The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-21 00:00:00

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S 'VISIT TO cucureA.

Some of the Calcutta justices wanted to entertain the
Duke of Edinburgh out of municipal funds, but it was
found that such a course would be illegal. A public sub-
scription is being raised. The chief features
in the festivities at Calcutta will be the
entertainments at Government House. A large num-
ber of native chiefs will bo present. The Bengal magnates
will muster strongly. Earl Mayo will probably see
gathered about him in his capital as numerous and noble a
gathering as that which assembled at Agra in 183 G, on the
limitation of Sir John Lawrence.

POSITION OF THE SOUTH.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

An effort will be made in Congress to revive the
Negro Question, especially as it affects Georgia (which
State may be remanded back to a military govern-
ment), and Tennessee, the enactments of whose
Legislatures find little favour at Washington. The
Assembly at Nashville is reported to have repealed
the law permitting citizens of colour to sit on juries
or to hold office, though it was practically a dead
letter. The old Vagrant Law has been re-enacted,
providing that negroes who have not made con-
tracts for their labour of the year by the Ist Janu-
ary, shall be hired or sold to the highest bidder.
The crop of a tenant cannot be disposed of till the
landlord gets the rent ; carriers can now charge
first-class fare and put the coloured person into any
sort of car ; voters can only cast their ballots in
the districts in which they live, whereby the negro is
deprived of the protection of voting with others of
his class, and it is asserted that the Legislature is
systematically repealing every law sustaining the
equal rights of all. Leading papers advocate dele-
gates to the proposed Constitutional Convention
who are known to be opposed to negro suffrage, free
schools, and other privileges gained by the war for
the African. The Northern men, formerly active
in Tennessee, are now clearing out of the State,
and affdrs daily grow worse. The condition of
Tennessee is thus represented to enlist support in
Congress for a bill already prepared to secure protec-
tion, whichis soon to be presented in both Houses. A
coloured Labour Convention met at Washington the
same day as Congress assembled, and State Labour
Conventions have been held in the South. The reports
received from them at the Freedmen's Bureau are
the reverse of encouraging, and the following is
given as a sample of the evidence taken at Colum-
bia, South Carolina. The delegate of the Lawrens
District to the Labour Convention
"Declared, that the people in his county wore merely
existing, and unless something is done they will die. lie
had tried to give his family a living by working on a third
lle had worked as long as ho could see in the evening and
begun again at sunrise, but at Christmas he bad nothing.
Ho had tried $5O a year and tried 50 cents a day, always
with the same result. If the Legislature does not help us
we shall be driven down into the ground. The magistrates
do not give justice. When a coloured man goes to the
magistrate, no matter how straight his tale, he is sure to
come out bohiad. The magistrates will not serve war-
rants. They send him from one to another, and back
again, and keep him going, but he gets no justice. Pretty
soon they say 'Don't plague me no more.' Then if you
keep on and say, 'Give me justice,' you get knocked or
murdered. No use to go to the Courts to get justice, for
they will summon the white man's witnesses, and will not
summon the witnesses of coloured men. If you go to the
Sheriff, ho says, " Go away ; I got no use for you Republi-
can niggers.' The white men will cheat the coloured la-
bourer out of his whole summer's wages, and then, if the
coloured man picks up two cars of corn to fend his chil-
dren, he is took up and put in gaol for six months."
The South Carolina Convention addressed a memo-
rial to the State asking for a labourer's preferred lien
on the crops; for contract commissioners to examine
and attest all contracts between Plante; s and labour-
ers, and acting as well as advisin g counsel upon doubt-
ful questions under these contracts ; that labourers'
suits shall have preference in the Calendars of the
Courts, and be heard on the first term ; to give the
working people a fair representation on juries; lands
sold under execution to be parcelled into 50-acre
lots ; due-bills to labourers to be transferable, and
the first lien upon the crops ; also that nine hours
be the legal day's work. Mr. CARPENTER and
General BUTLER will bring in bills to settle Georgia.
The plan proposed by both is somewhat similar to
that suggested in the PRESIDENT'S Message ; that
the Governor be directed to convene the legislature
as originally proclaimed elected by General MEADE ;
that all should take the Test Oath, except those duly
relieved by Congress of disabilities, and expelling
those who cannot take the oath, while imposing
heavy penalties for falsely swearing or holding
office when unqualified. The expulsion of the
negro members from the Georgia Legislature has
remained ever since a subject of contention. The

