The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-11 00:00:00

HIE CO_ILIIEftC'IAE-67---us s FRANCE.

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A communication has been received by the
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce from the Chamber
at Rouen, referring to the crisis which presses at
this time on the industry of a great part of France.
To this letter the Liverpool Chamber has sent a
reply, from which we make the Lib-wing extracts :
—" Withart a doubt the commerce and industry
of Englan 1 are suffering like those of France, the
suffering of the one reacting upon the other, and,
to a certain extent, the same causes being com-
mon to bosh. These causes may be found :-
1. Iu the Arne' icon war, which for four years
painfully straitened the supply of cotton,
one of the most valuable of European imports,
and considerably enhanced its price, thus reducing
large populations dependent on its manufacture to
the greatest distress. 2. In the high duties which,
under the delusive ideas of protection and of inde-
pendence of other nations, have been imposed by
the United States tariff on ►manufactured articles,
the greater portion of which had been imported
from Europe. On this point it may be observed
that there is but little consolation in the fact that,
while the tariff of the United States is highly inju-
rious to other countries, a far deeper injury falls
upon herself. .3. In the continued disorganisation
of industry in the Southern States of the American
Union. 4. In the unsettled state of Europe, and
the apprehension so widely entertained of the immi-
nence of war, an apprehension materially strength-
ened by the enormous military preparations
everywhere made, notwithstanding the pacific as-
surances of governments. The apprehension of war
is fraught with evil only second to that of its actual
existence. Much of the capital which should be
employed in ordinary and re-productive industry is
diverted into unusual and exhaustive channels. The
labour which not only supported itself, but has
added to accumulated wealth, is withdrawn from
its normal occupation to be supported by the com-
munity at large. Europe is at this moment main-
taining unproductive nearly 3,000,000 soldiers, at
an annual cost of about £80,000,000 sterling (two
thousand million francs). Their re-productive em-
ployment would not only save this expenditure, but
would largely add to accumulated wealth. There are
also causes inure or less peculiar to each country
which have contributed to the commercial depres-
sion, and which, perhaps, can only be thoroughly
understood at home. A few which have operated
in the United Kingdom may be briefly enumerated :
1. Premature investments from 1862 to 1866 in rail-
way enterprises which do not now, and probably for
many years will not, bring in any adequate revenue
to the shareholders. 2. The spirit of excessive spe-
culation and over-trading which has prevailed in
this country, especially of late years. Traders who
conduct their business to a disproportionate extent
on borrowed capital are, in the event of a small de-
preciation in prices or pressure in the money market,
compelled to suspend payment ; when such suspen-
sions are numerous they create a feeling of distrust,
which culminates in panic and disorganisation of
credit. 3. A reckless investment of capital in joint
stock companies of every description, many of which
have proved to be utterly worthless. The Council
trusts, however, that the painful experience of the
past, combined with an amendment, passed during
the late session of Parliament, of our Limited
Liability Act, will, to a large extent, prevent the
recurrence of this evil. 4. The collapse of several
banks causing very widely-spread suffering and un-
easiness. This uneasiness was to some extent jus-
tified by the habit which prevailed among joint-
stock banks of holding insufficient reserves, and the
extent to which the Bank of England employed the
deposits of such banks, without taking due. note of
their special character. These deposits constitute
the reserve of the bankers to whom they belong, and
in times of monetary pressure cannot with safety
be employed by the Bank of England. 5. The
causes now enumerated aggravated by two defi-
cient harvests, which have enhanced the price of
wheat by fully 50 per cent more than the average of
three previous years. The remedy for our own
peculiar evils must be found in an enforced retrench-
ment of expenditure, which even now is fast restor-
ing our lost capital. Signs of improvement are
already evident. Our home trade is better supported.
With the return of confidence will come healthy enter-
prise, so needful to the vigorous life of commercial
and manufacturing nations. Our recuperative power
is great, not only in our own resources, but because
no delusive promise of protection tempts capital into
unnatural employment. Hence capital and industry
are self-reliant, and waste no time in seeking for
that relief in legislation which they know must
spring from themselves. From the causes of corn-
mercial depression common to Europe at large, those
exclusively of a political character have, for oLvious
reasons, been omitted. As to the remedies for those
enumerated, some may be safely left to time and the
elastic energies of modern civilisation. Others will
be found in a general reduction of armaments suf-

ficient to dispel all apprehension of aggressive war.
Finally, a remedy, as this Chamber believes, is to be
found in the universal adoption of the principle of
free trade, and this remedy will aid the operation of
all others. When commerce between different

countries is as free as it now is between the counties
and provinces of the same country, accidental causes
of depression in one will be modified by continued
prosperity in others. Mutual dependence will re-
.

suit in mutual respect, and, if need be, in mutual
forbearance; and thus, nations now ambitious of
the glories of war will find ample compensation in
those of peace. England has set an example of
entire free trade so far as her own ports are con-
cerned, but she can never reap the full benefit of
her policy till her example is followed by other na-
tions. France has taken the first step in its adop-
tion with significant success. How soon will she
advance to its complete realisation ?"

Sir Cola Campbell's Masterly Retreat from
Imatiow.

The cares of Sir Colin Campbell, however, were
not ended when he stood as a conqueror within the
walls of the Residency. Lucknow was still in the
hands of the rebels, who might at any time return
to the attack, and the relief of the garrison could
only be temporary, so long as the helpless crowd that
composed so large a portion of it were still immured
in the building. The place must not only be eva-
cuated, but the women, the children, the sick, and the
wounded removed, and protected upon a perilous
retreat. They must be conveyed away by easy
stages, and sheltered from the fire of the maddened
enemy. A retreat of this kind might be more diffi-
cult and dangerous than the advance itself had
proved. To accomplish such a delicate movement
Sir Colin Campbell opened a vigorous cannonade
upon the Kaiserbagh, or King's Palace, in Luck-
now, so that the rebels in the city might think
they were about to be attacked in earnest ; and
while their attention was thus withdrawn be formed
a line of posts on the left rear of his position suf-
ficiently strong to resist the enemy's attacks.
While the rebels were thus occupied with the can-
nonade upon Lucknow and preparing to resist an
attempt to storm the city, the ladies, their families,
and the invalids were silently conveyed along the line
of posts on the night of Nov. 22, and after them
the garrison, the retreat being protected by judici-
ous arrangements of the army ; and, to close the
whole, Sir Colin himself went out with the last line
of infantry and guns as the body most likely to be
attacked, and with which he intended to crush the
enemy if they dared to follow up his piquets. These
precautions were indeed necessary, as the only line
of retreat lay through a long and crooked lane ; but,
strange to tell, no interruption was offered ; still
expecting a❑ attack on Lucknow, the rebels opened
a fire upon the Residency, and continued it for hours
after the place was evacuated. Like a well-organised
machine, every part of this retreating army moved.
according to appointment, and on the 23d the whole
of the troops and their helpless convoy, comprising
about 2,000 souls, reached Dilkoosha in safety.—
&Wadi Biographical Dictionary.