The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-01 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA.

(From the Daily News.)
There can be no doubt that the time has arrived
when we must f am a judgment for ourselves, inde-
pendent of American guidance, about the course and
probabilities of political affairs at "Washington.
There is naturally a strong desire on all hands to
guide European opinion, and we are presented with
the sanguine views and pet projects of every sec-
tion which has a plan to propose or a point to carry.
Amidst incompatible representations of how the
land lies, and assurances from divergent parties that
each is sure of success, we must hear what each has
to say, and keep our judgment suspended as to the
way in which victory will incline. The letters of
our correspondents in the Daily News of Monday
and Tuesday last must have suggested to our readers
something of this kind ; and when, again we com-
pare them with the American correspondence of
other journals, we may plainly perceive that it is
an hour of crisis at Washington, and in each eee-
tion of the country, and that each party desires to
impress upon England that it will have the direc-
tion of affairs presently, and that it will gratify all
the desires of friends in Europe who have thus far
remained unsatisfied 'about the true cause and ten
tency of the struggle. It is a clear duty now for
us to take whatever pains are requisite to under-
stand the position of affairs at the moment when a
choice must be made at Washington of one course
among several.

Of the South there is little to be said, except
that the despondent tone of the Richmond papers,
and other utterances in the Border States, is no
longer met and corrected by the jubilant mani-
festoes of the Southern cities. On the contrary,
the more thoroughgoing Confederates seem to have
passed into the other extreme, and to be addressing
their fellow-citizens in a tone of despair. If this
sort of appeal is really suitable to the situation, it
will soon be seen whether there is or is not any
considerable portion of the population disposed for
continued Union, on the simple terms of giving up
slavery and the political privileges it carried with
it. The evidence seems to us just what it always
was, that the Confederacy must collapse whenever
attacked with energy, and that there are districts
where the inhabitants would be glad to exchange
slave for free labour, and to have Washington for
their metropolis, rather than Montgomery or Rich-
mond. The military and civil action of the Northern
Government will soon disclose what rtmains to be
known of the condition of the South.

The grand question now is, what that Northern
action will be ?

Some journalists, correspondents, members of
Congress, and political speakers in the several
States, endeavour still to disguise the actual diver-
gence of opinion and aim, by declaiming on the
" Union " as the object of the conflict, and the
all-sufficient appeal to the twenty millions of
the North. But this will not do now that the
President has taken his stand on the Constitution,
with an evident intention of standing or falling
by it. And he means by this that he will observe
the terms of the Constitution precisely as it exists,
with ite pro-slavery provisions, and not in a mere
general way under an understood arrangement for
amending the Constitution as soon as the South
should be effectually dealt with. The pro-slavery
provisions were, till recent times, only two ; the
oue giving the three-fifths suffrage to slaveholders,
and the other binding all the citizens of the whole
nation to return fugitive slaves. Recent legislation
has added heavily to the burden of these provisions,
and it has been clear from the outset of the struggle
that the Washington Government must surrender
one thing or the other—it must surrender the pro-
slavery provisions of the Constitution or the sup-
port of the anti-slavery portion of the Northern
population. Mr. Lincoln has manifested his inten-
tion of upholding the Constitution in its entirety,
and it is an unseemly levity, or worse, in any jour-
nal, speaker, or writer to pretend that there is a
good working agreement between the President and
the whole body of Northern citizenship. In the
same breath with such assumptions, we are told that
slavery, the one mighty cause of the conflict, is
about to be abolished. Slavery is the one mighty
cause of the strife ; but what is the evidence that it
is about to be abolished ?

A bill is to be brought before Congress which will
provide for the Abolition of Slavery in the District
of Columbia—the District over which Congress has
unrestricted power. Well, this move has been made
often before; what is to happen now P Some assure
us that it will succeed ; and others are certain that
it will fail. It ought to succeed, now that the Con-
gress is weeded of Confederate members ; bat
already this session a move in the same direction
has failed.

The Federal soldiery declare, almost to a man,
that they will not be employed as slave-catchers,
nor as escort to negroes delivered up to their
owners. This is an interesting manifestation of
opinion and feeling in an i:nportant class of society ;
but, as regards action at Washington, it indicates
only that there may be antagonism betweea the
army and the Government.

