The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-06 00:00:00

AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP.

• _
The United States are at the present time the
only nation, of any respectable strength, whose
form of government is based upon Re.bublican or
Democratic principles. Our Government is a com-
plex one, but that complexity does not destroy the
democratic'theory that all power is inherent in the
people from whose consent all Governments derive
their powers. Our form of government is not
purely democratic, nor purely representative, but
the departures from those principles are designed
to strengthen rather than impair the general demo-
cratic character of our institutions. The division
of the Union into States, and the representation of
these states as such in one branch of the Govern-
ment, was designed as a Conservative check upon
that popular enthusiasm that might suddenly dis-
turb the whole fabric if there was but one house
of national legislation ; but it was never designed
to weaken or impair the great underlying principle
that the will of the majority, when expressed in the
forms prescribed by the constitution, was to be the
will of the nation, and to which all officers and
departments of the Government were to submit.
it has always been an anomaly that in this Republic,
where so many States and so many people engaged
in all the various pursuits of life, were so happily
blended under one flag, governed by one Constitu-
tion, and all speaking one language, such a thing as
a uniform citizenship was utterly unknown. Thus
a citizen of the United States residing in Maine is
.not necessarily a citizen of Maine ; a citizen of
Maine moving to Virginia is not necessarily a citi-
zen of the State of Virginia, nor even can he always
claim to be a citizen of the United States. -It is
true that the Constitution declares that the citizens
of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges

and immunities of citizens in the several States, but
that clause has been expounded as only meaning
that a citizen of Maine moving into another State
is entitled only to the privileges and immunities which
the laws of that other State accords to the citizens
of Maine of his class. The result is that as we have
thirty-six States, and that a citizen of the United
States may find himself so situated that while a
citizen of the entire Republic he is not a citizen-of
any of its thirty-six parts. Each State defines its
own citizenship ; it may exclude from that citizen-
ship every person not born within its limits, thus
making nineteen-twentieths of the people of the
country aliens the moment they pass within the
boundaries of that State. It is a fact, that at this
very time, under this practice of Statecitizenship, in
several of the States, a large majority of thepopula-
tion born and residing in those States are not citi-
zens of said States. Let us not be misunderstood as
meaning that they are not voters ; we mean citizens
entitled to civil rights. some of these people thus
denied civil rights in the State of their birth may
acquire them in other States ; while citizens enjoy-
ing such rights in one State lose them and cease to
be citizens upon moving into another State. This
anomalous condition of civil rights exists in no
other civilised Government. A British citizen is a
British citizen on any part of the earth covered by
the British flag. A Russian, or a Prussian, or a
Frenchman, or a Spaniard may assert his nationality
wherever he treads the soil owned by his native
land. An American is the only person whose citi-
zenship is limited by lines less than the national
boundaries, and while he may lay claim honestly to
be a citizen of the United States, in fact he is only
entitled to the rights of citizenship within the con-
tracted limits of the State in which he happens to
reside, and often he cannot even do that. The
amendment to the Constitution now pending,
and whose ratification the people are called
upon this fall to vote, proposes to correct
this extraordinary anomaly. It proposes to
define in the Constitution itself what consti-
tutes a citizen, and then declares that a citizen of
the whole Republic shall no longer be deprived of
his civil rights by the local regulations of any of its
parts, but that a citizen, native born or naturalised,
of the United States shall also be a citizen of the
State wherein he resides. This provision, so emi-
nently just, has long been needed in this country.
A Russian is a Russian in all parts of Russia, but
an American born in Illinois, while unquestionably
a citizen of the United States, can only assert his
right to citizenship in the State of Illinois, while
persons whose ancestors for several generations have
been born in other States, and though born there
himself, cannot even claim citizenship therein. The
proposed provision making citizenship uniform car-
ries with it no political rights. It does not deprive
the State of the right to regulate suffrage and the
qualification for Office ; it merely places beyond all
question the legal or civil status of the whole people
upon a common equality, and takes from local pre-
judice and passion the power to oppress or harass
any citizen, by denying to him his rights as such.
This provision, which must commend itself to the
approval of all honest-thinking men, and which will
remove from our politics and our courts questions
of the most vexatious character, is bitterly opposed
in the rebel States. It knocks down the barrier
with which aristocracy had encircled itself, and
admits to the ranks of citizenship the naturalised
Irishman, the naturalised German, the Yankee, and
last, but not less horrible, the coloured man. It
gives either of these classes of persons the right to
enter any court of justice, and there, on terms of
equality, to be plaintiff in any action against any of
the first families. It gives to either of these classes,
in defiance of State laws to the contrary, the right
to purchase and hold real estate, to sell and lease
the same, and, when dying, to devise it ; it even
permits them to inherit as heirs, or receive as de-
visees real and personal property on an equality
with the old firstVass people. The rebels regard it
as a levelling measure, to make the whole people
citizens and entitled to civil rights on equal terms,
and, therefore, they oppose it. It is, however, but
one of the several long-needed steps towards the
grand measure of civil and political freedom to every
being breathing under the national flag, and a civil
political equality as universal as the title of Ameri-
can citizen. To this the rebels will have to submit,
as they will have to submit to equally unpalatable
measures, willingly or unwillingly, in obedience to
the will of the free people of the American Union.
--Chicago Tribune.

