The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-03 00:00:00

Matting a-Attit.

LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 1846 In I

The American PRESIDENT, among other strange
political doctrines put forth in his Message, protests
against any interference of European powers with the
affairs of the North American Continent. He will
admit nothing like " balance of power" in the New
World; he, in the name of the American Republic, in
fact claims the entire sovereignty, and will " suffer no
brother near the throne." The tyrant NAPOLEON
entertained somewhat similar opinions; he debarred,
or would have debarred England from the Continent,
because, said he, England had no business there. The
shopkeepers must be confined to their island, or may
roam on their element, the ocean, but they shall
have no voice at Berlin, or Vienna, or St. Petersburgh•
France is the mistress of the Continent, because
she is the most enlightened, most powerful, and most
brave nation, and to her it belongs to arrange political
matters, and boundary lines, and tariffs with the re-
spective Staten. NAPOLEON had as much right as
POLK, nay, a great deal more, if we look at all the
circumstances of the two cases, to erase from the,
statute-book of nations the words " balance of power,
and to shut out England from every contcontinentalcouncil. With the exception of Hanover, which did
not' in fact belong to England, and was merely an
appanage of the GUELPH family. She had not an inch
of territory on the Continent, and consequently, but
for the balance of power, Could not claim any
feasible right to interference, but that balance of power
includes a vast deal, and its maintenance
in the New Word is as necessary for the prosperity,
safety, nay, very existence of England, as in Europe.
England is the country against which POLK chiefly
or solely directs his anathemas ; but she is not to be
deterred from looking to her own interests because a
temporary Emperor or a temporary President threatens
vengeance, and insists on the establishment of certain
conventional laws, which conquerors only, or lawless
republics, confident of their vast brute force, can
seriously propose to the world. The mode in which
the head of this encroaching republic reasons, though
he has not sufficient impudence to use the same
words, is this :—The United States have, by their
industry, perseverance, and bravery, become all-
powerful on the northern continent, (the
same argument was used by NAPOLEON.) Providence,
by blessing her labours, has justified her policy.
She cannot allow any other state to frustrate her
plans or attempt to obstruct her destiny, which
points out for her domain the entire territory, ex-
tending in breadth from Long Island to California,
and in length from Baffin's Bay to the Isthmus of
Darien. It is true the English possess colonies in the
north, but England has no right to be there ; Eng-
land must be confined to Europe, or may hold her
despotic sway over millions of submissive Hindoos in
India. She shall not interfere with us—she shall not be
permitted to talk of the balance of power in countries
which we have made peculiarly our own, and where
our power is omnipotent. And as for the descen-
dants of the Spaniards, what right have they
to any portion of the northern hemisphere
Their province is the south. They invited
us into Texas, because they could not people
the country or govern it themselves ; they are
ready to sell to us for a small consideration, or give in
exchange for the abatement of doubtful claims the
whole of California, and without these appendages
Mexico is nothing ; it cannot defend itself against
these meddling Europeans ; so, unless the lazy, super-
stitious, and helpless descendants of the Spanish
settlers can amalgamate with us, and adopt our laws
and government, the sooner they pack up their mining
tools and be off the better. These are the objects of
the democratic party, of which POLK is at this mo-
ment the chief, and unless England interfere and
assert her rights in time, they will to a certainty be
accomplished. But England cannot submit to such
a ruinous policy, or listen to such disgraceful con-
ditions, or stand by idle while the balance of power in
the north is utterly destroyed, and all her valuable
possessions in the Caribbean Sea, in the Pacific, and
in Canada, are placed in the utmost danger. The
Oregon affair has latterly, in our opinion, been put
forward as a feasible ground for war. The de-
mands within a few years have risen enormously ;
at one time a portion would have satisfied
the claimants, now they will be content with nothing
less than the whole ; and these claims, say the war-
like party, " cannot be abandoned without a sacrifice
of both national honour and interest." They knew
that England would not grant the entire territory,
and could not grant it without abandoning her na-
tional honour and interest, and they have thus
obtained the first step in the grand movement—
a plausible pretence for taking by violence what they
could not obtain by negotiation, or by impartial ar-
bitration. The people of this country, if they do
not now, will soon see the American policy in its
true light. It is too manifest to be any longer con-
cealed, and all we hope is, (for the power of Eng-
land is undoubted) that our Government will be wise
and firm in time, and be prepared to resist with true
English spirit aggressions, compared with which
those made by NAPOLEON were nothing—aggres-
sions which threaten the destruction of our commerce
and our mercantile navy, and our very existence as a
colonial power.

