The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-27 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONOON, WEDNESDAY EVEINING, NOVEMBER 27, 1867.

Miscellaneous News.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

The great event of the week in Paris has been
the Emperor's Speech at the opening of the
Legislative Session, on the 18th inst., which. bas
been attended with no ordinary interest. The
necessity of resuming the consideration of im-
portant legislative enactments, coupled with the
grave bearing of recent events, has been the alleged
cause for the early calling together the French
Parliament. In regard to the question of any
changes of Government, which have taken or may
take place in Germany, the French nation will not
interfere unless in case its honour or interests should
be menaced. The allusion of the Emperor to the
Universal Exposition is couched in noble and
sensible language, and slows how much Napoleon
has had at heart the carrying out this bis favourite
work. The few remarks are well worthy of being
quoted—" The Universal Exposition," says the
Emperor, "which has been visited by nearly all the
Sovereigns of Europe, and where also the represen-
tatives of the working classes of every country have
met each other, has drawn closer the links of
fraternity amongst nations. It has disappeared,
but its traces will remain deeply marked upon our
epoch, for, if after being carried out in so magni-
ficent a scale, it has shone with only a momentary
splendour, it has destroyed for ever a past of
prejudices and errors, hindrances of labour, and in-
telligence ; barriers between different people, as
between different classes, international anti-
pathies. These are the things the Universal
Exposition has cast behind her." This is a
simple and noble strain of language, which
will find an echo in the breast of every right-
thinking individual, and, to say the least, cannut
but induce a belief in the political honesty of the
monarch who could thus think and act. Perfect-
ing the military and naval organisation of France
is not, however, to be neglected, and I ob-
serve as a significative corollary upon this fact, that
a considerable portion of the space occupied at
Billancourt by the Agricultural Exposition will be
devoted to the formation of a rifle ground, as well
for the practice by the regular troops of the fusil
Chassepot—which they are now receiving constantly
as for that of Franc Tireurs or Volunteers, the
organisation of which body is now being pushed
rapidly in France, whether however for a still fur-
ther increase of the military power of France, or to
be used eventually as a means of diminishing the
standing army, I cannot say. It is certain that
scarcely any troops in Europe cost less than
those of France ; nevertheless the large num-
ber entails a considerable expense upon the coun-
try. One of the principal alterations to be effected is
in increasing the period of military servitude in
time of war, and diminishing it in time of peace.
The organisation of the Garde Nationale Mobile
will also undergo a modification. The question of
the Pontifical States is next touched upon, the
reason assigned for the sending the troops to Italy
being the non-execution of the Convention of the
15th of September, and the danger incurred by the
principle of monarchy and European order in the
revolutionary attack upon the temporal power of
the Pope. The Emperor disclaims the charge of
hostility to the unity and independence of Italy in
his course of action, averring that the Italian nation
itself has commenced to comprehend the danger of
such attempts as that of Garibaldi, states that calm
and order is already nearly established in the Papal
States, and that the recall of the French troops is
imminent ; concluding by remarking that for the
French nation the Convention of the 15th Sept. will
remain in operation until iplaced by a new inter-
national action ; that the relations of Italy with the
Holy See interest the whole of Europe; and that
for this purpose he has invited the great Powers of
Europe to a conference, with a view to prevent
fresh complications. The statement of the Emperor
appears frank and straightforward, and the only re-
maining difficulty will probably be found in the
demand of a basis for consultation by the great
Powers, or, perhaps, of the mutual assent of Italy
and the Holy See to such a conference. In regard
to the E stern question, his Majesty assures the
nation that, whatever minor differences may exist
between the great Powers, they are of accord upon
the principle—namely, the maintenance of the in-
tegrity of the Ottoman empire, and the amelioration
of the condition of the Christians. The only re-
maining points of importance in the address are
the Budget and the present high price of provi-
sions. With regard to the latter, the badness
of the harvest has been alleged as the principal
cause, whilst a free commerce is equally designed
as the principal remedy. With regard to the Bud-
get, which appears the only difficulty in the Speech,
the question is submitted to the best consideration
of the French Parliament. Taken as a whole, the
address of the Emperor is greatly reassuring, and
calculated alike to dissipate much of the present
prevailing inquietude, as well as to present the poli-
tical horizon of Europe under a brighter and more
confidence-inspiring aspect.

