The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-20 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.—SuN Omet, MARCH 20, U6O.

THERMOMETER, IN TIIE SHADE.
54—highest since noon yesterday.
48 —lowest this morning and during the night,
55—this day at noon.

he mistakes the good-will of his tenantry, for hearty 1
approval of his own political wisdom. Let him,
however but ask—why the uniformity? Do his
tenants think so alike on all other topics ? Do they
not on other topics show, by their diverse judg-
ments and actions, that they are human beings, and
not the mere creatures of instinct ? We tell the
Duke what the Ballot would do for his serfs is,
that gradually it would arouse his tenants to the
consciousness that, politically, they were men; and
they would think as men, speak as men, act as men,
land put away the childish things of unquestioning
imitation of even a ducal landlord.

BARommen-20.95; falling.
WIND, South-Westerly ; fresh and strong, with fine
weather.

HIGH WATER, AT LONDON BRIDGE.
This DAY.—Morning, 12h. ilim.—Afternoon, lb. 17m.
TO-MORItOw.-Morning,: lb. 57m.—Afternoon, 2h. 13m.

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As to the debate itself, Lord TEYNHAM seemed,
we thought, far too anxious to cite " preoedents"
which might avail with their Lordships, as if even
the precedents of their own House could be of
the slightest use when urged on behalf of equal
treatment of tenant electors. The strong argu-
ment for the Ballot is ever the moral one—moral
in the widest sense of the word—moral, as being
fair towards electors, as being repressive of cor-
rupt influences of every kind ; and as rendering
useless the more sensual and violent immoralities
common at elections. The Duke's reply exhibited
the grossest ignorance of the question, notwith-
etaiiding he talked of his having heard so much
of it in the House of Commons. For instance,
he pretended that to make a compulsory ballot
efficient a man must be prohibited from telling
how he had voted! Surely no one but a Duke,
i after all that has been said on the subject, could
have repeated such wretched stuff. Our Colonial
Secretary was not even aware of the slight though
important difference between the Ballot in Victoria
and in the other Australian colonies, which pro-
perly made Lord TEYNHAM prefer the latter as his
model. He complained, too, that Lord TEYNHAM had
not shown the connection between the Ballot and the
repression of bribery and intimidation—as if the
self•evident connection were not the only reason
for their Lordship's aversion to it. Had we been
in Lord TEYNHAM'S place, we should, on this
point at least, have risen to reply—and our
answer would have been in the style of the in-
scription on Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN'S monument
—" If you want proof of the connection you seek,
look around." The votes of 39 non•centents
proved that Noble Lords saw the connection per-
fectly clearly between tenant liberties and the
Ballot.

TH S t_T N
LONDON, TuEsDA.y, iI.CII 20, 1860.

The Ballot in the T,nrds! Yes, actually one
noble lord had the honesty to propose, and three
other noble lords the honesty to hack him, that the
electors on their lordships' estates should be their
own political masters. For thi:,—let dukes and
other peers twist and pervert the case as they may
—this is the gist of the queeiion. We will do
their lordships the justice to hope that they do dis-
like the dirty practice of vulgar bribery—some of
them may hare found it indeed very serviceable in
times gone by, but still it is costly; it admits the
self-created millionaire to competition with their
eldest sons, and it is not exactly the nicest way to
vim an election. If bribery could be put down by
. itself, it. did not involve putting down political
serfdom in thw.counties, probably the Lords would
help in the business.
But the difficulty of the case is, that there
is but oete known method of repressing the bri-
bery, the drunkenness, and demoralisation of
borough elections, and that is the very one which
would extinguish their Lordships' command over
their tenantry. The Ballot is, indeed, dreaded for
boroughs, for there are great numbers of these
where adjacent landlordism reigns supreme; but
it is infinitely more dreaded for counties, for they
are political preserves, as jealously guarded as those
of their game, in readiness for the grand battue of a
general election. It was most amusing to hear the
Duke of NEWCASTLE—the "Lord of Clamber"—
the son of the Peer whose argument against the
abolition of rotten boroughs was, " that every man
had a right to do what he would with his own
hear him spouting, like a university led, on the
improving "moral tone" in regard to elections,
and that we ought to rely on this to remedy the
evils we desired to prevent by the Ballot ! One
would suppose that the Duke was yet an under-
graduate, knew nothing of life, and certainly
that he had not come to the management. 01
his own estates. Let the Duke open
eyes, let him look around rs Lord of Clumbc., let
him ask how many of, L would thia. of

'—to

.f,pesed—ict

voting for a candidate wilem
ask whether he sedniDia:,7;ti 77'
a candidate from the It.no,,vie4:,e of thwe who
are dependent on hit4-goodwill ffT fir:en
and then in hira further ask— Why the
dinary•unanimity among hizi ten.in try.
The truth i% it is the nnanilnity of politi
oal slavery. The unanimity of e gang on a
cotton - plantation in working for their master.
The tenants know. and have long known, that
alternative. 'Habit has become
th©y have no
second nature. The question never arises to
their minds, for whom ha.ii we vote—nor indeed

Lis preferenrT

We are informed that the export duty upon rags
which the Emperor Napoleon proposes to substitute
for the absolute prohibition hitherto in force will
amount to about 100 per cent. on the price of com-
mon rags, and 50 per cent. on the price of the best
quality.—limes.

