The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-23 00:00:00

THE MEDITERRANEAN.

MARSEILLES, Feb. 20.—Every ship which ar-
rives from Constantinople brings a greater or lesser
number of soldiers labouring under typhus fever,
scurvy, or frostbite. The mail steam-packet
Jourdain, which arrived on Saturday night,
brought 127 passengers, of whom eight were
seriously indispos,T,d with typhus fever. The
steam-packet Gange, bringing the Constan-
tinople mails of the 11th inst., arrived last
evening. An officer who arrived, by the G-ango
states that there are 25,000 of the French army of
the East in hospital, viz., 15,000 in the Crimea,
and 10,000 at Constantinople. The prevail-
ing diseases are typhus fever and scurvy. This
statement is in some degree confirmed by a private
letter received by a ehipo-w:4er here from one of his
captains employed in the transport service, in which
he says that there are 4,000 French troops in hos-
pital at Eupatoria. The mortality among the
horses in the Crimea is said to be very great. The
Commander of a transport, at present in the Joli-
ette, says that of 150 horses he took from this to
the Crimea, it was found necessary to shoot 100,
glanders having broken out among them.

HAMBURG, Feb. 19.—A shipment of rather a
novel nature, destined for Russia, has just arrived
here in an Italian !vessel from Leghorn, accom-
panied by a Russian gentleman of the name of
Welikanoff. It consists of 148 largo cases of Car-
rara marble, forming the first part of the principal
altar for the new cathedral of St. Isaac, at St.
Petersburg. There were also two cases containing
a couple of magnificent silver vases, to serve as
ornaments to the altar.

THE NEW LOAN.

(From the Times of this day.)

The proceedings at the Treasury yesterday will serve
to enlighten the uninitiated portion of the public as to
the way in which large sums cad be won or lost on
transactions apparently with so little margin as a Go-
vernment Loan. Oa the Loan and the funding toge-
ther the difference between the tender first made by the
Messrs. Rothschild and the Government terms, which
they were eventually forced to accept, was about 70,0001.
It is a fair presumption that, had their tender been ac
cepted, they would have derived that much more profit,
or that much less loss, by the operation, which, at this
crisis, cannot but be a speculative one. At the last quo-
tations for Consols the Government minimum, price could
not be considered low ; and the Messrs. Rothschild and
their friends must either have had reasons of their own
for thinking the state of of more in their favour,
or must have reckoned on more pliant customers
than they found in Lord Palmerston and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Should all go on well
at Paris, amid should Consols thereupon take an
upward start, Government will have tho credit of
having made a good bargain—at least, if its hard-
ness be a proof of its goedriess. In what we will hope
is the very improbable contingency of a relapse into war,
no doubt the eapitaliqs will find they have been made
an example of, and in that case the difference between a
tender at 89 and a transaction at 90 will be a provok-
, ing aggravation of their loss. The public, however, will
' reasonably take the high rate of the Government mini-
mum tit an eleineat in the calculation. Where, indeed,
are they to look for confidence if not in Ministers them-
selves, who can both know and do more than anybody
else in the question of peace and war ? These latter,
therefore, have to a certain extent the power of borrow-
ing on their own terms. Possunt, quirt. posse videntur.
But, while Government deserves credit for not giving
way to the compact phalanx of capitalists before them,
it has certainly provoked the censure implied in Mr.
Capers complaint. He re,luested that in all future com-
munications with the Stock Exchange it would state the
amount of the loan at once. In the interval between
the first general announcement and that of the par-
ticular amounts some people became possessed of the
secret, and won large bets upon it. The answer was,
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had only followed
the precedent of previous loans. Tnis does not appear
to us a sufficient reply. To be sufficient it ought
also to explain how it is that a course fated harmless
before has led in the present instance to a scandalous
result. There has been a great deal of leakage in Tree.
sury secrets lately, and it unfortunately comes at a time
when there are also unusual efforts to put the public on
a wrong scent beforehand. The operations of British
finance have so much influence on exchanges and mar-
kets that for the sake of fairness there ought to bo the
most scrupulous veracity and the most absolute secrecy
in all the persons concerned in their administration ;
and we cannot say that either of these rules has been
observed of late. In this case the anticipation that the
loan would be for 5,000,0001. and the funding for
3,000,0001., especially when backed by heavy bets,
could hardly be a mere guess, though the statement
that the Governineat minimum would he 90 was likely
enough and round enough to be nothing more. Now
that the loan is settled we can only hope that, as Go-
vernment has made the best bargain it could under ex-
isting circumstances, it will turn out that the contrac-
tors and purchasers have made a still better, as that
will imply the establishment of a secure and honourable
peace.