The African Civilisation Society is an organisa-
tion of pious and educated coloured people (incor-
porated by the Legislature of the State of N ew York),
who believe, and always have believed, that the
black man of education can best instruct, direct, and
elevate his race. We have come together in an orga-
nised and incorporated body, commenced the work of
self-elevation, and are now successfully carrying on
the work of education among the freed people of
the South. The history of civilisation testifies that
the most homogeneous instrumentalities are the
most effectual in accelerating a people's elevation.
The parent is the best person to lead and teach his
own child, and fit it for the duties and responsibilities
of mature age ; and if the child is an orphan, it is gene-
rally conceded that the nearest relative is the fittest
guardian. This rule holds good when applied to
races. Hence we have concluded that the black man is
the better leader and teacher among his own people
than the white man; that while we can do this
work just as well, we can do it under fewer disad-
vantages, and at far less expense than he. We
already have several flourishing schools in the South
taught by efficient coloured teachers, and doing in-
calculable good. During the. past year we have
partially and wholly sustained twenty-two (22>day
and night schools, and employed thirty-three (33)
teachers. About fifteen hundred. (1,500) pupils
have attended these schools with blessed effect.
These schools are in Maryland, Washington, and
Georgetown, D.C., Alexandria, and Richmond, and
News Ferry, Virginia, and Georgia. The studies
have been such as are generally pursued in common
schools with such variations in particular cases as
seemed best to accelerate the scholar's fitness for
practical life.—The People's Journal.

The Foreign Carrying Trade.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ANGLO-AMERICAN TIMES

have read with great interest and attention
your article on "American Merchants and the
Foreign Carrying Trade of America," and the letter
of Mr. T. Silver in your journal of the 27th inst.,
rointing out the working of the American law as
it at present stands, in regard to the shipping in-
terest of that country.
It seems that at the present moment the high
prices of materials and labour in the United States
place a complete bar on the construction of ships,
and that in consequence the American shipowner
is losing his trade, and is placed at a great disad-
vantage in competing with other countries, whilst
he is at the same time debarred from purchasing
ships built in foreign countries, as such would not
be allowed to sail under the American flag.

In referring to the last page of your journal, I
find the advertisements of no less than eight lines
of steamers between England and the United States,
not one of which is American or worked by American
built ships, 'whilst American enterprise is repre-
sented by two boats, the Fulton and Arago, of the
United States mail line.

