The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 9, 1863.

THE WAR LIN AMERICA.

(From the limes' Correspondent.)
NEW YORK. DEC. 26

The more the circumstances connected with the
late break-down and reconstruction of Mr. Lincoln's
Cabinet are considered, the closer resemblance do
they bear to a theatrical performance, got up to dis-
tract public attention from matters of more perilous
concern. Nothing could have been more successful
if Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward had pre-arranged it
for the purpose. The piece was well timed, and all
the actors thoroughly understood their parts. The
blood-stained heights of Fredericksburg and the
humiliations of defeat were forgotten amid the be-
wilderment with which the people watched the de-
velopment of what a French dramatist might have
called " Le Secretaire d'Etat ; une Comedie de Trois
Tours," or which an English playright at this
Christmas time might have produced under the title
of "Father Abraham ; or, Harlequin, Secretary of
State, and the Wonderful Storm of Greenbacks."
The plot, though not elaborate, abounded with un-
expected situation. It opened mysteriously with a
secret conclave of midnight conspirators, composed
of senators, headed by Mr. Charles Sumner, the
Abolitionist, all bent on dictating to the Great Ma-
gician Abraham the choice of his servants, and in-
sisting on the " decapitation" (the American slang
for dismissal) of one whom they accused of no longer
losing the "Genius of Africa,' (rep resented by a
buxom negress), with the truth and fervour ofhis
early days, when he swore in her behalf to
wage an
"irrepressible conflict,,, and whose destinies were to
be governed by a'° higher law" than the law and
constitution of his native land. One of the conspira-
tors proving false crept stealthily away,andinformed
the Secretary of the senatorial attempt against his
head. The wily Seward, nothing daunted, deter-
mined to be beforehand with his foes, and, slicing
off his own head with the most perfect grace and
nonchalance, presented it to father Abraham. Then
making his way to a trapdoor leading to the lower
regions of ignominy and disgrace, lithe, lustrous,
and many-coloured as harlequin, he sprung with his
head in his hand through the aperture in a blaze of
blue fire, followed by the more ponderous form of
Secretary Chase, also headless, and scattering
shreds of paper on every side in a regular snow-
storm, such as is seen in theatres, each flake being
a promise to pay, and the whole fall representing
the famous " billion" of dollars of Mr. Thaddeus
Stevens, the Chairman of the Committee of Ways
and Means. When the wonder and expectation of
the spectators were at the height, to know whether
Abraham the Magician intended to accept the
double self-sacrifice to the " Genius of Africa," and
when all the little boys in the crowd were straining
their eyes to catch a glimpse of General Nl'Clellan,
and of the block, the axe, and the executioner who
was to perform the act of decapitation on the dis-
agreeable and greatly hated War Secretary, and on
the sober and respectable General Halleck, who had
never fought a battle except in the law courts of Ca-
lifornia, but who knew so well how to prevent his
subordinates from achieving the victories which were
beyond his own reach, the jocular Magician waved
his hand, and, with a " pleasant imperiousness
—telling at the same time a funny story about some
old woman of the West—replaced the head of Mr.
Seward ou his shoulders, commanded both him and
Mr. Chase to emerge from the trap, shake hands
with and embrace their colleagues, go back to their
desks, and save the nation as effectually as they had
saved it before. Here there was another blaze of
light and a grand flourish of trumpets, amid which
the " Genius of Africa" was transformed into a
living resemblance of Mr. Horace Greeley, who
loudly proclaimed that the defeat at Fredericksburg
was, on the whole, a " gratifying circumstance,"
and that it—

" Was better to have fought and lost
Than never to have fought at all.''
By this time the hisses began to preponderate over
the applause, but the play being at an end the cur-
tain dropped. The object of the managers had been
accomplished. The sad story of Fredericksburg
had become old and stale, the edge of its horror
had been worn off, and the most buoyant, hopeful,
and elastic-minded people in the world had re-
covered their usual serenity, and went to their
ordinary daily business as pleased as Mr. Micawber,
and equally certain that something would soon
" turn up."

