The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC jOURITALS,

Tiaus.—The s::.si)a of the tho
Stu:o of New York r, of on the sth of tnuary.
Tao Senate, having leg.Llly organised itsolf before
the House oz Reprosantatives, commenced business
by receiving the Message of Mr. Seymour, the Go-
vernor. Those politicians who believe that an Ame-
rican State stands in the same relation to the Federal
Government as an English county to the authority
of the Crown may enlarge and correct that idea by
a perusal of this official communication. Except
foreign diplomacy and the management of the Post-
office, it includes as many points of pubic interest,
and is as closely connected with the national policy,
as the Message of the President to the Federal Con-
gress. The State has its treasury, its finance, its
army, is charged with the defence of coasts and
harbours, and the Governor for the time being cor-
responds on almost equal terms with the central
power and its civil and military officers. Since Mr.
Seymour was elected as Governor he has been re-
quired to do more with the means at his command
than the Federal authority could accomplish, both
for the city of New York and the neighbouring
State of Pennsylvania. To have suppressed a dan •
gerous insurrection in the city, and aided the resist-
ance to an invasion of a bordering territory, enables
an authority sometimes called local to take the posi-
tion of a strong ally of the central power rather than
of the representative of a subordinate province. For
these reasons, independently of all political theories,
the tone and matter of the Message of the Governor
of New York have not the least resemblance to that
of an address by a Lord Lieutenant at the Quarter
Sessions of a county. The election of Mr. Seymour
was an unexpected protest against the Administra-
tion of the President and the Republican party; but
though there may be many Democrats who secretly
condemn the whole policy of the civil war asstrongly
as they blame its management, they outwardly ac•
cepted the confliot as a necessity. As a party they are
the advocates both of war and peace, consequently
the South has from the first rejected the alliance
they offered. They have obtained no material in-
flaence on events, but they have done some service
as unsparing critics of the proceedings of the
Federal Government. They have spoken, when all
other voices were silent, against extending the war
beyond the first avowed purpose. They would
regain the territory of the South, but not devastate
it or exterminate the white population, and they
have clearly pointed out the political dangers a long
continuance of hostilities will bring on the North
itself. Against their judgment and predictions
nothing can be alleged, except that the first has had
no result, and the latter are disregarded. Some of
the facts, however, that Mr. Seymour states offi-
cially are very important, and may have more effect
hereafter than his opinions, which, like all the opi-
nions of a minority in America, are borne down by
mere force of numbers. In the first place, the con-
tributions the State of New York has made to the
cost of the war, for bounties to volunteers, the pur-
chase of arms, and other expenses, have left a defi-
ciency in the State funds of a million sterling,
which must be covered by a loan. In expenditure
the State is running fast in the same direction as the
Federal Government—towards debt. Though the
city of New York itself exhibits such an unnatural
flush of prosperity, the Governor finds something to
check its pride in the condition of the shipping in-
terest of that great commercial port. Most of the
American carrying trade has now passed into the
hands of foreigners, By the last return Mr. Sey-
mour quotes the value of the cargoes carried in
American ships as only half that of the merchandise
imported end exported ander foreign flags. But
he passes lightly over such topics, leaving the
figuree to speak for themselves, to dwell more forci-
bly on the measures of the Federal Government
which have injuriously affected all classes of the
community. He gives the first place to the con-
scription. He insists that volunteering, stimulated
by high bounties and increasing pay, is the only
means by which men can be obtained for the North-
ern armies. The conscription has been a failure
from the outset. " It wrought a change in the public
feeling with regard to military service, and all, with-
out respect to political views, tried to evade its opera-
tion." The quota of the State of New York was 68,000
in'en, To procure this number 77,862 conscripts were
examined, with the rather alarming result that no
less than 53,000 were found unfit for military duty,
and exempted for " physical disabilility and other
causes." The number who paid commutation money
was 14,000; substitutes were purchased by 6,619,
and out of the whole draught of nearly 78,000, only
2,557 conscripts were actually " held to service."
