The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-23 00:00:00

tion as a peace impost, and in the identical year
too, in which he had predicted this its final abro-
gation ! While these marvellous transformations
are taking place—it is, perhaps, not so very sur-
prising that with the connivance of the advocates
of Peace-at-any-Price, the third Chinese war should
be inaugurated by the despatch in veritable earnest
of a most formidable and energetic expedition.
However—there is the convention already alluded
to upon the eve of being signed, sealed, exchanged
and ratified, by the'. representatives of the allied
French and English Governments.
And, meanwhile, what, in the name of fortune,
can have possessed two of the ablest men on the
side of the Opposition—the ex-Under-Secretary
for Foreign Affairs (Mr. SEYMOUR FITZGERALD)
and, more recently, the ex-Secretary of State
for War (General JONATHAN PEEL)—in
the inquiries already made by one of them, and
on Friday evening to be repeated in a new form by
the other, as to the strength, character, and all the
rest of it, of the force about to be sent by us upon
this third Chinese expedition? There, down upon
the Parliamentary papers we find the second of
these queries—Mr. FITZGERALD'S we have already
taken occasion to reprobate as extraordinarily in-
discreet and inconsiderate! There, upon the Par-
liamentary papers we find it notified for to-morrow,
Friday, the 24th February, " General PEEL—To ask
the Secretary of State for India, what is the
amount and description of force that has proceeded,
or is about to proceed, from India to China
specifying, if possible, the regiments of which the
European portion of the force is composed !" Why,
the indiscretion of inquiries of this kind is surely
manifest, upon one instant's consideration ! To
render the whole thing complete : Some one ought
to ask immediately if the House of Commons
and the public newspapers had not bet-
ter be supplied at once with a precise out-
line of the projected campaign, so that the
enemy might be carefully prepared at all points to
meet their approaching difficulties ! Further com-
ment is, after this, we presume, quite unnecessary.
We only hope the Secretary of State for India, and
all other officials who may be similarly cross-
questioned, will just—say as little as possible !
Nor is this all. There is down upon the Parlia-
mentary papers, indefinitely for, an earlydate, a notice
a great deal more long-winded and (if that be pos-
sible) still more extraordinary in its way, considering
the nature of the motion and the person from whom
it has emanated ! To be plain, on Wednesday, the
22d of February (yesterday), the veteran Sir DE
LACY EVANS gave notice, under the head " China
War," that he would (upon an early date) move the
following among other Resolutions :—"That, in
the opinion of this house, no sufficient proof has
been adduced of the late attack upon the Peiho
forts having been authorised by the original instruc-
tions of her MAJESTY'S Government; that the recourse
to force of arms, in order to use a particular
route by plenipotentiaries proceeding to ex-
change ratifications of peace, was unprecedented
and inconsistent with the object of a
professed amicable mission :—That, although under
the untoward consequences of this ill-advised hos-
tile measure, some strong military demonstration on
the part of the allies may unfortuuately be neces-
sary, in order to restore our relations with the
Chinese Government to a more satisfactory footing;
yet were the failure of an unauthorised collision
made a pretext for operations of an extreme hosti-
lity, involving for instance an attack on the City
of Pekin, or a conquest of territory by either of the
allied Powers, such a proceeding would be contrary
to every principle of international law, nor would
it be less impolitic, as being more likely to
interrupt than promote the extension of
commerce and diffusion of civilisation amongst
the population of that country: That this
house humbly participates in the wish ex-
pressed by her MAJESTY in her most gracious
Speech on the opening of this session of Parliament,
viz., It will be gratifying to me if the prompt
acquiescence of the Emperor of CHINA in the mo-
derate demands which will be made by the Pleni-
potentiaries shall obviate the necessity for the em-
ployment of force.' That conciliatory expressions
are also stated, through various credible sources, to
have been made by the Emperor of CHINA in rela-
tion to the conflict at the entrance of the Peiho,
which would almost permit of the anticipation ex-
pressed by Lord S. RUSSELL that peacful relations
with the Chinese Government ' may be placed
upon a permanent footing without further effusion of
blood "'—and so forth. Why, talk of a Sop to Cer-
berus—this is surely nothing better than throwing
a frightened sop to every little mangy cur that
snaps at the heels of the British Lion. According
to the new policy that is rapidly being organised
for us with regard to our nearest neighbour
(France) and our remotest (China), we shall be
systematically receiving all the kicks and giving
all the halfpence !

All we ask in reference to the new or addi-
tional taxation is, in our idiomatic English " That
the collar should be put on the right horse."
Mr. GLADSTONE tells us that nearly £4,000,000
will be remitted to consumers, at a loss to the
revenue of about a million less than that sum.

Who will chiefly benefit by these remissions ?
Because, whoever they are, they are the persons
whom the additional taxation ought chiefly to
strike. So far as we can judge what, in point
of income, may be called the lower half of the
middle class, will gain nothing. Already the ne-
cessaries of life to them are beginning to rise,
and they are this very day paying advanced
prices for several articles touched by the tariff,
and because of the altered duties. Small con-
sumers will most of this class be of French wines,
even at the reduced price ; and not many great
ga'ners, we imagine, by exchanging their glass
of English ale for the thin wish-wash of our
volatile neighbours.
_

The working classes are, in certain districts, likely
to be benefited by an increased demand for their la-
bour, and therefore by increased power to purchase
what luxuries they can afford. But on just these
luxuries the duties are unaltered. The advantage
to them will be, not cheaper:articles, but more to
spend on probably clearer ones. Currant cakes, it
is true, should be cheaper—it remains to be seen
whether they will be. The great body, however,
of our working men will have, we fear, little or no
more to spend. Wages in agricultural districts,
and in non-manufacturing towns, will not be likely
to rise. Taking, therefore, the working men as a
body, all the kingdom over, we fear the changes
made will rather lessen than increase their
command over the comforts of life. We do not
overlook the flow of labour from the country to the
towns, and the consequent diminished competition
of labour in the rural districts ; but this will be
insensible in its operation. It will barely suffice
to keep wages from falling. We know full well,
at least, that the busiest times at Manchester have
produced no impression on the starvation wages of
Dorsetshire. Mr. MEcm, not Mr. GLADSTONE, is
the man to raise agricultural wages.
And then, glancing at the wealthier classes—we
see in a moment who are those whom the Budget
either spares or enriches. It spares, as we have
already shown, the propertied class. It leaves