The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-04 00:00:00

Budget. Lord STANLEY bad in the most candid manner
informed the country of the line of policy he had in-
tended to pursue, and he hoped the Noble Lord would do
the same.

The Marquis of GRANBY admitted that Lord STANLEY
proposed Ate imposition of an import duty on corn.
After a few words from Mr.MOORE, Mr. NEWDRGATE,
and Mr. SADLEIR, the House adjourned to Friday.

After a brief interregnum, the RUSSELL Ministry
have resumed office, without change or alteration of
any kind. As they cannot have received any great
accession of strength during the interval that has
passed since Lord JOHN RUSSELL applied to the House
of Commons for an adjournment of the debate on the
PRECIOUS BUDGET, having just before tendered the
resignation of himself and colleagues to her MAJESTY,
the continuance in office of the same parties must
be regarded as a mere temporary makeshift, until
the difficulties occasioned by the conflicting opi-
nions on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill can
be removed, and a combined Government be formed
from the various sections of Free-traders—the followers
of PEEL as well as of RUSSELL. It is, therefore, to
all intents and purposes, a " Ministry of transition,"
such as we have for several days past predicted ; and
no question of any magnitude, or on which any for-
midable opposition is likely to be offered, will be in-
troduced until the Papal Aggression Bill, in its
modified form, receives the legislative sanction and
becomes the law of the land, and till a new Cabinet
be formed with some pre tensions to be termed " a
Government."

We have, in common vvith the great body of the
people of all classes iind parties, viewed with
regret and disgust the resumption of office by Sir
CHARLES WOOD. At first sight it appears like a
deliberate insult to the community to restore that
most unfortunate and incompetent financier to a
situation of such importance. It seems as if the voice
of public opinion were 'slighted and despised, and
that Lord JOHN RUSSELL bad obstinately determined
to force that bitter dose, "THE PRECIOUS BUDGET,"
on the afflicted and indignant nation. But the point
happily admits of another and more satisfactory so-
lution, and until we hear the explanations on the
subject of. the " financial scheme," on . which the
Premier maintained an unbroken silence, disregarding
all the fishing interrogatories that were addressed to
him from all sides of the .douse, We shall be disposed
to give him " the benefit of the doubt."

The appointment of a new and more popular
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who might merit the
public confidence by bringing forward fiscal and
financial measures calculated to relieve industry and
to promote the welfare and prosperity of the nation,
although it would be received with the greatest de-
light at the present moment, might possibly retard,
or Even prevent, the formation of that combined. Go-
vernment to,which we are all locking: forward with the
most intense anxiety. It i 3 perfectly clear that several
seats in the Cabinet must be retained for the- expected
recruits. Four or five offices at ?east, and those of no
trivial importance, must be reserved fur the Peelites ;
and the addition of any ne•w members to the Govern-
ment who could not he readily got rid of at the
proper period, would only occasion increased embar-
rwsment when the moment for action had arrived—
more especially if the new Ministers were persons of
any' degree of talent or popularity. We must also
consider that if the nature of the arrangements
that may be entered into, when the sole obstacle
to a coalition is removed, be properly under=
stood, it cannot be supposed that any measures
of 'fiscal, financial, or monetary- reform will be
carried into operation until all the members of
that, which we hope and believe will prove a power-
ful and long-lived Government, are in office to share
the honours and responsibilities of the alterations.
Under these circumstances, then, nothing should
be done in these departments for the present, and
Sir CHAZLES WooD. has already afforded the most
powerful evidence of his aptitude for administering
the system which i; appropriately termed the laissez
faire, or "do-nothing" policy.

The new-old Premier has demanded time until
Friday before he shall be required to state the
course which the Government intend to pursue with
respect to the other business before the House. He
will particularly refer to the Budget, the time at
which it is to be brought forward, and the line to be
adopted in reference thereto. Considering the diffi-
culties in which he has been involved, and the urgent
claims upon his attention, having to completely re-
model the only measures that have yet been brought
forward, we shall gladly accord the neces-
sary respite. This, however, we feel it an
imperative duty to declare—the country will
not submit to equal taxation of every description
of income, or to the classificaion for fiscal purposes
of the precarious profits of industry with the divi-
dends, interest, or annual produce of first-class in-
vestments, or of well circumstanced estates. We do
not however desire, under the peculiar circumstances
of the case, to insist upon an immediate
solution of the fiscal problem. As we long
since pointed out, the termination of the
law imposing an income-tax affords the most fitting
opportunity for a full revision and modification of the
entire system of taxation, a course that has been so
urgently demanded by all classes of the community.
If we are assured, then, that a stringent and search-
ing inquiry, such as we yesterday suggested, will
be instituted not only into fiscal matters, but also
into the financial and monetary subjects, that are
so closely and intimately connected therewith, that
one cannot properly be disposed of without the others
being disposed, of also, we shall yield our assent,
although a reluctant one, to the renewal of that ini-
quitous impost for a brief period. It should not,
however, be renewed for• more than a single year,
and even half that period ought to be amply sufficient.
It must, however, be distinctly understood that the
concession will only be made on the distinct and po-
sitive understanding that a real and not a mock in-

vestigation is to take place, and that the delay is not
to be resorted to as a mode of shelving a dis-
agreeable subject for another year. And as
there will be a large surplus of at
least two millions and a half, we would also suggest
that one-half of the tax to be levied under Schedules
D and E should be remitted in the interval pending
the report of the Committee. This would require
about 900,0001. in round terms ; and a similar sum
might be applied to the reduction of the window-tax
to one moiety of its present amount.' These boons
might be conceded without any danger of occasioning
a deficiency, and they would afford the best evidence
of the ru fides of the Government in demanding
the delay.

The first question to be brought forward by the
new Ministry, indeed, we may reasonably conclude
the only one on which serious differences of opinion
are likely to arise, is the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill.
On Friday next Sir GEORGE GRET, on moving the
second reading of that measure, will state the amend-
ments and alterations which it is intended to make
in it when it shall go into Committee. As it is the
only existing obstacle to the formation of a
Ministry adequate to the exigencies of the period,
capable of really governing the country, and carrying
out those measures of reform which are so urgently
required, we must feel a natural anxiety respecting
its
that Ireland
willT be opinion appears to be,
excludedfrom the operation of
The
the Bill, and that it will merely be directed against
the assumption or use of the titles recently conferred
by the POPE, and the creation of which constitutes
the aggression so loudly and so justly complained
of. We fear that this compromise will not
satisfy any party, while it will virtually acknowledge
the authority of the Vatican in an integral por-
tion of the United Kingdom. It will, in fact, be an
admission that he is justified, ex mere motu, in set-
ting aside the prerogative of the Crown, and invading
the independence of the British nation at the other
side of St. George's Channel when and so often
as he may think it advisable or desirable to snub
or insult the British Government. His first ag-
gression—,—the contemptuous disregard of the elec-
tion of the Roman Catholic Bishops and clergy
of the diocese of Armagh, and his nomination of the
Rev. pier. Cumxar, who had for thirty years
breathed the atmosphere of the Papal Court, and been
inoculated with all its view; and anti-English feel-
irgs_ruust be forgotten, or such a course would
never be cont_ mplated. The danger in Ireland is
perhaps greater than
any that could posiibly arise in
this country, and it is there that legislation is most
required,
At this period it is exceedingly "desirable to know