The Americans are in the habit of saying that no
one can understand them but themselves ; and after
such a butchery as that at Fredericksburg it is ex-
tremely difficult to understand the manner in which
it is treated by the President, by General Burnside,
and by all the friends and supporters of the Admi-
nistration. The President, in his address to the
army, is so encouraging as to say that the attempt
was not an error, nor the failure other than an acci-
dent ; and, moreover, that the number of dead and
wounded was " comparatively small." General
Burnside is equally hardy. He quietly assumes the
whole responsibility both of the attack and the
failure, denies that his army is demoralized, and
offers to resign a position for which he admits that
he is not qualified, which he accepted against his
better judgment, to replace a General far more com-
petent than himself, and who, he thinks, ought not
to have been removed. The President, apparently
of Mr. Horace Greeley's opinion that no great harm
had been done, except in the loss of life, quietly or-
ders him to keep his place ; and the Republican party,
instead of venting their natural indignation against
the mingled inefficiency and temerity of Mr. Lincoln
and the ‘N ar Department, and the Generals whom
they employ, stirs up the eternal question of the
Southern negro, while the Northern negro (poor
pariah and outcast) is starving in the streets, and
gets up a Cabinet imbroglio upon the collateral
issues of Abolitionism. The committee appointed
to inquire into the causes of the failure at Frede-
ricksburg—the most disheartening that has occurred
during the war—simply hear what Gen. lurnside,
Gen. Halleck, and others have to say for themselves,
and send in their report without blaming anybody,
Some of the Generals, however, are not quite
s;
lenient, and General Franklin expressly states that
the failure at -Washington to send on the pontoons
which General Burnside ordered and expected was
the cause of the whole disaster ; while General
Hooker as positively affirms that General Halleck
promised to send them in three days, and did not
send them for ten, during which interval Frede-
ricksburg, which might easily have been carried
by a coup de main, had been rendered impreg-
nable. Yet good Mr. Lincoln is satisfied, and
steady General Halleck holds on to his posi-
tion like grim death, strong in the support of
the ultra-Republicans of New England, and only
blamed by the great bulk and body of the Democra-
tic people in the Middle and Western States, who
grieve, and groan, and shake their heads, hopeless
of any remedy until the ballot-box shall give them
a chance, two years hence, of electine. a Democratic 1
President. But so rapidly
do events move, and s 0
slight are the impressions caused on the American
mind by the gravest occurrences, that this stun-
ning defeat is well nigh forgotten in New
York, and the disgrace all but forgiven.
Could this be the case in any other country in
the world ? The people are so easily depressed
and so easily elevated, and entertain so little vin-
dictiveness, that there is scarcely anything they
will not forgive in their own rulers or in foreign
nations. Indeed it may be doubted whether there
is anything which they will not forgive except the
greatness
donable, and which they are determined to resent.
It is easy with such a people to assume responsibi-
lity, for no penalties are likely to be exacted. At
least, such seems to be the opinion of. General Burn-
side, as well as Mr. Lincoln. Possibly a few more
disasters such as that at Fredericksburg may pro-
duce a different feeling. The camel's back is so
heavily laden that the last
exasperating and fatal
feather may
light upon it much sooner than is anti-
cipated, and when that happens it may bun • out that
the responsibility so easily assumed may
be very
difficult to escape, and may lall with more crushing
weight than has ever been known in the history of
this Republic.

At present there is a lull in the storm. Rumours
of approaching disaster grow louder in the South-
west, but as they are as yet confused and contradic-
tory, and may happen to be baseless, public at-
tention fixes itself upon Washington anl the policy

which the President may think it wise or expedi-
ent to pursue on the lst of January in reference to
the emancipation of the slaves of rebels If he
modify his first ill-omened proclamation or drop all
action on the question except that promised in his
Message to Congress, he will cast himself loose
from the more violent of his Repubrcan friends,
but he will gain the support of all moderate men in

the Conservative party. If, on the contrary, he
persist in his proclamation, and thereby do his ut-
most to light up the flames of a servile war in the
South, he will turn against himself the whole
feeling of the Middle and Western States, and for-
feit the confidence of everybody but the fanatical
preachers, the strong-minded women and the puri-
tanical tyrants of New England and Western New
York, a loud-talking but a numerically weakb n
sec-
tion of the community. Persons la
e
Mr. Lincoln's confidence asserttchaiitlml nnhi:t onlystfiorm notoln
the anti-slavery question ; that he
but
that he will go
w
withdraw his proclamation,
slavesbeyon in
thebeyond it,
landoy
loyal
dweeltlh
as
in e
the emancipation
rebel
eb
el of
States,the
granting compensation in the one case, but with-
holding it in the other. The Tribune of to-day as-
serts in its -Washington correspondence that on
Wednesday last Mr. Lincoln, in the course of con-
versation, declared " that he would not withdraw
his New Year's Proclamation of Freedom, if he
could—and that he could not, if he would." If such
be Mr. Lincoln's policy, he Rill assuredly end the
war by it. The independence of the South will be-
come a fait accompli, by the refusal of the Northern
people to lend themselves to the coutinuance of a
struggle which they will then know to be hopeless,
and which they will denounce as alike cruel and
unjust to the South, and fatal to the peace, happi-
ness, and prosperity of the North—that never could
expect to live on terms of amity with a Confederacy
in which they would have striven to excite the most
diabolical of all wars—a war of races and of slaves

against their masters. It is just possible that Mr.