The repeated postponements of the second conscrip-
tion appears to confirm Governor Seymour's asser-
tion that it is impossible to enforce such a measure
in the Northern States. He says it not only fails
to recruit the armies, but is "opposed to the genius
of the American political system," alienates the
people from the Government, and blights the
industry of the country. The reorganisation of the
Militia of every State as a reserve, and volunteer
enlistments for bounties and pay, rising with the
wages of labour and the depreciation of the cur-
rency, are the remedies proposed for these evils.
But against the more distant political danger of
makieg the Federal Government by a long war a
great military Power he can do little more than
warn his countrymen. Supported by Congress and
the army, it has already " wrought a revolution,"
through which the Republic is passing almost
blind to its significance. The people are living
under a military Government, which claims the
highest prerogatives, and founds them on " martial
law and military necessity." This revolution,
" if permanently accepted," will be an overthrow
of the whole Republican system. He hopes the
people will return to the principles " from which
they have been drifting," when they have seen more
of the nature and results of a military despotism,
but is evidently alarmed by their present apathy. If
anything will rouse them from it, it will be the em-
ployment of the army as a machinery for the elec-
tion of Presidents. This danger Mr Seymour thinks
is by no means remote. Supposing any of the Con-
federate States are conquered or occupied, the army
by which they are held must be still maintained.
Then, under the conditions of Mr. Lincoln's last
Proclamation, one-tenth of the population in any
such State may by taking an oath of allegiance bring
it into the Union again, or fix new boundaries, and
come in as a new State carved out of the old one.
As such it will have two votes in the Federal
Senate, and political influence equal to the State of
New York itself. The States so formed would re-
present the interest of the power that created them.
They would not only govern the territory mapped
out by Executive decree, but the North also. Four-
teen hundred citizens in Florida would " balance in
the Senate" the whole population and wealth of
New York. " Less than seventy thousand voters
in the nine States mentioned in the President's Pro-
clamation would wield a power sufficient to weigh
down that of nine most prosperoua States of the
the Union." This, with the nominal States already
created in Eastern and Western Virginia, would,
Mr. Seymour asserts, create so "many rotten
boroughs" which would govern the Union, and de-
stroy the representative system of the Republic
altogether. "It would be a dangerous invasion of
the rights of the majority of the American people;
it would enable an Administration to perpetuate its
power." Without expressly stating it, Governor
Seymour implies that this is really the object of
President Lincoln's offer of pardon and amnesty to
the people of the South. Of peace, as at present
sought, he has no hope ; but he has forebodings of a
war carried on to exhaustion, national bankruptcy,
and ruin. H© calls now for statesmanship to avert
the many calamities impending ; yet he can only
propose to moderate the unscrupulous policy of the
extreme Republicans. As a "war Democrat," he
can go no further. But had the whole party ex-
pressed their full convictions in time, they might
have had some chance of reversing it,
PoST.—We believe that early next session a
measure will be introduced by her Majesty's Mini-
sters to alter and extend the jurisdiction of the
county courts. The history of the course which the
Legislature has adopted in reference to this class of
tribunals is curious and instructive. The great and
comprehensive scheme which Lord Brougham pro-
posed more than 30 years ago was defeated princi-
g,updlcaon ursf
ot
princi-
pally through the opposition of the bar, who thought
that Westminster Hall and the
bwroiunlgdingbehodineseetroteedveirfyLmoarnd,s
doorßroo
cheap
ps superior
sub-
stantial justice could be accomplished. The credit,
however, of having induced Parliament to confer
upon the people the benefit of the county court
system was reserved for a layman, the late Mr.
Henry Fitzroy, who in the year 1845, in spite of
thep ol i
toapnp oas
ti
tt
oi or n n
eaynsd, di se
Ilelci
skeed oe td
i hba n e
carryingr and o f
the m e tact.ro
'kee countyshir e
ni ocourt,
establishedin reality,
by King
the
Alfred,me.re revivalw hi
which,
f,
in the progress of time, had been
so popular that Parlia
into disuse. These permitted to fall
newnaetribunalst
fromt speedilyhe year becamelBs ha
s
on various occasions increased their jurisdiction both
es to amount and also by adding additional powers.
