The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-26 00:00:00

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE.

The representatives of the various Chambers of
Commerce of the United Kingdom continued their
sittings yesterday, at the Westminster Palace
Hotel, Mr. Sampson S. Lloyd presiding.
Mr. FORSTER, M.P., opened the proceedings on
the subject of commercial treaties, which was an
expression he thought had better be avoided, as it
laid them open to the reply of the Government that
they could not be going about bargaining for trea-
ties. He thought their beet course would be not
to act on absolute free trade principles in dealing
with foreign Governments, but to approach them as
nearly as possible.
On the motion of Mr. JACOB BEIIRENS, the fol-
lowing resolution, after a brief discussion, was
adopted :—" That the rapid changes which the dif-
ferent Governments of Europe are making in their
respective tariffs call for vigilant and intelligent
action on the part of her Majesty's Government, in
order to prevent such changes being made to the
detriment of British interests, and in order to pro-
mote that movement towards free trade which has
been initiated on the Continent by the commercial
treaty between France and England."
The following resolution, moved by Mr. ALL-
HUSEN, was also agreed to ;—" That the associated
chambers of commerce have individually and collec-
tively reason to complain of the absence of watch-
fulness over the changes which periodically take
place in the tariff of other nations." The mover
commented on the manner in which their interests
had been neglected by Government.
Messrs. Dixon, Atkinson, Jackson, Fellowes, and
others took part in the discussion.
On the motion of Mr. CARLISLE, it was agreed
that a deputation should be appointed to wait upon
the President of the Board of Trade, for the pur -
pose of conveying to her Majesty's Government the
above resolutions, and impressing on him that the
commercial community could not be satisfied till
some official remedy be provided, by which this
branch of the public service might be conducted in
a more satisfactory manner.

A discussion on petty import and export charges,
introduced by Mr. Lamsden, followed, and a reso-
lution that a deputation wait on the Chancellor of
the Exchequer in reference to the desirability of
abolishing the charges imposed by the Customs
Act, 1860, was carried.

It was agreed, after a brief discussion, that the
Foreign Office be memorialised to prevent, if
possible, the reimposition of the Scheldt dues on
British shipping.

Mr, WIIITWELL then brought before the meeting
the subject of belligerent rights at sea, when, after
considerable discussion, it was resolved that the
subject he referred to the various chambers of com-
merce for their consideration before any action be
taken upon it by the Association.
A resolution, introduced by Mr. JOWITT, to the
effect that it was desirable greatly to reduce the
duty on fire insurances, and that it should be ex-
tended to all insurances without exception, and that
petitions be presented in favour of that object to
both Houses of Parliament, was next agreed to.
After some further business had been transacted,
princi pally of a routine character,
Mr. DIXON moved a vote of thanks to the
chairman for the manner in which he had presided
during the present conference.

Mr. JACKSON seconded the motion, and it was
carried unanimously.

In the evening the representatives of the Asso-
ciated Chambers of Commerce of the United King-
dom dined together at the Westminster Palace
Hotel—Mr, Sampson S. Lloyd in the chair.
About forty gentlemen sat down to a most admi-
rably served dinner.

The CHAIRMAN having given the usual loyal
toasts, which were duly honoured, called upon
Mr. ATKINSON, the vice-president of the Hull
Chamber of Commerce, who proposed " The two
Houses of Parliament."

Mr. ADDERLEY responded, and in the course of
his speech recommended the members of the associa-
tion not to bring forward so many questions of
general importance at their annual conference, but
to obtain attention upon special subjects, and thus
obtain the information of the Government and Par-

liament upon practicable subjects.
Mr. A I.MIUSEN, of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Cham-
ber of Commerce, proposed the toast of "The Pro-
gress of Commercial Intercourse between All
Nations," coupling with it the name of Mr. Forster,
M.P. for Bradford, who, in the course of his speech
in acknowledgment of the toast, reviewed the state
of trade and treaties of commerce between this
country and France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium, and
concluded by giving "The Associated Chambers of
Commerce of the United Kingdom," and with it the
,‘ Health of the Chairman," who briefly responded.
The other toasts were " The Cotton Trade," pro-
posed by Mr. Lupton, and acknowledged by Mr.
Baines, of Leeds, in the absence of any representa-
tive of the cotton manufacture. " The Woollen and
Worsted Trade," proposed by Mr. Stansfeld, M.P.;
and responded to by Colonel Ackroyd. " The Iron
Trade," proposed by Mr. Hatfield, M.P. for Shef-

