The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-21 00:00:00

THE 'UNITED STATES.

(Prom the Times Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, July 9.
The time is now approaching when the second
stage in the process of reorganisation in the South
will be reached. The first was the appointment of
provisional Governors by the President ; the next
is the election by the States themselves of members
of convenjions, which must be held for the purpose
of revising the State Constitutions. The temper in
which this work will be carried out is an object of
great concern at the present moment, for upon it
must depend the future policy of the Government,
and the prosperity of the States whose fate is-once
more in their own hands. Mississippi has already
elected its members ; Alabama and the Carolinas
will elect theirs in the course of a fortnight. Will
the feeling which recently prompted the Richmond
elections—a feeling of deep hostility to the Govern-
ment—prevail here also ? If it does, the intricate
task which the Administration has before it might
be still further complicated for a certain time ; but
the South itself would be involved in final disaster
and ruin. If it were not for s thfiviittsierii*amptiner
of spurious friends, the South would accept its pre-
sent position with greater readiness and sincerity
than it does at present. But the same evil spirit
which impelled it into the first irretrievable mistake
of precipitating a war is still pursuing it. There
are, indeed, a few of the Southern leaders who
urge the people to forget everything now but the
laws they are required to obey, and the interests
they have to preserve, and the Government is doing
its utmost to make this path easy and secure. But,
unfortunately, it is a hard thing for the South to
accept even clemency at the hand of its
victors. They have hated the North with what
seemed an undying hatred, and now to be con-
quered by them, and then pardoned, involves a hu-
miliation grievous to bear. " Give the South all
the time they need," however, is the general senti-
ment ; "forgive them if they will be forgiven ; if
not, have patience with them."
The last hope of such of the Southern people as
refuse to accept the issue of events is in self-expa-
triatiop. With great wisdom Gen. Lee has endeav-
oured to discourage this design by applying for a
pardon for himself. He has stated that he knew
there were thousands of young men who had served
under him who would never apply for pardon until
he had done so, and who had resolved to find homes
in some other part of the world. He exhorts them
to abandon this purpose, and invites them by his
example to become true citizens of the established
government. Not without similar dignity has Gen.
Wade Hampton, of the Confederate army, ad-
dressed many hundreds of Southern men who, as he
says in a letter recently written, applied to him to
" form a colony to emigrate." " The very fact," he
tells them, " that our State (South Carolina) is
passing through so terrible an ordeal as the present
should cause her sons to cling the more closely to
her." He entreats the:people to devote themselves
to the re-establishment of their trade, to take the
oath of allegiance, and to forsake all schemes of
future resistance. If all the best men leave the
country, who is to watch over its welfare in the Le-
gislature ? Gen. Hampton advises his countrymen
to choose true representatives, and he adds :
"In the meantime, I shall obtain all information which
would be desirable in the establishment of a colony in case
we should ultimately be forced to leave the country. I in-
voke my follow-citizens—especially those who have shared
with me the perils and the glories of the last four years—
to stand by our State manfully and truly. The Roman
Senate voted thanks to one of their generals, because in
the darkest hour of the Republic he did not despair. Let
us emulate the example of the Roman; and.thus entitle
ourselves to the gratitude of our country."

It is impossible that the tremendous upheaval of
social systems which America has seen during the
last four years can pass away without leaving deep
traces behind. It has set men looking back upon
the havoc which it has wrought, and asking, what
is to be the end ? To a very great degree lam con-
vinced that it has unsettled the minds of the most
thoughtful men in the country respecting their Go-
vernment. One revolution has happened ; another
is not impossible. People ask, "Is the country as
happy as a perfect form of government, aided by
unlimited resources, ought to make it? Does it knit
all parties together, as it is supposed to do by Mr.
Bright and his party ? Are we quite free from class
jealousies or prejudices? Does the Government
even satisfy any one class entirely ? " No candid
American will answer these questions in the affirma-
tive, nor will he deny that his Government is as yet
a tentative one. I have heard, almost universally,
the haste of some English politicians deprecated in
assuming, as they do, that a pure democracy will
eventually succeed even here when it is tried under
thoroughly favourable conditions. It might astonish
the Liberal party in England to know that their
doctrine of universal suffrage is distrusted or ab-
horred by a large portion of the American commu-
nity. Let any man ask a well-informed American
whether the standard of political life is advancing
here, he will be informed that it is not. I have
often been told, " Congress was an abler body, and
conducted its proceedings in a more dignified man-