Georgia Representatives were admitted to the House
of Congress, but the Senate refused to receive the
Senators selected by a Legislature which had thus
expelled its coloured members. The Judiciary and
Reconstruction Committees of the House acknow-
ledged in a despatch to General MEADE the right
of the Georgia Legislature to judge of the qualifica-
tions of its members, but the Senate, by resolution,
refused to admit the Georgia Senators, asserting its
own right to j udge of the qualification of its members,
while denying the right of the Georgia Legislature to
judge in all cases of the qualificationsof its members.
Thus it happened that Georgia got into its present
peculiar position of being in the Union, and yet with-
out Federal Senators, an unconstitutional condi-
tion, which will have to be dealt with immediately
by Congress. Southern affairs are progressing
less satisfactory in a political than in a material
way; but, viewing dispassionately all the circum-
stances, the progress of the South is on the right
road, notwithstanding the outrages of the Ku-Klux,
the difficulty in making Southerners accept as equals
their quondam slaves, and even the impossibi:ity
now and for many years to come to procure for the
African, as against the Caucasian, impartial justice.
That a Tennessee Legislature, fairly representing
the preponderating feeling in the State, should en-
act the laws now being passed is not surprising ;
that Mississippi and Texas will follow suit may be
predicted; but the rise of the freedman in the social
scale is steady and continuous, and though he has
not yet gone through all his difficult probationary
trial, still, if Congress acts with good sense and
moderation, the worst period has already passed.
With the present turn in the affairs of the South,
that section of the Northerners who followed the
army and were nicknamed carpet-baggers will not
find their condition improved. Time was certain
eventually to throw power back into the hands of
Southern gentlemen, and this is what time is now
rapidly doing. Congress may dislike it, still any
attempt to prevent it by legislation will not suc-
ceed, though mischief may be done and more bad
feeling aroused. We heartily concur in the letter
HORACE GREELEY addressed to General BUTLER, a
summary of which our readers will find under the
heading of the American Press.

711 E FRANCO- A MERICAN CABLE.

(From the Anglo American Time..)

The PRESIDENT, in his Message, alluded to the
French Atlantic Cable, describing the negotiations
which resulted in granting permission for it to be
landed in Massachusetts. "The company," this is the
report, " have given a promise to abide by the laws
of Congress, and to use their influence to procure
from the French Government a reciprocal right of
landing American cables in France. The PRESI-

DENT regrets to say that there has been no modifi-
cation yet made of the concession to the French
company, or its exclusive privileges on French
shores, and he recommended the Legislature to pro-
tect the rights of American citizens and the dignity
of the nation against such an assumption." it is
clear from this, as well as from the tone of the
American papers, that the concession granted to
M. M. ERLANGER and REUTER by France, and sold
by them to the company, will not be permitted to
stand by the United States. Nor will this sur-
prise, or be considered in any degree illiberal,
when the facts are known; indeed, the reverse is
the case, for the American Executive are taking up