A well-informed and sensible writer on railway
legislation in Tait' s Magazine, some of whose remarks
were extracted in yesterday's Sun, with approbation,
makes one recommendation, however, in which we
cannot entirely concur. And we are the more anxioui
to express our dissent, as we believe the recom-
mendation to be likely to find favour. It is a recom-
mendation to Parliament to employ itself in investi-
gating subscription contracts. " Each company of a
group," says the writer, " might be called in succes-
sion to prove its list of shareholders and their means.
It would be open to each of their rivals, or any of
their competitors, to bring counter-proof. As soon
" the
of affirmative or negative was established to the
satisfaction
the Committee, the inquiry should be
closed ; any company failing to prove its competency
ought to be put
out of court "
Now we win place in
this recommendation immediate. juxta-position to
BURY, the great arbitereorni°n of Lord SHAFTES-
House of Lord', on the subscriraiption
contracts of rail
way companies. The opinion is
rite'-1
given, and is
conclusive to our mind as to the folly of these sub-
scription contracts.
0 My opinion of the contract is this, that it is perfectly
leis ; Is a contract binding parties, their heirs, ei;cittute-
and administrators, to millions of money; and it is impossible
that in the whole session, or the whole year, you can have time
enough to inquire as to the means of the subscribe's to meet the
contract. I will mention one case ; a Bill passed through the
House of Commons, and came into the House of Lords, to
form a canal to unite the two channels across Devonshire; it
was at the end of the session, and there was an in-
complete subscription contract. I said, 'this Bill cannot
go on ;' and a certain person said, ' I can set all
that right ;' and he got subscriptions to the amount of 200,0001.
in the course of a few days. I found that he had got his foot-
men and his chimney-sweeps to sign a contract to the amount of
200.0001. The subscription list is, in my opinion, perfectly use-
less. The !Luse of Commons have partially corrected the
evil, by saying that the powers of the Act should not take
effect till a certain proportion is paid up. The real truth is,
that we do not attach any great value to the subscription con-
tract. The other day I had a subscription contract before
me for a mition,
dence before Select Committee
which wets of no value whatever "—( v
of the House of .Commonson
Railway Bills, p. 13).

This is leitingouatutdheosnecirhe.ts of the. prison-house
subscriptionls sbowing, was
raegiauzi,rceocin, contract `s with a vengeance ;
the inquiry
ever such a farce as the'there
if the subscription contract is
m But
which the writer in Tait. recommends
seems to follow as a necessary consequence. But
not only, according to Lord Sg4TTE,BURY, the most
competent of witnesses, have such inquiries not been
instituted, but the practice of Parliament has been
to connive at turning the subscription contract into
" a delusion and a fraud:' Now the existence of so
extraordinary a practices seises a presumption that it
is necessary, or (in other words) that the inicinirim