Surely this is not as it should be ; and bearing
in mind the splendid accommodation of the American
steamers and the great speciality there exists for this
sort of thing in that country, it cannot be as it ought
to be. Bearing in mind the plan of ship proposed by
Mr. T. Silver some time since for crossing the At-
lantic, and the system on which it was to be esta-
blished, it is to be lamented that some earnest and
practical endeavours are not made to bring them to
a successful issue, as it would not fail to increase
the facilities for travel between the two countries,
and therefore to make people go, which would tend
to increase that proper spirit which should exist be-
tween the two countries, and can only be increased
by frequent and extended intercourse.
I perfectly agree with you that these navigation
laws must be repealed, and, depend upon it, a little
more free-trade policy in the existing laws will not
do any injury to either country. We have .A.meri-

cans to manage our large hotels, and no one seems
the worse for it ; and if the same plan were acted
on of getting the most suitable means, either in price
or principle, for the purpose for which it is required
irrespective of whence it is derived, these great diffi-
culties would be removed, and American enterprise
go ahead in its proper style to the benefit of both
sides of the Atlantic.

I can see no valid reason why ships should not be
built in this or any other country from American
designs for American citizens, especially when suck
are to be employed in foreign trade, and can be used
without injury to native interests.
As an Englishman, I hope to see the good feel-
ing between the two countries extended by all pos-
sible means, and I fancy this would be a good be-
ginning.—Your obedient,
CHAS. F. T. YOUNG, C.E.,
Member of Society of Engineers'
Association, J.N.A.
7, Duke-street, Adelphi, W.C.,
October 31, 1866.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

_.4,- -____

TIMES.—The appointment of Baron von Beust to
the office of Minister for Foreign Affairs ushers in
the first day of a new life for the Austrian Empire.
From the disaster of Sadowa to the present date,
there has been, properly speaking, no Government
at Vienna. The men who had stood at the helm
during that terrific storm of the Bohemian war
shrank from the responsibility of any further steer-
ing. Bewilderment, consternation, blank despair
sat at Francis Joseph's Councils, and beyond his
own family the Emperor scarcely found one man to
share the burden of cares which adversity had ren-
dered so overwhelming. In the midst of this dis-.
tress and hopelessness it must have seemed to the
unhappy Monarch as if his good star had brought
him the Saxon ex-Premier. Baron von Beust is a
man of brilliant qualities, and does not hide his
light under a bushel. A strong prepossession in
his favour, it appears, sprang up in the Emperor's
mind from an early interview, and the arrangement
which was only formally announced a few days
ago is said to have been in contemplation for the
last three months. The Emperor Francis Joseph
can hardly at this moment be numbered among
Constitutional Sovereigns. He has no Parliament
to call him to account for the choice of his servants,
and had even objections been raised on the part of
public opinion against the promotion of this stranger
to the highest office in the State, the great plea of
necessity could always be urged in justification.
The Emperor could nowhere find another" Minister.
The nomination of Baron von Beust has, never-
theless, created a very great commotion at home
and abroad ; and the impression must, even in the
judgment of the favoured statesman, have seemed
so unfavourable as to suggest the expediency of
issuing a circular that sounds very much like an
explanation and apology. Baron von Beust, we
are told in this important document, takes office as
a new man. The will of his new Imperial master
has made him an Austrian, and as such he thinks it
a duty incumbent on his office to " separate him-
self from his political precedents." Nothing Saxon
abides in him, except feelings of regard and
gratitude to the Prince whom he has served with
so much zeal and fidelity. The great champion
of the old Bund, the mouthpiece of the minor
States, the head of the Gros-Deutsch or Great-
German party, the herald of the Schleswig-Holstein
war, now turns over a new leaf, and enters upon
his present duties free "from all partiality or pre-
judice." The pledge he takes for himself is equally
binding on the Government under his guidance.
Europe, we are assured by the semi-official Vienna
Gazette, has no occasion to look upon the new
appointment with apprehension. No passion or
rancour will characterise the policy hereafter to be
pursued by Austria. Her immediate necessity is
peace. Domestic interests press so heavily on the
Emperor's councils as to leave, for the present, no
leisure for interference with other people's concerns,
or for attempts to regain a leading position in Euro-
pean affairs.
HERALD.—Mr. Bright's visit to Ireland has come
to an abrupt and, we might almost say, an igno-
minious termination. After a brief stay in the
capital, during which he delivered two or three
harangues, received with remarkable coolness and
indifference—the more, perhaps, that they were less
violent, intemperate, and abusive than usual—the
great agitator hurried away as he is wont to hurry
out of the House of Commons when his reckless