a strong position in favour of greater freedom to

telegraphic communication. The Societe du Cable
Transatlantique Francais was formed in London,
with a capital of £1,200,000, being 60,000 shares,
each of £2O. The directors were Messrs. LOWE,
GRINNELL, HALSEY, WILLIAM HENRY SCHRODER,
REUTER, and ERLANGER, the Marquis ELIACIN DE
BEAUMONT, and Baron DE BOURGOIN, but some
changes have since occurred. The Concessionaires
were Baron ERLANGER and Mr. JULIUS REUTER,
who got for the transfer 5,000 fully paid shares,
and the right to 20 per cent. of the net profits. In
advertising for tenders the French Government an-
nounced that none would be received but from per-
sons previously approved by the Minister of the
Interior. The concession described the line as be-
tween France and the United States of North Ame-
rica, terminating somewhere between Boston and
New York, and not touching on its course the kr-
ritory of auy foreign State. The following stipu-
lations were then introduced :
"2. The Government engages not to grant other Con-
cessions for lines between France and North America
during a maximum period of 20 years from the Ist Sep-
tember, 1869. 3. The rules of the Telegraphic Conven-
tion of Paris, or of any other International Conventions
which may be hereafter substituted for it, shall bo adopted
on this line. 4. The tariff for messages of 20 word 4,
through the length of the Cable, shall not exceed 100
francs. 5. This tariff shall be reduced by one-half for
Government despatches, which shall have precedence. 6.
The Government reserves to itself the right of establishing,
at the expense of the_ Concessionaires, such control over
the service of the line as it may judge convenient. For
this purpose the service of the line shall have its office in
ono of the rooms belonging to the Telegraph Office of Brest,
the rent of which room shall be repaid to the State by the
Concessionaires. The clerks of the Telegraph Office of
the State shall be the indispensable intermediaries between
the public and the agents of the Concessionaires in the
transmission of messages. The messages received by the
cable shall be immediately handed to them and be delivered
through their agency. The messages to be transmitted
by the cable shall in like manner be lodged with them, and
handed by them to the agents of the Concessionaires. 7.
The Company which shall be formed by the Concession-
aires cannot amalgamate with any other Company, whether
French or foreign, having a concession for a Transatlantic
cable, nor transfer or lease its line without permission
from the Government. 8. If during the duration of the
concession one cable shall become insufficient, by reason
of the traffic or from any other cause, the Concessionaires
shall be bound to lay down a second within 18 months
after notice given to them by the Administration, unless
they prefer to renounce the privilege belonging to them
according to Article 2 of the present Cahier des Charges.
In this latter case they shall make known their decision
within three months from the above-mentioned notic2."
Should the communication be interrupted for eigh-
teen mouths the right reverts to the Government of
granting other concessions as it may desire, and the
10th Article states that the person who tenders
must be previously approved by the Minister of the
Interior. The tenders were opened at 2.5 p.m., as
announced, on the 6th July, 1868, or rather the
tender, for the only one was that of the Baron L.
ERLAYGER and Mr. JULIUS REUTER, who were ac-
cordingly declared Concessionaires. While the
sovereignty on the French side maintains all its
rights, any reader might suppose that there were no
rights at all on the American side. Indeed we may
go further, for the idea would present itself to him
that the sovereignty of France extended to A merica.
That the United States could raise an objection ap-
pears not to have crossed the minds of those en-
gaged in the proceedings, yet of all nations the Re-
public was about the last with which this little game
ought to have been played. That the company should
under such a concession have been permitted to
land and to work the line is partly due to the fact
that Congress was not in session when the cable
was landed, partly that Massachusetts was pleased
to get hold of the end of the European Continental
connection, as also that the Executive did not desire
to interrupt a beneficial enterprise under the im-
pression that the concession was an oversight, the
minds of the framers being directed only to the
points with which they had to deal on the European
side. An opinion was given by the Attorney-Ge-
neral, the declaration was made by the company,
to which General GRANT alludes, and negotiations
appear to have been commenced with the French
Governmentdirecting attention to the extraordinary
oversight of American sovereignty, and demanding
its rectification. To judge from the PRESIDENT'S Mes-
s,age, France is as little inclined to modify the
agreement with the company as to alter its postal
regulations with the United States. Some Ameri-
can gentlemen in Paris were refused permission to
land a Cable from America on the shores of France.

Hence France not only assumes to give a light to
French subjects to land a Cable from France on
the shores of the United States, but refuses to Ame-
ricans the right to land a Cable from America on
the soil of France. Is it surprising that Ameri-
cans should feel that a principle is involved more
necessary to preserve in its integrity than telegra-
phic communication with France ? But this does
not represent all. In advertising for tenders, the
Minister of the Interior announced the condition
that he must previously approve of the persons ten-
dering. Now it happens that the persons agree-
able to France are the most disagreeable to the