by which alone the utility of the subscription con-
tracts may be preserved, are impracticable.
And the fact is, that these inquiries are imprac-
ticable. As Lord SHAFTESBURY says, the session, or
even the year, would not be long enough for a com-
plete inquiry into even one subscription contract for a
large sum total, If you are to go into inquiries as
to the pecuniary means of individuals, common jus-
tice requires that such inquiries should be made in a
scrupulous, painstaking manner, which involves time
And then how is pecuniary competency to be fixed ?
Will any two men agree as to the standard of
pecuniary competency in such cases ? Is a man to
be required to be able to pay down any day, in a
slump sum, the whole amount for which he has
signed the deed ? Most persons will say that this
would be most unjust, as he would only be called upon
by the company to pay the sum in several instalments,
extending over several years, and perhaps never at
all be called on to pay the whole sum. What portion
then of the sum is he to be required to possess, in
order to establish his competency ? Again, is he not
to be allowed the benefit of his credit, as well as of
his property, in this inquiry ? Is he to be debarred
from reckoning on savings of income, gains in busi-
ness, gains by railway speculations, for the payment
of his instalments ? Then, again, you cannot isolate
one subscription contract. To what extent has a
subscriber in one railway company made himself
liable in other companies ? All this shows the im-
practicability of the suggested inquiries into sub-
scription contracts. If they are to be made at all,
they must he made completely; and in the attempt
to make them'completely, Committees would coon find
themselves " in wandering mazes lcst."
But even if these inquiries were not impracticable,
there are other great and insuperable objections to
them. They would strike a fatal blow at railway
enterprise. Who would embark in railway specula-
, tion if it is necessary to involve a ripping up of all
his private affairs before a Parliamentary Committee.
No man, whose credit was of consequence to him
(and what man's is not ?), could subscribe a railway
contract without running a risk of having that credit
endangered by the malice, or (at best) interested zeal
of parties interested in competing schemes. But the
publicity itself would be an extinguisher on railway
speculatics ; and without railway speculation, depend
upon it, there will be no railways; and why is railway
speculation to be proscribed ? What is all commerce
but speculation ?

The publicity to which the names of railway sub-
scribers are, as it is, exposed by Parliament has, we
have no doubt, only an injurious effect on the cha-
racter of railway speculation. The House of Com-
mons requires its railway Committees to include al-
ways in their reports a list of the names of sub-
scribers to the amount of 2,0001. and upwards, and
last year it is well known that a Parliamentary paper
vas published separately, giving the names of all
persons who had subscribed any railway contract for
an amount exceeding 2,000/. Many a strong mind
is not above a prurient fondness for gossip ; and this
Parliamentary paper, giving insight into the railway
speculations of individuals of all classes and occupa-
tions, has been more popular than a new novel. What
is the natural consequence ? That persons who do
not like to have their affairs canvassed—who have no
objection to a profitable investment, but will not have
it on that condition—who are sensitive as to their
credit;the very men, in short, whose participa-
tion in railway enterprise is most desirable, decline
sigr.ing railway.contracts, and the field is lett more
than ever to the stags.

Let not our remarks be misunderstood. We oppose
publicity in this case, not from a desire to encou-
rage improper speculation, hut because we believe
that it has no effect whatever on the shameless, and
deters speculators of character, that it certainly does not
diminish, and if anything tends to increase the evil
which all right-minded persons must desire to abate.
But this evil, like all moral evils, legislation can only
deal with effectually, by dealing with it indirectly.
We shall take a future opportunity of suggesting one
or two regulations, very simple and very easy,
which would strike a deadlier blow at " stagging "
than all lists of names or inquiries into names, carried
on to the end of the world, would ever accomplish.

At the meeting held at Hereford, on Wednesday
last, the League achieved another great triumph.
Hereford is situated in an agricultural neighbourhood,
and the protectionists mustered and showed fight.
The monopolists left no stone unturned to endeavour
to divert the meeting from its purpose. Mr. Tom-
TUNS in vain endeavoured to revive the fallacy that
the corn-laws were for the benefit of the la-
bourers. He was met by indignant cries of
" six shillings a week ;" and, although he posi-
tively affirmed that the agricultural labourers
were now better off than they had ever been, he did
not venture to assert that the average rate of w ages
was more than 6s. a week. Coupling, therefore, his
affirmative with his omission, we come to the conclusion
that the wages of the agricultural labourer in the dis-
trict with which Mr. TOMKINS is connected have never,
since the enactment of the corn-law, exceeded 6s.
a week, and yet this gentleman and his brother pro-
tectionists still attempt to " bamboozle" the la-
bourer by telling him that the corn-law
has been enacted for his especial benefit.
Mr. TOMHINS concluded an ultra-protectionist
speech by proposing an ultra free•trade amend-
ment. The " dodge," however, did not succeed
—the " dodger" had not been sufficiently "artful."
Acting on the sensible advice of Mr. COBDEN, to do
one thing at the time, the meeting carried the original
resolution in favour of a total and immediate repeal of
the corn-laws. Having done that, they agreed to a
resolution in favour of free trade generally. That,
however, was a mere work of supererogation ; for
when once the monster monopoly sinks, it will drag
down every other monopoly with it in its vortex.
Let the corn laws be repealed, and, within twelve
months, there will not be protective duty of any sort
or description left.

