The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-01 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—Now that the American war is fairly.
over the mind of the nation rebounds with charac-
teristic elasticity towards those pursuits of trade and
commerce with which it has so materially interfered.
A Convention has just met at Detroit to deliberate
on the questions raised by the prospective determi-
nation of the Reciprocity Treaty with Canada.
Delegates from the American States interested in the
navigation of the St. Lawrence, from Canada, and
from the Lower British Provinces, met together in
a spirit of friendliness and goodwill to discuss this
all-important question. It was entangled with every
possible difficulty, and, as is usual in America, every
conceivable effort was made to turn the occasion to
account and extract from it some modicum of politi-
cal capital. The Convention met nominally for the
purpose of deciding whether the Reciprocity Treaty
ought to be renewed or no, but when the question
came to be discussed it involved in it many other
matters which would not at first sight appear to be
relevant. The Reciprocity Treaty was not merely
an agreement between two countries to receive in
their respective markets certain commodities, the
produce of their labour, without the payment of any
duty ; it was also an agreement to give to the
Americans and Canadians interchangeably the navi-
gation of the St. Lawrence and the great Lakes, and
to admit American fishermen to share in the sea
fisheries of Great Britain. Thus, in the negotiation
of a new Reciprocity Treaty is involved the momen-
tous question of the future channels through which
the export trade of America, destined to surpass in
bulk, and perhaps in value, all the exportation of
raw produce of the world besides, shall find its outlet
to the Atlantic Ocean. It involves, moreover, the
question, lately so much debated, of the future rely
tions between the United States and Canada, and of
the execution of those great works which are required
in order to introduce seagcing vessels into the heart
of the continent. A deliberation on all these ques-
tions would seem sure to be interminable ' • local
selfishness, party violence, provincial jealousies,
false systems of political economy, all offered ob-
stacles which it seemed impossible to overcome ;
and yet, thanks to the good sense and moderation
of all parties concerned, the Convention has been
decidedly successful, and will probably exercise a
most salutary influence over the relations between
the United States and Canada. First, the profes-
sional politicians had their turn. General Wall-
bridge, of New York, expressed himself very ready
to consider the question of a renewal of the Reci-
procity Treaty, but hinted that the bonds of com-
merce were not the strongest by which people could
be bound together, and that the United States
would be happy to welcome Canada to a closer
union if she would join them politically and help
them to pay their debt. Whether the sound of
these last words chilled the effect of the General's
burning eloquence we do not know, but this pro-
posal met with very little approbation even from
those members of the Convention who came from
the Southern side of the great Lakes. A similar
proposition was made, with much worse taste, by
Mr. Potter, the Consul-General of the United
States at Montreal. This enlightened patriot sug-
gested that a Reciprocity Treaty might indeed be a
very good thing, but there were political reasons
which entirely outweighed its advantages. A Re-
ciprocity Treaty might be good for commerce, but
the withholding of a Reciprocity Treaty would com-
pel Canada in the course of two years to join the
United States, and he, therefore, as the representa-
tive of American commerce in Canada, was against
the renewal. The Canadians present assured the
American delegates, with the utmost openness, that
they had not the slightest wish to become members
of the Union, and that, while they were willing to
trade on fair and equal conditions, there was not
the least hope of coercing them into such a step ;
and so the proposal of the General and the Consul
fell to the ground, and the political part of the busi-
ness ended. The next difficulty which had to be
overcome was the feeling in favour of the city of
New York. There is not in the world a more signal
instance of the triumph of enterprise and capital
over the greatest natural obstacles than is furnished
by the present position of the city of Neiv York.
Nature has given to the American continent two
outlets, such as no other region in the world can
boast, in the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence.
Flowing nearly at right angles to each other, they
seem to claim for the cities that are built on their
estuaries the undisputed possession of the import
and export trade of America. But political have
in this instance been stronger than natural causes.
New York had 4ong the start of Canada and of
Louisiana, and it has hitherto never suffered itself
to be overtaken. By a system, first of canals, and
afterwards of railways, she has contrived to draw
to herself the commerce of the West, and to com-
pete successfully with the two great natural high-
ways by artificial means. The question raised in
the Detroit Convention was, " Shall New York re-
tain this supremacy?" One set of speakers argued
that the true outlet for the increasing commerce of
the West was to be found in the enlargement of the
Erie Canal, but this view was coldly supported.
