The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-23 00:00:00

ntn Mt

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1849.

Last evening it was formally announced to the
House of Commons by the Under-Secretary in the
Colonial Department, that " the Government has con-
veyed Vancouver's Island to the Hudson's Bay Com-

pony who are now in possession of it." So ! the
murder is out at last : the transfer has been actually
accomplished : the only English colony which could
be said to actually command the eastern shorei of the
Pacific, from Behring's Straits to Terra del Fuego,
has been juggled out of the power of the nation,
has been snugly deposited within the boundaries
of the already gigantic dominions subject to the bar-
barous despotism of a mere trading association. It
rests now with Parliament to confirm or to invalidate
this shameless act of underhanded jobbery. And it
:becomes doubly imperative upon our repre-
sentatives to inquire into the legality of the
transference, seeing that the future prosperity of
the country is in a great measure involved in the
transaction. We have already observed that nothing
more inauspicious for the promoters of the whole

arrangement could have happened, than the recent
discoveries of gold-dust and quicksilver in the auri-
ferous soil of California—discoveries which, by at-
tracting enormous crowds of colonists to the settle-
ments now rising on the banks of the Sacramento,
are substantially conducing to the advancement of
civilization, with all its social, political, and commer-
cial enterprises, in that quarter of the New World.
In accordance with this opinion, it was yesterday
observed by the Honourable Member for Montrose,
that, since the occupation of their lately acquired de-
pendencies by the United States, Vancouver's Island
has become a possession of marvellously enhanced
importance. And it is precisely at this period, when
events are revealing the necessity for our retaining
some central and capacious port on the western side
of the North American Continent, that we are in-
formed that Vancouver's Island—an island abound-

ing in all the requisite advantages, an island of ample
n is absolutely
dimensions, of central position, admirably wooded,
prolific in that commodity (coal) which
essential in steam navigation, affording a safe utaenlyd
sufficient anchorage in Nootka Sound, and command-
ing- by its position the whole of those magnificent
seas which wash the shores of our oriental and
southern possessions—we are told, we say, at this
time, that a colony, so inestimable from its
geographical situation as well as from its
physical characteristics, has been quietly ceded
into the hands of a private company, and that com-
pany of all companies in the world the Company of
the Hudson's Bay Fur-truders. We know not how
to characterise in terms of fitting severity a proceed-
ing which reflects so much and such grievous dis-
credit upon the Government. To say the very least
of the transaction, it betrays a rashness, a precipi-
tancy, and an indiscretion which are altogether in-
compatible with the qualities required in statesmen
or. administrators.. But when, in addition to this
rashness, this precipitation, and this monstrous indis•
cretion,
mo-
tivest
r nsleadingfr top pt a,
sets certain there is t tdded the suspicion of family
a
aggrandisement,
the
not only as a slur upon the
apecuniary