[We find the above in the hoes of to day. All
we can say is, that if our Cabinet will stand being
played fast and loose with in this way—in regard
to Savoy first, and then in regard to the statement
by which they gained a majority on the paper
duties in the House of Commons—they will not be
Englishmen representing Englishmen, and will be
deservedly the laughing stock of Europe. If they
do not, despite any treaty whatever, now lay 100
per cent. duty on French common paper, and 50
p.r cent: on fine paper, they will be held to have
disgraced England.—ED. Sun.]

The debate on the Reform Bill last night
elicited, as might be expected, little that is new
—Mr. DISRAELI, indeed, complained most of its
simplicity—it omitted almost everything but
simple extension of the franchise, and really left
our ingenious ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer
little ou which to exercise his peculiar faculties.
Its faults were chiefly its omissions—a view in
which we for such opposite reasons entirely con-
cur. It was complained that it was a Bill to en-
franchise numbers merely, while the late Govern-
ment proposed to enfranchise by what were con-
temptuously termed " fancy franchises," classes
who were fit to have votes, and that the
homogeneous class would dominate,, the
larger boroughs, and return quite a new and diffe-
rent class of members. He objected also to the re-
distribution of seats, as going either too far or not far
enough. Fifteen was the number affected by the hon.
gentleman's own bill. We suppose that number
was like Queen ELIZABETH'S stature, in contrast
with that of the Queen of SCOTS, "neither too high,
not too low, but just the thing." The hon. gentle-
man avowed his intention, as we anticipated, not
to oppose the second reading of the bill, but hoped
it would be gracefully withdrawn before the time
for meeting on committee arrived !
Of course the Radicals had their say, and Mr.
BRIGHT sufficiently showed that the Treaty had
not been lost upon him. Far as it was from what
the member for Birmingham had advocated, it was
as much as the members of the Government had
offered before the general election. They had,
therefore, fulfilled their pledge, and he could not
but acknowledge a corresponding claim to support.
He proved at length that the number enfranchised
would be very much smaller than was calculated,
and asked whether—as a million and a half only
would have votes, after all, under the new Bill—
this was too large a number out of six or seven
millions of male adults. The strange lucubrations
of the Times on the new electors swamping the old
constituents was very happily exposed and ridi-
culed by more than one speaker, by Mr. BRIGHT
especially. Nothing indeed could be more absurd
than to argue as if the £6 householders to be
enfranchised by the bill were all of one class, of
one opinion, and of the same social habits.

Every member, of any pretension to be called
Liberal, refused to regard the bill as a " settle-
ment." It is a franchise bill, and hardly anything
more ; even on that point it will not long be
accepted as final. But the omission of
protection for voters, while creating a
yet more dependent class of them, and the
retention of such a host of insignificant boroughs,
were felt to be two points which would be pressed
on the house again and again till something like
justice was done. However, we shall take all
that is offered us, meagre as it is, and, having
got that, set to work immediately to get more.
Perhaps, after all, it is better that we should do
cur work in parts. It keeps alive
political dis-
cussion, and without that we might get politically
stagnant. It is clear enough, however, whether it
please the Conservatives and the Whigs or not,
that the RUSSELL Reform Bill is but the intro-
duction to an agitation for the Ballot, and for dis-
franchisement of rotten borough's.

extraor-

right or wrcng
the question what is politica',:y
at all. They and their prAkcei,s-ors have all
been ciphers to nfo!cl and a hun•
dredfold the landlord's po:t 'cal 1)0 wer,; " Luc
tent.nts at will, have no will of their own,"—
the Luke is their We have no doubt that
the partierinr Duke of last oCening is as amicable
as any of that highly (Ins. We do not
thitk•he would .tarve a telnnt for one offence;
though what his -steward would ;IO for-persisting in
independence we cannot tell; and we think it likely

