The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-06 00:00:00

THE SUN,

be sent in with sufficient promptitude to confirm the
members of the Executive Committee in the im-
pression that the nation at large is staunch in its
practical sympathy in the undertaking—otherwise
they may become so far disheartened at the outset as
to contract in some measure the noble scale of the
projected dimensions, and thereby to stunt the plans
so grievously as to render them no longer symmetrical.
From the assurances accompanying the circular
just issued by the Secretary from his offices in West-
minster, it must be manifest even to the most suspi-
cious that every reasonable precaution is being taken
by the Executive Commission to combine a just
economy with a generous enterprise. According to
his own spontaneous and explicit declaration, " the
accounts are regularly audited," so that no unneces-
sary expenses are incurred in anticipation of aid larger
than may at first be transmitted to the Commissioners.
Means are being adopted, it would seem, indeed,
on all hands by the constituted authorities for the
avoidance of any superfluous exertion in the way of
carrying into effect the project of his Royal Highness
the PRINCE CONSORT. Meanwhile it cannot so soon
be forgotten that that illustrious personage took occa-
sion only the other evening, at the banquet given to
himself and the municipal rulers of the United
Kingdom, to assure those who might be at all nervous
as to the position of the affairs of the Exhibition,
that everything promised in its regard most
prosperously. Such an intimation coming from the
lips of Prince ALBERT himself cannot fail to re-assure
all those who may hitherto have been dubious as to
the good prospects of the enterprise. Instead of look-
ing forward to some unfortunate termination of a
scheme entered upon under the most flattering but
illusory auspices, the least sanguine will only have
reason to congratulate themselves as members of the
community upon the all but absolute certainty of the
Exhibition proving ultimately most honourable to the
credit of England. That it will redound to the
national honour we rest confident not merely from
the remembrance of the beforementioned assertion of
Prince ALBERT, but from our own perfect reliance on
the energy of the English character. That energy
we feel persuaded will not be disgraced in the eyes of
the whole world by the display of any unwonted
niggardliness on an occasion involving the fair Eime
of the United Kingdom. In a community like ours,
a community of merchants and traders holding mer-
cantile intercourse with the remotest quarters of the
globe, it must not surely be said that so little of the
ancient spirit of the Anglo-Saxon race survived, that
the noblest proposition of a commercial kind made
within the memory of the present generation was
permitted to languish through a lack of funds, and to
falsify the expectations founded upon a conviction of
the national enterprise. Never before, perhaps, have
the merchants of England been afforded so brilliant
an opportunity for displaying their munificence.
That opportunity, we believe, will in no case be al-
-1 lowed to remain fruitless; more especially are we
convinced of this from a knowledge that the exhibi-
tion which the mercantile classes of the United
Kingdom are called upon to assist is singularly cal-
culated to forward their interests. Out of that exhi-
bition the industrial population cannot fail to evolve
advantages such as must manifest themselves more
and more perceptibly as time proceeds, exciting the
more ingenious by a new feeling of emulation, and
encouraging the more plodding by an increased sense
of their importance. Under no aspect, in short, can
we view the approaching display of the products of
art and industry, gathered together from all parts of
the four continents, as otherwise than certain to dif-
fuse the most beneficial influences over the population.
Hence, therefore, we are the more peculiarly soli-
citous to witness the cordial response of the people to
the proposal of the PRINCE, a response which can be
best articulated through the medium of prompt and
generous contributions.

The touching jeremiads that day after day are is-
suing from the agriculturists, that are propounded
by Protectionist leaders, repeated by the general herd
of Protectionists, and reiterated usque ad nauseam by
the Protectionist journals, demand some notice from
those who conscientiously advocate free-trade prin-
ciples, and are strenuously determined to resist to
the uttermost the re-imposition of a bread-tax, or, to
use the new and more favourite phrase, the estab-
lishment of import duties on agricultural produce,
whether for the purposes of protection or of revenue.
We are told by witnesses, put forward by the owners
-and occcupiers of land, that the cultivation
of the soil under the present circumstances of
the country, is and must necessarily prove
unremunerative ; that ruin inevitably awaits
all those who embark their capital in agricultural pur-
suits; that, in fact, if they persist in carrying on the
losing game, they must, sooner or later, come to the
Gazette. These may not be the exact words, but
they certainly contain the spirit of the observations
put forward, at the various bucolic gatherings, by
landlords as well as by tenant-farmers, and adopted
by all who profess reactionary doctrines and sigh
after the good old times of monopoly and class legis-
lation. The conclusion attempted to be drawn from
these premises is, that the lands of England must
speedily go out of cultivation—that wheat can-
not be produced on British ground—and that,
therefore, we must become dependent on the
foreigner for articles of primary necessity ;
for it is impossible to suppose that farmers will
continue the production of their commodities at
a certain loss. If a manufacturer of woollens or cot-
tons were to find that he had embarked in a hopeless
concern, he would withdraw his remaining capital
without a moment's delay, turn his attention to some
other quarter, and endeavour to invest the residue of
his property in some better speculation, from which
he might fairly look for reasonable profit and a corn
fortable livelihood by the exercise of his honest in-
dustry. How can it be expected that the manu-
facturers of " corn" or of " cattle" should act dif-
ferently, or persevere in their exertions when labour
cannot meet its just reward ?
Before, however, we, who refuse our assent to the
taxation of the community for the exclusive benefit of
a particular class, agree to the deduction, it is neces-
sary to see that the conditions of the question have
been fairly stated, and that it necessarily follows from
the premises. Supposing, for the sake of argument,
that we yield the first postulate, and admit (which
we most positively and unequivocally deny) " that
the cultivation of the soil under the present circum-
stances of the country is, and must necessarily prove,
unremunerative," are we not entitled to ask for
further inquiry into those " circumstances," and to
know how far the untoward result may be
ascribed to the parties exclusively interested, to
the landlords and tenants themselves, who
are acting on a vicious and impolitic
system, which renders necessary the begging appeal
to the public to tax themselves for the benefit of the
whining mendicants, and in order that the erroneous
system may be perpetuated ? We are justified in
inquiring whether the owners of the soil, the territo-
rial aristocracy, have, as a general rule, abated their
rents in proportion to the great appreciation in the
value of money oecasioned by the infamous mone-
tary code which they themselves were the parties to
inflict upon a suffering nation, in pursuance of a
corrupt compact with the moneyocracy. How can
they reasonably expect to obtain the
gold
de
pound
in a metallic currency, with a
worth 205., which were freely paid in a
paper currency with a pound worth 13s.
limited and restricted circulating medium, inadequate
to the wants and exigencies of the country, as
there was sufficient representatives and measures of
value, and the supply was proportioned to the actual
necessities of the period, to the accumulated wealth
and population of the country ? We are entitled to
full and satisfactory ariewers to these interrogatories
before we can acknowledge the necessity, or even the
propriety, of affording legislative relief to the
alleged sufferers.

Again, we desire to know whether the landlords
hold out every reasonable inducement to tenants
tending to the due development of the natural capabi-
lities of the soil ? Do the owners of land prefer the
undue increase of game, that they themselves and
their aristocratic friends may slaugh'er innumerable
pheasants, hang, and partridges, at their periodical
battues, to the pecuniary interests of themselves and
their tenants ? What may be the amount of damage
occasioned by these destructive animals to the farmers ?
It is unquestionably very great, and we believe that
we are fully justified in stating that the occupiers of
the soil in nialiy districts would be pcifectly willing
to do without con-laws or import duties on agricul-