The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 1867.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

Assam and Bengal. The deputation complained
with justice of the past neglect as regards roads,
ferries, and other means of communication, a neglect
that has already sacrificed hundreds of lives and
a vast amount of property in India. Sir JOHN
LAWRENCE, who received the deputation with his
usual straightforward frankness and courtesy, made
many promises for the future with respect to the
roads and ferries. A joarney from Calcutta to
Assam is as long and far more formidable than
a trip to Europe under these circumstances.
It is no great wonder that business suffers, more
especially as the manner in which Assam is cut off
from the rest of the Indian world, and the nature
of the transit necessitates the active interference of
Government in the treatment of the coolies. The
planters with this interference to cease ; they wish
to be free to import as many coolies as they like,
when, where, and how they like, and they ask why
should Assam alone be the subject of exceptional
legislation between capital and labour ? The
Government have a very sufficient answer for
this, which the public generally will approve,
whether or no the planters admit its force.
The coolies, they say, need protection, and, how-
ever well disposed the majority of their employers
may be, there is no denying that some years ago,
when emigration was unchecked, there were great
abuses. It is therefore thought necessary to govern
the importation of coolies to Assam by the same
rules which are applied to their exportation to the
colonies. The absence of easy communication with
Assam cut the coolies off so completely from their
homes and associations that they are very much at
the mercy of their employers. If there were
ready and available means of access there would
be no need for these formidable depots and pro-
cesses of enlistment and all the ceremonies now
necessary before a coolie can reach the scene of his
labours. A good road from Bengal to Assam will
alter the whole state of affairs, as a ready means of
communicating with the outer world will render the
emigration of coolies to the tea plantations as simple
a matter as it is to other parts of India. As it is,
even with all precautions, the coolies suffer very
much from the overcrowding, the drawbacks of the
restraints of the passage, and from malaria gene-
rally. In the spring months, when cholera pre-
vails, the mortality during the voyage rises
as high as 10} per cent. ; at other times
it is very much less, but still heavy, so much so that
it has been thought necessary to appoint a commis-
sion of inquiry. Various suggestions have been
made to improve the sanitary regulations of the
passage, and we may hope that a change of system
may produce a modification of the bills of mortality.
Assam has no inconsiderable trade. Even last
year the manufacture of tea was estimated at
6,000,0001b5., but there are complaints of inefficient
administration. It is no great wonder that Sir
CECIL BEADON, who found Bengal itself more than
he could manage, has failed to give satisfaction to
the residents in Assam, but in fact the province re-
quires a separate establishment of its own. Mr.
MORICE, who has been appointed by the Ceylon
Government Commissioner to the Indian tea dis-
tricts, has summed up the causes of the present dis-
tress in Assam under seven heads. 1. The abuse
of the limited liability principle which caused the
establishment of more gardens than could be pro-
perly cared for. 2. The increased expense of pro-
curing labourers. 3. The inferior quality and
greater mortality of the labourers imported. 4.
The depreciation of the quality of the tea which
induced a fall of price in England. 5. The loss
caused by supplying rice at a rupee a tnaund
(the maximum price fixed by Government)
when it was at lamime prices. 6. Deficient
capital. 7. The money panic in England. These
causes are certainly comprehensible enough, and we
may see that some of them we their origin to the
brilliant prospects of the trade a little while ago.
The too great eagerness with which all parties
rushed into the speculation without understanding
the difficulties of the locality led, as excessive
speculation invariably does, to failure and
reaction. The scarcity of efficient labour led
to the neglect of many gardens—a neglect
which, in a tropical climate, produces most
rapid deterioration. The rapidity with which,
after a great rainfall, a garden becomes a jungle,
can, says Mr. MORICE, only be understood by being
seen. Again, the lack of good and experienced
managers produced its effects on the tea, whose
inferior quality naturally induced a fall in the
price, while the famine in Orissa and the panic in
England, through causes quite beyond the control of
the Assam tea planters, weighed heavily upon their
energies. No doubt the tea trade of Assam will
soon rise from its present condition. It has too
sound a basis to be likely to suffer from
prolonged depression. Where nature favours so
profitable and popular a cultivation, it is not likely
that Anglo-Indian energy and capital will fail to
remove all temporary obstacles to success. The
great want of the district is a good road in waiting
for the more tardy and costly process of construct-
ing a railway. It is an undertaking that would
speedily pay itself, and would be a wise investment,
whoever undertakes it. This would get rid of the
greater part of the coolie difficulty, the interference
of the Government, and the scarcity of labour. A
bill has been introduced into the Bengpl Council to
modify the present acts, and the rate of wages and
the price of rice will no longer be fixed by authority.
No doubt the present distress will tend eventually
to the good of Assam trade and enterprise by
bringing home the grievances and difficulties of the
planters to the Government, by teaching the
planters themselves by the experience of their own
mistakes, and by convincing the Home Government
that it would be well to provide some system of ad-
ministration for Assam more worthy of its size, its
capabilities, and its importance.