Lincoln may be as rash in this respect as his Aboli-
tionist friends assert ; but the probabilities are,
notwithstanding the confident predictions of the
theorists of the press and the pulpit, that he will
hesitate, amid all his assumptions of responsibility,
to assume so fearful a responsibility as this, and
quietly suffer the Ist of January to pass without
any mention of the subject; adjourn it, in fact,
sine die, and fall back on gradual emancipation in
or before the year 1900.

The special Register of the United States army,
Regular and Volunteer, has been officially made up
to the Ist of August, and has just been published.
According to this document the Volunteer army in-
cludes 40 majors-general, 200 brigadiers-general,
3,132 surgeons and assistant-surgeons, 10,280 cap-
tains, 43,640 sergeants, 85,600 corporals, and
873,000 privates. The statement that such a force
is in the field is not credible, though it is not at all
incredible that the Government provides rations for
such a multitude and owes the " greenbacks" to
pay them. There is no such army in existence,
and the Government knows the fact. The dead, the
wounded and the sick—the twice and thrice en-
rolled—the deserters (supposed to number at least
100,000), and a host of parolled prisoners, all figure
on the list. If a census could be taken in one day,
it would be found that a discount of 40 or 50 per
cent. would have to be deducted, to reach the exact
number of available heroes, American, Irish, and
German, who are engaged in this stupendous war.
Perhaps, however, the Federal Government is not
acquainted with a circumstance that is notorious in
Maryland and Pennsylvania, if not in New York—
that the forging of Confederate paroles is a regular
and highly lucrative trade in the Border States—
that immense numbers of them are sold to the Federal
troops at 25 cents each—and that armed with these,
duly bearing the names of the battles in which they
were supposed to have been captured, the Union
soldiers depart from the battlefield to the farm,
workshops, or offices, which they deplore they ever
quitted. If the Government would but take stock
of the numbers of really parolledUnion soldiers, and
compare the result with the numbers of those who
possess apparent proofs of having been captured and
released on their word of honour not to bear arms
again during the war, it would perhaps find as
many men as would compose an army of twice or
thrice the numerical strength of that which has
been sent to New Orleans under Gen. Banks. But
the statistics of the War-office are on a level with
the finance of the Treasury, and it will not do just
now for the Government to admit that either can be
in error.

Though the subject has not yet been publicly
mentioned, a great naval expedition of iron-clads
has been silently prepared to attack Charleston, in
South Carolina. Some of the vessels have already
started to rendezvous at Port Royal. The expedi-
tion is to be under the command of Commodore or
Admiral Dupont, and will in all probability be on a
scale of magnitude sufficient to decide the great pro-
blem of the efficiency of iron clad ships against iron
clad ships, as well am against stone walls. The de-
fences of Charleston have not been neglected, and
are known to be off a scale commensurate with the
importance of the position. It may be taken as cer-
tain that every resource of military and engineering
science has been employed to defend the approaches
and the harbour of that city. Forts, chains, sunken
vessels, and torpedos have all been brought into re-
quisition, and two, if not three iron clad rams of
the most powerful construction will dispute the pas-
sage with Commodore Dupont whenever he shall
be ready to make the attempt.

