The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-02-14 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

• -ENGLAND AT WAR.
(Prom the Morning Herald.)
Amidst the rejoicings which are well adapted to the
present season, it is to be hoped that .the leaders of
our various political parties will not conspire to over-
look altogether the alarming circumstances in which
the country is placed. Trade languishes. The agri-
cultural classes are marked out for plunder. The la-
bourers are filled with discontent. They brood over
schemes for the distribution of property on new prin-
ciples—schemes which never before were familiar to
the minds of masses of people. Ireland is " volcanic."
The colonies are insecure, and, to some extent, disaf-
fected. Our influence with foreign states is at the
lowest possible ebb. Symptoms of approaching war
may be discovered on all sides; and England is abso-

lutely unprepared fo defend her own coasts from inva-
sion.
Lord Minto admitted, in the recent debate on the
state of the navy, that we are unable to cope with
either Russia or France at sea ; and Lord Melbourne
declared, that we could not expect to be able to guard
our commercial interests, or our honour, at all points !
His lordship's assumption on this point furnishes the
reason, we suppose, why the administration, of which
he is the head, makes no effort to guard the interests
or the honour of England at any point !
The argument of Lord Melbourne is the most pre-
posterous imaginable. The immense extent of the
empire of England—the incalculable amount of her
commerce—form no better reason why that commerce
and those colonies should, in any way, be exposed to
danger, than the immense size of London, and its
great wealth, constitute a reason why London should,
in some of its districts, be left without the protection
of policemen ! The very size of London, and the
wealth which it contains, constitute, on the contrary,
the strongest possible reason for creating and main-
taining, in the fullest efficiency, a police force adequate
to the protection, at every point, of life and property.
The same principle which justifies, and renders neces-
sary the establishment of a large police force for Lon-
don, justifies and renders necessary the maintenance of
an English fleet, larger than that employed by any
power in the world besides. 'f he colonies of England
are the largest and most valuable in the world. The
commerce of England is by far the most extensive.
For the protection of that commerce, and of those co-
lonies, the soundest economy dictates the employment
of a -naval force sufficiently powerful to suppress all
attempts on the part of foreign states at injury or in-
sult. -With an enfeebled navy, one year of war would
cost us more than an effectual naval establishment
would cost us in a century. The nation, besides, that
is not secure at every point, is (despite Lord Mel-
bourne's dictum) secure at no point !
The chances of a war with France seem to multiply
daily. It has long been obvious that France eagerly
dssires, once more, to make trial of England's strength
at sea ; and to avenge, if possible, the unforgotten and
unforgiven defeats of the Nile and of Trafalgar. With
this view the English flag has been ostentatiously in-
sulted at Mexico, at the Mauritius, and elsewhere.
France, hawever has
.not confined herself in this
matter to idle boasting or to the perpetration of un-
meaning insults. She has diligently improved, and
fortified her harbours. She has increased the number
of her sailors to an incalculable amount. She has ac-
complished her naval officers by unceasing practice in
manoeuvring, and in the higher tactics of their profes-
sion. She has created an enormous fleet—a fleet effici-
ent in all respects, and furnished with all the appliances
necessary to work out great 'results..
England, on the other hand, has, under the influence
of Joseph Hume's principles,. been busied for fifteen
years past, in dismantling her fleet—in.depriving naval
officers of all the little privilegei that imparted a liberal
air to their noble, profesSion—in paring down their
allowanees--and in lessening their chances of honour-,
able preferMent. The result is before us. England
can only boast of four guard-ships to protect the whole
range of her coasts—while her colonies are exposed, to.
invasion and to outrage. • France, on the contrary, has
in her ports, at this moment, and available' for service.
at a moment's' notice, upwards of twenty sail of the
line, together with forty-eight
,war.
,steamers, carrying,
most of them, guns of an enormous size. Of war-
steamers, we have scarcely any ; and none of them are
equal in weight of metal to the first class war-steamers
of France.
Sir Robert Peel, in the course of his speech during
the no-confidence debate, declared that he had never
seen so hostile a feeling exhibited by France towards
this country, as at the present moment. The fact ad-
verted to by Sir Robert Peel is indisputable. Various
causes are assigned for it. -
A large section of the French people is inclined to
believe that the days of England's glory are drawing
to a. close, and that the proceis of' her dismemberinent
cannot be much longer delayed. The French
_pant,
moreover, we repeat, to wipe off, at the cost of. Eng-.
land, the disgraces that befel their country towards the
close of the revolutionary war. Louis Philip, too, it
is said, has his own reasons for no longer opposing the'
prevailing sentiment on this subject., His health is
alleged to be exceedingly delicate; -nay, some persons
venture to calculate that no care may suffice t-0 prolong
the life of the King of the Fren‘ch for twelve months
longer. Louis Philip knows, that with his life must
' terminate his dynasty, unless. means can be devised to
attach the army to it. With the army, however,
nothing would be so popular as the attempt to extend
the boundaries of France to the Rhine; and such an
attempt on the part of France must be the precursor of
a general European war. For such -a war, France has
been preparing, without intermission, for many years
past ; while England has been generously busied in
breaking down all her national defences, and in crush-
ing all the best energies- of her productive industry.
In the event of a war with France, it is startling to
reflect, that England possesses no naval force sufficient
to prevent a hostile fleet sailing up the Channel, and
setting fire to London. Such is the prospect
.before
us in the event of a war which seems impending !
Such, the condition•to which faction has reduced this
glorious empire! Such the tendencies of " liberal"
policy, with its nostrums, a contracted currency, free-
trade, and the new poor law !

AN UNFAVOURABLE SYMPTOM IN THE,
PENNY POSTAGE.
(From the Morning Herald.)
Among the other proceedings in the House of Com-
mons on Friday night, there was one in which agood
deal more was contemplated than was intended to meet
the ear. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was asked by
Mr. Goulburn if the votes, bills, &c., printed by Par-
liament, were to be sent to members through the Post-
office, free. •He answered that such an explanation
hdd been made by the printing committee ; but that,
having a horror of everything that bore the most dis-
tant resemblance to franking, he could not approve of
its adoption. Had he stopped here, the declaration
would have sounded very well; but he followed it up
by adding, that, although he could not agree to mem-
bers receiving their papers through the Post-officefree,
he had no desire that they should pay postage upon
them. What he suggested was that the Post-office
should charge the full rate upon all parliamentary pa-
pers transmitted through it; but, instead of making
the charge against the members personally, it should
make it against the house, and the house should pro-
vide for the payment of the whole. What earthly
difference this can make either to the members or the
country it would puzzle a more ingenious calculator
than the Chancellor of the Exchequer to show ; and
even as regards the appearance of the thing on the
score of franking, two peas cannot be more alike than
his plan and the original one of the printing commit-
tee. In both cases the members get their parliament-
ary papers by post for nothing—both the object and
the end are just the same; there being, in fact, no dif-
ference in either, except the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer irftroducing into his plan the clumsy juggle of the
executive paying a sum of money to the Post-office,
and taking it from the Post-office again. When peo-
ple take roundabout ways like these to do or say a
simple thing, depend upon it they have some tortuous
purpose in view; and what is it in this instance ? Why,
palpably to contrive that the House of Commons should
pay a sum of money—and those who know how volu-
minous and weighty the papers printed by Parliament
are, must be aware that it will be no trifie,,in order to
swell the Post-office receipts, and bolster up the new
system. This is an unproved mode of " book-keeping
by double entry," which does not augur very favoura-
bly of the manner in which . the system is working.
Such attempts at mystification would not be made if
the accounts wore a promising appearance.