The American Commission of the Exposition
Universelle is equally defunct with the Exposition
itself, and its members have left Paris, having in all
probability completed their labours and returned to
lay their report before Congress. I observe that
the prizes reserved in groups 8 and 9 will be decreed
on the 18th and 26th of November. The Grand
Prize of 10,000 francs and the gold medals cm-
nected with a diploma will be made the subject of a
special solemn distribution.

An amusing incident just before the close of the
world-renowned Palace bears testimony to the
might and majesty of the Fourth Estate. A new
star had arisen on the Champagne horizon in the
person of M. Theodule Joly, of Aix, who out of a
hundred competitors shared the only two prizes
given with the celebrated firm of Rcederer. The
successful fabricant, however, was at a loss how to
name the victorious stimulant. In his dilemma, he
invited a number of the representatives of the In-
ternational Press to a banquet, and submitted to
them the all-important question. There was a
solemn silence, but what difficulty can long avoid
giving way before so august a presence as the united
International Press? "There is to me come an idea,"
said the editorof the Sancho, of Brussels, rising from
his seat, and speaking in none the best English.
"The grand wine of our friend shall take the name
of the Volunteer, and by its help he shall make for
him the conquest of Angleterre, and that victory
shall efface the last remembrances of the field of
Waterloo." It is needless to add that the delighted
fabricant accepted in all humility the fiat of the
all-powerful, and under the patronage of the Prince
de Galles, the Volunteer champagne has long since
found its way to Wimbledon, and to the table of
the Lord Mayor, to commence the campaign as-
signed to it. Since the departure of the strangers
the Parisian Escroes have turned their faces against
their fellow-citizens. One of the hardiest and
at the Same time most skilful dodges heard of for
some time past was played off last week upon the
wife of a marchand de vins. A tolerably. well-
dressed stranger entered, and stepping to the counter
demanded a glass of wine, at the same time in-
forming the hostess that he was expecting the
arrival of a Commissionaire, who would bring
him the sum of 200 francs. Shortly after a
commissionaire entered, placing upon the counter
a sack, which he stated to contain that sum.
The stranger at once took possession of the sack ;
and after paying the commissionaire liberally, and
at the same time treating him to a glass, walked off.
In the evening the proprietor of the establ;sliment,
on his return, asked his wife what was tho, su lden
necessity which had induced her to sen I to their
neighbour the baker for the sum of 2001 r. The
lady of course denied the soft impeachment, and a
quarrel appeared to be imminent, when the remem-
brance of the event of the morning came to calm
the rising tempest. A general reunion having taken
place at the boulanger's, it was discovered that a
skilfully forged letter had been forwarded to the
baker, in the name of Madame, requesting him at
once to forward the sum of 200 fr. to meet a neces-
sity which had arisen in the absence of her husband.
If London thieves will steal (as it is said) the teeth
out of a body's head, what must be said in behalf of
their brethern in Paris ?

Our correspondent at Naples writes :—" Nothing
uew in politics ; people waiting events with perfect

tranquillity. An eruption of Vesuvius has come to
enliven us. It is considerable enough to, interest
travellers, who are already beginning to flock in
from Rome, but the lava has not yet reached the
cultivated land."

The fortress of Luxembourg, which so n•aarly set
France and Germany by the ears, has been par-
tially demolished. The first mines have been
sprung, and a breach made in the great walls
behind the arsenal. Mines have been sunk in the
masonry supporting the Marie earthworks:, and
with the material the ditches between these fortifi-
cations will be filled up, and access given to this
portion of the fortifications.
News from India informs us that Col. Strachey
has published a minute summarising the conclusions
of local committees upon Indian weights and mea-
sures, and advocating a reform based upon the
French system. The control of the Post-office has
been transferred to the Financial Department, and
the control of the Telegraph-office to the Foreign
Department, the Home Department being over-
whelmed with work. The Russians intend to make
the great roads leading to Herat, Cabul, and Cash-
mere.