The Falmouth correspondent of the New Fork
1 r ibune writes on the 24th ult.:--
" Whether or no the chief officers in command of
the Army of the Potomac have received any instruc-
tion from the still higher powers that ' winter
quarters' is now to be the order, none but them-
selves
positively say ; certain it is, that the
soldiers
can positively
everywhere acting upon the supposition
that the ' rebs ' are to be permitted peacefully to
enjoy their occupation of
Everywhere is heardon oftheFredericksburg
heights for some t
the sound of axes cutting down the sparse pine and
cedar, and still scantier oak trees, that make up
the thin forests of this part of the Old Dominion.
Every where goes constantly on the work of build-
ing log huts, of putting up turf chimneys, of ceiling
up and roughly flooring the interior of huts, and of
erecting stables for officers' horses ; in short, all
things show that the men have resolved to make'
themselves comfortable in their present quarters for
the rest of the winter. From head-quarters, too,
come floating certain straws which are universally
accepted as significant of the direction in which the
official wind is blowing. Many officers having com-
mands, and many other staff officers indispensable
in case of a renewal of active operations, are said to
have procured leaves of absence for a length of
Itime that will enable them to spend the holidays
lamong their friends at home. For the soldier there
is no leave of absence, no visit with friends, except
,inletthues
gmlea
tytebrse , cwa rhri ieehd
are
such vicarious visoimtinfogrtains
hope, more plenty at this time of year than any
other—for the soldier there is little Christmas
guise of cheery, c
cheer ! , hard tack' and ' salt junk' taste no different
on Christmas-day than before or after, and if he can
get a canteen of whisky to make an evening toddy
he is only too happy, Let us not be too hard on
than none.
him, for even such a celebration is better
I have, however, seen pinned on one or two tents a
sprig of holly, in humble remembrance of the holi-
day which should draw all men closer together,
and when loving kindness should rule over all the
earth. General Hooker's central grand division,
with which my duties specially lie, is encamped in
the same position, or very nearly so, as it occupied
before crcssing the river—tthe officers, like all the
others, those who can, getting leave of absence ;
the men, like all the others, those who must, stay-
ing in camp, and making themselves as com-
fortable as possible for the rest of the winter.
No movement, and no present signs of one.
The only thing that I observed that might pos-
sibly be construed into an indication of a speedy
advance in some direction was a simultaneous move-
ment of the pontoon trains; but it appeared to be
only in obedience to an order of General Woodbury
to concentrate the trains, that they may be put in
perfect order, and be ready the minute they chance
to be called for. There being in camp a rumour that
J. E. B. Stuart was about making another ' raid ,

by crossing the Rappahannock somewhere near
Deep Run, I went out of my special dominions, in-
vaded the territory held by General Sumner's grand
division, and took a 20 mile ride up the river to the
United States Ford and thereabout. I found the
fords all guarded and the shores of the river vigi-
lantly picketed by some of the regiments of Gene-
ral Pleasanton's cavalry brigade."
Another correspondent, writing on the 25th ult.
from Tobago, on the Rappahannock, 30 miles below
Fredericksburg, says
Since my last visit to Port Conway the fleet has
been increased from five to nine of the largest gun-
boats floating upon inland waters. The guns they
carry are all of the largest calibre, and have been
thoroughly tested in many eng-gements. General
Lee, either fearing so formidable a foe or desiring
to capture them all in some bold night attack, con-
centrated a large force near Port Royal, and a few
days after the battle brought two batteries to bear
upon them, supported by at least one division of in-
fantry. The weather at the same time turning ex-
cessively cold, Capt.M'Kray, commanding the fleet,
fearing that he might be frozen in, and be in danger
of attack from the greatly superior force of infantry,
fell down the river 10 miles below Port Royal, to
Tobago Bay, where the river is very wide and is
seldom frozen over. He is now where his transports
can easily reach him throughout the entire winter,
and also where he can be of service to General Burn-
side whenever it is thought best to again move the
army. The rebel force, stretched from five miles
above Port Royal to Tobago Bay, is variously esti-
mated at from 10,000 to 20,000. The troops are
nearly all from North Carolina, and under command
of one of the Hills, but which one I have been
unable to learn. These rebel generals, I have been
informed, have changed their commands lately, so
that it is quite difficult to tell exactly where they
are. When I left the right wing the day before
yesterday I was told by a deserter that they were
in front of General Sumner. To-day I have been
told by one of the same trustworthy persons that
they are in front of General Franklin's extreme left.
It is but of little consequence, however, who com-
mands these übiquitous fellows, so long as it is cer-
tain that they are always in front of somebody and
ready to fight upon the first good opportunity.
Having successfully repulsed the attack upon his
centre, General Lee now, undoubtedly, contemplates
a movement on his right, near where General Burn-
side made his first feint. Rebel pickets, thinly
posted, extend as far down as Urbana, and under
cover of the night cross over to the side and exa-
mine our lines. Night before last, information was
received from a trusty black, who came over the
river on a frail raft, that the rebels contemplated
another dash upon a squadron of the Bth Pennsyl-
vanian Cavalry, who now guard the extreme ad-
vance on the left. Major Kenan had his men pro-
perly posted, and would have captured the whole
party had not some of them, without orders, fired
their guns before the party were fairly within
range. Upon discovering that their enterprise had
been divulged by some one, they sprang to their
rafts and boats, and reached the other side with a
loss of but two or three, who were seen to drop in
the river. Four thousand cavalry, now guarding
the river from six miles below Fredericksburg to
Tobago Bay, are subsisting entirely upon the rich
planters in the valley. Not an ounce of food of any
kind has been brought to them from the depot at
Falmouth. Men and horses are living upon the
very best the valley can produce, and I doubt if
there is a table in New York on this Christmas-day
covered with a greater variety of dishes than many
beneath the tents and booth huts of our cavalry offi-
cers. The sailors, too, upon the gunboats are really
getting tipsy on the domestic wine they have ma-
naged to get hold of by some underground trans-

