The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-18 00:00:00

•,q tr 4 ',,,, r „,:::'
.Novi-42mBER, 18, 184 G.

-1-
SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS,
FROM THE 3101071N0 PAPERS .OF tit's DAY. - .
TIMESese--Thee last advises 'received from Ainerica
cOnfirm the *impression:that was made upon our minds:
some weeks ago, Combined :with the• accounts vrleicle
ere almost daily-arriving from different parts of f V, _urope,
and our oven- ptieVincial markets they remove pit, ex'
teeme itlarrn•which once prevailet), lest the supply of
rood during the .ensuing'year should be; insufficient for'
the wants .of .this country. This supply may, indeed,
tall below that of our More abundant seasons, but there
seems.noireason for supposing that its contraction-will
bt sensibly, ot universally felt. In every market through;
opt the kingdern prices have been receding, in obedience
to the'orily laie Which can' influence them—the law o!.
supply arid de'mand.. Indeed,, at the present moment
there:is far less cause fete apprehending that eve are on
tie eve of egeneral dearth, tbaa that the English far-
peers, finding themselves jostling together thus early it:
the exiaiterpent of adunwonted competition, may crowd.
their Pioduc6.premiturely into. the market, and thus
deprive, themselves •of the advantage which a more
politic •reservation ,u:ouhl insure .to them tbrOugh-
°lit 'the- year. It is the interest no less is.
the public than of the producee that the available supply
oft grain should beliffrisect as equally as possible through-
the tweleempeth, and ,that -buyers should noehavel to
cdrepensate the cheapness of December, or !Tieroisey .by
as eXtrayegant,dearness in JUIY or. August. ' We shall
.fl course be well PleaSecr to find the present prices
ruling .t.lllll3o.summer; and there seems little reason for
s posing chat they will hereafter: exceed this amount,
u ess they are now reducedhelow their proper standard
h the agitation' of real or pretended alarm. N ote'villi:
1
stlinding tliequantitkis of wheat and flour imported from
the 'United; States, ere learn from correspondents ,of
kriowlMge d judgment, including ' e the.Cienevese
Traveller," ten
that there Will remains behind a considerable
prloportion ready for' i4ortation. 'That there is little
cause to Sear the effect of highprices on the other side
-ofi the Atlantic, or of a 4s, dtetylensthis; may be auferred
from the fact that, though on the arrival of the _last
`steamer
flour mooseeFora 50 td-75ceritg:per bareeleyet- it
soon afterwards sunk 30 cents. A depreciation of
this kind has only one solution—abundance. And we
are confident that although the corn harvests of the
United States might be insufficient to repair the cala-
mity of a general European dearth, yet that, with the
present amount of our home-grown produce, England
can derive more than she absolutely wants, or is likely j
to want this year, from the western states of North
America. That this consummation is very far opposed
to that which we once anticipated, we readily admit.
But if we plead guilty to the charge of having conceived
unreasonable fears or uttered false predictions, we may
likewise claim the merit of having in some degree
brought about the falsification of our apprehensions.
For we believe that it is in part owing to the
representations which we ourselves put forth, in
accordance with fears unfounded, indeed, but at the
time very general, that we may attribute the extra-
ordinary efforts recently made to transmit grain from
the interior of North America to the coast. And to
these representations also is in some measure owing
the stimulus recently given to the shipping employed
in the Earopean corn trade. Consequences like
these more than atone for the precedent error, and,
to our minds, outweigh a thousand sneers about in-
consistency and vacillation. Two facts should be con-
tinually borne in mind. The most curious phenomenon
of the present deficiency is, that it is a deficiency of the
coarser grains. Wheat is comparatively plentiful in
England, and more than usually good. It is of the com-
mnner and coarser kinds of food that the yield has either
been unhealthy or insufficient. The same analogy holde
with respect to France. This is the first fact. The
second is, that Ireland, rather than England, is affected
by the dearth. This is only a consequence of the pre-
ceding proposition. - The poor crops that have failed are
the Irish food. Had there been no Ireland at all, we
sheuld never have heard of famine in England. The
price of wheat might haie risen in consequence of
exportations to Other parts of Europe. But it has
risen through the natural reaction of conti-
gueus misery upon comparative competence. One
part of a nation cannot suffer severely without affect-
ing the other partially. One kind of sustenance
cannot become dear or scarce without raising, though
not to the same extent, the price of another. And this
de4rness will continue, and finally be aggravated, until a
substitute be found for that species of food which is tem-
po*trily lost. England apprehended the famine which
Ireland suffered. Wheat grew dear because potatoes
bad become so. The Indian corn, which is the only
available substitute for the potato, was at first so par-
tially and scantily supplied as to have become in Ireland
dearer than wheat itself. Hence the reaction on our
markets in this country. But the worst features of the
crisis have changed for the better. The influx of Indian
corn has of late been very considerable. A great re-
duction in its price may, therefore, be calculated on; and
thit can be effected without loss to the importer, as the
price may fall very much below its recent height, and
yep leave a profit to the seller. Nor shall we fail to per-
ceive the effects of this change in England. As long as
the price of Indian corn was so high and seemed
likely to continue so high in Ireland, were was
an i appearance of harshness in keeping up the
duty on foreign wheat It was only an appear-
ance. The abolition of the duty would not have
In- ght food to the mouths of a dozen Irish families:
c Sti l it looked hard; and persons of soft hearts and not
ver c
logical heads were very indignant at the notion of
paying a duty of 4s. on wheat in England, while their
fellw-subjects were starving on untaxed meal in Ireland.
