The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-14 00:00:00

intent/MX aillt

LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1850.

Henceforth the advocates of diminished taxation
may rely on the services of Colonel SIBTMORP! So
decided is the aversion, so inveterate is the hostility of
the Honourable and Gallant Colonel to anything
like " further taxation," that the second reading of
the Public Libraries Bill encountered yesterday his
most strenuous opposition, the object of this Bill
being to invest town-councils with the permissive
power of levying a small rate (one halfpenny in the
pound) for the purpose of building public libraries
and museums. The Gallant Colonel at first questioned
the legality of such a proposition. When, however,
Sir GRORGE GREY had silenced his scruples on that
head, he contented himself with moving that the Bill
be read agai❑ at the expiration of six months.
This amendment, strange to say, was sup-
ported by no less than 101 votes, a majority
of 17 only having carried the second reading.
Such a decision on such a question is somewhat sur-
prising, but the arguments of the Honourable Mem-
bers who voted in the minority are even yet more
marvellous. They conscientiously shrunk from im-
posing an additional tax upon an already burthened
people ! In vain were they reminded that this im-
post, small as it is, is not compulsory, the object of
the Bill not being to impose a tax e►en of a halfpenny,
but merely to empower local authorities to levy that
additional rate where it may seem expedient for the
benefit of the community. Such arguments were
quite insufficient to appease the virtuous indignation
of the opponents of " further taxation." Mr. Boog
complained that the local rates in some
towns were already sufficiently heavy, and
" no sentimental desire to afford recreation and amuse-
ment to the masses ought to be taken as a justifica-
tion for any addition to those rates." Mr. BERNAL,
while approving of the object of the Bill, opposed it
on account of the taxation. Mr. IDWARD objected
to " imposing additional taxation upon the poor and
unlettered people." The same very plausible plea of
" further taxation" was reiterated with variations by
the numerous opponents of the second reading of this
" unconstitutional" Bill. A.stranger, wholly unac-
quainted with the manners and customs of the Eng-
lish in 1850, on listening to the debate of yesterday,
and hearing the eloquent anti-taxation argue
ments of so many Honourable Members, would
find it indeed hard to believe that in the
same House which, not without hesitation and
difficulty, could accord its permission for the occa-
sional levying cf one halfpenny in the pound for the
furtherance of the moral and intellectual improvement
of the people (on the plea that such a tax Blight prove
burdensome)—in that same House a heavy tax is
levied on every orifice by which light and air is
suffered to enter the meanest dwelling—in that same
House sums are repeatedly granted for the erection of
royal palaces and continually lavished on undeserved
pensions—sums collected in many instances by
onerous imposts on the very necessaries of life—and
yet the opponents of " further taxation" as regards
public libraries make no sign, but tacitly,
or perhaps actively, give assent and consent thereto.
It is unnecessary for us to disclaim any advocacy of
increased taxation. On the contrary, we shall not
be content until a very considerable diminution of
existing taxes has taken place. At the same time
our ideas on the subject are somewhat dissimilar
from those of Colonel SIBTHORP and the supporters
of his amendment. We not only deprecate all in-
crease, but we desire a material reduction in all such
taxes as interfere with the physical, mental,
or moral welfare of the people. But, on
the other hand, we cannot, like the Gallant
Colonel, offer any opposition to such a rate as
that referred to in the Bill in question, seeing that its
object (unlike many taxes we could mention) is not
to retard but to facilitate the well-being of the people.
Looking upon it merely in a pecuniary point of view
we can hardly over-rate the advantages of whatever
tends to promote the moral education of the multi-
tude. Almost incredible sums are annually expended
in the prosecution of criminals, of which a mere fraction
might have sufficed for the material prevention of crime.
If thewretched children who throng ourcourts and alleys
could but receive the germs of an honest education,
if the dwelling-houses of the poor could be made to
approximate in any degree to the theoretical idea of
an English home, if the leisure hours of youths and
adults, now so continually squandered away in idle-
ness, intemperance, and evil company, were (occa-
sionally even) passed in the public reading. rooms, in
the enjoyment of pleasurable recreation and the ac-
quisition of beneficial information, would our annual
expenditure be thereby augmented or diminished ?
This momentous question we refer to the considera-
tion of the 101 supporters of Colonel SINYHORP'S
anti-taxation opposition to public libraries. For our,
selves, we incline to the opinion of Mr. BROTHERION,
that the cheapest and best police we can have are
those public institutions which tend to promote the
education of the people.

