The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, F.EBRUARY 16, 1869.

THE. LICENSING SYSTEM.

It is very clear that whatever may be the differ •
ences of opinion as to the- propriety of selling
alcoholic liquors at all, there ought to be some
revision of the:laws under which they are now sold.
At present there are several authorities, and some of
these conflict with each other.. For instance, it is
stated that four of the houses at the new London
Cattle Market were found to be selling spirits without
hindrance on the part of the Inland Revenue Depart-.
ment for six months before their licenses were granted.
It was ascertained that they had ventured to
do so on the strength of a recommendation
from the licensing magistrates to the effect that the
necessary certificate would, in all probability, be
granted at the ensuing licensing sessions. The
Inland Revenue Department states in answer to the
Secretary of the Wine Trade Society that it is
accustomed to respect these recommendations. The
secretary has not, however, been able to obtain from
the Home Secretary an expression of opinion as to
whether the licensing magistrates and the Board of
iniana lievenue respectively are acting witnm weir
powers in tnirinz the course referred to.l

.EIE WEATHER..

Very much after date the returns of the Registrar-
General for the week ending February oth are
published. They are worth alluding to, even now,
on account of the extraordinary temperature which
was attained during. that week. On January 31
the thermometer was 14.1 degrees above the average
of fifty years, and on February 4 and 6 it was
13.0 and 13.8 degrees above the average. On the last-
mentioned day the thermometer reached 61.0 in the
shade, an elevation we imagine unparalleled so early
in the year. The mean temperature of the whole
week was 11.1 above the average.

