The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-14 00:00:00

SCOTTISH NORTH-EASTERN.

The report of the directors of this company states that the
gross revenue for the half-year ending the 31st July last
amounted to £132,702, and the expenditure to £60,558,
leaving a balance of £72,141 divisible in the following pro-
portions-112,926 to the Aberdeen section, £18,397 to the
Scottish Midland section, and £10,821 to the Dundee. and
Arbroath section. The amount remaining for dividend on
the Aberdeen section, after paying the interest on the 31
per cent, the 6 per cent, and the 7 per cent preference
shares, was £6,445, out of which the directors recommended
a diridend at the rate of 1 per cent per annum, leaving a
balance of £1,258; on the Scottish Midland section £15,491
remained, out of which the directors recommended a divi-
dend at the rate of 5 per cent per annum, leaving a balance
of £191; and the balance remaining for the Dundee and
Arbroath section amounted to £10,637, out of which the
directors recommended the payment of £1,667 for the divi-
dend on the 5 per cent preference stock, and of £7,500 as divi-
dend on the original stock, being at the rate of 71 per cent per
annum, leaving a balance of £1,470 for the reserve fund.
The capital account had been debited during the half year
with £20,039 for additional works at stations, Parliamentary
charges in cmnection with the bills of last session, and for
other matters. Thirty-eight miles of single line had now
been relaid with rails of 751 b to the :yard, and other mate-
rials of the most approved and substantial description; and
the rolling stock was kept up in efficient order. The works
on the Denburn Valley line at Aberdeen would be com-
menced forthwith. The directors proposed to purchase the
Carmyllic mineral line, six miles in length, for £12,000, as
it sto3d, and take over the rolling stock at a valuation.

CASTLE-DOUGLAS AND DUMFRIES.-"'""'"'
The half-yearly meeting 'was held on Saturday : Mr
Maxwell in the chair.

In moving the adoption of the report, the CHAIRMAN
s ated that there was a decrease in the goods traffic, and
that the passenger traffic was steadily on the increase, The
working expenses at 38 per cent. had been £3,008, and their
share of the less on the steamer to Ireland, which had been
withdrawn on the Ist of March last, was £287. The with-
drawal of that steamer had to a considerable extent affected
their traffic, especially in cattle, and as to Portpatrick har-
bour it was impossible to say whether the works would be
completed next spring, or not until autumn. In conclusion,
he intimated that negotiations ware on toot for the amalga-
mation of the Castle-Douglas and Dumfries Company with
the Glasgow and South-Western Company on terms which
he considered very liberal, and with which the shareholders
would be made more fully acquainted at a future meeting,

The report was adopted, and dividends at the rate of 5
per cent, on the preference, and 21 per cent, on the ordi-
nary £lO stock were agreed to,

SIVANbEA. VALE.

The half-yearly meeting was held at the offices, Swansea;
hlr Benson in the chair.

The report stated that the traffic was gradually increasing,
and when the junction with the Swansea, Neath, and Brecon
was completed it was expected that a large through traffic
would be brought over the line. After payment of interest
on the preference shares it was recommended that the ba-
lance, amounting to £737, should be carried forward to the
next account.

The report was adopted, and Mr Bath was elected a
director in the place of Mr Budd, resigned.

MONMOUTHSHIRE.
The report of the directors of this company states that the
traffic receipts were £9,862 more than in the corresponding
half of 1863. The gross receipts for past half year ending
June 30th amounted to £69,570, the working expenses to
£32,474, or 47 per cent. of the receipts, and the not earnings
to £37,095 ; against £59,707 gross receipts, £29,802, or 5 )
per cent., working expenses, and £29,905 net earnings for
the corresponding half of 1863, showing an increase of
£9,863 in the gross receipts, of £2,672 in the working ex-
penses and of £7,190 in the net earnings. The sum of £l,OOO
had been transferred to the reserved fun.: from the general
revenue account to provide for the cost of relaying various
portions of the company's railways, and for other contin-
gencies. The average rate of interest now paid on tho bor-
rowed capital was £1 6 91. per cent per annum. The gene-
ral revenue account showed that there was a balance of
£18,381, out. of which the directors recommended a dividend
at the rate of 61 per cent per annum be declared, payable
on sth October next, leaving a balance of £317. The Cwm-
tillery branch railway had been transferred to this company,
and was now worked and maintained as part of the com-
pany's undertaking. The capital account showed that
£1,233,371 hail been expended,leaving:a balance against the
company of £9,470.

