The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, ATNE 2, 1869,

then, the responsibility of seeing to the energetic and
zystcmaticdevelopMent of thcheretofor entirtly dor-
mant and neglected capabilities of the enormous, and
in a great part the wonderfully fertile wilderness
constituting the territories known until now as those
of the Hudson's Bay Company. By the gradual
construction of a great trunk railway from ocean to
ocean, across the centre of those huge dominions,
the hidden capabilities of the country, now tempting
the colonists of the Old World across the Atlantic,
the two Canadas, and British Columbia, might
readily enough be brought into direct communication
with each other, to their own immense advantage.
Extending on either hand from that belt of commu-

nication by railway, thenceforth connecting the
Atlantic seaboard with the Pacific seaboard—ex-
tending, that is to say, to the north and to the
south, the future colonists of the Red River Settle-
ment might, or rather we will say, at
once will, as a matter of course and inevitably, open
up all the resources of the country hitherto left to the
Red Indian and the fur hunters. That those re-

sources are immense, there is no gainsaying. And,
although the Prime Minister says with some
force that Sir GEORGE SIMPSON, when giv-
ing his evidence before the Royal Com-
missioners' somewhat modified the glowing
and couleur de rose accounts of the agricultural capa-
bilities of those vast undeveloped portions of the
North American Continent, as they were first of all
described by him in his well known Overland Journey
Round the World—still there is no valid reason
to doubt for one single moment the fact

that enormous tracts of land in those central parts of
oar North American possessions, might readily
enough be made to yield gigantic crops of maiz 3 and
and of wheat—other portions of that now neg-
lected country being elually suitable for transfor-
mation into, or adaptation as, the richest
pasture land. That the wholesale commerce flowing
to and fro between Europe and Asia, would thence-
forth traverse the projected trunk line of railroad
between the Atlantic and the Pacific, is, of course,
not seriously to be anticipated. The teas of China
would still, doubtless, in a great measure'
come to us, in one sense circuitously, in
another directly, by a single shipment. The
advantages, however—apart from any hypothe-
tic or fantastical considerations of that kind—the
certain advantages that must, of necessity, be brought
within our reach, within. reach of our colonies, that is,
here in the Two Canadas, here in British Columbia
and Vancouver's Island, require no arguments of an
elaborate nature to demonstrate the cartainty of ac-
cruing in the future. They are advantages affecting
the interests of British commerce, and of colonial
agriculture, while opening a new, and wide, and
glorious field for colonization. An incentive to us
is regard to the carrying out at least of the pro-
ject of a grand trunk railway across the heart
of those North American dominions of ours, so
soon as the Hudson's Bay Company shall
have actually, as they have already vir-
tually, received their exiquatur —a powerful
Mutative to us in that direction has very recently
been afforded by the realisation of exactly that same
kind of achievement by the people of the United
zAates. It is impossible to doubt any longer that a
new a:id radiantftiture is just now opening up to the
representatives of British power, not only along the
eastern and the western shores, but in the very heart
and cen're of our great colonial possessions in the
North American continent.

-MIEN a battle has been won it is both interesting
and instructive to ascertain how. In 1866 the
Liberal party attempted for the fourth time to pass
a meagre Reform Bill, and after some ten weeks of
harassing conflicts abandoned the task and retired
defeated, but not disgraced. In 1860 we find the same
party passing in thrce months by unvarying majori-

ties a measure compared with which that of three
ago was scarcely more important than a
turnpike bill. On March Ist the Irish Church
Bill was introduced into the House of Com-
mons; early in the morning of June Ist it was read a
third time and passed. The contrast between now
and three years ago is the more remarkable because
there was no reason to anticipate it. On the contrary,
there was a good deal of reason to expect an opposite
event. Nr. GLADSTONE had acquired (undeservedly,
as we always maintained) the reputation of a bad
leader, and this kind of belief is very likely to bring
about its own fulfilment by creating suspicion
between the chief and his followers. Again, the
Irish Church question was of old the rock on which
the Liberal party had split. It was that which broke up
the late Earl GREY'S majority of thirty-seven years
ago ; it was that which led to the miserable extinction
of Lord MELBOURNE'S contemptible Government in
1841. Lastly, it was to be expected that if the
Liberal party could not unite upon the Reform
question, they were even less likely to unite upon the
Church question. There are eminent Liberals who,
like Dean STANLEY, believe that the union of Church
and State is the great safeguard of religious freedom;
and there areLilierals—notably the veteran chief Lord
RUSSELL—who are prepared to go to any length in
endowing other Churches rather than surrender the
Protestant Establishment in Ireland. Yet, in spite
of all these adverse circumstances, this great measure—
this revolutionary measure—for it is nothing less than
that, has been passed with a celerity and with a una-
nimity among the Liberal party almost unparal-
leled. It is a great victory. How has it been
brought about ?
First of all, it is due to the clearly-pronounced
decision of the constituencies. There was no doubt
as to the wish of the great majority of the nation
las

