The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-21 00:00:00

tent' Anus lo r the future. Should such explanations be satis-
fact, rep, th c object of his motion would be answered. If
they • were I tot satisfactory, then it would be for him to con-
sidei whether he should put forward the policy which he
deer led to lie sspedieet in the form of a substantive motion,
andl ake the o; pinion of the house upon it. (Hear, hear.) So
long as her Naiesty's Government were resolved to carry on
the -s gar with vigour, he and the honourable members on
whos a behalf he could speak had no desire to interfere with
them , but, on the contrary, were anxious to give them their
supp ort. It was only in the case of their not conducting the
war in a satisfactory manner that it was necessary for the
ho,isse to interfere and demand an inquiry before a committee.
l`he peculiarities of their trade with Russia were well known.
It vn rs well known that in Russia there could be scarcely said
to oxist an industrial and commercial class, such as existed in
othe r continental countries. The wealth of Russia consisted
in the pro ction of serf labour. It produced tallow, hemp,
linsee, 1, an d a variety of other' Commodities of that descrip-
tion. -T•t wvs well known that for these commodities they
were the gust omers of the Russians to ten times the amount
of any otlor e ountry. The productions were raised by the ad-
vance of the ca. pital of English merchants; whereby they were
able to raise tit ' Production from the soif. It was by these
advances of the British merchaats that the Russian landed
proprietors were a. ~ble to produce a great many of the articles
ho had described, s nd which they sent to them in spring and
summer; and if the,v cut off the English capital which in-
creased the productiolt of Russia, they would decrease the re-
sources of that' country.. At the breaking our of the war he
expected that as much injury would be inflicted on their oppo-
nent by the ii,jury done to Russian commerce as b 7 the ope-
rations of their army in the field. They had a fleet which, if
it could not desetroy the forts and fleets of Russia, could block-
ade every port of Russia in every sea ; and it was anticipated
that from that blockade the trade of Russia would be so crip-
pled that in a oh ort time it would be impossible for the Em-
peror of Russia to conduct tie war. History was appealed to,
and they were renrinded of the disasters which had occurred in
Russia in 1801. It was said that Russia having been induced
by Napoleon to jo3is the continental system, the rouble had
declined in value to a. very serious extent, and whenever it
had declined in value the most serious financial difficulties
had fallen on the Emperors of Russia. On the breaking out
of the war last year the* rouble fell from 33d., which it was
at par, down to 32d. and it was confidently expected that
before the war bad fasten many months it would fall much
lower, and that a serious filnancial difficulty would overtake
the Emperor of Russia, that r nin and poverty would fall upon
the lauded proprietors of Russ:a, and bankruptcy upon the
Czar. (Hear.) But how far had those predictions been veri-
fied? If their arms had hitherto failed—and he did not en-
tertain a doubt of their eventual success—their operations
against the commerce cf Russia had failed as signally as before
or more so. The desired effect was not realised, but the re-
verse ; and so far from a blockade of the principal ports of
Russia interfering with her exisorts, the exports from those
ports we're greater than at any polled before. (Hear.) The
whole case must be summed up in this statement, that the
commerce of Russia had not been injured, that ten millions of
English money had gone to Russia this year instead of eleven
in the previous year, and that the rouble, which ot the out-
break of the war had descended to 32d., had riseif to par.
