The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-12 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The Madrid Gazette of the 7th contains a royal
decree which appoints General Sans y Cuadrado
Chief of the King's Military Household, in the
room of the late General Urbistondo, and
another which nominates General Lemery Captain-
General of New Castille (Madrid), in the room of
General Sans. In the Congress, on the preceding
day, the Minister of the Interior, in the course of
.a discussion on an election return, asserted that
the Government had maintained strict legality and
impartiality in the elections ; and with reference
to the press, he declared that the press is not sub-
jected to any censorship, but is regulatei accord-
ing to law. He added that on a future day the
Government would be perfectly ready to go into a
full discussion of the matter. The Congress, hav-
ing become formally constituted, had nomina,ea,
as its president, M. Martinez de la Rosa ; vice-
presidents, Messrs. Maquieira, Vista Hermosa,
Terreira, Alonsa ; and secretaries, Messrs. Baizan-
allana, Belda, Burigny, and Incan. All these
gentlemen belong to the moderate party. The
Infante Don Henry had left Villadolid for France.
The old gold coin of the country was being exported
in considerable quantities. The weather had im-
proved.

A letter from Turin says that the Empress of Russia
s expected in that city on the 21st, and that the day
fixed fot the arrival of the King of Saxony is the 15th.
It adds that the Duchess d'Orleans was also expected
in Turin to thank the King for the hospitality which
she had received in the course of the winter.
According to the Corriere Mercantile of Genoa, a
Piedmontese man-of•war is shortly to leave for China to
co-operate with the British fleet.
The Comte de Paris and the Duo de Chartres left
Genoa on the 7th.
The Archduke Charles of Tuscany left Florence on
the 6th for Perugia, in order to compliment the Pope
during his stay in that town.
"The Count de Chambord left Venice on the 24th
ult. for Parma," says the Prance Centrale of Blois, "to
visit his sister, the Duchess Regent. After stopping
there twa days, the Prince, accompanied only by the
Duke de Levis and two servants, continued his journey
incognito under an assumed name. Crossing Piedmont
he visited Turin, Chambery, and Geneva, without any
one being aware of his presence. He was at the last-
named place on the 3d instant, and was to proceed by
Munich to Vienna and Frohsdorff. The countess de
Chambord was to proceed to Frohsdorff via Parma and
Modena, and would arrive at her journey's end and be-
fore the Prince."
Accounts front Venice state that the Emperor of
Austria has' restored the pensions of 82 retired employes
of the Arsenal, which had been discontinued in conse-
quence of their conduct in 1848.
The municipality of Pesth has voted 250,000 florins
(upwards of 600,000 f.) for the fetes to be given in that
city in honour of the Emperor and Empress of Austria.
Their Majesties intend to pass two months in Hungary,
returning to Vienna on the 28th June.
Major-General W.F. Williams, K.H., arrived on the
234 ult. at Gibraltar, where he succeeds to Sir R. Gar-
rett in the command.. The similarity of names has led
several London journals to suppose that this governor-
ship had devolved on Sir W. F. Williams of Kars, and
they have consequently speculated on the destination of
the borough of Caine, now occupied by the latter.
The minister of Anhalt-Bernburg announced in the
last sitting of the Diet of that small duchy that in the
budget of the'preceding year the receipts had exceeded
the expenses by 33,000 thalere, so that the taxes could
be at present reduced one-fourth.
"Negotiations between Count Hatzfeldt and Ferrouk
Khan for the conclusion of a treaty of commerce between
Persia and the Zoliverein," says a Berlin letter, " are
advanced enough for the draft of the convention to be
submitted to the various States concerned. The agree-
ments existing between these States require that all
treaties of this kind shall be concluded in common."
A letter from Hanover of the Bth in the New Prussian
Gazette says --" An interesting trial' has just taken
place at Osnabruck. A young peasant, aged 18, named
Meyer de Ryke, was requested to subscribe to the mo-
nument which has been erected to the memory of the
late King. Ernest Augustus, but refused, saying that
`,Ernest Augustus did not merit a monument, as he bad
been compelled to do all he had done ;' or, according to
another version, ' that all he bad done, ho had done
through fear.' As expressions of this kind could not
form grounds for a penal trial, a civil action was brought
for these offensive remarks, and the tribunal of Osna-
bruck condemned the young man to 100 thalers damages
and costs."

