The Sun.
London, England, 1833-04-09 00:00:00

'SPIRIT OF ruE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

It would be difficult to conceive a state of
things more embarrassing than that which now
exists in the East. Never, perhaps, had any
Governments a more difficult task on their hands
than those of France and England. Turkey, a
body politic, almost lifeless, is attacked by the
powerful Viceroy of Egypt, whose victorious
army is already in possession of the principal
port of the Levant, and who is determined to
advance on Constantinople itself. Russia,
which has long looked on Turkey as her own,
after making war on the Sultan, to prevent his
carrying his military reforms into full effect, and
thus interpose an obstacle to her future attempts
—cannot be expected to view with any satis-
faction the approach to Constantinople of a
Sovereign, already in possession of a well-
trained army, which would enable him to
become the secure Monarch of Turkey. Ac-
cordingly we see that Russia has been playing
her own game, disregarding equally the entreaties
and remonstrances of France and England ; that,
in spite of Admiral Roussin, her fleet refused
to quit the Bosphorus—that she is moving troops
on the Danube, and taking up transports in the
ports .of the Black Sea, to convey other troops to
it theatre of war. England and France, on the
Other hand, are sending ships of war in all haste to
the Mediterranean, with a view to rescue the
Sultan from the hostility of Mehemet Ali, and
the friendship of the Czar. Should the army of
the Viceroy approach Constantinople, we may
judge from its reception at Smyrna, that the
Viceroy would be hailed as a deliverer by the
whole Mahomedan population. He would be-
come the founder of a new dynasty. Should the
Czar, on the other hand, succeed in enabling the
Sultan to defeat Mehemet Ali, the Sultan would
be entirely dependent on Russia, which might
then take portion after portion of the Turkish
territory at her convenience. If the French and
nglish are not on the spot in sufficient time
and in sufficient force, Mehemet AR or the
Czar will be master of Turkey. But if they
should succeed in their object, and keep the
Russians and Egyptians from coining in
contact with each other, they will then have
on their hands an empire from which all autho-
rity shall have departed. Turkey, at best a
wretchedly organized Government, will no longer
be held together by either the fears or the re-
spect of the subjects. When in the West of
Europe a government is overthrown, the civili-
zation and intelligence of the people are such
that they instantly of themselves form a provi-
sional government, and the march of law and
order is hardly interrupted. But an interference
with Turkey is a very different affair. The
difficulty which has been experienced in establish-
ing anything like order in the comparatively
small territory of Greece, and the necessity for
raising loans and providing a force for the new
King, to give him the means of carrying on a
Government, may enable us to conceive what a
task the maintaining the Sultan would be by
European diplomacy and European resources.
The prevalent idea is, that such is the hatred of
the Russians at Constantinople, that the popula-
tion will break out long before the arrival of the
troops from the Danube and the Black Sea; and
that thus the way will be smoothed to Ibrahim.
Should the Russians succeed in entering Con-
stantinople in force before the arrival of Ibrahim,
it would be difficult for him to expel them. But
then, on the other hand, if Ibrahim get possession
of the capital before the arrival of the Russians,
he will probably be more than a match for them.
The Egyptian army is, according to all accounts,
admirably trained and officered, and, in point of
quality, is probably not inferior to that of Russia.
The world now appreciates the qualities of a
Russian army better than it once did. In the
meantime, the policy of the King of Holland
becomes a little more intelligible. The Russians,
in anticipation of the struggle in Turkey, wished
to keep the Belgian question open, in order
that the King of Holland might furnish employ-
ment for the French and English. Bonaparte
would at once have said—Turkey cannot stand.
If Russia do not seize it to-day, it will to-
morrow. Let us support Egypt, which will
then be a bulwark against Russia, but we doubt
whether France and England will adopt this
policy ; nor are we sure that they ought to
adopt it. We suppose they will trust to the
chapter of accidents fur the regeneration of
Turkey, and confine their exertions to the keep-
ing Russia and Egypt from coming into colli-
sion. We observe that the French newspapers
are already rejoicing at the prospect of a great
Africo-Asiatic state in the basin of the Medi-
terranean, of which they should, through Algiers,
be the natural allies. " This (says the Consti-
tutionnel) would be of immense advantage to
our commercial interests."— MorningChroniele.
We have already noticed the interesting vo-
lume of evidence, published by the authority of
the Government, from the commissioners ap-
pointed to inquire " into the present adminis-
tration and operation of the poor laws," and
have described its general character.. Before we
proceed further to enumerate the points which
we think it establishes, or to extract any part of
its contents, it may be proper to mention how
the collection was made. The commission on
the poor laws is a Crown commission consisting
of eight members, who undertook its laborious
duties gratuitously. Among them we find the
names of the Bishop of London, of the Bishop
of Chester, of Mr. Sturges Bourne, and of Mr.
Senior, well known for several lectures and
pamphlets which he published as Professor of
Political Economy at Oxford. 'These gentle-
men composed a Central Board, who in the first
place examined what had been done by previous
committees of inquiry on the poor laws, and
thus ascertained the deficiency of information
which they were required to supply. They soon
saw that it was necessary to employ assistant com-
missioners to proceed to the different districts of
the country to make an actual survey of the state
of the poor, with authority from the Central Board
to request, in their name, and in that of the '
Government, magistrates, clergymen, and over-
seers, to forward the object of their investiga-
tions. For the guidance of these commission-
ers, the Central Board drew up an extensive and
discriminating office of instructions, and framed
a set of questions or queries, which they were
to distribute or circulate among those persons
whom they might meet, capable by their office
or their position to supply correct answers. Each
of the assistant commissioners has drawn up an
extended report, which is now printing ; but, in
order to have a specimen, at the earliest period,
of the nature of the information which it will
contain, the Home wisely ordered
Secretary
them to make ,c extracts of such parts of their
vidence as they thought most deserving of
attention. These " extracts, published with
the sanction of the Central Board, compose the
present volume. In submitting it to Lord Mel-
bourne, the chief Commissioners Justly remark,
that, the ugh it composes only a small portion of

