The Press. — London, England, 1853-10-08 00:00:00

r 43 2 N w ROUTE Tt► Al 'ST It A I.IA. A ctivritst . r has just been signed its New York between the Teltuantepee Itailread Company and Messrs. James Sykes and Co., of England, ler the construc tion of a plankroad and railway atcress the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 'floe fernier begins ut Stiehl!, the head of navigation on the Cosizscoaletes River, and tk . rm i este ,, a t v,. e t e ,, a B a y, en th e p ae ige._ ii of ell miles, awl is to la egniipletell ill November of next sear. The railway is to begin atMlimiatihu, uuly 211 miles from the )))) ttle 411 the 4 'lllll./.ll4•lntletis, aunt terminate also at Ventesa !lay. It is to be completed within four years, and will be Intl miles in length. This enterprise is deeply interesting to British capitalists, and particularly le those who haves any relations with Australia. The iliseevery of geld has trims:funned the penal islands el t ;real Britain into home of the most valuable appendages of her empire. Adventurers of fortune arc now crowding the same whips aboard which, but a Aloft tittle ago , holm. sentenced criminals were drivels into exile. What was once a solitary priseen-house, of poachers, forgers. and villains ten the other side of the earth has suddenly become the Nieves of bankers and the paradise of the Isom. The nearer England rats bring her foreign osg e s hilms to her own shores the mere veinal& wil l they 'weenie. It hulks 1141 W Its though she would soon aban d on the old pathway round the Cape of titled lbw— for She 11W4 1111411441 111 .hurter one aeross the Isthmus of Suez, and anoth e r still shorter is now being cut leir her temards the writlelit. A word of expiated:um. Nteleely deities that we shall salon see steamer+ cross from the western coasts of the British islands tll Halifax in less than a week. The (brand Trunk Railway from that city to Detroit, on Lake Michigan-I,IINI miles—is under contietet with Jackstm, Pete, Brassey, and Betts, of Europe/in renown, and the 11,1111111 I,IN MIL capital under British management ensures the vigorous. proseeittion and early co:aphelion of this stupendous work. This rose' eon:seas the Hort II and south there, of the river St. Lawrence, at Montreal, by a tubular bridge up wards of two miles in length, which is under the superintendence of Mr. Reber,. Stephenson. Frene Detroit—the terminus of the (brand Trunk Railway through Canada—the great railroad line to the (bull of Mexictb will be slimily completed, much of it being alreiteiy made. It will, therefore, he but a short time before the English traveller will timid himself on the Pfeifle side of the Telatiantepee Isthmus, steaming towards Australia, in 12 days flout England, having traversed the Admit ie, the 11:liti , 11 .%111elieliti Kest hires, the heart 111 the American continent through the Mississippi Valley, the teitlf ter ;Revive, and the Tehuantepec I,4lll'lms, where he haiku 01l the 'Witte Ilrean. HIM hits passed the last 1111Nt11ele which separated him In en the eoltlen hemisphere whit+ his reentry mvtis on the tither side eel the glolee. This mounds like ti..tion, and seems like a 1 111piail dreamt ; but within the years it will have grown us familiar as the nursery tales of geed King Alfred, and net half so retneuttie. This line from the British islands to Australia is the shortest and 'mist direct route that eau he found fl sr aI. time tie 1141111 perhaps ever. It is opened leer Hi11..-tenths 411 the way Isv British capitstl, and will be controlltsl by British influence. It is deeply interesting. also, us Americans, bee/111W the channel will prove just as useful to them for all their interetittrse with California. It is 1 4a t ti. dently alleged by the most experienced English Mil A Mel lOW engineer , dint the transit fries. England by the inhuel railway route from Halifax to the Gulf Nlevieo, and thewe by steam tAI the 1A1111111 , 4. 111111 tleniss it by n 6111,441. can never lee evceetlisl or equalled by any tither retie. owing to the '4)111 . 01111a dull el seas end continents. T POST OFFICES IN Al' ST RA LI A. Tut: negligence and earelessness of tlie colonial postmasters and 'Hist 'alive clerks fttrin a promi nent feature of etimplaint in the .‘ustralian papers receit et! Ity many revolit maibi. The transmission of letter& front one 1.111%11 111111 coistity to another 6 slow 'to not 4 • 0111.. 