The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-06 00:00:00

Commence at 7 o'clock.

TiHE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN "
I. supplied, as soon as published every Evening, by
W. ALEXANDER (late BROOKS), Newspaper Agent, 21,
Old Cavendish- a treet, Oxford-street.

THE LAST EDITION of " THE SUN "
supplied as soon as Published, containing all the
LATEST NEWS and SPOKTLNG INTELLIGHINCE, by
It. W. HAIM'S, Newspaper Agent, 4, Blacklrlars-road,
London, S.

THE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN."
J. HOLMES begs to inform his friends, and the pubiie
generally. that he supplies the LATEST EDITION of
THE SUN " as soon as published —No. 16, Hampstead-
road, N.W.

PORTING-.—JOHN ROBERTS supplies the
LA.Tr.ST EDITION of "THI. SUN" as soon as pub-
Bath-strc et, City-road, E.C.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

Tins DAY.—Morning, 6h. 4m.—Afternoon, 6h. 20m,
Ta-Monnow.-Morning, 6h. 40m.—Afternoon, 7h. Oin,

MI/Ng
44

LONDON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1866.

It must be a satisfaction to all classes of the com-
munity that Her MAJESTY is again appearing in
public, and passing through the ranks of her peo-
ple to open her Parliament. A long seclusion has
followed the sudden and severe shock of the death
of her illustrious CONSORT, but deep as was the
sympathy felt throughout the country, it is now
admitted on all sides that the period has arrived
when the duties of her exalted position can
with advantage be resumed by Her MAJESTY.
It cannot be said that this particular juncture is at
all a favourable one for the delivery of a Royal
Speech, and it would require far more skill and
dexterity than any of the present Cabinet possesses
to make the many crooked things look straight and
the many rough places smooth that abound in mat-
ters
of home and foreign interest just at present.
Great allowances could be made for the difficulties
with which the Government has had to contend in
suddenly losing him who was its chief and director ;
but at the same time it must be admitted that the
chief obstacle to success has been interposed by
their own wilful mismanagement and perversity.
No one expects that much about Jamaica will ap-
pear in the Speech from the Throne—that subject
has now assumed a shape in which it is best
left alone and treated sub silentio. A pass-
ing allusion must be made, but we
may best realise the inconsistency of the
course taken by Ministers when we remember that
no commendation can be passed upon the authori-
ties in Jamaica in the Royal Speech, although a
notification of the approval of the Colonial Secre-
tary has already been signified to Mr. EYRE, and
read by him to the House of Assembly. A Sove-
reign has seldom had a more ungracious task to
perform.than has her ALUESTY in the allusion to
this outbreak iu Jamaica ; and slur it over as they
may, it may yet be the bill of difficulty they cannot
ascend in the coming session.

Respecting the aspect of affairs in Europe,
although we are on amicable terms with all the
nations, much has transpired during the past year
to cause distrust, and to awaken suspicion in the
minds of all the independent and enlightened among
her MAJESTY'S subjects. The policy of Prussia,
both at home and abroad, has been a most mis-
chievous one, and likely to become more hurtful as
time proceeds and its plots are matured and de-
veloped—a domestic calamity such as had had no
parallel in the memory of the present generation.
It is, indeed, a painful topic, and yet one that
cannot fail to arrest attention and demand a
considerable share of notice in the Royal Speech.
In this important matter, again, the hesi-
tation and inactivity of Ministers have greatly
contributed to enhance the difficulty of their
position, and to put them in an unfavourable light
before the country. It is well that the meeting of
Parliament will in a great measure relieve them of
their responsibility, and devolve upon others the
task of suggesting remedies. So far as Ireland is
concerned, her MAJESTY has the gracious task before
her of congrtulating the Parliament upon the
loyalty of her people, which was notified during the
recent discovery of the conspiracy. Reform is, of
course, the most notable subject in the Royal
Speech, and yet we are not likely to meet with
much discursive or detailed description. It is true
that when oil previous occasions a great deal
was promised in the Royal Speech, very little was
afterwards done in the way of performance ; there-
fore, a meagre announcement of the fact that some
steps have been taken to form an estimate of the
requirements of the representation, and that the
attention of Parliament is invited to their considera-
tion, may, or may not, mean that Ministers will
keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to
the heart. In all human probability, this session,
which inaugurates the seventh Parliament of her
MAJESTY'S reign, will be a stormy and eventful
one, and form a marked contrast to the tedium and
monotony of many past years, during which the
Government have been indulging in a dolce far
niente.