For example, little more than two years ago every
county court was converted into a court of bank-
ruptcy in cases where the amount of debts did not
exceed £3OO, and thus a great boon has been con-
ferred upon small tradesmen, who have been spared
the needless expense of travelling up to London or
to the district court to prove a debt or to oppose a
dishonest debtor. The experiment would, we be-
lieve, have worked more successfully if a simple
bankruptcy machinery had been supplied to the
county exerts in place of the costly and cumbrous
processes which may still be requisite in Basinghall-
street whenever a great commercial estate has to be
administered. It may therefore be hoped that in
the preps rittiou of the new measure thin point of

-7—.7....., —.....—.....—.....................-- the
simplifying the bankruptcy in3chinel.
n.f ° it
county courts will receive consideratio is
toies.eto
must ho borne in mind that bankreP
the county courts seldom produce enough 00,,,,c0
1 o pay the fees of the officers, and that those fees
then either fall upon the funds of the 13v:1101431'v.
Court, or are charged upon a Parliamentary v 5,,,,
On various occasions it has been
jar;: the
upon the county courts a small equitable
tion to relieve persons residing at a distance .--..,.0
country from the expense and trouble of lis`tirr,
gnified (1,_,,r0
trifling questions determined by so di
PerhaP3tlan't/
banal as the High Court of Chancery.
is on principle no more reason why the ous 0
such naattertich
court should not ha entrusted with
administration summonses, as the juriodictioe ;utile
it now exercises in certain charity cases; 11's the
difficult is this, the court does not poiFI-Q oa
proposed to confer
machinery requisite for conducting. ingtlsl`.: ther
taking accounts, and it may ba doubtful viie..,ith
wed ‘r's of
county court judges are generally endorsed
those rare gifts which would in Ike them nissttebero
equity as well as of common law. We nilisd. spas
point out an injustice which has been inflicte, fees,
these learned personages. Paid origll, utile of
the amount of salary received by each ° it'll,
course varied in proportion to the business jest
joconceed:,..
acted, and this being found extremely
andTh unequal, the following rule was sti°,o.cee
The judges in the metropolitan district, and ober
tai„ large towns in the country, where the 051,600
of plaints exceeded a certain average, bad ,fest.
a year, and all the other judges i1,0,11/fujtele
Subsequently it was determined that in rEheref
appointments,
the salary should be £1,200 a year. L,I3; or
Is obvious. The Legislature has year siLe'd;tieo
whether in London Theel°4st
increased, both in amount end difficulty, the 010
of these gentlemen, but it has not sada' 6, irelge
fraction to their salary. The county Otlatiosi
stationed in a pleasant agricultural dis:1;001111
hold his court eight or ten times in the" -des°
whilst his brother located in the midst of to cot
manufacturing or mining population bee, i bott
every day in his life except Sunday. en: ;
cases the remuneration is exactly the 1"--;:t. /IP
therefore, may also be expected that this P°l-ie air
not escape the attention of the Treaserl,l `.."0006
pensers of the grant, or of the House a .n., to
the members of which surely cannot uebo tba,
underpay public servants whose value On poles"
and re
estimatedh. by the increasing duties
ilities which Parliament has throWn oPrlio oes:
But there still remains to be considereuWhie;
section with the county courts a qtlest4"4 o',
deeply affects the moral and social welfare WI
bumbler classes of the community. It is ec4; gres'
that as the Bankruptcy Act of 1861 has Lt°, - g Cl- t M
time
measure abolished imprisonment for deuf4 oolf
has now arrived when the power °cicreit!
court commitment should be taken away'"„ esPe;
necessary to recall to mind the result of Igore
meat in the same direction which was olede be°
Lora 8r°,1,0014
years ago under an act passed by
It was then found that the small shopkeepn for .i
give their artisan customers no credit-'ll°oltv
loafh of bread nor an ounce of tea—ssiin.g'ilifill
ave lost the power of putting you in Prlsh°;toole),
don't pay, I must take care to have tg-deet
across the counter." It is true that the Pingl%
then had, as he now has, the means of sere "re
debtor's goods ; but in many instances tbserniololli
goods, and in others the creditor abstaies 'tile 1113,1
ingf from a feeling of humanity for the 'is 0"
amily, knowing that, if the humble WO oOr
thing.