But now there is, we hope, an end even to the pretext
for 'euch indignation. The Irishman is likely to obtain
his substitute for potatoes cheaper than heretofore, even
if he do not save a remnant from the supposed failure of
his ;usual crop: And we ho-pe that he is also beginning
to darn the price of his daily food. lie has been too
lorei indulging the delusive theory that, in periods of
scarcity, a Government is bound to complicate its other
embarrassments by giving
.a multitude of people wages
fur doing nothing. This is a most fatal errore--more
fated to the donees than the donors of such gratuitous
stipend. But the recent measures of the Lord-Lieu-
tenent, and the more general disposition of the peasantry
to dugage in task-work, give earnest of a most desirable
impirovement both in their habits and their condition.
An we see no reason why—if Indian corn does not
agaen become too dear, and the present rate of wages
continues—this year of dearth should not be an era of
nevi prosperity to every man in Ireland.
OIHRONICLE.— Our contemporary, the Morning
Pos , edified its readers yesterday with a very minute
des ription of the dissensions by which, according to its
rep esentation, the present Ministry is distracted. Our
con emporary's remarks evince a degree of good nature
to rds a portion of the Cabinet, and indeed a kind of
pl ap obation of it as a whole, which may obtain a certain
a
am unt of attention for its disclosures. The Post cora-
me cea its exposition of the most minute and secret
det4ils of Cabinet discussion by expressing its ignorance
of '4 how such circumstances transpire ;" and certainly
it i 4 not very easy to conceive how such circumstances
should transpire, seeing that the information, if correct,
mutt proceed from parties sworn not to disclose it.
Th 4 Post, however, declares it to be certain that " in
quarters not likely to be misinformed, and among per-
sont not likely to be the dupes of mere conjecture, a
con ction exists that the present Ministry is split into
oppbsing sections, and that there is scarcely any, one
subject upon which a cordial unanimity of sentiment
exists." We can likewise declare, with at least as
much assurance as our contemporary, " that in quar-
ters' not likely to be misinformed, and among persons
not likely to be the dupes of mere conjecture, a convic-
tioal exists"—that there is no truth, or semblance of
truth, in the statement which he has so positively and
circumstantially put forth. The Post, or its informant,
in the exercise of a lively imagination, has conjured up
visions of sharp and incessant contentions between the
tw&Noble Lords who fill respectively the offices of Fo-
reign and Colonial Secretary. Such visions, we believe,
have not the slightest foundation of fact -to support them.