The Governments represented at the Postal Con-
ference, at Berlin, have assented to all the pro-
visions stipulated, and have authorised their Pleni-
potentiaries to sign the new postal conventions.
The signatures will be affixed to-day. Atter the
close of the postal conference negociations will be
entered into for adjusting the international postage
rates; in the first instance with Switzerland, the
Papal States, and Italy.

General Sherman and the Peace Commissioners
having completed their business at Medicine
Creek Lodge, proceeded to Omaha and Fort
Laramie to meet the Sioux and other Northern
tribes favourable to peace. These desire to be put
into possession of the Powder River country. A
general order has been issued by Sherman, inform-
ing the troops in his division of the treaties of
peace made with the Comanches, Kiowas, Apaches,
Cheyennes, and Arapahos, against whom hostilities
were to cease. The officers and men are directed
to treat all Indians they meet kindly, sparing no
efforts to maintain this peace, which may enable
civil agents to elevate the Indians to a higher condi-
tion. The Arizona Legislature condemns the policy
of General M'Dowell on Indian affairs, and desires
the territory, where fighting still continues with
alternate success to whites and red-skins, to be made
into a military department. It also memorialises
Congress to be allowed to raise a regiment of volun-
teers to take the field against the Indians, as it
holds that the regulars are neither keen on, nor
adapted for the service. _

Up to the morning of the sth November the
total number of deaths recorded in New Orleans
from the yellow fever that ravaged that city was
was 3,006. The Board of Health has declared that
it is no longer epidemic, and that citizens and
strangers can visit the city without apprehension.
It will be gratifying to those who take a deep in-
terest in the grandest project of the age—the railway
which is to connect San Frandisto-with Neiv Yokk,
to learn-that the business of the Californian branch
--the Central Pacific—was even more succeSsful-in
October than in September. There were last month
nearly 100 ,miles open, and the gross earnings were
$212,179, netting $173,843. Five hundred miles
of the track have been laid from the East. The
local business on the 325 miles on which trains
were running yielded over $1,000,000 in one
quarter of the present year. The survey for the
Northern Pacific Railway through the Cedar River
Pass, in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, is corn-
pleted. But the Pass proves to be impracticable
for railroad purposes, being 4,160 feet high. Three
other passes are reported on. In another column
we give a statement of the business operations of
the Central Pacific Railroad Company, which de-
serves wide publication in Europe.

A full report of the late important elections, from
the summary of the Springfield Republican, will be
found in another column. The Democratic majo-
rity in New York wts 45,000. The Republicans
expected defeat, but not such a crusher as this.
The Nation says the Democratic party is evidently
going to be strong enough next year to make it
worth while beating them.
We trust the statement again revived that the
New York and Havre Steamship Company have
decided to discontinue their Line and sell their
steamers may prove as erroneous as the former
report. No doubt the English agents, Messrs. 11.
Starr and Co., 145, Cheapside, will contradict the
report if untrue. It is alleged that the company
find it impossible to compete with the French
steamers, which receive from their Government a
heavy subsidy. The ocean steamers of the United
States have as much claim to protection as any
other branch of industry. But they are compelled
to maintain the struggle not only unaided, but
handicapped unfairly in the race. If this line be
discontinued the number of American steamers to
Europe will be reduced to the Atlantic and Baltic
on the Bremen Line. We see with pleasure that
two of the great companies have given orders for
new boats to shipwrights on the Clyde.
The Alabama Reconstruction Convention met at
Montgomery on Tuesday, the sth inst. Eighty-two
members were present, of whom fifty odd were old
citizens of the State. E. W. Peck, of Tuscaloosa,
an attache of the Freedman's Bureau, a white m in,
was elected president, and the offices of secretary,
assistant-secretary, and doorkeeper were given to
uegroes. The Convention agrees to ask Congress
to remove the political disabilities of those who
favour Reconstruction. There is, however, a re-
port that the plans of the leaders are to disfranchise
the whites on whom the taxes are to be thrown.