111 banal at all; more frequently their transmission and delivery are tleltt t`4l I . ol* nunly .lad., 1111.1 teen weeks. I sllll'y alba 1111 . /41's . tll 111111 s, HMI 1114114g4 . 1's tol 14.11111111111 . /4 illl.lll . 1 . 1 . 1111 . 1%11 . 1111 . 11 . 114 . 1 ., 1111111 . 0 , N..11 1.1 111011 With miethilig akin to regttlarit, prollstib is . t • Hltst . it Wolliti, perhaps, not Is. sat''' to exasiterate those who have the means of cut; wenn; ceders.. But persons of little importaneo and influence bate to wait, and petition before their corrospondoity is tivitventa to them. It' they mite letters they are never certain as to the time those letters will Is' forwarded to their destination. At the diggings this state of things is much worst'. I Whig to the badness of O w r o ads th e mails come in and go out with prowking irregithuity . The great post titlL.es of the colonial capitals ant slow to acknowledge the existenett of new diggings tutu of In.sh communities of gold seekers. It takes 11111411 t i utr,a n d requ i re.many angry complaints in the local papers, before the otlleial tlignitariel at Syd ney or )leltiourne elm be in . duce4 to Arpoin; u Pozit- THE PRESS. master for a newly•peopled district, awl to find for that district a couple of messengers and bags. Thus much do the palwrs smty sit the post-settee mismanage ment within the cottony. As tor the transmission of correspondence is, England, and the delivery of letters front the neither country, the complaints are still more frequent and acrimonious. A curious protest on this point has been published and signed by tifty two gold diggers of Forest Creek, Castlemaine, corro borating the statements which the colonial papers con tain of the gross neglect that characterises the whole conduct of Australian administration, but which in no 0110 department makes itself so generally and pain fully fell as in those post-ottices, which appear to be established for the retention and suppression of correspondence : " Seldom, " say the protestors " does a letter from friends—from wife, sister, or brother—ever reach time unfortunate immigrant. We travel about seventy miles to Melbourne Issr a letter. We live at great ex pense while there. It costs us at least twelve shillings per slay. We spend hours, tor days together, under a bunting sun, before we can see an impertinent clerk, who, with perfect coolness, informs us there are no letters—ay, often without looking. If this answer does not dismiss the applicant, we frequently find a letter is at last given, and the postmark and slate prove that the letter has been lying at the office for weeks past." The system evidently sets a premium on bullying. A modest retiring man, who has perhaps travelled its miles, spent several pounds, and waited two or three slays bet Ore he gains admission, will turn away foot sore and sick at heart, mad, exasperated by his want of success, and taught by the example of others, he blusters and threatens until he becomes a nuisance and must be got rid of, tuts( then, perhaps, a letter is foimd. As for letters from home, min delivery is the rule—delivery the exception. The letters which are posted for transmission to England are of course beyond the control of the senders, and are dealt with accordingly. On this head, the appeal of the fifty•two gold-diggers of Forest Creek is as explicit as it is touching. They say : " Pray inform the friends of immigrants at. Victoria that they are often written to—that they are not for gotten—and, worse than all—tell theta that they are never heard of. We have much to over come: many trials are before us. We still love to hear from the land of our birth." A partial explanation of the growth of this iniqui tous system is furnished by certain letters and para• graphs which now and then figure in the Australian papers. The Colonial liovernment has, to a greater or less extent, lost. the power of controlling its servants. A Oovernment situation at the present time is not so desirable as it was before the discovery of the gold fields changed the social aspect of those colonies. salaries, though raised to meet the exigencies of the time, are no great prizes in a country where navvies are paid at the rate of from as. to Ills. per any : where the wages of journeymen bakers and saddlers attatunt to 3/. per week with rations; where gold-diggers