The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-06 00:00:00

If, however, it was not possible, considering the
extraordinary circumstances of the case, to com-
mence earlier, there is no reason why all that is
already known should not be placed before Parlia-
ment. It will never do for the House to be
put off in the shuffling manner which the
members of the Government adopted in the
case of the Dano-German affair. Besides, in this
instance, they cannot plead as an excuse that great
harm will ensue if debates take place during the
progress of correspondence, because the affair of
Jamaica already belongs to the past, and conversa-
tion upon the occurrences that took place at the
time of the outbreak cannot alter the circumstances
under discussion, or the conduct that has been so

severely censured.
While the Ministers forbid others to pass any
opinion, they were only too apt themselves to jump
at conclusions, and by the fatal step of suspending
Governor EYRE have seriously compromised them-
selves. They will only get deeper into the mire, how-
ever, if they attempt to extricate themselves by the
sacrifice of that deserving office, and by endeavouring
to cheat the House and mystify the public. Such a
contrivance will not do, and all independent mem-
bers, to whatever party they belong, will protest
against such a course. Perhaps the Government
think that they may tide over the affair of the
Jamaica inquiry by skilful manoeuvring until the
session is far advanced, and by that time they may
have won golden opinions by the introduction of a
grand scheme of Reiorm, and other matters, so that
they may weather the storm. This will not do. We
want justice done in the first place, and the House
and the public may rest assured that if the Ministers
shirk that inquiry into their own conduct which
they have been so ready to institute into that of
others, it will be because they are ashamed of it,
because they hear that the voice of Parliament
condemns them, and, what is still mightier in effect,
and yet more significant in expression, the voice of
public opinion will declare against them.
As soon as preliminary matters are arranged, let
it be insisted upon that the " Jamaica" question
be the first taken up. The members of the House
of Commons are quite as capable of judging as any
Special Commissioner, be he Governor or &corder,
can be. Let Mr. CARDWELL bring forward those
communications which he received from the Governor
telling of the disturbed state of the Island, and let
Lord RUSSELL stand up in his place in the House of
Lords and explain what he meant by declaring that
he did not wonder at the indignant feeling which
had gained ground and the public meetings which
had been held ? Also, no such expressions coin-
cide with the opinions delivered recently by the
Colonial Secretary, that the suppression of the out-
break was owing to the wisdom and energy dis-
played by the authorities in Jamaica, which wis-
dom and energy have been rewarded by the
disgraceful suspension of the man who had the skill
to plan and the courage to put in practice the mea-
sures to which Mr. CARDWELL rightly attributes the
success of the Colonial Government. The fact is,
that the right honourable gentleman is far
wiser than his chief, and has all along
had the sagacity to appreciate the position
of General EYRE, and to recognise the inestimable
services which he rendered. It is most unfortunate
for the sake of that distinguished officer, for the
cause of justice, for the credit of the Ministry, and
for the honour of England, that these opinions were
not shared by the noble lord at the head of affairs ;
but since it is otherwise, it is of no use to waste
time in lamenting his deficigncies and mistakes.
We should have some confidence in Earl RUSSELL
respecting this affair, if we did not dread the shadow
behind the Throne in the shape of the pernicious
influence of Mr. BRIGHT, and also the great dislike
which the noble lord has to offend the Anti-
Slavery Society and their coadjutors in this
business. Had he adopted the right course in this
affair, and refused to prejudge the case before
inquiry was made, had he been true to his duty as
First Minister of the Crown, and refused to sacrifice
its faithful servant to the clamours of a faction, he
thought he might lose useful supporters in the
coming emergencies of an eventful session. He
wants to combine the oratory of Mr. GLADSTONE,
the momentum of Mr. BRIGHT, and a host of other
rival influences, that he may carry a new Reform
Bill, and pave the way to future glory. But he has
gone the wrong way to effect his purpose ; and, if

the perpetration of injustice was necessary for
the fulfilment of his scheme he ought to
have looked upon it with suspicion. If to
continue that injustice be necessary for its prosecu-
tion, he will find that he has built his house upon
sand. If there is anything more than another
which is inimical to the spirit and character of the
English people it is unfairness, trifling with the
reputation of others, and refusing to give a plain
answer to a straightforward question. All through
the war with America a most one-sided feeling was
called a strict neutrality. The entire cause of

the Dano-German transactions were signalised
by trickery and deception, and members
had to wait until the session was nearly
over before any papers were printed and
answers given to the repeated demand and