portation."
On the 24th another skirmish took place on the
Blackwater, four miles above Franklin. The Con-
federate pickets were driven in, but the Federals,
finding a considerable force behind, had to retire.
The Cairo correspondent of the Chicago Times,
writing on the 20th ult., alludes to the critical posi-
tion of the Federals under General Grant :
" Your readers would be astounded with the an-
nouncement that the rebels had made their appear-
ance between Humboldt and Jackson, thus threaten-
ing our rear, and temporarily cutting off the com-
munication with the army of General Grant. Such
is the fact, and should not have surprised us. It is
however, a matter of more wonder that all this should
have been accomplished without being anticipated
and met by our troops. The state of affairs, as
nearly as it can be ascertained from Columbus, is
this :—A force of cavalry, some say a mere guerilla
party, others an army of 15,000, has succeeded in
cutting the telegraph wire south of Humboldt,
burning a bridge on the railroad, and causing a very
general panic throughout the section of country be-
tween there and Jackson. There is a very easy
solution of this affair. General Morgan, of the rebel
cavalry, after the capture of our forces at Hartsville,
Tennessee, was next heard of in the vicinity of
Columbia ; next we hear of rumours of an advance
on Fort Donnelson, and finally they approach Jack-
son, having in the meantime crossed the Tennessee
river. Jackson is a fortified position, garrisoned
by a considerable force of troops. Cotton bales, of
which there was an abundant store, were, we under-
stand, being transformed into barricades. A very
considerable opposition may be expected if Morgan
should attempt to seize the place. General Grant's
forces have not as yet refused to fight, and fight
nobly, whenever they have been attacked. General
Davies, whose command fought so nobly at the last
battle of Corinth, is in command of Columbus, and
new troops are daily pouring into that town, An
offensive movement from the direction of La Gr ange
and Columbus may soon be expected against the in-
vaders. The only means left in our hands is, how-
ever to chase them beyond the river with infantry
in light marching order. Cavalry we have
not enough of_ The Tennessee is rising, and
must, if watched, prove a serious obstacle to
Morgan's return. Our particular weakness
at this time is, that any point of the road
above or below may be suddenly attacked
and destroyed: It must not be supposed that this
raid will produce any derangement of the plans of
Gen. Grant ; it is, in fact, hardly worth his notice.
There will be no turning of his whole army back.
It will, for a few days, cause some delay in getting.
supplies to the front. Luckily we are not entirely
dependent upon that line. In a pinch, provisions
can be taken, either from Memphis or Friar's Point,
to the army overland. The roads are bad, and this
fact leads us to another conclusion, which should
have been reached long before. The line of com-
munication is too long. From Columbus to Oxford is
200 miles—to Grenada 240. This is, in point of
time, convenient—it is accomplished by the tele-
graph. It costs thousands to guard its entire length,
but it enables us more firmly to hold the territory ;
and, above all, it is a grand avenue for the procur-
ing of cotton; but it is too long. History seldom
records so large an army hanging to its support by
so long and slender a thread. The obvious way out
is, to finish the road from Memphis to Grenada, and
mthiuless. shorten
thente linerihever w
ofelhanavde bcaomsmoluunteiccaotniotnrobl.”y 140
Later accounts show that the movement towards
Jackson was a feint to divert attention from Holly
Springs, which was seized by the Confederates, the
Union forces being dispersed or destroyed, and the I
Government property burnt.

From Arkansas we learn that Col.
M'Cullou h
was ordered to march with 8,000 men of his g
mand from Brownsville to Vicksburg, reachedcorn-
Little Rock on the 10th ult., and was then ordered
to proceed with his command to reinforce General
Hindman, at that time pursued by General Blunt.
‘Callough had joined General Hindman
battle of Prairie Grove, intelligence of
wsCionhlciocenhetlh:eollll
Id not have reached Confederate head-
quarters prior to 11‘Ctillough's advance.
The Helena, Arkansas, correspondent of the New
York Times asserts that the Federal General Hovey
has been selling captured negroes to the planters
in exchange for cotton.
The _Richmond Inquirer of the 20th ult. has an
editorial criticising the movements of General
Burnside, and representing the impossibility of the
Union Army of the Potomac reached Richmond by
way,
,sohfould i
t Fredericksburg.eross and
nd compel lt s says,_..
Gs:—ievne.rLee t
hto o
iNi retreat,Otta.
it will have the passage of our