(FROM OUR oWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Sunday Evening.
There was a Cabinet Council yesterday at the
Tuileries, at which the Emperor presided.
The illoniteur states, on the authority of letters
from Rome, that more than 400 bishops have already

announced their intention to be present at the great

The news from Madrid is highly satisfactory, and
redounds to the credit of Lord STANLEY'S diplomacy.
The firm, and yet temperate attitude assumed
by the noble lord has produced the desired effect
upon the Spanish Government, who are not rash or
reckless enough to embroil themselves with
England for so trifling, and unworthy a cause.
A. telegram received at the Foreign Office
announces that the Spanish Government have
agreed to restore the Queen Victoria and her
cargo, or their value, to idemnify the owners fur
their losses, and to punish those officers who
may have been in fault iu seizing the Queen
Victoria, or in any offence to the British flag, thus
conceding all reasonable demands. The termina-
tion of the affair will be welcomed by all parties.
The affront to our national honour, the insult to our
flag, and the injury to our commerce, were such as
could not have passed over with impunity, and
the case might have formed a dangerous precedent
for the enemies of a commercial nation. The
Spanish Government has shown a wise discretion in
conceding Lord STANEY'S just and reasonable de-
mands ; and we trust this may indicate the inaugu-
ration of a more decided though less contumacious
policy than has of late years regulated our foreign
affairs.

MINISTERIAL BULLETIN.—The answer of the
latest inquiry at the Home office is, that )Jr. Walpole is
doing as well as he can be expected to do, Put is still suf-
fering from a Toomor.—Punch.

and a grand procession enter the basilisk. The pro- LATEST INT"
lALLIGENtiz.
cession is formed by priests of all religious orders in
grand costume, some in scarlet and ermine. The (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)
jeweller of the Vatican carries the tiaras upon
cushions. The Pope, with his tiara on his head,
advances to the dais prepared for him. By his side
are the Swiss troops in full uniform, bearing with

them the seven swords of the Swiss cantons. All
the members of the Pope's household attend, and
the whole chapter of St. Peter dressed in scarlet and
ermine. The tiaras displayed are four in number.
One given by Pius VII. to Napoleon I.•cost nearly
a million of francs. It is enriched with diamonds,
sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and pearls, and weighs
eight pounds. Another was bought in the reign of
Gregory XVI. This is the one worn by the Pope
on the occasion. It is rich, but only weighs three
pounds. The third was given by the Queen of
Spain to the Pope in 1851. It is ornamented with
18,000 diamonds and 1,0(10 other precious stones.
The other tiara was presented to the present Pope
by the Palatine Guard in 1860 on the occasion of
his coronation.

INDIA.

BOMBAY, April IG, 5 30 p.m.
71b shirtings, sra 10a ; 81, Grs 10a ; 40 mule
twist, 13rs. Cotton dull. Dhollerah, 230 rs.
Exchange on London, ls. Hid to Is. llkd. ;
4 per Cent. Government Securities, 851 ; 5 per
Cents., 1044 ; 5i per Cents., 108.
Freights to Liverpool, 60s. to 638.
The latest London date i 3 April 12.

The Volunteer Review at Dover.

DOVER, Sunday Evening.

The arrival of volunteers yesterday and to-day
has been very great. There are not less in the town
now than some three or four thousand. The streets
are literally crowded with them, and all sorts o f
excursions were extemporised to Calais and else-
where for Good Friday and to-day. On Saturday
the hopes of the townspeople and the volunteers re-
ceived a severe check. From a very early hour the
rain poured down, and there was a severe thunder-
storm. At night, however, a very stiff breeze from
the north-west sprung up; it became intensely cold,
but the clouds were dispersed, and in the bright
moonlight hundreds of the volunteers who arrived
by late trains were wandering, bag or portmanteau
in hand, from hotel to hotel, seeking in vain for
sleeping accommodation. This morning the wind
has been from the north-west, the weather is fine
but cold, and nautical sages say that if the wind
continues in this quarter we shall have a fine day
, for to-morrow.

AMERICA.
(Arrival of the Ilansa.)
SOUTIIAMPTON, April 22.

The various corps as they arrive are now begin-
ning to develope themselves in the shape of indica-
tions as to their head-quarters—thus a tremendous
blue flag, with a Prince of Wales's feathers, sur-
mounting the turret of the " Lord Warden" Hotel,
indicates that there Lord Bury's Regiment (the Civil
Service) have taken up their abode, so far as the
accommodation can be afforded. The London Scot-
tish have their head-quarters in a large house at the
Western corner of Waterloo-crescent ; whilst the
Queen's officers and staff are at No. 18 in the same

The North German Lloyd steamer Hansa, from
New York, on the 11th, arrived here to-day with
118 passengers for this port, Havre, and Bremen,
35 sacks of mails, and $21,000 in specie for London.
Since the 13th the Hansa experienced strong
westerly gales throughout the passage. On the 12th
she spoke the Bremen bark Atlantic. The Olden-
burg bark Fauny Kirchiner arrived at New York
on the 11th inst.

