The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS..
FROM THE- MORNING PAPER' OF Tun
_ umns.—Thaplet,. must: say, to 'Sir R. Peel, Mr. Miles's
motion seems to be bringing the political world again iuto
" inextricabluconfusieh.' TAll-was going on as.:smootlily' as
a Gravesend steamer--the Conservative 'Ministry swinging
along With fair wind and fine weather, and saddeuly we are ,
in -the midst of a thunderstorm. First chines. a flash from^
the House of Lords; then a clap from the House of CoinnionS,
acid no* we don't . know what black cloud 'may bnrst on mu',
heads. • Inauspicious rumours .of resignation are heard as I.
are eenfraclicted; mysterious meetings of the Otibinet.Conn-
eil, mid quarrelsome meetings of the Carlton Club, appear
and disappear, and Sir Robert Peel utters grave and.signifi,
cant senteneesibot wholly easy of in t erpret at iont-hiw which
appear to indicate a 'determination to "carry his measure, ear.
retire' from office. ;" Be the consequences • whet they may,"
he says, " the Government will abide by its Original :propot:,
sition." Sir IL Peel .seems itddenly. to have foutd 'out hoW•
much more difficult itis`to giVe Up his oWdpresent Will thp
the past principles of a party. Tw,eive years ago, in spite of
the determined opposition of that :Right Hon. Gmtleinat:t
and those who adhered .to him; the Reform Bill shifted
the whole basis of• political power ,in• this country. Sir
Robett was among the first to proclaim and exemplify
the necessity-of adaptation to the new State of things.
What others impatiently bemoaned he accepted without loss
of time as a 'Vail accompli.", Nothing was more remarkable
than the and rapidity with which he divested hiniself
nf thOse " old Tory", associations
.and rules of policy to
,which less pliant spirits clung with unavailing affection, but,
-which were • palpably incompatible -With any permanent,
tenure of power under the new order of things. While
others were indulging dreams of reversing the past he was
engaged:in adapting himself to the future--in ridding himself
..of the now obsolete principles among which his :youth had
'been prissedin framing his thoughts, words, and arguments
in accordance with the fresh basis of 'Government and the
will of the new constituency. And what is this new order
of things to which Sir Robert Peel so promptly transferred_
his allegiance? The Reform Bill has almost annihilated the
ancient battalion of pure Ministerial boroughs. The Reform
Bill supposed every voter to be a politician, and every repre-,
sentative directly responsible to the judgments of his consti-
tuents. In part it has made them so, and' a large frac-
tion at least of the House of Commons can no' longer
plunge through thick and thin at the dictum of a, party
leader. The Reform Bill has broken up and equalised par-,
ties. The great Liberal and Conservative parties are, after
all, so nearly balanced in the Hotse and in the country, and ,
each is coniposed of materials
.so heterogeneous, that it is
impossible to foretel what secession of a particular interest en
party the circumstances of the day may produce, or how
such a secession may affect the ordinary Ministeral majority.
'This may be very troublesome to Premiers and whippers-in,
but it is an unquestionable and unavoidable fact ; and, as
such, those who administer the affairs of the country must
submit to it. They must obey to rule. They must " stoop*
to conquer." This necessity of conciliating "the public,"
as represented by the House of Commons, , Sir Robert Peel
saw clearly enough at a distance, and he modified his own
course of policy and compelled his adherents—very much
against the grain, to modify theirs accordingly. His-eonces
sions at the expense of his friends have been only limited by :
his apprehension of losing their support. As far as their
interests and feelings are concerned he has . shown a
Most determined anxiety to adapt his administration
to the altered circumstances of the country and the House of
Commons. But now comes his own turn. An adverse de-
cision of the House of Commons—of that body of whose pri-
vileges he is the unfailing champion—to whose regulations.
he exacts the most implicit deference—to whose service he
has consecrated'his life—whose authority he identifies with'
that of 'the British nation—this decision. comes to test the
genuineness of his devotion, and to try-whether he is as ready.