1-

shrewdness of the Cabinet, but as a direct denial of
its incorruptibility.
It was very felicitously remarked by Lord
BROUGHAM last night in the House of Lords, when
alluding to Earl GRIIT'S readiness to defend the mal-
administration of affairs in Ceylon under Lord
TORRINGTON, that the Noble Earl, the Colonial
Secretary, " was most happy in the possession of a
sanguine temperament, and that the most signal
defeat appeared to produce upon him the same effect as
the most triumphant victory would do on others." A
most sanguine temperament he must assuredly have
if he anticipates passing with credit through the
double inquiries which are now on the eve of being
prosecuted in reference to the misgovernment of
Ceylon, and to the sale of Vancouver's Island. In
regard to the latter it must be especially borne in
recollection that it has been given over for a period
of years to a body of merchants numbering altogether a
very few individuals, and being wholly without either
the means, the money, or the inclination to promote
its colonization. They are without the means,
for they are without the naval force necessary
to transport emigrants thither from remote quar-
ters of the eastern hemisphere. They are with-
out the money, for their surplus of profit
is, of course, dedicated to the advancement of their
own speculations. They are without the inclination,
for experience has shown that throughout the whole
of their vast continental dominions in North America,
they sedulously endeavour to depress anything
bearing the appearance of a settlement from a know-
ledge that those clearings which follow in the path of
colonization would be gradually destructive of the
dense jungles and almost impenetrable forests in
which the savage animals despoiled of their furry
skins by the hunters, propagate without molestation.
There is, consequently, a triple obstacle to the de-
velopment of the great natural advantages of Van-
couver's Island, now that that island has unhappily
fallen under the medseval, cr rather under the
primeval rule of the Hudson's Bay Company.
As to the extent and value of these advantages
which have been shamefully bargained away by the
Colonial Secretary for the gratification of interests
apart from the interests of.the empire, interests, in
fact, diametrically opposed to those of Great Britain,
it will be sufficient to quote the remarks lately made
upon Quadr a, or Vancouver's Island, by a very emi-
nent geographer:--" den will not always circum-
navigate the globe to convey merchandise from one
point to another. 'They will not take goods round
Cape Horn, or the Cape of Good Hope, on the way
from. Canton to New York. The Oriental trade
to America will infallibly, some day, find its
way across the American continent. The time may
be nearer than we like to predict, who shrink from
the charge of extravagant enthusiasm ; but whenever
it does arrive, the Straits of Juan de Fuca will be-
come the funnel through which it will be poured
into the New World. For the same reason that
Tyre or Venice rose to be great on the earth,
will the people who dwell around those straits become
mighty in their generation." Since those words were
written the time anticipated has been brought
abruptly almost within view by the unexpected
wealth which is burrying the people of Europe and
the United States to California, and rendering by
this means the western side of the North American
continent a diverging point for grand commercial
speculations. Those shores confront the Oriental
regions typified in Cathay; they lie, as it were, face
to face with those creeks, and gulfs, and lagunes, and
estuaries, which are laden with the natural and arti-
ficial riches of Asia. Will the Hesperidean apples
continue to drop into the Indian Ocean, and be lazily
dragged by a circuitous current round by the
Southern Cape of Africa, without tempting the new
settlers to traverse the waves of the Pacific, and to
participate in the enjoyment of those treasures ?

But Vancouver's Island has been transferred to the
Hudson's Bay Company ; it is now in the possession
of the fur traders ; it is too late to quarrel about the
transaction. It rests with the House of Commons to
decide whether it is too late. It rests with the law
to declare whether the ATTORNEY-GENERAL and tlse
SOLICITOR-GENERAL were correct or incorrect in
the opinions pronounced by them upon the proceeding.
It rests with the country to denounce in a voice
audible in both hemispheres an arrangement so in-
jurious to the interests of the empire, and so bane-
ful to the reputation of the Government.

The Select Committee on the Irish Poor-laws have

already commenced their important labours. Much,
indeed, will depend on their decision, and the recom-
mendations which they may'offer to the House for
adoption. We have witnessed the lamentable results
of the present system. We have had too painful
evidence of the ruin and misery occasioned in the
more impoverished districts by the enormous rates
necessarily struck for the support of the destitute
poor. Those rates could not be collected, although
every effort has been made, and the most stringent
measures were resorted to. British benevolence
was again and again appealed to. " Aid
us, or we perish," was literally the cry.
It is unnecessary to say that the demand thus made
was promptly and liberally responded to, 'that the
assistance thus urgently required was freely rendered.
Public grants were aided by private contributions.
The people had been fed, although the landlords
had been brought to the verge of ruin, and could
not discharge the obligations incidental to the posses-
sion of property. We could not behold our Irish
brethren—those with whom we are united by the
closest ties, and who acknowledge the same alle-
giance with ourselves—perishing by lingering
and painful deaths ; or dragging on a miserable
existence, and suffering under the utmost privations.
The time has, however, arrived when Irish poverty
must be supported from Irish property—when the
Irish poor must be supported from the national re-
sources of Ireland. It is the duty of the Select Com-
mittee to ascertain by what means that desideratum can
be attained—how the burden can be most equitably
distributed, so that all shall contribute in proportion
to their means.