the evidence on which they are preparing to re-
port to his Majesty, it affords more information
on the subject to which it relates than has
hitherto berm supplied to the country. Their
own general report, containing a summary of the
facts ascertained, and a suggestion of the reme-
dies that may be applied, may not appear for
some time. We mentioned in our first notice
a few of the points which we thought clearly
established in the present volume against the
existing administration of the poor laws. The
whole book is full of evidence of the fatal effects
of the system on the industry, prudence, and
economy of the labourers. In answer, for in-
stance, to the queries of the Commission, the
Vicar of Lenham, in Kent, declares, that the
" industry of the labourers in his neighbourhood
is decidedly diminishing. Nor is it to be won-
dered at, when a man maintained in idleness
(nominally at work on the roads) receives the
same as a man regularly at work on the land."
The churchwarden and assistant-overseer of the
same parish confirm this statement, and assign
the same reason. In Mr, Majendie's report
from the parish of Eastbourn, in Sussex, we find
the following passage :
_ _

"In the month of December, 1832, four healthy young
men, receiving from 12s. to 14s. per week from the
parish, refused to work at thrashing for a farmer at 24.6 d.
and a quart of ale per day, and the only punishment in-
flicted on them by the parish officers was taking off half a
day's pay, Is. ; at the same time a poor widow, aged 75,
could obtain but Is. per week for her support from the
vestry. The fishermen being secure of pay without
labour, refuse to go out to sea in winter; one has said,
" Why should I expose myself to fatigue and danger,
when the parish supports my family and pays my rent 7"
The masters in the fishery have in consequence been
forced to send to Hastings for hands requisite to man their
boat•. Rent of cottages is generally paid for families of
three children to the annual amount of 3071. Since the
time of the riots, and the establishment of the present
scale of parish wages, the vestries held every fortnight for
determining relief are very ill attended,—the parishioners
seeming to despair of any improvement; and anxious hopes
are expressed of the interference of Government."

