The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

POST.-If there is any principle of international law
more universally recognised, or more clearly understood
than another, it is that on which is based the supremacy of
a State within its own dominions, and its powerlessness
within the territories of another. This may be regarded a:
the common law which has been binding amongst nations
from the earliest times, and it has been binding amongst
nations from the earliest times, and it has never been sub-
mitted, by the force of stipulations, to any modifications.
The corollary—from the principle that as a State is only
supreme within its own dominions it can only legislate for
its own security—has, however, in modern times been
overridden by express treaties between different States. It
seemed monstrous that a malefactor should be able to secure
an immunity from well-merited punishment by simply
crossing the frontier of the State in which his crime had
been committed ; and, accordingly, many States mutually
agreed between themselves that in certain instances they
would seize offenders, and deliver them up to the authori-
ties of the State in whose dominions their offences had been
committed. In all such stipulations, however, the majority
of States have been most careful to provide that from the
class of persons thus made liable to arrest and extradition
political offenders should be excluded, as attempts to over-
turn the established power in a State are peculiarly sui
generis; and as the right to make such attempts is claimed
by every people not sunk in a state of servitude, it has been
felt that the unsuccessful revolutionist is entitled to seek a
refuge in a foreign kingdom, against the spirit or the letter
of whose laws he can have in no way offended. This prin-
ciple, that a State is only entitled to employ its powers for its
own security and for that of its citizens, has, however, in
some few instances, received even more serious modifications
than those arising out of the conclusion of extradition
treaties. States have gone so far as to make acts punishable
which are committed beyond their dominions, and have
rendered penal, acts committed within their own territory
when in their nature innocent as regards the States in
which they are committed, but hurtful in their tendency to
some foreign Power. Of the first class an example is fur-
nished by the English statute which renders a British sub-
ject who commits murder in a foreign State amenable to
English jurisdiction; and, of the latter, the Foreign En-
listment Act offers a striking illustration. All legislation,
however, the special object of which is not to secure respect
or obedience for the constituted authority of the State so
legislating is also watched with jealousy by those who
are conscious of the abuses to which it, tends. Some
of the Governments of Western and Central Europe
have, however, in recent times, attempted to establish a
system of what may be styled mutual protection, which is
completely subversive of those general principles of inter-
national polity to which we have just referred. So far back
as the year 1815, Russia, Austria, and Prussia formed what
was termed the Holy Alliance, which, whilst professedly
based upon the purest principles, in effect established a joint
system of government directed against the liberties, such as
they were, of the three nations. But although the Holy
Alliance no longer exists in name, the same principles on
which it was based are still recognised by the respective
Governments of the three above mentioned States, and spe-
cial conventions have from time to time been agreed upon,
framed in the same spirit which called into existence the
Holy Alliance half a century since. A few months after
the present Polish insurrection had broken out, the world
was astonished to hear that a Convention had Wen entered
into between the Prussian and the Russian Governments,
by which the former bound itself to deliver up to the
latter such insurgents as took refuge in Polish territory,
and, it was even said, had agreed to permit Russian
troops to pursue and seiz3 the refugees upon Polish
soil. At that time the conduct pursued by Austria,
to all appearances contrasted favourably with that
of the chief of the Liberal Powers of Germany,
as the former, though discouraging the insurrection, and
arresting and disarming such of the insurgents as
crossed the Galician frontier, did not deliver the refugees
into the hands of the Russian authorities. Although Aus-
tria is entitled to credit in not having followed in the foot-
steps of Prussia, it now appears that in some respects her
conduct has not been less reprehensible than that of the
other German Power. The charge which is now advanced
against the Austrian Government,and which has originated,
not in a foreign State, but in the Reichsrath at Vienna, is
that it had by decree brought Russia within the protection
of the Austrian criminal law, and applied such law against
parsons resident in Galicia for offences alleged to be com-
mitted endangering the security of the Russian Govern..
ment. The subject was brought before the Reichsrath by
a Galician deputy, who moved for a committee to examine
and pronounce upon the legality of the Ministerial decree
which thus extended to Russia the protection of the Aus •
trian criminal code in reference to offences committed on
Austrian territory. The motion, though vigorously opposed
by the Government, was carried by a small majority; and
as the deputies appointed to form the committee are known
to be strongly opposed to the Convention with Russia out
of which the decree sprang, it is probable that it will be
pronounced illegal, It is but just to say that the Conven-
tion and the decree date from the year 1860, and have not
been called into existence by the present disturbances in
Poland. But no excuse can be offered for the manner in
which the Austrian Government has used the extraordi-
nary powers with which it seems to consider that it is in-
vested. According to the statements made by Dr. Zyble-
kiewicz, the deputy who moved for the committee, no less
than 2,000 persons have been imprisoned in Galicia during
the past 10 months for offences alleged to have been com-
mitted against the Russian Government, the population of
Galicia being only five millions. The ordinary criminal
courts are not sufficiently numerous to discharge the
duties thus thrown upon them, and additional district
courts have been established. The arrests are arbitra-
rily made, and the prisoners are confined for months
before they are even made acquainted with
the nature of the offence of which they are accused. Some

