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

we hope and believe, then, sees two things—one,
that Lord PA LMERSTON is to continue in office
under the new Parliament ; the other, that there
may be more members in that Parliament, who
have said the candidate's catechism well, than
Lord DERBY wishes. Hence the warning that
if Lord PA LMERSTON listen to them—by DISRAE LI,
GLADSTONE, RVSSELL, and COBDEN he shall be
undone !

stituencies, ►here the previous choice of the pos
sessors of the franchise obviously and glaringly re-
quires to be most seriously reconsidered, and
that, moreover, at the very earliest available

of earning sufficient to bring him within the
existing area of taxation, could within a few hours
produce a scheme which would be a vast improve-
ment on that now in operation. There is one way,
and one only, in which absolute and perfect equa-
lity could be obtained ; and that is by charging an
equal rate on the capitalised value of every
description of property, whether productive
or unproductive, which might, if the owner
desired it, be converted into cash. There
may be some cases of hardship even under
this system, which would at the same time be the
most just and politic, the most equitable and ex-
pedient, that could be devised. But the objec-
tions would be comparatively few in number and
weight, and it is impossible to raise the national
revenue without annoyance and inconvenience to
some parties. But even without resorting to an
exclusive tax on property—without altogether
liberating industry from the trammels by which
it is fettered and restrained, a close approxima-
tion to an equitable apportionment may easily be
devised. One of the best suggestions was that
repeatedly put on the notice-book, but not brought
forward by the Hon. Gentleman the Member for
igrminghatn. It is true that it is only applied to
classes, not to individuals, and that it pressed
unduly on industry, but still it would be willingly
accepted for the time being ; and we have no
doubt that its practical operation would prove
the feasibility and expelliency of further progress
in the same direction. Let the people, then,
steadfastly insist on the modification of the In-
come Tax as earnestly and energetically as they
recently did on its reduction. Let every candi•
date be compelled to give expression to his views
on tke point, and none be supported whose opi-
nions are not satisfactory, and the grievance will
speedily be removed. Sir G. C. LEWIS, or some
more competent successor, will discover how
easily that may be accomplished which is now
declared to be exceedingly difficult, if not alto-
gether impossible.

opportunity.
It is to this last-mentioned category that we
would most earnestly direct our foregoing recom-
mendations. The first are bound hand and foot,
body and soul, heart and conscience. They are not
to be reasoned with. They are not in any way
to be influenced. The Ballot and the Ballot alone
will be the signal for their political emancipa-
tion. As to the second, we have not the smallest
desire in the world to interfere in any respect
whatever with their really enviable and halcyon
felicity. They have won for themselves an immu-
nity from intermeddling. They have earned a right
to what we may call the Political Flitch While
other Members who are mere Rats or Recalcitrants'
are; in Parliamentary phrase, worthy only of
being sent to Coventry—Members for those
most fortunate constituencies, if we had the heart
to send them anywhere else, we would infallibly
bid to the old Essex town of Dunmow ! The third
section alone constitutes the source of our entire
solicitude--that, we mean, of the dissatisfied con.
stituencies.

Now, let us remind electors again, and again,
too, if necessary, that Lord DERBY'S fear is the
ground of our hope. We can well imagine how
Lord PALMERSTON, on the Tiverton hustings, will
once more make all England laugh at Mr. Rowx-
CLIFFE'S expense, should Mr. BOWNCLIFFE take
up our catechism and ask him the first question—
What do you think of the Ballot ? We can think
of half-a-dozen jocose answers which our genial
Premier will give him, but none of them probably
so laughter-causing as what he would actually say.
Not the naore should we think Lord PALM2ZSTON
a man who would go out of office in a house of
pro-ballot men. "If the mountain will not come
to MA.HOMET, MAMOMET will go to the mountain,"
might be PALMERSTON'S heraldic motto. It is
not your humorous, genial fellows who fight you
to the last, and sulk when they cannot beat you.
It is characteristic of such men, that on anything,
not in the religious sense a matter of conscience,
and we suppose Lord DERBY'S casuistry will not
place the Ballot in that category, they have real
pleasure in gratifying the many. It is not ex-
actly, nor by a long way, want of principle ;
it is the feeling that the majority have
a right to be pleased, and they ought
to be pleased. We would not say a word for
political tergiversation, but we wish to be just ;
and we believe that Lord PALMERSTON is exactly
tha man to concede what he would rather refuse,
out of sheer good feeling. He would not, like a
certain Derbyite orator at Stamford, tell the
refractory electors "he wished they had a dump-
ling stuck in their throats."
Again, we say, that just as an Apostle once
expressed his joy that " the Gospel waspreached,"
although by those " who preached it of conten-
tion and strife," so we rejoice in the preaching
by Lord DERBY in contention and strife with the
Premier, of what we may call, we hope without
profanity, a political gospel. A very defective
one we own. We could easily perfect it. We
have merely taken, however, such political truths
as have assumed a practical form and been so
well discussed, that infidelity or scepticism in re-

