The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-24 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, OCT. 24, 1864.

Philosophical politicians have at present en in-
teresting opportunity of comparing the different
results of two opposite systems of Government.
The proper sphere of administrative interference
has been very often discussed, and Englishmen are
generally properly zealous of any unnecessary
meddling of the State in public affairs. Trade and
commerce, according to the generally received
theory in this country, thr:ve best when most un-
fettered, and the continental system of fixing prices
and regulating the rise and fall of articles of daily
traffic, would not be for a moment tolerated among
us, There are, however, undoubtedly exceptional
cases in which the state may wisely interfere, and
either by the suspension of existing laws or the
suggestion of fresh statutes may meet the exigencies
of the time. The great crisis in the cotton trade
was certainly one of these occasions, and although
the English manufacturing market was out of the
reach of official aid or assistance, yet the new and
Untried field which it opened to the energy and
enterprise of our colonies, left room for much bene-
ficial stimulus by the Government. More especially
was this the case in that great dependency of the
British Crown in which from various causes the
Administration partakes more of the arbitrary na-
ture of despotic Governments than of the ordinary
constitutional form of our colonies. The internal
development of India is very far from keeping pace
with that of other parts of the British Empire;
and while the country lacks the presence of most
of those qualities and possessions which encourage
the growth of a country, its progress is further
impeded by the remnants of ancient encumbrances
and the fetters of a narrow and restricted system
of policy. The evil spirit of red tapism
and routine has weighed heavily on the
fortunes of India, and 'its results have been
strikingly shown in the instance of the cotton
trade. The contrast we referred to is now mani-
fest in the state of the trade in Turkey and India.
In both countries it had been virtually annihilated
by the overwhelming extent of the American com-
petition. Both had therefore the opportunity
offered to them by the sudden withrawal of that
formidable rival from the scene. It would, how-
ever, have been naturally supposed that India
would soon have distanced its competition, having
the advantages of English capital. English energy,
English commercial experience, and, above all, the
indndement of England's intense interest in the suc-
cessful competition. Yet, what is the result. The
supply from India has fallen far short of well founded
,expeetations ; its quality has been often inferior,
rued the cultivation has never thriven heartily
arvaghout the country. Turkey, on the other
hand, is es:iffr.ted this year to produce, without '
Egypt, from half a million to 6U0,000 bal:s of
otton ; and, should the present high prices con-
tii Turkey will receive nearly one quarter of
the value of the whole American crop sent to this
country four years back. It must be remembered
that, owing to the great difference in price, Turkey
does not furnish anything like a quarter of the
American supply of cotton ; but how wise is the
Government that takes advantage of the crisis, and
enables its own impoverished country to profit
by the change, while at the same time benefitting
the trade of another people. Yet the natural ad-
vantages of Turkey are by no meansgreater than
those of India. The cotton plant appears to be
especially adapted to the latter country. Art Indian

journal, remarking upon this object observes, "It
can be and it has been grown in every climate,
ranging from that which is rainless to tracts where
the annual rainfall is from 120 to 140 inches; and
it thrives, not only in that rich black earth which
has become identified with its name, ' cotton toil,'
but also in the adjoining red clay which principally
constitutes the rest of the agricultural soil of
India," But those best qualified to judge complain
that the Government will not lend a fostering
hand. In Turkey the Administration, immediately
after the outbreak of the American war, abolished
all taxes upon cotton-growing lands for five
years and busied itself in the construc-
tion of roads, and in giving other en-
couragement. Ia India no such assistance
was given to the new end struggling trade. Mr
l3rtowN, a gentleman well acquainted with the sub-
ject, has for some time past strenuously advocated
the suspension of all tax on land cultivated with
cotton for five years, leaving all other land-tax
untouched. The benefit of this measure is intended
to reach the grower, who, under existing circum-
stances, is obliged to take the Banniah's price for
his cotton, in order to obtain the necessary cash for
the payment of his land-tax, The authorities, how-
ever, maintain that such a system would be opposed
to sound policy, and the Home Government has
expressly forbidden the experiment to be made.
Sir CHARLES WOOD has, as we know, a great ob-
jection to the slightest diminution or alteration of
the charges on land ; his one idea of making
money seems to be the receipts of the land
tax collector, and every decrease of those receipts
he looks upon as a loss to the national exchequer
without inquiring how far other departments of
revenue may have benefited by the change. One
would think that the present moment, when Sir
JOHN LAWRENCE is just extending the perpetual
settlement to the Northwest Provinces, and thus
interfering with the established routine in such
matters, would be especially suitable for the change.
But we fear there is little hope. Much precious
time has already been lost, and what has been
done for the trade hes been done almost in spite of
the Government, We fear that the war-tossed
States of America will have leisure to recover from
their convulsions and to remodel their constitutions
before Sir CHARLES WOOD is convinced of the be.
nefits of an enlarged and enlightened policy.