It would be needless to multiply quotations to
the same effect from the reports of Mr. Maclean
on Surrey and Sussex, of Messrs. Wrottesley
and Cameron on Buckinghamshire, and from
those of other assistant commissioners in different
parts of the country. 2. In the second place,
we have here ample testimony in these " ex-
tracts," that the present administration of the
poor laws prevents the circulation of labour, and
confines labourers to places where they are not
wanted, by excluding them from districts where
their labour might be beneficially employed.
For remarkable proofs of this fact we may refer
to the reports of Mr. Wilson, Mr. Cowel, and
Mr. Chadwick. 3. In the third place, the poor
laws, as at present administered, destroy all
motives in the labourer to save property or to ac-
cumulate the fruits of industry, by absolutely re-
fusing employment to those who are known to pos-
sess anything, and only granting the labourer
employment when his money is spent. " flan in-
dustrious man," says Mr.Courthorpe, speaking of
'l'icehurst parish, in Sussex," were known to have
laid by any part of his wages, and thus to have
accumulated any considerable sum, there are
parishes in which he would be refused work till
his savings were gone, and the knowledge that
this would be the case acts as a preventive against
saving." There are at least more than a dozen
of passages in the evidence from different parts
of the country corroborating this striking state-
ment. The absolutely destitute should, if they
are able to work, be employed first : but the pos-
session of some means of living should not be a
bar to employment, after relief has been first
administered to those to whom it was necessary.
4. In the fourth place, it is needless to say, that
if the labourer under the influence of such mo-
tives wastes his own property or earnings, he
must be a worse manager of the poor fund, which
he regards as a fit subject for plunder. It will
scarcely be believed, unless it were established
on conclusive evidence, that in some parishes
we find sums of 421., or even 501., set down as
given from the rates to individual paupers and
their families in one year. 5. That the present
mode of administering the poor laws has a ten-
dency not only to prevent the accumulation of
property, but even to destroy the capital of their
employers, and to absorb the rent of land, is a fact
established by a great variety of examples from dif-
ferent districts. " In this parish, says the Vicar of
Lenham, agricultural capital is diminishing.
We spend more than 2,0001. a year in unpro-
ductive labour, and the land is becoming daily in
a worse state of cultivation, and the means of
raising this sum is daily diminishing. Thus the
farmer is compelled to employ fewer hands or
sacrifice his capital. By the former measure he
increases the rate, already as much as he can pay,
and by the latter he ruins hithself." But, with-
out adverting to any farther passages of these
" extracts," to prove this fact, we shall only
refer to the Rev. Mr. Jeston's letters relative to
Chollsbury, in Buckinghamshire. The popula-
tion of this parish is 139, and there are only 35
who are not supported by the rates The culti-
vation of the land has been abandoned, with the
exception of 16 acres, and the poor are supported
by a rate in aid from neighbouring parishes.
" The property," says Mr. Jeston, " is an in-
cumbrance to the proprietor, who can obtain no
rent, the rates assessed on the land far exceeding
its value." 6. The only other point to which
we have room at present to advert, as satisfac-
torily established in the interesting volume be-
fore us, is the progress in numerous districts of
discontent among the paupers with their allow.
ance. Mr. Majendie, one of the assistant com-
missioners, in speaking of Sussex, says—

" The assistant-overseers having been ill-treated by the
mobs, are reluctant to make complaints for neglect of
work, lest they should become marked men, and their
lives rendered uncomfortable, or even unsafe. Farmers
permit their labourers to receive relief, founded on a cal-
culation of a rate of wages lower than that actually paid;
they are unwilling to put themselves in co'lision with the
labourers, and will not give any account of earnings, or,
if they do, beg that their names may not be mentioned.
A similar feeling prevails in East Kent : at Westwell the
farmers are afraid to express, at vestry-meetings, their
opinions against a pauper who applies for relief, tor tear
their premises should be set fire to. Two of the fires
immediately followed such a resistance ; one of them hap-
pened to a most respectable farmer, a kind and liberal
waster, and a promoter of cottage allotments.
The allowance system is represented to be so esta-
blished, that, without some legislative enactment, neither
overseers, vestries, nor magistrates, can make any effec-
tual change; and if local regulations were attempted, a
repetition of the outrages of 1830 may be expected. Day
wages seem to be fixed at 2s. to 2s. 3d. ; which are nut
thought too high, were it not for the rates, but the
;artners state that the present relief, coupled with that
rate of wages, is exhausting their capital."
We have only room to add the account
which the assistant commissioner, Mr. Okeden,
gives of Caine
The operation of the scale system is complete.
" Caine labours under the disadvantage of having had
a manufacture, which lately has fallen into decay—a manu-
facture of coarse cloths and serges; so that many men
Dave been thrown out of employ, as manufacturers, who
are unused to, and nearly incapable of, the least sort of
field labour. I met many of the paupers who came either
for increase of pay or for other relief. I never, even in
Oxfordshire, heard demands made with more brutal inso•
lence. We will have our right by the scale, or Mr.
Overseer shall take the consequence,' was often repeated.
" The assistant-overseer, and the other parish officers,
allowed that no attention whatever was ever paid to

charac'er ; hot that the most notorious drunkards,
swearers, and thieves, with wives and families, w•-re all
duly relieved by the arithmetic of the magistrate's scale.
I asked them if they never took these men before the
Bench for punishment. Their answer was, that they had
so often been reprimanded, and triumphed over (to us.
their own expression), that they had given it up in despair,
and relieved all alike, bad and good, meritorious and pro-
fligate."— Times.