. _
menaces of mob law, or his. diatribes against the
class to which four-fifths of his hearers belong by
blood or sympathy, have called up Lord Cranborne,
or some other opponent noted for the powers of sar-
casm which could not be more fitly or righteously
employed in indignant reply. And if we look at
the record of the meeting from which he fled we
have little difficulty in assigning the reason of his
retreat. The speech of the great orator himself was
heard indeed, as anything that so eloquent and
powerful a voice may utter will always be heard,
but with interruptions of a kind to which the speaker
is little accustomed. And the Chairman, who pre-
ceded and introduced him, was greeted with cries
which showed how little effect any address in favour
of Parliamentary Reform would find with such, an
audience. Cheers for Stephens, Fenianism, and
Lord Edward Fitzgerald—of whom the cheerers
probably knew nothing more than that he was a
rebel—rendered Mr. Naughton almost inaudible.
Mr. Bright's prOposal for the purchase of the
estates of English landlords was hailed with a
significant question, " Could we not get them for
nothing 2" And after he had departed more violent
orators addressed the meeting. One of these coun-
selled civil war, and boasted that he had suffered
two years' imprisonment as a traitor ; yet, notwith-
standing these undoubted claims to the admiration
of the assembly, he was hooted, not for the insolent
wickedness of his language, but because his name
and accent betrayed his English birth. Mr. Bright
must be aware by this time that Ireland will lend
him no effectual help in his agitation for Reform.
The class to which in England he addresses his im-
passioned appeals is not to be found in Ireland ; the
only class which might support him—analogous to
that which in England furnishes recruits to the
ragged army of Mr. Beales—cares nothing for any
Reform which does not promise a revolution, sepa-
ration from the empire, and a general confiscation

of property. Mr. Bright knows better than to
alienate the working men of England by allying
himself with the Fenian treason ; and Ireland offers
him no other support. He has done wisely to retreat
in time ; and we wish we could hope that the lesson
he has learnt might remain imprinted on his mind.
TIIE " LAW TIMES" ON MR. BRIGHT AND THE
LAND LAws.—l had an oppertunity on Monday of ascer-
taining in the course of a long conversation with Mr. J.
Bright, M.P. (who is now visiting Dublin), the changes
which ho proposes to make in the landed system of these
countries. The presence of several members of the legal
profession led to a fuller exposition of Mr. Bright's views
on the land question than usually is afforded before a large
and miscellaneous audience ; and it may interest many of
your readers to know what alterations in our laws
of property are suggested by this great leader of the
advanced Liberal party. Mr. Bright disclaimed any
change which is not consonant with sound political eco-
nomy,and which:disregards the rights of property, bearing
in mind, however, that all rights in landed property are
subjected to the limitations which the welfare of the
community will render necessary. He laid particular
stress on the acknowledged fact that iu England •
the number of landowners is year by yeas decreas-
ing. The tendency exists in Ireland also, but has
been counteracted for some years by the sales of
land in the Incumbered Estates Court. The tendency of
large landed estates to increase ho attributed not so much
to the difficulties of making title—to the obstacles in the
way of land transfer—as to the fact that the very large
proprietors (some of whom he named) have many of them
a surplus of income which they are generally desirous to
invest in land, so as to swell their possessions and increase
their political influence. As they are willing to give
higher prices than other persons, of course they cannot be
prevented from accumulating land. But while (as Mr.
Bright expresses it} the accumulating forces steadily in-
crease with the wealth of the country, the forces which
should assist subdivision and dispersion are all checked by
the laws. IThe arguments against the law of primogeni-
ture are well known and need not be repeated.] When a
death or change of fortune occurs, the law should give
every aid to a dispersion of property, and should be so
framed as to work well in the absence of contracts or other
dispositions. The landed interest will always be the most
powerful politically—even iu America. In these countries
the more landowners there are the better. 'ln Ireland the
largest estates are those of a dozen peers, who rarely or
never visit the country. This is so great an evil that it
should be checked by law. There will be no loyalty among
the Irish peasantry unless they can by industry acquire
some property in the soil ; and hence the necessity (as the
country is purely agricultural) of a law similar to that
proposed by the late Government, giving to a tenant com-
pensation for all unexhausted improvements effected by
him on his farm. Mr. Bright further proposed the abo-
lition of the "laws of entail," but could hardly be expected
to demonstrate any way in which testators and settlers can
be prevented from limiting life-interests only to their
children, and in fact did not exhibit a larger knowledge of
this branch of the subject than other men who havereceived
no legal training.

