The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—As the election of the American Presi-
dent is made in the month of November, those State
elections which take place in October of the year
of the much greater contest are considered certain
indications of its result. It is assumed that the
party which carries its " ticket" for State officers
or members of Congress will be able to retarn ass
delegates who will nominate the new President. In
theory, the body thus chosen is supposed to be an
Electoral College, with a power of selection to be
exercised in favour of the best or fittest man. The
principle appeared sound enough. But it was soon
discovered it did not work in practice ; and the
Electoral College has long been composed of dele-
gates merely, who strictly carry out the views of
the party by whom they are appointed. There is
not the slightest chance of any delegate nominated
by the Republican party voting for the Democratic
candidate for the Presidency. When the side that
has the majority in the returns of these elections
by the different States is known, the success of
whoever is agreed upon as the candidate of that
party is as certain as any future event can well be.
Hence the interest felt in the local elections occur-
ring so shortly before the more important conflict.
Three Northern States—Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
Indiana—elect their representatives in the Federal
Congress on the same day every year. But every
fourth election is observed with the most intense
anxiety throughout the Federation. The 12th of
October is the day on which men may read some
distinct signs of the coming time. At sunset on
that day the telegraph flashes to every city of the
Union, or what is left of it, the triumph of the party
that has "carried its ticket" for Congress. To the
uninitiated it does not immediately appear why the
event that has no legal bearing whatever on the
election of President should be so closely associated
with it. But the party leaders and " wire-pullers"
know all the importance of the result. The French
adage that " Nothing succeeds like success," is no-
where so well understood as in America. In these
State elections fortune throws up the earliest sig-
nals that point out the side likely to win. To th .t
side there is an instant accession of strength, while
its opponents feel proportionately discouraged.
The party that on the 13th of October is secure
as to the fate of its " ticket" can and does say,
" We have carried the State for the Presidency."
As the Asia sailed on the 13th the result of the
polling in three such lsrge States could not be known
with certainty. It requires some time to make up
the returns, the reports of the party committees
vary, a scrutiny is sometimes necessary, and some
days may elapse before the real decision reaches New
York. But the rough calculation. which is all we
have received by this mail, is more frequently right
tban 'wron4. O i these'occasitens.there seems to be
no need of the tedious exactitude_ of figures. The
one fact,, which whole communities are waiting to
hear, appears to come on the wind: All intelligence
afterwards received is generally no more than the
confirmation. In this election probably there has
been less doubt as to the result than in 1860, The
Republican party is stronger than ever, and the
Democrats, deprived of all support in the Southern
States, and divided by their own folly in the North,
are less capable of effectual opposition. Still, the
official party cannot afford to give many points to
its adverserf, and all the State elections that occur
during the next month will be real trials of strength•
In Ohio and Indiana the reports give the majorities
to the Republicans; and there is no valid reason for
doubting their correctness. In Pennsylvania the
result is spoken of with less confidence. Here the
Democrats have gained largely on their last vote,we
presume ; but as the Pennsylvanian regiments will
vote in whatever camp they happen to be, the re.
turns from the armies in the field must be received
before the true issue is known. This seems to indi-
cate a rather close contest, and that the Goverment
is less popular in this great commercial and manu-
facturing State than might be supposed from its
Protective policy. It is unlikely that the Quaker
1 element in the population may have modified that
savage advocacy of the war prevalent elsewhere.
Four years' experience of such horrors ought to have
had some effect on rational beings. But we should
not be inclined to allow the pacific principles of the
Friends much weight in the present contest, because
in all probability the pockets of the " drab" men
have gained largely by the war. Oa the whole these
returns are favourable to the prospects of Mr Lin-
coln, though in one State the poll appears to have
been very close, and in the two others the vic-
tory is claimed by both parties. A similar claim
is made in almost every election, and in some cases
may be maintained for some hours or even days.
