The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-30 00:00:00

GOLD IN CANADA,

The following official correspondence has been
published at Quebec:-•ti
Department of Crown Lands, Quebec, Sept. 12, 1863.

Sir,—ln consequence of the extensive discoveries of
gold, which is alleged are now being made on the Chaudiere
and its tributaries, and the frequent applications to this
department for licences, &c., I am desirous of ascertaining
officially the truth of these reports, and also the circum-
stances under which these applications are being made,
with a view to the adoption of such now regulations as the
interests of the Crown and the development of the mineral
resources of that :region may seem to require. You will,
therefore, visit the gold mining districts and report to me
the actual state of affairs. Your attention will be given
especially to reported indications of gold, and the position,
nature, and extent of the mining operations now going on,
whether in the seigniories or on the lands of the Crown.
I remain, &c., WM, MACDOUGALL, Commis-
sioner of Crown Lands,
F. T. Judah, Esq., Clerk of Crown Domain, &c,, Quebec.
Department of Crown Lands, Jesuits' Estates and
Crown Dcmain Branch, Quebec, Sept. 26, 1863.
Sir,— I have the honour to state that, in conformity with
your instructions of the 12th inst., to visit and report on the
Chaudi(Te gold mining district, I left this city on the 14th,
on my way to the locality, and reached the village of St.
Joseph, on the banks of the Chaudiere, and in the seig-
niory of St. Joseph, on the evening of that day.
On the following morning I proceeded to the adjacent
parish of Francois, calling on the road at the residences of
two of the brothers Poulin, to whom I shall hereafter refer,
and passing the River des Piantes, which falls into the
Chaudiere from the east, arrived about noon at the rives
called Touffe des Pins, or Gilbert, in the same parish of St.
Francois, seigniory of Rigaud Vaudreuill, where I under-
stood that gold Jmining operations were going on.
This last river, first called Touffe des Pins from the loca-
lity where it reaches the Chaudiere, has been re-named
Gilbert, after the person whose daughter first found gold
therein some 30 years ago. The old man Gilbert, now some
60 or 70 years of age, still lives near the mouth of the river
and I learned from his own lips a recital of the story :—lt
appears that the daughter, in leading a horse to water one
morning, found lying in the stream what she supposed to
be a yellow pebble of about the size of a pigeon's egg ; her
father, anxious to learn what it was, gave it to some one
coming to Quebec, and the jewellers here pronounced it to be
gold. Old Gilbert parted with it for 40 dols., a sum appoe
rently much below its value. Encouraged by the discovery,
ho made searches, and on several occasions found more gold,
but not any considerable amount. The seigniors of the seign-
iory, the Dr. Lery family, in consequence of these discove-
ries, and the indications which presented themselves, applied
for and obtained from Government, per letters patent of Sept,
18, 1846, an exclusive mining privilege for the precious
metals for ever within the limits of the seigniory in question,
subject to certain conditions, and among others, the payment
of a Royalty of 10 per cent on the gross produce,which con-
ditions it appears have never been complied with. It does
not seem that the seigniors ever carried on any considerable
operations themselves, and in 1851, they leased, subject to
a per tentage, their rights over the whole seigniory to Dr.
James Douglas and others of Quebec. Dr. Douglas eventu-
ally became solely interested in this lease, and under it
mining operations were carried on by him and others under
sub-leases, at different times and at more than one place, as
I will hereafter show. Dr. Douglas's lease expires Sept. 1,
1864 and was transferred in consideration of the sum of
3,000 dols., about the middle of July last, to a company com-
posed of Messrs. Hans, Hagens, and others, also of this city,
who are now mining on the Gilbert, as hereafter mentioned.
These last named parties have likewise leased from the
seigniors a further similar lease of 15 years, for which they
have agreed to pay 8,000 dols., 2,000 dols. of which have
been given in cash. Both of these leases are made expressly
without any guarantee on either part. The present opera-
tions on the Gilbert were brought about in the following
manner :—lt appears that one of the three brothers of the
name of Poulin, who have been for some years past engaged
in mining for themselves and others, with more or less suc-
cess, having discovered this mine last fall, imparted the in-
telligence to the other two brothers, and about the end of
May last they commenced operations ; the news having
spread others joined them, and there have been from seven
or eight to 100 or 150 men engaged ever since. Many left
from time to time to attend to their field duties, to be re-
placed by others.