Thaddeus Stevens is so rapidly regaining his
health that he hopes to be present at the opening
of the Session, when he will make four propositions
—a resolution to revive the old Reconstruction
Committee, Bills to depose the President when the
House presents a Bill of Impeachment against him,
to establish equal suffrage in all States of the Union,
and to confiscate the property of the public enemy.
Suppose the latter passed, Congress would then
have to define who the public enemy was, and sup-
pose they announced the old commoner to be the
man ! The act would be as justifiable as the con-
fiscation, he advocates, of the property of the
nation's creditors.

The Manufacturers' Association of Detroit has
called a National Protective Association, to meet
at Cleveland, Ohio, on the 18th December. A re-
solution was adopted asking Congress to increase
the duties upon imports. That trade is low—that
business is stagnant—that work is scarce—are
facts. The Freetraders point to them as proof of
the fallacies of Protection. The Protectionists urge
them on Congress as the result of their halting
measures, fur which the only remedy is prohibition.
The New York Tribune declares that a people which
adopts the settled policy of buying articles of daily
use from foreigners will remain, or will become, bar-
barians. It is a pity that the Tribune cannot in-
crease the range of its cosmopolitan and liberal views.
Carrying such a theory to its natural result, each
man must become a barbarian who does not supply
himself with everything he consumes. The Tribune
at present confines its Protection to the United
States. Shortly, State may protect itself against
State—county against county—town against town
and when something worse than the German Zoll-
verein has been reached, the Tribune's idea may be
realised. We prefer considering the world as a
unit, from which every inhabitant should derive
the greatest benefits procurable, regretting only
that it is not larger, and that Ivo cannot open com-
munication and exchange c.)mmodities with other
planets. Oar theory is the reverse of that of the
Tribune. The people who buy most from fo-
reigners becomes the most enlightened.
Petroleum, as fuel, continues to attract atten-
tion. At San Francisco several gentlemen inte-
rested in steam navigation proceeded to Santa Cruz
on the 7th October to witness another trial of
White's apparatus. It was placed in the furnace of
a 15-horse power engine, and was successful in
every trial. The principle is similar to that adopted
in the experiment on the Eastern coast; but the
apparatus differs from that of Colonel Foote as tried
in the Pules, and is alleged to be superior in effec-
tiveness, convenience, and durability. 'rho fires are
quite under the control of the engineer, being regu-
lated as easily as gas burners, The Mining and

Scientific Press understands that the invention will
be subjected to a crucial trial in San Francisco, that
it may be thoroughly tested, and in such a manner
as fully to determine its value. Colonel Foote left
New York, accompanied by several engineers for
San Francisco, to lo3k after the interests of his in-
vention on the Pacific coast.

As time goes on, the extraordinary change in the
see-saw of American opinion becomes more marked.
The Republican North is running rapidly in the
direction of Conservatism ; the Conservative South
is becoming a negro Republic, diving into the
blackest depths of Radicalism. We will soon have
the North and South again standing face to face,
but the principles for which they contend wholly
reversed. The late contest was a Northern war of
interference between the Southern white and black,
in which Uncle Sam, seeing no other solution of the
difficulty, insisted on inserting his sword to cut the
Gordian knot of slavery. The contest now ap-
proaching will again be Northern interference
between Southern black and white, in which Uncle
Sam will have to teach Sambo his proper place, and
the one he has to occupy. It is a marvellous reso-
lution if we only recall the feelings and sentiments
prevailing six or seven years ago.

