The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-13 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Timms.—The Australian colonies seem destined to be a
sort of convex mirror, in which we may contemplate on a
reduced scale the institutions under which we live, placed
under circumstances which can hardly occur under the
quieter and more stable condition of political life in
these islands. Ministries rise and fall, elections succeed to
elections with a sort of tropical rankness and luxuriance of
growth and destruction of which we in these temperate and
frigid islands can form but little idea. The accounts which
have reached us from Victoria and New South Wales have
in them both much to interest not only the practical politi-
cian, but the speculator on representative government, its
incidents, its dangers, and its advantages ; and no time can
be better spent than in carefully considering and maturely
weighing the incidents passing- in this little theatre which
our own colonists have been good enough to get up for our
instruction. Happily for us, the Australian colonies are
what is called a good deal more advanced than ourselves;
they have the privilege, as Mr. Bright has often told us, of
possessing institutions of which the mother country has not
yet been thought worthy, such as universal suffrage and
vote by ballot ; and it is pleasant to see at other expense
than our own the full development of the modern panaceas
for all the evils that Governments have been heirs to from
the days of Athenian even to the days of American demo-
cracy. Of course the first thing that we hear of the two
great Australian colonies is that the one has just passed
through, or rather is just recovering from, the pangs of a
general election, while the other is in the midst of it. How
many of these periodical clearings of the political atmos-
phere there have been since the establishment of self-go-
vernment in Australia we do not profess to remember, but
it seems to us that these colonies are always either in a
general election, going to have a general election, or just
out of a general election. The general election in Victoria
has had results very unusual to such proceedings. It has,
to the astonishment of everybody, greatly strengthened the
Government. Every member of the Ministry has been
re-elected, and only one member of the Ministry that pre-
ceded them. Of seventy-eight members of Assembly
forty new men have been returned, and this after the
Government has been fifteen months in power—a period
in Australian eyes, we conclude, something like equal to
the length of the Administration of Lord Liverpool. The
colonists themselves are astonished at this phenomenon :
one paper calls it a revolution, and if an entire change of
practice be worthy of the name a revolution it certainly is.
Of course the whole ingenuity of the colony is set to work
to explain a phenomenon so strange and so startling. How
can it be that a Ministry which has lasted 15 months can
again meet Parliament with a fair probability of renewed
political power ? A sudden cessation of the ebb and flow
of the sea could hardly be more startling to the eyes of a
natural philosopher than this inroad upon the established
seesaw of party. The favourite solution is arrived at by
the aid of a principle which has already created and solved
so many difficulties in European politics. The last Ministry
was almost exclusively Irish ; during the long period of 20
months for which it held office none but Irish appoint-
ments were made ; and the present Ministry is the fruit of
an alliance between English and Scotch to recapture the

spoils which the natives of the sister island had so dexter-
ously carried away. People thought, whether rightly or
not, that for these 20 months something more than justice
had been dealt out to Ireland, and they acted on the laud-
able determination of doing justice to themselves. The star
of Erin has paled for a while before this ominous combina-
tion, but it is the happy destiny of Australian politicians
that their adversity is as brief as their-prosperity is uncer-

tain, and nobody can say, notwithstanding the present un-
favourable appearances, how soon the star of Erin may be
again in the ascendant, and her sons enter into the posses-
sion of those spoils of which the Saxon has for a time de-
prived them. We may observe here a little anticipation of
the practice of America, and an opinion, probably well
founded, that the rise and fall of governments has more to