The Solicitor-General has been distinguishing
himself in dilating upon public affairs, and it is
only to be regretted that his ability had not a
better field for its display than he found in several
passages of his speech. He laboured under official
responsibilities as well as Parliamentary ones in
addressing his constituents this time, and perhaps
those circumstances impelled him to try him too
much and defend all that had been done or left
undone by his colleagues, whether right or wrong,
in omission or commission. First of all he alluded
to American affairs, which certainly have not con•
duced much to the credit of the law officers of the
Crown. No one can deny, however, that they
have been the cause of great annoyance ane anxiety
to them, and thus there are porno allowances to
be made, since they were put to an unusual test,
and had to decide weighty matters unexpectedly.
So far, then, all must concur in the remark of the
Solicitor-General that a great many new questions
have arisen of late years in these affairs, and
that this war has given rise to questions
"for which lawyers will search precedents and
books in vain.' It is also strictly true that
" in endeavouring to steer a neutral course, you
have to navigate between rocks and quicksands ;"
but, unfortunately for Sir R. COLLIER and hi:
friends, they have more than once got into those
dangerous quarters in their Efforts to settle compli-
cated matters with more ingenuity than ingenuous-
ness. After all that has occurred, it is really too
much to say that we have nothing to complain of
in the decisions of the American prize courts. I
is notorious that these derniers resorts, as they un-
fortunately are, have been characterised by the
grossest injustice, and at times decided in a most
unprecedented manner, and it requires the acute-
ness of legal vision to discern the respect which the
American judges have paid to the decisions of our
courts. It is really idle for such remarks to be made
at all, for they cannot convince those who are able
to form their own opinions, and those who are will-
ing to take the other side do not need such inflated
assertions. Sir R. COLLIER went at his work
with a will, and shirked nothing that bore
upon the matter in hand; indeed, it almost
seemed as if he fancied himself in the House,
discussing some great question at issue on an occa-
sion of party warfare or trial of strength. His en-
deavours to prove that the enforcement of the
Foreign Enlistment Act was very beneficial to the
trading classes were most futile, and really proved
the weakness of his case most completely. It is too
late in the day for any one to defend or approve of
the seizure of the Alexandra ; the voice of public
opinion for once coincided with the decisions of the
courts of law, and as the Solicitor-General was not
in any way connected with the affair at its outset,
it is quite absurd for him to come to the rescue of
those who incurred such odium in the extraordinary
measures relating to that vessel. An amusing inci-
dent occurred in this ill-timed defence, however, for
the zeal of the politician got the better of the pre-
judice of the profession, and rather than own the
Ministers in the wrong the learned speaker declared
that the law was at fault. Another discrepancy
followed this fatal avowal, and the Foreign Enlist-
ment Act just lauded as so wonderful in its working,
was admitted to be surrounded with so many difficule
ties that it was deemed most expedient to compromise
the affair of the rams at Birkenhead. Sir E. COLLIER
attempted to show that the Government had adopted
the golden rule, " Do as you would be done by," in
their dealing with America. This is a very unfor-
tunate illustration, because it only applies to their
actions with one of the belligerent parties, and cer-
tainly can claim no affinity in our dealings with
the other. No State, large or small, would be cone
tented to be treated as England under her present
advisers has treated the Confederate States of North
America, and lawyers may exert themselves in
their forensic arguments, and Parliamentary
speakers may declaim with matchless logic and
skilled rhetoric, but it will not do; the fact is patent
to the world, and impartial and unprejudiced judges
on both sides of the Atlantic will concur in the
validity:of the statement that fair play has not been
the characteristic of our course of action in the
struggles which have rent in twain the great Re-
public of the Western World. The Solicitor-Gene-
ral next addressed himself to the Schleswig-Holstein
question, and thus rushed from Scylla to, Cearybdis
in good earn( st, lie made a good advocate if a bad
politician, for he went out of his way to take up
awkward subjects so as to defend and explain away
what it would have been more prudent to let alone.
It is spite out of date now to declare that Earl
RUSSELL'S reply to the French Emperor's invitation
to a Congress was polite, although some persons
had declared it was not so. Also, the triumphant
assertions that it was quite right to have declined
the Congress came too late now, when every one
knows that the affairs of Denmark might have been
better managed, and could not have been worse
conducted, if the projected meeting hod taken place
originally proposed. The Solicito General cone
as orig