The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-07 00:00:00

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7_lli-1E TM RD EDITION OF " THE SUN,"
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IVATI•:R AT I.ONDON BRIDGE.
rite DAB.—Morning, 10h. 59m.—Afternoon, 116. 31m.
°-,Kohltow.-Morring, 11b. 58m,—Afternoon, h. in.

`the Weather—• Stuff Office, Dec. 7, 1863.

THEM:4O3J ETER.
This OsY at Two o'cl(ick
Thi.roineter— 30.31.
light breeze, and fine.

T
L.;•=i wit
r ,
k

MONDAY, bEC. 7, 1863.

We may rest certain of this—that
-L T
ora Rug_
SELL has rot cleared away any Of the difilcultie
before him, but has rather at once multiplied
and
complicated them by his recent proceedings in eon_
n2ction with the Emperor NAroLEON's proposition
of a Congress. Dificulties r.,e mean in the way or
explanation—by his own reply in the House of ,Lords,

and, through the agency of the Under •Secretary of
State, by Mr. LAYARD'S reply in the House of
Commons, immediately Parliament shall have been
brought together again in February. The curtness
of the noble earl's note at the close of the late corres-
pondence between the French and English Govern-
ments, it is now being felt every day more and
more vividly on both sides of the channel was in
no way whatever called for, was in no way what-
ever provoked. Nothing could have been at once
more manly in its frankness, or more courteous in
is tone, than the original proposition of his Majesty
the Emperor of the FRENCH. As certainly
nothing could, by possibility, have been at once
more discourteous, or more vaguely maundering, than
the way in which that proposition was responded
to by the English Foreign Secretary.
i The maun-
dering of it—that is, of the reply—is indicated, in
truth, by what chiefly constitutes its discourtesy.
To express, by a figure of speech, what really and
truly was the course taken at this critical junc-
ture by our Government, it might be said—
That the EMPEROR sent out invitations to a
banquet—That one of the principal guests invited,
before making up his mind whether the invitation
should be accepted or declined, asked, not by any
imeansndeed circuitously, butu ofv efrayre_a
plain,
fare—and
very bluntly,
That, having
seen the bill of fare, he said then and not, as he
ought to have done, in mere common decency,
sooner—" Well, no, thank you, I'll stop
at home." And, what makes it worse
as a discourtesy is this—the dishes are just the
old stock dishes that the guests and the intended
host have been lingering over with what appetite
they may, this long while. Here a good sub-
stantial piece de resistance like Italy. Here a very
hot, peppery made-dish like Poland, or like Schles-
wig Holstein. So that the familiar items upon the
carte having been scanned, and the invitation, after
that and not before it, refused—the one only
conclusion to be arrived at in explanation of the
refusal is, that the Great Guest dreaded seriously
that those old, accustomed dishes, or one or two of
them at least, might in this projected banquet turn
out to have been cunningly poisoned, on the sly.
More than ever, Earl RUSSELL may be quite certain
of this—he will have to prepare betimes for the day
of parliamentary reckoning, when he himself in the
Lords and Mr. LAYARD in the Commons will have
to give the inevitable explanations.

The complex affairs of Schleswig Holstein appear
to be more satisfactory from the last accounts. Much
yot remains to be done, but at all events a right
direction has been taken. The intimation, given by
England has evidently acted like magic in the case,
and the delay that has been mentioned, to have taken
place is still further significant, inasmuch as it proves
that other Powers concur in the disapproval already
expressed regarding the treaty and extreme mea-
sures suggested. It is said that Prussia and Austria
have given notice of motion about the Dano-
German question ; of course this refers to the
demand for Federal execution, and it is very grati-
fying to notice that the general sentiment is that
opposed to the views hitherto expressed by the
committee on the question. This is as it should be,
for it was high time that some intermediate agency
should be set to work to check the devastating
policy which seemed about to be pursued. These
nations do themselves honour by coming forward
in a determined manner, and resolving on putting
a stop to the hasty decision that was arrived at.
Now at any rate these matters will be taken up in
a way more befitting their importance and suitable
to their interests. Atl things must be done in
moderation if the idea is entertained that the sur-

