The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-04 00:00:00

THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION.

We may perhaps be permitted to doubt whether the
Red ißiver difficulty, has been so happily and entirely
settled as the British Ministry seems to assume, though
the expedition which has just been brought to a halt at
the Sault Ste. Marie Canal is likely to encounter no more
dangerous enemies than the bogs and pathless forests of
the unbroken wilderness. The insurrection has been
quieted by a compremise which may almost be described
as an unconditional surrender o; the stronger party. The
colonists rebelled because the Hudson's Bay Company
sold the settlement to the Dominion of Canada without
their consent, just as a Russian noble, before the libera-
tion of the serfs might have sold his estates with
all the people on them. The difficulty is arranged
by practically recognising the independence which
the insurgents demand, and bringing them into the Con-
federation as a distinct province, on equal terms with the
other provinces, with an assembly elected by the people,
and representatives in the Central Parliament. There
are some points, however, on which our information is yet
meagre, and on these there may be trouble. The fate of
Riel, the case of Scott, whose execution was downright
murder, and the terms on which the claims of the half-
breeds are to be extinguished—here are difficulties which
may be embarrassing if not dangerous. So serious at any
rate do they appear in Canada that the Dominion Go-
vernment refused to pay the Hudson's Bay CoMpany for
the territory unless a military force was sent there to
preserve order. This is the meaning of the " expedition of
peace " which is now on its way to the new province
of Manitoba. Moreover, the dread of a Fenian inva-
sion, which is a sort of chronic disorder in Canada,
has of late been very lively, and not altogether without
reason. Riel has certainly been coquetting with the
brotherhood in the United. States, and there are loud
whispers of mysterious gatherings on our side of the line,
and a sudden emigration of Irishmen to the West. That
a movement of this kind would be the height of folly is no
reason for assuming that it has not been planned—en the
contrary, is rather an'argument for its credibility. Here then
is another use for the expedition of peace. Under these
circumstances the President's refusal to allow the expedi-
tion to pass through our territory is justifiable, even
though to a superficial observer it seems to place us in the
ridiculous situation of recognizing Riel's ragged half-breeds
as a belligerent power. But in reality the refusal implies
nothing of the hind. The passing of a foreign armed
force across our territory is a privilege which we are at
liberty at all times to grant or withhold at our pleasure.
We should have been pleased to see it granted in the pre-
sent case, for the use of the canal would have saved the
British expedition a tedious and expensive march, and
spared the soldiers probably much fatigue. We console
ourselves, however, for the disappointment by the convic-
tion that the refusal springs from Secretary Fish's recent
studies of the neutrality laws. These laws do not, strictly
speaking, apply to a case like the present, but the prin-
ciple which . underlies them is the same which ought to
govern the Sault Ste. Marie question. Mr. Fish has pro-
bably discovered that the obligations of neutrality are not
exclusively for the henefit of recognised belligerents, but
we are bound to treat impartially established Govern-
ments and revolted " peoples " and " districts " as the Act
of 1818 expressly declares. If he had made this discovery
before he released the Spanish gunboats, we should have
been still better satisfied.—New York Tribune.

BRAZIL.

THE MURDER OF GENERAL URQUIZA IN THE ARGENTINE

CONFEDERATION.