(Hear.) When he heard that ten millions had gone to Russia
this year, instead of eleven in the previous year, he mus,.% ex-
plain that they paid for Russian produce first by exports ; se
condly, by the consignment of foreign produce, and, thirdly,
by money ; but the two former were struck off in the present
year, and the whole of the payment was in money, bang pre-
cisely that which it was most convenient to the Emperor of
Russia to receive, and which enabled him to keep his force in
the field. If they relied upon putting an end to the war by
any measures that had hitherto been taken to interfere with
Russian produce, the war might last during the life of the
youngest member of that house. (Hear.) He would now re-
fer to the cause of the signal failure of the measures that had
been adopted. He believed that much was anticipated from
a blockade of the ports of the Black Sea and of the Sea of
Azof, because that blockade could not be evaded by land car-
riage, the distance being so great. Great interest was felt on
the subject, and questions were put to the right hon. gentle-
man the First Lord of the Admiralty concerning it. On the
lst of Juno, Sir J. Graham said that distinct orders had been
sent by the Governments of France and England to institute a
vigorous blockade of the Russian ports in the Baltic and the
Black Sea. On the 13th of June he again said that orders
had been given to the admirals in the Baltic and Black Seas
to institute a blockade, and he had reason to believe that
these blockades had been instituted. On the 11th of July a
statement was made to the same effect, but it was a fact that
blockades in the Black Sea had not been instituted, and up
to that time were not instituted. A blockade had been no-
tified to commence there on the Ist of this month, but sub-
sequently it was put off to the 14th, and if there was a block-
ade there at all, it had been instituted within the last two or
three days. What was the effect ? It appeared from a me-
morial forwarded to him by the Chamber of Commerce at
Hull-. -a respectable body of men, who had taken pains to ob-
tain information on the subject --that shipments of linseed
had been made from the Russian ports in the Black Sea and
Sea of Azof to an extent that was unprecedented in former
years, and that since the declaration of war from 380 to 400
ships, containing 700,000 quarters of linseed, and representing
in value one million sterling, had sailed from the ports of the
Black Sea. It appeared that the entire quantity expected
from those ports in the entire twelve months of 1853 amounted
to 604,000 quarters, and in the entire twelve months of
1852 amounted to 445,000 quarters, whereas in eight months
of last year there was the enormous export of 700,000 quar-
ters, and in the remaining four months he was told the same
amount of trade was going on. (Hear, hear.) The memori-
alists proceeded to say that much injury had consequently
been done to British merchants since the month of July, be-
cause the reiterated assurances of Ministers that a blockade
would be strictly enforced had not only had the effect of
placing the trade in foreign hands, but had induced the Bri-
tish merchants to engage in counter operations of trade.
They were now threatened with losses in consequence of the
arrival of exports from the quarters where they were '
interdicted. It was further stated that although the
ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof were not
blockaded, the mouths of the Danube had been blockaded,
and they had thereby been deprived of an enormous supply
of corn which they would otherwise leave obtained. They
had blockaded the mouths of the Danube which they should
not blockade, and they did not blockade the ports of the
Black Sea and the Sea of Azof which they should have block-
aded, and which the country thought they had blockaded.
The consequence was that exports from those Russian ports
had taken place during the previous year, and that British
merchants, having believed the assurance of the Government,
and having made extensive arrangements to get from other
'quarters the articles which they before got from Russia, had,
on bringing those commodities home, suffered an enormous
loss. It appeared that the parties who were benefited were
the Greek merchants; who all along disbelieved in the block-
ade, and by carrying on their trade made enormous fortunes.
Ho (Mr. Collier) should be glad to hear a satisfactory explana-
tion on the subject from the Government, and he thought
that some explanation was due to the public. Whea the
Secretary for the Admiralty made his celebrated Serpentine
speech, in which he talked of turning that liver through the
Horse Guards, ho admitted the war was di4gracefully con-
ducted, but said the Admiralty was blamed by nobody, and
that he had nothing to explain; but the hon. gentleman went
too far. He (Mr. Collier) was most anxious to hear an ex-
planation from the First Lord of the Admiralty, and he was
disposed to believe—knowing his high administrative talents,
and knowing the way in which the affairs of the Admiralty
were administered—that ho was prepared to give a satisfac-
tory explanation so far as his part of the matter was con-
cerned. But a head of a department was answerable for
failure, unless he showed who the culpable party was. If
they were informed who was the person to blame, on his
being dismissed or censured, and a better man substituted fop
him, there would be reason to hope for an improvement ; but
if they were never to know on whom the blame rested, or
who the culpable person was, their affairs must be in an ut-