A great effort will be made to induce the Com-
mittee to adopt the views advocated by many influen-
tial persons connected with Ireland, to recommend
that, the area of taxation should be greatly reduced,
and that the responsibility should be individualised,
and rendered conterminous with property whenever
practicable, so that each proprietor should be exclu-
sively liable, for the support of the poor belonging
to his own estate. We have already repeatedly urged
the great objections that exist to such a course. It
would afford the strongest encouragement to the
clearance systemLithat abominable practice to which
many Irish landlords are supposed to be addicted.
The evils which in this country are found to be in-
separable from the law of settlement would be mul-
tiplied and perpetuated. Large sums would be ex-
pended in wanton and fruitless litigation, and the
labouring classes, who might by a possibility become
chargeable at some future period, would be prevented
from bringing their only capital—their lab Our—to the
best and most productive market. They would be hunted
out with greater energy than the most noxious vermin.
Such would be the results so far as Ireland itself was
concerned ; and if no other interests were involved
there would be amply sufficient grounds for rejecting
the proposition, England, however, has acquired the
right of interfering on this question. Experience
has shown that whenoiver the resources chargeable
with the relief of the poor prove inadequate for the
purpose, the deficiency must be supplied from the
Imperial exchequer. It is, therefore, of importance
that we should ascertain that the burden is not to be
transferred to others by whom it could not possibly
be sustained, and on whose inevitable failure it
would necessarily return upon ourselves with in-
creased weight. We must know in what manner
the charge is to be defrayed when the poorer and
more densely populated estates were unable to maintain
the pauper inhabitants. The proprietors at present
are unable to contribute their quota to the general
burden ; how could they satisfy the heavier demands

that would then be made upon their resources ? They
could not do so by any possibility. We would still
hear the wail of agony from the famishing poor. We
should have the bitter reproach of ruined proprietors
and pauperised occupiers; 'many districts would
speedily go out *of cultivation. Who would expend
labour or capital in putting in crops when the entire
produce, however bounteous, would not be sufficient
to de fray the charges, without leaving any surplus
for th a landlord's rent or the farmer's profits. We
should still supply the void; and new demands would

be preferred day after day for English relief to Irish
distress.

The principle of an Irish national rate for the sup-
port of the Irish poor—a rate levied on every descrip-
tion of property, according to the true intent and
meaning of the 43d Elizabeth, c. 2, would alone be
sufficient to meet the difficulty—and to do full justice
to the Irish landowners. Why should any who have
the ability be exempted from the charge ? Why
should the mortgagors or the annuitants who derive
incomes from land be exonerated, while the nominal
proprietor, who in too many, instances is little better
than an agent for their benefit, is crushed by the
overwhelming burden? It is neither just nor equit-
able that such should be the case, and an immediate
remedy should be applied.
The Government recommendation, to which we
alluded on Monday last, partially supplies the
defect. It recognizes the principle of a maximum
rate, beyond which no demand shall be made.
When the rates of an electoral district shall exceed
ss. in the pound, the surplus shall be collected from
the union at large to the extent of 2s. in the pound,
and the balance, if any, is to be provided by a na-
tional rate of 6d. in the pound, to be levied on all the
real property of Ireland. All further demands are
to be defrayed from the Imperial exchequer. The
period during which the national rate in aid is to be
resorted to is to be limited to two years. We can-
not understand upon what ground this limitation is to
be made. If the principle is just and beneficial,
why should it be suffered to expire so speedily—why
should it not be perpetuated ?

The Hon. Member for Dublin, who has already
acquired so high a character for ability and intelli-
gence, and for his thorough knowledge of the wants
and exigencies of his country, has given notice of a
resolution which will this day be submitted for the
consideration of the Committee. He proposes—
" That for the purpose of augmenting the fund pro-
posed to be raised by a rate in aid of sixpence in the
pound from all property rated to the relief Gf the desti-
tute poor in Ireland for the next two years, the same
rate should be charged upon all salaries paid to Govern-
ment officers, and upon all income derived from the pub-
lic fucds, being not less than 1501. per annum in both
cases, and that all moneys derived from the tax at pre-
sent collected in England on income derived from Ire-
land, be foi the next two years applied to the same
fund."

This is a step in the right direction. It is a manifest
improvement on the Ministerial suggestion. Why
should the Irish fundholder evade the responsibility
of contributing towards the relief of the poor ? lie
is not called upon to pay the income-tax upon his
receipts, to which every person in this country is
liable. He could not, therefore, complain if a smaller
tax were imposed, and to what nobler purpose could
the proceeds be applied than in relieving the suffering
and destitute poor ?, The latter portion of the resolu-
tion is also founded on justice. Seven or eight
million pounds per annum at the lowest computation
Is annually drawn from Irish resources, and expended
in this country. It would be but fair if the sums
levied on incomes derived from Ireland should
for a time at least be devoted to the support of the
Irish poor. We trust that Mr. REYNOLDS'S valuable
suggestion may be adopted by Committee, and con-
firmed by Parliament, if the still more important
measure of a national rate, and a general equaliza-
tion of the burden, should not be adopted.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

