The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TlMES.—lmperfectly as we are acquainted with
the institutions of Japan, we are still not without
the means of forming an accurate opinion on a point
which is just now of the greatest importance. We
can scarcely tell how the Japanese are governed, or
what are the influences at work to affect the posi-
tion of foreigners at the settlements opened under
the Treaty. We do not know with any certainty
what are the relations between the supreme Govern-
ment and the aristocracy, or what the views by
which their respective proceedings are determined.
On these points we can do little more than estimate
probabilities, but there is a point most intimately
connected with the questions now pending on which
there happens to be no room for doubt. We know
from unimpeachable evidence that the people of
Japan are ready and willing to trade with us, and
that they are as freely and as naturally disposed to
buy and sell as we ourselves are. Their country is
rich in products of great value, and they are ex
ceedingly quick in answering a demand. They
have discovered with singular acuteness what pro-
duce will prove most remunerative, *sad have acted
accordingly. They are now drawing considerable
sums of money from foreign countries, and receiving
imports of great utility ; nor will it be easy, we
think, after a perusal of the statements subjoined,
to doubt the effect of those circumstances on the
general disposition of the people. Be it remembered
that four years ago there was no trade with Japan
whatever. For two centuries that populous Empire
had been sealed against all foreigners, with a single
and scarcely appreciable exception in favour of the
Dutch. A couple of years ago—that is to say, at
the beginning of 1862—the trade at one of the ports
opened under the Treaty had already become consi-
derable. As many as 33 foreign vessels, with an
aggregate burden of 15,000 tons, arrived at Kana-
gawa in the first six months of the year, 14 under
the British and 12 under the American flag. But we
have now an official report of the arrivals at the same
port during the first six months of the present year,
and we find that in the brief interval between these
periods the trade had all but doubled itself. The re-
turns give 74 vessels in place of 33, and the tonnage
as 25,000 instead of 15,000. Our own share, too, in
this trade has been more than maintained, for, out
of the 74 vessels 40 were British, and 19 only Ame-
rican. There can be no question, therefore, about
the natural expansibility of this commerce. When
we recollect that the spring of the present year was
signalised by political disturbances threatening the
very existence of our settlements in Japan, we must
acknowledge that a trade which could make such
progress under such discouragement must be a very
legitimate trade indeed. But there is something
more to be learnt from these returns. The Japanese
of Kanagawa, who bought goods of us to the value
of 170,000 in 1862, enlarged these dealings to the
extent of £112,000 in 1863. It will be said, per-
haps, that these are insignificant figures after all ;
but they represent the trade at a single port, and
for six months only. The essence of the story, too,
is in the comparison between the two successive
years. If the Japan trade does but continue to grow
at this rate, it will soon form an important branch
of our national commerce; and there is evidence to
suggest that such a growth is not improbable. It
was but the other day that we knew little or no-
thing about the production of silk in Japan. The
first importation of this article took place in the
summer of 1859, but the failure of the silk crop in
France and Italy naturally turned the attention of
our merchants to the capabilities of remoter regions,
and one of the first inquiries made in Japan was for
silk. It was answered with incredible promptitude.
In 1862 the Japanese—we are still speaking of the
port of Kanagawa alone—sold us £200,000 worth of
this commodity ; but in the year following they had
more than doubled this supply, and the total amount
of silk exported from Japan during the present sea-
son is valued at nearly £2,500,000. In four years,
therefore, a supply of a very precious article has been
more than quadrupled. Nor is this the only speci-
men of Japanese enterprise. After inquiring so
successfully for silk, we proceeded to inquire for
cotton. The Japanese had hitherto only cultivated
this plant to a small extent for their own use, and
in 1862 they had not a single pound to spare
for us. No sooner, however, had the demand been
notified to them than they set to work, and their
very first year's contribution, received during the
present season, amounts to nearly 9,000 hales. The
American supply made no such beginning as that.
