The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-01 00:00:00

THE SUN-, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 1, 1857.

REPORT OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL 'sr
SWITZERLAND ON THE AFFAIR OF NEUF-
CHATEL.

(Conttnued from, The Sum of yestercti iy )
We shall now, continuing our report, AI r. President
and gentlemen of the Federal Assembly, communicate
to you the definitive result of the negoCatio us attempted
at Paris, after informing you that G-3reral Dufour had
in the meantime returned from his missio n.

The French legation transmitted to us a note from the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, dated 2Gth Nov., in which
the friendly disposition of the Emperor towards the
Confederation was once more confirmed, "but in which,
also, the demand for the release of the Neuchatel pri-
soners was repeated, and with still greater urgency.
If, added the note, the Federal Assembly, relying on
its sovereignty, would comply with that desire, and
would pronounce the release of the prisone rs, the Empe-
ror would be ready to employ all his efforts to smooth
over the difference which had arisen on the subject of
Neuchatel, aad induce the King of Prussia to renounce
the rights which treaties had recognised that he pos-
sessed over the principality of Neuchatel and the conte
of Valangin. The measures thus reo =amended to
Switzerland would be, in the opinion ol the Imperial
Cabinet, a proof of friendly condescenlsi on, and would
contain nothing which could lessen the dignity of the
Confederation. The details of the arrangement would,
in the opinion of that Cabinet, be easy to determine, and
it would not be difficult to reconcile the settlement of the
dispute with the interests of the two parties.
Before mentioning our reply to the French note of the
26th November, we must make you acq tainted with an
extract from a despatch addressed on t b.e 25th of Nov.
by Lord Clarendon to the English Minister at Berne,
and which will prove to you still more positively that
the English Government thought fit to assume an atti-
tude which was essentially different from that of the
French Government.

The English envoy was instructed to inform the Presi-
dent of the Confederation that her Majesty's Government
however great was its desire to contribute by every means
in its power towards procuring an amicable settlement of
the Neuchatel question, nevertheless did not think it
right to acquiesce in the bases of negotiations that had
been proposed at Paris, because those be.ses appeared to
imply a knowledge of the intentions of the King of Prus-
sia not possessed by her Majesty's Government, and this
circumspection in the decision of her Majesty's Govern*
went was dictated by the motive that Switzerland ap-
peared to suppose that the King of Prussia would re-
nounce his rights on Neuchatel in case the prisoners
should be amnestied. If the Government of her Ma-
jesty had contributed to create a similea inference in the
minds of the Federal Council, it would :have done a thing
it was not authorised to do, as it had not received from
the Prussian Government any communication to justify
such an instance, and was completely ignorant of the
future intentions of the King of Prussia. The Govern-
ment of her Britannic Majesty was far from wishing to
affirm that the liberation of the prisoners might not
simplify the solution of this affair, or that the King of
Prussia would not be bound to satisfy the wishes of the
'Federal Government ; but, on the other hand, her Ma-
jesty's Government could not take any engagement or
give any assurance that this was really the case. Should,
however, the Federal Government, on considering
the circumstances, suddenly decide upon liberating the
prisoners without te'trial, the Government of her Ma-
jesty, in common with the French Government, would
take steps to induce the King of Prussia to put an
end to the Neuchatel disputa according to the desire
of the Swiss Confederation, and to recognise the inde-
pendence of the canter' of Neuchatel. Nevertheless,
her Majesty's government felt it its duty to declare as well
to the Confederation as to the Federal government, that
it could not guarantee the success of its measures, and
that had not as yet any ground to form an assurance
as regards the result of its good offices. As regards the
proposition of the Federal Council, that in case of a re-
fusal on the part of the King of Prussia to accept this
arrangement, the British government should withdraw
its adhesion to the London protocol, her Majesty's
Government could not yet give a reply, and the Federal
Government must consider that the protocol is binding
upon the powers that signed it.
On the sth of December we charted our minister at

Paris to address the Count Walewski, in reply to the
note of the 28th November, a communication, of which
the following is a summary :
We are grateful to his Majesty the Emperor of the
French fur the friendly and benevolent disposition which
he expressed towards Switzerland, and we particularly
thank his Majesty for having been pleased to tender us
his good offices to obtain a pacific settlement of the
Neuchatel dispute.
We regret the more that we are not able to comply
with the renewed invitation which the imperial govern-
ment has made us to reiease the prisoners. The con•
siderations, however, by which we are herein actuated
are of such a nature that the imperial government itself
will ❑ot refuse duly to appreciate them.
The demand of a preliminary and unconditional re-
lease of the prisoners can only be founded upen the sup
position that they have not rendered thems dyes guilty
of any crime ; that the Confederation is in the wrong
with regard to them, and that all the right is on the side
of the King of Prussia.
The Confederation, however, could by no means agree

to such a proposition ; it could not admit that its posi-
tion with regard to the insurgents of the 3d September
is founded only upon existing facts, and not also upon
well-established facts.

