The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-25 00:00:00

THE. SUN, LONDON', SAIRTICOAY EWE NINCII, OCTOBER 25, 1862.

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which were detached from them under necessity of
meeting the exigencies of Neapolitan brigandage.
When all is said, however, when arguments pro
and contra have been brought forward on all sides,
there is no doubt that the removal of the Govern-
ment to Naples would be a great, momentous, and,
we may say it, almost desperate experiment ; but
the position of the country is in itself most critical.
Italy is contending against extreme evils—evils of
a nature to justify extreme remedies. Rather than
run the risk of losing Naples, of undoing all that
has been done, of compromising that unity which
has been almost providentially achieved, it certainly
behoves the Italians to be bold and even rash. They
are told almost daily, both by friends and foes, that
without Rome they cannot hope to save Naples,
that Naples is not to be governed from Turin. On
the other hand, there is no doubt but Turin, Milan,
Florence, and all Italy may be ruled from Naples.
All the Italian tribes, with one exception only, are
ready to sacrifice all their local interests, all their
municipal privileges, for the sake of the common
country. Let the Neapolitans be gratified, and
there will be an end to discontent throughout the
Peninsula.

There are some cold calculators, it is true, who
oppose the measure of the demenagement of the
Italian capital, not on political, but on financial
grounds. The removal of persons and things, of
offices, archives, &c., will, they reckon, entail an
expense of at least 50,000,000f.,•and these are times
by no means favourable to a similar extravagance.
The objection might have some weight if it were not
overruled by the very cogent reasons of State already
alleged. The brigand wars, the Garibaldi expedi-
tion, the hundred disorders afflicting the Southern
Provinces, have caused hitherto a far more con-
siderable outlay of money than would go towards
carrying the contemplated removal into effect. We
mast consider, besides, that the translation of the
capital need not be achieved in a single day or even
year. Much might be obtained, if late in the
autumn or early next spring the King, Court, and
Parliament were to rendezvous in the new resi-
dence. The rest would follow in small instalments
and by easy stages; and, as I said, the military
stores should never be made to depart from Turin,
nor the naval establishment to quit Genoa or
Spezzia.
It would be strange if the Rattazzi Ministry,
who have always been charged with undue muni-
cipal predilections, who were brought into power
by the support of the Subalpine party, and are
looked upon as the incarnation of the narrowest
Piedmontism, were to be the men to move in Par-
liament a bill for discrowning Turin and Piedmont,
and conveying the household gods of Savoy to the
old abode of the Bourbons; but Rattazzi and his
colleagues are at their wits' ends; they are ready to
go any lengths to retain power; willing to cater for
votes, no matter on what price. A bill of the nature
above mentioned would be sure of the suffrage of
nearly all the Southern and some also of the Nor-
thern members. The undertaking is one of vast
magnitude, would be sure to give rise to much talk,
and to turn public attention from other ticklish
topics ; and, for the rest, it will hardly be possible
to avoid the subject during the forthcoming session,
and it will always be well for the Government to
aspire to the honour of the initiative.

NORTHERN PROVINCES OF MEXICO.

The subjoined communication on the wealth and
resources of the northern provinces of Mexico, from
a most careful and well-informed source, will awake
a sense of the peculiar interest with which every
movement bearing on the political future of that
country should be watched by the commercial
world:—

" There are many interesting circumstances connected
with the northern provinces of Mexico which are yet but
little known, and deserve particular notice at this period.
I allude more particularly to Lower California, Sonora, and