When I visited the mine I should judge that there were
not over 100 men engaged altogether.
Having proceeded to the mine in question upon the river,
in the third range, east of the Chaudiere, called De Lery
Concession, and on lots Nos. 19, 20, 21, and 22, belonging
respectively to persons of the name of Rodrigues, Loubier,
Villieux, Grondin, and Poulin, I found extensive mining
operations for gold in progress. The river, which falls into
the Chaudier about one mile and a half to the south, crosses
these lots, each three arpents wide, nearly at right angles.
The stream at high water is here about 15ft. or 20ft. wide,
but now, from the dryness of the season, is very inconsider-
able. On Poulin's lot (22), and Grondin's (21), no works are
in progress, and they are in no way occupied by the miners,
with the exception of a sluice which crosses part of the firsc,
where the river is dammed, and the whole of the latter, and
which serves to convey water for the operations carried on
by Messrs. Hagens and Co., who are prosecuting works on
Villieux's lot (20). Upon this lot the sluice terminates, and
it is here that the gravel and stone are washed, and the gold
extracted therefrom. The lower part of the sluice (which is
altogether about five arpents long, and some 18 inches wide,
and the same in depth), is fitted up with three false bottoms,
each 10ft. long, composed of strips of wood placed length-
wise with openings between; the gravel and stone being
thrown in from trenches dug at the sides of the sluice is
washed clean by the water, the fine sand and gravel and the
gold sinking in the openings, and the coarser stones being
raked out ; once a day, in the evening, the bottoms are re-
moved, and the water being partially turned off, the sand
and gravel are carried away, and the gold remains behind,
the finest sand is caught in a pan at the foot of the sluice
and washed by hand, while care is taken to catch any gold
which may escape, by small pieces of wood placed across
the flume, which carries off the water at the end of the
sluice. The depth of water in the sluice is about two
inches, and the leakage from the dam is trifling. The fall
is about 10 feet in five arpents, and about 1 foot in 15 or 20

at the end of the sluice. Messrs. Hagens and Co. have
also in operation a long tom, the only one I saw in use
there, and which consists of a box or trough, in which the
gold is washed by water from the sluice. They are workin%
on shares, in partnership with two persons of the names of

Brock and Purceval, who receive one-half of the proceeds

on payment by them of the expenses. On my second visit
to the mine saw, at 6in the evening, the gold collected at
the foot of the sluice for that day, and it amounted to some
12 dols. or 15 dols.; but Mr. Purceval showed me the pro-
ceeds of the day previous, among which were several large
pieces, amounting altogether to some 50 dols., and he ad-
mitted that the average yield had exceeded 30 deli. per day.
I am disposed to believe that the average return may be a
good deal larger. Five men were employed ; wages 80
cents. per diem, without board, which, it must be ad-
mitted, is a very moderate rate for gold-diggings. On
Lubier's lot, the north half of 19, nothing at all is now being
done ; a few pits have been sunk, in some cases to the depth
merely of three or four feet, and in others down to the bed
rock; but the whole has been abandoned for the apparently
more lucrative workings on the adjoining lands. It is upon
Rodrigues' lot, the south half of 19, that the greatest extent
of work is going on ; pits have been sunk in every direction
in the bed and on the sides of the river, and miners are at
work by the dozens in excavating and washing. The exca-
vating is done by pick and shovel, and the earth and stone
is carried in pans or boxes to the edge of the river, where it
is washed in the cradles 02 rockers, From four to ten men

are engaged in each pit—one being employed in rocking, one
in supplying the water, and the others in digging and carry-
ing tho gravel and stones to the cradle. The rocker or cradle
consists of a box about four feet long, 18 inches wide, and
one foot high, placed on rockers, one end being fitted up with
a movable box of about six inches deep, fitted on the top of
the cradle, the bottom of which box is perforated with small
holes, the bottom of the cradle is also fitted up with a couple
of small cross •pieces to catch the fine sand and gold. The
stone and gravel being thrown into the box, the cradle,which
is slightly raised at the upper end, is set going, one man
constantly supplying water, and the small gravel and gold
being detached from the larger stones fall to the bottom,
the larger pieces of gold being extracted with the hand, and
the smaller ones washed out of the sand in a small pan in
the stream. Ic4 o washing is being done with a pan other
than that I have stated. The pits (called claims) sunk on
Rodrigues' lot, and being dug or worked, when I visited