Without wishing to discuss in detail the Neuchatel
question in a legal point of view, we may observe that,
by the act of the Congress of Vienna, the canton of Neu-
chatel was reunited to Switzerland, and that by the spe-
cial acte d'accession executed between that canton and
the Swiss Confederation, that canton was, in its relation
with the Confederation, completely released from any
princes residing out of the country, seeing that the par-
ticipation of the canton in the federal affairs, its vote in
the Diet, and in general all its relations with the Con-
federation, depended solel♦ upon the government resi-
dent at Neuchatel. The canton of Neuchatel has ad-
hered to all the dispositions made by the Federal pact,
even to those which provided that there should no longer
be in Switzerland any territory in a state of subjection,
and that the government could not be a privilege in the
hands of any persons or any class of the citizens.
The Prince of Neuchatel also has expressly authorised
the concluding of this acte d'accession, and the consequent
emancipation of the canton. The canton of Neuchatel
has continual to occupy the same position in regard to
the Confederation that all the other cantons of Switzer-
land occupy, and it has voted, together with them, in
favour of the 'principle proclaimed by the Diet on the
27th Nov., 1830, which bestowed upon every canton the

right freely to give itself a constitution. -
Resting upon these treaties, and upon the acts as well as
upon the development of the constitutional relations which
are the result of them, the rights of sovereignty belonging
to the Confederation are quite as well founded in refer-
ence to the canton of Neuchatel as they are in reference
to any other canton. The Confederation has a right,
and it is its ditty, to guarantee the constitutions of the
cantons, and to provide for the maintenance of good
order throughout all the territory of the Confederation.
The canton of Neuchatel, like every other, is subject to
these principles.
If Switzerland were to obey the demand of the prelimi-
nary and unconditional release of the prisoners, that act
would amount to a renunciation of her constitutional
position with regard to the canton of Neuchatel and of
the exercise of the rights of sovereignty which belong to
the Confederation. Such an act cannot be required of
any state the independence of which is acknowledged.
It cannot be expected that Switzerland will submit to
such a demand, even under the hypothesis that the King
of Prussia is still in possession of hi rights to Neucha-
tel • for it must, even in that case, be allowed that Swit-
zerland too b.as some important rights to be defended,
as well as the Prince of Neuchatel. And it would be
mistaking altogether the legal position of the two par-
ties, to pretend that Switzerland should renounce her
rights, without any simultaneous corcession being man-
fasted on the other side.
We fully appreciate the assurance which the Imperial
government offers us, in case of Switzerland deciding to
release the prisoners. But we canrot avoid the convic-
tion that, although we have expressed ourselves in all
sincerity upon the detailed conditions of an eventful
arrangement, it has not been so en the side of the King
of Prussia, who has seemed to practise the greatest re-
serve, even towards the Imperial Government, in this
reepeoe. We are, consequently, warranted in raising
some doubts about the real intentions of the King, and
we might justly feel some apprehension lest any defini-
tive arrangement should fall to the ground in the pre-
sence of the conditions which the King might attach to
the renunciation of his claim.
A greater degree of cnnfidence in the assurance given
-to us by the King would only be possible in case the
Emperor of the French were informed of the conditions
which the King designs to lay down, and if he were
able to dee:are to us that those conditions are no w.v
incompatible with the complete independence of Neu-
chatel.

In any case, we were obliged to regard it as doubtful
that the Emperor was aware of those conditions, and
Switzerland must insist the rather upon some positive
assurances in that respect, because the King's circular
to the German states, and the speech which the King
lately delivered, exhibit a tendency directly opposed to
the claims of Switzerland.

The liberation of the prisoners has been recommended
to us also as an act of generosity. But apart from the
consideration that there exists no particular motive for
exercising generosity instead of leaving justice to take
its course, their liberation would, under the circum-
stances, appear in the eyes of all the world, not as an
act of generosity, but as an act of weakness.
Lastly, there remains this consideration, that the libe-
ration of the prisoners without any reserve would cause
serious detriment to one of the fundamental political
principles of the organisation of Switzerland, namely,
that all, whether they be rich or poor, of high or low