When, therefore, we describe the exports from Ka-
nagawa alone as amounting to upwards of half a
million in value, that sum in itself tells but a small
part of the tale. What renders these figures so re-
markable is the proportion which they bear to the
returns of the year previous, which reached but a
quarter of a million. The fact to be noted is the dis-
position which these transactions irresistibly evince
When we discover that the first demand on our part
is met by the Japanese with such energetic efforts
to creste a supply, it is impossible to believe that
they are wedded to political exclusiveness, or that
they can desire a return to the isolation of former
days. On the contrary, we must necessarily con-
clude that a people so disposed are only kept to
their old traditions by force and terror. The great
nobles of Japan may be opposed to the new policy
as inimical to their interests or authority, but the
customs on which they insist with such savage bigo-
try can have no real hold on the population of the
empire. It is possible enough that the old laws or
traditions of Japan did ordain that foreigners should
be massacred whenever they were found ou Jepts-
nese soil, but it is safe to conclude that, except for
the commands of the aristocracy, such laws would
no longer sway the proceedings of industrious and
enterprising traders. The idea that a people so eager
to sell would feel an impulse to murder those who
came to buy is utterly absurd. So far as we can
judge, we have the Government and the people on
our side, and the aristocracy and their retainers
against us. It even appears as if the Ministers of
the Daimios themselves were disposed to peace and
amity, though they are unable to impress this
policy on the minds of their masters. Under such
circumstances, it is not to be expected that we
should submit to injuries at the hands of these wil-
ful and obstinate nobles. Besides the guarantees
of the Treaty, we have probably the support of the
Government, and certainly the goodwill of the
people, and there is no reason why we should
surrender these advantages for the satisfac-
tion of a class. The alternative before us is simple.
We must either give up this growing trade alto-
gether, or we must defend our rights to such pur-
pose as will secure the lives and property cf our
countrymen. If an Englishman may be murdered
on a high road simply because he meets a Daimio
and his retinue, there is an end of our sojourn in
Japan. It may be true enough that such an offence
was a serious crime according to the old traditions
of the Empire, but unless these traditions are re-
pudiated we can have no place on Japanese terri-
tory. Nor can we think it altogether unprofitable
to eradicate such doctrine. It is almost as charitable
to reclaim a people from habits of indiscriminate
assassination as to reclaim them from cannibalism.
We should not, perhaps, have charged ourselves
spontaneously with the mission ; but if, in protect-
ing the lives of our countrymen, we can teach these
Japanese better morality, we shall have done them
some service. It is deeply to be regretted when
innocent people suffer for the faults of their rulers,
but that, unhappily, is an incident of all wars alike.
We must protect ourselves by force if we cannot
enjoy security otherwise, and when arms are once
appealed to the consequences are rarely confined to
those who have deserved them.
POST.—At the present juncture it may not be
inopportune, for various reasons, to point out what
are the stipulations and provisions of the Treaty of
Paris of 1856 with reference to the neutralisation
of the Black Sea. In the preliminary negotiations
for peace it was proposed that the Black Sea should
in future be open to merchant vessels and closed to
vessels of war. No naval arsenals were to be
erected or maintained on its shores. It Was pro-
posed that the protection of the commercial and
maritime interests of all nations should be secured
in the Black Sea and its ports by institutions con-
formable to international law and to ester ee
customs referring to matters of this nature. In
neutralised e
conformity with this, Article XI. of the :
treaty
declares that " the Black Sea is
waters and its ports are thrown open to the
mercantile marine of every, nation, and are for-
mally and for ever ioterd.i cted to the flag of war
either of the Powers possessingits coasts, or of any
other Power, with the exceptions mentioned in the
fourteenth and nineteenth articles of the treaty."
By Article XII., commerce inuhtrahebe waters
alletht,oane
of the Black Sea shall be perfectly frtoehes,etoadmned ports
sdv,eslauonbpdi
voof
e itself. Article XIII de-
clares police,ce tn t only nf ls,
such
framedto regulations
commerce
emgamu lear
spiritct
that, the Black Sea being
its neutralised,i ac-
cordancetenanee or
with
establishment terms
of
fpon Article
coasts x.
o"ftmheilmitaariyn--
maritime arsenals is alike needless and purposeless ;"
in consequence whereof, " the Emperor of Russia
and the Sultan engage neither to establish nor to
maintain upon those
arsenal whatever." coasts any military-maritime
Article XIV. is to the effect
that the Emperor of Russia and the &Ilan, having
concluded a Convention for the purpose of settling
the force and the number of light vessels necessary
for the service of their coasts, and which they re-

served to themselves to maintain on the Black Sea,
such Convention shall be annexed to the treaty, and
be construed with it, having the same validity. and
effect as if it had been part and parcel thereof. It
is further expressly declared and stipulated thae
this Convention " cannot be either annullal .or
modified without the assent of the Powers signing'
the present treaty." The Powers signing the trc n
. a.ty
were England, Austria, France, Russia, Sardi.is,
and Turkey. Let us now pass to the Convenaon
tine
which is declared by the treaty to form part nd
parcel of itself. The Convention sets out with de-
claring by its first article that the " high contrct
ing parties mutually engage not to have in
the.