pony, South Anna, North Anna, and Chickahominy
—to effect before it reaches Richmond, and a line of
80 miles to defend and keep open in its rear. At
any season of the year such a feat would be imprac.
ticable. To attempt it now, with Lee's veterans dis-
puting every inch of ground, would be an act of
madness. To cross lower down the Rappahannock
would be more difficult, for no railroad would then
furnish supplies to the Federal army, and there are
none in the exhausted country through which they
would have to pass. At Port Royal the river is
three times as wide as at Fredericksburg, the hills
on the south side equally as high, and a creek im-
mediately above and one just below the town. It is
a cal de sac which, if the Federal army enters, it
may never escape from. Throughout the whole
length of the Rappahannock either there are hills
extending to the river, and forming bluffs which
render its passage by an army impracticable, or
hills of great height a short distance from the river,
which, occupied by our army, will prevent, as at
Fredericksburg, the advance of an invading enemy.
Burnside cannot advance, nor can he winter his
army where it now is, for the Potomac and Rappa-
hannock, three winters out of four, freeze up so as
to prevent any other navigation than that by steam-
boats. The army would starve long before a suffi-
cient number of such boats could be collected and
brought into service, so as to furnish its supplies.
It often happens that even these iceboats cannot
force a passage up or down those rivers. Burnside
cannot advance nor can he stand still. Can he re-
treat ? The Potomac is tempestuous, and its Vir-
ginia shore everywhere shallow. It would require
three weeks' time to convey his army, its waggons,
horses, and stores, by transports to Washington;
for they are scarce of such vessels on the Potomac,
and have found it difficult even to transport sup-
plies to the army. Besides, the river will probably
freeze up and prevent this mode of retreat. If the
retreat is conducted by land to Alexandria, Lee
will harass his rear, and perhaps greatly damage or
destroy his army before it reaches Washington.
Yet we believe this retreat by land is his most feasi-
ble mode of escape, and that he will be compelled to
attempt it."

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

NEW BRUNSWICK AND CANADA.

An extraordinary meeting of this company was
held yesterday of the office, Whitehall, for the
purpose of receiving a report from the directors
and committee of co-operation appointed on the
6th Nov., and of considering the propriety of pass-
ing a resolution to the effect " that the company
cannot, by reason of its liabilities, continue its
business, and that it ie advisable to wind' up the
same." Mr. F. Edwards was in the chair.
The report stated that the committee had had
an interview with the Railway Commissioners of
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and the commit-
tee were of opinion that the prospects of this
company's line of railway, or some part of it, be-
coming ultimately
portion of the intercolonial
railway, were fair and reasonable, but as the
question of route could not be settled for many
months, it would be impossible in the meantime to
delay taking such measures as the present difficul-
ties of the company
imperatively demand for the
preservation of its property. With regard to the
outstanding liabilities of the company, the com-
mittee found that to meet the debenture coupons
due on the Ist proximo the sum required was
£3,000. There were acceptances out to the ex-
tent of £20,150, £3,000 of which being for a por-

tion of the money raised and lent to the contractors
to pay their workmen, was accepted at the particu-
lar request of the Governor of New Brunswick.
There were other debts, amounting to £39,161,
making a total of liabilities of about £63,000 due.
The whole of this sum
was not wanted immediately
—but as the first issue of debentures had been ex-
hausted, and there was no balance at the company's
bankers, there were no means of meeting that por-
tion of the necessities which was urgent and of sum.
ciently large amount to place the interests of all the
parties in a very dangerous position. The above
sum did not include any further provision for the
completion of the line, nor for current expenses of
the company, nor any debenture interest beyond

that due on the Ist inst., nor any sum for additional
rolling stock, which the committee believed to be
absolutely necessary for the due development of the
traffic. It appeared to the committee, therefore,
that unless those difficulties were met by prompt
action, steps of a very disastrous character to the
property of the company might be taken by credi-
tors. The committee therefore recommended the
formation, if practicable, of a new company tp con-
nect the line with St. John, and also with Calais,
in the State of Maine, such company to be formed
on the basis of absorbing this company by purchase.
The committee had reason to believe a plan of that
sort w,ould meet with favour from the New Bruns-
wick Government. As the exigencies of the com-
pany would not admit of delay, it was obvious that
immediate steps must be taken to secure in the in-
terim protection to the property of the company,
and with this view the committee recommended an
immediate voluntary winding up of the present
company, and the appointment of a voluntary liqui-
dator, with power to sell the line to a new company
or otherwise, and in the meantime to protect the
property of all parties (including those who might
supply plant), as occasion might require. In the
event of the recommendations above made being
promptly adopted, the committee had reason to
hope that some arrangement might be made with
the debenture holders for holding over their cou-
pons for a time.
The CHAIRMAN stated that the committee had
had several conference 3 with the directors, and that
Mr. Field, one of their oldest shareholders, would
move the first resolution.