- ...r
\
. -
. •
_ •

I arg ago than now."
New World to devise-a iysienN,
manently place the wealthy and teitest
classes under a despotism of the poor and illiterate.
Here the lower classes are uppermost. Their con-
duct shows that the love of tyranny which by some
is supposed to be the peculiar attribute of aristocra-
cies flourishes marvellously in a democracy. The
lower orders are not satisfied with being acknow-
ledged the equals of the upper ; they take every
opportunity of making them understand that as
they are numerically superior they intend to obtain
the ascendancy in the State. That the subject
occasions serious uneasiness to the Americans them-
selves might be proved by a hundred quotations
from their political writers ; the following from the
last number of the best periodical work here, the
North American Review, is well worth attention.
The writer says :
"Nobody who has paid much attention to our political
discussions of late years, both in and out of Congress, can
have avoided being struck by the general tendency to exact
and glorify the poor, apparently for the simple reason that
they are poor, and in a corresponding degree to appreciate
the rich; and, singularly enough, the standard of wealth
seems to be, in political phraseology, every year sinking
lower and lower. It appeared in a recent debate on the
Enrolment Bill in the Senate that to be `rich,' for political
purposes, a matt need now-a-days only possess an income
of $2,000 (Z 100) a year, no matter from what source he
derives it. Once in receipt of this or any greater sum an-
nually, it seemed to be the conclusion of some of the
speakers that he lost all claim to tenderness, consideration,
or even justice, on the part of the Government, It was
gravely proposed by one senator to draught him, or, in case
be provided a substitute, to levy a tax of 5 per cent. on
his income for the full term for which he might have been
liable to servo.

The same writer goes on to complain that the
best men in the country are excluded from the civil
service, which is filled up by persons who have re-
ceived the reward of corruption. In point of fact, it
is not a creditable thing to be in the civil service
of America. In local affairs the effect of universal
suffrage is sem in a striking form in this city. The
taxes are great, the receipts enormous, and the ex-
penditure upon the city is small. But vast suing
are expended in jobs, and no one can prevent it,
for the officers are elected by the masses, no re-
spectable men will vote, and the candidates say to
the mob, " You vote for us, and we'll provide for
you." Hence contracts are invented to compensate
political dishonesty, and the true interests of the
city are neglected. These are facts which are ac-
knowleged by every truthful man. In national
affairs the same influences are felt, and Mr. J. S.
Mill, although an admirer of American institutions, •
admits that political life, though here a most valu-
able school—

"Is a school from which the ablest teachers are ex-
cluded ; the first minds of the country being as effectually
shut out from the national representation, and from public
functions generally, as if they were under a formal dis-
qualification The people, like the despot,
is pursued with adulation and sycophancy, and the cor-
rupting effects of power fully keep pace with its improving
and ennobling influences."