field; and responded to by Mr. Bcecroft. "The
Hardware Trade," proposed by Mr. Jackson. " The
Shipping Interest," proposed by Mr. Battley ; and
responded to by Mr. Soames, M.P. " The Social
Science Association," proposed by Mr. J. S. Wright,
and responded to by Mr. Hastings.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TimEa.—There are indications that the control of
war and peace is about to pass out of the hands of
Mr. Lincoln and his Cabinet, so that the sentiments
of individual Ministers will soon cease to be matters
of importance to any one. That which careful ob-
servers have so long foreseen is at last coming to
pass. The Federal Government is utterly discre-
dited by its uniform ill success, by its flagrant viola-
' t ions of that very Constitution through which alone
it pretends to dispose of the lives and fortunes of the
American people, by its promotion of men incompe-
tent or discreditable, and by its truckling policy
and futile attempts to conciliate the good will,
or at any rate to disarm the hostility, of irrecon-
cileable factions. The States which have been
fighting so desperately to convert the American
Republic into a single military Monarchy have
all at once recollected that they are, after all,
only the members of a federation. That right and
independence of State action which they have so
earnestly denied and so heavily punished in the
South, they suddenly find to be indispensable to
their safety. The votaries of secession are no
longer to be found exclusively south of the Ohio.
The Union is resolving itself into the elements out
of which it was originally constructed. The public
mind has become familiar with the conviction that
the great fabric which existed two years ago
exists no longer, even in name, and it seems very
probable that a separation far more extensive
than that which is accomplished between South
and North must take place before affairs in Ame-
rica settle down from the fearful convulsion of
the last two years. The great State of Illinois,
with its large population and unrivalled fertility,
the future home, it may be, of many millions of
the human race, no longer trusts its foreign affairs
in the hands of the Government of Washington,
but has undertaken to transact them for itself.
Its Legislature has appointed Commissioners to
meet next month in order to confer with the
delegates of other States, and what makes the step
more significant is that the appointed place of
meeting is Louisville, the capital of Kentucky, a
State still thrilling in every nerve with the ex-
citement produced by the Proclamation of Mr.
Lincoln. Still more ominous is the fact that pro-
minent among the Commissioners is a supporter
and friend of Mr. Lincoln, who finds himself thus
driven by his sense of public duty to a step which,
in the language of the North, is treason to the
authority of the Central Government. Kentucky
herself has appointed Commissioners to attend at
Louisville, and it is believed that her example will
be followed by most of the middle and Western
States. The Assembly of New York have invited
General M'Clellan, whose name is the watchword
of constitutional opposition to the President and a
moderate and conciliatory policy towards the South,
to be the guest of the State at Albany, the political
capital. Resolutions have been introduced into the
Legislature of Indiana demanding an armistice and
a convention of all the States, including the South,
to be held in Tennessee on the Ist of June ; and,
most important of all, the New Jersey Legislature
has appointed Commissioners to proceed to Rich-
mond and invite the Southern States to join in a
general convention. If the Federal Government
submit to this step—and we know not what means
they have of preventing it—the power of war and
peace has escaped from their hands, probably never
to return to them. Thus at last there appears a
ray of hope. The States desire peace, and, find-
ing a Federal Government unwilling to give effect
to their desire, have superseded its action, and thus
commenced the second stage of this tremendous
American Revolution for themselves.

