The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-10 00:00:00

duce it.

Lord R. CECIL—And was there no verbal demand ?
Mr. LAYARD—No verbal communication in that Renee
was ever hold:

The motion for adjournment was ultimately agreed to.
KAGOSIMA.

Mr. BUXTON moved the following resolution :—" That
this house, while only imputing to Admiral Kuper a
misconception of the duty imposed on him, deeply
regrets the burning of the town of Kagosima,
as being contrary to those usages of war which
prevail among civilised nations, and to which it

. _
is the duty and policy of this country to adhere."
In the course of a long address he cited several authorities
on international law to show that the bombardment of
Kagosima was directly opposed to the dictum of the most
celebrated writers on maritime law.

Mr. AYTOUN, in seconding the motion, condemned the
arroganne of the English merchants and residents in Japan
as having been the real cause of enmity felt towards us by
the natives,
Mr. LONGFIELD proposed, as an amendment, to omit
from Mr. Buxton's resolution the words " while only im-
puting to Admiral Kuper a misconception of the duty im-
posed on him." His object was to free a gallant and meri-
torious officer from the grave imputation that was sought to
be cast upon him by the terms of the resolution. He con-
tended that Admiral Kuper had done no more than execute

the commands with which he was entrusted, and there had

been no cold-blooded cruelty, misconception of orders, or
terrible mistake on his part. He understood his instructions
well. He obeyed the orders that were given him. The
measures he concerted were within both the letter and the
spirit of his instructions ; and what he conceived prudently
he had executed bravely. The orders given to him by
Colonel Neale, her Majesty's representative in Japan, in
accordance with instructions received from the Foreign-
office, included the burning of the town of Kagosima and the
palace of Prince Satsuma, which he performed with the
knowledge and in the presence of Colonel Neale himself,
who, having given the orders, knew the consequences, and
expressed his satisfaction at the result. The resolution of
Mr. Buxton was nothing else than an attempt to offer up
Admiral Kuper as a scapegoat to save the Government
from the censure of the house.

Sir J. HAY seconded the amendment, and said that the

imputation thrown upon Admiral Kuper did no credit either
to the Government or those persons who had thus assailed
a brave and worthy man. The duty be had executed was
imposed upon him by the bai bayous orders of the Foreign
Office, and the attack on Kagosima, following upon the
affair in Siam last year, was but the culminating point of
the policy which the Government had of late adopted in the
East.

Lord STANLEY—I quite understand the reluctance of
my hon. and gallant friend to pass any censure on persons
who, whether in a civil or military capacity, are perform-
ing a very responsible duty at a great distance from home,
and labouring under disadvantages in respect to receiving
instructions. I share in that feeling, and I shall be glad if
I hear from the hon. gentleman the member for Southwark
(\lr. Layard) a better defence for these proceedings than
appears in the papers which have been laid before us. Ido
not intend to go again over the ground covered by tb.e
speech of the hon. member for Maidstone ; but I will call
the attention of the house to one or two points, and I will

do so in order that an answer may be given by the Under.

Secretary. Id 3 not understand what justification can be
alleged for the double claim made by her Majesty's Go-
vernment—first, the claim made on the Tycoon; and next,

that made on the Prince of Satsuma. I could understand
either if the other were not put forward. (Hear, hear). I
could understand your treating the Prince as entirely inde-
pendent, and then your course might be obvious, You
might have applied to the Tycoon in the first instance, and
if he replied, " I cannot punish the Prince of Satsuma,"
you might have said, " Then we give you fair notice that
we shall take the affair out of your hands and punish