THE ALABAMA QUESTION.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
As the Convention for settling the claims arising
from the depredations of the Confederate cruisers
will probably be rejected by the Senate, there is
little profit in discussing its provisions. It does,
however, furnish a striking proof of the different
aspects in which the same acts appear when viewed
from the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Alabama gets to sea from the Mersey where
she was built—cruises in the North and South At-
lantic Oceans, in the Indian Ocean, the Bay of
Bengal, and the China Seas, returns and is sunk in
the English Channel. About her proceedings, being
notorious, there is no dispute, but the two nations
find it so difficult to assimilate their views of her
depredations that the Convention resulting from
years of labour and discussion is rejected by one
country to the evident satisfaction of the other.
Americans clearly do not like the Convention, and
anxious as England is to settle the dispute, Eng-
lishmen do Lot fancy the proposed arbitration.
General Gnayr, both the New York Times and
Tribune reported to have said " that the Treaty was
unjust in measuring the injury inflicted on the
United States by the money value of the ships de-
stroyed, whereas the chief damage was the loss of
commerce through the action of the cruisers. Eng-
lish sympathy prolonged the war for at least a year,
and England is therefore responsible for the lives lost
and the money expended during that time; the Treaty
proposes to settle all this by the payment of the value
of a few ships." Admitting that the President
Elect did say what the Tribune so positively asserts
were nearly his words, another subject arises, when
the discussion assumes such a breadth, for England
might then assume to have the right to call in
question the whole management of the war by the
United States Government. The General asserts
that it was English sympathy that prolonged the
war for a year ; England is responsible for the lives
lost and money expended during that year. Suppose
that the English retort with " You yourself then
commanded the United States armies, and you have
been charged with recklessly sacrificing your men,
as well as with blundering in your campaign against
LEE - are we to be responsible for your mismanage-
ment ?" As regards the damage to American com-
merce mainly resulting from the proceedings of the
Alabama England might bring forward the written
testimony of . no less an authority than Admiral
SEMMES to rebut the assertion that she was respon-
sible, and to fix that responsibility on the Secretary
of the United States Navy. "If Mr. WELLES,"
says SE3I3IES, " had stationed a heavier and a faster
ship than the Alabama, and he had a number of
both heavier and faster ships—at the crossing of the
30th parallel, another at or near the equator a little
to the eastward of Fernando de Noronha, and a
third off Bahia, he must have driven me off or
greatly crippled me in my movements. A few more
ships in the other chief highways and his commerce
would have been pretty well protected." Now here is
a distinct charge brought against the Cabinet Minis-
ter of the United States, who alone held the power
of protecting American commerce against this vessel.
lf, then, a British Minister is accused of neglect in
permitting the vessel to escape from the Mersey an
American Minister may be accused of neglect in
not putting a stop to the depredations ; and if the
neglect of the one can fasten the blame on his na-
tion, why should not the neglect of the other do
likewise ? On this point the Confederate Captain
is very clear, for not only does he say that " the
old gentleman does not seem to have thought of so
simple a
policy as stationing a ship anywhere,"
but he adds that the
plan pursued was exactly that
which secured his safety, for he had only to work
out with a pencil the number of days it would
take the prisoners he sent off to reach their port, the
news to reach Washington and the time the man-of-
war then sent hurt iedly off would require to reach his
cruising ground, to cdculate that when it got there
lie might be elsewhere. Here then is another subject
fur discussion, which appears to have been wholly
overlooked at Washington, admitting for the sake
of argument that these assertions could be brought
up for discussion, which is at least more than
doubtful. Allowing that the United States proves
the accusation of neglect against the United King-
dom, and that the United Kingdom proves the ac-
cusation of neglect against the United States, what
is to be the me sure of England's liability ?
When the Commissioners get addled,,wo' presume
they will refer such a knotty point torthe infallible
expedient of " heads or tails." Of course the United
States would bar such considerations, for it is clear
that they are beyond the province of a foreign
row or, but this isr~rnniselythe position assumed
by England in her attempt to evade her liability,
asserting no one but herself can be permitted to judge
of her officers, or to call in question her laws or
sovereign rights. To this the reply is, that where
inflicted those who suffer can in-
a great wrong is
quire into the cause and demand redress. If it were
the duty of England to prevent the infringement of
her neutrality laws, it was the duty of America to
protect her commerce, and when her enemy got
the ship from the English port to sea--how far is
the United States bound, before she can establish
her claim against England, to show.that she did her
best to protect her commerce, for, if she has no
liability on such a point, England will be in
the
position of having to pay not only for her own
neglect, but for that of the United States. Here is
a suggestion of the New-York Express :—" Should
the head of the Government selected as arbiter
decide that England is not responsible to the United
States for releasing Ihe Alabama, Shenandoah,
Plorida, &c., it will prevent a consideration of the
claims of American citizens, and our Government
would then be placed in a position whereby all the
counter-claims of British subjects would have to
be paid, leaving us
millions of dollars poorer than
before the Treaty
was made." Another paper says
the claims of the Confederate bondholders may
be admitted by the Commission under the agree-
ment to adjudicate British claims against the
United States as well as American claims against
England. A third jokingly alludes to the possibi-
lity that SEMMES
may claim compensation for the
loss of his personal baggage in the Alabama. With
reference to the words attributed to GRANT the Na-
tion observes that, " allowing the war to have been
prolonged by the recognition of the South as a bel-
ligerent, it is impossible to say how much it contri-
buted, or, what proportion of the loss sustained by
the North, was due to her agency. We might as
well attempt to put the Democratic party on its
trial for complicity in the rebellion, and force it to
pay the national debt, as to put England on her
trial and force her to pay for all the damage sus-
tained by American commerce through the military
operations of the Confederates." if the discussion
may branch into any fields, what is to prevent
Manchester from claiming compensation for an in-
dustry paralyzed by the blockade of the Southern
sympathy ports ? If sis a quantity that can be as-
sessed as damage, and lives priced, a new element
will be introduced into international law, and
r—L-r. w.rbe able to makn nut a bill
for the late insurrection in Ireland. Above all
things, it is necessary to be just—meting to each
the same measure. For instance, as all Christen-
dom joined in the recognition, all Christendom is
as liable as England, and it would be invidious in
the United States to press the claim against any
one country. The subject more than any other
requires to be approached in a calm and judicial
spirit, being thoroughly stripped of sentiment, preju-
dice, and bitterness of feeling, yet it is that one most
wrapped is such emotions. First, there is the in-
tense annoyance
titude of England
felt in the United States at the at-
during the war ; next, the bitter-
ness caused by the loss of the ocean-carrying trade,
though we have reason to believe that this was more
due to other agencies than to the cruisers ; third, the
dislike of ANDREW JOHNSON and his policy enter-
tained by the ruling party in the States; and,
finally, • the irritation so loudly expressed at the
course taken by Mr. REVERDY JCIINSON. It is very
well to tell a nation that the subject must be
approached with the mind divested of all these in-
fluences. The Commissioners could perhaps be able
so to approach it, but a boy might as well be told
not to smart who had just been whipped, as Ame-
rica to divest herself of such natural feelings. Nor
can the Senate, discussing it as a High Court, for
the passionate exclamations of the people, which

