The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-16 00:00:00

the Parliament will not abolish the Corn-laws.
That pensions may be paid, our bread must be
taxed. That the Army may be kept up to the
point of oppression, the poor must starve. That
Commissioners may be multiplied ad itilinitton,
our manufacturers must be ruined. That states-
man may have their salaries without earn-
ing them, the Devil's laws must be fastened
for ever on the people. If the Tories, and
the landlords, and Lord 'MELBOURNE, though we
know not why we should any longer separate him
from the Tories, had wished to spur the lazy zeal
of all classes to demand with ten-fold vigour the
total and immediate abolition of the Corn-laws,
they have done, it by declaring that to abolish the
Corn• laws will compel our statesmen to reform the
financial system of the empire.

The Corn-law delegates dined together last even-
ing, at Brown's Hotel, when some excellent
speeches were made on the debate of last evening in
I
both Houses, and on the great question which has
assembled them in London. We regret that we can
find space for only a small portion of the proceedings.
Our readers will be delighted to find that the Chair-
man, Mr. SMITH, a declared enemy of all mono-
polies, did not forget to pay a high compliment to
the Chief Magistrate of the City of London, who
hasbeen labouring, almost single-handed, ever since
his accession to the Mayoralty, to put down the
monopoly in the coal trade, so injurious to the in-
habitants of the metropolis. His Lordship's health
was drunk with enthusiasm, and there appeared to
be but one feeling as to the disinterested part which
he had taken against a powerful and hypocritical
body, who, like the landlords, pretend that their
only object is to keep prices steady, while they
know that their only, object is to put money in
their pockets at the expense of the public.
____

There are many highly important questions, apart
from those at present exciting so general an inte-
rest among the bulk of the people of this country,
which imperatively call for the immediate attention

of the Government. Of these not the least mo

mentous is the Canadian Boundary question, re

specting which it does not appear that.the Govern-,
went has received any official intelligence by the
Great Western, notwithstanding the very serious
disputes which have arisen between the State of
Maine and the Province of New Brunswick respec-

ring it. This was admitted by Lord PALMER
sToN in the House of Commons last night ; and
we may here observe that such an admission—
amounting as it does to a confession of gross
and culpable neglect in some quarter—
has not a little surprised us. It is
not because we are apprehensive of a war with the
United States that we lay such stress upon this
question. We have too much confidence in the
wisdom and discretion of Congress, to fear a result
which every honest man of both countries is bound
to do all in his power to prevent. But while the
question remains unsettled, it will be a source of
constant weakness, irritation, and jealousy to both
Governments. It will, in some sort, place the
question of peace or war at the disposal of border ma-
rauders, excited to acts of outrage by Canadian rebels,
and all who prefer living by rapine to supporting
themselves by honest industry. As a great portion
of the disputed territory is acknowledged by the
New York papers to be of very little value to the
American Government, while its importance
to England as a territorial connecting link
is immense, we cannot perceive any obstacles
in the way of a speedy and amicable arrangement,
provided the two Governments enter upon its ad-
justment in a spirit of mutual confidence and
good faith. With respect to the New York
papers we cannot too much admire the
caution with which they allude to the recent
" Border Troubles," as they call them. " Though
this business on the border," says the New York
Gazette, commenting on the intelligence already
published respecting the seizure of the Land Agents
of Maine and New Brunswick and the attack on the
lumberers, " is calculated to give uneasiness to our
citizens, and: create great solicitude in the minds of
those who wish to see our amicable relations with
Grieat Britain- preserved—and every good citizen
does so wish--we have no serious apprehensions
on the subject. It is impossible that Great Britain
and the United States can go to war for so paltry
an affair as a disputed title to a few hundred
thousands or a few millions of acres of pine lands."
And the New York Morning Herald—no

admirer of the policy of this • country—is
equally temperate. " We trust," observes this
lively and influential journal, " that our Govern-
ment, as well as Governor HARVEY, will take
measures immediately to preserve neutrality and to
stop these local squabbles ; they are alike dis-
graceful to the people of both countries, and in-
stead of tending to settle the question, will only
render its final adjustment ten times as difficult as
it would be without local interference."
We have no doubt that these very sensible and
highly praiseworthy suggestions will be responded
to by Congress ; but while the question remains
unsettled, it is useless to legislate for the tranquili-
zation of the Canadas. Let the Government settle
the boundary question beyond the possibility of fur-
ther cavil, and there will be an end of the brigand
connection benweeu the "sympathizers" and the
traitors in the Canadian provinces. This should
be the preliminary step to any extensive project of
North American legislation.
Next in importance is the American boundary
question is that of the putting an end to the civil
war in Spain. It is almost impossible to conceive,
and still more so to justify, the non-interference of
England and France, during so many years of civil
butchery in the heart of a kingdom for the main,
tenance of the rights of whose Sovereign they are
bound by a solemn treaty. While civil war deso-
lates Spain, we lose the services of a fleet sta-
tioned on her coast ; and that too at a time
when all our ships are wanted for the protection of
our own commerce and possessions in other parts of
the world. The squadron commanded by Commo-
dore Lord JOHN HAY, instead of tossing idly in the
Bay of Biscay, should have been, during the last
summer, either in the Mexican Gulf, or on the
coast of Persia, to give due weight to the remon-
strances so uselessly addressed by our Ambassador
to the SHAH.
With the Canadas and Spain off our hands, we
could easily and effectively direct our attention to
the East—soon about to become the theatre of
important changes. The more we free ourselves of
trifling sources of weakness and distraction, the
better we stand prepared for exercising the highest
prerogatives of a great people—the extension, with-
out violence, of the blessings of an enlightened ci-
vilization, and the maintenance of a general
peace, by the combined influence of concentrated
power and strict integrity. It . requires
but a small share of political sagacity to enable Mi-
nisters to perceive that we are on the threshold of
events which must soon engross our undivided at-
tention ; and that in the interim, no policy could be
get rid of questions which excite the
jealousy wiser
of to o
our friends, and foster the hopes of our
enemies.