The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-14 00:00:00

The position of the North at this moment is far
from enviable. The public debt has just been been
officially announced to amount, on the 31st ult., to
$2,757,253,275, showing an increase of $122,000,000
since the 31st May. The coin interest on the debt
amounted to over sixty-four million dollars, and
the currency interest to over seventy-four millions.
This is not a very pleasant result of four years'
war, and certainly the Americans have shown
themselves capable of " going a-head" as rapidly
in a national debt as in anything else.
It is no great wonder that with this
complication of troubles President JOHNSON'S health
is failing him. A man of stronger nerve might well
feel the task too weighty, surrounded as he is with
interested partisans and fanatical New Englanders,
who think every difficulty will be solved by hanging
DAVIS and confiscating the whole land of the
Southern States. The tales which have been fabri-
cated in some parts of the North respecting the
treatment of Federal prisoners have been amply
disproved. The only necessary which they appear
to have wanted being medicine, which the North
with its usual humanity declared contraband
of war. A letter from a gentleman, who was
for more than a year the inhabitant of a
Federal prison, serves, however, to bring a
countercharge of very serious nature against the
Federal authorities. The Northerners appear to be
merciless in their use of power when they get it,

and unfortunately they have at present little to keep
them in check. Altogether, the last number of

The Index appears at a troubled epoch ; but we
must hope that the prospects of both South and
North will brighten and settle before long.

' The Cattle Plague has now assumed most formid-
; able dimensions, and on Saturday a supplement was
published to the London Gazette concerning the due
precautions that were to be adopted. This has been
rendered necessary by late events, and indeed it was
high time that something was done. It is generally
the fashion with the authorities to put off all inter-
ference in such matters until the evil has been long
in existence and made great progress. The Order
in Council is given in consequence of an Act passed
in the session of the eleventh and twelfth years of
her MAJESTY'S reign, to prevent the spreading of
contagious and infectious disorders among sheep,
cattle, and other animals, that enables any two or
more of the Privy Council to make such orders and
regulations as may be deemed necessary. Many
useful directions arc given in this order, and one of
the most important is the second, which sets forth
that every inspector appointed under the provi-
sions of the Order in Council shall have the power
to enter upon and inspect any premises where he
has any ground for believing that any animal labours
under disease as often as he thinks it necessary to
do so. Without some such rule as this there can
be no possibility of detecting the evil or arresting
its progress, for it is well known that through igno-

ranee or inattention necessary precautions are not

adopted in many places, and, above all, that time
is lost before the infected animals are separated
from the rest. Only the authority of those who
cannot be resisted can avail in such cases, and the
health and well-doing of the community impera-
tively demand its vigilant exercise. Furthermore,
it is decreed that such animals as are affected with
the disorder shall be kept apart from the rest, and
that no person shall send to market, or remove from
his premises, any animal that has been herded or
come into contact with those affected by the dis-
order, without the leave of the inspector. Every
animal that dies of the disease is to be buried near

the spot if at all practicable, and the inspector
is to authorise the disinfecting of the skin,
if it be not buried, with the animal.

Also, it is enacted, that every person upon
whose premises the diseased animals die shall cleanse
and disinfect the said premises, in such a manner as
the inspector of the district shall appoint, and that
all persons who offend against this order shall for-
feit any sum not exceeding twenty pounds, as
the justices before whom he is convicted may
think fit to impose. A wise injunction is that
which directs that any cowkeeper or dealer in cattle
shall give• notice of the existence of the disease to
the proper authorities, and these shall direct that
some veterinary surgeon or other person qualified
as an inspector shall carry the necessary rules and
regulations into effect. The order is now ex-
tended to all parts of England and Wales,
not comprised in the first order. So far, a desirable
decree has been issued ; and it now remains for
those whom it concerns to carry into effect, as far
as possible, the regulations that are given, which, if
put in force at once, must stop the spread of the
disease in a great measure, if it does not speedily
check it.

Alr. GREGORY, of Manchester, has written a letter
to the limes concerning the "rot " and disease so
generally prevalent among imported cattle. In this
communication he states that much harm is done by
the " infamous treatment " which cattle receive at

the hands of exporters in foreign countries, by owners
of railways, vessels, and consignees and salesmen at

our ports. The details here set forth are indeed most

shocking, and disclose facts that are worthy of
notice. Sheep and cattle are for the most part

purchased in foreign port-markets, and the buyers
generally deem it advisable to get the poor animals

Index have decided upon suppressing their journal

The farewell address, issued with the last number,
is now before the public, and will be read with in-
terest by many not concerned in the Southern cause.
On the Ist of May, 1862, The Index commenced its
career as a representative of Southern interests in
this country. At that time the fortunes of the Con-
federacy were at a low ebb, for New Orleans had
fallen, and M'CLELLAN was marching on Rich-
mond. Since that time many a deadly battle has
been fought, many a victory won, and when at
length the curtain has fallen over the stirring
scene there has been but one feeling of admiration
for the gallantry, the resource, and the persever-
ance of the people of the South. Even now there
is enough to engage attention in the position and
prospects of the several States of the Confederacy,
but the editor of the Index believes the usefulness
of his journal to be marred by the general impres-
sion that its existence is a kind of Providence,
and as the organ of a new Secession party." lie
will not, therefore, suffer the. Index to become the
excuse for " perpetuating a contest which can
only aggravate the miseries of the conquered and
the disarmed." After paying a well-merited
tribute to the fairness and candour of the English
press, the Editor of the Index goes on to express his
conviction that the prolonged struggles and suffer-
ings of the South have not been fruitless. " The
Southern Confederacy," he says, " has fallen, but
her gallant sons have not died in vain. Whatever
flag waves over her capitols the South will be free.
Under whatever Government her people live their
influence will be felt." We may, indeed, see one
great good which has been gained by the war, one
blessing which it has conferred on the South,
though it is a blessing that her people
will not recognise. The abolition of sla-
very will have removed the great drag
upon her wheels, and however harshly it may be
carried out towards the negroes, it will be a sub-
stantial benefit to succeeding generations of white
and black.