him ourselves." But if the Prince of Satsuma is re

sponsible for the murder, then this demand of £lOO,OOO
from the Tycoon, who is not responsible, who did not
order the murder, and could not have prevented it, is
simply unjustifiable. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand,
if the Prince of Satsuma is to be treated as a subject, no
doubt we have a right to come on the Government of Japan
for compensation; but then we ought to leave it to the
Government to settle matters with the Daimio. (Hear,
hear.) But the responsibility of the one, from the nature
of the ea, e, seems to exclude the responsibility of the other,
and therefore those who have conducted the negotiations
on the part of this country have pat us in the wrong. It
also appears to me that the amount of the demand is altoge-
ther exorbitant and excessive, No doubt it is very painful
and difficult to have to value human life; but one can only
judge of what would be done if such a case occurred in
Europe. If the murder of a British subject took place un-
der anything like similar circumstances in a European
country, you would insist on the punishment of the offen-
der, and demand compensation; but it appears to me that
you would not do anything analogous to what you have
done in this ease by demanding £lOO,OOO from the Tycoon,
who was not responsible for the murder, and making a
further demand of £25,000 of the Prince of Satsuma, whom
you hold to have been responsible. (Hear.) There is ano-
ther point to which I think the house ought to look. The
hon. member for Maidstone spoke of the inhumanity of
those proceedings. I look at the matter in another way,
and say that their impolicy is greater than their inhu-
manity. (Hear.) You know the Tycoon is in great diffi-
culty between the Daimios and the foreign merchants and
diplomatists. You have, then, to deal with a Government
which may be taken to be neutral between the two ; you
have the great chiefs, who undoubtedly are hostile to
foreigners; and, lastly, you have the people, of whom we
we do not know whether or not they share the preju-
dice of the chiefs against foreigners, but who, at all
events, have nothing to lose by the country being open
to foreigners, and may have a great deal to gain. I think
it clear, then, that your policy ought to be to lessen the in-
fluence of the Daimios on the people, and to conciliate the
latter. (Hear, hear.) lam afraid your proceedings in
reference to this murder will have a contrary effect. All
they will know about the affair is that the foreigners have
had a quarrel with the chiefs and destroyed a town. That
will place the Daimios in the position of being the natural
protectors of the people, whereas your object ought to be to
separate those two classes, and to show the natives that
though you may take a part against the chiefs, you do so in
the interest of the people. (Hear, hear.) lam afraid it
will be a long time before the impression created in the
minds of the people by those proceedings will be obliterated.
I also think it is very questionable whether what you have
done will have very much effect on the chiefs. I do not
say anything as to the destruction of batteries, because as
you treated the Prince of Satsuma as an independent per •
son no objection could be taken to your destroying his forts ;
but when your doing that involved the destruction of a
town, it is another matter. I do not expect that much moral
effect will be produced on the Daimios by such an opera-
tion as that. It reminds me of the story of an Irish ab-
sentee landlord whose agent sent him over a threatening
letter whioh he had received. The landlord, in reply, said
"Tell those fellows they are great fools if they think that
by shooting you they will intimidate nie." (Much laughter.)
I very much fear that the same is the case with the Daimios.
They are not likely to be intimidated by punishments which
fall on the people. (Hear, hear.) You will not frighten tho
class on whom you wish to make an effect, but you will
make enemies of the class whom you want to have your
friends. (Hear, hear.) In these sense papers I see a trans-
action, of the same date, which bears on this case. It seems
that in October of last year there was a good deal of anxiety
felt among the traders because the trade in silk was falling
off. What was the reason of this falling off? Col. Neale,
writing to the Japanese Minister, says :
" The matter respecting the restricted arrivals of silk being
now well known to be caused by no accident or want of the
material, but by a systematic arrangement of a few of the
principal silk dealers, or monopolisers, at Yeddo ; great un-
easiness and alarm prevail among the mercantile community
of Yokohama."
Upon that assumption, because those dealers in silk at
Yeddo are doing that which dealers in Manchester and
Liverpool sometimes do—because they are' holding back
produce for high prices—(hear, hear)—our representative
writes a very peremptory letter, and the Japanese Govern-
ment is called upon to explain. (Hear, hear.) That is not
the way you would act towards any European Government.
That letter throws light upon whatever may be doubtful in
other traneeetions, and shows what 'our feelings and bear.