The Coupons on the Certificates of Debenture of
the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, due on
the 15th inst., are announced for payment at the
Consolidated Bank.

AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS•

The week opened with a fine bracing day, wind
N.N.W., and sunny at times. After a slight frost,
Monday morning was cool, wind west, thermometer
46 degrees, barometer 30.30 inches. Field-work
was being proceeded with generally, and some pro-
gress has been made with autumnal tillage in all the
forward counties. In the far north harvest is not
yet completed, and more dry weather is yet required
to bring it to a finish, although from the commence-
ment in the home counties to the present time it has
extended over four months, proving most expensive
and difficult to manage from the unfavourable
changes in the weather. Tuesday proved a very wet
day, scarcely ceasing to rain from morning until
evening, and where this was the case no work of
any description could be done in the field, while the
atmosphere was too moist for wheat thrashing to be
proceeded with. Our advices from the West Riding
of Yorkshire stated—" The weather is very change-
able, and rain fell last night freely, but to-day is
fine since noon." From the East Riding it was
observed—" Weather during the week has been un-
settled, and a good deal of rain has fallen, which
has interfered with out-door labour, and caused

the new wheats to come forward in very poor
condition, as they appear now almost worse
than at any period since harvest." From Northum-
berland our letters run : " The weather has been un-
settled since our last report, and a good deal of rain
has fallen. Wind variable ; to-day N.W., and
showery." Wednesday opened with a cold morn-
ing, hazy and thick ; but the day was fine, and being
dry, field-work was proceeded with. From Scot-
land our advices stated : " The weather has been
fine and showery alternately." Thursday was a
threatening, dull morning ; but it held up, and no
rain fell during the day, but at 9 p.m. some was
experienced. Our reports from Warwickshire on
that day stated : " The weather during the week has
been variable, with wind chiefly from the S.W. On
light lands farmers have made considerable progress
with their autumnal sowing, but on heavy clay soils
the work in the district is late." From Norfolk it
was remarked : " The weather continues fine, and
helps the condition of grain, and wheat-seeding pro-
gresses fast." Friday was a showery morning, and
rain fell at times during the day,'with a higher tem-
perature : wind S.W. ; thermometer 55 degrees ;
barometer 29.90 inches. A stop was again put to
field-work. From the West Riding of Yorkshire it
was stated : " With fine weather this week, our
farmers will now get on with ploughing and sow-
ing." Saturday was a wet and unfavourable day
and on the whole the progress daring this week has
not been important. The best feature for the farmers
is the extreme prices now for barley, and this en-
courages them to thrash as fast as they can, and the
deliveries of the week have exceeded those of wheat;
as most probably will now be the case for some
weeks to come, so long as the demand continues so
active. At many markets as much as 565. per quar-
ter has been the price paid for choice and select
qualities, and the brewers at Burton-on:-Trent
are the best friends the farmers have, for from
the commencement they bought with spirit, though
when they gave 50s. per quarter the rate was
considered exorbitant, and far beyond what
there was any occasion for. Now that a consider-
able advance on that has been established most
people think a stop to the rise must take place ;
but this, of course, will depend on the amount of
really choice qualities still brought forward.—Mark-
lane Express.

COUNTRY MARKETS.