The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-20 00:00:00

utt.

LONDON?
FiaDAY MORIVIING, MAY 20, 1842.

The House of Commons is again to discus s thel
tariff to-night, and we may therefore embrace. the
opportunity- of comparing some oY our proposed duties
to those of :Russia, which has recently
publish ed a
new tariff. Beginning with domestic zmimals, • oxen
and' hulls, wlfich can only now, for the .first time,
impwted into _England on payment of a ditty of z Os.
per head, may be imported into Russ,,;:i on pa. `
ing 70 copecks per head, or about 2s. 4d. For cov4
w*, pre to pay ILs., the Russians pay only Is. She el),
hoi) admitted, will in free England pay 3s. per 1w ad;
in despotic Russia the duty is little more tharr sd-
'The :duties on other animals are in proportion. It
must, however, be noticed that we cannot bring ea ttle
into England, without subjecting- them to a sea voyage;
they may imported intoßussia by ;:trid.
We pass to fish, much of which— turtle, lobstt
sill turbot, were prohibited to this time witht us, a nd
which is now to pay a duty of 10s. per cwt. on si
1.
mon. ss. per cwt. on soles, and so on; in RI, 'ssia s 11
kinds of salt and fresh fish are to be freely imr ate( 1'
and exempt from all duty, except herrings,
and anchovies. So far as flesh and fish, for t
he eon.
surnption of the people, is concerned, the subjec to of the
QUEEN may well envy those of the CZAR.
At the
same titpe, they have more than the Russia) ss to give
for food, Would a prterlial Legislature allo' v them to
buy it.

Th nigh corn be not found in our tariff, that being

of such supereminent importance that it has a law
especially fin• itselt we Must, nevertheless, notice it
foe the comparison. Our :sliding scale at present in:-
poses a tax on wheat of about. 13s. per quarter; the
tax on wheat in Russia, when imported by sea, ik a
fixed duty equivalent to 13s. 2d. per quarter, and
when imported by land, less than Is. 6d. Other grains
are admitted, on paying proportional duties ; so that
the Russian Government is at least as liberal as our
own in respect to bread.
Let us notice on this point that macaroni, which
is a sort of luxury in bOth countries, has hitherto
been admitted into England on the payment of 2d.
per lb., and is to be admitted henceforward on the
payment of ld. per lb.; in Russia that substance is_
charged 15s. 4d. the poud, or about sd. per lb. Po-
tatoes pay 4d. per bushel, which is a higher rate, of
duty than is proposed by our new tariff, but not
more than half the tax levied by the yet existing
regulations.

Fruits, which follow next in our tariff, seem to
be rather worse treated in Russia than in England.
Raisins are to pay with us 15s. per cwt. ; in Russia,
they are to pay 3 roubles, or 9s. 6d. per poud of 361 b.
Passing, however, to the more important articles,
such as coffee, which is probably a luxury for the
rich in Russia, the Russian must pay 6 roubles and
15 copecks, or about 19s. Bd. for 36 lbs., or somethihg
more:than 6d. per pound, a less duty than hitherto
has been paid in England. Sugar, refined, is probi-
bited in Russia ; raw sugar pays a duty of 3 roubles
80 copecks the poud, or about 4d per lb., or 375. per
cwt., which is 13s. more than we pay on our colo-
nial sugar, and 265. less than we pay on foreign su-
gar. Russia, then, levies a higher tax than we levy
on either coffee or sugar.
Sir R. PEEL boasts very much of the reduction he
has made in duties on wood, and to make furniture
from mahogany, for example, from 1/. 10s. to 10s.
the ton ; the Russian tariff levies a duty of is. 6d.
per poud on all foreign woods for the use of furni-
ture makers—that is exactly id. per lb., or 4s. Bd.
per cwt. It is about the same duty as up to this
time was levied on mahogany when imported by fo-
reign vessels into England. It is not much more
than half the duy that was till this time
levied on Amboyna wood. We do not see any dif-
ference in our tariff between such wood in logs and
vineers in the Russian tariff, the latter pays a duty
of I Is. 2d. per poud, a pretty effectual prohibition,
we presume, to import the article. In like manner,
ready made furniture, ouvrages de menuiserie, pay a
duty of 255. 4d. per poud, a tax which must make the
nobility contribute handsomely for their use of the
menuiserie of Paris.

The ores of metals in Russia are, as the rule,
exempt from a duty, the metals themselves are partly
prohibited and partly subjected t o a heavy duty.
Copper in bars and sheets, pays 5 roubles 80 copecks,
the berkovity of 3601 b., or about V. 16s. per ton ; iron
imported by sea is prohibited.
To advert to another important subject, the duties
on cotton yarn, are 20s. 7d. per poud, or if dyed, 245.7 d.,
and, on woollen yarn, 545. 7d. per poud, while the
duties on goods fully manufactured, match, or exceed,
our exorbitant duties.