The movement in favour of the repeal of the
Malt Tax is assuming formidable proportions, and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer can hardly afford
to disregard the claims of the abolitionists. They
appear resolved that the Government shall not be
able to bring that charge of indifference against
them which was so long considered a sufficient an-
swer to all appeals about Reform. The public does
not care for it or there would be more agitation
was the constant reply, and the very weariness and
disgust of the political professions which produced
an apparent inaction were thus quietly made to
do duty in the cause of the very politicians whose
" words, not deeds" had given rise to the dissatis-
faction. The repeal of the Malt Tax has been com-
monly set aside as a party question, and conse-
quently all efforts to secure it have been regarded
as mere party movements, and the stronger side of
the House has never taken it up. The public, on
the reform principle, was supposed not to care
about it, and the farmers were not likely to carry
their point unaided. The real objection with most
people has been that they apprehended the benefits
of the repeal would he divided between the landlords
and the brewers after the unsatisfactory fashion of
some 40 years since when the Beer Tax was removed.
Three millions were lost to the Exchequer, and
about a farthing in the quart was gained by the
public ! But the opinion is now
gradually gaining
ground that after all it is a tax which affects the
conlner AM 11-111C11 42 the producer, aince, in addition

"71'

of economy, health, and comfort. Good Wholesome
cheap beer would be the most powerful opponent
of that übiquitous enemy of our English indus-
trial life—the gin-palace.
The meeting held yesterday at the Freemasons'
Tavern was very largely attended. Lord BERNERS
was in the chair, by right, we suppose, of his thirty
years' consistent opposition to the tax. There was
a goodly show of noblemen and members of Par-
liament, so that the repeal is not likely to suffer
for want of advocates in either house. Besides
these directpoliticians there were farmers, maltsters,
and others connected with the question in its
various aspects. Lord BERNERS, in his brief ad-
dress, spoke very sensibly, and urged, with reason,
that the question should not be regarded as a party
subject. This has, in fact, been the great weakness
of the abolitionists hitherto. They have relied too
exclusively on the rights of the farmer and the
agricultural class, without arguing the matter on
the broader basis of the :interest of the general con-
sumer. The removal of a considerable tax affects
all classes of taxpayers, so the interests of all de-
serve to be considered in a repeal which must be
felt somewhere. Lord BERNERS said, "I hold that
it is a great social question ; it is a question far
beyond the region of party feelings and party
politics it is a question which affects all classes—
the producer and the consumer alike." The noble
lord went on to show that it affected the producer
by the restrictions of the excise ; it affected the
consumer by making the difference of one-third in
the price of beer ; and it affected the labouring
classes most of all by driving men to the public-
house, where they fell into bad company, ran up
long scores they could not pay, and were served
with drugged intoxicating stuff which was neither
cheering nor invigorating. Mr. PuNNErr, of Kent,
urged that the principles of Free Trade should be
fairly applied to the case when there would be no
fear of the result. A Mr. READ, M.P. for East
Norfolk, in a speech which was amusing from the
intolerance and prejudice it displayed on this very
question of Free Trade reminded his hearers that
Lord RUSSELL had said many years since that if
he were in power when the corn-laws were repealed
the first tax which he would repeal would be the
Malt-Tax. We have yet to see, however, how far
Earl RUSSELL, the Premier of 1866, cares to be
reminded of the pledges of the. Lord JoinT of 1830
or 1840.

