The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-19 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STS.

SIR,—In calculating the probabilities of the future cotton
supply from America, assuming that the war should really
be soon brought to an end by the conquest of the South,
there is one important element which will have to be
taken into account, but which yet seems to have been lost
sight of.

Let us suppose that the great bulk of the negroes will
still be found in the South. Of course they are to be free,
and at liberty to work as much or as little as they choose ;
or, they choose it, not to work at all
Now, it may be perfectly true that blacks, if born and
bred in a system of free labour, and used to it for genera-
tions, might work at wages just the same as whites. But
what could be expected from whites themselves, habituated
to slavery time out of mind, and then suddenly emancipated,
and told they were their own masters, and that, too, in a
climate where labour is peculiarly irksome ?
It is the state of transition between the epoch of enforced
labour and that in which the persistent habits of the free
labourer are acquired that presents the difficulty.
It may be said that the negro must either work or starve,
and that he will prefer the former alternative. Granted ;
but he may decline to work any more than just what will
suffice to satisfy his simple wants in a climate where the
necessaries of life are few, and idleness is the greatest of
luxuries. Such labour as this would not be very productive
or very remunerative in raising cotton.
The negro will show himself very unlike other men if
he does not show a disposition to enjoy his newly-acquired
freedom by a tolerably good spell of idleness and play. A
long term of so-called apprenticeship was interposed, in
the West Indies, between slavery and total emancipation.
Last year General Banks promulgated, in Louisiana, a
system which looked very like a restoration of slavery
under another name.

Of course, if slaveryy is maintained in reality under some
new designation, the production of cotton will go on, so
far as the changed circumstances of the case permit, as
heretofore ; but at all events a long interval must elapse
before the supply can, if ever, resume its former condition.
—I am, sir, yours obediently,

OBSERVER.

There was a very general rumour this morning
prevalent at the West End that a high legal func-
tionary had resigned his office under the Crown.
The best inquiries have been made into the matter ;
but at present we are not in a position either to cox-
firm or deny the rumour.
THE BRIGHTON VOLUNTEER REVIEW.—OFFICIAL
RETURN OF THE FORCES.—From an official return
made by the brigadiers of the various brigades engaged on
Brighton Downs on Monday, and handed to the various
Deputy-Inspectors of Volunteers, in accordance with the
regulations of the War Office, it appears that, although
not reaching the original estimated strength, the field states
show a large increase over the number assembled on any
previous Easter Monday Volunteer Review day. These
returns show the actual field state of the forces to be as
follows :—Cavalry, 300 ; horse artillery, 36 ; brigades of
field artillery, 1,877 ; garrison artillery, I,oBo—total artil-
lery, 2,957. First division of infantry under General Rus-
sell-Ist Brigade, 1,938 ; 2nd Brigade, 1,624 ; 3rd Brigade,
1,426 ; 4th Brigade, 1,759—t0tal infantry-Ist division,
6,747. Second division, under command of Major-General
Rumley-Ist Brigade, 2,065 ; 2nd Brigade, 2,258 ; 3rd Bri-'
gade, 1.882 ; 4th Brigade, 2,170 ; sth Brigade, I,92l—total
infantry, 12nd division, 10,296 ; making a gross total of
20,336.

DISTRIBUTION OF NAVAL PRIZE MONEY.—Notice
is given in last night's Gazette that preparations are being
made for the intended distribution of the tonnage bounty,
&c., of a slave dhow, name unknown, captured on the 27th
of February, 1863, by her Majesty's ship Gorgon. Similar
notice is givenjwith regard to the tonnage bounty of a slave
dhow, name unknown, captured on the 14th of March,
1863, by her Majesty's ship Ariel, and a slave dhow, name
unknown, captured on the 31st March, 1863, by her Ma-
jesty's ship Ariel.
THE ACCIDENT AT THE BRIGHTON RAILWAY STA-
TION.—BRIGHTON, Tuesday Night.—This morning,
at the Town-hall, John Brooks, engine-driver, and Francis
Green, fireman, were charged with neglect of duty, where-
by the accident occurred on Saturday night, by a Lewes
train overturning two of the carriages of a London train,
and injuring several of the passengers. Some purely for-
mal evidence having been taken sufficient to justify a re-
mand, the further hearing was adjourned for a week, the
prisoners being liberated on bail, Brooks in £lOO and two
sureties of £lOO each, and the fireman Green in £5O and
two sureties of £5O each. All the injured persons are pro-
gressing favourably.

CLOSE OF THE DANISH REICHSRATH.—The pre-
sent session of the Reichsrath has been closed with the fol-
lowing royal message :—" We, Christian IX., &c., send our
royal greeting to the Reichsrath. We observe witn sincere
regret that at the close of this tedious session the matter
of the constitution—so highly important to the prosperity
of the country—is yet brought no nearer a conclusion. It
was our hope that the advance made by our government in
this question to meet the views expressed by the Reichs-
rath would have moved that body to a similar step. We
can, therefore, only look forward with sorrow to the con-
tinuation of the present state of affairs, which will be the
result of the constitution question in this session We im-
plore Almighty God that he may avert every danger which
might arise therefrom to our beloved country.—We re-
main, &c., CHRISTIAN R."

TESTIMONIALS.—Fortune has various ways of
showing her favours. She has all sorts of prizes in
her lucky bag. Timkins draws Testimonials. He is mag-
netised for that sort of thing. Whenever they come within
the sphere of his influence, silver cups, and tea-services,
and candelabra with suitable inscriptions, fly to him, like tin
tacks to a magnet. Not a Timkins deserves these things.
On the contrary, a More undeserving person than
Timkins does not exist. I have been acquainted with
Timkins now for 20 years, and I know him to be a man
utterly incapable of efficiently performing any function
whatever. I have so poor an opinion of his intelligence
and his honesty, that I would not trust him to post a letter
for me. If I were to give him a letter, and a penny, and
say, " Timkins, oblige me, as you go along, by putting a
stamp on this letter, and posting it for the country," I
should fully expect Timkins to put the letter in his pocket,
and forget all about it, and spend the penny in nuts! And
I should not be disappointed. Did you ever know a man
who bought pennyworths of nuts, and cracked them with
his teeth, and ate them as he went along the streets, who
wasn't one of nature's supernumeraries ? In the great
Drama of Life he can scarcely be trusted to carry a ban-
ner. The chief distinction of Timkins is that he has,
during his career, mismanaged everything he has taken in
hand so entirely to the satisfaction of his employers, as,
on every occasion when he has been dismissed from his
office, to receive at their hands a testimonial expressive
of high regard and esteem.—Dickens's "All the Year
Round."