have been detained as long as seven months, and have then
been discharged in the absence of all evidence to criminate
them. Prince Sapieha was arrested six months since, and

has not, up to the present, been either tried or examined.
These facts, incredible as they must seem to us, and
astonishing as they appeared to the Austrian Reiclas-
rath, were not contradicted by the Government. The
statement of Dr. Zyblekiewicz, that the number of arrests
was on the increase, no doubt impressed upon the Chamber
the necessity of taking measures at the same time to protect
Austrian subjects, and to save, if possible, the honour of the
Austrian nation. There can be but little doubt respect-
ing the course which will be pursued by the committee.
The Ministerial decree will be pronounced illegal, and
Russia will be left, so far at least as Austria is concerned,
to depend for protection on her own code of laws, and on
the military satraps who so vigorously administer it within
the Russian dominions. _ .

Truns.—A short paragraph in the summary of West
Indian news which we published on Wednesday touches
on a subject which nearly concerns our Transatlantic Colo-
nies, and may before long assume an Imperial interest.
" The Demerara Court of Policy met on the 9th and the
17th ult., and the time of each sitting was occupied by dis-
cussions on the Immigration Question, which led, however,
to no definite result." This "Immigration Question" is
no other than the question whether the colonial Govern-
ment is to encourage the importation of free blacks from the
Northern States of America, and thus help to relieve Mr.
Lincoln of his greatest difficulty. The reason why it was
debated without any practical result by the Council of Ten
which, under the name of the Court of Policy, still retains
much of the Dutch character is simply that it involves diffi-
cult problems of the most vital importance to a colony. To
the class of labourers, the competition of strangers, and
especially of strangers who have been used to work for
nothing, must always be obnoxious. To the employers
of labour the command of increased working power at a
reduced rate must, for the converse reason, be
a great
immediate advantage. To the officials, who always
the two partiesniakes
form a powerful body in colonial society, it
little difference personally which of
Now, have a natural
prevails, bat public functionaries generally
elements, the Court of
inclination to the Conservative side.
Policy at Demerara consists of two
cial, the other representative. Fiveof the one offi-
appointed by the Government, and five its members are
another more popular body directly are chosen by
elec-
tors. We are not informed in wh t responsible to the
Assem-
bly was divided on the labour a proportions this
the Governor undertook
that the majority of the
to luestion, bat as we find that
state, on his own knowledge,
inineigratime, we The employers were unfavourable to
"'''y fairly conclude that the non-02Qia.1