finds expression in the press, must influence it, even
did the Senators, who are but men, not share in the
same sentiment. But what the United States re-
ject on one side as not conceding enough, England
rejects on the other as conceding too much. All
manner of exaggerations are put forth, conjuring
phantasms which create alarm, as likely to be the re-
sult, while it is impossible for any statesman so to
frame a convention that it would bar all chance of
extr.tvagant suppositions being suggested. The
nations, in short, must trust to their Commissioners
being imbued with moderation and common sense,
and risk the result ; and why not this chance, where
heads or tails are recognized ? The very action of
England and America shows that these countries can
never, by any amount of discussion, settle the ques-
tion ; nor are they fit judges, each being absolutely
incapable of understanding the feelings of the other.
Hence the necessity, if the di-pute is to be peace-
ablv settle.] of choosing men on whose judgment they
can rely, and abiding the result, however unfair it
may be considered when applied to the touchstone
of their own heat, d feelings.

THE SOUI HERS STATES.

Georgia is in a muddle ; on Reconstruction, on
race differences, in its Legislature, in its Executive,
and in Congress. Mr. Joshua Hill, the Federal
Senator, is turned out. Georgia's vote in the Elec-
toral College is rejected by the Representatives, and
Governor Bullock and the State Treasurer have a
first-class fight. The Governor is accused by the
Treasurer of unlawfully lavishing funds, and the
Governor accuses the Treasurer of duplicity, and
of advancing these charges for a political end.
A legislative Committee has taken the matter up.
The legislators of Georgia have at last discovered
that they are on a wrong track, and are showing a
sudden and suspicious anxiety for instruction on
Suffrage. They have also taken some action
upon the insecurity of life and property in that
State, as well as upon the question of reseating the
negro members of the Legislature, but do not
succeed in making much progress in either direction.
The latest intelligence deni_s the reported outrages
by the Ku-Klux at Augusta on the railroad as base
fabrications. The negro Captain Green, one of the
Ogeechee insurrectionory prisoners, has been held
to trial, and his will be made a test else. Eighty-
three other prisoners will be brought before the
curt, and those who can be identified by the State
witnesses will be hell on the same charge. The
examination has occupied 13 days. The prisoners
have been defended by United States District At-
torney-General 11. S. Fitch, ex-Provisional Gover-
nor J. Johnson, and others. A ridiculous resolu-
tion was offered in the Georgia House that Mrs.
Stone be sent for to instruct the committee on
female suffrage, and an amendment that Horace
Greeley be requested to address them on the sub-
ject. The Florida House of Representatives has
voted 43 to five that the evidence against Governor
Reed is insufficient to maintain the charge of high
crimes and misdemeanours ; and this is the end of
the impeaching flurry there. After the adjourn-
went of the morning session a majority of the mem-
bers of the house repaired to the Executive-office to
congratulate the Governor, and raised him on their
shoulders, and for some minutes cheering and sing-
ing was in order. The coloured members seemed
the most demonstrative, though till the opponents
of impeachment took an active part in the proceed-
ings. The Florida Legislature is favourable to the
project of transferring that portion of the State
west of the Chattahoochee River to Alabama, and
if the people living in that part of the State con-
sent, the transfer will undoubtedly be made.—The
South Carolina Legislature has passed a resolution
authorizing the Governor to call out the militia for
the preservation of peace and order in that State ;
and a resolution was introduced in the Alabama
House of Representatives memorializing Congress
to remove the disabilities imposed on the State by
thel4th amendment,but it was indefinitely postponed.
Since Governor Brownlow called out the militia
Tennessee has become more tranquil, and the same
has been the case, though certainly after a sharp
fight, in Arkansas. Governor Clayton, of Arkansas,
adini,s that the militiamen of his State have cow..
witted outrages, but, he adds, the perpetrators have,
as far as practicable, been summarily dealt with.
Some Tennessee leaders, encouraged by the move-
ment in Virginia, have written to Horace Greeley
in approbation of a universal amnesty and universal
suffrage platform, and agreeing to go in for it in
Tennessee. Meanwhile the Republicans in Vir-
ginia rind that the Conservatives are getting the
best of them, and at a meeting of the State Com-
mittee, declared in favour of a more liberal policy,
and appointed a committee of thirteen to visi
Washington and confer with the Republican mem-
bers of Congress. General Stoneman has appointed
Generals Wilcox and Granger, and Col. Franklin,
a commission to examine applicants for office in
Virginia, in order that he may fill the many
vacant offices with persons who are eligible
under the 14th amendment. It is thought the
recent severe cold weather at the South has
killed the caterpillar, and preparations for a
large planting of cotton are consequently being
made. Robbers attacked the house of ex-Sheriff