The abolitionists have for months been circulating
a form of memorial to Government, by which they
propose, and petition for, a treeing of the slaves
wherever the Federal flag advances (in accordance
with interpretations of the constitution by very
high authorities), and moreover pledge themselves
to contribute all they have, if necessary, to start
and sustain a sound organisation of labour on the
Southern plantations, under Federal officials. The
answer to this is Mr. Lincoln's demonstration that
he abides by the existing constitution.
Next, we are desired to regard as a settled mat-
ter the disposal of the Confederate States when ac-
quired by the North. The soil of those States is to
be remanded to the condition of Territories, as the
Territories of the Republic are before arriving
at a capacity to be States. The revolted States
are to be governed from Washington, under a
system of free labour. Some say the negroes
are to be banished, as the President recom-
mended in his Message ; and others that the
negroes are to be trained and elevated into the
condition of the best free blacks of all countries.
Our correspondent at Washington, in the letter
which we published last Tuesday, tells us that we
shall soon see a second middle class arise under such
management, by which the whole South will be
retrieved and reconciled. But the President is
meantime pronouncing for the existing constitution;
and nobody explains what is to be done with the
planters who happen to be of the Confederate party,
while that new organisation is being carried on.
Mr. Gerrit Smith, of whose recent avowals our
correspondent of Monday speaks, under the date of
February 6, is best known in this country by his
attempts on behalf of those very planters, before
the war broke out. He instigated and headed a
movement for collecting funds for the purchase of
the whole four millions of Southern slaves. The
scheme failed, of course; and it is heard of now
chiefly as a warning against following the lead of
the excellent man who proposed it. Mr. Gerrit
Smith is a generous and devoted man, worthy of all
honour in his own sphere ; but he does not under-
stand politics. As he is put forward just now as,
in some sort, an authority, it should be understood
that he is not one of the body of AbolitioLists pro-
per, and that he heads no party, political or other.
He therefore will not help his country to a solution
of its present difficulty. Neither do the Aboli-
tionists proper seem able to do so. They are bearing
testimony to the right principle and the true ex-
pediency, and their organ, the Standard, has recently
avowed that the hour of crisis has come ; but they
are not a political party, and it does not appear that
any action is to be expected from them.
What else P There Is the great Union party of
the North, which would perpetuate Slavery with
all its heart to get the Union back again. This
party will support Mr. Lincoln, and strive to pre-
vent that abdication which is now so strongly and
widely rumoured. The slave-traders in the Atlantic
ports. the Mammon worshippers of all sorts, and
the Union worshippers, and the quiet Tories who
are disturbed by the restless spirit of the time, are
now in great complacency about Mr. Lincoln's deci-
sion, and will support him to the utmost. There
is another large section of the people who are for
sustaining the Constitution till the South is sub-
dued, and amending it afterwards. Then, there is
the great Republican party, which has become

much more anti-slavery than Mr. Lincoln since it
elected hina. The numbers; strength, and reputa-
tion of this party increase daily ; and on it rests
the hopes of the country. Through it we see that
public speech has become free at Washington, and
in churches and lecture-rooms where no antislavery
doctrine could have been uttered a year ago.
Through it we may hope to see power and autho-
rity, reason and principle, always at command at
Washington, in case of any official shrinking from
the responsibility of what must be done. On this
party rests the hope of the Republic. It can save the
Republic easily enough, if aware of its duty, and
properly sustained in it. Meanwhile, it is false
patriotism—if, indeed, it be not treason—to pretend
that there are no difficulties and disagreements in
Northern policy. The difficulties are grave ; and the
disagreements involve nothing less than the future
virtue and liberty of the Republic. It is our part to
show that we are awake to this fact. and not fit
subjects for such coaxing, concealment, and false
colouring as are employed for the comfort of the
timid on the spot. 'We see, as we always liAve
seen, that a frank and sound emancipation policy
is the only safe hnd expedient one for the North ;
and our vigilant attention must now be fixed on
the parties and the individuals who promote or dis-
courage that policy. It is too late now to pretend
that the promoters and opponents of that policy,
and the waiters upon Providence in regard to it,
do, or ever can again, work together as if united by
a common patriotic enthusiasm.

