The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-05 00:00:00

s FRIDA EVP,

AMERICA,

SOI/THAMPTON, SEPT. 4.
the United States' mail steam-ship Arago,
Captain Lines, which arrived off Cowes this morn-
ing with the French and English mails, ea route to
Havre, we have dates from New York to the 23d
ult. The Arago brings 123 passengers, and on
freight 363,000 dols, in specie, 500 barrels of flour,
and 6,000 bushels of wheat.
The Arago, on the 24th alt , in lat. 40.38, long.
68.45, exchanged signals with the Bremen ship
Schener' bound west. On the 31st, in lat. 48.30,
long. 25.25, spoke the English bark Caroline, from
Sheppy island, bound west. On the Ist inst., in
lat. 48•53, long. 21.05, fell in with the ship Amoy,
of Glocester, with her hatches off, full of water,
and abandoned.
The Royal mail steamer Africa, from Liverpool,
arrived at New York on the afternoon of the 20th
ult.

From Washington we learn that the extra session
of Congress had commenced, in accordance with the
proclamation of the President. After the prelimi-
nary business a message from the President was re-
ceived and read. The House was unusually bare,
182 members only beingpresent out of 230 of which
the House consists. Of the 48 absentees 19 are
Republicans, four North Americans of anti-Re-
publican tendencies, six Northern Democrats in
the service of the Administration, and 20 Southern
Democrats. Those, therefore, who were in favour
of the suppression of ruffian violence in Kansas had
an advantage of id members in consequence of ab-
senteeism. The Committee of Ways and Means
brought in the Army Bill lost at the late session,
with the proviso for securing the right of freedom
in Kansas, and it was understood that no other
business would be brought before the present meet-
ing of Congress. The first test vote gave the Re-
publicans 16 majority, which was a good margin
for a long contest. The following is a copy of the
President's message :
" Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives,—ln consequence ef the failure of Congress
at its recent session to make provision for the support of
the army, it became imperatively incumbent upon me to
exercise the power which the Constitution confers on the
Executive for extraordinary occasions, and promptly to
convene the two houses, in order to afford them an op-
portunity of reconsidering a subject of such vital inte-
rest to the peace and welfare of the Union. With the
exception of a partial authority vested by law in the
Secretary of War to contract for a supply clothing
and subsistence, the army is wholly dependent on the ap-
propriations annually made by congress. The omission
of Congress to act in this respect before the termination
of the fiscal year had already caused embarrassments
to the service, which were overcome only in expecta-i
tion of appropriations before the close of the present
month. It the requisite funds be not speedily provided,
the Executive will no longer be able to furnish for trans-
portation the equipments and munitions which are
essential to the effectiveness of a military force in the
field. With no provision for the pay of the troops, the
contract, of enlistment would be broken, and the army
mu-4 in effect be disbanded, the consequences of which
would be so disastrous as to demand all possible efforts
to avert the calamity. It is not merely that the officers
and enlisted men of the army are to be thus deprived of
the pay and emoluments to which they are entitled by
standing laws, but that the construction of arms at the
public armouries, the repair and construction of ordnance
at the arsenals, and the manufacture of rnilDary clothing
and camp equipage must be discontinued, and the persons
connected with this branch of the public service thus be
deprived suddenly of the employment essential to their
subsistence. Nor is it merely the waste consequent on the
forced abandonment of the seaboard fortifications and of
the interior military posts and other establishments, and
the enormous expense of recruiting and reorganising the
army and again distributing it over the vast regions which
it now occupies. These are evils which may, it is true, be
repaired by taxes imposed on the country, but ether
evils are involved, which no expenditure, however lavish,
could remedy, in comparison with which local and per-
sonal injuries or interests sink into insignificance. A
great part of the army is situate on the remote frontier
or in the deserts and mountains of the interior. To dis-
charge large bodies of men in such places, without the
means of regaining their homes, and where few, if any
could obtain subsistence by honest industry, would be to
subject them to suffering and temptation, with disregard
of justice and right most derogatory to the Government.
In the territories of Washington and Oregon numerous
bands of Indians are in arms, and are waging a war of
extermination against the white inhabitants ; and, al-
though our troops are actively carrying on the campaign,
we have no intelligence as yet of a successful result. On
the western plains, notwithstanding the imposing display
of military force recently made there, and the chastise-
ment inflicted on the rebellious tribes, others, far from
being dismayed, have manifested hostile intentions, and
been guilty of outrages which, if not designed to provoke
a conflict, serve to show that the apprehension of it is
insufficient wholly to restrain the vicious propensities.
A strong force in the State of Texas has produced the
temporary suspension of hostilities there, but in New
Mexicd incessant exertions on the part of the troops are
required to keep in check the marauding tribes which
intest that territory. The hostile Indians have not been