The Tagesbote of Prague announces that the cantonal
authorities of Saar, in Bohemia, have suspended, subject
to superior decision, the execution of the ordinance of
the burgomaster of that town lately passed, enjoining all
Jews to leave the town in a fortnight. The burgomaster
based this exercise of authority on a privilege of King
Ferdinand I. existing in the archives, but which is newly
300 years old. As, however, a royal decree, dated the
25th May, 1792, enacts that all special privileges must
be submitted to a new ratifieation on a change of govern
meat, and as the privilege in question was not ratified
it appears to have fallen into desuetude.
We learn from the New York papers that Louisa
Pyne, and the rest of the English Opera Company of
which she is the most distinguished member, must by
this time be crossing the Atlantic, homeward bound,
after their long and most successful sojourn in the
United States. Miss Pyne was to have her farewell
benefit in New York on Saturday, the 25th April ; and
this was to be the company's last performance previous
to their embarking for England. This charming song-
stress seems to be as great a favourite among the Ameri-
cans as among ourselves. They have been in the habit
of calling her " the English skylark"—a phrase happily
characteristic of the peculiar charm of her melody ; and
their most popular journals join in their expressions of
regret for her departure.
ESTABLISHMENT OF A TURKISH PILOT FLAG,—The
Board of Trade have received, through the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, the subjoined copy (translation)
of a notice issued by the Turkish Foreign.office relative
to the establishment of a Turkish pilot flag :-- (Trans-
lation.)—" It having been reported that men-of•war
and merchant ships passing through ports in the
dominions of the Sultan sometimes require the services
of a pilot, instructions have been sent to the autho-

cities .of ill places which are ports, for the harbour-
masters to take a guardian from the Qearantice, visit
the ship, ascertain for what place she requires a pilot,
and report
it to the proper quarter, in orth.r that a pilot
may be immediately procured and sent on board, at a re-
muneration, on exhibition by the ship, of whatever na-
tion it may be, coming to an Ottoman port, of a flag
similar to the one specially designed for the purpose, of
which a copy is herewith. sent to your Ex:elieney, The
ambassadors of nil friendly powers having been re-
quested to make the matter known to the sigipmasters
of
their respective nations, and to instruct them to act ac-
cordingly when about to ask for a pilot, a similar com-
munication is made to your Excellency." [The fla, is a
red peter, or red flag with a white square in the centre.]

PROSPERITY TO THE MAURITIUS.