THE BLoci, ADE OF THE SOUTH
AMERICAN PORTS,

A Parliamentary paper, published yesterday,
contains a mass of correspondence from the British
Minister at Washington, the c3nsuls in the Ame-
rican ports, the admiral on the station, and the
officers under his command, to the effect that the
blockade maintained by the Federal fleet is not
effective. The last of the papers in the return is
the following letter from the celebrated Mr. Mason
to Earl Russell, written in London on the 17th

inst. :

" 109, Piccadilly, Feb. 17.
"My Lord,—l have the honour to transmit
to your lordship herewith (by permission) re-
turns of vessels entered and cleared at the block-
aded ports of the Confederate States of America at
the respective dates to which they refer. Your
lordship will observe that the returns from the
ports of Charleston and Savannah are only up to
the 31st of October last ; from New Orleans, Mobile,
Pensacola, and Lavaca to the dates given in August,
and from Wilmington till 10th Sept. Your lord-
ship will further observe that in the list froniNew
Orleans a large number were inland by the river
Mississippi, and therefore involved no question of
a breach of blockade. Wishing to be perfectly
frank, it may be proper to remark also that others
from some of the ports may have been quasi inland,
that is to say, through the estuaries and sounds
along the coast. I state as an example, from New
Orleans to Mobile, where the route for small vessels
may or may not have been through the inland
sounds. But in regard to the latter, Ido not see
why the obligations of a blockade do not extend
RS fully to them as by access to the port from the
open sea. These estuaries or sounds are accessible
by inlets from the sea, and, if not guarded, the ports
to which they lead may be reached as successfully
by sea-going vessels of light draught through those
channels as by a direct sea route. That the Govern-
ment of the United States so considered, is proved
by the fact that the inland sea communication be-
tween New Orleans and Mobile, Charleston, and
Savannah, and perhaps other places, is claimed to
ts herewith were those furnished to
me by my Government, to be communicated to your
berh
e blockaded
transerip
by naval forces of that Government.
lordship. Although purporting to be copies of the
original returns, they were copies made at the proper
department at Richmond from those returns, and
are therefore authentic. I ask permission also to
include herewith a printed list of vessels entered
and cleared at ports in Cuba from and to the block-
aded ports of the Confederate States. These, for the
most part, are enumerated in September ; and all
for the months of November and December are of
course not included in the transcripts from Illy
Government. This paper, sent to me from Havana,
was taken from official documents there by a
gentleman of intelligence and integrity, well
known to me, and worthy of entire reliance.
The marginal notes are, of course, unofficial.
The fact (assumed) of the arrival of the vessels
cleared (at their ports of destination) was matter
of notoriety, from the almost daily intercourse
between Havana and those ports. I have no offi-
cial returns from my Government for the months
of November, December, and January, to be
accounted for in the fact that until very recently it
could not be known when I might reach London.
But, as your lordship, is doubtless aware, breaches
of the blockade at mcst, if not all, of these ports by
vessels of large as well as of small tonnage, both in-
wards and outward bound, have been during the
last three months, and yet are, constantly reported.
I have, &c. (signed) " S. M. MASON."

TRIAL OF S3IALL BORE RIFLES AT
WOOLWICH.

The contest begun on Wednesday last in the
Woolwich-marsh among the six gunmakers already
mentioned in The Sun was again resumed yester-
day morning between Mr. Whitworth and Mr.
Henry, who fired 60 rounds respectively over the
short range of 500 yards, employing the three rifles
allotted by the regulations in succession, and firing
20 rounds from each. The next pair of competitors
were Mr. Turner and Mr. Ingram, who also com-
pleted their complement of GO rounds, commenced
on Thursday. The north-easterly wind, which was
still unabated, was exceedingly detrimental to the
accuracy of the aim ; nevertheless, the state of the
diagrams proved the unerring precision of the wea-
pons, as Air. Whitworth and Mr. Henry's shot
marks on the target could each be covered, as stated.
by the marksman, with the crown of a man's hat.