to sacrifice to its authority his own crotchets as the principles
and prejudices of his party. What does he say? " That, be
the consequences what they may, the Government will abide
by their original proposition." And why? Because, unim-
portant' though the question may be, it may prove a prece- ,
dent of future independence. It is no conscientious scruple--;
.
no generous compassion—no ancient party tie— no great
national interest which arms the hand of the Minister
against his former idol ; it is simply this—that he
will not allow .the .House its way now, , for fear it
should ask to have its way again. He will yield nothing,
simply because he is determined to be absolute. . Truly
said Mr. D'lsraeli that there was at least one slavery from
which Sir Robert would admit of no emancipation that
which existed on the Ministerial benches. Ho again de-
mands that the House of Commons should stultify itself. He
again demands an abject recantation as the price of having
dared to exercise against his will a right of judgment given
.—nay, rather enforced upon them—by the constitution which
he recognises. He seems wholly to have .forgotten all that -
the last twelve years should have taught him—to imagine -
himself again transported to the days of Pitt or Liverpool,
and to enact the same crouching deference that
_a Walpole
could fairly require from one whose constituency had its mar.;
ket price in gold, and his vote in sinecures. And what
.is
worse, the House .appears to acquiesce in the demand, and
patiently to atone for its short-lived assertion of independence
by a double portion of, such penance as its master enjoins.
This "may do for.a moment--nay, possibly for a Parliathent ;
but it is for the Members of the House of Commons to cots
cider whether their constituencies will take exact y' 1;1,3 alone
view of their docility as the Premier, to Whoise menaces they .
are so-sensitively obedient.
HERALD.—Sir Robert Peel last night explained in full
the course Which Ministers mean to take with regard to the
sugar duties. It ig; in a few words, to leave the colonial
duties to be discussed next year, when the Property-tax
Bill shall have expired. Sir Robert Peel, when he asked for
the property-tax as necessary to restore the finances of the
country, and to secure public credit, asked for the tax fOr
three years only. The limitation implied a promise that, as ,
.far as should depend upon Ministers, the ParliaMent would,
at the end of three years, be in a condition to dispense with
the property-tax, if itshould think fit ; any measure, there-::
. fore; on the part of the Government calculated materially to
diminish the revenue of the country, so as to render a renewal
of the.property-tax indispensable at the three years* end,
would be a gross violation of faith ; the reduction of the
tariff does not come under this description only because the
tariff and property4ax were.proposed and adopted together,
making parts of one financial system thoroughly untie' stoo‘l.l
in all its parts when the implied pledge was given. Th;.6 is
quite plain and indisputable as regards the -pledge and its
accompaniments. Now the vote of Friday night Is a-direct
surrender of 600,0001. per annum of revenuo, and, to deal
impartially, a surrender of equal amount must be
made- to each .of many other interests. What,
then, • would become of Sir Robert" Peelle pledge,
not to cause the renewal of the property-tax to be
indispensable in 1845 Men may complain that the resist- ,
tance of the l%litisters to the 'vote of Friday is arbitrary and
imperious ; but every ' one has a right, to be.arhitrary and
imperious in resisting a call to. sully his personal honour, and
the Minister who would break faith with Parliament and
with the country must sully his personal honour. Sir Robert
Peel, no doubt, compassionates the condition of the West
India planters, and would gladly relieve them I but justice is:
due before generosity, and to keep faith is an essential part
of justice. And what are the claims of the West India
' planters to a surrender of- 600,000/. per annum of revenue?
1 They were paid 20,000,0001. sterling for their slaves, and if.
this payment was inadequate, it was not the fault of the,
British Government or of the' people of England, but the
fault of the planters themselves • and since the passing of the -
Emancipation Act they have largely participated in ever,
relief extended to the distress of the people._ go"
class . of the Queen's subjects benefited Much as'
the West Indians did by the provisions of I?",e tan:111 To conic,.