RIO JANEIRO, April 24,

The news of the murder of General Urquiza, in the
Argentine Confederation, has come like a thunder clap in
the midst of the peace rejoicings still going on here, as it
appears to presage a general conflagration in La Plata by
a union of the d;.A.ntented " Federalist, " of the Con-
federation with the insurrected " hancos " of the
Uruguayan Republic against the law enforcing rule of
Sarmiento, which threatens speedy annihilation of the
power of those restless Gaucho chieftians who, with the
war cry of " federation not union " so tickling to the
" provincial " palate, jealous of the wealth and consequent
power of Buenos Ayres, contrive to parcel out the
majority of the provinces into family domains wherein
they reign supreme.
Two sons of Urquiza's—Ubaldino and Justo—were
murdered with their father. The adherents of Urquiza
had shut themselves up in Concepcion del Uragua,y, and
were defending themselves against the followers of General
Jordan, who were besieging the town. Jordan had caused
himself to be elected by the provincial assembly, and had
proclaimed himself Governor of Entre Rios. However,
the same assembly had decreed funeral honours toUrquiza.
To effeet the murder of Urquiza the assailants came in the
uniform of the Entre Rios cavalry, and so obtained en-
trance inside the courtyard. Urquiza defended himself
bravely, killing one and wounding another of the assassins
while retreating to his hall of arms, where the balls of his
enemies finished him. Colonel Luengo, a Cordovan, com-
manded the party who followed him into the house and
killed him. The other commanders were Major Vera, a
Correntine, and Colonel Nicomedes, an Oriental. A
report says that Luengo had been captured at Santa Fe.
According to the Argentine constitution the general
government cannot send troops into any of the confede-
rated provinces unless on receiving a requisition from the
legal government of the province. However, Sarmiento
could not recognise a legal government based upon the
murder of a governor, and was resolved to put down the
rule of Jordan. Consequently Sarmiento had declared
all the Argentine ports on the river Uruguay closed, and
had sent about 1,000 troops, with artillery, to! Concepcion
del Uruguay, which still held out against Jordan. The
troops arriving from Paraguay had orders to stop at
Rosario and enter the province of Entre Rios from
that quarter, and every effort was being made to
raise forces sufficient to suppress Lopes Jordan and
his supporters, in which undertaking no doubt the
friends of Urquiza will efficiently co-operate.
On the other hand it is reported that General Caceres, of
the neighbouring and sympathising province of Corrientes,
had raised 8,000 men anti had entered Entre Rios, with
the supposed purpose of aiding Lopes Jordan against the
Central government ; but it was believed that even from
the province of Buenos Ayres alone Sarmiento could
easily obtain sufficient levies of volunteers in support of
the cause of order to crush the forces of Jordan and
Caceres. Don Emillo Mitre was to have the command of
the troops sent into Entre Rios.
- -

Sarmiento has issued a proclamation to the people of
Entre Rios, of which the following are the principal para-
graphs :—" Liberty does not use the dagger for its
weapon. Let every Entre Rian who is honourable and
not an assassin at heart withdraw himself from those who
committed such a crime. The national Government
will come to you with all its power to prevent the aggra-
vation of the evil. Place yourselves at the disposal of the
chief of the national forces, and days of tranquillity and
safety will be your recompense. -Do not listen to obscure
and ignorant, ambitious men, for whom hate is a principle
and crime a means."

In the Uruguayan republic Carabello had been ap-
pointed commander of the Government troops. Parties of
both forces kept scouring the northern regions, but
avoided meeting. A Government report at the last
moment says that Aparicio had been defeated by the
troops, but it needs confirmation.

Paraguay still continues an allied difficulty. The war
is over, but a peace is not made, nor can the plenipoten-
tiaries agree with whom it should be made, whether
at once with the provisional Government, or, hereafter,
with a Paraguayan Government created in some constitu-
tional form, and the Minister of the Argentine Republic
had returnd to Buenos Ayres to get instructions. It
would appear, however, that the favoured course is that
the Paraguayans shall proceed to elect a constituent Con-
gress, to form a Constitution subject to the approval of
the people, and that the treaty of peace will be laid over
until the election of a President under the Constitution,
during which a Brazilian force of 2,000 men will remain in
Paraguay, but stationed at Humaita, to protect the free-
dom of the river navigation, and probably to prevent
internal fighting or plundering. With the exception of
guards at Concepcion and San Pedro, and a small garrison
at Asuncion, all the Brazilian troops in Paraguay were at
Humaita, and they are being sent home by every oppor-
tunity. Up to the present, some 5,000 or 6,000 have
returned since the death of Lopez. The Comte d'Eu was
to leave upon the 16th of April, so that if he does not
stop long at Buenos Ayres or Montevideo to receive festi-
vities there, he should be in Rio by about the 26th to the'
28th instant.

A California Indian, whose wife had been bitten
by a rattlesnake, sent for a bottle of whisky to counteract
the effects of the pois On. But the Indian, having first
tasted the whisky, ended by getting drunk on it, leaving
his wife to die, which she uncomplaingly did.
The Select Committee of the House of Lords have
met to consider the Bishop of Winchester's Sequestration
Bill, and have agreed to report the same to the House
with some amendments. On the motion of Lord Chelms-
ford a clause has been added to the bill providing that on
a beneficed clerk being adjudicated bankrupt, the Court
shall appoint a trustee, who shall, ont of the income of the
benefice, set apart for the spiritual charge of thp parish
such a sum as the bishop of the diocese shall think requi-
site, whether the duty is performed by the incumbent or
a curate.