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

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 argumentum 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 hustirigs. The fiscal reformers possess
considerable power, and if they only please to exer-

cise it they may materially influence the various con

stituencies 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 term, 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
pERKELEY, 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. MINTZ, 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 ballot reply, that the voter
should cast all personal considerations aside,
and boldly record his vote, albeit at the
cost of considerable personal sacrifice. The
fallacy
and the impudent wickedness of such an
a_rgument is transparent, more especially when we
find that
" tlaelsullies of politics," as they are pro-
perly
designated by the Honourable Member for
Bristol, who use
it are the very men who in their
clubs and reunions
invariablyasa
defencethemselves
against claimtb ethe
protection of the ballot
bul-
lies of society ; but what do these gentlemen say to
the case of Mr. CHAMBERLAIN, the inventor of
the ballot machine whi •
ch is to be exhibited at
the Crystal Palace ? Mr. CRAM BERL AIN
is,
as
Mr. HENRY BERKELEY stated in his lecture,
on Thursday, the son of an hotel-keeper at St. Leo-
nard's, and he has never dared to exercise his fran-
chise lest he should injure his father's interests. Now
surely, although the " bullies of politics" 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. CUAMBER-
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 it is only by their own exertions they
can obtain that protection. All men who pos•-
seas and exercb d •
e un ue Influence, whether as

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 Constilutionnel,
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, air, that already business is at a stand, that all
credit, all speculation, and all orders aro 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
pulley 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
Lumber of unknown men and chance legislators con-
sidered themselves to hove a right to bind 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 Lae, end I doubt whether any two
memters 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 he 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 clue 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 ho 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
Viva Henri V.,' or Vivo lo Comte do Pails,' they
would be angry, or remain silent; but if I cried 'Vive
Napoli:on,' 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. Lot the great politicians of Paris
themselves draw the conclusion trom this. Accept,
Monsieur, the assurance of my distinguished conside-
ration, "ANTOINE MOREL, IrOßMaSter."
All the journals, except those immediately con-
nected with the Elyse, 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
Siecle says—

"M. derome 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. Jerome Bonaparte
to the dignity of Marshal of France, with a double
salary of 70,000 franca 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. Jerome 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 his brother, M. Jerome
Bonaparte ought to have abstained. It is now the turn
of M. Lucien Murat I 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 Rocbvjaquelein, and his demand
in favour of the ex-King of Westphalia, pablie opinion
will decide."

At the last sitting of the Parliamentary Club of the
Rue des Pyramide9, 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 Dgbots, 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. Durex, the President of the French com-

mittee.
The Toulonnais says—" We believe that we can
announce the approaching 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 this month."_ _

-
There was a large quantity of money stock offe-ed
for sale at the Bourse, tend prices declined. Tho Five
per Cents. opened at 91f. 80c., and closed at 911. 55c.
The Three per Cents. closed at 56f. 70e. ; Orleans
Railroad Shares, 827 f. 50c.; Rouen, 6281. 75c ; Havre,
2601. ; Great Northern, 472 f. 50c. ; Avignon, 2051.;
Vierzon, 435 f.; Basle, 1421. 50c.; Bordeaux, 400 f.;
Paris and Strasburg, 3671. 50e. ; Tours and Nantes,
2761. 25c.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Aram 25.
Boulogne and Amiens, 914—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 17% ex div.— East Indian, 15%—Luxem-
bourg,
3—Namur and Liege, 81/B—Northern of France, 14%
—Paris and Rouen, 24X—Paris and Strasbourg, 101:I
Rouen and Havre, 10% ex div.—Sambre and Meuse, 3%
—Tours and Nantes, 6.
P,

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