The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 5, 1870.

THE CANADIAN CONNECTION.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

The Spectator prefaces some extracts from a
letter it publishes, addressed to Mr. TENNYSON, by
stating that it was written by a Canadian of literary
mark, and clearly shows the suspicion and hatred
gradually growing up in the Dominion against
England on account of Lord GRANVILLE'S Colo-
nial policy. The literary gentleman, alluding to
recent speeches in Parliament, as well as articles in
the leading newspapers, favouring eventual, if not
early, separation, declares them to wring the hearts
of Canadians in a way Englishmen cannot realise
and predicts that the feeling of regret, as well as the
genuine disbelief that England can be so contempt-
ible as to incline towards such a policy, will turn, if
that inclination be cenfirmed, to indignation at the
cowardly abandonment. It goes on to show how
ill-advised such a course would be, and predicts,
confidently, that abandonment will not lead to inde-
pendence, as fondly believed in England, though
ridiculed in Canada, but to immediate annexation
to the United States; while with the Dominion
would not only go the maritime supremacy of Great
Britain, but it would be transferred to " her most im-
placable enemy and rival, " for if," he says, " there
be one idea more than another that predominates in
the great Republic and her border, it is a desire and a
purpose to humiliate England, and take her high
place among the nations ; and, above all, to transfer
to America the dominion of the seas." The mari-
time supremacy of the Union would be at once ac-
quired by the addition of the marine of the British
American Provinces, which takes a leading place in
the shipping of the world, and American adds
"the literarygentlemanof mark," would then be but
a trifle to that engendered in Canada against England.
Now all this is very unreasonable, while we acknow-
ledge with regret that it expresses the feeling of an
influential section of the Canadian people. What
is it that they require from England as the price of
their good-will? Not independence, not the re-
moval of restrictions, not the liberty to do as they
will with their own, for that liberty is unbounded,
the sovereignty of the crown being merely nominal.
They must want something, or they would not
think, speak, and write thus ; and why did not the
"literary gentleman," when he took up his pen so
strongly to censure Earl GRANVILLE, say what that
section of the Colonists he represents require of
England. Speeches and articles are mere talk ;
they are but words deriving their only import-
ance from the things they indicate as likely to be
done. Neither Lord GRANVILLE, nor any of Eng-
land's statesmen of whom we know, recommend
the severance of the connection which the Cana-
dian terms the cowardly abandonment of the co-
lony by England, and they have, as distinctly as
men can speak, asserted this; therefore it cannot
be the severance of the connection. But the Colo-
nial Minister, backed by a very strong party, as-
serts that with independence goes the expense and
the responsibility of government ; and that English
taxpayers, who, man for man, are poorer than the
Canadian taxpayers, should not have to bear the
burden of colonial defence, nor any other cost of
the Dominion Government. In pursuance of this
policy her AlaaEsTv's Ministers are withdrawing all
the troops from Canada as from the other colonies,
and letting the colonists clearly understand that if
they want arsenals and forts they must keep them
up at their own expense. That is the act which
touches the loyal Canadian to the quick—the with-
drawal of gay money-spending regiments, which
tend to give life and tone to the -larger Canadian
cities, to supply partners for the girls at balls, and
a few husbands for the manceuvreing of mammas.
If Canada wants a British garrison, Lord GRAN-
VILLE says it must pay for the luxury, which Canada
very properly declines to do, for the British soldiers
are the most costly in the world, though no doubt
they stand very high in efficiency. But surely in