Never perhaps was a more powerful illustration
afforded of the difference between " sayings and
doings" than in the House of Commons on Tues-
day evening, during the discussion and division on
the motion of the lion. Member for West Surrey.
The proposition then brought forward was verbally
supported on all sides by Members of every section
and party, of every shade and variety of political
feeling. Protectionist and Free-trader, Whig and
Tory, Conservative and Radical, alike, affirmed the
truth and accuracy of the resolution, and spoke in the
strongest terms of the imperative necessity of economy
and retrenchment. But w hen the time for action arrived,
when Hon. Gentlemen were called upon to give prac-

tical proofs of the sincerity of their convictions, then
indeed a lamentable falling off was apparent. Many
deserted the colours under which they had formerly
arrayed themselves, and voted for what the Hon.
Member for Manchester correctly termed the " vaguest
of all amendments"—the previous question. This
result was only less extraordinary than the reasons
adduced by many well-known--and on other occa-
sions, consistent—Reformers. Some Hon. Gentle-
men thought that something more must be meant than
met the eye; that there was "a snake lurking in
the grass," from which they should endeavour to es-
cape. Others did not approve of the quarter whence
it proceeded, or some of the untenable arguments
by which it was supported, while a still larger num-
ber did not perceive to what practical result it could
lead. Some thought it a specious trap laid to catch
stray votes, while others believed it to be altogether
gi a mockery, a delusion, and a snare." On such
grounds did those who chose to assign reasons for
their subsequent conduct justify the conclusions at
which they had arrived, while the " waiters on
Providence" were contented with recording
silent votes in favour of the Government, which
might furnish additional claims to favourable
consideration on those interesting occasions when
their " claims and services" were brought prominently
under the notice of " the Patronage Secretary of the
Treasury." Under all the circumstances of the case,
the motion was negatived, and the amendment
adopted by a majority of 34 in a House where 346 of
the representatives of the people were in attendance.
To all who were in any degree acquainted with
the honour and integrity of the eccentric but high-
minded gentleman who brought for ward the motion
it would be perfectly manifest that Mr. DRUMMOND
meant simply what he stated ; and that as the Right

Hon. Baronet the Member far Tamworth declared,
" If he bad intended to ask the House of Commons
to express an opinion on the principle of the
commercial policy they had recently adopted, he
would in plain terms have F. o framed his
resolution that he would bring the great question
to some clear issue, and not by the use
of equivocal phrases have attempted to gain an ad-