Conspicuous, of course, among these are the
constituencies that are partially satisfied and par-
tially dissatisfied—prominent, perhaps we should
rather say pre-eminent, among which may be at
once mentioned that of her MAJESTY'S Loyal City
of London. There, as in the instance of SirJ. DUKE,
the electors of the great Metropolitan constituency,
are satisfied cordially and thoroughly ! There, as in
case of my Lord JOHN RUSSELL, they are painfully
and notoriously dissatisfied Hence the source of
the very profound disquietude felt throughout the
whole constituency. Hopes on the one hand hav •
ing been fully realised--predilections on the other
having been grievously disappointed. Insomuch so
that the return of Sir JAMES DUKE may be countcd
upon as all but absolutely certain While that of
Lord JOHN is so singularly dubious that his friends

are looking askance as to a saving clause—here to
Tavistock, there to Edinburgh ! Another class
coming within the same comprehensive third cate.•
gory, is that of constituencies where the presont
members feel themselves so entirely engulphed in
a slough of unpopularity that they themselves
withdraw, with the best grace possible under the
circumstances, from a contest that could only by
possibility result in their ignominious discomfiture.
As in the very striking instance of Mr. COBDEN
and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Yet
another class in the self-same category of mal-

gard to them ought to exclude any man from the

grand assembly of politicians. Truths which, if
a man believe them not, he is nothing, politically,
to us. Our political creed is mercilessly Athana-
iian against all the misbelievers and disbelievers
in demands which are little more than a Bill of
nights, and a Toleration, not a Religious Equality,
Act.

We demand as a simple right to give our vote,
io that none can laugh or sneer at, or punish us
for it. We demand for millions of tixpayers
voice in levying the taxer which they pay—we
demand that the Bank Monopoly should follow all

ter monopolies. Even those who d:_ffor from

as on the Currency Question can show no reason
,vhy Banking for the Government and the issue

,f paper should not bo open t) all on equal, i.e.,
,n Free-trade terms.—We demand that half the

people in any parish should not have the power,
in the awful name of religion too, to exhrt money

by fear or distress warrants for their own *pur-

poses from those who worship at their own ex-
eo.nse.—We cleaned that the power to purchase

,:or money. the con-inland over troops, whose lives
aid success in battle ofttinies depend up3n th,ir
,ffic.:rs, shell be abolished in the nama of enninon

sense and army ettioioncy.—Wo demand a gra
laated lueAne tax. And who—hardly now e.-en
he sophiit of 1353 himself—denies that it is

essential to common justice ?
There, then, is our list again. We will not DOT
ncumber it with additions. Indeed, the candi-
-1 ate right on these points will not go far wrong
in anything else. g3nd Lard PALMERSTON men
i,t.-n-rnined to cxrry these points whether Peers
,r Premier.; like or „of-,, and L)rd PALMERSTON" is
not the man to walk across the House to avoid
irrying the whole. L,rd PALMERSTON-and all
Lords—will shelve all reforms if the House will

et them ; but Inrd PALMERSTON, more than mazy
,f the Lords will say, if the people will have
;hem, have them they shall, and I will give them.

Electors—be up and stirring ! It is time for
Now, especially, is your opportunity. Now
when we are all of us upon the very eve of wit-
flossing the " Penal Dissolution" of the " M)-
ribund Parliament."
Who, among all the various candidates, will be
the fittest represent ttives ? Who the ablest ? Who
tilie likeliest ? The decision will be one, remember,
involving the possible duration of its result for a
period of not less than seven years—the time of a
long apprenticeship ! It becomes consequently a
matter of supreme importance-30 long as Parlia-
neuts continue to be septennial—it becomes a
matter of absolutely supreme importance, politi-
cally speaking, to select wisely among the dif-
ferent candidates presenting themselves to the
constituencies. To select, we rope it, that man of
all others who shall give promise of being the
Attest, the ablest, the likeliest of representatives.
In talking thus, of course, we are alluding
simply to one of •the three descriptions of con-
stituencies into which the possessors of the elec-
tive franchise may be most accurately and signifi-
cantly distributed.
I. There are notoriously still scattered hero and
there sparely over the political surface of the
United Kingdom—certain Pocket Boroughs ! In
spite of the Reform Bill, in spite of the ostentatious
taboo affixed in 1832 to the whole system of
Rotten-Borough-mongering, in defiance (to bor-
row an expressive phrase from the vocabulary of
our Gallic neighbours) in defiance of the legisla-
tive aneantissement of Glatton and Old Sarum, in
defiance of the tardier but equally contumelious
disfranchisement of Sudbury and St. Albans—
there are still, we repeat, thinly sprinkled up and
down among the electoral districts of the Three
Kingdoms—certain snug seats for Younger Sons,
and (during their minority) for Warming Pans,
and (in the absence of any younger sons at all)
for complaisant and obsequious Nominees. Take,
for example—but we won't be invidious !
11. There are independent constituencies where
the electors have really no further choice what-
evera
to make during the natural prolongative of
the political life of their present representatives.
Take, a case in
point, strikingly illustrative of
our
meaning the position held in regard to each
other
by Finsbury and TiEtolus DUNCOMBE.
There as by the influence of a sort of an inevitable
affinity—they are bound
together indissolubly.
The constituency has its very member—s.ll° mem-
ber his constituency. An association begun
twonty-three years ago, and continued since then
o been chosen
Finsbury—.r
uninterruptedly. DUNCOMBE having
by 2,514 votes in 1834 as m.p, f
by 4,497 in 1835—by 4,895 in 1837—and by
6,678 in 1852: the election of himself and his
(then) colleague bein
gsuccessively, in '4l and
'47, altogether unopposed.
111. There are comparatively independent con-

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1857.

