The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-07 00:00:00

there would be no defaulting tenants or accumu.

lated arrears—and tlicy would have the most

ample security for the payment of the sums to

which they were justly entitled.
The same may be said of all other classes of capi-
talists—save and except money brokers and hard
calculators—who contrive to extract large sums
out of the misery of the industrial population, to

grind them down to the lowest point, and, as the
Derbyshire Courier justly remarks, drives too many,
at intervals of a few years, by poverty and priva-
tion, into the workhouse or the gaol. We had
one deplorable illustration in 1847, and another
in 18571 Poor-rates were enormously in-
creased; for even the best hands—men able
1 and willing to work—could find no employ-

ment. Whatever they had accumulated in more

prosperous days—furniture, clothing, or the tools of
trade—were necessarily disposed of. Any money

laid by for sickness or old age, went first, as a
matter of course, so that even the most provident
operative found himself obliged to begin life de
novo. Even the termination of the monetary crisis
did not work an immediate restoration of confi-
dence. What was miscalled prudence prevented
the re-establishment of credit on its former basis,
and many mills and factories were kept at half
time, long after money became cheap and abun-
dant.

In consequence of the Act of 1844 the burden
of the taxes is frequently doubled. We might
possibly get on with a purely metallic, or quasi
metallic currency—the establishment whereof was
the manifest intention of Lord OVERSTONE and his
followers. But the enormous debt under which the
nation is suffering—debt mainly contracted in an
inconvertible paper currency, when gold was
worth £5 Bs. per ounce—imperatively requires
that there should be a taxation money, receivable
in payment of every public demand, and rendered
a legal tender. Such paper would be gladly
accepted as long as the visits of taxpayers or rate
collectors continued. When they altogether ceased,
the taxation money might be withdrawn, and
then, what might literally be termed " a golden
age" would naturally follow.
It is a grave mistake on the part of Mr. BRIGHT
to suppose that no two currency reformers agree in
opinion. There are, of course, some slight differ-
ences and shades of opinion, but not more than
there are between the various classes of Parliamen-
tary or other Reformers. All concur in
demanding the total and unconditional repeal
of the Act of 1844, and that there should bo
free trade in currency as well as in cora. Indeed,
" free-trade and a fettered currency " are utterly
incompatible, as has been clearly proved by one of
the ablest writers on the monetary question—Sir
ARCHIBALD ALISON ; and also by Mr. GODDARD, a
strenuous opponent of the Corn Laws. A large
majority desire that gold should be regarded merely
as a commodity, and sold at its market value, but
that should no more prevent the nation from ob-
taining a fair measure than the fact that there are
differences of opinion among Parliamentary Re-
formers on the question of the franchise that should
be conceded, the boroughs to be consigned to sche-
dules A or B, or on the most important point of all
—the Ballot. We trust that Mr. DISRAELI will
direct his attention to the subject, and thus render
the Ministry, of which he is an influential member,
the most popular that ever governed the nation.

The Count Perponcher has arrived at Mauri gy's
Hotel, from Berlin, with despatches for her Majesty. His
Excellency the Count and the Countess Lerascha and suite
have left the same establishment, for Brighton.

The Countess d'Apponyi will hold her first
assembly for the present season to-morrow evening, al
Chandos House.

The Marquis of Lansdowne arrived at Lans-
downe House, on Saturday, for Bowood. The noble mar-
quis has quite recovered from the attack of gout which
detained him in the country and prevented him from being
toe opening ot arimment.

. ---
The mortal remains of the late _earl of Ripon
were interred in the family vault at Nocton, in Lincoln •
shire, on Friday last. The funeral was conducted in a pri-
vate and unostentatious manner.

Mr. Wigan having for the present relinquished
the idea of entering upon management, has, with Mrs.
Wigan, accepted an engagement at the new Adelphi
Theatre, where they will make their appearance on the 28th
instant.