Itueben King of Robin:son county, near Lumberton,
North Carolina, and mortally wounied Mr. King,
and a visitor named S. E. Ward, but . there is no

clue to the porpetrators of the crime. Cullen
Baker, the Texan murderer and outlaw, has been

killed, and, strange to say, by his brother-in-law,
Mr. Orr, whom he had shortly before hanged and
left for dead, but who revived, and rendered the

State th 3 service of rid.ling it of a most desperate
ruffian. Governor Brownlow will take his seat in
the United States Senate on the 4th March. Ile

appears to be sufLring from great bodily infirmity,
though his mental activity is unimpaired. In taking
farewell of the readers of his pap2r, The Whig, now
in the bands of a company, with the Rev. T.
Pearne, D.D., as editor, Brownlow says :—" In re-
viewing my long and eventful career as an editor I

have this to say, that had I my life to live over I
would pursue the same course I have pursued, only
more so. If iu past life I have been violent on

some occasions my apology is that, like the Apostle
Paul, on many occasions, I have fought with beasts
at Ephesus."

General Beauregard's property, at Memphis, has
been restored to him by the Government.
The health of Thurlow Weed is reported to have
benefited from his residence in Aiken, South Carolina.
Five miles from Green River, on the line of the
Union Pacific Railroad, a rock has been on fire in a large
cut. When it became first ignited the labourers endea-
voured to extinguish it by throwing water on it, but in
vain. They then tried to smother it with earth and
It is thought to be sandstone saturated with petroleum.
The New Jersey Legi,lature has elected William
P. IPMichael State Treasurer, and Governor Randolph
has nominated for its confirmation as Supreme Judge Ed-
ward NV. Scudder, of Mercer county, and Bennett Van
Sychle, of linnterdon, in place of Judges Elmer and Vre-
d.ntinrfr whrigrl term:: anti
The Hon. Nelson Dingley, jun., of Lewiston,
was chosen permanent President of the Maine State Tem-
perance Convention at Augusta, Jan. 27. Mr. Dingley
delivered a long address on assuming the chair, advocat-
ing the views of the Radical wing of the Temperance
party, and urging the re-enactment of the imprisonment
penalty and State Police.
A sister of General Grant, Mrs. Mary Grant
Cramer•, is the wife of our Consul at Leipzig ; she is also an
amateur artist, and used to paint in the art galleries. There
some of the German artists saw and admired the purely
classical features of their unknown colleague, and when

they were painting the frescoes in the new art museum of
Leipzig they introduced her head for the Grecian goddess
Diana.—Revobition.

When Grant ova: at Baltimore he raised a laugh
by saying "smoking was not a vice, or the Admiral would
smoke." Farragut retorted that 111 was "no longer a
Vice-Admiral." Mr. Colfax is said to have popped the
question when 17,000 feet above the sea. Mr. 'Pratt, the
new Indian Senator, is 6 feet 3 inches high, and more than
stout in proportion. Brevet-General Augur, who was the
handsomest man in the army during General Rousseau's
life, now takes full rank.

The Secretary of War directs that William R.
Kenney of Kentucky, John 11. Broadhead of Pennsyl-
vania, and Robert Flint of Wisconsin, the Commissioners
appointed to reimburse the State of Indiana for moneys
expended by the United States in enrolling, equipping,
and provisioning militia forces to aid in suppressing the
Rebellion, meet at Indianapo!is OR tho let of March and
enter urea their duties.