The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-16 00:00:00

Otfienin

LONDON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1846.

The intelligence brought by the Acadia from the
United States is only what we anticipated—of the'
most unfavourable description. Measures, on the
proposition of General Cass, had been brought into
the Senate for strengthening the navy, embodying
the militia, and putting the country generally in a
state of defence. Re3olutions to that effect were laid
before the House, and it was ordered unanimously
that they should stand ovz..r for discussion. In the
same House the annexation of Texas had been sanc-
tioned by a large majority. Texas is to be litlmittO

into a full share of all the rights enjoyed by the
other American states ; in other words, notwithstand-
ing what has been said by Mr. WEBSTER and others of
the Whig party, Texas, with all the horrors of slavery,
is declared an integral portion to the union. The
Whigs evidently have no power to stem the tide of
encroachment, aggression, and annexation, which is
now the rage of the Democrats, the advocates for
war, and the enemies of England. Indeed, it ap-
pears that the hostile spirit which prevails is stronger
even in the Senate, usually a calm and moderate
assembly, than in the other House, where the Demo-
crats were supposed to predominate. On the 30th of

December the Oregon question was brought under
discussion on the following resolutions, proposed by

Mr. HANNEGAN, of Indiana :
" Resolved,--That the country included within the pa-
rallels of 4.2 and 54 North latitude, and extending from the
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, known as the terri-
tory of Oregon, is the property, and part and parcel of the
territories, of the United States.
" Resolved,—That there exists no power in this Govern-
ment to transfer its soil and the allegiance of its citizens to
the dominion, authority, control, and subjection of any fo-

reign power, prince, state, or sovereignty.
" Resolved,—That the abandonment or surrender of any
portion of the territory of Oregon would be an abandonment
of the honour, character, and the best interests of the Ame-

rican people."
Mr. CALHOUN proposed other resolutions as an
amendment, by which it was declared that the PRE-
SIDENT has the power, with the advice of the Senate,
to make treaties, and that the settlement of boundary
lines is embraced in this power ; that in offering, in a
spirit of peace and harmony, the 49th parallel as the
dividing line between the United States and Great
Britain, the PRESIDENT exercised powers rightfully
belonging to him, and acted for the best interests of
the country. He was for peace, if it could be ho-
nourably preserved—for negotiation, if negotiation
was to be had ; and if it could not be, he would still
pursue such a course as would throw the onus of war
upon our adversaries. He believed the Executive
desirous of peace, and meant to co-operate with
him. If war came he should be found with his coun-

try; but he held those to a fearful responsibility who
would rashly thrust war upon us. The mover
of the resolutions, who seemed determined on war at

any price, said, " For one, he hoped that they would
never stop short of the cannon's mouth. A singular state
of things existed in the course pursued with regard
to Oregon as contrasted with that of Texas. Yet

both these subjects had their birth at the same time,
both were cradled in the Baltimore convention. For
Texas there could not be too much haste. Texas we
must have at once. Texas up to the Nuesces. But
this was with Mexico ; the moment England is in
question it is another thing, For one he never would
vote for any treaty that stopped short of 54 deg.
40 min."

