The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-18 00:00:00

SARDINIA.

The sitting of the 14th of the Chamber of Depu-
ties of Turin was entirely taken up with the dis-
cussion on the fortification of Alessandria. The
Ministers Lamarmora, Cavour, Ratazzi, Lanza, and
Deforesta were present. The question before the
house comprised a bill of indemnity for the expenses
already incurred for that purpose without the sanc-
tion of the Parliament, and a fUrther grant for the
continuation of the works :
" Count Solaro della Margherita, the leader of the
extreme Right, opened the discussion by observing that
the fortification of Alessandria appeared to him a mere
waste of the public money. Piedmont woul I never have
an army numerous enough to garrison the fortresses
and to meet the enemy in the field at the same time ; and
instead of provoking her powerful neighbour, it ought
to be her policy to conciliate the latter, and to await
the course of events. Piedmont had no other defence
against Austria but ber own straightforward conduct
and the protection of the other powers. Now Austria
had no aggressive intentions, and if she had the other
powers would prevent her ; the peaceful attitude of
Piedmont would secure to her the a3sistance of France.
and England. But those powers ❑ever did, nor never
would countenance the hopes of Piedmont touching the
triumph of the Italian idea—all they might say would
be, `Wait till we find it expedient to go to war.' When
Count Cavour returned from Paris he told the country
that he had defended the Italian cause—he almost pre-
dicted the immediate regeneration of Italy. And then
he (Count Solaro) foresaw that it would be attempted
to keep up the illusion by demonstrations which were
notorious. The step taken at Paris bad been made the
pretext for the fortification of Alessandria, and for the
subscription to the 100 guns, praised by the Pied-
montese Gazette and the ministerial organs. The
deliverance of Italy, the honourable orator thought, re-
required something else than fortresses ; the idea of the
fortifications was contrary to the old policy of Pielmont,
and even to the Italian cause. It was not by such
means as these that the house of Savoy bad increased its
territory, but by the common consent of all the powers.
The bon. gentleman concluded with saying that if the
fortifications of Alessandria are to be considered as the
cradle of Italian independence, it was a sign that Italy,
that great mother, felt herself too weak to bring forth,
or feared that her offspring might be suffocated in com-
ing into the world.

Count Cavour, in reply, thought that some parts of
Count Solaro's speech were so radical that they sounded
as if they had been spoken by M. Brofferio. He bad
uttered so severe a criticism on diplomacy that one could
hardly believe it had come from a late Minister for
Foreign Affair:. Leaving the strategical question to be
developed by the Minister of War, he (Count Cavour)
would content himself with stating. that the idea of
fortifying Alessandria was very old. Charles Albert
bad ordered a plan he be drawn up for the purpose (here
Gen. Lamarmora drew the plan in question from his
portfoli .). If it was not executed it was certainly not
that king's fault. Before the French revolution Valenza,,
Tortona, and Alessandria were fortified. Austria de-
troyed them—why ? Out of mere wantonness? Cer-
tainly not, for she was too conservative for that. Ever
since he (Count Cavour) had been Minister, the War
Department had constantly urged the necessity of forti-
fying Alessandria. Nay, before General Lamarmora
left for the Crimea, ho had threatened to protest pub-
licly against leaving that town unfortified. The bon.
orator added that although Austria might not intend to
be aggressive, still an aggression was a contingency to
be taken into consideration. Should Piedmont have to
fight single-banded, Alessandria would serve to collect
and drill new troops. Whi'e there was an army
between Casale and Alessandria, no Austrian force
would dare fto march upon the capital. If Piedmont
had the assistance of allies Alessandria would still be
useful ; but at any rate her first duty was to develope
her strength ; then alone would foreign interference not
be fraught with danger. How could Austria take um-
brage at Piedmont's fortifying Alessandria, when, be-
sides fortifying her own towns, she fortified Piacenza
which did not belong to her ? and by doing so, she
violated the treaties, and provoked Sardinia.
ouot
Sol iro was wrong in connecting the fortification of Ales-
sandria with any hopes concerning the independence of
Italy—that measure was only a continuation of the same
system of policy that prompted Sardinia to speak in fa-
vour of Italy at the congress of Paris. That policy had
not been quite fruitless. The language of foreign
powers towards Piedmont had been greatly modified,
owing, ho thought, to the efforts made by that country