The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-13 00:00:00

:THE WEATHER.—SUN OPricz, JUNE 13, 1860.

THERMOI',IETER, IN THE SHADE.
61--highest since noon yesterday.
53--lowest this morning and during the night.
64—this dr.7 at noon.

BAROMETER-29.6t; rising.
WlNll—South-Westerly; fresh and squally, with fine
cloudy weather and sunshine.

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Tins DAY.—Morning, Bh. 37m.--Afternoon, Oh. 7m.
To-moßßow.-Morning, Oh. 37m.—Afternoon, 10h. 7m.

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THE SUN.
LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1880.

Lord PALMERSTON spoke out last evening as
Lord PALMERSTON could alone be expected to
speak out in reference to the past, present, and
future of the Neapolitan Government. His
MAJESTY (now only nominally) of the Two Sicilies
will be enabled to see from this how much support
or countenance he is likely to obtain from England,
in his struggle with that revolution within his own
dominions which he himself has provoked. He
will be enabled at once to appreciate the futility of
half, at least, of his present diplomatic appeal ad-
dressed simultaneously to the courts of St. James's
and the Tuileries. The Prime Minister said but
few words last evening in regard to this forlorn-
hope of BOMB! sent in quest of succour—but they
were words of the weightiest significance. We
understand, he said we, the Government
of England, understand that the Neapolitan
Government has despatched two diplomatic agents,
the one to Paris, the other to London—diplomatic
agents who may very shortly—perhaps even within
two days—be expected to arrive at their respective
destinations, for the purpose of making some com-
munication [nothing more definite than that is yet
known about them—some communication] to the
allied Governments. Having intimated which, in
fewer words even than those in which we have
here given the announcement, Lord PALMERSTON
added,—" I trust the house will not for a moment
doubt that in communications which may be made
to that envoy we shall express those feelings which
her MAJESTY'S Government, in common with every
one in this country, feel in regard to the barbarities
committed at Palermo—barbarities which are really
disgraceful to the present age and civilisation of
Europe." It is thus by anticipation even, and in
these strong terms, that the British Government,
through the mouth of its Ministerial chief, repro-
bates that cruel and wanton bombardment of the
defenceless city of Palermo, by which the Royal
Navy of the King of NAPLES despicably strove to
.avenge upon a throng of civilians of all ages and
of both sexes the ignominious defeat of the Royal
army (from 20,000 to 25,000—strong ? shall
we say, or weak) by the little band of "bri-
gands," led on by the consummate daring of
'GARIBALDI'. Having thus plainly enough ex-
pressed his opinion in respect to the bombard-
ment, the Premier added scornfully—" With re-
gard to any expectations that such representations
may have any beneficial effect upon tha future con-
.duet of the Government of Naples I cannot venture
to lead the house to entertain any sanguine hopes."
On the Contrary, the noble viscount acknowledged
that it was " far more likely" that the course pur-
sued by the Neapolitan Government would be
diametrically the' reverse of what might here be
desired almost unanimously, and that instead of
witnessing the disgrace and degradation, we should
witness the reward and promotion, of the very
officers who have committed these atrocities. As
to the forlorn condition in which the Kir g of Naples
-will now find himself, let Lord PALMERSTON'S sub-
We know, "
asequent remarks speak for themselves! "
1e said, " that the Neapolitan Government has ap-
plied for assistance to its foreign allies—that is, to
guarantee the possession of the Two Sicilies to the
King of NAPLEs." At the next sentence—" Austria
has positively and peremptorily refused to interfere
at all in the aZairs of Naples "—the House cheered !
At the next—" We have every reason to believe
that the determiziation of the French Government

Before closing these remarks we would earnestly
direct the attention of those among our readers
who are now closely watching the progress
of events in Southern Italy—to facilitate
their appreciation of the force :and rela-
tive bearing of those events by as frequent
reference as may be practicable to maps of reliable
authenticity. One of these—specified in the foot-
note—has but just now made its appearance, a
map of notable clearness and accuracy, reduced
from the surveys of Admiral SMYTH and the Neapo-
politan Government.

* Maclure, Macdonald, and Macgregor's Map of Sicily :
with enlarged plans of Messina, Palermo, and Syracuse.
Price ls. London: Stanford : 1860.