Mr. Wright having recovered from his long in-
disposition, will re-appear at the Adelphi Theatre on Mon-
day, the 14th inst.
THE WELLINGTON COLLEGE.—In our account of
the opening of the Wellington College, on Monday last, it
was stated that fifteen acres of the heath were the gift of
Mr. Gibson, the army saddler, of Coventry-street. We are
requested by Mr. Gibson to state that this is a mistake, as
he never possessed any land in that locality.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The following
gentlemen, having undergone the necessary examinations
for the diploma, were admitted members of the college at a
meeting of the court of examiners on the 4th inst., viz. :
Messrs. Adolph Weber, Lima, South America; William
Hepworth, Ginsley, near Leeds; Henry Stokes, Brixton;
Frederick Keene, Bow-road; Robert Jacob Jordan, Bed-
ford-square ; and Charles Sanders, Chigwell, Essex.
It is in contemplation, we believe, to establish
races, under Mr. Topham's management, at .Uxbridge,
within a quarter of a mile of which town an excellent
natural course is to be found.—Bell's
The last advices from Peru reiterate the com-
plaints of discreditable conduct on the part of the Govern-
ment of that Republic with regard to the circulation of a
depreciated coinage, and also the resort to measures to
influence unfairly the fluctuations of the rate of exchange
on England.
ENGLAND AND BRAZIL.—The convention between
England and Brazil for the settlement of outstanding
claims on the respective Governments by the subjects of
each country has been printed. It was signed at Rio on
the 2d of June last, and ratifications were exchanged on
the 9th of September. It provides that each Government
is to appoint a commissioner, and that in case of need an
umpire is to be chosen by lot. All claims are to be pre-
sented within 12 months from the first meeting of the com-
mission, and every claim is to be decided upon within two
years.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.—The advices from South
Australia by the present mail are dated Adelaide, Dec. 11.
Trade generally was dull, and the markets overstocked
with goods. There was every prospect of an abundant
harvest, heavy rains having opportunely set in. The price
of copper had advanced from £96 to £lO5 per ton, in con-
sequence of an improvement in its value in India. Burra
Burra shares were 137 ex div. Wool, 17d. to 181 d. per lb.
It is stated that the construction of the telegraph
between Constantinople and the Persian Gulf, so long pro-
mised by the Turkish Government, is making progress, and
that the section from Constantinople to Bagdad (the prin-
cipal part of the work) will be completed in a few months.
Already a certain portion is in operation. If the submarine
cable through the Persian Gulf, from Kurrachee to Bus-
sorah, were in a state of preparation, we might thus hope
for a new and independent communication with India. At
present, even for the merely partial communication that
exists, we are entirely dependent on the line through Egypt
and Austria, or on that through Egypt and thence by the
Sardinian station at Cagliari. In the event of a continental
war, the prospect of these routes remaining uninterrupted
would be doubtful, and the statesmen responsible would
then have to explain and justify their neglect of the alter-
native means. When the laying:down of the Persian Gulf
line was originally discouraged, the fact was attributed to
deference to the Emperor Napoleon, whose visit to Osborne
took place about that period.
THE INCREASE OF THE NAVY.--The gentlemen
who discover in all taxes raised for naval and military pur-
poses nothing but the cunning devices of a knavish aristo-
cracy, should correct their opinion by what is now transpir-
ing in reference to the navy. The Admiralty have deter-
mined to add considerably to the number of our line-of-
battle ships ; the First Lord of the Admiralty and the
Surveyor of the Navy are early and late together, devising
the necessary measures ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer
has coolly added a million or two sterling to his budget for
the purpose ; and the Navy Estimates will, in all proba-
bility, be passed with as great alacrity this year as last, and
give equal satisfaction to the country, although the estimates
of last year were cut down by the present Minister, and pre-
sented to the house as evidences of retrenchment. And yet
there have been no aristocratical influences at work in
secretly bringing these things about. The speech of Lord
Hardwicke had, it is true, some slight influence upon the
public mind ; but it was an influence openly exerted, and in
proportion as the statements of his lordship were erroneous, as
they undoubtedly were in some respects, they failed in
their design. The great and almost the only cause of the
contemplated increase of the navy, and of the public ap-
proval of that increase, is to be found in the simple an-
nouncement of the fact that the French have more steam
line-of-battle ships than ourselves. This announcement,
which appeared originally in a leading article in the Times,
and was subsequently confirmed in that journal by an
authentic detailed statement from a correspondent, has alone
determined the action of the Cabinet, and prepared the ,
public to support them. Even the Times itself in no way
urged either the Government or the country to pursue the
course adopted, but was content to leave the former to act
and the latter to think for themselves. When it is remem-
bered that a single steam line-of-battle ship of the first-class
costs more than £200,000 sterling, and that the detormina-
tination of the Admiralty therefore involves an extra ex-
penditure of some millions, the all but unanimous approval
of that determination by the country at large is the more
remarkable.—)Mechanics' Magazine.