The actin of the Tennessee House of Repre-
sentatives is a strange commentary on that portion
of Thaddeus Stevens's letter referring to the policy
of an export tax on cotton. The House passed a
resolution, calling upon Congress to repeal the
Cotton Tax, and the State Senate is considered sure
to concur. On the 7th inst. the New York
Chamber of Commerce adopted a memorial to Con-
gress for its repeal, and the agitation through all
parts of the country is becoming urgent. It is
somewhat surprising that Thaddeus Stevens could
have written the nonsense he has in the
face of the facts accumulating around him.
Talking of cotton, General Howard in a
late letter, correcting what he alleges to be
a mistake derived from some inaccurate statistics
published by himself, which erroneously went to
prove that the negro population of the United States
had decreased, while the reverse was the case, an-
nounces the cotton crop for 1867 at 2,500,000 bales.
This is far in excess of the Government estimate.
General Howard adds that the grain crop is double
any before raised in the Southern States, while there
has been a fair yield of rice, sugar, and tobacco.
He calculates the negro population at the close of
the war at 4,500,000, and considers that as they
were little exposed to the hazards and vicissitudes
of the struggle, preserving their organisation as
labourers, that there is no reason to doubt that they
increased instead of decreased. The annual report
to Congress of the Freedmen's Bureau will be pre-
sented during November. For the eleven months
ending August, $3,597,397 were expended, the
following figures showing in what way :—lt gave
relief to 233,372 persons, the highest number being
in July, 82,000, and considerably-more than half were
destitute whites ; it has in operation 2,207 school.s,
with 2,442 teachers, of whom 699 are negroes,
and 130,735 negro scholars. On the Ist of next
July the Fieedmen's Bureau expires by law, and
'General Howard, in his annual report to t}b•e Secre-
tary of War, recommends that it be not continued.
The expenses have fallen short of the appropriation
for its support, and a
_sufficient sum remains 'to
maintain it for the term of its legal existence. It
will have accomplished the ends aimed at, of which
the chief was' the encouragement of learning and
industry. Independently of the schools founded by
the bureau,_the.negoes have.39l buildings of their
own, at which 10,026 scholars are maintained by
tuition fees.

By a telegram from New York, last Tuesday, it
appears that intelligence had been received there
from Mexico that Admiral Tegethoff had obtained
the body of the late Emperor Maximilian. The
news by mail is that Juarez had sent a commissioner
to Washington to negotiate a loan of $12,000,000 ;
that there were no funds in the Treasury ; that the
army was in a state of discontent on account of
their long arrears of pay ; that the election of
Juarez is to be contested by Diaz, who was inaugu-
rating a movement for the impeachment of the
President—humbly following the great example set
at Washington. A civil war is imminent, and even
that could scarcely add to the miseries of the coun-
try, which is overrun with brigands, life and pro-
perty being left to the protection of each individual.
Maximilian was worshipped by a considerable num-
ber of the people in their churches as a saint, and
there can be little doubt that his memory is vene-
rated by the Indian population as a martyr, who
fell in his efforts to elevate them.

We doubt not that Mr. Adams, the American
Minister at St. James's, has had to resist a very
heavy pressure to interfere on behalf of condemned
Fenians claiming American citizenship. Condon, alias
Shore, is a native of the United States, and bore a
commission in the American army. Some time ago
he solicited the assistanc3 of the American Minister
on the ground that he was an American citizen,
but Mr. Adams declined to interfere. Condon has
repeated his application since sentence was passed,
and Mr. Lord, the United States Consul, at Man-
chester, has received a communication from Mr
Adams that, as Condon has broken the laws of this
country, and has been fairly and impartially tried
according to them, he cannot interfere in his behalf.
Captain Condon, we are glad to say, has been re-
prieved for reasons elsewhere given.
There seems to be a mania for the acquisition of
territory in the United States. This week the
shares of the Hudson Bay Company have risen,
under the impression that the Washington Govern-
ment contemplates the purchase of a portion of the
territory for £200,000. That Government has
agreed to pay Denmark £1,500,000 for St. Thomas
and St. Juan, with an additional £BOO,OOO, pro-
vided France will waive her claim to the neigh-
bouring island of Santa Cruz. The £2,000,000
due to Russia for the cession of her American terri-
tory is to be paid at the end of December. The
news of the destruction of the town and docks of
St. Thomas by the hurricane has, we presume, come
too late to alter the terms.