But unless the full returns disprove the first reports
to an unprecedented degree, we must give the
benefit of any doubt to the party of the Govern-
ment. It is fortunate for Mr Lincoln that his to be
or not to be cannot remain a question long. The
lucky gale of military success that lifted him off the
shoal on which ho was grounded some weeks since
has varied several points, and for the moment cau-
-1 not be called favourable. Mr Stanton has ominously
little to report from Petersburg, and the news ar-
riving from other quarters is not so assuring as the
Cabinet at this juncture could wish it. Some of the
reports denote that more than one Federal comment.
der sees there aro difficulties round him. Sherman
is obliged to admit that the Confederates under
General Hood are in his rear and had destroyed
seven miles of the railroad to Chattanooga, on which
the Federal forces depended for their supplies. But
having " plenty of provisions in Atlanta, he feels
secure so far as his main army is concerned." If he
ca❑ feel secure under such circumstances, he is an
officer of great equanimity. The condition he de.
scribes reads as if some portion of his army was the
reverse of secure, and that the main body was sur-
rounded and shut in. An invading army besieged
by its enemy is at least reduced to inaction till it
can change the position of affairs. And as the
Confederates can receive supplies from many points,
and the one road on which Sherman depended is in
hosfile possession, we should think his condition
cannot be perfectly described by the term "secure."
Indeed, Sherman himself expresses some apprehen-
sions that the Confederates would become more
active in Georgia than they had lately shown them-
selves. At the moment he wrote his anticipation
had been realised. They had occupied Dalton and
recaptured Rome, taking three thousand prisoners
with the town. The telegrams are contradictory in
their statements ; bat by comparing them, and
allowing for.the present necessity of making the
war intelligence as favourable as possible for the
Northern public, we can draw some conclusions not
very wide, probably, of the facts. We infer that
General Price is still threatening the State of
Missouri ; that a convoy of Federal transports,
protected by gunboats, has been severely handled
on the Tennessee river, also an incident of un-
favourable significance to Sherman ; another Fede-
ral expedition against some ealtworks in East Vir-
ginia has been defeated and failed of its purpose.
To balance these minor checks and reverses, one
great and complete Federal success is recorded.
Rut we doubt if a full description of the achieve-
ment would excite any applause or be approved by
any assembly of Christian men, unless party hatred
had converted them into demons. The incident
tells for little on the issue of the Civil War, but it
gives a terrible illustration of the spirit in which it
is carried on. By an order from General Grant the
Federal force under Sheridan, which has pursued
the Confederate army down the Valley of the She -
nandoab, has turned northward again. But in re-
turning it has devastated the whole of the valley,
from Brook's Gap, the most southerly► point it

reached, to Strasburg, its present quarters. A -
track of fertile country, 60 miles in length, with
an average breadth of 40, between the Blue Ridge
and the North Mountains, is burnt into a wilder-
ness. We hope the General has exaggerated the
extent of the destruction of which he has been the
instrument, but he reports that 2,000 barns and
70 mills, stored with corn and forage, meal, and
implements of agriculture, have been given t.) the
flames. One of his men was shot in carrying his
order into effect, and in retaliation "every dwelling
within a radius of five miles from the spot where
he fell" was burnt. Comment on such an atrocity
is needless. Some physiologists have asserted that
the Americans have gradually acquired something
of the Red Indian cast of countenance. Can the
spirit of the savage have also entered into them ?
But if the war is to go on thus it will be the
modern disgrace of mankind. The destruction of
what invaders spare, if even for their own sake,
looks more like desperation of success than a reason-
ing confidence. The Federate must have given up
the hope of possessing in future the soil they
ravage. Nemo sic vastat sua.