LATEST NE WS.

SINGAPORE, FEF. 5.

The fetes at the commencement of the year
have passed without any disorders.
Notwithstanding this apparent security the
white population does not feel confidence.
The leading men in China endeavour to calm
the effervescence of the populace, their interests
being bound up with those of the Europeans.

to call attention to the state of Italy. Had the policy
followed diminished the reputation of the country--
" Count Solaro•here interrupted the orator, and de-
clared he had not said so.
" Count Cavour was happy to accept that declaration.
As for the cost of the fortifications, it was certainly a
heaiy burden to the country ; but still tile treasury was
not so low as to prevent their undertaking a work so
necessary for the defence of the country, and calculated
to place in a stronger light that policy which had secured
to Sardinia the sympathy of all Italy and the esteem of
Europe. (Loud cheers.)
" M. Ponziglion'e, a member of the R'ght, contended
that the fortifications of Alessandria had been com-
menced illegally, like those of Casala. If he voted for
the bill, he would at least ask Ministers whether they
were as free from other influence as they were free of the
Austrians ?"

The debate was adjourned, but the result is
known by telegraph, which appeared in The Sun
yesterday. A vote of 5,000,000 f. for the fortifica-
tions of Alessandria was passed by a majority of 106
against 14.

NAPLES. "
NAPTY.S, March 14.—A Muratist party is rrpidly
forming And consolidating. An invitation to the
army is iri circulation, calling on the troops no
longer to countenance the Bourbons. Naples is
daily expected to be placed in a state of siege. Two
Swiss generals, with the Neapolitan Nunziante,
are to have the command. The King is said to
have despatched private agents to Paris and Lon-
don, with a -view of reconciliation. The Neapoli-
tans finding themselves "neglected," as they call
it, by England, are looking to France.

PRUSSIA.
A letter from Berlin of the 14th says :—" In a
verbal note presented on the 11th the Danish Go-
vernment declares that it is ready to make all the
concessions demanded as regards the domains of
Lauenburg. But Prussia will not be contented her-
self with that extent, and in concert with Austria
persists in her intention of submitting the question
to the Diet. The memorandum of the Danish Go-
vernment was known here yesterday ; and. our
Government was surprised to find that the intro-
duction to the copy destined for Prussia was not
very becoming in tone, and that besides it pre-
tended that the union of the duchies and Den-
mark was never purely personal, but that, on
the contrary, it has always been real. It ap-
pears from a semi-official article in a Kiel journal
that, tr) prove the reality of the union, the Danish.
Government relies on the patent of King Chris-
tian VII. of the 9th Sept„ 1806, relative to Hol-
stein ; on the treaty of the 4th June, 1815, relative
to Lauenberg ; and on the patent of incorporation
of the 22d. Aug., 1721, relative to Schleswick."

JAPAN.
A. Dutch journal, the Nord Brabander, in a
letter from Batavia of the 9th January, states
that a conflict has taken place between the Eng
lish and the Japanese. Two English verels of
war are said to have forced the entrance of the
pore of Nagasaki, where they remained at anchor.
Nothing is known of the causes which led to this
conflict. One of them, a steamer, broke the chain
across the entrance. Although the town is well
fortified on the side of the sea, the Japanese autho-
rities did not dare to resell to force to repel the
two English vessels.

.S P A I N.
The Madrid journals of the 13th contain an ac-
count of the trial of General Prim by court-
martial. The General, it seems, refused to ap-
pear before the court, because he thought he bad
been treated with indignity in being brought up
in custody from . Toledo:. General Reina, who
acted as prosecutor, in a speech to the court,
represented that it was absolutely necessary that
officers of the highest grades should set the example
of submission and respect to the military laws.and
regulations ; and he con teritled that General Prim,
by the letter he had addressed to the newspapers
reflecting on. the government, had violated those
laws and regulations. He therefore demanded that
his name she-41d be struck out of the army list,
and that he should be sentenced to a year's im-
prisonment. General Zaval4, defender of Gene-
ral Prim, contended that the latter had not vio-
lated the regulations, and that he ought to be a-J-
-, quitted. The court, after deliberation, decided
that the general should remain under arrest for six
months, but not be deprive-I of his grade or honours.
A rrited Carlist chief; named Noy de las Barre-
quetas, who had been under surveillance at Madrid,
had clandestinely quitted the capital, and this gave
rise to the belief that the Carlists were projecting
a rising for the spring. The funeral of Quintona,
the poet, had taken place, and had been attended
by General San Miguel and other political notabi-
lities. The Progressists of Salamanca, had resolved
on bringing forward H.R.H. Don Henry as can-
didate for one of the districts of the province of
that. name. The prince has been for some time
residing in that city by order of the Government.