That reform, like charity, should " begin at
home," seems to be a very useful maxim ; nor
do we think that it would lose any of its value
were a reformed Parliament to set the example
of its adoption. We here allude to the enor-
mous charges which attend every step which the
represented take to obtain either laws or redress
at the hands of their representatives. In the
case of local legislation, for instance, what can
be so outrageously unjust and oppressive as the
enormous costs which parties are put to either to
ask or obtain it ? It seems a strange perversion
of that clause of the Great Charter which says
that justice shall not be sold, that the popular
branch of the Legislature shall allow its own
officers to levy an enormous tax upon every one
who seeks justice in this and almost any other
way at its hands. A private Bill of the shortest
and most simple kind (one of naturalisation, for
instance) cannot be passed, we believe, at
an expense of less than 5001. ; and, what
is still more extraordinary, a private Act
which has relation to more places and
parishes than one, without perhaps, a hun-
dred words being added to it on that ac-
count, has the whole of its charges doubled,
trebled, quadrupled, and. so on, as the case may be,
upon no other principle upon earth, as it would
seem, but that of mere extortion. But it is due
to Parliament to admit that in this respect it
treats its Members no better than their constitu-
ents—the expense of contested elections before
Committees of the House being far, very far,
beyond the charges of any other species of liti-
gation into which a man can have the misfortune
to fall. There are instances, we believe, in the
present Parliament, of men having abandoned
their seats rather than be at the ruinous cost of
defending them ; and we have heard it inti-
mated that the new Member for the borough of
Marylebone means to abandon his rather than
have to contend with the purse of his late un-
successful opponent, unless his constituents come
forward and shield him from the consequences
of a ruinous and unequal contest. Now, all
this is what it is the obvious duty of Parliament
to prevent and put an end to. Talk of
" cheap law" and " cheap government,"
indeed, when the source from which both
the one and the other ought to emanate
affords itself the grossest instance of the
evil which it ought to cure ! Something effec-
tual has certainly been done towards diminish-
ing the expense of elections themselves, by
shortening the duration of the polls, and bring-
ing the polling places nearer home to the voters ;
but much even in this respect remains to be
done before men of moderate fortune can safely
enter the lists with those whose overwhelming
wealth is often their only recommendation.
Within the walls of Parliament no expense,
however, has been diminished. Fees, enormous
and without number, meet the unfortunate ap-
plicant on every turn ; while the out-door counsel
and agents, not to be outdone by the example
set them from within, double and treble their
demands upon the unfortunate victim of their
rapacity, whether he be a suitor for an Act or
Vie assailant or defender of a seat in the House.
Such a state of things is not creditable to the
popular branch of the Legislature ; and we
would, therefore, say to a reformed Parliament,
" reform it altogether."—Morning Herald.
A Ministerial Paper of last night threatens
the King of the Netherlands, in a manner suffi-
ciently vague and mysterious, with some terrible
thing or other, to be done byEngland and Francf,
in respect to the island of Java, if he fail much
longer to acquiesce in the wishes of those two
Powers. What is to be done about the island
of Java we really do not know, although we
can easily:believe that France may have a hanker.
ing after this fruitful possession, and may hope
to cajole England into the opinion that the oc-
cupation of it would be a fit mode of punishing
the obstinacy of King William. The acquisi-
tion of any new colonies by England is plainly
out of the question, for the whole world would
be convulsed with laughter at the idea of a go-
vernment desiring more colonies after having
shown itself so entirely incapable of governing
the colonies it now possesses. We will not,
however, suppose for a moment that the menacing
innuendo of our contemporary is any thing
more than a freak of editorial sportiveness. What-
ever he may think of the Government of England,
now that it is in the hands of his friends, he can-
not imagine that the people of England would
desire to see a new distribution of colonial do-
minion at the expense of Holland and for the
profit of France. It is true, as the Ministerial
Journals boast, that a large amount of Dutch
commercial property is in British possession—of
property unlawfully seized in the harbours of
England, or piratically taken upon the high sea,
and the British nation yet tolerate the Govern-
ment by which these crimes have been committed;
but the placing of Java in the occupation of
France would be an extension of the principle of
marauding upon the weak and truckling to the
strong, for which the people of England are yet
scarcely prepared. The effects of the lawless
captures which Great Britain has made may, in
part at least, be repaired by restitution ; but, after
an act of territorial robbery, perpetrated in con-
junction with such a confederate as France, this
kind of reparation would probably not be quite
so easy. The people of England at least, we
suppose, are satisfied that their Government has
cut out for itself work enough at Jamaica, and
its other islands of the West Indies, without
meddling with Java. There is something
disgusting in the manner in which the or-
gans of Ministers habitually speak of Dutch
affairs. They affect to forget altogether a
truth of which it is impossible they should be
ignorant, that in proportion as Holland is de-
spoiled or weakened the influence of England,
as one of the great European powers, is im-
paired, and the security of England against
foreign insult or aggression rendered more pre-
carious. They extol the injuries which have
been inflicted, and the further injuries which
may be inflicted, upon Holland, as if they were
beneficial to this country, instead of being, as
they know they are, most detrimental to her
welfare and power. They glory in the losses
sustained by the Dutch, as if Great Britain

/Were the gainer, instead of being, as they
know she is, a sharer in the loss. How, we
would beg them to explain, can a million of
Dutch mercantile property be locked up by an
embargo or by buccaneering, without causing
an increase of bankruptcies in England, where
already there were of bankruptcies more than
enough ? How can the Colonies of Holland
be threatened without bringing new dangers upon
the Colonies of England, which do not at present
repose in too perfect a consciousness of safety?