HERALD.—The halcyon days are over. The sun
crossed the line on its southern journey a month
ago, and already the British Isles are echoieg with
the hoarse tumult of the tempest. Many a dark
night is before us, and many a gloomy day. For
those who have kith and kin upoa the waters many
a pang may be in store, and many a fear, before the
days again grow long, and the gales of winter are
once more laid to rest. Oar isles are not moored
in still waters. The Atlantic comes heaving in upon
the Irish coast, and forces the accumulated tide up
our narrow seas and shallow straits. Northward
and eastward come cutting blasts from the German
Ocean, the Baltic, and the Arctic circle. The gale
from the south-west catches our homeward.bound
ships on a lee-shore, and snakes havoc of many a
noble craft in sight of home. At sunset the sailor
sees the steeple on the hill, and at night long rows
of glittering lamps are seen sparkling beyond the
foam, just coming into sight as the vessel leaps to
the summit of the wave, and lost to view again as
she dips into the hollow of the sea. But when the
night is gone, and morning breaks upon the scene,
the ship is found wrecked upon the reef, and the
crew are either rolling dead amid the shors)s or have
barely escaped by the kindly aid of some well-
manned lifeboat. Many such tales will be told ere
the winter fires are quenched and the swallows ree
visit our shores. Or we may tell how the fitful wind,
having raged from the south-west, veers round,
" according to its circuits," and the keen " nor'-
easter" raves hoarsely on the Northumberland coast,
while the shipping of the Tyne and the fleets of
fishing craft go scrambling pell-mell into harbour or
are dashed in pieces beneath the rugged cliffs. In
every storm there is a lee-shore for somebody, and
we are sure to find wrecks on one side of the island
or the other. Sailors are said to be a careless race,
and they almost need be. A calculating man would
hardly plough the sea for his bread. But what
would England be worth without her merchant
navy ? Thousands of vessels, millions of tons, and
some two hundred thousand men, represent the
mercantile marine of the United Kingdom. Pity
it is that of this noble fleet so many should be
shattered and destroyed in a single year. Every
month has its disasters, but in the winter the
danger is increased and the havoc becomes terrible.
Two thousand wrecks strewed our shores last year
—some no doubt foreigners, but most of them our
own. About one voyage in a hundred seems to
necessitate a catastrophe; and, according to the ex-
perience of 1863, the last three months of the year
are the most fatal. In twelve months we sacrifice
between six and seven hundred lives, in addition to
all the property that is cast away. As we increase
our fleet so we multiply our casualties, though the
intervention of the lifeboat service appears to dimi-
nish the number of lives which are lost in this way.
At the commencement of the present century it was
estimated that 365 ships were lost every year— just
one a day. In 1830 it appeared by Lloyd's 'tete
that no less than 677 British vessels were totally
lost, under various circumstances, in the course of
that year. In 1852 a thousand vessels were wrecked
and 920 lives were sacrificed: Now we have made
our wrecks 2001, though the loss of life is under
700. Numbers fluctuate very much from year to
year ; but by taking a series of years we find that
wrecks are on the increase, and that our monarchy
of the seas is of a very limited character. We are
yearly casting a greater amount of treasure into the
sea; and of all the brave ships that are sent out of
the builder's yard only a remnant is found to die
what may be called a natural death. Some day or
other—or. rather, on come wild, dark night—the
weather-beaten ship is cast away, and her broken
hull is shattered past redemption. Some perish
early, in the prime of their vigour, like the Ontario,
whelmed in the treacherous sands on her first
voyage ; while others live long, and die a violent
death in their old age. Here and there a vessel
mysteriously disappears, and after being long over-
due is scratched from the list as hopelessly missing.
She sailed, was spoken with, and heard of no more.
Wives and mothers waited-till hope would sustain
them no longer, and then reluctantly donned their
garb of mourning, wishing in vain that the greedy
sea would render up its dead. Taus death levies toll
for our journeys on the sea. We pay heavily, and
suffer much. There are fears as well as losses, and
the former torment us nearly as much as the latter.
Wat can be done to break this tyranny of the waves
and to give us safety on the Bea ? It is inevitable
that ships must be wrecked and voyagers drowned,
year by year, and almost day by day ? Can no amount
of skill or precaution change the aspect of affairs ?
