The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-02 00:00:00

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TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 2, 1854.

THE WAR.

ALMOST every day we have telegraphic de-
spatches from the seat of war in the East, and yet
it is difficult to point to any prominent fact which
may be said to have an important influence on
future operations. The allied fleets in the Baltic
Sea were, by the last accounts, on their way to
Odessa to commence active hostilities against this
once busy seaport ; but its destruction would do
but little real injury to Russia, inasmuch as its
trade was chiefly in the hands of Greeks, Turks,
and our own countrymen. The contingents of
English and French troops were on their way to
the scene of contest, but some time must yet
elapse before they can take any 'active part in the
strife. In the meantime, the EMPEROR of RUSSIA
has been augmenting his forces and maintaining
his position on both sides of the Danube, the
Turkish forces, under OMAR PACHA, not being
sufficiently powerful to prevent any effectual re-
sistance until they have been reinforced by their
allies. It is firmly believed, however, that the
CZAR is sadly deficient in pecuniary resources, and,
in the existing state of Europe, he has no means
of recruiting his exhausted Exchequer. He ap-
pears to have relied on the pOssibility of gaining
his object by a decisive blow in the East, which
the valour of the Turkish troops has hitherto
enabled them to baffle, and also by the arts of
diplomacy operating on the selfish policy of the
German Courts. In this attempt also he has been
unsuccessful, though the vacillating policy pur-
sued by the KING OF PRussiA tended materially
to increase the difficulties of the Allied Powers in
deciding upon a course of action. Both Austria
and Prussia have a mutual jealousy of each other,
and both hesitated to break with Russia, by de-
claring their adhesion to the policy of the Western
Powers, through fear that the other might seize
the opportunity to enter into closer alliance with
Russia. In this strife of mutual distrust, the
KING OF PRUSSIA has occupied by far the worse
position ; but now that a treaty between the two,
offensive and .defensive, has been agreed to, it is to
be hoped that, if we receive but little assistance
from them as allies, we have little to dread from
them as enemies.

In the Baltic Sea, the English fleet, under Sir
CHARLES NAPIER, to be reinforced shortly by the
French fleet, now on its way thither, is establish-
ing a rigorous blockade of all the ports and gulfs
and many Russian merchant vessels have been
captured. These are not protected by the orders
in Council, which apply to Russian ships on their
way to or from British ports, or to Russian goods
on board British or neutral vessels, so that the
trade of this country shOuld be as little interfered
with as possible. No opportunity has yet been
afforded for a trial of strength with the Russian
fleet, but from the immense naval force which is
now afloat in the Baltic, their superiority in steam
power, and the spirit which animates the crews,
but little doubt is felt as to the issue of the con-
test. An attack upon Croistadt would, of course,
Involve far more hazard, but the importance of
such a conquest, in expo Sing the capital of Russia
'to hostile attacks, will be an inducement to attempt
it, should such a course be considered practicable,
Great caution will, however, be requisite in advanc-
ing northward in the Baltic Sea, as it is of more
consequence to prevent the Russian fleet from
escaping. through the passages of the Sound and
the Great_ and Little Belts, which constitute the
only-means of egress. Notwithstanding the extent
of preparations to carry on the war with vigour, it
still presents many difficulties; and, in addition to
the effective resistance in the Black Sea and the
Danubian provinces, much will depend on the
effective blockade maintained in the Baltic Sea—
an operation requiring not only a -powerful naval
force, but great skill and prudence on the part of
the officer in command. With reference to the
possible results of the- war, should the EMPEROR
. OF RUSSIA persevere in his insane opposition to the
united voice of Europe, we give the following from
the Economist:—
"Every information we can collect, both from parties
who know the country, and parties who are in constant
communication with Russian celebrities, lead us to con-
clude, with positive conviction, that the Emperor has re-
solved on the safe *course of purely defensive operations ;
that he is preparing for a long, obstinate, unyielding
struggle ; and that lie intends to take refuge in his in-
accessibility, and to defy the Western Powers to compel
him to make peace. His adherents say, ' You may burn
our ships, you may destroy our harbours; you may even,
at the vast cost of life, take Sebastopol and Cronstadt ; you
may drive us back across the Danube, and even across the
Pruth, though in order to effect all this you must put forth
your strength in a very different manner from anything
which you have yet done ; bat when you have done all this
you cannot force us to negotiate. We shall retire within
our frontiers, where you dare not follow us ; we shall thus
compel you to keep up your armies and navies, at a vast
expense, along our shores and boundaries ; for the moment
you retire we shall again advance, and we shall thus weary
you out by an interminable war at a distance from your
homes, and amid inhospitable seas and pestilential
marshes. We shall thus have two immense advantages
over you ; we shall be at home, you will be abroad ; you
will be playing your game of chess with knights, and we
with pawns, for in economic value one Englishman or
Frenchman is equal to ten Russians ; we can replace our
men, you cannot replace yours ; and a state of war which
will be costly, harrassing, and annoying in the last degree to
you, will scarcely derange, in any perceptible degree, the
ordinary habits and comforts of our semi-barbarous popu-
;patinodns;
the the
iv poeoewplaellieasri,llooae
popu-
lation. In the meantime the English will grow tired of
the war; their merchants will become discontented with
grumbletomedat
cus
acodmdimtioenrcalialtaxinatteiorT
to act together, will disagree among themselves; coldness
and quarrels will ensue, and the game will be ultimately
won by Russia.' This is the policy we have to fear on the
part of Russia. It is subtle and well-judged, and we have
only one way of meeting it. We must not only beat her
promptly and effectually, but we must weaken her so de-
cidedly that she will no longer be formidable; that, when
once defeated and driven back into her deserts, it will no
longer be necessary for us to keep up an army on her
frontier in order to prevent her re-issuing to recover what
she has lost. We must strengthen her conterminous
neighbours, as well as weaken her, so that they may
henceforth be enabled to hold her in check without the aid
(by land) of the distant Western Powers. Georgia must
be rescued and replaced, and Circassia maintained as an
independent barrier, to keep Russia for ever on this side
of the Caucasus. The Crimea must be taken also, and
Sebastopol stormed at any- cost, and the navy sheltered
there captured or destroyed. Bessarabia longs for the day
of her emancipation, and would probably rise on the first
thorough disaster that happened to the Russian arms, if
assured of the faithful and permanent support of the allies.
The Danubian Principalities must be freed from the curse
of Russian occupation and of Russian protectorate for
ever. Finland must be restored to Sweden ; and the
Isles of tjand Pnist be held Other by Sweden or by
ra4glancl.'