The leading articles of the Paris papers, which
owing to the severe weather in France and the bad-
ness of the roads, we have received at a very late hour,
are chiefly filled with comments on the proceed-
ings of the Chamber of Deputies, but we find
nothing in them of interest to the English
reader. The success of the Ministry in all the
sessional appointments has been complete. The re-
sult has had a favourable effect on the stock and
share•market, and every kind of security had
advanced.

On -Wednesday the Three per Cents. for cash closed at
83f. ; for Account, 83f. 30c. • Five per Cents., I2of. 50c. ; for
Account, 120 f. 15c. ; Bank of France Shares, 3,300 f. •
Spanish Three per Cents. 401,4 f. ; Spanish Five
per Cents. 3714 L ; Neapolitan and New Loan, no quota-
tions. The share market has followed the upward
movement of the stocks, and all the leading lines have im-
proved. Paris and Orleans left oft at 1,257 f. 50c.; Paris
and Rouen, 1,032 f. 50c ; Rouen and Havre, no quotations;
Avignon, 985 f.: Vierzon, 680 f. ; Strasburg and Basle, 260 f. ;
Boulonge and Amiens, 5501.; Northern, 763 f. 75c. ; Bor-
deaux, 6601. ; Fampoux, 500 f. The promise market has also
improved ; Lyons Definitives. HU ; Strasburg ditto, 60f. ;
and Tours and Nantes ditto, 90f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LON DON STOCK EXCHANGE, JAN. 1.
Anglo-Belgian — Madrid and Valencia...
Barba does
Boulogne and Amiens.. 111 q Namur and Liege 4
Bordeaux &Mediterran North Jamaica ...
Bordeaux and Toulouse Orleans and Vierzon
Ceylon .
Do. & Cette (Espeleta) 2 Orleans and Bordeaux 113/4
Do. (Mackenzie's) .. 2 Over Yssel •••
Callao, Lima, and Pa- Paris & Lyons (Laffitte) 2%
chic Coast
Central of Spain . Ditto (Calon's).... ... 2%
Demerara
......... 24 Paris and 0r1ean5......
Dendre Valle ******
Y ****** ••• Paris and Rouen . —
. *****
Ditto (Sud Est)
Dijon and Mulhou..s.e. * ..... —ii
Dutch Rhenish ... ** 8 Paris and Strasburg
Dieppe & Paris JUTICI •-• Ganneron's)
Do.( de L'Est)
East Indian ...... (Compe , _
Grt Northern of France h Do. (Aymard 5).....•
Ilallenr.. Sambre and Meuse
Paris and St. Quentin —
Constitutedpepinle
Great Indian Peninsular 7 Royal •••...
North of Spain.
Do.
Great Paris and Lyons. 2% Strasburg
and Bale •
Great Western Bengal Tournay,Jurbise ...
, Lan-
Great Western Canada 3% den, and Hasselt ...
Jamaica S M id. Junction Tours and Nantes
Do. North Midland — (Mackenzie's)
Do. Extension
._.
Jersey — Do. (O'Neill's). .......
Louvain and Jemappe 23A Trinidad ................. _
Lyons and Avignon 2% Verona and Ancona.... _
Luxembourg

th
ilst
dayis e xapte cwteidn
dtshoart, a
h Privyn Council
owill übe
ce
ehueel
hil
will oe appointed Lord President of the Council, in
wetle
the room of the late Lord Wharncliffe, and the other
newly appointed Ministers will kiss hailds on their
rfispective appointments.
Lord and Lady John Russell have left the Earl,
and Countess of Minto's, for Edinburgh, where the Noble
Lord and Lady intend to reside until the meeting of Parlia-
ment. Her Ladyship's health has, we are happy to learn
greatly improved.