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

MGR WATER. AT LONDON BRUNIE.

TEM DAY—Morn. 31 min. aft. 6 —Evening 57 Mid. aft. 6
;'n-MOBROW-34crn. 25 min. aft. 7—Evening 0 anit.aft. 8

TdE WEATHER—SUN OFFICE, MARCH 3.
THERMOIV:TER, IN THIC SHAM
51—highest Einse noon yesterday.
4€ —lowest nis morning and during the night.
48 -this day at noon.
HABowyrini, 30.4(3—falling.
WIND, S.E.-- -Light, wit's dull, mild weather.

• se, -
AVSI,3kS,

LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 1857

Another adjournment of the interminable
debate in the House of Commons upon the Chi•
nee Difficulty ! A Lengthened Dullness " long
drawn out !" Literally, this, for we cannot
call to our recollection any discussion of lite years
upon a really Great Question—% question involv-
ing in its solution a probable recombination of
Parties and a possible reorganisation of Govern-
meet—less strikingly illustrated by oratorical dis-
plays either on the side of the Cabinet or on that
of the Opposition. As we intimated on Satur-
day, to our thinking incomparably the ablest
speech yet delivered in the Rouge of Commons on
behalf of the Ministerial branch of the argument
was, beyond all manner of doubt, the eminently
lucid and logical oration of the Lord A .Ivocate.
An opinion we were gratified to hear corroborated
in the House last evening by the authoritative
voice of Sir FREDERICK THESIGER. A distin-
guished rhetorician and debater, who—while
awarding the palm to that Right Honourable and
Learned Gentleman, facile princeps the "
up-
hol ler of the cause of the AdrniniAration—him-
self acquired the glory (s„
e as it is) of altogether
surpassing in oratorical fervour and argumen-
tative acumen, all the honourable and right
incurable gentlemen who have
,vet
other
in favour of the motion of the Mem-
ber for the West Riding of Yorkiiure ; or, in
words, in support of the views sustained by the
whole strength of the P
resent motley and hetero-
geneous Opposition.
Arguing, as he did yester-
day, to our entirely upon the wrong side—
Sir FREDuicICK THESIGER neverthelesq, from the
first sentence of his exordium to t?l3 closing syl-
lable of his peroration, fixed the attentioa of the
House, and commanded its admiration. H'i
analysis of the legal part. of the Minist3cial argu-
ment, as advanced by th 3 Hon. and L?irnt.d
Attorney-Genet al, was masterly throughout.
His felicitous revival of Sergeant MAyNARD's
memorable reply to a pragmatic persou taunting
him with ignorance of the 14w,--..i6 Sir, I have
forgotten more law than you ever knew" i

—his complimentary reminiscence of this re-
nowned retort, suggestive of its falling anew from
the lips of Lord LYNDHURST, constituted an eulo-
gium upon that Noble and Learned Lord, as telling
in its delivery, as it was eminently adroit and de-
served in its application. Nothing, again, could
have been happier in its way than his sarcastic
encomium upon Sir J. BOWRING, as one of so
astute and subtle 'al intellect that he might have
been aptly designated, in the days of the old
schoolmen, as one of the old Casuists was in point
of fact designated—" The Irrefragable Doctor l"
Capital, too, inimitable in their way, were the
crowning phrases of his comment upon the already
minutely dissected oration of the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman the Member for Aylesbury,
to the effect that precisely when it might have
been conjectured that the dignus vindice nodes
had arrived, the Hon. and Learned Gentleman
having ostensibly descendedin to the lists for the pur-
pose, as it appeared, of dissipating all doubt, he only

"exhibited there a few feats of legal legerdemain,
and disappeared in a cloud of authorities !" Sir
FREDERICK THESIGER'S allusion subsequently t..)
his own personal recollections of another bom-
bardment (a rather more formidable and terrible
bombardment, by the way, than the recent bom-
bardment of Canton), namely, that of Copes.-
hagen, was—let us say it at once distinctly and
positively—a magnificent piece of forensic and
parliamentary clap-trap ! It was only to be
deplored—listening to the Hon. and Learned Gen-
tleman, as the House could not fail to do last
night, with unflagging interest and unstinted

admiration--it was only to be deplored that the
gifted Advocate was unfortunately constrained by
circumstances to hold his brief upon the wrong
side, and to squander all his genius as a Debater
in the futile endeavour to prove black white, and
light darkness.
During the course of last night's discussion,
when it became observable that from ten to
fifteen Honourable Members endeavoured to catch
the Speaker's eye simultaneously, the debate long
before midnight seemed to threaten another ad-
journment. A threat ultimately fulfilled, as we
have seen, upon the motion of the Honourable
and Learned Gentleman the member for Plymouth.
To-night, however, it may be confidently relied
upon, in spite of all the verbosity and garrulity
of the more talkative of the popular represeu-

