The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-29 00:00:00

UNITED STATES SEAMEN.

SHIELDS, May 27. —At the present time there are *
considerable number of large United States, merchant
vessels in the Tyne taking in coals, but as there is no
treaty between this country and the United States for
the restoration of runaway seamen, many of the masters
of those vessels are suffering the greatest inconveL jell°
through the Lien leaving their vessels and joining ,
British vessels. In fact, some large vessels are lying in
Shields' harbour ready for sea with only four or five
hands on board. Fifteen masters of those vessels, ae'; ,
companied by the inspectors of the river police,. and ,Mrs
11. Davis, the American Vice-Consul at Newcastle-on-
Tyne, have made application to the mayor and magie•
trates in North. Shields to solicit the assistance of the
police to restore the men to their duty. At the inter-
view the masters stated that since their vessels have
come into the harbour it has been impossible to main—
tain discipline among the men ; they go on shore
when they think proper and return when they think
proper, and are in a complete state of insubordination ;
they wished to know whether the magistrate would
adjudicate in cases of insubordination, and allow the
police to interfere to prevent crimps inveigling their
men away from the vessels to employment in Bri-
tish ships, as wages were higher in the Tyne than in the
American service. The Mayor, Capt. Linskill, replied
that as no treaty existed between England arid the.
United States, as between England and most European
countries, for the rest 'ration of runaway seamen, the
authorities on the Tyne had no power to order the pe• ,
lice to interfere with the seamen, either in maintaining
discipline or in restoring them to their vessels if they ran.
away; so long as they did not make themselves amenable
to the law of England. British owners, he said, suffered
most severely when their vessels touched at American'
ports by the seamen being induced to desert wholesales
and in sense instances the captains of the vessels
so der,erted had been obliged to pay as high
as 151. a-month to seamen to bring back
the vessels to England. Hs knew that the marine
Department of the Board of Trade in this country
was anxious that the American Government should
place the marine of that country upon the same terms of
reciprocity with England, with regard to seamen, as the'
principal maritime States of Europe, and he suggested
that the vice-consul at Newcastle should make out
detailed account of the inconvenient position of American
captains visiting British ports, and remit it to the GO"
vernment at Washington. An American master made
somewhat impertinent observation to the bench with
respect to coloured men, and asked if the property of'
the American owners was riot to be protected in British
ports? The mayor replied, that the men were engaged
by a civil contract, and that just such an amount of dis-
cipline could be exercised towards the men while in a
British port as was compatible with the laws of this
country. Coloured men and white men were alike in
England ; they were all equally free and equal as seen
as they came within the jurisdiction of our laws. About
50 men have run away from their vessels ; a great num-
ber of them are coloured men.

THE POPE AND LORD PALMERSTON.

Row:, May 22.—The confusion and contradiction
that prevail among the various parts composing the eccle-
siastical Government have been forcibly demonstrated
by the recent conflict with regard to the publication of
Lord Palmerston's speech on the affairs of Italy. The
Pope, who has a will of his own when he thinks proper,
read the whole speech in the Dcbats, * paper which
he is in the habit of perusing regularly ;' and resolving
that his own good intentions an humane disposition,
for which even the British Premier gives him credit,
should not incur the blame attributable to the mai-
adminiAration and arbitrary acts of his ministers, hiS
Holiness insisted upon the publication of the speech
in the Roman official paper in spite of the strenuous
opposition of Cardinal Antonelli, who was so disgusted
at having to give up that he was quite ill for two days
afterwards. Tb speech, however, as printed in the
Journal of Rome, is sufficiently ambiguous and incor-
rectly translated to render it uncertain whether the or-
monical acts alluiied to by Lord Palmerston refer to the
Pope's present Ministers or those of his ',constitutional
reign ; but even this garbled account, inserted only on
toe Pope's absolute command, was so obnoxious to the
police authorities, acting under the orders of the Seer&
tary of State, that many copies of the journal destined
for the provinces were kept back at the post office or
se;zed after arriving at their respective destinations,
whilst those distributed as usual to the subscribers in
Rome were withdrawn from the cafes on the following
morning, thus affording the public the absurd spectacle
of a Government giving orders for the seizure and pre'
hibition of its own official organ.