do with the good things which they have to give away
than with the measures which they introduce and the prin-
ciples which they advocate. Another important feature in
this election is that in it, for the first time, as far as we
know, in any British community, the fair sex have
been admitted to the exercise of the franchise. We
are sorry that this concession does not appear
to be due to the gallantry of our Australian colo-
nists, but to a mistake which they made in adopting for
Parliamentary elections the roll for municipal elections, in
which women are permitted to vote. The women seem to
have availed themselves in considerable numbers of the
privilege, however obtained. Custom had not yet taught
them that slight regard for the electoral franchise which
seems almost inseparable with us from the creation of a
large constituency. It is recorded that the women voted
at least as wisely as the men ; that they generally voted
for the best educated candidate ; that they showed con-
tempt for the secrecy of the ballot ; and that, espousing the
cause which they took up with a heartiness and devotion
incidental to the female character, they generally gave
plumpers for the candidate of their choice. In a franchise
so low as that enjoyed by the Australian colonies we can
easily believe that this new element, especially as the
female votes were given in respect of property, would be a
marked improvement. It will be very curious to see
whether this innovation, thus accidentally introduced, is
allowed to continue, or whether the colonists will persevere
in the course upon which they have stumbled. In the
latter case it would seem hardly to be possible to leave
matters as they are, or to prevent a much larger infusion
of the female element into the constituency. Another
symptom of the inevitable results of democratic govern-
ment is the prevalence both in New South Wales and Vic-
toria of Protectionist opinions. Why Assemblies practi-
cally representing working men, and working men only,
should uniformly show so strong a disposition towards the
establishment of heavy indirect taxes, which must be paid
mainly by their constituents, it is very difficult in the
abstract to say ; but so obviously is the spirit of Protec-
tion a concomitant of universal suffrage in America, in
Canada, and in Australia, and so impossible was it found
to obtain any efficient assistance from the masses towards
the promotion of the Free-trade movement in this country,
that the connexion may be fairly said to be established by
a very efficient process of induction. In Victoria the
Protectionists seem to have little union among themselves,
and not to be likely, for the present, at least, to exercise
much influence over financial legislation. They exist as
a party, but that is all. But in New South Wales the
case is very different. There they are in the
middle of a %contested election. The Ministry, which has
strong Protectionist leanings, and the Premier of which is
an avowed Protectionist of the most ultra views, has been
beaten by the Opposition. It claimed a dissolution, and
the country is in the midst of the consequent election. The
finances are iu great disorder, and the colonial Treasurer

has not yet made known his intended taxes. The struggle
is not unlike that in 1852 in this country, Protection being

really at the bottom of the quarrel, a principle by some
manfully avowed, and by others uncandidly concealed.
There is a strong feeling in the colony in favour of Protec-
tion, owing, we are told, to three causes—to a narrow local
sentiment, to great ignorance on the subject, and to the

prevalent predominance of the artisans. The sentiment is
said to be strongest in the towns and in the capital ; the
country settlers despair of a duty on flour, and are compa-
ratively lukewarm on the subject. It is evidently the lead-
ing topic of the day. Of course, we cannot predict what is
likely to be the result of this contest ; but it occurs to us as
—supposing the Protectionists are victorious, and pass
measures injurious to British commerce and avowedly at
variance with the commercial policy of the Empire—what
steps the Home Government are prepared to take on the
question ? So long as our colonists tell us that they must
impose heavy duties for the purposes of revenue, and show
—as, under the institutions under which they have the

happiness to live, it is very easy for them to do—that they
have a large deficit to fill up, it is extremely difficult for us
to interfere with such legislation. But once let the flag of
Protection be unfurled, once let it be admitted or once let
it be proved that the object of legislation is not primarily

the collection of revenue, but is rather the exclusion from
a portion of her Majesty's dominions of the commodities
created by the labour of the inhabitants of another portion,
and a question is raised which it will become the Imperial
Parliament and the advisers of the Crown very carefully and
maturely to consider. The question of Protection is not

one local to the British isles ; it is Imperial, and co-exten-
sive with the limits of that Empire of which we have learnt
to consider freedom of commerce as the principal stay and
support. It is a policy embodied in many treaties and
sanctioned by innumerable Acts of Parliament, and it cer-
tainly appears to us that those whose duty it is to watch
over not merely English but Imperial interests will ill dis-
charge that duty if they allow our dependencies a licence
which we have solemnly renounced for ourselves and for
all those communities over which we are able to exercise a
legitimate influence.
HERALD.—Suicidal as the financial policy of the Wash-
ington Government has been throughout the present war,
its climax, perhaps, was not reached prior to the proposed

abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty now existing between
the United States and the British North American colo-
nies. This seems to be the opinion, at all events, of the
most influential men belonging to that ancient French set-
tlement, the good town of Detroit, than whom no better
judges can be found in the whole breadth of Federal ter-

ritory. Situated on Lake St. Clair, and closely connected
by river communication with the largest lakes of Erie and
Huron, Detroit, from its highest buildings, commands also
a view of the Canadian shore. If the rise of this city was
in the first instance owing to its importance as a military