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SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—One of the bloodiest battles of the Pen.
insular War was fought after peace had been con-
cluded, and it seems as if the great American
struggle would be crowned with a similar super•
fluity of carnage. While the most powerful party in
the North was proclaiming aloud its abomination of
the war and its resolute demand for peace, the North-
ern armies in Virginia and Georgia were engaged
in the most obstinate and sanguinary conflicts.
In Virginia the advantage remained with the Con.
federates, who had been the assailants ; in Georgia
the Federals, if the occupation of Atlanta is truly
reported, may claim the credit of the day. But,
though Atlanta may at last have been occupied, the
covering army has not been routed, and a success
ful combination of Confederate forces threatens
Sherman with serious embarrassment. At Mobile
Admiral Farragut is displaying that tenacity of
purpose which has characterised the Federal tactics
throughout the present campaign, and if his progress
be slow, he exhibits at least no signs of discourage.
ment. But in the mean while a voice has gone forth
which may still the thunder of the cannon. The
Chicago Convention has not only declared the prins
ciples on which the Democratic party is prepared
to act, but has demanded, in the name of the people,
that negotiations shall be immediately institu'ed for
the suspension of arms. An armistice at once, a
conference as soon as possible—these are the cries
now resounding through the States of the North ;
and unless they can be disregarded—which is not
easy to suppose—we may relieve ourselves from the
trouble of further speculations on the events of the
war. We trust the public will admit that they have
not been misguided by our comments on this obstinate
contest. The great fact which we asserted from the
first is now placed beyond reach of controversy. We
said that the North could never subdue the South,
and the North has now proclaimed the same conclu-
sion. After three years of the most desperate efforts
in which no expenditure has been spared and no
tactics have been left untried, a preponderating see.
tion of the Northern people have put on record be-
fore the world their deliberate conviction that the
policy of war is mistaken and hopeless, and that it
must be superseded by a policy of conciliation and
compromise. This is the declaration made by a party
presumed to be unquestionably the strongest in the
State, and the expression of the principle has been
intrusted not to a successful or triumphant soldier,
but to a general who was the first to discover the
impracticability of the object on which his coun-
trymen were bent. No one knows better than
I\l'Clellan the barriers which separate Washington
from Richmond, and the frightful losses which have
been incurred without results by his successors in
command have established beyond question the
justice of his views. As if to stamp with still deeper
censure the policy of the Government, Governor
Seymour, of New York, the man of greatest mark
among the opponents of Mr. Lincoln, was elected
by acclamation to the presidency of the Convention
by which these decisive stops were taken, The
questions now before us are written in broad and
unmistakeable characters. First, will the actual
Government accede to the demand expressed by
the Chicago Convention for an immediate Armistice?
And, next, will the South accept the Armistice and
enter upon the subsequent Conference on any
basis except that of national independence ? As
regards the former of these inquiries, the world
has been much misled if the Democratic party is
not the strongest party in the Northern States—
strong enough, in the absence of any unexpebted
events, to carry in November next its candidate for
the Presidency, and to impress its policy in the in•
terval upon the existing administration. It is hardly
to be conceived that President Lincoln would employ
his brief remaining term of office in counteracting or
opposing the declared will of the majority of his
country-nen. We regard the Chicago Convention as
representing a mai rity of the people, because it has
been asserted throughout that the Democratic party
if united could easily outnumber all opponents—and
they are perfectly united now. Nothing occurred to
disturb the unanimity of the Convention. It was
by acclamation " that Gen. Al•Clellan wan ulti-
mately nominated for the Presidency, and it was his
principal rival who conducted the business of the
meeting. The conclusion, therefore, appears irre-
sistible that the Demccrats are winning, and the
pacific overtures which rumour now ascribes to the
Administration itself tend to show that President
Lincoln is more likely to adopt than to resist the
winning policy, Still it must not be forgotten that
the Republicans wilt be reluctant to retire from
power, that any signal success of the Federal arms
may once more place them in the ascendant, and
that if they should deem a peace policy undesirable
they will enjoy all the advantages of actual office in
maintaining the opposite policy. The resolution of
the Convention to resist by force any military inter-
ference at the approaching elections shows plainly
enough what misgivings are entertained, Although,
however, no confidence can be expressed on such
a point, we certainly think it probable that the
Chicago Resolutions will be adopted, and
that an armistice will be proposed. In that
event, will the South enter the Convention
of the States without a stipulation, expressed or re-
served, for the recognition of its national indepen-
dence ? It seems almost impossible to think so, for,
in that case, the South would be simply surrender-
ing all it has fought for at the very moment when
success appeared most sure. On condition of re-
entering the Union the Confederates might have
dictated their own terms in the very first year of
the war. At that time President Lincoln was not
committed to the principles of the Abolitionists, and
his avowed policy was Union—without slavery if
possible, but Union on any terms, Over and over
again the Federals allowed it to be seen that if the
Southerners would but shake hands once more they
might do with slavery as they pleased. It was only
as the strife became embittered that extreme views
prevailed. The other day, in conformity with these
views, Mr Lincoln met the envoys of the South with
a demand not only for the reconstruction of the