We are glad to find that Sir JOHN SHELLEY
who has often afforded material assistance to ques-
tions which involved the assertion of Liberal prin7
ciples, has obtained leave to bring in a bill for a
settlement of the gas controversy. The matter has
recently been frequently discussed, both in these
Columns and elsewhere ; and the dispute arises, as
is wcll known, from Or: monopoly exercised by the
gas,c9nlPanies>. and the unequal and exorbitant
terms they proposed to the committee of delegates.
It is rumoured that the associated companies • have
recently abated their pretensiOns, and that a fair
and equitable arrangement may now be looked for.
'We hope this will prove to be the•fact,butin any case
it will be as well to obtain the opinion of Parlia-

LATEST

ment, both as a means of expressing more forcibly
the public opinion and of securing a guarantee for
the better direction of affairs in future. As matters
at present stand the metropolis is divided into gas
districts, which are marked in some maps ; these
districts are settled by the associated companies,
and a householder may, under the existing system,
find himself transferred from one company to
another without being consulted. The great hold
which this plan gave the gas companies over the
consumers was the agreement which they entered
into, binding themselves, under heavy penalties, not
to interfere with others' districts. Thus the con-
sumer was absolutely at their mercy. If he re-
fused to submit to the extortion or dictation of the
company whose place it was to supply him, he must
go without gas. This was a state of things per-
fectly intolerable in a free metropolis, and accord-
ingly great exertions have been made by the dele-
gates, and there is a fair prospect of a satisfactory
settlement. The companies, relying on their power-
ful influence, refused to come to terms. They
professed, indeed, to be anxious for a compromise,
but it soon became evident that they had no inten-
tion of abandoning one of their alleged rights.
The active interference of the honourable member
for Westminster has, however, completely altered
the aspect of affairs. The solicitors, Parliamen-
tary agents, and other forces of the companies,
put every obstacle in the way, but Sir JOAN
SHELLEY refused to wait longer for their professed
modifications. When they found that all hope of
a compromise was over, and that the affair was to
be speedily brought before Parliament, supported
by the press and the public, they unexpectedly
gave way, and have, it is said, agreed to accept
almost all the propositions of the gas consumers.
They consent, to a certain extent, to be under the
control of the Board of Trade, to submit to
inspection, and to bind themselves under penalties
to supply gas of a guaranteed illuminating power
and a certain degree of purity. The clause of the
bill which proposes to fix the minimum price of
the gas they still oppose. This will be settled in
committee, when the arguments brought forward
by the companies will probably be satisfactorily
disposed of. Their objections are clearly answered,
in the following passage, taken from an able sum-
mary of the sibject :—" If the companies can
manage to satisfy the Committee on Gas Bills that
it would be unjust to tie them down to a fixed
price, because the value of the raw material fluc-
tuates, well and good, and the consumer will have
no right to complain. But that they will be able
to do so is very doubtful, for the simple reason that
the ground upon which they rely—viz , that
the price of coal has frequently varied, and
that there have been times when, if they
had been compelled to supply gas at the
present average price of 4s. 6d. per 1,000
cubic feet, they would have suffered severe
loss—does not now apply. Since the formation of
railways, the coal fields are now brought in direct
communication with the metropolis, and London
is therefore no longer dependent upon shipping for
its supplies. Even in the severest winter railways
can bring any amount of the best coal that is re-
quired, so that there is not the slightest chance of
coal in London reaching the very high price it did
some ten years ago, during a remarkably severe
frost. Again, there is nothing to be apprehended
from the value of coal being largely enhanced
through strikes, because the coal fields are so ex-
tensive and various, that it is hardly possible to
conceive a strike could become so general as mate-
rially to affect the metropolitan supply. But those
who have so ably conducted this gas controvery on
the part of the consumers are well aware of the
arguments that are to be used, and the consumers
may safely leave their case in their hands." If

NEWS.

The following telegrams have been received at
Mr. Reuter's office :

ROME, MARCH 19.

The news published by sone Paris journals that
the Pope had requested France to rec,all her troops
from Rome and Civitta Vecchia, in order to re-
place them by Neapolitan troops, is without foun-
dation.
No demand of such a nature hits been remitted
to the French Cabinet, either directly or directly.

the companies are faithful to their pledges the bill
will be read a second time without opposition, and
will then be referred to the consideration of the
committee. Sir JOHN SHELLEY deserves great
praise for the firm and temperate manner in which
he has conducted the affair, which we may hope
will receive a satisfactory settlement long before
the termination of this session. •

MADRID, MARCH 19.

The Correspondencia .Autografa- contains the
following :—" As the Moors will o nly consent to
pecuniary sacrifices as the conflitio:as of peace, war
must be continued.

" This evening there will be a full Council of

Ministers."

VIENNA., MARCH 19.