We cannot avoid stating here, that the example of
England has been most pernicious to the rest of the
world. Unable to trace the source of her prosperity—
the freedom of her institutions, allowing the develop-
ment of the ingenuity of man, as the race
multiplies, and as population becomes condensed—
the other nations of the world have beheld
our extraordinary prosperity, and they have alsoknown
that it has been accompanied by a great many re-
strictive regulations. Statesmen, whether in England
or abroad, are accustomed to attribute everything in
society to laws. They have no conception of any
cause of national welfare that is not described in the
statute book. A foreign statesman, with foreigners
in general, have accordingly attributed our wonder-
ful prosperity to our absurd restrictions and prohibi-
tions ; and they think they can by no means so surely
obtain prosperity as by imitating the laws which
have done us an immense deal of mischief. Thus
has the folly of our law-makers even made the won-
derful prosperity vouchsafed to us by the Almighty,
be as a stumbling block for the other nations of the
earth.

We will close by adverting to the export duty on
tallow, to contrast it with that which we are about to
levy on coals. The duty on tallow exported is 2
roubles, or 6s. 4d. per 10 pounds or 3601b5., equiva-
lent to a fraction less than 20 per cent. The duty
proposed to be levied by Sir ROBERT PEEL on coals
exported, in imitation of the tax imposed by Russia
on tallow exported, is 4s. per ton. Tallow is worth
at St. Petersburgh about 40s. per cwt., while coal
per ton at Newcastle costs about sd. or 6d. ; some of
the small coal exported being half the price. Thus
the duty on Russian tallow, which is sometimes
described as exorbitant, is 5 per cent. on the value,
and the moderate duty proposed to be levied by Sir
ROBERT PEEL on coals exported varies from 80 to
160 per cent. on the value. Such is the just method
our Tory statesmen have fallen on to revive the
drooping, and invigorate the crippled, commerce of
England.

We have long maintained that it is impossible to
administer the affairs of this country on the restric-
tive and narrow principles of the Tories. There is
something in human society which is stronger than
Government. Party loses its power when it comes to
battle with justice, and a cunning policy cannot make
lead against honesty. Mysticism and humbug dis-
Ippear before facts and truth, and those who have
been bawling for Toryism find themselves, all at once,
they hardly know how, acting in the teeth of their
own professions.
At this moment, there is not a Tory merchant or
trader in the empire, who does not practically do
homage to our principles, and repudiate some of the
worst parts of Toryism. Though individuals con-
nected with the North American provinces object to
the particular relaxation in the timber duties proposed
by Sir R. PEEL, there is not one of them, and, as far
as we can learn, not a trader in the empire, who does
not anticipate advantages to trade, on the whole, from
the relaxations in our stringent tariff which Sir R.
PEEL proposes. From Mr. MASTERMAN, situated at
head-quarters, and representing the millionaires of
he metropolis, to the owner of the sixteenth ()Ca ship
at Liverpool or Shields, they are all impatient to have
the tariff passed, that they may reap the advantages
they expect from lowering our duties. The excep-
tion from this general rule—to be found amongst coal-
owners, and amongst those who have ships employed
to export coals—confirms our statements, for they are
ustly discontented, because they are scarcely to share
in the relaxation, and are to be subjected to a heavy
additional restriction. The mercantile Tories may
not be ready to carry out our principles to the full
?.xtent, but the vast expectations they have formed of
benefits from Sir R. PEEL'S trumpery diminutions of
duties, merely because they are diminutions and re-
laxations, are a practical, though tacit and unconscious,
homage to the great principles of complete free trade.
The state of parties is a still more striking
proof of our assertion. The strongest Parlia-
mentar v Government which has existed since
1832, was formed on the principle of maintaining and
upholding the great monopolies of the landlords, the
sugar planters, and those who profited by the discri-
minating timber duties. On that ground an appeal
was made to the country, and the constituencies—
whose power is not omnipotent—so constituted the
Parliament, as to give an overwhelming majority to 1
the monopolists. But the agents and leaders of the
monopolists, who have some sense of responsibility,
were soon made sensible, by increasing distress and a
increasing revenue, that to administer public affairs
in the principles approved of by the majority of the
onstituencies, and the majority of both Houses of
Parliament, is hopelessly impossible. There is some-
thing in society that is stronger even than majorities,
and Sir ROBERT PEEL, by his Corn-law and his Tariff,
has been compelled, though in a small and petty-
fogging degree, to act contrary to the wishes of his
Jwn supporters, contrary to what they expected of
him, and to separate himself in some measure from
them by giving up the impracticable Tory principles
to which they adhere. The breaking up of the Tory
party, before Parliament has sat four months, is a very
speedy realisation of our views, and it demonstrates
how much more powerful are facts than schemes, and
, circumstances than opinions.