It is was of course to be expected that Sir FITZ-
noY KELLY, who has taken so prominent a part
in advocating the repeal, should be present at this
influential meeting, and his speech was, as usual,
able and to the point. He argued that the repeal
of the Malt Tax must naturally follow from the
reduction of other duties, and he brought forward
Sir ROBERT PEEL'S declaration that if the corn
laws were repealed there would be no answer to give
to the farmer when he claimed equal freedom for
barley and malt. Several other speakers followed
on the same ground, and there were not wanting
advocates on the humorous side of the
question. 'I he cup that " cheers but not inebriates"
came in for some very severe attacks, and one
might almost have thought the speakers were dis-
cussing the attractions of some deadly poison.
Great amusement was created by the statement

that a work by Dr. E. SMITH, showing the evils and
dangers of too much tea drinking, had been dedi-
cated, by permission, to Mrs. GLADSTONE. But
still more laughter was produced when it turned
out that another book of still more decided anti-
teapot characteristics had been dedicated to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer himself ! Possibly
these volumes reached Carlton-house-terrace too
late to affect the Budget for 1865, but let us hope
that a careful perusal of the terrible statistics ad-

dressed directly to himself by Dr. DEEWITT, and
Mrs. GLADSTONE'S resume of the arguments of Dr.
SurrH, may move the presiding genius of the
Exchequer at least to lighten, if not wholly to
remove, the burden of an obnoxious and oppressive
impost.

It cannot be much a matter of surprise to any one
that the recent events in Prussia have created great
alarm and disquietude alike for the present and the
future. So great an innovation has not been made
upon the rights of the members of Parliament dur-
ing all the crusade carried on against freedom by
Herr VON BISMARCK, and therefore it follows as a
matter of course that men are on the alert who be-
fore this have been content to take a hopeful view
of the question, and to think that matters would
right themselves in the long run. They now find

to their horror and consternation that no time mus

be lost if they would prevent their country from
being degraded in the eyes of Europe, and dis-
honoured in the annals of history.
Many passages may be quoted to prove that the
late transactions that have taken place respecting
the prosecution of the members are contrary to the
spirit and the letter of the Constitution. It is dis-
tinctly stated that the members of both Houses
of Parliament cannot be considered as responsible
for their votes. " For the opinions expressed by
them in Parliament they can be held responsible
only by the House whose members they are, and
under th e bye-laws enacted by the same." This definite
expression of opinion has hitherto been recognised
and admitted on all sides, aad the courts of law have
sided with the people in upholding these rights, and
preserving intact these privileges. Now, however,
a change has come over the spirit of the dream, and
we are to witness the infringement of those statutes
which contain the articles of the Prussian Constitu-
tion. Last year the Upper House passed by a large
majority a measure which proposed to restrict the
freedom of speech in the Prussian Parliament, but
no one believed that the thing would be carried to
such lengths as it has now unhappily been. The
most strenuous opposition will be made by the
Lower House to the execution of the Govern-
ment projects, and we find that so great
is the indignation experienced that it is
proposed to introduce a resolution affirming that
the cause pursued by the Supreme Tribunal has
constituted a breach of privilege, and therefore null
and void, and binding in no way. This is a very
extreme step to take, but quite justifiable under
the circumstances. At any rate, whatever evils
may ensue, we cannot say that the Deputies have
not done their duty boldly and unflinchingly, and
had the people supported them better, instead of
turning their thoughts to the despoiling of Denmark,
things would now be in a more prosperous state,
and there would not be so much to fear for the
liberties of Prussia.

There is a story circulating in Paris which has
caused a great sensation. It is reported that a lady has
been strangled in a railway carriage on the line between
blehui and Fontainebleau. Her husband, a high judicial
fienct4euery, ie euspected as the assassin.

to the actual amount imposed, it gives scope to so
many impositions and excuses for middlemen to
make their own profits that the retail charge rises
to an absolutely absurd amount. If the Malt Tax
were taken off, or even considerably reduced, there
would be more competition in the trade, more check
upon the brewer and retailer, and, above all, less
temptation to adulterate the beer by the vile corn-
pounds at present introduced. The price and qua-
lity of retail beer is now so manifestly unfair that
it is quite time some change was made in the in-
terests of temperance and morality, as well as those