lIMERCIAL ADVERTISER.

THE PARLIAMENT.

BOTH Houses of Parliament have again com-
menced their sittings after the Easter recess, but
with what advantage to the public welfare it would
be difficult to say. A certain number of hours are
occupied in harangues and counter harangues from
those who deem themselves parliamentary orators,
and a show is made of doing business ; but when
the whole comes to be summed up, the result
is miserably small. A specimen of this modern
system of legislation was afforded on Thursday,
and it may serve as a sample of most other days ;
so that the public may shortly ask themselves the
question, Of what use is Parliament, except to in-
dulge in talking for so many hours P In the
House of Lords the ministers were questioned as
to the truth of the statements made by the cor-
respondent of a London newspaper. As these
statements were by no means creditable to minis-
terial management, they of course denied their
accuracy with most voluminous precision, all of
which amounted to, that the statements could not
be true because they ought not to be true ; and,
after some further observations, all utterly value-
less because hypothetical, their lordships adjourned.
It is rather a new feature in parliamentary busi-
ness to discuss the accuracy of statements made by
newspaper correspondents, and, if diligently fol-
lowed up, must prove a fertile source for future
debates. In the House of Commons, sundry ques-
tions were put as to the state of the war, but the
answers were very prudently postponed from a
laudable anxiety to be strictly accurate, though
some persons may be inclined to attribute it to
a consciousness of ignorance, a failing not at all
unlikely in any one of the present cabinet. The
chief business, however, was the order of the day
for going into committee on the Oxford University
Reform Bill, which was met by an amendment,
that it should be referred to a Select Committee.
So palpable a design to shelve the measure till a
more convenient season was resisted by the minis-
ter, and ultimately he was successful by a large
majority. A new opposition was then attempted
by an amendment to postpone the committee for a
few days, in order that amendments to some of the
details of the bill might be prepared. This was
also successfully resisted ; and at last, when the
house had resolved to go into committee, the
minister discovered that he, in common with the
opponents of the bill, had been talking against
time, so that he was compelled to grant the delay
owing to the want of time, which he had wasted
in arguing that he would not grant it. Thus the
sitting was occupied ; the public business at the
close being in about the same state that it was at
the commencement.