After some speeches, not varying much in tone
from other Members, the resolutions were laid upon
the table without the amendments. In the House of
Representatives Mr. DOUGLAS, Chairman of the Com-
mittee on Territories, presented a Bill in relation to
Oregon, 'A Lich was referred to the committee of the
whole House on the state of the Union, ordered to be
printed, and made the special order for Tuesday, the
6th of January, and to remain such special order
until disposed of. This Bill is in direct violation of the
existing convention between England and the United
States, and goes much further than even the Message of
the PRESIDENT, for it contemplates the immediate esta-
blishment of a territorial government over the whole
of Oregon up to 54 deg. 40 min.—the cession in futuro
of land to settlers—and the establishing, both on this
and the other side of the Rocky Mountains of the
United States, military posts for the protection of
emigrants. Another set of resolutions was proposed
in the Senate by a Mr. ATCHISON, but differing
very little in their character, and leading to
the same results. In reference to these re.
solutions, one of the New York papers states can-
didly, that " if the Senate and House of Representa-
tives shall pass them, and the Committees to which
they would respectively be referred report favourably
thereon, there will be pending in both Houses Bills
tantamount to a declaration of war, if they shall be-
come laws." Mr. PAKENHAM, the British Minister at
Washington, is said to have expressed himself strongly
and decidedly, as well he might, that the Bills are in
direct violation of the existing treaty between Great
Britain and the United States, and will be so re-
garded by the former Government. He objects
specifically to that provision of the Bill which
authorises the erection of forts, as being an act of pos-
session not within the competency of either Govern-
ment, awl also to the sending of the military force of
the United States into that territory. It was ex-
plained to him that such force should only be to such
an amount as should be reasonably necessary to the
protection of the United States' citizens there, which
protection is the duty of the Government, and per-
fectly consistent with our obligations under the
treaty ; but, after a somewhat long discussion upon
the subject, his opinion as to the offensive character
of the Bills remained unchanged. These are only a
few specimens of the various schemes now popular
in America for annoying Great Britain. Flo-
rida, as we stated yesterday, would, by and by,
claim Cuba, as more properly belonging to
that state than to Spain, and accordingly a member
of the Senate, representing Florida, proposed a re-
solution for purchasing that island from Spain. Why
did he not use the more appropriate and popular
phrase "annexing" it to Florida, as Texas has been
joined to the Union ? "This proposal (says the New
York Courier) for the writer seems anxious to screen his
countrymen, was, indeed, received with silent derision,
but, taken in connexion with other things, does it
any the less indicate that a spirit is at work which
aims at almost unlimited territorial aggrandisement?
This blurting out of every crude suggestion used to
be confined to the House of Representatives. The
Senate heretofore has been, measurably at least,
exempt from such puerilities, but the spirit of ' pro-
gressive democracy,' in levelling down, is as fatal to
senatorial dignity as to senatorial qualifications and
training." But the tide is all against the moderate men.
Peace is not in fashion either at Washington or in the
" far west," and whatever the friends of order, and
good faith, and peace may say and hope respecting the
aspect of affairs in America, we are compelled to con-
fess that war is all but inevitable, and to call upon the
British Government to be prepared for the worst.
Canada must be strengthened. A new Governor-
General has just been appointed, and a military
Governor very properly has been selected. England
desires peace, but only on honourable terms, because
no other peace could he lasting, and the best way to
maintain peace with such men as POLK and Cass is to
be fully prepared for war.

It would be a very great mistake to suppose that
all or nearly all of the 879 railway schemes which
have been published as " defunct " have failed to
comply with the requirements of standing orders,
after haring raised nvnley. We venture to state that
considerably- more than half of the names in that
list have never been more than itanzcs. The five-
pound note, which is all that is required for provi-
sional registration, was always ready, while the
railway mania was raging, as soon as the want of
railway communication, or of shorter railway com-
munication between any two places on the map
flashed upon the creative brain of a railway projector.
To "register provisionally" was the first thing, and
very often, indeed, the only thing done. To have
" registered provisionally " gave, or was imagined to
give, the projector a right over the country. Not a
moment, then, was to be lost about "provisional re-
gistration ;" secure the country, and then consider
the merits of the scheme, or rather (for the considera-
tion of the merits was often longer postponed)
consider the chances of beating-up a provisional
committee, and getting an allotment paid upon. Then
perhaps, after a scheme had been registered, some mo-
dification of it occurred to the projector as desirable ;
it might be advantageously cut short or extended ;
it might go round to take in some other town, or
there might be a branch. Immediately there would
be a new "provisional registration." Another five-
pound note and another would fly to the registrar
winged with hopes of boundless premiums on shares
yet uncreated, and a price untold for the project.
Then, perhaps, all came to nothing. The projector
would perhaps go off to some other totally- different
scheme, and compound for the sinking of the five-
pound notes which had gone by expectation of greater
gains elsewhere. This is no imaginary tale ; and in
this way it may easily be conceived that the regis-
trar's list will be swelled with a large number of
names which never got beyond the peculiar process of
christping, now known as " provisional registration."