vantage which he could not have obtained if he bad
used direct and intelligible terms." It needed not,
however, that honourable and powerful testimony to
have convinced the House. Mr. DRUMMOND dis-
tinctly stated that he did not mean it as a resolution
in favour of protection. He said, "He was not going
to ask them to recal the policy they had adopted.
Sufficient time had, not yet elapsed for them to be
thoroughly acquainted with the effects of what they
had done, and he granted, moreover, that common
consistency and common decency required them to
persevere." After an avowal so explicit and une-
quivocal, we can scarcely conceive how any gentle-
men could have rested their votes in opposition to the
resolution, on the supposition of any concealed
motives or objects of the Honourable Mover.
To those who objected to the quarter from
whence it proceeded, or the fallacious arguments
by which it was supported, we would
suggest that " measures, not men," should be re-
garded, and that propositions sound in themselves,
which could not be controverted or denied, should not
be negatived simply because Ministers chose to offer an
obstinate and unreasoning opposition to their recep-
tion. There is no more erroneous or more mis-
chievous principle in Parliamentary strategy than
that which induces the representatives to oppose
useful reforms because they do not emanate from a
particular party—to vote that " black is white" if
those to whom they are opposed on other points
should affirm the contrary. It is, no doubt, advan-
tageous to those in office that such a system should
be acted on and recognised. The Machiavellian po-
licy, divide et impera, recommends its adoption. It
is by means thereof that the most urgently-required
ameliorations have been retarded and evaded—that
the almost unanimous desires of the community
have been contemned and despised—until the
voice of public opinion became too loud
and the pressure from without too powerful to be
longer resisted. Any difficulty may be surmounted,
any degree of inconsistency justified, if Honourable
Gentlemen, when seeking renewals of the trusts for-
merly confided, declare on the hustings, " that they
entirely agreed in the propriety of the motion, but
could not vote for it, because it had been supported
by others of opposite politics—Protectionists or Free-
traders, as the case might be." We protest in the strongest
terms, and the people and constituencies of the
United Kingdom will also protest against a doctrine
in every respect so erroneous, and so injurious to the
characters and reputations of public men.
The Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary at War
clearly and distinctly pointed out the practical bent fits
arising from the adoption of such a resolution by the
House, to take the ground from under the feet of
those who declared that th e resolution would lead to
"no positive result." He stated that when Mr.
DRUMMOND had carried a motion of a similar descrip-
tion by a small majority last year, " the Government,
had immediately applied itself to reduce and curtail
in all proper modes the current expenditure of the
country." A circular had been immediately issued
from the Treasury, which contained the following
passage :—" I am commanded by the Lords of the
Treasury to call the attention of the heads of depart-
ments to the resolution of the House of Commons,
passed on the 19th day of July, that large sums are
expended in supporting needless places, extravagant
salaries, and unnecessary works and establishments;'
and they direct me to express their earnest desire
that all the estimates should be framed with the most
rigid economy, excluding all charges not indispensably
necessary for the due maintenance of the public service
and the permanent institutions of the country." Was
this nothing ? Was the resolution of the House
slighted or despised, or did it not serve es a useful
stimulant to the Government, as an incentive to
greater expedition and more rapid progress on the
economical path on which they 11. i 1 entered ?
Should not other financial reformers have
considered that the speech f Mr. Fox
MAULE contained a more unanswerable argu-
ment in favour of the motion than any that had been
adduced by its most strenuous supporters ?
As to its being " a trap," we must confess, with
the )Noble Lord the Member for Bath, that it is one by
which we are willingly caught. We have nothing to
do with the intentions and views of some of those by
whom it was supported, we look to the language and
avowed object of the proposition, and no further. We
are convinced of the absolute necessity of economy
and retrenchment, of a speedy revision of the ex-
isting fiscal system by the removal of the imposts
that unduly press upon the industry of the nation,
and the substitution of direct for indirect taxation,
and we therefore give our cordial assent to the pro-
position, " That the present taxation of the country
depresses all classes, and especially the labouring
classes, by diminishing the funds for the employment
of productive labour, and that adequate means
should be forthwith adopted to reduce the expen-
diture of the Government."

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
There is no longer any doubt of the defeat of the
whole of the reactionary candidates for Paris. The
reactionary journals themselves admit the fact and
give the following as the state of the poll at its
close :
MM. Carnot ... 128,300
Vidal ••• ••• ... 123,906
De Flotte ..• ... 122,470
Foy ... 122,180
La Hitte •" ... 121,770
liceljean ••• ... 120,641
The return of M. CARROT at the head of the poll
is a fact full of significance. M. CARROT it will be
remembered was :the Minister of Public Instruction
under the Provisional Government. It was M. CARROT
who issued the circulars warning the people against
the attempts made by the reactionary party to mislead
them in 1848, and it was M. CARROT who endeavoured
by every means in his power to improve the condition
and to elevate the status of the communal schoolmaster,
by rendering him independent of the clergy and the
local municipal authorities ; and it is M. CARROT
who has been ever since 1848 the object of
the fear, the hatred, and the unmeasured abuse of
the clerical party and of their leaders. His return at
the head of the poll may, therefore, be regarded as
the solemn protest of the people of Paris against the
recent measures of the Government, for the destitu-
tion of the communal: schoolmasters, and for hand-
ing over the education of the French youth to the
Jesuits and the parti-pretre—as the solemn rejection
of the apostate TRIERS, the bigot MONTALAAIBERT, the
Jesuit DR FALLOUX, and the bully DR LA BORDE,
and as an invitation to the PRESIDENT of the Republic
to carry out the policy laid down in his celebrated let-
ter to M. EDGAR NET, and to at once boldly oppose the
attempts of the gang of white terrorists, who would
fain restore the dismal reign of sacerdotal terrorism.
There are no certain accounts from the provinces.
The reactionary journals state that in the Cher their
candidates are at the head of the poll, but they admit
that the Democrats press them hard. No idea can at
present be formed as to the probable result of the
elections in other departments. The votes of the
army have also a great significance, and prove that
the parti-pretre cannot oount upon military aid in
their attempts to destroy the Republic. M. CARROT
is as great a favourite with the army as he
is with the Bourgiosie and the Proletariat of Paris.
The votes of the soldiers of the army who are
natives of Paris are as follows :—Carnot, 6,699 ;
Tidal, 6,615 ; De Flotte, 6,553: Foy, 5,378 ; ',a-
bate, 5,363 ; Bonjean, 4,911.
The .National hails the result of these elections as
sealing the bond of union between the Bourgiosie
and the Proletariat and the army, and as a united
prote at on their part against the reactionary ten-
dencies of the Legitimatist, Orleanist, and Bonapartist
parties, and a united defiance of the menaces of
Absolutist Europe.
Telegraphic dispatches received in Paris up to the
latest hour (seven o'clock) yesterday, give the follow-
ing results of the pending elections in the depart-
ments :

ARlEGB.—General Pelet (Moderate), 21,200 ; M.
Pilhet (Socialist), 9,200. The General's
,election is
certain.