Union but the abolition of slaveril-&telmswere
rejected, but what will the South say when the
former is tendered without the latter ? The logic
of facts would teach us that it would, either openly
or by reservation, be rejected still; for if the Con-
federates refused such terms when threatened with
the untried power of the North, how can they accept
them when, by the confession of the Northerners
them elves, that power has been tried in vein ? The
Federals have failed in their endeavours to coerce
the Confederates into reunion, and they have ac-
knowledged their failure. The Confederates have
fought heroically for their national independence
and have proved their ability to maintain it. On
what grounds, therefore, or with what expectations
of success can they be now asked to yield what
they have been fighting for to the very men
who have been unable to wrest it from them ?
It appears to us more probable that the Demo.
crats should have disguised their genuine policy
than that the people of the South should have
evinced any readiness to compromise. The
Chicago Convention professes to stand by the Union
as stoutly as the Republicans themselves, but that
resolution probably expresses little more than the
reluctance of the North to part finally with a dar-
ling idea, and the natural unwillingness of a polis
tics! party to alarm the public by the premature
confession of an unwelcome truth. We can very
well understand why the Democrats at Chicago
should shrink from blurting out the fact that the
South must go free, but wecannot understand why
the South, with success in its very grasp, should
forego the condition for which it first took up arms,
and on which it has perseveringly insisted through
three terrible years of trial. It is more likely the
armistice will be the first step towards a perception
of the truth ; that the North, after finding that the
Sonth cannot be coerced, wilt find also that it can-
not
b by
the b e pienrtseuravdaeld,,ivai andl
gtrha adtutahl
leyr ei
nfl
de cutci
eo nt ehne c oFuerdaegreadl
Statesretcourretlionwquhiasht
hasw h
natlitehmedyy
b cannoteen proved obtain
a rhaotpheer
than .
less and ruinous struggle for it.
POST.—From its very frequencye
the discussion
and
nndof
b
American politics has ceased to attractive;
though tho inhabitants of the Northern States find
e
themselves on the eve of a Presidential election,
issue of which cannot fail to exercise a mighty influ.
enec on their future destiny, the reflections that cir-
cumstance might servo to call forth would be
found cemmonplace in the extreme. It is impos-
sible, however, to avoid contrasting the condition
of the republic on the last occasion on which the
Americans were called upon to select their Chief
Magistrate with what it is now, and to note the
extraordinary changes which the short space of four
years has served to work in a State believed to be
the most prosperous, if not the most powerful, in
the world. It is easy to he wise after the event,
and political writers would now experience but
little difficulty in demonstrating that the Republic
of the West contained within itself the seeds of
its own destruction. But, nevertheless, the dis.

solution of that State undoubtedly took the world
by surprise, and that it was net anticipated
by Americans themselves is best proved by the
extraordinary efforts made by the established
Government to avoid the consummation of the
extastrophe. American statesmen long since foresaw
the possibility of a separation between the free and
the slaveholding States, and fearing the futility of
any attempts to maintain by force a connection
which the latter desired to sever, counselled an
amicable acquiescence on the part of the more
powerful section of the Republic. But what actually
did take place no one either in America or Europe
ever anticipated. That slavery might furnish a
motive for secession, and that the latter might give
rise to a civil war, were events far from improbable;
but that a war which should decimate the popula-
tion, spread desolation far and wide throughout the