removed from the State of Florida, and the withdrawal
of the trove therefrom, leaving that object unaccom-
pli.Aied, would be most injurious to the inhabitants and
a breach of the positive engagement of the general Go-
vernment.
"To refuse supplies to the army, therefore, is to com-
pel the complete cessation of all its operations, and prac-
tical disbandment, and thus to invite hordes of predatory
savages from the western plains and Rocky Mountains
to spread devastation along a frontier of more than 4,000
miles in extent, and to deliver up the sparie population
of a vast tract of country to rapine and murder. Such,
in substance, would be the direct and immediate effects
of the refusal of Congress, for the first time in the hi-tory
of the Government, to grant supplies—the inevitable
waste of millions of public treasure—the infliction of ex-
treme wrong upon all persons connected with the mili-
tary establishment by service, employment, or contracts
—the recall of our forces from the field—the fearful sacri-
fice of life, and incalculable destruction of property on
the remote frontiers—the striking of our national flag
on the battlements of the fortresses which defend our
maritime cities against foreign invasion—the violation
of the public honour and good faith, and the discredit of
the United States in the eyes of the civilised world.
"I confidently trust that these considerations, and
others appertaining to the domestic peace of the country,
which cannot fail to suggest themselves to every patriotic
mind, will, on reflection, be fully appreciated by both
Houses of Congress, and induce the enactment of the
requisite provisions of law for tke support of the army
of the United States. " FRANKLIN PIERCE.
Washington, Aug. 21."
The Washington correspondent of the Nets York
Herald, under date Au4.L2, says :
" The prospect for the passage of the Army Appro-
priation Bill is now regarded as hopeless, the Republi-
cans having exhibited to-day a stubborn determination
to defeat it at all hazards. There was no discussion in
the house, but the debate in the Senate was highly in-
structive and impressive. While Senators Bell, Hun-
ter, Cass, and others deplored the consequences, but
thought it better to lose the appropriation and disband
the army than to permit the House of Representatives
to assume all the legislative powers of the Governinei t,
by forcing upon the Senate independent legislation e'en-
trary to their judgment and constitutional right=, sena-
tors on the other side of the Chamber applauded the
House and urged them to persist in their action, whe-
ther it were revolutionary or not. It now remains with
the Senate to determine what shall be done. If they
suspend Hunter's motion to adhere, both Houses will
adjourn ; if not, then the Senate will not agree to ad-
journ, and thereupon tke House will be compelled to go
on with tte regular order of business, as there is a strong
disposition to do on all sides.
" Gen. Cass gave it as his deliberate opinion that the
days of the Republic were numbered. Mr. Wade, of Ohio,
defended the action of the House, and was very abusive
of the Executive. The Senate was much divided on a
proposition to adjourn again sine die. The House re-
fused to entertain the proposition."
The amount of the appropriations made at the
last session of Congress is estimated at $68,604,000.
If to this sum is added the $14,000,000 deferred ap-
propriation for the support of the army, an autho-
rised total expenditure is exhibited during the ses-
sion of $82,604,000. Of this aggregate $4,200,000
was to meet deficiencies in the appropriation for the
fiscal year ending with June last. The estimates of
Secretary Guthrie for this fiscal year submitted last
December were as follows : Receipts, $71,500,000 ;
expenditure, $57,451,365 ; excess of receipts over
expenditure, $14,048,635. But according to ap-
propriations already made there will be expended
at least $80,000,000. Excess of expenditure over
estimates, $22,548,635.
The news from Kansas is exciting. There were
reports that half a dozen sanguinary conflicts had
taken place, in which the Free-state men appear
to have gained some advantage. The town of Le-
cofnpton was captured on the 20th ult., and Go-
vernor Robinson and the other State prisoners
rescued. The following telegraphic correspondence
in reference to the affair is published in the New
York journals :--
"On the 21st ult., about 400 Free-state men, includ-
ing 100 from Lane's party, attacked the ruffians' camp
at Washington Creek, but they ran away. They wore
strongly fortified. They left their provisions, and we
burnt their fort. We took two prisoners near by, who
say they had about 60 men at two o'clock this morning.
Our men marched towards Lecompton, and at this mo-
ment I can distinctly hear the booming of cannon. A
large company of Missourians are there, but victory is
sure.

" Governor Robinson and the other Free-state pri-
soners have been rescued. Shannon and the citizens of
Lecompton have fled. Shannon refuses to call out the
troops. Nothing has been heard of Smith's movements.
"It is reported that at the fight near Oaawatomie
the Free-gate men were repulsed, with 14 killed and 16
wounded. Lecompton will be destroyed.
"From St. Louis we learn that a party of Southern-
ere, who left two weeks ago for Kansas, were attacked
while on their way from Kansas city to Lecompton, by
a large body of Free-soilers, when a desperate conflict
ensued. Many were killed and wounded on b.)th sides.
The Southerners were finally compelled to yield, and
were driven from the field.
"The Leavenworth. City (Kansas) Journal, of the 17th
ult., contain au account of another outbreak which cc.