now and then turn up small fortune in a month, and where enormous sums are made every year by cunning speculators and enterprising tradesmen. Industrious, clever, and energetic men, with eolonial experience, do not covet tiovernment situations, nor do they care to retain them. tiovernment clerks, who are called upon to pay as 11111111 relit for a small house in Victoria as would obtain for them a mans in England, either resign their posts, and turn their talents and energies to better account, or, if they have neither talents nor energy, remain where they are, and idle away their time at the expenst—in mono than one respect—of the public. Suds conduct cannot of eourse, enhance the respectability either of the serviee or of the ser vants, stud it is a lamentalole Lot not 811 astonishing fart. that the adistinistration of Victoria is scarcely ever mentioned by the colonists except in terms indicative of disgust and bordering upon contempt. llusstA AND Ti ItkEV.—Thei following answer has been received from the Foreign-office, in reply to th e memorial from the public meeting at Sheffield, pray ing the Government "to take prompt and decisive measures to cause the immediate evacuation of the Danubian principalities : to mako h ear all the e•pettses consequent upon her lawless proceed ings; and to prevent her again outraging ju s tice an d internati tttt al law" : . . " ForefiT l l- o Mee, mept.2tl, 1574: " sir,—l ant iiirected by the Earl of Clarendon . to *Aiwa the receipt of your letter of the loth memorial atTree.l upon at a meeting of the inhabitant , of tiltetlichl. praying that the British 1;0\ 4'lllllloll will take prompt I e tiara• ann... to eau... , the iinineiliate evacuation of the Danubian prim ellailitley. to make Iltholia bear the e Venn.% a the 11....111ellit•11 1110.4.. E..% ince., mail to prevent her Gina again 11;i% no: reeour.e to sim i lar pnweeilittim. I suit 1.• paste Its ion iu reply thst her hiej.-4)*utioverunteut. are tidly setteible of the shock given to the independence of Turkey by the late rreeeedittize of Hubei* In forcibly taking IMWAtIII4OII of t portion tit the 0110111511terribuieb; awl it% her NtuJesty's ILION-eminent .•otuinnr to he of opinion that Ili' himilit.'isalwe "(Lite isidepeudettee of Turkey is esmeniirl, not only for Itritiblt interrste, but for the genersliattereMe 01 . 1.:unope. the ioeniortaliats may *.al übbitroti that her Mnie*tY . * novena .till urglect its moistures which they may thick Debt esleu• fated W sovure so Luportaut au objset. • ILA. ADDlMuiva," SATURDAY, THE CHINESE REBELLION. Sou': interesting &tag respecting the revolt in t 'hina are presented in the following letter from a naval officer on the Ching station, under date of Shanghai, July 9 : " I take this olipoitunity of writing a few lieu about the important and interesting .elliellt here, 0411' boats having just returnell from chingliung-fixi, where the', hail been ill Steial•li cf some &metiers from the Sala Imostdr;*, enticed away by tile 1'1111U...1 4 ( (1111105 W I.loVellllol* . s ) pet Tie "They report that the insurgents, by the confession of the Imperialists, haul taken Fung-yang, the capital of a department, some time since, anal hail beateit a large fibree which we knew to be somewhere there under lieslien. The rebels further stated—and I have int doubt of it—that they hail taken also ill e capital of a ilepiutinent, rani close to the Yellow Itivcr. From the few vessels at the mouth of the Grand ('anal, as compared with what there were there when we passed, and bum the few troopa at t'hiug•kiaug4uo (from $,140 to 400), as compared with what then were there 150,4100 or 00,0001, they t have a large force in the north. Many have been inclined to say that they were. hosing all the uiural etteet of their capture of Nankin, and that the) showed themselves unequal to an emergency : but it appears to 1111 . that their plaits have lieu and are admirable. They brought away a quantity of children, and, 1 suppose, women. from Iluamg•si, whom it would have embanussed thew exceedingly to have Nulled on at present ; so they notified snail provisioned Nankin fur their reception : suit then, or rather at the same time, commenced fortif,ing Chingdinuig-foo, as the key to the firma Canal, leaving force enough in them tin• defenve, and, by occasional sallies, to keep the Imperialists under the impression that