HERALD.—We sincerely trust that the report
of the House of Peers upon Lord Derby's philan-
thropic appeal will arouse a temper and decision
in every quarter of the metropolis to insist upon
a proper regard for the comfort and general well-
being of the inhabitants of each vicinity, and
will call into action a vigilance and resolution not
to be bought over or juggled by the thousand and
one arts and temptations of railway capitalists
and their mercenaries in and out of Parliament.
We sincerely trust that some respect and conside-
ration will be paid to our sense of sight and
sound, in the permissive conditions which Parlia-
ment will have to lay down for the direction and
control of the projectors of the metropolitan ap-
proaches to the great network of railways which
we have quietly permitted to interlace the
choicest parts of the country. But it needs to
be up and stirring, or even the present session
may leave ns remediless. We are in the very
thick of conflicting nuisances on all aides.
Take the following illustration, which is of a more
matter-of-fact kind of annoyance. Out of four
schemes in the parish of St. Pancras alone, there
comes a demand for no less than 3,150 plots of land
and houses required for the construction of railway
extensions iu the north-western districts of Lon-
don, likely, it is considered to necessitate the re-
moval of a population amounting to considerably
over 30,000 souls. We need not dwell upon the
grievous loss and interference with the smaller
trades and business of the quarter implied by such
undertakings and their needs, carried on by classes
who rarely obtain adequate compensation for dis-
location and the nonsequent ruin in which they are
too often engulfed. Surely it will strike the most
selfish observer of such a chaos of right and wrong
as any great railway invasion brings with it that
there should exist, either in the parishes, or the
Government department to which the parishes are
directly responsible, some remedy or means of Alle-
viation for the grievances of the poor and helpless,
quite as accessible as compensating juries and Par-
liamentary committees to us with better filled
purses. More than once another very forcible con-
sideration has been commented upon, as affecting
the parochial assessments of the neighbourhoods to
be seized and taken possession of by the metropoli-
tan railways. It has been asserted, upon very just
grounds, that in the above-named parish of St.
Pancras, " nearly one-eighth of the rental for as-
sessment of the parish" will be absorbed" if the
same principle is permitted by Parliament to be the
guidance for the assessment of the projected com-
panies" as was exercised in the assessing of the
North London Railway. So we have several very
valid and sufficient reasons for sound:rig the toscin
of alarm in the ears of the residents of our metro-
polis, to keep their attention and give constant
heed to the railway enterprises which are to batter
down our houses, occupy our most pleasant spaces,
and turn out of doors thousands of our most hard.
working people, at the same time that the eyes and
ears of those who are astir in our streets are
doomed to be annoyed and dismayed to a degree
even not yet attained in the 'turmoil and hubbub
inevitable from the running to and fro of some
millions of inhabitants.

DAILY NEWS.—The first and essential principle
in the Royal Navy is, that the men who enter should
be not only the ablest men, but drawn from all
ranks in society. The British Navy is essential to
the greatness of the country; it is a service which
is thoroughly popular, and both the men and the
officers ought to be drafted from every rank. There
should be no monopoly. Whilst the noble and the
wealthy should be permitted to serve the Queen,
the humblest and the poorest should not be excluded.
Let anyone read over the lists of those who now-a-
days succeed in obtaining appointments in the In-
dian Civil Service, in the Artillery and Engineers,
and on the foundations of the great institutions for
education, such as Oxford and Cambridge. He will
find that lads
.born in all parts of the British Em-
pire, and in every rank of life, obtain such prizes,
and are furnished with sufficient means to enable
them to live in the society to which their merits
have raised them. The same principle should be ap-
plied to the officers of the Royal Navy. To obtain a
naval cadetship should require neither the patronage
of the powerful nor the money of the millionare, We
re .
peat there should be no monopoly. The conclu-
sion obvious : every officer in the navy should be
furnished with a sufficient amount of pay to enable
him to serve his country without incurring debt or
trenching upon his private means. Here, then, is
one of the most important points which must be in-
vestigated by the committee about to be appointed.
It is most confidently alleged that officers in the
navy cannot live upon their pay, and that therefore
the area of selection is improperly restricted. Every-
body has heard of the sardonic captain who left one
side of his ship unpainted because there was not a
sufficient supply of paint furnished by the Admi-
ralty, and it is notorious that in some cases the cap-
tains and commanders are obliged to contribute
something like £lOO a year for the supply of this
necessary commodity. Moreover, Sir John Paking-
ton stated a case in which' a distinguished officer
was obliged to refuse to take the command of a ship
because he could not afford to do so without
dipping too deeply into his own private means,
and so doing injustice to his children. Is this
true or is it not ? Is it a special case, or are such
cases common ? If they are, it is obvious that the
British Navy must be a monopoly, and that only
those who are wealthy and powerful can hope for
advancement in that noble profession. It is posi-
tiyely asserted by Sir John Hay and others that the
pay of the officers in the British Navy is inferior to
the pay not only of officers in the American but in
the French Navy. And it is a remarkable circum-
stance that Lord Clarence Paget did not deny this
assertion, To the argument that the pay of the
British naval officer was inferior to that of the ,