The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-14 00:00:00

THE STATE OF PIEDMONT.

A letter just received, dated Turin, May 11, says
It is presumable the Austrians have not been
acting without some settled plan, but it is certainly
most difficult to divine what that can be. Their
movements have all along had little meaning to
those who observed them from this side. After
coming to within half a dozen miles of the Dora,
and some 25 of Turin, they have again retired.
One of to-day's papers says that the Austrian
scout (or spy), captured on Monday, and who hung
himself with his cravat in his prison, was an officer
of Engineers, who had come to examine the forti-
fications on the Dora, and had already sketched
plans of them. In many places, on the approach of
the Austrians the young and middle-aged men
made their escape, the idea having got abroad that
they would be carried off and made to serve as
soldiers. The exactions and rough conduct of the
invaders have caused great exasperation in the coun-
try. Some places are reported to have been stripped
of everything, including even the agricultural im-
plements. Letters in the papers give various
details of the extortions practised. One from
Castelnuovo Scrivia, said to be written by a priest,
says that they did not do personal injury to any
one, but were overbearing and insolent, and used
menaces to extract all they desired. It says
" The requisitions imposed on this place were for 24 oxen,
14,000 rations of bread, 200 hectolitres of wine, 160 sacks
of meal, and I know not how much hay and straw, besides
25 carts, with two oxen each, for transport ; and this after
they had deprived us of all the tobacco and salt, and reduced
us to the point that we could no longer cook our bread in
the oven. In short,.if we had not been totally abandoned
by our army (by necessity, as all know) I assure you that
the peasants here were on the point of cutting all their
throats, and would have done it but for the prudence of the
gentlemen, who saw the extremity in which they would
have placed themselves without profit."
From Pontecurone come similar accounts. The
railway and telegraph were destroyed, the station-
house was knocked to pieces, and all the harm pos-
sible done. The horses were turned into the fields,
and the people compelled to fetch buckets of water
for them. On the morning of the 6th a requisition
was made for wine, corn, and cattle, and towards
evening the troops departed, but at 10 o'clock a
fresh corps came in, Hungarians and Croats, and
made fresh requisitions. They camped at 40 paces

from the station, and threatened to fire on whom-
soever should approach. One account says :
"But this was not all; on the summit of the tower we
saw a truss of straw, smeared with gunpowder, and which
was to serve, as they told us, to give the signal for sacking
and firing the place. Fortunately, towards four o'clock, an
Austrian, who was stationed as a vidette on the tower,
came to warn them that a large body of French was coming
down from the direction of the mountain of San Stefano,
and at the same time one of their spies, a wretch with a
wooden leg, hurried to inform them that a body of Pied-
montese was marching towards Sale. (The cripple got a
good number of florins as a reward.) Upon receiving this
news the alarm was given and they departed precipitately,
abandoning some oxen, for which they had made a requisi-
tion half an hour before."

REPORT BI THE COMMISSION OF
THE PRUSSIAN CHAMBER.

The Report of the Committee of the Prussian
Chamber of Deputies on the political and financial
statements of the Government was only made
known at a late hour of the evening on the 10th
inst. The following is a precis of that document :
The representatives of the Government explained the
position of mediator which Prussia took up at the com-
mencement of the misunderstanding. Sbe had openly de-
clared the validity of treaties, but on the other hand had
promised assistance to no power, and still less had she given
any assurance of her neutrality. When the Italian ques-
tion turned up, in which she had no direct interest, Prussia
had come forward as a friend to ali parties, more especially
to England. Had she partially espoused the cause of
Austria she would have alienated England and Russia
from her, and yet not have secured the maintenance of
peace ; on the contrary would probably have occasioned a
war. Besides, she had negotiated not about a conflict
actually going on, but about the apprehension of a conflict
whose extent no one could calculate, since no defined
difference was apparent. Under such circumstances, to
have espoused the cause of Austria would have been
on Prussia's part a renunciation of all self-judgment,
and have endangered her independence in behalf of a
policy monopolised by Austria, and over which Prussia
would have no co-existent influence. The committee has
found this position fully borne out by the circumstances.
It must be kept in mind also that in the war which Austria
has to wage in Italy eventualities may occur that may im-
perilnot Austria's special interests alone, but German ones
as well. Neverthelese, it will not depend on Austria, who is
guided not exclusively by German considerations, and must
be so guided, but on Germany, and above all on Prussia,
free from all extra-Germanic motives, to decide whether
and when such eventualities become perilous to that degree
as to require the exhibition of Germany's defensive might.
The committee approves likewise the disapproval by Prussia
of Austria's step that interrupted the negotiations, her ulti-
matum to Sardinia, and the committee sees with the most
lively satisfaction that Prussia's measures are entirely in-
dependent of Austria's one-sided proceeding. As the com-
mittee has now passed over to the discussion of Prussia's
present policy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs made the
communication respecting the position of the two great
powers with reference to the war, that England intended
to remain neutral so long as circumstances and her own
interest enabled her to do so ; that Russia, on the contrary,
had declared she formed no engagements with other powers
of a nature to bind her hands, that she should take up for
the present an attitude of expectation, reserving to herself
the right of changing it the instant other powersinterfered
in the war. The minister then expressed his conviction that
considering the military preparations of the two greatest
military powers Prussia could not but put herself
into the position of being able at any moment of
calling out the entire force of the realm. The com-
mittee, convinced itself that the Government, with-
out danger to the position it had taken up, could
not point out to the committee and representatives of the
nation minutely the objects it had in view, and the ways it
meant to follow for their attainment. The position itself
was found to be in principle corect and such as was required
by the interests of the country in the preseiit state of affairs,
judging as the committee did from the reasons disclosed
above. The committee concludes, from the declarations of
the King's government, from its most recent measures, par-
ticularly frem the mobilisation of the 6th army corps and
the extended military measures contemplated by the pro-
jects of law now lying before the house, that government
is fully alive to the magnitude and danger of the case, and
that, whilst avoiding all provocation to war, unless it be
thrust upon the nation, it wishes to be capable at the proper
moment of appealing to arms for tho safety and honour of
Germany, and at the same time of causing for the common
weal the defensive power of Germany to be led out against
the enemy. After an allusion by some members of the com-
mittee to the enthusiasm existing in other parts of Ger-
many, a member of the government then expressed the hope
that facts rather than words would clear up this misunder-
standing in Southern Germany relative to Prussia's atti-
tude ; the Germans of the south had found the Prussian
government too cautious and hesitating, bat he for his part
was convinced that'the government would continue to pro-
ceed with great circumspection, and should the rest of Ger-
many not yet recognise the great and heavy responsibility
weighing on the Prussian Cabinet, it would find when the
time arrived that Prussia would stand up to avenge the least
violation of Prussian and German honour.
The financial measures of the Government have been
unanimously sanctioned by the committee, and recom-
mended for adoption. The expenses of the mobilisation, it
was shown by the Government, will be almost entirely de-
frayed without requiring the aid of a loan.
The committee accepted the propositions of Government
upon coudition that the sixth paragraph of the law on the
railway toll shall be abolished, not merely for the moment,
but in perpetuity.