The publication of the annul reports on the state
of her Majesty's colonial possessious fully accounts
for the strong desire that every now and then bursts
forth in the French press to exchange the French
possessions on the continent of India for the old
French island of Mauritius. In such an exchange
the ma'erial, and as we think also the political, gain
would be all on their side.
Governor Higgiuson's last report on that colon/
exhibits a state of prosperity which it is pleasant to
record. Although during the five years-1851-55
—taxes to the amount of 55,8001. a year were re'
pealed, the revenue has gone on steadily increasing;
in the year 1855 it am 'tinted on this small volcanic
island in the Indian Ocean, which cannot raise foodenough for its own population, to 348,452/. ; and
in those five years ins taxes produced. the large sine
of 1,667,3151. The expenditure, too, though large
(in 1855 itreached 317,8391.), has b en kept stewdili
below the receipts ; and at the date of this rePrtd
the Mauritius was not only free from debt, but had
in hand a considerable reserve fund to meet en'
foreseen contingencies. So satisfactory indeed are
trie island finances that the popular tendency lei°
more to prodigality than to economy, and the Pref.
sure on the Government is for the reverse of a fre..
gal management of its pecuniary means.
2ln 1854 the value of the imports was 1,492,7E58'
In 1835 it fell off to 1,356,3u01. ; but in 187)5. thevalue of the exports exceeded that of 1854
ba
601,6891., and was no less than 1,848,090/. ; an
the balance of trade in 1855 was 491,789/. in favoL'
of the colony. Gradually the Mauritius is becole; m
ing a depot fur a large and increasing cammsr,e
with, the magnificent island of Madagascar: Its
trade with that island re-opened in 1854, and I"
the course of the next year trebled that of any Pre'
vious year in exports alone. A steamer is now rr.;
gularly engaged in the transport of cattle to tu
Mauritius, and the supplies from Madagascar helo
brought down the price of beef one half—an eve
mense boon to the peasantry of the island. 114
11
trade with the Australian colonies is also rani° '
augmenting, and in 1855 the island sent thither
262,720 cwts. of sugar.
Sugar production is the basis of this prosperiti'
and Mauritius is now fairly in the van of the sugar
;
producing possessions of the British Crown, as the
following progressive increase of its production
shows :
Crop of 1851
„ 1852 BO,OOO „
LIP 1853
„ 1854 98,000 „
~ 1855
And if in 1856 the expectation of Governor
ginson be fulfilled that the crop would Yie'e
120,000 tons, we shall have the production of tt
island doubled in five years. Neither is that ti'
e
limit assignable to Mauritius production, era
under the present system of culture and manwa,,
ture. For there are large tracts of land stilliiPn'd
unreclaimed, and quite as capable of prodaansi
sugar. All that they want is labour. With thi,
it is, says Mr. Higginson, "hardly possible to est,
mate the producing power attainable within 0"
ther five years."
The consequence of this augmented prod.uctie:
and of the highly remunerative prices of late Yenr,
has been that gradually the proprietary has bee
getting out of debt ; less borrowed capital is
ployed in the culture of estates ' • a more solvent '
proving a more skilful race of cultivators ; at heteo
they inspire greater confidence ; and the credit of
m
Mauritius planters now stands very high in
markets of England.
The sheet-anchor of its prosperity is of course%
migration; and of the pro ximity of Mauritius to Do
full 'advantage has bee u taken. The stream of imp
gration maintains a steady and perpetual inil;l4l.
On Dec. 31, 1855, there were in the island 100,0'
male 'lndian coolies and 28,245 females, and et
wards of one-half the former were under contrac";
of service. Notwithstanding this number wages We
rising, and the demand oir the immigration depli
increasing. Still the average wages were not Ng:,
being only 13s. a month; but in 1855 that sun). n„t
cradled 13,000 men and women from the coutiee",
of India. The tendency, too, on the part of the.:
immigrants to settle permanently in the island I,'
creases ; the women from India very seldom retes'o
to their own country, and there is growing uP sie
Indo-Creole race, Mauritius-born, bound to 11_,",
island by all those ties which beget love of CO';
try. The perscentage of the Indian immigrant,
was, according to the returns of 1856, 43 per oe,llea
of the whole population, that of the emancipa4o
Africans being only 30 per cent. at that date. .ior
latter race is, indeed, decreasing in numbers ;
not only does it suffer much more from the attach
of of epidemic diseases, but in it there is an aile.
excess of deaths over births. Hitherto Indian-1,7.,
migration has been entirely a Government trail°
tion ; but a law has been lately pasied to een_„ta
persons to obtain at their own expense immigra'
from India.
It was a wise remark of Lord Grey,' in one o'r h,4,
circular despatches to the governors of our trolny
possessions, that no class of proprietors are so deep
directly interested in the education and re°St
improvement of their labourers as the planters•
last the Mauritius Government is making efforts, at
overcome the peculiar impediments opposed in Yrii,
colony to educational progress. The principal leo
pediment lies in the difference of language sP°P
by the two different races of labourers, which 4
gests the institution of separate schools for the or
dians and the Creoles. On this point the Gover,no,
and his council have, it seems, differed ; the
le
vernor recommending that teachers and suitevea
books in the vernacular dialects should be obtaieg
from India for the Coolies - the council insibt',,hwo
that children of both races should be taught in t-nr
same school, through the medium of the Creole "l
patois of the island. There is, however, an aen.ktifilis
grant of 8,788/, for common schools, and a pemA
institution called the Royal College is maintain;
at an annual charge of 7,0001. Two of its pert°
are yearly sent over to this country to comre
their education, and, of those so sent, three Y°llf,g
:4
men or colour have recently competed with auto'
for honours in the British universities.
What a contrast does this picture of Mauritius
afford to the state of a majority of our West locll7o
islands. No doubt the West Indian colonies lie. •
of late been sorely tried by the assaults. of choler,Z;
no doubt they are less favourably situated for tiL,
acquisition of labour. But it is impossible not...lit
see that their proprietary, as a rule, want the
of enterprise which so pre-eminently distingeinh
the proprietary of the Mauritius. To wranglevi'es
their governors, and ascribe all their misforttl.,,T3
to the Colonial-office and the Imperial Legislate'ij,
is a poor substitute for self-exertion—the gods otnb#o
aid those who aid themselves. Then, again, .tb
Mauritius is not cursed to the same extent 17;1.
01,
non-resident proprietors as the West Indies el
Cultivation. and production are costly processes
or
estates encumbered with debt. It the proprietbe
be resident, he is poor and spiritless ; if lie Ad
absent, he has the cost and loss of overseers to
to the expense of production.
01l
The prosperity of the Mauritius oug .ht to to
the West Indies a great and useful lesson. In the
Mauritius society is in a purer, simpler, more so
reliant condition ; it is, consequently, more hopolo,
energetic, and independent. It doesinot fret vi,,er
its labourers, with its government, with the mot'a
country ; but it attends to its own affairs, °A oci
keeping tlsem steadily in view, it prospers. 'tlio
so also will the West Indies, when they take t
same means—when the Encumbered Estates Ae,;
passed several years ago, shall be allowed to P1.1:1
property in a sound condition, when the cars e 5
applied to cultivation shall be free from charbo..
which set all profit at defiance, and when the relitibe
neration of labour shall be such as to induce Jo
negro to give " a good day's work for a fair daY
wage."—Daily News.