Mr. J. FIELD moved a resolution to the effect
that it had been proved to the satisfaction of the
meeting that the company could not, by reason of
its liabilities, continue its business, and that it was
advisable to wind up its affairs.
Mr. MAUDSLEY seconded the resolution.

Mr. BURTON, the solicitor to the company, ex-
plained that it was the only course they could adopt,
as one of the contractors was endeavouring to ob-
tain power to wind up the company's affairs in a
hostile manner, and he (Mr. Burton) believed the
contractor would not succeed if the meeting passed
the resolutions that would b© proposed for their
adoption.
A long discussion ensued, in the course of which
Mr. CONYBEARE moved an amendment, which was
negatived, and the motion was adopted by eight
against four.

Mr. MAUDSLEY explained that the largest share
holders were also holders of debentures, and if
they did not act all together, there was not the
slightest hope of saving anything for the share-
holders.

Mr. FIELD said that if they could raise £lOO,OOO
they could pay off their liabilities and provide
£20,000 for rolling stock.

Mr. Handfield, the secretary, and Mr. Adron, of
Gresham-house, were appointed liquidators for
winding up 'Voluntarily the affairs of the company;
and a committee was appointed, consisting of 12
shareholders and bondholders, with power to add to
their pumber, and to act with the liquidators in
winding up the company's affairs.
Mr. CONYBEARE protested against the appoint-
ment of a committee so constituted, and the pro-
ceedings terminated.

Telegraph Routes to Australia.

(From the Brisbane Courier.)