the mine, number some couple of dozen, there being about
60 or 75 men engaged hero altogether. To the depth of two
or three feet the surface is covered with a vegetable mould
or clay (earth), then follows a layer of gravel and sand, and
lastly a thickness of two or three feet of surface rock, con-
sisting of blue slate down to the bed rock, which is found
at about ten feet from the surface. It is in the gravel and
sand, and embedded in the slate, that the gold is found in
pieces and nuggets varying from the size of about a quarter
of a grain upwards, the largest piece yet found being II oz.
It is only when the washing and cleansing operation is
completed that the gold is seen. It is represented to be
23 carats, but I think this is a mistake, for the finest which
has been discovered in the Chandiere district, submitted

:o test, is 892-1,000, and no doubt the first named propor-

tion is a mere approximate calculation; the gold is, how-
ever, beautifully pure and clean and of a deep colour. The
indications of the quartz from which it has been detached
is visible in nearly every piece. The alloy is silver. I
saw no very fine or flour gold, nor was any visible with an
ordinary magnifying glass. Notwithstanding this, it may
still exist,but it must bo in infinitesimal particles intermixed
with the fine sand, requiring the aid of quicksilver, of which
none is now being made use of at the mine, to collect it,
From May till the middle of July some of the miners paid

. -
Dr. Douglas, the lessee from the seigniors as before-men-
tioned, a percentage of their gross returns, that of the Pou•
lins and Rodrigue, the owner of one of the lots where the
mining is going on, and whom the Poulins are in partner-
ship with, amounting alone to GOO doll. Messrs. llagens and
Co., having taken possession under their lease, sublet or
sold claims to Nov. 1 next to others, principally on Ro-
drigue's lot, ranging from 150 to 25ft, square, fit prim ail,.

bag about 4 dols. per foot front, parts of sora,e of the largest
of these claims having again been resold by the purchasers
for as much in some instances as they originally paid for the
whole. Messrs. Hagens and Co. at first worked with pans
and cradles, but now they are operating exclusively with
the sluice I have referred to. A few days previous to my
visit to the mine Dr. Reed, of Quebec, had purchased the
Viellieux and Grondin lots for, I was informed, 300 dols.
each, and had placed men to work on one-third shares ;
these had been notified to desist by Messrs. Hagens and Co.,
and such notice being di-regarded, the latter had sued out
process against them. Matters were in this state when I
loft the mine. Though many, it was said, had been disap-
pointed, I think that for the most part the workings have
proved remunerative, for I did not see or hear myself
while I was there of any instance of dissatisfaction or dis-
appointment. The returns, of course, as in all such cases,
vary very much, giving in some instances not much over
2 dols. per day per man, and in others above 6 dols. on the
whole claim, which takes usually from a week to a fortnight
to exhaust, according to the number of the men employed.
I will give a few instances : —Eight men, 15 days each, 40
dole. ; total, 320 dole., or 2 dole. 66 cents. per man per
diem ; four men, 15 days each, 100 dole, ; total, 400 dole.,
or 6 dole. 66 cents. per man per diem.
On one of the occasions upon which I visited the mine
ten men had got out of one pit nearly 200 dols. on that day
alone, while on another claim three men had taken out 7
dols. 50 cents. the previous afternoon, and 1 dol. 50 cents.
out of two pansful washed in thecradle the following morn-
ing. It is somewhat difficult to ascertain, with any degree
of certainty, during such a short visit as I made, the quan-
tity of gold which has been extracted from this river since
May. The Poulins and Rodrigue have met with the
greatest success, both by being the first in the field, and by
having the good fortune to select a rich location. One of
the Poulins admitted to me that the share of each of the
four had already exceeded 1,000 dole., and I am inclined to
think this amount an under estimate, for I heard that they
had owned to a larger sum, and I can see no reason why
they should seek to exaggerate. I myself saw at Rod-
rigue's house, on my second visit to the mine, upon my
return from the junction of the Du Loup and Chaudiere, a
large saucer nearly full of pure gold of the weight of about
51b., representing, at 18 dols. per ounce, which is the selling
price at the mine, 1,080 dole. This, Rodrigue told me, was
two-thirds of the gold which he and the Poulins had got
out of the claim they had bought from Ilagens and Co. since
their purchase. In this saucer was a piece of about 5f oz.
worth nearly 100 dols., which had been found about two
weeks previous. Among other incidents I noticed a woman
who was working a claim with her husband; this woman
some time before had found a nugget worth from 80 dole, to
90 dole, As I have stated, it is very difficult for me
to form an accurate estimate of the amount altogether taken
out of the river since the spring, but, assuming that an aver-
age of 100 men have been employed per day for thelast three
months, and that the gains of each have only reached 2
dole., the total result would give 18,000 dole, as the whole
gross produce of the diggings to this day ; but I think that,
while the total number of days' labour may be less than the
above, the average yield has been over the proportion I have
stated in such a ratio as to give the same result, from which
I conclude that a quantity at least equal to 18,000 dols, has
been extracted so far. At the same time, it is possible—
nay, probable—that much more has been taken out. The
Poulins and Rodrigus average above 10 dole. a day each,
but theirs is an exceptional case ; others, however, have
collected as much as they, but during a more limited
period. It is as difficult to foretell how long these diggings
may continue to give such rich returns as it is to say the
exact quantity of gold yielded up till now; but this I may
aver, that so far the supply does not seem to have fallen
off. Mr. Purceval, who has mined in California, told me
that the indications were exactly similar to those of one
of the mines he worked at there. Besides Mr. Pur-
ceval, I met with others who had been in California,
and gave the same opinion. I also saw and conversed
with several miners from Nova Scotia, but theirs are

