The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-29 00:00:00

iutt,

LONDON„S.I 7'URD.I.I, SEPT. 29, 1866.

An influential deputation of bankers, merchants,
and others had an interview yesterday with the
Loan MAYO; at the Mansion Ilouse, respecting the
famine in India, of which we had lately received
such distressing accounts. Mr..k. W. CRAWFORD
explained the purport they had in view in waiting
upon his lordship. They had deemed it their duty
to come to him in order to state what was the public
feeling on this subject at present. When he
read of the details that had been given by
the papers as to the great sufferings of those
in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, he said they
were surprised to find that so little had been done
by the Government on the spot, and no doubt
many will agree with him. There have been already
such large subscriptions for the relief of the suf-
ferers i n W
India that, as Mr. CRAFORD added, there
can be no doubt as to the course which would be
adopted, but still they wished to know what the
Government woull do. The Lord Mayor seems to
have acted with great discretion in this difficult
matter, and to have done his utmost to meet the
He requested an rviirements of the case.
inter-
view with Lord CnANnOUNE, and related to those
present the particulars of that interview. Starva-
tion, it is grie.vous to state, has existed to a great
extent, and there has been a want of
promptitude di.q)layed by the local Government
of Bengal, but since July every exertion has been
made to mitigate the evil, by consigning large quan-
tities of rice for the relief of the faluipie-etrickeu

districts, and spending money in the employment on
public works.
The details that were furnished by the Lord
Mayor seem to be sufficiently reassuring to those
who take an interest in this matter, and are natu-
turally most anxious that all should be done which
can be done to meet the emergency. So large a
sum as £120,000 was subscribed in the city of Lon-
don, in 1860, for the relief of famine in India, and
it is satisfactory to know that great part of this has
been available this year. The Lord Mayor stated
that sixty-two thousand pounds have been applied
this year to relieve the distress in India. Accord-
ing to the accounts furnished by Lord CRANBORNE,
it would seem as if we had every reason to look
with confidence and hope to the future, and to
place reliance in the efforts of those who are now
striving to assist the sufferers. Unlimited autho-
rity has been given to the Lieutenant-Governor
of Bengal to expend such sums as he thinks advis-
able in the present emergency, and this is in addi-
tion to the district grants that were previously re- ,
ferred to. It is satisfactory to find that the " Go-
vernment of Indiahave authority andpower, in con-
nection with the people of India, to deal with this
question in the fullest and most ample manner."
The Lord Mayor declared to the meeting that he
had the assurance of Lord CRANBORNE that the
Government had the power and authority to do all
that is ne?essary in the emergency, and hence he
justly put the matter in its true light
before the meeting. Of course there
would be no fear of a sufficiency of subscrip-
tions to meet any emergency that might arise ; but,
at the same time, if there be no occasion for assistance
from this country, it will be wellto reserve the money
for some passing occasions of distress. Lord CRAN-
BORNE has already displayed during his brief tenure
of office so much zeal and efficiency on the subjects
that have come before his consideration that there
is no reason to doubt the justness of his opinions or
the wisdom of his advice ; and the LORD MAYort
intimated it to be his impression, from what passed
at the interview the day before, that Lord CRAN-
BORNE believed that there was no need for the
public to interfere in the matter. At the same time
it reflects great credit on these gentlemen that they
have come forward to do their utmost to assist
those in distress ; and it is satisfactory to think
that, in the case of any drawback or disappointment
taking place, they will be ready to do their utmost
in order that the famine may not be lasting in its
effects.

We learn by the arrival of the Scotia from New
York, on the 19th, that matters are improving for
the PRESIDENT. The struggle is a violent one, and
its issues will be momentous. The Radicals will
of course fight hard till the last, and will not, as we
know of old, shrink from any device that may
profit them. The PRESIDENT, on his side, has been
making an electioneering tour with varying success,
and he has not scrupled to denounce his adversaries
in the most unmeasured terms. Moderation and
courtesy are unhappily qualities by no means
characteristic of American political life, and
therefore some allowance must be made
on both sides so far as language is con-
cerned. The PRESIDENT'S journey is over, and
he has returned with his suite to Washington, where
an enthusiastic reception was accorded to them. A
delegation of Fenians has visited Mr. JOHNSON
since his return, urging him to form a more
liberal Cabinet, to appoint more liberal

