The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-17 00:00:00

Witt

LONDON :

,'EDNESD.A.Y MORNING, AUGUS 17, 1842.

r ergrurkw-o, nin7h-
-rnEr be wise, it will be inducedby the general
alas m exeited by the turn-out in the manufacturing
dist,ricts, to institute a searching inquiry into the
con .litioti of the people there, with a view to amend
it. If the Government should not, of its own accord,
une ertake it, the public will be wanting to its, own
int.( .rest if it do not press on the Government such
an investigation, and compel it to find a remedy for a
stoct e of things which is at once dangerous to so-
ck and disgraceful to the Legislature. Either
it .is in the power of the Legislature to ward
off izsuch evils, to train up mankind in the ways of
vh t ue and of peace, and to provide a full measure of
stint istence for all who are born on the earth, and then
out. Legislature has grossly and shamefully neglected
its 41 aty ; or, it is not in the power of legislation to ac-
corj Ash these grand objects, and then the sooner our
Leg islature and the people are convinced of its ineffi-
eieri 2y, the sooner both will seek some rational means
to ut tail) the end desired. An infinitely less evil than
the `,l urn-out of the operatives, which, in one short week,
has paralyzed trade, and given a heavier blow to
public credit than all the imputed malversations of the
WI ri s, which the Income-tax is to remedy, was no
soo ae: • revealed to the country by the Commissioners
for :inci airing into Mines than there was an almost
unilvers al shout for a law to correct it, and a zealous
haste in passing such a law, which no considerations
of v that was due to the colliers could restrain. We
ha, :e a right, therefore, to expect that the con-
diLiou of the operatives generally, which their
pr esent conduct proves to be pregnant with
ti rror for the rest of society, shall immediately lead
ti ) a diligent and searching investigation, and to the
tl Loughtful... suggestion of appropriate remedies. So
w ill the Government, following that Being whom
it is said to represent on earth, educe good out
of seeming evil, and promote the present peace of
sac 'ety and its permanent and ever growing pros-
per. ity.

'he extension of military power, if necessary at
thi' moment to preserve life and property, greatly to
the t discredit of the Government, cannot, it is plain,
be always had recourse to. A military Government
is so costly, that it is ruinous. It may possibly
ger\ ie for a tnilitary people, but for a commercial
and manufacturing nation, whiCh carries on its
mut 5 farious' operations by credit and confidence, it
is w dolly out of the question. Nor does the success
of st.tc h a system on the Continent, where it degrades
the !people without preserving peace—for we have
seen, emeates, insurrections, and revolutions there,
• we enjoyed internal peace—recommend that sys-
ter a to. our adoption. For the prosperity of England,
it h east ntially necessary that confidence between the
diff 4rent., classes be restored, and that the attachment of
tb e people to the Government be revived, which it can
c.nly be bry the Government acting justly, honestly,
'and sincer Ply, and by the constable's staff again be-
coming, freln ALL the people loving and honouring the
law, the em blem of irresistible power. While we do
full justice t o thepromptness; by which a great mili-
tary power bits been assembled in the manufacturing
,districts, we :must at once assert that its use can only
be tolerated•-.as the most temporary expedient, and
that succe 3sfa,rebellion is to be preferred to the
permanent establishment of a military tyranny. Be-
sides, we have ourselves tried this military and police
Government without much success. It has been gra-
dually groT:ing into.strength here, gradually repress-
ing every:little harmless ebullition of 'popular.feeling,.
till it Las. turned attachment into dislike, and has
concentrat ad 'diAike into ardent hatred, gradually
beating do wn',the multitude below the level of hu-
manity, and at length has brought on 'a wide-spread
insurrectiOn.

Nor can we rely on the old Tory system.
That. has been Carried out bath by Whigs and Tories,
and our present condition is the result. The power
and wealth of the priesthood have suffered no abate-
ment. 1t is the boast of the Tories that the influence
of the Mach has been wonderfully increased. Go-
vernmertt is as expensive as ever. The tax-gatherer's
exactions are increased, not relaxed. Extravagance
in high places. is continued. The riches of the aris-
tucrrtcy 114 ye not declined. Great fortunes are still