The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-17 00:00:00

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N.EIVSPATEh

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67:4
17=1 ,;(-i*?4AsiaLvii!,,,74,l::ll4
b e ,:e--ie-e4 r-- _ 4 ,i!,) -
vie wa upon China questions tvithlra
..e, . ' . o'4 • &IQ'
and with reference only to their blhaee'e-T,4-7.11:--e..,.44)
}art in •of the moment ; litei*_. - -6;•'..-' --/
ject wT-iblatee worthy the euppo,st -ur Teat S
manufacturing population, of our coranile.eial men
in the largest sense of the term, ant 'of the over-
taxed people of England. •
Let us hope that this is the object- which is at pi-e-
-sent kept so secret. It-was this-which Lord Elgin
had in view during his first mission. It was this
which Lord Palmerston avowed in former days.
CircumStances have somewhat altered. - The Cabi-
net is now composed of politicians who are com-
mitted to various views, and who are influenced.)
men who do not know or who do not care for
- the general interests of the nation in this great
matter. Lord Palmerston. appears convinced of
the utility of a Resident Minister at Pekin, and
he has so ripe a knowledge of our position in
the extreme East that we do not confidently
differ from him when he acts upon his own,
judgment. We who do not greatly value the
offices of a Resident Minister either at Pekin or
-elsewhere may be wrong in this ; but as ,to the
other points of the question we are confirmed by
.Lord Palmerston's own previously-expressed.
-opinions and by the unchanging current of the.
, events of all our wars with China. if we would epd
-once and for ever this profligate expenditure upon
little wars, if we would open the trade of the East ,
to the enterprise of all our countrymen,if we would
-cease to be the dupes -of mere opium-dealers and
tea and silk monopolist, we must show ourselves in
force in Pekin, and must prove to these corrupt and,
jobbing Mandarins that we are determined to vin-
dicate our treaty rights, to buy our teas where they
grow, and to carry up our manufactures to the
population by whom they may be consumed.—
limes.

~~-,:~ .
a~G

l'qc4

711 E COMING CoNFBRENCE.

(From the London Review of July 14.)
.Mon& De'Nattel, in his admirable worl;', defines
the Necessary• Law of Nations to consist in the ap-
plication of the law ,of nature nations. "It con-
tains the precepts,prescribed by the law of nature
to states, on whom that law is not less obligatory
than on individuals, since states are composed of
men, and the law of nature is binding on all men,
under whatever relation they act. Hence it is
necessary, because nations are absolutely bound to
observe it." This is the law which Grotius cads
the " internal law of nations," "on account of its
being obligatory on nations in point of conscience.'"
If these eminentjurists had been in the habit of study-
ing theblue-bocks of the present day, more especially
those relating to the affairs of Italy, Savoy and Nice,
they would have been forced to the conclusion that
some of the nations of Europe, at all events, having;
no conscience, had ceased to be bound by any law„
but had "become a law unto themselves," raid
therefore set at defiance all those international
principles so carefully and ably laid down by these
learned men. The annexation took place in defi-
ance of the Powers, who were never consulted,
because it was well known that they were opposed
to it, and. if we are to believe the description given
in Mr. Oliphant's pamphlet (" Universal Suffrage
and Napoleon III."), of the moth in which the wish
of the population was taken, the choice put before
each voter was French 'annexation or a French
penal settlement. Nor was the pressure thus exer-
cised confined to French influence alone. We regret
that the Sardinian. Government should not merely
have connived at the political jugglery which was
carried on in Savoy and Nice under the name of
universal suffrage, but that it should have actively
cooperated in forcing the people to vote in accord-
ance with the treaty of the 24th of March, and
allowed it to be ,generally understood that a hos-
tile vote would be considered art act of rebellion.
The stumblingblock in the way of the imperial
policy at this moment is Switzerland. This. stub-
born and courageous little Power has, during the
last six months, bombarded M. Thouvenel with
notes and protocols to an extent which has caused
that fluent and versatile diplomatist no little em-
barrassment. In vain have threats and caresses
been employed to win over to silence the Federal
Council., 'While all Europe was dozing, the Swiss,
like the bold inhabitants of Lilliput, were binding
down the giant with red tape, and sticking tiny
spears into him in all directions. There is an Eastern
proverb, to the effect that a cat will fly at an
elephant if she is, pushed into a corner. Switzer-
land is in this position, and while struggling man-
fully to hold her own, appeals to the Powers of
Europe to help her—not as an act of charity, but
in fulfilment of those obligations in her behalf
which were entered into in the interest of Europe
itself.

The negotiations with reference to the provinces
of Faucigny and Chablais resulted in that article
of the Treaty of Vienna, the reconcilement of which
with the second article of the Treaty of Turin is
to form the subject Of a conference of the Great
Powers. The 92d article of the Treaty of Vienna
runs as follows:—" The Provinces of Challaig anti.
Faucigny, and the whole of the territorof Savoy
to the north of Ugine, belonging to his-Majesty
the King of Sardinia, shall form a part of the neu-
trality of Switzerland, as it is recognised and gua-
ranteed by the Powers. Whenever, therefore, the
neighbouring Powers to Switzerland are in a state
of open or impending hostility, the troops of his
Majesty the King of Sardinia, which are in those
provinces, shall retire, and may for that purpose
pass through the Vallais, if necessary. No other
armed troops of any other Power shall have the
privilege of passing through or 'remaining in the
said territories and provinces, excepting those
-which the Swiss Confederation may think proper
to place there."
The stipulation with which this article is to be
reconciled is to this effect :—" It is equally under-
stood that his Majesty the King of Sardinia cannot
transfer the neutralised parts of Savoy, except on
the conditions upon which he himself possesses
them, and that it will appertain to his Majesty the
Emperor of the French to come to an understand-
ing on this subject with the Powers represented at
the Congress of Vienna and with the Swiss Con-
federation, and to give them the guarantees re-
quired by the stipulations referred to in this
article."

In entertaining the possibility of reconciling
these two articles, we have to consider, not so
much in whose favour the territory was neutralized,
as against whom it was neutralized. The only
Power to whom the acquisition:of this district could
be of importance was France ; hence the trouble
she has taken to acquire it, and hence the impossi-
bility of her fulfilling those conditions which were
imposed for the purpose of keeping her out of it.
It was not until the French Government per-
ceived the absence of any concerted action on the
part of the European Powers, that it receded from
the language held by M. Thouvenel, and discovered
that the cession of the North of Savoy to Switzer-
land was impossible, in consequence of the objec-
tions said to be entertained by the Savoyards
themselves to the dismemberment of their country.
England, Russia, and Austria had agreed to join in
this Conference, and it is of the utmost importance
that they should meet not as parties to a discus-
sion upon equal terms with France, to consider an
expedient solution of a complication, but as a
tribunal sitting in judgment upon the acts of the
French Government—bound in honour to respond
to the invitation of a weak and threatened power,
whose independence they have sworn to protect,
and ready if need,be demand the restitution of ter-
ritory which can alone secure that independence.
There can be no doubt that if the Powers insist upon
the abandonment of Northern Savoy by France, as
the only solution which will be accepted by them,
France would be compelled to revert to her own
original proposal of their annexation to S witzer-
land. This is what the Powers are honourably
bound to insist upon. Unfortunately, in the present
demoralised condition of Europe, it is not what we
have any right to expect from them. Meantime, if
the conference ends in no concession on the part of
the Emperor, those who have:been parties to it will
have been justly humiliated, and Switzerland most
unjustly betrayed.