The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-21 00:00:00

THEATRE-ROYAL, .DELPHI.

THIS EvENING, at 7, OPEN TO CONVICTION. Messrs
George Belmore, J. D. Beveridge, C. H. Stephenson, Miss L.
Grey, and Mrs L. Murray. At 8, THE NIGHTINGALE:
' Tl,ujamin Webster. Messrs Arthur Stirling, J. D. Beveridge,
• ',rise Furtado. Mrs Alfred Mellon. Miss Eliza John-
rrs &c. To conclude with DOMESTIC
1;CONOMY: Mr G. Belmore and Mrs Leigh Murray.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs. Swanborough

THIS EVENING. at 7.30, g'AION4 TIIE BREAKERS: Mr
Clarke. With THE TOODLES. And INO. Concluding with
THE CHOPS OF TIIE CHANNEL.

CRRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Ball, Every Night, at S
Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and 8 all the year round.

ZOOLOGICAL G &RDENS, Regent's-path, OPEN daily (ex-
cept Sundays). ,Adl443.sion. Is.; on Mondays, 6d. Children
under twelve. 111. '

ROYAL AL TIA3I-131t A PALACE. THR EE BALLET
Promenade Concert. Band of GO. Begin at S. le. Box-office
o pen from 11 to 4.

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LONDON, FRIDAY, JAN. 21, 1870.

THE English people generally will not fail to take
the deepest interest in the debate now proceed-
ing in the French House of Commons on
the Treaty of Commerce with England. Our
commercial policy in great measure depends on
the issue of the parliamentary contest now opened.
In England there is little reason to fear a reaction
against free trade. There can be no great danger
in an agitation which is mainly supported by a curious
alliance of some minor Conservative M.P.'s with
working men, which has been disowned by the
Earl of DERBY, and has failed to secure the
support of
.a single statesman. But in France the
opposition is much more serious. The new Constitu-
tional Cabinet is divided on this great subject; and
a strong party in the Legislative Body, recruited from
all the various political sections, is openly favourable to
protection. All ordinary party distinctions are
obliterated when this topic arises. Under the
shadow of protection the Radical lion lies down
with the Imperial lamb. So great is the
confusion that it is doubtful which of the
two commercial creeds commands the larger
number of supporters. A. little while ago this
uncertainty would have mattered little, for the Con-
stitution of 1852 gave the full control of commercial
treaties to the EMPEROR ; and though the represen-
tatives of the people might talk, the power
of action remained with the ruler. But, by the
changes of 1869, commercial legislation was handed
over to the Parliament ; and in view of the expiration
of Mr. COBDEN'S Treaty, a direct proposal has been
made to denounce it. The result must be awaited
with anxious uncertainty. As to the action of the
more enlightened deputies, there can be little doubt.
The ruck of the old majority, however, have been
accustomed to doing as they were bid, and now that
they are thrown upon their own resources and com-
plied to think for themselves, their hesitation is
alike painful and perplexing. _

The speech of the protectionist who opened this
momentous discussion was of the dear familiar type.
ESTANCELIN is a Liberal, of whom we
have .read many sensible things ; but his
discourse against free trade was a tissue of
idle invective and misstatements. It is obvious that
if the protectionists wish to establish their case they
must prove two positions: firstly, that industry in
their country has suffered of late years ; and secondly,
that this decline is owing to free trade. AL
ESTANCELIN was eager in telling his fellow-deputies
that the manufactures of their countrymen had been
injured—crushed—destroyed ; but we look in vain
for any plain proof that France is in general
worse off now than in 1879. Nor does
ESTANCELIN'S speech contain any vestige of
reasoning to shew that the decline of which
he has persuaded himself is owing to the Anglo-
French Treaty. This substantial part of the subject
he entirely neglected, and in place of it he
trifled with the French Legislature by devising a
wild account of the origin of the Treaty. Lord
PALMERSTON, he tells us, needed the support of the
English merchahts. NAPOLEON wished Europe to
consent to the transfer of Satoy and Nice from Italy
to France. The bargain was struck. England
agreed to countenance the territorial arrangement,
and NAPOLEON, in return, delivered French industry
to the tender mercies of Englishmen ! Surely
soilithing bettor than this arrant nonsense is to b
expected from the member of a great Parliament—a
Parliament which is rapidly seizing supreme power
in the State. The simple facts of the case
are that the Treaty of Commerce was signed
on January 24, 1860, and the ratifications
exchanged on February 4th. Two days after this
latter date Earl RUSSELL, referring to the rumours
respecting the annexation of Savoy, told the British
ambassador at Turin that the cession would be a
blot on the escutcheon of King Vicron EMMANUEL'S
House. The bargain between the two Continental States
was the subject of several angry debates in the
English Parliament. The English Ministers fre-
quently condemned it, and so late as the
24th of August, 1860, Lord PA LMITRSTON
declared that the French Government had made
promises which it never meant to perform, and that
the proceeding "must produce a painful impression
in the mind of every man in regard to all the parties
who were concerned in the transaction." 31. ESTAN-
CELIN is convicted of an unjust and flagrant error.
What 31. ESTANCELIN failed to do, M. lIAENT-
JENS, the deputy who spoke next, accomplished
most effectually. lie produced facts which no
wild denunciation can set aside. In 1857
the French exported to England goods
worth, in round numbers, £11,060,000; in
1858 the French exports were valued at
£13,271,000; in 1859, £16,870,000. By 1865 the
total had risen to £31,625,000 ; in 1860, to
£37,016,000; in 1867, to £33,7,10,000. These
are the English figures, and though they differ
slightly from those quoted by 31. lIAENTJENS, the
difference is unimportant. Such a develop-
ment of national industry is almost without
parallel ; indeed, it can be compared
, only with the increase in British exports
during the same period, and through the action of
the same treaty. So much for the iniquitous bargain
by which the French markets were sold to England.
It is certain that the wealth of France, as of England,
has vastly increased during the last ten years, and it
is equally certain that the COBDEN Treaty has largely
contributed to this result. It is true that various
special industries in France are now in a depressed
condition ; but their decline is to be attributed
to various causes bad harvests, high prices
for raw material, disease amongst the silk-
worms, and what not. And, lastly, some manu-
factures have fallen off because English pro-
ducers are able to undersell their French
competitors, this fact only gives the protection-
ists their old and selfish argument that the
interests of the few are to be preferred to the well-
being of the many. We trust that a more enlightened
spirit will prevail in the French Parliament, and
that the treaty concluded by the EMPEROIt will
receive the wider and better sanction of the people's
renre Tent at ives.

A number of students of the Royal Military
Acadeuiy at Woolwich, who were recently granted
commissions in the corps of Royal Engineers, are
ordered to join the School of Military Engineer-
ing at Chatham on the Bth of February. These
gentlemen are Lieutenant D. Willimill, St. G. C.
Gore, C. 11. Johnstone, R. H. Browne, R. 0. Lloyd,
E. 11. Cameron, C. R. Fonder, 11. Mitchell, IL
B. Rich, G, W. 1)u Boulay, A. 0. Scott, IL E.
litideon, W. Sy' Creswell, -aucl H. V.
ppie.