STAMPED ....sd. -

members present were of the contrary opinion. At al
events, two or three days after this assertion was made, an
address was presented to his Excellency, signed by to lees
than 18 gentlemen, on behalf of themselves and their con-
stituents. They state, in a few words, that they are favour •
able to free immigration from the United States of America
and the island of Barbadoes, that they consider that the cost
of such immigration should be defrayed from the general
revenues of the colony, and that they are satisfied that, so
far from their being no demand for labour, these neople
would find immediate employment, if introduced as free
agents." We need hardly remind our readers that this is
no new question in British Guiana, or, indeed, in any of
our West Indian colonies. The abolition of slavery, righte-
ous as it was in principle, and cautiously as it was carried
out, paralysed the industrial system of those dependencies,
and drove the European landowners .to introduce cheap
labour for definite terms of service from other tropical coun-
tries. We have a series of Orders in Council confirming
or disallowing ordinances of British Guiana to regulate
M
immigration, and a series of correspondence with the Colo-
nial-oee respecting the traffic in Coolies and Chinese. A
very considerable proportion of the whole population is of
ofthe
foreign extraction, and by thus replacing the most indolent
enfranchised negroes and their descendants, British
Guiana has managed to escape the wholesale ruin of the
neighbouring islands.
Still, but a small fraction of the
soil has as yet been brought under cultivation, and much
of that which is cultivated, and covered with crops of
sthuegarsra
,acoeffepe,reocrarciootutson,coinsdhiteilocl us as bythethpe flats
storosf
Ho-
land. It is protected by
lr
dams from inundations of
salt and fresh water, and demands incessant care
and vigilance. Hitherto the system of husbandry has been
rude in the extreme, and it has been calculated that ^
simple improvements, requiring, however, more skilled
labour, would enormously increase the productiveness of
estates. It is no doubt with the hope of effecting this de-
sirable object more rapidly that some of the colonists pro-
pose to turn. President Lincoln's necessity into their own.
opportunity. If Professor Cairnes is to be taken as tin
authority on the value of slave labour, the economical
soundness of such a speculation is more than doubtful. Ac.
cording to him, the negroes in the Southern States are
naturally incapable of any but the most primitive and
mechanical operations of agriculture. They cannot be
trusted to plough, or to use manure, or, in fact, to do any-
thing but to pick cotton or cut the sugar-cane. Whether
the present condition of the Confederate States is consistent
with this estimate of negro intelligence we will not stop to
inquire; but, supposing it to be true, and that mere eman-
cipation does not work a magical change in their nature, it
is clear that it would not be worth while to import them in
any great numbers into British Guiana. What appears to
be there wanted is not hands alone, but labour of a superior
kind, such as can be employed to clear, drain, and render
profitable new and less fertile districts. Perhaps, however,
we may safely assume that the colonists understand their
own business, and, having tried labourers of various races,
including the African, know which is best adapted for their
climate and methods of culture. We can only hope that
they do not count upon getting these poor creatures upon
terms to be fixed arbitrarily by the Federal Government.
There can be no doubt that, in their anxiety to be rid of
them, the authorities of the United States might be willing
to make a very bad bargain on their behalf. Having looked
about in vain for some means, however costly, of deporting
them, they would not be very scrupulous about their rights
and future destiny, if they could father a portion en any
other civilised nation. This makes it the more necessary that
our Government should watch any transaction of the kind.
The Chines?, though often maltreated by their white neigh-
bours, are comparatively able to take care of themselves,
but the service of starving negroes, under contracts with
American emigration agents, might very easily become
slavery in disguise. Thero is another consideration directly
affecting ourselves, which it is our duty to take into ac-
count. By opening our colonies to a regular export of
"free niggers" from the Northern States, we should, in
fact, be giving theta a powerful weapon against the South.
As it is, the misery of those who have accepted the offer of
liberty without enlisting in the army has probably deterred
many others from running away. It is quite possible the
promise of a free passage to British Guiana, with high
wages and other inducements which a clever Yankeewould
present to the negro imagination, would prove a more
tempting bait. We do not say it would, for even among
slaves there is a sentiment of adhesiveness, which cannot,
indeed, be called love of country, but which attaches them
to tbo scene of their daily joys and sufferings. Had a negro
with a good master been asked before the war whether he
would exchange servitude on an Alabama plantation for
freedom on a South American farm, we very much doubt
whether he would have chosen the latter alternative
But war must have done its work in unsettling the minds
of the slave population, and preparing them for change,
and it may be that some runaways would gladly accept a
refuge in the West Indies. If they could mace their escape
thither for themselves, welcome or unwelcome, they would
be entitled to our protection on British territory. This is
one thing, but to encourage a system of decaying and ship-
ping them cif to West Indian ports is another. It may be
strictly consistent with neutrality, and open to no valid ob-
jection, but it would certainly place us in an unfriendly
relation to the Confederates, and therefore should be well
considered. A grant " from the general revenues" of a
British colony to put chase, or at least to procure, that
which by the laws of the Southern States is the property
of their citizens, is a questionable measure—not the less so
because, according to our own laws, it is neither their pro-
perty nor the property of those with whom we should have
to negotiate.