line of splendid houses facing the sea. For the Lon-
don Brigade, Lieut. Clearson, the quartermaster, has
secured a large house at the corner of Wells-terrace,
near the Baths, with a frontage to the sea, and the
head-quarters of this notable corps were distin-
guished by the well-known arms of the city of
London. The " Victoria" Hotel, Castle-street,
has been secured as the bead-quarters of the Ist
Middlesex Artillery, whilst those of the Honourable
Artillery Company are at the " Pavilion" Hotel at
Folkestone. In regard to Folkestone, it may also
be remarked that during the afternoon the War
Office Company of Lord Ranelagh's regiment,
the South Middlesex, arrived at the Ewell
station, and marched into Folkestone by
the Alkham Valley, taking up their quarters
at the \Vest Cliff Hotel, which they had previously
secured. The Ist Surrey are also at Folkestone,
instead of Dover, that is the head-quarters and staff,
&c. The St. George's are at the Dover Castle
Hotel, whilst the Victorian have divided their

ARRIVAL OF THE HANSA. •
NEW Your, April 11 (Morning.)
The petition of Judge Black, Charles O'Connor,
and Ex-Senator Cowan to the Supreme Court on
behalf of the State of Georgia, requesting that tri-
bunal to grant an injunction to restrain the Secre-
tary of War, and Generals Grant and Pope from
executing the Reconstruction Act in Georgia, is
based substantially on the same grounds as the
recent appeal of Judge Sharkey and Mr. Walker in
behalf of Mississippi.
It is reported that if the Supreme Court refuse
the injunction in the Mississippi case, the petitioners
will attempt the indictment and arrest of General
Ord for treason against the State.
General Pope has prohibited whipping and maim-
ing as punishment for crime in his district.
General Sheridan has declared the recent elec-
tion of Livingston, for the parish of Louisiana, null

and void.
The Senate has ratified the Russian-American
treaty. There were only two dissenting votes.
The treaty cedes to the United States all Russian
America and the adjacent islands. The present in-
habitants are to be protected in their rights of
liberty and property-, and to be permitted to choose
whether they will return to Russia within three
years or become citizens of the United States. The
purchase money is now said to be ten million dollars

favours between the Ship and Gun Hotels, and some
of the officers and members of the North Middlesex
are also at the Gun. The 19th (Working Men's
College) are at the Albion Inn, Hawksbery-street,
and the 20th Middlesex at the Flying Horse, in
King-street. At the Walmer Castle there are quar-
tered 50 of the 26th Kent, and the Providence
Hotel, Council House-street, has a batch of the 7th
Surrey and other corps. During the day the mail-
boats brough; over a number of the French National
Guards, and the Belgian boats some of the Garde
Civique and Eclaireurs from Brussels, Ostend, &c.

in gold.
The Senate has passed a resolution asking the
President for copies of any correspondence that has
passed between this Government and Mexico rela-
tive to the treatment of prisoners of war captured
by belligerents in Mexico.
The American Consul in Havana has remon-
strated against the enlistment of Spaniards in Cuba
for the army of the Emperor Maximilian, as a vio-
lation of the neutrality law. A statement has been
forwarded to Washington showing that 200 men
have been enlisted for the Imperial service.
The Senate has rejected the nomination of ex-
Senator Stockton as United States Minister to

Vienna.
The Jersey Legislature has rejected the bill for
enfranchising negroes.
The Wisconsin Legislature has passed a bill for
enfranchising all women of legal age.
The New York Republican and Democratic Con-
ventions have assembled at Syracuse to nominate
delegates to the State Constitutional Convention.
The Republicans have passed a resolution fa-
vouring negro suffrage.
The Democrats passed a resolution condemning
the course of Congress.
The Democrats have carried the municipal elec-
tions at Albany and Hartford by increasing majo-
rities.

ROME, April 21 (Evening).

To-day being Easter-day the Pope bestowed
the usual benediction, urbi et orbi, from the bal-
cony of the Vatican, iu presence of a large mul-
titude of persons,.including many foreigners. His
holiness was enthusiastically received.

MARRIAGE OF THE DUKE OF FLANDERS
BERLIN, April 22.

The marriage between the Duke of Flanders and
the Princess Hohenzollern will take place here in
the Catholic Church of St. Hedurg, at three p.m.,
upon the 25th inst.

The members of the Hohenzollern family, the
King of the Belgians, the Count of Flanders, and
the Prince-Bishop of Breslau are expected to-

rt

HER MAJESTY, &c.

WINDSOR CASTLE, April 20.
The Queen, accompanied by her Royal Highneso
Princess Louise, drove out this morning.
Prince Arthur and Prince Leopold walked out,
and her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice rode in
the Home Park.

Sunday.
The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, at-
tended by Lady Churchill.
Her Royal Highness Princess Louise went out
driving, attended by the Hon. Flora Macdonald.
Their Royal' Highnesses Prince Arthur and Prince
Christian rode on horseback.

The Queen, Princess Louise, Prince Arthur,
Prince Leopold, Princess Beatrice, and Prince
Christian, and the ladies and gentlemen in waiting/
attended Divine service in the private chapel.
The Right lion. Benjamin Disraeli arrived at the
Castle yesterday, and had the honour of dining
with the Queen and the royal family.