Attention has at length, we confidently trust,
been directed effectually to the long "vexed ques-
tion " of our Colonial Military Expenditure. It
will be in the remembrance of many that a Com-
mission especially organised to inquire into this
subject was appointed about a year since at the
instance of the Right Hon. JONATHAN PEEL, late
Secretary of State for War under the Earl of
DERBY'S Administration. The Commissioners
have sat since then " many a time and oft," have
entered vigorously and determinedly upon the
labours of their investigation, and have at length,
after mature consideration, drawn up those reports
which have been very recently laid before Parlia-
ment. Their "reports," we say advisedly, for the
inquiry has been conducted to a conclusion so con-
scientiously that actually two reports, instead of
the " one" customary document, will be found by
the general public to have resulted from the per-
severing and protracted toil of the Commission. A
minority of one—Mr F. ELLIOTT to wit—somewhat
reminding us of the "procession of one" formed by
the stately and awful Mrs. HOMINY in _Martin
Chuzzlewit---having supplemented the collective
report of his colleagues (the majority) by a second
enunciating his own individual opinions in regard
to the particular problem under examination.
Combining these two important reports, however
as the optician combines the lenses in the forma-
tion of a telescope, we seem to get nearer to the
remote and scattered subjects under scrutiny—
examining each in turn with a more distinct appre-
ciation of all of them together, and with a more
vivid apprehension of facts hitherto in many in-
stances but dimly seen, some of them even to the
generality but little more than faintly conjectural.
It is—in consequence of these double reports of
the Commission set on foot by General PEEL—
distinctly recognised at last, how urgent the
necessity is now thrusting upon us continu-
ally with increasing force, the long suspected but
at length sufficiently obvious requirement for some
total and immediate change being adventured upon
in the matter of our colonial military expenditure.
For, what are some among the principal facts and
figures now flooded upon this question through the
inquiry of these commissioners ? It appears, then,
to begin with, that the military charges for her
fifty colonies cost England upon the year 1857-1858
precisely £3,968,599, or very little short indeed of
the round sum of £4,000,000 sterling. In other
words, we paid then during the narrow compass of
a single twelvemonth for the defence of our
half-hundred colonies over one entire quarter
of our enormous military expenditure of
£15,000,000. And how much, it may be
asked, out of these £4,000,000 paid down
for the military defence of those fifty British colo-
nies, how much of those £4,000,000 was contri-
buted within that year (1857-1858) by the colonies
themselves ? How much ?—not £400,000 ! To be
exact, just £378,253 ! Here is the root of the
whole difficulty. Here is good ground to work
upon in the grand new cause of retrenchment.
Do we complain of the monstrous outlay yearly
during a time of peace, the extravagant and prodi-
gal disbursement of £15,000,000 per annum upon
our military establishment ? Here is a ready means
opened to us for the lightening of those particular
" fardels" of ours by an odd million or two. For
it is perfectly obvious by this time to the people as
well as to Parliament, to the Commons themselves
as well as to the Commissioners, that while it is
of course our duty and interest to support a
struggling colony in its infancy, the duty of its
military defence devolves after a while from the
old mother country to the population of the parti-
cular colony called by her protective influence into
existence. There is no reason why the vast majo-
rity of the new colonies should " not" hence-
forth be required to defend themselves. There
are divers good reasons at once addaeeable
to prove that they " should," and to prove
this to demonstration. These reasons are many
of them given succinctly and overwhelm-
ingly in the reports of the Commissioners. To
those reports we may take an early opportunity of
reverting. Here at any rate we particularise a few
out of our fifty colonies, which may be treated dif-
ferently, inasmuch as they are of a wholly excep-
tional character. These are, however, in simple
truth, little better than military strongholds, "gar-
risoned," rather than peopled, with colonists. Our
enumeration of a few amongst them will testify at
once the accuracy of our description in this parti-
cular. Gibraltar for example, and Malta, the three
hundred islands of " the still vexed Bermoothes,"
and the rocky cone of St. Helena. Yet upon the
military defence of these garrison•colonies there
was spent during the year already specified more
than one-fourth of the dreadful aggregate of
£3,968,599—in other words, a round sum of
£1,166,900. And of this £1,166,900, there was no

more than the small sum--what MONTAGUE TIGG
would call "the ridiculously small amount"—of
£2i3,855 contributed by the garrison colo-

hies themselves.

Even under this one ex-

ceptional class, therefore, there is " room

and verge enough" for improvement. How much

more, however, is thereunder all the other classes of
all the remaining British Colonies, towards the
military defence of which, during that one year,

'57, '5B, there was contributed nearly £3,000,000—
something, at any rate, over £2,800,000. Not one
sixpence of which, in point of fact, need have been
required from the Imperial coffers of the old father-
land. Eighty years ago the grandest of all our

British Colonies signalised thenceforth a truth,

utterly beyond the chance of ever being gainsaid

with impunity by our Government—the truth

enunciating the just principle that the mother

country had no right to fill her own exchequer by
taxing her remote dependencies. As a pendant to
that great truth, to that just principle, chivalrously

maintained at the point of their good swords by
WASHINGTON and his compatriots, in the renowned

American War of Eauncination—might we not
wisely now proclaim a principle quite as just in

itself? Might we not echo back upon our colonies as
important a truth in its way—namely, that Eng-
land ought not longer to be held almost entirely
responsible for the military defence of our colonies,

is similar to that of Austria"—those cheers were but that, on the contrary, these colonies might, in
renewed. While any explanations as to the reply reason and in manliness, be able by this time to
likely to be given by the English Government defend themselves.
was wisely enough deemed by the noble viscount
to be absolutely superfluous ! The result to the
King of NAPLES and his Government---to use the
phrase of the reporter—" may be more easily ima-
gined than described !"

