The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-09 00:00:00

AMERICA.

The Canadian Ministers are contemplating toe speedy
union of British Columbia to the Canadian Dominion.
The San Juan affair—the question as to whether England
or AttiA4 shall possess the island which forms part of
the boundary between British Columbia and the United
States—must be first settled. The Canadian News says
that communications on this subject have passed
between the English Ministry and the Government of the
Dominion, but it does not state whether the difficulty is
to be submitted to arbitration, or whether the knot is to
cut by giving up the little island. The impression has
prevailed in Canada that all trouble will be avoided by
making the United States a present of this disputed
morsel of territory.
If the central Government of the United States do
not take immediate action a civil war on a small scale is
likely to be the result of the recent lynching in Indiana.
The number of professed robbers in the State is large, and
these are supported by their relatives and other indi-
viduals who espouse their cause through choice or fear.
Hence there are two parties in the State—the marauders
and the vigilance committees, who defend themselves by
systematic breach of the law. The relatives and friends of
the men who were hanged threaten horrible vengeance
against all connected with the vigilance committee ; whilst
the latter, though "loth to shed blood again," express their
intention of doing so if the property of the Indiana citizens
be molested. The province is in a state of anarchy.
" C.," writing to the Daily News, says that the Express
Companies, who are most frequently robbed, must have
some complicity with the "regulators," who hang the
desperadoes. He suggests, therefore, that in case any
robber is in future lynched for pillaging an express com-
pany, the charter of the latter should be withdrawn.
" C." overlooks the fact that it is impossible to withdraw
a company's charter on the presumption of complicity.
The guilt must be proved, and hitherto it has been found
impracticable to trace these outrages to their perpetrators.
No one dares appear against them. Anarchy in Indiana
will not cease until the law becomes a reality.
New York has just been the scene of another great finan-
cial struggle. The Erie Company has been so much
knocked about of late that specnlation in its shares has

become stale. Wall-street, theretore, turnea its attention
to the New York Central Railway, and a great combina-
tion of " bears" was formed for the purpose of creating a
stringency in the money market and depressing prices.
The manceuvre was signally defeated. The famous Com-
modore Vanderbilt, who owns a great proportion of the
New York Central shares, and who virtually directs the
company, had recourse to the amazing expedient of declaring
through the directors a bonus dividend of eighty per cent.
in scrip, convertible into new shares, in addition to the ordi-
nary four per cent. dividend in money. The shares at
once ran up from 124 to 162, and have retained a position
above 148. The bears who speculated for a fall were
miserably baffled. Four or five million dollars have been
the price of failure.