Chihuahua.
"The Spanish Government were often accused of hav-
ing studiously kept those wealthy provinces secluded from
the rest of the world, sad the Nrouderful treasures disco-
vered in California as soon as it was annexed to the United
States corroborated the charge. The same remark might
be made even now with respect to the Mexicans if it were
not well known that their indolence is still greater than
their inveterate jealousy of other nations. Though they
are aware of the prodigious wealth to be found in their nor-
thern provinces, similar in every respect to California, they
have made no effort to derive any benefit from that portion
of their territory, which remains almost virgin to this day ;
nor is this fact to be accounted for by the revolutions which
have harassed the country, for the northern provinces have
generally remained strangers to such disturbances, espe-
cially within the last few years.
"Like many other portions of tho Mexican Republic,
Lower California is extremely deficient in water, but the
favoured spots which enjoy the advantage of irrigation are
remarkable for their fertility. The country is for the most
part mountainous, and abundantly provided with metals,
particularly gold and silver. Large deposits of coal are said
to exist near the western shore, towards the north. The
population is so scanty that five years ago the capital of the
province, La Paz, only contained about 300 inhabitants.
The climate is mild and healthy, and very similar to that
of Higher California. The rapid progress and astonishing
prosperity of the latter, however, form a strange contrast
with the half .barbarous and forlorn condition of the former.
It stands isolated, as it were, from the rest of the world,and
almost forgotten, unless it be by the Americans, who na-
turally look upon it as an easy and sure prey, to be seized
at no remote period. Nature seems to have paved the way
for such an event ; for, as Lower California consists of a
comparatively narrow peninsula, it really forms an appendix
of its prosperous neighbour. The only practical access
from the Mexican Main being by sea, and the Mexicans
having no navy, it follows as a natural consequence that
all intercourse with that part of their territory is difficult
and rare, and this fact accounts to a certain extent for the
neglect of Lower California and for its being so little known.
But though that region is almost unexplored, the remark-
able mineral wealth it contains is a well-established fact.
A mining company was formed in Mexico a few years since
with a view to export silver ore from Lower California
under a special privilege granted by Government for that
purpose, but, however good in itself, the scheme proved
abortive for reasons foreign to the subject.

" In a geographical point of view Lewer California is no
less interesting; it contains many very good harbours both
on the eastern and west coast, and the latter will no doubt
be made available hereafter for the China and East India
trade, which is even now beginning to assume serious pro-
portions in San Francisco. There are many islands belong-
ing to Lower California, some of which are well provided
with guano and others with salt ; the island of Carmen
especially, in the Gulf of Cortes, is notorious for its deposits
of salt, which are said to be almost inexhaustible.

46 In the province of Sonora, all along the western de-
clivity of the ' Sierra Madre' (as the lofty chain of the
Andes is styled in Mexico) the gold and silver mines are
equally remarkable for their number and for the rich texture
of their ores. Nor are the mines limited to that mountainous
region ; the whole province abounds in deposits of the pre-
ciousandthis
as well as other metals. The gold deposits known to
exist on the bed and bands of various rivers clearly indicate
I shoyuld
that the metal has been washed down from the mountains ;
natural inference is confirmed by the traditions of
Sonora,b as well as the adjoining province of Chihuahua,
1 why
natives. A glance at the map is sufficient to explain
, which
. uatiene tfhus rich, for they are both but the simple con-
tin" .
notothe contiguous territory of California.
was connected with a
it is
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about one-third of the treasure rent to
country from Mexico, and that fact alone is sufficient
con-
vey some idea of the mineral wealth of the province. All
over its vast territory gold and silver mines are to be found
in every direction ; but yet it was not to the number of
mines worked, but to the rich quality of the ore, that Spain
was indebted for such a plentiful production of the precious
metal, silver particularly. Among Mexican miners it is a
well-known fact that the richest silver mines discovered
hitherto are in Chihuahua. Occasionally large pieces of
native silver are found there, one of which is said to have
weighed 1501b.—i.e., about six arrobas. But that part of
the AMexican Republic is equally well provided with most
of the useful metals, particularly iron, lead, tin, and cop-
per, the latter being very plentiful, and generally aurife-
rous. There are also in its northern districts considerable
deposits of sulphur, and in various places table salt is
found, either alone or in combination with carbonate of
soda: the compound of these two salts, called by the
Mexicana , tequesquite,' is the spontaneous production of
the soil in various marshy places, and particularly on the
borders of the lakes. In consequence of the rapid eyapor'