The operations of yesterday were totally free
from the dissatisfaction which disturbed the trans-
actions of the previous day, and there appeared a
disposition on the part of Lord Elcho, Capt. Mild-
may, and other members of the council, to follow out
the regulations without the minutest deviation. The
competitors, however, expressed much dissatisfac-
tion at the appointment of Gen. Hay as the sole and
absolute umpire, as it was alleged that the General
was unalterably biassed in favour of the Whitworth
rifle, and was thereby not sufficiently accessible to
the complaints of the competitors at large. The
visitors yesterday, no doubt influenced by the state of
the weather, were not so numerous as on the pre-
ceding days, but the interest in the contest was in
no way relaxed. Mr. Blanch, of Liverpool, at-
tended and exhibited some very ingenious articles
of his invention, including a new muzzle stopper„
sight protector, and snapcap, which were much ad-
mired. A telescope of 3* feet focus length, having
a 2 object glass, with an erect eye-piece, on a tri-
pod stand, was also introduced by Lord Bury for
the National Rifle Association's maker, Mr. West,
of Cockspur-street, which General Hay, who said
he was already acquainted with its merits, pro-
nounced highly available for their purpose, and di-
rected the inventor to forward one for the use of
the council by the earliest opportunity. On account
of the Royal Laboratory Department requiring the
use of the range this morning for the purpose of
testing a quantity of powder in demand for imme-
diate use for cartridges, the Council of the Associa-
tion yesterday received intimation from Colonel.
Bower that their proceedings this morning could
not be renewed before 1 o'clock, when the range
would again be placed at their disposal.
Atelex,.,._

telegram is stated to have been received from
the Red Sea Telegraph Cable Repairing Expedition to the
effect that the cable between Suez and Jubal Island (200
miles) has been successfully repaired, and that it was con-
nected with the island on the 26th inst. A station will be
opened there at once, and the company have arranged with
the Post-office for the Peninsular and Oriental Company's
vessels to call there for messages. The land line between
Alexandria and Suez, which was carried away by the floods
in October, has beeu reinstated, and is now working, so
that messages may be sent direct to Jubal, instead of stop-
ping at Alexandria.

SUGAR MANUFACTURE IN FRANCE.—The seas on
for the manufacture of sugar from beetroot in France Com-
mences on the Ist of September, and during the five months
which had elapsed at the end of January the production
had reached nearly 129,000,000 kilogrammes, the amount of
production at the corresponding period of last year having
been but 88,500,000 kilogrammes, showing an increase
during the five months' operations this year of about 60 per
cent. The number of sugar manufacturies in operation this
season exceeds by 11 those of the previous season-348
against 337 ; of which 135 are in the single department du
Nord ; and but five manufactories have remained inactive,
against 12 the preceding season. These results show the
impulseeti given to the manufacture of sugar by the
reenlieerfgaffO red in May, 1860,

Y ~., ..

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT,

HOUSE OF LORDS-YESTERDAY.

The LORD CHANCELLOR• took his seat on the woolsack
at 5 o'clock.
THEATRES IN PASSION WEEK.

Viscount DUNGANNON presented a petition from
Holloway against the opening of the theatres in Passion
Week.

THE EDUCATION CODE.

Lord COLVILLE presented a petition against the re-
vised code.

THE SOUTHERN BLOCKADE.

The Earl of CARNARVON said that papers on this
subject had circulated amongst their lordships which con-
tained much valuable information, but they did not men-
tion whether any communication had taken place between
her Majesty's Government and the Government of foreign
States. He wished to ask whether any such communication
had taken place, and if so, whether there would be any
objection to lay these documents, if they existed, on the
table.

Earl RUSSELL said there had been no formal commu-
nications with foreign Governments, so he had no official
d3cuments to produce. He begged to lay on the tablo a
despatch he had received from Lord Lyons respecting the
southern harbours.

Earl STANHOPE asked whether the despatch con-
firmed what he had said the other night respecting the
sending a second stone fleet to Charleston harbour.
Earl RUSSELL said it did contain mention of the fitting
out of a second expedition, but all that was intended to be
done had been accomplished, so there would be no further
ship despatched for the purpose.