Welhave no fear of being considered the " dupes of mere
conjecture" in concluding that when. public men of
character have so far put an end to iformer disagree-
ments as to sit in Cabinet together, they must have
banished from their 'minds all such wretched feelings of
rivalry as those which the Post describes as in active
existence. We have no hesitation ip stating it to be
our entire conviction that such rivalries and dissensions
as the Morning Post describes do not exist, and have not
existed amongst Ministers since the formation of the
present Government. The Post, however, has this ex-
cuse for its mistake, that the Peel Cabinet, of which it
was nee a cordial supporter, was divided and ultimately
ID
dest oyed by internal dissensions. After the lamentable
expdrienee of that Administration, we , cannot wonder
that the spectre of a disunited Government should now
haunt the imagination of our contemporary. As far as
our knowledge goes, however, we can offer him the con-
solation of which be is evidently desire); is. Let him, by
all means, banish his apprehensions. fear there is not the
slightest reason for believing that there is, or has been,
anything in the discussions of the Cabinet in the least
degree inconsistent with its being, as on r contemporary
I wishPs to see it, " firm, united, and vigo roust'
h
,

SUICIDE AT TIIE CHAIN PIER, TIRIGHTON.-011
Monday evening, at dusk, a neatly-dressed woman was
seen walking about the promenade at the. pier-head, in a
manner to excite some notice ; but as ,her demeanour
afterwards became somewhat calm, that notice was not
long continued. Half an hour later she -was discovered
by a son of Mr. C. Cooper, clerk, to the Tier Company,
4utsido the rails,. her bhck towards the to, wn, and holding
by the rail! !nth her hands, which were placed behind
her. Imagimng from her position that sib e was preparing
to drown herself, Mr. Cooper crept stealt; hily to the spot,
and was in the act of seising her clothes, w hen she sprang
into the water. The alarm bell was immediately rung,
the lifeboat was lowered, and search we a made for the
body with drags for several hours, but vi ithout success.
In the morning it was found on the b each, near the
Albion Hotel, and conveyed to the To,” When
first seen, the deceased had a small bash et, which, with
her bonnet and a handkerchief; she plae ad on a seat on
the pier before leaping into the water. He tip: is judged
at about 2-I ; and her dress resembles tin at of a servant,
but is very neat. She is not known k ant I neither in the
basket nor in her pockets was anythingl ound by which
information as to her identity could be 3aned.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Ely and family left
Farrauce's.liotel, Belgrave-street yeaterd; sy, for Torquay.

PRICE SD.

TI-FE KAFIR WAR.

IBy . the ship Mary Anne, which has arrived at Ports-
mouth, we have received ,Capesof Good ,flOpe papers-to
tae sth September. The fpligwipg extracts from tho
Grahaiii's 'town Jourii,'ll of Sept. 5, give the latest intei:
I:gence of' the seat of war in Kafiriand
.FRONTIER •AFFAIRS.L-EVENTS OF THE WEEK.
MoNDAY.—Received information to-day that Captain
.Hogg, at the head of a force of about 1,000 infantry,
chiefly Hottentots and. Fingoes, and acting in conjunc-
tion withteßurgher force under the Field-Commandant
Van Wyk, and a detachment of the 45th Regiment,
'Under command of Captain Seagram from the Tarka
:I?osi,'hid- Made a successful inroad into-the Tambookie-
cauntryseapturing upwards of 4,000 head of cattle, and
killing some forty or fifty of the enemy. The loss on
our side is thirteen Fingoes killed, and a few wounded.
The official dispatches; giving a detail of these opera-
Liens, were immediately published in the shape of an
-Extra to our last number, together with the following
observations:—
It is with peculiar satisfaction we give publicity to the
ofliciai dispatches above, detailing a successful movement
by.: Captain Hogg,,7th Dragoon Guards, with his native
force, on the Tambookie country. In ordinary times
'the capture of 4,000, head of cattle would not be to the
colony a matter 'Of very, high importance ; but at the
laresent juncture, when, the army is actually crippled for
beasts of burthen, and when provisions are becoming
'daily so scarce, and withal so indifferent, this capture is
of considerable moracent, and may be hailed, notwith-
standing our lost of life, as among the most fortunate
events we have had yet to record. Captain Hogg ap-
pears to have conducted this enterprise with good Judg-
ment and gallantry, and to have been ably supported by
chose-co-operating with him. If there be any exception
to this it. is in reference to the Fingoes, and these it
ieenas to hive been impossible to keep withiti.the tram-
' meli of diSCipkue. They., appear .to have
suffered severely for their imprudence, and it may
be hoped have been taught a lesson whia may here-
after be of great use to them. Many, as well in other
corps as among the Fingoes are apt to think very lightly
of discipline—and, where there is not any deter-
mined resistance made, its importance may not bo very
manifest—but let any of our divisions sustain a reverse,
let difficulties arise, and danger become imminent—and
then will be seen and felt the advantage of having a
body of men who have been trained to obey orders, wbo
can bo depended on to act in concert, and who, like a
piece of well-regulated machinery, move with that regu-
larity and precision. which ensures the most perfect at-
tainment of a desired end.