mostly quartz mines. During my visit to the mine I could
not help being struck with the unsystematic and altogether
unsatisfactory manner of the works at present going on
there. The pits are being sunk in every conceivable posi-

tion, without regard to order or convenience. Instead of
arrangements being made by which those fronting on the
river could make use of the water in concert with those
who have obtained claims in rear, or the claims being made
narrower on the river and longer, so as to give the same
superficies by which a water frontage would be secured to
each, the miners working in rear of those who have secured
claims in front of their holdings have to carry their gravel
and stone some distance further down to the stream in
pans or boxes. This may be owing in part to the unsatis-
factory tenure of the holdings, each one being only anxious

to secure as much as he possibly can before the season is
brought to a close. The necessity of some well devised
licensed scheme is thus made most apparent. I also think

that sufficient care is not taken by the miners, and that
some of the gold is lost. This they will learn by experience,
as well as the introduction of those appliances which have
been made so usefully available in California, and which,
during high water especially, could no doubt be turned to
good account with advantage here.
I left the mind at about 6 in the evening and proceeded a
short distance towards the mouth of the river, where I visited
another working about 40 arpents up the stream,where seven
Americans have been at work for a few days on a lot belong-
ing to the Gilbert before mentioned, being, I believe, No. 76
in the first range. They have dug a trench about Ott. deep
and loft, long at the side of the river, a little below where
Dr. Douglas mined some few years ago ; but, as they had
left their work for the day, I could not ascertain the result
of their operations. I heard, however, from Gilbert that
they had not as yet obtained much gold. I then proceeded
off to the junction of the Du Loup and Chaudiere, where I

passed the evening.
The next morning I visited the location of the Du Loup,
where it unites with the ChauOiere, and in the Fief St.
Charles, seigniory of Aubin de l'lsle, which was worked
for some years by Mr. James Logan and others, under the
licence promised by the Government to Mr. Oatey in 1851.
The licensees, having got into difficulties with the owners of
the lot (one Craig), gave up operations, vb hich were after-
wards resumed by a company from Napanee, who worked
for three years, and finally also abandoned it, the land pur-
chased by them from Craig having been sold at the suit of
the latter by the Sheriff for non-payment of the balance of
the purchase price, and bought in by Mr. Childs, notary, of
Quebec, in Craig's interest. The location is now unworked.
The parties acting under Oatey's licence furnished returns to
the department, and covered, I understand, their expenses.
The Napanee Company proceeded without authority from
the Crown, and never furnished any returns; they sunk a
shaft on the bank of the river, and as far as I could learn,
were not very successful. I did not see or hear of any fur-
ther mining operations having been undertaken beyond
this point. IThe St. Lawrence Mining Company, incorpo-
rated by act of Parliament, own land, it is said, for mining
purposes in the township of Jersey on the rivers Du Loup,
Metgermette, and Portage, but have not yet worked any
mines thereon. I next visited the falls on the Chaudiere,
two or three miles above the junction, and in the townships
of Jersey and Shanley, but as no mining operations were
going on beyond, I here retraced my steps homeward.
On my return I passed the Famine, which was worked
for some time by Dr. Douglas, under the De Lery patent,
and in the afternoon again visited the mine on the upptr
part of the Gilbert, and left the following day on my way
to Quebec.