If any one looks through the list which appeared in
The Sun of the 14th, he will see a number of mere
varieties of names, clearly indicating a series a mo-
difintions of places ; and if he compares thlLt list
with the list of schemes for which plans have, been
duly deposited in the Parliament-office (in The Sun
of the 7th), he will find still more signs of successive
modifications. Then, again, many schemes have
merged in others by amalgamation, and. the money
raised is still to be applied to the object for which it
was raised, but under another name, and, it is to be
presumed, with brighter prospects.
We should indeed tremble for the consequences,
in pecuniary loss to individuals, in litigation, in
wreck of character, in injury to credit, were we
not able to offer the above explanation of a list of
879 " defunct schemes." As it is, we have good
reason to believe that the number of cases in which,
after money has been received by provisional com-
mittees, the plans, &c., have not been deposited, will
not be much more than may fairly be accounted for
without want of due care and diligence, and greatly
less than, taking all the circumstances of the late
railway mania into consideration, might have been
expected.
It appears by the list published in The Sun of the
7th of January, that 721 railway companies have
duly deposited the required documents in the Parlia-
ment-office. But it is yet to be seen in how many
of these 721 cases the plans will bear the scrutiny
of the Standing Orders' Committee, and in ho4v
many the necessary funds are in hand for deposit.
The latter point will soon be known. We have
always thought that there has been in many
cases a disposition to bear too hard on provisional
directors—that some peculiarities of their position
had not been sufficiently estimated—that all their pro-
ceedings were preparatory to the meeting of Parlia-
ment—that till then they should be allowed the benefit
of every possible presumption in their favour, and
every aid which could be fairly given as against
shareholders who might be unreasonably impatient
and unjust under the influence of disappointment. But
the day of reckoning is at hand; and in all cases in
which it shall be established that expenses have been
incurred in order to keep up a delusive appearance,
after ascertaining that the plans could not possibly
pass muster,_or after a failure on an allotment which
left no hope of raising the required capital, we shall
be the first to say that the provisional directors de-
serve no mercy. And it will be no excuse that they
have been controlled by solicitors. We can easily
conceive, and we have heard of cases in which soli-
citors, having been allowed their own way, have gone
on after only a few hundred pounds had come in on
an allotment, and success was hopeless, depositing
plans, serving notices, &c. These solicitors will be
sufficiently punished by non-payment of the long
bills which they have been running up, and for the
sake of which only, of course, they have been going
on. But provisional directors, who have committed
their names and characters to the public for the proper
management of heavy undertakings, and have allowed
their functions to be usurped by their own servants—
and these servants having a direct pecuniary interest
in mismanagement—cannot expect to escape uncen-
sured by their shareholders, or at the bar of public
opinion.

We have received Madrid journals of the Bth, with
the continuation of the debate in the Chamber of
Deputies on the Address. It possessed rather more
interest than has been displayed in the Cortes for
some time. Senor LLORENTE, Member for Cadiz,
made a vigorous and eloquent speech against the
policy pursued by the NARVAEZ Government. lie
denounced the dictatorship which had been established,
and condemned altogether their foreign policy, espe-
cially that with the Court of Rome. Senor MoN,
the Minister of Finance, replied, and in a good speech
answered the arguments of his opponents. In speak-
ing of the Opposition, he said it was not so mild and
prudent as was pretended, of which the vehement
language of Senor LLORENTE was sufficient proof,
and he let fall the words, " a conspiracy of 30 Depu-
ties to upset the Ministry." This expression produced
bursts of indignation from the left benches, and
the President was frequently obliged to call to order.
BRAVO Monu.no followed and defended the Go-
vernment, which, he said, was sincerely anxious to
introduce reform into all the branches of the public
Administration, but that it had considerable difficul-
ties to overcome. The debate was adjourned. Don
HENRIQUE was to leave Madrid on the evening of
the Bth, for Ferrol, and his brother, two days after-
wards, t® join his regiment at Pampeluna. The fall
of one per cent. in the funds, is attributed to this
paltry affair, but there must be some other reason,
though not assigned,
On the Bth the Three per Cents. closed at 34 at
60 days ; the Five per Cents., at 23 at GO days.