Democratic representatives, and to remove
the American Consuls in Ireland for not standing
up for the rights of adopted American citizens. So

that these gentlemen, after setting Ireland, England,
and Canada to rights, have some leisure to spare
for reforming the American Administration. This
is a sample of the difficulties which beset American
statesmen who are so dependent for support on the
popular caprice of the moment, and cannot afford
to offend any party however extravagant on the eve
of an election, unless, like Mr. JOHNSON and the
Radicals, they are at open war. The Fenians
add a troublesome element to the already
disturbed political world of the States, and
the Radicals have been for some time past
industriously trying to bring them over to their
side. Mr. JOHNSON received this deputation with
courtesy, professed great sympathy with the
Irish generally, and said that determined action

had already been taken to effect the release of

the Fenian prisoners. It is fortunate for Mr.
JOHNSON that the prompt action of the English Go-
vernment in despatching troops to Canada will re-
lieve him from the difficulty in which he would be
placed with regard to a second Fenian raid into
Canada were the colony undefended. The Soldiers

and Sailors' Convention has assembled at Cleveland,
Ohio, and has been largely attended. Resolu-
tions were adopted endorsing the Philadelphia
Democratic Convention, and opposing the
Constitutional Amendment, as only effecting
the prolonged exclusion of the Southern
States from the Union. A mass meeting of
the Confederate soldiers at Memphis was held
at the same time, and a telegram was sent to the
Cleveland Convention, stating that the Southern
soldiers were willing to leave the settlement of their
difficulties with the soldiers of the Union. This is
another proof that the only thing which stands in
the way of an harmonious settlement of the country

is the policy of the Radicals, and ou the issue of the
coming elections rests the answer to the question
of internal prosperity or complete political and
social disorganisation.

Meetings have been held throughout Louisiana
and Mississippi in support of the Philadelphia Con-
vention, and a large and enthusiastic assemblage
was held at Union-square, New York, under the
presidency of Gene-cal Dix, to endorse the PRESI-
e
DENT'S policy, and to deprecate the course pursued by
carried away by the
otuhresier
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et yh npiaarya
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Congress. Men who are not
vehemence and intolerance o:
pause to consider what they am bringing upon their
country by persisting in a
the trade and industry of the whole Southern States.
The news from New Orleans reports serious and
widespread injury to the cotton crop throughout
the whole of Louisiana and Mississippi, with the
exception of a small district in the uplands
of the latter State. What else can be expected
when all property in the South is held in
an uncertain tenure, when planters are constantly
threatened with the confiscation of their lands ?
When, thanks to the action of the Freedmen's
Bureau and the mischief-making exhortations of
fanatical politicians and agitators, the negro is en-
couraged in his natural indolence, and is allowed to
feel that, whether he works for his bread or not, he
may eat. Americans a few years back would ,

have been thought far too shrewd for such a course,
and the cute merchants and exporters of the
North would have ridiculed the idea of sacrificing
their direct pecuniary interests at the bidding of
demagogues who are apparently regardless of the
risk they are running. We should have hoped that
the bitter experience of the war would have taught
better lessons, but a large party seem ready to for-
get how much civil discord has already cost them,
and to be ready to rush into fresh commotion.
America is trilling with her destiny. A long un-
broken era of progress and rapid development has
iftpired her people with an excesive confidence in
their cowil power. "A house divided against itself

cannot stand," and even the United States, great
and powerful as they are, cannot long withstand the
effect of a nominal union, and a widespread and
continuous disaffection. Commercial enterprise and
prosperity cannot possibly exist in the midst of a
country whose people are kept forcibly in subjection.
The whole experience of history proves the contrary,
and American statesmen must have wandered very
far from the doctrines of their predecessors before
they contemplate such a prospect. They do not
appear to perceive the disgrace and discredit which
such a failure on the part of the great Republic
would bring on the cause of constitutional freedom
throughout the world. In point of fact, it is the
excess to which the theories of freedom have been
carried in America which has interfered with the
practice. Liberty has been allowed to be pushed
to license by a few, who thereupon interfered with
the liberty of others. The freedom of speech has
been carried to an extreme which we are forced to
regret on the part of the most eminent men, and
consequently it very soon becomes little less than
treason and slander on the lips of unscrupulous agi-
tators. In the same way the friends of the
negro have become his enemies by flatter-
ing his defects, instead of endeavouring to
counteract them by wise and kindly legislation.
Surely it is not yet too late for Americans to see
their danger. There is yet time to arrest the action
of those who would hurry on the vessel of the State
regardless of the cataract, the storm, or the rock.
The wise and moderate men of all parties must exert
themselves, or the victory will belong to those who
spare no effort, shrink from no meanness, employ
every device of calumny, intrigue, and violence to
carry their purpose. The latest news of the Atlan-
tic Cable tells us that the PRESIDENT'S supporters
are less unanimous, and that the Democratic Repub-
lican Alliance is growing weaker. This is good
news for the despots of Europe, but mournful in.
tclligence for the real friends, and well-wishers o.
constitutional freedom in America.