_ ----
reiterated inquiries. .A repetition of these tactics

will not do in this affair of Jamaica, and we
warn the members of the Legislature to be on the

watch against the imposition of such schemes. Let
the Government state all they know, and let the

House be informed of what the Colonels who lat-
terly came home had to tell ; they can then form
an honest opinion, and the public will have the
satisfaction of knowing that they are not kept in
the dark on a subject which is of vital interest,
and concerns the honour of the country and the
charaCter of the Government.

The Java, from New York, on the 27th ultimo,
brings us encouraging news of the prospects of the
Southern States. President JOHNSON continues to
maintain his reconstruction policy undisturbed by
the clamour made by the Radical party. The
credit or discredit, whichever people may consider
it, certainly belongs to himself, though some of
his friends have shown a strong desire to appro-
priate the credit when it promised to be successful,
and many of his enemies have likewise betrayed an
inclination to attribute to him the blame of any
failure, while refusing to acknowledge the
beneficial effects which unprejudiced observers
readily admitted. The lull in the political
campaign, occasioned by the dispersion of Con-
gress, has given the PRESIDENT the opportunity of
proceeding unchecked in his wise and conciliatory
course. He has from the first strongly upheld the
superiority of civil war over military Govern-
ment, and, in fact; it is useless to expect
the resuscitation of trade and enterprise or
the return of any degree of commercial
prosperity so long as the reign of arms is main-
tained, and the confusion and restraint consequent
upon the uncertainty of the Administration is kept
up. The New England faction, who desire, for
their own political ends, to preserve the Southern
States in a condition of anarchy and exhaustion,
are naturally averse to any measure which she.,
put their Government on a sound and constitutional
footing, While they are openly discussing the
expediency of dividing
the estates of the leading
Confederates among the nogroes, it is not at all

accordant with their views that property should be
secured and personal rights respected. The public
I at large, however, are beginning to discover that
he ob jects of such politicians are by no means with
the national interests, and if America is to resume
her old position and to go on in the course of enter-
prise and prosperity in which she formerly made
such rapid progress it must be by resuming as much
as possible the old system, and cannot be accom-
plished by the possible subjection of half the nation
to the other half. As this conviction becomes more
generally felt, the Radical party will lose more and
more the influence and the prominence which they
have claimed since the conclusion of the war, and
the truth, that if the Southern people are expected
to be obedient to the Washington Government
they must be allowed the exercise of their consti-
tutional rights, will be readily acknowledged.
We have already learned that Mr. JOHN-
SON has replaced the Provisional Governors
of Alabama and South Carolina by the
Governors elect, thus freely granting to the
people the recognition of their right of self-govern-
ment. The Governor of South Carolina, the State
which of all others was supposed to be the very
focus of secession, telegraphed to President JOHN-
SON, as soon as he assumed office, to assure him of
his fixed purpose to aid in upholding the Federal
laws. It generally proves to be the same in poli-
tical as in religious feuds. Persecution encourages
resistance, and unless it is possible for the aggressor
to crush his opponent by superior force he is cer-
tain to fail in subduing him. A wise concession,
and a temperate and conciliatory spirit on the other
hand, frequently tend to reconcile the greatest
seeming differences, and, at all events, to suspend
that open opposition which is inimical to the inte-
rests of both sides.

The PRESIDENT has now taken another step in
the same direction, and has removed the Provi-
sional Governors of North Carolina and Mississippi,
directing the Governors elect to assume office, so
that four of the principal Southern States are now
restored to a regular footing. This will tend
greatly to encourage confidence and to promote
loyalty, and will strengthen the PRESIDENT'S
position by showing that the tendency of his policy
is to restore the welfare and prosperity of all classes
of the community, not to elevate any one party or
faction at the expense of the rest.