The plan which seemed to find most favour with
the majority of the Convention was that of a ship

canal carried round the Falls of Niagara, sufficiently
large to admit vessels drawing 14 feet of water, and
of the full size of ocean-going ships. By these
means the American continent would virtually be
opened to the remotest extremity of Lake Huron
and Lake Michigan, and there is, we presume, no
insurmountable natural obstacle to prevent the
widening of the Canal of Saut Ste. Marie, which
connects Lake Huron with Lake Superior. Such a
plan as this is equivalent to a declaration that it is
the intention of the North-Western States to trade
with Europe by the estuary of the St. Lawrence
instead of the canals and railways which at present
bind it to New York. The opinion of the meeting
having obviously settled down in favour of this lat-
ter view, there still remained the question as to the
renewal of the Reciprocity Treaty, and this for some
time assumed a very unfavourable aspect. The
triumph of the meeting seems to have been reserved
to the representative of one of the least important
interests, that of the colony of Nova Scotia. Mr.
Howes, of Nova Scotia, addressed the Convention in a
speechwhich lasted three hours, and so convincing were
his arguments that they overbore all opposition, and
brought the assembled delegates to a unanimous re-
solution in favour of a renewal of the Reciprocity
Treaty. The result was in some degree aided, we
are told, by the good sense and good judgment of the
delegates for the British Provinces, who appeared
there only to argue their own case and declined to
vote on the question, thus leaving it entirely to the
good sense and good feeling of the Americans them-
selves. The result obtained is exceedingly satisfac-
tory, not so much to England herself, who has little
to gain or lose in the matter, as to the British Pro-
vinces and the United States. A treaty of this kind
is different from every other bargain that can be
made ; it is for the benefit of both parties, and most
frequently for the benefit of the one who appears to
make the worstbargam—that is, to make the greatest
concessions to the side of freedom. Of course there
are many things to be
.said and done before the
agreement just entered into obtains the force of the
law. Judging from the specimens afforded by the
deliberations of Detroit, the peace and kindly rela-
tions of the two neighbouring and kindred peoples
will find their bitterest adversaries in the profes-
sional American politicians. The same restless seek-
ing for popularity, and pandering to the evil passion
of the moment, which are even now urging the
United States to seek repose after the war they have
just concluded by provoking fresh hostilities with
England and France, will doubtless oppose them-
selves to anything which tends to make the dangers
of war more remote by increasing and extending the
blessings of peace. But this matter will not, we
hope and believe, be wholly left to professional poli-
ticians. The commercial classes have a right to be
consulted, and seem determined to make their voice
heard ; and that voice deserves to be listened to at-
tentively, for it is raised on behalf of sound principle
and common sense. At any rate, no dream can be
more absurd than that of the American Consul-
General, of starving Canada into submission. We
learn from some statistics with which we have been
furnished, and on which we are informed reliance
can be placed, that Canada is far more rich in lead-
ing agricultural staples than the United States.
For instance, in the year before the war, of wheat,
rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, peas, beans, and
potatoes, Canada produced forty-eight bushels to
each person, while the United States produced only
two-fifths, or 16 bushels. The value of the live
stock owned in Ohio, the great dairy State, in the
same year, was $34 for each inhabitant, while the
value of live stock in Upper Canada was $3B for
each inhabitant. Canada had proportionally more
cows, made proportionally more butter, owned pro-
portionably more sheep, and made proportionably
more wool, while the United States, as might be
expected, were superior in Indian corn, pigs, and
cheese. A country so rich in natural productions,
and supplied with manufactured goods from Great
Britain at a rate so much cheaper than America is
supplied from New England, is not likely to be
starved into subsaission,oven should America refuse
to renew the Reciprocity Treaty.

HERALD.—The Rio Parana, one of the mighty
streams that traverse the continent of South Ame-
rica, and pursue their way now between rival states,
now through half explored deserts unreclaimed to
civilisation, whose banks are sometimes adorned with
flourishing towns and resorts of commerce not un-
known to Europe, sometimes for hundreds of miles,
varied only, by wigwams and haunts of savage tribes
has been scarcely a month ago the scene of a con-
flict from which the nations of the Eastern world
might learn a lesson. Two fleets of steamers and
gunboats encountered one another on a broad
stream, which allowed plenty of opportunity for the
manoeuvres of the opposing armaments. The squa-
drons of Brazil and Paraguay were, to the best of
our belief, very equally matched. We have nothing
told us at present beyond the result of the battle.