broken up, he has no chance of ever gettingeot l/e;
The county court commits a debfersoccoo
cause he does not pay his chandler's OOP ;eel
for necessaries supplied, but because, hslLobel:t
summoned and ordered to pay, he heslitills;
that order. The simple question is this ".f be °„iii
the artisan be placed in a worse posities n 1 ot Pi
nho. t get credit ? When he is in emnidii's 1,61:0
his duty, like every honest man, to 130„,ig05,',;
but let us for a moment conceive the stoPin;orior
.important branch of industry by one oft"„ ollSno
similes for which neither master nor Alrefribi
prepared. A thousand families may be lit st,,j,
of employment, and if they can get ernejrtif
little shops until trade revives no Party '',,gtesh's
and the distress of an unforeseen calainitl„s"" so tots
hmitigated; but destroy credit, tell the artctea,,o"
is only resource is the workhouse or Wre.,',601 ''i;
door relief, and then we believe that scie",-ptietil,
fence would occur possibly leading tour: uecoetyhe
a criminal. prison more painful and mlt 0-0
satin than a county court commitment" body "ito
'eyed that the county court judges as f! riceii
opposed to any change which would Gerd► P:o
poor. man of fair and reasonable credit ; fivefelto
being so, we trust that this point also W ilioo el
that calm and deliberate consideration W.,40"
interests of the working classes of this coll;"
demand.
___......,

COUiliT...l±Y2l._ ________T Of
LIVERPOOL—Fitin yihe i(lfooli
SI
riiicrek
There was a very poor attendancewheat, _,4501
and bt a mall business wsone. I, csi-,A
Indianu corns met a slow sale,a at last Friday
r, rp-
Oats and oatmeal quiet. Beans the turn dead
barley very dull, and declined a shade.

W AKE FFIE „aill,e;rvf
Wheat in fair supply to-day. Trade quiet fcli,
made were at rather lower prices than last Fri tide!'
a dull sale, and rather lower in price. Other tir
late rates.

Averages for the weep 0 /el
Wheat 1,362 qrs., at ........
.....,$ to
Rye — ....... 335 loti
Beans 3O ........ 3,9$ cid
Oats BB ........ 316 so
Peas .... 55 .i ....... : 310
8ar1ey......... :714 -

' LINCOLN—Faun:a. jget
Atfair quantity .ast ,70
and prices as follow :
of wheat on offer at our - to,
40 avi
. ~ mg, . ',;;;s tO 40
White wheat new, 43s to 47s Barley, gril7,.•'‘lS'it°,l'.%
Red do.
Old white 4os to 42s Oats, old. •• 0 .400t0400
Red do. sto —s New!do.. • •.•to
.••
.0,
Barley, sto --s Beans....•• • ' .0
Ea_alt...i,g 3-18 to 378 I Bette, ilelitil
-- ...... 560°109
STAMFORD—FutIaIa• per 0 pet ~'f
Barley,
wheat, 41s to 43s ; red, 38s to '!,14 to 3,10,-$ I '
I'. rleY, malting, 31s to 36s • rinding, "id 400'
oats, 13s to 24s per 21 stone. gßealA 66 '
'lr. ; new, 3ls to 368. }lca
—.......
,„TDO' a tile (rl
BRISTOL SUGAR---r' t 51/ f oili $
.0., ices r ceil
The raw sugar market continues ver) i at pr bie. 0
of the week have been most limited, av,,,4510,,5 ..i;eo'
to is per cwt. lower. Refined goods 00 ..---; ftiu r
at lower rates. hum sells steadily, at Ter-
-1 ~.tet, !,
COAL I\l.oS.° : ale 111,' !:
Priors oi_Coal per Ten at the close 0' l'' u
d
Buddle'sWest Hartley 18 9. /wad ''.:o
Cuwpen HartleY Hastings A--.....'
18 9 golywc" ",3.
Ships at market,
___--
te
Foreign Mail Packet PP
.--4.----- 1:'
felP 0.