This passage exactly interprets the condition and
views of Americans who have best studied the affairs
of their country. It is a mistake to suppose that
they are so enamoured of their political institutions
as to be unwilling to hear them discussed. They
begin such discussions eagerly, if they are sure of
fair and impartial treatment, and they smile at the
assertions of men on the other side of the Atlantic,
that the " success of universal suffrage in America
renders its adoption in England imperative." "Who
tells them it is a success?" they ask ; and one re-
marked to me, " I think England used us rather
badly in the war, but I never wish to see such a fate
befall her as universal suffrage would involve you all
in. Depend upon it, it would prove your ruin, and
the next revolution we have will be owing to it."
Universal suffrage is felt to be the bane of the
country. It tends to destroy all that ought to be pre-
served, and to maintain all that ought to be destroyed.
I give you these opinions because they are held
by the foremost citizens of the Republic, and because
the whole subject (in addition to its intrinsic interest
and importance) is involved in the settlement of the
present difficulties before the country. If the first
element of good government is wanting, namely, the
power to inspire the governed with confidence in the
future, it is absurd to speak of it as settled and per-
fect. , Now, it is not possible that the rich can have
such confidence in the future as would induce them
to invest their capital freely, eved in national securi-
ties, when such -a ciiine as " ”ipudiation" is possible.
And year after year thousands of new men are brought
into the franchise--men who are just of age, or sett-
lers who have taken up their rights of citizenship ;
and they will not value the glory of the war so highly
as those who had a part in it. When one candidate
for Congress says to them, " Take me and you shall
be relieved of these burdensome taxes," and another
says, " I will vote for the continuance of taxation ;"
are not the probabilities in favour of the return of the
first almost overwhelming ! Would anyone like to
make a similar experiment in England? If the people
there could vote the income tax off their shoulders,
or choose whether they should pay it or not, the re-
venue from that source would probably be sensibly
diminished. It is a similar probability which helps
to keep American affairs in a state of unrest. It
would not be so if property and intelligence were
represented as well as numbers. Yet if the bulk of
the people are as careful of their honour and as soli-
citous for the future during the time of peace as they
were during the time of war, the clouds which are
now gathering on the horizon willbrem suchdispe arsesdtbhea-t
be-
fore they can break into an angry storm
which has recently swept over the continent and left
death and misery in its train.
You will have learnt by telegraph that General
Sheridan's projects on the Rio Grande have been
suspended by a Government order requiring him to
muster out all volunteers from his forces. Sheridan
himself is on his way to New Orleans. The trial of
Capt. Wirtz is postponed, but evidence of his cruelty
towards the Union prisoners at Andersville pours in
daily. The feeling in the North against this man is
so great that unless he is well guarded by his gaolers
he may meet his death without a trial.

The

iulletin of the Paris Observatory gives the
following as the atmospheric situation yesterday :
" A long series of gales has for some days been
passing over Europe, taking the direction of Scot-
land, towards Denmark, Poland, and Russia. Some
of them are descending into the centre of our Con-
tinent and threatening the Adriatic and Italy. This
morning thunder was heard at Trieste. The sky is
variable in the centre and East of France ; it is
cloudy or rainy in the West and on the Atlantic,
from Corunna to Penzance. More bad weather is
coming on."—Yesterday, in Paris, the weather was
dry but with a heavy sky during the greater part of
the day. The thermometer at three in the afternoon
marked 24 centigrade (75 1-5 Fahrenheit).
The aqueduct of from 30 to 40 leagues in length,
which, during the last two years, by order of the
Prefect of the Seine, has been in course of construc-
tion to bring the waters of the Dhuys to the heights
of Menilmontant, is now nearly completed. The
water arrived at a basin near the gate of Menilmon-
tant for the first time three days back. The con-
duit for bringing the waters of the Marne from
Gravel to the'same point of Menilmontant is not
yet entirely terminated, but no doubt is entertained
that the water willbe flowing into various quarters
of Paris before the end of the present day.
The Moniteur announces four other promotions
to the rank of Officer in the Legion of Honour,a:nd
99 nominations as Knight in the same order, on the
occasion of the 15th August.
The provisions of the commercial treaty, signed
between France and Spain on June 18th, are by the
Imperial decree made applicable to England, Bel-
gium, the Zollverein, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden,
the Hanseatic Towns, and Mecklenburg-Seliwerin
LIFEBOAT SERVICES. LOWESTOFT, SUFFOLK,
Aug. 19.—0 n Tuesday last, while it was blowing
a strong gale from S.S.W. and was thick with rain, a vessel
was observed on Corton Spit making signals of distress by
placing her colours in the rigging, the sea at the time
breaking over her. Tho Lowestoft lifeboat in connection
with the National Institution was immediately launched,
and fortunately took off four men from the vessel and
brought them safely on shore. Two of the crew had gone
adrift in the ship's boat, and wore picked up by a Corton
yawl. The vessel ultimately floated off and was safely
brought into Lowestoft Harbour by means of the lifeboat
and the steam tug Sailor of Yarmouth, the crew of the
lifeboat working at the pumps. She was found to be the
brigantine Light of the Harem, of Whitstable, bound from
Hartlepool to Woolwich with a cargo of coals.