however, to the true cause of tile dec.!? Of West India pro-
perty. Up to the period of the abolition of• the slave trade in
1807, the plantation trade of the West Indies was carried on
upon the hypothesis that any, quantity of slave labour might
-be had for money. Little care, consequently, was bestowed
upon the lives and health of ileVroea, -and none upon their-
morals. The abolition of. the stave trade struck the first'
blow at the plantation trade, The
,produce of the islands
began to decline, and in a few years after the abolition it was -
necessary to admit East India sugar into competition. This
ought to have warned the planters, that as they were' de- -
prived of the foreign supply they must endavour, by reform-
ing the morals of their slavoa, to provide a native increase of
labour. They, however, neglected the warning, and things
had become se much worse, that in fact when they. received
20,000,000/, ten years ago, it all passed into the hands of cre-
ditors. Let it not, then, be pretended that the EMancipation
Act caused' the 'ruin of the West Indians—the seeds
of ruin were sown long before, One fact is decisive. In
'_1.8.32 the West Indies, exported about- 450,000,000 cwt. of
sugar to Europa; in 1842 but 250,000,000 cwt, ; this decline
occurring when the West India trade was protected to a
'complete monopoly by a differential duty of 635. the &wt.
Now, we ask every man of common sense what reduction Of
duty can save -a country so circumstanced; Sweep away
time last farthing of duty, and the progress of decline must
continue, recording to the present tendency of the popula.
'tion, until the 'West Indies shall not send a single hogiread
of sugar to Europe. The strangest part of the Aist4 coalitiona
is -that some agriculturists seem to make vp,torneu cause with
the West Indians, though the case ?SOO agriculturists is not
merely different, but a centraa: The 'agriculthriits cWria
protection, and justly Oahu it, because in their - caq pvc.teo-
tion is pmved to promote both population and- production ;
and the very moment when, by the accent oaf the seasons,
their produce becomes insufficient then ProtPetini. disappegl.s.
"For the agriculturist§ LA 11144 common Cause with tine 'West
Indians, ja to cmhark their "toek wantonly and knowinglyin' a crane ship. .
,• PO Last bight the Government proposition, which
was tiegaf.:,:cet/ on Friday by a ;majority of, 20, was riztually
o.l,.riniit by a. nit\iority of 22. The numbers were—s 2,33 fur
I3lr. Mila,s.'s motion, and 255 against it. We decision will
eroate no astonishment. It appears to be the established
• rule,' that, when the Minister threatens to resign,
the eCh
lighteted men who compose the present House of Qammos
shall on Monday vote that to be white, which, on the pre-
vious Friday, they voted to be black. this rule has been
followed now, and the fact settles the consistency of . tha
• House of commons as satisfactorily as Sir R. Peel 'did his
own in hia sapeoch oflast evening. What the constituents of Hon,
sullied, is another onestha.
Gentlemen may think on the
In the natural course of events they 'Rill!, >< '4lO, very distant
period, have an opportunity of ktNio4l,a,ll-
- their opinion ;
and it is just passible, %Wit. consistency may ab. 4,
a ryv.ixsal of theft •
shown informer votes. We are, Tilts
to'hi4e our time; we haVe not the vanitv ie think
Nat anything we can say will be halffo
;,.%ctiiie as what
the electoral body can do. -In while, the fate at'
_the West Indians is bYst e' triumph of the Minister.
_They hr,"; "*.q tlAg,er the poor satisfactieo oilkinking that
Auflettlie9."B4l wi4 r 1.141 may;'-'' The deed is already

_
T.r- •
ELDER COrriN.-04 7,,jionclay last, Michael
Field, aged 78 years, wa3. bulied at St..NicholaS ASh, next
AI/Ingham.-F9,;. Many years he carried on the businesl 9f,
collar intk harness maker .in _kill-street. Foi-iy-sht-yeaf.&•
• since he planted a slip of elder in his garden, find, in elct.
-words, had- " lived to sea le grow to *a large akler
fivhose-shadoiv he:* enjoyed himself witli iii*Opo and cup
vinted from its berries,--anci this WfiS biki only-me-
gink, !` sun gpAii, igiv_.and as Miolmel- Allought-he
should lite to have a coffin made from the said tree, his wistv
h..as gratified about three months since, through thci
sion of Mr. Marsh, the owner, and the 11101141 remains of old
Michael now repose in the slip- of his own plantation.—Can-
terbwv Journ.3l,