At one of the Poulin's I saw nine pieces of gold found in
the Chaudiere, the Plantes, the Gilbert, and the Famine.
These pieces varied from a couple of dwta. to 11 oz. each. I
noticed that that got from the Chaudiere was of a much
lighter colour than that of the Gilbert, containing most
likely a larger quantity of silver alloy.
I learnt that previous to this year Dr. Douglas had worked
on the Plantes, the Gilbert, and the Famine, and that in
one season he had obtained a considerable sum out of the
Plantes. The gold found in this last mentioned river is smaller
than that of the Gilbert, the largest piece get out of it hav-
ing been of the value of 30 doll, but it has not been worked
very far up.
The Mr. Brock before mentioned also worked with others
at the Chaudiere last year, under a lease from Dr. Douglas.
A vein of quartz crosses across theChaudiere,at the Devil's
Rapids, in St. Frangois, a little below the Gilbert, and is
seed on the hill on the main road. I also saw quartz crop-
ping out in several places. Some of the plartz, lam told,
has been tested, and contains gold.
No quartz mining operations have yet been undertaken
anywhere, sufficient io.dications not having presented them-
selves, and the mining has so far been confined exclusively
to alluvial diggings ; but explorers, of whom I met more
than one, are now out in numbers, and the existence or not
of gold in the quartz state, in eitu, in sufficient quantities to
pay for working, will now, no doubt, soon be established.
All the mining operations have also so far taken place in
the seigniories, nothing having been done, as for as I could
learn, on the Crown lands.
The country through which I travelled along the banks
of the Chaudiera consists of rich alluvial flats, gradually
rising from the river to a distance in some places of as much
as 30 to 40 arpents, with hills and plateau of cultivated land
in rear, well and continuously settled as far as I went to the
forks of the Du Loup and Chaudiere. The lots on the De
Lery range o f Rigaud Vandreuil, where the mining on the
Gibert is going on, being the third from the river, are un-
improved, but the first two ranges are all cleared and culti-
vated.

I cannot conclude this report without bearing testimony
to the quiet and pod order existing at the Gilbert mine.
The mines consist principally of French Canadian habitans
from the adjoining parishes, with a few persons from Quebec
and elsewhere, and at neither of my visits did I hear a
word spoken in anger.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,

F. T. JUDAH, Clerk Crown Domains, &C.
The llon. N. lkl.`Dougall, Commissioner of Crown
Lands, &c,, Quebec.

The funeral of the late Staff-Surg. Major Bray-
brooke, Military Train, took place yesterday at
Woolwich, with full military honours, and was
attended in procession by about 500 officers and
men consisting of detachments of various corps, and
the officers commanding brigades and division. Dr.
Braybrooke died suddenly at his family residence

