The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-18 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1852.

Query—lf her MAJESTY'S Ministers had not
seizad the American smack in the Bay of Fundy, if
Sir GEORGE SEYMOUR had not acted thus vigorously

in obedience to the instructions received by him from
the Cabinet, if the DERBY Administration had not

adventured upon their recently bold policy in refe-
rence to the British North American fisheries, would

not the race of systematic cavillers have yet more
virulently assailed the existing Government ? The
truth is, that those who are so particu-
larly obstreperous in regard to what they
term the precipitation of the late proceedings of our
administrators towards the fishermen of the United
States would have been, under those circumstances,
among the very first to direct the charge of weakness
and of timidity, and of a culpable disposition to coo-
-1 cede against the Noble Lord at the head of the Fo-
reign Department: That Noble Lord we ourselves
regarded as most signally injudicious in his man.

ner of conducting the MATHER diplomatic cor-
respondence. We expressed, plainly enough, the sen-
timents with which we observed his method of treating
that question—a method which we considered, and

which, moreover, we declared that we considered, a

once timid and vacillating. Happily the Earl of
MALMESBUICY appeared to recognise the folly of the
course pursued upon this subject in the first instance,
and this too before the interchange of communications
between the Cabinets of St. James's and Florence had
proceeded so far as to be beyond the reach of repara-
tion. Immediately upon the arrival of Sir HENRY
BIILWER at Florence the mistakes into which our
rulers had fallen were repaired in a brilliant manner

by that distinguished master of diplomacy. Acting
upon a totally different system, acting upon a system

of vigour and promptitude instead of a system o
truckling and hesitation, Lord MALMESBURY has
now boldly adventured upon a line of policy in
regard to the British North -American Fisheries
worthy of the dignity, the power, and, we will add,
also, the inalienable rights of England. Upon the
fortunate fruits of that policy we can rely with the
utmost confidence. Upon this head we are satisfied,
because as yet, whatever has been done in this matter
by the authorities of this country, whether in the
Bay of Fundy or in Downing-street, has been
fully in accordance with the stipulations contained
in the treaty of 1818 a treaty still in
force—a treaty in :respect to the arrangements of
which there cannot remain one moment's misappre-
hension. According to that treaty the Americans
are expressly prohibited from carrying their fishing
vessels within three miles of any of the coasts of the
British North American possessions. When it is ob-
jected by the advocates of the United States' Govern-
ment that for many years past this prohibition has
been notoriously violated by the citizens of
the Transatlantic Republic—so far from that proving
the Americans less culpable, it only enhances their
guilt considerably, affording, if that were at all ne-
cessary, additional justification to the recent proceed-
ings of the English Government.
Whatever may be the ulterior consequence of late
events in the Bay of Fundy, the responsibility of that
consequence will rest, we are bold to assert, exclu-
sively upon the statesmen entrusted with the conduct
of the United States' Administration. Nowhere can be
detected in these proceedings of the DERBY Cabinet
the evidence of either culpable haste or culpable
severity. If the whole of the future acts of our
Ministers are in any way comparable to the one here
referred to, they will find little difficulty in extending,
their popularity in the United Kingdom, and in com-
manding the entire confidence of; the; more
patriotic division of the community. Let them
proceed upon a principle similar to that
revealed throughout these proceedings in regard to
this time
1"-s
th:nrace
the North American Fislderies, and they will be
nothing
ofahliist
vaierswt,edto, wcaerbryelieve from our hearts, es,men who have
" deserved well of their country." Brother JONA-
AN across the water may swagger amazingly at the
off, if possible, in some measure, the
disgrace OF his present position. But we doubt' not
that after e rizflection, his common sense, to say
common prudence, will triumph over
his vainglory
a son:wevently seen by one Sir HENRY
Americantaglie and relieve that unlucky bird, the
Banes, in
of
Nvtasilm.oulting condition, on the
~1g ton-will be spared the
capitol at the city
miserable attempt of
has arrived by
diplornmet
cock-a-doodle-do! America, not
and braggodiciose
at the conclusion
England,the
bloodshed ot
negotiation is
ordnance,
we believe'
that a soberly-conducted
dischargear
at all times
to pretfeerrraibbllee to a
leadicg
expenditure. As a mat.e e •
. r-o _t„.
and fearful
ns on both sides of the
Aaglo-Saxons Atlantic
far removed from the times of the Crusaders, are too
and too
seriously involved in mercantile transactions, to be
solicitous in defiance of their immediate interests to
of a possible victory in the flay I
quarrel for the sake
in the
of Fundy, or port of New York. As well
• a firm " fall to" with their
might the partners in
to the detriment a
pounce-boxes and their rulers,
themselves and the inconvenience of their customers
—those customers being no less numerous than the
races of both hemispheres.

---------45"----
This is the season for railwly report,, for directors
or
at
leastfford.ing to
setting their houses is order, and for
did explanahors as
their respective shareholders can
to the transactions of the past and the prospects of the
the
a
current half-year. Fortunately they,
great majority, are ensbled to do so on present
the
occasion without serious difficulty or inconve
nience. As a matter of course, railways have
participated in the general prosperity, and
although it could not be anticipated that
the receipts would be as great as during the period
when the excitement occasioned by the Great Exhi-
bition brought every one to town, the receipts, and
consequently the dividends, have, generally speaking,
been very satisfactory—and it is on the future pro-
ceedings, that discussions have arisen or are likely to
arise on the present occasion.
The great question at the meetings of the London
and North-Western and Great Western Companies
last week was amalgamation or no amalgamation. The
long-continued hostilities between those great com-
panies have unquestionably been productive of very