their forces were greater. and so thaw oft attention from what. was their real object all along—viz., the capture of Pekin. I had no I doubt that their intention. when we were up in the Hermes, was to proceed thither with all convenient haste, but they vistaed our question by saying, We are waiting orders from the Tae-ping-wang or, ' Waiting fur a revelation as to where we shall go.' " While the insurgents were fortifying these places they were building sir altering boats—l presume to entry their connu i, sin i a t, ria , us th e y have sopped the supplies going north. they world resolve to take suplies with them. Building or altering vessels ow; necessary, because this is rather a low tiute of the year for the canal. " Yon will observe that the places taken rather indicato that they are not travelling by the canal. 'ibis way be partly because it is low, and partly to heat the forces up posed to them in detail, or to prevent a junction between the Manehoo army under lisesben and the Chinese army. under Ileang near Nankin, ho, though they should inset. upon Pekin, it would be fatal for them to lose Nankin. There is a large Tartar furor in Whagnan. near the month of the Yellow River, and they way wish to avoid this for the psvitclit. " They still keep up their strictness. I have it from a very intelligent Chinese Scripture•reader. who has been in i:itgland and speaks English very well, that lie was told by a soldier. near Nankin, where be bad been, that 1.4M10 soldiers offered to join the insurgent ranks, but would not lie accepted ituless they embraced Clnistianity, which they refused to do. " The whole country seems hostile to the Manchoos, and will tutu instantly the insurgents arrive at Pekin and issue their mandates. They have excellent infin-mation from all parts. Thos, there was ft large stun of money coming up &son Canton ter the Imperialists; they sent a party of 1,0109 fixim Nankin, who made a sweep round to the south, cut off the party escorting the treasure, and returned to Nankin in s.ifety, passing through the Imperialist army each time. "'They reeeived our orlieers and the eonsular interpreter most graciously. but expressed a wish that European?. :11011141 not visit tla of 11111e101 they initialed staying, as tin* luriw•rialists would take their heads. and say the insurgents had done it. They were etidently lulwilling that we should know flair nnweno•nts, lust t h ey should transpire, and the Itupw•rialists become swan• of them ; but 1 think the latter am getting app►ehensive, and nee drawing their forces by &awes away front thing-ki►mg-fro. They admitted to our of ievne that they had no expectation of retaking any of the places, and are, indeed. getting quite reek!ess as to eonae pollees, see g more concerned to kntr.v where Hutton was to be hail than anything else. The first question th••y naked was.' Have you ant• opium to sell and, on our people visiting their junks, they found nearly all were bpittnointokers, certainly all the mandarins. 'flies,. fellow" ut•trr go into action, and twilit quite eoutelt if the lire both skit's, regardless of whether they hit anything, or whether there be anything to hit. They have urine fl Wrist', and, because not mite!' or sunk. they report a triumph. " The insurgents are daily I wet oiling more popular. tiec• lug that they do violetwe to so many of the feelings of the Chinese, th.• wonder is how they should be so popular as they are. It can only be that the %maws awe intensely . unpopular. 'Mere has been a demand for Christian lbooks, mole especially from Shang -tong, for the last month or more. and it continues unabated. Others. .enitt. ask,for hooks of the a • religion as that of the insurgents, and some have even asked for instructors to he sent among them. " The insurgents are wonderfully satisfied as to their ultimate and surly success—they talk of two or three months. The general at Ching-kiang-foo said, I 31111 getting an old man now, but I could b at any twelve of these fellows 4)111)0.1 11 to iir4 and, %peaking of arms—' The mug kets often miss tII bee aitae our powder is bad : and. as for those with clips. why. we flout understand them, and if we did we could not make the caps; now, the spear notr tire, and the Imperialists are afraid of it.' " The greater number of the junk% that were feat from the Fel•bo for grain are gulag back entity, uetu•ly all 114 e