The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-01-20


psnt therein, adjourned
In the House, after the reception Of some reports
rom committees, the day was devoted, without
final action, to the consideration ofthe report Of the
Conmiiiee Of Elections, in the ease Of the Florida
contested election.
EHE POSITION OF THE NEW MINISTRY.
The more we reflect upon the recent change Of the
administration in England the less assurance do We
rel that the new ministry will succeed at first in
lying through fully the great measures Of CONNER
al freedom to which they are pledged. Sir r. Peel
Vas voluntarily abandoned the helm Of government,
9Th ,oOrkimg majority Of one haadyed In the House
n Common, al hb back. Taken in eonnexion with
he well known character OF that state ,msn, such
act !. very significant We do not consider j, suf-
GENTLY explained by the obstinate stand for the
om.laws made Ia the cabinet by the Duke Of Wei
ins,on. Perhaps something more may be behind.
glance al the policy Of the four or five years last
past, may seem to throw some little light on the
esignation Of the conservative cabinet.
Soon afler his accession TO power, in 1912, Sir
Robert Peel, in time Of profound peace, when the
rops were good and commerce aourshing, and the
Ugh tariff Of England yet unchanged, finding de-
eit of several millions in the budget, brought in a
bill for an ineome-tax, government measure, on
which his cabinet was pledged to stand or fall. 1t
was one Of the bodest steps taken by British
minister. II was met at once by a simultaneous
hout, through all the ranks Of the opposition, that
N ihcome-tax was, by inineu.oria British policy
reserved war flnd--that TO apply that fund in time
bfpeace was to cripple the resources of the kingdom
in case Of any hostile emergency. "The last in
ome-tax," (the opposition told Sir Robert,) "was
brought in some hve-and-thirty years ago by that
,reat finance minister, In whose gigantic footsteps
you aspire in vain to tread. And what a fearful
pressure was needed to conslrain William PITT the
tdoption Of such measure The speech by which
b introduced ri, ncome-tax bill, was far less ingen-
Gus and eloquent than that which you have seen
BIZ 10 deliver to us tonight Pitt made, upon that
occasion, only very plain and unvarnished slate
|nent He came before the Commons House of Par
lament and said: Napoleon is concentrating an in
tading army of three hundred thousand men at
IBouogne-rebcllion is raging in lrcland-there is
mu my in the feet at the Norc-and British funds
d 52--hsret5rs, call upon you no,o to lay an in
eome-tax. These facts we're Pitts eloquence; and he
carried his point. You, on the contrary--wth high
Earf-w,h slidingiscale made to suit your own
fiscal policy-wi,h an increased revenue from the
post ofice--with the Jamaica slave deb, paid Off
with victory in India and the China war settled
with agitation checked in Ireland by the state tri
ls-you, in time Of commercial prosperity, of pro-
POUND peace and quiet, ask for ncome-tax TO nice:
he usual current erpsn,es of government. You may
x..~n ,l,.
btatement Of your scheme" .-, .... .. Al
There was great force in all this. But Sir Robert
got his tax notwithstanding; and when the law ex-
Pired by its own limitation, he got rene,oed The
forn-aw interest stood by him, almost to man, and
To.ed the measure straight through. Three or four
arsesss Of almost unexampled yield succeeded, and
hc government got on. Now the tables turn; a
fery bad harvest threatens large masses Of men
with starvation down come the wages of labor; up
goes the Of interest at the great bank counter in
rhreadnccde street; the mills in Leeds and Man
chester begin to run half.tmc and quarter-me; and
while gaunt, grim labor is thus turned out to his
heagre and gloomy holyday, the minister, after
holding ten or twelve cabinet councils in hot haste,
gathers his whole cabinet together, posts off to o.
borne House, and ArQ,os up the gopernment-planted
JAS he still is ON an immense majority in the popular
House.
See now in this state of things what the new
ministry are likely to encounter. The lords are in
Opposition. or that fact, there be little doubt.
yThe whole corn-aw intcrcst-thc interest which, at
ast since 1915, has controlled the country--is in
opposition. OF that, too, there can be no doubt
The income.tax hssnow become necessary to the gov
-. I,,,
carried, and seems necessary to sustain, that tax,
The House Of Commons, as AT present constituted,
largely tory. Scarcity, if not starvation is upon
hhe land, and the tory ministry goes to pieces.
More than his-the tory chief, whose prime distinc-
zion is that he alone persuade the tories to
berol measures, Gas he has done hcrctofore,) than
they would adopt under the lead Of any other MAN,
Ifnds that, even with Lord John Russell and the
League to help him, he cannot see the way clear
through the serried phalanx Of toryism to measures
liberal enough 70 save the country, and so he gives
up his place. Truly the wings have taken upon
themselves no holyday business just now The in
kairy presses us, what policy in the cabinet can
Govern England in this crisis, with good hope Of
t,ermanence and success
OF course any doubts we may feel Of the success
|of the new wing cabinet in any liberal commercial
measures il may propose, are unwilling doubts
We wish that the grave matters now pending be-
tween the two countries, may be helped on to a
ysetlcment, by the urgency Of yet larger and
Inare intimate commercial relations. Bat is
fhere not grave cause to doubt, whe thcr,
the present state of England modification of tho
British tariff, and specially Of the cornaws, look
|ing 10 such result, viii Immediately take place
under the auspices Of the new ministry Will they
ventures in the present state Of the budget to repeal
the income-tax' How can they make up the grea,
deficit this would OCCASION But can they repeal
The corn-laws, and yet keep the income-tax' We
doubtil Yet such repeal, depriving the govern
lmsnt Oft corn revenue, would only make the in
come-tax more necessary. The incomo-ax was
voted the price of continued protection to the
British land-holder. VIII the new cabinet do
what Sir Robert Peel has failed To do, persuade