The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-01 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Times is anxious to know what has been the cause
of the singular decline in revenue during the past twelve
months. The deficient harvest of last autumn must be
credited with part of the failure. The falling-off in the
excise duties may be directly referred to this cause ; nor
do its effects stay there. When bread is dear the con-
sumption of duty-paying commodities is at once restricted,
for bread, even at its dearest, is the cheapest means of sus-
taining life, and must be got though other things are stinted.
It can be easily understood why the duties on tea and sugar,
and the luxuries which are all but necessaries, should fall off
upon the occurrence of a bad harvest. The explanation o
the decline in stamps and assessed taxes is not so clear ;
though, with respect to the latter, it may be said that as
the taxes paid in a year are apportioned in respect of the
articles used in the preceding year, the exchequer only
now shews the effect of the crisis of 1866. But it is with
ropect to the future that the revenue returns of the past
quarter excite the gravest reflections. If the Ministry
cannot be blamed for the failing returns of the past
quarter, it must be distinctly charged with the responsi-
bility of the present situation. The year now current has
been recognised as a year of deficiency. For the first time
since the Crimean war a Chancellor of the Exchequer
has had to submit to the House of Commons a budget
which showed an excess of expenditure above receipts,
and proposed to provide the balance by borrowing a
million upon the security of the arrears of the income tax
to be received in the next financial- twelvemonth. Will
the proposed loan, in itself a grave expedient, be sufficient
to meet the exigencies of the current year? It is impos-
sible not to see that the answer is very doubtful. If the
coming harvest be one of abundant returns, the revenue
which may be expected will, with the million to be raised
on exchequer bonds, be enough to supply our wants ; if it
be of average yield, a deficiency above that contemplated
in April is probable ; if it be, again, a comparative failure,
a further deficiency is certain. We are thus financially
" steering too near the shore to shew our wit." The ex-
piring House of Commons has bequeathed to its successor
a state of things which cannot be one of conspicuous
prosperity, and may be one of great embarrassment. The
Administration may urge that the fault of the past is not
theirs, and undoubtedly the. necessity of the Abyssinian
expedition cannot be charged on their heads, but they are
responsible for the fact that, in the face of a stationary or,
rather, declining revenue, every item of expenditure has
been increased.

The Telegraph, on the same subject, notes that customs
have fallen off £46,000 on the quarter—a loss which is
partly to be explained by a reduced consumption of
spirits, but mainly, perhaps, by the circumstance that
large quantities of tea were taken from bond in the
earlier months of the year, and that the normal de.
wand for home use was thus to a certain extent
anticipated. We are confirmed in this belief by the
fact that while the customs has diminished during
the quarter, yet on the whole year it shews an increase of
£73,000. Excise is the item which exhibits perhaps the
most adverse result, there being a reduction both for the
quarter and the year. In his budget speech, however,
Mr. Hunt pointed out with perfect truth that in some
degree a defective harvest in England caused an
improvement in customs revenue, and thus partially
made up for a loss in the excise, since sugar was more
largely used for brewing purposes when barley was
scarce and dear. Such was the case last year, and such,
also, may be the case during next autumn and winter. But
when we have made every allowance on this head, it
must still, we do not doubt, have to be admitted that the
yield from an impost which is so largely borne by the
middle and the lower classes is less, because the means to
purchase exciseable articles have been subject to inevit-
able contraction. The same remark may be applied
to the post office and stamps items ; part of the
decrease in the latter being, perhaps, the result of
the reduction on marine insurance policies. There
is nothing in these facts to inspire uneasiness; but there is
much to shew how deep-seated and lasting have been the
consequences of the crushing disasters which marked
1866, and how surely two deficient harvests in succession
reduce the wealth of the nation. We must also bear in
mind that an enhanced income tax, as it presses most
severely on the great consuming middle classes, neces-
sarily limits their demands for articles of luxury. We
need not go beyond these causes to explain the effect we
now witness, and the temporary loss of that elasticity in
our resources on which, in past years, we have had suck
good reason to rely.