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES,—On Monday night there steamed into
Galway Bay a very large ship, with some goods on
board, about 300 steerage pessengers, and a select
party in the cabin. Under the protection of the Isles
of Arran, thirty miles off, and favoured by wind
and tide, the ship steamed up to an anchorage on
the safe side of a small island, on which stand a
lighthouse and a battery, and thence, by means of a
steam tender, communicated with the Port of Gal-
way. No doubt the whole town was roused from
sleep to welcome the stranger. Four hundred new
passengers, with their boxes and belongings, were
carried on board by the indefatigable tender. Last
of all, amid universal excitement, everybody stand-
ing at his shop door and ready to cheer at the
smallest provocation, one of Bianconi's coaches
drove down, loaded inside and out with large white
sacks of letters. The policemen formed a line on the
quays, already barricaded to keep off the shoeless
and stockingless natives; the mail sacks were put
on board the tender, and thence in a quarter of
an hour put on board tl.e Adriatic, which at half-
pest 2 on Tuesday afternoon steamed down the bay
on her course across the Atlantic. Besides the 400
steerage passengers and the 23 sacks of letters, she
took in at Galway two puncheons of whisky and
the latest telegrams. As to the puncheons, no doubt
they are very pleasant compagnons de voyage. The
latest telegrams we must presume to represent the
state of the London markets that morning, end,
therefore, one day later than any news carried by a
rival steamer from Liverpool in the same longitude.
The letters we will say nothing about, for, till the
Galway steamers start to the hour, all letters in-
tended for them will be liable to serious delays in
the Galway post-office. We suspect that they were
letters that could easily wait a day cr two. It is
only on the most favourable supposition that we can
conceive it at all worth the while of a steamer start-
ing from the Mersey, and getting safe into the open
sea, to retrace its course off the worst coast in the
whole world and steam up a deep bay into the heart
of Ireland. As for goods traffic, that was suitably
and abundantly represented by the two puncheons
of whisky. The famous bay of Galway, like all
the bays of that shore, is as beautiful as nature can
make it; but commerce can scarcely be said to have
yet furrowed its tair face. Nothing cares to avail itself
of the much-boasted protection of the Isles of Arran.
There is no part of the neighbouring seas where you
could have long range practice with the most fabul-
ous guns, across the bay, or up or down, with more
certainty of doing no mischief. Except a small
boat, or an occasional " hooker" from the opposite
shore, there is not a sail to be seen. Half the town
is in ruins; pity compels us to be silent as to
the prospects of the monster Railway Hotel. The
place, of course, is full of institutions, as all Irish
towns are : indeed, it threatens to be all institutions,
and nothing else. Workhouses, barracks, police-
station, court-house, churches and chapels, monas-
teries and convents of a dozen different orders, the
Queen's College, the model farm, a dozen schools,
the splendid group of the station and hotel, the
club-house, and twenty other public buildings,which
it is impossible to recall, constitute the head of a
community, the body of which consists of a thou-
sand fishermen's huts and some suburbs of thatched
or unthatched hovels. There is nothing to sell but
fish, and the free Parliament of Claddagh steadily
resist not only trawling, but every plan whatever
for joining the deep-sea fishery to the miserably pre-
carious produce of the bay. What they do with the
fish we know not, but we doubt whether they send
it to England; they don't send it to America. In
all this we de not see even the beginning of trade.
Most of these institutions prey on the resources of a
country and do little to develope them. Whether
the "religious" are consistent or not in their own
renunciation of the world, they are very apt to pre-
vent others from making the best of it. But putting
out of the question that desolate waste of waters,
that strange old mediaeval city, its still stranger
suburbs, the twenty-three sacks of letters, the
twenty-eight cabin passengers, the latest telegrams,
and the two puncheons of whisky, out and out, be-
yond all comparison, the most important article in
that departure from Galway Bay were the seven
hundred steerage passengers. They were robust,
healthy, young people; very few of them married;
what people used to call the " sinew and bone" of a
country. Though " A Magistrate," in his statistics,
set down to the national loss the few pounds in the