Probably the engineers of both fleets were English-
men, as engineers of steamboats generally are. The
captains and officers must have been men who have
profited by the latest discoveries in science and the
art of war. An encounter on such a field, between
navies possessed of all the modern paraphernalia of
destructiveness, will be most interesting to us as
soon as its details are made known. We shall be
glad to learn how it was that one of the comba-
tants, after a bloody engagement, which is said to
have lasted nine hours, obtained so tremendous an
advantage over its antagonist. We do not think it
was by virtue of any great superiority of men and
guns that the Brazilians triumphed over the
Paraguayans. The Paraguayans, beset by a
formidable league by river and land, must have
fought with the energy of despair—fought as men
fight who feel that the fortunes, the very existence
of their country may hang on the issue. Yet the
Paraguayans were so signally discomfited that their
capital, Asuncion, must now lie at the mercy of the
enemy, and to all appearance the whole state of
Paraguay is now in the power of those who seek to
chastise it for its crimes. The forces of Lopez, Dic-
tator of Paraguay, a not unworthy successor of the
ferocious Francia, are said to have numbered eight
steamers and six gunboats, mounting 68 and 80-
pounders, with a battery of 30 rifled guns and 2,000
men. Near Corrientes, on the Parana River, more
than 1,000 miles from the mouth of the Rio de la
Plata, this fleet of the Paraguayans met the fleet of
Brazil, which had journeyed all the way from Buenos
Ayres to do battle with its enemy. The result of the
battle was the loss of four steamers and six gunboats
of Paraguay, the death of her admiral, with 1,700
men out of 2,000 killed, wounded, and missing.
The four steamers left retreated up the river. The
blow was crushing and decisive. Corrientes is a
half-inhabited province of the Argentine Confedera-
tion, which lies immediately to the south of Para-
guay, and is bounded to the south by Entre Rios,
another province of the Confederation ; to the south-
east by Uruguay, the country of Monte Video. The
capital, Corrientes, is on the main stream of the
Parana. To the north of this town the Parana
i divides into two great branches—one, which !lows
east for 200 miles and then north, and bears the
same name of Parana ; another, which rune from
due north, the Paraguay River. These form the
boundaries of the little state of Paraguay, which is
thus wedged between the Argentine territories and
those of Brazil. Some time ago, when Brazil was
at war with Monte Video, the ruler of Paraguay
dashed into the strife for certain ambitious or free-
booting purposes of his own. To the south of Para-
guay he laid waste the state of Corrientes, to tthe
north he collected whole caravans of plunder and
supplies from the ill-defended Brazilian province of
Matto Grosso. Brazil and Uruguay concluded peace,
and the Dictator of Paraguay made war on both of
them to his own behoof. A formidable coalition was
formed against him. Long ere this Buenos Ayres,
south of the estuary of the Plate, had joined her
fortunes to those of the Argentine Republic, whose
vast and fertile territories stretched from Bolivia to
Patagonia, and were only bounded westwards by
the great chain of the Andes, which lies between
them and Chile. The Republic of Uruguay, or
Monte Video, north of the Plate and east of the
Uruguay River, formerly known as the Banda
Oriental, was of one mind with the Argentine Re-
public in the project of chastising the warlike Para-
guayans. The forces of President Flores united
themselves with those of President Mitre and Gen.
Urquiza. The new Minister of Brazil, the Marquis
Olinda, lent his powerful aid to the enterprise. The
Brazilian fleet, equal in equipment to that of any
of the second-rate European powers, started at the
beginning of June from the mouth of the Plate,
and, with the land forces of the two Republics,
swept up the stream of the Parana, passing Buenos
Ayres, Rosario, and Santa Fe, and for hundreds of
miles further, till it encountered its enemy. The
Brazilians were in a strange country, far away from
home. Defeat would have been destruction to them,
confusion to their allies. The issue has justified the
audacity of the Imperial squadron, and shown that
it is on the waters of the Parana, their own chosen
battle-field, that the bold Paraguayans can be best
encountered. Though the upper watersaters of the
i
Parana and Paraguay are n Brazilian territory
there are no naval arsenals there, and the naviga-
tion is difficult, so that there was no possibility for
a hostile force to descend those rivers. The only way
of bringing Lopez to his senses was by sailing up
the broad water between Buenos Ayres and Monte
Video. The Brazilian Government has now fairly
conquered for itself a.place in the annals of war ; it
has undertaken and carried out most triumphantly
an enterprise which at the outset seemed difficult and
most doubtful of success. Brazil has vindicated for
herself the claim to the first place among South
American Governments, the right to take rank be-
side the great nations of Europe. As for Paraguay
with her population of 1,300,000, surrounded bY
liostile peoples numbering 10 millions, her plunder-
ing propensities will be effectually controlled for the

future. Unless Paraguay hastens to make terms,
and to offer submission and redress for all griev-
ances, she is in danger of being absorbed by Brazil,
or partitioned between that empire and the Govern-
ment of the Argentine Republic.