There is no subject on which Englishmen of all
parties, politics, and sects feel more at one than on
that of the African Slave Trade. Sometimes it has
appeared to be almost made out to the satisfaction
of philanthropists like the late Mr. BUXTON, that
our money was thrown away in attempting its
suppression by cruisers ; at least that the sufferings
of the negroes were greatly increased by the
means employed by slavers to escape detection and
capture. Yet never could either we or our gover-
nors bring ourselves to resign this horrid trade to
its natural development. We could not stand by
and see a set of the vilest pirates on earth pursue
their accursed traffic without restraint on the high-

ways of the ocean.
Hitherto, however, between America and Spain
we have succeeded but imperfectly. American
Governments have been willing to see the trade
suppressed, and of late have co-operated more ac-
tively with us to attain that object. But a sensi-
tiveness on the question of the right of search, the
remains of an old misunderstanding, have enabled
slavers to use the American flag, and to defy our
commanders. Spain, on her part, is guilty of the
most unblushing fraud as well as cruelty. By
treaty she is bound to suppress the traffic ; and
she has already received money, amounting now,
we believe, to nearly half a million, from us for
that purpose. Yet her colonies—Cuba especially,
and Porto Rico are now the great remaining
marts for slavers. Could we but coerce them, the
slave trade would cease. We have a perfect
moral right to do it ; and Americans have more
than hinted that we ought to act on that right,
and compel the fulfilment of the treaty. Assuredly,
were they in our position, and did they feel in
the subject the interest universally felt here,
they would soon find a short cut to complete sup-
pression of the traffic ; and they would have, what
we should, the applause of the civilised world.
Just at the present time, however, the Americans
have a special reason of their own why they should
wish to put an end to the slave trade. It is
likely to become an annual charge on their na-
tional treasury. Their cruisers have, for de-
cency's sake, been increased, and they seem not
to like that we should monopolise the naval
credit of all the captures. The consequence has
been that many cargoes of negroes have been
brought in by the American vessels, which at no
little cost had to be maintained, and reconveyed
across the Atlantic to the colony of Liberia—the
American Act on the slave trade not permitting
captured slaves to remain in the states, but
requiring that they should be conveyed to
some part of the coast of Africa. A
cargo captured by the Echo in 1858 had been sent
across in this way, at a cost of 150 dollars each, to
Liberia, under an engagement by Mr. BUCHANAN
with the American Colonisation Society. The
expenditure on another cargo brought by the
Wildfire will amount to more than 100,000 dollars,
and now the Mohawk has brought them a third,
of 507 African negroes. The President has there-
fore been compelled to ask for a permanent appro-
priation of money for the purpose of providing for
the captured negroes; and has suggested legislation
enabling the captains to take the negroes at once
to Africa when practicable, and place them in
charge of the agent of the society. This bill, we
learned on Friday, had passed.; and, at a cost of
50,000 dollars the negroes last captured were placed
in charge of the Colonisation Society. The States
have therefore to incur considerable expense, in
addition to that of maintaining the cruising
squadron.

We are not surprised, therefore, that Mr.
BtiCEfANAN begins to rub his eyes, and that he
should close his Message to the Congress on the
subject with the observation which gave occasion
to Mr. CAVE'S question on Friday night—" It is
truly lamentable that Great Britain and the United
States should be obliged to expend such a vast
amount of blood and treasure for the suppression
of the African slave trade, and this when the only
portions of the civilised world where it is tolerated
and encouraged are the Spanish Islands of Cuba
and Porto Rico." There is reason to think that
the American Government is sincere in wishing to
put down the slave trade. It can hardly desire to
be put to the expense now incurred in capturing
negroes, and maintaining them for a year after-
wards through the agency of the Colonisation
Society—the object of that society having been to
get rid of the negroes from America, not to pro-
vide for captured ones. Neither can we conceive
that from considerations of domestic policy, Ame-
rican statesmen can be otherwise than opposed to
the introduction of a mass of barbarous negroes
amongst those long resident in, indeed born in the
the country, and are as truly Americans as
Mr. BUCHANAN himself and every member of Con-
gress. The demands of some of the Southern
States for the abolition of the penal laws against
the slave trade will never be complied with will-
ingly by American statesmen. They must there-
fore on every ground regard the traffic with hos-
tility.

It seems strange, then, that effectual co-operation
should not be possible ; butSthe truth is, Ame-
rican Democracy is a stiff-necked animal. A law
is wanted to remedy a confessed deficiency-in the
American law on the subject, which that perverse
Democracy would not consent to. An American
cruiser may seize a vessel under the American flag
with slaves on board ; but, if she have neither flag
nor papers, although filled with slaves —or if she
be fitted up as a slaver, although with the Ameri-
can flag flying—in either case an American captain
dare not meddle with her. Hence a slaver waiting
for a cargo off the coast of Africa under the
American flag can be touched by neither our
cruisers nor those of her own country ; and if she
throw overboard her flag and papers off Cuba, she

would be safe from American cruisers, though not
from ours. Mr. BUCHANAN will not be a candi-
date for re-election ; he sees the interest of his
country on this question. Can he not leave them

as his parting legacy an earnest appeal to give up
all old jealousies on this subject, and for the sake
of his country and of humanity to enact complete
laws and to co operate by interchange of conces-
sions with England to blot this accursed traffic from
the earth.