Austria, considering the annexation of Central
Italy to Piedmont as a flagrant -violation of the
treaty of Zurich, which formally :yes erved the rights
of the deposed Princes, has resolved to adjourn the
renewal of official relations with the court of Turin.
In consequence of this resolve Ba ron de Brenner,
who was to fulfil the function. of :representative of
Austria at Turin, has returned to his former post
at Athens.

PARIS, MARCH 20.

The Moniteur contains a list of persons to whom
decorations of the Legion d'Honn,ieur are given for
services rendered to our army in Italy.

NAPLES, MARCH 17.
Letters from the frontier announce in creased
agitation .

A popular manifastation has taken place at Atri,
banners were displayed bearing the words " Victor
Emmanuel for ever." The police checked the re-
volt. Eighty individuals who were compromised
fled over the frontier.

TURIN, MARCH 18.
A royal decree convokes the electoral assemblies
of the Emilian provinces for the 2.5 th March.
Another decree appoints 15 new senators.
MARCH 19.

A note from the Government of Tuscany ad-
dressed to Europe explains the r easons why the
vote by universal suffrage rendered annexation to
Piedmont a necessity.

MUNICH, MARCH 19.

The report of the Stuttgarder Beeobachter that the
French Ambassador at Munich had already spoken
of a cession of the Palatinate to :France has been
officially contradicted.

MADRID, MARCH 18.

It is asserted that Generals Prim, Rios, and
Zabala have been raised to the dig o ity of Grandees
of Spain of the first class.

LISBON, MARCH 18.

The Minister of Marine is dead. The Cortes
have authoris“d the free exportation of wheat and
barley until the 30th of June.

INDIA.

BOMBAY, FEB, 25.

The loans are all closed. An income tax of 2
and 4 per cent. and a State paper currency are an-

nounced.

Important alterations are to be me►de in the tariff.
The duty on twist and yarn is to be raised to 10

per cent.

Saltpetre is to be subject to a duty of 2r. per
maund of 821 b.

The income tax will be 2 per cent.. on incomes of
£2O to £5O, and above that 4 per cent.
No class will be exempt.
The Licence Bill has been modified, and the scale
reduced to one rupee, four rupees, and ten rupees.
Hemp, jute, hides, wool, flax, tea„ and coffee are
to be free of duty.
Twenty per cent. duties are to be lowered to 10
per cent.

An invasion of Kokees has taken place in Tip
perah. One thousand persons were murdered.

A report NN as current of treason at Indoor, the
capital of liolkar.

HANOVEat, MONDAY.

Hanover proposed an indemnity as a basis for
negotiations in universal conferences concerning
the redemption of the Stade Dues.

England refused to agree to the amount pro

posed.

Negotiations are being continued.

FRANCE.

PARIS, TUESDAY.

The action for libel against the Bishop of Orleans
was contitraed on Saturday before a more thronged
court than on the previous days. After the plead-
ings had terminated, Mgr. Dupanloup rose and
spoke for three quarters of an hour. The court
then, after due deliberation, declared the complaint
of the Siecle to be unfounded, and acquitted the
defendant on the charge against him. As regarded
the complaint of the heirs of Mgr. Rousseau, the
defendant was also acquitted, the French law not
admitting any charge for defamation against a per-
son deceased. The parties civiles, in both cases,
were condemned to pay the costs.

BOURSE, March 16.----The market has been com-
pletely inactive, but with a certain steadiness.
Threes varied from 671 75c to 67f 80c; Mobilier,
7381 75c to 7411 25c; Orleans, 1,390 f to 1,392 f
60c. ; Southern, 496 f 25c to 497 f 50c ; Austrian,
497 f 50c to 498 f 75c ; Lombard, 532 f 50c to 533 f
75c. The following are the last quotations :

4i per Cents. ~.. 96 I Credit Fonder 747 50
Do. end mount .. --1 Belgian 41 —
3 per Cents. 67 80 I Piedmontese (5)
Do. end month.... 67 80 !Roman Bl 25
Bank Shares...... 2800 Austrian
Credit Mobilier .. 741 25 Spanish Threes
Do. Account ..... I Home Debt 43 50

THE ?SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY :EVENING, MARCH 20, 1860.

least, if it be necessary, to give satisfaction to
France, to act in such a way as to cause the said
city and county to be neutralised, under the sove-
reignty of the House of Savoy, and in conformity
with the conditions which may be settled by the
Great Powers to which belong the right, and on
which the duty falls of watching over the mainte-
nance of the peace and balance of power in Europe.
Count H. Renaud de Falicon, Chevalier H. Verani
T',lasin de Chateauneuf, Dr. Camous, all municipal
councillors, and Chevalier Andre d'Andreis have
been appointed a deputation to present this address
to his Majesty."