this there is nothing to call forth such indignation.
The cowardly abandonment consists in declining to
make the British taxpayer furnish the whole cost
for garrisoning Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto.
If Canadians would reverse the position, and sup-
pose England to demand a subsidy from them to
support the camp at Aldershot, then they might
have just cause for indignation, and give a very tart
and prompt refusal, yet there is a better reason
why England should make that demand on them
than that tiny should expect England to garrison
their towns. The reason is, that Aldershot is a mere
depot where a certain article is kept ready and in
a high state of efficiency, whenever and wherever
required. That article is a strong division of Bri-
tish troops, which could in a fortnight be thrown
into Canada if the necessity existed, and is there-
fore almost as effective for service in the Dominion
as in any part of Great Britain, whereas the garri-
Eons of the colony are purely local. The argument
used by the literary Canadian is the stock argument
for the occasion—the deadly hatred of the United
States against England, and the certainty that, if
Canada was compelled in self-defence to submit to
annexation, the against England amongst
Canadians would be greater still ; in truth, to use
his own words, " a trifle to that engendered here."
He had just before written that the great Republic
was England's most implacable enemy and rival ;
that its predominating desire and purpose was to
humiliate England and take her high place among
nations ; and if this be but a trifle to the hatred
about to be engendered among Canadians towards
England for withdrawing her red-coats, then all
we can say is that the colonists are very unreason-
able, and England very unfortunate. We reduce the
problem to this absurdity, to show our readers the
sort of thing that goes down in Great Britain, and
can be endorsed by Mr. TENNYSON and the Specta-
tor. But it serves our purpose, as it illustrates the
gross exaggeration habitual with those who seek
so pertinaciously for their own selfish ends, or for
the gratification of spite, to keep alive the dying
animosity between the nations. England, like all
great countries which have played a conspicuous
part on the theatre of the world, has managed to
excite much ill-►ill. Doubtless she has done several
unjust and some shocking acts, and many nations
have a right to express their dislike in no measured
terms. Among these is the United States ; but the
recollections of the disastrous and shameful war
which led to the independence of those colonies are
becoming obliterated by time, and with them vanish
the animosity, while the rise in material power and
prosperity of the young nation then formed, has
brought it up to an equality, and with that rise goes
the keen spirit of rivalry. We deny the " implac-
able animosity" of the United States towards Eng-
land ; but we are not so ready to assert that there
is not animosity on the part of the Canadians against
their neighbours, and in England against the Re-
public. The whole of its spirit in the United States
as against England is to be found in the dislike to the
political connection existing between a large portion
of the continent and Great Britain, springing from
much the same feeling as that which makes the red
cross flag at Gibraltar an eyesore to Spain. There is
nothing more popular with any nation than thecry
of the country for the people. " Ireland for the
Irish ;" " Spain for the Spanish ;" "America for the
Americans ;" and it would be quickly raised in Eti-
rope, if there was a dangerous inroad from Asia or
from America —" Europe for the Europeans." Setting
aside this natural feeling, the statement of the Ca-
nadian and his argument therefore (frequently used
also by the high Tory section in England) is not based
on fact; and it is a mere assertion which the experience
of travellers disproves, and which will be found im-
possible to urge when a knowledge of the Republic
becomes general. What the Canadian wants, be-
sides the British garrison, is the pleasure of riding
a very tall political horse. The Dominion by itself