It will be gratifying also for the public to know that
the chief Stock has been ordered to Fort Peddie, where
he is to remain as a prisoner of war, and to subsist at
hls own expense. This is worthy of note, and is of
public importance, as being an indication of firmness at
head' quarters. No mistaken humanity in dealin_g with
m
these people can be for a moent tolerated. We say
mistaken humanity, inasmuch as every act of unmerited
leniency on our part will be misinterpreted, and will be
sure to result in further mischief. It is the
height of folly to lay the flattering unction
to' our soul that the Kafirs have any. innate
love for the white man. Our intimacy
with them has unfortunately neither won their esteem
nor their respect. There may be exceptions to this, but
if so they are few and far between, and hence we must
deal with them, not as we would fain find them, but as
they actually are—as utterly faithless in their profes-
sions, and as audaciously dishonest in their practices.
They must be dealt with in such a way as that they may
ftel the consequences of their own misdoings, and be
uninistakingly assured that " honesty is the best policy.'
It would be an act of folly were the British public to
pay ultimately one sixpence of the expenses of the pre-
sent war, unless in failure of means on the part of the
aggressors. Every war which may be provoked, as this
has been, from mere lust of plunder and rapine, should
be defrayed by those who are the cause of it. This
would not be a difficult matter, it would be in accordance
with justice and international law, and in the long run
would prove to be by far the most humane policy that
could be adopted in our dealings with the native tribes of
this country. By making, for instance, the forfeiture of land
the penalty of aggression, and acting firmly upon that prin.
ciple, you at once enlist the native clans or tribes on the
side of peace, at least as regards the colony. The main-
tenance of their own authority, and the preservation of
their territorial possessions, would serve as the strongest
inducements that could be presented to the mind of a na-
tive, to guard him constantly and vigilantly against every-
thing that would lead to his being deprived of either. In
the case of the frontier Kafirs, the loss of their territory,
which must now be considered as absolutely forfeited,
will have an astounding moral effect throughout the
%%hole of South Africa, and will do more for the preser-
vation of peace, and towards the civilisation of the bar-
barous tribes within the circle of British influence than
any other means, however plausible, that could possibly
be adopted. This great and good work is now about to
be commenced—it is the beginning of a new era, and
ono that is fraught with asamsetana consequences, not
merely to this country, but to the whole civilised world.
From Waterloo Bay we have information up to yes-
terday (Monday) morning. Her Majesty's ship Apollo,
with the- 73d Regiment, arrived there about noon on
Saturday. and though blowing a gale at the time, came
to her anchorage in gallant and beautiful styl-. Captain
Saltnond, who has the honour of being the first who
landed there, and whose vessel has given a name to the
place, immediately went off to her, accompanied by Mr.
W. Stanton, a visitor from Fort Beaufort, and who was
put on board the Waterloo, then lying at anchor in the
bay. Captain Salmond however proceeded to the
Apollo, where, as the gale continued to freshen, he re-
mained all night: On Sunday, though the weather had
moderated,. yet from the heavy swell of the sea it was
not thought advisable to commence the landing. As,
however, the weather was particularly fine yester-
day, there can be little doubt but the men are
now ashore and in camp at that important point. In
striking contrast to this it may be stated, that the
men of the 45th, who were lakled at Algoa Bay on the
13th inst., are still toiling hither over the rugged roads
which mark the intervening country. In the mean time
the enemy has presented himself almost daily at Water-
loo Bay, threatened the supplies, swept off the Govern-,
ment draft cattle, dared the handful of men there to come
on, fired into the camp at night, and ercssing the river,
swept off, amongst more petty depredations, 100 head of
cattle belonging to ono individual. We know not who
is responsible for the landing of these troops so far from
where they were required, but to those on the spot, and
who are aware of the urgent necessity for their services
on the immediate frontier, it appears to be, to say no-
thing of the toil to the men, as strange a proceeding as
any that has yet come under public notice. A " Garri-
son Order" has been issued that on the arrival of this
regiment at Graham's ToWn, they are not to halt there,
but continue their route to the mouth of the Fish River,
and to which point Major O'Reilly, the Commandant
here, proceeded yesterday morning, for the purpose of
personally attending to the debarkation of the 73d
Regiment, and to make such arrangements as circum-
stances may appear to render necessary under the cir-
cumstances.
It is currently reported in town to-day, that Umhala
has followed the example of Stock, and surrendered him-
self to the British authorities ; and it is also affirmed
that Creli has made some pacific overtures, offering to
give up the colonial cattle in his territory. These re-
ports, however, want confirmation. Some of the Burgher
levies are, it is said, discharged, and about :to return
home. •