IThe friends and representatives of the landed inter-
est in England, (said the Morning Post yesterday, an-
, ouncing the sad fact that Peel is no longer trusted by
the Tories,) are now
placed in a peculiarly trying posi-
tion. A union of the utmost good temper with the
stea4est good sense was never more required than at the

present moment. Not only do they find that the rules V
which' they keliere to be the sulesst and best, arc
Ibi)ked ',Ton' by the leading Ministers of the crown as inks
which should be departerifrom, as far as circumstances ivill
permit ; but out of Parliament they find themselves in-
sulted by the vssertion that they do not agree with the
Minister, only because they have not sufficient wider-
standing to appreciate the enlightened liberality of his
views.
It was not until very lately that it was fully understood
how much a leader was required. It was known that a
new combination of parties had taken place on the new
basis of power anti influence established by the Reform
Act ; . but it certainly was not supposed that when a
Government had been carried triumphantly into power,
by the extraordinary energy and unanimity of sentiment
in the agricultural districts of England, and among
agricultural people, the leading characteristic of that
Government would be a preference of commercial prin-
ciples to those upon which native producers rely for em-
ployment and remuneration.
There is no need of disguising the fact, that the agri-
cultural constituencies ?ooked to the present Ministers
as men who would guard them from such measures as
the Whigs declared their intention of passing if they
could. They saw the accession of the present Ministers
to power with joy, and with perfect confidence that, with
such men at the head of affairs, they, and the producing
classes generally, were safe. Instead of supposing that
they wanted leaders, they supposed that all they had to
do was to support the leaders who had resisted the Whigs.
They now find that the leaders who resisted the Whigs
were not so fur removed from a participation in Wing
views as they had supposed. But what they lack in extent
of liberalism, it is evident they make up in greater ability
to effect the amount of liberalism which they nre pleased
to approve. And the end of the matter is, that after all
their exertions last summer, the representatives of the
producing interests are not in a better condition than
they were before the struggle began.
We think it probable that the most serious results
upon the position of parties in the House of Commons
will ere long be produced by the unanimity of the pre-
sent leaders on the subject of free trade philosophy. They
who remember what the Whigs did in April, 1827, in id
not be surprised if, ere long, they should see Mr. Hales
sitting with his knees in Sir Robert Peel's back.

That is the confession of the Post, that Ministers
have been compelled to become Liberals and free
traders ; that the landed monopolists have been de-
serted by their agents and leaders ; and that the ma-
jority of Lords, Commons, and constituencies, are at
this moment not in a better condition than they were
before the struggle began. They are, in fact, a
great deal worse, for they have proved the imprac-
ticability of their principles, and their champion has
gone over to their opponents.
The landowners did not like PEEL'S Corn-keeping-
out-law—they only supported it, as they avowed, fur
the sake of the party ; they disapprove of his tariff,
and are preparing to oppose him and it. Mr. MILES,
the Member for Somersetshire, at the head of seventy
malcontents, is to resist those parts of it which Sir
R. PEEL has most strongly recommended.
If (said the Morning Chronicle yesterday in a passage,
part of which we have already quoted, but which we
must repeat) the tariff be carried at all, it must be ci.r-
ried by the aid of the Opposition. The fate of the mea-
sure, with that of the Ministry itself, is in the hands of
the Opposition. The occurrence of such a crisis is rather
remarkable, considering how short a time it is since the
late Ministry was precisely in the same position, for tile
sake of the same principle. They have only to do as
they were then done by, to secure such retribution us
defeat would inflict upon their opponents. And the
fact that it is thrown out of all calculation, that all the
world reckons upon the help of the Opposition to secure
for the country so much of good as the tariff will bestow,
is a distinct proof of the real estimate which obtains of
the character of the hostile leaders and parties.
Before Sir Robert Peel began to exercise the functions
of government, it was continually vaunted that he would
be a Minister certain of carrying all his measures. Tl.is
was put forth as a great recommendation, and the public
may already see how much the recommendation was
worth. He has proved himself strong enough to prolong
the bread tax and revive the Income-tax. And there 1. is
power comes to a stand. lie is reduced to become the ob-
ject of that forbearance which he was often said (and
not always, we readily allow, without reason) to exercise
towards his opponents. He breaks down with his first
attempt to do something for a population acknowledgcd
to be in a condition of extreme suffering. Not even the
reversion of a reduction of a halfpenny per pound in the
price of meat can he procure for the consumer, without
becoming a pensioner upon Whig and Radical charity
for his success.