United States that could have been selected in
Europe. They required but Messrs. ROEBUCK and
LAIRD of Great Britain to make the strongest guar'
tette in enmity to the American Government that
could be got together throughout this Continent.
The Baron ERLANGER is the son-in-law of Mr.
SLIDELL, and acted during the war as the financial
agent of the Confederacy. M. REUTER was the
concocter of the news telegrams which, until nearly
the end of the conflict, used to delight the Upper
Ten Thousand. We spoke last week of the char-
acter of the intelligence communicated to Europe
while the struggle was doubtful, and the marvel is
how any Northern Americans escaped, to tell tba
tale, so numerous and disastrous were their defeats.
No men better know what the power of `dress-
ing" the news means than writers for the pr''B'
It was this power which M. REUTER wielded
absolutely, and in a way to call forth the marked
indignation of Mr. MOTLEY, then Minister at
Vienna. In fact, Mr. MOTLEY urged the establish'
meat of telegraph communication indep
en_ent Of
so vitiated a channel. But the Northern Govern-
ment never was, nor is it now, alive to the import-
ance of disseminating throughout Europe accurate
information about the United States. It allowed
English opinion to drift, and the neglect was eagerili
taken advantage of by Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS and
his coadjutors, and for the result we refer Americans
to Mr. SUMNER'S celebrated speech in the Senate
on the Alabama claims. Mr. REUTER was an active
agent in this ; but although Americans took no
trouble to enlighten the ignorance prevailing on
this side, they resented the efforts of those who
turned it to their disadvantage. The two, to wile°
the United States would not have given the con-
' cession, were the very two selected by France, as
if to lose no opportunity of forcing the Republic to
take the most unfavourable view of the matter-
Here, then, we have a line laid by order of the
French Government from France to America, jail;
eating the spot in the United States where the en'
is to be landed, all sovereign rights being carefully
reserved to France but none conceded, without any
communication with the United States, although
the concession involved a monopoly of direct tele-
graph communication between France and America
for 20 years. While reserving the right of select-
ing those who were to receive this concession, their
names were not even submitted to the American
Government, and by a strange perversity the two
men on the continent of Europe, most obnoxious t°
the American people, were chosen. We cannot itn:
agine what that shrewd statesman, the Frac°
Minister of the Interior, had in his mind when 114
thus dealt with the territory and Government of tmt
Republic, or how he could have considered th,a
there was a shadow of probability that the Legisnl:
ture and Executive at 'Washington would pass line
noticed a proceeding which, at least in the instancy
itself, would be a virtual abdication of sovereigty
in the States in favour of France.

LES 7 FOR THE USE OF VISITORS TO

2VIE METROPOLIS.

MUSEUMS.
Antiquarian—Somerset House. Admission by application
to the secretary.
Botanic—Royal Botanic Society of London. Re"nt'6i
park. Admission daily by orders from fellows. °ROI'
Gardens, Kew. Open daily, 1 till 6, free.
British—Great Russell-s reet. Open free on AfondaYS,
10
Wednesdays, and Erida s, 10 to 4 • summer months "-d
till 7. Closed Ist till 7th JanuaryAst till 7th May, a'
Ist till 7th September; al o on all thanksgiving daY,,,
City—Guildhall. A collet on of antiquities, &o. Da
"It
10 till 5.
Geological— Jermyn street. Open daily (except Fridsis)
free.
India—lndia Office, Charles-street. Asiatic natural his-
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days, and Fridays, and on Thursdays by orders. 1,1
King's College—Strand. Anatomy and curiosities.
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Patents—South Kensington. Models and invention 9.
Open free daily. 9 t •
Royal Institution--21, Albemarle-street. Various objet
Daily, 10 till 5.
Royal Military Repository—Woolwich. Models of f°l4llo-
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till 4.
Royal Polytechnic Institution-309, Regent-street. S°jew
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Soana's-13, Lincoln's-inn-fields. Antiquities, curiostyri,
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Society of Arts—John-street. Adelphi. Inventions,4.•s
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10 till 4,5, or 6. 6d. , 10
Tower of London—Ancient armour, &e. Open
till 4. Is.

PICTURE GALLERIES.
Bridgewater Gallery—Cleveland-square. Cards to vicvi
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British Institution-52, Pall-mall. Pictures by m—,ut
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Buckingham Palace Pictures. —May be viewed by an
from the Lord Chamberlain.
Dion
Cartoons of Raphael—South Kensington Museum
day, Tuesday, Saturday, free - other days, Gd. tali'
Crystal Palace—Sydenhani. Mudern Pictures and - g
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Dulwich Gallery—Dulwich. Chiefly Flemish and Dutch
Pictures. Open free daily, exLept Friday. eet.
Flaxman Gallery—University of London, Govrer-str „is
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Gallery of Auciert Masters-49. Pall. ls.
Green wich Painted Hall—Greenwich. Mondays and Fn
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Guildhall—City. May be seen on application to the
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Hampton Court Palace.—The galleries are open free °ill'

except on Friday.
Monument—Fish-street Hill. Every day. 6d. doo
National Gallery—Trafalgar-square. Open free, itl°ll

Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Satzrdais.
National Portrait Gallery-29, Grew. cieorge-street•
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1r 010 o
I
Trinity House—Trinity-square, Tower-hill. ..,-°d
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