Black Sea any other vessels of war than those
nod
which the number, the force, and the dimensions aro
thereinafter stipulated." What these vessels are to
consist of is specified in the next article, which pro-
vides that the Emperor of Russia and the bultan
°
"reserve to themselves each to maintain, in th
Black Sea, six steamvessels of fifty metres in lengtt!
at the line of floatation, of a tonnage of eidbl
hundred tons at the maximum, and four light stools
or sailing vessels, of a tonnage which shall not. el:
cud two hundred tons each." Such are the stil?",..
lations by which the two Powers are bound
"`
Witf,-;
reference to the neutralisation of the Black Sea, at
the Convention wherein they are comprised is t°
be
deemed and construed as an integral part of th,
Treaty of Paris, to which, as we have seen, Bug,
lard, France, Austria, Sardinia, Turkey, and B
at us,
sia were parties. Reports have been circulated telo
Russia has disregarded these provisions of the tre"'
But until there is positive evidence produced of t 131:,
it is to be assumed that Russia is incapable of clom.;
or, at least, has not done, such an act—an act Wilict
would of itself give just grounds to three of the reti,
European Powers, and to Italy and Turkey in C°11"
junction with them, for going to war to enforce
observance of the treaty thus broken, in case):
peaceful remonstrances failing to produce a sat 250
factory effect. The five Powers who, in additiou t f
Russia, were parties signataries to the TreatY
Paris, are under an obligation to see that it 18
"Lie
observed by the last-mentioned Power. But g,
should hope, and be disposed to believe, that Brt
sia would not disregard the solemn obligations 0 ;
treaty made so recently as 1856, whatever she a)
have done in the.case of treaties made no longer s°
than the Treaty of Vienna. Perhaps it may not b°
out of place if we venture a few remarks here lei:
the warlike preparations which appear to be actile`.7o
going on throughout the Russian empire. As 11
Power or Powers that we are aware of contemplatt't
any aggression upon Russia, it must be admitted tout
these preparations have something portentous abour
them. As Russia has no reasonable grounds to fail
an attack from other Powers, the irresistible logletl,
inference is that she meditates something aggl
sive herself. The Russian army is, it is state
being augmented and placed upon a war footlyg;
We hear of a sum of £15,000,000 having beet
quired within the past half year for military
poses beyond the usual peace expenditure ; and ,
exclusive of large additional sums applied in Pra°4
viding necessaries for the increased troops, suet'
clothing and food. Quantities of provisions °l.ci
being bought up for the army. New foundaries r
arsenals for producing arms, ammunition, plates 'l%
covering ironclads, rifled steel cannon of the 113,°,9t
formidable construction and dimensions, with sP,
and shell of the most approved and destruetl,("c
types are spoken of as being established. Poso.ei,
mills. are being established in proportion. Quaol,',
ties of munitions of war of all kinds, including
supplies of saltpetre, are also being imported W.;
abroad. We hear of Government orders being gisn
to the St. Petersburg foundries for supplies of s°:,
and shell ranging from 15,000 to 50,000. Guns9,:t;
being. cast to throw shells of 5001 b. weight. bel",:g
frontier and maritime fortresses are of
strengthened with earthworks and by meauls.4
iron plates a foot thick. Torpedoes for explo(11"te
under ships' keels, and blowing them to pieces,
laid
being constructed; 300 are said to have been
down to defend Cronstadt. One of the chanuols.,ll
blocked up by the sinking of 300 vessels filled scil`s,
stones, after the manner of the Federals at CLar'ear
ton. Mention is also made of a new engine of `Bt
of singular construction, for which the Goverotneii"t
is stated to have granted a sum equal to abb
ti,
£27,000. It is a large water-tight vessel for
marine navigation. It is to be furnished
s u
harp:prong at its:prow, but its chief use is to uOier
sist, it seems, in placing infernal machines u. 0.„,„
ships' bottoms and exploding them by electrtello.l,
Finally, by next summer there are to be 16 Ir°of
clads at Cronstadt, 12 of which are to be monitors
turret ships. We give these alleged facts as t,bei(
reach us. The statements in question are certa):c
of such a character as to deserve attention ; at ies
until they should be proved unauthentic.