tatives, that the Ides of Afarc4 will, indeol, havo

at length arrived—to decide the Hopes of
the Opposition ani the Fate of the Govern-
ment. Neither of the two confronting Leaders
of the House of Commons have as yet ex-
pressed their views in the matter of this
Chinese Controversy. Neither, for that matter,
has the Grand Intermediate below the gangway,
the Right Hon. Gentleuan the Member for the
University of Oxford I Something may be said,
too, upon the now tolerably hackneyed subject
under discussion by the Hon. Gentleman the
Member for Nineveh, as he has been happily
entitled, as well as by the Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Member for the City of Manchester.
When these, and some few of the aroXXot of the
House, shall have unburdened their hearts (and
Memories !) in the hearing of the Reporters, then,
at length, we may hope that to-night, and not
later, by a single adjournment more, wo may ar-
rive at the final test of the long-looked-for and
anxiously-awaited division. Mr. Speaker sum-
ming up the whole of this protracted Chinese con-
troversy by putting the Query from the Chair (let
us say) thus significantly :

Yza or Nay ?

the incomes of the industrious classes—and thus
give a very considerable addition to the amount
brought within the operation of the impost. The
total loss will therefore not be more than from
three to four millions, and that, to say nothing of
the increased spirit duties, will be more than made
up by the additional duties on tea and sugar,
which were manifestly never thought of by Sir
G. C. LEWIS until he found himself compelled to
surrender what has been erroneously termed the
war 9d. He now endeavours under the pretext
of that surrender to retain the tax without
revision or modification, with all its acknow-
ledged, unequal, and oppressive characteristics.
We have shown that he neither can nor will relin-
quish in 1860, or at any other time, a source of
revenue so productive. There is, therefore, no-
thing to prevent the immediate modification of
the impost so as to render its apportionment more
equitable, and its collection less inquisitorial and
oppressive. The battle must be fought sooner or
later. Under such circumstances, procrastination
is always "injudicious." It is peculiarly so ou
the present occasion, when the revision of the
entire fiscal system must depend on what takes
place with respect to the Income Tax. Every
sincere and consistent Reformer will press for a
speedy decision. The faineants will, on the other
hand, endeavour to evade the duty, and to cast
it on the next Parliament, to be decided in 1860,
in place of 1857.

The enhanced Tea and Sugar Duties may he
regarded as the inauguration of a retrograde
policy, repudiating the doctrines of free trade, and
determined that so far as he is concerned the
principle shall receive no further development. He
is the first Minister who for 17 years has ven-
tured to give expression to such opinions, and
who has diametrically opposed that which has
been the chief object of the Liberal party to effect,
and so intent has he been on this scheme that he
has not hesitated to break faith with the impor-
ters and dealers in tea. We trust that the House
will refuse to stultify itself by reversing the legis-
lation of the last 16 years, that the professing
Liberals will decline to follow the crab-like move-
ment of the Right Honourable Baronet.
They cannot do so without bringing shame
and disgrace upon themselves—without prov-
ing that there is a total absence of
consistency and sincerity in their composition.
Tergiversation of any description is at all timer
abhorrent to every honest and true-hearted man ;
but it would be doubly so under existing circum•
stances, when the welfare and prosperity of the
nation for a long succession of years depend on
the conduct of those who obtained their seats on
the faith of promises totally opposed to the plans
now promulgated by Sir G. C. LEWI.. Let the
House, then, refuse to sanction any alteration in
the existing law—or, if something is to be granted
from tea, in order to prevent the modification of
the Income Tax--for that is the real question
—let the amount be given in such a manner that
it may really benefit the consumers, and stimu-
late consumption, in place of all going into the
pockets of the retailers. By a fixed rate
of Is. 4d. per lb. for three years, the re-
venue would lose but little, while the importers
could conduct these operations with some degree
of security, and the people would obtain a real
benefit from the change. We therefore earnestly
desire the success of Mr. GLADSTONE'S motion,
which prevents any tampering with this important
article. But, should that be rejected, Lord
JOHN RUSSELL'S compromise Wilt be a vast im-
provement on the original proposition of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer.