post, its subsequent growth may be ascribed to an exten-
sive and constantly increasing trade with the British de-
pendencies. Whatever, therefore, to others may be the
consequences
.of hasty interference with old-established
commercial relations, to Detroit, such a charge of system
must be fraught with inevitable disaster. We are not,
then, surprised that the moment that the dissolution of the
treaty was announced the Board of Trade in this town de-
legated to some of its members the task of making a care-
ful and minute inquiry into the merits of the whole ques-
tion. We have now before us the report of the committee
appointed for the purpose, an able and valuable document,
which demonstrates incontestably the benefits accruing to
the United States from the Reciprocity Treaty. It is more
satisfactory that they do not look at the matter at all from
a British point of view, but regard it simply on the side of
utilitarianism. The report, to which we call attention,
though it has its positive argument, is mainly of a contro-
versial character. Its positive reasoning may soon be dis-
missed, based as it is upon statistics which prove them
selves. The committee show that the treaty has done
more for the trade os the United States than it has for,
that of the British colonies. From June 30, 1821, to June
30, 1863, the exports to Canada and the other British Ame-
rican provinces reached the value of $422,443,981, whilst
the imports were worth only $260,327,900, there being in
favour of the United States a balance of $162,116,081. But

the chief object of the report is to point out the injustice
and impolicy of the opposition raised against the treaty.
Singling out some seven or eight principal objections, it
answers them in detail. We cannot do better than avail
ourselves of the committee's labours, not, however, always
following the order in which their remarks are given.
Amongst the objections which have been offered to the
working of the Reciprocity Treaty, the first place is natu-
rally to be assigned to those which arrogate to themselves
dimensions of national importance. It is alleged that neither
Canadar nor Great Britain, has any sympathy with the
United States in their attempt to subdue the South. The
committee treat this difficulty in manly and lofty language.
The imperial authority and commercial interests of a coun-
try, say they in substance, should not be confounded. If a
state is injured nationally, let it avenge itself nationally,
but do not let it inix up such insults and their consequences
with questions of trade and commerce affecting the well-
being of 70,000,000 of people, for they conclude axiomati-
cally, "commercial treaties and quarrels should stand or
fall on their own merits." Another complaint, springing
from a cognate jealousy, that the treaty encourages the car-
rying trade of rivals through a foreign country, is discussed
uponlpractical grounds by the report. It is shown that,
what with the inadequacy of the means of transport and
their heavy cost, the mercantile and farming interests must
suffer materially were an attempt made to convey the pro-
duce of the North-West solely through Federal territory.
With what has gone before we may class the objection that
the fisheries have not turned out so valuable as might have
been expected. True, but the treaty had the inestimable
advantage of settling amicably the disputes which might
have arisen between the United States and Great Bri-
tain upon the subject. The object, indeed, of the
Washington Government in getting the Reciprocity Treaty
was threefold—the regulation of these very fisheries, the
opening of the common waters in the new world more freely,
and the removal of duties upon certain enumerated articles
of commerce, all of which results have been attained for
many years. We pass to a more selfish class of objections.
It is urged that since the troaty has been in operation the
Legislature of Canada has from time to time imposed
heavier duties upon the productions of the United States,
and that consequently there has been a decrease in the de-
mand for such articles. Upon this the committee offer
some just and pertinent remarks. In estimating a system
of taxation adopted by a foreign country we have only a
right to consider whether the taxes spring from hostile in-
tention or from sheer necessity. Now it is evident that the
Canadian imposts arise entirely from the latter cause, and
also that they do not touch e, single article named in the
treaty. We, cannot, therefore blame Canada a whit more
than the _ United States, the Government of which has
levied increased taxes to a far greater extent. But, say
th 3 objectors to the treaty, our lumber interests suffer from
competition with Canadian lumber merchants, and our coal
from a similar competition with that of Nova Scotia. The
answer upon the part of the committee is very bold and
explicit. But for this competition the consumer would be
entirely at the mercy of the great capitalists, who are taking
up the pineries of the West, and of the coal masters. Sup-
posing that most of the lands on which these pineries are
pass into the hands of these powerful owners, what will be
the price of lumber, and whence can it be got, to build and
improve cities and villages ? The report expresses its re-
gret that Nova Scotia does not export twenty times more
coal than she does to the Federal cities upon the Atlantic
seabord, and dismisses the subject with the following sig-
nificant words :—" The interest of the manufacturer, the
wants of the poor, and the requirements of our vast steam
marine demand cheap fuel and no monopoly in either coal
or lumber, Upon the disputed question of breadstuffs, the
report shows that the United States have been largely hone_
fitted instead of being injured by the importation of Cana-
dian grains. Statistics prove that in 1863 there were
imported into Detroit 300,000 bushels of Canadian
white wheat, upon which Americans received for labour,
freight, insurance, elevating charges, and commission, no
less a sum than $108,295 25c., and that the public revenue
would gain also in this transaction $3,880. To the objec-
tion made by the opponents of the treaty, that all this
wheat would have come in at a 20 per cent. ad valorem
duty, and that therefore both the profits and duty might
have been gained, this sensible reply is given—"We would
not have received a single bushel of wheat with a 20 per
cent. duty, because the amount of the tax would have paid
the freight, Ste., from the point from which the grain started
in Canada to Montreal, where it would have been sold for
a larger sum than at Detroit." There is but one other ob-
jection of importance mentioned by the, committee, and
that touches very closely the delicate question of American
avarice. The commission merchants complain that con-
sumers who -used to purchase at Detroit, now buy their
flour at Toronto. This, says the report, is your own fault.
If you would sell at a fair rate, instead of at an advance of
from one to two dollars per barrel above other markets, you
would not drive the trade elsewhere. But the committee
adopt less confined reasoning when they show the folly of
attempting to escape competition by make-shift legislation.
Sooner or later different countries must compete with one
another in foreign markets, it matters little whether it is at
Boston or Liverpool. The report concludes with a warm
recommendation of a renewal of the treaty for 25 years,
with some modifications into which we have not space to
enter. From the impartial summary of the Detroit com-
mittee it is clear that English writers have been guilty of
no selfishness when they have urged the advantages of the
Reciprocity Treaty, advantages falling most to the side of
the United States. Whether the report will convince the
Cabinet of Washington may reasonably be doubted. The
Detrait merchants complain of the ignorance of their
countrymen ; they make still more bitter complaints of
their apathy and shortsightedness in matters concerning
their real interests. One of Sherman's raids will be re-
garded by the Federal Government as more interesting
than the destruction of Detroit, a town that was so sure a
source of national wealth that so far back as 1852 its saw-
mills turned out about 10,000,000 feet of lumber every year.
President Lincoln will perhaps have his joke upon the
subject. Noro was fiddling whilst Rome was on fire.