would be but a weak thing, and not entitled to as-
sume the airs of a first-class power. But the Do-
minion, with England at its back, speaks with great
authority, for there is an enormous force behind. It
is very natural for the Canadians to like this condi-
tion ; to have all the advantages which a closer con-
nection implies, with few of the dangers and respon-
sibilities of so high a place. But it is not pleasant for
England to be kept in constant hot water through
the assumption and high-handed proceedings of her
bumptious young relation. The gentleman of lite-
rary mark will find that Earl GRANVILLE'S ideas are
not those of a few visionaries," but, on the con-
trary, that they are grounded on the broadest prin-
ciples of right and common sense, and are not only
held by a large section of the people, but that their
plain, practical force are every day adding to the
strength of that party.

PROGRESS OF THE ERIE WAR.—No. 111.

To the charge that none but English stock-
holders were dissatisfied, Mr. Burt published in the
New York papers a document signed by numerous
citizens of mark, petitioning the Legislature of New
York State to repeal the Classification Act, as they
were dissatisfied with the present management of
the company. A suit has Leen begun against Gould,
Fisk, and Lane in the U. S. Circuit Court. The
complaint recites that the defendants, with others,
illegally obtained control of the Erie Railway Com-
pany, and committed the company to engagements
of a hazardous and speculative nature. That all the
property possessed by Fisk, Gould, and Lane is
vastly less than their legal liabilities to the bona fide
shareholders. That defendants are unfit to control
the affairs of the company, and should at once
be ousted, and enjoined from interfering with
the affairs of the company. That, on account of
the great power and influence of defendants over
the affairs of the company, it will be impos-
sible to obtain any fair investigation of its affairs
until they are ousted. That until they are ousted,
the rights of the bona fide stockholdors will be
constantly in peril, and that no other result
can be reasonably looked for than the utter
wreck and ruin of the whole interest of the holders
of stock. The plaintiffs demand that the defend-
ants shall be compelled to render a just, full, and
true account of the affairs of the company during
the time it has been in their hands ; that the officers
of the company be enjoined from removing or con-
cealing books, papers, securities, or funds belong-
ing to the company. The defendants have until
the first Monday in May to file their answer. Mean-
while the war progresses in the papers, and pro-
minently in the New Ycrk Tribune, wherein a
slashing article appeared, headed " Humours of
Erie." It says :

" When Mr. Charles Burt, representing the holders of
two-thirds of the Erie stock, came over from London to
look after the interests of his clients, and American
holders began to combine with him for mutual protection,
the Ring first tried to break up his alliances by a report
that he had resigned and was going kome in despair.
When this failed, and Mr. Burt appeared before the Legis-
lative Committee at Albany petitioning for a repeal of
the law which keeps Fisk, Gould, Tweed, and company
in office against the wishes of the shareholders, he was
suddenly confronted by the correspondent of a comic
newspaper, who declared that he too represented certain
shareholders (number and identity uncertain), and that
having received from Mr. Fisk the courtesies of the road,
he found the refreshments so good he should be sorry to
see any change! Last of all came Mr. T. G. Shearman
also, and this gentleman's appearance in the character of a
confiding counsel was so remarkable that we purpose in-
viting our readers to give it their very particular atten-
tion."

Lawyer Sherman's delightful confidence towards
his clients was great, as he had been unable to dis-
cover anything wrong even in the process by which
Fisk and Gould secured their retention in office,
buying $70,000 worth of proxies with Boston, Hart-
ford, and Erie R. R. money, first issuing enough
Erie watered stock to control the election, then
selling that stock in their private capacity as
brokers to foreign investors ; and, finally, as indivi-
dual shareholders voting on the shares they had
already sold to confirm their own proceedings, run-
ning down in a year and a half the stock from 72
to 25 for their personal gain. Or by the settlement
with Vanderbilt, characterized by Fisk himself in
court as an almighty robbery, for which the State
Prison ought to be built larger, and Fisk said when
he signed the paper that "we had sold ourselves
to the devil." In the same telling-style, although
in these remarks we skim off the cream, the Tribune
shatters into fragments Shearman's four reasons
why the Erie Bill ought not to be repealed. Of
these the only one worth examining is that the road
has by the clique been better managed. On this
the New York daily remarks :

"It does not seem to us very good management to run
down the price of stock from 72 to 25, to render the shares
useless except for purposes of wild speculation, to involve
the company in endless litigation, to convert Erie into a
by-word of reproach, and make a great railroad tributary
to a troupe of ballet girl•. We do not think it an evidence
of good management that whereas in 1866, on a capital of
$25,105,800, the net income was $3,288,911, or 13 per cent.,
in 1869, on a capital of $78,536,910, it was only $3,003,415,
or less than 4 per cent. And as for safety, let the figures
speak. During Mr. Gould's two years 179 persons have
been killed on the road and 271 injured. During the pre-
vious two years, when the number of passengers was
somewhat greater and the mileage considerably greater,
115 were killed and 119 injured, a difference against Mr.
Gould of 64 killed and 152 injured.

