The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-29 00:00:00

. .
inquiry yesterday, before Mr. Raffles, respecting
the origin of the fire that lately occurred in the
American ship Endymion, in the Mersey, which
involves one or two points of importance to the
shipping interest. Exception had been taken to the
jurisdiction of the Board of Trade, on account of its
being an American ship, although burnt in British
waters but the opinion of the la* officers of the
Crown having been taken upon it, it was
ascertained that the Board of Trade had a
perfect right to institute such an inquiry. It
would seem, however, that the evidence intended
o havO been brought forward to prove that the
the had beeri calked by eatejessnes§ was defective,
and, coisethientiv, the 114111 preOe,Oed.
*ith. A copy
.' the opinion of the officerS
of the .Crown, W,aS,a;skea for. and obtained by the
American consul; to .he forwarded to his dovern-
ment, in order that the question at issue might
be discussed between the Governments of the two
countries. It appears that the section of the
new Merchant Shipping Act, relating to articles
of a dangerous nature as cargo, by which explo-
sions might be produced, does not apply to
foreign ships, and it is contended, therefore, that
on this account, the Board of Trade cannot claim
jurisdiction over such ships. The question will
now no doubt be adjusted by negotiation.

LOOKERS on; it is said; hate genetally a better

idea of tile gath.e that i 9 being played ttiar those
who are engaged in it ; and it would semi twit

our American cousins are looking on at the game
that the FRENCH EMPEROR is playing with the
British Cabinet just now, with the keenest
interest, and are already calculating advantages

from its results far beyond anything, in' all pro-

bability, that will be realised by it for ourselves.

They do not hesitate to declnre their conviction,

that *lieri din- Treaty with France comes into

Operation they 11 shall experience fir niofe benefit
troiii the eliange id the thin will Englarid.';
And for these reagoris The taste a the Trench;"
it is argued, " in the production of textile fabrics

must open to her manufactures here a large
market, which will be still further increased by

the liking of our citizens for French calicoes and
silks, French wines, and French articles of luxury.
We ought soon to exchange," it is continued, "with
the. thirty-six millions of Frenchmen as much

as we do with the thirty millions of British sub-
jects, and we doubt not that when the new Com-
mercial Treaty shall have been completed., our

commerce with France will exhibit an increase

7ar beyond anything that has been witnessed with

any other country."
What a stimulus, then, will :not the French
manufacturers thus have, to rival England in some
of her staple manufactures P And what are we
going to do by this Treaty, but put them in pos-
session of our coal and our machinery—the very

things they now want to enable them to rival us,
and to beat m in the production of those same
textile fabrics, for which the United States of
America have- so boundless a, market?'

This is a practical view of the question ; and if it
be in anywise a correct one, it is evident that

our national interests have not been studied in
the measures now before the House of Commons
for carrying out the Treaty with France. We
are not objecting to such a Treaty of itself.

There can be no question that it is most
important to endeavour to extend our com-
mercial intercourse with so near a neighbour,
and so productive g country, as France. What
we contend for, hoWever, is., that in doing this,
there are most momentous political considerations
which ought not to be lost sight of,--that there
are very great national interests which ought not
to be injured, let alone sacrificed. In such poli-
tical considerations is involved the important
question of our national security. In dealing with
LOUIS NAPOLEON, we have to do with one who,

there can be no doubt, has ulterior objects in view,
and objects the attainment of which may turn out
to be most perilous to the welfare of our own
country,—which objects, therefore, it can never.
be prudent on our part, however indirectly, to
promote. Nor can it be wise, for the sake of any
temporary commercial advantage, to put it in the.
power of France to undermine our own manufac-
turing interests by needlessly imparting to them
the facilities which we possess ourselves.
The whole case is very forcibly put in the
article in Blackwood, to which we made allusion
Yesterday, entitled "The Foreign Connection of
the House of Bull." .Having reviewed the poli-
tical career of His Imperial Majesty, and the
circumstances of the country under it, the writer
proceeds to observe,—" It is only by a considera-
tion of such facts as these that we can obtain an
insight into the motives which actuate the French
Emperor in his foreign policy. He is perpetually
engaged in playing off the complications which
arise abroad, against the troubles which meet him
from within. When, therefore we ridicule the
chances of a rupture with this country, we must
satisfy ourselves that no domestic difficulty could
possibly arise which would force him into choosing
the alternative of hostilities with England, as a less
evil than those with which he has to contend at
home, and as,.possibly, the only escape from a fatal
dilemma. lIIoW it can ever be to our advantage
to assist and support him in the prosecution
either of his home or foreign policy, it is difficult
to discover," This, then, is the point which we
would now more particularly remark upon. By
our Treati with him, we are undoubtedly assist-
ing and supporting him in that policy,—a
course which it can never be to our advantage to
pursue. The effect of the House. of. Commons
having been induced to do so is thus clearly and
forcibly 'explained in the remainder of the
able article from which we have just quoted :
" In' the'ptirsuit of abstract economical theories,
and the application of those' enlightened com-
mercial principles which characterise a class of
politicians, we run the risk of overlooking the
practical view of the question; and allow our
political judgment to be warped by' our Mercan-
tile sympathies.. Thus by means of the Treaty
recently concluded with Fraii3e, we have suc-
ceeded in alienating froM us the only class in the
empire who have ever really been our friends, not
from any love to" England, but because it was
their interest to maintain peaCeful relations with
this country. All- those manufacturing and pro-
ducing bodies, whose petitions against the Treaty
have been pouring! in Ao the Government since
the announcement of the alteration of the Tariff,
are becOne bitter enemies to their rivals here, and
adong time must elaP•se before ,the masses benefit
sufficiently to give a prepoiicterating• weight of
opinion; in favour of free-trade Meantime
the I•e4ource of the sufferers lies iii a war
With England, and the consequent high
prices. They who always deprecated such an
event as a serious injury to their manufacturing
and commercial prosperity, now hail it as their
only chance of salvation from utter ruin ; and
when, eighteen months hence, the obnoxious reduc-
tions of duty are made, and a wide-spread feeling of
discontent swells into a murmur of active
s theoppo
sition, our faithful ally will
channel to the authors of the mispcloiiie en:; and should
h responded to
changed into
a tone of
the silvery accents with which
the axioms a Mr. COBDEINT
be then
defiance, it will find
its readiest echo in
the breasts of those among the French people
s hitherto been our staunchest
who have always
friends." This, then, is the unhappy issue to
which we may be brought. The practical and
constitutional view of the question is too much
overlooked ; and members of the
Legislature, of
both the great parties into which it is divided, do
undoubtedly "allow their political d• ju gment to
be warped by their mercantile sym •
pathies."
There is no other way of accounting
for the
Ministerial majority of last Friday ni •
ght. The
thirty or forty Conservatives
Ministers on that occasion were, ,doubtless, led to
do so simply by "allowing tl • •
political judgment
to be. warped by their mercantile
sympathies."
And should such a
only too evident that the country will find itself,