rounding nations are looking on to criticise or
censure as the case may be. It is always desirable
to meet an opponent half-way, and King CHRISTIAN
has shewn good sense, is withdrawing the Royal
Patent of the 30th of March. In the proclamation
just published he makes some very wise reflections
on the state of affairs in this emergency. His
address to the Holsteiners is a very spirited one, and
can hardly fail to impress them with his determina-
tion to carry through the resolve he has made of
holding his own, even though the odds against him
may be very great, and the wily plans set afoot to
undermine lawful authority may be almost impos-
sible to discover. King CHRISTIAN could not have
spoken out more forcibly than in these words—
", We cannot suffer officials to foster opposition, and
are resolved to put down insurrectionary move-
ments with armed force." This decided tone will,
no doubt, have its effect in convincing the disaffected
that they are not lace to face with waverers or
timorous rulers, bnt confronted with men who are
resolved to maintain inviolate their rightful autho-
rity, and to hold their just possessions. At the
same time endeavours are made to conciliate, in-
stead of to irritate, and all possible means are em-
ployed to effect that desired object, A hope is ex-
pressed that when `'Holstein finds herself contented
in constitutional freedom, and the pretext for
foreign interference is thus removed, she will
voluntarily incline to nearer connection with the
remainder of the country." It is to be trusted that
the tone of mingled firmness and conciliation
will impress them to whom it is addressed,
and that in this manner the present very unfortu-
nate and critical state of things may be happily
terminated. The resolve of Prince CHRISTIAN to
withdraw the Royal Patent is a very good one, and
cannot fail to be attended with felicitous results. It
is idle to expect that all plans and proposals of this
sort can be carrie i out to the letter, and he is often
a wise statesman and a true patriot who finds it
necessary to be firm, and when it is desirable to
unbend a little and resort to measures of expedi-
ency and compromise.

A too strict adherence to extreme views will
1141% the good that might otherwise have been
use •
reaDed by wise and partial measures. There is no
la te...
_.
its phasets7tlng what cannot be carried out in all
made to tre:tasa therefore the venture which was
as altogether a province of
Denmark was haille,swig
prudent one. IL is most pro-
bable that astrittattidY a
will be insisted tipon,herenee to the Treaty of 1852
beenuddif so something definitewiil
at all events have
takoone to serve the interests
tmedarks,t;edotfo
the
ItinePds to alter the present
It was hardly
the face of so many interests
ldoifikseptlryeacnthat such extremes wotamd.'ho
likely
op-
press Whereathand strange
; but
stin a resorted to in
occurring Where
press the weak.
things are ecnstaln.thliys
the case with Douruark, as Nve are justi
in
prove
sup
posing that those who have come forward,
how
tardily or tamely in her behalf, will Lot suffer their
protests to be put aside nor their remarks to pa,,,,
by unheeded. Earl IIu6sELL has for once shown a
little good sense in his management of this affair
recently, not sufficient to rectify the errors he fell
into some time back, but yet enough to represent
in some degree the course that the Government
of this great country ought to take. There is
much that suggests itself to the mind when the
claims that appertain to England in this matter are
taken into consideration; and it is earnestly to be
trusted that there will be no backward movement
nor retrograde
retrograde steps taken, but a steady course per-
in, a course of protest that is firm and un-
yielding, a line of action persevered
be decided, in before which
'
the Wavering must
ed, and the weak

strengthened. Now that other nations coincide
with our views in this respect, there seems every
reason to expect a happier issue to the troublous
times that have so long afflicted this State. It may
be asked, " Could not all this outcry have been
silenced earlier, and this endless and irritating sub-
ject have been settled in a satisfactory manner ?"
Therenouem ewnt.as much to militate against such a de-
nouement. In the first place, there is always
so great a delay in taking a decisive step
on the part of our statesmen. They go on
arguing and speechifying ad infinitum, but
when it comes to a case in which half a dczen
words uttered with promptitude would have ter-
minated the complication, then all is left in abey-
ance, and things suffered to take their own way
until confusion worse confounded ensues. Again,
another evil that often occurs is the extraordinary
style in which the communications are made to
the States which are involved in these imbroglios.
Earl RUSSELL has rendered himself conspicuous on
more than one occasion for these anomalous pro-
ductions. It is, however, a matter of congratula-
tion that this specially " vexed question" of
Schleswig-Holstein seems likely to be settled in a
decided form, and that all sides appear to concur
in bringing no false ideas to the settlement of it,
but are willing to modify and concede when occa-
sion seems to require it.