The last remarks cut to the soul the sensitive Fisk,
who replied in a long letter, wherein he says :
" Mr. Burt, of course, knew better when he made
this statement ; but you, I suppose, in an innocent
reliance upon the peculiar truthfulness of English-
men, have been led to believe that whatever Mr.
Burt said must needs be true." He showed that
their management had only lasted fourteen months,
that the accidents were 72 less than in the preced-
ing year, that nine of these occurred to passengers
through their own fault, chiefly to drunken men
getting out of cars in motion, that fourteen were
at Mast Hope, the fault of James Griffin, that,
in short, only one passenger was killed by the
fault of the Erie Railroad. He adds the rea-
son why the accidents seem large on the Erie is
that it is the only corporation of the State which
collects and honestly reports these accidents, and
this fact makes it most unjust to compare the Erie
under the present with the Erie under any for-
mer direction. Mr. Fisk then asserts that the
Tribune has been misled, that the number has in
truth greatly decreased, a fact which can be proved
by any who take the trouble, though it is not for
Mr. But Vs interest, and from the freedom with
which he borrows other people's documents, Fisk
supposes that he would not be scrupulous in his
assertions. Then, continues this clever gentle-
man—

"Not content with indorsing Mr. Burt's malicious and
unfounded statements, concerning the want of safety on
the road, you further accept his statement that he repre-
sents two-thirds of the Erie stockholders, as a matter of
course, and make his assertions respectable by your in-
dorsement. Now, Mr. Burt, atter a long flourish of pre-
paration, has at last commenced his terrific proceedings
in the United States Court ; and inasmuch as he has
darkly threatened what fearful things he was going to do
in that Court, and what tremendous power he would bring
to bear in it, we may safel) assume that ho shows the full
strength of his clientago in his suit, particularly as he
takes the somewhat unusual course of joining a number
of separate stockholders as plaintiffs. * * * * Mr.
Burt has come here in all his majesty to pursue three in-
significant individuals, who are totally unqualified, by
ability or training, to meet so mighty a foe. And feeling
certain, from his high character, masterly ability, and
transcendent eloquence, to say nothing of his capacity for
"rescuing" other people's property from them, as illus-
trated by his adroitness in slipping private documents
into his pocket at Albany, under the very eyes of our in-
corruptible Legislators, that it will be in vain for me to
resist the demand which ho has now made for the whole
of my personal property, for the benefit of his 500,000
men in buckram. I have determined to accede to it, upon
the single and most reasonable condition, that Mr. Burt
and his clients shall apply it to the satisfaction of those
long delayed and uncivilly treated Alabama claims which
are, I believe, of just about the same amount as the claims
presented by the indignant British stockholder. I will
give due notice to the holders of Alabama claims of the
acceptation of this offer by Mr. Burt, and, with this as a
Thirteenth Temptation, and Mr. Burt as the lost soul, I
anticipate a crowded house when pay day arrives."
It will be seen how adroitly Mr. Fisk avoids an-
swering any charge except that of accidert, and
considering his position, that he was engaged in a
suit to make Commodore:Vanderbilt disgorge the
proceeds of what he terms " an almighty swindle,"
to prove himself honest would have been to inva-
lidate that suit. The Tribune replied in an article
showing that, in answering the damaging exhibit,
" Colonel" Fisk takes as the first period of compari-
son-1865-6 —which may be a slip of the pen, for
which it gives the benefit of the doubt, but he also takes
an odd portion of his own administration, and com-
pares it with an odd portion of another, to his own
advantage. The Tribune very properly answers
the statement that the Erie was not responsible for
the Mast Hope disaster, by showing that Griffin
went to sleep because he had been kepttoo long on