In the French Chamber of Peers that endless ques-
tion, the right of search, has again been revived. In
the debate on the Address, Count MATHIEU DE LA
REDORTE objected to the paragraph, which asserted
that by the new treaty the commerce of France had
been placed under the surveillance of their own flag.
lie considered, on the contrary, that their commerce,
instead of being placed by the new convention under
the surveillance of its own flag, had been deprived of
its national rights. This charge, though very ab-
surd, called up the Duke DE BROGLIE, who
gave a succinct account of the construction of
the treaty, and proved that the charge was
utterly unfounded. The example of America
had constantly been held up for imitation,
but there was no difference in the instructions given
by that Government to their cruizers from those
given to the French and English vessels. " The
principle of responsibility was there plainly laid down
in the sense adopted by the other powers." lie then
read the instructions issued by the American Govern-
ment in 1843, and expressed his surprise that the
Noble Peer could have fallen into such an error,
which he could only have done by seeking informa-
tion amongst the objections started by the Affiericans
before the convention of 1842 was signed. He had
contrived to fill his head with polemics instead of
with definitive treaties. The Noble Peer then, touch-
ing on the conventions relative to piracy, main-
tained, in the first place, that the slave trade
was almost always connected with that offence ;
and, next, defended the instructions given on that
head by the Minister of Marine in 1845 to the
French cruizers. They were, he declared, pefectly
in conformity with the laws of the kingdom.
He had taken part in drawing up these instructions,
and he could aver that every imaginable precaution
had been taken to have them perfectly regular and
legal. On that occasion he had consulted naval
officers of great experience, who had cruised on the
coasts of Africa. It was according to their sugges-
tions that the details of the instructions relating to
merchant vessels had been determined on. But that
was not all; he had carefully examined all the judg-
ments of the tribunals on the matter in question,
which were deposited in the department of the
Marine; he had also had search made in the archives
of the council of State, sitting as a council of vessels
taken, and had consulted all these documents. The
instructions had afterwards been examined in the
offices of the Marine, so that he had every reason to
believe that they were regular and exact. lie was
neither a jurisconsult nor a naval man, but he had
called to his aid all the authorities he could find, and
believed that he had conscientiously performed the
duty imposed on him. On this subject the Journal
des Daats makes these remarks :
We supposed that we had done with the question of the
right of search, but we find that we were mistaken.
Count Mathieu de la Redorte who, lately publi,hed a work,
the end of which was to prove that, notwithstanding the
solemn declaration inserted in the discourse from the
Throne, French commerce was not replaced under the
exclusive protection of her flag, in his discourse yester-
day attempted to prove the convention of the 29th of
May last, which abrograted the treaties of 1831 and
1833, and the reciprocal right of search to be an
unworthy deception, and having for effect, to
substitnte in place of the right of search a regime
yet more oppressive. He tried, moreover, to prove,
that the convention signed with England, and the
instructions destined to regulate the execution of
it, have tended to violate all national as well as
maritime rights, Heaven only knows upon what grouds
he founded his thesis. ;The duty of replying to this dis •
course naturally devolved upon the statesman who had
the honour to attach his name to the convention of the
29th of May, 1845. All the scaffolding of the subtle-
ties which the orator had so laboriously erected, im-
mediately gave way before the arguments, simple,
though teeming with reason and sound sense, used by
the Duke de Broglie. The convention never had
violated the principles of the rights of men and the sacred
rules in French legislation. The illustrious orator
clearly justified the convention of the 29th of May. It