t autumn. Lord ELCHO seemed to think that he
had explained away that majority when he declared
it was due to the Irish vote; and when re-
minded of his blunder--the blunder that if every
Irish member voted with the Government that would
not be sufficient to make up the present majority—
added the Scotch vote. This argument really makes
the other way. Ireland surely, of all divisions
of the kingdom, ought to be consulted on a matter
so deeply affecting her. And if Scotland
which is almost fanatically Protestant, laughed at
Mr. DISRAELI'S denunciations of a conspiracy between
Mr. GLADSTONE and the " foreign prince," it was not
likely that the " No Popery " cry would go down in
England. As a matter of fact, Mr. GLADSTONE has
a majority in every division of the kingdom; and if
all the Roman Catholics (who naturally support the
bill) had voted against it, he would still have carried
it. This being so, Liberal members felt bound to
support their leader. The great majority of them
no doubt did so because of the deepest conviction
that he was right. They could not but see
that the existence of a so-called national Church
which was hated by five-sixths of the
nation was utterly opposed to the first principles of
their policy. Thus it comes to pass that all the
prophecies which were so confidently made three
tnomonths aa gs osao so
Itioa tshe th
eq
(til
ea
tr wils hich
he Ibv
bill
lhda
db et
o sureb be
discussed—or, as it w,:s elegantly expressed, as soon
as the robbers came to divide their plunder—have
been utterly falsified. There never was such a
monotonous succession of Ministerial majorities.
Political arithmeticians mentioned some time ago that
the average majority was 113; the closing majority
approximated to this with almost ludicrous precision.

Another great cause of the success of the Irish
Church Bill has been the thorough disorganisation of
its opponents. This disorganisation was manifestly
shewn by the varying utterances that proceeded from
the left side of the Speaker on Monday night. Only
a few days .before five deputations had waited upon
the Peers to ask them to reject this measure. But if
there is one thing more than disestablishment
which the majority of the men. who constituted