ARDECLIE.—M. La Touretti's election (Moderate)
is certain. His opponent is M. Carnot.
ALLIES.—M. Dufour (Moderate) has a consider-
able majority, so far as is yet known.
CHER.—MM. de Vague and Poisle Degranges
(Moderates) have a majority over MM. Allyre,
Bureau, and Guerin (Socialists).
Haul' RHIN.— Two Moderate candidates, MM.
Dolfus and De Bergheim, have a majority over the
Socialists candidates.
HAtiTEs PrRENEBS.—M. De Gouland has a ma-
jority over the Socialist candidate Deville.
IsEur.—M. De Barral has a majority over the
Socialist candidate Dupont de Bussac.
NIEVRE.—The Socialist candidate, Gamhon, has a
majority, but the electoral division of Clamecy may
decide the election in favour of the Moderate candidate,
M. Granger de la Maviniere.
VAR.—The Moderate candidate polled 13,000
votes, and the Socialist 12,000.

LOIN, ET CHEL—The Socialist candidate was all
but elected.

HAUTE VIENNE.—M. Ducoux, ex-Prefect of Po•
lice (a Socialist) had the advantage.
LOIRE.—The Moderate candidate had the best'
chance.

The above, it should be recollected, is the Minis-
terial accountof the results of the provincial elections.
In the Assembly the discussion on the third reading
of the Education Bill was proceeding. The priests
have already announced their intention of ,violating
one of the provisions of the new law, which was
introduced with their own consent, as a security
against their encroachments, and on the faith of the
introduction of which several simple-minded persons
were induced to give the Bill their support. Up-
wards of 62 bishops have declared they will not
suffer their clerical seminaries to be inspected by any
of the official authorities of the State, although they
themselves claim a right of inspection, conjointly with
the State, of schools not clerical.

The S'licle publishes the following electoral sta-
tistics of Paris since the adoption of universal
suffrage :
"In April, 1848 .(general elections), the number of
voters was about 263,000. M. de Lamartine ob-
tained 259,000, or nearly the whole. At that
period there was no opposition—no struggle.
In June, 1848 (partial elections), the number of
voters Ras 247,000, M. Caussidiere being at the
head of the poll with 146,000 votes. In September,
218447,82427
M. (partial
Louis
elections),
Bon obtaining 110,752 votes,aparte
the number of voters was
and after him coming MM. Fould and Raspail. In May
13, 1849 (general elections), there were 275,000 votes
given, MM. Murat, Ledru-Rollin, and Lagrange boring
at tho head of the poll with 134,000, 129,000, and
128,000. In fine, on the Bth of July last (partial elec-
tions), there were only 233,914 voters, MM. Lanjuinais
and Lucian Bonaparte coming in first with 127,000 and
124,000 votes. At the present election nearly 260,000
electors will have voted, and the first candidate of the
democratic list comes in with a number of votes far su-
perior to th4ts of M. L. Bonaparte, at the elecion of
July, 1849."
The Courrier du Havre of the 11th says :—" Yes-
terday the Ville de Rouen left our port for Monte
Video, with, it is said, General PACHECO r ORES,
Minister of War of the Oriental Republic, and two
secretaries on board. There were also on board from
twenty to twenty-five passengers, some of whom de-
clared themselves to be the advance-guard of a party
of some hundreds recruited at Paris for the foreign
legion of Monte Video."
The Moniteur publishes a decree of the PRESIDENT
of the Republic, convoking a general council of agri-
culture, manufactures, and commerce for the 6th of
April. Tne council is to be composed of 236 mem-
bers, and is to assemble at the Palace of the Luxem-
bourg.
PARIS BOURSE, MARCH 13. —Latest Prices—Five
per Cents., 90f. 85e.; Three per Cents., 55f. 80,?.; Bank
of France, 2,250 f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE