The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-16 00:00:00

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abroad, and " instead of imprisoning them on board a
ship for two or tb-4ece years, giving them leave to go on
shore on all Koper occasions." The practical and really
admirable character of the reforms proposed by the
Admiral in regard to the management of the mari-
time service may, however, be most conspicuously
shown by transcribing the following paragraph from
his " Preface," containing, as it does, a variety of
appropriate statements :

Lee re eso o' ia h i va It OlitllC9, on the con-
trary, to have secured by peace all that the honour and
power of Prussia can require.
" The state of affairs is now as follows:
" 1. Generally speaking, the claims of the Diet to an
cx parte settlement of German questions is abandoned,
and attributed to German Governments in common.
Preparations for the same are made over to a commis-
sion equally furnished with full powers by both parties.
In this commission Prussia and her allies will take part
as a co-legalle acknowledged whole, opposed to the whole
of the remaining Governmrnts which have hitherto laid
claim to exclusive right of decision. This decision will
not be taken either by one side or the other, but by all
collectively. Prussia has not demanded more, and more
she had no right to demand.
" Should the commission, as there is every reason to
presume, be composed of men as eminent and skilful as
prudent, then it will offer fortunate means for the pre-
servation of all rights. If Prussia's allies remain faith-
ful to her, then their co-operation in carrying out all
important questions will be secured. The union of
Prussia with them is nut abandoned by Prussia. Its
abandonment is not demanded by Austria. On the con-
trary, its existence for general negotiation is practically
recognised by tha Olmuts punctuation.'
" 2. The assistance of the troops called into Electoral
Hesse by the Elector will not be impeded in the first
place in carrying out the same; but the final and legal
settlement of the whole affair will no longer rest in the
hands of the Diet, but will be referred to a commission
to be appointed, representing all German Governments
as the sole legal and supreme authority of the Con-
federation.
" 3. In Holstein, it will no longer be a commissary
of the Diet who will lay down the law for the land, but,
in the first place, Prussian and Austrian commissaries
will summons the Stadtholderate to observe conditions
which aro calculated to preserve the Federal territory
from all assault, and which are based on the fundamental
laws of the Confederation, and upon the treaty of the 2d
of July.
" It cannot be justified by the rights of nations that,
whilst the Confederation has concluded peace with Den-
mark, an authority (the Stadtholderate) appointed by
the Confederation, should carry on war outside the Fe-
deral territory. The demands made upon the Stadthol-
derate are based upon this principle. The reduction of
the army is in the interest of the land, and is, as often-
times formally declared by the Stadtholderate, of little
importance, provided Denmark also reduced (her army),
of which there is every prospect.
"Should the Stadtholderate reject these moderate de-
mands, instead of a one-sided execution on the part of
Austria or the Diet, conjoint measures only can be
adopted by Austria and Prussia, relative to which the
commission named in section 2 will have to determine.
There can arise no danger in this, either to Prussia or
to Austria. f"
" The further settlement of the question will likewise no
longer be undertaken ex parte by the Frankfort Govern-
ment but by all German Governments. Prussia and Aus-
tria will defend conjointly the rights of the Confederation,
as well as those of Holstein. The commission to be ap-
pointed will, as a committee of the whole of the German
Governments, take all preparations and negotiations
simultaneously in hand.
" The Duchies, as well as foreign powers, may rest
assured that this conjoint proceeding of Austria and
Prussia will not infringe any just right whatsoever.
Prussia, whilst defending the causes of the Duehies, will
no longer stand ale ne in regard to foreign states (dem
anslunde). A medium has been found, whereby the long
denuded action of the whole Confederation can be re-
stored without Prussia abandoning anything of its stand-
ing point.
" This is, generally speaking, and as regards the two
burning practical questions, the basis on which rests the
Olmutz ' punctuation.' Upon this basis the Prussian
Government thought it might maintain peace, and it
opines that it has herein discovered the point of con-
nexity, whereby, throuth the honourable and well-in-
tentioned efforts on both sides, this peace can be ensured
and a salutary development of German relations ren-
dered possible. The free conferences are destined for
the latter object. These will take place forthwith, and,
in fact, according to the desire of Prussia, at Dresden.
" Desires have been expressed on divers sides that,
prior to the assembling of the same, the bases should
be established on which the revision of the Germanic
Confederation is to rest. It is regarded by many that
the non-determination of this in the Olmutz ' punctua-
tion' is an omission.
" Mature consideration of circumstances will show that
this reproach is unrounded.
"The meeting at Olmuts, limited by the urgency of
the moment, in a few hours could not, from the very
nature of the case, have for its object the definition of
the basis of a constitution, for the projection of which
Germany has two years vainly laboured. It could only
be directed to the handling of the burning questions,
menacing immediate conflict, and to the decision of
whether there should be war or peace."
The Frankfurter Gazette states that the Minister
of War of Hesse has just recalled to service the
greatest part of the soldiers who had been sent away
on leave.
The Cologne Gazette contains a letter from Cassel
of the 11th, which says :—" To day the federal troops
which have passed the line of occupation on every
point, are to occupy Rotenburg, and the Prince of
Toux and TAXIS is to fix his head-quarters there."
On the afternoon of the sth, the Hotel du Roi de
Prusse, at Carlsbad, was surrounded by a detachment
of hussars, and immediately afterwards a commissary
of police entered the house and arrested a young
Frenchman named BOURLENOY, or, according to one
account, LABOLAGE, who had arrived from Vienna in
the morning of that day. He was immediately placed
in a post-chaise, and under the escort of the commis-
sary set off for Vienna. This arrest caused some sensa-
tion in Carlsbad.
The Cologne Gazette states from Berlin, of the
11th, that 114. DE RAumen has accepted the place of
Minister of Worship. General DE Gxonow was the
day before received in private audience by the KING
and PRINCE of Prussia. He is to be charged with a
secret mission for the Court of St. Petersburgh.
A letter from Vecha of the 10th, in the German
Journal of Frankfort, says :
" Tho gaeatesl part of the Prussian troops have now
evacuated the line of occupation and the frontiers. Ac-
cording to the new orders, they will not he replaced, or
if they are, by only a small body of men."
A letter from Hanau of the 11th states that the
day before a revolt took place amongst the prisoners
in the gaol, in consequence of their trials having been
postponed to another session, owing to political
events. They did much damage, and it was found
necessary to call in some of the troops to restore
order, The head of the revolt has been placed in soli
tart' confinement.

THE WEATHER.—Su OFFICE, DECEMBER 15.
THERMOMETER, LN THE SHADE.
48—highest since noon yesterday.
37—lowest this morning and during the night.
44—this day, at noon.

BAROMETER, 29'41.
WncD S.W.— stormy, with continuous but heavy rain
occasionally, and dirty weather.
MONDAY, Dic. 16.
THERMOMETER, IX THE SEAM
51—highest since noon yesterday.
36—lowest this morning and daring the night.
44—this day, at noon.
BAROMETER, 29.21.
The Barometer went down to 2895 since yesterday
WIND S.W.—Morning, fine; Afternoon, showery.

" In 1816 I proposed to Lord Melville a system of re-
gistration, which was imperfectly carried out by Sir
James Graham in 1830, and improved by a Bill brought
in by Mr. Sydney Herbert and myself; but it is very far
from being perfect. I brought in another Bill, obliging
every apprentice in the merchant service to serve a cer-
tain period in a ship of war before he could become a
regular seaman; but that Bill was not taken up by the
Admiralty, and was in consequence lost. It object was
to do away the bad feeling that exists against a man-of-
war in the minds of most merchant seamen, and to
teach the apprentices in their youth the different exer-
cises, so as they might be useful when called out in the
event of war. Had that Bill passed, we should hav9 had
between four and fire thousand lads• of eighteen years of
age every year, and at the end of three years they would
be at liberty to remain, or return to the merchant ser-
vice, according to the wants of the Navy. This, in my
opinion, would have been the first step to do away im-
pressment. These lade, knowing the habits and customs
of a man-of-war, would come forward more willingly
than the merchant-seamen of the present day, who have
a strong feeling against the Navy; that feeling is, I
hope, passing away; but it will be a long while before it
entirely disappears, and any attempt at impressment will
bring it back in a tenfold degree."
Another admirable suggestion is thrown out im-
mediately afterwards, relating this time to the in-
iquitous and ruinous manner of payment. The
passage to which we allude runs as follows :
" The system of register tickets is little attended to
by the master and owners of merchant ships. Men are
often embarked without tickets, and the Custom-house
are not sufficiently strict. A few examples would go a
great way to check this irregularity, and strict orders
ought to be given to ships of war to muster the crew of
merchant ships, and report all those who have seamen
on board, without their tickets; but even these precau-
tions will be ineffectual, till owners are prohibited giv-
ing the men notes for their wages, payable after the ship
has sailed. These notes are sold to the Jews for half
their value, and the men consider desertion as no crime—
quite the contrary, they think th( y are doing the Jew.
The ship-owners lose nothing; the sailor leaves his
clothes behind, fresh hands are shipped, and no trouble
is taken to apprehend the deeerter; whereas, if the sea-
man was paid in money, it would become the interest of
the ship-owner to apprehend and punish him if he de-
serted. What would be said, if the seamen in the Navy
were paid by notes, which would not fetch half their
value?"

In addition to such subjects as those above particu-
larized, others of a no less interesting and important
nature are touched upon by Sir CHARLES NAPIER in
the volume under consideration ; the wasteful and ex-
travagant expenditure incurred in ship-building being
particularly and deservedly reprobated. As the cor-
respondence, however, in which these matters are
brought under discussion, has been familiarized to
the multitude by piecemeal publication in our own
columns, and in those of some of our contemporaries,
it would be superfluous at present to do more than
thus distinctly and emphatically notify the circum-
stance of its collective republication.

We have repeatedly directed the public attention
to the imperative necessity of a great and combined
exertion being made to obtain not only a considerable
reduction in the enormous amount of taxation, under
which the energies of the industrious classes are
crushed and paralysed, but, also, a complete alteration
in the present iniquitous system, so that every man
should be required to contribute to the support and
maintenance of the national establishments and the li-
quidation of the national liabilities, secundum statum
et facultates, according to the position which he oc-
cupies, the means he possesses, and the stake he holds
in the country. This is a matter of the plainest
equity, the most simple justice. It is the constitu-
tional privilege of the British subject, but how
grievously is it violated, and how frivolous
and inadequate are the excuses put forward
by the Ministers of Finance of every Government and
every party, for the glaring inequalities which they
call upon Parliament to sanction ! We are well
aware that it is exceedingly difficult, perhaps impos-
sible, to make a perfectly equal assessment on every
description of income, so that each man should con-
tribute his exact proportion to the national-exchequer.
But that is no reason why there should be no effort
made to arrive at a more equitable approximation, and
to get rid of the monstrous injustice now in daily opera-
tion—the gross anomalies that would not for a mo-
ment be tolerated by the inhabitants of any other free
country in the world.
The only argument adduced in support of the
system is, that because perfection cannot be ob-
tained we must not look fur any improvement
That because we cannot accurately ascertain
the capitalized value of an annuity on the life of an
aged and sickly man, or of the fluctuating and pre-
carious profits derived by a professional man by
almost incessant toil in the practices of his calling,
that they are to be regarded as equivalent to incomes
derived from the public funds, or the ground rents of
real property. Or, in other words, that what may
not be worth two years' purchase, what no bank or
capitalist would accept as a security for the advance
of money to any amount, should be assessed as
highly, and bound to contribute as largely, as that
which is well worth, and could be readily disposed of
at, thirty years' purchase. This is a plain reductio ad
absurdum, but what signifies any argument so long as
the people remain apathetic and indifferent to the
question on which their own welfare and prosperity
so greatly depends ?
Before the last general election we pressed this
most important subject on the attention of the various
constituencies ; we showed that it was no party ques-
tion, but one for which men of all classes and parties,
Whig and Tory, Conservative and Radical, Protec-
tionist and Free-trader—all, in fact, who desired the
full development of the industrial capabilities of their
common country—might freely unite, and cordially
co-operate together ; and we strongly urged the pro-
priety of the fiscal question being made one at least
of the tests by which the merits of the respective
candidates might be ascertained. There was
a golden opportunity which, under our present
system of septennial Parliaments, might not arise
again for many years. But nothing could awaken
the tax-payers from their dreamy slumbers. Other
subjects of far less importance were dwelt on, dis-
cussed, and quarrelled about in due course, and
with all the earnestness becoming the free and inde-
pendent electors, who were so fortunate as to be in
the enjoyment of the franchise. But the questions
that came home to the pocket of every voter—the
medium or currency in which the taxes should be
paid, and the manner in which the imposts should be
levied, were treated with the most contemptuous dis-
regard. The opinions of the candidates were scarcely

inquired into on monetary and fiscal reform.
Before many months had elapsed there were many
bitter reasons to deplore this fatal indifference. Before
the new Parliament had even assembled the commer-
cial crisis ensued, which brought the nation to the
verge of bankruptcy, which levelled many of our

merchant princes to the dust, and overturned firms
which it had taken ages to elevate to the proud posi-
tion in which they were placed before the arrival of
the day of ruin, which reduced the value of every de-
scription of property from 20 to 50 per cent., and

entailed the most lamentable sufferings, the most

painful privations on the industrious population of the

country, on all who earned their daily bread by their
daily labour. The statute that had fearfully aggra-
vated the mischief, if it had not directly produced this

untoward state of affairs, was necessarily suspended.
A Parliamentary inquiry followed, as a matter of

course. But the representatives of the people were
perfectly careless as to a topic respecting which no
interrogatory had been exhibited on the hustings.

An obedient majority recorded their votes in favour

of Ministers, and the same infamous monetary code

still continues unchanged and unaltered, to bring new

sufferings and fresh ruin upon the country.
In the same sesion the income-tax expired. It
was shown to be uncqual in operation, and unsound

i❑ principle, to inflict heavy and grievous injury on

all persons deriving their incomes from limited

estates, for lives or terms of years, or from the profits
obtained from trade, manufacture, or commerce, or

from the exercise of skill or labour i❑ any pursuit.

But the gross injustice was continued fora further

term of three years, without change or alteration, and
why ? Because the revision of the entire system of tax-
ation was not insisted on before the Member's were re-
turned to Parliament; and Honourable Gentlemen

having a long tenure of their seats before them could

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