Public attention has been partially diverted b:
the Chinese discussion from the consideration of
the financial scheme. Having obtained a hetero-
geneous majority against Mr. DISRAELI'S motion
—a majority which seemed to consider the mere
financial merits of the question of comparative
unimportance—the Chancellor of the Exchequer
will now have to enter into details on the different
points where, under the specious pretext of
granting considerable reductions, he is really im-
posing additional taxation, which he would not
he authorised to levy under the existing law.
The subjects on which contests must take place
are the Income Tax and the additional duties on
tea and sugar ; and it is right that the people
should thoroughly understand the actual state of
the case on each subject, so that they may know
how to deal with those who vote contrary to their
professions when claiming a renewal of the confi-
dence they have violated.
Ist. As to the Income Tax, Sir G. 0. LEWIS
takes vast credit to himself for refusing to avail
himself of the " pettifogging quibble" which he
declared in the House to have arisen through a
pure accident ; although, if we recollect right!y,
he took very different ground when receiving the
Anti-Income-tax Association, contending that it
was "no mistake," but the legitimate and proper
form in which the enactment should be framed.
Here, by a strict adhesion to the letter, to the
total disregard of the spirit of the law, he might
have maintained the 16d. tax until April, 1858.
But he had good and sufficient reasons for
not resorting to a course so objectionable in
every respect. The public indignation had
been thoroughly excited in every district
throughout the length and breadth of the land.
It was clearly perceived that the nation would
not stand the " disreput able quibble." Sir G.
C. LEWIS maintained a total and unbroken silence,
until the last moment, and it was not until se-
veral independent members had given notices of
motion on the subject, and Mr. DISRAELI one
for the repeal of the Act of 1855, which would
have reduced the duty to sd. in the pound, that
he yielded with a very indifferent grace, follow.
ing the precedent established by the intrusive
dog, who left the room when he saw unequivocal tour.
iudicatione or air intention to kick him down The Earl and Countess of Perth have arrrived at
stairs. He, however, clung with desperate tenacity Thomas's Hotel, Berkley-square, from Brighton.
,to a portion of the plunder. By a strange mis- The Earl of Granard and Viscountess Forbes are still
take, Jul. in the pound was represented as the at Forbes Castle, Ireland, and will not come to town
until the first week in May.
war portion of the tax in place of 11d., and Sir The Earl of Radnor and Lady Mary Bouverie are not
G. C. LEwls hastened to avail himself of the error. expected in town until after Easter.
He stated that be was giving up 9d. in the pound, Lord and Lady Wensleydale gave a dinner on Satur-
or nine millions of taxation when he was really Rday tomtheanDdukue
rsanßdo i
Dechesms of Bdedmford,r. anrs.Fthed,Riji ht
onr.rs.
demand Leg 20. in the pound, or two millions per. Lane. Fox., Miss Morier, Lord Glenelg, the Hon. E.
annum, for three years. Nor was thin all. He Phipps, Sir H. Rawlioson, Mr. Lowther, Mr. Hibbert,
declared his intention of abiding by the war duty Mr. Temple, &e. A few of her ladyship's friends joined
on spirits, bringing in 1,500,0001. according to the party after dinner.
R.LilordchCrehw. Crewe has arrived at the Clarendon, from Crewe
his own estimate, and stimulating the illicit trade
re.
to the highest degree ; and, at the same time, in Lord Ossulston arrived in town yesterday from Bramp•
order to prevent the Teetotallers from gaining a ton Park, Huntingdonshire.
triumph, lie proposed additional duties for the M
Royal Highness the General Commanding-in-Chief,ajor-General Sir Chas. Yorke, military secretary to
ntxt three years on "the cup that cheers withont hi.
gave an elegant dinneryesterday at his new house in
inebriating," and on " the corn of the tropics." South-street,
He would thus practically obtain far more than Of the remittances of specie and bullion by the Indus,
lie was giving up, even if he could abide by the I 0 the 4th inst., which are expected to reach about
" pettifogg
ing quibble" and retain the 16d. in 800,0001., only about 8,0001. is understood to be in gold,
the pound for the next year. the rest consisting entirely of silver.
Sal, s of bar silver were effected on Saturday and to-
ile has thus stated the case himself. Ho day at ss. Id. per oz. standard, being the same price as
would, under the existing law, have received was realised for the remittance by the last West India
in the three years from the Income Tax
packet.
26,000,000.1., namely, 16,000000/. in 1857 and cket.
1858, and 5,000,0001. in each of the fcl'ole• Advices from St. Petersburg mention that the new
, tariff was expected to be published about the Ist of
or 21,000,000/. in all. March.
ing years. In place of this he would receive , THE COINAGE.— Great inconvenience is daily sustained
- by the public in consequence of the brittleness of a great
The 7d. in the pours-1
7,000,000/. each year,
will, however, be more p qure uantally is theg cause of thep ty of the old coin at resent in circulation. 1
m
-
t'
productive during tlt,-1 latter years in proportion
The mail steamer Clarendon, for the Cape of Good
Hue d
Calcutta, will take out 50,0004 in gold to the
t) its amount, the reduction of 9d. will add to CapPe for the Government service.
•