In the present advanced state of telegraphy,
when we hear of our Yankee friends carrying a wire
up in a balloon, and signalling from the clouds the
movement of a hostile army, and when the extension
of the mysterious agency of communication is be-
coming a subject for consideration in all civilised
countries, we are not surprised to find the project
of connecting Australia with Europe once more
mooted. By the mail just arrived we learn that a
deputation had waited upon the Secretary of State
for India, Sir Charles Wood, " concerning the esta-
blishment of telegraphic communication between
India and China, and India and Australia, via
Singapore," the proposition being that the Indian
Government should give a subsidy towards the sec-
tion of the line between Rangoon and Singapore,
contingent upon the successful working of the cable.
The reply of Sir C. Wood was, we are told, suffi-
ciently definite, the right hon. baronet stating that
he should feel it his duty to recommend the Indian
Government either to carry out the work at its own
cost, or assist a private company in constructing
the line, as soon as he was assured that the sections
beyond Singapore was in a state of actual forward-
ness, or certain to be completed.
The promoters of this new scheme are said to re-
present forty banks and firms trading with China
and Australia, and their objects appear to be to
establish telegraphic communication between India
and Australia, and India and China. This would
enable us, supposing that instantaneous communi-
cation were once established between this country
and India, to obtain intelligence from Great Britain
in sixteen days, and this interval of time should be
shortened to as many hours when a submarine cable
has been successfully laid between Aden and Kur-
rachee. We cannot, however, express our approval
of the route proposed by the promoters between
Java and Brisbane. From Singapore, via Batavia
to Cape Sedano, at the eastern extremity of
Java, a telegraph line is already con-
structed, and it is proposed to carry it from thence
(Cape Sedano) to Brisbane, a distance of 3,024
miles, by submarine cable, touching at Coepang,
Port Essington, Cape York, and Cleveland Bay—
at each of which places it is proposed to erect
stations. The distances between these points are
severally as follows :—From Cape Sedano to Coe-
pang, 590 miles; from Coepang to Port Essington,
525 miles ; from Port Essington to Cape York, 635
miles; from Cape York to Cleveland Bay, 619 miles;
from Cleveland Bay to Brisbane, 655 miles. This
portion of the line—from Java to Brisbane—is esti-
mated to cost not less than £1,100,000, but it is
calculated that 40,000 messages will be transmitted
annually, or 55 per diem. To maintain the cable
in working order, it will be necessary to keep a
steamer on the route, constantly engaged in effect-
ing repairs when necessary, but the promoters seem
to be sanguine that very little difficulty will be ex-
perienced in this way, the soundings taken having
shown that the different lengths of cable can be
laid on a soft and uniform sea bottom, seldom
exceeding 50 fathoms in depth. The British,
Indian, French, Dutch, and Australian Govern-
ments have all promised to assist the scheme by
subsidy or otherwise, and it is anticipated that the
cable between 'Java and Brisbane could be laid in
about two years after the letting of the contract.
Although we are glad enough to see the project
of an Anglo-Australian telegraph line being once
more brought prominently before the notice of
British capitalists, we beg to dissent from the
opinion that the best route has been chosen, or the
best plan devised. We have long thought, and
have more than once expressed the opinion in these
columns, that the establishment of telegraphic com-
munication between this colony and India might be
made subsidiary to the settlement of the country,
and it will be unwise in the promotion of an Anglo-
Australian telegraphic scheme, to overlook any plea
for carrying out their object which seems to promise
to be less expensive in the first instance, less likely
to be costly in working, and more calculated to pro-
mote the general benefit, than the Gable now pro-
posed. These desiderata would, we think, be at-
. lained were the wire landed at Port Essington, and
carried thence to the site of the proposed settlement
on the Albert River, and from thence, crossing the
Flinders near its mouth, to Port Denison. The
extension of our present telegraphic line to Dalby
is already provided for by a parliamentary vote, and
its further continuation to Gayndah, Gladstone, and
Rockhampton becomes a mere question of time.
Thus far the line would of course be constructed
and maintained at the expense of the colony, and
in the course of years its extension to Port Denison
would assuredly come to pass ; but as the pro-
moters of the Anglo-Australian line are pre-
pared to spend upwards of a million in skirting
our northern and eastern coast with a submarine
cable, they might possibly be induced to enter
into negotiations with the Queensland government
for constructing the line overland from Rockhamp-
ton or Port Denison to Port Essington. The only
cable then required between this continent and Java
would be about 1,100 miles in length, and might
be laid down in two sections—from Cape Sedano to
Coepang, and from Coepang to Port Essington.
The undertaking would be none the less national
because the wires ran across Queensland instead of
round it, and our older and wealthier neighbours
would doubtless be as willing to subsidise the for-
mer as the latter project. Queensland would cer-
tainly derive an immense advantage, and she would
have to contribute accordingly; but for years to
come New South Wales, Victoria, and South Aus-
tralia must assuredly be the principal supporter of
the wire, and it is only natural to suppose that they
would be prepared to contribute towards the main-
tenance of that portion of it running through the
unsettled country. The march of the enterprise bas
already led to the extension of the boundaries of a
squatting district to within 300 miles of the head of
the Gulf, and long before the two years stipulated
by the promoters have elapsed, the plains of pro-
mise will be parcelled off into sheep walks. As
the pioneer squatters force their way into the wil-
derness, they will undoubtedly demand from the
Government the protection to which they are en-
titled ; and what is to prevent the preservation of
the telegraphic wires from being made a part of
the duty of the protective force ? Stations might be
established, at convenient distances apart, along the
whole route, and nothing would more tend to the
rapid settlement and civilisation of that part of the
colony, which is now almost a terra incognita.

We trust, as the Queensland Government will
assuredly have received some official communica-
tions on the subject, that they will, in replying
thereto, give the preference to the overland scheme,
and recommend it to the notice of the promoters of
the undertaking. We have reason to believe that
his Excellency Sir George Bowen is greatly in fa-
vour of carrying the wires to the Gulf; and we can-
not imagine that any one, after intelligently consi-
dering the relative merits of the two schemes, would
give the preference to the long stretch of submarine
cable with which it is proposed to girdle our coast.

A Trieste letter in the Frankfurter Journal
says :--,1 The first merchant steam-vessel built
here has just been completed. It measures 1,000 tons,
and has been constructed by M. Tonello, who has
the intention of building five others still larger, and
competing with the English line of steamers between Liver-
pool and Trieste. M. Tonello affirms that there are few
maritime places in Europo where the construction of ves-
sels can be carried on at less expense than at Trieste,"
The journal du Havre states that two of Admiral
Fitzroy's meterological despatches were posted up
at that port on Tuesday, announcing high southwest winds
for that day, accompanied by rain, and for Wednesday
winds varying from west to north and east, with a little
snow. The journal adds that as those predictions are cal..
culated for England, and as the columns of wind seldom
occupy a greater breadth than 30 or 40 kilometres, they
may not prove entirely correct on the French side of the
Channel.

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