If:the Opposition do not support Sir ROBERT PEEL,
he will be defeated by his own friends. He did not,
however, wantonly separate from them. He was
compelled by circumstances to interfere and relax
their grasp of the neck of our industry, and they are
angry at his interference. They have made him a
Minister ; they have said they will unmake him if he
does not do their bidding. That has been found
impossible ; and if they do not unmake him, it will be
because he is supported by the Whigs and Liberals.
Such a present condition of parties is the triumph of
principle. It is a proof that the strongest Govern-
ment, the greatest majorities, cannot succeed against
truth and justice.

The South Eastern Counties Railway will be opened
in the course of next week as far as Tunbridge. The
Company who have formed this line, and carried on
the works with such success, and, to their credit, with-
out ostentation, deserve every praise. The concern,
at first, was not the most promising. No encourage
ment was held out from France ; no promise was
made that the Government of LOUIS PHILIPPE would
meet them half way, and complete the best, and in fact
the shortest, transit, taking the sea voyage into ac-
count, between the two great capitals of Europe ;
but, nevertheless, they persevered, and owing to their
courage and good arrangements, the line by Dover
and Calais will be the great thoroughfare to
Paris. In a short time the line to Dover will
be completed, and, independent of the conve-
nience which it will affbrd to travellers to the
Continent, it will enable our own countrymen to tra-
verse the finest county in England, and reach one of
the best watering places on our coast, in less than
three hours from London. If the French had half
the energy and enterprise of Englishmen in works of
this kind, the passage between London and Paris
might be made in about thirteen hours.

The farmers of Buckinghamshire have recorded in
silver, the golden services of their " friend," the
Duke of BUCKINGHAM. They represent him as the
peculiar patron of ploughmen, shepherds, sowers,
reapers, mowers, and milkmaids. The arts and
sciences are left by his Grace to take care of them-
selves, or rather, he sacrifices them to the previously
enumerated objects of his legislative solicitude. No
merchant, artisan, or man of science, mars the rural
harmony of proportion observed in the design of the
CHANDOS testimonial. It would have appeared too
like a satire upon the public career of the Noble
Duke, to have intermingled with the agricultural
group of rubicund visages, the squalid, starved
looks of the pinch-bellied artisan, and his mi-
serable family, for whom sixteen hours of daily toil
suffices not to provide bread. And yet the proper or-
naments for a testimonial to the Duke of BLcKING•
HAM are supplied by the condition of the working,
charity-fed poor of Paisley, Kilmarnock, Manchester,
and London. Our Gracious SOVEREIGN, converting
all the churches of the land into begging boxes for the
relief of her starving subjects might, supply materials
for a proper trophy in honour of such class legislators,
such robbers of the industrious classes, to bolster up
landowners, as the Duke of BucxfliGnsaka.
The speech of the Noble Duke upon receiving the
" Chandos testimonial" savours rather of the second
bottle. It is too pious for a first bumper, espe-
cially for a Peer. The devotion of Lords,
rarely appears in after-dinner speeches without con-
siderable wine-warming ; and the Duke was prodigal
of his benedictions and blessings. He boasted of his
consistency as a class legislator for twenty-four
years, and took credit to himself for caring for no in-
terests but those of agriculturists. We certainly
never heard a contrary opinion of the Noble Duke,
and as his son the Marquis of CHANDOS promises to
walk carefully in his footsteps, we presume posterity
will be called upon to extend this record of Dear-
bread-BuciuNGßAm consistency.

Dr. PHILLIMORE has addressed a second letter to
Lord ASHBURTON, relative to the celebrated Creole
case, which is now exciting such popular interest in
thetTnited States. It is a masterly production, every way
worthy the Learned Advocate's high legal reputation.
Before stating Dr. PHILLINIORE'S opinion, it may not be
unnecessary briefly to recapitulate the facts of the case,
hich we fear are not very generally understood in
this country. 'We cannot do this better than in the
words of the pamphlet before us :—A brig belonging
to a subject of the United States, called the Creole,
sailed on the 27th of October 1841, with a cargo of
merchandise, and one hundred and thirty-five
slaves, from the Hampton Roads for New Orleans.
During the passage the slaves killed a slave-owner,
who resisted their attempts to free themselves,
wounded the captain, and compelled the rest of the
crew to take the vessel into the port of Nassau, in the
Island of New Providence, belonging to the British
Crown. On their arrival the American Consul charged
pea with piracy, and demanded that a guard
should take charge of them. This was done. An inves-
tigation into all the circumstances of the case was