The Post lays down that the organisation and adminis-
tration of the police of the country is unsatisfactory
throughout, and it is not, as an institution, capable of
satisfying the exigencies of the kingdom. Its constitution
and government rest upon no distinct or defined basis,
but, like many other of our institutions, upon a compro
mise. It is influenced both by the principle of centralisa-
tion and by the principle of localisation, and yet is
subject to the ascendancy of neither. Hence there
is neither freedom of movement nor unity of action,
and it is consequently in emergencies constantly falling
short of the accomplishment of its functions, and col-
lapsing between the horns of a dilemma. The circum-
stances and events that marked the riots of various
character which during the present year have taken place
in the provinces, shew how very far our police force is
from being equal to the management of any emergency
or exceptional occurrence. The Post does not attribute
this shortcoming so much to the men, or to those in imme•
diate command of them, as to the gederal character which
has been given to the force from a want of comprehension
of the uses for which police is wanted. The uses are
various, and even diverse ; yet the organisation is homo.

geneous.
The Standard, commenting on the Suez Canal, repudi-
ates the imputation that Englishmen do not take an
interest in the undertaking. The fact that they have taken
comparatively few shares in the Suez Canal Company is
no evidence of anything else than a common, and, as we
conceive, a very legitimate prudence. No arguments are
required to convince them of the great advantages which
would accrue to the world by the cutting of a navigable
canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. No
one nation in the world has so much interest in the matter
as we have, and no one nation would benefit so much by
M. de Lessep's success as we should. The object of the
canal being, we presume, to shorten the road between
Europe and the East, the people who at present have the
greatest use for such a road would derive the most benefit
by its improvement. That people are the English. The
Suez Canal is with us no sentimental project. If such a
work could be executed it would be of vital importance to
us, both commercially and politically. It would connect
us with some of the wealthiest and most important por-
tions of our empire. It would bring closer together the
various scattered elements of our power. It would save
us from the risk, the delay, and the cost of the long sea
route to India and to Australia. We have every motive..
therefore, to think well of the Suez Canal.
The Daily News points out that the first of July in
Ireland is as celebrated as the fourth of July in the United
States, though not so peacefully celebrated. It is a red-
letter day in the calendar. On the Ist of July, a hundred
and seventy-eight years ago, the English and Dutch, under
William 111., gained a victory on the banks of the Boyne
over the French and Irish under James 11. ; and ever
since the day has been sacred to tumult and civil strife.
Already the factions are preparing for the combat. The
Marquis of Abcrcorn, summoned in hot haste from
Dublin to give his vote in the House of Lords in
favour of ecclesiastical ascendancy, will probably
return with speed not less to repress the wonted
manifestations of that same spirit in Ireland. He is for
maintaining the perpetual memorial of conquest, and he
will ruthlessly put down the periodic commemorations of
it. With one hand he pours oil on the smouldering flame,
with the other he throws cold water upon it. In the
exultation stimulated by the temporary triumph of their
cause in the House of Lords, it is possible that the mani-
festations of Orange zeal will be more difficult of restraint
than they have lately been. In the North the usual
irritating challenges will be thrown out, and the defiance
will be quickly accepted. The Government have at-
tempted repression, but they have made a culprit
into a martyr, and they are evidently far more afraid of
Mr. Johnson of Ballykilheg, than Mr. Johnson of Bally-
kilbeg is of.them. With the Ist of July the danger is not
over. No sooner has it passed away than the Orangemen
begin their preparations for the 12th, which is the anni-
versary of the battle of Aughritn ; and when the 12th is
passed their eyes are turned to the 30th, the anniversary
of the raising of the siege of Londonderry. During the
whole of July, from its first day to its last, the Irish
factions put on their war-paint and go through their war-
dances. It is a month of madness, with but few lucid
intervals. While the Imperial Parliament keeps up the
source of division by maintaining the unjust privileges of
a small minority, there is no room for astonishment that
its effects should continue to manifest themselves.

MARVELLOUS ESCAPE. —One of the most 'nar-
y( lions escapes that we have heard of is reported from the
village of Hook Norton. Whilst a man named Bray was
repairing a deep well, the walling gave way, and he was
buried under at least thirty feet of earth and stones. Ihe
pNiple set to work to recover, as they imagined, the dead
body of the unfortunate man ; but after digging eight hours
they were surprised and delighted to hear his voice
entreating them to be as quick as they could, as he did
not think he could stand it much longer. Six hours more
elapsed before he was extricated, Lut he was got out at
List, not much the worse for his fourteen hours' interment.
It appears that he was protected by a large stone resting
on a bar which had been thrown across to strengthen the
masonry, and he was supplied with air from a wooden
tube belonging. DlUPP3illich. Wits Ltd from the well