" The extension of the trade in cotton," says Mr.
APHENEY, in his recent work on the Cotton Trade,*
"has been the most wonderful circumstance in the
history of commerce." Comprehensive as this re-
mark may seem, it is nevertheless substantially true
of the change which transformed the despised ma-
terial into one of the chief staples of export and
manufacture of two of the foremost countries of the
world. In the volume just referred to Mr. M`HENRY
gives a complete tabular statement of the rise and
progress of the trade in the Southern States, from
the export of 801bs., in 1748, to the 1,490,000,000
valued at 178,800,000 dollars, of 1860. Three-
fourths of the quantity grown by the Southern
States was exported to foreign ports, and two-
thirds of the other quarter went to the Northern
States. The trade, though subject to many thane
tions, has increased with surprising rapidity. At
the commencement of the century the export was
about 5,000 bales—fifty years later the number of
bales exceeded five million. Great as has been the
wealth accruing to the Southern States by this
flourishing export trade, the profits of the North
were scarcely lees considerable. According to Mr.
APHENRY'S calculations, the total value of goods
manufactured in the New England States in 1849
was over eighty million dollars, and in the middle
States more than twenty-six million. The sum
total shows an increase of 76 per cent, in the ten
years ending in 1850; and an American journalist,
writing on the same subject, speaks in strong
terms of the profits derived by the Northerners
from the position they occupy as manufacturers,
importers, brokers, and commission agents for the
South. " Historians," says Mr. ITHENRY, " will
record the Northern crusade against the South as
the greatest folly ever committed;'' but, in truth, it
is the fear that the rich prize is slipping through
their fingers, that fires the determination of New
York to " uphold the Constitution," and quickens
the zeal of the New England States for crushing
slaveholders. An independent South manufacturing
and exporting its own cotton, to say nothing of
other branches of trade, is a most unwelcome vision
to the basy Northerners, through whose hands
hitherto the profits of commerce have passed. As
yet the loss of their S nithern custom is not felt,
owing to the prodigious expenditure entailed by
the war; but the struggle for supremacy cannot
go on•for ever, and when Mr. CHASE'S greenbacks
grow less plentiful, and " Finis" is put to the blood-
stained record of fratricidal war, the day of reckon-
ing will come, and the great Northern States of the
old Union will have to go through a period of
collapse not only from the terrible expenses of a
protracted war, but from the loss of the custom of
their chief importer of raw material and exporter
of manufactured goods. The whole face of Ameri-
can trade will undergo a change. The South hav-
ing discovered new energies, new capacities, in the
time of trial will never sink back into the old
indolence which suffeied so large a proportion of
the profits of their trade to pass through Northern
hands. President DAVIS, in his inaugural message,
observed that, as an agricultural people, whose chief
trade was the export of a commodity required in
every manufacturing country, the policy most
favourable to the South was Peace and Free Trade.
There could be little rivalry, he said, between such

a country and its manufacturing or navigating
neighbours of the North-Eastern States ; but if these
States should fail to perceive that their mutual
interests were goodwill and friendship, they must
prepare for the emergency. This, as we know, they
have done, and have found in the resolution and
spirit
,of their people some compensation for the
sudden loss of alt the manufactures and commo-
dities of the North, Mr. M'HENRY gives an inte-
resting account of the relative value of landed pro-
perty and manufactures in the North and South at
the time of the Census of 1860. At that time the
assessed value of real and personal property in the
North was 6.511,027,619 dole. ; in the South,
5,465,808,957 dole. All the naval stores, rosin,
pitch, tar, turpentine, &c., were produced in
the South, and much of the timber used for ship-
building came from the Southern forests. Of course
Mr. 31‘11ENRY, in commenting on these statistics,
draws triumphant auguries from them of the future
of the South, but it is difficult to foretell accurately
the immediate results of so vast a change. Mean-
while our Lancashire cotton trade has been under-
going a similar revolution, being forced to transfer
their custom abruptly from one quarter of the globe
to another—not, however, with the loss to the
mill owners that awaited the American dealers.
The loss has fallen with us principally upon the
mill hands, the excessive stock which was on
hand having enabled the manufacturers in many
instances to find profit instead of loss in the
catastrophe. It is not often that the spirit of rash
and heedless speculation brings about such fortu-
nate results to the speculator, but however high
the price of cotton may rise the manufacturers'
prices rise higher, leaving room for the necessary
profit. The long continuance of the war and the
consequent suspension of American supplies have
of course necessitated a considerable outlay in
India and other parts—and the effect of the with-
drawal of so much capital from the country may be
seen in the rise of the rate of discount which, thanks
to the absurd restrictions of our currency laws,
nt,,hatiougraslttlyrefollows it. It would be well if our finan-
ciers would in this matter take a lesson from Mr.
CliAsE and his greenbacks* which like many other
India will in as good when " used' as dangerous when
abused." Alllall
bh
ley
return money
turn that ati t esapveeesd
lhye
wc oeuhn
ot
pr. y
however, f e
the purpose of stimulating trade in
cotton bales, which shall supply the
niaectdhe of foLrnlanocfashireand more slowly in the develop-
ment of those resources of our Indian empire which
001 hereafter raise her to one of our chief cus-
tomers, and sources ()reapply.

* The Cotton Trade, by G. Mci-leurY. Saunders and
Otley.