pockets of these poor people, we are inclined to sus-
pect that most of them have been enabled to emi-
grate by remittances from their relations in America,
and that every one of them will assist others in like
fashion. There never was a feeling so universal,
so deep seated, so prevailing over considerations
usually supposed to be all powerful, as that which
has turned the face of every Irish man, woman,
and child towards America. There is not one
who will not go if he can. They ate only waiting
on fortune, or their turn in " the list" of some now
American relative, be it first, fifth, tenth, or twen-
tieth in that list. This is a fact which overrides
every other Irish question. The current, in every
town and village, every street, every family, every
breast, has set in, and it is beyond the power of
Governments, of laws, of priests, or politicians to
do more than just lash and disturb the great tide
of emigration. The Federal Government will have
them and must have them. It will effee any terms,
even greater than those it now offers; but men it
must have, whether directly for the war, or for the
gap it leaves in all branches of labour. But there
is scarcely a cottage in the -West of Ireland where
the promise of the family, the elder sons and
daughters—their voices and their features still
fresh in memory as young and old gather round
the turf fire—are not in some far Western State,
sending home their hearts' best wishes for the re-
union of the circle. The passage to the New
-World, once so formidable, has long been divested
of any speculative quality or imaginative hue. It
is not more than a voyage to Liverpool or London.
Indeed, Ireland is much more American, and
America much more Irish, than English people
are apt to conceive. The great majority of the
white population of the United States are of Irish
descent. It is the Irish element which has long
governed the politics of the Union. So like is
now flowing to like, and kin to kin, with an
irresistible affinity. While writers at home ate
angrily debating what is to be done with the
Irish, they are fast settling the question for them-
selves by a universal departure. But this
throws a new and singular light on the Atlantic
Royal Mail Company. If the British Govern-
ment said to the Irish,—" We are sick of you ;
we can do nothing with you : we would rather
have Ireland without you; so the Great Eastern
and a few other big ships will call once a-
week at Galway, or Queenstown, and take
5,000 of you at a time to New York," the
proceeding would be thought most startling and
equivocal. The Confederates would have some-
thing to say to it ; so too would Irish land-
lords and English taxpayers ; so too would
would
uldouthe
paarTty thatery
priests ; so too would even our economists and
philanthropists.havearightto be satisfied,
Ve
know
except
few Irish
proprietors, who are perfectly sure that the land is
good for nothing but breeding horses and grazing
small cattle. In the end we suspect that every
British interest would be injured by such it course,
were it possible or conceivable. But, in matter of
fact, this is just what we are doing. On a ridiculous
pretence of a few bags of letters and the latest tele-
grams, both of which will be always anticipated,
we are subsidizing a big ship to put into Galway,
and carry
off, every time, in effect to a foreign
country, the better part of a thousand young and
healthy British subjects, never to see Ireland again,
In the scale of war the living freight of the Adri-
atic is worth far more than the ships lately seized in
the Mersey. Even that, however, is a trifling con-
sideration compared to the incalculable results to
this country,—to England, to Ireland itself, to the
whole Empire, to its domestic operations and its
foreign policy. There are those who rejoice in this
exodus. We wish it God-speed ! but on all the
principles of social and political philosophy it must
be considered a misfortune. Grant that it cannot
be helped; grant that it averts or postpones some
immediate annoyances; grant that, as we really
don't know what to do with the people,they are wel-
come to take care of themselves and dispose of
themselves in what way they please; but that is
only the case of an unmanageable son, which is a
misfortune, even when the cause of our grief re-
lieves us from further anxieties. Who will not
reproach himself when this is the conclusion of a
long embarrassment "We have not been able
to manage this child of ours. It is betaking itself
to America. Well, we shall have less trouble for
the future." If we could grow old and apathetic,
comfortable
we should, in a dull way, be all the more
for it; but not if we retain our youthful sympathies.