duty, also that the system of signalling was bad. We
incline, however, to believe that the Erie manage-
ment in this respect is good, and that Mr. Fisk did
not claim more for himself than his due ; and we
will go further, and say that, if he would be but
honest, Erie, both in him and Gould, would have
an able management. On the 15th inst. the Tri-
bune proposed to employ the " Colonel" on its re-
gular staff of correspondents at a good price, if he
would supply it with a trial essay, replying, in the
crispest manner to a series of questions it propounds.
Truthful replies to these ten queries would be
interesting information to the stockholders, which,
we may add, they are not likely to get; To secure
their position the clique have got a bill passed
through the State Legislature, regulating the grant-
ing and enforcing of injunctions, which will give
them plenty of time, whatever may be the shifts
to which they are put, and with a firm faith in
their ingenuity they think that, given time, they
can baffle any assault. It is noticed that, on the
13th inst., Fisk called at the United States Building,
and after waiting an hour in the District Court
Room had a long interview, under lock and key,
with District-Attorney Pierrepont, and it is signi-
ficantly added, " A suit was commenced lately in
the Circuit Court by Mr. Burt against Fisk and
Gould." No difficulty was experienced in serivng
the officials of the company with notice of the suit
thus commenced ; indeed these officials sent notice
to the U. S. Marshal's office of their readiness to
receive the necessary legal documents, and Fisk and
Gould treated the Deputy-Marshal with great
courtesy ; and, says the Wall-street Journal, "after
the ceremony of serving was through, the Deputy
was entertained at lunch by Colonel Fisk, with that
suavity and bonhommie for which the Erie-pressible
Hero is so distinguished." The same paper, in al-
lusion to the petition by the American holders of the
preferred stock in sympathy with the English to
the Legislature of the State, says, that "as the
whole business has been very badly handled there
is little, if any, prospect of success at the present
time. Mr. Burt, the representative of the English
stockholders, is emphatically not the right man
in the right place, and, with usual English wilfulness
and obstinacy, has nothing to learn. Had the right
parties been deputed to show our incorruptible
Legislature the incontestible rights of the English
stockholders to the management of their own pro-
perty the results would have been different." What
the writer, who knows the ropes, means is, that the
Erie_clique must be met with the same weapons as
those they use—bribery. Very pleasant, doubt-
less, for the New York Legislature ; but what we
propose to show in an article next week is, that the
injury done the United States in general, and New
York State in particular, by the proceedings of the
Erie clique, vastly exceeds in amount the value of
the Erie altogether. We are confident that Ame-
ricans have but a very dim notion of the damage
their credit has sustained, and perhaps it may take
years before they will be fully aware what Fisk,
Gould, and Lake have cost the country.

So far as the House Naval Committee is con-
cerned, the " relative rank" question, in the U. S. navy, has
been settled. The Lieut.-Commanders it proposes to re-
duce to 85. There are to be 100 masters, and 100 ensigns;
15 medical directors, with the rank of captain, 15 medical
inspectors with the rank of commanders, 50 surgeons with
the rank of lieut.. commanders, 100 assistant-surgeons with
the rank of master, with promotions to rank of lieutenant
after three years' service and examination. No person
under 21, or over 26, shall be appointed surgeon in the
Navy. Thirteen paymasters with the rank of captain, 13
with that of commander, 60 with the rank of lieut.-com-
mander, 40 past-assistants with the rank of lieutenant, 20
assistant-paymasters with the rank of master; 10 chief-
engineers with the rank of captain, 15 with the rank of
commander, 25 with the rank of lieutenant-commander,
100 first assistant engineers with the rank of lieutenant,
and 100 second assistants with the rank of master. Chiefs
of bureaux rank with commodore, 3 naval constructors
with captain, 3 with commander, 3 with lieutenant-com-
mander, and 4 with lieutenant ; 4 chaplains with captain,
7 with commander, and 7 with lieutenant-commander.
Finally, the bill proposes that officers of the staff, after
faithful service of 45 years, shall rank with commodores,
or, if retired, after 40 years. It provides, however, that
commanding officers shall take precedence of all staff offi-
cers under their command, and no staff officer, in virtue
of his rank, shall exercise command or authority in the
line of the navy or in any staff corps, except the staff
corps to which he belongs. In all Naval Courts of In-
quiry and Boards of various kinds sitting for the trial of
officers or any other purpose the line and staff take pre-
cedence according to rank.