MAILS DUE. „..•'l44eD's•,
Australia and Mauritius, via Southaulpto ' ~ 'pi,- jg,
via Marseilles • •"' ~,-.0, 14
drazil and Cket..•" h
Cape Cape Verds, by British pa°, Below y e-'
pe of Good Hope Ascension,and St. too. o,'
China, Penang, and Singapore,via soil'°lls . j 0 •'6
via ma„eille ' , 4 '
.. .•' JO 1
Falkland Islands ........ ~ .0,.,4.
Gibraltar, via South ................... n..t 0" 013' '.:t;
India (Calcutta), and aCeylon, via •Southrtt,A- °...../101.
via Noon° .. ii.',
. I, 0,
India (Bombay), via Southampton ....... „.•:fel'•
via Marseilles .......... •
~
~i,
Portugal.... ..................... ".1,40,•,),
[aim, Egypt, and Aden, . ;it; Soutliamptou.A...., , ,„
via I'qm-seines ... .
..Jo'.
m,
Newfoundland
........ .0..j0.
Oporto and Vigo .............. . ...... ...' 0'
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit' Packl:et.•'' J°lo'
by U.S. pack voltokfelPil,
by Colad'—' „.•'feD.os,
W.C. of Africa, Madeira and Teneriffe .... ~..10,',
Bahamas, via New York' .............. • :
~.,"
so,
Mexico .............................. 'Yerill i / ,
All parts of West Indies, including Cliili,
.... ,/
California. and British Columbia. ...... •
__..'
_____----____------------ /Jr°
Births. yeeP
ruse, ,cfi'
Am.ty,—On the 21st inst., at the Vica •••vit,
Atlay, of a daughter.
BECIIEtt.—On the 19th inst. at IlollY11,1:145:':r,
Ireland, the Lady Emily Becher, of a tit' fro, L'
JONES.—On the 21st inst., at Derry 00314, 00'
shire, the Lady Elizabeth Inglis Jones, ll
‘,„130 .
Marriages. : 0 t`Sitro
. at SA'll.,-,,e1, ID
BRENEL—NOBLE.—On the 21st inst., at 13P-,ioslpr
Church, Newcastle-upon-Tync, Isae4ooolo 9.vot
M.A., of Balliol College, Oxford, taw-
Brunel,•'-' s'lll'ter°
eldest son of the late Isambard li. pa 049
F.R.S., C.E., to Georgina Geils DonaA ,
.0010
late George Noble, Esq., of Greenock.. , varroW„,eorlet
Cox—BLAGRAVE.—On the 21st jus' .aats'd stip P
• Church, Talbot Ashley P, Cox, CaPt''l_ /lend
Agnes Dorkoy. eldest daughter of Jolla ••
Esq., of Barrow Court, Somersetshiro. 11
ft
~
,
Deaths. 404 „ 0,
+,5.1%, ,too
DusLor.—On the 21st inst. at St. George, dJiob 4'
Archibald Dunlop, Esq., fonnerlY oi. I° cotlt''S
„,,,f,A,,, oP
' 82. St. GeOrib-pgw,
FIELDING.—On the 20th just.,
4a,st
~/ faver 4e.
(0' 4
bury, Augustin Fielding, sen., L 4 ' rs or
' 62.'taste 4
0 No Gerrard,p" P 54 je
GERRARD.--011 the 22d inst., a. - '
Upper Hyde-park-gardens, Robert
olt 4
77. .r.rearth, AO'
. lIOOAETII.—On the 21st inst., John li. ..., ils p-
ney-green, Mile-end, aged 64. bridgc"c° ' /
LLOYD.—On the 20th inst., at Tun COI
Lloyd, Esq., KM. , surrei,
TArLOR.—On the 21st inst., at AlbtarY
~ii,o,
) _,-,- sio',oo
John Taylor, late Madras A.riny.
I _ ---.,;011);40,4g;
------ - - - ---- --;1,- DIA°. tile,' AO'
London: Prin:,ed and ruNished by 0-, 60 0_ e ca•
of No. 112, Strand, rrinter, at
e'r;ll:_,,,, in tP
Strand, in the Precinct of the ::,..,70,
taliddle —SattlrdAy, Jallt43rY 4

........