MR. MILNER GIBSON'S VISIT TO LANCASHIRE.—
The President of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce has
received a note from Mr. Milner Gibson, in reply to an in-
vitation forwarded to him, to the effect that the few days
he will spend in Lancashire this month are so pre-occupied
that he will not be able to attend the annual meeting of the
Chamber. He hopes, however, at some future time to at-
tend a meeting of the Chamber.

Ironmas

ly Meeting•

BIICIINGHAM, Thursday Evening
The principal mee hug of the ironmasters of this
was held in the Town-hall here this afternoon, and the sk
tendance Wito large, but, as at Wolverhampton on Wedne,
day, there wet% scarcely any business done ; the receipt 01
cent. did not contribute in the slightest de-
the telegram avnouncing that the Bank rate had been re'
duced to 51. per
gree to stimulate tile trade, not the least animation having
been exhibited from commencement to the close of the
meeting. The large cou'sumers were steadfast in their de"
termination not to buy, and spoke confidently of the opPO
tunties offered to them to place orders at from 7s. 6d. to
10s. per ton below the trade price ; undoubtedly, this re'
ferred to the second class makers, the producers ci
" marked" iron evincing no disposition to accept leer,
prices than those recoolsed by the trade. The nature 0'
the inquiries by the mecchants indicated that there 0
orders in that quarter to be given out, and some few were
accepted at low prices ; but business was slack throughost,
inset'
and with such influences epeoting against. the trade ag
those set forth in our report of th,l Wolverhampton
ing, it is not likely that there will b..' any immediate rest°'
ration in healthy action, but if the dih erence with the inell
is amicably adjusted, it will be much fat.nitated.
The transactions in pig-iron were mot2erate. A go"
staple article, hot blast, was quoted at 31.100. to 31. 15s.
ton. It would be easy enough to quote the prices at whim
sales were said to have been effected, but, as those who are
familiar with the circumstances of the trade are well aware:,
this would be a most unreliable mirror as to the goner°.
price.