We have received the Paris papers of yesterday.
The _National Assembly was on Wednesday en.
gaged in discussing the electoral law, and adopted
clauses, declaring that all individuals condemned at
any period of their lives for crimes and felonies, as
well as those condemned for theft, swindling, abuse
of confidence, usury, and also those interdicted from
their civil rights—insane persons, &c., should be dis-
qualified from sitting in the Chamber. An attempt
was made to procure a relaxation of this disqualifica-
tion in favour of persons who had been convicted of
theft before they were sixteen years of age, and who
would, as the clause then stood, be for ever
disqualified in consequence of such conviction ;
it proved, however, unsuccessful ; whereupon
M. PIERRE LEnoux rose, and, after uttering
an indignant philippic against those who thus se-
verely visited the crimes of the poor, leaving the
crimes of the rich untouched, concluded by moving,
that " adulterers and those who brought troubles
into families be excluded from the Legislative As-
sembly ! "
A lively debate, which was ever and anon inter-

rupted by shouts of laughter, followed. At the con-
clusion of which the proposition was put, and
declared by the President to be lost; but
a ballot was dematided, when, to the great surprise
of M. PIERRE LEROUX, the proposition was carried
by a majority of 57, the numbers being—!or 111.
PIERRE LEROUX'S proposition, 286 ; against it, 229.
The Club of the Institute, which numbers among
its members MM. GARNIER PAGES, PAGN ERRE, BAR-
THELEMY ST. HILAIRE, and DUCLERB, has put forth
-,he following electoral manifesto :
MANIFESTO OF THE MODERATE REPUBLIC.

" The undersigned Representatives, after having con,
stantly practised, in the Constituent Assembly, the policy
of conciliatory moderation, in the name of which seve-
ral Parliamentary Clubs have been formed—among
others, that of the Institute and of the Council of State—

!consider it their duty to point out in a frank declaration
the ideas which, in their opinion, ought to preside over
Ithe now election, in order to respond to the necessities
of a new state of things. France is on the eve of a great
and decisive trial. In a few weeks she will be
;called on to complete her institutions by the elec-
!Lion of the Members of the Legislative Assembly.
:The French people, who have already made
[the solemn application of universal suffrage—who
have so admirably understood the duties imposed
!on them by the exercise of their sovereign right—the
ipeople will again, on this occasion, know how to produce
'from the balloting urns the consolidation of order, of
/peace, and of society. The Government which organises
:the Republic of 1848, is made not to continue the revo-
lution, but to close it. Unexpected, and arising out of
complications and faults henceforth forgotten, the Re-
public ought not to be one of party, but one of progress
and of necessity. Its cause of existence is at the same
its evident legitimacy, and the averred weakness of all
faller forms of government; its honour is to remain the
government of all, to appeal to the efforts and devoted-
'pees of all; its strength is the rational development of
all rights, the ennobling of all duties • its advantages will
be to increase labour, to enlarge the already wide bases of
property, and to extend public assistance to all who merit
it. Let not the electors, by irresolution, weakness, or guilty
passion, compromise public order, which has been
strengthened by its successive Victories over anarchy
and by the increasing progress of a spirit of conciliation.
Let us continue the work thus commenced, by improving
it; let us beware of any attempt at a counter-revolution;
let us not, after so many sufferings and trials, put in
danger the very existence of society. Let us know how
the career of revolutions. tiny
to close energetically
intrigue, any conspiracy against our Republican institu-
tions, would be a crime. Let those who hatch such
conspiracies feel well assured that, under whatever pre-
text they may shield themselves, they are not the less
guilty nor less anarchial than those savage perturbaturs,
who have stained our streets with blood, for they also
prepare a civil war. As a condition of our votes, let us
demand from every candidate a formal adhesion to the
institutions founded is tbe name of the nation by the
Whole Constituent Assembly, and a loyal co-operation to
the President elected by universal suffrage. The country
wished, by the imposing election of the 10th Dec., to asso-
ciate the glorious name of Napoleon Bonaparte with the
strengthening of the Republic. Good citizens should set
aside their previous differences of opinion, and unite in
the sentiments which henceforth become a powerful
guarantee of order, of calm, and of prosperity. It is to
ittain that object, it is in that spirit that we think it our
duty to address ourselves to our fellow-citizens. Let the
Wisdom of the people discourage both those sterile hopes
that are kept up by the regrets of a past which can never
de revived but at the cost of sanguinary catastrophes,
those senseless schemes which, by vain and odious
Utopian theories, compromise the most sacred principles
of social order. Let us only accept those who will
honestly strengthen what has been established, amelio-
rate it by legal, prudent, and pacific means, and place
the future fate of the country in the hands of an honest,
firm, and conciliatory Government. This is the only
means of safety. For our part, we shall be happy if we
can contribute to instil into the minds of the electors
those patriotic convictions which have been given us by
painful experience, and we believe we shall have ren-
dered to the country the moat useful service in our
power."
The Patrie of Wednesday contains the following
semi-official account of the occurrence of disturb-
ances at Niort :
" A telegraphic dispatch, received to day from Niort,
announces that serious disturbances have taken place
there. The following are some der ails of the affair:—
The 2d Regiment of Horse Chaseeurs, in garrison at
Niort, was to detach a squadron for Saintes. Whilst the
Mayor of Niort was applying for and obtaining in Paris
the revocation of this order, on his undertaking to find
barracks for the entire regiment, the anarchists of the
town, on a pretext of local interest, had resolved to op-
pose the departure. On the 18th, about noon, the
colonel put his regiment in march to escort the squadron
which was to go to Saintes. Whilst passing the regi-
ment in review on the Place de la Bieche, seeing his
men pressed upon by the crowd, he gave orders that it
should be kept at a distance. On this order, which was
natural and necessary, the agitators began to throw
stones at these brave soldiers. Soon afterwards a con-
ducteur of the ponts ct chaussees, who was in the fore-
most rank of the assailants, came forward and insulted •
the colonel, who in legitimate defence struck the ag-
gressor with the flat of his sword, which broke with
the blow. A slight wound being inflicted, the crowd
hurled a shower of atones at the colonel and the regi-

