The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-30 00:00:00

THE WAR IN CHINA.

(From the Times.)
We have not hitherto been very sanguine as to
the result of diplomacy with the Chiuese Empire,
but at least our negotiators have now made a step
in advance. They have so far trampled Chin, se
etiquette under toot as to communicate directly
with the higher authorities. The four
,Commis-
sioners have succeeded in delivering their creden-
tials to the provincial Governor of Soutchou-fou,
who is in direct and easy relations with the Imperial
Court at Pekin. The result is that the real state
of the case is brought under the notice of the
Emperor, who, but for this bold step, might for
years to come have remained in ignorance of the
real nature of the late operations at Canton. The
Emperor has at once superseded, or lather degraded,
Yeh, and has applintecl in his place as Governor-
General of " Kwangtung and Kwangsi" a certain
Hwang Tsunghai, who is favourably known as a
person of superior enlightenment and liberality
of opinion. This proves that the Emperor and
his immediate advisers are b:-ginoing to appreciate
the momentous character of the questions which
they are now called upon to discuss wi h the
outer world. They will appoint, as it is said,
without delay, a Commissioner on their part to
negotiate with the Commissioners of the Four
Powers at Shanghai. We can scarcely antici-
pate that the Chinese Commissioner will be pre-
pared to accede to the demands which will be
made upon his Government, but for this we must
be prepared. All the usual machiusiy of trickery,
evasion, and dilatoriness will surely be tried again ;
its rests only with the four Commissioners to frus-
trate these designs, and to insist upon an imme-
diate solution of the questions at issue. We must
not permit ourselves for one mom( nt to be the
dupes of the idle forms and ceremonies in which the
Chinese deli,ht, but go at once to the mark what-
ever it may be. No answer or a delayed answer is
a refusal. It operates as such, and as such it should
be understood. Firmness and decision in negotia-
tion, backed by immediate action, when necessary,
constitute on our side the only elements of success in
our negotiations with these setni-barbarian=, who
seem in their own persons to unite the rude cun-
ning of the savage with the polished craft of the
civilised man.

We shall be much surprised if it does not even-
tually turn out that such intercourse with the
Chinese as we require is a matter far less com-
plicated than, from the blunders of the last 150
years, one might presume it to be. Mr. Oliphant
and M. de Contades, who conveyed the notes of
the Four Powers to Sou-tchou-fou, although un-
guarded, experienced no incivility or violence from
the Chinese in the course of their passage to and
fro. They passed along canals for two days, and
at last they reached the great city of Sou-tchou-
fou, which they describe as being about the size
of London. The Governor's palace stands in the
centre of the city, and to this spot they were
conducted along streets crowded with spectators
for a length of two miles. Much interest, and
something of wonder, might be discerned on the
faces of this mighty crowd, but there was perfect
silence and orderly behaviour. The Governor re-
ceived the emissaries with salutes, placed them in
seats of honour, and feasted them with Chinese
delicacies. The next day he returned their visit,
when they plied him with champagne and other
good things. In due course they took their leave,
and departed on their return to Shanghai, having
been completely successful as to the object of their
mission. If the same bold policy which has cha-
racterised these preliminary measures be carried
out in more esential matters, we should "'eve good
hopes -of a speedy and satisfactory result. The
Chinese people themselves are probably well-dis-
posed enough to enter into commercial rela'ions
with us. The real obstructions arise from the
officiali, who see, or fancy they see, their profit in
our exclusion. Before concluding these few re-
marks, we would call attention to an extract from
that well-informed French journal the Univers,
which we tiauefer into our columns this day.
Rome and Opium are the two pivots—so we are
told—on which the present contest turns, France
representing th., religion, and England the drug.
We are, therefore, necessarily antagoui4tic to each
other, for the religion must kill the drug, or the
drug the religion. It is in France, in the year
1851, that a public writer can put such trash upon
paper, and find even a dozen readers

THE NEW DEPART3IENT IN THE INDIAN GOVERN-
MENT.—We are indebted to the Calcutta Englishman
for a paper of some official importance. It is a reso-
lution by the Governor-General in Council, re-
organising the departments of account and audit
throughout the empire. Hitherto those depart-
ments have been included among the offices
open to all civilian. A clever collector might hope to
be Accountant-General. An over-severe commissioner
might be made exceedingly useful as sub-treasurer. A
young civilian wlko bated examinations, but bad some
brain fur business, might secure in the Treasury full work
and exemption from the vernaculars. As a matter of
course, although the work was not badly done, no one in
the department had any special qualifications. The
chiefs were compelled to rely on their subordinates, and
the real business cf account is perhaps almost as com-
pletely in the hands of clerks as it is in England.
It became necessary to introduce a more scientific ar-
rangement, and after a long u)rrespoodence the follow-
ing eche:ne has been finally adopted :—The five Trea-
suries of the three presidencies are thrown into one
department. No civilian can enter until he has passed
five years in the Mofussil, and once entered he remains
for life. He is promoted in the department, and in the
department alone, shif.i''ng every two years from pre
sideucy to presidency. He will thus before ho reaches
the higher grades have acquired experience is evernynpart
the
of India. In order to insure him fair P
pay is a little better than in tee ordinary"bnlnches of
than I,OODr. a
the service, and no salary is to be less
month. The plan is by logical
no means an ynnskinlfuiltsone. It
carries the princ'ple of centralisation t
result, in a department wheretcen:fra
requisite of success. The :aftrionn:i ipAret!jiedefin'c'syt
to presidency must greatly
modern reforms c
arseanDlarge the experience
of individual efficers, and
Fist in imitations must r_Tehnedelrimt
ihteamtionsomofeßphroatmomtiorne
frequent and complete.
promises at least that efficiency which springs from
habit, and secures the thorough devotion of each man to
work. Above all a
, it ssures us that the nominal
bin
bead of each division shall be also its real head, that our
I
account? shall no longer depend on the exertions 0 fT-
'
responsible Gemcz and unknown D'Silva. —.Friend of
India.
A YANKEE JUDGE.—The other day a little boy was
before the Court for stealing a ball of thread. "D s-
"
ohargelhim,
said Judge Brownell ; " it is to fly a kite
with, I suppose. A man was brought for stealing fat
from a bullock. He alleged that he stole it to greasehie
boots with. " Well, then," said the judge iti&guautly,
" Why couldn't you cut it out of the kidney, instead of
spoiling a whole quarter. There was plenty of loose fat
lying around to grease your boots with, without spoiling
a quarter. Guilty—Penitentiary two months."—
Knickerbocker.