The next thing to consider is the right of the
Southern Representatives to admission into Con-
gress, and it does not seem easy to understand on
what grounds these Representatives can be refused
admission to the popular Assembly. If the
Southern States are sufficiently within the
Union as to admit of their being go-
verned by laws framed in Washington, and
discussed within the walls of Congress, if they are
sufficiently within the pale to be answerable to the
Federal Government they have certainly the right,
unless they are to be kept in a position of political
bondage, to send representatives to assist in the
deliberations which frame the laws they are to obey.
The brief sitting which has just terminated enabled
the Radicals by a clever trick to exclude the 85
members which the Southern States had sent up to
Washington, but a great nation like America
cannot allow its Government to be conducted on a
system of political tricks and shuffles. Either the
Southern members have a claim to admission, or
the South is to be kept in that state of intolerable
subserviency, which the Americans so loudly de
flounced when forced by the despots of the Old
World on intelligent and high-spirited peoples.
This is the question really at issue, and, in spite of
the thunders of Mr. SUMNER and the devices of
Mr. STEVENS, it is in this aspect that it will present
itself to every unprejudiced and intelligent Ameri-
can. The removal of the Provisional Governors
from Eve of the Southern States leaves no excuse
for the exclusion of the Southern representatives,
and we earnestly hope that reason and justice will
have won the day, and that at the reassembling of
the Congress the Radicals will have found it neces-
sary to abandon their extravagant pretensions, since
they have no longer the support of the moderate
Republicans, and most assuredly no encouragement
from popular sympathy on either side of the
Atlantic.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Friday Evening.

The Moniteur publishes letters from Mexico to the
3d December which completely confirm the news of
the dispersion of the bands who had endeavoured to
invest Matamoras. Repulsed from that point, some
of the fugitives marched upon Monterey, which
they hoped to surprise at the moment when the
town should be almost destitute of troops. They
entered the faubourgs, bat the Mexican garrison
held out until the arrival of reinforcements, which
rendered Monterey secure.

Financial matters for the moment have the as-
cendancy over mere politics. The Bank of Eng-
land and the Bank of France have just raised the
rate of discount. The weekly return of the Bank
of France, issued yesterday, exhibits such
various changes as to require some words
of explanation. There is a decline of 25
millions in the metallic reserve, and the discounts
have increased to nearly 70 millions, viz., 39i in
Paris, and 30i in the various branch banks. There
is an increase in the advances in bullion in Paris of
four millions, but a decline of one million in the de-
partments. There is not, however, much change in
the advances on Rente and Railway Securities. The
amount of the liabilities of the Bank shows an in-
crease of 68} millions, which is about the sum ad-
vanced on commercial bills. The current account
of the Treasury has declined 51 millions, but a
great deal of money is now paid for the quarterly
dividends. Private accounts have advanced more
than nine millions. The total amount of the metallic
reserve in the Bank of France at present is 418}
millions, and there are notes in circulation to the
amount of 956} millions. These apparent financial
difficulties have no unfavourable effect upon the
Bourse, because confidence in the policy of the Go-
, vernment is daily increasing. The Journal des
Debats of this morning says—" The pacific hopes
expressed in the reply of the Emperor to the Diplo-
matic Body have produced an immense impression
upon the public. The feeling, in fact, is every-
where in favour of peace, and the assurance that it
will not be interrupted is one of the first conditions
of general prosperity. It is only necessary to look
at the present state of Europe to be convinced that
all the causes of perturbation which have for so long
a time excited uneasiness have disappeared, at least
for the present.
The mysterious murder of a child at St. Denis,
near Paris, has created a good deal of consternation
in that town. About two o'clock in the afternoon
a boy of four years old, named Antoine Sorel, was
playing in the street with some children of his own
age, when two individuals drew him aside upon
some pretext or other, and he was found strangled
in a lonely spot at the back of some houses. The
child's head was afterwards broken to pieces with a
stone.

The official tables of exports and imports for the
month of November exhibit increasing commercial
prosperity. The imports amounted to 243,473,000 f.,
the exports to 331,373,000 f. Total, 574,846,000 f.
The imports and exports for the first eleven months
of 1864 amounted to 5,007,112,000 f. There is,
therefore, an increase for the same period of 1865 to
the am•unt of 399,138,000 f. The increase of ex-
ports since the month of August has been very
considerable.

M. Etienne D., an insurance agent, residing in
the boulevard du Temple, met his death the day