ment. Two barricades were even commenced to prevent
the departure of the chasseurs. The Prefect, the Com-
mander of the National Guard, and the Mayor ran to
the spot, and a piquet of National Guards interposed
between the perturoators and the brave soldiers, who
had shown exemplary sang froid and moderation. At
four o'clock order was reestablished, and has not since
been disturbed."

An attempt on the part of MM. TRIERS and MOLE
to induce M. DEFAURE and some of the personal
friends of General CAVAIGNAC to join the Orleanist
Club of the Rue de Poictiers, has proved unsuccess-
ful, and M. TRIERS is now endeavouring to persuade
M. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE to give up his club and
to join that of the Rue de Poictiers. Should M.
TIMERS succeed he will have the satisfaction of
having for the third time in bis life betrayed the
Bonaparte family.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK-EXCHANGE, FEB. 22.
Boulogne and Amiens, 93s—Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 113% —Luxembourg (10/.), 1% ex int.—
Namur and- Liege, 9—Northern of France, 9%4 Orleans
and Bordeaux, 4—Paris and Orleans, 3214 Paris and
Rouen. 21M ex div.--Paris and Strasbourg, :3 tk —Rouen
and Havre, 13'%— Sambre and Meuse, sX,—Tours and
Nantes, 2%.

SPAIN.

Madrid journals of the 16th have arrived.

The Clamor Publico states that the differences
between the English and the Bey of TANGIER have
been adjusted, and that the report of the assassination
of the British Consul was totally unfounded.
A Carlist band of sixty men, under the command
of PIMENTERO, has appeared at Tarracon, in the pro-
vince of Cuenca.

For some time past the Catalonian mail has almost
al ways been a day behind, in consequence of the
military precautions that are obliged to be taken on
the road, to prevent it from falling into the hands of
the Carlists.

The Captain-General of Catalonia has privately
intimated to officers in command of columns, that
they are never to take the field at the head of less
than 900 infantry and 40 cavalry.
MADRID BOLSA, FEB.l6.—Three per Cents. clo.3ed
at 214 for the account, but after the Bolsa they were
done at 214 to 13-16 cash ; Five per Cents., 104 to
101; Passive Debt, 4 to 3i ; Coupons, 7; ; 'Trea-
sury Notes, 73 ' • Bank of San Fernando, 56 to 58.
Exchange on London, 49 40.