POST.—The 'Turkish
almost all respects a highly
satisfactory fin
un-
derstood, presentsnlani
budget, when rightly
statement. Unfortunately,
some very important
errors have crept into the tele.
graphic version
Constantinople.
of the figures which have just been
n
published at Thus the total esti-
mated
revenue for 1863 64 is stated at 3,000,000
purses,
ses, while that for the year 1862-63 is stated at
3,300,000 purses: In this manner there appears to
be, on the face of the statement, a decrease of re-
venue in the estimate of the coming year by about
10 per cent. This is simply an arithmetical error;
for those who will take the trouble to add up for
themselves all the figures of revenue in detail, for
each of the two years, will perceive that the diffe-
rence in relative amount is just the other way. An
accurate addition cf the two rows of figures evinces
that the estimated revenue for 1863-64 i.s
97,ater
than the revenue for 1862 63 by
Dn.!, less than
400,000 purses. This makes 311...,iierence of as much
rI.
EkS 700,000 purses iti th° ' 9144194 9f' ON eginiged re.

venue as between ane year and another; and it is
fact of no small consequence to Tarnish finance, a
a verification of this correction of flee telegram by a
reference to our impression of last Tursday will
evince. The estimated revenue of Turkey is fully
£14,000,000 for the financial year on which we have
just entered, while the
public income on the se-
cession of the present Sultan was not more than
£11,000,000. Proportionately considered, this is
a more rapid increase than that of any other
European revenue; and it represents the prac •
tical result of a course of financial reforms which
were often deemed rather imaginary then real by
those who were apt to cling too implicitly to the
miserable traditions of the late reign. But thin
increase in the revenue, as it stands in its pre-
sent figures, is far from being the only one.
Hitherto the taxes have been collected in paper
money, namely, in the c.iimes, which are now ex-
tinguished, and were at all times more or less de-
preciated. Far the present financial year, however,
the calculation is made in metallics. We are hardly
able to strike an average of the depreciation of the
paper money during the last few years. But that
average, if ascertained, could hardly he found to
have been less than 20 per cent., and the premium
upon gold was often very much higher. Bat, now
that the paper money has been extinguished, all
taxes are paid in metallies, and the revenue hence•
forth will therefore represent its real and interna-
tional value, whereas the revenue of previous years,
being more or less collected in paper, appeared
greater than it really was. The interest on the pub-
lic debt forms a prominent item in the schedule of
expenditure. Ostensibly there is a great increase
of charge on this account for 1863-64 as compared
with 1862-63 ; and in fact there is a slight increase
in the actual debt. But it must be remembered
that much of the increase in the foreign debt hes
been obtained by the consolidation of anomalous
internal loans, as well as through the expenditure
required for the suppression of the paper money.
Thus the foreign loans of 1862 and 1863 hate been
contracted, not to satisfy current expenditure, but in
part to withdraw and cancel the paper money, and
in part to pay off local loans contracted of different
Galata capitalists under the reign of the late Sultan,
at higher rates of interest. Some of the CocsOli'
dated internal deb;, has also been created for the
same purpose—the requisite amount having been
obtained from the market at Constantinople as well
as from the markets at London and Paris, In point
of fact, therefore, the real debt of Turkey has very
slightly increased during the present reign, the
essential difference being that the debts of ail
kinds have been brought forward, avowed, and
consolidated. The total charge of the whole debt,
foreign and domestic, is now 800,000 purses; or
about £3,600,000 of our money, inclusive of the
sinking funds provided for the redemption both
of the foreign debt and of the Consolides. This
is a proportion of about 25 per cent. upon the whole
revenue, whereas the proportion of the British
revenue that is paid away for interest on its
national debt, without any provision for the
ultimate redemption is about 40 per cent. The
current expenditure has at the same time been
fished in several of the departments in which it
had been alleged that the predilections of the pre-
sent Sovereign were extravagant. Thus the nal
is to cost for the present financial year only 210,000
purses as compared with 245,000 purses in 1862.-03'
The army is further reduced. It cost the treasury'
during the last year 959,000 purses, and during the
present it is restricted to an outlay of 827,000. The,
Ministry of Finance, at the same time, is reduced
from 153,000 to 120,000 purses. These figures are,
marked by very great moderation. The army will
cost no more than the annual charge upon the debt,
or about £3,600,000. For a Sovereign who rules
thirty millions of subjects, this is, in our judgment'
an estimate marked by extraordinary moderation ;
nor is it intended to expend so much as £1,000,000
on the navy. It is hard to say, therefore, fans
whence certain prevalent notions of the present
Sultan's disposition to military extravagance could
have had their origin. Looking merely to the credit
of the Turkish empire, it is surely better that it
should possess fair means of defence, whatever be
the improbability of its being again attacked, the°
that it should again invite attack by its defenceless;
ness. The table of receipts evinces the gradne' e
progress of the new system of collection, and of tie
new tariff. The former is necessarily of slow deve-
lopment. When the present Sultan came to the
throne nearly all the taxes were farmed out. 11118
Asiatic mode of proceeding involved a great loss to
the State. But to replace it by a general system et
collection presupposed the presence of a local orgn:
nisation throughout the empire. Of course this
great staff could not immediately be had. Conse;
quently it was needful to apply the new mode 0'
collection—province by province, and district by'
district—as the organisation could he obtained'
When it is complete, it is probable that a large fur"
tiler augmentation of revenue will be experienced,
Nor is it without reason to anticipate that the neW
ttaryriffsurniclilesnoto promote the m
lyn
to
odo
moret
heaonemea
u small he
rsceethofe
t
re-
duction that at present involves in the customs
revenue. Before many days we shall probably have
this budget before us without any of the inevitable
inaccuracies of the telegraph ; and we shall then
perhaps be still better able to judge how it augur°
for the future of Turkey.