vaseee-°•••':.
land, and bring the States to the verge of be",
ruptcy should be waged for nearly four years Ohre
tainly never entered the calculations of even
most prescient of American politicians. Hove',er,
facts must be taken as they are found ; and, look le
back to the time when the Republic last chose nb
President, we can only marvel at the vast nal,.°l:o
r
of evil which the folly and wickedness of me" if
been enabled to work within the comparati,%
short period which has since intervened. Ca;iti
to mind. the circumstances which attended the '''"a
Presidential election, it may well be doubteo
whether the complete severance of the South,fr°,er
the North was necessary to secure for the le"
,d
that protection which it had a right to delatl'of:.
For a long series of years the Democrats had CO
manded a majority in the State, and the occuVliblif
of the White House at Washington were invarla
men who represented and supported Southern ',"is
tcrests. The defeat of Breckenridge, the Beware'
candidate, and the return of his Republican °Po
ponent, Mr. Lincoln, for the first time threvrh•h
supreme power into the hands of a party ist
made
no secret of their intentions to attack top
peculiar institution in the South which 0(4,4
justly excites the the abhorence of almost ,"Piste
State. But to strike at slavery as it eats,"
in the Southern States was in effect to attsef' tits
rights of property, and the population of the Stage'
would not have been human if they did net for
what they considered the most efficacious mean," 01
the preservation of that which constituted .070
their entire wealth. It was not, however, their „ter
that the Republic was rent in twain. Even "ede
some of the States had seceded, proposals wereol-0,1
to Mr Lincoln which, if accepted' would hale bat
probably led to the re-formation of the Union' Ohre
these proposals the new President, confident 20,
power of the Government, refused to accept. °pot
promise was a word which Mr Lincoln could fe4
bring himself to utter, and the only reply volleh°lloo.
to the Southern delegates was, that they mustf tfie
conditionally acknowledge the supremacy
Government, and submit without demur to ao
"
cry es. Placed in this position, the South h!1
alternative of
but to spring to arms in vindicatler,
itsindependence, and before Mr Lincoln had the
.wally entered on office the war began. Theo bet
issue became different ; it was no longer vweibst
the Republic should be governed by this or,„'„ia
particular faction, but whether a new State si",;00
be permitted to establish itself entirely distinet:,"cest
that which had previously constituted the Atne,i—eir
Union. Day by day the breach widened, anti.
comes more and more hopelessly irreparable.
end'
North fought for empire; the South for iodePorp
ence; and both were equally confident of /le, 01
And so month succeeded month, and year f°l fof
after year, until again the time has come roue 000
the State to nominate its magistrate ; and sir;
more, after the lapse of four years, and tilw.,egsdeG
cumstances even graver than those which aieiseo
the last Presidential election, American P°ll.le'll de'
are engaged in that preliminary canvass W. 111.0
the
iermines the particular candidates who will jof tIO
month c Novetnber next solicit the suffrageb,ieoe,
entire people. It is not improbable that the hist OP
Convention will nominate M'Clellan, and t'isteto
majority of the population in the Northern ,-'00.06
will ratify their choice. M'Clellan is a Pe/Postelli
and it he had been elected four years since, ltbsao
of Mr Lincoln, the severance between the N:'..7rby
South might never have taken place. It 1'
means certain, however, that his election eye'
have. the effect of bringing the war tes.s9l;tlierll
During the earlier stfga of the war, the 4',°)se
Democrats. distinguished themselves from • e
publicans by the moderation of their langole'soai
by the. readiness which they evinced to me 001/
eessions to the South, provided the latter
is
once more enter the Union. But, as We .11hat Do!:
observed, the time when a compromise rolg se vir,
been. effected has long since gone by, and tsitle°ion /114
still dream of a re-establishment of the —OOO
dulge in a vain chimera, the attempt terll
which must of necessity prolong the war. A. OOP
depend, therefore, upon the language Whlealf
M.Clellan will hold, when he submits 11011'bsile,
election, whether his advent to office can he,icioDe'
as a sign of approaching peace. The Nor.thdilisi°ll,
for peace, but it is not yet resigned to that oece'e,
of the Republic which is, nevertheless,. an, hosti'l.
plished fact. The South at no time desirensli yet
ties,. and will now gladly lay down its arrentielitt/3;
mated to dose. But it can only be on one c'-'1,7 jas,6
The Southern States desire to be completely the
pendent ; they know that they can sec:* otic
accomplishment of that desire; and not? Ieo,ntiell3l;
absolute political independence will satouc Soft
The proposal now made by the South to theit
is extremely simple—it may be refused or freo•
accepted, but it cannot be evaded. If the news ,"let
dent, whether he be M'Clellan or 8017313 °,13.1110°
should adopt a temporising policy, and Ow; vet;
to coax the South into doing that which it hs,,oeit
impossible to wring from it by coercion, the otbe,
i
w
will be as disastrous as if Mr Lincoln, or soY,,Der
uncompromising Republican, as placed at th', the
of the Government. The reeestabiishment °' osef,
Union has become an impossibility, and the
that fact is recognised in the North the soooeLroci,
the war be terminated. The Southern Coofe"iit
is now, and has been since the commencetnetbera
the war, as independent a Power as the N°,,risttet
Federation, and nothing really remains for they it°
but to recognise, with what grace it rnailc'eiitls
political entity of the new Republic,
submieeicn to the unanswerable logic of la'