireland as a distant dependency, or a fo-
reign colony. This " weak invention of the enemy" will
not stand the test of common sense, and will certainly
not deter us from expressing our conviction, as we
have frequently dorie before, that the abolition of the
Irish Viceroyalty is as essential to the good govern-
ment and social elevation of Ireland as it is to the
strength and consolidation of the empire.
In discussing this matter, no doubt the successful
administration of Lord CLARENDON will be pointed to
as an argument against the abolition. We have
frequently done justice to the great ability and strict
impartiality with which that nobleman discharged the
complicated and onerous duties of his high
office. We believe few living statesmen could
have steered through the difficulties which
he had to encounter with the same tri.•
umphant success. We believe no statesman, with
the same means and appliances, could have done more
good for that country. He fostered education, en-
couraged arts and science, improved and stimulated
agricultural industry, and made the laws respected, be-
cause be administered them with humanity, firmness,
and wisdom. Yet, notwithstanding all this, we
think he could effectuate even more good with a seat
in the Imperial Cabinet as the special Minister for
Ireland.

During the whole of the recess every speaker at
every Financial Reform meeting, every Member of
Parliament rendering to his constituents an account
of his stewardship and prophesying as to the events
likely to occur in the coming session, every parochial
magnate addressing a select vestry on questions of
taxation and expenditure, has taken it for granted
that the window-tax was doomed; that after the
division of last session even Sir CHARLES WOOD,
who seems to court defeat as ardently as other men
court victory, would not be so obtuse as
to attempt the continuance of the obnoxious
impost. From Mr. HENRY BERKELEY, who in
addressing his constituents at Bristol, in the beginning
of November last, said—" I think I may congratu-
late you, before I sit down, on the prospect of the
death of the window-tax. My Noble Friend Lord
DUNCAN, the Liberal Representative for Bath, has
fought that question nobly, and I really believe he
has made such an impression in regard to it, that it
will be found in the present day. impossible to main-
tain that tax, and that the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer will have to adjust his budget without it "—to
Sir PETER LAURIE, who, a few weeks since, assured
the vestry of Marylebone that he had authority for
saying that the window-tax would be abolished during
the ensuing session, every one seems to have taken it
for granted that the doom of that most obnoxious, un-
just, and health-destroying impost was fixed, and
agitation on the subject had for a time ceased. Un-
fortunately Lord DUNCAN, who has hitherto so effi-
ciently marshalled the opponents, and so ably led the
Opposition to this tax, is at present compelled to
remain for a time at Nice for the benefit of his health,
and the Finance Minister is evidently manoeuvring,
in the absence of our leader, to turn our
apparent apathy to his own advantage, and to
continue the present window-tax, or commute it into
a house-tax, which would be even more unjust and
oppressive. We are led to this conclusion from the
appearance within the last few days in an influential
journal, which has the credit of being the organ of
the GREY section of the Ministry, of divers letters of
very suspicious tenor. First, we have an anony-
mous gentleman who, taking Lord CASTLEREAGH as
his model, complains of the " ignorant impatience of
taxation" exhibited by the public in general,
and by the opponents of the window-tax in
particular, which latter tax he forthwith eulogises
in glowing terms as the best of all possible taxes, and
would, we doubt not, be prepared to contend that
even in a sanitary point of view its continuance would
be most advisable. Then follows another anonymous
gentleman, who is not quite so enamoured of
mobsoidstiaafinxcotaahtttitiirohodnne,
owa thefshtoh: in
window-taxfi
allusionr first, a, nd who
to
; the
and
dtwh
two former,
proposesfoisrcna
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odp
abolition of the window duty, but its commutation
into a house-tax. Judging from the manner in which
Ministerial " dodges " have been managed on former
occasions, we have no hesitation in declaring that
these letters are put forward as feelers, and that if
we remain supine we shall, most assuredly,
be again .
saddled with this detestable tax
and air, and health. We, therefore, call
upon n light,
all who desire its repeal to be up and doing; we
will not waste time by arguing the already decided
question as to the abstract justice or injustice of the
tax, the question has long since been decided. Even on
the score of health alone the tax ought at once
to be abolished; it is cruel mockery on the
part
tofthe Government to appoint a Board of
Health, and
to levy enormous ratesundt the gameerpretenee
of promotinfLefficient drainage, while a