The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-06 00:00:00

shall be assimilated to that pursued in the boroughs,
where the overseers must make. out a list of every
person qualified. The difficulty attending such an
alteration is, that whereas in horoughs the qualifi-
cation depends simply upon rating, which is within

the knowledge of the overseers, the qualification

for county voters depends mainly upon ownership,
which can only be known by the parties claiming

to vote, so that th

utility, is worth little or nothing:
All the labour which has yet been bestowed on
the question has not elicited any sign of improve.
ment, nor can it be shown that any popular demand
has been made for any change whatever. Organic
changes in the Constitution are to be condemned as
an evil, even when some necessity for them appears
to exist, but in this case nothing of the kind has
been shown. No petitions for such an object have
been presented to Parliament, no public meetings
far its advocacy have been held, and if the question
has been discussed in the public press, it has been
for the simple reason that Ministers have held out
a promise which they know not how to realize, and
very few people seem to care whether they do so
or not.

IF the question were asked of the most att
reader of the daily reports from the seat of war be-
tween Russia and Turkey, of the present state of
affairs between those belligerent powers, he would
find it 'difficult, if not impossible, to frame a satisfac-
tory answer. The tenor of many of these de-
spatches may be thus stated :—" A telegraphic de-
spatch has just been received from Vienna, with in-
telligence from the seat of war, contradicting the
report which was received yesterday." At one
time we are told that a Russian steamer was at-
tacked b 3 a Turkish ship of war in the Black Sea,
and captured after a smart encounter ; and a day
or two after we are gravely informed that the ad-
venture did take place, but that it was a Turkish
steamer which was captured by the Russians.
Again, the news arrives of a great victory gained by
the Turkish troops under OMAR PASHA over the

entive

Russian army ; shortly afterwards it transpires
that the Turks were fighting with sharpshooters
behind entrenchments ; and in a few days more we

have the intelligence that the victorious Turks have
evacuated all the province of Wallachia, with the
exception of Kalafat, and that the defeated Rus-
sians are in full possession of the field. This has
barely made an impression on English credulity,
when we hear once more of the advance of the
Turks, and fierce contests for the possession of an
island in the middle of the Danube, ending in the
Russians retaining it. The intelligence as to ar-

rangements for future operations are in no way
more satisfactory. One day the EMPEROR of Rus-
slA is anxious for peace, and willing to listen to any
reasonable proposals, and the next he is sending to
the northern extremity of his empire for immense
reinforcements, determined to overwhelm his
infidel opponents, and make himself master of
Europe. Perhaps the safest course, amidst such a
Babel of contradictory intelligence, would be to
believe in none of it, but attribute all the despatches
marked " important" to some ingenious writer of
fiction at the other end of the telegraphic wires,
who is amusing himself by supplying the English
people with " news" at this dull season of the year,
when there is nothing moving but stagnation. We
may, however, give so much credence to the reports
as to believe that several skirmishes have taken
place between the advanced posts of the Russian
and Turkish troops, with various success, the Turks
having found themselves unable to expel the Rus-
sians from Wallachia, and yet strong enough to
prevent the enemy crossing the Danube to the
Turkish side ; a movement, however, which the
latter do not seem to have yet attempted. In the
mean time, trade is carried on as usual under
neutral flags, and the principals in the affair may,
perhaps, be quietly negotiating the terms of settle-
ment, without reference to a question of such minor
importance as the loss of a few soldiers. The
EMPEROR OF RUSSIA is not very careful of the
lives of his troops where he has an object of political
ambition to gain; and it is well known that the
SULTAN OF TURKEY was prevented from conceding
the note agreed to by the Conference at Vienna, on
account of the warlike enthusiasm of his Mahometan
soldiers, who left him no alternative but a declara-
tion of war or abdication. He has gratified them
so far without any sacrifice of political power, and
when their rage has been sufficiently cooled by the
blood-letting of Russian bayonets, and an immense
amount of indignation has been wasted on the
apathy of England, in not rushing at once into the
fray, and involving all Europe in the horrors of
war, we may hear that the good offices of the
EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA have been accepted, that
the SULTAN OF TURKEY has agreed to such a note
as will satisfy his sense of national honour, and
that, thereupon, the EMPEROR OF RUSSIA has con-
sented to withdraw his troops from the Danubian
provinces.

LABOUR VERSUS CAPITAL