those deputations would disapprove, it is
concurrent endowment. Yet it was this for which
the majority of the Conservative speakers argued,
and it is this which Ulster and Scotch Protestants
would resist to the death. The thing may be good
or may be bad, but it shews a want of the most ordi-
nary discernment not to see that it is impossible,
because the nation is steadfastly opposed to it. Lord
ELcuo lamented the democratic change wrought in
our Constitution, which the Conservative Reform
Bill (that he helped to pass) had wrought, and he
sighed for the American institutions to the
level of which he three years ago accused Mr.
GLADSTONE of seeking to reduce ours. Clearly
he does not hope much from the action of
the Peers, and thereby he confesses the unanimity
of the nation, and the disorganisation of the party
with which he now invariably acts. Mr. DISRAELI'S
absolute silence as to any policy of his own would
seem to imply the same thing. It is not worth while
to propound a policy which ,there is not the smallest
prospect of your being called upon to carry out.
But, after all, perhaps the most powerful influence
in favour of the Irish Church Bill has been the nature
of the arguments urged against it. The futility of
these, and the strength of the arguments in behalf
of the bill, were brought out in startling con-
trast by the speeches of the rival leaders which
closed the memorable debates upon this mea-
sure. Mr. DISRAELI'S great argument was simply
an assertion notoriously in contradiction to facts. He
said Ireland was becoming prosperous and contented,
and in twenty years would have been asloyal and happy
as Scotland if Mr. GLADSTONE had not been frightened
by that purely sporadic disease, the Fenian con-
spiracy. Mr. GLADSTONE'S reply was crushing.
Why, then, he asked, did Lord STANLEY declare
that Ireland was the great question of the day ?
Why did Lord MAYO, speaking of the conspiracy,
say that " in the south of Ireland you find the
mass of the people of that lower class deeply tainted
with Fenianism, and perfectly ready to sym-
pathise and co-operate with it to any extent" ?
Why did the late Government, after having in the
QUEEN'S Speech of 1867 announced that Habeas
Corpus would be restored to Ireland, in March ask
for a renewal of the suspension, continue its sus-
pension until they went out of office, and leave to
Mr. GLADSTONE, who is accused of having excited
wild hopes by his policy, the pleasant duty of ter-
minating that suspension ? DiScontent up to 1848
Mr. DISRAELI can explain by physical reasons. It was
due not to the contiguity to the melancholy ocean, nor
to the dampness of the atmosphere, but to over-popula-
tion. That was cursed by the famine and by the exodus.
Unfortunately it was not; for the Irishmen who left
their native shores twenty years ago, and indeed ever
since, left as the foes of England. , It was th:s f{.
which made Fenianism so dangerous. It was the
fact that there was an Irish nation on the other side
of the Atlantic full of animosity to England,
and in constant communication with their
friends on this side, that made it absolutely
essential to adopt a fresh policy. Spain
could not have got up a -Fenian conspiracy,
nor could the United States if it had not been for
the Irishmen resident there. Mr. DISRAELI imputes
to Mr. GLADSTONE that he has been forced into dis-
establishment by the fear of Fenianism. This accu-
sation comes with a bad grace from a Minister who
was forced into Reform by Hyde Park riots. As a
matter of fact it is untrue. Fenianism forced
the nation to consider more clearly wherein it had
failed to do its duty to Ireland. The first thing it
discovered was the ascendancy of the few over the
many. That wrong it at once set about to redress.
There are other wrongs. The righting of them will
come about in due time, and all the more quickly
for the success which has attended the first step
Well begun is half done.

LATEST INTELL [GEM

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, June 1

The Hamburg and American steamship II o 1 tia
arr:vA out at 4 a in., and the Cunard steamship
Java at 10 a.m. to-day.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
CLOSING PRICES.

Gold closed at 1391 ; the highest quotation dur-
ing the day was 1391 ; the lowest, 138 k.
Sterling Exchange on London lO9l.
5-20 U. S. Bonds, 1880
" 1885
ic " 18G7 l2ok.
10-40 ti
Illinois I4G.
Erie 291.
Cotton—Mid. upland 3OO.
Petroleum—Standard White'
Flour, extra state, $5.70e. to $6.30c. Corn, old
mixed, $6.96e.

SOUTHAMPTON, June 2.

The North German Lloyd's extra steamer Nov
York, from New York, passel the Needles at 11
a.m. to-day.

PHILADELPHIA, June 1.
The address delivered by Mr. Motley at Liver.
pool has been favourably received here.

The New York Tribune says, Mr. Motley has
given a right expression to the friendly desires
animating the United States, and ventures to hope
that England will not underrate them in consider-
ing the Alabama claims.

SUMMEJ DI;INKS,

A contemporary raises the question of summer drinks.
In New York, where drunkenness abounds so mightily,
non-intoxicants have fast been taking the place of the
cocktails, gin slings, juleps, chain lightnings, and corpse
revivers, with which the citizens were used to
refresh themselves in hot days. Instead thereof
a peculiar kind of soda-water is now drunk.
W e are told that soda-water is consumed daily in
New York to the extent ',of 3,000 quarts of the bottled
beverage, and 16,000 quarts on draught, and that in the
hottest months of summer the latter supply is increased
to 125,600 quarts a day. The way this drink is made is
the most curious part of the affair. To extract this plea-
sant summer drink, or its distinguishing quality, from the
stony heart of the marble quarries of the States is a trans-
mutation which science easily achieves. The marble
reduced to powder is subjected in a close vessel
to the action of a strong acid, and the car-
bonic acid gas, thus set free, is carried by strong
indiarubber pipes, through a filter and cooler which
purifies it of every unpleasant taint, from a reservoir of
iron lined with tin or faced porcelain to the fountain, when
it passes in an effervescing state into the drink that cools
but not inebriates the consumer at the counter. This
apparatus has multiplied marvellously in New York. One
firm uses not less than 6,000 tons of marble annually in
generating the gas; another turns out fifty or sixty tons
per day of material for the fountains.