Why should every storm devour its victims, and why
should we feel assured whenever the wind howls in
the chimney of the homestead that some brave hearts
are battling vainly for life against the fury of the
blast ? Must death reign triumphant on the ocean
and mock our boast that we hold the sceptre of the
seas ? We build big ships; but the biggest come to
grief. We invoke the aid of steam and set ourselves
against wind and tide—but the noblest of our
steamers are liable to fail amid the tumult and the
storm. The ocean still prevails, and wind and water
seem to triumph alike over our finest mechanism
and our mightiest arks. The Royal Charter was as
thoroughly wrecked in 1859 as an ordinary collier
on the coast of Durham. Still there can be no doubt
that many a ship is cast away through being in-
efficiently equipped. Some owners are poor—others
who are not poor are miserly—other, who are net.
ther one nor the other in particular, are careless ;
and thus it comes to pass that many a vessel puts
to sea in a plight which places her at the mercy of
the first storm that breaks upon her_ Many of our
coasting vessels are in this condition—many are old
and worn out ; but as long as they can be kept
afloat they go to sea,until they can get caught in an
ugly squall, and either founder on the offing or tame
ble to pieces on the rocks. In such a fashion as this
we see that men tempt their fate, and there can be
no doubt that if all vessels were in proper trim and
well manned, the lee-shore would oftener be es-
caped and the grim story of " shipwreck with loss of
life " would not have to be told so frequently as it
is. Looking the coming winter expectantly in
the face, what may we calculate upon as to the
efficiency of scientific appliances for protecting
our sailors against disaster ? Are these appliances
really forthcoming, or do they mainly exist in
theory ? Are we practically any better than our
forefathers ? It is right that we should stud our
shores with lifeboats ; but lifeboats mean wreck,
and peril, and every disaster short of death.
Will not the barometer and the electric telegraph
warn our seamen of the coming gale, so that they
may keep a bold offing or seek a timely shelter,
and thereby evade the more imminent perils of the
storm ? What a drop the barometer gave the other
day ! Yet when the winds blew they caught a
crowd of vessels in the very jaws of death, and
forced them to a flight which was replete with
danger aad more or less disastrous to several. Of
course it is easier to give warning than to get the
warning obeyed, We may believe that Admiral
Fitzroy is correct in saying that his storm signals
have already saved many lives and a great amount
of property. If his warnings are tolerably correct,
and men have any sense at all, the signals must be
of service. We would indeed hope that this most
important and practical department of meteorology
will be developed with increasing success, so as to
enable our sailors to anticipate the perils which
might otherwise seize them unawares. There is the
more need for this as the Government shows a
strange unwillingness to promote the establishment
of harbours of refuge, as if afraid of making safety
objectionably cheap. Then there is the question of
fog signals, without which our lighthouses are liable
to prove useless in certain states of the weather. So
far as lighthouses themselves are concerned, we
trust they are well looked to. Science can yet do
much more to trim their lamps. Dungeness is
flashing forth its electro magnetic rays, and the
same contrivance is needed on many a dangerous
headland of our irregular coast. And before we
lay down our pen we think of Daunt's Rock, and
should like to know whether it is blown up, or has
got its boll buoy, or is otherwise rendered tolerably
harmless for the future. These are some of the cone
siderations which press upon us when we turn our
thoughts towards the sailor and anticipate the
storms of winter. Great are the perils of the deep,
and much do we owe to the hardy mariners who
battle with the storm while we are rejoicing in the
social comforts of our own fireside.

SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.—During the week
ending October 22 the visitors have been as follow :—On
Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday (free days), open from 10
a.m. to 10 p.m., 9,181; on Wednesday, Thursday, and
Friday (students' days, admission to the public 61), open
from 10 a,m. to 5 p.m., 1,633; total, 10,817, From the
opening of the museum, 4,910,605.