terly hopeless state. He applied that observation to Balaklava,
and to the'culpable authorities there,who he was sorry to say,
had not been removed. They were entitled to know from tho
head of a department what was the cause of failure, and if any
party was to blame, who the party was. (Hear.) Could the
First Lord of the miralty show there was reason to change
their policy, and that the fleet in the Black Sea was not suffi-
cient to blockade the ports in the Black Sea ? How could
that be said, when one steamer would be sufficient to blockade
the Straits of Kertch, from which there had been two millions
of exports, and when there were the means for blockading
Odessa and the other ports of the Black Sea ? (Hear.) He
thought it would be impossible to say that they had not a
competent force in the Black Sea for the purposes of block-
ade ; and if they had a competent force there, and if orders
were sent to the admirals to blockade, he required to know
why those orders were not obeyed ? (Hear.) He would pass
now to another portion of the subject, with regard to the
blockade of the Baltic. They had a fleet there which bad in-
deed established an effectual blockade, but that blockade was
evaded by land carriage. He thought he should be able to
show that the blockade of the Baltic had been substantially
evaded in a manner that was not anticipated, and with re-
spect to wnich he threw no blame upon the Government. A
system of land traffic had been organised by the Emperor of
Russia, with the connivance and concurrence of the Court of
Prussia, and that could scarcely have been anticipated. A
commissioner was appointed by the Emperor of Russia, with
a perfectly competent staff, and good roads were made, which
were overflowing with Russian commerce. By that means all
those commodities that formerly came by sea, such as tallow,
hemp, linseed, and other articles, were carried from Russia
and forwarded to Memel. The people in the places along
which it passed were benefited by the trade, and that gave
Prussia a very good ground for maintaining her position of
neutrality. It appeared from a pamphlet written by the
hon. memher for Lewes, that au extensive Russian trade
was carried on in this way through Prussia, and at an ad-
ditional expense of no less than 2,500,000/., which sum
was paid by the British merchants, and that was exclu-
sive of goods carried to Archangel for shipment. He agreed
with his honourable friend that it was humiliating to
them to find that when they shut the front door a side door
was opened, and that their merchants had to pay for the ex-
pense of evading the law a sum of 2,500,0001. That they
should have a blockade that was ineffectual, and that they
should not take measures to make it effectual, seemEedithtoerhiemt
to be a proposition that was utterly untenable.
them have no blockade, or have an effectual blockade.
If they
could not stop the transit through Prussia, why then let their
merchants have the goods straight from Constadt, and save
the demands and expenses to which they w were exposed ; but
to institute a blockade that could be evaded was an untenable
measure, and one which it was impossible to defend. It Was
not for him to suggest to the Government the course they
should take, because that was a matter of policy which it
would be better to leave in their own hands, but he would
state his opinion as to the mode of dealing with the subject.
In the first place,
it seemed to him that Prussia had been sub-
stantially guilty of a breach of neutrality. The trade carried
on through Prussia was not merely a trade of private indivi-
duals, but it was one which had been organised in a great
measure between the Government of Russia and of Prussia for
the express purpose of evading thebloekade. A convention had
been entered into between the Emperor of Russia and the King
of Prussia for the completion of a railway. Prussia derived
great revenues from the commerce that came through it from
Russia ; and the transit trade to Memel was for the benefit of
Russia, to the detriment of this country, and was carried on
for the purpose of evading the blockade. In the year 1756 a
rule was made to this effect, that a neutral was at liberty to
carry on his accustomed trade in time of war, but should not
carry on a new trade to the prejudice of either of the belli-
gerents. On that subject he would refer to the dictum of
Lord Stowell, who said the general rule was that a neutral
had a right to carry on in time of war his accustomed trade to
the utmost extent to which that accustomed trade was ca-
pable, but the law was different in the case of a new trade
which the neutral had not previously carried on. Now this tran-
sit tradeithrough Prussia was essentially a new trade carried on
by Prussia, for the benefit of herself and Russia, to the in-
jury of this country, because thereby the blockade was evaded,
to the detriment of the belligerents. That conduct on the part
of Prussia formed a ground of remonstrance on their part, and
they had a right to call upon Prussia—if Prussia should join
the Western Powers, as they had every reason to hope she
might do—to seal her frontier against Russian produce ; and
he trusted that no stipulation would be made with Prussia
except such anarrangement was made by it. By the adoption
of such means the power of Russia would become so far
any
cril)
pled that the Emperor of Russia would not be able for
length of time to carry on the war. Other measures might
be adopted ; they might institute a search of neutral vessels
for enemies' goods coming from neutral poi
PO on the ground that it was necessary for the. They might do
enforcement of