General Adam Badeau, late Assistant Secretary
of the American Legation in London, has been nominated
by the President Consul-General in Great Britain. That
this appointment was in contemplation we announced
some weeks ago, as General Badeau had rejected the
higher post of Minister to a South American Republic in
favour of a Consul-Generalship to London. It was rumoured
in Washington that Brigadier General John Pope, com-
manding the Department of the Lakes, will be assigned to.
the Military Division of the Pacific, to succeed Gen. Tho-
mas; but later intelligence indicates that the President will
not fill up the vacancy, or that Gen. Schofield will assume
the command. Lieut. Governor Root of Kansas, who has
just been appointed Minister to the Hague, is one of the
original Free State pioneers of Kansas; was a member of
her first Free State Legislature ; resigned the post of Lieu-
tenant Governor at the opening of the late civil war, and
served with honour to the close. The following nomi-
nations of Consuls have been made : Edmund Johnson
of Kansas, at Ghent; A. Jourdan of the District of Co-
lumbia, at Seville ; Hamilton Richardson of Wisconsin,
at Acona ; Samuel T. Day of Florida, at Pictou; William
H. Faxon of Connecticut, at Curacoa.

By order of the President, General Sherman has
made the following important changes and transfers ;
The Department of Alaska is broken up, and added to the
Department of Columbia, which includes the State of Ore-
gon and the Territories of Washington and Idaho—head-
quarters at Portland, Oregon. The Department of Vir-
ginia is abolished, and added to the Department of the
East, which also includes the New England States, New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
and the district of Columbia--headquarters at New Yoik
City. Major-General McDowell commands this Depart-
ment. The Department of the Cumberland is broken up.
This department consists of the States of Kentucky, Ten-
nessee, West Virginia, and the Post of Jeffersonville, In-
diana. They are now all added to the Department of the
South, which also includes the States of North and South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida—headquarters at
Atlanta, Ga. The Department is under the command of
Brigadier-General Terry. Major- General Schofield, who
is at present in command of the Department of the Mis-
souri, has been ordered to the command of the Division of
the Pacific, vice Major-General Thomas, deceased- head-
quarters at San Francisco. Brigadier-General John Pope,
now in command of the Depaetment of the Lakes, is trans-
ferred to the command of the Department of the Missouri.
Brigadier-General Phillip St. George Cooke, now in com-
mand of the Department of the Columbia, is ordered to the
command of the Department of the Lakes. Brigadier-
General Canby, at present in command of the Department
of Virginia, is transferred to the command of the Depart-
ment of the Columbia, in the place of General Cooke.
General Pope takes General Schofield's command in St.
Louis, when the latter goes to San Francisco. Major-
General Meade remains in Philadelphia, Major-General
Halleck at Louisville, and Lieutenant-General Sheridan in
command of the Division of the Missouri.

Senator Sumner having attained the end for
which he strove in the abolition of slavery, and the
equality of all before the law, has introduced a resolution
with a view to alleviate the sufferings of the brute crea-
tion ; the first step being the transport of cattle over rail-
roads. Attorney-General Hoar has checkmated the Hon.
Ben. Butler in his effort to replace General Andrews in
the Massachusetts Marshalship with Dr. Phelps, the bio-
grapher of Sumner, who in gratitude backed the move.
Colonel Usher was to have bad the office Dr. Phelps now
holds, of Pension Agent. Both the Senators from Massa-
chusetts and two Representatives supported Butler, but in
vain.

The town of Medina, Ohio, about twenty-eight
miles from Cleveland, was nearly destroyed on the 15th of
April by fire, which originated in a wooden building in-
habited by negroes, and used as a barber's shop. In four
hours every business block but two were burnt, as there
were no fire engines, and buckets were unavailing. Finally
the conflagration stopped on the west side of the square at
Aaron Anderson's block, which it left in ruins. Many persona
wore injured, but no lives lost, though so sudden was the fire
and so quick its progress that numbers had to escape from
be upper storey windows, and some in their night clothes.
The loss will be heavy, but it had not when the mail left
been ascertained.

Fisk, jun., the hero of Erie, has in general been
a success, although, like other heroes, he has met with
an occasional check. For instance, although successful as
a peddler, as a steamboat manager, as a railway director,
as a theatrical manager, and as a stock speculator, he did
not succeed in becoming the colonel of the Ninth Regi-
ment of the N. Y. S. National Guard, for at the election, on
March 29th, the boys gavo thirteen votes for Lieutenant
Colonel Braine, while the irrepressible Fisk only obtained
nine, thus losing the opportunity of displaying his military
skill and experience.— Wall-street Journal.